Topic: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP) (Read 31809 times)

Trace Coburn · « **on:** March 10, 2011, 06:10:27 AM »

I'm not sure if I'm going to be calling on the talents of OBT's residents often enough to ask for a full-blown sub-forum to develop The Virginia War, but I think this proposal could do with some outside eyes before I put it to CBT.org for their merciless attentions.

The attached .doc holds the current state of the 'universe rules' for playing games set in and around the The Virginia War. Now, a lot of this stuff is 'a mod on top of a mod', building from the base of Renegade Tech, and if you're not familiar with those rules it's not likely to make complete sense. On the other hand, it's not really aimed at novice players anyway, and anyone who's willing to play with a lot of the Tactical Operations rules in effect probably won't be too worried about the 'added complexity'.

In any case, if anyone here downloads this .doc and gives it a once-over, I'd appreciate hearing their thoughts. (Please ignore the struck-through bits - those are half-finished thoughts that don't meet my standards for 'release', but I'd that rather retain in some form for later refinement.)

Takiro · « **Reply #1 on:** March 18, 2011, 08:44:31 PM »

I took a look at your document but unfortunately I'm not a rules guy. More into the fluff or fictional background. I can see the Renegade Legion, BattleTech, and BattleStar Galactica influences. It is an interesting mix of fictions Trace. I do look forward to more on the Virginia War.

Knightmare · « **Reply #2 on:** March 18, 2011, 09:48:09 PM »

I'm going to read through your work this evening. I have the old Renegade games/sourcebooks and I'm familiar with play (albeit it was a long time ago.) I'll post some thoughts as soon as I'm finished. Thanks!

Ice Hellion · « **Reply #3 on:** March 20, 2011, 09:36:28 AM »

I will look at it.

Trace Coburn · « **Reply #4 on:** March 26, 2011, 02:08:27 AM »

An additional 'VW' conversion of a canon system for your perusal, this one of the humble rocket-launcher. (In the main document, it'll slot in just after the Vehicular Grenade Launcher.)

FWIW, the lighter aerial 'rocket launchers' available to 'Clancy's World' (Hydra, SNEB, CRV-7, UV-57/UV-80, etc.) simply don't have the punch to deal with BT armour, but they're horrendously effective against infantry: they should be treated as aerial-variant Fragmentation warheads.

That said, pods of Zuni 127mm rockets, with their 20kg payload, are broadly equivalent to a four-rocket aerial-VRL.

Ice Hellion · « **Reply #5 on:** March 28, 2011, 05:25:17 PM »

I am not really familiar with the rules but the background looked nice with each power having its special weapons that are an answer to the other powers.

Trace Coburn · « **Reply #6 on:** May 13, 2011, 06:33:30 AM »

For anyone who may wish to play a tabletop game/campaign in The Virginia War, here's the latest version of the rules-set for gameplay and (very WIP) construction, including experimental rules for Clancy weapons and their effects on BT armour. (They're a lot slower than BT missiles, though, and I haven't found a good way to represent that on the gameboard without bogging down play with multi-turn flight-times. Maybe just double the efficacy of BT AMS and counter-missiles against them, to reflect their increased vulnerability?

)

I was going to attach a couple of 7zip'd files containing all the templates - and some of the ASF/'Mech/vehicle System Status Displays (SSDs) - needed to play out certain units, but I overlooked the fact that boards don't accept attachments of that type.

Looks like I'll have to get off my ass and write formal TROs on all these units most ricky-tick, so I can attach the SSDs to those TRO threads and let you folks get to blasting.

Blacknova · « **Reply #7 on:** May 13, 2011, 07:52:18 AM »

Most interesting

Trace Coburn · « **Reply #8 on:** November 01, 2011, 06:27:32 AM »

I'm putting this one up mostly for you guys to peer-review and/or deconstruct, as I hope to post it to the bg.battletech.com boards in the next week or so. I'm not sure how well this re-balance has worked - I might have swung things too far away from the fighters I love so much - but I figure people might want a 'Quick Start' playable rules-set for ASF combat in TVW, and this hands out what you need to start with the dogfighting.

Is this rules-.pdf is ready to 'go public' - not just presentation-wise, but also in terms of sheer playability? All input welcome. $:-\$

Ice Hellion · « **Reply #9 on:** November 01, 2011, 01:27:17 PM »

I will look at it.

Trace Coburn · « **Reply #10 on:** March 31, 2013, 04:54:24 AM »

Latest update-version of the Virginia War/Renegade Tech rules-set, complete with support for WarShips, JumpShips, DropShips and GunShips (AKA 'Pocket WarShips'), and a conscious re-scaling of BT aerospace warfare. The yields of capital weapons are now explicitly pegged in the low kilotons, they've also had their ranges rejigged to suit my sense of verisimilitude, and fighters are radically less powerful than they once were.

Your feedback and input is not only welcome, it is eagerly sought. Please tell me what you think.

Trace Coburn · « **Reply #11 on:** August 18, 2014, 07:33:03 AM »

Well, time to piss or get off the pot, I guess. Iâ€™ve already e-mailed these files to Knightmare, so he can upload them to the main site for the general public to DL, but for those members here, Iâ€™m attaching the official Beta Release version of Renegade Tech 2.0 to this post and the next one. This one is the straightforward stuff for ground warfare â€” aerospace is just below.

Once again, if anyone who downloads any of these rules get the chance to play out a game with them, PLEASE give me feedback on how things went, what worked, and what didnâ€™t.

As a side-note, Iâ€™d welcome help from anyone with artistic or layout skills whoâ€™d like to donate their time and effort to this project. As you cna tell formt hese files, what I can manage is functional at best.

Trace Coburn · « **Reply #12 on:** August 18, 2014, 07:43:55 AM »

The RT2 aerospace rules are still far rougher than the ground ones. For instance, larger craft still use a modified version of the TW/Strat Ops criticals tables, because I havenâ€™t worked out a fair way to put critical-boxes into every shipâ€™s SI blocks. For that matter, nukes are internally consistent, but also have the potentially to settle (or swing) a fight with only a few hits. Nonetheless, Iâ€™d like to get fresh eyes on the rules, and hopefully some playtest reports, so I can patch over the near-inevitable gaping holes.

For what itâ€™s worth, I do fully intend to keep creating armour-displays for units and introducing rules for additional weapons and systems as time goes on, including factional designs and systems-use data for the â€˜assumed settingâ€™ of 2829.

Knightmare · « **Reply #13 on:** August 19, 2014, 04:34:55 PM »

I've looked some of it over, and while I won't have a spare second to test the rules out, I really like what I've seen so far. Thanks for putting in the wrench time Trace!

Trace Coburn · « **Reply #14 on:** August 29, 2014, 07:16:06 AM »

This weekâ€™s update: everyoneâ€™s favourite long-range, low-heat headcappers, Gauss weapons! I canâ€™t count how many more canon designs this opens up for use in RT2, and Iâ€™m sure that their fans are glad for this addition to the RT2 system. (Knightmare, please do not add the attached pdf to the Downloads section â€” itâ€™ll be incorporated into the next iteration of the TL-D Weapons Book.

)

The keen-eyed amongst you will notice some interesting possibilities and flavour-implications are raised by who has developed which variants on the GR# theme. If youâ€™re inclined to create your own designs based on these systems, please, donâ€™t be shy about putting them up in the appropriate sub-section of General Discussion and linking them here.

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Author Topic: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP) (Read 31809 times)

Trace Coburn

The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP)

Takiro

Re: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP)

Knightmare

Re: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP)

Ice Hellion

Re: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP)

Trace Coburn

Re: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP)

Ice Hellion

Re: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP)

Trace Coburn

Re: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP)

Blacknova

Re: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP)

Trace Coburn

Re: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP)

Ice Hellion

Re: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP)

Trace Coburn

Re: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP)

Trace Coburn

Renegade Tech 2.0 â€” Beta Release (Ground)

Trace Coburn

Renegade Tech 2.0 â€” Beta Release (Aerospace)

Knightmare

Re: The Virginia War - Gameplay rules (WIP)

Trace Coburn

Renegade Tech 2.0 â€” Beta Release â€” Gauss weapons!