Federation Commander

The rules state that a ship that moves more than two hexes in a single impulse will void the cloak. So if the ship is moving at a Baseline Speed of 16 and pays for acceleration in the impulse but pays for deceleration in the same impulse, will that count as two hexes or three?

For example, the turn begins with my Romulan ship cloaked and a Baseline Speed of 16. For the first impulse, I would like to accelerate to 16+1 but decelerate on sub-impulse 4 so I can add to my turn mode without moving an additional hex. Will this void the cloak?

That is a completely legal move. You can go speed 16+1 and decelerate and not void the cloak. The limit was specifically worded the way it is so that you can do things like that.

So, with a tactic like that a cloaked ship can remain cloaked and move on sub-pulses it is not normally scheduled to move.

Ah ha! When I first suggested that, I thought it was ruled illegal! I am avenged!! Good to know that that IS legal.

So, what kind of situations would warrant a cloaked ship to move in sub-pulse #3, but not in sub-pulse #4?

One that I could see possibly happening would be if both ships were moving at speed 16, the non-cloaked ship had used all its power or was unwilling to use extra power for acceleration, and the non-cloaked ship had a better turn mode than the cloaked ship. The player with the cloaked ship might want to accelerate (and go 16+) so he could see how the other guy would move first in sub-pulse #2. The player with the cloaked ship could then decelerate in sub-pulse #3 and once again have the advantage in sub-pulse #4 of forcing the other guy to move first.

Granted, it might be a rare situation for all of that to fall into place, but if the player with the non-cloaked ship has a better turn mode and wants to conserve power to repair shields or load photons while the other guy is cloaked, it could happen.

Perhaps to get a shot at down shield?

Inari7 wrote:Perhaps to get a shot at down shield?

A clocked ship cant shoot or launch weapons.

However by accelerating and then decelerating a ship could turn quicker as the point of movement that was canceled by deceleration does count toward the turn mode.

Thanks, guys. Makes sense to me.

Had a slugfest yesterday between my Romulan KR7 and his Klingon D7C. A miscalculated shot with all of my plasmas sent him running away but at a pace that dissolved my plasmas after 6 impulses (ugh...another three turns to load). That was a critical miscalculation.

My first game using a cloaked ship. A lot learned in that one

seangallagher77 wrote: My first game using a cloaked ship. A lot learned in that one

That's usually the case...

Reading the rules for both Plasmas and Cloaks, you think - Hey! This is easy... then when it comes into play, a simple error when using three turn weapons often means the game goes the other guys way...

I've still never figured out how to get out from under cloak without getting killed (in a duel).

I understand the whole arm, fire, and cloak while reloading parts. It is the part where I am now reloaded and what to come back "up" that gets me.

You can run from the other guy just like he will be running from you after you come out of that cloak...

But there's the rub! It is really hard to run from someone who is going to be going just as fast (or faster) than you!

You could Decloak behind them.

You could Decloak behind them.

Whenever or wherever you uncloak, your opponent has a full impulse to position their ship to maximize the firing opportunity or set up to run from the plasmas you launch ---

It's not as easy to be in the optimum position, because they know your uncloaking and aren't just gonna sit around and wait for you to scratch his nice paintjob ---

I knew that, you still might succeed, especially against a Gorn or Fed.