Topic: Alternate Shields possibility

One of the pluses of SFB is the fact that when you energize shields you have X number of shields in each arc and they have to be overcome before scoring damage to the hull and ship.  The shields are up, they get hit first if the generators haven't been damaged (and thus generating less protection).  I have been trying to figure out a away to make this happen in Starmada or X.  Any ideas?

Re: Alternate Shields possibility

kehrer1701 wrote:

One of the pluses of SFB is the fact that when you energize shields you have X number of shields in each arc and they have to be overcome before scoring damage to the hull and ship.
...
Any ideas?

Initially, I can say that this was the point of the "screens" option -- while it doesn't provide the "ablative" characteristic that you are looking for, it does allow for differentiation between the shield arcs.

The reason ablative-type shielding never made it into Starmada is that suddenly it would place an emphasis on the order in which weapons are fired -- something that is irrelevant in the current setup.

I suppose it would be possible to set it up like SFB, but there would be additional considerations beyond just saying "each hit reduces shield strength by one".

Dan

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

Re: Alternate Shields possibility

I see your point on this. I love playing Starmada with TREK ships.  I have been working to come up with a way to do this, but not much success yet.  If each shield arc has x number of defense points, then as long as a salvo doesn't do damage to the shield generator, they return to their normal value. The trick is to make it easier to overwhelm the shields in order to do damage.  Again, this is just a work in progress and is the only thing I would ever like to modify in the system. Don't get me wrong, your game is awesome!!!!!!!!




cricket wrote:
kehrer1701 wrote:

One of the pluses of SFB is the fact that when you energize shields you have X number of shields in each arc and they have to be overcome before scoring damage to the hull and ship.
...
Any ideas?

Initially, I can say that this was the point of the "screens" option -- while it doesn't provide the "ablative" characteristic that you are looking for, it does allow for differentiation between the shield arcs.

The reason ablative-type shielding never made it into Starmada is that suddenly it would place an emphasis on the order in which weapons are fired -- something that is irrelevant in the current setup.

I suppose it would be possible to set it up like SFB, but there would be additional considerations beyond just saying "each hit reduces shield strength by one".

Dan

Re: Alternate Shields possibility

kehrer1701 wrote:

I see your point on this. I love playing Starmada with TREK ships.  I have been working to come up with a way to do this, but not much success yet.  If each shield arc has x number of defense points, then as long as a salvo doesn't do damage to the shield generator, they return to their normal value.

I would recommend AGAINST allowing shields to regenerate at the end of the turn. That was the one thing about STTCS that I disliked. And if there are problems integrating ablative shields into Starmada, they are multiplied by shields that regenerate... smile

Here's what I would do if I were to try out an ablative shields option:

1) Each ship has a designated "shield strength" to each of the six hexsides.

2) Every time a PEN die needs to be rolled against the target, reduce the strength of the appropriate hexside by 1.

3) Once the number of PEN dice that strike that hexside exceeds the shield strength, go directly to the damage roll (i.e., in this system there would never be a need for a PEN roll).

4) Continue with the DMG rolls as normal.

Should give you someplace to start... but don't ask how to point cost it. smile

Dan

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

Re: Alternate Shields possibility

Thanks for this thought. This should get me going in a new direction.
Thanks again for creating such a great game!!  The Game Preserve continues to carry.  Hope you didn't think I was being negative referring to something positive about another game.
javascript:emoticon(':D')
Very Happy

cricket wrote:
kehrer1701 wrote:

I see your point on this. I love playing Starmada with TREK ships.  I have been working to come up with a way to do this, but not much success yet.  If each shield arc has x number of defense points, then as long as a salvo doesn't do damage to the shield generator, they return to their normal value.

I would recommend AGAINST allowing shields to regenerate at the end of the turn. That was the one thing about STTCS that I disliked. And if there are problems integrating ablative shields into Starmada, they are multiplied by shields that regenerate... smile

Here's what I would do if I were to try out an ablative shields option:

1) Each ship has a designated "shield strength" to each of the six hexsides.

2) Every time a PEN die needs to be rolled against the target, reduce the strength of the appropriate hexside by 1.

3) Once the number of PEN dice that strike that hexside exceeds the shield strength, go directly to the damage roll (i.e., in this system there would never be a need for a PEN roll).

4) Continue with the DMG rolls as normal.

Should give you someplace to start... but don't ask how to point cost it. smile

Dan

big_smile  big_smile

Re: Alternate Shields possibility

Ok, any thoughts about applying to the compendium rules??


cricket wrote:
kehrer1701 wrote:

I see your point on this. I love playing Starmada with TREK ships.  I have been working to come up with a way to do this, but not much success yet.  If each shield arc has x number of defense points, then as long as a salvo doesn't do damage to the shield generator, they return to their normal value.

I would recommend AGAINST allowing shields to regenerate at the end of the turn. That was the one thing about STTCS that I disliked. And if there are problems integrating ablative shields into Starmada, they are multiplied by shields that regenerate... smile

Here's what I would do if I were to try out an ablative shields option:

1) Each ship has a designated "shield strength" to each of the six hexsides.

2) Every time a PEN die needs to be rolled against the target, reduce the strength of the appropriate hexside by 1.

3) Once the number of PEN dice that strike that hexside exceeds the shield strength, go directly to the damage roll (i.e., in this system there would never be a need for a PEN roll).

4) Continue with the DMG rolls as normal.

Should give you someplace to start... but don't ask how to point cost it. smile

Dan

Re: Alternate Shields possibility

kehrer1701 wrote:

Ok, any thoughts about applying to the compendium rules??

Well, it should work in roughly the same manner -- it's just more difficult to quantify because the Compendium didn't separate weapon effects into clear ROF, PEN, and DMG dice.

But it should work fine with a bit o' tweaking.

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

Re: Alternate Shields possibility

My initial though on "ablative" shields is that the shield rating converts into a number from a multiplyer that gives you total shield points available to distribute or act as pool to draw from. When they are gone, they are gone.

Example.
Shield rating 5 times some unknown number = ? shield points.  You would still roll to see if you got hit, but once you did, damage would come off of the shield total before scoring actual impacts to the ship.

Re: Alternate Shields possibility

after researching more into the current rules for screens, I think I can tinker with that to achieve the goal I am looking for.

Re: Alternate Shields possibility

kehrer1701 wrote:

after researching more into the current rules for screens, I think I can tinker with that to achieve the goal I am looking for.

Let us know what you come up with... smile

Dan

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

Re: Alternate Shields possibility

I had proposed a while ago a modification of the screen rule to reflect backgrounds where shields/armor/defences are fixed yet different from one side to another. That is the case in games such as Aerotech 2, where you have a fixed set of armor points per side (6 in total, matching the hexes) and when they're gone, they're gone. The rule change was simply to use a multiplier of 4 (instead of 3) BUT the screen values cannot be changed from turn to turn.