Topic: Tholian Web

Alien Armada Unity pg 14 states:

A ship that begins a game turn inside a web strand has its thrust rating reduced by the strength of that strand (to a
minimum of zero).

Is that a leftover from Starmada AE/NE? Unity SFU ships have no thrust rating, correct?

Perhaps a better way to handle it in Unity would be that a non-Tholian ship entering a web hex comes to a stop and moves no further that movement phase, then on the next turn's movement phase must expend a number of movement points equal to the web's strength in order to move out of the hex (in other words, the web hex incurs an engine requirement equal to its strength to move the one hex forward necessary to clear it).

Re: Tholian Web

I think that thrust points=engine points from engine rating.
If a ship is stuck in a web stronger than its engine rating, it could double its engines for a turn to escape... :idea:

Re: Tholian Web

Double its engines? Only Orions can do this in the SFU. Is that something other ships can do in Starmada in general?

Re: Tholian Web

Read "thrust rating" as "engine rating".

And yes, engine doubling is an optional rule in Starmada (D.1: Emergency Thrust).

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

Re: Tholian Web

A question;
If a ship has an engine rating of four and is stuck in a web strength four, is its engine-rating reduced to zero before emergency thrust, or are the engines doubled to eight, then the web strength subtracted?

Re: Tholian Web

Double first, then reduce.

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

Re: Tholian Web

I can't find any mention of web deterioration in the rules. In FC, web deteriorated by 1 pt for each hex of length per turn if not reinforced, so a 3-hex strand of strength 4 web would go down to strength 1 after 1 turn. Does web not deteriorate in Starmada? (I would advise against non-deteriorating web - it might be too powerful).

Re: Tholian Web

So, how exactly does a ship escape from a web in Starmada? Let's say a Klingon ship with an Engine Rating of 5 enters a strength 3 web on turn 1. It stops. The next movement phase (turn 2)  it now has an engine rating of 2. The web is still at strength 3. What can the Klingon do? Is that optional engine doubling rule the only way out?

In FC, a ship (or seeking weapon) is trapped "until they have (during eight consecutive impulses) expended Movement Points equal to the strength of the web (at the time they escape)."

Since there are no impulses in Starmada, would the Klingon be able to leave on turn 3 after expending one point of its reduced ER? That would leave it with one point of movement that movement phase (I'm assuming the ship would not get its full ER back until the movement phase of turn 4). If the web was very strong, a ship might need multiple turns to escape, and if the Tholians add energy or the ship takes damage, it might never get out. That seems like the most SFU-like way to handle it, imho.

Re: Tholian Web

cnuzzi wrote:

So, how exactly does a ship escape from a web in Starmada? Let's say a Klingon ship with an Engine Rating of 5 enters a strength 3 web on turn 1. It stops. The next movement phase (turn 2)  it now has an engine rating of 2. The web is still at strength 3. What can the Klingon do? Is that optional engine doubling rule the only way out?

During turn 2, it moves out of the web with an engine rating of 2. In essence, it is spending 3 movement points to exit.

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

Re: Tholian Web

Lol it was so simple I couldn't see it. I was putting all kinds of FC/SFB complications on it.  lol