Federation Commander

Kahuna · Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:59 pm Post subject: Transporters and Boarding Parties

Hi guys,

This is my first new post. Kind of exciting. Ok, enough of that. Razz

I understand that sending boarding parties over requires undamaged transporters, power spent to activate them, and both your shield facing the enemy ship and his shield facing you to come down.

When I announce I am using boarding parties, does the enemy ship then have an opportunity to also do the exact same thing? Meaning, is it all simultaneous just like direct fire is for that impulse as well? So if I raid his ship and take out his transporters, if it's simultaneous, he can still beam over and take out a couple of my things as well?

I believe it's all simultaneous, but I thought I'd check in and just make sure.

junior · Captain Joined: 08 May 2007 Posts: 803

Yes, it is simultaneous.

mjwest · Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 9:22 pm Post subject:

It is all simultaneous. Also, it is subject to "me-too", so, after you declare you are performing H&R raids, your opponent can decide to join the fun, even though he might not have thought of it before you brought it up.
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pinecone · Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 9:42 pm Post subject:

Of course, he might decide to go over and board you after your hit-and -runs if you're not careful Twisted Evil

mjwest · Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:03 pm Post subject:

Kahuna · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 4:13 am Post subject:

pinecone · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 1:16 pm Post subject:

Speaking of that, why do the feds have so few marines? It's not fair Sad

Bolo_MK_XL · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:22 pm Post subject:

Marines are militaristic, much cheaper to get a redshirt killed, probably use ones that didn't make the promotion list and are scheduled to be booted ---

Kahuna · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 4:22 pm Post subject:

mjwest · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 4:49 pm Post subject:

(Lyrans are human sized, not Kzinti sized.)

I don't know. Most boarding combat is going to be fought muzzle-to-muzzle, not blade-to-blade or hand-to-hand. As such, hand phasers/hand disruptors tend to be big equalizers.

I just think that the Federation deemphasizes marine contingents on their ships. They aren't "wimpier fighters" or anything. They just don't keep as many permanently stationed on their ships.

And, quite frankly, in my example, an NCL has sufficient marines to repulse a boarding attempt by a D6 (or D7). Unless, of course, he starts throwing them away in H&R raids. (I do admit that a Seltorian would be scarier in that regard. Better hit them hard enough to get rid of some transporters!)
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Kahuna · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 4:54 pm Post subject:

I always thought that modern (or future) warfare would really minimize the physical strength and abilities of the various races. However, if my memory serves me still, I remember years ago the explanation for the Gorns' large boarding party numbers, in SFB, was due to their physical superiority to the Feds. Again, that was 15+ years ago, so I might be mistaken.

I like the thought that perhaps the other races place more emphasis on marine training while the Feds are in philosophy and cultural integration classes. Very Happy

djdood · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 6:58 pm Post subject:

The "emphasis" thing is definitely what I have taken from the other SFU materials.

Klingons *love* marine combat (obviously) and tailor their ships to facilitate it (lots of marines and lots of transporters to deploy them).

Gorns have a penchant for ground combat and tend to have lots of shuttles and a good amount of transporters to move those lizards around so they can hiss at you up close and personal.

The Federation's "gimmicks" went other directions. Where the Klingons put on lots of transporters, Feds have lots of labs. The benefits don't really show all that well in a combat-simulation game (other than the occasional monster scenario). You can see it in the strategic games like F&E, where the Federation economy crushes all others once it gets going (those labs are much better at making opportunities to make money).
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Wolverin61 · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:36 pm Post subject:

terryoc · Captain Joined: 07 Oct 2006 Posts: 1386

I've noticed that Marines and transporters tend to be inversely proportional to the ship's crunch power. Selts/Klinks/Zin = low crunch = lots of Marines. Feds/Hydrans/Gorns = High crunch = few transporters (although the Gorns and Hydrans get decent numbers of Marines).
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junior · Captain Joined: 08 May 2007 Posts: 803

The Gorn have lots of marines because a "Marine equivalent unit" is made up of fewer Gorn than it would be if it were made up of, say, humans. The Gorn have similar numbers of marines on their ships as the other races do by and large, but they're arranged in more teams. The Kzinti marine teams also represent smaller numbers of marines than the teams for other races do.

I've no idea why the Hydrans would have more marine teams. They're the weakest race in the game, so you're probably looking at an awful lot of marines represented there.

And even in the future as represented by the game setting, size and physical strength make a difference. If your phasers aren't set to "Disintegrate" (always a dangerous setting when you're inside your own starship...), then you're going to be getting shots that injure the target but aren't immediately life threatening. A bigger, stronger individual is more likely to be able to walk (or in some cases, limp) away from something like that instead of curling up on the floor and going fetal.

Remember - the REALLY dangerous weapons are weapons that you don't want to use inside of the sealed environment of a starship.