Star Wars Sim Forum: Roleplay, Simming and Fan Fiction
THE GALACTIC ARCHIVES => SWSF Uni Archives => Retired Game Archives => SWSF: OOC Discussion => Topic started by: SWSF Hale on July 28, 2017, 11:33:11 AM
-
Hello all. In "The Last Star Destroyer" storyline/dress rehearsal, Hop and I realized that some major revisions were needed in order to get this game in ship shape for combat. Three core ideas became the basis of this revision:
1. We need to focus on capital ships as the "the main event" for our games.
2. We needed an expanded grid to function as a "vignette" rather than the whole system.
3. We needed to reduce the amount of time it takes to prepare a post.
In order to turn these ideas into reality, some major revisions are coming.
As for the grid, we are essentially keeping the 5x5 grid as devised at the onset of the game, but we're introducing two new grid spaces, and rules to accompany it. This new grid well be known as The Common Grid because it is meant to be the same grid for Space and Ground Combat. The standard 5x5 area is represented by grid spaces A~Y. The two additional grid spaces are called "Transit" and "Z" which have different functions for Space and Ground.
(https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1IfeyrAhG9UR0Q-nxzFwwG3xImEgVHwIt9LYGEZLhCkE/pub?w=464&h=355)
In Space, the Transit Grid is where all hostile starships must exit hyperspace. The Transit grid is considered a contiguous Deep Space/High Orbit (DSHO) Zone that is one giant grid space that connects to A, F, K, P, and U for the purposes of movement and combat. On the Ground, the Transit Grid is where all landing barges, auxiliaries, and capital ships must land to disembark troops and vehicles. It functions the same way as space for purposes of movement and combat.
In Space, the Z-Grid is the Planet Itself. The Z-Grid is considered a contiguous High-Altitude/Low-Orbit (HALO) Zone that is one giant grid space that connects to E, J, O, T, and Y for movement and combat. In order to conduct Landing Barge operations or Orbital Bombardment, Capital Ships must be in the Z-Grid. In order for Starfighters and Auxiliary Craft to conduct Bombing Runs, they must also be in the Z-Grid. On the Ground, the Z-Grid represents the central command area of the planet. In order to take over a Planet, hostile forces must have a 5:1 Infantry advantage in the Z-Grid AND all local ground facilities must be destroyed.
When moving from Space-to-Ground, units move from the Space Z-Grid to the Ground Transit Grid. For visualization purposes, the Space Z-Grid is "directly above" the Ground Transit Grid, as to provide a seemless transition.
___
We also wanted to streamline Starfighter and Auxiliary specs so you can spend less time keeping track of all the hit points and # of warheads etc. Another benefit SF and AUX are getting is "unrestricted movement." What this means is that on each round, they can move once to any single grid in the entire battlefield to either Attack or go on Combat Grid Patrol (CGP). SF and AUX that are on CGP must be engaged 1:1 before any Capital Ships in that same grid can be attacked. This is very similar to the classic "Combat Space Patrol" scheme of yesteryear, only we're marrying SF/AUX to grids and not capital ships.
__
The last bit of what has changed is how damage output is organized. Instead of a single damage rating, we are introducing a new bracket system that takes into account weapon performance against different targets. It is arranged as follows:
Weapon Damage (A/B/C/D)
A = Capital Ships, Platforms, and Ground Facilities
B = Starfighters and Auxiliary Craft
C = Ground Vehicles
D = Infantry
An easy way to think about it is Big-to-Small. For the most part, your battle posts will be eating and breathing in the A/B categories, so keeping metal track of damage output vs units should be easy. The idea is to spend less time referencing the specs and rules, and more time referencing the grid and plotting your next move!
DAMAGE CATEGORY A B C D
SPACE WEAPONS CAP-FAC SF-AUX GAV INF RANGE
Turbolaser Battery^ 8 0 8 20 1
Heavy Turbolaser^ 7 2 0 17 1
Turbolaser Cannon 6 3 0 15 1
Heavy Laser Cannon 3 3 0 12 1
Laser Cannon 2 1 4* 8* 0
TIE Laser Canon 1 2 4* 8* 0
Ion Cannon 6 2 0 0 1
Heavy Ion Cannon 8 1 0 0 1
Proton Torpedo^ 4 2 8* 8* 1
Proton Bomb 6 0 50* 0 0
Concussion Missile^ 2 4 4* 12* 1
___________________________________________________________
GROUND WEAPONS A B C D RANGE
Vibro Knife 0 0 0 10 0
Vibro Sword 0 0 0 15 0
Vibro Axe 0 0 0 20 0
Vibro Spear 0 0 0 25 0
Blaster Pistol 0 0 0 3 0
Blaster Carbine 0 0 0 5 1
Blaster Rifle 0.25 0.25' 0.5 6 1
Blaster Cannon 2 4' 2 9 1
Heavy Blaster Cannon 3 6' 4 11 1
Siege Blaster 4 8' 8 13 2~
Concussion Grenade 5 5 3 15 1
Thermal Detonator 6 6 6 17 1
^Weapon is capable of being used during Orbital Bombardment. May only target hostile units on the Ground in the Z-Grid. Resulting damage is defender's choice (to resolve inherent weapon inaccuracy).
*Bombing Runs allow atmospheric bomber-class starfighters to specifically target individual GAVs. During a bombing run, that starfighter performs a low-altitude flight path which exposes it to vehicle and facility-based weapons (in other words, defending units get 1 round of attacks to make against the Bombing Run starfighter as if were a GAV). While not on a Bombing Run, starfighters are considered to be in the Space Z-Grid (aka HALO Zone).
'Damage applies when weapon is fired at a Starfighter or Auxiliary during a Bombing Run. Explosives are only effective against SF/AUX which have landed.
~See chart below.
_________
STANDARD ATTACK VECTORS
All capital ships >500 meters and all ground assault vehicles must adhere to the following diagram when determining the performance of their weapons. X = viable grids where weapons can be fired. Y = an extend grid where only the Siege Blaster can reach. In this scheme, the unit's Location/Heading is M/N. (By default, all capital ships under <501 meters to include starfighters and auxiliaries, AND all infantry and artillery have full 360-degree coverage.) Units with a weapon range of 0 can only attack other units in the same grid.
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | X | X | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | > | X | Y | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | X | X | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
Summary
1. New grid template for Space-to-Ground action!
2. Starfighters and Aux have unrestricted movement during combat.
3. Combat Grid Patrol for SF/AUX.
4. New weapon damages.
5. Standard attack arcs for CAPs >500m and GAVs.
If you have any questions about the five things above, let us know!
-
Don't hate us. But spec adjustments and price changes are forthcoming... :(
-
Don't hate us. But spec adjustments and price changes are forthcoming... :(
... As my first act as corrupt puppet master of the NR, I transfer all NR funds to the SA so I don't have to change my spending.... :P
-
May I suggest, instead of A B C D, you use C S G I? Or C S V I? Makes it easier to remember which damage is which when listed. Capital, Starfighter, Vehicle, Infantry and we can remember that Capital is all the big stuff, and SF includes Aux.
-
In the specs, damages will be listed like this: (12/8/48/9). It should be easy to keep a mental track of. (CAP/SFAUX/GAV/INF). Just think Biggest-to-Smallest and it should make sense. The A/B/C/D scheme was really only for charting purposes. =)
-
There was a question regarding how the Space Z-Grid and the Ground Transit Grid connect. Hopefully this diagram covers it. If you think of the whole battlefield as two grids side-by-side, it should make sense.
1. Starfighters or Auxiliaries that perform a Bombing Run are considered to be in the Space Z-Grid, but while they are on a Bombing Run, they temporarily fly over the Ground Grids and thus become vulnerable to attack.
2. Landing ANYTHING is like moving from one grid to the next. Landing Barges (or whatever) deployed from the Space Z-Grid END THEIR TURN in the Ground Transit Grid as Landed Units.
(https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1_gRswn3r6QiXa-ZE2d_0cW8LAFCb0H4e-fDTWwznuvI/pub?w=960&h=720)
-
Here is a blank template if anybody wants to embed the grid into your posts. I suggest copying and pasting the template into any word processor that has the Courier font to make it easy for editing.
font=courier
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
/font
FOR EXAMPLE:
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | 2 | | | | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| 1 | 3 | | | | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | 4 | | | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
UNIT (LOCATION/HEADING)
1. SSD Executor, ISD-II Nightmare, ISD-II Devastator (Transit/~)
2. TIE Fighter Squadrons Black-1, Black-2 (F)
3. TIE Interceptor Squadrons Black-3, Black-4 (P)
4. VSD-II Fearless (Q/R)
-
Not more price changes! ;)
-
On the grids, very nice.
You're killin me on the price changes though!
Below, practicing..
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
| | | | | | | |
| | | 1 | | | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | 2 | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
Heyooo. Clever little devil. It's verified, if I can do it, even Karen can. :D
Hale, relating to the new grid dynamics. You have SF movement noted as 1 grid space per turn universally, will/could Interceptors be set apart in their move range/cgp cover ability from other SFs? And will the smaller Capships in the final tweaks still have more than 1 MP?
Regrading CapShips used to Bombard/Involved in Ground Operations, I just want to list it as points that I gather to make sure I got it. Correct my errs..
1) they are always in the Space Z when Bombarding
2) from Z Space they can target any Ground Grid location A-Z.
3) They would move to Transit only if Landing and land/move no where else on the Ground Grid ever.
4) [noted in reg rulebook post] CapShips cannot fire weapons in the Atmosphere (Ground Grid Transit?)
5) [noted in reg rulebook post] When landing troops in Transit Grid Location they can still be targeted by Capships in Space.
-
I really like that grid.
I also think Ranes idea of using more identifiable letters to damage makes it a little less reference necessary.
-
There was a question regarding how the Space Z-Grid and the Ground Transit Grid connect. Hopefully this diagram covers it. If you think of the whole battlefield as two grids side-by-side, it should make sense.
1. Starfighters or Auxiliaries that perform a Bombing Run are considered to be in the Space Z-Grid, but while they are on a Bombing Run, they temporarily fly over the Ground Grids and thus become vulnerable to attack.
2. Landing ANYTHING is like moving from one grid to the next. Landing Barges (or whatever) deployed from the Space Z-Grid END THEIR TURN in the Ground Transit Grid as Landed Units.
(https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1_gRswn3r6QiXa-ZE2d_0cW8LAFCb0H4e-fDTWwznuvI/pub?w=960&h=720)
So, the ENTIRE ground grid can fire on any SF on a bombing run? Which is different from bombardment from space (which SF could do with warheads)?
-
A spot of answers for your questions...
1. Starfighters and Aux can literally move from one grid to any other grid space during their turn. So, in practice, they can literally move from Grid A to Grid X in one go. This is meant to simulate starfighters being zippy and "constantly roaming" the battlefield. The grid is meant to be a tight, localized region of space, probably no bigger than 100km3 in reality.
2. Specs will indicate how many movement points a capital ship has.
3. Capital ships will always be in Z when doing either Orbital Bombardment or when Landing Barges disembark. Specs will indicate which capital ships can actually make a surface landing - and if they have that capability, then they will be in the Ground Transit Grid.
4. During a Bombing Run, Starfighters can be attacked by ANY unit in the Ground Battlespace. Starfighters that engage in Orbital Bombardment can only target the Z-grid (inaccurately), and only use Proton Torpedoes and Concussion Missiles... if they want to use their lasers (or blasters as some shuttles have) or Proton Bombs, they need to go on a Bombing Run.
5. These rules override what is in the rulebook presently. We will redact and edit later, prior to Game Day.
-
Asking for a friend.....
When do we think new prices will be live for planning? ;)
-
Asking for a friend.....
When do we think new prices will be live for planning? ;)
This week I am in a bit of a bind, but will do my best. Imperial stuff has been redone, but I am behind on the rest. Before end of week. ASAP. Whenever that is..
-
This week I am in a bit of a bind, but will do my best. Imperial stuff has been redone, but I am behind on the rest. Before end of week. ASAP. Whenever that is..
If all you need is to take it from your sheet into the specs post, then gimme a link to your sheet and the rights to edit the posts and I'll knock it out Wed or Thursday. :) (or, really, if it's in your sheet, just give us all a link and we can work from those and you can update specs whenever you feel like it)
-
How necessary is this pricing change vs just moving forward? Not trying to be a pain, but we have hit a standstill.
-
How necessary is this pricing change vs just moving forward? Not trying to be a pain, but we have hit a standstill.
It is necessary as some units are going to change a little. Really sorry for the delay. They should be ready by the weekend or even sooner.
-
How goes the new specs?
-
How goes the new specs?
Almost there. I'll do my best to post them today.