Yet another Battledress debate

[hellbat]

Ok for the record I started this thread 3 years ago asking as to individuals feeling on the nature of Battledress. I wasn't looking for consensus I was looking for opinions. Also note Battledress has hardly ever been used in my campaigns, carousing, gambling and Streetwise are the big combat skills..

That probably explains the difference in perspective: I've run plenty of non-combat centred games - one of my favorite players ran a sneaky street thief who seemed to know the sewers of every world from Regina to Terra -, but one of my longest-running campaigns featured battle dress-equipped player characters in nearly every adventure for several years. when I started it I wasn't as experienced and tended to mainly use the rules as written - and it would probably have never gotten off the ground if battle dress had been priced as is it now, because the group just wouldn't have afforded it, and at the time, I wouldn't have known to change it. Economics can matter, and what the core rules do or say can change your gaming experience, for good or ill!

But yes, I agree that polite discourse (and involvement in the game, whether through playtesting or creating your own stuff) is the only real way to make an impact. I apologize for seeming dogmatic - really, I have my own volumes of variant rules and used to drive my players nuts by changing the game system every month or so and I've written enough and done enough playtesting to have no complaints over my ability or lack thereof to influence things!

 

[Solomani666]

...For me it isn't the super suit that so many of My fellow fans seem to think it is. I tend to go with the modeled that it is just powered combat armor.

Since it is traditionally somewhat standard issue (for some forces) - it wouldn't be a 'super suit'. I go with the basically powered combat armor concept.

As for bulkiness - ship quarters wouldn't really dictate it not be bulky - a command humvee is really cramped in civilian clothes - yet fully kitted combat troops operate in them for hours. That would be like dictating only skinny people could be crew...

Not in total disagreement with you, but you would be hard pressed to find a tanker in the US military taller than 5'10".


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[Captain Jonah]

A bit like the optimum size for some drivers of Russian tanks being 5'3".

The Imperium has trillions of people to pick from, it could be Imperial tankers are all between 5'4" and 5'10" and all battledress troopers are between 6' and 6' 6'".

 

[Shchenya]

Just my two penneth on battle dress, I tend to treat it as a form of IFV/Support vehicle role in MTU. Most troops and marines would be in combat armour or poly carapace armour (depending on world, if they're imperial or mercs, etc), with maybe 1 or 2 suits of battle dress per 10 soldiers, about the same ratio as SAW gunners in the US Army at the minute. The main purpose of battle dress to me is not the battledress itself but the integrated weapons or weapons that are easier to use with it (PGMP/FGMP). I also use the intermediate powered armour from the CSC book too, most merc equivalents to battle dress would be in this. Heavy armour shields are another option too for making it function as a tougher, "walking cover" unit. For example a house ruled "Riot Battle Dress" has a 16 armour version of the boarding shield and a multi-linked stunner, as well as shoulder grenade launchers with stun/smoke loads. Something to challenge the players, while not being over the top or easily broken.

The only time I've found battledress to be "squishy" was actually against melee weapons, which do a relatively high damage, and can get a good effect. (In this case it was CSC's Grav Mace). The fact that modern armour is poor against threats it isn't designed for kind of justifies this.

As far as the high prices, I put that down to the cost of having a fully sealed environment suit that is light enough to be worn in gravity (opposed to vaccsuits which to me would be too heavy for this), with a very high armour value, including on all seals as well as it having to be made to fit that person very well, other armour has more of a "one size fits all" effect. The costs been taken up by economies of scale, the Imperial forces get it cheaper or make it themselves and the book prices are those to private citizens, when it's available.