(Legion 4 @ Jan. 24 2007,21:30)
QUOTE
Well it came up before, IIRC, so let me know what you think ? ?Should the Manticore (all versions) be just an Artillery piece with direct and indirect fire capabilities ? ? Or be an ?Anti-Air Weapon too ? ?It's possible for a weapons system to be both, WWII German 88, Weapons systems in Hammer's Slammers, etc. Most (but not all) AAA weapons can do both ... ?And since a Manticore fires missiles/rockets, those could be duel purpose (DP) ? ? So what do you Boyz think ? ?I'm leaning toward DP ? ?
The German 8.8cm was convertable because an AA gun and an anti-tank gun both have the same rough guidelines: high-velocity shell that can go long range. The AA aspect needs the high velocity to reach altitude, the anti-tank aspect needs the high velocity for higher kinetic energy.
You can't really dual-purpose an artillery missile, unless you want to make it REALLY expensive. Now, you can make the launcher dual purpose pretty easily. The thing is that any missiles launched will have to be roughly the same size. Since artillery missiles tend to be big, and the ones on the maniticore are big, any AA missiles coming off of that thing will be too big to be maneuverable enough to be a tactical AA missile. They'd have to be a long-range anti-bomber missiles.
*IF* you want to get funny and make the Manticore a dual-use weapon, I suggest that for a price they can launch AA missiles that can only target war engines. Give the AA missile a -4 to hit modifier, with a +1 to hit for every point of starting DC the target has. Give the warhead a TK(D3) rating.
Or something like that, you guys work out the details.
Thanks for your input, "O" ! 
