[DS] Ch*t (was [SG2] vehicle weapons vs. infantry)

3 posts ยท Nov 8 2000 to Nov 8 2000

From: Aron_Clark@d...

Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 13:29:17 -0800

Subject: [DS] Ch*t (was [SG2] vehicle weapons vs. infantry)

shogakusha comments regarding Dirtside...

> Don't like it. Hate the scale, and can't stand the idea of drawing

I'm rather partial to DS myself and really appreciate the novel approach to
the combat system. DS was the first rule set where I encountered the varied
die type "opposed roll" system, and the drawing of damage chits seemed
revolutionary. Sure they're a fiddly and you might lose some if you're not
careful, but there's all that added suspense and a feel that you're physically
determining the outcome rather than making a lookup to a table. I'm tired of
the GW roll to hit, roll to damage, roll to save, system that has started to
dominate the wargame design mind set. In my book any system which explores new
approaches to resolving combat, and is fun and exciting, deserves a closer
look
.

I think the 1/300th scale is excellent for larger tactical games.  You
might have an infantry engagement, an armor thrust, and an air attack all
occurring o n the same table and influencing very different parts of the
battle. I can understand, though, if this isn't for everyone.

Finally I've nearly finished a DS vehicle designer in Excel. It's modeled alon
g the lines of Sean Schoon's FT spreadsheet, and will error check the design
against the rules criteria (ie power plant to weapon and mobility
requirements)
.
I've yet to run it by Jon but I don't think there will be a problem of sharing
this with anyone who is interested. If you'd like a copy of this spreadsheet,
or would like to be put on a list for the final draft (which will output to a
data card) contact me off list at... aronbc@juno.com.

"shogakusha" <shogakusha@geotec.net> on 11/08/2000 12:16:28 PM

Please respond to gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU

To:   gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU

From: Jon Davis <davisje@n...>

Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2000 18:48:06 -0500

Subject: Re: [DS] Ch*t (was [SG2] vehicle weapons vs. infantry)

> Aron_Clark@digidesign.com wrote:

The chit system is nice, but...

My game group and I have done some playtesting a Dirtside scenario this past
week. I found that the chit drawing mechanic helped slow the game down.

If you're aiming for a four hour convention scenario, you try to maximize the
"play" time over the "results" time. Chit drawing by some players felt really
slow.

A Java applet has been written for chit draws which would speed things up with
a laptop computer at the gaming table.

From: Joseph Arnold <jdarnold@s...>

Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2000 17:50:05 -0600

Subject: Re: [DS] Ch*t (was [SG2] vehicle weapons vs. infantry)

Also, a friend of mine has written a program to draw chits and has an
automated DS vehicle builder and an FT ship builder. You can find it on my
website
http://www.geocities.com/arnoljos
Go to the S2 section, hit the utilities button and download. It's Win 3.11 and
greater compatible, free and relatively small. If you have any problems,
please e-mail me. I've found it to work great for scenarios at cons on a
laptop, especially with an external monitor and the resolution ramped down,
The chit.BMP's are nice and big! Jay

----------
> From: Jon Davis <davisje@nycap.rr.com>

> Aron_Clark@digidesign.com wrote: