DS / SG Vehicle design

Mike Elliott wrote:
> 
> A while ago somebody asked about the example vehicle in the book, the 
> Phalanx heavy APC: 
That was me, sorry I'm taking so long to respond but a) my modem went
kaput
for a week and b) I rely on the archives to read this list as I can't
cope 
with a large inbox. (time problem not computer problem.)

> Thinking about this (and knowing that we have to come up with a
workable 
> solution for the Phalanx) I would suggest that you treat both turrets
as 
> restricted arc turrets at 2x (i.e. 4 for the two turrets). In DSII a
full 
> turret (360 deg) costs 3x and a fixed mount costs 2x. Although
restricted 
> arc turrets are mentioned, no capacity is quoted and the assumption is
"its 
> a turret, it must be 3x". However in the case of SGII it says on p32:
"if 
> it is to be in a TURRET, capable of all round traverse, it takes up
THREE 
> TIMES its SIZE CLASS". Clearly these turrets on the Phalanx are not
capable 
> of all round traverse, so they only cost 2x. I think this makes more
sense 
> than forcing you to pay 3x for the turret even though you do not have
most 
> of the benefit. After all, a restricted traverse turret is the same as
a 
> fixed mount except it has a wider fire arc. I would further add that
the 
> maximum traverse of such a restricted arc turret (and thus qualifying
for 
> the 2x cost) is 180 deg. More than 180 deg you pay 3x.

Right. I would like to keep the same design system in DS and SG, which
causes
a few problems. In DS fixed mounts can not move then fire, this is their
big 
drawback.  If restricted arc turrets take 2x then no
rules-lawyer/munchkin/
powergamer will use fixed mounts. Otherwise I agree entirely with Mike.
(My house rule solution will be to use Mike's suggestion for paired
left/right 
turrets, but to cost forward (or rear) mounted turrets at 3x. And to
mostly
use vehicles with full travers turrets.)

> >While on the subject of vehicle designs, here are a few more:
> >* When designing vehicles to use in both SG2 and DS2 how do people
handle 
> >the fact that infantry teams take up 4 capacity in DS2 regardless of
size 
> >but in SG2 they take 1 capacity per troop. If I am using the same
army in 
> >both scales I would be tempted to know exactly how many troops in a
team 
> >and thus allocate exact capacity to my DS2 designs.
>
> In DSII an infantry team is presumed to be 4 men for capacity
purposes. If 
> a team has less men, then some "seats" in the vehicle are unoccupied.
SGII 
> clarifies this by specifying 1 point per man.

What about when teams are larger than 4? Most SG squads are eight strong
and
thus are two DS teams. But what about the NSL, they use six man squads?
I'm going to use 1 capacity=1 man in DS as well from now on. 

> >* How much extra capacity does a man packed crew served heavy weapon 
> >occupy if the squad mount up in an APC etc.? I would say either 1 or
2 
> >extra capacity.
>
> I would say it depends on the weapon, most would only need 1, but
maybe a 
> really big one would justify a capacity of 2? 
I would say 1 capacity for the weapon and 1 for ammo reloads if
appropriate.
(This includes GMS/L and LAD teams in DS)

> >* Do turreted extra weapons only take the 2x capacity instead of 3x
if 
> >they are mounted on the SAME turret as the primary weapon?
>  
> Yes.

Whoa! This is kinda important. Up to now, how have other people been
playing 
it?

> Hope that helps

Sure has.

Steve.