05-03-2019, 10:50 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-04-2019, 08:56 AM by Karpav1.
Edit Reason: Area 51 Errata: the Salamander II's Triple Pulse Laser mount list D6's as the base attack dice instead of D8's
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Night Brood feedback:
- The Frenzy Rules- didn't bother using them last game (once I finally remembered at the start of turn 2 that we'd forgotten to implement it) because the rule is just one more plate in the air to remember & it either slows down play unless you place a reminder marker make a note on the sheet or makes movement predictable. It hasn't been needed to nerf the Brood thus far in my hands at least...
- Ammo for beams -needs to go- it threatens to hinder the flow of the game: "Excuse me, I'll be taking this turn to run away so I can try to regenerate more ammo", even though it hasn't come up in practice (the ships rip apart or lose their weapons altogether before they get 4 turns worth of shots in), the concept isn't growing on me well. If the ranges had been kept long, sure, it makes sense. With ranges cut back, you have to get into a knife fight with ships and that usually results in jump pods falling off the frame like a tipped Mellon cart. Regenerate every turn? Why slow the game down with the extra rolling and forgo the ammo in the first place because if you fail to regenerate you are back to running anyway. Leeches and Spore Moles need ammo -Beams don't.
- Gammas are a mixed bag. Fast, small ships with DV's on their best days that's easier to hit than most gunboats and warhounds. Their X-Beams miss often locked down to a D4 ADB die but do solid damage sometimes when they do connect. I'd be funny if they were cheap & disposable, but attrition fighters they are not. They'll probably need some kind of push before it's all said and done, even if it's a slow titration of their points value.
- The -2 penalty to shoot when jump pods are used is another one of those easy to forget rules that don't seem to be needed at the moment because the brood ship is either using the pods to A) escape, so isn't concerned with firing anyway, B) get in an advantageous position to shoot in which spending the limited resource only to have the advantage dulled somewhat defeats the purpose of chasing the advantage. (at least in my games thus far- it can be tricky enough to get a shot to hit with 3d8 without the penalty), or C) Shaking off torpedos from a tracking pack. Coupled with the aforementioned D4 ADB Gamma issue, it becomes Sophie's Choice of- "Do you want to eat 4xMk.10's this turn... or not hit anything, but waste 1 of your 2 remaining shots trying when Regeneration 2 is your fallback to resupply?"
- Beam Ranges being clipped have had the effect of making pinning down ships with mid to plus-sized drones nigh moot. No more is there a long-range zone to safe-ish-ly shoot at ships stuck in the drone-quagmire for a couple of turns. If an Alpha or Beta is in range to shoot now, then so are the ships they are shooting at in most cases --they can just min. move, shoot back, drones be damned. Drones nuisance trick falls flat without a shooting pressure advantage, but with beam ranges as they are drones no longer trap ships for time-at-range raking. There's no advantage to press with stuck ships that are equally effective at range.
"Make the spaceships rounder but more square!"
I can't change this sig. until I paint a longboat & post pics.
Mission Accomplished: 1/3/23
I can't change this sig. until I paint a longboat & post pics.
Mission Accomplished: 1/3/23