Re: Points balance on K-guns vs Beams, part 2

--- Oerjan Ohlson <oerjan.ohlson@telia.com> wrote:
> John Atkinson wrote:

> That's because you aren't nearly radical enough. B2s
> are one of the best 
> all-round weapon in *Cinematic*, but in Vector they
> are relegated to fourth 
> place after B3-1s, P-torps and B4-1s; B1s are
> relatively weak in Cinematic 
> (unless their PD capability is needed) and weaker

It generally is.  Remember, I slug it out with IFed
and FSE on a regular basis.

> Belisarius, Maniakes, Cimbalongus, Constantine
> Isoapostolis	(FF, FH, DD, 
> CE): Replace 2xB2-3 with 1xB3-1.

The function of these small ships includes escort. 
They focus on the clouds of small ships that
frequently hang about enemy capital ships.  While my
capitals are shooting up the enemy's cruisers and
capitals, the escort ships are trying to minimize the
time the enemy destroyers spend hanging around the
flanks shooting.  Since I've faced multiple opponents
who like to string out their escorts to the left and
right and move in towards my formation, I tend to want
more arcs on my small ships.

> Then you're letting them get too close to you -
> which isn't terribly 
> surprising, since you probably want to bring all
> your own B1s and 
> especially B2s into play and those only come into
> their own at close 
> ranges. Outside 12mu range, each firing arc is so
> wide that a ship only 
> rarely is able end up in more than one of your arcs.

Ah, but a formation can.  And as for letting them get
close, maybe I'm doing something wrong, but a thrust-4
ship can easily hop range bands unless you know what
he's going to be doing each turn.  Thrust 6, it's even
easier.  Especially if they spend the first couple
turns kicking their speed up to 12-20.
 
> The St. Andrews and St. Theodores are only
> vulnerable to Human beam weapons 
> *once those beam weapons get into range*. But the
> important thing isn't 
> their defences (or lack thereof); it is their
> offensive armament.

Those beam weapons have more range than the PTorps
those are armed with.
 
> Have you ever tried to pit, say, a St.Andrew against
> a Virgin Mary?
> 
> If you have done this, you already know that the
> *only* range at which your 
> Virgin Mary-class DNL can inflict more damage on
> average than a St.Andrew 
> DNLK can hit it back with is range 30-36. At range

Yes.  The Andrew carries considerably more tonnage of
weapons than the Mary does.  No protective measures
are worthwhile against Kra'Vak.  Only a moron goes
into combat against KV with shields, and armor is only
marginally more useful.

> 30 or less, the Andy 
> inflicts 30-50% more damage on the Mary than the
> Mary can inflict on the 
> Andy - as long as the Andy can keep the Mary in its
> (F) arc.

Right.
 
> The only way (barring extreme luck with the dice) a
> Virgin Mary-class ship 
> has to defeat a St. Andrew modified as above (ie.,

But the Mary class is not intended to hunt St.
Andrews.  It's intended to fight in line of battle
against IFed fleet, and I'm fairly sure that it could
take down a Arabia class SDN (depending on what goes
in the spinal armament slot, theoretically could be a
class 5 beam weapon, or 4 PTs or 4 CL3s[1]).  More
importantly, a squadron built around a Mary could take
down a squadron built around an Arabia and still have
the Mary as a functional combatant.  She doesn't do me
much good stuck in drydock.  I'm thinking campaign
here.  The shields and armor stay.

John

[1]Neither know nor care 'bout Laserlight's universe,
but in mine there are no area affect weapons.  No nova
cannons, wave guns, or plasma bolts.  Given the energy
required to do damage to everything in a large volume
of space, it would take only a trivial amount of
focusing of that energy to inflict massive damage on a
point target.  If you can generate it, it's much
better to focus it.

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