by Jared Noble lccjen@aai.arco.com
The variant 'advanced' fighter's given in More Thrust are great idea, but = as several people have already considered, some combination types would = be nice. Several ship construction spreadsheets I have seen have had a = provision for combination fighters (such as fast-attack fighters or = long-range interceptors).
Thatps all well and good, but why stop there? I have created the = following construction system that very easily lets you build variant = fighters of a multitude of types, as well as a graphical representation = to quickly identify every fighter type quickly and easily. So here goes:
Fighter Construction Overview:
A fighter consists of 4 systems, the Frame and Propulsion systems, which = are mandatory, and Anti-Ship and Anti-Fighter Weaponry.
Frame Cost Eff Squadron Damaged as Standard 0 1 Unscreened craft Heavy 2 2 Level-l screened craft Propulsion Cost Eff Speed Endurance Standard 1 1 12 3 Combat Turns Fast 3 2 18 3 Combat Turns L Range 3 2 12 5 Combat Turns Fast/LR 6 3 18 5 Combat Turns Anti-Ship Cost Eff Range Notes Standard 1 1 6 Attacks as beam weapon Attack 2 2 6 Attacks as beam weapon with +1 to die roll Torpedo 4 2 6 Single Shot. 4+ to-hit. d6 damage Anti-Fighter Cost Eff Notes Limited 0 0 6 Destroys 1 enemy fighter on roll of 6 Standard 1 1 6 Attacks as beam weapon Interceptor 2 2 6 Attacks as beam weapon with +1 to die roll
Using these values, it is easy to reconstruct all of the 7 fighter types = in the rulebooks
Fighter Type Frame Prop AS AF Cost Eff Multi-Role (FT) Std Std Std Std 3 4 Heavy Heavy Std Std Std 5 5 Fast Std Fast Std Std 5 5 Long-Range Std LR Std Std 5 5 Attack Std Std Attack Ltd 4 4 Torpedo Std Std Torp Ltd 6 4 Interceptor Std Std None Int 3 4
Cost is for each individual fighter. Remember to add in the 2 points for = a size 6 Fighter bay (see the hangar bay rules under Interface Craft, = More Thrust, p. 16) and you have perfect reconstruction of the Standard = fighter types.
Fighter Effeciency
The astute abserver has noted that the Eff (effeciency) value has been = included on my charts, but not discussed yet, so here is where we correct = that. On examining the Attack, Torpedo, and Interceptor fighters = classes, it is easy to see that in order to increase the effectiveness of = one system, another system was reduced to offset the change, which seems = to suggest that there really is some give-and-take in the design of these = craft. For the Heavy, Fast, and Long-Range fighters, however, there is no = system reduction to offset the new capabilities. They therefore appear to = be a more effecient design, packing more in to the same fighter.
Thus is born the Effeciency value. A standard fighter has an efficiency = of 4. Increasing one systemps effectiveness also increases its Eff = number. The higher the sum of all the Eff values, the more effecient the = design is. At least in terms of size. These densely packed super-fighters = cost more to produce and are more effective in combat, and this is = reflected in a higher point value. We have come up with two ways of = handling this, which can easily be used together.
Option 1
For every Eff point above 5, an extra 2 points is added to the cost of = the fighter to pay for this ultra miniaturization. As more options that = are added, the price goes up quickly.
As cool as it is to launch a squadron of your Eff 9 Lightning-class Fast = Long-Range Heavy Torpedo Interceptors, the 134 points per squadron may = have been better spent elsewhere, and they still die as fast as any other = heavy fighter.
Option 2
Limit the maximum efficiency for fighters to a pre-set level. If you = wish to represent differing technology levels, vary the maximum Eff by = time or by race, governemnt, etc.
Early fighters could be limited to Eff 4, which means that those Heavy, = Fast or Long-Range fighters must sacrifice some of their offensive = capabilities. At the same time the fiendish Bug-Eyed-Monsters invading = the solar system use fighters with a maximum Eff of 7, and their fighters = are more effective for it.
Other systems could easily be plugged-in to this constructioon system. = Want to add additional ECM capabilities, how about stealth systems? = Shouldnpt be too hard, just remember you will be giving something up for = those additional systems, or driving the cost up quickly.
With a system for constructing those Fast Attack fighters, or long-range = interceptors, how do we go about noting them on the Ship diagram?
Shown below are the various system diagrams for
modular fighters. = Symbols for each type of system are detailed.
Note that the standard MT = symbols for Ace and Turkey (or green,
as I call them) crews are still = used, and will not interfere
with any of the other icons.