Briefly mentioned on page 55 of
Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents is the Mark IX DropBuster nuclear warhead. Knowing they're carried by gunboat ships and, most importantly, have a 1-megaton yield gives us enough to work out some basic rules to make them usable.
Standard Nuclear Weaponry Table - AddendumWeapon (nuclear Yield) | Base Impact Damage (Standard) | Capital Damage (Crit Chance) | Blast Radius (Ground/Air) | Damage Reduction (Ground/Air) | Secondary Radius (Ground/Air) | Height (Blast/Secondary) | Crater Depth |
Mark IX (1,000 Kilotons) | 200,000 | 2,000 (7+) | 250/332 | 800/451 | 500/886 | 10/Row 2 | 5 |
Mark IX/DropbusterIntroduced: ???
Available to: SC, DS, JS, WS, SS, MS
Used by the Taurian concordat for planetary defense, the Dropbuster was deployed against a mysterious asteroid assault against Taurus in 3074. Considered a less-extreme modification of the Asset Management Weapon, the Dropbuster retains the ability to fire at ships in space, albeit without the missile's trademark accuracy as some guidance equipment did have to be removed.
Game Rules: The Mark IX can be launched by any unit that carries a Barracuda or AR10 capital missile launcher. The missile weighs as much as a standard Barracuda, and follows all normal rules for executing attacks against other unit or as orbit-to-ground fire, with the exception that the missile's -2 To-Hit modifier is ignored. The missile can also be carried externally by a Small Craft as though it were a fighter carrying External Ordinance, occupying 15 hardpoints. Against any ground targets, a Mark IX/Dropbuster must designate at the time of firing whether it has been armed for an air-burst or ground-burst attack. (Mark IX/Dropbuster nuclear weapons fired at targets in flight, or in space, are always set for contact detonation.)
If advanced point defense rules are in play, the Mark IX/Dropbuster may be engaged by point defenses as if it were a Barracuda capital missile, with 2 points of capital-scale armor. A successful attack by a MarkIX/Dropbuster in space, or while on the High Altitude map, is resolved as per the rules for nuclear weapons in space. A successful attack in the air at low altitude will not only affect the airborne target in the same fashion as a target struck in space, but will also affect any targets directly below the airborne target's hex as if it were an air-burst detonation over the corresponding ground mapsheet. For simplicity, this air-burst is considered to be centered over said ground mapsheet.
A missed shot by a Mark IX/Dropbuster in space has no further effect in gameplay. Missed shots against airborne targets on the High Altitude map will travel to the weapon's maximum range, and then detonate in the air at whatever altitude they were fired, affecting only the units in that hex (if any). Missed shots aimed at the ground, or fired on the Low Altitude map, will scatter as per a missed artillery attack.
Critical hits to ammo slots containing a Mark IX/Dropbuster will not set off a nuclear detonation.
Construction Rules Mark IX/Dropbuster missiles may be loaded as alternative munitions for any Barracuda or AR10 capital missile launcher. Each Mark IX nuclear missile weighs the same as a corresponding Barracuda.
