The Horrors of Realistic Weapons

I have been trying for a long time to develop a realistic combat system
for Traveller.  As some of you may have figured out by now, the good people
at GDW often have some very good ideas, but just as often have no f**king
clue what they're doing.

In part, they're hampered by the basic problem of game design: the more
realistic you make a game, the less playable it is.  Even so, some of
what they have come up with for combat is either implausible or just
flat wrong.

I would be interested in hearing how the people on the mailing list have
reacted to the various combat systems created by GDW, and the modifications
they have come up with to deal with aspects they did not like.

For a start, I have had to develop my own damage system--based not on
statistics, for the most part, but on (a) location of hit on a person's
body and (b) the actual damage caused by the weapon.  In addition, I
think some weapons have been treated very poorly in terms of how effective
they are.  Many primitive weapons are much more dangerous (bows, especially)
than the GDW tables would have you think.

Disclaimer: I have not looked at the original GDW books in a while, so when
it comes to particulars, I have to cite from memory.  Please correct me
if I am wrong about any specific weapons, etc.  (I have a feeling that
for the most part, however, people will agree that GDW combat systems leave
something to be desired.)

     Mark

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