SG2 Vehicle Fire On The Move

Hi Allan

I've been wrestling with this one in a rules sense for quite a while.
(That and why a tank can't sprint from A to B faaar faster than it can
in SG2.... I buy the argument about not moving through unknown territory
fast, but if the other option is being in the open in a KNOWN danger
zone, I think your grav tank will put the hammer down...).

Just some points (related in some cases, not in others but perhaps worth
a talk about) :

Modern stabilization is impressive. Add in 2180s processing power and
sensor tech.... I'm not even sure it'll be *any* harder to hit a moving
target than a stationary one. The advantage to being stationary is you
should be able to get hull down and increase your armour or decrease the
parts of your vehicle exposed (remote casement turrets that pop up then
down for example). I've seen a Leopard II go over a hilltop, the entire
tank (except for the last foot or so of tread) go airborne and come down
with the gun never wavering from a distant target point.... it was
chilling. (As was the fact this thing could move so quick... I certainly
wouldn't have wanted to be under it when it came down either). So the
penalty for fire on the move might or might not make sense (and it might
make rules sense but not campaign-world sense... but that's another
matter). Perhaps penalize the on board infantry... but not the crew
served heavy weapons.

There is (AFAICS) no real benefit to being hull down in SG2 (well, not
quite true). True of heavy weapons which you might be able to justify
giving shorter range bands (smaller size multiplier) ... but it has NO
influence on GMS and they are the real danger to vehicles.

Can you fire a GMS on the move?

Can you spot your targets on the move? Should you have to make spot
rolls if firing on the move at a target you could not see when you
started the move?

Your idea of pinning a vehicle by making it fire at the start or end of
its move... not bad. It provides a window of vulnerability. Esp if used
with reaction fire and overwatch. I like it.

But one of the principal shortcomings of fighting from a vehicle is the
visibility... you find it hard to acquire targets and you lose track of
them far easier. Has technology obviated this problem? How do you
simulate it? Do you?

>From a moving vehicle, can all the weapons systems fire? Or just one?
How about from a parked vehicle? I guess my point was this: I can define
my vehicle as having 2 crew (driver and butler) or 15 (driver, butler,
12 cheerleaders, cox'n) and under the rules for vehicle construction (if
these are crew), this has no impact. What's more, I can have say 10 SAWS
installed on pintle mounts and 10 crew gunners, but can only fire 1 with
1 fire action. This I find kind of fascinating. If I've picked a fire
action (from either a moving OR stationary vehicle), and I have a
commander at his hatch RFAC and a COAX run by the gunner, why can't they
both fire? I'm exaggerating with the 10 SAWs, but there are cases where
one could argue that more than one weapons system should be able to fire
in a given fire action.

I know this is an infantry game. It has presented vehicles in a simple
way that has some unsatisfying behaviours if you look at them in detail.
Some might not be too hard to fix. Move and Fire could be thorny. In
modern day combat, movement makes it easier for an enemy to spot you,
removes (often) your terrain cover, and (due to bouncing around of the
crew) makes it harder for the moving vehicle's crew to spot the enemies
that might kill them. How do we capture that abstractly without bogging
down the mechanics?

It's a good topic for discussion....  and I look forward to further
input on how to better represent vehicles in general...

Tom B

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