Re: I survived GenCon!

Allan wrote:
>> RAFM Traveller ships(which are still in production, but having
>>difficulty finding the Fang class gunboats)
>
>If you want, I can see what I can do about them. RAFM is made in
Cambridge,
>Ontario, about an hour away from Toronto. I've never had problems
getting
>RAFM stuff. I'm glad to see that they're still in production.

Thanks for the help.  I will try again locally.  If I can't get them
I'll
let you know.

>>Starblazers minis(expensive little suckers!)
>
>You've got that right! Do you know if they came pre-painted? 

A friend bought a handful of unpainted ones, so I assume that's the way
they
come from the manufacturer.

>Last
>year there was a great deal on old Star Frontiers miniatures: $2 per
set of
>six ships, or 12 boxes for $20. This year, someone was selling a set of
the
>same ships, with a vary basic paint job, for $75.

Last year I bought three sets for a $1.00 each.  The dealer selling the
painted SF minis for $75 must have thought he had some nifty art skills
or
something.  $75, What a joke!

>The event was "Helm, Full Thrust". I felt that for an introductory game
>there were too many ships per person (two capital ships, a cruiser, and
two
>escorts per person was common, with at least one ship a side carrying
>fighters). It made for a good game for experienced players, but it took
too
>long to resolve. On the other hand, everyone involved got an excellent
feel
>for the game as a whole, so maybe I'm just being picky.

We try to use a variety of ships to give players a chance to try the
different types, and also so that they don't get blasted away in a short
time.  Since FT revolves around fleet engagements, it's appealing to
command
your own battle group.	We will be working more on supplying faster
start times.

>One excellent point,
>though, was setting up each side along the long ends of the table, not
the
>short ends. This meant that ships were in range on turn one. I would
>strongly suggest this for anyone doing a demo game.

Yep.  Works great - fire usually exchanged on first turn.

>Hey, I still enjoyed myself, and that's REALLY all that counts.

Glad to hear(read) it.

Mike Miserendino