First Step towards Battle Dress?

Janes' 360 has reported on a Russian design firm which is developing an exoskeleton for infantry. The framework is not an armored suit a la Starship Troopers, but a means for the soldier to carry much more weight than normal.

Photo from www.janes.com

The exoskeleton "enables a soldier to carry a load of about 50 kg." A modification currently in trials will enable a soldier to "easily carry a general purpose machine gun," in addition to his personal weapon. This would turn every squaddie into his own fire support element.

If it is being developed now, at the equivalent of Traveller TL-8, it could be in general production at TL-9. Book 4 doesn't cover anything like this. That means I get to make it up myself!

Battle of Reservoir Valley part 1

Recently I set up a new Striker scenario for my pals Dan and Cameron to fight out. Dan announced his side was The Grand Army of the Glebian Empire, while Cameron's forces were known as the Reservoir Pirates. They worked up their units and wrote their orders, and the battle began.

The original topo map inset. Note the reservoir at the left edge of the map.

The scenario called for a meeting encounter - two units out on patrol encountering each other in a wooded valley bordering a stream. Each side's objective was the same, they each were to cross the map and exit the side opposite from where they entered.

Meet the Armata - a brand new TL-8 MBT

The Russians unveiled the Armata, it's first new MBT design in a quarter century at the May 9th Victory Day Parade. STRATFOR provides a video review of this new vehicle, which is to be a 'universal' vehicle platform. 

Russia unveils its groundbreaking new tank 

How to Create Striker Battle Maps

Op orders will be distributed from Company HQ at 1730 hours.

 I have really enjoyed digging into Striker. The hard part about Striker, though, is all of the prep work that has to be done - there's no example map, or troop sheets and only a handful of example vehicles. However, if you're willing to sink the effort into creating units, vehicles, and maps, Striker is ginormous fun.

I hope that these suggestions take some of the labor out of the mapping part.

EXTERMINATE!! Daleks as a Traveller Variant

I hope you've got your VRF Gauss Gun warmed up . . .

I am a fan of Doctor Who, and have been since high school. This past weekend we watched the 7^th Doctor serial Remembrance ofthe Daleks, one of my favorites. It's a nostalgia episode, as the Doctor revisits 1963 and the place where TV audiences first met him. But that's not what I'm on about. The episode got me to think about how well Daleks would work in the milieu of Traveller.

Battle Report - GDW's Striker Part Two

My pal Dan and I had another go at our Striker game last night, and fought the battle to the point where it probably would have come to an end in real life.  The first part of the battle is here. Read that first to get the set-up of the battle. 

I'll wait. 

You're back?  Good. We played rounds 6,7,8 and 9 and learned more about how the rules work together. Really, reading the rules as a book gets you so far, but you have to at some point put counters on the table and roll some dice to understand it all.

At the conclusion of the battle, the Bravoricans had 9 effectives remaining, while the
Alphasians had 21 effectives left. The Bravoricans had gotten only half-way to their objective, the Divisional HQ buildings at the north end of the map. 

Bravorican troops approaching the stream.

Alphasian team 8 finished their rout off the field (losers!), teams 3 & 4, which were in the red box above, failed some morale checks, got forced back, and were shot up once out in the open.  Bravorica maneuvered from one tree stand to another, got pushed back for a turn then surged forward, losing troops every turn, mostly to the Alphasian MG team.

Here's the map table at the conclusion of the game:

Alphasian Divisional HQ. North is left, East is up.

The red boxes are/were Alphasian positions, the blue box is the last location of the Bravorican troops. The Alphasian general is in the box just below the red ruler. The MG team was just south of the General's position. As you can see, the Bravoricans never got close. 

This session seemed to be more about trying to change orders, and dealing with morale. I think we've got the turn order down, as well as the fire combat procedures.  There's a lot to still work out like:

• Visibility 
• Spotting
• Effects on unit morale when it takes casualties
• Effects of terrain/obstacles on Line of Sight and on attacks
• Comprehensive orders and contingency planning

Lessons Learned

There were several by the end of this game, which will carry forward into future games.

• Body armor is worth it - equip your troops with the best you can.
• Automatic weapons are a firepower multiplier - Alphasia had a few auto-rifles, but Bravorica issued them to all troops. The difference in volume of fire was big.
• Having both sides be in each other's Effective range gets troops mowed like wheat.
• Stationing troops in tree stands has many benefits, and few penalties. Get under cover!
• Weapons with set-up times of 2 or more turns should be set up as quickly as possible. Bravorica never got to use its 10cm Recoilless Rifle, because they tried to move it with the main body. 
• Include lots of "if this happens, do that" in the initial orders. 
• Inexperienced troops suck. They have low morale, and fewest attack bonuses.
• Trees block LOS if you're trying to fire through them, but do not provide cover or concealment unless you're in them. 
• Alphasian troops barely moved at all, while Bravorica had to move every turn. This was a big advantage for side A, but the lack of orders locked Alphasian troops in a bad position once Bravorica got close. 
• Having all of your units close together allows the Officer to bump up morale, but also results in more morale and panic checks due to proximity. Spread out your forces.
• But spread them out too far, and you can't have your officers Rally routed troops. The Alphasian General should have intercepted Team 8, but I didn't think to have him do it. 

Despite mis-steps and rules confusion, we had a good time, and plan to set up another battle some time soon. I'm interested to see what changes if we move up the TL scale to more 'current' or even 'future' tech levels. Adding vehicles to the mix should also be fun. If the Bravoricans had a light tank or APC, the Alphasians would have been in big trouble.



Striker does not give any advice in the basic game about game balance. I still could not say if the scenario I devised here had balanced forces. If we played it again, the results might be very different. I hope that eventually we'll get an intuitive sense of advantage/disadvantage. 


If anyone has suggestions for future scenarios, leave them in the comments below. I hope we'll be able to play them and report back.


As a bonus, here's a link a Striker lecture delivered by Frank Chadwick (the game's author) given at the Celesticon convention in 2011.

Battle Report - GDW's Striker

Commando raid on Divisional Headquarters

A buddy and I have begun a new Striker battle. The scenario is a commando raid. Side A's division HQ was supposed to be safe, far back from the front lines, but Side B's forces found it and have sent in a platoon-sized unit to knock it out and eliminate the General. Side A is of course trying to prevent this.

The HQ is the cluster of black rectangles on the left, with a trail around it and a road leading away over the stream. They have a cliff to the north and a river to the west (off the bottom of the picture), and a stream to the south, so it is reasonably well situated. Side B's force is currently sheltering in the grove of trees in the upper right, but several of side A's units can see them.

Grenades for Traveller

"Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don't ya think?"

 - Jayne Cobb, Serenity. 

Book 4, Mercenary, introduced hand grenades into Traveller combat. Striker had a few of them as well, but I want more! So here's my list of grenades for Traveller. Each item lists the type, (introductory TL), cost in Cr, and effects. Grenade vs Armor DMs are presented in Bk4, Mercenary. All grenades weigh 1kg.

Fragmentation grenades (5) Cr 10
at TL 5-6, 4D damage at TL 7-8 6D, at TL 9+ 8D
Mini grenades (8) Cr 15
4D damage, enough to destroy equipment or damage a door.
Micro grenades (8) Cr 20
2D damage, sufficient to destroy a door lock


Smoke grenades (6) Cr 10
Covers a 10m radius in white or colored smoke. Lasts for 4 rounds.
Sonic grenades (9) Cr 25
Emits highly uncomfortable audible sound. All within 15m must throw END or less on 3D or retreat at top speed for 2 rounds. Sound lasts 4 rounds. Hearing protection or sealed armor: throw 3D-4 for END or less.
Tranq grenades(9) Cr 20
Releases a tranquilizing gas. All characters in a 3m radius take 2D against END. If END is reduced to zero, character falls unconscious for 10 minutes.
Anti-laser aerosols (9)
Covers a 10m radius in chemical smoke designed to defeat lasers. Treat all laser fire through the smoke as having an additional Armor DM of -6. Lasts for 4 rounds.
Irritant gas grenades (7) Cr 15
Releases a cloud of gas that causes nausea and temporary blindness. Roll END or less on 3D to resist the effects. Cloud persists for 4 rounds. Characters in sealed armor or gas masks are unaffected.
Cryonic grenades (10) Cr 40
Releases a super-cold gas that does 3D damage, and causes all liquids to freeze. Characters even in sealed armor can be frozen in place by ice accumulation and by the armor stiffening.
Thermite/Incendiary grenades (6) Cr 20
Used to destroy material. Will burn through metal or stone, and set flammable objects alight. Grenade lasts for 2 rounds. Characters within 1m take 1D heat damage, characters in contact take 4D damage.
Fusion grenades (14) Cr 50
The high-energy version of the thermite grenade. Will burn through even starship hulls. Danger space 10m radius. Heat damage in danger space 6D, in contact 16D. Armor DMs as FGMP-14.
Visual Distortion grenades (12) Cr 45
Uses subsonic vibrations to blur the air in a 5m radius. All fire through the distortion is at -4, laser beams get scattered, losing 2D from damage. Nothing can be seen clearly through the distortion field.
Entangling grenades (11) Cr 30
Releases adhesive strands much like a spider web. Any character within 3m must roll DEX or less on 3D to avoid being entangled. If entangled, throw STR or less on 4D to escape. Cutting a strand with a blade takes 9 points of damage against Cloth armor.
Illumination grenades (5) Cr 10
Negates all darkness penalties for targets within a 25m radius.  Any character who looks right at an ignited grenade must throw END or less on 3D or be blinded for 10 minutes.
 Lubricant grenades (10) Cr 35
Covers a 5m radius with ultra-low-friction silicone spray. Any character on foot in this area must roll DEX or less on 3D to remain standing. Lubricant is persistent,  it must be cleared away with surfactants.
Shock grenades (10) Cr 25
Releases an electrical charge that affects all characters at Short range on 5+. 3D damage.
Acid/chemical grenades (13) Cr 40
Releases an Acid spray designed to degrade Battle Dress. Roll 1D, armor loses that many points of Armor DM (CT) or AV (Striker). Alternatively, it releases a magnetic 'paint' that covers visors and distorts on-board sensors, rendering the suit blind.
Thermal decoys (9) Cr 15
Emits a thermal signature that simulates body heat. Lasts for 6 rounds.
Contra-gravity grenades (13) Cr 100
Creates a localized gravitational field. Can be set to negate local gravity, causing everything in a 4m radius to float, or to amplify gravity, inducing weight penalties for a size A planet (see the gravity effects table in TTB).

Rules for throwing grenades. Use the Throwing Blades rule in the combat section as a guide, but extend range to Medium. Thrower is considered Evading while throwing. If thrower has thrown 25 or more grenades in combat, add DM +1 to roll to hit. For every additional 25, add another +1.* Any grenade thrown at short range may affect the thrower (7+ to hit yourself); and grenade thrown at Close range will affect the thrower. 

Rifle Grenades are fired from rifles, auto rifles or carbines. The grenades come with an adapter and blank round to launch. Loading time is one round, during which the firer is treated as Evading. Maximum range is Long. 

Readers feel free to suggest your own specialty grenades in the comments! 

* There is no 'grenade throwing' skill in CT, and I don't see the need to create one, given the restrictions on skills. This DM advantages the experienced thrower without creating a new skill. 

Foxhound - A Striker variant Amber Zone Reviews # 24

Check out the series introduction here. 

Amber Zone: Foxhound, a Striker variant, by J.D. Webster

Location: Sverdan, a balkanized TL-7 world with standard to dense atmosphere. (No location given in the OTU)

This Amber Zone is specifically written for Striker, making it unique of the Amber Zones I've reviewed so far. There is no mention of PCs, patron or payoff, so I'll leave that out of the review.

Setup: The defender's side in this scenario consists of eight G-Carriers & three Rampart space fighters. The G-carriers are moving in convoy, transporting a national leader. They are protected from above by the Ramparts. The attacker's side has twelve “Foxhound” jet fighters – normally not a threat to the space-armored Ramparts, but the attackers have been supplied with a quantity of anti-spaceship missiles (Gyrfalcon type) which can knock the Ramparts down. 

 The Foxhounds' mission is to take out the national leader, but they don't know which G-carrier he's in, so in effect they have to take out all of them. The defenders obviously want to prevent this. The scenario ends when either all of the G-carriers or all of the Foxhounds are out of action. 

 Striker has rules for utilizing aircraft (which at higher TLs includes contra-grav craft like the G-carriers) in strafing ground targets and dogfighting. In each turn all the craft in the same range roll for 'advantage'; which usually means in position where one side cannot fire on the other. Damage is abstracted into a 'damage point' value; hits scored reduce this total. As the dp value goes down, the craft loses speed, and there's a chance for crippling hits to take a craft out immediately.

Strong Points: I am assuming that this is a balanced scenario. The G-carriers will be pretty easy pickings for the Foxhounds, and are not likely to score many hits in return. The Ramparts are very tough relative to the Foxhounds; but the Gyrfalcons can even that up, except that there are only so many Gyrfalcons available.

Weak Points: I can't see any, unless the scenario is unbalanced, which I will not know until I play it several times. Let's assume that it is balanced. No weak points to mention.

What I'd change: Basically nothing, this is a good standalone/one-off game. It could also be integrated into a Traveller game, most likely making the PCs pilots of the Ramparts. A really mean referee would make them crew of one of the G-carriers!

In My Traveller Universe: I don't have a lot of TL 7 worlds, and most of them are in the Wilds. The world Sharmun (which I lifted whole from JTAS 4/Amber Zone #4 “Salvage on Sharmun”) fits the bill, but this encounter would certainly ignite a nuclear war between the two local powers, so maybe I'd better pick on the planet Pergamuth (Wilds 0309) - and make the target the Great Leader (see Planets in my Traveller Universe - I've added Pergamuth).

Maps: As this adventure takes place entirely in the air, maps are not indicated.
 
The page image is of a Soviet MiG-31 Foxhound.

Tarkine Down - Amber Zone Reviews #19

Amber Zone: Tarkine Down, by Roger Moore 
Check out the series introduction here.

Free Trader Beowulf, now landing at Dock 12.

Location: Tarkine (District 268/Spinward Marches)

Patron: Administrator of Scout Base Tarkine

Mission: A one-year security ticket for a battalion sized mercenary unit. The mission is to provide security for the base and starport, as the local populace is in a state of unrest.

Complications: The planet is under Imperial occupation, and is mostly cut off from the rest of the District. Anti-Imperial rioting has been on the increase. A riot in a nearby town spreads towards the starport, and the mercs are subjected to harassment attacks, bombs, mortar & rocket attacks, snipers, sabotage, etc. It is likely that any kind of offensive moves against the populace will result only in more anti-Imperial feeling. An unexpected guerrilla attack is launched against the starport and base, in near-equal strength, and with near-comparable weaponry in the hands of the guerrillas.

Payoff: 4 MCr up-front money, MCr 0.5 per month in payroll, and a success-only bonus of 5 MCr at the end of the year.

Strong Points: This is another adventure for the Mercenary/Striker players, but again, it could be undertaken by BK1 characters, taking the part of the mercenary leaders and keeping the major action centered around the PCs. Once the assault described in the adventure is resolved, the referee still has the bulk of a year in which to challenge and bedevil the players. The cause of the civil unrest is beyond what the mercs could manage to change, but diplomatic PCs could give it a try. The group will be on Tarkine long enough for the referee to develop other adventures out of this setup.

Weak Points: Once again, this scenario is set on a world with only near-current Earth technology. If the mercs are armed with TL 11+ weapons, putting down the guerilla incursion will be too easy. The description of the facilities to be defended are sketchy, the scout base is not described at all.

What I'd change: I don’t think that I’d change anything about this adventure; I’d flesh it out some (introduce important NPCs) if I were to use it as a campaign basis, but that’s all. It is a solid, if unspectacular adventure.

In My Traveller Universe: This adventure would make sense on an Independent planet that is near to one of the Big Four. Urdova (Five Worlds-American 0703) has a larger population but comparable tech level, and it is within Jump-2 range of the UPA planet New Georgia. 

The Map: this map was made by me, using Hexographer (www.hexographer.com) it may be used or modified without restriction.

 Legend: the red building is the Scout Base office. The smaller buildings are other buildings. The Skyscrapers are the starport, with four spaceships around it for the four landing pads. The fence is light gray, the paved surface of the port is darker gray. The anchor is the river port, the ships are the docks. The four corners are the guard towers. The triple dots are the minefields surrounding the port. The infantry figure is the mercs barracks.

Thunder on Zyra - Amber Zone Reviews # 17

Amber Zone: Thunder on Zyra, by Roger Moore from JTAS # 11

Check out the series introduction here.

You do not want this to happen in your game. Really. Avoid this.

Location: Zyra/Trin's Veil (SM 2934) B-555448-7

Patron: The Zyran Confederacy, the local government. Zyra has a population of only about 60,000, all in two cities on one continent. Until recently, the locals has contracted out to an off-world mining concern, TM&R, to recover what was thought to be marginal deposits of ore.

Mission: Recently discovered metal and mineral wealth in greater abundance has strained relations between the ZC and TM&R. The ZC is afraid of a direct corporate takeover and wants to nationalize all current mines and infrastructure. The mining corp has equipment and security forces on-site and so will not take this move lying down. A battalion-sized merc unit is to take the fight to the TM&R security forces, and capture strategic mining camps.

Complications: TM&R has secretly delivered two nuclear weapons (thunderballs in merc slang) to Zyra, and may be using them as a threat against the local population to leverage control of the planet. The merc unit's new mission is to gain possession of these weapons before they can become a factor.

Payoff: Triple standard salaries, plus a MCr 3 success only bonus. Payable in cash, bonds, or land title.

Strong Points: A solid, straight-forward military adventure without political intrigue. (of course, the referee can throw that in if desired) This adventure is flexible enough in format to be played using the CT, Mercenary or Striker rules. At the CT level, the PCs would be a commando team, perhaps attempting to sneak into TM&R territory to grab the nukes. There is plenty of detail on the OPFOR units, so the referee can tailor the level of challenge without difficulty. The savvy commander will recognize that they have the option of being paid in land ownership, which means long-term income for the unit. Also, this option gives the mercs a reason to stay in contact with Zyra, and can be a lead-in to other contracts, or the transformation of the merc unit into the core of the Confederacy military. Even if TM&R is defeated in the field, the company may return with more and better equipped forces, or a bunch of Imperial lawyers. Here's a question that can be the start of the next adventure, assuming the PC group wins, who gets to keep the titular thunderballs?

Weak Points: There is nothing in this Amber Zone that strikes me as being a flaw. As always, providing a map of the region would have been nice, but the capable referee can get make that up.

What I'd change: I don't think anything about this adventure needs to be changed. As I mentioned, I might bring in a political angle once the battle is over, with TM&R suing to the highest subsector authority for the return of their stuff, and recompense for whatever got destroyed in the nationalization.

In My Traveller Universe: This adventure would likely work best on one of the Independent worlds, or in a star nation that is decentralized or weak. New Ontario (Dormarc-Ostrander 0708) would be a good candidate. The local mid-level powers might suddenly take more interest in New Ontario if metal & mineral resources were discovered there. 

Map:
   This is a detail map of the camp where the thunderballs are being stored. Map scale is 50 meters, each change in mountain symbol represents an elevation increase of 10 meters.  The grey line is the camp fence, with guard towers distributed. Infantry symbols represent the presence of TM&R forces, but not their specific location.

The TMR mining camp and surrounding territory.

I made this map, using Hexographer. It may be reproduced or modified without permission.