• Registered: 2010-08-10
  • Posts: 4

Topic: How good are your scanners?

Sorry if this has been asked/answered before, I did take a look before posting and could not see a similar post.

How much information about your enemy is public knowledge at the start of a scenario, and, assuming the answer is not "everything", at what stage does witheld info become known?

For example, when playing KA/RA, if my opponent says he has a D7 and 2 x F5, I know exactly what to expect.
However if playing against player created ships, initially all I see are a number of blobs of various sizes (gives Hull Size) and some indication of initial speed.
Can I ask to see his sheets?  or can I ask for verbal information about types, weapons, shields, launch tubes etc, etc.

I am just in the middle of a series of scenarios set as a First Contact situation, and we agreed that since neither side had encountered the other before, all we would disclose was the hull size, and you get other info as things are used, eg
* shield strength was revealed first time you scored a hit on a ship
* weapons characteristic were revealed when they fired
* carriers were revealed as such when they launched fighters

some info was not disclosed, such as number of marines (unless you actually boarded a ship),
amount of ammo available for non-energy weapons,
engine power (though you could tell the amount used).

So I was wondering, if there an official rule on disclosure?
Is there an accepted standard of what is and is not public?
And how do other players handle similar situations?

And since this is my first post, a big thanks to Dan for such a great game  big_smile

  • Registered: 2009-08-03
  • Posts: 245

Re: How good are your scanners?

I believe that this has been officially answered with "everything" previously, but I don't recall where or when (and try finding a good search term to find that in the archives).  I think it was ruled that way in an effort to keep everyone honest - with your ammo, for example, you could get away with firing stuff more times than you had shots and your opponent would not know (until the end of the game, if you do the full reveal then).  Still, not knowing exactly what your opponent is capable of is a good way to keep people on their toes and liven things up a bit...

Also, welcome to the boards!  (and nice username)

  • Registered: 2008-12-22
  • Posts: 654

Re: How good are your scanners?

Perhaps you could use searchlight like active sensors as a house rule...passive sensors would give you just a ships location and hull while an "active lock" with a searchlight provides a complete picture. This would also be an opportunity to use the passive/active sensor optional rules with the searchlights being the actives...

In just about every game I've played we have shared all of the data, but I for one think that not making everything open could be more fun. I suppose you would have to rely on the honor system and maybe detailed turn notes to keep someone from trying to abuse such a "blind" system.

that's my 2 cents,

Erik

  • From: Denver, CO
  • Registered: 2005-03-27
  • Posts: 3,578

Re: How good are your scanners?

By default, ship data sheets are always open to inspection by your opponent. This is not to say that it's the "right" way to play -- it's just that we never got around to putting together specific rules for scanners and data sharing.

I'd be thrilled if this community put together some coherent suggestions...

P.S. You're welcome. smile

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

mj12games's Website