Full Thrust and Imperium Redux!

I got an email today from Jeff Lyons who confirms himself as the original author of the Full Thrust/Imperium crossover SSDs!

Jeff's happy to share, so I'll post all his material and a zipfile below.

I have to admire him as he resisted the temptation to do a sprawling Starfire or VBAM campaign..

A small operational campaign as a battle generator  was always the way to go, but Too much galaxy spanning "Doc" Smith and Iain M. Banks has spoiled me and left me with a desire to release my inner Helmuth.

Personally I blame Steve Cole. Federation and Empire, which is scaringly getting a re-release. I call it Federation and Accountancy. if a game needs banning, F&E is it.


Some Kiwis have also done a similarly effective scale effort to Jeff with a FB1 campaign using "Stellar Conquest", which I will get around to one day.

Warp War is also just the right size. anyone want a PBEM game?

Back to Jeff.. behold below. and Jeff? Thanks, sincerely from all of us.

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Backstory
Full Thrust / Imperium ship design sheets

A little back story...

Don Hawthorne wrote a rule conversion set for splicing Imperium and Full Thrust/More Thrust... I just tried to bring it up to speed with the Full Thrust Fleet Book 1 rules.

Version 1, we just lifted FT:FB1 ships of about the right cost and roughly the right design.  We used the Imperium rules to buy ships, pushed them around on the Imperium map and fought battles using FB1 rules.

Version 2, I tried to "simulate" the ship designs implicit in the ratios of combat factors on the board game counters.  There is a text doc in the .ZIP file explaining the guidelines I used in designing these ships.  The working budget was based on the RU cost in-game.  The conversion rate was 1 RU to 25 FB pts for warships and fighter squadrons, 1:50 for monitors, it appears to have been well over 1:100 for transports and the like.  Don't recall if motherships' RU costs include the fighters or if they are just shown on the SSD and will have to be purchased separately at 1 RU each.

Version 3 was a cleaned up version with better anti-fighter defenses, etc.  Added the Imperium RU cost of each design and the original board game combat factors on the SSD.  Tinkered with planetary assaults... the file "misc2b" shows one attempt.  Use at your own risk... not playtested.  Basically, I treated the whole planet (a painted 12" light globe) as one big space station; measure range from any point on the surface.  Make up any PSB you like to justify it; meson guns, orbital defense sats, whipping missiles around by way of gravity well maneuvers... whatever.

I was working on Version 4 ... which was wandering well away from canon FTFB rules... when I quit working on the project.  I've included a couple of samples (terran3V4 and vilani3V4) just for grins.

It works okay if you take it for what it is; a quick and dirty way of using the Imperium board games as a campaign system for FT:FB1 tabletop battles using designs that are kinda sorta representative of the ratios of beams, missiles and defenses shown on the board game counters.

It is not and was never intended to be a faithful simulation of the board game...  nor does it draw much, if anything from the broader Traveller universe.  Rather, it was primarily a means of using the Imperium board game to generate FT tabletop games.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Jeff Lyon

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Conversion
Missile factors:

Based loosely on the designs in the Fleet Book and the most
useful configurations of launchers and magazines.

 1 - submunitions pack x1  (mass 1)   *scout/destroyer
 2 - submunitions pack x2  (mass 2)   *destroyer
 3 - SMR x1                (mass 4)   *N/A
 4 - SML x1, magazine x4   (mass 7)   *light cruiser
 5 - SMR x2                (mass 8)   *attack cruiser
 5 - SML x1, magazine x6   (mass 9)   *heavy cruiser
 6 - ER/SMR x2, subpack x1 (mass 11)  *missile boat
 6 - SML x1, magazine x8   (mass 11)  *heavy cruiser
 7 - SML x2, magazine x8   (mass 14)  *strike cruiser
 8 - SML x2, magazine x10  (mass 16)  *strike cruiser
 9 - SML x2, magazine x12  (mass 18)  *dreadnought
10 - SML x3, magazine x12  (mass 21)  *monitor/dreadnought II
11 - SML x3, magazine x15  (mass 24)  *N/A
12 - SML x3, magazine x18  (mass 27)  *battleship

Beam factors:

Also based loosely on FB designs and attempting to closely match the 
total mass of an equivalent missile factor.

 1 - mass 1      *scout
 2 - mass 2-3    *destroyer, light/strike cruisers
 3 - mass 4-5    *destroyer
 4 - mass 6-7    *dreadnought
 5 - mass 8-9    *heavy cruiser
 6 - mass 10-12  *heavy cruiser/dreadnought
 7 - mass 13-15  *attack cruiser/battleship
 8 - mass 16-17  *N/A
 9 - mass 18-19  *monitor 
10 - mass 20-21  *dreadnought
11 - mass 22-24  *N/A
12 - mass 25-27  *battleship

Screen factors:

A bit more abstract; more a measure of the level of defenses than
the actual mass devoted to defenses.

 1 - Lvl 0 screens, max 1 PDS, no armor, weak hull (or less)
 2 - Lvl 0 screens, max 1 PDS, some armor, weak hull
 3 - Lvl 0 screens, max 1 PDS, no armor, weak hull
 4 - Lvl 0 screens, max 2 PDS, some armor, average hull
 5 - Lvl 1 screens, max 2 PDS, no armor, average hull
 6 - Lvl 1 screens, max 2 PDS, some armor, average hull
 7 - Lvl 1 screens, max 3 PDS, some armor, average hull
 8 - Lvl 2 screens, max 3 PDS, some armor, average hull
 9 - Lvl 2 screens, max 4 PDS, good armor, average hull

* an AFDC system is standard on all ships with a screen
  factor of 2 or greater except monitors
* increase max PDS by 1 for ships with no beam factors
* monitors have one extra level of hull integrity

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OB based on FB1 designs

Vilani Imperium - (assuming FSE designs)

target budget: 950 pts. for warships
2x Scouts - Mistral class (variant with subpacks) (56 pts.)
4x Frigates - Ibiza class (244 pts.)
2x Lt. Cruisers - Suffren class (362 pts.)
1x Hvy. Cruiser - Jerez class (293 pts.)
Total: 955 pts. spent

Plus:
1x Bulk Tanker
4x Heavy Freighters
3x Planetary Defenses (+500 pts. each)
1x Monitor - Roma class battleship.  Delete FTL and 7 hull boxes.
   New mass: 85, new cost: 300.

-------------

Terran Confederation - (assuming NSL designs)

target budget: 550 pts. for warships
1x Missile Boat - Waldberg/M class missile destroyer (101 pts.) 
6x Scouts - Mistral class (standard configuration) (168 pts.)
2x Frigates - Ehrenhold class (134 pts.)
1x Lt. Cruiser - K.P. Wilhelm class (161 pts.)
Total: 564 pts. spent

Plus:
1x Bulk Tanker
6x Heavy Freighters
3x Outposts (mass 80 each)
2x Planetary defenses (+500 pts. each)
1x Monitor - Richthofen class battlecruiser.  Delete FTL and 5 
   hull boxes.  Add two armor.  New mass: 87, new cost: 300.  

SSDs version 3 Vilani #1:

SSDs version 3 Vilani #2:














SSDs version 3 Terran #1:
 













SSDs version 3 Terran #2:

SSDs version 3 Misc #1:

SSDs version 4 Vilani #1:

SSDs version 4 Terran #1:

Zip file of All the above material

Invasion of the Space Grognards!

Are you a Space Grognard?

Oh dear, It's an Imperium week it seems..

I pull my finger out and put the SSDs up and the next thing I know..

It's Invasion of the Space Grognards!, Holy Klono and by the scorched nose-hairs of Noshabkeming! pass me another bottle of Rhysling's Rotgut..

I stumble across another group of Imperium addicts:

A Yahoo group that was hiding under my nose in a link off Imperium's entry at BGG, when I thought that the WarpWar group was the only one offering refuge to Missile Boat Maniacs..

Timbo74 pops up and declares himself Marc Miller's lovechild and wants a PBEM game of Imperium  he's dashed out and got the PDF download  at wargames vault. (now who said blogging is a usless and pointless exercise? It got me an opponent!)

Keith Frye reminded me to "Keep the Flame!" on the Stargrunt-Full Thrust Yahoo Group.

Don Hawthorne and I exchanged curmudgeonly reminiscences via email about FT in the good old days and I observed about the Fleet books and "FT3" that:
"..as an old geezer I understand but there is a "toad syndrome"  that
insists on the newest latest shiniest and fastest amongst the youth ;) .."

You could almost hear us going "..I remember when Four firing arcs were good enough for anyone.."

As a good Space Grognard, I do a bit of scouting and evangelizing for FT tracking down Google alerts for "Full Thrust" and  connecting with the many pockets of the 'Net and wider world that don't seem to be part of the "in" crowd of GZG-xCC attendees or GZG-L denizens..

You'd be surprised how many people "heard" of FT and got into it on their own or haven't hooked up with many other players. Newbies or returnees.. all need a helping hand and light shone onto the FT/GZG Community.. that's one reason I setup the GZGfinder.

Consider it my wargaming equivalent of  the CoDominium Oath of Reunion...  theres a lot of "outies" that need  connecting up!

One such is a thread on RPG.net. at the moment:
The First post in this thread convinced me that as a Space Grognard I have a meta-duty to fledgling players to welcome them and bring them along, especially if I want to keep playing the stuff I enjoy in my dotage.

so far we're up to...

Privateer:I actually prefer having a stable platform of rules that doesn't change on a 4-5 year compulsory basis.  That goes the same for Dirtside 2 and Stargrunt 2.

Agreed I dont like Rules churn either., 

FT and Jon's approach to gaming and rules is in many ways a bit of a test, but one I find refreshing.

its flexibility and "nothing written in stone" approach is great unless you are a "rulebook" guy or game with people who arent prepared to be flexible with house rules/mods  or simply aren't of the experimental or "suck it and see" bent when it comes to fiddling wih rules.

That FT gets used as a competition set of rules and has a design system will always tempt people to break/bend/test/minimax the rules

sometimes getting wargamers to agree on anything is like washing cats.. some people will concede houserules or mods here and there to get a game rolling, some people will fight to the bitter end as if violating "the book" was an affront or heresy.

that having been said, I enjoy FT and want to keep playing it, keeping the game alive and giving it a public "pulse" is important  and while fan sites and support helps, *nothing* works for a game (and a newly introduced player) like the adrenaline of a newly acquired  rulebook..

the "unborn" next generation of Full Thrust players who perhaps have been bought up on a dihorrea of editions and expansions of Ginormous Workshop games have been spoiled by the visual riches thus published to some extent..

the "try out" or "suck it and see" experimenatlism where youd find a set of rules a few pages long in the latest "Miniature Wargames" and try them with your mates seem to have withered...

Wargaming doesnt have its "Young Turks" but  but rather "young anoraks" mumbling  "but the new 9th edition codex says  the Space Wombles Chapter Librarian doesnt get a storm bolter, you can't kitbash figures, that's  like  ..wrong"

Ahh new rules...

I just bought Bag the Hun 2 and Might and Reason for Seven Years War..  its always a buzz, getting into new stuff or revisiting old stuff again.


all this Imperium stuff tends to get me singing Mel Brooks thanks to song entry in a BGG Contest that got me some geekgold last year:

Vilani were having trouble
What a sad, sad story
Needed some new planets to restore
their former glory
Where, oh, where were they?
Where could that land be?
They looked around and then they found
The stars for you and me

And now it's...

Springtime for Dingir and Vilani
Vland is happy and gay!
We're boosting to a faster pace
Look out, here comes the master race!
Springtime for Dingir and Vilani!
Vland's a fine land once more!
Springtime for Dingir and Vilani
Watch out, Terra!
We're going on tour!
Springtime for Dingir and Vilani...

Look, it's springtime once more!

Winter for Barnard and Sol

Springtime for Dingir and Vilani!

Come on, Vilani
Go into your dance!

I was born in Guusmegraguul und that is why they call me Cool.

Don't be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Solomani party!

Springtime for Dingir and Vilani
Goose-step's the new step today..

But the point of my Post is that if You're a Space Grognard then you have to give something back,

• welcome a newbie
• let them reroll that Damage control roll
• get those house rules you've thought a about a try 
• or better still shared and posted on the net, 
• organize a  game at your club  rather than turn up expecting  someone to have organized something.

Do that now, by Klono's Boranium Bollocks, so that you can play what you love in the times to come.  you mightn't get direct benefit for your efforts, but someone will and the hobby will be better for it.

Altruism works especially in the wargaming hobby, so work for it!

"...Then you make the sacrifice willingly? No fame. No armies or banners or cities to celebrate your name?...How do you know the Chosen Ones? "No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother." Not for millions…not for glory…not for fame. For one person, in the dark, where no one will ever know or see. I have been in the service of the Vorlons for centuries, looking for you. Diogenes with his lamp, looking for an honest man willing to die for all the wrong reasons. At last, my job is finished. Yours is just beginning. When the darkness comes, know this: You are the right people, in the right place, at the right time..."
    -Sebastian, Comes the Inquisitor.

Full Thrust / Imperium SSDs and Integration Packet.

It's deliberate that I make no secret of my two favourite boardgames: GDW's  Imperium and A House Divided 
Now available from Marc Miller of farfuture.net through your friendly PDF supplier

Or Dark Nebula? Random Geomorpic maps? exploration? 

Be tempted at USD4.95 its a baargain.. if only other publishers kept their back catalogue on the front burner as well..

So imagine my delight when a few years ago I found Don Hawthorne's Full Thrust integration packet with Imperium at Chris Weuve's website.
(Chris, like me, is also a Stellar Conquest and Triplanetary fan as well)

I'd tracked down some SSDs (I know I'm sorry I'm a recovering SFB player!) on the internet archive but the IA doesn't archive image files consistently..alas

Mark Drake recently posted on  Boardgamegeek that he had some SSDs but no hosting space, having started this blog, a light globe (Black Globe? ;)  moment ensued an I offered to rehost them here..

I've emailed Don Hawthorne who has hapily agreed to allow a z9m9z link to Don's Ful Thrust/Imperium Integration packet

Don replied "..I'm happy there is still enough interest in both games to warrant my little effort being kept available..."

Well so are we, Don! thanks!

If you love Traveller and Full Thrust,  look no further than British Isles Traveller Support's (BITS) Power Projection:Fleet - which has a fabulous Campaign System and Full Thrust Based Combat system and a conversion to Full Thrust from the High Guard and. Other Traveller ship design Systems..
(the Imperial Tigress class BB SSD is truly scary)

So here are Mark's Full Thrust SSDs for the Ships of GDW's Imperium

Terran Capitals, Monitors and Cruisers.

Terran DD, MB and Scouts

Vilani Capitals, Monitors and Cruisers

Vilani Cruisers, DDs and Scouts


I must ask Mark if he washed his ship designs through the PP:F conversion system or if these were "windage/RoThumb" FT designs,

On the other hand if you have stats for the ships of Imperium in another Traveller design system, please pass them along as washing them through PP:F would be an interesting exercise.

NB: if you'd like a PBEM game of Imperium, do get in touch :) or A House Divided

Now if only I could get a game of WARP WAR!

NB EDIT: Mark advises he got them off a bloke named Doug Evans way back when on GZG-L. thanks Doug! 

EDIT 2: Don Hawthorne has responded and is happy for the IP to be linked here.. he sounded rather chuffed that people are having fun with it!