============ OGREverse list, Aug 3rd (Last: July 30th) ============= ===== Electronic Warfare From: "William Spencer" ===== Nuclear Hand Grenades From: "William Spencer" ===== Penetrating Questions From: awflower@midway.uchicago.edu ===== Hackers and other organic rifraf From: "Stephen @ MIT" ------------------------------ From: "William Spencer" Subject: Electronic Warfare Units in Ogre probably use a variety of passive and active systems; you're never completely blinded. Jamming of communication and visual targeting is certainlypossible - (remember that optional rule where the defender has camouflage - the units are marked with blank counters, and you have a few dummies?) I imagined that the shells which guide themselves use a built-in camera/ladar/whatever set..to defend against one you drop flares, chaff, and hot smoke, jam its radar set, fire point-defense turrets, and try to dodge behind cover, all at the same time...high-tech units would have complex radar/sonar/laser-absorping/scattering armor, laser/radar "beacon mines" (they emit a signal to attract guided munitions), and even "Chameleon" type camouflage units to blend the vehicle in with background terrain. This could be why overrun combat is so deadly - you can actually SEE the target, and he's so close that the shells hit before they can defend....regular ol' indirect fire must be enormously inaccurate. As they say, "close only counts in horseshoes and nuclear hand grenades..." ------------------------------ From: "William Spencer" Subject: Nuclear Hand Grenades Nuclear Hand Grenades? What was I thinking? I suppose you have to use a grenade launcher...(WARNING: Blast Radius 500m. Do not use in enclosed spaces.) Can you say "collateral damage"? Gee, what about other nuclear weapons? Instead of flamethrowers, we have plasma guns. Instead of claymore and bouncing betty mines, we have "smart" nukes (or depleted-uranium flechettes...ouch!) What's the life expectancy of an average soldier in the Ogre universe? Tour of duty? Percentage chance of sterility or long-term genetic damage? I mean, with all that radiation and bio/chemical agents floating around, even full NBC shielding won't be much good... (If they're assigned NBC shielding. Think of the Gulf War -- "There's no danger of chemical warfare.") ----- [With a battlesuit and a handy ridgeline I can see a use for a "hand" tossed grenade. My most twisted fantasy in the OGREverse is the possibility of Rangers or (shudder) Militia attaching nuclear limpets to the sides of passing OGREs. -HJC] ------------------------------ From: awflower@midway.uchicago.edu Subject: Penetrating Questions Dan Tulloh wrote: >> [And while that parachute-shell is hanging up there and >> lining up on the target it'll be shot down or jammed, >> no? -HJC] >Mmmm....there's not much of a chance of this. I can't say too >much about this particular munition, but the likelyhood of it >being shot down is relatively small. You think? On a nuclear battlefield? Part of what the defense values represent (IIRC) is point-defense. So you've got a small railgun in a cupola above each vehicle, firing nuclear-tipped rounds. The computer detects a ballistic trajectory, or a parachute shell, and a quick airburst nearby either A) wastes the thing, or B) scrambles its electronics with EMP. Which is why Field Artillery has a lower attack value than even a Light Howitzer -- FA isn't firing smaller shells, it's firing larger shells on a ballistic arc, where they're easy to shoot down or avoid. Howitzers fire missiles; at one point the line was that Howitzers (and MHWZ, LHWZ, etc.) all fired the same missile type as the Missile Tank, just lots more of them (increased range was explained a number of ways). You _really_ don't want to be hanging in midair, or in a predictable arc, on the Ogre battlefield. Which is why I find jump-jet equipped battlesuits a bit farfetched. Fish. ------------------------------ From: "Stephen @ MIT" Subject: Hackers and other organic rifraf Hello Henry, In answer to the question in relation to hacking an Ogre AI, I have mucked around with rules. They were pretty involved, and if anyones interested I can dig 'em out. Essentially, the 'hacker' had a hacking skill (see previous emails for comments re: Roleplaying in the Ogre Universe) and then needed a 'deck' or computer to do the hacking. The AI needed to be theoretically mapped, ie: here is the uplink node which is connected to the security node which then branches out into the various data nodes. Each node needs a separate hack attempt. Hardware and various Ice Breakers were used in an attempt to cut the ICE (Intrusion Counter Measure). The hacker had an attempt per turn so depending on how big the AI was depended on how many turns the hacker had to gain control. The turns translated into game rounds. Opponents could attempt to find the hacker and the Ogre itself could also attempt to defend itself. If you want more info, I can either send it to you or post it on my Ogre web page. (http://www.impaq.net.au/~sas/ogre.html) Let me know of you are interested... Regards, Stephen Melbourne, Australia Mobile : +61 413-879-888 Email : sas@mitext.vic.edu.au ----- Henry J. Cobb hcobb@io.com http://www.io.com/~hcobb All OGRE-related items Copyright (c) 1998, by Steve Jackson Games.