Re: Conventional DS2?

A while ago there was a discussion here on the subject of contemporary
vehicles
for DS2. Charles Thumann did most of the work, with modifications by
several
others. You can find the results on Andy Cowell's web site:

http://www.cd.utk.edu/~cowell/min/ds2/contemporary.html

I wrote an article for Ragnarok (the journal of the SFSFW) on DS2 for
WWII. If 
folks are interested I'll dig it up and post it (it's not too long).
Yes, DS2 
works pretty well for both contemporary and WWII. Some of my playtesting
was 
done with a NATO/Warsaw Pact setup and I have tried the WWII rules in a
game and
I was quite pleased with the results.

The reason it works as well as it does is that DS2 is designed to be
"generic". 
If you think about it, SF forces don't have to be "high tech" with grav
vehicles
or better. They could really be any tech level you like (remember
Traveller's 
tech levels). Have you noticed that there is a cavalry troop type in
DS2? 
Anybody tried it? If you've read it you might remember the use of horse
drawn 
transport in Jerry Pornelle's "Falkenberg's Legion". (If you haven't,
then read 
it!)

Personally, I don't think DS2 would work for troops of a tech level
earlier than
say Earth 19th C. but maybe someone can prove me wrong...

Mike Elliott, GZG

______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
Subject: Conventional DS2?
Author:  SMTP:owner-ftgzg-l@bolton.ac.uk/ at INTERNET
Date:	 19/11/96 11:03

I've been going over my stash of unpainted lead and I came across some
T80s, 
M1A1s, Bradleys, and BTRs that I'd purchased aeons ago for a modern
armour 
game that never materialized. I went through some of my modern armour
rules, 
and realized that none of them are as fast paced as DS2.

You've probably guessed the purpose of this thread. I've been thinking
of 
Mark Siefert's future history and I got thinking about current and near 
future weapons. For instance, I thought of giving the T80s a size 3
(maybe 
four) fast-tracked vehicle with armour 3 and a class 3 HVC with a
chemically 
fueled engine. M1A1s would be size 4, fast tracked, armour 4 and a class
4 
HVC, with a CFE. 

Does anyone have any comments on this? Has anyone used DS2 for
conventional 
armour games, such as the old Warsaw Pact versus NATO style of game
(perhaps 
in a Twilight 2000 style alternate history)? How about near-future
games? I 
think DS2 loses some of the detailed differences between weapon systems,
but 
that in turn makes it faster paced than similar systems. I'm not sure 
there's enough detail in DS2 to use it for WWII (I don't think you'd see

enough of a difference between, say, a T-34, a Panther, and a Sherman),
but 
I think it would work for modern games.

If no one has done this before, is anyone out there interested in the 
results? I have a Russia versus Ukraine scenario in mind (with an
observing 
NATO unit thrown into the mix). I'd rather do it in DS2 than learn
another 
game system, like GDW's Combined Arms.

Allan Goodall:	agoodall@sympatico.ca 
"You'll want to hear about my new obsession.
 I'm riding high upon a deep depression. 
 I'm only happy when it rains."    - Garbage