TW2k13

[Odie]

Ok I bought a copy of 2013. Just a quick scan through it..... I am very impressed. Lots of detail.... I love lots of detail. The career paths are fantastic and have some that I thought were missing. Going to dive deeper tonight but this might just be my favorite version.

[Medic]

Originally Posted by Odie

Ok I bought a copy of 2013. Just a quick scan through it..... I am very impressed. Lots of detail.... I love lots of detail. The career paths are fantastic and have some that I thought were missing. Going to dive deeper tonight but this might just be my favorite version.

Yes, the amount of detail you can give to your characters with 2013 is awesome. All we need is people expanding those details in every possible direction and we have a very flexible system in our hands.

For playing PBeM campaigns, though, there is one downside at the moment. So far, I have not been able to conjure up a way to do battles without excessive amount of effort, though it might be my inexperience with the system that hampers the action a bit - I have not had the chance to play TW2013 as PnP so far, with my RP buddies living about 700km from me nowadays and I being too busy and too lazy to actively find a new group.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Medic

...I being too busy and too lazy to actively find a new group.

Check out www.nearbygamers.com then. May not be anyone close at the moment, but the more people who register, the better the database will be.

[Medic]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Check out www.nearbygamers.com then. May not be anyone close at the moment, but the more people who register, the better the database will be.

I checked the database and there was two people within reasonable range of me, who were registered. The third nearest was about an hour drive away. Insuppose I could register there, but...

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Medic

I suppose I could register there, but...

Go on, get off your lazy butt and do it!

For that matter, EVERYONE should do it!

[Medic]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Go on, get off your lazy butt and do it!

For that matter, EVERYONE should do it!

Still sitting on my lazy butt but I did it...

[Mahatatain]

Originally Posted by Medic

For playing PBeM campaigns, though, there is one downside at the moment. So far, I have not been able to conjure up a way to do battles without excessive amount of effort, though it might be my inexperience with the system that hampers the action a bit - I have not had the chance to play TW2013 as PnP so far, with my RP buddies living about 700km from me nowadays and I being too busy and too lazy to actively find a new group.

I've just started a play test with three friends to see if we can make the T2k13 initiative system work in a PBeM format. Our basic starting point is that players are declaring a full EoF or Ticks in one post but we're still in the very early stages of this play test.

I'll let you know what happens and if we come to a set of house rules that seem to work then I'll post them here.

On a separate note www.nearbygamers.com is certainly worth joining. I found one of my current FTF group on there.

[Medic]

I've created a table for Air-to-Surface and Surface-to-Air ranges, though it would seem, the iPad doesn't allow me to attach it to the message. I'll post it from my tabletop in the morning, but before I do that, I'll give you the altitude bands that turn the air combat in to 3D.

At the bottom, we have Nap-of-Earth from 1 to 25 meters, followed by Very Low (25-100), Low (100-500), Medium (500-1200), High (1200-5000), Very High (5000-12000) and Extreme (12000-20000). The table essentially cross references the altitude and horisontal range for actual firing range. No, I did not use 3D-heometry for calculating the exact ranges, but if someone wants to do that, be my guest.

Comments are welcome, especially after the table has been posted.

[Medic]

Okay, now I deliver the tables I promised.

The Tables 1a and 1b are self-explanatory - just extending the range bands to 96km, so those wishing to use long range missiles can actually do just that. Of course, there's practically very few weapons that can fire beyond that, but hey, you can add one more band if you want, or two, it's simple.

Table 2 is a bit more complex. Practically, I took the altitude bands and made a comparison chart between them. If you are firing from ground at an airplane, you use Nap-of-Earth (NoE) for altitude. If you wonder, why there's +5 range bands to fire at a low flying plane, when you are in a low flying plane yourself, it is due the altitude variation within the said altitude band.

The Tables 3a, b, c, d and e are also pretty self-explanatory. However, I'll clarify a couple of terms here.

Any Cargo hit in a plane with no provisions for cargo is considered Fuel hit. The normal rules for catching fire apply. This does not necessarily mean the vehicle is destroyed - modern combat aircraft use so-called self-sealing fuel tanks, which reduces the probability of the plane being destroyed by the fire drastically. The rules for a self-sealing fuel tank are still in the works (and I won't mind, if you guys want to chip in as well).

The Fireball-result on the Table 3e: Major Wing/Rotor Damage is a catastrophic kill on the vehicle. It doesn't necessarily mean the movie-type explosion of the craft, but it means, there is enough widespread structural damage to destroy the vehicle. Anyone inside the vehicle is required to make a Difficult:OODA -check to escape the vehicle.

If unsuccessful, the character recieves 1d6 burn injuries of Damage 6 at random locations. A critical failure (MoF 5+) means, the character is killed (so, if your campaign uses Survival Points, this is a pretty good time to use at least one).

If succesful, the next thing to worry is whether the character happens to have some means of making it down to the surface below without making too big hole/puddle on the said surface. Parachute or ejection seat will help in the matter greatly. Of course, if you are flying Nap-of-Earth when this happens, you might actually survive without a parachute (since your parachute won't open in time anyway) - it depends where and what you fall on/in.

[Medic]

So, here's the basic ruleset for air combat, though it is still preliminary and requires comments.

There are three alternatives to how air combat is initiated. At the maximum detection range of either party involved, the one with longer maximum detection range makes the first attempt to detect the enemy by using any sensors available (Computing for radar systems, Awareness for Mk.1 Eyeball with bonuses from high-tech equipment). If the detection is not successful, the opponents will close in making detection rolls until either one successfully detects the other one.

If successful, he will gain the upper hand and can choose whether to close in, evade or, if equipped with suitable weapons for that range, make a stand-off attack. This requires achieving a lock on the intended target, a function of Gunnery. If the weapon in question is a guided weapon, it will require the Guided-qualification.

If no stand-off attack is made, a normal exchange of fire begins and the involved parties start to keep track on Advantage points, very much similar to the Control, used with Grappling attacks in hand-to-hand combat. Both parties make Pilot-checks to gain points and the one with more points is considered having the upper hand.

To initiate the Advantage, one must Engage. An Aviation-check is made and the Engaging party receives Advantage Points equal to the margin of success. A zero means, no advantage is gained.

Increasing Advantage (minimum Advantage 1) is the function of Aviation-skill with appropriate qualification (most likely Performance, if flying a fighter). The margin of success is added to the Advantage Points.

Tailing (minimum Advantage 2) requires an Aviation-check, receiving half the current Advantage as bonus to the roll. If successful, the target receives half the margin of success of threat conditions.

Attack (minimum Advantage 4) is maneuvering in to a suitable angle of attack from which to fire at the enemy with a suitable weapon. An Aviation roll is made, adding the current Advantage as a bonus to the skill check. If successful, the Attacker gets to fire one forward firing weapon at the Defender with a suitable weapon check.

Escape is maneuvering to evade the enemy and to get out of his field of fire. A contested Aviation roll is made, adding the current Advantage as a bonus (if any). The enemy loses Advantage points equal to the margin of success.

[pmulcahy11b]

Medic, do you own the wargame Airwar?

[unkated]

Originally Posted by Medic

but before I do that, I'll give you the altitude bands that turn the air combat in to 3D.


The table essentially cross references the altitude and horizontal range for actual firing range.

No, I did not use 3D-geometry for calculating the exact ranges, but if someone wants to do that, be my guest.

A quick rule of thumb for 3D range (we use it for Fighting Wings, WW2 aerial combat):

Take the horizontal and vertical ranges, and add half of the smaller to the larger. Doesn't matter which is larger (hypotenuse is a hypotenuse).

For example, range to a helicopter 3000 m away and 2000 m up is treated as 4000m (3000 + 2000/2).

(The math answer is 3605.551 m).

And if that same helicopter closes to almost overhead... 300 m away and the same 2000 m up is treated as 2150 m (300/2 + 2000) = 2150

(the math answer is 2022.375 m)

It's an approximation, but it's within 10-12% accurate, which isn't bad for something you can do in your head.

Uncle Ted

[Medic]

Originally Posted by unkated

A quick rule of thumb for 3D range (we use it for Fighting Wings, WW2 aerial combat):

Take the horizontal and vertical ranges, and add half of the smaller to the larger. Doesn't matter which is larger (hypotenuse is a hypotenuse).

For example, range to a helicopter 3000 m away and 2000 m up is treated as 4000m (3000 + 2000/2).

(The math answer is 3605.551 m).

And if that same helicopter closes to almost overhead... 300 m away and the same 2000 m up is treated as 2150 m (300/2 + 2000) = 2150

(the math answer is 2022.375 m)

It's an approximation, but it's within 10-12% accurate, which isn't bad for something you can do in your head.

Uncle Ted

This would indeed streamline the rules and drop the need for a conversion table. It would also remove several altitude bands, effectively leaving NOE, Low, Medium and High, I suppose.

Thank you for the idea. I was clearly approaching this in a far too complex manner.

[Targan]

As requested by Medic, I've merged his thread TW2k13 with the Reflex vehicle stats thread.