From: wildman@athena.mit.edu (Timothy Worsley)
Subject: Re: This has gone too far.....
Organization: Massachvsetts Institvte of Technology
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 04:02:28 GMT

DD vs SC, from scratch:

Let's talk torps, here...
Now, the DD has a harder time hitting, 'cause its torps go slower. Right?
And the DD has a harder time dodging, 'cause it turns slower, right?

Therefore, at torp fighting range (that's *fighting* range, not MAX
range you nitwits!), the DD has a harder time both hitting and dodging.

Now let's talk fuel.
On the surface, the DD just wins - it gets to fire 33 torps, to the scout's
28, or 11 phasers to the scout's 9.  But there's a problem: it's warp
costs 50% more than a scouts, so the higher the warp, the more of an
advantage the scout gets.

The DD regenerates 11 fuel per tick, compared to the scout's 8, but at
warp 6 they even out, and at any higher speed the scout is regaining
fuel faster.  Also, DD torps cost significaltly more than SC torps,
210 to 175 (cost of that extra damage), so even at the speed of
warp 5 the DD will still lose the fuel battle.

So, there's only one thing left, and that's the phaser.  The DD's
Phasers, in order to kill a scout, have to plan to do about 15 points
of damage per shot (and that leaves very little space for error!), and
you've got to fire 10 of them, plus one more to take care of the repair
factor (I don't know about you folks, but I split damage when fighting
SC vs DD).  A pure-phaser kill, while possible, is not extremely
attractive due it the long time it takes, the need to keep the scout
close without allowing it to explode on you, and the fact that you've
got to dodge warp 16 torps while hitting with 11 phasers in a row.

Also, if the DD gets closer than 15-point-phaser range, I'm not going
to miss regularly.  And neither will any other good scout - too much
practice being tractored by kill-hungry planet-scums in CA's!


Of course, the basic premise of this argument revolves around nailing
the scout's right foot to the floor, which as several people have
mentioned, put it at a measurable disadvantage.

So the question of "What the hell is REALLY happening?" crops up.

Well, there are 2 cases:

	Case #1 : The SC wants to kill the DD.

Well, granted that the SC has one more torp than the DD (hint: the one
you steer*), I find that I can nearly allways kill the DD, and nearly
allways die in the process.  Occasionally I get lucky, and rather than
kill it, I leave it crippled at warp 2.

Of course, the DD can run in an attempt to avoid the scout's 'Big
Torp', but that becomes a motion problem.

	Case #2 : The DD wants to kill the SC.

All that the scout has to do in this case is bring the warp of the
battle up to where it's advantage becomes overwhelming.  There's
something in the docs about 'Don't chase ships you can't catch', and
this is a prime example.

	Case #3 : The SC wants to stop the DD.

The DD's gonna have to go around, through, or under the scout.  Around
is hard 'cause the scout turns so fast, and through is tough 'cause of
the extra torp* the scout is packing.  So that leaves under (cloaking),
the strategy most people use when trying to blow past me in a DD.  So
the question becomes 'Is Warsong gonna get the phaser lock?', not a
game to be played idly.

	Case #4 : The DD wants to stop the SC.

This is where the DD's high-speed fuel problems become key.  Since the
DD wants to stop the SC, it has to fire.  It also has to go fast.
Now, this does not mean the SC wins all the time - but it has just
been given a *huge* advantage.  I generally find that if I really want
to get by a DD, I can do it without cloaking if I'm not afraid to kill
it, and care to spend 4000 fuel.  If I'm having a good day, I don't
have to kill it.  If I'm not having a good day, I'll go under it
(cloak), and use my manuverability to insure that a phaser-lock will
*NOT* be fatal, only annoying.  As I'm fond of telling Team BLOOD, "If
you haven't lost your shields yet, you haven't been playing Netrek"


Of every SC-on-DD battle that I can think of, every DD that wanted to
live gave me ground.  Why?  I couldn't say, I don't fly a DD.


Of course, there is a reason to fly a DD - running around with 5
armies.  Every decent player I know who flies a DD flies it primarily
for this purpose.  And I'd be insane if I said it didn't work -- Rob
would remind me of all the times I've chased him and blown up!


--Warsong

*ObExplosion

(Of course, if you really think the DD *fights* better, you're beyond
hope.  So please, save bandwidth and don't reply.  Because everyone
knows all of the above, yourself included.  But you know that if you
try hard enough, or fight against clueless schmoes, your DD will work.
So go ahead, try twice as hard as me to pull even, or play on
doorstop.  I don't really care.)