MT missiles

Please, no, don't screw up the game again!

MT missiles (and level-3 screens, and "no sense to buy anything but
A-batts") was exactly the reason that turned me off FT back then...

If anyone is really serious about bringing them back, try this exercise:

- Make one normal fleet, say vanilla FB1 designs 
- Make one fleet of equal value, composed entirely of "bathtub
launchers":
MD8, one MTM, FTL, minimal hull, nothing else. 
- Start the battle in the normal way. The launcher fleet enters at
maximum
allowed velocity.
- On the first turn (assuming table depth about 60" or less), the
launcher
fleet launches all missiles and executes a hard turn away. (Cinematic --
tactics vary a bit in vector, but the essence stays the same)
- On the following turns they continue running and FTL away at first
opportunity.

Play that out a couple of times. No, don't just figure it out in your
head, *play* it out, one game per night, including breaking out and
repacking all the minis. Then play it out a couple times more. Then come
back and tell just how much fun you had, and how many bathtub launchers
you managed to shoot down. (My guess is none on both counts)

You're saying they didn't cause that much damage either? Well, I have
news
for you: A kill ratio of something to nothing is *infinite*! It is
exactly
what certain real armed forces today try (very hard) to achieve, yes,
but
IMHO it makes for an incredibly boring game.

(Yes, I know they technically never went anywhere, but now that it is
actually cost effective to field PDS against them it's not quite the old
ogre anymore)

I have a word of advice to all those who like to design new systems:
When
it comes to testing, forget "reasonable". Try it all-out. See what
happens
when go *really* overboard with it. Try to answer these two questions:
 - why would anyone use your system at all
 - why would anyone use anything but your system
If you can answer these *without* referring to "honor", you might be
onto
a winner...

-- 
maxxon@swob.dna.fi (Mikko Kurki-Suonio) 	  | A pig who doesn't
fly
GSM +358 50 5596411 Tel +358 9 8092681		  | is just an ordinary
pig
Länsimetsä 3B1 02300 ESPOO FINLAND   Hate me? Try |	      - Porco
Rosso
http://www.swob.dna.fi/~maxxon/      hateme.html  |