Small Unit Tactics and you Options

[ZenZen]

<starts chanting a mysterious and powerful incantation>

Clarification needed:
Skill description says:

[Astelaron]

I think I can help a little but seeing as your book ninja summoning spell conjured me... I'd say you botched.

[Clyde]

I'd also go target 4 on this one. The BBB has a table of target numbers based on the difficulty of the task and 4 is for something of "Average" difficulty. 2 would be "simple," which I think is a little too easy for the use of tactical principles while under fire yourself.

[Vaevictis]

I don't think there are any actual specific references, but I'd argue that you'd use the face-to-face or direct LOS target number.

If you look at the target numbers and the modifiers associated with it, the main variables appear to be ease of communication and the level of situational awareness for the person with the small unit tactics skill.

The ease of communication and level of situational awareness for one's self is certainly no worse than if you are communicating with someone face to face or in LOS; there is no more specific TN, so I guess that would be the appropriate one to use.

I would also argue that use of battletac mods would apply as they increase your situational awareness.

[Nath]

On the other hand, the lowest TN you can get for a teammate is 2, when you're "face to face or in direct line of sight" with a battletac cyberlink to communicate. I'm not sure on how any communication device could make the guy in front of me understand my tactical analysis better than my own brain do.

[Kagetenshi]

If you've got a BattleTac cyberlink, you can get that -2 as well.

~J

[hermit]

Heh, so I expect Gemini will get herself a BT Cyberlink now, eh?

Anyway, good luck for tomorrow's test. :)

[hobgoblin]

why not go fully out there and get a tactical computer?

[hermit]

Not enough essence left. He already dropped the encephalon.

[hobgoblin]

ouch.

only problem is that i cant see how a battletac cyberlink will help as its basicly there to gather data from other users.

atleast if battletac works similar to how the digital battlefield system used in tanks and so on work. one spotter, relaying grid posisions and numbers to tanks and support over the horizon.

then the group commander of the tank group can use said info to order in artillery and airstrikes, where to send the tanks so that they can maybe flank or atleast confuse the enemy and so on.

for one person a battletac link will do exactly zero as there is noone to collect spotter data from that have a better or diffrent view then himself.

that is unless he have a spotter drone up with its own battletac gear or something :cyber:

basicly the battletac is a kind of visual aid so that you dont have missunderstandings of words and numbers. just look at the screen or images projected by the cyberware and you have a nice idea about what the person in charge is trying to tell you.

only good thing i can guess the link will do is to help the user visualise where the enemy is and maybe help spot a nice way to attack them. but should you not be able to pull that off with a display link and some maps?

[Clyde]

The BattleTac unit is also built to synthesize and process inputs from multiple sensor systems - which in the chromed world of Shadowrun can easily be had by a single individual. It's not as good as a tactical computer, b/c it can't replace sound judgment and experience, but it is an aid when you're trying to keep track of IR, Low Light, Spatial Recognizers and everyotherdamnedthing going on.

[hobgoblin]

the funny thing is that its exactly what the tactical computer is buildt to do, help deal with information overload.

from what i read the battletac matrixlink is just a cybernetic version of the battletac receiver unit. you will still need a master unit to compile and sort all the incoming data and the spit it back out.

sure you could in theory put that out in a truck or similar, but your still only getting data from one source.

and you will still need someone to look over the data. and if said data is collected based on your senses only your not helped by the master unit at all in my opinion.

the tactical computer on the other hand is a expert system. it gives automatic tactical advice to both boost a non-trained individual directly, and to aid a trained individual to issue better orders. as seen by its boost of combat pool, its assistance in surprise and the skill bonus.

so as long as its just one person i would say he dont get a bonus from using battletac equipment at all. the tactical computer isnt battletac equipment directly however, it can be modified to cooperate with a battletac network.

and i think im backed up by the table on page 106 of CC. the modifiers for battletac talk about communicating to a team member via battletac. i dont see how battletac can help improve the communication to himself in any usefull way as he is basicly relying on the data he can gather himself.

atleast not by only using a battletac cyberlink. maybe if he uses a battletac master unit. but the only cybernetic equivalent is a tactical computer with modifications for battletac use...

[Vaevictis]

Keep in mind that the BattleTac system "analyzes it (data) and builds a comprehensive picture of the tactical situation. This includes mapping features, enemy identification and positioning, current status of individuals and drones, targeting data, ..."

I don't know about you, but I can see where mapping features, IFF, and positioning data could be useful when analyzing the tactical situation by yourself.

Keep in mind that the BattleTac master component appears to be able to analyze this data in the background, letting the person with the tactics skill to focus more on what needs to be done and focus less on figuring out what the situation is.

Imagine a situation where the BattleTac user that is communicating with self has a few of their cybernetic and natural senses wired in -- vision, thermographic vision, ultrasound vision, and hearing. A sniper shot rings out. The user is suprised, so doesn't quite catch where the shot came from. But the computer isn't -- it takes the sensory data, processes it, and a new enemy appears on the map in the image link.

Also consider that cc.53 says that ALL BattleTac networks *require* at least one master and one receiver unit, so anyone seeking the bonus *must* have this expert system processing the data and providing analysis.

Based on the descriptions on cc.53 and mm.22, I infer that the primary difference between the cybernetic tactical computer and the BattleTac master component is that because the tactical computer is wired into the brain, it can "prod" the user to take appropriate action (mm.22, "Appropriate responses are calculated and fed back to the user as subconscious impulses"). In the above sniper example, the user wouldn't just see the icon appear -- the computer would recognize the flash of the muzzle out of the corner of the eye (or something) and "prod" the user to duck, basically adding combat pool to the dodge test. It can also "prod" the user into making better tactical decisions (simulated by adding to the small unit tactics skill).

In other words, I infer that the data processing and analysis capabilities of each system are identical, it's just that as a directly attached cybernetic component, the tactical computer does a better job of providing feedback to the user than the straight BattleTac system that has to go over radio waves and to an image link and/or HUD/video screen. In any case, it's obvious that *both* are expert systems that process the available data and provide a rapid analysis of the situation.

[fistandantilus4....]

so a question, how are you all getting those dandy little tac comps? With street index, they run over a million, and the availability is wasy higher than you can get for starting gear.

[Vaevictis]

Shadowrunners often work for people who have legitimate access to these things. It's not such a difficult thing to add value to a contract by including access to goodies instead of increasing the pay.

Remember: If the Johnson can save :nuyen: 50k on the contract, but you can save :nuyen: 100k on the street index, then *everybody* wins. :)

[fistandantilus4....]

yeah but most will only go up to 150% on hardware ,excluding SI. Guess you guys just get better pay than most of mine. ' Course there was that one run.... *muses, wanders off*

[Link]

Any suggestions as to the minimum equipment/requirements each member of a battletac unit needs in order to contribute? A helmet camera for instance (like in Aliens).

[fistandantilus4....]

I'd say helmet cam and battletac unit, as well as a mic of some sort (preferabbly subvocal).

The really good stuff is ultrasound vision, high frequency cyber ears, and the spatial recognizer cyber, all linked to the cyber battletac, and cyber eye cams if you've got 'em.

Snake Eye's systems and riggers w/ the cranial remote control deck, and either a backpack to boost the power (obviously a signal booster IN the backpack) or a cyber arm to boost the signal, linked to a condor above. And if you've got 'em, one of those dandy little dornes that has the autosoft for electronic warfare to hack your enemies signal.

[Vaevictis]

Either some electronic senses, or the members of the team manually inputting data every few combat rounds -- iirc, it takes a simple action for cybernetic and complex for non-cybernetic.

As far as the Johnsons go, I don't know what the canon rules are for that, but in my campaign, the runners will sometimes end up paying the Johnson to cover the cost of the equipment. Basically, it ends up with the Johnson and the Shadowrunners trading services -- the Shadowrunners doing the run, and the Johnson procuring equipment.

Like I said, it's a win-win situation for both teams. If a Johnson can feasibly get the equipment without catching flak, this type of exchange is ideal for him. Instead of making a :nuyen: 50k to :nuyen: 100k payout to the team, all the Johnson has to do is get on the Matrix and place an order; the players do the run, and they do the exchange (with players paying the balance) in lieu of getting paid.

Really, I would expect that many megacorps would *prefer* to pay in this manner. It costs them essentially nothing to sell direct to the runners. Let's say your group just did a run for Ares, and the runners want a Guardian Drone. :nuyen: 99k from a 'runner spends just as well as :nuyen: 99k from an AA megacorp, and if it saves the company :nuyen: 20k on the cost of a run, more power to the Johnson -- he's just been *very* efficient with his resource allocation and should probably be in line for a bonus come end of quarter.

In fact, if a group and a Johnson did this kind of thing on a regular basis, I would not be suprised if the Johnson eventually decided to turn this into a regular revenue stream -- contact a very connected member of the group, and basically say, "You want to be my representative on the street? I'll provide you with some hard to find equipment. You sell it to the clamoring buyers. We split the profit." Johnson buys equipment internally, hands it to the 'runner who then sells it to interested parties somewhere between list and street index. Johnson's company racks up a big-ticket sale, and Johnson and runner turn a profit on the street index. Again, *everybody* wins.

This stuff is so profitable for everyone involved, you know it just *has* to be happening behind the scenes. I'll bet as much of the illegal equipment on the street was sold by entrepeneuring Johnsons as was stolen or smuggled from companies.

[tisoz]

[toturi]

I think because there isn't a specific TN for self, I would determine the TN for the skill test for self normally as if he was simply using any other skill. If the tactical situation was difficult, it would have a higher TN, etc.