[GZG] Feedback on Beta Fighter Revisions

Some feedback on the "unofficial (play-test group) beta
limited public release revised full thrust fighter rules"
These were posted a fair while ago, but I haven't seen
anything more recent, so apologies in advance if any of
these issues have already been addressed.

1. There's no recognition of friendly fire danger. "See
those fighters buzzing the admirals flagship? Point the
mega-cannon in that direction and let off a few rounds.
Risk? What risk?"

2. Anti-ship weapons are very effective against attacking
fighters, often more effective than the ships PDS. While
it's good to remove the rock-scissors-paper effect, the
beta rules swing too far the other way.

In particular, pulse torpedoes are better than beam-3s
against fighters, and beam-2s better than beam-1 or 3.
There's already a slight imbalance in favour of these
weapons (especially beam-2) and the beta rules amplify
it.

OK, those are fixable. The big, big problem is

3. We have to write orders for fighters. Deciding to
attack or evade, and if evading by how much, may not
look like movement orders, but in game terms it's the
same. You have to decide in advance what you're going to
do, which means measuring distances, trying to do
probability calculations in your head, comparing options,
and otherwise standing around going "hmmm" instead of
playing the game.

Proposed new system:

1. Anti-ship fire may not be directed against fighters
that are screening another ship, including the new meaning
for fighters that attacked an enemy ship last turn and are
staying in contact to do so again. PSB: the targeting
systems aren't able to discriminate with enough precision
and will lock onto the ship instead.

2. Anti-ship fire may not be directed against fighters in
a dogfight. PSB: the fighters are zipping around at high
speed (expending a CEF on violent manouvres) which, while
not actually intended to dodge anti-ship weapons, has the
same effect. Not to mention the friendly-fire risk.

3. New procedure for anti-ship weapons fire: phase 7
becomes just "Declaration of attack runs." Evasive
manouvres don't have to be specified.

In phase 8, any ship may target a fighter group subject to
FCS availability, range, and weapon arcs. The player
declares intent as usual, "3 beam-2 against the attack
fighter group and 4 beam-1 against the other."

BEFORE dice are rolled, the fighter group has the option
to evade. (The player must decide in a reasonable time
frame - no calculators allowed!)

If the group evades, it expends 1 CEF and breaks off any
attack run. The anti-ship weapon fire automatically misses.
PSB: fighters have warning receivers that indicate a ship
has locked on, and unlike bigger vessels they can actually
move fast enough to break the lock. OR, anti-ship weapons
have to be 'steered' onto the group, water-hose style, so
the fighters can predict and avoid the fire.

If the group does not evade, roll 1D6 per firing weapon
in range and arc. Each 6 kills 1 fighter, no re-roll.

An evasive manouvre lasts for the rest of the turn, so any
further anti-ship weapons fire against that fighter group
will also miss. (The firing player must be told that he/she
is aiming at an evading group and can switch to another
target. PSB: evading fighters can't be locked on by normal
FCS.) Evading is NOT retrospective though: if the fighter
group took casualties earlier in the turn, those still
apply.

Example: a fighter group attacking a battleship is fired
at by a medium cruiser with 2 beam-2 at 7 MU range. The
group elects not to evade. The cruiser rolls 1D6 per beam,
getting 5 (miss) and 6 (hit). Then the battleship declares
intention to fire with all 12 of its beams: the fighter
group decides to evade this, expending 1 CEF and breaking
off the attack. The previous casualty still stands, but
the battleship fire misses without rolling dice. The
battleship can't fire its weapons at another target this
turn, but isn't under attack either: whether this is a
waste or not would depend on the situation.

	cheers,
	Hugh Fisher

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