[House Rule] Massed Shooting attacks

Sam Baughn · 11-05-2010, 08:25 AM

It's been mentioned a few times on this forum that the normal rapid fire rules are significantly less effective than making lots of attack rolls. The most notable issue with this is that multiple small turrets on spaceships become a lot more effective if you can find some excuse for them to roll individual attacks, such as by fitting them with a lot of different weapons.

In order to 'fix' this issue, I have come up with the following house rule, which makes massed shooting more effective.

Massed Shooting

If more than one individual is attacking a target with similar weapons, use Rapid Fire rules, but instead of the usual bonus to hit and Rcl, use the ones from the following table instead.

Code:


No. of Attackers	To Hit	Rcl.

2			+2	4
3-4			+3	3	
5-6			+4	3
7-8			+5	2
9-12			+6	2
13-16			+7	1
17-24			+8	1
25-49			+9	1*
50-99			+10	1*
100-199			+11	1**
200-399			+12	1**
400-799			+13	1***
800-1,599		+14	1***
1,600+			+15	1****

Use average attacker skill (including any aiming bonuses), rounded down, and average range to the target for the roll to hit.

If using weapons with RoF 2+, add the RoF bonus from the normal rapid fire rule for one weapon to the hit roll (if weapons are firing at different rates, calculate average RoF and use that).

If using weapons with RoF 2+ use the higher of the Rcl from the table or the weapons' Rcl. If the Rcl in the above table has one or more stars (*) after it, reduce the weapon's recoil by the number of stars.

Examples:

Two bowmen (skill 12), with regular bows, aim (+2 to hit) and then shoot at a normal sized man (SM+0) at a range of 20 yards (-6 to hit). They get +2 to hit from massed fire, for a final roll to hit of 10. Recoil is 4. If they roll 8, they hit once.

Sixty soldiers (Skill 12), with Battle Rifles (RoF 11, Rcl 3), are firing at a giant monster (SM+4) at an average range of 100 yards (-10 to hit). They get +10 to hit from the massed fire table and +2 to hit for their rate of fire. Final roll to hit the creature is 12, +4, -10, +10, +2 or 18. Recoil is 3, -1 because of the massed fire modifer, for a total of 2. If they roll 8, they hit the monster six times.

Ten laser turrets (RoF 10) mounted on a large spaceship (average gunner skill 10) fire at a SM+6 heavy fighter at Close range (-4 to hit). They get +6 to hit from massed fire and +2 from rapid fire, for a total to hit roll of 20. Recoil is 2, due to massed fire rules. If they roll 10, they hit six times.

11-05-2010, 08:25 AM	#1
Sam Baughn Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and some other bits.	[House Rule] Massed Shooting attacks It's been mentioned a few times on this forum that the normal rapid fire rules are significantly less effective than making lots of attack rolls. The most notable issue with this is that multiple small turrets on spaceships become a lot more effective if you can find some excuse for them to roll individual attacks, such as by fitting them with a lot of different weapons. In order to 'fix' this issue, I have come up with the following house rule, which makes massed shooting more effective. Massed Shooting If more than one individual is attacking a target with similar weapons, use Rapid Fire rules, but instead of the usual bonus to hit and Rcl, use the ones from the following table instead. Code: No. of Attackers To Hit Rcl. 2 +2 4 3-4 +3 3 5-6 +4 3 7-8 +5 2 9-12 +6 2 13-16 +7 1 17-24 +8 1 25-49 +9 1* 50-99 +10 1* 100-199 +11 1 200-399 +12 1 400-799 +13 1* 800-1,599 +14 1* 1,600+ +15 1**** Use average attacker skill (including any aiming bonuses), rounded down, and average range to the target for the roll to hit. If using weapons with RoF 2+, add the RoF bonus from the normal rapid fire rule for one weapon to the hit roll (if weapons are firing at different rates, calculate average RoF and use that). If using weapons with RoF 2+ use the higher of the Rcl from the table or the weapons' Rcl. If the Rcl in the above table has one or more stars () after it, reduce the weapon's recoil by the number of stars. Examples:* Two bowmen (skill 12), with regular bows, aim (+2 to hit) and then shoot at a normal sized man (SM+0) at a range of 20 yards (-6 to hit). They get +2 to hit from massed fire, for a final roll to hit of 10. Recoil is 4. If they roll 8, they hit once. Sixty soldiers (Skill 12), with Battle Rifles (RoF 11, Rcl 3), are firing at a giant monster (SM+4) at an average range of 100 yards (-10 to hit). They get +10 to hit from the massed fire table and +2 to hit for their rate of fire. Final roll to hit the creature is 12, +4, -10, +10, +2 or 18. Recoil is 3, -1 because of the massed fire modifer, for a total of 2. If they roll 8, they hit the monster six times. Ten laser turrets (RoF 10) mounted on a large spaceship (average gunner skill 10) fire at a SM+6 heavy fighter at Close range (-4 to hit). They get +6 to hit from massed fire and +2 from rapid fire, for a total to hit roll of 20. Recoil is 2, due to massed fire rules. If they roll 10, they hit six times.