"Engage the enemy more closely"
-Adm. Horatio Nelson
"It is foolish to expect troops to execute tactics in which they have not been trained."
-Wayne P. Hughes
Sailing Orders (Optional Rule)
The 'Sailing Orders' optional rule adds an additional layer of decision making to the movement orders phase of SMX combat. It encompasses some existing optional rules into a single format, while adding several others. The intent is to bring some representation of the men, as well as the machines, onto the board, as well as to hopefully add simple rules which have complex implications.
A ships crew may normally be trained in the execution of three sailing orders. These orders, such as erratic manuvers or ramming, represent doctrines or operational paradigms outside the 'normal' starship doctrine. For each ship, the orders that a crew is trained to must be chosen at the start of the battle (oftimes it is recommended that the choices be the same throughout a fleet, or perhaps squadron). To give a specific sailing order, the admiral must indicate during the movement orders stage of a given turn what sailing orders he wants his ships to be operating under on the following turn (orders take time to dissimnate, people take time to respond, and ramming stations take time to assume!).
Under normal circumstances, a ship may recieve the benefits and burdens of only one sailing order at a time.
Current Optional Rules Reinvisioned as Sailing Orders:
Evasive Action:
Effects as under E.1 et seq.
Emergency Thrust
Effects as under E.2 et seq.
Ramming:
Effects as under E.5 et seq.
Directional Shielding:
As under G.2
Overloading Shields
As under G.5
Other optional rules seemed to fall more under the moniker of technology than of crew, so are for our purposes left as independent optional rules.
Additional Sailing Orders:
Aimed Fire:
By focusing on careful aim, and taking additional time to line up their shots, the crew of the vessel has a better chance of landing its blows. All to-hit target numbers are decreased by 1.
However, by taking additional time to line up the shot, the vessel makes itself more vulnerable to taking damage before dealing it. All incoming damage is applied to the vessel before its fire is resolved, such that any weapons destroyed by enemy fire will not have the opportunity to reply.
If opposing ships have chosen aimed fire, then any damage they deal to one another is resolved simultaneously.
Brace for Impact:
A vessel operating under ‘Brace for Impact' may not turn or sideslip. In addition, as the crew is focused on defensive rather than offensive actions, all outgoing fire suffers a -1 penalty. This greater defensive preparation serves to mitigate incoming damage, however, with the damage from each successful shield penetration having a 50% of being reduced by 1.
A ship may not Brace for Impact in the same turn she is Steady as She Goes
Closing the Gunports:
A ship must make allowances in its screens for its own outgoing fire.
Whether a matter of actual 'gunport' holes in the screens, or a matter of
frequency modulation, fire must be allowed to pass through the ships
defenses to reach out for its opponents.
Those holes in a ships defenses are just that. Holes. Weaknesses.
A ship may choose to close its gunports on any give turn, during movement
orders, by writing 'CG' at the end of its movement orders.
On any turn in which a ships gunports are closed, the ship may not fire, but its shields on any facing with a shield rating of at least one are treated as being one higher (to a maximum of 5)
Double Shot:
Weapons, like engines and shields, may be pushed outside their normal operational parameters. A weapon may have additional energy channeled through it to double its damage. A ship that intends to double-shot its weapons must do so by bank, rather than by individual weapon. For any weapon which is double shot, roll a D6. On a result of 4, 5, or 6, the weapon is destroyed. If using any form of repair rules, this weapon may not be repaired within the scenario.
Double Shot may not be used with expendable weapons.
Engage more Closely:
By focusing on volume of fire rather than accuracy of fire, a trained crew can fill an area of space with a devastating rain of weapons. Like Double Shot, Engage more Closely must be determined by bank, must be denoted in movement orders, and may not be used with expendable weapons. Weapons fired in ‘engage more closely' add one to their rate of fire, but add a +1 to their to hit numbers at close range, with a +2 at medium and a +3 at long.
A ship under Engage more Closely orders may not benefit from TDAR
Fire as she Bears:
By maximizing the potential to damage the foe, before being damaged in return, the vessel that fires as she bears does her damage before normal ship combat, such that any damage she deals is resolved immediately, possibly denying enemy vessels the opportunity to return fire.
A ship under orders to fire as she bears resolves her damage before all other ships fire, but all to hit rolls are at a -1 penalty.
A ship under Fire as she Bears may not benefit from TDAR
Hard About
By vectoring the drives, distorting the grav field, or throwing out an anchor, the ship can bring itself about far more rapidly than is normal. A ship under 'Hard About' orders may, once during its move, expend 1 movement point to come to any new facing. However, such a manuver is incredibly stressful on the ships engines, and the ship must roll a die after the manuver. On a 5 or 6, the manuver is successful, but the vessel may not move in the following turn.
Passive Fire Control:
By 'going passive', a ship may intentionally restrict its emissions, such
that foes may not as easily fire upon it. However, targeting the vessels
own weapons also becomes more difficult.
A ship using passive fire control suffers a -1 penalty on all fire at short range, -2 at medium, and -3 at long, irrespective of any weapons modifiers such as no range penalty or inverted range penalty.
Passive fire control cannot be combined with an attempt to gain a sensor lock, nor may a ship under passive fire control gain any benefit from a TDAR system.
Reefing the Engines:
Starship Engines operating at full burn are an easy target for enemy fire, as well as being supremely vulnerable to that fire due to the massive energies coursing through them. A ship may choose to reduce this vulnerability by reducing the amount of power running through its engines.
A ship whose engines are reefed (RF on the movement orders) may use only half its normal movement points that turn (round down). However, the vessel is allowed to roll a die for every engine box that would be destroyed. On a 5 or 6, the engine box is not lost.
Note that erratic maneuvers demand such high volume, and constant, thrust that a ship may not simultaneously engage in erratic maneuvers and reef back its engines.
Steady as she Goes:
A vessel is usually considered to be maneuvering to prevent enemy fire. By holding a steady course, a vessel may improve its own ability to deliver fire, at the price of an equivalent increase in enemy accuracy.
Under 'Steady as she goes' orders, the ship receives a +1 bonus on its
to-hit rolls, while all fire against it is also at a +1 bonus. Ships under
'Steady as she goes' orders may not turn or sideslip, and may not gain the benefit of overthrusters or a stutterdrive.
Volley Fire:
A ship engaging in Volley fire makes a single to-hit roll for all weapons fire at a single target. That die roll is applied against the to-hit number for each weapon. Note that the single roll produced for Volley fire does not apply to weapons requiring a subsequent to hit roll, such as those which may or must re-roll to-hit, or repeating weapons.
Crew Quality:
Green:
Fresh out of the academy combined with a healthy leavening of the crew members that other ships felt they could most do without. If Siberia is a concept, this crew wrote the book.
Maximum Sailing Orders: 1
CR Modifier:
Trained:
Trained and practiced at their duties, and about as sharp as they can be without getting to regularly fire shots in anger. The typical crew of the typical real-world navy.
Maximum Sailing Orders: 2
CR Modifier:
Experienced:
The crew encompasses numerous veterans of numerous battles, or is at the worst the product of a navy which has found itself engaged in an extended and heavily fought conflict or conflicts. The typical member of the typical naval-war-gamer's navy.
Maximum Sailing Orders: 3
CR Modifier: None
Veteran:
The crew has served on numerous fronts against numerous foes, and has been together for an extended period of time. Veteran crews are the backbone of a fleet, and too often it is only the lighter combatants that see enough duty to become this polished.
Maximum sailing Orders: 4
CR Modifier:
Crack:
The best of the best. These are the crews that get bad holovids made about them for propaganda at home. These are the crews that have been there when the worst of the worst happened. Their ancestors fought at Trafalger, they fought on the Line, and their cousin Batty has seen things you people wouldnt believe...
Maximum Sailing Orders: 5
CR Modifier:
Crew Specialties:
Not really 'sailing orders' per se, these represent special training of the crew that is always in effect.
Efficient Crew:
The crew may execute sailing orders in the turn they are written, rather than in the subsequent turn.
Talented Crew:
The crew may perform two sailing orders simultaneously.
DESIGNERS NOTES:
The idea was to give us something else, beyond 'where do I move and what do I shoot', while desparately struggling not to add more than the most minor of record keeping. All tactics may not be balanced. Im sure there are some hideously abusive interactions I've missed. Some care was taken to make this as transparent as possible to the existing gamer and navy, who could probably declare all his ships regular, efficient crew as one of his 3 sailing orders, then pick the two optional rules he actually uses as his two (probably evasive action and emergency thrust, if hes like me), while allowing additional, hopefully balanced options. I intended every tactic to have a penalty that was at least as large as the bonus, usually larger, but to allow you to situationally give up something you didnt need to get something you did.
Also, I liked the idea of bringing the crews into it, that human element that simply cannot execute, on the fly, whatever crazy idea our nigh-omniscient point of view has suddenly decided will salvage the situation. Real naval commanders dont get to completely change the way they do buisness in the middle of a battle, no matter how useful that change would be... I was trying to get some element of that without making people roll dice to move their ships.
I readily welcome thoughts and comments, both on actual manuvers, and on whether the idea as a whole is a waste of time.
Optional rules on TRYING to implement Sailing Orders you have not trained in, as well as possible communications difficulties and delays in ordering, were considered, but not implemented.</r>
