The Rancor Pit Forum Index
Welcome to The Rancor Pit forums!

The Rancor Pit Forum Index
FAQ   ::   Search   ::   Memberlist   ::   Usergroups   ::   Register   ::   Profile   ::   Log in to check your private messages   ::   Log in

ImpSB Sector Group Organization: How To Improve It
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> Gamemasters -> ImpSB Sector Group Organization: How To Improve It Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10  Next
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2018 5:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's sort of the direction I'm leaning. Basically, I'm looking at a 3+1 organization at the company level, with 3 line platoons augmented by a heavy weapons platoon that handles all of the anti-armor, air defense and indirect fire weaponry, which is then parcelled out to the line platoons as needed.

Rather than limiting the squads to strictly infantry only, I'm thinking more in terms of allowing opposed commanders a +2D roll on Tactics (using the Tactics conversion from the Rules Companion) to generate combat bonuses. Basically, that the Imperial Army can make use of vehicle or heavy weapons support, but will nearly always do it in a specific manner as proscribed by doctrine.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Pel
Line Captain
Line Captain


Joined: 10 May 2006
Posts: 983
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2018 7:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

While you're at it, don't forget the Commissars, I mean ISB agents. Wink
_________________
Aha!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2018 8:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pel wrote:
While you're at it, don't forget the Commissars, I mean ISB agents. Wink

Oddly enough, I was thinking about just that, what with my COMPNOR expansion. Giving CompForce Observation units a lot more unilateral authority - up to and including summary execution for treasonous activity - would have a similar effect.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Pel
Line Captain
Line Captain


Joined: 10 May 2006
Posts: 983
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2018 1:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, if you're going for rigid adherence to doctrine, having COMPNOR around would make a lot of sense. Well, not from a tactical standpoint, but you know what I mean.
_________________
Aha!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2018 11:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pel wrote:
Well, if you're going for rigid adherence to doctrine, having COMPNOR around would make a lot of sense. Well, not from a tactical standpoint, but you know what I mean.

Exactly. The design intent here is a balance of factors, where tactical effectiveness is limited because of the Empire's authoritarian nature, in that they are willing to sacrifice tactical effectiveness in the interests of asserting control over their assets.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Pel
Line Captain
Line Captain


Joined: 10 May 2006
Posts: 983
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2018 12:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In 40k the Commissars have some pretty good gear, especially compared to the grunt troops. Are you planning to outfit your COMPNOR agents with anything special e.g. disruptors or shock whips?
_________________
Aha!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2018 12:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pel wrote:
In 40k the Commissars have some pretty good gear, especially compared to the grunt troops. Are you planning to outfit your COMPNOR agents with anything special e.g. disruptors or shock whips?

I'm not sure yet. A 40K commissar is a pretty formidable prospect; I'm thinking something more along the lines of the political officers of the old Soviet military, which in many ways is exactly what Observation is.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2018 5:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So, what I'm thinking in broad terms for infantry units is to have a multi-tiered 3+1 base model, with 3 line units (squads, platoons or companies) supported by a special weapons unit of the same size. At the Company level, the Special Weapons Platoon would be equipped with man-portable heavy weapons that can be fired on-the-move (albeit with some difficulty), such as medium repeating blasters, shoulder-fired light laser cannon and some form of indirect fire support weapon (AGLs or light mortars). At the Battalion level, the Special Weapons Company would be equipped with heavier, crew-served weaponry that has to be broken down and reassembled. So that leaves the Platoon-level Special Weapons Squad. I'm split between either just giving Line Platoons four Line Squads or taking a page from the Warhammer 40K infantry units and giving each Line Platoon a Special Weapons Squad equipped for close assault, either equipped with Power Shields and Riot Blasters (ala the Tactical Squad described in this post), or something more exotic, like flamers or force pikes.

Any input from you military folks as to the necessity of a dedicated assault weapons squad at that organizational level?

On a broader note, I'm leaning toward emphasizing the Imperial Army's modularity as a factor of its organization, in that rather than having an overly-rigid organizational structure, the Army instead is organized to be broken up and cross-attached at various levels based on the needs of the mission. For example, within the 3+1 organization at low- to mid-level, the special weapons platoon could chop three of its squads one-apiece to the three line platoons, keeping the fourth as a reserve attached to the company HQ.

The predictability issue here would be that, while not as rigid as what is described in the ImpSB, the modular restructuring of a deployed unit would be done on a predictable pattern, in that a given set of tactical concerns for a field commander will always be "solved" by attaching a specific sort of unit to the base organizational unit.

So, in broad strokes, I'm leaning towards the following organizational structure of the Army as a whole:
    1). Garrison units - by far the most numerous, and generally deployed to hold and defend "peaceful" planets (although the definition of peaceful varies a great deal). The number of garrison units deployed to a given world will be based on two factors: population and restiveness. Generally, occupied worlds with a rebellious population will have one Garrison Legion per million citizens, while relatively peaceful, loyal worlds will have as few as one Garrison Legion per hundred million citizens. For example, a planet like Earth could have anywhere from 70 Garrison Legions to 7,000, depending on how resistant the population is to Imperial rule. The TO&E of a Garrison unit is primarily defensive, with few armored fighting vehicles, and composed primarily of Infantry, mostly equipped with non-combat transport (trucks) backed up by some armored vehicles and motorized infantry.

    2). Battle units - The main combat arm of the Imperial Army, equipped as a highly mobile fighting force. While Battle units generally outgun Garrison units on an individual basis, their real strength is in their mobility, in that a Battle unit is sufficiently mobile to fight a running battle against multiple Garrison units and defeat them in detail before the Garrison units can concentrate against them. The TO&E of a Battle Unit is almost always centered around offensive mobility; the entire unit will be equipped with some form of transportation, with supporting units sufficiently mobile as to keep pace with the combat arms. Battle units are sub-divided into two groups, based on mission type (and by extension, weapon and vehicle "weight"): Armored and Mobile. Armored is equipped primarily with heavy vehicles, and is used primarily against concentrated enemy units or heavily defended objectives. Mobile, by contrast, is equipped with a larger number of lighter vehicles, which allows them to cover much more ground, making them ideal for more dispersed combat spread across a wider area. It is common to mix the two types, with Mobile units providing scouting and flank protection for the heavy combat power of Armored units.

    3). Ranger units - Replacing the Line Units of the ImpSB, Ranger units are organized as Light Infantry, and are almost never deployed as a full unit above the Battalion level. Ranger units are an attempt to use the tactics of the Alliance against them, with small dispersed units of skilled infantry operating with high levels of independence, usually in rough terrain - mountains, jungles, thick forests, etc - where heavy armored vehicles are less useful.

    4). Auxiliary units - These units exist primarily for organizational purposes to provide detachments to field units based on mission requirements. There are any number of different unit types: indirect fire artillery, orbital artillery, air defense artillery, military police, transport, combat engineering, construction, and so on and so forth. The unit itself is almost entirely administrative in nature, "chopping" subordinate units as attachments to Battle or Ranger units based on need.

    5). Storm units - In short, the Stormtrooper Corps. While not technically part of the Imperial Army, the Army often makes use of Stormtrooper units as "kick-in-the-door" units, performing rapid-reaction or limited strikes against high-value targets, or making the initial landing assaults required to secure the space ports necessary to land the Battle units who will perform the majority of the fighting.

_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Naaman
Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral


Joined: 29 Jul 2011
Posts: 3191

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2018 10:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is the storm trooper corps organized in a similar way to the army?

Also, in game terms, how do you reckon that any "rigid" structure would play out? Would the GM roll command or bureaucracy for a particular officer to see how much support personnel/equipment he could requisition for his post before the game starts? Otherwise, if it is purely story driven, the lack of flexibility would have to be a theme in the campaign, it would seem. Or else whenever the rebels show up, every imperial encounter would simply have whatever the doctrine dictated for that tier of element.

How familiar are you with 40k?

Your reference to special assault squads raises some questions. What comes to mind based on your description is something like a sisters of battle Dominion squad, whereby the primary weapons in that squad are special weapons, and the additional personnel (probably the junior troops in the squad) carry the bolter to support their sisters until one of them is killed or they prove themselves worthy of a more specialized weapon, etc.

As to which level of organization it would apply, I think that should depend on the mission of the unit (as well as the MOS in many cases). For example, a purely defensive element may have access to all the same stuff as an offensive one, but it may be organized in a different way.

Check out some articles on "defensive snipers" for example. Also, heavy/special weapons in a defensive unit might be used in a guard tower, as opposed to offensive troops mounting them on vehicles.

If you have a unit defending a base, and all the heavy/special weapons are organized at the battalion level, then you have to use that battalion to provide defense first, and whatever they have left, they can second out to their subordinate companies who are actually the ones going out and performing the direct action raids, search and destroy, route recon, etc.

In other words, a "battle unit" would still need "defensive" personnel in order to protect any ground claimed and hold a base of operations where the theater commander and top brass can exercise command and control. Rear security is every bit as valuable as all the firepower at the "front."

I said all that to bring it back around to this: the reduced flexibility needs to be a "thing" (and probably a rules-based thing in an imperial-heavy campaign) in order for all the structure to mean anything in game terms.

The higher up in echelon you go, the "softer" the troops tend to get. If you have a battalion commander who is in charge of all the heavy weapons for his brigade, then when he "chops" them out to other units, he has nothing left to command. Likewise, if it is a company, it would seem that only (for example) half of the company would be available for attachment to sister companies, while the other half would make up the FOB defense force (or whatever). If so, then you create that inflexibility being mentioned whereby if the mission requires another platoon of special weapons, you have to petition troops from another brigade (which takes a high level bureaucracy/command roll) to get involved, slowing down the whole process of requisitioning troops (which is why I think that a roll at the start of the game would be a great way to determine if the imperial commander has "enough" specialized troops to deal with whatever they happen to encounter).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2018 4:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Naaman wrote:
Is the storm trooper corps organized in a similar way to the army?

Yes; essentially, stormtroopers are organized as an amalgamation of the Marines and Airborne. The core units are infantry, but can deployed aboard AT-ATs or other armored vehicles (combined arms), shuttles/airspeeders (air assault / boarding troops) or orbital drop pods (airborne), or they can be deployed with garrison units to defend high-value targets. I'm dispensing with the ImpSB's silly "no support units," however. Stormtrooper units will have their own medics and techs (who will double as combat engineers), but the support personnel will be trained to basic stormtrooper combat standards. The main cut will be to the Supply sections of the OB, as a stormtrooper's armor handles a lot of the logistics load.

Quote:
Also, in game terms, how do you reckon that any "rigid" structure would play out? Would the GM roll command or bureaucracy for a particular officer to see how much support personnel/equipment he could requisition for his post before the game starts? Otherwise, if it is purely story driven, the lack of flexibility would have to be a theme in the campaign, it would seem. Or else whenever the rebels show up, every imperial encounter would simply have whatever the doctrine dictated for that tier of element.

Mostly I'd just keep it as a story factor, so I don't have to game out every conceivable combination and scenario. The simplest form would be to grant a general Tactics bonus to opposed commanders, as the tactical doctrine would be sufficiently set in stone that a smart commander could tell how most Imperial Army units will react to a given set of circumstances.

Quote:
How familiar are you with 40k?

Your reference to special assault squads raises some questions. What comes to mind based on your description is something like a sisters of battle Dominion squad, whereby the primary weapons in that squad are special weapons, and the additional personnel (probably the junior troops in the squad) carry the bolter to support their sisters until one of them is killed or they prove themselves worthy of a more specialized weapon, etc.

That's where I got the idea. I'm still considering how I would equip them, though. Putting the designated marksmen into this squad at the platoon level is an option, too.

Quote:
As to which level of organization it would apply, I think that should depend on the mission of the unit (as well as the MOS in many cases). For example, a purely defensive element may have access to all the same stuff as an offensive one, but it may be organized in a different way.

That's my basic concept; at the company level, the heavy weapons will be mostly man-portable (as in, one person can move and fire the weapon, with some added difficulty if trying to combine the two), with no need to stop and assemble the weapon, ala the E-Web. At the Battalion level, the Heavy Weapons Company will be equipped with componentized, "fixed" emplacement weapons that must be mounted on a tripod or a vehicle. These would be used both defensively (in fixed positions at fire bases or FOBs) and offensively (either vehicle mounted or carried into position ala the hangar bay on Hoth). So there would be a mix of Heavy Repeating Blasters, Light Laser Cannon (anti-vehicle) and some sort of advanced mortar for fire support, as well as possibly some snipers (although scout/snipers could also be attached to the Intel section of the HQ). A lot of that, though, is going to depend on whether the unit in question is "offensive" or "defensive" in nature. For instance, a Garrison unit as described above is going to be more concerned with holding ground than it is taking new ground, and as such, its heavy weapons are more likely to be in fixed positions (pill boxes, guard towers, etc)

The main thing I'm hung up on at the moment is how to equip the "Assault Squads" at the Platoon level, as in what sort of weapons would be appropriate for such a unit without duplicating the weaponry found in either the line squads or the heavy weapons platoon. This could be where the platoon's designated marksmen are assigned, for example.

Quote:
In other words, a "battle unit" would still need "defensive" personnel in order to protect any ground claimed and hold a base of operations where the theater commander and top brass can exercise command and control. Rear security is every bit as valuable as all the firepower at the "front."

Armored vs Mobile is mainly in reference to the size of the vehicles equipped and the sorts of missions to which they are deployed. For instance, an Armored Corps will be composed of both Armored Assault Legions (primarily tanks with some infantry) and Armored Infantry Legions (primarily mechanized infantry with some tanks), with the Assault Legions providing the heavy striking power and the Armored Infantry Legions serving as a "mobile backup" to the Assault Legions, both holding territory gained and providing additional striking power to back up the tanks.

Right now, I'm thinking a 2+1+1 organization; for instance, an Assault Legion would have 2 Assault Regiments (tanks) and 1 Infantry Regiment (mech infantry) backed by 1 Artillery Regiment, along with supporting detachments like Combat Engineers and Aviation (airspeeders, mostly).

I'm playing around with some of the nomenclature, too. The Renegade Legion game uses the term Strike Legion for Armored Assault (tanks), which has a nice ring to it, and I'm considering using Dragoon Legion for the mech infantry (Dragoon being the old term for mounted infantry).

Quote:
I said all that to bring it back around to this: the reduced flexibility needs to be a "thing" (and probably a rules-based thing in an imperial-heavy campaign) in order for all the structure to mean anything in game terms.

The higher up in echelon you go, the "softer" the troops tend to get. If you have a battalion commander who is in charge of all the heavy weapons for his brigade, then when he "chops" them out to other units, he has nothing left to command. Likewise, if it is a company, it would seem that only (for example) half of the company would be available for attachment to sister companies, while the other half would make up the FOB defense force (or whatever). If so, then you create that inflexibility being mentioned whereby if the mission requires another platoon of special weapons, you have to petition troops from another brigade (which takes a high level bureaucracy/command roll) to get involved, slowing down the whole process of requisitioning troops (which is why I think that a roll at the start of the game would be a great way to determine if the imperial commander has "enough" specialized troops to deal with whatever they happen to encounter).

At the Regiment / Brigade level is where the Heavy Weapons units give way to actual Artillery, which is much less likely to be parcelled out in the same way that lighter support weapons units might be. For a more static emplacement like a garrison unit, they'll be restricted mainly to firebases and the like, which will themselves be heavily defended by supporting weaponry. The ImpSB actually goes so far as to assign an Artillery Battalion its own Heavy Weapons company for perimeter security. At the Regimental level, it gets a full Assault Battalion, plus a Scout Company.

But yeah, I see your point. I think there's some merit to the ImpSB's original concept of defining support personnel separately from combat troops. As far as support personnel, though, I am planning on introducing some more of the traditional staff sections (operations, administration, intel, etc), but with much leaner personnel numbers due to droids handling most of the low-level clerical and data-processing duties while humans oversee them.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Naaman
Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral


Joined: 29 Jul 2011
Posts: 3191

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2018 5:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Concerning the special weapons, a few come to mind:

Disruptors
Ion Guns
Grenade Launchers (such as a pump-action or rotating cylinder)


Or for melee weapons:
Electro Staves (or even electro batons... though... either might be best reserved for something like inquisitorial stormtroopers).
Force Pikes

There are also options like:
Anti-Air craft stinger missile type weapons
Anti-Tank AT4 type weapons

You mentioned putting the DM in the special weapons squad, which might work (to illustrate the lack of flexibility), especially since he/they won't always be available when it comes to squad-level operations for the platoon (the squad that happens to need a DM might not have had the benefit of having one attached before hand).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2018 3:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Naaman wrote:
Concerning the special weapons, a few come to mind:

Disruptors
Ion Guns
Grenade Launchers (such as a pump-action or rotating cylinder)

I was already planning on equipping Line Squads with 1-2 grenade launcher attachments for standard blaster rifles, along with 1-2 light repeating blasters.

Ion guns are already covered by the DEMP blaster, which I see a regular trooper carrying as a secondary weapon in a carbine configuration (short barrel and folding stock, allowing it to be holstered out of the way of the trooper's primary weapon). For close range, a DEMP is actually more useful than an ion cannon, as it can inflict permanent damage to electronics at its highest setting.

How do you see disruptors being used? I see two possibilities: either close-quarters anti-personnel or a relatively short range anti-armor system.

The only thing I'm hesitant about is that having a platoon equipped with exclusively blasters backed up by some grenade launchers greatly simplifies logistics at the lower levels; supply basically just has to send in a bunch of blaster gas tanks and crates of grenades, and every blaster weapon in the platoon can make use of the same blaster gas, just used in different quantities. Tacking on additional, exotic weapons like DEMPs or Disruptors starts getting complicated because we haven't established exactly what weapons like that use for ammo.

An idea that I liked from the Aliens universe is that their grenades are designed to be either launched from a launcher or activated and thrown by hand. Basically, each grenade can be loaded into a pump-action launcher, but it also has a push-button activator protected by a safety cap. Something like this would add a lot of versatility to grenade launchers because every trooper would potentially be carrying reloads for it while at the same time carrying their own supply of hand grenades.

Quote:
Or for melee weapons:
Electro Staves (or even electro batons... though... either might be best reserved for something like inquisitorial stormtroopers).
Force Pikes

Force Pikes were specifically described as a crowd control weapon in the Special Weapons chapter, so that's certainly a possibility. Another option would be a force pike-type bayonet on a standard blaster rifle, so the trooper isn't forced to trade one weapon for another.

And as much as I like the power shield idea, I keep on coming back around to the very first movie, and the boarding of the Tantive IV. If power shields were an option, those guys should've been the very first ones through the door. I mean, it's possible that the stormtroopers on Darth Vader's personal star destroyer wouldn't have been equipped with the very best and latest tech, but I don't think it's very probable.

Quote:
There are also options like:
Anti-Air craft stinger missile type weapons
Anti-Tank AT4 type weapons

I'm thinking of combining the two, actually, as two different ammo choices for the same launcher; one with a powerful warhead with relatively limited guidance and maneuverability and the other a highly maneuverable homing variant that sacrifices warhead strength to fit into the same basic frame.

Quote:
You mentioned putting the DM in the special weapons squad, which might work (to illustrate the lack of flexibility), especially since he/they won't always be available when it comes to squad-level operations for the platoon (the squad that happens to need a DM might not have had the benefit of having one attached before hand).

Yeah, that's my main hangup at this point: where to draw the line. I'd like for squads to be relatively well equipped, yet at the same time, I get the distinct feeling that the Empire wouldn't want them too well equipped, and thus not as capable of independent operation.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Pel
Line Captain
Line Captain


Joined: 10 May 2006
Posts: 983
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

CRMcNeill wrote:
How do you see disruptors being used? I see two possibilities: either close-quarters anti-personnel or a relatively short range anti-armor system.

Probably anti-personnel. You really don't want to get that close to armor if you can help it.

Quote:
Tacking on additional, exotic weapons like DEMPs or Disruptors starts getting complicated because we haven't established exactly what weapons like that use for ammo.

Very true. For line troopers exotic weapons don't make sense as the simplified logistics chain you described would work more efficiently. Now, for an ISB Agent, those guys probably would have an exotic piece or two and access to their own supply chain.

For example, the Commissars in 40k use bolter pistols, but the line troops have lasguns and the occasional missile launcher. I don't recall a Commissar ever running out of bolter rounds so unless they hide an ammo crate under their greatcoat, they're receiving munitions either from the Army or through their own supply chain. I think ISB would probably make some logistic arrangements so their agents could actually complete their missions.
_________________
Aha!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2018 1:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pel wrote:
CRMcNeill wrote:
How do you see disruptors being used? I see two possibilities: either close-quarters anti-personnel or a relatively short range anti-armor system.

Probably anti-personnel. You really don't want to get that close to armor if you can help it.

Key phrase: "if you can help it." Usually by the time it gets that close, you couldn't help it.

Quote:
For line troopers exotic weapons don't make sense as the simplified logistics chain you described would work more efficiently. Now, for an ISB Agent, those guys probably would have an exotic piece or two and access to their own supply chain.

For example, the Commissars in 40k use bolter pistols, but the line troops have lasguns and the occasional missile launcher. I don't recall a Commissar ever running out of bolter rounds so unless they hide an ammo crate under their greatcoat, they're receiving munitions either from the Army or through their own supply chain. I think ISB would probably make some logistic arrangements so their agents could actually complete their missions.

That's always been one of my arguments for the proliferation of blaster weapons in the SWU: supply chain simplicity. Rather than having to supply various types of ammo in various calibers (9mm, 5.56, 7.62 NATO, 40mm grenades, etc.), just ship canisters of blaster gas, which can then be used in everybody's personal weapons. Combine that with the tiny amount of blaster gas used per shot (a fraction of the volume of a bullet), and it just makes more sense to use when blasters when you're trying to arm trillions of soldiers.

I did write up stats a while back for Bolters, but I've had some new ideas since then, and they are in need of a re-write. Among other things, I was thinking of folding the Micro-Grenade Launcher from the Bounty Hunters Galaxy Guide into the Bolter, along with a few other changes...
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Naaman
Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral


Joined: 29 Jul 2011
Posts: 3191

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 10:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, with regard to the multi-shot grenade launcher, it could do a lot more work than a single shot auxiliary grenade launcher.

Also, you could rule that the special weapons teams grenadiers have access to a larger variety of grenade types and that the grenade launchers have more advanced hardware (sighting systems, etc) on them.

For example, if you think of the grenade launcher like a shotgun with a 3.5-inch chamber, you can load it with shells ranging from 2.75 (in some cases, even smaller) up to 3.5 inches depending on how much capacity vs. power you want.

While we're at it, you could make anti-personnel missile launchers that fire more or less "straight" (as opposed to lobbing).


You mentioned "holstering" a carbine. I'm guessing that your definition of "carbine" here is significantly different from the real world (modern) notion (or perhaps you were using the term "holster" loosely)?

Even a PDW (a step below a carbine) is too big to be holstered IRL. The closest thing I can think of is an MP7 or Uzi or something along those lines.

IMO, having two long guns is just too much to be carrying around from a "practical, tactical" standpoint, even if we're talking about something like an M4 and an MP5.

I'm not sure how ammo works for an ion gun, but I assume that the trooper would have to then have ammo for both (unless he just runs with whatever comes in the ion gun and doesn't bother to have reloads on his person... I could see this being a thing... the ion gun not likely to need dozens and dozens of shots as it would not be used in a true firefight, but rather against incidental targets along the way).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> Gamemasters All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10  Next
Page 8 of 10

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group


v2.0