Running a Privateer Group Cap Ship Vs Cap Ship

[Ras77]

Hi

First time post. I have started running a Star wars game again after many years of having no one to game with when a chance conversation gave me the numbers I needed to run a game.

I have read the many examples of capital ship vs capital ship combat but cannot get my head around it so here I am asking for help.

I'm looking at running a privateer campaign based in the Minos cluster but all my players are new to the star wars d6 game so atm I am just giving them a gentle introduction and just enough rope to get them hooked he he he.

So if anyone could help me out with a example of cap ship combat I would be much in you debt.

Cheers

Ras

[Bren]

Good news - if you can get your hands on it, the supplement Pirates and Privateers has a lot of the information you need.

More good news - Rancor Pit has listings of lots of ship stats compiled by Gry Sarth that are very helpful.

Bad news - the stats for capital ships seem a bid haphazard which makes detailed capital scale combat erratic at best. If you can treat the capital scale combat as a narrative device and role playing rather than actual rolling the dice it tends to work better.

Alternately you might consider running a group of starfighter scale ships. Those stats seem a bit less fluky to me and the players will have much more direct influence on the combat. Put them in a ship like one of the following (all of which are in the Starships_Stats_R&E_censored):

Sienar Fleet Systems Guardian-class light cruiser
Rendili StarDrive’s Light Corvette
Rendili StarDrive’s Imperial Customs Frigate
Sienar Fleet Systems Light Frigate
Kuat Drive Yards Law-class Light Patrol Craft
Sienar Fleet Systems Guardian 344-class Light Cruiser
Sienar Fleet Systems Light Patrol Ship

Using Starfighter scale ships would work well in Minos Cluster.

Alternately if you really want capital scale combat, I'd be inclined to use a Corellian Corvette. It is small and tough and pretty fast. It should be able to out run some of the bigger, slower ships, but is fast enough and tough enough to run down cargo ships.

[Whill]

[ZzaphodD]

Keep the capital ship combat as a narrative or backdrop in the beginning. If they are in the position to command one, then keep all the firing and actual mechanics as a backdrop, but reward good thinking when commanding one.
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[Ras77]

[Barrataria]

[garhkal]

Or you could go with them each being the 'officer in charge' for sections. Pilots for the bridge crew. gun bunnies in charge of weapons, medics in charge of the med bay, engineers in charge of the technicians... That way they can each still do something, AND get used to the combined action table, command skill, tactics skill as well as being used to having to care for others.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Ras77]

So far the line up is

Outlaw
Outlaw Tech
Bounty hunter
Brash Pilot
+ one more that didn't make the first game

I read some where on the forums on a way to using Combine action to resolve combat at least the players are making rolls and think they are contributing to the combat.

Unfortunately I'm still trying to get my head around it once i thing i finally have it nail i question myself because something looks wrong or something doesn't add up.

I had a Nebulon-b go against a Vic-sd with the first round of combat the vic-ds well lets say nuked the Nebulon-b. I would have supected that the Vic-sd would have been the victor in a few rounds but the first round?? This is where i think i'm doing the maths wrong.

Anyway if anyone can give me a example of the Combine action working i think I'm falling down on calculating armor but not sure.

Anyway if there is any typos or grammar just had a few to many
Dark-Stormy aka Ginger beer and Rum

Cheers
Ras

[Raven Redstar]

The maximum number of individuals that can combine action together, is based on the commander's Command skill die code. 4D = 4 max combined.

(This is non-official) Now, what you could do, is say that the commander's skill die code makes the max number at a time, but say for instance you have a gunnery commander per fire arc, they can have up to 4 batteries attacking together at a time, up to the max number in that fire arc.
16 batteries with commander at 4D command = 16/4 -> 4 separate rolls @ +1D each for either to hit or for damage. Just an idea to break it down without going too over the top. Or make it something like 2 individuals per die or whatever suits your fancy.

[garhkal]

The wy i have always understood it worked was the commander orders his gunnery officers (say 1 per 4 batteries per arc), to coordinate fire. Then each officer in that arc orders (commands) the battery fire control officers (4) to shoot, then each battery shoots.. So if the commander fails his command, the gunnery officers still might make it. If one of those fail, then that group of batteries fires on their own.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Bren]

Since the VSD I & II have weapons in multiples of 5 rather than 4, it is more convenient if they sometimes have Command 5D.

VSD I's are configured for planetary bombardment. VSD II's are configured for fleet action. If it was a VSD II rapid destruction seem quite reasonable. For simplicity I will assume the commanders make their roll.

VSD II
20 Turbolaser Batteries
Fire Arc: 10 front, 5 left, 5 right
Fire Control: 1D
Damage: 7D
20 Double Turbolaser Cannons
Fire Arc: 5 front, 5 left, 5 right, 5 back
Fire Control: 2D
Damage: 5D
10 Ion Cannons
Fire Arc: 2 front, 3 left, 3 right, 2 back
Crew: 2 (2), 3 (2), 4 (6)
Fire Control: 4D
Damage: 4D
10 Tractor Beam Projectors
Fire Arc: 6 front, 2 left, 2 right
Fire Control: 2D
Damage: 6D

The Nebulon-B has Hull: 3D+2 and Shields: 2D for a total of 5D+2 protection.

Combined actions from 5 weapons gives a bonus of 1D+2 to damage.
Combined actions from 3 weapons gives a bonus of +1D to damage.
Combined actions from 2 weapons gives a bonus of +2 to damage.

If the front arc of the VSDII can fire we have
2 possible hits for 8D+2 (7D+1D+2)
1 possible hit for 6D+2 (5D+1D+2)
1 possible hit for 4D+2 (4D+2) vs. the hull only (ion cannons ignore shields)
2 possible hits for 7D (6D+1D) tractoring.

If all weapons hit, looking at the differentials we might expect 2 hits for 3D past soak, 1 hit for 1D past soak, and 1 hit for 1D past soak. With a bit of luck by the Victory or unluck by the Nebulon-B, a result of BOOM! does not seem unlikely.

[Fallon Kell]

[Bren]

[Fallon Kell]

[CRMcNeill]