"Classic Traveller as a skirmish game?" Topic

One of the problems I've found running a military roleplaying campaign is that rpgs don't often do mass combat very well, and wargames don't often include rpg rules. I can play with two different rulesets, but players don't often like that. And there's the problem of converting characters.

I was thinking of using the Traveller rpg for a campaign and I was wondering if it would work okay for squad/platoon-level skirmishes. Combat is fairly straightforward, and it's easy to make characters. Think it will work?

Isn't Striker designed to fit that niche? If I recall correctly, the base unit is the fire team, and the stats are designed for use with CT.

Another choice for an RPG with mass combat rules would be Diaspora.

only if you keep weapon skill levels down to +2 or a rare +3. The trouble is that armour saves and to hit modifiers are combined into one dice roll. So high skill and high rate of fire make it easy to kill people even if you are firing a peashooter and the target is in heavy armour. I remember a skiled shooter with an SMG mowing down troopers in power armour in one game a LONG time ago

Traveller ranged combat is pretty lethal, and will run quickly with troops who have essentially identical equipment on the same side. I have a 20"x30" board with a 15mm grid to handle the range bands as desribed in the rules, it works well.

You could always get the Azanhti High Lightning boardgame. I think Wargames Vault has it as a PDF. That's Classic Traveller as a skirmish game.

That's true fantasque, but no reason you couldn't easily make a house rule to separate them, and permit the targeted player to roll a separate saving throw instead.

Snapshot, in addition to Striker, is another option you might want to take a look at, since it's the combat/boarding action supplement for Traveller.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have to take a look at those games.

Azanti High Lightning is a good set of combat rules. I remember running 'company' sized battle with them back in the day.

Snap shot and Azanti High Lightning are essentially the same rules and are definitely man to man skirmish. Striker is more a tactical rule set with figures based as fire teams.

I never really thought Snapshot/Azhanti were easier than the Traveller core rules, a bit more complex for the same resolution really

Not easier, but they do provide a bit more detail for gun battles, e.g. with various modifiers and action points costs.

Probably best for man-to-man battles at a squad or two per side, but could be used for larger battles, if you have the time, and once you get familiar with them, so you can resolve actions more quickly.

Striker is a classic miniatures wargame and the boardgame variants of the basic game are also good however I'd like to add one other resource:

The MegaTraveller Referee's Companion had a mass combat system designed to simulate everything from a pair of soldiers based together right up to entire platoons being represented by a single counter or figure. You could take a bunch of army or marine characters from 1001 Characters, and use the system to produce a unit which has a single armour rating, average skill ratings and weapons (it's been a while but I think the system works out the effectiveness of a mixed weapons unit). It works very well with fire teams.

+1 for Azhanti High Lightning!

Azhanti High Lightning needs a lot of work to be run without a referee, though.

Can someone define for me what "skirmish" game means? I see the term frequently, but I have yet to see what defines one.

Can someone define for me what "skirmish" game means? I see the term frequently, but I have yet to see what defines one.

Wargame-type game (usually no referee), at the squad or platoon level (maybe a max of 20 figures/units on each side).

Okay, thanks. I usually hear the term in context to a Ancients/Napoleonics type game, and it didn't make sense here. :)

My main interest is using the Traveller rules for a near-future (still using slug-throwers, albeit advanced ones) scenario. But I am sorely tempted to use the rules for this unit.

tkdguy: If you remember, the rules specifically mention that the simplest way of delivering damaging energy to an opponent is by a (usually chemical-propelled) physical mass with a newtonian trajectory-- a bullet, in simple. That, and the minimalization of collateral damage to a ship's systems via the use of traditional edged weapons for repelling boarders/hijackers, keeps the familiar ("archaic") weapons available and in use. Although I'd love to see what happens when an edged-weapon melee encounters a ship's grav plate failure. I'd bet some interesting improvised weapons have been developed for just such an occasion.
"Hijackers in the forward compartment? Number One, alert the crew by tactical headset web: we will cancel the gravity in the fore-ship in 75 seconds--make sure they know to secure themselves. Stand by for maximum acceleration on my command." Hmmm, falling to the "back" of the ship at 2 or 3 Gees? SPLUT! CRACK!

Heh. Pretty much!

AHL turn sequence is a nightmare imho. otherwise i like it

I imagine any self-respecting boarder, with more than one battle under his belt will be aware of that tactic, and have the equipment to deal with it, e.g. magnetized boots; detonation charges in the engine exhausts to prevent their use, along with a stern warning to the crew that they'll blow themselves up if they try to use their main thrusters during the boarding action, etc.

Boarding is not for the meek by any stretch.

Very true, but not all combat has to take place on board a starship. It could be planetside as well. If the rules can support a small-scale mass combat (10-15 figures on each side, each one representing a single combatant), that would be great.

Forgot to mention, there are also stats for Traveller-esque weapons, in one of the FUBAR supplements.

Also, Grav Armor rules too, if you want to run larger battles, with futuristic vehicles and troops too.

You can find the files on the Forge of War Yahoo Group.

All would be good for squad, platoon, and even company level battles.

I think I have the FUBAR supplement. My friends didn't like the system, though. I may get them to try it out once more; we just need to mess around with the activation rolls.

I haven't seen any FUBAR rules for mounted troops, which would have been useful for my cavalry regiment. And Traveller has stats for the weapons they use (or close approximations). I've also thought of using the Castle Falkenstein rpg, although it's not suited for mass combat.

I've dropped the suppressed option, for my games, so all hits are kills, since I tend to play platoon sized actions.

Makes the game run a bit more quickly that way.

Good idea, Mako. I was considering that myself this morning. Also, no need for activation rolls during a firefight. Maybe my friends and I did it wrong.

Depends on if the skill levels of the opponents is different.

If so, you might want to keep the activation rolls, since presumably the better troops will be more skilled at close quarters battles, and firing and maneuvering, so should be able to do better against less trained/experienced ones.

The activation rolls serve as a check on the lower skilled troops, who will most likely ponder what they should do next, and get defeated due to that, at least most of the time.

Good point about skill levels. I had everyone start as seasoned troops. I may keep it if different troop levels are present, but not if my players really dislike it.

If I remember right, "Renegade Legion" had some rule sets for such a thing, been a realy long time but seems to me we had to assemble the group into a single unit, run thru a battle and the disassemble the unit on the other side, and level out the damage, stronger players faired better then the weaker ones, like I had said it was a long time ago