Federation Commander

If two scouts are in a fleet can both of them use jamming to protect a ship, thus a -2 to hit?

paulgenna wrote:If two scouts are in a fleet can both of them use jamming to protect a ship, thus a -2 to hit?

No, they cannot be combined. The largest shift jamming can provide is -1.

mjwest wrote:

paulgenna wrote:If two scouts are in a fleet can both of them use jamming to protect a ship, thus a -2 to hit?

No, they cannot be combined. The largest shift jamming can provide is -1.

Unless you put a sensor on the firing ship as well as the target, right?

So would BRENTO's suggestion of using one scout on the targeted ship and then one on the firing ship work?

No.

Basically, the restriction is given in the base part of the rule (5S4), not in any of the subsections covering the modes. As such, it applies to all of the modes, not just combinations of a single mode.

Put another way, a given ship can only suffer a +1 shift caused by special sensors in any given impulse. Shifts caused by scout channels do not stack at all, regardless of source, regardless of mode.

(Obviously, they still stack with other sources of (4A4) shifts like EM, asteroids, and Orion stealth. When stacked together with other sources of (4A4) shifts, the maximum shift of +3 is still in effect.)

The underlying reason for this is because, while Federation Commander simplifies electronic warfare, the underlying mechanics must still be respected. Getting that +1 shift is easy, but it should take four times the power to get a +2 shift and not just double the power. Plus, there is no opportunity to counter the shifts. So, to keep things simple, keep things reasonably balanced, and avoid all of these interactions, the shift caused by scout channels do not stack with each other.