Re: FTFB-Q about thrust 1 ships

> Jef spake thusly upon matters weighty:
>
> > On a more general question, Why would you build ships faster than
Thrust
> > 2? The extra 10% hull space dropping from Thrust 4 can be a lot of
> > weapon systems, and with the ability to swing ship direction under a
> > vector movement system even a Thrust 1 ship can almost always face
> > towards an enemy.

Another reason is that at short distances, the angle at which an enemy
passes
by changes rapidly, requiring more thrust to keep them in arc.	With
higher
thrust ratings you may be able to turn your fleet around 1 turn sooner
or be
able to alter the vector enough to get one more shot before you pass out
of
range.

In addition I subscribe to the Tank Destroyer theory for ship design,
packing
more weapons with limited arc, then bulking up on engines.  In most
cases
the savings of not taking extra arcs on Class 3 beams or Pulse Torpedoes
makes up for having an extra 10 or 20 % taken up by engines.  My
standard
tactic is to take an oblique run to try to get to one side or the other,
then
make a sharp turn through the middle of their formation.  Usually
they'll try
to dodge to one side or another so I'll make a turn in the opposite
direction,

kick up the thrust and assess the damage.  Unfortunately, front end
attacks
have high casualty rates, but if the PT's work the enemy isn't in good
shape
either.

--Binhan