FC TACTIC OF THE MONTH Continued

Managing Power
-Ensign Daniel Zimmerman, USS Louisiana

The greatest risk is that by leaving some of your "speed money" unspent but promised, you run the risk of having to (or deciding to) spend it for something else during the turn, forcing you to the lower speed. (Once you pay for a baseline speed of 24, nothing can slow you down.) There is also the risk that if you need to go 25, you cannot get there from a baseline speed of 16 (but you can from a baseline speed of 24).

It comes down to discipline. If you can stick to a budget and save those eight points of power, you can get a better turn mode (which for some ships is a much better turn mode). If you fritter away that power (a point here, and point there) you won't have the speed that your entire tactical plan depended on. Of course, some unexpected dangers and unexpected opportunities may tempt you to spend those points, and there are times that you should. The great risk, however, is in not thinking through what you are doing. It may seem a non-brainer to spend a point of power to kill (or tractor) a drone and keep your shield intact, but if using that power means no acceleration in the last impulse or two for the turn, it may mean that you start the next turn within overload range of a very upset opponent.