> On Tue, 3 Dec 1996 PsyWraith@aol.com wrote:
> <I'm designing some small craft, maybe 25 tons, with 8 thrust, 2 fire
hmm... I'd thought that maybe the ships ability to make an over 90 degree turn
(4 points) would help in getting it behind the enemy force... now that I think
about it, that does seem a little risky...
maybe adding a shield level isn't such a bad idea after all...
just for my own edification, about how expensive is a "cheap" ship? (just
to make sure I'm not designing expensive throw-away's...
> On Tue, 3 Dec 1996 PsyWraith@aol.com wrote:
SNIP
> maybe adding a shield level isn't such a bad idea after all...
(just
> to make sure I'm not designing expensive throw-away's...
If you're planning this, I reckon you'll also need something a bit larger
than an escort to occupy your opponent's attention- perhaps a well
defended capital to lumber about looking threatening while your needle ships
run in. I think most experienced players would tend to go for escorts early on
to get "cheap kills". Needles have a pretty high probability of complete
failure- even 6 aimed at a single target have about a 1/3 chance of
leaving it operational (assuming my 2am maths is right!). The best plan would
perhaps be to try and damage the engines of a major unit, so that the
maneuvres of the whole enemy fleet would be constrained by having to follow
it, or risk destruction in detail.
I hate statistics I hate caterpillars I hate writing up I'm going home
;-)
> On Wed, 4 Dec 1996, Robin Paul wrote:
> If you're planning this, I reckon you'll also need something a bit
not QUITE what I was thinking... I play orc-ish armies (loads of cheap
troops) most of the time, I was thinking an entire army of nothing bigger then
50 tons (and not many of those!)
I figure the sheer perponderance of targets would let me swarm about,
leaving the enemy unsure who to shoot at, while my needle-snipers sneak
behind the enemy and start wreaking general havoc. (even if they don't shut
down a ship, if they can mess with 4 a little bit each then that's good to!!)
and I hapen to like caterpillers!
> On Tue, 3 Dec 1996, lojeck wrote:
> not QUITE what I was thinking... I play orc-ish armies (loads of cheap
Something else to keep in mind is that if your fleet is made up of many
smaller craft an enemy fleet that begins losing firecons might have a hard
time of it. If you include mostly capital (100 mass type) ships then the odds
are the enemy was going to fire all of any one single ships firepower at those
ships anyways, thus reducing the disadvantage of losing some (but not all) of
his firecons.
I would probably go for cruisers. Put level two shields on it, about six
needle beams and a high thrust. I haven't been too impressed with escorts so
far. Has anyone else had good results with the smaller ships? What about
Superships?
> Chad Taylor wrote:
I've had good luck with small ships by mounting them with sub-packs,
etc. and letting them drop their load from behind a large enemy ship after a
quick maneuver. It helps to use them in wolfpacks since some are guaranteed to
be destroyed by passing to close to an enemy fleet. This method works
like the old WWII torpedo boats - go fast and hit hard in numbers.
> On Wed, 4 Dec 1996, Mike Miserendino wrote:
I've tried fielding ships with massed needle beams once before, and it was
a total failure -- the range (9") is way too short, and I was more
likely to damage my opponent's ships' systems by forcing them to take
threshhold checks than by targeting them with needle beams.
I ended up having my ships chewed to pieces before they had a chance to fire
their weapons. IMO, the needle beam needs some modification before it
becomes an effective weapon -- longer range, more effective, or
something.
> Rick Rutherford wrote:
Try using sub-packs or pulse torpedoes on small ships - gives them a
real punch.