Vehicle and Mounted Combat

Vehicle Combat Rules
Generally, combat on foot or mounted will be handled the same, that being Contested Rolls between the skill of the attacker and the defender. In the case of Vehicle and Mounted combat, this is actually 2 skills: the attacker and defender's Piloting skill and their weapon skill. Below are the rules for combat on Vehicles of any type or era and mounted animals and beasts.

The Chase
To chase someone in a vehicle or while riding a mount (or escape from someone chasing you) requires a Contested roll. As usual, whoever has the most successes wins. However, speed and terrain will modify your success.

If the vehicles or mounts are of relative speed (withing 10mph of each other on their top speed, see Specific Vehicle or Mount), then there is no penalty for speed. If the speed difference is greater than 10mph, then whoever is slower suffers a -1 success for every 10mph over 10mph the faster vehicle/mount is. For example, Roger the Ranger is on a Light Horse who's top speed is 25mph. He is being chased by some nefarious bandits who are in war carts being drawn by teams of 2 Heavy Horses (normally a Heavy Horse would have a top speed of 35 mph as well, but with a team of 2, it bumps up to 45 mph). Thus there is a 20mph difference. Roger the Ranger will be at a -2 successes.

Terrain is another factor that will affect the chase. Of course, large, flat, open areas provide no hindrance. However, depending on the size of the vehicle/mount and the terrain, more minuses are applied. Please consult the cart below.

All penalties are cumulative, but each vehicle and mount has a Handling rating that adds to the total dice (Ability + Ranks + any Specialization) for the character.

To continue the example, Roger knows that the bandits could easily catch him on the King's High Road. So, he makes a sharp turn and spurs his horse into the Kingswood. The turn gives Roger a -2 and the Narrow Passages gives him a -4, so he's at a total of -6. His skill, plus the handling on his mount brings his total to 10 dice, so now he's at 4. Unfortunately for the bandits, they are also at a -2 for the turn and now -6 for the Narrow Passages. Their total skill was also 10, but now they are at 2 dice. Roger feels much better about his chances for escape.

Mounted Combat
Mounted Combat is handled much like regular combat, but one action is always taken up by movement. If a character only has 2 actions per round, then they get to move and attack once. There is no Charge maneuver while mounted. This is not to say that the mount does not charge, but your control of the mount as well as your concentration on the strike (and defense) make a Charge like you do on foot impossible. Mount speed lends to the damage of the blow. After a hit is scored (all rules apply), you can add an extra d6 to the damage of the weapon and a +1 to your STR bonus for every 10mph you are able to go, or essentially, the top speed of your mount.

Modern Vehicle Combat
Modern combat vehicles rely on mounted weapons as opposed to the strength/speed of the mount to deliver a blow. Thus, with modern vehicles (air, ground, or water), it is about maneuvering into position and firing. This breaks Modern Vehicle Combat into 2 phases.


 * Note: though it says "modern" ships from the Age of Sail are included as it was still a matter of getting into position for a broadside and whatnot. All rules below apply to ship combat from this era as well.

Phase 1
This is the maneuvering phase. Whoever goes first in the Initiative Order rolls their Piloting Skill and gives the GM a general idea of who they are attacking, or in the case of multiple enemies, who they're moving around/through to get to their target. This continues until all have gone. Whoever rolls the highest gets into the most favorable position. If the speed of their vehicle allows them to get into range, then at this point they move to Phase 2. If they are still out of range, then whoever scored the most successes will be in range faster/sooner. Once in range, move to phase 2.

Phase 2
This is the attack phase. You have maneuvered into position and now you get to fire. Roll to hit using any Gunnery, Heavy Weapon, or Machine Gun skill that you have. The defender/target does not roll defense. That was what the maneuvering Phase was for. They may try one last-ditch effort to dodge, but do so at a -4 to roll (Contested Roll applies) and the -4 carries over to their next Maneuver Phase roll the next round.


 * Note: Age of Sail ships and large Capital Class modern ships (as well as Starships) are not extremely maneuverable. So in Phase 2 both the attacker and defender get to roll to hit. The defender is not in as favorable a position as the attacker and thus suffers a -4 to the roll, but may attempt to fire nonetheless.  However, due to their bulk they cannot attempt the last-ditch effort to dodge.  How they maneuvered in Phase 1 is final.