Ship Combat Questions

[hemulen]

Hi all,

I recently began reading through the MT rules again, after a long hiatus. Most of MT + errata seems ok, but a couple of things on Ship Combat are puzzling me:

Firstly, movement - you can move up to your speed, even zero by "circling"? This seems really weird - I think I'd prefer the Mayday system of future position markers adjusted by manoeuvre rating.

Secondly, Sensors: If you need to make a general sensor task roll, and then a lock on task roll to fire on a ship, and you get 1 sensor task for free and can perform others at the cost of firing one battery, how is, frex, a 100 dt Scout ever going to fire at anything? Unless the enemy obligingly doesn't move...I find the wording of the section on Sensor tasks quite confusing.

Any common sense explanations?

cheers,

Mark

 

[hemulen]

Hi all,

I recently began reading through the MT rules again, after a long hiatus. Most of MT + errata seems ok, but a couple of things on Ship Combat are puzzling me:

Firstly, movement - you can move up to your speed, even zero by "circling"? This seems really weird - I think I'd prefer the Mayday system of future position markers adjusted by manoeuvre rating.

Secondly, Sensors: If you need to make a general sensor task roll, and then a lock on task roll to fire on a ship, and you get 1 sensor task for free and can perform others at the cost of firing one battery, how is, frex, a 100 dt Scout ever going to fire at anything? Unless the enemy obligingly doesn't move...I find the wording of the section on Sensor tasks quite confusing.

Any common sense explanations?

cheers,

Mark

 

[hemulen]

Hi all,

I recently began reading through the MT rules again, after a long hiatus. Most of MT + errata seems ok, but a couple of things on Ship Combat are puzzling me:

Firstly, movement - you can move up to your speed, even zero by "circling"? This seems really weird - I think I'd prefer the Mayday system of future position markers adjusted by manoeuvre rating.

Secondly, Sensors: If you need to make a general sensor task roll, and then a lock on task roll to fire on a ship, and you get 1 sensor task for free and can perform others at the cost of firing one battery, how is, frex, a 100 dt Scout ever going to fire at anything? Unless the enemy obligingly doesn't move...I find the wording of the section on Sensor tasks quite confusing.

Any common sense explanations?

cheers,

Mark

 

[Cymew]

Mark,

I'm in no way an expert at this. I suck at rules, and have never gotten through all the MT starship combat. But, there are some things I've noticed.

Sensors:
I think that the first task, to locate a bogey, is a one-time task, and the free task check every turn after that is for getting and keeping the lock. That's how I've interpreted it.

Movement is another kettle of fish. I must confess that I really don't understand that either. Every space combat system for Traveller seems to change the nature of the game totally.

In MT it seems like you can move quite a bit in a round and it doesn't feel like it matches LBB2 at all. Maybe it does if you get your pocket calculator and thinks more than I have.

I'm thinking of inventing something of my own, since I find the HG derived MT system too much built around Big Guns and not enough roleplaying possibilities. Mayday is too much dogfight for my taste.

You could always use the vehicular combat system instead. Then you use the Fire Controll table and the hit location chart for vehicles. Some oddities will show up and I'm looking at them myself right now.

Check Aramis' webpage for his "MT fixes" for his notes on how it works. He uses the Mayday movement as far as I've understood it.

I'm probably going to post some kind of patch for it myself later on, and wouldn't mind chatting more about the space combat alternatives for MT.

 

[Cymew]

Mark,

I'm in no way an expert at this. I suck at rules, and have never gotten through all the MT starship combat. But, there are some things I've noticed.

Sensors:
I think that the first task, to locate a bogey, is a one-time task, and the free task check every turn after that is for getting and keeping the lock. That's how I've interpreted it.

Movement is another kettle of fish. I must confess that I really don't understand that either. Every space combat system for Traveller seems to change the nature of the game totally.

In MT it seems like you can move quite a bit in a round and it doesn't feel like it matches LBB2 at all. Maybe it does if you get your pocket calculator and thinks more than I have.

I'm thinking of inventing something of my own, since I find the HG derived MT system too much built around Big Guns and not enough roleplaying possibilities. Mayday is too much dogfight for my taste.

You could always use the vehicular combat system instead. Then you use the Fire Controll table and the hit location chart for vehicles. Some oddities will show up and I'm looking at them myself right now.

Check Aramis' webpage for his "MT fixes" for his notes on how it works. He uses the Mayday movement as far as I've understood it.

I'm probably going to post some kind of patch for it myself later on, and wouldn't mind chatting more about the space combat alternatives for MT.

 

[Cymew]

Mark,

I'm in no way an expert at this. I suck at rules, and have never gotten through all the MT starship combat. But, there are some things I've noticed.

Sensors:
I think that the first task, to locate a bogey, is a one-time task, and the free task check every turn after that is for getting and keeping the lock. That's how I've interpreted it.

Movement is another kettle of fish. I must confess that I really don't understand that either. Every space combat system for Traveller seems to change the nature of the game totally.

In MT it seems like you can move quite a bit in a round and it doesn't feel like it matches LBB2 at all. Maybe it does if you get your pocket calculator and thinks more than I have.

I'm thinking of inventing something of my own, since I find the HG derived MT system too much built around Big Guns and not enough roleplaying possibilities. Mayday is too much dogfight for my taste.

You could always use the vehicular combat system instead. Then you use the Fire Controll table and the hit location chart for vehicles. Some oddities will show up and I'm looking at them myself right now.

Check Aramis' webpage for his "MT fixes" for his notes on how it works. He uses the Mayday movement as far as I've understood it.

I'm probably going to post some kind of patch for it myself later on, and wouldn't mind chatting more about the space combat alternatives for MT.

 

[aramis]

Yes, pretty much correct there about my blending MT and Mayday.

Yes, Mark, in "official" MT ship combat, it's non-newtonian. Your movement is the number of spaces you can move, period. A drastic simplification, and not a happy one. Very, uhm, Trekish.

 

[aramis]

Yes, pretty much correct there about my blending MT and Mayday.

Yes, Mark, in "official" MT ship combat, it's non-newtonian. Your movement is the number of spaces you can move, period. A drastic simplification, and not a happy one. Very, uhm, Trekish.

 

[aramis]

Yes, pretty much correct there about my blending MT and Mayday.

Yes, Mark, in "official" MT ship combat, it's non-newtonian. Your movement is the number of spaces you can move, period. A drastic simplification, and not a happy one. Very, uhm, Trekish.

 

[hemulen]

Originally posted by Cymew:
Sensors:
I think that the first task, to locate a bogey, is a one-time task, and the free task check every turn after that is for getting and keeping the lock. That's how I've interpreted it.

Yes, on re-reading, I think you are right, at least, I can't really see any other interpretation that makes sense, although it doesn't actually say so in the rules.

In MT it seems like you can move quite a bit in a round and it doesn't feel like it matches LBB2 at all. Maybe it does if you get your pocket calculator and thinks more than I have.

I really don't like the "move up to your current speed" rule, there is no reason not to just accelerate at maximum rate every turn, to give you more options for moving. Maybe if you had to move your current speed?

You could always use the vehicular combat system instead. Then you use the Fire Controll table and the hit location chart for vehicles. Some oddities will show up and I'm looking at them myself right now.

An interesting idea, and feasible, given that the stats are already mostly there in the MT rulebook. What are the oddities?

Check Aramis' webpage for his "MT fixes" for his notes on how it works. He uses the Mayday movement as far as I've understood it.

Will do.

I'm probably going to post some kind of patch for it myself later on, and wouldn't mind chatting more about the space combat alternatives for MT.

Will be interested to hear any ideas that you have. I'll see what I can come up with as well.

Mark

 

[hemulen]

Originally posted by Cymew:
Sensors:
I think that the first task, to locate a bogey, is a one-time task, and the free task check every turn after that is for getting and keeping the lock. That's how I've interpreted it.

Yes, on re-reading, I think you are right, at least, I can't really see any other interpretation that makes sense, although it doesn't actually say so in the rules.

In MT it seems like you can move quite a bit in a round and it doesn't feel like it matches LBB2 at all. Maybe it does if you get your pocket calculator and thinks more than I have.

I really don't like the "move up to your current speed" rule, there is no reason not to just accelerate at maximum rate every turn, to give you more options for moving. Maybe if you had to move your current speed?

You could always use the vehicular combat system instead. Then you use the Fire Controll table and the hit location chart for vehicles. Some oddities will show up and I'm looking at them myself right now.

An interesting idea, and feasible, given that the stats are already mostly there in the MT rulebook. What are the oddities?

Check Aramis' webpage for his "MT fixes" for his notes on how it works. He uses the Mayday movement as far as I've understood it.

Will do.

I'm probably going to post some kind of patch for it myself later on, and wouldn't mind chatting more about the space combat alternatives for MT.

Will be interested to hear any ideas that you have. I'll see what I can come up with as well.

Mark

 

[hemulen]

Originally posted by Cymew:
Sensors:
I think that the first task, to locate a bogey, is a one-time task, and the free task check every turn after that is for getting and keeping the lock. That's how I've interpreted it.

Yes, on re-reading, I think you are right, at least, I can't really see any other interpretation that makes sense, although it doesn't actually say so in the rules.

In MT it seems like you can move quite a bit in a round and it doesn't feel like it matches LBB2 at all. Maybe it does if you get your pocket calculator and thinks more than I have.

I really don't like the "move up to your current speed" rule, there is no reason not to just accelerate at maximum rate every turn, to give you more options for moving. Maybe if you had to move your current speed?

You could always use the vehicular combat system instead. Then you use the Fire Controll table and the hit location chart for vehicles. Some oddities will show up and I'm looking at them myself right now.

An interesting idea, and feasible, given that the stats are already mostly there in the MT rulebook. What are the oddities?

Check Aramis' webpage for his "MT fixes" for his notes on how it works. He uses the Mayday movement as far as I've understood it.

Will do.

I'm probably going to post some kind of patch for it myself later on, and wouldn't mind chatting more about the space combat alternatives for MT.

Will be interested to hear any ideas that you have. I'll see what I can come up with as well.

Mark

 

[hemulen]

Originally posted by Aramis:
Yes, pretty much correct there about my blending MT and Mayday.

This is a solution that I do like the feel of.

Yes, Mark, in "official" MT ship combat, it's non-newtonian. Your movement is the number of spaces you can move, period. A drastic simplification, and not a happy one. Very, uhm, Trekish.

Ok, so that's got to go then!

Mark

 

[hemulen]

Originally posted by Aramis:
Yes, pretty much correct there about my blending MT and Mayday.

This is a solution that I do like the feel of.

Yes, Mark, in "official" MT ship combat, it's non-newtonian. Your movement is the number of spaces you can move, period. A drastic simplification, and not a happy one. Very, uhm, Trekish.

Ok, so that's got to go then!

Mark

 

[hemulen]

Originally posted by Aramis:
Yes, pretty much correct there about my blending MT and Mayday.

This is a solution that I do like the feel of.

Yes, Mark, in "official" MT ship combat, it's non-newtonian. Your movement is the number of spaces you can move, period. A drastic simplification, and not a happy one. Very, uhm, Trekish.

Ok, so that's got to go then!

Mark

 

[Cymew]

A differance of taste.

I find MT ship combat to be bland, but using Mayday movement would turn it to much into an board game, so I don't like that either.

Now, I have never really bothered to paste all the errata unto the rules, so they never made much sense anyway...

 

[Cymew]

A differance of taste.

I find MT ship combat to be bland, but using Mayday movement would turn it to much into an board game, so I don't like that either.

Now, I have never really bothered to paste all the errata unto the rules, so they never made much sense anyway...

 

[Cymew]

A differance of taste.

I find MT ship combat to be bland, but using Mayday movement would turn it to much into an board game, so I don't like that either.

Now, I have never really bothered to paste all the errata unto the rules, so they never made much sense anyway...

 

[hemulen]

Originally posted by Cymew:
A differance of taste.

I find MT ship combat to be bland, but using Mayday movement would turn it to much into an board game, so I don't like that either.

Hm, I am a grognard of wargaming and board games [esp German, big fan of Reiner Knizia], so maybe that's the reason! I like to know what the rules are, and how they work. THEN I can figure out which ones to ignore!

cheers,

Mark

 

[hemulen]

Originally posted by Cymew:
A differance of taste.

I find MT ship combat to be bland, but using Mayday movement would turn it to much into an board game, so I don't like that either.

Hm, I am a grognard of wargaming and board games [esp German, big fan of Reiner Knizia], so maybe that's the reason! I like to know what the rules are, and how they work. THEN I can figure out which ones to ignore!

cheers,

Mark