Re: [FT] Gunboats - points cost??

>1) Gunboats are grouped in flights of 4 (as opposed to 6 for fighters).

I'd make it three considering their size and ability to lay waste to
ship
targets

>3) Their base movement is 16 MU, and they get no secondary move.
>(rationale: they're a bit heavier & slower than regular fighters)

16 is an odd number. I'd call it 18

>7) Each gunboat carries two 'torpedos' that may be used instead of its
>beams for an attack in a turn.  Each gunboat can launch only a single
>torpedo in a single attack run - the torpedo hits on a 3+ on 1d6 and
does
>1d6 of damage each.

Another reason to limit sqaudrons to 3 vessels.

>8) Gunboats ignore rolls of '4' when defending against fighters, PDS,
and
>Class 1 beams.  Unlike fighters, however, Class 1 beams used for PDS
get a
>normal 2 kills + reroll when used against gunboats (rationale: gunboats
are
>considerably sturdier than fighters, so fighter & PDS fire is less
>effective.  They're also less nimble, so Class 1 PDS is *more*
effective.)

This rule seems unnecessary to me. I'd just leave fighter/PDS/Class 1
interaction alone. Yes, they may be sturdier, but they're slower. Sounds
like a even trade to me. No eneed to overly complicate things. Simple is
Good.

>9) Strategically, a gunboat may make 4 FTL jumps before jump-engine
>refueling is required.  A gunboat may replace one or both torpedo
launchers
>with extra jump tanks - each jump tank so added extends the gunboat's
range
>by 2 jumps.

Why not link jumps to endurance. Such as, it costs 2 or 3 endurance
points
to make a jump. That also allows for the interesting idea of: if we take
on
these fighters or make this attack, then we won't have the fuel to get
home.

>Just as an initial SWAG, I'm thinking that the points cost would be
>somewhere between 20 and 30 points per gunboat, making a group cost
between
>80 and 120 points.  Opinions, please?

Cost feels about right. I'd start at 24 and adjust according to playtest
results.

Schoon