2nd ed smoothness

[Jim?]

Games *do* seem to last fewer turns now, though... and ships seem to get destroyed really quickly. Maybe that's just the way many ships have been a bit up gunned and the changes to the critical hit tables combined with the new beam mechanic along with the agile trait that lets the (usually) bigger front arc weapons concentrate fire power on one target more easily.

Every game that I have played so far has ended in the third turn (or at least, one player has had his fleet so decimated that the result is past doubt). In 1e, if fleets overshot each other, it would often seem difficult to get round and bring your heavy firepower back on to a worthwhile target. This seems much easier to achieve in 2e.

 

[Ripple]

Things that a smoother...

Fighter rules - dogfighting is now the entire turn (no more do I fire or let him so I can then fire my survivors at his ships), anti-fighter happening first and being largely separate from ships weapons, more fighters having worthwhile movement/weapons so you don't spend as much time trying to figure out how to get something out of the fragile things, Escort rule means easier to defend against fighters so less time lost to tricky maneuvering to get coverage.

Beam - no figuring to hit numbers

Movement rules (Agile/Lumbering) - you say this is more complicated but I think that is only true in the learning phase. Once you know, it does simplify getting a ship to target for agile, and knowing you basically move on a straight like and pivot like a bad turret for lumbering. More choices for lumbering ships before (more complexity through options), and most of the agile ships used to have issues with desperately trying to find a target as they overshot (more complex through needing to plan longer in advance). Strangely that's not as contradictory as it sounds and it did increase the rate of moves.

Fleet Selection - think this may be a perception...its similar to Arm. but without the weird half step that tripped folks up and more of the ships are clearly winners so you are agonizing over how to make that model you love useful through combos.

Clarity - I do think a number of things are easier to find in the rules, and are easier to understand. Add in the lack of debate over what exactly did that mean? stuff at the table and I think you get some advantage.

That said I think we'll see the 'smoothness' fade as folks stop playing the more straight forward stuff and start to dig for rules glitches later on. My first month or two with the game I thought it was wonderfully smooth, then I started going through and saying 'but what does it actually SAY' as opposed to just going along with what folks told me was the rule.

I also think that the rate of stuff blowing up is perceived as a smoothing factor. Yeah you still record damage and crits and such, but I haven't had a ship get targeted and last two turns yet. Repairs and such will seem easier if you rarely have to actually figure out how to do it.

ripple

 

[E Nicely]

Many times, 2e is referred to as smoother and faster to play. I don't really understand why.

Can anyone give me an actual example of a rule that is "smoother" or faster to play???
- Fleet selection is handled the same way, OK the maths changed a bit but the method is still the same
- Initiative is handled the same way
- Movement is the same but with the addition of Agile and Lumbering - making it more complicated
- Attacks are the same
- Damage is the same except Shadows/Vorlons which is like other races now (OK, this might be smoother but it certainly isn't faster than just subtracting a number!)
- Crits are more complicated (random weapons requires 2 rolls (arc then weapon), random trait loss is an extra roll)

The game doesn't play any faster than it did in 1E, unless you get that 1 in 100 beam roll where 4 AD does 38 hits or something and a ship goes away fast. All of my games last the same amount of time they always have. If you're facing quad damage it might go faster but I think that will always be the exception rather than the rule. There's nothing in 2 E that has made my games run signifigantly longer.

Smoother definitely. 1 rulebook, 1 fleetbook without any supplements is the biggest change. Experienced players know most of the rules off the top of their heads but at least once each game using 1E I had to search for something over 6 books. The concise turn sequence chart clears up some discussion, no more discussion on defensive systems timing during a game. Happened semi-regularlly in my games. Clarity in rules descriptions is huge.

As far as rules that streamline the system Anti-Fighter is good, no more P-Beams with different values, I know they're going to be 2" range. A 1 turn delay on ship explosions is good, moving everything out of the way is faster than rolling damage AD. Dogfights are simply stated. Jump-bombing isn't really an effective option for a lot of fleets and fewer scenarios allow hyperspace deployment, there's some rules out right there. I could comb the rules to come up with some more but my wife says breakfast is ready. Gotta love breakfast.