Close Quarters Combat... In Space
A simple enough question, but one that Grimmsdottir and I agonized over.
Basically, what would enable close-ranged fighting between space fleets/ships? We both agreed that having gargantuan ships sniping at one another from billions of miles away was no fun, so what would be a good method to force battles to be more personal?
Some ideas we have considered:
- Powerful phlebetonium shielding that necessitates the use of boarding parties.
- Minovsky Particles (or an expy thereof).
The harder the science, the better. But if hard science makes this impossible, soften the science instead of merely saying 'it can't be done'.
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1 answer
It could be a matter of resources. Missiles are expensive, flak is cheap, and has the added bonus of deflecting lasers. So if one ship can surprise another ship then a missile might take it out, but that's pretty hard with sensors being what they are. So most of the time the ships have to get pretty close to each other to fight effectively.
And as others have said, if you nuke the enemy ship then you won't get any plunder. Resources again. weapons, ammo, slaves? Not to mention having another ship to add to your fleet.
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