A brief AAR, some feedback on cover/prone/kneeling and some other comments

Last night I played a battle of 9 OU (5 vet, 3 reg, 1 grn) versus 6 KV
(2 reg, 3 vet, 1 elite). I used Los' idea of "Accuracy" rather than
FP.

Here's what I did:
Firing single shot after an AIM action: 	FP d12	1 round
Firing semi auto:					FP d10	3 round
Firing burst:					FP d8		3/5/10
rounds (2,3, or 4 targets)(weapon type
decides)
Firing FA:						FP d6	       
15-25 rounds (4, 5 or 6 targets) (weapon type
decides)

I made burst and FA fire attack in a cone <discovered a flaw with
this - as RB got longer, cone got thinner...> based on RB. But had to
attack nearest target first, and all targets not obscured in LoS in
cone got attacked at least once, then any remaining attacks were
allotted in a second pass.

The battle consisted of the KV moving forward from a copse of trees
into a farmhouse and field. The humans, coming from the other side,
were coming through the woods to the farmhouse. Spotting was required
in the early game.

All of the gunfire occurred within 19" (under 40m) due to the foliage
and buildings ruining spotting. (I used the spotting rules I proposed
yesterday - note one thing I forgot was a -1 ds if the spotter was
moving). The whole battle took 4 turns. At then end, we had 6 KV dead,
6 Humans dead. The KV killed their targets with burst fire (in one
case, firing a SAW and getting 6 attacks spread between 2 targets)
from SAWs and Rifles. The Humans scored 4 of their 6 casualties on
hand grenades throws. (This had more to do with bad shooting dice from
the OU and excellent throwing dice... - 4 grenades thrown - all hit
even in the longest RB....unlikely as all get-out...).

I noted this inverted use of FP made sense. The highly accurate
semi-auto fire killed targets, whereas multiple attacks tended to
produce single, double (or in one horrifying case triple) suppression.
And, as others have remarked, burst fire from close veterans is NASTY.

I did the following for positions: I always assumed if you were
nestled up to cover you'd be taking advantage of it.
You had to specify if you were going prone, or kneeling. Kneeling I
charged you 2" of movement. Going prone, I charged you 4". Getting up
(if you got up slowly) was an action. Rising from kneeling was not.
Kneeling in the open was 1 RB shift (like soft cover/concealment) and
2 RB to go prone. The difference between this and actual cover is I
applied this to only the shooting dice. I apply the cover shift to
both shooting and armour. That makes real cover a lot better, but
makes prone in the open a heck of a lot better than standing in the
open. I don't allow you to go "IP" per se. If you are behind hard
cover, you are IP. IP in SG2 might imply digging a slit trench,
arranging rocks in front of you, etc. etc. but that doesn't fall
within the granularity of time in FMA. Besides, 2 shifts (hard cover)
on your cover die and two shifts on your armour die is pretty good.

I used the skill system for the green guy to run out and help the SAW
gunner (the first target the KV dropped).

I used OW, reaction/snap fire, and the suggestions me and Los
discussed for command transfers to subordinates.

I used grenades that burst 0-2" for 2d12, 3-4" for 2d10, 4-6" for 2d8,
7-8" for 1d12, 9-10" for 1d8, 11-12" for 1d4. Cover of course applied
versus grenades. To hit your target, you rolled your quality versus
the range die (I rated a grenade as a 0.20 multiplier on standard
ranges so for a veteran, range bands were 2"/4"/8"/16"/32"). So the
throws at distant targets were d12 target and d8 or d10 rolls for
quality. The fact all grenades hit is a testament to the KVs bad rolls
at key moments. Deviation was 1" x the number rolled if you came up
short (just like SG2 arty).

I made green troops test motivation the first time they were fired on
if not hit - if they failed, they got a suppression (meaning they'd
often head for cover). To leave cover, green troops had to test
motivation. They tend to hunker down and stay hid. I'd apply the same
rules to untrained. They are just not comfy being shot at yet....

NOTE: The game flowed well. From inception, through setup, squad
cards, calculations, playing, through cleanup, I was in and out in TWO
HOURS. Very fast. I'm very impressed.

I reply to some other comments:
------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 15:50:38 +0900
From: "The Sutherlands" <nma@kda.attmil.ne.jp>
Subject: Re: FMA Skirmish guns

 Spread Fire  -  FP -1 die level per target(must be within 4" of each
other), 2 actions.  May be combined with auto fire.
(Mr. Barclay's rules were good but a bit involved for our tastes.)

** Problem is that won't hit friendlies in the mix if you can pick
your targets. I simply let you pick the area, and then targets are
alloted nearest first, once each, then another pass if necessary. That
way friends in the area eat rounds too. With the right weapon, you
could scrub local poorly armoured attackers off your PA guy though....

 Reload       -  Reaction test to load in 1 action otherwise 2 actions

** I assume a turn is 10-20 seconds. I think automatic (I can reload
in 3-4 seconds on a good day) unless you blow a roll, then a whole
action.

RESULTS:
- -The biggest difference we could see was that you could get
suppression
easier but the casualty rate was only slightly more.

** Same as what happened with me. In fact, aimed fire should cause
more casualties (** IF I COULD ROLL!)

- -Green troops like to use lots of ammo.  They suppress things alot
but never
really hit anything.

** My green guy was heroic in going out to help the wounded OU SAW
gunner. he stabilized his wound, then they were both cut down by the
KV SAW gunner..... <g>

- -When a veteran troop autos on 2 or 3 guys at close range there are
lots of
screams and gurgling noises.

** Yes.

Other thoughts...
I like the idea of being prone giving a cover result.  But I dont
think
there is much difference between being prone behind the dege of a
brick wall
and kneeling behind same wall.

** That's what I said... I think... ;)

  The area exposed to fire is roughly the
same.  Maybe say that going prone gives a die shift for cover but is
not
cumalative with hard cover.

** I think two die shifts.... it isn't a huge benefit at 20m, but at
50 or 100m it can be quite a pain to hit a prone target.

  As far as leaving a prone position maybe it
could be just 2" of movement to do?

** that could work. You could let keeling figs stand for free, and
prone ones roll and pay 2". If they fail their roll, they pay 4"?
That's another option.

Bracing--  I am lnot sure what all AIMING entails but you can use an
AIM
action anywhere.

** Agreed.

  Mr. Barclay was saying something about being prone or
kneeling next to cover giving a die shift up for firing.  This sounds
like
the trooper is bracing himself against a sturdy object to give a
stable
firing position.

** Not necessarily. I've got ways to rig my combat webbing such that I
can (when kneeling, or sitting) use my mag pouches as a pretty solid
rest for the mag on the C7. Makes more accuracy for certain. When
lying, I can use the ground. <Note, this has been complained about by
some, but I've never seen it damage the mag or the part of the rifle
that the mag fits into - and the accuracy benefit when prone is
noticeable.>

  You could brace in any stance as long as there was
something to brace against. I.E. wall, car, Bobs corpse.  Once a
figure was
braced he would keep the bonus until he either moved or was
suppressed.

** I'd agree with that. I think a good weapon is designed to make a
prone brace automatic though.

This should take an action I would think.

** IF getting up doesn't, then this should not.

Seems that we are loading up on the firing bonuses.  Is anyone still
giving
figures the option of going IN POSITION?

** By using the reduced FP for autofire, you find you trade off
between suppresion/multi-target potential, and single shot kill
potential.