Re: Questions

In message <200005131516.RAA01412@d1o902.telia.com> "Oerjan Ohlson"
writes:
> David Brewer wrote:
> 
> >>>And anyway adding stealth + ECM makes calculating points harder
> >>>not easier since rather than having to balance two independant
> >>>weapon/defence combos you add to the number of combinations.
> >> 
> >>This last bit is completely false. 
> >> 
> >>First, combining Stealth and ECM into one system (with 4 or 5
levels,
> >>including "None" and maybe "Brilliant") *reduces* the number of
> >>combinations compared to the current situation.
> > 
> >Not by as many as you think...
> 
> Very close to it, yes <g>

You've not sold me.

> >>In the published rules
> >>ECM has 4 levels and Stealth has as many levels as the vehicle's
> >>class, and these can be combined any way you like - eg., for a
Size-5
> >>vehicle there are 20 possible combinations of ECM and Stealth. Last
> >>time I checked 4 and 5 were both somewhat smaller than 20 ;-)
> > 
> >In both cases (combined/not-combined) we're dealing with five
> >possible levels of *signature* (which is *not* stealth, but is
> >adjusted by stealth), 
> 
> As long as the signature isn't reduced to less than 1, each level of
> stealth reduces the number of enemy hits against it by very nearly
> (ie., "too small a difference to show up even in extensive
> playtesting") the same percentage, independent of the size of the
> vehicle.
> 
> >and four (or five) levels of ECM.
> >With five levels of signature, and four of ECM, there are 20
> >valid combos if Stealth/ECM are seperate and 14 valid combos if
> >they are combined.
> 
> Technically, you are correct. However, due to the way the mechanics
> work (and thus the way the numbers turn out) there are are only four
> *effective* cases (five with Brilliant ECM/Stealth, but ignoring
> Oversized vehicles) with the combined system:

Forgive me, but it seems like you're planning to rate vehicles
like this:

(Other stuff) * (size) * (combo-stealth/ECM)

as opposed to:

(Other stuff) * (signature) * (ECM)

and I'm at a loss to see how this simplifies anything. There
remains four cases of ECM-or-ECM/Stealth and five cases of size-
or-signature. The numbers are the same, except that you've added
some unnecessary restrictions to what combinations you may have.

If you're really set on a course of "fixing" the design system,
rather than the points system then of course I can't stop you, but
I think that it would a shame to do so much good work and then set
up barriers to stop other people from using your work without
accepting your house rules. Done well, this could form the basis
for a Tank-fleetbook One.

Best of luck anyway,

-- 
David Brewer