"Full Thrust Lyran ESG" Topic

How would you simulate a Expanding Sphere Generator that the Lyrans used in SFB?

Ken Burnside claimed 'In Federation Commander, the ESG basically became a rate of fire 5 weapon that never misses, goes to range 1, and does 4 points of damage per hit.'

Closer to SFB's, I'd have to mix ramming, with asymmetric damage, then allow the tabbies' weapons fire to ignore armor.

Getting the balance would be a bite, so nothing that I'd try for a weapons system I never found interesting.

Doug

This is basically a conversion to Full Thrust. I decided that maybe the ADS would do the trick.

Right, the question is do you want the 'effective' result or the 'chrome' result. For the 'effective' result a short-ranged weapon that with high ROF and doesn't miss works fairly well. If you want a result closer to the 'chrome' you'll want to work in the ramming rules and such as Doug as says.

Do you mean this ADS or something else?
link

Will be interested in seeing the end result, at any rate; I enjoy mucking about with Trek conversions for Full Thrust.

-Will

I've never really been happy with the Bubble trait for Squadron Strike. I tried to get it into something that allowed SFB style ramming, but the lack of segmented movement made it less fun than the SFB version. (Bubble converts torpedo weapons into energy bubbles on the mounting ship; it works, it doesn't seem to be game breaking, but I've only ever seen it used twice in player-generated designs.)

Part of the appeal of an ESG is that it influences the enemy's maneuver with the threat of a ram as you charge across the map. For that to happen, it has to persist across several movement decisions, which plot-move-shoot whole turn movement games don't give.

In terms of the fiction…we're making energy bubbles that are the size of small gas giants. As a secondary weapon system designed to kill drones…

The problem with the Trek conversions for FT is that the shields don't work even remotely the same. Indeed, while FT is a great game, it doesn't lend itself to crossovers very well, as the rules systems are fairly rigid.

So here you run into the problem – if the shields are just a deflection (ie hit or miss) device, IIRC FT shields are, then how do you resolve the autodamage feature against a ship that in many cases in the original material would shrug off the attack with its shields, even though it autohits?

I agree, ADS is a good representation with fighters, but without tracking damage to shields you can't really simulate the ESG effect against larger vessels.

Yes, but there are several fan-created systems for ablative shields in FT already if that's what you want. Or you just assume that hull IS the shields, since in most Star Trek combat models (not SFB, I admit) the ship is basically toast once the shields are down. Fairly easy to adapt either way.

-Will

Except that shields are regenerative – hull isn't.

As far as the ablative shields, I haven't seen those, but none of the battlereps I've seen on here have used them. Maybe that would be a good fit if that's what Fakirozan is already using. :D

But again, in non-SFB-Trek, we don't know how fast shields actually regenerate in combat, some sources indicate it's not very fast at all. The bigger problem might be a lack of forward/aft hull (or shields), though there are fixes for that.

Check out the 'Full Thrust Weapon and Defense' archive, a lot of different options there.

-Will

Fella named Matt Tope had sent me his rules for the Lyran ESG back about 2004 so will post it below for folks to look at/try/modify:

LYRAN ESG (Expanding Sphere Generator)---by Matt Tope

ESG
1). Each ESG may be activated once per turn. It most be noted in the vessels orders when and how the ESG's are to be activated.

2) Individual ESG's may be activated in an offensive or defensive mode, but not both in one turn. Different ESG's on one vessel may be set to different modes in the same turn.

3) If set to a defensive mode the ESG's activate in the point defense segment. Roll 1d6 per ESG activated and total. This is the number of attacking missiles and fighters killed. Inflict kills on missiles before
fighters (I figure fighter pilots will be more inclined to evasive maneuvering than drones will be). Fighters attacking from 3 – 6mu distance require 2 points to kill. ESG's then shut down, excess points are lost.

4) ESG's set to offensive mode activate in the direct fire weapons stage and "attack" when the carrying ship does so. The ESGs inflict 1d6 points of damage each on the closest enemy vessel within 3mu. If 2 or more enemy vessels are within range and equal distance the total damage is divided as equally as possible amongst them. If a friendly vessel is closest the player may shut the ESG's down before damage is caused to it (if the player so wishes). After attacking the ESG's shut down, excess damage is lost.

I have developed the rules as such to reflect the two main uses of ESG's I have encountered, as anti fighter/drone sweeps or anti-vessel rams.
Depending on which use they are put to determines in which game phase they are activated. This I feel is a good compromise between the FT and SFB turn/movement systems, and does away with a lot of record keeping/station
keeping required if ESG's are activated at the start of the FT game turn.

The ESG or Expanding Sphere Generator, is the gizmo which makes a Lyran ship not a Klingon ship or a Kzinti ship in SFB ;-)

Essentially the generator produces a bubble of energy which can be set to expand around the carrying vessel, at a specific radius when activated, 0, 1, 2, or 3 hexes on the SFB hex map. The greater the radius the less damage
the ESG causes on impact with some other body in space. The Lyrans use the ESG to swat drones and fighters out of their way, or to ram enemy vessels.
In SFB the ESG lasts one whole turn when activated (or until it hits one or more targets and depletes its energy), and will then need to be activated afresh.

Am using the ESG on one of my FSE ships in my ongoing FSE-Capellan raiders solo campaign for Full Thrust. The small circle icon with surrounding dotted line is the ESG icon (similar to Reflex Field icon.)