Four, and @Canadian_Errant has just said he’s interested too so that’s five. I’ll get things set up shortly.
A general invitation: I’m driving all this off my own code so I can change stuff. Let me know if things could be clearer. (The main element at the moment is ships, particularly Cardassian and Ferengi ones that blend in a bit too well. Thinking about how to deal with that.)
Paulson Nebula… we made a house rule variant and that system is removed from our games. Considered too strong for a free research token every turn…
It doesn’t seem especially powerful to me. Frankly I’d rather have a system with a colony and a research node, which would do a similar job (although the hasty research is helpful). I’m still limited to one tech at a time currently.
I may be mad, but how is it a free research token every turn?
Hazard 6 is survivable, but it still costs a Command and a ship on station. The thing I find interesting is that that ship cannot also be a hedge against invasion.
But I thought you could just warp past anyway?
I suppose you can camp ships in there and not poke the hazard, which I think would stop people warping last unless they had a trade agreement?
With a normal phenomenon sitting there would work, but Paulson specifically cancels that blocking.
(I’m tempted to use “It Takes a Fleet” in a future game, i.e. you can warp past individual enemy ships if you want to. Still mulling.)
Delighted to have that next to my home world then 
This is why I was thinking “underpowered” - in Paulson, you can’t use the same ship both as an invasion-stopper and as a research-harvester. Interested to see @Delwayne’s take.
I was referring to just the fact (in early game turn) a ship can just park there and get a research token (almost every turn), and with shield 1 it would be automatic, unless other players’ ships were there and then it would end up being just a Player Turn order thing. And yes, it would cost a command token.
If a player got that system early well within their boundaries and away from any rivals; one command for one research token isn’t so bad a thing.
Fair - McAllister’s also H6, without the special ability.
LoL, and that is why we have that one removed as well.
I’d still rather have a research base… no risk and no cost after the outlay, and colonies could also be producing up to three resources a turn for no cost. I suppose they can get invaded, which this big sky cloud can’t, but as you say, you can lose out via the turn order. This really doesn’t seem too overpowered to me. However, the Mighty Klingon Scientists in our Glorious Empire can not possibly fail with their nebula poking, so I’m assured, so I think that’s okay.
I think I prefer the temporal anomaly honestly, riskier but the command rebate is great! I’d swap both for some actual colonies though. Maybe they’re better if you are the puny Federation with its pathetic reliance on weakling technology?
Roger, would you be willing to host a special Variant ST:A game? Titled “Where no one has gone before”. The important and new variant is sort of how we did a Hidden Movement of Axis & Allies. Basically all players are totally alone and unknown. For instance, in a 6 player game:
Players and the moderator are the only ones communicating until "First Contact’ is made. Then as contact is made, the rest of the Galaxy gets revealed as well as where each player is located among the others. Everything else is the same. Its just that the moderator will be coordinating separately and then has to combine the maps once contacts are made. If not you, then I guess I’d be the host/moderator. This is for a future game.
This sounds amazing
Sure, happy to give it a try. As I see it, everyone would start at the “top” of their own personal board.
Hmm, how do you know when you can make first contact - charge off “south” and see whether you run into anything?
Basically the moderator will have a board setup for each player, and then a master one for himself. As players move, his master board will be able to tell if a possible contact could be made.
So if a player made an “in and out of warp to explore a new system” command, and if it shows on the master board that a certain (already played system from another player is within reach… that is the system it will be connected to. When first contact is made, it will not be until a turn or two later that the rest of that players galaxy gets known to that new player.
Can you publicly communicate with unseen players?
You the host will also already know everyone’s “true” location in the galaxy. Everyone else will not know that at all in the beginning. So no one knows who their immediate neighbors are. Nor how well they are developing their galaxy as well as all their tech, shields, and weapons. All will be revealed when “contact” is made. BUT only between those players, (unless others are connected to them as well).