Spaceships/JC: An Example Combat Revisited

Yesterday I wrote up a turn by turn example of GURPS Spaceship combat. It was something of a disaster, since one side didn't have any dedicated point defense and got blown out of space on the first turn.

I've decided to redo that example, using nearly the same ships, but adding a 30 KJ Improved VRF Laser turret to each of the Jovian Pathfinders, taking up the last of their cargo space.

I'm trying to run these examples without any house rules. I'm not doing a perfect job of that, though. One issue is that technically, a single pilot/gunner can't fire two different weapons (GSS1 p53). I don't consider it at all abusive to let the pilot/gunner use both his main weapons and his point defense weapons at the same time, with appropriate multi-tasking penalties, and I didn't notice that rule on my first read through. I'm not about to go back through these examples and add a semi-competent AI gunner, but you can do that mentally if it really bothers you.

Thanks to the eagle-eyed readers of the forum and on the comments below who pointed out my mistakes. It's a learning experience and I welcome the feedback.

Revised Scenario: Recovering the Floater

A flight of 4 Syreens have launched from their carrier on a rendezvous course with the drifting Mule freighter Carolina on my Thoughts. The Carolina has a Jovian Floater in its holds, and the CEGA would like another sample of this strange, extra-terrestrial life form. Meanwhile, a flight of 3 Pathfinders have launched from their carrier for the Carolina. Comm signals are established; words are exchanged; threats are made; and then someone on the CEGA side gets authority to go weapons free and a fight starts.

Special Rules and Command Orders

Objectives: Both sides want to recover the floater, which ways less than a ton and can be carried by any exo-armor with working arms. Either side wins if an exo-armor manages to pick up the floater, burn at least 1 mps of delta-V afterwards, and take 3 rounds of Retreat or Evasive maneuvers afterwards. Destroying the floater is automatically a tactical loss for the side that destroyed it.

The floater is in the Carolina's cargo bay. After rendezvousing with the uncontrollably drifting ship, it takes a Syreen with both arms working a total of 5 rounds of Ready maneuvers to tear through the hull; a Pathfinder can do it in 2 rounds with both arms working or 1 round of attack actions using a plasma lance. Multiple exo-armors can work together.

Retreating: Although both sides would like the floater, there are more floaters available and this is not a fight to the death. Unless acquiring the floater is immediately achievable by the floater, any exo-armor that is damaged below 0 HP must take a Retreat maneuver (if possible) on its next action and cannot make attacks as long as it is capable of Retreating. Enemy exo-armors will not fire on a heavily damaged exo-armor that is Retreating and not firing (or that has a destroyed engine or no fuel left and is not firing as it uncontrollably drifts away). The only exception is any exo-armor fleeing with the floater: enemy exo-armors can't fire on it, but they can attempt to rendezvous with it and steal the floater.

Opening Turn: Both the Jovian and the CEGA pilots are aware that a fight is about to break out when the CEGA pilots get the order to fire. So although both sides are making Controlled Drifts toward the Carolina, they have power allocated to all their energy weapons and are taking Aim and Wait (Point Defense) maneuvers on the turn before the fight starts. They also have their front hulls aligned toward the enemy.

The CEGA pilots are in formation with each other and must attempt to stay in formation with at least one other pilot at all times; the Jovian pilots are not in formation and may maneuver freely.

All of the CEGA exo-armors will go before any of the Jovian exo-armors.

Turn Length and Scale: None of the ships have less than 0.05G+ of acceleration, more than 10G+ of acceleration, more than 5 mps of delta-V, or many weapons that reach past Short range. The best scale is Close Scale and the best Turn Length is 1-minute per turn.

delta-V reserves: For simplicity, the Pathfinders have 5 mps of delta-V and the Syreens have 3.5 mps of delta-V. It takes 1G and 0.3 mps to get a +2 acceleration bonus, 2G and 1.2 mps to get a +4 acceleration bonus, and 3G and 1.8 mps of delta-V to get a +6 acceleration bonus. The rapid increase in delta-V reflects the doubled fuel consumption for high thrust operations.

Skill Levels: The Jovians have Pilot-14, Artillery/Gunner (Whatever)-14, and all other space related skills at 13. The less trained CEGA pilots have Pilot-14, Artillery/Gunner (Whatever)-13, and all other space related skills at 12.

Play of the Encounter

CEGA Round 1: The CEGA high command gives the weapons free order and the attack starts. The flight commander knows the flight characteristics of her exos and those of her enemies; her only hope is to get behind the Jovians, get some lucky hits on their weaker rear hulls and eliminate their drives, and let them drift out combat range. Both sides will continuously have to reserve a task for point defense fire, since any pilot that fails to do so is guaranteed to be swarmed by missiles on the next turn.

Each Syreen on its turn declares a three action multi-tasking penalty, and makes a Piloting task to perform a Closing maneuver against Pathfinder 1, a Gunnery task to perform an Aim and Attack with their ACDLS, and a Gunnery task to perform a Wait (Point Defense) with their ACDLS Screen.

Syreen 1 attempts a Closing maneuver against Pathfinder 1 and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G. She then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 15 against a 13 (MoF 2). Since the Pathfinder took an Controlled Drift last turn, it does not get to contest the maneuver, but the Syreen still fails to achieve either an attack vector or an advantageous position. Syreen 1 is now Neutral to all the Pathfinders with her front hull facing them.

She then fires her ACDLS at Pathfinder 1. She has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for her target's size, +0 for her laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range,+1 for RoF 6, rolling a 9 vs an effective 8 and missing.

Syreen 2 also attempts a Closing maneuver against Pathfinder 1 and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G. He then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 16 against a 13 (MoF 3). He stays in formation with Syreen 1, at Short range to Pathfinder 1.

He then fires his ACDLS at Pathfinder 1. He has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, +0 for his laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range, +1 for RoF 6, rolling a 11 vs an effective 8 and missing.

Syreen 3 chooses to break formation with Syreens 1 and 2 while making a Closing maneuver against Pathfinder 1. He expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G and rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 11 against a 13 (MoS 2). He can either be advantaged or on a Close range attack vector. An ACDLS has almost no chance of penetrating the front hull armor of a Pathfinder, so he chooses to be advantaged against Pathfinder 1's rear hull at a longer range.

He then fires his ACDLS at Pathfinder 1. He has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, +0 for his laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range, +1 for RoF 6,  rolling a 12 vs an effective 8 and missing.

Syreen 4 opts to stay in formation with Syreen 3 and attempts a Closing maneuver against Pathfinder 1. She expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G and rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 11 against a 13 (MoS 2). She stays in formation with Syreen 3 at Close range and advantaged against Pathfinder 1's rear hull.

She then fires her ACDLS at Pathfinder 1. She has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for her target's size, +0 for her laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range,+1 for RoF 6, rolling a 9 vs an effective 8 and missing.

Jovian Turn 1: The Jovian pilots are not here to defeat the CEGA Syreens but to capture the floater. They decide to split up: Pathfinders 1 and 2 will try to drive off the Syreens while Pathfinder 3 makes a rendezvous with the drifting Carolina. Jovian particle beams can penetrate Syreen armor at any engagement angle if the Jovians can get close enough to hit; the Jovians also have a little more fuel reserve for maneuvering.

Pathfinders 1 and 2 will perform 3 tasks this turn: a piloting task for a Closing Maneuver against Syreen 4, a Gunnery Task to perform an Aim and Attack with their particle beams, and a Gunnery Task to perform to Aim and Wait (Point Defense) their point defense lasers to keep the CEGA pilots honest. Pathfinder 3 will only perform two tasks: a piloting task to Close against the Carolina, and an Aim and Wait (Point Defense). If she can achieve a rendezvous with the Carolina, next turn she can use her plasma lance to open it up and retrieve the floater.

Pathfinder 1 starts by attempting a Closing maneuver against Syreen 4 and expends 1.2 mps of delta-V at 2G for a +4 acceleration bonus. He then rolls against Pilot-14, +4 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 10 against a 16 (MoS 6). Syreen 4 rolls against Pilot-14, at +2 for last turn's acceleration bonus, -1 for the Syreen's Handling, and -2 for his multitasking penalty, netting a 6 against a 13 (MoS 8). Pathfinder 1 loses, and is facing Syreen 4's front hull at Short range.

This is not ideal, since he is beyond his particle beam's half-damage range and is unlikely to penetrate the Syreen's armor. Nevertheless, he fires. He has Gunner-14, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, -3 for his beam's sAcc, -2 for the Syreen's 2 ECM arrays (halved for the Pathfinder's tactical array), and -8 for range, rolling a 11 vs an effective 6 and missing completely.

Pathfinder 2 does not attempt to get in formation. He makes a Closing maneuver against Syreen 4 and expends 1.2 mps of delta-V at 2G for a +4 acceleration bonus. She then rolls against Pilot-14, +4 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 10 against a 13 (MoS 3). Syreen 4 rolls against Pilot-14, at +2 for last turn's acceleration bonus, -1 for the Syreen's Handling, and -2 for his multitasking penalty, netting a 12 against a 13 (MoS 1). Pathfinder 2 wins, and opts for an unadvantaged attack vector, putting him at Close Range facing Syreen 4's front hull.

He fires the particle beam with Gunner-14, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, -3 for his beam's sAcc, -2 for the Syreen's 2 ECM arrays (halved for the Pathfinder's tactical array), +1 for bracing, and -4 for range, rolling a 11 vs an effective 11 and hitting with a single shot. Syreen 4 attempts to dodge, rolling an 11 versus a 7, +1 for turn length, +2 for defensive ECM, and takes a particle beam across the front hull at location 2 (armor). The particle beam does 4d burn surge rad (5), and the Syreen has hardened dDR 20, effectively over 3 for the effective armor penetration of the particle beam. D-damage is rolled as an 11, minus 7 for armor results in 4 d-damage to Syreen 4. 4 d-damage is more than 10% of a Syreen's 20 dHP and less than 50% of them, so hull section 3 is disabled. Thanks to the surge effect, the Syreen also needs to roll its HT of 12 and gets a 10, adverting further disabled systems.

Pathfinder 3 wants to rapidly close with the Carolina, but knows she can't achieve a rendezvous in a single pass. She makes a Closing maneuver against the freighter and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G for a +2 acceleration bonus. She then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -1 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 9 against a 14 (MoS 5). She achieves an attack vector against the Carolina, with intent to move to engaged, a collision course, and then the rendezvous over the next 3 turns.

I'm trying not to use any house rules here, but as close as I can read it, the Closing maneuver requires that a ship achieve two successive MoS 10+ maneuver successes in order to make a rendezvous. That's plainly nuts, especially against a ship that is already drifting. Instead, I'm saying that each success in the closing maneuver contest lets someone change position one step on the path of Neutral->Attack Vector->Engaged->Collision Course->Rendezvous. Evasive Action moves Rendezvoused units back to Collision Courses and Engaged units back to Attack Vectors. A Hold Course moved Rendezvoused units back to Collision Course.

If I don't use this rule, then the Syreens and the Pathfinders have to use all their delta-V and be very skilled and lucky just to dock with their own carriers, and that's ridiculous. 

CEGA Round 2: The CEGA flight leader knows that the Pathfinders will have an easier time getting the floater out the Carolina than her Syreens. She'll keep harassing the Pathfinders for now, and then have her formations move toward the Carolina after the Pathfinder has gotten closer.

Each Syreen on its turn declares a three action multi-tasking penalty, and makes a Piloting task to perform a Closing maneuver against Pathfinder 1, a Gunnery task to perform an Aim and Attack with their ACDLS, and a Gunnery task to perform a Wait (Point Defense) with their ACDLS Screen.

Syreen 1 attempts a Closing maneuver against Pathfinder 1 and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G. She then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 11 against a 13 (MoS 2). Pathfinder 1 against Pilot-14, +4 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 13 against a 16 (MoS 3). Syreen 1 stays at range to the Pathfinder's front hull.

She then fires her ACDLS at Pathfinder 1. She has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for her target's size, +0 for her laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range,+1 for RoF 6, rolling a 8 vs an effective 8 and hitting with a single shot. Pathfinder 1 dodges, rolling an 11 versus a base 7 (for Pilot-14/2), +1 for turn length, and +1 for ECM, and is hit in location 3 of his front hull (an armor location). The ACDLS does 4d burn (2) d-damage against the Pathfinder's hardened 21 dDR, and the Syreen rolls 6 damage and scorches the paint.

Syreen 2 also attempts a Closing maneuver against Pathfinder 1 and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G. He then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 10 against a 13 (MoS 3). Since he is staying in formation with Syreen 1, he reamins at Short range to Pathfinder 1.

He then fires his ACDLS at Pathfinder 1. He has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, +0 for his laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range, +1 for RoF 6, rolling a 7 vs an effective 8 and hitting with two lasers. Pathfinder 1 dodges, rolling an 13 versus a base 7, +1 for turn length, and +1 for ECM, and is hit in locations 4 and 2 of his front hull (an armor location and the defensive ECM array). The ACDLS does 4d burn (2) d-damage against the Pathfinder's hardened 21 dDR, and the Syreen rolls 13 and 17 damage and fails to penetrate in both instances.

Syreen 3 continues with his Closing maneuver against Pathfinder 1. He expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G and rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 11 against a 13 (MoS 2). Pathfinder 1 rolls against Pilot-14, +4 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 8 against a 16 (MoS 8). The Pathfinder wins the contest, and Syreen 3 is forced to Short range to the Pathfinder's front hull.

He then fires his ACDLS at Pathfinder 1. He has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, +0 for his laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range, +1 for RoF 6,  rolling a 6 vs an effective 8 and hitting with 3 shots. Pathfinder 1 dodges, rolling an 12 versus a base 7, +1 for turn length, and +1 for ECM, and is hit in locations 6, 4, and 2 of his front hull (an armor location, the medium battery, and the defensive ECM array). The ACDLS does 4d burn (2) d-damage against the Pathfinder's hardened 21 dDR, and the Syreen rolls 15, 12, and 14 damage and fails to penetrate at all.

Syreen 4 is down to 16 dHP but opts to stay in formation with Syreen 3 and attempts a Closing maneuver against Pathfinder 1. She expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G and rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 11 against a 13 (MoS 2). She stays in formation with Syreen 3 at Short range, aiming at Pathfinder 1's front hull.

She then fires her ACDLS at Pathfinder 1. She has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for her target's size, +0 for her laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range,+1 for RoF 6, rolling a 13 vs an effective 8 and missing.

Jovian Turn 2: The Jovian pilots will continue with their strategy of trying to pick off Syreen 4 while Pathfinder 3 closes with the Carolina. The attacking pilots will use less acceleration this turn so as to conserve delta-V.

Pathfinders 1 and 2 will perform 3 tasks this turn: a piloting task for a Closing Maneuver against Syreen 4, a Gunnery Task to perform an Aim and Attack with their particle beams, and a Gunnery Task to perform to Aim and Wait (Point Defense) their point defense lasers to keep the CEGA pilots honest. Pathfinder 3 will only perform two tasks: a piloting task to Close against the Carolina, and an Aim and Wait (Point Defense).

Pathfinder 1 starts by attempting a Closing maneuver against Syreen 4 and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G for a +2 acceleration bonus. He then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 10 against a 14 (MoS 4). Syreen 4 rolls against Pilot-14, at +2 for last turn's acceleration bonus, -1 for the Syreen's Handling, and -2 for his multitasking penalty, netting a 12 against a 13 (MoS 1). Pathfinder 1 wins, and moves to Close range on attack vector.

He fires with Gunner-14, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, -3 for his beam's sAcc, -2 for the Syreen's 2 ECM arrays (halved for the Pathfinder's tactical array), +1 for bracing, and -4 for range, rolling a 11 vs an effective 11 and potentially hitting with a single shot. Syreen 4 attempts to dodge, rolling an 15 versus a 7, +1 for turn length, +2 for defensive ECM, and takes a particle beam across the front hull at location 1 (armor). The particle beam does 4d burn surge rad (5), and the Syreen has hardened dDR 20, effectively over 3 for the effective armor penetration of the particle beam. D-damage is rolled as an 10, minus 7 for armor results in 3 d-damage to Syreen 4. 3 d-damage is just barely more than 10% of a Syreen's 20 dHP and less than 50% of them, so hull section 1 is disabled. Thanks to the surge effect, the Syreen also needs to roll its HT of 12 and gets a 7, adverting further disabled systems.

Pathfinder 2 is already on an attack vector with Syreen 4 and continues closing. He makes a Closing maneuver against Syreen 4 and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G for a +2 acceleration bonus. He then rolls against Pilot-14, +4 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 17 against a 13 (MoF 4 and a critical failure). Syreen 4 rolls against Pilot-14, at +2 for last turn's acceleration bonus, -1 for the Syreen's Handling, and -2 for his multitasking penalty, netting a 10 against a 13 (MoS 3). Syreen 4 wins convincingly, and ends up advantaged at Close range to Pathfinder 2 (and by extension, so does her formation partner in Syreen 3).

Pathfinder 2 fires the particle beam anyway with Gunner-14, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, -3 for his beam's sAcc, -2 for the Syreen's 2 ECM arrays (halved for the Pathfinder's tactical array), +1 for bracing, and -4 for range, rolling a 11 vs an effective 11 and potentially hitting. Syreen 4 attempts to dodge, rolling a 9 versus a 7, +1 for turn length, +2 for defensive ECM, and succeeds.

Pathfinder 3 continues to close with the Carolina. She makes a Closing maneuver against the freighter and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G for a +2 acceleration bonus. She then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -1 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 9 against a 14 (MoS 5). She moves from her previous attack vector to an engaged heading with the Carolina.

CEGA Round 3: The CEGA flight leader needs to close up on the Carolina, but Syreen 4 has finally achieved a solid firing position on a Pathfinder. She leads her half of the flight towards the Carolina while Syreens 3 and 4 attempt to destroy Pathfinder 2.

Syreens 1 and 2 declare two actions this turn: a Piloting task to Close with the Carolina, and a Gunnery task to perform a Wait (Point Defense) with their ACDLS Screen. Syreens 3 and 4 declare a three action multi-tasking penalty, and make a Piloting task to perform a Hold Course maneuver against Pathfinder 2, a Gunnery task to perform an Aim and Attack with their ACDLS, and a Gunnery task to perform a Wait (Point Defense) with their ACDLS Screen.

Syreen 1 attempts a Closing maneuver against the Carolina and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G. She then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -1 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 13 against a 14 (MoS 1). Carolina is drifting and cannot contest, so Syreen 1 succeeds in getting into an attack vector.

Syreen 2 also attempts a Closing maneuver against the Carolina and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G. He then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -1 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 8 against a 14 (MoS 6). Since he is staying in formation with Syreen 1, he is also on an attack vector to the Carolina.

Syreen 3 is advantaged at Close range with Pathfinder 2, thanks to Pathfinder 2's unfortunate maneuver critical failure. Not wanting to let a good thing to to waste, Syreen 3 makes a Hold Course maneuver Pathfinder 2. He expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G but doesn't need to roll anything.

He then fires his ACDLS at Pathfinder 2. He has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, +0 for his laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -4 for Close range, +1 for RoF 6,  rolling a 14 vs an effective 12 and missing completely.

Syreen 4 is down to 13 dHP but opts to stay in formation with Syreen 3 and Holds Course by expending 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G. She is at Close range and advantaged to Pathfinder 2, with her front hull facing his rear full.

She then fires her ACDLS at Pathfinder 2. She has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for her target's size, +0 for her laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -4 for Close range,+1 for RoF 6, rolling an 8 vs an effective 12 and converging with 5 shots. Pathfinder 2 dodges, rolling an 11 versus a base 7, +1 for turn length, and +1 for ECM, and is hit in locations  2-6 of his rear hull (an armor location, his fusion torch, both robot legs, and his fuel tank). The ACDLS does 4d burn (2) d-damage against the Pathfinder's hardened 14 dDR, and the Syreen rolls 19, 14, 14, 18, and 17 d-damage. Locations 2, 5, and 6 are penetrated for 5, 4, and 3 d-damage, respectively, disabling all of them. The armor location and the leg are nearly irrelevant in space combat, but the fuel tank pumps seize up. Lacking available reaction mass, Pathfinder 2 is pretty much out of the fight.

Another quick house rule here: by RAW, there's no difference between a disabled and a destroyed fuel tank. I'm ruling that a disabled fuel tank can no longer feed fuel to the engines, but can be repaired at a loss of half the remaining reaction mass. A destroyed fuel tank loses all its reaction mass.

Jovian Turn 3: The Jovians are in somewhat bad shape here. Half of the Syreens are closing on Pathfinder 3, and the others have disabled Pathfinder 2. Pathfinder 1 is on an attack vector against Syreen 4 and has been scoring hits, but the surprisingly robust exo-armor has definitely come out ahead.

Pathfinder 1 continues to close against Syreen 4; he is already on attack vector and a win in the contest would put him into engaged status. He expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G for a +2 acceleration bonus. He then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 10 against a 14 (MoS 4). Syreen 4 rolls against Pilot-14, at +2 for last turn's acceleration bonus, -1 for the Syreen's Handling, and -2 for his multitasking penalty, netting a 12 against a 14 (MoF 1). Pathfinder 1 wins, and stays at Close range while engaged.

He fires with Gunner-14, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, -3 for his beam's sAcc, -2 for the Syreen's 2 ECM arrays (halved for the Pathfinder's tactical array), +1 for bracing, and -4 for range, rolling a 9 vs an effective 11 and potentially hitting with three shots. Syreen 4 attempts to dodge, rolling an 14 versus a 7, +1 for turn length, +2 for defensive ECM, and takes 3 particle beams across the front hull at locations 1 and 5 (twice), hitting armor and the robot arms. The particle beam does 4d burn surge rad (5), and the Syreen has hardened dDR 20, effectively over 3 for the effective armor penetration of the particle beam. D-damage is rolled as an 13, 11, and 12, minus 7 for armor results in 6, 4, and 5 d-damage to Syreen 4. The armor section is disabled and the arms are destroyed, and the Syreen attempts to resist 3 surge effects with a 14, 12, and a 18. The first failure disabled is 4, another armor location, but the critical failure disables the Medium battery and the fusion plant. Syreen 4 ends up at -2 HP and without power for its point defense weapons. She'll flee on his next action.

Pathfinder 2 has minimal reaction mass left and can't make Piloting tasks that require acceleration. He elects to make a Damage Control task to see if he can repair the tank and recover the remaining 1.4 mps of reaction mass. In the meantime, he'll involuntarily Uncontrollably Drift. He attempts to jury-rig the tank, rolling against his Repair-13, at +0 for his damage control party size, and -9 for attempting to jury-rig in 1 minute, getting a 9 against a 4. He has a good chance of fixing it sometime in the next 40 minutes...

Pathfinder 3 continues to close with the Carolina, but she'll take an extra task to snipe at range. She makes a Closing maneuver against the freighter and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G for a +2 acceleration bonus. She then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 12 against a 13 (MoS 5). She moves from her previous engaged status to a collision course, effectively putting her in formation with the Carolina and therefore at Close range to the first half of the Syreen flight. 

She fires on Syreen 1 with her particle beam. Her skill is Gunner-14, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, -3 for his beam's sAcc, -2 for the Syreen's 2 ECM arrays (halved for the Pathfinder's tactical array), +1 for bracing, and -4 for range, rolling a 12 vs an effective 11 and missing.

CEGA Turn 4: The CEGA position is shifting, and its not clear if they're winning or not. Syreen 4 is clearly out of the fight, but everyone else has acceptable attack positions on their enemies.  They decide to press on.

Syreen 1 will chase after the Carolina while sniping at Pathfinder 1 and holding her point defense. She attempts another Closing maneuver against the Carolina (and Pathfinder 3) and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G. She then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -1 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 15 against a 13 (MoF 2). Carolina is drifting and cannot contest, but nevertheless Syreen 1 falls off her attack vector and is Neutral to all spacecraft on the scene.

She then fires her ACDLS at Pathfinder 1. She has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for her target's size, +0 for her laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range,+1 for RoF 6, rolling an 8 vs an effective 8 and hitting with 1 shot. Pathfinder 1 dodges, rolling an 12 versus a base 7, +1 for turn length, and +1 for ECM, and is hit in locations 6 of his front hull for 14 d-damage, which completely fails to penetrate the Pathfinder's front dDR of 21.

Syreen 2 shakes his head at his flight leader's inept piloting and decides to break formation in order to get closer to the Carolina. He will also snipe at Pathfinder 1. He attempts a Closing maneuver against the freighter and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G. He then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 12 against a 13 (MoS 1). The Carolina is drifting and cannot contest and while Pathfinder 3 is maneuvering, contesting the positioning would mean giving up her hard won collision course with the freighter. Syreen 2 achieves an engaged status with the Carolina.

He then fires his ACDLS at Pathfinder 1. He has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, +0 for his laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range, +1 for RoF 6, rolling a 11 vs an effective 8 and missing.

Syreen 3 was in formation with Syreen 4, so he's at Close range to Pathfinder 1 but not advantaged. He elects to Close with intent to make an Aim and Attack against Pathfinder 1. He expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G and rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 15 against a 13 (MoF 2). Pathfinder 1 rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 11 against a 14 (MoS 3). The Pathfinder wins the contest, and Syreen 3 is forced to Short range to the Pathfinder's front hull.

Syreen 3 then fires his ACDLS at Pathfinder 1. He has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, +0 for his laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range, +1 for RoF 6, rolling a 15 vs an effective 8 and missing.

Syreen 4 is at -2 dHP and is losing comm/sensors and is at -2 to handling and beam gunnery - though without a working power plant, she has no guns. Although she could in theory launch her A3 missiles, they're short ranged and inaccurate and it's unlikely that the Syreen would get an attack vector and get through the Pathfinder's point defense. Instead, she elects to make an Evasive maneuver while attempting to jury rig the fusion plant. She expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G and heads back toward her carrier while rolling against a 3 to get the fusion plant back up. She rolls a 9 and unsurprisingly fails.

Jovian Turn 4: The Jovians continue with their plan. Pathfinder 1 is now neutral to everyone; Pathfinder 3 is on a collision course with the Carolina, and the Syreens are all out of formation. Pathfinder 3 will take a third task this turn to use a plasma lance to open up the freighter's holds, assuming she reaches rendezvous.

Pathfinder 1 decides to close against Syreen 2 and drive him away from Pathfinder 3. He expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G for a +2 acceleration bonus. He then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 13 against a 14 (MoS 1). Syreen 2 rolls against Pilot-14, at +2 for last turn's acceleration bonus, -1 for the Syreen's Handling, and -2 for his multitasking penalty, netting an 8 against a 14 (MoS 6). Pathfinder 1 loses, and stays at Short ranged and unengaged.

He fires anyway with Gunner-14, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, -3 for his beam's sAcc, -2 for the Syreen's 2 ECM arrays (halved for the Pathfinder's tactical array), +1 for bracing, and -8 for range, rolling a 14 vs an effective 7 and missing.

Pathfinder 2 is still drifting until its pilot can repair his fuel pumps. The pilot attempts to jury-rig the tank, rolling against his Repair-13, at +0 for his damage control party size, and -9 for attempting to jury-rig in 1 minute, getting a 12 against a 4. He is pretty much out of the fight.

Pathfinder 3 is on a collision course with the Carolina, heading for a rendezvous. She makes a Closing maneuver against the freighter and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G for a +2 acceleration bonus. She then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 5 against a 13 (MoS 8). She moves from her previous collision course to a collision course a rendezvous and alights on the hull.

A few slashes with a plasma lance opens up the hull (at +20 to hit for being at rendezvous range, she can easily afford the -10 penalty for hitting a weak point, and the 8d cr (3) damage of the plasma lance easily tears through the freighter's unhardened hull structure). Next turn, she'll be able to grab the floater in one robot arm if the Syreens don't interfere.

At this point, Pathfinder 2 and Syreen 4 will effectively drop out of the fight.

CEGA Turn 5: Now that the Jovians have obligingly opened up the Carolina's holds, the Syreens will pour on the acceleration to close with the craft, cripple Pathfinder 3, and steal the floater. They'll also risk not using at task on point defense this turn, under the safe belief that Jovians won't be able to notice anyway. The Syreens have used 1.2 mps of the 3.6 mps they have available; one fast burn is about all they can afford.

Syreen 1 will chase after the Carolina while sniping at Pathfinder 3. She attempts another Closing maneuver against the Carolina (and Pathfinder 3) and expends 1.2 mps of delta-V at 2G. She then rolls against Pilot-14, +4 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -1 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 15 against a 15 (MoS 8). Carolina is drifting and cannot contest, so Syreen 1 takes advantage and gets behind Pathfinder 3.

She then fires her ACDLS at Pathfinder 3. She has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for her target's size, +0 for her laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range,+1 for RoF 6, rolling an 8 vs an effective 7 and missing.

Syreen 2 is already engaged with the Carolina, so he'll put on the thrust in an attempt to rendezvous and destroy Pathfinder 3. He attempts a Closing maneuver against the freighter and expends 1.8 mps of delta-V at 3G. He then rolls against Pilot-14, +6 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -1 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 3 against a 18 (MoS 15 and a critical success). The Carolina is drifting and cannot contest and while Pathfinder 3 is maneuvering, contesting the positioning would mean losing her rendezvous. Syreen 2 makes his rendezvous with the Carolina and Pathfinder 3, facing the exo's front hull.

He then fires his ACDLS at Pathfinder 3. He has Gunner-13, -1 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, +0 for his laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, +20 for Rendezvous range, +1 for RoF 6, and -10 for aiming at weak point in the armor of the tactical array, rolling a 9 vs an effective 26 and easily hitting with all 6 shots. Pathfinder 1 dodges, rolling an 8 versus a base 7, +1 for turn length, and +1 for ECM, and evades 2 of the shots. The other 4 shots do 14, 10, 18, and 22 d-damage against an effective dDR of 10, resulting 4, 8, and 12 of penetrating d-Damage. The Pathfinder's tactical array is destroyed by the first two hits and then the medium battery (with the PDS, missiles, and the plasma lances)  is destroyed by the last shot.

This sequence seems a bit unfair, but the Syreen got some lucky rolls and burnt most of its reaction mass to get here. The +20 bonus to hit at rendezvous range is really powerful.

Syreen 3 decides to continue focusing on Pathfinder 1. He continues to Close with intent to make an Aim and Attack against Pathfinder 1. He expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G and rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -1 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 12 against a 14 (MoS 2). Pathfinder 1 rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 12 against a 12 (MoS 2). The Syreen ties the contest, and his position doesn't change.

Syreen 3 then fires his ACDLS at Pathfinder 3. He has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, +0 for his laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range, +1 for RoF 6, rolling a 14 vs an effective 8 and missing.

Jovian Turn 5: The Jovians are in bad shape, but they may be able to recover with some luck.

Pathfinder 1 chases after Syreen 1. He expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G for a +2 acceleration bonus. He then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 6 against a 14 (MoS 8). Syreen 1 rolls against Pilot-14, at +4 for last turn's acceleration bonus, -1 for the Syreen's Handling, and -1 for his multitasking penalty, netting an 9 against a 16 (MoS 7). Pathfinder 1 wins, and ends up on a facing attack vector against Syreen 1.

He fires his particle beam with Gunner-14, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, -3 for his beam's sAcc, -2 for the Syreen's 2 ECM arrays (halved for the Pathfinder's tactical array), +1 for bracing, and -4 for range, rolling a 5 vs an effective 11 and hitting with all 3 shots. Syreen 1 attempts to dodge, rolling an 13 versus a 7, +1 for turn length, +2 for defensive ECM, and takes 3 particle beams across the front hull at locations 1 and 3 (twice), hitting armor locations. The particle beam does 4d burn surge rad (5), and the Syreen has hardened dDR 20, effectively over 3 for the effective armor penetration of the particle beam. D-damage is rolled as an 12, 12, and 12, minus 7 for armor results in 5, 5, and 5 d-damage to Syreen 4. The armor section 1 is disabled and the armor section 3 is destroyed, and the Syreen attempts to resist 3 surge effects with a 5, 14, and a 8. The disabled location is 2 another armor location, for no real effect. Syreen 1 ends up at 5 HP but still in the fight.

Pathfinder 3 is at -4 dHP and makes a Piloting task to grab the floater and then a Gunnery task to shoot back at Syreen 2 with his particle beam. She also involuntarily makes an Uncontrolled Drift, staying in rendezvous with the Carolina and Syreen 2. Since the Pathfinder has full size arms, it can easily pick up the floater with a single arm - the Syreens and their undersized arms would need to use both arms. She cannot make a Point Defense gunnery task, since her PDS has been destroyed.

She fires her particle beam with Gunner-14, -1 for multi-tasking, +5 for her target's size, -3 for her beam's sAcc, -4 for the Syreen's 2 ECM arrays (not halved for the Pathfinder's tactical array since those were destroyed), -10 for targeting a weak point in the Syreen's Medium Battery, and +20 for range, rolling a 9 vs an effective 21 and hitting with all 3 shots. Syreen 2 attempts to dodge, rolling an 14 versus a 7, +1 for turn length, +2 for defensive ECM, and takes 3 particle beams. The particle beam does 4d burn surge rad (5), and the Syreen has hardened dDR 10, effectively over 3 for the effective armor penetration of the particle beam. D-damage is rolled as an 13, 14, and 9, minus 3 for armor results in 10, 11, and 6 d-damage to Syreen 2. The medium battery is disabled and then destroyed and armor sections 4 and 1 are disabled. Tthe Syreen attempts to resist 3 surge effects with a 10, 9, and a 7. Syreen 2 ends up at -7 HP, without PDS or missiles, but possibly still in the fight.

CEGA Turn 6: The CEGA's best hope is wrestle the floater away from Pathfinder 3, but a contest of robot arm strength does not favor Syreens over Pathfinders. Shooting the badly damaged Pathfinder risks destroying the floater and losing the fight entirely.  Certainly they'll need to drive off Pathfinder 1 if possible.

Syreen 1 will continue to chase after the Carolina while sniping at Pathfinder 1. She'll resume using point defense. She attempts another Closing maneuver against the Carolina (and Pathfinder 3) and expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G. She then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 10 against a 13 (MoS 3). Carolina is drifting and cannot contest, so Syreen 1 gets on an attack vector.

She then fires her ACDLS at Pathfinder 1. She has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for her target's size, +0 for her laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Short range,+1 for RoF 6, rolling an 10 vs an effective 7 and missing.

Syreen 2 is at -7 dHP. He will take a Piloting task to wrestle the floater away from Pathfinder 3. He has dST 15 and gets a +2 for using both arms and a -2 for being below 0 dHP. He rolls a 6, winning by 9. Pathfinder 3 resists with dST 20, at -2 for being below 0 dHP and a -1 for multitasking, getting a 12 against a 17 and losing the contest. Syreen 2 now has the floater.

Syreen 3 decides to focus on Pathfinder 3 who cannot dodge this turn. He tries Close with intent to make an Aim and Attack against Pathfinder 3. He expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G and rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -1 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 11 against a 13 (MoS 2). Pathfinder 3 is making an uncontrolled drift on the Carolina, and can't contest. Syreen 3 gets on an attack vector.

Syreen 3 then fires his ACDLS at Pathfinder 3. He has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, +0 for his laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -4 for Close range, +1 for RoF 6, rolling a 13 vs an effective 12 and missing.

Syreen 3 probably should have used a missile here, since Pathfinder 3 would have had no defense and after the latest round of errata, missiles are fairly accurate. Using a proximity fused missile would have risked the floater so I decided not to try it.

Jovian Turn 6: The Jovians are determined to get the floater back and evacuate the area.

Pathfinder 1 is on an attack vector with Syreen 1. He expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G for a +2 acceleration bonus and continues closing. He then rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, +0 for a Pathfinders's Handling, and -2 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 6 against a 14 (MoS 8). Syreen 1 rolls against Pilot-14, at +2 for last turn's acceleration bonus, -1 for the Syreen's Handling, and -2 for his multitasking penalty, netting an 6 against a 13 (MoS 7). Pathfinder 1 wins, and ends up engaged with Syreen 1.

He fires his particle beam with Gunner-14, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, -3 for his beam's sAcc, -2 for the Syreen's 2 ECM arrays (halved for the Pathfinder's tactical array), +1 for bracing, and -4 for range, rolling a 3 vs an effective 11 and hitting with all 3 shots, critically hitting with one. Syreen 1 attempts to dodge the others, rolling an 17 versus a 7, +1 for turn length, +2 for defensive ECM, and takes 3 particle beams across the front hull at locations 2, 4, and 6, hitting armor locations and the medium battery. The particle beam does 4d burn surge rad (5), and the Syreen has hardened dDR 20, effectively over 3 for the effective armor penetration of the particle beam. The critical dodge failure results in maximum damage to armor location 4 (24 d-damage versus dDR 7);  the other two hits do 19 and 15 d-damage and 13 and 9 penetrating damage respectively. The armor section 4 is destroyed and section 1 is disabled; the medium battery is destroyed and the armor section 2 is disabled; and armor section 2 is then disabled. The Syreen attempts to resist 3 surge effects with a 14, 14, and a 7 but the surges go to armor locations and are ignored. At -19 dHP, Syreen 1 does not have to check for vehicle destruction, but the pilot knows her PDS is gone, she's vulnerable to missiles, and her vehicle is holding by threads. She'll retreat next turn.

Pathfinder 3 is at -4 dHP and makes a Piloting task to grab the floater back from Syreen 2. She'll use both arms to increase her chances of success. She rolls against dST 20, +2 for using both arms, and -2 for being below 0 dHP, rolling a 5 and succeeding by 15. The Syreen resists with dST 15, +2 for two arms, and -2 for being below 0 dHP - a 10 nets an MoS of 5 and the loss of the floater.

CEGA Turn 7: The CEGA doesn't have a lot of good options here, but they'll press on as best they can.

Syreen 1 is out of the fight at -19 dHP and no PDS. She Evades and heads back for the carrier.

Syreen 2 is at -7 dHP. He will take a Piloting task to wrestle the floater away from Pathfinder 3. He has dST 15 and gets a +2 for using both arms and a -2 for being below 0 dHP. He rolls a 13, winning by 2. Pathfinder 3 resists with dST 20, at -2 for being below 0 dHP and at +2 for using two arms, getting a 10 against a 20 and winning the contest.

Syreen 3 continues to try to close on Pathfinder 3, but he will not fire on him for fear of damaging the floater. He's already on an attack vector. He tries Close with intent to make an Aim and Attack against Pathfinder 1. He expends 0.3 mps of delta-V at 1G and rolls against Pilot-14, +2 for the acceleration bonus, -1 for a Syreen's Handling, and -1 for the multitasking penalty, netting a 5 against a 13 (MoS 8). Pathfinder 3 is making an uncontrolled drift on the Carolina, and can't contest. Syreen 3 becomes engaged.

Syreen 3 then fires his ACDLS at Pathfinder 1, who is at Short range. He has Gunner-13, -2 for multi-tasking, +5 for his target's size, +0 for his laser's sAcc, -2 for the Pathfinder's ECM array, -8 for Shortrange, +1 for RoF 6, rolling a 12 vs an effective 8 and missing.

Jovian Turn 7: The Jovians have likely won this one; they have a firm grasp on the floater and just need to get away.

Pathfinder 1 is currently neutral to everyone again; Syreen 2 is the biggest threat to his side, but he also needs to get into formation with Pathfinder 3 to provide covering PDS. Fortunately, missiles don't really care about range. He expends 1.2 mps of delta-V at 2G for a +4 acceleration bonus and selects the Retreat maneuver. 

He then makes a Aim and Wait task to launch an MMJ-4 16 cm missile at Syreen 2. He'll launch the missile as soon as Pathfinder 3 is free of the Carolina. He'll also hold a task for point defense.

Pathfinder 3 has the floater and needs to flee the area. She declares a Pilot task to Retreat into formation with Pathfinder 1 and a Gunnery task against Syreen 3 (who will be on an Attack vector and thus at Close range).

She fires at Syreen 3 with her particle beam. Her skill is Gunner-14, -1 for multi-tasking, +5 for her target's size, -3 for her beam's sAcc, -4 for the Syreen's 2 ECM arrays, +1 for bracing, and -4 for range, rolling a 13 vs an effective 11 and missing.

Pathfinder 1 then launches a missile at Syreen 2, now that Pathfinder 3 is clear of the area. Since he is Retreating, his missile has a relative velocity of 5 mps. He starts with Artillery-14, +5 for the Syreen's size, +2 for the missile's sAcc, -6 for relative velocity up to 10 mps, -2 for multitasking and gets a 13 versus a net 13 and a hit. Syreen 2 hasn't been accelerating for several turns and can't dodge; he also doesn't have a PDS system anymore. The missile slams into for 6dx5 d-damage, and the dice roll for 101 points. 20 dDR of hardened armor reduce that to 81 dDR of penetrating damage, bringing Syreen 2 down to -88 dHP (and 12 dHP from being destroyed). Syreen 2 makes 4 HT checks, rolling a 12, 6, 13, and 9, and is destroyed.

At this point, there is only one viable CEGA Syreen left, with only 1.8 mps of delta-V left in his tanks. His chance of making a rendezvous with the Jovians is pretty low, and trying to do so will open him up to close range particle beam fire from Pathfinder 1. Syreen 3 decides to go recover his allies.

Results

The CEGA has 1 Syreen destroyed, 1 Syreen heavily damaged, and 1 Syreen disabled in the fight without achieving their objectives. The Jovians had 1 Pathfinder heavily damaged and 1 Pathfinder disabled and achieved their objective. This was a decisive victory for the Jovians.

Conclusions

What a difference point defense makes. With missiles mostly out of play, this fight became much of a contest of maneuver and short range fire power. Both sides had lucky and unlucky rolls: the Syreens never dodged a particle beam attack, but the Pathfinders almost always did below average damage with those particle beams.

At TL10, I'm not sure whether Improved Lasers or Particle Beams are better armament for small craft. Lasers have a range and accuracy advantage, but that's only helpful if they can penetrate armor when they hit. P-Beams don't hit much, but are much more likely to pierce armor (even if the Syreens had nanocomposite armor and dDR 28 per location, the p-beams would still have penetrated for 5 damage on an average hit).

It would have been nice to see the plasma lances in action, but that just didn't work. I've written up a Bricriu corvette and now I want to see how it does when swarmed by Pathfinders. And also how a squadron of Bricrius does in handling a Valiant strike carrier when the Valiant's space wing is absent.