4E's hit point philosophy

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

Which rule are you objecting to? I think that the "use average Crewman skill" rule works excellently, and I think that "treat many guns as an attack with high RoF" rule is flawed.

Well, average crewman skill runs into some averaging issues which may have more to do with GURPS basic level resolution than with the mass combat rules, but it's the RoF rules that I was objecting to (along with some opposite rules, such as shooting at a large group).

[Langy]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

Still means it not a hole, just means it not in the basic set

Yep. Besides which, the Action 2 supplement is applicable to any and all genres equally - it is in no way restricted to just 'TL8 Action Movie' games.

[drinniol]

Originally Posted by Varyon

While I agree that GURPS tactical combat doesn't work at all scales, the issue with ships being sunk by musket fire goes beyond this. Let's say you want to run an adventure where a ship of evil pirates have taken over a port town, and it's up to the PC's to save the beleaguered citizenry. You've opted to leave the way they do this up to the players - perhaps they'll try diplomacy to convince the pirates to leave, perhaps they'll sneak on board the ship and blow up its powder storage, maybe they'll even round up the local militia for an all-out war on the pirates.

A stat-savvy player opts to round up the previously mentioned militia and has them come to the ship under the cover of night. They all aim their muskets, and you get ready for an epic confrontation - you already have plans in your head of the surprised pirates grabbing their weapons to mount a haphazard defense, during which time you imagine the PC's will be sneaking on board to dispatch the captain.
Instead, the NPC's fire their weapons, you roll damage, and then gape as you realize their volley has just sunk the pirates' ship.

Heh heh, I would do something along the lines of "Your musket fire serves only to kill a few crewmen, cause some cosmetic damage and give away your position. The pirates now have plenty of warning and are roused from their slumber and ready to fight!"

But that's just me :)

I think to truly represent a large sailing ship you would have to take into account individual gun decks (slices of the ship, in a way) each with a separate pool of HP, the height of the decks for penetration and to determine what opposing decks can be hit, and the length of the deck - if one ship is sizably smaller than the other it won't be hit by all the guns. Once the HP pool is gone, the ship isn't destroyed but rather disabled (perhaps even have a HP/crew ratio for daring boarding actions!).