RockCon o3

Hello All:

I just got back from RockCon 2003 (Rockford, Illinois, USA) where I ran
a
demonstration game of Power Projection escort.	Turn out was far better
than
I expected.  When I signed on for the game back in September, I stated
that
the game would have a minimum of 4 players or a maximum of 6.  I was
able to
fill all six slots!  Most of the players where old hands at FT, only one
was
unfamiliar with the system.

I decided to throw in a little spice into the game and rather than
playing
the usually drab "Fair Fight" engagement, I choose instead to run the
Blockade scenario from the rule book.  I choose to have the Imperials
try to
"break out" of the system and have the Zho's intercept them.  I was able
to
divided up the fleets between the six players: 4 players took two
Zhodani
ships each, while the other two took two Imperial ships each.

The first turn I spent helping the players get used to the rules. 
Tactics
for the first turn were simple.  The Imperials, started away from the
planet
at a velocity of 4 and had kicked is up to 10, hoping they could use
pure
speed to break through the incoming Zhos.  Meanwhile the Zho's where
maneuvering to a point where they could create a wall between the planet
and
the edge of the board.	No ships where in range of one another, so no
combat.

New turn we began to see a little more action.	The Imperials Continued
to
accelerate.  They seemed a little reticent about using their
sandcasters, so
only one or two ships deployed them.  Missiles where also unleashed at
this
point.	There was some direct weapons fire, but due to crappy die
rolling,
only a few points of damage where scored.

Turn three was where the action REALLY took place.  Needless to say, the
Imps tried to continue to burn their way off the board.  Knowing that
they
would pass them, the Zhos began to maneuver their ships so that they can
keep their weapons on their opponents.	Missile launched last turn came
in,
but due to a combination of point defense fire and the afore mentioned
crappy die rolling, no missile launched from the last turn scored any
damage.  The Zhos had been consistently winning the initiative rolls and
this turn was no exception.  Missiles where launched again, and this
time
they intercepted their targets in the same turn.  While not getting the
"second-turn-of-flight" bonus, the effects where devastating!  Three of
the
smaller Imperial ships where destroyed by a barrage of nukes.  Another
ship
was brought down with both missiles and secondary weapons fire. 
Finally,
the Sloan died after failing a catastrophic damage that finished off
it's
damage track.  Although the Imps fought hard, and damaged more than a
few
ships (two Zho vessels had temporarily lost their bridges), there were
no
kills for the Imperials at all.

In the end, a total Zhodani victory!  The game session lasted about
3-and-a-half hours.  Everyone came away feeling that Power Projection
was
the greatest thing since sliced bread.	I had handed out flyers with WWW
address of various sources or where they could purchase the game
(Warehouse
23, Mystic Station, GZG), and to keep a look out for Fleet when it comes
out..  The only thing I regret was not bringing any of my "cheat sheets"
along.	Passing around the one copy of the book to figure out the damage
rolls was rather inconvenient.

I had taken some pictures of the game and I downloaded them into the
Photos
section.  I'll also be posting them to the UFTWWWP as soon as I find the
time.

Otherwise RockCon was very good this year.  A few dealers had some B5
Wars
ships for 50% off.  I picked up a few blisters for Fleet Action ships
and
two of the "full sized" Warlock Destroyers and a Brakiri warship that
caught
my eye.  Those, along demo and some old Ral Partha dinosaur figures made
it
a fine convention.

I'll definitely be doing this next year.

Later,
Mark A. Siefert