FTFB- After Action Report/Newbie questions (longish :-) )

I am new to Full Thrust, if not to Space Gaming. If these comments are
stupid please show some forbearance as I am easily hurt. :-)

I have previously played all incarnations of SFB (since the pocket
book), Starfire, FASA's Star Trek Combat Game, Babylon 5 Wars, Silent
Death, etc etc. Hell I've even designed my own hex based template damage
strategic / Tactical game, (think Interceptor / Leviathan / Starfire /
SFB crossbreed), and Megagamed it in London a few times.

Sunday I played my 3rd game of Full Thrust FB rules, with 2 similarly
inexperienced experienced ;-) players, if you catch my drift! One has a
battleship / batteries Mania,(Chris), the other thinks anything bigger
than an Attack fighter is a waste of time (Fred).  Being used to testing
systems to destruction (and stupidly cocky),:-) we designed our own
ships which "just had to be better" ?!?
This has thrown up a lot of questions that I hope people may be able to
help and comment on.  Especially Jon!

For the first two battles we built 1500 point fleets, and doubled up on
one of our fleets.  
In Battle 1 Fred designed a 1274 point Carrier with 7 Torpedo 3 Heavy
and 4 attack fighters on board plus 4 carrier escorts (all Point defence
and Type 1 Batteries), and a second Battledreadnought, 2CL, 3DH fleet.
Chris took a BDN+2CH+2DH fleet (Type 3 Battery heavy) I had a
SupaDreadnought (690 NPV)+2CH+2DH antifighter combo (12 point defence +
Area control on the SDN, I guessed Fred would have fighters)  
On a smallish table we charged towards one another, My SDN disappeared
under a hail of Fighter and 5 Salvo missile battery fire on turn 2
without ever having fired anything but point Defence, I knew 12 point
defence wasn't enough against Fred. At 15 we interpenetrated lead
elements and my 2CH+2DH fragged the Fragile hulled CVH (actually the
Engine plant blew at the beginning of the next turn, but it wouldn't
have survived another turn), While Chris occupied Fred's BDN/CL/DH
combo.	Unable to reload his Torp fighters Fred's fleet lost 25% of his
firepower and Chris' Battery ships polished off the remainder.	Our
conclusion.  Fred wants his CV's to launch 4 table lengths away from
combat, a la Pacific Warfare, and that Attack fighters are better value
for money.  In addition it appears that fighters in penny packets are
not very effective.

In the Second Battle we had a Heavy ship Force on one side, and light
forces and one of the standard NAC carriers on the other.  Massed area
point defence smashed the fighters; the Escorts got killed before they
got to effective range.  Again it seemed as if fighters must be massed
and that big ships are king.

On to Sundays engagement.
We chose to fight a 500 point per force engagement, Chris brought 2
TMF140 "Battleships" for 500 points each one thrust 2, one thrust 4.
Fred bought 2 DH's on weak hulls with 2 Attack fighters and 4 EMP
Shipkiller missiles (i.e. not Salvo, the big ones in More Thrust).  I
had an Escort cruiser (with one standard fighter flight) and 3 Torpedo
armed DD's.  We played on an 8' x 4' table.  We charged towards one
another, Fighter screen at the front. The light forces at 8, up to 12,
then 16, the 2 BB (BDN's really) at 4, then 6, and 8.  We ended turn 2
with the ships at range 34" (damnit) and all 8 Shipkiller missiles in
the air.  The BB's fired their class 3 batteries; one DD vanished,
without even firing.  On turn 3 the missiles all 8, and all 5 squadrons
hit the heavy BB.  Chris fired at the 8 Missiles with all 8 Point
defence and 6 class 1 Batteries.  As per More Thrust we hit these big
missiles only on a 6.  2 died.	The 6 rolled for EMP, allowing for the -
1 dieroll mod' for screens we got 2 5-6 hits and 1 4-6 hits.  {In
hindsight, Knowing that the missiles were EMP's Chris should probably
have killed the fighters, but he did not know that, and thought he was
about to take 16d6 of Nuclear Missile damage.  Still he would more
likely have survived that than the fighters for the next few turns.}

Now this is our first problem.	Fred read this rule as meaning that
Chris had to roll 3 times on every system, including Core systems, twice
on 5-6 breakdown, once on 4-6 breakdown.  This shut down the BB (BDN
really) totally, every system, including all Core systems.  A drastic
effect for 16 Mass Factors of equipment!

On the same turn the light BB totalled the last two DD's and damaged one
of the carrier DH's, in exchange for losing his Armour and not much
else.  On the third turn Chris repaired the Engine (so no explosion) and
nothing else on the heavy BB.  All the fighters attacked (5 Flights) the
stricken BB.  The Escort Cruiser and 2 DH carriers accelerated through
out of range for two turns while the fighters killed the heavy BB, and
the other turned round and pursued.  
By turn 6 the heavy BB had been fragged by Fighter fire and the
remaining BB was pinning the CE and DH carriers at the bottom of the
table.	At long range he had scoured the Armour and first quarter off
the CE.  At this point he had been ignoring the now unarmed DH's.  At
this point 4 out of 5 flights had used 5 CEF's and were having trouble
closing on the lighter (speed 4) BB.  Over the next 3 turn's one flight
at a time hit the light BB supported by the rapidly dying CE.  The light
BB was forced to swap some fire to the unarmed DH's totalling one in
order to prevent refuelled fighters rejoining the affray.  This enabled
the CE to survive, with 80% hull damage, to turn 9 when the CE's last
weapon, a pulse torpedo finished off the BB. 
One Crippled CE and one Crippled DH carrier survived the fight.  But it
was won by the EMP missiles.

Our main problem revolves around their use.  As it stands they appear to
be game winning system.  For 238 points on a fragile hulled DH 15 of
them can be launched into a fleet engagement and probably shutdown two
capital ships.	We would all want to take them in large quantities.
Given our (limited) experience I hoped other people might comment on how
typical or atypical this seems.  Is there a modification to account for
these?
At the moment I am leaning towards No core systems being affected.  Same
logic as no core systems affected by needle beams, buried too deep.

In addition I think only one roll should have been made against the EMP,
against the worst position, i.e. a 4-6 roll.  This would shutdown half
of a ship but not guarantee its death.
Other suggestions are Point defence as normal, Chris's position, i.e. a
4,5,6 kills a missile.	And of course, no speed 2 ships would make
targeting within 3" more difficult.
What have you done with this?  Has Jon commented before? Maybe this is
an unresolved problem for Fleetbook 2 or FT version 3 rules?

On a more general question, Why would you build ships faster than Thrust
2? The extra 10% hull space dropping from Thrust 4 can be a lot of
weapon systems, and with the ability to swing ship direction under a
vector movement system even a Thrust 1 ship can almost always face
towards an enemy.

We incline towards a strategic reason for higher thrust ratings; perhaps
thrusters are used in FTL travel, the FTL drive giving the ability to
enter FTL mode, but thrusters determining how fast one travels.  We are
looking at this as there seems to be no tactical reason to be faster
than Thrust 2.	I know you can refuse to fight superior forces if
faster, but Thrust 2 seems find for an aggressor attacking somewhere.
Have a Thrust 8 ship to check out the local defences, call in the big
boys, and "Bobs yer uncle." 

What are your thoughts?  How do you restrict, if you do, the chosen
Thrust ratings?  Does anyone else go Fred's route with fragile hulled
carriers and 14 squadrons?

I await enlightenment ;->
-- 
Jef Addley