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A question |
Darkheyr ={NuKe Squad}=
Fleet Admiral
Joined: October 23, 2001
Posts: 805
|  Posted: 2006-01-31 05:26
What is the state of the ancient art of offensive minelaying nowadays?
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\"A little bit of weird with a dash of oddness.\" -Kitana
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c0ld
Midshipman
Joined: June 24, 2003
Posts: 342
From: UK
| Posted: 2006-01-31 06:36
It's a lost Art.
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Fatal Command (CO)
Marshal
Fatal Squadron
Joined: November 27, 2002
Posts: 1158
From: over here in New York noticing some ppl are like canoes.....they need to be paddled.
| Posted: 2006-01-31 07:58
dead........like a lot of things in this game
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Bash
Fleet Admiral
Joined: February 04, 2005
Posts: 365
| Posted: 2006-01-31 09:15
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Doran
Chief Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 29, 2003
Posts: 4032
From: The Gideon Unit
| Posted: 2006-01-31 09:48
mines do no real damage, scouts can eat em for breakfast (scouts eat a lot of things for breakfast, but thats beside the point)
if you're a good mine player, good on you, but theres basically no use for it these days
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Darkheyr ={NuKe Squad}=
Fleet Admiral
Joined: October 23, 2001
Posts: 805
| Posted: 2006-01-31 10:06
*sigh* Goodbye to the last weapon based sorely on skill.
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Cataclysm
Cadet
Joined: November 26, 2005
Posts: 45
| Posted: 2006-01-31 10:22
The Scarab cruiser is still quite useful, I'm not entirely sure how much the mines hit but tis a fun ship to fly.
Topbum was surrounding our planets in lalande with mines as a defensive measure last night but you would have to ask him if they were effective atall.
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Light-of-Aurora
Grand Admiral
Joined: December 01, 2003
Posts: 602
From: NJ, USA
| Posted: 2006-01-31 10:31
People eat mines for breakfast??
**Happy Gilmore reference..  **
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Drafell
Grand Admiral
Mythica
Joined: May 30, 2003
Posts: 2449
From: United Kingdom
| Posted: 2006-01-31 11:42
Quote:
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On 2006-01-31 09:48, Doran wrote:
mines do no real damage, scouts can eat em for breakfast (scouts eat a lot of things for breakfast, but thats beside the point)
if you're a good mine player, good on you, but theres basically no use for it these days
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Including Extra-crispy Southern Fried K'luthy Claws™, now available for just 50 credits from a Battle-Station near you...
[ This Message was edited by: Drafell on 2006-01-31 11:42 ]
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DarkSpace Developer - Retired
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Fatal Rocko Willis
Fleet Admiral
Fatal Squadron
Joined: March 01, 2003
Posts: 1336
From: Kentucky
| Posted: 2006-02-01 13:16
I find mines in themselves cannot drop a capital class ship by themselves. Now if you use them in conjunction with say three combat class cruisers and a interdictor cruiser you can set one very nast trap for a unsuspecting ship coming through a jumpgate.
I saw this happen myself as I was the receipeant once. I came through a jump gate along with three smaller ships to chase a couple of damaged enemies only to find a triple ring of mines on the other side of the gate. The mines did not cripple me as i bullied through them to protect the weaker ships of my small unit but it did put me at a severe disadvantage against the 3 combat cruisers, dictor and supply ship waiting on the other side who immediatly jumped in after the trap was sprung.
I was very lucky to have a supply myself in attnedance or my Battle Dread would have been quickly reduced to a smoldering shell of its former glory. The day of the minefield is not over, it has just had its rules of employment changed. Minefields are still very useful if employed correctly.
The only thing I do not like about them currently is if you are going to weaken them there should be a longer time limit to them... I mean if I want to let down a minefield to protect a gate that I know the enemy will need to come through to get to a system let me put down a large minefield that will last awhile. The MK 60 Encapsulated Torpedo (CAPTOR) is a large mine that can sit on the bottom of a harbour for a very long time waiting for its prey. Trust me I know this for a fact because I used to help load them on Navy aircraft.
This is a generic, unclassified statement concerning the Captor Mine...
"The mine utilizes an influence firing device and is able to classify passing submarines. Its acoustic detection system is designed to seek hostile submarines, ignoring surface craft and friendly submarine acoustic signatures. The weapon lies dormant until a target is detected, at which time the torpedo swims out of its capsule to attack and destroy its target."
Why can't our mines in Darkspace be like this you may be thinking? Well in theory they are. They do lay dormant, in a sense, awaiting for a target. They are also not a torpedo mine but more akin to the old Contact mines that caused great damage to two US Navy warships in the First Gulf War (costing $21M US dollars to repair). DS mines should only be able to be detected by scanners (unless this is already the case). This would be akin to the sonars currently in usage to detect mines.
Now a DS concept Captor Mine could be a actual real homing torpedo akin to the pre-patch days. Now that levels are being removed in favor of a new weapons system I propose an idea, yes I actually do have ideas once in awhile, of a three mine system for DS. Follow along if you can.
Mine "A" is a simple contact mine akin to the old WWII style. You run over it, you get blasted by it. This mine is a "dumb" mine. It will do damage to anyone who runs over it and who is in the blast radius. This mine would be suitable for areas where you need for a quick and dirty minefield where you do not plan on crossing back over the minefield.
Mine "B" is what is concidered a "influence" mine. It is designed as a contact mine like the Mine "A" but only detonates when contacted my an enemy ship. This mine is basically what we have in DS at the current moment so no large change will have to made.
Now this is where it gets interesting...
Mine "C" is akin to the modern day Captor Mine. There would not be a large blast radius like Mines "A" and "B" but a torpedo (faction specific) launched from it at a approaching ship. This torpedo would have a detection radius where it tracks the target and orients the mine towards the target and a firing radius where the torp is actually fired at the offending ship. The one thing different about this torp is it would be homing like 1.480 torps but would sacrifice warhead power as compared to the "A" and "B" Mines. The reduced warhead would be to compensate for the guidance package.
Imagine the ship you dread the most chasing you into a captor minefield, the suddenly multiple torps (choose your flavor) suddenly poping out of nowhere coming towards the big bad wolf... now if that doesn't break off the pursuing bad guy then I am not sure what would.
I propose the mines be in a Normal and Heavy configuration. I am not sure about damage levels but I will use simple numbers to clarify what I mean.
Mine "A" would have a warhead strength of LvL 7 and LvL 10. This is to reflect the are all blast and no brains.
Mine "B" would have a warhead strength akin to say a LvL 5 and LvL 7 mines in DS today. This mine would have less blast power but is more "smarter" than the "A" Mine.
Mine "C" would have a LvL 3 and LvL 5 warhead akin to a torp. This is simply because of the guidance package required to guide the torp to its target.
***NOTE*** These numbers are for descriptive purposes only and do not reflect actual damage potentials. ***NOTE***
The last, and most important part of this in my opinion, is those that lay the minefields should get credit for any damage they do to enemy ships but conversly if you used the "dumb" Mine "A" you are also subject to negative pres for any damage you do to friendlies. Simply put while Mine "A" might give you a larger chance for ships damaged pres it also gives you a bigger chance for Friendly FIre negative pres and should make people in general think twice before laying these big monsters.
This is my idea how to bring Mine Warfare back into the DS game. It has been an element that has been sorely missed for a long time. It is a element that is not only a part of warfare but can be used as a very important game play balancer back into the game. I have several ideas as to how Mine Warfare can help this game. A simple "A" Mine minefield can stop bombing a planet cold if employed correctly.
This is my feelings on the matter and as such is a rant of sorts. I will end this on one last thought. If we have badges for most every type of event in DS why don't we have a Badge for Mine Warfare?
Rocko "The Mad Mine Man" Willis
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