Breaching Pod re-use.

[Anbar]

Haivng launched breaching pods (2) at an enemey ship, both managed to get there (great dodging!) and the Troops boarded the enemy ship and were promptly both instantly killed for no enemy troop losses. (Doh!)

I know the rules says "breaching pods that have disembarked their troops are removed at the end of the turn [sic] allowing other pods to attack the targetted vessel."

Do those 2 breaching pods now "reappear" back at my ship after the end of this turn Or does it just mean that you move the existing breaching pods to get rid of the clutter on the table - the "real" breaching pods ahivng been used-up and still attached tot he enemy hull (I suspect it is the latter)>

And, with the above supicions, are there any 'tricks' in helping breaching pods get to enemy ships, my (usually) seem to die before they even get their and when they do disembark they usually die before achieving much.

With a ship, like the Tantalus, with 12 troops, but only 2 pods, it seems they lack enough transport-capacity, wouldnt you want as many breaching pods as possible?
I know there is the SA "Launch pods[sic]" but that is reliant on the enemy ship moving under half its original speed - and i've never actually had that requirement met in a game yet.... :-\

Dont take as an overt criticism of the rules though, I dont think capturing ships by diect assault should be easy... but there seems to be something lacking in getting enough troops over to one in "one shot" to give it a good try.

 

[Burger]

Do those 2 breaching pods now "reappear" back at my ship after the end of this turn

Nope, no magic in the B5 universe. Unless you're a technomage

And, with the above supicions, are there any 'tricks' in helping breaching pods get to enemy ships

If you have an escort ship you can lend them anti-fighter dice to protect against enemy fighters.
If you have fighters you can escort them to protect against enemy fighters.
Use them en masse rather than one or a few at a time to overwhelm AF. They have high hull anyway so AF is not so much of a threat.

With a ship, like the Tantalus, with 12 troops, but only 2 pods, it seems they lack enough transport-capacity, wouldnt you want as many breaching pods as possible?

You can still use the special action "launch breaching pods and shuttles" even if you have neither. Yes it does need the enemy to move half speed or less but this can be achieved many ways: speed crits, crippled, adrift, All Stop, etc. Plus when in close combat many people move only half their speed, turn and stop... jump on them

 

[Anbar]

Yeah but "en mass" can never be more than 4 pods on any single ship, so you are never assaulting with more than 4 (using breaching pods).

On a slightly divergent track: if an enemy ship has Zero Troops do you automatically capture the ship if you get a single troop on board?

- - - -

Wait till they stop then "pounce on them".... but troop-carrying ships are SLOW.. lumbering tantalus cant really sneak up on ya and pounce :wink: :lol:

 

[Democratus]

The number of pods that can make contact with a ship is dependent on the damage value of the ship. I believe it's (Dmg/10 + 2).

Once you have eliminated all enemy troops on a ship, you then begin to roll on the "Sabotage and Capture" table from page 43 of the rules. Typically you will kill off several crew a turn. Once all the crew are eliminated you have captured the ship.

It can be a slow process even if the ship is lightly defended. And all the while, your opponent controls the ship. There is little to prevent him from flying off the board or racing through an asteroid field to avoid a capture.

 

[Burger]

Yeah but "en mass" can never be more than 4 pods on any single ship, so you are never assaulting with more than 4 (using breaching pods).

Starting damage / 10 +2 you mean

On a slightly divergent track: if an enemy ship has Zero Troops do you automatically capture the ship if you get a single troop on board?

No, the crew need to be killed off before the ship is captured. One troop entering a detrooped and decrewed ship will capture it immediately.

Troop assaults are a much smaller part of the game than in NA... it's a bit of a tacked on extra based on one scene in the show rather than a regular feature. Some races are quite good at it though.

 

[Anbar]

Starting damage / 10 +2 you mean

:?:

 

[Burger]

The maximum number of flights that may make contact with a ship’s stem in a single turn (such as when making suicide runs or boarding) is equal to the starting Damage of the ship, divided by ten, plus two. Always round down.

 

[Anbar]

ah... where did i get a maximum of four pods on any single ship i wonder?

Well, that makes a difference, although going to need a fair few ships to get a lot of breaching pods.hmm....

 

[Democratus]

Some carriers are pretty good for this. You can replace flights of fighters with breaching pods in a 1-for-1 exchange. Just remember that these pods don't come with their own troops. You will have to use the troops on the ship.

The Avenger, for example, has 6 troops. So you could fill it with 6 pods and 2 fighter flights for a nasty surprise in the middle of a battle, since it can launch all of them in a single turn with the Scramble! order.

 

[Anbar]

Ohhhh!

Sneaky! :shock:

Mind you, they cant do anything on the turn they are launched can they?

 

[Democratus]

No. You will have to launch them in the End Phase of turn X.

On turn X + 1 they will move after ships move but before shooting. If you place them in the path of a lumbering ship it will have no way to avoid them.

 

[Anbar]

What is the significance of them being in the path of lumbering ship?


(on that X+1 turn, say they move off their launch-ship and on to the base of an enemy ship, can they, whilst touching the base of that enemy ship, be fired at or dogfought by fighters?

Or can they only be targeted whilst "In-flight"

or something else?)

 

[Democratus]

Well, a ship that isn't lumbering might be able to steer away and out of range of your pods. The idea is to get them into contact with their target without any opportunity for ships to fire at them.

They move during the fighter movement portion of the Movement Phase and can be intercepted by fighters and fired upon by Anti-Fighter. Your own fighters can escort pods to prevent the former - but you just have to cross your fingers during the latter.

 

[Mean Mutton]

When playing the Gaim, breaching pods are my primary mode of attack. You absolutely need to have fighters support them, though, or they are easily shredded by enemy fighters.

Remember, if you have a fleet carrier that is carrying breaching pods that fleet carrier can regenerate the breaching pods which are shot down by the enemy (but not the ones which board an enemy ship).

 

[Anbar]

you would also lose the Troop on the pod?

 

[Mean Mutton]

you would also lose the Troop on the pod?

If the pod gets shot down and is regenerated by a Fleet Carrier, the troop that was on the pod is not lost. It's still on the pod that's back on the troop carrier. There was another thread on this that you can probably find if you do a little digging.

It makes the Gaim assault ship so insanely awesome, even after the Nerfing that it took.