Traveller: Ground action.

[The Thing]

Having revently kicked my addiction to WH40K and Games Crackhouse, I started thinking it would be nice to do a miniature based ground combat game set in the traveller universe, since the traveller universe has roots that run deeper than wh40k or battletech.

I know there was Striker long ago, and it's not around anymore, and I doubt it was miniature based. But now that there's "Power Projection", a miniature based traveller space combat game, maybe it's time to think about a new ground based game.

I think that "Traveller: Planetside" or "Traveller: Ground Action" might be good titles, tho I admit that "Traveller: Starmercs" might be decent too, tho it might limit the scope of the game to merc units, or imply it was.

In an event, I'd like to see it done as fairly small scale, small unit action, with maybe a few vehicles on a side at most. The "Intrepid" tank might be the biggest unit in the game.

There are plenty of SF miniature wargame systems out there that are decent and not owned by games crackhouse, so does anyone know which might be a good basis for traveller flavored ground combat?

I think that traveller has plenty of factions that could make interesting forces in a game. We have imperial marines in battledress, we have Zhodani psionic commandoes, vargr corsairs, solomani fanatic squads, Ithklur, droyne with the ability to use invisibility and advanced weapons, K'kree, Aslan hiate, etc.

Also there could be star merc bands with multiracial makeup and varying gear, local rebels and quite a bit more.

I really don't want it becoming another wh40k, but to have a more travelleresque flavor, meaning that often one side will surrender and wait to be expatriated rather than fight to the last man screaming "FOR THE EMPEROR!!!"

If people would like to brainstorm with me on this, it could be fun.

 

[Hemdian]

Having revently kicked my addiction to WH40K and Games Crackhouse, I started thinking it would be nice to do a miniature based ground combat game set in the traveller universe, since the traveller universe has roots that run deeper than wh40k or battletech.

If you just want skirmish level combat then don't forget At Close Quarters, but if you want higher level I was thinking the other day about GDW's game "Invasion Earth" and wondering if there would be any interest in other large scale battles in the OTU history ... perhaps the ground war in the Vandere District of Efate during the 5FW?

I've been toying with a modified version of the game engine in GDW's Third World War series of games (Third World War, Northern Front, Southern Front, and Persian Gulf). But these are hex-and-counter based games rather than miniatures based. The 5FW boardgame already gives us the available troops overall and any single battle would be a subset of that. Some of the larger units would need breaking up into subordinate units, as well as detailing local defense battalions (already done in the case of Efate in my landgrab ... an update should be posted to StuffOnline this weekend).

Regards PLST

 

[aramis]

MegaTraveller has a large scale combat ruleset which is easily adaptable to miniatures on a variety of scales, even mixed scales.

Players Manual, Referee's Manual, and Referee's Companion are required to use it that way.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Actually, Striker was miniatures based. I don't have my books handy, but it was definitely scaled for miniatures and (IIRC) included miniatures rules.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

And Striker II

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=273

 

[deniable]

Striker

Funny, I was looking through Striker II this morning. Definitely miniatures based and I would have loved to see miniatures for it.

I remember some discussion here about Striker III so you may want to search for it.

 

[Gallowglacht]

Dirtside is good. Includes rules for powered armour and has a nice variety of weapons and flexible vehicle design rules. Also has morale so you dont need to worry about dieing to the last man.

 

[G K Zhukov]

And Striker II

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=273

I have always wondered why Striker II is not as favored by the Traveller fan base as it should IMVHO be. Its is a minis ruleset which is a straightforward conversion from the roleplaying game and the technical architecture book (FF&S)...

The only con I have found so far is the excessive movement allowance for grav vehicles, and even that should be easily fixed...

 

[Kharum1]

You guys develop the game, I can do the minitures. I think I now a way I can take a drawing and turn it into an actual miniture. So let me know what you might need.

Kharum1

 

[travlar]

It could be very interesting. I think that LBB4 has some rules for morale, though you wouldn't want to use its combat system.

 

[The Thing]

Anyone know the stargrunt rules? I've heard good things about that, despite the embarrassing name.

 

[aramis]

Stargrunt II is a trooper scale related mechanically to Dirtside II; I've not played it, but it looks pretty playable.

One of those two is available for free at the GZG catalogue site.

 

[jec10]

I have always wondered why Striker II is not as favored by the Traveller fan base as it should IMVHO be. Its is a minis ruleset which is a straightforward conversion from the roleplaying game and the technical architecture book (FF&S)...

The only con I have found so far is the excessive movement allowance for grav vehicles, and even that should be easily fixed...

I'd like to hear your suggested fixes for the timescale/movement issues that plague Striker II - a big reason I went back to CT/Striker.
Issues with Striker II in my experience playing miniatures with it...
1. It keeps similar scales (1:1000, 1 turn=5minutes) to WWII Command Decision (from whence it came) which are not well adapted to grav vehicle combat in the 57th Century. The "short" range of a heavy fusion gun is the length of a normal wargamers table (and the gun has a max range of about 16 metres in scale), the move of a grav vehicle in 'cautious advance' is even further. Makes tactics pointless.
2. It keeps the spotting system of Command Decision - widely derided by wargamers as 'Spotting in the East' because it almost forms a sub-game in itself and takes so looong.
3. It doesn't take proper advantage of the fact that it uses infantry bases. Combat resolution could have been sped up markedly, it takes too long. There are so many dice rolls required to see, hit, penetrate, cause damage, check morale that the game slows down meaning you struggle to fit a decent sized action within normal gaming time constraints.
4. There are a lot of chits that need to be placed on the playing surface as the game progresses. Some wargamers do not like the asthetic of these.
5. There are a few typos in the rules as the game designers have admitted some text was cut-and-paste from Command Decision (where inches are used) to Striker II (where cm are used).
6. The rules are set up for 25mm rather than smaller scale figures.
7. The vehicle/weapon design rules are not an exact match for FFS. Meaning you have to take the time to convert any design into Striker II format - obviating the advantage gained by the simpler format.
8. There is no advantage over CT/Striker in terms of fighting larger actions. Instead of using one stand to represent a platoon (as in CD), Striker II uses 1:1 representations. You are therefore limited to the same small actions you were in CT/Striker.