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Contents

Welcome to the Full Thrust FAQ.

The maintainer of the list Tim Jones can be contacted by email (to minimise spambots PLEASE do not reference or use this address on any web page or usenet posting) or on the gzg-l mailing list.

This is a collaborative work with the questions and answers being a synthesis of the postings to the FTGZG-L mailing list by many people over many years.

Any additions, comments and corrections or alternative interpretations are invited, directly to the maintainer.

Always remember:

Don't play the rules, play the game

 

Glossary

A B C D E F G I H J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

ADAF
Area Defence Anti Fighter, a system to defend an area against missile and fighter attacks (FT2)

ADFC
Area Defence Fire Control, a system to defend an area against missile and fighter attacks (FB1)

CF
Crew factor

CEF
Combat Endurance Factor

DCP
Damage Control Party

DP
Damage Point

ECM
Electronic Counter Measures, a way of jamming sensors

ECCM
Electronic Counter Counter Measures, a way of neutralising jamming

EFSB
Earth Force Source Book, a role playing module for the Babylon Project RPG containing an FT Babylon 5 system, written by Jon Tuffley

EMP
Electro Magnetic Pulse, a big burst of electro magnetic radiation that will fry electronic circuits

ER
Enhanced Range, a long range type of Salvo Missile

ESU
Eurasian Solar Union, a major power from the FT background, consisting of the USSR and China

FB
Fleet Book (volume 1)

FB1
Fleet Book volume 1

FB2
Fleet Book volume 2

FCS
Fire Control System, a system to control and target offensive weaponary

FCT
Free Cal-Tex

FD
Free Dutch

FSE
Federal Stats Europa, a major power from the FT background, consisting of France

FT
Full Thrust (second edition)

FTFB
Full Thrust Fleet Book Volume 1

FT1 / FTI
Full Thrust first edition

FT2 / FTII
Full Thrust second edition

FT3 / FTIII
Full Thrust third edition (unpublished)

FTL
Faster Than Light, the name for the drive system that allows ships to exceed C the speed of light

GM
Game Master or umpire, runs a PBEM game or adjudicates a board game

GMU
Game Movement Unit(s), the unit of movement in the game, by default one inch but can be any unit for example centimetres. See also MU

GZG
Ground Zero Games, the publisher of Full Thrust

IC
Indonesian Commonwealth

IF
Islamic Federation

K-gun
A Kra'vak grav powered projectile weapon

KV
An abbreviation for the Kra'vak, an aggressive (Predator like) alien race

LLAR
League Latin American Republics

LSS
Life Support System, a core system (FB1)

MKP
Multiple Kinetic Penetrator pack a Kra'Vak one-shot weapon

MT
More Thrust, a supplement to FT2 now deprecated

MU
Movement Unit(s), the unit of movement in the game, by default one inch but can be any unit for example centimetres. See also GMU

NAC
New Anglian Confederation, a major power from the FT background, consisting of the UK, USA and Canada

NPV
Nominal Points Value, the effective cost of a ship in game terms, used to balance forces so that players have equal points (FB1 design system)

NSL
Neu Swabian League, a major power from the FT background, consisting of Germany

ORC
Out Rim Coalition, a minor power from the FT background

OU
Oceanic Union

PAU
Pan Africa Union

PBEM
Play By Electronic Mail, playing an FT game remotely using eMail

PB
Plasma Bolt

PBL
Plasma Bolt Launcher, a phalon area effect weapon

PDAF
Point Defence Anti Fighter, a system to defend against missile and fighter attacks (FT2)

PDS
Point Defence System, a system to defend against missile and fighter attacks (FB1)

PP
Power Points

PT
Pulse Torpedo

RG
Rail Gun, see K-gun

RH
Romanov Hedgemoney

SG
Scattergun a Kra'vak one-shot weapon

SML
Salvo Missile Launcher, a multiple missile launching system (FB1)

SMM
Salvo Missile Magazine, ammunition supply for a SML (FB1)

SMR
Salvo Missile Rack, an eternally mounted Salvo Missile Launcher (FB1)

SSD
Systems Status Display, an iconic representation of the ships systems

SV
An abbreviation for the Sa'vasku, an enimagtic alien race

TMC
Total Mass Cost, the effective size and weight of a ship design (FB1 design system)

UNSC
United Nations Space Command

 

 

Resources

 

WWW

Meta FAQ http://steve.pugh.net/grunt/meta-faq.txt
contains general and contact information on Ground Zero Games, their international distributors, their products and internet resources related to them.

Painting FAQ http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/3565/ft-painting-faq.html
contains specific colour schemes for the FT Fleets produced by GZG, plus ideas for other backgrounds and general painting advice.

The Ground Zero Games Online Catalogue http://www.gtns.net/gzg
The latest ranges from GZG

The GeoHex Online Catalogue http://www.geohex.com/
The GZG distributer for the Americas

Eureka Miniatures http://www.eurekamin.com.au/
The GZG distributer for Asia Pacific

Chameleon Eclectic http://www.chameleon-eclectic.com
Producer of The Babylon Project RPG and EFSB

The Unofficial FT WWW Page http://www.uwm.edu/~cthulhu/ft/index.htm
the first major FT web site, contains links and general information

The Full Thrust Network Webring http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=ftnet;list
a webring devoted to Ground Zero Games in general and containing many FT resources

The Full Thrust Archives http://www.warpfish.com/jhan/ft/
A large and comprehensive archive of all the discussions on the FTGZG-L eMail list from 1996 to the present day and the new gzg-l list. The archive is available in HTML and text formats and has a built in search engine and threaded posts. It can also be searched from AltaVista if you use the right keywords.

The Unofficial GZG Encyclopedia Galactica http://www.warpfish.com/jhan/ft/gzgpedia
Large collaborative work of unofficial background information for the GZG universe. Includes a very good stellar cartography section.

Indy's player location page http://www.bcpl.net/~indy/full-thrust/location.html
Tell's you where in the world there are GZG players and allow you to register your location and GZG interests.

The Full Thrust Ship Registry http://www.ftsr.org
The largest repository of player ship designs, with facilities to submit a new design

The Spaceship Miniature Game List http://www.crosswinds.net/san-francisco/~granvold/index.html
A huge comprehensive list of every spaceship combat game and manufacturer ever

Full Thrust Computer Core http://www.geocities.com/fullthrustweb/index.html
Dedicated page for FT computer utilities, play and design aids, fonts and graphics

Full Thrust Distributors

Ground Zero Games UK/Europe
Jon Tuffley jon@gzg.com

Ground Zero Games
PO Box 337
Needham Market
Suffolk
IP6 8LN
UK

 T/F: +44 (0)1449 722322
Geo-Hex USA/Canada /S.America
Kieran Rohan (KR) geohex@teleport.com
Geo-Hex
2126 Noth Lewis
Oregon
97227
USA 		T: +503-288-4805
Eureka Miniatures Australasia
Nic Robson nicr@eurekamin.com.au
Eureka Miniatures
10 Woorayl Street
Carnegie
Victoria
3136
Australia 		T: +3-9568-4085

gzg-l
gzg-digest

A Mailing list for on-topic discussion of GZG games in general.

To sign on send to

majordomo@csua.berkeley.edu

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subscribe gzg-l

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Keep the eMail you receive when you sign on, this contains important details about the list, including instructions on how to sign off.

List admininstrator

Matthew Seidl seidl@vex.cs.colorado.edu

List rules

If you break them you will get a warning and then you will be barred:

ftgzg-computer

A Mailing list for discussion of computers and GZG games.

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List administrator

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General

What do I need to play Full Thrust?
All you really need is the Full Thrust Second Edition rule book, dice, a tape measure or ruler and some space to play in. In the book are the templates, order sheets and counters to play the starting scenario.

Do I need lots of miniatures to start?
No, the starting scenario is played out with 2 medium and three small ships a side. Unlike other games there are no minimums to the number you require to make up a force. This is because all ships are payed for in points, so you could have one very large ship worth a lot of points on one side and lots of smaller ships on the other.

Do I have to use special miniatures?
One of the most refreshing things that I found when I first read the Full Thrust rule book and played the game was the open and frank way that they advised people on collecting fleets. There was no buy our ships or else, in fact it was quite the opposite, they went to great lengths to stress that you can use anyone's ships, they also provide in the Full Thrust book information and the address's of manufacturers of ships and equipment for Full Thrust.

How much space do I need?
It does depend on speedm and the scale you are using, but from about 1 metre or 3'6" square will do for a start. You can go up to as much space as you have available.

How long will it take me to learn the rules?
One of the most often quote saying about Full Thrust is that the basic rules can be picked up in about 10 to 15 mins. The basic rules are simple but well done and do not change once you have learnt them. The addition rules can be learnt at your own pace but it should not take more than a game or two with the new rules to learn them fully.

What are the best forces to start with?
One of the earth forces are the best to start, there is no difference between them. I would avoid the Kra'Vak and other aliens until you have played the game a bit. The reason for this is their rules appear in More Thrust, which is the expansion for Full Thrust. They can also be tricky to use and introduce quite a few extra rules for a beginner on their first few games.

Where can I find other players in my area?
There is an online resources for player locations.

Indy's player location page http://scivax.stsci.edu/~kochte/location.html

In addition there always several PBeM games going on around the internet. These are normally announced on the GZG mailing list.

Please do not ask general questions on the GZG mailing list like where are you in the world as it generates a huge amount of noise on the list and is against the list rules.

What are the common ship designations such as DD?
For real-world terrestrial ships the first letters are:

Jane's lists the surface ship type abbreviations as (*non-Jane's):

What is the scale used in FT?
The ground cale is never explicitly stated. An generally accepted value calculated from the orbital information in MT is a distance scale of 1000km per MU and a time scale of 20 minutes per turn.

Do you measure before declaring fire?
This should be decided on as a house rule before playing.

How do you measure range?
Typically on miniatures it is from the centre points of each stand. With multi stand ships designate one as the datum point. With counters it is usually from counter centre to centre. With a computer based game its simple maths on the location positions.

Has anyone come up with campaign rules for Full Thrust?
There is nothing official apart from section 9 in FT2. There are a lot of posts on the FT eMail list archive and several sites on the FT webring with campaign rules.

What are the official colours for the GZG FT fleet?
This is summarised in the FT Painting FAQ http:\\server\

Are there any maps of the FT universe?
Nothing official yet, but some very nice campaign maps can be found at the Expansion campaign site http://www.netspace.net.au/~sneakin/expansion/expansion.html

Full Thrust - Second Edition (FT2)

What is Full Thrust - 2nd edition?
This is the second edition of the Full Thrust, the rules for tactical space combat.

Full Thrust is designed to be generic set of space combat rules that can easily be adapted for any space combat background. Its great strengths are its simplicity and speed of play and above all any rule can be modified if agreed by all concerned.

The game system has a construction and points system based on the mass of the ship and the available hull size for the ship class. Various ship systems are defined and these can be included into the ship design until the mass is used up.

The game plays in a sequence of turns with the writing of simple movement orders followed by the movement and firing and damage. The game caters for small ships of escort size to large capital ships and includes options for fighters. An optional background is provided to go along with the ship miniatures available from GZG. However most fun is had adapting it to a popular existing background or one of your own. If you want to know more details then you will have to buy the game.

What does Full Thrust contain?

What is the fire arc of a submunitions pack ?
The submunitions pack has only one 90 degree fire arc (60 degree in FB1). You can position the fire arc to fire in any single arc direction (excluding rear arc), but you can not purchase addition arcs for the weapon.

Do pulse torpedoes require a separate firecon per tube, or do they simply require a dedicated firecon per target?
A dedicated firecon per target. The rules state that torpedoes (plural) require a single firecon:


engaging a target with Torpedoes requires the use of one Fire Control system, which may not also be used to direct Beam Batteries that turn

For damage points and MASS available for weapons/systems do you round up or down on odd MASS ships?
The rules don't explicitly state what to do. A special hull can have any MASS up to 100, so odd number hulls are possible and the hull classification breakpoints on page 29 have odd MASS values. Unfortunatly all the design examples are for even MASS hulls. The spirit of the rules is to divide the MASS evenly between the damage points and that available to weapons/systems. So the designer chooses on how to do the odd MASS split, so that available MASS to damage points and weapons/systems is as equal as possible. One side of the split will gain the extra MASS point. Rounding up or down isn't used as it either gives advantages or disadvantages to using odd MASS hulls, which encourages mini-maxing.

For example, on a MASS 19 special hull you can either choose 9 damage points and 10 MASS for systems, or 10 damage points and 9 MASS for systems. This makes odd MASS hulls no better or worse than their even counterparts.

Can ships smaller than captials carry fighters?
No, the design system only allows for large captial or supership class ships to carry fighters.

What is a Carrier?
The ship classes that can carry fighters in FT2 are Battledreadnought, Superdreadnought, Light Carrier and Fleet Carrier, see page 16. For a design to be classed as any of these they would need to have a similar MASS as page 14 and design as the SSD on page 15. Of these only the dedicated Light and Fleet Carriers can launch two fighter groups per turn. Carriers follow the spirit of these designs.

Other suggested house rules are if the ship has 4 or more hangars or if it carries more MASS in fighters than other offensive systems it can be classed a Carrier.

Alternatively if your game background has something designated a carrier then it should behave as one, for example Battlestars and Star Destroyers.

Alternatively use the semi-official fighter launch and recovery rules

Why cant a Carrier launch all its fighters in one turn, given a turn is about 15 minutes?

Jon Tuffley suggests:
As a [semi-official] suggestion, how about launch full complement in one turn (based on earlier comments about turn length), and recover 50% (rounded up) of full complement? Thus a ship with five groups embarked could launch them all, but recover only three per turn.

Gets away from having to define carriers in terms of game function - carrier just becomes a descriptive term applied to any ship that has a large percentage of its payload devoted to fighter bays.

Crated fighters carried in cargo or in fleet auxiliaries should only be used to replace losses between games in campaign settings - transfer from cargo to launch bays, assembly/uncrating, prep-up, tests/checks and everything else should be way outside the game timespan.

How fast can carriers recover fighters?
Page 16 states, ONE fighter group may be recovered per turn.

Can carriers launch and recover in the same turn?
There is no stated rule for this. Use a house rule, a suggestion is that they can't.

How long do fighters take to refuel / re-arm?
There is no stated rule for this. Use a house rule, some suggestions are:

Do fighters cause missiles and mines to attack?
No, the mine rules on page 18 seem specific to ships as do the missile rules on MT page 3.

How far do fighters move after immediate launch?
If using the FT2 movement sequence the fighter get full movement, after all ships have moved, from their launch point. If using MT turn sequence the fighters move before ships so would get no movement on the turn of launch. A house rule is to allow half their maximum movement at launch.

In breaking off a dogfight can the attacking group follow (assuming it hasn't moved yet this turn) and initiate another dogfight, with the same group?
FT page 17 last column states that if a group breaks away from a dogfight the other may take a parting shot, then move as normal, but may not attack a second time that turn.

Jon Tuffley has since suggested this house rule based on the FB extensions:

I see no reason why not. Provided the pursuers can catch the fleeing group (ie: assuming they are not a slower type of fighter), then I would think they can attack again. Looked at in real terms, what happens is that one group disengages, giving their opponents a clear free shot at their turned tails, then the other group decides to pursue and finish them off - for the sake of game mechanics, assume they catch up to them wherever the first group finish their move, and another brief furball ensues. Maybe if you want to give the fleeing group a chance to get away altogether, you might choose to allow them to burn a CEF for an additional move if they want, while denying the pursuers the chance to do this (perhaps on the PSB that they've had to spend a little time re-organising themselves after the first dogfight, and are thus a little way behind the escaping group) - but that's just an idea......

Can you move to port and starboard in the same turn?
The core rules say that you can't and that all turns are in the same direction. A common house rule allows a turn to port and starboard in the same turn, allowing a sideslip maoeuvre.

If I have an odd thrust ship how much thrust can I use for course changes?
From page 6:

if the ship has an ODD number of Thrust points available, the portion that may be expended on Course changing is rounded UP, eg: a ship with Thrust Rating of 5 could alter Course up to 3 points per Game Turn

Note in FB1 the rules now round ODD Thrust available for course change DOWN

Does applying thrust affect the ship's velocity in the turn in which the thrust is used, or does it affect the ship's velocity for the next turn?
Well, the official answer is that it affects the V in the turn the thrust is used - ie: if you're doing velocity 6, and thrust 4 to accelerate to 10, you move 10MU in the turn that the thrust order relates to. I'd always assumed that was pretty clear, but maybe that's just because no-one has ever queried it with me before!

Can you spin turn on the turn that you decelerate to zero speed, or do you need to be at zero speed before the turn starts in order to perform a spin turn?
From page 7:

A ship with a velocity of zero (ie:stationary) may, in its movement phase, be rotated on the spot to any desired Course, irrespective of available Thrust or normal limitations on Course changes. The ship may NOT make any actual movement or apply any other Thrust in that Game Turn.

If you're decelerating to a stand-still, you are applying any other Thrust and therefore is not allowed to spin to any direction (you can, of course, turn the normal amount).

A Batteries are so cost effective why should I design a ship with anything else?
This is known anomaly in the design costs and a suggested house rule to stop design abuse is to increase their MASS to 4.

If a ship passes two thresholds in one shot, do you do the system checks twice?
Yes.

How do you calculate the number of crew in a ship?
The FB ships use 1 Mass of ship = 1 crew member, but there is nothing in the rules stating this. MT specifies the size of the Marine contingent aboard each ship, but gives no relation between the size of the crew and the number of Marines.

The real answer is, of course, that the exact size of the crew is completely arbitrary - what is important is the relative size of the crew (in comparision with other games), and you can (and the rules do) use the ship's Mass for that purpose. The actual number of crew members aren't used in any game calculations.

More Thrust (MT)

What is More Thrust?
More Thrust is a supplement to Full Thrust - 2nd edition (FT2). It contains additional rules to use with FT2.

Is More Thrust still revelant after Fleet Book Volume 2?
Not really MT is mostly at odds with the rules in Fleet Book Volumes 1 and 2. Only refer to it for rules that are not covered in the Fleet Books.

Do I need Full Thrust to be able to use More Thrust?
Yes, More Thrust is not a standalone product but a supplement.

What does More Thrust contain?

How was the ship on the cover of More Thrust painted?
The FT108 on the MT cover was painted by Dave Garnham (who now works for us at GZG), many years ago. As far as I can remember, it was painted overall blue and then each raised panel individually painted in white (with a brush).

When a ship strikes its colours does the other side have to do anything to it (i.e. put on a boarding party or something) or does it just quietly slink out of the way?
This is one of the incomplete rules from MT. The rules don't say anything explicit about the effects of surrendering, so it's all up to the players to decide prior to the battle. The ship is effectively out of the game.

Do missiles require a Firecon?
Yes, one firecon must be allocated during the missile launch phase. The firecon can be used again for direct fire weapons in the same turn, this is to prevent the need to track which firecons have been used.

Can Screens, Reflex Field, and Cloaking Field be mounted on the same ship?
In theory yes. In practice it is too unbalancing and such cheese designs are discouraged. Reflex Fields and Cloaking Fields are designed for specific fictional backgrounds and are not designed to be intermixed.

Can a ship travel using FTL drive when cloaked?
The Cloaking Field is designed for a Star Trek background and in that background some ships can FTL when cloaked. A house rule can allow or disallow FTL when cloaked, just decide before playing.

For how many turns must a cloaked ship write movement orders when it engages the Cloaking Field?
None. When engaging the Cloaking Field the movement order must state how many turns it will remain cloaked. For each of these subsequent turns it must write orders in the usual way, that is you don't have to write all the orders for all the cloaked turns when you engage the Cloaking Field.

When a ship de-cloaks, when is it placed on the table?
At the start of its movement turn, that is at the same point in play that it cloaked. It then replays its accumulated orders for the cloaked turns from its cloak marker and then the orders for this turn.

Does a Cloaked ship need to show itself if it decides to remain cloaked?
Yes, it must appear after the number of written cloaked turns and replay the accumulated orders for the cloaked turns. For the turn it de-cloaks it may have written new cloaking orders. In that case the cloak marker is moved to the final location point of the ship after replaying the accumulated orders and the usual cloak sequence is reapplied. This is like a submarine popping up its periscope to view the surface and then diving again.

Can a cloaked ship attack another ship?
As this is a Star Trek device it depends on the ship you may be using as special prototypes can fire when cloaked, while the vast majority of ships can't. The spirit of the rules on page 4 suggest you can't attack when cloaked as you have no targetting data. Decide on this according to background or house rules.

Can a wave gun be mounted on Cruisers?
Yes, if they have enough spare MASS, there are no explicit class restrictions on this weapon.

Do Wave Guns and Nova Cannons effect Fighters or Missiles?
Yes they effect all ships and objects in the area of effect including fighters and missiles and always inflict enough damage points to destroy all of them utterly.

Do Wave Guns & Nova Cannons effect Cloaked Ships?
Yes, but determining where they are in respect to the template is tricky as it will give away their position. An umpire would be required to sort it out while everyone looked away. Mixing these systems is probably not a good idea as they are designed to be used with specific different backgrounds.

Can a single ship be damaged by the Wave Gun or Nova Cannon twice if the template covers it twice?
 For a Wave Gun don't count the damage twice as the wave effect is over a single turn, take the most damaging template if there is an overlap. For a Nova cannon the area effect is over several turns and all ships in the template take damage each turn from that template.

Can C beams in anti-fighter mode target any fighter group within 6MU?
No, they may only target fighter groups that are attacking the ship directly as they operate like a PDAF not an ADAF.

Do Kra'Vak scatterguns require a firecon in anti-fighter mode?
No, they only require a firecon in anti-ship mode, per target, see page 26.

Can Kra'Vak scatterguns target missiles?
No, the rules on page 26 explicitly state fighters and ships only. Use Kra'Vak superior thrust to evade.

If converting to the Fleet Book, it is suggested as a house rule, that they can be used against salvo missiles. Roll a d6 and the result is the number of salvo missiles destroyed before the salvo missiles roll for being on target. Any remaining salvo missiles then roll for being on target in the usual way. This can also be extended for MT missiles for consistency. A single MT missile can be targetted by a scattergun within 6MU, as it always does at least one point of damage the missile is always destoyed.

In anti-missile mode the scattergun doesn't require a firecontrol, as it's the same as anti-fighter mode.

Can Kra'Vak scatterguns fire out the rear arc on a turn when the main drive was running?
Yes, this is an explicit exception to the rear arc rule.

Why do the Kra'Vak always win when we have point balanced fleets?
This is because they are more powerful than their points cost indicates. Until this is fixed in FB2, a good rule of thumb is to use the 3:2 ratio between Human and Kra'Vak points. For every 3 points the Humans the Kra'Vak get the 2. For example a human fleet of 1500 points would be balanced against a Kra'vak fleet of 1000 points.

Do the Sa'vasku designs have a points cost
No, they are too enigmatic/unpredictable for that. A suggested house rule is:

Earth Force Source Book (EFSB)

Do I need Full Thrust to be able to use EFSB?
No, EFSB is a standalone product.

Do you need the Babylon Project RPG rulebook to use the space combat rules in the EFSB?
Not really there is a section for player character control but you don't need to use for space combat as its optional.

Why is the Earth Force Source Book in a Full Thrust FAQ?
The EFSB combat rules were written by Jon Tuffley who wrote Full Thrust. They are derived from the basic FT2 rules and are of interest to FT players in the Babylon 5 universe.

Why does it cost 1 point per facing change using thrusters in EFSB, while in FB1 it costs 1 point for any number of facing changes?
It was felt that the cost of 1 point per facing change was too high for FB1 ships with low thrust drives. You can use either version in either game if you prefer.

Can heavy beams have a range modifier greater than -6?
No, the rules are not explicit enough at this point - the HB should not be able to hit when the modifier gets to -6, so its maximum range is 36mu. The reroll only counts if you inflict some damage with the initial hit roll.

At 6MU and less you do you auto hit with heavy beam weapons?
Yes, you auto hit. They have a 60 degree arc which makes them a little more difficult to target. In the show, once in arc, they rarely miss at close range.

Can a fighter group that has been engaged by a fighter screen and survived then fire on an appropriate active ship in the combat phase?
No, if the attacking fighter group has been engaged by a fighter screen they cannot then attack in this combat phase.

Can a fighter group that have engaged in and survived a dogfight then fire on an appropriate active ship in the combat phase?
No, if the attacking fighter group choose to dogfight, the survivors cannot then attack their original target in the same combat phase.

Can non-screening fighter group defend a friendly ship from attack by an enemy fighter group?
Yes, but the attacking fighter group has a choice to make. They can either break off the attack and dogfight the non-screening fighter group, in which case they cannot attack their target in the same combat phase. Alternatively they can ignore the non-screening group, take losses from an unopposed dogfight (they can't fire back) and then the remaining fighters in the group, attack their target in the same combat phase.

When declaring targets for fighter groups, shouldn't this declaration alternate among the players as with movement?
Yes, you should alternate.

Can a fighter group screen another friendly ship?
Yes, a fighter group can screen any friendly ship.

Can anti-fighter weapons shoot at fighter groups that aren't engaging your ship?
Yes, EFSB page 84, Anti-Fighter Batteries: An Anti-Fighter Battery may shoot at one Fighter Group that is within its specific arc of fire, and is within 6 MU. The Fighter Group does not have to actually be making an attack on the ship.

Fighter engagements are resolved when the target ship becomes active. Is damage by fighter weapons resolved before the target ship has a chance to fire its main weapons?
Yes, EFSB page 72, Summary of Turn table:

4) Combat Phase. Ships and fighers fire weapons.
4a) Ship selection. Choose Active Ship and resolve fighter attacks against it.
4b) Weapons fire. Active Ship fires on other targets.

We're not sure about the order of attacks when a non-screening fighter group engages enemy fighters that are engaging a friendly ship. The rules discuss treating independent dogfights like ships that can activate, but this only applies to "free" fighters (not screening or engaging ships). The rules also discuss how screening fighters engage attacking fighters. But I don't know when non-screening fighters dogfight the fighters engaging a friendly ship. Do you treat them just like screening fighters, so the dogfight is resolved when the target ship becomes active?
 If the target ship activated before resolving the non screening fighter dogfight on the would be attackers then in theory the attackers could attack without being involved in the dogfight. This is against the spirit of the game in that the non screening dogfight should happen to prevent the attack. Either make it a house rule that when a target ship is activated an attackers with non screening dogfights must resolve the dogfight then, that is make them behave like screening fighters. Or make sure you activate your dogfights before activating the ships under potential fighter attack.

What are the effects of energy mines on fighters?
There is no explicit rule on this. But 1 point of damage kills any fighter, and the Energy Mine attacks all targets in range so I'd say that any fighter within 6 MU of an exploding Energy Mine is dead. This ruling is influenced by similar rules for the Nova Cannon and Wavegun from FT2 and MT, though.

The cacscade roll in the text says 'greater than' the previous threshold row roll, but the example is 'equal to' the previous threshold row roll. so should it be 'greater or equal' or is the example wrong?
The example is correct - greater than or equal to the previous threshold roll. The wording in the rule is ambiguous.

If you receive three threshold checks from a single attack, should you roll once or twice for catastrophic damage?
You roll once. If you fail that roll, you lose another row of damage boxes and roll once more for catastrophic damage; repeat until the ship dies or it manages a check.

Fleet Book - Volume 1 (FB1)

Do I need Full Thrust to be able to use the Fleet Book?
Yes and No, FB1 is nearly a standalone product and a supplement for Full Thrust. It does however reference the systems in FT and MT and provides the bridge between FT2 and FT3.

What does the Fleet Book Volume 1 contain?
Full Thrust Fleet Book : Volume 1 Warships of the Major Powers : 2183

Is there a list of errata for the Fleet Book Volume 1?
Errata for the Fleet Book : Volume 1, as of October 1998:

With any book, you start to notice the typos as soon as it comes back from the printers.... there are several in the Fleet Book Vol.1, most of them in the boxes of text for each ship's specifications. The ones listed here are those that have been spotted so far, and there may be a few more lurking in obscure places. The most important thing is that of the ones we've found or had pointed out to us, in all cases the SYSTEMS STATUS DISPLAY panels (the bits that you actually use to play the game) are CORRECT. The majority of the typos are in the text boxes where the ship specs are written out, which is annoying but not a serious problem, but we have listed them all here for players' convenience.

Page 3: Under "Thruster Pushes", 2nd paragraph: the text reads "6 manoeuvre points" whereas it should read 3.

Page 11: We managed to leave the Points Cost for HULL ARMOUR out of the Mass and Cost table; Armour boxes should be costed at 2 x MASS used (ie: 2 points per Armour box), exactly as for Hull Integrity and Drive Systems costs.

The sample design is wrong. A level one screen for a Mass 85 ship is 4.25 (round down to 4) mass but the design lists it as 5 mass. The point cost is 3 X MASS or 12 not, but the listing shows 15. The cost for the SM magazine is also incorrect, 3 standard load, 2 MASS each, 6 total MASS, point cost is 3 X MASS or 18, but listing shows 12.

Page 12: In the "Ship classifications and Mass ratings" table, the entry for "Patrol or Escort Cruiser" should have the abbreviation "CE", not "E" as printed.

Page 15: TICONDEROGA CLASS DESTROYER: The Points Value (NPV) of this ship should read 100, not 41. The Procurement Cost should read 1000 MUcr, not 410.

Page 16: FURIOUS CLASS ESCORT CRUISER: Thrust Rating for this ship is 4, as shown on the Systems Display; the Technical Specifications box lists it as 6, which is incorrect.

Page 16: VANDENBURG CLASS HEAVY CRUISER: There is a Pulse Torpedo system listed in the Tech Specs which should not be there; the Systems Display panel is correct.

Page 17: MAJESTIC CLASS BATTLECRUISER: There is an ADFC system listed in the Tech Specs which should not be there; the Systems Display panel is correct.

Page 19: ARK ROYAL CLASS FLEET SUPERCARRIER: There is a superfluous "crew factor" star next to one of the PDS Systems on the Systems Display, which should be ignored. (We believe this is actually Able Spacehand Eugene P. Funk, who is in hiding to avoid being put on Damage Control detail again...)

Page 25: SZENT ISTVAN CLASS BATTLEDREADNOUGHT: There are only 3 PDS systems listed in the Tech Specs; there should be 4. The Systems Display panel is correct.

Page 26: DER THEUERDANK CLASS FIGHTER CARRIER: The SSD is incorrect and should show only 14 armour boxes not 15. The technical specification is correct. The crew factor should be 11 not 10 as stated in the technical specification and SSD.

Page 33: JEANNE D'ARC CLASS FLEET CARRIER: There are only 3 Fighter Bays listed in the Tech Specs; there should be 7. The Systems Display panel is correct.

Page 36: VOLGA CLASS SUPER DESTROYER: There is only 1 PDS System listed in the Tech Specs; there should be 2. The Systems Display panel is correct.

Page 36: TIBET CLASS LIGHT CRUISER: There is only 1 Fire Control System listed in the Tech Specs; there should be 2. The Systems Display panel is correct.

Page 39: ROSTOV CLASS BATTLEDREADNOUGHT: The descriptive text box for this ship is incorrect; it is a copy of the text for the Manchuria Class. The text box for the Rostov should read:

The Rostov is the BDN class of the "family" of ship designs from the Tsien-Valkov design bureau, which began with the Manchuria BCs at the start of the 2170s. All of the designs are well armed and protected, with good drive power, and are giving the ESU Navy a much-needed boost in its strike capabilities. As with most BDNs, the Rostov carries a single embarked fighter group for both anti-shipping and ground support operations. Five built-to-order Rostovs were exported to the Pan African Union between 2178 and 79, to form the major battleline strength of the PAU's rapidly-expanding and modernising navy; this sale was purely a political move, which somewhat upset the ESU Admiralty who (understandably) felt that their own requirements for replacement fleet units should have taken priority.

Page 42: ASSAULT TRANSPORT: Includes the costs of the landers, this should have been noted in the design box. It has a NPV of 359 as shown. Adding a Level-1 screen will bring it to NPV 377.

Note

Several false errata have been reported due to the fact that the designs in the Fleet Book that have hangar bays do not usually have the cost of the craft in those bays included (except the ASSAULT TRANSPORT on Page 42)

On the subject of errata, we've done a reprint run of FB1 at the same time as FB2, and we've taken the opportunity to fix all the errors in the first printing. Nothing else has changed (except our new logo is now on the cover in place of the old version), so you don't need to rush out and get another copy (unless you REALLY want to of course, in which case we won't turn your money away....) but all the mistakes that we'd spotted or had pointed out to us should now be fixed in all the copies we are selling from now on. -Ground Zero Games

Can you roll ships in cinematic movement?
Yes.

Do the reroll on sixes for penetrationg damage, continue on until you stop rolling sixes?
Yes. This is explicitly stated on page 5, Rerolls (penetrating damage), second paragraph.

Enhanced Pulse Torpedo damage is split between armor and hull. Is the split per die or total damage when multiple PTs hit?
Per die.

Does the Enhanced Pulse Torpedo require a Firecon?
Yes, the Firecon ruling for FT2 still applies, though Jon Tuffley states:

I think for the FB2 rules we should drop the firecon limitation for PTs and treat them just as any other weapon system

The summary sheet mentions limited anti-ship capability for Point Defence Systems, but no mention is made in the text?
The rules in the summary chart - page 12 - are valid as written.

What is the behavior of class 1 beams used as PDS firing at heavy fighters?
Heavy fighters take damage from class 1 beams just as normal fighters, and gain no extra benefit.

What is the range of Enhanced Range Salvo Missile Launcher?
ER SML range is 36 MU, see page 12.

When a SML is bought it is bought empty?
Yes you only buy the launch tube you have to have a magazine to supply it.

Can more than one SM magazine serve an SML?
No, it is prohibited see page 9

any one Launcher system may only be fed by ONE magazine, though a single magazine may feed more than one launcher.

If the SML gets hit do you loose the missile in it?
The Salvo Missiles are always held in the magazine, they are never in the SML long enough to be able to be damaged there. Hits to the SML only damage the SML and do not effect any unlaunced missiles in the magazine. Hits to an SMR damage the rack and the missiles it contains.

If a magazine for a salvo missile launcher is lost to a threshold test and then subsequently repaired do you get the remaining missiles back?
Use the house rule that either all the missiles are lost or roll for each salvo individually as a repair roll.

Can a SML target a fighter group?
No.

Do SML's require a Firecon?
The official ruling is that the ship needs to have an operating firecon available during the SML launch phase of the turn (just one irrespective of how many salvoes are fired), but that firecon can then also be used during the main fire phase of the same turn to fire other weapons. This is simply a rule mechanism to avoid having to remember or record which firecons have been used up from phase to phase. A ship that has lost all Firecon capability cannot fire SLMs (or any other weapons).

What are the possible firing arcs for a SML?
Three adjacent arcs as indicated by the symbol, it is not possible to buy extra arcs for a single launcher.

Where in the turn sequence do the MT missiles launch and move in?
The Fleet Book doesn't really cover MT weapon system use in any detail. It is suggested that they are activated during the salvo missile phase.

Can a fighter screen intercept a More Thrust missile?
Yes, the rules state missile salvo and these include MT missile salvoes.

Can a fighter screen intercept a salvo missile?
Yes, this is explicitly stated on page 9.

Can a non screening fighter group intercept a salvo missile?
This is not explicitly stated as being possible, only screening fighters can intercept missiles. If you allow it then it is suggested the fighters intercept against the total number of missiles in the salvo (i.e. six) rather than those that are on target.

Can a fighter screen, screen a fighter group?
No, only ships can be screened. However, in reality this is such a common occurrence, that it is an acceptable house rule to allow it.

I'd probably rule that the two (or more) groups have to be in base-to-base contact (models permitting) and get moved together.

Can Area Defence Fire Controls target all fighters/missiles within 6MU of the ship, just as the original ADAFs could?
No, only those attacking friendly ships or the ship itself. The ability to allow it to attack all fighters/missiles should be considered a common house rule.

How many fighters can be launched/recovered in a turn?
At present, same as FT2, a Carrier can launch 2 groups per turn while other fighter carrying ships can launch one group per turn. All fighter carrying ships can recover one group per turn.

What is a Carrier now that all ships can carry fighters?
Determining what constitutes a carrier is flexible. A suggested determination is based on the Carrier designs in FT2 and in FB1.

Do fighters have an attack arc?
No, fighters no longer have an attack arc. Like missile salvoes, they may now attack anything within 6MU reach irrespective of direction.

Do torpedo fighters apply half damage to armor as per pulse torps?
Yes.

Do interceptors add their +1 dogfighting bonus against missiles?
Yes.

Do fighters reroll sixes?
Yes. Fighters are assumed to be armed with beams.

Does the +1 attack bonus of attack fighters give rerolls on a five or six or only when the dice actually reads six?
Rolls of six only.

How does the +1 attack bonus of attack fighters work with level 2 screens?
1 point on 4, 5 or 6.

Do fighters use vector movement?
No, fighters use abstract non-vector movement to simplify play. If you prefer to use vector movement for them, then feel free to do so as a house rule.

Are sensors still in use?
You can still use the MT sensor rules if you wish; we will be revising them for FT3, which is why we've just kept to the basic FT2 sensors in FB1.

If I have an odd thrust ship how much thrust can I use for course changes?
Half the thrust rounded down, from page 5:

to determine the thrust available for course changes the thrust rating is halved (as normal) but is rounded DOWN

Can thrust one ships still turn?
Yes this is an excpetion to the rule that course change thrust is rounded DOWN. The thrust one ship could be by design or a damaged thrust 2 ship.

Can damaged thrust one ships still turn?
No, a thrust one drive is considered destroyed after one threshold hit, you cannot have a thrust of 0.5.

In vector movement does the restriction on ROTATIONS or PUSHES to one each only apply if you combine them. Would it be OK to have two rotations or two pushes in one turn so long as there is no combination of the two?
Original intent was for only ONE of each manoeuvre per turn, so I suppose this should be considered the [OFFICIAL] ruling; however, there is no reason why you shouldn't allow multiple rotations IF that suits the style of game you want, and all your playing group agree.

Can you have more than 1 attempt at repairing a damaged system each turn. If you use different DCP's?
According to the Fleet Book page 8:

For ships with multiple DCPs, more than one may be allocated to a single repair job at one time; one DCP on its own will manage to bring a system back on-line on a roll of 6, and each additional DCP on the same job reduces this needed number by 1. The maximum limit of DCPs on a single job is THREE, so that the highest chance of repairing a system is 50% (4+ on a D6) if three teams are allocated to do it. Note that ALL teams put on one systems in a single turn make just the ONE roll.

Thus, only one DC repair roll may be made for a given system during a single turn, but up to 3 DC parties may work together to improve the chance of repair.

Is the damage from needle beams still regarded as unable to be repaired by DCP's?
Yes. Loss of a system at a threshold check can be considered as potentially-repairable damage to control runs, power feeds, targetting arrays or whatever, whereas damage by needle beams is specifically physical damage to the actual system (eg: blowing the weapon mount to bits).

Fleet Book - Volume 2 (FB2)

Do I need Full Thrust to be able to use the Fleet Book?
Yes and No, FB2 is nearly a standalone product and a supplement for Full Thrust. It does however reference or deprecate the systems in MT and provides the bridge between FT2 and FT3.

What does the Fleet Book Volume 2 contain?


Is there a list of errata for the Fleet Book Volume 2?
Preliminary Errata for the Fleet Book : Volume 2, as of October 2000:

Page 10: "Hangar Bays" say that KV fighter bays only cost 18pts each. That's wrong; they cost 27pts each just like human bays.

Page 13: DI'TOK: Technical Specifications shouldn't be in italics.

Page 18: DO'SAN : Technical Specifications that the ship only has 1x Class-1 K-gun. This is incorrect; it has 3x Class-1 K-guns as indicated on the SSD.

Page 18: KO'SAN: 3 Fire Control Systems are missing from the SSD, the Technical Specificationss are correct.

Page 30: TY'SA'TETH: The background text small task froces should read small task forces.

Page 34: XENO FILE 3: THE PHALONS: page missing in very early copies.

Page 35: HULL INTEGRITY AND "SHELL" ARMOUR: the 4th paragraph incorrectly states shell boxes cost 2 points each, the 5th paragraph correctly states that their cost per box is 2 x layer number.

Page 36: PLASMA BOLT LAUNCHERS: Clarification, any missile or fighter caught within the burst radius of an exploding PBL is automatically destroyed (as for all other area effect weapons).

Page 36: "Hangar Bays": Says that Phalon bays cost 18 pts. That's wrong; they cost 27pts just like human and Kra'Vak ones.

Page 41: HUULTH: SSD shows 3 CFs while the technical specification says 4 CFs and is correct.

Page 45: PHALON WEAPONS AND DEFENCES SUMMARY: PULSER BATTERIES: Says that Level-2 screens and Vapour Shrouds negate rolls of 4 or 5. This is incorrect; Shrouds and Screens affect Pulsers in exactly the same way as they affect human beams (see pp36 para 13).

Page 45: PHALON WEAPONS AND DEFENCES SUMMARY: PLASMA BOLT LAUNCHERS: effects of shields and Vapour Shrouds are missing (see pp36 para 13)

Was anything done to bring MT style missiles up to date?
No, this will be covered by FB3 or FT3.

Was anything done to Plasma Torpedoes so that they no longer need a dedicated Fire Control System?
No. AFAIK it is officially approved, but since the P-torpedo is a human weapon it seems more appropriate to publish that modification in FB3

Can Sa'Vasku carriers absorb the biomass of drones from other ships?
The rules explicitly say they can. FB2 pp 23, "Drone Fighters", 2nd paragraph.

When and if recovered by their broodship (or any other Sa'Vasku ships with a functional drone womb)...

At what point in the turn sequence do the fighter pilots make a morale check?
To answer the question, we've explicitly included this in the turn sequence list in FB2 now, because it was a point that needed clarification. The rule is that the test is taken after all point-defence fire against the fighter group has been resolved, but before they make their attack - so if they take any more losses from PDS fire they are even more likely to break off before completing the attack run.

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