On Campaigns and Rulebooks and Glasses
Jean Sexton reports:
It has been a very busy weekend. I noticed that I was proofreading more easily without my glasses than with. That was a sign and signal to get new glasses. Alas and alack for aging eyes--I required trifocals. The new glasses make things appear to move in a wave up and down when I move my head. I know it is simply a matter of getting used to the things, but being dizzy and nearly motion sick have drawbacks!
One of the drawbacks of the glasses change is that working on my set-up turn in SFB Galactic Conquest is taking a tad more time than it should. What is SFB Galactic Conquest? It is a campaign game that uses Star Fleet Battles information to form a more abstract battle on the strategic scale. Even if we tried to use Federation Commander, the games might get a bit complex to play with as many as 60 to 100 ships in a battle. SFB Galactic is the longest running campaign in all of SFB.
The campaign is different from Federation & Empire as well. Federation & Empire is very structured and one campaign can be recreated by player after player. In SFB GC, the empires change, the size of the empires changes, the year changes, outside foes may wander in, and who knows where you will find friends . . . or foes. I've played the Frax who had less than eight systems and the ISC who had nearly 30. I've nearly brought about the General War single-handedly and I've forged an Alliance between the Klingons, the Federation, the Gorns, and the Romulans! It's a campaign where anything can happen, and does. In the game (Universe 4) which has a set-up turn due today, I am playing the Federation in Y150 on a double-blind map with more than 20 other empires out there. It promises to be exciting!
Interrupting the day has been an attempt to clarify a rules question. We just published the fourth edition of the Galactic Conquest Rulebook (soon to be available through the storefront for ADB, Inc.) and questions abound. Can I tow tug pods? What are the consequences when they are towed over a long distance? What are the strategic implications of giving a pod poor crew? Some of these questions are new and the Rules Committee must discuss the rules as they are, look at the SFB rules to see what they suggest would happen, make a decision, and write it up. The "write it up" part tends to fall to me as the GMs, Mike Incavo and John Berg, and Howard Bampton know more about SFB than I. If I can understand the answers, nearly anyone can!
Now back to writing up my turn. Should I place the mobile base on Vulcan or Earth? Do I send my squadrons here or there? So many decisions to make and midnight fast approaches.
To visit the SFB Galactic Conquest campaign discussion topics, please go to the Discus BBS (the link is available from ADB, Inc's home page) and click on Star Fleet Battles. We'll be right there!
It has been a very busy weekend. I noticed that I was proofreading more easily without my glasses than with. That was a sign and signal to get new glasses. Alas and alack for aging eyes--I required trifocals. The new glasses make things appear to move in a wave up and down when I move my head. I know it is simply a matter of getting used to the things, but being dizzy and nearly motion sick have drawbacks!
One of the drawbacks of the glasses change is that working on my set-up turn in SFB Galactic Conquest is taking a tad more time than it should. What is SFB Galactic Conquest? It is a campaign game that uses Star Fleet Battles information to form a more abstract battle on the strategic scale. Even if we tried to use Federation Commander, the games might get a bit complex to play with as many as 60 to 100 ships in a battle. SFB Galactic is the longest running campaign in all of SFB.
The campaign is different from Federation & Empire as well. Federation & Empire is very structured and one campaign can be recreated by player after player. In SFB GC, the empires change, the size of the empires changes, the year changes, outside foes may wander in, and who knows where you will find friends . . . or foes. I've played the Frax who had less than eight systems and the ISC who had nearly 30. I've nearly brought about the General War single-handedly and I've forged an Alliance between the Klingons, the Federation, the Gorns, and the Romulans! It's a campaign where anything can happen, and does. In the game (Universe 4) which has a set-up turn due today, I am playing the Federation in Y150 on a double-blind map with more than 20 other empires out there. It promises to be exciting!
Interrupting the day has been an attempt to clarify a rules question. We just published the fourth edition of the Galactic Conquest Rulebook (soon to be available through the storefront for ADB, Inc.) and questions abound. Can I tow tug pods? What are the consequences when they are towed over a long distance? What are the strategic implications of giving a pod poor crew? Some of these questions are new and the Rules Committee must discuss the rules as they are, look at the SFB rules to see what they suggest would happen, make a decision, and write it up. The "write it up" part tends to fall to me as the GMs, Mike Incavo and John Berg, and Howard Bampton know more about SFB than I. If I can understand the answers, nearly anyone can!
Now back to writing up my turn. Should I place the mobile base on Vulcan or Earth? Do I send my squadrons here or there? So many decisions to make and midnight fast approaches.
To visit the SFB Galactic Conquest campaign discussion topics, please go to the Discus BBS (the link is available from ADB, Inc's home page) and click on Star Fleet Battles. We'll be right there!
posted by Federation Commander at 9:24 PM
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