Breaching Pods

[Sulfurdown]

Quick questions about using breaching pods.

Is it possible to move a Strike Carrier close enough too an enemy ship that it can dump breaching pods into base contact with said enemy ship and begin a boarding action? Or do the breaching pods have to wait until the turn after they have been offloaded to start their boarding action?

Also, do you remove the breaching pods immediately after they make base contact with a target ship or does that ship get a chance to shoot them down before they can offload their troops?

 

[Silvereye]

Is it possible to move a Strike Carrier close enough too an enemy ship that it can dump breaching pods into base contact with said enemy ship and begin a boarding action? Or do the breaching pods have to wait until the turn after they have been offloaded to start their boarding action?

Good question! I'm not sure about this one.

Also, do you remove the breaching pods immediately after they make base contact with a target ship or does that ship get a chance to shoot them down before they can offload their troops?

Once the pod makes contact, thats it. It will be removed from the table and the troops will make a boarding attempt in the End Phase. There is no chance for the ship to shoot the pod down during this turn.

 

[Wulf Corbett]

Is it possible to move a Strike Carrier close enough too an enemy ship that it can dump breaching pods into base contact with said enemy ship and begin a boarding action? Or do the breaching pods have to wait until the turn after they have been offloaded to start their boarding action?

Firstly, Auxilliary craft (including Breaching Pods) begin in base contact with the launching ship, so to be in contact with the enemy would require you to be DAMN close! Besides, they can't actually DO anything until the next turn (fighters can Dodge or defend in a Dogfight - which could mean killing the attacker).

Also, do you remove the breaching pods immediately after they make base contact with a target ship or does that ship get a chance to shoot them down before they can offload their troops?

Immediately, as far as I can see, No change was made along with the new rules on fighters firing first. Which actually makes Breaching Pods survivable...

Remember, the SA Launch Breaching Pods & Shuttles! does not actually call for the movement of the Pods... They are simply assumed to attach to the enemy ship when the SA is called for!

Wulf

 

[Sulfurdown]

Remember, the SA Launch Breaching Pods & Shuttles! does not actually call for the movement of the Pods... They are simply assumed to attach to the enemy ship when the SA is called for!

Wulf

But that SA requires the opponent to be immobilized. I'm considering the ability of taking a Strike Carrier to the exact distance to drop breaching pods into contact with a fully active Ka'Toc in order to gain a boarding action on it. Redefining a Broadside!

But if they are effectively sitting ducks for that round then I have to find someplace to put them where he can't necessarily get away by the next round and hope enough survive to make a difference.

 

[Wulf Corbett]

But that SA requires the opponent to be immobilized.

Nothing is ever easy :wink:

Wulf

 

[Chernobyl]

Sounds interesting, let us know if you pull it off.

Chern

 

[Lord David the Denied]

Can you board a ship that's on All Stop orders? Or does it have to be at Speed 0?

 

[Greg Smith]

If it is on stop and did not move. If it moved just a small fraction, then you can't. Of course any ship that performs All Stop & Pivot! is easy prey for boarding.

 

[Vertexx69]

do all ships just come with breaching pods? i haven't seen any on any ship list yet.

 

[Sulfurdown]

do all ships just come with breaching pods? i haven't seen any on any ship list yet.

Some fleets have special auxiliary craft rules that let you sub in breaching pods for any fighter flights they normally carry. Otherwise you can field a flight of them on their own.

 

[Iain McGhee]

The Black Star and the Trigati from the Earth/Minbari War book are the only ones that spring to mind. Although I'd rather have their full complement of Nials instead.

 

[Sulfurdown]

I double checked the SFOS Aux craft rules. Earth (pg 30), Minbari (pg 53), Centauri (pg 66), Narn (pg 82), Brakiri (pg 125) and Drazi (pg 135) fleets, all the fleets that have Breaching Pods in their fleet lists, can sub in BPs for Aux craft on their ships before battle.

e.g. Centauri fleet pg 66 "Any ship carrying one or more Sentri flights may replace any number of them for Raziks or Breaching Pods. Breaching Pods swapped in this way will carry a Troop from the ship - they do not include Troops of their own in the way Breaching Pod Wings do."

 

[Sulfurdown]

Ok, I was perusing some of the updated rules.

Why was the change made so that Breaching Pods have to make stem contact with a ship in order to engage?

With such a slow speed they have enough trouble getting through a ships defenses before they have to deal with the onboard troops, if they can even catch a ship.

 

[Wulf Corbett]

With such a slow speed they have enough trouble getting through a ships defenses before they have to deal with the onboard troops, if they can even catch a ship.

What defenses? They move first, with the fighters, before the ship can fire. They're better off than ever!

Wulf

 

[Sulfurdown]

With such a slow speed they have enough trouble getting through a ships defenses before they have to deal with the onboard troops, if they can even catch a ship.

What defenses? They move first, with the fighters, before the ship can fire. They're better off than ever!

Wulf

I guess I was looking at the forward arc from most ships having 8-12 inches of fire. No breaching pod can clear that in a round so they still come under fire. From the aft a lot of ships are weak, but there are about 3 that can't just out run the pods and come back around for a sweep if they want to.

 

[Wulf Corbett]

I guess I was looking at the forward arc from most ships having 8-12 inches of fire. No breaching pod can clear that in a round so they still come under fire. From the aft a lot of ships are weak, but there are about 3 that can't just out run the pods and come back around for a sweep if they want to.

The same applies to fighters, and fighters seem to survive at least some of the time. Breaching Pods are a massive risk, and should not be used without a great deal of planning. Use the enemy's worst-defended arcs, give him higher-priority targets in those arcs, etc. It's not an easy option, it's just an option.

Wulf

 

[CZuschlag]

I have used breaching pods in the Drakh to brutal effect. They hide in the nooks and crannies of asteroid fields, waiting for something to stand on the other side, and then try to make the crew quality roll to dart out from behind and pick off a Troops 1 ship. The can deny White Stars flyover routes to heavy ships, forcing Nials away from fighting Drakh ships and into at least one turn of anti-fighter fire. They hunt Ka'Tans and Ka'Tocs without mercy, and, before A. came out, there were free with the Carriers to boot.