Re: Leading with Escorts (was Directional screens (armor dropped

On Sat, 16 Jan 1999, Laserlight wrote:
> >> They have the thrust to keep out of the firing arcs of heavier
weapons
> >> after the big-slow-bruisers start turning like cows.
> >
> >is this true under FB rules? i was under the impression ship size now
> >made no difference to thrust
> 
> True but if you're in a slugging match and he has 60% of his ship
devoted to
> weapons and armor, and you have only 40%, you had better have a bigger
ship
> than his, or not mind running away.

absolutely. however, the post i replied to suggested that escorts, ie
high-thrust ships, were able to evade the bigger ships' firepower well
enough that they became useful; if this is true of escorts, it would
seem
to be true of high-thrust heavies.

a thrust 4 40-mass battleship (old-style FT2 mass) will beat a thrust 6
40-mass battleship in a slugging match because it has more mass for
weapons and defences; the whole point of having thrust 6 is to be able
to
stay out of such a slugging match, and use maneuver to concentrate your
forces, evade enemy fire arcs, etc.

i think this was the idea behind battlecruisers; some people think BCs
were the biggest mistake ever, some people think they were a brilliant
concept. i don't think anyone ever worked out how to use them properly,
though.

anyway, it's all part of the wonderful diversity of FT doctrines.

Tom