Liati Ion Cannons

[victor romeo]

According to my Fleet Book the Ion Cannons on the Liati are not Twin Linked. All other Ion cannons, including the Light Ion Cannons on the Haven and Narn Ships are. Is this a typo or am I just fishing for more firepower? :wink:

 

[Methos5000]

I would guess its not a typo since they did give them the accurate trait. ignoring dodge and being twin linked would be a bit much i think.

 

[Triggy]

I've got them without twin-linked both during playtesting and they were balanced in my games without the trait so it is intentional (at least so far as the balance is as intended, it may well have been a typo early in playtesting to create the weapon).

 

[victor romeo]

I would guess its not a typo since they did give them the accurate trait. ignoring dodge and being twin linked would be a bit much i think.

The only problem is that against an enemy with Hull 5 Dodge 5, or with no dodge they are actually worse than the Twin linked Ion Cannons on a Vorchan. Not really much of a return for your Accurate weapon.

 

[Destroid]

The only problem is that against an enemy with Hull 5 Dodge 5, or with no dodge they are actually worse than the Twin linked Ion Cannons on a Vorchan. Not really much of a return for your Accurate weapon.

I reckon that just reflects the design intent of the Liati as a White Star killer. If they're facing something without dodge there's plenty of other weapon systems to pound an enemy ship with, and you can always try to CAF too.

 

[Da Boss]

To be honest never had a problem with the Liati's guns - take a Scout if your worried about accuracy of the Ion cannon or as said you can CAF.

 

[Methos5000]

I would guess its not a typo since they did give them the accurate trait. ignoring dodge and being twin linked would be a bit much i think.

The only problem is that against an enemy with Hull 5 Dodge 5, or with no dodge they are actually worse than the Twin linked Ion Cannons on a Vorchan. Not really much of a return for your Accurate weapon.

Its also the only turreted ion cannon available to Centauri as far as I can tell. I think this is really an issue with the name of the weapon. I think the Liati should have had different names for it's weapons to reflect that they are actually an entirely different weapon systems (no twin-linked but accurate, turretted instead of a fixed arc). The only thing it has in common with Ion Cannons is the DD trait, but there are plenty of weapon in the game that carry that trait.

 

[Lord David the Denied]

Ion cannons get the twin-linked trait because they're mounted two to a turret. If the Liati's ion cannons are single-mounted, they wouldn't get it. If they're single-mounted in fast-tracking turrets designed to deal with agile targets, they'd get the accurate trait instead...

 

[Voronesh]

Actually twin-linked is a bad invention by GW. Why do you get a reroll on the to hit roll only, when you mount an extra gun next to it? Fire correction when the first shot fails? But what happens when the first gun hits, second gun doesnt shoot?

Whats the difference between two comounted weapons and two turrets right next to each other?

 

[Lord David the Denied]

I always understood it to mean both barrels discharge together, so if one shot hits the target the second might sail closely past. Frankly, I agree, though. It's a bad trait and would be better represented by more attack dice.

 

[Voronesh]

Well, actually if both shots discharged at once, youd get one attack roll, and two damage rolls if they both hit (whats the probability of hit/missing a VCD with 2 shots that are 5 meters apart).

Its a bad trait, as it doesnt make too much sense, i only see it as a trait that represents the ship having lots of guns, that are not really supportable with advanced targeting data by EW ships. OTOH whats a 4 AD TL battery?

 

[Triggy]

It's a poor term for the trait rather than a bad trait. In every example I can think of in ACtA, twin-linked means rapid firing (and therefore can correct fire whilst still firing).

 

[Voronesh]

Well still.....

First part of the salvo doesnt hit, i correct fire, and get a reroll. Ok works.

If i already hit with the first shot, i dont get an extra roll. Did i stop firing?

 

[Triggy]

Well still.....

First part of the salvo doesnt hit, i correct fire, and get a reroll. Ok works.

If i already hit with the first shot, i dont get an extra roll. Did i stop firing?

There's also the penetrated the armour part, not just hit. This means even if you hit you are raking the hull to try and find a weak point and even if you find one, you don't stop there as you won't necessarily know it until later. All this and the enemy is pulling defensive manoeuvres to make your subsequent shots miss too.

 

[Voronesh]

Yes but if i already hit the perfect spot on the first part of the salvo. What prevents me from getting a 2nd roll, and scoring a great hit again?


EDIT: Just had an idea. (Yes that can happen, sometimes )

TL could represent already built in advanced targeting systems, so they cant actually benefit greatly from extra targeting data that much. Its just a precise weapon (we already have that trait, but i think thats a half misnomer too, ever tried to hit the engine?).

 

[Triggy]

Yes but if i already hit the perfect spot on the first part of the salvo. What prevents me from getting a 2nd roll, and scoring a great hit again?


EDIT: Just had an idea. (Yes that can happen, sometimes )

TL could represent already built in advanced targeting systems, so they cant actually benefit greatly from extra targeting data that much. Its just a precise weapon (we already have that trait, but i think thats a half misnomer too, ever tried to hit the engine?).

That too. At the end of the day the game isn't complex enough to truely reflect this level of detail. Twin-linked works perfectly well as a game mechanism and represents 80% of what we've been describing even if not the rest.

 

[Voronesh]

Yep, that it does. The rules themselves are really good. Only their wording might be a little bit better, but thats me complaining about the lvl of realism in a game that is based on a Scifi show, and supposed to be played reasonable fast ^^.

No need to have more complicated rules .

 

[David Anla Shok']

I'm not sure that TL is a "bad" trait. Essentially you are getting more dice in the abstract sense. I suppose you can justify it by saying that there is more lead/energy stuff being tossed out into the same area of space, pretty much a higher volume of fire (let us spray).
I suppose there might be a better game mechanic for it but I can't think of one. More dice? Same thing, only different.
Regards,
David, Anla Shok
"I bring you peace, love, and hand to hand combat, from the Great White Father on Minbar"

 

[greenboy]

You could keep the mechanics and change the name to rapid firing