Re: [GZG] DSIII

[John K Lerchey <lerchey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Grant,

Thanks for posting the comments.  I'm only going to respond to one issue, 
so I'm cutting out the other parts to save space. :)

On Thu, 2 Mar 2006, Grant A. Ladue wrote:

> 	Using unit quality to determine your base firing dice doesn't seem
> 	right to either of us.  Should a green unit with high tech sighting
> 	systems really be much worse than an elite unit with iron sights?  We
> 	felt it would be better to buy a targeting system for the unit and use
> 	the quality of the unit to modify it.  Green down 1 dice, Blue even,
> 	Orange up 1 dice.

This has been discussed at some length by various folks, and various 
"resolutions" were looked at.  Basically, I see a few ways of doing this:

1) The FCS is the controlling factor, period. (per DSII)
2) The FCS is the controlling factor, modified by unit quality (per you 
and Dave)
3) The QD is the controlling factor, peroid.  (ok, that's just stupid)
4) The QD is the controlling factor, modified by FCS. (current DS3)

Your example above is not really valid.

Green unit with high tech sighting: D6 base, +2 QD brings it to D10.
Elite unit with "iron sights": D10 base, -1 QD shift brings it to D8.

The green unit is better in this case.  Iron sights are obsolete in a DS 
setting, BTW.  Basic sights would have decent optics, floating mounts to 
allow tracking during movement, etc.

But I'm just being picky here. :)

My counter-stance is that a green unit is trained, but has NO experience. 
Under the stress of battle they still have to THINK about how to lay the 
sights, make sure they get the right ammo loaded, look for the right 
targets, etc. None of it is "ingrained".  In the short time that it takes 
to acquire and lay fire onto a target, even minor delays can be critical.

The elite crew, OTOH, has not only practiced the procedures over and over 
again, but they a) don't have to apply conscious effort to performing 
basic tasks, b) operate as a well-oiled unit, enabling them to operate 
without miscommunication, false expectations of their mates, etc.

While this can be argued either way for vehicle crews, it falls apart when 
you look at infantry.  For infantry, quality is IT.  The GZG-verse doesn't 
have smart small arms rounds that track targets and correct mistakes.  You 
might have somewhat better firepower, or more impact, but getting the 
fire where it needs to be is HUGELY impacted by the units quality.

I don't want to see a system where the base firing die is determined one 
way for vehicles and another for infantry.  That just gets too confusing.

GZG has made a history of mapping the command chit color to dice.  I 
*like* this aspect of the game systems - it's totally unique to GZG from 
what I've seen.

I'm sure that others who are playtesting DS3 will see your posts, so maybe 
you'll get some other points of view.  The comments are good, and I (at 
least - I can't speak for others) appreciate them.  Just wanted to point 
out that folks have been down that road before...

:)

Thanks

John

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