After thinking it over a bit, I modified the damage effects tables a little bit, making it slightly easier for marginal weapons to score a Surface Damage result, and slightly harder to get a Major Penetration. Still, if you use the big freaking tank guns, things blow up.
Interface Battles:
Always the whole in Traveller, I finally tested a starship vs. vehicles. I used a Heavily Armored Troop Carrier starship attempting to land while opposed by a tracked crawler mounted with a starship grade missile launcher, and by a armored grav fighter with a fuzion-Z gun (the nastiest vehicle weapon around).
I thought it went the way I'd have expected it to go.
Lander fires 2 beam lasers at the Crawler, hitting once and destroying its engine. It then fires a beam laser and 2 missiles at the fighter--scoring 6 hits total and destroying the fighter. The crawler misses its return fire missile.
Crawler takes its turn, firing a missile, hitting the lander for 5 hits. destroying the cargo hold, one of its G-carriers, damaging its man-drive 1 level, 1 fuel hit and damaging its computer 1 level. The lander returns fire and kills the crawler's crew.
Lessons; A 200 ton ship vs. a 10 ton crawler and 8-ton fighter, that went as one would expect, the lander wiped them out, but suffered noticeable damage on the way int.
I think vehicle battles are going to end up very short and to the point.
Wow. That could prove frustrating if our PCs happen to be on one of those craft. Any way we can use fate points?
ReplyDeleteWell, most of the time the vehicle will be wrecked but the crew will survive. Although buying parachutes or grav belts will be a good idea.
ReplyDeleteOn a major penetration, if the damage roll is a 4 or a 10 on 2 dice, then "All crew attacked." In my tests, that has resulted in the crew getting killed, since the members are attacked with half the penetration of the attacking weapon. That seemed okay, when I was thinking about mid-level weapons. However, too many weapons will result in "all crew dead." So, perhaps, I'll change the result of a crew hit to "Each crew member rolls 1 random wound, ignoring armor and penetration" That way, most people should survive a crew hit.
I have been testing the extreme weapons to see if the thing is doable with them. I actually don't see a lot of Grav Tanks and Fusion Cannons in our future.