Again, where do you take this?
Both AnotherDilbert and you are quite knowledgeable about CT:HG, more than myself in fact (I'm note a MT man), but I cannot find where it's said that Agility is the acceleration, and the only definition I find is the one I quoted above, that is quite a different matter...
It is not explicitly stated, but that is the result of what is stated. There is no hint that you get acceleration without providing power to the M-drive.
LBB5'80, p17:
MOVEMENT
Starships move through ordinary space using maneuver drives as described in Book 2, page 1 under Interplanetary Travel. Power for the maneuver drives is provided by the starship's power plant, which must have a rating equal to or exceeding the drive number of the maneuver drive.
The M-drive consumes power that is produced by the power plant.
No power, no acceleration.
LBB5'80, p27-28:
Energy Points: Before installing computers or arming a ship, it is necessary to calculate the energy points available to the ship. This calculation uses the formula E=0.01MPn, where E equals the energy points available, M is the tonnage of the ship, and Pn is the power plant number. ... Energy points are used for four purposes: powering weapons, shields, for maneuver drives (for agility), and for computers.
Powering Weapons, Shields, and Computers: Various weapons, screens, and computers require energy points for operation, and these must be provided from the power plant. The weapons and screens installed on a ship may not consume more energy points than the power plant generates. Additional equipment may not be installed in reserve; the total energy point requirement for all equipment aboard ship must not exceed the energy point value of the ship.
Agility: Energy points remaining after weapons, screens, and computers have been installed may be applied toward the ship's agility rating. Divide the remaining energy points by 0.01M; the result is the number of agility points the ship has. Drop all fractional points. Agility is the ability of a ship to make violent maneuvers and take evasive action while engaging hostile targets. A ship's agility rating may never exceed its maneuver drive rating.
The power plant produces power.
Weapons etc. consumes power.
What is left is sent to the M-Drive in order to produce acceleration. No power, no acceleration.
You do not have to produce enough power for weapons and the M-drive at the same time, that is optional.
A PP-1 produces 0.01M EP.
A MD-1 consumes 0.01M EP to produce Agility-1 (1 G).
CT TCS, p12:
AGILITY
Agility is a measure of the amount of energy available to the ship's maneuver drives, even when other operations are in progress. As such, agility is an extremely important aspect of any combat ship.
...
Agility in Pursuit: In pursuit situations, those ships breaking off do so at the speed of their least agile ship. Similarly, pursuers follow at the speed of their least agile ship. Thus, given all the other charactistics and capabilities of ships in combat pursuit situations, agility determines their basic ability to flee or pursue.
Agility is your ability to manoeuvre, your acceleration.
LBB5'80, p41:
PURSUIT STEP
Ships breaking off by acceleration must begin at long range; they may break off from the line of battle or the reserve. Ships may break off alone or in groups; a group breaks off at the agility of its slowest ship.
You accelerate away by your agility = your current acceleration.
Ability to maneuvers = acceleration. Determined by MD
Ability to make violent maneuvers and to evade while engaging hostile targets= Agility
Yes, it's exactly the same. There is no other way to make "violent maneuvers" than by acceleration.
Newton's Law of Motion (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton's_laws_of_motion)
- A body remains at rest, or in motion at a constant speed in a straight line, except insofar as it is acted upon by a force.
- At any instant of time, the net force on a body is equal to the body's acceleration multiplied by its mass or, equivalently, the rate at which the body's momentum is changing with time.
So, in the same round where it joins the front line (and so accelerates to reach it), it cannot fire... That's the logical conclusion of what you say...
Acceleration is not velocity. You can accelerate towards the enemy until you reach a desired speed, then turn off the drive to coast at constant speed until you reach firing range and start blasting away.
LBB5 does not do movement in that detail, but you can do it with the fairly realistic LBB2 system, or even the horribly unrealistic MT system.