one hit kill guns
simply use a cluster gun model (or make your own, add extra hardpoints i blieve) and then create a missile. the missile needn't a working motor or explosion. The munition just has to hvae the look of the original gun effect. motor speed is zero, and delay is zero. seeker = DUMB. turn_rate = 0. make it so that it's a perfectly straightforward missile. a bullet, for say. set ridiculously high damage levels for it. and.. voila. you've got a one hit kill gun in essence.
so, all it does is just fire more than one uber gun shot, thus eliminating the shield and hull in one trigger-pull, one shot (visually).
now there are a few bugs with this.
one is occasional malfunction. You fire, there is a direct hit, but the enemy loses no life whatsoever. you try a few more times, still nothing. then you try again, and it works.
a fun way to use this is to turn on battleship encounters and then find the leader of a convoy (you do this by hailing them and finding the matching name). kill them with one hit. Like all other quick kills, this is fast enough so that the AI doens't detect you as a temporary enemy. THen listen to the next guy say 'I'm taking his place' or whatever.
have fun, and (you don't have to but i'd appreciate it if it's true) mention me in your readmes.