Hey everyone,
I've bumped the Rules Version to 1.0, as there has been a major change from the first set: there is no longer any grids. There is Hyperspace, Space, and Ground. You can read more about the details in the rules.
Why did I make this change? Very simple: I am prioritizing activity and fluidity in the game out of the gate. Any veteran GRU simmers will remember that GRU also moved from a space grid to a rather complex 'hours' location system (12 hours from planet, 24, 36) which was gridless. My version is even simpler: there's just one space location, one ground location.
I really liked our previous rules that used the grid, I think it allowed some cool strategic and tactical plays; however, it also introduced longer turns and longer battles. Right now, those are two things we want to avoid.
First, longer battles. With a very slow turn cycle (typically 48-hours if only two players present, longer if there are more) anything that prolongs things gets painful and boring. We don't want engagements taking longer than a month (they have in past games!) - its just too long. With a grid delay tactics are possible and could make a lot of sense in some cases. We want to avoid that sort of thing, and force action and battle.
Second, longer posts. With movements and ranges and the old dogfight engagement rules, the mental load is heavy and it can be exhausting putting together a battle post with so many ships. Right now I want to make it fun and as painless/time consuming as possible to encourage maximum participation.
I can hear some of your groaning already. But please be patient! I am trying to make sure this thing gets off the ground and people KEEP PLAYING after designing their empires on paper. November 1st we will have an open discussion about the experience and decide if we should move to a grid, or change other aspects of the game. I will also have some tools ready by then, including an app for managing the grid and ship locations should we want to return to a grid.
For now, I am leaving ranges and unit speeds/etc on specs, just so we still have them. But you can ignore them.
Thank you for your patience, now lets sim!
~ Greg
P.S.
The TL;DR version of rules:
- Hyperspace/Space/Ground are possible locations. You can move between them once in a turn.
- Capships can only attack SFs/Aux that attack them.
- Some SFs are 'Interceptor-classed' - if your enemy has any of these deployed, you have to engage them 1:1 before attacking any other SF, AUX or CapShip (like CSP).
- Accuracy of weapons vs SF changed a bit.
