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Author Topic: Setting the East Ablaze Rules Questions  (Read 1379 times)

Offline trev

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Setting the East Ablaze Rules Questions
« on: July 25, 2020, 02:50:20 PM »
Hi all,

I'm putting together a scenario for a game of Setting the East Ablaze v2 and reading through the rules at the same time.  I've not played them yet and will try to get a small game or two in before the day but I have some questions/comments/ideas on how to handle some stuff in the rules.  Obviously the ethos of the rules is fun and go with what makes sense, so all ideas or suggestions are welcome.

Armoured Cars
Should ACs be -1 to hit when firing and moving like tanks?  I assume they should and they are not excluded on P29 under moving and firing deliberately.

Trains
I assume they don't roll for breakdowns.
Should the HMGs on trains count as vehicle mounted, i.e. use LMG stats?  I assume so.
Under the armoured train section on P48, it says weapons on trains are -1 to hit per 6" moved but earlier says troops firing from armoured trains are flat -1 to hit.  -1 per 6" seems harsh, so I think I prefer the flat -1.
What happens when armoured wagons on a train take two morale markers?  The wagon can't retire alone, so I guess the crew abandon their post to hide in another part of the train.  I'll probably have to count that as knocked out, or just silenced until they either rally or take a third marker. 
There is some missing text at the bottom of page 49 under derailing.  HMGs and Field Guns...?
Are troops in armoured train wagons unharmed until the wagon derails?  They can be surpressed or bail out but not killed as far as I can see.
I was thinking of counting an unarmoured train engine as an armoured car.  Soft skin seems too easy to kill.
Are unarmoured or improvised armoured wagons destroyed when their passengers are?  I don't see how to kill the wagons otherwise.

Artillery
I don't have seperate crew figures for my guns, so those without limbers will have to abandon the gun on a second morale marker.   Or I'll have to make abandoned guns and fleeing crews.

Ships
The boat rules are obviously pretty thin, so I think I'll need to make them up unless Steve or others have suggestions from their games.
I assume they don't roll for breakdowns.
The boat rules say 36" for a large engined boat, which seems fast for a 7-10 knot paddle steamer.  I might go with 12 or 18" and use the train rules for speeding up and slowing down.
Should the HMGs on my steamer count as vehicle mounted, i.e. use LMG stats?  I assume so.
Also for moving and firing I'm thinking I'll go with the flat -1 for moving as above.
In fact I'm not sure even a stationary boat is a stable firing platform. So maybe a flat -1 for ship mounted weapons outside of those tied up in a harbour would be reasonable.  Warships don't stop to fire.
There are no rules I have seen for damaging the ship itself.  I might use something like the train rules.  Breaking it up into sections. 

I'll have to think about this.  Sections could be:

Wheelhouse
Boiler Room
Port Paddle House
Starboard Paddle House
Fore Deck (Deck Gun section)
Aft Deck
Port Upper Deck (HMG position)
Starboard Upper Deck (HMG position)
Fore Hull
Aft Hull

Counting sections as soft/hard cover or as ACs or Tanks.

Perhaps these could be the effects.

Destroy the wheel house and the ship can't steer
Knock out the boiler and it loses power and slows 6"/turn until stopped
Destroy a paddle house and the ship max speed is halved.  I'm thinking it should only turn one way too but I'm not a naval engineer.  ;)
Deck guns maybe count as heavy cover like improvised armoured trains. 
Knock out a hull section and the ship sinks in d6 +1 turns.

Okay, that was a bit of stream of conciousness.  Anyone got any thoughts?  :D
« Last Edit: July 25, 2020, 02:54:39 PM by trev »

Offline Ignatieff

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Re: Setting the East Ablaze Rules Questions
« Reply #1 on: July 27, 2020, 07:42:00 AM »
Trev

Good questions, here’s my tuppence:

1. Armored cars: no.  Doctrine tended to be stop to shoot for both tanks and A/Cs.  But A/Cs in general were more stable platforms, so no -1 to shoot (assumption is even in a move where you move, they would pull up to shoot)

2. Trains: correct, no breakdowns.  Yes, use LMG stats. Should be -1 per 6” (trains could go very fast), but up to you.  Yes, trains are knocked out in stages, unless they are derailed.  Good spot on p.49!  Should say, HMGs and Field guns are destroyed.  Troops can be killed if the wagon derails or you destroy it with field gun/HMGs, etc.  They are safe until they are hit, and then its pretty devastating. I think that’s a good build on unarmoured train wagons.  It is too easy otherwise.  YOu kill any wagons with gunfire.

4. Boats: good spot on how to hit the buggers!  We tend to give boats a hit value, anywhere between one and eight depending on the type of boat, armour, etc.  Again, up to you how complex you want to make it

Good shouts all, thanks Trev
"...and as always, we are dealing with strange forces far beyond our comprehension...."

All limitations are self imposed.  Work hard and dream big.

Offline juergen c. olk

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Re: Setting the East Ablaze Rules Questions
« Reply #2 on: July 27, 2020, 09:11:45 AM »
Thanx for clarifications and answers.

Offline trev

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Re: Setting the East Ablaze Rules Questions
« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2020, 11:08:02 AM »
Good questions, here’s my tuppence:

Thanks Steve, great answers.  I'll try playing as you intended first and see how we go.  :D

For the boats I assume you mean it has 1-8 'hit points'. That sounds a lot simpler than my idea.  lol  Do you just shoot at the boat as a whole and when it runs out of hits it sinks? What do you count the target as and what counts as a hit?  I suppose counting the boat as an AC or Tank and kills being a hit would work.  How many hits would you use for my river steamer 3 or 4?   I still like the idea of shooting at the guns and passengers on the deck separately though.  Maybe the firing player could choose to shoot targets on the deck or the hull itself.  The deck units would be in cover, probably hard cover.   Captain Kazagrandi 'armoured' the Steamer Semipalatinsk with bales of Flax when leaving Omsk to chase the retreating Bolos.   That or a bit of  metal plate, like I have modelled on mine, might stop rifle bullets. 

Offline Ignatieff

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Re: Setting the East Ablaze Rules Questions
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2020, 06:18:36 PM »
Good points again Trev.  We don’t use boats often,  so we just use that system for simplicity. Eg field gun at 50”, 5-6 to hit. ‘Bang’ scratch one hit. Etc. I love the idea of personalising the way you suggest though. I did write a set of naval rules way back in the day for this, called ‘Cruisers on the Caspian’, but I’m sure they are well dated nearly twenty years on. Good luck, and thanks again for all the good ideas.

Offline trev

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Re: Setting the East Ablaze Rules Questions
« Reply #5 on: July 28, 2020, 08:52:24 AM »
Thanks Steve.  I appreciate the input.  I'll wing something and report back. 

 

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