Re: Vector Movement and SML's

>Last time I looked class 2 beams still did damage against a class 2
screen
>ship - just not on a 4-.

"Misses most of the time", you said.

> What I meant was that SMs using 3" you can see ALL
>your primary weapons miss

Encourages you to pay attention, doesn't it?  SMR's are for gamblers. 
You
win big, or you lose big.

>It is irritating, but I wouldn't say it was 'just irritating' ;)
>Beams get another go next turn, once you're out of SMs your out.

You rarely get a "one shot, one kill" with a beam, though.  SMR's can
put a
mission kill on just about anything.

>>we were using 3" radius--note that's radius, not diameter); and 6
SMR's
>>arriving at once can't be stopped by PDS.
>
>Only if his PDS escorts are poorly placed/not there (something you
point
>out below I notice) - making sure your 'area defense' ships are in
>formation is part of the knack of combating a SM fleet.

6 salvo = 36 missiles, of which 21 on average will be on target.   Each
PDS
kills 0.8 missiles on average.	Most ships only have 3 PDS, and there
aren't
a lot of FB ships with ADFC.  Let's say you have two escorts, they're
both
ADFC rigged, and you have everything in tight formation so they mutually
support (and are easier to get SMR hits on).   Assuming you assign your
PDS
perfectly and don't waste anything from overkill, you're going to kill
about
11 missiles, meaning 10 get through and inflict on average 35 points of
damage, which will cause dismay to any ship in the book.  I'm not able
to
work out all the numbers right now, but the missiles should actually do
a
bit better than this due to your having to allocate fire before you know
how
many "on-target" missiles there are.

>intend to, but for every ship I've even seen vaporised by a coordinated
SM
>attack, I've seens one which stood there and laughed

Only if you get missed do you laugh..unless your esteemed opponent has
Kochte Missiles--I understand a fleet with those has been stationed in
your
area?  : )

>Well, yeah Aaron, but isn't that just you (and that dastardly field of
>yours)? ;)

Six SMR's against a Maria von Burgund (using Class 1's as PDS also), I
inflicted 81 points of damage.	As I recall, the first three salvoes
were
enough to kill it: 13+19+15 points.  It's not just Aaron.

Now, I wouldn't use _only_ SMR boats--when I play Islamic Fed Navy, I
usually take about 1/3 missile ships and the rest beam ships, because
when a
_Qaws_ launches its missiles, it is then useless except as a
distraction.
But missiles, used well, can be devastating, and I don't think a 6"
radius
in Vector is required.