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Combat
Page 3 of 11
Shooting
Weapon Profiles
Every type of ranged weapon has its own profile, with individual characteristics as follows:
Range
There are three range bands when firing weapons – short, medium and long. The upper limits of these bands are detailed on the statline.
Weapons may also fire at targets up to twice as far as their long range (known as extreme range), but the probability of success is halved after all other modifiers are applied. It is impossible to hit targets beyond extreme range.
Mode
This is usually either single shot (single), semi-automatic (semi-auto) or fully automatic (full auto).
A single shot weapon fires once per action.
A semi-automatic weapon fires a number of times per action, indicated by a number in brackets. Some weapons have two numbers, divided by a slash (e.g. semi-auto (2/6)), showing the minimum and maximum number of shots that may be fired in an action.
Fully automatic shooting works differently to ordinary shooting and is dealt with later in this section.
Some weapons have multiple firing modes, and the player must announce which firing mode is being used before any dice are rolled.
Damage
This is the damage inflicted by the weapon. Cover or armour may modify this, as described in the Injuries section.
Capacity
This is the amount of ammunition a typical magazine can hold before it needs reloading. Weapons that do not require a magazine, but load ammunition directly into the weapon have their capacity bracketed.
Ammo
The type of ammunition taken by the weapon is noted here. Weapons can only be loaded with compatible types of ammunition.
Reload
This is the number of actions required to fully reload the weapon from empty, using a Reload Weapon action (see below).
Weapons that have X as their Reload characteristic are one-shot weapons and cannot be reloaded.
Encumbrance
Weapons, like all other equipment, have an abstract Encumbrance rating based on size, mass and balance. As well as determining the weapon’s effect on the character’s carrying capacity, a ranged weapon’s Encumbrance also indicates how easily it can be fired. There are negative modifiers when trying to fire a weapon that is too heavy for the character to use properly.
Sample Weapons Profile:
|
Weapon |
Short Range (yards) |
Medium Range (yards) |
Long Range (yards) |
Mode |
Damage |
Cap. |
Ammo |
Reload |
Enc. |
|
Laspistol |
10 |
20 |
50 |
Single |
2D6 |
30 |
Small power pack |
2 |
15 |
For more detail on individual weapons, see the Armoury section.
Line Of Sight
In order to hit a target, a character normally requires a direct line of sight, or at least a vague awareness of where the target is (see Firing Blind, below). Range and cover penalties are applied later.
Terrain may obscure line of sight but not block it completely. Trees and bushes are typical of this, although heavy fog or smoke may also obscure targets. It is up to the GM to determine if a target can be seen in such conditions.
Choosing A Target
Characters are free to choose targets as they wish (an officer amongst a squad of troopers, for example). However, if there are hostile characters within 10 yards of the firing character, the firer must pass a Nerve test in order to fire on the distant target. If the test is failed, the character may still fire, but it must be at one of the targets that caused the Nerve test.
Hitting The Target
Hitting a target requires a successful Ballistic Skill test (also known as a ‘roll to hit’). If the test is passed, the shot hits. If it is failed, the shot misses. Modifiers may adjust this chance of hitting.
To Hit Modifiers
There are a number of Ballistic Skill modifiers when rolling to hit a target. These penalties and bonuses are all cumulative.
| Factor | Effect | ||||||||||||||||
| Range |
The accuracy of a weapon changes over range, depending on the type of weapon being used:
|
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| Aiming | A character aiming at a target gains a +20 bonus to his Ballistic Skill. | ||||||||||||||||
| Rested Weapon | A rested weapon confers a +10 bonus to the firing character's Ballistic Skill. | ||||||||||||||||
| Semi-Automatic | Due to the jerking recoil of semi-automatic gunfire, there is a cumulative –5 BS modifier for every shot fired in a single action. For example a weapon being fired on semi-auto (4) would impose a –20 BS penalty. | ||||||||||||||||
| Fully Automatic | Full auto firing is barely controllable, and there is a cumulative –10 BS modifier for every shot fired in a single action. This modifier may be reduced by bracing the weapon (see Fully Automatic Firing, below, for details). | ||||||||||||||||
| Off-hand | A right-handed character firing a weapon with his left hand (or vice-versa) suffers a –20 penalty to his BS. Unless a player specifies otherwise, the GM should assume that all firing takes place using the optimal hand. | ||||||||||||||||
| Encumbrance | If the weapon’s Encumbrance value is higher than the character’s Strength (or the Strength in the firing arm if shooting one-handed), there is a –1 BS penalty for every point of difference. Note that a rested weapon is assumed to have half its normal Encumbrance. | ||||||||||||||||
| Target Movement | Targets moving at walking speed impose a –10 BS penalty. Targets at running or sprinting speed impose a –20 BS penalty. Targets moving faster than this (usually flyers or vehicles) impose a –30 BS penalty. Targets moving any slower than walking speed impose no to hit penalty. | ||||||||||||||||
| Firer Movement | Remember that combining moving and firing into one action halves the chance of success, after all other modifiers. However, there are no to hit penalties for walking or crawling while firing. | ||||||||||||||||
| Two Weapons | A character can fire a weapon in each hand during the same action, but halves his chance to hit for both weapons, after all other modifiers. Bear in mind that unless the character is Ambidextrous, one weapon will be held in the off-hand and suffers greater penalties than the other. | ||||||||||||||||
| Target Size | When firing at particularly large or small targets, the GM should apply whatever modifiers he sees fit. Examples are –30 for something the size of a shoebox, with no modifier for anything between ratling and ogryn size, and up to +30 for something the size of a car. | ||||||||||||||||
Aiming
A character may spend an action to aim at a target before firing. This may not be combined with any other action.
For as long as no obstacle completely obscures the target, or the aiming character takes any actions other than speaking or firing at a rate no higher than single shot, the character will gain a +20 BS modifier when firing. Characters firing on semi-automatic may claim the +20 BS bonus for aiming, but will have to reset their aim after each burst (the increased recoil throws the weapon off).
Resting A Weapon
A character may rest a weapon on any horizontal or vertical surface, in which case the character gains a +10 modifier to BS when firing.
Resting a weapon takes a single action, but the weapon counts as rested until such a time as the character decides to move or change weapon.
Semi-Automatic Firing
Semi-automatic weapons can fire a number of shots between the minimum and maximum noted in their Mode characteristic (e.g. semi-auto (2/6) allows between two and six shots per action).
As noted earlier, semi-automatic shooting has a cumulative penalty to hit of –5 BS for each shot in the burst, in addition to all other modifiers. Roll to hit separately for each shot.
A character can aim before firing on semi-automatic, but any benefits are lost after the first burst, thanks to the recoil.
Fully Automatic Firing
When firing a weapon on fully automatic, the character must designate a target group, which consists of all characters within a particular area. If he so wishes, the GM may also add damageable scenery features to this, such as searchlights, fuel barrels, expensive antique vases and so on, but the emphasis of the group should be on the (presumably) hostile living targets that the character wants to kill. Each member of the target group will be fired at an equal number of times, with any spare shots being spread amongst those closest to the firer.
There is a cumulative –10 penalty to BS for each shot in the burst, in addition to all other modifiers. Note that this modifier can be reduced if the weapon is braced (see below). Roll to hit for each shot separately.
Bracing A Fully Automatic Weapon
A character may spend an action attempting to brace a weapon before firing on fully automatic. To successfully brace requires the user to pass a Strength test. Characters with the Specialist Weapon – Heavy ability gain a +20 modifier to this test. There is also a +20 modifier if the weapon being fired is rested against a surface (see Rested Weapons, above).
If the brace action is successful, the –10 per shot to hit penalty for fully automatic fire is reduced to –5 per shot.
A weapon remains braced until such a time as the character fires on fully automatic (although obviously the shot gets the benefits of bracing) or the character moves, changes weapons, is attacked or otherwise distracted.
Jams
If a matched failure is rolled while firing a fully automatic weapon, the shot jams in the weapon, and the rest of the burst is not fired. It takes one action to clear a jam.
Firing Blind
In the midst of a fierce gunfight, it can be suicidal poking your head out of cover to see what’s going on. Sometimes the only contribution a fight can make is to fire a weapon blindly in the general direction of the enemy and hope that the wild shots at least make him duck.
Other weapons require the firing character’s arm or arms to be exposed from cover and follow a totally different set of rules.
The character can fire in the general direction of any previously spotted enemies (even if they’ve actually moved away without him noticing).
Designate a target group as you would for fully automatic firing. Semi automatic weapons can fire up to the usual number of shots in a single action and full auto weapons can fire up to their maximum full auto value. Roll to hit as normal, but only matched successes will hit – all other ‘hits’ have actually missed. Note that you cannot aim while firing blind(!). Abilities that affect accuracy like Deadeye Shot or Shoot to Maim cannot be used, although Hipshooting can.
As you can see, firing blind is almost always useless for hitting targets, but can be handy in the midst of a brutal firefight, just to suppress incoming fire.
Overwatch
A character can cover an area of the battlefield with his weapon, waiting for an enemy to present himself. This is known as setting overwatch. The character must state which area within line of sight he is covering – a doorway, corridor, window, cave mouth, even the space around a friendly character. The maximum area covered should be around 4 yards wide, although the GM can apply common sense to this, if faced with a borderline case.
As soon as any character enters the covered area, the overwatching character fires.
If the character doesn’t actually want to shoot the target (a civilian or, worse still, an ally enters the covered area), he must take an Initiative test. If he succeeds, he does not shoot. If he fails, he must fire on the innocent. This is the kind of incident that could cause a character to gain Insanity points if he fails a Willpower test, particularly if he hits and injures (or kills) an innocent target. This is best left to the GM’s discretion, depending on the personality and morals of the character in question.
An overwatching shot is resolved in exactly the same way as a normal shot with the weapon.
Placed Shots
Most shooting-related injuries are to the torso, since it is the geographic centre of the human body, and the part that moves the least. However, characters may attempt to target a different hit location, such as the more vulnerable head, for a more certain kill, the arms, perhaps to prevent an enemy from using a weapon, or the legs, to incapacitate a fleeing enemy.
A character must spend an action aiming before taking a placed shot. Additionally, the chance of hitting the target is halved, after all other modifiers (including the +20 for aiming). If the shot hits, do not reverse the D100 roll to determine the location hit, as is normally the case (see Injuries). Instead, the firing character can choose the location hit and damage is applied normally.
Placed shots can only be attempted with single or semi-automatic fire. All shots in a semi-automatic burst must be targeted at the same location.
Reloading Weapons
Virtually all ranged weapons utilise some kind of exhaustible ammunition, whether it is charges from a power pack, bullets or crossbow bolts. Eventually, a character is going to have to reload a weapon during a firefight.
It takes a number of actions to reload a weapon, as noted under the weapon’s Reload characteristic. Most commonly, this value is 2, one action removing the spent magazine, and one action replacing it.
Some weapons have their Reload characteristic in (parentheses). This means that the weapon doesn’t use a removable clip – projectiles are loaded directly into the weapon. The Reload characteristic shows the number of projectiles that can be loaded in a single round. For example, a pump action combat shotgun has Reload (2), meaning that two shells can be loaded in a single action.
Some weapons have their Reload characteristic underlined. This means that the weapon has its own integral power source and will recharge by itself between shots. Recharging takes as many rounds (not actions) as the Reload characteristic, during which time the weapon cannot be fired.
Reload actions can be spread over multiple rounds.
Refilling Magazines
An empty or partially empty magazine that has been removed from a weapon (using the first half of a Reload Weapon action) can be refilled at a rate of 3 rounds per action. The clip still has to be replaced during the second half of the Reload Weapon action.
Due to the insane length of time it takes to load rounds into a magazine, it is not recommended that magazines are refilled during a blazing firefight, and that pre-filled spare magazines are carried.
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