Federation Commander

storeylf · Fleet Captain Joined: 24 Jul 2008 Posts: 1887

This came up the other day and was a fairly significant question. How long fdo drone actually last?

4G6 - A drone is removed at the end of the third turn after launch. At the end of each turn make a mark {...} If a given drone already has three marks {...} remove it from the game.

In a fairly recent thread someone else said

Scoutdad · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:56 am Post subject:

We've played option 3 since the early rounds of playtesting...
[quote]end turn 3 = mark (and remove?) [/quote}

Makes for a real short duration if drones are launched on 1:8...
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storeylf · Fleet Captain Joined: 24 Jul 2008 Posts: 1887

Kang · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:10 am Post subject:

I've always played it that way too. The drones can therefore fly for nearly four turns in my games.
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terryoc · Captain Joined: 07 Oct 2006 Posts: 1384

I believe that the correct interpretation is Scoutdad's. They last (up to) 3 turns, not four. Turn of launch, T+1, T+2, then removed at end of T+2. The rule about marking them is AFAIK just a suggestion on how to track how long it's been in flight, not a "rule" per se.
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storeylf · Fleet Captain Joined: 24 Jul 2008 Posts: 1887

Actually I managed to find this from MWest, once I found a useful search filter (couldn't think of one that didnt bring back tons of threads earlier)

Bolo_MK_XL · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 1:00 pm Post subject:

Anyways -- if a drone(s) stays on the map that long -- someone is being out flown in the battle anyways --

mjwest · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:14 pm Post subject:

The key phrase is "end of the third turn after launch."

You launch on turn X. Turn X+1 is the first turn after launch. Turn X+2 is the second turn after launch. Turn X+3 is the third turn after launch. Remove the drones at the end of Turn X+3 (or just before Turn X+4).

So, a drone will last for three "plus" turns. It lasts for three turns (72 hexes) plus whatever it got on the turn of launch.
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DaveP. · Lieutenant JG Joined: 07 Feb 2010 Posts: 31

I've always counted a "turn" as going from the impulse the drone was launched on:

Turn X, Impulse 3 Seeking Weapons Phase: Drone #1 launched.
Turn X+1, Impulse 3 SWP: Drone #1 is 1 turn old
Turn X+2, Impulse 3 SWP: Drone #1 is 2 turns old
Turn X+3, Impulse 3 SWP: Drone #1 is 3 turns old, remove from board.

That way all drones have the same lifespan. I have to keep track of the launching ship and drone counter number anyway (for control channels, and to remove drones fired by a ship that subsequently drops tracking or gets destroyed) so it's no big sweat to add the turn/impulse of launch.
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terryoc · Captain Joined: 07 Oct 2006 Posts: 1384

Not doing things strictly according to rule has some tactical implications for drones held in tractors. Personally, I think it's just easier to do it at the end of the turn. So what if some drones last longer than others? I only have to check for expended drones once per turn and not eight times.
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mjwest · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:32 pm Post subject:

It was done "end of turn" to keep things simple. The most "consistent" way to do it is as Dave P suggests, but then you have to keep track of impulse of launch. "End of turn" means you don't care. In the end, it was decided that most drones aren't going to last that long anyway, and so it just wouldn't make enough of a difference to add the rules and record keeping to make things perfectly consistent.
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storeylf · Fleet Captain Joined: 24 Jul 2008 Posts: 1887

Scoutdad · Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:32 am Post subject:

Well... I guess that's one we've been playing wrong. That's what we get for trying to over-simplify and prevent more than 3 turns of flight.
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marcus_aurelius · Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 3:53 am Post subject:

Very interesting. I guess I have been playing wrong too in the same way that Scoutdad mentioned.

This has never affected a scenario for me since in FC and SFB if my drones don't hit within 8 FC impulses (32 SFB impulses) they probably will never hit. Which is consistent with the analysis given above.

Mike · Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 4:14 pm Post subject:

It sure seems as if either an example in a rulebook or an explanation in a past thread explained drone duration the way Scoutdad said it. That's how we've played it since we got FedComm.

Whatever turn the drone is launched is its first turn of flight (even it is impulse # Cool

. The drone has two more full turns left on the map. That makes its duration on the map three turns. Granted, it's not generally going to be three "full" turns, but it guarantees that a drone will not be on the map for more than three turns.

I'm virtually positive I've seen this explanation before and in print.
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