GenCon: Yet another review

 Greetings fellow Thrusters (and Siders and Grunters)
 
 I took a week of vacation after GenCon so after catching up on the 500+

 emails waiting for me, here is my view if GenCon '97.
 
 List Members.
 It was great meeting the people behind the posts I had been reading.  
 Sorry Mark for the way I rolled during the list game, It must have been

 those darn new 2 color dice from Chessex and the speckled sides (1-3) 
 were heavier than the solid sides (4-6).  I enjoyed the chance to talk 
 with other people who understand and enjoy these games.  The 1:00 am 
 discussions on FT and its future over a beer and the only real meal of 
 the day were great.
 
 I met a bunch of other gamers who were judges for the GeoHex games and 
 they were great too.  If you ever get the chance to go to GenCon and
get 
 in with these guys, make sure you get to Lew Stoneking's for the
gathering 
 the night before.  His basement is a spacegamer's heaven with more
minis 
 than can be believed in one area.
 
 As a result, I will go back to GenCon because of the people I met, not 
 because of the games and retailers.
 
 Other Rules.
 Star Blazers Fleet Battle System - It does keep the anime feel but in
the 
 demo I was in there was this guy from Iowa who ruined the demo for me 
 (the less said the better).  The turn structure is opposite FT
(alternate 
 movement, simultaneous fire) and its a good idea to buy a truck load of

 10-siders as every missile fired is rolled to-hit and you can have 100s

 of them fired in one turn. I did not see the battle craft rules 
 (fighters) in use and Mark says this cuts down on the massed missile 
 attacks as they are needed for defense.  Overall I am happy I bought it

 and will get the Warship Recognition Guide when it shows up.
 
 B5 Wars - Lots of buzz on this, full demos everyday but it was taking
them 
 over an hour and a half to get through the rules and start them
playing. 
 The resin prototypes of the Earth and Narn capital ships were larger
than 
 I expected dwarfing the Mimbari War Cruiser. They sold about 65 boxes
the 
 first day at $45 US a pop (I overheard this at their booth).  I waited
on 
 this and will give my local store some business and pick it up there
once 
 I have digested everything else I got.
 
 Babylon Project RPG Starship Rules - These are great.	It is FT made to

 fit the B5 universe.  Ship diagrams are close to FT but have some 
 modifications.  Movement is quick and works well.  Zeke, (the
co-designer 
 with JT) was there and enthusiastic.  A lot of the FT3 rules were there

 plus some additions I liked (catastrophic damage - hit 2 thresholds on
1 
 turn and you could lose the whole ship, PDAFs fire at all fighters
within 
 6").  In a demo I took a Narn Cruiser against a Hyperion and pummeled
it.  
 The only down side is Chameleon Eclectic has rights for only the early 
 portion of B5 so just the basic ships are included (no White Stars) and
it 
 is not known (Zeke said don't even ask the question) if they will ever
do 
 Shadow rules.	I pre-ordered the Earthforce Supplement and they will
ship 
 it to me when ready sometime in the next month.  The starship combat
rules 
 are only a chunk of the full supplement but for B5 gamers I think it is

 worth it.
 
 Silent Death - This game was pretty hot.  They had the big resins
battling 
 at their booth but most of their games were held in a different room
than 
 the GZG games and there always were at least a few SD games going at
all 
 times.  With their constant release of supplements and minis, they have

 developed a good following, something FT can maybe watch and learn
from.
 
 Misc Rules - Thanks to Crazy Igor's buy-1-get-1-free sale on Sunday I 
 picked up some old out of print rules to add to my collection.  I also 
 hit GameScience for the Star Fleet Battle Manual and Alien Space.  Some

 of these rules have given me ideas on additions to FT that I worked out

 on the drive home, more on them later.
 
 Miniatures
 I had brought with me some Superior Models minis and some Pendraken
minis 
 that all got good reviews.  FYI I have pictures taken of the Pendraken 
 minis and now Mike Miserendino will get them scanned and then Matt
Seidl 
 will get them up for you all to see.
 
 Full Thrust Games
 They were all busy and full except for the first one where I had to
join 
 in and then there were still only 4 players so each player had 2
fleets.  
 Lots of carnage though ;-)  Most of the games had some experienced
players 
 but as Allan said, their should be some easier intro games plus some
other 
 games for the experienced players.  I may have been recruited to run
some 
 next year and hope to help out with a tournament of 16 players where
they 
 choose 1 of many pre-designed fleets and battle 1 on 1 until only the 
 champion is decided.  I'd also like to run a cross-background game
where a 
 Star Wars Imperial fleet pulls a Star Trek Federation fleet out of warp

 and they do battle.
 
 FT's Future
 I was in some good discussions on FT and its future throughout the con
and 
 got some views from Jeff Gullion who also runs a retail game store.  It
was 
 agreed that GW is a miniatures company who creates rules to sell their 
 minis.  They do a good job of making eye-candy minis that kids buy and
of 
 keeping something new always coming out.  FT minis are not selling well
at 
 Jeff's store but the rules do ok.  In his view, the casual players pass
up 
 on FT because of a lack of pre-designed ships and additional
supplements.  
 They are looking to get quickly into a game but do not want to spend
the 
 time and effort designing a fleet.  Many members of the list will
disagree 
 with this but I would not clasify most of the list memebers as casual 
 gamers.  When Jeff runs FT games at his store, they always fill up
quickly 
 and the players have fun but no one else is running games there due to
the 
 lack of balanced fleet designs as the powergamers ruin the
design-your-own 
 pick-up games and the other gamers do not want to spend the time
designing 
 full fleets and scenarios.  If they could come to the gaming table and 
 state "I'll take 2000 points from the NAC fleet, you take 2000 points
from 
 the ESU fleet" then it would bring more gamers to FT.	So basically the

 Fleet Book is very high on his want list and it should also help sell
the 
 FT minis when players have stats for each (though there were comments
that 
 each mini should have a few different versions of FT stats to represent

 upgrades and common modifications).  I did hear good things about FT
and 
 saw a few gamers with a lot of Silent Death stuff buying copies of FT
at 
 the GeoHex booth.  Unfortunately I did hear other comments on FT like
"I 
 never bring a ship smaller that a Battleship to a game because anything

 smaller is not worth it."
 
 These comments are not intended to bash JT and GZG.  I think highly of
him 
 and his games.  I included them because I think they are valid views
from 
 the rest of the gaming world, including the retailer's front line point
of 
 view and the view of the casual gamer which is not represented by the 
 postings to this list.  In the end they want more material to support
the 
 well received rules.  As soon as the Fleet Book and Alien supplements
to 
 DSII and SGII come out, they will boost the sales of the rules and
extend 
 the life cycle of the rules which by some accounts have already peaked
and 
 are on the decline.
 
 Dean
 dean.gundberg@bcbsnd.com