FT Pinging

Here's a clearer and more detailed version of the submarine-style
"pinging" 
rules I posted for Full Thrust earlier.  I've playtested it and found it

works great for one-on-one ship "duels" (something Full Thrust doesn't 
generally work well for) and also makes missiles a lot more interesting.
 
Once you get more than two ships on a side, however, ships are getting 
pinged all the time anyway, and it's probably better just to use the 
normal full thrust rules.  Here goes:

ALTERNATIVE PING RULES FOR FULL THRUST:  

Since the starship combat
described in the Colonial Marine Technical Manuel is more akin to
submarine warfare, with vessels running silent and trying to assassinate
their opponents before revealing their own presence, the following
optional rules might be used to better simulate this type of combat:  

1) Instead of each turn occuring simultaneously, as in FULL THRUST, each
ship
acts seperately.  Whichever side has the most ships acts first,
activating
a single ship, and then the opponent activates a single ship, and so on,
as in Dirtside II.  
2) Each ship has a MOVE action and a PING action. 
	a) A MOVE action is exactly as described in FULL THRUST with the
following exception:  although orders are written for the ship, the
ships
model is not actually moved until its position is revealed by a PING. 
	b) A ship may PING with its sensors either before or after its
MOVE.  A PING immediately reveals the location of the PINGING ship, and
has a chance of revealing the location of enemy ships.	
3) If a ship does not PING during its turn, it is considered to be on 
overwatch.  
4) During a PING, the PINGING ship may fire at any revealed vessel, and
any
OVERWATCHING ship may immediately fire at any revealed vessel.	The
current position of any firing ship is immediately REVEALED.  All fire
conducted within a single PING is considered simultaneous.  
5) Special movement/missile rules:  Missiles and Fighters move at the 
beginning of the activation of the ship that launched them, but after
the 
optional first PING of that vessel.  A vessel that has launched a
missile,
therefore, may first PING, then move the missile, then write its own
movement orders.  Missiles may only be launched during a PING, as a fire

action. 
	a) Missiles and Fighters do not have strong enough sensors to
conduct their own PINGS.  They must rely on information beamed to them
from their mother ship. 
	b) Fighters within 6 of a vessel are considered to be within
LINE
OF SIGHT of that vessel, and no longer need depend on sensors.	As long
as
the vessel continues to move at less then 12 velocity (or 18 velocity in
the case of FAST FIGHTERS), the Fighters may continue to attack the
vessel
regardless of whether the vessel has been revealed by a PING. 
Furthermore, the Fighters are able to communicate the vessels position
to
their mother ship.  Therefore, the position of any vessel under attack
by
Fighters is always revealed.  
6) Depending on the type of sensors the PINGING ship has, it has a
chance 
of illuminating enemy ships.  If the enemy ship has ECM, it has a chance

of avoiding detection. 
	a) For BASIC sensors, the PINGING ship rolls a D6, for ENHANCED
sensors the PINGING ship rolls 2D6.  For SUPERIOR sensors the PINGING
ship
rolls 3D6. 
	b) If an enemy ship has ECM, it rolls 1D6.  If an enemy ship has
ECM and is within 12 of another ship with AREA-EFFECT ECM it rolls 2D6. 
	c) Take the highest single die roll of both ships.  If the
PINGING
ships roll is GREATER than the enemy ships roll then the enemy ships
position is revealed. 

When using this system I suggest leaving at least one line blank between

each ship on the record sheet.	That way you can write "PINGED" under
the 
last movement to actually have been plotted with the miniature on the 
table, so you can keep track of "hidden movement" turns.