Interstellar Operations Beta

[atlask]

I would say a small one group. Battalion size for small population ones. Regiment on larger ones. But only infantry and tanks. As their main force.

are there planetary militia for those planets that don't have a formation on it?

[Atlas3060]

are there planetary militia for those planets that don't have a formation on it?

Not sure if this helps, but I did ask about that in the official feedback thread.
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/catalyst-asks-you!/interstellar-operations-beta/msg1102531/#msg1102531

[Kreedo]

I need the names of the regional capitols by major faction and minor faction for my IO 3025 map. 

Does anyone have this list or the reference to where I can find them?

I'm a bit confused here since some maps have many regional capitols and some have just a few(such as the IO Beta example on page 348(book pg).

The reference I've used so far is the old Succession Wars game.

[SCC]

Does anyone else have a problem with the disconnect between industrialization level, number of factories, income and fortifications?

[worktroll]

Nope. Australia has a very high level of industrialisation. Our industrial output is low, not only because of our low population (around that of the Greater London Council area), but because of economic reasons that make primary industry (mining, agriculture) far more profitable.

At least we haven't had a few centuries of unremitting warfare, nor has our phone company resorted to assassinating scientists. That I know of ;)

[Finster]

Does anyone else have a problem with the disconnect between industrialization level, number of factories, income and fortifications?

Not necessarily. I can see a valid argument for having those all be very dependent, but in a post-Star League universe or Age of War I can see the other side, too, such that you could have a political entity that is advanced (high industrialization) but has very few factories. Or maybe another entity that has a lot of old fortifications that are centuries old, but then have little to no industrial base whatsoever. Eastern Europe ca. 1989 is a decent example of this.

Yeah, what worktroll said.

[atlask]

http://battletech.rpg.hu/images/ismaps/3025.pdf Hope this help.. it has all them on it..

I need the names of the regional capitols by major faction and minor faction for my IO 3025 map. 

Does anyone have this list or the reference to where I can find them?

I'm a bit confused here since some maps have many regional capitols and some have just a few(such as the IO Beta example on page 348(book pg).

The reference I've used so far is the old Succession Wars game.

[SCC]

What I meant was ISaW tracks worlds by a generic industrialization level, but there's also that niffty factory by world listing and a table convert the number of factories on a world into it's industrialization level, that's all fine, it's mostly fluff.

Until you bring in ACS and fortifications.  If you want to protect those factories you need to put them in fortifications, the problem is the way the game is set up the number of factories is variable, does that Minor Industrial World have 1 or 2? That Major can have anywhere between 3 and 7

[monbvol]

There is a chart for that for 3025 in the Beta.  If you expand the industrial capacity of a world then that is something you have to track yourself in some manner.

[SCC]

OK, New Earth is listed as a Minor Industrial World in the samples given, I pay 960 RP to upgrade it to Major. Now on a later turn I want to put my new factories into fortifications to protect them (I've already put it's starting factory into fortifications to protect it) but how many new factories do I have? According to the WORLD VALUES TABLE on page 350 (That's the PDF index) anywhere from 2 to 6

[worktroll]

That's the sort of good, specific question to raise in the official Beta thread, where the people who write the rules can see it, and add it to the list of things to look at.

Whereas your original question came across more philosophical, like "Why do elite units have better troops" :)

[monbvol]

I would assume that you would first have to upgrade it as a Minor Industrial World with it only having 1 Factory then you would have to upgrade it to a Major Industrial World.

Chart on page 350 shows a Minor Industrial World has 1-2 Factories while a Major has 3-7.  Chart on page 351 shows that in 3025 New Earth has 1 Factory.

Thus my assumption is that you can only 1 Factory point at a time and would thus consult your book keeping method of choice or the chart on page 351.

[SCC]

The problem is that there are two systems running side by side, the ISaW generic industrialization levels with a fluff factory number and ACS which uses that same fluff number in a concreate role

[monbvol]

That is a good point for the slightly less detailed economic setup rules.

For the detailed setup rules it is just a matter of tracking/book keeping since you will know exactly how many factories are on the indicated world.

[worktroll]

I would assume that you would first have to upgrade it as a Minor Industrial World with it only having 1 Factory then you would have to upgrade it to a Major Industrial World.

I saw the same thing, and put it up on the official feedback thread.

Mind you, I'm very much of the opinion that you shouldn't be able to upgrade a world in one gameturn. I'm used to the old classical model where you'd have to invest over a period of several to a dozen turns before upgrading economic infrastructure permanently. Yes, have some shortcuts - throwing money at things does help, but the return should be poor, eg. "halve the time, quadruple the cost", or worse.

And when it comes to colonisation ... establishing a colony successfully should be a matter of years, generating return from a colony should be a matter of decades.

[monbvol]

*nod*

It is a section of rules I would completely excise if it were up to me.

[ScrapYardArmory]

You attack Combat Units in a Formation. Formation's are very much an abstraction in ACS. Most of the real work is at the Combat Unit level.

Thanks for the reply!  I wish I had seen it earlier.  Missed it somehow.

Ok, so damage is still applied to the Combat Unit right?  We don't dive down into the Combat Teams correct?  So there is no need for the opposed Tactics check to determine damage resolution as in SBF.  Damage is alway dealt to the targeted Combat Unit?

Thanks!

[SCC]

This just sort of came to me, the way the rules work for ISaW you need a hex amp, right? Is one provided? How do you make your own?

[Alexander Knight]

This just sort of came to me, the way the rules work for ISaW you need a hex amp, right? Is one provided? How do you make your own?

In progress at this very moment.

[SCC]

OK, the game is built around a minimum of 5 players plus a GM, what happens when I don't have that many? Most importantly how is diplomacy handled with these extra GM Factions?

[worktroll]

OK, the game is built around a minimum of 5 players plus a GM, what happens when I don't have that many? Most importantly how is diplomacy handled with these extra GM Factions?

One reads page 347 of the IO Beta, under "Choose Factions", subhead "Assign NPCs to Gamemaster".

[monbvol]

I would also highly recommend using a more limited scenario so that the lower number of players is less of an issue.

[SCC]

It's just that without ANY sort of moderating factor the NPC factions combine and form voltron faction

[worktroll]

Then you need to talk with your gamemaster. The GM's not there to become galactic warlord, they're there to manage off-stage things.  For example, say you have three people playing - yourself and two friends. Chosing to play CapCon vs. Combine will not yield a satisfyung game. FedSuns vs. Combine will. In such a scenario, the GM (apart from other responsibilities) would rule on any trade offers you or your opponent made to the Lyrans, Leaguers or CapCon. I'd consider it likely the only time military events involving the NPCs could happen would be if you or your friend decide to shortcut through NPC territory, or (for Ghu knows what reason) capture NPC worlds.

If your GM is manipulating the NPC states as you suggest, then it's my opinion they're doing it wrong.

[SCC]

Which means he'll need a method to determine if a NPC race accepts a PCs treaty offer

[worktroll]

The rules also don't cover whether players should wear underpants while playing, either. Some issues must, perforce, be left to the GM's imagination.

[Weirdo]

Wait, they don't?!

Sweet, that gives me yet another winning strategy! I'll try it at our tourney tomorrow!

[Maingunnery]

For ISIF will there be rules for moving existing factories & making new factories? Or will this be done at GM level? 

[SCC]

Making new factories, yes Inner Sphere at War has that. Moving them, I don't think so.

[worktroll]

For ISIF will there be rules for moving existing factories & making new factories? Or will this be done at GM level?

It's called Inner Sphere at War (ISW) now.

And the ISW rules as of the IO Beta don't contain rules for moving existing factories. They do contain rules for upgrading worlds from "other" (no factories) to "minor industrial" (1-2 factories), then to "major industrial" (3-7 factories). CORRECTION - there's no way to go from "major industrial" to "hyper industrial", so no more Coventries or Luthiens than the game starts with. Rules are on p351 of the IO Beta.

The Inner Sphere hasn't displayed any real "factory movement" capability in fiction. The Clans have, but the Clans are not in scope of the current Beta rules. This won't be forever, and this may be covered in future Clan expansions. Similarly, the current ruleset doesn't contain rules for Intelligence Operations, Communications or Interdictions, Research, or WarShips; that's not to say such rules won't eventually be released down the track.

W.

updated to correct small error.