Saturday Afternoon Schedule at GZG-ECC V

Enjoy the thrill of racing? Enjoy blowing other ships into smithereens? Do you like BIG HAIR^TM?

If you answered yes to any of the previous questions, then this event is for you.

Imagine having tons of high performance Centauri microcarbonate alloy around you, with top of the line modified racing engines, a smattering of Centa-plast© armor, encapsulated computer controlled Instaject© seating, and to top it all off... WEAPONS!

Yes, you heard me correctly, WEAPONS! And not just any weapons, these are right off the shelf or development floor and into your racer. Several weapons manufacturers have graciously donated some of the latest in weapons technology. From miniature missiles to plasma accelerators, we've got it all!

Still not enough for you? What about MONEY? What about HONOR! Some of the most influential Houses of the Centauri Empire are sponsoring this race. So not only are you getting to drive the latest in technology, fire the latest weaponry, and defend the Honor of your favorite House, you're getting 20,000 Credits on top of that! WOW! How can you beat that?!?

What? You need more? Okay then, how about bringing your friends so you can show them that you ARE the best pilot in the known galaxy! Or, even better, bring people you don't like and inflict upon them the beating that you can't outside a starship.

So come on, join in the fun and tell all your friends about this (Heck, tell your enemies too!).

Centauri Racing is based on heavily modified Vorchan Class Light Cruisers and weapon systems. Difficulty level: Light to Moderate (Hint: If you've never tried vector movement, go slow.) The winner will be chosen on a point based system. Talk to the GM for details. There will be multiple ship designs available, so no one gets bored with a stock ship. The modification of these ships were based on Aaron Newman's Point System; the ships have only very minor point differences. Go to Aaron Newman's B5 site at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/6990/b5.html for more details. If you have any questions additional questions, email me at Michael_richie@hotmail.com.

Aboard Omega Algernon:
Originating Message Location: Light Fantastic Nebula
From the bridge:

'Sir we are receiving an incoming distress signal, broadband. It's being relayed by a passing frieghter sir. (squelch)".. this is Deep Purple bound for Babylon5. This is a repeated audio repeated distress message only. 'S.O.S. Research Vessel YaTang. Priority One Distress. Level Three Earth Gov Response Requested. (squelching, underlying encryption sub frequency can be heard.) S.O.S. .....' Reference vector 132mark144mark165by200Gibs Reference vector 101mark233mark99by200Gibs of Beacon Serial 20367329. ...this is" Mr. Crown get Earth Gov on Gold channel asap.'

Objectives:

1. Search for the Research Vessel Yatang
2. Recover the Research Vessel Yatang
3. Recover the crew of the Research Vessel Yatang

Impairments:
Due to the nature of this Nebula both sensors and jump point formation are restricted. Sensors are limited to 6" radius at beginning of turn. Something may be interferring with sensors. Due to sensor restriction, searching must be done string-of-pearls to start. Use your fighters. A squadron will represent a string-of-pearls in a vertical direction allowing for better depth sensing in the 3D of space. Jump points may not be formed while sensors are impaired. Jump points will still take a minimum of 1 to 2 turns after formation to stabilize in the Nebula. Be warned, there may be distortions in realspace even when jumping.

This event is a "Bring Your Own Squad" Stargrunt II game, in which the players are competing for resources in a confined environment.

This year sees the ruling family of the planet Fromage III (scene of last year's ugly Carnage between various UN peacekeeping forces) up to their old tricks. A group of UN Observers, sent to mediate a peace between Fromage sponsored rebels and the local government, is blockaded by the Fromage Navy during a "fact finding" trip to a desolate rural area. Near starvation, they manage to get a message out. Famous starship Captain Monterey "Jack" Colby runs the blockade, a sends a single supply rocket in to the UN forces. Unfortunately, the rocket misses, and spills the supplies over a wide area. The UN Observer Group security elements are sent to gather the food, but hostilities break out as each team tries to gather the supplies for themselves. Even worse for the international community, ace GNN combat correspondent Brun Hilda, hero of Fromage III, is on hand to record the unfolding events.

Players must create a squad-size force using the simple building rules provided. Each squad will have to gather as many supply containers as they can while protecting their supplies from the other squads. Penalties may be incurred if fighting breaks out between squads that can be seen by the GM controlled Brun Hilda and her cameraman. The GM will give special Event Cards to players to balance out the relative strengths of the competing forces. Players can choose to create a really cheesy and powerful squad, but will receive fewer Special Event Cards. Those who choose to gamble on a weaker force will receive more cards, and have greater opportunities for sneakiness and guile. The player with the most supply points at the end of the game wins the coveted title of "Cheese King"! Players are encouraged to be as creative as they can in building their squads. Last year saw Nuns with Guns, Obi Wan Kenobi and others competing for the prize title...

The Carnage Con Queso game, founded by Mike Sarno at last year's GZG-ECC, should be a fun break from "serious" gaming.

Players who have registered for the event, or are considering doing so, should visit the Carnage Con Queso Revenge of the Media page on www.stargrunt.ca. This page has full details of the event including background, special scenario rules, victory conditions, and the squad building system.