Hmm... vaguely remember something about ramming factors,.. could it (any advantages in combat / non-evasive ships) be that?
( as well as good for weight reduction )
i.e. base hull-armour-points-total , BEFORE reinforcements?
i.e. reinforcements might NOT add to one of the factorials in ramming calcs... but lightweight allows for more thrust not having to push against RELUCTANT mass?
and that means more SPEED. in-space, you do not have the constant drag factor of gravity, so that might do more than your expect.
Same with DENSITY. speed X density probably does more in zero-gravity than it does not amongst a HMO's spacetime 'bending-down'.
( already-at-speed X mass ) is the main part of the base for damage-calculation no doubt...
but at-the-moment-of-contact push from thrusters is also present when a collision happens,
so it would make sense, if they could be bothered doing it to that level of detail,
head-on, side-on... it'd get tricky no doubt.
Lightwieght armour points to the hull before reinforcements,.. might make for a more rigid frame without bulk ... like a rally-car's rollbar frame, compared to a APC, or tank or overloaded van full of yellowpages taped to the windows ( Mythbusters episode ) [
Source: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2n9c04].
( from 6m:40s )
A light rollbar cage would rotate as a result of being-hit , and on the OUTside, be more rigid BEFORE buckling (defiormation reluctance) ...
compared to the heavier mass of the whole ship BEING RELUCTANT TO BE MOVED by collisions,..
...but more weight adding to the base factor ( like when starships in Star treck crunch through each other and don't stop, despite the rigidity - distance 'betrays' the rigidity ) size might also come in to play, with the larger ships? i've noticed long tanks rotate more as they SHOULD, when rammed at either end ... so if the programming can do that, then perhaps it's also complicated enough to take into consideration where the thrust's coming from AS the collision hits, and where it's hitting, etc.
ex. head on ... both are pushing ALL the weight into the front...
ex. 2 one hitting nose-first into another's REAR at a 90-degrees angle ... the 2nd one's thrust would do LITTLE, by comparison, and could even make it worse, putting strain on the rear of it's own structure.
I would not be surprised if turning OFF your thrust when about to be sideswiped, reduces damage a little.
sort of like trying to imagine the stresses on fireworks, based on the shape of the firework's deign. a lot of force, really tests the spinning potentials, while way too much thrust is barely accounted for by design - tanks in ED by comparison, would be barely getting any momentary thrust at all, compared to superfast fighters. it's mass-reluctance / inertia that makes ramming in something light against something heavy ... no dislocation ... so crazy to do ... BUT...
that does not mean that lighteight would not be potentially useful for a rollcage like rigidity ... in ramming at high speed versus OTHER fighters, or in more marginal differences.
say... a viper ramming ;
1 a regular light cobra (450 Kph) also with lightweight base-hull "boost",
compared to
2 a much slower (375 Kph) cobra m4 with heavy duties everywhere. It's not heavy enough to be immobile like a tank, so dislocation DOES occur, and the rammer is not just splat! into a wall... BUT ... this one does not have a BASE-reinforced hull structure, instead, it is like the van in mythbusters with all the yellow pages - the speed & rigidity of the attacker tests the STRUCTURE ... not the panelling / surface areas in terms of penetration / plate-deformation.
a bit like the parallel nature of armour points total vs. structural integrity?
rigidity X speed might be deadlier in ramming, than armour-total X LOWer speed,
but more armour / mass, ofc still gets you better survivability?
the hull "boost" ... might represent part of that? a bit like kinetic resistance,.. an UNSEEN resistance? works BEST at high speed AND versus other rigidity ... works a LITTLE, at low-speed vs. rigidity.
i would also not be surprised if high speed & "hull boost" works against kinetic weapons when they're hitting you at obtuse angles to your own DIRECTION of speed, compared to head-on. a bit like Kenitic resistance ALSO should, work better when being fired at from behind, basically. cannons, multicannons, shock cannons,.. whatever. Dunno if that's been implimented, but it's been SUGGESTED.
if it is in now,.. then it's possible "hull boost" raising the BASE armour total, rather than the reinforcements,.. does multiple things like that.
getting back to ramming then,
which IS head on... lol
hmm... limited usefulness. if-so,
NEVER versus heavier opponents ofc,..
but additionally, avoid ramming with lightweight, if the other guy is coming AT you head-on. if you've got the rigidity, you can hit THEM side on,.. but don't let also-high-speedXrigid hit-YOU. In other words, only in ATTACK,.. not in defence,.. and ONLY when you've got a good speed advantage.
sort of like... a high speed bullet is made of lead, or gold. heavy, but SOFT.
a just-as-fast high speed bullet, is made of a titanium / iron alloy,
lighter, but more rigid when it hits.
it'd carve it's way through light armour of course, but against RIGID armour, it might shatter, or get diverted as it's trying to get thruogh and just get stuck in the armour,
while a HEAVY bullet, as crude as it might seem, is MORE reluctant to change direction, and so continues through to internals. does less to the armour, but does penetrate.
a bit like that difference,.. ramming with-a-rollcage so to speak, or a stronger one... would be more like the titanium-alloy. good versus LIGHT armour, risky, WORSE, versus anything heavy.
------
Practical uses?
pfffff.
could just be an incidental point i guess,
but it might depend on how skilled you are at ramming. tanks versus tanks is mostly about weight,
but ramming with lighter ships... not so much, i have to say.
rarely doing a head-on ... hitting edges of ships if you can rather than the middle, to cause them to spin out of control,
it has it's uses,
perhaps lightweight can COMBINE with a skilled fighter BETTER than heavy duty, if they do not NEED armour, with BI-shields, a good distributor, and patience, etc
Another comparison ... when in a tank at a capital ship... and slowing down to just 'touch' ram the exhausts, to do a lot of damage, at very LOW speed.
If you come crashing in at high speed, the capital ships say-absolutely-definitively-no mass wise ... and you do yourself uneccessary damage in the process,
but if you slow down, and just nose-it, just tap it,.. you can still do enough damage to crush the vents in one hit, or one + a little fire in your approach or as you're reversing away.
I'm saying
lightweight's higher BASE, armour, might be a kind of OPPOSITE, of that.
Only when light,
Only when not letting center-of-mass of your opponent crunch your rollcage,
Only when at high-speed, or else the speed X rigidity won't combine.
*
shrugs *
