Re: Fighters

On Friday, May 3, 2002, at 02:18 PM, Brian Bilderback wrote:

>> Well, there's a difference between "not optimized" and "not usable". 

>> Brit ships in WW2 weren't optimized for combat but they still were 
>> useful.
>
> True, but I haven't heard that the FB1 designs were useless, just 
> inferior.  Would you play a WWII ship combat game that skewed the
rules 
> in favor of Brit ships, or US ships, or any other power, rather than 
> reflect the reality of the day?

 From being involved with playtesting the question may be may not be 
whether to modify the rules to suit FB ships or not, but rather is the 
fighter/missile/PD system working well.  Even customized ships can have 
real problems with the rock/paper/scissors that this group of systems 
sometimes end up being.  Part of the issue of fighters as I see it is 
the secondary move allowing you to sort of pick the target to pig pile 
on.  Unless everyone goes with Uberships, most ships will be vulnerable 
to the huge concentrated attack by fighters.

>> >[free to change rules to suit yourself] is also true of a game set
in 
>> the Tuffleyverse, and I see no reason to change the rules to suit
that 
>> specific setting.
>>
>> That doesn't address tournaments, conventions, pickup games, or
people 
>> who like the background and/or don't like to tinker.
>
> No, but neither does readjusting the rules to suit them serve anyone 
> else very well.  Perhaps a set of rules specific to the tuffleyverse 
> would make a good supplement, or optional rules, but any changes to
the 
> core system that makes them integral would still be something I'd hate

> to see.

Adjusting the rules doesn't mean that is being done strictly for any 
particular group of ships.  The systems mentioned above and their 
interaction with each other might be part of the problem.

I'd rather balance the rules around the FB ships for one main reason - 
to provide an "out of the box" solution for players.  If a player not 
only has to master the rules but a ship design system as well to have a 
chance in a game I find this a bad thing.  Also, I've played various 
games in the past and I strongly dislike systems where the battle may be

over before the miniatures are moved on the second turn because one side

is much better in optimization.  Although I find it enjoyable to 
construct custom ships I don't want to invest the time finding 
combinations and loopholes for casual gaming - I'd rather put a bit of 
that time into playtesting instead.  Of course - YMMV.	:D

Kevin Walker
Horizon Concepts, Inc.
Macintosh & Windows Development
Miniature Painting & Sculpting