Hi folks,
I've just come from an FT/FB game with several fairly inexperienced
players (I don't count myself that experienced at FB rules, and I'm the most
experienced of them). Something that raised a lot of questions was the exact
sequencing of fighter and missile attacks. (Note that this is
all human/FB1 tech.)
What we came up with was:
When missiles attack, defences are:
(1) ADFC-linked PDSes
(2) non-screening fighters within range
(3) PDSes on target ship (4) fighters screening target ship
this all matters because of the possible damage to fighters engaging missiles.
Shouldn't interceptors be more effective against missiles, attackers less
effective, and so on? Or is this a matter of "manoeuvre in close and fire with
basic weapons"?
We assumed that screening fighters can act normally without breaking from
their close patrol of the ship they're screening, but still can't engage in
combat twice in a turn.
Fighters attacking other fighters at long range attack before dogfights start.
(Or is this purely an initiative thing, based on which fighter group is
activated first?)
> On Sat, Nov 24, 2001 at 11:37:54PM +0000, Roger Burton West wrote:
Oh, and a slight contradiction.
FT p16 says that fighters being launched appear at the midpoint of the
carrier's movement.
FB2 p5 says that fighters being launched move, in the fighter move
phase, before other fighters - i.e. before the carrier has got to that
point.
We ruled: fighters being launched don't get a primary move in that turn but
may make a secondary move, and must do so before other fighters make secondary
moves.
Does fighter facing matter any more? FT says it does; FB1 implies it doesn't
("if a fighter group then ends up within 6" of an enemy... it may attack").
> Roger Burton-West wrote:
FB2 isn't just the alien stuff; it also includes a number of updates and
corrections to FB1 and earlier books.
> What we came up with was:
The sequence is:
1) Attacker allocates fighter and missile attacks; fighters may make secondary
moves. (The rules don't explicitly say so, but fighter secondary moves should
use initiative order.)
2) Fighter-vs-fighter and fighter-vs-missile fire is resolved in
initiative order (except for dogfights with only one squadron per side, which
are simultaneous). Any fighters which fire in this step are unable to shoot at
ships later in the same turn. 3) Allocate PDSs from the target ship and ADFC
ships within 6" of the target ship (note that an ADFC ship can only protect
one other ship per ADFC) 4) PDSs fire (order not important) 5) The surviving
missiles and fighters which attack ships fire.
> Shouldn't interceptors be more effective against missiles,
If you check the FT FAQ, you'll find that they are.
> We assumed that screening fighters can act normally without breaking
I'm not sure I understand what you mean with this. Please clarify?
> Fighters attacking other fighters at long range attack before dogfights
This is purely an initiative thing.
> Oh, and a slight contradiction.
Whenever the rule books contradict one another, the most recently published
book is the correct one to use.
Regards,