Arena: Simple Ultra-Tech Gunfight

Arena: Simple Ultra-Tech Gunfight

Let's step away from fantasy beatdowns and try out a simple Ultra-Tech gunfight. The arena is quite cramped, has lots of cover. We're not going to use too many extra rules here (such as scopes, HUD links, grenades, and all that).

First, here are the combatants.

Red Combatant

Typical Stats

ST:	12	HP:	12	Speed:	5.75
DX:	11	Will:	10	Move:	5
IQ:	9	Per:	10
HT:	12	FP:	12	SM	+0
Dodge:	9	Parry:	8 (unarmed)	DR:

Weapons:

Laser Pistol (12): 3d(2) burn, Acc 6, Range 200/600, 1.5/C, RoF 10, 66(3), Bulk -2, Rcl 1.

Sonic Stun Pistol (12): HT-3(5) aff, Acc 3, Range 30/100, 1.8/C, RoF 1, 66(3), Bulk -2, Rcl 1.

Armor:

Bioplas Bodysuit (body, limbs) – DR 15/5* (full against piercing and burning), 3 lbs.

Light Infantry Helmet (skull) – DR 24, 3 lbs.

Assault Boots (feet) – DR 18/9 (full against attacks to the underside), 3 lbs.

                Traits: Bully (12); Combat Reflexes.

Skills: Beam Weapons/TL10 (Pistol)-12; Observation-12; Soldier/TL10-12.

Blue Combatant

Typical Stats

ST:	12	HP:	12	Speed:	6
DX:	11	Will:	10	Move:	6
IQ:	9	Per:	10
HT:	12	FP:	12	SM	+0
Dodge:	10	Parry:	11 (baton)	DR:

Weapons:

Machine Pistol (12): 3d pi+, Acc 2, Range 180/2,000, 3/1, RoF 10, 30+1(3), Bulk -2, Rcl 3.

Neurolash Baton thrust (14): 1d-2 cr + linked HT-5(2) aff paralysis, Reach 1, ST 6.

Neurolash Baton swing (14): 1d+2 cr + linked HT-5(2) aff paralysis, Reach 1, ST 6.

Armor:

Nanoweave Bodysuit (body, limbs) – DR 18/6* (full against piercing and cutting), 3 lbs.

Light Infantry Helmet (skull) – DR 24, 3 lbs.

Assault Boots (feet) – DR 18/9 (full against attacks to the underside), 3 lbs.

                Traits: Combat Reflexes.

Skills: Fast-Draw (Sword)-12; Guns/TL10 (SMG)-12; Shortsword-14; Stealth-12.

As you can see, the red combatant is armed and armored much better than the blue combatant, but the blue combatant has a melee weapon. Let's see how things go.

Second 1

Blue: Moves towards cover and crouches.

Red: Moves and crouches behind a pillar.

Second 2

Blue: Performs a Wait maneuver to do opportunity fire (B390) over four hexes (R16, T16, R18, T18, if you can work out the labels on the picture above) on both sides of the pillar. That will give him a -2 penalty on attack rolls if the opportunity fire is triggered. Remains crouched.

Red: Does a pop-up attack (B390). First, opportunity fire is triggered. Blue combatant decides to fire at RoF 10 (+2 bonus), and he gets a -3 range penalty and -2 penalty for watching over four hexes. (Rolls 14 vs. 9). That's a miss. As he is crouching behind waist-high cover, his head and neck can be targeted at no penalty, but arms and torso are considered covered (and additional -2 penalty to hit). The red combatant decides to target torso at RoF 10 (+2 bonus). That's a -2 penalty for cover, -2 penalty to a pop-up attack, and a -3 range penalty. Quite rough - you can't Aim with pop-up attacks. (Rolls 12 vs. 7). That's a miss too.

Second 3

Blue: Keeps monitoring the same four hexes. They are now marked on the map.

Red: Runs three yards to crouch behind waist-high cover, to free up the line of sight for aiming. This triggers opportunity fire, and the blue combatant unloads 10 more projectiles. (Rolls 9 vs. 9). That's a potential hit. The red combatant dodges. (Rolls 12 vs. 9). That's a hit. The blue combatant rolls damage. (Rolls 9 or 3d). That's not enough to penetrate DR 15, and not enough to cause blunt trauma. To be fair, bioplas is TL10 armor, and this machine pistol is an unmodified TL9 weapon. Should've given it ETC or liquid propellant to compensate.

Second 4

Blue: Leaps over his cover and advances toward the pillar.

Red: Aims at the blue combatant.

Second 5

Blue: Does a Move and Attack. His machine pistol's Bulk is -2, range shortens to 2 yards. RoF 10 gives a +2 bonus, but targeting torso of a crouching target imposes a -2 penalty. (Rolls 9 vs. 10). Crouching does not penalize defenses, so the red combatant rolls only at -2 for defending against a side attack. (Rolls 13 vs. 7). That's a single hit. The blue combatant rolls damage. (Rolls 14 on 3d). That's not enough to penetrate armor, but enough to cause 1 point of blunt trauma. Remember, piercing damage causes 1 point of blunt trauma per 10 points of absorbed damage, not 5.

Red: Stands up, steps forward, and does an All-Out Attack (Long) to grab the blue combatant's weapon hand. (Rolls 12 vs. 9). That's a very dangerous miss.

Second 6

Blue: The gun is empty. He drops the gun and tries to fast-draw his neurolash baton. (Rolls 13 vs. 12). Fast-draw fails, but the baton is drawn nonetheless. However, he cannot exploit the lack of his opponent's active defenses. That's a shame.

Red: Unloads a RoF 10 laser burst at point-blank range. (Rolls 14 vs. 14). That's a potential hit. However, since the distance is a mere yard, the blue combatant elects to parry with his baton. (Rolls 10 vs. 11). He successfully slaps the pistol away.

Second 7

Blue: Swings his neurolash baton at the red combatant's gun hand. (Rolls 10 vs. 10). The red combatant tries to dodge. (Rolls 10 vs. 9). That's a solid hit. The blue combatant rolls damage. (Rolls 8 on 1d+2). As the red combatant has no gloves, this cripples the hand, causing the laser pistol to fall on the floor. Now, the red combatant rolls against HT-5 to avoid paralysis. (Rolls 8 vs. 7). That's a failure.

Red: Is paralyzed for one minute. The combat is over.

Conculsion

Not many tricky rules were used, but that was still a fun fight that emphasizes the importance of cover, aiming, and shows the usage of such rules as pop-up attacks and opportunity fire. Also, Ultra-Tech melee! Next time we do an ultra-tech fight, we will do something with "real" guns and longer distances.