Are Plasma Bolts Practical? (or Plasma-G even as a torpedo)

[pinecone]

Is there any reason to use a plasma bolt other than a corronade? They do less damage and don't always hit. I don't see a reason

And while I'm at it, Why would you use a Plasma-G with a three turn load when you could just as easily charge Plasma-F in two turns, and do the same amount of damage (Assuming it hit on the first impulse. It would still be about the same an impulse or so later than that too.)

[junior]

Plasma Bolts - You use them in situations in which a torpedo is unlikely to hit your opponent. For instance, last week I saw a duel between a Romulan and a Kzinti vessel in which the Kzinti ship never dropped below speed 24. The Romulan consistantly fired his plasmas as torpedoes instead of bolting them, and not a single one of them impacted. Bolting his torpedoes would have allowed some of them to hit.

Plasma G - There are going to be times when it is more advantageous to use a Plasma G. Bolting in the "Glory Zone" (9-10 hexes, where bolts hit at full strength but overloaded weapons can't be fired) works a little better with Plasma-Gs than it does with Plasma-Fs. And you can ONLY create a 2-turn F torpedo at the moment of fire. If a good fire opportunity doesn't present itself on the second turn of arming, then you might as well finish it as a G.

[mjwest]

Just to expand on junior's comments a bit ...

As a plasma user, you will quickly find that your opponent does not ever go slower than speed 24 if there is a chance you could fire meaningful plasma at them. (BTW, "meaningful" is an intentionally vague word. To some even an Pl-F is scary. Others are willing to eat a Pl-S to accomplish their goal.) Seeking plasma will almost never hit a speed 24 ship unless they screw up. Badly.

The other reason is the "glory zone" junior mentioned in regards to the Pl-G. At range 9-10, the plasma bolt is a weapon that does significant damage, with a 50/50 chance to hit. This is about the same chance to hit as other weapons, but better damage. And the opponent can't overload. This "glory zone" is very difficult to truly take advantage of (usually, if you get to 10 hexes, you are gonna get to , but it is there and is useful. Especially against that Fed you know has full overloads.

Finally, don't forget that you don't have to use all of your plasma all the same way. There is no reason you can't bolt your heavies while using your Pl-Fs to keep him from getting closer. (Or visa versa. Remember to find out what your opponent's definition of "meaningful" plasma is.)

(As for Pl-Gs, I think junior nailed it pretty well.)

[MikePowers]

(usually, if you get to 10 hexes, you are gonna get to

You might even get to and then proceed to

[mjwest]

(usually, if you get to 10 hexes, you are gonna get to

You might even get to and then proceed to

*sigh*

I keep forgetting that "8" followed by ")" results in .

That is supposed to say that if you get to 10 hexes, you are probably going to end up at 8. But, hey, it looks good that way, too.

[pinecone]

I think I understand Pl-G now. Thanks.

So you're basically saying that firing a bolt implies "you can't run or hide from My Plasma, no matter what form"

[mjwest]

So you're basically saying that firing a bolt implies "you can't run or hide from My Plasma, no matter what form"

Kinda of. In other words, "Run, run, as fast as you can. I can catch you, even if you are the Gingerbread man ..."



Overall, the primary defense against seeking plasma is speed. Plasma bolts help counteract that defense.

[pinecone]

But what if after you fire your bolts to prove your point, he HET's and hit's you with his heavy weapons?

[junior]

If he's moving speed 24 AND he HETs...

Then he's not going to have much power left for weapons.

[pinecone]

Mabey if he had been holding his photons though....... (In reality, I'm asking this to find ways to defeat plasma, as I'm a Fed player.)

[TJolley]

But what if after you fire your bolts to prove your point, he HET's and hit's you with his heavy weapons?

If he's moving 24 or 24+1..and HETS..What heavy weapons? There won't be enough power for them..maybe a couple of phasers..maybe one or two standard load Disruptors or whatever..but not much in the way of firepower left after paying for that high speed andthe HET and whatever else they had already done during the turn.

The only possible exception would be the Feds who had managed to OL his photons on previous turns and the turn in question, was just paying the holding cost. Even then, the Fed probably wouldn't have much else except the photons..and thier to-hit is horrible outside of 'photon tube resting on the hull of the intended target' range.

[mjwest]

And that is why I also said that just because you are going to bolt doesn't mean you have to bolt *everything*.

So, if he does HET after you bolt, you can launch that Pl-F you saved for just such an occasion into his face.

And, as junior said, if he is going base speed 24 AND does an HET, then he isn't going to be shooting a whole lot of anything at you, anyway.

[pinecone]

The photons would probably hit, if you camwe within range one of him because of your speed, but thanks everybody for the comments.

[jmt]

While in SFB, speed is life, in FC power is life. If you can get your opponent to use up his power before you've used up yours, you've got a significant advantage.

If your opponent is trucking along at 24 or 24+1 and then HET's, he will have little if any power for weapons. This is central to using plasmas and, on point, when to bolt 'em. In general, keep rolling plasma torps; and don't be afraid to bolt 'em if your opponent is trying a drive by attack.

The one empire to worry about in this case are the Kzin. While they are a disruptor race that uses drones to maneuver their opponent around, when flying against plasma chuckers, a good Kzin player becomes a drone race that uses disruptors for the coup de main.

[pinecone]

Speaking of that, wqhat are Kzinti tactics? I'm doing a battle playing the Kzinti, trying to sharpen my skills with distruptors (And wanting to try a race allied to my favorite race, the Federation) with a BC on D7 (Fleet scale) upon looking qat the BC It has two distruptors with good arcs, a pair of drones, but hardly any phaser power (Although, at close range, Ph-3 is an extremly good weapon).