Drone life

[Hod K'el]

I've always counted a "turn" as going from the impulse the drone was launched on:

Turn X, Impulse 3 Seeking Weapons Phase: Drone #1 launched.
Turn X+1, Impulse 3 SWP: Drone #1 is 1 turn old
Turn X+2, Impulse 3 SWP: Drone #1 is 2 turns old
Turn X+3, Impulse 3 SWP: Drone #1 is 3 turns old, remove from board.

That way all drones have the same lifespan. I have to keep track of the launching ship and drone counter number anyway (for control channels, and to remove drones fired by a ship that subsequently drops tracking or gets destroyed) so it's no big sweat to add the turn/impulse of launch.

I like playing it this way also since it fits Newtonian Laws better and is easier to teach.