Re: (fwd) Re: [FT] F***ters [was: Operational game]

> >The problem is that under the current rules fighters have a
non-linear
> >effectiveness because they can swarm an enemy (who will eventually
run
> >out of PDS). So having eight fighter groups that move as a single
unit
> >is worth a lot more than eight times one fighter group.

If you're moving > 24" ( >  36" if he has fast fighters), the fighters
can't
keep up with you for long (three turns for standard, four to five turns
for
Long Range) and you can either get to his carriers (one round of fire
should
reduce most of his soap bubbles to scrap), or force his carriers to go
to
similar high speeds which will prevent him from recovering his fighters.
That's how you deal with soap bubble carriers...

>  Isn't a certain amount of non-linearity unavoidable, or even
>  to be expected? One big ship seems to beat up two or more
>  smaller ships, even if the points values are nominally the
>  same.

The advantage of the big ship over the little ship is concentration of
firepower.  The only counter I've been able to come up with is very
small
"gunships"  with two needle beems.  The theory is you swamp the enemy's
leaving fire control with targets, he overkills a few leaving the rest
to
shoot at his fire controls to exasperate the problem.  Typically the
enemy
will go to FTL, so you have to shoot his FTL drive first (usually just
the
big valuable stuff, just shoot the smaller ship's fire controls and let
them
flee.).  You can also loose spectacularly if he can keep the range open.
I've done both...

> >None of the FB fleets have enough fighters to really demonstrate what
> >they can do in large numbers. The NAC carriers could easily trade
> >B2s, shields, armour and maybe thrust for more fighter groups. Keep
> >the carriers well away from the fire fight and they don't need any of
> >that stuff.

I once took three Ark Royals and two Furious escorts and and 18 fighter
groups against my ESU nemisis.	He took his usually mix of Kamorov's,
Gorshikov's, and Beijing B ADFC's.  It didn't last long.  I hit both of
his
Beijing B's with 9 fighter groups each.  He conceded in furry by going
to
FTL after he realized he couldn't catch the carriers and that the
fighters
were going to reduce him to scrap.  He started out way at too slow of a
speed (four inches) for him to put pressure on the carriers...

ias