Heavy weapons that are 2 turn armers, on the whole get the option to start a game with the first turn of power paid, at the expense of empty batteries at the start of game. Plasma also gets the option to have the first turn of power paid but without the battery penalty (barring F's of course).
Flip that logic around for a moment, and look at the identical rule from another angle
Heavy weapons that are 2 turn armers, on the whole get the option to start a game with only the last turn of power to pay, at the expense of empty batteries at the start of game. Plasma gets no such option.
Plasma is unique in Fed Comm in being the only weapon system that can't fire on turn 1, unless I'm forgetting something. It's also the only weapon system that has a 3 turn arming cycle. That means that the likes of Feds, ISC, Hydrans, Andro can start a game ready to fire their heavy weapons. If they fire on turn 1 they can fire again on turn 3 and 5 in theory. As a gross generalsiation I find that by turn 5 the game has probably been largely decided, and in tourney style games you may be lucky to even reach turn 5 in the time limit. Plasma on the other hand can fire at the earliest on turn 2, and (if they can avoid losing the tubes and the energy) will have it ready again by turn 5. If plasma could fire on turn 1 like other heavy weapon firers then they could in theory fire again by turn 4. So by turn 4 both plasma and other 2 turn armers could have had 2 shots should they choose to, in what will usually be the most important turns of the game. In a tourney style game they are also more likely to have a decent chance of actually getting a second shot off. The 2 turn armers still get the drop on the plasma by being ready again on 3 rather than 4, so their advantage hasn't been totally eroded.
As I mentioned in that other plasma thread, I found in tourney style games my biggest issue was that you cannot rely on a second shot like other weapons can. You can 2 turn arm your limited number of large tubes, which can give you shots on 2 and some on turn 4, but unlike other weapons you are having to deliberately downgrade your weapon in order to get in that second shot in the time limit. Of course half or more of your plasma is usually only F's and can't 2 turn arm anyway.
Proposal:
Plasma gets the same option of sacrificing batteries in order to start with only one turn of energy left to pay like other weapons do. The existing rule could remain as well, they choose to start with 1 turn power with no battery penalty or 2 turns power with the battery penalty.
OK it's a rule addition and I'm not a fan of them unless they clearly fix a problem. Most people consider plasma a big problem but they are often looking at it from how to actually use it rather than armiing cycle. I don't put myself in that category generally, but I do think, that the 3 turn arming and lack of turn 1 readiness combines to be an issue. It means they have only 25%-50% the amount of heavy weapons fire that other ships have in usally the most important first 3 or 4 turns of a game.
On the plus side, the rule itself is not a new mechanic - it is exactly the same as most 2 turn armers already get, just a slight twist in the way you look at it.
Comments? (and no I'm not into a wide ranging discussion on plasma generally, there are other threads for that).
PS: MWest, my expectations of a change are suitably low
