Persei-Aries War Resumes
PLAYTESTING: ARE CORVETTES OVERPOWERED IN DARKSTAR?
A week ago we had a great game of Darkstar between @muakhah and @elessar2590 , where we had a Prussian force that included a wolf pack of five Type XII Umfangangriffboote (U-boats, or perimeter attack boats). The game was a Prussian victory and a pretty handy one at that. The Prussian player was more experienced and the Arab League player had some very bad dice rolls, but despite this I started to worry that these torpedo corvettes were overpowered, especially in large numbers.
Well, I did NOT want to change the “large numbers” or the “wolf pack” tactics. With the American Mako class, the Russian K-56 class, and the Prussian Type XII U-boats, we’re clearly going for a “submarine” motif here. Moreover, I WANT them to be a very dangerous threat, especially in large wolfpacks.
So if they’re not overpowered, are they underpriced?
Counting the amount of armor boxes a corvette has compared to a frigate (the next larger ship type), the number of internal component boxes, I started to feel that the base cost for a corvette of 10 was too low. This disparity becomes more pronounced when one considers the curves in the power-weight ratios (smaller ships average more power per ton), making them much better at carrying energy-based weapons like lasers, syglex emitters, and EPCs rather than weight-heavy systems like rail guns and plasma projectors. It also allows much better shielding (shielding arrays weigh about the same regardless of their power, but cost much more power for better systems), to say nothing of targeting systems and CICs (combat information centers).
Long story short, corvettes seem to have “hacked the math” by mounting +2 CICs, very high shielding for their hull size, and deadly-accurate and long-ranged weapons. They punch far above their weight of just 10 points, +20% for an “advanced” design (additional bonus to starting available power).
I went ahead and cranked their cost up to 15. The +20% for advanced power plants thus takes them to 18. With a cost of 18 rather than 12, the Prussians could have only afforded four Type XIIs in that wolf pack instead of five.
Would that have made a difference? To test the new pricing model, I put six re-priced Type XIIs (18 x 6 = 108) up against the USS Oriskany (106 points), +2 additional scouts = 108 points.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the bump in price is not quite enough. I think corvettes as a class are smidge too cheap, hence the increase to base 15 rather then 10, but also the +2 CICs those Type XIIs were carrying were another critical factor. But for now I’ll just test the Type XIIs at 18 points each and see where that takes us.
So here’s the match-up. Like I said, I have a feeling the “fix” here isn’t just raising the price on the corvette, but also any ship that carries a +2 or +3 CIC (we’ve run across this before with the uber-advanced pirates and corporate vessels with +3 CICs. The rate of increase will be higher for smaller ships than larger ones, again ... because CICs are a power-heavy system and smaller ships have an easier time with surplus power (compared to their mass) than larger, heavier ships. 
Oriskany wins initiative, and sets course, accounting for gravity, to split the U-boat's forward torpedo arc. She sets approach velocity at 15 (45 kilometers a second), reducing to 8 with her upgraded thrust, accounting for the pull of that small moon. Note that half the U-boats (who had to move first) can now only fire starboard bow torpedo tubes. All U-boats fire deck lasers as 18 hexes (3240 km). All miss. Oriskany scores one 6-MgKv hit on U-101’s starboard bow (gunnery impact upgrade).
Oriskany wins initiative again. The U-boats go for the moon’s atmosphere, pointing bow tubes in all directions and trying to use the moon’s mass to screen their sterns. Oriskany also decels again to five (15 kps) and dives toward moon, pulling out to use the moon’s curvature to screen from lasers of back U-boats (blue line of fire cannot shoot hrough Hexes 3021 and 3220) and also screening her stern from incoming torpedoes (Hex 2822). She has also carefully placed herself at range 6 to make most of her gunnery impact upgrade. None of it helps. The Oriskany rolls 5 (+3, for CiC plus x2 EW bonuses) on mass drivers, scouts shoot down one more. That only accounts for nine torpedoes out of 36, so she’s hit by 27, five of which get through her double-upgraded shields and electronic warfare suites. Five Class IV torpedoes hit on her port quarter, all but blowing the back third of the ship clean off the hull. First playtest is an epic fail, the Oriskany is crippled without crippling (or even seriously damaging) a single U-boat.
Try two. This time the Oriskany breaks AWAY from the moon. Prussians dive toward the moon, and set up "hedgehog" with forward torpedo tubes in all likely directions. The Oriskany continues backing up, staying out of range of torpedoes, while keeping her own torpedo tubes toward the enemy. The first wave of Prussian torpedoes will not hit his turn, and the Oriskany’s scouts manage to knock one down (her mass drivers cannot hit those torpedoes yet). The Oriskany Mark 48 gravitic torpedoes go in, one gets through mass drivers and hits the shields. U-101 is crippled. Oriskany takes one laser hit forward. Oriskany hits U-102 with two rail guns and one laser, cripples maneuvering thrusters and all forward weapons (including all torpedoes).
Oriskany wins initiative AGAIN (yes, third tie breaker, but Oriskany has thrust 7 + 2 tactical initiative = d6+9, Prussians have thrust 8 = d6+8). Prussians continue to slipstream along the moon's atmo, protecting their sterns. Oriskany again jack-knifes back away from Prussian torpedoes, but this time must take at least 24 of them (11 went dark with loss of U-101). Seven are shot down by Oriskany’s point defense guns, the scouts miss this time. Seventeen torpedoes hit he shields, four get through, straight up the stern. The Oriskany's cripple number is now 4+, Prussians roll a 3, so the Oriskany remains active ... barely. One of Oriskany's torpedoes gets through and hits U-103 (U-102 has no torpedoes to launch). One more rail gun hit from Oriskany cripples U-103. Rest of Oriskany’s is targeted on the damaged U-102, which loses mass drivers and Port Bow shields. Prussian lasers (only four left) miss.
Oriskany finally loses initiative. The thus accelerates and performs an S-turn to port and starboard to back off and break off the battle. Some torpedoes will still catch her. Some will not. Prussians smell blood in the water and finally accelerate away from the moon in a bod to put deck lasers into the Oriskany’s starboard quarter. Five torpedoes are shot down, one hits and gets through the shields, but no additional engine compartments are hit (the hit location is just very lucky for the Oriskany here). One Oriskany torpedo is shot down, one misses, and one hits, crippling the U-104. The Prussian lasers miss. Oriskany’s broadside (minus aft laser mount, lost in a pervious torpedo hit) mostly misses, scoring just two hits on the U-102. This hits the bridge and starboard magazine, but fails to cripple the corvette. Prussians then roll a 99 on the percentile breakoff check (a 01-45 would have meant the ship was compelled to break off the action, giving he Oriskany half points for driving her off). But with a 99, this must be the hardest U-boat crew in the Kriegsmarine! On Turn 05 - Oriskany hauls ass off the table. If this was a raid, it's a 54-0 victory for the Americans. If this was an assault, this is a 54-4 victory for the Prussians. The Oriskany was also insanely lucky a few times on this one.
Here are the Warship Record Sheets for the Oriskany on the two play-throughs of this battle. Honestly, although this last battle was a “draw” (American win if it was a raid, Prussian win if it was an assault), I still think the Oriskany vs. six Type XIIs ... the Type XIIs will win most of the time. The Oriskany survived long enough to flee because she was very lucky.So these Type XIIs are still underpriced. HOWEVER, I don’t think it’s the corvette ship type in general. For instance, Russians K-56s are also 18 points and I am almost sure the Oriskany will wipe the floor with six K-56s, which six Type XIIs (same point cost) will wipe the floor with the Oriskany. The difference is in those CICs. So again, I think I will add a “CIC surcharge” to any ship class that carries an abnormally high CIC (+2 or +3). This will effect many Japanese ships, almost all New Roman ships, Corporate / Pirate ships, and select American and Prussian ships (most notably, the corvette “submarine” classes). The cost of a Type XII will now be 21 (15 base, +3 for advanced, +3 for the advanced CIC). This is a 20% cost adjustment for +2 CICs, 40% adjustment for +3 CICs. This percentage will drop off for larger ship types.
The last test of this theory will come when I test Oriskany against six K-56s. If Oriskany beats the six K-56s at 108 points, even though she couldn’t really beat the six Type XIIs at 108 points, it will be proof that the remaining gap in the math lies in the +2 CIC (which the K-56s do not have).
I would like to see whether 6 Arab corvettes could take the Oriskany. I really doubt it. Looking at the U-boat types I think it is the perfect combination of elements that makes it overly effective. The Initiative and thrust to stay at range, with the CIC, long range laser and torps, and shields to make return fire ineffective. The russian one has a short range plasma cannon and so loses range efficiency. Any corvette that has to close to fire loses the bonuses that the CIC and shields give at range. The U-Boat represents peak long range corvette design.
@muakhah – I think I agree almost 100% with everything in your post. Could USS Oriskany take on six Ashur class corvettes? I honestly don’t know. Note the Ashurs carry NO torpedoes at all. This means that the 16 points of the Oriskany’s upgrades (x2 electronic warfare) are completely useless. The Ashurs would have to race close to the Oriskany as quickly as possible. Once within 6 hexes (range band three), that gunnery impact bonus now means nothing as well. Six Ashurs each carry x4 6-teravolt EPCs, with a +1 CiC. At point-blank range this would give them a base… Read more »