TTT!!!

[Ripple]

Firing half the time is not the same as halving AD. If I get the shot early at full AD I have a much better chance of destroying something before it gets to fire. You've just added even more single die, I get a huge advantage stuff to a game that doesn't need any.

Seems it's just a way to throw into the game the move and fire system that some folks have argued for with only limited success.

Ripple

 

[nekomata fuyu]

You could also just as easily get 0AD for that first shot, so you'll also have a much worse chance of destroying that something before it gets to fire. You may as well say that dodge 4+ makes a ship invulnerable, because half the time shots will miss, and completely ignore that half the time shots will hit and be hitting a ship which has half as many AD for its PL.

Also, people have argued for move and fire with limited success because it has good points as well as bad. This takes move and fire's good points/gets around the current system's bad points. You do realise that there are options other than all or nothing, right?

 

[Ripple]

Sigh... no...

First I realize that all or nothing isn't the only way to go. Look at the Drazi attack run, also an issue for the same reasons.

As to the early vs late shot thing...

I suggested going back and finding the discussion on slow loading but let me sum it up. If I get to fire my weapon first at full AD, this is much more powerful than the same weapon with half the AD each turn.

Why, because on turns one and three I have achieved a much greater density of fire, and you tend to stay about half the AD ahead, unless the game goes to full turn limit. At least in our experience, most don't.

Getting your dice in first as opposed to spread over two turns means you have a much higher average chance of killing a sink before it gets to affect movement, before it gets to fire, etc. It has nothing to do with getting lucky, it has to do with early damage being stronger than late.

The single die aspect is the toss for getting to do the SA at all. If I pull it off I push myself that much farther ahead based on the single drop of A die. Like stealth, if I don't make my stealth checks early I tend to drop behind enough that making a bunch later no longer matters. Similar thing can happen here... make the rolls early and I become tough, miss a few early and it may not matter that I make a few later.

Ripple

 

[nekomata fuyu]

There is a massive difference between Slow Loading and needing a 4+ to fire. Wth Slow Loading, you're effectively getting half your AD a turn early, and you know which turns you're getting your AD on.
If you're getting the same benefits from needing a 4+ in order to fire, it means that you are cheating. For the rest of us, it actually means that we get our AD late just as often as we get our AD early, and we don't know what turns we're getting our AD on so we have to try to fire every turn.

The actual differences between needing a 4+ to fire and half AD average-wise are a lot more subtle. Regenerative defences such as Interceptors, GEG, and Shields have power boosts against a half AD approach for example.

 

[Ripple]

See, that was my point, your putting more emphasis on a single die roll per ship every turn. Do I get to fire or not? The issue shares some problems with slow loading, but is even better as there is no mandatory off turn, just a chance of an off turn.

Your not cheating if your getting the same benefits... your rolling well. It just seems to add a lot of swing on one die, which my group isn't hugely in favor of at the best of times. Most games locally can be almost called as is on the basis of two or three specific stealth or crit rolls, I'm just not in favor of adding another 'super' die to the mix.

Your right that shield and interceptors (and GEG but different mechanic) get a boost against 1/2 AD, but your gaining something from using the order already (flexibility) so having be not optimal vs some defenses is fine. The whole point of chasing the addition of the order was to lessen the impact of the initiative order/sinking vs boresighted fleets, not just given them an overall enhance or a second on/off chance.

Ripple