Dreg gangs

[swordtart]

Since it's a bit quiet at the moment.

I have an attack by a dreg gang planned. It will be on a small convoy, but as they are dregs and irradiated up the ying-yang they just need a chance to survive, not a high probability of it.

I am looking for really cheap (<$5k per) pursuit vehicles (bike, trike or car), either built cheap or that feature high DP components that are technically worthless, but still hanging on (remember that a component with 5 DPs less than new is worth 10% of the list price).

There will be infantry as well, but this is intended to be a rolling attack (probably a stern chase).

My assumption is that there will be several waves each of $5-10K.

They don't need to kill the whole convoy, cutting out a single vehicle would be a victory.

[swordtart]

I may have found a good shortcut for this.

Dreg gangs can only use stock vehicle from the AADA VG1 (including variants). Over 80% of their vehicles must be vehicles described in the guide as common (e.g. best seller, popular, most common etc.). This represents their slow accretion of spoils from non-pro duellists, roadkill and abandoned wrecks etc. There are less bikes than might be expected as generally when a bike goes out of control it ends up wrecked. Trikes are popular as well as subcompacts and compacts as they are smaller targets. Anything larger than a midsize is normally too expensive (though an occasional pickup will be used for cargo and troop transport).

Stock vehicle can be modified but only in the following ways:

1) Chassis. No chassis modification can be made anyway, but Dreg vehicles often have light chassis and light suspensions as these are cheaper. They would rather sell a decent chassis for food.

2) Armour. Plastic Armour may be removed but not added. Metal armour can be added or removed as desired.
This represents the lack of plastic forming facilities available to the average dreg gang. Bashing sheet metal needs basic tools by comparison. Metal armour is cheaper than the weight of plastic it replaces. It is also persistent, dreg gangs don't have time to continually replace ablative armour. Metal is also immune to normal Dreg hand weapons (pistols, shotguns and rifles generally), whereas plastic armour can be damaged at point blank range.

3) Tires. Tires can be replaced freely. In general Dregs sell any half decent tires and only keep the unsaleable ones. A tire with 5 DP or more damage is generally worthless. There is an almost unlimited supply of this sort of tire that can be picked up for 1/10th of the price of an undamaged tire. There is a good chance that these will be modified and so any sort can be freely selected. Radials are very popular as this compensates for the poor suspension of the average dreg car. PR and Solids are also common. Dregs generally don't overly worry about tire shots.

4) Plants. Dregs sell decent plants and keep only the next to worthless ones (i.e. 5DP damage or more). Dregs have limited facilities to recharge, but have surprisingly good access to Gasohol from their own stills. With cars with small electric plants, Dregs will generally swap it out for the ubiquitous 100 ci gas plant, with the minimum size economy tank. This saves cost, weight and space. If the original plant was large but heavily damaged they will keep it in to save time.

5) Component armour. Dregs will often add component armour for the driver. This is cheaper than buying body armour and helps to compensate for the lack of normal armour. Frequently there will be additional space released by replacing the power plant.

6) Weapons. Dregs tend to use cheap one-shot weapons. As their cars cannot survive sustained combat they prefer to "zoom and boom", closing quickly, firing at point blank range and then peeling off. Ideally they will loose all their ordinance in a single volley and then escape. They will usually strip all existing weapons and sell them and replace then with single shot rockets. Heavy rockets are popular, but to make up for the inherent accuracy issues they may instead employ massed banks of linked mini-rockets instead (on the basis that if you fire enough something will hit).

7) Other components. They will strip and sell the majority of other components. Targeting computers are far too valuable to keep and they do not value life enough to keep safety equipment.

Generally a Dreg vehicle will come out at under $3k. Anything more than that is too valuable to keep.

Note that this represents the best a Dreg can scrounge up. A plant may have taken much more than 5 DPs damage (it just won't cost any less). Many components are 1 DP as they have been jury-rigged. Killing a vehicle generally requires a breach and often a single armour location on a Dreg vehicle will have no plastic armour remaining (and will consequently be more heavily patched with metal). Often there is less than half the armour remaining as there comes a point when is it uneconomical to repair it and replacement is the better option. Garages will often strip out all the salvageable components and sell the chassis and armour to Dregs.

[swordtart]

I have now tested this in combat and even a single vehicle at less than $3K all up can still present a viable threat to a £150K convoy (assuming it can deploy to its advantage and has a little infantry support).

Our convoy have just passed out of the ruins of Willow Oak (Florida) on US60 going south east. Expecting trouble from Dreg gangers that they had encountered going the other way, they power through the intersection of US60, old highway 60 and Shady Hammock drive and Bailey Road*

Expecting pursuit from one of the side roads they increase speed to 65 and power over the bridge, 0.1 miles further on. The highway is at this point only 2 lanes wide here and bounded on one side by dense woodland and on the other by a sturdy barrier. There is a minor side track that enters the highway just after the bridge (access to a radio mast). It is from here that the ambush is sprung.

The bandit vehicle pulls out on the track from the cover of the woodland at 15 mph and is first spotted when the lead car in the convoy is about 45 yards away (8 1/2"). The convoy is mostly in the middle of the outer-lane.

The convoy has a rig with two linked IR lasers in a turret on the cab and only dropped ordinance (FOJ) on the flatbed trailer. There is a metal armoured Mid-size with a Blastcannon front (plus a FOJ discharger B) and a medium trike with smart-linked MMLs left and right (plus spike droppers). The trike is closest, 2" behind is the Mid-size with the rig 2" behind that.

The Dreg Vehicle is
"Shiruken Tinman Dreg" (modified from VG1)
Luxury; Light chassis; Light suspension;

4 PR tires Damaged (4 DP each
Large PP Damaged (5 DP)
Driver protected by 10 pt Plastic CA
10 spaces of Cargo (empty)

2xOil Discharger (B,F) Drop-Spike Plate (U) all linked.

30 pts. LR Metal and 30 pts. Plastic (F: 7/5, R: 13/5, L: 5/5, B: 4/5, T: 1/5, U: 0/5)

Cost: $2,540, Wgt: 4,950, HC: 1, Top Speed: 102.5, Accel: 5.

The Tinman pulls out at 90 degrees to the highway and is fired upon by the tractor. 30 points of Laser damage ends up stripping only 2 points from the plastic layer on the right side. At 15 mph the D3 hazard isn't enough to result in a control roll. No-one else has a better then 50-50 chance of hitting so they wait to get closer.

The next phase the Tinman fires his defensive suite. That puts 1" of oil behind him, 1" of oil and the DSP centred under him.

The next phase the Mid-size hits with the BC and strips 3 points metal, destroys the remaining plastic and nibbles 2 points from the drivers CA. He also forces a control roll which results in a major fishtail.

The driver now simply needs to slow to 5 and even if he dies, the trap is fully set. He moved 1/2" in phase 3 and at the start of the next turn he will complete the last 1/2" that will put him within 1/4" of the metal barrier effectively blocking the whole outer lane. His DSP over oil blocks the inner lane and oil covers the initial section of the side track. To pass the convoy will have to either ram him (which the trike will not survive), drive over his DSP, or veer heavily and try to cross over at the oil only.

If they cross lanes so they can avoid the Lux and the DSP they will burn a lot of HS and will cross the oil within 1" of the tree line. All it needs is a half dozen friends with hand weapons hiding there at point blank range, and there is significant chance of a control loss unless the convoy slows dramatically (damaging tires and suffering further HS loss).

If they loose a vehicle they can't afford to stop, so a win for the dregs.

If they just power through it will be an economic loss for them, and a minor economic loss for the dregs.

If they slow and turn the foot dregs will melt into the woodland and the driver will bail out of the other side and drop over the bridge and hide. The players may be able to salvage $1-2K but risk being sniped at when the exit their vehicles. They should conclude that this option will result in more loss.

Thus the dregs risk very little and stand to gain quite a bit.

David vs. Goliath or cheese fest?


*near 2035 Bailey Rd, Mulberry, FL 33860, USA on google maps.

[Hemlock]

Meat Turret V.0 -- Light Cycle, Heavy suspension, Small Cycle power plant, 10-pt CA (Power Plant), 2 Motorcycle Heavy-Duty tires, Cyclist w/10-pt CA, Passenger w/BA and Grenade Launcher w/4 Impact Fused Explosive Grenades, Plastic Armor: F5, B5, 2 2-pt Cycle Wheelguards, Acceleration 10, Top Speed 120, HC 2, 798 lbs., $2440

The Meat Turret is an example of a cycle that is perfect for Dregs/ Bikers.

Cheap, effective, and really needs two people to make it work.

(available at ammulder's Open tools for CW).


http://carwars.opentools.org/#/design

Tactics : Have 4 Meat Turrets (two on the left of the road about 5-8" away; and two on the right of the road) engage a single target. It won't take long to blow it's tires off. Two volleys.

Once the target is immobile, the Meat Turrets run away from the road at full speed. If the passenger dies ... who cares ? It's only a dreg. And the immobile vehicle is an easy target once the rest of the convoy departs.

[swordtart]

Thanks Hemlock, I was getting lonely in here ;)

[Magesmiley]

Maybe a cheap, zippy, OR Trike might have some merits. Can kick the passenger out for more cargo space.

Light Trike, Standard chassis, Off-Road suspension, Large Cycle power plant, 3 Motorcycle Off-Road Heavy-Duty tires, Driver, Passenger, Rocket Launcher Right, Plastic Armor: F20, L15, R20, B15, T15, U9, 1-pt Cycle Wheelguard Front, 2 1-pt Wheelguards Back, Cargo: [1 space, 27 lbs.], Acceleration 10, Top Speed 120, HC 2, 1573 lbs., $5274