[foolfromhell]

A Deimos with all Trebuchets instead of beams/weapons can take down any enemy ship. it can even take down a Sathanas if its not in front of the Sathanas.
An Aeolus or Leviathan with all Maxims can defend against virtually any fighter/bomber attack. It can shoot down all bombs easily.
Plus, All Trebuchets or Maxims is probably a LOT more cost-effective than "awesome beam technology".
I'm sure the GTVA/GTA could fire a harbinger/Helios at more than 50m/s... Hell, even great war era ships loaded with Phoenix Vs could have taken down the "fearsome" Shivan ships easily...
The recharge rate on beams is huge!!!
A Deimos can hold a few hundred or probably a few thousand Trebuchet Missiles... Probably a few hundred Helios Bombs... Of course, the destruction of the Deimos would mean a HUGE bang.
A combo of Maxim Deimos and Trebuchet+Helios Deimos could pwn any ship. Except, perhaps the Lucifer. Just catch the Sathanas from the sides/behind.

[achtung]

Beams are pretty.

[BlueFlames]

When a stray spark sets off one of the stored Trebuchets, the Deimos' explosion will be too.

Space and volatility probably preclude designers from making such missile boats.  Could be that Command also enjoys a good game of MechWarrior *, minus LRM-whoring jackasses.

* -- Was going to say three, but missile boaters are pretty lame in any iteration of the game....

[foolfromhell]

I think the risk would be worth it if a Deimos could take down a Ravana... By itself...

[jr2]

Hmm, I know some warheads have to be armed to really detonate... IDK.

[Mr. Vega]

If a warhead gets hit with weapon fire, then it doesn't matter what the detonator is doing silly.

[jr2]

Really?  Unless, ofc, it's a nuke. 

[Mongoose]

Last time I checked, beams move a hell of a lot faster than bombs or missiles, and the second-to-last time I checked, they can't be shot down or blocked by countermeasures.

[Mathwiz6]

Also, I'm betting energy to power beams is less costly than making a bunch of missiles.

[Flipside]

Big Bombs move slowly and can be shot. Probably the best betw would be something like a Treb-Boat, which is designed to paralyse, rather than defeat an opponent, but that would just make the game too easy.

[GenericCorvette]

And while we're tinkering with missile boats, let's bring back the targetting laser so we can summon huge waves of Helios bombs on command.

[Topgun]

local ssm... [kool aid man] Oh Yeah!

[jr2]

And while we're tinkering with missile boats, let's bring back the targetting laser so we can summon huge waves of Helios bombs on command.

[raspy, altered male voice]*They'll never know what hit them!*[/raspy, altered male voice]

*PHSSRRRRRRRRR!*

[female AI voice]*Nuclear launch detected*[/female AI voice]

[foolfromhell]

Last time I checked, beams move a hell of a lot faster than bombs or missiles, and the second-to-last time I checked, they can't be shot down or blocked by countermeasures.

#1. If a ship is moving at 30m/s, it adds 30 m/s to the speed of the bomb anyway. Making it harder to shoot down. And, im sure that a Deimos would have a stronger launching-mechanism that a bomber.
#2 when targeting a ship, dumb-fire is enough. No need to lock on. If you need to shoot down subsystems/turrets, use trebuchets...

let's bring back the targetting laser so we can summon huge waves of Helios bombs on command.

Wtf is a targeting laser? Is it in the game?

[Ghostavo]

Bombers are used as a mean to launch bombs close enough to the target so that they won't be shot down. Capital ships usually have lasers, flak weaponry, and AAA beam cannons to deal with bombs. A capital ship launching bombs not only risks being damaged from bombs that are blown as they launch (also a danger for friendlies), but also risks doing no damage at all against a well protected capital ship . A beam cannon can only be stopped by destroying it.

[GenericCorvette]

A beam cannon can only be stopped by destroying it.

Or by getting in the way, if all the harassing from fellow cruiser captains has drained all of your will to live.

[foolfromhell]

Look here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrahMos
Its technology TODAY.
And it can go up to Mach3.
Speed of sound is 340.29 m / s
Meaning, this can go 1000+ M/s
And this isnt even the most advanced tech today.
The range of these missiles doesnt have to be more than a few kilometers at MAX. A ballistic bomb with no rocket propulsion also would work. Its only a few kilometers!

In space, there is NO Friction with air, and no Gravity to pull down the missile.
Its reasonable to assume that Anti-Ship weapons hundreds of years in the future can go 1000+ m/s.
Flak/Turrets find it hard to shoot down a bomb at 150 M/s, which isnt even much. Get a Helios, mod it to go 150 m/s and get a Fenris to shoot it at any enemy ship. Especially an Orion. 95% of the time, the bomb will reach its target. Unless there are some 30 ships running intercept. And even then, its highly unlikely. No ships except a few Shivan ones can go at 150 m/s.

Edit: A cyclops bomb is fission bomb. Meaning, its as stable as any weapon in modern arsenals. Nuclear bombs dont explode when shot. They need to be DETONATED. Meaning, risk of blowing up is minimal.

[Ghostavo]

Look here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrahMos
Its technology TODAY.
And it can go up to Mach3.
Speed of sound is 340.29 m / s
Meaning, this can go 1000+ M/s
And this isnt even the most advanced tech today.
The range of these missiles doesnt have to be more than a few kilometers at MAX. A ballistic bomb with no rocket propulsion also would work. Its only a few kilometers!

In space, there is NO Friction with air, and no Gravity to pull down the missile.
Its reasonable to assume that Anti-Ship weapons hundreds of years in the future can go 1000+ m/s.

No it isn't, unless you want to explain why fighters in FS don't go above 200m/s and missiles or bombs are also extremelly slow in comparison to modern ones.

Flak/Turrets find it hard to shoot down a bomb at 150 M/s, which isnt even much. Get a Helios, mod it to go 150 m/s and get a Fenris to shoot it at any enemy ship. Especially an Orion. 95% of the time, the bomb will reach its target. Unless there are some 30 ships running intercept. And even then, its highly unlikely. No ships except a few Shivan ones can go at 150 m/s.

 

I can mod a fighter to go at the speed of light, but that doesn't mean it can happen. If most bombs in FS are slow, there is probably a reason for it.

Edit: A cyclops bomb is fission bomb. Meaning, its as stable as any weapon in modern arsenals. Nuclear bombs dont explode when shot. They need to be DETONATED. Meaning, risk of blowing up is minimal.

When shot down, a bomb in FS will explode. Regardless of what type/kind of explosion, it will damage nearby ships.

[Gregster2k]

It would be interesting to completely eliminate the stupid "OMG INTERCEPT BOMBZ!" crap from the game by giving capital ships (or some capital ships) point defense lasers capable of taking out bombs instantly no matter how fast the bombs are, then make the bombs as fast-feeling as modern-day weapons.

[AlphaOne]

Well if the FS universe beams are efective enough. The shivan beam tech is even more efecive it is just the GTVA beam tech that sucks ! Altough they have made some reamakable improvement with the Mjolnir beam cannons.

also do not forget that a ravana can take out your destroyer in what 15 or 20 seconds??? A lot fater then with bombs. Altough not for the GTVa since they cant get anywhere near the front firing ark of a shivan warship without loosing.