Full Thrust : Electronic Warfare & Boarding Parties

Coincidentally, I have thrown a few cards together over the last several days.
They are 4"x6", but It is amazing how few it takes to describe FT. I started
this in frustration of chasing rules among 3 rulebooks and the FTFB errata
sheet. Basically what I have is this:

1) Quick reference play sheet  -
Complete, annotated turn sequence / weapons summary (including Fighters,
Missiles, PDS and options like PDS vs. Ships, C-beams vs.
Fighters/missiles.)

2) Complete fighter rules summary.
(movement/endurance/morale/Pilot quiality/screening/missile
interception/attacking ships/dogfighting/carrier ops& scrambling and
advanced fighter abilities)

3-4) Summary of Rules for Playing with ships.

So far they do not include Terrain details, sensors, mines (never been
happy with them), Genre-specific weapons, Ground-combat integration,
Kra'vak or Sa'Vasku, Boarding actions, fleet rules, Vector Movement, or Design
Rules (that's what my spreadsheet is for.)

Essentially, they are the basic rules to sit down with someone, say 'read
these 2 cards, take a fleet of ships I have made, and let's play'. Then we
could sit down and play with all basic FB rules. I still have room to include
sensor rules, and probably boarding actions. At some point I will probably
customize them with house rules, but not yet. It's amazing how well the FT
rules distill down.

Anyway, let me say this, for Jon's benefit if nothing else. Card #1 might be
considered OK, but under no circumstances will I distribute cards
2-4,
as having them is treading close to the point of not needing the rulebook
to play - which is a definate no-go.  If I do let someone read the rules
from a card so we can play a quick game, but you can be sure that I won't be
sending people home with them. On the flip side, the cards are not very useful
without ship designs to fight with, and don't tell you how to design
them.  I guess the idea is a little like the FT-lite discussed
previously.

On a tangent, has there been any change to boarding actions in relation to
FTFB?  Old rules were essentially Damage Points/4 Boarding Factors.  I
would imagine that the new rules should tie boarding Factor to crew size. Is
there a recommendation for what level of Boarding Factors I should have?
Right now DCP is the same as crew units - would it be reasonable to
assume the same level? though from the DCP desctiption that would place half
the
crew on DCP/BP work.  Has anyone else worked this?

Jared Noble

laserlight <laserlight@mci2000.com> on 11/04/98 02:01:25 PM

Please respond to FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk

To:   FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk
cc:    (bcc: Jared E Noble/AAI/ARCO)
Subject:  Re: Full Thrust : Electronic Warfare

> >> too late! doesn't MT use FMA rules somewhere?

Jon-GZG warbled:
> I've stated on this list before, that FT will NOT be moving to the FMA

Good. I play FT because it's quick and easy. I don't play DS2, because it
isn't. (Steve Jackson's "GEV", with some extra units, is about the level I'm
looking for, although I may have to do some rules bashing to get the flavor
right).

I do want a sensor system, as I feel that that's likely to be one of the most
important parts of space combat. I also want it to be something I can put on a
3x5 card and not have to refer back to the rulebook to figure it out.

(Chorus: "so what's *your* bright idea?"--okay, I'm working on it.
Filing serial numbers off takes a while).