Full Metal AAR and Other Thoughts

Collin wrote:

Someone work out how far an elite trooper could run (with and without
leader
transferred actions) for the realism freaks on the list ;)  [Although
how your
sergeant can make you run twice as far by shouting at you I don't know
;]

** Never been pursued by an uppity Warrant obviously.... they have
*ways* of motivating....

Scott Wrote:

On a totally seperate front, my mind being jogged by this discussion.
What about
masking fire? In FMA, on the individual level, a model should
definately BLOCK
line of fire. I don't remember if think this is adressed in the FMA
rules. (I'm
away from my rules right now so can't cross-reference).

** It does say figure scale is ground scale and if you can hide behind
terrain, you are hidden. This I assume also applies to fellow figure
(ambulatory sentient (or mostly so) terrain elements).
======================================================
To address some of the comments Scott and Los collectively made for
both FMA and SG2.

On an individual basis:
Combat movement is fraught with danger and uncertainty. You might
twist a leg, trip, fail to get moving as fast as you wanted, have to
duck some incoming fire, etc. I've seen people dither about in the
open for godsake! It is non-deterministic. But there are still
multiple styles of combat movement - one is the all out sprint, the
other is the bounding advance. (The other is the combat crawl). These
apply on an individual level (FMA). As a squad, you don't need to
reflect this the same way (SG2). There are also march/walk, jog, etc.
as movement types for an individual. For an individual, combat
movement is the product of himself and his immediate environment.

As a squad:
Combat movement is fraught with danger and uncertainty. Any squad
member might twist a leg, trip, fail to get moving as fast as the Sgt.
wanted, have to duck some incoming fire, etc. This can lead to the
whole squad fragmenting or staying together and not making as much
progress as was desireable. For a squad, combat movement is the
product of each individual sub-movement and the environment. The fact
there are a number of individual sub-movements each of which is
variable in effect mean that the squad itself moves in a variable
manner.

So, how do we put this together in a way that provides coherent rules
for both systems but they might have the same feel or integrate well?

SG2 exists. It has two movement types - a fixed movement, and a
variable combat movement. My assumption is that the combat movement
relfects a bounding style of movement. The fixed movement (I'll differ
with Scott here) seemed to me to be march movement. And yes, you get
two actions, so you can execute two moves. So a patrol move could be a
6" set move plus a fire action, whereas a light jog could be a 12"
move with no fire. The one thing the game does not reflect directly is
the difference between engaging a stationary target and a moving one -
but the problem is of course that this effect is greater at short
ranges than at long ranges (due to the degrees of arc your firearm
must cover while tracking moving targets).

FMA is in the process of being formed. What makes sense here?

Well, a fixed move should exist. We'll call your base move a walk or
march. Then their should exist the variable combat moves - but there
really should be more than a single kind. There is a distinct
difference (in terms of max distance coverable) between a dash from A
to B and a bounding advance, or a combat crawl. These distinctions can
(if you are happy with that) be subsumed in SG2 as being part of the
combat move. But in FMA, they really should be represented.

I think I might recommend something like this:

MOVE ACTIONS

2-move actions:
ASSAULT/RUSH (Charge to enter close assault) (2dX for movement in each
move action) (2d6" for std troops)
FLEE/ROUT (Race madly away) (2d(X+1 shift) for movement in each move
action) - you can run faster scared than angry! (2d8" for std troops)

1-move actions:
MARCH/WALK (Normal Movement, non combat)  (X+1 shift") (d8" for normal
troops)
PATROL/BOUNDING (Normal Combat Move) (1dX per move) (1d6" for normal
troops)
CRAWL (Combat Crawl) (d(X - 1 shift) per move) (d4" for normal troops)
DASH (Run from A 2 B full tilt) (2dX per move) (2d6" for normal
troops)

If executing any manouvre type that involves rolling more than one
dice (FLEE, DASH, or ASSAULT), figure must make a roll against
motivation with his quality die (to represent physical training). If
he fails, he is gains a suppression (winding). This means if in the
open, he follows the rules for suppression in the open.

As a benefit to those executing any combat movement (Bounding, Dash,
Assault, Rout, Crawl - anything but a normal march or walk basically),
enemy fires at 1 RB further. (or alternately, you could argue this is
the normal state of affairs, and marching is the "odd man out" and
that fire at a unit walking or marching should be at 1 RB closer).

Just another 0.02. The granularity of FMA is such that more movement
options must be visible to the end user - the timescale is shorter,
the focus is on one man, and the distances are shorter. This
contributes to actually bring focus to the different types of moves
(as opposed to SG2 where the turns are longer, the scale of movement
bigger, and the variables more due to more people involved so a more
approximate style with two move types is probably sufficient).

Thomas Barclay
Software UberMensch
xwave solutions
(613) 831-2018 x 3008