Ground Combat

[DrakenFyre]

What I'm hearing about VBAM 2E is really exciting and I'm looking forward to its release, but I'm wondering about what is going to change in the realm of ground combat. I know it's not always a big deal in most campaigns but I've been slowly working my way towards using VBAM as a support structure for a large scale sci-fi tactical wargame campaign. So I'm wondering what changes are coming in 2E for the poor little foot-sloggers.

I've seen that unit sizes and the construction and tech systems are coming to ground combat, which will give a lot more flexibility to ground forces. Is this system only going to work for the typical infantry, mechanized and armoured forces or is it going to let us use some of the big boys like titans, OGREs, bolos, exo-armour, etc?

And what of the actual combat resolution system itself is also going to be getting a rewrite a la CSCR 2?

Any other major changes planned for ground combat?

What every you do I'm sure 2E is going to be a great system.

[Tyrel Lohr]

DrakenFrye, we are still trying to figure out exactly how ground combat will come together in 2E. The current concept is to have 2E ground combat use a modified version of the new CSCR. This means that things like Attack, Defense and D Factor will be gone, replaced with Ground Attack (GA) and Air Attack (AA) for combat values, and Attrition becoming analogous to a Starship's Defense statistic. A new stat, Mobility, also becomes the ground equivalent of Engines. We also plan on allowing Starships and Flights that are Atmospheric to participate in Ground Combat, should the player wish to include them (with obvious limitations to the number that can be used).

The upshot to all this is that ground units become much more customizable, allowing the player to better demonstrate tech differences between factions as well as intended roles and specialties. Small, cheap ground units may serve as small marine teams, while the largest ground units would be the equivalent of OGREs and bolos (if I am understanding the background for those units correctly).

There are currently two proposed candidates for how ground combat scenarios will be generated and resolved, and likely both will see print -- one as the primary option in the Campaign Guide, and the other as a secondary option in the Companion. In both cases, ground combat will be extended so that several round of combat can occur during each campaign turn. This allows for a bit more interplay between opposing forces, which will especially be nice given the larger number of ground units that will be participating in ground battles.

The changes to 2E ground combat should make it all much more useful for campaigns where ground combat is of higher importance. It will also put in place a good backbone for a Historical version of the campaign rules, where you can substitute in some extra attack stats as appropriate to the era and still have a fun and playable strategic ground combat resolution engine.

-Tyrel

[MadSeason]

This sounds like an excellent update. Maybe the old system was a good simulation of ground combat but I like the idea of the combat models being similar for both the ground and the naval combat.

[Rainer]

In both cases, ground combat will be extended so that several round of combat can occur during each campaign turn.

Actually I had hoped it would move in the opposite direction. Far too many ground combats are resolved within a single turn as it is. I would like to see more drawn out and messy campaigns lasting several months.

[Charles Lewis]

That's not clear from what Tyrel wrote, but bringing ground combat more in line with space combat should make it possible for more prolonged ground campaigns.

[mwaschak]

Actually I had hoped it would move in the opposite direction. Far too many ground combats are resolved within a single turn as it is. I would like to see more drawn out and messy campaigns lasting several months.

There is still quite a bit of discussion on this going as well. I know one thing we talked about was how long a ground combat battle would take. As Tyrel noted it would be the backbone of the new historical system so long ground campaigns are something we would need to keep in mind.

-Jay

[DrakenFyre]

Thanks for the info. It all sounds great, and exactly the type of thing I was hoping we'd see in 2E.