SFB TACTIC OF THE MONTH Continued
SUICIDE GOTCHA
- Ensign Doug Mazur, USS Wisconsin

Getting your suicide shuttles to impact your opponent usually requires the ships to be at range one with the enemy either not moving next impulse or moving into a predictable hex. If this situation develops on Impulse #10 or #21, you have another trick to use. Launch the shuttle at speed five. After consulting the impulse chart, your opponent will see that speed five is not scheduled to move next impulse.

He may assume that you misread the impulse chart (since speed six does move next impulse) or feel that since it will not harm him next impulse he can lab it and then death-drag or deal with it in some other way. During fire decision (you are at range one, what else are you waiting for!) fire one of your own phaser-3s into the shuttle at range zero (in addition to whatever you were going to do to the other ship). You have a five-in-six chance of crippling the shuttle making it speed three, which does move next impulse! Note that this works especially well for ships with dual shuttle bays, where you launch two shuttles, one moving speed six and the other at speed five. Your opponent "knows" that the speed six must be the suicide shuttle and is even more likely to discount the real surprise. Due to the sequence of play most of his counters against suicide shuttles are not available to him and 18 internals will make a nice Mizia volley following your last impulse alpha strike.