SV: Gunboats in FT...

Brian wrote:

> If they are mass 2 they should be covered by the standard rules
(couriers).
> Afterall, a Corvette is only mass 6 and would not hold everything you
> mentioned. 

Yes, it could (at least under the FT2 design rules) - 1 C battery, 1
point
defence and 1 Sub-munition pack <g> Remember, the GB sub-packs are only
1/3
the size of a starship's since they only roll 1 die each at 6 mu; so the
Corvette would actually be heavier armed than the GBs.
  
> I would counter-propose the following:
> Gunboat Mk 2
> Mass:   6 (3 boats and bay)
> Cost:  18
> Speed: 10
> 
> Gunboats have 3 ships per squadron. They carry a mini-pulse torpedo.
This
> hits on 4+ and does 1d6/2 (round up) damage (ignore screens). Gunboats
are
> destroyed by 2 points of *daf damage or 1 point of damage from a C
beam
(no
> penalty to hit). Gunboats engage fighters and missiles as attack
fighters.
> Gunboats follow normal fighter endurance and morale rules.

Hm... comparing a heavy torpedo fighter to this GB2:

			 Fighter:		    GB2:
Speed:		       12			   10
Torp shots:		1			    3
Damage/shot:	   D6			     D6/2 
Average *DAF
dice needed to kill:  2 			  3
Average C dice
needed to kill: 	3			  1.5
Cost/squadron:	    50			       18

Both have the same anti-fighter capabilities, and seem roughly equal in
other respects (I wouldn't expect the GBs to last very long if the enemy
has C batts...). The GBs are very, _very_ cheap, though; they cost less
than a standard fighter squadron!

Regards,

Oerjan Ohlson

"Life is like a sewer.
What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
- Hen3ry