As the general war progressed, the mauler was found to have reduced effectiveness due to the improved defenses. As a result, the various races improved the mauler in their own way.

Klingon:

The Klingons improved both the weapon arcs and range.
(E8.28) The improved Klingon mauler firing arc includes the standard firing arc with the addition of the Alternate firing arcs (E8.27) combined, without the turn mode points.

(E8.29) The Klingons developed a variation of the UIM (D6.5) for the mauler that increases the range to 15 hexes. The damage scored in the extra hexes is at one-half of the amount of energy discharged.

Lyran:

The Lyrans cross engineered the Mauler with the ESG Emitters and produced
(E8.30) The Lyran circular mauler arc. The new weapons arc is 360 degrees but limited to three specific rings at range 1 hex, 3 hexes, and 5 hexes. In this way they ship may fire the mauler at any valid target at these specific ranges. But not at 0 hexes, 2 hexes, or 4 hex range rings.
(E8.301) The damage is at double the energy discharged at range 1, equal to the energy at range 3, and half the energy discharged at range 5.

Romulan:

The Romulan saw how their allies were modifying their mauler technology, and invested some research themselves. The Romulans developed
(E8.31) The Seeking firing mode. In this method the mauler will discharge and follow a seeking weapon track to the target.
(E8.311) When fired, it the mauler torpedo must face forward.
(E8.312) It will move up to 8 hexes in the impulse fired
(E8.313) It must follow all the rules of plasma torpedo while tracking its target
(E8.314) It may perform 1 (one) HET.
(E8.315) If does not reach the target after moving 8 hexes, it will dissipate harmlessly.
(E8.316) The number of hexes traveled determines damage.

Gorn:

The Gorn decide to repeat history and copy the mauler from the Romulans as they did the seeking plasma. Except this time they worked with their allies the Federation.
(E8.32) The Gorn however find a way to Increase Damage.
Range Damage
0-1 three time energy discharged
2-5 one and one quarter times energy discharged (round fraction down)
6-10 Three quarters of energy discharged (round fractions down)

Federation:

Working with the Gorn the Federation researchers decided to improve the mauler damage and range.
(E8.33) Uniform damage, from range 0-8 damage is equal to energy discharged
(E8. 331) Proximity Mauler range 15-22 damage is equal to one half energy discharged. Round fractions down

By John Trauger (Vorlon) on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 12:13 am: Edit

Where did the Feds and Gorns get standard mauler tech, let lone the ability to improve it?

By Christopher E. Fant (Cfant) on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 12:23 am: Edit

From the mauler fairy of course...

By Andrew Harding (Warlock) on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 01:34 am: Edit

Having driven over the top of a Fed DNG with a STL without taking internals (he only did a hundred or so points at range 4), I'm unconvinced of the need to improve maulers.

By Stuart C. Brennen (Evlstu) on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 03:25 am: Edit

E8.29 seems interesting, except that since the Roms invented the mauler and that they've done the most research on it already, they should be the ones to come up with that improvement. Other than that, I'm not overly fond of the other improvements.
I also agree with Andrew that the mauler needs very little, if any, improvements. It is the only weapon that can fire every impulse (limited only by available power) and the only way to destroy the weapon is to destroy the ship.

By Mike Raper (Raperm) on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 08:28 am: Edit

Jim,

Sorry, but no thanks. At least not for 0 or 1X play; maybe some upgrade for 2X tech, but only for existing mauler races. I can see a slightly wider arc, and perhaps a modest increase in range, but that's about it, IMHO. I don't think that Feds, Gorn, or anyone else not currently using the Mauler should ever get it, though. Not because it doesn't make sense that they'd figure it out...I'm sure they could. I just think of it as a play balance issue, and flavor. If everyone gets it, it's not that interesting anymore, at least to me.

By Jim Cummins (Jimcummins) on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 10:18 am: Edit

John: I was extrapolating that the Gorns could repeat history. Since the Gorn originally got the idea of seeking plasmas from the Romulans. I threw in the Feds for the fun of it.

Christopher: is that the fairy that gives you a D6M if you leave an E4 under your pillow. : )

To All: Since no one seems to like the idea, I bow to the wisdom of the majority. : )

I just thinking it would be fun to have each race personalize the standard mauler, add individual flavour. : )

But as Mike says maybe X2

By Christopher E. Fant (Cfant) on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 10:40 am: Edit

Jim,

That's the one

By Sean Bayan Schoonmaker (Schoon) on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 05:30 pm: Edit

There are some good ideas here, however, that might be applied to other things, but I agree that differentiating the mauler per race is a bit much.

By Mike Raper (Raperm) on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 06:58 pm: Edit

For what it's worth, Jim, I played in an experimental 2X campaign. In that game, the mauler had an FA arc, and about a 50% greater range. Add that to 5 point 2X batteries that are each treated as a group (like the Andros, which is where "our" 2X battery tech came from) and you've got one hellacious weapon. We still restricted it to the Roms, Klingons, and Lyrans, however, after experimenting with a Gorn CAM; basically a Gorn with a mauler spinal mount. Woof! It was a beast, and that's why we canned it. If you'd like to see it, I can dig it up and send it to you, or post it.

By Ben Moldovan (Shadow1) on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 11:36 pm: Edit

STL, that is absolutely disgusting. I HATE that ship! 1.) The greenies have one in Fog2. If I had known about it, I would have asked to have it banned. Also 2.) Any ship that can take no damage from a Dreadnaught at close range is nauseating. And being potentially really nasty up close and super hard to kill too. Ick ick ick. This is a wazoo ship if I've ever seen one.

*wanders off grumbling*

Where's my pepto?

By Ben Moldovan (Shadow1) on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 11:42 pm: Edit

I said:

"Any ship that can take no damage from a Dreadnaught at close range is nauseating."

This is not counting cloaked ships, even though they are a royal pain in the tush their own selves.

By Christopher E. Fant (Cfant) on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 11:52 pm: Edit

Tell em how you really feel Ben...

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 03:53 am: Edit

If there were to be a simple fix for the Mauler, I'ld like to see it as simple as possble.

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The Fix allows for the mauler to inflict twice as much damage as the amount of power put into it at all ranges.

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Inflict damage at all ranges as though it was range 1 for the improved mauler.

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By David A Slatter (Davidas) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 08:40 am: Edit

Some serious upgrading of the mauler is required if it is to be anything like as good as it is in F&E. I for one have longed for an "effective" SFB mauler. Currently, they are almost a waste of points to purchase given that they only have more firepower than a standard vessel when centerlining the enemy at range 1. Even then, a Hydran fusion ship puts a mauler to shame unless the mauler stopped itself and burnt its engine as well (in which case it must either be towed into action, or be there impulse 1).

By Mike Raper (Raperm) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 08:46 am: Edit

David,

What did you have in mind? I have F&E, but never have gotten to play it, so I don't know how effective a Mauler is in that game.

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 10:04 am: Edit

Something to remember is that the mauler isn't just an anti-shipping weapon.


It's the king of Tractor auctions....putting X-ships to shame.

It's a super anti-drone weapon, as it can fire every impulse, assuming it has BTTY power left.

It's a truely capital idea to use them against Fighters. R10, 20 points of power:- no more fighter, even with heaps of EW and EM, you have a much higher to hit change than other so called Wonder Weapons of To-hit ( such as the Hell-bore ). So the infamous Hydran R10 fussion sniping will cost the Hydran dearly if he encounters a Mauler deployed for anti-fight purposes.
This drops down to 10 points of power plugged into the mauler at R5 ( and you can store the power in the BTTYs before-hand (no holding exspences allowing you to run in all your attack runs at speeds of 31).

So run in at 4 Hydran fighters at speed 31, as soon as you get to R5, hit them, one per impulse with 10 points of BTTY over a four impulse period ( assuming 38 BTTY ) you might need to through in a Ph-2 shot to kill the last one, but you can kill all 4 hydran fighters and leave.
Now consider how much more effective your D6M is going to be if at speed 31 it runs up to R1 on some drones ( possibly using her 3? tractors ) and blows them out of the sky.
A mauler is like an X-destroyer, it can act as a Psuedo Fleet Escort, protecting the entire fleet from drones and fighters, whilst still containing the OOMPH to actually kill starships ( through Hard core sucide anchors rather than actual weapons fire )...she even has the BTTY to survive ship explosions very well.

If you make 4 attack runs in ten turns with the killing of 3 Hydran stinger-2s in each attack run, you've made 120 BPV worth of victoy...now how much did the mauler cost?...and the effects of the phasers haven't yet been counted into the equation. If you trade one of your attack runs for a suicide anchore and kill a BC ( instead of just damaging it internally ) your looking at about ( 160 x 1 - 160 x 0.1 = 146 ) 266 extra BPV worth of death and destructuion in that battle all generated up thanks to the mauler...how much did it cost again?

By Kevin M. McCollum (Sfbl5r) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 10:54 am: Edit

MJC, what are you talking about? Once the your opposition ID's the ship as a mauler, all they have to do is move out of your VERY limited firing arc. As far as anti-drone, same as above but a mauler has to discharge it's batteries by banks and so has limited firing ability (very few low power shots available).

By Kevin M. McCollum (Sfbl5r) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 10:57 am: Edit

MJC, what are you talking about? Once the your opposition ID's the ship as a mauler, all they have to do is move out of your VERY limited firing arc. As far as anti-drone, same as above but a mauler has to discharge it's batteries by banks and so has limited firing ability (very few low power shots available).

By Jonathan Perry (Jonathan_Perry) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 11:04 am: Edit

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It's a truely capital idea to use them against Fighters. R10, 20 points of power:- no more fighter,

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Now consider how much more effective your D6M is going to be if at speed 31 it runs up to R1 on some drones and blows them out of the sky.
A mauler is like an X-destroyer, protecting the entire fleet from drones...

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If you make 4 attack runs in ten turns with the killing of 3 Hydran stinger-2s in each attack run, you've made 120 BPV worth of victoy

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Some serious upgrading of the mauler is required if it is to be anything like as good as it is in F&E.

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By Mark Kuyper (Mark_K) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 12:51 pm: Edit

Mike,
In F&E A mauler is about 160-170 BVPs and fights like a BC. Its got a few special rules that make it very effective but it does have the downside of requiring two additionaly ships in the fleet (minimum) to get its high firepower. Otherwise its worth about 80ish BVP.

If you are interested, take a look over in the F&E section.

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 01:41 pm: Edit

K.M. M^cC.:


You can always dump some power from your selected bank, into tractors and Shield Reinforcement and indeed phaser caps before you fire...you might even be able to dump them into a different bank ( although such energy, may be locked out of the mauler because of the "an individual bank may only be used for mauler functions once per turn" rule.

By Jim Cummins (Jimcummins) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 03:11 pm: Edit

Mike Raper; I’d like to see the Gorn CAM you did. You can post or e-mail me at jimsara@sympatico.ca

Thanks

By Mike Raper (Raperm) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 03:29 pm: Edit

I'll email it to you, Jim. It's pretty rude. It was a 2X design, so it carries quite a bit more "oomph" than a standard mauler.

By David A Slatter (Davidas) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 04:42 am: Edit

Mike

By my estimate, if you translated the effectiveness of an F&E mauler to SFB, the range AND damage of the weapon would both be doubled. Also, In F&E, a (cruiser) mauler costs 30% more than a BC ("EPV"), having the same firepower and special (*devastating*) abilities to boot.
I'd estimate an "F&E" mauler to have a SFB BPV in the region of 190-220.

Frankly, I'd like to see the mauler upgraded. I think Allaince commanders should get some adrenaline when they see one, rather than having a good laugh at coalition ineptitude.

MJC.

Your suggested uses for the mauler don't impress me. Quite apart from the excellent arguments above, It costs 10 power to do the 10 damage to kill the fighter at range 5. I can almost certainly do the same with 8 power put into 2-4 DSR at range 8. At range 3-5, my extra phasers I have can shred it for 5 power or less. And I get all those abilities with much better firing arcs and no shock problems.

I mean, *you* try centerlining a fighter. It'll be harder than you think, and virtually impossible if you are going slower than 20 or the fighter is packed (remember, fighters move *after* ships). Same goes for drones. On top of that, If you are busy centerlining fighters/drones, they are coming towards you at one hellava speed (unless you were retrograding???), and you are asking for trouble.

Tractor beams are an application for maulers, but are only really useful if you have an overwhelming advantage and are looking for captures. In an even battle, the enemy fleet will either trash you directly (hydrans) or lob enough drones/fighters/ plasma to make you wish you were elsewhere (Zin,Feds,Gorn).