How good is battle dress?

[Shadowfax]

In the first case you could argue that there might not even be a reason to bother with BD troops; just use drones and grav tanks supported by the fleet until the other side surrenders, or just start mass driver bombardment and then start over with a new planet.

Yeah, but no one will do that, because they want to use the planet's resources and they want all those new tax-payers and markets.

IEDs work now because the enemy runs away or hides behind women and children where they know the opposition can't get at them because of being hamstrung by foolish (though I suppose vaguely morally defensible) rules of engagement. So the enemy knows where to plant the bombs and knows the opposing side can't just annihilate the area in retaliation to stop further bombs.

Sort of like our "dishonorable" troops hid behind trees and stuff instead of dressing in bright red and getting shot down like real men eh? Maybe that is why the Brits started burning barns. Having "rules of engagement" makes the job harder, but it means that we are morally and ethically above the people who would annihilate an area. It makes us "the good guys". For whatever that is worth . . .

You can't level the place if you want the markets and the resources.

In Traveller BD works more because the guys who have it are generally going against lower tech fighters and the armor protects the FGMP-wielding Marines. So the Imperium goes in and takes on the bad guys without having to worry about meson bombardments and all.


Against similarly equipped forces, like the Zhodani, the Imperium has to choose between the annihilation of a world in order to save it, or go in and fight more "conventionally" with BD equipped troops and tanks and all the typical combined arms stuff while the really heavy exotic weapons that might end the find in a matter of hours (or less) have to be held back. The few exceptions to this only prove the rule.

I agree.

I've found that it really works best in the RPG environment, not so much in the wargame situation. But even then it all also depends on the ruleset you use. In Striker an average hit with an FGMP-14 (PEN 34) vs TL-15 BD (AV=18) gets you a roll of 7+16= more than the 12+ needed to kill. A Pgmp-13 would generate 14. AN auto cannon would depend on the caliber and velocity + ammo type. Plus, in Striker explosive and energy weapons (including lasers) are bumped one level of damage so a serious wound = kill, etc. This system is more realistic and well-suited to a wargame, but not as RPG friendly in my experience (though I still prefer it for a lot of crunchy gearheady reasons).

Me too. = )

So the BD question is also highly relative to the rules used and what combat doctrine is used against whom.

-Yeah!

 

[Shadowfax]

If the guy in the suit is dead - dead then the pinger won't go off...but if he is so much as warm....and you can get your suit breached (or just have concussion damage) and not necessarily be roasted inside, then the on board medical system will at the very least inject Metabrake (a low berth drug) to preserve him for triage.

If he can't be saved, then the spare parts might be useful for the other guys who can be. It's not just a leave no man behind thing (although that is pretty important, too, no one but a slave will fight and win knowing his superiors consider him not worth saving - if only to bury him); it's also "leave nothing to waste when it could save others".

I would just get my tac Missles to home in on the enemy's pinger frequency. No wait, maybe not, the wounded ones cost the enemy more. I would seed the battlefield with false pings and ambush the pick-up drones! = )

 

[Shadowfax]

In Classic Traveller, I thought that BattleDress (BD) and Combat Armor offered exactly the same protection?

I have never viewed BD as being primarily about 'super defense' (or super human abilities for that matter). I thought it was about a squad support weapon. In WW2 most guys carried a basic rifle, but one guy had to lug around the BAR (while other guys carried extra ammo). Often a 30 or 50 cal Machine gun would be mounted on a jeep (or carried by a separate squad) to provide a little extra firepower. Unfortunately, this extra firepower came at the expense of mobility. The MG squad cannot move quickly and the jeep cannot enter a building.

Now what if one man could carry a support weapon as fast (or faster) than the rest of the squad, could enter confined spaces, could carry vehicular mounted support weapons and could carry his own ammo. Suddenly the BAR becomes a Ma Deuce (.50 cal M2 machine gun) or a Vulcan MG or a semi-auto RPG launcher. The battledress grants infantry mobility to vehicular weapons - firepower on demand, when and where it is needed.

Battledress does not replace combat armored troops, it supports them.

Very good points! Thanks!

 

[aramis]

Sure it is always eaiser (and cheaper) to make a weapon that defeats armor than is to make an "un-defeatable" suit of armor or armored vehicle, but I think I mentioned this before....

I am sure that you could use a huge IED to defeat BD too. I just wonder how much you would need to have?

Enough to defeat light tanks... you need PEN=20 or so to assure a kill.