"Gun Art 1": Combat Example with Rob's Edit #6

[robject]

=> Updated to conform to the rules (I rolled too many attacks and too much damage).

An otherwise perfectly average marine named Eneri (988765) has Fighter-3(Beams-2), Tactics-1, Battledress-2. He has found himself hidden in a niche, maybe 600 meters from the enemy line, without the support of his platoon.

He can't quite remember how he got there, but he knows he's in trouble. Mainly he knows this because of the gauss weaponry he hears buzzing overhead. Peeking out of his niche with his pocket periscope, he sees an oversized (two or three tons) walker unit maybe half a click ahead -- probably with a gauss autocannon.

Eneri pokes around his niche. It looks like an old chamber that has mostly filled in with rubble, but the ceiling was intact until he landed on it, and the whole thing finally caved in. Parts of the chamber are amazingly still intact. For example, that big box in the corner of the room looks strong enough to be a high tech gun-safe. He heads over, and finds the safe firmly closed via a foolproof mechanism -- but it's not locked.

Quite by accident, it looks as though Eneri has stumbled upon a mystery weapon. It's intended to be braced by battledress. Perhaps also by accident, Eneri has stumbled upon what appears to be some form of battledress. And though the building is crumbling with age, this equipment looks to be in good repair. How that can be, Eneri doesn't know.

AVlBD-17, Advanced Vlight Battle Dress-17, 48 kg, KCr 800
 AV 50
      EMCage: 35
  Flashproof: 35
    Radproof: 35
  Soundproof: 35
   Psishield: 8
   Insulated: 58
      Sealed: 35
      
Ult Vl Fusion Gatling Man Portable-19, 38.63 kg, R=2, B=-6, Pen-8 Burn-4

But of course he puts on the suit, and finds it adapts quickly to the human. The weapon clips on as if it belongs there (probably does). Eneri feels advanced gravitics kicking in, and he lifts out of the niche to face the turret, perhaps creating a distraction.

The turret can't resist. Its gunner has Heavy Weapons-4 and Intelligence 10. The Fighting Number is therefore 14. Tactics Mod is 10.

The range is 4.

The walker has Ar 42.

AOsBU-16, Advanced Oversize Battle Unit-16, 3200 kg, KCr 6000
 AV 42
      EMCage: 28
  Flashproof: 28
    Radproof: 28
  Soundproof: 28
   Psishield: 8
   Insulated: 48
      Sealed: 28

Code  : StHGaCT-16
Name  : Std Heavy Gauss Autocannon Turret-16
Range : 5
Damage: (10D) Bullet-10 
Mass  : 350 kg
Burden: -1
Cost  : Cr 120,000

Walker Unit: The Heavy Gauss Autocannon is a support weapon. It attacks up to three targets, with each hit rolling damage twice. Since there's only one target, there is only one attack.

Attack: 4D (19) < 14 + 1 (Burden) + 10 (Tactics Mod). Success.

[SIZE=-2](Attack 2 (doesn't happen): 4D (21) < 14 + 1 (Burden) + 10 (Tactics Mod). Success.)
(Attack 3 (doesn't happen): 4D (12) < 14 + 1 (Burden) + 10 (Tactics Mod). Success.)[/SIZE]

Damage: The autocannon slams into Eneri with ten dice of damage, twice. I 'll use T5's Many Dice rule (p672).

1: Flux (+3) = 5 x 10 dice = 50 points. Armor is penetrated, but no damage. Eneri's Ar is now 45.
2: Flux (+2) = 4.5 x 10 dice = 45 points. No pen (still attacking against Ar 50).

[SIZE=-2]
(doesn't happen) 3: Flux (+0) = 3.5 x 10 dice = 35 points. No pen.
(doesn't happen) 4: Flux (-4) = 1.5 x 10 dice = 15 points. No pen.
(doesn't happen) 5: Flux (+1) = 4 x 10 dice = 40 points. No pen.
(doesn't happen) 6: Flux (-1) = 3 x 10 dice = 30 points. No pen.
[/SIZE]

Result: Eneri's suit is peppered with heavy gauss flechettes, and he notices some burning, but he's unharmed.


Eneri, with a rush of adrenaline, flies directly towards the emplacement, firing the strange weapon on his arm. Now it's clear that this is a kind of fusion gun. But its operation feels nearly effortless; he's impressed with how smoothly both it and the battledress handle. It might have just a bit more power than normal, as well.

Attack. The Fusion Gun is a support weapon as well.

Attack: 4D (13) < 13 (C+S) + 6 (Burden) + 5 (Tactics Mod). Success.

[SIZE=-2]
Attack 2 (doesn't happen): 4D (17) < 13 (C+S) + 6 (Burden) + 5 (Tactics Mod). Success.
Attack 3 (doesn't happen): 4D (8) < 13 (C+S) + 6 (Burden) + 5 (Tactics Mod). Success.
[/SIZE]

Damage: The gun bathes the walker unit in fusion fire, and Eneri sees smoke -- looks like the unit took a little damage. I'll roll Pen first, then Burn.

1: Pen(6,6,6,5), Pen and Burn damage = 4,4,2,2, 3,3,6,6. Ar = 38.
2: Pen(6,5,4,3,2,1), Pen and Burn damage = 1, 4,3,1,1. Ar = 34.

[SIZE=-2]
(doesn't happen) 3: Pen(6,4,4,3,3,3), Pen and Burn damage = 2,1, 1,1,1,1. Ar = 30.
(doesn't happen) 4: Pen(6,3,2,2,2,1,1,1), Burn = 4, 2, Damage = 3, 3. Ar = 26.
(doesn't happen) 5: Pen(6,6,6,5), Pen and Burn damage = 4,3,3,2, 5,4,2,6. Ar = 22.
(doesn't happen) 6: Pen(5,5,4,3,2,1,1), Pen and Burn damage = 1, 5,2,2,1. Ar = 18.
[/SIZE]

Result: The character driving the unit is seriously injured with 27 points of damage total. The unit goes silent; presumably the driver was cooked. Most of the unit's armor is burned away.

 

[pendragonman]

Mags, I can haz dat BD? Puuuhhhleazzzzz?

 

[Supplement Four]

Damage: The autocannon slams into Eneri with ten dice of damage, twice, for each of its three attacks. We'll use T5's Many Dice rule (p672).
1: Flux (-4) = 1.5 x 10 dice = 15 points. No pen.
2: Flux (+1) = 4 x 10 dice = 40 points. No pen.
3: Flux (+0) = 3.5 x 10 dice = 35 points. No pen.
4: Flux (+3) = 5 x 10 dice = 50 points. Armor is penetrated, but no damage. Eneri's Ar is now 45.
5: Flux (+2) = 4.5 x 10 dice = 45 points. No pen (still attacking against Ar 50).
6: Flux (-1) = 3 x 10 dice = 30 points. No pen.

Result: Eneri's suit is peppered with heavy gauss flechettes, and he notices some burning, but he's unharmed.


Eneri, with a rush of adrenaline, flies directly towards the emplacement, firing the strange weapon on his arm. Now it's clear that this is a kind of fusion gun. But its operation feels nearly effortless; he's impressed with how smoothly both it and the battledress handle. It might have just a bit more power than normal, as well.

Attack. The Fusion Gun is a support weapon as well.

Attack 1: 4D (13) < 13 (C+S) + 6 (Burden) + 5 (Tactics Mod). Success.
Attack 2: 4D (17) < 13 (C+S) + 6 (Burden) + 5 (Tactics Mod). Success.
Attack 3: 4D (8) < 13 (C+S) + 6 (Burden) + 5 (Tactics Mod). Success.

Damage: The gun bathes the walker unit in fusion fire, and Eneri sees smoke -- looks like the unit took a little damage. I'll roll Pen first, then Burn.
1: Pen(6,6,6,5), Pen and Burn damage = 4,4,2,2, 3,3,6,6. Ar = 38.
2: Pen(6,5,4,3,2,1), Pen and Burn damage = 1, 4,3,1,1. Ar = 34.
3: Pen(6,4,4,3,3,3), Pen and Burn damage = 2,1, 1,1,1,1. Ar = 30.
4: Pen(6,3,2,2,2,1,1,1), Burn = 4, 2, Damage = 3, 3. Ar = 26.
5: Pen(6,6,6,5), Pen and Burn damage = 4,3,3,2, 5,4,2,6. Ar = 22.
6: Pen(5,5,4,3,2,1,1), Pen and Burn damage = 1, 5,2,2,1. Ar = 18.

Result: The character driving the unit is probably dead by now. 93 points of damage total. The unit goes silent; presumably the driver was cooked. Most of the unit's armor is burned away.

Am I the only one thinking, "My Gosh! Look at all those dice throws! That's going to get old, quick!"

Damage: The autocannon slams into Eneri with ten dice of damage, twice, for each of its three attacks. We'll use T5's Many Dice rule (p672).

There's so many dice to throw that THERE'S A RULE TO AVERAGE THE THROWS! REALLY?

Wow.

 

[Adam Dray]

Am I the only one thinking, "My Gosh! Look at all those dice throws! That's going to get old, quick!"

...

There's so many dice to throw that THERE'S A RULE TO AVERAGE THE THROWS! REALLY?

Wow.

How often do PCs get hit with autocannons?

 

[Supplement Four]

How often do PCs get hit with autocannons?

Depends on the campaign and the Ref.

Regardless, there's a truck load of die rolling in T5 combat.

I recently posted a simple example of a single burst fire attack. Around 20 different throws were involved. Not dice (there were many more). 20 separate throws, each requiring one or more dice on each throw.

It's crazy.

 

[robject]

I used the rules wrong. The targets should only have gotten hit twice per round. Just the same, combat would have still been over after round #1.

 

[robject]

There's so many dice to throw that THERE'S A RULE TO AVERAGE THE THROWS! REALLY?

Wow.

I didn't realize you didn't know this.

 

[robject]

Am I the only one thinking, "My Gosh! Look at all those dice throws! That's going to get old, quick!"

Yes, that's too many. I've updated my OP to conform to the rules, which helps. But you have to understand two things about combat in Traveller:


(1) When playing Traveller, I've noticed that players tend to feel rewarded by rolling damage dice, and tend to feel penalized when rolling "to hit" and hit location.

So roll once to hit, and roll more than once for damage.

Or, better yet, only roll for damage, modified by range, evasion, cover, C+S, etc. But that's another thread entirely.


(2) Traveller combat of the sort above (glorified gun ⌧ with maximum destructive power) lasts about one combat round. It's like Book 1 char gen with the Army career: a whirlwind of activity and a quick mustering out.

In fact, I've found that combat which lasts more than four combat rounds tends to become tedious and consume too much time and energy in proportion to a Traveller game. Meanwhile, combat which piles on Hit Location and lots of little DMs (instead of Difficulty Modifiers) slows down the combat round further, meaning we can't even do four combat rounds without becoming exhausted. Frequent and short combat sessions are better, and a simple combat path helps as well (leaving detailed elements for Special Considerations).

Perhaps this boils down to "noone should make more than four non-damage-related attack rolls in any one combat session", perhaps not.


Finally, if you have to realize one thing about Traveller5, it works best when the task system is leveraged. Personal combat should seldom just add or subtract a value to the Target Number. Most of the mods should change the difficulty.

 

[aramis]

I used the rules wrong. The targets should only have gotten hit twice per round. Just the same, combat would have still been over after round #1.

I didn't realize you didn't know this.

It's not like it's a terribly novel idea.

Hell, D&D 5E does averages for weapon damage as a stock rule.

On the other hand, it definitely is a lot of rolling, and the use of flux for every 10 is a bit cumbersome; it's a 5:1 reduction, and the math time is likely to cost as much time and mental effort as rolling them all would.

 

[robject]

It made me think of Trillion Credit Squadron.

Many Dice was helpful when I was rolling seventy-two dice.

 

[Ackehece]

so... you add damage type to damage type for overall damage? pen+bullet+burn? etc?

I have been playing it as pen by itself, bullet by itself. I could not find in the rules that the damages stack and it makes sense that they don't as bang and flash would be weird if they did stack as they attack very different things.

 

[Ackehece]

=> Updated to conform to the rules (I rolled too many attacks and too much damage).



Walker Unit[/B]: The Heavy Gauss Autocannon is a support weapon. It attacks up to three targets, with each hit rolling damage twice. Since there's only one target, there is only one attack.

Attack: 4D (19) < 14 + 1 (Burden) + 10 (Tactics Mod). Success.

[SIZE=-2](Attack 2 (doesn't happen): 4D (21) < 14 + 1 (Burden) + 10 (Tactics Mod). Success.)
(Attack 3 (doesn't happen): 4D (12) < 14 + 1 (Burden) + 10 (Tactics Mod). Success.)[/SIZE]

Damage: The autocannon slams into Eneri with ten dice of damage, twice. I 'll use T5's Many Dice rule (p672).

1: Flux (+3) = 5 x 10 dice = 50 points. Armor is penetrated, but no damage. Eneri's Ar is now 45.
2: Flux (+2) = 4.5 x 10 dice = 45 points. No pen (still attacking against Ar 50).

[SIZE=-2]
(doesn't happen) 3: Flux (+0) = 3.5 x 10 dice = 35 points. No pen.
(doesn't happen) 4: Flux (-4) = 1.5 x 10 dice = 15 points. No pen.
(doesn't happen) 5: Flux (+1) = 4 x 10 dice = 40 points. No pen.
(doesn't happen) 6: Flux (-1) = 3 x 10 dice = 30 points. No pen.
[/SIZE]

Result: Eneri's suit is peppered with heavy gauss flechettes, and he notices some burning, but he's unharmed.


Eneri, with a rush of adrenaline, flies directly towards the emplacement, firing the strange weapon on his arm. Now it's clear that this is a kind of fusion gun. But its operation feels nearly effortless; he's impressed with how smoothly both it and the battledress handle. It might have just a bit more power than normal, as well.

Attack. The Fusion Gun is a support weapon as well.

Attack: 4D (13) < 13 (C+S) + 6 (Burden) + 5 (Tactics Mod). Success.

[SIZE=-2]
Attack 2 (doesn't happen): 4D (17) < 13 (C+S) + 6 (Burden) + 5 (Tactics Mod). Success.
Attack 3 (doesn't happen): 4D (8) < 13 (C+S) + 6 (Burden) + 5 (Tactics Mod). Success.
[/SIZE]

Damage: The gun bathes the walker unit in fusion fire, and Eneri sees smoke -- looks like the unit took a little damage. I'll roll Pen first, then Burn.

1: Pen(6,6,6,5), Pen and Burn damage = 4,4,2,2, 3,3,6,6. Ar = 38.
2: Pen(6,5,4,3,2,1), Pen and Burn damage = 1, 4,3,1,1. Ar = 34.

[SIZE=-2]
(doesn't happen) 3: Pen(6,4,4,3,3,3), Pen and Burn damage = 2,1, 1,1,1,1. Ar = 30.
(doesn't happen) 4: Pen(6,3,2,2,2,1,1,1), Burn = 4, 2, Damage = 3, 3. Ar = 26.
(doesn't happen) 5: Pen(6,6,6,5), Pen and Burn damage = 4,3,3,2, 5,4,2,6. Ar = 22.
(doesn't happen) 6: Pen(5,5,4,3,2,1,1), Pen and Burn damage = 1, 5,2,2,1. Ar = 18.
[/SIZE]

Result: The character driving the unit is seriously injured with 27 points of damage total. The unit goes silent; presumably the driver was cooked. Most of the unit's armor is burned away.

how does your damage roll align with:

"A Weapon may be able to inflict more than one type of
Damage. Each damage is inflicted separately including to a
potentially different Hit Location."

pg. 179 Traveller 509

this rule is pesky for me as it makes heavy tanks not capable of carrying weapons that can penetrate heavy tanks... :CoW: