>Other than the trouble of elevating the main guns high enough, is
>there anything that prevents a battleship from blowing holes in a
>Neuroi? I didn't pay close enough attention to tell if the problem was
>simply needing magical augmentation to hit hard enough (which major
>naval artillery should overcome), or actual "you need like to
>neutralize like" magic.

There are several occasions during the TV series where naval gunfire inflicts considerable damage on a particularly-slow-flying Neuroi; the problem, as presented, is that they cannot both penetrate the hull and destroy the core in a single volley, and the Neuroi regenerate hull damage faster than naval rifles can be readied to fire again. Net effect, even from Yamato's 18-inchers loaded with Type 3 shrapnel shells: bupkis. They eventually had to run away and leave a witch to be (they assumed at the time) killed covering their escape, which Captain Sugita at least had the decency to be ashamed of. I'll say this for him, he's mensch enough that if said witch hadn't been rescued by another one at the last second, he would probably have committed suicide once they got back to port. Fortunately on both counts, it's not that kind of show.

(The real reason, of course, is that the futility of trying to fight the Neuroi with anything but witches is part of the show's premise, and none may contravene it.)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.