• Registered: 2005-03-28
  • Posts: 379

Topic: For a friend....space nazis must die!

OK, a friend wants to play with the general IS mechanics but says he can't wait the six years or so it will take us to reach the WW2 timeline big_smile

So I thought about some house rules so that he and I could use the existing fold up counters to play games with ships as they might appear in the 1930s and 1940s.

I thought, excluding changes to FACs, this would be relatively simple:

Gunnery -- advanced Fire Control could be bought with the same construction costs as the Babbage Engine.  Instead of spreading fire, it would increase the gun ranges from 5" to 6" bands.  Basically a 20% increase in gun range.

Stealth -- wanna do the German u-boats?  Use the Gyroscopic Stabilizer cost.  Where as the Gyroscopic stabilizer gives a defensive bonus by allowing you to turn as if you were a size smaller (in terms of your hull).  The stealth kit reduces your size by one step when figuring gunnery modifiers (IE -- a D8 gun firing on Small targets used to have a +1 penalty, not it has a +2).

Longer range torpedoes: D12 torpedoes have been taboo for fleets as they are AWFULLY powerful.  But why not use them here at least to represent the advanced Japanese torps?

RADAR: Like searchlights, except you get one roll of 3D10 for VS to S hulls, 2 attempts for M to L and 3 attempts for VL or bigger.

Dats all I got.

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,286

Re: For a friend....space nazis must die!

Dunno about the stealth bit...but the other proposals look reasonable. smile

  • Registered: 2005-03-28
  • Posts: 379

Re: For a friend....space nazis must die!

What would be an alternative?

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,286

Re: For a friend....space nazis must die!

themattcurtis wrote:

What would be an alternative?

There ya got me. 

Since it's space...there really is nowhere for a 'sub' to hide, but since we're dealing with radar...some sort of electronic interference to make detection very hard at anything but short range...and maybe light absorbent paint to reduce the Mk I eyeball detection.  In the end though...there really isn't a way to conceal a ship in space without REAL advanced stuff... :?

  • Registered: 2005-03-29
  • Posts: 859

Re: For a friend....space nazis must die!

But its space Nazis we're talking about here--people would be surprised if they DIDN'T get some weird tech...:D

  • Registered: 2005-03-28
  • Posts: 379

Re: For a friend....space nazis must die!

I think yer trying to apply too many constraints on warships fighting in space  big_smile

Kinda like someone who watches a space opera movie and says "yeah right."

We're talking about sail and screw driven vessels, reverse-engineered from captured Martian technology, able to grip on to the ether.....

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,286

Re: For a friend....space nazis must die!

Well...the concept of the submarine was that it could remain unseen until it attacked...and then skulk away (most of the time).  It has the ocean to hide under and in on the Earth.


In space, without cloaking technology this is simply impossible from a purely realistic standpoint with radar involved and 360-degrees globular emptiness.  Hence the assumption that the best you can do would be to bugger the radar return...leaving the Mk I eyeball...hence the using a matte black paint which itself would help reduce the radar return a small bit.  Therefore...the best they could do would be to get to short range before detection and their attack.  After attacking...well... :?


Subs would have to hide in the shadows to be truely effective in space..near asteroids, in dust clouds, dark sides of planets...etc.  As to advanced technology...I can't think of anything mentioned that would accommodate this.  Light refraction, absorption, and signal diffusion are the means currently used for 'stealth' technologies as far as I know.

That's all I'm getting at.

  • From: Denver, CO
  • Registered: 2005-03-27
  • Posts: 3,578

Re: For a friend....space nazis must die!

themattcurtis wrote:

Gunnery -- advanced Fire Control could be bought with the same construction costs as the Babbage Engine.  Instead of spreading fire, it would increase the gun ranges from 5" to 6" bands.  Basically a 20% increase in gun range.

I'd actually prefer a +1 to-hit, or allow re-rolled misses, before messing with the range bands.

Stealth -- wanna do the German u-boats?  Use the Gyroscopic Stabilizer cost.  Where as the Gyroscopic stabilizer gives a defensive bonus by allowing you to turn as if you were a size smaller (in terms of your hull).  The stealth kit reduces your size by one step when figuring gunnery modifiers (IE -- a D8 gun firing on Small targets used to have a +1 penalty, not it has a +2).

Here's where your range bands can be changed -- allow a ship with stealth to use 4" instead of 5" bands.

Using the size class mods is not a great idea, since it relies on the use of another optional/advanced rule. I've been trying to keep them independent of each other.

Longer range torpedoes: D12 torpedoes have been taboo for fleets as they are AWFULLY powerful.  But why not use them here at least to represent the advanced Japanese torps?

Have they been taboo? I don't remember that... smile

RADAR: Like searchlights, except you get one roll of 3D10 for VS to S hulls, 2 attempts for M to L and 3 attempts for VL or bigger.

Fine.

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

mj12games's Website

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,286

Re: For a friend....space nazis must die!

Semantics probably...;) 

But shouldn't that be if the target ship has stealth then the attacker uses the 4" range bands instead of 5"? 


It just looked like if the attacking ship has stealth then they'd suffer a range penalty instead of an advantage.  :?


(yet ANOTHER example of me locking onto a 'fact' point and missing the obvious solution...d'OH! >< )

  • Registered: 2005-03-28
  • Posts: 379

Re: For a friend....space nazis must die!

oh yeah, I originally tried to give D12 torps to my Austrians for TMW and you said "too powerful."  smile

but if they be fair game.....................

  • From: Denver, CO
  • Registered: 2005-03-27
  • Posts: 3,578

Re: For a friend....space nazis must die!

themattcurtis wrote:

oh yeah, I originally tried to give D12 torps to my Austrians for TMW and you said "too powerful."  smile

Yes... too powerful for the Austrians.

big_smile

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

mj12games's Website

  • Registered: 2005-03-29
  • Posts: 859

Re: For a friend....space nazis must die!

big_smile

So...no weird what-the-hell? techs for the Space Nazis? How unusual...:D

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,424

Re: For a friend....space nazis must die!

Stealth...
Without Infrared or radar, simply painting the ship black is going to help a lot in making a "sub" 'stealthy.

Once you've got Radar, making with the absorbent paints and odd shapes will help make things harder to see. Once you've got some type of Infrared detector, you become hard to hide. Once you've got 'Infrared TV', you're NOT going to be doing any sneaking around.

There is, I suppose, a way to use 'Aether masking' to make a ship's aetheric wake harder to detect.

I don't know if Dan wants to do the whole 'slips into subspace' thing that Subs would have to use after that.....


Uberveapons...
'Space Knights' - heavily armored boarding parties, with what amounts to single shot light guns (and possibly other nasty stuff).

Wire Guided Rockets (they actually had these in WW2) - + to hit

Sandwich Armor - requires *2* penetration rolls?