Battle Stations

[CRMcNeill]

In real life, naval warships do not spend all of their time at maximum alert, and only go to battle stations in the presence of a credible or eminent threat. Getting the entire crew to battle stations, with all combat stations fully manned and ready and the rest of the crew standing by for damage control, could take minutes (i.e. dozens of rounds). However, the existing stats represent ships that are always operating at peak capacity. Should there be rules to represent ships operating at reduced capacity if they are "surprised", and if so, what form should those rules take?
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"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

[Praxian]

I like that thought!

Well, the smaller the ship the easier it is to get to Battlestations. Smaller ships = faster response time. The more trained the crew the faster the response too. Having a group of trained pirates respond to battle stations as opposed to a bunch of snobby nobles who go into space once or twice a month who have to go into battle stations will be a drastically different result in time differences.

even if they're simply in the same ship! =D

Not sure how to implement that though. Maybe something like it takes 2 rounds for every 10 meters long the ship is? Modified by how well trained the crew is and enviromental factors like say how close their bunks are to their "stations" in the ship?

[ZzaphodD]

[jmanski]

And I'm sure there would be rules regarding how long those who are responsible for combat have to get to their battle stations.

I'd think a minute or two maximum for a large ship.
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Blasted rules. Why can't they just be perfect?

[Grimace]

Best thing is to do segments:

Minimal crew: +8 rounds
Below normal crew: +5 rounds
Normal crew: +2 rounds
Slightly crowded: +3 rounds
Cramped/overcrowded: +7 rounds

Untrained crew: +10 rounds
Novice crew: +8 rounds
Experienced/Trained crew: +4 rounds
Veteran crew: +2 rounds
Elite crew: +1 round

Military: +2 rounds
Civilian: +4 rounds
Merchant marine: +3 rounds
Pirate - scallywags: +4 rounds
Pirate - prize crew: +3 rounds
Paramilitary: +3 rounds


So if you had a normal, military crew of trained quality, it would take 8 rounds, or a little over half a minute. If you had a slovenly group of pirates, understrength, and new the trade, it would take 13 rounds, or a little over a minute.

Of course, if you think this should be lengthened, then add a couple few rounds to everything. Just use a baseline for your time, though, and vary everything else off that.

Hope this helps.

[CRMcNeill]

I like Grimace's suggestion, but the other factor is how degraded is the vessel's combat performance before battle stations are fully manned and ready.
_________________
"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

[Grimace]

Non-battle stations: -75% of combat capability, including defenses
"Yellow Alert" / Stand To: -40% of combat capability, including defenses
"Red Alert"/Battle Stations sounded: same as non-battle stations
Ready - 3/4 time: only -50%
Ready - 1/2 time: only -30%
Ready - 1/4 time: only -15%
Ready (At full Battle Stations) : no negatives

So, for an example, if a military ship, like above, takes 8 rounds to get to full battle stations, from the time it's called, after 2 rounds the craft is at -50% to combat and defense. After 4 rounds the craft is at -30% to combat and defense. After 6 rounds the craft is at -15% to combat and defense, and after 8 rounds the craft is at full battle stations and operating at 100%.

[Bren]

If you are doing a lot of ship-based action along the lines of a Star Wars version of Horatio Hornblower / Aubrey-Maturin / Honor Harrington Grimace's suggestion seems very good. Three suggestions:

(1) I would want to include a modifier for the command skill of the officer in charge at the time Red Alert is sounded.

(2) It would be helpful to add a space on the ship stats for the number of rounds to reach battle stations for a particular ship. That way it doesn't have to be refigured each time.

(3) I'd also add a random component to the total so that a ship doesn't always take the exact same number of rounds to reach battle stations. One option would be to add the result of a D6 roll to the total. To keep the net about the same I might lower all the modifiers by 1. That should have a net effect of lowering the total by 3 which offsets the D6 add on.

[garhkal]

[CRMcNeill]

In your collective gaming experience, how long do most combat actions take? I definitely think that any penalties should be no more than a few rounds.

The bare bones version I'm envisioning is something along the lines of Grimace's concept, with the penalties taking the form of dice modifiers instead of percentages. That way, ships with more experienced crews will fare better. I'm thinking something like having the captain roll his Command skill every round to move to the next level of readiness until the ship reaches full combat readiness.
_________________
"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

[ZzaphodD]

[CRMcNeill]

Maybe just a straight dice penalty to all skills, -2D for non-combat stations in the first round of surprise, -1D for while the crew is manning battle stations, then the ship operates as normal once battle stations are fully manned.

Another factor worth considering is that ships with starfighter complements will not be able to launch them all at once. Maybe some of you Navy guys out there can help, but IIRC, out of a squadron of 12, 1-2 at a time will be available for immediate launch, with the others staggered rounds or minutes behind, factoring in the time for the craft to be pre-flighted and for pilots to don their flight suits (off duty pilots) and get to the launch bay. I think the Far Orbit Project had some rules somewhere about ships being limited in the number of TIEs they could deploy into battle per round...
_________________
"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

[garhkal]

As a mil member who has served on ships which DID have to go to battle stations many a time (even if only for a drill), i can attest to a ship like a destroyer/cruiser can be battle ready within 2 min of the alarm sounding.
5 for a carrier.

Since the imps though run things a lot tighter, i could easily see those times being half that.

As for penalties.

mix it with percentages (weapons on line) and D penalties (gunnery, piloting etc)..
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Bren]

[ZzaphodD]