General Info
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 is a house rule?
This is a semi official rule that can be used if all players agree.
What are the common ship designations such as DD?
For real-world terrestrial ships the first letters are:
F - Frigate
D - Destroyer
C - Cruiser or Carrier
B - Battleship
S - Submarine
Jane's lists the surface ship type abbreviations as (*non-Jane's):
AD - Destroyer Tender
AE - Ammunition Ship
AEFS - Fleet Replenishment Ship
AFS - Combat Stores Ship
AG - Miscellaneous
AGF - Miscellaneous Command Ship
AG/FF - Frigate/FAC Support Ship
AGOR - Oceanographic Research Ships
AGS - Survey Ship
AGM - Missile Range Instrumentation Ship
AH - Hospital Ship
AO - Oiler
AOE - Fast Combat Support Ship
AOF(L) - Large Fleet Tanker
AOF(S) - Small Fleet Tanker
AOR - Replenishment Oiler
AOS - Support Tanker
APA - Amphibious Transport
AR - Repair Ship
ARS - Salvage Ship
AS - Submarine Tender
ASR - Submarine Rescue Ship
ATS - Salvage and Rescue Ship
AVT - Auxiliary Aircraft Landing Training Ship
BB - Battleship
BC * Battlecruiser
BDN * Battle Dreadnought
CA - Gun Cruiser
CG - Guided Missile Cruiser
CGH - Light Aircraft Carrier
CGN - Guided Missile Cruiser (nuclear powered)
CH * Heavy Cruiser
CL - Light Cruiser
CLT - Light Cruiser, Training
CT * Corvette
CV - Multi-Purpose Carrier
CVA - Attack Carrier
CVE * Escort Carrier
CVH - Helicopter Carrier * Heavy Carrier
CVL - Light Carrier
CVN - Multi-Purpose Carrier (nuclear powered)
CVS - Antisubmarine Warfare Carrier
DD - Destroyer
DG/DDG - Guided missile destroyer (including Surface-to-Air missiles)
DH * Heavy/Super Destroyer
DN * Dreadnought
E * Escort
FF - Frigate
FFG - Guided Missile Frigate (including Surface-to-Air missiles)
FFL - Light Frigate
HSS - Helicopter Support Ship
LCC - Amphibious Command Ship
LHA - Amphibious Assault Ship (General Purpose)
LHD - Amphibious Assault Ship (Multi-Purpose)
LKA - Amphibious Cargo Ship
LPD - Amphibious Transport Dock
LPH - Amphibious Assault Ship (Helicopter)
LSD - Dock Landing Ship
LSI - Landing Ship, Infantry
LSL - Landing Ship, Logistic
LST - Tank Landing Ship
MCM - Mine Countermeasure Ship
ML - Minelayer
MSO - Minesweeper, Ocean
SDN * Super Dreadnought
SC * Scout or Courier
TCD - Landing Ship Dock
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
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