"Nozzles" on the Element cruisers

[AnotherDilbert]

The dogfighting rules are pure cinematic tosh and have no place in a game with Newtonian movement.

I believe we can get something like a dogfight, if we somehow manage to get a couple of craft very close with near identical velocity vectors. There is no other way they could hurt each other with fixed mounts.

But personal prejudice aside, to line up a shot with a fixed mount the fighter has to point that mount at the enemy and stop using its main drive as it take the shot, thus when a fighter shoots it can not gain a maneuvering advantage since it can not accelerate with its main engines.

I don't see why you have to stop accelerating, but you have to point the craft directly at the enemy. With vectored thrust we can accelerate in at least slightly different direction.

The advantage is with the weapon system in a mount that can move independently of vessel movement, like a turret perhaps?

Quite, and in the dogfight system turrets have a large advantage: they can always fire whereas fixed mounts can basically only fire if you win the dogfight.

 

[Linwood]

I believe we can get something like a dogfight, if we somehow manage to get a couple of craft very close with near identical velocity vectors. There is no other way they could hurt each other with fixed mounts.

So - not the “fur ball” of the WWII aerial dogfights. Maybe more like a swirl around a common vector?

 

[Anonymous]

When they talk about reducing main thrust to turn, they could be saying that the thrust budget has to be split between acceleration and turning, or that adding more thrust takes you over safe limits (if you accelerate at 9G then yaw, the pilot gets 9G + the yaw)

I agree that you don't need to cut acceleration completely but it will affect maneuvering if you don't have perfect sci-fi tech acceleration compensators.

 

[Condottiere]

You try to match the gee force allocated to twisting.

I would say it's the equivalent to trying to outturn your opponent.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

So - not the “fur ball” of the WWII aerial dogfights. Maybe more like a swirl around a common vector?

Yes, something like that.