Some general questions

Hi guys, so on friday we had our usual games and a few questions game up within it which caused some debate, We have our own opinions on what the answers are but for the sake of not influencing any answers i'll just post the questions and see what you guys think.

1) Should the New York class Battleship have 'Swordfish' missile bays like the rest of the battleships instead of 'Shark' missile bays.

2) The card 'Overcharge Lasers' card for the UCM says you may fire a burnthrough twice in one turn and not shoot the same laser the next turn. When using the 'Calypso's' special rule 'Advanced ECM Suite' We were unsure if the +1 to the lock value would also include the Second lot of shots from the UCM's burnthrough. Basically the question comes down to, does the burnthrough get twice the amount of dice, or does it shoot after all the other shots ?

3) When exactly does a ship get the minor spike for dropping any assets ?

4) When missions state they use 'Critical Locations' does this area automatically receive the rules for being a critical location or does this mean that the area (e.g. a cluster or space station) still has to be Surveyed ? the reason for this question is that in the book pg.75 it is called surveying a cluster and therefore you cant do this on a space station so how does the space station become a critical location ?

Ok, here are my thoughts on your questions:

1) I think the New York is correct in having Sharks rather than Swordfish. It isn't the only case of a ship having a lesser close action armament than others in its size class - look at the troopships, who have frigate-type close action on a cruiser hull (except PHR troopships, of course). If it was a typo, there has been plenty chance to errata it, and it hasn't been changed (yet!).

2) Looking at the card, the extra shot from the burnthrough Laser happens as part of that ship activating and firing. As the Calypso now works against all the firing from a group (instead of just one weapon), I would say that the ECM Suite will add the +1 to both BTL shots (and also any other weapons fired by that group).

3) Spikes for launching happen when you make the launch, which is in the Launch Assets subsection of the Roundup Phase. See pages 59 and 60.

4) Take another look at page 75: "Critical Locations" and "Surveying a Cluster" are two separate options under the "Other Scoring Methods" heading. I think the confusion is partly down to the fact that Surveying is a future-proofing rule, and as such doesn't appear in any of the standard rule book scenarios. So if a cluster/station is described in the scenario as a Critical Location, that's what it is, no surveying required.

Just my two pence worth, but hopefully it's another perspective for you. Strangely, I was thinking of your gaming group earlier today, as I was driving through the area where 4TK Gaming is. Spooky!

Regarding the critical locations, the scenarios on page 77, 79 and 80 specify which stations are critical and which are not.

cheers guys appreciate the input, the group and i agreed with all the same outcomes as you have just described but nether the less i still thought it was worth posting them up.

A followup question then;

can you only survey the cluster if it is under the victory conditions in the scenario, or have you been playing that you may survey the cluster in any game for extra victory points ?

cheers guys appreciate the input, the group and i agreed with all the same outcomes as you have just described but nether the less i still thought it was worth posting them up.

A followup question then;

can you only survey the cluster if it is under the victory conditions in the scenario, or have you been playing that you may survey the cluster in any game for extra victory points ?

Afaik the general consesus is that surveying needs to be specifically allowed in the scenario description. So right now there is not surveying

Surveying is just a cool rule we added into the book but can easily be implemented in future scenarios.

It is NOT currently used in any of the main rulebooks scenarios. But you will see it in future