Re: Strikeboat Design

Sean Bayan Schoonmaker wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I was poking around on the Brigade Models site <>, and was looking
over
> their design for the Saar Class Strikeboat. For those who don't feel
like
> going there to look, it is as follows:
>
> Saar Class SB
> MASS [6], POINT COST 6
> Weak Hull Integrity, 1 MASS, 2 POINT COST, 1 Hull Point
> Main Drive 8, 2 MASS, 4 POINT COST
> 1 FireCon, 1 MASS, 4 POINT COST
> 2 Submunitions Packs, 2 MASS, 6 POINT COST
> TOTAL POINT COST = 22
>
> A basically solid design, packing the most destructive power into the
> smallest package. However, consider this slight design change:
>
> Saar+ Class SB
> MASS [8], POINT COST 8
> Fragile Hull Integrity, 1 MASS, 2 POINT COST, 1 Hull Point
> Main Drive 8, 3 MASS, 6 POINT COST
> 1 FireCon, 1 MASS, 4 POINT COST
> 2 Submunitions Packs, 2 MASS, 6 POINT COST
> 1 Armour, 1 MASS, 2 POINT COST
> TOTAL POINT COST = 28
>
> With a 2 MASS increase and spending an extra 6 POINT COST, the
> survivability is doubled.
>

I should point out that my strikeboat designs are mass-6 so that they
can fit
neatly into a fighter bay. To achieve a more survivable Saar I'd
probably
ditch one SubM pack and add the armour point in the space freed up so
that
they'd still fit in the fighter bay. That said, I don't usually deploy
SBs
from carriers since carrying ships internally isn't cost-effective. My
preference is FTL tugs such as the Netanyahu class which deploy the
Saars from
external mounts - much cheaper :-).

>
> The basic design is eliminated after a single hit, meaning that long
range
> Beam fire can destroy a significant portion of your boats before they
can
> get in range.
>

A known problem ... getting crews to volunteer for service in Strike
Squadrons
has proved problematical :-/

Tony
(designer of space-borne coffins with engines)