Re: Infantry Walkers!

On Sat, 21 Nov 1998, Thomas Barclay wrote:

> Brian spake thusly upon matters weighty: 
> 
> > According to the Dirtside II rulebook, a Size 1 walker _is_ an
infantry
> > walker. That's how I run them, as well. Honestly, if they couldn't
mount
> > GMS/H, I'd not run them - otherwise a PA plt can have equally
effective
> > weapons and they're much more survivable than the Infantry Walkers.
> 
> What can PA mount that matches GMS/L (D12x2 or D12x4 penetration in
> Stargrunt)? 
>

(digs out SG2 book)
Infantry Plasma Guns (d12, or d12x2 Major hits) or IAVRs (same as IPG).
They're not quite as powerful, but the best that can be done. The short
answer is 'not a damn thing', except that if we ran PA-crewed
man-portable
GMS/Ls, they could move a lot faster than regular squishy-infantry
crewed
weapons.
  
> > If you want to run Size .5 Walkers, maybe call them 'Heavy Powered
> > Armour'?
> 
> Well, for my purposes, the designation 'infantry walker' is 
> sufficient (if not coherent with the world at large). To me, size 1 
> to 3 walkers are combat walkers, and 4-7 are transport walkers. 
> Although somebody in our group bought an Imperial Titan which I think 
> may be a size 6 or 7 Combat Walker.... (yikes!)   
>

OK. Actually, my idea of 'Heavy Powered Armour' for size .5 walkers
wouldn't work - the larger PA in SG2 is already called Heavy PA. Light
Walkers, maybe.

One of my gaming group invented stats for a ds2 version of one of the
Titans. Scary reading...big target, though.
 
> > Hold on a sec, please. I'm talking about Powered Armour infantry
(PA). Not
> > little vehicles. In SG2, PA can carry anything regular infantry can,
including
> > GMS/P.
> 
> I'll buy that part.... 
> 
> > > I can handle the autocannons. Even a GMS/L is....only moderately 
> > > offensive. But GMS/H? That should be reserved for tank killers or
big 
> > > walkers. 
> > 
> > It is - Size 1 Infantry Walkers, or any other Size 1 or larger
vehicle.
> > 
> 
> My point here was people were talking about using Heavy Gears for 
> these. I've seen (I think) Gears.... they look like big 30mm PA. So 
> that would make them big enough to not be 25mm PA, but not (IMHO) big 
> enough to be Infantry Walkers of Size 1. 
>

OK, I see your point. As I game in 15mm SG2, a Heavy Gear (or, for that
matter, some of the BattleTech Mechs) make quite nice Size 1 walkers.

How would you handle damage to your Size .5 walkers? For SG2, given that
both heavy PA & armour 1 vehicles are d12, maybe make them Armour
d12x1.5?
In DS2, I don't know...that's harder.

> > > Yeah.... or find a way to toughen your IW or find a way to use 
> > > combined arms to protect them...
> > 
> > I am starting to drop my PA/IW coys in closer groupings. Maybe it'll
help.
> > The problem is that often they're the only vehicles I have on the
board,
> > so they just scream 'shoot me'...
> 
> Well, those kinds of situations occur. Drops usually are low-vehicle 
> situations. But, as a note, if they are getting creamed out of all 
> proportion, you may want to figure that maybe not dropping so many 
> but dropping more PA to cover them and to draw fire and protect them 
> is merited. 
>

Perhaps, but dropping less means correspondingly lessened firepower for
my
forces, and that they'd become even higher-priority targets for my
opposition. I'll have to see.
 
> >  > or crew them with convicts....
> > 
> > but then I'd have to rename them "Australia"-class Infantry Walkers
<g>  I
> > like the class name they have now - "Ursus"-class - latin for bear,
and
> > they look a bit like bears on their hind legs do...
> 
> (OOOOH. A shot at our Aussie friends.... Careful, they fire back 
> with class 5 weapons.... Deadly Sarcasm and Awful Irony....)	 
> 

That would be DSSG/5 (Deadly Sarcasm Super Cannon) and AIM/5 (Awful
Irony
Munitions)? I'm already digging a slit trench to shield myself from the
antipodean volleys....<g>

Brian (burger00@camosun.bc.ca)
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