Small Afterburnner

[Vorg]

I was looking at small fighter designs and I see no point in using the small AB. It takes the space of 2 engines while giving the same combat movment as 2 engines and NO movment in normal space. YOu are better off just putting the 2 engines on. The small fighter can handle up to 9 engines which only leaves enough room for 1 of the smallest weapons and a ECM or sensor. If you add the AB, you can't mount any weapons making the unit worthless.

[Puke]

at higher tech levels, the afterburner 3 generates 3 points of combat movement for 2KT. an engine only generates 1:1, so this gives you 2:3. you get one extra movement point and you get to scrap 2 engines. also looking at maximum tech, you spend 1/2 the minerals if you add an afterburner and scrap the two quantum engines, and you only expend 2 (TWO) units of radioactives. well worth it, if you ask me.

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"...the green, sticky spawn of the stars"
(with apologies to H.P.L.)

[geoschmo]

I have never used them on small fighters myself, although Puke makes some good points about the resource usage. But they are certainly not useless for the medium or large fighters.

Geo

[rdouglass]

Another minor point: IIRC Afterburners don't use supplies. (I am a work and only doing this from memory, so if I'm wrong, please correct me....)

[Lupusman]

Actually, fighters with all engines, and no weapons ARE good for something.
Build a small amount on a planet. If the planet gets attacked, they get launched, and the attack ships chase after the fighters, ignoring the planet. The fighters run away as they have no weapons, and never get caught because they have lots of movement.
Doesn't always work, but if you get surprised, and don't have enough time to build a good defense, try it out. I've saved a number of planets this way.

[capnq]

Another use for such fighters would be decoys to draw PDC fire away from your missiles and armed fighters. Never tried it myself, just thought of it while reading this thread.

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Cap'n Q

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"