I haven't picked up the rules to FT yet, but plan to soon. I have an
interesting question based on some comments made last time I brough up the
possibility of playing FT.
I recall that everyone has pointed out how quickly small ships die when
they're sent into the fray. Has anyone used the tactic of leaving smaller,
quick ships on the outer edge of a battle, equipped with longer ranged
weapons, to act as snipers while bigger ships slug it out up close? Is this
even a plausible conccept within the parameters of FT? Just curious. I
don't even know what the weapons available or their capabilities are.
> I recall that everyone has pointed out how quickly small ships die
> weapons, to act as snipers while bigger ships slug it out up close?
Is this
> even a plausible conccept within the parameters of FT? Just curious.
I
> don't even know what the weapons available or their capabilities are.
This actually works very well for Phalons. The escorts put all the
multi-arc pulsars in -L mode and any single arc in -S mode while the
capitals do the reverse and simple plow through the middle of the enemy
formation, spitting plasmabolts as they go. It could be made to work for all
the other aliens as well, but human weapon tech isn't really conducive to this
type of specialisation as the weapons are too big for the required range
parameters.
I'm also new to FT, and still looking at buying the rules, but this question
got me to thinking about another one:
When people say "Smaller ships" are we talking fighters or
Frigate-class ships?
Can these smaller ships be equipped with missiles/rockets for a hard
initial strick then pick apart the damaged foe with smaller weapons? I would
think that the higher maneuverability associated with smaller ships would help
them out... does that concept not make it's way into FT?
--
Best regards,
Flak
Hive Fleet Jaegernaught
http://www.geocites.com/flakmagnet72
> Tuesday, December 04, 2001, 4:31:26 PM, Brian wrote:
BB> I haven't picked up the rules to FT yet, but plan to soon. I have an BB>
interesting question based on some comments made last time I brough up the BB>
possibility of playing FT.
BB> I recall that everyone has pointed out how quickly small ships die when
BB> they're sent into the fray. Has anyone used the tactic of leaving smaller,
BB> quick ships on the outer edge of a battle, equipped with longer ranged BB>
weapons, to act as snipers while bigger ships slug it out up close? Is this
BB> even a plausible conccept within the parameters of FT? Just curious. I BB>
don't even know what the weapons available or their capabilities are.
BB> Brian B2
BB> "The Irish are the only race of people on Earth for which psychoanalysis
is BB> of no use."
BB> - S. Freud
BB> _________________________________________________________________
BB> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at
http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
> On Wed, Dec 05, 2001 at 09:18:35AM -0500, Flak Magnet wrote:
"Ships" are always ships, rather than fighters - fighters don't have
long-range strike capability. (It gets a bit too much like Harpoon if
one allows that - launch the fighters just so that they can launch their
long-range missiles, then recover and re-arm them.)
> Can these smaller ships be equipped with missiles/rockets for a hard
It's certainly there, but one of the key elements in FT is that higher
acceleration and smaller size doesn't make you harder to hit. The way for a
small ship to survive, IMHO, is (a) to manoeuvre outside the enemy's primary
weapons envelope, (b) not to appear to be a threat until it's too late, (c) to
strike hard and cripplingly as part of a coordinated salvo rather than
plinking.
> --- Flak Magnet <flakmagnet72@yahoo.com> wrote:
Yes.
> Can these smaller ships be equipped with
Sure. If you're willing to take losses.
The main problem with small ships is simple:
If you've got 20 small ships and I've got 4 big ones, then if I inflict 5%
damage on your fleet, you've got 1 ship completely gone. I take 5% damage, and
I've got no loss in combat power. Larger ships take more damage to kill. It
can be done, but they do have an inherent advantage.
> I would think that the higher maneuverability
Maneuverability is based on the percentage of a ship's mass given over to
drives. You can build a thrust 10 dreadnought.