Sa'Vasku balancing (made ya flinch)

Hey everybody,

Ideas have appeared half formed in my mind that might help to balance
the
Sa'Vasku, and might instead make everything more complex than playable.

The following have not even been played out on paper yet, and I still
don't
know if the SV really are unbalanced.

First the PSB. Stinger nodes doing multiple dice of damage fire for a
longer
period of time during the turn than "normal" beams.

A) Fire from a single stinger node will use a split damage resolution,
1/2
of the dice (rounded up) when initiative calls for it, 1/2 at the end of
the
turn after other ships have resolved damage.
A1) This means increased record keeping.
A2) Maybe the ratio should be different. Every third die waits, or every
fourth.

B) At "long" ranges, at least one point of energy must be allocated to
the M
pool (some of which is used for "micromaneuvers") to keep stinger nodes
on
target. This energy point may be used for acceleration or maneuvers as
normal. If at least one M point is not allocated, the 2nd half damage
resolution will be skipped.
B1) If multiple stinger nodes are available, then at long ranges, energy
can
be split between nodes for more effective fire, and to be able to skip
the
2nd half damage.
B2) Maybe at least one point of thrust needs to be generated instead of
one
point in the M pool.
B3) Maybe this applies only to ships over a certain mass; eg ships with
a PP
cost of greater than 1 for 1 thrust.
B4) Exactly where "long" ranges start is unclear to me. 10"? 12"? 18"?
30"?

C) Any hull damage done to the firing ship subtracts from the energy in
the
second damage resolution phase. On a 1 for 1 basis, one point of damage
will
subtract one point of energy allocated to every stinger node in the 2nd
phase.
C1) Maybe this should only apply to damage done from natural 6's or
other
penetrating damage (eg big KV guns)?
C2) Maybe the ratio should be higher, 1-3 points subtracts one energy,
4-6
subtracts 2, etc?
C3) Maybe instead of this mechanism, an additional threshold check is
required for beams which are "on target" to remain on target for the 2nd
half resolution. (i.e. if a threshold check is passed for a stinger node
that might do 2nd half damage, a second threshold check must be passed
for
that node to keep the energy focused and continue firing.)

D) If a firing stinger node is destroyed during the turn before the 2nd
half
damage phase, the 2nd half damage is not applied.
D1) If a different, unfired stinger node is available in arc, maybe the
2nd
half fire can be shifted to the different node. Or maybe not.

E) If a power generator is lost during the turn, the SV ship must
immediately subtract the generated energy from any combination of pools
(rebalance the energy). This may mean there is not enough energy for a
2nd
half firing. (Someone else in an earlier message suggested that power
should
be rebalanced during the turn.)

An example:
The Fo'Vur'Ath (heavy destroyer) "Mooncrater" allocates 7 points of
energy
to the A pool, 1 point to the R pool, and 1 point to the M pool. During
the
"ships fire" portion of the turn sequence, a range 20 shot is declared
against a human frigate. Since there is only one stinger node that bears
on
the frigate, the SV player decides to use all 7 points of energy for
this
shot. At range 20, 2 points of energy are required per die of damage, so
3+
dice are available. The SV rolls half rounded up (2 dice) immediately. A
little later, the Mooncrater takes a 3 points of damage. The 2 points of
armor on the Mooncrater are destroyed, and 1 hull hit is taken. At the
end
of the turn, the energy for the 2nd half firing (7 points, less the 4
already resolved) is reduced by 1. There is still enough energy for the
range 20 shot, so it is immediately resolved.

Any feedback before I go and try this out? Will this address the
situations
where the SV are apparently undercosted/over powerful? What are those
situations?

--
jcii