The Romulan War Eagle is an example of a ship with limited warp capability - only 20 warp for a movement cost of one. Thus, at a constant speed for a turn, it is limited to a maximum speed of 21 (20 from warp and one from impulse). Does this have any impact on a War Eagle's or similar ships' maximum speed when using mid-turn speed changes? For example, assuming other conditions are met, could a War Eagle move at speed 30 for nine hexes at the start of a turn and speed 15 for eleven hexes during the remainder of the turn? I don't see anything that would prevent this, but want to be sure I'm not missing something.

By Alan Trevor (Thyrm) on Friday, October 06, 2023 - 02:39 pm: Edit

John:
From the Electronic Master Rule Book:

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Quote:

(C12.384) Ships cannot exceed their maximum speed as the result of a speed change, or at any other time for that matter. The only exception would be a very slow ship (freighter, FRD, Warbird) being towed by a much more powerful ship (G7.36).

Maximum speed is calculated as follows:

[Warp Power ÷ Movement Cost] + 1 (impulse power) = Max Speed

(or Speed 31, whichever is lower).

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By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Friday, October 06, 2023 - 02:48 pm: Edit

Alan Trevor is correct, sorry John Williams.

By John M. Williams (Jay) on Friday, October 06, 2023 - 02:56 pm: Edit

Thank you! That seems correct. It struck me as odd that a ship as warp-challenged as a War Eagle could do what I proposed; I just wasn't finding the limiting rule.

By John Christiansen (Roscoehatfield) on Monday, October 09, 2023 - 12:31 pm: Edit

Is there any provision beyond the Tholian pinwheel for one unit to help another unit repair its shields?

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Monday, October 09, 2023 - 01:00 pm: Edit

John Christiansen:
Sorry, but in Star Fleet Battles the answer to your question is "No." Shields are pretty much singular in that they protect the ship, their is a partial exception for bases and FRDs for things docked, and of course Tholians pinwheeling.

By Jeff Guthridge (Jeff_Guthridge) on Monday, October 09, 2023 - 01:50 pm: Edit

John, a Ship docked to by a unit with powered Repair systems (G17.0 repairs) can permanently repair shields as part of that process (G17.14, G17.32).

So if the ship with the dead shields is docked to a FRD, Repair Freighter, Base Station, BATS, Starbase, or any other G17 repair unit I've missed, then yes, it can. PFs and PFTs work differently, but lets keep this simple. Two repair points per box, just the same as if the ship in question was using D9.2, but unlike self repair it is not limited by the ship's current DamCon rating. For example, a damaged CA docked to a BATS module with 24 powered Repair boxes could repair 12 shield boxes on the damaged ship. These 12 boxes of repairs can be performed at the same time as any D9.2 shield repairs made by the damaged ship, and the power to perform these D9.2 repairs could be provided from the BATS as well (C13.41).

Outside of ships with powered repair systems, no I don't think there is any provision to do so, even for two ships docked together to allow the sharing of power.

Incidentally, I've often wondered if a badly damaged ship that manages to escape can recover shields faster. For example a Fed CA, has 138 shield boxes total, requiring a total of 69 turns to rebuild from zero, provided ample power is available. This gets worse with refits, not better. But since it takes 100 turns to break out a stored spare shuttlecraft, the timescale probably lines up with non-combat time better than it appears on first glance.

By John Christiansen (Roscoehatfield) on Monday, October 09, 2023 - 04:13 pm: Edit

(G17.32) is what I was looking for.

If I read (C13.411) correctly, the ship receiving repairs can go above its damage control rating to transfer power to the base for the repair boxes providing repairs to the ship.

By Alan Trevor (Thyrm) on Thursday, October 19, 2023 - 11:11 pm: Edit

Is there any difference between an ADD and an X-ADD, other than the ability of an X-ADD to use the Type-IX drone (the X-tech version of the Type-VI "dogfight" drone)?

By Alex Chobot (Alendrel) on Friday, October 20, 2023 - 01:07 pm: Edit

Alan, that is the only difference, see (XE5.41).

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Friday, October 20, 2023 - 01:28 pm: Edit

Alex Chobot beat me to the answer.

By Alan Trevor (Thyrm) on Friday, October 20, 2023 - 02:38 pm: Edit

Alex and SPP, thanks.

By Robert Russell Lender (Rusman) on Sunday, October 22, 2023 - 11:15 pm: Edit

My copy of the Master Rulebook shows the following for TAC-Intel Level-F...

"Shuttles on a balcony can be detected if the balcony is in view of the observing unit (e.g., Klingon B10 or D7V from RA"

What is RA?

By Jeff Guthridge (Jeff_Guthridge) on Sunday, October 22, 2023 - 11:53 pm: Edit

“Rear Arc”, its 120 degrees of arc focused aft of the ship, spreading evenly 60 degrees from the centerline. Roughly 4 thru 8 on a clockface if the ship is pointed towards high noon.

By Robert Russell Lender (Rusman) on Monday, October 23, 2023 - 12:39 am: Edit

That explains it. Thanks.

By Robert Russell Lender (Rusman) on Monday, October 23, 2023 - 01:09 am: Edit

I'm not sure if I understand a situation with a current game and could use a little help. Please let me know if I have this correct.

D17.26 states the following.
(D17.26) EFFECT OF EW: For every ECM shift (D6.34) in the target unit’s favor, the level of information is reduced one level. For every ECCM shift in the observing unit’s favor (in this case do not ignore negative results, simply drop the negative and take the square root), increase the level of information one level. This procedure can be used to gain Level M.


An Orion CR is at range-30 from a Civilian Base Station. Assuming no other changes are introduced on the first turn of TAC Intel, do I have the following correct?

The Orion CR is range 30 with 8 ECM (6 generated +2 stealth) = Shift-2 to TAC-Intel level, affecting D17.26 (decrease in TAC Intel level by 2).

The Base with 2 Special Sensors uses Special Sensor #1 for Info Gathering +2 assisting labs = Range 28 under the TAC-Intel column, gaining level-E (minus 2 levels from target ECM = Level-C).

The base has +12 ECCM (6 generated, 6 loaned from Special Sensor#2) -8 ECM = +4 ECCM in the base's favor for D17.26 (Square root of 4 = +2 to TAC-Intel level), so Level-C +2 = Level-E on the Orion CR.

By Jeff Guthridge (Jeff_Guthridge) on Monday, October 23, 2023 - 01:52 am: Edit

You don’t evaluate the EW twice…. You calculate the NET effect and evaluate from there.

The Orion is ECM 8 and the Base is ECCM 12, the net is Orion = 0 and the Base 4. In the example you cite, the Base would not be reduced at all, in fact the Base’s EW gives it two steps better than E or Level G. ECCM shifts for combat normally don’t grant any benefit (Outstanding crews can use a -1 shift, there are a few other outliers too), but they do work for TacIntel.

Incidentally, this shows quite handily why Orions tend to raid facilities and convoys not protected by a unit with special sensors.

By Robert Russell Lender (Rusman) on Monday, October 23, 2023 - 03:05 am: Edit

I think I get what you're saying. Thanks.

By Joseph Jackson (Bonneville) on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 - 06:57 pm: Edit

Based on P2.731, a starbase located on the surface of planet would have 3 double strength shields in place of the usual 6. (There are other possibilities, this is an example.) Should an enemy penetrate one of these 3 shields, would 2 starbase pods be subject to damage before armor is struck? Or does R1.1D (starbase damage allocation) apply in all cases?

By Joseph Jackson (Bonneville) on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 - 10:48 pm: Edit

Would I be correct to place suicide freighters (R1.33) in the catagory of S8.541?
Thus, an assault on a base led by a flag ship with a command rating of 8 could marshal a force of:
8 ships, including the flag ship
Plus 8 suicide freighters
Plus a scout
Have I worked that out properly?

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Thursday, October 26, 2023 - 04:37 pm: Edit

Joseph Jackson:
The rules only allow the shields and the armor belts to be combined, so follow (R1.1D) and destroy the modules then go through the combined armor belts to do any further damage to the base.

As I review the suicide freighters, the only thing I would add is that no more than four could be large suicide freighters, the other four would be small suicide freighters.

By Stewart Frazier (Frazikar3) on Thursday, October 26, 2023 - 06:20 pm: Edit

SPP, would the addition of jumbo and/or huge suicide freighters change those numbers (ie 4 L + 4 S)??

By Joseph Jackson (Bonneville) on Thursday, October 26, 2023 - 10:13 pm: Edit

Alright! Thank you for the clarifications. Tough decisions ahead . . .must chart my course carefully . . .must be victorious.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Friday, October 27, 2023 - 01:16 pm: Edit

Stewart Frazier:
In the introduction to (R1.33) it is specifically noted that Ore Carriers (R1.23) cannot be used as suicide freighters. Jumbo freighters are not specifically mentioned as they did not exist when the rule was first written, but I am of the opionion that they would also be excluded a the rule only covers Freighter small suicide, and freighter large suicide.

By John Christiansen (Roscoehatfield) on Wednesday, November 01, 2023 - 01:03 pm: Edit

At the risk of making a single scenario rule complicate life, it is noted that only one scenario has webs able to move. Fair enough. What if a Tholian base is orbiting a planet? Do the 3 rings or buzzsaw strands keep their proper positions around the base as it moves in its orbit? How would corner anchor asteroids be handled?