>It was called Mantis and
>it was ghastly, as one might expect of a space combat game
>utilizing Newtonian physics and "realistic" weapons-in-space
>expectations (beyond-line-of-sight targeting etc). Unplayable
>and boring, which is not a combination many games have managed.

On the pen-and-paper front, the Battletech people released a space combat module (called variously over the years Battlespace, Aerotech, and probably something else now, and it takes the term "logicistical nightmare" to new and exciting places. There was a separate worksheet just for tracking the velocity vector and fuel consumption of your ships, and it was every bit as un-exciting as it sounds.

"This is probably a stupid question, but . . ."