I’ve been seeing those endround mini events where the ship gets hit or boarded by UPP vessels and I thought that this could be a great chance to expand on HvH modes since the only HvH so far is either a beach landing or the HvH simulation on board the Almayer.
To be precise my idea was a scenario where the Almayer gets ambushed by a small group of UPP spacecraft consisting of maybe 3 ships, 2 small boarding vessels -not dropships- and 1 bigger -smaller than the Almayer-. The smaller craft will be armed with small weaponry unable to engage the almayer and will be primarily be used for boarding as well as a screen for the bigger one. The Almayer and the bigger craft will be armed with AA and missile launchers that will be used to engage each other. Since all other spacecraft are small and it would not serve the gameplay otherwise, all those ships will untargetable by the missile sylos. The AA will not be able to deter the 2 smaller craft for the same reason. Additionally, these craft will be kept around the large craft and wait until the Almayer is disabled so that they can board it. They will carry most of the UPP combatants. While these ships remain close to the big one they are protect by the the big ships AA which is more effective than theirs making it in turn dangerous for the DS to attack them there.
My idea is to involve the 2 DS of the Almayer into space combat as interceptors attempting to intercept incoming boarding craft. The guns of the smaller craft will be able to deter or even damage the DS. In case of the second the damaged DS will need to return to the Almayer in order to be repaired, giving the MTs a more significant role in the event. Likewise, the DS will be able to damage the smaller craft with anti air missiles already existing in the fabricator of the Hangar.
In addition, a new mechanic will be added in order to portray the damage inflicted by the missiles on each ship rather than the simple copy of the OB used until now. Those will be Power and Thrust. Power will determine whether or not certain systems fanction on the Almayer such as Weapons, fabricators, lights etc. Thrust will be the integrity of Almayers thrusters. In short, the more the damage the less the speed and maneuverability making it more likely for the enemy to hit their shots. If Thrust goes down to 0% The Almayer or the UPP ships will become “dead in the water” allowing the other to board them. If power goes to 0% Thrust regardless of damage is disabled and the “dead in the water” status applies with only the basic systems operating such as life support and a part of Ares for gameplay convenience. The how can be looked at in further detail should someone takes on this project in the future. As for the smaller ships, their points for power and thrust will be near each other meaning that successful hits by the DS could render the craft immobile. Since they are smaller the pipe explosions won’t be a thing. Finally, the DS will take damage to their engines and modules which will require time to repair highlighting their importance.
In terms of the ship combat, all maneuvering will be done automatically by Ares while all weapons will be manned by CIC personnel. Maneuverability essentially being the chance a projectile has to find its mark. Through a new console right about where the table with the minimap is next to the SO consoles the XO or the CO of the vessel in general will be able to access the weapons and readings of hull integrity while the original spot for the CO will remain mostly the same since it’s meant for ground operations, except the ship control console.
In terms of evacuation, the small craft will be able to intercept and board the lifeboats should they manage to reach them before they escape. They also have the chance to destroy them. In this mode self destruct will play a major role since staying close to the Almayer as it donates will mean the destruction of the small vessels. However the lifepods and lifeboats will be fast enough to escape the blast and in turn the smaller vessels since they will be fleeing as well. Should the DS be airborne after self destruct has occurred they will automatically surrender to the UPP allowing them to board them, since the DS doesn’t have the range to escape.
Since the devs are busy as it is I doubt this idea will be even considered in the near future but hoping that I will get to work on it myself I hope that someday I will get to play a round of ship to ship combat.