Sort of streamline it a bit.

In the crew points in the right hand corner these could add in weapon entries too.

Pilot 8 Tight Turn Die D4
Gunnery 6 - ADB D6
Impulsegun 2D8 + ADB - High (F Arc)


Gunner 7 ADB D8
Quad Splatter guns 2D6 + ADB +3, Medium+6 (FQL, F, FQR, Arcs)
ML20, High+1 Lock on Gunner Skill -1 (D10)

At the bottom of the sheet the expanded ranges of weapons
But just use the Pulse laser, Splatter guns, impulse guns ranges and not add entries for twin, triple quads etc.

Possibly stream line Torpedoes to VS entries only and ditch SM, VSSM and standard (over complicating things).  Of course I think there is a possibility for standard but only if there is an obvious benefit (MK 50s benefit here).

Standard Torpedoes could be given a higher DV (maybe 14!) normally they have a higher piloting skill than there VS counter parts.

How I have used a Torpedoes piloting:  If a Torp goes through an asteroid it must roll <= to its pilot skill to avoid hitting asteroid and continues to its target.

I was looking through restoration games website and thought to myself whatever happened to one of my favorite games silent death. I know the pdfs for next millennium are available but before I consider that, is there any plans for an updated ruleset? IMO this game would be a prime candidate for a Kickstarter reprint

so is there good news on the future or wishful thinking?

I ordered ships for the July sale. How long does it normally take to get an order shipped out?

Some of the House ships should come with simple swap outs.

X can be swapped for Y for -/+ n points

eg the Colos Drakar could swap the twin pulses for Epees?  Just imagine a Star Raven reequiped for a Colos special load out... eek!

Is there a guide to House colours to help paint various ships?

Now blessed with more bugs I will over the next few months paint and playtest.

After a discussion with a friend who hated the DV+Pilot rule which has now gone, it has made me think about how to deal with the high cost of the bugs and having to pay for x pts on top for 'crew'.

Skimming through Drydock II I noticed the Datasphere had been given crew of 10 and through damage get worse.

Whirr clank, thinks, etc.

Bugs have a 'crew' and the number of crew equals their pilot and gunnery skills.  Ergo, killing or destroying weapons downgrades their effectiveness.

Remember playtest remit was to get the bugs to swarm.

I had floated that the 'Regen' rating could be used to add buffs to other bugs in forms of pluses to hit.

What if we say the bug ships in range of the regen rating gives the Bugs bonuses not just to hit but also improves their pilot and gunnery ratings.

A 4 group of bugs with a standard rating of 4, would lift their gunnery rating up to 7, the original bug from the help from its buddies and also gets a +3 to hit.

Drawback:
If the bugs has been screened and or is in Ink it cannot help other bugs and other bugs cannot help it.

Note:  The pilot does not fire a weapon and therefore the minimum skill will always be 2 for a weapon.

Regen can be used x times = to its rating.  Either DC x hits up to y times, or grow back ammo x times, grow back weapons, J pods, and drones etc in any mix that is not greater than the Regen Rating...

Now to get to work on painting up some bugs.

Got me some original Metal Express box, a Betafortress, Fletcher, 2 Eagles, Spider, Aosho, more bugs, loads of plastics, 2 Revenges, and a few bits more for £20.

I am a winner.

An incomplete battle report:
"Smugglers Escape"/"Escape from Zebolun III"

In the attempt of starting a campaign. A friend and I played a game several months ago where the smugglers (red spaceships) wanted to steal plans and special minor construction parts for hyperspace portals from the Imperial forces (blue spaceships). The battle takes place in the Zebulon system around the ringed yellow gas giant Zebulon III. Each side have a force of 500 Total Point Value. The smugglers had to use 50 BPV on a Vishnu to carry the valuable cargo.

Forces were set to start out as far away as possible in opposite ends of the playing mat. The smugglers have just secured the valuable cargo and left the orbital space stations around Zebulon III. All smuggler ships start out in orbit around Zebulon III. The smugglers now had to reach the furthest end of the playing mat to escape (minor smuggler victory) and shot down as many imperial ships as possible while blasting their way out off the Zebulon system (major smuggler victory). The Imperial forces cannot risk the plans of the hyperspace portals falling in the wrong hands, and must destroy the Vishnu (minor Imperial victory), or better yet damage the Vishnu, board it and retrieve the plans and construction elements (major imperial victory).

For hits on the Vishnu we played with a 'cargo loss dice' of 1D6-1.
The Imperial forces start out near Zebulon II a blue rocky planet with non-terraformed atmosphere. The two sides clash in the chaotic asteroid field between Zebolun II and Zebulon III. The asteroid fields have several rogue asteroids and all asteroids drift, and ships can slingshot around planets.

The smugglers have left the docking bays on the space stations in orbit around Zebulon III, and now have to cross both an unpredictable asteroid field and a fleet of imperial forces.




Imperial forces start out near Zebulon II



Around turn 2. The smugglers are under heavy fire from the Imperial forces, but also have to watch out for the drifting asteroids.


I will have to come back and edit this post to try and include more photos. Here is a photo from turn 4.

Last month I placed an order that supposedly did not go through; not even a request for a payment for said order. So, I figured, I might as well place another order. Same items but with one extra that was left out of the previous order. This order goes through the system and is now currently "Processing," unlike the previous "On Hold," order. Today, I get a package that looks like my order. Yet, it looks to be the first order to a 't'. Typically, this wouldn't be a problem. But as I ordered an additional ship (eleven as a opposed to twelve) this makes the two orders fairly different. Am I just out of luck with the 12th ship? Or has there been a kerfuffle in which order was to be fulfilled?


I'm sorry for the trouble.




TL;DR: First order with 11 ships didn't get paid. Second order with 12 ships was paid. Got 11 ships in mail.