Re: General EMP Thoughts

Schoon wrote:

>I've been following the whole WotW thread, and though I'm not really 
>keen on offering specific advice on each weapon, I do have some 
>general thoughts on how EMPs ought - or ought not - to work.
> 
>1) They should affect a set number of systems - not a ship-wide 
>blanket. This is for balance.

More accurately, this is to maintain the current imbalance between
large and small ships. An imbalance I for one would be quite happy to
see reduced, though those who routinely fly all-SDN fleets or single
superships might disagree :-/

The ship-wide blanket effect of the MTM-EMP (and its proposed
direct-fire relatives) is one of the very few FT game mechanisms (as
opposed to arbitrary scenario restrictions or tournament rules) which
*can* reduce this particular imbalance, which is why I'm not prepared
to accept Schoon's first point for all EMP weapons. 

(OK, you *could* multiply the ship's NPV by NPV^(something)/NPV, where
IIRC "(something)" is in the 1.15 - 1.2 range - but only if you like
maths and have a good calculator handy. Not a solution I'd recommend,
really...)

Schoon's second point only applies if you have already accepted the
first one:

>2) They should have a clearly defined, simple list (did I mention 
>simple?) of the systems that they affect, and in what order. If you 
>involve attacker or defender choosing, they'll take forever to do it, 
>and no one will be completely happy with the results anyway. Nail it 
>down, define it! That way there's nothing to argue about.

If you nail the list down hard enough that there's nothing to argue
about, it'll still take almost forever to evaluate, only the rule's
author will be completely happy about it, and the list will *not* be
simple. Noam and Beth have already pointed out some of the reasons why
this is so, so I won't repeat them here.

The version of the "defender chooses system to roll for" which Brian
posted early in the WotW2 thread - ie., the EMP weapon determines the
maximum number of systems *lost* instead of the number of systems *to
roll for* - works quite well without any list whatever. (I first saw it
described by Pat Shepard a fair while back - possibly pre-FB1, but I
don't remember exactly. I've used the mechanic occasionally, but not
enough to determine how much it is worth :-( )

The defender simply chooses the systems to roll for, but since he has
to keep choosing systems to roll for until he has lost the number of
systems specified (or he has rolled for all (non-Core) systems on the
ship), he may very well end up losing the important system he saved for
last rather than the PDSs he picked first <g>

>3) They should cause a normal threshold, no exceptions. This keeps 
>record keeping and superfluous rules down to a minimum. KISS.

Either a normal threshold, or use whatever table the MTM-EMPs and
SM-EMPs use. (And those two should use the same table, too :-/)

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."