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TRILLION CREDIT SQUADRON Tournament Rules Modifications         DRAFT

by Doug Housman


	As 1981 draws to a close, so does the first year of GDW's
Trillion Credit Squadron tournaments. Contrary to many expectations it was
not the shiny wedge shaped "Star Destroyers" that won tournaments, but
the "Rocks". The best weapon - the nuclear missile! Looking ahead, the
missile and  the rock continue to gain in advantage. Trillion Credit
Squadron is a viable convention tourney! It does need to be looked at in a
few areas for play balance and system balance.

	(1) Missiles. Some games have run 400+ turns without a conclusion.
Missiles cost nothing and weigh nothing. The cost is not really a factor,
but the "weightless" condition is. New Deluxe Traveller missiles weigh 50kg
each. That's 40 missiles to a metric ton. A triple missile turret weighs 1 ton,
fires three missiles per turn, and automatically reloads infinitely.
Magazines are mentioned in the rules but never covered. This problem of
missiles is easily the greatest in T. Cr. Sq. Suggestion: 
	Triple turrets mass one ton, hold 30 missiles, ten per launcher.
Additional missiles are stored in magazines at 30 missiles per ton.
Bay missiles are the same as turret missiles in mass and are fired 100
per turn, each bay fires for 30 turns (true rate should be 126 missiles
per turn). This limitation adds some accounting work to the game, but
little more than is already present.

[BE- Assume that when missile hits are taken, an equivalent reduction
in the magazines occurs, so that the number of turns of fire remains
the same. Also, assume that all turrets expend missiles on any turn that
the ship is in the battle line. Then the only record keeping is one
running tally of the number of turns on which the ship has fired.]

	(2) Spinal mounts. Currently spinal mounts are too expensive
to be viable in battle, simply [because] they can be reduced too rapidly
to make them cost effective. To remedy this situation, the following
rule change is proposed: 5% (1 in 20) weapons hits are spinal mount
hits. Spinal hits are removed on the eleventh weapon hit (i.e. 11,31,51,etc.).
This toll is to be extracted from cumulative hits, not one round hits.

[THS- This is a slight change from what I thought was going to happen.
What I thought was that 5% of all weapons hits were spinal mount hits
determined randomly.  This rule has the potential to cause rules 
disputes owing to its interaction with statistical combat resolution ]

	(3)[Length of play]. Current tourney play has run to 550
rounds with no result. Also some games have run but three rounds in a 
5 hour play. Two solutions can be applied here - a thirty minute time
limit per turn (15 minutes per player) and a system of partial values for
damaged ships to determine winners. Such a damaged ship table is
presented at the end of this article.

[BE - We had discussed a specific thirty turn time limit on the scenario.
 Will this be utilized, or only a real-time constraint?]

	(4)"Impossible to hit" ships. Statistically some ships are impossible
to hit when all modifiers are used. This problem means that a spinal mount
must be directed at a fighter to "kill" the fighter. Suggestion:
Natural 2 always hits on the ship damage table. Subtract 6 factors from
the modifier and reroll. Also, a natural 12 always hits fighters.

[BE - the phraseology could be better here. A natural 2 on the damage
tables doesn't necessarily hit, it just allows the reroll, unless I am
misunderstanding things. For instance, against an armor factor of 20,
a natural 2 would be "no effect", so the attacker chooses to roll again,
subtracting 6. If his second roll was a 4, he would get a Weapon hit,
if his second roll was a 9 he would get nothing, and if he rolled a 2
on the second roll, he could either take the Fuel hit, or choose to
roll once again, this time with an adjusted armor modifier of 12. Also,
I thought the idea was to also extend the idea of "modifiy by 6 and reroll"
to the hit table. My suggestion:

	Any natural 2 rolled on the surface explosion or radiation
damage tables may, at the option of the attacker, be rerolled on the
same table, reducing the armor modification for this roll by 6. In
the unlikely event that another 2 is rolled, the attacker could choose
to roll again, subtracting another 6 (total of 12) from the armor
protection, and so forth, though the adjusted armor modifier can never
become negative. This allows a chance (albeit slight) of penetrating
even the toughest armor (remember the Death Star!).
	In the same vein, any natural 12 rolled on any To Hit or Penetration
table may be rerolled, adding 6 to the subsequent roll (plus any other
applicable modifiers). This may also repeated if subsequent 12's are rolled,
thus preventing the existence of "unkillable" ships.]

	(5) Step reduction of batteries. Currently, designers buy 1 battery
of many weapons, not to fight with, but to take advantage of a step reduction
rule for simgle batteries. This rule is unrealistic, and should be modified.
Suggestion: Any turret-based battery should not be step-reduced, but 
eliminated when hit. Only major weapons - bays and spinal [mounts] should
be step reduced. The only exception to this should be ships under 500 tons.

[BE - Presumably ships under 500 tons and major weapons would function
under the original rules - multiple batteries are reduced at one hit
per battery until only one is left, at which point it is step reduced.]

	(6)Turrets and bays - points of clarification.
	  
	  (A) 1 bay (50 or 100 tons) replaces 10 hardpoints from a 
              tonnage available for weapons stanspoint.

	  (B) All batteries must be turret divisible - i.e. all batteries
	      must contain only whole turrets, no turret may be split
	      between two batteries, even though an extra weapon or two
	      may be mounted in the last turret in the battery.

	      [BE - Presumably any such leftovers contribute nothing
	      to the firepower of the ship.]

	(7) Repair rules are ungainly, add complication, and are
unrealistically rapid in function. Suggestion: eliminate them for
tourney play.

	(8) Robots. Many players attempt to use robot pilots as a way
around the pilot limit rules. Suggestion: make the no robots rule more
specific in this regard.

	(9) Armor reduction. In addition to reducing armor for each 
critical hit, reduce armor each time a natural 2 is rolled by a major
weapon on a ship, but no more than once per individual hit.

[BE - Do major weapons include bay weapons, as the term was used above?
 (Any bay weapon?)]

[THS- My understanding was that armour would be reduced by one factor
for every 2 critical hits prevented by armour.]

	(10) Emergency agility. On small missile ships using model
1 and 2 computers emergency is commonly employed full time. Suggestion:
when emergency agility is applied, the computer is non-functional for
firing and the ship fires at a -2 DM.

[BE - Does the ship fire/defend as if it had a 0 computer, AND fire
at -2 DM? Probably not - the computer vs. computer comparison should not
be affected, only the -2 modifier should be applied in attacking. Perhaps
this was intended, but it is not clear.]

	(11) For determining winners. In some games all remaining
ships are counted; in others only those with jump drive or combat
capability are counted. Suggestion: count only those ships with
Jump-1 capability and a powerplant to support this jump effort.

	(12) Current fuel hits rules are unclear. Suggestion: all
fuel hits are treated as 1% of the total internal fuel tankage. This
means that 100 total fuel hits scored will reduce a ship to "no fuel
left" status.

	(13) Powerplants are hard to gauge currently during the
design process. Suggestion: Allow players to build fractional powerplants
based on 1% of increases in size.

[BE - I am not clear on what "1% increases in size" means. I assume
a power plant of any desired size can be built.]

	(14) Tugs and drop tanks. Tugs must be provided to handle
all drop tanks. Maneuver drive must be equal to 1 with drop tanks in
tow and counted as part of tonnage, i.e.a 500 ton 6G tug may move
500 tons of drop tanks at 3G's or 2500 tons at 1G acceleration. No
maneuver drive may exceed 6G's acceleration.

[BE - Drop tanks may be assumed to be transfered to tugs and placed in
the safe area (see 15.B,below) at the beginning of the tourney.]

[THS- again another change from what I thought. I thought that the 
necessary manouver was the minimum manuver specified by the scenario]

	(15) Additional tactical details. Currently tactics in TCS are
limited to a two line formation, and tight, set rules with little 
variation allowed. Several rule considerations come to mind:

	(A) Allow abandonment of a ship damaged in combat. Ships so
	    abandoned may not be used, counted, or recovered during
	    a tourney battle, and do not count for victory conditions.

	(B) Allow a "safe" area for tugs an drop tanks 4 turns behind
	    battle lines. Ships so placed will take four turns to
	    to get into battle and will take one turn of fire from 
	    enemy particle accelerators prior to entering the reserve
	    line, with no chance to return fire. Ships leaving for
	    the "safe" area are also subject to the free fire rule.
	
	[BE- Fleet agility is calculated based only on ships in 
	 the battle and reserve lines, plus those engaged in strafing.
	 The conditions of automatic victory are satisfied if the
	 opponent has no ships capable of offensive fire in his
	 reserve or battle lines, or engaged in strafing, at the
         end of any round of play.]

	[THS can particle accelerators who "free fire" also fire on other
		ships that turn. Probably not]

	(C) Allow "strafing" runs on the enemy reserve lines. Ships
	    with an Agility 2 advantage over the enemy fleet may
	    be used to strafe the enemy reserve line. They must be declared
	    on the first round of such an attempt, and moved forward 
	    into the strafe line from the reserve line. Both sides
	    fire normally, strafing ships do not screen in any way
	    battle line ships. On the second turn, ships at short
	    range are considered in the reserve line of the enemy.
	    At long range, a second turn is spent on the strafe line
	    of the enemy fleet, prior to moving into the enemy rear.
	    Strafe ships may not attack the safe area, but may fire
	    on fleeing ships for two turns, the first normally, and the
	    second with missiles, lasers, and accelerators only. Fleeing
	    ships return fire at a minus two (-2) DM. Strafing ships
	    are placed behind the enemy reserve line and may fire on
	    any ship and may be fired on by any ship, or may be placed
	    between any two ships and may concentrate fire on them and
	    may be fired on only by those two ships. Concentrated
	    fire has the following DM's: Size modifiers are all increased
	    by 1 [BE- when is this anything other than an automatic +1
	    to hit?]; short range modifiers are all increased by 1; all
	    damage rolls are made with a -1 modifier.

	    (Note: ships losing their +2 Agility advantage must return
	     to their own lines. All ships return as they came, depending
	     on the current range.)

	    [BE - The concentrated fire idea seems to be the largest
	    departure from the original rules mentioned so far. I can
	    see problems with hiding huge battlecraft between two
	    reserve fighters,etc. Perhaps the advantage of being able
	    to fire on all the opponent's ships is enough?]



	Battle formation becomes:[BE - Some artists's liscense here]

			P1.0 SAFE AREA

			P1.1 Approach 1
			P1.2 Approach 2			  
			P1.3 Approach 3			  

			P2.7 Enemy Strafe Line		  
			P1.4 Reserve Line		  
			P1.5 Main Battle Line		
			P1.6 Friendly Strafe Line	
							
			P2.6 Friendly Strafe Line	
			P2.5 Main Battle Line		
			P2.4 Reserve Line
			P1.7 Enemy Strafe Line

			P2.3 Approach 3
			P2.2 Approach 2
			P2.1 Approach 1
	
			P2.0 SAFE AREA

	[BE - legal moves on any setup phase are then
		0 <> 1 <> 2 <> 3 <> 4 <> 5 (all ships)
		and 4 <> 6 <> 7 if current agility and range conditions
	        satisfied.
	Legal fire possibilities are listed below, according to the
	numbered locations above.

		Defender
	   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7	Key:
  A	0  - - - - - - - -       - no fire
  t	1  - - - - - - - -	 + any ships may fire
  t	2  - - - - - - - 1	 1 missiles, lasers, accelerators only; -2 DM
  a	3  - - - - - - - 2	 2 -2 DM
  c	4  - - - - - - - 3 	 3 Subject to concentration fire rules
  k	5  - - - 4 - + + 3	 4 particle accelerators only
  e	6  - - - 4 - + + 3	 5 missiles, lasers, accelerators only
  r	7  - - - 5 + + + 3						]

	These modifications have all been tested in consolation rounds of
tourney play with excellent reception and increased variation in ship
design and tactical deployment. All 1982 tourney play run by the author
will continue to feature these modifications in consolation play, and
as soon as any modifications are ofically adopted they will be included in 
regulation play.


1982 Damage Tables

1.M-drive

 Installed
     6   5   4   3   2   1   0
D 6 100  -   -   -   -   -   -
a 5  80 100  -   -   -   -   -
m 4  60  80 100  -   -   -   -
a 3  40  60  70 100  -   -   -
g 2  20  40  45  60 100  -   -
e 1  20  20  20  25  40 100  -
d 0   0   0   0   0   0  20 100
 -1   -   -   -   -   -   0   0

2.J-Drive
     
D   Installed
a    4   3   2   1   0
m 4 100  -   -   -   -
a 3  80 100  -   -   -
g 2  60  75 100  -   -
e 1  40  50  60 100  -
d 0   0   0  10  20 100
 -1   -   -   0   0   0

[BE- Presumably these are percentages of original cost]

3. Power plant.  Damaged Pn/Installed Pn x Original Cost.

4. Armor: (Damaged value - 2)/Original Value x Cost.
[BE - presumably, ships with no armor damage do not pay this]

5.Fuel Hits. Original tonnage of tankage x % damage x 25000 Cr.

6. Major Weapons

Accelerators
		Installed
     A   B   C   D   E   F   J   K   L   M   Q   R
A-C 100 100 100  50  50  50  25  25  20  25  20  10 
D-F  -   -   -  100 100 100  50  50  50  50  40  40 
J-L  -   -   -   -   -   -  100 100 100  75  60  60
 M   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -  100  75  80
Q-R  -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -  100 100

Meson
		Installed
     A   B   C   D   E   F   K   L   P
 P   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -
K-L  -   -   -   -   -   -  100 100  75
D-F  -   -   -  100 100 100  70  70  50
A-C 100 100 100  50  50  50  40  40  25

7.Screens

Dampers
    Installed
   3   2   1
3 100  -   -
2  60 100  -
1  20  40 100

Screens
    Installed
   3   2   1
3 100  -   -
2  50 100  -
1  20  50 100

8. Destroyed Turrets x 3 MCr

9. Destroyed Bays x 50 MCr

10. Crew losses (No.) x 1MCr

11. Computer damage. Value Installed Computer - Value of New Computer of
    Size equivalent to damaged size.
    i.e. 7fib reduced to 2fib: 100 MCr - 14Mcr = loss of 86MCr


Use of Tables

Step A. Determine ships damage.

Step B. Determine original value of all abandoned ships.

Step C. Determine original value of all hulks (ships without life support,
jump drive, power plant, or fuel remaining) and ships vaporized.

Step D. Determine lost value of functional ships.
	1. Use tables 1-11 to find values
	2. Subtract values of original system from values found
	   on tables 1,2,3,4,6, and 7.
	3. Add lost system values.

Step E. Total values from steps B,C, and D.

Step F. Divide value of step E by money spent on original fleet.

Step G. Lowest percentage wins.


[BE - There were a couple of other items which we discussed:

	1. Maneuver and jump drives are built in integral percentages
	   of the main hull size (excluding drop tanks). Oversize drives
	   may be built, in 1/100 units of hull, at cost according to
	   the rating of the drive, in order to maneuver and jump the
	   ship with tanks attached.

	2. Ships with drop tanks are assumed to satisfy the jump 
	   requirements for a scenario if they have drives/power to
	   jump
		i. At the rated jump level, while dropping tanks.
		ii. At least at Jump-1, carrying tanks with.
	
	   [N.B. I am not necessarily advocating this - this is
	    something DH said specifically in one of our conversations.
	    Note this obviates the necessity for most of #1,above]

	3. Boarding is not allowed, except both fleets will be assumed
	   to be able to reboard ships of their own fleet, if they
	   were not abandoned, in order to bring the crew complements
	   up to the required level in order to jump out. This will
	   be assumed to happen, providing sufficient crew are available
	   in the fleet, prior to loss calculations.			]


[THS- Is boarding possible in battle to re-crew and re-fire a ship that 
has mainly suffered crew hits [BE- I don't think so]]