Greetings all,
Reference the collection of small ships that have recently been seen buzzing
around the list:
BINARY STAR-TYPE 1 (DE) - DESTROYER
John T Leary - realjtl@sj.bigger.net
MASS: 18 TYPE: Destroyer CLAS: Escort MOVE: 8 FTL: Normal TECH: Human HULL:
Military STRM: None PROT: None COST: 128 DAMG:
4
5
SYST:
FCS
FCS
B Beam PFS
B Beam PFS
C Beam PFS
C Beam PFS
BINARY STAR-TYPE 2 (DE) - DESTROYER
John T Leary - realjtl@sj.bigger.net
MASS: 18 TYPE: Destroyer CLAS: Escort MOVE: 8 FTL: Normal TECH: Human HULL:
Military STRM: None PROT: None COST: 128 DAMG:
4
5
SYST:
FCS
FCS
A Beam PFS
C Beam PFS
C Beam PFS
C Beam PFS
I have sent these to Brian for the FT Registry, submitted here for comment (No
excessive verbal brutality please!).
If sending this sort of thing out is in error, please advise.
bye for now,
> Greetings all,
> SYST:
The added firecontrol system is a giveaway that this ship is meant to go after
small craft. The two C beams can of
course be used in an anti-missile role. It is problematic.
What you need is a weapon system that provides its own
fire control system to be effective. Maybe half-sized
missiles would be good, or some kind of scatter pack missile.
> BINARY STAR-TYPE 2 (DE) - DESTROYER
> SYST:
Since using the C-Beams in anti-missile anti-fighter role requires
a fire control system each, perhaps you should replace of one of your
C-Beams with a PDAF.
Building this class of ship implies knowledge that your prospective opponent
is building lots of 2 and 4 mass ships. Otherwise,
separately targetting B-beams would be a totally silly idea!
When inside range for C-Beams, your 3 C-Beams would do 3d6, same
as your A-Beam. If I had such positive knowledge I'd build
12 mass ships with 1 A-Beam PCS and 1 ADAF. That way I could
get the missile even if it was launched before I killed the launcher.
> If sending this sort of thing out is in error, please advise.
I am of course, neglecting the other benefit of having two fire control
systems. This ship can scan twice as many ships as an ordinary scout. If it is
to be employed in a scout role, consider an A pcs, 2 C pcs and enhanced
sensors. 2d6 could still force a threshold check on a 4 mass ship.
I think I'd still rather have 3 12 mass ships than 2 of this design.
Against any ships heavier than 4 mass, there isn't any point for a frigate to
want to target them separately.
An extra FCS on a cruiser would make a lot of sense in a gunboat swatting
role, as 15 mass can easily provide enough weapons for
sure kills on three 2-4 mass gunboats.
Of the two ships, versus 2-mass gunboats I'd go with the
Binary Star-Type 1 (Good name, highly evocative of its second FCS)
Michael, Like most ships in the game, these would have a certain role to fill
within a larger picture. The value would be a function of my ability as the
fleet cammander to position the ships to utilize the Binary Stars abilities to
the fullest. Yes, I concure that knowing ones opponent is very helpful. With
the exception of conventions(where most games are canned.) we tend to play in
small groups and come to learn the concepts favored by each individual. When
one goes off into the concept of alien tech then the concepts of half size
missiles and one shot point defence become quite useful, but great care must
be taken to preserve play balence of you lose your audience. The people I FT
with do not use the Nove, Wave, or Reflex shield and I do not think any (of
our group) miss them. FT is set up so 'the group' can set its own limits and
be happy.
Looks like I am going into lecture mode, sorry 'bout that.
Thank you for the comments, and compliment. Bye for now,
> Michael Sandy wrote:
...Snip...(JTL)
The two C beams can of
> course be used in an anti-missile role. It is problematic.
...Snip...(JTL)
> Since using the C-Beams in anti-missile anti-fighter role requires
> Michael,
REF: MT; Pg-5; 2nd column; 3rd Paragraph.
Bye for now,
> One question. Where's the hull? Each ship uses all the mass points
Aw, gee, you had to spoil their fun.:)
Also, an armor point would do wonders for the survivability of these so called
escorts. I don't think I'd feel all that safe as a freighter
captain/
owner when my escorts can be taken out by my piddly PDS that small freighters
seem to have for armament, let alone some beam weapon that a larger freighter
may have. Cheap is cheap, but come on, don't be less powerful than the ships
you are supposed to escort.
> Also, an armor point would do wonders for the survivability of these
I thought about that but mass 8 is a break point and I need mass 4 for the
weapons load, it all follows from there. And 1 each hull lus armor dies pretty
quick too.
The Islamic Fed fleet was designed based on the theory espoused by the Soviet
navy: get off one big punch, and if it's big enough, you won't have to deal
with the counterpunch. Games in which the IF is
represented tend to be pretty quick, one way or another--particularly
if I bring mostly SMR-bearing variants.
> On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 19:16:13 EST GBailey@aol.com writes:
PDS in an anti-ship role? Just skimmed FT/MT and did not see that.
Can't remember it in FB1. Is that a HR? I have played in games where it
was allowed for 6 inches if not allocated versus missiles/fighters but I
find it hokey to be honest. Like planning to sink a freighter with a
20mm single barrel mount - theoretical but unlikely. YMMV.
> Glen
You don't always have the escorts you need in an ideal world. Armed trawlers
were not exactly wonderful in early WW2 and
sloops/corvettes/whatever those warships that were barely faster then
the
merchants could not press an attack against a U-boat and stay with the
convoy early in WW2.
Would (non-military) freighters pack any thing bigger then a class 1
beam? If that? Most appear to be a single PDs in the examples I see,
especially in the early stages of a war when the ship yards are busy
building/fixing/upgrading warships in a crash program.
The bigger ("Real") warships are not always available for convoy escort.
A few 'armed trawler' equivalent (Class 2 3 arc armed; two Class 1's and a
single PDS or armor box) 'escorts' might be just enough to keep the solo
pirate or raider at bay long enough for the Merchies to move out of
range. Or even succeed in a 'mission kill' attack - drive off the
raider to lick it's wounds. Remotely possible for two or three Class 2 3 arc
armed escorts to kill an unlucky pair of frigates or a DD. Unlikely but
possible. Not all fights are between SDN's.
Gracias,
> On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 19:16:13 EST GBailey@aol.com writes:
Valid point, so how small does a ship have to be to be useful?
I think the armed trawlers and small corvettes (?) of WW2 worked only because
there was no other option and because there was no (surface) foe they had to
face that was a threat (I do not mean that there were dangerous foes but that
ideally they were not deployed facing foes beyond their capability to fend
off.
That said, scenarios when raiders/pirates are hitting convoy forces
might just have such ships as (necessity) escorts.
Yes they have no place in a line of battle but I don't expect to see a USCG
Cutter or Canadian equivalent in a line of battle either. In WW2 my father
served on Cutters escorting convoys (Atlantic and Caribbean.) And saw action.
Submarines then but in theory they could have been deployed in places where
they might have faced surface foes (Did not the coastal
escorts in the UK early in WW2 face E-boats (essentially FT Corvettes)?
On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 21:07:01 -0500 "Laserlight" <laserlight@quixnet.net>
writes:
> Also, an armor point would do wonders for the survivability of these
So what does the IF use for offensive missions? And more importantly (since
this is a small ship thread,) what escorts it? Does the IF ever use convoy
escorts?
That raises the problem - how does one provide escorts for a convoy of
merchants jumping into a system? They by definition arrive scattered based on
the PSB mechanics of FT jump technology. Arrival might be the
most vulnerable time for non-combat ships.
Gracias,
> On 26-Feb-02 at 21:11, Laserlight (laserlight@quixnet.net) wrote:
> The Islamic Fed fleet was designed based on the theory espoused by the
Cinematic or Vector? SMRs in Cinematic, especially against Kr'Vak can be a
pain.
> I wrote:
> Roger Books asked:
That would be the "another" ending I mentioned above. :-\ IF are,
shall we say, not optimized against KV.
From: Glenn M Wilson <triphibious@juno.com>
> So what does the IF use for offensive missions?
Whatever tugs they have or can commandeer, plus a certain callous attitude.
You see, if all the strike boats die anyway, you don't have to risk your tugs
by having them hang around to bring the strikers back.
The IF does have FTL ships, of course, including a few DDs.
> Does the IF ever use convoy escorts?
Not until we get a campaign game going.
> Glenn Wilson wrote:
> PDS in an anti-ship role? Just skimmed FT/MT and did not see that.
Try the weapons summary on FB1 p.12.
> Is that a HR?
No.
Regards,
> On Tue, Feb 26, 2002 at 09:45:41PM -0500, Glenn M Wilson wrote:
I'm inclined to assume that FB1 p44 penultimate para applies - everybody
gathers at an out-system rendezvous point before making the final jump
in-system.
The location of that point would have to be a closely-guarded secret - I
suspect, generated randomly by the convoy leader and shared with the other
ships just before the first jump. Anyone else who knew it could lie in wait
for the arriving ships and pick them off one by one.
Finding ships in interstellar space is sufficiently impossible that it's not
going to happen unless information leaks in this way.
figures, that's buried... I mean filed away. I'll dig it out.
Gracias,
Glenn/Triphibious@juno.com
This is my Science Fiction Alter Ego E-mail address.
Historical - Warbeads@juno.com
Fantasy and 6mm - dwarf_warrior@juno.com
On Wed, 27 Feb 2002 07:17:11 +0100 Oerjan Ohlson
> <oerjan.ohlson@telia.com> writes: