Federation Commander

A few questions about asteroids:
1) When exactly is damage from asteroids applied?
2) Can shields be reinforced against asteroid damage?
3) If the answer to question 2 is yes, does each hex of movement in a given impulse count as a separate "volley?" Or is all damage cumulative within the impulse and applied at the end of movement as one volley?

Spacecowboy87 wrote:A few questions about asteroids:
1) When exactly is damage from asteroids applied?

During movement. Move into hex, roll for damage, apply... then proceed with the sub-pulse.

2) Can shields be reinforced against asteroid damage?

Yes

3) If the answer to question 2 is yes, does each hex of movement in a given impulse count as a separate "volley?" Or is all damage cumulative within the impulse and applied at the end of movement as one volley?

Each hex of movement is a separate volley and can be reinforced against as long as power remains.

We [meaning, Battlegroup Murfreesboro] make extensive use of these factoids during play as we often run Combat Rally or Maze of Asteroids as multi player scenarios at conventions and at Casa de'Tomas game days.

One thing to remember that tripped us up at first (until SVC clarified it for us... That's what happens when you have "the Man" sitting at your dining room table drinking a Diet DP while you play... incorrectly! ]
Forward hemisphere movement into an asteroid damages the #1 shield and aft hemisphere movement damages the #4 shield.
We were slipping into the asteroid hexes on the #2 and #6 shield to retain a full strength forward shield, but SVC pointed out rule 6B2d... specifically:

6B2d wrote: ...these are scored on the #1 shield if the ship is moving forward and on the #4 shield if the ship is moving in reverse; sideslips have
no effect on selecting which shield is damaged.

That's what we get for bringing SFB to the FEd Comm table.

The answers are all correct.

Much obliged

If an Andro uses its Displacement Device on a ship and the ship is displaced into an asteroid hex, will it take damage? From reading the Dis Dev rule, the ship does not take damage when being placed in the hex and the asteroid rule states damage is only taken when entering the hex, not exiting it.

BrentO wrote:If an Andro uses its Displacement Device on a ship and the ship is displaced into an asteroid hex, will it take damage? From reading the Dis Dev rule, the ship does not take damage when being placed in the hex and the asteroid rule states damage is only taken when entering the hex, not exiting it.

Being displaced into an asteroid hex does not count as "entering the hex" for purposes of taking asteroid damage. So, a ship displaced into an asteroid hex does not take damage due to that action.

Also, as you point out, a ship does not take damage from exiting an asteroid hex. So, if a ship is displaced into an asteroid hex and, on their first move, is able to exit that asteroid hex and enter an open hex, then the displaced ship will take no asteroid damage at all. If, however, the ship must move (due to facing, speed, or tactics) from the asteroid hex into which it was displaced to another asteroid hex, it will take asteroid damage (or make a roll to determine if it does) when it moves into the new asteroid hex.

Gotcha, thanks.

<First, I hope it's not considered bad form to tag onto an old thread...>

Why is damage based on the ship's Baseline Speed instead of their current speed as they move into an asteroid hex?

(Perhaps logic has no real place in the realm of sci-fi wargaming, but it seems to me that ship A moving at Baseline Speed 0 and paying for acceleration for that impulse should take the same damage as ship B which is moving at Baseline Speed 8 and no acceleration. According to my understanding of the rule applied to the above example, ship A would take no damage entering the heavy asteroid hex while ship B would take 6 points of damage.)

Game mechanics. After all, it is a game.

The thing is, the ship with baseline 8 has the capability of accelerating to 8+ which is movement-wise equivalent to baseline 16. True, it would be 3 hexes in one Impulse. The baseline 0 ship cannot do that during any Impulse of that Turn. The way I read it is that the baseline 16 has more options, so therefore should have a higher price to pay for having those options.

Another thing to consider is, how would you know how "fast" a ship is really moving during any particular sub-pulse? You could have a baseline 16 ship decelerate during the 2nd sub-pulse and then move its normal 1 hex during the 4th sub-pulse. Does that mean it is only moving speed 8 for the entire Impulse? No. Its order of movement during the 4th sub-pulse puts it going faster than a speed 8 or even a speed 8+ ship.

To try to figure damage based on immediate sub-pulse speed would be a sticky wicket.

By the way, adding onto an old thread is no more against "netequette" than misspellings or improper grammar, especially if the comments or questions posted are relevant to the discussion.

All of this is my humble opinion.

Unlike most forums, thread necromancy is not frowned on. Just make sure your post is worth the necromancy. (Yours is good.)

To your question, as Mike said, it is just game mechanics. It would take a lot more rules to delineate how speed modifiers (acceleration, deceleration, tractors, etc.) have to be taken into account. By just using baseline speed, none of that is needed, and the rules remain simpler and easier to use.

Simpler and easier to use is the prime directive of Fed Commander.