RE: FT : EW & Boarding Parties

Jared E Noble" <JNOBLE2@mail.aai.arco.com> wrote:

<SNIP>

>>Second, how do transported Marine forces translate into Defensive
factors.

This problem is little more dicey. Obviously, the entire carried force
connot possibly react to the boarders. In fact, it's likely that very
few
will be able to get ready in time. I would put an upper limit of 1 BPF
per
1 mass of troop space, but even that seems a bit high.

>Fifth, (third sir!) uhhh, third - How about that 'prize crew' thing? 
Does
>it reduce my BP Factors, how about my ship's crew factors.  How do BP
>casualties tie in to crew casualties.

Like DCPs, each BPF only represents a few memebers of each CF, so when
the
BPF dies, it doesn't inhibit the "ship operation" part of that CF; you
just
can't use it as a BPF any more.

...and yes, if you were to put a prize crew on a captured ship, those
CFs
and their respective BPFs would be removed from the parent ship. If some
of
the CFs moved had their corresponding BPFs killed earlier, then they are
still gone.

>Hit-and Run Raids and Targeting.

[snipped "hit and run" stuff]

I don't think that hit and run raids against FT ships would be that
effective. It's not like you can "transport" your BPFs where ever they
need
to go within a ship. They have to enter at a point on the hull, and the
defenders will have a pretty good idea where that will be. Getting from
the
breach point to a specific objective is going to be a nightmare on a
defended ship with all its compartmental pressure doors sealed.

Well, one thing I was thinking is that you try to control your initial
point of entry, following the logic in the fleet book that pretty much
all
systems have an 'external' component.  'See the big sensor platform -
that's your target - prepare for hull breach within 10 meters and knock
that thing out'  Obviously this means that they target is declared in
the
initial round of attack.  The rule to save the Raiding team as last
casualty is only to represent the other forces doing their darndest to
protect them, while allowing the enemy to bypass that rule with the roll
of
a 6 reflects them working around the defenders.  I agree that entering
at
one point and advancing internally to a distant point would be a pain.
BTW, this is one of the reasons I would expressly disallow hit-and-run
against Core systems.

>>Now we just need a way to board the ship when things are still hot. 
How
>>about boarding cutter?  Basically a missile with guys in it.	Launch
it,
>>move it (haven't decided on speed), if you end within 6", regardless
of
>>speed or facing, you close and board (much like the missile on
terminal
>>attack run).	Of course you are still subject to PDS fire, and if you
miss
>>you are hanging out in open space just waiting to blasted to pieces,
and
>>any old class-1 beam is probably up to the job, but that's why you are
>>careful and plan ahead.
>
>This is good, but I suspect that it's a little too specific in its use
to
>be terribly usefull on a warship that wasn't specifically designed for
>boarding actions. Given the number of boarding actions that I've
actually
>seen in games, I'm not sure if anyone would bother. Most engagements
I've
>seen end in destruction rather than capture.

What I was envisioning was, or course, a purpose built boarding
ship...Carry a few boarding cutters as well as a bunch of marines to try
to
overcome the defensive personnel of a ship that hasn't already been
reduced
to swiss cheese.  Maybe even 'passenger' space to have extra crew for
those
prize ships you so want to capture...

I partly feel the reason that boarding is so rare in FT is that the
rules
conspire to make it so.  In order to even think about boarding the enemy
has to be practically crippled to begin with - pretty much weaponless
with
no drives.  The way FT works damage (which I generally like, BTW) means
that a ship that has taken that kind of beating is usually a point or 2
away from total destruction.

If you have a way to start boarding actions before the ship is ready for
the scrapyard, then they may become more useful.  If you have some
midway
flexibility in terms of what you can do with boarding actions, (not just
all-or nothing as it currently stands) then that may help too.	And if
the
mechanic is kept simple then they may prove to be fun without adding
time
or complexity.	An example of flexible but non-trivial mechanics is SFB,
where you have to take your defensive factors and allocate them to the
various systems they are guarding - if you don't take the time to do
this
and someone attacks, they have free reign.  So even if boarding actions
are
never used you are wasting your time on the off chance it might. Which
is
very unfortunate, as in most games I played we just declared that there
would be no boarding because we wanted to actually finish a game. With
the
ideas I posted, at least in intent, if nobody boards, there is Nothing
extra to do.  If they do, a few quick die-rolls resolves it and you're
done.  Even in ship design, there are no extra steps for most ships,
just
those who wish to carry extra boarding equipment and personnel.

>Schoon

Jared