KE (Kinetic Energy) Explained

Thought I would get a head start on a thread about Kinetic Energy.

There are two things to remember about KE (Kinetic Energy):
1. To get your KE value for the round, just add the KE values from your selected cards.
2. Each ship has a range which the total KE value (from your cards) must be within, for the given round, for the moves you chose to be legal.

To get you KE Value Range for a ship on a given round, just remember this one line and it shouldn’t steer you wrong.

This turn’s KE total must be between (last turn’s KE minus ship’s acceleration value) and (last turn’s KE plus ship’s acceleration value), but no greater than 6 or less than -1, or its an illegal move.

So if you have a ship that had a KE of 4 last round and an acceleration value of 3, just plug in the values and you get the legal range for KE for that ship this round.

This turn’s KE total must be between (4 minus 3) and (4 plus 3)
OR
This turn’s KE total must be between (1) and (6)

Of course the later value 4 + 3 = 7 gets reduced to 6, because KE range can be no greater than 6, so we reduce that range value. The same is done if you had a value below -1, you would just make that value -1.

Can you ever have higher than 6 KE?

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Originally Posted by Ken at Sunrise

Can you ever have higher than 6 KE?

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Based on the maneuver decks printed, it isn't possible to select more than a total of 6 KE. You can try to select maneuvers that will exceed the G rating of your ship, but IIRC, there are Overboost cards with up to three KE, and maneuver cards with up to three KE, but nothing with a four KE. So, selecting higher than six KE in a turn shouldn't be possible.

I tried to suggest that drift rulers might add something to the speed or maneuver calculations, but Andrea shot that idea down.

KE is in the main direction, and its maximum is six. The drift ruler is a residual energy in a different direction, lost in the next turn. A bit simplified, but for playability's sake.

What he said...

KE is derived by adding speed (-1 to 3) and the maneuver (up to 3), or by adding vertical movement (3) and the maneuver (up to 3), or by adding Change of Direction (0) and the maneuver (up to 3). None of these three ways can be over 6. The Control Panel itself only goes from -1 to 6, so all three of the above examples can only be between -1 to 6 total KE, but the KE range for the round for each ship is a smaller range within the -1 to 6. The algorithm to get that smaller range is listed above, but can only go as high as 6 or as low as -1, regardless of the ship’s acceleration. So you will never have a range from -2 to 7.

As another example if you had a ship with KE of 2 the previous round and an Acceleration of 4.

This turn’s KE total must be between (2 minus 4) and (2 plus 4)
OR
This turn’s KE total must be between (-1) and (6)
Again the lower end of the range (2 - 4) = -2, but it becomes -1 because -1 is as low as you can go.

Now keep in mind that KE is different from the KE range. The range is only found to make sure you are playing legal maneuvers, so in the fist example in the first post, if you had selected to go in reverse this round (-1 KE) and selected a maneuver that gave a 0 KE, it would be an illegal move because your total KE is -1 and your range was between 1 and 6.

Drift only comes in when you play a Change Direction card, but adds nothing to KE.

Hope this helps and doesn’t just muddy the waters further.

For me, the easiest way to understand KE is this;

From one turn to the next, you can change your KE up or down by up to your Acceleration value.

That's ALL you really need to remember. If you start worrying about using formulas or what the highest or lowest numbers you can use are, it makes it way more complicated than it needs to be...and you don't need to worry about what the highest or lowest numbers you can use are because it is built into the game that you can't select anything above 6 or below -1, there's no card combination (at least not yet) that allows it.

If I’m drifting at 6KE and rotated, is my post-Change Direction maneuver also limited by my acceleration? Is it limited in any other ways?

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Originally Posted by Angiolillo

KE is in the main direction, and its maximum is six. The drift ruler is a residual energy in a different direction, lost in the next turn. A bit simplified, but for playability's sake.

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It would have been interesting to keep doing a burn and building momentum. But then you'd zip across the board and out of play I guess.

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Originally Posted by MajorAlanYoung

If I’m drifting at 6KE and rotated, is my post-Change Direction maneuver also limited by my acceleration? Is it limited in any other ways?

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So if I understand correctly, last turn you had a KE of 6 and your ship was rotated and this turn you played a Change Direction card.
If that’s the case and your ship is a viper (Acceleration 3), then you second card has to be worth 3 KE. This is because the Cange Direction card adds zero KE and the lowest KE you can have this round is [(Last turn’s KE minus Acceleration vale) OR (6 minus 3) = 3].
As for Drift, just after you play your first card (the Change Direction) card you have to use a Drift Ruler moving your ship in the direction it has been traveling (using the 5-6 ruler cause your KE was 6). After you complete the Drift, you rotate your ship back to the zero mark and you’re ready to play your maneuver card normally.
That’s all there is to it.
If you need more, check out my Movement Cheat Sheet. It explains everything movement in one page or less. ;)
here

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Originally Posted by BronzeSparrow

...you rotate your ship back to the zero mark and you’re ready to play your maneuver card normally.

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At risk of sounding pedantic, you don't rotate your ship to the zero, but rather your zero to the ship :)

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Originally Posted by MajorAlanYoung

If I’m drifting at 6KE and rotated, is my post-Change Direction maneuver also limited by my acceleration? Is it limited in any other ways?

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Yes, the manoeuvre card that you play after the change of direction would have to be a KE of 3 for a Viper Mk II or no lower than a 2 for a Raider.

Other limitations are your G value, which cannot go above a 4. The Change Direction card for the Viper Mk II is 0 G, whereas for the Raider it is 2 G, so the Raider cannot plan a manoeuvre card with a G value higher than 2 when hanging direction.

Thanks guys. We need some FULL demo game videos. This is all pretty straightforward once you’ve played a situation in a few games.

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Originally Posted by Rory

For me, the easiest way to understand KE is this;

From one turn to the next, you can change your KE up or down by up to your Acceleration value.

That's ALL you really need to remember. If you start worrying about using formulas or what the highest or lowest numbers you can use are, it makes it way more complicated than it needs to be...and you don't need to worry about what the highest or lowest numbers you can use are because it is built into the game that you can't select anything above 6 or below -1, there's no card combination (at least not yet) that allows it.

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Thanks Rory. This is a great way to explain KE.

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Originally Posted by Rory

At risk of sounding pedantic, you don't rotate your ship to the zero, but rather your zero to the ship :)

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Fair enough. ;)

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Originally Posted by BronzeSparrow

So if I understand correctly, last turn you had a KE of 6 and your ship was rotated and this turn you played a Change Direction card.
If that’s the case and your ship is a viper (Acceleration 3), then you second card has to be worth 3 KE. This is because the Cange Direction card adds zero KE and the lowest KE you can have this round is [(Last turn’s KE minus Acceleration vale) OR (6 minus 3) = 3].
As for Drift, just after you play your first card (the Change Direction) card you have to use a Drift Ruler moving your ship in the direction it has been traveling (using the 5-6 ruler cause your KE was 6). After you complete the Drift, you rotate your ship back to the zero mark and you’re ready to play your maneuver card normally.
That’s all there is to it.
If you need more, check out my Movement Cheat Sheet. It explains everything movement in one page or less. ;)
here

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Thanks for the Cheat Sheet. Reading through it, I realized I missed part of the movement rules. Checked the book, and yup. I missed the part about Overboosts not being an option when stopped or moving backwards. Ooops!