Wormhole mechanics certainly create defensible positions and "choke points"
where trade and military would concentrate.
I accidentally deleted some of the messages that started this thread, but the
following decisions need to be made:
FTL Travel: ?? (Wormhole, Point-to-Point FTL, Lightspeed drive, Wave
Motion Engine, etc)
N-Space Travel: Vector
Colonisation method:?? (Cryosleep, generation ships, prison transport, wealthy
businessmen, greedy corporations)
Galactic Economy:?? (by this I mean what is the most valuable resource? Water?
Oxygen? Unobtainium?)
What is the imperative for expansion:?? (population pressure, lack of
resources, interspecies war)
What level of automation will starships have:?? (FB standard 1 man per mass,
5,000 men to man a destroyer, etc).
Brendan 'Neath Southern Skies
> -----Original Message-----
> One thing we do need, though, is FTL mechanism. I'd say jump points,
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> FTL Travel: ?? (Wormhole, Point-to-Point FTL, Lightspeed drive, Wave
I like the way John Ringo's Posleenverse has it. IIRC Method 1 has no
restrictions on routes--you can go where you want--but it's slow and
expensive. Method 2 is fast and cheap but only available along specific
routes.
> Colonisation method: ?? (Cryosleep, generation ships, prison transport,
Any of the above, far enough back in history
> Galactic Economy: ?? (by this I mean what is the most valuable
Water? Oxygen? Unobtainium?)
I'm thinking Tier 2 has gone into biology at the price of neglecting physics
and materals sciences. So Tier 1 sells weapons and power systems
to Tier 1, and buys pharmaceuticals and perhaps gene-engineered people.
> What is the imperative for expansion: ?? (population pressure, lack of
No "interspecies", we're only talking about humans. Your other two reasons are
identical to each other.
> What level of automation will starships have: ?? (FB standard 1 man per
Perhaps 1/mass for civilians and, oh, something like 4/mass for
military.
Just pulling numbers from the aether at the moment. 10/mass is too
high.
Brendan 'Neath Southern Skies
> -----Original Message-----
> One thing we do need, though, is FTL mechanism. I'd say jump points,
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> --- "Robertson, Brendan" <Brendan.Robertson@dva.gov.au> wrote:
Whatever the PSB of how it works, I would suggest allowing the majority
of travel types to transition STL/FTL at a wide variety of locations
within a system, perhaps limited to farther than some minimum distance from
gravity sources (star, planet, moon). Having gates or fixed entrance loci
lends itself to a lot of fixed defenses at those points, which does not make
for fun games. This can still have jumps or wormholes or hyperspace, just with
lots of entrance points per system.
On a seperate FTL thought, How about a scale of FTL engines based on their
speed on the campaign map? For our setting we use: Civilian or Slow Military =
5% TMF Fast Civilian or Standard Military = 10% TMF Fast Military = 15% TMF No
effect on FT games, but affects how fast the fleet moves around in campaign
time. If you are going to have a variety of FTL drive types based on where
they can go, then how about having a range for each type reflecting how fast
they can get there. Or maybe some types have varying speeds and other types
are all single speed.
Another FTL question: Can you FTL within a sytem, such as from plant III to
planet V?
> What level of automation will starships have: ?? (FB standard 1 man
Add another question:
How big are ships? As in a TMF 200 ship is the size of a GZG-verse
capital ship, a modern BB/CVN, or a battlestar/star destroyer?
J
> --- J L Hilal <jlhilal@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Whatever the PSB of how it works, I would suggest allowing the
This also generates some interesting scenarios for jumpgates.... two ideas I
haven't really heard anyone fight over is: 1.) More advanced nation's task
force is attempting to leave the system. The flagship's FTL drive was damaged
in the fighting and will have to use the jumpgate out. However, the gate is
still in control of the owning system. a.) The Task Force must gain control of
the jumpgate (2 rounds with a EW cruiser within 3 inches of the gate, or 2
rounds with any ship
docked at the gate controller-station depending on your gate's control
system) and reconfigure the destination coordinates, while defending
the flagship so that it can jump out-system. Once the flagship has
left, the rest of the fleet may jump out under their own systems. b.) Owning
system forces must prevent the flagship from leaving, all other vessels are
expendable, or... complete annihilation of the escaping fleet.
2. A small escort group must defend a freighter convoy (or a small task force
is in retreat from a vicious battle) while the jumpgate is being reconfigured
for new destination coordinates
> Another FTL question:
I would say no... that way we don't even have to think of someone asking about
being able to FTL from point A to Point B on the table (I know, FT says non
anyhow.. but since we're tinkering....)
> J L Hilal wrote:
However, there is an argument for having some limits on locations.
Say you have a jump drive that can allow your war fleet to pop up anywhere.
Your Imperial Senate votes to go