Federation Commander

[ThatRobHuman]

I will absolutely gracefully accept an "when its ready, if its ever a thing" but figured I'd ask in case there's additional context that isn't obvious from the touches on the topic that I'd be able to find: Are there any plans to bring non-Frax simulator races into FC; specifically the Triaxians? (I get why Frax, rightfully, gets all the love out of the C4 factions).

I'm totally willing run SSDs through the conversion process, but I'm curious if anyone has any insight (or if there's been playtest rules published in a captain's log that I couldn't find) on what Plasma-As (primarily) and HEDCs (secondarily) might look like?

[mjwest]

I have done conversion efforts for both the Qari and Flivvers. (The Qari because they are the second largest offering. The Flivvers because I love them.) However, they are in the overall queue for consideration, and there are lots of things ahead of them. And, yes, the Frax were done because they are the most complete and they were the OG simulator empire before C4 was even an idea.

I can look at the Triaxians. I don't think I had thought about their stuff much, but I don't remember seeing anything that would be undoable.

The main simulator empire that would cause pain are the Sharkhunters because their gimmick is based on taking advantage of how the SFB sequence of play works. There is a very tight window in which you can guarantee your plasma hits with lock-on. I don't think that could be done in FC. Either that "window" would be wide open or non-existent. All of the empires looked like they were completely workable in FC, including the Triaxians.
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[ThatRobHuman]

I appreciate the insight; I hear you about the Sharkhunters (to be honest, I had forgotten about them). Seems the Flivvers are to you as the Triaxians are to me (I adore them).

I hope, sharkhunters aside, everything is smooth sailing. I'll patiently wait for word on more, should it come to fruition.

[mjwest]

I'll look at the Plasma-A in a separate post, but let's hit the tri-directional movement.

For changing direction of movement, you would just use the (2C5) rules as a baseline. You can only move in one direction in a given turn, but you must pay the breaking power (2C5b) to change directions between turns. Just as in (2C5b), breaking power isn't required if the ship is Stopped.

The biggest difference is that a Triaxian ship cannot move in reverse; it may only move in one of the three given directions (towards shields #1, #3, or #5) and they never have to pay double movement cost regardless of the direction they move in. But the rule would otherwise work basically the same. And this only applies to ships and gunboats. Shuttles, fighters, and seeking weapons use the normal movement rules.

For the HEDC, it would work exactly like the HET (2D2) rule, with the single free HEDC per scenario. After the first, you have the same 50/50 chance of success. And, as in SFB, HEDC and HET are completely independent of each other, each with their own bonus.

Hope that helps on the movement!
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[mjwest]

OK, on to Plasma-A torpedoes.

With no enveloping or shotgun modes, all those notes can be ignored. The weapon can always be used as an unmodified Pl-S, so that's always on the table.

With all of that simplification, rules (FP51.33) and (FP51.34) would be translated directly into FC with no real modifications. They would require the extra energy to use, take the modified phaser damage, use the bolt to-hit modifier, and use a different damage chart. All of that would be used directly in FC.

The tricky part is that the damage chart would have to be built using (FP51.5) as a guide to make similar modifications to the FC Plasma Damage charts, which I am not going to do here.

The main thing in FC, is that the short range version would have very little applicability. It would have to be able to hit in the first impulse after launch, and that is extremely difficult. On the other hand, the long range version would be extremely useful and would significantly increase the utility of bolts.

I hope this helps with at least giving a basic answer to your question on how this would work in FC!
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[ThatRobHuman]

Thanks!

time to try my hand at making a chart. I tried to throw some conversion math at it, but it didn't quite line up (I didn't really expect it to, but I had hope).

you're probably right about the short-range plasmas being less useful in FC, but a Short-S [theoretically] has the same duration as a G, and likewise a Short-G as an F, so I'd think even if their curves are slightly different, they'd still stick around the same amount of time, at least.

[mjwest]

My comment on the short ranged version being pointless is not just the range, but the warhead strength. They short ranged plasma will only have a warhead advantage for that first impulse. After that, it is worse than a standard torpedo at every other range. Add on that it is more susceptible to phasers and takes more energy to arm. Over all, it is just a net negative unless you are *guaranteed* to hit on that first impulse and not have it suffer from phaser damage. So, there is the outside chance you might use it in a very, very limited situation. But, there is also a good chance you will never see that situation.
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Federation Commander Answer Guy

[mjwest]

OK, I created some charts because I wanted to think it through. I have changed my mind a bit. The short ranged plasma does have some potential uses, though it still isn't *that* much more.

With the charts, I chose to make the second impulse of impact equal to the base torpedo. That is arguable, and should potentially be somewhat smaller, but I think the symmetry works better. So, there is a bigger window of use to allow for a little bit of buffer. But it is still much more susceptible to phaser damage.

Also, the bolting can be useful at short ranges because it will hit a lot harder. An SS bolt will hit almost as hard as a Pl-R, and a GS bolt will hit as hard as a Pl-S at 5 hexes or closer. You do have the to-hit penalty to keep in mind, though.

[Steve Cole]

Any time Mike West wants to whip up a simulator booster pack I'll put doing the SSDs on my to-do list. But I cannot do more than one empire every other month and would limit that to about 10 ships.
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The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander

[mjwest]

I will get with you on that soon. I now have three empires (not including the Frax) and the Barbarians are pretty much simple to do. I will also take a look at the Brittanians, as they should be relatively straight forward, too. That would give five empires with two ships (CA, DD) each. If that is too many rules/empires, we can drop back to three or four empires with three ships each.

The main one that will be skipped, as mentioned above, are the Sharkhunters. They just do not translate well at all. (Dependency on the SFB Sequence of Play and on modified transporter bombs. Just don't want to go there!)
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Federation Commander Answer Guy

[mjwest]

As an update, I have been working on this. I now have rules for the Qari, Triaxians, and Flivver. I haven't done the Barbarians yet, but they are just rules on the option mounts, which will be easier than in SFB because there are fewer options.

What I have been working on, however, are the Sharkhunters! I figured out a way to make them work, and am in the process of getting them done. The Flashcube is done and I'm figuring out the Wire-Guided Torpedoes. The biggest thing is making their primary tactic work under FC's sequence of play and I think it does now.

So, shortly, I should have the five major Simulator Empires ready for Steve to check out: Qari, Triaxians, Sharkhunters, Barbarians, and Flivver.
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Federation Commander Answer Guy