Federation Commander

Over in the starbase assault thread, there was a point where it was noted that, apparently, the rules in (4A3) regarding the limits on ships in the same hex attacking the same target via direct-fire do not apply to launching seeking weapons; and nor are there rules in (4F) which clarify that such a limit would exist.

The discussion in that thread only went so far, since it was side-tracking the discussion at hand; still, I feel that the matter is worth clarifying in and of itself.

Should the same kind of limit preventing more than three ships/fighters in the same hex targeting a single unit with direct-fire weapons also apply for launching seekers?

(For my part, I strongly believe that yes, the same kind of limit should exist. Otherwise, a player would be able to create a kind of "seeker-stack" that, in my view at least, goes against the kind of onus on maneuver that Federation Commander is supposed to emphasize over Star Fleet Battles.)

I specifically asked on this, and the answer was:

The point was to break up superstacks, and it was felt that restricting direct fire weapons would do that. Since seeking weapons can be sent on various tracks, there seemed no valid reason to limit them.

As such, it was done that way be design and seems to work the way intended.

I see; though I would still be somewhat wary of its allowance, especially for empires that rely more heavily on seekers than DF.

So, just for the hard of thinking (which is me if you are wondering) there is no prohibition on launching seeking weapons from a stack of 12 ships all at the same time and same target?

I must confess, I'd interpreted the (4A3) prohibition completely wrong, and had assumed that "launching" was the same as "firing". The clue is in the title of the section I guess!

It does appear a little nasty - the range 0 attack in particular is good for seekers, 12 ships will launch against the same target in the same hex, but only 3 direct fire ships could be used in such a case.

Whilst seekers can be launched on different tracks, by which I assume was meant out different hexsides, there is usually an advantage to launching out 1 as it keeps the seeker stack together for density and volley purposes.

Particularly with nothing like a T-bomb to disuade it!

Sorry, SFB creeping in there..

storeylf wrote:It does appear a little nasty - the range 0 attack in particular is good for seekers, 12 ships will launch against the same target in the same hex, but only 3 direct fire ships could be used in such a case.

On the plus side, there will be a (probably nominal, especially if its a pl-R) defensive fire stage to deal with the seekers, whereas you don't get anything for 12 ships' direct fire....
If of course you let so many things get so close and they've got things to launch you probably brought it on yourself - even a few DF ships up close letting suicide shuttles out is going to hurt...

Sneaky Scot wrote:..I must confess, I'd interpreted the (4A3) prohibition completely wrong, and had assumed that "launching" was the same as "firing". The clue is in the title of the section I guess!

Just so you're not feeling like the lone ranger here, our whole group mis-interpreted that particualr rule wrong, too.

Thanks to Mojo_Jojo for the comment that started the whole "let's clear this up" thread.