Power Projection: Fleet

Power Projection: Fleet

In my hands I have a copy of Power Projection: Fleet (PP:F), well, not
when I'm typing. What follows is a run-down of the contents of the
book, rather than an actual review. I'm probably not the best person
to review the game as I've helped-out with playtesting and demoing
Power Projection: Escorts (PP:E), PP:F's little cousin, for the past
two years.

Physically the book is made up of 60 pages of rules. In the centre are
two A4 pages of colour counters, 49 ships and three planets. A number
of the ships are identifiable as known Traveller ships. Next are two
A4 pages of game counters. These are the same as supplied in PP:E and
are black ink printed on yellow paper. They are available for download
in colour at the Power Projection website. Finally, there are 12 pages
of Ship Status Diagrams (SSD's). These cover 31 ships, of which six
are fighters and a blank system map.

The cover is another Jesse De Graff picture, different to the one used
on Power Projection: Escorts. It shows a number of Third Imperium
ships giving fire in defence of a planet. I can recognise a Tigress, a
PF Sloan, a Plankwell and there are a number of ships too small to
identify. I like it, but I'm a big fan of Jesse De Graff's work.

The rules are broken down into a number of sections, and in fact there
are two games here, the miniatures game and the strategic game. I have
described each section in the order they appear in the book.

The rulebook kicks off with an introduction section, starting with a
piece of fiction. This is the same piece as in PP:E. It then moves
onto what is required to play, some Traveller background, a full
introduction to the concepts behind the rules and fairly thorough
designers' notes. (7pp)

Next up are details on fleets, task forces, their composition and
structure. Rules for their command and control are also here. Crew
quality gets covered here as well. (2pp)

Individual component symbols and SSD's take up the next section. Each
component symbol is accompanied by a short description of what it
represents. A few of the components symbols have changed from PP:E,
and spinal mounts and black globes have now been added. (3pp)

The vector movement system section is next. This looks to be very
similar to the section presented in PP:E, and I would have expected
the authors to have made changes in light of the publication of PP:E.
(7pp)

The combat section adds to the rules previously presented in PP:E. The
new additions are spinal mounts, black globes, boarding actions and
psionics. (14pp)

Jump operations are covered with rules for entry/exit during a game
and also the affects of misjumps. (2pp)

A completely new section on planets supplies a means of recording
their details in a similar manner to the SSD called Planetary Status
Diagrams (PSD). Assaulting them and their surrender is also covered in
this section. (4pp)

A scenario engine for one-off games is presented with game and table
set-up instructions. The heart of this section is 22 missions, 11 for
the attacker and 11 for the defender. (4pp)

Next up are rules for the strategic game. It would require a fair
amount of effort to set-up a game, but all areas needed are covered,
from ship construction to logistics. I expect parts of this section
would be useful for smaller campaigns where a number of connected
games are played out. (12pp)

The ship conversion rules are aimed at ships originally designed with
the second edition of High Guard. Due to similarities, MegaTraveller
and Traveller 20 ships are also easily converted. Ships designed with
Traveller: The Next Era and Gurps: Traveller would require more
(guess)work. (4pp)

The rules finish with a comprehensive run-down of gravity levels at
various radiuses, for a cross section of planets and stars of various
sizes and types. (1pp)

Be lucky,

Neil McGurk