Boarded Ship running for Hyperspace

[wpngjstr]

Here's an interesting wee issue that came up recently...
A Sharlin had been successfully boarded and lost about hal its crew. It then ran for hyperspace, still with boarders aboard.
How would that work VP wise in a one off, or how about a campaign?
WHile it has left the battlefield, since there are boarders aboard, it hasn't really left the battle...
I would assume for a campaign, simply continue the boarding action to completion, and assume it's lost to both sides if the boarders win.

 

[EDFDarkAngel1]

A ship entering hyperspace in battle is considered to have been destroyed and full VP will be awarded to the opponent.

Dark Angel

 

[Court Jester]

Not true, a ship that escapes to Hyperspace counts as withdrawing and gives up a quarter of its VP's.

 

[Burger]

DarkAngel is wrong, CJ is right. But that doesn't answer the OP...

I'd say continue rolling the boarding rolls until either the boarders are killed off, or the crew is killed, or the game turns run out. The time it takes to kill the crew normally (a number of game turns) is far less than the time it'd take for a rescue party to come and repel the boarders. So the crew would have to try to take out the boarders on their own. Just roll until one side wins. If the boarders win, it is boarded for double VP. If the crew win, it is tactically withdrawn for 1/4 VP.

 

[Banichi]

I can just imagine the boarders killing all the crew, and the ship taking them back to Minbar on autopilot. "We just found this sharlin and all these dead Minbari, HONEST!!!"

 

[Greg Smith]

Or the marines, having killed all the crew, looking at each other and saying, "Right, who can pilot an alien spaceship through hyperspace."
"Oh sh..."

 

[Foxmeister]

I'd have thought this question was a prime candidate for the Rulemasters forum.

Regards,

Dave

 

[Karhedron]

You cannot keep damaging a ship once it is off the table. Nothing else in the game allows you to do so, I don't see why boarding Troops should be a special exception. The opponent gains points for a withdrawal plus any damage caused up to that point (if it had been crippled or skeleton crewed for example).

If you want a fluff excuse, you could assume that once the ship is clear of the firefight, the C&C can seal down the affected areas and just vent the atmosphere. The toughest boarders in the universe will be a lot less scary after a close encounter with vacuum. :wink:

 

[Nihm]

I like Greg's answer thats hillarious.

Do the Minbari honour salvage rights? LOL

 

[Karhedron]

I like Greg's answer thats hillarious.

Do the Minbari honour salvage rights? LOL

No, they just wipe out your species! :twisted:

 

[Sky Captain]

If you want a fluff excuse, you could assume that once the ship is clear of the firefight, the C&C can seal down the affected areas and just vent the atmosphere. The toughest boarders in the universe will be a lot less scary after a close encounter with vacuum. :wink:

I think that is about as accurate an answer as you can get. Suck vaccum GAIM.

 

[B_Steele]

Suck vaccum GAIM.

Actually, Warrior-breed Gaim can survive a pretty long time in the void.

That, and breaching marines should have sealed armour - otherwise they could not board ships that have alternate atmospheres.

Anyway, back to work!

Bry

 

[BuShips]

Suck vaccum GAIM.

Actually, Warrior-breed Gaim can survive a pretty long time in the void.

That, and breaching marines should have sealed armour - otherwise they could not board ships that have alternate atmospheres.

Anyway, back to work!

Bry

...and thus a new term is born. A "Minbari Standoff". :wink:

 

[GhostRecon]

Suck vaccum GAIM.

Actually, Warrior-breed Gaim can survive a pretty long time in the void.

That, and breaching marines should have sealed armour - otherwise they could not board ships that have alternate atmospheres.

Anyway, back to work!

Bry

Regardless of whether they can survive or not, they _did_ just get their chittering selves sucked out into space... and in the case of this example, hyperspace... and it seems unlikely (I don't have RPG data on Gaim, so I can't say for sure) that they have some sort of EVA capability, so regardless of whether they can survive, the decompression of being sucked out into space essentially means they arn't your ship's problem anymore.

I find it curious in the two significant examples of EarthForce Marines we see (Severed Dreams and GROPOS) they have no "hostile environment" equipment... really, they're not much better equipped than the Marines they're obviously modeled on today. And even more curiously, why do the Marines in Severed Dreams have canteens for water, but no dedicated assault equipment, like flashbangs, concussion grenades, etc? You assume the air mix of the station is balanced to be like Earth's, because if it had a higher mix of oxygen to the point where exposives would be dangerous, the PPG fire would ignite it... so, why don't these supposedly dedicated assault troops have any dedicated assault equipment? They have water, but no breaching charges, grenades of either the lethal or non-lethal sort, or anything of the like.

Then of course, you have the question on why Sheridan or Garibaldi didn't just have those levels voided of all atmosphere in the first place, but the answer to this, I think, is readily apparent: They didn't know if the EA Marines coming were equipped for EVA, and it the Marines were and they voided the atmosphere, Bab5's defence forces wouldn't be able to respond (And worse, since _they_ didn't have any EVA gear, the EA Marines could void parts of the station to clear out pockets of resistance, making their defense untenable).

 

[wpngjstr]

Actually the "sucked into space bit" can be argued, depending on a lot of factors. Unless they are right next to the hull breach (eg a single hatch) they aren't likely to go anywhere- there are likely to be too many obstacles and the airflow will not be linear, so the forces will be misdirected. The quantity of atmosphere (not very heavy) being vented also affects it as does the size of the venting aperture.
Fully loaded combat troops (around 200-250lbs) would probably have nothing more than wind buffeting till the pressure level drops, especially if you assume magnetic soles/claws/ sticky boots/ etc

Also, if you're going to vent atmosphere, be very sure there are no breaches between the section(s) being vented and the rest of the ship; such as troops with breaching charges or big guns (or battle damage)might make Plus, are you SURE you know where all the boarders are?

And of course, of the boarders have seized environmental or engineering, they may be able to stop venting or open the doors, or evacuate your section of the ship....
As a side note, the minbari interiors did not look very compartmentalised....how precise an area can they isolate?

 

[Zhai_ Morenn]

Why not simply turn on the intercom.
"Attention humans! We have entered Hyperspace. This ship is autopiloting back to Minbar. Surrender now and you live. Kill us and the folks back home will find the stickie note I left on the dash about you guys being jackasses. Your call."

Of course, bred killing machines like Gaim warriors, or some of the more stubborn species like Drazi may just keep fighting anyhow... that'd be a bit more problematic.

 

[GhostRecon]

Why not simply turn on the intercom.
"Attention humans! We have entered Hyperspace. This ship is autopiloting back to Minbar. Surrender now and you live. Kill us and the folks back home will find the stickie note I left on the dash about you guys being jackasses. Your call."

Of course, bred killing machines like Gaim warriors, or some of the more stubborn species like Drazi may just keep fighting anyhow... that'd be a bit more problematic.

*The Marines ostensibly scribble out the sticky note and replace it with:* "Totally don't kill these Marines, they were just saving us and we all happened to commit suicide with multiple PPG wounds to the face in, as you know, another of our bizarre Minbari rituals. In fact, give them salvage rights and a luxury liner back home, because they were just so totally nice to us, until we died... I mean, committed ritual suicide."

 

[BuShips]

In a humorous bent, this does remind me of the book "The High Crusade". :wink:

Anyone know of this other than I?

 

[Iain McGhee]

Hope you don't mind me actually going back to the topic

I'm pretty sure this came up on Rulesmasters when 1e was around and the answer was that if a ship disengaged in any manner with enemy troops on board (and no friendly troops) then it was counted as destroyed rather than disengaged for VP purposes.