Summary: EFSB questions

Thanks to those who responded to my EFSB questions. I'd like to see if I
understand your answers by constructing a couple of simple illustrative
examples.

Fighters:

(These examples ignore anti-fighter weapons on ships)

1. Two groups of Starfuries pounce on a Centauri cruiser screened by two
groups of Centauri fighters. Each Starfury group must engage one Centauri
fighter group. The screening fighters will dogfight back against their
attackers. Any surviving Starfuries "penetrate" to attack the Centauri cruiser
the same gameturn. Correct?

2. As in (1), but there are three attacking Starfury groups. The third group
can "double" up on a Centauri group, or directly attack the cruiser. If it
doubles up, the defending Centauri fighter group can only dogfight back
against one of its two attackers. In either case, all surviving Starfuries can
attack the cruiser. Correct?

3. As in (1), but the Centauri fighters are not actually screening, but are
within range 6 of all attacking Starfuries. Assume the Starfuries engage the
cruiser and the Centauri engage the Starfuries. The Starfuries will dogfight
the Centauri "defensively", and all surviving fighters will also attack the
cruiser this gameturn. Correct?

If these three cases are right I don't see a real benefit to screening per se
because (3) gives much the same defensive ability as (1). There would be a
distinct benefit if in (1) the attacking fighters were unable to attack to
attack the cruiser this gameturn.

4. An unlucky Earth Star Liner takes massive damage as fire from a single ship
does 16 points of damage at once, wiping out four damage rows. Roll once for
catastrophic damage. Correct?

5. As above, but now the Star Liner takes four points of damage from four
separate attacks (different ships). It'll roll for catastrophic damage after
the second, third, and fourth attacks. The odds of a chain reaction are far
greater than in (4). Correct?

If this is right you need to carefully define "single attack", i.e. all damage
from a single ship or energy mines or all fighters. An alternative is to
simply roll for catastrophic whenever a damage track fills up in a gameturn,
given another track had already filled up. With this approach you'd roll three
times in (4), the same as (5).

6. An energy mine detonation destroy all fighters within range 6. This isn't
so bad since fighters move after energy mines are placed, but you've got to
watch out when launching new fighters.

Thanks for your time.

Felix asked:

> Thanks to those who responded to my EFSB questions. I'd like to see

Yes.

> 2. As in (1), but there are three attacking Starfury groups. The

Yes.

> 3. As in (1), but the Centauri fighters are not actually screening,

No. A fighter caught in a non-screening dogfight uses up its attack in
that
fight... (Think of it like this: the non-screening Centauri squadrons
attack the 'Furies from behind, forcing them to at least swivel around to meet
the new threat and probably change their vectors quite a lot. A
screening squadron meets the attacking fighters head-on instead. It's
not a
way of thinking I like, but it makes the rules seem less odd :-/ )

> If these three cases are right I don't see a real benefit to screening

It depends on how many fighters you have in the battle. If the Centauri
fighters are screening the cruiser, they are guaranteed to catch at least two
of the figther groups. If they move independently and the EA player holds the
initiative (or has more fighters) so he can move his 'Furies after one or both
Centauri squadrons have moved, he can place the 'Furies so that only one, or
none, of the Centauri squadrons are within 6 MU and thus able to intercept.
Furthermore, if the Centauri ships move faster than 20 MU per turn, their
fighters have to be screening to have a chance to
keep up :-/

Still, IMO a fighter forced to dogfight with a screen should _not_ be
allowed to attack the screened ship too.

> 4. An unlucky Earth Star Liner takes massive damage as fire from a

Yes. If you fail this roll, the ship is dead so you don't need to take any
more checks; ie, it dies 67% of the time in this case.

> 5. As above, but now the Star Liner takes four points of damage from

Yes. The probability that it will die in this case is a grand 89%. The
"additional" damage screws up the damage control work etc.

> If this is right you need to carefully define "single attack", i.e.

This is exactly how I interpreted the rule...

> 6. An energy mine detonation destroy all fighters within range 6.

Yes.

Later,