[OFFICIAL!] Attention SG2/DS2 players! Help wanted...

Hi everyone,

This is a request for help from us at GZG, from those of you on the list
who have and/or play either Stargrunt II or Dirtside II.

Both these systems are long overdue for the release of some supplementary
material, and we know a lot of you are keen to see Bugs Don't Surf (the
promised SGII supplement) published. Well, now the FT Fleet Book is finally
under way, we are starting to look at seriously getting material together
for BDS - which will probably be a JOINT supplement for SGII and DSII,
as the two systems have so much in common.

BDS will (PROVISIONALLY - all this is subject to change) contain rules
for Alien races in both games (our "own" Kra'Vak and Sa'vasku, plus probably
some other "generic" alien race ideas), a selection of scenarios and force
TO&Es for both games, and some new and amended rules.

While we'd be more than happy to see anything that anyone would care to submit
for possible publication in the way of scenarios etc., (as usual,
sorry, we can't offer any payment - the publishing budget doesn't
stretch
that far - but we do promise full credit on all submissions used), what
we REALLY need in the immediate future is for you to tell us about anything
that you have found WRONG with the games!
By this, we mean actual ERRORS - simple ones like typos, inconsistancies
and contradictions in rules and charts, or loopholes that allow certain
players to exploit things that are not in the spirit of the game. We know
there are some, of course, and have spotted a number ourselves, but feedback
from list members would be invaluable to ensure we don't miss anything when
compiling any necessary errata and amendments to print in BDS.

We're not asking for things you may not LIKE in the game systems; that is
another matter entirely, and one of personal preference; we just want to know
of any bits that you feel are genuinely broken, or that have thrown up
anomalous results during play sessions. Even if a specific problem has already
been brought to the list's attention and discussed, please notify us of it
again (with the results of any discussions if possible?), as we don't keep all
messages from months back!!

To avoid clogging the list traffic, it would be better if you could respond
directly to me at:

> Jon of GZG wrote:

APSW: In DSII we note that an APSW for a rifle team costs 10 points while an
extra APSW for a vehicle costs only 4. In SGII we see SAW carried by squad
members and are the equivelent to a Browning Automatic Rifle or follow on. We
can see though that a RFAC with a fire control system in SGII is much deadlier
than a Standard SAW in SGII or even a SAW on a stable platform. But in DSII we
see that normal weapons like a RFAC fired against infantry rifle teams draw
only one chit per level of the weapon (e.g. 1 yellow for a
RFAC/1 or 3 chits for a HEL/3)  but an APSW draws 5 chits...  There is
clearly a disconnect somewhere. What would an APSW (crew served or vehicle
mounted) weapon look like in SGII? What is the proper procedure for firing a
heavy weapon against an infantry squad? Similarly if you are going to add the
Very RApid Fire Gauss class of weapons to DSII then you should give them a
slightly farther range than a RFAC and make the cost multiple 16.

Walkers: A while back I noted that a Combat walker has the same cost multiple
of an Infantry Walker but a Combat Walker moves at 12 inches while an Infantry
Walker moves at a rate of 6 inches. Obviously the two classes should be broken
out and the cost multiple adjusted.

Hand held missiles:
        A hand held GMS/P in Star Grunt can be likened to a Stinger
missile in DSII and therefore to a LAD in SGII. However, a LAD in DSII can
only be used against high fliers. I think that the effective range of a LAD in
DSII should be adjusted according to the altitude of the craft.

Point system: I've already posted my idea for a point system to use DSII
points to help people design forces in SGII. If you want me to repost it, I
can.

Personal Weapons:
        In DSII we are told that different forces Militia/Line/Power
have different effective ranges attributed to them according to the quality of
their weapons. Meanwhile in SGII the effective ranges of their weapons is
based on the quality of the guys firing them. I realize that the FP of each
weapon makes an adjustment on the effective range of thier weapons in SGII but
you can't go beyond a D12... These two issues may need some examination.