I'm probably over simplifying this in my own mind.
Area Mode - assigned weapons fire during Fire Phase, if charged/loaded, at nearest missile salvo within set range provided weapon (beam anyway since missiles will launch even if target is out of actual missile range), fire control, and sensors are able to function at actual target range.
Correct
Point Blank Mode - assigned weapons fire during Missile Salvos movement sub-phase of the Movement Phase at the nearest missile salvo with the same range cavets as Area Mode. The other functional difference is that fire will be attempted at effective range too missile at the missiles target just prior to impact/detonation. (do laser heads affect this?)
Point Blank mode will only work against missiles that are just about to hit their targets (i.e. at point blank range). They won't fire at any other targets. They don't fire at the nearest target; they fire at the first qualifying target during the movement phase. They also will not fire at any missiles that do not reach their targets during that movement phase. The actual mechanics are that missile salvos move in ascending order of speed. If any salvo reaches its target, resolution of the salvo vs the target is halted while the program checks for any point defence set to point blank mode. The first ship to be checked is the target ship which is treated as firing at 10,000 km. Next to be checked are any other ships set to point blank mode that are within the range set for that mode. So if another ship is 60,000 kilometers away with point defence set to point blank mode and a range of 100,000 kilometers, it will also be eligible to protect the attacked ship. Point blank mode is a way to prevent a ship from firing during the fire phase so its weapons are charged and ready during the movement phase and can engage missiles as they attack their targets.
Point Blank Mode (self defense) - Not sure how much of a programatic/functional difference there is here from non-self defense Point Blank Mode.
The difference is that a ship with this setting will only use its point defence to protect itself whereas a ship with the first setting will protect any ship within its range. So you might set a capital unit to only protect itself while its escorts would be set to protect any ship in range.
For example purposes I'm assuming that the defending fire control is set to Point Blank Mode with range set at 9 for 90K km and that the beams assigned have a 5 sec ROF and sufficent reactor power to support.
An enemy missile traveling at 18k/kps moves to 90k/km from the defending ship. These missiles are the closest identified enemy missiles so they are engaged during the same movement phase that they entered range. Not all missiles in the salvo attacked are killed.
The point defence will not engage the missiles in this example because it will only engage missiles that reach their targets. The reason for this is to ensure the point defence is available when needed the most. For example, assume the attacking missiles are travelling at 20,000 km/s and the point defence is set to 60,000 km in PB mode. The missiles appear at 160,000 kilometers. In the next 5 seconds they move to 60,000 kilometers. If the PD was in Area mode it would engage these missiles during the fire phase. As it is in point-blank mode it ignores them. During the second increment the missiles reach the ship and the point blank mode point defence engages before the missiles attack is resolved. Note that if the point defence had fired at 60,000 kilometers, it would not have recharged in time because the missiles would cover the 60,000 kilometers in 3 seconds and attack mid-way through the movement phase. By setting the PD to point blank, it doesn't fire and is therefore available to shoot at the missiles midway through the movement phase.
During the first sub-phase of the following Fire Phase the beams are recharged. Time increment set 5 seconds.
My assumption to this point was that since the weapons are 5 sec ROF and recharged the previous Fire Phase they would be available for Point Blank/Intercept fire during the next Missile Salvo Movement sub-phase of the Movement phase. If I understand you correctly, intercept is not considered to be less than 5 seconds for ROF purposes and the beams are not allowed to fire for final intercept. But... if the missiles target had been moving away so that the missiles did not intercept their target during this movement phase then the 5 seconds is satisfied and the beams will again attempt to fire.
Point blank mode point defence will recharge between movement phases as it recharges during the fire phase. However, it can only be used against missiles actually attacking their targets. It cannot fire after movement is completed because then it would effectively be firing in the fire phase and would not be able to recharge fast enough (in reality) to hit something midway through the next movement phase, which would less than 5 seconds later. If you want point defence to fire at missiles that have completed movement, it needs to be set to area mode.
I just realized I've been making the assumption that both Area and Point Blank modes have thier maximum range limited by the fire control. Is there a seperate maximum range that is less than the fire control range for Point Blank Mode?
The maximum range is based on the fire control range, point defence mode range and weapon range, whichever is the least. The range for area mode is the maximum range at which the point defence wil engage any missile target. The max range for point blank mode is that maximum range at which the fire control will protect another ship that is currently resolving an attack by missiles
Steve
