Fixing T5 - TACTICAL COMBAT

[Supplement Four]

- TACTICAL COMBAT -



Problem: Many have voiced concern over the game's use of an abstract combat round. Problems have been identified with the STAMP combat procedure and with other issues, like firing at multiple targets.





Solution: T5 actually contains just about all the information a Ref would need to run a game using tactical combat rounds rather than the abstract combat rounds detailed in the Personal Combat chapter. If you want to run a game with tactical combat akin to most other roleplaying games and previous editions of Traveller, then ignore the T5 abstact combat round and read the notes below. You can easily create a combat round procedure to fit your taste.





Combat Round Length? A Ref can easily lower the level of abstraction in a T5 combat round by shortening the average time of a combat round. Classic Traveller uses a 15 second combat round. Many rpgs today use a 5 or 6 second combat round. For these rules, I'm going to create a Combat procedure using 6 second combat rounds. You can duplicate this with any round length that you desire.




Movement: Ignore the T5 combat movement rules presented on page 219. Page 295 tells us that Speed 1 is equivalent to 5 kph and Speed 2 represents a speed of 10 kph. Use these baseline numbers to figure how far a character can move in one combat round.

Speed 1, human walking speed, is 5000 meters per hour, 83.33 meters per minute, 1.39 meters per second. With a six second combat around, Speed 1 means a distance of 8.3 meters. Speed 2 means a distance of 16.67 meters.

Remember in Classic Traveller, a character could move 25 meters at Speed 1 in one 15 second combat round and twice that if moving at Speed 2. The T5 numbers are about the same.

MegaTraveller uses a six second combat round but is very generous in the amount of movement it allows characters to take during that time: Speed 1 = 15 meters per round and Speed 2 = 30 meters per round.

T5 uses a 1.5 meters square for interior mapping (with 3m height between starship decks), and thus we want our Speed ratings to fit into squares easily.

For our six second combat round, let's pick an easy, round number:


Speed 1 = 5 squares per round (7.5 meters)

Speed 2 = 10 squares per round (15 meters)


Considering that this makes counting range in Tactical Combat easy by just counting squares, knowing that it's easy to remember, and figuring that a character can also do some other action during the round, the numbers above are fair. Note that MegaTraveller is very generous with distance and allow double what I'm suggesting here.







Action: Each combat round, a character can move and perform an action. Per the rule on page 214, Aimed Fire can only be attempted if the character does not move during the round. If a character moves at Speed 1, then only SnapShots or AutoFire is possible. If a characer moves at Speed 2, then only Snapshots are possible.


Snapshots


I suggest that you change the rule on page 214 to allow Single fire weapons to perform Snapshots (as written, on weapons capable of burst or Full Fire can perform Snapshots) if the weapon is fired at least three times. This will become a special attack type for SingleFire weapons where one attack throw is equivalent to three quick pulls of the trigger.


Also, you will notice a discrepancy between the definition of the Snapshot attack type on page 214 and the table on page 218. I suggest that you consider page 218 correct and allow Snapshots while a character is moving at Speed 2 (otherwise, there is no reason to use Snapshots over AutoFire).


Actions


Referee judgement is used for character actions during the round. Remember that a combat round is about six seconds, give or take, and part of that time may be devoted solely to movement. So, can a character move at Speed 1, fire his weapon once, and then reload, all in the same six second combat round? That's up to the Referee, but I would rule that the character can move at Speed 1 and either fire his weapon or reload, but not both. Of course, some actions will take an entire combat round or more to complete. For example, using the Medical skill to heal a wounded character can take several minutes or longer (and a single minute is 10 combat rounds).

 

[Supplement Four]

Fixing T5 - TACTICAL COMBAT continued

Initiative


The Initiative rules from the Personal Combat chapter remain unchanged.







Fighting Task: Use the attack task described on page 212 as-is, with no changes, when making attacks, excpet as noted below.


With a six second combat round, no longer is a large amount of abstraction needed. Each attack in these Tacical Combat rules is considered one pull of the trigger.

Ammunition


Tracking ammuntion is done in the time-honored fashion. Each bullet can be accounted for by using an Ammo sheet with boxes or hash marks to represent used bullets. A weapon can be capable of Single Fire, Burst Fire, or Auto Fire, as described on page 256.

T5 weapons do not come with magazine capacity as part of the weapon's stats. I suggest you use the method put forth is THIS POST to figure a weapon's magazine capacity and weight.

Multiple Targets and Multiple Attacks


A character may operate his weapon against more than one target or more than one time against the same target during a single combat round. Add 1D to difficulty for every extra weapon operation during the combat round.


Thus, if the weapon is fired twice, then add +1D to both shots. If the weapon is fired three times, then add +2D to all shots, and so on.


Range


Look to page 36 for the actual width of Range Bands.


Range Band 1 = 3 to 25 meters.
Range Band 2 = 25 to 100 meters.
Range Band 3 = 100 to 300 meters.


And so on.


Combat Round Procedure


1. Initiative - Determine Initiative using the rules on page 215. Initiative order typically remains the same during the entire combat. The Referee will decide is an initiative change is called for.

2. Actions - In initiative order, each character can move and act, or act and move during the combat round.







Questions

When does a character act? On his initiative count. Typically, a character initiative count used for the entire combat.

What can a character do in a combat round? He can move and act, act and move, or some combination. If he doesn't move at all, and his weapon is capable of Single Fire, then he can attempt an Aimed attack. If he does not move or moves at Speed 1 or Speed 2, and his weapon is capable of Burst or AutoFire, he can attempt SnapFire. If the character does not move or moves at Speed 1, and his weapon is capable of Burst or AutoFire, then he can attempt AutoFire. The character can fire his weapon more than one time at the same target or at different targets if he takes a penalty of +1D per extra trigger pull on all attack throws. Or, a character can perform an action that can be completed within, roughly, six seconds.

 

[Licheking]

Other than your ammo tracking system i'm doing exactly what you have suggested, although my Range bands are based on the numbers in the book, used as the upper limit on each band. so up to 5m, up to 50m up to 150m etc.

 

[Supplement Four]

Other than your ammo tracking system i'm doing exactly what you have suggested...

Here, I'm suggesting no abstraction with the ammo tracking. If you fire a burst, you tick off three bullets out of your magazine.

I suggest time honored ammo tracking sheets. With Classic Traveller, I'd give a player one or a few of these sheets, and he'd record the full mag capacity. Then, as combat ensued, he'd just check off a box under a magazine as he fired his weapon.

What system are you using for ammo tracking?

...although my Range bands are based on the numbers in the book, used as the upper limit on each band. so up to 5m, up to 50m up to 150m etc.

You've read the Range Bands in the book wrong. The ranges given on page 210 are benchmark numbers. If a character is at Medium Range, for example, assume he's about 150 meters away.

That's not the upper and lower limit of each Range Band. As I describe above in the rules I posted, the actual size of the Range Band is given on page 36. Medium Range, for example, is a band that starts 100 meters away and goes to 300 meters away.

 

[Licheking]

That's not the upper and lower limit of each Range Band. As I describe above in the rules I posted, the actual size of the Range Band is given on page 36. Medium Range, for example, is a band that starts 100 meters away and goes to 300 meters away.

Yes i know, but i found its easier to take them as the upper end, then I'm not figuring out what each band is, and brings it more in line with MT which is the system we have used most extensively before.

Here, I'm suggesting no abstraction with the ammo tracking. If you fire a burst, you tick off three bullets out of your magazine.

Sorry misread then, i thought your ammo tracking system involved rolling a dice to see if your magazine went empty, whereas i was using a bullet, 3 bullets, 10 bullets per pull of the trigger as you are. I only differ then in how i determine how much ammo a weapon has in that case.

 

[Supplement Four]

Sorry misread then, i thought your ammo tracking system involved rolling a dice to see if your magazine went empty...

It does, if you're going to use the abstract combat round from T5.

Here, in this thread, I discuss scrapping the abstract T5 round and replacing it with a 6 second Tactical Combat round (which allows for more detailed ammo tracking).

I only differ then in how i determine how much ammo a weapon has in that case.

I'd like to hear it.

 

[Finn]

This is probably a good place to post this, as it does involve getting a bit less abstract. Below is an attempt to monkey with the difficulty/range band problem I'd talked about in another thread. Basically, the problem is that, as I see it, shots fired from a weapon at its maximum range should be near maximum in difficulty instead of it being based entirely on how well the shooter can see the target.

Basically, I've tried to keep the standard T5 ranges, as S4 has mentioned above. In addition, I now set an effective range limit, for a specific range band, equal to the benchmark range. Shooting at targets within the range band that is maximum range for that weapon, and within effective range of that range band, use the normal difficulty. However, difficult then scales up evenly to 5D from just beyond effective range up to the far end of the range for that range band. ( ugh.. too many terms ) I then, purely for my preference, added a final 'impossible shot' 6D category that includes the effective range sub-band of the next band up. I'm doing a horrible job of describing it, so perhaps these charts will help:


VISUAL RANGE (Default T5 Ranges with Benchmarks listed in parentheses )
1D 1m - 25m VShort(5m)
2D 25m - 100m Short(50m)
3D 100m - 300m Medium(150m)
4D 300m - 750m Long(500m)
5D 750m - 3km Vlong(1km)
6D 3km - 25km Distant(5km)

VSHORT(R=1) RANGE WEAPONS
1D 1m-5m
2D 6m-10m
3D 11m-15m
4D 16m-20m
5D 21m-25m
6D 26-50m

SHORT(R=2) RANGE WEAPONS
1D 1m-25m
2D 26m-50m
3D 51m-65m
4D 66m-80m
5D 81m-100m
6D 101m-150m

MEDIUM(R=3) RANGE WEAPONS
1D 1m-25m
2D 26m-100m
3D 101m-150m
4D 151m-225m
5D 226m-300m
6D 301m-500m

LONG(R=4) RANGE WEAPONS
1D 1m-25m
2D 26m-100m
3D 101m-300m
4D 301m-500m
5D 501m-750m
6D 751m-1000m

VLONG(R=5) RANGE WEAPONS
1D 1m-25m
2D 26m-100m
3D 101m-300m
4D 301m-750m
5D 751m-1000m
6D 1001m-3000m


I'm still monkeying about with the mechanics, but I think if you're already making the leap to a more tactical round, this might be useful. Thoughts?

 

[Licheking]

I can't find the original post about my ammo system, but in brief here it is again.

Revolvers = 6 rounds
Pistols = TL in rounds
Rifles = TL in rounds
Shotguns = TL/2 rounds
Machineguns = TLx5 rounds
Projectors = TL rounds
Artillery = TL/2 rounds
Gatling = TLx10 rounds
Launchers = 1 round
Multi Launchers = TL in rounds
Assault descriptor = x5 rounds
Combat descriptor = x3 rounds
Battle descriptor = x2 rounds
Snub/Body descriptor = TL/2 rounds
Energy weapons = x10

Add into the Options section increased capacity, doubles Ammo +1 qreBs

 

[Licheking]

I have the rules written down in a word document if you want them in that format.