Re: Does SG2 artificially limit casualties?

On Wed, 11 April 2001, Andy Cowell wrote:

> Just something I was pondering as I was driving around for lunch.  SG2
> has a very cool combat mechanic, but does anyone feel that it
> artificially limits the number of casualties available?  

It does artificially limit casualties. I'm not sure, though, that this
is a problem.

If you have an elite unit with D12 firepower (4 troopers with FP3
weapons) and a single D12 Firepower support weapon, the maximum
casualties would be 9 if you fired all the weapons at once (12, 12, and
12 rolled on three dice versus a target in the open at close range,
would give 36 divided by 4, for 9 casualties).

If you assume a squad of 6 elites with two D10 SAWs, though, and you
fire half the squad with one action and the other half with the other
action, things are different. You could get D12 + D12 + D10 for one
action, and D12 + D10 for the other, assuming one SAW supports the
regular troopers. Or, you could have both SAWs firing together, for D12
+ D12 in one attack and D12 + D10 + D10 for the other.

In the first case, the total would be 34 divided by 4 for maximum
casualties in the first attack and 22 divided by 4 for the second
attack. This gives 8 casualties with a 50:50 chance of a 9th, and 5
casualties with a 50:50 chance of a 6th. Assuming all the "fractional"
rolls go your way, you've got a maximum of 15 potential casualties. In
the second example the numbers are: 24 / 4 plus 32 / 4, giving 6 + 8 =
14 total casualties.

If you take an average squad, say a Regular squad of 8 troopers and two
D10 SAWs, the best you could roll against a squad at close range in the
open is: D8 + D12 + D10 for the first half of the squad firing and D8 +
D10 for the second half. The maximum would be 30 / 4 and 18 / 4. That's
7.5 casualties plus 4.5. Assuming the fractional rolls go your way,
that's 8 + 5 = 13 casualties, maximum.

Average rolls, though, should get you about 6 casualties. So just
rolling average will decimate a squad at close range in the open!

Okay, that seems like an atypical squad (with 2 SAWs) but a lot of
conventional modern forces put two SAWs in a squad.

> I mean, even
> elities with d12 firepower firing at targets in the open at close
> range can only ever kill 6 people (in five minutes, the activation
> time scale, correct?)

True, if you have them all fire at once (and they have no SAW). That
would be a squad of 3 or 4 elites, using FP3 as the standard assault
rifle firepower. Looking at it another way, the maximum these elites
could kill is two for every one of them. 

If you split fire, the maximum is 10. D12 + D6 for half the squad
firing; which is 18 / 4 at close range in the open, which equals 4
casualties and a 50:50 chance of a fifth casualty. Do that twice in a
row (*snicker*) and you can do a potential 10 casualties, which isn't
bad for 4 guys with assault rifles in 5 minutes!

> Would SG2 benefit from a "critical hit" mechanism?

I'm not sure it needs it...

Allan Goodall - agoodall@canada.com
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