Master At Arms
| Master At Arms | |
|---|---|
 "Fuck it, load the nukes!" | |
| Information | |
| Access | Hangar Bay, Flight Deck, Munitions Bay, Air Traffic Control |
| Additional Access | Maintenance |
| Difficulty | Hard |
| Supervisors | Captain |
| Rank | Lieutenant Commander (LTCDR) |
| Duties | Get the Munitions Technicians to supply munitions, harass Cargo Technicians to supply munitions parts, and keep your Flight Leader and Air Traffic Controllers happy. |
| Guides | Guide to Fighters, Guide to Munitions |
You are the Master at Arms, also known as the guy who bosses around the MTs and pilots. You work with ATC to coordinate the fighters, make sure the MTs load and maintain the guns, and coordinate expansion to the ship's firepower. To be a good MAA it is crucial that you know the ins and outs of the munitions and fighter systems, as you will typically be manning the guns alongside your techs.
Bare minimum requirements: Supervise the reloading and maintenance of the ship's primary armaments and fighters. Make sure the MTs and pilots are doing their jobs. Know how to maintain the ship's weapons and fighters. Help coordinate fighters.
Basic Skills: Construction and Maintenance of the ship's weapons and fighters. Coordinating fighters to deal with internal threats as well as external ones.
Your Office[edit | edit source]
As the Master At Arms, you are given an office inside of Munitions. Your office contains the Fighter Control Console, your locker (Containing the Munitions Budget card, a Bomb Disposal Suit, and some spare clothing), and Antonio, your lovable pet NXT-IV Thermonuclear Warhead.
The Fighter Control Console[edit | edit source]
Your figher control console can do two things to every fighter: Toggle the weapons safeties, and eject the pilot. The former allows a fighter to fire its weapons on the ship Z-Level, which can be useful when unwelcome guests come aboard. The latter allows you to kick any unruly pilots out of their jets, similar to if you had swiped an ID on their jet. Note, however, that Emagged ships will not show up on the console, and can not be remotely controlled.
The Munitions Budget[edit | edit source]
If you order anything from Cargo, when possible you should be using the Munitions Budget to pay for it. This will allow you to buy more ammunition than using the cargo budget, and will also keep Cargo from immediately running out of money and murdering you.
Keeping Munitions Supplied[edit | edit source]
You start the round with a decent amount of ammunition, however you will be dependant on Cargo to order more/get more mats for you. PDC ammunition needs to be ordered, NAC shells can be ordered however with the right research cargo you can fabricate torpedo and missile components, Naval Artillery shells and powder using your own lathe.
Ideally, you and your MTs should be resupplying Munitions outside of combat, to limit downtime during engagements. You get access to the supply frequency for this reason.
Battery Control[edit | edit source]
Arguably your most important job as the MAA is to keep the weapons operational. There are 6 different weapon systems on the ship, all of which operate in different ways. These are: The AMS, Point Defense Cannons (PDCs), Torpedos, Railguns (only on certain ships), the NACs (also known as Naval Artillery Cannons ), and the Gauss Guns. Detailed information on these weapons systems can be found in the Guide to Munitions.
Maintaining the Guns[edit | edit source]
Whenever the ship isn't in combat, you and your MTs should be making sure the guns are in tip-top condition, lest you have to rip open a gun mid-battle. You will need Oil to lubricate the parts. Securing a steady supply from the Chemists is crucial to make sure your weapons remain operational, and having them build an oil factory in Munitions is even better.
Point Defense[edit | edit source]
One of the simplest weapons systems to maintain, the Point Defense Cannons fire from ammunition boxes. These can be held in one hand, and simply loaded into the loading rack by clicking. These are also some of the most crucial weapons to keep topped up, as they have the capability to easily intercept incoming missiles and rounds. The PD Cannon is also often used against strike fighters targeting the ship. Be sure to assign a few technicians to the PDCs, if you haven't opened it up to the public.
Their ammunition can be ordered from Cargo, and you should be making sure you always have a few boxes lying around.
The Big Guns[edit | edit source]
Some of the most destructive weapons on the ship, the Railguns and the Naval Artillery Cannons are the ship's primary armament during engagements with large enemy ships. The Railgun is capable of holding 5 railgun projectiles in slug mode and 1 projectile in shell mode, while the NACs must be loaded with a cannon round AND several bags of gunpowder. They are also some of the most maintenance intensive weapons, and will require frequent and quick reloading to keep the ship combat-effective. Ideally you should have at least 2 or 3 MTs manning this station at all times, since the Bridge Staff will quickly deplete the ammunition supply once in combat. The railgun is the only one really needing to be oiled, deployments usually end before other weapons require maintenance.
The Railguns take 400mm teflon-coated tungsten slugs, and the NACs take cannonballs, standard Naval Artillery shells, AP shells and gunpowder bags, which must be loaded onto a certain rack, all of which can be ordered from Cargo, or made in-house. You will want a lot of ammo for these on standby.
The Gauss Guns[edit | edit source]
On Multi-Z ships, there are often Gauss Guns. These weapons fire smaller slugs than the Railgun and MAC, however they fire in bursts and have higher ammo capacity. Often, there will be shutters to allow the general ship population to access the Gauss Guns, allowing crewmembers to help fight other ships. Since there are typically 3 or 4 Gauss Guns on a ship, this frees up several MTs to maintain the fighters and other weapons systems. You'll need to make sure that the crew operating the guns have hearing protection, however, else they'll go deaf from firing the guns.
Gauss Guns typically have Gauss Ammunition Dispensers nearby, which can dispense an infinite ammount of Gauss ammunition given enough time, thus the crew manning the guns can typically handle the reloading by themselves.
Load Torp[edit | edit source]
Munitions also has access to the Torpedo Tubes, which are used to launch powerful, high-velocity projectiles capable of dealing massive damage on hit. Nowadays they are used for probing wormholes and sending freight to stations. Your MTs will be typically loading these with either freight or probes for science, who will occasionally want to probe wormholes using aforementioned probe torpedos. There are also thermonuclear torpedos available for wiping entire ships off of the map. Naturally, it falls to you to coordinate loading these different ammo types, Make sure to communicate with CIC about what torps are loaded, lest you accidentally nuke that wormhole you were trying to probe.
Torpedo frames can be constructed from Metal Sheets, and the rest of the components can either be built at Cargo's Protolathe, or ordered from Cargo.
Age of Automation[edit | edit source]
The Automated Missile System (AMS) is a set of missile tubes, all linked to a computer. The computers can be set to one of two firing modes, Anti-Ship, or Countermeasure. As these missiles are automatically fired, all you and your techs need to be doing is loading them and setting the fire mode.
The ammunition (missiles) are constructed similarly to torpedoes, and the tubes are loaded identically to torpedo tubes. Components can be bought from Cargo, or constructed at a techfab once researched.
A semi-automated system using conveyors to load missiles is possible to construct. This is commonly referred to as AMBER.
Ground Crew[edit | edit source]
Pilot: "Hey, can I load 4 nukes on my fighter?"
MAA: "Sure."
BO: "Hey, MAA? Why are the torpedo tubes empty?"
As MAA, you will also have to make sure your fighter pilots keep the fighters maintained and topped up. You'll need Tyrosene to fuel the fighters (Which comes from Chemistry and Cargo, although there's a lot in the starting Tyrosene tanks), and Missiles and Torpedos to rearm them. You'll also need spare components to build and upgrade your fighters, which your pilots can print from the munitions lathe.
Upgrading/Repairing Jets[edit | edit source]
Occasionally, a fighter pilot may ask you for better components. These can be printed from the munitions lathe after they are researched, and your pilots can install these themselves onto fighters after removing the old components.
New Jets[edit | edit source]
Eventually, due to someone dragging a jet across the hangar battle damage, a fighter will be lost. When this happens, the pilot's gonna need a new fighter. The Guide to Fighters has the instructions for making a new one, however you will need research before the components can be fabricated.
Close-In Defense[edit | edit source]
Usually, the Air Traffic Controller will be controlling the fighters as they engage the enemy. However, should there be threats on or near the ship, you can choose to disable the fighter safeties, allowing them to engage those threats. Fighter weapons are quite effective against threats on and about the ship, however torpedos are also quite effective at destroying the ship itself. Fighters also can't fly inside the ship, limiting them to providing fire support from the edges of the vessel.
More Gun![edit | edit source]
"Munitions, why are there 4 railguns and a BSA in the Briefing room?"
After Science researches it, Munitions will have the capability to make more Railguns, PDCs, Naval Guns, and Torpedo Tubes. Every additional weapon built adds more ammunition capacity to the ship's weapons, allowing the CIC to waste half the railgun or NAC ammunition in one volley engage multiple ships before the weapons need to be reloaded.
The building process of guns is described in-depth here.
Tips[edit | edit source]
- Your starting sunglasses offer welding protection.
- All munitions helmets offer both welding and hearing protection. You can wear one, but you'd have to sacrifice your hat.
- The Hazard Vest can store items in it. But so can your jacket, which is much more stylish.
- Antonio is a fully functional nuclear missile, in addition to your pet.
- Science often starts with warheads for Probe Torpedos. If you ask them for these, they might remember wormholes exist.
- A variety of things can be loaded into Cargo torpedos. This includes Cyborgs, Mechs,
and the clown. - Although ECM torpedos might seem useless at first glance, loading one first in a volley of torps can often distract enemy PDCs for long enough for another, bigger torp to slip through.
- New ship weapons can often be crammed into small spaces, as long as you can fit a console in as well. You still have to be able to get next to the sprite to reload it, though.
- Should the Munitions budget run low, most of the other departments often don't use theirs. If people complain about their salaries, tell them they're being paid in not getting nuked.
Ship fighter, Ship fighter, where will he bomb?[edit | edit source]
So you're an MAA that has become less than loyal...
Although you might not have much access to start with, people are usually used to MAAs going around to get parts for torps and fighters. You also have access to fighters right off the bat. One visit to the Control Console later, and you've got heavy weapons at your fingertips. Emagging a Fighter can also be done to disable it's IFF. Combine that with your friend Antonio, and you can force a shuttle call in a hurry. Just make sure you have a way to get back from all the nuclear hellfire you just caused. Alternatively, you can sabotauge the point defense guns during combat, allowing the Syndicates to fire on the ship and possibly cause damage, espescially if there's a boarding vessel or nuclear frigate about.
