If the combatants are all unprepared for combat, then each rolls 2d6 and adds their Dexterity DM to determine starting Initiative. Initiative determines the order that characters act in, but it can also be spent to react to events. If some of the combatants are ready for combat and some are not, such as in an ambush, the prepared characters are considered to get an automatic 12 on their roll, giving them an Initiative of 12 + Dexterity DM.
Characters who have the Tactics skill may make a Tactics check and add the Effect of this check to the Initiative of everyone in their unit.
The Combat Round
Each combat round lasts around six seconds of game time. In a combat round each character gets a minor action and a significant action. Actions are taken in descending order of Initiative. If two characters have the same Initiative, the character with the highest Dexterity goes first. If they are still tied, then characters act simultaneously. When a character acts, he takes all his actions at once. Once everyone has acted a combat round is over and a new round begins. Initiative is not re-rolled but is dynamic, and may be adjusted up and down by actions taken during a round.
Dynamic Initiative
During the course of a round a character’s Initiative score may be changed by reactions, recoil and hastening. Any changes affect your Initiative for one round only – either the current round if you have yet to act or the following round if you have acted already.
Reactions reduce your Initiative in order to allow you to defend yourself from attacks. Recoil slows you down if you are using a weapon heavier than you can handle. Hastening your action lets you act sooner but at a penalty to your roll. At the start of each combat round a character may declare that he is acting hastily. This gives him a +2 bonus to his Initiative for that round only but all his actions receive a -1 DM. A character can only hasten once.
Minor Actions
Movement
The character moves up to 6m (or modified by race) . Difficult terrain, such as rubble, mud or thick underbrush can halve a character’s movement, allowing him to move only 3m per movement action. Crouching also halves movement.
Changing Stance A character can change to any one of the three stances – prone, crouched or standing – as a minor action.
Drawing and Reloading The time taken to draw a weapon depends on its size and ease of use. The number of minor actions to ready or reload a weapon is listed in the description of each weapon. Most weapons take one minor action to draw and another minor action to reload, but some weapons are especially fast or slow.
Aiming A character who spends a minor action aiming at a target gets a +1 DM to his next attack on the target, as long as the character does nothing except aim until he makes his attack. A character may spend multiple actions on aiming, gaining a maximum aiming DM of +6 if he spends six minor actions on aiming.
Miscellaneous The Referee may permit a character to perform a skill check or other action as a minor action if the use of the skill does not require the character’s full attention or complex physical actions.
Significant Actions
Minor Actions A character can take two minor actions instead of a significant action.
Miscellaneous A character may make a skill check or do something else as a significant action when such an action requires the character’s full attention, concentration, complicated physical actions or some combination thereof.
Attack The most common significant action is an attack. The basic attack action is trying to injure a foe with a melee attack or a ranged weapon. The attacker declares his target, and the foe may choose to react. The attacker then makes a skill check, and if successful, deals damage to his target. As with any other skill check, the standard roll for success is 8+. The standard skill checks used in making an attack are: Melee Attack = 2d6 + Melee (appropriate specialty) + Strength or Dexterity DM (attacker’s choice) Shooting Attack = 2d6 + Gun Combat (appropriate specialty) or Heavy Weapons (appropriate specialty) + Dexterity DM Thrown Attack = 2d6 + Athletics (co-ordination) + Dexterity DM
Common Modifiers to Attacks
Action/Item Bonuses Effect Penalties Aiming +1 per Aim action Cover -0 to -6 Laser Sight +1 if aiming Movement -1 for every 10 full meters of target movement Intelligent Weapon +1 if total DM is within the program’s tolerance Target Dodges (Reaction) -1 Environmental Effects -1 to -2 Range -0 to -6 Target Stance -2 if attacking a prone target at Med+ if attacking a prone target at Personal range Target Parries (Reaction) -Defender’s Melee skill
Recoil and Heft
When you make an attack, compare your Strength DM to the Recoil rating of the weapon you are using. If your Strength DM is lower then the difference is applied to your initiative next round.
Melee weapons have a rating called Heft which works in exactly the same way.
When firing automatic weapons in burst mode, increase Recoil by 1.
When firing them on full auto increase Recoil by half the Auto score.
Reactions
The more time a character spends reacting, the longer it will be until he acts himself. Each reaction lowers Initiative by 2 and applies a -1 DM to all skill checks until the following round. There is no limit to how many times a character can react in a round but a character can only react once to each attack and the penalties from reacting are cumulative. A character can only react to attacks that he is aware of.
Dodging
A character who is being attacked may dodge, giving his attacker a -1 DM and giving himself a -1 DM on all skill checks until the next round. If the character is in cover or has an obstruction to duck or dodge behind, the DM to hit him is increased to -2.
Parrying
A character who is being attacked in melee can parry, applying his Melee skill as a negative DM equal to the attack roll. A parrying character also has a -1 DM on all skill checks until the next round.
Other Actions
Free Actions
Some actions are so fast they do not even qualify as a minor action – shouting a warning, pushing a button, checking your watch, and so on. A character can perform as many of these free actions as he likes in a turn, although if he performs several the Referee may require him to spend a minor or even a significant action on his various tasks.
Extended Actions (Skill Challenges)
Some skill checks will take longer than a single combat round to complete. Make a Timing roll for the task and then work out how many six second combat rounds it will take to complete. A character engaging in an extended action cannot do anything else but can abandon their action at any time and return to the normal Initiative order. A character who is hit by an attack while undertaking an extended action must make an 8+ roll using the skill in question with a negative DM equal to the amount of damage the attack causes (after armour). Failure indicates that this round’s work does not count towards the completion of the task. Failure by six or more (an Exceptional Failure) ruins the task and the character must start again.
Delay
A character does not have to act when his turn comes up in the Initiative order. He may act at any later point during the round, even interrupting another’s actions to do so. When he acts, his Initiative is set to the count on which he acted. If the character has not acted by the end of the round he may choose to act first in the next round, effectively giving up his actions in the previous round in exchange for an Initiative advantage. His new Initiative is set to one higher than that of the current first person in the order. When multiple characters are delaying and all wish to act first in the following round, their Initiatives are all set to the same score and they act in Dexterity order as normal.
Special Considerations
Automatic Weapons
Automatic weapons – any with a number listed in the Auto column are capable of three fire modes: single-shot, burst, and auto-fire.
When using single shots, make attacks as normal.
When using burst fire, add the Auto value to the damage. Burst fire uses a number of rounds equal to the Auto rating.
When using auto-fire, roll a number of dice equal to the Auto rating of the weapon and sort them into pairs as you wish. Each pair is an attack. Auto-fire attacks can be allocated to as many different targets as you have attacks provided all the targets are within six metres of each other. Auto-fire attacks cannot benefit from a skill any higher than level 1. Weapon skills of 2 or higher only count as 1 when making auto-fire attacks. Auto-fire uses a number of rounds equal to 3 x the Auto rating.
Battlefield Comms
Communications technology is a vital part of the battlefield. If a character is not in communication with the rest of his unit and his commander, then he cannot benefit from Tactics or Leadership. Characters who benefitted from Tactics at the start of combat and are later cut off from their commander have their Initiative lowered by the same amount it was boosted at the start of combat. Unlike other Initiative modifications, this lasts until combat ends or communication is re-established. There are several methods of communication:
Direct: This covers hand signals and verbal communications.
Hardlinks: Hardlinks are wires or other physical connections, and cannot be jammed.
Radio: Radio communications allow communications as long as the radio signal can get through – they can be jammed or blocked by local conditions.
Laser: Two characters with tight beam lasers are in communication as long as line of sight exists between a character and another friendly laser-comm equipped character.
Masers: These work just like lasers, but can cut through smoke and aerosols.
Meson: Meson communicators cannot be jammed or blocked, but cannot be used while a character is moving.
Battlefield Sensors There are several types of sensors.
Bioscanner: Bioscanner ‘sniffers’ detect airborne pathogens and hazardous chemicals.
Infra-Red (Heat):Infra-red sensors detect warm bodies, and negate concealment from smoke and soft cover, but can be jammed by strong heat sources.
Densitometer: An outgrowth of gravitic technology, a densitometer can scan an area and plot variable densities, effectively creating a three-dimensional map of all objects.
Electromagnetic Detectors: These sensors can detect unshielded high-power electrical devices, such as gauss weapons or transmitters.
Laser-Assisted Targeting: A low-powered laser is reflected off the target, giving targeting data to the firer.
Light Intensification: Light intensification technology magnifies visible light, negating the penalties for darkness or low light.
Motion Sensors: Can detect motion within range.
Neural Activity Sensor: A combination of highly sensitive EM-detectors and psionic theory, NAS detectors pick up on the brain activity of living beings and classifies them according to amount and complexity, giving a rough idea of the intelligence of subjects.
Certain battlefield conditions affect ranged attacks:
Darkness: Low light gives a -1 DM to ranged attacks. Complete darkness gives a -4 DM. Light penalties can be avoided by using sensors to target instead of the naked eye.
Smoke or Fog: Smoke gives a -1 DM to ranged attacks by obscuring the target; especially thick and impenetrable smoke gives a -2 DM. These penalties are doubled for laser weapons.
Extreme Weather: Driving wind, rain, snowstorms and so forth give a -1 DM to ranged attacks from poor visibility and a -1 DM to ranged attacks from environmental interference. Sensors can be used to avoid the visibility penalty.
Cover
Any sort of low wall, undergrowth, convenient rocks or other objects can serve as cover. Attacks made on characters who are behind cover suffer the negative cover DM on the table below. Crouching or prone targets (see overleaf) can claim cover one step higher on the table. If a character in full cover is crouching or prone they are impossible to hit but cannot return fire.
Cover Cover DM 1/4 (undergrowth, small rock, corner of a building) -0 1/2 (thick forest, low wall, crate) -1 3/4 (jungle, trench, reinforced position) -2 Full (pillbox) -4
Explosions
Grenades, rockets and other explosives affect an area. A character caught in an explosion may dodge at the usual Initiative cost. A character who dodges an explosion may reduce the damage by 1d6 if he just dodges or by half if he dives for cover. A character who dives for cover ends up prone and loses his next significant action.
Firing into Combat
If a character is firing a weapon at a target who is at Personal range to another combatant, then the attack suffers a -2 DM. If the attack misses, roll 1d6. On a 4+, the attack hits the nearest other combatant to the original target.
Grappling
A character can attempt to wrestle or grab another person instead of hitting him. The attacker must move to Personal range and beat his target in an opposed Melee (unarmed) check. If he wins, he may do any one of the following:
Knock his opponent prone.
Disarm his opponent. If he succeeds by 6+ he can take the weapon away; otherwise it ends up on the floor.
Throw his opponent up to three meters for 1d6 damage.
Inflict damage equal to 2 + the Effect.
Escape the grapple and move away (as if with a normal movement action).
Continue the grapple with no other effects.
Drag his opponent up to three meters.
Throwing an opponent always ends the grapple. With any other option the winner can choose to end or continue the grapple as he sees fit. A character in a grapple cannot move or do anything other than make opposed Melee checks. Each time an opposed check is made the winner can choose an option from the above list.
Range
Personal combat is divided into a series of range bands:
Range Distance to Target Squares to Target Personal Less than 1.5 m (combatants are in the same square) Close 1.5 to 3 m 1 to 2 squares Short 3 to 12 m 3 to 8 squares Medium 12 to 50 m 9 to 34 squares Long 51 m to 250 m 35 to 166 squares Very Long 251 m to 500 m 167 to 334 squares Distant 501 m +334 squares+
Stance
A character can be standing, crouched or prone. A standing character uses the normal rules. A crouching character moves at half speed but can make better use of cover. If a crouching character is in cover, consider it one row lower on the Cover. A prone character cannot make melee attacks or dodge. He may make improved use of cover like a crouching character and he may still parry melee attacks. All ranged attacks targeting him suffer a -2 DM penalty. At Close range, the penalty is reduced to +0; a prone character being attacked at Personal range grants a +2 DM to attacks against him.
Tactics and Leadership
The Tactics skill can be used to give an Initiative bonus to a whole unit at the start of combat. The unit commander may make a Tactics check, and everyone in the unit may increase their Initiative by the Effect of the check. The Leadership skill can be used to increase another character’s Initiative. The character with Leadership makes a Leadership check, and the target character’s Initiative is increased by the Effect of the check. Making a Leadership skill check is a significant action.
Thrown Weapons
There are two kinds of thrown weapons: the first kind strike a single target and do damage from the force of their impact, such as throwing knives or a thrown rock. These use the normal rules for ranged combat. The other kind of thrown weapon is a grenade or other explosive projectile that inflicts no damage from impact but typically delivers a harmful payload. The first kind of thrown weapon adds the Effect of the Athletics (co-ordination) check to its damage. The second does not. If the attack fails the projectile scatters in a random direction for (6 + Effect) meters. This is usually only important if the projectile explodes on or after impact.
Damage
Each weapon lists the damage it inflicts as a number of d6. Add the Effect of the attack roll to this damage. Damage is applied initially to the target’s Endurance. If a target is reduced to Endurance 0, then further damage is subtracted from the target’s Strength or Dexterity. If either Strength or Dexterity is reduced to 0, the character is unconscious and any further damage is subtracted from the remaining physical characteristic. If all three physical characteristics are reduced to 0, the character is killed.
Armor
Armor reduces damage by the value of the armor. A hit with Effect 6+ always inflicts at least one point of damage, regardless of the target’s armor.
Aiming for the Kill
Specifically aiming for a kill works exactly like regular Aiming, but does not add to the character’s DM to hit the target. Instead, the character gains a bonus of +2 to his damage equal to the number of minor actions he spends Aiming for the Kill. He cannot dodge, duck, or move while aiming. He also loses his Aim bonus if hit or distracted. The maximum bonus obtainable from Aiming for the Kill is +6.
Extreme Range Firing
Any weapon that has the ability to fire into the Distant range band can potentially strike targets even beyond, so long as the firer can see the target. Weapons fired at this extreme range do so using the modifiers for Distant range with an additional DM of -2. Only characters with at least three levels of skill in the weapon may fire at extreme range. To fire at extreme range, characters must be stationary and prepared to fire from some kind of rest (tripod, tree limb, bunker embrasure and so on). Vehicles must be stationary for weapons to be fired at extreme range from it. Energy-based weapons (lasers, PGMPs, and so on) inflict half damage (round up) at this extreme range. This can be combined with Aiming for the Kill (above).
Blind Firing
Blind firing works exactly like any other form of firing (including automatic), but it always treats the firer as having Level 0 in that weapon’s relative skill. Additionally an extra die is thrown when firing, but before any calculations are made the highest die (or one of the highest, in case of a tie) is removed completely. For automatic firing this extra die is thrown after all the dice are paired up, with one extra die rolled for each pair of dice. Any successful attack(s) needs to then have a die rolled to randomly choose which eligible target in the firing line is hit – whether friend or foe.
Panic Fire
In order to call upon Panic Fire, a character must be using some form of small arms slug thrower. Panic fire uses all remaining rounds in the weapon, and hits are resolved as if the weapon were being fired with an Auto rating two higher than the weapon would normally have. For every shot there is a -2DM penalty to hit. If there are insufficient bullets left in the weapon’s magazine prior to firing then there will be no benefit from using Panic Fire.
Parabolic Fire
To throw a grenade or launch another projectile in a proper parabolic arc, the character makes the appropriate skill (Heavy Weapons, Athletics and so on) check with a penalty depending on how far the shot is intended to land (see table below), regular range modifiers do not apply. If the check is successful, add the Effect to the projectile’s damage. No matter what happens, the projectile scatters in a random direction 1d6 minus the Effect in meters. This means that even a failure could still potentially strike the target (or scatter back over the obstacle for short parabolic arcs!), but get no bonus to damage.
Shotgun Spread
Any shotgun loaded specifically with flechette rounds can be fired like a common round at a single target up to Short range, using the standard statistics for the weapon. If firing at a target or group of targets at Medium or Long range, the frag shell has its damage reduced to 2d6 but gains a +1DM bonus to hit, and can hit not only the target aimed at but also anyone (friend or foe) within 1 meter of the initial target.
Suppression Fire
Suppression fire works by having the character actually target the areas surrounding the target; a wall, a tree or even the ground at their feet are all perfectly suitable. The impact of the character’s attacks are often enough to give pause to a potential attacker. The firing character rolls his shooting attack as normal, except with a -2 DM for trying to hit cover and nearby objects to the target(s). This attack action also uses up double the normal amount of ammunition per attack. Failures are treated as normal misses. Success means that the firer has hit close enough to the target to force them to duck away, stalling their next action by adding an initiative penalty equal to the Effect of the attack. Suppressed targets also receive a -1DM penalty to any skill checks that they try to perform in both the current and following combat round. Automatic fire can be used for Suppression fire, but no target can be affected twice by Suppression fire on the same action. The target must be allowed to take one action before he can be suppressed again. If multiple hits are used upon the same target, the highest Effect takes precedence. There are some situations and instances that can make a target so unshakeable that they do not care about Suppression fire, and will not be harried by it. Some of those exceptions are found on the list below.
Vehicles, or targets fully enclosed in vehicles
Zealots
Mechanical or android targets
Targets wearing full Battle Dress
Suicidal targets
Ground Force Weaponry against Starship-scale Targets
Gaining a +4DM bonus to hit anything on the starship-scale, ground force weaponry must divide its damage by 50 before comparing it to a starship-scale target’s armor. Because a single weapon will, obviously, be unable to punch though armor it is possible for multiple weapons to all target the starship simultaneously, and the cumulative effect can inflict damage. Every additional ground weapon beyond the first can add half its damage dice to the total before dividing the total by 50 in order to calculate damage.
Battle System – Large Scale Conflict in Traveller
There are eight types of units in the Battle System engagement rules. They are as follows:
Infantry – Any basic combat unit made up of men on foot or single-driver vehicles (bikes, sleds and so one) equipped with rifles, energy weapons and other automatic firepower.
Heavy Infantry – Any combat unit wearing Battle Dress and equipped with Heavy Weapons.
Close Quarters – Any combat unit equipped solely with pistols, melee or natural weaponry.
Vehicle – Any unit consisting of a small number of individual multi-crew vehicles (AFVs, hovertraks, etc.) or single larger vehicles (tanks, grav carrier, etc.).
Artillery – Any unit of long-range weaponry used to attack the enemy from the farthest limits of the battlefield; also a unit of Artillery Battle Dress soldiers.
Ortillery – Space based artillery, normally only available to one side in a battle. Less accurate than regular artillery, but deadly and immune to enemy fire from the ground.
Close Air Support (CAS) – Aircraft of any sort that support land troops. These can include aeroplanes, helicopters and grav vehicles designed for this role.
Command – The primary leadership centre of the entire force.
Creating A Military
Once the make up of an army is decided there are a number of statistics for each unit that need to be noted. They are as follows:
Unit Type (Infantry, Artillery and so on)
Unit Strength (numbers of men)
Unit Rating
Morale
Tech Level
Unit Skill Skill Rating Description Average Skill 1Raw (militia, untrained conscripts)0 2Trained (unbloodied troops)0 3Regular (professional soldiers with a smattering of troops with combat experience)1 4Veteran (experienced troops, most with plenty of combat experience)2 5Elite (special forces)3
Unit Type
This is simply determined by what manner of members make up the unit; Infantry, vehicles and so on.
Member Strength
This is the effective number of members in the unit. This is also the number of ‘hits’ the unit can withstand before being destroyed.
Unit Rating
The unit rating also reflects the average skill levels of the troops. Raw troops will have a few individuals with skill 0, but many without any skill whatsoever. Trained will all be of skill 0, whilst elites will have a skill of 3, on average (and on very rare occasions, even more than this). Different units are specialized in different skills, as shown below. The defining skill of the units is calculated using the base average of the unit members.
Infantry – Gun Combat (any non-pistol)
Heavy Infantry – Heavy Weapons
Close Quarters – Melee (any) or Gun Combat (any pistol)
Vehicle – Drive, Flyer or Seafarer (depending on the type of vehicles)
Artillery – Heavy Weapons (field artillery)
Ortillery – Gunner (any)
Close Air Support – Flyer (any)
Command – Tactics and Leadership
Unit Morale
Unlike personal Morale (see earlier in this chapter), this statistic is based partially on the skill of the unit and their faith in the commands of the force commander. The Unit Morale of each unit is calculated by adding the Unit Rating number to the Unit Size plus the Leadership skill of the primary Command unit of the army. If, during battle, a unit’s morale reaches 0 it is broken and will attempt to flee the field or surrender, depending on the circumstances on the battlefield.
Tech Level
All units equipped to Tech Level 3 or less are considered to be Close Quarters units.
Deployment Zone
Each force has three deployment zones in which to place its forces. These are named Front Line, Reserves and Support, any unit may be placed in any of these zones, apart from Close Air Support and Ortillery, which are always assumed to start in the Support zone.
Placing the Units on the Battlefield
Once all of an army’s units have been formed, rated and recorded in order to keep track of their statistics, the force commander (or the commanding player) will decide where exactly on the battlefield the units will begin. They, of course, will be allowed to move once a battle has begun. Ortillery units are not considered to be on the battlefield, as such, bringing their devastating firepower down upon their enemies from the safety of orbit. They are, for convenience, positioned in the Support Zone of their army. Close Air Support units are held in reserve, they do not enter the battlefield until their commander decides they are required and when they do appear it will be in their own Support zone.
Execution of Battle
The Execution of Battle phase comprises of the following phases.
Command Phase – Deciding which and how many units will act this round
Action Phase – Giving units their actions and recording the results
Morale Phase – Recording the Morale losses or gains of each unit, recording broken units
Withdrawal Phase (optional) – Force commanders may decide to flee from combat
Command Phase
Both sides’ primary Command Units must roll a Leadership throw 8+ to determine the number of Unit Actions the army will receive this round. If successful, the army is allowed the Command Unit’s Tactics level plus the Effect of the throw in Unit Actions. If a failure, the army simply receives the Command Unit’s Tactics level in actions instead. This is a very important throw for the army, and the primary Command Unit should be protected because of it. A Command Unit will receive a +1DM to the Leadership roll if they are situated within their Reserves zone, being closer to the action they will be able to judge the situation on the ground that much more clearly. However being closer to the front lines also means that they are more likely to become subject to enemy attacks. The Command Unit can choose to use these Unit Actions as it sees fit during the Action Phase. Unused Unit Actions are not carried over from round to round, and must be used or wasted. If an army is without a Command Unit at all during the Command Phase, every unit in the army immediately loses one point of Unit Morale and must each pass a Unit Morale test in order to take a Unit Action with a -1 DM. Losing the command element of an army is often the breaking point of the conflict, and few armies last long after that happens. The Command Unit can also try call up any CAS units he wishes to use during his Command Phase, needing to roll Tactics 8+. The Effect of the roll should be noted, this is how many Battle Rounds the CAS can stay before they have to leave the battlefield to replenish fuel and munitions. A failed roll means the unit is delayed and the Command unit can try again the following
Battle Round. Secondary Command Units
Should the primary Command Unit be destroyed or broken, the secondary Command Unit takes control and becomes primary. However, the unexpected re-structuring process is harmful to the chain of command, and the Tactics and Leadership skills of the unit are reduced by 1 (minimum of 0).Action PhaseThe Action Phase begins with each commander choosing to spend Unit Actions on their army’s individual units. Each unit may accept up to 2 Unit Actions in this manner, each one chosen as an Attack or Manoeuvre action. A unit may only use one Manoeuvre action each round, but is not limited on its Attack capability. Thus, a unit could Attack twice with two Unit Actions, Manoeuvre and Attack with two Unit Actions, or Manoeuvre or Attack with one Unit Action. The force commander with the most Unit Actions rolled (or the highest Tactics level in the case of a tie) chooses one of his units with Unit Actions this round and activates them. Once they have finished their first (or only) Unit Action, the enemy commander may then do the same. This order continues until all Unit Actions have been taken. Once the Unit Actions have been spent or assigned, the force commanders can take turns performing them. It is important to note that all units that have been given two Unit Actions cannot perform their second Unit Action until after all other units with Unit Actions have performed their first. Manoeuvre ActionsWhen a unit is given a Manoeuvre as its Unit Action, it can move into an adjacent deployment zone. Ortillery is unable to move, Close Air Support can move through up to three zones in a single manoeuvre action. This is to symbolise the unit making headway or taking a withdrawal on the battlefield. It is possible that a unit will not be able to enter a deployment zone as it may be locked by enemy forces. Each unit can effectively block one enemy unit from entering the deployment zone it occupies, as long as it has morale greater than 0. Infantry and Heavy Infantry units can block two units from entering their zone, Ortillery and Close Air Support are unable to block enemy units, and no unit can block an enemy Close Air Support unit. When a non-broken (see Unit Morale above, and the Morale Phase below) unit uses a Manoeuvre action to move away from the enemy (making the number higher), they are considered to be tactically withdrawing, and regain 1 point of Unit Morale. A unit that moves out of its support deployment zone away from the enemy is considered to have retreated from the battlefield and takes no further part in the battle.Attack ActionsWhen a unit decides to make its Attack action, it must first pass an immediate Unit Morale test by rolling equal to or under the unit’s current Unit Morale on 1d6 in order to take action. It is possible for a unit with high morale to automatically pass this test. Once the unit has verified its ability to perform an Attack action, the unit chooses a valid target unit for its attack. Each type of unit gets a different DM for attacking enemy units different distances away, showing its ability to inflict damage upon targets that are close or far away. This DM is then used to modify the Attack Skill throw made to attack that target, added to which is the skill of the attacking unit. The distance modifiers and the unit’s difficulty to inflict damage upon the enemy are found on the preceding tables. A listing of ‘-’ means the unit is unable to attack effectively at anything at that range. Once the unit has declared a valid target for its Attack action, the unit then makes its Unit Skill throw at the difficulty listed on the preceding table. If it fails, the unit’s attack was ineffectual and no actual damage is inflicted (but the target’s Unit Morale still suffers). If successful, there is the potential of inflicting casualties upon the enemy unit. The Effect from a successful Attack action helps determine how much damage is inflicted upon the target unit. The Effect is added (or subtracted) to the modifier listed on the preceding table. These modifiers show how easy or difficult it is for a specific type of unit to harm another type of unit. Particularly hard-to-damage units like vehicles or artillery tend to have much smaller numbers, so inflicting even a single casualty upon them is a success for an attack. Additional Modifiers
For each point of unit size +1 to the casualties inflicted.
Technology level has a huge effect on casualty results. Deduct the difference between the tech levels from the casualties inflicted upon a unit with a higher technology level, and add the difference to any casualties inflicted upon a unit with a lower technology level.
All units that were attacked in some way (successfully or not) immediately lose one point of Unit Morale.
Any unit that shared a deployment zone with a friendly unit that was utterly destroyed this turn loses one point of Unit Morale.
Any unit that shared a deployment zone with a friendly unit that routed this turn loses one point of Unit Morale.
Any unit reduced to less than half of its starting Member Strength loses one point of Unit Morale.
All units in an army that has a Command Unit destroyed or broken this turn loses 2 points of Unit Morale.
Any unit whose attack destroys an enemy unit gains 2 points of Unit Morale.
Any unit whose attack destroys an enemy Command Unit gains 3 points of Unit Morale.
Any unit that attacks an enemy unit which then routs this turn gains 1 points of Unit Morale.
Once all of the units have had their Unit Morale adjusted for whatever reason, any units that have fallen to 0 Unit Morale are now considered to be broken. Broken units are no longer capable of engaging the enemy and are removed from the army’s roster. Once all units have taken stock of their new Unit Morale values and whether or not they have broken, the Morale Phase ends.Withdrawal Phase (optional)A commander can decide to withdraw his forces from battle, either piecemeal or all at once (conceding defeat in the latter case). If neither force commander wishes to use the Withdrawal Phase, the round ends and a new Battle Round begins with a new Command Phase. If both force commanders decide to use the Withdrawal Phase, all units leave the battle without suffering any further casualties or damage. The battle ends immediately. If one force commander chooses to use the Withdrawal Phase and the other does not, the withdrawing army will be subjected to one last volley of attacks as they flee the battle. Every non-withdrawing unit can make a single Attack action at one enemy unit. The Referee can choose to create further scenes of chasing down the fleeing units as they scatter away from the battlefield, seeking refuge from the enemy. In many cases however, even the victorious units will want to take count of their own wounded and casualties, leaving the routed forces to their own. Ortillery and CAS units are unable to act on the field of battle on their own, if all ground forces of their army are withdrawing or have been routed or destroyed they will automatically be assumed to have withdrawn from the battle, leaving their enemies victorious.
Combat// starting with basics, HTH combat, will add Direct Fire combat details later // Traveller combat is pretty similar to other RPGs. It is task based - characters make task checks to hit an opponent, if successful and penetrate defenses, the attack does damage. Sufficient damage to an opponent renders them unconscious or worse. Each character gets to take actions each round, rounds continue until one side is vanquished or flees. ScalesTime Scale: 6-second combat rounds (10 per minute) Distance Scales: 1.5m "squares" interior; 15m outdoors Close Range <= 1m Short < 5m Medium < 50m Long < 250m The Combat ProcedureSurpriseAt beginning of an encounter, the first side to make a hostile move checks to see if it has surprise: To determine if attacking party has surprise: Difficult, Leader, Recon (confrontation) The best Leader and Recon skills for the attackers add to the roll for success. Since it's a confrontation task, the best Leader and Recon skills for the defenders are subtracted from the roll. No Leader or Recon skills are available, Dexterity and Intelligence attribute DMs can be used. If successful, attackers may attack without defenders able to counterattack. This situation continues until the defenders "raise the alarm". Unsilenced shots will alert defenders. Units hit but not rendered unconscious or inoperative will make noise to raise the alarm. InitiativeIn each round, the side with the largest Tactical point pool has initiative and selects which side goes first. *Tactics Point Pool* - total of all Tactics-related skill levels from among all characters on a side. Available as a roving DM on any combat task roll, each round. *Interrupts:* In each round, one side may interrupt the other side once. A unit from the opposing side which has not yet taken its turn that round can try to interrupt the next unit's turn from the other side. Only one active interrupt per side. To interrupt another unit's turn: Routine, Movement speed (safe) If successful, it becomes the interrupting unit's turn, the interrupted unit's turn is spent. This can be useful for sitting and waiting until a unit from the other side tries to move or attack. Of course a unit can 'cover' the moving unit and try to interrupt the interrupting unit. In hand-to-hand combat, may try to interrupt the attacker - use Dex DM instead of Movement speed. ResolutionOne unit from side that goes first (determined by side with Initiative) takes its turn. Then a unit from the other side goes. This alternates until all units have taken a turn. Combat Actions: Units can make one minor and one major action, or three minor actions each round. Minor Actions 1. Move - per round: - Speed 1 (Walk) can move up to 10 squares (indoor scale) - Speed 2 (Run) can move up to 20 squares; - Some animals and vehicles have higher speeds (i.e. KPH/10). - Evading or crawling halves that distance - Terrain may affect this also - Running gives -2 DM to attackers firing at Short range at the runner, and -1 DM at Medium range. - Running gives -2 DM when attacking - Evading - halves the number of squares/movement points available, moving to make themself a more difficult target to hit. May not parry or block in HTH combat. - Walking, evading characters give -2 DM to attackers at Short range, -1 DM at Medium; -2 DM on making attacks - Running, evading characters give -4 DM to attackers at Short range, -2 DM at Medium; -4 DM on making attacks - Units may always move 1 square per round if conscious. - A character/unit may not immediately run if just involved in HTH combat that turn. 2. Change Stance - go from standing, to crouched/kneeling, to prone, or vice versa. Getting down makes it harder to be hit by direct fire weapons. 3. Drawing and Reloading - for most small weapons, can draw with one minor actions, and reload with another. 4. Aiming - spend a minor action aiming gets +1 DM if does nothing else but aim; may do this repeatedly to get up to +6 DM if spends six minor actions aiming (and isn't interrupted). 5. Miscellaneous - some skill checks or other actions that don't require one's full attention or complex physical actions. Such as Using Recon to spot a good sniping position; keeping control of a vehicle while using a vehicle control skill, identifying the type of gun being used by the enemy using Gun Combat skill, picking something up off the ground. Significant Actions Two Minor actions can be taken instead of a significant action. 1. Miscellaneous: make a skill check or doing something that requires full attention or complex physical action. Such as: applying first aid, trying to bypass security system, using a psionic power, issuing orders using Leader skill, performing hazardous maneuvers with a vehicle. 2. Attack Hand-to-Hand (HTH): Must be at close range (need to be able to reach opponent); if fired weapon this round, can only defend HTH, not attack yet. To hit in hand-to-hand combat: Routine, Off=Weapon skill, Str, Def=Weapon Skill, Wpn Def, 1 combat round (absolute; confrontation) Referee: Defender may use his weapon defense from whatever weapon he has as a negative DM to avoid a hit. If attacker unskilled, increase difficulty one level. If defender unskilled, decrease difficulty one level. Disarm On an exceptional success (exceeding difficulty number by 2 or more on dice), may choose to disarm opponent instead of applying damage, stopping any counterattack that round. If the opponent is fighting bare-handed (no weapon), then this is a Stun result (disoriented or unconscious). If armed, treat as a 2D Mishap and scatter the weapon. Can only interrupt attacker in HTH combat. 3. Attack- Fire Weapon tbd ReactionsCharacters may dodge or parry an attack, giving the attacker a negative DM on the attack and himself a -1 DM on all skill checks until next round, and the reaction prevents him from taking his turn in the round until after another unit has gone (he loses his chance to act for a moment). If enough enemy are attacking the character may never get to attack if they are constantly parrying, e.g. More of an "concentrated defense" than using the Weapon Skill / defense above - those are moderate defenses looking to make a counterattack, etc. 1. Dodge - Dexterity DM can be used as negative DM on attacker's roll to hit. If cover or obstruction is available, DM is doubled. 2. Parry - may use appropriate melee skill as negative DM. DamageTo speed play, characters have a Hits value and damage is dealt in damage points applied against a characters Hits value. Enough damage and the character is unconscious or dead. After combat, damage is assessed against a characters physical attributes (STR, DEX, END) (1D per damage point taken off an attribute). Then medical diagnosis and treatment and healing can be done. The "Hits" value - for each character/unit, the number of damage points is can withstand before being rendered unconscious/inoperative, or killed/destroyed. Represented as "n / n" where first number is number of damage points before unconscious, second is number of points before destroyed. Life Force = STR + DEX + END Determining Damage Compare weapon's penetration at that range to the target's armor: PEN > 2x ARMOR VALUE … FULL PENETRATION, weapon inflicts full damage point value. PEN >= ARMOR VALUE … LOW PENETRATION, does half damage PEN < ARMOR VALUE … does 10% damage rounded down, if target has exposed areas unarmored Marginal Success - in to-hit task roll is just equal to number needed = marginal success, 50% damage. Exceptional Success - if to-hit task roll exceeds number needed by: 2+ … 2x damage (minimum 1 damage point) 4+ … 4x damage (min. 2) 8+ … 8x damage (min. 4) Because of minimums, weapons that would normally not do any damage (no penetration) can still do damage. Hit location (see TNE?) Stunning Stunning attacks (ones designed not to do permanent damage, blunt impact weapons, crowd control weapons, stunners, stunsticks, stun-knuckles, etc.; hits to the head) may cause unconsciousness. If the Hits go to 0 / x, or if hit on the head and fail END check, character is unconscious. To regain consciousness: Routine, END, 6 sec turns Referee: Time is 3D * 6 sec turns, minimum 3 combat turns (18 seconds) between attempts to regain consciousness. If Hits are still 0/x then the character can only crawl until some first aid is applied. HTH Weapons Natural WeaponsPenetrationWeapon Defense (Block)Damage Points Claws312 Teeth402 Horns512 Hooves402 Stinger503 Thrasher812 Hands111 Club202 Feet112 Small BladesPenetrationWeapon DefenseDamage Points Dagger212 Blade322 Foil321 Large BladesPenBlockDamage Sword433 Cutlass323 Broadsword*723Note: Divide broadsword penetration by 2 if STR < 10. AxesPenBlockDamage Hand Axe613 Battle Axe813 PolearmsPenBlockDamage Bayonet313 Spear312 Halberd523 Pike213 Staff/cudgel212Personal Armor Table TypeValue Jack(1 HTH-only) Mesh2 Flak jacket3 Cloth5 Ablat1 [6 vs. lasers] Reflect[10 vs. lasers] Vacc Suit-TL85 Vacc Suit-TL126 Vacc Suit-TL147 Body Pressure suit1 Hostile Environment Vacc Suit-TL86 Hostile Environment Vacc Suit-TL97 Hostile Environment Vacc Suit-TL128 Hostile Environment Vacc Suit-TL139 Hostile Environment Vacc Suit-TL1410 Combat Environment Suit6 Combat Armor-TL118 Combat Armor-TL1210 Combat Armor-TL1418 Battle Dress-TL1310 Battle Dress-TL1418To detail: (grappling?) (stunning?)