Re: [FT\DS2] Fleet and Army sizes for games

Brian Burger wrote:

>Given that that's not going to happen, does anyone else think that
>fighters are significantly undercosted and/or too powerful for their
>present cost?

Not if you use the fighter morale rules. If you don't use them, then
yes.
 
>Fighters are, in FT, the *only* weapon system where if one player
>brings them and the other leaves them at home, the figherless player
is >more than likely to loose... 

Never encountered a serious ADFC phalanx, or scatterguns?

All weapons in FT have their counters: screens vs beams and PBLs,
armour vs. everything except large K-guns, PDS etc. vs. fighters/
missiles/PBLs. If you don't have the appropriate defensive system(s) to
your opponent's main armament while *he* has the counter to *yours*,
you're in trouble - but that's just as true if you field ships with
level-2 screens and heavy armour on a Weak hull against the Kra'Vak as
if you go up against a fighter strike without any point defences
<shrug>

>I've not done the design work or math, but fighters are basically 6
>all-arc B1s, with (effectively) near-tabletop range, and they're far,
far
>tougher than any other method of transporting 6xB1, because you can
>only kill them *after* they can already shoot at you.

Um... point defences fire *before* the fighters get to shoot, you know.

>Not only that, they're the only 6xB1 delivery system that bigger guns
>cannot kill at greater range than the B1s can reach. You've got to
have >specialized anti-fighter systems to deal with them.
 
That's true.

> Two math-type problems that someone might want to tackle: 
> 
>1. With 9 Mass & 18 NPV, what sort of ship could you build, and would
>it be anywhere near as fast, dangerous or survivable as a basic
fighter
>squadron? (My strong feeling is No, most totally No...There is, after
all,
>no ship that's totally unhittable if it's over 6" from your ship...)

"9 Mass and 18 NPV" doesn't make much sense - "how far can you travel
for $10 and a horse", kind of. Translate it all into NPV instead; the 9
Mass fighter bay costs 27pts itself plus a minimum of 16.5 pts for the
hull and engines of the carrier, for a total cost of 61.5 pts (about as
much as a frigate).
 
>2. Can 18pts & 9 Mass of ADFC/PDS do a good, quick job on a >standard
fighter squadron? (Probably, but I'm not sure...)

Most certainly. 1 ADFC + 7 PDSs inflict on average 5.6 kills before the
fighters get to shoot back, and they cost 16 points less than the
fighters. The remaining 0.4 fighters (on average) aren't likely to do
very much damage even if they make their morale check :-/

Regards,

Oerjan Ohlson
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
- Hen3ry