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Thread: Rules Questions -- Phaser Batteries, Defiant Weapons

  1. #1
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    Post Rules Questions -- Phaser Batteries, Defiant Weapons

    Capt. Hunter asked the following questions over in "Questions & Mechanics," which I decided to move here so that everyone interested would see the answers.

    I have one question (possibly answered in the pages I haven't printed yet) - the text states that phasers have backup power cells enabling the ship to get off a few shots if power is low. Does this mean a ship could effectively ignore the power cost for phasers for a round if it just fired one shot (by using the reserve and not recharging it)?
    It couldn't ignore the cost, exactly. It would simply pay for the cost out of the battery's reserve instead of the usual flow of power through the EPS systems. I suspect that Starfleet Regulations frown on this sort of thing, though, since the batteries are intended to provide power for the system only after main power has been cut off or the like. It's up to the captain to decide what's appropriate for any given situation.

    Also, in the Defiant writeup at the end, should the Forward Phaser Array weapon actually be a Ventral Array (or is it Dorsal)? The ship has one of the two as listed, enabling it to fire at targets behine and below/above it, so is the Forward Array correct or a typo?
    It's correct as written. The Forward Phasre Array is the one that fires through the detachable warhead in the front -- it's neither ventral nor dorsal, but on the "centerline" of the ship, so to speak.

    The Dorsal Phaser Array listed is the one in the circular area on the dorsal side of the ship (right on top of the bridge, IOW). None of the schematics for the ship show an array there, but it's been quite clearly shown in use on several episodes of DS9.

    Does that answer your question?

    Steve Long

  2. #2
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    It does, but does this mean that the Defiant - the Federation's most badass escort vessel - can't fire at targets underneath it (no ventral array)?! Or am I missing something?

    I have to say though, the new rules make it a lot easier designing ships with what we know about them from the shows. Coming up with rules for ships like Voyager is a lot easier now that the various facts about them (Warp 9.975 speed, bioneural gel packs, variable geometry nacelles, etc) actually have a use in determining the ship's stats! It's a little harder for ships we don't know too much about, but there's the Ship Recognition Manual for that!!

    Thanks again!

    ------------------
    "We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

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    Captain Matt Hunter, USS Tempest NCC-81205.

  3. #3
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    It does, but does this mean that the Defiant - the Federation's most badass escort vessel - can't fire at targets underneath it (no ventral array)?! Or am I missing something?
    No, you're not missing anything -- that's what it means. The Defiant class can fire at targets "beneath" it, provided they fall within the arc of that forward phaser, or with torps (which are guided), but that's it. Don't ask me why they designed it that way, but they did. I'm not aware of any canon or quasi-canon info that gives the Defiant-class Heavy Escort any ventral weapons. If someone finds some, I'll be glad to amend my template.

    Steve Long

    [This message has been edited by Steve Long (edited 12-03-2000).]

  4. #4
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    Just to put my two pennies in.......

    IMHO The Defiant, being a small ship is extremely manuevrable, being able to stop, turn and roll on a sixpence, so maybe she can fire at targets underneath her, just ask the pilot to make a skil roll to help you out

    Thats the bonus for being small and manuevrable.....at least it is in my games!

  5. #5
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    Thats the bonus for being small and manuevrable.....at least it is in my games!
    And I think you'll find that in SPACEDOCK as well, where, among other things, smaller ships can gain more benefits from maneuvering than larger ships (thus reflecting their "agility").

    Steve Long

  6. #6
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    I would have to agree, that who needs ventral weapons when you can quickly do a loop or barrel roll and there right in front of you.
    At least DS9 battles made some use of maneuvouring (sp?) unlike TNG where the ships barely moved

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  7. #7
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    Cool

    To be fair, part of that was due to technical issues: the bulk of TNG was made in the late 80s / early 90s; all the space-vessel footage was done by using models and blue-screens. By the second half of DS9, we were in the realms of CGI - ie: much cheaper to do big, flashy space-stuff.

    I think if DS9 was under the same technical limitations of TNG, we wouldn't have been seeing those huge battles in the last couple of seasons.



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  8. #8
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    Cool

    According to the DS9 Companion the battle sequence in 'Way of the Warrior' was done with miniatures.

    Much kudos to the SFX guys.



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    Greg

    "Calm may work for Locutus of Borg here, but I'm freaked and intend to stay that way."

  9. #9
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    Aldaron: if you look more closely, you'll see that even in the "mass" battle scenes, most of the ships are stationary with a few "active" ships maneuvering among them in the foreground. Even in CGI, it would cost too much for a true "free form" battle scene, so they use fast motion and lots of cuts between angles to suggest motion where none really exists.

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