Re: Some Dirtside2 Questions

>We recently played a game of DS2 and came up with a few questions for
which
>we couldn't find "official" answers. Any input would be appreciated.

Here goes - these should not be taken as "official" rulings, just as
ideas
for guidance:
>
>1) When an Aerospace fighter/bomber attacks with Deadfall ordance is
there
>a "scatter" roll? If it drops more than one Load do they scatter
differently?

No, DSII "as written" has no scatter rolls for DFO - it is assumed they
are
accurate enough given the compressed groundscale. If you wish, by all
means
introduce such a roll - especially if you want to do high-altitude
carpet-bombing (which will need some house rule tweaks anyway).
>
>2) Are Aerospace fighters that fire direct fire weapons considered to
be
>attacking the top armor of a target? Do all terrain and other (dug-in,
>smoke) defensive modifiers still apply?

Yes, always on top armour. IMHO smoke should apply a modifier if it is
very
close to the target (say within 2"?). Dug-in would probably not apply to
vehicles unless they had overhead cover.
>
>3) Can ground units fire back at Aerospace units with regular direct
fire
>weapons (NOT LAD or ADS)? Can ground Units Opportunity fire against an
>Aerospace Unit?

No, ground weapons can only fire at low-mode VTOLs; anything else is too
high/fast. LAD/ZAD have their own point in the turn sequence, so Opp.
fire
doesn't apply.
>
>4) If an Aerospace Unit is attacking a ground Unit, can the defending
>player use one of HIS fighters to attack the attacking Aerospace unit
as an
>Opportunity fire action?

No reason why not, IF you want to come up with some house rules for it.
We
were originally going to have some CAP rules in DSII, but they were one
of
the things chopped due to lack of space.
>
>5) Is guided missile fire effected by defensive terrain modifiers (such
as
>Woods, Dug-in, etc.)?

No.
>
>6) Smoke: The smoke rules state that Artillery, HELL, and DFFG fire
will
>start a fire in Woods or Urban areas. What is the effect of these
flames on
>units? If you have a Unit of infantry in a large (12" square) area of
woods
>would they have to leave? If so, when? What about a vehicle Unit?

Thgis is JUST A SUGGESTION (ie: untested!) - when such fires start,
place a
fire marker (there are some on the SGII counter sheet if you have it,
otherwise improvise) either at the aim point (for DFFG, HEL etc) or a
few
markers randomly scattered around the beaten zone (for Arty); any
INFANTRY
or soft vehicle element has to move at least 2" from any marker, AFVs at
least 1". Try it, fiddle with it and let me know!
>
>7) Is firing a smoke discharger considered a firing action? In other
words,
>if an Element is moving at full speed can they fire their Smoke
Dischargers
>at the end of their move?

I think yes, and no respectively; you could say they would drive right
through their own smoke screen if moving fast.
>
>8) Opportunity Fire: Is it made on an Element level or Unit level? In
other
>words, if the attacker begins to move the Elements of a Unit when is
>Opportunity fire actually declared? Does the Attacker finish moving all
>Elements and then "back up" the ones the defender opportunity fires on
or
>does the defender have to announce his fire as each Element is moved?
[The
>difference here is that, in the first case, a defender gets to see
where an
>attacker intends to move and then pick the best location/target to
shoot.
>In the latter case, the defender must pick on the spot the
Unit/loaction
>and thus perhaps lose out on a good shot while waiting for a possible
>better one.]

Bset to call Opp. fire when the first element of the group moves, then
immediately move all other elements approx. the same distance - after OF
resolution, then move all survivors the rest of their move.
>
>9) Infantry Close Assaults: If a defender has 10 infantry Elements
>(organized into 5 squads) arranged in a line on a hill with 2" between
>squads and an attacker makes a close assault on that Unit can the
attacker
>"gang up" on just one defending squad (2 Elements in this case) or do
ALL
>defenders get to fire on the attackers (assuming the Defender passes
all
>Reaction rolls)?

This is tricky, because it really depends on the exact individual
situation
(which is why we couldn't be more specific in the rules). If the
defending
elements are all in what could be considered "one strongpoint", eg:
along a
hill crest, or in one long trench) then the attackers should really be
spread out among them. If each small group of defenders are in a
separate
clearly-defined position, then you could assault just one - but I think
in
this case it would be fair to allow the other adjacent defending
positions
some kind of enfilading opportunity fire at the attackers - house rule
time
again!!
>
>Thanks!,
>
>
>-----
>Paul J. Calvi Jr.

Hope this helps,
Jon (GZG)

PS: just read Brendan's suggestions in his post prior to sending this -
his
ideas seem very useful, especially his idea about the fires.