Federation Commander

[paulgenna]

I have a question regarding ESG's. If a Lyran ship uses their ESG offensively, while in the same hex as an opponent ship, and the ESG does more damage than the ship can takes it goes out one hex. What happens if there is a Lyran ship, one hex out, that also kicks off their ESG offensively would the ship being destroyed take any of the damage? Trying to understand the priority or if all happens at the same time and in this case both Lyran ships would take damage.

For example the Lyran players decides to use 2 ESG maxed out so there is 40 points being used to damage an opponent who only has 10 points left of damage they can take. I know the excess would look at all the hexes adjacent and do damage to those ships. If there is a second Lyran ship also kicking off 2 ESG's and the damaged ship has 10 shield and the 10 internal how would damage be done. Would each ship be done at the same time or would the 0 hex ship have priority?

[mjwest]

OK, let's make sure I have this straight. There are two Lyran ships in adjacent hexes. Let's call them Lyran A and Lyran B. Each Lyran ship has two ESGs that are fully charged. Cohabiting the same hex as Lyran A is another ship we'll call Enemy C. Enemy C is nearly dead and can only take 10 more points of damage before being destroyed. Enemy C also has 10 points of shields that are facing Lyran B and NOT Lyran A.

Despite being an inadvisable action, we're going to assume that Lyran A and Lyran B each activate both of their fully charged ESGs at the same time in the same impulse. Rule (5N2d) says that each ship will damage everything in the same hex as them and only after everything in their own hex is removed will adjacent hexes be affected. With the exception of this cadence, the bursts are simultaneous. So, let's take care of each same-hex situation first. For Lyran B, there is nothing in its hex, so nothing takes damage and the ESG burst still has all 40 points left. For Lyran A, it takes 10 points of damage to destroy Enemy C. Since the 10 points of shields are facing away, they have no effect and then go away when Enemy C is destroyed. This means that Lyran A has cleared its hex and now has 30 points left.

At this point we get to invoke rule (5N2f). Since they are in adjacent hexes, the ESG interaction doesn't take place until both of their hexes have been cleared. In both cases, each ESG burst is reduced by the strength of the other ESG burst. So, the burst from Lyran A is reduced 30-40 (minimum 0) to 0. Lyran A's ESG burst is now over. The burst from Lyran B is reduced 40-30 to 10. Those 10 points hit Lyran A's facing shield, inflicting 10 points of damage. (We'll assume that shield was at full strength and is simply reduced by 10 points.) Enemy C doesn't come into this because Lyran A's ESG burst destroyed it at range 0, so there is nothing left for Lyran B's ESG burst to interact with at range 1.

End result: Lyran A lost 10 points of shield from the shield facing Lyran B. Lyran B is unaffected. Enemy C was destroyed by Lyran A's ESG burst.

If all three ships had been in the same hex, then (5N2f) would have taken place immediately. In that case, both ESG bursts would have been reduced to 0 (40-40 in both cases) and Enemy C would have remained undamaged.

The smarter move would have been for Lyran A to release three points of ESG power from one ESG doing 12 points of damage This would take out Enemy C while inflicting only 2 points of damage on Lyran B. (Who could negate it with two points of shield reinforcement.)

However, it would be inadvisable for Lyran B to use its ESG burst at all. To kill Enemy C, it would have to do a total of 20 points of damage (10 to the shield, then 10 for internals). But, when applying the damage, it has to alternate between Enemy C and Lyran A (since they are in the same hex). To destroy Enemy C, Lyran B has to release both ESGs in a single burst. That does the necessary 20 damage to Enemy C, but then also does 20 points of damage to the facing shield of Lyran A. Which is a much more substantial hit that Lyran B would have taken if only Lyran A used its ESG burst.

Does that answer the question?
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Federation Commander Answer Guy

[paulgenna]

Yes, that answers the question. I had forgot about the ESG cancelling themselves out.

[paulgenna]

Hi MJ,

So in our current battle we have three Tholian ships surrounded by Lyran ships. One ship is at shield 1 and another is at shield 2/3 of the hex with the Lyrans. There is a third Lyran who will be moving away from the hex. If the ships at the #1 and at the 2/3 kick off their ESG's would they cancel each other out (assuming equal strength). There is a hex between the two Lyran ships, so not adjacent, but both ESGs would be going into the same hex. What would happen?

[mjwest]

I can't visualize this. Can you give me specific hex numbers (they can be representative; their position on your actual map doesn't matter) so I can visualize the setup?
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Federation Commander Answer Guy

[paulgenna]

Hi MJ,

So the Tholian three ships are in hex 44 headed towards 45. The Lyrans have a ship in hex 55 and 43. There is another in 34 that will be moving to 23 and will be out of the ESG equation.

Hope that helps.

[mjwest]

Thank you, that helped a lot.

No, the ESGs will not interact.

Rule (5N2f), which covers ESG Interaction, specifically states that the two ESG-equipped ships need to be in the same or adjacent hexes for the interactions to occur. Since the ships in this situation are not in adjacent hexes, the condition does not apply them at all.

Note that if the ship in 34 remained in that hex, it would be subject to the ESG burst from the ship in 43, but that isn't an interaction issue, but a normal "in the area of effect" issue.
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Federation Commander Answer Guy

[paulgenna]

Thanks, MJ.