Re: Mass Drivers
When I did a stint on an Evil Empire ship
as part of an Officer exchange program they always used to launch their Mass Driver projectiles from as far away as 15 to 20 combat squares to avoid Satellite defences and surface to space fighters. They were only able to get off two shots and then had to retreat. The range didn't seem to matter, in fact the gravity well of the planet meant that the further away from the target the "mass" was fired the more damage it did due to the increased speed upon impact.
They were not very accurate until some bright spark suggested bolting small thruster rockets to the "mass" which could be fired remotely as a primitive guidance system. On one occasion they used it on a stricken carrier that had its engines disabled. It was only a partial hit but I reckon the carrier was only good for scrap after that.
One of the most devastating direct fire/come slow seeker weapons I'd ever seen in action. Easy to avoid as long as your engines are working.
Hell, you only fire mass drivers from Orbit if you like to watch the dust plumes.
I once saw a colony defend against this by launching fighters equipped with warheads and crashing into the driven "mass". They ejected just before impact. They managed to destroy it but having sacrificed all their fighter, surrendered anyway.
[ September 17, 2002, 21:41: Message edited by: Nomor ]