From: Brian Lojeck <lojeck@r...>
Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 21:49:49 -0500
Subject: First Hack at Mecha fighter rules... (long)
(note, as these are unfinished, I do not release my rights to this material to GZG) ok, I seem to have misplaced my rules, so I'll do point costs and stuff later on, consider this brainstorming. The method of moving craft in FT seems to imply that only large engines (or only LONG engines) can attain the thrust needed for rapid motion. ships can turn, obviously, but the majority of their acceleration is along the length of the craft. as mecha are not as long as ships, they must attain acceleration using what are normally termed as "retro" or "manuvering" thrusters (small, efficient bursts from small jets) they should be able to rotate about their lengthwise axis as rapidly as fighter can its, but their axis goes perpendicular to most crafts' (they are tall, most craft are long, geddit?) so, I propose the following rough rules: mecha are deployed as fighters, in groups of 6, they must be launched, recovered, etc.. (I'll work out that stuff later) Mecha have 8 thrust. they can move 1 inch in any direction or turn one clockface by paying one thrust. they maintain no inertia from turn to turn, so may never move more then 8 inches (they're method of propulsion, as well as the constant and many quick "jukes" the mecha suits are constantly making, insure that any attempt at movement in a straight line is nearly impossible, negating any inertial movement) due to the extra ordinary flexibility of the mecha suits, they have one fire arc through which they may fire. it is the frontal 180 degrees of the flight stand. within that arc, engagement is handled just as for fighter weapons. legal targets are ships, fighters, missles, and other mecha (perhaps not missles, dunno) (I need to figure out how to handle dog-fighting, pdaf, adaf, and missles) BOARDING ACTIONS: if a mech squadron ends within 2 inches of a spacecraft (I need to check the rules for ramming, but the idea is that the requirements are the same as ramming) they may board. if boarding is successful, the mecha stand is removed from the board temporarily. every round they remain on the ship, they must attempt to force a threshold check against up to one system per mecha left alive (6 mechs can cause between 1-6 checks per round) each check failed kills one mech. if the ship is destroyed, or the mechs get tired of dying, they may leave the ship, and the stand is replaced withing ramming range of the ship they were just aboard umm... oh yeah, since I'm having a hard time getting my hands on a copy of more thrust, I'm making these mecha more-thrust-less at the moment. once I get those rules, I'll be able to more fully integrate them. for mass and points, I'm thinking they should be slightly more massive (like 8 mass) and slightly more points feel free to respond to either the list or private email