David Manley | 04 Nov 2014 2:57 p.m. PST |
Another blog entry covering our latest games of "Engage" at Berkeley Vale. I really am rather liking these rules, but in true wargamer style we are working up some house rules and mods to add to the Star Trek experience :) link |
vtsaogames | 04 Nov 2014 4:47 p.m. PST |
And I was going to say, who is the lucky lady? |
wrgmr1 | 04 Nov 2014 4:55 p.m. PST |
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TheBeast | 05 Nov 2014 6:08 a.m. PST |
You wanted him to say 'Engage!ed again'? teleports and transporters (both ships should have shields lowered) Could get fiddly; someone will whine for a 'legendary engineer', who could roll for rapid down/up. ;->= Looking forward to updates! Doug |
boy wundyr x | 05 Nov 2014 9:23 a.m. PST |
Hope your house rules get posted sometime, I've landed on Engaged for my ST gaming too. @TheBeast – there are ways in the rules to get crew qualities, so using one's Engineer bonus could factor in to the house rule. Here are some of my house rules: • No warp maneuvers for TOS/TOM period, ships coming out of warp to enter table still suffer Sensor penalties. Warp during the game is only to leave the table. • Shields must be down for transporters to work, or to land shuttles. Allowable Systems: • Tractor Beams • Cloaking Device • Polarised Armour Plating (limited users) • Ablative Hull Plating (limited users) • Marines • Mine Layers/Sweepers • Graviton Emitter and Stealth only as special cases/scenarios Weapon Conversions (ST:Engage): Lasers = Lower powered Standard Beams? Ph-2 (circa 2245) = Lower powered Lancers? (or fewer Stds) Ph-1 (circa 2257+) = Standard Beams Ph-4 (bases and 2300+ tech) = Lancer Beams Photon Torpedoes (TOS/TOM) = Photon Torpedoes (Energy Torpedoes if weak) Photon Torpedoes (2300+ tech) = Quantum Torpedoes Romulan Missiles = Missiles Disruptors = Disruptors Plasma S/G Bolts = Pulse Beams Plasma F/D Bolts, Fusion Beam = Plasma Cannons Plasma R Bolt (long range) = ? I also had two, totally untested, alternative damage rules (only one should be used): Alternate Damage Rule 1: Whenever a Ship suffers is hit with a damage roll that doubles its shield value, one Damage goes automatically to the Hull, and there is a chance for a second damage point. The player responsible rolls another d6, and checks on the table below depending on which direction the attack came from: Front: 1-3: No additional effect 4: 1 Damage to Sensors 5: 1 Damage to Weapon System [Randomly determine which] 6: 1 Additional Hull Damage, and roll again on this chart or the Rear Chart [Attacker's choice] Rear: 1-3: No additional effect 4: 1 Damage to Warp Engines 5: 1 Damage to Impulse Engines 6: 1 Additional Hull Damage, and roll again on this chart or the Front Chart [Attacker's choice] Alternate Damage Rule 2: Whenever a Ship suffers 2 Damage due to doubling, one Damage goes automatically to the Hull. For the second Damage, the player responsible rolls a d20: 1-10 Hull 11 Auxiliary Power 12 Impulse Engines 13 Warp Engines 14 Sensors 15 Weapons I 16 Weapons II 17 Weapons III 18 Weapons IV-VI (randomly determine which one) 19 Special System – Tractor Beam, Cloaking Device, Mines (determine randomly) 20 Crew, roll d6: 1 = Cmd, 2 = Eng, 3 = Tac, 4 = Helm, 5 = Sci, 6 = Sec/Marines (if none, no effect) For weapons hits, if a weapon isn't present at that location, then re-roll. |
David Manley | 05 Nov 2014 12:58 p.m. PST |
Lots of interesting ideas there, thanks for sharing :) |
boy wundyr x | 05 Nov 2014 2:58 p.m. PST |
No problem, let me know if you try out the alternate damage rules and if they work (or need to be tweaked). |
Mako11 | 05 Nov 2014 11:21 p.m. PST |
They sound interesting. Looking forward to more battle reports, and opinions about them. Could use a nice, simple set of rules, with some tactical nuances, for battling in the original ST universe, as well as others. |
zonk76 | 06 Nov 2014 6:50 a.m. PST |
I'd like to see some more battle reports as well! Do the rules require firing arcs for any/all weapons? I noticed on your blog that the torpedoes require a front arc but there's also a possibility for firing through a rear arc? |
boy wundyr x | 06 Nov 2014 9:19 a.m. PST |
@zonk – officially there's only the forward arc for firing (the target gets hit in either the forward or rear arc though), but it'd be an easy house rule to give them a rear arc or a 360, or starboard/port. |
Lion in the Stars | 06 Nov 2014 10:08 a.m. PST |
When I read the thread title, my first thought was "when's the wake, I mean the wedding?" Barring the Defiant, which explicitly has rear-firing torpedoes, has any ship in Star Trek been seen firing anything but phasers outside the forward arc? |
trynda1701 | 06 Nov 2014 11:47 a.m. PST |
Reliant fires a rear torpedo at Enterprise in the Mutara Nebula battle. Enterprise-D fires rearward volley of about five torpedoes at Q in "Encounter at Farpoint" episode of TNG. Those two just off the top of my head. |
TheBeast | 06 Nov 2014 12:45 p.m. PST |
Hope your house rules get posted sometime, I as well; you've made a darn good example! ;->= Lots of interesting ideas there, thanks for sharing :) Well, sounds like some interesting amalgamation on the way! Doug |
zonk76 | 06 Nov 2014 12:53 p.m. PST |
That's good to know about the ease of adding in fire arcs. I'll try to read a few AARs about the "Engage" rules! Most of my questions come from reading info on Memory Alpha/Beta and using Attack Wing stats. I used these in a game of 5150 Star Navy set in the Star Trek universe and it made for a good game, I just like to see what others are doing and if using fire arcs (or not using them) causes any grief. |
trynda1701 | 06 Nov 2014 1:12 p.m. PST |
Because I played the FASA Star Trek Starship Tactical Combat Simulator for years, arcs to me in a starship game seem important. To me, it adds to the tactics if you can maneuver to get out of your opponents main weapons arcs, while using your own to best advantage. But as a target, you still get to fire back with something, however limited. As I read the "Engage" rules, with the forward half only firing, you can still try to get out of arc. Still, house rules may be the way to go. Mark |
zonk76 | 06 Nov 2014 1:21 p.m. PST |
Makes sense Mark, I like the use of fire arcs really for the same reasons you stated. It does make for more maneuvering. |
boy wundyr x | 06 Nov 2014 2:27 p.m. PST |
I can see a need/desire distinction between the Klingons and Federation in terms of firing arcs – the Feds seem to be more flexible (the emitters don't seem to have a facing) so the 180 degree idea generally works, but the Klingon's various birds of prey definitely seem to have weapons that face forward, at least the heavier stuff, so maybe a 90 forward cone for them. I was going to worry about that once I get some games in though. |
zonk76 | 06 Nov 2014 2:57 p.m. PST |
I understand totally, get the basics down first then tweak! I usually play the game as is also before making any house rules to fit the genre I'm interested in. |
David Manley | 06 Nov 2014 3:12 p.m. PST |
"…has any ship in Star Trek been seen firing anything but phasers outside the forward arc?" The D-7M has a rear facing torpedo launcher (see at 4:21 in the video) YouTube link
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trynda1701 | 06 Nov 2014 3:21 p.m. PST |
THAT was the other one I was trying to remember! D'OH! |
boy wundyr x | 25 Aug 2016 8:08 a.m. PST |
FYI there's a draft of an expansion up for comments on the Red Wyvern forum – I'd thrown up a question and it turns out there is some life in the rules. The new rules seem pretty good, including some past/future tech that lets you play out the old scenario of the ship from the past/future suddenly showing up. And while I'm not into it, if you wanted to go the SFB route of fighters in the ST world, they're there too. The forum is here: link |