Initial Placement Question

[nekomata fuyu]

Another idea for mixing blind and initiative roll based setups:
Have the initiative roll off, take any scout rerolls as normal. Whoever loses this roll must deploy a number of ships equal to the number they lost the roll by. After this, the divider comes down, and both sides deploy the rest of their fleets blind.

 

[Banichi]

how about, both draw your setups in secret, as above, but the player who loses initiative (including scout rerolls) then has to stick to that setup and deploys first, then the initiative winner gets to deploy after the loser, any way they like.

???

LBH

Doesn't that work out to be the same as the current system? The idea of the side with more scouts getting to reposition the number of ships/squadrons, that they have scout superiority by after the secret setup is shown, and getting to use the re-roll benifit for inititive on the first turn I think kind of merges the best of both setup methods.

egEA third age with one scout vs shadow with 3 scouts

Both player make their respective maps, show them, and place their ships. Because the shadow player has two more scouts he gets to reposition two ships/squadrons. He then gets the re-roll option for first turn inititive.

 

[Sulfurdown]

I havent heard of the black globe idea - what is it ?

Actually in the FT rules it's called "Sensor Target Identification." Instead of placing your ships/counters down on the table as a standard setup, you put down "Black globes" or substitution counters the give up little if any information.

Some have it size dependent so bigger ships have bigger markers (or those polystyrene balls from hobby shops), pretty much whatever the group has agreed too. When you put down the ships as normal - the player setting up later has limited, if any, information about your fleet except for number and deployment.

As ships move into a Passive Sensor range (FT recommends 36") of enemy ships the Black Globes are replaced with the ship they were representing. So any ship in P/S range of an opponent is revealed. FT goes further for Active Sensors (recommending a 54" range) which would reveal the scanning ship and target ship. FT has extra rules for how many can be scanned as bigger ships could make more scans and only military ships can use Active Sensors, etc. For ACtA since 90% of the ships are military it would make sense that Scout ships could make two Active Scans and standard ships make one, civilians making none.

 

[lastbesthope]

how about, both draw your setups in secret, as above, but the player who loses initiative (including scout rerolls) then has to stick to that setup and deploys first, then the initiative winner gets to deploy after the loser, any way they like.

???

LBH

Doesn't that work out to be the same as the current system?

Yeah, pretty much

LBH