RockCon o3

Hello All:

I just got back from RockCon 2003 (Rockford, Illinois, USA) where I ran a
demonstration game of Power Projection escort. Turn out was far better than I
expected. When I signed on for the game back in September, I stated that the
game would have a minimum of 4 players or a maximum of 6. I was able to fill
all six slots! Most of the players where old hands at FT, only one was
unfamiliar with the system.

I decided to throw in a little spice into the game and rather than playing the
usually drab "Fair Fight" engagement, I choose instead to run the Blockade
scenario from the rule book. I choose to have the Imperials try to "break out"
of the system and have the Zho's intercept them. I was able to divided up the
fleets between the six players: 4 players took two Zhodani ships each, while
the other two took two Imperial ships each.

The first turn I spent helping the players get used to the rules. Tactics for
the first turn were simple. The Imperials, started away from the planet at a
velocity of 4 and had kicked is up to 10, hoping they could use pure speed to
break through the incoming Zhos. Meanwhile the Zho's where maneuvering to a
point where they could create a wall between the planet and the edge of the
board. No ships where in range of one another, so no combat.

New turn we began to see a little more action. The Imperials Continued to
accelerate. They seemed a little reticent about using their sandcasters, so
only one or two ships deployed them. Missiles where also unleashed at this
point. There was some direct weapons fire, but due to crappy die rolling, only
a few points of damage where scored.

Turn three was where the action REALLY took place. Needless to say, the Imps
tried to continue to burn their way off the board. Knowing that they would
pass them, the Zhos began to maneuver their ships so that they can keep their
weapons on their opponents. Missile launched last turn came in, but due to a
combination of point defense fire and the afore mentioned crappy die rolling,
no missile launched from the last turn scored any damage. The Zhos had been
consistently winning the initiative rolls and this turn was no exception.
Missiles where launched again, and this time they intercepted their targets in
the same turn. While not getting the
"second-turn-of-flight" bonus, the effects where devastating!  Three of
the smaller Imperial ships where destroyed by a barrage of nukes. Another ship
was brought down with both missiles and secondary weapons fire. Finally, the
Sloan died after failing a catastrophic damage that finished off it's damage
track. Although the Imps fought hard, and damaged more than a few ships (two
Zho vessels had temporarily lost their bridges), there were no kills for the
Imperials at all.

In the end, a total Zhodani victory! The game session lasted about
3-and-a-half hours.  Everyone came away feeling that Power Projection
was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I had handed out flyers with WWW
address of various sources or where they could purchase the game (Warehouse
23, Mystic Station, GZG), and to keep a look out for Fleet when it comes out..
The only thing I regret was not bringing any of my "cheat sheets" along.
Passing around the one copy of the book to figure out the damage rolls was
rather inconvenient.

I had taken some pictures of the game and I downloaded them into the Photos
section. I'll also be posting them to the UFTWWWP as soon as I find the time.

Otherwise RockCon was very good this year. A few dealers had some B5 Wars
ships for 50% off. I picked up a few blisters for Fleet Action ships and two
of the "full sized" Warlock Destroyers and a Brakiri warship that caught my
eye. Those, along demo and some old Ral Partha dinosaur figures made it a fine
convention.

I'll definitely be doing this next year.

Later,