Re: SV: Of Sensors and Needles - Some Questions and Suggestions

> 
> John Leary wrote:
> 
> >	 If operating in the defensive mode certain assumptions can be
made
> > with no great danger of being wrong.
> > 1) The ship got here, it must have an FTL drive.
> > 2) The ship is moving, it must have thrust(of some value).
> > 3) The ship has been built by the Universal Shipbuilding Company
(Ltd)
> >    and has FCS based upon its mass/class.	(JTL)
> 
> The last you can't assume. Even the basic FT rules allow you to buy
extra
> fire cons... The other two are fine (especially 1, for most races -
but
> where are the engines on a Minbari ship? <g>)
> 
> >
> > ...  One can suspect that at a range of 9 the ship can be observed
on
> > some form of visual sensor.
> 
> This depends on your gaming scale. A long time ago, someone (sorry,
don't
> remember the name) derived a scale from the orbital mechanics in MT,
where
> one turn is roughly 15-20 minutes and one measuring unit is about 1000
km;
> this is what I prefer to use. I'm not entirely sure that visual
sensors
> would work very well at such ranges - but OTOH needle beams wouldn't
either
> <g>
> 
> Oerjan Ohlson
> 
> "Life is like a sewer.
> What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
> - Hen3ry
Oerjan,
     Number three was intended to have a certain amount of humor 
involved in it.   In an prior message I noted the 'Gumball' 
machine and the arrow that said "Shoot here for FCS" on all
FCS installed on the ship.
     I try to give a useful answer to a question.   If stating
a 'house rule' of my own I try to provide a solution to a prior
question by someone.   The things I dream up may prove a help
to some people.   If the suggestion works, use it.  If it 
doesn't, try something else or some other persons idea.   I am not
likely to know the result either way, unless I get return mail.

The answer to the Minbari question is a simple one for me.
I suspect that the Minbari use a less advanced form of the 
Marcal Le'mer inertialess drive.  This form of sub-light drive
is built into the hull and is automatically damaged at every
threshold check.   

The question of scale is also a simple one.  FT has no defined
time or distance scale.

Well the visual thing works for me, and provides a reasonable
answer to the question 'why doesn't this weapon, so powerful 
that it cannot be stopped by screens, not do damage to the target 
ship on a 4 or 5?

Its getting late, and my mind is shutting down.

Bye for now.
John L.