Tactical holds the weapons and, in practice, the shields as well. Yours is the
console that turns the Captain's decision into something happening to another ship.
Before you can do anything: the alert condition
Weapons cannot be brought up until the ship is at Red. Shields
cannot be brought up until Yellow. Neither of those is your console
— Operations sets the alert condition.
If your fire control will not respond, this is why nine times out of ten. The ship
does tell you: the refusal is reported to your console and to Engineer. Read your
messages before you conclude the panel is broken, and get into the habit of
confirming Red before the shooting starts rather than during it.
Targeting
Your contact list is every object your sensors hold. Selecting one makes it your
target and fills in the target intel panel: what it is, how it is holding up, and
what Sciences has learned about it.
Your target is not Flight's target. The two are held separately, on
purpose — you often want to shoot at something other than what you are steering
towards. It also means the two of you can be looking at different ships while both
saying "the target", so name it.
Bindable target actions: nearest and next object, enemy, station or planet, plus
intercept, clear target and clear tactical target. Nearest enemy is the one to bind.
Weapons and weapon groups
Individual weapons are listed, and they can be organised into weapon
groups — a group fires together on one input. Load a group, then fire it.
Three groups can be bound to their own keys, and there is a cycle‑group action
for working through them.
Groups have a fire link mode: single, staggered or grouped. Grouped
puts everything downrange at once, which is what you want against a shield segment
you are trying to collapse. Staggered spreads the fire out over time, which is
gentler on your power and better against something small and quick. Cycling the fire
link is a bindable action, so it is a decision you can make mid‑fight.
Weapon types differ in kind, not just in number: beams, projectiles, missiles,
mines and deployables. Beams hit when you fire; projectiles and missiles have to
travel, so lead your target or ask Flight to close.
Ordnance
Ordnance is finite. Your ordnance list shows what is loaded and what is left, and
there is a next‑ordnance action for switching type. Running dry mid‑engagement
is a Tactical failure, not bad luck — watch the count, and tell the Captain when
you are down to the last of something.
Shields
Your shield panel shows segments, not one number. A standard four‑segment
shield covers fore, starboard, aft and port as separate pools; some
hulls run a simpler two‑segment fore and aft arrangement. Damage lands on the
segment facing the shot.
Two things about segments are worth knowing precisely, because they change how you
fight:
- A segment at zero passes everything to the hull. There is no
partial protection from a collapsed facing. The difference between a segment at 5%
and a segment at 0% is much larger than the difference between 100% and 50%.
- A collapsed segment takes far longer to start recharging. An
ordinary hit pauses that segment's recharge briefly; letting it collapse pauses it for
several times as long. Keeping a facing off zero is worth real effort.
Hence the balance control, which redistributes charge between
segments. Balance before the next pass, not after the segment is gone. And tell
Flight which facing is weak — turning the ship is a defensive action and it is
theirs, not yours.
Shield frequency
Shields run on a frequency, and you can retune yours. Weapons carry a frequency
too. The interaction is an information mechanic rather than a damage bonus:
when a shot lands, the difference between the shot's frequency and the shield's is
recorded, and that offset shows up in the energy readings Sciences gets from a
scan.
Which cuts both ways. Sciences can scan an enemy and read the offset on its
components, which tells you how far off your weapon frequency is from its shields.
And an enemy scanning you learns the same thing about yours — which is what the
randomise control on your frequency panel is for.
Being good at it
- Confirm Red before the fight. The single highest‑value habit
in the role.
- Concentrate fire. Four hits on one facing collapses it; one hit on
each of four facings does nothing much. Grouped fire on one segment, not spread
damage.
- Report facings, not percentages. "Forward shield collapsed" tells
Flight to turn. "Shields at forty per cent" tells nobody anything.
- Ask Sciences before you commit. A scan tells you what a contact
actually is and where it is weak. Thirty seconds of scanning beats a minute of
shooting the wrong thing.
- Watch your power. Weapons draw hard, and Engineer is dividing
a finite supply. If your recycle times feel long, ask before assuming a fault.
- You are not the Captain. Firing first is a decision with
consequences the rest of the table has to live in.
