From: chandley@zammis.cas.nwu.edu (Jared P. Buntain)
Message-Id: <199809142311.SAA22145@agrippa.cas.nwu.edu.>
Subject: [B5W] Jammer suggestion playtests
To: babylon5-wars@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 18:11:37 -0500 (CDT)
Cc: agent1@agentsofgaming.com
In-Reply-To: <199809140429.OAA00454@mail.eisa.net.au> from "awarwick@southcom.com.au" at Sep 14, 98 02:29:37 pm
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Hello Bruce, List.

	Lots of "interesting" discussion going on. Miss a weekend, and look
at all the traffic I have waiting for me :). Havent had a go at the new
damage proposals, will do that today/tommorow, but here are a couple of
playtests of the new Jammer suggestion.

Playtest 1:

Minbari: 1 Sharlin, 2 Tinashi
Earth Force: 1 Nova, 1 Omega, 2 Olympus

Rules used: Out of box rules with current FAQ's. No hidden EW (though we
feel this would change the situation in an ... amusing fashion). Jammers
break lock if DEW exceeds OEW. No lock/No fire control/Double range penalty.

Starting range is 40. Speeds where 5 for each ship. Ships were arrange
symetrically about thier respective CH or DN. 

Turn 1:
Minbari player applys 9 DEW each and 3 OEW on the DN. DN downpowers 2 ML's,
buys an EW and goes 8 DEW, 1 on th CH. Omega downs the rear HL's and the
"off" side SPB, buys 2 EW, goes 0 DEW, 10 OEW on the CH. Olympuses go 7 DEW.

Earth players accelerate to 7, and lighter ships slip to all arrive in the
same hex as the DN. Minbari go to speed 6, and side slip along the edge of
the map. Range comes out to 28. 

Minbari CH and FF's fire 6 NC's at the DN, needs 6, hits twice for 28 and 25,
 nails both interceptors and some structure damage.
Earth DH fires a HL and a HP at the CH, needs a 13 and a 10, hits with the
HL for 31, scatters damage around the starboard side.

Turn 2:
Minbari CH is 6 DEW, 6 OEW on DN, FF's are 12 DEW. EA DN is 0 DEW 9 OEW on
the CH, DH is 0 DEW 10 OEW on the CH, FLG's are 0 DEW, 7 OEW on the CH.

EA wins inititive with its DN, Minbari moves 6 forward and pivots to bring
his CH's rear NC's in arc. FF's move with the CH. DN centerlines the CH, as
does the DH and the FLG's. Range is 15.

CH is destroyed by 10 ML's, 1 HL, 4 SPB's, 2 Missles, and 2 MP's. Minbari
responds with two NC's, all rear fusions being powered down to sustain
forward NC's. Minbari resigns.

After battle analysis: These jammer rules do make it more of a guessing game
for the Minbaris players EW. The Mibari player messed up by letting the EA
player gamble on all guns aiming at the target...err DN, so that the support
ships could get away with going 0 DEW. Minbari also forgot that EA ships
(especially Omegas) have a lot of systems to power down for EW if they need
to. Also, Mibari player should have used Fusions more, especially on the
light craft, and should not have tried for sustained NC's at this range.

Battle Two:
Same ship set up.
Same range.

The Minbari player is out for revenge, and has learned his lesson. Power
previously used to overcharge NC's goes toward buying EW. 2 points for the
CH, 1 for each FF's.

Turn 1:
Minbari CH is 4 DEW, 10 OEW DN, both FF's are at 3 DEW, 10 OEW. Earth DN is 
8 DEW, 1 OEW CH, Dh is 8 DEW, 2 OEW FF2, FLG's 7 DEW.

Minbari side slip to keep range open, Earth barrels forward at 7 again.

An unholy barrage of 10 NC's, 11 FC's aim at the DN. Range is 29. NC's need
11s, FC's need 6's. 6 NC's hit, 4 FC's hit. 170 NC damage, 45 FC damage,
there isnt a whole lot left of the DN, Forward stucture gone, 40% primary
gone. No serious criticals.
EA gets no answer, without locks, the range penalty prevents shots.

Turn 2:
Minbari CH is 11 DEW, 3 OEW DN, FF1 is 11 DEW, 2 OEW DH, FF2 is 11 DEW, 2
OEW FLG1. DN is 0 DEW, 9 OEW CH. DH is 10 OEW FF1, FLG's are 7 DEW. 

Minbari slithers to the side like a snake. EA make a hard turn to port
except the DN, which heads straight. Range is 19. EA's DH
wins inititive vs the CH, and centerlines her. The FLG's all pile into the
same hex as the DH. Range for the DN is 23.

5 FC's from the CH to the DN, need 11's. 2 hit, strip a ML and damage a
thruster. 4 FC's from FF1 to DH need 2 x 4, 2 x 8. 1 hits, blows off an
Interceptor. 4 FC's from FF2 to FLG1 need 3's (but for one, which is
intercepted to 0). None hit. 
DH to FF1 has no lock, and still cant hit. *sniff* wastes a centerline.
DN to CH has no lock, cant hit.
FLG's cant hit.

Turn 3:
Minbari CH is 11 DEW, 3 OEW DH, FF's 11 DEW, 2 OEW DH. 
DN is 0 DEW, 9 OEW CH. DH is 10 OEW FF1. FLGS are 7 OEW FF1.

Minbari continues its serpentine avoidance. DH and FLG's slip in kind, but
lose the ceterline by one row. DN turn port and closes. Range for DH group
is 14. Range for the DN is 20.

CH vs DH, 5 FC's, need 8, 12, 13, 13. 3 hits, blows off a thruster, damages
stucture. 
FF's vs DH, 4 FC's need 14's, 2 hits, blows off an HL, more structure.
DH vs FF1, no lock, HL needs a 6, misses. HP needs 3, hits(!) with 4 pulses,
destroying an FC, and EP and 19 damage to structure.
FLG's vs FF1, no lock. Nothing can hit.
DN vs CH, no lock, cant hit (starting to see a pattern here?)

Turn 4:
Minbari Ch is 8 DEW, 6 OEW DH, FFs are 8 DEW, 5 OEW DH. 
DN is O DEW, 9 OEW FF1. DH is 10 DEW, 0 OEW. FLG's are 7 OEW FF1.

DN accelerates back to 7. Minbari wins init and accepts action, center
lining the DH at range 2. Ditto the FF's and FLG's. The DN is at range 8.

The DH's problem: 10 NC's need 4 x 11, 6 x 10. 7 hit for 190 damage. 18 FC's
need 10 x 14, 8 x 13. 13 hit. 180 damage. Say good by to the DH.
DH's parting shot: 1 HL at 9, 1 HP at 10, 12 SPB at 11. HL, HP and 5 SPB's
hit the CH's nose. 35, 15 x 4, 50. The CH loses its front barely. 
FLG's vs FF1: No lock, no missles. 8 MP's, 4 RC's. MP's need 13's, 5 hit 16
times. RC's need 13's 2 hit. Rail cannon finish off the FF's front
structure.
DN vs FF1: Lock! 5 ML's need 14's, 3 hit. 75 damage to Primary's. Sensors
damaged, jump engine damaged, jammer destroyed, structure damaged.

Turn 5:
Minbari CH is 13 DEW, 1 OEW on FLG1. FF1 is 12 DEW, 1 OEW on FLG1, FF2 is 8
DEW, 5 OEW on FLG1.
DN is 8 OEW on FF1. FLG's are 7 DEW.

FLG's decelerate 3, sideslip once., DN turns and begins to roll
Minbari head straight. FF's side slip with the FLG's.

FLG1's problem: 10 FC's, 6 x 8, 3 x 9, 1 x 6. 4 hit. 2 missles, interceptor
gone, some structure gone.
DN vs FF1, locked (no jammer). 2 ML's need 11's, both hit. Blows off one NC, 
damages the other, damages the main thruster.

EA player resigns, mostly from lack of time. This battle was close, close
close. 

Final tally:
Minbari: CH with a missing front. 1 FF with a missing front, heavy primary
damage, moderate aft damage. Mostly defanged. 1 pristine FF.
EA: 1 DH destroyed. 1 Nova with no front, some primary damage. 1 FLG with
some serious aft damage. 1 pristine FLG. 

Playtest thoughts: For those who wanted a jammer that made the Minbari
unBPVable, this solution isnt it. However, it makes the EW game with the
minbari very interesting, indeed, critical, while only adding a little to
the cost of the Minbari ships. We felt that if the EA had a better HCV
available (one whos primary BP is not tied into missles) that this would
have been a balanced fight. Maybe one more HCV for the humans (or swap out
all the HCVs for 1 more Omega, but you lose out on Inititive.). We definitly
wouldnt take 2 Omegas vs 1 Sharlin with these rules (something our EA player
was happy to do old style jammer). A Nova and an Omega vs 1 Sharlin feels
right. If we had some rules for the Nials jammer, and for fighters vs ship
jammers,  we would like to playtest with fighters, where the EA comes in 
strong. The general consensus is that this is a fun rule modification for
the Minbari. May not be completely accurate, but definitely fun.

The Minbari player should strive to maintain a high DEW, otherwise he is as
vulnerable as any other ship to damage. 2 over your opponents normal EW
value seems like a good range, and the Minbar can do that to _anyone_ except
the Centauri's ELINT ships. If the Minbari do get locked on, they fall like
any other ship.

Things would probably be easier for the Centauri, with thier generally
better fire control, range, EW ratings and Maneuverabilty. No real sense on
how Centauri ships stack up. If we have time from playtesting the new damage
rules, we'll try a Centauri vs Minbari fight. We get the feeling the Narns
fight would in large part resemble the EA's fight, except for the E-mines. 
YMMV.   

Jared Buntain
chandley@nwu.edu


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