Can Plasma Torpedoes -D, -F and -G fire over 3/4 range?

[Halfbat]

I'm setting up a Romulan "Klingon design" squadron but I can't find any references to this question, so I thought I'd ask.

Plasma-D's have only 1 AD, so given the RAW Energy Bleed trait it means they cannot fire at over half range (8") as their power would be reduced to 0.

Similarly, -F's and -G's would be reduced to 0AD or less when over 3/4 range, again limiting their range to 12".

Is this a correct interpretation? It matches with what's written.

 

[Ben2]

Yes.

Plasma Ds are effectively range 8", Plasma Fs and Gs are effectively range 12".

 

[tneva82]

Is this a correct interpretation? It matches with what's written.

Yeh.

That's one reason why plasma-R is useful. I was thinking what's the point of plasma-R being considered so good when there's ships with pair of -S which offer combined extra AD. Well difference comes when you start firing beyond 8" 7->6 vs 8->6 or even more dramatic 7->4 vs 8->2...

King eagle is looking mighty appealing and with armoured I think I can find use even for lowly warbird.

 

[MongooseMatt]

That's one reason why plasma-R is useful. I was thinking what's the point of plasma-R being considered so good when there's ships with pair of -S which offer combined extra AD. Well difference comes when you start firing beyond 8" 7->6 vs 8->6 or even more dramatic 7->4 vs 8->2...

Bingo

One of those things you don't really spot until you start playing

 

[SneakyPete]

I always try to shoot from 8-12 inches away with a Condor KC9R or King Eagle, but you have to be especially careful with the KE as it is rather squishy if they get past its great shields, although for the points it is a great deal. Going from 19 AD worth of Plasma to 14 is a decent tradeoff to stay out of the enemies Phaser Killzone and have a broader target swath available. The smaller ships then can try to swoop in for a followup attack of close range plasma F and G while the big boys are retrograding and reloading. I generally only cloak if a ship gets in trouble, my opponents have learned to stay a long way away from cloaked ships and it takes too long to reload when cloaked as the average game is won or lost by turn 5 in my experience.

 

[tneva82]

Going from 19 AD worth of Plasma to 14 is a decent tradeoff to stay out of the enemies Phaser Killzone and have a broader target swath available.

Yeh. But the R gives you even more flexibility as opponent might dismiss the danger and forget his defensive firepower. Resulting in "splat" when you unload 4AD of plasma from great distance. If closer range targets have defensives up this could mean MORE plasma hitting target

 

[SneakyPete]

The only way I would use an "R" over 12 inches is if my opponent's ship went first and made the tactical mistake of using all his phasers already and no IDF support. Losing 3 dice of plasma before subtracting defensive fire is just too much of a waste, and it is not likey to happen unless you snuck another ship in close that fired before the "R" carrying ship fired that made your target expend all its defensive fire already. In that case, if the plasma "R" is guaranteed to hit without defensive fire I will take the -3 AD long range penalty any day though.

 

[McKinstry]

The plasma-R ships such as the Gorn CM-K or the Royalhawk really bring a value to the plasma fleets beyond their point cost in that the defending fleet has to either IDF or Boost Shields earlier in the range band.

I'm unconvinced of the value of the plasma-R on the War Eagle as the whole sitting duck when shooting thing leaves much to be desired.

 

[Ben2]

Yeah. I think the current incarnation of the wareagle isn't very good, because within 8 inches the battlehawk loses one plasma dice but gains 4 phaser-1s (which would be inside the kill zones) and 2 defensive phaser-3s.

Hopefully the Vulture (2 plasma-R, 2 plasma-F, 6 phaser-1, 2 phaser-3) has no such restrictions and can shoot out 14 dice of plasma at below 8".

A Romulan Eagle squadron box would get me buying them, though I'd get additional battlehawks, not war eagles.

 

[tneva82]

The only way I would use an "R" over 12 inches is if my opponent's ship went first and made the tactical mistake of using all his phasers already and no IDF support. Losing 3 dice of plasma before subtracting defensive fire is just too much of a waste, and it is not likey to happen unless you snuck another ship in close that fired before the "R" carrying ship fired that made your target expend all its defensive fire already. In that case, if the plasma "R" is guaranteed to hit without defensive fire I will take the -3 AD long range penalty any day though.

Yes but point is R gives you flexibility to do that if opponent does that mistake(which he might do thinking he's safe being over 12") and of course even if he doesn't make and saves those phasers for offensive duty that's good result too.

Flexibility is nice

 

[Myrm]

Yes.
Plasma Ds are effectively range 8", Plasma Fs and Gs are effectively range 12".

Indeed - though I would have liked to have seen a -5AD bracket for up to 50" over the listed range (making Rs effectively able to damage out to 24"). I think it would have made some difference to plasma users fighting drone ships, it would have made the R stand out in from the crowd more and allow for a certain amount of flexibility for X technology in the future - although to be fair, for the X technology you could add that range band for X tech in any such supplement.

The R just seems to be nothing more than a heavier S whereas it did just squeeze tha bit more distance out of you plasma. Its most noticeable for those vessels built around a single R torp - the War Eagle and King Eagle plus the Gorn medium cruiser variant. Those ships are so reliant upon the R - but 24" sniping gives particularly the War Eagle a fleet job, and gives it the potential to be able to fire, then cloak in time to avoid the worst of counter fire.

 

[Ben2]

The thing is photon range is only 15". It's only disruptors that go out to 24".

In SFB late war drones have an effective range of 96 hexes.

Plasma torpedoes have a maximum range of 30 for Type R, 25 for Type-S, 20 for Type-G and 15 for type-F.

There is some compression in the longer range brackets in the conversion from FC/SFB to ACTA, and I think the way plasma torpedoes have been handled is fine.