Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Making Carriers Carry: a Mass Combat tweak

PTTG · 01-16-2017, 11:57 PM

Basic Mass Combat rules have carriers as a single 48,000 TS element, including its air wing.

Considering that (this prevents naval aircraft from participating in in-land battles, and)(incorrect) it decreases the ability to use carriers in unconventional ways (replacing the aircrews and systems with stone-age warriors, for instance), I sought to provide an alternative.

I would change it so that the carrier includes only its built-ins. The stats are:

Code:

Element			TS*	Class		Mob	Raise	Maintain	TL
Escort Carrier		3000	Nav, T244	Sea	450M	18M		6
Fleet Carrier		12000	Nav, T488	Sea	900M	36M		7
Flagship Carrier	40000	Nav, T816	Sea	1.5B	60M		8

Code:

Nominal Loadout:	Size-8 Elements	TS of air wing at TL 8	R$	M$
Escort Carrier		30			90000		$450M	$18M
Fleet Carrier		60			180000		$900M	$36M
Flagship Carrier	100			300000		$1.5B	$60M

This makes Fleet Carriers approximately equal to stock carriers provided they are stocked with Jet Fighter-Bombers, and it makes a TL8 Flagship Carrier have a similar total number of aircraft as a modern carrier.

For further compartmentalization, the Flagship Carrier should contain a Command Post that is purchased separately and cannot be removed without an overhaul. On the other hand, it doesn't take up transport space. One other special rule: Carriers can only refuel and support aircraft of the same quality level and lower, and only of the same TL; one can't skimp out on the carriers to buy better planes.

I think that the T816 capacity actually does make some sense. I suppose that, if you hollowed out an aircraft carrier and removed everything related to, you know, aircraft, you could get the thing to carry 8,160 screaming stone-age warriors if you wanted to. The GM should do some sanity checking so that players understand that such an operation would be a major overhaul of the ship, and not as simple as rolling the aircraft into the sea and saying "ALL ABOARD!"

Among other advantages, this allows military planners to specialize for specific missions with an assortment of aircraft. As a rule of thumb, GMs should probably assume that 50% of a given aircrafts' WT is in fact equipment that's bolted down and would take serious effort to remove.

Updated version with more accurate TS and C3I coverage:

Code:

Element			TS*	Class		Mob	Raise	Maintain	TL
Escort Carrier		1000	Nav, T244, C3I	Sea	$50M	$18M		6
Fleet Carrier		4000	Nav, T488, C3I	Sea	$100M	$36M		7
Flagship Carrier	8000	Nav, T816, C3I	Sea	$220M	$60M		8

Code:

Nominal Loadout:	Size-8 Elements	TS of air wing at TL 8	R$	M$
Escort Carrier		30			90000		$450M	$18M
Fleet Carrier		60			180000		$900M	$36M
Flagship Carrier	100			300000		$1.5B	$60M

01-16-2017, 11:57 PM	#1
PTTG Join Date: Feb 2011	Making Carriers Carry: a Mass Combat tweak Basic Mass Combat rules have carriers as a single 48,000 TS element, including its air wing. Considering that (this prevents naval aircraft from participating in in-land battles, and)(incorrect) it decreases the ability to use carriers in unconventional ways (replacing the aircrews and systems with stone-age warriors, for instance), I sought to provide an alternative. I would change it so that the carrier includes only its built-ins. The stats are: Code: Element TS* Class Mob Raise Maintain TL Escort Carrier 3000 Nav, T244 Sea 450M 18M 6 Fleet Carrier 12000 Nav, T488 Sea 900M 36M 7 Flagship Carrier 40000 Nav, T816 Sea 1.5B 60M 8 Code: Nominal Loadout: Size-8 Elements TS of air wing at TL 8 R$ M$ Escort Carrier 30 90000 $450M $18M Fleet Carrier 60 180000 $900M $36M Flagship Carrier 100 300000 $1.5B $60M This makes Fleet Carriers approximately equal to stock carriers provided they are stocked with Jet Fighter-Bombers, and it makes a TL8 Flagship Carrier have a similar total number of aircraft as a modern carrier. For further compartmentalization, the Flagship Carrier should contain a Command Post that is purchased separately and cannot be removed without an overhaul. On the other hand, it doesn't take up transport space. One other special rule: Carriers can only refuel and support aircraft of the same quality level and lower, and only of the same TL; one can't skimp out on the carriers to buy better planes. I think that the T816 capacity actually does make some sense. I suppose that, if you hollowed out an aircraft carrier and removed everything related to, you know, aircraft, you could get the thing to carry 8,160 screaming stone-age warriors if you wanted to. The GM should do some sanity checking so that players understand that such an operation would be a major overhaul of the ship, and not as simple as rolling the aircraft into the sea and saying "ALL ABOARD!" Among other advantages, this allows military planners to specialize for specific missions with an assortment of aircraft. As a rule of thumb, GMs should probably assume that 50% of a given aircrafts' WT is in fact equipment that's bolted down and would take serious effort to remove. Updated version with more accurate TS and C3I coverage: Code: Element TS* Class Mob Raise Maintain TL Escort Carrier 1000 Nav, T244, C3I Sea $50M $18M 6 Fleet Carrier 4000 Nav, T488, C3I Sea $100M $36M 7 Flagship Carrier 8000 Nav, T816, C3I Sea $220M $60M 8 Code: Nominal Loadout: Size-8 Elements TS of air wing at TL 8 R$ M$ Escort Carrier 30 90000 $450M $18M Fleet Carrier 60 180000 $900M $36M Flagship Carrier 100 300000 $1.5B $60M Last edited by PTTG; 04-19-2017 at 01:29 PM.