BCS Combat and Design

[robject]

A fellow earlier in a related thread mentioned that Traveller wargaming should focus on the things that make Traveller distinctive. I know I'd heard that before, and the more I think about it, the more I realize that's the key to making a wargame a Traveller wargame. But I ask myself, and I ask you: what is distinctive about Traveller?

One key distinctive must be the jump drive.

But, surely jump isn't part of combat, thought I. But the recent spate of posts has shown that it is an integral part of combat. In fact the attacker has the initiative of deciding where to precipitate his ships, and the dice tell him when they show up at their appointed places. Jump masking plays its part, as does refueling, and showing up at the 100D "suicide line" (or safer destinations if that works better).

Now, the sort of game that starts with jump tactics is clearly operational.

 

[Ulsyus]

Absolutely, that's where I was going with the need to have an operational level chart showing the jump limit, where gas giants in a system are relative to that, indicators of where there's sensor shadows from the mainworld (though I think in a wealthy enough system there'd be passive sensors seeded in those areas to reduce risk), and such.

The defending player could then choose where to place assets like sensor platforms, SDB squadrons, defending squadrons and the like. The attacker could then chose what they're going to have jump in at which points. Both sides could have dummy counters (I'm thinking of Assault here) which would be eliminated with recon and surveillance and finally encounters.

This is starting to sound more and more like Options in Fleet Battle.

Changing direction momentarily, is the BCS going to be more like HG or BR? My vote is for the latter, though there's no reason it could abstract movement like the former.

 

[robject]

is the BCS going to be more like HG or BR?

It has two parts: combat and design. Like High Guard, BCS combat has to take layered defense into account, but also assault scenarios. That's all I know offhand about combat. I would also prefer it more resemble BR than HG. BCS Design is built around SpineMaker plus super-components built up from ACS.

 

[Ackehece]

A fellow earlier in a related thread mentioned that Traveller wargaming should focus on the things that make Traveller distinctive. I know I'd heard that before, and the more I think about it, the more I realize that's the key to making a wargame a Traveller wargame. But I ask myself, and I ask you: what is distinctive about Traveller?

One key distinctive must be the jump drive.

But, surely jump isn't part of combat, thought I. But the recent spate of posts has shown that it is an integral part of combat. In fact the attacker has the initiative of deciding where to precipitate his ships, and the dice tell him when they show up at their appointed places. Jump masking plays its part, as does refueling, and showing up at the 100D "suicide line" (or safer destinations if that works better).

Now, the sort of game that starts with jump tactics is clearly operational.

that's my take as well as you can tell from my previous post I have thought more than a little about the ramifications of Jump Drives in Combat and Jump Occlusion and Masking...
the one thing that makes it even more weird... micro jump - same system 1 week later

 

[robject]

Elements Unique to Traveller

Things to think about.

1. Jump precipitation. Unpredictable and detectible within established ranges. Timing (and scatter to a lesser degree) can create a challenge for invasion forces. Its detection range establishes a coverage ideal for local defenses.

2. No ansible. This is less distinctive, but there are plenty of sci-fi settings that live on instantaneous communication.

3. The meson gun. A weapon that bypasses conventional armor, and can pass through planets, debris, and other ships, sounds unique to me. It's like the starship equivalent of a howitzer, perhaps.

4. Agile Battleships. This is contrary to naval wargames, where large ships lumber, and tiny ships are nimble. The Tigress is just as nimble as the Rampart.

5. "The Spine Always Bears". Other space wargames use arcs of fire to enable tactics, because tactics is about using the targets' limitations to gain an advantage, and/or force the opponent to move the way you want him to. But, if The Spine Always Bears, then perhaps there are no arcs of fire. We'd have to use other threats for coercion.


Jumping Into A Hostile System

Assuming you can jump into a system anywhere you like, and assuming the system has the capability of placing sensor platforms anywhere in its own system (i.e. jump masking is moot), I think we can infer some typical options:

1. Jump right to the mainworld's 100D limit. I tend to think of this as a suicide, but it may be possible to unload ordnance or troops before your ship is neutralized. Depending on your goals, you may or may not wish to try this.

2. Jump to a gas giant. Refuel times vary, depending on the fleet. The locals probably don't have a fleet there waiting for you. Make sure you're done before sensors can relay your position to the nearest monitor cluster, or whatever.

3. Jump to an ice planet, or a comet. See #2.

4. Jump to an asteroid belt with ice. See #2, except the locals can't know where within the belt you're arriving unless they have advance intelligence.

5. Jump to the oort cloud. See #4. Also, you will have the most time to move before the locals find out you're there (on the order of 12 hours, more or less depending on the primary).

6. Jump anywhere you please. This has the benefit of #4 or #5, except without refueling.


Timing is Everything

Since your ships are arriving from jump at different times, you'll want to have flexible battle plans and allow for enough time to form the task forces you can use. The closer you are to the locals, the more flexible your plans must be.

 

[robject]

Hiding Your Arrival

Though the game is played on a 2D field, the numbers required for sensor coverage should probably be for 3D "spherical" coverage.

It's safe to assume that any capable civilization will plant sensor platforms around every planet. A single platform at TL14 is capable of detecting jump flashes up to 1 AU away for MCr 100; at TL15, this extends to 3 AU. This means the insystem is pretty much guaranteed to be awash in a web of detectors out to 3 or 4 AU.

A = 4 pi r x r.

Out to orbit 6 (5 AU, Jupiter), a system may require a couple dozen sensor platforms to keep the borders tight. And things get hairier the further out it goes. At the extremes of the system there is likely to be stations around the planets, a few in the oort cloud, and patrols.

 

[robject]

Monitor B-ZP90 Gharial MCr1186.1

Using a 2400-ton, TL15 planetoid hull, the Gharial Class Monitor sports the Banshee Gravitics 9.2 maneuver drive and the Deltic Mk9779Z4 power plant, giving performance of 8G acceleration. Fuel tankage supports one month of operations. Attached to the bridge is a Computer Model/5 std. There are 12 staterooms and no low berths. Cargo capacity is 20 tons. Its three Large Bay EMS sensors can detect and identify incoming jump flashes up to 3 AU distant.

Carried craft include 15 Fighters, and 15 Grapple Set Singles. The ship has 12 crew, 15 gunners in barracks, and 15 fighter pilots in barracks.

The ship has over 600 unused tons, free for additional craft, sensors, weapons, and so on. A smaller, cheaper ship could have been designed for this mission, but there's probably contracts involved that required a hull big enough to hold a SDB or other type of gunboat.

Actual volume: 1769 tons used

   Tons     Component                                MCr    Notes
-------     -----------------------------------    -----    --------------------
   2400     Planetoid Hull                            24    P
    192     Plant Fuel (one month)                     0    one month
    289     PowerPlant-8 (Z4)                        289    P 8
  63.03     Adv Maneuver Drive Z4 (R9)               382    R9
    900     3x DS LBay EMS                           153    #3 
      5     Computer Model/5 std                      27    
     12     3x Gunner Barracks                       0.6    #3 (5) R1 R1 R2 R2 R3
      4     Life Support Long Term                     4    80 person-months
      2     Clinic                                     1    
     12     3x Fighter Pilot Barracks                0.6    #3 (5) R1 R1 R2 R2 R3
     24     Spacious Bridge                          1.7    5cc 7op 0ws
     24     12x Crew Stateroom                       1.2    #12 1 crew
     40     10x Crew Lounge                            0    #10 
      2     4x Crew Shared Fresher                     2    #4 4 crew
     20     Cargo Hold Basic                           0    
    150     15x Fighter                              270    #15 
     30     15x Grapple Set Single                    30    #15 up to 35t

 

[Ulsyus]

What about defensive weaponry? Don't forget technicians for the fighters (say one per vessel to manage the team of 'bots used to maintain them).

If these things were seeded every 3 or so AU around an orbit, that's a few of them, but well worth the effort for wealthy or important systems.

That begs the question though: how many ships arrive on the orbital plane? What advantages or disadvantages would there be in the OTU to doing that? Would it make sense to put a sensor platform like Garhial at the north and south points over the orbital plane in a system?

 

[Ackehece]

What about defensive weaponry? Don't forget technicians for the fighters (say one per vessel to manage the team of 'bots used to maintain them).

If these things were seeded every 3 or so AU around an orbit, that's a few of them, but well worth the effort for wealthy or important systems.

That begs the question though: how many ships arrive on the orbital plane? What advantages or disadvantages would there be in the OTU to doing that? Would it make sense to put a sensor platform like Garhial at the north and south points over the orbital plane in a system?

defensive weaponry is probably not that useful - if a monitor detects a fleet coming in at location it is a goner, at least the fighters can run away .

as always - assume globular configuration of sensors..

I suspect that a small (20ton or less) sensor platform with a DD brain and skills in sensors and communications with a year or more of station time would be the best way to do this. You could afford multiples of these for the price of a single monitor class ship.

 

[robject]

Defensive weaponry can be accounted for via game rules. I'm finding that using a rule specific and appropriate to a class of ship can replace some bookkeeping.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

A Counter and some thoughts.

First is something I have been working on which is a better counter, a hex counter.

Check it:https://www.dropbox.com/s/15r46nhfgl8z9e1/[T5 BCS] Counter - Hex - Wargame.png?dl=0. Sorry about the size but I am cooking dinner for work.

Should be self explanatory.

A Unit has 3 states: Fighting, Damaged, Removed. It starts at Fighting, if it takes successful Hits and fails DC Check it moves to Damaged. If it takes more Hits (and fails a DC Check, if any) or otherwise takes more Damage it is removed from play.

When a Unit becomes Damaged all Factors a reduced by half. Round fractions down. DC Factor may be rolled on 2D < DC as an Immediate Action to avoid be Damaged. If it fails, ship becomes Damaged.

Factor N is whatever the Main Weapon of the Unit is Bay or Spine. Power gives a spiNe equal to twice Power (P * 2 = N).

Power Factor must be equal or greater than both Jump and Maneuver Factors.

Maneuver Factor is also a pool of points used for movement or facing changes. each Hex of Movement or one Facing Change costs 1 M Factor.

Secondaries are used against Escorts Fighters, Missiles, or World Defenses.

That is about it for now. Comments?

 

[robject]

First: a Better Counter is a GREAT way to hide complexity in the game. I'm definitely thinking in this direction. I've seen many ship combat games that have critical hits as well as incremental damage boxes right on the unit "counter".

Next: here's a digest of thoughts batted around by Jeff Johnson and I on ship combat games.


What Not To Do

If you want to kill the game, have it where you roll 2d6 to resolve hits while adding and subtracting a half dozen mods.

If you really want to kill it, have every single unit on a side rolling every single turn.

If you want to be sure it's dead, allow the opposing side to interrupt the movement and attacks of each of these units.


Design for Effect

games are played at the tactical level, not the rule level.

once you know all of the tactics you want, then you craft the rules to support those tactics, preferably in an elegant manner.

1. Decide on the tactics you want.
2. Design the game rules to support them.
3. Test and revise #1 and #2 dozens of times.
4. FINALIZE the rules.
5. NOW create the design system to produce the ships according to the needs of the rules.
6. Every time #1 and #2 change, you have to re-create the design system.

I didn't realize how simple movement restrictions can create emergent tactics.

But of course. Rules fossilize tactical options. That's what rules are for. Or what they should be for.

And movement rules are rules. Just as attack rules are rules. The two are parts of a whole.

Similarly, I didn't realize how "firing arcs" can also create emergent tactics... in particular, restricting a spine's firing arc to 180 degrees forward would create the need for rear-guard screens.


The Value of Raw Grit and Leadership

Can raw grit overcome the raw vehicle specifications?

Eh, Israel and Syria in 1973 demonstrate that grit can matter a great deal. First Manassas, too.

---

Make those leader units do a lot of plate spinning.

Then make them have to be in more than one place at once.

Give them some tough choices.

Force them to take risks in order to accomplish anything decisive.

That is what real battle should be like!


Microgame Concept

You should be able to make a microgame sized combat resolution system for chits that mimics these effects.

You may not need more than eight locations: left, right, center and reserve for both sides.

Think wargame counters. Attack strength, defense strength, initiative order, crew rating, and leadership effects. That's it. Pack that CRT result table with interesting outcomes and chain reactions. ("Scrambled" ships that have to be rallied, etc.)


Attack Effects

I just had this image in my head...

The enemy attacks... and misses....

Then the target gets marked with an intensity marker depending on the ship and the result... Maybe this one means "emboldened."

The ship may attack... and on certain results, that "emboldened" marker might change to another notch higher... with a really strong chance of just rolling over the "bamboozled" ships on the other side.

The leader unit will want to use his turn to rally bamboozled groups... or else expand that emboldened rating to other groups.


Damage

If we're emphasizing Damage Con... a side effect of a hit will be some combination of raw damage, efficiency, and all around bamboozlement.

If there's a battle-back mechanic... then to be able to execute it, you'll have to beat your bamboozlement level. That... or you can immediately read the dice and see the result (which is how C&C works.)

 

[robject]

Thinking More About the Playing Field

[FONT=arial,helvetica]Setup

Native player notes the locations of task forces in the system, but doesn't reveal them until they DO something.

Intruder places units in arrival locations and plays initial "Benefits", if any.


System Sensor Coverage

Upon arrival, the intruder receives a number of "Benefits" equal to the lowest Orbit Number arrived at MINUS World Importance. This models jump flash detection as well as jump scatter -- the further out you are, the further apart native detection stations are, and the more flexibility and time you have to prepare your fleet... and the more time the native player has to adapt. [/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica]

[/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica][FONT=arial,helvetica]For examples, one Benefit may be "Taking Initiative". Another may be putting task forces together. Recon. Building up morale. Refueling. And so on.[/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica][FONT=arial,helvetica]

[/FONT][/FONT]Thus battles around "unimportant" worlds tend to be shorter than ones around "important" worlds, because the intruder arrival distance tends to be closer in the former case, and there's less jockeying around that needs to be done.

Arrival distance is a double-edged sword: how much time do you need to prepare? When is it better to arrive "attack" versus "long" versus "distant"?[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica][FONT=arial,helvetica]
[/FONT]Coordination

There is no ansible. Forces divided by AU distances do not coordinate effectively.


Terrain

Stars and planets can fool sensors and block many kinds of attacks. Asteroids cannot.

The meson gun bypasses conventional armor, passes through stars and planets, and renders escorts useless -- unless they have meson screens.


Agility

Battleships are just as nimble as fighters. In fact, agility and speed becomes relative, since ships are either evenly matched or not. This suggests three relative agilities/speeds: slow, standard, and fast.


Equipment

Every ship type is defined by equipment, and thus has particular tactical uses. "Hull" is considered a kind of equipment.

It is also here where opposing fleets are adjusted for relative ability.

The Spine has no firing arc. It always bears. This has profound implications for a movement-based system, and might be "wrong".


[/FONT]

 

[HG_B]

System Sensor Coverage

Upon arrival, the intruder receives a number of "Benefits" equal to the lowest Orbit Number arrived at MINUS World Importance. This models jump flash detection as well as jump scatter -- the further out you are, the further apart native detection stations are, and the more flexibility and time you have to prepare your fleet... and the more time the native player has to adapt.

How does that work when the arriving ships are, relatively speaking, blazing torches in the IR band in relation to the temp of space around them? It is assuming that the system has no sensors watching space?

N.B. I haven't looked at T5 since July 2013 so I may have missed some rules on changes made to basic physics in the 3I...

 

[robject]

It models the light-speed delay between arrival and detection, roughly related to the sensor capability of the natives. Better capability is shorthand for things like pickets, sensor coverage, technology, what-have-you.

 

[HG_B]

It models the light-speed delay between arrival and detection, roughly related to the sensor capability of the natives. Better capability is shorthand for things like pickets, sensor coverage, technology, what-have-you.

Oh. It looked like it was just hinging on "jump flash detection as well as jump scatter" rather than unlimited distance passive sensors.

 

[Ulsyus]

How does that work when the arriving ships are, relatively speaking, blazing torches in the IR band in relation to the temp of space around them? It is assuming that the system has no sensors watching space?

N.B. I haven't looked at T5 since July 2013 so I may have missed some rules on changes made to basic physics in the 3I...

HG, I'm not sure how much emission of whatever sort the M-drive puts out. This'll obviously drive the vessel's signature, and could be quite different from the HEPlaR drive that was used in TNE. Can a reviewer help here?

Rob, the idea of a counter game is great (takes me back to the late 70s...) but the thing I've found most excellent in this sort of game has been simultaneous movement. For that we needed to be able to record thrust, displacement, and movement vectors. BR tried vector movement with counters, but that was a pain. Star Cruiser just had movement points & wrote its physics to support the game (same sort of movt system really as Sky Galleons of Mars!).

While using pencil & paper in a counter or miniatures game could be seen as a pain in the neck, it's commonly seen at most wargames clubs, and the process of nominating movement, moving simultaneously, then applying some alterations for initiative holders significantly enhances a game. It really makes a player consider arcs, weapon ranges, thrust vs being able to aim a spinal mount, a ton (not sure if it's metric or dT) of tactical considerations!

 

[rancke]

HG, I'm not sure how much emission of whatever sort the M-drive puts out. This'll obviously drive the vessel's signature, and could be quite different from the HEPlaR drive that was used in TNE. Can a reviewer help here?

HG is not even necessarily talking about emissions from the drives and power plant. He may just be talking about the IR signature of a container with an internal temperature survivable by humans.


Hans

 

[HG_B]

HG is not even necessarily talking about emissions from the drives and power plant. He may just be talking about the IR signature of a container with an internal temperature survivable by humans.


Hans

Bingo, that's enough to spot a long way off by itself. Add to that the Fusion PP waste heat and you have a extremely bright IR source that you can see for a couple AU's, at least.

 

[Ulsyus]

Bingo, that's enough to spot a long way off by itself. Add to that the Fusion PP waste heat and you have a extremely bright IR source that you can see for a couple AU's, at least.

But there's insulation in the hull to create a survivable space inside, so the latent head shouldn't be leaking out, unless the system is designed to add an equal amount of heat to the environment as is lost, which if it's a lot of loss could desiccate the unprotected passengers within. If the insulating properties of the hull were that poor, then when the vessel wasn't in a shadow it'd bake everyone inside pretty quickly without sufficient cooling wouldn't it? So, to avoid these significant temperature changes inside a hull, what about insulating it? That in turn would reduce its latent IR signature. Have I missed something really obvious here or does this make sense and hold water?

How much waste heat will the PP generate? If it was too much, wouldn't it fry the people in the ship? If this was the case why have deckplans been prepared for decades showing the PP in a space that crew can walk around in, often in the same location as the M and J drives? Or is there some sort of insulation involved somewhere?