Hi All,
Sorry about the repeat post yesterday. Apparently a message I thought was
dead was resurrected by James. I appreciate the effort.
So, having given my first impressions (complaints) of BL, I felt it was
appropriate to comment further now that I've used it more.
First, some things I like:
The new BL ship design rules seem much better than MT. So much better that I
may finally replace my High Guard system. The design process seems much more
sensible. Still, I wish GDW had included a sample design to help bring us up
to speed. I've already set up a spreadsheet for designing ships and I wish I
had a benchmark to verify it.
My great hope is that FF&S will permit us to extend the rules to cover items
which were not included in BL. These would include energy weapons, black
globes and other systems I've grown used to having in my Universe.
IMHO, the design rules seem to "look and feel" like CT the more I use them.
I like the concept of weapon sockets. Again, I hope FF&S will permit design
of new and different sockets.
Some things I don't like:
The general trend is that the new system creates designs that are less
capable, cost more, and require many more crew members. Has anyone looked at
the 400 ton Patrol Cruiser? Nineteen crew members are now required. In
fairness, there are some exceptions. The Fiery CE costs less and seems as
capable. Still, there are 22 crew versus 10 previously.
From the above it would seem that turning a profit on trading ships will be
tougher. Any thoughts on this anyone?
If anyone has worked out the design sequence to the patrol cruiser please
post it or email it to me. I need to check my numbers.
By the way, is CAT still in existence? If so I'd like to be included but
I haven't heard anything from them in a while.
TTFN
Glenn
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| Glenn E. Myers |
| [email removed] |
| QA software engineer |
| Swanson Analysis Systems, Inc. |
| [phone removed] |
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