CT Only: Crew effect in HG2 combat

[McPerth]

Valid points as well. It breaks down rather badly the larger the force involved. Really only works for squadron-size engagements. I am not so averse to the randomness bit, though. I just can't wrap my head around the idea of the admiral's incompetence at coordinating his ships resulting in making it easier for the enemy gunners to hit those ships.

Well, past some number of ships to coordinate, I would not talk of incompetence, but the need of an extraordinary person to control all the mess...

A thought occurs, belatedly. We're talking about the far future - way advanced computers, tight-beam laser or even meson communications and all that. At some point, the tech prevents the obvious mistakes - the big flashing image of Intrepid on your display tells you they're still awaiting orders, the computer verbalizes an alert that the proposed movement will leave Serendip in the reserve exposed to hostile fire, and so forth. At some point, the tech is good enough that anyone can be at least competent, and the standouts who get the bonuses are the ones who can go beyond the tech to pull some advantage out of the aether.

About the thight beam and meson communications, I'm not sure it's usable in the heat of battle to a ship maneuvering to dodge missiles and beam fire (bad for all thigh beam commos), under a cloud of sand (I guess bad for laser/maser beams) and with meson screens up (I guess bad for meson beams). I guess in this situation, the old radio broadcast becomes more reliable...

And to pull that advantage from the aether is what good Fleet Tactics skill might do, if anything might...

 

[mike wightman]

What is also needed is a CIC and separate bridge for the admiral for fleet co-ordination.

 

[Vladika]

What is also needed is a CIC and separate bridge for the admiral for fleet co-ordination.

I don't know if you've seen this:

http://users.hartwick.edu/smithw/bridges.htm

I find this a good approach to bridges of differing types, especially of those you mentioned.

 

[Carlobrand]

...About the thight beam and meson communications, I'm not sure it's usable in the heat of battle to a ship maneuvering to dodge missiles and beam fire (bad for all thigh beam commos), under a cloud of sand (I guess bad for laser/maser beams) and with meson screens up (I guess bad for meson beams). I guess in this situation, the old radio broadcast becomes more reliable...

Hmmm ...

Striker has no problem with agilely maneuvering grav vehicles using simple battle computers to maintain comm link over the ranges of those systems. Those ranges are typically tens of kilometers, limited by the horizon if nothing else, nothing like the daunting distances a ship in space deals with. On the other hand, nothing stops a ship from communicating its intended movement back down the link in real-time so the other ship can be prepared to compensate, and those ships have computers vastly more capable than a tank's battle comp. Range could still be limited by lag due to light speed limit, but that could still yield ranges of tens of thousands of kilometers, certainly adequate for fleet maneuver.

Visual obstruction by smoke or some such thing is a problem, but not for maser systems, at least not as portrayed in Striker. Mesons create an interesting dilemma. Meson screens would block meson communications - but then meson communications work by firing mesons at a little meson screen to receive the signal. Communicating out isn't a problem: if you can fire out, you can surely send a signal out. As for inbound signals - one wonders whether the defensive meson screens themselves might be sensitive enough to serve in lieu of the little one they're currently blocking.

...And to pull that advantage from the aether is what good Fleet Tactics skill might do, if anything might...

In which case we should perhaps be talking about the benefits of Fleet Tactics skill rather than the penalties associated with inadequate Fleet Tactics skill, since the tech can act as a pretty effective crutch.