Briefing 2

Dan Ibekwe · Post by **Dan Ibekwe** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 4:54 pm

Trivia question, Does anyone else remember S torps being called G II's or Fast patrol ships being called Psudo Fighters?

Oh yes...back in the day when there wasn't any such thing as a TRL and Orion CRs had one glorious battery and no cargo. Happy days.

And errata, oh lord the errata...

Also stinger ones were the only fighter out there for a while. The trick was to have one or two survive to range one or Zero then it was over

No longer true in FC, I'm afraid. Only one Fusion beam per fighter now, apparently the Hydrans somehow actually won a game or two in playtest (not that I'm bitter or anything

).

Not much point in using St-1s in FC, as far as I can see.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 4:56 pm

Ken Redington wrote: Trivia question, Does anyone else remember S torps being called G II's or Fast patrol ships being called Psudo Fighters?

Yes to both.

Bought my first, "pocket-box" edition of SFB way back in 1980... and it's been taking over my bookcases ever since...

2 full, 5-shelf bookcases... and counting!

Nerroth · Post by **Nerroth** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:06 pm

*checks Ship Cards*

Um, I'm fairly sure the Hydran Stinger-1s in Briefing 2 still have two fusion beams (with one reload each)...

Dal Downing · Post by **Dal Downing** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 6:07 pm

Nerroth wrote:*checks Ship Cards*

Um, I'm fairly sure the Hydran Stinger-1s in Briefing 2 still have two fusion beams (with one reload each)...

Yes they do have 2 Cannons with 2 charges each but can only fire 1 charge total per turn. So in reality they only have one fussion cannon in FC wihich can fire once every turn for 4 turns. This is what they are talking about Nerroth.

Nerroth · Post by **Nerroth** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 6:20 pm

*looks again, and digs out the DK rules*

Hmm, well can't you still try to wait until you close the range at the end of a given turn, fire with one fusion beam, then use the second at the start of the next turn while the mothership overloads its own fusions?

Fusion beams on Stingers have no cool down between firings, and you could use the second pips to stretch the range of that first shot if you need to.

Then, once the pass is done, land the Stingers and spend the next couple of turns (which the mothership will need to cool its fusion beams anyway) trying to re-arm them.

And in any event, it's not like everyone else has a free lunch, either. The Tholians have smaller ships and no snares, drones are slower (and for the Klingons, have a slower launch rate) ESGs can't be held, plasmas are weaker, and so forth.

Which is the whole point, isn't it?

You fight with what you have.

Dan Ibekwe · Post by **Dan Ibekwe** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:27 pm

And in any event, it's not like everyone else has a free lunch, either. The Tholians have smaller ships and no snares, drones are slower (and for the Klingons, have a slower launch rate) ESGs can't be held, plasmas are weaker, and so forth.

Those systems are pretty much the same as they were in Middle Years SFB. The St-1 has lost half its firepower in comparison.

close the range at the end of a given turn, fire with one fusion beam, then use the second at the start of the next turn

If the enemy allows you to get two shots on the same shield over a turn break with an (effectively) range-2 weapon, and hasn't shot you down, tractor dragged you to death or moved out of range at speed 24+1 in the interim...well, then I guess that just might work...

Nerroth · Post by **Nerroth** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:05 pm

If the enemy allows you to get two shots on the same shield over a turn break with an (effectively) range-2 weapon, and hasn't shot you down, tractor dragged you to death or moved out of range at speed 24+1 in the interim...well, then I guess that just might work...

Well, given that many Middle Years ships have less than universally-thick shields, relatively low amounts of phasers, and not quite as much power as their later refitted selves, there is that less room for them to act.

Six fusion beam shots from a Ranger's Stinger-1s aren't to be treated lightly, and if a target ship can somehow stop all six from firing again across the turn break, how much would that leave to try and deal with the fire coming in from the Ranger itself?

Dan Ibekwe wrote:Those systems are pretty much the same as they were in Middle Years SFB. The St-1 has lost half its firepower in comparison.

Well, if you really feel dissatisfied about using them, you could either:

*Discount the point values for the Stinger-1s on whichever ships would carry them, and pay the cost of whatever additional ship/s one could instead add to the force you wish to fly,

or

*Run a few scenarios with the Stinger-1s, experiment with them, and post up your results.

If you want Stinger-1s (and, subsequently, Stinger-2s) to be able to fire both fusions per turn, it may be better to try and show why not having them harms the Hydran player, rather than making things uncomfortable for the opposing captain (who can't brick a shield in FC they way they can in SFB, to absorb the fire that massed Stinger-1s can still dish out).

Dan Ibekwe · Post by **Dan Ibekwe** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:23 pm

Nerroth, the decision on the Stinger's Fusions has been taken, I don't expect to be able to reverse it.

My solution was a lot simpler...it involved picking up a copy of Briefing 2 from the shelf at my F - but not particularly L - GS, scanning through it, and then carefully replacing upon said shelf.

Nerroth · Post by **Nerroth** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:27 pm

In that case, all I can say is that in my view, it's your loss.

Ken Redington · Post by **Ken Redington** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 9:36 pm

Seems to me that with the downgraded weapons on most ships the stingers have a higher chance of getting in to hit. They may also distract your foe from the real danger, the mother ship. With no other fighters out there or even armed shuttles or Scatter packs they are still a real threat. Keep them within 3 to 5 hexes of the carrier and escort them in as added damage. The main trick will be to keep his speed down, so concentrate on power damage at first. Then finish him off when he can no longer run and gun at the same time.

As for the old days, errata was a real nightmare but then in the end it became one of the longest lasting games around.

Trivia question #2

Who remembers the lyran X-CA with 6 FA disruptors, 6 FA Ph-1's, 2 photons, 6 Ph-G's, and 2 ESG'S? ....And the power to fire all guns and run at 11...with batteries to cook off an ESG if needed.

terryoc · Post by **terryoc** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:11 am

Stinger-1s have the same fusion firing rate as Stinger-2s. Where Stinger-1s lose out is that they have only a phaser-3 instead of a gatling phaser.

Hydrans in the Middle Years have only one real tactic - close and either blast the target to slow it down enough for the Stingers to finish off, or anchor. That's just how it worked, historically. But it was still good enough to boot the Klinks and Lyrans out of the Kingdom!!