combat - player vs vehicle

[jaz0nj4ckal]

I am just starting Classic Traveller because I love the feel of the ‘old school’ sci-fi; however, I do not know how to handle players attacking vehicles. I do not own anything beyond the 3 books, so I am not sure if I am missing anything or if I need to reread anything in the 3 starter books.

How should I handle players attacking vehicles?


Thank you
JJ

 

[Cryton]

As far as I can remember, the Classic Traveller books 1 to 3 give no rules for attacking vehicles.

Also if I am remembering correctly, you need the Striker rules set for vehicle v vehicle and PC v Vehicle.

 

[leo knight]

I always treated vehicles as animals, using the rules in Book 3.

 

[jaz0nj4ckal]

As far as I can remember, the Classic Traveller books 1 to 3 give no rules for attacking vehicles.

Also if I am remembering correctly, you need the Striker rules set for vehicle v vehicle and PC v Vehicle.

Hi Cryton:
I could be wrong, but I was under the impression Striker was for MegaTraveller. I do not know enough about Traveller, but would this be compatible with Classic?

Thanks
JJ

 

[jaz0nj4ckal]

I always treated vehicles as animals, using the rules in Book 3.

Hi Leo Knight:
I will look at Book 3 and see where that takes me... Never thought of this method; however, we only did 3 combat encounters so far...just been role playing and having them solve puzzles...

Thanks
JJ

 

[aramis]

As far as I can remember, the Classic Traveller books 1 to 3 give no rules for attacking vehicles.

Also if I am remembering correctly, you need the Striker rules set for vehicle v vehicle and PC v Vehicle.

Across the bright face has rules for PC vs Vehicle.

 

[Cryton]

Hi Cryton:
I could be wrong, but I was under the impression Striker was for MegaTraveller. I do not know enough about Traveller, but would this be compatible with Classic?

Thanks
JJ

Striker was pre- Mega Traveller, and for use with Classic or on its own.

I do believe it was incorporated into Mega in one form or another though.

 

[jaz0nj4ckal]

Striker was pre- Mega Traveller, and for use with Classic or on its own.

I do believe it was incorporated into Mega in one form or another though.

Cryton:
Thanks....I did not know that...

 

[jaz0nj4ckal]

Across the bright face has rules for PC vs Vehicle.

I will have to check out this resource...thanks...

 

[sabredog]

Striker is for Classic Traveller. It is a complete system for combat across the board, from individuals to vehicles. AHL has similar rules and the evolution continued into MT's system.

 

[Piper]

I posted a set of CT vehicle rules a while back:

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=25055

It's a quick-and-dirty approach but you might find it useful.

 

[Dragoner]

I am just starting Classic Traveller because I love the feel of the ‘old school’ sci-fi; however, I do not know how to handle players attacking vehicles. I do not own anything beyond the 3 books, so I am not sure if I am missing anything or if I need to reread anything in the 3 starter books.

How should I handle players attacking vehicles?


Thank you
JJ

I used the starship combat rules and the non-starship table for damage, usually it worked fine for most instances.

 

[jaz0nj4ckal]

Striker is for Classic Traveller. It is a complete system for combat across the board, from individuals to vehicles. AHL has similar rules and the evolution continued into MT's system.

Hi Sabredog:
thank for the insight; however, I am not sure what AHL means...


thanks
JJ

 

[jaz0nj4ckal]

I posted a set of CT vehicle rules a while back:

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=25055

It's a quick-and-dirty approach but you might find it useful.

Hi Piper,
Thanks for such a professional looking write up...will look it over...


thanks
JJ

 

[sabredog]

Hi Sabredog:
thank for the insight; however, I am not sure what AHL means...


thanks
JJ

Azhanti High Lightning. That was one of the adventures for the game that included not just the deckplans, adventures, and specs on the AHL cruisers but a combat resolution system similar to Striker. Roll to hit based on effective/long/extreme range (8+/10+/12+) and then roll for penetration of the weapon at the range (2D6+PEN-armor value). The resulting number tells you if it is a no wound/light wound/serious wound/death.

Striker does that with more detail and the same system is used for vehicular combat except with tables to tell you what was damaged (including crew) if the weapon penetrates, or if there is only surface damage. It's a system that was designed for use as a wargame but there are rules included to match it up with Mercenary's abstract battle rules and Classic Trav combat. And of course, you are designing all the vehicles and weapons beyond the standard Traveller ones from the original rules.

An example of a sample grav carrier that I made is here to show how detailed it goes: http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=27034

I used it for a long time but now only use the vehicular portion if needed ina game. The personnel combat is pretty merciless and doesn't allow for as much dice fudging for dramatic effect given that you can look at the PEN of a laser rifle...then the armor the other guy has...and that leads to a serious wound or death without having to even roll dice yet - kinda brutal. More realistic, perhaps than the LBB1 system, but not as much fun in a role-playing session. At least as I found.

 

[aramis]

MegaTraveller uses the same Penetration and Armor values of Striker/AHL, and large parts of the design system are liberally cribbed from Striker. It uses them differently, but they are, for the large part, the same values.

 

[Timerover51]

I am just starting Classic Traveller because I love the feel of the ‘old school’ sci-fi; however, I do not know how to handle players attacking vehicles. I do not own anything beyond the 3 books, so I am not sure if I am missing anything or if I need to reread anything in the 3 starter books.

How should I handle players attacking vehicles?


Thank you
JJ

Depending on the players Tech Level and the type of vehicles, a set of WW2 miniature rules would do nicely. And do not forget Low Tech things like Molotov cocktails, satchel charges tossed under the vehicle, blowing a bridge with a vehicle on it, and a nice pole charge if you are in a built up area.

 

[Darkwing]

I am just starting Classic Traveller because I love the feel of the ‘old school’ sci-fi; however, I do not know how to handle players attacking vehicles. I do not own anything beyond the 3 books, so I am not sure if I am missing anything or if I need to reread anything in the 3 starter books.

How should I handle players attacking vehicles?


Thank you
JJ

Depends on what your players have and what they're facing. I just go by my own logic normally. If they're facing private cars and have typical guns, they can punch holes in a car. If they're really lucky, said holes might line up where they affect an occupant, ideally the driver. If they have the right guns and know to try it, they can possibly trash the engine block.
If they're facing armored vehicles, then unless they have battle dress and PGMPs, they hide or die. There is no using a 5.56 to wear down the armor of a main battle tank, like in video games.

 

[McPerth]

Striker was pre- Mega Traveller, and for use with Classic or on its own.

I do believe it was incorporated into Mega in one form or another though.

I don't know Striker, but for what I've read, most of MT vehicle/craft/ship design system was based on it.

MegaTraveller uses the same Penetration and Armor values of Striker/AHL, and large parts of the design system are liberally cribbed from Striker. It uses them differently, but they are, for the large part, the same values.

Penetration is not the same in MT than in AHL, nor is the armor. Values don't match.

Aside from this, in MT penetration is a different factor than damage (the only version I know to have dis difference). A weapon can have high penetration power but relatively poor damage value (e.g. Gauss rifle), or high damaging value with low penetration power (e.g. shotgun).

 

[aramis]

I don't know Striker, but for what I've read, most of MT vehicle/craft/ship design system was based on it.



Penetration is not the same in MT than in AHL, nor is the armor. Values don't match.

The AV's are based upon the exact same table from design. Almost every weapon matches. The ones that don't are 9mm slugthrowers (MT ups them by 1), TL7 recoillesses (very different), and a few artillery rounds. The Arty can all be seen as typos.

Ones that don't match Striker Effective Range Pen with MT base Pen from the striker Bk3 lists
9mm Rev (1 vs 2)
9mm Autopistol (1 vs 2)
9mm SMG (2 vs 3)
5mm Assault Rifle (3 vs 2)
TL7 6cm Recoiless HE (9 v 10) Heap (30 vs 20)
TL7 8cm RR HE (14 vs 13) HEAP (35 vs 30)
TL7 10cm RR HE (17 vs 16)
A handful of the artillery rounds.

That they use different formats for the layout is immaterial to the direct rip:
Striker Range(pen)+DmBonus
MegaTraveller Pen/Atten Dmg

This also means the missing weapons can be reverse engineered easily.