Re: STARGRUNT II\ Infantry AI troopers

>Here is an experimental ruleset for AI Infantry For SGII that we have
>been experimenting with:
>
>Heavy, Slow Powered Armor

snip

>

I've been playing Legions of Steel a bit recently so I've been thinking
along these lines.   I recently tried using a 'machine' army in SG II.

In LOS the machine comprises a main controller which issues orders to a
series of drones,  the drones themselves have a degree of autonomy but
only
in the excecution of the controllers orders.

To represent this control structure we had the Controller activate units
of
drones as if the drones were detatched units (which is what they really
are).

Controller

We did not represent this on the board,  we used an off-table item which
we
stacked chits next to.	The controller is a Veteren L1 (to give a good
chance of passing comms tests,	however, these are not guarenteed).
The controller has a number of action equal to the number of drone units
(this may change if units are split or destroyed) plus two additional
actions to be used to reactivate drones.   This represents the
computer's
faster tactical appraisal of a battlefield.
The controller also has EW capability,	it has 4 chits of superior
capability (D10).

Drone

We used various types of model for these so I'll only describe a generic
drone.
Drones are grouped into units of regular L1 quality (there is some
argument
that AI's should be faster, better soldiers than humans,  however,  I'm
not
keen on the idea of supertroopers of any type.	These drones are good
troops,  but a veteren human, has learnt to survive on a battlefield by
employing  innovative tactics which in some cases are not in the
instructions during basic training,  therefore, the vet human trooper
has
more experience than the AI,  whether he can shoot straighter is another
question !)
Drones are activated by communication from the controller,  when
activated
the drone has two actions as normal (a side effect of the control by a
CPU
is that the controller recieves an immediated tactical appraisal from
each
unit as it is contacted,  the CPU therfore becomes instantly aware of
everything the drone can see,  or any unit the drone has seen).  If the
drone unit is not contacted by the CPU then the unit has only one action
available,  and that action must be in accordance with its previous
instructions.
Drones are built for warfare so thier structure is armoured with
redundant
backup systems,  therefore, it is difficult to kill a drone.  Drones are
destroyed only when the damage dice dictates a kill,  a wounded effect
is
diced immediately,  any result other than dead is ignored.
Although the drones are controlled by the CPU they have individual
discretion in the excecution of orders,  the drones are not 'cannon
fodder',  the drone will attempt to maintain it's integrity to fulfill
it's
mission.  What this means is that although it would be impossible to
impose
a psychology on a drone the drone should not be played as a mindless
automaton (remote controlled asault drones would make better cannon
fodder,
AI's are far from that). Drones can be supressed,  representing the
drone
calculating survival precentage and escape/assault differentials.  Drone
units that recieve more, or equal, casualties than remaining drones in
the
unit (in a single turn), result in the implementation of automatic
escape
and evasion protocols,	this forces the unit to immediately withdraw two
actions of movement from contact.  The drone unit withdraws towards a
pre-determined start line.   After the initial withdrawal subsequent
actions depend on activation of the CPU.  If the CPU wants to check this
withdrawal the CPU/drone unit can test for rallying as normal.
OK, so this is solely an attempt to prevent these drone playing like any
other ordinary robot,  but considering that any contact with enough
firepower to devastate a drone unit has to be at a concentrated level
the
drone unit would be better of retiring,  subsequent contact by the CPU
would then enable the CPU to recalculate it's strategy, and to redirect
more/heavier units to the site of contact.

These AI's and any robotic troop have the potential to be exceptionally
powerful,  to prevent game imbalance the obvious Achilles Heel is EW.

EW can be used to block communication from the CPU to a drone unit (the
drone unit would then have less actions,  therefore less flexibility).
Note that the CPU is also capable of EW so it is entirely capable of EW
countermeasures.
EW can also be used more directly to interfere with an individual drone.
The EW trooper rolls a dice as normal and the drone rolls it's quality
(D8),  if the EW dice is higher then the drone is immobilised and cannot
carry out any actions.	Note the CPU CANNOT counter this.

These EW capabilities place a premium on the EW trooper ( and EW  chits)
and the choice when to use these actions can be an entertaining dillema
to
watch !

So that is an outline of a generic machine army,  I use several types of
drones so I won't cover these as it's more fun to make up profiles based
on
specific model collections.

I welcome any feedback on this lot.

Stuart.

Stuart Murray

The Department of Surgery
The Medical School
The University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE2 4HH
U.K.

ph. (44) 191 222 7076
fax. (44) 191 222 8514