Houston, we have a problem

As the game that was going to be called StarStrike nears completion, there's a list of things I always check through:
One of them is making sure I won't find myself in legal trouble or step on anyone's toes.

Unfortunately, it transpires that there is indeed an existing product called StarStrike, a supplement for the old Spacemaster RPG.

That's a little too close for comfort, which means finding a new title.

"Cosmic Strike" is not taken, from what I can tell, though it may sound too much like a spaceship game (though to be fair, so did StarStrike)

Other possibilities that have come to mind:

Frontier World Encounters

Unified Space Territory

Beyond the Perimeter

Elimination Principlie


Any suggestions?
I'd prefer avoiding a title that is "xxx and yyy" (ala Dungeons and Dragons).

Points values

Designing points systems for wargames is of course a lesson in pain and futility.

A lot of factors are at play: Different things combine with each other in unpredictable ways and you have to constantly balance between keeping things simple (and often more broken) or less broken (and more complex).

Then you have issues like the gaming table (an open table means long range weapons are more valuable f.x.) and even the gaming group (if nobody in a group plays close combat oriented armies, then they'll find a different focus).

My usual tradition as I work on a points system is to put together some approximate values (for StarStrike, I am using an actual formula), then go backwards and add up some of the test battles that have been played out, and see how they compare.

Currently,about a 10-25% variance in points across a few tests, but then... does that mean the formula is off or that the battles were?

In the end, at some point, you just have say "it's good enough" and go with it.
Of course, a benefit of PDF publishing is that going back and adjusting the values is quite easy.

How much stuff will be in StarStrike?

Ya'll tired of me talking about it?

You can start badgering me about the next project :)
6mm something but what? ww2? Scifi?

Anyways, a quick count:

11 basic troop types (from gang member to elite assassin)
9 basic armour types
20 character traits that can be applied to a unit or individual.
5 character traits specific to leaders.
5 character traits specific to psionics
23 infantry weapons
8 close combat weapons
14 heavy weapons
6 grenade types
5 types of anti-tank charges (though they mostly differ in strength)
9 items of equipment
21 vehicle profiles split across 6 types (wheel, track, walker, strider, grav, floater)
8 vehicle upgrades
5 unique human troop types
14 alien races
8 psionic powers
5 monster profiles
4 hostile plant types
5 animal types

StarStrike and aliens

As mentioned, the alien list will look like the one in No Stars in Sight.

I wanted to share what that might look like, in StarStrike terms, so below, you will find "The Swift", which are no doubt completely original and never seen before in science fiction roleplaying games...

THE SWIFT

Humanoid aliens of diminutive stature, often winged with reptilian features. Swift can exhibit a variety of characteristics but being a small, sentient species likely to have developed on worlds with large, powerful predators tends to give them a certain flighty and erratic demeanour.

They often follow a caste system with each member fitting into certain roles for which they have been raised their whole lives.

The Fringe

Nobody knows the origin of the small, winged lizards known commonly as “The Swift”. Colonies of them can be found almost everywhere, usually in clusters of nearby worlds.

Researchers speculate that the colonies were originally founded as part of a galaxy spanning migration but the reasons, starting point or eventual origin is not known and the Swift themselves are not forthcoming with explanations, if they are even aware of them any longer.

Swift colonies tend to mind their own business though they are often attracted to archeological digs and ancient artifacts, causing conflict with explorers and treasure hunters.

Suitable miniatures:

Any small, winged humanoid miniatures will suffice.

Troop profile:

Swift do not use any of the human troop classes. Instead, select from the ones listed below.

They have a variety of armour types, adapted to their physiology.

These correspond to human armour types and are selected as normal.

	Discipline	Morale	Training
Drone	3	6	3
Warrior	4	7	6
Director	5	9	7
Scout	3	8	6

Traits

All Swift have the following traits.

Winged	Increase Speed by +1. Swift on a terrain feature may leap down, landing anywhere within double the movement permitted by their orders.This takes up all of their movement for that activation.
Slight	-1 to hand-to-hand combat rolls. If a combat ends in a draw, the figure will retreat 3” and neither figure takes a hit.
Slippery	Figures that go Heads Down in the open may move 3” to reach cover.

Leaders and Scouts may have additional traits, selected as normal. Warriors and Drones never have additional traits.

Troop classes

Only Directors may function as a Leader in game terms.

Individual figures must be of the Director or Scout class.

Only Director and Scout individuals may be heroes.

Swift may be psions with no caste restrictions.

Troop organization

Drone and Warrior units may not detach individuals. 

StarStrike progress

Working on aliens and battlefield terrain right now.
I'm happy to report that the latter section will include things like ice worlds and angry plant life.

Basic rules, combat, psionics, heroes etc. are all done.

Vehicles need a few tweaks.

Everything is coming along nicely.

The biggest haul in the end will be the unit building systems, but hopefully they'll also be pretty fun to write.

Beer time

Brush War is here
http://www.wargamevault.com/product/147407/Not-Just-a-Brush-War-Brush-war-campaigns-for-any-war-game-system

Go grab it, do your thing, defend your imaginary nation from angry neighbours, insurgents and freedom fighters.
Who knows? Maybe you'll end up on TV.

StarStrike proceeds apace, with vehicle stats (or the first attempt at them, in any event).
Still uncertain of how deadly antitank weapons will be. Leaning towards pretty lethal but we'll see.

I kind of like the idea of a future setting where tanks are more like mobile gun platforms than armoured behemoths but people do like their tank models.

Brush War delay

The Brush War supplement may be delayed by a few days.
Had hoped for it to be uploaded for sale today, but things conspired so with all best wishes, hopefully by Tuesday or so.

Possible rules to test

Between StarStrike and Brush War, I knocked together a basic framework for ww2 (and possibly beyond) platoon level skirmish.

It's only 3 pages but if you are curious, give it a look and let me know if it's something that's worth building out more or if it's too weird.

Note that this isn't really a replacement for FiveCore or In Sight, as much as a possible third "leg" of game engines to build things for. Think of it as a tech demo :)

http://weaselfierce.webs.com/bringthebrowning.pdf

Comment or email with what you think. If anyone can get some figures on the table and test, that'd be even better.