Re: Ship Record Cards (was I survived GenCon)

On 19 Aug 1996 M.J.Elliott@uk22p.bull.co.uk wrote:

> Bill Nitsche wrote:
> << Since I started play FT (3 months ago -- yes, a newbie) I've always
used
> overhead pens on copies of the blank ship sheet inside a plastic
sleeve.
> I'd always done the same thing when using Battletech mech sheets.  But
> making card-sized individual ship sheets (they're small enough) and
puting
> them in card sleeves is a great idea.  I'd actually put them in 9-card
> folder sheets so you have your entire fleet in front of you.	Sure
beats
> having to redraw each of the ships every new game. >>
>
> Have you guys never heard of a photocopier? Or is photocopying really
> expensive on your side of the pond?

Not really.  It's averaging about US$0.06 a page, though if you shop
around you might get down to $0.03.  But being involved in a natural
science has made me environmentally aware enough to be concerned with
using paper when it's not really needed.  I also tend to forget to do
copying when it's needed and end up causing everyone to wait while I
hunt
down a copier for a needed sheet--or just plain not having it.	Besides,
the card idea is great when you use standard ships most of the time. 
You
don't have to draw in all the symbols for each game.

Another possibility is taking all the cards, shuffling them, and deal
out
a number of ships to each side -- maybe having separate decks for
capital,
cruiser, and escort.  It'd be a great pick-up game with a bit more
variety
than the 'each side taking the same ships' games and less optimizing
than
the 'bring a number of points' games.

Then GZG can run with the idea and produce the Full Thrust Collectable
Card Game and...uh...wait a minute.  Never mind.

A temporally displaced		Bill Nitsche (bnitsche@u.washington.edu)
	hobbit			Oceanography, University of Washington