Boosters are giant rocket engines used for Newtonian ship movement between jumps and during combat. They provide the raw power to make ships accelerate, brake, or turn, at will.
Capital Command uses a high-fidelity physical model to simulate ship movement and propulsion in hard vacuum. There is no friction, momentum is fully conserved and ships don't have to point in the direction they are moving. More importantly, besides accelerating, using the ship's engines is the only way to change direction, slow down or stop altogether.
The vast majority of a ship's propulsive power is provided by large reaction engines called boosters. These behemoths dominate the stern of most ships, and are able to generate extreme amounts of thrust. Ships massing many thousands of tons can achieve significant acceleration under boost; some boost-optimized warships can even accelerate at up to several g's, posing significant safety and health issues for their crews.
However, there is more to boosters than just raw power. Their most significant limitation, is that they cannot actually burn continuously for very long. The ultra-high-energy particles that serve as reaction mass take significant time to generate and are very difficult to store in large quantity.
This means that most ships are only able to boost for a few seconds before having to wait up to several minutes to recharge their capacitors. Fast, agile warships, such as corvettes and light cruisers, are designed and optimized for quick recharge cycles, since for them the ability to maneuver on short notice is key to survival.
Skilled captains are always aware of their booster recharge status and plan their burns well in advance, to ensure they will always have the acceleration they need, when they need it.
Their second downside, is that boosters are notoriously vulnerable in combat. Warships are generally designed with most protection and defensive weaponry concentrated forward and on their "top" side. The stern sections are devoted largely to propulsion, with giant booster nozzles and auxiliary propulsion equipment exposed on the exterior, and should therefore never be exposed directly to enemy fire.
Damage to the nozzles or the stern section usually results in booster failures, leaving the ship stranded on its current trajectory. While boosters are robust and can usually be repaired in action, this still takes considerable time, during which the ship may find itself in difficult tactical situations.
Additionally, ships' drive sections are usually less durable and hold complex, sensitive, high-energy machinery. Enemy fire that strikes astern has a good chance to create significant problems as well as increased structural damage. It is therefore highly recommended to keep the boosters, and the ship's stern in general, pointed away from enemy threat axes.
Movement is an essential part of combat in Capital Command. Since boosters provide the vast majority of any ship's acceleration, captains should be aware of their functionality, characteristics and vulnerabilities.
That's it for this Tactical Analysis. Next time, we'll be looking at advanced maneuvering and manual navigation. Until then, don't forget to wishlist the game and tell your friends!
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