[SEMC] Forward Thoughts

[shaidar]

Thanks T.

So we have

Ambulance
Bus
TAC missile vehicle
Technical
Shuttle
2 g-carriers

How many G-Carriers would we need? One per infantry squad? We currently cover Jess, Jakob and what was Skip's squad.

[Tiglath]

It depends if you are going to "adopt" Gaughan's squad and in what role.

If they are to be line infantry another technical is likely the cheapest overall option but makes Jess' "cavalry" rather thin skinned.

The HQ bus will start to fill up with techs and/or the HQ defence section (if you are having one).

I believe the tac missile vehicle is Jess' (cavalry) G Carrier (which seat up to 12 infantry).

[shaidar]

If the shuttle becomes the new HQ will that help, or will there still be some overflow into the bus?

I guess it's theoretical until we know what cash we have and how we'll we recruit. I guess we can discuss what to do with Gaughan's group either way.

IIRC Kit was up for some kind of FO roll, so do we need to recruit a replacement for Skip? Would Gaughan's group be suitable (and willing) to work under Kit in such a roll.

[The Bindoner]

The bus is a civilian vehicle, B echelon at best, it has no place on the battlefield. Fine for HQ transport, or resupply/repair jobs where no contact with hostiles is expected.

[BackworldTraveller]

The bus is a civilian vehicle, B echelon at best, it has no place on the battlefield. Fine for HQ transport, or resupply/repair jobs where no contact with hostiles is expected.

Or for undercover operations...as a high-quality Merc units we couldn't be so daft as to use that, could we? After all, its big, unarmoured, hard to park or disguise and likely to die if you flick an elastic band at it.

[Tiglath]

I suppose it depends if the HQ is going to do anything "tactical" (which the bus can't).

However, the bus as a logistical transport can carry all of your spare rear echelon troops / techs / drone squad / Intel section???

While the "gunship" could transport a few folk they really need to be at the back fixing stuff and not in near orbit on your sensor picket.

In fairness as long as everyone can be strategically transported to deployment in theatre then tactical transport can be rearranged to taste

e.g. the spare seats in your G carriers could transport techs & drones who then get out and set up your rear area operating base.

As per the last above the bus is a really good orbit capable (+ sealed life support) civvy vehicle but (not unsurprisingly) just can't cope with being shot at.

[The Bindoner]

What is the seating capacity of the g-carriers?

And how big is Gaughan's squad?

[Tiglath]

G carrier seats 12

and

Gaughan's squad is 11 (including him)

[Leitz]

Back to this, since the current mission might give us a lot of gear if we don't set off the nuke.

We do not have enough vehicles; Jakob and Prerna "shared" one and their missions are vastly different. We have the possibility of fighters, but no pilots besides Freya. We have the possibilities of one or more star ships, which would do a lot of good as an intel analysis platform as well as ortillary. Might even work as air defense if we have enough gunners. Totally different hiring plan, though.

We've set up some relational stuff; Jakob's plan prioritized helping Erica and Frank had a great chat with 4DC. Jess and the Aslan are doing well, too. In the topic of "how big of a unit to build", the relational success may answer some of that since bits and bobs of specialists become available for the short term.

Something I tried this game was having the PC move from one unit to another. Jakob took Beau and company when the first action was needed, and then moved to Caxton so that Beau could hold ground and a fresh team could get into action. As we consider size, a PC might have more than the strict number of NPCs they can directly motivate via high initiative since some times the smaller unit role is to protect in place. No high initiative needed.

I'm not sure how things will turn out, but we seem to be doing okay.

[Leitz]

For me, the basic question is, what kind of unit do we want to game? Do we want our PCs to be in charge of a fire team, or of a battalion, or something in between?

Well, really, that's the defining question. What do you all want to game?

My personal sweet spot would be anything up to a platoon. More than that, and the administration becomes onerous, IMO. For the GM, a platoon is four or five squad leader NPCs to worry about - each of their teams is mostly supporting cast members.

In the current (Avastan) battle, Jakob was able to run one unit, detach, and then take command of another unit. That concept would let SEMC be a larger unit without putting the PCs out of the smaller unit action. That does bring up the question of transport, but if the troops are happy with cold storage then that is solved.

We now potentially have access to at least one fighter craft, would Freya want to run that? In theory the SensorOps folks could be trained to run under the Command Staff, and the game effect would be that Frank asks questions and gets answers.

An idea would be to have a larger ship that stayed off the ground. It could run scans, feed data, and stay out of harm's way. It could hold the medical unit so the ambulance could triage and transport, and maybe a grav "truck" for resupply.

I really want the mortar vehicle to have as many tubes as possible. Still, that's Jess' domain.

I do need to get better at tracking the gear Jakob's team has, and how to use it well. Working on that.

SEMC as a unit has done some good on this one. They averted nuclear devastation of the starport, helped protect Erica's troops by killing the choppers, impressed 4DC, worked with Vargr and Aslan, and made initial contact with a Zho unit. And potentially gained a ship or three in the bargain!

So, back to the "Forward Thoughts" conversation. I'm going to re-read this thread and see what jumps out at me, given the Avastan updates.

[BackworldTraveller]

Freya (as a character) was intended for a remote sensing / EW systems team supporting a physical recon group.

Not just Drones, but deployment of motion and visual sensors in forward positions and counter of same, and working through the virtual infrastructure of the local colony and (more competitively) the opposition force

Prerna's group has the recon-by-fire and recon-by-direct-obs. role; Freya was intended as the recon-by-hacking, recon-by-sensing and EW parallel. Drones were envisaged as part but not all of this. However, barring Freya's personal drone, the company's drone-tech is 1990's quality and needs careful tending.

The actual network and comms monitoring/hacking is hampered by (in-game) the need for expensive, high-tech kit and non-traditional recruits and the (meta game) problems of integrating the cyber-world with the physical using Traveller.

Piloting is an annoying side-line.

[joertexas]

In regard to maintenance and spares, how high a tech level can we realistically maintain in the District? I'd like to see us have the best equipment we can operate. That will help us to keep the number of troops down a level we can game out, but allow us to still punch above our weight.

Of course, that just means that our dear GM can really drop us in the crapper, but such is life.

[Leitz]

In regard to maintenance and spares, how high a tech level can we realistically maintain in the District? I'd like to see us have the best equipment we can operate. That will help us to keep the number of troops down a level we can game out, but allow us to still punch above our weight.

Of course, that just means that our dear GM can really drop us in the crapper, but such is life.

Yeah, 'stan was just the bidet...

If we keep 4DC as one end of the spectrum, then not going that far (TL == Imperial?) is good for us. That is expensive and counter-productive since we're mostly friendly. Collace is High Pop and Industrial, and we have a Domici contact for business, so staying "local" at TL 13 should be easy to do and maintain.

Thoughts?

[Leitz]

Freya (as a character) was intended for a remote sensing / EW systems team supporting a physical recon group.

...

Piloting is an annoying side-line.

Cool, I wasn't sure if you wanted her to be more of a pilot, or not.

While we might compare SEMC sensors to modern day, it's comparing apples to sardines. Don't do it and your happiness factor will go up a lot. Keep in game comparisons in game; compare SEMC to API, for example. We won't compare well to 4DC, but we accept that.

There's always a meeting, or several meetings, after any operation. In military parlance it's called a "Hot Wash", where actions, decisions, and issues are reviewed and discussed openly and honestly, while everything is still fresh in people's minds. The longer reports and budgets for new stuff come later, the main thing is to get a clear picture of what the challenges were and where the team needs to improve. Freya could raise the drone capability there, and we can also talk about the option for the fighter (an NPC pilot?), an more indirect fire.

In the Hot Wash, pretty much everything is up for discussion, but people have to keep their egos in check and take advice/critique as a means of improvement. That's something SEMC will have over a lot of other merc units; we have a bunch of field ready leaders who know how to keep improving. We don't have to in game it, but the various discussion and changes will reflect it.

Of course, we can game it, if you like.

[Tiglath]

Just pinning this here (from PM discussion) as an idea for generating further resource from the Bartizan:

Using the Bartizan as the base for a training cadre (run in the background) would generate further Resource Points for the unit additional to those from the medical facility you installed and the main source of income which is the return from the base's role as small commercial port/landing facility for Collace City.

Without getting embroiled in further book keeping I'll state that these Resource Points can be used to upgrade the Bartizan in various ways militarily, fund further expansion projects or perhaps more indirectly (e.g. to "buy" political influence or allies within the arcology).

[Leitz]

I am discussing ideas with Tiglath, to see how it can help SEMC and the game, without much overhead.

[Tiglath]

In terms of "prizes" taken you have:

Saxon (200t Trader) with a multi MCr repair bill (viral purge, new computer and electronics)
Viper's Nest (400t Merchant) currently fitted out as an Auxiliary Carrier will need a minor refit (multiple low berths & autodocs installed) to act as a Troopship.
Deliverance (400t Patrol Corvette) which is a bespoke warship

Using the broadest of GM brush strokes and with absolutely nothing set in stone the current thought/suggestion is use Saxon as a trader to generate income (likely with a "mercantile partner") and use the big Merchant and the Corvette to give SEMC interstellar capability. Caveat you may have to barter away some profit or shares in use/ownership of the Saxon to finance the deal plus repairs plus refit.

Game effect: you keep your hands on Deliverance and Viper's Nest while Saxon is "off table"/working in the background (but you still have a call on it).

[The Bindoner]

That sounds like a good proposal.

So, now we are Starmercs?

[Leitz]

Wasn't there some number of fighter craft? Can Jess take possession of stuff that didn't get too blown up?

[joertexas]

Sounds good to me. We will need crews for all three starships, though.