ISaW Game, epic style

[epic]

Patrol (defensive, 1 point) – a worthwhile order to counter enemy (commerce) raiding and potentially help defend planets. Patrols add 25% of their aerospace PV to any planet within two hexes (at the Zenith or Nadir Points on the SSRM) and add a -2 to raid insertion DR (later rule). Depending on their size, when combined with other defenders, Patrols can affect both raiding and planetary attacks. Overlapping patrols can be very serious threat to enemy incursions.

As Patrols trigger combat supplies, smaller purpose built commands are best used for this order. The command also picks up 1 Fatigue point each turn on Patrol but this can be reduced by various methods.

As stated in my own previous, Patrol has been essential in our game. Using the simplified Raid system, the penalty for insertion is a must and therefore saps the RPs of the powers.  It's also worth noting that the Patrol action de facto adds the "missing" aerospace element that you speak about for garrisons.

What I am more curious about is the interplay and interaction of the Patrol action and the Naval Engagement Battle.  As we have currently interpreted it, due to the fact that it states that Patrol adds 1/4 of the aero strength, it also opens the game up to naval engagements significantly.  In our case, aerospace clashes between powers on both sides willing to engage each other rely simply on fighting against the Patrol group. 

This has increased aero attrition substantially, as killer groups wipe out the aero elements of a combat command, which then in turn must retreat and rebuild and have their patrol assets cycled again. 

What is your interpretation of the interaction between naval engagement Attack order with the Patrol order?

[The Purist]

Military Actions
   
Training Centres – build your training centers and use them. There is really no need to train a command anywhere else as the cost is simply too high in RPs and gains too slow compared to a training centre. If higher quality troops are needed the money and time spent on training outside of centers could be better used raising a new command with higher values. It might be worth saving at least one training command for a system with a shipyard for training up naval commands (house rule).

Movement  - The IMP rules are very easy to use. The only thing we could not see was whether a command must spend its 4th IMP to land on planet or not while in transit. If so, this limits regular movement to 3 interstellar hexes per turn (seems fine). We decided that if a command must be rushed to a destination sooner then the command can ‘remain in space”, expending 4 IMP in movement from jump to jump (4 hexes) but we have the entire command picks up 2 Fatigue Points.

Pirate Point movement also becomes much more attractive with the Espionage rules for “System Reconnaissance”. Deploying an Aerospace defence is much more tricky when the bad guys arrive somewhere other the P1 or P4 of the SSRM. If you want to risk a command, a Middle Zone Pirate Point jump can cut the travel time to a planet in half.

Raid

A rather in depth rule with a number of options to consider that impose decisions on both attacker and defender.

As often happens, after an area suffers a raid the enemy commands will start to mount alternating “Patrols” which counter Commerce Raids entirely and badly affect Planetary Raids Insertion DR. As a raid will cost a standard command combat supply for the following turn the expense can often exceed any damage done to the target world(s).

Raids come in five flavours:

-   Recon Raid
-   Supply Raid
-   Disruption Raid
-   Equipment Raids
-   Industrial Raids

At first we thought Recon Raids might fade away with the arrival of Espionage: Planetary Forces but a Recon Raid can still net more detailed information than espionage can. This especially true of results 6 – 8.

The Raid execution rules offer players a quick combat and detailed combat system for resolving raids. We have gone almost exclusively with detailed combat for House raids, especially for Disruption/Industrial Raids, as will be explained below. Our pirate raids are often done using quick resolution but not always.

The quick combat resolution allows a GM to rapidly resolve quite a few raids with just a few DRs. The attacker and defenders can affect the ‘Insertion DR’ in a number of ways, the most important being via ‘pirate point jump’ (+4 attacker), ‘active patrol’ and 200+ AS PV in system (-2 each, defender). The attacker can gain an additional +1 for an active commerce raid but these raids are easily shut down entirely by a patrol so this mod usually only applies to the opening raid in a region. An additional +2 can gained by having a successful Recon Raid hit the target the previous turn.

**Note the tables on Page 359 have an error where there is no 2D6 result of ‘5’. The numbers run from 1-4 and then 6-14+ for both tables so effected. We simply modified the number sequence to run from 2-14 and the problem was solved.

The pirate point use comes with a risk as the raiders must risk a 2 or 3 DR to appear in the outer zone, or a 2, 3, or 4 to appear in the middle zone. This DR can be modified by a -1 for a successful Espionage: System Reconnaissance. In the current game 4 raids have never arrived due to jump failures. If the defender can stack up enough negative modifiers on the Insertion Table a final DR of 1 also results in a jump failure. That said,… a final ‘1’ is all but impossible if the attacker simply declares the pirate jump point use in the first place. This may have been an oversight missed during playtest.


The insertion result can force the raiders to engage in a space battle against defending AS forces equaling a percentage of the PV belonging to the attacker (50% to 150%) which can lead to interesting times. This forces raiders to fight their way to the planet. In ‘Detailed Combat’ the insertion results will also determine the PV available to the defending ground forces once on the ground.

If there is no space battle, or if the raiders fight their way through to the planet, the quick resolution action switches to the Raid Success Table on page 359. Another set of +/- modifiers for both sides can affect the final DR which generally involves failure or success to varying degrees. If the raid is even a little bit successful there will be more +/- modifiers for the Raid Results Table on page 360.

**Note the Raid Results Table for Disruption/Industrial raids has typos. For results 2 through 8 the “As result #” should be reduced by one (1). For example, 1D6 result of 2 should read ‘As result 1 (planet does not generate any income for 3 turn). Raiders also do 2 RP worth of damage to the planet’s industrial base. Subtract this from the Factions budget in the next turn.”

The quick resolution method works quite well for recon, supply and equipment raids but is total bust (in my opinion) for Disruption and Industrial Raids. In short, so long as the raid is even marginally successful enough to merit a DR on the results table the planet will be shut down for a minimum of two (2) months. No RPs will be generated for those turns at all, from any source.

Why is this a problem? Well,… what this means is that Luthien, Tharkad, Atreus, and so on, with large aerospace garrisons and fortified factories are exposed to losing all their income for 2 – 4 months, suffer infrastructure (factory) damage and even have entire factories shut down by this raid type. In the case of Luthien (in fact,  most capitals), for example, that is a loss of 120 RPs for each turn all caused by just two combat teams. These could be even be infantry (size 1) CTs as the type isn’t all that important in the quick resolution system (and infantry are size 1 so they retain their -1 DR for being “all Light Elements”. 

Once raiders are ‘on the ground’ Factories inside fortifications (ie: Tikonov) or guarded by entire combat commands are just as exposed as an “other” planet on the edge of nowhere. This is why we use detailed combat for these two raid types (most raids, in fact). Deploying two CTs for combat via (Adv) BF or (Adv) SBF makes the raider fight for such consequential results which are, and should be, very tough to achieve. Detailed Combat also forces the raider to choose carefully as the Insertion Result can adjust the defender PV. A successful but problematic Raid Insertion may find the raiders facing a better prepared defender than they had counted on.

<<to be continued>>

[epic]

In regards to raids, regardless of rules type (whether using simple resolution or ACS), another major use of raids we are finding in our game is that of psy-ops.

What I mean is, high morale units cycle to the front with good skill (if possible) and then raid areas and units specifically to engage them; while both sides have the potential to lose, a "regular" unit if they lose and having only normal morale may have a chance of drifting into a Morale level that may require worse desertion/mutiny checks.

Current example; the Wolf's Dragoons have been raiding the Draconis March and hitting a number of different Draconis March Militia units.  Several times, these units have been stung by defeat, and their morale has drifted into the Low region due to the rules for SO meaning that they lost a combat/raid, and failed their morale loss roll (meanwhile, the Dragoons mostly have morale of 2 on all their units, except Epsilon Regiment, which has failed ops and dice rolls consistently, now having a morale of 4). 

Bringing those militia units up to a 5 morale (Low) means that they make desertion rolls on a 4, and a mutiny check on a 2.  That may not sound like much, but with an RCT and checks made on a regiment level, desertion of entire battalions of mechs could theoretically occur with a roll of a 2, and infantry regiments are deserting on a 4 or less!   

Admittedly, a loss could get the raider to instead lose their morale (and the defending unit gains morale); which is why its important to use units that have good morale.

Another area that has had this to good effect is oddly, the Lyran border.  The newly formed 6th Regulan Hussars, replacing the 9th (which mutinied and turned merc after a number of defeats, and now serves with the Taurian Concordat) has also faced several bad raid defeats.  Humiliated, the once proud Regulans started at having 3 battalions of mechs, 2 air wings, 9 armour battalions, 8 infantry regiments and an artillery battalion.  They're now at 2 mech battalions (1 lost in battle, not currently replaced), 2 air wings, 3 armour battalions (3 battalions deserted and went merc, rest are combat loss) NO infantry regiments and an artillery battalion.  The infantry were again, half killed but the other half deserted (1 regiment actually mutinied but because not enough of the unit deserted they simply counted as deserted).  The 6th is well on its way to being destroyed just as its predecessor was... all because the Lyran Stealthy Tiger mercs keep picking away at them.  (and the Dragon's Breath on occasion too). 

Due to the CC advantage towards morale checks for desertion, this is not something that has been attempted on the CC much (though it was with great amusement that Justinia's Cuirassiers, an elite unit, suffered the ONLY desertion in the entire Confederation game, and they had started with a morale of 2) but all the other powers have experienced this psy-op type of attack. 

[epic]

BTW, as I haven't posted stuff in awhile about the game.  I was away on vacation, so that delayed a few turns.

However, turns 10-15:

The Capellan Confederation desperately continues to protect their industry.  Raids are mostly repulsed finally.  THe CC finally seems to be settling into a good strategy of defence.

The DC launches a campaign of raiding.  On the FS front, the Wolf's Dragoons engage multiple targets, disrupting several Draconis March Militia units.  In response, the Suns deploys the Eridani Light Horse in an attempt to slow down the raiding, and prevent further demoralization of the national forces.  The Eridani give almost as well as they receive, and in one example, severely punish Epsilon Regiment of the Dragoons while working alongside the Deneb Light Cavalry. 
On the Lyran Front, the DCMS is not as well positioned for raiding; part of this is due to the expiry of a few mercenary contracts that have since signed on with other powers.  Partly it's that Lyran forces are heavily concentrated in the area now, and the Legions of Vega are used mostly in raids that demoralize them further.  Newly deployed units along the Lyran border however, seem to be having some frightening success.  Dubbed the "Ghost Hunter" regiment, it's a newly deployed DMCS unit that has its own jumpships, 1 battalion light mechs, 1 battalion light LAMs, 1 battalion medium LAMS and 3 regiments of light armour, plus the standard 3 air wings of a DCMS unit.  An experiment thought up by the Coordinator himself, this unit has deployed on headhunting missions successfully on the Lyran border, brutalizing many much heavier regiments and their counterparts. 

The FWL continues to suffer from many poor rolls for relations with Parliament.  However, the Captain General finally has the resources that he has begun launching sporadic raids supplemented by special ops team attacks at Hesperus II, from the staging area of Zaniah, captured over a year previous.  Lyran raids at Zaniah fail.  The Lyrans then launch 2 failed strikes at Zaniah; the first is aborted in space, due to heavy aero losses.  The second lands a few regiments of the Donegal Guards and the Skye Rangers, but they are forced to withdraw with heavy losses.  The early losses of Nockatunga and Colfax are still bitterly felt by the FWL, however, and Lyran forces continue to harass Thermopolis even after a failed attack by the 3rd Fusiliers of Oriente and the newly formed 6th Regulan Hussars (who are the only Regulan unit being allowed to be used due to the Home Defence Act).  the 6th then suffer the further indignity of repeated raids on them, and morale drops sharply, with the unit being hit hard by desertion.  FWL worlds suffer wave upon wave of terror attacks by Lyran Loki Operatives, who cripple several worlds (including Irian) as well as damage a number of different research projects to restore technology.  (Gamemaster note: the Lyrans have had the luckiest spec ops teams - even with Superior Black Ops - of anybody in game.  We're tracking one team that has survived since the beginning of the game who really should retire, after 6 successful Black Ops, 3 sabotage missions - if there were an Elite status for spec ops, they would have it, but they're "only" Veterans). 

The Federated Suns, suffering from Draconis predation, tones down their raiding operations against the CC.  Pirates also raid the Davion Outback, making off with valuable supplies.  A minor incident with the Taurians costs some resources in an attempt to make peace, or at least prove to the Taurians that there is no "imminent Davion incursion" on their border.  The Federated Suns has adopted a mostly defensive stance, though a recon raid on Scituate (captured by the Capellans) was rebuffed. 

The Lyrans... ah, the Lyrans.  Having been incredibly busy, with a robust economy, the Lyrans launched a small suicide strike on Luthien itself, damaging several key facilities.  Loki operatives have run amok throughout the FWL (and on occasion, the CC, though no one can prove it...).  Zaniah has proven to be an irritant, as Hesperus II has suffered several raids (one of which even damaged some of the lines) but raids and assaults have so far failed to overcome the defences there.  Increasing the defences of Hesperus II has slowed the Marik raids, and Lyran mercenaries have hit several key areas along the FWL border, mostly making mockeries of local defenders.  Also, the operation to destroy pirate bases has gone well; the worlds are now garrisoned, and while the 11th Donegal Guards experienced almost total destruction (and subsequent desertion), the Valkyrate was subdued and destroyed. 

The Periphery powers remain mostly quiet, other than a minor incident between Houses Davion and Calderon.  However, some pundits are concerned about the growing economic power of the Magistracy of Canopus.  The Outworlds Alliance also has added a new Guards regiment to their rolls, deployed along the Draconis border...

[epic]

Had to create ACS stats for LAMs for the DCMS, btw. 
lt:  sz 1 mv 6 transport mp NA tmm 5 arm 30 s 9 m 3 l 0 pv?  specials RCN, LAM 3LLAM
med: sz 2 mv 5 transport mp NA tmm 5 arm 33 s 9 m 6 l 0 pv? specials LAM 3MLAM

As the DMCS has battletechnology of 4, they've chosen to up all the attack stats by 3 points (1 per team), above and beyond.  Not included in above calculations. 

This was my first time converting stats, so please let me know if my conversion to ACS was wrong, btw.  I assumed Stinger LAMs only for the Lights (because it's DCMS and they have the Lexatech facility) and phoenix hawk LAMs for the mediums. 
Notably, the medium LAMs are really not worth it.  Meanwhile, the Light LAMs are pretty good, though inferior to a light mech battalion at medium range for firepower, the extra TMM seems to be worthwhile.  It could possibly be worthwhile to have a "light" LAM battalion that was actually composed to 2 light and 1 medium company as the stats would be a bit better but we went with this for now. 

I was torn; giving the Medium LAM battalion Recon ability could have been fitting.  We have not currently.  Thoughts?

Note also the utility in headhunting missions, and raiding missions.

[Daryk]

How does the system model LAM strategic and operational (vice tactical) mobility?

[epic]

How does the system model LAM strategic and operational (vice tactical) mobility?

It's their mobility on the land map that helps, honestly.  They simply fly over intervening units and with recon advantage, hit rear area units such as infantry that are unaccompanied or are trying to recover/repair.  Also, taking out isolated, unprotected artillery formations.  They're hard to hit as well.  however, as I note, they're fragile for armour. 

So far, in headhunter missions, they've been murderous in wiping out the attached mech formation of one Lyran unit, then withdrawing.  In another, they chose the other method; they killed off all the Lyran support units, then withdrew.  Neither were a knock-out blow, admittedly.  Both times used so far, they've achieved their mission objectives, then fled before sustaining damage that would destroy them utterly. 

So... I guess that's a win?  Note: both times deployed, they were against either a Green or Regular unit.  I suspect an Elite unit would still take them out, because they'd hit better and for more damage.  Both missions, the LAM units came back with a high degree of damage that needed to be repaired - due to their distinct lack of firepower, they have to close to short range to do much, and that means that even with high TMM, they get hit (especially by short range infantry troops - sheer quantity of shots).

 My DC player provided the following feedback:  "Knowing when to retreat with a LAM unit before they get killed by damage is absolutely essential - assume that you can only lay down about 2 rounds of attacks before withdrawing, so pick your targets well with good recon intell."

We have not (yet) seen them used in a Simplified Raid mission, as the player of it is still experimenting and it wouldn't take advantage of the LAM advantages, in our opinion.  Actually, they've not been used in a Raid mission at all, though when they do, I've promised that at least for that, we will use SBF/ACS. 

Addendum; there are a few other units that have a LAM battalion or two in our combat musters, based on fluff of the era.  Specifically:  the Marik Guard, the 3rd Fusiliers of Oriente, the Home Guard of the Stewart Dragoons, the 41st Avalon Hussars and parts of the Dismal Disinherited.

Of those, only the 3rd Fusiliers of Oriente have seen action (twice), once in defence and once on the attack; the LAMs there however contributed to their aero defence, driving off the Lyran attackers before they even arrived on-world.  When the 3rd attacked alongside a Regulan Hussar regiment, the LAMs again came in handy, savaging enemy ground forces protecting local air, but Lyran heavy defences forced the rest of the FWL forces to retreat before they could be used extensively (aka:  the Lyrans massed a Wall of Steel and charged and crushed a Regulan battalion and badly damaged the rest of the FWL forces while the LAMs were off raiding)

[epic]

Luck of the dice in this campaign is DEFINITELY With the Lyrans, btw.  Most of their major engagements, even with penalties for the Inferior Doctrine (aka Social Generals), they've rolled really well, as has their special ops.  Even their technology rolls have gone well for them. 

The only thing that hasn't gone well for them is that the FWL has been successfully using special ops against Hesperus II (and to a lesser extent, Tharkad), even when they have needed 9s or 10s to hit!  Heh. 

[Daryk]

So the "Mv 6" reflects a Stinger LAM's AirMech mode mobility?

[epic]

So the "Mv 6" reflects a Stinger LAM's AirMech mode mobility?

Nope.  That's the land mode.  But its the fact that the LAM can also do aero move that really allows it to shine.  ACS from what we can tell doesn't really "do" the airmech mode - just accounts for it in stats by giving an additional +1 TMM.  Which, I just realized, was not accounted for for the Medium LAM.  durn it. 
+2 for move, +2 for jump, and +1 for LAM/WiGe.  For some reason I left that out.    ARGH

[Daryk]

Ah, the "mv" doubles as the aero movement... thanks!

[epic]

Thank you!  And I'm curious whether my conversion is correct too.  Now with different (and slightly TMM).  It makes a LAM really hard to hit, actually. 

[Daryk]

As soon as I get some more of the HBS game out of my system, I'll take a dive into the SBF, ACS and ISAW rules.  You and The Purist have really intrigued me with the more abstract aspects of the game!

[The Purist]

As stated in my own previous, Patrol has been essential in our game. Using the simplified Raid system, the penalty for insertion is a must and therefore saps the RPs of the powers.  It's also worth noting that the Patrol action de facto adds the "missing" aerospace element that you speak about for garrisons.

Not really. Patrols are almost useless in defending against raids. A Patrol must set up in Sector P1 or P4 of the Periphery Zone while raiders almost universally arrive in the Middle or Outer Zones,  so placed to reach the planet as quickly as possible. A Patrol will also seldom exceed the size of two light ASF fighter squadrons, or 26 PV. A raiding force could be made up of two heavy ASF squadrons. If a fighter garrison is not present the attacker can easily out run or overmatch any Patrol. If a garrison is present on an "other" system (50 PV), usually an ad hoc collection of squadrons,  the attacker needs to be more circumspect in his selection of raiding PV. If a garrison is present and the raider chooses fighter support that is too heavy, and the Insertion result is unfavourable,  he might not even reach the planet.

What I am more curious about is the interplay and interaction of the Patrol action and the Naval Engagement Battle.  As we have currently interpreted it, due to the fact that it states that Patrol adds 1/4 of the aero strength, it also opens the game up to naval engagements significantly.  In our case, aerospace clashes between powers on both sides willing to engage each other rely simply on fighting against the Patrol group.

Of course Patrols are vulnerable to naval attacks,  they are patrols,  not naval commands. The abstract intent of the rule,  correctly,  in my view,  prevents patrols from being destroyed. As per the rules a Patrol can lend 1/4 of its PV to every system in range be there 4, 8, 10 or 20 systems within two hexes of the Patrol's base. However,  while you are limited by PV you are not limited by type of unit that might make up the Patrol.  Patrols are an abstract representation,  not concrete fixed assets. You could fight the same PV in ten different battles and not destroy the Patrol wing.  As noted above,  these will normally amount to little more than two light squadrons unless the Patrol is unusually large,  which defeats the economic benefit of smaller versions. At the same time the benefit of light squadrons is that they are very hard to engage and hard to kill. They can also be deployed in one of two zones so their actual location is a guess for the attacker.  Initiative and Tactics Values also allow the light squadrons to simply fall back if the attacker guesses right prior to deployment. Long term,  the hunter is only going to guess the right Periphery Sector 50% of the time. Considering the size of a force needed to kill those two squadrons,  the RP balance (economics)  favours the Patrol.

If a friendly Command is present then they can also deploy 1/4 of their force with the Patrol.  Note that garrison wings cannot deploy beyond the Inner Zone.  Most of the rest of the defenders can deploy far enough forward to quickly join the battle if desired. Ambushing a Patrol should not be easy and is actually a lot like using a sledgehammer to crack an egg.

This weakness (small PV)  is one of the prime movers behind our developing the naval commands that are not linked to the planet's defender deployment limits. Another fix is to simply support the Patrol on higher value world's with regular CCs.  I would also ask,  where are the other guy's own forces? If ones own Patrol's are being stalked, are the hunters being hunted? Also,  if enemy commands are chasing Patrol's they are not defending planets. How many planet's were taken while their commands were trying to open raiding options?

This has increased aero attrition substantially, as killer groups wipe out the aero elements of a combat command, which then in turn must retreat and rebuild and have their patrol assets cycled again.

Aerospace is very powerful so you need to guard against kill stacks and death stars. With all the deployment options open to the defender as well as the fact that undetected AS Formations are hidden on the SSRM, smaller Aerospace Formations can hide within the system. We have also recently adopted 'Command Control' limits based on the LR rating of the Force Commander (page 367).  A veteran Force can still bring six (6) CC from three (3) systems but he can only use four of them without suffering Uncoordinated penalties found on page 362 (or is it 361?), at least in space for now.

Morale of the story is sportsmanship. Players who try to exploit weaknesses in the rules could find themselves spending an hour setting up the battle and then two hours chasing blips to no avail. As GM I try to discourage "gamey" tactics and rarely need to with sportsmen. However,  we've been gaming as a group on and off since the 90s and I started war games in 1974, so it rarely becomes an issue. Once identified weaknesses can be fixed by players if they choose to maintain 'spirit' of the rules over 'letter'.   :thumbsup:

[epic]

  Happily, my group are not focusing on exploiting the rules either, though the danger of aero exploitation is still present as you say (similar to the old ISiF game). 

The necessity of having a mech unit attached helps at least. 

[The Purist]

<<Apologies,... I've been away on leave and hiking the mountains is not all that conducive to posting on the forums.   :)  >>

Military Actions, Part II

Battle – Due to the limits of forces that can be sent to a planet to engage in a “Battle” we soon learned that this ‘Action’ has its limits, despite some very nice modifiers that can be used by the attacker. These days, battles are rare and now are primarily used by naval commands.

‘Headhunting’ is one of the battles where modifiers help out the attacker quite handily and the defender will suffer losses. That said, once players got the hang of the combat system (and its brutal casualty rates) it has been discovered that it is much easier and safer if the entire command is brought along even though it forfeits the modifiers. Keep in mind this does change a ‘battle’ to an ‘invasion’. The result is effectively the same, defender comes out to fight and one side or the other will get mangled. We’ve had more than one headhunting mission run afoul of prepared defences supported by defending artillery, heavy armour with infantry CUs deployed to absorb damage points (one does not always get to choose where the damage is allocated). At the same time the attacker, usually numerically inferior, is taking his lumps against his best or most mobile CUs in the attacking command(s). Some of these missions had us asking just whose head was being hunted. Head Hunting did result in armies deploying a minimum of a full command, one merc or small command plus the garrison on planets. In important sectors it is not unusual to see two full army commands (plus) holding a planet.

‘Infrastructure Destruction’ battles have been used a few times but many of the same issues arise that are found in head hunting. A weakened combat command or two is sent in against the full weight of the defending forces on the planet. More often than not this will involve a factory placed inside a fortification and supported by mobile elements. A Standard-2 fort can hold a factory and has damage values of 8/8/5 along with 200 points of armour (which takes time to wear down). Since players tend to fortify all industrial worlds within a few hexes of the frontiers (including new builds) attacking factories becomes an exercise in siege warfare and less a matter of ‘smash and grab’ campaigns.

In summary, ‘Battles’ are risky if the enemy has an entire command or more to defend planets and factories. The limits on attacker resources means little can be spared to be sent after the factory in the fortifications. If headhunting is the goal, a smaller attacking force needs to pay close attention to damage levels and their ability to win engagement DRs lest they be chewed to pieces when pinned in a hex. Factories in fortifications become a nightmare to damage and a factory has the means to shoot back, quite effectively in fact. If there is only a garrison the attacker might as well take the planet with intact infrastructure, then later, if desired, simply destroy the factories and leave. However, that too, can often be  more easily said than done.

Invasion – To be honest this is the main tool used in our campaign game. Commands are committed, they fight and win or are (often) largely destroyed in the process. In fact, a force that is only outnumbered by as little as 20% (the size of a merc command added to a standard command) is likely to be soundly defeated unless there is a fairly pronounced qualitative advantage in favour of the smaller force. “Invasion” gains the maximum benefit for the expense of RPs (which a command pays whether it ‘raids’ or conducts ‘battles’). This results in conquered planets and dead enemy commands but the cost is high. An attacking force with only a small superiority in strength can often lose 65-85% of its strength in ACS combat in just a few turns.

[The Purist]

End Phase, Part I

Salvage/Repair – Salvage/Repair rules work very well and in an invasion that pits 3-4 commands per side the ACS system can generate well over 1000 damage points in just 1 ACS turn (just 3.5 days). When the defeated side quits a planet a good die roll can net the victor a significant haul of armour points to conduct future repairs. The only addition we made was that salvage had to be assigned to units during that end phase or the salvage had to be placed in a planetary depot in the capital or other city/base, spaceport or factory hex. These depots could then be accessed by any battered command that drops by. This also means these depots could be captured if not destroyed or consumed by the time the enemy takes possession of the planet.

The transfer of armour points from one CU to another is a favourite of our group. Badly shot up commands may be quickly brought up to strength by absorbing remnants of a command that is in even worse shape. In this manner crippled commands can be done away with to save on future supply costs and RPs put to better use building new commands.

We did force such CUs to average the experience points of the unit that absorbs armour from another command, a deviation from the normal rule regarding no change if 25% or less armour is repaired. This helps avoid an elite CU absorbing green armour points from another command without effecting overall experience levels. For example a veteran Draconis medium Mech CU with 26 experience points that has lost 30 of 36 armour and absorbs 9 armour from a regular CU with 16 Experience would have its experience reduced to 20 XP and reduced to a regular quality unit with 15 armour. 

Using RPs (1 RP = 80 armour) is the most common method for repairs and is also very economical. A standard Davion command, for example, might range from 600 to 700 armour points and would normally lose about 225-350 armour in a successful battle that lasts 4-6 ACS turns. Two or three such commands could be repaired for as little as 2 RP over a period of two or three turns, if trying to protect the experience level. Since most players will spread repairs over a number of turns the RP cost seldom run more than 6 to 10 RP per turn (480 to 800 armour points). In heavy campaigns (our current FWL/LC fight over the Isle of Skye), this might run up to 12-14 RP.
 
Retreat – it has been our experience that the only time ‘commands’ manage a retreat off world is if the victor allows it. Otherwise, Combat Units and Formations in ACS are simply destroyed due to damage and failed morale checks. Once units become unsteady or worse they are unlikely to win an Engagement Roll to exit the hex. Combat Units that retreat via ‘rout’ or ‘retreat’ are usually run down by small, light pursuit formations before they can get away. If ‘honours of war’ house rules are not used destruction is generally assured. ‘Overwhelming Force’ (OF) is a way out for poorer quality troops but, again, only if ‘honours of war’ are granted. Otherwise, the defeated are reduced to salvage. In fact, the chances of Regular quality or better commands getting away by the OF method are minimal. It is far more likely they will be shot to pieces on the battlefield and turned into salvage. They can only hope to go down fighting and taking more than a pound of flesh in exchange.

Retreats can also be blocked by pinning an opponent in combat at the end of game turn 8 in ACS which prevents the command from pulling out during the next ISaW turn. The engagement rules prohibit a formation from leaving a hex while engaged which means access to their dropships is blocked. As commands cannot be split (ie: pinned forces cannot be abandoned) this means the entire command needs to fight it out, try to ‘Go-to-Ground’ or ‘Scatter’ on the following turn, an unlikely event for defeated Commands. The end result is almost always the same, a dead command. Hopefully the attacker has been savaged at the same time.

The argument for Honours of war is that it avoids further damage to the winning side, making repairs easier and quicker, allowing the command to rejoin the campaign. Nevertheless, it is not unheard of for targeted commands to be destroyed despite the cost.

One bit of information is missing from the rules. Just how is a retreat from a planet executed? Are they removed immediately to the nearest friendly planet? Or do they have to move the following turn under normal rules. With no specifics we simply declare the retreating command(s) ‘withdrawn’ and they begin the following turn ready to jump away from the contested planet using the normal movement rules.

Fatigue – for survivors the fatigue rules are easy to apply. The only thing we added was that a Fatigue cannot be reduced by RP expenditure on a turn it was gained. A lot of fatigue can be reduced in one turn by a command with two ‘Rest’ orders (2 FP), no move or combat for the turn (1 FP) and fatigue removal by RPs (2 FP max).

Fatigue can kill. Each turn in combat earns a Formation .5 Fatigue and when combined with other methods of adding fatigue (assault move order, attack order, counter Insurgency order, etc.) the 5 fatigue points required for a +1 to all combat DR is not all that far away. Fatigue is just another item to be tracked in combat when planning to try an break off or press an attack.


<<To be continued>>

[The Purist]

Had to create ACS stats for LAMs for the DCMS, btw. 
lt:  sz 1 mv 6 transport mp NA tmm 5 arm 30 s 9 m 3 l 0 pv?  specials RCN, LAM 3LLAM
med: sz 2 mv 5 transport mp NA tmm 5 arm 33 s 9 m 6 l 0 pv? specials LAM 3MLAM... This was my first time converting stats, so please let me know if my conversion to ACS was wrong, btw... <snip>

Hmm, the game tends to use a generic form of Lance and give LAM capability to all players based on tech levels. This means LAM production is not limited to the DC despite the location of the fluff canon factory  ;)

Here is my take on the problem with LAMs


Land Air Mech Conversion

We haven’t bothered with LAMs in our game as ACS is based on regiments and LAM regiments do not ever appear to have been deployed. Also, by 3025 the LAM was all but extinct and would become so by the Clan invasion. I doubt there is a role for them in the ISaW/ACS based game beyond the SBF Formation level mainly because aerospace and ground Elements cannot be mixed in the same “Units”. If you read Step 1B on page 326 you will see that ground Elements can only be in an aerospace Unit if they are LAMs. At the same time an aerospace Unit cannot operate as a ground Unit, so a Unit with LAMs could not land and fight if it also has ASF Elements.

Still, the LAM is there to be used and ACS Conversion rules do allow players to design lances, companies and so on with LAMs. Beyond SBF, where Formations can be split and Units operate independently (a LAM Unit could be separated from an AS Formation to land and fight as a BM Unit), there does not appear to be scope for LAMs in ISaW. Further, as Epic noted the AirMech ability is not used in ISaW/ACS, probably because there is no terrain with which to use WiGE. Also, I believe the +1 TMM bonus applies only at the Alpha Strike level and is not mentioned beyond page 112 in the “Alternate Era” chapter. There is no mention of the additional +1 to TMM in the ACS conversion for Units, Combat Teams, Combat Units or Formations, or in SBF and beyond (unless I missed it).

LAMs that are present in Units (SBF) gain a detection bonus of +1 to their DR but in an Formations (multiple Units in SBF or multiple CUs is ACS) the entire Formation must be LAMs to gain the bonus found on page 308 (+1 Detection, +1 Recon, +20% damage). See the table on page 334. While this would work in (Adv) SBF it poses a problem in ACS/IsaW as it would require multiple battalions of LAMs which does not seem possible in the 3rd SW. Then again,  ISaW in the 3025 era is not meant to clone the uni-lore from the various novels, etc.

In keeping with the generic nature of Lances in ACS (the possible combinations are numerous even with just three models) the first pass will be a light LAM Lance with, 2 Stinger-A10 and 2 Wasp-105. The “medium” LAM lance will have 3 Phoenix Hawk-2M and 1 Stinger-A10. The AS Stats are as follows:

STG-A10 - TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 6j; TMM: 2; Arm: 3; Str: 3; S; 2; M: 1; L: 0; PV: 22 – Spec: ENE, FUEL4, LAM (36g/6a)

WSP-105 – TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 6j; TMM: 2; Arm: 3; Str: 3; S; 1; M: 1; L: 0; PV: 21 – Spec: FUEL4, LAM (36g/6a)

PHX-HK2M – TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 5j; TMM: 2; Arm: 4; Str: 4; S: 2; M: 2; L: 1; PV: 30 – Spec: FUEL4, IF1, LAM (30g/5a)

Light LAM Lance: 2 STG-A10, 2 WSP-105, regular/reliable

Ground LAM Lance - TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 6l; Jump: 3j; TMM: 2; Arm: 9; S: 2; M: 1; L: 0 Skill: 4; PV: 29;

Aerospace LAM Lance- TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 6a; Arm: 9; S: 2; M: 1; L: 0 Skill: 4; PV: 29

Three such lances would make a Combat Team (CT) or SBF Formation but for ISaW purposes we will focus on the CT.

Light LAM Company (CT): 3 Lances, regular/reliable

Ground LAM CT - TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 6; Jump: 3; TMM: 2; Arm: 9; S: 2; M: 1; L: 0 Skill: 4; PV: 29 (87)

Aerospace LAM CT - TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 6a; Arm: 9; S: 2; M: 1; L: 0 Skill: 4; PV: 29 (87)

Three Combat Teams make a Combat Unit (CU) or battalion.

Light LAM Battalion/Wing (CU): 3 Companies, regular/reliable

Here there might be an issue with the wording of “Phase 3: Create ACS Combat Units”. Under Step 3D, JUMP the text states the jump movement should be averaged and then divided by 3. This would result in in a +2 to the TMM for the battalion and a final TMM of 4 (((6*4)/4)/3) = 2. However, this does conflict with the non-LAM method used for all of the CUs in CO,  which actually *adds* the TMM of the CTs together and then divides by three. In order to not have a ridiculously high TMM [2 +((6*4)/3) = 10] we will have to use the text.

There is also an issue with the PV calculation and the text stating the CTs PV should be added together and then divided by 3. However, in the tables in CO the PV for CTs is not divided by 3 but simply added together.

Ground LAM CU (Bn) - TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 6; TMM: 4; Arm: 27; S: 6; M: 3; L: 0; Tac: 4; Mor: 7; Skill: 4; PV: 87

Aerospace LAM CU (Wing) - TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 6a; Arm: 27; S: 6; M: 3; L: 0 Tac: 4; Mor: 7; Skill: 4; PV: 87

Comparing this ground battalion to other House light Mech battalions it proves to be relatively well armoured but lacking in short range firepower to some of its competitors and is inferior in medium and long range firepower to all House battalions. The LAM battalion is also somewhat more expensive.

As an Aerospace Wing this unit is twice the size of a standard ASF Wing and (not surprisingly) very well armoured (27), matching an LC medium or FS heavy fighter wing. It is slower than the FS and LC light wings but matches the medium wings of the other Houses. It outguns all the House light ASF wings at short range and is a challenge for most medium wings at medium range as well. This version of a LAM Wing has no long range firepower, which places it at a disadvantage against many of the House medium and heavy wings.

Where PV is concerned it could be matched by:
CC – 2 lt ASF Wings totalling PV 86 has a total of 38 armour and damage values of 8/8/0 provided both wings hit for full damage
DC - 2 lt ASF Wings totalling PV 86 has a total of 40 armour and damage values of 8/8/2 provided both wings hit for full damage
FS - 2 lt ASF Wings totalling PV 78 and a total of 36 armour with damage values of 6/6/0 provided both wings hit for full damage. The FS wings do have 11 movement, which means a Tac Value of 0. This means that the LAMs would more often than not be on the losing side of the manoeuvre roll allowing the Formation of two light wings to set the range (likely medium), where the FS fighters have the advantage.
FWL - 2 lt ASF Wings totalling PV 86 and a total of 38 armour and damage values of 8/8/0 provided both wings hit for full damage.
LC – like the FS Formation of 2 lt ASF Wings the PV total is 78 with a total of 36 armour and damage values of 6/6/0 provided both wings hit for full damage. The LC wings also have 11 movement which means a Tac Value of 0. The LAMs would again lose the manoeuvre roll more often than not, allowing the Formation of two light wings to set the range (again likely medium), where the Lyran fighters have the advantage.

”Medium” LAM Units/Formations

A “Medium” LAM Lance composed of 3 PHX-HK 2M and 1 STG-A10 has improved stats while the weight remains “light” (size 1*). Movement does drop to 5.

*The AS card has the PHX-HK2M as a Size 1 BM despite weighing in at 50 tons (normally size 2). I suspect this because in the ASF role the 50 tons is still a light fighter (size 1).

“Med” Ground LAM Lance - TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 5; Jump: 3; TMM: 2; Arm: 11; S: 3; M: 2; L: 1 Skill: 4; PV: 37 [Spec IF1]

“Med” Aerospace LAM Lance- TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 5a; Arm: 11; S: 3; M: 2; L: 1 Skill: 4; PV: 37

The CTs look the same except the Special of IF1 increases the long and extreme ranges by 1.

“Med” Ground LAM CT - TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 5; Jump: 3; TMM: 2; Arm: 11; S: 3; M: 2; L: [2]1 Skill: 4; PV: 37 (112) [Spec IF1]

“Med” Aerospace LAM CT - TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 5a; Arm: 11; S: 3; M: 2; L: 1 Skill: 4; PV: 37 (112)

And then there is the battalion/wing.

“Med” Ground LAM CU (Bn) - TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 5; TMM: 4; Arm: 33; S: 9; M: 6; L: [6]3; Tac: 5; Mor: 7; Skill: 4; PV: 112 - Spec: [IF1]

Aerospace LAM CU (Wing) - TP: BM; Sz: 1; Mv: 5a; Arm: 33; S: 9; M: 6; L: 3 Tac: 5; Mor: 7; Skill: 4; PV: 112

If you drop out one Phoenix-Hawk for a Stinger or Wasp the stats drop by a small amount. In this case the LAM battalion results in a perfectly useful “medium” Mech battalion with 33 armour and TMM of 4, speed of 5 and damage values of 9/6/6. This battalion could stand in battle against any of the House medium battalions and is actually better than the medium battalions of the CC and LC.

On the other hand, as an aerospace CU the large PV cost means that the Houses can place two to three wings in one or more Formations to do battle (a number of combination are available). The combined House ASF wings would have much more firepower and armour and the battle could hinge on the tactics values (manoeuvre rolls) and who suffers the critical hits first.

As mentioned above the role for LAMs in a grand campaign game of the scale of ISaW seem limited due to the game design basis (battalions and regiments). They would probably work better in AS, (Adv) BF and (Adv) SBF as these versions of the game are closer to the smaller scale battles of BT and also make their use easier within the rule limitations.

[Daryk]

Hmmm... seems like an opportunity for some new rules here... Worktroll?  ::)

[epic]

HEH.  Also just got back from hiking and surfing (and broke my foot as well). 

Alright, so when I made my ACS stats, and being familiar(ish) with the new LAM rules, I went and interpreted the LAM TTM as having the WiGe +1 bonus for TMM.  Mainly, this is due to the fact that the LAM rules are quite similar, and so it "fit".  Upon checking, as you pointed out, LAMs do not get an additional bonus from IO p 328 like WiGe do, or vtols. 

As for making the LAMs as they are, the only power so far that has chosen to field them has been the DCMS, so I went with full companies of Stingers and full companies of P Hawks.  Didn't even bother to make them for anyone else yet.

It's worth noting that I think they are undervalued for PV in this instance, as they have the dual roles of being both AS and ground forces. 

As the DCMS is building them at standard cost, not at triple cost (they have researched and deployed level 4 battletechnology) the cost is not increased.  We were torn on what the cost should be, however.  In the end, we decided 1.5 times the cost of an equivalent battlemech battalion. weight, to cover the additional training (aerospace/mechwarrior cross-training, plus conversion equipment).  This also "fit" with the fact that they could assume dual roles of air and ground force. 

Right now, the experiment is still brewing, but another House has decided to try their hand at a specialized unit with LAMs as well. 

[The Purist]

No worries, my post was not intended to be a criticism, I understand why you went with an all Stinger light lance. It makes for a powerful CU and the DC had a Stinger LAM factory. In fact, players could design their *perfect* lances for each of the weight classes and ignore CO tables if they so choose. As discussed, the possible ground lance combinations are almost endless so when it came to the limited choices for LAMs I went with a 'generic' lance  to retain that 'generic' philosophy. It is their "historical" rarity that has kept them from our game.

Note that if you do combine a medium CT with two light CTs to make a CU the movement (thrust) will only be 5a. The conversion rules for aerospace note the Unit, CT, CU use the lowest movement/thrust value, unlike ground Units the values are not averaged. This would affect the Tactics/Manoeuvre value of the CU/Formation on the ground and (especially) in the atmosphere or space.

Then again, that could also be used as a means to curb the obvious power of such a large AS CU.  :)

[The Purist]

End Phase, Part II

Experience – An easy rule to apply, a command fights, it gains experience. The 25% rule is good but perhaps it should be applied at the CU level. This avoids a mauled heavy Mech battalion receiving 95% replacement but because this number is less that 25% of the command's armour, the experience level is not effected. If your group does not mind the extra bookkeeping you can apply experience by battalion (CU) across the board. This also helps avoid situations where only part of a command is engaged, usually because of a large difference in numbers, yet the entire command gains experience.

The slow but steady increase in experience levels has led to a phenomenon we have labelled “Experience Creep”. For veteran and elite commands that do not run into a bad situation and are crushed we have noticed they simply keep getting better despite the regular influx of replacement armour points. Note that these veteran and elite commands are not suffering light losses, ACS is not that generous. Like regular and green commands, the higher quality commands often suffer 40, 50 60% or more damage in combat. However, the rules note that as long as the command does not receive more than 25% replacements its experience is not affected. This almost ensures their continued ‘growth’. This is of special concern when units begin to click over from elite to heroic. Green and regular formation rarely see this effect as they tend to be shot to pieces before reaching veteran status or, in the case of higher experience regulars, are mined for armour points to rebuild higher quality units. The regulars then mine the higher level green commands that may have survived. Green units simple evaporate.

To lessen this effect we are experimenting with a couple of modifications to the replacement rules. As above, when absorbing armour from a different command the experience levels are averaged out between the existing armour and the new points transferred in. Furthermore, for all veteran or higher quality commands armour replacement points purchased via RPs are considered to have an experience level 13 (lowest 'regular' rating). This has the effect of bringing down overall experience levels and preventing a runaway progression of commands to veteran-elite-heroic and beyond. To offset this effect armour points used from salvage up to the normal 25% cap have no effect on experience levels of the command (representing captured spare parts and kit but few new personnel). If salvage is used for more than 25% in one turn then the normal depletion of experience occurs (representing captured spares and kit as well as an influx of new blood).

The above modified rule, does not apply to regular or lower quality commands.   

Thus far this effect has tended to halt the “march to perfection” of higher quality units while still making the move upwards possible. The intensity of the battlefield action in our game is slowly drawing commands to the median with the vast majority of commands having either high level regulars to mid-level veteran and elite experience. The few commands (2 so far) that have achieved heroic have not held that level for long (exception being specific CUs, since we track experience by the battalion) 

If a group is ambitious enough to track experience by CUs the above rule modification does add some interesting flavour to commands. It is possible to have elite battalions operating next to regulars or veterans in the same command.

Garrisons

Another well designed rule and one that is definitely needed in a grand campaign game of this scale. Personally, I really like the garrison rules as they offer diversity to players who may have different ideas on how they want to garrison their planets. We did wonder why the presence of a combat command would encourage 50% of the defence forces to remain at home during an invasion but the designers had their reasons (we did set this sentence aside and use the full garrisons available).

The rule is missing the weight of CUs found in garrisons or their quality. We came up with a basic charts to determine these factors (food for a revision in a future product?)

Infantry regiments – the first regiment is a green (exp 9) militia regiment (reservists), the remaining regiments are regular infantry (exp 13) of the professional (government) army.

Armour and Mech battalions (all start as regular, exp 13) – dr: 1-2 = light CU; dr: 3-5 = medium CU; dr: 6* = heavy CU. *roll again, on a 6 an armoured CU may be assault weight.


Fixed Garrisons

This choice allows the players a bit of flexibility to mold their commands as they see fit and the 5% repair and 3 RP for (50%) rebuilding rule is a nice touch. As noted in the rules section these garrisons are geared to a ‘basic’ game that might focus on a limited campaign or small section of a front.

Basic Garrisons

Basic Garrisons allow much more player flexibility for planetary defences. The trade-off is that the multitude of possible variations may lead to something of a dog’s breakfast where book keeping may be involved in recording garrison strength. Then again, a player may standardize his garrisons just as if they are a Detailed Garrison but with a personal touch. Unfortunately, the rule does not mention the repair rates. Is it the same as Fixed Garrisons or should they follow the standard repair rules from page 364?

Detailed Garrisons

This is the rules we decided on as it simplified the bookkeeping and avoided seeing assault Mechs and artillery battalions as part of planetary garrisons. We immediately noticed this rule did not include aerospace wings so after some experience we added the PV totals found under Basic Garrisons. That said, due to the cost of aerospace wings, where planets had 100 PV or less,  we allowed players to ‘craft’ wings out of squadrons (CTs). An ‘other’ world’s 50 PV wing, for example, usually consists of 2 light and one heavy squadron). These have the ‘home guard’ feel of planets only being able to field what can be afforded over standard military wings 

If a planet has more than 100 PV it uses the standard wing deployments.

As with Basic Garrisons the rule does not speak to replacement levels. We went with 5% for free but the ‘government’ can raise this to a max 25% for the normal armour point RP costs.

[epic]

No worries, my post was not intended to be a criticism, I understand why you went with an all Stinger light lance. It makes for a powerful CU and the DC had a Stinger LAM factory. In fact, players could design their *perfect* lances for each of the weight classes and ignore CO tables if they so choose. As discussed, the possible ground lance combinations are almost endless so when it came to the limited choices for LAMs I went with a 'generic' lance  to retain that 'generic' philosophy. It is their "historical" rarity that has kept them from our game.

Note that if you do combine a medium CT with two light CTs to make a CU the movement (thrust) will only be 5a. The conversion rules for aerospace note the Unit, CT, CU use the lowest movement/thrust value, unlike ground Units the values are not averaged. This would affect the Tactics/Manoeuvre value of the CU/Formation on the ground and (especially) in the atmosphere or space.

Then again, that could also be used as a means to curb the obvious power of such a large AS CU.  :)

It wasn't intended for creating a more powerful unit so much as just what the Dracs would have had on hand for building. However, the point is noted about probably creating a different one for the Medium.  That being said... they would be split into different companies anyways for air engagements, due to element size.  ARGH. 

So far, they haven't been used in that capacity anyways. 

[epic]

End Phase, Part II

Experience – An easy rule to apply, a command fights, it gains experience. The 25% rule is good but perhaps it should be applied at the CU level. This avoids a mauled heavy Mech battalion receiving 95% replacement but because this number is less that 25% of the command's armour, the experience level is not effected. If your group does not mind the extra bookkeeping you can apply experience by battalion (CU) across the board. This also helps avoid situations where only part of a command is engaged, usually because of a large difference in numbers, yet the entire command gains experience.

The slow but steady increase in experience levels has led to a phenomenon we have labelled “Experience Creep”. For veteran and elite commands that do not run into a bad situation and are crushed we have noticed they simply keep getting better despite the regular influx of replacement armour points. Note that these veteran and elite commands are not suffering light losses, ACS is not that generous. Like regular and green commands, the higher quality commands often suffer 40, 50 60% or more damage in combat. However, the rules note that as long as the command does not receive more than 25% replacements its experience is not affected. This almost ensures their continued ‘growth’. This is of special concern when units begin to click over from elite to heroic. Green and regular formation rarely see this effect as they tend to be shot to pieces before reaching veteran status or, in the case of higher experience regulars, are mined for armour points to rebuild higher quality units. The regulars then mine the higher level green commands that may have survived. Green units simple evaporate.

To lessen this effect we are experimenting with a couple of modifications to the replacement rules. As above, when absorbing armour from a different command the experience levels are averaged out between the existing armour and the new points transferred in. Furthermore, for all veteran or higher quality commands armour replacement points purchased via RPs are considered to have an experience level 13 (lowest 'regular' rating). This has the effect of bringing down overall experience levels and preventing a runaway progression of commands to veteran-elite-heroic and beyond. To offset this effect armour points used from salvage up to the normal 25% cap have no effect on experience levels of the command (representing captured spare parts and kit but few new personnel). If salvage is used for more than 25% in one turn then the normal depletion of experience occurs (representing captured spares and kit as well as an influx of new blood).

The above modified rule, does not apply to regular or lower quality commands.   

Thus far this effect has tended to halt the “march to perfection” of higher quality units while still making the move upwards possible. The intensity of the battlefield action in our game is slowly drawing commands to the median with the vast majority of commands having either high level regulars to mid-level veteran and elite experience. The few commands (2 so far) that have achieved heroic have not held that level for long (exception being specific CUs, since we track experience by the battalion) 

If a group is ambitious enough to track experience by CUs the above rule modification does add some interesting flavour to commands. It is possible to have elite battalions operating next to regulars or veterans in the same command.

Interesting.  Experience growth hasn't been... as much of a concern for us.  I say as much as because there definitely is a constant desperate need to get units out of being green (especially starting units).  Also, the slow growth of units that are at the training centres.  However, once shoved into the meatgrinder of the Succession Wars, it seems like a lot of even the veteran or elite units using ACS... simply disappear.  They are eaten up by the engine of war rapidly, it seems.

[epic]

Turns 16-19 (April to July 3026)
The Capellan Confederation continues to fend off sporadic raiding attempts and special ops strikes on key industries, while trying to rebuild their ravaged economy.  A new economic initiative by the Chancellor finally starts paying off in May, and the Capellan economy begins to rebuild. 

Seeing this, the Federated Suns steps up their raiding operations, hitting multiple worlds.  An incredibly daring strike manages to steal the supplies shipment of the Big MAC on Menke. 

The Chancellor unleashes the MAC after their howls of outrage, and they raid and damage the 5th Davion Guards RCT in response, nearly destroying the unit entirely (and stealing their supplies) in revenge.  Other units are shifted around, and Davion forces are routinely defeated in their raid attempts now. 

The Draconis Combine initiates a full strategic analysis of the borders, to determine weak points.  Raids by the Dragoons, most of their mercenary forces, and some Galedon Regulars units are authorized to determine additional weak points... but no invasions have occurred, yet.  The 10th Deneb Light Cavalry on Huan face repeated raids, and are effectively under a blockade, as supplies rarely are reaching them...

The Free Worlds League continues to suffer from infighting, but worse, from the predation of raids and special operations targetting their industrial worlds all over.  Their own special ops teams suffer the indignity of failure and capture, then public execution on Tharkad.  However, on Hesperus II, the operatives again cause issues with production... followed by unsuccessful raids from Zaniah.

Lyran Commonwealth forces continue to harass and raid the FWL border... until July, 3026. 
In a broad offensive to shock the FWL, the border erupts in fighting.
10th Lyran Regulars attack Galileo - victory against militia
36th Lyran Guard attack Epsilon - Caesar's Cohorts and the militia surrendered without a fight
14th Lyran Guard  attack Megrez - defeating the 3rd Sirian Lancers who are badly damaged in an initial engagement, and negotiate their retreat off-world after losing the bulk of their support and 2 mech battalions.
2nd Lyran Royal Guard attack Mcaffe - defeating the 6th Regulan Hussars who put up a good mobile fight, but are simply overwhelmed as they lack any infantry support.  The surviving Hussars retreat off-world.
2nd and 5th Donegal Guards attack Togwolee - victory against militia
1st, 3rd Lyran Combat Teams (new units, previously unseen), 15th and 37th Lyran Guard, ad the 17th Arcturan Guards, attack zaniah
facing the 25th and 31st Marik Militia, the Gryphons and a new mercenary support unit, Marlon's Marauders.


Preparing to withdraw to their fortress, the Free Worlds League units are dismayed when
the fortification crumbles to rubble, while communications are disrupted due to a number
of special operations teams assasinating key units, blowing up relays and causing mayhem on the first day
of grounding. 
In the first few days of battle, the Lyran units manage to surround
and crush the 25th Marik Militia while a massive air battle begins.
In response, however, the Elite 15th Lyran Guard are tricked into a trap that
destroys much of their support forces before they can extract themselves.  Marlon's
Marauders proves their worth over the next week, attempting hit and run attacks that
delay Lyran forces who are unable to identify the formation with recon.  However,
overwhelming Lyran superiority in tanks works to their advantage, and while it costs the Lyrans
a tank regiment, they pin the Gryphons down finally, and a couple charges later, it becomes obvious to everyone
that the FWL forces are in disarray; the 31st badly damaged, the Gryphons losing their mech regiment, and
the only viable force is the Marauders, badly damaged. 
Talks begin, and the FWL forces are allowed to withdraw.  Similar incidents occur withe the 6th Regulans on Mcaffe,
though Caesar's Cohort chooses instead to end employment with the FWL as part of their settlement, and instead become
free agents on Galatea with a parole requirement of not being employed by either the DC or FWL for a period of 4 years. 
They accept, as the alternative is internment.
The ransom for the FWL forces is reputedly quite high.  Handing over substantial stocks of supplies,
the FWL reels from the blow of losing 6 worlds in battles up and down the line.  The 3rd battle of Zaniah ends with the
Lyrans regaining the last world they lost to their foes, in what is the largest engagement to date. 

[worktroll]

Note: I wasn't involved in the combat side. But I wonder if the 'experience creep' is meant to allow the replication of feats like the Wolf's Dragoons (5 regiments) tying up an entire front in the canon 4th War. Absent ortillery (the Kell Lesson ;) there's an organic reason why some units last for centuries, and others last months.

(See also fighter pilot development in WW2, or Vietnam. Once the pilot survives their first combat, their odds of surviving go up. Once they get their first kill, waaay up. Und so weiter.)

[The Purist]

I don't disagree and we see veteran and elite units ((usually) survive battles in better shape than regular and green Commands for all the reasons found in ACS and the Master Modifier List (better tactics values and increased damage values). It is also perfectly understandable that players will protect their better units by mining less skilled and battered commands for armour replacement points.

I fully expect that by the time we end the 3rd SW Campaign two or three of the houses may have a core group of commands that may be Heroic or even Legendary, a raft of elites and a bushel veterans. Regulars and green Commands may only exist long enough to become replacement points.   :o

It may take a major conflict  ::)  to correct the balance.  8)

[epic]

I don't disagree and we see veteran and elite units ((usually) survive battles in better shape than regular and green Commands for all the reasons found in ACS and the Master Modifier List (better tactics values and increased damage values). It is also perfectly understandable that players will protect their better units by mining less skilled and battered commands for armour replacement points.

I fully expect that by the time we end the 3rd SW Campaign two or three of the houses may have a core group of commands that may be Heroic or even Legendary, a raft of elites and a bushel veterans. Regulars and green Commands may only exist long enough to become replacement points.   :o

It may take a major conflict  ::)  to correct the balance.  8)

Heh.  Which is the goal of my game; to play out the conditions of the 4SW.  Now at August 3026, so 24 more game turns. 

Oy.  and when 2 fanatical commands go at each other, what a bloodbath!

[epic]

turn 20 the DC finally launches a limited invasion of the Fed Suns, while sporadic raids
and headhunting strikes continue on both fronts.  The world of Kesai IV is selected;
the 8th Sword of Light accompanies Alpha Regiment and Zeta Battalion of Wolf's Dragoons.
On world, they engage the 3rd Davion Guards and the 11th Avalon Hussars.  In suicidal engagements, both the Davion Guards and the 8th Sword of Light obliterate each other, mutually; it was a near thing, however, as the 8th would have won, if not for massed successful air strikes and artillery that slowed down their initial charges.  The Dragoons, outnumbered, begin a slow campaign to wear down the Avalon Hussars, and over the span of the month, gain the upper hand - the local militia is also destroyed by a charge from Zeta Battalion.  By the end of August, however, the world has still not fallen to the Dragon, the 11th Hussars stubbornly fighting on.

The Fed Suns/CC border falls suddenly quiet.  Davion quartermasters, tipped off by numerous failed espionage attempts on the Draconis border, shift scant resources to supply units on the DC border. 

The FWL/LC border continues to have sporadic raiding; the bad-luck Gryphons land on Kalidasa to begin re-arming, only to be forced into action to repel a raid by Sinclair's Rangers, a Lyran mercenary unit. 

The FWL erupts in in-fighting in Parliament over the attacks from the LC; Parliament approves funding to rebuild, but it staggers the already teetering economy of the FWL to do so. 

Turn 21
Sept 3026.  The Dragon continues to advance, this time targetting Huan, to recapture the world
taken by House Davion over a year before.  The 12th Galedon Regulars, accompanied by Gamma and Delta
Regiments of Wolf's Dragoons, attack.  Defending the world is the 10th Deneb Light Cavalry who had been preparing for this fight for some time. Mounting an aggressive air patrol, the Deneb meet and engage the Dragoons and Galedon Regulars in space, skirmishing using their dropships and interceptors repeatedly, savaging the bulk of the Dragon's air forces before landing.  Desperate Dragoons fighters protect the Dropships on final approach, and prevent any serious losses from occurring.  On the ground, the Deneb have set up a systematic mobile defence plan, and fall back from
prepared position to prepared position, with only the Dragoon's light mechs able to keep up.  Worse, the Deneb manage to fool DCMS troops with local militia troops as well, until Delta pins the militia down and destroys it. The 12th Galedon fare little better, fall into ambush after ambush.  Deneb air superiority ensure repeated bombing attacks, destroying support units and artillery whenever identified.  In a few short weeks the 12th Galedon cease to exist; knowing that they can't just give up, the Dragoons try an all or nothing gamble, and charge nearby identified elements. 
Destroying 2 light tank regiments of the 10th, Gamma suffers serious damage themselves but the Deneb are themselves shaken.  An uneasy peace follows, broken when the Dragoons allow the Deneb to board their dropships and leave; the Dragoons outnumber them, and only as they are departing does intelligence ascertain
how badly crippled the Deneb air forces are; the Deneb ground forces take what they can with them to repair themselves.  The Dragoons look on as they march past with a final salute of respect for the tenacity of their foe.

Assisting their Davion allies the Lyran Commonwealth takes 2 minor worlds on the Draconis border, Skokie and Moritz in a quick strike.

   turn 22 - A month of  resting up, resupply, re-arm, rebuild.  raids strike a number of targets again, the Lyrans stepping up raids and starting raiding on the Draconis border too. 

turn 23 - attack of the special forces!  failure of the special forces.  very green teams of DEST commandoes horribly fail on the Lyran border.  Meanwhile, other than a successful strike at the facilities on Nanking, Loki operatives likewise fail against the Capellan Confederation. 


turn 24 heavy raiding on the FWL border damages several key units, and continues to cripple production at Kalidasa, Thermopolis and Oliver.  Special ops strike at Loyalty and Shiro III, and terrorist attacks cause plant shutdowns on Irian. 

Terrorist strikes and Sabotage damage the production at Capella severely as well.   

3026 closes, with 3027 showing evidence of a rising war machine...

[Adrian Gideon]

Cool!