To "Striker" or not to "Striker" - that is the Question!

[The Oz]

The modifications I mentioned aren't really mine: Michael Wharton published them in JTAS #16 and I picked them up and have used them ever since.

He recommended using the Book 2/Book 4 "to-Hit" die roll modifiers for "Close" and "Short" range shooting to better simulate the kind of combat usually found in TRAVELLER role-playing sessions, and he changed the way armor penetration was modeled, having a die roll modified by both the weapon penetration (positive) and the armor rating (negative) produce a modifer to each die of damage (from Book 2 /Book 4) the weapon did. This way weapons with low STRIKER penetration but high Book 2/Book 4 damage (HE snub pistol rounds, for example) would remain dangerous to unarmored people but be fairly useless against protected targets.

 

[The Oz]

The modifications I mentioned aren't really mine: Michael Wharton published them in JTAS #16 and I picked them up and have used them ever since.

He recommended using the Book 2/Book 4 "to-Hit" die roll modifiers for "Close" and "Short" range shooting to better simulate the kind of combat usually found in TRAVELLER role-playing sessions, and he changed the way armor penetration was modeled, having a die roll modified by both the weapon penetration (positive) and the armor rating (negative) produce a modifer to each die of damage (from Book 2 /Book 4) the weapon did. This way weapons with low STRIKER penetration but high Book 2/Book 4 damage (HE snub pistol rounds, for example) would remain dangerous to unarmored people but be fairly useless against protected targets.

 

[Piper]

Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
More questions:
2) How different is Striker for LBBs 1-8 in terms of lethality, ease of play and battlefield realism?

Example: Gauss rifle at 100 metres against an infantry fireteam wearing cloth and evading in the open:
To hit: roll 8+
autofire bonus: +3
skill/dexterity bonus of shooter: as Book 1 (assume +2)
evading target: -1
One additional hit on the target is achieved for each two higher than the basic number rolled.
Roll: 7
add dm's: +3, +2, -1 = +4
Score: 11 = 2 hits; one for scoring 8 and a second for scoring 2 higher than 8 on the roll.

Roll for damage from first hit: roll 2 dice, add weapon penetration score, subtract armor value.
Roll is 7, Gauss penetration at effective range is also 7. Cloth armor is armor value 5. Final score is 7+7-5=9. 9 is a "serious wound".

Striker has 3 wound levels; light, serious, and death. Light wounds give penalties to the victim, serious wounds remove the victim from play.
In applying wounds to player characters, light wounds are 3 dice, serious wounds are 6 dice.

3) Strangely enough, it is rarely discussed on these boards; is it rare, or simply unfavorable? It seems like a system in need of a community, as I've said above.

Well ... Striker can get pretty involved. Consider the combat example above; 1 man with a Gauss rifle. Multiply that by 3 men and add a RAM grenade which attacks everyone in the target area. That can be a fair amount of dice rolling for one team. Then consider that a company could easily field over 30 teams ...

My guess is that, unless players are running a mercenary campaign, Striker is probably used more as an idea source and vehicle design system than as a full-up set of miniatures rules.

 

[Piper]

Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
More questions:
2) How different is Striker for LBBs 1-8 in terms of lethality, ease of play and battlefield realism?

Example: Gauss rifle at 100 metres against an infantry fireteam wearing cloth and evading in the open:
To hit: roll 8+
autofire bonus: +3
skill/dexterity bonus of shooter: as Book 1 (assume +2)
evading target: -1
One additional hit on the target is achieved for each two higher than the basic number rolled.
Roll: 7
add dm's: +3, +2, -1 = +4
Score: 11 = 2 hits; one for scoring 8 and a second for scoring 2 higher than 8 on the roll.

Roll for damage from first hit: roll 2 dice, add weapon penetration score, subtract armor value.
Roll is 7, Gauss penetration at effective range is also 7. Cloth armor is armor value 5. Final score is 7+7-5=9. 9 is a "serious wound".

Striker has 3 wound levels; light, serious, and death. Light wounds give penalties to the victim, serious wounds remove the victim from play.
In applying wounds to player characters, light wounds are 3 dice, serious wounds are 6 dice.

3) Strangely enough, it is rarely discussed on these boards; is it rare, or simply unfavorable? It seems like a system in need of a community, as I've said above.

Well ... Striker can get pretty involved. Consider the combat example above; 1 man with a Gauss rifle. Multiply that by 3 men and add a RAM grenade which attacks everyone in the target area. That can be a fair amount of dice rolling for one team. Then consider that a company could easily field over 30 teams ...

My guess is that, unless players are running a mercenary campaign, Striker is probably used more as an idea source and vehicle design system than as a full-up set of miniatures rules.

 

[Piper]

Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
... a library could be built - if I'll buy it (which I'll probably do), I'll post every component I'll build so others would be able to use it. And togather, our community could design a wide variety of components/weapons for Striker.

I'll contribute if you choose to start such a library. Maybe we could even have a "design of the month" thread; post a set of requirements and have everyone interested submit a design for it.
Maybe something like "TL9 APC,min 8 passengers, must be able to fit in a standard cutter module" and let the designers choose locomotion, armor, and weapons, creating a wide variety of vehicle choices for refs and players.

 

[Piper]

Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
... a library could be built - if I'll buy it (which I'll probably do), I'll post every component I'll build so others would be able to use it. And togather, our community could design a wide variety of components/weapons for Striker.

I'll contribute if you choose to start such a library. Maybe we could even have a "design of the month" thread; post a set of requirements and have everyone interested submit a design for it.
Maybe something like "TL9 APC,min 8 passengers, must be able to fit in a standard cutter module" and let the designers choose locomotion, armor, and weapons, creating a wide variety of vehicle choices for refs and players.

 

[SgtHulka]

Originally posted by Piper:
Example: Gauss rifle at 100 metres against an infantry fireteam wearing cloth and evading in the open:
To hit: roll 8+
autofire bonus: +3
skill: as Book 1 (assume +2)
evading target: -1
One additional hit on the target is achieved for each two higher than the basic number rolled.
Roll: 7
add dm's: +3, +2, -1 = +4
Score: 11 = 2 hits; one for scoring 8 and a second for scoring 2 higher than 8 on the roll.

Roll for damage from first hit: roll 2 dice, add weapon penetration score, subtract armor value.
Roll is 7, Gauss penetration at effective range is also 7. Cloth armor is armor value 5. Final score is 7+7-5=9. 9 is a "serious wound".

Interesting. The same combat example using Books 1 and 4:

Throw an 8+ to hit. Modify the roll with Full Auto Gauss Rifle at Long Range (+5) versus Cloth Armor (+3) and a +2 Skill Modifier.

Then give a -4 Defensive Modifier for evading (Long Range). The final resultant throw required to hit is a 2+; automatic hit.

Damage is 3D, the actual roll is 7 plus a third die, then that's applied randomly to one of three stats, resulting (most likely) in an incapacitation, though bad luck could result in only a "wound".

Each additional target adjacent to the primary target is then attacked with a -3 modifier, for a total throw to hit of 5+. But no more than two targets can be hit in this way from a normal 4-round burst.

Snapshot would differ in the following ways:

1 better chance to score a hit, since Evade is -3 regardless of range.

Only a chance to hit a single secondary target, since auto-fire only hits targets within line of fire, rather than adjacent targets.

Then, Book 4 Abstract System:

Firefight Encounter

Tech Level 12 Individual (Gauss Rifle) versus Tech Level 7 Fire Team (Cloth).

Total Fire Results DM=+4
Throw = 7+4 = 11
Fire Result = 50% casualties...since target is a fire team that means 2 casualties.

It looks like Snapshot, Mercenary and Striker all would result in 2 Casualties, while Classic Traveller would have a good chance of resulting in 3. I'm curious as to how Azhanti High Lightning would resolve, but I can't seem to find those rules.

The big advantage of the Striker penetration system, of course, is that you can model attacks versus armored vehicles.

 

[SgtHulka]

Originally posted by Piper:
Example: Gauss rifle at 100 metres against an infantry fireteam wearing cloth and evading in the open:
To hit: roll 8+
autofire bonus: +3
skill: as Book 1 (assume +2)
evading target: -1
One additional hit on the target is achieved for each two higher than the basic number rolled.
Roll: 7
add dm's: +3, +2, -1 = +4
Score: 11 = 2 hits; one for scoring 8 and a second for scoring 2 higher than 8 on the roll.

Roll for damage from first hit: roll 2 dice, add weapon penetration score, subtract armor value.
Roll is 7, Gauss penetration at effective range is also 7. Cloth armor is armor value 5. Final score is 7+7-5=9. 9 is a "serious wound".

Interesting. The same combat example using Books 1 and 4:

Throw an 8+ to hit. Modify the roll with Full Auto Gauss Rifle at Long Range (+5) versus Cloth Armor (+3) and a +2 Skill Modifier.

Then give a -4 Defensive Modifier for evading (Long Range). The final resultant throw required to hit is a 2+; automatic hit.

Damage is 3D, the actual roll is 7 plus a third die, then that's applied randomly to one of three stats, resulting (most likely) in an incapacitation, though bad luck could result in only a "wound".

Each additional target adjacent to the primary target is then attacked with a -3 modifier, for a total throw to hit of 5+. But no more than two targets can be hit in this way from a normal 4-round burst.

Snapshot would differ in the following ways:

1 better chance to score a hit, since Evade is -3 regardless of range.

Only a chance to hit a single secondary target, since auto-fire only hits targets within line of fire, rather than adjacent targets.

Then, Book 4 Abstract System:

Firefight Encounter

Tech Level 12 Individual (Gauss Rifle) versus Tech Level 7 Fire Team (Cloth).

Total Fire Results DM=+4
Throw = 7+4 = 11
Fire Result = 50% casualties...since target is a fire team that means 2 casualties.

It looks like Snapshot, Mercenary and Striker all would result in 2 Casualties, while Classic Traveller would have a good chance of resulting in 3. I'm curious as to how Azhanti High Lightning would resolve, but I can't seem to find those rules.

The big advantage of the Striker penetration system, of course, is that you can model attacks versus armored vehicles.

 

[Piper]

In AHL:
Roll 8+ to hit
autofire bonus: +3
skill mod: +2
evade: -1
total dm's: +4

roll 7+4=11 hit
group hits as in Snapshot

Damage is 2d +penetration -armor
roll 7 +6 -6 = 7 (light wound)
Wound effects as in Striker

hmmm ... looks like the Lightning crew needs more time on the firing range.

Thanks for doing the math, Sarge. I've never actually done a side-by-side before.

 

[Piper]

In AHL:
Roll 8+ to hit
autofire bonus: +3
skill mod: +2
evade: -1
total dm's: +4

roll 7+4=11 hit
group hits as in Snapshot

Damage is 2d +penetration -armor
roll 7 +6 -6 = 7 (light wound)
Wound effects as in Striker

hmmm ... looks like the Lightning crew needs more time on the firing range.

Thanks for doing the math, Sarge. I've never actually done a side-by-side before.

 

[Captain Bob of the LEXX]

There is a spreadsheet that will help in striker vehicle designs. Its in the files section of the yahoo group "ct-striker". If you don't want to join the group, then email/IM me and I can send it to you. I have used it several times, with pretty good success.

Striker Yahoo Group
________
Cl200

 

[Captain Bob of the LEXX]

There is a spreadsheet that will help in striker vehicle designs. Its in the files section of the yahoo group "ct-striker". If you don't want to join the group, then email/IM me and I can send it to you. I have used it several times, with pretty good success.

Striker Yahoo Group
________
G ENGINE

 

[Whipsnade]

Someone is offering you a copy of Striker?

My advice is: Grab It.

As other posters have pointed out, the GDW crew were first, foremost, and always wargamers. While they were very good with them, RPGs came second to them and they continued to publish wargames up until they closed the doors. Striker is a damn good set of minis rules plus a design system plus a RPG combat system all rolled up into one. It is mind boggling how you can use one game on so many different levels.

I've used it for 'straight' historical wargaming, I've used it for RPG combat sessions, and I've used it design all sorts of nastiness for all sorts of uses.

I always thought the 'no brainer' follow-up to Striker should have been a LBB of 'historical' weapons, vehicle designs, and TOEs. Like the TL descriptions in LBB:4 Mercenary, the Striker follow-on would have covered early modern militaries; Russo-Japanese War, WW1, etc., through WW2, Korea, Vietnam, hypothetical NATO-Pact conflicts, Arab-Israeli, into current day Falklands/Gulf Wars etc., and on into the IW period and OTU.

It would have been a 'construction' kit for squad level minis play from the late 19th Century through the early 57th Century.

Buy that copy or get the Reprint.

Have fun,
Bill

 

[Whipsnade]

Someone is offering you a copy of Striker?

My advice is: Grab It.

As other posters have pointed out, the GDW crew were first, foremost, and always wargamers. While they were very good with them, RPGs came second to them and they continued to publish wargames up until they closed the doors. Striker is a damn good set of minis rules plus a design system plus a RPG combat system all rolled up into one. It is mind boggling how you can use one game on so many different levels.

I've used it for 'straight' historical wargaming, I've used it for RPG combat sessions, and I've used it design all sorts of nastiness for all sorts of uses.

I always thought the 'no brainer' follow-up to Striker should have been a LBB of 'historical' weapons, vehicle designs, and TOEs. Like the TL descriptions in LBB:4 Mercenary, the Striker follow-on would have covered early modern militaries; Russo-Japanese War, WW1, etc., through WW2, Korea, Vietnam, hypothetical NATO-Pact conflicts, Arab-Israeli, into current day Falklands/Gulf Wars etc., and on into the IW period and OTU.

It would have been a 'construction' kit for squad level minis play from the late 19th Century through the early 57th Century.

Buy that copy or get the Reprint.

Have fun,
Bill

 

[Golan2072]

Originally posted by Piper:

Striker has 3 wound levels; light, serious, and death. Light wounds give penalties to the victim, serious wounds remove the victim from play.
In applying wounds to player characters, light wounds are 3 dice, serious wounds are 6 dice.

Sounds similar to Shadowrun, as it has Light, Medium, Serious and Deadly wound levels, each with it's own effects. It'll be easy to me to adapt to this wounding system as I'm already used to Shadowrun

 

[Golan2072]

Originally posted by Piper:

Striker has 3 wound levels; light, serious, and death. Light wounds give penalties to the victim, serious wounds remove the victim from play.
In applying wounds to player characters, light wounds are 3 dice, serious wounds are 6 dice.

Sounds similar to Shadowrun, as it has Light, Medium, Serious and Deadly wound levels, each with it's own effects. It'll be easy to me to adapt to this wounding system as I'm already used to Shadowrun

 

[Golan2072]

Oh, forgot to mention that I've just bought Striker but didn't have the chance to read thoroughly through it yet; I will probably use it with certain (JTAS#16?) modifications.

 

[Golan2072]

Oh, forgot to mention that I've just bought Striker but didn't have the chance to read thoroughly through it yet; I will probably use it with certain (JTAS#16?) modifications.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Originally posted by Bill Cameron:
Buy that copy or get the Reprint.

Is there a reprint, Bill? I don't see it as part of the FFE big floppies. Am I missing something, or is it to be found elsewhere?

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Originally posted by Bill Cameron:
Buy that copy or get the Reprint.

Is there a reprint, Bill? I don't see it as part of the FFE big floppies. Am I missing something, or is it to be found elsewhere?