With all the squadrons, games are taking longer... this is just an idea to play quick games on a weeknight.

150pt Games

• Only Small Ships
• Up to 100pt of Squadrons
• All Squadrons Have Rogue
• Rogue Get... (should they get a speed 1 move before or after or to add a dice from their anti-squadron battery to the attack pool?)

OK, here's the big difference...

• Ships automatically get the Nav Command each turn
• No Titles or Uniques
• Commands* (Should you be able to take tokens?)

*Navigate - Command (Squadrons get +1 Speed);

Concentrate Fire - Command (Use your Flak Dice but count the range as one band higher);

Squadron - Add one blue dice to your squadrons.

Engineering - Each point adds a shield.

Missions: Could be just win or lose... meant for one side to achieve and one to stop?

Get from point A to point B.

Protect the Station... station has X Hull (say 10).

Control (3 patrol asteroids)... you gotta get one squadron there that is not engaged. Score 1 point for each turn this happens. Most points win.

Damage on the capital ships. One point for each damage.

We'll have so many squadrons with the CC and Wave 5... might as well play with the toys in a faster environment?

I'm all on board for the alternate styles of play, in terms of something other than the 400-point standard format, but why these specific rule changes?

Is there a story-based justification? Do these amendments create a better balanced at the 150-point level?

The emphasis is that it's all about the squadrons so I think ship commands should just help squadrons. Also, when patrols meet (maybe somebody in the real Navy can comment), I doubt the patrol ships ever seek to destroy each other... it's really probing right because you want to report back on what happened?

IF your going to do vairants...

Patrol variant....

Fleet limitations....example due to background... the VSD was used for patrolling the outrim < 50% Sqns, only 1 medium based ship, then small based /flottilas

Attacker - reach your opponents deployment zone and carry out a long range system scan* (mission rule instead of firing roll 1 red dice per command level, once you have 3 natural accuracies you have scanned the Sector and either found the enemy fleet Or proven that they are not here, Sqns may also do this using their bomber die counting each accuracy as a half (so 6 required))

Defender - keep the attacker out of your deployment zone. For each turn after the 3rd the attacker needs 1 extra accuracy.

Game length 8 turns.

Escalation Variant....

Normal fleets, each admiral divides their fleet into 3. Deploy element one

Attacker - Turn 2 element 2 arrives on deployment board edge, with element 3 arriving turn 4

Defender -from turn 3 roll a red die for each element , hit your deployment edge, crit the short edge closest to the attacker, accuracy the short edge furthest away from the attackers ships, on a blank the element doesnt come on.