RE: Fighters and Defense

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Oerjan Ohlson [SMTP:oerjan.ohlson@telia.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 12:15 PM
> To:	gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu
> Subject:	Re: Fighters and Defense
> 
> Bell, Brian K (Contractor) wrote:
> 
> >Would you explain this?
> > 
> >Opponent moves a group of fighters in to range of ship. Interceptor
> moves >to dogfight it. 2-5 other groups move into range of ship.
> Dogfight kills some
> >on each side. 2-5 other fighter groups attack ship. 
> 
> Except that a single interceptor squadron can dogfight multiple enemy
> squadrons simultaneously, unless the enemy either sacrifices one of
his
> own squadrons by initiating a dogfight or spreads his fighters out
> enough that a single squadron can't contact at least 2 of his
> squadrons. 
> 
[Bri] Ahhh. This is outside of my experience. Unless within striking
range
of the target, I have not seen fighters within a base lenght of each
other
(except when one initiates a dogfight). But I do see you point.

> Multiple-group dogfights against interceptors are particularly lethal
> if the interceptors win initiative, since they then get to fire before
> the opposing fighters... and at an average ~7 kills for an undamaged
> interceptor squadron, it can ravage 2-3 opponent squadrons quite
badly.
> A squadron which has lost 2-3 fighters isn't very dangerous to ships
if
> you use the fighter morale rules.
> 
[Bri] Except dogfight damage is SIMULTANEOUS (FT p.17). So the
Interceptors
will dish out more than what they receive, but will still take
substantial
damage.

> So, while I wouldn't expect a single interceptor squadron to
neutralize
> *6* enemy squadrons (I've seen it happen, but not too often), taking
> out enough fighters from 3 enemy squadrons to give them a significant
> chance of failing their morale checks *in a single attack* is fairly
> common IME.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Oerjan Ohlson
> oerjan.ohlson@telia.com
-----End Original Message-----

My comments above marked by [Bri]

-----
Brian Bell
bkb@beol.net
http://www.ftsr.org
-----