SLA downtime tictac trainings.

[Joose]

Ive just had a thought. We quite often get in situations in SLA where we could really do with some sort of pre-arranged tactics. Even just something as simple as "when we get in a shooting match, person X targets the leftmost enemy, person Y targets the rightmost enemy, person Z goes for the furthest person away" and so on.

What we have at the moment is a lot of stumbling onto big groups of doods, and we all do our own thing. Its not (yet) caused us any major headaches, but it has occasionally caused a few incidents of people shooting corpses and the like. We cant really do anything about it at the time because complicated tactical planning whilst in bullet tiem isnt really doable. Im thinking we come up with a few things that we could have our characters run through together in downtime to make things a little better organised.

I know, I know, cat herding LOL. If we try and keep it fairly simple and basic though, even we should be able to manage *something*.

As a start, im thinking we need the following things covered:

1) A standard plan. This would be our basic, who does what when combat starts in most situations. Probably something along the lines of: close combat guys head in to get the closest targets, mid range shooters allocate targets in some organised way, snipers take on the further away targets/difficult to hit/most scary looking.

2)Big Target plans. For those "oh shit, a manchine" moments. Just a basic outline of how we can put the most hurt on in the shortest time without getting in each others way.

3)Breaching. How we go through doors in a potentially fighty way without it turning into the three stooges with guns.

We could also maybe think about some way of synchronising ourselves so we can all get the "SURPRISE! BULLET TIEM" thing together.

[Grimmie]

For those "oh shit, a manchine" moments.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v241/ ... nwhat2.gif" title="Look ma! I can recycle old pictures!">

Seriously though, I agree. I think it showed best during Tower Offence when we all tried to ram our way through a diddy door into oncoming fire.
Looking at floorplans on computers, looking for alternate routes of entry, and working out a 'marching order' would benefit us to no end.

Even having smaller characters crouch while they fire so taller ones can shoot over them in a volley would be a great move.

[Dog Pants]

I mentioned it to Grimmie the other day, but I'm quite surprised nobody died in the firefight at the top of the tower. You went about that pretty much as badly as you could have done, and it was only really the virtue of the two toughest characters taking all the damage, a few individuals being effective at taking down the bad guys, and a spot that saved you. For such lack of planning in the face of an obviously tough encounter I was happy to let the dice do the talking, even if that meant a few people would be rerolling afterwards.

Also worth bearing in mind that you've not really come up against much out of the mundane so far. The DarkNight Interceptors in the tower are exceptional but were deliberately used out of context - normally they'd be snipers and hitmen. The rust vets were quite tough, but even the toughest was only up to the standard of an ex-war criminal. The ebb hounds were probably the toughest thing, but you weren't really meant to fight them. If you start encountering some of the bad boys like Thresher or Fire, some of the nastier rogue SLA, real Manchines, or the occult-esque stuff you've never seen yet then you'll need more than a rank of big guns and a high DEX.

[Joose]

As one of the guys taking a lot of the damage, im well aware of how close some of these things have been.
If it had been someone other than a Shaktar in massive armour, we would definately have lost one or more doods.

Ok, so how about this as a start: Basic tactics. Just a generic "do this" that will fit most situations.

Close combat guys: Primary targets should be enemy close combat guys. Thier punchy guys punching our shooters would be bad, so the main role of our close combat guys should be to stop that happening. Emphasis should be more on keeping them interested and not dying, with actually killing thier targets being a nice bonus rather than a main goal. They also need to get out and about first, as it takes longer for them to get into the action than it does our ranged guys.

Shooty guys: by this I mean anyone who is more mid ranged combat, so people with machine guns, shotties, ebb effects with a shorter range, that sort of thing. These should be targetting the bulk of the baddies, using full auto on concentrated groups. We should agree on some system so that we are not all shooting the same dood and ignoring the rest too. My suggestion would be a pattern to work to. For instance, if there were three of us that fit this role, person 1 could work through the targets from right to left, person 2 could go left to right, and person three could go from the middle out. Obviously, this will depend on the amount of Shooty guys we have.

Snipey Guys: this covers shooty guys that are better at accurate killin at range, rather than spraying lead death at mid range. These should prioritise targets that are more difficult to take down, either because they are really far away or in badass cover. Also, they should look out for particularly worriesome threats: people in shiny armour, people with big nasty guns, etc. If there are none that stand out, they can cover the close combat guys as needed.

Tanks: people who can take more punishment than most. In other words, people like Kt'rr (big armour, lots of hit points) and eraser (fast healing from pretty much anything other than death.

In general, I think we should go for this:

First off, people get into whatever cover is available.
Second, close combat guys charge with shooters covering.
Tanks should take the front lines and try and attract more attention, non-tanks should be further back and more hidey.

Situations where we need to get through a small space (ie, doors) we should lead with heavier armoured close combat doods, then less armoured close combat, then heavy armoured shooters, then less armoured shooters.

Thoughts?

[TezzRexx]

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v241/ ... nwhat2.gif" title="Look ma! I can recycle old pictures!"

Manchine?

http://open.spotify.com/track/77ZppMuJDiQEpc3LaoZOvi

[Stoat]

Manchine?
http://open.spotify.com/track/77ZppMuJDiQEpc3LaoZOvi

Ooh. I thought it was how you were supposed to spell 'Mankini'.

[Dog Pants]

Spellcasting: T H R E A D R E S S U R E C T!

This old thread is relevant to something I'm working on at the moment for my sourcebook; tactics. Certain packages (Death Squad, Strike Squad) will become combat leaders if they like, having bonuses from their training to tactics rolls. This isn't very useful right now, but I'm working on a set of tactical rules in parallel which will open up straight combat to encompass squad movement and tactics, rather than just being the mathematical slugfest it is right now. It's a little more abstract than the detailed combat system, but should sit on top as a way of colouring what's happening, and giving incentives for using the things real infantry squads use. If it works properly it should turn ranged combat from quick-draw to see who nails the other guy first to a more well paced gun battle. As per usual, I'd like input from lovely 5punkers, SLA-ers or otherwise. Here's what I currently have:

Tactics
The tactics skill can be used in a number of ways in combat, both on the front line and by observers. Some of the options are a little abstract, but they represent dynamics which don't necessarily translate well to the game system.

Combat Awareness - An Operative may make a Tactics roll at the beginning of the round to gauge the actions of nearby squadmates. This represents their knowledge of the tactics and habits of their colleagues. In game terms it translates to the player being able to act on out of character information from the other players about the actions their characters will be taking for the next round.

Taking Cover - An Operative trained and experienced in combat tactics can instinctively gauge lines of fire, and use this instinct to remain out of them. On any phase they can act an Op may make a Tactics roll to find nearby cover. How much cover and how close it is is up to the GM and based on the terrain, but care should be taken to make the results practical.

Combat Gestures – Death/Strike Squad Operatives are trained to anticipate and understand the actions of their colleagues in fast and dangerous combat situations. Throughout their training they are instructed in a set of gestures and motions which enable them to communicate their intentions and issue orders quickly and silently. Death or Strike Squad Ops within line of sight of each other gain a +1 modifier to their tactics rolls.

Draw Fire – While in support roles Death Squad gunners are extremely proficient at making themselves conspicuous. Firing across the enemy's line of sight and hitting their cover and the ground around them, the Op can attract the fire of an enemy shooter in order to lessen the risk to their comrades. When a Death Squad Op fires at an enemy using auto fire, regardless of whether he hits or not (but not if the weapon jams), he can attempt to draw their fire. This is done by making a successful Tactics roll with their weapon's rate of fire bonus and the opponent's Tactics skill as modifiers.

Covering Fire – Using very much the same tactics as with drawing fire, a Death Squad gunner can horse the enemy to keep their heads down. When a Death Squad Op fires at enemies using suppressive fire he may attempt covering fire. This is done by making a successful Tactics roll with their weapon's rate of fire bonus and the opponent's Tactics skill as modifiers. If successful targets in cover will duck behind it, while targets without will take their next action to change to a kneeling or prone position. Should an enemy be in the open and prone already the covering fire will have no effect.

Verbal Orders - Operatives using tactics may issue orders to other members of the squad (although whether they choose to listen is entirely up to them) in order to allow them to benefit from larger scale tactics which they may not ordinarily be able to use. The ordering character makes the tactics roll, and if successful any other character to whom they apply it will benefit as described. Verbal orders take time to relay, so under normal conditions they are issued at the beginning of the round and take effect at the end. The main exception to this is if a character has used Combat Awareness, their pre-practiced and drilled training allowing them to interpret the situation and act immediately. Only one Verbal Order can be issued for the squad – if more than one character attempt to issue orders both have no effect as the comms are garbled. Note that the ordering character does not necessarily have to be in the combat to issue orders, only have an awareness of it (for example, through a Strike Squad Op's tactical rig).

Flanking - An Operative with comms to his squad may issue orders for certain members to try to outflank the enemy. This requires a certain amount of movement, and obviously the facilities to do so, but will result in diminishing cover for the opponent. Characters who are flanking must first move a minimum of 25% of the range to their target laterally (i.e. not moving towards their target). Once they have moved this distance the new angle negates 1 point of cover their opponents receive. Flanking manoeuvres can be stacked with no additional order required, so a 50% range movement will reduce cover by 2, 75% will reduce cover by 3, and so on. A flanking tactic is a verbal order.

[deject]

I like these. Tactics was always a little vague. Stuff like Combat Awareness and Covering Fire will give more definition to the skill and should be quite good.