Shields

bsantucci said:
Once a point of shield is used up, is there any way to get it back? Or is gone for the rest of the game. :?

If it is SF you are asking about it is the Boost Energy to Sheilds special action and if you loose sheilds due to a crit affect and later repair that crit you get the sheilds back.
 
and just for completeness in ACTA: B5 the shields regenerate by a set amount in the end phase similar to Noble Armada ;)
 
not really similar to NA.
B5 shields are like SF ones in that you have to knock them all down before causing damage and you get a set amount (usually d6 or so) back each end phase.
NA shields you can cause damage even without burnout weapons, just hit the ship more than its shield score, but any knocked down all come back in the end phase.
 
Ok in NA if you have 3 shields and are hit for 3 points the damage is stopped. If the hit was not a Burnout weapon you still have 3 shields? This happons every time you are hit by a weapon?
 
DHannigan said:
Ok in NA if you have 3 shields and are hit for 3 points the damage is stopped. If the hit was not a Burnout weapon you still have 3 shields? This happons every time you are hit by a weapon?

Yes, but most of the weapons in the game have Burnout or Double Burn, and each hit from one of those knocks a shield down till the end of the turn. In most circumstances, your shields (which vary from 2 to 6 based on the type of ship) are a once-per-turn damage buffer. The fleets that don't use significant numbers of Burnout weapons have Slow weapons instead, which pass through shields without interacting with them at all.

The most notable weapons that have real issues with shields are Meson Cannons/Tubes and Slug Guns, which are mostly found in Decados and Vuldrok fleets, and on some capital ships and heavy fighters. For Decados, they mostly just need to be careful about how they sequence their fire so their (numerous) Burnout guns drop the shields on a target before it dies in a storm of meson beams or railgun fire. For Vuldrok, it means they need to crowd in to short range so some ships can fire explosive shells (unique to them) and Burn shields while the rest of the fleet volleys harder-hitting standard slugs at longer range. Slug guns are extremely scary weapons once your shields are down - meson cannons nearly as much so, although they aren't as impressive in ACTA as they were in the original Holistic game.
 
On a related note, if a Klingon ship (which have reinforced forward shields) has its shields reduced to zero, but then uses the Boost Energy To Shields special action on the next turn to get a few shields back, does the reinforced shield rule still apply (damaged halved in forward arc), since there is now a shield value of greater than 1; or does the fact that there are no normal shield points left mean that the value for the reinforced shield fleet trait is effectively 0, so hits are no longer halved even though there has been a shield reinforcement?

Thanks,

Stumonster
 
If your shields are gone, or if they have 9 or fewer points left, I don't think you can use the 'Boost power to Shields' SA.

As I read the rule, you need at least 10 shield points to use it at all.
 
I think starting score refers to the shield stat, not the current strength. The stat value can be reduced through criticals, so I'm pretty sure that will affect the number of dice you get for shield boosts.
 
My copy of the rulebok says "for every full 10 points of the Ship's Shields starting score, roll one dice..." (p12).

Hmm. It hinges on what is meant by the 'starting score'. I was interpreting that as the score at the start of the turn, counting damage from previous turns.

I think you are taking that as the 'starting score' at the beginning of the game?

Is there a ruling or clarification on that anywhere? It could be quite important.
 
I took it as the stat line for the shields at full strength, though this could be down to the fact that in the SFB/FC games, down shields can recieve reinforcement toa limited effect. Also, it's your SA for the turn, so if you need it, the DoDo DuDu is well up around you.
 
Much like Iain, we've been playing it as youre starting score. Period.
After all, if you're using your only Special Action for a turn to recover 2d6 shield boxes - you're in deep already.
 
I take it as meaning the stat line value since that's the measure of the shield system's capabilities, whereas the current strength just represents the amount of power still in the shield grid.
 
So consensus would be that:

a) One uses the starting, undamaged value of a ship's shields when determining the number if shield 'boxes' gained by the Boost Energy to Shields! SA

b) One does halve damage received in the forward arc on Klingon (and Romulan Klingon based) ships if the shields are at 0 but have been boosted due to the Boost Energy to Shields! SA

Might be something to clarify in the Errata.
 
Keeper Nilbog said:
I took it as the stat line for the shields at full strength, though this could be down to the fact that in the SFB/FC games, down shields can recieve reinforcement toa limited effect. Also, it's your SA for the turn, so if you need it, the DoDo DuDu is well up around you.

Thats how I interpret it as well.
 
Back
Top