Traveller ground combat???

[Antichrist]

Ok, since gurps 4e does not have any vehicle design rules yet and there are no ground combat rules/vehicles in GTIW I was wonderign what system to use if I wanted to run a ground combat mission in GTIW, or for that matter any traveller milieu.

I have Armored assault from ICE that lets you design and use everything from infantry squads to power armor to grav tanks, but it might not catch the full feel of combat in traveller with battledressed marines going toe to toe with plasma cannon armed grav tanks and meson sleds.

Gurps vehicles 3e is a great product for deisgning most stuff but again meson sleds seem out of it\'s range.

So are there any official traveller grounf combat systems where you get vehicles, plus rules to make your own and also have rules for battledress, regular troops, etc?

I\'m just looking for some.

 

[Anthony]

Well, meson sleds aren't buildable at IW levels of technology, and frankly GURPS has some issues at those scales. In terms of official traveller ground combat systems, Striker (for CT) is probably the standard wargame version.

 

[Ranger]

There were also some conversion guidlines for using Dirtside II (http://www.gzg.com/) in the OTU floating around, but I can't find the link (new computer, and I am away from home until after thanksgiving). Dirtside II will let you design infantry squads and vehicles as well, without having to go into the level of detail that Striker requires.

Edit to add:

Found the link!

http://freelancetraveller.com/features/rules/striker0/index.html

Lots of good stuff there, including pre-done TO&Es and vehicles for Traveller.

This link:

http://freelancetraveller.com/features/rules/striker0/ds2/index.html

discusses changes to the Dirtside II system needed to fit the OTU.

 

[TheEngineer]

Hi !

Well, I'm just a humble MT user, but so far I could get along with most ground combat situations.
There is a very pretty "conglomerat unit" concept, meaning you could combine similar individuals into one combat unit and proceed in combat resolution with just this unit.

Anyway, I'm no wargamer, so I could not really confirm, that MT's rules would fulfill all requirements for wargaming

Regards,

TE

 

[aramis]

MT with the conglomerate unit rules is more than adequate for playing out disimilar scale unit clashes with reasonable results. I have used it for wargaming in mercenary games.

DS II (last I checked) was available free for download from GZG...
GZG Rules Page

Grab SGII as well if you're going to grab DS II

 

[ravells]

BITS produced a booklet with a miniatures ground battle ruleset: At Close Quarters

I love a lot of the stuff BITS produce but could not get on so well with this. I tried it out and found it too detailed for my tastes with too much record-keeping involved, which is a pity because it looked spectacular on paper. I'm sure it's one of these systems where you get a lot more out of it when you're fluent in it and the combat then regains a sense of immediacy.

Ravs

 

[Ganidirsii O'Flynn]

And there is also GT: Star Mercs and GT: Ground Forces. The nice thing about GURPS is you can sort of set the level of detail yourself.

As for mass combat rules, I prefer do it using the standard skirmish rules on a unit scale in whatever system I'm playing. The rules are understood by the players, and combat retains most of it's immediacy.