First Step towards Battle Dress?

Janes' 360 has reported on a Russian design firm which is developing an exoskeleton for infantry. The framework is not an armored suit a la Starship Troopers, but a means for the soldier to carry much more weight than normal.

Photo from www.janes.com

The exoskeleton "enables a soldier to carry a load of about 50 kg." A modification currently in trials will enable a soldier to "easily carry a general purpose machine gun," in addition to his personal weapon. This would turn every squaddie into his own fire support element.

If it is being developed now, at the equivalent of Traveller TL-8, it could be in general production at TL-9. Book 4 doesn't cover anything like this. That means I get to make it up myself!

Dictatorial Governments

I first shared this essay on my blog Deep in the Stacks before I started AF3 as the home for my Traveller writing.

We in America like to think of democracy as being ‘good’ and autocracy/dictatorship as being ‘bad’. But it is worth noting that in its most basic form democracy is the ability of 51% of the population to rob the other 49%. I could argue that dictatorship, then, is the ability of the 1% to rob the other 99%. The fact that neither of these things happen that blatantly shows the complicated nature of our world.

It is Good to be King.

Robert Kaplan at Stratfor wrote an essay (subscription required) in which he explored the phenomenon of the dictator as head of state, and makes the shocking claim that not all dictators are card-carrying members of the Club of Evil.

Meet the Armata - a brand new TL-8 MBT

The Russians unveiled the Armata, it's first new MBT design in a quarter century at the May 9th Victory Day Parade. STRATFOR provides a video review of this new vehicle, which is to be a 'universal' vehicle platform. 

Russia unveils its groundbreaking new tank 

Intel and Tech Briefs for Adventure Inspiration

Anybody who's read my blog for long knows that I am a regular reader of Strategic Forecasting, because I like to keep up on what's going on in the world. But have you considered how you can use real-world analyses to bring the complexity of geopolitics to your Traveller game?  

Each planet/system in a Traveller subsector can be treated like its own nation; neighbors compete for local and regional dominance, for access to markets for their exports and for suppliers for the imports they want.  Stratfor looks at these activities in the real world, but the motivations and decisions and actions they explain can be easily transferred to Traveller, whichever rules set you are playing with. 

To get a sense of the possibilities, visit these sites and explore the content available.

·         www.stratfor.com

·         www.geopoliticalmonitor.com

·         www.janes.com

All of these sites have a mix of free and subscription content. They're not cheap, so choose wisely how much intel you want to access. The free stuff should be plenty for a referee who wants new adventure ideas, particularly for settings where the PCs are involved in local/interstate politics.

I have described what Stratfor is and does elsewhere.

The Jane's Information Group has been a preeminent source of military data and intelligence since the 1890's. IHS/Jane's 360 is a free information source covering the dreaded "military-industrial complex". The site covers land, air and naval technology; who's buying or building or selling what and to whom. 

Geopolitical Monitor is a consultancy firm based in Canada that “offers members original, timely and comprehensive analysis on events of international significance to readers in the English speaking world.”

Here are some recent articles that could be the basis for a Traveller adventure, either in the Official Traveller Universe or in your (or my) universe, or in another published setting like the Clement Sector by Gypsy Knight Games.

"China Builds another island in the South China Sea"  - China is creating new land masses that they can claim as Chinese territory, far from their sovereign waters. It was reported this week that the Union of Socialist Worlds is constructing another planetoid habitat in the uninhabited binary system of Cimarron (Dothan-Talaveran 0400), putting almost the whole of the Dothan Alliance within Jump-4 striking range, if Union naval assets are to be based there. The Alliance has lodged formal protests at this intrusion into their near-space.  PCs can be hired to spy on the installation, to sabotage the work, or attack construction/supply ships on the way to it. Or they might approach it as free traders, looking for a chartered cargo run, and get on the wrong side of the Dothans.

US Approves JASSM sale to Poland

There's a rumor floating around the starport that one of the local defense contractors has concluded a sale with a neighboring system and there are lots of interested third parties who may for one reason or another want to see the arms shipment destroyed/diverted/never arrive.  

Assessing the Threat of Returning Foreign Fighters from Central Asia

Imperials from all across the Regina subsector have over the years travelled to Efate to join with the terrorist & pro-Zhodani group Ine Givar. Now, as Imperial Marines are finally making significant progress in stamping out the organization, many of their agents are fleeing Efate and returning to their worlds of origin, to ‘continue the fight’.  Planetary authorities in Regina, Aramis and Lanth subsectors are stepping up security measures, increasing scrutiny of travel documents, and tightening up cargo and weapons inspections for Travellers coming from Efate and the surrounding systems. The Travellers’ Aid Society has officially protested these measures, stating that the rights of its members are being infringed. 

Every referee can use some assistance in coming up with exciting adventures for their players. What better source than the real world, where all manner of conflicts are actually going on?  Nothing like some grounding in reality to keep the sense of Traveller as a science-fiction game.

What Travellers need to know about fighting smart

In a post on my other blog I shared an article from STRATFOR on dealing with emergency/danger situations in real life. Today I want to draw from that article a few thoughts on how players of RPGs can employ this advice in their gaming.

Situational Awareness

Players have to make an effort to keep their characters aware of the world around them. Most game systems have a pre-combat mechanic for spotting danger or avoiding surprise attacks. The GM should be employing that mechanic, and if the players do not announce that they are being watchful and alert for suspicious activity in their surroundings, the GM can feel free to surprise them as often as it takes for them to learn. Set up a standard observation/crowd-scan policy and announce that your character is doing it in any situation that you think could get dangerous. GMs should keep in mind that not all antagonists are going to be masters of stealth, so keep it varied and challenge the players to keep vigilant.

Run, Hide, Fight

Run Just because some NPC wants to start a fight does not mean your character has to go along. Ever considered negotiating? If talking doesn't work running is a viable option. Fight on your terms, not on theirs. If for some reason your characters are unwilling to run, they had better be aware and looking out for possible trouble. 

Hide Going into a potential conflict situation, the players should pay attention to the layout and keep in mind escape routes and places that provide concealment or cover. Remember that concealment is not the same as cover unless you have not been spotted yet. If your opponent hasn't seen you yet, don't break concealment unless you're going to get trapped in that spot. When the shooting starts, don't stand out in the open or you make yourself target number one – get to cover fast. 

Fight Know your capabilities as a character and as a team so you'll know when you're over-matched. Assess your opponent's weaponry and power. Have a general plan in place for handling different kinds of threats; a grenade launcher and a sub-machine gun are not employed the same way. Coordinate with your fellow characters; teamwork is a force multiplier.

Whenever you fight, remember that your first objective is always survival. Don't hesitate to break contact if things are going against you.

In World Wars 1 & 2, automatic weapons and artillery caused far more casualties than personal weapon fire. So identify your opponent's biggest gun and target it first. Suppress the heavy hitter while protecting your own biggest gun, because the enemy will likely be using the same tactic.

Use maneuver to get to the combat range that is most favorable to your side. Handguns are close range weapons, if you've got better ranged weapons, don't let your opponents get close. 

M.D.A.C.C.

Maneuver Moving targets are harder to hit, plain and simple. If you're not under cover, maneuver to cover as quickly as possible. 

Distance Again, avoid close range combat if at all possible. The closer you are to your opponent, the easier it is for him to hit you, and you want to survive. 

Angle Rather than running in straight lines, dodge and weave about, forcing an opponent to track and lead you, throwing off his aim. In Traveller, this is called Evading. 

Cover & Concealment Cover is anything solid that will stop attacks from hitting you. Concealment is anything that blocks your opponent from seeing you. You can hide behind cover as it offers protection, but you should move behind concealment, as it will not stop bullets. Anything between you and an opponent is helpful, but always try to get to cover.

Survival Mindset

If the game system you're playing has 'panic rules', expect the GM to enforce them. This should encourage more planning and non-combative solutions to confrontation, as no-one wants to freeze out in the open to get shot. Rules for initiative, or who acts first in a combat turn, can also simulate this hesitation under fire. GMs should allow players a chance to improve their character's performance under fire. 
 

Not all RPG's try to be realistic, but for those that do, where combat is expected, your characters should fight smart or face the likelihood of getting beaten by NPCs who do.

What Gamers need to know about Surveillance

     Most gamers at some point have found themselves involved in spying on someone, or breaking into a secured area to do something, or stopping NPC's from doing the same to the PC's interests. I certainly have, from Top Secret to Traveller to Twilight:2000. Yet upon some reflection on this subject I have realized that for the vast majority of my games, whether as a player or as a GM, my handling of reconnaissance and surveillance has been rather awful. My players and my characters have walked blindly into military bases and corporate buildings as casually as walking into the mall, without being detected or stopped. The level of ineptitude is completely unrealistic and has robbed many games of a dramatic tension that would have made for a much better story.

     So I've done some looking about in the RPG books that I have, trying to find the surveillance and reconnaissance rules I've been missing. To my surprise, it's not that I was ignoring them, there just weren't many to find.

• GURPS book Espionage: almost no discussion of surveillance
• Original Top Secret: has an Observation skill but no mechanics for using it
• James Bond RPG: no rules for surveillance
• Traveller: BK4/Mercenary has recon rules, but its use is limited to mostly a DM on surprise rolls prior to combat.
• D&D: none that I could find.

I recently purchased a copy of the original Spycraft rules (a D20 system) from DriveThruRPG. Finally, a rules set that addresses surveillance, both in interpreting photo/video data, and eyes-on intelligence gathering. It would not be difficult to incorporate the following information into the rules for the surveillance skill in Spycraft.

      It may not be a surprise to my faithful readers that I got onto thinking about this subject as a result of some articles from STRATFOR that I've read. Http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/detecting-terrorist-surveillance is one such article, if you want to read more, search their site on the terms “protective intelligence” “attack cycle” and “situational awareness” - all of these are concepts that anyone can put into practice in their own life for their own safety.

Here's another article from The Art of Manliness on Developing Situational Awareness, including a clip from The Bourne Identity. Jason Bourne could fit easily into a Traveller game as an NPC.

Without getting into game mechanics, here are some thoughts on how to incorporate information-gathering activities into a game. The Stratfor article puts it this way: "Surveillance can be defined as 'watching someone while attempting not to be caught doing so'".Countersurveillance (CS) is the reverse, attempting to catch others watching you or your things.

What is Surveillance and How do you do it?

Surveillance has two components, which I'll call the what and the how. The 'What' part is determining the appropriate target to be watched - you have to know where your opponents are before you can watch what they're doing. Beyond simply saying "that building over there" the agents need to know the target's significance, its strengths and weaknesses in resisting penetration, and what specific security measures are being employed. Another part of the 'what' is finding a good location from which to observe the target. This is known as a 'perch' in intelligence lingo. A good perch allows clear visual access to the target while being difficult to spot from the target. A car parked on an entrance road where there are no other cars present is not a good perch, but a car in the middle of a full parking lot can be one.

The 'how' part is getting your agent's eyes or detection gear on the target without being noticed. Two related concepts that are critical to the 'how' of setting up good surveillance are described by Stratfor and others as cover for action and cover for status. Cover for status addresses the question of the agent belonging in the environment. In other words, does the agent appear to observers to have a reason for being where he is? Is the agent dressed in a way that stands out or in a way that blends in? Think of plain-clothes detective work. Similarly, cover for action is the plausibility of the agent doing what he is doing. Someone sitting in a parked car, holding binoculars while looking at your building is going to draw attention unless there is some other good reason in that environment for the person to be doing that. An agent dressed as a delivery guy moving packages in and out of a delivery truck has both cover for status and cover for action. 

    
 If either of these are not thought out or done well, then the agent will stick out as being 'out of place' and the enemy will attempt to 'blow their cover' by challenging the agent's right to be there. Of course this could be a ploy to draw attention away from the spy who does have good cover. It should be hard for the agents to tell, at least initially, if their cover is blown. Keep in mind that surveillance & CS tasks are uncertain; the PCs should not automatically know whether their efforts are successful or when/if they have been spotted.

  A psychological phenomenon that comes into play while conducting surveillance is called “Burn Syndrome”. It is a reflex to 'break cover' as a result of the perception of being spotted. The GM can require some kind of determination task from the agent if he thinks he has been spotted. Failing this means that the agent did something that breaks his cover for status or action, and the enemy is alerted, whether or not the agent had been spotted previously.

Good surveillance takes time, so don't let the PC's sit for just ten minutes and then tell them everything they want to know. It could take hours or even days to properly evaluate a target - learning guard schedules or employee break times, identifying the guards who are slack or those who are super-vigilant, spotting all of the mechanical security devices.

Have lots of uncertain task rolls for Observation/Vision/Surveillance or however the skill is described in your game system. Never let them think they know everything, and make your own rolls for the NPCs conducting security & CS for the location. If you put some thought to a location's security measures and give a compelling reason why it is vital for the PC's to get into the location, a stakeout by itself can be a tense, interesting game session that may even challenge the player's nerves, let alone their PC's.

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