I've got Brilliant Lance on monday this week. A big thanks to GDW that they
managed to send it to Germany at once. I would really enjoy it, when all the
other Traveller stuff find its way to germany equally fast.
My comments:
I like the combat rules, because they are very detailed. Best thing I see,
is the emphasis on Sensor tasks. I really welcome the new missile rules.
They are much more realistic, though the new missiles are similar to a
autopropelled mine. Place them somewhere, and when an enemy closes in,
start the missiles engine and kill him. (Especially usefull in szenarios
where you have to defend a limited area, i.e. Scenario 5)
I do like the new spinal weapons. I understand they could be fitted in every
hull, which can contain them, and which can support enough energy. Look at
the Chrysanthemum-Classer Destroyer Escort (p.37 Tech.Book). Two spinal
mounted Particle Accelerator. Boooaaaahh aaayyyee...Wow... BTW., I think
I have seen this design - at least deck plans of it - in the archives
on sunbane. Am I wrong ?
I don't like the limited TL ranges (compared to MEGATRAVELLER). No more
TL 17+ stuff like desintegrators or repulsors. I hope this will be fixed in
Fire, Fusion & Steel.
What I would like to see are more drones, missiles, probes etc. to use
with the ships. I think these things are treated a bit short. (Again F,F&F?)
Questions:
- - Okay, I've skipped the comments about streamlined hulls very fast. The
only thing a SL hull can't do, and an AF can is to land aerodynamically
without using the contra-grav lifters. My opinion is: All ships using
contra-grav lifters can indeed land on planet surfaces. Perhaps not AF
hull need some more time, because athmospheric speed is limited.
Yeah, it's true, I will allow USL ships using contra-grav to land on
planets. The difference is, they will need 3 combat turns (1.5 hours)
to land.
- - Nuc Damper in turrets can be used again one missile. Where are the old
Nuc Damper screens, who work against all missiles?
- - Can someone clarify the rules about workstations to me? What's the difference
between a bridge and a simple workstation? Does an auxiliar bridge consist
of bridge workstations? How many workstations do I need to form a bridge?
For every command crew member one bridge workstation? For every other operator
a workstation? Are seats included in the workstations?
- - Where are the Air Locks gone to? I don't find them in the design sequence.
- - Why are Densitometer and Neutrino Sensors so weak. In MEGATRAVELLER they are
the state-of-the-art passive sensors. In the Brilliant Lances rule, they
can be used only to evaluate suns and planets, not ships.
- - Is HRT (p.7 Tech Book) part of the EMS Passive array?
- - Can a couple of minor hits be summed up to a major hit? If I got that right,
when a system is hit, which can only sustain one minor hit, it is destroyed.
You only need 10 damage points to do this. If you have a damage of 40 you
would score a major hit. Because the system only need a minor hit to be
destroyed, you have 30 damage points left, to use otherwhere. So no problem
if the damage is to big. But what to do, if the damage is to small. Assume
the Power Plant can sustain 2 major hits. If the power plant gets a minor hit,
there is a 50% chance of a system reset or a performance degrade. Okay, but
what happens on the next minor hit?
In short: Can I destroy the power plant by minor hits?
That's all for the moment,
Juergen
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Juergen Kirsch
Institut fuer Informatik, Universitaet Bonn
Germany
[email removed]