[Quaker]

I’m sorry Mike, if you didn’t like the Doof Warrior I’m not sure we can be friends any more

[Quaker]

Thanks Nathaniel.

Yeah people moving around on vehicles and fighting would be good to add. I’ll have a think about it and post some ideas later.

[Quaker]

Thanks Jozi!

[Quaker]

In theory the M2/M3 can reload the TOW via a special hatch behind the turret. In practice I don’t believe this is done due to how awkward it is. Easier to pull back and then reload externally.

For early ATGMs like the Sagger you could say that at long range Bail! is reduced to Taking Fire! due to the tanks doing the Sagger dance.

[Quaker]

I like the asset cards Jozi, no chance you could put them online somewhere?

 

Also I liked the F-117 strike 😛

[Quaker]

Jozi I was mainly thinking about the main guns not ATGMs. That is why I wanted to keep it short range as IFVs generally wouldn’t (or couldn’t) fire their main guns if they had ATGMs at long range, but at short range they could switch to main guns which can throw out a lot more firepower of a suppressive nature.

[Quaker]

Tim the T-72 was used in many Soviet units outside GSFG. As Jozi said the Soviet forces in Czechoslovakia were equipped with them.

The issue is really them saying it is going to be about Fulda gap, and it is unlikely there would be T-72s there (or at least CGF forces moving up to the Fulda area would have given NATO time to start REFORGER).

[Quaker]

A re-roll would probably stop it being too strong. I would still keep it at 6″ or under though, as at long range they would be using their ATGMs alone.

[Quaker]

IRL the tanks would try and pick off the IFVs before they IFVs got in effective range, because 25mm autocannon rounds can at least smash gun sights and de-track a tank (and with a side shot can kill everything less than a super-tank). In a stand-off a tank company will be shooting 2S at a mech inf company at 12″ while the mech inf shoot back with 1S.

And if hunkering down works in Brigade Commander as it does in normal 5Core (the wording is unclear, but I assume it is so) then tanks can effectively suppress and assault mech inf in the open. Any tank company that decides to engage in a short range duel with a company  of IFVs should be hurting, and if they try and assault mech inf in cover they should lose.

[Quaker]

That works if you separate the IFVs from the infantry (something I intend to do, ’cause Bronegruppa are awesome). Using mixed stands I’d just say the IFVs heavy firepower makes-up for the shortfall in men.

EDIT: I actually just realized that Bradleys and BMPs basically don’t get to use their main guns only their ATGMs. I’m tempted to house rule they get +1S when conducting AT fire at 6″ or less against equal or lesser tech tanks, and +1 when assaulting tanks.

[Quaker]

I feel the maximum possible activations being constrained by the leaders stress is more realistic. I think what NEIS does well is simulating how firefights bog down as the leaders become overwhelmed. If people don’t want to deal with that there is platoon level 5core.

 

P.S. With the optional system there is about a 1/3rd increase in the number of possible activations at “normal” stress levels (2-3 stress). However, at high stress there is a significant increase in the possible number of activations. At 4 stress a leader will activate 1/3rd of the time but will give 5-6 activations when they do. That will make the game more “bursty” as units which are suppressed suddenly rally. This creates an incentive to make dangerous plays and hope you get lucky.

[Quaker]

I thought about the NEIS mechanic but I felt it wasn’t as interesting if you only had one leader in play (the Brigade HQ). It might work if you added in battalion HQs and rolled D3 for the number of activations. Though then a good way to represent the battalion HQ on the field is needed.

My thoughts for a Battalion command would be:

• Can’t take offensive action.
• Treated like a normal company for shooting (if it is a tank battalion HQ it is treated as one tech lower due to being composed of a mix of tanks and APCs).
• Gets a free 6″ move every turn (subject to normal restrictions such as being pinned).
• Can’t roll to activate its companies if it is Taking Casualties! or Bailing.
• Can have attachments.
• Same enemy targeting restrictions as HQs.
• If destroyed all sub-companies count as Taking Fire!.
• Well trained armies can replace a destroyed battalion command. One of the battalions companies which isn’t under any status effects can have the company command take over the battalion. Put the battalion command back on the table but they and the company that they came from count as Taking Fire!.

[Quaker]

I think the standard 5core activation system works fine for the skirmish level, but at Brigade I wouldn’t mind some C&C friction issues. So I am thinking of trying the following:

Battalion Command

Instead of activating companies normally you can spend an activation on a battalion. Each company in the nominated battalion rolls a quality check on 1d6 and if they pass (4+ for normal troops, 5+ for crummy Soviets) they can act as if activated.

Quantity has a quality all of its own

Some armies train to fight in bigger formations than is normal (ie Soviets). To reflect this when such a brigade uses battalion activations they can elect to skip rolling quality checks and partially activate the whole battalion (each company in the battalion must be within 4 inches of another company in the battalion). Such a partially activated battalion can choose to move (and assault) or shoot, but not both. Perform each action by individual company. When moving the whole battalion must move in roughly the same direction and each company must end the move within 4 inches of another company in the battalion. When assaulting each company must assault either the same target as that assaulted by the first company or an enemy company within 4 inches of the first target. When shooting each company must shoot either the same target as that shot by the first company or an enemy company within 4 inches of the first target.

 

 

With a 4+ quality check and a three company battalion there is a 12.5% chance of zero activations, a 37.5% chance of one activation, a 37.5% of two activations, and a 12.5% chance of three activations. With a 5+ quality check and a three company battalion there is a 30% chance of zero activations, a 44% chance of one activation, a 22% chance of two activations, and a 3% chance of three activations.

[Quaker]

Yes, I definitely don’t have as rosy view as Clancy et al. My US force is a demi-brigade of M1A1s and M2 Bradleys versing a Soviet Tank Regiment. But even though the Soviets have twice the battalion count the US four company battalions and four vehicle platoons (I’m going to use the heavy tank attachment rules for the M1A1s) get the odds fairly close.

[Quaker]

There is a reason I don’t play A Fistful of Tows 😛

[Quaker]

They look pretty good Jozi. I do disagree with rating the T-64/72/80 as equal tech against the M-60. I think the armor difference between the M-60 and the M-48 isn’t enough to put it in the same class as the M1/Leo2/Challenger. Also the Leo 1 is notoriously thin skinned and even with later upgrades I think Soviet 125mm guns would punch clean through it.

[Quaker]

In the new TOE doc it lists WARPAC tank regiments as having 3x tank battalions and 3x motor rifle battalions. That should be 1x motor rifles.

[Quaker]

Is this where we bitch about typos? 😛

The number of activations per force confuses me.

When your side takes a standard turn, you may select units to activate and carry out activities.
In a standard game, you may activate 1 unit for every 3 in your force currently, though you may
always activate a minimum of 2 units.
Hence, forces ranging from 1-5 companies will have 2 activations, 6-8 companies will have 3
activations and so forth.

Shouldn’t it be 1-6 companies getting 2 activations?

 

[Quaker]

But I want it now! *stamps foot*

[Quaker]

Only antipathy I have towards it is how many figures seem to be in a “look how cool I am” pose rather than a combat pose. Nothing wrong with that in heroes, but even most basic troopers seem to be doing it.

[Quaker]

Spooky space skellingtons? This is relevant to my interests!

[Quaker]

Only a company? 😛

3mm is good as long as you don’t go crazy like me and try and do large formations at 1:1 (including infantry), that gets expensive.

[Quaker]

At platoon scale I would think nothing. Droids aren’t going to bleed out and die and therefore don’t need the equivalent of combat medics.

Once the battle is over all the micro-drones etc would be policed, deactivated/destroyed, and replaced, as those would be “no user serviceable parts” kind of products. Bigger droids would be passed to the rear for either field repair or shipping back home for a manufacturer rebuild.

If you have sentient droids (or at least droids with individual experience) the memory units would be yanked and put in a replacement chassis if major repairs are required.

[Quaker]

15mm.

I already have some FoW M113s and Peter Pig Israelis from an ’82 Lebanon project I was going to do before deciding that conflict was (personally) a bit distasteful.

I’m going to get some FoW M48s and T55s and Khurasan Egyptians.

[Quaker]

You are terrible Ivan. I was trying to constrain the projects I was doing but now I’m going to have to do ’73 Yom Kippur.

[Quaker]

Hah, that’s cool.

Your paint scheme works really well.

[Quaker]

Already bought it, looks like great material to integrate into a campaign.

[Quaker]

You are just too good at painting dazzle camo stephen 😛

 

As others have said the way to fix this is to ink/wash panel lines and recesses and to use extreme highlights on edges and raised surfaces. Also in future change out the black lines for darkish gray lines.

[Quaker]

The crew of the CTV Conrad.

I think I am getting the hang of high lighting.

[Quaker]

UNITY SpecOps (Athenian) team.

Athenian teams are composed of psychically active human females. They specialize in low intensity operations such as long range recon and quasi-law enforcement activities such as fugitive apprehension. They wear an adaptive camouflage suit, shown here in parade colors, and are equipped with light beam rifles and auto-grenade launchers.

This was my first attempt at highlighting by paint mixing. Normally I am a wuss and just use standard colors.

I think the purple mostly worked well, but the final highlight could have been a bit lighter.

The highlighting the red didn’t work for the most part. My attempts at making the red lighter just ended up pink.

I also need a better light to paint with as I can’t make out the fine details with just my room light.

 

Figures are Critical Mass Games Vadorian Assasins

[Quaker]

Shut-up and take my money Useless trinket!

 

I have some free time to start painting my models and terrain now, hopefully I will be ready by the time this drops.

[Quaker]

Really nice!

[Quaker]

[Need to know more intensifies]

 

I’ve added a light switch and vent to each tile (the texture didn’t come out in the photo, I need to break out my DSLR). Which I think makes them feel much more like real spaces.

I’ve also knocked up some engineering props out of spares from a Pegasus hobbies chemical plant kit.

I’ve also ordered some office furniture from Mad Mecha Guy.

[Quaker]

@Ivan

They are 6″ square tiles, so it is 18″ square all up. A small area, but with the Five Parsecs from Home cover mechanic I think that is a good size. Any larger and I think a 4-5 man team would have too much ground to cover.

 

@Dr Jackson

I’m not that well endowed with manually skills myself. The fit & finish of my version is a lot rougher than Spacejacker’s (eg I didn’t do bezeled doorways), but it wasn’t too hard to do with a steel ruler and a sharp knife.

[Quaker]

I took the designs from Spacejacker’s version and copied them on to small paper squares that I played around with until I had a set of designs that I liked. The final product is a bit rough and more planning would have built a better product. eg I had to add spacers to the edge of the walls on the double corridor tile as otherwise it left a gap when put next to the “shop front” tiles. However, this leads to the spacer sticking into the large doorway of the plain room tiles. Also, the floor patterns are all over the place as I just did what I felt like without worrying much about matching other tiles, I’m calling it decorative patterning.

As for tile positioning they are usually fine as long as you don’t but two walls parallel as that leads to doors to nowhere (something that could have been fixed with more planning). There is a huge amount of variety that can be achieved, from small rooms and long corridors, to large open offices, to an outdoor plaza.

The base was corkboard (easier to cut than MDF) and the floors are just carboard.

[Quaker]

Yeah they are nice. I just bought some to play Five Parsecs From Home with 😉

[Quaker]

Khurasan has “Prohibited Non-Human Eradication” agents.

 

[Quaker]

Any story involving technology that currently doesn’t exist (or didn’t exist during the period depicted).

[Quaker]

And it is funded. Onwards towards the stretch goals!

[Quaker]

I’m going to be using the Critical Mass Games heavy drop infantry for SPARTANS, I already had some from another project (where I didn’t use them because they are 18mm foot to eye, which is actually a good size for a SPARTAN).

[Author]

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