Matt, can we have a stickied thread for people to put up a copy of Call Out Notes they've submitted over at ADB's website for publication in Captain's Log?
I figure some of the people here don't make it over there, and wanted to make sure they had a chance to look over what people are submitting.
I cannot get the table to work correctly to save my life, sorry.
With no further ado, here's my submission:
The Klingon RX arc attack – is it still a viable tactic?
Bill Stec, USS Pennsylvania
The Klingon RX is one of the most useful tactics for the Klingon player in Star Fleet Battles. This article examines whether or not it is a viable tactic in A Call to Arms: Star Fleet
Briefly, the RX arc tactic relies upon the firing arcs for phasers on Klingon ships. On most ships, all or nearly all of the phasers can fire down the hex-row bordering the front shield and flank shield boundary. The Disruptors can fire down this row as well. A typical D7 cruiser in a head-on attack can fire 4 disruptors, 3 frontal phasers, and one or two wing phasers. The same ship using an RX attack can generally add the 2 waist Phaser-2s to the attack. It can also expose the less important flank shields to attack and preserve it’s all-important front shield.
The rules for ACTA:SF state that if a target ship lies on the border between 2 fire arcs, then the attacking player may attack with weapons in both fire arcs. This allows the Klingon player to use weapons that fire in the Fore arc as well as either Port or Starboard arc against the target.
Not all Klingon ships are appropriate candidates to use this tactic though. Let us look at the expected damage to the target at various ranges and examine this question. The Range 2 and 4 columns assume overloaded disruptors. Drones are not included in these numbers; they have been assumed to have been shot down.
Ship Rng 2 Rng 4 Rng 8 Rng 12 Rng 18 Rng 24
E4 CENT 8.04 8.04 3 3 0 0
E4 RX 10.72 10.72 4 4 0 0
F5 CENT 8.72 8.72 5.36 3.34 1.34 0
F5 RX 12.74 12.74 6.86 4.84 1.34 0
D6 CENT 15.76 15.76 10.4 7.37 6.01 4
D6 RX 18.44 18.44 11.4 8.37 6.01 4
D5 CENT 17.44 17.44 12.08 8.04 6.68 4
D5 RX 20.12 18.44 12.08 8.04 6.68 4
D7 CENT 18.44 18.44 11.4 8.37 6.01 4
D7 RX 21.12 21.12 12.4 9.37 6.01 4
D7C CENT 19.12 19.12 13.76 8.71 7.35 4
D7C RX 21.8 21.8 14.76 9.71 7.35 4
D5W CNT 20.8 20.8 15.44 9.38 8.02 4
D5W RX 22.8 21.12 13.08 9.04 6.68 4
C7 CENT 24.16 24.16 18.8 10.72 9.36 4
C7 RX 26.84 25.16 18.8 10.72 9.36 4
C8 CENT 32.88 32.88 24.84 14.74 12.7 6
C8 RX 27.5 27.5 18.62 12.56 10.02 6
One can readily see that the old-series Klingon ships (E4, F5, D6, D7, D7C) all generally benefit from using the RX attack tactic at most ranges, whereas the new-series ships (D5, D5W, C7, C8) all generally do so only at range 6” or less.
One concern that did surface was what shield does the target’s return fire hit? Due to a recent ruling that the defending ship picks which shield is hit (Fore or side), the Klingon player will generally choose Fore arc to receive the benefit of half damage from incoming fire.
The RX tactic is not always the best choice though. There will be times when the Klingon player must pay close attention to nearby enemy ships to ensure that they will not be able to move behind the RX line and attack flank shields. In these cases it may be better to abandon the RX tactic to ensure that return fire hits the Fore shield arc and does half damage. Doing marginally more damage to the enemy ship but receiving double damage in return is not a good tradeoff in most cases.
I figure some of the people here don't make it over there, and wanted to make sure they had a chance to look over what people are submitting.
I cannot get the table to work correctly to save my life, sorry.
With no further ado, here's my submission:
The Klingon RX arc attack – is it still a viable tactic?
Bill Stec, USS Pennsylvania
The Klingon RX is one of the most useful tactics for the Klingon player in Star Fleet Battles. This article examines whether or not it is a viable tactic in A Call to Arms: Star Fleet
Briefly, the RX arc tactic relies upon the firing arcs for phasers on Klingon ships. On most ships, all or nearly all of the phasers can fire down the hex-row bordering the front shield and flank shield boundary. The Disruptors can fire down this row as well. A typical D7 cruiser in a head-on attack can fire 4 disruptors, 3 frontal phasers, and one or two wing phasers. The same ship using an RX attack can generally add the 2 waist Phaser-2s to the attack. It can also expose the less important flank shields to attack and preserve it’s all-important front shield.
The rules for ACTA:SF state that if a target ship lies on the border between 2 fire arcs, then the attacking player may attack with weapons in both fire arcs. This allows the Klingon player to use weapons that fire in the Fore arc as well as either Port or Starboard arc against the target.
Not all Klingon ships are appropriate candidates to use this tactic though. Let us look at the expected damage to the target at various ranges and examine this question. The Range 2 and 4 columns assume overloaded disruptors. Drones are not included in these numbers; they have been assumed to have been shot down.
Ship Rng 2 Rng 4 Rng 8 Rng 12 Rng 18 Rng 24
E4 CENT 8.04 8.04 3 3 0 0
E4 RX 10.72 10.72 4 4 0 0
F5 CENT 8.72 8.72 5.36 3.34 1.34 0
F5 RX 12.74 12.74 6.86 4.84 1.34 0
D6 CENT 15.76 15.76 10.4 7.37 6.01 4
D6 RX 18.44 18.44 11.4 8.37 6.01 4
D5 CENT 17.44 17.44 12.08 8.04 6.68 4
D5 RX 20.12 18.44 12.08 8.04 6.68 4
D7 CENT 18.44 18.44 11.4 8.37 6.01 4
D7 RX 21.12 21.12 12.4 9.37 6.01 4
D7C CENT 19.12 19.12 13.76 8.71 7.35 4
D7C RX 21.8 21.8 14.76 9.71 7.35 4
D5W CNT 20.8 20.8 15.44 9.38 8.02 4
D5W RX 22.8 21.12 13.08 9.04 6.68 4
C7 CENT 24.16 24.16 18.8 10.72 9.36 4
C7 RX 26.84 25.16 18.8 10.72 9.36 4
C8 CENT 32.88 32.88 24.84 14.74 12.7 6
C8 RX 27.5 27.5 18.62 12.56 10.02 6
One can readily see that the old-series Klingon ships (E4, F5, D6, D7, D7C) all generally benefit from using the RX attack tactic at most ranges, whereas the new-series ships (D5, D5W, C7, C8) all generally do so only at range 6” or less.
One concern that did surface was what shield does the target’s return fire hit? Due to a recent ruling that the defending ship picks which shield is hit (Fore or side), the Klingon player will generally choose Fore arc to receive the benefit of half damage from incoming fire.
The RX tactic is not always the best choice though. There will be times when the Klingon player must pay close attention to nearby enemy ships to ensure that they will not be able to move behind the RX line and attack flank shields. In these cases it may be better to abandon the RX tactic to ensure that return fire hits the Fore shield arc and does half damage. Doing marginally more damage to the enemy ship but receiving double damage in return is not a good tradeoff in most cases.