NPC battle templates

[Adm.Lee]

In prepping for my next session of the "Marines by the Baltic," I started using my note cards to work out standard tactics for the enemy NPCs. I worked out for the NPC skill levels and attributes, how many shots they could fire without losing too much accuracy to Recoil, or how many bursts they could put out. Having done that, I've written down what their standard tactics could be, so I don't have to think through everything each turn when I am running.

Side note: Wow, Ak-74's are lousy! There's no point in firing more than one burst, and even 3 shots for Veteran NPCs start to lose accuracy.

Do you do this as GMs?

[Cdnwolf]

Do you have an example?

[Adm.Lee]

I'm using 2.2 rules; I hope you can decipher my shorthand for numbers of shots and to-hit numbers.

For the next fight, a mix of Soviet Veterans and Experienced NPCs.

AK-74s: Vet: 22, 22 or 4@3. Means they'll usually fire only 2 shots, with a 22- to hit, or a 5-shot burst, rolling 4 dice to hit on 3-.

Ak-74s: Exp: 18, 17, or 2@2.

PKM, Veteran: 5@22, or 15@3. With the bipod, a Vet can fire 3 bursts at full dice.

RPK-74, Veteran: 5@22, or 20@3.
Exp: 5@18, or 10@2.

DShK, on tripod. 2x 22, or 4@3. This is a beast to control, it seems.

This is a group from the Ninth Guards Army, who have been on internal-security for over 2 years. I figure they've had some time for training, and have figured out the most accurate rates of fire for their weapons. Thus, they'll stick to 2 shots per round for the assault rifles, short bursts for their MGs and automatic rifles.

By sticking to only a few numbers to remember or look at, it simplifies my die-rolling and memory problems.

[Legbreaker]

Don't forget there's usually at least one SVD thrown in there somewhere. I think there's one "marksman" armed with it per platoon of infantry.
Also don't forget about the danger area of bursts, and the Soviet tactic of using suppressive fire to get in close and finish the job. Hand grenades and bayonets are great tools for that.

[James Langham]

Don't forget there's usually at least one SVD thrown in there somewhere. I think there's one "marksman" armed with it per platoon of infantry.
Also don't forget about the danger area of bursts, and the Soviet tactic of using suppressive fire to get in close and finish the job. Hand grenades and bayonets are great tools for that.

There is indeed 1 per platoon replacing a rifleman in a squad.

[Raellus]

I'd mod that a bit. The AK-74 has a pretty effective muzzle brake and, although I've never fired one, it's reputed to be very controllable during automatic fire- moreso even than most 5.56mm NATO weapons.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

As Raellus mentioned, the muzzlebrake on the AK74 is very effective and the rifle is as controllable as the M16A2 in burst fire and semi-auto. I can't remember the GDW stats for the two rifles but for recoil the values for both should be approximately the same.

There are only two downsides with the muzzlebrake: -
Muzzle blast vents up as well as to the right - not in itself a problem... unless you're the poor bastard on the right, the muzzleblast is described as "noticeable muzzle flash and quite loud"
The muzzlebrake requires good cleaning to keep it effective.

I'd say that the guys from GDW just applied their standard formula for calculating recoil as normal and didn't factor in the muzzlebrake. I vaguely recoil that they did acknowledge that muzzlebrakes can make a big difference but at the time of writing they probably had no first hand accounts of the AK74 muzzlebrake to work from.

[Adm.Lee]

OK, the effectiveness of that muzzle brake is news to me. The AK-74's recoil figures are the same as the AK-47: 3 for a single shot, 7 for a 5-shot burst. M16A2 is 3/5, for a 3-shot burst. So, an Experienced NPC (STR 5) is going to lose 2 shots off his first burst, rolling 3 times. Any following burst goes off into the wild blue yonder, and you don't get to roll for any of the first burst, either. Add in any range, and you've got a really ineffective shooter.

As for the danger zone of a burst, unless I have been doing it wrong for all of these years, shots that aren't rolled for because of recoil, do not get re-rolled in the danger zone. So, if that NPC holds the trigger down and hoses down an area, he doesn't even get one roll at anyone in there. Now, I have been reading some accounts from the current wars that indicate there's something to that (the famous "death blossom" effect), the ineffectiveness of even a small burst seems excessive.

This is one of the things that's souring me on v2.2 rules: although I love the fact that recoil and strength are important factors, it seems to wipe out any effectiveness really quickly.

On the other side of things, in my players' group, one PC maxxed out his Small Arms skill and put in the points to get one level of specialization on the SAW. With a shockingly high Strength, he got to roll 42 dice after a 50-shot burst. Light MGs, and especially the SAW-type LMGs, seem to have phenomenally low recoil numbers for their ROF, and are effectively the perfect gun.

On the other hand, if the NPCs aren't hitting, the game's keeping the PCs alive just that much longer, isn't it?

[Adm.Lee]

And I didn't forget about the SVD, I just didn't feel like having one in this particular platoon.

Weapons are on the brain this week, one of the books I'm reading is "The Gun" about the development & deployment of the AK-47. The other book is "Artillery in the Great War."

[Targan]

This is one of the things that's souring me on v2.2 rules: although I love the fact that recoil and strength are important factors, it seems to wipe out any effectiveness really quickly.

Don't be afraid to use another system. It's entirely possible to use most of any of the T2K rules versions and shoehorn in another system to resolve combat. (Psst - I can suggest a good one :D ).

[Adm.Lee]

So, instead of going to bed, I'm still looking at the v2 Infantry Weapons book. The M231, the SMG that everyone sneers at, actually has better burst control (not much) than the full-size M16A2. Does that seem right to you?

Anyway, yeah, I'm getting close to some house-ruling or even rules-set swapping. I will certainly be switching to a more active Initiative system at this week's table. After the summer campaign is over, I will canvass some local gamers for some one-shot experiments in alternate rules.

Part of my dislike is my Gamer ADD kicking in, wanting to play other stuff, too.

[Legbreaker]

Part of my dislike is my Gamer ADD kicking in, wanting to play other stuff, too.

Perhaps throw an encounter at them with the opposition armed with obsolete/archaic weaponry? A few crossbows, hunting bows, black powder rifles/shotguns/small canons, horse borne lancers. Maybe a real moat around a village, possibly concealed so the PCs vehicle(s) drop into it and can't be extricated without an hour or so and plenty of sweat and tears?
Kevlar is great stuff, but against spears, arrows, bolts and the like, it's nearly useless (only soaks up the first two points of damage, not dice).

This might get you thinking about other ways to deal with the autofire - recoil issue: http://forum.juhlin.com/showpost.php?p=46581&postcount=49

[Cdnwolf]

From TWL 2013....

Burst Fire

Some firearms – typically submachine guns, assault rifles,
and machine guns – are capable of firing more than one round with
each trigger pull. The Reflex System treats all such capabilities as
burst fire. A weapon that a character can fire in this manner is
designated with a “B#” notation in its Rate of Fire trait. The “#” is
the number of rounds the weapon fires with each burst (e.g. “B3”
indicates that the weapon fires three-round bursts). A burst can be
applied to any hip, snap, or aimed shot.

When a character fires a burst rather than a single round, the
additional volume of lead he’s sending downrange increases his
chances of hitting the target. A burst attack receives a bonus equal
to the number of additional rounds being fired (e.g. a three-round
burst provides a +2 bonus).

When a burst fire attack hits, it’s possible that more than one
round strikes the target. Roll a number of d6s equal to the number
of additional rounds being fired. Every die result of 1 indicates
another hit on the same hit location that the first round struck.
Every die result of 2 or 3 indicates another hit on a randomlydetermined
hit location. Every die result of 4 through 6 is a clean
miss. Each additional round that hits uses the attack’s overall
margin of success for damage resolution.

Example: Matt makes a burst attack with his AK-47, which has
a Rate of Fire of B4. He’s firing a four-round burst, so he receives
a +3 bonus. Matt’s attack succeeds, so he rolls for hit location for
the first round, then rolls 3d6. The dice come up 1, 3, and 4. Matt
hits the target with two additional rounds: one in the same location
as the first, and another in a randomly-determined location.
The fourth bullet misses entirely. Matt marks off four rounds
from his magazine.

A burst always expends a number of rounds equal to those
being fired – bullets don’t magically multiply. For example, a four round
burst always consumes four rounds. If a weapon doesn’t have
enough ammunition remaining for a full burst, the burst empties
the weapon and is resolved with the actual number of rounds
fired. Thus, if a character uses a weapon with a B5 rate of fire to
fire a burst, but the weapon only has three rounds remaining, the
resulting attack is treated as if the weapon had only a B3 rate of fire.

Recoil
All firearms are subject to recoil, the momentum that the
explosion of a cartridge’s propellant imparts to the gun. For the
shooter, the primary effect of recoil is to jerk the gun off-target,
which makes rapid subsequent shots more difficult. Any weapon
with a Recoil value is subject to the following rules.

Single Shots
Every time a character makes an attack with a firearm,
compare the gun’s Recoil to the shooter’s Muscle. If Recoil exceeds
Muscle, the character’s next action suffers a penalty equal to the
difference. This applies only if the next action is a hip shot or snap
shot with the same weapon.

Example: Matt has Muscle 9. As his first action of this exchange
of fire, he fires an aimed shot with a .300 Winchester Magnum
hunting rifle (Recoil 13). This attack suffers no penalty. Matt
then makes a second attack, this one a snap shot. The second attack
is subject to a recoil penalty of –4 (the difference between
Matt’s Muscle and the weapon’s Recoil). Matt reloads, then
makes a third attack, again a snap shot. Because of the intervening
action between the second and third attack, the third attack
suffers no recoil penalty.

Burst Fire
Any attack using burst fire is subject to recoil. Even the
slowest-firing automatic weapon has a cyclic rate high enough to
unleash the second bullet before the shooter can compensate for
the recoil of the first. When a character fires a burst attack, add the
number of rounds in the burst to the weapon’s Recoil value. If this
modified Recoil exceeds the shooter’s Muscle, the attack suffers a
penalty equal to the difference. This is in addition to any effect the
weapon’s modified Recoil has on any following attack.

Example: Matt returns to using his trusty AK-47. His Strength of
9 exceeds the weapon’s Recoil of 7, so he suffers no recoil penalty
for single shots. However, if he fires a four-round burst, the AK-
47’s modified Recoil value will be 11, so he will suffer a –2 penalty
(the difference between his Muscle and the weapon’s burst Recoil).


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[Adm.Lee]

The G11 (due to its design) could also fire 3 round quick bursts. Same as the single quick shots in the BYB, but roll 1D3 per hit for number of rounds striking the target. Simplest way I can think of modelling the extremely high rate of fire in each burst (something like 2000 rpm I think).
The downside to this is ammo gets used up three times as fast and it's still random as to how many rounds actually strike the target. Recoil is also figured using the three round burst figure rather than single shots (3 recoil per burst rather than the 2 of single shots). This would mean a character with Strength 7 could fire either 3 single shots, 2x3 round bursts, or 1x5 round burst without recoil penalty. Put another way, shoot at 3 targets, 2 targets or 1 target respectively.
Recoil penalty for exceeding 2x3 round bursts would be to Skill/accuracy rather than a reduction in dice as it is for conventional automatic fire. Range would also effect accuracy rather than available dice (since the third round is out of the barrel before recoil occurs and therefore the aim point is barely effected).

I'm not sure how this last step would work, if one were to generate a -3 penalty, that would come off the already low to-hit numbers? So a character whose burst-fire to-hit number is a 3, is now rolling the normal number of dice, but only hitting on 1s?

And as far as my gamer ADD, what I meant was that I'm wondering about running in other game systems that I've not explored in T2k action, such as Mongoose Traveller or Savage Worlds. Both have autofire rules that seem worth experimentation.