Re: "Realistic" space combat

On Oct. 29, Mike Miserendino responded to my post below:

>>I'd like to see some ideas for using the FT rules to simulate this
type of
>>"realistic" space combat.  Yes, it probably isn't quite as romantic as
>>massive space fleets blasting away at one another but could still be
fun in
>>a different way.  Detection and development of firing solutions would
be as
>>important as the firing itself.  This could be handled by treating the
>>sensors as "batteries" in their own right.  One would have to "hit"
the
>>target for a certain number of "detection points" in order to get a
firing
>>solution for their weapons.  Stealth ("shielding") would be based on
target
>>thrust, aspect (facing relative to firer), and active sensor or
weapons use.  
>
>I too like the detail you mentioned, but FT excels as simple game of
space
>combat.  You could add additional rules for firing, but I think it
might
>slow the game down a bit much if you had to roll for sensor locks in
>addition to weapon fire.  Rolling dies for weapon fire in FT at present
in
>some ways simulates this already.  A roll indicating a miss might be
>interpretted as losing a fire control lock.
>
>Of course, if you did this with small ship engagements it might be fun,
but
>typical FT battles are fleet engagements.
>
>Based on the type of detail you would like to see, you might want to
check
>out Brilliant Lances which covers about everything you mentioned and
then
>some.	It is highly detailed and provides a realistic approach to space
combat.

Negative.  I've done Brilliant Lances.	*Way* over-complicated for its
own
good, and not much fun to play.  After playing just about every space
combat
game out there since Triplanetary, SFB (1st ed. ziploc), and Battlefleet
Mars, I switched all my space combat gaming to Full Thrust and haven't
looked back.  It has proven to be an extremely adaptable system (witness
the
various rules conversions on Mark Siefert's webpage) and is loads of fun
to
play.  FT doesn't always have to be about fleet engagements with the
same
basic weapon types.

I can't believe that this group of gamers doesn't have some creative
ideas
along the lines I mentioned above.  I may not be on the right track on
how
to game out such a "near-future tech" setting but I am interested in how
you
and our fellow FT fans would approach it.  I'd appreciate anything you
come
up with.  Thanks.

Rob Pruden
The man with no .sig