No, at least not in real life.
Theorycraft - Starfarer MOAB delivery system.
- Thread starter NaffNaffBobFace
- Start date
Cool-Hand-Luke
Space Marshal
Going to need some equally good ground to air defense or the surface is going to be a death trap.
AntiSqueaker
Space Marshal
It's a pretty standard Sci-fi trope to have super powerful ground shields that can take a whole hock of punishment from space/aircraft (since generator/powerplant space requirements aren't an issue, unlike in a spacecraft which has obvious upper limits on how many generators you can cram into a place). Which might sound lame and defeating the point of a MOAB or bomber, but it opens up a new slew of gameplay mechanics to counter the shield generators, like armored assaults or stealth insertions.
Not to mention that you will most likely be able to get Surface to Air/Space Missile launcher systems or gun turrets, and if you're in UEE space I'm sure someone dropping a fucking MOAB on your place is going to raise a few alarms. I would hope.
Well one would hope.
Except for something that I just thought of, and if I give it much more thought my gunship will probably find itself melted or upgraded next opportunity: It might even mean you ignore most MOAB's. Bombs, including nukes, are so effective on earth because there is a relatively thick atmosphere that they affect. It's the atmosphere they affect which causes most of their damage.
In the vacuum of space, more damage would be done by ballistics - which brings us back to kinetic strikes. Even radiation is reduced to nothing much more serious than a localized occupational hazard for people living in space.
Cool-Hand-Luke
Space Marshal
Yes.. I believe a MOAB uses the oxygen at the detonation site and does not carry an oxidizer. No oxygen.. No boom.
Ahhhh, interesting direction of thinking - I've had another thought off the back of this:
As we have Artificial Gravity and Anti Gravity (as seen in ships and the hov bikes) and Tractor Beams in game... Dropping anything without the ability to correct its course is going to be futile.
Set up a couple of tractor beam stations on the roof of your base (some set to push rather than pull) and hell, with the right combination of anti-g helping them you could steal any bombs thrown at you, or even throw them right back!
Note to self: Have TEST Weapons Research Lab knock something up on Sunday Afternoon. Try to have the unit plaly "Return to sender" by Elvis when its running, if copyright allows.
We might already have something like that. As a member in good standing of TEST Squadron, I have crashed into the surface of Delemar and Cellin numerous times, only to find myself bounced back clear into orbit. I'm told that it might be due to shields that are on our ships. Now, not every ship is good at bouncing. The Freelancer tends to pitch end over end till it hits something else, the Connie tends to lose a lot of parts. But the Cutlass tends to spin like a rifle bullet and is the only ship I own that's made it back to orbit. I, on the other hand, tend to have my eyes closed tightly during part of this experience. Typically my avi has turned white as a sheet, and his first order of business after this experience is to locate a suitable place to change his drawers.
Nonetheless, what I'm saying is, we should try to use just a ship's shield generator to do the "Return to Sender" thing. But as the Freelancer and Connie demonstrate, it is also easy to do the "Photos Do Not Bend" thing, which, you know, is where the postman folds the envelope in half and writes, "Oh Yes They Do" underneath.
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