[CombatSquirrel]

Originally posted by geoschmo:
Fighters are so totally inept in mid to late game as it is, making them not stack would make them totally irrelevant. I see what you are saying in theory CS, but in practice the effectiveness of PDC and regular weapons against fighters totally makes up for any on paper advantage the damage stacking should give them.

Geoschmo

I also see what you are saying, Geo, and in SEIV standard I agree that it is a largely irrelevant point. But the fact remains that you can make considered adjustments to PD damage, size, accuracy, cost, difficulty to research. You can make choices in the defensive (or offensive) bonuses of manueverable fighters, and lumbering Capitol Ships. You can limit weapons, design special mounts... you have a staggering host of variables at your command to poke and tweak to adjust most any parameter.

You could design a ship that is 20% resistant to the toughest weapon mountable on a Cruiser. You could, if you wanted to, make it invulnerable to an infinite number of Cruisers, or design it so that the average Cruiser will inflict 10 points on its armor per combat turn. One thing you cannot do, however, is make a standard ship's hull able to bounce fighter weapons like peas off a brick wall. Even if those weapons only do 2 points of damage each, enough 25 kT fighters and your vessel will take full damage from every single one of them beyond the threshold.

The possibility to model a particular genre, or design and implement a particular "cosmic slant" is my absolute favorite aspect of SEIV. The ability to totally remodel the basics of design or combat is a real treat for me. I know that many, many participants on this board have more knowledge and experience than me, so I enter the debate to learn.

I just don't see the stacking of damage by units ignoring considerations of the individual effects of each combat hit as a feature. I perceive it as a limitation... maybe a necessary limitation. Clever design can incorporate and enhance a feature. Clever design is required to contain and diminish the effects of a limitation.

CombatSquirrel