What's the best method of space combat, Veeky Forums?

What's the best method of space combat, Veeky Forums?

I still have a soft spot for some of the 50's science fiction like Lensmen. Back in the days when shields were 'screens', screens were 'viewplates' and 'seizing control of the enemy's computers' had a good chance of meaning your telepathic spaceman had psi-dominated a room full of guys with slide rules.

It all just had this sort of breathless excitement about the crazy tech.

Lasers and relativistic swarm missiles.

I like the Culture approach. Why fight your navy when we can ignore your navy and fight your society? Don't confuse that with diplomacy, we're objectively right and we're not here to compromise.

>no ontological weaponry
>no mereological annihilators
>no dialectic lances, dialetheian torpedos, or anekāntavādan cannons
This iceberg doesn't go nearly deep enough.

>Target air filtration systems
>Kick back and watch the enemy choke to death

Aurora 4X style: at ranges of millions of kilometers, with gigantic swarms of missiles and other guided kinetic weaponry, supplemented by various types of beams at closer range and topped off with a massive dollop of point defense anti missile/fighter systems. Fighters act as reusable primary stages for missiles, and attempt to find an opening in the enemy cruiser line. Carriers carry a couple of boarding shuttles in case an enemy ship is crippled and left undamaged in the aftermath of the fighting.

In the end, the side with the faster ships and longer effective range will just about always win.

I like generic star wars tier laser beams.

People who masturbate about kinetic weapons, missiles, and/or cannons are boring. Lasers are cool.

>Target the huge radiators cooling the nuclear reactor.
>Enjoy seeing the ship surrendering immediatelly or see it melting.

Fire lasers at the cooling systems. It can't possibly ventilate that much heat in a vaccuum so the whole thing will boil everyone alive.

>ontological weaponry
The enemy can't fight you if you make them stop existing first.

Magic.

>dialectic lance is actually a corkscrew or weird triangulation that requires the target to engage
>OOO-Weapons

Imperative Latices seem more like point defense but your enemy does have to deal with them after you've deployed Antimony Mines.

Gravity manipulation, aka "gravy"

The Lost Fleet.

99% wondering of the ship you see in the distance is friendly or not and 1% realizing they left several minutes ago with FTL travel but the light didn't reach your ship until now

Baryonic lifeforms

Stabbing each other

Engaging in grapple-arm melee combat.

>no Press X to Win command

>People who masturbate about kinetic weapons, missiles, and/or cannons are boring. Lasers are cool.
Wrong. Lasers are quite hot. And also more boring and impractical than said kinetic weaponry. Fag.

>Engaging in ship to ship combat in space
>Not hurling relatavistic projectiles at each other
>Not Dyson beaming the fuck out of your opponent

Just kidding I know nothing about hard sci-fi but damn the ideas seem cool.

Localized Big Bangs? Holy fuck why would I use that as a weapon? Literally creating new matter/energy at such heat that it might as well be unlimited source of power!