Reading High Guard

[Supplement Four]

This is my 25 year anniversary playing Traveller. Yep. Started in 1982. My first purchase was Starter Traveller.

I still remember where I purchased it. It was a toy store in the mall in Arlington, Texas. I had been eye-ballin' the little black box for a few months in Houston, but before I purchased it, my dad bought a couple of restaurants in Arlington. Off I went, right in the middle of high school, to Arlington. Right before the summer, too.

At their mall, they didn't have that little black box I had been eye-ballin', but they did have this bigger box. I still have it. It's been with me through several girlfriends and several places I've lived. Starter Traveller.

I've been re-reading a lot of Classic Traveller stuff lately, and tonight, I've set upon the High Guard rules.

Since I've never played 'em (that's right...25 years, and I've never played a High Guard scenario), I've always just skimmed them. I got the gist, years ago, but my campaigns have always focussed on the individual. Traditional rpg type of stuff. Very story driven.

I've got Fifth Frontier War too, in its original box. Never played it. The counters aren't even punched. Striker? Same thing. Read it several times, never played a striker encounter, though.

It all looks like good stuff.

Well...

I'm looking at High Guard tonight, and reading the combat rules...and, damn...they're good. They're very good.

I'm reading them and thinking to myself, this is it. This is how you model a huge starship encounter, a la Honor Harrington, without having to deal with markers and hex boards and play areas that stretch from your living room to your kitchen.

Yes, it's abstract. But, in the hands of a good GM (and from what I'm reading, I do think High Guard combat would be best served with a GM describing the action, putting a picture of juggernaut starships ripping each other to shreds), this could be quite interesting.

It could be quite fun.

I'm going to have to somehow engineer a huge starship fight into my current campaign.

I think my players would get a kick out of this.

S4

 

[Supplement Four]

This is my 25 year anniversary playing Traveller. Yep. Started in 1982. My first purchase was Starter Traveller.

I still remember where I purchased it. It was a toy store in the mall in Arlington, Texas. I had been eye-ballin' the little black box for a few months in Houston, but before I purchased it, my dad bought a couple of restaurants in Arlington. Off I went, right in the middle of high school, to Arlington. Right before the summer, too.

At their mall, they didn't have that little black box I had been eye-ballin', but they did have this bigger box. I still have it. It's been with me through several girlfriends and several places I've lived. Starter Traveller.

I've been re-reading a lot of Classic Traveller stuff lately, and tonight, I've set upon the High Guard rules.

Since I've never played 'em (that's right...25 years, and I've never played a High Guard scenario), I've always just skimmed them. I got the gist, years ago, but my campaigns have always focussed on the individual. Traditional rpg type of stuff. Very story driven.

I've got Fifth Frontier War too, in its original box. Never played it. The counters aren't even punched. Striker? Same thing. Read it several times, never played a striker encounter, though.

It all looks like good stuff.

Well...

I'm looking at High Guard tonight, and reading the combat rules...and, damn...they're good. They're very good.

I'm reading them and thinking to myself, this is it. This is how you model a huge starship encounter, a la Honor Harrington, without having to deal with markers and hex boards and play areas that stretch from your living room to your kitchen.

Yes, it's abstract. But, in the hands of a good GM (and from what I'm reading, I do think High Guard combat would be best served with a GM describing the action, putting a picture of juggernaut starships ripping each other to shreds), this could be quite interesting.

It could be quite fun.

I'm going to have to somehow engineer a huge starship fight into my current campaign.

I think my players would get a kick out of this.

S4

 

[Supplement Four]

Question...

So, now I gots ah questi-oni.

Fighters. I'm looking at High Guard, and I'm trying to figure how fighters fit into the combat system.

I'd think they would be considered "batteries", but I'm having a hard time finding anything about them in the rules.

So, you're on a Azhanti High Lightning class cruiser, and you've got 80 fighters.

How do you handle that in High Guard?

 

[Supplement Four]

Question...

So, now I gots ah questi-oni.

Fighters. I'm looking at High Guard, and I'm trying to figure how fighters fit into the combat system.

I'd think they would be considered "batteries", but I'm having a hard time finding anything about them in the rules.

So, you're on a Azhanti High Lightning class cruiser, and you've got 80 fighters.

How do you handle that in High Guard?

 

[flykiller]

They're very good.

they are, at some things. be sure to check out trillion credit squadron, which is an entire wargame built on this, and you can also find several websites devoted to tcs games that have been played out.

also several of us here have analyzed hg2 extensively, and some of us have played it to exhaustion. feel free to ask any questions.

 

[Icosahedron]

If you're going to do a BIG HG battle, S4, you'll need to figure out a system for damage that is less troublesome than rolling dice.
Big ships can have hundreds of turrets, each requiring a roll to hit and a roll to penetrate...
I developed a probability chart so I could figure out the average number of hits from say 240 triple beam laser turrets!
Unfortunately, I've not used it for a number of years. It's on a floppy...somewhere...

 

[flykiller]

They're very good.

they are, at some things. be sure to check out trillion credit squadron, which is an entire wargame built on this, and you can also find several websites devoted to tcs games that have been played out.

also several of us here have analyzed hg2 extensively, and some of us have played it to exhaustion. feel free to ask any questions.

 

[Icosahedron]

If you're going to do a BIG HG battle, S4, you'll need to figure out a system for damage that is less troublesome than rolling dice.
Big ships can have hundreds of turrets, each requiring a roll to hit and a roll to penetrate...
I developed a probability chart so I could figure out the average number of hits from say 240 triple beam laser turrets!
Unfortunately, I've not used it for a number of years. It's on a floppy...somewhere...

 

[Icosahedron]

I also figured out a system for bringing fighters together into wings, squadrons and groups - yes batteries - but it might be on that same floppy... or another one...

Maybe somebody else will have all this figured out and have quicker access to their house-rules.

 

[Icosahedron]

I also figured out a system for bringing fighters together into wings, squadrons and groups - yes batteries - but it might be on that same floppy... or another one...

Maybe somebody else will have all this figured out and have quicker access to their house-rules.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Icosahedron:
Maybe somebody else will have all this figured out and have quicker access to their house-rules.

Before I house-rule it, I want to understand the official rule.

Stuff on fighters in HG seems light. So, you've got 80 fighters...how does that work in the game, officially?

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Icosahedron:
Maybe somebody else will have all this figured out and have quicker access to their house-rules.

Before I house-rule it, I want to understand the official rule.

Stuff on fighters in HG seems light. So, you've got 80 fighters...how does that work in the game, officially?

 

[flykiller]

So, you've got 80 fighters...how does that work in the game, officially?

officially, they are 80 independent ships, each with a single turret.

 

[flykiller]

So, you've got 80 fighters...how does that work in the game, officially?

officially, they are 80 independent ships, each with a single turret.

 

[pendragonman]

Originally posted by flykiller:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />So, you've got 80 fighters...how does that work in the game, officially?

officially, they are 80 independent ships, each with a single turret. </font>[/QUOTE]Exactly. 80 independent ships with one fixed direction turret. While the firing arc doesn't really matter in hg, if you are trying for more of a storyline approach the fact that the turret on a fighter is fixed is important.

The fact that fighters are 80 independent ships almost forces the idea of grouping into squadrons (batteries) for combat necessary, IMO.

 

[pendragonman]

Originally posted by flykiller:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />So, you've got 80 fighters...how does that work in the game, officially?

officially, they are 80 independent ships, each with a single turret. </font>[/QUOTE]Exactly. 80 independent ships with one fixed direction turret. While the firing arc doesn't really matter in hg, if you are trying for more of a storyline approach the fact that the turret on a fighter is fixed is important.

The fact that fighters are 80 independent ships almost forces the idea of grouping into squadrons (batteries) for combat necessary, IMO.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Chucky the Hammer:
The fact that fighters are 80 independent ships almost forces the idea of grouping into squadrons (batteries) for combat necessary, IMO.

That's crazy. How could the original designers of HG think that'd work?

80 different separate ships?

A player would absolutely have to group them into batteries. Maybe ten fighters equal one squadron, or something like that.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Chucky the Hammer:
The fact that fighters are 80 independent ships almost forces the idea of grouping into squadrons (batteries) for combat necessary, IMO.

That's crazy. How could the original designers of HG think that'd work?

80 different separate ships?

A player would absolutely have to group them into batteries. Maybe ten fighters equal one squadron, or something like that.

 

[Supplement Four]

OK, next question...

If a fighter is hit in HG, how do we figure damage on that vessel?

I see the rule where if the attack factor is bigger than the size factor of the target that the target takes critical hits, meaning that, in many cases, a single hit from a battery will destroy the fighter.

But, if the attack factor isn't bigger than the size of the target, then a roll on the damge table happens for the fighter...just as if it were a large starship?

 

[Supplement Four]

OK, next question...

If a fighter is hit in HG, how do we figure damage on that vessel?

I see the rule where if the attack factor is bigger than the size factor of the target that the target takes critical hits, meaning that, in many cases, a single hit from a battery will destroy the fighter.

But, if the attack factor isn't bigger than the size of the target, then a roll on the damge table happens for the fighter...just as if it were a large starship?