Firefight Example: Starship Battles

Burning Empires Firefight
21

Hi,

Time for another Exchange.

CORRECTION: Ammo Checks cannot use FoRKS. I will apply accordingly.

At the top of the exchange we have:

Disposition/Cover
Cross: 7 + 3 Tailing Position = 10/1
Victor: 4/0

Victor also has +1D to his next DF or SF action. Victor is also starts at Ob3 for his next Ammo Check.

For this Exchange, Cross wants to get his guns back into action and strip away Victor’s fighter cover. Victor wants put the hurt on Cross before he does this.

They script as follows:

Cross: Take Cover (Reload), Direct Fire, Direct Fire
Victor: Direct Fire, Direct Fire, Direct Fire

VOLLEY 1:

Unit Actions:

Cross: Take Cover (Reload)
Victor: Direct Fire

These are versus actions

Unit Tests:

Cross: Command 5D + 1D Pilot + 1D Hammer-wise = 7D
Victor: Command 5D + 1D Tactics + 1D Hammer-wise + 1D from Flank = 8D

Cross has 7D and rolls 4 successes
Victor has 8D and rolls 3 successes

Cross wins with 1 extra success that he puts towards an extra point of Cover.

Victor’s fighters swoop in but the cruiser puts out a burst of ECM that completely screws their targeting as the El Dorado continues it’s relentless pursuit of the Crescent. Cross grins evily as the status lights on his guns all go green.

VOLLEY 2:

Unit Actions:

Cross: Direct Fire
Victor: Direct Fire

These are independent actions.

Unit Tests:

Cross:
Direct Fire is Ob2
Cross has Command 5D + 1D from Tactics and 1D from Vaylen-Wise = 7D

Cross rolls 7D and gets 5(!) successes
That gives him 4 shot opportunities

Victor:

Direct Fire is Ob2
Victor has Command 5D + 1D Tactics + 1D Hammer-wise = 7D

Victor has 7D and gets 3 successes
That gives him 2 shot opportunites.

Individual Tests:

Cross:

Direct Fire is Ob2
Gunners: Artillery 4D + 1D Combat-wise = 5D

Gunner1 has 5D and gets 2 successes
Gunner2 has 5D and gets 3 successes
Gunner3 has 5D and gets 3 successes
Gunner4 has 5D and gets 2 successes

All gunners hit. Gunners 2 and 3 get +1 on thier DoF

We’ll resolve damage after Victor gets his shots.

Victor:

Victor chooses to fire with his artillery on the Fertile Crescent.

Direct Fire is Ob2 +2 Cover = Ob4
Gunners: Artillery 4D + 1D Combat-wise = 5D

Gunner1 has 5D and gets 1 successes
Gunner2 has 5D and gets 3 successes

Neither of Victor’s shots hit.

Damange:

Gunner1’s DoF = 6 a Superb result.
This does S12 damage and destroys a fighter (the previously crippled one).
Artillery is a Blast weapon and hits another target at V8. Victor chooses a second fighter which is now Damaged and has an Integrity of 2.

Gunner2’s DoF = 2 + 1s = 3 a Mark Hit
This does S8 Damage and destroys another fighter.
Artillery is a Blast weapon and hits another target at V4. Victor has no choice but the Crescent is barely dented by the blast.

Gunner3’s DoF = 3 + 1s = 4 a Mark Hit.
This does S8 Damage to the Cresent which Damages it and reduces its Integrity to 4

Gunner4’s DoF = 6 a Superb result.
This does S12 damage and Destroys the Fertile Crescent.

Lances of energy stab out from the El Dorado. Two of them spear the remaining fighters and the last two tear open the Crescent from the engine ports forward, rupturing the containment system and causing the Fertile Crescent to blossom into fire. With a satisfied grunt, Cross eases back into his command chair and complements the gunners on their fine work today. He prepares to dock with the derlict shipyard and plumb its secrets.

=========================

Well, I’d hoped adding some fighters and guns to a Mercator would help, but those Artillery are just nasty. Add in some really crap rolls for Victor and he was handily toasted. I think he really could’ve used a second ship or an extra flight of fighters to soak up the fire.

Also, if Victor was a major NPC, is he dead or does he do the “made it to an escape pod in time” trick to fight another day? It’s very difficult for a PC to “stab him in the face” in a space fight. Especially if his weapons churn enemy ships to hamburger before he bothers to get close enough.

Overall, having run through this example, I feel a lot more confident about how the system works and it confirmed my opinion that with each revision of the Burning Wheel system, things just keep getting smoother and more elegant. I really like how Firefight is just a shorthand for the larger campaign structure. Really neat stuff. I’m looking forward to pulling a group together this fall. I know a fair number of Fading Suns fans who like the situation but really hate the system. I think this will be a pleasing alternative.

later
Tom

22

Nice job! Thanks for doing that!

On a Fading Suns note, if I were you, I’d just talk that stuff into world-burning. Leave the Vaylen stuff alone, but just make this the ninth Iron Empire, ruled by Alexius Hawkwood. Replace the Mundus with the Universal Church of the Celestial Sun, restrict Iron Training to Brother Battle, the Pheonix Guard, and a very small number of noble house elites, and so on. Add a Merchant League faction or a Civilian Commune (depending on whether the Guild presence on the world is trading-based or is a sedentary community), and so on. But I’d love to hear how you do it. Fading Suns is one of my favorite settings.

23

Hi Tom,

Excellent job. Thanks so much for doing that.

Honestly, it was an even match, perhaps tipped in Victor’s favor even!

So why did he lose? His last exchange was awful: Direct Fire, Direct Fire, Direct Fire is no way to survive an incoming barrage. And he would have known it was coming.

I know this was just a test with you running both parties, but wiser action selections would have been: DF first action – that one is safe. Then Suppressive Fire (with a point spent for a Steel test), then Flank him while he’s stunned.

Or an Evasive Action/Take Cover on V2 followed with a Sup Fire on V3.

Or if you really want to get cheeky Advance or Flank an opponent whom you think is going to Take Cover. Screw their cover, now they’ve got no dispo! Advance into the same position and wallop them with a Close Combat.

Remember, destruction isn’t the only way to win in a Firefight. You can outmaneuver your opponent and gain quite a bit of benefit!

-L

24

Really, I think Burning Empires and Fading Suns have enough in common that I can play the game straight (and I think it’s more fun that way). I’m just saying that because of the similarities, they’ll buy into it. They’re not devoted solely to FS, they just like games in that style.

later
Tom

25

Ah, good point. Some of this comes from not having played around with the scripting enough. Maybe in a couple of days I’ll rescript and replay the last volley to see how that would’ve worked.

Fun stuff
Tom