SG2 Vehicle Fire On The Move

Hi Allan

I've been wrestling with this one in a rules sense for quite a while. (That
and why a tank can't sprint from A to B faaar faster than it can in SG2.... I
buy the argument about not moving through unknown territory fast, but if the
other option is being in the open in a KNOWN danger zone, I think your grav
tank will put the hammer down...).

Just some points (related in some cases, not in others but perhaps worth a
talk about):

Modern stabilization is impressive. Add in 2180s processing power and sensor
tech.... I'm not even sure it'll be *any* harder to hit a moving target than a
stationary one. The advantage to being stationary is you should be able to get
hull down and increase your armour or decrease the parts of your vehicle
exposed (remote casement turrets that pop up then down for example). I've seen
a Leopard II go over a hilltop, the entire tank (except for the last foot or
so of tread) go airborne and come down with the gun never wavering from a
distant target point.... it was chilling. (As was the fact this thing could
move so quick... I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be under it when it came
down either). So the penalty for fire on the move might or might not make
sense (and it might
make rules sense but not campaign-world sense... but that's another
matter). Perhaps penalize the on board infantry... but not the crew served
heavy weapons.

There is (AFAICS) no real benefit to being hull down in SG2 (well, not quite
true). True of heavy weapons which you might be able to justify giving shorter
range bands (smaller size multiplier)... but it has NO influence on GMS and
they are the real danger to vehicles.

Can you fire a GMS on the move?

Can you spot your targets on the move? Should you have to make spot rolls if
firing on the move at a target you could not see when you started the move?

Your idea of pinning a vehicle by making it fire at the start or end of its
move... not bad. It provides a window of vulnerability. Esp if used with
reaction fire and overwatch. I like it.

But one of the principal shortcomings of fighting from a vehicle is the
visibility... you find it hard to acquire targets and you lose track of them
far easier. Has technology obviated this problem? How do you simulate it? Do
you?

> From a moving vehicle, can all the weapons systems fire? Or just one?
How about from a parked vehicle? I guess my point was this: I can define my
vehicle as having 2 crew (driver and butler) or 15 (driver, butler, 12
cheerleaders, cox'n) and under the rules for vehicle construction (if these
are crew), this has no impact. What's more, I can have say 10 SAWS installed
on pintle mounts and 10 crew gunners, but can only fire 1 with 1 fire action.
This I find kind of fascinating. If I've picked a fire action (from either a
moving OR stationary vehicle), and I have a commander at his hatch RFAC and a
COAX run by the gunner, why can't they both fire? I'm exaggerating with the 10
SAWs, but there are cases where one could argue that more than one weapons
system should be able to fire in a given fire action.

I know this is an infantry game. It has presented vehicles in a simple way
that has some unsatisfying behaviours if you look at them in detail. Some
might not be too hard to fix. Move and Fire could be thorny. In modern day
combat, movement makes it easier for an enemy to spot you, removes (often)
your terrain cover, and (due to bouncing around of the crew) makes it harder
for the moving vehicle's crew to spot the enemies that might kill them. How do
we capture that abstractly without bogging down the mechanics?

It's a good topic for discussion.... and I look forward to further input on
how to better represent vehicles in general...

Tom B