The Osa missile boat -- small strike units

4 posts ยท Mar 27 2001 to Mar 29 2001

From: David Griffin <carbon_dragon@y...>

Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 08:58:21 -0800 (PST)

Subject: The Osa missile boat -- small strike units

I'd like some feedback on the following idea (that I'm sure has been done and
talked about on the list before, maybe a lot).

Suppose you build a unit off a small hull, maybe a corvette, with 1 FC, an
SMR, a thrust 4 engine, and 1 hull box. Suppose further you build a lot of
them and use them to conduct WWI destroyer torpedo attacks on an enemy
battleline. Is that feasible? How many would you need relative to the number
of ships? The ships would have an FTL drive so after firing their SMR I have
in mind for them to warm up and jump out.

Thanks!

From: John Atkinson <johnmatkinson@y...>

Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 14:32:47 -0800 (PST)

Subject: Re: The Osa missile boat -- small strike units

> --- David Griffin <carbon_dragon@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Suppose you build a unit off a small hull, maybe

Yes it's feasible. I have been known to drive people up the wall with that
strategy back before I finalized on the doctrine I use today.

> number of ships? The ships would have an FTL drive

> From an in-game standpoint it's very hard to beat.
Consideration should you ever be in a campaign game: These puppies are 100%
tied to a fixed base. They have to be reloaded after every fight. And if your
opponent is prepared for them (ADS systems and banzai
jammers like the Mu-class target drones I've mentioned
before) then he can absorb your strike and still keep
going--and level your base.  But as auxillary forces,
they are quite useful.

From: Oerjan Ohlson <oerjan.ohlson@t...>

Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2001 19:01:35 +0200

Subject: Re: The Osa missile boat -- small strike units

> John Atkinson wrote:

> Suppose you build a unit off a small hull, maybe

They're feasible on restricted/fixed tables or stationary targets, or
when used as a threat to force the enemy to maneuver where you want him
to. I'd make them at least thrust-6 though - it only costs 3 pts more
per ship, and it allows them to overtake most capitals :-/

However, they're quite vulnerable if the enemy is able to back away (eg. using
the 'moving table' described on FT2 p.28, or not tied down by very slow ships
or a fixed base which must be defended), because then the missile boats have
to get inside the enemy weapons range before they can launch... and since they
are so brittle, they die *fast* once inside enemy weapons range. They also
need either
anti-fighter weapons of their own, or anti-fighter escorts :-/

Regards,

From: John Atkinson <johnmatkinson@y...>

Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2001 12:43:33 -0800 (PST)

Subject: Re: The Osa missile boat -- small strike units

> --- Oerjan Ohlson <oerjan.ohlson@telia.com> wrote:

> However, they're quite vulnerable if the enemy is

That's why I discarded them when I put together a "real" fleet doctrine. I
still keep their STL cousins around as part of system defense fleets, though.