Greg Smith
Mongoose
Sadly. it is a bit far away. I have ordered stuff from them, and they are good.
New Member seeking advice
- Thread starter TimoftheC2
- Start date
TimoftheC2
Mongoose
Hi all,
Well, got my first game tonight but thought I'd ask a couple of questions just to clarify things in my own mind - although I've left it a bit late :roll:
Movement.
It seems a ship first moves between 0 and half its total speed straight ahead before it is allowed to turn etc. Can a ship choose to not move for half its movement cost and then put in a turn? Is there a minimum move distance before a ship can move (i.e. the 2" it must put in between turns)?
I ask this as you are not always going to want to move at full speed, therefore, how does moving at a slower speed work? One example I can think of is say declaring how far you plan to move each turn and then half of that has to be straight ahead (i.e. "I'm only moving 2 inches this turn, the first inch is straight ahead and then I turn!") - if any of that makes sense?
Damage Control.
Can the damage types "Reactor Explosion" and "Catastrophic Ammunition Explosion" by repaired in the Damage Control phase - they seem pretty terminal to me?
Weapon Systems.
When the rules refer to a Weapon System (i.e. in the "Close Blast Doors..." Special Action) does it mean one weapon type? i.e. if a ship has Heavy Laser, Medium Pule Lasers and Particle Beams, but is restricted to only firing one weapon system, it could just fire the Particle Beam (out of different fire arcs if multiples are installed) OR the Heavy Laser etc?
Well, I hope they don't sound too stupid and ll thoughts greatly apprecated.
Tim.C
Well, got my first game tonight but thought I'd ask a couple of questions just to clarify things in my own mind - although I've left it a bit late :roll:
Movement.
It seems a ship first moves between 0 and half its total speed straight ahead before it is allowed to turn etc. Can a ship choose to not move for half its movement cost and then put in a turn? Is there a minimum move distance before a ship can move (i.e. the 2" it must put in between turns)?
I ask this as you are not always going to want to move at full speed, therefore, how does moving at a slower speed work? One example I can think of is say declaring how far you plan to move each turn and then half of that has to be straight ahead (i.e. "I'm only moving 2 inches this turn, the first inch is straight ahead and then I turn!") - if any of that makes sense?
Damage Control.
Can the damage types "Reactor Explosion" and "Catastrophic Ammunition Explosion" by repaired in the Damage Control phase - they seem pretty terminal to me?
Weapon Systems.
When the rules refer to a Weapon System (i.e. in the "Close Blast Doors..." Special Action) does it mean one weapon type? i.e. if a ship has Heavy Laser, Medium Pule Lasers and Particle Beams, but is restricted to only firing one weapon system, it could just fire the Particle Beam (out of different fire arcs if multiples are installed) OR the Heavy Laser etc?
Well, I hope they don't sound too stupid and ll thoughts greatly apprecated.
Tim.C
Hey good luck tonight - always best to ask 
in answer:
Movement - Normally the only way to move less than half speed is to either use the All Stop / All Stop and Pivot Special Orders or to be under the effect of one or more engine criticals.
Agile ships need only move 1/4 forward before 1st turn (and 1" before 2nd turn) but still must move half or more total speed.
no Vital Systems criticals can be repaired unless you are First One, Vorlon or Shadow. Damage is only repaired by those vessels with self repair. The loss of traits in the 6,5 and 6,6 crits are not repariable by non First One/Shadow./Vorlon vessels.
Weapon system - if it says you can only fire one weapon system it mean one gun - so a Demos coule fire either the torpodoes or its Ion Cannons or a Primus could fire its Beam or one arcs Ion Cannons.
hope this helps
in answer:
Movement - Normally the only way to move less than half speed is to either use the All Stop / All Stop and Pivot Special Orders or to be under the effect of one or more engine criticals.
Agile ships need only move 1/4 forward before 1st turn (and 1" before 2nd turn) but still must move half or more total speed.
no Vital Systems criticals can be repaired unless you are First One, Vorlon or Shadow. Damage is only repaired by those vessels with self repair. The loss of traits in the 6,5 and 6,6 crits are not repariable by non First One/Shadow./Vorlon vessels.
Weapon system - if it says you can only fire one weapon system it mean one gun - so a Demos coule fire either the torpodoes or its Ion Cannons or a Primus could fire its Beam or one arcs Ion Cannons.
hope this helps
Following standard movement rules, a ship must move at least half of its speed, and it cannot turn during this part. So if you have a Vorchan with speed 14, it must move 7", it can then turn and either stop there or continue moving up to 14". If you want to move less than half your speed, you need to use All Stop (which doesn't allow any turns). Only ships with a Agile trait (eg. White Star) can turn during the first half of their movement. No, you can't declare that you're moving 2" and try to turn after 1". Speed means the speed figure on the ship sheet (after applying any speed crits), not the speed you declare that you are moving at.TimoftheC2 said:
All criticals can be repaired except the vitals. You don't get the damage or crew back - just the effects. So, at double or triple damage they are still pretty terminal, although maybe not quite so bad as the name impliesTimoftheC2 said:
A weapon system is one line on a ship's weapons list. So for example a Dilgar Tikrit has 2 missiles, 2 heavy bolters and 1 light bolter... these are regarded as 5 different weapon systems (despite some of them having the same name). If you can only fire one weapon system, then you can only use one in total; not all similarly named ones.TimoftheC2 said:
Nope not at allTimoftheC2 said:
Just to add to what has already been said, barring special actions and special traits, the ship must move (at least) half of its current maximum speed before its first turn, then (at least) 2" before its second turn regardless of speed.
For example, a Hyperion with a normal maximum speed of 8" has taken a "Thrusters Damaged" critical which knocks 2 off its speed, so its current maximum is 6". It must move 3" before making its first turn.
On the other hand, an intact Hyperion which chooses to only move 6" must move 4" before making its first turn.
And if it goes more than 6" before the first turn then it can't make a second turn because it has less than 2" remaining out of its 8" maximum.
For example, a Hyperion with a normal maximum speed of 8" has taken a "Thrusters Damaged" critical which knocks 2 off its speed, so its current maximum is 6". It must move 3" before making its first turn.
On the other hand, an intact Hyperion which chooses to only move 6" must move 4" before making its first turn.
And if it goes more than 6" before the first turn then it can't make a second turn because it has less than 2" remaining out of its 8" maximum.
Democratus
Mongoose
In resposne to the original post, I'd like to say a few things.
Babylon 5 Wars is the "Star Fleet Battles" of Babylon 5. It is incredibly detailed. The battles play out much more like in the show (a laser can actually blast in one side of a ship, through the center, and out the other). And the movement system is brilliant.
However, it is very complex. Too complex for casual players. As an SFB fan I love the added complexity of B5W. Even so, we had to write our own Java helper program to calculate the "to hit" for any firing ship and target. There's just too much number crunching there for all but the most die-hard fans.
ACTA is more like "Starfleet Command" or "Full Thrust". The rules are quick to play and easy to teach. This means that battles with more ships play faster - a big boon. The price you pay is fewer tactical options and less variety in play.
There's also the larger ACTA community to consider. And the great campaign play rules. And continued support and micro-publication by certain fans.
Babylon 5 Wars is the "Star Fleet Battles" of Babylon 5. It is incredibly detailed. The battles play out much more like in the show (a laser can actually blast in one side of a ship, through the center, and out the other). And the movement system is brilliant.
However, it is very complex. Too complex for casual players. As an SFB fan I love the added complexity of B5W. Even so, we had to write our own Java helper program to calculate the "to hit" for any firing ship and target. There's just too much number crunching there for all but the most die-hard fans.
ACTA is more like "Starfleet Command" or "Full Thrust". The rules are quick to play and easy to teach. This means that battles with more ships play faster - a big boon. The price you pay is fewer tactical options and less variety in play.
There's also the larger ACTA community to consider. And the great campaign play rules. And continued support and micro-publication by certain fans.
Another note on movement:
Super manoeuvrable ships can do whatever they like within their speed limit - move anywhere between 0 and full speed, make as many turns as they like, go round in circles if they want, and end up facing whichever direction they want. All Shadow ships can do this, as can the Ipsha War Globe. Vree ships can become super manoeuvrable if they move less than half maximum speed and are not crippled.
Now, my question: do Vree ships need to declare All Stop in order to move less than half speed and become super maneouvrable? I'm pretty sure they don't, but then I've been "pretty sure" about some other rules intricacies in the past and been wrong. On the other hand, I've played Vree ships using super manoeuvrability without declaring All Stop against opponents who know the rules well and did not call me on that, and in fact it didn't even occur to me until recently. But I thought I'd better check to make sure I'm not cheating.
Super manoeuvrable ships can do whatever they like within their speed limit - move anywhere between 0 and full speed, make as many turns as they like, go round in circles if they want, and end up facing whichever direction they want. All Shadow ships can do this, as can the Ipsha War Globe. Vree ships can become super manoeuvrable if they move less than half maximum speed and are not crippled.
Now, my question: do Vree ships need to declare All Stop in order to move less than half speed and become super maneouvrable? I'm pretty sure they don't, but then I've been "pretty sure" about some other rules intricacies in the past and been wrong.
On the other hand, I've played Vree ships using super manoeuvrability without declaring All Stop against opponents who know the rules well and did not call me on that, and in fact it didn't even occur to me until recently. But I thought I'd better check to make sure I'm not cheating. Greg Smith
Mongoose
AdrianH said:
No.
The other thing to note about Vree super manoeuvrability is that it is lost when the ship is crippled.
Incidentally, the rule doesn't seem to say what happens if a Vree ship moves at exactly half speed. Personally, if an opponent moves his Xorr exactly 5.00", I'd let him use it because it's impossible to prove he didn't move 4.99". On the other hand, I try to move measurably less, e.g. 4.9", to be sure that I don't accidentally cheat by moving 5.01". :lol:
Incidentally, the rule doesn't seem to say what happens if a Vree ship moves at exactly half speed. Personally, if an opponent moves his Xorr exactly 5.00", I'd let him use it because it's impossible to prove he didn't move 4.99". On the other hand, I try to move measurably less, e.g. 4.9", to be sure that I don't accidentally cheat by moving 5.01". :lol:
Democratus
Mongoose
It does mean that any Vree ship using SM is also an excellent target for boarding action! Get some revenge for all those abductions during the 1980s!
It also says Vree ships get to "move as if they had the Super Manoeuvrable trait". Since there is no "Super Manoeuvrable trait", it does not really matter whether they move 4.99999" or 5.00000" because they won't get any benefit anyway. :lol:Burger said:
Alternatively we can be reasonable, let the Vree player away with it as long is the move is not visibly over half speed, and then try to board the ship as Democratus says. :twisted: Mind you, some of the abductions might be a little more recent than the 1980's because of what the Vree were given in P&P...
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