Any Striker gamers?

[BitKnot]

Gats'

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[Since1977]

There is a spreadsheet available out there somewhere. Check out http://members.home.net/pinkerdoo/Enter.htm

The Striker system has some good elements, but it's not that great. It's really designed for infantry combat, and some of the other elements just don't work well. Like artillery. You just can't hit targets, even at TL 15! And it's much too easy to hit armored vehicles due to DMs you get for size and crew ability.

I like the command and control stuff the best. That's what makes it a good game. It's a good balance between players being omniscient and having to write detailed operations orders.

The Traveller technology also seems to be much too conservative, since the capabilities of the advanced TL stuff doesn't really incease that much.

I have heard that Striker games are being run at KublaCon and ConQuest this year, out in San Francisco.

 

[Gatsby]

Thanks for the URL! Right now, the ZIP archive is down...

As for Artillery: Remember the turns are thirty seconds long...it takes a few moments to 'range' a target sometimes.

And I love the Command/control stuff - can't wait to get my players on the battlefield!

Remember that the high tech stuff (lasers and Energy wepons) do +1 wound level....and those Grav vehicles REALLY move! Bonded Superdense armor is much more efficient then slapping metal over your hull, plus the laser tank gun (at 70 pen) really makes tunnels into stone buildings....

But each to their own interpertation of the future! As long as you had fun!

Gats'

 

[laning]

I agree with Since1977 (and have been playing Traveller since the same year, also that Striker is best for infantry, and it's greatest strength is the command and control rules. Also, the artillery mods for hitting vehicles are too strong.

I'm a former artilleryman myself, and I feel that official doctrine in the West about accuracy and destructiveness of artillery barrages tend to be very overrated. Ditto for air bombardment doctrine. I think that Striker artillery is about as bloody as it realistically should be.

However, there are special situations in which artillery can be truly devastating. (Air bursts in tree tops against exposed infantry, anyone?) And vehicles have three primary attributes that affect their vulnerability as artillery targets: movement, armor value, height. The higher a vehicle, the more likely it is to be struck be shrapnel, except in an extreme case of a vehicle that's actually taller than the maximum height of the shrapnel's trajectory arc. Even a Hyundai offers some minimal but not insignificant armor value, APCs and armored cars much more so, and tanks even more so. (In fact, most modern APCs and armored cars are only intended to provide armor protection against shrapnel, and small arms that are outside of roughly 200 meters or so.) Unless a barrage's impact area is quite huge, a moving vehicle will spend less time under a barrage than a stationary vehicle. Blah, blah, blah about artillery; some of the grognard miniatures gamers out there can tell you that there is a debate about just how effective artillery should be in rule systems that will probably rage on forever. Much like the Napoleonics Era gamers who debate relentlessly with each other regarding how effective a cavalry charge should or shouldn't be at breaking a formed infantry square.

As to proposed organization of a Striker-oriented Web site: I suggest it not be divided up into sections belonging to individual authors but instead be broken up functionally, with each contribution showing the appropriate credit for its author. So, you'd have sections for Scenario Listings, Advice On Scenario Design, Vehicle Designs, Weapon Designs, Tables of Organization & Equipment (TO&Es), and possibly let users record their approval rating of each entry on a scale from one to ten along with a very short text entry for comment, etc., etc., etc.

Ages ago, I used to design Striker weapons and fighting vehicles, and drew up some TO&Es. Perhaps in the process of gradually unpacking my boxes from storage and sifting through files some of this material will be recovered and I'll be glad to post it.

--Laning

 

[Red24]

It seems to me that many people have spent time developing vehicles, equipment etc. for Striker. My question is, has anyone put together any decent scenarios? That's what I would mainly want to see on the Striker site: complete with troop organization, maps, equipment assigned, troop setup, reinforcments.

I have tons of figures, few vehicles, space to play, but don't really know how to set up a balanced, introductory scenarios. Some of you who have played for years must have some old games you can dig up and contribute.

I hope so.

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Red 24
Visit Red 24's Star Wars Gaming page at:
http://www.pacificcoast.net/~woodland

 

[Gatsby]

We need it all......

 

[Skoo]

Well, people like their Striker and wanna play with it, too...

I'm waiting for FFE 05 to come out - then I'm planning to begin working on a stand-alone program for designing hardware for CT. Focus will be on star/spaceships (High Guard), robots (Robots), and vehicles (Striker). If I just plow through the code, it might be completed within 4-5 months (I expect Striker to give me the most headaches).

If someone wants to scan and email me ALL the Striker design system rules, I could start writing code now.

Lemme know if anyone wants to take me up on this offer...

Skoo

 

[Skoo]

Maybe I should be clear about this...

Any scanned rules would ONLY be used to write the code with. After which, they would be committed to my round filing cabinet (with built in shredder function).

Don't mean to tread on anyone's toes...

 

[aramis]

Converting Striker and MT:

When I went through and compared, the masses, etc were in fact taken from Striker. Pens are, for the vast majority, unadjusted. The armor tables are identical below AV 100. The proceedures (aside from control points) seem to be nigh on identical. I have used the Adjutant series unadjusted in MT. Just had to figure out the Hits... and look up the damages.

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-aramis
=============================================
Smith & Wesson: The Original Point and Click interface!

 

[DrSkull]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by aramis:
Converting Striker and MT:

When I went through and compared, the masses, etc were in fact taken from Striker. Pens are, for the vast majority, unadjusted. The armor tables are identical below AV 100. The proceedures (aside from control points) seem to be nigh on identical. I have used the Adjutant series unadjusted in MT. Just had to figure out the Hits... and look up the damages.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Does it work the other way? Can you use the vehicles in MT 101 vehicles in Striker? That would make life easier. All the weapons would need to be converted, but does everything else convert evenly?


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Dave "Dr. Skull" Nelson

 

[Gatsby]

Not too well...Striker requires some data (like High and Low DMs) that are hard to quantify with just a displacement amount. I am working on a REALLY GOOD and comprehensive spreadsheet, now. The Fire control/ gunner station numbers are forcing me to do a huge (HUGE!) array table to get the numbers in place....but it is nearing completion....a sort of priority. It will have an output that is easy to cut/paste and gather vehicles into a neat and printable file. then it is on to the web-site for Striker....

Gats'

Gats'

 

[DrSkull]

I do want to know when your web site's ready. I'm putting together a Striker Scenario and some vehicles right now for a one-shot game, and would like to share it with others if it works out.

Theory:
TL-9 "Panzer Grenadiers", some Laser Tanks, Gcarrier mounted infantry vs.
TL-8 mixed force: lots of militia riflemen and a set of good heavy self-propelled guns and misisle launchers.

TL-9 force trying to secure some target (maybe access tunnel to deep site meson gun, maybe key power station)defended by TL-8 force (which has to be careful its indirect fire doesn't hit the defended target)

I have the TL-8 vehicles whipped up, and the Laser Tanks and Gcarriers are in the Striker book. It will be a week or so until I run it, I'll tell you how it goes.

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Dave "Dr. Skull" Nelson

 

[DrSkull]

Okay, I was typing up my Striker designs and decided to type in the designs from the Striker Book and from Broadsword too, so I could print them out for the players when they needed them.

Now what was the deal with Broadsword's Gram Grav tank: "oh, you can just whip up the stats for a 10 MW plasma gun yourself" if you're going to make up and publish a design, why not do the whole thing (or just say use a Plasma A gun at least). I'd have liked to have seen the prices too.

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Dave "Dr. Skull" Nelson

 

[soloprobe]

Does any one know where I can get 15mm figuers striker was written for?

 

[Gatsby]

Well...there's this:
http://www.stanjohansenminiatures.com/15mm.htm

I bought the adveturers pack and was very happy.

For RPG backdrops:
http://www.ainsty.co.uk/db15.htm

and from england:
http://www.flintloque.com/acatalog/ALTERNATIVE_ARMIES_ALTERNATIVE_15mm_SCIENCE_FICTION___ATTRITION_50.html

(sorry about these not being auto-links, you're gonna have to copy and past them into your address searcher...)

Personally, I use the Striker alternative of 6mm scale (~1/350)...I like that scale better, as it is closer to Striker scale.

Gats'

 

[DrSkull]

I'm getting my Striker game put together for Saturday, and I'll tell you my embarassing miniatures source. I'm using old airfix HO scale soldiers for the infantry (the little ones) and matchbox (and similar) cars, tanks and airplanes for the vehicles. I went to the 1-Dollar store and bought 15 vehicles for $5. Okay, I'm a cheap skate.

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Dave "Dr. Skull" Nelson

 

[soloprobe]

Does anyone know where the 15mm Martian metals miniatures, that Striker was written for? I Haven't seen a set since 1983. If You don't use 15mm what minis would you use?

 

[soloprobe]

That's a Great Idea, Dr! My Embarassing minis source is the Star Wars Micro machines figure packs . Sure they're HO scale, sure they're plastic, but they're already painted...

 

[DrSkull]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by soloprobe:
That's a Great Idea, Dr! My Embarassing minis source is the Star Wars Micro machines figure packs . Sure they're HO scale, sure they're plastic, but they're already painted...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Tell you the truth, I use them too! They are the same scale as the Airfix guys, I use the Star Wars guys for "better" troops and the Airfix for more ordinary.

One thing I found to use for Grav vehicles: go to a craft store and buy a pack of wooden spools (I got about 25 for $2) put a ball of poster putty/sticky-tac on the top and then stick on a matchbox sized tank or jeep, and viola a hovering grav vehicle.

Scale is a problem, I have two solutions: if the battle is strictly an infantry battle or has very few or very slow vehicles, then I make 1 cm in Striker equal to 1 inch on the actual table top. If There are a lot of fast moving vehicles, I just lump it and let the infantry take up more space than they should, it really doesn't nake that much difference.


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Dave "Dr. Skull" Nelson

[This message has been edited by DrSkull (edited 27 May 2001).]

 

[aramis]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by soloprobe:
Does anyone know where the 15mm Martian metals miniatures, that Striker was written for? I Haven't seen a set since 1983. If You don't use 15mm what minis would you use?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Heroic 25mm (aka 28mm) with double distances.
Matte Board counters cut to base sizes with written notations on type.
Printed out "cardboard heroes" type figures (Cumberland Games has some nice ones as .ttf files at http://www.io.com/~sjohn/blue.htm )

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-aramis
=============================================
Smith & Wesson: The Original Point and Click interface!