Re: FB2... hmmmm...

On Mon, 5 Jun 2000 07:01:19 -0400 , "Bell, Brian K"
<Brian_Bell@dscc.dla.mil>
wrote:

>FT2 p.36 "Note tha an operational fire-control system is required in
order
>for a Phalon ship to launch a plasma bolt, but the same fire-control
may
>also be used for anti-ship pulser fire in the main fire phase."

This is apparently the proper interpretation. However, there is some
question,
then, if it's worth buying one big PBL instead of a bunch of small PBLs.
A
bunch of small PBLs have the advantage of being able to spread out, are
harder
to eliminate with one bad threshold check, and are much more flexible in
terms
of targeting and firing in alternate turns. The disadvantage is that
they can
be degraded much more easily through threshold checks, and it takes more
repair rolls to get them back online. 

The question is: do the advantages equal or exceed the disadvantages?
It's
possible that they might. On the playtest list there was a small amount
of
discussion that the wording of that one paragraph you quote could mean
you DO
need a separate Firecon per PBL (even if that Firecon is used for other
purposes). This makes small PBLs less efficient and might just balance
the
large PBLs versus the small PBLs better.

Allan Goodall		       agoodall@interlog.com
Goodall's Grotto: http://www.interlog.com/~agoodall/

"Surprisingly, when you throw two naked women with sex
toys into a living room full of drunken men, things 
always go bad." - Kyle Baker, "You Are Here"