Re: Re[2]: How to kill base 101 or rock can kill everything :)

On Sat, 10 May 1997, Oerjan Ohlson wrote:

> Nova Cannon can fire each turn - provided you don't want to use any
other 
> weapons, or shields. Wave Guns recharge 1D6 "points" per turn, and
need 6 
> points to fire.

Nor thrust to rotate to aim... assuming it's allowed, how many 
Nova cannon does it take to have a 360 degree protection around the
base?

Hmmm... Let's assume you want an unbroken ring of Nova templates at 24",

the maximum a missile can move & attack in one turn. That's about 150" 
circumference, or 75 Nova cannon.

Sounds like a lot to me.

But if you just keep firing them, you can create a 6" radius ring, 37" 
long, with only 19 Nova cannon. 
 
If you assume the base can have some measurable rotation without 
expending thrust to maintain it, the Nova swirls start to get 
interesting... and deadly.

One Nova can do the trick only if all the missiles are launched from a 
single point. A semi-circle is much more likely, if only because it's 
hard to place miniatures on top of each other.

Hmmm... I'm getting visions of Indian ships running in circle around the

Wag... eh, base and dodging the Nova blasts...

> Depends very much on the scale you're using (as everything else). If
you 
> measure in cm... well, even a 6cm diameter doesn't cover very much
(and 
> that 2cm diameter even less!). If you measure in ", the chance to hit 
> something increases quite a bit.

While true in practice, it's only because the distances between ships 
spread out more when you have ample room to play with.

Ok, here's scenario idea, ready for solitaire play:

Maneuver Training

Background: To teach their starship helmsmen essential finesse and 
evasion skills, the Overlords of Xyzzy devised the following simulation 
training program, officially known as "Advanced Maneuver Training 274", 
but all the cadets call it "The Wheel of Death".

Setup:

Pick a ship. Any ship. Start at one edge of the table, velocity 0,
facing
the base. Place a base marker at the center of the table. Make a 6"
radius
ring of paper, marked with 19 equidistant dots. These are the Nova
launch
points. 

Play:

Give orders and move your ship as normal.
Move existing Nova templates as normal.

Each turn the base fires all its Nova cannon. Place a 2" template on
each 
of the Nova launch points and move them as normal. Then rotate the base
and the Nova launch ring so that each Nova Launch point move 1d6 x 0.25"

along the ring.

The base is immune to all attacks (this is a simulation).

Ending:
The game ends when your ship is destroyed or when you reach the base.
Your score is how close you get to the base, the smaller the better.

Variations: Try using less Novas and varying the rate of rotation.
You can compress the required space by using just one quadrant. In this 
case, put the base in one corner and the ship in the opposite corner.

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