Random Rules Sprawl Question

[Geir]

I'm going to write up a Battery (X) - sort of option for vehicles with an unwieldy number of weapons (think a ship-of-the-line broadside), but rather than invent a new rule, I'd rather co-opt some else's new rule (and then if I don't like it, modify it on purpose, a.k.a. with malice, not negligence).

Sometime in the last year there was a rule added for battery fire with starship weapons. in some random publication Doesn't appear to be in the Companion update. Can't remember where I saw it. Hoping someone does.


***Found it: The Imperial Navy, p.113 (hard to sort Titles when they begin with 'The')***

But since I brought it up, comments on that rule, anyone?

 

[Limpin Legin]

Hello @Geir , were you referring to this post: Defend Individually, Attack as a Battery ? Responder seems to be responding to you last year.

 

[Geir]

Hello @Geir , were you referring to this post: Defend Individually, Attack as a Battery ? Responder seems to be responding to you last year.

Yeah, that's the one. Thanks.

Problem was that using 'battery' as a search term came up with pages of power-related responses.
So, at least we've established that I didn't think much of the way it was written. Reading it again with 'harmonising' and 'focusing' as options doesn't make me any happier. I'm thinking the closer it looks like the linking rule, the better it is. In fact, I should probable just extend the linking concept and see if that breaks poorly with a 30-odd gun broadside.

 

[Condottiere]

There's the fratricide effect, where there's too much of a good thing.


As regards too many good things:

 

[Geir]

Giving this some more thought, the original notes I wrote on this for vehicles are more like the missile space combat rules: DM+1 to hit for every gun in the battery, but no Effect damage or Critical Hit for Effect 6+, just multiply the Effect. Each 'gun' could still be a linked weapon, but that gives it the extra +D damage to each. Every 'gun' in a battery would need to be identical.

I'm thinking as I'm typing here. One side-effect is that a 30 gun broadside would get +30 to hit, so no matter how crappy the shot, more then half the guns will always hit. That part I don't like. I almost feel like this should be a two stage thing:

First determine the hit (and limit the per gun to hit bonus to say, +4 --mainly to sort of get into the Imperial Navy rules, but not really. Or +6?

Then roll a second time for the number of guns in the battery that hit, now using the battery number (all the guns) as a +. Hmm. what if that second roll misses?

Almost want to game this out as a 36 gun broadside (to simulate a 72-gun third rate). You'd maybe want to limit the guns in the battery to the DM limit, so it would be 9 (at +4) or 6 (at +6) attack rolls, and those that hit would need to roll again? Or maybe with that limitation the roll again part becomes pointless and what you accomplish is reducing the number of rolls by 4 or 6 times. It would almost depend on how certain you are on it hit and whether you'd want to risk it all on one roll...

... mumble, mumble, need a table and some math, or someone to point out the obvious flaws...

(and yeah, usually not all the guns on a ship like that would be the same, you'd possibly have everything from 32-pounders to 6-pounders and perhaps varying shot. Some maybe only the 4 or 6 in a battery makes sense and that's good enough - in this particular use case, and maybe overall. Just do the batteries of 4 or 6? Or write a vehicle version of the fleet combat system, but not sure if I want to go there - if so, there could be batteries of laser tanks... mumble

(Input is welcome, though I may ignore it. Heck, I may ignore my own input so there's that)

 

[wintertraveller]

The Imperial Navy p114 - Batteries for turrets and barbettes

 

[Geir]

Thanks.
Went full circle on it. Have an idea now. Should tie this back to the Vehicle Handbook thread... continuing over there.

 

[CordwainerFish]

(hard to sort Titles when they begin with 'The')

I'm a cataloger with an education in linguistics; there is no way of handling articles that does not give me headaches.

 

[MasterGwydion]

I'm a cataloger with an education in linguistics; there is no way of handling articles that does not give me headaches.

Write a search engine that ignores the word "The" when it is the first word of a Title. I can't do it, but some of you tech-savvy guys probably can.

 

[GabrielGABFonseca]

Almost want to game this out as a 36 gun broadside (to simulate a 72-gun third rate).

I will willingly and gladly volunteer as tribute if there comes a time you need extra hands for playtesting this sort of thing!

 

[Sigtrygg]

So yet another rule hidden in a sourcebook written by the author instead of using the rules as written in HG.

There is a game within a game written by MJD - different rules for deep space operation, sophont jump pilots required, weapon design systems, different ship combat rules etc...

heaven forbid the rules as written could be used.