Special Update

A heatwave and lack of internet has kept me from posting the update for a
while. It will return to normalcy soon. In meantime, I have continually
retweaked Medium Assault for simplicity and playability, and it looks good
at the moment. Here are the current rules:

Each team starts with one base and three heavy cruisers. Goal is to capture
all bases to stop other teams from rebuilding. To capture a base, travel to
it and defeat any enemies guarding it. To use a base for repair, you must
sit on it for one turn (for friendly bases) two turns (for unclaimed bases)
or three turns (for enemy bases, after all enemy forces defeated). For
respawn, you must sit on it for two turns (for friendly bases) three turns
(for unclaimed bases) or four turns (for enemy bases, after all enemy forces
defeated).

Once you have three bases, your total goes up six ships (which you can place
as you like), which is the maximum number you can have. If you lose bases,
you retain those ships gained.

Once you have three bases, you are subect to one random encounter from
pirate forces while in transit between bases. 1d6 (4-6) for random encounter
(1d6 roll, 1-2, 3-5, 6) pirate forces consisting of:
A) one heavy cruiser (1,2)
B) two destroyers (3-5)
C) three frigates (6)

Bases have no offensive capabilities and are not targetable.

I am also working on a very short scenario, kind of a mini-game, where you
encounter a damaged ally ship. You have five volleys to repair the ship (by
rolling a 1d6 and subtracting the result from its damage) before enemies
show up. Obviously, the more you can repair the damaged ally, the longer it
can hang in the fight. I'm thinking about moving the scenario into a black
hole accretion disc, just to add sauce.

There is also the concept of a tourney-fest, where you start combat in a
frigate and work your way up to a dreadnought. I have played that before,
but was unimpressed. The concept is a good one, but it obviously needs work.

I also created the bigger cousin to a DEFSAT. This is the Weapon Platform.
It has a multiplier of 7, but takes 100 points of damage. So it doesn't pack
a huge punch, but it has a really really thick skin. It comes across as a
legit and challenging aspect, and I can see obvious uses in a longer
mission. (Imagine, for example, having to infiltrate a heavy asteroid belt,
being intercepted by enemy frigates enroute, then finding their base, built
within an asteroid-based weapon platform. You have to overcome the defenses
and then beam a boarding party on board to free prisoners and download the
enemy database. All of that is playable with these minigames)

I do have July and August calendar images, but the heatwave has been
crippling. Expect the July image soon, and the August image at the first of
the month.