SableWyvern
Mongoose
Taken from another thread to avoid derailing it:
I've that said several times now, and personally, I don't really see the problem.
Assuming you're not moving about a lot or dodging, there will sometimes be a delay between completing one action and performing the next. On a Timing result of 4-6, there will be no delay (your iniative, if not already at six, will increase to six during the next round's increment initiative stage); on 2-3 it will be two seconds, on 1 it will be four seconds. On the really high results, you'll have some capacity to take ancillary actions, without affecting your next shot or action.
That seems reasonable as a starting point, to me.
Moving (normal movement) may inhibit this a little, but if you're at Initiative six, you can actually move up to three hexes and still get a combat action.
Dodging is clearly an abstraction, and doesn't really model reality all that well. However, we can interpret the expenditure of ticks on dodging as generally making use of cover, hunkering down, not moving in straight lines etc...
Lot's of dodging reduces your ability to act offensively. This makes sense, and also enables effective fire and movement (one of the cornerstones of modern infantry minor tactics) if you can apply sufficient fire to force the enemy to expend a lot of their ticks on dodging and ducking.
Overwatch is easily performed by holding your action at initiative six.
The flaws
I see one main problem with the system - the lack of rules for carrying out continuous actions. There are two main areas where this should, IMO, be improved.
The first are the rules for extended movement. As I commented in another thread, they do not model reality at all, and turn running significant distances into bizarre, stop-start, roll-the-dice-and-hope situations. This is easily fixed by decoupling the distance moved from an athletics check, and allowing a running character to continue running every action phase.
The second is the lack of rules for sustained fire. You cannot lay down an effective lane of continuous fire, as you are limited to only ever firing a single shot or burst when you get to initiative six, and every time someone enters your fire lane, you have to rely on getting a six Timing.
Again, this is easily fixed: allow a character to engage in sustained fire, expending five times their ammo rating every action phase, and allowing them to maintain the fire lane continuously as long as they take no other action. Any character entering the beaten zone suffers a burst fire attack at -1DM.
I haven't noticed any other significant issue when it comes to modelling modern tactics, and the two issues I mention are fixable without the need for any drastic alterations to the system.
tbeard said:
I've that said several times now, and personally, I don't really see the problem.
Assuming you're not moving about a lot or dodging, there will sometimes be a delay between completing one action and performing the next. On a Timing result of 4-6, there will be no delay (your iniative, if not already at six, will increase to six during the next round's increment initiative stage); on 2-3 it will be two seconds, on 1 it will be four seconds. On the really high results, you'll have some capacity to take ancillary actions, without affecting your next shot or action.
That seems reasonable as a starting point, to me.
Moving (normal movement) may inhibit this a little, but if you're at Initiative six, you can actually move up to three hexes and still get a combat action.
Dodging is clearly an abstraction, and doesn't really model reality all that well. However, we can interpret the expenditure of ticks on dodging as generally making use of cover, hunkering down, not moving in straight lines etc...
Lot's of dodging reduces your ability to act offensively. This makes sense, and also enables effective fire and movement (one of the cornerstones of modern infantry minor tactics) if you can apply sufficient fire to force the enemy to expend a lot of their ticks on dodging and ducking.
Overwatch is easily performed by holding your action at initiative six.
The flaws
I see one main problem with the system - the lack of rules for carrying out continuous actions. There are two main areas where this should, IMO, be improved.
The first are the rules for extended movement. As I commented in another thread, they do not model reality at all, and turn running significant distances into bizarre, stop-start, roll-the-dice-and-hope situations. This is easily fixed by decoupling the distance moved from an athletics check, and allowing a running character to continue running every action phase.
The second is the lack of rules for sustained fire. You cannot lay down an effective lane of continuous fire, as you are limited to only ever firing a single shot or burst when you get to initiative six, and every time someone enters your fire lane, you have to rely on getting a six Timing.
Again, this is easily fixed: allow a character to engage in sustained fire, expending five times their ammo rating every action phase, and allowing them to maintain the fire lane continuously as long as they take no other action. Any character entering the beaten zone suffers a burst fire attack at -1DM.
I haven't noticed any other significant issue when it comes to modelling modern tactics, and the two issues I mention are fixable without the need for any drastic alterations to the system.
