Strafing Runs

[Doug Taylor]

There doesn't seem to be a way to do a strafing run of any sort, where one ship closes on the other, fires at it, and then flies by it in the same maneuver. Has anyone made up their own way of handling this? Or is there a maneuver I'm missing that allows ships to do something other than passing each other and then making a Come About or Hard About maneuver to face each other again? Or do you consider that the vast distances between them (over 650 miles away even at Point Blank range) allow for them to stay away from each other without passing?

Also, could one use the Fast Attack maneuver to do a strafing run? Like I said above, there doesn't seem to be a way to fly at the opponent, shoot at it, and then go flying by. Has anyone used Fast Attack (or any other maneuver like it) to have ships go flying by each other?

I realize that the combat system is much more abstract, and that this is getting a bit more tactical than some prefer. Still, there seems to be other maneuvers that are similar.

Thoughts?

[Fugazi Grrl]

I would say Fast Attack followed by a maneuver like Z-Axis would work out to a Strafing Run.

Or you could make your own.

Strafing Run (Tier-3 Helm maneuver)
Prerequisites: Lock On (T), and Match Speed (H). Must be at Short or Medium range
Duration: Instant
TN: 20
Effect: Very similar to Fast Attack, but instead of allowing the Multiweapon maneuver for free, a successful Strafing Run allows up to three free Multifire maneuvers if the Tactical officer has the individual actions available to perform these maneuvers. These maneuvers do not count against the ship's action allowance. All Multifire attacks are made against the same target, with the attack TN equal to the target's protection +5 for each Multifire attack test. A failed test does not halt the chain of attacks. Roll damage for each attack separately. A successful Strafing Run maneuver also provides a +3 to the attacking ship's protection for the next immediate round as the ship flies past its target rapidly.

Yes, this is pretty much a cannibalized Full Attack, with a few tweaks. But ti should work more like a Strafing Run, as performed by a Starfighter.

[Doug Taylor]

I would say Fast Attack followed by a maneuver like Z-Axis would work out to a Strafing Run.

Or you could make your own.

Strafing Run (Tier-3 Helm maneuver)
Prerequisites: Lock On (T), and Match Speed (H). Must be at Short or Medium range
Duration: Instant
TN: 20
Effect: Very similar to Fast Attack, but instead of allowing the Multiweapon maneuver for free, a successful Strafing Run allows up to three free Multifire maneuvers if the Tactical officer has the individual actions available to perform these maneuvers. These maneuvers do not count against the ship's action allowance. All Multifire attacks are made against the same target, with the attack TN equal to the target's protection +5 for each Multifire attack test. A failed test does not halt the chain of attacks. Roll damage for each attack separately. A successful Strafing Run maneuver also provides a +3 to the attacking ship's protection for the next immediate round as the ship flies past its target rapidly.

Yes, this is pretty much a cannibalized Full Attack, with a few tweaks. But ti should work more like a Strafing Run, as performed by a Starfighter.

I like it, but that's pretty potent, FG! I could see this for a starfighter (smaller classes, like Runabouts, Shuttles, or Fighters), but doing that much damage from a larger ship (like ours) could be brutal. I might play around with it and adjust it some, but your idea makes a lot of sense!

Thanks again so much! Not that Fugazi Grrl isn't handling these questions amazingly, but where's the rest of the CODA Trek community?

[Fugazi Grrl]

Admittedly, I had starfighters in mind when I wrote that. Specifically a Federation Valkyrie, or N'Augi fighter.

Maybe cut the Multifire actions back to a max of two for bigger ships or, assign a number of Multifires based on a ship's size, and weapons compliment. More Multifires for smaller ships.

Take a look at the scene in Star Trek: Nemesis, where Donatra and the Romulan ships show up to aid the Enterprise. And see if the maneuvers the Enterprise uses look like Strafing runs.

I imagine if I implemented my Strafing Run maneuver I posted here for the Legacy it could tare most anything smaller than a D'Deridex apart. It would make a good maneuver for use against a Scimitar class ship, or a Gelshmorian Cruiser (something from our series with an ion cannon as a central weapon).

Maybe a chart for how many Multifires by ship size is in order here !