DS2 future design system

Thoughts for the new system:

FB is about the right difficulty level for a design system. For those
who
don't like math, a spreadsheet can be developed. There could be a
checkbox
for "standard armour" in which case you wouldn't have to do armour by
side,
it'd just do it "as per the old system". 

I for one was very disappointed by the lack of a more full-fledged
design
system. Although Striker II, Fire, Fusion&Steel and a number of other
GDW
design systems might be a tad on the overkill side (as no doubt is
BTRC's
vehicle design book), at least they got the flavour of different
vehicles
right. 

Your vehicle had no artificial size limits (though some characteristics
were
derived from size), so you could build whatever shape you wanted. You
had
some control over surface pressure, power-to-weight ratio, streamlining,
etc
that gave you control over mobility.

You had control of armour on a per facing basis, including types,
sloping,
thickness, etc which gave you the ability to make tank destroyers or old
style top-vulnerable tanks. 

And as Oerjan suggested, power plant output was x kW per y litres of
powerplant and so you could put whatever powerplant you wanted in... but
the
higher tech, higher efficiency ones were necessary to drive Plasma or
Fusion
guns and advanced electronics and point defence... 

I'd very much like to see a DS2 vehicle design system where these
factors
were present, but where the level of difficulty or detail was about that
of
the FB design system. 

And I know Oerjan is going to give us a good prototype someday when he's
bored...

And maybe he'll come up with a combat-point-value scheme and an
economic-point-value scheme too so either tactical balance or campaign
balance could be selected, depending on your bent - for one off games,
you'd
pick combat-points (like current DS2 points). For anyone running a
campaign,
they could ignore combat-points and balance based on economic issues
(cost
to procure, maintain, crew, etc). 

And with his other hand.... he'd be juggling running flaming
chainsaws.....
;)

Thomas Barclay
Software Specialist 
Defence Systems
xwave solutions
www.xwavesolutions.com
v: (613) 831 2018 x 3008

Alea iacta et pessimo resulto factura est.
 
Ave, Caesar! Te morituiri salutimas!