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I like this game, reminds me of some budget games I had in the 70's (they had everything in a small plastic "case", small enough to use when travelling) 
I just had to make myself a small spreadsheet for making the units force list, put the units in from the book and the only one that came out correct is the Copperhead. Followed by much searching for my error.
Wish I had read "3 Questions" thread first.
Going by the book it was not possible to get a speed 3/4, nor a second attack dice of 2 when the unit size is 3 with the full attack dice 4. VPs do not come out to neat multiples of 5. Don't ya just love computers, no give. :roll:
One thing I did find was that the Special Traits on page 20 had to be applied to the ORAT and not the DRAT to get close to the published stats. Dan, is this correct?
Paul
I'll start you off.
Did a basic counter layout in Page Plus so I can just change the numbers and add a small graphic.
Then it is just export it as a png, Ta Da!
Maybe not brilliant but simple. Of course it would look better as a pdf sheet but that would be overkill for one counter.
Sorry, AT-AT counter deleted. 
Paul
madpax wrote:Just to be sure I didn't overlook something:
- Why IMP and DMG are two different stats? They could have been merged at the beginning, no?
Suppose the following gun: RNG 9 ROF 1 ACC 4+ IMP3 DMG 2. Unless I missed something, you would have exactly the same result with the following values: RNG 9 ROF 1 ACC 4+ IMP 6 (DMG would have no raison d'etre this way). This wouldn't change the attack routine, but I fail to understand why distinguish IMP and DMG.
Marc
They are two different things.
IMP or Impact roll, determines if the hit is blocked by the targets shields/screens/armor.
DMG (when the hit beats the shields etc) is the number of dice rolled on the damage chart to determine the type of damage inflicted.
This is clear on page 23 of the core rules.
Paul
JohnRobert wrote:In the VBAM/Starmada book: The Stars Divided: Terran Civil War, ships carried internally by a tender took a Capacity of their Hull size + 50% of their Hull size. It is a minor point, that needs to be settled by an arbitrary decision, whether this should have an additional cost in Space Units of 50% or 25%.
The 25% came about when designing "Attack Boats" and their tender from the B&K universe for Starmada AE. The Attack Boats being docked in a big empty space.
The Starmada X book - The Stars divided, for "Attack Boats" (or a pair of Super Heavy fighters) in general, is 150SU for every hull size 1 Attack Boat carried or 150%. I included this in the shipyard equipment for anyone wishing to use it.
Perhaps Dan would care to comment?
JohnRobert wrote:In the Starmada Compedium, there was a rule for towing vessels that should work just as well for composite vessels made of multiple Hulls. Multiply the Engine Value of each module by the Hull Size of that module, add the results for all modules with Engines, and divide by the sum of the Hull Sizes of all modules (including those without engines). This would give you the Engine Value for the Composite. Alternatively, you could consider the modules as components contained in a Hull whose size is large enough to contain them, sum the Space Unit cost for the Engines in all modules, and divide this (rounding down) by the Space Unit cost for a Engine for the containing Hull. This would also give a useful Engine Value for the composite.
This was dropped and changed for Starmada X where towing is one or more ships towing one ship, the available movement points being.
Round down towing ship/s size x movement points divided by the sum of towing and towed ships sizes.
JohnRobert wrote:In any case, Hold Capacity on a Tender should affect only the Space Unit cost. The Combat Rating of the contents should have no effect on the Combat Rating of the Tender (which, if it is unarmed, might well be zero).
In The Stars Divided book, having the Tender equipment does effect the CRAT, in my "Give it a Go" section there is no change to the tenders CRAT.
I often have to remind myself that the Compendium, Starmada X and Starmada AE are different games with the same theme.
Paul
I am going to add a bit about flotillas to the next version of the shipyard guide.
Been going over tenders in the guide and perhaps a couple of changes may be needed.
1) Effect of carried ship engine rating.
Change: If external, then the higher of the two (or more) engine ratings is used, so long as the ship with the
higher rating is at least hull size 2 and one third the SU of the ship that it is attached to.
2) If a carried ship is destroyed, the tender and any other ship/flotilla still attached take 1D6 Hull damage per Hull size of the destroyed ship.
In the case of flotilla ships destroyed while carried it is 1D6 hull damage per destroyed ship.
Anyone have thoughts on this?
Paul
Yes, the cost to the tender would be 47SU. Round up fractions.
Yes, unlike carriers, the CRAT is calculated separately for the ships carried (or Flotilla in this case) and the tender.
Note, for anyone using Attack Boats in VBAM, their VBAM stats are also separate to the tender.
Paul
pickledteak wrote:OldnGrey wrote:Seems like a good time to ask, has anyone (I know a couple of people have) had a look at the "give it a try" in the shipyard guide or the Aracnonoi booklet with regards to tenders?
I think they work but very few people have commented one way or the other.
Paul
I just took a look at it. Very nice, I love the layout, very professional.
With those Tender rules how would you implement carrying a Flotilla? I love the idea of being able to ferry other starships with it, but would like to be able to use vanilla Flotillas in that role. Almost like carrying "super" fighters I guess. Of PFs for LACs whichever term works best.
The only thing I'm not sure about, is allowing externally carried ships to use their weapons. I feel that could become a bit munchkin.
I'm going to play tonight specifically to try out some Flotilla Tender options, and this is one I will be trying now. Thanks!
1) Thank You.
2) When converting Attack Boats to Starmada AE, (from "Boltian and Kuissian") which are small ships less than hull size 1, I set the cost to the tender at 25% of the total SU carried. Although I did not have flotillas in mind, the individual ships fit the size requirement.
3) This would depend on the setting, in the Boltian and Kuissian universe they would be carried in very large open hangers, in which case weapons could not be used. Carried externally they could use weapons but it would not be wise for ships to stay with the tender (the part about a carried ship being destroyed taking the tender with it.) It is different with joined ships, this is for the likes of Fireball XL5 (missiles are in Fireball junior - the front portion) right up to the Enterprise and such ships. Although the re designed Enterprise (and "A") was supposed to channel phaser power through the engines so it would have no weapons if the saucer was to seperate, bet the writer never thought of that, then again maybe it was only possible on paper and someone glued the saucer on. 
Paul
Seems like a good time to ask, has anyone (I know a couple of people have) had a look at the "give it a try" in the shipyard guide or the Aracnonoi booklet with regards to tenders?
I think they work but very few people have commented one way or the other.
Paul
TalosX wrote:3) How do you properly price FTL when each ship will have different FTL speeds?
4) How would you design a spinal-mounted mass accelerator that runs through 80% of the ship length? Also, how would you stat an internally mounted mass accelerator mounted in the side of you ship (think pirates of the carribean broad-side guns) that run through 40% of the ship width?
We'll start with that for now.
3) Not a question that I have seen before. I do not think that it has been covered anywhere and FTL considered "one speed" allowing a one lane jump.
Are you using the movement point value from the alternate movement in the Campaign Moderators Companion?
You could either link the movement point value to the number of engines that a ship with a hyperdrive has, or the number of hyperdrives the ship has (You can have more than one, which would have no bearing on a starmada game.) So long as all ships use the same construction method there should not be a problem but at 5% cost per hyperdrive you could have a more restricted speed limit than you may wish.
Of course you may wish to post this question on the VBAM forum as well.
4) Spinal mounts were a part of Starmada X and are briefly mentioned in the conversion notes at the back of the core rules. The damage that they can deal out was related to the ship size, I included them in the shipyard just in case.
Paul
Looks like you have the original version of the Annex, which had the same incorrect example as the Dreadnoughts book.
This was covered in a thread a while back.
The Annex revision 0.1 August 2009 has the corrected Flotilla example.
If it is the pdf that you have and bought it from RPGnow, check to see if they have had an updated file. RPGnow usually allows the downloading of any pdf you have bought that has since been updated.
Paul
Has anyone tried the Aracnonoi web yet?
I have had a few trial games using Vassal, the last was two spinner class
Cruisers (spinwell and Spinwheel) against three Terran Union Catfish Mk.2 Scout Cruisers.
The dice throws were poor to say the least! Objective I set was for the
Aracnonoi to capture at least one Catfish so that they could get their
"hands" on the Terran Fire Control equipment. One Catfish managed to get
away (Deep Seeker), another did not have much of a chance due to speed loss
(Deep Watcher) and the third (Deep Lurker)was weaponless having lost the last of it's weapons trying to get
through the web, and stopped (speed 0) having just bounced off!
[attachment=0]BKandSpeciesMap4.png[/attachment]
Spinwell turned too early, this allowed Deep Seeker to turn away and get enough distance to escape although not undamaged.
BTW The Shipyard was updated earlier this month (in case nobody noticed)to v2E29 and revised sourcebook for the Watchee just posted in the files. I included graphics and text for Vassal use.
Update: "Watchee" seems to have become popular since my first draft of the original booklet, so I have changed the name of this species to Watikree. :roll:
Paul
That "news" was posted a little while ago along with possible new weapon trait "Extra Shield Damage".
See: http://www.starfleetgames.com/federation/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=3047
I think it was also noted in the latest Captains Log (not worth getting for Starmada / Armada, only 3 pages out of 120).
Looks like we have to dredge ADB forum for "news" now 
Paul
Nice!
In the Starmada Vassal mod flights can turn (rotate) with ctrl-R or ctrl-L so long as they have the "Can Rotate".
When adding a new type do not forget to give them one of the game piece prototype definitions. I find it easier to copy an existing fighter or striker and just change the name and graphic.
Just a suggestion,straighten the plasma graphic, lengthen the tail slightly. Add the plasma typr "R", "S" etc below.
You could enlarge the plasma graphic just enough to put the size in the middle and have a layer for each size so that you can change it if any hits are taken.
Also handy if you do each type on it's own, that way you can ensure that the max size is correct, for example, plasma D would only have two layers.
Paul
Think of Carrier capacity as hanger space measured in SU (Space Units).
Where the book says that "each shuttle is considered carrier space with a capacity of 3", it means that a ship needs a carrier capacity of 3SU to carry one shuttle. In other words "shuttle (4)" is four shuttles and the carrying ship needs to have a carrier capacity of twelve to carry them.
Paul
Web updated and anti-web suggestion added.
Landers for Wardogs expanded slightly, I hope these will work until an official crossover comes out.
I have tried to make this simple as possible.
Aracnonoi v1.1 in files.
Paul
The Aracnonoi Web in the booklet can only be destroyed by removing the powering ship/s.
I would invite opinions on this amendment.
Given the nature of the web, it cannot be targeted but the hex can.
The Hex is the target and if hit is treated as having shields 5 for IMP roll.
If there are 5 hits which would cause any damage in one turn (use a small d6 to record damage) then the web is holed for the next movement phase and ships may pass without taking damage. After the movement phase, the web repairs itself.
Question, Should only weapons with Area Effect work against a web?
Paul
BTW I will include a Web counter in the next revision of the booklet, meanwhile:
[attachment=1]Aracnonoi Web Hex.png[/attachment]
[attachment=0]Aracnonoi Web Hex damaged.png[/attachment]
New species, The Aracnonoi have joined the universe.
Pdf format booklet with graphics/text for Vassel in the files section.
Any feedback on this would be welcome.
Have the booklets been of any use at all?
What do you think of the contents?
Should there be more ships, background or anything missing?
Paul
I hope that there is no objection to my putting a few data cards in the next free sourcebook that I wish to share.
Aracnonoi have a need for landers and a few ground forces in keeping with the background.
For this species I have used a simple conversion.
Starmada Transport SU x 0.2 = total Size of units carried.
Their assault lander typically has 3 x size 4 Mechs and 1 x size 1 Heavy marine squad.
Paul
bekosh wrote:OldnGrey wrote:I think that most of the mentioned types could be made with the existing fighter/Dual Mode traits.
Seems the only thing missing is an "Unarmed" trait for a Dual Mode fighter carrying single or ROF-x stingers only.
Paul
With out adding some sort of rules for rearming fighters, how is a dual mode Unarmed/Striker fighter any different in game play from the A-6 Striker that I posted above? Once it fires it's striker it has no further impact on the game.
Of course if we add rearming rules, then absolutely we need an unarmed trait for fighters like the A-6.
If there is a VBAM Starmada AE edition we may see rearming rules. B&K attack boats have limited ammunition and have to return to their Carrier/Tender when it runs out. The only thing that Jay and i did not discuss was how many turns it would take to reload.
I imagine that fighters having a single striker attack only would be treated the same way.
Paul
If anyone is interested, i have added the Hex style to the starmada sheet of the shipyard.
Paul
I think that most of the mentioned types could be made with the existing fighter/Dual Mode traits.
Seems the only thing missing is an "Unarmed" trait for a Dual Mode fighter carrying single or ROF-x stingers only.
Paul
In the files section.
Re-Drawn ships and data sheets.
This time, the file also has gifs of the ships at the right scale for Vassel, along with the Drake notation for copy and paste into Vassel.
Paul
Blacklancer99 wrote:Very Shnazzy! Would a 5 battery sheet be practical? Also, what does the sheet look like if the ship has many Specials?
Erik
Ps "Web Spinner"???? :shock:
Hi Erik,
A Five battery sheet would be ok. Many specials, depends on how you show them. The example is limited to what I decided would be available. There are some specials that I like to have check boxes for (Anti-Fighter Batteries, Marines, Mine Factors etc.) It is so easy to make the data sheets look a little "more". In this case just copy the data sheet layout that you decide on, copy and paste into a paint prog and apply bevel, Ta Da!
With a complicated ship I would print any small craft details and the Move/Notes on the reverse. A favorite ship in a campaign might also have named flights and a space for it's history on the reverse.
Imagination is the only limit, I provided all the "bits" that could be needed (I think).
Re the Ps, this would have been in my third booklet last year but I got side-tracked. The Aracnonoi being an evolved advance tech Aracnid type. The manic scientists did not make it past the notes to do stage, although advanced notes. I decided to update them with some of the latest options.
Paul
How do you keep your ship records?
I have mentioned that I prefer to keep them as a png copied from the Starmada sheet of the shipyard. Doing a revised version of the Anteatman booklet (which will include gifs and Drake notation text for Vassel), I thought I would change the data sheets style as well.
So, How do you keep yours?
New style type is below (not a Anteatman ship but Aracnonoi aka Aracnotech Pirates.)
Paul
[attachment=0]Aracnotech Spinner class Cruiser 1.png[/attachment]
cricket wrote:I'm not sure if you're reading it "wrong" or not ... but eight attack dice in the Fighter Phase seems like a lot to me.
Also, the potential damage of plasma torpedoes is consistent with that of other weapons in the SFU.
Just checked the book against the draft text that you sent me.
The Plasma size has been increased in the book for all, with the largest at size 8.
The book also has Plasma D added, could this have been why?
Paul
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