[SG] Underwater was RE: [DS] Underwater...

G'day David,

 >Please! Either to the list or private.

You asked for it ;)

I'll send the SG and FT separately. Once again same warnings as for the
DS 
stuff, its rough and I never got the chance to put in people's
suggestions 
(you can either sift through the archives for them or I could sen you a 
text file of the lot offlist).

Cheers

Beth
 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

STARGRUNT SUGGESTIONS

There are probably fewer modifications necessary for SG than DS, but
here 
are a few thoughts...

Mission Motivation:
Working in a foreign medium does nothing for the nerves, you have always

got to have that little extra edge in the back of your mind, and if you 
don't then it reaches up and bites you on the butt..... Thus all
reaction 
tests have an additional +1 to the threat level (except for the 'sniper 
going into hiding test' which is as normal) as do the confidence tests
done 
as a part of a close assault.

Mobility and Terrain Effects:
It would probably be quite OK to use the existing movement regimes for 
infantry seeing as the biggest differences would be vs vehicles rather
than 
other infantry types (i.e. less obvious than in DS). The only change to 
this would be that if they're actually exiting the water (i.e. have
stood 
up or are dolphining out of the surf zone), then their movement rates
will 
be down 2 die types (with 'normal troops actually moving only 2" and 
rolling a D4 and counting the result as a 1 on a 1 or 2 and a 2 on a 3
or 4).

Vehicle base movement now becomes 6" for wheeled vehicles and 12" for 
everything else but GRAV and boats which go 15".

The terrain effects on mobility and ambient weather conditions are as 
given/assumed above for DS.

Spotting:
As normal, but the die type is shifted up one for every 6" rather than 
every 12" and if the water is turbid then unaided vision has a -1 to the
roll.

Weaponry:
Missile fire is not effected by the fact its underwater (they're assumed
to 
be missiles modified for fire underwater or actually torpedos), however 
other weapons are effected. There is an extra (cover-like) die shift to
the 
target die for targets of non-missile fire; these shifts are as follows:
WEAPON				     SHIFT to Target Die
Small Arms - close only 	  UP 3
Small Arms = rifles		     UP 2
SAWs					UP 2
Infantry Plasma Gun		   UP 1
RFAC					 UP 3
HVC					  UP 2
GAC					  UP 2
MDC					  UP 1
DFFG					  UP 1
HEL					   UP 1 if clear water
					       UP 2 if coastal
					       UP 4 if turbid

Heavy weapon range bands are also reduced to 8" x target size

Hit Effects:
If vehicles are penetrated but not destroyed (i.e. disabled) then roll 
again and if firer exceeds target's armour die then the vehicle begins
to 
flood, if not repaired in 2 turns then it must be abandoned (if the crew

can't escape it they're dead).

The effects of an explosion underwater can be pretty devastating to the 
surrounding area too. Thus ANY unit (friend or foe) within 6" of a
vehicle 
that has been destroyed or a successful (fully effective) missile, or 
explosive artillery, strike potentially suffers a hit too. Repeat the
fire 
resolution as if the unit was the actual target, but with an extra UP 1
(if 
this would make it impossible to hit them then give them a suppression 
regardless).

Medical Treatment: Unsuited infantry who are wounded must be moved to 
land/surface the very next activation or they are considered deceased. 
Suited infantry or wounded in vehicles may survive longer than their 
unsuited comrades, however, they're still in a dangerous medium and the 
sooner they're treated the better, so there is a -1 to the treatment
roll 
for every turn that has elapsed since they were wounded (i.e. if its
been 3 
turns then there is a -3 etc).

DFO:
Surface vessels may also use DFO, these must be placed along the path
moved 
by the vessel that turn, but don't forget that anything caught in the
burst 
radius is effected (i.e. watch you don't catch yourself).

Dropping off troops:
Troops may drop from craft hovering about the surface as if dropping
onto a 
clear plain on land (you can still hurt yourself pretty badly dropping
into 
the water so the WOUNDED on a 1 still stands), drops are not allowed
within 
6" of a reef or turbulence zone.

Troops exiting a vehicle underwater can only do that if the vehicle is 
taking flood damage (well I guess if you exited a healthy vehicle it'd
end 
up flooded anyway and so be useless) or if the vehicle is identified as 
having a 'dive pool' before the game (purpose built marine APCs are
assumed 
to have these automatically). Firing troops out torpedo tubes is not
advised.

Wildlife:
There's even more scope for the interaction of troops and wildlife at
this 
scale than any other so a few ideas (along the lines of those given for
FT 
and DS) are given here too.

Leviathans could do a lot to mess up a good battle plan, especially if
they 
get in the road. While they would most likely steer clear of a battle in

full swing, they may just happen to be caught in the middle when one 
starts. On the flip side, quite a part from accidental encounters
aquatic 
predators may be drawn to battle sites. They could be of any size,
though 
even the really impressive ones would be probably only have a fairly low

armour class (its not impossible for them to be some chitinous monster
from 
another realm, but its more likely they'll be more lightly armoured so
they 
have greater mobility). They'd have to be in contact with a squad or 
vehicle to 'attack' it, I'd given them a weapon the same size as they
are 
(to reflect the actions of bulk as much as anything) with a (just for
e.g) 
Firepower die of D8 and an Impact of D10 (this is really up for grabs 
though and would depend on the nature of the beast, its size, any teeth
etc 
it had or whether it was just hitting you with its size). Packs of
smaller 
animals would be better represented as a squad close assaulting with the

equivalent of knives or something.

Fouling wildlife (like jellyfish etc which entangle but may also sting)
is 
dangerous especially if encountered in swarms. As stated for DS, these 
would move with the currents and if they end on the same spot as a unit 
then they will smother it. Vehicles and PA don't take wounds, but they
are 
hampered and take a suppression. Unsuited infantry suffer an attack, as
if 
fired upon by a full strength squad with 'improvised firearms' at close 
range. Furthermore, swarms of any kind needn't contact troops to hamper 
operations and dense schools of small 'fish' etc could be counted as 
additional soft cover if they got into the line of fire.

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Elizabeth Fulton
c/o CSIRO Division of Marine Research
GPO Box 1538
HOBART
TASMANIA 7001
AUSTRALIA
Phone (03) 6232 5018 International +61 3 6232 5018
Fax 03 6232 5053 International +61 3 6232 5053