What is the Point Cost of a GEV-PC?

[Oliver Upshaw]

What is the cost of a GEV-PC? I remember it costing 6 VPs. Or 1 Armor Unit. So a GEV-PC would cost the same as a GEV/Tank/Missile Tank. However after looking over some of my Ogre Stuff I am now not so sure. Going in order of date of publication I have the following costs.

Shockwave Errata that I found in a copy of Battlesuit at a thrift shop had this note: “3.05 The victory point value for a GEV-PC should be 3. A Cruise Missile has a value of 12 – that is, you lose 12 VP for expending a Cruise Missile.” As Battlesuit was published back in the 80’s I would say that this bit of Errata is for the first version of Shockwave. So at this point it is 3 Points.

Ogre Miniatures 1992. Page 13 has the GEV-PC as costing 6 Points. However the Reference Card that was at the back of the book lists the cost as 3 Points. However the Errata that I printed out and put in that book with a last update date of 3 May 2000 says that the Reference Card is wrong and the cost is 6 Points. The electronic version of these rules that I got for free after the ODE Campaign also lists the note that the Reference Card is wrong and the cost is 6 Points. So at this point it is 6 Points.

Shockwave 2000 Printing. Rule 3.014 and 3.05 have a value of 6 Points for the GEV-PC. So at this point it is 6 Points.

ODE Rules. Page 7 of the Rules and Page 12 of the Scenarios do not list the GEV-PC as being a half an Armor Unit or two Armor Units. This leads me to conclude that it is worth one Armor Unit or 6 Points. So at this point it is 6 Points.

Ogre Miniatures 2nd Edition. Rulebook Page 14 has the cost as 6 Points. 2 page insert on page 1 the cost is listed as 3 Points. 8 page insert on page 1 the cost is listed as 3 Points, but page 7 has the cost at 6 Points. So 2 votes for 6 Points and 2 votes for 3 Points. Cost for GEV-PC at this point is - ??????

[hcobb]

5.37 VPs.

http://www.hcobb.com/gev/formcalc.html

[ColBosch]

1 AU/6 points, per the Ogre Battle Box rules, pg. 7. The references to it being 3 VP in the Ogre Miniatures 2e inserts are errors.

[Oliver Upshaw]

Thanks for the responses. I thought it was probably 6, but with the cost debate of the Superheavy still going on I thought maybe I missed something about the GEV-PC.

One thing that has kept me from using a GEV-PCs a lot in the past is there slower speed than GEVs and LGEVs. After a few turns there is a noticeable gap between the GEVs and GEV-PCs or the GEVs throw away some of their movement to keep pace with the GEV-PCs. Using the Cobb Formula, I came up with 3 different GEV-PCs that have a 4/3 Movement Value and carry 3 Squads.

First version retains the Attack 1, Range 2, Defense 2 of the GEV-PC. It comes out at 7.37 Points or 1.5 AU. Expensive but it does not give anything up. If I just use 8 Points for the cost when buying my force I might go with this design, but that seems a little like cheating as 1.5 AU is 9 points. Might be worth it to save the point (8v9) if I wanted to run a force that had HW Teams and I wanted to buy reloads.

Second version drops the Range to 1 and retains Defense 2, Attack 1. It comes in at 6.54 Points or 1 AU. So it has to get closer in to hit its target, but with Infantry riding it, it would have to get to that range anyway to give them a shot. Though it does take away the GEV-PCs ability to engage targets the Infantry cannot reach.

Third version drops the Defense to 1 and retains the Attack 1, Range 2. It comes in at 5.5 Points or 1 AU. Not sure that I want my Infantry Carrier to have a Defense of 1 though. That is going to just lead to its quick death as a way to strand the Infantry and/or kill them with Spillover Fire.

What are your opinions on these three designs? I am partial to the Second Version. It gets me the speed I am looking for and keeps the math simple. Do you feel any of the designs push the envelope to far for game balance purposes or are open to some sort of abuse? How do you deal with running normal GEV-PCs and GEVs together in a force?

[GranitePenguin]

Originally Posted by Oliver Upshaw

What are your opinions on these three designs? I am partial to the Second Version. It gets me the speed I am looking for and keeps the math simple. Do you feel any of the designs push the envelope to far for game balance purposes or are open to some sort of abuse? How do you deal with running normal GEV-PCs and GEVs together in a force?

Typically, I just play "as-is." You have to remember they are different designs for different reasons. Part of the "fun" is figuring out how to incorporate the 3-2 into the plan. Remember, it's not about keeping up with the GEVs, it's about making the INF faster. They are excellent at accomplishing that goal.