Care to post the link? Or will any of the programmers here build an application to track TCS paperwork?Originally posted by Bill Cameron:
Take it form me, TCS is a record keeping nightmare, especially for the GM/referee who must have copies of EVERYTHING the players have. Computers will make this easier; I've seen a TCS starter kit of sorts complete with ship designs on line in some sort of MS database format.
Early on, the battles are die rolling - record keeping headaches, especially if you don't limit the number of pilots somehow. The HG2 weapon tables create optimal design solutions at every given TL. Most of those solution favor smaller hulls over 'deathstars' thus requiring more pilots. ForEx: Before powerplants reach a certain power density, nuc missiles are your best bet. That means most naval budgets will have HORDES of missile boats carried by armored tenders. (Even the much maligned sub-100dTon fighter is a ship killer below a certain TL, ~12 IIRC.)
Which JTAS issue was it in?For most of the battles we used the statistical battery resolution rules published in JTAS. That let us handle the huge numbers of 'to hit' and 'to penetrate' rolls huge numbers of batteries required. Rolling for 100 laser batteries per each battleship will break your wrist.
Care to post the link? Or will any of the programmers here build an application to track TCS paperwork?Originally posted by Bill Cameron:
Take it form me, TCS is a record keeping nightmare, especially for the GM/referee who must have copies of EVERYTHING the players have. Computers will make this easier; I've seen a TCS starter kit of sorts complete with ship designs on line in some sort of MS database format.
Early on, the battles are die rolling - record keeping headaches, especially if you don't limit the number of pilots somehow. The HG2 weapon tables create optimal design solutions at every given TL. Most of those solution favor smaller hulls over 'deathstars' thus requiring more pilots. ForEx: Before powerplants reach a certain power density, nuc missiles are your best bet. That means most naval budgets will have HORDES of missile boats carried by armored tenders. (Even the much maligned sub-100dTon fighter is a ship killer below a certain TL, ~12 IIRC.)
Which JTAS issue was it in?For most of the battles we used the statistical battery resolution rules published in JTAS. That let us handle the huge numbers of 'to hit' and 'to penetrate' rolls huge numbers of batteries required. Rolling for 100 laser batteries per each battleship will break your wrist.
2-4601,Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
Care to post the link? Or will any of the programmers here build an application to track TCS paperwork?
The (in)famous 'Eurisko' designs are the FFE JTAS Reprints, again IIRC. There are also some convention winners published in one of the first 2 JTAS Reprint volumes. You'll notice a set of convention campaign design specs in the TCS adventure listed by year. The designs published in JTAS were built to those various TCS specs.I'd like to see a list of these "best design solutions" and exploits in order to either correct them or reflect them in my designs.
It's in one of the first 2 JTAS Reprints. The article is by Leroy Guatney - who also happens to be an utter rat bastard, but don't let that make you think the article is no good.Which JTAS issue was it in?
2-4601,Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
Care to post the link? Or will any of the programmers here build an application to track TCS paperwork?
The (in)famous 'Eurisko' designs are the FFE JTAS Reprints, again IIRC. There are also some convention winners published in one of the first 2 JTAS Reprint volumes. You'll notice a set of convention campaign design specs in the TCS adventure listed by year. The designs published in JTAS were built to those various TCS specs.I'd like to see a list of these "best design solutions" and exploits in order to either correct them or reflect them in my designs.
It's in one of the first 2 JTAS Reprints. The article is by Leroy Guatney - who also happens to be an utter rat bastard, but don't let that make you think the article is no good.Which JTAS issue was it in?
So, in my TL12-max TU, my fleets will be carrier fleets as in my LBB2 version, is that correct? Each fleet has one big-ass carrier with several squadrons (each squadron=6 to 12 ships, depending on weapon and turret configuartion), some used defensibly (i.e. against other fighters), others offensively (i.e. against the other side's carrier). The carrier and support ships stay in Reserve; Fighters and Escorts (read: armored anti-fighter laser-ships) go to the battle Line. Somewhat like the Cold War naval paradigm. A Cruiser would be a carrier with heavy weapons of its own, used for independant operations.Originally posted by Bill Cameron:
At each TL, a rock-paper-scissor dynamic can be observed. A 'best design' scissor will be a 'best design' paper all hallow and get beaten all hallow by a 'best design' rock. Balanced fleets are your best bets, 'mono-crop' fleets do not work in the long run.
On a side note, at or below TTL12, fighters are deadly. If you have the pilot numbers available, you can swarm all but the most skewed warships design (i.e. insane armor and nothing but small laser batteries) in a single combat round for ~75% of the cost of the warship in fighters. The fighters kill primarily through fuel hits. Get ten of them and a warship no longer has any EPs.
This all has to do with the powerplant size per EP rating, a lack of effective dampers, and the limited computer ratings available at lower tech levels.
Slowly; Striker is time-intensive, far more than HG, and I don't have much time to devote to it. But I'm slowly making progress on this; I won't abandon it, I promiseP.S. How did that Dinom 'revisit' of your's work out?
So, in my TL12-max TU, my fleets will be carrier fleets as in my LBB2 version, is that correct? Each fleet has one big-ass carrier with several squadrons (each squadron=6 to 12 ships, depending on weapon and turret configuartion), some used defensibly (i.e. against other fighters), others offensively (i.e. against the other side's carrier). The carrier and support ships stay in Reserve; Fighters and Escorts (read: armored anti-fighter laser-ships) go to the battle Line. Somewhat like the Cold War naval paradigm. A Cruiser would be a carrier with heavy weapons of its own, used for independant operations.Originally posted by Bill Cameron:
At each TL, a rock-paper-scissor dynamic can be observed. A 'best design' scissor will be a 'best design' paper all hallow and get beaten all hallow by a 'best design' rock. Balanced fleets are your best bets, 'mono-crop' fleets do not work in the long run.
On a side note, at or below TTL12, fighters are deadly. If you have the pilot numbers available, you can swarm all but the most skewed warships design (i.e. insane armor and nothing but small laser batteries) in a single combat round for ~75% of the cost of the warship in fighters. The fighters kill primarily through fuel hits. Get ten of them and a warship no longer has any EPs.
This all has to do with the powerplant size per EP rating, a lack of effective dampers, and the limited computer ratings available at lower tech levels.
Slowly; Striker is time-intensive, far more than HG, and I don't have much time to devote to it. But I'm slowly making progress on this; I won't abandon it, I promiseP.S. How did that Dinom 'revisit' of your's work out?
2-4601,Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
So, in my TL12-max TU, my fleets will be carrier fleets as in my LBB2 version, is that correct?
It depends on what kind of fighters you build or whether you build sub-100dTon fighters at all. You can build an 'el cheapo' fighter at around 10dTons and cram 3 missile racks aboard. Whether it will hit often enough and survive long enough is another question.I assume that the fighters will be armed with missiles (do they need anything else, like sand, or could they mount triple missile racks for USP code 2?).
Yes, of course. The Guatney article even discusses grouping fighters as pseudo-ships, just as you postulate. It doesn't matter how many batteries are involved just as long as they are firing at the same target. You throw 100 missile batteries at Warship A, compute the 'to hit' probability, and find out how many batteries hit. Simple. The same can be for 'to penetrate' rolls and even damage rolls. In the latter, you distribute the hits over a bell curve superimposed on the damage table.Can statistical tables solve the issue of resolving the involvement of atleast 10 fighters on each side of a battle (but could go to several scores on each side)?
2-4601,Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
So, in my TL12-max TU, my fleets will be carrier fleets as in my LBB2 version, is that correct?
It depends on what kind of fighters you build or whether you build sub-100dTon fighters at all. You can build an 'el cheapo' fighter at around 10dTons and cram 3 missile racks aboard. Whether it will hit often enough and survive long enough is another question.I assume that the fighters will be armed with missiles (do they need anything else, like sand, or could they mount triple missile racks for USP code 2?).
Yes, of course. The Guatney article even discusses grouping fighters as pseudo-ships, just as you postulate. It doesn't matter how many batteries are involved just as long as they are firing at the same target. You throw 100 missile batteries at Warship A, compute the 'to hit' probability, and find out how many batteries hit. Simple. The same can be for 'to penetrate' rolls and even damage rolls. In the latter, you distribute the hits over a bell curve superimposed on the damage table.Can statistical tables solve the issue of resolving the involvement of atleast 10 fighters on each side of a battle (but could go to several scores on each side)?
2-4601,Originally posted by Bill Cameron:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
Care to post the link? Or will any of the programmers here build an application to track TCS paperwork?
2-4601,Originally posted by Bill Cameron:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
Care to post the link? Or will any of the programmers here build an application to track TCS paperwork?