[kinda-FT] Getting Big (was: RE: [FT] SMLs, Type 3 & Tactics)

Rather than respond to a bunch of individual posts, I opted to lump 'em
together.  :)  (oh, God, being efficient on a monday - somebody shoot
me!)

> From: "John M. Atkinson" <john.m.atkinson@erols.com>

Um, in order:

Why not? We've discussed a number of equally unseeming aspects of the game
here. Not only FT, but DSII and SGII (though admittedly not as often).

Does it matter what genre he's playing in? I mean, really? Maybe he just made
it up (it *is* allowed;) (a later posting indicates otherwise, but I wasn't
making any assumptions as to a specific universe he was playing in; he was
just using the rules to do an engagement - albeit a big-ass one!)

The rest I can't comment on; I haven't read Webber's series' noted up there
(not sure if this is a good or bad thing, though). Only the Starfire series.

> From: "John M. Atkinson" <john.m.atkinson@erols.com>
Why not?
> It's no more absurd than the Death Star, is it? Just think of it as

John, I hope you're being sarcastic here, 'cause it sure didn't come across
that way the first few times I read through this.

> Well, yes.

Why not? Obviously at least one person did. And why not play this kind of game
once in a while? Push the limits of the game system, see what happens (and
speaking of pushing the of limits of game systems, where's Mikko been?)

> because no one with a normal income has enough miniatures to

No one said they *had* to use miniatures...

> because the time spent marking

If you've played any appreciable amount of SFB (eg, years worth), then none
of this should even faze you.  ;-)

> and because you'd need a gymnasium to game in.

That's a good thought...though you could easily change your scale to something
more accomodating! And as the forces close, adjust the scale to fit
accordingly. Voila', problem solved.

(hmmm...a friend of mine just bought a house...has a *big*, open basement
right now...hey, Noam, let's lean on Karl about hosting a Lareg Game over at
his place!:)

> I don't use the damn Death Star either.

Why not? Why not use the Death Star? Why limit yourself to 100 pt fleets?
(for any humor-impaired: sarcasm mode high here :)

> And Ogres are pretty silly too--and die nicely in DSII.

I dunno, I like Ogres. Don't like 'em much in DSII, but in their own world
they work fine.

> As for the genre.... It's Science FICTION, John. Infinite

It totally depends on your scale of things, and what assumptions and
constraints you are making and/or imposing on your universe.

Although Star Trek is neither. They're science fantasy (emphasis on 'fantasy')
(and if any rabid ST fans out there want to argue the point, speak to me
off-
line and I'll tell you a story of a ST higher-up I saw at a con once who
came out and denounced any importance to science in ST; I lost a lot of
respect for ST after hearing his presentation)

> I'm not saying you can't,

Your initial post came across in a *very* condescending manner, which would
lead one to believe you were saying they couldn't.

> it is afterall a free country and you're

I'll admit to being pretty choked when I first read Stephen's post, esp when
he verified the size of it all. But it led to some interesting thoughts and
possibilties, and as we saw from Oerjan's(? (I forgot, you did do that
analysis, right Oerjan? or was it Brendan? Hells bells, I can't remember!
brain...too...full...<gurk!>)) analysis, 3 Class-16 batts vs a like-mass
of
Class-6 batts is woefully lopsided (though *looking* at a Class-16 batt
could be pretty sobering!). I hadn't sat down to calculate the upper end of
the diminishing return law as applied to beam batts yet.

> I'd be in a less

John, m'boy, you need to be more adaptable, flexible, to the
ever-changing
FT-discussion enviroment!  :)

> From: DracSpy@aol.com

18 ships per side is a small game to you guys?? Wow...I'm in the group
where <5-7 ships per side is a small game; 18 is a fairly substantial
game (largest game I've been in has been 31:19 ships, and that was an email
game)

Ah, well, my $0.02 worth for the time being.  :-}   (man, in the time it
took
for me to just type this - an hour - I've been flooded with GZG mails!
Almost
like a swarm of FSE-launched SMLs...  ;-)

Mk

> By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends wrote:

With a Class 16 gun?

> >Not someone who's quite right in the head

> Rather than respond to a bunch of individual posts, I opted to lump

Whatever works!:0)

M 'target!' k

In a message dated 99-01-11 11:59:10 EST, you write:

<< Why not? Obviously at least one person did. And why not play this kind of
game once in a while? Push the limits of the game system, see what happens
(and speaking of pushing the of limits of game systems, where's Mikko been?)

> because no one with a normal income has enough miniatures to

No one said they *had* to use miniatures...

> because the time spent marking

If you've played any appreciable amount of SFB (eg, years worth), then none
 of this should even faze you.  ;-)

> and because you'd need a gymnasium to game in.

That's a good thought...though you could easily change your scale to something
more accomodating! And as the forces close, adjust the scale to fit
accordingly. Voila', problem solved.
> [quoted text omitted]

The game was played in IBMCAD, it is a drafting program, I set my force at 0,0
and the the ESE/FSU force at 0,200, then as movement was done I just
moved the ships the proper distance and direction. I did have to group the
ESE/FSU
ships to geather, the program did not like all of the lines that it took ot
display there ships and fighters:)
-Stephen

Regarding that 31 on 19 game, I've run it in real life, too, but it does bog
down a bit for size.

To go beyond 100,000 pts Ithink you need to use small miniatures as big ships
or risk losing FT's speed.

> Ah, well, my $0.02 worth for the time being. :-} (man, in the time
Almost
> like a swarm of FSE-launched SMLs... ;-)

Let this be fair warning:

YOU ARE BEING ENTIRELY TO RATIONAL.

There, I said it, and I'm glad!

:-)

Bye for now,