RE: Fighters....Re: Full Thrust vs Starmada

Binhan Lin wrote:

 >The problem with point systems is that they are too abstracted.
 >
 >For instance, how does range factor into a game?

This depends on the movement system used. In order to factor it in 
correctly you fight a large number of playtest battles between a large 
number of different fleets, and record how much damage each class of
weapon 
inflicted in the various range bands. Doing this will give you a pretty 
good picture of how the range affects a weapon's combat value.

 >Are short ranged weapons as effective as long ranged weapons?

No, since the ships carrying them will almost invariably have taken
damage 
from the enemy's long-ranged weapons before the short-ranged weapons
come 
into play.

 >Damage vs. shielded or non-shielded targets?

Look at the proportion of shielded vs non-shielded targets in use in as 
many different gaming groups as you can, then calculate the average.
(OK, 
you have to weight it with the number of damage points each ship has too
- 
ie., a ship with 100 damage points counts ten times more than one with
10 
damage points.)

...and so on.

The basic answer to all of Binhan's questions is really "PLAYTEST". 
Ideally, don't just use one or two playtesters playing one or two
battles 
each, but scores of playtesters playing scores of battles each.

(Make sure though that you take careful and detailed notes about exactly

what happened during the games, so you can figure out which game
mechanics 
had what effects - it is *extremely* easy to blame your loss on one 
particular new weapon used by the enemy, only for the post-battle
analysis 
of the data to show that you lost because the enemy was able to park in 
your (A) arc where you couldn't shoot back at him...)

***
In another post, Binhan Lin wrote:

 >The basic system needs revision as it seems very odd that a PDS system

that >can knock down up to 6 high-velocity missiles, can only take out
1-2 
fighters.

Say again? A PDS is just as capable of taking out 6 non-heavy *fighters*
as 
it is to take out 6 *missiles* - it gets exactly the same rerolls
against 
both types.

Grant replied:

 >Why do pds shoot down the same number of fighters per turn if 12 are
 >attacking versus if 48 are attacking?

For the same reason why your Class-3 Beam Battery is only able to shoot
at 
one single target per turn no matter how many targets it has available
to 
shoot at and no matter how many FCSs you have on your ship. If you PSB
the 
one, you can apply exactly the same PSB to the other.

***
David Rodemaker wrote:

 >Force the argument. Either he can play a fleet that makes some sort of
 >sense, or play scenarios that balance things out, or he can put up
with an
 >opposing player who is showing up to spend time with his friend - not
 >actually 'play'...

and morp wrote:

 >in my group we're playing with logically build forces and
 >litterally eradicate (physically if needed :) every
 >munchkin attempt ! (ie we play by the spirit not by the rule)

In other words, David and morp would both flatly refuse to play against 
someone who brought, say, a canonically correct BattleStar Galactica
force 
to the game. Or, for that matter, a Raider battlegroup out of the
Babylon 5 
universe, or most Star Wars forces, or...

David and morp, please tell me one thing: how can Full Thrust claim to
be a 
"generic" space combat system if you can't use forces from these quite 
popular SF backgrounds without being accused of being a "munchkin"?

Regards,

Oerjan
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
-Hen3ry