| From: | John Fox <johnf@*****.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Military and FASA Archetypes |
| Date: | Tue, 30 Nov 1993 19:27:48 -0600 |
the future will have.
1. The Sprawl Sites book has several military archetypes: dwarf mercenary,
former military officer, and the former tribal warrior. All of these
characters have essences above 5, although the dwarf does have boosted 1.
2. Someone suggested that the Seattle Metroplex Guard is an ideal example
of a modern military force. The guard contact has no cyber. I think the
Seattle book mentions that go-gangs wipe the street clean of guard members.
3. Cybered soldiers might last longer, but when they're dead, they're
dead, and you're out 200,000 nuyen. What happens when the enemy lobs some
expensive artillery shells over to the cyber-soldiers's barracks? They're
all dead and you're out many millions of nuyen in expensive gadgets.
4. Someone suggested that the military gets a volume discount when buying
things. After hearing many stories about $800 hammers and toilet seats I
tend to discount any suggestion that the army is able to save money.
5. I agree that future armies will be much smaller. The coomentary for the
officer archetype says that future armies are divided into small,
specialized units. However, it doesn't mention anything about how these
units are all jungle samurai.
6. I think FASA's combat system overemphasizes the benefits of increased
initiative (wired reflexes, etc.)
7. I think reliance on the infantry as a whole will decrease, because of
high mortality rates. I think governents will prefer to blast each other
with missles, send commandoes to harass the otherr side, or leave off the
whole thing altogether. I see the infantry more as something to roll out
to quell riots than to fight other nations.
John Fox
johnf@*****.edu
