Author Topic: Random Questions for Game  (Read 1216 times)

Tangoforone

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Random Questions for Game
« on: 14 January 2020, 00:50:15 »
I have a few Aerospace questions for a game I am hosting in a couple weeks.  Two Defiance Omnifighters controlled by the WoB each have an Alamo Nuclear Bomb attached (the Alamo is a 10 point bomb, and the Defiance is a 55 ton ASF, so this should work) and are scheduled for launch; a Level II of mechs, and a Level II combined arms group of vehicles and battle armor are protecting the runway.  Clan forces have been alerted to the scheduled launch and are en-route to stop them.  The bombs are mounted, but are still being armed by techs; completing this will take a few rounds which should allow the Clan forces to at least start engaging the defending units.  My questions are as follows:

1.  The ASFs will start at a standstill in a bunker.  They will need to taxi a few inches to line up with the runway, and then take off.  To prevent control rolls they will start off with a standard takeoff.  If the runway takes enough damage to have a portion destroyed, can the ASFs switch to a vertical takeoff while they are in the process of a standard takeoff?  Or do they need to spend thrust to reduce their forward speed to zero before they can vertically takeoff?

2.  Is there heat generated in regards to thrust?  1 for safe, 2 for max for example? 

3.  Is there a penalty to using max thrust while taking off?  Are control rolls still needed?

4.  What is the liftoff velocity required?  I assume it is based on tonnage, but nowhere in Total Warfare did I find it say what the liftoff velocity is.

5.  Does the straight Movement on Ground Maps Table apply while my ASF is taking off?  I.E. 1 velocity means my fighter moves 8 inches?

6.  According to the liftoff rules, I need 20 inches of runway to take off without inducing a control roll.  An ASF moves 20 inches with a velocity of 4, so for this exercise I am going to assume that is what I need to takeoff, but if someone can answer question 4 that would support this question.  My safe thrust is 6, so I will spend 6 thrust points at the beginning of the Aerospace movement phase to increase my velocity to 6, which allows me to then move 28 hexes on the same turn, if I am reading the rules correctly.  So does it only take one turn to successfully launch an ASF if it can get to the needed velocity?  I assume thrust is also needed to increase the altitude as it is taking off, so perhaps I would only have 5 velocity available to me (24 inches of movement).  OR, do I need to spend thrust on the turn before to increase velocity, but because my velocity at the beginning of the movement was 0 I don't get to increase the velocity until the following turn?

Thanks in advance.

Weirdo

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Re: Random Questions for Game
« Reply #1 on: 14 January 2020, 09:27:03 »
Is this for an Alpha Strike game, or Total War?
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Tangoforone

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Re: Random Questions for Game
« Reply #2 on: 14 January 2020, 16:51:12 »
Total Warfare.

Weirdo

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Re: Random Questions for Game
« Reply #3 on: 14 January 2020, 19:22:34 »
Just checking, all the references to inches confused me.

1: ASFs and any other non-spheroid Aeros behave exactly like wheeled vehicles when they taxi. They don't spend thrust to do so, they get wheeled MP equal to half their safe thrust.

Taking off (horizontal or vertical) only takes place during a single movement phase, so once you announce that you're taking off, your opponent has no opportunity to shoot the runway and crater it before you are airborne. Similarly, if they do crater it during a weapons phase while you're still on the ground, you haven't announced your takeoff yet, and there's no takeoff to abort or switch to vertical.

Long story short, taking off is not an extended event that your opponent can interrupt. You say you're taking off, there might be a single piloting skill roll, and then your takeoff is done.

2: I don't think so.

3: Max Thrust or Safe Thrust are not things you use during takeoff. You say you're taking off, you meet the minimum thrust requirements, make a roll (only if doing a vertical takeoff), and you're airborne. It doesn't matter how much thrust you have, the takeoff takes up your entire movement.

4: There is no velocity requirement. There is a thrust requirement. If you can expend 2 or more thrust in a single turn, you've met it. That simple.

5: Only if that's the ruleset you're currently playing with. If you're using standard movement, your aero is simply placed in the aero hex that corresponds to the ground map you took off from, and given a Velocity of 1.

6: None of this applies. There is no takeoff roll, and no velocity requirement. As I said earlier, you just say you're taking off, check to see if you have 2 thrust available, and then you're airborne. That simple.
My wife writes books
"Thanks to Megamek, I can finally play BattleTech the way it was meant to be played--pantsless!"   -Neko Bijin
"...finally, giant space panties don't seem so strange." - Whistler
"Damn you, Weirdo... Damn you for being right!" - Paul
"...I was this many years old when I found out that licking a touchscreen in excitement is a bad idea." - JadeHellbringer
"We are the tribal elders. Weirdo is the mushroom specialist." - Worktroll

Daryk

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Re: Random Questions for Game
« Reply #4 on: 14 January 2020, 19:27:47 »
Re: 3, I asked a rules question regarding using Max Thrust during take off to meet the minimum requirements, and the answer was "yes"...

Tangoforone

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Re: Random Questions for Game
« Reply #5 on: 14 January 2020, 22:14:42 »
Thanks everyone!  I definitely should have clarified initially on ruleset; I am using inches because I am going to try implementing a 'strategic deployment' phase at the beginning of the game to try and get into the action quicker, similar to the initial force deployment in Chain of Command, and I figured inches would work better than hexes.  Anyways, thanks for the answers; this should be enough for the mission parameters.  I placed an IWM order for two Defiance ASFs, so hopefully they will arrive in the next couple weeks (game is on Feb. 1).

dgorsman

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Re: Random Questions for Game
« Reply #6 on: 14 January 2020, 22:57:34 »
Hopefully the Clan players remember they can carry Thunder LRMs to spike the runway and aprons with mines.
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Thunder LRMs: the gift that keeps on giving.  They're the glitter of the BattleTech universe.

truetanker

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Re: Random Questions for Game
« Reply #7 on: 26 January 2020, 20:40:19 »
Or ADA rounds for the A4 unit...

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