I'm one of those Florida gamers that played against Steve, and even was on his side once, over the holidays.   I pretty much agree with his assessments of using the Compendium rules over the X rules.  We debated whether to try the Compendium rules or making some houserules and use the X rules; we chose the Compendium.  One house rule for X we thought about was limiting weapons to one option.    I also disagree on the value of some of those options in X (i.e., Repeating is too cheap.  Let's see, the Compendium's repeating weapon, Pulse Laser, is a size 3 weapon and can shoot at fighters while the extra hull weapon, Mass Driver, is a size 2 weapon and cannot shoot at fighters.  Now, in X, the Repeating option has a 2.4 multiplier while the Extra Hull damage option has a 3.0 multiplier; both can shoot at fighters.  Hmm, I smell a pay off from the Repeating weapons arms dealer  :wink:  Edit: and what makes Repeating even more offensive (sic) is the change for Long Range Sensors special equipment.  At long range in the Compendium the modifier for long range still exists; while in X with LRS it does not.  And this is NOT reflected in the Repeating weapons cost and it very much should).

I've modified my version of the SXCA spreadsheet (v2.61 base version) and switched it over for the Compendium.  So far my numbers for ship designs match with the website, except when TL mods are altered.  Then my spreadsheet tends to be a point or two higher in CR and use up an extra SU or two.  This could be due to rounding.  Are numbers rounded in the middle of the equations or only at the very end?  Also, I made the SSDs similar to my modified X-rules SSDs.

Also, it seems that the TL mods for special equipment do apply to everything except the hyperdrive (as it should); and not at all to the Interdictor Field and as far as I know it should.  Should the ruling about what equipment is modified by TL apply to the Compendium rules as well?

Nope, no offense taken. But I do want to clarify that you're not meant to take all of the options in Starmada X as gospel. The point is to pick and choose what you want in your gaming group, and discard the stuff you don't. Heck, even I've never played with ALL of the options and additional rules...

So, if you don't want the K/E/B distinction, then ignore it. Think some of the weapon combos are too "cheesy"? Then don't use them.

The reason why Starmada has grown to the point where I'm not even sure what to do with it anymore is that people have been making suggestions and playtesting it for over 12 years -- that's a lot of history! But each of those suggestions is coming from a particular perspective of what space gaming "should" be -- and if you agree with even 50% of those perspectives, well, you're a very open-minded gamer.

Point is, Starmada is not intended to be a game where every possible ship creation is "tournament legal" against every other -- nothing wrong with that sort of game, but it's a different animal than Starmada.

At the same time, I'm glad to hear that the Compendium holds up well -- after all, it's nearly five years old.

um,

LRS with inverted range modifiers in the compendium is about as broken a combinations you can get.

How do you counter that combo?

Are we talking Compendium LRS+IRM, or X?

If X, then the simple answer is that it is essentially redundancy. With Compendium, however...brrr

Go for Cloak? Get within the medium range and problem solved.

Oh my, yes.  Multiple spinal mounts with LRS and TDAR weren't much fun to be on the receiving end of, either.  Compendium was fun at the time, but in hindsight it had some real balance issues.  The change to LRS was one of the best things X did...

Hello everyone
    I have a question for the Starmada designers.   I really like the way the Point Defense System works in the "X" version of Starmada compared to the way it works in the 'Compendium..  I was wondering if using the PDS in Compendium designs as it is used in the "X" version would be the same point value.  If not, what would be the difference or the modifier to use the PDS in Starmada Compendium games as it is used in the "X" version?   
    Sometimes my fertile imagination just won't stop...

Steven Gilchrist, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Stealth Generator and LRS... that is a combo that is deadly.
Mix in the IRM and eat opponents for lunch. Over and over.

My biggest problem today is that I trained Jimbeau fighting against me with that mix and now that I don't use it he walks through anything I put against him.... 

I prefer the way LRS works in X, actually. LRS in X means that you don't get an insanely long range over your opponent, and means that its more about weapons layout.

But, now you mention it, Stealth does seem a little broken in X.

Yes. PDS eliminates 50% of the damage a ship takes, so the multiplier is x2.

Weapon layout is important. It defines the battle you're going to fight. If you have wide arcs you can go for slower ships, because guess what? It doesn't matter how fast your enemy is going, if he is still in your arc you can nail him. Narrow arcs? Then go for speed, and maybe overthrusters. As I go for weapons in AC/BD arcs, it means you're going to have to endure at least one, possibly two, maybe even three turns in my arcs before you can get to the rear. And I always design ships for the fleet battle, so Im going to bring some lighter ships to the battle anyway.

Hello everyone,

My friends and I played a 3,000 points per side Starmada Compendium game on Sunday 1/6.  It was an interesting game.  My opponents had mostly mass 15 to 20 ships with reinforced hull, and for weapons, lotsa fusion torpedoes & Mezon beams.  Incredibly, these huge (&rare<LOL>) ships had 4 or 5 reinforced ionic shields and were speed 10 to 12(!)  There were also 60 fighters on the other side also.

My mass 12 & 11ships have regular shields, long range sensors, armor plating & reinforced hull were speed 5.  They are armed with Energy Lances, blasters, and laser cannons.  those on my side were armed similarly to our opponents.  These ships are reprints of ships I played over a 18 months ago, just a little smaller because:  "ships with more than 12 hull points should be quite rare" 

The game was interesting.  The other side did not close to close range, but stayed at long range.  They fired first at my ally and destroyed on of his big ships.  My three smaller, slower ships had target practice with their energy lances.  Not to near the end of the game did one of the other side's ships close with my ships.  By that time, their fleet was ravaged, and many fighters destroyed by my ships sniping at with their Laser Cannons.  It was fun watching the other side try to figure out what to do; they never really did.  Also my slower ships had more firepower for their cost.

This game was wild & fun, It was as enjoyable as the games we played for a year back in 2004 when I first found a copy of Starmada Compendium at Gaming Glenn's store.  We are gonna play again here in Jacksonville in two weeks.  I definitely like the smoother game mechanics and the longer ranges that we were able to have, as well as the 'Compendium's interesting weapons.     

Steven Gilchrist; Jacksonville, Fla, USA.