Newsgroups: rec.games.netrek
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 05:59:47 -0500 
From: "Joseph E. Beck" <jb8n+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: sunscreamer's How to be a Scoutbomber, part 2.5
	<61873@mimsy.umd.edu>


>No, the scout should never let an ASW (anti-scout warfare) player kill
>him.  Just dance away... remember the huge advantage that the scout
>has: ability to always run away.  The only time you should not be able
>to run successfully is when you have expended your fuel on a mission
>of importance... (probably bombing)... and even then about the only
>ship that can get you is another scout.  (Larger ships often do get
>SCs if they close while the SC is busy on its mission.)
>
>So, then the defending team has TWO people sitting near some pop
>looking foolish.  Not good.

Umm...a typo in my above post probably caused the confusion.  I meant
to say a teamate with kills rushes over to the armies.  My ASCB can't
kill him?  He can dance away?  Well, the ACSB is in a SC also.  At the
very least the SC bomber can be pushed away (unless he wanted to stay
and fight, now the ACSB will mutual with him).  Then the teamate can
beam up the armies in peace.  Looks like a win to me.

>Well, if the enemy team is not doing ASW, and your team is SC bombing,
>then they will have an advantage.  
Yes, but the poster talked about a front line numerical disadvantage.
I don't see onw here.

>But beyond that: it is generally a bad thing to be in your own
>backfield, because you are least useful to your team there.  (Assuming
>the frontline is more or less at the midline, anyway.)
> Your goal as a player
>is to take planets, which almost directly implies the subgoals of
>preserving your armies and killing the enemy's;
Yes, but in a good game the majority of the armies will be SC bombed
away.  I'm assuming we have SC bombers on our team, so most of their
armies are being destroyed.  And remember, ASCB isn't a full time job.
Whoever comes into the game after dying and doesn't have a high
priority mission from god can see if there is a planet with 6 or 7
armies on it they can beat a SC bomber too.  If so guard the armies
and inform the team they should be picked up.  In the close INL games
I've watched the team that does this better tends to win.  I think
it's the only reason we beat 12 AM:NG, they were better in almost
every regard.

> beyond which
>you can do other missions.  Even escorting has an endpoint which your
>TEAM controls...  But guarding may last indefinitely.
No.  I will assume that:
	1.  my team is clueful and picks up the armies
	2.  if we have to many armies they don't need these 2-4
	armies, then there is no reason to guard them since the
	enemy sucks.
Guarding does *not* last indefinitely in an INL game.  There's always
some planet scum on your team who can use a few armies.

>  But he
>is fulfilling 3 potential missions at once, whereas you are fulfilling
>only 1 potential mission by protecting your armies from him.
Correct.  You defined the ASCB as only having 1 misison available,
therefore he only fulfills 1 mission.  How about these?  Counter
ogging when the carrier goes to pick up, he's in the *perfect* escort
position since the carrier has to come right to him.  He's in the core
(possibly the front of the core), and if he says a better target like
an enemy taker going for a front line planet he can ogg.  You're
assuming the ACSB is both stupid and limited in options.  No wonder
you don't like it.

	joe
	Purple haze