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Re: Trek/SFB conversions

From: Michael Carter Llaneza <mllaneza@s...>
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 01:45:58 -0500
Subject: Re: Trek/SFB conversions

At 7:49 PM -0800 1/27/97, Mark Sigerson wrote:
>	How true!!  SFB is great if a tax audit is your idea of a good
>time.	It seems
>rules lawyering is a route to victory in that system, and they have
>admitted as much in
>the Captain's Tactics Manual!

I tend to gloss over the rules lawyering when I reread the Tactics
Manual. Let's face it, the rules mechanics make some of your tactical
decisions for you. For example, spreading your fire over a number of
impulses to maximize the number of weapon and power hits. The designer
wrote the Damage Allocation Chart years before anyone noticed that.

The big problem with SFB is that it's not so much a game, as a very
sophisticated set of mechanics (in the scientific/engineering sense)
that defines the interactions of a large number of systems: weapons,
terrain, power, crew quality, etc. If you spread out the chart that
gives the rule # for how system X (Asteroids for example) interacts
with system Y (plasma torpedoes) you don't have anywhere to put your
beer and pretzels. There's a rule for EVERYTHING

And that's why I play Full Thrust these days. There just aren't as many
things interacting with each other. You lose a little in tactical
complexity, but gain by boring the rules lawyers into catatonia.

>	I would like to see some of the more interesting SFB ships
>converted to FT.
>Maulers, anyone?

It's the power systems that make an SFB mauler unique more than the
mauler itself.

>How about the B-10

A supership with some interesting campaign rules.

>or those amazing Federation CVs?

See above. It's the fighters and escorts that make Fed carrier groups
unique.

What about the
>Andromedans???

Open MT to the Sa'vasku section. Place under your pillow. Sleep. The
appropriate energies for designing the Andros in FT have been absorbed
into your brain. Be sure and share the rules you come up with.

> And let's not forget monsters...

And endless possibilities for solitaire scenarios. Just design the
scenarios for fleets instead of single ships. Flying a single cruiser
around is a learning experience, but not much of an actual game.

>	Mark

Anyone wanna buy a <no kidding> large </no kidding> SFb and F&E
collection dataing back to 1979 ??

Michael Carter Llaneza
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1991-1950
http://www.hypnotic.com/
Devolution is very real to me.

Processor	     Clock Speed       Bytemark Integer Benchmarks
------------------------------------------------------------------
Pentium 	       90 MHz			      1.0
Pentium 	      200 MHz			      2.1
PowerPC 603e	      117 MHz			      2.2
Pentium Pro	      200 MHz			      2.8
PowerPC 603e	      200 MHz			      3.8
PowerPC 604e	      200 MHz			      4.5

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