From the introduction, by way of an explanation:

WHY DREADNOUGHTS?

An historical supplement for a product billing itself as The Universal Game of Starship Combat may seem like an odd development, to say the least—but upon closer inspection the two are not so different as it first appears. Lacking any true reference, the genre of space combat has latched onto the traditions and terminology of historical navies. More specifically, the age of the “big gun” dreadnought should be familiar to the Starmada player—while fighters play a role in most science fiction settings, they are (for the most part) nowhere near as dominant as aircraft have become in naval combat since World War II.

The intent of this product is threefold:

* First, it reflects the true flexibility of the Starmada game system. With a minimum of adjustments, the game is just as suitable for the Battle of Dogger Bank as for the Battle of Delta Crucis.

In fact, the level of integration is such that historical designs such as HMS Dreadnought or SMS Bayern can be dropped into a more traditional sci-fi setting without modification. Likewise, players who wish to pit their own designs against history's great battleships can do so easily.

* Second, the options presented in this supplement can be lifted from Dreadnoughts, individually or collectively, and used in other settings, enriching the Starmada game even for those who never put the Royal Navy or Kaiserliche Marine through their paces.

* Finally, this supplement serves as an introduction to historical gaming for players who might not otherwise have given it a try. Those familiar with the era should still find something interesting in these pages—a simple (but not simplistic) take on the Great War at sea.

Players intrigued by naval combat during this period may wish to play something more detailed and historically accurate. If so, they are encouraged to seek out Grand Fleets, also available from Majestic Twelve Games.

Just had a quick look through.

Dan you confirmed to KDLadage on the 14th that Piercing has (as revised) a Mod of x1.4

Dreadnoughts has Piercing +1 having a Mod of x1.5

Hast Thou Changeth thine mind?

While I was looking through it I could not help thinking that we will see dreadnoughts with Teleporters and sayings like "Side Slips Sinks Ships!"
Dual mode fighters and Flottilas! Excuse me I have to go have a lay down.

Paul

You are correct -- the example is in error. :oops:

(Although the final cap requirement is 28 -- you round 27.03 up to the next integer.)

Simpler -- but not as accurate.

Ok. . .

So I picked up e-copies of S:AE and S:Dreadnoughts so I could check it out.  Of course I couldn't go to bed until I'd read all the way through them. . . so its now 2AM.  Good thing its Friday.

Can I just say. . . wow!  This is awesome.  I've had this idea floating around in the back of my head about running Jutland at GenCon next year.  This rule set might actually make it possible.  Grand Fleets, while I love it, is just too detailed and complicated to teach to a bunch of convention-goers and then run a HUGE battle with.  I think I might be able to do it with S:Dreadnoughts.

Also, I'd always assumed I wouldn't be able to go below the light cruiser level even if I did. . . but the destroyer flotilla rules and stats provided might just make it possible to drop to that level.  Of course, the flotillas you provide are 4 destroyers each, rather than 12. . . but close enough.  Too many destroyers in one flotilla would distort the actual effectivenss of them.

I was thinking that for destroyer flotillas with a light cruiser command ship.  They would just manuever and fire as one ship but keep seperate sheets, with the following rules:

1.  Incoming hits are allocated between command ship and flotilla.  1-3 hits the command ship, 4-6 hits the flotilla.

2.  The entire element is limited to the speed of the lowest component (command ship or flotilla).

3.  At any point the owning player may scuttle any portion of the element.  So if the command ship is slowing down the whole flotilla, it can be scuttled and the flotilla operates independently at that point.

Anyway. . . I'm super excited about this rule set.  Can't wait to try it out!!

Edit:  I didn't see stats for the German pre-dreads that were at Jutland.  Any suggestions on how to create them?

One final thing. . . any chance you will update the shipbuilder with the options from Dreadnoughts?  Or maybe copy it and create a slightly different version that just has the DN stuff in it?

Dreadnoughts!  did someone say Dreadnoughts? :shock:
Awesome!!

I have been designing my Starmada ships as naval-dreadnoughts-in-space since first playing the 'Compendium version.  I find the ability to turn away and either close, keep the range, or open the range to be vary useful.  Many ships with forward firing weapons must maneuver like dog-fighting fighters.  If you have a dreadnought type ship with FX and AX main weapons, you can get behind them. Then your ship(s) can blast away while out of their weapon-arcs.  This does not always work, but it it makes for an interesting game with much maneuver. 8)

Yes.

I think.

In the end, either modifier is fine, since the difference is less than 4% in final Combat Rating. But I will get a definitive answer out there.

two things:

1. I believe Dan is planning to post an updated Appendix A that will include things like the weapon mod multipliers. This will be, in the end, the "definitive repository" of the correct values. That should be helpful.

2. It is good to see that my experiment in the "shipyard" sheet concept is going strong.

Mind?

Heck no! Like I said, I had an idea for how to set up the data so that you could have multiple ships in a single workbook without duplication of data (at least not too bad). So... the fact that the idea was grabbed, expanded, and ran with is a darn good thing.

Thanks for keeping the torch lit!