Posted: 28 August 2008 at 8:02am | IP Logged

Just had a thought occur to me about the level of information available to players in GE and how it contrasts to more realistic combat.

In more realistic combat intelligence is limited. The enemy may know that you have units in a location but not exactly what they are.

What about a variant in which all of your cards are inititally played face down so that the enemy doesn't know what your assets are? You'd still play ships in an area that identifies them as ships but the opponent wouldn't know exactly what they are. Likewise, terrain and other cards are played in a way/location that indicates their type.

I'd introduce another location that cards can be in - 'the combat zone'. A player must move his cards into the combat zone in order to attack the enemy. When an enemy attacks a card (scores damages against it) the target player must flip the card up and it remains up until it is eliminated.

If you play a crew/ship to an enemy location then you force them to reveal it. Likewise any card that fires on the enemy and scores damage must be revealed.

Its a rough idea but I think it might be an interesting variant. The one draw back to it is that it obfuscates powerful combos...

I may try and talk Lobo into trying it.

J--

Posted: 28 August 2008 at 10:59am | IP Logged

I don't mind you shooting holes in my ideas, my ideas don't bleed.

Isn't that the kind of things patrol ships should be doing? Maybe a ship must have sole possesion of the 'combat zone' before they can fire at the fleet/terrain? Then you have patrol ships battling it out in order to conduct scouting missions... sounds interesting to me.

I haven't ironed out any of the details just talking out loud really.

It is better than the stony silence that the last month or two has yielded. Where is Eagle Preacher we want some news from the war front!

J--

Posted: 28 August 2008 at 12:58pm | IP Logged

I missed him too, about as long as it took me to read your impersonation...

I'm good to go now. You can impersonate him again next September.

J--

Posted: 28 August 2008 at 1:42pm | IP Logged

-Tranoan or other "fire on all targets" ships/hazards would be reserve staples of this format i would think.

I think i want to try the "Awesome" shared draw deck format before this one or some other rigged-draft that we mentioned previously. But keep the ideas coming, eventually we may try one of these crazy things.....Lobo