The Multiverse

Ordnance Netbook - Phase World Missiles

Introduction

Missiles that are used in the Three Galaxies are in many ways similar to those used on Rifts Earth and generally follow the same rules but there are important differences. These are that the speeds of missiles are much greater, there are new some new sensors available, and there are some new warhead types. These rules are designed to work with revised starship rules for Phase World.

Missile Ranges, Top Speeds, and Accelerations:

In the Phase World Dimension books, you get the impression that starships lumber towards each other, not firing any weapons until rock throwing ranges (100 miles or less) and then slowly lumber together until 1 to 2 miles is reached before launching missiles. I prefer a much more dynamic starship and missile combat. Missile ranges are vastly increased and missiles now travel and accelerate as well at percentages of the speed of light. Missile fire may now commonly start at ranges greater than 1 million miles. Missiles can be used to hit targets beyond their maximum range because missiles will travel in a straight line one they run out of energy. They are of course effected by gravity wells but that can be calculated for. Targets that do not move are ideal for this type of strike. These include orbital bases and cities. There is no bonuses or minuses to hit these targets. To hit specific targets, such as an individual building in a city, the missiles are at -8 to strike. To hit a large moving target such as a Large Capital ship (Protector or Dreadnought for example), the missiles are at -16 to strike and unlike most attacks, the pilot can make dodges that no damage will be taken no matter how large the starship is. Targets smaller than about 5 million tons cannot be hit if they can dodge. Missiles are not effected by the maximum speed like starships are because the missiles lifespan after launch is brief enough that radiation and particle damage is not a factor. About 1 % of all missile will not reach their targets because radiation or particles will either cause them to destroy themselves, become inert, or veer off course. Acceleration is effected the same way starship accelerations are effected.

Cruise Missiles: Missile range is 8000 miles (12,875 km) in an atmosphere and 4,000,000 miles (6,437,376 km/ 21.5 light seconds) in space. Missile has a top speed of Mach 25 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 10% of light per turn (far faster than any starship)

Long Range Missiles: Missile range is 3400 miles (5470 km) in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles (2,89700 km/9.7 light seconds) in space. Missile has a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 8% of light per turn (far faster than any starship)

Medium Range Missiles: Missile range is 160 miles (257.5 km) in an atmosphere and 80,000 miles (128,750 km/0.43 light seconds) in space. Missile has a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 6% of light per turn (faster than any starship except a fighter acceding it maximum safe acceleration)

Short Range Missiles: Missile range is 10 miles (16.1 km) in an atmosphere and 500 miles (804.7 km) in space. Missile has a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 4% of light per turn (faster than any starship except if it is acceding it maximum safe acceleration)

Mini-Missiles: Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space. Missile has a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 2% of light per turn (slightly faster than any starship except if it is acceding it maximum safe acceleration)

Missile Guidance Systems:

Has all the guidance systems available on Rifts Earth plus the following other Guidance Systems.

Gravity Sensor: All targets have a gravitic footprint which allows them to be tracked by gravity sensors. This includes targets that are invisible. The other advantage is that gravity sensors allow the missile to track its target in real time no matter what the distance is because gravity has no delay and is faster than light. A target can often hid under the gravity signature of other targets to trick sensors but ships that are using gravity propulsion are even easier to detect.

Neutrino Homing: What this missile guidance system does is home on a neutrino signature. Nuclear Fission Engines, Nuclear Fusion Engines, Anti-matter Engines, Fusion Thrusters, Ion Thrusters, Plasma Explosions, Fusion Explosions, Nuclear Explosions, and Anti-Matter explosions all create neutrinos that can be tracked. Missiles can be set to track on the strongest Neutrino signature or a specific neutrino signature.

Tachyon Beam Rider: These missiles use a Tachyon beam to hit its target. The advantage is that the beam is FTL meaning that there no appreciable delay in painting the target. Similar to the Rifts Earth Semi Active Laser and Radar homing and sensors can pick up the beam if they are targeted.

Brilliant Missiles: This is a more advanced version of the smart missile and the missile actually have a limited artificial intelligence guidance system. These missiles guidance systems are expensive and cost twice the normal cost for the smart missile guidance systems. This guidance system is also illegal outside of the military. This missile guidance is capable of breaking through most countermeasures even those that work against normal smart missiles. Like smart missiles, the missiles must have an autonomous guidance system. Brilliant missiles are more capable then smart missiles and have +7 to strike and +6 to dodge and providing that they can catch their target multiple times, they have three attacks per melee until they run out of fuel. Brilliant Missile also separate when launched so they cannot be destroyed as a volley. All brilliant missile automatically have the feature of IFF identification and Loiter capability. This feature can only be added to long range and larger missiles.

All Phase World Missiles Types (including mines) are available as smart missile.

Missile Warhead Damage:

Nuclear: In Space, Nuclear Missile do not have the blast that they do in the atmosphere. In space, they do the same damage as fusion warheads on the Revised Missile Tables.

Anti-Matter: Anti-matter in an incredibly powerful munition that uses a reaction between matter and anti-matter to produce an incredible reaction that does large amounts of damage to the target. The anti-matter is kept in a magnetic containment until it strikes the target and releases its anti-matter. This warhead is only available in Cruise Missiles. If Anti-Matter munitions are used in an atmosphere, they have double the blast radius as a nuclear munition of the same size. The drawback of anti-matter is that it does minimal damage to targets that are impervious to energy. The other limitation is that if a ship with anti-matter warheads takes a magazine hit, it creates powerful explosions that can destroy the ship.

K-Hex: K-Hex is a special explosive that only recently has been made useable by weapon systems. In its natural state, it is very unstable and dangerous. In order to keep K-Hex rounds more powerful than standard warheads, their damages have been modified to be above other types of warheads.

X-Ray Laser Cruise Missile Warheads: This missile is a Fusion warhead that detonates and powers a burst of Laser beams. While the beams have no bonuses to hit other than those from the starship size chart, there is a fairly large number of beams and because of the beams allows the missile to standoff the target. The missile also has on other advantage, when missile goes dead, it has half the normal bonuses and minuses to strike. This warhead is to big too be carried on an missile smaller than a Cruise Missile.

* When the warhead detonates, ten X-Ray Laser Beams are fired at the moment of its destruction. Laser beams have a range of 4 miles (6.4 km) in an atmosphere and 40 miles (64 km) in space. X-Ray lasers do full damage against laser resistant materials. Because the laser do not have a large amount of fire control, each laser has no bonuses to strike and each laser strike should be rolled separately. With large volleys of missile, grouping the rolls may be the only way to speed up strikes but the number of lasers that should be grouped together should be fairly small.

Gravity Well Cruise Missile: This warhead is also to large to be carried on any missile smaller than a cruise missile. These warheads have two settings.

The first is that the warhead forms briefly a gravity effect similar to that of a black hole but much weaker. This missile has two special advantages when compared to other cruise missile warheads. The first is that because it does it damage by crushing, a physical effect, it does full damage to targets that are impervious to energy and cosmic knight. The other special advantage is that it can temporarily prevent starships from going FTL. It takes one gravity well cruise missile per 10 thousand tons of ship to prevent the ship from being able to go to FTL. A Warshield cruiser, for example, would take 10 gravity well cruise missiles to prevent if from going FTL. This effect only lasts for one melee (15 seconds). If there are not enough gravity wells to prevent the ship from going FTL, The ship takes double damage from ripping through the gravity wells.

The second is only for effecting FTL travel. It does this by producing a weaker but much wider gravity field. This warhead effects a 1,200 foot radius and effects 100 thousands of ton of ship to prevent the ship from being able to go to FTL. It will also pull the same amount of mass out of FTL. A ship takes about ten minutes to reset its systems before re-entering FTL. The way that the missile warheads are used against ships in FTL is that the missiles are used as mines in the path of the incoming ships. They are activated as the ship passes through the spot in question.

Protoculture Warhead: A special warhead that causes a massive explosion by putting a special mutant protocuture seed in a matrix. Because of the expensiveness of each warhead of this type, Jammers have been added for the defenses of the Missiles and the casing is made out of a stealth material. This missile was designed by the REF in Phase World and is only available to them. Only available for Cruise Missiles

Damage: Massive explosion that inflicts 4D6x10,000 with a 3D4 mile blast radius.