Trading weapons systems

[TJHairball]

(2) : made or carried out with only a limited or immediate end in view

:arrow: Take your "limited end in view" to be "I have fun with and can win at (GAME)" if you can't understand the prompt any other way.

 

[dalek4890l]

My favorite modification was the D7C Doomslayer modified by 'The Masters'. Standard D7-C but with a forward arc and a rear arc photon. What weapons did it lose; none. It was a big cheat and the scenario it was with did include notes about not modifying other ships based on this one. Talking practically I'd probably replace the drones with plasma - D racks on Klingons. The klingon drone don't normally hit so you might as well replace them with reloadable ADD racks that can double as short range weapons. You even normally have an ADD trait to cover your ship while you reload the D-racks.

Possibly you could run a 'Masters' campaign' where you get a chance to modify your ships. This would probably favour races such as the klingons that have lots special traits (Add, agile and increased forward shields).

 

[McKinstry]

If every race can use every others stuff, doesn't the game get incredibly bland and generic? I find the differences between fleets and their unique weapons combinations to be a powerful part of the attraction of ACTA.

 

[Myrm]

My favourite "Frankenship" actually exists in the SFU. It's the Anarchist, a Klingon D7 captured by the Hydrans and fitted out with Hellbores, Fusion Beams, Gatling Phasers and Stinger fighters (SFC version, FC one might be different).

Ah yes the D7H - she flies well in SFB, as well as SFC - couldnt tell you about FC

 

[Da Boss]

If every race can use every others stuff, doesn't the game get incredibly bland and generic? I find the differences between fleets and their unique weapons combinations to be a powerful part of the attraction of ACTA.

Not a lot of variety really - Doesn't everyone already use exactly the same four Phaser types and most use Drones with a "unique" weapon per race?

 

[McKinstry]

You are able to capture ships in both SFB and FC; I don't recall if Starmada lets you do so as well. I'm not overly sure why there are no capture rules in ACtA:SF, though I hope the matter might be revisited at some future point.

One thing to bear in mind with the Age of Sail examples is that all of those (European and Euro-colonial) ships were built using fairly common construction techniques, with at least broadly interchangeable materials, weapons and (human) crews. Yes, there were the odd distinct ship types (such as the original six heavy frigates of the early US Navy) but even they would not have been overly challenging for a would-be captor navy to run.

It's a bit different once you start getting into rival spaceships built with alien technologies, exotic materials, and other logistical challenges. (Well, not quite as much with this early wave of fleets, but things get far more exotic the further in you go; and even now, of the seven starter empires, at least one, the Tholians, have web technology that no-one else in the SFU can operate or reverse-engineer.)

The British captured and sailed one of the original six ( it was in fact one of the three original 44's), President.