Ballistic Mines

[Knucklehead]

So, you're flying a VHF and you want to take a shot at that lumbering behemoth parked over there. Trouble is, you don't have a Mini-Razor or Sunslayers mounted. You normally suck with mines, and 9 times out of 10, they end up smoking your own ship. What to do? Switch to Ballistic Mines!

The idea is simple: Give a mine the turn rate and speed of a torpedo, make it a basic mine, with a large payload.

The fighter lines up for a run at the ship, releases one or two of these while pounding away with your regular guns or pulses, and veer off before smacking into the ship. The Mines will follow roughly the same course and, with any luck, slam into the big ship to give him something to think about.

Worst case scenario for the fighter, he doesn't veer off in time and gets caught in the blast (or manages to stay in front of the mines and gets taken out directly). Worst case scenario for the Cap, the mines hit something vital and take out a gun or two, or a small chunk of the hull.

Stat wise, the turn rate, speed, and homing capability would be comparable to a Vanilla Sunslayer, while the payload and blast area would be slightly larger than a nuke mine, with a much smaller activation range. Energy cost would be comparable to a pair of ARCHANGELs fired together, mostly to keep them off a starflea.

Advantages over Nukes would be the reduced probability that the mine would wind up following you instead of the intended target. Disadvantages would be the increased ability for the Cap to dodge the mine.

Advantages over Torps would be the ability to carry CD's at the same time, and no "Incoming Torpedo" message for the target. Disadvantages would be the inability to fire them from long range or at a stand-still.

Advantages over Mini Razor/Inferno would be the reduced energy cost per shot, disadvantages would be the ammo cost in addition to the energy cost, plus the possibility of the mine not doing any damage at all like many explosives.

Might be a good addition to a Bomber's arsenal as well.

Info Card could relate them to the traditional free-fall bombs used on 20th-Century Earth. Could also make a Junker or Xeno version that is essentially a crate full of explosives with a makeshift impact sensor...

Thoughts?

---

It's official, I have too few ships now...