Federation Commander

terryoc · Captain Joined: 07 Oct 2006 Posts: 1386

"Use all your shields" is important advice for any ship captain. Damage that hits your shields is damage that didn't affect your ship's ability to fight. A ship which takes two volleys and suffers two down shields is better off than a ship that takes two volleys through the same shield.

The shield boundary rules can be exploited to help with this. When firing at a ship which stacked in a hex with others, try to position the attacking ship so that return fire will hit a shield boundary. If the enemy ships try to concentrate their return fire on your attacking ship, the separate volleys can be spread over two shields.

Ships with FH disruptor arcs (such as the Klingon D5, D5W and C7 (or even B10!!)) can line up an enemy ship on the very edge of the FH arc, and take any return fire on the less-used #3 and #5 rear shields.

The arrowhead-shaped Archaeo-Tholian ships, such as the Patrol Corvette (PC), often have very wide weapon arcs as well. The PC has an incredible 300 degree arc for its primary weapons, which lets it fight through 5 of its six shields. The Tholian War Cruiser is almost as good.

Using all of your weapon's arcs can help you use all of your shields.
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"Captain" Terry O'Carroll, fourteen papers published including six best of issue
"Man, Terry, you are like a loophole seeking missle!" - Mike West

Scoutdad · Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:47 pm Post subject:

Dont forget to rotate damaged / undamaged shield boxes after each turn.

Over the course of several turns, you can rotate all your damaged shields to the rear hemishere of your ship leaving the front able to
withstand even more damage.

Remember, you don't earn any bonus points for returning your ship to base with undamaged shield boxes... Very Happy

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Commander, Battlegroup Murfreesboro
Department Head, ACTASF

Warhammer · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:53 am Post subject:

OGOPTIMUS · Captain Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 980

terryoc · Captain Joined: 07 Oct 2006 Posts: 1386

Edit: Whoops, question already answered.
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"Captain" Terry O'Carroll, fourteen papers published including six best of issue
"Man, Terry, you are like a loophole seeking missle!" - Mike West

Warhammer · Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:24 pm Post subject:

Mike · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:27 am Post subject:

Yeah, but this tactic only works when you don't take any more significant damage on that forward shield.

Repok · Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:18 am Post subject:

Is it bad form to basically just "/agree" this for the bump? If someone hadn't already started the thread, I would have.

I've introduced about a dozen people to SFB/FC over the years and my single overriding advice is this: In your fist few games, look at your SSD (ship form) at the end of the game. How many shields took damage? If the answer is only one - change your tactics.

The mark of a dangerous opponent is one who can spread your damage over several shields, forcing you to waste damage potential.
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"Confucius Say: Just because one end for eating, not mean other end for talking."