RE: Prospective Novice

G'day,

> Beth is the resident Vector speed freak :-)

I wouldn't have gone that far, ;)

> Unfortunately high speeds only work if you have a large 
> enough gaming table...

This is just as true for vector. We always use floating maps, otherwise
high
speed vector is even more of a "single pass and you're off" than usual
in
most vector games.

Tactics/speeds will depend on which vector (FB1 or FB2) you're using
though.
FB1 vector allows you to play at 6x thrust with confidence, but FB2
vector
reins you in to about 4x thrust. And I'm speaking as the FSE here -
manoeuvrability isn't as crucial for bringing weapons to bear in vector
as
cinematic, but its still damn handy to have! This is especially true for
"boom and zoom", and especially when using FSE ships. With a little
practice
you can learn to slide on by dodging most/all of the opponents "long
range"
shots, getting in two rounds of "combined fire" (SMs/fighters/beams)
before
speeding up and off again. This can work even better if you have large
enough fleets for "wings" of cruisers to do this a step ahead of the
main
body of BBs and up. Even having a pack of CTs with submunition packs etc
do
this a turn or so before the rest gets into range can give the opponent
enough of a bloody nose to take their eye off the ball as the rest of
you
main fleet comes in.

Sliding by also seems to work better than just ploughing through the
middle
for the FSE (due to weaker hull grades), but the plough is OK for
"tougher"
nations.

There's less chance for a return run in vector than cinematic (firstly
because it tends to be bloodier in a faster time so you don't need
another
pass), but if you play floating map it is possible and can be useful to
keep
in the back of your mind - especially if you've got high thrust ships
(which
can slow and turn in a reasonable amount of time) or scenery you can
slingshot around.

Hope that helps 

And please pay attention to all those who will now rectify any "bum
steers"
I've just given you ;)
If there's one thing I've learnt about FT, there's so many ways this
game
can end up being played (with/without core rules etc etc etc) that what
we
think is normal is totally foreign to others!!

Beth