Re: Vector Rules

Excerpts from FT: 4-Oct-97 Re: Vector Rules by John Leary@sj.bigger.net 
Status: RO

> DEAR JON T.
>      HAVING ASKED FOR COMMENTS ON THE 'TRUE VECTOR MOVEMENT'
> I AM RESPONDING.  (SOMEWHAT LATE, BUT RESPONDING)

^_^  'S OK, anyone can respond, any time.  Did you have to shout,
though?

> OVERALL THE RULES MAKE SENSE, AND CAN BE PLAYED WITHOUT ANY
> GREAT ADJUSTMENT.   

Yup.  They do all right, though turns take a bit longer to plan, I've
found.

>      THE ONE THING I NOTICED WHILE READING THE RULES:
> THE 'TRUE VECTOR' CONCEPT DOES NOT FOLLOW THRU FOR THE 'ROTATION
> OF STATIONARY UNITS' AND THE 'SIDE SLIP' CONCEPTS.
>      TO ROTATE A STATIONARY SHIP 180 DEGREES WOULD REQUIRE A SHIP
> OF THRUST VALUE 24;  6 POINTS OF THRUSTER TO TURN,  6 POINTS OF 
> THRUSTER TO STOP THE TURN.   (THE SHIP COULD BE THRUST 12 IF A 
> STATIONARY SHIP WERE ALLOWED TO ALL OF ITS THRUST FOR ROTATION)

I don't see this: my take on the rules (and the way I've played with
them) is that the points allocated for rotation are for both starting
and stopping the rotation, ie, you apply 3 points of rotation to port,
then automatically stop it once you've done so.  This means you don't
need to keep track of rotation between turns.  So you would need a ship
of "only" thrust 12 to do a 180 in one turn....

Alternately, I've played that you get rotation points *equal* to your
thrust value, and a "puch" takes two rotation points.  This makes thrust
8 ships *very* maneuverable, which is as it should be (IMO).

Incidentally, I don't think ships at "full stop" should be allowed to
rotate to any facing; if you've got rotation points, use them in all
cases.	(Either that, or ignore them completely and just use the
rotation points for pushes, but I don't think SDNs can turn *that* fast,
so....)

>      THE SAME PROBLEM SHOWS UP IN THE 'SIDE SLIP' MOVEMENT.
> IN 'TRUE VECTOR' ANY THRUST THAT IS USED FOR ANY REASON MUST BE 
> CANCELLED OR IT REMAINS A VECTOR ADJUSTMENT FOREVER.

Actually, it's not a problem here, and it's accounted for in the way you
record your movement: if you pushed one inch to port, your final vector
includes that movement.  If you want to cancel it, push one to starboard
later.	Unlike rotation (if you don't consider it cancelled once you've
used your rotation points), pushes don't add any bookkeeping to the
system.

>      NOW TO THE TRUE PROBLEM;   I FEEL THAT THE SYSTEM WILL TAKE 
> TO LONG TO PLAY,  THIS WILL EASILY DOUBLE OR TRIPLE THE GAME 
> LENGTH.   THE TRUE VIRTUE OF 'FULL THRUST' IS ITS SIMPLICITY AND
> SPEED OF PLAY.

It's true that the vector movement does take some getting used to, and
ships with thrust 2 *do* have to move more slowly or they'll go off the
board before they can get turned around (my carrier did... whoops), but
it also allows for some rather amusing (and useful) tactics... like a
SDN with massive broadsides rotated off it's heading to bring the
broadsides to bear, then rotating back when it's in the middle of the
enemy formation to bring *both* sides to bear... heh heh heh heh....
<grin>

(Well, OK, it was amusing for *me*.  I'm not sure how Mark Kochte took
it.)

(Actually, he took it on the chin, but that's another story. ^_^ )

<ahem>

Anyway, the vector movement works well once you get used to it.  You
need to be a bit more cautious in your movement (it's not so easy to get
turned about, after all) but the range of tactics this opens up is well
worth it IMO.

Later,

		    Aaron Teske
		    Mithramuse+@cmu.edu