Trope-a-Day: Fixed Forward Facing Weapon

Fixed Forward Facing Weapon: Ah, yes, spinal mounts.  Mostly common on smaller ships as the primary weapon (railguns and other mass drivers, generally – a big advantage because you can run the rail the full length of the ship, for the maximum possible slug acceleration), but some larger classes have them as well as turreted and bay-mounted weapons.  And they’re not quite as limited, aiming-wise, as the trope suggests – varying the relative strengths of the magnetic domains at the end of the railgun, where the rails flare outward, can let them fire, oh, up to 30-40 degrees off-bore, with some loss of terminal acceleration.