Kra'Vak house-rules

With so many people commenting on the Kra'Vak being too powerful I
thought
I would post some of the changes we made to the bugs.  Some things
increased their power and others decreased their power.  The "Class 10"
weapons have not been heavily play tested yet, but have worked out so
far.

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Rail Guns:

(1) Rail Guns have lost their double damage ability.
	[This change had the unexpected benefit of actually helping
speed
	 play as well as balancing out the damage they can do.]

(2) The mass/cost of Rail Guns was changed to
	class 1 	mass 2		cost  4
	class 2 	mass 3		cost 10
	class 3 	mass 4		cost 20

  
Scattergun Charges:

(1) Scatterguns may only engage an enemy ship within 6"
	[reducing this from 12" made them much more balanced]

(2) Scatterguns may engage any fighter group within 6"
	[gave the bugs a little more fighter defense ability, they are
one
	 shots after all]

(3) Scatterguns may engage any missile within 6" and destroy it on a 4+
	[even the bugs need a missile defense and being a one shot it
	 needed to be good]

New Systems, I'm not sure who first proposed the idea of the mass
caster;
but we thought it made good sense for the Kra'Vak.  

(1) Mass Caster:
	The Mass Caster is a Kra'Vak device that throws out a cloud of
matter (sand or other matter) between the Kra'Vak and enemy
ships.	The effect of the Mass Caster is to increase the armor (shield)
level of the Kra'Vak by one in that arc.  The increase is in one arc
only
and lasts for one turn.  The Mass Caster is a one shot device only.  The
Kra'Vak player must note down on the turn he wishes to use the Mass
Caster
which arc it will be covering in his orders (this is of course before
enemy orders are revealed for that turn.)  The Mass Caster goes off
after
movement and before any ships fire.
	If a Railgun, Scattergun Charge, or Cannon Charge is fired
through
the same arc as the Mass Caster then subtract 1 from the damage that
would
have been caused by that weapon.
	The Mass Caster takes up 1 mass and costs 10 points.

(2) Cannon Charge
	This device is closely related to the Scattergun.  Unlike the
Scattergun the Cannon is made up of only one solid projectile, rather
than
many small projectiles.  It is a one shot weapon and is used for anti
ship
work.  The Cannon Charge will cause 1d6 damage (ignores shields) to any
ship targeted within 12".  The Cannon Charge cannot engage fighters or
missiles.  The Cannon Charge has the same firing arc as the Scattergun
Charge.  The Cannon Charge takes up 1 mass and costs 10 points.

(3) Class 10 Scattergun:
	The Class 10 Scattergun is a spinal mount version of the normal
Scattergun.  It fires a large number of solid shot projectiles that
spread
out over the course of their trajectory, the game mechanics are much
like
the Wave Gun.  The Class 10 has a range of 30 inches.  Over the first 10
inches move a 2 inch template, all ships hit take 3d6 damage.  Over the
second 10-20 inches move a 3 inch template, all ships hit take 2d6
damage.
Over the last 20-30 inches move a 4 inch template and all ships struck
suffer 1d6 damage.  All damage ignores shields.
	The Class 10, unlike other weapons, does not have an unlimited
amount of ammunition.  Rounds must be bought separately by the Kra'Vak
player and represented on the ship (they can be "destroyed" by threshold
checks).  Each `round' of ammunition allows the ship to fire the Class
10
Scattergun one time.  
	The Class 10 may fire every turn.  It may fire only directly
forward of the ship.  The Class 10 has a mass of 8 and a cost of 30
points.  A round of ammunition for the Class 10 takes up 1 mass and
costs 5
points.

(4) Class 10 Railgun:
	The Class 10 railgun is an enlarged version of the normal
railgun.
It is a spinal mount weapon, but may fire into the forward arc (rather
than directly ahead).  You do not have to buy separate rounds for this
Class 10 weapon.
	The Class 10 Railgun has the same chance of hitting as a normal
Railgun and may target only one ship at a time (it is not an area affect
weapon).  The Class 10 Railgun may only fire every other turn.
	The Class 10 Railgun will cause 10 points of damage if it hits.
In addition to the damage normally caused the Railgun will also cause
the
ship struck to suffer an additional threshold check from the shock of
such
a single large projectile hitting it.  This additional threshold check
is
made on the current (after all damage this volley) level.
	The Class 10 Railgun takes up 10 mass and costs 50 points to
mount.

[A ship may have only one "Class 10" weapon and only a Capital ship may
mount one.]

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Chad Taylor