Re: Graser beam observations

bail9672@bellsouth.net wrote:
> 
> First, all of our battles were cinematic.  Most ships
> had level-1 screens; except for some small ships
> (massing 24-34) that died instantly a Graser was
> turned on them.
> 
[...]
> The Grasers outperformed every other weapon by
> a large margin. 
[...]

It is a fair statement to make, but it is also fair to consider that
different tactics need to be employed when facing Graser weapons. We
all found the same when the K-guns on the Kra'Vak first appeared. People
started clamoring that the K-guns outperformed every other weapon. It
wasn't until different tactics were developed that the K-gun "appeared"
to become more nominal. Ditto the pulsers and Sa'Vasku weapons (although
the S'V still have some issues that need to be dealt with and have been
through playtester feedback and houserules). I've personally had very
little time to play with the Grasers prior to the beta release here
(and then it was primarily the earlier versions), but what I've seen
of it's current development I think it will be okay - as soon as new
tactics are developed. :-)

> I'm thinking that the class-1 Graser masses should be:
> 1-arc: 4, 3-arc: 6, 6-arc: 9.  Except for range, it is
> much better than a Pulse Torpedo Launcher.  A mass
> of 4 for a 1-arc G-1 is probably on par with the
> 4-mass 1-arc PTL.  The PTL has range, but only
> ever can do 1d6 damage and at long range has a
> slim chance to hit.  The Graser has unlimited damage
> potential.  Maybe it should have no rerolls, or be
> limited to 1 reroll?

Beam batteries have unlimited damage potential as well. I remember
several games against Aaron Teske when he rerolled more than a half
dozen times with one beam shot, a few of those gutting ships I had
arrayed against him (and I, on the flip side, rolled almost the
same number of 1's ;-)

The shock value of the Graser damage can be pretty severe. But so
was the initial shock value at what K-guns could do (esp K4s and K5s).

> It was 3 people vs. 2 people, 3000 points per side.
> I had 1000 points which bought the 33 strike boats.
> My two allies were taking a pounding, but also dishing
> it out.  When my strikeboats made their attack run at
> the time the main combatants were closing it was
> a maelstrom of fire from everyone onto everyone.
> My allies fired their ships before I did, the enemy had
> several large ships that tossed a few shots at my
> strikeboats.	They were claiming they could take
> out 20 in a turn.  They took out 7, mostly because
> they fired many weapons at my allies' large ships
> and also missed a couple of mine.
> It did take the remaining 26 to destroy the
> what-was-intact DN (mass was about 134-154,
> okay, maybe a BB) with some overkill.  It had
> no screens.
>
> This is probably the one instance where escort ships
> can make a difference: to keep away the "torpedo boats"
> as what happened in the real world.  No one, besides
> me,  in this battle had any ship smaller than 134 mass.

It has been shown repeatedly that a fleet of mosquitos can
successfully take out an equivalent massed/point-costed
larger single opponent ship. 

> A class-2 Beam vs. a class-1 Graser?	There is no
> comparison.  Forgetting about rerolls, an unscreened
> target will take 2 damage on a roll of 6 from the
> Beam (or 4 damage on two 6s at close range),
> but 2d6 damage from the Graser (averaging 7).
> That extra 6" of range for the Beam?	Sometimes it
> may make a difference, but oh woe is the target that
> gets within 18".

So the Graser will now give some precedent for targets to begin
carrying screens, eh? ;-)  Kinda partly what was desired from
introducing this weapon into the mix; too many other weapons
ignore screens such that many people don't even bother with them
anymore (not worth the mass/point cost vs what they typically
fight against).

> Now, on the other hand, a 3-arc Graser-3 has the mass
> of 36.  This is equivalent to 6x 3-arc Pulse Torpedo
> Launchers.  I'll take the PTLs.  Hmm, but that potential
> of 2d6 damage out to range 54" has me wondering.... :)
> 
> Our playing space was approximately 6' x 8' with no
> "boundaries", and we used no "terrain".

I'd like to see more reports of games you guys play. I'm sure
the rest of us playtesters on the list here (OO, Dean, others)
are equally as interested in what your results are. If you
can (and this will add time to your games), try and give a
blow-by-blow per turn (who fired at what target, range, and
damage - if any - done; give full ship stats at the start of
your AAR). It's tedious, yes, bogs the game down, but gives
valuable feedback to the playtesters. In order to alleviate
the volume of record-keeping you'll do, maybe try games with
smaller fleets. 300-500 point groups. Maybe just all in the
cruiser range (light to battle, for example; ignore anything
smaller/larger). 

Mk