Re: FB Fighter Questions (longish)

Jeff Lyon wrote:

> In MT it states that attack fighters get a +1 on die rolls; and thus
do
one
> point of damage on a roll of 3 or 4 and two points on a 5 or 6.

Yes.

> Now normally in FT/MT, the beam weapon and fighter damage progression
is:
> 
> target      1,2  3  4  5  6  average sum of 6 rolls
> screen  3    -   -  -  -  1	 1 
> screen  2    -   -  -  1  1	 2
> screen  1    -   -  -  1  2	 3
> screen  0    -   -  1  1  2	 4

Yes.

> One would presume if this progression continued it would look like
this:
> 
> target      1,2  3  4  5  6  average sum of 6 rolls
> screen -1    -   -  1  2  2	 5
> screen -2    -   1  1  2  2	 6

You've mixed Screen-1 and Screen-2 up, but otherwise correct.

> If one did it this way it means that attack fighters get a two level
bonus
> instead of the one that is implied.

The MT rules don't mention or imply a "one level bonus" - they clearly
state that the Attack Fighters get a +1 to all anti-ship fire, which
gives exactly the effect you've noted here.

You are of course free to change it if you wish! :-)

> Now if you use them with Fleet Book rules regarding beam weapons, the
> question comes up of how "roll ups" on a 6 are handled.

Only apply the re-roll on natural rolls of "6" (or only to modified
results giving exactly 6). The +1 gives you extra damage, but not extra
re-rolls.

> If attack fighters roll up on a natural six, then the damage looks
like
this:
> 
> target     1,2  3  4	5  6  rollups  average sum of 6 rolls
> screen 2    -   -  1	1  1	0.6	 3.6
> screen 1    -   -  1	2  2	1.0	 6.0
> screen 0    -   1  1	2  2	1.2	 7.2

Um... no, this isn't correct. You've forgotten that the re-roll damage
isn't reduced by screens - the averages should be 4.2, 6.2 and 7.2
respectively.

> Compared to the normal beam weapon (and fighter) damage progression
of:
> 
> target     1,2  3  4	5  6  rollups  average sum of 6 rolls
> screen 2    -   -  -	1  1	0.8	 2.8
> screen 1    -   -  -	1  2	0.8	 3.8
> screen 0    -   -  1	1  2	0.8	 4.8

Yep.

> If the "+1 to the die roll" mechanic is taken to its illogical
conclusion,
> however, a roll of 5 would become 6 and thus qualify for rolling up.

Sure, you can do it this way. However, at the same time, the 6 becomes a
7, which does *not* qualify for a re-roll according to the rules! 

> Looking at either set of numbers, I think I would rather
> face a squadron of torpedo fighters than these little terrors; at
least
> there would only be one turn of torpedo attacks, while the attack
fighters
> just keep coming back for more.  And standard combat endurance in the
Fleet
> Book is what, six turns, now?

Up to six attack turns, yes - but if you manage to shoot this many times
without losing your fighters, your enemy is doing something seriously
wrong IMO :-/

The relative fighter costs in the FB are straight from MT, though - no
adjustment at all. They will probably change in FT3, just like the beam
batteries changed in the FB :-)

Regards.

Oerjan Ohlson
oerjan.ohlson@nacka.mail.telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
- Hen3ry