[SG2] New Rules Playtest Results

I had a chance to playtest some SG2 house rules and semi-official rules
changes over the Canada Day weekend. Here are the results of
playtesting. If I get the chance, I'll do an after action report on the
scenario.

HEAVY WEAPON ARMOUR PENETRATION

Jon suggested that a soon-to-be official rule is to change the armour
penetration system. The rules state that you compare heavy weapon impact
versus armour class. Penetration is the Impact Die x the size class of
the weapon. Armour is D12 x the armour class of the point target. Jon
suggested that instead of rolling one die and multiplying the result by
the size/armour class, you roll a number of dice equal to the
size/armour class and add up the result (i.e. D12 x 2 becomes 2D12).

Others have tried this, but this was my first attempt. It was an
unqualified success. There were fewer flukey explosions with GMS/Ps
hitting the front armour of a heavy APC. The results seemed more
"realistic". As a side note, it was easier to see, at a glance, who won.
It also "felt" better to roll three dice versus 2 instead of both
players rolling 1 die and multiplying. A big hit, or a lot of armour,
physically felt that way due to the number of dice.

TRANSFER ACTION COMMUNICATION ROLLS

This idea came from Tom B. with my own comments thrown in. This came out
of the thread about the "c-in-c" problem (commander-in-the-corner). We
were looking at ways to encourage command elements to be closer to the
troops, while making things more "realistic". 

The Transfer Action command was altered slightly.

1. If the command element is within 6" of the receiving unit _and_ the
receiving unit is in Line Of Sight (LOS), the Transfer Action works
without a communication roll. [This is the standard "within 6 inches"
rule from the rulebook, but only applies if in LOS. The command unit has
to be nearby and able to see the unit it is going to motivate. The
commander is essentially orchestrating things personally.]

2. If the command element is more than 6" _and_ within LOS of the
receiving unit, or the command unit is within Quality Die inches of the
receiving unit _and_ not within LOS, a regular communication roll is
made. The Quality Die used is the commanders. So, a veteran must be
within 10", while a green commander must be within 6". [If the commander
is on a hill and watching events through binoculars, it's just a matter
of making a communication roll. Or, if the commander is in the vicinity
of the action but can't see the receiving unit, the commander has a
pretty good idea of what's happening. He still must make a communication
roll. This corrects a weirdness in the regular rules where a commander 7
inches away in a field must make a communication roll, but a commander
6" away in one building doesn't need to make a communication roll for a
unit in another building, or rolling by in an APC.]

3. If the command element is outside of Quality Die inches of the
receiving unit _and_ not within LOS, a communication roll is made but at
-1 to the die roll. [This represents the difficulty in commanding a
squad that can't be seen, and when the commander is nowhere near the
action.]

In practice, this rule worked well, however the Quality Die range
portion (case #2) was seen as unduly cumbersome. Instead, we went with
the following:

1. Within 6" and in LOS, no communication roll.
2. Within 6" and no LOS, communications roll.
3. Outside of 6" and in LOS, communications roll.
4. Outside of 6" and no LOS, communications roll at -1.

Note that this is cumulative with the "skipping command levels"
modifier. 

FREE TRANSFER ACTION

One of the problems with the Transfer Action mechanism is that the
command element will lose one Transfer Action for every action it takes
doing something else. This discourages the commander doing anything but
riding around in an APC, or hiding out somewhere, while making transfer
actions.

Tom suggested limiting a command element to making, at most, two
Transfer Actions per activation, but the first one is "free" and doesn't
cost the command element an action. So, a command element can make one
Transfer for free, spend an action to do its second Transfer, and still
have one more action left over. 

This worked fine at first, but we ran into some weird situations. One
command unit in a bunker conducted two transfer actions and called down
an artillery strike. We thought this was a bit much. Another command
unit in an APC conducted two transfer actions and made a successful
Observation action.

The feeling was that the free transfer action violates the spirit of the
rules: 2 actions per leader. However, we also felt that the main problem
is that some actions should be allowed while a unit is moving. The
result is the following rule, which we started to use later in the
scenario:

MOBILE LEADER ACTIONS

On page 16 of the rule book are listed the various actions. These are
Motivation Actions and Leader Actions. This rule subdivides Leader
Actions into two subcategories: Stationary and Mobile.

Stationary Leader Actions:
- Rally
- Form Detached Element
- Remove Suppression

Mobile Leader Actions:
- Observe
- Communicate
- Transfer Actions

Mobile Leader Actions count as an action but can be combined with a Move
Action. Stationary Leader Actions behave as listed in the book and can
not be combined with a Move Action.

A Mobile Leader Action does not have to be combined with a Move Action.
If it is not done "on the move", it behaves as listed in the rulebook.

If a Mobile Leader Action _is_ combined with a Move Action, here's what
happens:

1. The unit has the option of moving then conducting the Mobile Leader
Action, or conducting the Action then moving. Either way, the unit must
indicate where it is moving to before it conducts the Action. 

2. When the unit moves, it's Movement Die, however, is shifted down 1
and it can not conduct a combat move. It must move to the designated
spot, even if it decides to move after the Mobile Leader Action and the
Action is unsuccessful.

3. The Mobile Leader Action is conducted with the leader's quality die
shifted down 1.

If a unit conducts two Mobile Leader Actions one after another in the
same activation, and both are combined with a Move Action, the unit is
subject to Reaction Fire.

Spotting by firing on a hidden unit is considered a Fire Motivation
Action, not an Observe Mobile Leader Action.

Detached elements are assumed to have a "fire team leader" or "assistant
squad leader", and so they too can conduct Mobile Leader Actions.

Example 1: a platoon is advancing on an enemy position. The platoon
leader element (Regular quality, 2 leadership, D6 movement die) wants to
advance with the platoon, while attempting to make two Transfer Actions.
The platoon leader moves 4" (instead of the usual 6" or D6 x 2") for the
first action. The leader is within 6" of a unit receiving the Transfer
Action, so the Transfer Action works automatically. For the second
action, the leader moves another 4". This time the unit receiving the
action is more than 6" away, so a communication roll is needed. Instead
of trying to roll more than a 2 on a D8, the unit must roll better than
a 2 on a D6.

Example 2: a vehicle crew is moving down a road, but they also want to
spot for hidden units as they move. They first conduct a Move action.
Usually vehicles can move 12", but in this case it is limited to up to
10" of movement. The crew would then attempt an Observe action. Their
Quality Die is shifted down one for the attempt.

Example 3: a squad (Regular 2) forms a detached element. Creating the
element is a Stationary Leader Action, and can not be done while moving.
The squad now has one more action. They conduct a Transfer Action while
moving. They designate their destination, and then conduct the Transfer
Action. The Transfer Action succeeds automatically because the squad is
within 6". The main part of the squad is moved to its destination point,
and the detached element now has 2 actions. 

Example 4: the main portion of a squad (Regular 1, D6 movement die)
wants to conduct a Transfer Action on the detached element while moving.
The destination is designated, and the communication roll is attempted
with the Quality Die shifted down 1 from a D8 to a D6. It must roll
better than a 1 on a D6, but it rolls a 1 and fails! The main body of
the squad is still moved to its destination point. For the second
action, the squad leader attempts a second Transfer Action. This time,
it's done without moving. The communication roll is attempted with a D8,
and this time it succeeds. The detached element has two actions. For the
first action, it decides to move forward while observing a hidden
counter. The detached element moves 4", then conducts an Observe action.
It rolls a D6 and a D8 (Regular Quality Die shifted down 1, and D8
sensors). It fails! It then wants to conduct observation by fire. It can
not move while it's doing that, as this is a Fire action. It fires at
the cou!
 nter. The counter is flipped, and an enemy squad is revealed.

Any comments are welcome. I will probably write these up and post them
to my web site. 

Allan Goodall - agoodall@canada.com
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