RE: Fire Control lock-on (was: Re: [FT] squadron suggestions)

>We normally play with a fairly small number of ships (I think) 6 or so
a
>side and I would not object to a fairly simple "lock-on" roll
especially
>if it made modeling ECM/ECCM easier, on the other hand I don't want to
>end up beaten to death with modifiers while trying to figure the roll.
>
>In my own mental model of space combat ECM and EW are very important
but
>don't seem to be modeled very well in FT.
>
>Chris D-W

Well, just to give you some idea of the lines along which I'm 
thinking, here are a few rough ideas of how the simple lock-on rules 
could work....... note that these are NOT anything more than 
off-the-cuff ideas for discussion at this stage, so don't take them 
as gospel!  ;-)

If anyone out there actually wants to put some toys on the table and 
give these a spin (even if just the basic lock-on idea, ignoring 
stuff like ECM and Stealth for the moment) to see how they feel, then 
I'd be very interested in seeing the AAR....

Jon (GZG)

.............................

FIRE CONTROL LOCK-ON ROLLS:
When a ship is selected to perform its fire resolution, the first 
step is for the owning player to nominate which target(s) the ship is 
attempting to acquire firing solutions on (or "lock-on" to). Each 
functioning Fire Control system on the ship may be used to make ONE 
lock-on attempt on one target per turn. Two or more FCs may be 
allocated to a single target if desired, but all FCs that are to be 
used must be allocated before any rolls are attempted. All that 
ship's lock-on attempts are then rolled, one die per FC; regardless 
of how many FCs were allocated against a single target, only one 
success is required to allow the ship to lock-on to that target and 
engage it with direct fire. Multiple successes against the same 
target have no additional effect, the use of multiple FCs simply 
increases the chance of getting a successful lock-on.

Once a successful lock-on is achieved against a given target, that 
target may be fired at by any desired mix of direct-fire weapons on 
the firing ship subject to the usual range limitations of the 
individual weapons.

The lock-on roll is dependant on the quality of FC system and the 
range to the target, modified by any countermeasures used by the 
target. It is completely independant of whatever kind of weapon 
systems are fitted to the ship, or the effective ranges of those 
weapons - though of course it is recommended that any given ship is 
fitted with sensors that have at least the same maximum range as the 
ship's weapon systems!

The basic roll needed for success is: 2+ at CLOSE sensor range, 3 + 
at MEDIUM sensor range and 4+ at LONG sensor range.

Fire Control sensor system ranges:

BASIC FC system (old or low-grade system found on civilian ships and 
obsolete warships):  CLOSE 12mu, MEDIUM 24mu, LONG 36mu.

STANDARD FC system (average system found on most typical warships): 
CLOSE 18mu, MEDIUM 36mu, LONG 54mu.

ADVANCED FC system (state-of-the-art system on latest warships and 
specialized sensor boats):  CLOSE 24mu, MEDIUM 48mu, LONG 72mu.

Each level of ECM and/or STEALTH carried by the target adds ONE to 
the required score; if target is EVADING (see optional rule below) 
then add evasion thrust level to required score.

Note: regardless of modifiers, a lock-on roll score of 6 is ALWAYS a 
success (even if the combined applicable modifiers push the required 
number over 6).

Example: A Battleship with 3 x standard FC systems is ready to fire; 
the player decides to allocate one FC to an enemy Destroyer at 15mu 
range, and the other two to a Heavy Cruiser at 28mu range. The DD is 
applying 2 thrust points to evading in this turn, while the CH has 
level-1 ECM capability.

One die is rolled against the DD - the needed score is 2+ for the 
range (Close for standard FCs), plus the DD's evasion thrust of 2, = 
4+. The BB's player rolls a 5, and gets a successful lock-on to the 
DD.

Now he rolls two dice for the other FCs against the CH; as all FCs 
have to be allocated before rolling, he may roll both dice together. 
The player needs to roll at least one 4+ here too, 3+ for Medium 
sensor range plus one for the CH's ECM. He scores a 2 and a 6, 
getting the required one success - and thus a firing solution on the 
CH too.

The BB player may now decide how to split the fire of his various 
weapons between the two locked-up targets.

EVASION:
[Optional rule for settings where this sort of thing is considered a 
valid tactic!]

Evasion consists of a ship using its drives to perform brief, random 
shifts in position and course (minor jinks, side-slips etc) in an 
attempt to prevent enemy sensors acquiring an accurate firing 
solution on the ship. These evasive maneuvers are considered too 
small to actually affect the physical position or course of the 
miniature on the table, but they apply modifiers to the enemy's 
lock-on attempts against the evading ship.
Evasion comes from the same "pool" of thrust points as course changes 
- ie: up to HALF (rounded up) of the ship's main drive thrust. Note 
that this is the SAME half as used for course changes, so a ship may 
be declared to be evading by any "left over" thrust after course 
changes, up to a total of half the available thrust rating.

Example: a thrust-6 ship has up to 3 thrust points available for 
course changes; if it performs a 1-point course change then it may, 
if desired, use the remaining 2 points for evasion. If it uses 2 
points to change course, it may only use the remaining one to evade, 
and if it makes a 3-point course change then it may not evade at all. 
Of course, if it does not change course at all then it may allocate 
the full 3 thrust points to evasion, making it a very difficult 
target for direct-fire weapons - at the cost of being unable to 
maneuver that turn.

[OPTION/Question: should an evading ship suffer penalties to its OWN 
FC lock-on attempts that turn, or not?]

Thrust allocated to Evasion must be specified in the order writing 
phase, as an E and the amount of thrust allocated - thus E2 means two 
thrust points are being used for evasion that turn.

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