Ship Selection

[Morpheus1975]

This is one part I don't like about the game. You try to outguess your opponent on ship selection and this alone can make the difference between victory and defeat.

How often can an Admiral sit there and say lets bring 3 of those but only 2 of those ships?

He will have some choice having an idea of what opponent he will face. So what we need are random selection tables for Battle and War points and so on that do the following.

1st --> based on battle, war, skirmish, etc. determines the # of each type of ships to be used.

2nd --> Based on expected enemy forces has a random ship selector based on priority level.

This means that not just ship selection will win the day but strategy and tactics become more important.

 

[Delthos]

I don't like what you are suggesting at all. Essentially campaigns handle what you are suggesting. You have a limited list of ships to choose from when playing your battles.

For one off battles I'm limited to what is in my miniatures collection, so I don't have problem there either.

I really don't think random tables to determine fleet composition is a good idea.

 

[Foxmeister]

This means that not just ship selection will win the day but strategy and tactics become more important.

THe problem with this is that potentially you could end up with totally uncompetitive selection of ships, and thus rather that increasing the importance of strategy and tactics, you've really made it much more "biased" towards luck.

Regards,

Dave

 

[mrambassador1]

I think that ship selection is an important part of the strategy of the game. Picking the right ships is half the fun.

 

[Diesel]

This means that not just ship selection will win the day but strategy and tactics become more important.

THe problem with this is that potentially you could end up with totally uncompetitive selection of ships, and thus rather that increasing the importance of strategy and tactics, you've really made it much more "biased" towards luck.

Regards,

Dave

I have to agree with Mr Meister - this idea of randomly generated ships just doesn't work. For example, imagine a Brakiri player playing against Drakh, and he rolls up a a Takata mine cruiser. That's a war level ship that can do little else other than take damage - the Drakh don't have fighters to e-mine and their GEGs will negate the vast majority of ship-based damage. Major advantage to the Drakh player before a dice has been rolled.

When you're playing a game you've generally got a fairly good idea of what your opponent has got. He can catch you out by fielding something completely different in a one-off game, and if he does, frankly all power to him! He deserves his shot for coming up with something new and ingenious. But he doesn't deserve a win simply because he's rolled well on a random table and you don't.

 

[Taran]

This is one part I don't like about the game. You try to outguess your opponent on ship selection and this alone can make the difference between victory and defeat.

How often can an Admiral sit there and say lets bring 3 of those but only 2 of those ships?

He will have some choice having an idea of what opponent he will face. So what we need are random selection tables for Battle and War points and so on that do the following.

1st --> based on battle, war, skirmish, etc. determines the # of each type of ships to be used.

2nd --> Based on expected enemy forces has a random ship selector based on priority level.

This means that not just ship selection will win the day but strategy and tactics become more important.

You can feel free to draw up your own tables and play them in your group. Other games do this for quick one-offs or for introducing newbs. Battletech, for example.
Just don't expect everyone to want to do it that way.

 

[JayRaider]

I think it would be good for some games.
It would bring some suprise into games.

 

[H]

sounds a bit daft. not only will you not know what opponents you would face in a tourney, you wouldn't even know what YOU field. you could loose straight away. oh look, i randomly got G'Quans against all those whitestars. . . ah well. . .

 

[CaptBavo]

I rather like trying to guess what my opponent is going to bring to a battle.

 

[inq101]

Random selection may work for the odd scenario but not in general play.

 

[Morpheus1975]

I agree with some of what you guys are saying.

For Diesel and Mr. Meister you might have missed the point that you would have tables specifically designed against spcific races, ie a narn table for when they fight Drazi and a different one for Centauri and yet another for Earth. This eliminates the "Daft" choices as Hiffano was so quick to say.

Picking ships is also part of the fun and ships that you simply did not have you could either re-roll for or agree to let you use a different one.

As for tourneys, you no longer need fleets that are "universal" in that they are effective in any and all cases but might have the option to change a few things up if you fleet is suddenly going against the Vree or the IA which require different ships/tactics.

This is an optional rule I just wanted a few ideas/comments on it.

Thanks All

 

[Taran]

And what of the races without that large of a selection of ships? What about Gaim and Vorlons and Shadows and ISA...? Psi Corps? The other short lists in the LoNAW?

 

[Ripple]

total random selection might be too much... how about start with maybe random allocation of FAP breakdown? So its five battle and you get a battle, four raid and a war or some other grouping?

Just thinking, it would make the equivalent of the card players deck and a booster tourneys. Mostly random but you can build down some. They seem fairly successful.

Ripple

 

[mrambassador1]

That's not a bad idea Ripple, but maybe as an optional rule. I still like being able to pick my fleet.

 

[inq101]

For Diesel and Mr. Meister you might have missed the point that you would have tables specifically designed against spcific races, ie a narn table for when they fight Drazi and a different one for Centauri and yet another for Earth. This eliminates the "Daft" choices as Hiffano was so quick to say.

Do you realize how many tables you would need to do this? To have 1 table for each race fighting against each opponent you would need around 200 tables per priority level! This is not taking into account allies!

Some missions do suggest 'random' fleet selections (ambushes, surprise attacks, etc.) For these sort of missions you could create 2 fleets from your campaign list and randomize which one is used.

 

[Morpheus1975]

total random selection might be too much... how about start with maybe random allocation of FAP breakdown? So its five battle and you get a battle, four raid and a war or some other grouping?

Just thinking, it would make the equivalent of the card players deck and a booster tourneys. Mostly random but you can build down some. They seem fairly successful.

Ripple

Well.....actually....that IS part of what I said I had in mind.

 

[Morpheus1975]

For Diesel and Mr. Meister you might have missed the point that you would have tables specifically designed against spcific races, ie a narn table for when they fight Drazi and a different one for Centauri and yet another for Earth. This eliminates the "Daft" choices as Hiffano was so quick to say.

Do you realize how many tables you would need to do this? To have 1 table for each race fighting against each opponent you would need around 200 tables per priority level! This is not taking into account allies!

Some missions do suggest 'random' fleet selections (ambushes, surprise attacks, etc.) For these sort of missions you could create 2 fleets from your campaign list and randomize which one is used.

Oh Yeah I realize, I used to play Battletech so I have an idea how many this requires.

 

[Foxmeister]

For Diesel and Mr. Meister you might have missed the point that you would have tables specifically designed against spcific races, ie a narn table for when they fight Drazi and a different one for Centauri and yet another for Earth. This eliminates the "Daft" choices as Hiffano was so quick to say.

I don't think you can miss a point that isn't explicitly stated anywhere!

I'm still not a fan of the whole idea though, regardless, as half the fun (IMHO) is putting the list together.

Personally, I'd prefer to see something like if you are playing in a tourney with 5 Battle FAPs, you must create a core list using 3 FAPs, but the remaining 2 FAPs you can tailor based on your opponent.

Regards,

Dave

 

[Poi]

Random would be very bad.

I like how BFG handled it. Unlimited little ships, with limits on the numbers of larger ones. It makes for credible (if I can use that word in a game about imaginary spaceships) fleets.

 

[skavendan]

Why can't it work on points?

Working out the FAP is annoying and confusing when you have to check other people's