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Old 02-06-2017, 03:58 PM   #21
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: Dreg gangs

We said crew took full damage. If the crew dropping the grenade had component armour, this would contain the burst and prevent damage to other compartments (and possibly crew if they had individual CA). Otherwise we just applied the 1/2 damage to every component. If CA had been breached only the excess passed through and to only 1 randomly determined compartment and a single component in that compartment. Any excess from there damaged weapons and any excess from there went to the appropriate armour location.

We assumed that armour would contain both burst effects completely (until breached). In the event that a side had no armour (but not if it was just breached) the 2" burst would extend out into that fire arc (the 1/2" would too, but it was highly unlikely that anything would be within 1/4" of the counter).
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Old 06-22-2017, 06:25 AM   #22
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: Dreg gangs

A quick update for anyone who may be interested.

Apparently 3 unarmed bikes each with a pillion passenger with an assault rifle (meat turret) is enough to severely challenge a group with $200K worth of vehicles.

The players were amblebushed (a new word I have invented for an ambush that you see coming a mile off) by 3 dreg bikes whilst doing 60 at the crossover section of dual carriage way (3 lanes in each direction with a short section of road linking them to allow U-turns).

The players saw the bikes waiting in the parking lot of a building on the other side of the carriageway and (correctly) assumed they were up to no good. As they had no proof of ill intent (but mostly becuase the to hit modifiers were so bad) they elected not to fire on sight.

Once they hit a carefully calculated ambush point the bikes quickly accelerated showing unequivocal intent. Due to some odd tactical placement by the players only two vehicles could target the Dregs.

Due to some odd tactical decision making one of those vehicles (a trike) was armed with MMLs, had only a +1 computer and was manned by a Gunner 0. Needless to say he had no chance of hitting. He didn't consider targeting close to use the burst effect, but as the bikes had rider component armour and the burst area of the MML is so small, it probably wouldn't have made any difference.

Due to some odd tactical thinking the vehicle with the turreted dual IR lasers with the +2 gunner and the +2 computer decided to attack a roadside building in case it concealed a surprise rather than target the visible threat (he probably thought 3 ARs were insufficient threat to a rig to worry about).

Once the bikes got up-to speed the targeting penalties became horrendous and it was obvious they would get within point blank easily and might start to become a credible threat.

The remaining vehicle (A Duellist salvaged from a previous fight and almost fully repaired) opted to turn off the carriage way onto the cross-over in order to bring his front Blast Cannon to bear. As the bikes were moving so fast crossing the T and he was turning he couldn't get his to hit down so he decided to wait until he could get a better number. The bikes were less parsimonious and opened up on him as soon a he came into range (to build up their sustained fire bonus if nothing else). Closing at 95 mph he was at point blank before he took the shot. He hit, killed a PP, but as you hit a maximum of one component with bikes all remaining damage passed out to no effect. The hazard wasn't enough to wobble the bike and all he did was slow it down. The bike he slowed failed to move out of the way so he hit it head on completely destroyed it and it's crew. A win for the home team!

The other two bikes then slipped past, firing at point blank into his front tire. As they had made an odd tactical decision to replace the tire but not the guard, even the riders were able to contribute to the damage with shotguns. As a result he lost both the tire and the wheel. This effectively took him out of the fight as he was unwilling risk any maneuver other then braking and he couldn't recover HS fast enough to turn back to the fight.

As the remaining bikes got closer (carefully remaining in the blind spot of the laser - though it was a flatbed it was carrying 3 ISOs which blocked the rear arc) the players decided that the trike with badly damaged front armour was at most risk and so it was ordered to run for it while the rig provided cover. The rig blew its defensive suite (3 linked FOJs) forcing the bikes to run off-road to avoid it. Bikes can handle OR even at 50 (as long as they don't maneuver too much) so the rig was forced to go off-road to try to affect them and closed to sideswipe them.

Once close enough the two pillions who hadn't fired in ages leapt from the bikes to the bed of the trailer between the ISOs. This was surprisingly easy. Once aboard they were able wedge themselves between the ISOs safe from both weapon fire and attempts to shake them off. They were also able to shoot off the locks of the ISOs ready to start pillaging. To be honest I hadn't anticipated them getting this far and whilst jumping was an entirely logical action (and dead cinematic) I/they didn't have any plan for what they would do when they got there.

The trike by this time was far ahead and in order to try to get rid of the human flies had to make a violent turn to get back in the fight. Unfortunately as well as being Gunner 0 he is also Cyclist 0 and fluffed it, spinning out. Miraculously he was able to regain control but is currently travelling in reverse. About the same time one of the remaining bikes contacted the rig and the sideswipe was enough to kill the rider and the plant. By quirk of fate it remained upright and is happily overtaking the rig with its mangled rider draped over the handlebars.

Other than carefully plan the point when the bikes would start to accelerate, every other action by the bikes has been in response to the situation at the time. They have not been omniscient and I haven't fudged any rolls. They haven't failed any control rolls as they didn't maneuver excessively (like the players did).

More later...
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Old 06-22-2017, 10:56 AM   #23
Racer
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: London, UK
Default Re: Dreg gangs

Quick question : Wouldn't the Cyclists+Passengers be unable to fire Hand Weaponry whilst under Competent Armor ?

Only illustration I can recall of Component Armour on a Cycle is from VG3 ( I know ) , and that seems to suggest full covering . Yes that would stop the any Burst Effect but I'd of thought unless it was 'opened' , it would stop any hand weapons being aimed outside - which would defeat the purpose of it in the first place ...

That's why I think many non Gang Cyclists have Component Armour , as you'd know their not likely to toss a Flechette Grenade in through an open window ...
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Old 06-22-2017, 11:02 AM   #24
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: Dreg gangs

Our house ruling (which goes against some published rulings).

Since you can fire a vehicular weapon that is protected by CA, why can't a CA protected passenger also fire? If a passenger behind vehicular armour can fire out of a weapon port, why cannot CA have a similar port?

Illustrations seldom bear any resemblance to the rules they purport to depict.
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Old 06-22-2017, 11:41 AM   #25
kjamma4
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Chicagoland Area, Illinois
Default Re: Dreg gangs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Racer View Post
Quick question : Wouldn't the Cyclists+Passengers be unable to fire Hand Weaponry whilst under Competent Armor ?
Funny typo.
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Old 06-22-2017, 08:44 PM   #26
Jeremy Willis
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Default Re: Dreg gangs

Quote:
Originally Posted by swordtart View Post
Our house ruling (which goes against some published rulings).

Since you can fire a vehicular weapon that is protected by CA, why can't a CA protected passenger also fire? If a passenger behind vehicular armour can fire out of a weapon port, why cannot CA have a similar port?

Illustrations seldom bear any resemblance to the rules they purport to depict.
I also made this house rule for the home game I ran. Component Armor can be essential defense for motorcycles in a world of flame clouds, and letting them still use hand weapons doesn't break the game in my opinion.
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Old 06-23-2017, 01:27 AM   #27
LokRobster
 
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Republic of Texas; FOS
Default Re: Dreg gangs

Dreg Gangs Break Game!
:-)

Thanks for sharing, it's crazy that they could get in and wreck a convoy like that, but as you lay out each step it makes sense.

Interesting to see what a few tactics can combine to achieve with the smallest of forces: 1. Going fast to be difficult to hit. 2. not manuvering excessively so step1's speed doesn't kill ya 3. Focus fire ...

Deadly with a little luck!
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Old 06-23-2017, 09:31 AM   #28
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: Dreg gangs

As a further update as the encounter has now come to an end.

Since the last update the rig managed with not much difficulty to destroy the plant on the final bike. Once again the bike didn't lose control. The bike was doing 65 at this point and would therefore travel over 32" before finally coming to a stop. As all the other vehicles were moving very slowly or stationary by this point this would mean a clean getaway (once out of range after three or four turns the bike could easily go off-road for a few inches and break LOS to find somewhere to go to ground).

Annoyed the trucker decided to finish it off before it could get too far away (at less than a buck a shot, why not). The next two shots found the plant again (to no further effect) and, more importantly, the rider, cutting him in half. Amazingly the bike still remained in control, but went haring off-road where a collision with a tree completed its destruction.

Meanwhile the rider-less bike that had been sideswiped earlier bimbled off-road, hit some hazards, lost all its tires (but not wheels so no immediate halt), fishtailed back towards the road and finally flopped over in the middle of the carriage way. We have to assume that CW bikes have some sort of gyro stabiliser as this seemed frankly miraculous.

The bandits in the interior of the ISOs were now in a position to open the weapon ports and start to threaten the escorts. As the rig was now stationary and they were braced, they were able to severely damage the wheel-guards of the Duellist until it broke LOS. They also forced the trike to spin round to protect its front armour. As a much smaller vehicle with fully intact wheel-guards the bandits failed to make any significant impact on the trike.

The upshot of destruction of all but one bikes meant that the only salvage possible would be the personal equipment of the riders and 1 passenger (3 cheap shotguns and 1 AR) plus the bare chassis of one bike worth $300 as salvage. As the remains of the bike weighed in at circa 900lbs there was no way of getting it onto the flatbed. Even collecting up the personal gear would mean braving the fire from the hitch-hikers and this was deemed too hazardous (unbeknownst to the players there was also a single sniper with a scope in a near-by building waiting specifically for someone to get out of a vehicle. Basically as far as salvage went it was a bust.

At this point the players decided that, as long as they positioned themselves out of LOS, the bandits in the ISOs were not much of a threat. They decided to return from whence they came rather than risk running into yet another ambush by continuing. They will be able to call ahead and with help may be capture the bandits alive.

Unbeknownst to the players this was the RIGHT answer as there was a final ambush set up a further mile down the road of half a dozen Dreg Killa Karts armed with dozens of rockets between them with plenty of dug-in infantry support. Whilst these would probably be unable to stop the rig, it is very likely they would have been able to disable one or both escorts making it a very expensive encounter.

As it is, the replenishment and repair bills are likely to be substantial but at least all the vehicles will make it back to be repaired. It is likely some thought will go into protecting the truck better and maybe hiring on some temporary crew to ensure the vehicles can fight effectively (even if only some guards inside the ISOs).

Overall this was an expensive lesson, but hopefully a valuable one that will prevent this sort of thing happening again.
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Old 06-26-2017, 09:14 PM   #29
josephrey
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: on the road!! check out www.chingchingwong.com to see where we currently are. :)
Default Re: Dreg gangs

:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H-jTPX2oh8

I'd imagine the faster the travel the more straight it'd go. The rotational mass of the wheels goes a long way into keeping it rolling, as it takes more force to fall over than to go straight.

Last edited by josephrey; 06-26-2017 at 09:20 PM.
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Old 06-27-2017, 03:21 PM   #30
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: Dreg gangs

But it's not over yet!

They have scotched the snake, not killed it.

The bandits in Mulberry are all set to attack, but have nothing to show for their trouble and losses so far. Are they going to sit idly by while the convoy scuttles back to Brandon Mall?

Are they heck as like.

A red flare arcs up from a building close to the site of the last attack as the lookout signals to the main body of the bandits that the prey is turning away. Their infantry are out of the game, but the interceptors are primed to roll. Half a dozen patched up Killa Karts roar off towards Brandon.

Can they catch the convoy before it makes the rendezvous with the security forces from Brandon. Will they present a genuine threat with only a half dozen mini-rockets each? Will the convoys almost complete lack of rear facing weaponry be their undoing? Will the bandits on-board the trailer be able to influence the outcome?

So far both sides have taken a bit of a mauling but the convoy has the resources to be able to repair as long as no-one dies. The Dregs on the other hand have to turn a profit in salvage, even of they are prepared to sacrifice lives to buy victory.

The Killa Karts have exceptional handling but their gas engines can't match the top speed of even the slowest vehicle in the convoy. If the convoy matches the speed of the interceptors they can keep their distance, but with very low HC (0 in the case of the vehicle that lost a wheel and only 1 for the rig at the best of times), even gentle manoeuvres could be fatal at speeds above 60.

Last edited by swordtart; 06-27-2017 at 03:26 PM.
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