Re: FT - No initiative simultaneous fire

From: David Griffin <carbon_dragon@yahoo.com>

>We played a rules variant over the weekend that
>was pretty successful. Basically we played a 
>small game (2 sides 1000pts a side 4 players)
>where we didn't roll initiative, and where fire
>was simultaneous.

>Has anyone done this, and if so, are there any
>drawbacks?

This is my preferred method of both PBeM and Face to Face gaming. I
believe
it helps preserve small ships in th eline of battle, since they will get
to
fire at least once anyway. Opponents tend to target ships that have the
most
firepower they have a reasonable chance of destroying.

Jaime points out:

> The reasons I don't like initiativeless systems is that they get rid
of
> the idea where that some ships will be faster on the draw then others.
> It's nice if all the ships can line up and unleash at once but it's
not
> very realistic. If you're well organised the card drawing system if
> pretty fast and hassle free and keeps the feel of better and worse
> crews.

I'd like to try the card system sometime, but the case for
"simlutaneous"
fire is based on the granularity of FT. A turn is anywhere from 5-20
minutes
depending on your scale, and ships are assumed to be firing and
maneuvering
throughout the turn, so "faster on the draw" tends to abstract out IMO.