Re: [FT] Operational game

> That's assuming that they are land based.  Larger systems might have a
> station packed full of fighters

Space stations are very fragile.  Salvo missiles tend to shred them very
quickly.  Fighters aren't very effective agianst ships moving faster
then
48" a turn unless they are fast fighters.  And those can be rendered
mostly
ineffective by moving faster then 60".	Basically you conduct a "raid." 
You
come blazing in like a bat out of &^$^$ and lined up so you get one shot
at
the station.  The fighters will only get on shot at you, and you should
be
able to blow the station away.

Optimal weapons are Salvo Missile racks.  Salvo missile launchers aren't
as
good because unless there is an enemy fleet there, you will only need on
shot.  Submunitions can also work if used in large quantites and if your
pass gets you within 6 inches.	After having crashed part of a task
force
into a planet while moving at very high speeds, I tend to prefer to stay
a
fair distance away when moving very fast.  MKP's can also work.  You
will
probably want to mount them (and Submunitions) off center line.  There's
to
little arc of fire for front or aft arcs weapons at those velocities...

If one pass doesn't do it, you can always loop around and make another
pass
(with beams if not on the ground of planet with an atmosphere).  Ok, it
will
take a while to turn around, and the fighters will get a second shot at
you.

>-- or they might be based on a moon (or some other very low gravity
body).

If the gravity is that low, then there would be no appreciable
atmosphere,
so beams would also be able to engage that non-moving structure in a
raid.

> How many fighter flights can withstand their full endurance value of
combat
> anyway?  What does one less endurance factor *really* mean in the long
run
> if you have 15 more flights behind the 1st?

We are not talking one less.  For an earth type planet, 3-4 endurance
and
turns would be spent to climb out.  The moon would cost 1 endurance to
climbed out.  But why bother.  The whole point of planet based is to
make
beams ineffective, and you need an appreciable atmosphere to do that. 
Earth
and Saturn's moon Titan certainly work.  Mars is a judgement call.

ias