Re: Why Sensors??

>    Make it 100", that'll cover an 8 foot table.  Then apply
>Phil's "Sensor Lite" rules, maybe an "admiral quality"
>rating, and you're in good shape.  I've been slowly
>percolating "Campaign Thrust" on my mental back burner, so
>here are a few thoughts.

Agreed.

>    You've got several levels of simulation:
>    a) Head of State: Starts with astrography and deals with
>economy, diplomacy, and grand strategy (national goals)
>    b) Fleet Admiral: Starts with the budget and assigns
>training, maintenance/resupply, operations, and building
>programs.  Assigns ships to battlegroups or fleets and
>assigns objectives for those units.  The realm of strategy
>(deciding which campaigns to fight to achieve the national
>goal).
>    c) Admiral: Starts with the ships assigned to the
>battlegroup/fleet and the assigned objective, and devises a
>way to carry the objective with available assets.  The realm
>of operations (deciding what battles to fight to make the
>campaign successful).	This would include things like
>approach vector into a system; whether to refuel before the
>assault or to rely on surprise while hoping you don't run
>out of fuel; attack outlying installations first or go for
>the main planet.

[snipped rest]

I think that a good campaign system can effectively combine B & C, and
include enough of A to keep the kingmakers happy.

Abstract much of the detail for A, and then concentrate on B & C. This
would give a stand alone game or "scenario generator," though they
wouldn't
necessarily be balanced :-)

Schoon