Re: NBC Gear, Harsh Climate Gear, Vacc Suits, Etc

Hello everybody,

this is my first post here, after having been lurking a little while.
(And, yes,
another one from sweden.)

I have been pondering this sort of question (how to simulate NBC attacks
in
games) ever since I spent my military service learning and teaching NBC
survival. And, yes, I have worn NBC gear in cold climate (-15 C, about 5
F, I
think), though not for more than a couple of hours, thank God! (The
pseudo-mustard gas we were supposed to practice decontamination with had
frozen.)

I think most of the effects, in SGII, have to do with the scenario
construction
rather than on-table game mechanics. I'm thinking in lines of starting
fatigue
and confidence, and how long you can stay suited up before filters and
batteries
have to be changed, etc. Possibly some older gear would lower the
mobility to
encumbered (4"), but that seems pretty harsh. My experience is that you
can move
quite normally, even run short stretches, for at least a couple of
hours.

Thomas.Barclay wrote:
----Snip-----

>	  3) Combat - combat effectiveness is hampered (at least IME) by
> fighting at high protective states - dexterity is shot, you fatigue
easier,
> tis hard to use optics with some helmets, most masks, and I'm sure a
vacc suit
> barring an internal HUD. And most of these kit items may make taking
up some
> firing postures more difficult or lead to a requirement to be more
exposed
> (heck, it might be impossible to fire prone in a vacc suit period).

Why couldn't you have a HUD in a vacc suit, I'd think any visored helmet
would
do just great, or am I missing something? Assuming we are talking about
military
gear I would suppose that it is suitable for fighting in (barring
administrative
fuckups, of course), or at least that the effects are so minimal, and
would
affect both sides more or less equally, that they can be ignored. (But
see Joe
Haldemans Forever War for some interestin effects of vacc suit fighting
in near
absolute zero degrees environment.)

>	  4) Morale - no one likes to fight in these states - it beats
being
> dead, but no one likes it. Especially if it goes on for a while (heck,
the
> decontam procedure for taking a visit to the loo is pretty frustrating
in and
> of itself).

Absolutely, I really like the Dirtside rules for NBC attacks where _all_
units
on the table have to take confidence tests. How about a reaction test to
enter a
contaminated area? (Are you _really_ sure your mask fits properly?)

> But is should there be penalties for fighting "buttoned up"? Should
vacc suit
> users suffer penalties to ranged fire? movement?

I would say no, otherwise we'd have to impose penalties on troops in
"unpowered"
full BA like NSL Panzergrenadiers as well.  Or possibly light troops not
adequately equipped should get some penalties, but I think that should
be an
exception. My brain starts working on some scenario where soldiers get
caught
out not expecting chemical warfare and only carrying obsolete protection
gear....hm.

But what happens if a vacc suit is punctured? That would naturally
depend on
what is out there, but in extreme cases perhaps all wounds would be
kills.
And how to simulate a chemical attack? A reaction test for each figure
caught in
it, shift down the die if not at all prepered (you can usually fit at
least two
coke or beer cans where your gas mask should be), shift down one step if
tired
or exhausted, shift up two steps if in full BA? What happens if you
miss,
automatically dead if the units next action is not a reorganize
(remember to
take the right autoinjector)? I'm just rambling here, hope that's ok.

Well, just some thoughts....

Henrix Gudmundson