So, I was getting tired of running my poor Scout and Minelayers around my ever expanding empire, and decided that my bigger systems were perfectly capably of taking care of those duties without every getting off their lazy colonial butts.
The solution was inspired... drones! One small PDC with 5 box launchers filled with these;
Albatross MK I
Missile Size: 28 MSP (1.4 HS) Warhead: 0 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 5
Speed: 8600 km/s Endurance: 1042 minutes Range: 537.5m km
Cost Per Missile: 16.95
Second Stage: Sensor Mine (Thermal) x1
Second Stage Separation Range: 1,000 km
Overall Endurance: 1621 days Overall Range: 537.5m km
The Albatross can be configured to carry any of the standard Terran Confederation buoys or mines (all a standard size 18).
Sensor Mine (Active)
Buoy Size: 18 MSP (0.9 HS) Armour: 0
Reactor Endurance: 72 months
Active Sensor Strength: 8.4 Sensitivity Modifier: 110%
Resolution: 50 Maximum Range vs 2500 ton object (or larger): 6,530,000 km
Cost Per Buoy: 23.05
Materials Required: 14.4x Boronide 8.4x Uridium
Sensor Mine (Thermal)
Buoy Size: 18 MSP (0.9 HS) Armour: 0
Reactor Endurance: 72 months
Thermal Sensor Strength: 3.3 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 3,300,000 km
Cost Per Buoy: 17.95
Materials Required: 14.4x Boronide 3.3x Uridium
Then I realized that you can do some pretty NASTY things with PDC's (faster ground reload) and these suckers. Very handy area denial via drone dropped minefields....
These handy little items
M18 Caltrop ASM Mine Mk III
Buoy Size: 18 MSP (0.9 HS) Armour: 0
Reactor Endurance: 45.6 months
Active Sensor Strength: 0.56 Sensitivity Modifier: 110%
Resolution: 50 Maximum Range vs 2500 ton object (or larger): 430,000 km
Cost Per Buoy: 20.9282
Second Stage: SS-N-2-B Thorn IV Submunition x4
Second Stage Separation Range: 400,000 km
Carrying 4 of these;
SS-N-2-B Thorn IV Submunition
Missile Size: 2.5 MSP (0.125 HS) Warhead: 4 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 15
Speed: 26400 km/s Endurance: 0 minutes Range: 0.4m km
Active Sensor Strength: 0.5558 Sensitivity Modifier: 110%
Resolution: 50 Maximum Range vs 2500 ton object (or larger): 430,000 km
Cost Per Missile: 2.7808
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 396% 3k km/s 120% 5k km/s 79.2% 10k km/s 39.6%
Then I had an even nasty stroke of brilliance. The Caltrops have active sensors, which the bad guys dont like. It tends to have their defenses prepped since they can see them. So the trick is to NOT let them see them....
M18HS Tarantula ASM Mine Mk II
Buoy Size: 18 MSP (0.9 HS) Armour: 0
Reactor Endurance: 49.8 months
Thermal Sensor Strength: 0.385 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 385,000 km
Cost Per Buoy: 19.168
Second Stage: SS-N-3-Mc Sidewinder Submunition x3
Second Stage Separation Range: 275,000 km
Carrying three of these;
SS-N-3-Mc Sidewinder Submuntion
Missile Size: 3 MSP (0.15 HS) Warhead: 5 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 16
Speed: 24300 km/s Endurance: 0 minutes Range: 0.4m km
Thermal Sensor Strength: 0.275 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 275,000 km
Cost Per Missile: 2.891
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 388.8% 3k km/s 128% 5k km/s 77.8% 10k km/s 38.9%
I found that lobbing these in front of the advancing bad guys axis of advance can produce some pretty interesting results. Since they are very small, and thermally activated, the bad guys motored right over them and got a pretty nice surprise.
Even more fun, they make EXCELLENT jump denial weapons. I had a truly ANNOYING enemy fleet that kept jumping in system, mixing up with my ships and running like hell when their ammo ran dry. I hadn't spotted the jump point they were using, since the annoying twits kept potting my survey ships. I had two drone carrier ships sitting WAY out from the area I suspected the jump point was, and I had a small PDC with the Thermal mine drones. I spammed the big thermal mine drones along the path they had taken before and fled down the last time.
Sure enough, the twits showed back up a couple of months later for another raid and the thermals spotted them. I didnt get the jump point that time, but I narrowed down the area and lobbed thermal mines. Four months later and BINGO, I get a enemy transit message in the log, and and a nice thermal spot to mark it.
Bad guys sortied to go attack my fleet, but while they were away, my two drone carriers dropped 40 Albatross drones with active mines in front of the suspected warp point.
Bad guys missile cruisers ran for the warp point again, and got to eat 160 missiles off of the mines.
The only way this could be more fun, is if the Thermal mines didn't tip off the NPR's as to who shot them.... think of the fun to be had with THAT!!