Looking for volunteers for a WCTO test game

Panda suggested an interesting idea to me today. Given that we're still so new at this (and the game itself is so new) it might be beneficial to play this scenario a second time after one side wins.

Have the players swap sides, use the newest rule set, and try again. See if it plays out the same way, if we have the same things happening, etc.

We'd find ourselves a fourth, but you three would be enough to run the entire Confed side. Thoughts?
 
Panda suggested an interesting idea to me today. Given that we're still so new at this (and the game itself is so new) it might be beneficial to play this scenario a second time after one side wins.

Have the players swap sides, use the newest rule set, and try again. See if it plays out the same way, if we have the same things happening, etc.

We'd find ourselves a fourth, but you three would be enough to run the entire Confed side. Thoughts?

I certainly would be willing to try it again.

As for now, just keeping radio silence -- no need for the humans to hear Koraktu 1's desperate prayers to Sivar and all the other Kilrathi gods!
 
QuailPilot: Sorry to hear! I'll take over Koractu 2 for now and let you jump in again after you fixed your RAM.

I wouldn't have a problem rerunning the scenario with switched sides. I'd also like to thank Pip for performing a Burnout with his Grikath: It pointed me to another missing piece in the manual. A Burnout maneuver should be more difficult if your fighter/bomber's Turn Rate is below 3 (just like the Immelman). ;)

In other news... Koractu 1 hit Beowulf's flak, and in case you're wondering about the Target Roll of 7+ as opposed to the 5+ listed on the Grikath's ship stats: Due to the Burnout maneuver and the afterburners involved, Koractu 1's speed was temporarily at 10 when passing the flak fire hex. So that's Target Roll 5+ for the Grikath and a +2 penalty for moving at speed 10.

As for opportunity fire... I'm sure you know how it works by now. :)
 
QuailPilot: Sorry to hear! I'll take over Koractu 2 for now and let you jump in again after you fixed your RAM.

Noooo! We're doomed! :p

In other news: replaying the scenario with switched sides and new rules sounds like a good idea. As does rebalancing the point cost and counting AB speed for the target roll (which would have saved Vorshaki 2).

And Quailpilot: sorry to read about your RAM. Hopefully you can come back quickly.

Edit: Pip, I am sure the God of Running Death will hear you. Good luck!
 
Does each flak marker indicate a single flak or a flak field? If it is a flak field, I'd assume that moving faster would make it more likely I would hit flak, since I would have less time to dodge through it...
 
Curse me, and my failure to barrel roll! I would have shaken 2 of those hits if I'd only rolled one higher!
 
Pfff, keep complaining: I inflicted 100% of my possible damage and your shields drop to roughly 80% and you inflict less than a third of your maximum damage and drop my shields to 66 %.
 
Does each flak marker indicate a single flak or a flak field? If it is a flak field, I'd assume that moving faster would make it more likely I would hit flak, since I would have less time to dodge through it...
Flak field.
You're raising an interesting point, although I always thought it was rather random whether you were caught by flak fire or not. (Speaking WC2, of course.) And while you may not be able to dodge fast enough at high speeds, you might be able to move quickly out of the flak field altogether.
More or other opinions?
 
Well if going fast means you get out, but also means you can't dodge...maybe flak fields ignore speed? (If we go with this, I think the justification should be included in the rules so people understand)
 
Well if going fast means you get out, but also means you can't dodge...maybe flak fields ignore speed? (If we go with this, I think the justification should be included in the rules so people understand)
Yes, flak should definitely ignore speed, as it ignores distance (for obvious reasons). You're right, though, I'll include it in the manual's next version at the latest!
 
Hmm, I don't know. I certainly was hit more often by Flak at slower speeds in WC 2 and considerably less at long range.

(Open Channel)
Look at that kitten turn tail and run when we say 'boo'!

Well, do you dare to follow me, monkey boy?

Edit: More thoughts on Flak. You may think that Flak would be too weak if it does not ignore speed and range. But I think Flak should be rather weak, since Flak alone was seldom the cause of one's demise in WC 2. It's some sort of last line of defense. But primarily it should be the Fighters that keep enemies at bay. If Flak alone can kill fighters or, especially bombers, so easily (target roll 5+), that's not right.
And Flak does have the great advantage that if can fire at a 360° and with the reduced manoeuverability of bombers, it can pretty well block their movement, or force them to take the risk of Flak damage.
 
More thoughts on Flak. You may think that Flak would be too weak if it does not ignore speed and range. But I think Flak should be rather weak, since Flak alone was seldom the cause of one's demise in WC 2. It's some sort of last line of defense. But primarily it should be the Fighters that keep enemies at bay. If Flak alone can kill fighters or, especially bombers, so easily (target roll 5+), that's not right.
Agreed, but remember that one flak hit is not enough to kill a fighter or bomber. It will just reduce its shields by 10 points, while bombers usually recharge 5 shield points per turn. E.g. if the TCS Concordia would concentrate its 3 flak cannons on a single Grikath, it would take four turns where every flak has to hit every time to take down one Grikath. If the Grikath moves out of the flak's limited range of just 3 hexes, it can easily recharge its shields before trying another strafing run.
I don't know, but my impression is the flak cannons are rather weak at this moment - better: they are as weak as I wanted them to be.
Then again, my flak rules are not set in stone, so I sure like to hear (all of) your opinions!

And Flak does have the great advantage that if can fire at a 360° and with the reduced manoeuverability of bombers, it can pretty well block their movement, or force them to take the risk of Flak damage.
Yes, that's actually the primary use I saw for Flak in WCTO: Blocking enemy movement paths, or trying to force them to use alternate routes. If a flak hits you, you won't go down in flames, but there might be situations when a flak marker makes a player think twice.
(When "designing" the WCTO Flak, I also thought about using a damage ratio of 1 point per hit with a refire rate of 10 - but then you'd have to roll a whole lot of dice for every single flak hex. Probably more realistic, but not very funny, especially if there are several ships caught in flak fire simultaneously...)
 
But against bombers Flak is very likely to hit and 10 damage points is not bad, especially when bombers are already damaged. And with a speed of 3 and a turn rate of 1, the Grikath is not able to easily get out of harms way.

I don't think that the Flak, as it is, is overpowered but I think it could become overpowered if it does not take speed into account. I'd rather give the Flak a longer range but have it consider it speed and possibly range.

IIRC from WC 2, the Flak was able to hit you up to 10,000 klicks away, though it was not very accurate.
 
But against bombers Flak is very likely to hit and 10 damage points is not bad, especially when bombers are already damaged. And with a speed of 3 and a turn rate of 1, the Grikath is not able to easily get out of harms way.

I don't think that the Flak, as it is, is overpowered but I think it could become overpowered if it does not take speed into account. I'd rather give the Flak a longer range but have it consider it speed and possibly range.

IIRC from WC 2, the Flak was able to hit you up to 10,000 klicks away, though it was not very accurate.

Speaking of flak and things it defends against, we discussed earlier limiting the torpedo lock arc. I agree with that, but I also think that torpedos should move faster. For example, right now Koractu 2 can fire his torpedo this turn, but it will not hit immediatly because the Beowulf is almost as fast as the torpedo. When fired from astern, you really need to run your torpedo in, otherwise it won't catch up in time. I think it may be a good idea to have torpedos travel at speed 5, although they are now harder to lock. Then the bombers don't have to get that close in the first place.
 
If memory serves, in one of the unofficial guides -- Mark Minasi's, I think -- he mentions that during that early mission in WC2 where you fly escort for the Broadswords, he happened to be next to one of them when it launched its torpedo, and he paced it flying in; the torpedo was going at 500kps, the same as the top speed on the Ferret he was flying.

That would suggest an increase to speed 5.
 
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