• Registered: 2006-01-17
  • Posts: 740

Topic: Is the Weapon Trait TELESCOPIC (Tls) the unbeatable wt?

Hello everyone,
I just finished playing a game against a good friend whose fleet is mostly composed of ships having weapons with the 3 weapon traits; Acr, Tls, Cts.  In our games that we play in Jacksonville we allow Acr, then only two other weapon traits, and a maximum range of 18.  My friend's 700 point speed 6 ships have 11 weapons with {Acr,Tls,Cts} range=18. The arc if the weapon is FR & the ship has Fire Control.  This gives him 33 shots at range 12 to 18.  My friend is very skilled at manuevering and using pivoting to keep the range long range and laying down a brutal barrage.  Statisticly, this barage at long range should do c58 points of damage.  This is brutal.  I have tried everything to deal with this, but it seems that the only way to match this is with ships of my own having Tls.  (for me, that would be Boring).  Fighters have not worked, neither has anything I have tried.  This has gotten frustrating and discouraging. I briefly considered abandoning S;NE.
I remember a post that described Energy Lances, which have SNE-Tls, from the Starmada Compendium as Broken.  I think I see why.
It seems that if ur fleet does not have Tls-weapons, U lose
Does anyone have any suggestions?  Obviously, in a battle in asteriods or with other terrain this may not happen.  But in open space:  No Tls = little chance of winning in an even-pointed battle.    sad

  • From: Denver, CO
  • Registered: 2005-03-27
  • Posts: 3,578

Re: Is the Weapon Trait TELESCOPIC (Tls) the unbeatable wt?

Couple ideas:

1) You say your friend is skilled at maneuvering and keeping the range open. How fast are your ships?

2) Telescopic obviously shines early in the game; if you can get within even long range, your friend's weapons are now overpriced. So, start using equipment that is front-loaded in its usefulness. Use ablative Armor and Reinforced Systems. Try Cloaking Devices. Flares can create "terrain" behind which you can hide.

3) 58 dice of damage is brutal, particularly if it is all applied to a single target. Use larger numbers of smaller ships -- make him split his fire.

Just some thoughts.

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

mj12games's Website

  • Registered: 2006-01-17
  • Posts: 740

Re: Is the Weapon Trait TELESCOPIC (Tls) the unbeatable wt?

Hello and thanks for the advice.  Will try some/all of these  8-)

  • Registered: 2006-07-24
  • Posts: 158

Re: Is the Weapon Trait TELESCOPIC (Tls) the unbeatable wt?

You could also do Steve's zoom and boom strategy. Get enough speed built up while staying out of range, then close the distance from out of range to short range in a single turn.

  • Registered: 2006-01-17
  • Posts: 740

Re: Is the Weapon Trait TELESCOPIC (Tls) the unbeatable wt?

<LOL>  That is just what I did.  My main DNs have 58 hull & 58 armor, and Speed/thrust=10.  This enables them to move from out-of-range to medium and usually, short range.  (Their CRAT=700).  This makes them a bit brutal...

Therefore, the answer to my first question is No, Tls is not unbeatable.  But your ships need significant speed. 8-)

  • Registered: 2006-01-17
  • Posts: 740

Re: Is the Weapon Trait TELESCOPIC (Tls) the unbeatable wt?

My buddy & I here in Jacksonville still play S;NE on Thursdays.  His ships are now thrust=14 & mine are thrust=10.  This higher speed makes for interesting games.  Unfortunately, fighters have become much less useful because they are too slow to keep up.  As a result, my CVs & drone-carring DDs stay in spacedock. 
My biggest ship, a Heavy-Dreadnought, has 70 hull & 70 armor, thrust=10 & CR=950.  My smaller ships are DNs CR=750 & CGs CR=400.
My Friend has a CR=1000 ship with thrust=14, and it has 60 hull + 60 armor.
We played a 3300 point game Thursday evening.  We each took one of our larger ships and four smaller ships.  I won having only the damaged Heavy-DN left.
It was just like the line from the song:  "...One tin soldier rides away..."    8-)

  • From: Denver, CO
  • Registered: 2005-03-27
  • Posts: 3,578

Re: Is the Weapon Trait TELESCOPIC (Tls) the unbeatable wt?

60 hull and thrust 14?

Sounds like I need to increase the SU cost for engines. smile

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

mj12games's Website

  • Registered: 2006-01-17
  • Posts: 740

Re: Is the Weapon Trait TELESCOPIC (Tls) the unbeatable wt?

The ship in question is designed by my gaming buddy  jabba6z  on this forum.
It has all its weapons in FR arc and has Fire Control + Overthrusters.  It is very formitable, but if I can get one of my DNs into short range & roll well, this CR=1000 ship can get brutalized... 8-)

  • Registered: 2006-01-17
  • Posts: 740

Re: Is the Weapon Trait TELESCOPIC (Tls) the unbeatable wt?

Hello everyone,
My gaming buddy  jabba6z  and are still playing here in Jacksonville and still very competative.   He has come up with an interesting design.  This CRAT=600 ship is Tech +2 and formitable.  It has a thrust=14, &  has range=18 (the maximum range we use) weapons.  These weapons have Tls & Cts in the AR arc only.  This ship also has ECM=3.  It has Fire Control & Overthrusters also.  It does not have too much Hull & Armor tho...  :!:
My DNs have only thrust=9 and at long range can only score a hit these ships with their ECM=3 by rolling a "6". 
Any thoughts on how to deal with this new design of jabba6z?

  • Registered: 2005-12-28
  • Posts: 195

Re: Is the Weapon Trait TELESCOPIC (Tls) the unbeatable wt?

Ban tech mods.

  • Registered: 2006-01-17
  • Posts: 740

Re: Is the Weapon Trait TELESCOPIC (Tls) the unbeatable wt?

<LOL>  Good idea.  8-)

  • Registered: 2006-01-17
  • Posts: 740

Re: Is the Weapon Trait TELESCOPIC (Tls) the unbeatable wt?

Hello everyone,
My friend & I played Starmada today in Jacksonville.  We each had c4300 points of ships.  Most of my friend's ships had Tls & Cts as their two weapon traits along with Acr.  The game took about 1 1/2 hours.  I found that the best way to deal with ships with Tls is to rush them and get into short range.  This increases my ships firepower and degrades the firepower of the ships with Tls. 
It was a brutal battle, but I was able to get into short range by overloading the engines of some of my ships to get out of long range.  All of my DNs have many  "Chain Guns that are range=3 & have Dfs.  This gives them good AA and brutal range one firepower...
Cheers