SG2 Thoughts or Ideas - Long

Hi all,

Just thought I'd throw out some SG2 ideas I plan to tinker with
shortly. Some are original, some are based off of things Jon has
suggested, or other gamers I've played with have suggested. One is a
re-hack of my original overwatch concept, and the sniper/spotter
duality.

None are "proofed", and the english probably needs work. I'm more
interested in any thoughts or comments
from SG2 players (and others interested in same) and from anyone with
real background in this stuff than
I am in worrying about the minutae of grammar at the present. I also
did these without my SG2 books (left
both copies in Kingston this weekend... DOH!). So some may contradict
slightly or re-iterate things said
therein.

Note also I come from the "Simulation Gamer" crowd. I like fast
things, but I do like full coverage of
rules. I'd rather play a slighly more protracted game that has a few
more rolls but "feels better" than
a short one - just so's you know where I'm coming from. SG2 is a great
game, flows very fast, and is
easily extensible (I find). So if I think about some suggestions for
particular situations, it is to model
what I think of as appropriate behaviours more than to poke some hole
in the rules or make life difficult
for anyone... (though that is, esp. during experiments, sometimes the
effect...)

Comments always welcome, and I'm hunkered in my Ortillery Defence
Bunker in case anyone wants to salvo
my base....

Without further adieu.....

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SG2 with Standard Distributions

In any case where a die roll reads (dA x B), instead of
rolling 1dA and multiplying that result by B, roll B dice
of type 1dA. For example, D12x3 is normally 1d12 multiplying
the result by 3. In this variant, it becomes 3D12 summed.

Armour Crew Bail-Out

Bailing out of an AFV is traumatic. Usually, it is done because
the vehicle has been attacked and disabled. Armour crew are
comfortable fighting inside the vehicle (witnessed by the fact
that vehicle suppressions have no effect) but should not be
pleased or confident on the ground after having their vehicle
slagged. They may have cross trained as infantry, but with the
exception of some APC crews, infantry is not their primary MOS.

In order to represent this, when a tank is disabled or destroyed
by a weapon, bail-out rolls are made as normal. For crew members
that make it out, there is a morale test required at TL +2.

Also, if tank crew are forced to fight outside their MOS as infantry,
they are treated as troops of one lower quality colour, with any
restrictions that brings.

For example, a STEADY REGULAR tank crew of 3 with LEADERSHIP 1 get
struck
by a GMS/L which penetrates and destroys their vehicle. The EW
tech is slain. The other two crew (including the leader) escape
uninjured. The crew must pass a Morale Test at TL+2, +1 for the
first casualty. So the crew must roll a 5 or higher on a d8 to
remain STEADY. If they succeed, they become a GREEN infantry
unit of two men with a STEADY morale and a LEADERHIP of 1. If
they fail, not only do they drop in quality to GREEN, but they
may drop in morale to SHAKEN or BROKEN. (depending on the roll).

Major Impact Crew Escape

If a vehicle is disabled or destroyed by a major impact, the
size class of the weapon should be doubled for purposes of crew
casualty resolution. That is to say, a major impact that disables
a vehicle should be resolved as if the weapon was twice its size
class. A major impact that destroys a vehicle should be resolved
as if it was four times the size class.

Fighting Positions

Fighting positions are not only a "cover" benefit, giving two shifts
of cover versus attacks (1 from overhead attacks if overhead protects
are installed), but also they are a morale benefit to defending
troops.
Troops defending in fighting positions that must check to recieve a
close
assault, or that must test due to being victims of a vehicle overrun,
or
the approach of an AFV recieve a +1 modifier if they are in fighting
positions (the test is one level easier, minimum 1). If they are IP in
fighting positions, this becomes a +2 modifier. Troops forced to
assault
fighting positions not only have the disadvantage of being attacked
from
behind cover during the first round of the close assault, but also
suffer
a penalty to their close assault initiation test. The penalty is a +1
TL
increase in the difficulty of the test.

Another modifier that should be represented - suppression of trenches.
A unit suppressed in a trench should have a negative on the first
round
of CC (same justification as why armour shifts only apply to defenders
on the first round - that is the closing action - then troops are
intermixed
and positions are not a factor anymore). This shift should be nothing
for 1 suppression (not enough fire to affect things), 1 negative die
shift
for 2 suppressions, and 2 negative die shifts for 3 suppressions.
Note, this
is in addition to the fact that troops which are suppressed may not
engage
in Final Defensive Fire if the close assault takes two moves to
arrive. (as
per SG2 rules).

Interrupt Fire: Reaction or Snap Fire

Reaction fire or snap fire is where a squad sees another enemy squad
moving and tries to interrupt the other squads movement to engage it.
Reaction fire may be initiated under the following circumstances:
	- an enemy squad is seen to be moving (including moving
	to close assault or to retreat) in LoS of the squad that desires
	to execute snap fire.
	- the squad to be activated has not yet been activated that
	turn.
The Reaction Test to initiate snap fire is at TL+2. If the snap fire
execution test succeeds, that unit immediately activates and performs
one fire action. The action is resolved from whatever point in the
movement of the target the snap firing unit desires. The results of
the fire action are determined, any morale checks taken, etc. If the
unit being fired upon is not forced to retreat due to casualties, it
may elect to either finish its movement as indicated or stop where
it was fired upon. If it had another action, it may take that action
subsequent to the fire resolution - this could include another
movement
or counter fire.
The firing unit then has its counter flipped to indicate it has
activated
for that turn, thus sacrificing one action.

Interrupt Fire: Overwatch

Overwatch fire is protective fire used to cover a friendly unit or to
engage an enemy unit passing through an overwatched sector. It is very
similar to reaction fire. Overwatch differs in that it is an action
taken by a unit (or part of one). This action may be taken if the
part of the unit in question has not fired previously during the turn.
This is a "get set and watch" action. It must be the last action of
the unit in the turn (except for re-org, communicate, or transfer
command).
A unit on overwatch is may activate any time an enemy unit in its LoS
activates. When the overwatch unit wishes to pre-empt an enemy action,
the
unit declares it wishes to act, then resolves an overwatch reaction
test
(a reaction test similar to snap fire, only at TL 0). If the test is
passed,
the overwatching unit may pre-empt the enemy action. If not, the enemy
action
occurs first, then the overwatch fire occurs. Once a unit has fired on
overwatch, it is considered to be no longer in overwatch. (Note, it is
possible
to place a SAW on overwatch and the rest of a unit on overwatch
separately,
and they will activate independently).

	Variants

	A) Involuntary Trigger - overwatch is intense and hard to
maintain
without
	breaches of fire discipline. This translates to a reaction test
for
Green
	or Untrained troops anytime an enemy unit activates in LoS. If
this
test
	at TL 0 is not passed, the unit immediately activates, fires on
the
target
	unit, and then is considered to be off of overwatch. Regular and
better
	troops have enough fire discipline and experience to negate this
effect.

	B) Sustained Fire Overwatch - when SAWs, LMGs or HMGs (or GACs
or
RFACs)
	are used in overwatch mode, they are capable of high volume fire
over
	protracted periods of time. This means that they are NOT
considered
off
	of overwatch once they have fired once (unless they fired as
part of
their
	squad). They may fire again and again. Note that each time they
fire
during
	a given turn, their firepower dice should be reduced for future
firings during
	that turn. If it ever drops below a d4, they may not fire again
and
are considered
	to be off of overwatch. The downside of these multiple firings
is the
risk of
	damaging the weapon. On any roll beyond the first, a roll of 2
causes
a jam or
	malfunction (round stuck due to breach or barrell heating,
etc.).
This means
	the weapon can not fire until cleared. A roll of 1 means the
malfunction is
	serious and may not be cleared by anyone who is not an ordinance
tech, ergo the
	weapon is out of commission until repaired. Clearing the
requires 1
action.

IP Reaction

IP reaction represents a tendency for grunts to hit the deck or seek
cover when fired on, even if the fire is ineffective. This is an
involuntary
reaction. In some cases, it is even a benefit. It can result in
veteran troops
finding cover before effective fire hits their position. It can also
result in
poor troops taking fire casualties, then hunkering down in cover
unwilling to
move easily.

Any time a unit is fired upon while not IP, it must make a check, even
if the fire is ineffective. The check is a reaction test at TL +1.
Succeeding
in this test means the unit can opt to ignore the fire (well, at least
not
go in position frantically) and continue its action - resolve the fire
and
carry on normally. Failing this test means the unit tries to take
cover.

A second die roll is required - a reaction test at TL +2. If this test
is
suceeded, the unit attempts to go IP (as per standard rules) BEFORE
the
incoming fire is resolved. If successful, it gets the benefits of
being IP
versus the incoming fire. If this second test is failed, it means the
unit
gets the worst of both worlds - it tries to take cover, but does so
too slowly
to be effective. The fire is resolved, and then the unit makes an IP
roll.

Sniper Target Identification Rules

The sniper rules seem a tad generous (for speed and streamlining) in
allowing
the sniper to select his target. This is as much based on the FP of
the weapon
as on sniper skill, which isn't all that sensible anyway. Here is an
alternate
interpretation.

A sniper must conduct a "spot" action before firing if he wishes to
pick his
target. This spot action is an opposed roll. The sniper rolls a dice
for his
sensors and another for his quality. The defending unit rolls its
range dice
for defence (with any cover or IP modifiers). If either of the snipers
dice
beats the defenders dice, the sniper has picked his target.

Then, when the sniper fires, the results are interpretted slightly
differently.
If the sniper was unsuccessful in spotting his target, he may never
pick his target.
He may only randomly hit squad members in the target squad. If he has
picked his
target, it is then necessary for both his FP and Quality dice to beat
the enemies
defence dice, or he will know who he want to shoot, but miss them
(except by
random resolution giving him that target). If he beats the defence
dice on both
dice, he does pick the target he was aiming for.

Sniper/Spotter Rules

A sniper spotter combination is the traditional way snipers are
deployed. Typically,
the spotter carries out 'spot' actions for the sniper and the sniper
then fires.
The spotter may also defend the sniper and may carry him out (or vice
versa) if either
is wounded.

If a sniper operates without a spotter, he will not only have to spot
for himself, and
take the risk of being attacked while sniping, but he will be less
effective as he has
to spot his own rounds. This translates as a one die type downward
shift in sniper
FP die type.

If a sniper has a spotter, the sniper/spotter combination may
spot/fire as 1 action
(leaving the squad another action). The spotting is resolved before
the fire, and the
sniper fires with full FP.

Sniper Mobility

Snipers should be treated as light infantry if in light armour.
Marksmen in squads
wearing armour are obviously limited by their brethren and their
armour. But sniper
teams in light armour may move very quickly indeed.

Stealthy Movement

There are two types of stealthy movement - one of which is "move
quickly, but silently"
the other is "low and slow". If moving silently/fast, a unit moves one
die type slower
(this cannot be executed by a unit moving 4" to begin with) - so a
d8x2 light infantry
movement becomes d6x2. Note this is ALWAYS a combat movement. It
involves pauses, ducking
into cover, etc. The effect of this appears in double blind (or single
blind) games and
other places where the moving unit is undetected - it is one die shift
harder to detect.
The stealthy/slow option is a much slower movement. Not only does it
drop the die type
one notch, but it drops the roll multiplier entirely. So a d8x2 light
infantry combat
movement becomes a d6 movement. A d6x2 standard infantry movement
becomes a d4 movement.
This method improves the odds of remaining hidden by two die shifts.
Note: Movement is
what catches the eye - not usually colour contrary to popular belief.
Still saves. Movement
kills.

Hidden snipers can use this slower movement style. The sniper rolls a
unit quality die vs. the
inverse range die of the nearest (or best) observing unit. The sniper
shifts his quality die up (then
the enemy range die down as it is an open ended shift) for cover
modifiers.
The inverse range die means this: Roll d4 in the 5th range band, d6 in
the 4th range band, d8
in the 3rd range band, d10 in the 2nd range band, and d12 in the first
range band.

If the sniper wins, he moves all of his counters by the amount rolled
on his movement roll.
If he fails, his figure appears at its destination - he has revealed
himself!
For example, the best observing unit is a regular unit 210 meters
away. The sniper moves
through from a treeline through some scrub to get a better position.
He rolls a 4 for movement,
and moves 40 meters closer. The regular unit attempts to observe this
move. The sniper is
a veteran, and is in light cover, so he rolls a d12. The sniper ends
up in the second range
band of the regular unit (150 m out) and so the range die is a d10.
The sniper rolls a 7,
but the unit rolls a six. The sniper has moved successfully to his new
position, and places his
counter and his dummies around that position. Pity the poor unit when
the sniper opens up in
the first range band...
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Thomas Barclay
Software UberMensch
xwave solutions
(613) 831-2018 x 3008