Re: hello

cgray wrote:

> I have been a player of sci fi games for quite sometime I just was
> introduced to Full Thrust I have a  couple of questions if anybody
would
> enlighten me :)

But of course! Welcome here, BTW - it seems more and more of the
Starfire
list drifts over here too <g> 
 
> when using the original rules for movement It goes
drift/turn/acceleration
> correct?

Um. The "drift/turn/acceleration" description sounds very much like the
(optional and fairly recently introduced) Vector movement system, but
isn't entirely correct. You "drift" first, but the turns and
accelerations can be mixed up.

In the original movement rules (at least from FT2 onwards, I don't have
FT1 <g>) - ie, those called Cinematic nowadays - you calculate your
speed
for the current turn (by adding the accel/decel for this turn to your
speed from the previous turn), then turn 1/2 - move 1/2 - turn 1/2 -
move
1/2. There's no "drifting" step in Cinematic.

> and if it does then if someone plots revers acceleration do they
effect
the
> drift of THAT turn or is it the next or...something else entirely

In Vector, plotting reverse acceleration is handled just as any other
acceleration - drift first, then move in the direction you accelerate.
In
Cinematic, reverse thrust means your speed this turn

> why build big ships ?? I have been decimating the other players with 
> small 20 and 30 ton vessels armed with SML and ER missles or just 
> loaded with fighter bays ?? 

Ah, the classic one-shot missile swarm strikes again :-) Small ships
have
a distinct disadvantage in non-missile firefights... it's the same
problem as in Starfire - once your enemy learns how to deal with your
fighters, you'd better have something more than just carriers to fight
with. Same when your magazines run dry after that first salvo.

And, just as in Starfire, you shouldn't use big ships *only* unless your
enemy does the same <g> 

> at about 100 per ships I get about 8 for every large ship
> they bring in so I hit them with either 8 salvos of SML or 16
squadrons
of
> fighters 

I do hope you mean the other way around - a fighter bay is 9 Mass, an
SMR/ER is 5... BTW, the cheapest possible fighter carrier costs 63 pts
per squadron (including the cost of the fighters) - but it is *very*
slow
and blows up as soon as someone breathes on it, so unless its fighters
manage to wipe the enemy out those carriers are rather dead :-)

If you manage to hit with all your SM salvoes, it sounds as if your
opponents don't try to evade at all (or fly very slow ships, making them
unable to evade). There's a suggestion in the SM rules that if you use
Vector movement, the SM engagement radius be only 3mu - that suggestion
is there for a very good reason, and your opponents should insist on
that
if you use Vector. If you're using Cinematic movement, OTOH, you should
insist on the full 6mu! :-)

> what gives here is it something we are missing or.....maybe our
> ships arent designed well any help would be appreciated 

I suspect your opponent's ships and/or tactics aren't entirely optimized
for fighting a missile/fighter swarm, but it is a little difficult to
tell without knowing what they use and how they fight :-/

Later,

Oerjan Ohlson
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
- Hen3ry