CQ check queries

[Iain McGhee]

I've started off a "Campaigns Of Terror" from P&P (AOL vs Shadows) and run into a couple of puzzles:

1: In the Ambush scenario what CQ would you give the Shadows (or any ship without a CQ for that matter) when checking to see if it becomes active ? Fluff-wise I'd be tempted to allow Shadows (and Vorlons) to automatically succeed since they don't have a crew to send to action stations (not to mention them being big, scary, super-powerful space spiders )and having them use the standard CQ 4 doesn't seem right (although my AOL ships would love the chance to actually do some damage to them for a change )

2: Corporate freighters are given to the defender in several COT scenarios, not just the usual ACTA ones, which act in the normal phases rather than the end phase. Normally, I don't let them use SAs since they effectively act in the compulsory movement section (and don't have trained military crews). Do most of you just use the standard CQ 4 or the CQ 2 civilian rating for them or treat them in some other way ?

 

[AdrianH]

1: Shadows and Vorlons may not have crews but the ship itself is alive. "Crew quality" can effectively be translated to "ship quality". (Alternatively, for Shadows, it's the CQ of whoever is serving as the ship's CPU.)

2: Given that half a dozen freighters make a complete nonsense of initiative rolls during combat, the compromise I'd suggest is that the freighters are allowed SA's but the whole lot moves as a squadron. CQ doesn't matter because the two most important SA's for freighters are probably All Power To Engines to try to get off the table ASAP, and Close Blast Doors when the enemy is in range, both of which are automatic.

 

[Democratus]

I thought I had read here that the civilian ships in the Convoy Duty mission can not be used as an init sink. Am I just loosing my mind?

I could accept the compromise that they can all be a single squadron. Anything to avoid having to move all my military ships while the enemy only touches his freighters one at a time. :x

Still. I fail to see how civilian ships should have any bearing on the actions of the warships surrounding them. They should generally just be helpless witnesses to the action around them.

 

[sidewinder]

I always thought vorlons and shadows got kinda screwed on their CQ too. the ancients all get a CQ of 7. the vorlons and shadows are technically ancients, although I know that giving them that would probably be a bit much since they have whole fleets, not just one big ship. Still, they could have given them a +1 CQ or something. Especially since they have a very limited number of special actions they can even use.

 

[Iain McGhee]

It's really more for opposed CQ checks and such. I noticed that in the non-generic scenarios the Shadows had CQ 5 or 6 and wondered if there was some ruling I'd missed regarding them. Standard random CQs for them in campaigns is fine by me, they'll rise pretty quickly anyway.

Regarding the freighters, the init sink problem was my main concern too. I just decided to have them move in the end phase, same as they do in the normal campaign. That might well be what's intended anyway. I just used the standard CQ 4 for them, to give them a chance to repair themselves as long as they hadn't been skeleton crewed.

 

[AdrianH]

I'd certainly move freighters in the end phase as usual. But are they nominated for special actions when they move or during the movement phase, where the rule says that every ship must be nominated? That's the bit which made me think they might be usable as init sinks. Other ships which move during the end phase, i.e. warships suffering from an "Engines Disabled" critical, can still be nominated for special actions during the movement phase - even if they're also suffering a "No Special Actions" critical meaning all they can be nominated to do is "Nothing". See this thread.

I'd have said that freighters can't be nominated during the movement phase and declare their special actions when they move during the end phase, but then I'd have said the same thing about ships running adrift as well...

 

[Iain McGhee]

I go back and forth on this a lot, but usually I don't let freighters moving in the End Phase take any SAs (not moving in the Movement Phase, civilian crews, non-military ships). Usually they don't last long enough for it to matter either way