Slingshot plasma launch allows a plasma-armed ship to use its own warp momentum to increase the range of its plasma bolts. Essentially, a ship which makes a 10 or more hex run in a single direction gains a large bonus towards a plasma bolt in that direction, under various restrictions. The slingshot works by forming a quantum tunnel which lets the plasma bolt "jump" in range to its target. The success of forming the tunnel depends on the warp signature of the target.
The effect of this technique is to give the Gorn an edge against direct fire ships which try to stay at medium to long ranges. It is all but useless in a close-range, dynamic situation.
In the official SFB history, this was a minor development which minorly helped the Gorns in aiding their allies. However, in a non-historical campaign or alternate history, it could be vital to the Gorn when fighting any direct-fire races, notably in open space or in defending a fixed point. In my alternate timeline, this was developed by the Gorn in Y175. In the real history, the Gorn were busy fighting the Romulans and did not have the resources to invest in this technique.
(FP?.1) OPERATION
(FP?.11) Declaration: At the start of any impulse, a plasma-armed
ship can declare that it is beginning a slingshot run for a given
armed torpedo tube in the direction it is currently facing. It then
begins counting how many hexes it has moved since the declaration.
(FP?.12) Restrictions: The run is aborted if the ship changes facing at any time during the run: it can sideslip but not turn or HET. The ship may not launch or bolt the designated torpedo except through the procedure below. The ship cannot do two or more runs simultaneously, but it can voluntarily abort a run at any time, even without turning.
(FP?.13) (Optional) A ship can declare a run along a hex spine rather than a hex row. In this case, it is allowed to travel along either of the adjacent directions, but can only sideslip towards the spine-direction (not away from it). The required firing arc must then be 120 degrees around the hex spine (i.e. on the #1 shield plus either the #2 or #6 shield, whichever is closer to the spine direction).
(FP?.2) FIRING
(FP?.21) The ship in a slingshot run may only fire the designated
torpedo by bolting it (FP8.0) into the FA arc. If the ship aborts its
run, the torpedo is not lost, but it cannot be launched or bolted that
turn or within 8 impulses.
(FP?.21) Minimum Run Length: The run must be at least 10 hexes before the slingshot can be bolted.
(FP?.22) Myopic Zone: The slingshot bolt will have no effect if the true range to the target is equal to or less than the run length. Thus, slingshot plasma can never work against a target which is at true range 10 or less.
(FP?.3) EFFECTS
Slingshotting effects both the chance to hit and the damage done of
the of the plasma bolt.
(FP?.31) The chance to hit on a six-sided die is simply the
Effective Speed (C2.412) of the target divided by five (round to the
nearest). Thus, a target moving at speed 10 is hit on a 2 or less.
A target moving at 2 or less cannot be hit (except by a legendary
weapons officer).
(FP?.32) The damage done is based on the standard bolting
damage, but subtract the run length from the range to the target.
Thus, a ship which has made a 10 hex slingshot run subtracts 10 from
the range for the purposes of determining bolt damage. If the
effective range is zero or less, then the target is in the myopic
zone (see above) and is unaffected.
NOTES: Obviously, slingshot plasma is very difficult to use effectively. That is intentional. It is essentially only useful when firing at targets at long ranges who are fleeing at high speeds.