What the %$#*& IS agility anyway?

Agility: it is amazing how much is required to keep from getting
sucked into these discussions :)
(was Starship design revamping)

Bertil Jonnell and someone (please forgive me for fogetting your
name) have been discussing the role (roll?) of agility in space
combat.  I'm afraid I'm no clearer now than when I read the rules.

Let me summarize how I see things:

1.  The MOST acceleration you can get is 6-g.  Period.
		(Rules)

2.  In space there are 6 degrees of freedom; 3 linear, 3 rotational.
		(Physics - ignoring time)

3.  A change in any one degree of freedom will have no change
		on the others.  (Physics again)

4.  Agility is a figure you use (somehow) to determine who has
		"initiative" in a space combat (I think?) or you use to
		deterrmine how easy it is for your ship to make `sudden'
		changes in speed or direction. (Rules I think)

5.  Agility is a number between 1 and 6, inclusive.  (Rules)


One of the following two is (I believe) the proper way to interpret
the rules.  Which one?

******* EITHER:

`agility' is a number you *subtract* from you maneuver number
to find out just how much acceleration you can get in a real hurry.
i.e. if you have maneuver 4 and agility 1, you can get 3-g `right now'
and 4 once you line up the axis of the ship with the direction you
want to go.

******** OR:

`agility' is a value you can *add* to your maneuver figure to
indicate how you could overstress the drives and hull in emergency
situations (like combat) for short times.  i.e. if you have a maneuver
4 and an agility 1, you can get 5-g `right now' and 4-g only a `short'
(whatever that is) time later.

Which makes more sense, both in terms of rules and "the real
universe"?

- ------------------------------------------------------------------
Technical comment - related but not directly to the above...

The effect of either of the above scenarios is the same.
Space battles become `running battles' or set-piece battles.  Even
at the maximum short-term 12-g limit of the second method, you could
not actually maneuver fast enough to escape the guns behind you;
those guns can rotate much more slowly and still track.  The *best*
you can hope for is to break their lock-on by sudden, violent,
maneuvers (aka jinking) until you can enter hyperspace or get help.
The second-best is to turn and fight.  There is no real advantage to
a high maneuver number except that it lets you get away.

Of course there's always JATO boost. :)

Richard



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