Positions will have a daily allotment of tractor factors. This is the total output for all items generating tractor factors.
This will be used to stop positions. As tractor factors count against combat thrust, ships that have their combat speed reduced to zero will be effectively halted (also account for other positions).
If a position runs out of tractor factors, it will not stop any more positions on that particular day through the use of tractor mechanisms.
This means that a starbase with a gadzillion tractor factors could bring an entire warfleet to a grinding halt, stopping it for battle.
A starbase with only a few tractor factors may not even be capable of stopping a single ship.
As this could lead some players to develop xlight ships loaded with combat engines in order to exhaust tractor factors we will put some modifiers in.
Stress
The stress modifier of the firing position and the target position directly modify tractor factors.
Therefore firing tractor beams against an xtra light ship is much more effective on a mass per mass ratio than firing them against a heavy hull ship, i.e. an xtralight hull ship packed with combat engines will not soak more tractor factors than a heavy hull ship packed with combat engines.
An xtralight hull ship packed with tractor beams will not be more effective at stopping other ships than a heavy hull ship packed with tractor beams.
Vague supporting physics
While this is a game, we like to use some physics where we can.
Tractor beams are more effective against xlight hull ships as the ships as thrust needs to be cut in order to prevent the engines from powering through the rest of the ship.
Tractor beams are less effective when fired from an xtra light hull ship as the decking around the tractor tends to give way long before the tractor can be brought up to full power (like trying to lasso a train).
BTW: How are daily tractor factors going to affect my personal fave weapon - the Grav Cannon? The "vague physics" explanation for these little beasties should be entertaining
Cheers and thanks for the Headsup,
Rich Fanning
aka
Lord Lawrence Scrimm
CIA Director of Regional Operations
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| I don't suppose that adding a negative modifier to an E-Jump attempt by a ship that has been tractored could be added in this overhaul... |
I do not like this idea. Emergency jumps are risky enough.
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| BTW: How are daily tractor factors going to affect my personal fave weapon - the Grav Cannon? The "vague physics" explanation for these little beasties should be entertaining |
The tractor factor modifiers are applied in exactly the same manner. The weapons however still do the same damage. Theory is that the tractor factors from gravity cannons is a by-product of the mechanism. It is however such a useful by-product that the weapon is useful despite the low damage it inflicts.
this may already be the case though, im not sure as i havent reviewed the new combat structure in full yet...
In either case, will the tractor factors available be split amongst the available targets (things of the target list) or will on target be stopped, then remaing factors applied to the next target until it is stopped, then move on to the next? An example would be where 2 target ships are available, the starbase has sufficient tractor factors to stop one ship or reduce the combat speed of both by 50% - which way will it work?
Dan
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| If the position cannot move, is landed or docked then you can always attempt to board it. If you are able to board a position then you need to approach it and during this approach the target can attempt to destroy you. If the target is landed or docked then it does not have any time to react to your approach and cannot target you with space weapons. If a target is able to fire on you it is allowed four round of space combat with all its weapons against you, while you do nothing but close the range to the target. In this space combat the entire volley of enemy weapons will hit and the damage done by each weapon is doubled (as you are approaching to a range where the enemy can spot weak points on you position). If you survive you will proceed to board the position. |
Now, is the 4 rounds of space combat against the boarding ship/gp in addition to the existing 4 rounds of space combat already taking place (and keeping the target ship stationary and pinned), or is the targetting spread out amongst all combatants/boarders? The targetting rules seem to indicate that a ship that is pinned will target the ship pinning it in preference to others - does this carry over to boarding attempts? Does a pinned ship need to break the pin before it can retarget an incoming boarding party? Would a ship that is completely stationary and pinned be treated as landed/docked (best case) or completely uninhibited in it's firing arc against the boarder (worst case)? I can see a case with platforms where the 'best case' would not be feasable (making them extremely vulnerable to boarding), however I'm wondering if there is some middle ground that I'm missing here.
Cheers,
Rich Fanning
aka
Lord Lawrence Scrimm
CIA Intelligence Director