I am new to the game and have a question about tractoring a ship. If I activate the tractor withtin 1 hex from the target ship and start dragging it around which are the rules regarding the relative position of the target ship to mine ? Will the same shield always face my ship even if I turn mine ? Will the target ship always be in the same relative hex ?
Any help here will be greatly appreciated.
Tractoring a ship - rotation ?
Moderators: mjwest, Albiegamer
If you maneuver while tractoring another ship, it will stay in the same hex relative to your ship as you manuever.
In other words, if you tractor the enemies ship off of your #5 shield and then make a turn to the left, the tractored ship will now be off your #6 shield... it doesn't swing through the hex to remain off your #5 shield.
In other words, if you tractor the enemies ship off of your #5 shield and then make a turn to the left, the tractored ship will now be off your #6 shield... it doesn't swing through the hex to remain off your #5 shield.
Commander, Battlegroup Murfreesboro
Department Head, ACTASF
Department Head, ACTASF
What would be cool would be if all of these various explanations were filtered down and put together in a resource for players to access. It is a little overwhelming to try to read through all the message threads to find these things. Believe me, I've tried doing it.
Mike
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Sandpaper gets the job done, but makes for a lot of friction.
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Sandpaper gets the job done, but makes for a lot of friction.
Would this tractor 'rotation' also apply if the ships were in the same hex? So, it would change the relative facing of the ships, as it would for a 1-hex tractor?
For example, my [wingman's] Orion CR tractored a Fed CA at range zero, having entered the hex from the direction of Shield #4.
At the start of the next turn, the power used by the ships has it that the CR maintains the tractor, but the CA controls movement. The CA turns right; the CR is now off his #3 shield but still in the same hex - is that right on the shield facing?
For example, my [wingman's] Orion CR tractored a Fed CA at range zero, having entered the hex from the direction of Shield #4.
At the start of the next turn, the power used by the ships has it that the CR maintains the tractor, but the CA controls movement. The CA turns right; the CR is now off his #3 shield but still in the same hex - is that right on the shield facing?
Yes. That would be the case. The CR is now in the same hex as before (along with the CR), but it is now off the CR's #3 shield.Kang wrote:Would this tractor 'rotation' also apply if the ships were in the same hex? So, it would change the relative facing of the ships, as it would for a 1-hex tractor?
For example, my [wingman's] Orion CR tractored a Fed CA at range zero, having entered the hex from the direction of Shield #4.
At the start of the next turn, the power used by the ships has it that the CR maintains the tractor, but the CA controls movement. The CA turns right; the CR is now off his #3 shield but still in the same hex - is that right on the shield facing?
Commander, Battlegroup Murfreesboro
Department Head, ACTASF
Department Head, ACTASF
The same would also apply if you turned in the same hex - if you entered the CA's hex with your #1 shield facing his #4 and applied the tractor beam, but you were controlling the movement of the two ships (i.e. had paid more for your movement) and turned left, your #2 shield would then be facing the CA.
Basically, you can only "move" another ship physically (i.e. change the hex it is in) using a tractor beam by paying more energy for movement then the other ship is, and then moving with your speed reduced accordingly. The tractored ship then moves with the same vector that you did (i.e. one hex in whichever direction you moved in) but maintains its original facing even if you yourself turned, that is unless the tractored ship uses tactical maneuvres or a HET in which case it will be able to alter its facing but you will still drag it with you.
Basically, you can only "move" another ship physically (i.e. change the hex it is in) using a tractor beam by paying more energy for movement then the other ship is, and then moving with your speed reduced accordingly. The tractored ship then moves with the same vector that you did (i.e. one hex in whichever direction you moved in) but maintains its original facing even if you yourself turned, that is unless the tractored ship uses tactical maneuvres or a HET in which case it will be able to alter its facing but you will still drag it with you.
Yes. Two tractored ships will maintain the same relative facing to each other as long as the tractor link is maintained. As a ship turns, it will expose a new shield to the other ship, but the relative facing will not change.
Note that defensive tractors holding an impacted weapon are different. In that case the impacted weapon is always stuck to the same shield, regardless of how many turns the target ship makes.
Note that defensive tractors holding an impacted weapon are different. In that case the impacted weapon is always stuck to the same shield, regardless of how many turns the target ship makes.
Federation Commander Answer Guy
Yep. Gotcha, you're right. Readers please note that you can only do normal turns if you control the movement; if not, you can do only HET or Tactical maneuvers, and the latter only if 'stopped'.Davec_24 wrote:It's not quite what happened; in the example you gave, the CA (i.e. tractored ship) turned. What I said was if *you* (i.e. the CR in your example) turned, not the CA - I probably should have applied that emphasis in the original sentence, sorry if that wasn't clear.