Federation Commander

Any advice on flying round black holes?
Will be playing a Game round a black hole Me Klingon Vs Feds who have a 2 to 1 advantage.

p.s If it is a particularly cunning Plan then send it to my message box. To stop my evil nemesis Storeylf reading it!

Stay away from them!


Seriously, they are dangerous the closer you get to them.
A relatively undamaged ship can accelerate often enough to avoid the gravitational attraction. But as you take damage... it gets harded to maintain range from the black hole. And the closer you get, the morethe attraction tugs at you.

Stay as far away from the black hole as you can (although dipping into the gravity well early on doesn't hurt too much). Seeking weapons are at an extreme disadvantage here.

Another key point... target power every chance you get. The less power he has, the more dangerous the BH becomes to him.

Know when the blackhole movement will take effect for the range you are at and what that will do to facing, weapon arcs, vulnerable shields, etc. Exploit this movement.

Seeking weapons are degraded but on the other hand if fired from further out they can be moving at very high speeds for all practical purposes. Yes there is a chance to miss, but on the upside they may approach the enemy at an effective speed of 48+ depending on what radius. Also, the enemy sometimes cannot afford to turn or move away from the seeker and (if too close) might also not even be able to afford energy to fire phasers.

Don't get yourself caught close to an opposing ship without some energy left to fight off tractors. Conversely, keep an eye out for ships (particularly smaller ships) that can be nudged into a radius that they either cannot fight their way out of the gravity well or even if they can will have to burn energy that would have been spent shooting you on fighting the black hole.

Obviously keep your plotted speed at 24 if you are going to get anywhere close.

Don't forget the +1 die roll shift for weapons fired close to the black hole.

They make for fun scenarios.

As Scoutdad said,

Thanks for those tips! Nearlly fell off my chair laughing at Scoutdads advice! (i.e stay away from them )

I had thought of the advantages of drones extra accel when move towards tne BH. Will try not to fly into said back BH, doesn't mean I won't.

Yep, launching seekers "downhill" at targets closer to the BH is a good trick. Also, note that tractors can be really bad news for BOTH ships around a black hole. A ship will be slowed by at least one speed level, two if it is smaller and controlling movement... or if neither ship is controlling movement and they are both at a dead stop...

Will Suicide shuttles be destroyed if they move 16+? Either 3 compulsary moves(Black Hole) or 2 compulsary and 1 optional? HELP! PLEASE!!

Capt Jack wrote:Will Suicide shuttles be destroyed if they move 16+? Either 3 compulsary moves(Black Hole) or 2 compulsary and 1 optional? HELP! PLEASE!!

Yes. This question has been asked before and a shuttle is destroyed the movement subpulse in which it moves (or is moved) a third hex in the same impulse.

Wow, bad news for Stingers!!! Didn't realise that applied to black hole enforced movement too.

Will be playing against Andros shortly.

Does this mean that black holes are bad for me?

(i.e can they teleport/displace my ship into or very near a black hole?)

Capt Jack wrote:Will be playing against Andros shortly.

Does this mean that black holes are bad for me?

(i.e can they teleport/displace my ship into or very near a black hole?)

Yes the can. A black hole is great terrain for Andros.

Oh dear!

You want to play around a black hole?!?

Though I can't target where you end up if I displace you, that is random - you could end up further away.

You were not surposed to see this thread But knowing you, you would have already seen this

p.s No Black Hole mania! EVER!

Gar1138 and I played Black Hole Mania in FCOL. It was a total blast.

For extra punishment, I played Kzinti. Still, if you get a chance, it is fun.

Yep, Black Hole Mania is a great one. We found that through careful maneuvering, we were able to "orbit" across the gravity wells of several of the black holes (until one of us fell in). Great times!

Garrett