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[Doomblade187]

((To clarify, how would Zehn carry either of the machinegun orc adaptations? I see 3 slots on the Vickers, so would I carry 1 extra magazine?))

[WunderKatze]

((@Pancaek I considered writing this in a note but the post was already pretty long. Tripoded machineguns are at 3, you can take 50 rounds and if an ally with a smaller inventory (say like divide who is kitted out for rifles and is not likely to need a ton of ammo) can carry 50-100 more rounds for you. That is the concept with most of those weapons that have very uncomfortable slot costs that basically require at least two people to take (I mean, how often do you see a single man operate and move a tripoded MG?). If a teammate lends you a slot and drops you the ammo(of course you'll need to stay still to use it), you can put out a huge amount of firepower for a couple of turns, 100-150 dice is nothing to sniff at, and even if paced over 3-4 turns firepower like that will easily earn and keep you the fire superiority bonus of 2x damage (which the game is designed around). Also, demo charges (and other explosives) roll their full dice against every target in the blast and since they are already in the 2 to 3 damage they should be very high impact choices. Also I should say if you are firing a full mag of ammo every turn you are expected to run out of ammo, and the enemies will also be firing conservatively, the idea is shooting a lot will easily secure you the 2x damage fire superiority advantage pretty handily but you'll also only be able to sustain that rate for one to a small number of turns.

The slot system is designed for a mission basis, meaning that you are not expected to be choosing gear for multiple missions rather you choose equipment to last you the few turns of a single mission and if you want/need to acquire enemy weapons you'd drop yours to do so. But you are right it is a very uncomfortable inventory system that probably represents less than a person could normally carry, though I think it encourages the weapons and ammo to be handled in a realistic fashion with squadmates carrying extra ammo for their machinegunner and people having incentives not to hold the trigger down every turn. The 20mm cannon hits at 3 damage so the same one slot of ammo will out hit one slot's worth of ammo on a tripoded MG, the difference being that the MG doesn't have the 20 soft cap so it can out damage the 20mm in a turn, but the 20mm can hurt armored targets up do -2 damage armor (say like light tanks or heavily armored orcs).

@Doomblade187 @panceak Orcs are meant to be physically stronger, so when I was writing it I was imagining that I'd grant our two orc characters an additional slot but since I didn't declare that was the case before I thought it might be unfair to others because slots are a rather restrictive. What I'll do instead is -1 slots for orcs using orc adaptation weapons.

@everyone I'd rather make changes at the end of one or two missions (like the chapter end)  but if you guys want me to increase the slots by 1-3 now I have no reservations (I might make the howitzer and AT gun heavier though in that case), I don't want this game to be a drag on account of something like this, but if we do so I'd like a simple yay or nay from everyone.

I should also note that this game was never intended to operate with the same mechanics throughout, the mechanics right now are tailored to squad combined-arms modern combat missions (which I think is suited to these early missions) but in later chapters, when you meet recurring enemy and allied characters, I had always meant to shift over towards mechanics that track indidual health and also allow bigger more individualized inventories but I didn't want to start the game by unloading a huge mechanics system that suits every situation, when I did that with my test game the mechanics turned out to be rather obtuse.

Sigh I hope we don't bury the turn post lol))

[_DivideByZero_]

Yep, I'm not too demanding as far as inventory goes. I'm thinking of this loadout:
-Gewehr 43
-50x 7.92×57mm Mauser
-Team ammo
-Team ammo

My main reservation is that I have to carry 50 rounds of ammo if I take a sidearm. If sidearms came with 20 rounds or something for free then maybe it would make sense to spend a single slot on one, but I don't feel like a rifle and a sidearm is worth 4 slots. 3 makes more sense.

[WunderKatze]

((I think I might also change the slots on the demo charges. I was worried that if they were light they'd overlap with grenades too much. Changed to 1 slot for light and 2 for heavy.))

My main reservation is that I have to carry 50 rounds of ammo if I take a sidearm.

Oh, you can mix and match ammo that is the same weight. Say 30 rounds rifle, 20 rounds pistol in one slot.

[Pancaek]

((Here's an idea. And note that that's all it is, because I'm just a bitter grognard who can't help himself from seeing the worst in things.

Maybe reduce the weight of some things (like the bazooka, those only weigh about 5kg) but keep the amount of slots as-is. And/or, have the 4 slot limit be due to weight limit for our jumps, and give us some extra leeway slots once on the ground. That way we can pick up some stuff we find without having to throw away our kit.

These are just ideas, of course. I'm just remembering ER where the whole token economy meant that the "cool, but only situationally useful" gear almost never got picked, because in most cases you'd rather have the "boring, but generally at least okay-to-good" gear.))

[WunderKatze]

((What I'm thinking for now is that the slot totals will be increased to five and the ammo per slot will be increased by a little bit. I'm glad you made a point about this because I thought I'd covered everyone so that they could get a reasonable inventory for themselves (I could go into specifics but I'll spare them) but I realize that your explosive based character is the one that gets the short end of the stick (that's my judgement I'm not just taking your word for it), because all of the explosives fall into that two team members category and they don't really have a secondary single man path like Doom has with the light machineguns unless you want to overlap with Slick and take grenades. With five slots and considering the fact that explosives will be leaving your inventory as you fight (and other ammo for that matter) I think you'll be able to loot some weapons and ammo without having to drop your regular weapon (rifle/smg or what ever you pick)

I don't share your judgment that demos and those bigger weapons are only situationally useful, the sheer damage potential of those weapons make them extremely powerful against anything in the game and honestly I think the howitzer basically guarantees a win if you can fire it for 3 turns or such.

You're right about the bazooka, my worry is that with the buy-in would be too cheap and an inventory of rockets and a launcher would outclass grenades. But I think that the fact that grenades ignore cover at short and you are supposed to be able to throw a grenade and still be able to shoot differentiates them enough.))

@everyone Since we've buried the turn post, I'm going to repost with changes in like an hour.

Changes: slots to 5, basic ammo and 20mm ammo increased per slot, orc weapons cheaper for orcs, marginal changes to bazooka (-1 slot cost, damage up too probably) and the larger weapons (slot cost up, damage up) and a short recap of some game mechanics that are important for choosing gear.

These changes should hopefully make things a lot more comfortable for you guys and it won't be OP cuz I can make marginal changes to enemies to balance it.

[Doomblade187]

Sweet, thanks for the update!

[WunderKatze]

CHPATER 1, TURN 0.5: MISSION PLANNING ((changes to inventroy balance!))

“All right! Get up, get up! It’s mission day. You ship out in eleven hours and then in four more your feet will be on High Gothic soil.” Your NCO yells marching into the small airbase barracks.

You all dress and shamble out and begin a long walk along one of the intersecting, hangar-side runways of the airbase.

You walk past hangar after hangar to the buzzing tunes of Rolls Royce Merlins and the American Pratt & Whitney Double Wasps. An air service man gives Madeline a nice smile and a bit of a salute, he tends a Supermarine Spitfire Mark V. Atkinson, or Madeline ((DivideByZero)), always stands out. While orcs and elves aren’t exactly commonplace on the base, besides a few secretaries or whatnots she’s likely one of the only women in military service. It was her abroad experience and her credible experience as a magic scholar’s apprentice that qualified her for service; and her marksmanship and outdoorsyness that allowed her a place on a Commando unit. However, rules regarding her service were an express concern. No romantic relationships with team members, short hair, standard male uniform and no explicit mentions of her gender among team members, not even at the pubs. She lives and sleeps with the rest of you; command says it’s crucial for building proper team morale.

“Some awfully nice fellows have prepared a nice surprise for you. And no, before you ask, she’s not coming on the mission with you.” The NCO takes a turn and leads you down a narrow path between hangars.

Turning the corner your eyes meet the blooming feathery expanse of griffon’s wing. It has amber eyes, a pale yellow peak and feathers of a brown black brindled pattern. Its lion tail wags anxiously. A rider with long leather gloves and pilot’s get up stands at its flank.

“Whooa, whooa. It’s ok Marie. It’s ok.” He assures the creature. Marie, despite his assurance, looses a nervous squawk. The griffin’s squawk is a lot louder and deeper than the sparrow and gull cries that you are familiar with. “These chaps aren’t going to hurt you,” he says with a smile.

Spoiler: griffin! (click to show/hide)

In a brief but sobering moment Marie’s eye passes over each of you. The griffin is age old symbol of acriscratic might and you cannot help but feel that some ancient power of war on the other side of Marie’s eye has cast judgement upon you.

…

An hour or so later you all find yourself in a briefing room with your NCO for one last review of the mission. It’s time to discuss your plans and the equipment you want to bring.

Spoiler: Target (click to show/hide)

The target is an above ground forested office in eastern low gothic territory. The facility, which is quite small actually, is a small brick office furnished like a mansion. It is supposed by English intelligence to be an Low Gothic intelligence processing center. The target was located by tips from local anti-gothic groups and confirmed by air reconnaissance photos. The facility is occupied by a small garrison of Low Gothic soldiers (around 20) and intelligence officers. You expect the garrison to be armed with the regular Low Gothic armament which includes machineguns, machinepistols, rifles and handheld grenades.

The objectives of this mission are elimination of Low Gothic intelligence officers, capture of Low Gothic intelligence and the destruction of the faculty’s communication equipment. You'll be air dropped near the site and trek the rest of the way and you will rendezvous with a contact after the mission for transportation out.

This airbase has stock piled weaponry for this operation, you’ll need to select the weapons and equipment you’ll want for the operation. Each team member has 5 inventory slots. Weapons here include captured enemy types, purchased American types and English types.


Available equipment:

Spoiler: General rules to remember (click to show/hide)

You can fire one weapon per turn and you can shoot up to the number of bullets in the gun's mag/clip. Throwing explosives does not count towards your one weapon per turn. The number of bullets you fire = the number of attack dice.
 The first shot you fire with a weapon (excluding explosives) gets +1 to hit, the first shot can also not be blocked by cover.

Cover blocks a number of hits, so if you fire 4 shots, and hit 2 of them against a enemy in -2 cover you do no damage unless on of your hits was the first shot you fired. This means you have 4 basic ways to deal with targets in cover, snipe at them by firing one shot at them which can never be blocked by cover, shoot a lot at them so the number of hits exceeds the cover anyways, maneuver so that their cover is useless, or use a cover ignoring weapon like a grenade at short range.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ordnance type:

75mm Pak Howitzer (10 slots, load can be shared across team members) (The gun must be in inventory to be moved but not to be fired. Fires in two configurations: direct or indirect. Indirect: designate operators, these operators will not join you on the mission instead they will operate the howitzer from an appropriate distant location (hits on +6, requires one team member and one Howitzer operator to have a portable radio), +5 when you fire on the same unmoved target that is in vision of a team member with a radio. Direct: In this configuration, the gun is deployed on the mission site and players can leave the gun at any time (+4 hit at all ranges). A player reloading this gun cannot make additional actions this turn. Max rate of fire is 3 rounds per turn. (damage depends on ammo)

37mm M1 anti-tank gun (7 slots, load can be shared across team members)( The gun must be in inventory to be moved but not to be fired. Hits on +4 at all ranges.) (damage depends on ammo)

60mm mortar (2 slots, load can be shared across team members slots)( The gun must be in inventory to be moved but not to be fired. (Hits on +5, +4 if firing at the same unmoved target.) (damage depends on ammo)

Bazooka (1 slot) (Short +4, Medium +5, Long +5) (damage depends on ammo)

PIAT (1 slot)(Low noise, no muzzle flash, Short +4, Medium +5, Long X) (damage depends on ammo)

Panzerfaust(1 slots)(Short +4, Medium +5, Long X)(3 hit dice, 10 damage per hit, blast)

Explosives:

Demolition charge heavy (2 slots)(Short +4, Medium X, Long X)(30 dice, 3 damage per hit, blast)(When used at short range ignores cover)

Demolition charge light (1 slots)(Short +4, Medium X, Long X)(20 dice, 2 damage, blast)(When used at short range ignores cover)

Hand grenades (3 per slot) (Short +4, Medium +5 Long X) (10 dice, 1 damage, blast) (When used at short range ignores cover)

White phosphorous grenade (3 per slot) (Short +4, Medium +5 Long X) (6 dice, 1 damage, blast)(lasting effect that hits targets every turn)(-2 to all shots through the phosphorous area) (When used at short range ignores cover)

Thermite grenade (3 per slot) (Short +4, Medium +5 Long X)(1 dice, 20 damage)

Smoke grenade (3 per slot)(can be thrown out to medium range)(-2 to all shots through the smoke)

Machineguns (weapon):

Bren /Lewis/MG34/MG42 (2 slots)(Short +4, Medium +4, Long +5) (1 damage)

M1919/M1918/Vickers/MG34/MG42 w/ tripod (3 slots)(Short +4, Medium +4, Long +4)(1 damage)(-1 to hit at all ranges if moved this turn)(belt fed, no maximum number of shots per turn)

M2HB .50 caliber w/ tripod (4 slots, load can be shared across members)(Short +4, Medium +4, Long +4)(2 damage)(belt fed, no maximum number of shots per turn)

Vickers orc adaptation (3 slots, 2 slots for orcs)(includes 100 round drum adapter, wooden stock and bipod)( Short +4, Medium +4, Long +5) (1 damage)
Hispano Mk. II 20mm cannon orc adaptation (20 round box magazine, stamped metal stock and bipod)(3 slots, 2 slots for orcs)(Short +4, Medium +4, Long +5)(3 damage)

Rifles(weapon):

Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) /Karabiner 98/Gewehr 98/M1 Garand (1 slot)(Short +4, Medium +4, Long +4)(1 damage)

Boys .55 caliber AT rifle (3 slots) (Short  +5, Medium +4, Long +4)(3 damage)

Machine pistols(weapon):

Sten/MP40/MP28/Lanchester (1 slot) (Short +4, Medium +5, Long +6) (1 damage)

Melee (weapons):

Light sword/axe (1 slot) (Short +3, Medium X, Long X) (1 damage) (4 dice)

Heavy sword/hammer/axe (2 slots) (Short +3, Medium X, Long X) (2 damage) (4 dice)

Webley .455 revolver/M1911 (1 slot) (Short +4, Medium +5, Long +6) (1 damage) (can always be fired in addition to any other turn actions)

Body Armor:

Heavy assault shield (1 slot)(grants user -4 hit cover in addition to other cover but user cannot move and fire a weapon in the same turn) Note: throwing explosives, shooting pistols and using melee weapons do not count towards this.

Basic Armor (1 slot)(grants -2 hit cover against pistols, machine pistols and explosives)

Ammo:

75mm howitzer: White Phosphorous, HEAT, HE, Timed fused High Explosive. (one slot each)(HEAT: 12 dice, 20 damage, no blast)(HE: 30 dice, 2 damage, blast)(Timed fuse: 30 dice, 2 damage, when fired direct detonates on the turn after it is fired, when fired via indirect fire ignores cover)

37 anti-tank: canister, AT (2 rounds per slot)(canister: 45 dice, 1 damage)(AT: 4 dice, 15 damage)

60mm mortar shells: HE, Smoke, White Phosphorous(2 rounds per slot)(HE: 18 dice, 1 damage, blast)(White Phosphorous: 6 dice, 1 damage, leaves -2 smoke, hits targets inside blast every turn)

Bazooka rocket/PIAT round: HE, HEAT (2 rounds per slot)(HE: 15 dice, 1 damage, blast)(HEAT: 3 dice, 15 damage)

20mm ammunition (30 rounds is one item slot)

All other ammunition (70 rounds is one slot)

Note: Items (including ammo) can be dropped and if so they can be used by characters at that location.

You'll also notice that a lot of weapons are treated as equivalent (for this chapter at least), there is one unstated difference the different weapons: clip/mag size. The clip/mag size of your gun is the logical maximum number of shots it can fire in a turn. Belt fed weapons ignore this soft maximum.

Team members:
Team health (72)

Madeline Christie Atkinson (DivideByZero) (12 health, 5 inventory slots)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Race: Human
Appearance: A thin, medium-height woman with high cheekbones and an eternally frustrated look on her face. She has milk-chocolate hair with two braided locks of hair running down either side to her shoulders.

Forbidden Knowledge -- Can make guesses as to how one would cast a certain spell, what a person could do with magic, whether magic was being used, etc. Magical knowledge that's just short of actual magic.
Camouflague – enemies shoot at -1 to hit when you are in cover outdoors.
Psychological Warfare -- Doubled damage and fire superiorty effect with rifles.

Jim Harrington (Questorhank) (12 Health, 5 inventory slots)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Race: Human
Appearance: A tall, lean man. His brown hair is shoulder-length and almost always "up" in some way (usually a hastily-done ponytail). He keeps his beard and moustache short, . There's a faint scar under his left eye.

Speaks Low Gothic
Mechanic – knowledge check mechanics/vehicle weaknesses. +1 to repair actions.
Covered -- 1.25 increased protection from cover
Straight Faced -- +1 on lies/general deception.

Hans Koring Staffenberg (Sir Elventide)(12 health, 5 slots)(squad leader)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Race: Elf
Appearance: An average sized elf, Hans has a line of freckles across the bridge of his nose, straw-blonde neck length hair with a thin braid hanging over the right side and pale blue eyes.

Speaks Low Gothic
Silver-tongued – Intuition check: manipulation
Magosensory Perception – Sensory check: magic
Tactician – Intuition check: enemy tactics

Zehn Graftkin(Doomblade187)(12 health, 5 slots)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Race: Orc
Appearance: A thick, solidly built orc, he has dark eyes and hair, and tries to keep his uniform neat at all times.

Necromancy—roll to commune with the dead! Bonus if offering is made.
Man of Many Words -- Understands many colonial and Euro-Roman languages.
Machinegunner – the first enemy shot at with more than 10 bullets deals -2d6 less damage that turn.

Krilge Schmidt(Pancaek)(12 health, 5 slots)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Race: Orc
Appearance: Krilge is big and muscular, like most orcs of his kind. He also has a bit of belly and a permanent soft expression on his face. He has many small scars scattered over his body, results of dabbling with explosive substances. He keeps his hair short on purpose, and his eyebrows are often rather sparse by accident.

Demolition orc--  1.33x dice to any explosive you use including ordnance type.
Shrapnel avoider—additional -2 hit cover when you are shot at while contextually moving.
Family orc -- +1 to positive speech, -1 to negative speech, +2 to talking to children

Phillip Ottersen(Slick)(12 health, 5 slots)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Race: Human
Appearance: At 6'4'' the Filipino-English mix is rather tall for a human especially given his heritage, with black crew cut an a trimmed mustache and beard. Tends to have a happy-go-lucky expression always looking at the bright side no matter the situation. Is laden with the equipment of a Grenadier.

Grenadier's Arm: All throw explosives inherit a (short +4, medium +4, long X) profile in place of their regular one, always ignore enemy cover.
I Will Be Your Shield!!!: Can share shield cover with a nearby ally. Additionally, shields do not take a slot.
Hey now, What about that stiff upper lip?: +1 to comforting actions/speech.

Note: I've made some changes to the following skills: Grenadier's arm, I Will Be Your Shield, Demolition Orc, Psychological Warfare and Machinegunner. Also health values are subject to change as I do some testing.

GM notes:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm creating this section which will continue into following turns. It will basically log my concerns with weapon balance and gameplay. Feel free to talk to me about items here, suggest solutions or raise concerns of your own that I will evaluate and might add here.

-Regular ammo is extremely slot efficient, diminishes conservative shooting, melee, explosives. (possible changes: reduce ammo per slot (favorable), or add advantages to firing less, scale down regular ammo damage (unfavorable))

-cover is extremely effective against HEAT rounds. On one hand this makes sense when considering concealment type cover but against solid cover (shields, armor, narrow walls) HEAT should be effective (include first shot cover ignoring to HEAT rounds).

-the current cover system models concealment cover better than it models solid cover (thinking)

-the current heavy shield balance makes it oddly effective against high damage, low volume weapons and ineffective against high volume of fire weapons. (a stop gap measure has been implemented, the shield is costless for our shield user)

[Doomblade187]

Zehn will take Vickers orc adaptation, 2 100 round drum mags (I know that the ammo is 70 rounds/slot, but I am unsure how the 100 round drums work out), basic armor if I have space. I am assuming we get a combat knife standard.

[Pancaek]

Krilge raises his hand, trying to get the attention of the NCO giving the briefing.

"I've got a question. You say the building is garrissoned by about 20 guys, yeah? Do they have any vehicles at all that you know of? Fortified positions? Just so's I know what kind of boom I need to bring."

[WunderKatze]

"I've got a question. You say the building is garrissoned by about 20 guys, yeah? Do they have any vehicles at all that you know of? Fortified positions? Just so's I know what kind of boom I need to bring."

"As far as we know there are no vehicles. There are no major fuel depots nearby and local reports are only of sparse transport trucks, the kind one would carry troops in, and of rather nice automobiles, likely the private possessions of well-payed officers."

The NCO scratches his chin.

"Bunkers... We have not received any explicit reports of bunker type fortifications. One concern we have is that the building, which is furnished like a mansion, may be reinforced with concrete to strengthen it. If that's the case they might also have taken the time to install some fire slits on the building itself."

[Questorhank]

"Do the transports have a regular schedule? And if so, will it be possible we encounter one?

Grab a Webley, 30 pistol rounds (not included loaded ammo), body armor, and the rest will be ammo for the Vickers. (which I believe is standard rifle caliber?)

[Sir Elventide]

As the NCO answered Krilge's question, Hans chose for his loadout an SMLE rifle, 70 more ammunition for the gun, 3 standard grenades, and 3 thermite grenades. If his guess is correct, thermite should be able to melt through any metal doors and barriers the team encountered. Hans decided to leave a space free to hold more weapons and ammo as the situation demanded.

He then thought over the mission's objectives, particularly on the bit about the communications equipment. Sure the deaths of the intel officers and the acquisition of the intel itself can hamper the Gothicans' operations but the destruction of the comm can perhaps relieve the team of any immediate concerns regarding enemy reinforcements. Therefore it is vital that they are first taken out as quickly as possible.

"I also have a question, sir," Hans spoke up. "Have any of our intel managed to determine the location of the communication equipment within the building itself?"

[Slick]

Phillip hand went up, he had a look of thought. "Do we have any intelligence on nearby enemy forces...close enough to respond I mean? The target does have it's own communications array after all, and who knows how many ways to access it." He shrugged. "You can never be to cautious."

Phillip grabbed his Heavy Assault Shield, as well as some Basic Body Armor. He took Two slots worth of Hand grenades and a Light Mace. He paused at his selection, humming. "Hmm, hey guys should I grab normal smoke or some Willie Pete?"

[Sir Elventide]

Phillip hand went up, he had a look of thought. "Do we have any intelligence on nearby enemy forces...close enough to respond I mean? The target does have it's own communications array after all, and who knows how many ways to access it." He shrugged. "You can never be to cautious."

Phillip grabbed his Heavy Assault Shield, as well as some Basic Body Armor. He took Two slots worth of Hand grenades and a Light Mace. He paused at his selection, humming. "Hmm, hey guys should I grab normal smoke or some Willie Pete?"

"Perhaps you can grab some Willie Pete: the white phosphorus will obscure their vision if they are firing through slits and the substance will burn them badly enough to drive them from cover."