We haven`t done too much space combat yet, only some skill based chases, sou tell me...

I see there isn`t any difference between 2- 4; or 5- 6with the Fly/Drive maneuver, so I guess the speed relevance and difference comes into play in the Evasive Maneuver and the Gain the Advantage action and speed limited actions and maneuvers. I guess range bands and weapon range makes speed relevant too..

Does a fast ship with low defenses, armor and hull trauma + system strain stand a chance in a dogfight with more sturdy ships that might or might not be as fast?

Tell me, how do you feel ship speed affects how combat feels and how it plays out?

That's all kind of open ended. It effects it maybe a lot, or maybe not at all, depending on circumstances. You've enumerated the Maneuver and Action examples where it's applicable, so if those come up, it matters, if they don't it doesn't. It factors into Stellar Phenomena checks that might be part of a battle.

Your ship combat example lacks weapon examples. If one combatant out ranges another greatly, speed is likely irrelevant, other than just getting away.

I have found that Speed isn't all that important. Heavily armored "pigs" are far more survivable than lightweight "gnats" are are about as easy to hit.

It has really depended on the size of the furball in my games. Keep in mind that with fighters, 'Gain the advantage' tends to mean 'I stick behind the guy where he can't shoot me'. Fast fighters tear up slower ones that way. But it's not as much use against larger ships, that have guns on all sides, or turrets.

Speed can also come into play if the battle is taking place at greater range. If two Nebulon B-Frigates engage each other at long range and scramble fighters, it'll probably take those fighters a turn or two to get up to speed and reach each other, much less the opposing ship. And that means that space superiority fighters might have the opportunity to intercept bombers before they get into range.

Speed indicates how many range bands can be traversed in a single maneuver. Though I don't have the book in front of me and I can't remember what page it was on.

So the way the rules work, the ships are moving around each other at a consistent distance regardless of speed until one of the ships uses a maneuver to change that distance. Faster ships have a greater impact on what that distance is, should they choose to use it.

So the way the rules work, the ships are moving around each other at a consistent distance regardless of speed until one of the ships uses a maneuver to change that distance. Faster ships have a greater impact on what that distance is, should they choose to use it.

Pretty much and it really plays to the strengths of the individual starfighter. An A-Wing going after a regular TIE is going to have the advantage while they won't going against an Interceptor. A B-Wing will wreak havoc on everything since they can have more shields and more hull than the other starfighters. They also can go toe to toe with small capital ships and freighters.

Sorry to necro this thread but I have a similar question I could not find an answer for by searching or in the FAQ.

If the pilot of a starship downgrades his action to a maneuver to perform a second starship maneuver, does the starship still take 2 system strain? In other words, does a starship ALWAYS take 2 system strain when performing 2 starship maneuvers?

The ship always suffers 2 strain if 2 Pilot Only maneuvers are done in a round, no matter what.

The advantage of downgrading an action to a second maneuver is so that the PILOT doesn't also suffer 2 strain for the second maneuver.

Some rare ships allow for 2 pilots. On those ships each pilot can perform a single Pilot Only maneuver in a single round and suffer no strain. The ship itself will still suffer 2 strain.

I forgot I made this thread... Oh, I see, febuary.

It also depends on if you allow GtA to dictate the arc from which a defender can return fire from.

The Devs say yes, but it's also the kinda thing you may get a different answer form a different Dev on. If you do allow it, it changes the dynamic a bit as it allows a fast maneuverable craft the option to keep out of the line of fire.

Personally, while initially against it, I've found this does improve the mechanics a bit as things like TIE Fighters and A-wings make more sense and heavy fighters like the B-wing become less competent in a dogfight but still good in the close aerospace support and torpedo bomber role. Gunships with multiple crew members and turreted weapons still rock on the one-to-one, though they are more vulnerable to smaller defense weapon emplacements, missiles, and capital ships, and they don't squadron up as nicely as fighters, especially when frigates and cruisers start to come into play.

Some rare ships allow for 2 pilots. On those ships each pilot can perform a single Pilot Only maneuver in a single round and suffer no strain. The ship itself will still suffer 2 strain.

Rare as in no ship currently published has this feature .

In dog fighting with small forward arc ships GTA is life or death as your opponent has +1 difficulty to return fire. For most bigger ships at least some of their weapons can fire. Unfortunately space combat is currently broken by the range of certain weapons and requires hourse rules so not every ship is a missle boat

In dog fighting with small forward arc ships GTA is life or death as your opponent has +1 difficulty to return fire. For most bigger ships at least some of their weapons can fire. Unfortunately space combat is currently broken by the range of certain weapons and requires hourse rules so not every ship is a missle boat

GtA does not increase the difficulty to return fire. It negates the effect of evasive action for the craft executing GtA, and allows the shooter to select the arc where his shots land. If you also follow Dev feedback it makes it so the target of GtA must return fire using turreted weapons or weapons in the same arc as is being targeted. GtA can be overridden with a counter GtA (which is at increased difficulty) or partly negated with an opposed check. Both of those options are Actions though, so unless you successfully counter GtA, you're getting shot at next turn.

While there's plenty of sound arguments about what's possibly broken, weapon range isn't one of them. Missiles ARE great, but it's more to do with things like Breach, Guided, and Blast that allow it to bypass armor and still have a chance to hit on a miss. The Slow-firing quality, limited ammo, relative ease of movement, countermeasure options, the cost fo replacement, and the fact you can still miss balance missiles out quite a bit.

You may wish to review the rules and/or chat with your GM as it seems you've either missed a few things or he's enacted some house rules of his own without clarifying what's a house rule.

Does speed matter in chases during space combat?

Yes, the difference in relative speeds between ships influences how much the winner of the opposed chase check can open/close the distance. It also influences the difficulty of the piloting check if the chase is happening in a hazardous area.

GTA is life or death with snub fighters because most of their weapons are front arc only so in a dog fight if someone gets behind you with GTA then you CAN'T return fire, so you have to GTA yourself if you succeed you can't fire but then he can't either so he GTA's you at increasing difficulty eventually one of you fails and then the other can fire.

Most small ships, weapons are close all the way up to a heavy laser cannon so missles can be fired and keep a ship with close weapons out of range. Especially deadly are proton missles. Combine this with a fast missle boat and you have a situation where the smaller ship will be bombarded forever and never be able to close.

It sucks but check speed rules on FAD 238 In space terms I think of missle boats as horse archers they swoop in launch missles then move out of range you try and close they shoot you again and move out of range it totally stinks.

Some rare ships allow for 2 pilots. On those ships each pilot can perform a single Pilot Only maneuver in a single round and suffer no strain. The ship itself will still suffer 2 strain.

Rare as in no ship currently published has this feature .

Yeah I was paraphrasing the books. I assume the rules were written with the expectation that such a ship would be forthcoming, eventually.

I guess you can homebrew something with 2 pilots now if you really wanted.

R-Series droids in Starfighters sockets can Pilot.

Speed is very important in Dangerous Terrain, where it often sets the difficulty of the check.

Speed is very important in Dangerous Terrain, where it often sets the difficulty of the check.

That's pretty much the only time I pay attention to speed - when trying to dodge around things. If you want to not smash into that fruit stand and guys carrying a plate glass window, you bet your bippy that relative speed is important.

But otherwise If it's just 3 very fast fighters against really slow ships in a furball, I'll handwave it saying that the faster ship can pace the slower one. Even if going flat out, the TIES can keep up with the pokey old transport as much as they want.

In my games, targeting a ship moving faster than you gives setbacks equal to the speed difference (for these purposes, personal scale is speed 0); boosts for the opposite. This is in addition to all the other things speed affects (such as higher speed vehicles swooping in to attack range, attacking, then moving out of it; if the speed difference is high enough, you can actually fully outdistance an opponent this way (a good tactic that oddly doesn't seem to get mentioned very much).

In my games, I use speed when they are trying to get from A to B as well. For instance, when they take off, I will tell them they need to travel 15 units (for example) to reach hyperspace. That is 15 speed 1 maneuvers, or 3 speed 5 maneuvers. In between I throw in obstacles and enemies, and they close and lengthen distances narratively between themselves, but I only keep absolute track of where the PC's ship is, then relative narrative distance between them and enemies.

I love both suggested uses of speed (setbacks for difference and # of distance units). It gives the PCs a reason to be moving as fast as they can handle. I've been trying to figure out how to properly run a chase scene through difficult terrain - pirates chasing PCs through an asteroid belt as they flee with cargo trying to hit hyperspace. I can then mark on a map that there is more or less difficult terrain at certain bands of distance and the PCs can make a decision on how fast they want to take that movement.