Diverting Power From Jumps Engines

[Digger]

Hi There,

I was recently watching the 3rd Season of B5 (Again!) when I came across the order to take the jump engines off line and divert power to weapons. So how about this as a special order:

Take Jump Engines off Line - By carrying out this special order, all weapons gain +1AD for the current turn but speed is reduced by -2, turns are reduced by 1 and Jump Point cannot be activated for 2 turns.

Constructive suggestions appreciated. :lol:

 

[Abraxas]

Hmmmm... I'll wait to here what other people say.

I will say this: Ships that boresight for primary weapons will have some trouble (considering they probably can't turn after this). Also, this should only be a one time deal. You can't keep doing it... otherwise the 2 turn wait to jump won't matter if the ship is about to be destroyed. And maybe ships that jumped in with AJP can't use this at all... the fiction being that the jump engines are overworked already and you can't syphon any power off them.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[Na-Po]

Let's say
immobile for the turn,
-4 Speed for the next turn
(+ limited rotation)
and 2 or 3 turns with jump engines off.

 

[Greg Smith]

There has been a couple of suggestions as part of the 2e playtest for different ways of implementing power distribution in ACTA, based on the few scenes where we see it happening on screen. A special action similar to this was one suggestion.

 

[Burger]

That would horribly overpower White Stars.

 

[Alexb83]

I dunno - it renders them immobile, so no dodge. An extra 1 AD beam and 1AD pulsar in tradeoff for sitting still for a turn or two is a big ol' gamble...

 

[Da Boss]

Seems an intersting suggestion

 

[H]

this just opens the door for full power alocation rules though, adding more depth and complexity. Whilst I think some new special actions are needed, I don't see this one benefitting all but the most maneuvreable fleets, who conversely usually get forward arcs as opposed to boresights too.

 

[Burger]

I dunno - it renders them immobile, so no dodge. An extra 1 AD beam and 1AD pulsar in tradeoff for sitting still for a turn or two is a big ol' gamble...

Not if you do it in turn 1, when the enemy is out of range anyway. You're effectively doubling the WS's Neutron Laser firepower!

 

[Alexb83]

Yes, Drakh and ISA will use this heavily - others not so much.
But I would say that Kalivas and other 'sniper' ships would most likely use this one quite heavily.

It's also somewhat restricted in that you need to have the 'jump point' trait in order to use it.
I would question whether it could be used on missile racks...

 

[emperorpenguin]

I dunno - it renders them immobile, so no dodge. An extra 1 AD beam and 1AD pulsar in tradeoff for sitting still for a turn or two is a big ol' gamble...

Not if you do it in turn 1, when the enemy is out of range anyway. You're effectively doubling the WS's Neutron Laser firepower!

WS's only have range 18", in turn 1 if you are in range so are most opponents, if you get the WS into a side arc then perhaps....

That said I hated B5 Wars power allocation....

 

[Pauly_D]

well it is an interesting idea, the problem is that it is too powerful in most cases, what about
immobile for the turn,
-4 Speed for the next turn, with one less 45* turn
jump engines offline for rest of battle.

and +1 to weapons AD for all weapons

 

[captainsmirk]

I can also see a question about why the ships loose maneuverability at all...

The Jump Engine isn't part of the ship's ordinary propulsion...

I realise its a balance thing, but it would make more sense to have it diverting power from all the engines, rather than just the Jump Engines...


Nick

 

[Alexb83]

Because the jump engine and main drive systems are heavily interlinked?

The on-screen indication is in the episode where Sheridan uses the WS to kill his first shadow ship directly - jump engines off, all power into a concentrated burst.

Oh crap, their backup has arrived... and we can't jump. And they're faster than us because power is depleted. Oh, where is the deus ex machina when you need it?

Oh, there it is, and it's played by Andreas Katsulas.

 

[Da Boss]

Err what? You start a game 36" apart if you deploy at the back of your zone. Not many ships can get into range from there. Even less, if there is scenery.

Including White Stars :?: - Or am I being stupid ?

 

[captainsmirk]

Because the jump engine and main drive systems are heavily interlinked?

Well maybe on a Minbari ship or White Star with their funky gravimetirc drive systems but why in hell would you heavily interlink two completely different systems on an Earth ship?

You have a set of big ion engines which push you along and a device for ripping holes in the fabric of reality... How in anyway could these be interlinked? They operate on completely different principle, and fitting them on the same direct power supply from your reactor would be stupid that's just asking to get them both knocked out in one shot (Admittedly loosing your main engines may make the Jump Engine mostly useless)...


Nick

 

[Alexb83]

They're both fed from the same reactor(s). Remember that jump drive technology for the EA is still in its infancy, and sourced from other races - it's wouldn't be surprising that draining the massive power from the Jump Engine and pumping it into the weapons might have an adverse effect on the power systems.

Something like that.

 

[H]

or... it's all made up, how can we begin to know whether a fictional jump drive is connected to a fictional engine, maybe the jump drive is just like a turbo attachment on a ford cosworth!

 

[Da Boss]

Oh, where is the deus ex machina when you need it?

Oh, there it is, and it's played by Andreas Katsulas.

And the fact the unjammed Shadow ship is too dumb to kill the Minbari cruiser which is jamming the other three ships - First ones and their super intelligence! I laugh at them!

 

[captainsmirk]

Still suggest talking about diverting all drive power to weapons rather than just Jump Engine. Which is what your doing even if coming off the same reactor. The ships seem able to use their main engines and Jump drives at the same time with little difficulty.
Diverting power from the jump engine would then not logically effect that going to the main drives unless you diverted the power from them as well.

Plus I'm not sure that jump engines actually have that high a power cost when running in idle. I always imagined them as just requiring a massive boost when actually opening a jump point. The need to divert power from most other systems to open the jump point would be where I imagine the EA drives are let down technologically.


Nick