301 Reply by themattcurtis

(7 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

My .02 would be the starting point would be the death of the FAC's parent ship.

Most scenarios are only going to see one FAC platform per side. TMW's battle involving the Celestial Queen is the notable exception.

So it would be relatively painless to know when an FAC's carrier is dead, and the attack craft's hope of rescue gone with it.

I think it's very much within the western mindset of "all hope is gone, might as well make a good show of it."  I mean, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau (Damn I have trouble spelling that) kept flying their frigging flags when it was obvious they were going to sink -- on fire, listing, surrounded, etc.....

But rather than cluttering the game with morale rolls, you could simply state that IF the FAC goes kamikaze, the controlling player is going to lose a certain % of the craft's VP value.  A 9 pt Harpune, for example, would award the other side 5 VP (9/2 rounded up) if it deliberately crashes into an opposing hull.  I don't know how much damage it would do, but regardless, that action better be worth it, because if you don't end up inflicting any structural damage, you're not balancing out that VP loss.

I think that automatic penalty goes a ways towards balancing the crew's suicide with western sensabilties.  Even when all hope is lost, there's a consequence for the controlling player.

Go to forum: Iron Stars

302 Reply by themattcurtis

(7 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

You got a point.  But this is a new theater, with new rules, and little equipment with which to affect a rescue. 

A wet navy dreadnought going down in calm seas might see hundreds of her crew hit the water and be rescued by a noble adversary.  It happened at the Battle of the Falklands, where I think the British were able to save nearly 200 Germans. 

But a hull breach is far different.  Where are those guys going to go?  A Bantam, when it dies in IS, has to take all of her crew with her.  It's not like the Spiridoff is going to be able to pull up alongside and pick up bobbing Cavoriate life pods.  Seems to me the fighting's going to be even more desperate in such conditions.

So I dunno if I see a FAC crew that's seen any hope of reaching its parent ship shrugging, breaking open a bottle of liquor, and waiting to fall asleep.

Go to forum: Iron Stars

303 Topic by themattcurtis

(7 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

Sumethin else to ponder.

I know collision rules aren't in place for IS.  And I don't know if I WANT capital ships ramming each other.  But I was thinking that with a lot of FACs, you've lost any use for them once their ordinance is expended.

I've also been thinking of what these guys could possibly be thinking if their parent vessel is blown to hell.  There are no "life pods" in this setting.  Without a FAC platform to pick them up, these crews will eventually die from a lack of oxygen.

Could there be a way to incorporate Kamikaze attacks into the game?  IE -- i'm going down/i got nowhere to go/i'm taking you with me.

A successful attack sees you inflict damage on an enemy ship.  But maybe, in return, they gain half the FAC's normal VP value?

Just brainstorming.....................

Go to forum: Iron Stars

304 Reply by themattcurtis

(3 replies, posted in Miniatures)

Sweet  8)

Go to forum: Miniatures

305 Reply by themattcurtis

(6 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

It should be relatively easy for FACs to pick the range at which they engage ships, based off speed alone.

Note that hulls in IS, if given enough time, can effectively move up to twice their listed speed in a Turn.

IE -- a battleship starts the game with a momentum of 2, and has a thrust rating of 4.  During the first turn, it can move up to 6", which means it ends with a momentum of 3". During the third turn it can move up to 7", ending with a momentum of 4, which means it can move 8" the turn after that.

So your average FAC should be able to, at some point in the game, move at least 16".  It can hover out of gun range (remember distance to these things is doubled) until it's ready to conduct its torp run, then scoot in to PB range and let loose (seeing as how it moves last and shoots first).


Use Your FACs right and really the only long distance threat (the only weapon that can stop them from at least conducting their attck runs)  is a rocket system.  Althought if they're left sitting a few inches from a cap ship with lots of Light Guns, they're toast. In my games, two torp carrying FACs are a serious threat to an unsupported light cruiser like the Tycho.

To me, the fact they always move after DDs, and shoot first, gives 'em plenty of legs.  Remember these aren't fighters so much as they're understood today, as teeny assault boats/attack craft/whatever.  The Brits originally dubbed them as planes because they didn't know how to categorize them.

Go to forum: Iron Stars

306 Reply by themattcurtis

(47 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

Using the conversion guidelines, I wrote up an ad hoc carrier platform for the RNES. 


Matt

Go to forum: Iron Stars

307 Topic by themattcurtis

(3 replies, posted in Miniatures)

Never bought anything from Brigade before today.  Gotta say I was really impressed by how quickly Steve emailed after I ordered with a short note saying the minis are outbound  smile

Nice attention to the customer base, there. 

Just thought I should point it out.

Go to forum: Miniatures

308 Reply by themattcurtis

(23 replies, posted in Discussion)

I believe that was Matt Curtis, whose name bumped mine off the e23
listing for The Merchant War. smile

Dan


Muhaha......MUHAHAHAHAHAHA

No accidental "bump" there.   I slipped them some $$  :twisted:

Go to forum: Discussion

309 Reply by themattcurtis

(9 replies, posted in Miniatures)

Done big_smile

Just paid for them, like 3 minutes ago.

Bantam
Haemonculus X2
Tycho X3

I see pics for the Banneret class cruiser and Gamma destroyers.  Any idea when they might be available for sale?

Go to forum: Miniatures

310 Reply by themattcurtis

(23 replies, posted in Discussion)

Holy Crap!  My name's up there  :shock:

Super-d-Duper  big_smile  big_smile

And is if my head wasn't big enough.................

Go to forum: Discussion

311 Reply by themattcurtis

(28 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

On the one hand, I have Mr. Dugan lamenting the fact that we're leaving the Victorians behind, on the other I have you pushing towards WW2...

Sheesh.

Oh....WW2's gotta be a way off, doesn't it?

I mean, we end TMW in mid-1909.  Stuff being considered now doesn't take us more than a coupla years beyond that.  And based off what I've heard you say about WWI.........just getting the timeline to the 1940s is going to take forever.  I'm perfectly happy with the pace so far.   8)

Go to forum: Iron Stars

312 Reply by themattcurtis

(28 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

Superheavy guns could be simulated by knocking down' the range penalties, couldn't they?  instead of 5" bands, you'd maybe have 6".  A D12 gun with a (X3) damage multiplier and better range bands could represent an 18" gun. 

Yeah.....I'm getting way ahead of things.  But if there was a way to cost that kind of gun, all you'd have to do would be to drop a symbol on the ship display denoting its primaries as "super heavy" mounts just like you do now to mark guns capable of firing poison gas shells.

WW2 = realll big guns, squadrons of FACs, and all kinds of cool stuff.  The Axis powers meets Starblazers big_smile

Matt
PS -- one thing on my wish list would be to one day see crew quality rules.  But I have no idea how to model that.

Go to forum: Iron Stars

313 Reply by themattcurtis

(28 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

It's likely that secondaries will be used most often for this purpose, but there's no reason to legislate against primaries doing so if desired.

Dass true.  I'm not the captain of another man's ether ship  smile

Go to forum: Iron Stars

314 Reply by themattcurtis

(28 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

Rather than limiting it to the designation on a particular ship (pri. or sec.), mayhap we should limit it by die size? e.g., a gun has to be d6 or larger to fire starshells... This has the effect of disallowing light guns from performing this task.


You could, I guess.  I just don't picture a BB firing illumination rounds out of a 12" or 15" gun.  The only reason I was proposing secondaries is because most IS ships have D6 weapons for their secondaries, and D6 guns cover what, in the game setting, would equal a 5" weapon (or sumethin thereabouts).

Go to forum: Iron Stars

315 Reply by themattcurtis

(28 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

I keep reading about ships (modern and WW2 era) using 5" guns for illumination.  I can't find anything about WWI.  But in my mind, 5" guns would be secondary mounts on an IS ship.

Light guns are weapons I equate to anything smaller than 4".

Conceptually, here's how I view IS guns.

D12 = 14-15" guns
D10 = 10-12" guns
D8 = 8" guns
D6 = 4-5" guns
Light Guns = anything smaller

Go to forum: Iron Stars

316 Reply by themattcurtis

(28 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

Attached is Dan's proposed approach in PDF format (all zipped up).  Und ja, it's a good bit more streamlined than my original ideers.  I should stay at what I'm best at.....and game mechanics ain't it  big_smile

Go to forum: Iron Stars

317 Reply by themattcurtis

(28 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

That works fine for me.  Makes it a lot less to remember, as well -- so target modifiers are range, and maybe speed?  We're suggesting that the acting ship is firing at a point in space because its crew saw/detected something to arise suspicion.  But if that fleeting shadow was hauling tail, it will add to the difficulty of illuminating it.

Go to forum: Iron Stars

318 Reply by themattcurtis

(28 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

Bad, schmad.  It's a house rule for my little group, and ya don't gotta use it.

Here yer idea's "bad" followed by nuthing more than "nuff said" kills the ole' enthusiasm.

Go to forum: Iron Stars

319 Reply by themattcurtis

(28 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

This is a much better approach, IMHO.

smile

I think it's taking shape. 

It has a time duration that fits within the IS game turn -- meaning it affects things on the board for 10 minutes.

It has a range limit in that a ship with D6 secondaries is going to have a hard time successfully illuminating a point on the board 15" away (you'd need to roll a "6" to get it right where you want).

It lets ships compensate for that limit by saturating the area with star shells -- meaning that while it's hard to be pinpoint at 15", you can invest all of your available secondaries into this tactic and hope the enlarged template will still do the job.

It supplements the searchlights instead of replacing them.

It's relatively quick (just 1 or 2 rolls per acting ship).

And it ain't a game breaker.  While this can help light up the board, you're losing firepower, and running the risk of illuminating friendly hulls as well as hostiles.

I'll wait to hear if anyone's got probs with it, and if there aren't any by 5 p.m., I'll drop a PDf for folks wanting to test it out.

Matt

Go to forum: Iron Stars

320 Reply by themattcurtis

(28 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

Bumping the thread 'cause I wanna keep the topic alive smile

I've been thinking that maybe my proposed kit is adding too many rolls to the average turn.  I would want to keep this as "area effect" technology.  How's about:

A ship launches flares/star shells out of its secondaries.  The number of rounds that can be fired is still limited by the firing arc (so a ship can with 8 secondaries can fire four star shells out of its P or S arc).

Before doing anything, you announce how many secondaries will be firing flares/star shells.

You then nominate an enemy ship and make a single to-hit roll as mentioned above: 1/2 die + range.  If you hit, you've illuminated the ship and anything else that falls under your template.

The template's size is equal to the number of secondaries you've committed. 

1-2 secondaries = 2" template
3-4 secondaries = 3" template
5-6 secondaries = 4" templates
7-8 secondaries = 5" template

If you miss, you roll D12 for scatter direction and the distance the shell went off target is 1" for every point by which you missed your roll.

The template stays in place until the conclusion of the End Phase.  I don't think we could include fading rules because the average turn is 10+ minutes and the flares won't be burning longer than that, anyway. 

This approach lets the whole process be limited to one roll, two max.  And it makes sense to me because a ship that's trying to find the enemy isn't going to be firing a dozen flares in a dozen different directions.  It's going to be concentrating ALL of its attention on a specific area.

Example: A Makuhari is firing during the "Active" Combat Phase.  It wants to target that Chinese cruiser that's 14" away. The player announces he's going to fire some flares/star shells/whatever you wanna call 'em.

The Makuhari has 8 secondaries, which means it can commit up to four guns to illumination and this is what it does.  The Japanese player places a 3" (small mine template) over the Chinese ship, and rolls a single die.  He needs a 3+2 for range or a 5+ to hit, and gets 3.  He misses by 2", so now he has to roll for scatter.  Any ship touched by the template is considered to be "illuminated" for the rest of the Turn, so if any friendly ships are highlighted this way, they can be targeted by the Chinese during their Reactive Phase without having to do anything.  In the meantime, those secondaries cannot be used to attack anyone this turn.

Go to forum: Iron Stars

321 Topic by themattcurtis

(9 replies, posted in Miniatures)

OK --

This week I'll be hitting the woman to let me buy my first IS minis using the VISA.  Checking out the Brigade Site, I'll be able to get the following for about $31 plus shipping:

Some Stands
A Bantam class BB
Two Haemonculus class Cruisers
Three Tycho class Light Cruisers

If I order them this week, I should have them in plenty of time for Father's Day.  And Hell, I live 40 minutes from downtown Columbus.  Something's slated to hit here in June, isn't it?

I figure I'll have two fleets for my use.  The Brits, and the Austrians (if/when they come out -- that's gotta be a ways off).

My main question is -- what colors to use?  I have a ton of Reaper paints, and I've been trying to think of a uniform scheme for my fleet.  It can't be anything too outlandish, 'cause these are early 20th century ships, regardless of the tech.  But then, you don't want it to be too dull, either. 

Anyone painting IS ships yet?

Go to forum: Miniatures

322 Reply by themattcurtis

(14 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

OOOOO.....OOOOO!

and we have conversion guidelines right here in this forum big_smile

Go to forum: Iron Stars

323 Reply by themattcurtis

(28 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

I'd like to keep it as illuminating an area rather than a specific hull.

Flares and illumination rounds are speculative kit met to light up an area of water (or in this case, space).  Best example I can think of them being used -- in the books I've read -- are WW2 night battles between US and Japanese ships off Guadalcanal and British and Italian ships fighting in the Med.

My mechanics may be a bit clunky.  I would really go for Taltos's suggestion for the templates fading away, except I think Dan's said the average IS turn is supposed to be 10+ minutes.  Like Grand Fleets, we're abstracting things to a large degree, where you make 6-8 to-hit rolls with your Primary Guns, but those represent the 6-8 shells that actually had a chance of hitting.  There's actually been a good bit more shooting than that. 

Matt -- who's lost half his frigging IS notes in one fell swoop  :shock:

Go to forum: Iron Stars

324 Topic by themattcurtis

(28 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

I have a campaign I'm trying to draw up for IS that fits between The Merchant War and the next supplement -- dated 1911 to early 1912.  It's a relatively minor conflict that will involve my vision of  slightly upgraded Japanese and Chinese fleets. Obviously, it's an unofficial kinda thing.  The idea is the Japanese are alarmed by the Empress exile's constant demands regarding the the territories Tokyo is holding "in trust," and by the fact that Taiwan has gained access to the KF cluster (the Merchant War has opened the doors to that resource), allowing it modernize its small ether fleet.  I know Wasserstahl has military applications that go beyond the IS rulebook (land and sea based war machines).  That's why the stuff's in such high demand and ether fleets now have an actual impact on political developments down on Earth.

One piece of tech I was working on might supplement the standard searchlight rule, and centers on the idea of a ship using its secondary mounts to fire star shells/flares/whatever to illuminate surrounding space.

kaika -- Japanese word for bloom?

Where the searchlight rules give you a number of beams based on hull size, these would give you a number of rolls dependent on how many secondary mounts your ship possesses.  Say your ship has 8 Secondaries.  You might get four rolls, regardless of the firing arc.  Or you might get the normal arc limitations.  I dunno.

The player deciding to employ this kind of kit would roll to-hit just as if he were targeting a ship.  He would pick a spot on a map, determine range and treat it as if it has an armor value of "0."  If he "hits" he has illuminated a point on the map 3" in diameter (use a small mine template).  If he misses, he rolls a D12 die to determine direction of scatter, and moves his template a certain distance (say 2" for every point by which he missed). 

The downside is that 1.) secondaries used for this purpose cannot be used to attack opposing ships in the same turn and 2.) any ship in that affected radius is illuminated, so there's a chance that you will highlight one of your own vessels to the opposition. 

Neither primaries or light guns can be used to illuminate the board.  But this technique CAN be used to supplement your onboard searchlights.

Example: A Senjo class cruiser wants to target the Tai Zhou,  which is 14" away.  That requires some hefty rolls by its searchlights, and the beams aren't up to the job.  The Japanese player has one more chance.  He has four secondary mounts, so he can get two attempts at using his star shells.  He needs to roll a 5+ (base target # of 3 plus 2 for range), and lands one shot while rolling a "2" on the other.  One shell is wildly off target. 


Stupid?

Go to forum: Iron Stars

325 Reply by themattcurtis

(47 replies, posted in Iron Stars)

Added one last ship to the Ottoman roster -- the Sebat class CL (has a sister ship named Kuvvet.  A modification of the British Tyco.  Six just seems like a nice number for a starting fleet.

Fluff is finalized, at least in my mind, as well.

So feel free to try 'em or just read 'em and throw yer feedback this way.

Matt

Go to forum: Iron Stars