Author Topic: (Answered) TAG and Semi-guided missiles are doing my head in!  (Read 1628 times)

Bleh!

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Total warfare fourth printing, quoting errata v5.0 pdf:

"When firing semi-guided missiles at any target in range successfully designated by a friendly TAG (below), the attacker ignores the target movement modifier (if firing indirectly, also ignore indirect fire, terrain and spotter movement modifiers)."

So you have a better chance to hit a tagged target when firing at them indirectly? Firing indirectly allows the attacker to ignore pretty much all the usual spotter modifiers (terrain, indirect fire, movement) as well as the targets movement modifier, but if you are firing directly the attacker only ignores the targets movement modifier, but not the terrain modifier? Suffice to say that makes zero sense, both situations have a tagged target ready to be shot with semi-guided missiles. How is firing at a tagged target with the attacker in the open and able to see the target through some terrain more difficult than firing at the same target with the attacker still firing through the same terrain but behind a hill? Please can someone verify that I'm understanding this correctly, because it doesn't make sense to me and its driving me nuts.

If that above paragraph is giving you a headache here is a list of modifiers I think apply for each attack:

Direct attack with semi-guided missiles at tagged target modifiers:
Attacker:
- Movement
- Heat
- Weapon Range
- Intervening Terrain between attacker and target
- Secondary Target
- Sensor destroyed
- Shoulder destroyed
- Arm Actuator destroyed

Tagged Target:
As per the rule as written Movement modifier ignored.
- Skidding
- Prone
- Immobile

Spotter with TAG:
Adds no modifiers to the attack, because its direct.

Indirect attack with semi-guided missiles at tagged target modifiers:
Attacker:
- Movement
- Heat
- Weapon Range
- Secondary Target
- Sensor destroyed
- Shoulder destroyed
- Arm Actuator destroyed

Tagged Target:
As per the rule as written Movement modifier ignored.
- Skidding
- Prone
- Immobile

Spotter with TAG:
As per the rule as written spotter modifiers ignored.


Sorry if this seems super obvious to all you battletech veterans here, but this game is the most impenetrable game I've ever tried to get into and no matter how many times I've read the TAG and semi-guided missiles rules they just don't seem right to me (I think I'm just trying to add too much logic to the mix), hence why its driving me nuts.
« Last Edit: 22 March 2018, 11:13:04 by Xotl »

Bleh!

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I may just of answered my own question here. I just noticed that maybe the rule for indirect attacks on a tagged target using semi-guided missiles is in a very roundabout way trying to tell me that, instead of using the intervening terrain between the spotter and target like normal spotting it's trying to tell me to use the intervening terrain between the attacker and target even if the attacker is behind a hill and can't see the target.

Is this correct?

Xotl

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Re: TAG and Semi-guided missiles are doing my head in!
« Reply #2 on: 22 March 2018, 11:12:55 »
The rules are very straightforward here: you're fighting them, and that's what's giving you the headache.  They work as you've described.  Whether they make sense to you is another matter entirely, unfortunately.  There are plenty of things that seem (or outright are) weird in the BT rules, but all I can say to that is "that's the way things are".  We're often taking about design decisions made years or even decades ago, sometimes by people who have left the industry altogether or have even since died.

For the terrain feature part, remember all the terrain in the way that you bypass, not just the terrain piece that the target is standing in.  As for what the target is standing in, remember that each hex is 30 metres, and a target is assumed to be in that hex rather than standing right on whatever edge is closest to your weapon strike.  In that light, arcing an attack overhead via indirect fire presumably bypasses many metres of plowing through woods or what have you and instead drops directly on the target's head.

If you're finding the game difficult to get into, I can also suggest the BattleMech Manual, which was specifically written from the ground up to be more user friendly and thus a better intro to the game.

If you have any further questions let us know.
3028-3057 Random Assignment Tables -
Also contains faction deployment & rarity info.

http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=1219.0

Bleh!

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Re: (Answered) TAG and Semi-guided missiles are doing my head in!
« Reply #3 on: 22 March 2018, 20:19:44 »
Thanks for the clarification Xotl, that helps me heaps. I just thought maybe I was forgetting to include an important modifier or something and just needed someone to let me know if I was.

I really don't get why they changed the rule in the errata to include ignoring the terrain when performing indirect fire, as the original rule doesn't ignore the spotter intervening terrain modifier and because of this it makes much more sense. But like you said its a very old game, written and rewritten by many hands over decades, just strange that its the errata that makes the rule very odd, not the actual rulebook.