a CAR WARS® supplement
Aerial Combat in the 21st Century by Craig Sheeley Edited by Loyd Blankenship, Mike Hurst and Steve Jackson Cover by Jeff Magniat Illustrated by Karl Martin Car Wars original design by Chad Irby and Steve Jackson Loyd Blankenship, Managing Editor Carl Anderson, Production Manager Typography and Layout by Loyd Blankenship & Kerry Havas Maps and Diagrams by Carl Anderson Creative Interference: Robert Hayden, Charles Oines. Playtesters: David Platt, Wallace D. Greer, Phil Morrissey, Marvin Lowe, Matt Fairliegh, Eric Larsen, New Omaha Vehicular Association [NOVA] (Tim Jacques, Norman McMullen, Don Jacques, Jay Chladek), Southern California Civilian Armor Regiment [SCCAR] (Sean Wadey, Brian Irvine, Chris Rice, Rick Brower); Flame, Laser And Gauss Gun Specialists [FLAGGS] (Martin Poteralski, President), Carlos McReynolds, Mike Montgomery, Greater Orlando Duellists [GODS] (John M. Hurtt, Dave Hyde, John Hyde, and others) and Robert Eikel.
Table of Contents AERODUEL AIRCRAFT IN 2040 AIRCRAFT CONSTRUCTION Fixed-Wing Planes
1 2 4 4
Body Types Propellers Power Plants Plant Accessories Gas Engines Jet Engines Jet Accessories Aircraft Fuel Weapons Landing Gear Dischargers Turrets
4 6 6 6 6 7 8 8 9 9 9 9
Helicopters
10
Construction Power Plants Weapons Accessories
10 10 10 10
Airships
12
Body Types Power Plants Weapons Accessories
12 13 13 13
Other Fliers
15
Autogyros Ca rplanes Hoverplanes Balloons Gliders Hang Gliders
15 15 15 16 16 17
Parachutes Rocket Packs
17 17
Aircraft Accessories AERODUEL MOVEMENT
18 20
Fixed-Wing Aircraft Movement Air-to-Air Scale Stall Speed GLOC The Sound Barrier Storms Wing Checks Falling and Crashing Rotary-Wing Aircraft Movement Auto-Rotation Rotor Checks Airship Movement
20 20 20 23 23 23 25 25 26 26 27 28
AERODUEL COMBAT
30
New Weapons Targeting Modifiers Damage Allocation Firing Arcs Weapons Fire Anti-Aircraft Defenses
30 31 32 32 33 35
CHARACTERS AND SKILLS AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE SAMPLE AIRCRAFT SCENARIOS ACCESSORY LIST COUNTER TEMPLATES INDEX CHARTS AND TABLES INSERT
36 36 37 38 40 41 44 middle of book
Aeroduel a registered trademark and logo, is pyramid, a trademark of ofSteve Jackson Incorporated. Car Wars Aeroduel is copyright 0 1990 by Caris Wars, Aeroduel, Autoduel, AADA, the AADA the all-seeing and the names all products publishedGames by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are trademarks or registered trademarks of Steve Jackson GamesSteve Incorporated, or used under license.Incorporated. Car Wars Aeroduel is All copyright © 1990 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rightsStates. reserved. Printed in the United States. Jackson Games rights reserved. Printed in the United 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ISBN 1-55634-170-9
STEVE JACKSON GAMES
AIRCRAFT IN 2040 History and Development In 1904, the first powered airplane was patented by the Wright brothers. Within a few years airplanes were a craze that spread worldwide. And only ten years after the first flight, men were taking aircraft to war. The development of warplanes parallels autoduel development with curious accuracy. At first, all the contesting aeroduellists had were improvised hand weapons — lengths of chain, wrenches, pistols, whatever was handy. Soon, proper weapons began appearing. Machine-guns were mounted to the rear cockpits of spotter aircraft — or whichever end didn't mount the propeller, since no way had been found to shoot through it without destroying it. The machine-guns proved to be properly lethal, but two-seaters lacked the maneuverability of single-seat aircraft. The French tried to mount the machine-gun firing over the prop arc but the mount was cumbersome, like a pintle-mount MG in a driver-only car. When the interrupter gear was invented, fighter planes appeared with front-mounted machine-guns, similar to Joe Harshman's first autoduelling car. World War I ended before aircraft could advance further. In the twenty years between world wars, more developments did occur: metal monoplanes, better engines, development of the first bombing computers. When World War II began, airplanes were both large and deadlier. The single-engine biplanes of the first war were replaced by monsters mounting up to four engines that could fly up to 1,600 miles to deliver their bombs and still return to their home airfields. World War II was a rapid development period for aerial weapons: guided bombs, radar, remote-controlled weapons, bomb-dropping techniques of all kinds, new construction techniques and jets appeared during the conflict. The wars of the late 20th century took these developments and expanded on them. Fighters turned into swept-wing jets,
Introduction
hurtling across the sky at trans-sonic speeds. Strategic bombing was rendered obsolete by the nuclear missile. Air-to-air missiles appeared, bringing a new lethality to aerial combat at ranges previously undreamt of. For a time guns were replaced by missiles in the belief that no aircraft would get close enough to use guns against a missile-armed craft. The Vietnam conflict dispelled the misconception and guns once again became standard weapons for combat aircraft.
Support and Transport On the civilian scene, airplanes replaced airships over 100 years ago as the primary passenger and cargo hauler. When the airship Hindenburg experienced a still-mysterious hydrogen fire, airships were abandoned for years. Cargo and passenger airplanes took over, growing steadily larger and more numerous until they reached 200 tons and larger, powered by massive fuel-gulping jet engines to push them through the sky. This era ended when the fuel ran out. The monster jets still exist, languishing in hangars or stripped for parts and construimael. Airships returned with gratifying swiftness. They had been revived in the late 1990s as cheap vertical-lift transport vehicles. The crash of the cargo jets was the signal for mass airship construction to fill the gap swiftly. Helicopters fared well from their introduction in the latter half of the century. Since helicopters were capable of landing and taking off from previously impossible landing locations, the military found immediate uses in moving men and supplies swiftly, without roads or airfields. Civilian use was similar, using helicopters to get in and out of small areas. The gunship was born when military designers put weapons on helicopters, enabling them to provide aerial fire support with a long loiter time and the ability to hide on the ground if necessary. The gunships' potent anti-tank weapons almost pushed the AFV from the field for a time.
2
The Present Day When petroleum sources ran out, aircraft propulsion systems were adapted to the new fuel-cell technology. Helicopters adapted easily, and gunships and transport choppers roamed the skies within a year of the fuel-supply collapse. Due to a scarcity of safe airfields, airplane use declined. When airship transport opened up supply lines and ground protection improved, airplanes joined their rotary-winged companions in the air. Airships never left the scene. Inexpensive and economical, they thrived through the Food Riots and the madness that followed. The sight of an airship's stately progress across the sky became as common as jet contrails had been before fuel ran out. As demand for fuel declined, jets began to reappear, operating on hoarded fuel. Rare but extremely fast, a jet is the mark of too much money and not enough to do with it. Typically, jets are owned by corporations and other wealthy organizations.
Fly The Unfriendly Skies: Private Wars The breakdown of government control was the last step in the total deregulation of all airlines. Government regulation of the aircraft used by companies and corporations had been on the decline since the 1980s. Some companies used the deregulation process to acquire lightly-armed aircraft and surplus military jets (although the jets were usually unarmed and used for highspeed travel). When the Free Oil States seceded from the Union, many powerful and wealthy companies in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana seized the opportunity to expand their power. Some bought combat aircraft from Free Oil armories, some stole aircraft and several aircraft companies merely "lost" completed models off of the shipment inventory. Other factions set about arming commercial flyers with jury-rigged weapons and machine-guns — a popular option for militia and independent raider units. The Second Civil War was marked by totally unbalanced aerial action — either the skies were free of aircraft as both sides hoarded their resources (fuel for the Federals, aircraft for the secessionists) or aswarm with one side's aircraft, pummeling whatever unfortunate forces were beneath the aerial armada. Rarely did actual air-to-air combat occur — the heaviest aerial combat arena was Wichita, Kansas and the oil fields to the southwest. The combat took place at the beginning of the war, when both combatants were strongest. The Federals used too much irreplaceable fuel during the operation — and the secessionists discovered that their Air National Guard surplus aircraft were no match for the latest in Air Force technology. Few of the corporate aircraft saw much use in the years to follow. They sat on the ground as a threat, using their precious fuel only when absolutely needed. The Food Riots exhausted many fuel caches, and more were depleted in the anarchic madness that followed. Fewer and fewer aircraft had the fuel or the parts to get aloft.
The situation changed when conditions stabilized and fuelcell aircraft began to appear on the scene. Helicopters were the first fuel-cell aircraft in manufacture and almost everyone bought them immediately — their usefulness had been proven in wars for the last six decades. Corporate air flotillas began building back up. When major airplane manufacturers began production of fuel-cell airplanes and microplanes (formerly called ultralights), the corporate air barons grabbed more air power. Air shipping companies acquired immense air fleets to protect their trade routes and airship investments, as more and more valuable cargoes traversed the nation via gasbag. Competition for routes and customers moved from price wars to air wars in record time, using the logic that the only good competition was destroyed competition. Independent aerial pirates appeared to plague the air transport companies, further justifying transport company policy of shooting at anything within range and fostering accusations of corporate sponsorship of various pirate groups. Today, aerial combats range with frequency equal to highway fire-fights. The major difference is that the airborne destruction is not often covered by live cameras — a dogfight is too dangerous a place for a news chopper, since anything in the air becomes a target in such conflicts. The heaviest areas of conflict are declared Combat Zones by the Federal Aviation Agency updates on zone locations are available via satellite uplink at all times, but most pilots know to avoid the direct-line courses linking major cities. These minimum-mileage routes are the ones most heavily used by cargo-carriers and the aircraft that prey on them, like pirates of old lurking along the trade currents. The only relatively safe havens are airports, heavily-armed bastions of sanctuary. Many aircraft vary from these straight-line paths, attempting to avoid the combat that heavy airship convoys bull through. The most expensive passenger fares are with the convoys, so most travelers take the off-routes too.
Government Involvement Most government involvement consists of restricting airspace over valuable and secret installations (enforced at gunpoint, either by anti-air defenses, fighter aircraft or both) and the ever-present eyes of the SDI spy-sats. The U.S. Aerospace Force controls the network and tracks the entire hemisphere (and a great part of the rest of the world, but not so closely), following every flight and often aborting kill-sat intervention when the near-AI targeting computers think they see a missile. Nothing is so disconcerting as receiving a radio call from SDICOM asking for aircraft identification, and no aircraft hesitates to identify itself — failure to do so means that a kill-sat might be allowed to its job . . . The SDI records are supposedly Top Secret and not available to anyone outside SDICMD or the high ranks of the USAF. However, operator bribery has occasionally resulted in information release. To date, security measures have prevented any unauthorized use of the kill-sats themselves. Military aircraft far outclass those available to civilian forces. To the average aeroduellist, military jets are to be avoided — they strike at unbelievable ranges and monstrous speeds, often without warning. Often the target aircraft barely detects the incoming missile on its radar before it hits: modern missiles carry their own ECM. They travel at 1,000+ mph and shred civilian "warplanes" like cheese — only fools fight the military.
3
Introduction
FIXED-WING PLANES construction of their frames and wings — microplanes, for instance, are made of carbon-fiber/aluminum composites, and airplanes are made of carbon-fiber/plastic/steel alloy. Jet fighters substitute titanium for steel. When designing airplanes, the components are Body Type, Power Plant, Propellers (unless the aircraft is a jet), Tires, Weapons and Accessories. Unless otherwise noted, aircraft have six armor locations: Front, Left, Right, Back, Top and Underbody. Armor is available in all of the types used for land vehicles. Armor types cannot be mixed on the same vehicle. All aircraft bodies may be streamlined and have sloped armor (wing spaces are not affected by this). Microplanes may use Improved Tail Assemblies and Maneuver Foils (see p. 18). Airplanes may mount maneuver foils and may use Improved Tail Assemblies. The number of Maneuver Foils an aircraft can mount depends on size and type. Small, medium, large and cargo microplanes can mount one pair. Large cargo microplanes can mount two pairs. Airplanes (of any size) can mount up to two pairs. Small jet fighters can mount two pair. Large jet fighters can mount three pairs.
The first powered aircraft were fixed-wing planes, which fly by using thrust to push air over a fixed lifting foil. This differs from helicopters and autogyros, which use a rotary foil, and airships, which using lifting gas.
Body Types Airplanes are built in the same way as cars and other vehicles. They are more expensive due to the materials used in the
Microplane Body Types Type Small Medium Large Cargo Large Cargo
Cost $2,500 $3,500 $5,000 $6,500 $8,000
Maximum Load 3,000 4,500 6,000 8,500 10,000
Weight 200 lbs. 350 lbs. 550 lbs. 600 lbs. 800 lbs.
Spaces(F/W) 7/1 10/2 14/3 14(+8)/3 20( +16)/4
Wing DP 5 8 10 12 16
HC 4 3 3 2 1
Armor Cost/Wt. 11/5 13/6 18/9 22/11 30/14
HC 3 2 1 0 0
Armor Cost/Wt. 14/7 20/10 30/14 30/14* 30/14*
Airplane Body Types Type Small Medium Large Cargo** Large Cargo***
Cost $4,000 $6,000 $9,000 $30,000 $100,000
Weight 450 lbs. 700 lbs. 2,000 lbs. 3,000 lbs. 4,500 lbs.
Maximum Load 6,000 10,000 16,000 30,000 65,000
Spaces(F/W) 10/ 2 18/3 26/6 40( + 30)/10 70( + 30)/15
Wing DP 12 16 20 30 40
*Armor cost/wt per section. **Has ten sections to the fuselage, just like a trailer. Requires at least two propellers or jets to fly. ***Has eighteen sections to the fuselage, like two trailers! Requires at least three propellers or jets to fly.
Jet Fighter Body Types Type Small Large
Cost $150,000 $ 250,000
Weight 5,000 lbs. 9,000 lbs.
Maximum Load 25,000 40,000
*Has ten armor locations.
Construction
4
Spaces(F/W) 25/7 45/8
Wing DP 30 35
HC 3 1
Armor Cost/Wt. 30/14 30/14*
Jet Frames
Wing Modifications
Jet fighters are high-performance, specially G-stressed airframes built for the rigors of speed and acceleration. They are more-or-less custom-built and automatically include the following in their construction: Improved Tail Assembly, Swept Wings and Streamlining. The cost, weight and space of these options are built into body cost, weight and space figures.
All aircraft wings can have the following modifications: Heavy Lift — +25 % of body cost, +10% of body weight. Allows the aircraft to take off with a greater load, reduces stall speed by 20% and top speed by 20%. When figuring acceleration (and the ability to fly at all), use 70% of the aircraft's weight. Jet Fighters may not mount Heavy Lift wings. STOL Wings — +20% of body cost, + 10% of body weight. A modification of Heavy Lift Wings, Short Take-Off and Landing Wings reduce stall speed by 33%. They also reduce HC by 2 (minimum 0). They can be combined with Heavy Lift Wings. When combined, stall speed is reduced by 40%, top speed is reduced 20% and HC is lowered by 2 (minimum 0). Jets can not have STOL wings. STOL wings may be combined with Swept Wings (below), bringing stall speed back to normal. Swept Wings — +25 % of body cost, +5 % of body weight. These wings (which include delta wings) reduce drag and increase maximum speed by +50%. Stall speed increases 33%. Heavy Lift and Swept Wings may not be combined. Remember, jet fighters automatically have Swept Wings. Variable Wings — +100% of body cost, +20% of body weight. (Jet fighters pay 100% of body cost and 10% of body weight for variable wings.) Variable wings allow an aircraft to angle the wings for either normal wing or swept wing performance. Angling the wings from normal to swept configuration (or vice versa) is a firing action on the first turn and takes four turns after the first to take effect. While the wings are changing configuration, treat wing effects as if the wings were in the former configuration — if changing from swept to normal, the aircraft behaves as a swept-wing until the change is complete, and vice versa. Forward-Swept Wings — +400% body cost, +10% of body weight. (Jet fighters pay only 5 % of body weight for this modification.) These wings reduce aircraft stability immensely, making a highly maneuverable aircraft. An aircraft with forward-swept wings must have at least one pair of maneuver foils. Forward-swept wings reduce HC by 2, increase stall speed by 50%, increase top speed by 50% and reduce the difficulty of any maneuver by 2. Combined with the effect of the maneuver foils, this gives the aircraft -D2 on maneuvers under 60 mph and -D3 on 60+ mph maneuvers. If the power plant aboard a forward-swept wing aircraft ever fails, the aircraft goes into an immediate spin that cannot be corrected. Forward-swept wings cannot be combined with any other wing type. Extra Wing — Turns the aircraft into a biplane (or triplane). Any number of extra wings may be added to an aircraft. Each extra wing consists of another Left wing and Right wing, each with regular wing DP for the appropriate aircraft. Airplane and jet extra wings can be armored normally. Extra wings do not add to wing spaces. A biplane can have its wings fore and aft rather than stacked on top of each other — this makes no difference. Wing DP remains unchanged; each additional wing lowers stall speed and maximum speed by 20%. HC is +1 for the first additional wing only. Weight and cost vary according to body type, because larger aircraft require more massive wings. Small, medium and large microplanes add 20% to body cost and weight per additional wing. Small airplanes, cargo and large cargo microplanes add 40% to body cost and weight. Medium and large airplanes add 200% to body cost and weight. Cargo and large cargo airplanes add 300% to body cost and weight. Flying Wings — Adds 0 to wing space (round up) while maintaining the same fuselage size. Adds 20% to lift, and increases the difficulty of all maneuvers by +D1. +250% body cost and +25% of body weight.
Frame Composition Microplanes are composed of lightweight assemblies and take double damage from rams and collisions. Airplanes are made of similarly light materials but are more durable and resistant to impact. Jet fighters are made of expensive plastics and high-strength, low-weight metals. Airplanes and jet fighters take standard damage from rams and collisions. No fixed-wing aircraft may be modified for a carbon-aluminum frame, since they're already composed of equivalent materials.
Spaces Aircraft have two kinds of spaces, Fuselage (F) and Wing (W). Fuselage spaces are used as are Body spaces in other vehicles. Wing spaces are the number of spaces in each wing available for mounting weapons, propellers, jets and/or accessories. EWPs may also be mounted on the wings.
Wings Each aircraft has two wings. Wings are lifting foils and provide weapons mounts as well. Spaces given on the Body Type table are per wing. Microplane wings are extremely flexible and durable because of their lightweight construction. They take damage like metal armor. A Wing Check (see p. 25) must be made in any turn a wing suffers two or more points of damage. Microplane wings cannot be armored. Airplane and jet fighter wings are less resilient but tougher, taking damage like metal armor but at one point less — i.e., airplane/jet fighter wings take damage on a damage die roll of 5 or 6; 4,5 or 6 if the attacking weapon is a burst effect (3-6 from HESH). A Wing Check must be made in any turn a wing suffers four or more points of damage. Airplane/jet fighter wings can be armored. Wing armor has a Cost/Wt. of $20/5 per wing space of the airplane's wings. It must be applied to both wings equally and is limited to 40 points of armor (or 8 points of metal). Example 1: The BB-17B (Large Cargo airplane) has 4 points of metal armor on each wing, for a total of $2,400 and 3,000 lbs (a ton and a half of armor!). Example 2: A large airplane with 40 points of plastic armor on each wing would have six spaces on each wing, each with 200 lbs. of armor, for a total of 1,200 pounds per wing. Total cost would be $9,600, plus 2,400 pounds. Plastic wing armor essentially adds DP to the wings, suffering damage in the same way wings are damaged. Do not make Wing Checks for wing damage until plastic wing armor is gone. Metal wing armor protects against wing damage — but any damage penetrating metal armor causes a Wing Check. The airplane in the example above would have to sustain 5 or more points of wing damage in a single attack to take any actual wing damage. However, metal wing armor is destroyed just like regular metal armor. For example, if a burst weapon attack hitting 4 points of wing armor had two die rolls of 5 or 6, the wing would sustain no damage but the metal armor would be reduced to 2 points.
5
Construction
Propellers Microplanes and airplanes require propellers and power plants; jet fighters don't use them. Propellers are a plane's "wheels," transforming power from the power plant into thrust. Jet engines shoot their power directly out the stern as thrust. Planes require at least one propeller; some require more, and all may use multiple propellers. Propellers may be mounted on the wings, on the front or back of the fuselage, and in wing and body-mounted EWPs. Planes with three or more propellers lose 1 from HC (unless HC is already 0, in which case there is no loss). Microplanes may mount no more than three propellers. Planes mounting propellers on the wings must balance the mountings symmetrically. Propeller mountings must be identical for each wing — if an aircraft mounts a propeller F on one wing, it must mount another propeller F on the other wing. Propellers can be mounted forward and backward on wings — it is possible to have an aircraft with four propellers, two wingmounted F and two wing-mounted B. Any plane losing one or more propellers suffers an immediate D4 hazard. Thereafter its HC drops by 2 until the propeller is replaced. Propeller armor adds its DP to the propeller's.
Propellor Types Microplane Propeller — $250, 200 lbs., 1 space, 4 DP. Propeller armor costs $5 and weighs 2 lbs. per point, maximum 10 points. Airplane Propeller — $600, 250 lbs, 2 spaces, 10 DP. Propeller armor costs $20 and weighs 5 lbs. per point, maximum 20 points. Ducted Cowlings — $250, 20 lbs., no space, adds 2 DP to propeller. When added to all propellers on a plane the power plant's power factors are increased by 15 % for purposes of acceleration, top speed and maximum load. Ducted cowlings are larger than regular propellers and easier to target. Tilt-Rotor — $100, 75 lbs., 1 space each. These may be mounted on any microplane or any airplane of large or smaller body style. Tilt-rotor-equipped propellers must be mounted on the wings, aimed forward. Tilt-rotors swivel up to take off and land and tilt forward for regular flight. Switching between the flight modes is a firing action, taken in the acceleration phase. Tilt-rotors may have ducted cowlings. Acceleration in take-off mode is reduced by 10 mph; a tilt-rotor with an acceleration of 0 or less cannot take off! A tilt-rotor aircraft in take-off/VTOL mode behaves just like a helicopter with a maximum speed of 50 mph. Tilt-rotor aircraft moving faster than 50 mph in VTOL mode must make a Wing Check with a +1 per 5 mph over 50 mph. Such aircraft must continue to make such Wing Checks every turn they are in VTOL mode and exceeding 50 mph. Tilt-rotors may not be EWP-mounted.
Power Plants Microplanes use car power plants and gas engines. Airplanes use gas or fuel-cell aircraft power plants or jets (small airplanes can use car power plants or gas engines). Jet Fighters use jet power plants exclusively. Aircraft power plants (see top of next page) are identical to Helicopter plants in the Compendium. They can only be used to power helicopters and airplanes; since most of the power is routed directly to the prop(s), the power use is different from ground vehicles. Microplanes use variations of the car power plants.
Construction
Power Factors A power plant's power factors get the aircraft off the ground and provide acceleration: 5 mph Acceleration: Power Factors = V2 up to (but not including) 3/4 aircraft weight. 10 mph Acceleration: Power Factors = 3/4 up to (but not including) aircraft weight. 15 mph Acceleration: Power Factors = aircraft weight up to (but not including) 1 V4 times weight. 20 mph Acceleration: Power Factors = 1144 times aircraft weight up to (but not including) 1½ times aircraft weight. 25 mph Acceleration: Power Factors = 1½ times aircraft weight (only possible with jet engines). When calculating acceleration, power factor modifiers such as ducted cowlings, superchargers, platinum catalysts, and so on are additive. For example, an aircraft equipped with a power plant modified for PCs and SCs and ducted cowlings would figure the power factor boost for the plant modifications, then increase the result by the ducted cowling factor. Example: A 10,000 lb. medium plane with a small aircraft power plant and regular propellor would have an acceleration of 10 (8,000 PF is more than 3/4 weight, but still less than weight). This same plane adds PCs and SCs (adds 15%, bringing it to 9,200 PF), plus ducted cowlings (an additional 15 % increase on the modified PF, bringing it to 10,580 PF) for an acceleration of 15. When the aircraft is taxiing, heavy lift wing modifications to the aircraft's weight are ignored. If the aircraft's power factors are less than half the aircraft's weight, it has an acceleration of 2.5 mph. Top speeds for electric plants are doubled, yielding the following formula: (720 x Power Factors)/(Power Factors + Aircraft Weight). Top speeds for the power plants are calculated before adding top speed bonuses for streamlining and Swept Wings. Top speed for gas engines uses the following formula: (480 x Power Factors)/(Power Factors + Aircraft Weight).
Plant Accessories Overdrive cannot be used. Turbochargers, superchargers, etc., do not add their acceleration bonus to planes; they only increase top speed. Aircraft mounting wheels that are not retractable must have wheelguards for streamlining — each missing wheelguard (each aircraft should have at least three) subtracts 10 mph from top speed. Aircraft may use rocket boosters, increasing acceleration up to 10 mph for cargo planes and microplanes and up to 10 mph for all other fixed-wing aircraft. Like all vehicles, aircraft take three seconds to power up. An aircraft with fuel-cell power figures its range according to the following formula: Each power plant has Power Units equal to (50 x spaces). PU are consumed at (PU x (Current speed -75)) divided by (10,000 x (maximum speed/ 240)). Swept-wing aircraft have 75 % of normal range, due to the loss of lift.
Gas Aircraft Engines Gas aircraft engines (see table, top of next page) can be Blueprinted, use Tubular Headers, Turbochargers, Superchargers and Nitrous Oxide boost. Base MPG is figured at cruising speed — 60% of the aircraft's top speed. For every 20% of Top Speed above cruising speed, reduce the MPG by 10%. MPG can never be worse than 30% of Base MPG. For every 10% of Top Speed below cruising speed, increase MPG by 10%, to a maximum of 120% Base MPG.
Aircraft Power Plants Type Mini Small Standard Super
Cost Weight Spaces DP $10,000 2,500 8 16 $15,000 3,000 10 20 $20,000 3,500 13 26 $25,000 4,000 16 32
PF 5,000 8,000 14,000 20,000
Gas Aircraft Engines Type DP PF Base MPG Cost Weight Spaces 8 7,000 15 Mini 19,000 1,000 18 Small 30,000 1,500 11 24 14,000 9 1,900 45,000 15 27 24,000 6 Standard 65,000 2,250 18 36 30,000 4 Super Oversize 100,000 3,000 22 45 40,000 1* *(Max acceleration 5 mph) When a gas engine takes one or more DP of damage, roll 2d-3, plus 1 per 5 points of damage and consult the Engine Critical Damage Table.
Jet Engines Type Standard High
Cost 15,000 45,000
Weight 300 300
DP 1 1
Spaces 1 1
Engine Critical Damage Table 2 or less - Smoke pours out of the exhaust pipes, giving the crew a good scare and making for dramatic gun-camera pictures. No other effect. 3-4 - Minor damage. The engine may break down later. Roll 2d-4 on this table after each full hour that the motor is run. Repairing the engine is an Easy job. 5 - Medium damage. The engine may break down. Roll 2d-3 on this table after each full ten minutes that the motor is run. Repairing the engine is a Medium job. 6-7 - Heavy damage. Roll 2d-2 on this chart every 30 seconds. Repairing the engine is a Hard job. 8 - Cooling system. Warning lights indicate overheating. After 10 seconds, the engine may seize up - roll 1d each turn after the ten-second warning. On a roll of 6, the engine seizes up and stops running. It cannot be repaired. 9 - Oil system. After three seconds, roll 1d each turn. On a roll of 6, the engine seizes up and is unrepairable. If the engine has a turbocharger, it seizes up on a roll of 5 or 6. After five seconds, warning lights indicate loss of oil pressure. Please note that the engine may seize up without warning during the fourth and fifth seconds. If the engine is shut down before it seizes up, it may be repaired at 10% of the engine's original cost. Such repairs are a Medium job. 10 - Fuel system. The engine will shut down after d+3 seconds. The engine might catch on fire. Roll 2d each turn until the engine is shut off or stops for lack of fuel. On a roll of 11 or 12, the engine catches on fire. 11 - The engine destroys itself, taking five seconds to turn into useless junk. All engine power functions (acceleration, laser power) are lost immediately. It cannot be repaired. 12 or better - The engine is on fire.
Jet Engines Jet engines are different from any other power plant in that they are both the power plant and the engine. Typically, power plants only provide power for separate electric engines. Jets
PF 1,000 2,000
Base MPG 5 1
consume their fuel and throw the resulting energy out the tailpipe. Any fixed-wing aircraft can be fitted with jet engines, although jet fighters are specifically built for the purpose. Microplanes and jet fighters cannot have jet engines mounted on the wings - microplane wings are too frail and jet fighter designs are useless unless the engines are placed in the fuselage but airplanes may mount jet engines on their wings. Jet engines may be mounted in wing and tail-mounted EWPs. Jet engines must be mounted back. There are no standard-size jet engines, since they must be custom-fitted to the aircraft. There are two standard types of jet engines: high-performance and standard-performance (see table, above). The actual engines are built by adding spaces to the engine until the desired power factors are reached. For instance, a 16,000 PF HP jet engine would weigh 2,400 lbs, take up 8 spaces and cost $360,000. An aircraft can mount more than one jet engine. Unlike regular power plants, multiple jet engines combine their power factors into a single power factor. These engines must be constructed separately. The advantage of having multiple jet engines is that if one is damaged the other(s) can continue to function, keeping the aircraft aloft. Certain airplanes require multiple engines (cargo and large cargo airplanes). Jet engines mounted in wings must be mounted in matched pairs, like weapons or propellers. A jet engine mounted in the fuselage may be any size, and need not match the wing engines. Multiple fuselage engines must match each other. The jet engine in the above example could be made into two separate engines with ease - each engine would have 8,000 PF, weigh 1,200 lbs., have 4 DP, take up 4 spaces and cost $180,000. To get the same performance with three engines would require two standard engines with 5,000 PF ($75,000, 5 DP, 5 spaces, and 1,500 lbs. each) and one HP engine of 6,000 PF (weighing 1,200 lbs. with 3 DP, taking up 3 spaces and costing $135,000).
Fuel Efficiency Jet engines are very thirsty fuel users. The Base MPG is listed for 450 mph cruising speed (or 60 % of the aircraft's maximum speed, whichever is lower). If the aircraft goes faster than
7
Construction
cruising speed, the Base MPG is lowered by 10% per 5 % of Top Speed over cruising speed to a minimum of 30% Base MPG. For every 5% of Top Speed under cruising speed, the Base MPG is raised by 5 % to a maximum of 120% Base MPG. Base MPG is the same no matter how many engines a jet aircraft has. Top speed for a jet aircraft is determined by the following formula: (1,000 x PF)/(PF + Aircraft Weight).
Jet Accessories Jet engines cannot use any accessories except Afterburners or Vectored Thrust. Afterburner. Weighs 10% of engine weight, takes up 2 spaces, costs 50% of engine cost. Only High-Performance engines can mount an afterburner. An afterburner increases the power factors of the jet when it is activated. Activating an afterburner counts as a firing action; turning an afterburner off counts as a firing action. Afterburners are activated and turned off in the acceleration phase. When an afterburner is activated the engine's power factors double. This doubling holds as long as the afterburner is turned on. When the afterburner is running, the jet engine uses one gallon of fuel per turn per afterburner-equipped engine. Jets with afterburners have two acceleration ratings and maximum speeds. One is for standard use and one is for when the afterburner is activated. Vectored Thrust — +20% of the jet-engine spaces, +50% of the jet-engine cost. Cannot be fitted to jets with wingmounted engines. Allows the jet aircraft to hover, move backwards and make vertical take-offs and landings like a VTOL/helicopter. To use VT, the aircraft must have an acceleration of 20 mph before afterburner calculations. When hovering or moving on vertical thrust the aircraft has an acceleration of 5 mph and a maximum speed equal to its horizontal stall speed. Maximum backwards speed is 5 mph. Fuel is used at 2 gallons per second per engine when using VT. VT can be used in maneuvering at speed — see the Viffing section on p. 22.
Jet Engine Damage Jet engines are not as tough as gas piston engines. Each time a jet engine takes damage, roll 1d and refer to the following table.
Jet Engine Critical Damage 1-2 — No apparent effect. The engine requires repair of lost DP, an Easy job. 3 — Power shutdown. The engine stops working and the aircraft loses the engine's thrust. The pilot may attempt to restart the engine, hoping that it's merely a flameout. Roll d — on a 1-3, the engine restarts. On a 4-6, the engine remains dead until repaired. Repairing the engine is a Medium job. 4 — Engine fire. The engine is on fire, and may be extinguished by on-board fire extinguishers. Repairing the engine is a Medium job. 5 — Engine destroys itself. Shattered turbine blades hurtle from the exhaust, a nerve-racking process that lasts 1d turns. The engine can't be repaired; it must be replaced. 6+ — The engine explodes, doing damage to the aircraft. If
Construction
the engine is mounted in the fuselage, the damage affects internal components. If the engine is mounted in the wing, the damage is applied to the wing. If the engine is mounted on an EWP, the damage is applied to the side armor or wing, as appropriate. The engine does 1 point of damage per engine space. EWP-mounted engines do 1 point of damage per 3 engine spaces. The engine no longer exists to repair.
Aircraft Fuel Microplanes with gas engines use regular gas/alcohol fuel. Airplane/helicopter gas engines use a higher-octane, more expensive fuel. It weighs the same as regular fuel but costs $100 per gallon. Jets use even more expensive fuel. It weighs 6 lbs. per gallon, like regular fuel, but costs $250 per gallon. Fuel tanks are constructed as per the Compendium rules for gas tanks (see below). Space constraints make for small internal fuel tanks, so most gas-burners and jets use Drop Tanks (see Accessories, p. 18).
Gas Tanks The gas tank is a separate component from the gas engine, and is drawn separately on the vehicle record sheet. A gas tank can hold any whole number of gallons — even one. The number of spaces a gas tank takes up is the same for every type. A tank of 5 gallons or less takes up no space; 6- to 15-gallon tanks take up 1 space; 16- to 25-gallon tanks take up 2 spaces; 26- to 35-gallon tanks take up 3 spaces, and so on. If multiple gas tanks are used, calculate the space taken up using the total capacity of the combined tanks. Gas tanks are available in four types: Economy Tank — Weighs one lb. per gallon and costs $2 per gallon of capacity. The economy tank has 2 DP. Heavy-Duty Tank — Weighs two lbs. per gallon, and costs $5 per gallon of capacity. The HD tank has 4 DP. Racing Tank — The racing tank utilizes compartmentalization and a sponge-like substance that holds the fuel and keeps it from sloshing and leaking. The result is that even if the tank is breached, fuel loss will be V4 that of the economy or HD tank. Racing tanks weigh five lbs. per gallon and cost $10 per gallon of capacity. The racing tank has 4 DP. Duelling Tank — This top-of-the-line tank is for duellists who want to take as few risks as possible. The duelling tank has the same internal safety features as the racing tank, and it's more heavily armored. The duelling tank weighs 10 lbs. per gallon and costs $25 per gallon of capacity. The tank has 8 DP. When gas tanks are hit, they take damage like any component. If a duelling tank (for instance) takes 5 hits of damage, it has 3 DP left. After the tank is breached, roll I die and multiply the result by 20% (5% for racing and duelling tanks) — that is the percentage of the tank's capacity that leaks out of the tank (see also Fire and Explosion on Compendium p. 31). If the tank is still holding fuel, it now has half the original tank's DP. If the breached tank takes damage in excess of its (new) DP again, it is automatically destroyed and all gas is lost. Fuel — A gallon of fuel weighs 6 lbs. Tank type Economy Heavy Duty Racing Duelling
DP 2 4 4 8
Wt./gallon 1 lb. 2 lbs. 5 lbs. 10 lbs.
$/gallon $2 $5 $10 $25
Weapons Aircraft mount weapons in the fuselage and wings. Wing armament must be pointed forward or backward. Armament mounted in the same area as a propeller, firing through the same arc, costs $500 more per weapon for the synchronization with the propeller. One weapon may be mounted in the propeller hub, but still costs $500 more for counter-rotation fittings. Turrets and EWPs may be mounted T and U on the fuselage; those mounted U must be taken from cargo spaces if the aircraft has cargo spaces. Back-mounted fuselage weapons must also be taken from cargo spaces if the aircraft has cargo space. No more than 1/3 of the total spaces in an aircraft can be devoted to weapons that fire from any one side (round down). Wing-mounted weapons must be mounted in matching pairs — if there are three MGs in the left wing firing F, then there must be three MGs in the right wing firing F, too. Weapons may be mixed in the wings — for example, an RL and an MML could be mounted in each wing. Each mixed pair must fire the same direction — the RLs in the example might fire F and the MMLs fire B, but the matched pairs would fire the same direction. Microplanes cannot mount high-recoil weapons in their wings. ATGs, ACs, GCs, HACs and Tank Guns cannot be mounted in microplane wings or in microplane EWPs. No microplane may mount a Tank Gun or HAC. Airplanes may mount ACs, ATGs and GCs in their wings and in their EWPs. They may mount TGs F or B in their fuselages, although firing such a weapon is a D4 hazard at any time! HACs must be mounted in the fuselage, and firing it is a D2 hazard if the airplane is smaller than Cargo. Airplanes mounting ATGs suffer a D2 penalty every time they fire an ATG to any direction except F or B — unless the airplane is larger than Large, in which case there is no recoil penalty. Jet fighters have the same weapon mounting rules as noncargo airplanes. They may fire HACs and ATGs without any penalties.
Other Exterior Equipment Aircraft may mount EWPs and turrets, according to the Turret Table (see below). Aircraft may mount turrets on the top and the bottom of the aircraft, as many as they could normally mount on the top. No EWPs can ever be mounted anywhere but on Top, Underbody or Wings (wing-mounted EWPs are under the wings).
Landing Gear Every aircraft requires landing gear. Microplanes require three motorcycle wheels; airplanes require three car wheels. Jet fighters, cargo and large cargo airplanes require six truck tires. (While some "real-world" cargo planes require more than six wheels, they require large, gas-hog engines and have fallen out of use in 2040. The maximum cargo weight of an Aeroduel plane is 65,000 lbs. — large, but well able to get by with six wheels). Appropriate wheelguards may be added to the wheels to protect and streamline them (microplanes use cycle wheelguards, airplanes and jet fighters require regular wheelguards). Only three wheelguards are necessary — on the six-wheel aircraft, the wheels are grouped in pairs. All aircraft may mount retractable landing gear — see Accessories, p. 18. Microplanes and airplanes under 5,000 lbs. may mount OffRoad Suspension (at standard cost) and Off-Road Tires in order to take off from and land on off-road/unpaved surfaces. A plane
without OR tires will take 1 point tire damage per Phase they are in contact with an unpaved surface. Planes without OR suspension take this damage directly to the underbody — the wheels collapse! Microplanes and airplanes may mount a tailwheel or skid instead of one (or 1/2 total number, whichever is greater) of the required sets of wheels (1 wheel most of the time, 2 wheels on large landing gear assemblies). The tailwheel/skid weighs and costs half as much as one standard wheel of the size appropriate to the aircraft. Tailwheel/skid aircraft are limited to 30-degree turns while taxiing.
No Landing Gear Aircraft landing without wheels on a paved surface (a belly landing) will take 2 points damage to the underbody per Turn, decelerating 20 mph per Turn, until the craft stops. On an unpaved surface, damage is 1 point per Phase. In either case, there is a Fire Modifier of 2, Duration 0 (it catches fire on a 2 on 2d).
Dischargers Aircraft may mount dischargers on body and wings. Only two dischargers may be mounted Back and none may be mounted Front. Sides, top and bottom may mount two dischargers per 20 body spaces. Wings may mount two dischargers (on the bottom/trailing edge of each wing) per four wing spaces, rounded up. This is a good way to carry chaff to fool those radar-guided missiles . . .
Turret Tables Microplane Turret Table Body Type
Maximum Turret Size
Small Medium Large Cargo Large Cargo
None 2-space 2-space 3-space 4-space
Maximum EWP Size
1-space 2-space 2-space 3-space 4-space
Number Of Mounts
1 T, 1 U 1 T, 1 U 1 T, 1 U 1 T, 1 U 2 T, 2 U
Airplane Turret Table Body Type
Maximum Turret Size
Small Medium Large Cargo Large Cargo
2-space 3-space 3-space 4-space 4-space
Maximum EWP Size
Number Of Mounts
2-space 3-space 4-space 5-space 5-space
1 T, 1 U 1 T, 1 U 2 T, 2 U 2 T, 2 U 2 T, 2 U
Jet Fighter Turret Table Body Type
Small Large
Maximum Turret Size
4-space 4-space
Maximum EWP Size
Number Of Mounts
5-space 5-space
1 T, 1 U 2 T, 2 U
EWPs may, of course, be mounted on the wings. An aircraft may mount as many EWPs on each wing as it may mount top turrets. Aircraft may mount up to two special EWPs on the tail of the aircraft, one on each side. These EWPs may only mount propellers or jets.
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Construction
Helicopters Fast, maneuverable and versatile, helicopters are the most numerous air vehicles of the 21st century. Their ability to carry heavy weights and land nearly anywhere makes them the most useful aircraft of the age, serving as cargo carriers, passenger haulers, attack craft and rescue ambulances. They're harder to maintain than airplanes, don't have nearly the range and are far more expensive, but their usefulness is worth the shortfalls.
Construction Helicopters follow construction rules similar to other aerial vehicles. The factors of cost, weight and space must be carefully balanced to build an effective helicopter. Helicopters only have five basic components: body style (which also determines rotor diameter), power plant, weapons, armor and accessories. Helicopters do not have suspension, chassis or tires. The maximum weight is strictly a function of the power factors of the power plant (see below). Helicopters come in four basic types. Note that the base handling class goes down as the helicopters get bigger. The numbers in parentheses under "Spaces" indicate the amount of cargo the helicopter can carry. Spaces designated for cargo cannot be used for helicopter components (except where noted below). Rotor DP indicates the number of damage points the helicopter's rotor have. The first number is for the main rotor; the second is for the stabilizing rotor. The one-man helicopter can be purchased in a "stowaway" construction. For an extra $1,000 the helicopter can be broken down into component parts. It has a hinged fuselage and folding rotors and fits into any cargo area holding 13 spaces. The assembly or breakdown process takes a tool kit and 15 minutes. Helicopters may be specified as having doors on either or both sides. Opening a door is a firing action for a standing gunner or passenger. When a door is open the helicopter is treated as if it has an open sun-roof on that side.
Power Plants Helicopters use aircraft power plants and gas aircraft engines (see p. 7). Acceleration and top speed for helicopters is computed differently than other aircraft, as most of the helicopter's power goes to keeping the helicopter in the air. If a helicopter's power plant's factors are less than the helicopter's weight, the helicopter cannot lift off the ground. If the factors are more than the helicopter's weight but less than 1.5 times its weight the helicopter has a straightaway acceleration of 5 mph. If the power factors are 1.5 times the helicopter's weight or greater, the helicopter has a straightaway acceleration of 10 mph.
Helicopter top speed is computed with the following formula: (300 x Power Factors)/(Power Factors + weight). Helicopter power units are consumed at a rate given by this formula: (PU x current speed)/[20,000 x (maximum speed/100)]. On the average, a helicopter can travel about 200 miles at 100 mph on a full charge. Helicopters need armor in six locations: Front, back, right, left, top and under. The main and stabilizing rotors are not protected by armor. All the usual types of armor are available for helicopters and mixing types is not allowed except for composite metal/plastic.
Weapons Weapons work for helicopters just as they work for other air vehicles. Helicopters can use dropped weapons if they are close enough to the ground. Like other aircraft, paint sprays, smokescreens and FCEs work normally, but the helicopter needs to be within 7½ feet of the ground — V2" in ground scale — and moving below 150 mph to use oil jets, spike-droppers and minedroppers. Above that height and speed, the action of the rotors and velocity spread dropped weapons too much to be effective. Vehicular weapons may be mounted on the helicopter's front, sides, back and underbody. They may not be mounted on the helicopter's top because of the main rotor. Turrets may only be mounted on the underbody. Turrets cover front, side and back arcs of fire (and cover the under arc if bought as universal) and are protected by the underbody armor. Side and underbodymounted weapons may be mounted in cargo spaces. Backmounted weapons must be mounted in cargo spaces, if the helicopter has cargo spaces to begin with. One weapon may be mounted to fire through the helicopter's rotor, This weapon is fixed to fire straight up, as if it were firing on automatic. Only one of the following weapons may be so mounted: MG, HMG, AC, GG, FG, or any kind of Laser. For an additional $1,000, a laser mounted in the rotor hub may be given a regular Top firing arc by the addition of a special focusing lens. Like all aerial vehicles, helicopters have three-dimensional arcs of fire. See p. 32 for a full explanation.
Helicopter Accessories Many accessories used by helicopters are those used by other vehicles. With logical exceptions (such as wheelguards, etc.) most of the accessories listed elsewhere are available for use by helicopters. The listings below are those accessories that may only be used by helicopters or have special uses on helicopters.
Helicopter Body Types Body size
Price
Weight
Spaces
HC
Rotor DP
Armor
One-man Small Standard Transport
$10,000 $20,000 $40,000 $80,000
500 800 1,200 2,000
13 19 24( + 6) 24(+17)
3 2 2 1
3/3 5/3 6/4 8/4
16/8 20/10 30/14 35/17
Construction
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Rotor Armor — The armor increases rotor DP. Main rotor armor is twice the cost and half the weight per point of one point of the helicopter's armor. Stabilizing rotor armor is 1.5 times the cost and half the weight per point of one point of the helicopter's armor. Main rotor armor repair is three times as costly; stabilizing rotor armor is twice as costly to repair. Rotor armor must match the helicopter's armor, unless the helicopter has only metal armor, in which case rotor armor may be any type of plastic (rotor armor may not be metal). A maximum of 10 points of armor may be applied to any rotor.
Turrets and EWPS — Spaces, weight and cost as per turret/EWP size and type. The table below notes the size of accessory mountable on each helicopter body size. Please note that an EWP mounted on the underbody precludes the mounting of a turret in that area.
Helicopter Turret Table Body Size One-man Small Standard Transport
Max. Turret Size 1 space 2 spaces 3 spaces 4 spaces
Max. EWP Size 2 spaces 3 spaces 4 spaces 4 spaces
Skids — No weight, space or cost. Two of these are standard equipment on all helicopters; the helicopter stands on them when it is on the ground. Skids are targeted at -8 to hit and their DP varies: 8 DP per skid for one-man and small helicopters, 12 DP per skid for standard and transport helicopters. Skid Stretchers — No space, 25 lbs., $300, 2 DP. Skid stretchers are man-sized cylinders attached to the skids for the purpose of carrying extra people or cargo. Each one adds one space to those of the helicopter, up to a maximum of an extra two spaces, but those spaces cannot be used for anything except carrying cargo or people. The stretchers are unarmored and targeted like pedestrians (-3 to hit). Co-axial Counter-Rotating Rotor System (CACR) — 20% of body cost, 400 lbs, 2 spaces. Replaces the stabilizing rotor and adds another blade to the main rotor; both blades have the DP specified for the main rotor. The CACR increases maximum speed to 250 mph and adds 1 to HC (maximum HC is still 3). If the rotors are hit by damage, roll randomly to see which rotor was hit. When one is destroyed, treat the damage as if the helicopter lost its stabilizing rotor. The CACR system works like a stealth system as long as the helicopter stays under half speed and acceleration, except that the range of hearing is 6" (90'). Extra Rotor Blades — Each extra main rotor blade costs $1,000 and weighs 200 lbs. Each extra stabilizing rotor blade costs $250 and weighs 50 lbs. Unmodified rotors have two blades per rotor; up to three more per rotor may be added for a maximum of five per rotor. Each extra blade adds 1 DP to the rotor DP. In addition, any helicopter with four or more blades on its main and stabilizing rotors adds 1 to its HC (maximum HC is still 3). If combined with CACR, each rotor must have the same number of blades and there is no HC benefit from having four or more blades on each rotor.
Dusting A helicopter can "dust" a ground vehicle. If a helicopter drops to within 1" of a ground target over any terrain but the most scrupulously clean arena asphalt, the area is "dusted" the blades kick up a nasty cloud of dust, gravel, trash and other materials, with the basic effect of a very large smokescreen. Put a smokescreen counter directly under the helicopter over a V2" by 1" area. This could stays under the helicopter as long as it's within 1" of the ground, moving wherever it moves, and is otherwise like a smokescreen in all respects. The "dusting" extends upward 1/2" from the ground.
Destroying Smoke and Paint Clouds Any helicopter larger than one-man size can dispel a smoke or paint cloud by flying close to it. Small helicopters disperse any smoke or paint cloud within 1". Standard and transport choppers disperse clouds within 2". Double these distances for a cloud directly below the helicopter. However, a chopper which disperses a paint cloud by flying underneath it is treated as though it had entered the cloud; the paint is sucked down by the rotors and coats the windshield.
Grasshoppers The Grasshopper is an uncommon combination of helicopter and automobile. It is a mid-sized, sedan or luxury car body which is modified to accommodate the extra helicopter equipment. This modification costs $15,000 extra. The equipment consists of a folding rotor assembly issuing from a sliding roof panel; a tail rotor issues from the rear of the car. Because of this conversion equipment, no turrets may be mounted on a Grasshopper except a pop-up turret mounted under. Grasshoppers may have no top-mounted weapons. The rotor extension takes a full turn to activate, during which time the roof panel slides back, the rotors emerge and extend to their full length. To take off the rotors must spin for three seconds — on the fourth second the grasshopper may take off. Its acceleration and maximum speed are determined according to regular helicopter weight versus power factor rules. Grasshopper ground speed and acceleration are based on regular automobile weight versus power factor rules — most grasshoppers are quite fast. Grasshoppers may use only mini or small helicopter power plants. The power plant takes up the normal amount of space and the rotor conversion gear takes up 1 space. Driver skill is used to drive the grasshopper on the ground and Pilot skill is necessary to fly it in the air. Once in the air, the grasshopper acts like a helicopter. Both the main and stabilizing rotors are targeted at -6. The main rotor has 5 DP and the stabilizing rotor has 3 DP. The grasshopper's aerial HC is 2; ground HC is determined by the suspension. Grasshoppers may use rotor armor and maneuver foils but may not use CACR, extra rotor blades or retractable landing gear.
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Construction
Airships Airships were the first true powered aircraft, introduced over 150 years ago. They were the only aircraft in the skies until the invention of the powered airplane. Airships survived as cargo and passenger carriers, capable of much greater range than any of the airplanes of the period. Then their fortunes declined with the destruction of the Hindenburg almost a century ago. Few airships remained in use and even fewer were built. Interest in heavy-lifting bodies — airships — rekindled towards the end of the last century, when new technology made airships feasible cargo-haulers. The interest in airships continued at an even greater pace after the fuel crunch in the early 21st century. Today, airships move most of the heavy cargo across the world's continents, the aerial equivalent of ocean-going cargo ships.
Airship Body Types Size
Micro Small Medium Standard Large Transport Super
Price
Weight
Max Wt
Spaces
$ 10,000 $ 20,000 $ 50,000 $100,000 $150,000 $180,000 $ 250,000
2,000 3,000 4,500 8,500 12,000 25,000 50,000
12,000 20,000 30,000 50,000 75,000 100,000 250,000
20 40 60 110 150 180 240
Body Types Airships have five main components: envelope, gondola, power plant, weapons and accessories. The gondola is the main body to which equipment is fixed; the envelope is the gasbag which provides lift. There are three kinds of envelopes: Non-rigid (blimps); semi-rigid; and rigid (dirigibles). The table above is for fully rigid dirigibles. To convert the statistics to the other types, modify the statistics as follows: Non-rigid — A non-rigid airship is nothing more than a gondola fastened to the bottom of a gasbag. Such an airship is limited to Medium size or smaller. The base price is reduced by 50%. The envelope has only 3 DP in any size and maximum speed is reduced 50%. They can be deflated and stored, to be reinflated with relative swiftness (see below). Semi-rigid — A semi-rigid airship is a gondola that provides a strong keel for the gasbag. Because of this, semi-rigid airships have multiple gas cells in the bag, making the envelope more resistant to damage. They are limited to Large size or smaller. The base price is reduced by 25 % and the max weight is raised 50%. They have V3 envelope DP and only 75% maximum speed. Semi-rigid airships cannot be streamlined. Spaces in airships are usually used for cargo, but are also used for power plants, weapons, crew, etc. The spaces are all in the gondola. The envelope is over ten times as large, but the area is filled with buoyant gas. Armor cost and weight figures are for the gondola. The micro and small gondolas have six armor locations. The other gondolas have ten armor locations, like a trailer, even though most of them are much larger than any trailer. Armor can be any of the usual types, with no mixing allowed except for metal/plastic composites.
Construction
Armor $/Wt
14/7 50/ 25 80/40 140/70 200/100 240/120 300/150
Cntrl DP
Prop DP
Env DP
HC
3 4 8 10 15 20 25
3 5 8 10 16 20 24
6 10 16 20 32 40 50
2 2 1 1 1 0 0
Only rigid airships can be streamlined, at the usual cost and spaces lost. This moves the gondola inside the gasbag at the bottom and has no other effects other than the streamlining. Airships are normally propelled by four ducted fans (although this may be reduced; see below). Each fan has DP equal to the Prop DP listed. Each prop the airship loses lowers the HC by 1 (minimum 0). An airship that has lost half of its props loses half of the power factors provided by the airship power plant. Airship props are -4 to hit and may be armored (see p. 13). Airships may have as few as two fans, or as many as 10 % of the airship spaces (round down). Fans must be mounted in pairs. If an airship has only two fans, reduce the body weight by 400 lbs. and reduce body cost by $1,500. Each pair of fans added weighs 400 lbs. and costs $1,500. Envelope DP is the damage-absorbing capability of the gasbag. When the envelope has taken 1/4 of its DP, the airship begins to lose altitude at 1/4" per turn. When half of the envelope DP are destroyed, the altitude loss is V2" per turn. The airship loses altitude at 1" per turn when 3/4 of the envelope DP are gone. When all envelope DP are gone the airship falls freely (see Falling, p. 25). Envelopes can be armored (see below). Envelopes take full damage from flamethrowers; all other weapons pass through, doing relatively little damage. Burst-effect weapons tend to explode inside, their radius of effect puny compared to the envelope's interior. Non-flamethrower weapons do 1 point of damage per damage die (i.e., a Vulcan would do 2 points, no matter what kind of ammunition it was using. A Heavy Rocket would do 3 points, etc.). Control DP is the amount of damage that the airship's control surfaces can sustain. Control surfaces take only half damage from weapons fire. When their DP is gone, the airship can perform no maneuver greater than D2 difficulty. An airship with no control surfaces may still rotate, since rotating uses the fans rather than control surfaces.
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Power Plants Airship power plants are special, long-endurance fuel cells that cannot be used in any other kind of vehicle.
Airship Power Plants Size Price Micro $5,000 Mini $10,000 Small $15,000 Medium $18,000 Large $30,000 X-Large $75,000 Super $100,000
Weight 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 30,000 50,000
Spaces 12 16 20 22 25 30 45
DP Power Factors 10,000 24 32 14,000 40 24,000 44 32,000 50 47,000 60 67,000 80 125,000
All airships accelerate at 5 mph — you just can't get that large a body moving any faster. If an airship doesn't have at least V2 its weight in Power Factors, it doesn't accelerate at all. An airship can decelerate at up to 15 mph per turn (the wind resistance of the envelope helps instead of hurts). Example: An airship traveling at 20 mph could slow to 15, 10, or 5 mph in one turn. Airship maximum speed is determined according to this formula: (Power Factors x 285)/(Power Factors + Weight). Airship range is 800 miles at 55 mph. Each 10 mph faster lowers the range by 10% to a minimum range of 50% (400 miles). Each 5 mph slower raises the range by 10% to a maximum range of 120% (960 miles).
Helium versus Hydrogen Airships usually use expensive helium to nullify their mass. The element is expensive because it is obtained only from helium fields located in west Kansas, Oklahoma and south Texas, or from nuclear fusion plants. And fusion plants don't produce very much of it. The advantage of helium is that it doesn't burn. It has less actual lifting power than hydrogen and is harder to come by, but it doesn't burn. Envelopes have a Burn Modifier of +0. Those wishing to fill their airships with hydrogen may do so at their own peril. Using hydrogen lowers base body cost by 5 % and adds 10% to maximum weight; it also lowers gas maintenance costs by 90% (see Gas Cylinders, below). Hydrogen burns nicely when mixed with oxygen and sparked. Hydrogen-filled airship envelopes take full damage from any weapon capable of causing a fire (flamethrowers, lasers and incendiary weapons of all kinds) and have a fire modifier of +6. If the airship actually catches fire, roll 2d for damage to the envelope each turn rather than 1 point! Hand-held fire-extinguishers won't have any effect on fires like this. Regular and heavy-duty fire extinguishers can extinguish these fires normally.
Weapons Airships mount weapons in their gondolas, treating the gondola like a vehicle for mounting purposes. Naturally, gondolas can't mount weapons on their Top facing. Gondolas can mount turrets, EWPs and bomb racks — Micro gondolas are limited to two-space mounts and Small gondolas are limited to three-space mounts. Medium gondolas are limited to four-space mounts; larger gondolas may use mounts up to five-space size. Micro and Small gondolas may have two such mounts; larger gondolas may mount up to three turrets/EWPs/bomb racks. If an airship has
three turret/EWP/bomb racks, the first two use the OF armor rating. All three mounts are staggered for unrestricted field of fire. Rigid airships can have Top and Side-mounted weapons, affixed to the structure supporting the envelope. These weapons are mounted on the center-line to maintain balance. Only two weapons may be mounted per side and two more on the top (turret mounts are counted as one weapon per turret, no matter how many weapons are actually in the turret). Only non-significant-recoil weapons may be mounted there (no ATGs, TGs, GCs or HACs). Normally these weapons are mounted in universal turrets for best effect. Any weapons mounted on top or sides count as double weight to account for the strengthening of the frame at this point. For instance, a rigid airship mounting two four-space universal turrets on top, one with an AC and magazine and the other with four SAMs, would have to give up 4,230 lbs. of its maximum weight capacity. Note that the AC could have extra magazines, or the SAMs could have rocket magazines, all below in the envelope. The amount of material that can be below in the airship's envelope is practically unlimited, but the weight adds up. The reason top and side-mounts are common is that the envelope of any airship sharply restricts its firing arcs. Gondola weapons may not shoot at any target higher than the gondola's altitude (for simplicity, the airship's altitude is considered to be the gondola's altitude). This makes the gasbag very vulnerable. The gasbag towers over the gondola. Envelope sizes are detailed below:
Envelope Size Table Airship Size Micro Small Medium Standard Large Transport Super
Envelope Length 17" 20" 24" 29" 32" 34" 50"
Envelope Diameter 3" 4" 5" 6" 6" "7 10"
Cubic Inches 120 250 470 820 905 1,310 3,925
Airship Accessories Airships can use nearly any accessory helicopters and airplanes can. Certain accessories, like maneuver foils and improved tail assemblies, are not available. Airships don't have landing gear, either. Prop Armor — $20, 5 lbs. per point. Each airship prop can be armored to a maximum of 10 points per prop. Can be made in any of the standard armor types except metal. Envelope Armor — 5% of base body cost, 2 % of base body price per point. Envelope armor is automatically fireproof. (The gas inside isn't unless you're hauling helium — hydrogen-filled ships still risk the danger of catastrophic fire.) Airship envelopes can be armored to a maximum of their regular envelope DP that is, the envelope DP can be effectively doubled with armor. Envelope armor can be made laser-reflective for an additional 10% cost. Burst-effect weapons have full effect against armored envelopes! Gas Cylinder — $50 empty (+$5 for hydrogen, +$50 for helium), 200 lbs., V2 space, 2 DP. A single cylinder holds enough gas to inflate one cubic inch of an airship's envelope. High-Speed Compressor Pack — $4,000, 800 lbs., 5 spaces, 4 DP. This heavy-duty compressor can be used to fill gas cylinders. Up to ten cylinders can be filled at a time; it takes 20 minutes to fill a cylinder. The main use for this is to fill extra
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lifting gas cylinders. Helium costs $10 per cylinder refill and is usually available only at airship stations. Hydrogen can be obtained from any airport fueling stop and costs $5 per cylinder. Microplane Harness — $1,000, 500 lbs., 2 spaces. Can be installed on the bottom of any airship with 30 or more internal spaces, one per 40 spaces. It is a harness for carrying a microplane underneath the vehicle in flight, converting it into an aerocarrier. To use it, the microplane (outfitted with the proper hooks, $200, no weight or space) flies 1" underneath the carrier and matches speed with it. The harness is lowered and the microplane flies into it, latching onto the hook in front of the cockpit (a D5 maneuver). The other hooks latch automatically and the plane is secured in the harness. The plane is then winched up to the belly of the carrier, which takes 5 seconds. Control loss during the hooking procedure means the plane failed to latch, and must try again. There is no other penalty for the control loss. Microplane harnesses require the purchase and installation of two winches in addition to the harness, for raising and lowering the plane and harness. The winches may be used for other things as well, such as raising and lowering cargo, when there's no plane in the harness. Once in the harness the plane is carried along with the carrier ship as exterior cargo. The microplane's crew may go inside the larger carrier if they wish. The microplane may be recharged from the airship's power supply, weapons reloaded and other expendables replaced and repairs made — although no wing or underbody weapons may be reloaded and no wing or underbody repairs may be made. A microplane may be carried as interior cargo. This takes additional spaces equal to double the microplane's spaces. A microplane carried as interior cargo may be fully serviced, if tools and supplies are available. Launching a microplane from the harness takes 5 seconds. On the first second the lowering process begins. The next three seconds have the microplane lowering; the microplane's engine may be turned on during this time, warming up. On the fifth
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second the harness is detached allowing the plane to fall free, a D3 maneuver. The plane is moving at the carrier's current speed and may accelerate immediately. Carriers may not mount weapons in armor locations used to mount microplane harnesses. Underbody weapons cannot be used until all planes are detached and the harnesses returned to "up" position (which takes one second after the planes have detached). Solar Panels — 1 DP, $1,000, 100 lbs., 2 spaces. The panel is protected by top armor (but only when not deployed) and can be mounted on any vehicle that can mount a turret. When deployed, each panel automatically positions itself for top efficiency, recharging 20 power units per panel per hour in daytime under clear skies (half that under partly-cloudy skies). It takes 1 turn to deploy or retract and can be targeted at -2. Rigid airships can mount solar panels atop the envelope. These panels weigh 150 lbs. per panel instead of the regular 100 lbs. per panel, because of the need for extra bracing. An airship can mount solar panels all along the top of the envelope — this is the envelope length times V3 the envelope diameter, rounded down. For example, a large airship has room for [32 x (6/3)] = 96 solar panels! Airship-mounted solar panels cannot be "retracted" beneath armor, and can always be targeted. Any shot hitting the envelope from above hits a solar panel on a 1d roll of 4-6. Any shot hitting the envelope from the side hits a solar panel on a 1d roll of 6. Solar panels can't be hit from underneath, front or back. These solar panels do not block the mounting of turrets atop the envelope.
Airship Counters The airship counters and templates (pp. 41-42) are given in air-to-air scale. Ground-scale counters for even the smallest of airships are too large to fit on the counter sheet! The templates provide outlines for the different-sized envelopes, and may be photocopied for personal use only.
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Other Fliers Airplanes, helicopters and airships are not the only things in the air. Other devices share the skies with the more common fliers. Some of these devices are basic, like gliders — others are more complex, like jet-packs. All are detailed below.
Autogyros Autogyros look like helicopters but have little or no power to the rotor. Rotation to provide lift is supplied by forward motion, so autogyros are not VTOL but STOL aircraft. Autogyros are built on microplane and airplane bodies. Body weight is reduced 25%. Autogyros cannot use wing options but are automatically STOL, with a stall speed reduction (see p. 20) of 33%. They have no wings, so they don't worry about wing options, mounts or DP. Autogyros use a rotor to supply their lift instead of wings. The rotor limits the size of autogyros; the largest body type that can be converted to autogyro is Large Airplane. Autogyros don't need or have a stabilizing rotor — they have regular aircraft tails. Autogyro rotors can be armored and may have extra blades installed. They cannot use CACR. Autogyros are limited to a maximum speed of 250 mph and a maximum HC of 3. An autogyro uses the HC of its aircraft body type or 3, whichever is lower. Main rotor DP is determined as follows.
Autogyro Rotor DP Microplane Body Type Small Medium Large Cargo Large Cargo
DP 3 4 5 6 6
Airplane Body Type Small Medium Large
DP 4 6 7
Autogyros must mount a propeller either F or B (props may be mounted F and B if desired) to propel the vehicle. As usual, wheels must be added for landing gear. Autogyros make rolling take-offs and landings. Autogyros mount weapons F, R, L, B and U. Turrets may be mounted U only. Unlike airplanes, autogyros may mount sidemounted weapon EWPs. Autogyro acceleration and deceleration are identical to microplane and airplane rules. Autogyros maneuver like microplanes, except that they don't have to bank to turn. Autogyros climb like microplanes, but the amount of speed used to climb may never exceed the amount of speed used for forward motion. Autogyros dive like helicopters. An autogyro that drops below stall speed begins auto-rotation (see p. 26). When an autogyro suffers control loss, roll on Crash Table 7. Every time a Wing Check is called for, make a Rotor Check instead, using the rules on p. 27.
Carplanes Cars that convert to airplanes have been around for almost 100 years. An attempt was made in the 1950s to mass-produce and market airplanes that turned into cars for road travel — the project fell through because of mass disinterest. With aerial travel being the safest way to get around, due to poorly-maintained highways, the carplane is experiencing a resurgence in popularity.
Carplanes are constructed from sub-compact, compact and mid-size auto bodies. They are built normally, except that the body costs double — this buys the wing and tail assembly with the fold-up modes necessary — and the power plant costs $1,000 more, to cover the dual-purpose mode of use. A carplane requires four tires, a power plant, space for the driver (and passengers if desired), weapon(s), a propeller (mounted F or B — no wing-mounted props on carplanes) and a trailer hitch. The wingand-tail trailer requires two motorcycle wheels; the assembly weighs 10% of the carplane's maximum allowed weight (including modifications for chassis strength). When on the ground, the carplane is separated into two parts. The main body is the car. The wing and tail assembly is folded into an odd-looking trailer that is towed behind the car. When preparing for flight, the wing and tail assembly is unfolded and fastened to the car body. Fastening or removing the assembly requires 10 minutes, or 5 minutes if the driver has an assistant. The trailer wheels are attached to the car while in flight. Carplane wings have no weapons spaces and cannot mount EWPs or bomb racks; they exist solely for the purpose of providing lift. Sub-compact wings have 4 DP and the tail has 6 DP. Compact wings have 7 DP and the tail has 20 DP. Mid-size wings have 9 DP and the tail has 13 DP. Carplane wings take damage like microplane wings; tails take damage regularly. Carplanes can't mount any turrets except for a pop-down turret mounted U; the top of the vehicle has the wing-mounts on it. On the ground, carplanes maneuver and fight as cars, their HC determined by their suspension. In the air, carplanes have an HC of 2 and maneuver like microplanes. They land and take off as airplanes. Carplanes have two accelerations and two maximum speeds listed — one each for car and plane modes. Carplanes have a stall speed of 50 mph.
Hoverplanes An idea introduced in the late 20th century, hoverplanes are hovercraft that sprout wings and convert into ungainly but flyable aircraft. Only one-man and small hovers may be converted this way; the conversion doubles the cost of the body, takes up V4 of the body spaces (rounded up) and weighs V3 body weight (rounded up). This provides a pair of retractable wings and a special stabilizer assembly for the hovercraft. The stabilizer is always out, serving as the hovercraft's steering mechanism this also serves as a vertical stabilizer when operating in hovercraft mode. The wings fold in and out of the hovercraft body. Extending or retracting the wings is a firing action — the wings take two turns to fully extend or retract. The wings cannot carry weapons and take damage as microplane wings. One-man hover wings have 5 DP, small hover wings have 8 DP. The stabilizer is protected by the back armor. Hoverplanes may mount weapons normally. Hoverplanes behave as hovercraft on the ground. They behave as microplanes in the air, with an HC of 1. Hoverplane stall speed is 50 mph. They are treated as pusher aircraft (with the props mounted back) and use their normal fans to propel them on the ground and in the air. Hoverplanes require two acceleration and maximum speed ratings — one for hover mode, one for plane mode.
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Balloons Balloons are a popular surveillance device, and have been for over 100 years. They require little power, are easy to maintain and cheap to buy. Some people use balloons for travel, but only on short joy-rides — they are at the mercy of the wind and can't carry enough armament and armor to survive much. Most balloons hang above towns and cities, armed with cameras and radar. Gas-Cells — Balloons are constructed from gas-cells contained within an envelope. Each gas-cell costs $200, weighs 25 lbs., and provides hot-air lift for 125 lbs. Any number of cells may be linked together to form a balloon, theoretically. The practical limit is 15 cells. Each cell is a separate lifting body and has its own 5 DP. Cells take damage like airships, except that burst-effect weapons do full damage (the cells are so close together that the weapon rounds hit enough resistance to trigger the fuse). If enough cells are destroyed that the balloon's lifting capacity dips below its payload (basket and tether plus the weight of the cells) the balloon begins to fall (see Falling, p. 25). The rate of descent is 5 mph per 100 lbs. (round up) that balloon lift falls short of payload weight up to terminal velocity. Remember that for each 1" of altitude loss, tethered balloons shed 15 lbs. of payload — 15 feet of cable is lying on the ground and no longer counts against the balloon's payload weight. Balloons are normally treated as stationary targets. Falling balloons are not stationary. The templates for balloon counters are provided on pp. 4142. These may be photocopied for personal use only. If desired, a balloon's cells could be filled with hydrogen or helium for non-powered lift. Calculate the balloon's counter area to determine how much the lifting gas would cost, using the costs given on p. 13. Subtract $150 per gas cell if the balloon's cells are not equipped with air-heating gear. Baskets — Most balloons lift a basket. This is the armored box that contains the equipment the balloon mounts. Baskets come in two sizes: Regular ($250, 200 lbs., 3 spaces for equipment, armor cost/wt $10/4 lbs. per point) and Large ($400, 200 lbs., 5 spaces for equipment, armor cost/wt $15/6 lbs. per point). Baskets have six armor facings, as usual, and can use any kind of armor. The regular basket can mount a 1-space turret U and the large basket can mount a 2-space turret U. A balloon can only have one basket, which is represented by a V2" by V2" counter suspended V2" beneath the balloon counter. Tether — $100 and 15 lbs. per 1" (15') of length. To provide power and communications, balloons use an armored electric cable to anchor them to the ground. The cable has 12 non-cumulative DP — the cable must be severed cleanly in one shot to cut it, and is -8 to hit. This is because the damage has to be on the same spot to cut the cable. Someone with an axe on the ground could sever it cumulatively. So could someone shooting directly at the cable on the ground at Vs" (2 feet) range. Raising and lowering the balloon via tether takes a simple electric winch on the ground. This winch costs $200. The balloon is considered a stationary target. The tether is not, since it moves in the breeze. Barrage Cables — $500, 500 lbs., no spaces. This accessory hangs long cables from the balloon. The cables hang directly under the balloon counter and cover an area equal to the counter from the balloon's altitude down to 10" (150') beneath the balloon. The cables cannot be destroyed — there are too many of them — and ramming them is treated as a vehicle collision. The tether cannot be targeted for 10" beneath the balloon; it's mixed in with the other cable.
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Balloons with the barrage option aren't worth much except as aerial roadblocks. The cables obscure basket equipment, making a basket useless. However, well-placed barrage balloons can force attacking aircraft to stay clear of an area lest they run into the balloons.
Free Flight If a tether is released or broken, the balloon floats free on the wind. With the power cut off, the cell air cools and the balloon loses 100 lbs. of lift every 15 minutes. Cycle power plants may be mounted in the basket to heat the balloon. A power plant charge keeps the balloon aloft 15 hours per 100 power factors, dividing by the number of cells in the balloon. For example, a small cycle plant would keep a 1-cell balloon aloft for 60 hours with its 400 PF. It would keep a 9-cell balloon aloft for 6 hours and 40 minutes, or a 13-cell balloon aloft for 4 hours and 37 minutes, etc. Balloons in free flight move in the same direction and speed as the wind. They have no HC and can't suffer crash results. A free-flight balloon may gain or lose altitude, if it has a power plant and someone there to control it (remote control works as well as live pilots). Balloons gain and lose altitude at 1/4" per turn.
Gliders Glider Aircraft Another flying machine that relies on the wind, gliders work on the opposite principle from balloons. They use the air for lift instead of movement. Gliders are microplanes, with the following modifications: Half maximum load, no power plant or propellers and Heavy Lift/STOL wings. Electrical equipment is kept running by an on-board battery system. Lasers require a laser battery. Gliders may be streamlined. They generally don't carry EWPs or bomb racks because of the drag these objects produce. The wheels are mounted in the body and take up 1 space; if the glider is streamlined, so are the wheels, automatically. Gliders are used to carry cargo, or for the pleasure of flying like a bird, unpowered except for the power of nature beneath one's wings. They have to be towed into the sky by another airplane or launched through the use of a catapult (see catapult and tow cable, p. 17). They may only be landed by the glider pilot — a towed glider doesn't brake too well and tends to smash into its tow plane when the plane decelerates. Gliders fly the same way that microplanes do, except that when a glider is not climbing, diving or in an updraft or downdraft it loses V4" of altitude per turn. The only way a free-flying glider has to accelerate is to dive. Gliders can gain altitude by climbing, but this is costly in terms of speed. They may gain altitude without speed loss from thermal updrafts (see Storms, p. 23).
Powered Gliders Although a powered glider would seem to be a contradiction in terms, it is possible. A powered glider cannot weigh more than half the microplane's listed maximum load and cannot have an acceleration better than 10 mph. It must still have Heavy Lift/STOL wings and must also include standard retractable landing gear rather than the special glider landing gear above. The advantage of a powered glider is its extended range (and higher ceiling, although that rarely matters in Aeroduel). A powered glider has double the range of a normal microplane with the same engine.
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Glider Accessories Tow Cable — $200, 50 lbs., 1 space, 1 DP. This is mounted in the tow-plane, not in the glider — it must be mounted B. It is a very strong 3" (45') cable that attaches to the nose of a glider. The cable allows an airplane to take off towing a glider — treat the glider as a car treats a trailer for purposes of airplane acceleration. The cable can be detached at any time. Detaching the cable is a firing action. Once detached the glider is in free flight. The cable is -10 to hit and has 10 DP. Catapult — $3,500, 2,000 lbs., 10 spaces, 10 DP. This is a ground-mounted winch that reels in a glider's tow cable with great force and speed, yanking the glider up to its stall speed. The catapult provides 10 mph per turn acceleration for four turns. The catapult includes the 150' (10") tow cable in its cost and weight. A catapult can launch any aircraft up to 3,000 lbs., as long as the aircraft has no propeller mounted F and is equipped with a tow hook. A catapult exerts far too much force for it to be mounted on any vehicle short of a large ship. Size and weight are included in case it is carried as cargo. The catapult can be carried and set up for use — it does not have to be permanently mounted. Setting up a catapult takes 30 minutes.
Hang Gliders Hang Gliders — $500, 60 lbs. and 1 space as cargo, 1 GE when "carried," 2 DP. Hang gliders are unpowered singlewing surfaces that hold one flyer. The pilot must take off from a height to dive for the speed necessary to keep the glider in the air. The pilot launches himself and the glider off a 50' tall (about 3½") or higher cliff or building at running speed. The glider has a stall speed of 15 mph, a maximum speed of 50 mph and an HC of 2. Once in the air, hang gliders climb like microplanes and dive like helicopters. They may turn, shift and drift. They cannot accelerate in any way except by diving, and lose V4" of altitude per turn when they're not climbing or diving. Hang-gliders that stall at 15 mph or lower must immediately dive to push their speed back to 20 mph or more. Hang-gliders, like their larger cousins, rely on updrafts for most of their altitude gain. See p. 23. When a hang-glider loses control, it stalls automatically. Hang-gliders only take damage from flamethrowers and are +1 to hit. The pilot underneath is at the usual -3 to hit.
Parachutes Parachutes act like hang-gliders once they've deployed and decelerated the wearer. Personal parachutes take 16" to deploy from the holder; vehicular parachutes take 20" to deploy. Personal parachutes brake the wearer for the next 4"; vehicular parachutes brake the cargo for 10". After the deployment and braking, the parachutes are treated as hang gliders. Parachutes are not as versatile as hang gliders, and they're much harder to control. Personal parachutes have an HC of 1, and vehicular parachutes don't steer or maneuver at all. Personal parachutists may make shift, coordinated turn and veer maneuvers. Parachutes descend at V2" per turn when they're flying straight. Since only personal parachutes can make the climb maneuver, vehicular parachutes merely glide their cargo to the ground gradually (which is better than smashing it all over the ground). Vehicular parachutes glide in the wind direction at 5 mph slower than wind speed until the cargo hits the ground. Personal parachutes may do the same, although they move at the wind speed and may turn into other directions.
When parachutes are being used, it is important to determine the wind speed and direction. This can be accomplished by die roll (see p. 24). Parachutes don't have a stall speed. They never move slower than 5 mph, even if there is no wind.
Rocket Packs Rocket packs are one-man rocket-propulsion units. Heavy, short-lived and dangerous, they offer maximum mobility to the individual fighter. They require the Rocket Pack Pilot skill; a person without this skill has no chance of using one without disaster. Rocket-pack pilots go through weeks of simulator training before strapping on the real thing. Each pack costs $10,000, weighs 100 lbs., takes up 1 space if carried as cargo, and has 2 DP. Refueling a pack costs $100 per turn and requires a special high-energy fuel, available only at military bases, Combat Zone supply areas, and some large cities. A rocket pack takes up 3 GE when worn. It takes 60 seconds to put on a rocket pack; a quick-release harness allows it to be removed in 5 seconds. Rocket packs have an acceleration of 10 mph; they can also decelerate at up to 15 mph (10 mph from the pack, 5 mph from the body's natural wind resistance). They have only 60 turns of fuel. On any turn when the pack is not activated, or when the fuel is gone, the wearer decelerates by 5 mph and free-falls (see Falling, p. 25). There is no "stall speed" - the user flies every turn the pack is activated, and falls every turn it's off. Turning the pack on or off is a firing action. Rocket packs can rotate, shift, drift and make coordinated turns and veers, but can make no more than two maneuvers per turn no matter what the flier's current speed is. They can trade speed for height, or vice versa, climbing and diving like an airplane. Rocket packs have a maximum horizontal speed of 60 mph. Should a rocket-pack flyer fail a control roll, he does not go to any specific Crash Table. Instead, he is stunned one second for every point by which the control roll is failed. He can do nothing during this time — not even turn the pack on or off. Rocket pack wearers can only use pistols and other onehanded weapons while in the air; the other hand is needed to control the pack. Rocket packs can be targeted at a -5 to hit. If the wearer is hit, the pack may be hit. If hit from the front, there is no chance of hitting the pack. If hit from the side, there is a 33% chance (1 or 2 on d) of hitting the pack. If hit from the rear, there is a 66% chance (1-4 on d) of hitting the pack. When a rocket pack loses both its DP it blows up, doing 1 point of damage per turn of fuel left in it in a 1" radius.
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Aircraft Accessories Aircraft Radio — $1,000, no weight or space. Similar to a long-range radio, but with a 200-mile range. Bomb Bay — $1,000, 100 lbs., 1 space. A bomb bay is a large set of underbody-mounted doors through which large equipment can be dropped or lowered. The bomb bay replaces one underbody-mounted turret. Opening and closing it is a firing action and takes until the end of the turn after opening or closing is begun to accomplish — for example, a bomber opening its bay on turn 5 has to wait until the end of turn 6 to have it fully open. When the bomb bay is open there is no underbody armor on the aircraft (or that section of the aircraft, if it has multiple underbody armor locations). The advantage of a bomb bay is that bombs and other dropped ordnance can be mounted and dropped as one — all bombs mounted in a bay are automatically linked without extra cost. Regular bomb mounts are small, single-bomb "bays" and must be linked to drop them simultaneously. Bomb Rack — Costs $100 and weighs 50 lbs. per space of bomb capacity. Holds bombs externally on the underside of aircraft. Cannot be mounted on a fuselage that has one or more underbody turrets. Size limits for mounting are the same as EWPs — i.e., treat the BR as an EWP for mounting purposes. A bomb rack is limited by spaces, not by bomb weight. For instance, a Large Cargo airplane could mount up to two five-space bomb racks on each wing, instead of EWPs. The bomb racks could hold up to five regular bombs (or larger sizes, up to one 1,000 lb. bomb per rack). Bombs mounted on bomb racks can be any combination as long as the rack is large enough to hold the bombs and the aircraft can carry the weight. For instance, a 4-space bomb rack could carry four regular bombs, one 500-lb. bomb and a cluster bomb, two cluster bombs and two regular bombs, etc. — as long as the combined size of the bombs carried didn't exceed 4 spaces. Bomb racks may be used to carry torpedoes for use against water-borne targets. Dive Brakes — 5% of body weight and cost, no spaces. Dive brakes allow an aircraft to safely decelerate up to 20 mph in a turn, or decelerate 25 mph as a D3 maneuver. Drop Tanks — Since aircraft use so much fuel, they often carry external tanks. They are built like regular fuel tanks but mounted in EWP areas — drop tanks replace EWPs. The maximum number of spaces per drop tank is double the maximum size of the EWPs the aircraft can carry. For instance, a Large Airplane could carry 2 3-space EWPs on each wing, or replace them with 2 65-gallon drop tanks (6 spaces of fuel per drop tank). The weight of the fuel would be 390 lbs. per drop tank; the weight of the tank would depend on the tank's construction (economy, heavy-duty, racing or duelling; see p. 8). Jet Fighters may mount a special drop tank underneath the fuselage. The tank carries 150 gallons on the small fighter and 300 gallons on the large fighter. The tanks are of racing construction. The small jet tank costs $2,250 and weighs 750 lbs. without fuel. The large jet tank costs $4,500 and weighs 2,500 lbs. without fuel. These body tanks are streamlined to match the jet's streamlining. These external tanks are called drop tanks because they can be fitted with EWP ejectors and are frequently ejected when empty. They are targeted like EWPs. Gee Suit — $1,000, 10 lbs., no space. The gee suit applies pressure to the wearer's lower body and legs during high-gee maneuvers, helping to resist GLOC (see p. 23). Adds 1 to the GLOC die roll for the crewman wearing it. A gee suit can be
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combined with body armor at a cost of $1,500. A gee suit cannot be combined with improved body armor. 5-Space EWPs — $4,500, weighs 750 lbs. Can only be fitted to Cargo and Large Cargo Airplanes and Jet Fighters. Holds five spaces of weaponry. Pod armor costs $10 and weighs 4 lbs. per point to a maximum of ten points per pod, as usual. Aircraft can only mount five-space EWPs on wings. Improved Controls — 300 % of body cost, 5 % of body weight, 2 spaces. Improved computer-enhanced airfoil controls add +1 to HC and negate controls rolls on DO maneuvers. An aircraft with 1C does not have to make a control roll when it executes a DO or less maneuver. Improved Tail Assembly — 20 % of the body cost and weight. Must be mounted when the aircraft is built. Reduces the difficulty of any hazard (not maneuver) by D1 when the aircraft is traveling at 60 mph or more. Benefits are lost when back armor is destroyed or aircraft moves at under 60 mph. Can be installed on any microplane, airplane, autogyro, glider or helicopter. Jet fighters are built with them already in the body cost/weight. Maneuver Foils — $3,000 and 300 lbs. per pair, no spaces. Each foil of the pair has 3 DP. Microplanes, airplanes, grasshoppers, one-man and small helicopters may mount one pair; huge cargo microplanes, small jet fighters, standard and transport helicopters may mount two pairs; large jet fighters may mount three pairs. Maneuver foils reduce the difficulty of turning by D1 per pair when the aircraft is moving over 60 mph (for helicopters they reduce the difficulty of all maneuvers by D1 per pair). The effect is cumulative per pair. DO maneuvers do not require Control Rolls. Foils are mounted on opposite sides of the fuselage. They are targeted at -2. If one foil of a pair is destroyed, the aircraft's HC drops by 2 until the remaining foil is jettisoned (see below) or destroyed. If an aircraft with multiple foil pairs has multiple incomplete pairs destroyed, the HC loss is cumulative (for instance, a standard helicopter with two pair of maneuver foils, missing one foil per pair, has -4 to HC). Foils can be arniored. The cost is $5 and 2 lbs. per point of armor to a maximum of 10 points per foil. Each foil of the pair must have the same amount of armor and the armor type must match the aircraft's (unless the armor is metal, in which case the foil may have metal or plastic armor). Foils can be fitted with ejectors. This costs $600 per pair. When fired, both foils in the pair are ejected and destroyed. Treat the explosion as an anti-personnel grenade with a V2" radius (V2" arc to the side of the remaining foil if jettisoning only one foil). Jettisoning the foils is a D2 hazard but is useful for ditching the HC penalty for an unpaired foil. Personal Parachutes — $200, 20 lbs. if carried as cargo, 2 GE, 4 DP. Personal parachutes are used when people bail out of aircraft. (A person bails out by moving to a square which is considered an exit — a door or bomb bay — and stepping out.) Falling rates are described on p. 25. The parachute opens after the person has fallen 16" ( 240'), brakes the descent for the next 4" (60'), then acts like a hang-glider (see p. 17). Parachutes cannot climb without updrafts. Parachutes descend at 10 mph unless they hit an updraft. An open parachute is +3 to hit, due to its size, but may only be damaged by flame-throwers. A person takes d-4 damage from landing. Pontoons — $500, no space, weighs half weight of normal wheels, or 50 lbs. if the aircraft normally has skids. Replaces the wheels or skids of landing gear with pontoons that allow the
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aircraft to land on water. Pontoons cannot be retracted. They have wheels in them to allow regular landings. Pontoons have 7 DP apiece; if one or both is destroyed, airplanes cannot land on water without crashing (Crash Table 1). Helicopters with one or more destroyed pontoons have three turns to take off again or sink (aircraft of all kinds sink in approximately 10 turns). Pontoons are targeted at -3. Radar Altimeter — $100, no weight or space. Tells the pilot the distance to the ground. Radar-ProofArmor and Steathkote — Aircraft pay 1½ times the listed cost and weight for Stealthkote or radar-proof armor. This added increase covers the cost of shielding wings, propellers and maneuver foils without detriment to the stealth function. In order to fully protect an aircraft from radar detection, all drop-tanks and EWPs must be treated with RPA or Stealthkote. Aircraft carrying untreated drop-tanks, EWPs or bombs in bomb racks lose the benefits of Radar-Reflective Armor and/or Stealthkote. Refueling Probe — $1,000, 100 lbs., 1 space, 2 DP. A refueling probe is necessary to transfer power or fuel from another aircraft. It fits into the Refueling Drogue (see below). The Probe counts toward the number of spaces taken up by frontmounted weapons. Probes must be specified as to whether they transfer power units or fuel. The probe can be targeted at -6 to hit Helicopter probes weigh 200 lbs. and are targeted at -3 to hit because of their greater length. Refueling Drogue — $2,500, 300 lbs., 2 spaces, 5 DP. The refueling drogue is the hose/cable used to transfer power or fuel. Each drogue must be dedicated to either fuel or power-unit transfer. To transfer power or fuel, the drogue aircraft flies straight and level and deploys the drogue, a 6" (90') hose that trails below and behind the aircraft. An aircraft with a proper probe matches up the probe with the drogue and the aircraft fly linked by the hose/probe combination. This requires both pilots to make a successful Piloting skill roll. Once this is accomplished the drogue aircraft can pump fuel to the probe aircraft (1 gallon per turn) or either aircraft can transfer power units to the other (1 PU per turn). During the transfer both aircraft are flying at the same speed and course; the probe aircraft flies 1" (15') below the drogue aircraft. This position makes air-to-air refueling hazardous for helicopters — their probes are three times normal length in order to link up with the drogue outside of the rotor radius, and a failed roll causes an immediate roll on Crash Table 4. The refueling position also makes air-to-air refueling impossible in bad weather or combat — the aircraft are too vulnerable. In non-combat situations, it can keep aircraft aloft far beyond their regular fuel capacity. Retractable Landing Gear — $1,500, 150 lbs., 2 or 3 spaces. This converts fixed landing gear to retractable gear. The 2 spaces required for the gear may be taken from wing spaces, meaning wing-mounted gear. All aircraft larger than 30 spaces (including cargo spaces) require three spaces for their retractable gear. Helicopters with retractable gear have their skids replaced by three HD car tires. Landing gear wheels are targeted at -8 for microplanes, -6 for airplanes and helicopters and -4 for aircraft using truck tires. Retractable landing gear adds 10 mph to top speed when retracted. Retracting or lowering the landing gear is a firing action and takes one turn. Search Radar — $25,000, 200 lbs., 3 spaces. Search radar is an improved radar set of the type used by warplanes, able to find
targets at up to 250 miles, as long as terrain does not intervene. Radar jammers work against search radar on a roll of 1-2 on d. Search radar uses 40 power units per hour of operation. Solar Panels — See p. 14. Stealthkote — See Radar-Proof Armor, above. Terrain Following Radar — $5,000, no weight or space. Allows hands-off navigation over all forms of terrain from 60' (4") to 300' (10") altitude. Requires a Radar Altimeter to function. Turning the TFR on or off is a firing action. When the TFR is on, the pilot cannot change the altitude of the aircraft, only the direction. A TFR can be tied into an autopilot to allow the aircraft to fly a set course at low altitude. Vehicular Parachutes — $1,500, 150 lbs., 3 spaces, 4 DP. Vehicular parachutes work in much the same fashion that personal parachutes do, but are used for dropping crates or vehicles. Up to 2,000 lbs. may be dropped with a single parachute; multiple parachutes may be combined to drop up to 10,000 lbs. of cargo. The parachutes can only be used from a height of 30" (450') or more. They open after 20" (300') of free-fall, brake for 10" (150') and act like a hang-glider thereafter until the cargo hits the ground. Vehicular parachutes descend at 20 mph unless they hit an updraft. The open parachute(s) is targeted at +4 and can be damaged only by flamethrowers. When the cargo or vehicle lands it takes 1 die of damage to a random side (roll d): 1-3 = Tires. 4 = Right side. 5 = Left side. 6 = Top (and good luck rolling it back right-side up!). For double cost and weight, a vehicle can be military packed. This prevents the vehicle from taking any damage from air-dropping, but requires five minutes to unpack. Winch — $500, 100 lbs., 1 space, 1 DP. Winches are mechanisms which haul up cargo and personnel on stout cables. They must be mounted on a side, at a door (or on the underbody if working through the bomb bay) and may only be used when that door is open. The machine consists of a revolving drum mechanism and a 90' (6" game-scale) cable. The mechanism is capable of supporting 4,000 lbs. The cable is safely reeled out at 1"/turn. It is reeled in at 1"/turn if the weight on the cable is less than 1,000 lbs., at ½"/turn if the weight is 1,000-1,999 lbs. and at ¼"/turn if the weight is 2,000-4,000 lbs. The cable takes one person 3 turns to attach to the object in question — 6 seconds in the case of a vehicle or similarly-sized object. Multiple winches can be used for objects weighing more than 4,000 lbs. Divide the object weight by the number of winches to determine the speed of cable reeling, as shown above. The cable can only be hit by area-effect weapons (machineguns, gauss guns, flamethrowers and lasers). It is considered to be 10 DP and is targeted at a -8 to hit. Heavy-duty Winch — $1,500, 250 lbs., 2 spaces, 3 DP. The HD winch works just like a regular winch, except that it can support up to 10,000 lbs. The HD winch cable can be reeled in at 1"/turn if the weight on the cable is less than 2,500 lbs., at ½"/turn if the weight is 2,500-4,999 lbs. and at ¼"/turn if the weight is 5,000-10,000 lbs. Wing-Tip Mounts — $1,000 and 50 lbs. per space of weapon mounted. Wing-tip mounts are large-traverse mini-turret weapon mounts set on the tips of the wing. An aircraft may mount a weapon (or multiple weapons of the same type) of up to V3 the wing spaces in wing-tip mounts. For instance, a Large airplane (6 spaces per wing) could mount two 1-space weapons or one 2-space weapon in wing-tip mounts. If an aircraft mounts wing-tip weapons on one wing, it must mount an equal weight of wing-tip weapons on the other wing! Wing-tip mounts do not count toward the limit of EWPs allowed on a craft. Wing-tip weapons may be smart-linked in the same manner that regular turret weapons can.
19
Combat
AERODUEL MOVEMENT Fixed-Wing Aircraft Movement Aircraft movement is three-dimensional, with vehicles maneuvering above and below one another. In the interests of playability, these rules greatly simplify the complexities of actual flight. One cardinal rule must be followed. All players must record the altitude of their aircraft in inches, each inch being 15'. The referee must keep an altitude record of all referee-controlled aircraft. These records must be updated any time an aircraft changes altitude.
Air-to-Air Scale In Car Wars, 1" equals 15'. When ground vehicles are involved in the game, this scale should be used, since it fits all Car Wars maps and rules. When aircraft fight aircraft, a slightly larger scale is necessary because of the great speeds at which aircraft routinely operate. This scale is called air-to-air scale. It is one-quarter the scale of regular Car Wars — ¼" equals 15', so one map-board inch equals 60'. The conversion is simple: For all purposes, treat each map-board inch as four inches. Ignore V2" movements when using air-to-air scale — count aircraft movement (not speed) as rounded down to the nearest 10 mph. All movement examples are given in regular Car Wars scale. Divide the distances by 4 to arrive at the air-to-air scale movement.
Acceleration and Deceleration Aircraft accelerate normally. Deceleration occurs in the first Phase from lack of power, climbing, turning and air-braking. If the aircraft has no power (the plant is turned off or destroyed) it decelerates 5 mph per second (unless it is on the ground, in which case it decelerates at 20 mph per turn — see No Landing Gear, p. 9). Every aircraft can safely decelerate up to 15 mph per turn. Aircraft can decelerate 20 mph in one turn by letting down flaps, lowering gear and generally creating as much drag as possible, but this is a D3 maneuver. Turning and climbing cause deceleration as listed in the appropriate rules. Diving causes acceleration as listed. All acceleration and deceleration caused by maneuvers, climbs, dives and Crash Table results takes place immediately.
Unpowered Aircraft An aircraft that is not powered decelerates at 5 mph per turn. This can be countered by diving to accelerate. An unpowered aircraft can make any maneuver except a Zoom Climb. Any maneuver handling penalties made by an unpowered aircraft are +D1.
Taxiing
have a ground HC of 1. All other grounded aircraft have a ground HC of 0. Taxiing aircraft can turn up to 75 degrees. They cannot make any other kind of maneuver. Tail skid/tailwheel aircraft are limited to 30-degree turns. A taxiing aircraft suffering loss of control rolls on Crash Table 1 if the control loss is due to maneuver or Crash Table 2 if control loss was caused by hazard.
Taking Off and Landing Horizontal takeoffs require that the aircraft start at the end of a long, flat surface, accelerate until it reaches its stall speed and begin climbing. Landing uses a similar procedure: The aircraft approaches a long, flat area and begins a controlled dive at 1/4" per turn until it touches down — remembering to stay above stall speed to avoid stalling and crashing. Once the wheels are on the ground, the aircraft may decelerate as a car does.
Stall Speed An aircraft's stall speed is the speed it must exceed to fly. If an aircraft is moving slower than its stall speed, it must dive or accelerate immediately in order to achieve a safe speed. If it cannot accelerate any more that turn, it automatically rolls on the appropriate Crash Table for the aircraft type at +4 (in addition to any speed penalties). Any aircraft starting a turn slower than stall speed suffers a D5 hazard and must roll on the Crash Table. An aircraft's stall speed is determined by its wing size and is modified by special wing options. Small, medium and large microplanes stall at 30 mph. Cargo and large cargo microplanes and small airplanes stall at 50 mph. Larger airplanes stall at 100 mph. Jet fighters stall at 150 mph (Swept-Wing increases have already been added into this number). Jet fighters with STOL wings stall at 100 mph. Heavy Lift wings reduce stall speed by 10%. Swept Wings increase stall speed by 33 %. STOL Wings reduce stall speed by 33%. Heavy Lift/STOL Wings reduce stall speed by 20%.
Climbing Fixed-wing aircraft climb by sacrificing V2" of forward movement for every 1/4" of altitude gain. A decision to climb may be made once per turn, for the whole turn. The aircraft's speed is immediately reduced to whatever isn't used for climbing. Any altitude change is broken up across the 5 Phases — V5 of the total altitude change taken in each. When an aircraft's forward speed exceeds the amount of speed used for climbing, the aircraft is considered to be level. When the amount of speed used for climbing exceeds the forward speed, the aircraft's back is considered to be pointed at the ground and other arcs are based accordingly. An aircraft may commit any amount of its speed to climbing, from a minimum of V2" to full speed. If an aircraft commits more than half its speed to climbing when it had been level in the turn before, this is a Zoom Climb and is a D3 maneuver.
Aircraft move like automobiles on the ground. They are not as agile as ground vehicles — microplanes and small airplanes
Movement
20
Example: A plane moving at 200 mph wants to climb quickly. It can commit up to 100 mph (10") of speed to climbing and gain 5" of altitude safely. If it commits over 100 mph of speed to climbing from level flight it suffers a D3 penalty. However, if it wished to commit any or all its remaining speed (down to its Stall Speed) in the turn following the first turn of climbing, it could do so safely. Climbing saps energy — speed — from the aircraft. Every 1" of altitude (rounded down) gained decelerates the aircraft by 5 mph. The aircraft in example above would lose 25 mph of speed. The only way to counter this speed loss is through acceleration. An aircraft may pull out of a regular climb — return to level flight — at no penalty on the turn following the climb. Pulling out of a Zoom Climb is a D3 Maneuver, although the Zoom Climb can be Vertical Rolled out of (see Rolling, below). The best way to pull out of a Zoom Climb is by going into a regular climb, taking one turn, but causing no hazards (this is not a maneuver). For example, the airplane above climbs 5", dropping its speed to 175 mph. Then it devotes all of its speed to climbing and climbs another 83/4", dropping its speed to 135 mph. In the next turn it pulls out of the Zoom Climb to level flight for a D3 penalty. If it had climbed with half its speed during that turn it would have been in a regular climb and could pull out of the climb on turn #4 without penalty. No maneuvers may be performed in a Zoom Climb except Rolls. An aircraft may not Dive on the turn following a Climb; it must spend one turn in level flight first.
Diving Dives lose altitude and gain acceleration with the help of gravity. When an aircraft's forward speed exceeds the amount of speed used for diving, the aircraft is considered to be level. When the amount of speed used for diving exceeds the forward speed, the aircraft's Front is considered to be pointed at the ground and other arcs are based accordingly. A dive is performed similarly to a climb. A decision to dive may be made once per turn, for the whole turn. The aircraft's effective horizontal speed is reduced during the dive — lateral motion is lost while vertical motion is gained! Altitude, as for climbing, is changed in Vs increments. If the aircraft's forward speed exceeds its diving speed the aircraft is considered to be in a regular dive and loses V4" of altitude for every 5 mph of diving speed. If the aircraft's diving speed exceeds its forward speed the aircraft is considered to be in a Steep Dive and loses V2" of altitude for every 5 mph of diving speed. For every 1" of altitude lost the aircraft accelerates 5 mph. Pulling out of a dive (either Regular or Steep) and returning to level flight is performed in the same manner detailed for pulling out of a Climb. Pulling out of a Steep Dive is a D3 maneuver. An aircraft may go from a Steep Dive to a Regular Dive at no maneuver or hazard penalty. No maneuvers may be performed in a Steep Dive except Rolls. An aircraft may not Climb on the turn following a Dive; it must spend one turn in level flight first.
Rolling Rolling simply means banking the wings away from level flight. This is done in order to change firing arcs and to make maneuvering easier. Rolling up to 90 degrees in one phase is a DO maneuver; rolling up to 180 degrees in one phase is a D2 maneuver.
For maneuvering and firing purposes, any roll or bank of up to 90 degrees is treated as 90 degrees. An aircraft banked 90 degrees is on its side and that side faces the ground. For example, an aircraft banked 90 degrees right would have its R arc facing down, its T arc facing right, its U arc facing left and its L arc facing up. An aircraft banked 180 degrees is upside-down. Its T arc faces the ground, its U arc faces up, its R arc faces L and vice-versa. This should be noted beside the plane's altitude on scratch paper by the player or referee (BR = Banked Right, BL = Banked Left, I = Inverted). When an aircraft's wings are banked, all turns, drifts and shifts in that direction are at listed maneuver penalty. If the aircraft's wings are level or rolled in the opposite direction, these maneuvers are at double listed maneuver penalty. Aircraft rolled 180 degrees are considered to be in level flight — upsidedown, but still level flight for purposes of doubling maneuvering penalties. Aircraft that have their wings rolled away from level flight suffer several effects: Aircraft flying rolled 90 degrees lose V2" of altitude each turn or part thereof that they fly on their sides and are at a -1 when firing. Aircraft flying upside down (180 degree roll) lose 11/2" of altitude each turn (or part thereof) they remain upside-down, are at a -3 when firing and add +D2 to any maneuvers. Aircraft rolled 90 degrees increase their stall speeds to 11/2 normal; upside-down aircraft double their stall speeds. Vertical Roll — This maneuver is used to change directions and pull out of Steep Dives and Zoom Climbs. The aircraft rolls while Steep Diving or Zoom Climbing, rolling until the aircraft's Top is facing the direction it wishes to exit the climb or dive — point the front of the counter in the desired direction to show where the Top is facing. At the end of the dive or climb the aircraft pulls out in the direction the counter front is facing. If the aircraft was climbing, it is now upside-down. If the aircraft was diving it is now in normal level flight. A Vertical Roll is a D1 maneuver if climbing and a D2 maneuver if diving.
Turning Aircraft are maneuvered just like cars, with the following exceptions: 1) Since the turning mechanisms on aircraft are mounted at the rear of the craft, aircraft turn more like boats. On the turn inch (most aircraft move multiple inches per phase), the aircraft moves the inch first, then makes the turn. Cars make the turn before moving the inch, as do helicopters (helicopter steering is different from most aircraft). 2) The turns have different names. 3) All turns have a double maneuver penalty unless the aircraft has its wings rolled in the direction of the turn. If the wings are rolled in the turn direction then the listed maneuvering penalties are used. Aircraft turns are D1 per 15 degrees of turn. The maximum turn angle is 45 degrees. No aircraft may make a turn over 45 degrees in one phase. Aircraft are not capable of the 60, 75 and 90 degree turns made by ground vehicles. Turns decelerate the aircraft. For every 15 degrees of direction change in one turn the aircraft decelerates 5 mph. This is doubled to 10 mph per 15 degrees if the aircraft isn't rolled in the direction of the turn. Shift — This is like a "drift" for cars and is Dl. This maneuver is at the listed maneuver penalty if the wings are rolled into the shift.
21
Movement
Drift — This is like a "steep drift" for cars and is D3. Having the wings rolled into the drift makes the maneuver the listed penalty, like the shift. Drifts also cause energy loss and deceleration. Every 14" of drift causes 5 mph of deceleration. Example: An aircraft moving at 150 mph, in level flight (no bank) wants to turn 60 degrees to the right. Since aircraft are limited to 45-degree turns and less, the aircraft must make at least two maneuvers to make the desired turn — here the aircraft makes two consecutive 30-degree (D2) turns. If the aircraft makes the turns without banking, each turn is a D4 maneuver — but the 60-degree direction change is complete in only two phases. Furthermore, the aircraft suffers 40 mph of deceleration in the next turn. If the aircraft wishes to bank, it must first bank to the right 90 degrees — this is a DO maneuver, but takes a phase. The next two phases after the aircraft banked are spent making the 30-degree turns — each a D2 maneuver. Finally, the aircraft suffers 20 mph of deceleration on the next turn.
Aircraft Left Turn at 50 mph
Beginning
Move 1" Forward
Turn
Complex Maneuvers Most aerial maneuvers are nothing more than combinations of the maneuvers listed above. The one-second time scale of Car Wars splits them up into their component maneuvers. As usual, only one maneuver can be made for every phase of movement. Inside Loop — The loop consists of making a Zoom Climb, pulling out in the opposite direction with a Vertical Roll, flying inverted into a Steep Dive and rolling out of it in the original direction of the aircraft's flight. It is not possible to make a Loop in one turn, because no aircraft may dive on the turn following a climb. Outside Loop — The outside loop is a difficult but occasionally useful maneuver. The aircraft is rolled 180 degrees and put into a Zoom Climb. After a turn of level flight, the aircraft is put into a Steep Dive to complete the loop. When the aircraft pulls out of the dive, it is rolled 180 degrees again. The outside loop puts a great deal of stress on crew and airframe. Performing an outside loop is a D2 maneuver. This maneuver penalty is in effect each turn the aircraft is in the loop. lmmelmann and Split-S — The Immelmann turn and the Split-S are quick ways of reversing direction. The Immelmann consists of putting the aircraft into a Zoom Climb and vertically rolling 180 degrees as the aircraft pulls out of the climb. The Split-S is the same maneuver, except the aircraft is put into a Steep Dive before the 180-degree vertical roll. Lag Roll — A special maneuver to turn or move laterally, the Lag Roll consists of rolling onto the side of the aircraft, drifting into the roll and rolling another 180 degrees to face the direction away from the drift. The main benefit of the Lag Roll is that when the aircraft has completed the roll it may make up to 60 degrees of turns immediately after at -D1 and reduces the chance of GLOC (Lag Rolls are not added to the GLOC number, p. 23). Since this is a roll, it is not subject to the 45-degree turn limitation. A Lag Roll causes a loss of 5 mph in addition to other maneuver-caused decelerations.
Aircraft Left Turn at 200 mph (Air-to-Air Scale)
Beginning
Move 4" Forward
Turn
Lag Roll (as seen from back of aircraft) Lag Roll and Right Turn
Roll 90° Left Phase 1
Drift Left Roll 180° Left 45° Right Turn Phase 4 Phase 3 Phase 2
Lag Roll and Left Turn
Viffing "Viffing" is pilot language for Vectoring In Forward Flight. Vectored thrust jet engines (see p. 8) make several "impossible" maneuvers possible. Vectored thrust aircraft must accelerate (with vectored thrust fuel use) into every one of these maneuvers. Viffing is only possible with vectored-thrust jet engines.
Movement
22
Roll 90° Right Drift Right Roll 180° Right 45° Left Turn Phase 4 Phase 3 Phase 1 Phase 2
VIFF Shift and Drift — The aircraft may make shifts and drifts at regular HC penalty without being rolled in the direction of the shift or drift. VIFF Turns — V1FF may be used to assist direction changes, reducing the maneuver penalty by 2 as long as the aircraft is rolled in the direction of the turn/veer. This slows the aircraft by 5 mph. VIFF Pop-Up — The aircraft can gain 1" of altitude in level flight. It must be wings-level (not rolled in any way) and cannot have just made any kind of maneuver, climb or dive (i.e., the aircraft has to fly one phase straight and level before performing a pop-up). VIFF Roll-And-Dive — This maneuver allows the vectored thrust aircraft to go into a dive on the turn following a Climb or Zoom Climb. The aircraft rolls over onto its Top (180 degrees Roll) and dives normally. Example: A jet is travelling 250 mph in a Zoom Climb. It the performs a V1FF Roll-and-Dive. The jet is rolled 180 degrees (D2), and in the beginning of the next phase declares that it is diving — just as if it was the beginning of a new turn.
GLOC Gravity-induced Loss Of Consciousness is a constant danger of high-speed maneuvering. The high gravities experienced by the pilot cause blood to drain from his head, knocking him out. GLOC occurs when a pilot makes too many high-gee maneuvers. Every 30 degrees of maneuvers a pilot makes in one turn equals one point in the GLOC number. The first turn of a regular dive or climb counts as 15 degrees; the first turn of a Steep Dive or Zoom Climb counts as 45 degrees. Outside loops count as 90 degrees. Rolls and lag-roll turns do not add to the GLOC number. Speed of maneuver does add to the GLOC number: every full 200 mph over 100 mph counts as another 30 degrees. If an aircraft makes only rolls and lag-rolls, there is no GLOC roll, no matter what speed the aircraft is going. The GLOC roll is made at the end of every turn on 2 dice. The number of points are totaled (every 30 degrees equals I point) to give that turn's GLOC number. The pilot tries to roll above the GLOC number. A roll equal to the GLOC number stuns the pilot for the next turn. A roll less than the GLOC number stuns the pilot for 1d6 +1 turns. An unstunned crewman in the aircraft may help stunned personnel recover in half the time; this is a firing action for the turns the stunned crewman spends recovering. For example, a microplane maneuvers at 330 mph. It dives and does two veers for 105 degrees of total turn — the GLOC number is 3 for the maneuvers (103/3o, rounded down = 3) and 1 for the speed. If the pilot rolls a 5 or better he's fine. A worst-case example: A Goshawk pilot (small jet fighter) pulls a 180 in a turn at 550 mph. He does four 45-degree turns to turn around and racks up a GLOC total of 8 (180/30 = 6, plus 2 for the speed). He has to roll a 9 or better or be stunned. Stunned pilots may not maneuver, accelerate, decelerate or fire weapons. They may not recover HC and must fly straight until they recover from stun. All other personnel aboard the aircraft must make GLOC rolls as well. Autopilots are immune to GLOC. A gee suit (p. 18) gives +1 to the wearer's GLOC roll.
The Sound Barrier The speed of sound is 750 mph. Aircraft approaching and breaking the sound barrier must deal with the atmospheric turbulence at that speed.
Aircraft exceeding 650 mph suffer 5 mph deceleration every turn they go faster than 650 mph. At 700 mph, the deceleration is 10 mph. At 750 mph and over the deceleration is 15 mph. Non-streamlined aircraft double these penalties; any aircraft without Swept Wings must make a Wing Check every turn it exceeds 650 mph. Hitting the sound barrier is a D2 hazard. This is one-time only — until you drop below 750 mph again. The drag, however, stays with you.
Sonic Booms When a plane is traveling above the speed of sound, anything within 5" is subject to a D2 hazard — one when first entering the area, and one at the beginning of each turn it remains within 5". This penalty is additive to any applicable penalty for flying close to another craft (see p. 24). Storms Storms and bad weather are feared by every pilot. Storms combine all the ill effects of updrafts and downdrafts, low to no visibility and electrical hazards. Drafts, low visibility and lightning are all detailed in this section.
Drafts Drafts come in two types: Up and Down. Updrafts — These are produced by ground heat convection or strong winds hitting upthrust ground features. Ground heat updrafts are relatively gentle rising columns of air that can provide lift (gliders are made to harness these). When over a surface likely to produce updrafts (open ground, cities, etc., on a warm-to-hot day), each plane has a 1 in 6 chance per turn of encountering an updraft. The updraft has a 1-6" radius and provides V4" of altitude gain (V2" for gliders and hang-gliders) for all aircraft within the radius and no more than 1½" higher or lower than the first aircraft to experience the updraft. Getting caught in an updraft is a D1 hazard; overlapping updrafts are not cumulative in any way. Updrafts from wind and mountainous terrain (remember, cities full of high-rises on a hot and/or windy day qualify as mountainous terrain!) are less docile. Calculate the wind direction. Cliffs (or peaks or buildings) facing the wind have a violent updraft above and in front of them on a 1-4 on 1d. The violent updraft has a 1-3" radius (1d x ½ ") and affects every aircraft within that radius to an altitude of 6" above the object that caused the updraft. The effects are V4" x 1d altitude gain and a D1 hazard per V4". Gliders double the altitude gain and halve the hazards, rounded down. For example, a helicopter flying through a 1½" updraft would suffer a D6 hazard. A glider flying through the same updraft would gain 3" (45'!) of altitude and suffer a D3 hazard. Downdrafts — These are caused by cold air pockets, usually found only in cold weather or storms. Cold weather downdrafts are encountered in the same fashion as warm weather updrafts (1 in 6 chance in the right conditions, like a cold front or snowstorm), have the same area of effect and cause a V2" loss of altitude and a D2 hazard. Gliders suffer a D1 hazard. Violent storm downdrafts have 2 in 6 chances of occurring per turn. They have a radius of 1-3" (½d) and affect all aircraft in that radius within 2" altitude difference of the aircraft first affected. They cause ld x V4" altitude loss and D1 plus D1 per V4" loss hazard. Gliders stiffer the same hazards as other aircraft.
23
Movement
Hazards
Low Visibility Every time an aircraft flies into a cloud, it's like flying into the world's thickest fog. Visibility drops to 3-18" (3d x 1"; re-roll every turn!) as the cloud density varies. Storm clouds only have 2-12" (2d x 1") visibility. Pilots in clouds can become disoriented, not knowing where they are or where they're going. Each turn an aircraft is in a cloud, roll 2d for disorientation (add highest Pilot skill to the die roll — it doesn't have to be the appropriate Pilot skill for the aircraft). On a roll of 6 or less, the pilot is disoriented and suffers a D4 hazard (Improved Tail Assemblies do not affect this hazard). Shooting at a non-visible target can be done with IR or radar, at -3 to hit and no sustained fire bonus. Having both radar and IR makes the to-hit penalty -2, but there is still no sustained fire bonus. RGMs and AAMs suffer no visibility modifiers. Cloud sizes range from a few inches (under 100') to massive miles-long cloud complexes.
Hazards affect aircraft immediately as they occur, reducing the aircraft's handling status. Continuing hazards (such as flying close to another craft) take effect immediately, then again at the beginning of each turn the condition is maintained.
Hazards For All Aircraft
Lightning The final insult of storms is the electricity that roams freely though the clouds. Once upon a time, all-metal aircraft sneered at lightning strikes, the metal of the airframe carelessly bleeding the energy off through the wing-tips. The carbon-frame and plastic aircraft of the 21st century are less cavalier about it. They have lightning-rods built into them, but are still vulnerable to electrical damage. Every turn that an aircraft is in a storm, roll 2d. On a 12 it has been hit by lightning — and so has every other aircraft within a 5" sphere. The effects are immediate: suffer a D1 hazard and roll 2d for every electrical component in the aircraft. On a 2 it suffers 1d damage. Components having 0 or 1 DP are automatically fried if hit. Surge protectors have a 1-3 chance of averting damage for each component so protected. Aircraft with every location (including wings) covered by metal armor don't have to make rolls to see if their components are damaged. In addition, check seperately for maneuver controls and firing controls. If the maneuver controls are damaged, roll on the appropriate Crash Table. If the firing controls are damaged, no weapons may be fired until the end of the next turn. These controls are assumed to have multiple back-ups that cut in after the mains are shorted out, but the time lag between damage and activation is uncomfortable.
Wind Wind direction and speed is important, particularly when parachutes and balloons are being used. Roll d for direction: 1 =North, 2 =East, 3 =South, 4 =West, 5-6=A combination of two directions. Roll again until two directions are found, then combine them. Wind speed is determined by another die roll: 0 =No wind, 1=5 mph, 2=10 mph, 3-4 =15 mph, 5 =20 mph, 6=25 mph, 7 =25 mph plus another die roll. Modifiers are -1 for calm weather (good for thermal updrafts) and +1 for stormy weather.
Losing Control Aircraft check for control in the same manner as ground vehicles. However, high speed is much safer and easier in the air, where there's no terrain to worry about. Aircraft use the Flight Control Table (pullout section) rather than the normal Car Wars Control Table. If control is lost, add the appropriate modifier from the Control Table and roll on the appropriate Crash Table. Remember that control rolls are made only when a maneuver is made or a hazard penalty is applied.
Movement
Tail (back armor) gone: D4 and -2 HC until repaired. Colliding with another craft: D5 and a Wing Check. Loss of all propellers or jet engines: D4, that turn only. Each turn thereafter the aircraft decelerates at 5mph and suffers a D1 to Handling Status. Pilot killed or wounded: D2. Flying within 2" of another aircraft or helicopter: D2. Flying within 4" of and behind another aircraft: D4. One wing destroyed: D6 and roll on the appropriate Crash Table each turn until the aircraft hits the ground. Both wings destroyed: Aircraft falls from the sky, accelerating at 10 mph until it hits the ground. Crashing damage is determined in the Crashing section.
Microplane Hazards These also apply to airplanes smaller than Cargo. Enemy fire does 1-5 points of damage: D1. Enemy fire does 6-9 points of damage: D2. Enemy fire does 10 or more points of damage: D3. Strong winds: D1. Very strong winds: D2. Airplanes firing ATGs except to F or B: D2.
Cargo and Large Cargo Airplane and Jet Fighter Hazards Firing a tank gun F or B (other arcs prohibited): D4. Enemy fire does 13-21 hits: D2 Enemy fire does 22 + hits: D3. Very strong winds: D1. Storms have other effects on flight. These are detailed in the Storms section.
Crash Table 7 Microplanes I or below — Involuntary drift. The microplane does a drift in the direction of its roll. It also gains or loses (roll randomly for which) V4" of altitude. If the microplane was flying level, roll randomly for the direction of the drift. 2-3 — Involuntary turn. The microplane turns 30 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for right or left) and loses V2" of altitude. Weapons fire is at -1 for the rest of the turn. 4-6 — Severe turn. The microplane turns as #2-3, above, but loses 1" of altitude. Weapons fire is at -3 for the rest of the turn. 7-9 — Diving turn. The microplane turns as #2-3, above, loses 1½" of altitude and checks for Wing Failure. No aimed weapons fire is allowed until the next turn. 10-12 — Spin. The microplane turns 45 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if going straight, roll randomly for right or left) at the end of each phase until the pilot pulls out of the spin. In addition, the microplane converts half its movement to a steep dive — for example, a microplane going 100 mph would only move 1" per phase while spinning and lose Vi" of altitude per phase. No aimed weapons fire allowed while spinning. Check for Prop and Wing Failure each phase.
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Pulling out requires the pilot to roll a 8+ on 2d, adding Pilot skill to the roll, +1 per turn of spinning. The pilot may try once per phase. 13+ — Disaster. Wings torn off, props shredded, tail parted ways or something equally uncomfortable. Speed drops 25 mph per turn. Ejecting is the only way out, and the wild tumbling of the craft makes it risky — ejections are successful on a roll of 5 + on 2d. If you fail your ejection roll, you are dead (on a 9+ on 2d, there is enough left of you to clone).
Crash Table Airplanes And Jets 1-3 — Involuntary shift. The aircraft shifts in the direction of its roll (if flying level roll randomly for right or left). 4-5 — Involuntary drift. The aircraft drifts in the direction of its roll (if flying level roll randomly for right or left). 6-7 — Involuntary turn. The aircraft turns 30 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver and loses V2" of altitude. Roll randomly for right or left if the aircraft is flying straight and level. Weapons fire is at -1 for the rest of the turn. 8-9 — Involuntary turn. The aircraft turns 30 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for right or left) and loses V2" of altitude. Weapons fire is at -1 for the rest of the turn. 10-11 — Severe turn. The aircraft turns as #8-9 above, but loses 1" of altitude. Weapons fire is at -3 for the rest of the turn. 12-13 — Diving turn. The aircraft turns as #8-9 above, loses 1½" of altitude and checks for Wing Failure. No aimed weapons fire is allowed until the next turn. 14-15 — Spin. The aircraft turns 45 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if going straight, roll randomly for right or left) at the end of each phase until the pilot pulls out of the spin. In addition, the aircraft converts half its movement to a steep dive — for example, an aircraft going 150 mph would only move 1½" per phase while spinning and lose 3/4" of altitude per phase. No aimed weapons fire allowed while spinning. Check for Prop and Wing Failure each phase. Pulling out requires the pilot to roll a 8+ on 2d, adding Pilot skill to the roll, +1 per turn of spinning. The pilot may try once per phase. 16+ — Disaster. Wings torn off, props shredded, tail parted ways or something equally uncomfortable. Speed drops 25 mph per turn. Ejecting is the only way out, and the wild tumbling of the craft makes it risky — ejections are successful on a roll of 5 + on 2d. If you fail your ejection roll, you are dead (on a 9+ on 2d, there is enough left of you to clone).
Wing Checks Wing Checks are made when the aircraft encounters stresses above the construction strength of the wing. Most of these stresses occur during crashes. When a Wing Check is called for, roll 2d plus modifiers and check the result on the table below: 2-7: No effect. 8-9: One wing damaged. HC drops by 1 and stall speed increases by 5 mph per damaged wing. If an aircraft suffers "wing damaged" twice, both wings are damaged (HC drops 2 and stall speed increases 10 mph). A third "wing damaged" result is considered to be "wing fails." 10-11: Wing fails. The wing nearly comes loose; the aircraft takes a D6 hazard and the HC drops by 4. A second result of "wing fails" becomes "wing destroyed."
12 + : Wing destroyed. Aircraft takes 1d6 damage to the side with the destroyed wing. The aircraft has lost one wing, with attendant penalties (see Hazards).
Wing Failure Modifiers Microplanes: Speed is 75-100 mph: +1. Speed is 101-140 mph: +2. Speed is 141+ mph: +3. Wing damaged by weapons fire: +2.
Airplanes and Jet Fighters: Small, Medium and Large Airplanes -2. Cargo Airplanes and Small Jet Fighters -4. Large Cargo Airplanes and Large Jet Fighters -5. Speed is 251-300 mph: +1. Speed is 301-400 mph: +2. Speed is 401-600 mph: +3. Speed is 601-700 mph: +4. Speed is 701-750 mph: +5. Speed is 751 mph + : +7. Wing damaged, with DP up to 42 gone: +1. Wing damaged, with DP over V2 gone: +2.
Falling and Crashing When an object (man, debris, aircraft, etc.) is falling powered only by the force of gravity versus wind resistance, it moves according to the following table:
Free-Fall Damage Table Time Elapsed 1st second 2nd second 3rd second 4th second 5th second 6th second 7th second 8th second 9th second 10th second
Distance 2 V4" 4 V4" 6 ½" 8 V2" 10 3/4" 12 3/4" 13" 13" 13" 13"
Total Distance 2 V4" 6 V2" 13" 21½" 32 V4" 45" 58" 71" 84" 97"
Speed 20 mph 45 mph 65 mph 85 mph 110 mph 125 mph 130 mph 130 mph 130 mph 130 mph
Terminal velocity is 130 mph. Every second after the object reaches terminal velocity, it falls another 13". If the falling aircraft was already diving when the loss of controlled flight occurred, then the diving speed plus 20 mph becomes the first second of downward speed — round down to the closest speed line on the chart above and continue falling from there. This is what happens when an aircraft departs controlled, powered flight and crashes. Of course, control might be regained in time to prevent a crash, but gravity doesn't allow much time.
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Movement
Rotary-Wing Aircraft Movement
Acceleration and Deceleration
These rules apply to any rotor-winged aircraft, including tilt-rotor aircraft in VTOL mode.
A hovering helicopter — one that is not trying to go up or down — moves forward in 1" increments on the phases shown for its speed, just like a car. On the straightaway, helicopters accelerate like any aircraft. At the beginning of each turn, helicopters reset their speeds and move on the phases indicated on the Movement Chart. Two rates of acceleration are available to helicopters — 5 mph and 10 mph. Helicopters may accelerate more swiftly by diving (see below). A helicopter may decelerate by 5 or 10 mph per turn with safety. It may decelerate by 15 mph per turn, but must immediately roll on Crash Table 4 (see below).
Taking Off and Landing Takeoffs with tilt-rotor aircraft and helicopters require that the engine be warmed up — if the craft is not turned on, this takes 3 seconds. If the craft's engine is already turned on, it only takes one second to get the rotors up to speed. Next, the craft must spend one second at Speed 0 while starting the liftoff, and go to its desired acceleration (5 mph, 10 mph, etc.; up to the maximum acceleration in VTOL mode). The craft trades at least V2" of movement for V4" of altitude and is airborne, where it acts normally. Tilt-rotor airplanes can take off and land like a normal airplane if desired. VTOL landings require that the craft decelerate somehow to Speed 5 and decrease its altitude by 1/4" per second until it reaches ground level. Landing at any faster than Speed 5 1/4" per second is a crash! A helicopter trying to land on the ground with only one skid or pontoon crashes, destroying the main rotor in the process.
Auto-Rotation A helicopter or autogyro without power can glide to the ground using auto-rotation, a technique where rotor movement provides lift. The unpowered aircraft decelerates at 5 mph. The aircraft must move at least 1" (10 mph) per turn to avoid crashing. If the aircraft's speed ever drops to 5 mph or lower, it departs controlled flight and plummets groundwards. Any maneuvers made during auto-rotation are at +D1 and cause an additional 5 mph deceleration. This deceleration can be offset by diving to accelerate. The aircraft may not dive more than 1" during a turn, as per the diving rules (p. 21). An auto-rotating aircraft cannot accelerate over 40 mph by diving. If it is auto-rotating over 40 mph, it must decelerate to 40 mph or slower before it can begin diving to accelerate. Accelerating beyond 40 mph while auto-rotating forces a Rotor Check. The goal of this maneuver is to auto-rotate to the ground and land — hopefully without accident. To land, the aircraft must be within V2" of the landing site. It dives V2" and the pilot rolls 2d on the Auto-Rotation Landing chart below. Furthermore, the pilot makes a Rotor Check before rolling for the landing to see if the rotors stand the stress of the sudden deceleration.
Auto–Rotation Landing 2-4 — The aircraft makes a perfect landing. 5-8 — The aircraft makes a rough landing, doing 2d damage to each skid (or wheel, if the aircraft has wheels). 9 or better — The aircraft crashes into the ground nose-first at the speed it was making when it tried to land. The rotors take 3d damage from hitting the ground.
Modifiers: Subtract Helicopter Piloting skill from the roll. Aircraft moving over 15 mph when it attempts to land: +4. Rotors damaged: +3. Pilot wounded: -1.
Movement
Climbing and Diving In order to climb, a helicopter sacrifices V2" of forward movement for 1/4" of altitude. For example, a helicopter slated to move 2" in a phase could move 1½" and climb V4", or move 1" and climb V2". A helicopter may not climb more than V2" per turn. To climb straight up, a helicopter should set its speed at 10 mph and climb V2" per turn. Helicopter climbs are different from other aircraft climbs in that the climb does not have to be continuous — the helicopter may climb in 1/4" increments any phase it wants to (unless it's diving at the time), so long as it does not exceed a total of V2" altitude gain that turn. Helicopters may lose altitude at a rate of V4 or V2" per turn. This does not affect climbs, acceleration or movement. A helicopter may lose altitude and accelerate by diving. Because of their mode of operation, helicopters don't dive like airplanes do — they accelerate into a shallow downward glide. A too-steep dive can spell disaster for a rotor-winged aircraft. The helicopter must accelerate into the dive, spending a full turn diving. The helicopter moves as noted on the Movement Chart and the player notes how many V2" increments the helicopter is diving during the turn. A maximum of 1" may be lost during one turn. Each V2" of altitude lost in a dive accelerates the helicopter by 5 mph immediately. A helicopter may dive multiple turns to pick up extra acceleration safely. Keep track of how much acceleration is gained through diving, as this affects the pull-out, below. To stop diving, the helicopter must pull out of it. To do so, the helicopter applies some of its forward movement to climb, with each V2" for forward movement increasing altitude 1/4", to a maximum of V2" altitude gain. Each V2" of altitude gain negates 5 mph acceleration gained by diving. When the acceleration gain from diving has been totally negated, the helicopter is in level flight. Helicopters slow down when they pull out of dives. Example: A helicopter with 10 mph acceleration moving at 50 mph goes into a maximum dive, losing 1" of altitude per turn for five turns, accelerating at 10 mph per turn. The dive adds another 10 mph per turn acceleration. By the end of the dive, the helicopter is making 150 mph and has lost 5" of altitude. To pull out of the dive, the pilot allocates 1" of forward motion to climbing, gaining V2" of altitude and negating 5 mph of the 50 mph acceleration per turn. It would take him another ten turns to return to truly level flight.
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Turning
Losing Control
Maneuvering helicopters is like maneuvering any other aircraft. They turn like cars, angling the counter before movement (unlike airplanes or boats which move before angling the counter). A helicopter can make the following maneuvers. These are the only maneuvers a rotor-winged aircraft may make — more stressful maneuvers tend to cause automatic rotor failure. Dive — This is a D1 maneuver on any phase on which the helicopter moves 2" or more. On the coordinated turn or the veer, if the helicopter is moving 2" during the phase, it turns on the second inch of movement. Turns —Each 15 degrees of turn is a D1 maneuver. Helicopters cannot turn more than 45 degrees in one phase unless they use the rotate maneuver. Shift — This is like a "drift" for cars and is D1. Drift — This is like a "steep drift" for cars and is D3. Rotate — This is a D2 maneuver. It spins the helicopter on its axis and can only be done if the helicopter's speed is 20 mph or less. On each movement phase, move the helicopter in the direction it had previously been heading but rotate the counter 90 degrees. At the end of the turn the helicopter is flying backwards (see below) but facing where it came from. Flying helicopters hovering or moving 5 mph may pivot, rotating 90 degrees per phase. Fly Backwards — This has few tactical advantages except in aerial maneuvering and takeoffs in tight situations. A helicopter may fly backwards at up to 20 mph. It may perform the maneuvers listed above at +D1 if moving 5 or 10 mph and +D2 at 15 or 20 mph.
Helicopters check for control as outlined in Car Wars. Cross-check the handling status of the helicopter with its speed on the Car Wars Control Chart; if a control roll is called for and missed, add the appropriate modifier, subtract Helicopter skill and roll on Crash Table 4.
Rotating
Hazards Hazards affect helicopters immediately, as they occur, decreasing the helicopter's handling status. Colliding with another aircraft or aircraft: D4. Enemy fire doing 1-5 points of damage: Dl. Enemy fire doing 6-9 points of damage: D2. Enemy fire doing 10+ points of damage: D3. Stabilizing rotor destroyed: D4 per turn. Pilot injured or killed: D2.
Rotor Checks Stressful maneuvers from control loss can cause a Rotor Check to be made. The rotors can be merely damaged, or they can fail completely, snapping off and sending the helicopter plunging towards the ground. Breaking rotor blades may hit other objects in the area. Check for every object in a 4" radius on the same level as the helicopter. The blades have a To Hit roll of 10 and do 4d damage to whatever they hit. Any number of objects can be hit, no matter how many blades the failed rotor had.
Rotor Check Table Roll two dice: 2-7 — No effect. Rotors still in working order. 8-10 — Rotors damaged. Roll a Rotor Check before phase 1 of each turn. Consider any further results of "rotors damaged" to be "rotors failed." 11+ — Rotors failed. Helicopter drops as per Falling rules.
Modifiers Helicopter is moving 80-120 mph: +1 Helicopter is moving 121-160 mph: +2 Helicopter is moving 161-200 mph: +3 Helicopter is moving over 200 mph: +4 Engine damaged: + 1 Rotor damaged by weapons fire: +4 If a helicopter's engine fails but the rotors are still intact, it has a chance of descending safely (auto-rotation, see p. 26). Forward movement decelerates by 5 mph/turn and the helicopter drops ½"/turn. The helicopter player must roll on Crash Table 4 at the beginning of every turn.
Crash Table 4 Helicopters 2 or less — Involuntary drift. The helicopter performs a drift maneuver in the direction it was maneuvering toward and loses V4" altitude. (If it was flying straight, roll randomly for the direction of the drift — 1-3 right, 4-6 left.) 3-5 — Involuntary turn. The helicopter executes a 45-degree turn in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly as above) and loses V2" altitude. 6-8 — Severe turn. The helicopter executes a 45-degree turn in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll ran-
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Movement
domly as above) and loses 1" of altitude. Further aimed weapons fire is at -3 for the rest of the turn. 9-11 — Diving turn. The helicopter executes a 45-degree turn in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly as above) and loses 1½" of altitude. In addition, on the helicopter's following movement phase it must perform a drift in the direction of the turn or it will automatically continue the veer. The handling difficulty of the drift doesn't count against HC. Check for rotor failure. No further aimed weapons fire is allowed that turn. 12-18 — Spinout. The helicopter turns 90 degrees to its flight-path at the end of its next phase, in the direction of the maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly as above). Check for rotor failure. On its next phase the helicopter goes into a diving veer, as above. No further aimed weapons fire is allowed that turn. 19 + — Rotors automatically fail.
Turning
Airship Movement Airship movement has a lot in common with helicopter movement. Airships are stable and not very quick, but they're hard to crash and they can take a lot more damage.
Taking Off and Landing Airship takeoffs are simple — cast off the mooring lines, and the buoyant gas in the airship makes it rise of its own accord. Airships normally climb at V4" per turn — at no cost to forward movement — unless the engines are running to counter the climb. Airship landings require that the craft decelerate to 5 mph and decrease its altitude by V4" per second until it reaches ground level. Landing at any faster than 5 mph is a crash! Alternatively, an airship can cruise into the wind at 2V2 mph and lower lines to ground crew, who literally tie the ship down. This is a much less risky method of landing, but it requires one ground crewman per 10 spaces of airship. Landing in bad weather or steep winds requires one ground crew per 5 spaces of airship.
Acceleration and Deceleration
Airships maneuver like any other vehicle. They turn like cars, angling the counter before movement (unlike airplanes or boats, which move before angling the counter). Because of the vast size of the envelope, airships are restricted to gentle maneuvers. If the airship is moving 2" during the phase, it turns on the second inch of movement. When moving an airship, use the leading edge of the gondola counter to determine where the airship is. This is not strictly realistic, since the airship's front edge is actually far in front of the gondola front. For the sake of playability, assume better maneuverability than is currently plausible and use the gondola front as the maneuvering edge. Turn — Airships can make 15- and 30-degree turns, at D1 penalty per 15 degrees of turn. Shift — This is like a "drift" for cars and is Dl. Drift — This is like a "steep drift" for cars and is D3. Pivot — This is done as though the airship is a car. It spins the airship on its axis and can only be done if the airship's speed is 5 mph or less. On each Phase, rotate the airship 90 degrees. Fly Backwards — This has few tactical advantages except in aerial maneuvering and takeoffs in tight situations. A airship may fly backwards at up to 10 mph. It may perform the maneuvers listed above at +D1 if moving 5 or 10 mph.
Losing Control
Airships move and accelerate like any vehicle. At the beginning of each turn, airships reset their speeds and move on the phases indicated on the Movement Chart. All airships accelerate at 5 mph — you just can't get that large a body moving any faster. If an airship doesn't have at least V2 its weight in Power Factors, it doesn't accelerate at all. An airship can decelerate at up to 15 mph per turn (the wind resistance of the enveloped helps instead of hurts). Example: An airship travelling at 20 mph could slow to 15, 10, or 5 mph in one turn.
Climbing And Diving Airship climbing and diving works like rotor-wing climbs and dives, except that the airship is in little danger from its maneuvers. The gasbag imparts too much stability to do anything drastic. If the airship wishes to climb more than V4", the pilot sacrifices V2" of forward movement for V4" of altitude. Remember, an airship can always climb V4" per turn without
Movement
any forward movement, unless the gasbag is holed. For example, a airship slated to move 2" in a phase could move 1½" and climb V2", or move 1" and climb 3/4". A airship may not climb more than 1" per turn. To climb straight up, a airship should set its speed at 15 mph and climb 1" per turn. Airship climbs are different from other aircraft climbs in that the climb does not have to be continuous — the airship may climb in 1/4" increments on any phase it wants to (unless it's diving at the time), as long as it does not exceed a total of 1" altitude gain that turn. Airships may lose altitude at a rate of V4 or V2" per turn. This does not affect climbs, acceleration or movement. To lose more than V2" of altitude, the airship must dive. The airship must accelerate into the dive and maintain the dive the entire turn. A maximum of 1" may be lost during one turn. To stop diving, the airship simply stops losing altitude.
Airships check for control the same way other vehicles do. Cross-check the handling status of the airship with its speed on the Control Chart. If a control roll is called for and missed, add the appropriate modifier, subtract airship skill and roll on Crash Table 8.
Hazards Hazards affect airships immediately, as they occur, decreasing the airship's handling status. Colliding with another aircraft or vehicle: D2. Enemy fire doing 6-9 points of damage to Medium or smaller airship: D1. Enemy fire doing 10-15 points of damage to Medium or smaller airship: D2. Enemy fire doing 16+ points of damage to Medium or smaller airship: D3. Enemy fire doing 10-15 points of damage to Standard or larger airship: D1.
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Enemy fire doing 16-25 points of damage to Standard or larger airship: D2. Enemy fire doing 26+ points of damage to Standard or larger airship: D3. Pilot injured or killed: D2.
Weather Hazards Airships are extremely vulnerable to bad weather, since their lack of relative mass makes them move easily in the wind. They double hazard penalties for updrafts and downdrafts. If a hydrogen-filled airship or balloon is hit by lightning, roll 2d. On a roll of 11 the lighting-rod protection has failed and the hydrogen combusts, setting the envelope on fire. On a roll of 12 the envelope explodes, destroying the airship and all aboard.
Crash Table 9 Airships 3 or less — Involuntary drift. The airship drifts in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for direction — 1-3 right, 4-6 left). All further aimed weapons fire is at -3 for the rest of the turn. 4-6 — Involuntary turn. The airship executes a 15-degree turn in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for direction, as above). All further aimed weapons fire is at -3 for the rest of the turn. 7-8 — Involuntary turn and dive. The airship turns 30 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for direction, as above) and loses V2" of altitude. All further aimed weapons fire is at -3 for the rest of the turn. 9-10 — Severe turn. The airship turns 30 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for direction, as above) and drifts 1h" as well. The airship loses 1" of altitude. All further aimed weapons fire is at -6 for the rest of the turn. 11-12 — Spinout. The airship turns 45 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for direction, as above) and loses 1" of altitude. The next movement phase the airship executes a severe turn (as #9-10, above) in the direction of the spinout. No further aimed weapons fire may be done for the rest of the turn. 13+ — Disaster. The gondola rips lose from the envelope and the envelope breaks up. The gondola falls free to the ground. Rigid airships suffer loss of half the envelope DP instead.
I
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Movement
AERODUEL COMBAT hit on a 4 or better — the laser-guidance gives guided bombs a To Hit of 6. Laser-guidance can be combined with any other bomb modification.
New Weapons None of these weapons are suitable for use on a ground vehicle except for the Gatling Cannon and the Heavy Auto-Cannon, which can be mounted on an oversized vehicle with the same limitations as a Tank Gun.
Small-Bore Projectile Weapons
Galling Cannon — To hit 6, 5d damage, $7,000, 750 lbs., 5 DP, 5 spaces. Holds 10 shots ($45 and 15 lbs. each). Loaded cost $7,450, loaded weight 900 lbs. Loaded magazine costs $500 and weighs 165 lbs. 2" burst effect. Can use HD ammo. The GC has an area effect when using HD ammo.
Large-Bore Projectile Weapons Heavy Autocannon — To hit 6, 6d damage, $9,500, 900 lbs., 8 DP, 6 spaces. Holds 10 shots ($25 and 10 lbs. each). Loaded cost $9,750, loaded weight 1,000 lbs. Loaded magazine costs $300 and weighs 115 lbs. 2" burst effect. Can use HEAT or APFSDS ammo. The HAC has an area effect when using HEAT or APFSDS ammo.
Bombs 100-lb. Bomb — To hit 9, 4d damage, $100, 100 lbs., 2 DP, 1 space, 1-shot weapon, 2" burst effect. 250-lb. Bomb — To hit 9, 12d damage, $300, 250 lbs., 3 DP, 2 spaces, 1-shot weapon, 3" burst effect. 500-lb. Bomb — To hit 9, 20d damage, $750, 500 lbs., 4 DP, 3 spaces, 1-shot weapon, 4" burst effect. 750-lb. Bomb — To hit 9, 30d damage, $1,000, 750 lbs., 5 DP, 4 spaces, 1-shot weapon, 5" burst effect. 1,000-lb. Bomb — To hit 9, 40d damage, $2000, 1,000 lbs., 6 DP, 5 spaces, 1-shot weapon, 7" burst effect.
Bomb Modifications Cluster — Double cost, weight times 1.5. Cluster bombs do half the listed damage dice for the bomb (round down) to everything (including vehicles) within 1.5 times the listed bomb radius, one-quarter the listed bomb damage dice (round down) to everything within an additional 2" radius and one-eighth the listed bomb damage dice (round down) to everything within an additional radius equal to the bomb's original radius. For instance, a 1,000-lb. cluster bomb would cost $4,000, weigh 1,500 lbs. and do the following damage: To everything within 10 V2 " of the bomb impact, 20d damage. To everything from 10 3/4" to 12 3/4" from the bomb impact, 10d damage. To everything 13" to 20" from the bomb impact, 5d damage. Crater — Double cost, weight normal. Crater bombs create a crater where they hit. The crater is V2 burst radius wide and 1/4 burst radius deep. Full damage is done to any directly-hit target and half listed damage (round down) is done to anything else in the radius. Anti-Armor — Double cost, weight normal. Anti-armor bombs are just like AP warheads. They add +1 point of damage per die and reduce the burst radius to 1". Laser-Guidance Link — Cost $500 plus $220 per laserguided bomb. Requires a laser timed to the link, as per regular laser-guidance rules. Laser-guided bombs do not automatically
Combat
Napalm — Triple cost, weight normal. Napalm bombs are loaded with flammable jelly and splatter the area of their hit with burning material. Napalm bombs do -2 damage points per damage die and have a Burn Modifier of +8 and a Burn Duration of 4. When a napalm bomb hits it hits everything in an area equal to (burst radius/2) wide by (burst radius x 2) long, pointed in the direction in which the bomb was traveling. Anything hit by the napalm takes napalm damage at the end of each turn for five minutes after the napalm hits; anything not napalmed but moving through a napalmed area suffers damage as if it had moved through a flaming oil counter. Vehicles with fireproof or metal armor are still affected by napalm, each person and component suffering one point of damage at the end of each turn — only internals are damaged; fireproof armor and tires suffer no damage. Because of its destructiveness, napalm is outlawed in almost all civilized areas. Possession is usually limited to military personnel only. Only fire extinguishers have any chance of preventing napalm damage. Regular fire extinguishers prevent internal damage on a roll of 1-3 and put out the exterior napalm on a roll of 1. HD fire extinguishers prevent internal damage on a roll of 1-4 and put out the exterior napalm on a roll of 1-2. Napalm stops doing fire damage after five minutes. Scatterpack — Cost +$500 plus cost of dropped weapon loads, 1/4 weight plus weight of dropped weapon loads. This bomb carries and deploys solid dropped weapons when the bomb is 2" above the ground. Each bomb "space" holds four V2" by V2" mine/spike or explosive spike/Spear 1000/junk counters. The aircraft dropping the bomb must be at least 105' (7") above the ground to use the bomb. When the bomb deploys its payload, roll 2d per counter. On a roll of 2 or 3 the counter was too dispersed to be any good. Each counter scatters from the bomb's "impact" separately. Roll on the table below: 1 — Counter scatters 1d" backwards from the "impact" point. 2 — Counter scatters 1d" forward and 1d" to the right. 3 — Counter scatters 1d" forward and 1d" to the left. 4 — Counter scatters 1d" backwards and 1d" to the right. 5 — Counter scatters 1d" backwards and 1d" to the left. 6 — Counter scatters 1d" forward from the "impact" point.
Rocket Weapons
Radar-Guided Missile — To hit 7, 3d damage, $4,000, 100 lbs., 1 space, 1 DP, 1-shot weapon. 2" burst effect. The RGM gets no point-blank bonus and normal range penalties do not apply. RGMs suffer a -1 to hit for every 4" the target is closer to the firer than 24". Speed penalties are divided by 3 when attacking aerial targets. Visibility penalties do not apply; neither do gunner or computer bonuses. Do not roll for the hit until the missile counter collides with the target counter.If the missile misses its target or ever loses line-of-sight to the target it continues until its five turns of fuel are gone and then explodes. All RGMs and AAMs explode when their fuel nms out.
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The missile moves at 200 mph (4" per phase) and flies for 5 seconds; use a missile or pedestrian counter to represent it. The missile may make any one airplane maneuver in one phase and may gain or lose 1" of altitude in one phase in addition to other maneuvers or straightforward movement, without a loss of speed. RGMs may be placed on rocket platforms, EWPs and rocket magazines and may be made armor-piercing. Air-to-Air Missile — To hit 6 (aerial target) or 11 (ground target), 4d damage, $12,000, 200 lbs., 2 spaces, 2 DP, 1-shot weapon. Works like an RGM except that it moves at 800 mph (16" per phase) and flies for ten seconds. AAMs may lose or gain 2" of altitude per phase in addition to other maneuvers or straightforward movement, without speed loss. AAMs may be placed on rocket platforms or in EWPs. They may not use rocket magazines, but may be made armor-piercing. High-Speed Missiles — 100% of missile cost. This modification doubles RGM speed to 400 mph (8" per phase) and AAMs to 1,600 mph (32" per phase). Armor-piercing highspeed missiles cost 3 times normal cost. Long-Range Missiles — 100% of missile cost. This quadruples the flight times of RGMs to 20 turns and of AAMs to 40 turns. High-speed long-range missiles cost 400% of missile cost. Proximity Fuse — Cost +$1,000, weight normal. This modification makes AAMs and RGMs do full damage at 1" away from the target. Proximity-fused missiles roll to hit at 1" range and ignore all movement modifiers. Proximity-fused missiles do not ram their targets, exploding before they get close enough.
Targeting Modifiers Microplanes Small: -1 from side, top or bottom; -2 front or back. Medium and Large: -1 from front or back. Cargo and Large Cargo: +1 from side, top or bottom; -1 from front or back. Wings: +1 from top or bottom; -3 from the side. +1 if Cargo or Large Cargo, +1 if Heavy Lift or Extra Wing. Landing Wheel: -5. Propeller: -6; -3 if ducted cowling. Tail Assembly: -3; -2 if Cargo or Large Cargo. Tail assembly is destroyed when back armor is gone.
Jet Fighters Small: +1 from side, top or bottom. -1 from front or back. Large: +2 from side, top or bottom. Wing: +2 from top or bottom; -1 from side. +1 if Large Fighter. Landing Wheel: -1. Jet Engine: -5; -3 from front or back. Tail Assembly: -2; +0 if Large fighter. Tail assembly is destroyed when back armor is gone.
Helicopters One-Man and Small: -1 front or back; +1 everywhere else. Standard and Transport: +2 from top, bottom or side. Rotor: -6. Skid: -8. Pontoon: -3.
Autogyros Body Size, Prop, Wheels and Tail Assembly: As for equivalent Microplane or Airplane.
Airships Micro: Gondola +1 from side or bottom; envelope +3 from front or back, +4 from side or top, control surfaces +0. Small: Gondola +1 from side or bottom; envelope +4 from front or back, +5 from side or top, control surfaces +1. Medium: Gondola +2 from side or bottom, +1 from front or back; envelope +5 from front or back, +6 from side or top, control surfaces +2. Standard: Gondola +3 from side or bottom, +2 from front or back; envelope +7 from front or back, +8 from side or top, control surfaces +3. Large: Gondola +3 from side or bottom, +2 from front or back; envelope +8 from front or back, +9 from side or top, control surfaces +4. Transport: Gondola +3 from side or bottom, +2 from front or back; envelope +9 from front or back, +10 from side or top, control surfaces +5. Super: Gondola +4 from side or bottom, +2 from front or back; envelope +11 from front or back, +12 from side or top, control surfaces +6. Propeller: -4. Firing at gondola top through envelope: -4.
Balloons Small Basket: -3 from all sides. Large Basket: -1 from all sides. Balloon: 1-cell +1, 2-4 cell +2, 5-9 cell +3, 10+ cell +4. Tether: -8.
Airplanes Small: -1 from front and back. Medium and Large: +1 from side, top or bottom; -1 from front or back. Cargo: +2 from side, top or bottom; + 1 from front or back. Large Cargo: +4 from side, top or bottom; +2 from front or back. Wing: +2 from top or bottom; -1 from side. +1 if Cargo, +3 if Large Cargo, +1 if Heavy Lift wings. Landing Wheel: -3; -1 for Cargo and Large Cargo. Propeller: -4; -2 if ducted cowling. Tail Assembly: -2; +1 if Cargo and +2 if Large Cargo. Tail assembly is destroyed when back armor is gone.
Special Missiles: RGM or AAM -10. Maneuver foils: -2
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Combat
Right: Right armor; right-firing weapons; roll between cargo, pilot(s), gunner(s), passengers and power plant; left-firing weapons; left armor. Left: As above, in reverse order. Underbody: Bottom armor; bottom-firing weapons; roll between pilot(s), gunner(s), passengers, cargo and power plant; top-firing weapons; top armor; envelope. Top: As above, in reverse order. Props and turrets/EWPs/bomb racks must be targeted individually.
Damage Allocation Airplanes and Microplanes Front: Front armor; front-firing weapons; power plant (if mounted forward of the cockpit); cockpit (pilot or gunner(s)); power plant (if mounted back of the cockpit); cargo; back-firing weapons; back armor. Back: As above, in reverse order. Right: Right armor; right-firing weapons; roll between cargo, pilot(s), gunner(s) and power plant; left-firing weapons; left armor. Left: As above, in reverse order. Underbody: Bottom armor; bottom-firing weapons; roll between pilot(s), gunner(s), cargo and power plant; top-firing weapons; top armor. Top: As above, in reverse order. Props, wheels, wings and turrets/EWPs/bomb racks must be targeted individually.
Firing Arcs
Front: Front armor; front-firing weapons; roll between engine and cockpit (pilot, then co-pilot or gunner(s)); cargo; backfiring weapons; back armor. Back: As above, in reverse order. Right: Right armor; right-firing weapons; engine; roll between cargo, pilot(s) and gunner(s); left-firing weapons; left armor. Left: As above, in reverse order. Underbody: Bottom armor; bottom-firing weapons; engine; roll between pilot(s), gunner(s) and cargo; top-firing weapons; top armor. Top: As above, in reverse order.
In combat, an aircraft may target anything within its arc(s) of fire. In return, an aircraft may be targeted by anything that it could fire upon, if the prospective target has weapons in that arc. Helicopters use the same firing arcs as cars — trace the arcs from corner to corner of the counter. Many airplane counters are very wide, due to the plane's wings. This would give unreasonably large front and rear firing arcs, if arcs were traced corner-to-corner. Therefore, most aircraft counters have two dots on the front and back edges. These dots mark the corners of the "virtual" counter to determine firing arcs. See the diagram on the opposite page. The firing arc for front-mounted weapons (both wing- and fuselage-mounted) is shown as F. Back firing arcs are determined in the same manner (firing arc B). Side-mounted weapons use the L and R arcs, as for normal vehicles. Wing-tip mounts (p. 20) are miniature turrets with enhanced traverses. Their firing arcs encompass the front and back arcs as well as the appropriate side arc (arcs WL and WR, for left and right respectively).
Helicopters and Autogyros
Elevation
Jet Fighters
Front: Front armor; front-firing weapons; roll between pilot(s) and gunner(s)); power plant; cargo; back-firing weapons; back armor. Back: As above, in reverse order. Right: Right armor; right-firing weapons; roll between cargo, pilot(s), gunner(s) and power plant; left-firing weapons; left armor. Left: As above, in reverse order. Underbody: Bottom armor; bottom-firing weapons; roll between pilot(s), gunner(s), cargo and power plant; top armor. Top: As above, in reverse order. Skids, rotors, turrets/EWPs/bomb racks and pontoons must be targeted individually. If stabilizing or main rotors are hit, roll one die. On a roll of 1-5 the rotor takes 1 point of damage. On a 6, it takes 2 points of damage — most of the damage hits empty air. If the main rotor is destroyed, the aircraft drops. If the stabilizing rotor is destroyed the helicopter goes into a mandatory and unending series of counter-clockwise Rotate maneuvers which cease only when the helicopter lands. The pilot must make a control roll during the first phase of every rotating turn — the Rotate maneuvers do count against handling!
Airships Envelope: Sustains damage equally from all directions (1 in 6 chance of hitting top of gondola if attacker fires from directly above). Front: Front armor; front-firing weapons; power plant (if mounted forward of the cockpit); cockpit (pilot or gunner(s)); power plant (if mounted back of the cockpit); cabin (passengers); cargo; back-firing weapons; back armor. Back: As above, in reverse order.
Combat
Weapons have a 45-degree elevation; that is, they can target any object that is farther away than the difference in their altitudes. For example, if Aircraft A is in Car B's weapon arc and is 5" away and 4" up, Car B can hit it. Car C, at 3" range, cannot (because Aircraft A is higher up than it is far away). Likewise, Aircraft A could not hit Car C with any of its weapons unless it was rolled to have a side weapon (or top turret) actually face the Underbody arc, if it had an Underbody-mounted weapon or universal turret, or had Car C in its Front arc and was diving. This is why many aircraft mount universal turrets Under. If the two vehicles are at different altitudes, add the horizontal and vertical range modifiers together to get the weapon range. Example: Aircraft A is 5" away and 4" up (modifiers of -1 to hit for each.) This gives a total of -2 to hit for distance. Hand-held and tripod weapons have no arc problems — they are assumed to be universal. If the vertical distance from a ground vehicle to an aircraft is more than the horizontal distance — for instance, a car firing at an aircraft 10" up and 7" away — then the ground vehicle can only hit the aircraft's underbody or wings, with Top-mounted or universally-turreted weapons. Likewise, the aircraft could only hit the car's top with under-mounted weapons (or an Undermounted universal turret). An aircraft rolled 90 degrees — on its side — could use the weapons mounted on the side pointing downwards.
Flying Wings and Airships The flying wing is large and not maneuverable. Therefore, it must have all weapons mounted in universal turrets — eliminat-
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ing the need for firing arcs. Weapons atop the fuselage may take in the whole area above the plane; weapons below the fuselage take in the whole area below it. Weapons on the side of the fuselage take in the whole side of the plane, above or below it as the case may be. Wingtop-mounted weapons take in the whole area above or below the plane. Because universal turrets are used, any of these weapons except those mounted on the side of the fuselage can hit a target at the same altitude as the flying wing. Airships determine their firing arcs for each armor location according to the diagram below. Remember that both gondolas and rigid envelopes can mount weapons. Universal turrets mounted below a gondola, or on top of a rigid airship's envelope, can fire at any target below or above the airship, as appropriate for their location.
Weapons Fire Regular weapons fire is conducted as for Car Wars, with the firing arc restrictions noted above. Certain aerial weapons are exceptions to the regular rules:
Missiles Self-guided missiles are the premier long-range weapons of aerial combat. They seek their targets with their own radar sets and track them down until the missile hits (and often destroys) the target . . . or misses and self-destructs. Missile operation is described under the listing for the RGM, but aerial combat has some vital differences from RGMs fired at the ground. First, aerial target speed modifiers are divided by 3 (round up), due to the lack of background clutter for example, the 80+ mph to hit modifier of -6 is divided by 3
and becomes -2. Second, if an RGM or AAM succeeds in hitting its target by 2 or more (a roll of 9+ for a slow-moving target) the missile actually rams the target for ram damage in addition to explosive damage. RGMs (and AAMs, see below) have a ram modifier of Vs. In addition, a missile may make any one airplane maneuver in one phase and may gain or lose altitude each phase in addition to other maneuvers or straightforward movement, without a loss of speed (the exact speed and allowed altitude loss/gain is detailed in each missile description). Finally, RGMs and AAMs have unusual launching requirements. They may not be launched into heavy slipstreams — any RGM or AAM launched from an aircraft going over 100 mph must be launched forward. Any other launching knocks the missile off guidance. Such a missile can turn in its first turn of flight to face its target. Launched RGMs/AAMs add the aircraft's own speed to theirs for the first turn of flight. An RGM launched from an airplane going 350 mph would have a total speed of 550 mph for its first five movement phases. After the first five phases of movement the missile returns to its listed speed. Remember, missiles may be defeated by chaff, radar jammers, anti-radar sheathing or armor and bollixes. And the computer aiming systems of the 21st century allow aircraft to shoot missiles down! An RGM or AAM may be targeted at -10, plus range modifiers. Missiles get no speed modifiers — this is factored into the -10 figure. A missile may be fired upon for multiple turns, with the firer acquiring the sustained fire bonus. Any hit on a missile destroys it — even something as trivial as a flechette gun can knock down a missile.
Strafing A special kind of automatic attack, strafing allows an aircraft to hit multiple ground targets in one turn with the same weapon(s). To make a strafing attack, the aircraft must be wings-level — not rolled in any way. Rolled gunsights don't line up correctly. Strafing aircraft may dive while strafing, but not climb. The pilot picks a spot of ground where the attack begins (maximum range of 20"). No distance modifiers are applied for strafing — it bombards the entire area. This spot must be able to be hit by the aircraft's front or under-mounted weapons, depending on which weapons are going to strafe. Then the pilot or gunner puts the weapons to be used on automatic. The aircraft flies straight each phase it strafes — it does not strafe while turning, but resumes strafing as soon as it moves straight again. The strafing path is 1" wide, and follows a straight line (from the middle of the counter) for the distance moved during the phase. The next phase, the target spot is where the strafe ended the phase before. Example: An airplane moving 200 mph covers 4" per phase, so the strafing path would be 1" by 4", lined up with the aircraft's movement. Strafing is stopped temporarily whenever the aircraft maneuvers — an aircraft could strafe, roll, turn, and return to strafing. A strafing run is over when the aircraft suffers control loss, takes its weapons off automatic (or runs out of ammo) or climbs. Each target that is attacked by a strafing run is attacked with a to-hit roll of 9. Only size and visibility count against strafing attacks. Likewise, the only positive modifiers that count for strafing attacks are the pilot's Gunner skill (the pilot may not fire any other weapon while strafing) and a +1 for using tracer rounds.
Horizontal Bombing
Damage from strafing is V5 combined weapon damage per target (rounded up), minus -1 per damage die for each full 100 mph the aircraft is moving, rounded up. Example: The airplane in the example above (moving 200 mph) firing four linked MGs, each normally doing d. The 200 mph subtracts 2 points per die of damage. Therefore, the damage per strafing hit would be (4d-8)/5 to each target. For strafing attacks, linked weapons combine their damage. Only automatic-action weapons may strafe. This means MGs, VMGs, ACs, GGs, Lasers, GCs and HACs. Burst-effect weapons do get their listed burst effect. Linked weapons may strafe together as the pilot or gunner desires. Smart-linked weapons that fire into the same arc may strafe as well.
Horizontal bombing occurs unless the aircraft actually dives at the target, as per the Dive Bombing rules below. The aircraft may drop the bomb as long as the bottom of the aircraft faces the ground — the aircraft may be climbing, diving or turning (although it may not be rolled while bombing). Horizontal bombing is slower than dive bombing, since the bomb must slow horizontally while accelerating vertically. When a bomb is horizontally dropped, the bomb moves forward at the aircraft's current speed and drops downward at a 25 mph acceleration. As the bomb continues to drop, it loses forward speed at 25 mph deceleration per turn while accelerating downward at 25 mph per turn (maximum downward speed is terminal velocity, 130 mph). The following table is included to illustrate this process:
Bombing Bombing is a devastating tactic, since bombs do so much damage. Unlike other burst weapons, bombs do half their listed damage to all targets within their burst effect radius (except for crater, cluster and anti-armor bombs, as noted on p. 30). However, bombs take a long time to reach their target and aren't particularly accurate. Because of this, bombing is tricky — it's hard to hit a moving target, because you have to aim the bomb at where you think the target will be when the bomb hits. Usually the target changes course when it sees the bomb coming. Against stationary or slow-moving targets, a bomb is an extremely deadly weapon. Bombing is conducted in two fashions: Horizontal and Dive Bombing. Both kinds launch the bombs from the front arc bombs can only be "fired" from the front arc — and count as a firing action. Unlike other firing actions, the aircraft must move straight its next phase when bombing even if a gunner drops the bomb. Linked bombs may be dropped on automatic, in which case the bombs drop one per phase. Bombs are treated as launched grenades. A target point on the ground is chosen and the bomb dropped. The bomb takes time to drop; after this time it hits and the actual location of the bomb hit is figured according to the following table:
Horizontal Bomb Progress Forward Time Elapsed Speed 1 second Aircraft speed 2 seconds 3 seconds 4 seconds 5 seconds 6 seconds 7 seconds
Aircraft speed-25 Aircraft speed-50 Aircraft speed-75 Aircraft speed-100 Aircraft speed-125 Aircraft speed-150
Vertical Speed 25 mph 50 mph 75 mph 100 mph 130 mph 130 mph 130 mph
Vertical Drop 21/2" 71/2" 15" 25" 38" 51" 64"
Thus, a bomb dropped from an aircraft going 300 mph at 352" altitude (1 mile) would move forward from its drop point for 13 seconds, traveling 195" (over half a mile) and take 30 seconds to hit the ground. Horizontal bombing is not recommended for moving targets unless the bombs are dropped near the ground. Most attack craft dive-bomb their targets (see below). Horizontal bombing to-hit rolls are not affected by range, target size or movement modifiers. The bomber's gunner skill and target computers do affect the to-hit roll.
To Hit roll:
Torpedo Bombing
Made by 2 or more: Bomb hits target point. Made by 0-1: Bomb hits off-target; roll d-2" of scatter distance on Scatter Table. Missed by 1-2: Bomb scatters 1d +1" on Scatter Table. Missed by 3-4: Bomb scatters 2d" on Scatter Table. Missed by 5-6: Bomb scatters 3d" on Scatter Table. Missed by 7-10: Bomb scatters 5d" on Scatter Table. Missed by 11 +: Bomb scatters 10d" on Scatter Table.
Dropping a torpedo from an aircraft is a form of horizontal bombing, with the following restrictions in addition to normal horizontal bombing restrictions. The aircraft cannot be more than 21/2" above the water or going faster than 200 mph when it drops its torpedo(s). If it is going any faster or is any higher the torpedo is destroyed when it hits the water. A dropped torpedo hits the water within a turn (the torpedo drops at V2" per phase, moving forward at the aircraft's speed). The torpedo slows down to its listed speed on the phase after it enters the water and behaves normally thereafter.
Scatter Table
Dive Bombing
Roll 1d: 1 — Bomb scatters forward from target point. 2 — Bomb scatters forward and to the right (roll scatter dice separately for each distance) from target point. 3 — Bomb scatters forward and to the left (roll scatter dice separately for each distance) from target point. 4 — Bomb scatters to the right of target point. 5 — Bomb scatters to the left of target point. 6 — Bomb scatters to the rear of target point.
Bombs and Water All bombs detonate on contact with water except anti-armor bombs, which need a very solid object to detonate them.
Combat
Dive bombing occurs when the aircraft dives towards its target, aiming the bomb at the target point. To do so, the aircraft must be in a dive — if the aircraft is not already making a diving maneuver (see p. 21). The aircraft must dive in the phase it drops its bomb. This kind of sudden dive is a D3 maneuver and the aircraft loses 1/4" of altitude. As a further restriction, an aircraft making a dive-bomb run must be wings level — the aircraft cannot be rolled. After the dive-bomb run, the aircraft must straighten out and fly level for the next phase, as usual. The dropped bomb moves at the aircraft's speed. The range from bomber to target point is different from direct-fire weapons, which add distance and altitude. Dive-bombs take the longer of the two measurements (distance or altitude) and add it to V3 of the lesser distance (round up). For instance, an aircraft
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at 15" altitude bombing a target 20" away would have a divebombing range of 25" (20 + (15/3)). Divide the dive-bombing range by the aircraft's speed to determine how long the bomb takes to reach the target point. If desired, the exact phase the bomb hits can be determined by counting off the movement phases on the Speed Chart until the range distance is achieved. Dive-bomb to-hit rolls are not affected by target speed modifiers, and are only affected by size modifiers if the area of the target point is small (such as planting the bomb through a window or door, a -3 to the to-hit roll). They are affected by range modifiers, at -1 per 4" of dive-bomb range. Gunner skill and target computers add to the to-hit roll. Every turn that the pilot spends diving towards the target gains a +I to hit, to a maximum of +3. For example, if the aircraft above was at Speed 200, the bomb would arrive at the target point in under two turns (7 phases), and the range modifier would be -6. A missed dive-bombing attack cannot scatter farther than half the range. The bomb in the example above could not scatter more than 12" in any direction.
Anti-Aircraft Defenses Anti-aircraft defenses are common in 2040. Any airport has quite a few AA guns, because the traffic coming through usually carries cargo worth fighting for — and repairing concrete runways that have been crater-bombed is expensive. AA defenses consist of hand-held weapons, such as SAMs and machine-weapons of all types, balloon early-warning systems, balloon-mounted weapons, barrage balloons, universal gun turrets on buildings and AA mounts, both fixed and mobile. Small airports rarely have more defenses than a vehicle or two with universal turret mounts and SAMs for the airport staff. Long-range radar is mounted in the control tower — often little more than a shed — to warn of approaching aircraft. Medium-sized airports usually mount their radars on a proper tower, and may also operate balloon-mounted radar sets. Defenses consist of security forces of universal-turreted vehicles and SAM-armed guards. Wealthier airports may mount universal-turreted weapons on the buildings or tower, and almost every airport of this size has a trailer or fixed AA mount ("flak" in pilot lingo). Large airports boast extensive aerial security. The control tower and receiving terminal sport universal-turret weapons with robot gunners. Balloons herald the approach to the runways, guarding the miles-long perimeter with radar, IR and remote computer-gunner-manned weaponry. Barrage balloons line the airstrips close to the terminal/tower complex, keeping low-flying dive-bombers away from the buildings and hangars. Mobile AA mounts and universal-turreted vehicles cruise the airfield interior; more fixed AA "flak" guns lurk in dugouts around the field to blast unwanted fliers. The security guards are armed with the best hand-weapons and always sling a SAM on their backs during their patrols. Large airfields spend a lot on their defense, since they stand to lose even more from a lack of defense.
Links for the weapons on an AA mount must be purchased separately. If more than one weapon is mounted, the weapons must be mounted in multiples of two for balance purposes, each one of the pair mounted side by side. For example, a twelvespace mount could hold two heavy auto-cannons, or four autocannons, or four MGs and two blast cannons, or four rocket-launchers and two VMGs, or two gatling cannons and two MGs, etc. Of course, one weapon could be mounted alone — a six-space mount could hold a GC and magazine, for instance. Magazines mounted to the weapons are counted against the amount of spaces, and if one weapon of a pair mounts a magazine the other must as well. AA mounts with multiple weapons work with maximum effect when mounting the same weapons. Any AA mount with multiple weapons, all of the same type, has two benefits: They may mount three weapons (other AA mounts with multiple weapons must mount in multiples of two only) and the gunner has a +1 to hit, just like a cupola gunner.
Vehicle AA Mounts Although any vehicle or mount with a universal turret can be considered an anti-aircraft vehicle, true AA mounts are not turrets but external multi-gun universal mounts allowing large weapons to be installed in cargo areas (like flatbeds, pickup beds and open-topped vehicles). They are large and slow but can mount the weaponry to destroy an airplane in a single salvo. Each mount holds a gunner, like a cupola — the gunner's space is already figured into the mount's spaces, although the gunner's 150 lbs. is not. The gunner does not receive the +1 to hit that regular cupola gunners do, unless the weapons mounted are identical (see below). The mounts come in four sizes: Four-space — $2,000, 400 lbs., 8 spaces. Six-space — $3,000, 600 lbs., 10 spaces. Eight-space — $4,500, 1,000 lbs., 12 spaces. Twelve-space — $7,000, 1,500 lbs., 18 spaces. AA mounts may be armored. The armor costs $20 and weighs 8 lbs. per point of armor. Maximum armor is 10 points. Turrets mounted on AA mount carrier cabs may not fire to the back arc. Likewise, AA mounts on carriers with cabs (pickups and any truck) may not fire into the front arc. This keeps the cab turret from shooting up the AA mount and vice versa. AA mounts may be mounted on trailers, with one mount per trailer maximum. Illegal Firing Arcs Front Arc Illegal from Carrier
Back Arc Illegal from Cab
AA Mounts AA mounts are automatically universal. They work like universal turrets mounting linked weapons but are slower — they can only turn 90 degrees per turn. For example, an AA mount facing F could turn to attack a target in the L or R arc, or stay in F arc. An AA mount facing L could turn to F or B arcs, or stay in L arc, etc.
Fixed AA Mounts AA mounts in permanent installations can be of any size. Cost is $750 per space of weapon capacity, plus the cost of the weapons. Armor is $50 per point per space — and they can have as much as they want.
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Combat
Characters and Skills Flying an aircraft has very little in common with driving a car or truck. Flying different kinds of aircraft is as different as driving a car is from cycling. Special skills are needed to fly each type of aircraft. Aircraft skills are bought and improved by experience like all other skills. The main difference with aircraft skills is that some of them allow use of other aircraft, with suitable penalties to the skill. Any plane or fighter skill allows a pilot to use any other plane or fighter at -2 to skill. Characters without any plane or fighter skill cannot fly these aircraft in combat and are at -3 HC when flying such an aircraft out of combat.
Skill Descriptions Small Plane Pilot — This skill allows the pilot to fly all microplanes and small, medium and large airplanes. Large Plane Pilot — This skill allows the pilot to fly cargo and large cargo airplanes. Jet Fighter Pilot — This skill allows the pilot to fly jet fighters. Pilots without this skill cannot operate vectored-thrust fighters.
Vectored-Thrust Pilot — This skill allows the pilot to operate VT aircraft. The pilot must have Jet Fighter skill. A pilot with only Jet Fighter skill can operate VT aircraft at a -3 to skill. Helicopter Pilot — This skill allows the pilot to fly helicopters and autogyros. Pilots with this skill can also fly tilt-rotor aircraft at -2 to skill. Airship Pilot — This skill allows the piloting of airships. Any pilot can pilot an airship without this skill at a -3 to piloting skill. Glider Pilot — Every pilot can fly a glider at -2 to skill. This skill allows the specific and precise handling of gliders and hang-gliders. Rocket Pack — This skill allows the precise handling of rocket packs. Rocket packs cannot be flown without this skill. GLOC Toughening — This skill can only be bought up to a +1 level, and has no effect until the +1 level. At +1 it adds +1 to all GLOC rolls. (See GLOC, page 23.) Aircraft Mechanic — This skill is identical to the Mechanic skill, but applies only to aerial vehicles. An aircraft mechanic working on cars is at -2 to any die rolls, and vice versa, for an auto mechanic working on aircraft.
Aircraft Maintenance Aircraft are expensive to buy and just as expensive to maintain. If not maintained, aircraft become dangerous to operate in a car, if a critical failure occurs, the driver is usually close enough to the ground to slow down. Aircraft don't have the luxury of that option most of the time. Aircraft mechanics repair aircraft just like ground mechanics repair ground vehicles.
Difficulty of Repair Jobs Very Hard: Repair jet engine, propeller or autogyro rotor. Hard: Repair wing damage. Medium: Repair envelope damage (treat as armor repair). These repair jobs are in addition to those on the repair table in the Car Wars rules. Cost of repairs is the same for aircraft as for ground vehicles.
Critical Malfunction Aircraft need regular maintenance. Without it, they develop equipment failures that range from the annoying to the instantly deadly. Every time an aircraft is flown in combat or for more than an hour it needs a maintenance check by an aircraft mechanic. This check costs d x $25 and takes an hour (it only costs 1d x $10 if you're an aircraft mechanic and you do it yourself). The time is spent testing and adjusting components to make sure they'll work correctly when the aircraft is used. Each time the aircraft is flown in combat or for more than an hour, roll 2d. On a 12, roll 2d again on the table below (subtract 3 from the roll if regular maintenance has been performed).
Characters
Malfunctions 6 or lower — No actual malfunction. 7-9 — A non-flight-essential component malfunctions. This is one component not concerned with keeping the aircraft in the air, including weapons, turrets, accessories of all kinds, tires, etc. The affected component will not function until it is repaired. 10-14 — A flight-essential component malfunctions. Flightessential components include power plant, maneuver foils, props/jet engines, wings, tail assembly and flight computer. The effects are grouped into three categories (roll randomly to determine which goes bad): Power plant and prop/jet malfunctions cause a loss of power factors — prop/jet malfunctions cause a partial loss (as many power factors as that prop/jet provided; remember that aircraft power factors are divided evenly between the props) and power plant malfunctions cause total power loss. If the aircraft is without power it must glide to a landing. Manual foil/tail assembly/flight computer malfunctions cause a random loss of handling. Roll 1d for the penalty to HC. HC remains crippled this way until the component is repaired. Wing malfunctions cause a Wing Check.
Recharging and Fueling Fuel-cell power plants have 50 times their spaces in Power Units. They take 10 minutes per 10,000 PU and $1 per PU to charge. Gas and jet engines take 10 minutes per 50 gallons to fill up; microplane gas costs $40 per gallon, airplane gas costs $100 per gallon and jet fuel costs $250 per gallon. Airships need lifting gas. Helium costs $50 per cubic inch of envelope; hydrogen costs $5 per cubic inch of envelope. See p. 13.
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SAMPLE AIRCRAFT Sniper - Small microplane, medium car power plant, 3 PR cycle tires, 1 prop mounted back, ducted cowling, swept wings, pilot, 2 linked MGs wing-mounted front. Armor: F30, R28, 128, B27, T7, U20. 3 1-point cycle wheelguards. Acc 5, top speed 425, stall speed 40, HC 4; 2,461 lbs., $9,845. Wraith - Medium microplane, sport car power plant with PCs and SCs, 3 std. cycle tires, 2 ducted tilt-rotors wingmounted front, pilot, universal-turret RR under, HRSWC. Armor: F20, R18, L18, B16, T4, U18. 3 1-point cycle wheelguards. Acc 20 (10 in VTOL mode), top speed 415, stall speed 30, HC 3; 2,855 lbs., $22,652. One space left in each wing. Mach-Pusher - Large microplane, Thundercat power plant with PCs and SCs, 3 HD cycle tires, 2 props wing-mounted back, ducted props, swept wings, pilot, universal-turret RL T with laser-guided rockets, LGL, target laser in turret, 2 HSRGMs wing-mounted front, hi-res computer, radar, radar jammer, 1 pair maneuver foils, retractable landing gear, LR radio, streamlining, ejection seat. Armor: F35, R25, 125, B30, T21, U30. Acc 20, top speed 640, stall speed 40, HC 3; 5,997 lbs., $69,188. Stunter - Small airplane, 250 ci. gas engine, 3 std. car tires, 1 prop front, extra wing, pilot, 1 MG F, 1 pair of maneuver foils, smart link, 2 25-gallon wing HD gas tanks. Armor: F25, R10, L10, B15, T 5, U14. Acc 15, top speed 185, stall speed 40, HC 4; 2,968 lbs., $21,556. Killerhawk - Medium airplane, small helicopter power plant, 3 HD car tires, 1 prop front, heavy-lift wings, pilot, universal-turret AC with magazine U, 2 linked ACs wingmounted F (1 per wing), 2 three-space bomb racks (one per wing), fire ext., smart link for turreted AC, hi-res computer, LR radio. 600 lbs for bombs. Armor: LR metal/normal plastic F8/10, L2/10, R2/10, B2/10, TO/10, U10/30. 10 points of prop armor, three 7-point wheelguards and 10 points wing armor per wing. Acc 15, top speed 255, stall speed 45, HC 2; 9,989 lbs. (loaded), $59,430. Stormswallow - Large airplane, 2 6-space standard jet engines wing-mounted B, 3 PR car tires, swept wings, pilot, 2 linked ACs F, ejection seat, HRSWC, retractable landing gear, 165-gallon HD fuel tank, LR radio, radar. Armor: F25, L20, R20, B20, T10, U20. 4 points of wing armor per wing. Acc 20, top speed 830, stall speed 60, HC 1; 11,115 lbs., $265,150. C-37 - Cargo airplane, standard helicopter power plant with extra power cells, 6 std. truck tires, 2 props wing-mounted front, ducted fans, heavy-lift/STOL wings, pilot, co-pilot, gunner/mechanic, universal cupola with 4 linked MGs TF, 4 personal parachutes, LR radio, retractable landing gear in the wings, extra driver controls. 49 spaces cargo (16,005 lbs.). Metal armor: F6, LF4, RF4, LB4, LR4, B6, TF6, TB4, UF3, UB3. Acc 5, top speed 210, stall speed 60, HC 0; 30,000 lbs., $87,650.
(FRF, FLF, BRF, BLF*), 2 linked AC with magazines B, ITA, 10 wing-mounted solar panels (5 per wing), retractable landing gear, 8 personal parachutes, bomb bay, fire ext., autopilot, computer navigator, extra driver controls, radar, radar jammer, 8 hi-res computers, LR radio, 40 spaces (8,720 lbs.) cargo in bomb bay. LR metal/regular plastic composite armor: 12/20 in all 18 locations. Prop armor: 10 points per prop. Wing armor: 4 metal per wing. Acceleration 5, top speed 170, stall speed 90, HC 0; 65,000 lbs. (loaded), $339,860. *Remember that large
cargo airplanes are treated as two connected trailers - FRF is front half, right-front, etc. News Chopper - Small helicopter, small helicopter power plant, pilot, gunner, 2 passengers, vehicular camera in universal turret U, RL F, LR radio, targeting computer for pilot. Armor: F20, L20, R20, B20, T10, U30, 10 points main and stabilizing rotor armor. Acc 5, top speed 170, HC 2; 5,875 lbs., $44,550. Rec-blimp - Small non-rigid airship, micro airship power plant, pilot, 5 passengers (2 spaces per passenger), universal turret with 2 linked MGs UF, turreted RL UB, LR radio, vehicular computer, fire ext. 11 spaces (up to 4,920 lbs.) cargo. Armor: F25, L25, R25, B25, T5, U35. Acc 5, top speed 55, HC 2; 20,000 lbs., $35,900. Air-Lifter- Standard semi-rigid airship, large airship power plant, pilot, 2 gunners, 2 universal turrets (2 linked VMGs UF, 4 SAMs UB), winch, bomb bay, 2 SWCs for gunners. 73 spaces cargo (40,250 lbs.). Armor: F20, LF20, RF20, LB20, RB20, B30, TF5, TB5, UF25, UB25. Acc 5, top speed 80, HC I; 75,000 lbs., $150,550. Lift-Liner - Large rigid airship, medium airship power plant, pilot, copilot, 4 gunners, 50 passengers (2 spaces per passenger), 4 universal turrets (laser-guided RL with 2 magazines UF, 2 linked VMGs UB, 4 SAMs envelope TF, 4 RGMS envelope TB), 4 hi-res computers for gunners, extra driver controls, streamlined. Armor: F30, LF30, RF30, LB30, RB30, B30, TF5, TB5, UF40, UB40, 10 points prop armor for all four props. Acc 5, top speed 100, HC 1; 63,630 lbs., $387,200. Goshawk - Small jet fighter, 12-space high-performance jet engine with afterburner, 6 std. truck tires, pilot, GC F, 2 4space rocket EWPs wing-mounted F (each with 2 AAMs), LR radar, radar detector, radar jammer, LR radio, hi-res computer, ejection seat, retractable landing gear, 2 pairs maneuver foils, 2 75-gallon HD fuel tanks (1 per wing). Armor: F30, L30, R30, B40, T30, U35. Acc 20, top speed 905 (afterburner Acc 25 and top speed 1,795), stall speed 150. HC 3; 16,480 lbs., $1,088,150.
BB-1 7B - Large cargo airplane, super helicopter power plant with extra fuel cells, 6 HD truck tires, 4 propellers wingmounted front, heavy lift wings, pilot, co-pilot, 6 gunners, 4 universal turrets (BC UF, 2 linked VMGs UB, TF, TB), 4 RRs
37
Sample Aircraft
SCENARIOS Four of the helicopters are troop transports and carry 8 passengers apiece; they may not have turreted weapons. The transports have doors on both sides. The other helicopter is a gunship; it must have a turreted AC linked to the gunner with a SWC. The helicopters can mount only SWCs or Targeting Computers (no HRSWCs or hi-res computers). They are permitted the following weapon options: MGs, RLs, Vulcans, ACs and any kind of single-shot rockets. Weapons may be EWP-mounted, and the EWPs may be armored with plastic armor. The Federals have a total of $350,000 to build their force (including the armament and equipment of the 32 troops carried by the troop helicopters). The Federals have 500 skill points to allocate to the skills of the helicopter pilots and gunners; no character may have more than 40 points in any one skill. The troops are all Handgunner +1. The Oklahomans have refitted civilian aircraft to contest the Federal helicopters. These are airplanes; they cannot be armored except for metal armor — no more than 3 points per location, and the metal weighs twice normal. They can mount only fixed weapons, and they are restricted to hand weapons, MGs and single-shot rockets. They may not mount any sort of targeting computers, EWPs or turrets. The Oklahomans have $250,000 to build their force. The Oklahoman characters have 350 skill points to allocate between them; no man may have more than 30 skill points in any one skill.
The Slalom A popular and time-honored form of aircraft racing, the slalom tests not only speed but maneuverability. The addition of combat has merely made it more interesting.
Setup The slalom is a simple map-board. It consists of five pylons in a straight line, spaced at 10" intervals. Each pylon is 5" (75') high and DP 10. The racing contestants enter headed for the pylon line 20" away (see diagram). The aircraft enter at a set speed (usually 100 mph) and side by side. They are free to accelerate or decelerate once on the map.
Victory Conditions The object is simple: Fly around the five pylons in alternating fashion, circle pylon #5 and fly back around the other four in reverse alternation (see diagram). The first aircraft to fly back to the starting point is the winner.
Options and Hints Typically slalom races are made by airplanes or microplanes, in the $50,000 and under category. For an interesting variant, try helicopters or autogyros — or even jetpacks!
Civilian Action The Second Civil War was filled with small aerial actions that didn't involve transonic jets and mega-tech missiles. Often, aerial superiority was not very well established. This was the case in the early stages of the Tulsa Siege. In one of the smaller but more notable developments of the growing siege, a group of Oklahoman civilians challenged a Federal AirCav troop convoy with private aircraft, jury-rigged to mount weapons.
Victory Conditions Despite the fact that they're outgunned (and more than likely outnumbered), the Oklahomans have the advantage: Their victory condition is to knock down any three helicopters. The Federals have to destroy the Oklahoman aircraft before they knock down those three helicopters!
Setup The scenario takes place in the air, and the ground is too far away to matter most of the time. The Federal forces enter from one side of the map at 100" altitude and 100 mph. The Oklahoman forces enter from the other side of the map at whatever speed and altitude they choose. The scenario is not restricted to the map, and will probably drift off. Adjust the map to "catch up" with the counters when this happens. The Federal force consists of five helicopters. The helicopters may be no larger than Standard and may be armored with metal armor only, to a maximum of 4 points of metal armor per facing (although they may have up to 10 points of plastic rotor armor per rotor).
Scenarios
Options and Hints The Federal player should arm his troop helicopters with door-mounted MGs as well as with EWPs. He would do well to arrange his helicopters in a formation where maximum firepower can be brought on any attacker. The Oklahoman player should concentrate his attacks on one helicopter at a time. Use fast firing passes and avoid helicopter fronts — that's where a lot of weaponry is.
38
Ground Attack An aerial attack is one of the most frightening things that can happen to a ground unit. Aircraft attacks are swift, powerful and often unannounced. Then the airplane is gone before its targets can respond.
Setup This scenario uses highway rules from Car Wars. The cars are on a divided highway, hemmed in on the inside by a median ditch and confronted by open terrain on the outside of the highway. The cars start going the same direction at 55 mph, no more than 3" from each other. The attacking aircraft enters from any map side at 100 mph. The car player has $50,000 to buy his vehicle(s) and 200 skill points to spend on character skills. The aircraft player has $75,000 to buy one aircraft and 100 skill points to spend on character skills. No character may have more than 40 skill points in any one skill.
Victory Conditions The aircraft player wins by destroying 2/3 of the car player's vehicles (if one vehicle, that one must be destroyed. If two, both vehicles must be destroyed). The car player wins by avoiding this.
Options and Hints This scenario is aimed at teaching players how to use the strafing and bombing rules. After these rules are mastered, the scenario's locale may be changed — urban settings such as setoarCgiydfBMhl.ceksvi The aircraft player should invest in some bombs and strafing weapons. Gunner-operated belly turrets are useful, too. The car player should have universal turrets whenever possible. Sunroofs enable passengers to get into the fight — SAMs are powerful weapons against aerial targets.
Corporate Air War A hundred years ago, massive fleets of bombers flew over war-torn country to rain explosive death on the unlucky populace below. Not much has changed. The fleets still fly, but this time they fly to destroy the industries of corporate rivals rather than industries of national rivals. Corporate defender aircraft rise to attack the bombers and are attacked in turn by escort fighters. This scenario is a demonstration of one such "fur-ball." The scenario consists of two parts: the initial interception, and the attempt to stop one of the bombers, if the defender's aircraft make it through the escort fighters.
Interception Setup Both sides enter the field of play at whatever speed they prefer. The altitude is approximately 350", so ground has no effect unless planes lose power. Use 350" as a starting altitude; aircraft may chose their entering altitude as anywhere within 10" of 350". The playing field will probably grow larger than any map sheet, considering the speeds of the aircraft likely to be used. With a turning key and a tape-measure, no map sheet is really needed. The defending player is, in this first encounter, the "attacker," assaulting the attacking forces before they can bomb
the installation the defenders protect. The defending player has $400,000 and 650 skill points to build his force. No character may spend more than 40 points on any one skill. The attacking player has $250,000 and 400 skill points to build his force. No character may spend more than 40 points on any one skill.
Victory Conditions The side that destroys or drives off the other side's aircraft first wins. If the defender wins, he takes his aircraft — as is, complete with damage and ammunition depletion — on to try and stop one of the bombers coming in to salvo its load.
Bombing Run Setup The defender uses his surviving aircraft from the first part of the scenario, entering at any speed and at 340-360" altitude (player's choice per aircraft). The attacker has a BB-17B, which enters the playing field at 350" altitude, 150 mph. If the first part of the scenario wasn't played, the defender gets $250,000 worth of aircraft and 300 skill points (as usual, no character may spend more than 40 points on one skill).
Victory Conditions The defender wins if he destroys or drives away the bomber. The attacker wins if he can fly 10 turns and drop his bombs on the 11th turn.
Options and Hints Helicopters and airships are out of their element here. This is an airplane/microplane battle. Throwing a jet-propelled airplane into the battle can be a potent surprise — as it was back in 1944.
39
Scenarios
Accessory List The following is a list of equipment and where it can be located. CWC = Car Wars Compendium, AERO = Aeroduel. Aircraft Radio - AERO 18. Armored Searchlight - CWC 91. ATAD - CWC 87. Autopilot - CWC 87. Blow-Through Concealment - CWC 82. Blueprinting - CWC 52. Bollix - CWC 87. Bomb Bay - CWC 73, AERO 18. Bomb Racks - CWC 82, AERO 18. Bulk Ammo Boxes -CWC 88. Carburetor - CWC 52. Cargo Safe - CWC 85. CACR - CWC 73, AERO Component Armor - CWC 85. Computer Gunner/ Autopilot Software - CWC 88. Computer Gunner - CWC 88, AERO Computer Navigator - CWC 88. Cupolas - CWC 82. Cyberlink - CWC 83. Cycle Wheelguards - CWC 56. Dive Brakes - AERO 18. Drop Tanks - AERO 18. Ejection Seat - CWC 86. Envelope Armor - AERO 13. ERIS - CWC 89. EWPs - CWC 83. Extra Driver Controls - CWC 89. Extra Magazines - CWC 83 Extra Power Cells - CWC 51 Extra Rotor Blades - CWC 73, AERO 11. 5-space EWPs - AERO 18. Fake Passengers - CWC 89. Fake Turret - CWC 83. Fake Weapons - CWC 86. Fire Extinguisher - CWC 86. Fire-retardant Insulators - CWC 86. Galley - CWC 89. Gas Cylinder - AERO 13. Gee Suit - AERO 18. Hang Gliders - CWC 86. Heavy-Duty Brakes - CWC 89. Hi-res Computer - CWC 84. HRSWC - CWC 84. High-Speed Compressor Pack - AERO 13. HARMs - CWC 83. IFF system - CWC 89. Improved Fire Extinguisher - CWC 86. Improved Supercharger Capacitors - CWC 51, 52. Improved Tail Assembly - CWC 73, AERO 18. Infrared Sighting System - CWC 89. Jettison Joinings - CWC 56. Laser Battery - CWC 83. Laser-Guidance Link - CWC 83. Laser-Reactive Web - CWC 86. Link - CWC 84. Long-Distance Radio - CWC 90.
Scenarios
40
Long-Range Radar - CWC 90. Magazine Switch - CWC 84. Maneuver Foils - CWC 74, AERO 18. Microplane Harness - AERO 14. Mini-Safe - CWC 86. Multibarrel Carburetor - CWC 52. Nitrous Oxide - CWC 53. No-Paint Windshield - CWC 90. NBC Shielding - CWC 90. Passenger Accomodations - CWC 90. Personal Parachute - CWC 73, AERO 18. Platinum Catalysts - CWC 51. Pontoons - CWC 71, 73, AERO 18-19. Portable Earth Station - CWC 90. Propeller Armor - AERO 13. Radar Altimeter - AERO 19. Radar Detector - CWC 83, 90 Radar Jammer - CWC 90. Radar - CWC 90. Radar-proof armor - CWC 50, AERO 19. Refuelling Drogue - AERO 19. Refuelling Probe - AERO 19. Remote Control Guidance - CWC 91. Retractable Landing Gear - CWC 73, AERO 19. Rocket Boosters - CWC 91. Rocket EWP - CWC 84. Rocket Magazine - CWC 84. Rocket Platform - CWC 84 Roll Cage - CWC 86. Rotary Magazine - CWC 84. Rotor Armor - CWC 73, AERO 11. Safety Seat - CWC 86 Searchlight - CWC 91 Search Radar - AERO 19. SWC - CWC 84. Skid Strechers - CWC 74, AERO 11. Smart Link - CWC 84 Solar Panels - CWC 91, AERO 14,19. Sound Enhancement - CWC 92. Sound System - CWC 91-92. Stealth - CWC 92. StealthKote Shield - CWC 87. Sunroof - CWC 92. Supercharger - CWC 53. Superconductors - CWC 51. Surge Protector - CWC 92. Targeting Computer - CWC 84. Terrain Following Radar - AERO 19. Tinted Windows - CWC 92. Tubular Headers - CWC 52. Turbocharger - CWC 52-53. Universal turrets, etc. - CWC 84. Variable-pitch turbocharger - CWC 53. Vehicular Camera - CWC 92. Vehicular Computer - CWC 85. Vehicular Parachutes - CWC 73, AERO 19. Weapon Concealment - CWC 85. Weapon Timer - CWC 92. Winch - CWC 74, AERO 19. Winch, Heavy-Duty - AERO 19.
This is the template for the airship counter provided on the counter sheet. We showed the blimp from the side, as it resulted in a more attractive counter. Treat it as if shown from above.
All airships are given in air-to-air scale (1/4" = 15 feet).
Balloon Templates (Air-to-air Scale; 14" = 15 feet)
9 or more Cells
1-4 Cell
5-8 Cell
Balloon Templates (Ground Scale; 1" = 15 feet)
5-8 Cell
9 or more Cells
1-4 Cell
INDEX Entries beginning with a lower-case "p" are on the four pages of the pullout section in the center of the rulebook. AA, see Anti-aircraft defenses. Acceleration, 20; airships, 28; helicopter, 26. Accessories, 18-19, 40; engine, 6, 8; helicopter, 9. Afterburner, 8. Air-to-air scale, 20; templates for ground and air-to-air scale, 41-42. Aircraft Control Chart, p4. Aircraft Mechanic skill, 36. Airplane Record Sheet, 43. Airplanes, 4; body types, 4; Crash Table, 25, p2; damage allocation, 32; record sheet, 43; skills, 36; targeting modifiers, 31. Airships, 12; counters, 14, 41-42; Crash Table, 29, p2; damage allocation, 32; firing arcs, 32; history, 2; maneuver, 28-29; power plants, 13; targeting modifiers, 31; templates, 41-42; weapons, 13; weather, 29. Altimeter, 19. Anti-aircraft defenses, 35. Auto-rotation, 26. Autogyros, 15, 26; damage allocation, 32; targeting modifiers, 31. Balloons, 15; targeting modifiers, 31; templates, 42. Biplanes, 5; history, 2. Blimps, 12; see also Airships. Bombing, 34; Bombing Run scenario, 39; Scatter Table, 34. Bombs, 30, p4; bomb rack, 18. Carplanes, 15. Catapult, 16. Climbing, 20; airships, 28; helicopter, 26. Compressor, 13. Control, 24; airships, 28; Control Chart, p4; helicopters, 27; losing control, 24. Crash Tables, airplanes and jets, 25, p2; airships, 29, p3; helicopters, 27, p3; microplanes, 24, p2. Crashing, 25; see also Crash Tables. Critical damage, aircraft engine, 7; jet engine, 8. Deceleration, 20; airships, 28; helicopter, 26. Dirigibles, 12; see also Airships. Dischargers, 9. Dive bombing, 34. Dive brakes, 18. Diving, 21; airships, 27; helicopter, 26. Downdrafts, 23. Drafts, 23.
Index
Drop tanks, 18. Ducted cowlings, 6. Elevation difference, 32. Envelope, 13; see also Airships. EWPs, 9, 19. External weapon pods, see EWPs. Falling, 25. Firing arcs, 32; airships, 32; flying wings, 32; anti-aircraft mounts, 35. Fixed-wing planes, see Airplanes. Flying wing, 5; firing arcs, 32. Forward-swept wings, 5. Free fall, 25. Free Oil States, 3. Fuel, 7, 8, 36. Gas tanks, 8; drop tanks, 18. Gatling Cannon, 30, p4. Gee suit, 18. See also GLOC. Gliders, 15; hang gliders, 17; glider catapult, 16; skill, 36. GLOC, 23; and gee suit, 18; GLOC Toughening skill, 36. Gondola, 12; see also Airships. Grasshoppers, 11. Ground scale, 20. Hang gliders, 17. Hazards, airplane, 24, p2; helicopters, 27, p3; microplane, 24, p2; jet fighter, 24, p2. Heavy Autocannon, 30, p4. Heavy Lift wings, 5, 20. Helicopters, 9; Crash Table, 27, p3; damage allocation, 32; hazards, 27; history, 2; skill, 36; targeting modifiers, 31. Helium, 13. History, 2. Hoverplanes, 15. Hydrogen, 13. Immelmann turn, 22. Jet engines, 7. Jet fighters, 20; body types, 4; damage allocation, 32; military, 3; skill, 36; targeting modifiers, 31. Jet frames, 5. Lag roll, 22. Landing gear, 9; retractable, 19. Landing, 20; airships, 28; auto-rotation, 26; landing gear, 9, 18. Lightning, 24. Loop, 22. Malfunctions, 36. Maneuver foils, 4, 18. Maneuvers, airplane, 21-22; airship, 28; helicopter, 26-27. Microplanes, body types, 4; Crash Tables, 24, p2; damage allocation, 32; on airship, 14; targeting modifiers, 31. Missiles, 30-31, 33, p4. Movement Chart, p1. Movement rules, 20; airplanes, 20; chart, p1 ; rotary-wing craft, 26.
44
Napalm, 30, p4. Parachutes, 17, 18. Pontoons, 18. Power plants, accessories, 6, 8; airship, 13; airplane, 6; gas aircraft, 6, jet, 7. Private wars, 3. Propellers, 6. Radar, 19. Recharging, 36; see also Fuel. Refueling, 19; see also Fuel. Repair, 36. Rocket packs, 17; skill, 36. Rolling, 21. Rotary-wing movement, 26. Rotor Checks, 27, p3. Sample aircraft, 37. Scatterpack, 30, p4. Scenarios, 38. SDI spy-sats, 3. Skids and skid stretchers, 11. Skills, 36. Solar panels, 14. Sonic booms, 23. Sound barrier, 23. Split-S turn, 22. Stall speed, 20. Stealthkote armor, 19. STOL wings, 5, 20. Storms, 23. Strafing, 33. Swept wings, 5, 20. Takeoff, 20; airships, 28. Targeting modifiers, 31. Taxiing, 20. Terminal velocity, see Free Fall, 25. Tilt-rotor, 6. Torpedo bombing, 34. Triplane, 5. Turning, airplanes, 21, airships, 28; helicopters, 27. Turrets, 9; airship, 33; helicopter, 11. TV coverage, 3. Updrafts, 23. Variable wings, 5. Vectored thrust, 8, 22; skill, 36; see also VIFF. Vehicular parachutes, 19. VIFFing, 22-23. Visibility, 24. Weapons, 9, 10, 13, 30; weapons fire, 33; Weapon Table, p4. Weather, and airships, 28. Winch, 19. Wind, 24. Wing Checks, 25, p2. Wing-tip weapon mounts, 19. Wings, 5; modifications, 5. See also listings for various special wing types.
Movement Chart Speed
1
2
3
4
5
Ram
0
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 1 1 ½ 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 145 150 155 160 165 170 175. . 180 185 190 195 200 205 210 215 220 225 230 235 240 245 250 255.. 260 265 270 275 280 285 290 295 300 305 310 315 320 325 330 335 340 345 350 355 360 365 370 375 380 385 390 395 400 405 410 415 420 425 430 435 440
445 450 455 460 465 470 475 480 485 490 495 500 505 510 515 520 525 530 535 540 545 550 555 560 565 570 575 580 585 590 595 600 605 610 615 620 625 630 635 640 645 650 655 660 665 670 675 680 685 690 695 700 705 710 715 720 725 730 735 740 745 750 755 760 765 770 775 780 785 790 795 800 805 810 815 820 825 830 835 840 845 850 855 860 865 870 875 880 885 890 895 900
½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1
½ I 1 V2
1½ 2 1½ 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2½ 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3½ 4 4 4 4. 4 4 3½ 4 4 4 4½ 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5½ ½_ 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6½ 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7½ 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8½ 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Aeroduel
1 1
½ 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2
½
½
½ 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
½
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ½
½
5 5 ½
½
½
½
½
½
½
½
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2½ 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3½ 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6½ 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 ½ 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6½ 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7½ 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
1 1 1 1 1 1 1½ 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2½ 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3½ 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
4½
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5½ 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6½ 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7½ 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 81/2 9 9 9
1d-4 ld-2 1d-1 Id Id Id 2d 4d 5d 6d 7d 8d 9d 10d 1 Id 12d 13d 14d 15d 16d 17d 18d 19d 20d 21d 22d 23d 24d 25d 26d 27d 28d 29d 30d 31d 32d 33d 34d 35d 36d 37d 38d 39d 40d 41d 42d 43d 444 45d 46d 47d 48d 49d 50d 51d 52d 53d 54d 55d 56d 57d 58d 59d 60d 61d 62d 63d 64d 65d 66d 67d 68d 69d 70d 71d 72d 73d 74d 75d 76d 77d 78d 79d 80d 81d 82d 83d
1
9 9 9½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 _ 01/2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11½ 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 ½ 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3½ 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 14½ 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 15½ 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6½ 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7½ 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9½ 10 9 9 10 10 9 10 9½ 10 0 10 0 10 0 0 10 10 0 0 10½ 0 11 0 11 11 0 0½ 11 11 1 1 11 1 11 1 11 1 11 1 11½ 1 12 1 12 1 12 11½ 12 2 12 2 12 2 12 2 12 2 12 2 1½ 2 13 2 13 2 13 12½ 13 3 13 3 13 3 13 3 13 3 13 3 13½ 3 14 3 14 3 14 3½ 14 4 14 4 14 4 14 4 14 4 14 4 14½ 4 15 4 15 4 15 14½ 15 5 15 5 15 5 15 5 15 5 15 5 1½ 5 16 5 16 5 16 15½ 16 6 16 16 6 6 16 6 16 6 16 16½ 6 6 17 6 17 6 17 6½ 17 717 7 17 7 17 7 17 7 17 7 17½ 7 18 7 18 7 18 7½ 18 8 18 8 18 8 18
½ 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11½ 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 ½ 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3½ 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6½ 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 ½ 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6½ 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17½ 18
9 9 9 9 9 9 9½ 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10½ 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11½ 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 123½ 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13½ 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 1½ 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 1½ 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16½ 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17½ 18 18 18 18 18
84d 85d 86d 87d 88d 89d 90d 91d 92d 93d 94d 95d 96d 97d 98d 99d 100d 191d 102d 103d 104d 105d 106d 107d 108d 109d 110d 1 1 Id 112d 113d 114d 115d 116d 117d 118d 119d 120d 121d 122d 123d 124d 125d 126d 127d 128d I 29d 130d 131d 132d 133d 134d 135d 136d 137d 138d 139d 140d 141d 142d 143d 144d 145d 146d 147d 148d 149d 150d 151d 152d 153d 154d 155d 156d 157d 158d 159d 160d 161d 162d 163d 164d 165d 166d 167d 168d 169d 170d 171d 172d 173d 174d 175d
Charts and Tables
Hazards Hazards affect aircraft immediately as they occur, reducing the aircraft's handling status. Continuing hazards (such as flying close to another craft) take effect immediately, then again at the beginning of each turn the condition is maintained.
Hazards For All Aircraft: Tail (back armor) gone: D4 and -2 HC until repaired. Colliding with another craft: D4 and a Wing Check. Loss of all propellers or jet engines: D4, that turn only. Each turn thereafter the aircraft decelerates at 5mph and suffers a D1 to Handling Status. Pilot killed or wounded: D2. Flying within 2" of another aircraft or helicopter: D2. Flying within 4" of and behind another aircraft: D4. One wing destroyed: D6 and roll on the appropriate Crash Table each turn until the aircraft hits the ground. Both wings destroyed: Aircraft falls from the sky, accelerating at 10 mph until it hits the ground. Crashing damage is determined in the Crashing section.
Microplane Hazards These also apply to airplanes smaller than Cargo. Enemy fire does 1-5 points of damage: Dl. Enemy fire does 6-9 points of damage: D2. Enemy fire does 10 or more points of damage: D3. Strong winds: Dl. Very strong winds: D2. Airplanes firing ATGs except to F or B: D2.
Cargo and Large Cargo Airplane and Jet Fighter Hazards Firing a tank gun F or B (other arcs prohibited): D4. Enemy fire does 13-21 hits: D2 Enemy fire does 22 + hits: D3. Very strong winds: D1. Storms have other effects on flight. These are detailed in the Storms section.
Crash Table 7 Microplanes 1 or below — Involuntary drift. The microplane does a drift in the direction of its roll. It also gains or loses (roll randomly for which) V4" of altitude. If the microplane was flying level, roll randomly for the direction of the drift. 2-3 — Involuntary turn. The microplane turns 30 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for right or left) and loses V2" of altitude. Weapons fire is at -1 for the rest of the turn. 4-6 — Severe turn. The microplane turns as #2-3, above, but loses 1" of altitude. Weapons fire is at -3 for the rest of the turn. 7-9 — Diving turn. The microplane turns as #2-3, above, loses 1½" of altitude and checks for Wing Failure. No aimed weapons fire is allowed until the next turn. 10-12 — Spin. The microplane turns 45 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if going straight, roll randomly for right or left) at the end of each phase until the pilot pulls out of the spin. In addition, the microplane converts half its movement to a steep dive — for example, a microplane going 100 mph would only move 1" per phase while spinning and lose V2" of altitude per phase. No aimed weapons fire allowed while spinning. Check for Prop and Wing Failure each phase.
Charts and Tables
Pulling out requires the pilot to roll a 8 + on 2d, adding Pilot skill to the roll, +1 per turn of spinning. The pilot may try once per phase. 13+ — Disaster. Wings torn off, props shredded, tail parted ways or something equally uncomfortable. Speed drops 25 mph per turn. Ejecting is the only way out, and the wild tumbling of the craft makes it risky — ejections are successful on a roll of 5 + on 2d. If you fail your ejection roll, you are dead (on a 9+ on 2d, there is enough left of you to clone).
Crash Table 8 Airplanes And Jets 1-3 — Involuntary shift. The aircraft shifts in the direction of its roll (if flying level roll randomly for right or left). 4-5 — Involuntary drift. The aircraft drifts in the direction of its roll (if flying level roll randomly for right or left). 6-7 — Involuntary turn. The aircraft turns 30 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver and loses V2" of altitude. Roll randomly for right or left if the aircraft is flying straight and level. Weapons fire is at -1 for the rest of the turn. 8-9 — Involuntary turn. The aircraft turns 30 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for right or left) and loses V2" of altitude. Weapons fire is at -1 for the rest of the turn. 10-11 — Severe turn. The aircraft turns as #8-9 above, but loses 1" of altitude. Weapons fire is at -3 for the rest of the turn. 12-13 — Diving turn. The aircraft turns as #8-9 above, loses 1½" of altitude and checks for Wing Failure. No aimed weapons fire is allowed until the next turn. 14-15 — Spin. The aircraft turns 45 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if going straight, roll randomly for right or left) at the end of each phase until the pilot pulls out of the spin. In addition, the aircraft converts half its movement to a steep dive — for example, an aircraft going 150 mph would only move 1½" per phase while spinning and lose 3/4" of altitude per phase. No aimed weapons fire allowed while spinning. Check for Prop and Wing Failure each phase. Pulling out requires the pilot to roll a 8 + on 2d, adding Pilot skill to the roll, +1 per turn of spinning. The pilot may try once per phase. 16+ — Disaster. Wings torn off, props shredded, tail parted ways or something equally uncomfortable. Speed drops 25 mph per turn. Ejecting is the only way out, and the wild tumbling of the craft makes it risky — ejections are successful on a roll of 5 + on 2d. If you fail your ejection roll, you are dead (on a 9+ on 2d, there is enough left of you to clone).
Wing Checks Wing Checks are made when the aircraft encounters stresses above the construction strength of the wing. Most of these stresses occur during crashes. When a Wing Check is called for, roll 2d plus modifiers and check the result on the table below: 2-7: No effect. 8-9: One wing damaged. HC drops by 1 and stall speed increases by 5 mph per damaged wing. If an aircraft suffers "wing damaged" twice, both wings are damaged (HC drops 2 and stall speed increases 10 mph). A third "wing damaged" result is considered to be "wing fails." 10-11: Wing fails. The wing nearly comes loose; the aircraft takes a D6 hazard and the HC drops by 4. A second result of "wing fails" becomes "wing destroyed."
2
Aeroduel
3-5 — Involuntary turn. The helicopter executes a 45-degree turn in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly as above) and loses V2" altitude. 6-8 — Severe turn. The helicopter executes a 45-degree turn in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly as above) and loses 1" of altitude. Further aimed weapons fire is at -3 for the rest of the turn. 9-11 — Diving turn. The helicopter executes a 45-degree turn in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly as above) and loses 1½" of altitude. In addition, on the helicopter's following movement phase it must perform a drift in the direction of the turn or it will automatically continue the veer. The handling difficulty of the drift doesn't count against HC. Check for rotor failure. No further aimed weapons fire is allowed that turn. 12-18 — Spinout. The helicopter turns 90 degrees to its flight-path at the end of its next phase, in the direction of the maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly as above). Check for rotor failure. On its next phase the helicopter goes into a diving veer, as above. No further aimed weapons fire is allowed that turn. 19 + — Rotors automatically fail.
12 +: Wing destroyed. Aircraft takes 1d6 damage to the side with the destroyed wing. The aircraft has lost one wing, with attendant penalties (see Hazards).
Wing Failure Modifiers Microplanes: Speed is 75-100 mph: +1. Speed is 101-140 mph: +2. Speed is 141+ mph: +3. Wing damaged by weapons fire: +2.
Airplanes and Jet Fighters: Small, Medium and Large Airplanes -2. Cargo Airplanes and Small Jet Fighters -4. Large Cargo Airplanes and Large Jet Fighters -5. Speed is 251-300 mph: +1. Speed is 301-400 mph: +2. Speed is 401-600 mph: +3. Speed is 601-700 mph: +4. Speed is 701-750 mph: +5. Speed is 751 mph+ : +7. Wing damaged, with DP up to V2 gone: +1. Wing damaged, with DP over V2 gone: +2.
Crash Table 9 Airships
Rotor Checks Stressful maneuvers from control loss can cause a Rotor Check to be made. The rotors can be merely damaged, or they can fail completely, snapping off and sending the helicopter plunging towards the ground. Breaking rotor blades may hit other objects in the area. Check for every object in a 4" radius on the same level as the helicopter. The blades have a To Hit roll of 10 and do 4d damage to whatever they hit. Any number of objects can be hit, no matter how many blades the failed rotor had.
3 or less — Involuntary drift. The airship drifts in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for direction — 1-3 right, 4-6 left). All further aimed weapons fire is at -3 for the rest of the turn. 4-6 — Involuntary turn. The airship executes a 15-degree turn in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for direction, as above). All further aimed weapons fire is at -3 for the rest of the turn. 7-8 — Involuntary turn and dive. The airship turns 30 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for direction, as above) and loses V2" of altitude. All further aimed weapons fire is at -3 for the rest of the turn. 9-10 — Severe turn. The airship turns 30 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for direction, as above) and drifts V2" as well. The airship loses 1" of altitude. All further aimed weapons fire is at -6 for the rest of the turn. 11-12 — Spinout. The airship turns 45 degrees in the direction of its last maneuver (if flying straight, roll randomly for direction, as above) and loses 1" of altitude. The next movement phase the airship executes a severe turn (as #9-10, above) in the direction of the spinout. No further aimed weapons fire may be done for the rest of the turn. 13 + — Disaster. The gondola rips lose from the envelope and the envelope breaks up. The gondola falls free to the ground. Rigid airships suffer loss of half the envelope DP instead.
Rotor Check Table Roll two dice: 2-7 — No effect. Rotors still in working order. 8-10 — Rotors damaged. Roll a Rotor Check before phase 1 of each turn. Consider any further results of "rotors damaged" to be "rotors failed." 11+ — Rotors failed. Helicopter drops as per Falling rules.
Modifiers Helicopter is moving 80-120 mph: +1 Helicopter is moving 121-160 mph: +2 Helicopter is moving 161-200 mph: +3 Helicopter is moving over 200 mph: +4 Engine damaged: +1 Rotor damaged by weapons fire: +4 If a helicopter's engine fails but the rotors are still intact, it has a chance of descending safely (autorotation, see p. 00). Forward movement decelerates by 5 mph/turn and the helicopter drops ½"/turn. The helicopter player must roll on Crash Table 4 at the beginning of every turn.
Crash Table 4 Helicopters 2 or less — Involuntary drift. The helicopter performs a drift maneuver in the direction it was maneuvering toward and loses 1/4" altitude. (If it was flying straight, roll randomly for the direction of the drift — 1-3 right, 4-6 left.)
Aeroduel
3
Charts and Tables
Aircraft Control Chart Handling Class 6
5
4
3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe
safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe
safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe 2 safe
safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe 2 2 2 3 2
safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe 2 2 2 2 3 3 3
safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 3
safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4
safe safe safe safe safe safe 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5
safe safe safe safe 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 6
safe safe safe 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 6 XX XX
safe safe 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 XX XX XX XX XX
safe safe 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
safe 2 2 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
Speed
5-15 20-25 30-50 55-75 80-95 100-125 130-150 155-170 175-200 205-235 240-270 275-300 305-335 340-370 375-400 405-435 440-470 475-500 505-550 555-600 605-650 655-700 705-740 745-760 765+
Crash Mod +0
-4 -3 -2 -1 -1 +0 +0 +0 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +4 +4 +5 +5 +6 +7 +7
Weapon Table Weapon
Abbv.
Effect
B10 B25 B50 B75 B100
2" burst 3" burst 4" burst 5" burst 7" burst
To Hit Damage DP
Cost
Wt. Spc. Shots CPS WPS
L$
L wt
Mag$ Magwt.
Bombs
Bomb-100 Bomb-250 Bomb-500 Bomb-750 Bomb-1000
9 9 9 9 9
The following modifications can be made to all bombs: x1.5 — CBCluster Cr1" burst — Crater — AP1" burst Anti-Armor — LGL — Laser Guidance Link — Napalm Nspec. SPspec. — Scatterpack
2 3 4 5 6
4d 12d 20d 30d 40d
100 100 300 250 750 500 1,000 750 2,000 1,000
1 2 3 4 5
—
—
X.5 +1/die -
500
-2/die spec.
500
— -
— — — —
1 1 1 1 1
GC
2" burst
6
HD Ammo
100 100 250 300 750 500 1,000 750 2,000 1,000
—
X2 X1.5 X2 X2 200 X3 —
— ——— — ———
spec. spec.
Small- Bore Projectile
Gatling Cannon
—— —— —— —— ——
5
5
7,000
750
5
10
5+5
—
—
—
—
—
45 15 90 30
7,450 900 7,900 1,050
500 950
165 315
9,500 — —
900 —
6 —
10 — —
25 10 40 10 50 15
9,750 1,000 9,900 1,000 10,000 1,050
300 450 550
115 115 165
4,000 100 1 — — — — 50/sp 15/sp 1,2,3 2 12,000 200 2 — — — —
1 — — 1 —
—— —— —— —— — —
4,000 X2 — 12,000 +1,000
—
—
Large- Bore Projectile
Heavy Autocannon HEAT Ammo APFSDS Ammo
HAC
2" burst
6
— —
— —
— —
6 6+6 6+12
8 — —
RGM HSRGM
2" burst —
7 —
3d —
1 —
—
—
—
—
AAM
—
2" burst 1" burst
6 —
—
—
—
—
+1/die
Missiles
Radar-Guided Missile High-Speed Rocket Mag.
Air-to-Air Missile Prox- Fuse Armor-Piercing
Charts and Tables
4d
—
4
—
—
X 1.5
200 300 —
Aeroduel
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