A long, rambling farewell

***OK, I started writing this a long time ago, had my mail program lose
***it's 1-watt mind, and I had to bash the archive file to pull this out
***so I could finally submit it. I also made the mistake of mentioning
***part of my desires on a usenet group, which seemed to bounce right
***here. ;->=
-First, let me apologize if I cover or ask for something hammered into
the
-ground. If so, shoot me a private msg, and I'll give a digest of all
-those who reply, with my eating-crow included. ;->

-Concerning all the talk about campaign systems, I'd like to offer a
very
-simple one upon which I'm still working. It's based on the old chesnut,
from
-Starfire's Young Kingdom's to the Gateway series of novels: we don't
invent
-FTL, we discover the facilities of the ancients. Each budding
empire/system
-has a construction yard capable of a limited number of build points,
and
-only those military 'templates' of FT standard ships up to that build
size.

-I plan on allowing carry over of build points, but you can only build
military
-ships if you have enough points to complete them in one strategic turn.
There
-are different sizes of ancient's sites; I'll have a bigger one in the
center
-of my play area, smaller ones towards periphery, for the player starts.
And,
-plenty of 'uninhabited' systems with the possibilities of even larger
sites
-waiting for discovery.

-Designing new ships and systems will be possible, but time and build
pt.
-expensive, with the site limits set so the 'optimal ships' are
available
-at the low end of larger sites rather than high end of small ones.
Lastly,
-though not required, I'm using 3-D strategic displays, but 2-D
tactical.

-My hope is to create system that will be simple, not requiring heavy
-bookkeeping, but still having some planning required, and matching the
-FT system well.

***I had been for sometime struggling with what to use for ground
pounders.
***My first thoughts were that DSII just didn't match the simplicity of
FT,
***and I wanted something as an adjunct, not domination of the space
war.
***I vacillated between Ogre Miniatures and Fortress America, just
because
***I like them, and they are VERY simple, and I hadn't decided between a
***concrete or abstract system. In the end, I've pretty much decided to
use
***SPI's Starforce cop-out: nice wars with no civvie involvement. Least,
***til the nasty bugs show up.
***Imagine my surprise when Ogre became such a hot topic. ;->=

-Someone mentioned the upcoming B5 Wars, and the B5 RPG, with B5 causing
-an excitement that probably happened with the ST:TOS. It brought to
mind
-Lou Zocchi's Star Fleet Battle Manual. 400 degree(not 360) recticle.
The
-plastic Fed mini's often used in Star Fleet Battles actually started
here,
-of course based in turn on the ST Technical Manual.

-Well, looking at the bases to those first SFB mini's, with the
hex-based
-overlays, and saw that they perfectly matched Full Thrust's 12 pt turn
-with the off-set four fire arcs. Sorry, but I can't help but think this
-is not a coincidence. Now, for those who think this is some claim of
-plagarism, please bugger off. Between the four arcs of the plastic
base,
-and the hex lines with lines between to mark different arcs, from STBM
-and SFB respectively, I firmly believe Mr. Tuffley created something
new
-and wonderful.

-My request is for anyone who has SFB and has more talent than I in
creating
-FT ship stats for this HUGE pile of SFB ship mini's that, no matter
what
-with the elegant FT system running them.

***This is, of course, the shoe I dropped on rec.games.miniatures.misc.
***Full Thrust is a topic that comes up now and then fondly. *wave at
Allen*
***Alan Brain has, of course, started on this, and suffers continuous
taunts
***from me encouraging him further. I'd like direct transfers from SFB,
without
***actually CALLING them Lyran War Destroyer, and ESGs, etc., but I
can't well
***argue with Alan's reasons.

-As long as I'm trying to figure precursors to FT, may I assume that the
-person that suggested the dead fire arc was a Starfire player? I don't
-doubt that this has been in other games, but none come to mind right
away.
-And do any of those familiar with the old naval game Seastrike wonder
if
-there isn't some connection to the icons on the FT ships? ;->=

***Ok, I know this is inflammatory, but at least I wasn't totally
parochial.
***Seastrike is another fine British game; I've seen references to it's
***several fine points as a some designer or another was borrowing a
***particular technique. ;->=

-The_Beast, who assumes he'll be flamed anyway

***End of transmission

Unfortunately, this may be my only post to the list. While I've enjoyed
the
refreshing civility of the posters to the group, I have been hit with
some
admin flack about the vast numbers of mail files waiting for me if I
don't
stay on it daily. It looks like I'll have to quit inspite of how much
I've
enjoyed lurking here; and right after posting this. Best flame me
directly.

I will hope, no matter how onerous to others, that there will be a time
when to the list goes to a digest, or USENET. Til then, I'll be grateful
to
to Jerry Han for his noble archiving effort. Thanks, Jerry!

When there was a slight problem on this list awhile ago, folks asked
'what
happened'? I thought that everyone here should have seen such things
often
enough to know not to send asking notes. ;->=  Jon, I think the later
applause was in the first instance for your acceptance of admin, no
matter
who fixed one particular glitch. Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

Lastly, allow me to bring up a painful topic; I was shocked as all to
hear
of the death of the previous list maintainer. A quiet and thoughtful
voice,
his presense was something I always assumed would be here, taken,
thanklessly,
for granted. Hearing of the death of anyone less than 2/3 my own age is
always
a tragedy; to be aware of never knowing or meeting them makes it a
poiqnant
one. I agree that naming a class of FT ships would seem trivial to
anyone not
familiar with the game, or see the thrill of possibly being worthy. A
private,
yet, throughly just honor. However, I know I won't wait for another
printing to
make such a gesture. Whenever my two Superior 'Super Galactic
Dreadnought'
monsters finally make it to a game, one will bear the name James H.
Evans,
the only monument I've ever made to my father. The other one will
proudly
declare the name Adam Delafield.

The_Beast, signing off...