From: rorice@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu (rosalyn rice) This section includes hit tables for cars and motorcycles, rules for vehicle weapon mounts (consolidating information from High Tech and Basic Set), information on Combat while in Flight (which incorporates some of my own modifications), rules for Group Tactics in Melee, and lots of other miscellaneous topics. Part 6 - Special Situations SHOTS PENETRATING AND AUTOMOBILE - Roll 2d6. Subtract the damage used up by going through the body of the car (PD 3, DR 5) or the windows (PD 1, DR 3). This table assumes that the car was the target, and that shots weren't specifically aimed at a part of the car or a passenger. AUTOMOBILE HIT LOCATIONS DIE ROLL HIT FRONT SIDE REAR AREA HIT PD DR PENALTY EFFECT 2 2 2 Driver 1/3 3/5 -4 See note 1 and 2. 3-4 3-4 3-4 Passenger 1/3 3/5 -4 See note 1. 5 5 5 Windshield 1 3 -1 See note 3. 6 6 6 Window 1 3 -3 See note 4. 7-8 7 7-8 Body 3 5 +2 See note 5. - - - Gas Tank 3 5 -8 See note 6. 9-10 8-9 9-10 Tire 3 5 -4 See note 7. 11-12 10-12 11-12 Engine 4 8 -3 See note 8. 1. There is a 1/3 chance that the shot went through the window (PD 1, DR 3) and a 2/3 chance that the shot went through the body (PD 3, DR 5) to hit the target. The "target" whether passenger or cargo takes normal damage, minus the damage lost to the window or frame. 2. The driver takes normal damage and must make a control roll at -4, if he survives and isn't stunned. If he is killed, knocked unconcious, or stunned, the vehicle is out of control and will eventually crash. 3. Driving rolls and attacks that use sights obscured by the broken windshield are at -3. If the weapon did more than 13d6 in a single shot or burst, the windshield is GONE. All driving rolls without a visored helmet or goggles are at -1 per 30 mph, due to the wind blowing in your face. Windshield hits to the side have a 2/3 chance of actually being hits to the side sindow (see below), otherwise they hit either the rear window or the windshield, depending on what is most visible to the firer. Windshield hits to the rear actually hit the rear window. All penalties for a broken windshield to Vision and Weapon rolls apply to attacks through the rear window. There is no penalty for wind blowing in your face. 4. If the weapon did more than 7d6 in a single burst, the window is GONE, otherwise you are just at -3 to Vision rolls out that window. Roll randomly to see which window got hit. 5. If the vehicle was filled with cargo, there is a chance (decided by the GM) that a body hit hits the cargo rather than imbedding itself in the body. Once the body of the vehicle is penetrated, the interior of the vehicle will stop 2d6 more points of damage before the vehicle hits the other side of the vehicle. If the shot still has enough energy to overcome the DR of the far body panel, it keeps on going and might hit something. 6. If the DR of the gas tank is exceeded, roll 3d6. If the number is greater than 10, a gasoline powered vehicle will catch on fire. On a natural 18 it will explode. If the tank was full or nearly full subtract -1 from the roll. (That is, a full gas tank makes the vehicle less likely to catch on fire). Special devices like self-sealing fuel tanks might reduce the roll further. 7. If the DR of a tire is exceeded, roll vs. the tire's "HT" of 10 to see if it starts to go flat. Radials have a HT of 11, Specially made Puncture Resistant tires have a HT of 12. Solid tires don't go flat. If the tire starts to go flat, the driver must make an immediate control roll at -1 per 10 mph he was going. In any case, the vehicle loses 10 mph per turn. A driver can continue to drive on a flat tire at -2 to control rolls and 30-50 mph maximum speed for several minutes before he ruins the tire and the rim. 8. Damage that penetrates the frame's DR of 5 hits the engine. Damage that exceeds the engine's DR of 8 it will do damage. Roll vs. the "HT" of the engine -1 per 5 points of damage done. If this roll is failed, the engine dies, and the vehicle loses 5 mph per turn until it stops. This HT is usually 8-12 depending on size and durability of the engine. The engine has "HP" from 45 to 100 depending on size. Damage over half HP will ruin the engine. Damage beyond HP is applied to the opposite side body panel as damage. A missile that punches through this body panel will keep on going and might hit something. MOTORCYCLE HIT LOCATIONS DIE ROLL HIT FRONT SIDE REAR AREA HIT PD DR PENALTY EFFECT 2-3 2-4 2 Driver 1/0 3/0 -3 See note 1 and 2. - 5 3-4 Passenger 1/0 3/0 -3 See note 1. 5 - - Windshield 1 3 -3 See note 3. 6-8 6-7 5-8 Body 3 5 0 See note 4. 9-10 8-9 9-10 Tire 3 5 -5 See note 5. 11-12 10-11 11-12 Engine 4 8 -7 See note 6. - 12 - Gas Tank 3 5 -8 See note 7. 1. If the shot was from the front, there is a 2/3 chance that the shot went through the windshield and a 1/3 chance that the shot hit the driver directly. Shots from the side or rear automatically hit the driver without going through the windshield. The "target" whether human or cargo takes normal damage, minus the damage lost to the window or frame. If there was no passenger or cargo a shot that hits the passenger hits the driver instead. 2. The driver takes normal damage and must make a control roll at -4, if he survives and isn't stunned. If he is killed, knocked unconcious, or stunned, the vehicle falls over and crashes. 3. Driving rolls and attacks that use sights obscured by the broken windshield are at -3. If the weapon did more than 13d6 in a single shot or burst, the windshield is GONE. All driving rolls without a visored helmet or goggles are at -1 per 30 mph, due to the wind blowing in your face. 4. If there is cargo on the bike, there is a chance (decided by the GM) that a body hit hits the cargo rather than imbedding itself in the body. If the body of the bike is penetrated, the components of the motorcycle will stop 1d6 more points of damage before the bullet goes through the vehicle. What happens to the bike depends on what the bullet hit. 1 Bullet hit critical part of the bike. The bike will slow by 10 mph until it stops. 2-3 Bullet hit control system. All Driving rolls are at -1. 4-5 Bullet did cosmetic damage. 6 Bullet misses components and passes through the bike doing no damage at all. In this case the damage the bullet lost due to DR is not subtracted - the bullet missed. 5. If the DR of the gas tank is exceeded, roll 3d6. If the number is greater than 10, a gasoline powered vehicle will catch on fire. On a natural 18 it will explode. If the tank was full or nearly full subtract -1 from the roll. (That is, a full gas tank makes the vehicle less likely to catch on fire). Special devices like self-sealing fuel tanks might reduce the roll further. Incindiary, explosive or tracer bullets will automatically make a gas tank catch on fire. 6. A hit to the "tire" of a motorcycle is more likely to hit the axle or go through the spokes with minimal damage. Roll 1d6. 1-2 Axle or shock hit - Make a control roll at -4. All control rolls with the motorcycle are at -1 until the damage is fixed. 3-4 Spokes hit - Make a control roll. The bullet glances and does no real damage to the spokes. 5 Spokes hit - Make a control roll. The bullet damages the spokes, all control rolls with the motorcycle are at -1 until the damage is fixed. 6 Tire hit - Make a control roll. The bullet damages the tires. Roll vs. the tire's HT of 10 or it starts to go flat. Make a control roll and lose 10 mph of speed each turn until you have stopped. You can stop faster if you want to. Puncture resistant tires have a HT of 11. Solid tires don't go flat. 7. Damage that exceeds the engine's DR of 8 will do damage. Roll vs. the "HT" of the engine -1 per 5 points of damage done. If this roll is failed, the engine dies, and the vehicle loses 5 mph per turn until it stops. The HT of the engine is 8-10 depending on durability and size. The engine has "HP" from 15 to 45 depending on size. Damage over half HP will ruin the engine. A missile that does damage beyond the engine's HP goes through the engine and will keep on going. VEHICLE WEAPON MOUNTINGS - The purpose of a vehicle weapon mounting is to stabilize the weapon. A good weapon mounting will give a bonus to Gunner or Guns skill. However, this only offsets penalties for a rough ride; if your vehicle moves smoothly, the mounting doesn't matter. FIXED MOUNTS - The simplest vehicle weapon is a fixed mounting with no elevation or traverse. You aim the gun by aiming the vehicle. Gunner skill with such a weapon can't exceed your vehicle control skill-3 and the weapon can only fire straight ahead, or on a set trajectory. PIVOT MOUNT - A weapon can be swivelled through a limited arc by allowing it to swing from side to side. You aim the gun by turning the mount and turning the vehicle. Gunner skill with such a weapon can't exceed your vehicle control skill-1. Such a weapon can fire in a 60 arc (30 on each side) from side to side. FLEXIBLE BALL MOUNT - As above, but the weapon can be swivelled up and down as well as from side to side. Gunner skill with such a weapon can't exceed your vehicle control skill. Such a weapon can fire in a 60 arc (30 on each side) from side to side and up and down. IMPROVISED SWIVEL MOUNTING - Any heavy man-portable weapon on a tripod can be set up as improvised swivel mounting on top of or in the bed of a vehicle. Such a mounting would give no bonus. Such a mount would allow the weapon to be swivelled in a 360 arc. PINTLE MOUNT - At TL 6, an ordinary military gun mount is a pintle; machine guns, light auto-cannon, rocket-launchers and recoilless rifles are often mounted this way. This gives a +1 bonus. Such a mount could be custom-built for a civilian vehicle. Mass-produced military mounts are 20% of the cost of the weapon involved. Custom jobs are a matter for the bargaining skills of the purchaser; any machinist can make a good one in two days. Pintle mounts can fire in any direction. UNSTABILIZED TURRETS - An ustabilized turret gives +2 bonus and the weapon (or weapons) are permanently braced. Such turrets are usually electrically powered and are equipped with elaborate sights for the weapon. If you are unfamiliar with a specific type of turret you are at -2 to weapon skill until you have gained Familiarity with that type of turret mounting. This is in addition to any penalties for unfamiliarity with the weapon. Turrets can fire in any direction. STABILIZED TURRETS - As above, but stabilized turrets give +3 if they are stabilized in only elevation or or traverse, or +4 if they are fully stabilized. At TL 6 stabilized turrets are rare, expensive and unreliable. They are not available until after 1930. At TL 6, a custom-built stabilized turret takes precision parts and at least 2 man-months of skilled labor (Engineering, Armory, Machinist skills required). The work will almost certainly attract the attention of the government's spy catchers if such turrets aren't already common knowledge. At TL 7 and later, turrets are fairly easy to build. WEAPON FIRE FROM A MOVING VEHICLE OR HOWDAH - Apply all range/speed and size modifiers. It is important to consider the appearant speed of the two targets. If the combatants are running at each other head-on or are paralleling each other at the same speed, the relative speed is almost zero. -4 Hand weapon attack by the rider/driver -2 Hand weapon attack by a passenger in a vehicle Roughness of the ride, from: 0 a car on a good road, a WWII or later fighter -1 a WW I fighter plane, a boat in relatively smooth water -2 a motorcycle on a good road, an elephant, a speedboat -2 a horse or mule at a walk -3 a car on a bad road, a speedboat in choppy water -3 a horse or mule at a trot -4 a car, tank or pick-up off-road, a boat in high seas -4 on horseback or muleback at a gallop or canter -1 to -10 Firing through smoke, paint, etc. VEHICLE IMPACT - Vehicles do damage according to the following formula Mass (tons) x Velocity (mph) = Damage dice = mass (lbs.) x velocity (yds./sec)/400 Roll vs. DX to take half damage if you had time to react but failed to Dodge. A critical failure means that you were dragged by the car and take double damage. All impact damage is crushing damage. Assess knockback damage normally. The victim can be knocked back more than 2 hexes. If you are hit by another vehicle while you are in a car, use the same formula but modify it according to the following table: Vehicle that hit you is 1/4 as heavy as your vehicle x 1/4 Vehicle that hit you is 1/3 as heavy as your vehicle x 1/3 Vehicle that hit you is 1/2 as heavy as your vehicle x 1/2 Vehicle that hit you is 3/4 as heavy as your vehicle x 3/4 Side Collision x 1 1/2 Side Collision in properly braced vehicle x 1 Rear or Front Collision x 1 Seats don't have headrests x 1 1/4 Not wearing Seatbelt x 1 1/4 Wearing Shoulder belt and seat belt x 3/4 Airbags x 3/4 Racing safety harness and crash frame x 1/2 In rear seat in frontal collision x 3/4 Vehicle rolled x 2 Vehicle heavily padded x 3/4 Loose cargo in passenger compartment x 1 1/4 VEHICLE CRITICAL HITS (3d6) 3 VEHICLE EXPLODES - Either due to ammunition or fuel explosion. 4 VEHICLE ON FIRE - Either due to burning fuel or burning cargo. 5-6 DISABLE COMPONENT - Roll randomly for the component. 7 X2 DAMAGE 8 BYPASS ARMOR - The shot bypasses all but 1 DR of the vehicle's armor and penetrates normally. 9-10 FOE MUST MAKE A CONTROL ROLL - This is in addition to any control rolls due to damage. 11 HIT PASSENGER/CARGO - This is in addition to any other effects the shot might have. Roll randomly if there are both passengers and cargo. 12 JAM WEAPON - Roll randomly for which weapon is jammed. This is addition to normal damage. 13 HIT COMPONENT/CARGO - This is in addition to any other effects the shot might have. Roll randomly to see what was hit. 14 NORMAL DAMAGE PLUS CRITICAL HIT ON CREWMAN 15 X3 DAMAGE 16 DESTROY COMPONENT - This is in addition to any other effects the shot might have. Roll randomly to see what was hit. 17 VEHICLE STOPS - The vehicle's engine stops. It will coast to a stop or start gliding towards the ground (if it is an aircraft). 18 VEHICLE CRASHES - The vehicle crashes if there is an obstacle or other vehicle it can crash into. If it is an airplane it goes into a steep dive. The driver of the vehicle can make a Control Roll to try to minimize the damage by braking or pulling out of the dive. MOVEMENT - If the ceiling is high enough, fliers can go over figures. Humans normally fly in a horizontal position (so they can see the ground and watch where they're going), making them 2 hex figures. CHANGING HEIGHT - Vertical movement costs the same as horizontal in magical flight. In natural or technologically assisted flight it costs x2 movement to climb, and 1/2 movement to dive. A climb of one at a 45 angle covers the same distance as 1.5 hexes of horizontal flight. ENCUMBRANCE - Use the following encumbrance rules for flying creatures: No encumbrance (up to ST x 2): No Effect Light encumbrance (up to ST x 6): 3/4 Move Medium encumbrance (up to ST x 10): 1/2 Move Heavy encumbrance (up to ST x 15): 1/4 Move Most creatures can't fly with Heavy encumbrance, and some can't even fly with medium encumbrance. FLIGHT CEILING - On Earth, an unprotected human will have trouble breathing past 10,000 feet. Double fatigue costs for any exertion between 10,000 and 15,000 feet. Past 15,000 feet, an oxygen mask (or equivalent) is needed. Some non-humans will be able to fly much higher. On worlds with greatere air pressure, higher flight will be possible. On worlds with little atmosphere, the reverse will be true. COLD AND WEATHER - In addition to lack of oxygen, high winds and cold temperatures will affect characters. Also, characters who are flying very fast will effectively create their own wind, causing greater wind chill than if they were standing still. At high altitudes winds can exceed 100 mph, and storm clouds can cause updrafts and downdrafts that can rise or fall thousands of feet per minute. A flying character should make Meteorology rolls to avoid such conditions. If he is caught in high winds he should have to make a series of control rolls at a suitable penalty to escape. Winged aircraft and creatures might take damage to their wings from high winds. COMBAT MANEUVERS - Combat maneuvers are the same for flyers as for any other characters, with the following exceptions: CHANGE POSITION - This is a free action in flight. AIM - You are at -4 to aim while flying, unless you train yourself to fire while flying to buy off the penalty. Aim can only be used to get the ACC bonus of the weapon. You can't aim on subsequent turns to get a further bonus unless you can hold still and there is no wind pushing you about. DISENGAGE - You can perform this maneuver by climbing or diving away from your foe rather than moving backwards. ATTACKS ATTACKING WITH RANGED WEAPONS - The penalty for using a ranged weapon in flight is Control skill-17. Note that a fliers own speed relative to the target counts into his range/speed total for a ranged weapon attack. The exception is dropped weapons. This uses Throwing-3, Thrown Weapon-5 or Dropped Weapon skill. Assess normal speed/range modifiers and size modifiers, but there is no penalty for using a dropped weapon. ATTACKING WITH HAND WEAPONS - Weapon use is difficult in flight. The penalty for use of a weapon in flight is Control skill-15; if your flying skill is 15 or better, you have no penalty. When fliers use hand weapons against foes on the ground, use modifiers for relative hieght. Weapon reach becomes very important! Don't worry about relative height for two fliers, unless one can climb much faster than the other one, then the better climber can set the height he wants to fight at and can attack and disengage at will. DIVING ATTACKS - A flier who dives to gain speed will do +1 damage per 10 hexes of speed he was going, up to the maximum damage of the weapon. If he was going extremely fast, he might have to make a control roll to pull out. An opponent on the ground who can brace his pole arm or spear will be able to attack with a stop-thrust. DEFENSES - Flying humans have +4 to Dodge. They have a penalty to Parry and Block equal to Control skill - Weapon or Shield skill. In addition, their faster speed might give the enemy further penalties to hit. GROUND FIRE - A flying creature will be an obvious and attractive target for any missle user in range. Assess range, speed, and size penalties normally, but also apply modifiers for firing upwards. Double the penalties if the target's range isn't known. Range-finders or a successful skill vs. Gunner: Anti-Aircraft skill will allow a character to correctly judge the range. Most soldiers aren't skilled at hitting flying targets. CINEMATIC AND SUPER COMBAT The following rules are unrealistic, but highly appropriate for the world of Hollywood or the Comics, where heroes can battle dozens of foes and emerge unscathed. EXTRA EFFORT CAN BE USED TO INCREASE DAMAGE - For each point by which a character makes his ST roll he gets +1 per die of damage up to the double maximum damage of the weapon. Use the All-Out Attack maneuver. Each attempt costs 1 Fatigue. ACROBATIC DODGE - The character can dodge acrobatically. If a roll vs. DX, Jumping or Acrobatics succeeds the character can double his dodge score. The character has his normal dodge if he fails his roll. Each dodge by jumping "costs" gives -1 to attack next turn. EVASION IN CLOSE COMBAT - The character can pass through the foe's hex by jumping over him. This cost 4 movement points. If the attempt fails the attempt to evade failed. If successful the character gets +5 to the contest of skills to Evade. BULLET KNOCKBACK It is a part of cinematic "reality" that people who are shot fly backwards. Knockback damage is applied normally for all weapons, not just melee attacks. SINGLE COMBAT AND FIGHTING GROUPS SINGLE COMBAT In single combat, fighters tend to spend a certain amount of time circling and waiting, looking for an opening. In this case, each combat round is actually the "critical moment" in an exchange that lasts 1d6 seconds. This time is doubled if both fighters choose the Counter-Attack, or Wait maneuver, or if one or both of the fighters wishes to prolong the fight for some reason. If one fighter wishes to speed up the fight, but the other fighter is trying to prolong it, the winner of a contest of Tactics or Weapon skills gets to decide whether the time is halved or doubled. If one or both fighters are trying to speed up the fight, both sides fight with normal one second turns. In the interval, fighters can catch their breath, plot strategy, talk, and regain their poise. In melee, once battle is joined, things are confusing enough that one second turns are used, unless the melee breaks down into a number of widely seperated single combats. Both combatants must agree to use single combat, unless 1 combatant was attacked from ambush or surprised. INDIVIDUALS VS. GROUPS - Whenever someone has to fight more than one opponent at a time, there are two contests of skill to be considered. Roll vs. Tactics or Weapons skill -2 of the member of the group with the poorest skill level. There can be some ambiguity in this choice, and if so, the GM should just pick the one he considers to be the dumbest, clumsiest, or most inexperienced and roll for him against the appropriate skill. The result is as follows: Any critical in your favor, or if you won the contest by 10 or more, means that the fumbler in the group has accidently put himself in front, blocking the others. You fight only this character this turn. The GM will move the characters on the map to reflect this. You win the contest. Again you succeed in maneuvering so that one guy in fron is blocking the others, so you fight only one character. But this time it is the best character in the group. The fumbler blocked the way for all the others. You lose the contest. The opponents managed to spread out so that you now have to fight on several fronts at once. However, they have not surrounded you. You are at -2 to attack or defend against any opponent beyond the first, and you are at a further -2 to your tactics skill to determine your position for the next turn. Any critical against you (CS by the opponent or CF) means you've been surrounded. Any future tactics roll is at -5. All attacks are at -2 to hit. GROUP TACTICS In melee, characters can improve their effectiveness by fighting as a team. In general a roll vs. IQ or tactics skill is required of both characters before they can use a technique. Groups that have trained together average their Tactics skills, or use the Leadership skill of their leader (whichever is better), when attempting to use Group Tactics. SHELTERING BEHIND A COMRADE'S SHIELD - The comrade must be to the character's weapon side and must have a medium or large shield. The character must attack Defensively or All-Out Defend to shelter. This gives +1 PD to the sheltering character. If a buddy is actively sheltering you, he can block blows aimed at your front and weapon side (assuming that he's right handed) at -4 to block skill to block you and -2 to block himself. You also get 1/2 of his shield's PD. You are both treated as being in the same hex. Both of you are at -2 to weapon skill (and Parry) because you are so close to each other (assuming you are both right handed. A lefty on the left and a righty on the right would only be at -1 to weapon skill.) This requires no roll vs. Tactics skill. TEAMWORK - Fighters who have drilled together can help each other in melee. They can "donate" the results of feints, shield snatches, shield presses, and attempts to bind weapons to each other. They can also parry and block blows aimed at each other at -2 to skill. Finally, the players of the characters can discuss tactics during melee and move the characters simultaneously, if they so wish, on the slowest fighter's turn. Untrained characters can work in the same way, but all bonuses are halved, and all penalties are doubled. SHIELD WALLS - A unit of men who are equipped with Medium or Large shields may form a shield wall. This prevents the shieldmen from Blocking and gives the shieldmen -2 to all Swing attacks, but it gives them an extra +2 PD and a +4 to ST to resist Slam attacks and knockback. The strength of the shield wall is that men with pole-arms and spears can see and attack over the heads of the shieldmen. They can target the heads and upper bodies of men in the opposing rank. Spearmen in a shield wall are targeted at -1/2 of the average PD of the shieldmen's shields. Furthermore, foes must have a weapon with a reach of 2 or more hexes to be able to strike at spearmen in the second or third rank of the shield wall. A shield wall can only move at 1/2 the speed of its slowest member. A shield wall gives its members +4 to all Slam attacks, but Slam attacks must be made by the unit as a whole. PIKE WALLS - A unit of men who are equipped with spears, pole-arms or pikes may form a pike wall. This prevents the unit from moving at more than 1/2 the speed of its slowest member (unless the unit has specifically trained to march more quickly), but gives men in the second or third ranks a -2 to be targeted by enemy attacks (due to the thicket of pikes and the protection of bodies.) A Pike Wall gives its members +4 to all Slam attacks, but Slam attacks must be made by the unit as a whole. GRABBING POLE ARMS - Since a pole-arm or spear man isn't technically engaged with his opponents, if he is in a shield wall (or in the second or third rank of pike wall) he can attempt to grab the haft of his opponent's weapon and pull it away. Roll vs. DX-4. Success means you grabbed the weapon. While grabbing the weapon you may not attack and you are at -2 to all Active Defenses. Roll a contest of ST each turn. The winner gets the weapon, -5 to ST if you are trying to hang onto the weapon 1 handed. This maneuver is very similar to the Close-Combat move. GROUP MANEUVERS A unit of trained men under the control of a leader can perform the following maneuvers. REFUSE FLANK - The unit must be in a line. The outer two quarters of the line (or just one quarter) move back at 1/4 normal speed, while the middle half of the unit stands still. This allows the unit to occupy fortifications that have an angle in them, or keeps the unit from being flanked. FALL BACK IN LINE - The unit must be in line. It allows the line to move backwards at a Move of 2, while facing the foe and keeping a solid line. WHEEL IN LINE - The unit must be in line. This maneuver allows the unit to pivot on center man, so that it turns in a clockwise or counter-clockwise at a Move of 2 at both edges of the line. This means that half of the men in the unit will be moving backwards, while the other half will be moving forwards. ADVANCE IN LINE - This allows the unit to move forward at Move 3 while presenting a solid front to the enemy. FORM LINE - This allows the unit to go from a column to a line. It takes 10 turns to go from a March Column to a Double or Single Line. FORM COLUMN - This allows the unit to go from a line or other formation into a Column. A charge in Column formation gives +4 to Slam Attacks and might provoke Fright Checks in unformed troops. Unfortunately, only 1/4 of the men can fight at any one time. The formation moves at 3 Move. ABOUT FACE - This allows the unit to turn 180 while keeping its formation. LEFT/RIGHT FACE - This allows the unit to turn 90 left or right while keeping its formation. ROTATE FRONT LINE - This allows the unit to change the man in the front rank. It is done at +2 to skill if in shield wall, -2 otherwise in contact with the enemy. TESTUDO - This formation gives +2 PD vs. all light missiles (like arrows and sling bullets) if the unit is equipped with large shields. Only men on the edges of the testudo can attack. It moves as a column. FORM SQUARE OR CIRCLE - This formation moves as a column, but gives allows the unit to form a pike wall. MASS COMBAT - As an alternative to running a very large combat, you can use the mass combat system for resolving large battles and their effects on the PCs. CONFUSION CONFUSION IN MELEE - For each turn you make an attack in melee without doing some other maneuver, you are at -1 to Attack and -1 to Defend cumulative. This penalty is negated by doing some non-attack maneuver. CONFUSION IN FIRE FIGHTS MEN UNDER FIRE - The GM might require a Fright check when characters are under fire for the first time, or when experienced characters are ambushed or fired on when they are in an exposed position. In this case a failed roll means that you run away or look for cover. Make a Will check to continue to expose yourself to fire or to deliberately draw fire onto your position. -2 to Will if NOT firing back or moving. Bravery and Sense of Duty help. Cowardice hurts. GREEN TROOPS - Bullet Shyness and Buck Fever penalties are doubled, and all skills and IQ are at -2 for characters who have never been under fire before. A turn of Concentration and a Will roll will negate this penalty. Characters with the Combat Reflexes or Combat Veteran advantage are immune to these effects. DEAD BODIES - A character must make a Fright Check the first time he sees a dead body on the battlefield. All characters must make a Fright Check when a member of their party or unit is Killed. This roll is at a minus if the character is killed violently or very suddenly. ARTILLERY - Characters who have never been under artillery fire before must make a Fright Check at -4 the first time they are fired on by Mortars or Artillery. Other characters must roll a Fright Check at +2, unless they can fire back at the artillery. STANDING AGAINST A CHARGE - A character who must stand as member of an unformed body must make a Fright Check before he recieves a Mounted or Formed Foot Charge. If he is in a formed body, he must make a Fright Check before he recieves a Mounted charge. MORALE CHECKS - Whenever a unit is faced with a superior force (in the GM's opinion), takes at least 10% casualties, or when their leader is incapacitated they must make a Reaction check. A Good reaction or better means that they continue to fight. A Neutral reaction means that they will fall back, or otherwise act more defensively than they normally would. A Poor reaction means that they will Disengage or Retreat from combat in an orderly fashion. A Very Poor reaction means that they will Rout or surrender if they can't flee. Troops that will normally never surrender or flee will never Rout or Surrender, but will fight to the death instead. Player characters or important NPCs don't use the rules. Every extra 10% casualties will give -1 to this Morale roll. STREET FIGHTING HOW FIGHTS START - When a brawler or untrained fighter starts a fight they will commonly use one of the following techniques. Common "idiot" attacks include: insults, shoves with both hands to the target's chest, an overhand "bolo" punch with the dominant hand, grabbing both lapels of the target and shoving him into fixed object or tripping him over low object, grabbing the target and punching him, grabbing the target with both hands and kneeing him in the groin or a headbutt to the face, a bearhug from the rear, a "full nelson" from the rear, a flying tackle (to legs or chest), simple combination punches, simple foot or leg trips, hair grabs, or a cosh to back of head. COMMON WEAPONS - Bottles, knives, clubs/bats, guns. STARTING FIGHTS - Make a Will roll to escalate an argument to blows, or a fist-fight to deadly force. Make a Will roll to walk away from an argument if you are angry or proud. SUCKER PUNCHES - Roll a contest of Tactics, Streetwise, IQ, Body Language or Psychology to Partially suprise an opponent when you escalate a fight (or attack suddenly) to violence. BACKING OFF - If you attack and opponent and you miss and he counter-attacks and hits make a Will roll to avoid backing down. DETECT SETUP - Roll vs. Streetwise to detect situations where an attack is likely - good areas for muggings, gangs in "colors" looking for trouble, etc. Roll vs. Body Language, Psychology, Streetwise or Tactics to detect hostility of a random person in fight situation. Roll vs. Psychology, Fast-Talk or Diplomacy to defuse a hostile situation.