I saw that too!  Really excited to get that book and I'll more than likely pick it up.  Man, do I really need to get Starmada to the table more.

Can't wait until Origins!
-B

In my opinion, making a trait that allows a seeker/striker to be fired at incoming "small craft" (fighter, striker or seeker) would be an easy way of handling the whole thing.  The cost for the trait might be an issue, but I can defintely see allowing the masses 'decide' what is the best "anti-drone" flight and let it at that.  My thoughts on the actual rules would be as follows.

1. A flight (be it seeker/strike/fighter) attempts to attack a ship.
2. The defensive player may opt one and only one flight (seeker/striker) from the targeted ship a chance to destroy incoming 'craft' (pending they have the 'trait').
3.  The defensive player rolls a number of dice equal to the flight size/ROF of the selected flight.
4.  The To-hit is modified by the following :

-1 for attempting defensive fire
-1 if the defensive flight is slower than the incoming flight in terms of MP
-1 if the defensive flight has non-piercing and/or no hull damage (or any of those type of negative modifiers)

5. A defensive flight IMP and DMG are set to 1 for these attacks (if needed).
6. Any remaining offensive 'craft' may finish their attack.

Thoughts?
-Bren

I really like these ideas and I'll be watching this thread as time goes on.

The VP from the opponent is an odd rule, bu if you think that it works after your playtest, I'm okay with it.  A friend and me played a game using the simple campaign system rules and by the middle part, we were so beat up that the games boiled down to who could roll the better RP amounts.

I had some tactical ideas for the game that would still qualify for "Somewhat simple".

The first is having to pay for the number of task forces one has.  Since it allows for more tactical options, I thought that you subtract the number of task forces from the die roll from your colonies' production.  So fo example, if an empire has 2 colonies and 4 task forces, it would roll 2d6-4.  I'm debating if this should be to a minimum of 0, allow this to go negative or state the the minimum result is alwasy equal to the number of dice rolled (so in the above example, the minimum that the modified die roll can be is 2).

To combat that, my second thought would be create a initiative modifier (IM) for each task force.  The  modifier is the equal to the MP of the slowest ship in the task force and a penalty based of the number of ships).  During the initiative phase, each player rolls a d6 for every task force currently in serivce and then assigns a single die to each. Then you add the IM to the die result to give that task forces rate (adding the initative modifer).  Initiative order is from lowest to highest (break ties first by higher MP, then lower size modifier and finally dice off).

Ship number modifiers
1 Ship: -1 Modifier
2 to 3 ships: -2 Mod.
4 to 6 ships: -3 Mod.
7 to 10 ships: -4 Mod.
11 to 15 ships: -5 Mod.
16 to 21 ships: -6 Mod.
22 to 28 ships: -7 Mod.
29+ ships: -8 Mod.

So let say player A has three task forces. 
TF1: Has 5 ships in it with a slowest ship having 6 MPs.
TF2: Has 18 ships in it with the slowest ship having 2 MPs.
TF3: Has 3 ships in it with the slowest ship having 9 MP.

TF1 has an IM of 6 - 3 or a 3
TF2 has an IM of 2 - 6 or a -4
TF 3 has an IM of 9 - 2 or a 7

Each initiative phase, player A rolls 3d6 and assigns them to the three task forces.  Depending on the die rolls and  which die gets picked for each task force will give players more options on how they should create fleets (in thoery)

Thoughts?
-Bren

For ground combat, why not make a 'flotilla' with no engines and no hyperdrive and go with that using the technology that the player has already learned.  I'd look at VBAM/Starmada crossover for ideas!

-Bren

"Maybe Ramming could be accomplished with a house rule where if you can maneuver into the same hex as another ship, roll an attack (5+ maybe?)"

The idea I would go with is both ships captains roll a d6, add their current MP and  subtract their current speed. Winner decides if the ram occurs or not (ties go to the defender).  Once hit, each ship does current hull as IMP 1 against the shields; any that make it through the shields, are DMG 1 to the other ship.

-Bren

Fire on the Suns - Ha!  I've tried to play that one multiple times, but it always hurt my head in ways I never thought a game could!  Still, it has some really cool elements in it, but it's just too complex for me!

Oh... reminds me.  Go get 'em Dan!
-B

I'd say that there are already too many RPG systems out there and trying to come up with a playable system and a cool concept is going to take time and energy.  My thought is to grab a current syste m (there are many talked about above) and create your world in their playground. 

Personally, I think MJ12 needs a starship miniature line (or coat tail with one already there), but that's just me!
-Bren

I get 1621 for the Feds and 1775 for the Klingons (taking 2 D7s) which is a pretty good size fleet.   I normally play about 1000 points per player as a start so that should keep you busy for a while.  If you add Squadron box #6, it gets you 1890 points worth of Kzinti so you can mix and match the three fleets!

-Bren

Nice to see ya! 

-Bren

I believe the main reason that most ships in the official books don't use above Range 18 is that anything above that is considered an optional rule.  If it's placed in an official ship, it's not optional anymore... or Dan likes to keep the ranges small!

Personally, the main reason I don't like range 24 and Range 30 weapons are for the same reason people have said.  It really takes away the need for maneuvering.  Stick some range 30 weapons in the AB arc with a really low Engine rating and just roll a bunch of dice to see who wins.

I like short range weaponry, modest Engine rating and try to stay away from screens.
-Bren