REVISED NEUTRON BEAMS DESIGNER NOTES
I decided that the best way to balance the Neutron Beams against the Alpha Sector was to cut the charts in half, providing a one-turn downloaded ability. For overloads, the damage charts would simply be doubled.
This will solve several things at once. First of all, it allows the player of the Owlian CA to use a lower amount of power for the Neutron Beams, rather than being forced to use the full 5 points of power like the original Magellanic rules state. Flexibility in power usage is very important for every battle.
Secondly, it allowed me to revise the damage charts where necessary. There were some oddities that I noticed about the original damage charts that struck me as strange. One main item that I revised was the Range Brackets. They now match Alpha Sector Overload Ranges.
Third, the Revised Neutron Beam can now fire either every turn or every two turns. You can look at this as a two turn weapon that now has a downgraded option, or you can look at it as a one turn weapon that can be overloaded by waiting two turns. The result is the same. A quick fire one turn weapon on par with the Disruptor, or a two turn weapon that is comparable to the Photon.
There were some strange things going on with the Narrow Neutron Beam Chart at Ranges 1-4 and 5-8. At both of these Ranges, the Max Damage (Double the Energy required to Arm) is indicated. However, when you compare this to the Disruptor at Range 5-8, you find the Disruptor is causing significantly Less Damage (either as Standard or Overloaded). While the Photon remains consistent with Damage (8-16) at these Ranges (1-8), the Photon’s To-Hit is much Worse than the Revised Neutron Beam. If it were me, I would have laid out the Neutron Beam’s Damage Distribution a bit differently on the Damage Charts, but that is how Ken originally laid them out, so I tried to stay true to that original vision as much as possible.
In comparison to the Photon and the Disruptor, I thought that it was Too Advantageous for the Neutron Beam to be able to always choose between a Phaser-like Chart and a Hit-or-Miss Chart each time it was fired. So I considered adding an Additional Point of Energy to pay for this advantage over the Photon and the Disruptor. However, upon examining the Damage-to-Energy Ratio, I decided against adding this Additional Point of Energy. The Neutron Beam simply has the Advantage of Choosing its Mode, whereas the Photon and the Disruptor Do Not. That will have to be That.
So the Revised Neutron Beam requires 3 Points of Energy to Arm during a Single Turn. Those 3 Points of Energy can yield from 1-6 Points of Damage on Wide Mode and from 2-6 Points of Damage on Narrow Mode. This 2:1 Damage to Energy Ratio is on par with the Alpha Sector. For 6 Points of Energy (3 Points on the First Turn and 3 Points on the Second Turn), the Revised Neutron Beam can be “Overloaded”, allowing it to score from 2-12 Points of Damage on Wide Mode and from 4-12 Points of Damage on Narrow Mode. Again, this 2:1 Damage Ratio matches the Alpha Sector, making the “Overload” comparable. It should be noted that while a Max Overloaded Photon requires 4+4 Points of Energy and can score 16 Points of Damage, an “Overloaded” Revised Neutron Beam requires 3+3 Points of Energy and can score 12 Points of Damage. This Ratio of 12:16 or 6:8 is Correct.
The Revised Neutron Beam retains the Advantage of being able to choose between a Narrow Mode or a Wide Mode at the moment of firing, whereas the Photon and the Disruptor have no such choice. So, in my opinion, the Neutron Beam still comes out on top, even though the Damage-to-Energy Ratios have been Balanced.
