Intelser Forums

Hi everyone,

In response to a recent question in the Q&A area, I have been reviewing the "GM Rulings" area. That sub-board will be going away soon and all of the rulings in it will either be incorporated into the main rules thread (with or without clarifications) or abolished.

Please stand by in this thread for more details, as this will be the temporary holding area for the revised information until the end of the turn (at which time I will update the main rules thread)

Free Militia
Every faction maintains local small-scale militias for law enforcement and limited planetary defense. Militia can be "called up" when a planet is attacked and when there are no friendly forces eligible to defend.

Note: in the context of this rule, an "attack" is defined as launching a Raid, Battle, or Invasion order targeting the hex. Movement orders, Special Operations, Biological Warfare etc, do not constitute an "attack" for the purposes of activating militia.

Characteristics of militia

• Militia may be Green or Regular
• Militia is always Reliable
• Militia is 1.0 FP (after adjustment for quality, if they are Green)
• The composition of that 1.0 FP is up to the player, but once activated its composition cannot be changed. Create aerospace militia at your own risk, as it cannot be converted back to ground FP until the next turn.
• Militia always has the Static movement class. In other words, no WarShip Militia and no movement type orders
• Militia cannot use guerilla warfare
• Militia does not benefit from damage control
• Militia cannot be repaired
• Militia that is routed surrenders instead of withdrawing
• During GM-rolled combat during the cleanup phase of the turn, militia will always lose (without a die roll) against large invasion forces. It is GM discretion as to whether or not to roll out combat in these situations. (i.e. if you want to try for the 'stacked natural 12s victory', do not let the fight wait until the cleanup phase).
  

Ship's Militia

When boarded, a portion of a WarShip's crew is detailed for internal defense. This Ship's Militia is worth 1.0 FP and follows all the rules listed above for militia (including surrending when a 'routed' result is rolled). Ship's Militia will aid in the defense of a WarShip even if a separate friendly marine force is present.

Naval Recon
Type: Raid
Minimum Force Size: 0.25 FP
Requirements: May not be executed by static or transported units. Pirate Transit is required.
Effect: On a successful pirate insertion, all enemy naval and aerospace units in the hex are discovered (Name, type, quality, and current FP are revealed). If the pirate insertion fails, the raider has two options...

• The raider may immediately withdraw, without rolling initiative (i.e. there is no opportunity for the enemy to attack them). In this case, the raider  receives no intelligence information.
• The raider may voluntarily lose initiative for the operational round, allowing the enemy to attack it. This may reveal information on some enemy naval forces in the hex.

Background note: Naval Recon was previously listed as "100% accurate." This language was removed because disseminate disinformation and certain other characteristics (such as a unit being in a hidden location) may result in incomplete results.

Calculating Damage: Critical Events

Critical events may modify the results of a roll on the simple resolution table. Follow the process below to correctly generate the final damage.

1. Roll 2d6
2. Apply any dice roll modifiers
3. Determine the base damage percentage from steps 1 and 2
4. Roll for critical events if applicable
5. Apply the results of any capture/encircle results immediately, before calculating damage.
6. Apply positive or negative modifiers to the damage percentage. For example, critical event #12 increases damage by 30%. If the initial roll was a "7" (40%) then this event will increase the damage percentage to 70%.
7. Apply any multiplicative modifiers. Continuing with the previous example, if critical event #11 was also rolled, it would be applied at this stage, increasing the damage amount to 140%
8. Multiply the attacker's FP (as modified by step 5) by the final damage percentage to determine the amount of FP damage inflicted upon the enemy.

Allied/Hostile Movement

Effective Turn 5, the GM ruling on Allied and Hostile Movement posting is abolished. The text in the manual will be updated to the following:


Hostile Territory Movement

Under normal circumstances, forces moving through foreign territory are detected by the hex's owner and may be intercepted.

Unless Clandestine movement is used to conceal the move or Allied movement has been granted, a force seeking to leave a foreign hex must accomplish it through hostile territory movement. The sequence of events for hostile territory movement is as follows:

1. (optional) the faction initiating hostile movement may request permission by private message. This PM must include the intended flight plan of the unit and the unit's FP value. This PM must be copied to the GM account. If the defender allows the hostile movement, no action is required. However, in the event that the movement is denied or there is no response by the 12th of the month, continue to step 2.

2. The faction initiating hostile movement must open a hostile movement thread. The thread must indicate the following:

• Flight plan of the unit
• Total FP of the unit
• Whether or not the unit is moving to engage in a combat operation

3. The faction that owns the hex must either approve or deny the hostile movement within a reasonable timeframe. 'A reasonable timeframe' is defined as:

• For units moving to engage in a combat operation: within 72 hours of the request or by the 15th of the month, whichever is later.
• For units moving for any other purpose: by the end of the turn*.

*Note: if defenders intend to resist the hostile movement, they are still bound by normal combat restrictions. Waiting until the last minute and then initiating a large naval engagement is frowned upon by the GMs.

If the response is to allow the movement, this need only be posted in the movement thread. Otherwise, the hex owner must open a combat thread at the point on the hostile mover's flight plan that they will be intercepted on. A link to this combat thread must be posted in the hostile movement thread.


Restrictions on Hostile Movement

• A unit cannot use Hostile Movement and Invasion orders in the same turn
• A unit cannot use more than one hex of Hostile Movement and Raid or Battle orders in the same turn*
• The 'Hunting' order is an exception to this - Hunters may use as much Hostile Movement as desired and still execute their order

*i.e. these order types cannot be more than two hexes "deep" into enemy territory.


Allied Territory Movement

Allies may allow each other to transit military forces through each other's territory. Allied movement may be requested by PM, carbon copied to the GM account. The PM must contain the following information:

• Full identity of the units moving (name, type, quality, current FP)
• Flight plan of the unit
• Whether or not the unit will conduct combat operations this turn within the ally's territory

The procedure for conducting allied movement is the same as hostile movement. At any time, the ally may deny allied movement, automatically converting the order to hostile movement if the mover opts to continue on their flight plan. 

Allied movement has no restrictions on what type of orders can be combined with it.


Failure to Adhere to Movement Posting Requirements

To ensure proper game balance and passive intelligence gathering, the procedures listed above for hostile and allied movement must be followed. Improperly-documented moves automatically fail; additionally, the GM team reserves the right to apply punitive measures - up to an including the loss of all forces attempting an invalid move - in the event of repeat violations.

Clarification of Critical Events 4 & 5

On both tables, the language of critical events 4 and 5 is ammended as follows:

4 Gain +1 on initiative and simple resolution rolls for the rest of the turn (CO gains experience).
5 Opponent receives -1 on initiative and simple resolution rolls for the rest of the turn (CO killed).

Force Declaration Requirements

The previous GM ruling on this topic is abolished effective turn 5. However, please see below.


Declaring Forces

When declaring an order (including defensive orders) the full identity of any involved units must be disclosed (name, type, quality, current FP). It is not neccessary to disclose units not participating in the order.

Third Parties' Responsibilities

If a thread goes to GM resolution at the end of the turn, the GM team will look up the forces belonging to the attacker and to the owner of the hex from the orders sheets. Any third parties present are responsible for posting the forces at their disposal before the thread goes to GM resolution. Failure to do so will result in those forces not participating in combat. In the event of repeat failures to notify the GMs of 3rd party forces, the offending forces may be subject to penalties up to and including destruction.

Obsolete Naval Boarding Rules

It has recently been brought to my attention (during the course of running the Kowloon battle) that the naval boarding rules were not properly updated when Tactical Ops and Strat Ops rolled out the current boarding rules. The following text will replace the earlier hostile boarding rules effective turn 5.


Hostile Boarding Rules

Under certain circumstances,  marine forces may attempt to board and capture enemy vessels. Boarding can occur under the following circumstances:

• When directed by a critical event in simple resolution
• When a small craft carrying marines executes a forced boarding in MegaMek*
• When an EVA marine unit executes a forced boarding in MegaMek*

*As of version 35.24, the actual boarding portion of this procedure is not supported in MegaMek. Once the unit meets the boarding criteria and reaches the appropriate phase, the actual boarding attempt must be rolled manually.

When boarding is dictated by a critical event, the attacking ship with the best marine contingent is assumed to make the attempt, and uses its full marine contingent in the effort. Additionally, up to four battle taxis from that ship may assist - see the special rules for Battle Taxis below.


Naval boarding resolution

Once hostile units are onboard a naval vessel, they immediately begin rolling simple resolution against any defending marines once a turn starting in the turn they board (make this roll in the End Phase).

If hostile boarding occurs during simple resolution and a clear victor is not established after the initial roll, continue rolling simple resolution until the boarding forces are repelled or the ship is captured before moving onto the next operational round. This represents the intense, close-quarters nature of a naval boarding - the rolls represent minutes of combat rather than weeks.

Any ship that begins its turn with no remaining defenders is captured by the enemy. It must disengage at best possible safe speed and may not fire weapons, load or unload craft, or attempt any action that requires a piloting skill roll.

When a ship is captured, the following stipulations apply:

• Until the ship can return to a friendly industrial type hex improvement, it may only execute movement orders (it is assumed to be under operation by a prize crew, and lacks the trained naval crew neccessary to conduct combat operations). The ship may defend itself if attacked but is considered green skill (5/6) and may not use any special weapons modes (bracketed fire, etc).
• Unless fighters or small craft were actually onboard when the ship was captured (this would only occur in MegaMek) those units are not captured with the ship. They become a 'survivor' unit just as would happen if a WarShip was destroyed.
• The ship drops to Green skill until it reaches a friendly industrial type hex improvement. At the end of that turn it takes on new crew, becomes Regular, and loses the combat restrictions mentioned above.

Using Battle Taxis

The NL-42 Battle Taxi is a specialized small craft that improves the effectiveness of marines during their first turn of boarding action. The special bonuses here for Battle Taxis only apply such craft if they are listed in the "BT" column of the naval tab. Note that every faction may build Battle Taxis - if they do not produce the actual NL-42 model, it is assumed they have an equivalent (and statistically identical) local design.

Battle Taxis have the following characteristics:

• Each battle taxis is considered to be a 0.25 FP marine unit for cost purposes
• Like other marine type units, Battle Taxis do not contribute their FP to their parent unit's naval FP
• If a battle taxis successfully docks, it contributes its FP to the first simple resolution roll
• In critical event-directed boardings, if more than one Battle Taxi are available to the attacker, up to four may dock with the target. Roll 1d4 to determine how many dock.

Lupus assault craft: the Wolf Dragoons' clan technology version of the Battle Taxi provided a 0.50 FP bonus in previous versions of the rules. This unit is currently not in MegaMek and is not supported by the current version of the record sheet. Lupus craft will be added back into the game at a future date.

um...point of order?

the "E" column actually adds the FP value on the sheet, will this be updated?

Quote from: Cannonshop on September 19, 2011, 08:14:05 AM
um...point of order?

the "E" column actually adds the FP value on the sheet, will this be updated?

"E" is working correctly if it adds to the FP value on the sheet (though Battle Taxis really shouldn't be listed as your Fleet Escort... that box is for stuff like the TIG-15, Aquarius, etc that would actually participate in naval combat pew-pew). "BT" by contrast represents marines and only adds its FP to movement point generation, not combat FP. The 0.6x sheet that will replace the current 0.53 will add more flexibility to this, but for now I believe the 0.53 sheet is 'working as intended.'

If it isn't let me know and I'll dig down deeper.

This is sad :( We have even less chance to board vessels now :(

Quote from: Fatebringer on September 19, 2011, 07:21:48 PM
This is sad :( We have even less chance to board vessels now :(

Well, that may flip-flop in the other direction later, as the position of the 'boarding crit' on the simple rez table is on the agenda for potentially broken rules that need to be re-examined.

Mercenary Rules

Due to lack of interest, the PC mercenaries pilot program is abolished.

The NPC mercenaries text is totally rewritten to read as indicated below:



NPC Mercenaries

Mercenaries are private military contractors that offer their services to factions in exchange for payment.

Hiring Mercenaries

When a mercenary unit is out of contract, either due to expiration or due to a contract breach by the client, the MRBC will open bidding for that unit's services. Any faction may bid for mercenary contracts. Whichever faction makes the highest bid wins the contract. Contract points are awarded as follows:

+1 per 5% of the unit's FP that will be paid every month (minimum 5%)
+1 if the bidder guarantees full repairs
-1 if the bidder is to receive all salvage
+0 if salvage is to be split 50/50 between bidder and mercenaries
+1 if the mercenary will receive all salvage
+1 for a 3-turn contract
+0 for a 6-turn contract
-1 for a 9-turn contract
-1 for no signing bonus
+0 for 10% signing bonus
+1 for 25% signing bonus
+1 for a front-loaded contract (50% of the contract pay advanced in first turn of the contract)
-1 if the bidder's house troops fought against the unit in the last three turns
+1 if the bidder is the unit's historical sole client*
-1 if the bidder is a member of the Clan Grand Council
+1 renewing a prior contract on same or better terms**

*based on canon employment history up to 3062.
**only if the underlying contract was awarded under the current version of the rules.

Accounting for Mercenaries

Mercenaries are listed as normal units on the appropriate tab of the client's record sheet. However, they must also be listed in the mercenaries section of the expenses tab, including their per-turn salary and (in the notes column) the terms of their contract.

When a mercenary unit's contract expires, it is the responsibility of the client to post the unit for rebid in the MRBC thread. Failure to do this will result in loss of the +1 contract renewal bonus and in repeat cases will result in the MRBC applying a blanket penalty to future contract bids.

Tactical Orbital Bombardment

Under the current rules, TOB is a Battle type order and is thus subject to initiative order (and technically only really useful in an Invasion scenario). This reflects an earlier edition of the rules where the combat sequence was not as clearly defined. Effective Turn 5, replace the TOB order's text with the following:


Tactical Orbital Bombardment
Type: Special

Requirements: 5 FP or more of WarShips or capital/subcapital-armed DropShips. Fighters and non-capital DropShips do not count towards this requirement.

Effect: Inflict 2d6 damage to enemy ground units on the target planet. Add an extra 2d6 damage at every 10 FP increment above 5 (i.e. 15, 25, etc.). On a roll of '2' or '3' on each 2d6 rolled, roll again: the amount of damage indicated is applied to a friendly unit in the same location (if there are no friendly ground units, the attack does no damage).

Note 1: Units targeted by TOB may always execute the Scatter order, unless they are prevented from receiving orders (such as being in 'disrupted' status).
Note 2: TOB is executed as a special scenario. In other words, it is declared after normal combat orders are announced and resolved before any simple resolution or megamek is played.

It was posted somewhere that newly hired merc's will start at Outreach? Might I put the caveat in that they have to travel to the territory of the hiring state before commencing combat operations.

Otherwise ya know. ;-) Easy bake invasion of the FWL, CC, and to an extent the Lyrans.

Quote from: chaosxtreme on September 22, 2011, 04:03:13 PM
It was posted somewhere that newly hired merc's will start at Outreach? Might I put the caveat in that they have to travel to the territory of the hiring state before commencing combat operations.

Otherwise ya know. ;-) Easy bake invasion of the FWL, CC, and to an extent the Lyrans.

That's logical. The final rule will say something to that effect.

"Upside-down" Interdiction table

For a long time, the Interdiction table has caused some confusion because unlike all of the other tables, low rolls have the most beneficial results. This essentialy short-circuits critical hit allocation and requires some unusual modifiers. Effective turn 5, the table will be replaced.



Revised Interdiction/Guerilla Warfare Table

Replace the existing Interdiction and Guerilla Warfare tables with the following:


Interdiction/Guerilla Warfare

2d6 roll	Damage Percentage
2 or less	0%EC	Guerilla Warfare only: Guerilla force increases in size by 10%
3	0%EC	Guerilla Warfare only: Guerilla force increases in size by 5%
4	5%
5	5%
6	10%
7	15%
8	20%C
9	30%C
10	40%CD
11	60%CD
12+	80%CR

EC – Defender has an opportunity to earn one or more critical event.
C – Attacker has an opportunity to earn one or more critical event.
CD – As C, plus the defending force is disrupted and may not be issue orders for one operational round.*
CR – As C, plus the defender is routed and must use Withdrawal orders in the next operational round.*

*Additional effects do not apply if the attacker is destroyed during the course of the battle (though
critical events should still be rolled for).



Related Rules Changes

Update the text of the Break Interdiction order as indicated in red

Break Interdiction
Type: Battle
Requirement: Non-aerospace units attempting to execute a movement order
Effect: If a force has no remaining aerospace or naval units and thus cannot use Naval Engagement to contest interdiction, it may continue attempting to break through the interdiction by using its transports to attack. When this is done, the attacker rolls on the Interdiction chart with a -2 modifier for damage dealt to the enemy. The interdicting force also rolls on the Interdiction chart, with a +2 modifier to determine its damage dealt.


Guerilla Warfare
Type: Special Scenario
Requirement: Ground forces that have survived at least one round of combat since the start of combat operations and which have been reduced to 10.00 FP or less*.
*If a Castle Brian or similar fortification is present, this scenario works differently; see below.

Effect: Forces designated as Guerillas immediately take 1d6 FP of damage reflecting abandonment of equipment. Once active, Guerilla status may be maintained indefinitely. Guerilla units may not be the target of any combat order.
Once per turn, hostile forces garrisoning the same planet may attempt to pin down the Guerillas. On a roll of 10+ on 2d6, the Guerilla status is cancelled. On a roll of 2-9, the Guerilla force rolls on the Interdiction/Guerilla warfare table and sustains the indicated percentage of losses.

Castles Brian and other super-fortifications
Game mechanically, units protected by a Castle Brian functions as if they were using Guerilla Warfare, except the 10 FP maximum force size limit does not apply and units entering the Castle do not take damage from equipment abandonment. Each round, the enemy may attempt to penetrate the defenses (using ground FP only) on a 10+ on 2d6; otherwise, the attackers are repelled by the static defenses and the defenders take damage based on a single roll on the Guerilla Warfare chart; unlike normal guerilla warfare, these static defenses also damage the attacker; regardless of whether or not they penetrate the defenses, the attacker takes damage according to a roll on the Guerilla Warfare chart.

For potential implementation in Turn 6.


Weapons of Mass Destruction

Weapons of Mass Destruction are a category of weapons that includes nuclear, chemical, biological, and orbital weapons. Sometimes euphemistically referred to as strategic weapons, limited WMD use can dramatically alter the outcome of even a large battle; however, WMD can also cause serious economic and ecological disruption, making their use controversial.

WMD are represented in the game by 'tokens' which can be used to add special scenarios to combat orders (to to apply certain effects outside of normal combat). The token types are:

☢ - Nuclear Weapon (formerly *)
☠ - Chemical Weapon (formerly #)
☣ - Biological Weapon (formerly ß)
◆ - Orbital Strike
◇ - Orbital Strike (limited)
⊽ - Unknown

Accounting for Tokens

Tokens are normally attached to military units, and are listed in the unit's name.

For example: 12th Striker Cluster ☢☢☢

Because an attached token is part of a unit's name, its presence is disclosed whenever that unit's name is disclosed. Tokens do not change the FP value of a unit and do not impact the unit's movement provile.

Nuclear, Chemical, Biological, and ⊽ tokens may also be stockpiled. Stockpiles are transported units listed on the ground forces tab. Stockpiles cannot initiate combat and will surrender if no other friendly forces are in the hex. For the purposes of calculating movement costs, each token is worth 5 FP. Stockpiles are detected normally by intelligence and reconnaisance orders that reveal ground units.

Obtaining Tokens

Some tokens are manufacutered by various hex improvements:

• Nuclear Tokens: manufactured at PF. Cost: 25 RP each
• Chemical Tokens: manufactured at MF. Cost: 5 RP each
• Biological Tokens: manufactured at PF. Cost: variable, see biowarfare R&D path

Orbital strike tokens are generated by certain types of naval units:

• A WarShip with FP value of 0.25-4.75 has one ◇ token. This token, if used, is replaced at the end of the turn.
• A WarShip with an FP value of 5.00 or more has one ◆ token, plus one additional ◆ for every further 10.00 FP (15, 25, 35, etc). These tokens, if used, are replaced at the end of the operational round.
• For every 5.0 FP (or fraction thereof) of capital- or subcapital-armed DropShips, a naval unit has one ◇ token. These tokens, if used, are replaced at the end of the turn.

It is currently unknown how to obtain ⊽ tokens.


Special Scenarios Table
The table below describes the special scenarios that can be added by spending tokens:

Special Scenario	☢	☠	☣	◆	◇	⊽
Inflict 1d6 damage to an enemy unit before simple resolution is rolled*	x	x	-	x	x	?
Inflict 2d6 damage to an enemy unit before simple resolution is rolled**	x	-	-	x	x	?
Force a WarShip to make a survival roll (ship is always destroyed if roll fails)	x	-	-	-	-	?
Destroy a Space Station	x	-	-	x	-	?
Use one nuclear weapon in MegaMek	x	-	-	-	-	?
Execute a "Sabotage Hex Element" order	x	x	-	x	x	?
Execute a "Terrorism" order***	x	x	-	x	x	?
Damage planetary biosphere (on a "12" on 2d6, downgrade the planet by one level of development)	x	x	-	x	-	?
Add a +1 on simple resolution for marine boarding operations	-	x	-	-	-	?
Add a +1 bonus to an "Attack Special Forces Team" order	-	x	-	-	-	?
Add a +1 bonus to an "Assassination" order	-	x	-	-	-	?
Infect the hex with a biological weapon	-	-	x	-	-	?
??	-	-	-	-	-	?

*On a roll of "1" reroll and apply that damage to a friendly unit
**On a roll of "2" reroll and apply that damage to a friendly unit
***Note that this represents deliberately targeting the civilian population of the hex. Multiple successes in the same turn extend the terror period to 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 turns respectively (maximum 10 turns).

Orders Cleanup

These rules render the Tactical Orbital Bombardment and General Orbital Bombardment orders obsolete. Those orders are abolished.

The Scatter order may be used against any damage-inflicting token-based special scenario which targets a ground unit.

The Horrors of War

Large-scale combat, especially in conjunction with WMD use, has a serious disruptive effect on nearby economies. Part of this is due to an outpouring of refugees fleeing the warzone, part is due to disruption of trade routes, and part of it is due to the diversion of civil resources to recovery and damage-mitigation efforts.

Any time more any WMD tokens are used or when more than a total of 25 FP of damage is inflicted in a single operational round, roll on the Horrors of War table at the end of the turn.

Modifiers:

• +1 for every 50 FP of total damage inflicted over the course of the turn
• +1 for every token used
• +1 for every token used against a ground target (cumulative)
• +5 if a terrorism order was used that turn

2d6 Roll	Result
2-9	No Effect
10-14	Hex is terrorized for 3 turns*
15	As 10-14 plus one adjacent hex is terrorized for 3 turns**
16	As 10-14 plus two adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
17	As 10-14 plus three adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
18	As 10-14 plus four adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
19	As 10-14 plus five adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
20	As 10-14 plus all adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
21-25	As 20, plus roll a sabotage hex element against each hex improvement in the battle location's hex. If a space station is present in the hex, it is destroyed.
26+	As 21-25, plus check for biosphere damage. Add a bonus to the roll equal to the amount by which the Horrors of War roll exceeded 26. For example: on a roll of 30, add a +4 modifier to the roll.

*If already terrorized by separate action, extend the terror duration per the rules for multple token-based terrorism orders as described above.
**Determine which adjacent hex randomly.

Naval Survival Clarification

Under the rules for Naval Recovery and Scuttling (which need to be renamed since its misleading), replace all references to "WarShips" with "JumpShips or WarShips."

Add the following text to the Naval Survival portion:

The Honors of War

During the Succession Wars of the 30th and 31st century, it was customary to not attack JumpShips; similarly, the Clans have historically regarded attacking unarmed transport JumpShips as wasteful and have avoided it when possible.

JumpShips that do not contribute their FP to a battle (note that most JumpShips have either no FP or only a very small amount) are exempt from survival rolls unless the opposite faction specifically notes (during the Special Scenario step) that their forces are attempting to destroy the enemy JumpShips.

There are no game mechanical consequences for attacking JumpShips, though players are free to impose restrictions or penalties on this type of conduct through in-game roleplaying means.

As you probably know, I've been dissatisfied with the statistical distribution of the critical events chart*. I'm also not a huge fan of how it makes it very easy to drop an opponent's damage to zero through multiple relatively easy to roll 'valor' crits. A while back I tried to address this with the Flashpoint critical chart, and I've adapted that for FGC use. Please see below and vote for whether or not to implement this as part of the Turn 5 rules patch. If you vote "no," please respond and let me know what you felt was problematic.

2d6	Critical Event	Alternate Naval Result
2	Enemy unit disintegrates, taking double damage. If it survives, it receives a -1 on simple resolution and initiative rolls for the rest of the turn.
3	Enemy suffers major damage and loses one quality level.
4	Enemy force is encircled; 1d4x5% of the force is captured (see rules for surrender)	Boarding opportunity: one ship or wing (one line-item) may initiate hostile boarding against a single enemy ship of your choice.
5	Capture a high-value prisoner – automatically win operational initiative for the next Operational Round.
6	Command & Control breakdown: enemy suffers -1 on operational initiative for the rest of the Strategic Turn.
7	Repair bay heroics double the amount of after-action battlefield repair.
8	Your commander gains experience - +1 on simple resolution and initiative rolls for the rest of the turn.
9	Enemy supply columns are overrun and looted – the enemy's damage control for this round goes to your force instead.
10	One enemy VIP of the enemy player's choice is killed (1-4) or captured (5-6). If no VIPs are present, the enemy's highest-ranking officer is affected instead. The enemy suffers a -1 penalty on all operational initiative and simple resolution rolls for the rest of the turn.
11	Lucky shots result in far more salvage than usual – double this battle's contribution to the salvage pool.	Boarding opportunity: one ship or wing (one line-item) may initiate hostile boarding against a single enemy ship of your choice.
12	A Hero is Born – your commanding officer leads his or her forces to a decisive victory against all odds; increase damage inflicted by 30%. If you took enough damage this turn to be destroyed, 10% of your force survives. The enemy must withdraw as if they lost an Invasion scenario.

*To clarify what I mean here, I don't like how in the current chart, some of the statistically harder to get crits have less of an impact in the game than the easier to roll ones. For example, a roll of "3" (1/18 chance) reduces damage by 15%, while a roll of 7 (1/6 chance) does the same thing and also does +20% damage to the enemy.

Since these are written up, and no one seems to have any complaints, anyone have issues with me rolling this into the Turn 5 patch?

Um...how do we get the cute little icons to show up on the sheet?

Mostly, I like this. The huge impacts sit pretty far out on the curve, and damage reductions are limited.  Got a question though: what's the mechanical outcome of losing a commander in roll 10-that seems more like an RP function?

Quote from: Cannonshop on September 28, 2011, 07:25:45 AM
Um...how do we get the cute little icons to show up on the sheet?

Copypasta? If they don't show up in Excel, switch the font to Arial Unicode MS or any other Unicode font and they should be fine.

Quote from: Cannonshop on September 28, 2011, 07:29:40 AM
Mostly, I like this. The huge impacts sit pretty far out on the curve, and damage reductions are limited.  Got a question though: what's the mechanical outcome of losing a commander in roll 10-that seems more like an RP function?

Good catch. It should work like it currently does (-1 on initiative and simple res for the rest of the turn). I will update the chart.

I like the new chart. Not only does it open up more reason to write RP for combat (always a bonus in my opinion), it also leaves the possibility for a small unit to win a legendary victory. Just my two cents here.

Is there anywhere taken into account an employer who has upgraded a merc unit either through better eqpt, increasing the size of the merc unit or paying for increasing experience?

Quote from: Dave Baughman on September 19, 2011, 10:19:19 PM
Mercenary Rules

Due to lack of interest, the PC mercenaries pilot program is abolished.

The NPC mercenaries text is totally rewritten to read as indicated below:



NPC Mercenaries

Mercenaries are private military contractors that offer their services to factions in exchange for payment.

Hiring Mercenaries

When a mercenary unit is out of contract, either due to expiration or due to a contract breach by the client, the MRBC will open bidding for that unit's services. Any faction may bid for mercenary contracts. Whichever faction makes the highest bid wins the contract. Contract points are awarded as follows:

+1 per 5% of the unit's FP that will be paid every month (minimum 5%)
+1 if the bidder guarantees full repairs
-1 if the bidder is to receive all salvage
+0 if salvage is to be split 50/50 between bidder and mercenaries
+1 if the mercenary will receive all salvage
+1 for a 3-turn contract
+0 for a 6-turn contract
-1 for a 9-turn contract
-1 for no signing bonus
+0 for 10% signing bonus
+1 for 25% signing bonus
+1 for a front-loaded contract (50% of the contract pay advanced in first turn of the contract)
-1 if the bidder's house troops fought against the unit in the last three turns
+1 if the bidder is the unit's historical sole client*
-1 if the bidder is a member of the Clan Grand Council
+1 renewing a prior contract on same or better terms**

*based on canon employment history up to 3062.
**only if the underlying contract was awarded under the current version of the rules.

Accounting for Mercenaries

Mercenaries are listed as normal units on the appropriate tab of the client's record sheet. However, they must also be listed in the mercenaries section of the expenses tab, including their per-turn salary and (in the notes column) the terms of their contract.

When a mercenary unit's contract expires, it is the responsibility of the client to post the unit for rebid in the MRBC thread. Failure to do this will result in loss of the +1 contract renewal bonus and in repeat cases will result in the MRBC applying a blanket penalty to future contract bids.

Shoot me a PM with the details and we can discuss it on a case-by-case basis.

Quote from: Parmenion on October 03, 2011, 03:30:35 AM

Is there anywhere taken into account an employer who has upgraded a merc unit either through better eqpt, increasing the size of the merc unit or paying for increasing experience?

Quote from: Dave Baughman on September 19, 2011, 10:19:19 PM
Mercenary Rules

Due to lack of interest, the PC mercenaries pilot program is abolished.

The NPC mercenaries text is totally rewritten to read as indicated below:



NPC Mercenaries

Mercenaries are private military contractors that offer their services to factions in exchange for payment.

Hiring Mercenaries

When a mercenary unit is out of contract, either due to expiration or due to a contract breach by the client, the MRBC will open bidding for that unit's services. Any faction may bid for mercenary contracts. Whichever faction makes the highest bid wins the contract. Contract points are awarded as follows:

+1 per 5% of the unit's FP that will be paid every month (minimum 5%)
+1 if the bidder guarantees full repairs
-1 if the bidder is to receive all salvage
+0 if salvage is to be split 50/50 between bidder and mercenaries
+1 if the mercenary will receive all salvage
+1 for a 3-turn contract
+0 for a 6-turn contract
-1 for a 9-turn contract
-1 for no signing bonus
+0 for 10% signing bonus
+1 for 25% signing bonus
+1 for a front-loaded contract (50% of the contract pay advanced in first turn of the contract)
-1 if the bidder's house troops fought against the unit in the last three turns
+1 if the bidder is the unit's historical sole client*
-1 if the bidder is a member of the Clan Grand Council
+1 renewing a prior contract on same or better terms**

*based on canon employment history up to 3062.
**only if the underlying contract was awarded under the current version of the rules.

Accounting for Mercenaries

Mercenaries are listed as normal units on the appropriate tab of the client's record sheet. However, they must also be listed in the mercenaries section of the expenses tab, including their per-turn salary and (in the notes column) the terms of their contract.

When a mercenary unit's contract expires, it is the responsibility of the client to post the unit for rebid in the MRBC thread. Failure to do this will result in loss of the +1 contract renewal bonus and in repeat cases will result in the MRBC applying a blanket penalty to future contract bids.

I thought you couldn't increase a merc unit?

Quote from: Dave Baughman on September 18, 2011, 08:35:12 PM
Clarification of Critical Events 4 & 5

On both tables, the language of critical events 4 and 5 is ammended as follows:

4 Gain +1 on initiative and simple resolution rolls for the rest of the turn (CO gains experience).
5 Opponent receives -1 on initiative and simple resolution rolls for the rest of the turn (CO killed).

In light of Fronc, I have a comment in regards critical event 5.

At Fronc, the Magistracy naval commander was killed by the critical event roll.  No problem with that, however why would the -1 carry over to ground combat?  Two separate combat theatres, and quite frankly, if an Air Force commander got killed, the reaction of the ground troops would be a universal 'meh'.  One less Air Force tosser sinking piss in a five star hotel.  

I think either there has to be recognition that space/naval combat combat is separate from ground combat in this instance and the -1 doesn't carry over into any ground combat phase, or the wording needs to be amended.

Quote from: chaosxtreme on October 03, 2011, 12:13:45 PM
I thought you couldn't increase a merc unit?

I tried to incorporate merc unit expansion into the standard cyclic costings, however wasn't allowed.  So went down the path of the Magistracy paying for it themselves. 

Quote from: Parmenion on October 03, 2011, 12:16:24 PM

Quote from: Dave Baughman on September 18, 2011, 08:35:12 PM
Clarification of Critical Events 4 & 5

On both tables, the language of critical events 4 and 5 is ammended as follows:

4 Gain +1 on initiative and simple resolution rolls for the rest of the turn (CO gains experience).
5 Opponent receives -1 on initiative and simple resolution rolls for the rest of the turn (CO killed).

In light of Fronc, I have a comment in regards critical event 5.

At Fronc, the Magistracy naval commander was killed by the critical event roll.  No problem with that, however why would the -1 carry over to ground combat?  Two separate combat theatres, and quite frankly, if an Air Force commander got killed, the reaction of the ground troops would be a universal 'meh'.  One less Air Force tosser sinking piss in a five star hotel.  

I think either there has to be recognition that space/naval combat combat is separate from ground combat in this instance and the -1 doesn't carry over into any ground combat phase, or the wording needs to be amended.

I'll consider how to balance this, but I can't guarantee an immediate rules change. The impact of these critical events is supposed to affect that battle for the entire turn, and making it only apply to one theater of operations reduces that impact somewhat. I will ruminate on ways to add such a dynamic and still keep the rule balanced.