Proposed Full Thrust Tractor Beam Rules Edited By Mark A. Siefert From: tsmccart@ewd.dreo.dnd.ca How about this (which will need some work): Tractor beams may be purchased as A, B, or C rated. All have only one fire arc and a 36" range. The A batteries have a "tractor thrust rating" of 9 vs. Escorts, 6 vs. Cruisers, and 3 vs. Capital ships. The B batteries have ratings of 6 vs. Escorts, 4 vs. Cruisers, and 2 vs. Capital ships. The C batteries have ratings of 3 vs. Escorts, 2 vs. Cruisers, and 1 vs. Capital ships. To lock on with a tractor beam, you must successfully roll to hit (4+ for 1-12, 5+ for 13-24, 6+ for 25-36). Each successive turn, write "orders" for the target ship until lock on is broken. You may only apply up to half the "ttr" to damping turns, and the balance to drawing the target that many units closer. Example: A small frigate called the Millenium Falcon is trying to flee an Imperial Star Destroyer fitted with an A tractor beam. The Falcon is 20 inches ahead, with a velocity 10 higher than the Star Destroyer, when a tractor beam locks on. The next turn, the Falcon's orders are +8, but the tractor beam orders are 2D-7. The Falcon accelerates by one unit, and doesn't turn (of course). Had the Falcon ordered 2P+6, it would have only decelerated one. Had it ordered 4P+4, it would have decelerated 3 and turned 2 to port. If this took it outside the 36" range or the firing arc of the tractor beam, the Falcon would have been broken the lock on. Clearly this idea is a huge advantage for slow, lumbering hulks and boarding craft. I think it should probably be about: A Tractor 6 MASS, 15 points B Tractor 4 MASS, 10 points C Tractor 2 MASS, 5 points Tom McCarthy From: pcaron%nhqvax.dnet@rapnet.sanders.lockheed.com Overview: For people interested in SIMPLE tractor beam rules, try these out. I have strived to keep them playable,fun and hopefully balenced. I would appreciate constructive comments from other players. I have made references to the 'Full Thrust' rules in this document rather than quote them. Sorry if this makes things less clear but I do not have permission from the author to post his rules here and I do not wish to violate the copyright. So I guess you'll have to buy this GREAT game before you read these proposed Tractor Beam rules. Disclaimer: These rules have not been playtested nor proofread. Use at own risk... ;) ................................................................................ Tractor Beam MASS: As 'A' Battery COST: As 'A' Battery FireArcs: Purchased per 'A' Battery rules. FireCon: Requires one Firecon which may not be used by any other system that turn. Multiple Tractor Beams may be fired but each uses up a fire control. To Tractor target, player rolls number of dice indicated below and hits as if firing a Beam Battery. Screens affect Tractor Beams in same manner as Beam weapons. If any 'damage' is scored then the tractor lock is successful. (Note: no damage actually occurs.) Target Ship Class Range and #Dice ----------------- --------------- 2 Classes Smaller As 'A' Battery 1 Class Smaller As 'B' Battery Same Class Size As 'C' Battery Note: Smaller ships may NOT tractor larger ships. Tractoring ship must roll EACH TURN to maintain tractor lock. Tractor lock is broken if firing ship loses tractor beam, fails to maintain a tractor lock or is destroyed. Multiple Tractor Beams may be fired at the same target (or different ones if so desired). Operation: The tractored ship must plot movement as normal but may not use it if tractor lock is maintained. After movement is plotted but before ships move, the tractoring ship must roll to continue tractor lock. If successful, the tractoring ship may apply a number of thrust factors equal to the number of dice rolled. This thrust is treated the same as the normal thrust rules but doesn't need to be plotted. The thrust is used immediately to move target ship. After the tractoring ship has moved the target, the turn proceeds as normal. The target does not apply it's plotted move this turn! When the tractoring ship moves, the target is moved as well such that it's relative facing and distance to the tractoring ship remains the same. Tractor 'Duels': Two starships may attempt to tractor each other if they are the same Class size. Each rolls per the 'C' Battery (see table above) as if each were trying to damage the other (ie. take screens into account), though no damage is actually taken. The ship scoring the most 'damage' has acquired lockon and may move it's opponent per the rules above. If no 'damage' occurs or if both ships score the same amount then neither has acquired lock on and movement occurs normally. Two or more starships may play 'tug of war' with a common target. Each ship gets a number of dice per the table above. The ship with the highest 'damage' result wrests control over the target for the turn. Again, if a tie occurs or if no ship scores 'damage' then none of the ships obtained a tractor lock. If tractor lock is obtained, the tractoring ship must immediately move the target or announce that the tractor lock is dropped. If the tractor lock is dropped, the target ship moves per it's own plotted movement. A small ship may NOT use it's tractor beam on a larger class starship but may use it on a common target if within range. Thus, a small ship may attempt to wrest control of a common target from a larger starship per the 'tug of war' tractor duel discussed above. (ie. a friendly escort class ship can be 'freed' from a Capital ship's tractor beam by another friendly ship's tractor beam). Missles, Fighters and Mines: Tractors may be used against Missles, Fighter Groups and Mines. Tractor lock needs to be maintained each turn and another ship may attempt to wrest control or break lock on per the 'tug of war' rules above. Comments: These rules are fairly abstract. I've opted not to require plotted tractor movement for playability. Tractor beam movement should occur before ALL other movement (ie, Missles and Fighters). If you move a ship into a mine with a tractor beam then the mine explodes per the normal rules. Ships can drag, push or shove mines into each other if they wish. Missles can be held until their fuel runs out. Other combat is unaffected by the tractor beam except I would suggest that fighter dogfights be forbidden if one of the groups is tractored (they would get stuck in the tractor beam as well). Note: Tractor Beams are initially 'fired' during the normal fire sequence. Only if a ship with a Tractor Beam is attacked by another Tractoring starship may it roll out of sequence (to break lockon). Peter Caron From: FieldScott@aol.com (Scott Field) Hmm, lots of good ideas. Having shamelessly plagiarized many of them -- esp. Stuart & Adam ;) -- I now present my new & improved tractor beam rules (ver 2.0). I think these rules are simpler, as well as making more "sense." Cost: 4 + 3 per arc. (May be fitted through aft arc?). Mass: 5? Using a tractor beam requires a dedicated fire con, which may not be used for anything else. Tractor beams have a range of 12" and a strength of 12 minus range. Each level of screens the target has subtracts 2 from the tractor's strength. The result (x") is the total "drag distance" the 2 ships are moved towards each other. Tractor beams are activated during fire resolution phase, but the effects do not take place until the following movement phase. Move the target ship normally in accordance with its written orders, then apply the "drag" as follows. If the two ships are the same size, both are dragged x" towards each other. If the size difference is one class (regardless of which ship is larger), the smaller ship is dragged 2x" and the larger ship is dragged 1/2 x". If the size difference is 3 classes, the smaller ship is dragged 3x" and the larger ship is not dragged. Example: A DN is trying to tractor a 6-thrust FF with level-1 screens, which is 8" away. The beam has a strength of 4 (12-8"), minus 2 for the screens, for a drag distance of 2". On the next turn, both ships are moved in accordance with their written orders; the FF is then dragged 6" towards the DN. The DN is not dragged. Had the target ship been a cruiser, it would have been dragged 4" and the DN 1". Had both ships been capitals, they would each have been dragged 2". If the target ship's plotted move takes it temporarily outside the beam's range or arc the beam is not broken, as long as the "dragged" movement brings it back in range/arc. Also note that the dragged movement can cause the 2 ships to overshoot each other (ie -- ship 3" apart each dragged 5" towards each other). To prevent this, the tractoring player should be allowed to voluntarily reduce the strength of his beam, but must announce this when locking on. If you want different classes of tractors, just change the strength/range: C-tractors do 6 minus range, B-tractors do 12 minus range, and A-tractors do 18 minus range. [I still like breaking down size differences based on class because it's simpler. Alternately, you could divide the distance up in accordance with the mass ratio of the 2 ships: a 80-mass SDN is tractoring a 40-mass BC; drag distance calculates to 4". Since the SDN is twice the mass of the BC, the BC is dragged 8" and the SDN is dragged 2". This would make capital-ship tractors immensely powerful against escorts, so you might have to juggle the numbers.] Scott Field From: Stuart > [Tractor beams] How about this. I don't know exactly to calculate the power of the beam, or exactly how it decreases with range but here's a go: First you determine how much thrust is applied by the tractor beam. For ships of the same size = 10 - (distance in inches). Then, when you plot movement, the player owning the tractor beam gets to plot the thrust applied by the tractor beam, as a normal FT plot. You then add the two (or more, when you have a tug of war situation :) together, and the resultant is the move for that ship. For grossly bigger and smaller ships, multiply the thrust by the number of orders of magnitude size difference (tractor beam ship 10 times bigger, tractor thrust two times bigger, tractor ship 100 times bigger, thrust three times bigger). E.g. An imperial star destroyer with a tractor beam is 7 inches from a fleeing rebel ship with ship half it's mass. This gives (10 -7) x 2 = 6 points of thrust. The Rebel princess plots r+3, but the evil Lord of the Sith plots l2-4. The target ship thus moves as if they had plotted l-1. This means that clever manouvering may allow a ship to esacpe a tractor beam at extreme range, but as the ships close it becomes more and more difficult. If you have a go with this, share your experience. Not bad eh? Post a request, and get a rule made up in about 2 minutes! Stuart From: Adam Delafield Most of the ideas about tractor beams give a thrust rating on the enemy ship opposed to it's movement. However, I've never seen tractors as being so subtle. The idea of tractors seems to me to be to grapple an opponent and drag them closer. ------------------------------------------------------------------- How about this for an idea. Tractors are rated at x, where x is half the distance the tractor can drag the FIRING ship. At the end of movement, any ship that has a successful tractor 'lock' on a ship can move that ship a set distance. These distances are as follows. Just what constitutes a lock, and how one is achieved has also got to be figured out. When firing at a ship which is a CLASS smaller, move the target ship 2x directly toward the firer. If the ships are the same class, both move x toward each other. If firing at a ship of a larger class, the firer is moved 2x toward the target. ------------------------------------------------------------------- And another idea. Tractors simply dissipate kinetic energy. Any ship hit by a tractor looses an amount of velocity dependant on it's class (down to zero. If a ship is in reverse it GAINS velocity up to zero). Capitals loose 1 Cruisers loose 1d6 Escorts loose 2d6 This would be simplest. I'd restrict this type of tractor to capitals, and only one per ship. I'd also assume that all capitals get tractors for free, provided they have at least one fighter bay (assumed to be included in equipment for landing fighters.) provided the background warents it. This would be my favourite option. +-------------------------------------+--------------------+ | Adam Delafield, I.T. Officer | Bolton Institute, | | | Eagle Tower, | | E-mail : ad4@Bolton.ac.uk | College Way, | | Phone : +44 1204 528851 (ext 3163) | Bolton, UK. | | Fax : +44 1204 399074 | BL3 5AE. | +-------------------------------------+--------------------+