Hi Brian, Allan
As usual, good input.
Brian did have it right, the EW auctions usually are a lot of fun. I
remember one game (Adrian may recall this) which was PAU/FSE vs.
OU/Militia
and the OU had EW galore. By the end of the game, 27 GMS/P had been
fired with (I think) 1 vehicle destruction (another was killed by a close
range salvo of french D12* assault rifle fire). Some others hit but didn't
penetrate, some missed, but a goodly 15 or more were jammed successfully.
This game also featured heavy use of sniper/marksmen.
The OU won that scenario. They lost most of their colonists, most of their
vehicles, but most of the OU regulars plus some of the Militia got away on
foot relatively unhurt. In contrast, the FSE had taken some light to moderate
casualties but were held up, the FSE had lost a hover tank and some hover
jeeps, and the PAU had taken some significant casualties (especially in the
leadership areas...).
But, I digress, the EW auction was fun.
I'm not sure, however, I agree with Allan's suggestion. He's making your low
quality commo something the enemy has control over (ie, using chits to block
key calls). In truth, I just find that unappealling. That sounds like ECM
activity to me.
I was thinking the mechanism of just penalizing the dice used for comms
attempts was 1) less chits (I don't mind em)
2) more even across the board -> not focused on a particularly key
situation
You could go with the penalty, PLUS give out a few chits the player could use
to actually get shifted back to a better quality of comms for key calls. Then
the commo efforts would be more in the hands of those making the call, blocks
being only a result of ECM (which seems more "right" to me).
The die shift also works for EMP, for lost satellites (every satellite that
dies in orbit in the FT battle costs you a one negative die shift in comms
quality, etc), and for heavy storm activity (can anyone say desert conditions
like Bravo Two Zero experienced?).
Lastly, as to the EW issue: Why be inactive? In a double blind game, a hot EW
unit will stick out like a
sore thumb and get Arty, Air, and emission-homing ordinance. That makes
it a risk. In full knowledge games with no emission homing weapons and no
intelligence about enemy locs to be gained, it isn't terribly important if you
unit is active or not (in fact, active always makes sense).
I can envision an environment where every turn an active EW unit must roll a
test of its unit quality vs. enemy's DF equipment. If it fails, at end of
round, player gets to lay down an arty attack targetted on the detected
location. This would calm the EW levels down and limit them to limited
tactical use. Or "fire up, jam, pack up, scoot!"
Just a further 0.04.:)
> On Thu, 31 August 2000, "Barclay, Tom" wrote:
> I'm not sure, however, I agree with Allan's suggestion.
Well, it was just off the top of my head. *S*
Actually, you make a very good point (as does Brian) about the commo chits
being directed by the other player.
Okay, I changed my mind. I'd go with the die type shift. Assume that a unit
with superior communication equipment gets a die shift up, and inferior
equipment gets a shift down. This makes more sense. In fact, if they have NO
working radios, assume no communication rolls allowed (Transfer Actions are
only allowed within 6" of the transferring unit). It's simple, and probably a
better model for it anyway.
> Lastly, as to the EW issue:
This, I guess, is what's confusing. Most games are like this. There are no
modifiers to the observation rules for active EW, either. On the
other hand, I guess you could argue that activating EW is -- by
implication -- something that puts the EW unit on the board when it's
hidden.
Okay, what's the "official" word? We seem to have two schools of thought:
1) EW requires an action to activate. 2) EW does not require an action to
activate, but can be made active or not active.
I know where my idea of requiring an action comes in. There's a reference, on
page 52, to EW becoming inactive the next time the EW unit is activated. I
guess I assumed that making EW active costs an action.
This, of course, brings up a whole new set of questions if it does not require
an action. Can the EW unit move and still use the EW counters? Can it fire?
What if it's part of a command squad? If the command unit as a whole moves for
two actions, can the EW figures still conduct EW actions?
Having thought about it, I like the idea of the EW chits being available
without requiring an action, but the EW figures (whether in their own unit or
in the command unit) may not be activated for anything else. That is, the
figures themselves are dedicated to the EW task. Still, we need some sort of
consensus...
> --- agoodall@canada.com wrote:
> This, of course, brings up a whole new set of
This suggestion I like. I might not limit them from taking move actions, but I
don't think they would be using their EW equipment while engaging in a
firefight.
> On Thu, 31 August 2000, Kevin Balentine wrote:
> This suggestion I like. I might not limit them from
I guess it would depend on the EW equipment, but I could live with them
moving. Maybe even conducting a Reorganise action. What about suppression?
Would suppression affect EW? I'd say no. The guy hunkering down in front of
his EW set can still conduct EW even if bullets are flying.
Maybe. *L* I'm open to debate on this.
> --- agoodall@canada.com wrote:
> I guess it would depend on the EW equipment, but I
You know, whenever I get a mental image of what the EW equipment in the canon
SG universe looks like, I see something resembling the equipment listed for a
decker (or whatever the cyberdeck guys were called) in the RPG Cyberpunk. Less
the implants, but with a virtual deck and other gear hardwired into their
battle dress.
At least, that's what I envision for the high-tech
forces. Whether or not this is reflected in the figures, I don't know. I have
just a handful of the
lower-tech forces minis.
So, I would say EW can be done under suppression, like a communications
action.