Re: Starship Troopers: I've got a wonderful Grinchy Idea...

Hello
	We ran a SGII scenario with the Arachnids in play this last
weekend and
here are some corrections to my previous postings on the subject.
	The Leadership: Brain bugs have six action markers and are
always level
two leaders.  They are telepathic and cannot be jammed by EW.  They use
a
d12 quality die.  If directly attacked they are automatically destroyed
and
all units under their command are immobilized until recontrolled by
another
Brain Bug.  Whatever any bug under the brain bugs command sees, the
brain
bug sees.  This is what makes Arachnid heavy weapons so deadly.  The
brain
bug has armor of 1D4  and moves 6 inches in SGII.  Normal Brains are
leader
2s and can be 1 or 3 as required.
	Lesser bugs cannot move on their own and must be activated using
an action
marker by the Brain Bug.  However, they are capable of responding to
local
threats and will fight CC and fire within their range when forces rush
their positions.
	The Workers:  Worker bugs are about half the size of a Soldier
bug and
have a quality die of 1D4 for combat but a quality die of 1D12 for
digging,
work etc.  They can tunnel 3 inches an action in SGII and otherwise
conduct
all actions like combat engineers.  If added they can operate support
systems like EW etc.  They have 1D6 armor and move 12 inches in SGII.  A
worker squad can carry the brain bug to move him 12 inches.  Workers can
also carry blasting charge that can act like a mine or collapse a
tunnel.
	The Soldiers:  Soldier Bugs are about the size of a large dog. 
They have
1D8 armor and carry Close Combat weapons similar to an assault Shotgun
and
have HTH weapons that shift +2.  They have a quality die of 1D12 and
ignore
morale and modivation factors.	They can be suppressed.  Soldier bugs
can
tunnel 1.5 inches an action and always move combat movement of 1D8
inches
in SGII.
	Heavy Weapons:	Because the Brain Bug sees whatever his minions
see they
can be very deadly whith artillery and it is really the only heavy
weapon
they use.  Often they will have their workers build trap door systems to
hide the tubes in tunnels.  The Brain Bug uses an action marker to spot
through an observing soldier/worker squad and then the next action the
shells start to land.  The Brain bug could then have the supporting
worker
squad move the artillery tubes in the tunnels to a new position or just
relie on the dug in position to enable the tube to survive counter fire.
This is very important because the bugs are at a disadvantage against
the
humans with ranged weapons and can easily be pinned.
	I might use the movie bugs as super soldiers to get something to
offset
the powered armor guys.  They really tear into the soldiers in hand to
hand
combat.  On the other hand the normal soldier bugs were very effective
in
HTH versus the normal troopers.
	Suicide warrior bugs may just carry a large bomb into the midst
of their
enemies and self detonate.
	Order of battle.
	A standard Bug Platoon consists of a Brain Bug,  at least one
squad of 10
Worker bugs,  and four squads of ten soldier bugs each.  Usually the
platoon will have an additional squad of 10 soldier bugs to operate/move
artillery and another squad of ten soldier bugs to defend them.  At the
Platoon level the artillery will consist of one or two RA Mortar tubes.
	Another platoon type is tunnel-diggers/engineers where the
ratios are
reversed but they carry mines that can be used in the tunnels or
secretly
placed for surface dwellers to find...
	Another platoon type is the heavy artillery where the ratios are
even and
they have the big guns plus possible counter battery radars etc.
	Arachnids have ships and drop boats but will generally conduct
orbital
drops of their soldiers followed by brain bugs in assault boats.
	If you are using my points system then a normal arachnid soldier
or worker
costs 10 points each.  The artillery costs are as from DSII.  Otherwise
the
point multiple is 2.5.
	This worked reasonably well for a bug hunt game we played, but I
got
frustrated when my bugs kept getting pinned.  This meant I kept them
underground a lot and used mines to annoy the humans.  Because it is
easy
to pin a bug hole I recomend that before you open a tunnel you build an
antechamber large enough to fit two soldier squads in it.  The first one
can breach the surface and will inevitably be pinned, the second one can
then follow through and engage the enemy at hand to hand combat.
Gort, Klatu verada nictu!