Topic: Area effect and 'anime-style' weapon modifiers
Okay...
Now, for a while now I've wanted to have a weapon that can cause misery for fighters, but all offensive weapons have a common problem (that is, they fire after fighters do), and necessary equipment is short-ranged (the carronade, shockwave and AFB), and they also aren't exactly effective.
Also, I have wanted a weapon like the Narn e-mines, or a weapon for super-advanced races that can attack multiple targets simultaneously. That is a hard challenge, but I think I have the gist of it:
Area Effect:
Some weapons rely upon large nuclear, antimatter or weird forms of energy to create an area of space where everything is attacked simultaneously. Many races use these weapons as area-denial, to force an enemy to move so that the heavy guns of a fleet can engage without having to change course, or for taking chunks out of a fighter swarm that is rapidly approaching. Whatever the use, the mechanism is the same.
When firing an area-effect weapon, instead of targetting it at a ship or fighter-like object, target it at a hex within range and arc of the weapon, and roll to hit this hex. If it hits, then resolve the attack normally. If it fails to hit, pick a hex at random (using a d6) and resolve the attack in that hex as well.
When resolving an attack against a hex, every unit in that hex (including friendly units) is attacked once for every ROF the weapon has. Every hit that occurs rolls for PEN and DMG as normal
Example: A G'Quan cruiser fires two e-mines (range 18, 4+, 1/1/1) at two hexes next to a swarm of Rutarian fighters. The Narn player rolls two dice. The first is a 6, so the attack takes place normally. The second dice is a 3. That is underneath the to-hit roll, so the Narn player has to roll another dice to determine scatter. Taking the hex nearest the G'Quan as 1, and going clockwise, the dice roll is a 4. That means the mine detonated the hex behind the fighters.
The sole e-mine then rolls to hit every fighter in the hex with a 4 or more to hit.
An area-effect weapon will also leave an explosion marker on the board for one turn, with a strength equal to the DMG statistic on the weapon. NOTE: the marker remains on the board for one turn ONLY. Even though, for instance, a DMG 3 Area Effect weapon would have an explosion marker of 3, it does not degrade to 2, then 1, as normal explosion markers normally do.
An Area-Effect weapon has an SU modifier of x3.0
'Anime-Style':
Some advanced races (for instance, the Shadow battlecrabs with their slicer beams or the Kirishiac hypergraviton blaster) have beam weapons that can slice through enemy vessels and even cause damage to other vessels as well--if they're behind the vessel.
When attacking with an 'Anime-Style' weapon, carry out the attack exactly like an anime-style spinal mount, except that the to-hit roll might be lower, there might be more PEN dice (but you get the general idea).
A Kirishiac Overlord is just about to give the three Minbari cruisers in its front arc a lesson on not being lined up in a row in front of a First One. The first Minbari cruiser is four hexes away, the second seven and the third is an astonishing thirteen hexes away. The hypergraviton blaster has these statistics: R: 18, TH: 3+, 1/2/3, Anime-Style. The Kirishiac player picks a hex for the end-hex that will allow him to attack all three cruisers
I think you know what will happen with the attack.
An 'Anime-Style' weapon has an SU modifier of x4.0
Im going to be designing a few ships with these weapons and testing them out. Hopefully the SU mods will balance them out.
What do you think?
