What is the maximum single wave size for fighters/bombers? Is it the size of the ship they're launched from, ie you can launch as a wave of 8 from a Despoiler class battleship (4 each side). Is it the capacity of a squadron, ie 2 Styx Class heavy cruisers squadroned could launch together for a total of 12? Can all ships launch a massive wave of fighters and bombers, up to the capacity of the fleet, say 4 fighters and 16 bombers, combine into a single wave, and have it all pound one poor cruiser off by itself into oblivion? I'm guess the last bit is no, since the FAQ has a line that says "once separated attack craft markers cannot be recombined into waves."
If fighters/bombers can be launched by multiple different ships, each within 20 cm of the target so they hit on their first phase, can they combine and go in as 1 wave or are they each treated separately?
My group will be using this 2010 FAQ as the rules for the first time in a few weeks, and I'd like to make sure to head off any cheese in regards to ordinance.
Next off, turret support. A formation of 5 escorts, in a line, base to base, is hit on the very end by a salvo of torpedoes. Based off what I remember reading in the FAQ, ordinance only damages ships it hits, so I'm guessing its not an attack against the entire squadron but against that individual escort ship and thus can only kill that 1 ship no matter how many times the torpedoes actually hit. How many extra turrets does the escort get? Only one, from the ship directly in base to base contact, , or up to the maximum since they're in base to base contact as a squadron?
Let me make sure I have the bombers vs turrets rule clear by making an example. A Despoiler class battleship launches a wave of 4 fighters and 4 bombers. Their target is a squadron of 2 Lunar cruisers. They make it to the target in perfect condition. The Lunar being attacked gets its 2 turrets, + 1 more for the other Lunar lending its support and being in contact. The Lunar rolls 3 dice, hits 3 times, and 3 fighters are removed. The 4 stacks of bombers, each get a D6-2 for the turret value of the Lunar, but not -3 because the supporting turret does not help in this reduction. The bombers roll 1, 3, 5 and 6 for their hits. The first die cancelled out, the remaining dice are adjusted to 1, 3, and 4 for a total of 8 attacks. The 4 fighters, despite 3 being destroyed by turrets, convey 4 additional attacks, for a total of 12 attacks vs the weakest armor 5 of the Lunar cruiser.
A wave of 2 fighters and 2 bombers contacts a torpedo marker. Is the whole stack picked up or just 1 fighter?
Hit & Run against escorts. Say 2 Thunderhawks hit a Iconoclast escort and the defender is unlucky and destroys neither. On the the attack, each Thunderhawk rolls a die. If they each roll a 2, adjusted to 3 because of the SM +1, the escort suffers no damage because you need a modified 4+ to kill it? If one had rolled a 3, with the +1 for SM the escort would have been destroyed, and if on brace for impact a 4+ save would have negated that as well?
A large stack of fighters/bombers is wasted against a squadron of escorts, because they can only attack and kill 1 and then are expended?
