Re: Leading with Escorts (was Directional screens (armor dropped

On Sat, 16 Jan 1999, Mark A. Siefert wrote:
> Sean Bayan Schoonmaker wrote:
> > I disagree; escorts are still effective at several tasks, such as
escorting
> > (ADFC/PDS) and exploiting damaged ships or opennings after the first
pass.
> 
>	Which begs the question:  When do you use escorts in a battle. 
Do you
> send them out to engage the enemy while the heavies pound away from a
> distance, or do you you hold them back to protect the capitals?

depends what sort of escort they are. if they are defensive escorts,
with
ADS/ADFC-PDS, some light guns and thrust to match capital ships, keep
them
back. if they are offensive escorts, with hard-hitting
short-range/one-shot firepower, like p-torps or submunition packs, and
high thrusts, send them out front. there are two different varieties of
escort; it would seem that multirole escorts are a bit pointless.

Tom

ps p-torps were short-ranged in ft2; i haven't seen torps in ft2.5, so i
assume they are the same