Booster #92 (and #91) thoughts

[Nerroth]

Hi.


It might be a bit late, but I managed to pick up a copy of Booster #92 today. The drone ships aren't really my thing, but with some of the considerations going into other projects, I wanted to take a good look at FC's take on the escort cruisers.


Before I go into things, I wanted to ask:

*If playing a vanilla FC game, are the escort ships still legal (even if not using Aegis) - and if so, assuming the protection options offered by (3F1) are not in play, does that also mean the limits stipulated in (3F2) don't apply either?


Now, the ships themselves.


*I did note that the three drone cruisers each have their own flavour. The Feds get the best phaser options, the Kzintis get to chuck the most drones at one go, while the Klingons seem to be somewhere in the middle.


*The Tholian PCW is its usual venerable self - though perhaps more useful in the Early and Middle Years than in the Main Era (or back in the old galaxy, for that matter). Still, the snares help if any D5Ds come calling, I guess.


*So far as the escorts go, they really do seem to be quite varied, in terms of what use they would be as standard warships (i.e. if you aren't allowed use Aegis.)

The Lyran CLE looks quite useful in an aegis role (the LDR version even more so) and keeps those handy ESGs! They might not work the same way as in SFB when it comes to protecting other units, but having those generators on hand if something needs a-zappin' is still quite useful.

The Seltorian one is not a bad ship. It keeps the WBs for anti-Tholian work, the loss of the PCs is not that major, compared to what you can do with the replacement phasers - and while the Holdfast isn't all that big on seeking weapons, the generous phaser suite might help when the plasma-chucking ISC come to cast Judgement.

Of the two plasma escorts, the Romulan one is easily the better in terms of actually being useful in its Aegis role. Ironic, since it (and many ships it might defend) have cloaking devices, in order to help themselves. It's still not bad in terms of ship-fighting, either, since you can chuck an -S and four -Ds at someone if you get close and line up a good centreline on them.

The Gorn ship... to be honest, it feels like this one is only pretending to be an escort, and really wants to go hunt warships. Its phaser suite is pretty weak for a supposed Aegis-user, and it's only got half of the -Ds the SparrowHawk-M has. On the other hand, its two S-torps help give it perhaps the heaviest punch of any of the escorts here in Booster #92.


Overall, I really like the module - and Aegis or not, I hope to see more of these kinds of ships for the ISC, Vudar and others!

[mjwest]

*If playing a vanilla FC game, are the escort ships still legal (even if not using Aegis) - and if so, assuming the protection options offered by (3F1) are not in play, does that also mean the limits stipulated in (3F2) don't apply either?

Yes, these ships are perfectly valid for use in FC without Aegis.

Quite frankly, when I proposed them way back for Briefing #1 as a counter-balance to the drone ships, I never actually envisioned Aegis being included. They were simply intended to serve as ships for non-drone using empires that would help deal with the drone ships of the drone using empires.

[Nerroth]

Thanks for the clarification.


In that case, under vanilla rules, I might seriously consider taking CLEs in place of standard CLs against the ISC, were I a Seltorian player. They'd do with the spare anti-plasma phasers more than the particle cannons they'd lose in the exchange. Plus the shield crackers make using all of those handy Marines useful against any gunline ships that get too close...

[Nerroth]

My local game store finally managed to get another batch of Booster #91 packs in this week, and I picked up my own copy yesterday!

(Okay, so this thread was for B92, but I figured that re-purposing it is better than clogging the boards with yet another new thread.)


I'm glad to finally have my hands on this pack. Not only does it help round out the Middle Years Star Fleet, but also includes useful options for the Main Era Feds, too.

Not least when it comes to the DDL. I had an interest in that ship ever since the Andromedan encounter story seen back in CL25; the very first issue of Captain's Log I ever picked up!


However, I had a couple of questions.

*On the Ship Card for the Tug, I saw the note stating how much the pre-refit version of the ship costs, and what you take out in order to use it in a Middle Years context.

Is there a similar recommendation for anyone wanting to use a pre-refit Scout? (Presumably it would likely echo the combat BPV changes in SFB, but the ship might not be intended for use in the FC Middle Years even without the refit.)


*Also on the Tug is an ammo box for its drone rack, showing the presence of anti-drone rounds. However, on the Ship Card for the DDG, both racks are shown as standards. Is this intentional, or should one of the DDG's racks have four anti-drones in place of two of its standard missiles?

[mjwest]

*On the Ship Card for the Tug, I saw the note stating how much the pre-refit version of the ship costs, and what you take out in order to use it in a Middle Years context.

Is there a similar recommendation for anyone wanting to use a pre-refit Scout? (Presumably it would likely echo the combat BPV changes in SFB, but the ship might not be intended for use in the FC Middle Years even without the refit.)

No. The Tug was just a special case. The Scout doesn't really need it, as it I doubt we will ever see Middle Years scouts.

*Also on the Tug is an ammo box for its drone rack, showing the presence of anti-drone rounds. However, on the Ship Card for the DDG, both racks are shown as standards. Is this intentional, or should one of the DDG's racks have four anti-drones in place of two of its standard missiles?

The drone racks for the DDG are intended for offensive use, not defensive. So, like the offensive drone racks on the NCD (and a few other ships), the drone racks on the DDG are offensive.

[Nerroth]

Thanks for the Scout clarification.


The NCD still has two drone racks with anti-drone ammo tracks, but then none of those are the ones which are replacing photon launchers.

[CyrDraconis]

Tangential question concerning Booster 91, if I may - I remember seeing it somewhere, but I can't actually find source. What product, if any, actually has the counters for the FJ ships in it?

[mjwest]

Hydran Attack has the counters for Boosters 91 and 92.