Would you fire the Lightning Cannon?

[Locutus9956]

Precision is a characteristic of how precise something is

Preciseness is the characteristic of having the precise trait

--- from Locutus's dictionary of gaming terms

 

[Voronesh]

Well there is a very good turn when to fire that damn bugger.

The last one! Then you dont compete against 2 turns of standard fire, but only a single one.

And when you just want to finish of the last Omega before it might get away

 

[katadder]

except you get more dice and damage from all its other guns anyway, even in one turn, and with all the extra hits more chance of crits, even if they arnt TD ones.

 

[LordClinto]

I Voted for "looks scary"

As others have suggested, a 20" range just doesn't cut it, especially with the shut off for a turn!

If the range was greater, 30"+ for example, I would fire it more.


A game I played a little while ago pitted a Vic vs a Vorlon Heavy Cruiser. I used the cannon once, (after it was crippled); the 10AD B/P/SAP/TD did a respectable 75 points of damage to the VHC. Which then healed 23 dmg, surgically removed the remainder of my hull with it's next shots, and subsequently healed another 19 dmg. Game over.

 

[Lorcan Nagle]

there's that 2" range bracket where the Lightning cannon can reach and the Fusion cannon can't reach, not to mention an 8" bracket that the Pulse cannon can't reach. And those range brackets can be all-important. There's plenty of situations where the lightning cannon's the gun to go for, but they are special cases. Which is exactly what the cannon's there for.

 

[lastbesthope]

I've posted against specific targets

I use it in those Lochley momnents

"Get that ship the hell out of my sky!"

LBH

 

[Wing Commander]

Last time I used the BFG was up against a Bone'ead Sharlin at War level (pre Armageddon), I was just in range of the lightning cannon and rolled a 6 to spot it.... I really was obliged to press the big button. (given that I may never have made the stealth roll ever again, knowing my dice rolling as I do)
Sharlins make a very satisfying explosion when you hit them with the Lightning Cannon! We were picking pieces of her up for days afterwards.
:twisted:

 

[katadder]

thing is pre armageddon you got to fire every weapon at the same time which wasnt so bad. now you just fire the lightning canon or all the others, not both together.

 

[Alexb83]

Don't you have to declare what dice you're shooting at a stealth ship before you roll to detect it? Otherwise you could just say 'oh, I only wanted one AD on him, let's try and detect the guy right next to him' ad nauseum...

That makes the lightning cannon a nono against any stealth ship, really. Odds are you'll roll those 1s when you least want to.

 

[lastbesthope]

Don't you have to declare what dice you're shooting at a stealth ship before you roll to detect it?

Indeed you do.

LBH

 

[Stonehorse]

I'd fire it in some situations, but not all. If it was to finish off the enemies flag ship and knowing that there isn't much that could return fire, and/or in the last turn of the game. There might be some more. It's good, but not good enough to have your ship near useless for a turn afterwards.

 

[Locutus9956]

yup as noted you have declare your shot BEFORE you roll stealth, in fact I would say that firing the lightning cannon at a stealth 5 target is generally speaking a VERY bad idea as you are quite likely to fail your stealth roll and thereby waste 2 whole turns of your VCD for nothing! I try to avoid firing slow loading weapons at high stealth targets never mind an entire slow loading SHIP!

 

[Alexb83]

Yeh, even if you had the stealth 5 ship within 8 inches, subject to sensors to full and with a scout successfully pointed at it, I'd still suggest not firing that lightning cannon at it - 1/3 times you'll still fail to shoot.

On the other hand, if it's crippled or can't fire, and you're in a good position, why the heck not go for a big flashy finish?

 

[Voronesh]

Yer but in last turn an enemy might be out of pulse cannon reach, and then DAMAGE wise (nit crits or whatever) the BFG will have a bigger output.
And even with pulse cannons damage output is better from the BFG. dfiscounting the aft beam, yes, but normally every game has a last turn, making the situation mroe often

There is no need for criticals when hes already dead

 

[WickedE]

I think with Adaptive Armor, the Victory has a LOT more survivability to use that gun in an opening move, like maybe against Dilgar, Abbai, Drazi, Brakiri, or Even certain EA fleets. Especially considering it CAN get into Range with it REAL fast with Afterburner.

 

[Lorcan Nagle]

Yeh, even if you had the stealth 5 ship within 8 inches, subject to sensors to full and with a scout successfully pointed at it, I'd still suggest not firing that lightning cannon at it - 1/3 times you'll still fail to shoot.

On the other hand, if it's crippled or can't fire, and you're in a good position, why the heck not go for a big flashy finish?

A stealth 5 ship within 8" that's been sucessfully scouted and sensored is now stealth 2, right? as in 1/6 chance of not beating the score?

 

[lastbesthope]

Yeh, even if you had the stealth 5 ship within 8 inches, subject to sensors to full and with a scout successfully pointed at it, I'd still suggest not firing that lightning cannon at it - 1/3 times you'll still fail to shoot.

On the other hand, if it's crippled or can't fire, and you're in a good position, why the heck not go for a big flashy finish?

A stealth 5 ship within 8" that's been sucessfully scouted and sensored is now stealth 2, right? as in 1/6 chance of not beating the score?

Correct, + 1 to the roll from each of within 8", Scout and Scanners to Full so the roll is now effectively 2+

LBH

 

[CZuschlag]

There's a lot of scenario-specific uses. Consider that Laser/Pulse and Fusion can't be used against emplacements on planets .... but the Lightning Cannon can! Great use for it. And you thought mass drivers were good! Here, the firepower you get from the Lightning cannon will far exceed that gained from the Laser system.

Recon run is a scanrio where the defender can often exit the board and win. I fyou need to kill him before he escapes offboard, this is the trick.

GEG 4 ships. Absolutely, especially if they haven't deployed all the Raiders yet, or are still in the blast radius.

When an exploding ship will kill a a**load of fighters. With the way fighters in A work, this may be a very good idea (TM).

Against certain players, as a morale-buster. Some folks go to pieces if you one-shot their CQ 6 Bin'Tak, no matter what the rest of the fight looks like.

If you're running, you can fire the Lightning cannon this turn, and then slowly drift through the jump point opened for you by that WS. Hit and run, indeed.

Against ships with hideous firepower that must be stopped now. If you are about to lose a different VCD to a Mishakur's 20-die Mass Driver system, fire now or forever pick up your stablemate.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[Pauly_D]

It doesnt matter wether you win or lose the game, just as long as you got to use the Lightning cannon at least once thats all that counts (bonus points for using it twice)