Re: [GZG] Overloading screens

TomB wrote:
>There is nothing special about shooting extra beams at a ship on one 
>turn versus any other turn. There is absolutely no overloading 
>effect. If I hit you with 10 B1 strikes over 10 turns, it will do as 
>much damage (assuming identical dice) as 10 B1 strikes delivered in 
>one turn. That does not at all conjure an overloading impression to 
>me.

The two battles unfold completely differently.

First version: the enemy ship hits Enterprise with 10
beam dice. If the Enterprise (TOS) is a heavy cruiser,
say 6 or 7 boxes per hull row, say two levels of standard
screen, on average or just above it gets thresholded.
"Damage report!"
"Shields are down! Primary phaser bank offline!"

OK, what happens next? The Enterprise tries to get the
shields and phasers back on line by making repair rolls.
If the enemy ship hasn't been equally damaged or destroyed,
next turn it might get even nastier.

Second version: 1D6 is either a corvette trailing the
Enterprise, or some really big beam is being fired at
maximum range.

Ping!
Ping!
"Captain, if we allow the enemy to continue firing for
long enough, it is highly probable that they will
eventually determine the correct phaser frequency to
penetrate our shields."

So yes, if the Enterprise doesn't actually DO anything
about it, after ten turns (50 to 100 minutes later):

"Captain, the enemy from part 1 last week is still firing
and my readings indicate-"
BLAM!
"-that they are about to discover the correct frequency."
"Shields are down! Primary phaser bank offline!"
"It seems you were right, Mr Spock. Adjust the shield
phasing by 30 microbabbles. That should keep them occupied
for the rest of this episode."
Ping!
Ping!
...

Even if it isn't statistically accurate, I don't see a
problem.

	cheers,
	Hugh

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