[GZG] HDC madness

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Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lI was looking at
the IJN playtest rules for the HDC and realised that there
was some room for abuse.  Not that I seriously consider the HDC to be
broken, only that you should be careful of accepting challenges for
20,000
point fleets.

What you get for your 20,000 points is a 5600 mass, thrust2, ftl-capable
battlestation with enough HDC-3's around its periphery to cover the
entire
360 degrees by only firing half of them.  Simply because I like round
numbers, there is an extra pair so that the spacing is every 2.25
degrees.
Each turn only half are intended to fire, so the centerline of firing
weapons are 4.5 degrees apart.	The hull has 1024 damage points and 256
points of armor.  The first threshold check is unlikely to cause the
catastrophic chain reaction of enough HDC's going up to cause the next
threshold check.  Lots of armor is pointless against Kra'Vak heavies,
but
Kra'Vak score few hits at 24-30 and take gobs of damage closer in.

I assume that both the intention to fire and the direction must be
recorded
in the orders phase, or the battlestation is obscenely deadly in the
0-24
range band, as it adjusts the firing angle of weapons for maximum
effect.
Every line of bearing can be swept by six HDC's (for 3 degrees out of
every
4.5, a seventh can also fire), at the cost of two 15 degree gaps in
coverage
(one on each side of the concentration zone [not necessarily adjacent],
or a
single thirty degree gap).  Opening a 15 degree gap will allow another
15
degree sector to be doubled up.  Opening two 15 degree gaps will allow a
15
degree sector between them to be tripled up.  With some good guesses,
even
pre-plotted firing angles will deliver a world of hurt to an incoming
attack
fleet.	Surprise! Surprise! This vessel will often spend alot of its
time
with its MD not in use to allow for firing in the aft arc

Although a tough nut to crack, it is hardly invulnerable-- especially if
the
HDC, as implied by its description, has no effect on PB's (unless they
are
netted by the "damages every target" catch-all phrase).

I suppose my question is really "Can you take this out without building
another one?"