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Old 02-21-2018, 07:34 AM   #1
Macunaima
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Nova Brasília
Default Alternative infantry Units

Following up on my Heavy Weapons thread, I would like to get people's ideas for alternative infantry units.

Now, here are the stipulations iof the conversation...

I am mostly doing this for my Ogre variant rules called Luftpanzer. One shouldn't feel that the units have to make sense in canonical terms.

That said, however, I don't think that the units should break the game system, nor should they be overly fiddly.

We've already talked about alternative Heavy Weapons units. From that conversation came one unit I found very interesting: the "Sniper". I'd call it a Smartgun Team, however. This is a dedicated anti-infantry unit with an extended range:

Smartgun Team
Att 2 Anti-personnel
Def 1
Rng 3
Mov 2 (INF for terrain)
Costs 2 points

A unit that trades off anti-armor attacks for increased firepower and range against infantry. It will allow you infanty units to get a first attack against enemy infantry.

Another unit is the alternative Heavy Weapons unit:

Heavy Weapons (II)
Att 1 (Does not double in overruns)
Def 1
Rng 4
Mov 2 (INF for terrain; cannot fire at more than range 1 while being transported)
Costs 4 points

Think of this as a mortar or railgun-equipped unit. It has excellent range, but does not get infantry's usual overrun bonus, nor can it be turned into a faster version of the Missile Tank through transportation

Finally, here's dreadnoughts/heavy gear/assault power armor. Not sure about this one, yet, as it is a bit fiddly.

First weapon: Att 3 Rng 3, not doubled in overrun
Second weapon: Att1 Rng 1, AP, doubled in overrun
Def 3
Mov 2 (INF for terrain)
Costs 9 points

Cannot be transported except truck (one per truck). Treated like a vehicle for combat purposes. Is only DOUBLED on defence in forests. Otherwise, moves and defends like infanty.

Heavy power armor or light walkers for infantry back-up.
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Old 02-21-2018, 10:06 AM   #2
Rolando
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Panama
Default Re: Alternative infantry Units

It is hard not to consider the basic fluff to do this.

Ogre uses mile long hexes, an anti infantry at that range it would represent air-burst intelligent munitions with lots of fragmentation, but that is the basic ammo used in OGRE, just that it is also nuclear. So, any direct fire anti infantry weapon will be range 1 or 2 at best and no better than what the regular infantry already have.

The heavy weapon II seems better, as mortar/howitzer equipped infantry, you may give them range 5 (or even 6) but unable to shoot if moved. In fact you may say they are considered disabled if moved (easy to remember, no marker needed) to represent the squad arming the cannons and making some form of trenches for the ammo and team.

The heavy armor infantry seems too much like a vehicle. Just make them Defense 2 per squad, no more than 2 squads may combine for added defense and maybe Attack 2 per squad. That will represent not just heavier armor, but also heavier/more weaponry and added drones and electronics to fool enemy sensors (that is what give them the extra defense after all).

To add another idea, what about some infiltrator/spec ops infantry? special forces with extra electronics in their battlesuits, thermo optic camo and sneaky skills with triple Attack in overruns (demolition charges and close range combat and ambush expertise), with added defense while at range and/or with hidden deployment as a default, maybe allowing to be deployed outside the defined scenario deployment (representing stealth infiltration a few days before) at a minimum 1 hex distance of any enemy unit.
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Old 02-21-2018, 11:12 AM   #3
dwalend
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Default Re: Alternative infantry Units

I like GEV-INF. Climb into your BPC-armored rocket-suit and soar nape-of-earth into the battle.

A1 R1 M3/1 D1. 4 VP . Infantry terrain + treat water as clear, infantry defenses, double attacks in overruns, no riding.

Strike range is 4 makes them effective vs INF. The last bit of GEV movement plus INF terrain lets them tuck into cover after striking (and I think the traditional 3/2 makes them too powerful - too many good hexes to choose from, and directs opposing INF to just one hex for a reprisal.)

The natural alternatives I think are INF and LGEVs. 4 LGEVs vs 3 GEV-INF - I'd choose 4 LGEVs on any of the existing green maps, but would want 3 GEV-INF in the woods, swamp, or city. I'd be content to have a few GEV-INF the mix of INF defending a position. I'd prefer GEV-INF in a moving battle.

I would pick GEV_INF over Marines in a part-water battle, especially if the battle were moving.
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Old 02-21-2018, 11:15 AM   #4
Macunaima
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Nova Brasília
Default Re: Alternative infantry Units

I thought about that D2 per squad thing, but that means they'd have more defense than a heavy tank in the open and that doesn't feel right...
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Old 02-21-2018, 11:23 AM   #5
Rolando
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Panama
Default Re: Alternative infantry Units

Quote:
Originally Posted by Macunaima View Post
I thought about that D2 per squad thing, but that means they'd have more defense than a heavy tank in the open and that doesn't feel right...
Not really, as a D result still kill a squad and having the same Defense of a HVY is fine if the cost of 2 infantry is the same or more of an armor unit. The HVY still have more speed and range.

Or just don't allow the super heavy infantry to join, so always defense 2 and attack 2. Or allow them to join a regular infantry, functioning as Infantry Support.

Edit:
Also killing 12 heavily armored guys spread in a square mile should be harder to do than killing a single heavily armored vehicle. Even in "clear" terrain there are places infantry can get to reduce the damage considerably. That is why 3 regular infantry have the same toughness than a heavy tank in clear terrain.

Last edited by Rolando; 02-21-2018 at 11:27 AM.
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Old 02-21-2018, 11:44 AM   #6
dwalend
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Default Re: Alternative infantry Units

Quote:
Originally Posted by Macunaima View Post
I thought about that D2 per squad thing, but that means they'd have more defense than a heavy tank in the open and that doesn't feel right...
D2 per squad means D18 in town, which is likely unassailable given the CRT.

The Ranger rules are +1 to defense of the group if one or more Ranger is in the stack. That gives 3 Rangers (or 2 INF + 1 Ranger) D4 in clear terrain, and either D10 or D12 in town (depending on where the parenthesis go). Defense values that high still allow a 1:2 attacks from MHZW and ogre missiles.
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Old 02-21-2018, 01:22 PM   #7
Macunaima
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Nova Brasília
Default Re: Alternative infantry Units

Quote:
Originally Posted by dwalend View Post
D2 per squad means D18 in town, which is likely unassailable given the CRT.

The Ranger rules are +1 to defense of the group if one or more Ranger is in the stack. That gives 3 Rangers (or 2 INF + 1 Ranger) D4 in clear terrain, and either D10 or D12 in town (depending on where the parenthesis go). Defense values that high still allow a 1:2 attacks from MHZW and ogre missiles.
When I was thinking of making them D2 stackable infantry (2 max per hex), I immediately decided to cap them at double defense in cities. This means they have a maximum of 8 defence: one less than normal infantry. That seems reasonable to me.
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Old 02-25-2018, 02:55 AM   #8
offsides
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Cheltenham, PA
Default Re: Alternative infantry Units

Given that the attack strength is generally a linear scale, I can't see any weapon greater than A1 being AP only. That is, any weapon that can do A2 MUST be effective against more than just INF, because to do A2 it has to be powerful enough to be able to. Multiple A1 weapons combining to do A2+ while retaining the AP only limitation makes sense, but A2 AP only doesn't really make sense to me.
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Old 02-25-2018, 02:14 PM   #9
Rolando
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Panama
Default Re: Alternative infantry Units

It can make sense as a very high rate of fire infantry sized gauss weapons and/or better sensors to pint point infantry sized targets.

The weapons are not powerful enough to puncture vehicle armor but shoot so many bullets that it increase the effectiveness against infantry.

Edit.
In fact, you may say that as the squad is carrying heavier infantry weapons (tripod gatling gauss guns or just bigger gatling gauss rifles with backpacks o ammunition) they don't have the anti vehicle missiles, so they have A2 vs infantry but can't attack vehicles (similar to AP guns in OGRES).

This may be a good infantry type for defense in urban centers, even a Militia version, just that they may be effectively immobile as carrying the heavier gauss gatlings should be impossible for non battlesuited infantry, unless they also have some kind of carrying vehicles...

Last edited by Rolando; 02-25-2018 at 02:26 PM.
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Old 02-25-2018, 04:39 PM   #10
Macunaima
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Nova Brasília
Default Re: Alternative infantry Units

My thoughts exactly on A2 AP weapons. They represent either very high ROF, low caliber weapons or weapons with really excellent (and expensive) targeting tech.
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