Negotiating seeking weapons around planets

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:36 am

I'm wondering about experiences players have had in moving seeking weapons around planets. Anything to share?

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:38 am

A specific question about drones chasing after a ship that is attempting to move around and behind a planet...Is there any way for the ship to force the drones to impact the planet? It seems upon first glance that the drones would always be able to move into a hex beside the planet because it would be no farther from the target ship than the planet hex.

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 3:15 am

Rule (6A1e) directly answers this question. In summary, if the movement of a weapon in flight takes it into the planet's hex, the weapon hits the planet. Guidance of the weapon is unaffected.

So, even if a ship passes behind a planet such that "line of sight" is completely block, it does not affect the drone. (Yes, this is different than in SFB.)

TJolley · Post by **TJolley** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 4:07 am

Mike wrote:A specific question about drones chasing after a ship that is attempting to move around and behind a planet...Is there any way for the ship to force the drones to impact the planet? It seems upon first glance that the drones would always be able to move into a hex beside the planet because it would be no farther from the target ship than the planet hex.

As long as you can move your ship such that the seeker must move into the planet it must to do so. However, if both hexes are equidistant from the target, then the owner may move the seeker into any of the valid hexes, as long as the seeking is moving within it's turn/slip mode.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 1:34 pm

mjwest: I knew about (6A1e) and hitting the planet. Perhaps I should have phrased my question a little differently.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 1:42 pm

Let me put it this way...

I had a situation the other day in a game where I headed toward a planet in hopes of having the 6 drones that were chasing my Orion battle raider to impact the planet. I didn't play it correctly, though. I had a chance to turn sharply around the planet, but coming around the other side of the planet toward me were a Kzinti destroyer and a few hexes farther back, a Federation CA. I ended up doing a move that looked like a large question mark and accelerated, leaving the drones and the Kzinti in the space dust. (The Fed CA eventually caught up with me, though, and hit me with 4 overloaded photons...ouch!)

This situation got me to wondering about what kind of conditions are right for making seekers hit a planet when they are chasing their target. It seems to me that their distance to the planet must be fairly close so that the person directing them at some point has no choice but to take the planet hex because it would prove to be the closest path toward the target.

I am curious if anyone else has had experiences like this and if you would care to share?

TJolley · Post by **TJolley** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 3:08 pm

These easy or difficulty depends on 2 factors:

1. Size of the planet
2. How far ahead of the drones are you

If it's a 1-hex planet, it is very difficult to do, as you would need to be able to get around the planet and end up in such a way that the drones must move down a hex row directly between you and the drones. Unless the drone player is not paying attention this is very difficult to do.

It is easier to accomplish with a diameter-3 or larger planet as you have multiple hex-rows you can drag the drones across to force them into the planet, however, this also depends on..

How far behind you are the drones? If they are 1-2 away, getting drones to crash into planets is difficult with a good drone player. if they are 3+ it is easier to accomplish.

terryoc · Post by **terryoc** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:22 am

Grabbing the drone at range 1 and flying so the drone hits the planet is another way to get rid of them.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:06 am

There should be a way to use 1 tractor to grab a "drone swarm." This would be all the drones launched in the same Impulse at the same target.

Bolo_MK_XL · Post by **Bolo_MK_XL** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:34 am

Isnt there something about Tractors and Planets being incompatible -- Removing the old, shove him into the planet manuever --

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:53 pm

Bolo_MK_XL wrote:Isnt there something about Tractors and Planets being incompatible -- Removing the old, shove him into the planet manuever --

That's for ships. You can ram drones into planets with a ship's tractors.

Shuttles (and by extension, fighters) are completely undefined. My initial inclination is to say that seeking weapons (e.g. drones and suicide shuttles) can be forced into a planet, but manned shuttles (and fighters) cannot.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 5:21 pm

Thanks for the clarification ahead of any questions that may have come up about it!