Still Lousy After All These Years

Hello All:
	Well, I'm bummed.  Last night I had proven my own tactical 
incpmpetence regarding FT.  It is FT night at my local game store, and 
since it had been a month since I played a game I decided to go.  I got 
there at 7PM and stayed till about 10:30PM, and in that time frame, I 
found out just how bad I am at this game.
	First of all we started playing late.  I got there at seven 
because we didn't start until 8:30.  We had to wait for another player
to 
show up and come up with a 4000 point fleet.  In the meantime, we were 
entertained by a group of Star War CCG players who were watching a copy 
of "The Star Wars Holiday Special." (Don't ask me where they dug up that

leaker.)  After we had fun MST3K-ing the Special (An Imperial Officer is

mesmerized by Jefferson Starship, and a Grand Moff is outsmarted by Art 
Carney--sheesh.), we started.
	They had changed the house rules since the last time I played:	
	*First, they changed the fleet points.	It was originally 2000. 

Now it's double that.  
	*Secondly, they don't allow fighters.  They didn't tell me this 
until AFTER I launched my fighters.  They claimed that it's not because 
they think they're unbalenced.	It's because they think they take up too

much weapon space.  (One ship had 12 A batteries!)  They made an 
exception in my case, because I wasn't around when they made up the new 
rules.
	Third:	We have to wait 3 turns before any fire can take place.
	Finnaly:  They came up with a new maneuver:  the slipside.  
Operates the same as a 2, 3, or 4 point turn, however the facing is just
a 
little different in the end (i.e. the same direction as ship started).

	I didn't have time to build a fleet, so I used stock ship 
designs.  I had:
	1 Fleet Carrier (equiped with attack and torpedo fighters)
	1 Battleship
	1 Battlecrusier (which got whiped out by Mr. 12 Batteries)
	2 Heavy Cruiers
	2 Torpedo Destoyers
	
	In the end both my destroyers got dusted and my CA and BC died
an 
undignified death.  I had to leave early in order to get to bed at a 
reasonable hour.  I only killed a couple of dinky ships that were 
swarming me.  Other than that, I barely scored a point of damage.  Maybe

the problem isn't with me, but the people I game with.	These people
take 
4000 points and make monster ships that can total my largest ship 
(usually a SDN) in a single beam salvo.  (Don't ask me what our Kra'Vak 
player fields!	10 "3" railguns and 15 scatterpacks!)

Answers for questions people are bound to ask me:
	Q:  Why do you bother playing?	
	A:  Well because it's fun.  I just wish I can win sometimes.  
	Q:  Why don't you find another play-group?
	A:  This FT group is the only one in the bloody state!	The only
thing people do here in Wisconisn is drink beer, eat bratwurst and
potato
salad, and talk about "da Packers...ainna hey?" (This, from a native.)
There's not a lot of gamers around here.  I don't want to wait until
GEN-CON to play a decent game of FT.  Besides, I operate on the
hopelessly
optimistic assumption that I MIGHT one day come up with the tactics to 
destroy any enemy fleet.
	Q:  Why don't you start your own?
	A:  I tried.  The trouble is that there is no real fan-base for 
FT in this state.  (All the other space gamers are into SFB.)  The few 
times I attempted to start a group I wind up sitting in the gaming room 
while the 12 year old play with their Magic cards and pay no attention
to 
me.  Yes, I posted eye-catching annoucements.  No one pays attention to 
them either.
	Q:  Why are you b----ing about this?
	A:  Because it p---es me off. 

Later,
Mark A. Siefert
	
E-MAIL: cthulhu@csd.uwm edu		WWW: http://www.uwm.edu/~cthulhu
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