Back in action

Hello all,
It's been a long time since I've been on this list.  I decided to get
back 
on because I've started to game again and also because I just bought two
new 
fleets to game with.

I was happy to see that the first message I got concerned tactics for
the 
Kra'Vak as that is my first fleet.  The other fleet I bought is the
Phalons. 
  I do have some questions however...

1. -- why do the Phalons or anyone else for that matter call their
larger 
ships MOTHERships when indeed it is quite clear they are FATHERships.

2. -- are their any rules for their docking stations?  A roundtable 
discussion this past week (read: we were drinking gin and howling with 
laughter...) centered on such rules.  We decided that the ports on the 
docking station would be quite, um, fleshy if you will.  The center hub
of 
the station would be dominated by two connic refueling stations. 
Someone in 
the group suggested placing a pad over one of the ports to show what
they 
look like when they are down for monthly maintenance.

We decided that Phalon docking stations required much higher maintenance

than other stations and generally were unable to get ready to deal with
any 
emergency in anything less than 1 1/2 hours.  Phalon ships that dock
with 
the station will undock as soon as business is concluded and then enter
into 
radio silence with the docking station for at least several days.  It
has 
been observed that on occasion the bridge crew of some Phalon ships will
get 
intoxicated and resume radio contact with docking stations they haven't
seen 
in years at odd hours.

Docking stations also, occasionaly, build new phalon ships.  They are
small 
and require a long shakedown cruise.  All to often the Fathership that 
delivered the parts to build the new ship will find it too cumberson to 
include it in the taskforce.  Taskforce integrity is based on the
"buddy" 
system and the responsibility for caring for a new ship can be seen by
many 
Phalons as a burden that destroys that system.

A classic way of defeating Phalons is to distract them.  Launching a pod

with some shiny new technology, even during battle, will cause many of
the 
Phalons to break ranks so they can check it out.  Don't bother to
include 
instructions as they will be ignored and the pod will almost upon being 
received be opened and taken apart for further inspection.

Phalon fleets are generally slower than other fleets when entering new 
territory.  Phalons seem to ignore all nav beacons and when off track
will 
rarely, if ever, stop long enough to triangulate their position within
local 
systems.  Their slowness is not a question of velocity (which can be
quite 
large in magnitude) but more with not making a straight path to their 
target.

Phalon fleets have been known to communique back to the docking station 
stating that they are on patrol but then quickly skirt behind a local
moon, 
exchange boarding parties and play cards.

The Phalon ships tend to have larger and larger cargo areas modified on 
their ships as they age.  When asked, Phalon ship commanders often
respond 
back that "they are working on it."

Oddly, phalon ships and docking stations have different measuring
systems 
using the same terms.  A ship's standard measuring unit will tend to be
as 
much as 50% to 175% larger than the docking station's.	A ship, for
example 
might say it is at least 10 megaunits long while the docking station
will 
guide them to a 6 megaunit long docking port.  Odd.

The Phalons are truely enigmatic as you can tell.  They are so alien and

have no analog in human society that it may be years, centuries (never?)

before we truely understand their motivations.

--Peter
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