So, Just Whose Cycle Times Are You Paying Attention To, Anyhow?

Ken Lin

U.S.S. Ohio

The 8 impulse delay for consecutive firing and/or launching of phaser/disruptors/drones is well known. A very common tactical doctrine is to fire/launch those weapons on impulse 25, in order to have them available for use on impulse 1 of the following turn.

In the case of drones, this is not always the best tactic. If followed blindly without regard to the tactical situation, it results in significant disadvantage for the drone ship, especially during the early stages of the game.

Let's analyze a typical plasma-drone battle (for example RFH-ZIN), starting from turn 1. Let's assume that the Firehawk has launched a single enveloping plasma torpedo mid-turn 1, forcing the Kzinti to turn off. At the end of the turn, the Firehawk is trailing the Kzinti in chase position, approximately 10 hexes behind, with 3 torpedoes hot on turn 2. In a disruptor-vs-Big Plasma duel, turn 2 is often where the plasma ship enjoys his greatest advantage.

Example 1: The Kzinti launches 4 drones on turn 1 impulse 25, in order to "have the drone racks available for use on impulse 1." As the Firehawk is in chase position, it allows the Firehawk to close with the drones and destroy them with phasers at range 1, before the end of turn 1. This allows all Romulan phasers to be available for drone defense on turn 2.

Example 2: The Kzinti launches 4 drones on turn 1 impulse 32. When launched on impulse 32, the drones are too far away from the Firehawk to be destroyed with phasers. This means than the Firehawk will be forced to deal with 8 drones on turn 2 (4 launched late on turn 1, and 4 launched early on turn 2).

Example 2 allows the drone ship to concentrate his drones on turn 2, where it is critically important to keep the Big Plasma ship from maximizing his torpedo and positional advantage. With drone ships, it is often more important to pay attention to your opponent's phaser cycle times, instead of your own drone cycle times.