Re: more graser stuff (no sheep, just statistics)

>> Oerjan, your statistics are lying to you.
>
>Oh, man, I can not _wait_ for the reply...
>
>
>Allan Goodall

You want to know what?	Me, too.

You needed to also quote the following paragraph
where I talk about using statistical analysis based
on actual ranges that the game is played in.  Ranges
1-3 is hardly every seen, but ranges 12-24 seem
to happen very often.  Those 4x Class-1 Beams
have no chance to hit anyone at ranges 13-18,
where the Class-1 Graser does.	How does this
figure into the statistics?

I got an A in the college course Probability and
Statistics, but that is the extent of my education.
I can number crunch, and in fact just put numbers
into a spreadsheet to do some weapon analysis.
I broke down the damage into 6mu range bands, 
and did an average for 6 range bands together
(out to 36mu).
But then we've all heard the cliche about statistics.  
:D

The Graser-1, for its mass and within its range band, 
is the best weapon against any target ship with 
screens 0 or 1.  Notice I said "ship".	Grasers cannot
attack fighters, missiles, or plasma bolts.  How
does this figure into statistics?  But I feel that the
Class-1 Beam is like the jack-of-all-trades weapon,
so-so at all things (not against plasma bolts, though)
and not as good as the specialized systems (i.e., main 
weapons, PDS, Scatterguns).

The Class-2 Beam comes close.  The 3-arc Beam2 
beats out the 6-arc Graser1, but not the 3-arc Graser1.
The 1-arc Pulse Torpedo Launcher also ranks right
in among them, but then you have to consider the
number of firing opportunities for each weapon.

The 3-arc Graser2 is comparable to the 3-arc Beam3.
The Graser3 though drops off rapidly in comparison 
for close range fire power but I suppose that is offset 
by its much longer range.  I didn't analyze anything 
beyond 36mu.

What I found strange is that the 3-arc PTL has the
same damage numbers as the same mass of Class-1
Rail Guns, and the Rail Guns have the added
benefits of all-arc fire and anti-fighter and anti-missile
defensive capabilities.  No wonder my PTL-armed
ships do poorly against Steve's ships; besides him
rolling better. :(  Our main weapons are equal and 
because of his arcs and his slower MD he packs
more punch with secondary weapons and/or
has more defenses (mostly stronger hull).

I'm relooking at 1-arc PTLs and class-2/3/4 Rail Guns.
They have some awesome numbers.  The higher
rail guns would seem better versus armored targets.

FYI: my numbers are in an MS Excel 2000 spreadsheet.

Glen