dag'karlove said:
Also where is the nerf. Its not nerfed its just a choice. You either fire one weapon at full dice or both weapons at half. Im not really seeing a nerf. Nefing it would be you only have beams now o you only have molecular pulsars now.
When something is reduced in strength, it is a nerf. At 10", I can fire all of my guns without being hampered, with the new rules, I now lose one of my Beam shots, if I also shoot my other weapons.
The White Star is a very popular canonical ship. The issue with the White Star meeting critisism is when you consider the limitations of the ISA. This game favoring numbers, over strength, an ISA player is more likely to run numerous White Stars to represent the White Star Fleet. We do not have a strong Skirmish option, and we have a variety of fighters. The fleets which run a bunch of White Stars, with a bunch of their cousins the Blue Star, are met with frustration because when something kills you, its probably a White Star. So the immediate response is that the White Star should be nerfed.
If we had strong options at Skirmish, and Battle, it would give people more of an incentive to vary their fleet, and as the White Star, or a variant of the White Star, is our only Raid choice (outside of allies) you're going to see a lot of White Stars on the table.
The concept of Boresight on a White Star just doesn't fit the ship. Boresight represents ships with light maneuverability, that can only fire forward from a mounted cannon. The White Star, as seen in the show, can not only maneuver as well as a Fighter, but fly sideways while firing, do a complete 180 on a dime, and fire, and other similarly awesome feats of agility. The forward arc, is this games way of representing that the White Star would not move and then fire, it would move, bringing targets into its beam sights, and unloading all guns as it passes the target, or as it nears the target. Telling it that it can only fire in a straight line, doesn't represent the show. This is a game based on a show, a series of movies, and some books. It needs to represent the material or it will continue to hemorrhage players, and all of this will have been for nothing.
If you Close Blast Doors, you get Dodge 4, and you get Adaptive Armor, but you have to be within 10" to fire. At 18" or less, if you CBD you only get 1 AD. At 18" if you fire the Pulsar, you only get 1AD from the beam.
The changes to the White Star, would mean a re-balancing of the White Star Gunship, which is really just a doubled White Star II. My solution overall, to the White Star I and White Star two, if there is concern over its value as a Raid level ship, is to reduce our range. If we are acting as a fighter, and a fighter has to commit to getting close, lets reduce the range on the Neutron Laser to be more in line with a weapon meant to fired in someones face. A White Star can maneuver 180 Degrees in its movement, so strafing runs where you run up, shoot someone, and continue to shoot them as you go past them, and then do a 180 and continue to fire on them, fully represents how White Stars use their speed to get into the face of the enemy and do a world of damage.
Interstellar Alliance - White Star
Turns: 2/90
Speed: 15
Damage: 10/3
Crew: 10/3
Special: Adaptive Armor, Advanced Jump Engine, Agile, Atmospheric, Dodge 4+, Flight Computer, Scout, Self Repair
Improved Neutron Laser: F Arc, Range 14, AD 2, Beam, Precise, TD
Molecular Pulsar: F Arc, 12 Range, AD 4, Accurate, AP, DD
What this does is takes four inches off of the Neutron Laser, and gives two of those inches to the Molecular Pulsar. You have to get closer to your enemy to fire your weapons, but you till properly represent the "Ah Hell!" maneuver of continuous fire. The White Star took Jump Engines offline to increase its firepower, but you never see it losing one weapon, in favor of another.
I do like the idea of half attack dice, on all CBD. That not only gives the Narn a greater penalty in exchange for their proposed CBD 4+ save, but it also better represents the tactic of cutting half your rate of fire, in exchange for higher defense. Allowing single weapon craft to CBD as well.
