Alternate Ground Combat: Difference between revisions

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:: ''The Stars Without Number title, ''Starvation Cheap'', has a mass combat system that is substantially less complex than the [[Ground Combat]] system currently under development. The source is provided [[:File:Starvation Cheap (Military Campaigns).pdf|here]].''
==Unit type roles==
:: ''The rules below are at a very early stage and should not be considered grounded (no pun intended) with any hard procedures or values.''
'''Armor:''' 1d10; -2 to each roll if there is no allied infantry present; when there is 1:1 allied armor: infantry units, those paired units ignore terrain penalties


==Building the Forces==
'''Infantry:''' 1d6; when there is 1:1 allied armor: infantry units, those paired units ignore terrain penalties; when 1 infantry unit is paired either with 1 armor, artillery, or air support unit, the infantry gets +1 added to its roll


The Federation has the ability to create as many ground forces as it requires. However, other non-superstates are limited in this capacity primarily by population. The first step...
'''Artillery:''' 1d8 and +1 added to total allied air support score; when attacking when defending engineers are present, must take lowest of three rolls


==Vital Points==
'''Anti-air defense (AAD):''' 1d6 but only applied against enemy air support; unit is the victor on its own victory table against air support (unless directly attacked by air support) but is eligible to take ground battle damage, as well
A war is won or lost by control of Vital Points. These points can be physical locations on the planet, such as a peak with a commanding field of fire on the only usable pass through a mountain range, or they can be more metaphorical points, such as the support of a high-tech enclave of religious enthusiasts who have an advanced factory complex. Each Vital Point initially belongs to a side, and if all of their points
are captured or destroyed, the side is no longer capable of prosecuting the war.


== War Turn==
'''Deflector defense (DD):''' may only be used for defense (not attack); has no attack/defense roll but presence of 1 unit lowers the defender's die for damage step rolls by 2 (ex: 1d8 becomes 1d4) and each additional deflector unit lowers it by one more (1d2 is the lowest); may be directly attacked by special forces or air support
The term '''war turn''' is unique to ground warfare and represents a fluid amount of days, generally a week, but can be redefined to be more or less, as the circumstances require. It is the only unit of time in ground combat, with one exception: planetary invasions are comprised of several phases in their war turn. One landing zone may have a war turn that does not equal that of landing zone, but they all progress through the same phases that comprise one war turn.


Following a planetary invasion, a war turn refers to one full round of combat engagement between large military units. The first event of the war turn is the assignment of action to each combat unit. These are determined simultaneously for all the sides (no initiative) and are not revealed to the opponent (yet). The selection of assignments are: attack, defend, recovery, or reserve:
'''Engineers:''' 1d4 added to all defending allied units when defending OR 1d4 against defender’s specific target; 1d4 against attacker’s specific target; remove terrain penalties for a single type of allied unit
* A unit with an '''Attack''' order is assigned to capture or destroy a Vital Point. More than one unit may attack the same Vital Point and they are considered as relocated to the relevant planetary region once the order is given.
* Units that are kept "on the line" at a Vital Point they have already fought for are considered to have '''Defend''' orders. They may not move from that assigned location for this war turn.
* '''Recovery''' allows the assigned unit one war turn in which they are pulled from their current Vital Point and moved to the rear, where they ''may'' regain some capability that may have been lost. Roll 1d6: on a 3+, the unit regains one <U>lost</U> level of readiness, up to Fresh. Units that have been battered down to a smaller effective size by battle damage cannot ''normally'' regain their lost size in the available timeframe of a war. If new sources of recruits or supplies can be found, this limit might be sidestepped. Units in recovery may not attack nor defend a Vital Point.
* Units held in '''Reserve''' are removed from any Vital Point they may be occupying or brought back from recovery status to serve as a defensive force that will quickly deploy in the defense of a targeted Vital Point under attack by the enemy. They have been pulled from the line but kept close enough to the fighting to respond to any enemy incursions. Units in reserve can’t effectively repair combat damage, but they’re assumed to be fast enough to get to any Vital Point in time to make a difference.


The second event is the reveal: opponents indicate their decision for each unit under their command. This is the point at which reserves are allocated to the attacked Vital Points.
'''Air Support:''' 1d8 and ignores all damage from ground combat unless AAD is present (see AAD above); may also target AAD or DD directly for “margin of victory” comparison (where loser has default "1" value).


third event: determination of possible special operation missions relevant to each Vital Point (friendly- and enemy-controlled).
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Unit Terrain Modifier Table
! Terrain !! Armor !! Infantry !! Artillery !! AA !! DD !! Engineers !! Air Support
|-
| Light Urban || -1 || +1 || 0 || 0 || n/a || +1 || 0
|-
| Heavy Urban || -2 || +2 || -1 || 0 || n/a  || +2 || -1
|-
| Rural || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || n/a  || 0 || 0
|-
| Forest || -1 || +1 || -1 || -1 || n/a || +1 || -1
|-
| Jungle || -2 || +2 || -2 || -2 || n/a || +2 || -2
|-
| Sandy Desert || -1 || -1 || +1 || +1 || n/a || 0 || +1
|-
| Rocky Desert || -1 || 0 || -1 || 0 || n/a || +1 || 0
|-
| Mountainous || -2 || +2 || -2 || -1 || n/a || +2 || -1
|-
| Coastal || -1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || n/a || +1 || +1
|-
| Tundra || -1 || -1 || -1 || -1 || n/a || +1 || -1
|-
| Grassland || +1 || 0 || +1 || +1 || n/a || 0 || +1
|-
| Polar || -2 || -2 || -1 || -1 || n/a || +1 || -1
|-
| Volcanic || -2 || -1 || -2 || -2 || n/a || 0 || -1
|}


fourth event: assignment of special forces units to selected vital points and resolution of those missions
Specialized infantry units (urban, jungle, desert, mountain, polar) receive +1 to their respective rolls (+2 desert; +3 polar); otherwise, perform as regular infantry


fifth event: attacking a vital point (p. 67)
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Margin of Victory Table
! Margin of Victory !! Victor !! Loser
|-
| 1 : 1 (tied) || 1d6 steps of damage || 1d6 steps of damage
|-
| >1.0 – 1.5 : 1 || 1d4 steps of damage || 1d6 steps of damage
|-
| >1.5 – 2.0 : 1 || 1d2 steps of damage || 1d6 steps of damage
|-
| >2.0 – 3.0 : 1 || 1 step of damage || 1d8 steps of damage
|-
| > 3.0 || no damage || 1d10 steps of damage
|}
 
==Random Force Generation==
1. Determine how many units in a force.
 
2. Roll (1d6 +1) x 10 for percentage of units representing infantry.
 
3. Roll (1d4 +1) x 10 for percentage of units representing armor; if armor percentage exceeds infantry percentage, reduce by 10% until below that of infantry; if total of infantry and armor percentages exceed 100%, reduce armor accordingly.
 
4. If total of infantry and armor percentages equals 90% or less, roll 1d8 and add 1 unit (''not'' 10%) of the result:
::* 1: armor
::* 2: infantry
::* 3: artillery
::* 4: anti-air defense
::* 5: deflector defense (TL 6 and above)
::* 6: engineers
::* 7: air support
::* 8: special forces
 
5. Continue step 4 until total of 100% of units are represented. Multiples of each type are allowed.

Latest revision as of 01:41, 17 July 2025

Unit type roles

Armor: 1d10; -2 to each roll if there is no allied infantry present; when there is 1:1 allied armor: infantry units, those paired units ignore terrain penalties

Infantry: 1d6; when there is 1:1 allied armor: infantry units, those paired units ignore terrain penalties; when 1 infantry unit is paired either with 1 armor, artillery, or air support unit, the infantry gets +1 added to its roll

Artillery: 1d8 and +1 added to total allied air support score; when attacking when defending engineers are present, must take lowest of three rolls

Anti-air defense (AAD): 1d6 but only applied against enemy air support; unit is the victor on its own victory table against air support (unless directly attacked by air support) but is eligible to take ground battle damage, as well

Deflector defense (DD): may only be used for defense (not attack); has no attack/defense roll but presence of 1 unit lowers the defender's die for damage step rolls by 2 (ex: 1d8 becomes 1d4) and each additional deflector unit lowers it by one more (1d2 is the lowest); may be directly attacked by special forces or air support

Engineers: 1d4 added to all defending allied units when defending OR 1d4 against defender’s specific target; 1d4 against attacker’s specific target; remove terrain penalties for a single type of allied unit

Air Support: 1d8 and ignores all damage from ground combat unless AAD is present (see AAD above); may also target AAD or DD directly for “margin of victory” comparison (where loser has default "1" value).

Unit Terrain Modifier Table
Terrain Armor Infantry Artillery AA DD Engineers Air Support
Light Urban -1 +1 0 0 n/a +1 0
Heavy Urban -2 +2 -1 0 n/a +2 -1
Rural 0 0 0 0 n/a 0 0
Forest -1 +1 -1 -1 n/a +1 -1
Jungle -2 +2 -2 -2 n/a +2 -2
Sandy Desert -1 -1 +1 +1 n/a 0 +1
Rocky Desert -1 0 -1 0 n/a +1 0
Mountainous -2 +2 -2 -1 n/a +2 -1
Coastal -1 0 0 0 n/a +1 +1
Tundra -1 -1 -1 -1 n/a +1 -1
Grassland +1 0 +1 +1 n/a 0 +1
Polar -2 -2 -1 -1 n/a +1 -1
Volcanic -2 -1 -2 -2 n/a 0 -1

Specialized infantry units (urban, jungle, desert, mountain, polar) receive +1 to their respective rolls (+2 desert; +3 polar); otherwise, perform as regular infantry

Margin of Victory Table
Margin of Victory Victor Loser
1 : 1 (tied) 1d6 steps of damage 1d6 steps of damage
>1.0 – 1.5 : 1 1d4 steps of damage 1d6 steps of damage
>1.5 – 2.0 : 1 1d2 steps of damage 1d6 steps of damage
>2.0 – 3.0 : 1 1 step of damage 1d8 steps of damage
> 3.0 no damage 1d10 steps of damage

Random Force Generation

1. Determine how many units in a force.

2. Roll (1d6 +1) x 10 for percentage of units representing infantry.

3. Roll (1d4 +1) x 10 for percentage of units representing armor; if armor percentage exceeds infantry percentage, reduce by 10% until below that of infantry; if total of infantry and armor percentages exceed 100%, reduce armor accordingly.

4. If total of infantry and armor percentages equals 90% or less, roll 1d8 and add 1 unit (not 10%) of the result:

  • 1: armor
  • 2: infantry
  • 3: artillery
  • 4: anti-air defense
  • 5: deflector defense (TL 6 and above)
  • 6: engineers
  • 7: air support
  • 8: special forces

5. Continue step 4 until total of 100% of units are represented. Multiples of each type are allowed.

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