Re: FT-Sub systems

----- Original Message -----
From: David Rodemaker <dar@horusinc.com>
To: <gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu>
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 12:45 PM
Subject: RE: FT-Sub systems

> > Subs require a energy storage system to use thrust or weapons while
> > submerged. This masses 5% of the ships mass, and can store x10
> > it`s own mass
> > in energy, with a nmin mass of 2 and a cost of x5.
>
> My big complaint with this is that FT has managed to keep energy
management
> out of 2/3 of the races at this point. UNless you are proposing that
subs
be
> a race-specific ship type (not a bad idea BTW, but I would rather that
> cloaking variants be available to all) I would really prefer to keep
it
that
> way...
>

I included the energy point system to try and limit the amout of time a
sub
can remain submerged, so a convoy escort can hang around and take a pot
shot
against a sub when it has to surface if it tries to hang around.

> Anyone thought to reversing things? Make the cloaking/sub system so
large
> (18+ Mass) that it has to be mounted on a capitol ship-sized frame and
> leaves little room for any thing else (in capitol ship terms)?
Would/could
> make an interesting economic limitation on building it and looking at
the
> scales of ships that seem to be talking about in FT I think that the
PSB
is
> at least as good for that as for fitting it only on little ships...
>

Their is arguments for both big subs and small ones. If you are going
after
commerce, many subs would be better to alow you to cover a larger area
(and
sofor get more merchies) like the german WW2 wolfpacks, or if you are
going
after capitols or strategic targets, you can use modern examples like
the
hunter/killer subs or even the largest class of subs built so far, I
think,
called the typhoon (?, not 100% sure) at 40 thousand tonnes, which was 2
pressure sub hulls side by side in a single outer casing.

> The other point on cloaking/sub systems is that they really are an
example
> of a systems that needs it's counter to play with. Without a set of
sensor
> rules cloaks/subs are not and will be be balanced.
>
> David
> (Who always played Romulans and is *still* tweaking sensor and
cloaking
> rules for FT...)
>
>

There is ways to play them without a full set of sensor rules, it just
requires your own fudge <G>.