Odessa Ground Rules

ODESSA RULES (Ground)

The intention of these rules are to draw the battle for Odessa out into a longer format, and add a bit more complexity and control to the battle system. With the sheer number of ships and players involved, overall strategy and attention to detail becomes extremely important, and with the number of NPCs involved I want players to feel like they are making a difference. Hence, the PC officers are given control of strategy for both sides of the operation.

Here is the way it works.

DEPLOYMENT, TERRAIN AND OVERVIEW
First, a map will be presented showing the area around Odessa, with a key showing all the different markers we will be using. Odessas Trenches and Outer Wall will be marked, as well as markers for different key structures on the compound. A second map will be made detailing which of these key structures is which, as well as showing the location of Odessas minefields. This map will be given to Zeon, and IF Odessa is scouted prior to the attack, it will be given to the EF as well. The map will have a grid, so you can easily reference square C3 or D8, etc. Each square represents 4 square kilometers.

DEPLOYMENT AND SETUP
On MARCH 17TH, the Federation officers will have to submit a deployment plan for their ships. A map will be drawn up showing where their ships can deploy, and the officers must decide the best positions for each ships. Once ships are deployed, they will not be allowed to shift positions, and which units are in what ship will be final. Odessa will be sieged for several days using the normal rules, prior to the final assault on March 19th.

March 19th will be a normal update day, with all troops at Odessa participating in the major event. After that, the RPG will pause for two weeks to conduct the assault, which will be done in several phases.

On FRIDAY, MARCH 19TH, the Federation must present a final deployment plan. They will have limited ability to shift ships and move troops around from their previous deployment. At this time, they must also group NPC troops into units. I will assist a lot with this on both sides. PC MS teams will constitute one unit, and then for example 6 NPC GMs or 20 Tin Cods may constitute a unit. These units must all be placed, and the map will be put up.

On SATURDAY, MARCH 20TH, the Zeon officers must make a similar deployment for their troops, after they've seen the EF deployment. This will follow the same rules.

Units on the map will list the type of unit, but not what optional armaments they are carrying, or what the unit levels are. Both side forums will be given a file showing what their units levels and armaments are, as well as ammunition and fuel, which we'll get to later. Further, units in ships waiting to be paradropped will be listed on the key, but not shown on the map, so the other side will not know what ship they are on.

Units that are not present at the siege the day of the assault, but paradrop in or are purchased as services etc, move on from the edge of the map in turn 1. White Base arrives at the start of Turn 5.

Starting on Sunday the 21st, we will play out one turn per day. The battle will have 10 turns. It is possible if it is very decisive that it will end earlier, but it will not end later. Each turn will last 20 minutes of in-game time. The final turn may last longer, depending on how much in-game time it takes to reach a reasonable conclusion.

On Sunday the 21st, both sides officers must submit elaborate plans for how they want the assault to proceed. These should be the longest and most complicated plans you guys have ever made. I'm expecting pages and pages of detail. After this initial plan, characters will only be able to control their PC and MS team. NPC units, and even PC ships and units owned by PCs, will simply follow the sides plan to the end.

Each turn, units will move and fight each other, and their ammunition and fuel will drop accordingly. Actions will be due earlier than usual (3 PM Pacific), and each day more of the event will be written, and a new map will be drawn up showing the new positions. The event will give you some idea of the other sides unit levels, ammunition and fuel, but you will only know for sure the status of your own side.

Please note when looking at the maps, that positions and movement distances are not absolute. Context will be taken into account. Each square on the grid represents 4 square kilometers, so just because two units are in combat and right next to each other, they are not necessarily in hand to hand combat. A unit marker doesn't necessarily represent the physical space that the unit takes up, but rather the area that such a unit is capable of covering reliably. Because of this, the unit marker for 5 Zakus may be the same size as a unit marker for 10 Magellas.

I would appreciate it if discussion between PCs about strategy during the event is kept to a minimum. Realistically, this is a huge M particle environment, and you guys should barely be able to see, let alone communicate. However, I realize that I can't prevent communication, so we're on the honor system with that. Play fair.



TERRAIN

TERRAIN
Certain parts of the map will be classified as Difficult Terrain. Mostly these will be forested or urban areas. Certain types of units will move much slower through Difficult Terrain. Further, defending Difficult Terrain will give units a combat advantage, due to fighting from cover. Odessas trenches and outer wall will give a similar cover advantage, but do not reduce movement.

I will provide both sides with a sheet saying where difficult terrain is on the map by grid-square, but please realize that it is a relative thing. If half of hex C4 is a village, even though the sheet will say C4 is difficult terrain, the half of it with no village is obviously not. There will be plenty of time to ask nitpicky questions like this as the event and planning is going on.


COVER
In order to claim a cover advantage, a unit has to be inside the cover at the start of the update, and non-moving. If two units on either side move to a village at the same time and attack each other, their movement is reduced, but neither side is assumed to have a distinct combat advantage, because its mobile suits and tanks have not had the time to go to ground and set up defensive positions and firing arcs. Units in cover will have a Cover marker next to them on the map.

Only Ground units can claim cover. Airborne units and ships are never in cover. Finally, Gunship Helis, Fanfans, Adzams and Gouf Flight Types are never in cover.


THE NUCLEAR MISSILE
Ma Qube has hidden a nuclear missile silo somewhere on the base. This will not be shown, even if a scouting report is obtained. When Ma Kube decides to use the nuke, the silo will be placed on the map, and will fire in the following turn. Units close enough to get to the silo in a single move MAY be able to stop it.




THE COMBAT MECHANISM



MOVEMENT
Each update each unit is allowed to move a certain distance. If a unit is mixed, it always moves as the slowest thing in the unit. Units can be seperated by movement type at deployment, but after deployment units CANNOT split up. Of course, if all of the slow moving stuff in a unit is killed, it can then move faster.


SIMULTANIOUS MOVES
Both sides move simultaniously in the same turn. It is okay to list a move as "I want to move towards this unit and attack it" instead of moving to a specific area. It is also okay to list a move as going to a specific area. Based on context, units might end up colliding part-way into each of their moves, and engaging each other.


UNIT TYPES
For this ruleset, we count Gunship Helis, Fanfans, Adzams and Gouf Flight Types as Ground units rather than Airborne units. They do not go high enough off the ground to classify as Airborne.

All units can move through other units from the same side. Airborne units can move over enemy Ground units, but cannot move through enemy Airborne units. Airborne units moving over enemy Ground units will take some damage as they do so.

Don Escargots will not be placed on the map. Rather, they are assumed to say close to Federal carriers and guard them from enemy MSM's. Any square containing a Federation naval ship is also assumed to have some number of Don Escargots in it.

GM Snipers will not be placed on the map. Rather, they are tied to a Big Tray or a Heavy Fork (nothing else), and are assumed to stay close to their ship and act as sniper support. A GM Sniper that is deployed with a unit instead to fight in the front lines, will be listed for this minigame as a GM Ground.

Infantry that is guarding ships will also not be placed, but are not necessarily inside the ship. It is safe to assume that every ship, and every key feature on the Odessa base, has at LEAST 1 squad of marines defending it.

Hans Bond does not have a unit. You will not know where the Interspheral Man of Mystery is until he makes himself known.


NAVAL
Ground units that deploy with naval ships in the ocean are assumed to use small ferry ships to move towards land.

Submarine depth will not be shown on the map, but can be specified in a battle strategy. A submarine that is below firing depth will be more resistant to enemy weaponry, but will not be able to shoot its missiles.


PARADROPS
It may be tactically sound to use a faster ship such as a Gallop or a Medea to transport key units into combat. Units inside a ship may move out of it at the start of every turn, and move exactly as normal. They do NOT move out of a ship after it has made its move that turn.

If a ship is destroyed while troops are inside it, the troops may or may not be destroyed, depending on context.


MOVEMENT CHART
This is the chart we will use for movement distances. Consider it approximate, I will be taking context into account, but using this as an overall guideline. The number is the number of squares on the grid a unit can move through in one turn.

MOBILE WEAPONS
Infantry, Other Tanks, Guntank MPT - 1, cannot enter ocean.
Hildolfr/Guntank Assault/Weasel - 2, 1 in Difficult Terrain. Cannot enter ocean.
Other Mobile Suits - 2, 1 in Difficult Terrain, 1 in Ocean.
Marine Mobile Suits - 2, 1 in Difficult Terrain.
Sealance/MS ferries - 2, cannot enter land.
Type 74/Wappa/Bloodhound/Xamel - 2, 1 in Difficult Terrain.
Gouf Flight Type/Adzam - 2
Dom/GM S - 3, 1 in Difficult Terrain.
Grabro - 3, cannot enter land.
Fanfan/Gunship Heli/Dodai YS with MS - 3
Dodai II with MS - 4
Other Dodais/Depp Rog/Apsalus - 5
Other Federal/Rogue Aircraft - 6
Dopps - 7

SHIPS
Note: Ships that do not move have greater artillery effectiveness.
Dobday - 1/2. Cannot enter ocean.
Big Tray - 1
Samson/Heavy Truck - 2, 1 in Difficult Terrain. Cannot enter ocean
Naval ships - 2. Cannot enter land.
Gallop/Gaw - 3
Zanzibar/Pegasus - 4
Medea - 5
C-88 Medea - 6



COMBAT
Combat will largely be decided the same way it is for other events, simply split up into isolated regions of the overall battlefield. A combat marker will be put between units to show that they are fighting each other, and the battle will be written as part of the event. Losses will be recorded on the new map and on each sides units thread.

Units are assumed to be able to engage enemy with their non (A) weaponry if they are approximately 1/2 of a grid-square away from them. Remember, context will be taken into account. All ship AA guns and all ship MPCs, whether designed to attack aircraft or MS, operate at this same range. Non (A) base defenses also operate at this range.

(A) weaponry and ship bombardment weaponry will have longer ranges.

GM Snipers may pick a seperate bombardment target than the Big Tray they are tethered to. If multiple Snipers are on the same Tray, they all pick the same target.


BOMBARDMENT
Each unit and each ship is allowed to pick one bombardment target within their range per turn. They can bombard a target even if they are moving or engaged in close range combat at the same time, although individual MS that bombard will be too preoccupied to fight close range. Context will be used to determine results, but the following are some modifiers to keep in mind.

Bombardment will be less effective if:
The bombarding unit is under attack at the time
The bombarding unit is moving at the time
The bombarding unit is on a Dodai or a Ferryboat
The bombardment target is in cover
An enemy Recon Gaw is within 4 squares of you

Bombardment will be more effective if:
The bombarding unit has a (D) class unit in it
The bombarding unit is Federation, and a Scouting Report has been obtained
A friendly Recon Gaw is within 1 square of you


BOMBARDMENT RANGES
Gallop - 2
Gaw - 3 (missiles only)
any Zanzibar - 3 (missiles only)
Hillock - 3
Pegasus - 3
Himalaya - 6 (main cannon only)
any Jukon - 10
Big Tray/Heavy Fork - 10
Dobday - 11
Everest - 12
Base Howitzer - 12
Base Nuclear Silo - 20

180mm GM Cannon (if A) - 1
Magella Attack Cannon (if A) - 1
Ballistic Sniper Rifle - 1
GM Railgun - 2
Hildolfr - 3
Zaku Cannon/GM Cannon/Dom Cannon - 5
Guntank - 8
Xamel - 8
LRBR - 8


ARTILLERY SUPPORT SERVICES
If Artillery support services are chosen, they may fire at any target anywhere on the map. You may pick their target, but when they arrive will be at random.


SPECIAL SHIP MISSILES
Ships with special missile options will have a limited number of them. Their owners may choose in individual turns to use individual missile types. They can only use up to two types of special missiles per turn, and may use two rounds of the same type.


FUEL
Fuel will play a large part in this battle. Ground units do not care about fuel, but aircraft do. Airborne ships are assumed to have enough fuel for the entire six hour engagement. Every update aircraft remain in the air, they drop 1 fuel point. On the update in which their fuel points START at 0, they will automatically break off and return to the nearest ship that can service them regardless of what their orders are. It takes one full update for a ship to refuel aircraft. If they cannot get to a serviceable ship or airfield in one move, they will crash land.

Some units may have things like a single Gunship Heli or Gouf Flight Type in them to cover other units. For simplicities sake, a helicopter placed in this way does not run out of fuel. Shin Zaku II's remote Dodai does not run out of fuel.

When a unit of MS riding Dodais reaches 0 fuel, the MS will land if possible, and the Dodais will return to base. Dodais that return to base in this way may become a seperate unit that can refuel and act as bombers. If the MS cannot land (perhaps they are over water) they will return to base to refuel like normal aircraft.


FUEL CHART
Dopp/Gouf Flight Type - 1
Other Aircraft - 2
Depp Rog/Core Booster/G Armor/Dodai YS - 3
Fanfan/Gunship Heli/Don Escargot/Dodai II - 4
Extra if launching from a ship or airfield - +2
Extra if using external fuel tanks - +1 per tank
Extra for subflight systems not carrying mobile weapons - +1

Adzams and the Apsalus are assumed to have infinite fuel, due to their M Craft units.



AMMUNITION
Units will also run out of ammunition, and can reload at any ship or hangar which can service them. This will also take a single update. However, mobile weapons do not have to return to ships when they run out of ammo, they can continue to fight only using melee weapons if they so choose.

Tanks and infantry are assumed to have enough cannon and machinegun rounds to last the entire engagement, but may run out of special ammunition such as smoke grenades.

Mobile Suits with vulcans are assumed to run out of vulcan rounds at around the same time that they run out of ammunition for their primary weapons.

Beam weapons CANNOT be reloaded over the course of the battle. Each unit is allowed one beam weapon of each type in its optional armaments. Once these rounds are gone they can go pick up a machinegun at a ship, but cannot get a new beam weapon.

It is possible for mobile suits to use another units weapons in an emergency situation, but such a weapon must be fired manually, and accuracy will be lost without the proper fire control data. Only mobile suits with reactor outputs high enough to use beam weapons can fire them.

Each side will have an ammunition post on the main forums, which will be scrambled so the other side cannot see it. You'll be able to infer the state of the other sides ammunition based on the event, but you will only know the exact numbers of your own sides ammunition.


AMMUNITION CHART
This is the number of updates it will take weapons to run out of ammunition. This is not an exact chart, and will be modified based on context. Players can choose in their emails to not use any ammo, or to use ammo faster in an attempt to end a combat quicker. These numbers are assuming a pilot is using ammunition in a conservative fashion.

Note: Please note that these ammunition numbers are exceedingly conservative and unrealistic. The fact is, Gundam is a cartoon, and most mobile suits have maximum ammunition capacities that are laughably small for realistic combat. I am trying to balance everything to make ammunition an issue, without making it too much of a bother.

Other weapons - 2 magazines per turn in combat
Beam weapons - 10 rounds per turn in combat
Zeon Machineguns with 100 round drum magazines - 1 magazine per turn in combat
Grenades - 3 per turn in combat


RESUPPLYING AT A SHIP
Airborne units must actually land in a carrier to refuel, and this takes one full turn. Ground units may resupply if they are within a grid-square of any ship owned by their side. In order to do this they may not move, nor may they bombard, but they may engage in close-range combat if attacked by enemy. It only takes one turn to resupply.

NPC units may not specify new optional armaments when they resupply, but PC units may do so.

A ship may resupply up to two units per turn. (R) class ships, and Odessas Hangar, War Factory and Airfield, may resupply up to 4 units per turn. The Airfield may only resupply aircraft.