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Point Defenseless: Difference between revisions
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This may be in part because many fictional point defense system still use WWII-style manually operated, visually targeted cannons instead of the automatic systems that replaced them (even when the story ostensibly has a [[Schizo-Tech|higher]] tech level than modern day), but even the most futuristic AI-controlled [[Frickin' Laser Beams|laser-firing]] point defenses can fall victim to this trope. Attackers may be forced to jink and dodge, or they may be able to cruise in straight and level while bullets whizz past them, but even if the point defenses manage to take out some of the attackers, it will never be able to stop them all.
This is an application of the [[Rule of Drama]]; it's far more dramatic when ''people'' have to defend a target, rather than faceless machinery. It can also be a form of [[Plot Armor]], when point defense can shoot down [[Mook]]s and [[Red Shirt]]s but not main characters. After all, how ignoble would it be for [[The Hero]] to get shot down by something as abrupt and impersonal as an automated turret, without even a chance to demonstrate their [[Improbable Piloting Skills]] with some [[Old School Dogfighting]]? It can be part of [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality]] if the game system explicitly intends for a [[Tactical Rock-Paper-Scissors]] scheme. At its simplest, you could have something like fighter/torpedo boat wolfpacks (
See also [[A-Team Firing]] and [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy]]. If the point defense guns blaze away at where the hero just was, that's a [[Hero-Tracking Failure]].
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== Anime and Manga ==
* Generally speaking, point defenses in the various ''[[Gundam]]'' series do little but provide [[More Dakka|visual]] [[Every Bullet Is a Tracer|spectacle]], but every so often they actually manage to accomplish something useful.
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* Generally averted on ''[[Babylon 5]]'': Many races' ships use fast-tracking "Interceptor" weapons systems, which lay down high volumes of very accurate defensive fire to neutralize incoming enemy weapons fire. Several episodes show what happens when [[Space Fighter]] pilots get too close to these systems without the support of larger warships.
** However, when there is a big enough disparity in technology or firepower, such as during the Earth-Minbari War, the weaker side will often find themselves getting [[Curb Stomp Battle|steam rolled]] without their defensive gunnery having much effect.
* This appeared to be the case for both the Colonials and the Cylons in
* In
** A first season episode with Galactica's Viper wing launching a raid on a Cylon asteroid base subverted this trope. Even when using a [[Kansas City Shuffle]] to fake out the Cylons' Raider defenders, and Wild Weasel tactics to suppress the Cylon anti-<s>air</s>space defenses, the Viper pilots still get swatted like helpless flies due to the [[More Dakka|sheer volume of enemy fire]]. While the Redshirts are dying, however, {{spoiler|Lee manages to pull off an [[Airstrike Impossible]] by flying through a tunnel to get inside the base's defenses.}} In Galactica terms, this would be called "Pulling a Starbuck".
* Zig-zagged in ''[[Andromeda]]'', the titular ship has both Point-Defense Lasers and remote drones but enemy missiles still manage to hit it often.
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