A brief AAR, some feedback on cover/prone/kneeling and some other comments

Last night I played a battle of 9 OU (5 vet, 3 reg, 1 grn) versus 6 KV (2 reg,
3 vet, 1 elite). I used Los' idea of "Accuracy" rather than FP.

Here's what I did: Firing single shot after an AIM action: FP d12 1 round
Firing semi auto: FP d10 3 round
Firing burst:                                   FP d8           3/5/10
rounds (2,3, or 4 targets)(weapon type decides) Firing FA: FP d6
15-25 rounds (4, 5 or 6 targets) (weapon type
decides)

I made burst and FA fire attack in a cone <discovered a flaw with
this - as RB got longer, cone got thinner...> based on RB. But had to
attack nearest target first, and all targets not obscured in LoS in cone got
attacked at least once, then any remaining attacks were allotted in a second
pass.

The battle consisted of the KV moving forward from a copse of trees into a
farmhouse and field. The humans, coming from the other side, were coming
through the woods to the farmhouse. Spotting was required in the early game.

All of the gunfire occurred within 19" (under 40m) due to the foliage and
buildings ruining spotting. (I used the spotting rules I proposed
yesterday - note one thing I forgot was a -1 ds if the spotter was
moving). The whole battle took 4 turns. At then end, we had 6 KV dead, 6
Humans dead. The KV killed their targets with burst fire (in one case, firing
a SAW and getting 6 attacks spread between 2 targets) from SAWs and Rifles.
The Humans scored 4 of their 6 casualties on hand grenades throws. (This had
more to do with bad shooting dice from
the OU and excellent throwing dice... - 4 grenades thrown - all hit
even in the longest RB....unlikely as all get-out...).

I noted this inverted use of FP made sense. The highly accurate
semi-auto fire killed targets, whereas multiple attacks tended to
produce single, double (or in one horrifying case triple) suppression. And, as
others have remarked, burst fire from close veterans is NASTY.

I did the following for positions: I always assumed if you were nestled up to
cover you'd be taking advantage of it. You had to specify if you were going
prone, or kneeling. Kneeling I charged you 2" of movement. Going prone, I
charged you 4". Getting up (if you got up slowly) was an action. Rising from
kneeling was not.
Kneeling in the open was 1 RB shift (like soft cover/concealment) and
2 RB to go prone. The difference between this and actual cover is I applied
this to only the shooting dice. I apply the cover shift to both shooting and
armour. That makes real cover a lot better, but makes prone in the open a heck
of a lot better than standing in the open. I don't allow you to go "IP" per
se. If you are behind hard cover, you are IP. IP in SG2 might imply digging a
slit trench, arranging rocks in front of you, etc. etc. but that doesn't fall
within the granularity of time in FMA. Besides, 2 shifts (hard cover) on your
cover die and two shifts on your armour die is pretty good.

I used the skill system for the green guy to run out and help the SAW gunner
(the first target the KV dropped).

I used OW, reaction/snap fire, and the suggestions me and Los
discussed for command transfers to subordinates.

I used grenades that burst 0-2" for 2d12, 3-4" for 2d10, 4-6" for 2d8,
7-8" for 1d12, 9-10" for 1d8, 11-12" for 1d4. Cover of course applied
versus grenades. To hit your target, you rolled your quality versus the range
die (I rated a grenade as a 0.20 multiplier on standard
ranges so for a veteran, range bands were 2"/4"/8"/16"/32"). So the
throws at distant targets were d12 target and d8 or d10 rolls for quality. The
fact all grenades hit is a testament to the KVs bad rolls at key moments.
Deviation was 1" x the number rolled if you came up short (just like SG2
arty).

I made green troops test motivation the first time they were fired on
if not hit - if they failed, they got a suppression (meaning they'd
often head for cover). To leave cover, green troops had to test motivation.
They tend to hunker down and stay hid. I'd apply the same rules to untrained.
They are just not comfy being shot at yet....

NOTE: The game flowed well. From inception, through setup, squad cards,
calculations, playing, through cleanup, I was in and out in TWO HOURS. Very
fast. I'm very impressed.

I reply to some other comments:
------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 15:50:38 +0900
From: "The Sutherlands" <nma@kda.attmil.ne.jp>
Subject: Re: FMA Skirmish guns

 Spread Fire  -  FP -1 die level per target(must be within 4" of each
other), 2 actions. May be combined with auto fire. (Mr. Barclay's rules were
good but a bit involved for our tastes.)

** Problem is that won't hit friendlies in the mix if you can pick your
targets. I simply let you pick the area, and then targets are alloted nearest
first, once each, then another pass if necessary. That way friends in the area
eat rounds too. With the right weapon, you could scrub local poorly armoured
attackers off your PA guy though....

 Reload       -  Reaction test to load in 1 action otherwise 2 actions

** I assume a turn is 10-20 seconds. I think automatic (I can reload
in 3-4 seconds on a good day) unless you blow a roll, then a whole
action.

RESULTS:
- -The biggest difference we could see was that you could get
suppression easier but the casualty rate was only slightly more.

** Same as what happened with me. In fact, aimed fire should cause more
casualties (** IF I COULD ROLL!)

- -Green troops like to use lots of ammo.  They suppress things alot
but never really hit anything.

** My green guy was heroic in going out to help the wounded OU SAW gunner. he
stabilized his wound, then they were both cut down by the KV SAW gunner.....
<g>

- -When a veteran troop autos on 2 or 3 guys at close range there are
lots of screams and gurgling noises.

** Yes.

Other thoughts... I like the idea of being prone giving a cover result. But I
dont think there is much difference between being prone behind the dege of a
brick wall and kneeling behind same wall.

** That's what I said... I think...;)

The area exposed to fire is roughly the same. Maybe say that going prone gives
a die shift for cover but is not cumalative with hard cover.

** I think two die shifts.... it isn't a huge benefit at 20m, but at 50 or
100m it can be quite a pain to hit a prone target.

As far as leaving a prone position maybe it could be just 2" of movement to
do?

** that could work. You could let keeling figs stand for free, and prone ones
roll and pay 2". If they fail their roll, they pay 4"? That's another option.

Bracing--  I am lnot sure what all AIMING entails but you can use an
AIM action anywhere.

** Agreed.

Mr.Barclay was saying something about being prone or kneeling next to cover
giving a die shift up for firing. This sounds like the trooper is bracing
himself against a sturdy object to give a stable firing position.

** Not necessarily. I've got ways to rig my combat webbing such that I can
(when kneeling, or sitting) use my mag pouches as a pretty solid rest for the
mag on the C7. Makes more accuracy for certain. When lying, I can use the
ground. <Note, this has been complained about by some, but I've never seen it
damage the mag or the part of the rifle
that the mag fits into - and the accuracy benefit when prone is
noticeable.>

You could brace in any stance as long as there was something to brace against.
I.E. wall, car, Bobs corpse. Once a figure was braced he would keep the bonus
until he either moved or was suppressed.

** I'd agree with that. I think a good weapon is designed to make a prone
brace automatic though.

This should take an action I would think.

** IF getting up doesn't, then this should not.

Seems that we are loading up on the firing bonuses. Is anyone still giving
figures the option of going IN POSITION?

** By using the reduced FP for autofire, you find you trade off
between suppresion/multi-target potential, and single shot kill
potential.