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To follow up on Steven's Y146 idea, what if the "original" Orion was an LR, and was actually used for gathering data beyond the "storm cluster"; but that the ship was either lost or crippled (by the Zosmans, perhaps?) by the time the CR arrives?

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By Ken Kazinski (Kjkazinski) on Saturday, July 13, 2013 - 05:28 pm: Edit

The Qixa GPF (OR21.PF5) replaces the ESR with a Gauss Cannon. Why should the original gauss cannon's firing arc change to FA from FX? I can understand the #2 GC having a FA firing arc but not both changing. Shouldn't the GC#1 have kept it's original firing arc?

By Ken Kazinski (Kjkazinski) on Sunday, July 14, 2013 - 06:35 pm: Edit

General question on converting Omega fighters to EW fighters - is there an equivalent rule to R1.F7 for Omega?

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Monday, July 15, 2013 - 02:05 pm: Edit

(OJ0.2).

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 - 06:57 pm: Edit

Ken Kazinski asked on Saturday, July 13, 2013: The Qixa GPF (OR21.PF5) replaces the ESR with a Gauss Cannon. Why should the original gauss cannon's firing arc change to FA from FX? I can understand the #2 GC having a FA firing arc but not both changing. Shouldn't the GC#1 have kept it's original firing arc?

ANSWER: Policy is that we do not answer "why" questions, but reasonably the mechanics of the weapons probably permits gauss cannons to be mounted side by side, which is not possible with a spark ring and gauss cannon. It is not a case where an existing PF is being converted (and thus a guass cannon is being installed in place of the existing spark ring), but of a PF being built configured for the twin guass cannons.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Tuesday, February 18, 2014 - 05:36 pm: Edit

So, yeah. The Iridani. They seem kind of horrible, combat wise. I mean, they have an interesting back story. And cool, modular ships. But in terms of actually fighting, they seem really ineffective.

They have Wide Angle Phasers, which are ok, but not spectacular, and with the target illuminator bonus, are about as good as regular P1s. And focused energy beams. That seem kinda a little better than disruptors (including the target illuminator bonus) for either a little more or a little less power (depending on the range) but taking longer to fire again over a turn break. And no seeking weapons or any way to keep an opponent from overrunning them. And questionable weapon arcs, making concentration of fire incredibly difficult (the basic Galleon cruiser is going to, at best, be able to get 3xFEB and 5xPW1 in any possible arc ever).

They seem kind of like a phaser boat ship, but without the advantage of being able to rely on running with full capacitors (yeah, I know the FEBs can use the capacitor too, but that seems a really convoluted plan, given that they lack larger capacitors).

They seem like they might be vaguely passable on an open map with no reason at all to ever close with anyone and an infinite map to run on and turn around, but in any situation where they need to close in with an opponent (i.e. attacking a fixed location or a closed map), they seem like they are gonna be fighting up hill against pretty much any other Omega empire.

Anyone have any significant experience with them?

By Andy Vancil (Andy) on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 01:59 am: Edit

I played them in a campaign, years ago. They weren't horrible (well, OK, the phaser arcs are horrible), although it seems like they would be closer to balanced if their BPV included the module.

The FEB is actually a pretty nice weapon in that it is very flexible. You can pretty much count on it to do a reasonable amount of damage, at any range. The lack of seekers is not a problem in Omega versus Omega. I found the Yawl a decent ship for the price, and Clipper, with 32 warp, is something special in Omega land. The Man-o-War is a lot of fun, although it can't really compete with other ships in that BPV range.

In our campaign setting, the modules were very useful. In a straight battle, a survey module can be fun, but generally, you'll just have weapons modules.

But yeah, they were a little weak. I ended up fighting a lot of battles against the Worb, who definitely have better ships. With nothing to discourage them from closing, I ended up sucking a lot of wind, trying to charge weapons while keeping the range open. On the plus side, the fact that I had no power for weapons mitigated the crappy arcs. It sounds kind of silly, but it was true -- I could only power what was in arc, but I almost always had something in arc, so I did about as well as any other Omega ship that is trying to keep up speed.

Against opponents who don't have big crunch (or nasty close-in weapons, like the Worb do), they can actually knife fight OK. Sure, you can't concentrate fire into a single volley so well, but you can get everything into arc eventually, and the damage adds up.

Overall, they are unimpressive, but not broken.

By Norman Dizon (Normandizon) on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 02:41 am: Edit

Hi Peter. We have flown the Iridani several times and they never seemed deficient to us. They would win some and lose some. As with anything, it is important to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. It is a pretty broad statement to say that the Iridani are going to be fighting uphill against any other Omega empire.

The best way to look at it is to compare the Iridani against three of its neighbors: the Koligahr, the Alunda, and the Loriyill. Each will have a primary weapon (or two) around which their tactics revolve.

To begin with, you will notice that the Target Illuminators (on the Iridani Galleon without any Modules) are Left and Right. You can also see that two of the Focused Energy Beams are Left and Right. Finally, we can see that two PW-1s are LF+L (or RF+R), one Focused Energy Beam is LF+L (or RF+R), and one PW-1 is L+LR (or R+RR). From all these Arcs, we can conclude that one of the Iridani Galleon's strengths is to fight from the side (Left or Right), where it can bring 3 Focused Energy Beams, its Target Illuminators, and 3 PW-1s to bear.

The Focused Energy Beams are similar to Disruptors, in that they fire every turn, and on average, do about the same damage as Disruptors. But there are some subtle differences.

First of all, the Disruptor is hit or miss, while the Focused Energy Beam has a "guaranteed" hit table similar to a Phaser. This may not seem like much, but when you combine it with the second difference, the Target Illuminator, the "guaranteed" hit table becomes more relevant. With the Target Illuminator bonus, the Focused Energy Beam will not miss up to a Range of 14.

Lastly, the Focused Energy Beams can draw off the Phaser Capacitor, as you mentioned. But where you see this as a convuluted plan, we see this as a small but useful advantage. The Iridani Galleon will have at least a 6 point Phaser Capacitor, which is enough to fire two Focused Energy Beams. That may not seem like a lot, but in a close battle, it could mean the difference between winning and losing. In addition, the Focused Energy Beam rules state that Reserve Power can be applied, on the same turn that the Phaser Capacitor energy is withdrawn, to either the Phasers or the Focused Energy Beams. Either way, this little capacitor provides some energy management flexibility, even if it is minor.

Here is how we used the Focused Energy Beams. On the attack, we would close so that we could fire one Focused Energy Beam that was either LF+L or RF+R. Then the Galleon would turn so the enemy was to the side, enabling it to fire its remaining three Focused Energy Beams. Of course, the Wide Phasers are mixed into this strategy as their firing arcs permit. On the defense, the Iridani would keep its speed up, circle and sideslip, and keep the opponent to its side, so it could fire three of its Focused Energy Beams (and Illuminators) at him.

The other key aspect to the Iridani are its Modules. Careful selection will determine how the battle plays out. Of course, most players will choose the Weapons Module, to get one PW-1, two PW-3s, and 2 APR. But don't underestimate the Shipping Module. The Shipping Module will give you 14 Cargo boxes, which essentially becomes a "seventh shield" or center hull. This is great for absorbing a solid punch and continuing to fight. Of course, the Carrier Module will give you fighters and the Survey Module has the Special Sensor. But there is also the VIP Module. The VIP Module will give you 6 boxes of Center Hull and 2 additional Shuttles. Another good module to have. Lastly, there are three uncommon modules that are useful. The Defense Module gives you 4 PW-3s and 2 APR, the Power Module gives you 4 APR and 2 Btty, and the Shield Module gives you additional Shield boxes! Sure its a little cowardly, but you want to win the battle, right?

The Koligahr are going to rely mainly on their Antimatter Cannons and Microphasers. But look at their To-Hit Odds at Range 7-10. It is 50% for the Antimatter Cannons and 50% for the Microphasers. We all know from Photons how bad that 50% chance is when you roll the dice. Now remember that the Iridani, when using Illuminators, are guaranteed to hit out to Range 14. So the Iridani are going to be able to pick the range, hit first, and have a more precise shot.

The Alunda is going to rely mainly on its Bioelectric Bolts. It has to close to use its Plasma Whips, so the Bioelectric Bolts are the main threat at range. Looking at the 1 to 2 point rows for the Bioelectric Bolts, at ranges 8-12, we find a decent To-Hit chance but minimal damage output. The Huntship is probably going to be able to bring 8 Bioelectric Bolts to bear on you before turning to fire an additional 2 Bioelectric Bolts from its RH. If the 8 Bioelectric Bolts are charged with 1 point of energy, they will (assuming they all hit) do 8 points of damage at Range 8-12. If the 8 Bioelectric Bolts are charged with 2 points of energy, they will (assuming they all hit) do 24 points of damage. This is a sizable amount, but it will cost the Alunda Huntship a lot of power, so it must be moving slowly. If you look at the Guaranteed (with Illuminators) To-Hit of 3 Focused Energy Beams at Range 8, you can generate anywhere from 6 to 24 points of damage. No roll is even needed to hit. Plus the power can be drawn from the Phaser Capacitor, which could allow the Iridani Galleon to continue moving at a high speed.

We found that the Loriyill gave the Iridani Galleon the hardest time. The Loriyill Firecruiser has 5 Fireballs, Quantum Phasers, Microphasers, Flame Shields, an excellent Turn Mode, and really strong Shields. It is a tough opponent for the Iridani Galleon. Still, the Fireball has the same Hit or Miss probabilities as the Koligahr's Anti-Matter Cannons and the Microphasers are Hit or Miss weapons as well. The biggest thing to watch out for on the Loriyill Firecruiser is its Flame Shields, which will reflect back some of the damage from your Focused Energy Beams.

Other aspects of the Iridani Galleon include a really bad Turn Mode, a high chance of Breakdown for High Energy Turns, lots of Power (34 plus additional Module Power), 4 Shuttles (plus additional Module Shuttles) and average Shielding.

When faced with an overrun, the Iridani can knife-fight if need be. At Range 0, the Focused Energy Beams can do up to 12 points of damage each. That is up to 36 points of damage for 3 Focused Energy Beams, plus another Focused Energy Beam if you can get it in arc somehow. Wide Phasers will do anywhere from 5-7 points each at Range 0.

On an Open Map, the Iridani are free to maneuver to play to their strengths. On a Closed Map, it will be more difficult, but the Iridani can still pull out a Victory.

So do the Iridani have some Disadvantages? Yeah. Do they have some Strengths? Yeah. Are the Iridani the worst race to play in the Omega Sector? We don't think so, but others might believe they are.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 09:11 am: Edit

For my own part, the Iridani have been on my mind often as Omega empirres go, not least with them being on the list of current playtest empires in the Federation Commander Omega conversion project.


For what it's worth, I'm not sure if their location would necessarily work in terms of establishing their "neighbours" the way it does for the factions down in Omega proper. It's noted in the Iridani R-section that the distance from the Galactic Rim on the map is an abstraction; the Cluster is much further away from the galaxy's edge (about the distance from the Drex home world to the Probr capital... which would be worth noting if we ever get some proper planet-and-province data in F&E terms for the Omega maps). That said, perhaps the Cluster is about that far out along the 2D plane from the Rim, but makes up the distance by being further "up" or "down" along the z-axis instead?

So while there were a couple of (failed) attempts to establish colonies along the Galactic Rim, it would seem that the Iridani have other options when entering or exiting the Milky Way (by flying "over" or "under" the galaxy and crossing the Galactic Energy Barrier at other points), with the main caveat being the issue of negotiating transit rights with whichever host government happens to own the space on the "inside", as described in the supply dock's R-section. Which is not to say that comparisons with the rimward empires aren't relevant; indeed, one could add other Rimward factions, like the Chlorophons, to the list of potential adversaries (depending on the nature of the Quest involved).


But in terms of who it is they do fight most prominently (or rather, on the most regular basis), it's unfortunate that, for the time being, these clashes are not fully supported in SFB. Their most historically-prominent opposition, the Zosman Marauders, are not yet in the game system; while their later Andromedan nemeses are present, the Iridani themselves are currently lacking much of the "late-war" technology they may (or may not) have had on hand by the time of the Grand Quest. At least we know what their gunboats looks like, as well as their standard and heavy fighter types of that era. So all that's left is to work out what they did with their actual ships...


The data in the Iridani R-section notes their love for sailing vessels, which influences their starship design (to the point of adding flags and pennants to them, despite their being of no use in space). This mindset may explain their choice of weapon layout, which to my eyes exhibits an overt attempt to model Age of Sail wet-navy combat. With the "broad-siding" arcs and the generous Marine complements (and the availability of options like the Commando/Troop Module), the impression I get is that the Iridani themselves are encouraging their captains and squadron commodores to fly (sail?) them accordingly "in-universe"; with line of battle formations, "crossing the T", and the regular use of hit-and-run raids and boarding actions.

In which case, the direct-fire weaponry on hand may be intended as much to knock a facing shield or two down in preparation for Marine operations as it would to try and score damage on the target ship's hull or systems. (It's almost a shame they never seemingly considered adopting energy howitzer technology from "acquired" Phon samples, since that weapon would help with such a setup in the way that shield crackers do for the Seltorians and the home galaxy pirates. But then, maybe that could be a concept to revisit for their Zosman rivals, once the time comes to explore the Marauders' options in SFB terms.)

I wonder if the stack limits in FC, or the inability to stack at all in games like Starmada or A Call to Arms: Star Fleet, might help encourage players to use these kinds of tactics with larger Iridani squadrons or fleets in those game systems, should they be formally published in the former and get a chance at being considered one day for the latter two. Certainly ACtA has encouraged "broad-siding" firepower and generous use of boarding party operations in other settings.

Indeed, part of me wonders if this is one reason why the "Bonnaventure" hulls didn't work out as advertised. Perhaps those ships might ostensibly seem more like the Alpha or Omega norm, but not quite fit the "line of battle" paradigm as well as the standard "broad-siding" ships would. (While Iridani fighters and PFs have forward-oriented fire arcs, those attrition units may complement a line of battle setup better than devoting the -B variant hulls to such a task.)


Of course, some of these tactics may run into trouble against the Andromedans, against whom a standard line of battle may be difficult to manage (in the face of offensive DisDev usage) and for whom the threat of inbound Marine operations is virtually non-existent (which would be a problem for Iridani ships fighting the Souldra, too). At least an Iridani PF is in a different league to an Andro MWP, but it remains to be seen what kind of options the Iridani line fleet itself may have against such opposition by that time.

(Personally, I'm hoping that the current fleet may be liable to get a set of "plus refits" at some point, as well as a series of new "war" classes - though the latter may be like the Romulan SparrowHawks in that they would not quite work as regular war cruisers, due in this case to the continued need to get such ships from the Cluster to the galaxy and back again.)


Also, in terms of having to deal with seeking weapons, it may be less of an issue for them if comparing their current "middle years" fleet with unrefitted ships of other settings. Even in Alpha, drone speeds were much slower in the equivalent technology era (slower than tachyon missiles), while many of the later drone options were absent at that time. While the plasma empires had much weaker throw-weights back then, with no S-torps, envelopers, or other such options.

As with the Andromedans (and Souldra), we may get a better sense of how well equipped the Iridani are as a faction in handling "late-war" drone and plasma fleets once we see how their speed-31 cruisers and "war" classes pan out. (Easy for me to say right now, but when that will actually happen is another matter entirely...)


Has anyone here tried to use lines of battle with larger Iridani forces in SFB; or seen for themselves how well their potential for Marine operations might work out in such a setup?

Or, for that matter, how much experience does anyone here have with making use of the Iridani gunboats in Module Omega 5? And if so, what is the best role you've found for the afterburner function of their "volatile warp" engines - or would you rather run the boats at their standard outputs instead?

And do you think that the -B variants really don't work out well in practice, or did Sir Bonnaventure simply get a bad rap for political reasons?

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 09:41 am: Edit

>>Tactically, one thing that stands out to me is how overtly they seem to be modelled on Age of Sail wet-navy combat. With the "broad-siding" arcs and the generous Marine complements (and the availability of things like the Commando/Troop Module), it seems like they are encouraging players to fly (sail?) them accordingly; with line of battle formations, "crossing the T", and the regular use of hit-and-run raids and boarding actions.>>

That certainly seems to be what is envisioned. I can't imagine that it works well in practice, however.

As they are ships that lack seeking weapons or any way to dissuade overrun/control movement, all they have to prevent someone from running up to them and crushing them with harder hitting weapons and seekers of their own is maneuverability and the threat of close range direct fire.

In terms of maneuverability, they aren't that maneuverable. They have bad turn modes and aren't particularly fast, as FEBs are kind of expensive for what they are (3 power)--the basic GL is actually not bad, as Omega ships go, assuming it is equipped with 2xWPM (which isn't something that historically happened, apparently, but we'll use it for now). You got 4x (weird arc) FEB, 3xTI, 8xPW1, 4xPW3, 38 power, which by Omega standards, as actually pretty strong. But assuming you are arming 3 of the FEBs and a TI (10 power total), and turning on your ship and holding a shuttle or two, you can move about 22 hexes on a given turn, which isn't that fast. If you are trying for a middle range attack and run, you do about 30 damage in a shot at R7, which again, really, isn't that bad. But then, once you have fired and are running, you have nothing to dissuade a chase, and in close, your average damage isn't really going up much.

I think, looking at them closely, what they have going for them is their ships are actually pretty solid, power wise (relative to the other Omega ships)--the GL is gonna have 36-38 power; the Clipper is gonna have, like, 42 and is really fast and pretty well armed. They do pretty good, consistent damage at middle ranges (i.e. they can reliably take down a shield and do a few internals on an opposing cruiser at R7 or so). They can't dissuade an overrun and in close they aren't doing much more than they are at middle ranges, but if they can keep the range open reliably, they might be able to do ok.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 09:53 am: Edit

What I was trying to suggest is that perhaps the intended line of battle concept may work better if attempted with Iridani squadrons or fleets than in lone duels, particularly in those game systems where the onus is on such engagements (and where the superstack is not a major concern). That might be a problem for them in SFB itself, since duels are more common here.

I'm not sure I'd put a second Weapons module into a Galleon, if only to allow for the flexibility of whatever lone Quest its captain may need to carry out. But, if you put a troop transport module (which, admittedly, would be somewhat rare to see in lone ships historically), you'd have a fairly capable commando cruiser on your hands.

Even without one, would the sixteen boarding parties the standard Galleon carries provide some options? If you've done enough to knock down a facing shield, why not use those Marines to try and take out some of the target ship's weapons? Any boxes the opponent needs to try and repair are ones you don't have to worry about when positioning for the next turn's broad-side (and round of Marine operations).

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 10:06 am: Edit

>>I'm not sure I'd put a second Weapons module into a Galleon, if only to allow for the flexibility of whatever lone Quest its captain may need to carry out.>>

Well, yes. But still, I'm looking at these things in blind combat, and not so much as they would be used in a hypothetical "campaign" situation or whatever. The non weapons modules require there to be a specific reason to use them in a given fight/scenario; bringing them into a blind fight tends to be kind of random and disadvantageous. Having a single weapons module is a no brainer. After that, they become kind of a crap shoot--the defensive/power modules are discouraged by background; the carrier module requires buying a bunch of extra fighters (making it very expensive); the most mundane ones seem to be the cargo module and maybe the survey module (which is expensive and mostly useless in combat). That being said, having 2xWPM on a GL makes it a fairly capable ship; having 1xWPM and 1x something else significantly less so. With 1xWPM and 1xSPM (i.e. cargo), the GL is going to cost 139 BPV, and have 36 power, 7xPW1, 2xPW3, 4xFEB, and a block of 14 cargo to take hits on, so not that bad for fighting, really.

>>Even without one, the boarding parties the standard Galleon carries would be an option. If you've done enough to knock down a facing shield, why not use those Marines to try and take out some of the target ship's weapons?>>

The problem with that is that if you are in range to use transporters (i.e. 5 or closer), your opponents are likely getting a much better increase in firepower than you are. The Iridani ship *really* doesn't want to be close to an opponent, as it is pretty good at middle ranges (7-9) and not much better at close ranges, where most other folks get a lot more of an upgrade and possible seeking weapons to muck you up.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 10:24 am: Edit

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Well, yes. But still, I'm looking at these things in blind combat, and not so much as they would be used in a hypothetical "campaign" situation or whatever. The non weapons modules require there to be a specific reason to use them in a given fight/scenario; bringing them into a blind fight tends to be kind of random and disadvantageous. Having a single weapons module is a no brainer. After that, they become kind of a crap shoot--the defensive/power modules are discouraged by background; the carrier module requires buying a bunch of extra fighters (making it very expensive); the most mundane ones seem to be the cargo module and maybe the survey module (which is expensive and mostly useless in combat). That being said, having 2xWPM on a GL makes it a fairly capable ship; having 1xWPM and 1x something else significantly less so. With 1xWPM and 1xSPM (i.e. cargo), the GL is going to cost 139 BPV, and have 36 power, 7xPW1, 2xPW3, 4xFEB, and a block of 14 cargo to take hits on, so not that bad for fighting, really.

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The problem with that is that if you are in range to use transporters (i.e. 5 or closer), your opponents are likely getting a much better increase in firepower than you are. The Iridani ship *really* doesn't want to be close to an opponent, as it is pretty good at middle ranges (7-9) and not much better at close ranges, where most other folks get a lot more of an upgrade and possible seeking weapons to muck you up.

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By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 12:42 pm: Edit

>>Even the VIP module gives you 6 more hull and a pair of additional shuttles. It may not be as much padding as the shipping module, but the added shuttles could be warmed up as suicides if need be. >>

True. It is weird that the background indicates that the defense module and power module (the other two generally useful ones) are not actually used. Assuming you are only going to use 1xWPM, the cargo module and VIP module seem the most reliably not too expensive and useful (fighter and survey are expensive; I mean, if you don't mind costing an extra 70 some odd points, the fighters are going to be useful, certainly)

>>But is that not an issue which many of the other Marine-heavy fleets out there have to try and deal with?>>

Sure. But they are all also much better at close range (and in actual game play, marine tactics tend to be fairly minimal, as if you lower a shield intentionally, you probably blow up; if you lower a shield unintentionally, you are probably pretty mangled and down transporters). You generally only see marines happen in weird opportunistic situations (i.e. two ships are both at close range and mangled and some hit and run raids happen), or situations where you are already winning, combat wise (i.e. in a scenario where marines are leveraged and the marine side already has the firepower advantage and the trick to the scenario is the need to capture something rather than just blow it up or in a game where you are already winning the gun fight, and going for a capture attempt on something that has become vulnerable to capture).

>>The Seltorians have generous boarding party complements, as do the home galaxy pirate ships in CL40.>>

The Seltorians are also pretty horrible (I think the Iridani actually have a leg up on the Seltorians, as Iridani guns can be relied on to hit…). And their marine contingents don't actually help.

>>In each case above, you could try to play keep-away, in order to avoid certain opponents' heavy crunch power. But would that not risk leaving one of each faction's advantages on the shelf?>>

Yes. As trying to leverage marines in an otherwise slightly disadvantaged gunfight generally gets you killed. Marines are useful after you have already won the firefight. Not so much in the middle of the firefight.

The Klingons can do ok with marines (due to a lot of transporters), as they are otherwise already dangerous (see: disruptors and drones), but still, unless the scenario is designed to maximize marine use, they are probably still only using marines for the occasional opportunistic hit and run attack and/or when they already are winning the game, and a capture attempt seems viable. But even then, they probably aren't going into the game with a plan of "get close and marine attack" (unless that the is point of the scenario).

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 01:52 pm: Edit

LOOKIE!

Jean is putting the Omega MRB on DriveThru and to do that requires a color cover that doesn't actually exist. She told Simone to "go do something" and I gave Simone very helpful and specific instructions which she completely ignored. The result is this:

By Randy Blair (Randyblair) on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 02:41 pm: Edit

Despite the fact that I care not one bit about Omega, I sure like this cover.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 02:42 pm: Edit

Very nice!

Would it be possible to add in a sample of the Module Omega 5 cover also? (Not least since the 2011 update to the OMRB added in the material from that volume.)

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 03:03 pm: Edit

Gary, I don't see how without messing up the symmetry or making the hexes much smaller.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 03:08 pm: Edit

Perhaps by moving the background hexes a half-step upwards, and having two images on either side of the central hex image?

As in, from:

-4-
3-1
-2-

To:

1-4
-5-
3-2

Or some such.

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 03:42 pm: Edit

It is SVC's call about how much more Simone time we can afford on this cover that is only for PDFs.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 03:58 pm: Edit

As is noted, it makes the graphics smaller to go with the revised layout Gary is proposing (all the hexes would have to be made smaller to accommodate the change), it messes with the symmetry we have now in the layout, and, I am sorry, is just not worth Simone's time.

Old Russian saying: "Better is the enemy of good enough." We need to put time into new things, not keep revisiting the old for merely cosmetic reasons, and this is (sorry Gary) merely cosmetic. Making the proposed change will not sell one more book.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 04:32 pm: Edit

There is room to move the covers sideways one column and move the left single to be part of a right side double, and one might argue that Simone should have done that, but doing so will cost money and won't sell another book.

Anybody wants to go to the cart and "donate' $15 by way of "misc" then I'll have her do it.

By Stephen Parrish (Steveparrish) on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 04:39 pm: Edit

I think that one problem with getting people to play the Omega races might be that they are generally slow compared to the Alphas. If they had more warp power, so as to be equal with the Alphas, they would be better matches against the Alphas, and people might play them more.

Could there be some sort of official or semi-official upgrade list of the Omega's warp power?

Just a thought.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Monday, December 22, 2014 - 12:20 am: Edit

I like the updated cover art, thank you!

By David Schultz (Ikvavenger) on Monday, December 22, 2014 - 08:35 pm: Edit

Stephen Parrish wrote:

"I think that one problem with getting people to play the Omega races might be that they are generally slow compared to the Alphas. If they had more warp power, so as to be equal with the Alphas, they would be better matches against the Alphas, and people might play them more.

Could there be some sort of official or semi-official upgrade list of the Omega's warp power?

Just a thought".

Agreed, Omega is slower than Alpha (by design). One of the projects (unofficial) has been an Omega to Alpha [O2A] conversion. In our FTF games we don't use Omega in-and-of-itself. Rather we have inserted a number of races into the Alpha Octant and redesigned the map. We've included the Maesron, Koligahr, Vari and Hivers and I'm currently working on unofficial conversions at the moment.

That would make for an interesting Captain's Log article or section now that I think of it. Depends on how much interest exists though.