quote:
Originally posted by General Hawkwing:
While the self-destruct device would be a cause for concern in multi-player games, I have yet to see the AI use one. Also there is no reason to place marines on a BC, a small ship serves the purpose much better when used in a fleet. Especially when armed with the correct weapon (shield dep)
I agree, use as small a ship as you can manage so that it is harder to hit and add ECMs. If a larger ship self-destructs before most of its components are gone, who is the real winner here? I'll trade frigates for cruisers any day. If it is a carrier, you could lose the battle, but take out the carrier, leaving the fighters stranded.
Pirates in the Carribean would often attack a Galleon with a fleet of small ships or boats and board it, because the Cannons had a lot of problems targeting the small vessals. Sometimes they would have just one cannon on these small vessels mounted on the bow to fire while closing on the vessel. Of course, the pirates wanted to capture the contents, so they'd be firing for the rigging or firing something like canister to harass the Spanish crew instead of trying for a Hull breach. Fortunately for them, the Spanish had no self-destruct devices.
Here is a question to consider, how many ship commanders would really trigger the self-destruct device if their ship were being captured? Klingon and Romulan commanders might. Starfleet commanders would surrender to their captors, except Kirk. He would at least bluff using the device to stall the enemy while Scotty would fix the engines. Picard would probably surrender and try to get out of the situation later (lure the enemy to the holodeck).
Self-destruct devices should have a failure chance based on the personality of the race. Violent races would be more willing to commit suicide than neutral or peaceful races, which would surrender. I would also suggest that the device should only work if the Bridge or Aux. Control room are still intact. Otherwise, the officers who can initiate a self-destruct are probably already dead.