From:	WILLIAM FRIERSON <will1am@*****.ASU.EDU>
Subject:	Re: Banshees
Date:	Tue, 6 Jun 1995 04:57:17 -0700

lutra@******.COM (Eve Forward) wrote:

>AP O'KEEFE writes:
>
>>Is it just me or is it next to impossable to take down a Banshee with
>>any of the wepaons in SRII?
>
>I wish! Not easy to take her down in *one shot*, maybe, but the way
>we've played it is every hit that does damage also starts to wear
>away the armor and also screws up the speed and handling. I've seen
>a Banshee get fragged by: 1. A fire elemental 2. Smacking into a
>Barrier spell 3. A rail-gun 4.Various nasty rockets and missiles
> Sure, you aren't going to take down a T-bird with a
>Predator-2, but then, you shouldn't be able to, neh?
> 'Course our GM was/is a Physics/engineering genius and cool tech
>nut, so we got fragged by all the latest technology. :)

Only one game I ever ran had a banshee in it, and the players killed the
driver. Some damage to the vehicle, but not much. The PCs got hurt a lot
worse than the Banshee. (One of my close friends died when his track
flipped over and crushed his head. The TC dropped down into the track
and got really banged up when his seat bolts snapped and he was thrown
around the inside. Other than the seat, the track was ok, even though
it had "climbed" a tree and flipped into a 15 foot gorge).

Most people really don't realize just how robust and lethal an armored
vehicle is. I've seen buildings ruined by a skidding 60 ton tank in
Germany (during the winter). And a couple of collisions. One German cut
off the autobahn, just zipping in front of one our tanks. He didn't
see the other tank around the curve. He died wrapped around his engine.
Totalled the car. Scratched the paint on the tank.

I doubt that a barrier spell would hurt a Banshee. And unless the fire
elemental was a great spirit, or manifested inside the vehicle (which
would probably trigger the fire suppression system), I don't see how it
would hurt an armored vehicle too much, either.

You need anti-armor weapons to defeat armored vehicles. And you have to
be able to employ them. Tanks aren't the shock arm for nothing. They are
fast, well armored and very hard hitting (This from someone who calls
tankers CDATs <shaking head> :) ). And they usually travel in packs, and
have infantry close by to fight anyone who does have ATGMs.

So, at least in my campaign, Banshees are definitely something to run away
from. (I usually don't include any military vehicles at all! Some special
ops weapons and gear, including the people to use them. Intel operations
and intrigue make a much better game, IMHO).

Later

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William Frierson Internet: WILL1AM@*****.asu.edu