Communication Considerations for Sci-Fi games

 

Communication Considerations for Sci-Fi games

Communications

Does the planet have an atmosphere and more specifically, an ionosphere – no ionosphere, no standard radio comms. Therefore, comms will need cables.

Ah but what about Wi-Fi, mobile signal – yes indeed. Does the planet have comms satellites in orbit? Are there comms masts/towers? Do your forces have access to any comms satellites if there are satellites in orbit of the planet? Do you have comms and control apparatus/vehicles? Shared access to datacentres? Are there datacentres in orbit or planet side? Are they secure?

So if you are on a hostile planet that has no atmosphere, and therefore no ionosphere, and there are no satellites in orbit, no space stations, and no space craft in orbit, there are no wireless comms.

However, if you have landed on a hostile planet, you will have at least one ship in orbit which can act as your comms satellite, datacentre etc.

Control of planet-side assets will be very important.

How do you wargame this in your sci-fi games?

Is your force a low tech or a behind the times kind of force.

Examples of this could include a religious enclave force, a dictatorship force, autocratic emperor/monarchy, anarchist forces, rebels, zealots, extremists etc. etc.

For these forces they either don’t have access to satellites, or they have access to 1 or 2 satellites that aren’t particularly secure and are vulnerable to attack/hacking.

To randomly generate their ability to access satellites, roll 1D6, on anything but a 6, no satellites. On a 6 they have access to 1 insecure satellite.

If you feel this is too low tech for your force, then change it to the following:

Roll 1D6, on a 1, no satellites, on 2,3,4,5, they have access to an insecure satellite, on a 6, a secure satellite.

For Mid-Tech:

Roll 1 D6, on a 1, they have access to 1 no satellites, on a 2 they have access to an insecure satellite, on a 3,4,5, they have access to 1 secure satellite, on a 6, 2 secure satellites.

High-Tech:

Don’t roll a 1! On anything but a 1 they have a secure network. If you do roll a 1, the network is unexpectedly down – please contact your nearest service centre where a ticket will be generated and your complaint will be dealt with within 1 Earth year.

However, you could include an option to try and restore your network – each turn roll a D6, on the score of a 6, the network is restored and will be running at full optimization the following turn.

But what do satellites actually mean???

If you can bounce stuff off a friendly satellite, you don’t need an ionosphere so you can operate comms, as well as GPS, and control systems planet side.

This means your drones will work!

If there is an ionosphere, but no satellites etc., then radio-controlled drones only i.e. they must be controlled by a being on the battlefield due to range issues.

If you have satellites, that means ai powered and remote operated drones, the operation and control of which doesn’t need to be anywhere near the battlefield.

If you have no ionosphere and no satellites etc., then there is no comms, and no drones.

This is very simplified for gaming purposes. This is designed to be a decision tree with very basic answers of what you do and don’t have i.e. true/false or yes/no, and how to generate more detail for your games without getting too bogged down.

Dirtside Comms Assets

If there is an atmosphere, but no satellites or access to satellites, then you may still have access to communications towers/masts, and datacentres, control rooms etc.

However, these will be more vulnerable to both physical attach as well as hacking attacks.

Therefore, a low-tech force in an atmosphere may have local comms and control assets that allow them to operate remote drones and bots and ai systems but they will need to be much closer to the area of operations but not on the battlefield itself.

You can narratively generate what level the forces have or you can randomly generate it as follows:

Low-tech force – roll 1 D6 – a score of 1 means no assets – the infantry are on their own. 2,3,4,5 insecure asset, 6 secure asset.

If part of a campaign this asset must be marked on the campaign map close to the current area of operations – enemy forces may want to try and destroy this asset later on.

Mid-tech force and high-tech force – as per satellites generator.

Remember, no assets, no comms, everything has to be physically communicated with sign language , gestures, flags, semaphore etc.

Hacking

To hack something, you need electronic warfare specialist and a comms vehicle or outpost etc. This should be paid for specifically in an army list where a points system is used or specified as part of a narrative campaign.

You could have multiple EW specialists and equipment, especially for a high-tech force.

Each EW specialist can be assigned a maximum number of points according to their tech level.

Types of hacking

Comms hacking – listen in on all enemy communications – all enemy forces disposition revealed on tabletop.

Network Outage Hacking - using malware/virus, cause an enemy network outage – all systems unavailable until restored by opposing EW specialist.

Total Control Hack – take over control of enemy network – all remotes, drones and bots, ai systems now respond to your EW specialist commands, enemy has no network as per network outage.

Take Control – hack a specific unit of remotes, drones or bots only. Can be restored by opposing EW specialist.

EMP strike. Destroys all enemy systems for duration of battle. All systems were destroyed. Remotes, drones bots, normal vehicles all cease to work. Only non-powered infantry can continue the fight.

Tech Level EW Specialists & Hacking

Low-Tech

Low-tech EW specialist – EW points available 2 max.

Low-tech – may only have 1 EW specialist max. can only perform Comms Hack & Take Control Hack.

Comms Hack Cost for Low-Tech EW specialist 2 points.

Take Control Hack cost for Low-tech EW specialist 2 points.

Mid-Tech

May have up to two EW specialists.

Can attempt all hacks except EMP strike.

EW points available – 4 max.

Comms Hack cost 1 point.

Network Outage Cost 2 points

Take Control Hack 1 point.

Total Control Hack – 4 points.

High-Tech

May have up to 3 EW specialists.

Can attempt all hacks.

EW points available – 6.

Comms Hack – 1 point.

Network Outage Hack – 1 point.

Take Control Hack – 1 point.

Total Control Hack – 3 points.

EMP Strike – 6 points.

All hacks must first have the EW points spent, then you have to attempt to execute them.

Roll 1 D6.

All natural rolls of a 1 fail. All natural rolls of a 6 succeed.

Low-Tech must roll 5+ to succeed.

Mid-Tech must roll 4+ to succeed.

High-Tech must roll 3+ to succeed.

 

So, what if my forces have no comms?

They must communicate by some sort of sign language, gestures, semaphore etc. Think about how divers communicate.

So, what this means on the tabletop is reduced movement rates and reaction rates and poor spotting capability across the board.

So, reduce the forces ability to remove by half.

If spotting rules are used, reduce the effectiveness by half.

Also reduce firing ranges and firing effect on enemy forces if it does hit home.

Basically, every aspect of the entire force’s role should be rendered significantly less effective.

You will need to compensate for this if it is a new battle with a low-tech force facing a high-tech force. The low-tech force should significantly outnumber the high-tech force by at least three times. They should have a lot of infantry with a lot of different weapons that are still capable of taking out enemy armour, drones, bots, aircraft etc., eventually – through multiple hits etc.