Flashpoint Reborn

[SWSF Hoppus]

A Condensed Rule Proposal


Movement
--------
- There are three possible locations for any unit: Hyperspace, Space or Surface.
- Units may change location only once in a turn before firing weapons.
- All units in the same location are considered within range of each other.


Attacking
---------
- There are no fire arcs. All weapons may fire once.
- Consult Accuracy and Damage Tables to determine final damage.


Actions
-------
- Launch Bays deploy or recall 12 craft per turn.


Accuracy Tables
---------------
==========TURBOLASERS/IONS
          Heavy  Capital  Fighter
Heavy    100%  75%      25%
Capital  100%  100%    50%
Fighter  100%  100%      50%
==========LASERS/BLASTERS
          Heavy  Capital  Fighter

Heavy    100%  100%    50%
Capital  100%  100%    75%
Fighter  100%  100%    100%
===========INTERCEPTING WARHEADS
          vs Torpedo  vs Missile
Turbolaser 50%          25%
Laser      75%          50%
Missile    50%          NA
Torpedo    NA          NA


Support Craft Damage Modifiers (Energy Weapons Only)
------------------------------------
        Fast  Average Slow
Fast    x1    x1.5    x2
Average  x0.5  x1      x1.5
Slow    x0.25  x0.5    x1


Damage Resolution
-----------------
- Shields = x1.5 length
- Hull = x2 length
- Damage should be taken at the beginning of a turn before a ship is activated.
- Hull Damage:
    a. 100% Hull - All systems operational.
    b. 75% Hull - Unit considered "HEAVY" for accuracy purposes & may not move
                  between Space/Surface locations.
    c. 50% Hull - Weapons reduced to 50% in number (round).
    d. 25% Hull - Weapons reduced to 0% -OR- Hyperdrive disabled, defender's choice.
    e. 0% Hull - Destroyed.
- Systems Damage:
    a. Ion cannons bypass shields and have immediate effect.
    b. Effects of cannons are temporary, lasting for the attacker's current turn
      and the defender's response post only.
    c. Consult Hull Damage chart above to determine effects.
      Example: Corvette has 300 Hull Points; ISD Avenger fires 10 Ion Cannons
      for 80 Systems Damage Points, equal to 26% of Hull Points; Consulting Hull
      Damage chart, effect for next turn: Corvette considered "HEAVY" for accuracy
      purposes and may not move between space/surface locations.


Boarding Vessels/Facilities
---------------------------
- Ship must be at or below 25% hull (or temporarily at such state via systems damage).
- Units can board via transports or by docking ship-to-ship.

[SWSF Hoppus]

Imperial Star Destroyer
Class: Heavy Capital Ship
Shields: 2,400 Damage Points
Hull: 3,200 Damage Points
Weapons:
  60 Turbolasers (480)
  60 Ion Cannons (480)
  10 Tractor Beams

Launch Bays: 2
Support Craft:
  10,000 Troops
  75 Vehicles
  72 Starfighters


TIE Fighter
Class: Starfighter
Speed: Fast
Hull: 18 Damage Points
Weapons:
  2 Laser Cannons (2)




Nebulon B Frigate
Class: Capital Ship
Shields: 450 Damage Points
Hull: 600 Damage Points
Weapons:
  12 Turbolasers (96)
  12 Laser Cannons (12)

Launch Bays: 1
Support Craft:
  12 Starfighters


X-Wing
Class: Starfighter
Speed: Average
Shields: 19 Damage Points
Hull: 25 Damage Points
Weapons:
  4 Laser Cannons (4)
  2 Torpedo Launchers (20) {3 Torpedoes each}


Rebel Post 1:

2 FRG vs 72 TIE Fighters: 114 damage
  24 Turbolasers {24 x 0.5 =12} (96)
  24 Lasers {24 x 0.75=18} (18)

24 X-Wings vs ISD: 576 damage
  96 Laser Cannons (96)
  48 Proton Torpedoes (480)


Imperial Post 1:

ISD vs FRG 1: 360 systems, 480 damage
  60 Ion Cannons {60 x 0.75=45} (360) ~FRG1 = 50% weapons, considered HEAVY
  60 Turbolasers {60 x 1=60} (480)

48 TIE Fighters (on CSP) vs 48 Proton Torpedos: All downed
  96 Laser Cannons {96 x 50%=48} 48 Downed.

24 TIE Fighters vs 24 X-Wings: 72 Damage
  48 Laser Cannons (48 x 1.5 = 72)

6 TIE Fighters destroyed by FRGs attack, 1 at 12/18 Hull Points.
ISD takes 96 damage, now at 2,304/2,400 Shield Points.



Rebel Post 2:

FRG 1 vs ISD: 54 damage
  6 Turbolasers (48)
  6 Laser Cannons (6)

FRG 2 vs TIEs: 57 damage
  12 Turbolasers {12 x 0.5=6} (48)
  12 Laseres {12 x 0.75=9} (9)

24 X-Wings vs TIEs: 528 damage
  96 Laser Cannons (96 x 0.5 = 48)
  48 Proton Torpedoes (480)

X-wings take 72 damage, 1 Destroyed, 1 at 0/19 shields & 16/25 hull.
FRG 1 takes 480 damage, now at 0/450 Shields and 570/600 Hull.

[SWSF Hoppus]

Combat would be pretty straightforward. Managing a sim, however, might be painful (taxes, building defenses/ships, lots of planets in the universe). Don't know if anyone is up for that!

[SWSF Hoppus]

Okay... I think I'll just start working on writing my own storyline until people show up again (if they do)

[Lordmaligan]

People will show up with EXTREMELY simple rules 
The last two sims were like second jobs 
It would like hours to use set up initial purchases
Aint nobody got time for that
Lets make it simile,  almost like RISK, but not as easy 
Happy to help 

[EmperorSeverus]

Maligan's back, welcome back

[SWSF Hoppus]

People will show up with EXTREMELY simple rules 
The last two sims were like second jobs 
It would like hours to use set up initial purchases
Aint nobody got time for that
Lets make it simile,  almost like RISK, but not as easy 
Happy to help 

Thanks Maligan, glad to see you are still around! 

Yes, this has been my impression as well. Do you believe the rule set above is "too complex" for combat?

I agree the previous iteration had a lot of overhead and rules for deploying units... which we can avoid by just letting people build whatever they want that they have cash for. We will undoubtedly run into issues with $ flow or whatever, but we can try to atone for those things later on in the game.

I guess my specific question is: 1) are those combat rules simple enough? 2) for economic rules, keeping it simple with $ income per planet class, PDF limits, but no rules regarding what you can build/command etc -- you can buy it you can fly it, sort of deal?

Let me know your thoughts please. I want to make this easy, and I'm assuming we'll be doing 1+ players per faction, so if you want your own faction you can have it, otherwise you can join one of the existing groups...

[Lordmaligan]

I check in every few weeks when I think of it. My guess is a handful of people do this. Also some new people join every so often. If the rules are easy, people will jump in. If we get get a universe going for 2 months I bet each faction gains 1-2 new members from start. 

I would propose a few things ...
-2 factions. Empire, Republic. Taking place as NR is forming with Coruscant ownership .. can use end of episode 6 or 8 as a starting point. 
-Whoever wants to join a faction can ... Factions will need to look polished and offer membership into an active sim group in order to attract members. If you cannot recruit you will lose. 
-Members can manage up to 3 ships? Maybe just 2. This will force some recruiting. YES it will benefit those with more members. BUT the faction with less members will probably buy larger ships. 
     a. Recognize this is not realistic but this is a sim group w/ few members. We need to move away from managing huge numbers of ships/planets. Nobody has time/desire to be counting damage for 5 capital ships and 100 fighters in a battle. 
     
-Try and limit to 10 planets a piece. Maybe 30 - 40 in Universe. Make the rules for taking over/negotiating with neutral planets pretty easy and managed by 1 GM from each faction.
-Forget complicated hyperspace jump calculations. You can just say any planet is 24 hours.  Or 12 and 24 if you want to create some division. 
-Store as many ships as you want, but you pay a small maintenance tax for them each month. 
-Simple combat rules, Simple 5X5 grid with planet in center. Put Golan or shipyard wherever you want. AND only those two options. We do not need 100 different platforms, defense options. This is not realistic but creates a game people can actually play. 
-Almost do away with ground combat. Just call them troops and create a VERY simple equation for combat. We do not need ten different unit types and it takes an hour to figure out what unit types are in each ship. 
-A key way to be victorious will be people getting the right capital shifts for their membership, taking on. neutral and enemy planets that offer a could monthly tax, investing in planetary defense, and eventually running good battles. It should be a bit costly/time consuming to repair a damaged battle ship. This is a way to create realism/strategy. 

-In 2-3 months if the universe is working out and we want to add a more complicated ground combat scheme... or add a third faction thats fine. 
-The only complex rule I like is the veteran bonus ... Every battle a ship survives they can add maybe 2% to damage delivered and shield strength or something like that 

Some random initial thoughts. 

[SWSF Hoppus]

Factions
- I'd allow any number, if it will get people active.

Commands
- I'd allow any number of ships to be commanded, esp. if the rule set is easy (small/no grid, no complicated rules for combat). Why? Because I am not all optimistic that there will be any 'recruitment' -- this is not 1999 AOL with the forums etc. I'd be surprised if we had more than 3-4 truly active players.

Galaxy
- Agree that the 'playable galaxy' has to be limited to such a scope (30-40 playable planets, the rest NPC)
- Hyperspace: agreed here.

Ground Combat
- I'm not sure. I agree its a pain in the butt to load out ships at times, esp. with too many units. But I also feel its a classic part of simming... 

PDF
- Agreed, shipyards and golans are only space-base defenses. On the surface, I would use simple facilities that also come with some units onboard (these would also generate the $$$ for players).

Veteran Bonuses
- Not a bad idea to incentivize pulling ships out before they are destroyed.

I'll get back to you with more thoughts.

[SWSF Hoppus]

After thinking about it some more, I wouldn't mind tossing out ground combat entirely. Perhaps each planet having a simple "garrison" requirement of troops/vehicles that must be placed on the surface.. after you control space for X hours, you must place Y troops/vehicles on the surface... these are then "spent". You'd have to build more to restock your ships. There is never any ground combat, or record keeping once you invest the "garrison".

[EmperorSeverus]

I'm trying to remember how we did it in the very beginning of SWSF. I know we did ground combat eventually but I don't recall having it in the beginning. Either that or ground combat was resolved the same as space combat--no grid in the early days, just total the HP and inflict damage. If we did that for space and ground both, that would be awesome.

[SWSF Hoppus]

We can come up with a game with no ground combat to start, then decide if it is something that interests us.

I have some reservations over combat with no grid being satisfying with a small player pool; though, even with a grid the grid seems like a prop that doesn't add much to combat. I'll report back with some of the ideas I'm hashing over...