Lab Work

Going through the new 5150:Star Army rules, I can see why some changes were made...simplicity. Which is a good thing. I'm going to take the same line when it comes to X-Com:Frontlines. I'm not looking to recreate the exact computer experience, so simplicity is (generally) the goal. So, now for some tweaking:

Stars and Grunts: I really like the idea of only grunts. The possibility of having a complete wipeout of your team is very reminiscent of the computer game, especially on Superhuman level. So no Stars or the associated benefits (Star Power, Larger Than Life, Cheating Death, Free Will).

Reputation: As I mentioned before, I like the idea of splitting Rep into "Skill" and "Rank". I think that the associated problem can be overcome with requiring a minimum of one Sergeant (Rank 3)...it still would be a bit hairy, but it's suppose to be like that in the beginning.

Armor: Simple stuff here. Soldiers start with Soft Body, Personal Amor becomes Hard Body, Power Suits become Exo-Armor, and Flying Suits become Battle Tactical Armor (especially with their jump capability). I'm originally setting the alien's armor to (I'm open to changes though):

• Soft Body: Sectoid, Celatid, Floater, Zombie
• Hard Body: Snakemen, Ethereal, Muton, Reaper
• Exo-Armor: Silacoid, Chryssalid, Sectopod, Cyberdisk

Weapons: Hard to make hard and fast rules until I get more experience. Until then, I'm going to go with:

• Pistol - Range 12, Target 2, SB 1, HB 0, Exo & BTA NE
• Rifle - Range 24, Target 3, SB 2, HB 1, Exo & BTA NE
• Laser Pistol - Range 12, Target 2, SB 2, HB 1, Exo 0, BTA NE
• Auto Cannon - Range 48, Target 3, SB 2, HB 1, Exo 0, BTA NE
• Grenade - Range 6, Target 5" Circle, SB 2, HB 1, Exo 0, BTA NE
• Plasma Pistol - Range 24, Target 3, SB 3, HB 2, Exo 1, BTA NE
• Heavy Cannon - Range 48, Target 2, SB 3, HB 2, Exo 1, BTA NE
• Laser Rifle - Range 24, Target 3, SB 3, HB 2, Exo 1, BTA 0
• Heavy Laser - Range 48, Target 1, SB 4, HB 3, Exo 3, BTA 2
• Plasma Rifle - Range 48, Target 3, SB 4, HB 3, Exo 2, BTA 1
• Alien Grenade - Range 6, Target 5" Circle, SB 4, HB 3, Exo 2, BTA 1
• Rocket Launcher - Range Unlimited, Target 5" Circle, SB 4, HB 3, Exo 2, BTA 1
• High Explosive - Range 6, Target 5" Circle, SB 5, HB 4, Exo 2, BTA 0 (if placed instead of thrown, add 2 to Exo and BTA)
• Heavy Plasma - Range 48, Target 3, SB 5, HB 4, Exo 2, BTA 1
• Blaster Bomb - Range Unlimited, Target 5" Circle, SB 6, HB 6, Exo 5, BTA 4

Special Attributes: While I really like the idea of having individual attributes, I can see that it would be a bit much to track. So it would be a matter of having racial attributes. I haven't gone through all the races yet, so that will be another post. However, I'm sure I'll use different attributes for the X-Com soldiers than what is listed for the Star Army...just not sure what that will be yet.