Re: [FT] FB2 Torpedo Fighters (was Fighter customization)

>Dean Gundberg wrote:
>
>>Actually in the FB2, the rules for Torpedo fighters changed a 

In the days before FB1, Torpedo Fighters were De Rigeur - you needed
them to
crack the Shield-3 ships. Attack fighters were used sometimes, but
generally
a 50/50 mix of normals and torpedos was used by CV groups.

With FB1, Torpedo fighters became far too expensive for their
effectiveness,
and no-one used them (around here, anyway), Heavy Fighters being the
norm.

The change IMHO just about makes Torpedo Fighters worthwhile again - not
so
much as to cause them to be galloping grossossities, but enough so
there's a
chance that a small proportion of a CVs mix will be TFs.

I imagine them to be specially useful vs Phalons under Shroud.

Regarding fighters generally, there are several ways of using them:

a) Don't bother: for the points cost, they are too vulnerable to PDS and
morale
rules.
b) Have just enough for defensive purposes, to stop your own PDS from
being
overwhelmed by SMs and Fighters coming in in swarms. If the opposition
has less
than a massive alpha strike, they're very good at picking off stray
corvettes
and the odd SM strike that's about to hit something worthwhile.
c) "Boot, don't Spatter" - have as many as you can field, plus SMs and
MT missiles.
This can overwhelm any normal fleet with relatively few PDS/ADAFs, and
do so
repeatedly.

So the best number of squadrons would be 0 per 1000 pts, 1 per 1000 pts,
or
4 per 1000 pts.