The Starship Commander's Tactical Battle Simulator (C) Copyright 1993 William D. Hause Designers Notes & Tactical Advice ΙΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ» Ί Detection Ί ΘΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΌ Detecting enemy units before they detect you is one of the keys to defeating your enemy in battle. There are two ways to detect enemy units and be detected by enemy units. These are by passive and active sensors. Passive sensors simply detect space warp disturbances caused by enemy units. The anti-mater generators and hyperchronic batteries used by all star ships to produce power and store energy, cause space warp disturbances and therefor make the unit detectable to other units using passive sensors. The more power a ship expends, the greater the distance at which it can be detected by the enemy. All ships are equipped with a warp disturbance damping field. Allocating power to the damping field will reduce the distance at which your ship can be detected by enemy passive sensors. If you allocate enough power to the damping field then your ship will become completely undetectable to enemy passive sensors. Enemy active sensors will still be able to detect you however. Active sensors use space warp technology to permeate space in search of enemy units. Large enemy units can be detected by active sensors at greater distances than small enemy units. Active sensors cause huge space warp disturbances and make it possible for enemy units to detect your ship from very far away using their passive sensors. There is nothing your ship can do to reduce the distance at which it can be detected by enemy active sensors. The distance at which a unit may be detected by active sensors is proportional to the square root of the surface area of the unit. To sum up: Active sensors give away your position but also get you more detailed information about the enemy unit being detected. Passive sensors are not detectable by the enemy but they do not tell you as much about the enemy either. ΙΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ» Ί Weapons Ί ΘΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΌ Neutron Torpedo: The neutron torpedo is the main weapon used by Vikonian starships. The amount of damage a neutron torpedo does decreases with distance as does the probability of hitting the target. The neutron torpedo was developed by the Vikonians to help them capture ships undamaged. The neutron torpedo is unique in that it kills crew but does not damage the enemy ship. (See Weapons Graphs in the pull-down menu.) Electron Torpedo: The electron torpedo is the main weapon used by National Federation starships. The electron torpedo will always do 600 points of damage to its target if it hits. The probability of hitting the target decreases with distance. (See Weapons Graphs in the pull-down menu.) Antimatter Torpedo: The antimatter torpedo is the main weapon used by Barbarizard starships. The antimatter torpedo does less damage at greater distances and the probability of hitting the target decreases with distance. (See Weapons Graphs in the pull-down menu.) Disintegrator: Old style weapon. Fires an energy beam at the target. All four empires have disintegrator weapon technology and all four empires use it. Disintegrators are the weakest type of weapon and they are also the least energy efficient. Disintegrators always hit their target and are therefor good for shooting down enemy drones. Weapon Graphs: To view the Weapon Graphs, select "Weapon Graphs" from the pull-down menus. The "weapon graphs display" shows graphs of how the weapons perform as a function of distance from the target. The first graph shows the percent chance of a hit for each of the four types of weapons at varying distances from their targets. The second graph shows how the strength of each weapon changes as the distance from the target changes. The third graph shows (graph #1) x (graph #2). This graph shows you how each weapon performs relative to the other weapons at a given distance. e.g. At a range of one tenth of a parsec, the Antimatter Torpedo does more damage (on average) than the Electron Torpedo does. At a distance of one parsec, however, the Electron Torpedo does more damage (on average) than the Antimatter torpedo does. As you can see, from the third graph, the Disintegrator Beam is a relatively poor weapon and the Neutron Torpedo performs best at all ranges. Keep in mind however that the Neutron Torpedo only kills people, it doesn't damage ships and equipment. ΙΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ» Ί Drones Ί ΘΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΌ Drones are used mainly for scouting but can also be used as a weapon. Drones are very expensive and should not be wasted. It is very easy for an enemy unit to shoot down a drone. A single disintegrator hit at medium range will usually destroy a drone. For drones to be effective as weapons, they should be launched in large enough numbers so as to overwhelm and penetrate the targets defenses. Don't launch a drone at a target just to have it shot down when it gets within range of enemy torps or disintegrators. Drones can also be destroyed by other drones. A third defense against drones is to repel them with your tractor beam while recharging a weapon to destroy it with. Drones are unmanned and therefor can not be captured by the enemy. Besides scouting missions and attack missions, drones are often used to decoy enemy units. ΙΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ» Ί Capturing Enemy Ships Ί ΘΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΌ To capture an enemy unit you must transport squads from your ship to the target ship. Your squads will then fight for control of the target ship. If you squads are victorious then the target ship becomes yours. The attacking squads fight at a disadvantage. For every two defending squads killed, three attacking squads are killed. You should therefore only try to capture an enemy unit which has had its crew significantly reduced. ΙΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ» Ί Destroying Enemy Ships Ί ΘΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΌ To destroy an enemy unit you must do between 70% and 80% damage to it. No unit can take more than 80% damage without blowing up. When an enemy unit has over 70% damage, it is usually a good idea to finish it off before focusing your firepower on another enemy unit. ΙΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ» Ί Automatic Power Reallocation Ί ΘΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΌ When weapons on a unit become fully charged, the power that was allocated to them will automatically be redistributed to shields and movement. The power will be distributed in the same proportion that power is currently distributed shields and movement. When the weapons are fired then the same amount of power will be allocated back to the weapons that was allocated to them before the automatic reallocation occurred.