Re: [FT] Mixing Tech

At 11:42 PM 4/7/01 -0400, you wrote:
>> At 09:02 PM 4/7/01 -0400, you wrote:
>> >Excuse me, if you're introducing these guys to FT, have you thought
>> >about using FSE, ESU, NSL, NAC?
>>
>> I'm using NSL with the serial numbers filed off for the attackers,
>but the
>> rest of the fleets just aren't distinctive enough for my purposes.
>I'm
>> trying to wean these people off of Warhammer; I need some flash and
>> razzle-dazzle to do the job properly.
>
>Warhammer?  What's that?
>Okay, flash and flair.  Well, sticking to Human tech, you could use:
>1) a fleet which relies on swarms of strikeboats with MTM or SMR  (eg
>the Islamic corvetee Khabar, mass 12, MD9, 1 FCS, 2 hull boxes, 4 mass
>of weapons eg SMR);
>2) a fleet with only superships (I'd recommend you use whatever
>formula Oerjan suggested, where cost increases exponentially with
>mass)
>3) a fleet which comes at you in two waves, needle beams and boarders
>4) the Dutch fleet (all PTorps)

The way I'm planning it now, the four fleets look like this:

Fleet One (Attackers): Heavy armor, no screens, low thrust.  Lots and
lots
of beams.  Basically stock NSL, although I will likely throw a Class 4
beam
on one or two of the capital ships, and will probably add in a few more
SMLs as well.

Fleet Two (Defenders): Largest of the defensive fleets.  High thrust,
little to no armor, screens.  Every ship that can manage it will be
carrying multiple Pulse Torpedoes, backed up with a few beams.	Similar
to
the Dutch, I would guess.

Fleet Three (Defenders): Medium thrust, medium armor, no screens.  Armed
mostly with Heavy Beam Weapons and MT Missiles -- which will, I think,
be
renamed "Smart Missiles" for the duration.  The BDN ship that I have
designed for this fleet looks like a lot of fun to play -- it makes me
want
to find an opponent right now and get to work,

Fleet Four (Defenders): Smallest of the four fleets.  Medium thrust, no
armor, screens.  Ships carry mainly SMLs and Smart Missiles.

What I am thinking of doing is giving a few K-Guns to the attacking
fleet
-- Class 3 and 4s only, and only on a few of the capital ships -- and
putting a few Plasma Bolt Launchers onto the ships of the second fleet,
to
act something like heavy Pulse Torps.  The PBLs don't seem like much of
a
problem, but I am assuming that the K-Guns are meant to be used with the
advanced KV drives, and I'm not sure if they are balanced for use on
ships
with standard drives.  I doubt that it's much of a problem, but it never
hurts to ask and hear what others have experienced.

John X Crimmins
johncrim@voicenet.com
  "...is one of the secret masters of the world: a librarian.
They control information.  Don't ever piss one off."