MT ship combat

A thread of 2 messages, 18 January 1990 to 20 January 1990, in the order they were sent.

#790 MT ship combat

SULAIMAN · 18 January 1990

	Has anyone out there really used the MT space combat system.
If so I have a few questions that I would like answered.
	1. How do you handle Sensor Tasks. The rules say only one task is
	free next costs one battery of fire. It seems to imply that there
	is no point in having fighters or 100 t ships they only have one
	battery most of the time. As Fire requires two tasks, Scan+Pin
	it seems to be flawed.
I'm reading this as one SET of scans. Each set being Scan+Pin. Other option
being that Scans are being done routinely and don't cost anything. 1st Pinpoint
is free, 2nd Pinpoint cost one battery and so on.

	2. What about engaging multiple contacts. How do u scan for and engage
	more than one target. A 400t warship probably has 4 batteries and
	if it thinks it can engage and destroy 4 fighters shouldn't it be able
	to? As it is it will need a pinpoint for each fighter that means at best
	it will engage 2 fighters with one battery passed over and one firing
	defensively.

	3. I have mixed feelings on the rule that says that u have to roll
	again if target has moved 1 or more hexes/squares. Even if a square is
	25000 km.

	4. I disagree heavily with the move system in which u can choose any
	speed less than max and any direction every turn. At slow velocities
	yes but a 1G ship going 750,000 kph going in one direction should
	not be able to in the next combat round to go 750,000kph in the other
	direction evn when allowing for 3D effects. In game terms thats a speed
	of 25 squares/hexes I think.
I have been working on a very simple(and probably nonrealistic) turn mode
system with mods for agility and pilot skill.

	5. How do you handle Ship'sTurret Weapon Skill. Rules say replace
	Comp Mod or Wpn Mod by Skill but If your ship has anything over a
	Model 3 and a decent UCP factor High Gunnery Skill is meaningless.
I have been thinking of using the HighGuard version: every 2 levels of skill
over 1 give u a beneficial +/- 1 mod. Use for Pilot skill too.


Ameer Z. Sulaiman


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#809 Re: MT ship combat

Bertil Jonell · 20 January 1990 · reply to #790

> 	Has anyone out there really used the MT space combat system.
> If so I have a few questions that I would like answered.
> 	1. How do you handle Sensor Tasks. The rules say only one task is
> 	free next costs one battery of fire. It seems to imply that there
> 	is no point in having fighters or 100 t ships they only have one
> 	battery most of the time. As Fire requires two tasks, Scan+Pin
> 	it seems to be flawed.
> I'm reading this as one SET of scans. Each set being Scan+Pin. Other option
> being that Scans are being done routinely and don't cost anything. 1st Pinpoint
> is free, 2nd Pinpoint cost one battery and so on.

Well, In Real Life(tm) naval combat a lockon (pinpoint) is in effect until
volountarily broken or broken by the target by heavy manuevering, electronic
countermeasures, or decoys etc.

Disclaimer: All I know about Real Life(tm) naval combat I've learned from
Harpoon II, Jane's Fighting Ships, and a book about electronic warfare.

In Traveller terms I guess this would be translated to that a pinpoint is in
effect until the target has made a task to break it (Max once per turn)
(suggested DM's, Pilotskill, Agility, computerlevels, ECM)
The *number* of simultaneous lockons is the real limitation.
A suggested limit is equalt to the computer number. Model1 or 1bis => 1 lockon
at a time, a Model9 could have 9 simultaneous lockons.

The rules about 1 free sensor task and 1 per battery I would leave alone.
If this was combined with the above changes, It would lead to that a small
ship is forced to spend several turnes to locate and fire upon an opponent.
But a large ship could still not pinpoint several hundred targets and blow
them off the face of space. I believe this is in the interest of game-balance.

- -bertil-
- --
Bertil K K Jonell @ Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg
NET: [email removed]
VOICE: [phone removed] / +46 300 61004     "Don't worry,I've got Pilot-7"
[address removed]                             (Famous last words)
"GOOD DEEL ON SLIGHTLY USED CRANE" Orson Scott Card 'The Abyss'

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