Nukes vs Castles

[Jellico]

Do nukes mess with building's sensors under Alpha Srike?

[Elmoth]

Are there even rules for nukes in alpha strike? I do not think so. Will check the PDF tomorrow to be sure

[Tai Dai Cultist]

There are rules for capital weapon attacks on ground units, which may as well be nukes.

IIRC there aren't any emp related disruption rules though for Alpha Strike.  Certainly something house rules-wise could be whipped up.  My first instinct to represent EMPs would be to penalize Battlefield Intelligence.

[Jellico]

I am mostly interested because a nuke hit in regular Aerotech adds a +2 to your gunnery for every hit. I assume Alpha Strike ships and buildings would suffer the same.

[nckestrel]

There are no rules for nuclear weapons in Alpha Strike.

[Cannonshop]

There are no rules for nuclear weapons in Alpha Strike.

seems like kind of an odd oversight, esp. when you've got orbital strikes.

I am mostly interested because a nuke hit in regular Aerotech adds a +2 to your gunnery for every hit. I assume Alpha Strike ships and buildings would suffer the same.

possible integration?  make a given nuke do LESS immediate damage, impose the targeting penalty, and possibly create a zone of low-point sustained damage?

[Jellico]

I was thinking a multi part mission starting with a wild weasel run to ECM out the AA, followed by an ortillery pass against cap missiles firing virtually blind. The castle itself would be basically nuke proof in any practical timeline.

I am trying to make use of the theory you break capital naval assets into bites manageable for gameplay.

[nckestrel]

seems like kind of an odd oversight, esp. when you've got orbital strikes.

possible integration?  make a given nuke do LESS immediate damage, impose the targeting penalty, and possibly create a zone of low-point sustained damage?

If you want everything dead, just say so.  Having two pages of rules to calculate the same result seemed anti-Alpha Strike.  Just my opinion.  Also, I didn’t put orbital strikes in :).

[Cannonshop]

If you want everything dead, just say so.  Having two pages of rules to calculate the same result seemed anti-Alpha Strike.  Just my opinion.  Also, I didn’t put orbital strikes in :).

I'm just batting the ball around a bit.  If we go with the supposition that capital ship weapons have a genuine purpose, then there's got to be a reason to use them over the much older, simpler, and less costly nuclear option.

the obvious answer is that cap-grade weapons do more damage, more cleanly.  (aka your Orbom does lots of immediate damage without fallout effects. Nukes have fallout and don't do as MUCH immediate damage, but do create a 'danger zone' on terrain that is hostile to both friendlies and enemies.)

figure a mass/damage of around 75% of the damage of an equivalent orbital weapon, but it creates a danger zone on the map for terrain control (or a danger zone for your own guys, if you consider them expendable.)

[Elmoth]

I guess that 50 years of radiation compared to just creating a new construction area using a bombardment is a strong reason of why sheeling something might be a better option. If you intend the area to be usable for the next few generations, that is.

[NightlyReaper]

I'd be really interested to know this answer as I am trying to put together a scenario featuring Word of Blake in 3072 which was prime nukeage time for them.  Everything else to convert the scenario from CBT to Alpha Strike is in there, rules for Elementals, special weapons, all of it, but nothing on what to do about being nuked while inside a fortress, which is a real threat in my scenario.

Thanks,
NightlyReaper

[Crackerb0x]

I'd be really interested to know this answer as I am trying to put together a scenario featuring Word of Blake in 3072 which was prime nukeage time for them.  Everything else to convert the scenario from CBT to Alpha Strike is in there, rules for Elementals, special weapons, all of it, but nothing on what to do about being nuked while inside a fortress, which is a real threat in my scenario.

Thanks,
NightlyReaper

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, you're going to have to Home Brew it. You might consider taking the damage values listed for nuclear weapons in Strat Ops (I think?) and listed effects and do some rough conversioning. You're not going to get an official "this is how nukes work" since it's such an edge case on how to kill everyone and break their stuff.