Re: [FT] SMLs and Banzai Jammers

> > > Good luck closing the range on the SM ships
-->8--
> > > >  in order to keep distance you must run away 
-->8--
> > > > You don't hurt them much 
-->8
> > > As long as you wiggle your behind a little
-->8--
> > ...just not hurt them _much_.
-->8--
> However, I wasn't talking about firing *SMs* behind me.

Assuming an FSE fleet running from an NSL fleet (to make it easier),
that means you get to plink away (say) 2 damage points worth of enemy
ship per turn. Of course the NSL is doing 20+ pts to you at the same
time, at the very least. It has many more type 3s than you do. You
should run out of launchers about the time he runs out of jammers.

Been there, done that. It was done to me in a competition too, most
embarressing.

> > And on a floating table + cinematic movement, assume the pursuers
> > retreat.
> 
> Um... Alan, if the pursuers *retreat* they are no longer pursuers, and
> unless I've been careless enough to let them slip in between me and
any
> fixed or slow-moving objectives I need to protect, I'm quite happy to
> see them off without a fight. I believe this is called something like
> "winning on walk-over" <g>

I can see I wasn't very clear here. My reaction to "I'll retreat and
plink him" was "two can play at that game". If there's an objective to
be taken or held (or a table edge not to go off), then retreat isn't an
option for very long.
 
> > As soon as you get to 30 speed or so, your SMs become
> > completely useless, as they have a 24" range
 
> Do you really want to bet on that? :-)

I'm not a betting man, but in this case, yes. Cinematic movement of
course.
 
> > a) Banzai Jamming is a 100% defence against SMs, when combined
> > with some ADAFs and PDs
> 
> ...unless countered by long-range beam fire or other tactics to sweep
> the jammers. The arms race isn't quite as fast in the official
GZGverse
> as it is among us, though, so the FSE hasn't yet deployed very
> efficient scherven-sweepers.

Which would be what? 200 mass ships armed with nothing but MT missiles?
Or possibly 200 3 mass ships armed with nothing but Scatterpacks? Or
just copies of NI designs? Or ships with hordes of Beam-4s firing
sideways?
Or just have a few special-purpose wave-guns?

Each of the 4 major powers has its own flavour:
NSL - no shields, Slow, but cockroach-tough and a sh*tload of beams
FSE - fragile, fast, and missile-equipped
ESU - mediocre at everything, and none of this fancy technology
NAC - high-tech ESU.

Now if one of the major weapons systems of the above has a major flaw
with it, then one of the Fleets gets to play whipping-boy. You could fix
this by fixing the flaw, or by changing the flavour.

For obvious reasons, I say fix the flaw.

> >  b) Since the NSL has probably the most cost-effective SM launcher
in
> > anyone's fleet, the Waldberg-M
> 
> Please spell the name correctly.

Ta for the correction. Is it Waldburg/M or will Waldburg-M be OK? Maybe
a trivial point, but if it irks you I'll try to conform.

> The Waldburg/M is cost effective only if you use several of them

Well, yes. As are any SML ships in a fleet action.

> I consider the Jerez the best overall SM
> unit in FB1: tough enough to deliver all of its payload, well enough
> armed to do something once the magazine is empty (or defend itself
> against enemy light units) - and fast enough to get away if its
> secondary armament turned out to be insufficient

Good points, and I agree to some extent. I don;t have the figures to
hand, but I think you can get 5 Waldburg/Ms for the price of 4 Jerez. So
even if you lose one to enemy plinking, the SML strength is the same.

> The Waldburg is
> cheaper per launcher than the Jerez, but not fast enough to get away,
> nor sturdy enough to ensure that both salvoes actually get away, nor
> armed with back-up weapons.

It's sturdier than you think, but again, I agree to a great degree.

> and any fix must work in both movement systems.

VERY TRUE.

Dammit, that single D6 roll solution is looking better all the time...

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