Re: [SG2] [FMA] Commo Chits

On Thu, 31 August 2000, "Barclay, Tom" wrote:

> I'm not sure, however, I agree with Allan's suggestion. 

Well, it was just off the top of my head. *S*

Actually, you make a very good point (as does Brian) about the commo
chits being directed by the other player.

Okay, I changed my mind. I'd go with the die type shift. Assume that a
unit with superior communication equipment gets a die shift up, and
inferior equipment gets a shift down. This makes more sense. In fact, if
they have NO working radios, assume no communication rolls allowed
(Transfer Actions are only allowed within 6" of the transferring unit).
It's simple, and probably a better model for it anyway.

> Lastly, as to the EW issue: 
> Why be inactive? In a double blind game, a hot EW unit will stick out
like a
> sore thumb and get Arty, Air, and emission-homing ordinance. That
makes it a
> risk. In full knowledge games with no emission homing weapons and no
> intelligence about enemy locs to be gained, it isn't terribly
important if
> you unit is active or not (in fact, active always makes sense). 

This, I guess, is what's confusing. Most games are like this. There are
no modifiers to the observation rules for active EW, either. On the
other hand, I guess you could argue that activating EW is -- by
implication -- something that puts the EW unit on the board when it's
hidden. 

Okay, what's the "official" word? We seem to have two schools of
thought:

1) EW requires an action to activate.
2) EW does not require an action to activate, but can be made active or
not active.

I know where my idea of requiring an action comes in. There's a
reference, on page 52, to EW becoming inactive the next time the EW unit
is activated. I guess I assumed that making EW active costs an action.

This, of course, brings up a whole new set of questions if it does not
require an action. Can the EW unit move and still use the EW counters?
Can it fire? What if it's part of a command squad? If the command unit
as a whole moves for two actions, can the EW figures still conduct EW
actions?

Having thought about it, I like the idea of the EW chits being available
without requiring an action, but the EW figures (whether in their own
unit or in the command unit) may not be activated for anything else.
That is, the figures themselves are dedicated to the EW task. Still, we
need some sort of consensus...

Allan Goodall - agoodall@canada.com
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