First, thanks for diving right in to ask some great questions...it's this type of enthusiasm I was hoping to tap.
Second, yes, the hope is that the system is 'loose' enough that it'll work for anything we throw into the mix. Not it doesn't mean it 'will' work that way...but that's my hope.
As for future values, the only very solid numbers we have are gun values. Currently no gun has a smaller value than: 3 (DBlue) / 5 (DGreen); and no gun has a larger value than: 9 (DBlack) / 18 (DRed). As for Breach Numbers and Speed, there's no absolute values we've run into yet. While there are guidelines for construction ships, it does not contain absolutes, allowing us to adjust as necessary as we introduce a host of factions and new ships down the line.
Randall
Excellent information, thank you. Actually, that information does provide some insight into the absolute values of breach numbers. We know that there are some ships out there that field only Blue/Green guns, and only green crew, meaning that they throw at most 10 plus the target die. Without the crew, they can throw at most a 6.
Let us postulate a tiny destroyer, HML
Impotent. She's equipped with 4 Blue/ 8 Green guns in all quarters, but no crew slots. These are her relevant properties for this argument. For the sake of said argument, let us say this gunboat has a point value of 400 or so.
Now let us posulate a enormous battleship, HML
Invincible. She takes a black die to her flanks when she's underway, and the lowest breach number on any of her slots (after armor bonuses) is 23. Let us say this behemoth racks up 2,000 points.
Were they to fight each other,
Impotent would obviously be doomed. But what about if we brought a flock of destroyers? 5 DD's have the same point score as the 1 BB. If we apply BattleTech-style force sizing rules, we might have to throw a few more DD's at the party, but what's a half-dozen hulls between friends?
It wouldn't matter. If a million tiny destroyers bit into this juggernaut, they would not make so much as a scratch as long as
Invincible remains underway. They can throw a Blue (6), a Green (4), and a Black (12), best case scoring a 22 (roughly 3 times in 1,000 rolls), which still wouldn't penetrate the monster's hull anywhere.
It is possible the game doesn't allow for this possibility in the construction rules, but if it does, the point system utterly breaks at this stage. Range games, speed, and floating maps don't matter. Presuming that every ship must have at least 1 location die, the theoretical maximum minimum breach number a ship could have to render it immune to the Blue/Green cannons is only 15 (for a ships with a green die in the green arrow on each side.) There are already ships in the game fielding 16 armor in select slots, and we've not seen the capital warships yet.
I greatly appreciate the all-or-nothing armor system for this game, both mechanically and from a naval history perspective, but for the point system we're analyzing it has grave implications. Its worth noting that even without actual immunity, the probability of a hit can be reduce to almost inconsequential levels considerably more cheaply than the full invulernability numbers.
Thanks for reading all that. Now a quick question on a flavor note: Was the fact that the lowest grade of crew you can have on a ship is represented by a green die an intentional pun in the rules of the game?
