Tug Questions

pinecone · Post by **pinecone** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:18 am

Several since I got TA:

Can a Federation Tug hold a Large Freighter?
Can a Klingon Tug hold a Klingon Boom Section?
Can a Tug/LTT hold a Q-Ship like a freighter?
Can a Tug/LTT hold an armed freighter like a freighter?

And for a special scenario I was thinking of:
How many stingers can fit in a hydran pod?

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:14 am

[EDIT] Erroneous information removed to prevent possible confusion.

pinecone · Post by **pinecone** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:51 am

Okay, thanks.

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 2:08 am

Actually, my thoughts are to say yes to the various tug questions, not no. However, I will check before providing a ruling. A couple comments given below.

Fed Tug/Large Freighter: Yes. Carrying two small freighters is specifically prohibited, but carrying a single large freighter is not. Therefore I have to believe the intention is to allow this..

Klingon Tug/boom: Klingon tugs and LTTs are specifically designed to be able to retrieve detached booms. However, this should be totally irrelevant in Federation Commander, as there are no detached booms.

Finally, what is the point of the final question? I can go look up how many fighters fit in a cargo box, but such a fighter would be unusable in the context of a scenario. For all intents and purposes, there would be little difference between a carried fighter and parts. Fighters cannot be operated out of a generic cargo pod; it can only be operated out of dedicated ships, pods, or bases.

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:26 pm

OK, here are the answers I found out.

A Federation Tug may indeed carry a large freighter, just as any other tug that can carry two pods may.

An LTT may not carry a large freighter, as it falls under the category of a "tug that carries only one pod". While the rule probably should have specifically reference "LTT" in it, LTTs are definitely tugs that can carry only one pod. (This wasn't asked, but I wanted to get it in anyway.)

A Tug or LTT may only carry a small Q-ship. Large Q-ships cannot be carried.

A Tug or LTT may carry an armed freighter. Large armed freighters can be carried by any tug capable of carrying a large freighter. Note that this is extremely rare as armed freighter have larger engines and can get where they need to go under their own power.

The tug/boom and fighter answers are above.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:29 pm

Well... I guess I was wrong on all counts.

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:06 pm

Not completely. You were totally correct on the "fighters in cargo" thing.

As for the freighter stuff, the "tugs carrying freighters" thing is new in Federation Commander. Plus, by giving the answer you did, it forced me to be even more careful in my response. Not a bad thing.

Finally, I want to stress that any freighter or freighter variant carried by a tug (or LTT) is completely inactive. That means the freighter generates no power, can use no systems, and can fire no weapons. It is just an inert hunk of metal while it is being carried.

Nerroth · Post by **Nerroth** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:20 pm

When the ISC Tug is brought over to FC, will it be able to transport a large freighter also, or should it not be restricted by the awkward placement of its pod slots?

(It's somewhat interesting to note that the Early Years tug in SFB Module Y2, which has two prongs rather than the modern TG's three, has less of an issue in that regard, since its two pod slots are side-by-side...)

Oh, and speaking of making off with freighters, is there a reason why the OGR lost its ability to capture large freighters in FC (aside from the added clutter a third movement cost might have left on the Ship Cards)?

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:56 pm

That is a good question on the ISC tug. Since Federation Commander abstracts some of this stuff out, yes, the ISC tug can carry a large freighter. (There is no reason to screw the ISC over when not doing it to others that could be [e.g. Feds].) Do note that tugs carrying large freighters in Federation Commander is an abstraction. Better to just gloss over "how" and stick with "yes or no".

As for the OGR, I don't know. That is how Steve wanted to do it, and that is how it was done.

Capt Jack · Post by **Capt Jack** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:24 am

I would have thought, that a tug or rather tugs (i.e more than one and depending on numbers) should be able to tow anything.

I am all for clarity and do not want FC to turn into SFB.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:42 pm

Actually took Transports Attacked out of the shrinkwrap last night and read the rules.

That's what I get for providing an answer to a Fed Comm question based on what I knew from SFB.
Mike's answers are spot on with the new Fed Comm rulings for Tugs.

Ravenhull · Post by **Ravenhull** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 7:16 pm

A tug or LTT can 'tow' anything... using it's tractor beams. But, they are capped on speeds. (I think they can go into high warp speeds outside of a scenario, but even then it's a delicate process, just as it is for a wet-navy tug to tow a ship at sea.) In many ways, the pods on a tug are more analogousness to a barge, with them being hard attached to the tug.

terryoc · Post by **terryoc** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 4:24 am

In the SFU, if you try to tractor anything and move at high warp, the tractor breaks. Tugs have special ways of attaching the towed object to itself and handling the resultant stress.

Ravenhull · Post by **Ravenhull** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 12:22 pm

Couldn't remember the details, for it isn't in direct game mechanics.

pinecone · Post by **pinecone** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:31 am

Okay, thanks for the updated response. I have one other question:

Is there any place to get Pod counters, or any plan to provide these at some point in the future?