|
Post by mike on Jul 16, 2013 12:48:26 GMT
Pretty much what it says on the tin guys
Two weeks from now (29th July) I find myself at loss for a game
Feeling a bit nostalgic I fancy shooting up a few star ships like we used to in the dim and distant past (well couple of years ago)
Rule system is Full Thrust -- basically WW1 style navel battles but with space ships
Set up / scenario is, at the moment, undefined
Anyone up for this, just reply to this thread and we'll take it from there
|
|
|
Post by steven on Jul 17, 2013 21:48:17 GMT
Yes Mike that would be really good. Provided i am well enough, then i will be there. Will confirm on here on the day.
|
|
|
Post by mike on Jul 23, 2013 13:28:56 GMT
OK Guys
Mentioned this down the club last night and got quite a lot of interest
Looks like there will be around 6 or 7 players at the moment so we're definitely on
If anyone else want to join in, you are perfectly welcome -- the more the merrier I say
If you have space ships feel free to bring them down, even if they are not official FT ships -- doesn't matter we can easily work out stats for them, or they can can stand in for one of the standard FT designs
Don't have any real plans regarding scenario yet, we'll work that out on the night, but given the number of players involved we should probably keep the fleets relatively small
For those of you who know the system, I'm thinking maybe around 1000 pt flotillas, which should be enough for a small capital ship (say a battle cruiser or light battleship) and a 3 of 4 support ships
Not sure yet whether to run a classic two side engagement with each player being part of an alliance or a simple free-for-all where everyone is out for himself, possibly with some kind of objective - I shall have a little think over the weekend
If anyone has any preferences on issue, feel free to post them here and I shall try to take as many of them into account as possible
See you all on Monday
Mike
|
|
|
Post by steven on Jul 24, 2013 20:30:49 GMT
well i would simply like to run one ship and attack everyone!
|
|
|
Post by mike on Jul 25, 2013 16:44:07 GMT
Well then, could do a 'hunt the Bismark' type scenario if you like
Comments please people
|
|
|
Post by steven on Jul 25, 2013 19:57:22 GMT
Well i dont mind what you do. It might be easiest to keep it simple tho - i for one am always hopeless at these games!
|
|
|
Post by Stephen Mawson on Jul 26, 2013 12:15:23 GMT
I'm quite happy to have a scenario of that type.
Should work ok without to much complexity.
Only thought I have is that if the "hunted" ship is to large or to many points i.e. dreadnought or superdreadnought then the hunting forces are likely to get pulverised by it, unless a mass assault by all other players can be arranged. If hunted ship is to small, it'll get killed to easily.
What might work better is if Steve has a large merchantman ship, plus some escorts, and the remaining fleets are aiming to take the merchantman without destroying it.
Any fleet with a ship within 6" of the merchantman (and no other fleets ships within range) gets to set the merchants speed and heading for that turn.
Whoever is in posession of the merchant at the end of the game wins.
If we are looking at a 1,000 points per force, that ought to mean not that much on the table per person. We could set some upper limit on the number of ships allowed, 8 sounds reasonable to me as it allows people to have smaller escorts but not swarms of them that take ages to move. Presumably some kind of upper limit on size of ships used probably ought to be applied as well, nothing larger than say a Battlecruiser also sounds sensible to me, as it ought to help avoid people having ships on the table that are simply to large and tough for the smaller ships to be able to hurt.
|
|
|
Post by mike on Jul 26, 2013 13:32:08 GMT
All valid comments Stephen The simplest way of limiting the which ships can be used is to specify a maximum points value and/or maximum ship mass. I'm thinking around 400pts, which should allow most of the smaller capital ships (battle cruiser, small battleships, light carries, etc) but disallow the truly gross ships (like dreadnoughts or super-dreadnoughts), although that is not yet set in stone. Regarding the hunted ship, that's not such a big issue as long as the scenario is set up correctly. Even my Russian supper-dreadnought can be taken out if enough bullets gets thrown at it. You're right of course that it can, and indeed will, inflict a lot of damage on the way out though. We have tried the merchant convey idea in the past, but it can be extremely one-sided (the merchant ship always gets blown up). A capture scenario might work though. well i would simply like to run one ship and attack everyone! The other consideration is that Steven (with a 'v' -- this could get confusing) has said that he wants to shoot at everybody, which is why I first suggested the Bismark scenario with Seven running a super-dread and everyone else trying to stop him. Even that could get a little one-sided if there are too many opponents (even my Russian one would likely be destroyed with that set-up). the other problem with a stop-the-convey type scenario is that if the hunted ship is tough enough to take a few hits (freighters usually aren't but capital ships usually are), it can always win by simply accelerating at full thrust until it leaves the table, thereby escaping its pursuers. All that having been said, I still think it could work if we are careful about the initial set-up. Unless, of course, anybody has any better ideas. Mike
|
|
|
Post by steven on Jul 26, 2013 14:33:09 GMT
Easy now - why do i get the impression everyone wants to exterminate me like a coackroach!!!
|
|
|
Post by Stephen Mawson on Jul 26, 2013 14:49:16 GMT
Even with a superdread I don't really see how the game would be very interesting if it's Steve's big ship vs everyone elses small fleets.
Either he just accelerates as Mike says and everyone else can't stop him from getting off the board, or it gets mobbed and gets shot to bits. Also unless you can get close enough to shoot at the single target most peoples ships won't be doing much.
I'd personally prefer the scenario to be multi sided, either each man for themselves, or small groups of allies, where there is a single target that each player (or team) is going for.
This means that the other players have an incentive to take each other out as well as just ganging up on the target.
This is why I suggested the capture the merchant in the first place. As it's not something anyone wants to shoot at, you want to take it intact, and it still allows Steve to do his I want to shoot at everyone thing. You simply set him up guarding the merchant at the start.
|
|
|
Post by mike on Jul 26, 2013 14:56:50 GMT
Easy now - why do i get the impression everyone wants to exterminate me like a coackroach!!! Well, you said you wanted to shoot at everybody ;D ;D Even with a superdread I don't really see how the game would be very interesting if it's Steve's big ship vs everyone elses small fleets. Either he just accelerates as Mike says and everyone else can't stop him from getting off the board, or it gets mobbed and gets shot to bits. Also unless you can get close enough to shoot at the single target most peoples ships won't be doing much. I'd personally prefer the scenario to be multi sided, either each man for themselves, or small groups of allies, where there is a single target that each player (or team) is going for. This means that the other players have an incentive to take each other out as well as just ganging up on the target. This is why I suggested the capture the merchant in the first place. As it's not something anyone wants to shoot at, you want to take it intact, and it still allows Steve to do his I want to shoot at everyone thing. You simply set him up guarding the merchant at the start. More seriously, I agree, that should work reasonably well So, unless anybody has any major objections we'll do something like that I shall work the details out over the weekend Mike
|
|
|
Post by steven on Jul 27, 2013 18:20:43 GMT
Sounds great to me - see you Monday! Looking forward to it!
|
|
|
Post by mike on Jul 28, 2013 15:39:55 GMT
OK then, that settles it We have a capture and escort scenario Basically a civilian ship of some form that everybody wants to capture but that nobody wants to destroy The winner will be the person who controls this ship at the end of the game Build rules as follows:- Maximum 1000 pts
- May include one, and only one, capital ship of up to 120 Mass -- that should allow each player to field one solid punch ship (battle cruiser / light battle ship) but will disallow dreadnought levels
- Rest of the fleet can be any combination of cruisers / destroyers / frigates you like
- No fleet may have more the 6 ships in total (including the capital ship if used) -- this is simply to ensure that play is not slowed down by lots of ship being moved around the table
- Missiles and/or fighters are allowed if you can fit them in, so don't neglect point defence when designing your fleet
This should produce fleets of 4-6 ships As a rough guide I have defined three fleets under these rules - 1 Battleship, 2 Escort Cruisers, 2 Destroyers -- 998pts
- 1 Battleship, 2 Heavy Cruiser, 1 Escort Ship -- 973pts
- 1 Battleship, 1 Heavy Cruiser, 2 Light Escort Cruiser -- 978pts
(I would have defined more, but all my other capital ships are just too big) These are merely examples -- you may, of course, build any fleet you wish as long as you comply with the listed rules Objective:An ambassador on route a major peace conference (assume a power not represented by any of the players). Each player wants to capture the ambassador alive for the influence this would gain them in the coming negotiations (and the hefty ransom she represents). Obviously killing her would defeat the object of the exercise (not to mention causing a major international incident), so shooting her ship is not a good idea. Ambassador's ship (and rules for her capture)Use Starliner definition (FB1, p42) The captain of this vessel is loyal and brave, but by no means suicidal. Thus he operates under the following rules: - He will surrender to the largest class of warship within 12" of him (ranking order: capital ships, cruisers, destroyers, frigates) -- this ships' player may write his orders for this turn
- In the event of a tie he will surrender to the closest
- If there is no warship within 12” of him he will steer out of the gravity well at maximum acceleration (he just wants to get away)
- He will ignore any order to engage his FTL drive (trying to do this inside a gravity well is extremely dangerous as there is significant risk that the ship will be destroyed)
- He will NOT fire on any ship (including fighters) for fear that the retaliation might destroy him (and it probably would)
- He will fire on any missiles that home in on his ship (he has two point defence cannons and a single class 1 battery) -- he figures that since this is entirely defensive it will not provoke a retaliation (he hopes)
- If his ship is damaged by weapons fire, missile hits, fighter attacks, or any other hostile act, he will (in a last-ditch desperation measure) risk an FTL jump
|
|
|
Post by steven on Jul 29, 2013 22:46:41 GMT
Excellent game - thank you!
|
|
|
Post by Stephen Mawson on Jul 30, 2013 11:00:49 GMT
I second that, a really good game.
We'll have to look at doing something like this a bit more often.
|
|