[FT] arcs in vector

Beth said:
OK maybe we're just the weirdest FT players in the universe and we'd get

our butts kicked as soon as we cross the straight < all too possible 
;) >...but so far when people have tried the first option above against
me 
their fire hasn't been as effective as they expected because its too
split 
to damage all the ships they want as much as they want. Whereas when
they 
tried the second option they got rid of their first 'big' target and a
few 
escorts but the second 'big' target was untouched coming into the next 
round. Either way the next time I ran into them they had at least some 
weapons with multiple arcs suggesting that 1-arc alone did make them
feel 
safe. But like I said maybe that's just the way we play, feel free to
join 
in with Tom and I in a years time and you can hand me my head on a plate
;)

============
Are you guys wierd? If this were America (rather than cyberspace), I'd
try
to excercise my 5th amendment rights with regard to such a question. :) 

Your comment about the fire being too split to damage all their desired
targets is interesting. Mostly in my experience (we typically run fleets
that give each player about the equivalent of a DN or BDN, and two or
three
cruisers and typically 2-3 players per side) the targetting would mostly
fall on 2-4 ships per turn - which if you have wings would be a goodly
part
of one wing. So we'd just obliterate these ships.... Our policy is a
ship
that doesn't survive to shoot was a poor investment of points. 

In general, I should also comment that none of us sits still for pincer
attacks. I tend to wait till the pincers are at their widest then go
full
throttle at one pincer. So usually when I am in close engagement with
them
(all my guns at close range), they have the guns from the target pincer
in
close range and those from the non-target pincer either out of range or
at
longer (hence less effectual) range. A good time to do this is the turn
before the pincer starts cutting in... when their vector is still
outward. 

My comments about multi-arcs of course don't apply to bricks. If you're
flying a brick, you'd best have some multi-arc because you don't have
much
of a manoevre envelope to throw your opponents tactics (such as a
pincer)
into disarray. 

Beth, I think the way to test this (down the road) would be for me and
Chris
to create "limited arc" versions of a mid thrust fleet (NAC?) and you
and
those who share your view to fight us using standard multi-arc NAC. In
theory, we'll have forces of the same mass (and probably roughly the
same
point values) whose only distinction is the weapon layout. Fight this
two or
three games and we should have a good idea of the value of the extra
arcs. 

Note, BTW, I didn't say have NO guns with more than 1 arc. Secondaries
tend
to have 3 arcs. But your primaries only need 1 or at most 2 arcs on MD4
ships. 

I look forward to meeting you over a gaming table (even if it is a
virtual
one). Sometime you have a chance, drop me a mail off-list
(tomb@bitheads.com). :) 

And Chris, it's nice to have someone of roughly like mind.... even if he
is
a Reb! *grin*

:) 

------------------------------------------
Thomas R. S. Barclay
Voice: (613) 722-3232 ext 349
e-mail: tomb@bitheads.com

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