combat system?

[flykiller]

well received the ct cd-rom today (and the barony of gush/gudak ...), that's a whole lotta striker. I figure I'll stick with traveller, the other suggestions sound great but I probably won't have the time or money to get into them.

does Flykiller really NEED battalion level games for what he wants? Would company sized be closer, or even platoon sized?

actually at this point I'm moving towards the mercenary company. combat ribbon would make a great game, but probably a poor story.

understanding Command/Control/Communications

oh yeah. or the lack thereof ....

 

[aramis]

well received the ct cd-rom today (and the barony of gush/gudak ...), that's a whole lotta striker. I figure I'll stick with traveller, the other suggestions sound great but I probably won't have the time or money to get into them.



actually at this point I'm moving towards the mercenary company. combat ribbon would make a great game, but probably a poor story.



oh yeah. or the lack thereof ....

Striker will definitely help you grasp the breakdowns.

 

[Whipsnade]

... that's a whole lotta striker.

Well, seeing as Striker focuses heavily on C3I, like most Chadwick designs, it's a good choice for what you want to do. The scale is about right too.

It was the first game I played that imposed order activation delay into game play. It was real eye-opener for us. Wargames usually suffer from the 500ft General and Perfect Control effects; You can see everything and (generally) move all your units when and as you see fit. Yes, plenty of games had wrinkles like leader markers, morale, requirements for advancing into ZOCs, and the like. You may still be able to see everything in Striker like a 500ft general, but you most certainly don't have perfect control.

In Stiker you have to write and transmit orders to most troops. Most troops are going to need leadership in the form of officers and NCOs to follow orders too.

Simply put, very simply put, high initiative troops can simply be moved by the player as they see fit, average initiative troops needs orders, and low initiative troops need both orders and leaders. Because they can maneuver more easily, high initiative troops can run rings around their opponents. There's a fictionalized play example of this in the rules you should find interesting.

In the example, a mercenary cadre is leading a militia platoon in a sweep of the bush for similar troops from the other side. One of the platoon's squads basically stumbles into a short firefight and the platoon leader has to decide how to respond while trying to communicate with his other squads and the company his platoon is part of. He calls up his reserves, moves to the site of the firefight, rallies a few troops who'd "bugged out", and - before he can even about organizing a counterattack or even calling in mortar fire - the enemy is gone.

The merc platoon leader's militia squad came across a militia squad belonging to other side, both squads emptied their magazines at the other, the merc leader's squad partially broke and went to ground while the opposing militia squad ran off.

Like I said, for someone used to Panzerblitz or ASL, Striker was an eye-opener.

 

[aramis]

It's worth noting that you can "fake larger scales" easily enough -

Make your squads just two stands, your platoons 2 squads, your companies 2 platoons, and your Battalion 2 companies.

Instead of the 2 to 3, 3 to 4, 3 to 5, and 2 to 5, respectively.

Heck, even NCO+4 man squads as a single base work for that purpose.

It's the multiple levels and working those orders through the multiple levels.

I've used MegaTraveller for the combat system, in place of Striker's, but with Striker's C³ rules. Was fun...

 

[kilemall]

If you want a story that feels authentic and you have gone to the trouble of recognizing a gap in your personal lore to draw upon for your story, might as well go the distance and play out some Striker to really see where SNAFU comes from.

 

[flykiller]

Striker will definitely help you grasp the breakdowns.

does it deal with ew/ecm? it'll be a while before I can look it over properly.

If you want a story that feels authentic and you have gone to the trouble of recognizing a gap in your personal lore to draw upon for your story

well ...

there's my "gap" vs the apparent expertise here, and I doubt I'll bridge that. anything I write is going to sound relatively stupid, so my real goal is a good story and I'll just do what I can with the rest.

then there's the actual issue at hand - what would warfare be like in a traveller setting. I read up on the weapons, then I read up on what people say would happen, and I just don't see it. I'd thought of continuing on with combat ribbon for just that reason, to have a look at it.

 

[kilemall]

Well I can think of a LOT of grist for that mill.

You have ALL those weapon toys- don't forget my fave, the LMG of TL15, the RP-A that is about the same weight minus power of an MG34.

Power generation is a BIG DEAL as practically everything needs batteries/fusion to fire or move.

Bots, EVERYWHERE, doing all manner of dirty dangerous jobs, yet highlighting why without true AI why you still need the grunt.

Ortillery especially when your opponent has a full PD suite so those 'cheap' missile/bomb strikes aren't going to be pretty. Possibly an experimental magSand shield.

All those sensors, particularly NAS and densitometers, that can eliminate fog of war yet get spoofed by clever people.

What it's like to suddenly lose your psionic shield in the presence of Zho forces.

Grav tanks vs. fleet fighters, who wins and what advantages accrue to each.

And at the base of it all, the essence of Traveller, humans will be humans and all the tech and different worlds doesn't change that.

Then, when you establish the 'humans at war' verities, challenge it by bringing in aliens with entirely different cultures, senses and sensibilities.

 

[Hal]

There are books that you can get your hands on that are produced for the United States military regards to what is expected of a Lieutenant with regards to his platoon. First, the warning order is tasked to the Lieutenant to give him a heads up that an operation is about to be assigned either to his unit, or to his company (the unit his platoon is a part of), with general wording to theater and type of mission (if that). Then the operational orders are disseminated to the various leaders so that they know not only what their mission is, but what their role is within the upcoming mission.

You can usually find books that are issued to officers and to NCO's (sergeants) for those things that they are responsible for. In a nutshell: The primary task of the Sergeant is to keep his officer's plate clear so that the Officer can concentrate on fighting the unit, instead of having to manage the unit.

If you get your hands on GURPS CLASSIC SPECIAL OPS (anything with the word Classic for SJGAMES products means GURPS third edition material in PDF format). The price is $9.99 if you're interested.

Next? I suggest you find someone online in the forums (any forums!) where someone has served as an officer or sergeant. Listen to anyone in any of the branches of service and get some of their "Stories". Get some of the good stuff, get some of the bad stuff. For instance, there was a bunch of guys I hung out with in High School that entered the military. The one served in an Artillery unit stationed in Hawaii. They were bored, and one guy said "Attitude check" just cuz. The other responded with a <%#CK IT>. They thought that was funny, and for a time, they'd say attitude check and other would give the standard response. If bored, the way it was said indicated bored. If angry, how it was said was angry. You get the picture right? One day, someone overheard it, and thought "Nifty" and started joining in. Eventually, one man would yell attitude check, and a rousing chorus of F-Bombs would erupt from the entire unit that was within hearing range of the person who said it. Got to be quite the thing right? Until that fateful day. In Hawaii, the barracks aren't enclosed or air-conditioned. They have screens for windows. One guy outside, saw an officer walking by the barracks with a young woman in tow. So he yelled Attitude check (not insight of the officer or so I am told). As usual, the barracks erupted into the manly chorus of F-bombs. Apparently, this was timed just about perfectly where the Officer and young woman were outside the barracks window (one of them) and the officer stopped dead in his tracks. The woman apparently burst out laughing, but the officer was NOT amused. He went in search of the source of what he'd heared, and had a nice little chat with the NCO for the barracks. Needless to say, the NCO was extremely embarrassed that an officer had to take notice of the event, and made every effort to eradicate such behavior. KP duty was the LEAST of what the entire platoon suffered as a result of that incident. One of the few times the entire platoon suffered the consequence of their action.

Email me privately about some of the other stories I've heard. One includes an incident that landed a Sergeant in Leavenworth for conduct that was truly vile. It was bad enough what he did, but when he called his wife (also in the unit itself) to leave the base with his other kid, she was nabbed for attempting to go AWOL. Sometimes people are TRULY DUMB.

In any event - talk with people, ask for stories, see if you can talk to a recruiter saying "HI, I'd like to write about the military from the perspective of someone in a unit. What do you recommend?