The Military of Trattoria

[stubby]

These droideka knock-offs are not designed to be a game breaker, just the perfect anti-infantry gun due to the small infantry Trattoria has compared to other nations. They could only scratch a tank's armor and could be easily taken out by ramming, dropping a heavy object on it, or tipping it over the side.

Well like I said, the only real rule, as ever, is that you can get away with whatever you want as long as your opponents are okay with it. I personally wouldn't be comfortable with a 5d10 unit like that, so these are some of the changes I would suggest if it were on my table, but really everything depends on who you're playing against.

[Apollyon]

I don't think he has anyone to play with but himself.
So who cares?

[Rev. Sylvanus]

but that leads to a cool game mechanic where droids can increase the power and size of their Shields by grouping together.

I'm still unclear where this was leading...

[stubby]

but that leads to a cool game mechanic where droids can increase the power and size of their Shields by grouping together.

I'm still unclear where this was leading...

Under the Field Hazard rules, Fields are limited to only as many Hazard dice as their own Size. This little droid's shield is a Size 2 Field at best, so it could really only have 2d6 Energy Shields. But if two droids stood next to each other and combined their shields into one bigger 4" shield, then (in theory) it could handle 4d6 worth of Energy Shields.

[Rev. Sylvanus]

Ah. so that is what it meant. I like this possibility, as do my commandos with personal energy shields...

[Colette]

Alright guys, I playtested the droideka-knock off with my dad today (sorry, no good pics), and I would have to say the 5d10 shield is about fair.

The scenario was a battlefield about 5-6 feet long and a foot wide, with about 15 enemy infantry troops armed with stolen rifles. My fórces consisted of 3 troops, a dreadnut, and the droideka knock off with 5d10 shield. The remote generator for the shields was placed on one end and was guarded by the dreadnut, the enemy infantry on the other. The troops and droideka were in the center.

A couple turns in and all the Trattorian infantry were dead, and the enemy fórces moved right past the slow-moving, short-ranged Exterminator unit. The droid got a couple kills in, but was no match in racing the footsoldiers. In the end, combined fire from the opposing ground troops ripped up my dreadnut and generator. They then turned on the now-weakened Exterminator and shredded it in seconds. Overall, the droid managed to kill an average of 1-2 troops per turn with its puny blasters.

I feel that the over-powered shields make up for the rather pitiful offensive weapons on the Exterminator, and that a 5d10 shield is indeed balanced out by the weak blasters. Moreover, it's definitely not a game-breaker, as evidenced here where it was only up against infantry (its expertise) and not any vehicles. Vehicles would definitely be able to take it out simply by ramming it or just knocking it down (i.e. overloads the shield and causes it to explode).

I hope I didn’t sound pushy, but I thought it would be worth sharing my results.

[enders_shadow]

Maybe introduce weaknesses to the shields (I.E. melee weapons can pass through it, but lasers can not) that might make it a bit more fair. keep in mind that the scenario you tested was solely about trying to kill the droid, and if it was in a different position, or the other team had different objectives, it could unbalance things.

[Ex_Bajir]

@ collete, can a EMP from lets say i dun know...an over charged plasma weapon or something disable the shields?

[IVhorseman]

Well you have an external power source so there's nothing wrong with that. Imagine how annoying this battle would go without it!

[Colette]

Trattoria is back with its first major breakthrough in months!

The military of Trattoria was a sucker for VTOL technology, present in its shuttles and choppers. The original Pegasus chopper was designed as a troop transport for use when a shuttle was not available, however its weapon load out was rather pathetic and it was an extremely weak target when fired upon...


...so our engineers created the Scorpion attack helicopter! While it has no capacity for troops or anything, it is armed with a lot more weaponry than the Pegasus and can be used to escort one on the battlefield. It also has the benefit of recent technology and as such has larger rotors and sleeker design.


Here it is with the its older helicopter brother.

Also, expect something from me over winter break.

[Theblackdog]

This is really impressive; I like the missiles.

[Pwnerade]

This looks like a great build! I hope that the way you connected the rotors to the fuselage isn't as flimsy as it looks, however.

[Robot Monkey]

This is really impressive; I like the missiles.

[IVhorseman]

This looks like a great build! I hope that the way you connected the rotors to the fuselage isn't as flimsy as it looks, however.

That's probably exactly as flimsy as it looks. Neat tailsection though!

[Silverdream]

Damn.