Re: (FT) I give, Steve wins

On 11 Jun 2004 at 10:22, bail9672@bellsouth.net wrote:

> Here is an example of two ships that faced each other.
> ... never mind.  I don't have the exact numbers of
> Steve's main ship and can't seem to get it right in
> my spreadsheet.  But it massed 154 (10 more than mine),
> included many Pulser Batteries with most set for long
> range and 2x class-1 Grasers. 

A large number of pulsars set in a mix of L (most) and C (some) is a 
good anti-Kra'Vak weapons fit. You needed fighters to force him to 
use some pulsars in pds mode.

Was the game cinematic or vector? What were the fire arcs on his 
pulsars? In vector human and phalon designs have an advantage over 
Kra'Vak in that they can reduce the number of fire arcs and thus fit 
extra weapons.

> He did have 2 escorts while my other ship was out
> of range, but the result was so devastating that those
> other ships didn't matter.  
> 
> Here's mine:
> 
> BB Isucc
> mass 144, cost: (3-row hull) 634
> hull: 43, armor 8, FTL, MD 4 (advanced)
> Superior sensor, 4 FC, 8 scatterguns
> 2 class-6 rail guns, 4 class-1 rail guns   

Big K-guns are very much an all or nothing weapon. Yes they have a 
high maximum damage, but they also have a high chance of doing no 
damage at all. For 28 mass I would suggest that 3xK4+K2 or 5xK3+K2 
would be better. They actually have a higher theoretical maximum 
damage but more importantly they have a lower chance of doing no 
damage at all and less vulnerable to being knocked out by thresholds.

Superior sensors? Why?

> Set up:
> I had some armor and hull damge, his BB had a little
> less armor hull and damage; all this after about 10
> turns of maneuver (I split my two ships to go wide
> around and try to work to his rear, figuring he'd
> turn to one or the other eventually).

There's no point in splitting your ships unless you try to get both 
of them into firing range at once. If your other ship (same or 
different design as the one discussed here?) had landed in Steve's 
rear arc in the same turn that Isucc landed in his front arc things 
may have gone differently.

> On the turn of decision, Isucc executed a brilliant
> (but last) maneuver that placed his entire force
> square in front of Isucc at range 7 mu (inches in this case).

Ah, 1 inch too far away. If you'd been within 6mu you could have 
fired your scatterguns as well. As there were no fighters or missiles 
in Steve's designs they were wasted otherwise.

> And, I won initiative.  So I fired the 2x class-6 rail
> guns at the BB and the 4x class-1 rail guns at one
> of the escorts. 

Why split your fire? Okay, with the dice rolls for the K-6s it made 
no difference, but if they had hit the extra firepower from the K-1s 
may have pushed him over that second threshold.

> I roll two 1s.....long pause as I get
> a crying towel, again.  I did damage the escort for 4.
> 
> His BB fires: Steve rolls about 20 beam dice.  Double
> threshold result with 5 hull boxes left undamaged. 

How much actual damage? You say you had 'some damage' off your 
initial 43 hull + 8 armour and this attack left you with 5 points of 
hull. Looks like Steve rolled high. Doing 20+ points of damage with 
20 beam dice is well above the norm.

> We
> roll for threshold checks.  Then he remembers the
> two grasers.	The two grasers fire with one getting a 1 hit 
> for 5 damage.

< rules lawyer >
How generous of you. As the two of you had moved on to rolling for 
thresholds Steve had missed his chance to fire his grasers. 
< / rules lawyer >

> But you want to know the real kicker?  My 2x class-6 rail
> guns, with both hitting for max damage (24), would have
> only given his BB one threshold check (it would be close to a 
> second...).  

See above.

> Unless I got real lucky knocking out weapons 
> (on a 6) my ship was still pretty much dead, at least mission 
> killed.  And this for two ships that only differ in mass of 10.

But he fired all his weapons whilst you didn't fire your scatterguns 
and fired your K-1s at another target.	

> Yes, he had only MD 2 while I had MD 4, but it was so 
> one-sided that I'm exasperated about Full Thrust in general.

Looks like a combination of less than ideal ship design (those big k-
guns are a red herring), bad tactics (not concentrating your 
firepower, not getting the scatterguns into range) and bad dice 
rolls. Nothing anyone can do about the last. :-(

	Steve

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