I’ll start this post by admitting that 4
isn’t really the magic number here, 8 is, but at least on average, 4 hull and 4
shields are a nice balance between the two. I’ve seen a post on BGG
(BoardGameGeek.com) that argued that shields were better than hull and I do
somewhat agree with that, but there are situations where it is better to have
the hull than it is to have the shields.
So 8 is the magic number when it comes to
damage and the reason is pretty simple – Outside of a build deliberately
designed to boost attack beyond the realms of normality (Archer, Tactical
Station, Malcolm Reed, for example), the most attack dice you are likely to
face at range 2-3 is 7 (note: The Queen Vessel Prime’s ship ability could be
used to boost a range 1 attack to 8 dice, but is unlikely to have any quality
in fleet pure play, maybe a target lock but even then, that’s only 75%
efficiency). Even with boosted attacks, 7 seems to be the top end of damage
production you are likely to face on a regular basis.
If you do suffer 7 damage, after evading
and spending tokens and cancelling attacks, then 4 hull and 4 shields is a
sweet-spot because that means that, barring the double damage critical hit, you
will survive to get a shot back. I put quite a lot of value on having high
captain skill, and part of the reason is that I’d hate to have my ship shot out
from underneath me before I get a chance to shoot. The other way around this
problem, is to never be in a position where you can take more than 7 damage
before you are capable of returning fire. The trick is to make sure that you
are in a position where only 1 enemy ship can shoot at each of your ships when
you can respond with at least 2 ships back. All of this must make sense, and
seem like good tactics, but what does it have to do with the Number 4?
4 hull 4 shields is a good balance between
the two stats to get you to 8 simply because of the number of shield ignoring
weapons currently flying around. Just for the sake of completion, Proton Beam,
Phased Polaron Beam and Chroniton Torpedoes all ignore shields and go straight
to hull. Usually, shields are a better investment than hull simply because a
critical hit and a hit have exactly the same effect on shields – but with the
shield ignoring secondary weapons going around, you want to be able to avoid
these weapons Having 4 hull means that you can avoid the worst that these
weapons have to offer without dying in one shot (disclaimer: there is a 4 dice
Phased Polaron beam that would cut through this entirely, but this is only
range 1 and if you are in range to be shot by this, you’ve probably been taking
6 or 5 dice primary weapon attacks from the Jem’Hadar Battleship or Cruiser on
the way in, at which point the 4 hull becomes moot).
So when I’m building a fleet, I always look
at having ships with a 4/4 balance between hull and shields, sometimes this
means that you have a 5/3 ship (the Maht’h’a) or a 3/5 ship (The Defiant with
systems upgrade). Anything less than this is a support ship, which needs to be
kept safe by other means than just hull and shields alone, anything more than
this is good, but it means that you are paying 2 points per stat more than I
think is absolutely necessary.
Defence is a different matter of course,
defence doesn’t really follow the power of 4, 6 is a much better number, but
even then, 12 or 18 would be better. With defence it is less about the number
of dice you are rolling and more about the abilities you have to modify those
dice, add to those dice or otherwise reduce the impact that the dice would have
on whether or not you survive an attack. More later, so if you are interested,
then please check back then!
I’m still not Picard.
D
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