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From: owner-traveller-digest@mpgn.com (Traveller-digest)
To: traveller-digest@Phaser.ShowCase.MPGN.COM
Subject: Traveller-digest V1996 #781
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Traveller-digest     Saturday, December 21 1996     Volume 1996 : Number 781



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Dudes...
Re: Lanthanum background
Merry Christmas?
Re: Interstellar Psionics, Canonical Use Of
Re: Rudolph class Sleigh
Re: Tech and Starports
Re: Old Question
Re: High-tech Interrogation
Re: Ship stuff
Re: Campaign Diary
Re: Jumpspace and Psionics
Re: New weapons & systems
RE: High-tech Interrogation
Starships
IG's web site.
Re: Imperial taxes
JTAS cost
Re: JTAS cost
Re: IG's web site.
Starships (no, not flaming)
Re: New weapons & systems
Bad news...
Aliens and  equipment catalog

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 96 06:16:00 GMT 
From: e.gutierrez3@genie.com
Subject: Dudes...

WELL, Well, well...

I see my chrome comments stired up some
converts to the Foss era starships style
good.

I don't like some of the deckplans (some
were damn useless), But, anyways some of the
designs from our newer members are Great.
(I won't mention you by name, swelled heads
, and I'm too lazy to cut apart that Digest)

Got, the central supply catalog today
the first flip trough supplied me with
a feeling De Ja Vu, MT came to mind.
That's not a bad thing..
The only weapons were for vehicles thou..

AND, $22.95 ?!?!, (shades of Games Workshop)
price creep is the second surest way to
lose my patronage. (The first is for the
producer of the product to be a total
aass, ala the creator of certain D&D
ripoff that starts with a R****...)

Will give the sm. vehicle design a try..

And for all y'all looking for D3's both
the Armory & Chessex carry them.

In a very late addtion to Fave books
that feel right Any of H.Beam Pipers
Atomic Era Books. The master to bad
about his demise..

One last bit, Direct nueral interfaces
appeared in JTAS (forget the issue #)
Cybernetics have always been a part
of my games without undue harm to the
feel or play of the game...

MacDude

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 02:48:57 -0500
From: Rob Beck <beck@mail.all-net.net>
Subject: Re: Lanthanum background

At 01:45 PM 12/20/96 -0700, Bruce wrote:

>
>	This seems good only for planetary deposits of lanthanum, since
>IIRC all of the above are metamorphic rocks, implying tectonic processes,
>no? Also, fluvial anything isn't going to happen without water, right?

Gneiss is a metamorphic rock.  Gneiss is a high-grade metamorphic rock,
consisting of bands of quartz and feldspar and thus of the same stuff you'd
see in igneous rocks like granite. But granite and syenite are both igneous
rocks, just like monzonite. They form in plutonic bodies, which is to say,
they develop out of magma chambers. I guess you could still consider these
"planetary" deposits, but you wouldn't need anything more than a rock with
no atmosphere to produce it. As long as some molten activity brought up and
concentrated the minerals near the surface so you could more easily get to
them. You're right on the weathering and eroding into sands, you'd obviously
need the benefits of air and water for that. :) 

>Now for the fun part...what would this look like in an asteroid
>deposit?

Good question. If it was from material left over from the solar system's
formation, I don't think there would be any significant deposits of this
stuff. It would be scattered when the solar system was formed and asteroids
forming from that detritus would primarily be iron-nickel, I'd think. No
tectonic processes, no igneous or metamorphic rocks. If they were planetary
remains, sure there could be asteroids rich in the minerals and rock types
in question. You'd just have to make that "strike" and uncover them. 


Rob.  

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 06:15:25 +0000 (GMT)
From: Larry Hadley <lhadley@knet.flemingc.on.ca>
Subject: Merry Christmas?

        
     Have A Stealth Christmas
     
     'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the skys, Air 
     defenses were up, with electronic eyes.
     Combat pilots were nestled in ready-room beds, As enemy silhouettes 
     danced in their heads.
     
     Every jet on the apron, each SAM in its tube, Was triply-redundant 
     linked to the Blue Cube, And ElInt and AWACS gave coverage so dense
     That nothing that flew could slip through our defense.
     
     When out of the klaxon arose such a clatter
     I dashed to the screen to see what was the matter; I dialed up the 
     gain and then quick as a flash Fine-adjusted the filters to damp out 
     the hash.
     
     And there found the source of the warning we'd heeded: An incoming 
     blip, by eight escorts preceded.
     "Alert status red!" went the word down the wire,
     As we gave every system the codes that meant "FIRE"!
     
     On Aegis!  Up Patriot, Phalanx and Hawk!
     And scramble our fighters -- let's send the whole flock! Launch decoys 
     and missiles!  Use chaff by the yard!
     Get the kitchen sink up!  Call the National Guard!
     
     They turned toward the target, moved toward it, converged. Till the 
     tracks on the radar all finally merged,
     And the sky was lit up with a demonic light,
     As the foe met his fate in the high arctic night.
     
     So we sent out some recon to look for debris,
     Yet all that they found, both on land and on sea,
     Were some toys, a red hat, a charred left leather boot, Broken 
     sleighbells, white hair, and a deer's parachute.
     
     Now it isn't quite Christmas, with Saint Nick shot down. There are 
     unhappy kids in each village and town.
     For the Spirit of Christmas can't hope to evade All the web of 
     defenses we've carefully made.
     
     Just look how the gadgets we use to protect us In other ways alter, 
     transform, and affect us.
     They keep us from things that make life more worth living, Like love 
     for each other, and thoughts of just giving.
     
     But a crash program's on:  Working hard, night and day, All the elves 
     are constructing a radar-proof sleigh.
     So let's wait for next Christmas, in cheer and in health, For the 
     future has hope:  Santa's coming by stealth!



- -- DLH                                       lhadley@knet.flemingc.on.ca
   Traveller stuff for sale/trade.
   http://www.knet.flemingc.on.ca/~lhadley/Profile.html

"Oh yeah, one last thing. If I say `bail out' or `eject', and you ask 
`what?', you'll be talking to yourself." - Maj. Court Banister (Steel Tiger)

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 09:10:33 -0500 (EST)
From: "Joseph M. Saul" <jmsaul@us.itd.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Interstellar Psionics, Canonical Use Of

>I believe it's been stated several times, both in background material and
>the rules themselves that interstellar psionics is impossible.

If so, there's a contradiction out there.  I seem to remember a discussion
of a freak "interstellar teleportation" power somewhere.  Does anyone else
recall it?  I think it allowed you to teleport a parsec.

(And then, of course, there's the Empress Wave.)

Joe Saul
jmsaul@umich.edu

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 08:37:29 -0800
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <dberry@hooked.net>
Subject: Re: Rudolph class Sleigh

At 12:14 PM 12/20/96 -0800, you wrote:

>ROLMAO!! You are one SICK man . . . or you have entirely too much time on
your hands:)
>
>This looks like a candidate for Traveller: The Silly Era. What sez Mr. Berry??

 Once I stop laughing....
+-----------------------------------------------------+
|     Douglas E. Berry          dberry@hooked.net     |
|        Professional Driver - Traveller Guru         |
|           http://www.hooked.net/~dberry/            |
|*****************************************************|
|         Keep on dancing through to daylight,        |
|            Greet the morning Sun in song            |
|  No one noticed that the band's all packed and gone |
|  Was it ever here at all?  But we kept on dancing.. |
+-----------------------------------------------------+

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 96 17:14 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: Tech and Starports

In-Reply-To: <199612200807.TAA24352@curie.dialix.com.au>

<< Like I said, this makes my thesis 100% sure, there is *no* reason why local
TL means anything more than what they could (theoretically) produce if they
*had* to - it has nothing to do with what they *actually* have available! >>

It's probably safe to assume that A & B starports have large supplies of spare 
parts (probably shipped for free by Imperial ships) - after all, this is one 
of their main businesses, and vital to the health of the Imperium. This 
doesn't mean that the world has stocks of every product at every TL. 

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 96 17:14 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: Old Question

In-Reply-To: <32B9B443.4182@hotstar.net>

> > What does AECO (the Terran North African starport) stand for?
> > 
> 2. Aeco, ay-ay-ay-co, daylight come and me wan go home (it was the 
major cargo port)

<THWACK!>

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 96 17:15 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: High-tech Interrogation

In-Reply-To: <961219132900_169113473@emout03.mail.aol.com>

<<  Two Psionic Institutes
(copyright A. Friend c. 1955 :-)) still have charters in 1100, and may
provide "services" to the Imperium, when needed. >>

The Imperium will have their own psionics.

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 96 17:15 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: Ship stuff

In-Reply-To: <l03010d01aedf483b729d@[204.17.241.22]>

> >        Likewise, I don't have any large military ship designs except MT
> >Fighting Ships. What other sources are there? (TNE Battle Rider, for one,
> >maybe?)
> 
> Heres a list of what I remember.
> 
> CT Bk 5 (High Guard)

CT Adv 1 (Kinunir) Deck plans etc

> CT Adv _ (Trillion Credit Squadron)
> CT Adv _ (Expedition to Zhodane) has a couple of references to ship
> construction (trival, yes, but there)

And Zho ship stats?

CT Adv 8 (Broadsword) Deck plans etc

> CT's Supplement 7 (Traders and Gunboats) has a few small military designs
> CT's Supplement 9 (Fighting SHips) has QUITE a few
> Azhanti High Lightning details out one class.

IISS Ship Files

CT Alien Modules

> MT's Fighting Ships. (Poor, IMHO, use Sup 9)

MT Rebellion Sourcebook

> Battle Rider
> and (IIRC) Vampire Fleets has a few

And probably others.

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 96 17:15 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: Campaign Diary

In-Reply-To: <19961219234958.4114.qmail@hotmail.com>

<< >Campaign write-ups seem popular at the moment, so would anyone be 
>interested in seeing the diary I kept of my last campaign (Solomani Rim 
>c.1117-1119)? The TML's pretty busy, so if there's any interest I'll 
put >it on my web page. 

I'm always interested in stuff like that.  It's great for campaign
ideas and such.  It is interesting to see what other Traveller
universes are like. >>

Okay, I'll try to get it put together this weekend.

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 96 17:15 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: Jumpspace and Psionics

In-Reply-To: <199612201623.LAA13957@Mithril.MPGN.COM>

<< > Has anyone given any thought to using Psionics for Intersteller
> travel? Or even using telepathy to communicate from star system to
> star system? 

Alfred Bester's short story "The Stars, My Destination" is required 
reading on this subject. >>

Anyone who hasn't read this - or _The Demolished Man_ - should go and do 
so immediately. Two of the best SF books ever written.

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 96 17:15 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: New weapons & systems

In-Reply-To: <32B94A6A.13CD@best.com>

<< Tachyon gun

Another supratech gizmo. Hits the target virtually as soon as it goes
off; therefore -- if coupled with a tachyon sensor array -- highly
accurate. Pull the trigger and watch it blow up in real time. Fun for   
the whole family. >>

The target would actually blow up *before you pulled the trigger!*

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 96 17:15 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: RE: High-tech Interrogation

In-Reply-To: <01BBEDD6.D11A3300@flfnas01-p10.mts.net>

<< So what is the opinion of the new 3rd Imperium on Psionics? If it is 
positive, how does one prevent the game from revolving around psionics, 
as I'm sure everyone and their dog would be running towards the nearest 
Psionics Institute. >>

Legal, but poorly understood. Public are generally suspicious of it. 
Institutes are still hard to find.

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

------------------------------

Date: 21 Dec 96 12:27:23 EST
From: Hugh Foster <100326.446@CompuServe.COM>
Subject: Starships

Well, Starships has arrived.

I've read it (didn't take long) and I thought I'd follow the trend and post my
reactions. I will pass over the fact that only one of the two copies I ordered
arrived, because my order was pre-California and the shambles of such orders is
already well documented. I will also not dwell on my feelings for the T4 ship
design and combat system, which I feel is too basic (a de-bugged MT system is my
taste), because that's a System Wars sort of thing and subjective; it's a matter
of preference.

No, the thing that really disappointed me were the deck plans. They were bound
to be the central feature of the book, and as a confirmed deckplan junkie I was
hoping for something rather nice. Sadly, I was disappointed.

The plans are bald, plain blocks of empty white space, seperated with door
symbols. In some cases, only a cross-section is provided. No furniture, control
systems, and few couches are marked. In many cases, there are significant
amounts of space enclosed by walls and hatches which are unlabelled; there are
no clues to what they should be.

The scout/courier, for instance, has no staterooms, sensor bay or fire control
areas marked at all; there is an empty room at the front marked "cockpit" and a
larger one aft of that without any markings at all. Aft of that is a ludicrous
arrangement of a big rectangular cargo bay placed smack in the middle of a
larger rectangular space, wasting most of the latter in long twin corridors
going around this spurious cargo area. If the "cargo hold" (why? in a S/C?) had
beein at one corner of this area, there would have been room for at least 2
staterooms. The drives appear to take up about half the live zone - OK, maybe
simpler tech = larger clockwork. There are no external hatches marked at all
(shit! we're trapped, cap'n! We cannae get oot o' the ship!), nor weapon
fittings. There are no freshers (no freshers! Shades of the Type R - the ship
without a bog!) There is no grid shown.

For the purposes of roleplaying it's completely useless. I can just see a player
saying "I'm in my cabin, where is it?" or "We board and charge down the
corridor. Where do we find ourselves?" I'd have to make it up which makes the
plans completely and utterly pointless. That's what they're supposed to be
_for_!

The plans in this book show every sign of having been thrown together in five
minutes on a Friday after the pub, without any playtesting. The "back to Classic
Traveller" approach has gone too far here, I'm afraid. Some of the very early
deck plans were this basic; but in the years since, so much more has been done.
I've been CADding up deck plans for five years with more detail than this. There
are web sites linked to IG's which offer beautiful plans which quite literally
brought tears to my eyes - Doradis Cluster I think it's called, with lovely 3d
effects on the plans. Digest Group's stuff in the Alien Modules and Starship
Operator's Guide were splendid. Compared to that, this doesn't begin to stand
up.

I was under the impression that detailed ship combat would be herein. Was I
wrong? Whatever, here it ain't. Again, no System Wars approach, but even a
reprint of the Quick system developed on the TML would have been nice.

I hate to say all this, because I was very hopeful for the new Traveller. I
pre-ordered everything, didn't I? And I didn't set out to have a slagging
session. But this product reminds me most of all of the deadful Fighting Ships
of the Shattered Imperium. Slapped together stats and pictures, with no soul.
These ships don't live! Contrast them, you who remember, with "IISS Ship Files";
each ship detailed in loving care, or "Traders and Gunboats", a true classic.

The bright spot for me is the art. A passel of colour Foss plates - beautiful. I
can see them gracing my monitor as Windows Wallpaper already! If I'd been told I
was buying a Foss Portfolio I would have thought it value for money.

Come on IG. You can do better than this. I know that. I look forward to the
Equipment Manual. Don't let me down.

[COPY TO IG DIRECT]

[------------------------------oOo-----------------------------] | Hugh Foster
100326,446       | |   http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Hugh_Foster
| | Think you've got influence?  Try commanding someone else's   | | dog.
| [------------------------------oOo-----------------------------]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 09:45:56 -0800
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <dberry@hooked.net>
Subject: IG's web site.

I am really getting tired of waiting for all the artwork at IG's site to
download, only to find that the same out-of-date information is all that is
available.

There is NO mention of the release of Starships, or CSC, or Aliens.  The
JTAS page claims a September release!  Joe, could you find out who is
responsible for maintaining this mess?


+-----------------------------------------------------+
|     Douglas E. Berry          dberry@hooked.net     |
|        Professional Driver - Traveller Guru         |
|           http://www.hooked.net/~dberry/            |
|*****************************************************|
|         Keep on dancing through to daylight,        |
|            Greet the morning Sun in song            |
|  No one noticed that the band's all packed and gone |
|  Was it ever here at all?  But we kept on dancing.. |
+-----------------------------------------------------+

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 21:57:37 +0100 (MET)
From: Hans Rancke-Madsen <rancke@diku.dk>
Subject: Re: Imperial taxes

Peter Newman writes:
> 	With this date we can calculate how much money the average 
> Imperial citizen can contribute as follows.
> 
> 	Base GNP 12,000 	(TL 12 = Average Stellar)
> 		  x1.00		(no Trade Class modifiers)
> 		  x0.03		(3% of GNP military spending)
> 	          x0.70		(30% of military spending goes		
>   				 to the Imperium)
> 	12,000 x 1.0 x 0.03 x 0.70 = Cr 252

The base GNP for TL 12 worlds is 16,000, not 12,000. Also, you forget that 
high-population worlds are of a higher average TL than medium and low-
population worlds. And high-population worlds supply 99% of the Imperial
revenue. Secondly, almost half of all high-population worlds are industrial.
Thus the average Imperial citizen spends closer to 20,000*1,2*0.03*0.7 =
Cr504. _Very_ close to the TCS figure.

The world of Mikesh (Corridor 0206) for example, has a GNP of Cr28,000 per
capita, which would make its planetary navy worth 211,680 billon credits
even if you give the army 40% (note, btw. that according to _Striker_ 
planetary defenses are jointly funded by the army and navy). 

Btw. can anyone tell me what kind of planetary army you can get for a yearly
budget of 14,112 billion credits?

>	These formulas may also provide a clue as to why the Vargr were 
>able to overrun the Corridor sector in the Rebellion.  If we assume that 
>the average Vargr planet spends 15% of its GNP (not 3%) on military 
>spending then they will be fielding a force 5 times as large.  

I have some doubts about that. I don't think a nation can be on maximum war
footing for decades without ruining its economy. England almost ruined itself
during WW2. So did the Soviet Union in the Cold War. The question is whether
the 15% is the maximum sustainable over a short term or the maximum sustainable
over the long term. I don't know enough about Real Life economics to say.
However, I don't mind assuming that the Vargr use more than the Imperial
planets on their navy.

>When you consider that the Vargr are not giving 30% of this figure to the 
>Imperium the advantage in planetary forces goes up to 7.1 to 1.

Ah, but the moment the Corridor planets wave goodbye to the Corridor fleets,
they also cease to have to pay to maintain them. This releases a lot of 
money which can be used on new construction or, even better, reactivating
mothballed ships.

>Further Vargr forces will tend to be designed with a MUCH higher percentage 
>of Jump capable forces than Imperial forces because a successsful raid will
>_get_you_Charisma!! Therefore Vargr planets will have more to throw at the 
>Imperium.

The problem is that the Vargr are not a monolitic union of dedicated
conquerors. The people who build and maintain the national fleets and
the corsairs are two different groups. Supreme Packleader Barrkh of the
Union of 60 billion Vargr does _not_ want to send off his fleet to conquer 
Mikesh. He wants to keep it at home to defend his planets against corsairs 
from further coreward. His problem is that some of his subordinates sometimes 
gets the urge to go AWOL and do a little free-lance plundering (You know, on 
the principle that non-jump capable ships cannot desert, I'd could make a
good case for Vargr governments building _more_ such and _less_ jump-
capable ships). So his fleet admirals are surely chosen from his most trusted 
followers. As we go down the line of command his officers gets farther and
farther away from his personal charisma, so I can see individual ships,
perhaps even squadrons, deserting him (Well, I suppose even a whole fleet
once in a while. But surely not _all_ his fleets at the same time). Once 
they've deserted, they'd better not go home to him again. Fortunately the 
Vargr are so disunited (frankly, its a question whether any Vargr can ever 
be in the postion of leading 60 billion fellow Vargr) that they can go 
somewhere else and pay for their next maintenance if they've scored big or 
put take over, if they are strong enough, or hire out if they are down on 
their luck.

The article about Vargr corsairs in JTAS #21 makes it clear that Vargr
corsair bands tend to fragment long before they become a threat to even
high-medium worlds, much less high-population worlds. And the high-
population worlds are the ones that matter.


      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     rancke@diku.dk
- ------------
        "The referee should determine the nature of subsequent
         events based on the individual situation."
                                _76 Patrons_, p. 8

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 17:21:43 -0500
From: Kagehira@aol.com
Subject: JTAS cost

     Apparently the cost for JTAS doesn't include shipping and handling, so
if you see a charge for $11.20 from IG on your December invoice, that's
probably for those charges (IG strikes again....)

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 16:37:48 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph E. Walsh" <ransom@connect.iconnect.net>
Subject: Re: JTAS cost

On Sat, 21 Dec 1996 Kagehira@aol.com wrote:

>      Apparently the cost for JTAS doesn't include shipping and handling, so
> if you see a charge for $11.20 from IG on your December invoice, that's
> probably for those charges (IG strikes again....)

Hmmm.  The S&H should only be if you ordered individual issues, from what 
I can tell from their web site's order form.  The JTAS subscription is 
*'d, which indicates that the item doesn't require a shipping charge.  
The individual issues do not appear to be *'d, so they probably do 
require a shipping charge.

Hopefully IG can shed some light on this.


- -Joe
______________________________________________________________________________
Joseph E. Walsh      |  Atari 8-Bit User and Programmer Since 1982
ransom@iconnect.net  |  Classic Traveller Referee Since 1983
Stuck in the '80s    |  Microsoft-Free and Loving It! :)
       .....Official Reporter of Imperium Games Product Info.....

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 15:00:49 -0800
From: "Peter J. Miller" <PeterMiller@youngmerlin.com>
Subject: Re: IG's web site.

>There is NO mention of the release of Starships, or CSC, or Aliens.  The
>JTAS page claims a September release!  Joe, could you find out who is
>responsible for maintaining this mess?

Especially since we were PROMISED updates every two weeks.  Well, it's been
19 days now!  And don't tell me they don't have anything to update.  ONe
month ago, I recieved a reply from IG saying they would put my site on their
list!

Thanks

/\___________________________Peter John Miller____________________________/\
||           "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night..."          ||
||     Traveller, IG materials and the Home of the Imperium Games FAQ!    ||
||            On Peter's World - http://www.dragonfire.net/~pm/           ||
\/------------------------------------------------------------------------\/
   Great graphics, and the LOWEST prices on the net - www.youngmerlin.com

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 18:32:19 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Starships (no, not flaming)

Just got it today ($18 Canadian at my FLGS)
only a few comments
1. I actually like the sideviews of ships (the deckplans and pictures are, I once again point 
out, an eyesore)
2. Did you know that personalities Freighter Captain Errl S. Barrett and Commander Colim 
A. Hughes are the same person?!? (well, they have the exact same UPP, 5619F7)

and a plea....
IG, please do not put the pictures (I accept that you are going to use them, some like them, 
some don't, I no longer care) in the middle of a whack of charts. PLEASE space any 
pictures throughout the book

Otherwise, gonna read it tonight and create my first ship, which I will post here in due time, 
but in the meantime, here is a Tech Level 12-13 SDB from T4

Mustelid Class Light System Defence Boat

Tons:		100 ton AF Wedge
Cost:	MCr116.03
Crew:		4			Passengers:	none		
Cargo:		5.1			
Controls:	Military	Tech:	C/D
FCR:		4
Size:		8			
Jump:		0
Maneuver:	6-Thruster/3-Thruster backup
L-Btty 6-D	5-5-3-0		Power:		7/2
M-Btty		5 (4)			Fuel:		4.8 (2 years)
Sensors:	A2 P3 J0 (x2), TL C basic commo
Armour:	20	Structure: 	10

Crew: Pilot/Commander (LS), 1 Electronics/Engineer Officer (LS), 2 Gunners (LS each)

The Mustelid class is a power house for its size, but ti is not designed to take the brunt of 
any attack, its speed and firepower are supposed to keep a would-be intruder busy until real 
firepower (ie 400+ ton SDBs) get there
Designed for use primarily in Corridor, as a defence against Vargr raiders

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 18:35:39 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Re: New weapons & systems

Andrew Boulton wrote:
> 
> In-Reply-To: <32B94A6A.13CD@best.com>
> 
> << Tachyon gun
> 
> Another supratech gizmo. Hits the target virtually as soon as it goes
> off; therefore -- if coupled with a tachyon sensor array -- highly
> accurate. Pull the trigger and watch it blow up in real time. Fun for
> the whole family. >>
> 
> The target would actually blow up *before you pulled the trigger!*

Since the crew saw the enemy destroyed, they failed to fire the tachyon gun. The paradox 
caused a backlash in reality (which really hates a smart ass)
Their ship is a casuality by causality.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 19:58:00 -0500
From: rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca (Roderick Darroch Elliott)
Subject: Bad news...

        R.I.P. Carl Sagan..:)

   ----------------------------------------------------------
| Roderick Darroch Elliott...     rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|
| Being afraid of monolithic organizations, especially when    |
| they have computers, is like being afraid of really big      |
| gorillas especially when they are on fire.                   |
|                  -Bruce Sterling                             |
   ----------------------------------------------------------   

------------------------------

Date: 21 Dec 96 20:02:33 EST
From: Jeff & Michelle Norton <103010.212@CompuServe.COM>
Subject: Aliens and  equipment catalog

	Seeing how my job lets me sit and watch vid monitors for 12-14 hours a
day, I got to read my new B-day gifts my best freind/wife gave me yesterday. No,
national security did not suffer....
	MUCH better than the Starships one, first off. The copy was better to
read, not too many flashy pictures, and well written and layed-out. If IG is
reading this, * These should be the standard*
	Just cannot wait to use then. I got dorked by the holiday schedule and
had to pull days for Christmas week; though I got New Years off. Sad thing is my
wife has vacation Christmas week. Who said that the fates wern't random...
	Can't wait until the next batch comes out. 

	Keeping my fingers crossed...

	Jeff

	"You are not a complete man until you get married, then, you are
finished..."
	H. Wipple, PhD.

------------------------------

End of Traveller-digest V1996 #781
**********************************

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