251 Reply by BeowulfJB

(3 replies, posted in Starmada)

I played Starmada with some friends today. 8-)   
I used the most recent version of my "Four-turreted DN", which can be found in the B-Basin.  This ship works best at long range, from 13 to 18.  (We use range 18 as the maximum for ships; bases can have range 24 & 30 weapons).  My opponant had a speed 10 ship with AA arc weapons, along with some conventional designs.   He also had six of his CR3, Hull3 ships to manipulate movement.  It did not make a difference, my opponant was soundly defeated.  In this 1500 point battle, my friend's fleet was all destroyed.  My side lost only 550 points of ships, and had a c200 pt ship crippled, and 750 points of ships untouched.  My friend is revising & redesigning his ships.  He is very resourseful and no doubt will have some formatible designs when we play on Saturday. 
S:NE has provided us all with a lot of fun again & again.
Cheers,
Steven

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252 Reply by BeowulfJB

(36 replies, posted in Starmada Nova)

This version is optomized for long-range fire, works best at range 13 to 18.  Heavy firepower. 
I successfully used this in a game my friends today:

FOUR-LARGE-TURRET-class Dreadnoughts (485)
46ARMOR (= 31 AblativeArmor)
46HULL (I think of it as 23 Reinforced Hull from the Starmada Compendium)
THRUST [5][4][3][2][1] WEAPONS [_][1][2][3][4]
ECM [_][_][_][_][_] SHIELDS [_][_][_][_][_]
Fragile Systems; Overthrusters
  WEAPONS                               ARCS                        RANGE      ATTACK DICE   
4× LR Turbo-Lasers (Acr/Rpt) [FX4][FX4][AX4][AX4] 6-12-18;   4 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
11× SR Turbo-Lasers (Acr/Rpt) [TT] 1-2-3;     11 8 6 4 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0
2× Mass Drivers (Acr/Dx2/Dx3/Gid/Tls) [CD] 6-12-18;   2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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253 Topic by BeowulfJB

(3 replies, posted in Starmada)

Several of my friends have designed and becun using ships that have weapons with only AA or AH as their firing arc.  These ships will use two or three thrust points to aim their less expensive AA or AH weapons.  One ship used in a game by a friend this afternoon had all of its weapons in the AH arc and also had Overthrusters.  This ship had a CR of 400, but had greater firepower than a 500 point ship of the same size with PS arc weapons.  This seems to be an interesting way to aviod the higher cost of FX, FH,  & FF arc weapons, but still get forward firepower.   
Has anyone else encountered this? 
I am not sure how to deal with these types of ships.  Especially when the player has some 5 point, 3 hull ships to use for movement manipulation...
:arrow: Thoughts, suggestions, Ideas from anyone?

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254 Reply by BeowulfJB

(9 replies, posted in Starmada)

0ne of my friends came up with a "solution" to my PT Boats, and movement in general:  He brings speed one, three hull small ships with one small range 3 weapon.  These ships have a CR=5,  only five.  He takes 6 or seven of these and moves them first, keeping them in the back.  This allows him to move these useless ships while keeping his actual warships unmoved until the majority of his opponants' warships have moved.  It is a bit clever.  It will be a challange to find a solution to this strategy.  Any one have any suggestions?  8-)

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255 Reply by BeowulfJB

(36 replies, posted in Starmada Nova)

Here is the lastest version of my Four-Turret DN (Arizona class), replacing Firecontrol with Overthrusters:

FOUR-LARGE-TURRET-class Dreadnoughts (482)
46ARMOR (= 31 AblativeArmor)
46HULL (I think of it as 23 Reinforced Hull from the Starmada Compendium)
THRUST [5][4][3][2][1] WEAPONS [_][1][2][3][4]
ECM [_][_][_][_][_] SHIELDS [_][_][_][_][_]
Fragile Systems; Overthrusters
WEAPONS ARCS RANGE ATTACK DICE -4 -6 -8 -10
7× Heavy Plasma Guns (Acr/Dfs/Dx3) [FX6][FX6][CD6][CD6][CD6][AX6][AX6] 6-12-18; 7 5 4 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
14× Chain Guns (Acr/Rpt) [TT] 1-2-3; 14 10 7 5 4 2 2 1 1 1 0 0

This version has some of the heavy guns in the casemates which gives them a CD arc.  Although the original naval ships did not do this, I find it makes my ships have a more cost-effective main battery; more bang per CR.
I use this ship design for all of the US DNs from Pennsylvania class thru the Colorado class. Also I use this for all British DNs of Q.E. & R Class. This way, when I make changes, I only have to print out one new sheet. :ugeek:

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256 Reply by BeowulfJB

(7 replies, posted in Starmada)

Here is the lastest version of my DNs, replacing Firecontrol with Overthrusters:

FOUR-LARGE-TURRET-class Dreadnoughts  (482)
46ARMOR  ( = 31 AblativeArmor)
46HULL (I think of it as 23 Reinforced Hull from the Starmada Compendium)
THRUST [5][4][3][2][1]    WEAPONS [_][1][2][3][4]
ECM [_][_][_][_][_] SHIELDS [_][_][_][_][_]
Fragile Systems; Overthrusters
WEAPONS ARCS RANGE ATTACK DICE -4   -6   -8 -10
7× Heavy Plasma Guns (Acr/Dfs/Dx3) [FX6][FX6][CD6][CD6][CD6][AX6][AX6] 6-12-18;   7 5 4 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
14× Chain Guns (Acr/Rpt) [TT] 1-2-3;    14 10 7 5 4 2 2 1 1 1 0 0

I use this ship design for all of the US DNs from Pennsylvania class thru the Colorado class.  Also I use this for all British DNs of Q.E. & R Class. :geek:

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257 Reply by BeowulfJB

(7 replies, posted in Starmada)

When I design my biger ships, the large DNs, I try to to make them good all around.  The DDs, etc are the ones that have the Tls, Slw, or other unusual changes.  This seems to work well for me.  Recently, I have added Overthrusters to all my ships and to keep costs down I have deleted Firecontrol.  Overthrusters makes it difficult to out manuever my naval-style ships.  8-)

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258 Reply by BeowulfJB

(1 replies, posted in Starmada)

Adding Skr to a weapon cuts the cost in half. So if you convert a ship's weapon-battery to skr, you can double the number of them for the same cost.  If your opponant shoots down half of them, you break even.  Also, weapons shooting down the seekers are Not shooting at your ships. 8-)

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259 Reply by BeowulfJB

(9 replies, posted in Starmada)

Let me see if my friends will go along with this idea...

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260 Reply by BeowulfJB

(9 replies, posted in Starmada)

Does this make them cost about half as much?  That would make things easier if , for the same cost, all my CVs & CVLs got twice as many Fighters for the same cost... :?:

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261 Reply by BeowulfJB

(9 replies, posted in Starmada)

I am courious, what have you changed the cost of fighters to?

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262 Reply by BeowulfJB

(7 replies, posted in Starmada)

The "Arizona"Class DN that I have posted on the B-Basin will roll 48 dice from its two types of turbo-Laserrs at range one with Accuracy and Repeating. (!)
Statistically speaking these Turbo Lasers will do 24 (Acr) +8 (Rpt) = 32 points of damage.  That wil shoot down 16 fighter squads. or ravage another ship.  I admit, it is fun rolling 48 dice, then rerolling those that hit.  For the target of this strafing, it is often damaging/devestating... 8-)
Cheers

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263 Reply by BeowulfJB

(9 replies, posted in Starmada)

All of my DNs carry  short range weapons for anti fighter/drone/seeker fire.  If the other side does not bring any of those, I have my DN move to very short range and pulverize the target ship. 
IMHO, I don't think fighters are worth the cost and have retired all of my CVs.  Fighters attempting to attack my ships would be devestated by all of the short-range weapons my ships have.  I have tried them several times with no success.  I have a 20 point three hulled, speed PT Boat design that has more fire-power, greater range and it takes more to destroy than a fighter squadron.  I personally won't use them again, nor drones for the same reason.

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264 Reply by BeowulfJB

(2 replies, posted in Starmada)

I personally am having a lot of fun.  Ships must take damage, lotsa damage sometimes b4 losing their combat abilities are degraded.  The "Damage Check" after losing the first 1/3 of the hull and the "Crippled Check"  after the next third of hull boxes are lost is the same as "Threshhold Checks" in full Thrust.  My friends & I played this game extensively, but abandoned it for Starmada.  :ugeek:
Even the Ablative armmor is similiar to Armor in Full Thrust.  I was actually fiddling with a way to turn SAE into a hybred between Full Thrust & SAE bu doubling the hull hits, and after each 1/3, rolling a dice for each weapon, shield level, and engine level the same as in Full Thrust.  S:NE does this a bit better.
Bravo again S:NE Designers. 8-)

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265 Reply by BeowulfJB

(4 replies, posted in Starmada)

Looks interesting. 
But we probably won't use this too much down here in Jacksonville.  Here is a typical c2000 pts on a side game that we played:  I fielded three of the {45 Hull/30 Ablative armor/fragile systems/Tech=0} Arizona DN.  This design is in the B-Basin. 
These three DNs sortied with with supporting DDs & PT Boats.  (No cruisers because I prefer DNs & BBs with DDs & PFs).  Most of my opponants' ships have multiple weapons with Acr,Dx2 or Acr,Dx3, or Acr,Cts, or even Acr,Dx2,Cts. :!:   
When one of my friends big c700 point ships fires, he often informs me that my DN just took up to 40 points of damage.  Note that this does not threshold the DN, because it takes 45 hits to cause the first Damage check... 
Today I have added one more hull & Armor so the ship is now 5 pts more expensive, but takes two more damage b4 being "Damaged"
I guess our battles may seem like "Clash of the Titians" to some, but we have much fun. 8-)
Cheers
Steven in Jacksonville
[Watching Tropical Storm or Hurricane Issac diligently]

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266 Reply by BeowulfJB

(9 replies, posted in Starmada)

PSYCHO829 (My nephew) Describes the situation & a way to deal with it very well:

:idea: Just send out a fighter with the general from Monty Python on it.
"Stop it, those ships are just silly. Now I like a good laugh as much as the next person but I will stop the game if the ships get to silly."

Love it!!  We are playing Starmada here in Jacksonville today Tuesday 8/21.  I will probably play three DNs of the latest version of the
Arizona class"  That I have listed in the B-Basin.  These 3 DNs will be accompanied by 3 DDs and a handful of "PT Boats"  Those little 3-hull ships have baffled my friends and influence their movement, firing, etc.  I like the chaos it caused for their side too... 8-)

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267 Reply by BeowulfJB

(36 replies, posted in Starmada Nova)

I have given all of the weapons a more generic name so that I can use this design and sheets for the following PreWW2 DNS:  The USA's Nevada, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Tennessee, & Colorado classes.  Also good for the British Queen Elizabeth class & Revenge class.  Increase speed to 7 & It becomes the HMS Hood or USA's Lexington class BCS.  It also can be the WW1 German Baden class BBs.  I have minis in 1/2400 for all these that I use...
Here is the Ship; it is formitable, but Not invinicible:

  BeowulfJB's FOUR-LARGE-TURRET-class Dreadnoughts  (490)
45 ARMOR  (= 30 Ablative Armor)
45 HULL   (I think of it as Reinforced Hull from Starmada Compendium Edition so its really = 22 1/2 hull)
THRUST [5][4][3][2][1]    WEAPONS [_][1][2][3][4]
ECM [_][_][_][_][_] SHIELDS [_][_][_][_][_]
Fire Control; Fragile Systems
WEAPONS ARCS RANGE ATTACK DICE      -4   -6   -8 -10
4× Heavy Plasma Guns (Acr/Dx3) [FX4][FX4][AX4][AX4] 6-12-18;    4 3 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
4× Turbo-Lasers (Acr/Dfs/Rpt) [FX4][PS4][PS4][AX4] 5-10-15;     4 3 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
20× Turbo-lasers (Acr/Dfs/Rpt) [TR2][RT2] 1-2-3;       20 14 10 7 5 4 3 2 1 1 1 0

  Cheers,
   Steven

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268 Reply by BeowulfJB

(9 replies, posted in Starmada)

Hello, Thanks for the ideas.  This is what I have done to deal with these.  My BBs have a heavy short-range battery to deal with the Seekers my nephew loves to put on his ships.  These would handle the the PT boats also.  My friends here in Jacksonville have mostly range 18 weapons with Dx3 or Dx3,Cts.  Their arcs are either FF or PS.  I can easily move my PT Boats into their blind spots and ravage them...

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269 Topic by BeowulfJB

(9 replies, posted in Starmada)

I have made "PTBoats" and they are deadly, but inexpensive. I used them along with 150 point DDs and my 450 pt Arizona class DNs this afternoon with deadly effect.  My friends were amazed.  Frankly neither of us could figure how to deal with these speed 12 little ships.  I have them start behind the rest of the ships and then accelerate to 12 on the first turn, then they can go up to 24 the next turn or faster if they overload their engines.  We use range 18 as maximum for ships.  They usually go only 21 to allow for a 180 deg pivot so that after getting behind my opponants ships, which have no rear-firing weapons, they can devestate the ship with their Heavy torpedoes.
Here is what they look like:
BeowulfJB FAST ATTACK SHIPS-class PT Boats  (41)
no ARMOR   
4 HULL [_][_] [_] [_]
THRUST [12][8][6][4][3]    WEAPONS [_][1][2][3][4]
ECM [_][_][_][_][_] SHIELDS [_][_][_][_][_]
Fire Control; Fragile Systems

WEAPONS ARCS RANGE ATTACK DICE -4   -6   -8 -10
4× 40 Mm Turbo-Laser Guns (Acr/Rpt) [FX] 1-2-3;     4 3 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
3× Heavy Torpedoes (Acr/Dfs/Dx2/Dx3/Slw) [FR] 2-4-6;    3 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

Any thoughts on how to counter my inexpensive, wicked designs?

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270 Reply by BeowulfJB

(2 replies, posted in Starmada)

I believe the procedure is to roll all of the firing ship's weapons at a target.
Then when the attacking ship is done, if the target ship is damaged (loses 1/3 of hull) or crippled lost 2/3 of hull), you make the rolls to see if weapons, thrust, ECM, etc are degraded.  Now later in the firing sequence of the turn, any addidional ships that fire at this previously targeted/damaged or crippled ship will fire at it as it now is changed; if ECM is gone, it now is easier for the second, third, fourth ship (whew!) to hit.  If shields were weakened by the bombardment of an attacking ship, any ship after that gets easier penetration rolls.

This is an advantage of two 500 point ships vers one 1000 point ship.  No matter what, all of the shots of the 1000 point ship will hit/penetrate/cause havoc on the target as it was when firing started. 
For two 500 pt ships:  The first fires, and if it damages/cripples (the term we use here in Jacksonville is "causes a threshhold check"; it comes from FullThrust) to the target ship, then when the the second ship fires, after the other side has fired a ship, then it may fire at a weakened/degraded ship hitting &/or damaging it easier. 8-)

Hope this helps.
  Cheers,
Steven in Jacksonville

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271 Reply by BeowulfJB

(36 replies, posted in Starmada Nova)

This ship has gone thru many redesigns!  <LOL>
Well, I am versatile & flexible when it comes to designing ships. 
Here is a redesign of my "Arizona" class DNs, featuring much more hull and less armor:

    USS ARIZONA  Crat=485
   37 Hull + 37 Armor  (= 25 Ablative Armor)
   THRUST [5][4][3][2][1]    WEAPONS [_][1][2][3][4]
   ECM [_][_][_][_][_] SHIELDS [_][_][_][_][_]
    Fire Control; Fragile Systems
   WEAPONS   ARCS     RANGE       ATTACK DICE   -4     -6    -8    -10
   12× 14 Inch Plasma Guns (Acr/Dx3) [FX4][FX4][AX4][AX4] 6-12-18;    4 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
   4× 5 Inch Turbo-Laser Guns (Acr/Rpt) [PS4][PS4][PS4][PS4] 5-10-15;  4 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
   17× 40 Mm Turbo-Laser Guns (Acr/Rpt) [TT] 1-2-3;      17 12 9 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 0
    3× Mass Drivers (Acr/Dx2/Dx3) [CD] 5-10-15;        3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Instead of thinking of this ship as being huge, I prefer to think of it as having a Strong Hull, say the effect of having Reinforced Hull from the earlier versions of Starmada.
This ship can be thought as being an 18.5 Hull ship for size, but each hull point absorbs two points of damage. 
Cheers

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272 Reply by BeowulfJB

(127 replies, posted in Starmada)

Here is a redesign of my "Arizona" class DNs, featuring an equal amount of hull & armor:

    USS ARIZONA  Crat=485
   37 Hull + 37 Armor ( = 25 Ablative Armor)
   THRUST [5][4][3][2][1]    WEAPONS [_][1][2][3][4]
   ECM [_][_][_][_][_] SHIELDS [_][_][_][_][_]
    Fire Control; Fragile Systems
   WEAPONS   ARCS     RANGE       ATTACK DICE   -4     -6    -8    -10
   12× 14 Inch Plasma Guns (Acr/Dx3) [FX4][FX4][AX4][AX4] 6-12-18;    4 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
   4× 5 Inch Turbo-Laser Guns (Acr/Rpt) [PS4][PS4][PS4][PS4] 5-10-15;  4 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
   17× 40 Mm Turbo-Laser Guns (Acr/Rpt) [TT] 1-2-3;      17 12 9 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 0
    3× Mass Drivers (Acr/Dx2/Dx3) [CD] 5-10-15;        3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Instead of thinking of this ship as being huge, I prefer to think of it as having a Strong Hull, say the effect of having Reinforced Hull from the earlier versions of Starmada.
This ship can be thought as being a 18.5 Hull ship for size, but with each hull point absorbing two points of damage... 
     Cheers

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273 Reply by BeowulfJB

(127 replies, posted in Starmada)

Have the costs of any of the weapon traits, arcs, ranges, or thrust, hull, armor increased in the last several days on the Drydock?
I logged in this morning and checked one of my ships and noticed that its Crat had increased from 470 to 494 almost overnight.  The design I refer to is the "Arizona" design that I made a week ago and posted in the B-Basin on July 22.  This latest version that is on the 'Basin I copied & pasted from this Drydock program.  Then I checked all of my other large DNs and all of them have increased in Crat by 19 to 30.  The larger ships have increased the most in Crat.  Even all of my DDs now have a larger Crat. 
Have changes been made to the program?  If so, I will either need to reprint all these ships or just hand-write the higher Crat. in. 
My friends and I are having a lot of fun with this game as we try to out-design eachother, and out-manuever eachother.. 8-)
I am playing Starmada today.  My friends will probably be using the same ships they have used for a while so today's games won't be a problem. 
Cheers

<2 Hours Later>  I figured the cost increase by noting that the DSz & BCS with the same armor value had the same cost increase and out by manipulating the design of the "Arizona".  (It has 31 Hull & 42 Armor).  When I change the design to 74 Hull & Zero armor, the cost drops to 435.  It seems that Armor now costs more than hull.  When I changed the the design to 24 hull and 50 armor the cost went into the lower 500s.  I am courious, why does armor cost more than hull now?  I calculate that armor now costs 1.35 times more per box than hull.  Its good to be a math teacher sometimes.  Let me know if this is a permanant change. :?:
Cheers (again<LOL>)

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274 Reply by BeowulfJB

(127 replies, posted in Starmada)

Thanks for the quick reply,
Y'all rock!   big_smile

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275 Reply by BeowulfJB

(127 replies, posted in Starmada)

Hello everyone,
I have just skimmed thru the 11 pages of this thread looking for, but not finding the multiplier for the New Arcs 
PS, & RT.
Could someone who knows them let me know?  I would appreciated it.
Cheers  8-)

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