Intercept Orbit Demo Rules Draft

[Shades_Corvid]

Inspired/Based on Vincent's Demo Rules

Rules Left Out/Modified

• No Aces
• HVA Does not move
• No Collision/Ramming rules
• No Space Debris
• Companies get half fuel or infinite fuel (I am not sure which here)
• Doom Clock at 6, No Counting Down the Clock (Which I am not sure is mention in the IO rule book?)
• Set Points Values: Ships, Companies and HVA is worth 5 points each or HVA is 10 points while Ships and Companies are 5 or Ships and HVA is 5 while companies are 0 points. (Not sure which one works the best yet)

3 Players/Teams Ideal

Each Player/Team with have 2 Ships: 1 Capital Ship and 1 Frigate

All Capital Ships are fitted as follows:


• 1 Frame Catapult System
• 1 Spot System
• 1 Defense System
• 1 Weapon System. Not sure if it should be Assault or Point Range but leaning more toward Assault Range.

Frigates are fitted as follow:


• 1 Spot System
• 1 Defense System
• 1 Weapon System
  1 Player/Team with a Support Range Weapon System aka Support Fire Frigate
  1 Player/Team with a Assault Range Weapon System aka Assault Fire Frigate
  1 Player/Team with a Point Range System aka Frame Hunter Frigate

Setup


• About 2 ruler and half size playing field
• Place HVA at Center
• Place each fleet in their own sector with one ship about a ruler and half away from HVA

Feedback?

[VitorFaria]

To me, the best demo for IO is simply to play RA.

I'm not sure if I would ever recommend IO for a completely new player that never heard of MF0.

[Shades_Corvid]

To me, the best demo for IO is simply to play RA.

I'm not sure if I would ever recommend IO for a completely new player that never heard of MF0.

There could be people that are more interested in IO then RA. Also you might want to start with a demo then jumping into the full version.

[VitorFaria]

There could be people that are more interested in IO then RA. Also you might want to start with a demo then jumping into the full version.

Fair enough. You could still just use RA rules with ships instead of mecha, maybe introducing the cost to turn in it.

[Shades_Corvid]

Fair enough. You could still just use RA rules with ships instead of mecha, maybe introducing the cost to turn in it.

I feel like your telling me to use Star Wars: Imperial Assault to teach Star Wars: X-Wing

[Mantisking]

Inspired/Based on Vincent's Demo Rules

Rules Left Out/Modified

• No Aces. (Works for me.)
• HVA Does not move. (Works for me.)
• No Collision/Ramming rules. (Works for me.)
• No Space Debris. (You still need a little terrain on the board.)
• Companies get half fuel or infinite fuel (I am not sure which here). (I'd say half Fuel, get 'em used to ticking the dice down.)
• Doom Clock at 6, No Counting Down the Clock (Which I am not sure is mention in the IO rule book?). (No counting down the clock? Why bother having it?)
• Set Points Values: Ships, Companies and HVA is worth 5 points each or HVA is 10 points while Ships and Companies are 5 or Ships and HVA is 5 while companies are 0 points. (Not sure which one works the best yet). (All Assets are 5 points.)

3 Players/Teams Ideal

Each Player/Team with have 2 Ships: 1 Capital Ship and 1 Frigate

All Capital Ships are fitted as follows:

• 1 Frame Catapult System
• 1 Spot System
• 1 Defense System
• 1 Weapon System. Not sure if it should be Assault or Point Range but leaning more toward Assault Range. (Assault Range. Otherwise the fleet with this and the "Frame Hunter Frigate" won't be able to engage any of their opponents at range.)

Frigates are fitted as follow:

• 1 Spot System
• 1 Defense System
• 1 Weapon System
  1 Player/Team with a Support Range Weapon System aka Support Fire Frigate
  1 Player/Team with a Assault Range Weapon System aka Assault Fire Frigate
  1 Player/Team with a Point Range System aka Frame Hunter Frigate

Setup

• About 2 ruler and half size playing field
• Place HVA at Center
• Place each fleet in their own sector with one ship about a ruler and half away from HVA

Feedback?

See my notes in the text.

[VitorFaria]

I feel like your telling me to use Star Wars: Imperial Assault to teach Star Wars: X-Wing

Never played any of those games so I have no idea.

IO base mechanics is clearly based of RA basic mechanics and RA does have simpler rules. Not sure if the same applies to these games you mentioned.

[Blorf]

I can see this from both sides. I think the answer might be to explain that the game is easier to learn if you can play RA; and ask if RA would interest them. If so, switch to RA and come back to IO later. If not, or if you don't have enough kit to play RA nearby, then a set of IO-specific demo rules would be helpful to have.

[CmdrRook]

I think rather than comparing IO to RA, we should be looking at the Demo Rules for RA vs the full rules for RA.

Demo rules didn't remove more mechanics than SSRs and construction rules. Cover, range, double-systems, et cetera are all a distinct and important parts of showing the flexibility of the system, otherwise you're simply playing chess with dice.

My recommendation is the diversify the builds a bit more, leave obstacles in, and allow each player access to an Ace. Aces are HUGELY important to IO, maybe even more-so than the loadout of any other single ship. More than once, I've heard the recommendation that your fleet construction should be influenced by the role and tactics that your Ace and squadrons will play.

Also, the comparison would more likely be X-wing to Armada, but that's nitpicking.

[VitorFaria]

I can see this from both sides. I think the answer might be to explain that the game is easier to learn if you can play RA; and ask if RA would interest them. If so, switch to RA and come back to IO later. If not, or if you don't have enough kit to play RA nearby, then a set of IO-specific demo rules would be helpful to have.

Yeah, I think that's right.

[Shades_Corvid]

Rules Left Out/Modified


• No Space Debris. (You still need a little terrain on the board.)

This is most likely right. I was leaning toward this because so little in a regular game would it be bad for a smaller table? Just less pieces like 3-4?

Companies get half fuel or infinite fuel (I am not sure which here). (I'd say half Fuel, get 'em used to ticking the dice down.)

Yeah, this is also the right call.

Doom Clock at 6, No Counting Down the Clock (Which I am not sure is mention in the IO rule book?). (No counting down the clock? Why bother having it?)

This is a typo or something. I mean players don't force the clock to do down faster.

Set Points Values: Ships, Companies and HVA is worth 5 points each or HVA is 10 points while Ships and Companies are 5 or Ships and HVA is 5 while companies are 0 points. (Not sure which one works the best yet). (All Assets are 5 points.)

Agreed

Each Player/Team with have 2 Ships: 1 Capital Ship and 1 Frigate

All Capital Ships are fitted as follows:

• 1 Weapon System. Not sure if it should be Assault or Point Range but leaning more toward Assault Range. (Assault Range. Otherwise the fleet with this and the "Frame Hunter Frigate" won't be able to engage any of their opponents at range.)

I didn't think about that, you are completely right. Totally go with Assault.

[Shades_Corvid]

I think rather than comparing IO to RA, we should be looking at the Demo Rules for RA vs the full rules for RA.

Demo rules didn't remove more mechanics than SSRs and construction rules. Cover, range, double-systems, et cetera are all a distinct and important parts of showing the flexibility of the system, otherwise you're simply playing chess with dice.

My recommendation is the diversify the builds a bit more, leave obstacles in, and allow each player access to an Ace. Aces are HUGELY important to IO, maybe even more-so than the loadout of any other single ship. More than once, I've heard the recommendation that your fleet construction should be influenced by the role and tactics that your Ace and squadrons will play.

Also, the comparison would more likely be X-wing to Armada, but that's nitpicking.

I am not denying the importance of aces but I think introducing their extra mechanics isn't good for a demo.

[CmdrRook]

I am not denying the importance of aces but I think introducing their extra mechanics isn't good for a demo.

A lot of folks struggle understanding Spotting Systems (timing and usefulness) during their first RA demo, but I'd argue that omitting it entirely would be more detrimental than beneficial. It would certainly misrepresent a huge part of the game, mechanically as well as tactically. Perhaps a judicious choice of which Aces to include would be a good compromise between displaying the game and what it has to offer while being digestible to the first-time players at the table.

[Shades_Corvid]

A lot of folks struggle understanding Spotting Systems (timing and usefulness) during their first RA demo, but I'd argue that omitting it entirely would be more detrimental than beneficial. It would certainly misrepresent a huge part of the game, mechanically as well as tactically. Perhaps a judicious choice of which Aces to include would be a good compromise between displaying the game and what it has to offer while being digestible to the first-time players at the table.

Still doesn't feel right, maybe as a second demo thing.I would certainly talk about the Aces a little during the demo maybe but certainly do it after. I do that with RA, a hint about what is in a full game and certainly talk about it after. Doing an IO demo in the same fashion wouldn't be any different.

[Shades_Corvid]

Updated Draft

Inspired/Based on Vincent's Demo Rules

Rules Left Out/Modified

• No Aces
• HVA Does not move
• No Collision/Ramming rules
• Limited Space Debris, 3-4 pieces.
• Companies get half fuel
• Doom Clock at 6, Players can't force the clock down faster.
• Set Points Values: All assets are 5 points

3 Players/Teams Ideal

Each Player/Team with have 2 Ships: 1 Capital Ship and 1 Frigate

All Capital Ships are fitted as follows:


• 1 Frame Catapult System
• 1 Spot System
• 1 Defense System
• 1 Assault Range Weapon System

Frigates are fitted as follow:


• 1 Spot System
• 1 Defense System
• 1 Weapon System
  1 Player/Team with a Support Range Weapon System aka Support Fire Frigate
  1 Player/Team with a Assault Range Weapon System aka Assault Fire Frigate
  1 Player/Team with a Point Range System aka Point Fire Frigate

Setup


• About 2 ruler and half size playing field
• Place HVA at Center
• Place each fleet in their own sector with one ship about a ruler and half away from HVA

Feedback?

[VitorFaria]

This is maturing really well.

Still don't get why not counting down the doomsday clock, thou. It's not all that hard to explain or grasp, in my opinion.

[Shades_Corvid]

This is maturing really well.

Still don't get why not counting down the doomsday clock, thou. It's not all that hard to explain or grasp, in my opinion.

1) I think it will be forgotten in the dynamic of a demo game, there is no reason for anyone to 'cook the clock' until they have scored the lead somehow, 2) It feels like taking away time from the people I am trying to demo too.

[Shades_Corvid]

Totally forget Joshua put out Demo rules of his own!!!