Steve Gibson's Alternate Dirtside 2 Infantry Point System (5/17/95)
The purpose of this alternate system is to provide a structure for the
Dirtside player to design any sort of infantry stand, and assign it a
point cost per stand. It also introduces new, more mobile infantry
movement types.
Basic Assumptions:
Cavalry movement is 6", not 4".
Powered Armor is the term for a type of personal armor, under this system it
is not a specific
unit type.
The point cost of an infantry stand is based on its five main game
characteristics. They are:
MV-movement rate and type (five new movement classes added)
HTK-valid hits needed to kill the stand
FP-small arms firepower (for anti-infantry and close combat), in # of chits
RNG-small arms firepower range (for anti-infantry and close combat, not IAVR)
OTR-other weapons or capabilities
Table 1:movement rate and type costs
MV rate/type Cost Designation Equip. Restric. Notes
2MF/Infantry 0 Foot none basic Infantry foot mvmt
4MF/Infantry 5 Scout none scout units, light troops
6MF/Infantry 10 Powered, Cav. none space marines, rough riders
8MF/Motorized 15 Mot. no HW motorcycle units (dirtbikes, not Harleys)
8MF/Jump 20 Jump no HW or Eng personal jump packs
8MF/Skimmer 25 Skimmer no HW personal grav skimmers (per
Hammers Slammers)
12MF/Flying (+30) Flying no HW or Eng personal flight packs (very high tech)
- /Teleport (+40) Teleport none has transporter/teleporter access- Star
Fleet Marines, SM Grey Knights
no HW-means stand cannot have APSW, GMS/L, or LAD capability.
if cost in parentheses, 'ground' mvmt. must be paid for as well.
New Movement types:
Motorized: same as high-mobility wheeled, except mtns. and all woods are
difficult.
Jump: Impassable-mtns., open water; Difficult-none; Poor-all woods;
Normal-all other terrain.
Skimmer: same as grav, except woods are Difficult (troops can lug their
skimmers through)
Flying: as VTOL, but can only fly in Low mode (remember-inf flying through
the air is the same as inf in the open, so red and yellow chits are valid)
Teleport: if no enemies are within 4" (LOS irrelevant), unit may pick any
location on map to instantly teleport to. This includes teleporting into Close Combat!
After location marked, unit has a 1 in 3 chance to be on target, or scatters 1-6 inches a
random direction (or roll Epic Space Marine scatter dice)
Table 2: HTK-Hits to kill costs
HTK Cost Examples/Notes
3 2.5 No Armor, Militia or Civilians
4 5 Light Body Armor (most line inf), SM Imperial Guard
5 10 Powered Armor, SM Marines
6 30 Superheavy Powered Armor, SM Terminator armor
Table 3: FP-Small arms firepower
#of chits drawn cost examples
1 0 Civilians, Manacled POWs, etc.
2 10 Rifles, Pistols
3 15 APSW's, Assault Wpns, Energy Wpns
4 30 Assault Energy Wpns, Warp Grenades
(4 chits ONLY FOR CC. In ranged fire, 3 chits)
Table 4: RNG-Small arms range
Range Cost Examples
2"(CC only) 0 Pistols, Grenades, Claws, Karate Kicks, Eye-gouging
4" 2.5 Obsolete Rifles, Molotov Cocktails
6" 5 Standard Rifles, Grenade Launchers, Acid Spitter
8" 10 Hvy Rifles, Laser Rifles, Hvy Blob Thrower
12" 15 APSW's, Sniper Rifles, Alien tail spike projectiles
Table 5: OTR-Other Weapons and capabilities
Element Cost (in addition to cost derived from other four tables)
GMS/L (basic) +20
GMS/L (enhanced) +30
GMS/L (superior) +40
Engineering Equipment +50
LAD System +75
Artillery Observer +50
Note: APSW is not considered an additional weapon. If a squad has one, it
can use it
in CC or as ranged fire, so it is part of the unit's basic characteristics
(and value.)
Types of Infantry stands (I use):
Games Workshop Space Marine figures
Space Marine Foot Rifles
MV-6MF(Inf); HTK-5; FP-3chits; RNG-8"; OTR-none
Cost=10+15+10+10+0=45 pts. per stand
Space Marine Devastators
MV-6MF(Inf); HTK-5; FP-3chits; RNG-12"; OTR-GMS/L(basic)
Cost=10+10+15+15+20=70 pts. per stand
Note: Devestators are apsw/gms-l heavy wpns troops. There are no "apsw" or
"gms" marines
Space Marine Motorized Rifles
MV-8MF(Mot); HTK-5; FP-3chits; RNG-8"; OTR-none
Cost=15+10+15+10+0=50 pts. per stand
Space Marine Jump Rifles
MV-8MF(Jump); HTK-5; FP-3chits; RNG-8"; OTR-none
Cost=20+10+15+10+0=55 pts. per stand
Space Marine Jump Assault Troops
MV-8MF(Jump); HTK-5; FP-3chits; RNG-4"; OTR-none
Cost=20+10+15+2.5+0=47.5 pts. per stand
Grey Knights (fanatic anti-demon fighters)
MV-6MF(Inf)+Teleport; HTK-6; FP-4(3) chits; RNG-8"; OTR-none
Cost=10(+40)+30+30+10+0=120 pts. per stand
Note:I usually make these 1 stand per UNIT, thus eliminating the need for
non-close combat
morale checks. Grey Knights are supposed to teleport to close combat, and be
VERY effective
at it.
Space Marines do not have Flight Pack or Grav Skimmer technology, and do not
use cavalry
(their powered armor is as effective)
Space Marine shoulder-launched GMS-L's are somewhat primitive (basic).
Games Workshop Imperial Guard figures:
Imp Gd Foot Rifles
MV-2MF(inf); HTK-4; FP-2chits; RNG-6"; OTR-none
Cost=0+5+10+5+0=20 pts. per stand
Imp Gd Foot Assault troops
MV-2MF(inf); HTK-4; FP-3chits; RNG-2"; OTR-none
Cost=0+5+15+0+0=20 pts. per stand
Imp Gd Foot APSW section
MV-2MF(inf); HTK-4; FP-3chits; RNG-12"; OTR-none
Cost=0+5+15+15+0=35 pts. per stand
Imp Gd Foot GMS/L section
MV-2MF(inf); HTK-4; FP-2chits; RNG-2"; OTR-GMS-L(basic)
Cost=0+5+10+0+20=35 pts. per stand
Imp Gd Scouts
MV-4MF(inf); HTK-4; FP-2chits; RNG-4"; OTR-none
Cost=5+5+10+2.5+0=22.5 pts. per stand
Imp Gd Jump Rifles
MV-8MF(jump); HTK-4; FP-2chits; RNG-6"; OTR-none
Cost=20+5+10+5+0=40 pts. per stand
Imp Gd Jump Assault troops
MV-8MF(jump); HTK-4; FP-3chits; RNG-2"; OTR-none
Cost=20+5+15+0+0=40 pts. per stand
Imp Gd Rifle Cavalry
MV-6MF(inf); HTK-4; FP-2chits; RNG-6"; OTR-none
Cost=10+5+10+5+0=30
Imp Gd Lancers (Assault Cavalry)
MV-6MF(inf); HTK-4; FP-3chits; RNG-2"; OTR-none
Cost=10+5+15+0+0=30
Imperial Guard units do not have Grav Skimmers or Flight Pack technology
available.
Imperial Guard shoulder-launched missiles are somewhat primitive (basic).
Other Possibilities:
Star Fleet Marines
MV-2MF(Foot)+Teleport; HTK-4; FP-3chits; RNG-6", OTR-none
Cost=0(+40)+5+15+5=65 pts. per stand
Alien Space Slug Blob Troopers
MV-2MF(Foot); HTK-6; FP-2chits; RNG-4", OTR-none
Cost=0+30+10+2.5+0=42.5 pts. per stand
Hammer's Slammers Skimmer Rifles
MV-8MF(Skimmer); HTK-4; FP-2chits; RNG-6"; OTR-none
Cost=25+5+10+5+0=45 pts. per stand
Infantry related house rules we use:
We make the APC cargo capacity needed to carry militia or line infantry (3 or
4 HTK) is 4 cargo per stand. Powered Infantry (HTK 5) takes 6 cargo;
Terminator infantry (HTK 6) takes 8 cargo. Cavalry cannot be carried by
APC's. Motorized could be carried for an additional 4 cargo per stand (but
why? Maybe VTOL APC's.) LAD and Engineer-equipped stands require 2 extra
cargo per stand.
We allow a vehicle to fire multiple weapons at a number of targets equal to
its (SZ-2), with APSW's operating independently. Also, all valid damage
chits from (one tank) or (one unit of infantry) are cumulative against an
infantry stand for that phase. So evena Terminator can be downed by a
concerted effort by a heavy tank or a platoon of infantry.
GMS/L's still seem too cheap for their incredible usefulness. A low-tech
(primitive ECM, like many of my Space Marine conversions) tank is dead meat
to a group of militia with GMS/L's. I don't think the rules should require
you to use an expensive system or technology to defend against a simple and
inexpensive wpn. We have used a terrain or evasion secondary die in addition
to the Pt. Def and ECM dice used when missiles roll "to hit." We also cut
the range of a shoulder-launched GMS by 12".
Hope these help your Dirtside games! If you have any comments or
suggestions, my email
address is SGibson260@aol.com
Steve Gibson