SV: Low Tech forces in DSII/SGII

Status: RO

>      I have interesting subject that I would like to bring up here on 
> the list.  Since DSII/SGII deal much
> with hi-tech forces, I would like to focus the attention to low-tech 
> forces a bit.  Science Fiction is full
> of stories of were hi-tech forces attempt to conquer a planet that 
> has low-tech forces or an interstellar
> society that once had a very high tech base and regressed to low-tech.
>   With some high-tech  items
> still around bit, but used sparingly.
 
>     The example that I am going to use is the Fading Suns RPG, it has 
> a very good selection of low-tech items to high tech and a 
> interesting setting to fit DSII/SGII for miniatures battles.	The 
> rules
> allow for high-tech and some low-tech forces, but how about doing 
> forces with mediviel tech.  For
> example in DSII you can create units for close-assault to simulate 
> that they are armed with swords, spears etc. by using the high-tech 
> examples to show what type of hand weapons and armor they are 
> equipped with. They could be militia, regular soldiers, or knights.	
> If they are using missiles such as crossbows, bows, or single-shot 
> muskets.  Just figure out the range accordingly and designate their 
> troop quality.

I don't have SGII yet, so these comments all refer to DSII:

If the medieval guys are used to fight each other, they'll most likely
ride
or march in very dense formations. A few machineguns would wreak havoc -
kill or wound a lot of people before the poor guys could even see their
attackers. For a picture of the casualty rates the primitives would
suffer,
think WWI and multiply by a factor lots. If, OTOH, they are used to
fighting high-tech forces, they know that they need to disperse a LOT
and
use guerilla tactics - ambushes in close terrain and similar; in this
case,
the action is too small to fight out in DSII.

According to most sources I've seen, the maximum effective range of
bows,
crossbows etc was less than 300 meters - ie, 3" in DSII - and I don't
think
many casualties were scored beyond 100 meters. Since this is about
close-assault range (2"), I'd include their effect in close assaults
instead.

>      And how about items like catapult, ballista, etc. these are the 
> items that should give you people on the list some food for thought.	

Not really. Indirect firing ancient artillery - single-arm catapults,
trebuchets etc - are slow to aim, have short ranges (some ancient
sources
boast ranges of 500 yards, but no reconstructions I've heard about have
achieved this; most seem to have fired at ranges of 300 meters or less),
fire at best one shot every five minutes, are large targets... not good
if
you're facing someone with a long-range weapon or you want to hit a
fast-moving vehicle. You have to be extremely lucky to hit, and probably
won't cause much damage if you do - like, "draw two chits. If BOTH are
"BOOM" chits, the vehicle is damaged. Further primitive weapon hits have
no
effect." 

Ballistae, especially the smaller varieties, are easier to aim with; but
again the penetrating abilities are less than satisfying. Against
infantry
targets... well, historically they were effective against massed troops.
Modern troops aren't massed, and a combat rifle has a range comparable
to
or exceeding that of a bolt-shooting ballista.

>  Should close-assaults be handled differentely when dealing with low-
> tech forces with melee weapons.

Most likely, yes. The high-tech forces should always shoot first, for
instance - they're automatically in range, but the swordsmen have a lot
of
ground to cover before they can do anything. Also, I think the
primitives
should never draw more than at most one chit in close assault.

Regards,

Oerjan Ohlson

"Life is like a sewer.
What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
- Hen3ry