Re: Soap bubbles?

From: "Randall L Joiner" <rljoiner@mindspring.com>

> Alan and Carmel Brain wrote:
>
> > a) Max 6 fighter groups allowed to attack one ship in a turn, but no
limits
> > on SMs or MT missiles.
> > b) PDS fires twice vs fighters (only), OR once vs SM/MT Missiles.
>
> The major problem I see is that it weights bringing the single largest
ship
> possible to a game...  If I bring a single SDN and the enemy brings 18
soap
> bubbles, I only have to worry about PDS for 6 groups of fighters

Another idea for MT missiles is an EMP warhead on the short-ranged
variant.
This causes an additional threshold check (usually) (and 1 pt of
damage).
It's an
alternative to the other short-range warhead, which does 3D6.

Basically, the two warheads are statistically equivalent vs things
slightly
smaller than a Jeanne D'Arc or Komarov, the EMP is significantly less
effective
than the standard warhead vs standard dreadnaughts, and semi-useless vs
cruisers
and below.

Against Komarovs and Jeanne D'Arcs, the EMP warhead is just a tadge more
effective than the normal 3D6 one, the difference is almost
unmeasureable.
But against things larger than Jeanne D'Arcs, the EMP warheads become
killers : superships become not just bad ideas, but REALLY bad.

The consequence is to make the FB1 designs, if not optimal, then at
least
not outclassed by either massed Soapbubbles or Dreadplanets.

But note, these are still ideas under discussion, and odds are, like
most
ideas, they'll end up on the cutting-room floor.

> You know, I just thought of another idea...  Taking a page from Anime,
what
> about Frat-a-cide?  Has the playtest list done anything along those
lines?
If
> done right, it would drastically reduce fighter/missle pile-up,
without
> reducing smaller numbers of said being effective.

If you can come up with some simple rules that have the same effect as
the
"no more than 6 groups attacking" due to fratricide, go for it.
Fratricide
is the PSB for the 6-group limit.