Re: Fighters and Hangers

--- Charles Taylor <nerik@monkslode.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
>	    Jared Hilal <jlhilal@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > 
> > My point is that, as a generic game (which is where FT can really
> > shine), I think it would be reasonable to have an optional second
> > set of rules for fighters covering their effect verses ships and 
> > ship design (hanger, launch and recovery facilities, etc.) for 
> > settings where the ships are much larger than those in the GZG 
> > background.  <snip my rambling>
> 
> Could you post these 'alternative fighter schemes' on the list
> please, I'd be interested in seeing them.
> 

I don't have the file handy, but I'll try to summarize from memmory.

We first used these for B5, but liked them so much that we extended
them to SW, BSG, BFG, and our home builds.  Some of the other attempts
were horribly complex (mostly my fault :) ), but I think these work
really well.

At the most basic, a fighter acts like a small battery that flies
around and shoots.  In the regular FT fighter rules, each fighter group
has a single 6" range band and rolls a number of dice equal to the
number of fighters remaining.

For settings with very large ships and relatively small fighters, treat
each fighter group as a single battery with a class equal to the number
of fighters remaining.	Like a regular battery, the fighter group rolls
that many dice in the first range band only, reducing the number of
dice rolled by one for each further range band.  Use either 2 MU or 1
MU range bands.  Note that damaged groups will have to get much closer
to their targets to be effective, as they have fewer range bands.  Use
these RBs both for attacks against ships as well as long range attacks
against other fighters.

Point Defense Batteries
If you use 2 MU RBs, then you need to extend the effectiveness of PDS
and DP B1s.  What we use is PDS is fully effective out to 6 MU.  It is
less effective the father away the target group is.  At 6-12 MU,
determine hits as if the target had an additional level of screens,
12-18 as if 2 additional levels of screens, and 18-24 as if 3 levels of
screens.  Rerolls are scored the same as the initial rolls, taking into
account the lesser effectiveness.  Heavy fighters are one level more
difficult to hit.  If you use 1 MU RBs for the fighters, then use 3 MU
RBs for PDS.

Dual Purpose Batteries
Starting with our B5 and Star Wars conversions and spreading to the
others was an increased effectiveness of DP battery fire.  Based on B5
pulse batteries and SW AF fire from the X-Wing and TIE fighter games;
AF fire from classed pulse batteries/turbo-lasers is effective out to
the full normal range of the battery, rolling the same number of dice
as against a ship target at the given range.  However, such batteries
are not optimzed for tracking small targets and so treat fighter
targets as if they had a number of screen levels equal to the class of
the battery firing.  I.e. level 1 against B1, level 2 against B2 etc.. 
Heavy fighters gain no benefit against the fire from anti-ship
batteries, but fast fighters are more dificult to track for these large
batteries, gaining an additional level of protection.

Point Defense Fire and Area Defense Fire
Attacking fighters may be targeted by PDS and DP batteries as normal. 
ADFC also works as normal, except that DP batteries may be used for AD
fire with a FCS dedicated to AD fire, separate from a FCS for PD fire. 
Non-attacking fighters may be targeted by PDS using one ADFC per target
group or stack.  Non-attacking fighters may be targeted by DP batteries
using one FCS per target group or stack.

Flight Bays
Flight bays are facilities for launching, recovering, and servicing
fighters.  We use the symbol from EFSB for a flight bay, with a number
in the circle.	This is the class of the flight bay.  The class
represents the number of fighter groups that can be handled in a single
turn.  A flight bay may either launch, service, or recover during a
turn, but may not do more than one at the same time.  E.g. a class 3
flight bay may launch up to 3 groups on one tun and then recover up to
3 groups on the next turn and service them on the third, but may not do
all three at once.  Fighters may be stored in flight bays.  All bays
benefit from economies of scale.
class 1    3 MASS
class 2    5 MASS
class 3    6 MASS
+1 MASS per additional class
Cost is 3 points per MASS (alt: 9 pts per class).

Launch Bays
Launch bays are similar to flight bays but can only launch fighters. 
Symbol same as for a flight bay but with an arrow/triangle pointing
away from the circle.
class 1    2 MASS
class 2    3 MASS
class 3    3.5 MASS
class 4    4 MASS
+0.5 MASS per additional class
Cost is 3 points per MASS (alt: 6 pts per class).

Landing/Recovery Bays
Landing bays are similar to flight bays but can only recover fighters. 
Symbol same as for a flight bay but with an arrow/triangle pointing
toward the circle.
class 1    2 MASS
class 2    3 MASS
class 3    3.5 MASS
class 4    4 MASS
+0.5 MASS per additional class
Cost is 3 points per MASS (alt: 6 pts per class).

Hanger Bay
Hanger Bays are the area where fighters are serviced, fueled, armed and
stored.  Symbol is a box like a SML magazine, but containing fighter
icons rather than SM salvos.
class 1    2 MASS
class 2    3 MASS
class 3    3.5 MASS
class 4    4 MASS
+0.5 MASS per additional class
Cost is 3 points per MASS (alt: 6 pts per class).

Taxiways
Taxiways are the connections between these facilities.	Each Hanger,
Flight, launch, and landing bay includes a single free taxiway.  The
number of taxiways connecting any two facilities is the number that can
be transfered in a given turn.	Additional taxiways may be installed
for 0.5 MASS and 1 point.

Threshhold Checks
Flight Bays, Launch Bays, and Landing Bays are all exposed systems. 
I.e. they take normal threshold checks and can be damaged by
Needle-type attacks.
Hanger Bays are protected systems in the heart of the ship.  They take
threshold checks like Core Systems and are immune to Needle-type
attacks.
Optional: when a bay of any type fails a threshold check and contains
fighter groups, roll a standard threshold check for each group in the
bay.  If the group fails the check, then some of the fighters might be
damaged.  Roll a number of dice equal to the number of fighters in the
group, scoring as per beam dice, including re-rolls, up to the total
number of fighters in the group.  For each "hit", one fighter is lost. 
Roll one die for each lost fighter, again scoring as beam dice.  On a
1-3 the fighter is combat ineffective for the rest of the game, but on
a 4-6, the fighter, fuel, or munitions explode doing damage to the ship
as per beam dice. 

This system gives several design choices.  For example, do you have a
single bay for economy of scale, or several separate ones in case of
damage?  Do you have just flight bays or also hanger bays for second
(or more) launches?  Do you have mulipurpose flight bays or seperate
launch and recovery bays so that you can conduct both operations at the
same time? 

J