Mad Mike Posted Jan 6, 2008, 6:25 pm	Sam had said that the buggy is the best scout vehicle. I decided to put a scout in a buggy and have him escort two pickups from gateway to badlands and back taking stuff to and fro Ill document each trip and tell you the outcome the buggy has a 1L engine and a 29 scout leading two pickups with 3.2L engines. 1st pickup has a driver with 40 driving skill and the second pickup has a 57 scout (that is a Neophetamines heavy user btw) 1st trip from gateway and badlands the first encounter was a gateway town exit at the gates of gateway encounter against JTC=4 which is a trader... obviously a truce.
Mad Mike Posted Jan 6, 2008, 6:55 pm	second encounter was an ambush buggy was hit but able to duck away through the hills... pickups ran quickly. one slight advantage was when the buggy split off into the hills the pirates followed the buggy leaving the pickups alone........
Marrkos Posted Jan 6, 2008, 6:57 pm	Do you think that (pirates following the buggy) was luck or part of the 'buggy is best scout vehicle' mechanics?
Mad Mike Posted Jan 6, 2008, 7:12 pm	third and last encounter was gates of badlands... able to turn and run away
Gubby Posted Jan 6, 2008, 9:02 pm	Marrkos said: Do you think that (pirates following the buggy) was luck or part of the 'buggy is best scout vehicle' mechanics? There's a tendancy for NPCs to target the weakest vehicle (lowest CR?) in a squad.  I've noticed this frequently when I've taken out sonics.  They attract a disproportionate amount of attention.
Mad Mike Posted Jan 6, 2008, 9:11 pm	but it didnt increase the scout skill to avoid pirate encounters and or ambushes
Gubby Posted Jan 6, 2008, 9:12 pm	michaeljayclark said: Sam had said that the buggy is the best scout vehicle.  I decided to put a scout in a buggy and have him escort two pickups from gateway to badlands and back taking stuff to and fro Ill document each trip and tell you the outcome the buggy has a 1L engine and a 29 scout leading two pickups with 3.2L engines.  1st pickup has a driver with 40 driving skill and the second pickup has a 57 scout (that is a Neophetamines heavy user btw) 1st trip from gateway and badlands the first encounter was a gateway town exit at the  gates of gateway encounter against JTC=4 which is a trader...  obviously a truce. The buggy won't make any difference at all since your 57 scout in the pickup will be the active guy.  The way I understand this to work is that the vehicle that a given scout is in acts as a modifier.  I don't know if this is a +/- to the skill, to the scout roll or a % mechanicism (like an injured character's activity), but assuming a percentage, it would work something like this, assuming a scout has 50 skill. Scout in buggy (*1.00) effective skill= 50 Scout in pickup (*.90)  effective skill=45 Scout in Apache (*.70) effective skill=35 Scout in a lorry (*.20) effective skill=10 If it's a +/- it may look something like this Scout in buggy (0) effective skill= 50 Scout in pickup (-10)  effective skill=45 Scout in Apache (-15) effective skill=35 Scout in a lorry (-40) effective skill=10 The numbers are just speculation.  It may not affect the skill until the actual scouting roll is made.  Someone may need to experiment with lower skilled scouts in scout friendly vehicles and higher skilled scouts in bigger vehicles to see who gets the skill advancement to determine which is active.
Mad Mike Posted Jan 6, 2008, 10:12 pm	I did run a newbie scout around town to town in a buggy and didnt have any ambushes... ill try taking the 57 scout out of the pickup
Gubby Posted Jan 6, 2008, 10:51 pm	I could be wrong, but I don't think a buggy will make a bad scout any better. Maybe there is a bonus for it. Sam?
Dr Mathias Posted Jan 6, 2008, 11:13 pm	I've escorted my lorry with a scout in a buggy many times. I felt that it made a difference in number of encounters, and I also wanted the pirates to chase the buggy offroad. I think a buggy escort saved my lorry at least 3 times. Also, I hope the buggy ADDS to scout skill. It should, after all the pirates are hardly ever driving something that good at getting around.
Mad Mike Posted Jan 7, 2008, 1:11 am	Sam said vehicles help or hinder a scout. I have 100+ scouts and when they are in the big pickup, they get ambushed. when in a LR or apache, no ambushes. the vehicle has to be in effect somehow... Take a brand new 20 scout put him in a buggy and run him around, i bet you will never get ambushed.
darthspanky Posted Jan 7, 2008, 1:16 am	i noticed that a good scout in a lorry doesnt even earn any scout points traveling from fl to elm
Mad Mike Posted Jan 7, 2008, 3:05 am	may be that you had a higher scout in another escort vehicle or the roll for points got you zero
*sam* Posted Jan 7, 2008, 10:18 am	The car that is used as the scout in a particular squad is the one with the best scout rating. A car's scout rating is a combination of the scouting skill of its occupants and of its own inherent suitability for this role. So yes, put your best scout in a buggy (or, next best, a dustup) for maximus scoutimus.
Mad Mike Posted Jan 7, 2008, 1:36 pm	only problem with putting our best scouts in buggys is the danger of doing so! I dont call my test buggy rolling coffin for nothing! but i can see how a buggy is the best scout vehicle, it can go places cars and trucks cannot and its CR is so low it really wouldnt add any more pirates to your encounter unless you are just really unlucky!
Dr Mathias Posted Jan 7, 2008, 4:08 pm	michaeljayclark said: only problem with putting our best scouts in buggys is the danger of doing so!  I dont call my test buggy rolling coffin for nothing! LOL... I turtled my first buggy going over a low rise, going about 30 mph, my 2nd time out with it. I was flabbergasted, these things are made to roll over, and still keep going! I'm at a point where I'm afraid to put my 80+ scout in the buggy too!
Mad Mike Posted Jan 8, 2008, 6:21 pm	second trip from badlands to gateway.. first encounter was a town exit encounter... not an ambush and i was positioned far enough way to get a good jump on them. ran away easily I am seeing that the scout in the buggy gets 5 points of skill per trip in the buggy. I think I hit on the advantage of the buggy. If you want to train a scout fast, put em in a buggy and escort a caravan of fast cars... I'd like to add the pickup with a 3.2L engine to the fast car category... had these trucks up to 120 mph
Mad Mike Posted Jan 8, 2008, 7:21 pm	well... the experiment to see if buggies help is pretty much bust. ran into an ambush and the buggy was hit a few times and almost got killed. This may be the fact the scout in the buggy is a heavy drug user.... ill havta try another scout without a drug problem i guess!! could be the pickups drag down the scouts skill.... who knows. ill keep traveling with the buggy and we'll see how it goes! last encounter was a gates of gateway encounter. was able to run around pirates and escape into gateway
*Chase Bansi* JohnBMan033@aol.com Posted Jan 9, 2008, 12:58 am	I had discovered the speed of the pick ups for myself on the Highway to Hell. I was making a taxi run in a Bullet with a Marauder hanging right in there at 120. Wasn't sure I'd be able to shake him but the taxi eventually pulled away. Gave me a new found respect for the p/u that I already liked anyway.
Gubby Posted Jan 9, 2008, 2:16 am	michaeljayclark said: well...  the experiment to see if buggies help is pretty much bust.  ran into an ambush and the buggy was hit a few times and almost got killed.  This may be the fact the scout in the buggy is a heavy drug user....  ill havta try another scout without a drug problem i guess!! could be the pickups drag down the scouts skill....  who knows. ill keep traveling with the buggy and we'll see how it goes! last encounter was a gates of gateway encounter.  was able to run around pirates and escape into gateway That's why god created dustups. 88 points of armor, faster than a buggy and handles terrain almost as well.
Gubby Posted Jan 9, 2008, 2:19 am	michaeljayclark said: second trip from badlands to gateway..  first encounter was a town exit encounter...  not an ambush and i was positioned far enough way to get a good jump on them.  ran away easily I am seeing that the scout in the buggy gets 5 points of skill per trip in the buggy.  I think I hit on the advantage of the buggy. If you want to train a scout fast, put em in a buggy and escort a caravan of fast cars... I'd like to add the pickup with a 3.2L engine to the fast car category...  had these trucks up to 120 mph I had a car doing 130 run down by a Badlander on Highway to Hell.
Mad Mike Posted Jan 9, 2008, 3:25 pm	Ran from gateway to badlands. this time only 3 encounters. gates of gateway, badlands map, and gates of badlands. only ambush this time was gates of badlands with only 2 pirates.. hit twice but escaped. ill start posting the scouts stats so we can see the improvement running a buggy does: Strength 63 Dexterity 56 Speed 63 Leadership 9 Courage 102 Driving 17 Gunnery 17 Ballistics 14 Scouting 67 remember, scouting was only 62 last time, so earned another 5 points for the trip.
Mad Mike Posted Jan 10, 2008, 4:47 pm	BADLANDS BACK TO GATEWAY... 3 encounters, no ambushes Strength 63 Dexterity 56 Speed 63 Leadership 9 Courage 104 Driving 17 Gunnery 17 Ballistics 14 Scouting 71 2 points added to courage and 4 points added to scout skill all encounters were runs of course and i ran all the way to 500 meters. this should add to driving skill. No additions this time but we will see if it happens next time.
Mad Mike Posted Jan 11, 2008, 5:54 pm	experiment over. martha was driving while on drugs and was bumped off a cliff back to the drawing board
*Chase Bansi* JohnBMan033@aol.com Posted Jan 11, 2008, 6:23 pm	Not quite the results you had hoped for eh? Don't worry all isn't statistically lost. Let's see... DRUGS+DRIVING=DEATH Anyone surprised? 4 and 5 points on the Badland run really can drive it up fast, if you survive. I did not fair well with the one buggy I had so I didn't try that again . From what I've run and what you've posted I can see there is a difference in vehicles. The vampire trains at a lower rate but you can't beat it for getting away from anything and enough armor to take a few rounds and keep going. I really should look closer at the dustup.
Mad Mike Posted Jan 12, 2008, 12:14 pm	for fast scout training ya cant beat the buggy. The dustup will be the next experiment