SG Great War (or the War To End All Wars... Almost)

Allan, 

Though I agree with your SG mechanics interpretation, you have two
choices when statting out weapons/etc.

1) Reflect only one era. Full range of FP/IMP/ARM available for that
use. 

2) Reflect across genres. Limited (very) range of FP/IMP/ARM available
for this use. 

Since Beth seems to want to do WW1 soldiers vs. 2183 Pzgd, the second
strategy is mandated.

Thus FP 0.5 for the bolt-action rifle (I'd give the well trained Brits
0.75). Thus also the D8 impact. 
And the suggestion of an armour upshift for modern 2183 armour. I give
the tommy gun a d8 impact too, mostly because it is effective against
unarmoured targets and if it hits an armoured one in a weak spot, a lot
of pain can be inflicted. SG has no real equivalent of "armour
penetration" (such as a modifier to armour from a given type of ammo,
etc). 

I think WW1, you have:
(These are from memory, so I may be wrong about when some of these came
about)

Lewis Gun (.303, about 33 (or some odd number) of rounds in the drum
mag)
SAW, FP: D6, IMP: D8
.303 Lee-Enfield Bolt-Action
Rifle, FP: 0.5 (0.75 in the hands of great troops), IMP: D8
.303 Vickers HMG (water cooled, crew served)
HMG, FP: D10, IMP: D8

Mauser (or was it a Steyr Manlicher?) 7.92mm Bolt-Action Rifle
Rifle, FP: 0.5, IMP: D8

Springfield 03, Bolt-Action
Rifle, FP: 0.5, IMP: D10
Browning Automatic Rifle
SAW, FP: D4, IMP: D10

Mosin-Nagant Bolt-Action
Rifle, FP: 0.5, IMP: D8
Maxim (crew served, on a wheeled chassis)
HMG, FP: D10, IMP: D8

Grenades: Work fairly well against unarmoured targets, but suffer the
same armour modification as all WW1 weapons against ultramodern armour.
Dud more often. 

Much of WW1 was close assault. This is how you got people out of another
trench line. Artillery to suppress them, then a close assault. (against
the enemy MGs.... OUCH). When in trenches, you'd get the benefits of IP
and hard cover. No comms outside of 6". Pre-written orders from off
board might be implemented. Individual officer initiative was not
popular IIRC. Movement in no-man's land is impeded by obstacles and by
mud. All such terrain should be treated as cultivated plus obstacles
placed. And mines and unexploded munitions pose a threat. 
ChemWar attacks in this period are fairly lethal if the wind is right
(depending on mask quality/actual date of operation). Machineguns and
artillery were used a lot in conjunction with fixed defenses. TacAir was
Recce and later some limited bombing. Mad Minute: FP 1.0 for all rifles,
after one turn of such fire FP drops to 0.5 until resupplied. Helmet is
effectively "no armour" (give it a D6 if feeling very generous). Full
sapper armour is D8 probably. Much artillery and supply was horse drawn.
Mishaps in mud can swallow soldiers whole. No night vision gear except
Starshells. Artillery, though not as accurate, is probably reasonably
effective. Smoke really does obscure as no one can see through it.
Casualty rolls should be at -1 just due to awful conditions. A medic can
only offset the conditions.... :(  (Waltzing Matilda.... Waltzing
Matilda...)

Tanks should move 6" or 2d6", have armour 1, and be prone to getting
stuck. Attacks from tanks are all carried out with D4 Fire Control
(primitive). Weapons tend to include 2 x HMG or HMG plus a CPR gun,
probably class 1 or 2. Mike Elliot's KEC isn't a bad simulation of
these. 

Versus Modern: No comms will get through for the low-techs. Period. In
fact, fake orders can probably be easily substituted/created. Modern
armour gets a 1UP shift to represent the age differences. FP tends to be
higher, units smaller and more flexible. Vehicles are much more
dangerous and flexible. Troops have more variety (sniper rifles, IAVRs,
PIGs, etc). 

Tactical Nighmares:
Close assault is done with straight 6" movement (4" in churned/muddy
ground) in line (NOT COMBAT MOVEMENT) in early war. Enemy can be given
FDF if movement is more than one move. (Machineguns especially). This
leads to mass casualties in assaults early on. Vermin, disease, and
water in the mud (as well as carrion) leads to fatigue and reduced
starting morales for scenarios. (Shellshock anyone?). Orders are given,
followed, and pass or fail with little on-site battle management. More
troops are thrown in rather than altering tactics. Artillery is used
extensively to prepare positions (to not a lot of effect), as
counter-battery, or to destroy advancing enemy forces (very effective).

The other Big One:

WW2 is a different kettle of fish. I've run some WW2 SG2 battles and
find it pretty much like vanilla SG minus the comms. Of course, then we
enter divisive arguments about vehicle quality etc.... (NO THAT IS NOT
AN INVITATION PLEASE AND THANK YOU). So I'll leave this one alone. Nudge
me next week to send you my WW2 conversion.