[ft] Fighter Momentum Conservation (was: [OT] Unpredictable A I)

> -----Original Message-----

Yes, and No. I would not call it Cinematic (refering to the Cinematic movement
of ship), because fighters do not follow the same rules as ships.

But yes, fighters do not conserve momentum from one turn to the next. I
imagine that the reason this was doen was simplicity. Fighters are already one
of the most complex and time consuming aspects of the game. When originally
concieved, they were meant to be "paperless" in that you would not have to
keep track of any aspect of the fighter group except how many were left (done
by switching counters from one with 6 fighters illustrated to one with less
illustrated). When MT was introduced, it tried to address the problem of
fighters being too powerful. It added Endurance, Morale, New
fighter types and Ace/Turkey. Now there was 4 things to keep track of
(number, endurance, type and ace/turkey status). I think that simplicity
is one of the reasons that some people do not play with morale or
ace/turkey
rules. The Morale rules proved to be a good balancing point for fighter, and
thus became "standard" in FB2 (they were also figured in the cost of fighters
in FB1 design point system according to Oerjan).

I have seen systems for keeping track of fighter momentum. All, to this point,
have been somewhat less than desireable. All require additional bookkeeping.

Option 1: Plotted move like ships. Fighters become small ships for movement
purposes.

Option 2: Ship style movement (not plotted) [Vector]. Velocity of the fighters
needs to be recorded in some manner. I have seen this done by having a marker
for the starting point of the fighters. In the fighter movement phase,
momentum is applied to the fighter. The starting point counter is moved to
where the fighters started the turn from. And then fighter movement is done.
This method is a fair option for Vector and only envolves adding a counter to
the table for each fighter group. However, each fighter group must be assigned
a unique identifier (ex. number) and the matching identifier be used on the
counter, or things get confusing quickly. This method DOES slow down the game,
but less than plotted movement.

Option 3: Ship style movement (not plotted) [Cinematic]. The velocity of each
fighter group must be recorded on a seperate sheet and kept track of each
turn. During the fighter movement phase, the player announces the inteded
movement and then moves the fighter as a ship. I.e. the player would
indicate +/- 24 and any turns intended (each point of turn subtracts
from the ammount of thrust it may use) and them moves the fighters using the
stated orders (afterwhich the new velocity is recorded).

Option 4: Ring Movement. The fighter's velocity, but not direction is
preserved. Each round the velocity of the fighter is recorded. The fighter
may move +/- 24 in any direction desired. Secondary movement adds to the
velocity total. This can seem rather silly at greater speeds. The fighter
(with a velocity of 36) can move directly to the aft 12-72. The option
is named due to the area of validity for the fighter end movement, at speed
greater than 24, it becomes a ring.

Option 5: Oblong movement. The course and speed of the fighter need to be
marked in some manner. The fighter's movement is based on the arc it wants
to move into (using fireing arc. Fore: current velocity +/-24. FP/FS:
current velocity +/- 15. AP/AS: current velocity +/-0. Aft: current
velocity
-12 (minimum 0).

As I stated before. All optoions add to the complexity and length of the game.