Guide to Munitions

Do you long for new experiences? Are you comfortable working under pressure? Do you do well when working with explosives? Like making things go boom? If so, this is the guide for you! If you follow these simple instructions you will be prepared to load and maintain all of the weapons on your assigned vessel and qualified to call yourself a professional Munitions Technician. Be wary though, much like the goalie on a professional soccer team, you're the first one to blame if things go sour in combat, second only to the command staff, but if you can't handle the heat - stay out of the munitions bay.

Operating the guns

No smoking! Missiles, gunpowder bags and artillery shells blow up very easily, even from the smallest spark. Don't smoke, use welders, etc. in the weapons bay.

As a Munitions Technician, munitions assigned squad member, or Master At Arms, your job is to supply and control the various weapons on the ship to make sure they continue firing. This includes 50 Cal. Cannons, Railguns, Artillery cannons, Torpedo tubes, Gauss turrets, and the Automated Missile System (AMS). The faster you can load and prepare these weapons, the faster they can open fire on enemy ships. Do note that not all of the weapons listed here may be on your assigned vessel, so be certain to take inventory at the beginning of a shift and prepare accordingly for each weapon's needs.

An example of an Artillery bay configuration.

Point Defense Cannons

Point Defense cannons (PDCs) are the lifeblood of short ranged combat, serving as a rapid-fire weapon that is effective at taking down enemy fighters that other weapons may miss and destroying incoming missiles and torpedoes.

Luckily for you, loading these cannons is as easy as firing them. Just go to the loading rack, and insert the new boxes

Artillery Cannon (Deck Gun)

The deck guns are massive cannons that, when operated correctly, can obliterate any enemy in an instant. They fire heavy projectiles which need to be primed before loading and are fueled with gunpowder which is used to propel the ammunition.
Loading Naval Artillery goes like this:

1. Acquire a projectile, and arm it with a multitool.
2. Drag it onto the Payload Loading Gate.
3. Acquire the propellant of choice (either gunpowder or plasma-based accelerant), and load it into the Payload Loading Gate.
4. Go to the console and hit "Pack from loader".
5. Repeat these steps many times if you want a faster shot. You will generally load 6 bags of normal gunpowder.
6. Go back to the Console, and hit "Feed Shell".
7. Voila! The shell is ready to fire. After the gun has fired - you will hear that anywhere on the ship - repeat these steps

It's important to note that there is no limit to how much gunpowder can be loaded at one time, meaning you can insert only 1 or even 20 bags of powder. Most of the time you'll want to put in a fair amount (about 5 bags or more) of powder as the cannon round travels very slowly without it, but it's best to get in contact with the ship's tactical systems operator (one of the bridge staff) about this if possible. If you let them know how much powder you're going to load they'll be able to maximize damage output.

To see how much power is behind each shot, look on the console. It will tell you how much propellant is packed in, in units called dT. Unpacked shells start out with 25% dT, 1 bag of gunpowder adds 25% dT, and one unit of plasma-based accelerant adds 50% dT. A Hungry gunpowder bag's dT% varies greatly depending on how much it has been fed.

Autonomous Missile System (AMS)

The automated missile system is a series of missile tubes linked up to a central computer, this allows it to fire missiles and torpedos automatically at targeted enemies, which are capable of dealing incredible damage and can home in on the enemy ships, making shots almost always guaranteed to hit. Loading the missiles is simple, requiring them to be assembled and then dragged onto the tube. Then walk over to the assigned Ordenance Computer, click "Payload Loaded" then "Payload Chambered". Don't forget to turn off safeties!

Controlling the AMS is fairly simple, as you can do it with the press of a button. Simply walk over to the AMS control console and select one of two firing modes:

Anti-ship

While using the anti-ship firing mode, the targeting system fires its missiles at enemy ships within its detection radius. It will also fire at enemy ships that have been targeted by fighters.

Countermeasure

If you select the countermeasure firing mode, the system will prioritize targeting incoming gunfire to avoid the ship getting hit. It also fires at ships within the detection radius if there's no incoming projectiles.

Torpedo Tubes

Torpedo tubes are the slower, bulkier counterparts of VLS tubes. Torpedo tubes are slow loading, require maintenance, but are capable of dealing incredible damage and can home in on the enemy ships, making shots almost always guaranteed to hit. They have mostly been replaced by VLS tubes, given their easier maintenance and automation. However, you may still see them on some ships.

To load a torpedo tube, acquire a pre-made torpedo by dragging one onto a trolley (trolleys have a capacity of 5 torpedos) and bringing it over to the tube. Click on the trolley, click a torpedo to detach it, then drag and drop the torpedo into the tube to begin loading it. Afterward, use the adjacent console and press "Load tray", "Chamber Tray Payload", and finally "Disengage safeties" to finish loading the Torpedo tube. Remember to re-engage the Torpedo tube safeties whenever reloading to prevent damage

Maintenance

Torpedo tubes require maintenance when they're used too much. You probably want to perform maintenance between each bout of combat.
Note: make sure there's nothing in the weapon and that the safeties are on, to prevent unnecessary explosions.

1. Unscrew the maintenance hatch on the primary external casing
2. Unbolt (wrench) the internal maintenance panel
3. Apply 10 units of Oil to the exposed internal machinery, repeat as needed
4. Bolt (wrench) the panel, then fix (screwdriver) the hatch back in place

Gauss Guns

Gauss guns can be found exclusively on multi-z maps, and fire 300mm Teflon coated tungsten rounds. Unlike other ship weaponry, these are not controlled by Bridge Staff using the tactical console and are typically manned by Munitions Technicians. Gauss guns require no maintenance.

To man gauss guns, buckle yourself into the gauss gunner chair and you'll rise into the cockpit above. To fire, click on the overmap to fire a powerful short-range burst. Gauss guns eat through ammo quickly, and you'll ideally want someone below deck keeping you loaded at all times. Loading tungsten rounds is as simple as placing them in a crate, click-dragging it to the loading rack, and sending it up for reloading. Additional slugs can be acquired from a nearby Gauss ammunition dispenser that can be upgraded by science to produce slugs at a faster rate.

Superliminal Bluespace Artillery

The Superliminal BSA is a massive machine which can accelerate a bolt of concentrated quark-gluon plasma to superliminal speeds, tearing clean through targets and annihilating everything in its path. It was developed from Bluespace Artillery cannons acquired in questionably legal way.

Operating it is simple, maintaining it is harder. It requires a massive amount of power just to fire even once. To input this power, simply go to it's console, set a desired amount of incoming power, and enamble charging.

Ensure that it has a clear firing path to space.

Flak cannons

Flak cannons fire a large amount of proximity-detonated ammunition at incoming torpedos and missiles. They excel at defending against these forms of weaponry, but they have very limited range.

Operating them is as simple as inputting a new box of ammo into the rack on the wall.

Acquiring ammunition

This is inevitable, the ship will consume ammo at a rapid rate. If you are out of ammo outside of combat, the following list will instruct you on how to acquire more. If you are out of ammo mid-combat you're fucked , communicate this with CIC and the rest of your team and use what you have left for the other weapons while coordinating with cargo.

PDC/Flak/Deck gun

These are the easiest ammunition types to acquire. All of these can be bought in crates through cargo for varying amounts of credits. The gunpowder for the deck guns can also be acquired this way.
Deck guns do have one exception, if the research has been done it is possible to print new types of gunpowder and bullets using the munitions techfab.

Torpedoes and Missiles

Torpedoes and missiles, unfortunately, cannot be ordered fully assembled and must be built by your own oil-covered hands. You need multiple things from cargo - components, casings, and warheads. Standard and armor piercing warheads can be ordered from cargo, but the other types must be researched by science before they can be made in the protolathe. Once you have all of these, turn on that conveyor belt and get this party started!

These are the steps you need to construct a missile or torpedo:

1. Get a casing, either made from metal or ordered from cargo.
2. Add the propulsion system.
3. Wrench the propulsion into place.
4. Add the guidance system.
5. Screwdriver the guidance system in place.
6. Add the IFF card.
7. Screwdriver the card in place.
8. Add the warhead.
9. Wrench the warhead in place.
10. Wire it.
11. Wrench once more.
12. Weld it all together.

There are a total of six different types of torpedoes you can make. Each serves a different purpose.

• Standard torpedoes are your stock standard torps. They carry an explosive payload that does a fair amount of damage to ships and fighters alike.
• Armor piercing torpedoes are able to do heavy damage to armored targets. Good against large ships.
• Nuclear torpedoes are the most powerful of the explosive torpedoes. They deal devastating damage to anything they hit, but are slower and more expensive than the other torpedo types. Use them wisely, as you won't be able to make more until science researches them.
• Decoy torpedoes don't carry an explosive payload, but can be used to distract an enemy's defensive weapons, giving you a clear shot for your more powerful weapons.
• Freight torpedoes are essentially cargo pods. Load them up and fire them at another ship to deliver the goods.
• Probes are torpedoes strapped with an array of scientific sensors. Firing one of these at an anomaly will generate research for science, and potentially unlock new technology nodes. Don't miss.

Unfortunately it's only possible to construct one type of missile right now.

• High-velocity missiles are the standard missile type, they explode upon making impact and do a moderate amount of damage.

Autonomous Missile Factory

The missile factory on the Tycoon

So you thought you had to wrench, weld and wire each missile individually? Of course not! The future is now! There's a quick and easy way to mass-produce missiles available right in the middle of your munitions bay: The factory line.

The Missile factory consists of three key parts: the conveyor belts, which have usually been slowed down to accommodate for the working speed of the robots. Tool arms, which use specific tools on the casing and are colored grey, and red colored part arms that apply parts such as guidance computers to the missiles. The robot arms in the factory always apply their effect in the direction the red arrows on their frame are pointing, but can be loaded with parts from any direction. They also have no part holding limit, so you can fill them up with as many parts as you want.

You can even extend the factory! The parts required for making factory machines can all be printed in the munilathe along with the conveyor belts after their research has been completed.

You're ready

It may be difficult to swallow all of the information you've read, but don't worry! You'll very rarely be working with all of these weapons at once as you have fellow Munitions Technicians at your side to pick up your slack. Above all, remember to have fun. With a bottle of spray paint, you can do all manner of things - name your torpedo tubes, draw funny faces near the PDC racks, and draw the borderline between the rest of the ship and the newly independent Munitia.

More Dakka

Is the ships just floating around in friendly space? Are all the guns loaded and you have nothing better to do? Or are those glorified laser pointers simply not enough? Fear not, because now you can even BUILD more guns! From the smallest PDC to the largest Railgun, you can outfit your ship with all the firepower.

Disclaimer: You can't print new weapon circuit boards. This means that whatever weaponry you had roundstart, you are stuck with those. However, you can still move them.

With that out of the way, here is a tip if you want to arm your ship:

• Don't overestimate how much ammo you have. Because while making the ship into a giant sniper rifle with 20 NACs might be fun, cargo WILL swiftly run dry of credits trying to supply you with ammo. 30 PDCs WILL destroy all the Torpedoes launched at you, but the crew will easily go deaf from all the pom-pom-pom.
  • For this reason, giving the Munitions budget card to cargo is highly recommended.

Here is how you can construct ship weaponry:

PDC loading rack

File:PDCrack.png PDC loading rack	Requires to build	How to build
	x5 x4 Point Defense Cannon circuit board x4 x2 x3	Build and the PDC loading rack frame from 5 metal Put it on a wall Wrench it on Wire it Add the Circuit board Add 4 micro-manipulators Add 2 capacitors Add 3 matter bins You can do this using an RPED Add the Firing electronics The order of these 4 steps does not matter Screwdriver it to finish the machine
How to deconstruct
Tools	Screw the maintenance panel out Pry the parts out Cut the wiring Unwrench the frame Lift it off the wall with your hands

Torpedo Tube

File:Torptube.png Torpedo Tube	Requires to build	How to build
	x4 x6 x1	Build Torpedo Tube frame from 4 Plasteel Sheets Wrench it into place Weld it to the floor Add the Nanocarbon glass for the barrel Wrench the barrel in Wire the frame Add the Firing Electronics Screw the electronics in Add the Nanocarbon glass for the door Wrench the door in place Screw the maintenance hatch
How to deconstruct
Tools	Screw the maintenance panel out Wrench the inner casing Note: The weapon can now be lubricated Pry the casing out Unscrew the door frame Wrench the door out Pry the door out of the frame Unscrew the electronics Pry the electronics out of their place Cut the wires away Unbolt the barrel Pry the barrel out Unweld the frame from the floor Unbolt the frame Weld the frame apart

VLS launch tube

VLS launch tube	Requires to build	How to build
	x35 x20 x20 x10 VLS launch tube board	Build and wire a Machine Frame from 5 metal Click here for a detailed construction. Add the Circuit board Add 20 titanium Add 30 metal Add 20 copper Add 10 cable Screwdriver it to finish the machine
How to deconstruct
Tools	Screw the maintenance panel out Wrench the inner casing Pry the casing out

Naval Artillery

Naval Artillery	Requires to build	How to build
	x120 x22 x35 x50 x5 x1 x34 x1 Deck gun core board Deck gun payload gate board Deck gun powder gate board Deck gun auto elevator board Deck loading computer board x1	Designate a 3 x 3 space with a free tile on the floor above it for your gun Building the indoors, multitile part Build and wire a Machine Frame from 5 metal in the middle for your Core Click here for a detailed construction. Build and wire at least three Machine Frames and a Computer frame from 20 metal around your Core, these will be the other parts of your Deck Gun Click here for a detailed construction. Note: Which machine frame will become which machine does not matter, only that they are next to the core Add the Deck gun core board to the machine frame in the middle Marked on the picture with Red Add 20 titanium and 5 cable Screwdriver to finish the core Add the Deck gun payload gate board Marked on the picture with Blue Add 40 titanium, 10 cable and 10 copper Add a Railgun rail Note: Can be made from 1 duranium Add the Loading tray Note: It's made from 10 metal Screwdriver to finish the payload gate Add the Deck gun powder gate board Marked on the picture with Purple Building more of these machines does not increase the number of gunpowder that can be inserted, as you can insert multiple from just one gate Add 20 titanium, 5 cable and 20 copper Screwdriver to finish the gate Add the Deck gun auto elevator board Marked on the picture with Yellow Add 40 titanium, 10 cable, 20 copper and 5 diamonds Screwdriver to finish the elevator Build a chair from any material Marked on the picture with White ANY chair will do Add the Deck gun loading computer board to the Computer frame Marked on the picture with Green Finish the construction like usual If all machines are done, hit the Core with a Multitool to have it scan for nearby machines Building the outdoors part Go to the deck above you, on the same spot as your Core Use a GPS Build a Deck gun frame from 20 plasteel Wrench it to the ground Weld it down Add the firing electronics Screw the electronics in Add an Igniter Alternatively, you can add a Triple Barrel Upgrade (currently Admin only) Screw the upgrade in Add 3 igniters Screw the Igniters in Wire the Igniters Weld the wiring down Add 2 plasteel Add a MAC barrel Can be made from 1 duranium In case the gun was upgraded, add 3 of these Weld the barrels down Add the Loading tray Note: It's made from 10 metal
How to deconstruct
Tools	The frame can be deconstructed this way: Screw the maintenance panel out If you examine the gun, there will be a button labeled "Force Eject Shell". Be warned, this will fire the shell. Wrench the inner casing Pry the loading tray out Unweld the barrel Pry the barrel out Unweld the inner plasteel casing Unweld the wiring Cut the wiring out Unscrew the igniters Remove the igniters by hand If it was upgraded with a Tripple Barrel upgrade, you need to Unscrew it Then Pry it out Unscrew the firing electronics Pry the electronics out Unweld the frame from the floor Unbolt the frame from the floor Cut the frame apart with a welder The machines can be deconstructed this way: Screw the maintenance panel out Remove the components and the circuit board with a crowbar Cut the wires out Unwrench the frame from the ground Dissasemble the frame with a screwdriver

As said before, this is advanced stuff, usually you don't need to build new guns, and it's one hell of a job to try and keep them all loaded. But it does take up the downtime that you otherwise would have spent in the bar, and some weird people might find it fun.

*Nanotrasen brand gunpowder is not suitable for use in hot or burning environments, keep away from children with lighters.