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mj12games.com/forum → Starmada → Impulse System
Has anyone experimented with grafting on an impulse based movement system, maybe something on the order of Starfire?
I have no idea what an impulse system is, but any of these games can take any movement system with no problems.
In an impulse system you move units one hex in a time during the impulses they are allowed to use based on their speed. Star Fleet Battles uses a similar system.
You could also insert the combat system into the impulses although you'd need to be able to track which weapons had fired and which hadn't.
In an impulse system you move units one hex in a time during the impulses they are allowed to use based on their speed. Star Fleet Battles uses a similar system.
You could also insert the combat system into the impulses although you'd need to be able to track which weapons had fired and which hadn't.
We haven't play-tested the game with any movement system other than the initiative-based system, but I think you could use some sort of impulse system.
Whether you'd want to or not is a different question. We've been playing with anywhere from two to eight or ten ships per player, and I think any kind of impulse system would slow the game down.
Way, WAY down...
That being said, I don't think there's anything in any of the game mechanics that'd prevent you from using an impulse system.
Kevin
Segmented movement systems tend to go...poorly...with initiative die rolls. Not impossible, but poorly.
Pretty much what you'll be doing is subdividing a turn into two, three or four segments and making a lookup table showing what speeds move on what segments.
More than 4 segments for SM seems excessive to me, since the map is so small and ships move under 10 hexes per turn most times.
What segmented movement systems do is make it harder for a unit to "jump" through range brackets without getting shot at. With fewer ships, this is useful - with more ships its utility declines somewhat.
Segmented movement systems tend to go...poorly...with initiative die rolls. Not impossible, but poorly.
Starfire combined the two and allowed exceptionally large battles. Although Starfire did not combine combat with impulses, the combat came following movement.
I think the biggest issue with trying to add an impulse-based system into Starmada is that there is no max speed at the moment.
I think the biggest issue with trying to add an impulse-based system into Starmada is that there is no max speed at the moment.
You'd have to treat the thrust factors as Starfire movement factors.
It would impossible to use with a hexless map. And i fail to see in which way it could improve the game. On a side note, when both fleet have an unequal number of ships, how do you resolve the order of movement. I.e., does the largest fleet moves its remaining ships last, regardless of the initiative?
Marc
In the game "StarFleetBattles" There were impulse charts for speeds of up to 8, 16, and 32. I am sure that these could be used for Starmada. It would make movement a bit more detailed, but time consuming, but if players wanted to use them, they could. In SFBs, if a ship fired during the last quarter of the movement, it could not fire its weapons at the beginning of the next turn, but had to wait til a quarter of a turn passed. For example, if using the 32 impulse chart, as long as your ship fired by movement-impulse 24, it could fire again the first impulse of the next turn. But if it fired after impulse 24, it could Not fire until the number if impulses into the new turn have passed equal to the number of turns after impulse 24 of the turn b4. IMHO, I don't think this would cause harm, but would add time to the game...
It would impossible to use with a hexless map. And i fail to see in which way it could improve the game. On a side note, when both fleet have an unequal number of ships, how do you resolve the order of movement. I.e., does the largest fleet moves its remaining ships last, regardless of the initiative?
Marc
The beauty is with an impulse system it doesn't matter how many ships anyone has. They all move via the impulse chart.
I've used several different movement systems with Starmada builds and combat and I haven't seen any change in the play balance between them, assuming everyone is using the same system. Personally, I plan on using the Fleet Ops order and movement system with the new edition, though a modified Galactic Knights system also works well when you want to invite Newton to the party.
When I play in South Florida at Gaming Glenn's store, we use the movement system from Full Thrust. It works well; you can still make a turn even if you are going faster than your thrust rating. 8-)
I would not support any system that divides the turn into more than three segments. Don't have a specific reason for that limit -- it just seems reasonable.
I would not support any system that divides the turn into more than three segments. Don't have a specific reason for that limit -- it just seems reasonable.
I wouldn't expect Starmada to formally go in that direction, it would be too much of a paradigm shift. I was just curious about whether anyone else had experimented with it. I really like impulse systems myself and I think I've just about reverse engineered an adaptation of the Starfire movement system that I could use with Starmada.
AV:T shows how to do arbitrary speeds in an impulse movement system, including splitting vectors and timing their motion properly in multiple directions.
That said, for what SM is, I'm not sure it's worth the overhead.
That said, for what SM is, I'm not sure it's worth the overhead.
Which is why I was looking at the Starfire model, its level of complexity complements Starmada.
I'm not sure that an impulse system is worth the overhead it adds to Starmada.
Impulse systems give you a more finely grained decision making cycle; in Starmada, your decision making cycle is built on running more ships.
The beauty of Starmada allow many possibilities (movement, initiative...).
I don't like impulse for the reasons stated above, but if included as a variation, why not?
Marc
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