Hardened Systems

Heres our House Rule coving Hardened Systems;

Heavy Armour Mass: 3 Points 15 absorbs 3 criticals

Just Draw three boxes on you SDD, and start checking off treshold rolls..

> Steven Arrowsmith wrote:

     Very good.   Simple and easy to control/implement.
Do you have a mass 1, 5 point version: Is this scaleable?

Bye for now,

> On 13 Jan 99, at 15:45, John Leary wrote:
Ermm.. doesn't 'hardened systems' in military jargon refer more to things
which are capable of surviving large scale weaponry like nukes? EMP resistant
things like that? I always though that was what sheilds in FT did. I also
always presumed that
systems on military ships would be 'hardnened' in that regard /by
default/.

Hi all, BTW. Nice to be back:).

TTFN
                                Jon

Arrowsmith:

> Heres our House Rule coving Hardened Systems;

> Heavy Armour

> Just Draw three boxes on you SDD, and start checking off treshold

The only problem I have with this is that no one defines the order in which
you roll threshold checks. With 3 criticals, I'd make sure my most vital
systems were checked first. This is a minor point, but increases the
effectiveness of the system.

As for the other hardening issues, I certainly agree that it is a matter
of perspective and choice. I can also see that for critical systems -
like launchers on carriers - hardening might be a preferred option. But
tha actual game effect of hardening is marginal, IMHO, with the systems you
have to sacrifice to harden the ones you want to protect.

Listen to me - I hate random effects (If I knew of a diceless space
combat game, I'd be all over it), and here I am arguing against a system that
reduces randomness in FT. Go figure.

Re: Jared Noble's 'Hardened Block' of systems - that makes more sense to
me as far as logic and cost-benefit.

Since I'm most familiar with the term Hardening with respect to radiation and
EMP's, I have a weapon to balance this new protection system: The EMP cannon.

Mass 3, Cost 9 for 1 arc Mass 1, Cost 3 for each additional 2 arcs Works like
a modified EMP missile.
1) Roll beam dice - 1 at range 9-18" 2 at range 0-9" Reroll on 6
2) Total from beam dice is total number of systems that _may_ go down.
3) Roll thresholds on target ship, stopping when all systems have been
checked _or_ a number of systems equalling the total from step 2 have
failed. (Player of target ship choses order of threshold rolls).
        -All threshold rolls from EMP Cannon are fail on 6.
        -Hardened systems protect from EMP attack without destroying the
hardening.

Speedier play version - EMP Cannon hits once on a 5 twice on a 6, target
player choses non-hardened systems to be damaged.

I personally am not into the 'hardening' issue for a number of reasons, one of
which is I assume the systems are already 'hardened', and that
the core systems are 'doubly-hardened' because they are in the INTERIOR
of the ship, not near the exterior sections of the ship(s). The idear is that
you have to peel away quite a bit of hull structure to even get to those
systems. So in you view it that way, the 'hardening' arguement is a moot
point, totally. You can't harden a firecon or a battery because they need to
have components at the exterior of the ship in order to function properly, and
*those* are the bits that get hit on threshold checks. By the time 50% of your
hull structure is gone (half the ship!), THEN you can start hitting the core
systems (assuming you use them, which I don't; at least, not at the level they
are represented in the FB).

But that's not why I'm replying.  :-)

> Listen to me - I hate random effects (If I knew of a diceless space

One word: WarpWar.:)

Mk

> The only problem I have with this is that no one defines the order in

This is why personally I prefer hardening individual systems.

> Noam wrote:

I was originally going to call this thread "Armoured Systems" but changed my
mind so replace Hardened if you want.

> I have a weapon to balance this new protection

Hey, the Ion Cannon rules I use (and have posted to the list;) are very
similar to this, with a few variations. Also alot depends on the order you
roll for thresholds (a lot of feedback came back on this point), so my version
has a set list of systems and set order.

> Mass 3, Cost 9 for 1 arc Mass 1, Cost 3 for each additional 2 arcs

My version of Ion Cannons were equal in mass to Class 2 Batteries, 10" range
bands instead of 9" (I used 15" at GenCon but have now reduced them), Instead
of # of hits indicating the number of systems that can be destroyed (which was
in my first version of the Ion Cannon), I use the # of hits equals the number
of threshold rolls taken on a specific list of systems in a specific order.
Also the threshold roll needed is equal to the current damage line's threshold
roll.

When hits occur, the following systems roll thresholds in this order (# of
threshold rolls equals number of hits)
  Screens
Specical Electronics (Sensors, ECM, Cloak, etc) Fire Controls
  FTL Drives
Thrust Engines (back to top of list).

> John Leary wrote:

> Steven Arrowsmith wrote:

Unfortunately not very well balanced. Try buying these for the screens of
a Mass 200+ superdreadnought, and you'll see what I mean :-(

OTOH, there's very little point in buying these for Mass 1 or Mass 2
systems like FCs and ADFCs - you're better off using the extra mass to
buy another FC.

'Course, if this armour absorbs an *unspecified* critical, well... no, I don't
want to think about that <g>

Regards,

I guess, it could - I can see paying 1 mass 5 points per critical
absorbed, for a band of armour to protect the vital components of the ship.

SA

> On Wed, 13 Jan 1999, John Leary wrote:

> Steven Arrowsmith wrote: