Will there be any High-Explosive custom weaponry for the Batavia? They seriously lack that part of life with the designated loadouts (although I make my own with Heavy Maulers and the such). Will some of those Hailstorms be HE, or will they be Kinetic?
Actually:
The Hailstorm-series of deck guns are specialised turrets configured to expell high-explosive shells at medium distances. While able to be mounted as static hardpoints, the Hailstorm excells as a rotating gun turret, owing to its efficient roller paths. Batavia Shipyards first started production of these deck guns as they were looking to arm their ships with a domestic, capable and well-rounded ballistic weapon, that could rival autocannons and machineguns in their point defense and combat roles. While ineffective against shielded targets on paper, the sheer amount of firepower and rate-of-fire meant that a vessel armed with Hailstorms could hold its own against shielded opponents, and dominate once those shields were down.
The Mark I (small) Hailstorm is the smallest and fastest of the deck guns in the Hailstorm-series. While it only has one barrel, its rotation speed and rapid fire allow it to act as both PD and light combat gun. It is a popular replacement for light machineguns, vulcan- and autocannons.
The Mark II (small) Hailstorm has two gun barrels attached to its armoured gun house. Its rate of fire has been significantly decreased. However, it is able to expell a more powerful variant of high-explosive shells. This makes it less effective as PD gun, but more powerful against larger targets. The Mark II is a small but dedicated combat gun.
The Mark III (medium) Hailstorm fills the same role as the Mark II, only it may be mounted atop larger decks. This tripple barrelled deck gun can unleash a withering hail of explosive shells over fairly long distances. The relatively low amount of flux required to power this gun in battle means that it can efficiently be used by smaller ships, such as frigates, as long as they have the available deckspace.
The Mark IV (medium) is an upgrade over the Mark III. It has an impressive four barrels capable of firing even heaver shells over an even greater distance. However, to protect the gun barrels from being worn down too quickly, its rate-of-fire had to be reduced by half. Still, the Mark IV is an impressive gun for its size, and can often be found as the main deck gun on destroyers and cruisers. It has lovingly been dubbed 'deaths fingers' by its guncrews.
There's also going to be a Mark V (large). An improved Mark IV that can fill the large slot, since most Batavian ships use universal mounts. So it is really a large lite. Not as powerful or as costly as most large weapons. But rather cheap and flux efficient. Pretty much the same as the Mark IV only it has longer barrels for better range.