Not quite, the beam only works in squadrons. Standard squadron rules apply, thus no further apart as 15cm.
At least, that's what I hope rowanalpha's intention is!
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| The Mas'ata http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=123&t=6576 |
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| Author: | rowanalpha [ Sun Dec 11, 2005 12:41 am ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
Mas?ata ? ? ? ? ?Little is known about the Mas?ata. ?Their vessels first appeared in the Ultima Segmentum and Segmentum Obscuras around M37. ?Best research indicates that they have no home-world within the galaxy, and instead hail from somewhere past the outer rim. ? ? ? ? ?Mas?ata ships use an advanced form of dimensional shifting as their motive system. ?Instead of being propelled from place to place, a Mas?ata vessel will slide between dimensions, seeming to disappear from one place and reappear some distance away. ? ? ? ? ?Though the Mas?ata have not shown an interest in hostile actions as yet, they are capable of defending themselves effectively. ?Their vessel?s maneuverability, combined with the heavy shielding that protects them from the dimensional shifts, make Mas?ata ships difficult to hit, let alone destroy. Mas?ata Phaseship (35 pts) Type/Hits: Escort/1 Speed: Special Turns: - Shields: 1 Armour: 6+ Turrets: 1 Weapons Laser Grid(Firepower Special, Range Special, All round) Notes Phase Engines: Though their full workings are not understood, the Mas?ata spacecraft use a form of dimensional shifting to ?fold? space and move from one place to another. ?The ship moves up to 30 cm in any direction, ignoring celestial phenomena except if it ends its move in base contact with it. ?As the phaseship is almost immobile when not shifting, it always counts as closing to vessels shooting at it. Laser Grid: In the shooting phase, rather than firing conventional weapons, Mas?ata phaseships will form a grid of lasers between one another, catching enemy ships in the beams. ?First, trace a line from each phaseship to every other phaseship in its squadron. ?Beams may not cross one phaseship's base to get to another. ?Each time an enemy ship?s stem is crossed by one of these lines two attacks are made against that ship, rolling against the armor facing each attacker and affecting shields as normal. Special Orders: When using All Ahead Full special orders, the Mas'ata player choses a direction and rolls up to 8D6. ?The phaseships move 30 cm plus the total rolled on the dice. ?Phaseships using All Ahead Full may not use their laser grids in the shooting phase. Mas?ata vessels may not use Burn Retros, Come to New Heading, or Lock-On special orders, and cannot ram. [Notes: I create this race first with the movement rules, I wanted to create a race that poofed about the battlefield like Nightcrawler from the X-Men. ?A added the laser grid afterwards, an homage of sorts to the Tholian web from star trek. ?I though it fir the 'extra-galactic' feel of the race. ?I might need to improve the wording, so let me know if you understand the wording. I think I may have overcosted them too, but i'll take input there.] Edit: Changes AAF and Laser Grid as outlined below. |
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| Author: | Raysokuk [ Sun Dec 11, 2005 2:45 am ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
So it's basically a teleporting mini Blackstone grid (similar to when the BSF's combine firepower to whack a ship in between). The movement certainly is special, I'd change the AAF to a variable number. How about up to 8D6 extra cm (i.e. you choose up to that number of D6, NOT up to the number shown on the dice). Pick a direction before rolling then move that exact distance! I think tracing a line between ALL ships is too open to abuse! Imagine if there were 20 in that area! I think you should limit it to only other ships of the same squadron. Also it should be noted that you can't trace a line 'through' your own ships. Otherwise it really doesn't make sense in a 2D or even 3D enviroment (imagine 3 either side of a target in a perfect line!!!!!! 18 dice!!!!!) Also I'm not sure if crosing the base is particualry 'fair' either! Why would big base ships suffer more against this weapon? Across the stem IMO! That would mean you'd only get 1 D6 per ship attacking, actually you could postition the ships so that the ships stems could see past each other to the ship on the other side (the base doesn't get in the way after all). Cheers, RayB |
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| Author: | rowanalpha [ Sun Dec 11, 2005 4:14 am ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
You raise some good points there. i especailly like the AAF idea, though were you indending that in addition to the normal 30 cm? 8D6 + 30 will range 38-78 cm, averaging at 58, so that isn't bad. I'll adopt that change. The point about ships lined up is good as well, though a little harder to fix. Obviously, the ideal situation is a squadron will appear around and between a squadron of opposing ships, pummelling the enemy in a web of crossed beams. I think I will do this for the weapons: -Beams can only be made with squadron members. -Beams cannot cross friendly bases. -Beams are not limited by range -Squadron coherency is 30cm instead of 15. This will encourage the Mas'ata player to spread out the squadron to cast the widest net possible. I said bases mainly to prevent people whining about if the line really hit the stem. Larger ships (larger bases) would be easier to catch in the grid, theoretically. Any thoughts on points costing? |
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| Author: | blackhorizon [ Sun Dec 11, 2005 8:45 pm ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
On the beam, I like the idea in an odd kinda way. :O However, the 'in-between' range should be 15cm and not 30. The escorts are cheap. With 10 vessels (350 pts) you can occupy the entire table! |
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| Author: | Raysokuk [ Mon Dec 12, 2005 1:32 am ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
I think you should leave the range at 30cm for now, and not change the squadron coherency rules at all. (what's the point if each can only reach 2 other ships, it's better to have them closer to get the extra beams!) Cheers, RayB |
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| Author: | rowanalpha [ Mon Dec 12, 2005 3:45 am ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
I actually removed the max range on the grid, so with 30 cm coherency a squadron can spread out to catch more enemies, but I did make the beams only go to squadroned vessels. |
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| Author: | Raysokuk [ Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
Removed the range limit! But that means you can get a beam over a metre long! hell, it can be the same range as a NC!!!! I'd change it back! That's just too good!!!!! Cheers, RayB |
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| Author: | blackhorizon [ Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:37 pm ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
Not quite, the beam only works in squadrons. Standard squadron rules apply, thus no further apart as 15cm. At least, that's what I hope rowanalpha's intention is!
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| Author: | rowanalpha [ Tue Dec 13, 2005 5:07 am ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
Its actually in between. Yes, the beams only work in the squadron, so no netting together 30 ships in a great web 'o' death that covers the whole board. With the normal squadron limitations (2-6 escorts) each ship will fire a max of 5 beams. The beam itself has no max range, true, and I increased the coherency limitation to 30 cm to make it easier to catch multiple ships with the same squadron. That might be too much, but it seems like setting up multiple ships in crossfires would be just too tough. Theoretically, a squadron could spread out over 150 cm, so that might be excessive, but keep the geometries of the grid there in mind as well. In retrospect, though, I think I'll remove the 30 cm thing. |
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| Author: | blackhorizon [ Tue Dec 13, 2005 6:07 am ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
Seems better to me if the standard squadron coherency applies. |
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| Author: | Raysokuk [ Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
But if the squadron (of 6) was spread out in near enough a line, you add a possible 30cm to the max range of the first escort for each additional escort in the squadron. So the biggest possible beam could be a little under 150cm between the furthest escorts apart! A normal 15cm coherency squadron (6) could get 75cm 'wide' the furthest 2 being 75cm apart! Clear? Cheers, RayB |
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| Author: | blackhorizon [ Wed Dec 14, 2005 6:06 am ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
Such analysis makes me think if the range of the beam shouldn't be cut down to 10cm? I do like the beam idea between ships but I'm wondering if it will work as the only weapon. I could imagine this is a defensive system for a fleet being restricted to 1 squadron in a fleet max. |
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| Author: | rowanalpha [ Wed Dec 14, 2005 6:30 am ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
The movement/weapons combination here creates some interesting strategic interactions. ?For instance, as the basis of the weaponry is that it forms between ships, it means they can only shoot vessels they are already close with. ?On approach the will be unable to return fire until in range. ?Their movement, however, means they will be able to stay in proximity once they are close and set up their grids for maximum damage. ?I think the vulnerability on approach, though will cost them severely. It is not so much "defensive" as "non-offensive", if that makes any sense. In regards to the fleet composition, I'd like to assemble my different species into a "Non-aligned league" of sorts, and they are used primarily as mixed fleets with one another or mercenaries in other fleets (like demiurg). ?I don't see a full Mas'ata fleet as being particularly fluffy, except in small (500-750) point games. |
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| Author: | Raysokuk [ Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:30 pm ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
Even with the fact that they have to get an enemy ship in between 2 of thier vessels to cause damage, it still has got a frightning range! Imagine the squadron in a C shape movinging down the board, the 2 points of the C could get either side of a Ship and shoot it, meaning the beam could be about 100cm long (given the curve). I really do reackon you should bump the squadron coherency back down to 15cm, it would be fine to leave the range as unlimited if they could only be 15cm apart (75cm max range, but 37.5cm max 'per furthest escort'). Cheers, RayB |
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| Author: | rowanalpha [ Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:45 am ] |
| Post subject: | The Mas'ata |
I did drop the coherency back to 15. My question now is the cost: Is the range limitations too much of a burden that their cost should be lowered, or should I leave it as is because of the potential nastyness of the things en masse? |
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