Re: More FT Ideas.....

On Tue, 18 Feb 1997 BJCantwell@aol.com wrote:

> Fighters that go ZING....
> I tried the following system for fighter movement the other day in my
ongoing
> effort to make fighters feel more like little nimble ships.  I want
fighters
> to be able to move as fast as ships and to have to worry at least
somewhat
> about their speed, but not to have to fiddle to much when moving.
> 
> The fighters movement is used as Thrust, and a record is kept of the
fighters
> speed from turn to turn.  This can be accomplished by using a chit
placed on
> the fighter stand, or by simply recording the speed (which seems to be
> easier).  When a fighter squadron is moved, the fighters may use any
portion
> of their thrust to change speeds and must then move the full amount of
their
> new speed.  Any amount of thrust not used to change speeds may be used
to
> turn (up to a maximum of six).  The fighter may turn UP TO half of
this
> amount before moving and UP TO half of this anount at the midpoint of
their
> move.  All other fighter rules remain unchanged.
> 
> This allows fighters to still move more nimbly than ships since they
have
> great turning capacity and are not locked into any set amount of turn
at each
> step.  However, they cannot just spin 180 degrees and head back the
other
> direction.  Instead they have to make two 90 degree turns, which
forces them
> to move in arcs more akin to ships.  Fast fighters become worth their
cost
> since they can truly whiz about the board.  Keeping track of the
fighters
> speeds was not hard, since you just decided how much change to make
when the
> fighter group was moved and then recorded the new speed.  When testing
this,
> I did have a couple of fighter groups overshoot their targets and also
had a
> couple unable to maneuver into optimum firing positions due to the two
step
> turns and their need to slow down.
>

Has anybody else experimented with this kind of system?  To what
results?


> Wild Weasels:

This is a really good idea.  I kind of feel that the advantage of
getting
one level of screan at the cost of only one fighter is a rather good
deal
though.  I would suggest that the first fighter killed be the Wild
Weasel,
putting out all that noise and what not.


> Evasive Maneuver:
> I am of the school that escorts should be faster than heavies and
should have
> a fighting chance against an equal mass of heavies.  Evasive
maneuvering can
> be used by any ship, but is written to give a greater advantage to
faster
> ships with the idea that fast attack ships will be able to close with
heavy
> capital ships without being mowed down.  Also evasive maneuvering
should be
> more effective at longer ranges where the time lag makes sudden
changes in
> position more effective.
> 
> A ship may initiate evasive maneuvers by indicating so in its orders.
>  Evasive maneuvering requires 3 thrust.  The remainder of the ships
thrust is
> available for maneuvering as normal.	While engaging in evasive
maneuvers,
> the violent motions prevent firing of weapons or point defense,
operating
> active sensors or ECM, launching fighters or missiles, or conducting
damage
> control.  When a ship is conducting evasive maneuvering, all ranges to
the
> evasive ship are effectively 150% of the measured range.  This
includes
> fighter and missile attack ranges, weapons ranges, active sensor
scans, etc.
> E.g.	An evasive ship is targetted by two enemy vessels.  The first is
at
> range 22" and the second is at range 7".  Against the first enemy, the
> effective range is 33" (22 x 1.5) which will greatly lessen the
effectiveness
> of the ships fire.  Against the nearer enemy however, the effective
range is
> 10.5" (7 x 1.5) which will make little difference against fire from
the enemy
> vessel.
> 

I was thinking of something along the lines of linking a system for EM
to
the size of the ship and its speed.  Define perhaps three levels of EM. 
A
ship may generate one level of EM at the cost of two thrust points per
size class.  Just exactly what one level of EM is we haven't decided. 
One
thought is a screan level while the other is a fixed addition to the
range
of fire to the ship (maybe 6 inches).

> Later
> 
> Brian
>     
> 

Just a thought

Chad