Fighter Defenses was Re: Full Thrust vs Starmada

Oerjan Ohlson wrote:

> Phillip Atcliffe wrote:
>
>> My initial reaction to this is to think that this is putting the cart

>> before the horse. Surely it's simpler to have the targetable fighters

>> rules as optional add-ons in the way that they are now
>
>
> Sure, if you're satisfied with the current "rock/scissors/paper" 
> balance where battles tend to be decided before you ever put any 
> models on the table. We in the playtest group aren't satisfied with 
> that kind of game balance, however.

Nor is my playgroup.

One idea we've tossed (and the playtest group too, I gather) is to 
somehow allow anti-ship weapons to engage fighters at range with reduced

effectiveness, of course.

I just thought of the following today, and maybe this has been advanced 
as an idea, maybe not:

Stop thinking of PDS's as a distinct weapons choice and instead start 
using them like a level of protection, like shields.  After all, how is 
ONE PDS system able to defende ANY ship of any size from attack that 
comes from any direction?  IMO, it only makes sense that PDS be 
abstracted from discrete "weapons" into networks of guns that cover a 
ship's hull.

Instead of stocking up on massed PDS, PDS are bought like shields, in 
"levels".  The die roll that each fighter makes on it's "attack run" is 
used to determine no only whether the fighters attack is successful, but

also it's evasion of the attacked ship's fighter defenses.

For each fighter that misses, if the die roll is =< the attacked ships 
PDS-level then that fighter is destroyed.

PDS Level 1-3 - effect as noted above.
PDS Level 4 - effect as noted above, plus acting as level 1 shields vs. 
fighter attacks.
PDS Level 5 - effect as noted above regarding misses, plus acting as 
level 2 shielf vs. fighter attacks.

PDS of this type could be linked with 1 firecon/level to be "shared out"

in an area PD role.

Like shields, the idea is to cost/mass a PDS "network" on a ship's hull 
like this on a percentage of hull/ points per mass basis like shields, 
though the actual math I'll have to leave to others.

Also, I haven't thought this through to try to figure out how a system 
like this should interact with SMs.

--Tim