Re: Random Firing in Phases

On Fri, 10 Sep 1999 16:07:50 -0400, "Thomas Barclay"
<Thomas.Barclay@sofkin.ca> wrote:

>Instead, I'd propose a random initiative firing system. Roll d6 for
>every vessel. Note the number. You have six firing phases. All fire in
>a phase is simultaneous. Phase to phase is not. So If I have 3 DDs and
>a HC firing I roll 3 d6 (let's say I get 3,4,4,5). So one DD fires
>first, then two DDs simultaneous, then the HC. This makes for a sort
>of interesting combination of the two, and removes some of the
>deterministic feeling. (Chaos of Battle and all that).

I've noticed you have a penchant for this kind of mechanic, Tom! *L* Not
that
there's anything WRONG with that...

For a simpler Random Fire in FT, you could simply use cards. I know, I
know,
lots of people HATE this kind of thing. I personally first came across
it in
the 70s when the old Wargamer's Digest published it's skirmish rules.
Individual figures were activated when their card was drawn. This is
easy to
do in FT.

Each ship gets a card (the back of the cards should be identical... it
would
be trivial to use playing cards). You can do this in two ways: 1)
shuffle all
the ships into one deck; 2) shuffle the ships into two different decks.

The easiest way is to draw a card, and that ship gets to fire, as though
it
were chosen in a regular FT game. Another option is for each player to
draw a
card from their own deck (you have to use option number 2 for this) and
those
two ships fire simultaneously.

Personally, I loved the random deck system when I was a kid. It added an
incredible level of excitement. But, what it gains in excitement it
loses in
control and tactics. I like FT as it is because ship choice during
combat is
one of the few tactical issues that players can control. I find there's
enough
luck in FT as it is.

Allan Goodall		       agoodall@interlog.com
Goodall's Grotto: http://www.interlog.com/~agoodall/

"Surprisingly, when you throw two naked women with sex
toys into a living room full of drunken men, things 
always go bad." - Kyle Baker, "You Are Here"