======================================= Heavy Gear Frequently asked Questions about Rules Version 2.3R Last Revision: Nov. 1, 2002 ======================================= ======================================= WELCOME TO THE HG RULES FAQ: --------------------------------------- This document is intended to be both a timesaving device for the Heavy Gear Mailing List as well as a useful resource list for the Heavy Gear player. Like all games, Heavy Gear has rules that need additional explanation or interpretation, and this tries to cover that ground. If you need a rules clarification that cannot be found in this FAQ, please do not hesitate to ask the HGML at large -- you will very likely get a useful response, and your question will likely be added to the next version of the Rules FAQ. In the case of a discrepancy between the Text version and the HTML version, the text version is considered correct, but please notify me at the address below. This document will be updated semi-regularly. This means: 1) Whenever a question is asked a lot. 2) People seem to be having a lot of trouble with a section of rules. 3) People ask for it. 4) I get REALLY bored again and reformat. This FAQ is meant to cover Rules Issues only. Anything else is covered in the other FAQ's or errata's. If this document contains any errors, is missing something important, or is confusing in any of it's clarifications, please contact me at: saskdemoteam@demoni.ca And I will be more than glad to correct/ clear up any problems. Please keep in mind the difference between FAQ's and Errata when sending questions. Most book errors fall under errata, and as such are not covered in the FAQ. ======================================= ======================================= TABLE OF CONTENTS: --------------------------------------- 0: HISTORY OF THE FAQ 1: DISCLAIMER. 2: MINUTIAE 2.1 General Notes 2.2 What's New? 2.3 First Edition Notes. 2.4 Errata 2.5 Heavy Gear Mailing List. 2.6 Contacting DP9. 3: GENERAL RULES 3.1 General Notes. 3.2 Rolling and Modifiers 4: ROLEPLAYING RULES 4.1 General 4.2 Character Generation 4.3 Skills 4.4 Combat 5: TACTICAL RULES 5.1 General 5.2 Vehicles 5.3 Vehicle Damage 5.4 Infantry 5.5 Initiative / Command Points 5.6 Indirect Fire/ Guided Weapons 6: AIR WAR SCALE 6.1 General 6.2 Combat 7: VEHICLE CONSTRUCTION 7.1 General Notes 7.2 Perks and Flaws 7.3 Aircraft Notes 8: LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS ======================================= ======================================= 0: HISTORY OF THE RULES FAQ --------------------------------------- Ver. 0.99: Noticing the need of a Rules FAQ, John D. Prins takes up his pen and starts writing. Pending error correction and official repudiation, this version is highly suspect. Ver. 1.00: Marc-Alex Vezina was nice enough to confirm/correct the FAQ. Corrections made. Ver. 1.10: Some expansions and updates. Expanded on the whole 'exposed systems' issue and target designators. Ver. 1.20: Addressed points on Crew Stunned Results and AUX Hits. Ver. 1.21: Marc-Alex clarifies points on arms and target designators. Ver. 1.30: Questions about Infantry ROF, Defense Arcs, what constitutes 'Crew', and Fumbles added. Ver. 1.31: Questions about minimum Attributes for Skills, Infantry and Attributes, and ECM vs. Target Designators. Some shuffling around of questions to more appropriate categories. Ver. 2.00: Second Edition Heavy Gear Rulebook released. FAQ is updated to take account. Ver. 2.10: Small corrections and a few questions added. Ver. 2.20: Whole mess of questions about Command Points and Leadership. Ver. 2.30: More questions about Command Points, Infantry, and other stuff. Ver. 2.40: Infantry movement modifiers cleared up. Pilot Skill levels given further clarification. Building defence rolls explained. Ver. 2.50: John Buckmaster takes over the maintenance of the FAQ and updates the out of date questions and information. Many thanks to Marc-Alex for his help. Ver. 2.60: John B. updates infantry movement and night vision info. Ver. 2.0R: John B. reformats the FAQ in order to enhance clarity and ease of use. R stands for revised, because I don't want to start at 3.0 unless/until we have a 3rd edition of HG. Ver. 2.1R: John B. *hopefully* fixes the line wrap problem and adds 2 questions to section 5.6, Indirect Fire. Ver. 2.11R: John B. updates his e-mail address and the Banzaidyne addy. Also, first tests of HTML format FAQ's begin. Ver. 2.12R: John B. Puts a mention of the Technical FAQ in 'Vehicle Construction' (Section 7) Ver. 2.2R: John B. Puts Tactical to RPG damage conversion into the 4.4, RPG combat, adds Legendary/character pilots into 5.2, and adds Grenade ranges to 5.2. Ver.2.3R: John B. adds a hull down clarification to 5.2.13. No word on HTML yet. ======================================= ======================================= 1: DISCLAIMER --------------------------------------- This document is a product of a fan of Heavy Gear, for fans of Heavy Gear. HEAVY GEAR, TERRA NOVA and the SILHOUETTE SYSTEM are all trademarks of Dream Pod 9, Inc. and this document should be in no way construed as a legal challenge to those trademarks. This document may be distributed freely in any medium so long as no profit is derived from the transaction. Though I kind of doubt anybody is ever going to sell this thing for a profit... ======================================= ======================================= 2: MINUTIAE --------------------------------------- 2.1 GENERAL NOTES 2.1.1 DID YOU READ THE RULEBOOK? It may seem a stupid question, but many of your garden-variety rules questions can be answered quickly and easily by looking in the handy index and reading the appropriate section. This document should be the second thing you grab for when you have a question -- the rulebook being the first. 2.1.2 WHAT IF MY QUESTION ISN'T COVERED BY THIS FAQ? Well, there's always the Heavy Gear Mailing List, where we're glad to answer any relevant question. 2.1.3 I'M NEW TO HEAVY GEAR. WHAT BOOKS SHOULD I BUY FIRST? Well, it depends what you're looking for. If you are more interested in the roleplaying aspects of Heavy Gear, then Life On Terra Nova 2nd ed. is an absolute must (after the rulebook, of course). After you have that, you should select based on your favorite area of Terra Nova -- books like Into The Badlands or the Leaguebooks will get you a solid setting on the minimum number of books. If you're interested in the storyline, the Character Compendium and Storybooks are a good choice. The Technical Manual 2nd ed. is highly recommended. If you're primarily a tactical player, then you want the Heavy Gear Tactical Miniature Rules (DP9-106). You may also want Tactical Field Support. It contains all the rules you really need for 'full' battlefield action (battlefield engineering, morale, artillery, etc.). To get all the Gear and Strider stats, the Vehicle Compendiums (North and South) are the things to have. For air power, you'll want to buy Tactical Air Support, but some things in there are slightly out of date (See Section 7.3) --------------------------------------- 2.2 WHAT'S NEW? Minor Layout tweaks, and additions to the Tactical Rules section. For a full list of the updates, see the Section 0, History. --------------------------------------- 2.3 FIRST EDITION NOTES. If you need the 'last' first edition FAQ, just e-mail John D. Prins at the jprins@interhop.net and he'll send it to you. FAQs are typically for new players anyway, so they're more likely to own the second edition than the first. Mind you, I'd be remiss as a Heavy Gear fan if I didn't encourage you to go out and buy the second edition. In all cases, a second edition ruling is more correct than a first edition one. Note that the second edition of Heavy Gear is _fully_ compatible with the first edition. While the initiative system has seen some changes and some rules have been tweaked (mostly for clarity), vehicle stats and the basic procedures have not changed. Your second edition Grizzly works just like your first edition Grizzly. --------------------------------------- 2.4 ERRATA All errata for DP9 products can be found at www.dp9.com, under FAQ/Erratas, the same page this document can be found on. Also, the Tactical Air Support book has errata for the first edition Heavy Gear Rulebook --------------------------------------- 2.5 HEAVY GEAR MAILING LIST. 2.5.1 HOW DO I JOIN THE HEAVY GEAR MAILING LIST? Go to www.coffehaus.com under the link "new mailman lists." Click on HGML and follow the instructions there. 2.5.2 HOW DO I UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THE HEAVY GEAR MAILING LIST? To unsubscribe, go to www.coffehaus.com and enter the update area for your lists. Within that area will be the instructions. Coffeehaus also sends out info roughly once a month or so on how to update and unsubscribe. 2.5.3 WHAT IF I GET KICKED OFF THE LIST BY ACCIDENT? This has been known to happen -- generally if your own server goes down, as coffeehaus doesn't like bouncing messages. Note that you may not have been booted off -- coffeehaus could be down or the list as a whole might be malfunctioning. If in doubt, simply re-subscribe with the above procedure. --------------------------------------- 2.6 CONTACTING DP9. The easiest way to contact DP9 is at www.dp9.com, or by e-mailing support@dp9.com Keep in mind that they are busy people, and replies may take a while. Also, their phone and snail mail address can be found on the inside of any DP9 product. ======================================= ======================================= 3: GENERAL RULES --------------------------------------- 3.1 GENERAL NOTES. 3.1.1 CAN I USE DICE OTHER THAN SIX SIDED? It's only a game. You could use eight sided or four sided if you like. But be aware that modifiers in Silhouette are very powerful. A +1 when using an eight sided die will mean a lot less than a +1 when using a six sided die. Silhouette is designed to work with the standard six sider, so I don't recommend using anything else unless you're a serious game hacker. --------------------------------------- 3.2 ROLLING AND MODIFIERS 3.2.1 CAN MY DICE COME UP NEGATIVES? No. The lowest you can _ever_ roll in Heavy Gear is a ZERO. This includes defense rolls. 3.2.2 IS THERE A LIMIT TO THE MARGIN OF SUCCESS OR MARGIN OF FAILURE ON A DIE ROLL? The MOS or MOF is inherently limited by the dice and modifiers being used. For example, when rolling 3D6 the best possible result is an 8 (a six plus two extra sixes) unless there are other modifiers. And as noted above, a roll cannot go below zero in any case. There will be cases in a game where a weapon simply cannot damage a target because it cannot get enough of a margin of success, ever! In Tactical Field support there is a note that a MoS of 6 is recommended for "realistic" tactical games. 3.2.3 IF I FUMBLE, DO THE MODIFIERS COUNT? No. ======================================= ======================================= 4: ROLEPLAYING RULES --------------------------------------- 4.1 GENERAL There are currently no "general" questions. --------------------------------------- 4.2 CHARACTER GENERATION 4.2.1 CAN I TRANSFER SKILL POINTS INTO CHARACTER POINTS? No. Of course, it's only a game, so if your Game Master says so, sure, but this is not recommended. --------------------------------------- 4.3 SKILLS 4.3.1 CAN I HAVE MULTIPLE SPECIALIZATIONS IN A SKILL? Sure you can, though only ONE specialization can apply to a single roll. 4.3.2 CAN I USE ONE SKILL TO AUGMENT ANOTHER? No. Skills are supposed to be entirely self-contained. Even Skills with pre- requisites like Sniping or Mechanical Design are self-contained with regards to what they do -- a Sniper does not first roll his Small Arms and then his Sniper Skills, he just rolls his Sniper Skill when sniping. 4.3.3 WHAT IF I DON'T HAVE THAT SKILL? Roll as Unskilled. (2 dice, pick lowest, and add attribute.) 4.3.4 DOES THAT MEAN I CAN USE SKILLS WITH SPECIAL RULES IF I'M UNSKILLED? No. Skills with special rules attached to them (i.e. Sniping, Heavy Gear Architecture) require you to actually have the Skills to use the special rules that cover those situations. --------------------------------------- 4.4 COMBAT 4.4.1 DO MULTIPLE ACTION PENALTIES AFFECT DODGE ROLLS? Yes. While the use of the Dodge Skill (or Melee or Hand-to-Hand for parrying) does not count as an action, they should suffer any penalties from the character using multiple actions. The logic behind this is that it's harder to defend yourself if you're doing all sorts of other things. 4.4.2 WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TACTICAL SCALE DAMAGE AND RPG DAMAGE? One point Tactical scale damage equals Ten points of RPG scale damage (1tac=10RPG). So your x8 Autocannon will do x80(!) RPG Scale. ======================================= ======================================= 5: TACTICAL RULES --------------------------------------- 5.1 GENERAL 5.1.1 IF I'M USING EVASIVE MANEUVERS, CAN I USE NON-ATTACK ACTIONS? No. The only thing you can do is dodge attacks. 5.1.2 DOES STEALTH AFFECT PASSIVE SENSORS? Only if the stealthy unit has some Concealment other than stealth or if it is night on the battlefield. 5.1.3 DOES AN ACTIVE SENSOR ROLL GIVE AWAY MY POSITION? No, but it does announce your presence on the battlefield. The same goes for ECM and ECCM. 5.1.4 DO MY ALLIES GET THE RESULTS OF MY ACTIVE SENSOR ROLL? Only if you spend an action to be a forward observer. 5.1.5 CAN I FORWARD OBSERVE AGAINST MULTIPLE UNITS? Yes, but each unit requires an action to mark it for forward observation. 5.1.6 DOES ECM AND ECCM AFFECT FRIENDLY UNITS? No. Your buddy's ECCM doesn't shut down your ECM, only the enemy's ECM. Similarly, your ECM has no effect on your buddy's communications or sensors. 5.1.7 HOW LONG DOES ECM OR ECCM LAST? DOES IT COST ACTIONS TO MAINTAIN? ECM and/or ECCM lasts for as long as you have it up, and takes no actions to keep up once established. If an ECCM Threshold is set up that is 'higher' than the current opposition's ECM, that ECM is rendered ineffective -- the opponent must try to re-establish a new, higher ECM. 5.1.8 IF I SATURATE AT POINT BLANK, DO I HIT MYSELF? No. Common sense dictates that you would not 'shoot yourself' when Saturating a hex. The same does not necessarily hold true for Area Effect attacks, those might hit the attacking vehicle at Point Blank (make a Defense roll as normal). 5.1.9 IF A UNIT IS TARGETED WHILE MOVING, BUT WISHES TO FIRE FIRST, WHO ACTS FIRST? Whoever won initiative fires first. However, if a Command Point is/was spent, the Command Point takes priority. It is possible to spend Command Points in this fashion to 'gain' the opportunity to act first, as the last Command Point takes priority. Yes, you could waste a lot of Command Points in this fashion if you're desperate to act first. 5.1.10 WHEN CAN A UNIT MOVE OUT OF SEQUENCE? CAN IT USE ACTIONS WHILE MOVING OUT OF SEQUENCE? A unit may move out of sequence at any time; between the movement of other units or actually interrupting the movement of other units (in which case the interrupted unit must wait until the out of sequence unit is finished moving). It is also possible to move out of sequence on a unit moving out of sequence -- again, the last Command Point spent takes priority. Units moving out of sequence may spend actions as normal, and if they have actions left, they may use them when their 'normal' activation comes around. 5.1.11 WHAT HAPPENS ON A DOUBLE INITIATIVE ROLL FUMBLE (BOTH SIDES)? Neither side gets Command Points. However, re-roll Leadership to determine who gains the initiative (and only the initiative). 5.1.12 CAN I SAVE MY ACTIONS FOR USE AFTER MY ACTIVATION PHASE? No. When a unit is activated, it must use its action before the next unit is activated, or it loses any leftover actions. The only exception to this is units moved out of sequence with a Command Point -- they may hold onto their actions until their 'normal' activation comes around (so they still aren't really holding their actions past their true activation phase). After your activation phase, you'll need to use Command Points to get actions. 5.1.13 HOW MANY UNITS COMPRISE A COMBAT GROUP? There is no hard value. Unless you're playing with a very small number of units (6 or less total), a combat group consists of 2 or more vehicles. In reasonably large conflicts (10+ Gears a side), 5 units to a combat group is probably best (and most true to the Heavy Gear setting in most cases -- cadres of 5 Gears, etc.) Note that most of the army books give squad sizes for vehicles, and "companies" of infantry work well as combat units. 5.1.14 CAN I RE-ORGANIZE MY COMBAT GROUP(S) ON THE FLY? There are no rules to cover such a circumstance, and it's probably not a good idea anyway. 5.1.15 HOW DO I CALCULATE THE DEFENSE ROLL OF A STRUCTURE? You don't have to. Buildings can't dodge. Just like a totally immobilised vehicle, they have a defense roll of ZERO. 5.1.16 WITH SNAP FIRE, HOW MANY TIMES MAY AN OPPONENT ATTACK? CAN UNITS SNAP FIRE SIMULTANEOUSLY ON A TARGET OR MUST THEY WAIT FOR 1 MP TO HAVE BEEN MOVED BEFORE THE NEXT UNIT SNAP FIRES? One attack every MP, regardless of provenance. Else you'd never get to cover in time... --------------------------------------- 5.2 VEHICLES 5.2.1 CAN I START A GAME AT TOP SPEED? Yes, so long as it is declared during the set-up phase. 5.2.2 DOES RAMMING COST AN ACTION? Yes, unless it's an accident due to something like a slide, fall or crash. 5.2.3 DOES MY PILOT'S CREATIVITY ATTRIBUTE AFFECT ELECTRONICS WARFARE ROLLS? Yes, assuming he has one (that's not +0). In purely tactical games, simply use the character's Gunnery, only one step 'up' the chart on page 127 of the second edition Rulebook. So a Qualified pilot has 1+1 Electronics Warfare. If desired, a pilot can swap his Gunnery and Electronics Warfare values. 5.2.4 WHAT ARE THE LEADERSHIP, TACTICS, AND ELECTRONICS WARFARE SKILL LEVELS OF MY PILOTS? The Heavy Gear Tactical Miniatures Rules gives the following listing: Skill Level: Pilot: Gun: E.W.: Ldr: Tactics: Rookie 1/+0 1/+1 1/+0 0/+0 0/+0 Qual. 2/+0 2/+1 1/+0 1/+0 1/+0 Veteran 3/+1 3/+1 2/+0 2/+0 2/+0 Elite 4/+1 4/+2 3/+1 3/+0 3/+1 Remember that at the player's option, Gunnery and Electronics Warfare values may be swapped. Also note that the commander of a force has Leadership and Tactics one level higher than normal, and the second in command has Leadership one level higher than normal. Legendary Pilots can be created using the TV rules for characters found in 5.2.13 5.2.5 IF I'M ATTACKED BEFORE MY VEHICLE MOVES, WHAT'S MY DEFENDER SPEED MODIFIER? Calculate it from last round's movement. A unit is considered to still be moving at last round's rate until its activation comes up. 5.2.6 CAN I TURN AROUND AND STILL BE STATIONARY? No. Vehicles can make a SINGLE sixty-degree turn and remain stationary, because that costs no MP. Any other movement, including Command Points to turn the vehicle around, spoil the Stationary Attacker Bonus (probably moving the vehicle into the Half Combat Attacker Bonus). 5.2.7 IF I'M IN A TANK AND MY TURRET POINTS BACKWARDS, WHY DO I TAKE REAR DEFENSE PENALTIES? Because your pilot is facing forward (probably), and Heavy Gear also assumes that, like in real life, most vehicles have less armor in the rear area to save on weight. 5.2.8 CAN I GO HULL-DOWN AT TOP SPEED? Considering that you have to declare that you're moving out of Top Speed at the end of a turn's movement and have to actually wait until the next turn to be able to go Stationary, going hull-down while at Top Speed is not allowed. 5.2.9 IF I'M IN A SENSOR DEPENDANT VEHICLE, WHAT'S MY PASSIVE SENSOR RATING? Same as any other vehicle; the best of your visual perception (4 during the day, 2 at night) or your Electronics Warfare Skill level plus your vehicle's Sensor Rating. You see, even Sensor Dependant vehicles still have visual cameras -- all Sensor Dependant means is that if you suffer a 'Sensors Destroyed' result (either through an AUX hit or reaching a Sensor Rating of -5), the vehicle can only move and fire randomly. 5.2.10 WHEN I EMPLOY A SHIELD, DO I ROLL THE BLOCK FIRST? No. Roll dodge as normal. If you're hit, _then_ you may choose to spend an action to use the shield. In other words, you don't have to spend an action to use a shield before the attack and defense rolls are made. 5.2.11 WHAT ARE THE RANGES FOR VEHICLE THROWN GRENADES? Grenade ranges are based on the rating of the arm throwing, and can be found in the now OOP Tactical Field Support. They are reprinted here for ease of use. The base range of an Arm for throwing is twice it's rating in meters. Subtract the size of the object being thrown from the rating of the arm before multiplication. (2X (rating-Size of object) An arm may not throw anything with a size of greater than « it's rating. If the object is larger than « the rating of the arm, you may use both arms, but the base range is reduced to the rating of the strongest arm. So a Rating 6 arm throwing a grenade (size 1) would have a base range of 10 meters, and a full range of 10/20/40/80 in meters. Keep in mind that tactical scale is 50m/Inch, and Skirmish is 10m/Inch. Duelling ranges may be different. 5.2.12 HOW DO I CALCULATE THE TV MULTIPLIER FOR MY CHARACTER? The rules for this were originally found in GEAR UP magazine, and are reprinted here. To determine a Duellist's TV multiplier for Duelling, use the method found in Tactical Duelling (DP9-108). To determine the TV for a Tactical Battle, use the following: These four skills are very important to Heavy Gear pilots: Heavy Gear Pilot (AGI, Complex), Gunnery (PER, Complex), Leadership (INF, Simple) and Electronic Warfare (CRE, Complex). It is very difficult for a character to have a high level in all these skills and attributes at the same time. In order to determine the TV multiplier of a PC, we "average" all the skill levels and all the attributes they are linked to. This so-called "average" is made using the following formulas: AvgSkill =((4 x Pilot) +(3 x Gunnery) +(2 x E. W.) +(Leadership))/10 AvgAttribute =((4 x AGI) +(3 x PER) +(2 x KNO) +(INF))/10 We then cross-reference the result in the table below. The value obtained is the TV multiplier for that Player Character. Average Skill (AvgSkill) Average Attribute (AvgAttribute) -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 1 0.07 0.11 0.17 0.25 0.38 0.56 0.84 2 0.30 0.45 0.67 1.00 1.50 2.25 3.38 3 0.45 0.67 1.00 1.50 2.25 3.38 5.00 5.2.13 WHAT IS A VEHICLE'S DEFENSE WHEN IT IS HULLED DOWN? As the vehicle is essentially immobile, it's defence roll is the same as a structure, or ZERO. --------------------------------------- 5.3 VEHICLE DAMAGE 5.3.1 DO ACTION LOSSES FROM 'CREW STUNNED' RESULTS CARRY OVER? Yes, they do. You have to pay for them the next round if you've already used your actions this round. Note that Evasive Maneuvers require an action to perform, so a vehicle wishing to go evasive must pay for both the crew stunned carry-over (if any) and the Evasive Maneuver -- probably requiring multiple action penalties on a fully defensive vehicle! 5.3.2 IF I CANNOT MOVE DUE TO A MOVEMENT LOSSES OR POWER TRANSFER FAILURE, WHAT ARE MY DODGE ROLLS? They are ZERO. You're a rock. 5.2.3 WHEN I SUFFER A MOVEMENT HIT, DOES IT APPLY TO ALL MOVEMENT SYSTEMS? No. Only to the one currently in use, unless otherwise specified. 5.2.4 IF I TAKE AN AUXILIARY SYSTEMS HIT BUT HAVE NO AUXILIARY SYSTEMS, DO I RE- ROLL? Nope. You lucked out. Similarly, if you take -1 to four systems but only have two, the last two do not count. Please remember that your Sensors and Communications are AUX Systems, unless you took the 'No Sensors' and 'No Communications' flaws! 5.2.5 WHAT DOES A -1 TO AN AUXILIARY SYSTEM MEAN ON A NON-RATED SYSTEM? Auxiliary Systems without ratings degrade on the basis of Skill use (-1 to any Skill roll using that device per hit) or efficiency (lose 20% efficiency per hit). Any system that reaches -5 or 100% loss of efficiency is considered destroyed. 5.2.6 IF I KEEP ROLLING SIXES ON THE SYSTEM DAMAGE TABLE, DO I KEEP ON RE- ROLLING? Yes. This is commonly referred to as a 'cascade', and could potentially go on forever... 5.2.7 HOW MUCH DAMAGE CAN MY WEAPONS TAKE? Weapons are not functional when they reach -5 in accuracy penalties (independent of the inherent ACC of the weapon). At -6 they cannot even be salvaged. Note that Fire Control Destroyed results are not the same thing as weapon damage. 5.2.8 BEING AS THOUGH EACH HAND GRENADE IS BOUGHT AS A SEPARATE WEAPON, DOES EACH HAND GRENADE COUNT AS A SEPARATE WEAPON ON WEAPON HIT? Theoretically yes, but as it becomes rather tedious in book keeping, it is not recommended. Obviously the same comment can apply to Panzerfausts and other individual weapons. 5.2.9 WHEN ARMOR VALUES ARE HALVED (WEAK FACING, ARMOR PIERCING), DO YOU ROUND HALF VALUES UP OR DOWN? Round upwards. The same is done for movement system speeds (combat/top) -- a 5 top speed results in a 3 combat speed, not a 2, for example. --------------------------------------- 5.4 INFANTRY 5.4.1 HOW DOES FACING APPLY TO INFANTRY? In brief, it does not. Infantry don't have front, flank or rear defense arcs -- all incoming attacks are dealt with the same (+0 defense). Infantry can attack in a 360 degree arc, as if they all used turreted weaponry. They don't spend MPs to make turns. 5.4.2 WHAT ABOUT MOBILE INFANTRY? Infantry in APCs have to worry about things like facing, because they're in an actual vehicle. Heavy Gear does not, however, consider very small vehicles like one-man ATVs, motorcycles, and jet packs to be worth bothering over -- so aside from the bigger movement rate, troops equipped with such are treated like normal infantry. Such troops are always considered to be moving at Combat Speed, and may fire while 'mounted'. 5.4.3 HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO DISEMBARK INFANTRY? A vehicle can 'disgorge' a number of infantrymen equal to the vehicle's actual Size at the cost of one action -- as long as those infantrymen are passengers, of course. This can only be done at Combat Speed or less. 5.4.4 CAN INFANTRY DECLARE EXTRA ACTIONS? No -- though they can get them through Command Points. 5.4.5 BUT MY INFANTRY GET MULTIPLE ATTACKS? Yes and no. Infantry typically come equipped with two types of weapons. These can be fired at different targets, however, but all weapons of the same type must be fired at the same target. It is not recommended that a squad of infantry be equipped with more than two kinds of weapons. 5.4.6 DO INFANTRY GET MOVEMENT PENALTIES AND BONUSES FOR ATTACK OR DEFENSE? Infantry suffer no penalties for moving slowly and as such always "dodge" using their skill with no modifier. Any infantry movement counts as "combat speed" and as such, they do not get the 1/2 combat speed bonus. They do, however, gain the stationary bonus if they choose to remain stationary. 5.4.7 DOES THE ROF BONUS FOR FIRING AGAINST INFANTRY APPLY TO THE MOS OR TO THE ATTACK ROLL PROPER? (I.E. BEFORE OR AFTER DETERMINING TO HIT). To the attack roll. 5.4.8 IF MY INFANTRY SQUAD GETS HIT BY A SINGLE ENEMY ROUND, HOW COME SO MANY DIE? All sorts of reasons. Secondary effects like concussion and shrapnel (and heat for energy weapons) could kill fragile infantry just as easily as a direct hit. 5.4.9 CAN AN INFANTRY SQUAD BE SPLIT UP? Yes, but it isn't recommended. 5.4.10 DO INFANTRY GET ATTRIBUTE BONUSES? No, because the Skill level of an infantry squad is abstracted to an average for ease of play. In fact, LVL 5 Infantry may only 'really' have LVL 3 in Skills, but a lot of troopers might have high Attributes. This is how infantry can get up to eight dice to throw around, despite the fact that such a Skill level in Heavy Gear is all but impossible. 5.4.11 THE TAC MIN RULES SAY THAT NIGHT VISION EQUIPMENT DOUBLES THE COST OF INFANTRY, YET THE MAIN RULEBOOK AND THE ARMY BOOKS SAY IT'S FREE. WHICH IS CORRECT? The Tac Min Rules. Infantry TV is doubled for Night Vision Equipment. Giving them the equipment for free caused game balance issues. --------------------------------------- 5.5 INITIATIVE / COMMAND POINTS 5.5.1 WHEN CAN A COMMAND POINT BE USED? At almost any time. Command Points to gain a +2 defense or to turn a unit around must be spent before any applicable attack and defense rolls are made. 5.5.2 CAN I STACK THE DEFENSE BONUSES FROM COMMAND POINTS? No. In the HGTMR, it states that only 1 command point may be given per unit per turn. Even with the old rules, you still couldn't. 5.5.3 IF A SIDE'S COMMANDER AND SUBCOMMANDER ARE KILLED, ARE TACTICAL COMMAND POINTS LOST? No. Tactical Command Points come from a variety of sources -- military intelligence, battle plans before engaging the enemy, possibly even how rested the troops were before the battle. These don't go away even if your commander(s) are killed. 5.4.4 CAN YOU GIVE A UNIT MORE THAN ONE COMMAND POINT, OR ARE YOU LIMITED TO A SINGLE USE OF EACH COMMAND POINT FUNCTION (EXTRA ACTION, TURN AROUND, +2 TO A SINGLE DODGE, ACTIVATE OUT OF SEQUENCE)? No. This was revised in HGTMR, where it states that only 1 command point may be given per unit per turn. 5.5.5 IF I USE BOTH EXTRA (DECLARED) ACTIONS AND ACTIONS FROM COMMAND POINTS, DOES THE NORMAL EXTRA ACTION PENALTY APPLY TO THE COMMAND POINT ACTION? Yes -- Command Points don't incur any _extra_ penalties, but if there are already extra action penalties, they will still apply. --------------------------------------- 5.6 INDIRECT FIRE/ GUIDED WEAPONS 5.6.1 CAN I FIRE GUIDED AMMUNTION AT A DESIGNATED TARGET WITHOUT A FORWARD OBSERVER OR LINE OF SIGHT? Yes. Guided weapons can lock on to designated targets as if they had been forward observed. ECM has no direct effect on Target Designators, but the designating unit must be able to communicate with the firer of the guided weapon -- either through a (action-free) communications roll to 'break past' any ECM or direct LOS between the designator and firer. Gears would be especially good at this, having hands and arms to make signals. 5.6.2 CAN I FIRE INDIRECTLY WITHOUT A FORWARD OBSERVER TO AVOID OBSCUREMENT PENALTIES? No. Obscurement doesn't just represent stuff 'getting in the way' of your weapons, it also means a less-than-solid target lock through all that cover. Weapons arced over cover without a forward observer still suffers the Obscurement penalties of direct fire. 5.6.3 WHAT HAPPENS IF GEAR A FORWARD OBSERVES FOR GEAR B, AND THE UNIT THAT HAS BEEN OBSERVED MOVES OUT OF A'S LOS BEFORE B CAN FIRE? Gear B may no longer fire. 5.6.4 IN THE ABOVE CASE, COULD GEAR B SNAP FIRE DURING THE "SPOTTED" UNIT'S MOVEMENT? Snap fire is not possible with Gear B (no actual LoS). A CP may be used, if available to fire before the gear completely leaves Gear A's LoS, or to activate Gear B. In effect indirect fire only works during your activation. ======================================= ======================================= 6: AIR WAR SCALE --------------------------------------- 6.1 GENERAL 6.1.1 WHAT CONSTITUTES A STOL OR VSTOL VEHICLE? Nothing under the rules, strictly speaking. But if an air vehicle has a very small stall speed and a large ground (takeoff movement system) speed, it probably can be called either STOL or VSTOL. 6.1.2 IF I'M BOMBING A TARGET, WHICH SCALE DO I USE FOR AREA OF EFFECT? Tactical scale. Air weapons used against ground targets don't have their area of effect multiplied by 5. In fact, air weapons used in the air still use tactical scale explosions -- their AoE is reduced by 2 (Tac. Air Support pg.11) to gain the air war scaling. --------------------------------------- 6.2 COMBAT 6.2.1 IF I'M ATTACKING GROUND TARGETS, WHAT RANGE SCALE DO I USE? Air vehicles attacking ground targets must use 50m hex ranges unless they are using Bombs. Ground vehicles attacking air targets use 250m hex ranges unless the air target is flying Nap Of Earth, in which case use 50m hex ranges. ======================================= ======================================= 7: VEHICLE CONSTRUCTION --------------------------------------- 7.1 GENERAL NOTES For more info on Technical issues, check out the Technical FAQ, found on the same page as this FAQ. 7.1.1 WHY WAS THE VEHICLE CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM REMOVED FROM SECOND EDITION HEAVY GEAR? To free up space for more roleplaying material. The VCS is in The Second Edition Technical Manual. The first Ed VCS can still be found on the DP9 Website in the Funhouse. 7.1.2 CAN I TAKE GROUND SPEED AS MY PRIMARY MOVEMENT MODE TO AVOID THE RESTRICTION PUT ON WALKERS OF A 15 MP GROUND MODE MAXIMUM? No. If you're a walker, your Walker Movement System is inherently the primary system. Of course, the limitation is only in the interests of play balance... 7.1.3 WHAT'S MY ARMOR MADE OF? Whatever you like. Some options include rolled armor grade steel, durasheet, ceramics, armorplasts, and composites. It doesn't really matter other than for roleplaying considerations -- durasheet will be heavier but cheaper than composites and armorplast, for example. This has no effect on game stats, but could be a good roleplaying hook. 7.1.4 HOW DOES THE MAXIMUM AMMUNITION LOAD TABLE WORK? Cross index the weapon's minimum Size Attribute with the amount of 'extra' Size you are willing to give it (for example, a Minimum Size 4 weapon on an Actual Size 6 vehicle could have +2 Size worth of ammo) to find out how much ammunition you can place in the weapon. 7.1.5 IS THERE A LIMIT TO THE AMOUNT OF AMMUNITION IN A CLIP? Since a clip inserted in a weapon is considered to be 'in' the weapon (and thus not eligible to be destroyed by AUX hits), it is subject to the normal Size restrictions put on 'internal' ammunition bays. If a weapon combines clips and ammo bays, the combination must still be under the maximum ammo load. Weapons can only hold one clip at at time. 7.1.6 WHAT CONSTITUTES CREW FOR MY VEHICLE'S COST? Only living, breathing, kill-able crew. This leaves out Automation, Artificial Intelligences and Advanced Controls, and any actions gained from them. 7.1.7 HOW COME MY THREAT VALUE DOESN'T SEEM RIGHT? The TV formula in the 2nd Ed. Tech manual suffered from the dreaded "cut and paste demon." The correct formula as well as the missing weapons can be found on the DP9 Errata page. --------------------------------------- 7.2 PERKS AND FLAWS 7.2.1 DO I CALCULATE THE OTV OF BOTH MY PUNCHING ARMS? Yes. 7.2.2 CAN I PURCHASE AN ARM AS TURRETED OR FIXED FORWARD? Yes, as long as you pay the corresponding OTV change. 7.2.3 DO ADDITIONAL ARMS COUNT AS ADDITIONAL PERKS FOR LEMONS? Yes. 7.2.4 WHAT IF MY PERK/FLAW TOTAL IS NEGATIVE? Treat it as zero. 7.2.5 CAN I SNIPER A TARGET DESIGNATOR? No. 7.2.6 DOES THE AMMO STORAGE PERK COST ON A PER SHOT BASIS OR PER OTV BASIS? Per OTV (i.e. 1 Perk Point per 10 OTV of ammo stored). --------------------------------------- 7.3 AIRCRAFT NOTES 7.3.1 IN TACTICAL AIR SUPPORT, THE TV FOR AIRCRAFT SEEMS WRONG... That's because the TV was calculated with the formula from 1rst Ed., before they fixed the aircraft formula. If you want the corrected values, go to Jason English's Banzaidyne at http://www.geocities.com/banzaidyne/ Inside you will find updated and corrected TV for all air vehicles for HG. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL SITE ======================================= ======================================= 8: LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS --------------------------------------- John Buckmaster, Current Author and Maintainer John D. Prins, Former Author and Maintainer Marc-Alex Vezina, Dream Pod 9 Guy Alex Rhodes Bertman Mark "Hauptmann" Shurtleff Jason English Pat Paulsen Bill Harris Jason Andreson, HTML design and conversion Andrew G. Paul, HTML design and conversion =======================================