Re: Small Alien Empires (and more)

Tim Bancroft wrote:

 >Cheers, guys.  What happens to the xeno-analysts when they get it
wrong?
 >;-)

Depends on whether or not the grunts who suffered because of his
mistakes
can lay their hands on him...

 >I hope the briefing does not contradict any of the "official" KV
outupt
 >in the Tuffleyverse: do say where you think it directly does so.

Don't think there are any direct contradictions (well, OK, my 15mm KV 
infantry minis seem to have three fingers and an opposable thumb, so the

"base three" theory contrasted against our "base five/base ten" system 
might be iffy - but those models are so small so I can't say for 
certain)... it's just that most of the briefing is conjecture based on
very 
limited observations, and the questions you aske could very easily be 
answered by completely different theories. Heck, different theories
could 
be true for different KV clans, just like no social model is capable of 
describing every human culture <g>

Note that the Rot Hafen saga was written before FB2 was published, so
don't 
take all it says for "canon truth". (This is most appearent in the space

combat descriptions, where eg. the KV scatterguns are extremely potent 
against spaceships - following the More Thrust scattergun rule, but 
contradicting the FB2 scattergun rule.)

 >>FTL torpedo rules clarifications
 >
 >Thanks for the comments, Oerjan, they show where I have to clarify
 >things.  These are "pressed" peace kit, so should avoid weaopns
systems
 >like the PBL and the FTL bombs mentioned in the archives: any damage
is
 >purely incidental from the FTL effect (however that is implemented).

Whether or not the damage is "incidental" or "intentional", the actual 
*effect* is similar to the effects of previously published weapon
systems...

 >They are launched with other missiles.  As per rules entering FTL is
at
 >the end of the move phase (minus warm-up turn).  FTL dropout is at the
 >start of the *next* turn, immediately after order writing and before
 >Initiative.

Considering that the FT PSB descriptions of FTL travel describes it as 
"taking no measurable time in real-space", I must say that having to
wait 
almost an entire turn for the outgoing missiles to arrive feels a bit 
strange <g> But then again the FT2 FTL rules aren't entirely consistent 
with themselves either :-/

For ease of play, I'd suggest that these FTL missiles drop out *before* 
order writing - the
enemy ships can't dodge it anyway and the effect is instantaneous upon 
arrival so it doesn't matter if ships move into the danger zone after
the 
missile has already arrived, and arriving after the orders have been 
written means that the target ships risk suffering engine damage which 
invalidates their written orders. Resolving the missile drop-out before 
orders are written save you from having to re-do the orders of any ships

which suffer engine damage (and from having to do orders for any ship
which 
is destroyed by the missiles, too).

(The reason why ships appear from FTL *after* order writing is to
prevent 
the enemy from pre-positioning his ships to welcome the new arrivals and

hit them before they can open fire, but that doesn't really apply to the

FTL missile since it "opens fire" simply by arriving and "dies" anyway 
after completing its jump.)

 >Having tried it I don't like the super-secret entry point
 >(sensors seems to detect some form of FTL dropout from what I've
read).

Some SF backgrounds mention this, but others don't and the published FT 
rules specifically deny it. However, secretly recording coordinates and 
then having to measure them exactly when the missile pops out is a
serious 
pain game-wise :-/

 >This delay makes accuracy a bit of a problem.

It makes it essentially the same as the accuracy problems with plasma
bolts 
or (human) missiles. (Having to roll 2+ on a D6 is an accuracy problem
of 
sorts, but it is considerably better than having to survive the target's

point defences the way plasma bolts or (human) missiles do.)

 >The chance of "friendly fire" damage is also present as ships will
have to
 >bypass the known entry point!

Should be a pretty minor problem, unless you both launch the FTL
missiles 
straight into your own path and move too slowly to get out of the danger

zone (and/or forget to change your course to compensate). With thrust 
ratings of 6A or better, the Tjyy'Tidd shouldn't have any problems at
all 
to avoid their own departing missiles.

Later,

Oerjan
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
-Hen3ry