Re: FT/MT vs FB

>I won a set of FT rules at a gameday a month ago. Picked up a healthy
batch
>of miniatures at reasonable prices too. Mostly NSL with some FSE. Now,
that
>I've read the rules I realize there's no stats. Many of the weapons
that
>I've seen discussed while I lurk don't appear in here either. I figured
>they were in MT cause I've seen it around.
>
>But.... I was looking at the FB page on GeoHex's site and it gives the
>impression of being a rules compilation/update with (for lack of a
better
>term) SSD's.
>
>Could someone in the know please elaborate for me? Is it worth it to go
get
>MT if I should really just be getting the FB's?
>

As you already have the rulebook (FT), if you only want or can afford to
buy one additional book then I would probably recommend the FB vol.1
rather
than MT. If you can stretch to both, then go for it - MT has a lot of
stuff
you may find useful. If you buy the FB without getting MT as well, there
may be a few things that won't make sense to you, but you should be able
to
fudge round those; the main thing you won't have without MT is the alien
ship rules, but we're working on FB vol.2 with the revised alien stuff
in
it anyway (we're planning for a late-Spring '99 publication, provided
other
things don't get in the way too much).
FB vol.1 has designs in it for the four main human fleets, but you can
use
these designs (or any modifications of them) to fit your own generic
ships
if you wish - you don't have to use the background. Look at the FB as a
resource of sixty-plus ship designs that you can pick from to build your
own fleet, and call them what you like!
The rules changes in the FB are mainly to munchkin-proof the design
system
(as far as possible, anyway -  they'll always find SOME way to minimax
the
system... <grin>), and the rules additions are mostly optional anyway.

Jon (GZG)