Traveller Tuesday: Meson Barbettes

One of the interesting things about 2e Mongoose High Guard is that they've made barbettes interesting again by giving them several new flavors. Torpedoes and missiles have gotten a much-needed upgrade, and so torp barbs are no longer useless; missile barbs can shoot 5 missiles at once, making them much more dangerous. Particle beams have been removed from turrets and relegated to barbettes, which is annoying, but fusion and plasma barbs have been added to the mix as well.

Then there are the exotics, Ion Cannons and Gravimetric Distorters, which I don't care for because the former feels too much like Star Wars and the latter is just silly (make it a Schlock Mercenary-style gravy gun and I'll consider it).

And then there's the Tachyon Cannon. Put simply, meson guns in 2e HG are spinal-mount only (boo! hiss!), and so as a replacement we've been given tachyon guns which are sorta-kinda like meson guns only not as useful -- it does less damage, but is armor-piercing. What's funny, though, is that while meson guns were bay-only weapons, tachyon guns also come in a barbette flavor.

You know where this is going.

My use of Traveller setting and dress falls under
fair use guidelines for both Mongoose and Far Future Enterprises.

Meson Barbette

TL 11
Range Long
Power 12
Damage 6D*
Cost 15 MCr
Traits AP special, Radiation

* In the Alternate/High Tech chapter of 2e HG, 50 ton meson bays have had their damage increased to 8d6 (from 1e's 5d6). Since tachyon guns start at 2D for barbs and increase by 2 for small/medium/large bays, and 2e's meson bays are 8D/10D/20D, I just continued the progression.

What? Why are you looking at me like that?

Look, in 2e everything that can be a bay weapon can also be a barbette, and there are rules for meson bays for those of us who don't want to give them up. I'd say it's perfectly logical, and well within the rules, to derive a meson barbette.

If anything, I think that the Tech Level of meson guns is too low, but they've been TL 11 since Classic Traveller. 

That sound you're hearing? Those are the Close Escort ships becoming a hell of a lot more useful.

(System Defense Boats are also scarier with this mod, but let's be honest: they were scary anyway.)