626 Reply by mj12games

(12 replies, posted in Starmada)

mikeaxe wrote:

Dan,
Yes you are right, but the SU ratio is actually worse. A minimum ship of 3 hull has 250.27 SU a ship 30 times bigger a WW1, Destroyer to Dreadnought, would have 7508.10 SU giving a Hull of just over 41 hull. Now that's hull size creep!

I guess I'm not understanding your point, because I don't see how that is "worse". To represent a ship that has 30x the "tonnage", you need a hull size that is just under 14x larger.

Go to forum: Starmada

627 Reply by mj12games

(12 replies, posted in Starmada)

BeowulfJB wrote:

There were DDs in WW2 that were c2,000 tons.  These ships were only 1/16 of the prewar BBs.  But that still makes a big difference.
I think that the exact tonnage ratio from naval ships is not the best comparison for S:NE.  (Although if you compared the 8,000 ton DDGs of the Arliegh Burke class to the 48,000 ton modernized Iowa class BBs, you get a 1/6 ratio.)

Once again, I want to reiterate that tonnage to hull size is not a proper comparison. A hull 20 ship is not twice the mass of a hull 10 ship.

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628 Reply by mj12games

(3 replies, posted in Grand Fleets)

Dead? No.

I'd call it "undergoing an identity crisis". Also, "A victim of Dan's changing life circumstances".

Nevertheless, significant progress has been made on a third edition: http://www.mj12games.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3572

Go to forum: Grand Fleets

629 Reply by mj12games

(30 replies, posted in Starmada)

No, I'm afraid I don't.

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630 Reply by mj12games

(18 replies, posted in Starmada)

What is a DD? I have no idea. smile

But in any given setting, I would set the smallest viable combat vessel at hull size 3 and go up from there... If in your setting those are called "destroyers" then I guess DDs are hull size 3.

Go to forum: Starmada

631 Reply by mj12games

(18 replies, posted in Starmada)

mikeaxe wrote:

Prompted by your hull sizes Beowulf, I've just done a very rough comparison between German, British, and US WW1 fleets and the displacement of a 'battleship' was about 30 times that of a destroyer. A destroyer of 10/10 should  compare with a DN of 300/300!  Hmmmmm.

Remember hull size =/= "displacement". A more appropriate comparison would be space units. Thus, a destroyer of hull size 10 (too big, IMHO, but for the sake of argument) would compare to a battleship of hull size 128. (1,197 SUs vs. 35,966 SUs).

I think it would be more appropriate to set your "destroyer" at hull 3. This would put your "battleship" around hull 39. Still far too big for my tastes, but as I've said before, my life with Starmada has been one long (losing) battle against hull size creep. smile

Go to forum: Starmada

632 Reply by mj12games

(18 replies, posted in Starmada)

IMHO, regardless of setting, you generally have three types of ship which roughly correspond to wet-navy roles as follows:

Battleships - dedicated combat vessels, whose sole mission in life is to destroy the other guy's battleships.

Cruisers - multi-role vessels, with enough weapons and defenses to stand up to anything except the other guy's battleships, but not so much of an investment of resources that they can't be risked on exploration, scouting, or diplomatic missions.

Escorts - primarily intended to guard non-combatants from pirates and unforseen dangers. Tend to square off against their opposite number in fleet actions and essentially cancel each other out. Can be indispensible against unconventional threats (torpedo boats, submarines, etc.).

Go to forum: Starmada

633 Reply by mj12games

(14 replies, posted in Starmada)

While I would appreciate people asking before posting content directly from the rulebooks regardless, it becomes more problematic when doing so from the SFU books, since strictly speaking they are ADB's IP, and not MJ12's.

The closest we have gotten to faceted shielding in the SFU Nova books is Directional Shielding (Distant Armada, p.11).

Go to forum: Starmada

634 Reply by mj12games

(30 replies, posted in Starmada)

Tease, tease. Here's the Klingon light raiding dreadnought:

Go to forum: Starmada

635 Topic by mj12games

(3 replies, posted in Discussion)

Thumbs up? Thumbs down?

Go to forum: Discussion

636 Reply by mj12games

(13 replies, posted in Starmada)

I fail to see the advantage of the escort rule as proposed. Right now, ANY ship can target seekers attacking an adjacent ship at effectively point-blank range.

What am I missing?

Go to forum: Starmada

637 Reply by mj12games

(30 replies, posted in Starmada)

Yes, both versions will be available. Nova first, Admiralty shortly thereafter.

Go to forum: Starmada

638 Reply by mj12games

(30 replies, posted in Starmada)

Cover art for Battleships Armada.

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639 Reply by mj12games

(3 replies, posted in Starmada)

Yes to both questions.

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640 Reply by mj12games

(7 replies, posted in For the Masses)

You have to download the XLT link and then open it in Excel. If you open it in your browser, you'll only get gibberish.

Go to forum: For the Masses

641 Reply by mj12games

(7 replies, posted in For the Masses)

Don't know what to say: both files worked like a charm for me.

I have re-upped them both, so perhaps that fixed the problem others were experiencing.

Go to forum: For the Masses

642 Reply by mj12games

(7 replies, posted in For the Masses)

Just checked it out, and it seems to work fine (at least for me).

Try downloading it to your desktop instead of opening it in a web browser (it's an Excel template).

Go to forum: For the Masses

643 Reply by mj12games

(30 replies, posted in Starmada)

Captain's Log #46 can be ordered directly from ADB starting sometime in mid-January. Battleships Armada should be ready shortly thereafter.

Go to forum: Starmada

644 Topic by mj12games

(30 replies, posted in Starmada)

Just sent off material to Steve Cole for inclusion in Captain's Log #46.

Yup -- there were Battleships involved. smile

Go to forum: Starmada

645 Reply by mj12games

(5 replies, posted in Starmada)

warbossjim wrote:

If I'm reading this correctly when firing the FF gun you automatically have a modifier of -6.  So (assuming no other modifiers) at medium range or longer you cant roll anything.  ???    Even at short range you are rolling only 1 die.

The shift at medium range (assuming no other nodifiers) is -6; thus, you would roll 1 die. It is true at long range you would no longer receive any dice (but see below).

2)  assuming the same weapon above- what does having 7 of these lasers do for you?  Do you pool all the dice together or roll each weapon separately?    Either way what is the advantage of having multiple weapons in a battery instead of one big one?

The advantage is flexibility. With one big weapon, you can only attack a single target; with multiple banks, you can distribute fire among several targets (which is better for anti-fighter weapons like this). Although, in the end, it's more of a style/flavor decision. Some players like fewer big weapons; others like lots of smaller weapons.

You can roll each bank's attack separately, or you can combine their attacks per the rule on p.26. Combining attacks may sometimes be necessary in order to gain even a single attack die (as with the situation above); otherwise, you can use the "Long Shot" rule (p.29).

Go to forum: Starmada

646 Reply by mj12games

(2 replies, posted in Starmada)

sgibson260 wrote:

So, getting to our rules question.  After the Marine boarding rolls are made and the number of successful boarders are determined, does the defending ship get to make shield rolls to deflect or block some of the successful boarding marines?

Yes, marines are subject to being "deflected" by shields.

Also, are there any plans for a defensive only version of marines?  Maybe call them 'security' and make them cheaper since they would have no offensive boarding capability.

A reasonable suggestion.

Go to forum: Starmada

647 Reply by mj12games

(28 replies, posted in Starmada)

FWIW, I don't believe anyone is (certainly I am not) advocating fleet composition "rules" that would prevent someone from populating his/her fleet with nothing but super-dreadnoughts. I think the discussion is more about providing "flavor" to some fleets...

Go to forum: Starmada

648 Reply by mj12games

(28 replies, posted in Starmada)

JohnRobert wrote:

A fairly simple way of assuring a diverse fleet is to require that a ship use no more than half of the remaining Combat Rating. For instance, in a 1500 point fleet, you could have a 750 point Superdreadnought, a 370 point Heavy Cruiser, a 190 point Destroyer, and two 95 point Frigates.

I like this, although I would set a lower limit as well -- e.g. each ship has to have a combat rating between 25% and 50% of the remaining fleet limit.

For example, start with 1000 points. Your first ship has to be between 250 and 500 points. If you choose a 400-point ship, your next ship has to have a CR between 150 and 300. If you choose a 200-point ship, your next ship has to fall between 100 and 200 (etc.)

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649 Reply by mj12games

(6 replies, posted in Starmada)

The former (first) bullet point is the correct procedure.

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650 Reply by mj12games

(28 replies, posted in Starmada)

I'm always in favor of fleet-building rules (or even loose guidelines). It never feels right to see a "fleet" that consists of a single super-battleship and a couple destroyers to fill out the point cost.

Go to forum: Starmada