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At point blank range, and at a distance of up to 3 squares, a normal mount beam weapon will do damage equal to the second of its two numbers (I still have to figure out what the first number does). Thus, a Laser Cannon would do 4 damage, and a Death Ray will do 100. The first three squares beyond that, and every subsequent 3 squares, will steal 10% of the beam's damage, except for the last 3 squares (range 22-24), which will only take 1/2 as much (5%). Thus, a normal mount beam weapon has a maximum range of 24 squares, at which it does 35% of its maximum damage.
Heavy Mount weapons lose the same amount of damage, but they lose it every 6 squares instead of every 3, and they get the first 9 squares "free" instead of the first 3. Also, the exact number of damage points lost is the same as that of a Normal mount weapon - which, since HV weapons do 50% more damage, only amounts to 6.67% of their total damage, not 10%. Thus, while the manual says that HV weapons lose damage at half the speed of normal weapons, they actually lose damage only 1/3 as quickly. At their maximum range of 51 squares (!), they will do 56.67% of their normal maximum damage.
Point Defense weapons are wierd. They will do full damage at point-blank range; however, they no not get any squares "free". At a range of 1-3 squares, they lose 10% of the damage of a normal mount weapon, which equals 20% of their own damage. The three squares after that cost them 20% of the damage of a normal weapon, which equals 40% of their own damage! So while the manual says they have double the damage dissipation penalty, they actually have 4x the dissipation. This, plus the loss from the first three squares, leaves them at only 40% capacity. The three squares after that cost them another 40% - in other words, everything. However, since their range is not yet expired, each weapon is required to do a minimum of 1 damage. The next three squares cost them nothing (since they cannot go below one); and after that, they expire, giving them a range of 12 squares. So at a range of 7 to 12 squares, ten PD Laser Cannons will do the same amount of damage as ten PD Particle Beams!
A HV weapon costs twice as much space but only does 50% more damage than a normal weapon at close range (and on the ship design screen); at a range of 10 to 12 squares, however, it will be doing twice as much damage, not counting the bonus effectiveness against shields, which is why in most cases HV weapons are really more cost-effective than normal ones despite the numbers you see on the ship design screen.
One last note: For some reason, whenever guns are firing from the right side of the map to the left, or from the top of the map to the bottom, they are treated as if their target is two squares farther away than it really is. This could be an attempt to "balance" the game so that the guy who goes first has a slight disadvantage to compensate...
Heavy Mount weapons lose the same amount of damage, but they lose it every 6 squares instead of every 3, and they get the first 9 squares "free" instead of the first 3. Also, the exact number of damage points lost is the same as that of a Normal mount weapon - which, since HV weapons do 50% more damage, only amounts to 6.67% of their total damage, not 10%. Thus, while the manual says that HV weapons lose damage at half the speed of normal weapons, they actually lose damage only 1/3 as quickly. At their maximum range of 51 squares (!), they will do 56.67% of their normal maximum damage.
Point Defense weapons are wierd. They will do full damage at point-blank range; however, they no not get any squares "free". At a range of 1-3 squares, they lose 10% of the damage of a normal mount weapon, which equals 20% of their own damage. The three squares after that cost them 20% of the damage of a normal weapon, which equals 40% of their own damage! So while the manual says they have double the damage dissipation penalty, they actually have 4x the dissipation. This, plus the loss from the first three squares, leaves them at only 40% capacity. The three squares after that cost them another 40% - in other words, everything. However, since their range is not yet expired, each weapon is required to do a minimum of 1 damage. The next three squares cost them nothing (since they cannot go below one); and after that, they expire, giving them a range of 12 squares. So at a range of 7 to 12 squares, ten PD Laser Cannons will do the same amount of damage as ten PD Particle Beams!
A HV weapon costs twice as much space but only does 50% more damage than a normal weapon at close range (and on the ship design screen); at a range of 10 to 12 squares, however, it will be doing twice as much damage, not counting the bonus effectiveness against shields, which is why in most cases HV weapons are really more cost-effective than normal ones despite the numbers you see on the ship design screen.
One last note: For some reason, whenever guns are firing from the right side of the map to the left, or from the top of the map to the bottom, they are treated as if their target is two squares farther away than it really is. This could be an attempt to "balance" the game so that the guy who goes first has a slight disadvantage to compensate...
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