On the Nature of Book 2 Space Combat

This is not covered under Book 2 Rules. You figure it out.

Over the weekend I refereed a Book 2 space combat engagement with my boys. In the course of the battle, I discovered something I'd never noticed before. The boys have a fancy ship, the FNS Audacity, and were chasing down two ships of the rebellion against the Federation (my sons' ATU setting), now illustrated here!

But that's not my discovery.

I realized that Bk2 is not so much a tactical game, as it is a resource management game. It's not so much about maneuvering your ship or using that cool specialty weapon, but in maximizing the efficiency of the resources you bring to the game. 

What do I mean by resource management?

Marines and Vehicles

I explained here why I think Marines can get Ship Tactics skill, and that led me to thinking about something else.  They have a skill slot for Vehicle skill, as well as for ATV. Let's assume that ATV skill means Marine Force tanks, so what other types of craft could the Marines use? According to Starter Traveller (the version I have access to during the day) Ship's Boat is not included; but what if it was?


Let's see:

Pick your launch platform.

The Pinnace (at 40 tons) has enough interior space for it to carry a 10-ton AFV from orbit to the surface, or two G-Carriers, or five air/rafts. Marine armored cavalry delivered to the front lines. The Slow Pinnace has even more space, so it could load up 7-8 air/rafts, five speeders, or (tight fit) three G-Carriers.

Modular Cutters, with their very flexible 30-ton modules could transport mobile headquarters, medical or other buildings, supplies, fuel or artillery to the surface. Medical craft could provide care on the ground, or evacuate wounded in low berths back to the orbiting ships.

The Shuttle (3G accel) could be loaded up with anti-vehicle and anti-personnel weapons and become the Assault Shuttle, ready to bring heavy air support while transporting Marines. If each marine needs 1/2 ton of room for himself and his weapons, a company of 140 Marines could be aboard.

Single or dual place Fighters can be employed as air support for ground operations or to counter opposing air forces. Fighters would also fill the role of tank destroyer. Starship-grade weaponry should finish any ground vehicle with one good hit. I believe Striker says so in its section on aircraft.

Fighters or Ships' Boats (both 6G accel) could be manned by Marine pilots as screening elements, interceptors or attack squadrons. It would save a bit of crew space aboard if the ship's craft had Marine operators instead of Navy.

What else could Marine pilots do if we let Vehicle include the Ships' Boat skill? 

A Traveller meme poster for your amusement

This was shared on Google+ yesterday. It was too good to not pass along.
 

Happy Travelleing, y'all. 

And remember, characters who die in pre-game come back as NPCs!

Product Review - From the Ashes

Stellagama Publishing has released a new rules supplement for Classic or Mongoose Traveller, although for reasons of copyright it doesn't say that directly. Instead, it points to the Cepheus Engine OGL rules set. This booklet brings to my mind the article from the old Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society “Medical Treatment in Traveller”, although the emphasis is different.

What is it?

From the Ashes (FtA) is an optional rules package, concerning mortal injuries to characters and their effects, should the character survive. Two sections discuss replacement of damaged or destroyed body parts with prostheses or cybernetics.

What format is it?

It's in .pdf format, 15 pages.

What can I do with it?

MgT uses nuanced interpretation of task rolls, with regular break points when a task throw misses or exceeds the target by so much. With CT, it's simply roll for the target number and succeed/fail. If the referee wants to apply effects relating to 'just made it' or 'made it by a mile' he can but it is all at the referee's discretion. The FtA rules apply particular results to all surgery and recovery throws; sometimes making the target number still isn't good enough. Yes you succeeded, but . . . Well, medical care is a tricky thing. The FtA rules reflect that well, and continue to keep Traveller at least in spitting distance of reality.

Scars and other physical marks can be a way of distinguishing the PC, and helping the players visualize their characters. In the right circs a scar could help a PC influence an NPC by intimidation or impressive storytelling. The potential for large complications may also encourage even trigger-happy players to try more negotiation and social-skills roleplaying over solving all your problems with a gun.

The Brothers of St Cuthbert - an NPC group in my TU

The next time Random Encounter #53 comes up, it might be this group. The Brothers will appear in an adventure I'm writing up for publication or distribution. 

The Brothers of St Cuthbert is a lay religious order of the Orthodox Catholic Church. Most starport chapels will have a member or representative of the Brothers in residence. 

Their goal: To honor the image of God in every person by burying those who have died travelling in space.The Church understands each person to bear the image of God, both in spirit and in body. Thus the body even after death is shown reverence. The Church does not sanction cremation as it devalues the human person. All bodies given to the Brothers are buried with respect, and with full Christian burial if the person can be determined to have been a Christian.

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Their patron:Father Cuthbert of Verrazano died in 542 SA. 

More on Skills - Ship Tactics and Fleet Tactics

I've no idea if the story is any good, but that starship is FANTASTIC. I want one.

Book Five, High Guard, introduces a number of new skills. Some are not really useful (like Communications) but some are. In particular there are the sibling skills of fleet tactics and ship tactics.  Their effects are as follows, quoting from Book 5, the combat rules section:

Fleet Tactics: The skill level of the fleet commander is a modifier to the initiative

die roll. See the initiative determination step.

Ship Tactics: The skill level of a ship's (or small craft's) captain affects its

performance. Subtract one from the skill level of the captain and divide it by two,

dropping fractions. The resulting number is used as a + modifier to the ship's

effective computer level (a computer model15 is treated as a modell6). The computer must be working at at least level 1 for the modifier to apply.

Now, using the simpler Bk2 rules, the skill description here just doesn't work. Computers are central to Bk2 combat, where in Bk5 they are handled more abstractly. So, to make the tactics skills apply to Bk2, let us work them back into the Bk1 Naval character generation tables.