Re: FMA Suppression

On Mon, 30 Aug 1999 14:47:42 -0700, Los <los@cris.com> wrote:

>Explain the DR modifier in detail. Can I use an example to illustrate
and you tell
>me if I'm off base? 

Sure!

>A soldier uses a SAW for "area firing". Say that a SAW is
>normally an impact D8, 

Impact D8 or firepower D8? I'll assume Firepower...

>For every multiple of 1" (or 2" maybe) it goes down a die
>type? Or are you talking making -DRMs. What goes into limiting the size
of the
>band? Or is it range constant.

Okay, the firepower of the weapon is D8. It's a SAW. If he is firing at
a
single target the firepower is unmodified. If he is firing along an arc
no
wider than 2" at his "target range", then the firepower is still D8. If
he is
firing with an arc greater than 2" but up to 4" the firepower would drop
to
D6. If the arc is 6" wide, the firepower would drop to D4. Any wider
than 6"
and the die would have to be modified below D4. At that point, the fire
is too
dispersed and doesn't work. 

>But what limitations are put into effect to limit the size of the
beaten zone (say
>I want to make one the width of the table? <grin> Note that this system
is not too
>much different than TOM's, which I'll summarize.

No, it's not too much different. I just tied it in with my suggested
automatic
fire rules.

The limitation is the amount of a die shift down on the firepower. A
firepower
D10 weapon would be limited to firing no wider than 8". 

>Step one: When you make up your stat cards before the game you have the
length of
>the area fire at any given range band. ie. range band one= 2"; range
band 2= 3";
>range band 3= 5" (Note I'm just making these up to hurry it along.)
Also on the
>card, based on weapon type is how many attacks a given automatic weapon
can make
>using burst (i.e. 3) or Full Auto (i.e. 8) as well as how lethal it is
(Say
>semi=d10, burst = D8, FA=D6).

My system is a little simpler as it doesn't require setting anything up
ahead
of time. It's more flexible as it allows varying widths of the area of
effect
as determined by the player firing the weapon.

>Step two: Our intrepid SAW gunner is one Overwatch, eyeing a street
corner. A
>daring enemy squad attempts to haul ass across the street. They begin
to run. The
>SAW gunner activates opportunity fire. Lets say the enemy are at
rangeband three.
>(Whatever that is), which happens to allow a 5" fan.  The Gunner sets
out a tape
>measure or straight edge and lays out the limits of the fan (using golf
tees or
>whatever per your description).

Same thing with my system, except he can decide the width of the "fan"
from 2"
to whatever he wants within the weapon's firepower limit.

>Step three: Anything within that fan is attacked. If two guys are
caught in the
>fan and the gunner is using burst fire, then he has (in our example) 3
attacks to
>divvy up on those two guys. He attacks closest to farthest, say
spending 2 attacks
>on the first guy and one on the last, both using the (Again in our
example) D8
>against the enemies armor (or if you play the other way, the enemy
rolls a range
>band die).

Okay, in my system you would roll once against all the guys caught in
the fan.
If the fan's width was 6", the firepower die would be shifted down two
levels.
The attacker would roll firepower and quality, versus the defender's
range die
for each target in the fan.

>A few observations.
> This is very lethal if either, the gunner is hitting an area where he
can see a
>bunch of figures, OR if a squad has activated a number of figures
together and
>they a re all running across the street at once. But what if you are
playing where
>you only allow one figure to be activated at a time? This greatly
diminishes the
>effect of the fire as a way to suppress an area people will be running
through.
>See my fire lanes below:

That's a good point... unless the suppression area stays on the table
from the
moment it is placed until the next time the figure that did the firing
is
activated.

>A possible suggestion: (a slight variation of what I posted last
night).

I snipped the fire lane example. That could work. The problem I can see
is a
lot of fire lanes from multiple attackers, resulting in some confusion.
I'd
have to play it out, though, to see if it would be a problem in
actuality.

>Note that either this Fire lane rule or the Beaten Zone rule I posted
earlier
>serve the same purpose, to deny an enemy a free ride across a certain
piece of
>terrain and in effect serve to suppress them where they are without
penalizing
>them for being under good cover.

That makes sense. I just hope it's not too complicated when multiple
attempts
are done during a game. 

Allan Goodall		       agoodall@interlog.com
Goodall's Grotto: http://www.interlog.com/~agoodall/

"Surprisingly, when you throw two naked women with sex
toys into a living room full of drunken men, things 
always go bad." - Kyle Baker, "You Are Here"