FT-Battle Report

Thanks for all the input everybody had on the FT  multiplayer game.

It came off without a hitch last night at The Last Square. We had a
12'x6'
table, and played across the width of it. The ships were "Classic Trek"
Star Trek micromachines, but the stats were pretty much standard FT. I
removed the Klingons' A Batteries and gave them the equivalent points
worth
of Needle Beams (I didn't worry about the mass difference). I called the
Beam Batteries "Phasers" and the Needle Beams "Disruptors," just to give
the game a *simple* Star Trek flavor.

We had about ten players, ranging from dyed-in-the-wool historical
gamers
to a couple of 11-year olds (one of whom I wanted to throttle). Apart
from
the kids, all the players were 25 years old or older. The Federation
probably had 200  more points worth of ships (Three heavy cruisers, six
destroyers and a battleship versus five D7 heavy cruisers and two
destroyers for the Kilingons).

Funnily enough, the most confusing point in the evening was me trying to
describe the turn modes. After a couple of tries (met with blank
stares), I
finally figured out that the best way to describe it was "Make half your
turn, make half your move; make the last half of your turn, make the
last
half of your move."

After two turns, though, everything ran smoothly. The lack of Quick
Referrence Sheets was a problem, but not a critical one. (Has anybody
made
any up? I'm gonna try and put some together for the next game).

Traditional battle-lines formed, with the Federation battleship
(commanded
by the obnoxious kid - negating the Federation's points advantage) set
up
far to the right flank. A Klingon battlegroup of one Heavy Cruiser and
the
two destroyers was sent out against it, but apart from that, the lines
clashed without much tactical thought.

The lack of range on the needle beams frustrated the Klingons, as the
Federation "A" batteries caused first blood. But the Battleship turned
into
the flank too late, and the Klingon Cruiser/Destroyer battlegroup got
behind it.

One Klingon commander tried to take out some Federation ships by going
FTL
once he was down to a few hits left. He caused as much damage to another
D7
as he did one of the Federation destroyers (minimal), but left alive -
"It
is a good day to...flee."

In the end, it was a bloody mess as the lines got into close range. The
Battleship was down to one hit left before the ships tailing it were
taken
out. That, a cruiser (which had lost all thrust) and two destroyers were
all that got out alive at the end of the game. Only the one D7 got out
alive. The end game found the two remaining Federation destroyers
circling
the last D7. (The bleeding battleship had already fled the field).

The Needle Beams were surprisingly ineffective. Only one hit from all
sources (Each Klingon ship had two). To "simulate" Disruptors, I might
double their range in the future.

But, most importantly, EVERYBODY was raving afterwards. A fun time was
had
by all - even one gamers' girlfriend, who just played for the heck of
it.
"This was even more fun than the elephant races (Circus Maximus)," she
was
heard to say.

We'll probably do another big game in a month or so, adding more weapons
this time. But a lot of people had a lot of fun, and in Madison, it
looks
like Full Thrust is here to stay!

John Kovalic

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