***
It doesn't work very well in FB if you pay for the tug (which you have to do
in a campaign), because even the cheapest, slowest, and therefore most
vulnerable tug you can build will cost you more than putting FTL drives into
your combat ships would. In short, you get less bang for
your bucks with a tug/sub-light attack boat combination than you would
with normal ships, provided you want tug capacity for all your
sub-light boats. If you have less tug capacity than you have sub-light
boats you can get more bang for your bucks than standard ships, but you will
be seriously hampered if you want to attack.
***
However, depending on the campaign, it may be worthwhile to have locally
strong FTL capability for regional attacks, while leaving mostly system boats
in defense most other places.
Moving the tug/tenders while the boats are in place may well work.
Lot's of 'ifs' that aren't arguments against what you've said, Oerjan, of
course.
All the more reason for this being a reason for a one-off thing. Such
as the scenario I mentioned, or small raiding force catching a convoy of empty
tugs.
The_Beast
> It doesn't work very well in FB if you pay for the tug (which you have
Islamic Federation ships are generally non-FTL with a tug lurking in the
background. I postulate that not everyone has the ability to build star drives
at an affordable price (either due to rare raw materials or
industrial base), and the IF one of the "Have-Nots". This means they
have to build a few tugs and a lot of STL ships to best use their resources.
In game terms, it means you've got a batch of Thrust 6 ships with decent
firepower and the ability to skirmish--but they have a vulnerability, ie
the tug, which can be exploited. It also tends to limit the IF's ability to go
on the strategic offensive, which allows for semi-independent emirs and
also
helps their smaller neighbors--eg, the Alarishi Empire--survive.
In a campaign, what you'd do would be to jump to relatively deep space, drop
your combatant ships, make another trip, etc.. Don't let your fighting ships
leave the area until your tugs have cycled their drives and are ready to jump
out if they detect and enemy ship (and pray your sensors are better than the
enemy's stealth).
> It doesn't work very well in FB if you pay for the tug (which you have
Unless of course you tweak the rules slightly (as I do with one sentence in
the FTL rules, and a few changes to allowed weapons....).
> Islamic Federation ships are generally non-FTL with a tug lurking in
In
> game terms, it means you've got a batch of Thrust 6 ships with decent
This is one good reason to use FTL tugs. I changed the design rules just to
simulate a slightly different technology mix. The FTL construction rule
(amended) was as follows:
Step 3: Choose and fit DRIVES to the ship: if selecting an FTL drive to give
the ship an interstellar capability, this will require 10% of the total mass
(MINIMUM MASS 100). Any excess mass beyond 10% of the ship's mass may be used
as with a tug (ie a hyperdrive ship can use any excess hyperdrive mass to tow
other ships as long as the excess hyperdrive mass is equal to or less than 20%
of the mass of the ships being towed).
I also eliminated all weapons except for Salvo Missiles, Class 1 beams, PDS,
ADFC, Missiles, and Submunitions Packs. (expendable ordinance). Supply ships
were VERY common in campaign games....
> In a campaign, what you'd do would be to jump to relatively deep space,
Alternately, have the ship jump out and then jump back in for a
pre-arranged rendezvous (although that has its own risks).
On a tangent, the "only expendable ordinance allowed" rules that I used above
resulted in one other modification of the "big tug" idea: the Space Control
Ship. An SCS was around 500 mass, and could therefore transport about 250 mass
of other ships. It was equipped with a Thrust 1 drive, a few weapons, some
armour, and plenty of stores. The SCS would jump in as
part of a flotilla, and then act as a temporary base/supply centre (a
basic manufacturing unit was small enough to fit (just barely) in the
holds of an SCS) until a permanent (and better-guarded) base could be
constructed. The SCS flotilla was a definite sign that your opponent was there
to stay.