Border Madness

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:23 pm

I've been grabbing the Communiques I've missed of late, and noticed in #28 that there's a Federation Scout under some Border Madness heading. Are there rules available for this? I realize the ship is intended more for SFB players than FC but was wondering if there were actually rules for the ship or if players just use the SFB ones or something.

junior · Post by **junior** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:26 pm

The Special Sensors rules are in one of the recent issues of Captains Log - #35, I think, although I'd need to double check that.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:32 pm

Actually, the "scout" rules are on pages 14 and 15 of Communique # 28.

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:55 pm

The scout rules are actually in both. So, you are both right.

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:36 pm

Scoutdad wrote:Actually, the "scout" rules are on pages 14 and 15 of Communique # 28.

Doh, how'd I miss that. Thanks.

EDIT - oh, I know how I missed it. I was looking at 29 with the Survey Cruiser. Not 28.

Either way I see the rules now. Not too complicated.

Magnum357 · Post by **Magnum357** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 6:42 am

Yes, I was very greatful they included the rules for scout channels too. Not too complicated and can easily plug into the system of Fed commander. Scout ships are very critical in campaign games.

Kang · Post by **Kang** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 1:04 pm

I liked the Klingon expanded firing arcs in CL#38.

The only thing is, if the Klingons get their expanded arcs, then the Fed CA hulls should also get the ability to fire into the hex row directly behind the ship, like they too had in SFB.

What do you guys think?

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 1:31 pm

That wouldn't be a bad thing to add. Maybe Steve will be able to include it in a later Borders of Madness article that has a little space at the end of it.

(BTW, I did ask, but there wasn't room this time.)

pinecone · Post by **pinecone** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:41 pm

Count me in on the "for rear firing fed phasers" list.

junior · Post by **junior** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 12:05 am

Just so long as the Gorn don't suddenly end up losing the ability to fire their 360 phasers down the hex row directly behind the ship...

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:39 am

Kang wrote:I liked the Klingon expanded firing arcs in CL#38.

The only thing is, if the Klingons get their expanded arcs, then the Fed CA hulls should also get the ability to fire into the hex row directly behind the ship, like they too had in SFB.

What do you guys think?

Eh, what phasers are these? The port/stbd phasers on the saucer? Why a phaser be able to fire perpendicular to its emitter's normal angle anyway?

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:49 am

In SFB, the Port / Starboard phasers (even though the arcs are L/LF and RF/R - respectively) on the Federation CA, CA+, CAR, CAR+, CC, etc can fire down the single row of hexes directly behind the ship.

I'm not near my books, os I can't check the R-section from SFB, but IIRC it was explained as such:
These phasers would normally have a LS / RS arc (respectively) based on their locations on the saucer, but the warp engines effectively blocked most of the rear arcs (with the aforementioned exception).

This is why the BC and the later ships had the lower profile on the Warp Engines. It freed the firing arcs, allowing a true RS / LS arc.

junior · Post by **junior** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 2:07 am

Yup. The warp engines on the Fed CA (and other ships using the same hull) block the phasers through the rear arcs. And there's a nice little gap between the engines that the phasers can use to fire straight behind the ship. The "true" arc through which the phaser emitters on the port and starboard can fire (when not blocked by pesky warp engines) are 180 degrees, as is the case with the FH phasers mounted in the front of the saucer section.

For a similar reason, Gorn ships in SFB are unable to fire the 360 phasers (the ones mounted in the center of the hull) directly behind the ship. The warp engines block that particular firing arc. The phasers mounted in the wings and rear bubble can still fire into that arc, however.

Basically, think of a phaser emitter as a sphere that can fire in any direction. Then attach it to the warship that it's mounted on. It can fire in any direction that's not blocked by the warship itself. We see that with the various 360 degree phasers that are on some ships, such as the aforementioned hull phasers on many Gorn warships. Since the Federation CA has its phasers mounted in the saucer, there's an unrestricted 180 arc for the phasers - except where the warp engines interfere.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 2:57 am

You'd think that these great futuristic engineers would design their ships so that all their weapons could fire/launch in all directions. They seem like the same types who would design a free-wheeling roller coaster with a hill higher than the first drop.

Another way to look at it is with the 3D view. How hard would it really be for a Fed CA to tilt its front end up or down a few degrees so that those primary hull phasers could fire rearward? I know we're talking about a 2D game here, but come on!

storeylf · Post by **storeylf** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:11 am

The whole 'engines block LOS' is a 2D thing, with a bit of roll you could bring all your phasers to shoot LS/RS. It always amused me that multiple opposing ships always had the same up/down orientation, which doesn't really make much sense to me.