Post by boxholder on Sept 4, 2016 17:09:41 GMT
A contrary opinion.
I may a bit of an iconoclast, but I have a problem with making the drones any more powerful than they already are. I feel that there two problems with adding the relay drone function as described.
First: Extending the range for drones badly erodes the only real advantage the humans have: long range artillery fire. As several of the recent AARs have shown, the really viable human strategy is to delay advance of the tripods and work them over with artillery fire. The ability to push drones far forward with a chain of relay drones lets the Martians attack the artillery with only minimal tripod advance from starting positions. What with Grenadiers, black dust launchers, missile armed Dominators and green gas launchers, it seems that Martians have plenty of reasonably long reach weaponry.
The second issue is the dilution of the defensive fire by a large number of targets. The drones cannot be ignored since they have the ability to destroy a defending unit. But, each time a drone is engaged, another die roll that could have been used against a tripod is directed to a drone. Multiplying this with 3 drones with each of 3 relays only compounds the issue. It also seems quite a stretch for a single Martian tripod pilot being able to effectively control such swarms of drones.
Because of this potential, if relay drones are added, they should be priced WAY up there relative to other units. Or maybe give the humans some kind of jamming/ECM ability. Watching a table full of drones "go stupid" when the control link is broken or jammed has some entertainment potential.
In fact, I would submit that the drones should be restricted to line-of-sight of the controller for full functioning within the existing 12 inch command range of the controlling tripod. Let any tripod be designated as controller, but no successor rule. Kill the controller and the drones go inoperative.
My $0.02
I may a bit of an iconoclast, but I have a problem with making the drones any more powerful than they already are. I feel that there two problems with adding the relay drone function as described.
First: Extending the range for drones badly erodes the only real advantage the humans have: long range artillery fire. As several of the recent AARs have shown, the really viable human strategy is to delay advance of the tripods and work them over with artillery fire. The ability to push drones far forward with a chain of relay drones lets the Martians attack the artillery with only minimal tripod advance from starting positions. What with Grenadiers, black dust launchers, missile armed Dominators and green gas launchers, it seems that Martians have plenty of reasonably long reach weaponry.
The second issue is the dilution of the defensive fire by a large number of targets. The drones cannot be ignored since they have the ability to destroy a defending unit. But, each time a drone is engaged, another die roll that could have been used against a tripod is directed to a drone. Multiplying this with 3 drones with each of 3 relays only compounds the issue. It also seems quite a stretch for a single Martian tripod pilot being able to effectively control such swarms of drones.
Because of this potential, if relay drones are added, they should be priced WAY up there relative to other units. Or maybe give the humans some kind of jamming/ECM ability. Watching a table full of drones "go stupid" when the control link is broken or jammed has some entertainment potential.
In fact, I would submit that the drones should be restricted to line-of-sight of the controller for full functioning within the existing 12 inch command range of the controlling tripod. Let any tripod be designated as controller, but no successor rule. Kill the controller and the drones go inoperative.
My $0.02