Full Thrust tactics guide

Introduction

Who am I to write a tactics guide? Who cares? No-one else has written one yet, so I might as well.

General

Keep in mind your objectives. If you need to kill enemy ships, do that. If you need to get your convoy off the table, get it off. If you don't need to preserve your ships, don't be afraid to expend them if it will help you achieve an objective.

Weaponry

General

Target choice is critical to effective fire. My own experience suggests that concentrating fire against a small number of targets is most effective; if you do 10 points of damage against two cruisers, you might gain a threshold roll against each; but you could wipe almost any escort off the map, and remove its firepower completely from the battle.

Look on the bright side - at least it isn't Star Fleet Battles, with its Mizia- concept attacks and Kaufman Retrogrades.

Beam batteries

Beam battery tactics should be simple enough - just point them at the enemy and fire, right? Well, almost. Don't be tempted to use up your fire control allowance on beams if other systems will be more effective. If you're under fighter or missile attack, consider carefully how to deploy your C batteries. Employ them against missiles rather than fighters; expect to use about two to have a 55% chance of a fighter kill. You may do better to let the fighters through and kill a nearby wounded escort instead.

Pulse torpedoes

Pulse torpedoes need careful attention, particularly since you will often have to allocate fire control between torpedoes and beam batteries. Against an unscreened target, a torpedo has higher expected damage than an A battery out to 6", and higher damage than a B out to 18". Screened foes give the torpedo a further advantage; level-1 or -2 screening gives the torpedo better damage than an A to 18" and better than a B to 24", while against a level-3 screened ship the torpedo is superior to an A to 24". On the other hand, you will usually have more beam batteries than torpedoes. In general, save torpedoes for the heavy screened targets.

If pulse torpedoes are being used against you, there isn't much you can do about it; the range envelope is your main advantage. Some like to push their "sacrificial" escorts forward while keeping the beam-equipped heavies out of range. If you have superior manoeuvreability and an A battery, there isn't much reason to take damage from pulse fire.

Needle beams

Needles are very tricky to use well. They have short range, so the platform must be placed close to the target. They usually need several volleys to cripple, so the platform must survive; and their arc is restricted.

The main decision in needle use is which system to target. Fire control is always a good bet, especially on smaller platforms; destroying a target's offensive capability is usually easier that destroying his ship completely. Drives are another option, but this should mainly be used prior to a boarding attempt. FTL is rarely used except in special cases, since a fleeing ship can certainly be considered a "mission kill". Screens might seem tempting, but a platform that can reach needle beam range should be able to fire enough pulse torpedoes or submunitions to keep the heaviest ship busy. Special systems (reflex fields and cloaking fields) are definitely good targets; sensors are normally not worth the bother, unless just one specialised sensor ship is used.

Submunition packs

The trick with submunitions is, of course, working out when to fire them. There's usually no bonus for finishing the game with submunitions unfired, but it's always tempting to try for the close-range shot. Resist the temptation: most submunition carriers have the structural strength of a cornflakes packet and will explode as soon as they're hit. Once your enemy realises what he's up against, they will be hit. Launch the submunitions as soon as you get into range, then get clear (though if you have no other weapons, you should no longer be a priority target).

Try if possible to accelerate so as to move from outside effective range to within 12" in one turn.

If working against submunition platforms, try to hold long range; force the enemy to fire early or lose the opportunity to fire at all.

Mines

Mines cannot normally be used offensively. Their primary purpose in the tactical game is to deter pursuing ships; if you have time to place mines before battle begins, they can form good outer defences (to scratch incoming screening ships before they reach weapons range), and last-ditch inner defences (to try to cripple damaged ships before they can attack a static target).

Bear in mind that a single mine is almost useless to damage enemy ships. They should be deployed in depth, in overlapping fields; and their purpose is not to destroy ships, but to slow them down, and allow you to attack them in a known location.

If working against mines, protect your minesweeper by placing forward escorts just outside the mine's kill zone to distract and damage enemy ships. If you can go around the mines, do.

Nova cannon

It's big, it's ugly, and it leaves you defenceless when you fire it. Pick the moment carefully, bearing in mind that a platform firing Nova will be a prime target for all enemy whose guns can bear; fire it first, before they get the chance to damage it too badly. Also, take extreme care not to catch your own ships in the blast! Apart from anything else, your opponents will never let you forget it.

The best defence against a Nova cannon is not to be there when it goes off. Nova platforms are usually too heavy to manoeuvre fast, so keep an eye on them and scatter if they seem to be lining up a shot. Also, once you've scanned a Nova, break any formation you might have been using; it's too tempting a target. The expense of a Nova tempts many naval architects to skimp on point defences (especially since most cannot be used when the Nova is firing).

Missiles

Missiles look good, but they're easy to kill, especially in small numbers. If just one PDAF, ADAF or C battery is available to kill the missile, it has a 83.33% chance of getting through; against two, it has a 69.44% chance; against three, 57.87%; against four, 48.23%. Clearly, you need to swamp your target's defences, especially for large ships. Arrange time-on-target salvoes, probably from multiple platforms since most don't carry enough missiles to be effective singly.

If you're firing against missiles, it may be to your advantage to let some through. With two defences against two missiles, the expected damage is lower if you fire both against one (assuming they're the same type). This is best worked out on a case-by-case basis.

Unfortunately, missiles cannt be intercepted before they attack. However, putting ADAF platforms near your vulnerable ships can help, and if you can tempt the missiles into an attack against heavily-protected ships, so much the better.

AA megabatteries

This is the longest-ranged direct-fire weapon in the game. Make use of it. Fire as soon as you can, and keep firing; the close-range damage potential is useful, but being able to whittle away enemy ships before they can touch you is better. Also bear in mind the overload chances: at short range it's about one in 7.5 (13.2%), at medium range it's about one in 13.5 (7.4%), and at long range one in 36 (2.8%). To look at it another way, assume you take all shots at the same range. After 25 long-range shots, there's about a 50% chance that the gun will have overloaded; at medium range, this will take 9 shots; and at short range, just 5 shots.

Wave guns

Most of the comments on the nova cannon apply here as well, but wave guns appear more often on the battlefield. It should normally be possible to place a wave platform to minimise the amount of fire it takes through its unshielded arc. Over 70% of the time, the wave gun can be armed within two turns. It will only fail to be armed in thre turns less than 5% of the time.

When defending, as for Nova cannon, break formation as soon as you detect an enemy using one.

Reflex field

Not much to the tactics of this one. It's as good as a level-3 screen for stopping damage, so you might as well leave it turned on all the time when you don't have target opportunities. Keep switching its state to keep your enemy off-balance; when it's turned off, don't fire the reflex platform until it's come under fire already (so that the enemy knows its state).

Once you know your enemy has a reflex field, take a small shot at it early each turn just to keep him honest, and pour in fire from other ships when it's turned off. Also, like heavily screened ships, reflex ships are prime targets for pulse, missile and submunition fire.

Cloaking field

Cloaking fields are among the most misused ship systems. Naturally, they're great for escaping from battle. They're also good for sneaking up on static targets. They cannot really be used effectively in a mobile offensive, except to gain time for damage control teams to make repairs; alternatively, if many ships can cloak, let them all vanish simultaneously to regroup. The problem with cloakers is that they split your force, allowing the enemy to go after uncloaked ships without risking damage from the others.

Countering cloakers is fairly hard to do well. When a ship vanishes, try to work out what he's going to do. If he's heavily damaged, he may be trying to escape; you can't do much about that. If not, he's probably trying for an advantageous tactical position. Work out what he thought you were going to do, then do something different. If you're defending a base, he may turn up just inside a range band; so put some ships 3" or so in front of the base.

[Note that our group uses a "true cloak" rule: all cloaked movement must be plotted when the cloak is engaged.]

Fighters

Fighter tactics are deception tactics. You need to out-think your opponent in order to get the close-range shots. It's usually possible to predict roughly where his ships will arrive, especially if they're low-thrust; fast ships will be harder to predict, and it may be necessary to task multiple fighter groups to surround them.

The best method of killing a fighter is another fighter. Interceptors really only show their worth in defensive situations. Failing that, deploy under a screen of ADAFs.

Manoeuvre

General

Know your ship, and your enemy's. Of course, you're aiming to get to optimum range for your weapons while staying out of range for his. This should not be allowed to overwhelm good sense; in general, ships do not have major differences in range. Specialised ships (such as torpedo and needle platforms) need special handling, and it may be necessary to distract the enemy with more conventional ships to gain a range advantage.

Apart from obvious considerations of firing arc, I have found it very effective to concentrate fire on specific ships (usually smaller ones), to remove their weapons from consideration. Rear arc shots are satisfying, but do no more damage than others; if you outnumber the enemy, it is usually more effective to split up and cover his possible manoeuvre envelope, to ensure that at least one ship will have a fire opportunity.

Formation

Formations are generally neglected, particularly by gamers unused to naval warfare. It is entirely possible for the enemy to shoot past screening ships to take out the ships you are attempting to protect.

Thus, particularly if you are outgunned in convoy defence, it may be necessary to use a loose formation, such that the outriders will be in range of the attackers before they can bring their own guns to bear on the core ships. On the other hand, attackers should generally use tight formations, unless burst weapons (wave and nova cannon) are available to the defenders. Ships with shorter-ranged weapons should run ahead, with missile carriers behind; ideally, all weapons should acquire targets simultaneously.

Ship design

General

First, choose the purpose of the ship. A ship designed for one purpose will be able to do that one thing well; a ship designed for multiple purposes will do them all badly.

Thrust

This is a critical decision, since it will determine the tactical deployment of the ship. The published ships only rarely exceed 40% of points total for thrust; using much more than this seems not to be cost-effective, though opinions differ. Would you rather have four battleships from the book, or five with thrust 2?

Weapons

Beam batteries are the basic weapon of the game, and should not be neglected. The arguments about cost-effectiveness of different .beams are well-known and need not be repeated here. I find A and C batteries most useful (Cs providing fighter defence in smaller ships).

Pulse torpedoes should only rarely be fitted in preference to beam batteries. Their damage per mass is only superior at short range against heavily screened targets; this suggests that they should be used on (a) agile ships that expect to engage enemy heavy ships and then be destroyed or (b) heavy ships that can survive to close range with enemy heavies.

Needle beams are a special-purpose weapon and should normally be fitted only on specialised platforms. These platforms should have high thrust and reasonable survivability, to maximise the chance of getting the needle to firing range.Extra firecons might not be a bad idea, either.

Submunitions should normally only be fitted to a manoeuvreable (thrust 8) ship. Their range is too short for them to make sense on larger ships.

Minelayers and minesweepers are specialised weapons that have no place on standard ships. It may well be worth combining them on the same platform, though it is unusual to use both systems in the same battle.

The nova cannon is only worth mounting on the largest ships; quite apart from its size, the ship will have to survive an unscreened turn each time it fires. It is large enough that most carriers will have few other systems; concentrate on point defences.

Missiles need to be used in swarms to saturate enemy defences. Specialised ships should carry three or four; having fewer isn't worth it, unless you deploy large numbers of platforms.

The AA megabattery is a splendid weapon, especially at long range. It is a good centrepiece armament for capital ships, and is small enough not to need a specialised platform.

Wave guns, like nova cannon, belong on large ships. However, they do not demand the same proportion of ship space as nova canbon, so they may be found on les specialised ships.

Other systems

The reflex field is a very underrated system. For a little over half the cost of level-3 screening, it stops (on average) as much beam damage, and has the chance of damaging the enemy as well! OK, so you can't fire at the same time, but a reflex ship should be able to freak out most opponents. A battleship with full screens and reflex is truly terrifying.

A cloaking field should only be fitted to specialised cloaking ships; it's too expensive otherwise. It should typically be combined with a powerful one-punch weapon (wave gun, nova cannon, several AA batteries) and moderate point defences.

Sensors and ECM are best deployed on specialised ships; I prefer to have at least three sensor platforms (to stop the enemy blinding me with a single volley), and form up under an area ECM ship; opinions vary, and convoy defenders should probably consider individual ECM instead.

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