Jamming and the reserve in MT space combat

[Carlobrand]

MegaTrav space combat rules base detection and target lock on sensor tasks. While they provide for the existence of EMS jammers, they don't discuss how those jammers function in battle.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, High Guard has that odd little "reserve" rule whereby ships can screen other ships from attack.

Thoughts on the subject:
"An EMS jammer renders an enemy's active EMS of equal or lesser range inoperative. An EMS jammer is available at the same ranges as Active EMS. ..." However, a jamming ship shows up on passive EMS like a full moon on a cloudless night. And, passive detection of other ships by passive EMS, densitometer, and/or neutrino detector remain options, though at low level blocking active EMS can make things a wee bit more difficult. Not exactly something that makes jamming useful.

Now consider the case of two ships of the same fleet in the same hex, one shouting its existence with active EMS, the other trying to avoid notice and staying as close as practical to the first, perhaps with its maneuver slaved to the first by laser link to prevent accidental collision. One could, if one wished, use this mechanism to create a situation analogous to High Guard's "reserve" rule. The enemy fleet detectors might be incapable of separating the two signatures at planetary or better ranges: they'd know the signal was stronger than expected, and telescopic analysis would reveal that there were multiple ships very close to each other, but they'd be unable to lock weapons preferentially on one target over another, and the "loud" target would dominate their passive EMS scan, drawing the attention of weapons to itself.

In this manner, you could have an escorting warship providing effective cover for an accompanied freighter. The attacker would have to come into the same hex as the pair, perhaps to visual range (I'll deal with that separately) in order to lock weapons on the screened ship.

One would not want to use such a rule to hide a dreadnought behind a fighter. One thought would be to require the "loud" ship to be equal to or larger than the mass and total energy output of the screened ships.

 

[HG_B]

Now consider the case of two ships of the same fleet in the same hex, one shouting its existence with active EMS, the other trying to avoid notice and staying as close as practical to the first, perhaps with its maneuver slaved to the first by laser link to prevent accidental collision. One could, if one wished, use this mechanism to create a situation analogous to High Guard's "reserve" rule. The enemy fleet detectors might be incapable of separating the two signatures at planetary or better ranges:

Passive IR would would show both ships clearly unless a bigger one directly eclipsed (considering the position of the ship using passive IR) a smaller ship. Passive IR is just an IR telescope after all...

 

[Carlobrand]

Passive IR would would show both ships clearly unless a bigger one directly eclipsed (considering the position of the ship using passive IR) a smaller ship. Passive IR is just an IR telescope after all...

It would presuppose some constant maneuvering between the active and passive ship, since a laser or missile aimed at the active ship might otherwise just happen to intersect the passive ship, so I imagine some maneuvering to defeat such measures would also be in play.

 

[HG_B]

It would presuppose some constant maneuvering between the active and passive ship, since a laser or missile aimed at the active ship might otherwise just happen to intersect the passive ship, so I imagine some maneuvering to defeat such measures would also be in play.

With weapons operating at the speed of light that will do no good. Missiles yes. So, not a viable strat really.

 

[Carlobrand]

With weapons operating at the speed of light that will do no good. Missiles yes. So, not a viable strat really.

If you shoot a pistol at me in personal combat, I have no hope of dodging once the bullet's in the air, though I might have some hope of confusing your aim up to that point. On the other hand, if someone physically places themselves between you and me before you pull the trigger, the "strat" becomes viable - someone is physically blocking your shot.

In my view, space combat at those ranges involves achieving a firing solution before you fire - my best rationalization for why a laser that can shoot 30 times a minute can't carve a target up like a Thanksgiving turkey in a 20-minute combat turn. (The only other possible rationalization, that it takes 600 shots to have a 50:50 chance at hitting, is frankly absurd.) Within the Megatrav combat system, being able to put someone in the crosshairs of an optical or IR sight does not translate to being able to pop 600 laser bursts into them in 20 minutes at 50,000 km range. Unrealistic as hell, but the alternative doesn't make for a very fun combat game. That being the case, the fact that you've got someone in your IR crosshairs in that instant does not mean your turret is happily locked and ready to send a beam down that line right at that instant, not in the Traveller universe.

Yes, it's unrealistic, but it's nothing more than the exact same unrealistic notion that the entire combat system is based on. There's nothing new in that, and I can't see worrying about it unless we're planning to re-evaluate the entire combat system.

On the other hand, the fact that a screening ship can't be everywhere at once means that there's some potential for a flanking attack to hit the screened ship. If the pair is dealing with more than one attacker, we'd have to come up with some sort of rule that speaks to either being able to screen from only one target at a time or the likelihood of one or both of the attackers getting a hit in on the reserve ship while the screening ship was out of position.

 

[HG_B]

If you shoot a pistol at me in personal combat, I have no hope of dodging once the bullet's in the air, though I might have some hope of confusing your aim up to that point. On the other hand, if someone physically places themselves between you and me before you pull the trigger, the "strat" becomes viable - someone is physically blocking your shot.

Correct. But: 1) you aren't going to confuse me when I'm using the passive detection method I listed. 2) You won't be able to physically block my shot with a speed of light weapon when I am firing what I can currently see.

Ergo, it's a no go strat.

 

[aramis]

With weapons operating at the speed of light that will do no good. Missiles yes. So, not a viable strat really.

Actually, if the lag time is sufficient, and the target small enough, erratic maneuvers can force "silhouette filling" to ensure hits. In which case, it's important to consider if a turret firing is a constant stream of fire, a single massive pulse, or some specific number of discrete pulses... because it makes a huge difference in assuring a hit.

Note that until lag is 2s or more, it's not significant enough. But that lag has to count there to here (sensor image) and back (shot), plus time to aim the beam (≤1s for sure for lasers).

Oh, and if you successfully jam sensors, the jammer is the ONE thing that can be spotted... everyone knows exactly what bearing it is.

 

[Carlobrand]

Correct. But: 1) you aren't going to confuse me when I'm using the passive detection method I listed. 2) You won't be able to physically block my shot with a speed of light weapon when I am firing what I can currently see.

Ergo, it's a no go strat.

As I said, "Yes, it's unrealistic, but it's nothing more than the exact same unrealistic notion that the entire combat system is based on." If you're going to stand on being able to shoot what you can see in the instant you see it - which is an absolutely fair and accurate view in the real world - then there's no reason you can't do it 80 to 600 times in a turn given the potential fire rates of the weapons, and there's no reason you can't do it 80 to 600 times in a turn to a ship hanging alone in space as well. There's absolutely no reason you can't apply the same logic to a ship floating alone in space. We end up scraping the entire MegaTrav to-hit system, and by extension the High Guard to-hit system, and incidentally the Book-2/Mayday system and to the best of my knowledge the Mongoose and T5 systems as well, because we all know they don't any of them actually conform to reality.

If we play the game by the rules as written, then it works as well as any other unrealistic element, and for the same reason. No new suspensions of disbelief required, it's all based on the same oddness that makes it so hard to hit a brightly glowing heat source floating alone in space when given 20 minutes and weapons that can fire 20-30 times a minute. If we don't like the unrealistic way that it works, then by extension the other rules and to-hit rolls are equally flawed. I've got no problem writing rules for a new game, but the focus here was to do something consistent with the existing MegaTrav rule structure, not to rewrite the entire setting to accommodate reality.