dr.hal
Posts: 3335
Joined: 6/3/2006 From: Covington LA via Montreal! Status: offline
|
Hi Macquarrie, welcome to the forum! Running out of fuel is a difficult situation and anyone who has had time at sea (other than on a sailboat) knows it might just not end well. The ability to move "one hex" a day is an abstract reflection of towing the ship by the game (it doesn't have ocean going tugs, although they certainly existed, just ask any Dutchman). That whole concept can be very hard on a ship and it's "systems". As you may know, systems damage is an abstraction of what might happen to the internal ships support systems, such as damage control, communications, ventilation, fuel and other liquid transfers, fire fighting, etc. etc., in short LOTS of differing but interrelated "systems" that support the operation of the vessel (OR are NOT in operation due to having no fuel, such as pumps, etc.). Systems damage can be as a result of combat, or by collision, or even by overhaul (when you "upgrade" a ship you sometimes see "systems" damage accumulate, meaning the ship is having some of its internals reorganized). In your instance it was a result of running out of fuel. Due to "systems" interconnectedness there can be a "cascading" effect which might result in further damage. This is assessed during the turn at specific points. It's reassessed each turn (reflecting the damage control efforts of the crew coupled to the state of the various systems on the ship). If the crew skill level is low, such as in a merchant ship, you will most likely see the damage rise quickly. This can happen to warships no matter where they are as well. There are more assets while in port that the ship's crew can utilize BUT the ship could still suffer cascading impact if the damage is severe. Once the number reaches 100, it's basically saying the ships internal systems such as damage control are lost and that foretells of the ship going down. Systems damage is directly linked to other forms of damage and it's failure could immediately impact the survivability of the vessel (for example a key bulkhead gives way and the ship suffers uncontrollable flooding, or no electricity to run your pumps thus not controlling that flooding). I've tried to put this whole concept in "real world" not game terms to paint the picture that the abstraction of the game is trying to reflect. I hope this helps.
< Message edited by dr.hal -- 12/15/2021 2:05:14 AM >
|