[GZG] Monster ships

Simon had asked what different groups use for rules.

My group is mostly an SG group, but I've been on and off the playtest
lists and have talked to a lot of people who have played a lot more
FT. I have the good luck of having a gaming group from when I was in
university and one from my first job (to characterize roughly where
the core membership of each lies).

Group 1: Vector (because it just makes sense to us, fast-rotation), 3
or 4" burst for SMs, FB fleets (we used to use FT/MT and do miss KV
armour), heaviest ship purchases were in ESU, NSL, NAC, FSE and KV. No
MTM/HMs. Standard PDS and fighter rules, but without custom ships, no
soapies or mass fighter swarms. Fleet compositions started very evenly
distributed between ship classes, but the reality of the Fist of Death
as the dominant formation (no weapons to disrupt it really) and the
reality of the small ships getting killed by long range beam or K-gun
fire resulted in a shift away from so called 'popcorn'. Those ships
are considered to exist in fleets but avoid line-of-battle
engagements. I don't recall us ever playing with terrain. We did not
tend to campaign or run linked scenarios.

Group 2: Cinematic(66%) Vector (34%), FB rules, no MTM/HMs, large
fleet formations from UNSC, FSE, NAC, SV, KV, smaller NSL, FSE,
Phalon. When we played FT a lot, we played with a variety of terrain
and FB ships. We played a number of human vs. alien (esp SV) games.
The UNSC hasn't gotten as much exercise as its massive fleet would
suggest... we tapered off on FT at some point. We did not tend to
campaign or run fixed scenarios. I think in this group we've played at
times with fast-rotation vector and slow-rotation vector. People like
ponderous rotations.

I've also run a few 'one off weekend' using fast-rotation Vector, some
home built ships to add to FB ships for infantry landers or similar
sorts of things. I've designed some fleets for some micropowers but
never put them on the game board yet. I've bought a bunch of the OUDF
ships and got them painted up in a dreamtime scheme but they've never
hit the table yet, though I like my friend Brain's designs. I've tried
the FB MTM/HMs on destroyers against FB light cruisers and destroyers
a few times.

At ECC, I've played several vector games (including PP:E/PP:F, EFSB,
and the original Can Am which stands out both for a graphic
demonstration of where fighters overwhelm FB rules and for the great
use of a gas giant as a major part of the game board). I try to avoid
cinematic because I can fly vector well and intuitively and I never
end up where I expect to in cinematic.

But that latter stuff is all tinkering or one offs.

If I'm going to run a campaign, I'm going to try to draw in some new
folks. I'm going to try to setup something that will start small and
stay small, using something like the Imperium model of a conflict in a
small chunk of space between two powers that will be influenced by
outside happenings but not terribly important to them. This will serve
to limit geographic area as well as limit resupply and construction.

I think I'd like to do this, but I'm going to have to do some thinking
about campaign rules that make sense. I read Roger Burton-West's
updated FB compatible rules and like about 80% of them so I may
'borrow liberally' from that source (with attribution). I appear to
need to find Beth and Derek's sensor rules too.

Tomb
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