Re: Newbie question on galaxy

From: hall@kronos.arc.nasa.gov (Michael Hall)

Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 19:59:05 +0000

In article <Sep.30.10.36.57.1992.20040@andromeda.rutgers.edu> dshaffer@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Donald A Shaffer) writes:
>
>  Please pardon this complete newbie to the game of galaxy :) but I was
>wondering if you experienced galaxy players would give me some advise.  Is
>it generally better to arm ships with one big gun, or to arm a ship with many
>smaller guns.

This will probably be a controversial question.

IMHO, it is *generally* better to arm ships with one gun than with
many smaller guns - *not* *always*.  Having one gun per ship
generally means you have more ships, and that is very important
in galaxy.  It's usually better to have N fighters with 1-strength
guns than a single ship with N 1-strength guns.  Although the
shields on the single ship will be tougher, the fighters give
you probabilistic shielding by being extra targets.  Also, if
your choice is, as you said, between one *big* gun or one ship
with lots of little guns, the big gun will become obsolete
less quickly (as your opponents' shield tech improves) than the
little guns.

If some conditions hold, it can make sense to build some ships with
multiple guns:

* Even your smaller gun size will be able to take out enemy ships well,
    which means your weapons must be superior to the enemy's shields,
    probably due to technology rather than design, and you don't foresee
    this changing in the near future even with projected enemy gains in
    shield technology.

* Similarly, your shields on a larger ship can stand up the typical
    firepower of the enemy, and will continue to do so in the near future.

* You already have adequate fighter cover.

* You already have some guns that can take out the best shielded
    enemy ships imaginable.

It's hard to go wrong with the basic fleet composition: hundreds
of fighters (like 1 1 1 1 0), a dozen destroyers (like 4 1 4 4 0),
and a couple of big guns (like 20 1 30 10 0), even if they all have
just one shot each.  But when you are technologically (and to some
extent industrially) superior, you can take out your enemy a *bit*
more efficiently by adding some multiple shot ships to the rest of
your fleet.

--
Michael Hall            \"Your blackjack bankroll behaves much like a portfolio
NASA Ames Research Center\ of stocks.  A mathematician would describe it as
hall@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov \following a random walk with an upward drift." -Wong

References

Newbie question on galaxy
dshaffer@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Donald A Shaffer)
Wed, 30 Sep 1992 14:37:00 +0000

Referenced By

Newbie question on galaxy
dshaffer@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Donald A Shaffer)
Wed, 30 Sep 1992 14:37:00 +0000