Magus666 Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 This has probably been discusses to death in the forums, but Ill raise the question anyway. It's pretty obvious that Naval Combat is geared towards emulating the old WWII naval battles...big, heavily armored ships pounding each other with heavy weapons until one side is gone. (You sunk my Battleship!). Yes, there are Fighters and Carriers for a little variation. But has anyone really TRIED any different strategies? I know that it even says in the rules that it is designed AGAINST lots of small ships...but what makes this so? What I was thinking, was more along the lines of either Swarm, or Hit-and-Run tactics. With a Swarm, you would need masses of moderate sized ships, but not the "living shields" that "Screen Ships" are. Screens really are there only as an added layer of defense for the big Million ton battlewagons. In a swarm, the medium sized ships would be the "capitol" ships. Individually they couldnt absorb, or dish out, the kind of damage a huge ship could...but you could build more of them. Hit-and-Run tactics would be even MORE variant. Don't build them big...build them FAST. Logically, 8AP Light Destroyers should be able to zip in amongst the 2 AP Giganto Planet Killers, deliver a blow, and zip back out again. Maybe not a STRONG blow...and if they DO get hit in return, theyre space dust. But they could repeat that attack over and over again. As I see the rules, this kind of thing isnt even an OPTION, if you WANTED to try it out. Once combat is engaged, the ships sit there, toe to toe, shooting at each other til one side is dead. Wow, how exciting. A Hit-and-Run combat option, or even just a RUN combat option, might also make Warp point assaults a little more interesting. After all, that multi-megaton defense platform that was towed to the warp point may have weapons that can vaporize a planet...but it can't CHASE it. Put those fast ships through the WP first...and the ones that survive the initial round of damage...are off and running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobknob Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 There have been lots of tactics tried, but they seem to get pushed toward the big ship vs big ship. Weapons keep getting bigger as they get better and that makes the CL option kind of difficult. Then there is the problem of the NTWD being so large and costly that it forces one towards larger ships. However, I think the biggest obstacle that prevents many of the tactics that have been sugested from working is the a fight to the death way our combat is structured. One would think that a fleet of 100 AP corvettes or Frigates could really take it to a lumbering hulk, but that is not what happens and the lumbering hulk just picks them off a few at a time until they are all gone. Our commanders are just plain stupid and can't run away even if they have the means. OF course, it would get really old if you could never pin down a fleet to be destroyed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cestvel Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 I actually had a battle between three pathfinders and an unarmed Surveyer. I still do not know how Nelgur managed to pull the ship out of it: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ** NAVAL BATTLE REPORT ** ----- XXXXX [ M (Red) 6 V ] [binary Star System] - Warp Point XXXXX ----- Stellar Central #4919 Total tonnage: 77,200 Base Fire Control: 1 [2,000 bridge] Dropped position #xxxx Total tonnage: 36,000 Base Fire Control: 1 [3,000 bridge] ** Imperial Navy Report: Fleet Order of Battle ** Dropped Position #xxxx [some Emblem] 108th Recon Group [ROE: Q] *Column Attack* (Fleet Tonnage: 36,000) Ranger Helldorf -------------------- [Deploy Location 7] 3 FS Pathfinder (Fleet Scout - 12,000 tons [each]) ---------------------------------- Fire Control: Fair .. Maneuverability: Lumbering .. Sensors: Average .. Shields: None .. Structural Integrity: Sturdy 3 10cm Autocannon (Projectile) .... 3,600 Standard Hull Plate .... 3 Type A Defense Screen ** Imperial Navy Report: Fleet Order of Battle ** Stellar Central # 4919 [silver Spiral Galaxy On Red Ground] Explorer 612 [ROE: R] *Column Attack* (Fleet Tonnage: 77,200) Cargo Bays: ... 1,000 ... Ranger Nelgur -------------------- [Deploy Location 7] 1 EX Mk II Survey Cruiser (Explorer - 77,200 tons [each]) --------------------------- Fire Control: Minimal .. Maneuverability: Lumbering .. Sensors: Oblivious .. Shields: None .. Structural Integrity: Average 1 Type A Defense Screen ** Imperial Navy Report: Fleet Order of Battle ** -------------------------------------------------- DepLoc 7 ------------------------------------------------------------ **HEAVY DAMAGE** EX Mk II Survey Cruiser (Explorer - 77,200 tons) [integrity: 64,200] (Green, Timid) 1 Cargo Barge, 1,000 Cargo Bay, 2 Fuel Shuttle, 12,000 Fuel Tankage, 2 Mk I Computer System 1 Mk I Nuclear Jump Drive, 10 Mk I Short Range Sensor, 10 Mk II Jump Survey Sensor, 1 Mk II Nuclear Engine 1 Type A Defense Screen, 10 Type A Science Lab Maneuverability: 0.006, Screens: 0.064, Sensors: 0.032 ** Imperial Navy Report: Fleet Order of Battle ** -------------------------------------------------- DepLoc 7 ------------------------------------------------------------ FS Pathfinder (Fleet Scout - 12,000 tons) [integrity: 13,200] (Green, Timid) 1 10cm Autocannon, 1 Fuel Shuttle, 1,200 Fuel Tankage, 1 Mk I Computer System, 1 Mk I Jump Survey Sensor 1 Mk I Nuclear Engine, 1 Mk I Nuclear Jump Drive, 10 Mk I Short Range Sensor, 1,200 Standard Hull Plate 1 Survey Lander, 1 Type A Defense Screen, 1 Type A Science Lab Projectile: 110 Maneuverability: 0.025, Screens: 0.416, Sensors: 0.208 FS Pathfinder (Fleet Scout - 12,000 tons) [integrity: 13,200] (Green, Timid) FS Pathfinder (Fleet Scout - 12,000 tons) [integrity: 13,200] (Green, Timid) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ur Lord Tedric Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 I actually had a battle between three pathfinders and an unarmed Surveyer. I still do not know how Nelgur managed to pull the ship out of it: Ah - that's happened once or twice to our knowledge... There is a 'limit' over how many rounds a battle will go - but it's a 'soft' limit rather than a hard limit. The Great Oracle can step in when a battle seems to be going on a very long time and slowing down the processing. In this case, we suspect, with 3 small 1st Gen weapons firing from DL7 and thus degraded by 50%, coupled with the defensive advantage of the enemy ship being at DL7 (a further 30% defensive bonus) - the amount of damage to the unarmed ship only accumulated very slowly and the battle lasted round after round - lets assume 300 for the sake of argument, which resulted in 'Heavy Damage'. At this point the 'captain' of the surveyor managed to extricate himself.... Chief Warmaster to Ur-Lord Tedric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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