=============== OGRE/GEV list, Jan 16th. (Last: Jan 10th) =============== ===== Rock, Scissors, Paper, the BPC triangle From: Henry J. Cobb (hcobb@io.com) ===== Optional Rule: Forward Observers. From: Henry J. Cobb (hcobb@io.com) ===== The Cub (Missile GEV) From: Henry J. Cobb (hcobb@io.com) ===== Field Test From: Jack Thomas ------------------------------ Subject: Rock, Scissors, Paper, the BPC triangle From: Henry J. Cobb (hcobb@io.com) Everybody knows the old game of Rock, Scissors, Paper. Two players throw their hands forward simultaneously, in one of three configurations. Clinched fist is the Rock symbol, two fingers extended at an angle is the Scissors symbol and the flattened hand is the Paper symbol. Resolution is simple, Rock smashes Scissors, Scissors cuts Paper and Paper covers and smothers Rock. Matched symbols produce an inconclusive tie. The three original mobile armor units of the the OGRE game form a simular triangle. The Missile Tank is Rock, the catapult of the 21st century. The Heavy Tank is Scissors, the armor plated cutting edge of the force. The GEV is Paper, a floating strike force that covers the enemy and then flies away to attack someplace else. Tactically both the GEV and the Missile Tank have a greater strike range than the Heavy Tank. The Missile tank can move two hexes forwards and then fire a further four, for a total six hex strike. The GEV moves four to attack a further two, again for a total of six. Therefore either a Missile Tank or a GEV can force a Heavy Tank to get hit by the first blow or withdraw, but if either takes the first strike it will find itself within the five hex strike range of either the victim or the survivor of its attack, and if the Heavy Tank survives the attack it will reply with a devastating 2-1 reply blow. The difference is that the Missile Tank's attack strength matches the defense strength of the Heavy, giving it a 1-1 attack, and so only a one in three chance that it's victim will be capable of an immediate response. The GEV's 1-2 attack has a two thirds chance of leaving the Heavy Tank completely unaffected. So the Missile Tank will smash the Heavy Tank, while the Heavy Tank will cut the GEV to shreds. All that remains is the third side of the triangle. Why claim that the GEV will defeat the Missile Tank? Both units have a strike range of six hexes, and each strikes the other for a 1-1 attack. The advantage to the GEV comes with the hunting pack, joining together for an attack and then dispersing before this cluster of units draws too many nukes in response. A group of GEVs can show up at the edge of a group of Missile Tanks, but within the strike range of only one. If the single Missile Tank takes the bait, it has only a one-third chance of killing it's target, in exchange for it's own sure destruction. And so a force of GEVs can outmaneuver and destroy an equal sized group of Missile tanks, at the cost of only a third to a half of their number. The usual response by Missile Tanks is to deploy behind a line of infantry, hidden in some form of terrain, but if the ground in front of the infantry is mostly clear, the GEVs can attrit the infantry without cost, or fire over the heads of the grunts at the Missile Tanks behind. ------------------------------ Subject: Optional Rule: Forward Observers. From: Henry J. Cobb (hcobb@io.com) In the 20th century, the grunts didn't fly around and carry very big guns, but they had radios and laser directors, and if anything would just stand still in front of them for long enough, they could call on all the power of the back line. In the 21st century, everything is jammed, and the big guns don't reach as far, but they can go a bit further, with a little help from their friends. under this optional rule, missile weapons (defined below), may fire at a 50% bonus to their effective range, when they combine fire with normal infantry fire, within the normal 2" (one hex) infantry range. Heavy Weapons Infantry count as missile weapons when launching missiles, and forward observers when firing normal infantry weapons. (So a Heavy Weapons squad could fire at a target 12" away, if it combined it's fire with an Infantry squad 2" from that target.) Announce both components of the attack before measuring either distance. If the missile unit is not within the 50% range boost, then it fires at the limit of it's boosted range and the infantry fires alone, if the infantry is not within the 2 inch range, the missile unit looses it's range bonus. (and it's shot falls short, hopefully not on the myopic infantry! ;-) Missile weapons are: OGRE missiles, Missile Tanks, Howitzers (all types), Field Artillery and Heavy Weapons Infantry Missiles. ------------------------------ Subject: The Cub (Missile GEV) From: Henry J. Cobb (hcobb@io.com) I've got another spin on the Cub, from the story it didn't seem to fire very often, and in OGRE Minis, the GEV description says: "...simply because large weapons where not only inaccurate when fired from the ground effect platform, but tended to throw the vehicle out of control." If the full power of a Missile Tank could be placed into a Hovertank hull, and have it's full effect, there would hardly be any reason to continue to build Missile Tanks. But mechanized infantry battalions need some artillery support that can keep up with the unit and last a little longer than Heavy Weapons squads. So was born the missile GEV, not as some super tank buster, but as a specialized infantry support vehicle. Missile GEV (Cub) Attack: 2 Range: 6 inches (3 hexes) Defense: 2 Move: 6"/4" (3/2 hexes) Move Mode: GEV Size: 3 Points: 6 (one "armor unit") This is the same hull as the GEV-PC, but with a limited missile system in place of the "grunt racks". It cannot carry any infantry. It fires the same type of missiles as the Missile Tank, but it fires fewer of them and less accurately. This unit gets a 100% boost from Forward Observers (to a total range of 12 inches (six hexes)), rather than 50% as normal missile units do. (it's specialized for infantry support). Normally only three of these where assigned to a mechanized infantry battalion, and so a player cannot normally select more than one of these units for every three GEV-PCs he buys. (After the fall of man, organizations got more erratic, but this did not normally favor specialist units.) -HJC ------------------------------ From: Jack Thomas To: hcobb@io.com Subject: Field Test Henry, Do you know which Laumer book the story "Field Test" was in? I would really like to read that story. Also, are you looking for original "OGRE" short stories for this mailing list? I've been thinking about working on one. I do have some experience as a writer; I've sold one short (horror) story to a publisher in Canada. Thanks, Jack Thomas thomasjl@indiana.edu ----- [I got my copy in "The Compleat BOLO", Keith Laumer, BAEN Books, 1990, ISBN: 0-671-69879-6, I picked it up used for slightly less than my first copy of OGRE. (Not adjusted for inflation) I probably do not offer the most lucrative medium for any message, I would suggest that if you are a serious writer that you contact SJG for a copy of their writers guidelines. What I would like to see is for my list to be treated as a stepping stone, to try out ideals before committing to a major effort on a work. Perhaps this could be a place for informal communications, with anything lifted directly for use in serious SJG products being treated as per the "Make Ogre History" sidebar on page four of OGRE Minis, it all remains to be worked out. Regardless, I trust in Mr Jackson's judgement in these matters, and have always found him to deal honestly. -HJC] Henry J. Cobb hcobb@io.com http://www.io.com/~hcobb All ORGE-related items Copyright (c) 1996, by Steve Jackson Games.