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Cloak Playtest

 
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DNordeen
Commander


Joined: 05 Apr 2007
Posts: 564

PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 1:14 am    Post subject: Cloak Playtest Reply with quote

Did some cloak playtesting this weekend. Noticed the following...

1) Drones: If the Romulan is paying attention, knocks the drones down fairly good. If not, the Romulan has to slow WAY down before cloaking or take the hit. If the Romulan stops or slows down, it let my Kzinti close the range and overload disruptors. Once I got on his tail, he really couldn't shake me. Even if the Romulan knocks down the drones doing Spd 16, the Kzinti can still close, it just takes a little longer and the Romulan can avoid it. Overall, I think this is a good balance. I usually don't face cloaks because of the drones causing a lot of damage under current rules. With this change, the Romulan actually has a reason to cloak against a Kzinit, and it brings back the "lost lock" that SFB cloaks caused.

2) Voided Cloak: Didn't get a chance to void the cloak, but the playtest rules seem more balanced.
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Sllarr
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Joined: 01 Apr 2008
Posts: 148

PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 6:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Where can I find these playtest rules ? Are they in CL49 ?
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gar1138
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 10 Jul 2007
Posts: 346
Location: Eugene, OR

PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 6:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They are in Communique 104
http://www.starfleetgames.com/federation/Documents/Communique/Communique-C104.pdf

Garrett
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Steve Cole
Site Admin


Joined: 11 Oct 2006
Posts: 3828

PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They are in CL49 and Comm 104 and here:


special playtest section
(5P) CLOAKING DEVICES
Players of Federation Commander are asked to test the cloaking device rules with these proposed changes and report the results to us. These changes are not official at this time.

(5P3c) Seeking Weapons: At the instant that the ship becomes fully cloaked, seeking weapons may lose tracking. If the cloaked ship is Stopped or Speed Zero, all weapons more than one hex from the ship are removed. If the cloaked ship is moving at Speed 8, all seeking weapons more than four hexes from the ship are removed. If the ship is moving at Speed 16, all weapons more than eight hexes from the ship are removed.

(5P3d) Voided Cloaks: Two key changes are under review here:
1. The cloak is voided for two impulses, not four, assuming that the cloak remains active that long. In cases where the cloak is continually re-voided (e.g., the ship is held in a tractor beam) the cloak is, indeed, continually re-voided.
2. While the ship with a voided cloak loses most of the benefits of being cloaked, damage from seeking and direct-fire weapons is still reduced by 50%.
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Magnum357
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 223

PostPosted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 8:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

May I ask why Fed Commander is considering these Cloak Rule changes? The two impulse delay seems to favor the Cloakers, is there a reason for this?
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mjwest
Commodore


Joined: 08 Oct 2006
Posts: 4069
Location: Dallas, Texas

PostPosted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 9:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Because 4 impulses is a death sentence for a void. (Or forces the ship out of cloak.) At only two impulses, a voiding is more survivable. Considering that, in the source material (SFB) an attacker typically gets ZERO firing opportunities, two guaranteed opportunities is pretty good. Four is just hard to survive.

The big reason for the proposal is that Romulans are forced to pay 15% of their Point Value for a system that is marginally useful at best, and potentially suicidal at worst.

EDIT: Note that all of these proposed changes strengthen cloak. Most people that I have seen comment (and I am one of them) say that cloak in its current condition just doesn't work right.
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Mike
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Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 1675
Location: South Carolina

PostPosted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 9:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Was it the cloak or the plasma torpedo that caused the evasive maneuver sequence to be changed? I forget now.
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Savedfromwhat
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Joined: 23 Aug 2007
Posts: 657

PostPosted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 9:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As one who had been quite vocal about cloaking and plasma in the past I was completely stoked to see these proposed changes. Very moderate changes, but seem to add a degree of usefulness to the cloak that just wasn't there before.
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Magnum357
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 09 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 10:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I see. Good to know, might test it out myself some time. Thanks for the input.
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Steve Cole
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Joined: 11 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't need to know you're stoked it was proposed.

I need to know what happened in combat.
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Savedfromwhat
Commander


Joined: 23 Aug 2007
Posts: 657

PostPosted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 12:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well Steve, I didn't know you were so interested in my personal opinion, but I will get a play report over post haste.
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Steve Cole
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Joined: 11 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I never EVERYBODY'S personal play report !
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Kang
Fleet Captain


Joined: 23 Sep 2007
Posts: 1976
Location: Devon, UK

PostPosted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 5:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steve Cole wrote:
I never EVERYBODY'S personal play report !

<hic....> Wink
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DNordeen
Commander


Joined: 05 Apr 2007
Posts: 564

PostPosted: Sun Sep 07, 2014 1:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bartender, I'll have what he's having
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