Re: Re: [GZG] DSIII q

["Grant A. Ladue" <ladue@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> > enters that zone gets sucked in.  That would allow units to screen each other
> > and make choke points important (since the first unit stopped at the point
> > would suck everyone else in).
> >
> 
> I'm not sure how zone of control (which is kind of what you're saying 
> feels like to me) would work in a system where weapons have ranges of 
> 60mu.  Granted, there is LoS to consider, and on a relatively terrain 
> dense table, you might see ranges limited to under 24mu, but on open 
> terrain with a laser, all bets are off! :)
>

    More of a "zone of attention" than a traditional zoc.  The idea would be
  that while you're in a firefight, you're focused on the people you're
  shooting at and are shooting at you.  Between that focus and the smoke and
  dust of combat, you're much less likely to start firing on someone else 
  moving behind what you're firing at, unless they come close enough to the
  existing unit.  I would allow units to try to force other units into the
  combat, with better tech and better units increasing the chance.  

> 
> >
> >   How would recon work with a firefight?  Should the other guy shooting at
> > your recon elements force them into combat?
> 
> One example, which would have worked this way on the Friday Night game if 
> I hadn't, once again, screwed up...
>
   Ah, that's what playtesting is for...   :-)

 
> A unit of light tanks (scouts, if you will) moves around a hill and is 
> spotted by and enemy force.  Being that a) the enemy force is not on 
> overwatch and b) that the light tanks are Active, they get the first 
> FireFight round and (wisely) elect to pop smoke.  Now, they haven't been 
> fired upon, and they have effectively stopped the FireFight before it 
> really began by making it impossible for the enemy to do any real reaction 
> (the enemy unit could make a Combat Move, but won't be able to get to, let 
> alone through the smoke, so there really isn't much point), and the 
> FireFight ends.  Since the smoke-poppin'  unit is in good morale, they may 
> continue with their major move (say that they were moving across the gap 
> beteween two hills), so they move around the second hill (around the back 
> in relationship to the force that wanted to attack them) and find another 
> platoon in the edge of woods watching for them.  This time the enemy is on 
> overwatch, so they fire at the light tanks before the smoke can be popped. 
> They manage to kill one, and being that the light tanks are overmatched, 
> the light tanks take (and pass) their Stress Test, and pop smoke again. 
> Still in good morale, if they have any Major movement left, they can 
> continue, and whether they do or not, they can do their SECOND major 
> action, which could to dig in, make another move (maybe back and onto one 
> of the hills?), etc.  In both cases a firefight ended with the light tanks 
> in good morale, and resulting in a recon unit having spotted two enemy 
> platoons.
> 
> :)
> 
    Hmm, I like the way you describe it, *but* (there's always a but :-) ) what
  about forces like ours that had no smoke?  How about backgrounds where smoke
  is immaterial (like OGRE or I would think Hammer's Slammers)?  I imagine that
  I don't have the best grasp of modern combat, but is smoke really the only
  way that recon units break contact?  If they are, I will henceforth keep 
  quiet on the subject.  :-)


> > In retrospect, one of the odd
> > things to me from the game on Sunday morning was that my grav tanks were so
> > fast in one mode and *so* slow in the other mode.  My unit was flashing past
> > a gap, but were forced to come virtually to a stop when fired upon.  I know
> > there is some justification for that, but I'm wondering if there shouldn't be
> > a way to "shoot the gaps" as it were.  I'm thinking that a recon unit would
> > not necessarily stop and fire back, but would be more likely to maintain speed
> > to cover.  Not sure about that though.
> 
> That's because the full TURN is 15 minutes but each Tactical Combat Round 
> is a meer fraction of that.  You're literally changing TIME SCALES when 
> you move from activation to firefight.
> 
> Yes, it feels very wierd.  Think of it as playing this way.  You do what 
> someone (sorry, don't remember who) suggested to do "big moves" to get 
> into combat.  Once in, you are doing small tactical adjustments in the 
> firefight, in compressed time.  For most vehicles, the Combat Move is in 
> the 2-4mu category.  For those grav tanks, well, they's fast don'tchaknow, 
> and some of them have Combat Moves of around 12mu... :)
> 
    Yeah, I think get that.  How fast are those grav tanks moving in their
  "big move" though?  The gap they were crossing was about 6 or 7 inches wide.
  Some piece of me feels like they should have been able to blow across it 
  without being forced into an extended combat.
    I don't know.  I'm not sure that I've seen enough to justify my "feeling"
  for it.  I am starting to wonder though if the "time change" is too drastic.
  It's like there should be an intermediate phase between "non-combat" and "all
  out firefight".  Not sure about that though.  Hmmm....


> >   Say, how do very large units like Ogres work with firefights?  Does shooting
> > at one element on a big vehicle allow everything to shoot back?
> >
> 
> Haven't worked that out yet, but will likely soon.  In fact, once my group 
> gets back to DS (a few more weeks) I plan to test just that. :)
> 
> John

   Cool.  It would be a real shame if oversized vehicles aren't well integrated
 into the new rules.
   Off the top of my head, I am thinking that massive firepower (like an Ogre)
 would tend to short circuit a firefight.  Of course, that may be right...  :-)


  grant
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