Bertil:
> Generally positive. The way things work seems to be moving
towards good ol' Traveller.
Thanks. That was certainly what we were trying for.
You seem to have acquired a copy before many people in the USA.
Our Swedish distributor is very efficient.
The low laser penetration is not a typo. We made them to
reflect reality as we currently understand it (as it was
explained to us by a few experts). This is a design decision that
will undoubtedly be debated here within a few hours of everyone
getting their copies of the game.
I think Gauss Rifles are pretty deadly, and I must admit a soft
spot for the ARL, but my weapon of choice is the good old plasma
rifle (PGMP renamed). That sucker'll go through battledress like
a knife through butter (range is a _little_ short, however).
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Scott (Kay-EE-double-Ell, Owe-Double-Good) Kellogg & Rob Dean:
> Craft Design System?
Rob beat me to the answer, but the Craft Design book will be in
the starship combat game, tentatively titled
(drumroll please)
_Brilliant Lances_
Which leads me to a few words from our sponsor:
If things work out with the manufacturer (RAFM in Canada) we
_may_ be able to include a sample ship miniature in the game, but
the game will be designed for use with counters. Thirty counters
(two-sided, so you get 60 ships, you just can't use all 60 at
once unless you part with a couple of bucks for a second counter
sheet), with little line drawings of the ships on them.
Three 22"x31" maps with a 2" hex grid (black with a starfield
background, white hexgrid). I don't know what size the Geo-Hex
stellar battle cloth is, but it should be reasonably compatible.
We are doing them 2" hexes so that two miniature ships and their
stands can fit on one hex.
Two booklets, one starship design, one combat rules. All in a
box with a neat cover painting by aviation artist Doug Chaffee,
for $30.00 American.
Available July. We hope to have it in time to release it at
Origins, July 4th weekend.
- ------------------------------
RAFM Starships will include a Gazelle, a Patrol Cruiser, a
Scout/Courier, Free Trader, Far Trader, Subs. Merchant (I think)
and several others (working from memory here). They look very
nice, nice enough to tempt me to paint a few. Drop by Origins or
Gen-Con, and we'll be running demos with the samples.
- ------------------------------
BTW, for those who care, Survival Margin has sold out its first
printing already, and we are working on the second. We have a
complaint from a store owner in San Diego, who says the only
thing wrong with the book is that she can't keep any on her
shelves : )
Advance orders for TNE are sizable, but its the re-stock orders
that tell the tale (re-stocks are a measure of how fast it moves
off the store shelves).
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FUTURE PRODUCTS
The next product out will be Technical Architecture, which will
enable Scott double-G to design his sentient elevator, as well as
a sentient fusion toaster, if he wants to. 120pp book, $14,
available in early August.
Deluxe Traveller will include theTechnical Architecture book,
the main book, and some other goodies (as yet unspecified) in a
box. $35, Early August, same as Technical Architecture.
The first Adventure book will release in September, the Ref's
Screen and a Player's Packet in October.
I think that's enough for now.
Loren K. Wiseman
for GDW