High Guard Rules clairifications wanted

[Ron Gianti]

Finally playing with High Guard the last couple weeks, somethings I've either missed or misunderstood:

Book 2 combat says Nuclear misslies get 1d damage rolls, but HG Nuclear missiles get 2 damages rolls, one on Surface Explosion Damage table and one on Radiation Damage table per hit?

Range Determination step says the first round is automatically long, so it doesn't matter who wins the Initiative, that whole first round will be played out at long range?

Missiles attempting to get through beam weapon point defense get +2 (i.e. it is easier to penetrate) if the beam weapon trying to stop the missile is energy based (fusion or plasma)?

Ships must be in the reserve to attempt repairs during battle?

Ships must have an agility rating greater than any pursuers or they cannot break combat by evasion?

Relative computer size is listed as "DM's Allowed To Hit - + relative computer size" So if Ship A has a level 7 computer firing agains Ship B with a level 4 computer, Ship A gets +3 to hit. However, when Ship B fires, he gets no bonus (obviously) but does it necessarily mean he gets a negative DM? Has this been clarified somewhere or am I just misreading it?

Fighters in general seem pretty weak at all TL's. The most powerful weapon you can put on a fighter is a level 4 Fusion Gun turret, bumped up to level 5 at TL14, both of which hit on a 6. If the target is another fighter, it gets -2 for size and the targets agility is 4 another -4, requiring a 12. If the targets agility was a 5 or 6, that would make it impossible for any fast fighter to hit another fast fighter.

If the fighters target was a 1500 ton fast patrol corvette with agility 5, -1 for size, and if the computer rules require a -dm for the larger computer a 1500 ton ship would have, that Fusion Fighter is useless.

It gets worse if you use anything else than a Fusion gun. 3 Beam lasers give you USP of 3 until TL13 (when the fusion gun is a better choice anyway...) and the best Missile USP is 2 until TL13. A USP 2 Missile needs a 6 to hit (same as USP 4 Fusion gun) but then it has to deal with Sand (not hard to penetrate), Beams, Repulsors (impossible to penetrate 1 to 1) and Nuclear Dampers (not likely to penetrate).

And still, a USP 2 missile simply cannot hit a target under 2000 tons with agility of 6, a fighter with agility of 5, or any large ship with a halfway decent computer (if I'm understanding those rules correctly on computers).

Also, is there a detailed description of the different Hull Configurations? Specifically what is Close Structure? Seems like a pretty steep discount with little downside for choosing that hull type.

 

[pendragonman]

In book two, a nuc missile does one hit which causes 1d6 damage

In High Guard, a nuc missile does one hit, which causes 1 damage roll on surface and one damage roll on radiation effects.

Before you start to scream. look at the damage allocation tables for each.

In book 2 one point of damage does one damage to each location rolled.

In book five, depending on your roll and the target's armor value, you can reduce a portion of the target by a factor of up to three (4 on rad effects). So one hit in high guard is potentially much more devastating than one point of damage from book 2. Hence the difference.

 

[far-trader]

In book two, a nuc missile does one hit which causes 1d6 damage...

Actually, to be clear Book 2 isn't, on this They might be nukes, they might be conventional, they might even be antimatter. It just doesn't say. It also says nothing (specific) about radiation.

Even going by the breakdown in Special Supplement 3 - Missiles it's not immediately clear. In SS3:

A 10kg chemical explosive warhead produces 2 hits.

A 10kg focused force warhead produces 4 hits.

A 30 kg nuclear warhead produces 10 hits plus 2 radiation hits.

A 20 kg enhanced radiation warhead produces 5 hits (on contact) plus 8 radiation hits.

A 20kg fusion warhead produces 10 hits plus 2 radiation hits.

Since a warhead can easily be 30kg though it certainly looks to me like Book 2, with 1d6 hits, is a random range for a 30kg chemical explosive warhead producing 6 hits.

Your explanation of the differences in the damage and to hit tables is correct though. The two systems can't be mixed.

Range Determination step says the first round is automatically long, so it doesn't matter who wins the Initiative, that whole first round will be played out at long range?

Yep

Missiles attempting to get through beam weapon point defense get +2 (i.e. it is easier to penetrate) if the beam weapon trying to stop the missile is energy based (fusion or plasma)?

Nope, poor table placement there. That is referring to the to hit for energy weapons penetrating sand in an attack. There are no DMs for the type of beam used in defense (see the first penetration table "Sand or Beam" and use that without DMs for the type of beam).

Ships must be in the reserve to attempt repairs during battle?

Yep. But, no clear mechanic for moving a ship from the line to the reserve. I'd allow a ship to attempt to break off from the line to the reserve, but if successfully pursued the line is broken by the pursuer(s). Either that or allow emergency repairs in the line. Otherwise the emergency repair rule is pointless.

Ships must have an agility rating greater than any pursuers or they cannot break combat by evasion?

Basically correct. Ships breaking off or pursuing in groups use the lowest agility of the group (at least in my opinion). And subject to changes due to damage or application of emergency agility. A breakoff by acceleration may take more than one turn.

Relative computer size is listed as "DM's Allowed To Hit - + relative computer size" So if Ship A has a level 7 computer firing against Ship B with a level 4 computer, Ship A gets +3 to hit. However, when Ship B fires, he gets no bonus (obviously) but does it necessarily mean he gets a negative DM? Has this been clarified somewhere or am I just misreading it?

I've always read it as a DM +/- for relative computer size. So your Ship A gets +3 to hit, and your Ship B gets -3 to hit.

Fighters in general seem pretty weak at all TL's. ...impossible for any fast fighter to hit another fast fighter.

Yep, fighters don't always work

Also, is there a detailed description of the different Hull Configurations? Specifically what is Close Structure? Seems like a pretty steep discount with little downside for choosing that hull type.

I agree, the Close Structure is a good one for many reasons.

There is somewhere on the boards, and in MegaTraveller (my notes in brackets):

Needle/Wedge: A long, pointed exterior with few square edges.

Cone: An oblong rounded exterior with few square edges.

Cylinder: An oblong rounded exterior with square-edged ends.

Box (aka Close Structure): A square-edged exterior with few rounded edges.

Sphere: A ball-shaped exterior.

Dome/Disk (aka Flattened Sphere): A half-sphere or flattened-sphere exterior.

Irregular Structure/Open Frame: (aka Dispersed Structure): An open skeletal frame with no external covering and dispersed modules. (my own blending of the two, identical imo, MT configurations)

 

[DonM]

Yep. But, no clear mechanic for moving a ship from the line to the reserve. I'd allow a ship to attempt to break off from the line to the reserve, but if successfully pursued the line is broken by the pursuer(s). Either that or allow emergency repairs in the line. Otherwise the emergency repair rule is pointless.

Isn't the Battle Formation Step the first step of every combat turn? In the Breakthrough Step explanation, the statement "In the next turn, the player may form a new line of battle" indicates that even IF a player's line of battle is broken, they can create a new one on the following turn. By the same rule, players can pull ships out of that line and put them in the reserve during any Battle Formation Step.

So while HG2 may have some gaps, I didn't think moving a damaged ship from the line to the reserve was one of them -- either side can put any number of ships they want in the reserve during the Battle Formation Step of any turn. In fact, if you are wanting to break off, a brutal but effective way of making sure your intact ships escape is to put the damaged ships in the line of battle, hoping the line isn't broken. More often than not, the bonus for breaking off from the reserve will prevent successful pursuit.

Unfortunately, often a damaged ship has lost crew, so that may prevent using emergency repair even in the reserve.

 

[Bob Weaver]

I agree, the Close Structure is a good one for many reasons.

There is somewhere on the boards, and in MegaTraveller (my notes in brackets):

Needle/Wedge: A long, pointed exterior with few square edges.

Cone: An oblong rounded exterior with few square edges.

Cylinder: An oblong rounded exterior with square-edged ends.

Box (aka Close Structure): A square-edged exterior with few rounded edges.

Sphere: A ball-shaped exterior.

Dome/Disk (aka Flattened Sphere): A half-sphere or flattened-sphere exterior.

Irregular Structure/Open Frame: (aka Dispersed Structure): An open skeletal frame with no external covering and dispersed modules. (my own blending of the two, identical imo, MT configurations)

The major down-side of the Close Structure is apparent on pp. 46-47, the Meson Gun table. Configuration 4 is among the weakest in defending against meson gun attack. Compare the pen numbers with needle/wedge configuration. For combat not involving meson spinals, the configuration has no affect.

Cheers,

Bob W.

 

[sabredog]

Close structure is actually defined as being a more modular type of design built around a central core. It's why it's so cheap, but also why it is so much more easily damaged by the internal detonations of meson weapons. I don't remember if that's explained in the second edition of HG, but that was the explanation in the first ed.

 

[BillDowns]

...SNIP...

What he said

I added a house rule for Surprise on the first round. Each Admiral gets a 2d6 roll, adds Fleet Tactics skill and half of Navigation skill.

Surprise is acheived by either on a result of 6+; on the first round, the surprised player's ship do not get to attack. They can defend, but not attack. Then, play proceeds as normal.