Traveller-digest    Wednesday, October 13 1999    Volume 1999 : Number 1202



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re:  FFW players out there?
Re Tracers
Re: Does anyone play these games?
Slang in Trav
Re: Re Task System vs Skill System [long]
Re: Re Task System vs Skill System [long]
Re: Slang in Trav
Re: Slang in Trav
re: Bean Counting Ammo
Re: subsector/sector mapping software
Heplar Efficiency
re: FFW Players Out There?
Re: Lucan the Man... 
Re: The Near C Rock Accords II
OT: Resources
RE: FFW players out there?
RE: FFW Players Out There?
Re: Ammo Conservation
Re: Does anyone play these games?
Re: OT:  You Got Me To Go There (was Re: Hamlet in Space was:  Re:  falkenbergs legions firing  intocivilians)

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 03:21:31 -0700
From: "Kelly St.Clair" <kellys@efn.org>
Subject: Re:  FFW players out there?

On Wed, 13 Oct 1999 00:10:09 -0700 "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
wrote:

(description of possible computer version of FFW snipped)

>I wonder if this hyper-realism would be fun to play?
>
>- --Glenn

Two words:

Close Combat.  Microsoft's current series of WW2 games models practically
everything up to the chance your soldiers will wet themselves instead of
opening fire.

(There's also Harpoon, but that was a while ago, and YMMV on the "fun" part.)


- --------------
Kelly St.Clair   "The Jigglypuff's trilling seems to have a 
kellys@efn.org    tranquilizing effect on the human nervous system.
                  Fortunately, I am... immune..."
                            -- Mr. Spock, THE TROUBLE WITH POKEMON

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 06:38:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net>
Subject: Re Tracers

>William F. Hostman <aramis@gci.net> writes:
>
>> >> So it should pentrate as normal. With a slight chanche of igniting
>> >> anything flammable it lodges in (like a kevlar vest :-)
>> >
>> >Hmmm ... what about gauss weapons: could they have tracer ammo?
>>
>> They'd need some ignition source... IMTU, for an extra Cr 100, you can add
>> a tracer ignition laser to it...
>
>Sigh.  Why do you guys always have to pick the hardest possible
>solution to a simple problem?  Present day tracer amoo ignites
>simply from barrel friction.  Given gauss projectile velocities
>and improved chemcial technology at TL-whatever, why not just
>have *AIR* friction ignite the little buggers as they exit the
>barrel? :^(

<answer 1>
Does it? One article I read in some shooting mag (don't remember which, but
my ROTC unit had the sub) was a detail of various tracers and their
methods. Some are lit by contact with hot propellant gasses, and others by
the pressure wave, and others still by the combined pressure wave and heat
from various sources, including barrel friction and propellant gas temps.
There is a lot of heat energy present in modern powders; heat is the
driving force behind the expanding gas which drives the bullet. The article
also said many tracer compounds wer self-oxidizing compounds.

Also, how much heat on a hypersonic bullet is air friction, how much is
barrel friction, and how much is leftover heat transferred by conduction
from the propellant gasses? In the case of Gauss weapons, we lose 2 of the
three.

Interesting experiment for hand-loaders: make some subcaliber DS rounds
using a low-theroconductive sabots and some high-thermoconductivity sabots.
Fire them into water, and compare the steam flash.

Another experiment for bullet temps: Fire them into a paper stop. I know
that the .22LR CCI stinger, a supersonic round, will not ignite newsprint,
nor even mark it (note: the round is STOPING in the paper). firing a blank
will mark the paper (scorching), even if it doesn't go through. I'm also
not convinced that the Gauss weapons are even all that fast.

<answer 2>
Simple: Look at the airflow around such a projectile. The tracer fuel will
be in the partial vaccum of the flow turbulence. Not reliable. Barrel
friction won't do, as IMTU, Gauss weapons don't have projectile contact
with the barrel, at least under normal operations, being coil designs, not
railguns. A coaxial laser is a simple solution, especially if the tracer
illum chemical is especially sensitive to the frequencies used.

Also, if you put the tracer chem where it will get significant air
friction, the loss of material as it burns is likely to rapidly affect the
spin and tumble characteristics, or have the illum more visible from the
sides than the rear; tracers are there for the FIRER, not the audience, at
least in proper field use. And as for penetrating heat from air friction,
I'm not willing to rely on it, and in any case, I'd rather have the tracer
lit as it exits the barrel, consistantly.

<both>
Another thing to note is that I'm talking a laser firing out through the
barrel void, fixed focus at about the end of the barrel, rather than the
current use of coaxial, meaning mounted along a parallel axis, as used in
describing armored vehicle mounts.

Comparing the MT stats, the pen is comparable with the DS from the 7mm ACR,
and the atten is lower (therefore, the penetration attenuates more rapidly;
Atten is range bands past close per halving of Pen); so the round is
obviously losing energy faster than the DS round, and probably less massive
massive. MT damages are not indicative of mass or energy per se, as most
direct penetration rounds have a damage of 3. Extremely large personal
rounds (>12mm) seem to have damage increased by 1. (Reminder: MT damage
number is also number of d6's damage to attributes assuming unarmored
target or target with armor < 0.5x Pen). MT Pens correspond quite well to
3G3 DV's, which are based upon penetration.

William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click
interface!"
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-
533
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis http://www.alaska.net/~mhaa
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 11:36:12 -0700
From: "Mark S Peace" <mark.s.peace@dunelm.org.uk>
Subject: Re: Does anyone play these games?

>If we can iron out the basics, I'd be willing to ref a PBeM of FFW or TCS,
>as long as RL doesn't intrude too much.
>
>I suppose weekly turns would be best (both from a canon an RL point of
>view).  Say, all orders to be received by 23.59 UK time (with a little
>leeway for late orders) on a Friday.  I adjudicate on the Saturday, and
post
>updates on the Sunday. Any comments or victi^H^H^H volunteers, email me at
>the address below (or to TML if you don't mind your comms being intercepted
>by potential opponents <g>).

I'd certainly be interested.  I've got HG+TCS rules, but not FFW.

Thanks,
Mark.

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 07:08:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net>
Subject: Slang in Trav

>slang we use in trav
>a "cracker" - a weapon capable of penetrating BD
>to "beam him down" - kill a man gunslinger style with a laser weapon
>
>has anyone elses gaming groups come up with any cool slang for traveller ?

Don't know if it's cool or not, but we've had a few:

Circles and Sqaures (from an older group): The local moots, referring to
Circlets of Rank and the "Squarishness" of the old-guard nobility.

Fire in the Sky: A full IM Drop Regiment, with 10:1 decoy:trooper pods,
coming in at your position. Derived from Fire in the Hole.

Torching Someone: Taking a PGMP or FGMP to non-BD/non-CbtArmored troops
Melting Him Down: Massed voleys of PGMP or FGMP fire on a BD/CbtArmored
troopie for the realistic overloading of it's latent heat capabilities.

Dog and Poni show: Inspection of a scout base or ship by some brass from
"High Up", especially if there are large numbers of Vargr assigned there.
Also applied to nearly any inspections by Brzrk of Antares, who, due to
lack of information, and this GM's bent imagination, did time in the IISS.

"Marine Peacekeeping Intervention" once said as MPI, also "Marine
Friendship demonstration": euphamism for Fire in the Sky at the request of
a warrant holder trying to prevent a local government from collapsing as
some delicate negotiations with said local government are coming to a close.

Snake in the Grass: a concealed Type S-1/S-2 Serpent Class acting as the
surface base for an IISS survey team.

Dead Spacer's Hot Entertainment: A scouts versus marines brawl that
resolves before the local management decides to call the MP's in.
DS Cold Entertainment: Same type brawl, but the MP's have arrived.
(NB: The dead spacer is a chain of bars in the marches which caters to
scouts AND marines; Also IMTU, there is a real rivalry going betwixt the
IISS and the IMC)

Forgotten Few: Frozen Watch.
Thawed for retirement: Guys who've decided to request the GM let them take
their last two terms as frozen watch to avoid aging saves, get retirement
pay for 5 terms, and otherwise still be 3 term characters. Also used in
character to refer to guys with more than 4 ribbons for Frozen watch who've
retired. Derogatory.

Cool War: Use of deniable 3rd parties in active aggressions vs a specific
target, generally without actually supporting them. The stuff of which Bk4
campaigns are made.

Bounce Infantry: BD or CA troops with Grav Belts and training to use them,
but not trained for Orbital Drop. Generally do Grav-Belt deploys as HALO
style ops, using the Grave belts as parachutes, and then using bouncing
advances as firing oportunities. IMTU, much more common than Drop Troops.

Emergency Escape Sequence: Triggering the Jump drive without a properly
plotted course from within 100 diameters. A Guaranteed misjump to escape
(usually) "Local Troubles".

Chaplain: Euphamism in Solomani Space for the Politcal Officer and/or open
monitors.

Hivering: Relying on lots of talk alone when a little talk and a decent
bribe will do. Or, alternatively, messing with something that works, in an
attempt to figure out what it does, and preventing it from being useful in
the process.

Saluting: euphamism for a human trying to "speak" hiver-sign. Derogatory.

William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click
interface!"
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-
533
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis http://www.alaska.net/~mhaa
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 07:20:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Conley <estar@toolcity.net>
Subject: Re: Re Task System vs Skill System [long]

> In conclusion, Yes, the MT Task System is just an elaboration of a skill
> system. No it is not JUST a skill system. GURPS has a system for
> determining success or failure, including critical success and critical
> failure; it lacks *consistant* sets of modifiers for not JUST difficulty
> but also: lack of tools, hasty attempts, cautious attemps, modifiers to
> chances of mishap other than skill level, a consistant and simple (and
> easily memorized) unskilled penalty.

Basically GURPS Philosphy on resolving skills and tasks is leave it up to
the GM. There are two ways of resolving a skill  roll a straight roll with
modifiers with the chance for a critical success or failure,or a opposed
skill roll where two skills come into conflict. The amount the defense
roll acts as a DM on the attack roll. Critical Success trumps non critical
rolls, critical failure always fail.

Several specific systems (combat and magic) have more detailed ways of
resolving skill. Magic comes the closest to the MT system with each task
(Spells) have a specific time and lots of options for change that time
with bonuses and penalities.


> Yes, I remember that Katana defaults to Broadsword-2. But I can't remember
> the modifier for defaulting from Dex to either Broadsword or Katana, nor
> the penalty for Physics defaulting from IQ, nor the dozens of of other
> defaults on the over 100 skills listed in Compendium-1; 

The GURPS skill system is very rational.

All mental skills are bought in this sequence .5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 
Except for Mental Very Hard which are .5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, etc
All physical skills art bought in this sequence .5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32

Skills can be Mental or Physical
Mental skills can be Easy, Average, Hard, Very Hard
Physical skills can be Easy, Average, Hard

All skills improved by one at each level of the sequence
Mental or Physical
VH starts at IQ-4
H IQ-3
A IQ-2 
E IQ-1

VH Defaults at -7 to attribute
H Defaults at -6 to attribute
A Defaults at -5 to attribute
E Defaults at -4 to attribute

If you wanted to make a task system for GURPS. The skill level already has
the attribute and skill training factored in. What is left is a table to
give you DMs for the difficulty of the skill, and a time factor.

Rob Conley

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 07:20:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Conley <estar@toolcity.net>
Subject: Re: Re Task System vs Skill System [long]

> In conclusion, Yes, the MT Task System is just an elaboration of a skill
> system. No it is not JUST a skill system. GURPS has a system for
> determining success or failure, including critical success and critical
> failure; it lacks *consistant* sets of modifiers for not JUST difficulty
> but also: lack of tools, hasty attempts, cautious attemps, modifiers to
> chances of mishap other than skill level, a consistant and simple (and
> easily memorized) unskilled penalty.

Basically GURPS Philosphy on resolving skills and tasks is leave it up to
the GM. There are two ways of resolving a skill  roll a straight roll with
modifiers with the chance for a critical success or failure,or a opposed
skill roll where two skills come into conflict. The amount the defense
roll acts as a DM on the attack roll. Critical Success trumps non critical
rolls, critical failure always fail.

Several specific systems (combat and magic) have more detailed ways of
resolving skill. Magic comes the closest to the MT system with each task
(Spells) have a specific time and lots of options for change that time
with bonuses and penalities.


> Yes, I remember that Katana defaults to Broadsword-2. But I can't remember
> the modifier for defaulting from Dex to either Broadsword or Katana, nor
> the penalty for Physics defaulting from IQ, nor the dozens of of other
> defaults on the over 100 skills listed in Compendium-1; 

The GURPS skill system is very rational.

All mental skills are bought in this sequence .5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 
Except for Mental Very Hard which are .5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, etc
All physical skills art bought in this sequence .5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32

Skills can be Mental or Physical
Mental skills can be Easy, Average, Hard, Very Hard
Physical skills can be Easy, Average, Hard

All skills improved by one at each level of the sequence
Mental or Physical
VH starts at IQ-4
H IQ-3
A IQ-2 
E IQ-1

VH Defaults at -7 to attribute
H Defaults at -6 to attribute
A Defaults at -5 to attribute
E Defaults at -4 to attribute

If you wanted to make a task system for GURPS. The skill level already has
the attribute and skill training factored in. What is left is a table to
give you DMs for the difficulty of the skill, and a time factor.

Rob Conley

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 13:16:03 +0100
From: Andy Coombes <coombes@bcs.org.uk>
Subject: Re: Slang in Trav

>Bounce Infantry: BD or CA troops with Grav Belts and training to use them,
>but not trained for Orbital Drop. Generally do Grav-Belt deploys as HALO
>style ops, using the Grave belts as parachutes, and then using bouncing
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^

I take it that's a non-functional grav belt used in a HALO style op?

Andy.

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 13:27:16 +0100
From: Timothy.Collinson@solent.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Slang in Trav

William Hostman wrote:
>>Bounce Infantry: BD or CA troops with Grav Belts and training to use
them,
>>but not trained for Orbital Drop. Generally do Grav-Belt deploys as HALO
>>style ops, using the Grave belts as parachutes, and then using bouncing
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^

Andy Coombes wrote:
>I take it that's a non-functional grav belt used in a HALO style op?


Or perhaps one derived from the same technology as the grave bike as
depicted by RAFM in their miniature?  :-)

tc

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 08:47:02 -0400
From: Walter Smith <SmithW@HARTWICK.EDU>
Subject: re: Bean Counting Ammo

Daniel Phelps wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>That is not good.  A troop dead 'cause some bean counter doesn't want to
>replace a magazine.  It'd almost be funny if it weren't so f'ing true. Bean
>counters'll be the death of civilized man yet...


It has happened, read "The Washing of the Spears", Queen Vicky's lads
getting shish-k-bobed while they were trying to bash open ammo boxes with
their rifle butts.

History keeps repeating itself, like bad chilli.
>>>>>>>>
Note the way those colonial wars ended up, though. The spear-carriers
didn't win.

If your civilization has enough capable bean-counters, then your army
will be backed up by an economy big enough and productive enough
to win the logistical war, and a technology advanced enough to make
it easier. Inventions and innovations don't become industries without
bean-counters. Even Thomas Edison had an accountant.

(Though I'm sure Edison drove his accountant to fits on a regular basis.)

Walt Smith

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 08:47:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Houghton <herveus@Radix.Net>
Subject: Re: subsector/sector mapping software

Howdy!

> 
> Thanxx 1.0e6  I appreciate it.  Cynthia Higgenbottom came out with 'ssv', which works ok, except that it saves off in XWD format, which screws up the colors pretty badly, *AND* makes a humoungous image file kinda like a Windoze bitmap file.  Have to run it thru Convert & Xpaint to get anything rilly useable.  I *suppose* it might be interesting to see if I can hack the source a bit and see what I get; should teach me some stuff about C...
> 
You will need both Perl and the Perl/Tk extension (both freely available
at www.perl.com/CPAN). My stuff is all Perl code, and you are welcome to
hack away. It has a non-user interface part and the Tk part as separate
pieces, so you could roll your own user interface. My first cut at a user
interface (before I got into Tk) was based on a command line. For pictures,
such as subsector maps, I generated GIFs and popped up an image viewer.
I may dig that up and package it into the bundle as well.

I haven't had a chance to poke around yet...

yours,
Michael
- -- 
Michael and MJ Houghton   | Herveus d'Ormonde and Megan O'Donnelly
herveus@radix.net         | White Wolf and the Phoenix
Bowie, MD, USA            | Tablet and Inkle bands, and other stuff
                          | http://www.radix.net/~herveus/

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 20:56:04 -0700
From: "Antony Farrell" <Skaran@bigpond.com>
Subject: Heplar Efficiency

If people think Heplar thrusters are too efficient the solution seems
simple, just increase the fuel consumption for a given thrust. Doubling fuel
consumption immediately halves the drives efficiency. In any case trying to
fit 40 GHrs of fuel in some ships can be a real challenge.

Antony Farrell

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 09:35:21 -0400
From: Walter Smith <SmithW@HARTWICK.EDU>
Subject: re: FFW Players Out There?

Glenn M. Goffin wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
The player would send orders to his units, which would eventually maybe
get the orders and maybe obey them if they still made sense and the unit
had enough morale.  Then the player would maybe get a report of what
happened (probably brought by a scout). Still, the after-action report
would not arrive for weeks after the action.  

I wonder if this hyper-realism would be fun to play?
>>>>>>>>>>
It sounds interesting to me. How about a multiplayer option, with
"messaging" between players dependent on location of the admirals.
If both are in the same star system, a real-time chat window is
enabled. If not, they can send messages that are placed in the
intelligence network's "information net", eventually to reach the
intended recipient. I may know my friend Fred planned on taking
his fleet through Jewell, but I won't know how far he got until either
I catch up to him, or I meet one of his dispatch boats.

No amount of game programming is impossible to someone who
doesn't know how to do it. ;-)

Walt Smith

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 23:59:08 +1000
From: "Alan Bradley" <alanb@elf.brisnet.org.au>
Subject: Re: Lucan the Man... 

> From: "Keven R. Pittsinger" 
(About Lucan:)
> Try, he didn't *HAVE* the resources to pull it off.  Remember, by 1120,
most 
> of the fleet engagements were over with, and any surviving fleet was at
60% 
> or less of book strength.  If given the choice between trying to rebuild
your 
> fleets or trying something as ridiculous as trying to move an asteroid 
> against a planet, 99% of the brass would rebuild their fleet.  It's just
more 
> practical.  You can *always* use the ship on different mission profiles. 

> Moving a rock is just moving a rock.
......
> HT says that the *only* one able to field a big fleet in 1120 was Lucan,
and 
> he threw it away trying to whack out Strephon in Gushemege.  Not exactly 
> bright, lemme tell ya...

I've never quite worked out how Norris' fleets got burned so badly.  Sure,
they were stretched dealing with the Vargr and Aslan, and they got into a
brawl with the Vilani, but I would have thought that most of these
engagements would have tended to involve Cruisers or smaller ships.  I
can't really see where the Battle squadrons would have suffered the serious
losses that would have occurred to Lucan's and Dulinor's fleets.

This is important, of course, in that it's necessary to explain why Norris
didn't succeed in doing an Arbellatra, and thundering into the core once
the big players were exhausted.  (Maybe in the name of Strephon, or even
Avery).

This could, of course, be a possible alternate ending to the Rebellion. 
Norris wasn't really part of the game, so it's not a case of giving
credibility to any of the jerks who hosed away zillions of lives.  It can
also still permit lots of fun and anarchy, too, as once Lucan and Dulinor
are gone, Norris might feel obliged to negotiate with, rather than fight
the other "Imperial" factions (Margaret, Vland, Daibei, whatever is left of
Antares, and the minor states).  There is still also the problem that the
Imperial economy is shot, so rebuilding worlds, suppressing piracy and
restoring interstellar trade would take decades, or even centuries!  

In other words, all our old friends from the Marches can be found anywhere
in the Imperium, there is still, or once again, an Imperium, and there is
also a swag of minor states, and great chunks of lawless space - what more
do you want?  

Alan Bradley
alanb@elf.brisnet.org.au

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 23:43:48 +1000
From: "Alan Bradley" <alanb@elf.brisnet.org.au>
Subject: Re: The Near C Rock Accords II

> From: dadams@parracity.nsw.gov.au
> Of all the Major races, only the Kree do
> not publicly renounce the use of HVPBS and LMPBS. However all Starfaring
nations
> near the Kree have advised the Kree that any use of the HVPBS and LMPBS
will be
> met in kind, and it is rumoured that both the Solomani and Imperial
forces have
> a class of ship based near Kree space solely designed to accelerate
projectiles.
> Of cause, both the Solomani and Imperial Governments deny this.

A problem:  The zillions of Vargr governments would make it hard to get an
agreement of this kind from them.

It could be argued that planet-busting isn't charismatic, but then,
*victory* is very charismatic.

It's also likely that the Vargr might resort to such weapons if the K'kree
use them.

On general world-busting:  CT Adventure 4: Leviathan had the "Maneuver of
Ganulph/Ganulf"  (the spelling is inconsistent in the book), where a
world's atmosphere, and all life on it, "accidentally" got destroyed during
the Fourth Frontier War.  The commander of the Marine garrison on the world
was posthumously court-martialed, but the war did end very shortly
afterwards....

The other bit of documented Imperial world destruction was the
sterilisation of most of the surface of Ilelish after the Ilelish Revolt. 
There are also more dodgy cases from the bad maps in T4 First Survey, where
worlds like Keshi, ex-capital of the Chanestin Kingdom are shown as having
very low populations.  Personally I think this has more to do with Imperium
Games' idiocy than OTU reality.

Alan Bradley
alanb@elf.brisnet.org.au

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 10:08:42 -0400
From: Ian Ferguson <ian@vax2.concordia.ca>
Subject: OT: Resources

Darryl writes:
>I am an Australian. I see land  and want to either run sheep 
>on it or rip it open for mining. Apparently there is a huge 
>tin deposit under St Mary's cathedral in Sydney, I would not 
>be supprised if the Catholic church gets lobbied to allow 
>mining under the most important catholic church in Asutralia...

	Here in Montreal, Canada, there was a large church downtown
	that was having trouble making ends meet.  A shopping mall
	was built underneath it, and I presume that the church
	collects royalties of some sort.  It was quite a sight, the
	heavy stone building standing on spindly steel legs in the
	big construction pit.  What sort of construction methods are
	envisioned for high TLs?

Peez

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 10:19:24 -0400
From: Ian Ferguson <ian@vax2.concordia.ca>
Subject: RE: FFW players out there?

Glenn M. Goffin writes:
>I have for years been thinking about how to do Fifth Frontier 
>War -- or Traveller interstellar war in general -- in a way 
>that captures the feeling of not knowing where the enemy is.
<snipped>
>Here's how I visualize it:
>The player takes the role of the senior admiral in the action, 
>and starts with a fleet at a major world.
<snipped>
>The player would send orders to his units, which would eventually
>maybe get the orders and maybe obey them if they still made sense
>and the unit had enough morale.  Then the player would maybe get a
>report of what happened (probably brought by a scout). Still, the 
>after-action report would not arrive for weeks after the action.
<snipped>

	I tried to set up a war-by-mail something like this.  The
	crucial factor in running a Traveller war has to be the
	communication lag, with field commanders having a lot of
	latitude.  I was going to concentrate on the former
	consideration by simplifying the tactics once a fleet
	arrived in a system.  Unfortunately, the game never got
	off the ground, but it would be a great way to test some
	ideas about the composition of fleets, navy strategy, and
	even starship design.  Maybe one day...

Peez

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 15:20:07 +0100
From: "Trevor, Peter" <Peter.Trevor@rb.cwplc.com>
Subject: RE: FFW Players Out There?

Walter Smith wrote:
> It sounds interesting to me. How about a multiplayer option,
> with "messaging" between players dependent on location of the
> admirals. If both are in the same star system, a real-time chat
> window is enabled. If not, they can send messages that are
> placed in the intelligence network's "information net",
> eventually to reach the intended recipient. I may know my
> friend Fred planned on taking his fleet through Jewell, but I
> won't know how far he got until either I catch up to him, or I
> meet one of his dispatch boats.

Great.  Now all that's left is to pick a start date!  ;-)

Regards PLST
"Rome wasn't burned in a day."

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 07:00:17
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <gridlore@pop.mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Ammo Conservation

At 11:22 PM 10/12/1999 -0700, you wrote:

>Ye Fighter:  I like not the sight of yon skinny, shambling mound.  Let
>us quit this place.
>Ye Mage:  Truly, I find it not recorded in my tomes of demons and
>demigods.  It is not of this plane.  
>Ye Cleric:  I detect evil in it, just from looking at it. I need not to
>cast the spell.
>Ye Thief:  You brave heroes fall back in good order.  I'll hide here in
>the tall grass and try to steal that bitchin' .50 cal. sniper rifle!

I waste him with my .50!  Hoody-Hoo!
- -- 

Douglas E. Berry       gridlore@mindspring.com
http://gridlore.home.mindspring.com/index.html

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 07:04:26
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <gridlore@pop.mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Does anyone play these games?

At 10:07 PM 10/12/1999 -0700, you wrote:

>Seriously though, I would be willing to host a Traveller boardgame fest
>at my place.  I already have one person interested.

Make that two...
- -- 

Douglas E. Berry       gridlore@mindspring.com
http://gridlore.home.mindspring.com/index.html

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

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 11:41:02 -0300
From: Michel Vaillancourt <misha@empire.atlantic-online.ns.ca>
Subject: Re: OT:  You Got Me To Go There (was Re: Hamlet in Space was:  Re:  falkenbergs legions firing  intocivilians)

At 09:41 PM 10/11/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>At 03:03 AM 10/11/99 -0300, you wrote:
>>
>>        Hi, Doug!
>>        No, it was the *stupidest* in Trek canon.  
>>
>       lots o' snippage
>>
>>        --Michel
>>
>
>Star Trek has a canon? When did this happen? They have trouble staying
>consistant from one episode to the next. 

        The "Star Trek Writers Guide" is *supposed* to be the canon source
for Trek scripts.  In ST:OS, Roddenberry was fanatical about ensuring it was
followed.  ST:TNG was significantly more lax about its application. 

>Who remembers first season ST:TNG when they killed Tasha Yar and she showed
>up in the next episode? According the the interviews I've read, the
>episodes were shown in the order they were filmed. So this little
>continuity error slip right past them.
>
>Richard Wilson

        More serialized programs or works of any kind suffer from continuity
errors.  Some are just less forgivable than others...  =)

        --Michel
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------------------------------

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #1202
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