Nuclear Weapon of the Month Redux: The Davy Crockett-I

[vidar]

Not quiet Lurker, the slower movement in a operational and stratigic mode make finding and using small nukes easier.  Trying to cover the area that a scout lance could be in is much tougher than doing the same thing for an assult lance.  It is also a much bigger blow to lose the assult lance than the scouts.  If you only have a limted number of baby nuke in a campaign what can you find and hit? And what would hurt the most?  Most Dropship are injured but not crippled by the little boys, but assult mechs are likely to crippled and the cost of repairs can dent the logistics pretty badly.   

[oldfart3025]

There was a 50 MT blast at Hilton Head but if you're talking rules, no.  The Peacemaker/Type IV is the biggest nuke we've got rules for.

If I'm not mistaken, Outreach was hit with a fair amount of high-yield strategic devices (i.e. high megaton range, up to 50 megatons). I'm also thinking the Regulans, in their little march to Circinus used a large number of the big boys while glassing planets.

I remember in the old threads that Herb posted some data on calculating stats for devices up to 50 megatons. Unfortunately, I lost them along with the old articles.  :(

[Fireangel]

I remember in the old threads that Herb posted some data on calculating stats for devices up to 50 megatons. Unfortunately, I lost them along with the old articles.  :(

IIRC he'd mentioned it, but never actually posted it.

I'd be good with a 5mt yield damage and crater depth.

[Moonsword]

What he posted were stats for larger warheads.  I've got a copy.  If he approves, I can post it again.

[Diablo48]

Not quiet Lurker, the slower movement in a operational and stratigic mode make finding and using small nukes easier.  Trying to cover the area that a scout lance could be in is much tougher than doing the same thing for an assult lance.  It is also a much bigger blow to lose the assult lance than the scouts.  If you only have a limted number of baby nuke in a campaign what can you find and hit? And what would hurt the most?  Most Dropship are injured but not crippled by the little boys, but assult mechs are likely to crippled and the cost of repairs can dent the logistics pretty badly.

The Davy Crockett-I is short enough ranged that lights will not be able to get clear of the blast, and that is assuming they even know it is coming (hint, they should not).  They are also exceedingly vulnerable to direct fire nuclear strikes which the infantry will use if they think they are dead anyways because these blasts do not give you time to evade so your scouts will take the brunt of the strike which is almost guaranteed to be fatal.

Assaults on the other hand can easily carry 250~300 points of armor which will allow them to survive a single detonation without too much trouble as the maximum yield of a Davy Crockett (assuming you are not in the auto-kill hex) is 95 points.  While this will hurt, most assaults will still have armor across most locations so long as it does not land behind them, and are usually going to be in a position to elect to retreat for some quick armor repairs after the fact because you presumably pulled your units out to protect them from the blast.  Thus spending your nuke on the assault lance buys you almost nothing with the enemy getting to choose between loosing a little bit of time and accepting mild to moderate damage to all units before engaging your forces.

[ANS Kamas P81]

Davy Crockett-I infantry platoons with Hidden Unit rules is the number one way to lose friends at the BT table.  Not that I'm saying it's a bad idea, mind you

[VhenRa]

No.

Wouldn't that be Davy Crockett-M loaded Long Tom Field Artillery platoon, using hidden units?

[ANS Kamas P81]

No.

Wouldn't that be Davy Crockett-M loaded Long Tom Field Artillery platoon, using hidden units?

No, that's how to get kicked out of game stores.  Using them Offboard is how you get banned from the forums.  (it's Rule 14!)  O:-)

[Martius]

What he posted were stats for larger warheads.  I've got a copy.  If he approves, I can post it again.

Yep, found it in my archives. There are stats for 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 megatons.

[Fireangel]

Yep, found it in my archives. There are stats for 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 megatons.

Would it be too much to ask for you to PM them to me?

[Weirdo]

Thus spending your nuke on the assault lance buys you almost nothing with the enemy getting to choose between loosing a little bit of time and accepting mild to moderate damage to all units before engaging your forces.

I'd call reducing an assault lance or cpmany to a bunch of slow units with the armor of medium 'mechs(at best) to be buying me quite a bit. Remember, Battletech is a combined-arms game. Using a nuke by itself is a waste of a perfectly good nuke, and of all the other stuff that could take immediate advantage of the blast.

[Diablo48]

I'd call reducing an assault lance or cpmany to a bunch of slow units with the armor of medium 'mechs(at best) to be buying me quite a bit. Remember, Battletech is a combined-arms game. Using a nuke by itself is a waste of a perfectly good nuke, and of all the other stuff that could take immediate advantage of the blast.

While that is useful, I personally think it is more useful to completely destroy their lighter units in one surprise attack than to piss off their big guys with a nuke.  Also, remember that unleashing nukes is inviting the enemy to do a lot worse to you so it is probably not something you are going to do unless you do not think you can win without it.

Of course, neither application of a nuke is going to get you anywhere near as much bang for your buck as nuking their base camp to try to catch the repair crews so they cannot fix the damage, most of their units as they are shut down, and their unprotected crew/pilots.  Besides, if you are breaking out the nukes you are already inviting them to do their worst so it is not like their response can get any worse.

[vidar]

Most of the time the threat of the nuke can keep the assult regiment in lances as to not be a target, and this really what you are trying to do.  Shaping the battlefield, nuking the repair and resupply units is better but they are seldom massed and vulnerable.

[Atlas3060]

Honestly, I'd be just fine with giving these things a BV and allowing their use in any regular game that already calls for more than four mapsheets if it weren't for the great length of time it can take to roll the damage and secondary effects for every unit in the blast radius.

Games that use more than four mapsheets, RPG fodder for a big bad guy, and big turning point scenarios where you want the players to sweat.
I'm thinking of some ideas, but yeah it is a workable tool. It just isn't feasible to use it a lot of times.

[Blackjack Jones]

The same rules should work, just divide Battletech damage by ten, and ranges by three. A Crockett would have a base damage of ten, and a blast radius of nine hexes.

Not too overpowering, actually...

Thanks for the input!  :)

Pretty much what I figured on the direct effects, but I was a bit more at a loss at the secondary effects, as BattleForce doesn't track hits to MechWarriors/Aerojocks or Shutdown rolls.
I think I'm just going to tag 'Mechs and Fighters with an Engine Hit critical (on top of the random criticals) as a replacement.

Games that use more than four mapsheets, RPG fodder for a big bad guy, and big turning point scenarios where you want the players to sweat.
I'm thinking of some ideas, but yeah it is a workable tool. It just isn't feasible to use it a lot of times.

That's pretty much why I was looking at the BF angle. With the range change, the Type I and II's should be more of a single mapsheet eraser than the
"Kerosene and Match" on the normal BT scale. And the damage resolution ought to be a heck of a lot faster.

And then there's my ulterior motive of adapting the nuke rules for demolition charges, thermobaric weapons, or the local MOAB/BLU-82 equivalent.
Sometimes you need quality and quantity.  >:D

[chanman]

Being the only nuke I've actually seen used in combat(okay, it was a Crockett-M, but the same lessons apply here), I would dispute the game-breaking nature of these warheads. While extremely disruptive, the damage they mete out is far from the 'auto-kill the enemy force' kind of pain most people associate with nuclear attacks. Honestly, I'd be just fine with giving these things a BV and allowing their use in any regular game that already calls for more than four mapsheets if it weren't for the great length of time it can take to roll the damage and secondary effects for every unit in the blast radius. Were they usable in space, I certainly would have no objections to their use.

In an RPG situation, you could certainly use them *inside* the ship. Hey, if you fire it from one end of the jump core at the other end of the ship, you might even be able to stay out of the blast radius!

Atomic boarding actions! Coming to an impenetrable behemoth near you!

[Weirdo]

I like the way you think. ^-^

[ANS Kamas P81]

Atomic boarding actions! Coming to an impenetrable behemoth near you!

"It is my very favorite gun...I call her 'Misjump.'"