Thursday, September 25, 2003 Standard drones are defined as: Type-I 1EP 1 Space Type-II 1.5EP 1 Space Type-III 2EP 1 Space Type-IV 2EP 2 Spaces Type-V 2.5EP 2 Spaces Type-VI 0.5EP 0.5 Space Anti-Drone 0.25EP 0.5 Space Be aware that only Type-E, Type-G, and ADD Racks may hold Type-VI drones, and only the latter two may hold anti-drones. All drone-using bases (ground- and space-based) include a full set of Type-I Slow drones (and/or Type-IV Slow drones if Double Warheads has been researched) and appropriate reloads. As their stores dwindle, they may purchase replacement drones individually at full cost. These replacement drones do not need to be shipped to the base. Drone-using ships must purchase their first load of standard drones at full price. This must be a legal drone load for the launchers on the ship. Reloads identical to the first load come free. Whenever the ship is restocked by a base or major planet, all expended drones are replaced on a one-for-one basis at no cost. Type-I and Type-IV drones may be swapped for each other (2 Type-Is for 1 Type-IV) at no cost during resupply. Type-II and Type-V may follow the same procedure, but the resulting load may not exceed the value of the original purchased load. Carriers and fighter bases/modules may each hold a certain number of drones for their fighters. This is listed either on the Master Ship Chart or in their ship descriptions (or both), and may be free storage or it may use Cargo boxes. These drones are purchased, handled, and restocked in the same manner as if they belonged to the ship or base and remain with the unit even if all fighters are transferred off. As technology progresses, drone speeds increase (as may warheads). You may upgrade your drone-armed ships and bases by purchasing individual drones (or as a single new load) at full price (Exception: bases may be built with more advanced standard drones at a lower cost. Use the upgrade prices in (FD2.0) to determine the added EP cost). Anti-Drones need only be paid for if they are in a purchased load. Those in an ADD Rack or in the final reload of a Type-G Rack are included with the rack itself and are replenished whenever the ship restocks. Special drones (ie. ECM, swordfish, etc.) are purchased apart from drone loads, and are then assigned to their units. They replace an appropriate number of spaces of drones either in the racks or in the reloads, or may be stored in Cargo boxes. When the ship restocks its drones, expended special drones are replaced with the drones originally in their space (if any). Ships purchasing Type-IIIXX (long-range bombardment) drones pay full value for the first load every time the drones are restocked. To calculate this, divide all drones that need replacing by the number of loads, mutiply by the cost of a single Type-IIIXX drone at the desired speed, and round up. Thursday, September 25, 2003 For Speed-20 drones, add .5EP to the cost of the type of drone. For Speed-32 drones, add 1EP to the cost of the type of drone. Faster drones must be purchased as new drones at full cost, even if they are replacing an identical (albeit slower) drone. You mean per space, right? otherwise a type-4 medium would not cost the same > as 2 type-1 mediums for example. Yes. That's what I meant to say. Fri, 05 Mar 2004 Starting Turn 9, Type-II drones (speed-12 type-I) are reduced in cost to 1.25EP each. This brings Types II/V in line with Types I/IV for double-warhead exchanges. Mon, 17 May 2004 T-bomb racks on MY-era ships are free, as are the first loads. The t-bombs themselves cost 1EP each. Anyone who has fitted their MY ships (assuming anyone has actually built MY ships at this point) with t-bomb racks may reclaim the EP Thu, 23 Sep 2004 T-bombs on W- and Y-era ships cost 4 per mine initially, and are free reloads. On later ships (or upgraded Y-era, like National Guard), the first load is free with the ship, but cost 1EP per mine to reload. Dummy t-bombs are always free, but a ship may never restock more dummies than it has real mines. Middle Years shuttles (speed-6, Ph-3) follow the same rules as t-bombs. Each MY or later ship includes one shuttle per SHTL box on the SSD at no cost. Replacement shuttles may be purchased for 1EP each, as may spare shuttles up to the limits on the Master Ship Chart (in the rulebook). MY shuttles may also be purchased (1EP each) for W- and Y-era ships once Advanced Maneuver has been researched on the Warp Engine chart.