Federation Commander

Kang · Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:30 am Post subject: Cloaks and asteroids

Rule (5P3d) says that '...entering a dust cloud or asteroid hex...' will void a cloak.

Rule (6B2e) [final paragraph] says that 'If a cloaked ship takes asteroid damage, it loses (for the next impulse) all benefits of being cloaked...'

Which is correct, please? It is sufficient simply to enter a hex to void a cloak or do you have to take damage to do so? And I note that the 'voiding' period is different too, 1 impulse for taking damage, four impulses for a 'proper' voiding.
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Mike · Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:46 pm Post subject:

I always took that to mean that while a cloaked ship was in an asteroid hex or dust cloud hex that its cloak was voided. As soon as the ship left the hex, its cloak would be fully operational.
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Mike

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DNordeen · Commander Joined: 05 Apr 2007 Posts: 564

I do the same as Mike.

If your in an asteriod/dust cloud hex you're voided until you leave

If you took damage, you're voided for 1 impulse, even if you leave the hex.

Although the more I think about it, the more I believe that's not the interpretation SVC planned.
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Speed is life; Patience is victory

Kang · Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 5:53 am Post subject:

Mike · Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:54 pm Post subject:

I agree with DNordeen.

If the cloaked ship manages to get through the asteroid hex(es) without taking damage, then the cloak is not voided. If it takes damage, the cloak is voided for the following impulse.

That seems to be the intent of the way the rule was printed, which is what we have to go by.
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Mike

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Sandpaper gets the job done, but makes for a lot of friction.

Kang · Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:51 am Post subject:

But still I'd reiterate that Rule (5P3d) says that '...entering a dust cloud or asteroid hex...' will void a cloak. We can't ignore that, and it seems pretty all-encompassing. Enter that hex, and your cloak is voided - which means for four impulses. Ouch.
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OGOPTIMUS · Captain Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 980

DNordeen · Commander Joined: 05 Apr 2007 Posts: 564

My problem with that is, that the warbird gets hit by the comet tail; its not just hanging out next to it. There's enough room in a hex to share with other ships. Surely there's enough room to share with a comet or asteriod.

The way my group made sense of it was that getting hit by an asteriod has to be a bigger event than just hanging out with them, therefore, if getting hit "voids the cloak for 1 impulse" than hanging out with them should only void it while your in the hex.

To be honest, I really don't understand how sharing a few 100K miles of space with an asteriod or two voids your cloak. If anything, I'd expect the cloak to work better since the asteriod would cause some false readings or make it that much harder to find the little traces of the cloaked ship. It'd be kind of like trying to find a needle on a sidewalk while standing up. That's hard to do, but now let me throw in a bunch of finishing nails...now it's even harder to find.

Now if you hit an asteriod, we get a nice explosion or flare or aura of some type that say HERE I AM. Which is basically the warbird flying through the comet tail.

I guess to sum up, if I was king for a day...
1) Being in asteriods would not void a cloak
2) Taking damage from an asteroid would void the cloak.

Getting back to the actual rules though, I now see that the rules are more vague and contradictory than I thought. I'll wait for MJWest to give us a ruling on it.
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Speed is life; Patience is victory

Kahuna · Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 4:21 pm Post subject:

I've noticed that MJ has so far avoided weighing in on this one. It might be a bit more muddled than we thought. I've been waiting to hear this, though I'm thinking I won't often have to worry about it.

mjwest · Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 4:45 pm Post subject:

mjwest · Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:52 pm Post subject:

I looked through it (finally!) and Kang is right. It is completely muddled. So, I am gonna have to email Steve about it.

EDIT:

Wow! Steve was quick for me on this one.

The answer is this: (6B2e) is correct. That means (5P3d) will need to be modified to agree with this.

Note that this means NOTHING happens to a cloaked ship upon entering a dust or asteroid hex. The cloaked ship must take damage for the cloak to be voided. In such case, the voiding only lasts for a single impulse.
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Kang · Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 6:58 am Post subject:

Crumbs! Makes the cloak better, I think - and properly so - but still makes it worth while to be hanging around near the cloaked ship with a ready tractor beam....

Thanks for your help on this one, folks.
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Kahuna · Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 4:01 pm Post subject: