Archive through August 23, 2002
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Star Fleet Battles: New Product Development:
Module J3: Back in the Cockpit:
Archive through August 23, 2002
Michael John Campbell, all of the tactics you describe for defending against fighter-launched drones may also work against ASM armed fighters. You may take additional damage, but the attacking fighters will be taking the same risk to fire. Do you have any play tests to back up your statements?
What if the ASM "hit" (made its roll) the impulse after it was launched (bookkeeping, no actual counter or speed, it's just fast) but the fighter had to be alive (could be crippled) to control the ASM for possible successful impact on the target? Since it is bigger than a standard ADD it is not as "instantaneous" as the ADD resolution.
This would give the fleet a chance to destroy the fighters before the impact impulse making the ASMs harmlessly "fly by."
This would require ASM armed fighters to give the fleet something else to shoot at (like the aforementioned leading drone wave).
Does this cripple ASM armed fighters too much?
Alternatively, you could say that ASMs that were launched by a now dead fighter have a -1 or -2 to hit but still roll, but this may be too much bookkeeping.
Food for thought. Go ahead and tear it up. 
Ken
Ken: one per turn from any given launcher/rack/fighter. I have said this before. I have also answered your drogue question already.
Trent: Remember, as I have now said four different times, fighters fire one ASM per turn (or within 1/4 turn) counting against the launch limit of other drones/plasmas.
MJC and Jessica. Re. Stratigic speed ASM. Thats something I posted. I made it up as a way to explain the DF nature of the weapon. Though SFB and Star Trek do differ I always thought Photon Torpeedos had casings that were fired. Since in SFB they are DF then they must travel MUCH faster than tactical speeds in order to be realitivly instant. Thus, they travel at Statigic Warp Speeds. It is not really nessasary to argue it because it doesn't really matter how fast a Photon torp or a ASM or ADD is. It's fast enough to be DF.
New system: Multi-role drogue. Includes two spaces of drones or plasmas, one mine, one phaser-2, one scout sensor, and one Hostess Twinkie. Costs 100 BPV. Can be used for any role.
Oh, its a "Hostess Twinkie". The way it initially appread it looked like he was saying "And one Hostess", Twinkie. I figured they were using transporters to make multiple copies of some lady named Twinkie...
hehehe
SVC. Can heavy fighter and bombers fire 2 ASMs per turn, per J10.41?
After seeing people ask questions that have been answered I have gathered up all the posts I could find concerning the ASM and am posting them here in organized form. Note: This listing was done independent of ADB, and if something is listed wrong, it’s all my fault… so:
Anti-Ship Missile
| Hit | | | Probability: |
| Range 1 | | | 1-2 |
| Range 2-3 | | | 1-3 |
| Range 4-5 | | | 1-4 |
| Range 6+ | | | NA |
Operations: Can be launched by any rail/rack that carries a one-space or larger drone or type-D plasma, including drogues, captors, and defense satellites.
A, B, D, G, and H racks may fire one ASM per turn - this counts as the one drone launch pre turn for these racks.
C racks may only fire one ASM per turn and this counts as one of the two drone launches aloud per turn. Note that a C rack can launch 2 drones or 1 drone + 1 ASM (12 impulses apart) - it may not fire 2 ASMs within 32 impulses of each other.
Firing an ASM from an F rack counts as a drone launch, and the F rack cannot fire either a drone or ASM on the following turn. Firing an ASM from one F rack does not effect the firing of ASMs from another F rack - even if those racks are on the same ship / base.
E rack and ADD rack cannot fire ASMs.
Plasma D racks may fire ASMs at the rate of 1 per launcher per turn.
Cannot be placed on scatter packs.
Can put them on a drogue but if so can only fire them one at a time.
If a Seeking Weapon drogue carries a combination of drones / plasma and ASMs it can only fire the ASMs by the "one at a time" rule. If there is a mix of weapons, and you use the "fire them all" mode, the ASMs ignore this and don't launch.
Cannot be used from internal bay type bombers, only from rails.
Fighters can only target this in the FA arc.
ASMs on fighters / bombers are treated as DF weapons - active in 8 impulses.
The max rate of fire is 1 per fighter per turn.
Cannot be fired with in 8 imp of the last ASM launch from that fighter.
Affected by EW.
Limitations: Cannot be fired at drones or fighters (presumably this would translate to ‘Cannot fire at SC6 or smaller.)
ASM does not require the use of a Seeking Weapon control channel on the impulse it is fired.
Must have active fire control.
ESGs: ESG would destroy the ASM but reduce the ESG by 4 points of damage.
Cost: Start with a type-I drone (1 point, adjusted for fast speed 2 points). Figure that the non-interception is offset by the probability of a hit and the variable damage, so you're at 2 points each pending any adjustment for the advantage of non-intercept over the disadvantage of reduced warhead yield and no shooting at fighters or drones. Call it 2, or 2.5 maybe?
Damage (if it hits): is 2d6 points.
Andy: What part of "one per" was confusing? One per launcher/fighter/drogue/mine/bomber/defsat. Rule J10.41 does NOT apply.
LK: Right, anything but ASM+ASM.