Lock this please and unsticky it

[Drakenred®™©]

.

[Kagashi]

Whats sad is folks expect an Errata thread before the book is even out...

Im personally hoping this thread never gets past a page.

[drewkitty ~..~]

snip...

Granted if the RPG seems to conflict with the current "offical word" from GH then its a legit item for Errataing and or nitpicking

...snip

Harmony Gold innitals would be HG not GH.

[Drakenred®™©]

To be honest Im getting twitchy on the subject, I want the book in hand to peruse already!

And to be honest with my settings we only realy had 1 page of actual errata and errors and the rest ended up being coments everything else that MDNMI had to prune out

[DhAkael]

Reply with quote
To be honest Im getting twitchy on the subject, I want the book in hand to peruse already!

I estimate at least 3 pages.
Yeah... it's kinda like "THAT".
*shrug* Personally I'm just gonna stick with my 1st edition PROPPER sized format 8.5X11 Robotech RPG, and go by true-marcross statistics. THIS book I really don't need to waste my money on...

[NMI]

As I have my copy, sitting right next to me, I am proud to say that there does not seem to be any typo's/errors.
Also, I am not a RT purist like some here, so I can care less if Spaceship 1 is known to have "x" number of lasers and is statted out to have "y" number of lasers.

Oh, there is one "layout" error on page.... 63 leading to page 64. Was a problem with the layout software and got overlooked it seems. Does not seem to affect anything gameplay wise.

[Drakenred®™©]

shesh some people get all the luck!

and to be honest I missed most of the fualts that were on the SC book list beyond the ones I posted

[NMI]

Reply with quote
To be honest Im getting twitchy on the subject, I want the book in hand to peruse already!

I estimate at least 3 pages.
Yeah... it's kinda like "THAT".
*shrug* Personally I'm just gonna stick with my 1st edition PROPPER sized format 8.5X11 Robotech RPG, and go by true-marcross statistics. THIS book I really don't need to waste my money on...

Well then, I guess we should not expect you to be posting on any Shadow Chronicles or Macross Saga threads right?

[Drakenred®™©]

just a quick glance through turned up this

Page 31 should indicate that the rate of fire for the 155 is per weapon

Pg 31 and 44 perpetuates the "the gunclusters are the exact same" argument from the original source books

Pg 33 GAU-20A1 Text for megadamage should say

"For a 10 round single gun burst. When fire linked damage and ammo consumption are doubled"

the text as is is a bit confuseing/

Pg 44 their is only ONE Guncluster on the Spartan (the text seems to indicate (2) gunpods are on the unit)

Pg 62-63 missing text (refered to by DMI)

Pg 81 a bit of a technical nit but articulated hardpoints only belong on variable geomitry winged aircraft (limited articulation to keep the oridnace in the line of flight of the carying aricraft) and occasionaly on wingtip mounted ordinance,(edit also used to keep the ordinance in the line of flight. however I think even that functionality was eventualy removed) and occasionaly on "wing" mounted Machine guns on helicopters. not on super sonic aircraft.

need to break for food.

oh forgot to add this

Pg 50, the arm missle launchers should have a payload of 12X Cruise missle or 3X of a second generation ATACMS thats 530mm and not 609mm given that the missles shown for that unit in the osm are about 2.5-3X the lenght of the person standing next to the mech. the book lists them as carying MRMs.

but then I tend to treat the MACII as more of a GM special efect than an actual front line unit.

also

page 86 and 87

the desciption on page 86 reads Hardpoints (8-10) and states that their 4 on each wing and 1 on each engine intake

the text on page 87 states that their are 12 hardpoints, 4 on each wing and 2 on each engine intake.

Also pgs 15-23 are missing the optional Quick roll for Zentradi Cast

[Drakenred®™©]

BLIP!

sorry decided to consolidate all of the ones I find into one post and put what I think are the odditys in the book

for example

Zentradi body armor Vs Zentradi battlepod

With heavy body armro and the Z-PR assualt rifle the infantryman on foot has 7 less main body MDC than the Tacbat and can do 30 more MDC per attack. (granted he does not have as many attacks per mellee or bonuses from piloting the tacbat and he has 1000ft less range and the Tacbat is better able to maintain its desired range due to shear speed) So bascialy

[Drakenred®™©]

hey DMI did you just delete a post?

[NMI]

hey DMI did you just delete a post?

I started to comment a bit on your errata, but decided to let this just be a list.

[Drakenred®™©]

oh No problem and to be honest some comentary on the list is a good thing

by the way I realise now looking at your coment that we are not aparently seeing the same thing,

my coment was the sentance that seems to go

Very

ble Skull One, tail number 001 of the SDF-1's Carrier Air Wing.

it seems to be missing most of the sentance!

[NMI]

My bad.
We are looking at the same thing. I misread the pages!

[Drakenred®™©]

Oh no problem,

I spoiler taged this because its freaking long, its the robotech.com page listing of the 2 mecha I comented about earlyer with their gunpods.

GRRR hit the wrong button

frankly I dont have a problem with it, one is 25mm the other is 32mm, and quite frankly you can just say the damage and range are defacto the same, as he guns put out the same throwweight in ammo in a burst and because of size constraints they bascialy have the same range.

Spoiler:

.

http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/mecha ... .php?id=17

STATISTICS:

Designation: MBR-04-Mk VI
Mecha Class: Battloid
Crew: 1 pilot
Weight: 28 tons (dry), 31 tons loaded

Depth: 5.1m
Height: 12.7m
Breadth: 7.9m
Max walking speed: 88 kph

ARMAMENT
2 x Heavy beam cannons on the arms,
2 x Missile launchers in the shoulders, each capable of carrying 12 short-range anti-mech missiles
1 x Missile launcher on the outboard right shoulder, capable of carrying 6 anti-aircraft missiles,
2 x 12.7 mm machine gun in the head
2 x gun cluster in the chest, each containing:
- 1 x 25mm auto cannon
- 2 x 180mm direct-fire mortar
- 1 x light laser
- 1 x flame-thrower
2 x smoke ejectors on the hips

http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/mecha ... .php?id=16

Designation: MBR-07-Mk II
Mecha Class: Battloid
Crew: 1 pilot.
Weight: 29.4 tons (dry)

Height: 11.3m (to shoulder)
Breadth: 7.9m
Depth: 6.1m
Max walking speed: 104 kph

ARMAMENT
2 x light lasers, located in a turret on the top of the mecha
2 x Missile launchers in the shoulder, each carrying 12 short-range heavy missiles
1 x Gun cluster in the center torso containing:
- 1 x 32 mm autocannon
- 1 x 180mm direct-fire mortar
- 1 x light laser
- 1 x flamethrower
- 12.7 mm machinegun

[tobefrnk]

The fact that protoculture is not used at all to fuel the first generation of Mecha fielded by Earth's defense forces took me by surprise. That is not my nitpick though. In this "New Robotech", I'm totally fine with that. My nitpick is on the subject of the timeline in the book on page 11, which states that in 2000 A.D., the teams working on the fallen ship dub the science Robotechnology and the unique power source becomes known as protoculture. If they knew that then, why is it such a big surprise when term is first heard halfway through the series?

[tobefrnk]

My nitpick is on the subject of the timeline in the book on page 11, which states that in 2000 A.D., the teams working on the fallen ship dub the science Robotechnology and the unique power source becomes known as protoculture. If they knew that then, why is it such a big surprise when term is first heard halfway through the series?

Mebe it's a grammar thing?

the unique power source that will become known as protoculture?

Cool, I can accept that. thanks buddy. Now I just need to find that bottle of white out I have around here.

[Augur]

YAY FOR ENGLISH! YAY FOR RESEARCH!

I are am englitch mejor.



[/dorky humor]

[Kagashi]

Its been over a week since the last post...isthere really THAT little errata in this book?

If so...BRAVO PB!

[Tiree]

I still haven't gone through it with a fine tooth comb yet. But one of the things I would like to know is the power sources on the Zentraedi Mecha. They don't give a life expectancy. I know it's pretty much moot for a Zentraedi, but it makes sense for when you start wanting to kitbash mecha together for the AUL

[Snuffy]

Oh no problem,

I spoiler taged this because its freaking long, its the robotech.com page listing of the 2 mecha I comented about earlyer with their gunpods.

GRRR hit the wrong button

frankly I dont have a problem with it, one is 25mm the other is 32mm, and quite frankly you can just say the damage and range are defacto the same, as he guns put out the same throwweight in ammo in a burst and because of size constraints they bascialy have the same range.

Spoiler:

.

http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/mecha ... .php?id=17

STATISTICS:

Designation: MBR-04-Mk VI
Mecha Class: Battloid
Crew: 1 pilot
Weight: 28 tons (dry), 31 tons loaded

Depth: 5.1m
Height: 12.7m
Breadth: 7.9m
Max walking speed: 88 kph

ARMAMENT
2 x Heavy beam cannons on the arms,
2 x Missile launchers in the shoulders, each capable of carrying 12 short-range anti-mech missiles
1 x Missile launcher on the outboard right shoulder, capable of carrying 6 anti-aircraft missiles,
2 x 12.7 mm machine gun in the head
2 x gun cluster in the chest, each containing:
- 1 x 25mm auto cannon
- 2 x 180mm direct-fire mortar
- 1 x light laser
- 1 x flame-thrower
2 x smoke ejectors on the hips

http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/mecha ... .php?id=16

Designation: MBR-07-Mk II
Mecha Class: Battloid
Crew: 1 pilot.
Weight: 29.4 tons (dry)

Height: 11.3m (to shoulder)
Breadth: 7.9m
Depth: 6.1m
Max walking speed: 104 kph

ARMAMENT
2 x light lasers, located in a turret on the top of the mecha
2 x Missile launchers in the shoulder, each carrying 12 short-range heavy missiles
1 x Gun cluster in the center torso containing:
- 1 x 32 mm autocannon
- 1 x 180mm direct-fire mortar
- 1 x light laser
- 1 x flamethrower
- 12.7 mm machinegun

Mr. Marker, fantastic job!!!! We may be going through it with a fine tooth comb, but there is barely anything for such a great work of art.

Additional nit - The Tomahawk MBR-04-Mk.VI, pg 30, Crew calls out for 2, 1 gunner and 1 pilot. From Robotech.com, it states Crew: 1 pilot.

[Snuffy]

Power System / Range of Fast Pack is missing. Page 75

Question - formerly, the two round objects on the forearms of the Fast Pack were missiles. Are they now vernier thrusters?

pg 66, VF-1 Valkyrie: Speeds for space are missing.

Question on Tomahawk. Since the Regult Battlepods heavy particle cannons have a chance of knocking a mecha from their feet when both are fired and connect, should this also be applied to the Tomahawk?

edit - Thanks for the quick reply on previous post!!!

[glitterboy2098]

Additional nit - The Tomahawk MBR-04-Mk.VI, pg 30, Crew calls out for 2, 1 gunner and 1 pilot. From Robotech.com, it states Crew: 1 pilot.

That was a game design decision I made. There's no way in the world that one man could pilot that thing and fight it in any sort of efficient way. I don't care how smart your computers are, there are too many weapon systems on that thing for one man to use and pilot the battloid and use any sensors/radio/etc.

actually, you probably could with enough computer power and the right control setup, but you'd still get a more effective fighting machine with those and two crewmen...


actually, i know it could be done, because there are already simulators able to handle it.

most of the work on a mecha will be handled by computer anyway. just moving would need it. the cockpit would not be much different from a fighter planes.

you have foot pedals and a throttle to control movement. the throttle can be a HOTAS stick. the foot pedals control steering. push one pedal in and you turn that direction.
upper body is controled by the joystick, used to control torso twisting and angle (bending back/forward)
thumb sticks on both HOTAS controls control weapons aiming. aiming is a simple matter of moving the targeting reticle (crosshairs) over the point you wish to shoot and pulling the trigger. the computer handles moving the arms/guns to point the weapons the right way, including adjusting for target movement, windage, atmospheric conditions, ect.
swtching between weapons options is another button on the HOTAS controls, cycling through options. (or could just be multiple triggers on the stick, one for each weapons group.) for missiles it would be center the reticle, wait for tone and color (lock-on), then fire. just like on planes.

given that the Macross mecha seem to be somewhat less efficent in control setup, i'd suspect an older battletech approach would be more likely. HOTAS sticks, joystick and a throttle. moving the stick moves the reticle, foor pedals function the same as above, as does aiming. multiple triggers, one for each weapons group slaved to that joystick (so for example, a tomahawk would have on the joystick a trigger for the PBC's both gunclusters, the shoulder missile launchers,and the back mount missile launcher. probably PBC's and gunclusters as finger triggers, one above the other, and missiles as thumb triggers.) torso control is handled by the thumb stick on the throttle.


however, even this layout would be more efficently used with multiple crewmen. with one pilot, the computer has to do most of the work interpriting the sensor data. process it, overlay it on the pilots display. with a second crewman, that person could be the RIO, watching the RADAR and other sensors for stuff the computer misses, allowing the pilot ot worry more about fighting/piloting. the backseater could also take control of the missiles (which being self steering won't mess up the piloting) and providing twice as many shots to be fired off at once, doubling the combat effectiveness. would also allow for the machine to provide fire support or anti-aircraft fire via missiles while the pilot can focus on taking on immediate threats to the mecha using direct fire weapons.

[The Galactus Kid]

Additional nit - The Tomahawk MBR-04-Mk.VI, pg 30, Crew calls out for 2, 1 gunner and 1 pilot. From Robotech.com, it states Crew: 1 pilot.

That was a game design decision I made. There's no way in the world that one man could pilot that thing and fight it in any sort of efficient way. I don't care how smart your computers are, there are too many weapon systems on that thing for one man to use and pilot the battloid and use any sensors/radio/etc.

Glitterboy said a lot of smart stuff with big words here.

Awesome glitterboy. Thats a good point.

4. No. The particle cannons on the Regult are heavier yield and light years more advanced than the ones on the Tomahawk and they just hit harder. Give and take, Zent weapons are better than earth weapons because they've had hundreds of thousands of years of experience with focused energy weapons. At the time of the SDF-1's launch, humans had, what, eight years at most learning how to make lasers and particle cannons? So, the cannons on a battlepod will knock a Tomahawk down and scratch up his paint job, then the Tomahawk stands up and totally obliterates the Regult and the Zent inside with a double blast from its cannons because the Regult is made of paper.

I want this book so freaking bad.

[Chris]

Additional nit - The Tomahawk MBR-04-Mk.VI, pg 30, Crew calls out for 2, 1 gunner and 1 pilot. From Robotech.com, it states Crew: 1 pilot.

That was a game design decision I made.

And with one fell swoop, Gideon killed twice as many SDF-1 Destroid pilots as first thought.
Jebus man! Think of the children!!

Or maybe not, maybe they were all being piloted by one person which is why they all got spanked, since all the pilots were trying to figure out what the heck PC Load Letter meant while the Battle Pod shot them.

[Lt. Holmes]

Also, glad you like the book, now go out there and kill those Zentraedi bastards. For home and country.

Shouldn't that be "for ship and Earth?" 'cuz they're on the SDF-1 an' all that...

Beyond the simple typos and minor editing nits, I have one big complaint: the artwork. While it's all good and spectacular, it looks like it's (more or less) carbon copys of preexiting artwork. For example, the pictures of the Valkyries (dammit, they're still VTs in my book *grumble*) on pages 59-65 are very similar to the poses Kevin Long did in the original Robotech RPG. On page 47, the MAC II profile shot is nigh-identical to the art used. And while I don't have any references, some of the mecha art seems to be very close to the artwork used on the ARII model kits from way back when.

Also, one other nit/question: Rick was originally a Marine Corps aviator, and yet didn't he serve under Fokker during his first flights? Or am I missing something?

[Lt. Holmes]

So your intention was for Rick to be a Marine Corps aviator? I'm not quite sure I follow what you were trying to say.

[Lt. Holmes]

That's actually a pretty nifty explanation there. I like the thought that went in to justifying some vague dubbing job 20-odd years ago

[jedi078]

As far as I was concerned, Rick, Max and Ben were all UEDFMC aviators since they had Marine Corps ranks and we weren't using UN Spacy.

IIRC the ranking system used in the Macross portion of Robotech is reminiscent of Japanese aviators from WWII.

A United States Naval Aviator is a pilot in the United States Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.

Thus in the UEDF’s case this would be no different.

The Marine pilots would have more knowledge of infantry (H2H Martial Arts, WP rifle, and a few military skills) and Close Air Support (Air to Ground Combat skill, room clearing skills etc) tactics while the Spacy/Navy Aviators would be more versed in Air-to-Air and Space Combat. The trade off would be that the Spacy/Navy Pilots would have more other skills to select at character creation. Of course you’ll get more players wanting to play Marines then Spacy/Navy characters. But you can always start the Marine Pilots off at E-3 and Spacy/Navy Pilots off at E-4.

As CAG Roy would have been in command of all of the aviators on the SDF-1, so it would not matter as to which branch of service a pilot was in (Air Force, Navy, Marine etc). Odds are you had every branch of the UEDF on or around Macross Island when the Zentraedi first showed up, and thus the SDF-1’s air wing would have had pilots from every branch of service.

Furthermore with the causality rates of pilots on the SDF-1 being so high there were probably no defined squadrons, nor would pilots have their ‘own’ personal bird. You’d go up in whatever was fit to fly when it was time to sortie whether it was a VF-1A that was just cranked out of the SDF-1’s factory or a VF-1J with a few un-patched holes in it, a few feet missing off the left wing, and one of the head lasers missing.

Last but not least strike packages sent from Aircraft Carriers during the Vietnam War were made up of plane from different squadrons. So having flights with mixed Navy and Marine pilots wouldn’t be all that difficult to imagine.

[Lt. Holmes]

Also, about enlisted flying aircraft doesn't happen in the Real World[sup]TM[/sup]. While I can agree that they can crew the Destroids (since enlisted crew modern-day tanks), I'm not quite sure about allowing anyone other than officers to fly VTs. Does that make sense to anyone else?

[jedi078]

Also, about enlisted flying aircraft doesn't happen in the Real World[sup]TM[/sup]. While I can agree that they can crew the Destroids (since enlisted crew modern-day tanks), I'm not quite sure about allowing anyone other than officers to fly VTs. Does that make sense to anyone else?

I would say that all aircraft pilots (VT, Space Fighters, atmospheric fighters etc) were officers before the Zentradi showed up. At that point the SDF-1 (and later the UEDF) didn't really care if you had a collage degree and had the chops to be an officer. They needed warm bodies to crew the craft.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Also, about enlisted flying aircraft doesn't happen in the Real World[sup]TM[/sup]. While I can agree that they can crew the Destroids (since enlisted crew modern-day tanks), I'm not quite sure about allowing anyone other than officers to fly VTs. Does that make sense to anyone else?

That might be true in the USAF and the USMC, But not in the Israeli armed forces.

[jedi078]

That might be true in the USAF and the USMC, But not in the Israeli armed forces.

The IAF has enlisted pilots? I did not know that.

This might help.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Ai ... d_Training

....it does state that the candidates go through an officer’s course. So by that rational pilots in the IAF are officers by the time they are assigned to an operational squadron.

EDIT: Something else I found the USN has warrant officer pilots just like the Army does.

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htatri ... 80105.aspx

[Jefffar]

US Army has enlisted helicopter pilots I beleive.

[Lt. Holmes]

But as was pointed out earlier, the SDF-1s unique situation required warm bodies in the mecha, VT or Destroid. They couldn't really afford to be picky beyond "are you physically capable of doing this? Good, here's an instruction manual and some combat. Have fun."

[Snuffy]

ADR-04-Mk.X
Defender
Pg36-37
M-996 78mm Anti-Aircraft Auto-Cannons
Question on Air-Burst Rounds. I imagine these explode in the air similar to what is seen in old WWII movies and the aircraft getting shake around from the ordinance even when it misses. Should these be treated as if they get within 20' (or 40' for both cannons) of the target is a hit? And should there be an additional strike bonus for using these rounds? Otherwise I can see players just selecting the APDS rounds for the additional damage.

[green.nova343]

ADR-04-Mk.Xamage (2D6x10 M.D.). Optionally, targets between 41ft/12.5m and 132ft/40.2m will take 2D4 M.D.
[*][i]Fragmentation LRM (base 2D6x10 M.D., 80ft/24.4m blast radius): Default fuse setting is 40ft/12.2m. Gets a +4 strike bonus, an[/i]
Defender
Pg36-37
M-996 78mm Anti-Aircraft Auto-Cannons
Question on Air-Burst Rounds. I imagine these explode in the air similar to what is seen in old WWII movies and the aircraft getting shake around from the ordinance even when it misses. Should these be treated as if they get within 20' (or 40' for both cannons) of the target is a hit? And should there be an additional strike bonus for using these rounds? Otherwise I can see players just selecting the APDS rounds for the additional damage.

I would imagine they should.

I've been kicking around rules for proximity-fused/VT/airburst rounds for a long time now. It's tricky because you have to differentiate between time fuses (i.e. most "ack-ack" or "flak" shells from WW2) where the shell explodes at a preset time after being fired (based on the estimated range to & altitude of the target), and true proximity fuses (i.e. US VT fuse from WW2, modern SAM/AAM radar/laser fuses) that only explode if they detect a nearby target (usually by radar or IR detection).

You might consider the following:

• By default, the range of the proximity fuse is half the warhead's normal blast radius. However, this can be reset by your ground crew, provided someone has the Weapons Engineer (standard) or Field Armorer (-20%) skill. Reprogramming the missile while in flight is going to be a real pain the a**: Weapon Systems skill roll (-40%), & it will take 1D4 attacks/actions per missile (triple if you're trying to dodge or perform other actions in the meantime).
• Since you don't have to make a direct hit, it's a little easier to go after your target. Add a +1 strike bonus for every 10ft/3.05m of the fuse's range (minimum of +1).
• The target, on the other hand, will have a more difficult time dodging. For ground targets, the suggested rule for blast radii still applies -- unless the target s fast enough to escape the entire blast radius, or fast enough to duck behind cover, it's going to be caught in the "half damage" blast radius. Aerial targets may be fast enough, provided they can react fast enough and are flying in the right direction. To keep things simple, I'd recommend a -1 dodge penalty for every 10ft/3.05m of the missile's remaining blast radius (no minimum). This is the normal blast radius minus the fuse's range.
• As an optional rule, you can also incorporate a "secondary blast radius" effect. It's partially inspired by some rules I saw a long time ago for large-scale nuclear detonations, which had a "total destruction radius" (equivalent to the "direct hit"), a "primary blast radius" (which did 2D4x100 M.D., IIRC), and a "secondary blast radius" (which did 1D6x10 M.D., IIRC); the larger the nuke, the larger the radii were (in some cases, reaching out for many kilometers).
  
  Basically, objects in the secondary blast radius take 1/30[sub]th[/sub] the normal damage. Radius is 3.3 times as large as the regular blast radius.

Note, of course, that the most effective missiles to use in this role will be Fragmentation or Plasma missiles, as they tend to have the largest blast radii. As an example of how to apply the rules, consider the following:

• HE (Medium) SRM (base 2D6x10 M.D., 15ft/4.6m blast radius): Default fuse setting is 7.5ft/2.3m, but has been reprogrammed for 5ft/1.5m. Gets a +1 strike bonus, and targets suffer a -1 dodge penalty.
• Fragmentation MRM (base 2D6x10 M.D., 40ft/12.2m blast radius): Default fuse setting is 20ft/6.6 m. Gets a +2 strike bonus, and target suffers a -2 dodge penalty. However, successful strikes will only do half damage (1d6x10 M.D.). Optionally, all targets between 41ft/12.5m and 132ft/40.2m will take 1D4 M.D.
• Plasma MRM (base 4D6x10 M.D., 40ft/12.2m blast radius): Default fuse setting is 20ft/6.1m, but has been reprogrammed for 30ft/9.1m. Gets a +3 strike bonus, but targets only have a -1 dodge penalty. Successful hit means the target takes half dd targets suffer a -4 dodge penalty. As usual, targets only take half damage (1D6x10 M.D.), & targets within 81ft/24.7m to 264ft/80.5m take only 1D4 M.D.
• Reflex Multi-Warhead (base 2D4x100 M.D., 100ft/30.5m blast radius): Default fuse setting is 50ft/15.2m. Gets a +5 strike bonus, and targets suffer a -5 dodge penalty. Successful strike does 'only' 1/2 damage (1D4x100+30 M.D.), & optionally targets within 101ft/30.8m to 330ft/100m take 5D6 M.D.

[Snuffy]

ADR-04-Mk.X
Defender
Pg36-37
M-996 78mm Anti-Aircraft Auto-Cannons
Question on Air-Burst Rounds. I imagine these explode in the air similar to what is seen in old WWII movies and the aircraft getting shake around from the ordinance even when it misses. Should these be treated as if they get within 20' (or 40' for both cannons) of the target is a hit? And should there be an additional strike bonus for using these rounds? Otherwise I can see players just selecting the APDS rounds for the additional damage.

Yes, air-burst rounds are flak rounds, and deal damage to everything in a forty or sixty foot sphere. They're an area of effect weapon, and they're designed to take out massed aircraft. No they don't get extra bonuses. Why would you pick them over APDS? Well, I could do 2D8x10 to one Gnerl, or I can do 2D4x10 to every goddamn Gnerl within 40 feet of where I put my burst. I've I've got a Gnerl squadron buzzing around overhead blowing up my friends and hassling my Valkyries, well, AoE FTW. The two ammunition types are for two different kinds of fighting. Also, now that I think about it, I probably should have included this: In space, the AoE for airburst rounds are doubled. Because, seriously, flak in space? *shudder*

Great stuff! Thank you for confirming my thoughts of how the Air-Burst Rounds would work. It will be up to the GM to to control the closeness of formations and who will be taking hits. In the future, I can see some Anti-Unification League folks getting their hands on these as a Horizon is going for a drop zone full of Marines in Cyclone armor looking at each other getting rattled around in the tin cans. Thanks again.

Green-Nova: Thanks for the ideas!

[Chris]

In space, the AoE for airburst rounds are doubled. Because, seriously, flak in space? *shudder*

It's the gift that keeps on giving.

Heck you could go as far as saying that they continue to inflict half damage from 2x to 4x the distance range. Meaning for simple sakes 0'-80' in space its full damage and from say 81' to 160' its half. Then you could take it out even farther cause that will just keep going. But if you pepper a area enough eventually you will create a no fly zone in space with all that junk up there especially after a battle. Can u imaging all the debrie that would be around a space station after it repelled a attack. Would not want to be on that clean up detail.

Wouldn't be to bad, just use energy weapons on a low power wide dispersal setting (I'd wager that the UEG / UEEF etc. have something available to be mounted on shuttles and recovery pods.) to vaporize the smaller debris swaths at a time. Then you can pull out the tugs to remove the car sized+ chunks.

[Chris]

In space, the AoE for airburst rounds are doubled. Because, seriously, flak in space? *shudder*

It's the gift that keeps on giving.

Heck you could go as far as saying that they continue to inflict half damage from 2x to 4x the distance range. Meaning for simple sakes 0'-80' in space its full damage and from say 81' to 160' its half. Then you could take it out even farther cause that will just keep going. But if you pepper a area enough eventually you will create a no fly zone in space with all that junk up there especially after a battle. Can u imaging all the debrie that would be around a space station after it repelled a attack. Would not want to be on that clean up detail.

Wouldn't be to bad, just use energy weapons on a low power wide dispersal setting (I'd wager that the UEG / UEEF etc. have something available to be mounted on shuttles and recovery pods.) to vaporize the smaller debris swaths at a time. Then you can pull out the tugs to remove the car sized+ chunks.

Yes but how many millions of ships were destroyed in the final battle during the macross era? Can't give u exact numbers but it was alot in the +5million figure (at work so don't grill me on this). But question on the laser idea, the debris is constantly moving and shifting, so how long would a path through the debris clouds last? Also not to mention land marks and radar would be in pretty bad shape.

Good point, however you could have stations equipped with laser arrays that sweep at regular intervals to clear out it's own local area, you could also have 'Ice Breaker' style ships/satts to routinely clear out shipping lanes. I'd imagine you'd have launch/transit windows, and debris forecasts would be as common as the 3-Day here dirt-side.

Luckily, most of the heavy stuff is plainly visible, and over time much of the smaller sized debris, that which is able to actually produce drag, would eventually de-orbit themselves. So yeah, it would be a hazard, but with ships made of MD materials, even an impact from a chunk flying at terminal velocity would be survivable. By which I mean anything small enough to avoid detection by the sensor systems of the day. Anything larger could be seen and avoided. (Any SD station/ship would need to be well out of the hazard zone to avoid breeches though.)

[Drakenred®™©]

Also, about enlisted flying aircraft doesn't happen in the Real World[sup]TM[/sup]. While I can agree that they can crew the Destroids (since enlisted crew modern-day tanks), I'm not quite sure about allowing anyone other than officers to fly VTs. Does that make sense to anyone else?

Lack of qualified pilots, attrition, and "they did it in World War II".

It would be more accurate to say the Japanise did it in WWII. Part of it was the way they trained Pilots. There were very few enlisted combat pilots in the alied Airforces (apart from the oddity of how the USNavy handled the issue but even that changed durring the war) Im not totaly sure about the situation in Germany, as that seemed to change, aparently originaly Goring insisted that anyone who was a pilot of a powered aircraft were officers, but theirs some confuseing information on that as well.


I think the IDF and JDF still have "Training" ranked pilots as Enlisted for fixed winged aircraft.

[Lt. Holmes]

This is less of a nit and more of a request for hand-holding. There are no stats or advice in any of the books about how to handle mooks. Say I want to send my freshly minted Cannon Fodder pilot up against the unending swarm hordes of the Zentradi military, and don't want to go through the trouble of working out the bonuses for a BP pilot who's soon to be perforated by a short burst of 55mm death.

Any advice for low-danger enemies? Medium and higher-danger enemies? And I refuse to believe that any GM would be cruel enough to make the FPA "high-danger". It's evil enough as it is.

[Avatara]

With the SDF1 they left out its shield system. (of coarse half the time when they activated it in the show they killed thousands of Canadians)

[jedi078]

Any advice for low-danger enemies? Medium and higher-danger enemies? And I refuse to believe that any GM would be cruel enough to make the FPA "high-danger". It's evil enough as it is.

Using the older Robotech RPG and my house rules I have Zent 'quick stats' based on level and H2H. For example if I want the PC's to face off against four 5th level Battle Pod pilots (on the rational that the Zents that survived the RoD and have gone renegade/malcontent are NOT mooks) I simply look it up on the table and roll a 1d4 or 1d6 for PP bonuses.

I can email you these tables if you wish, they have been used quite frequently in my almost three year old PBP game.

[Drakenred®™©]

I may be the only one who thinks this, but I honestly dont have a problem with giveing the VF-1 a limmited surface to Orbit capacity without the booster, (100nm-250nm altitude) and with the Booster it can get to the Various L points in Earth orbit.

[jedi078]

I may be the only one who thinks this, but I honestly dont have a problem with giveing the VF-1 a limmited surface to Orbit capacity without the booster, (100nm-250nm altitude) and with the Booster it can get to the Various L points in Earth orbit.

IIRC Roy was able to attain a low Earth Orbit in a VF-1 during the first few episodes of the Macross portion of Robotech.

[Braden Campbell]

... the facts are there, the numbers are there

I see no facts or numbers presented by you, Subadar. The only authority I would accept would be some kind of original animation sheet which clearly shows one pilot's seat. Otherwise, as a non-writer of the series, you have no authority to state things one way or the other. Jason does because he not only works for Palladium, but has the blessings of Harmony Gold (as they must approve every word he writes or it doesn't see print). Therefore, if he makes a creative call, and Harmony gold sees no problem with it, then all's well. it is beyond pointless to argue with him about it.

Frankly, given everything that's gone down on the boards this week, I've had it with readers who think they know better than Freelancers. We don't pull these numbers out of thin air, I'll have you know. Sure, sometimes we have to make guesses or interpretations, but they are always educated and based on some kind of research. We are not simply a gang of irresponsible goons intent of messing with your conceptions of a certain intellectual property. We are writers trying our best to create believable and enjoyable game setting.

If you folks find serious flaws in the new line of Robotech books, by all means let us know. But keep the nitpickings to yourselves (in fact, this thread condemned itself by even putting the word "nitpick" in its title). All they do is make us not want to write anymore for the seemingly unappreciative masses.

[jedi078]

Well, okay, except that with all respect, regardless of your interpretation of things, that mecha has ONE pilot and it really wasn't up to you to change that.

Not only does it make sense but there are plenty of advantages of having two man mecha crews. The mecha gets twice the number of attacks, two sets of eyes to scan for threats the radar etc. Having two seats in the Tomahawk means training can be carried out easier. From a psychological perspective the fighting ability of a single man in a fighting hole is multiplied several times simply by sticking another man with him in the fighting hole. Same would apply with mecha.

I for one am glad that the freelance are answering our questions and explaining why they did things a certain way. I may not agree with some of the things that have been done, but at least we are getting some explanation. The freelances could very well just not answer our questions.

[Avatara]

If it bothers you that much than just make a house rule that the Mech can be used by one guy. It just functions better with two people instead of one. Problem solved.

[Kagashi]

If it bothers you that much than just make a house rule that the Mech can be used by one guy. It just functions better with two people instead of one. Problem solved.

That's what im going to do when I get the book. This topic isnt a real errata. Its a (minor IMHO) gripe, one in which Ill simply house rule.

As far as actual errata, very little no kidding errata has been found so far. Compared to the amount of errata generated on RUE and tSC, this book appears to be very well written. Brandon, Id take that as the masses are more pleased with this work than a few vocal people who are speaking out against one nit pick.