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I modified these rules to reflect my experience with weapons and combat.  On this page you will find rules on:

6.2 - COMBAT

I developed these rules to integrate Role Playing and the Skirmish Scale Tactical games of Heavy Gear.  For rules on skirmish scale see the Tactical Field Support Guide: Artillery & Ground Warfare.  I dislike giving up the tactical skills when role playing with characters, so my gaming group worked on a set of rules to allow this.  The main obstacle lied in the turn sequence.  In role playing turns, the advantage lies in taking actions first.  In tactical games, combatants generally prefer moving last to watch opponent's actions.  To blend the two sequences, we used the tactical turn and associated rules as a base and added Combat Sense as an initiative roll.

6.2.1 mod - Initiative

The tactical role-playing round sequence moves like this:

1.  Declaration - Declare use of Evasion, Combat Stance, and Multiple Actions.  

2.  Initiative - Every participant in combat makes a Combat Sense roll to determine order of initiative.  Break ties using a comparison of subsequent dice.  If still tied actions are simultaneous.  

In the turn that character assumes a Combat Stance, penalize the Combat Sense roll by a number equal to the total weapon weight (rounded down).  A non-positive result indicates the shooter is not yet ready and can't shoot in the current turn.  In the next turn, subtract six from the weapon weight before penalizing the roll.  If the result is still negative, subtract an additional six for the next round.  The shooter may move at no greater than a jog if setup takes place within one round.

Finally, so long as the team leaders didn't fumble their Combat Sense roll, they may now choose to spend an action for a Leadership skill roll to gain Initiative Command Points (ICPs).  The Threshold of the roll is the opposing leader's Tactics skill level and the MoS determines the number of ICPs available for that turn.  Thus, both sides may gain ICPs.  Record this number on a sheet of paper or use a die.

3.  Activation - Beginning with the lowest Combat Sense result, participants move and may take their actions.  If they choose not to take an action during the move, they may not do so later during the turn unless a Command Point (CP) is spent.  Once finished, the unit with the next higher initiative moves.  Combatants who have not yet moved may take actions against the moving person.  The interrupt action will preempt the target's unless a CP is spent.

If a combatant with a with a high initiative wishes to move before their initiative, they may by using a CP or by foregoing their actions that turn.  This may be necessary to prevent being overrun.

Command Points

In addition to ICPs a team may also gain Tactical Command Points (TCPs).  

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A quick note regarding the following rules.  I made an attempt to expand on the rules from the book rather than outright change them.  This usually means an extra roll of the dice which can slow up combat sessions, especially if the GM has to make all these rolls.  Therefore, I would recommend these rules be used by the players to allow for flexibility in combat while the GM can use the rules as written in the book for generic thugs the players face.  Skilled or important NPC's should use these combat options as well.  I used personal knowledge and input from coworkers to develop this 3.0 Version of house rules.

6.2.10 mod - Burst Fire (HG,T8)

When using automatic fire not all of the rounds shot will hit the designated target.   The rounds which may impact are affected by the range to the target and the kickback, which is a combination of the recoil of the rounds and the weight of the weapon.   As per the rules an opposed skill roll is made and the ROF is added to the MoS.   Damage should not be applied yet.  Instead, make a second roll consisting of one die per controlled round.  The number of controlled rounds is taken from the table below, modified by the character's STR.  Each die equal to or less than the modified MoS indicates a hit.   Damage from each hit is figured using the damage multiplier and the number shown on the die.  If none of the auto fire dice show hits, treat the attack as making one successful hit at an MoS equal to one plus the ROF used.

EXAMPLE 1:  Joe, a typical grunt with a STR of 1, fires his 9mm submachine gun at an enemy soldier fifteen meters away.  The player declares Joe will use a ROF of 1.  His opposed skill roll succeeds by two, a MoS of 3 with ROF bonus.  At medium range, Joe rolls six dice for his controlled shots.  The dice come up 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.  The target is hit by the first three rounds at 15, 30, and 45 damage points respectively.  OUCH.

Note, the shooter may choose not to fire a full ten round burst, in order to save ammo.   Simply choose how many rounds to let loose, though only the controlled rounds have a chance to hit the target and no ROF bonus is applied to the MoS.

EXAMPLE 2:  Joe closes range fires again.  Wanting to save ammo, Joe fires only 5 rounds, all of which might hit.  His attack hits for a MoS of 4.  Rolling no hits on the auto fire dice, the enemy takes one hit at an

Controlled Autofire

(Max rounds which may hit)

The pre-calculated values for Recoil and Controlled Rounds are all that are required for the HG game.  However, values for new weapons can be found using the following formula:

10 - Recoil [ ln (ROF x DM)] - Range [ ln (BR) - 1 per additional range band] + Weight [ ln (total weapon weight)] + STR

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Walking fire is a shooting technique used with automatic weapons.  The shooter begins shooting intentionally low, watching the impact of the rounds and leading the following shots onto the target.  Rounds impacting in front of the target can skip or kick up debris creating further missile hazards downrange.  Thus, people or objects between the shooter and target can be hit as well.

Before resolving the attack on the intended target, potential targets in a zone between the shooter and the target must avoid an attack.  The zone extends one meter to either side of the intended line of fire.  The attack is generated by a pool of skill level one attacks.  The number of dice in the pool equals the auto fire dice for the range from the shooter plus the ROF used in the attack.  The only modifiers on the attack are from the table below (based on the weapon's ROF statistic, p.83) and the one-handed firing penalty (p.79) or stability modifier (p.81) if applicable.

Obviously, the total number of hits may not exceed the number of rounds fired.  Note that firing into a crowd could get ugly and result in missing the intended target.

EXAMPLE:    From EXAMPLE 1 above, Joe fires his 9mm SMG through a crowd to hit his intended target.  The GM rules 5 people are within the line of fire, 3 within short range and 2 in medium range with the target.  At short range, each of the three bystanders will make a single dodge roll against 7 dice.  Since the SMG is rated at ROF+2, the penalty to the dice is -2.  At medium range the bystanders will dodge 6 dice, again with a -2 penalty.  The target will have to dodge 6 rounds or (10 - the number of previous hits), whichever is less.

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Also called suppression fire, a military term for putting LOTS of lead downrange.  With no designated target, the machine gunner lays down a wide pattern of fire in order to prevent enemy actions.

The rules for saturation fire in role-playing combat are in the Gamemaster's Guide.  It's treated in the same way as Tactical Saturation Fire with a 10 meter area vice 50 meter hex.  Even the ammo usage is the same, though it is here that I have a problem.  If 30 rounds cover a full hex for a 30 second tactical turn, then less should be needed for a 10m area in 6 sec.  I submit only a typical 10 rounds are needed for such a situation.

Paraphrased from the GM's Guide:  The attacker chooses an area (10m diameter), then rolls normally (except that half the ROF used, rounded down, is added to the result).  Record the result: that's the Saturation Threshold.  The Saturation Threshold may be no greater that the Controlled Autofire number for the range plus the ROF used.  Anyone or any vehicle which enters that saturation zone later during the combat round must beat the Saturation Threshold.  If the defender fails, they take damage equal to DM times the MoF.

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Revised rules coming soon...

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Some weapons feature a two or three round burst option, designated when the weapon is purchased.  Because of the high cyclic firing rate the last round is out of the barrel before the recoil of the first is felt and no rounds are lost for recoil or range.  When using a weapon with a burst option, ignore range modifications in making the "to hit" roll.  On a successful hit, subtract the range modifier from the MoS, and roll two or three controlled round dice (based on the weapon).  Burst dice rolled equal to or lower than the final MoS hit doing damage equal to the number on the die times the damage multiplier.  A one on the dice always hits.  If the auto fire dice all miss, treat as one hit equal to the final MoS.

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