=============== OGRE/GEV list, Mar 16th (Last: Mar 11th) =============== ===== Reserve Engineers From: Alan.Hench@mail.utexas.edu (Alan A. Hench) ===== Hvy tank disabled ? From: peletier@grolen.com ===== GEVs and streams From: Chris Camfield From: sj@io.com (Steve Jackson) ============================== To: "Henry J. Cobb" From: Alan.Hench@mail.utexas.edu (Alan A. Hench) Subject: Reserve Engineers > The one thing I haven't decided is how much each squad should cost, >any ideas? -HJC] The cost of the Reserve Engineer will be the sum of three elements: the basic combat value of the unit, the cost for carried one-shot weapons, and its Engineering skill. The first element can be calculated from the standard cost formula. Costs are already given for disposable charges. The only thing that really needs to be decided is the cost for their Engineering skill. As a first approximation, take how much the Engineering skill costs for a full Engineer, and then cut it in half for the limitations imposed on the RE. If you don't know how much the Engineering skill set costs a full Engineer, just reverse the process. Take the full cost of the Engineer and subtract the basic combat value of the unit and its disposable charges. The remainder should be the cost for the added value of having full Engineer capabilities. Since the REs don't have the 'Detect Mine at Range' ability, but some Hovertrucks do, the best thing might be to have separate costs for each of the skills in the Engineering package. It would be easy to get the cost for REs then. And, it would allow for selected abilities to be added to special units. You might then have a tank equipped with 'Clear Mines', as I believe was done in WWII. Of course, it might make sense to increase the cost for these abilities when mounted as machinery on a vehicle. If the same cost were used for both vehicles and infantry, it would either cost too much compared to the infantry cost, or too little compared to the vehicle. Increasing the amount of the ability would also increase the cost. You might then have an expensive vehicle that can clear a wide area of mines in a single attempt. Or how about a relatively cheap, fast, unarmed drone with the 'Mine Structure' skill and a hefty nuclear charge? Other skills might also work with individual costs. Things like 'Infantry Ride', 'Infantry Transport', 'Towing', 'Pushing', 'Forward Observation'. There might be discounts for buying specific packages of abilities like Engineering or Transport. Or, if skills are organized into broad areas, the costs for successive skills in the same area might get progressively cheaper. Either method would encourage purchasing more skills than might be immediately necessary. ----- [Perhaps I was unclear, REs have overrun only weapons, not one-shot weapons (besides the large nuclear charges, which cost extra). -HJC] ------------------------------ From: peletier@grolen.com To: hcobb@slip.net Subject: Hvy tank disabled ? does a Hvy Tank which is disabled remain disabled if a 1-1 infantry attacks it? The odds are 1-3, so the roll of dice is not needed since the effect is NE anyway. mike p. ----- [The attack (1-3) is always NE, so you'll need to overrun to take this one out. (You have a 6% chance of winning this one, in clear terrain, once he recovers your odds of success are ZERO) -HJC] ------------------------------ From: Chris Camfield Subject: GEVs and streams To: hcobb@io.com Right now my copy of GEV is on loan, but I'd trust Steve Jackson's rules-writing abilities enough to believe that he would have written "end of the turn" instead of "end of the movement phase" if that is really what he meant. That is, a GEV which drives up to a stream in its first movement phase CAN cross it in its second movement phase. Christopher Camfield ccamfiel@uwaterloo.ca 1996 BMath Joint CS/C&O [1999 BA Classical Studies???] "Do you need a new invention? Are you in the right dimension?" (The Jazz Butcher) ----- To: "Henry J. Cobb" From: sj@io.com (Steve Jackson) Subject: GEVs and streams GEVs may certainly cross streams on their second phase. Steve Jackson - yes, of SJ Games - yes, we won the Secret Service case Learn Web or die - http://www.io.com/sjgames/ - dinosaurs, Lego, Kahlua! The heck with PGP keys; finger for Geek Code. Fnord. ----- [You mean of course, at the start of their second movement phase. Which brings up the question: What exactly is the "real world" effect that this game effect is simulating? The precise game effect is that the movement of units is delayed or channelized but by careful ranging the effect can be reduced to a very mild movement restriction that primarily restricts the ability to attack over the stream. What this says to me is that the vehicles must scout out a place to cross the stream, but once that route is scouted the units are only mildly distracted, but this still allows an infantry line to hold on the far side of a stream against GEV attack. I've purchased two more sets of Battletech Minis, the Pegasus matches my personal image of a missile GEV with a small box turret that salvos out ground-skimming missiles (the turrets are a bit wobbly, demonstrating the depths of Ral Partha's dedication to quality) and the Savannah Master is about right for a LGEV with a single fixed forward gun (the main fin is on crooked). Here's the "new" unit of the week: Light GEV Personnel Carrier (LGEV-PC) Attack: 1 Range: 4" Defense: 1 Move: 6"/4" MM: GEV, carries one squad of MI "on top" Size: 1 Points: 3 Considered the quickest and dirtiest of the quick & dirty conversions, this is a standard LGEV with tube frames welded onto the sides and the fans adjusted to trade off some speed for lift. Two MI troopers would hold onto each side as this unit zipped around the battlefield. (It carries one squad of MI but no Militia "on top") This conversion was first spotted in Paneuropean service in North Africa, but it's origins remain obscure. It generally takes 30 minutes (8 turns) of shop time to convert the unit either way. -HJC] Henry J. Cobb hcobb@io.com http://www.io.com/~hcobb All OGRE-related items Copyright (c) 1996, by Steve Jackson Games.