"LET 'EM HAVE IT!"
Shooting, ME syle

To Hit Effective Range Aiming Cover Ammo pinning

As you will see, this system differs considerably from that used in the published game. It may look quite complex at first glance, but in practice it flows easily. In fact, as you always need the same "To Hit" score and don't have to remember weapon ranges, To Hit modifiers for short and long range, various modifiers for sundry other occurrences and such like, this system is actually easier to use as well as more realistic.

Who Can Shoot

Models who did not move may fire either one aimed shot or two snap shots. Models who moved normally may only fire one snap shot. Models who ran or charged, or who are in combat may not fire at all. Models who are inactive (or who have no missile weapons!) may not fire at all.

Choosing A Target

When the enemy are still in the distance, it is quite easy to keep your cool and pick your targets carefully, so normally you may choose any visible enemy model or point on the ground as your target. However, when things hot up and the enemy are in your face it becomes more a case of kill or be killed and so if there are enemy models within 10" you must target the nearest active model, unless that model is in cover. If so, you may choose to fire at the nearest enemy model within 10" and in the open instead. Note that this means that you may not target a point on the ground or a downed or pinned model.

Fighters are assumed to face the direction faced by the model itself, but also to be looking left and right, scanning the area for danger and so have a 180 degree field of vision to the front. Any model whose base is at all within this arc can be seen, unless they are hidden from view in some way (more later). Once you have chosen your target, turn the firing model to face his intended victim. This does not count as movement, so has no effect upon move or fire weapons or aiming (more later).

ROLL TO HIT

An enemy who is right up close is naturally much easier to hit than one who is still some distance away and so the system for hitting hinges upon the distance between the firing model and their target.
Under this system the to hit roll is always the same, with a fighter's skill represented by allowing him to roll more dice. Weapons do not have an absolute range that they cannot go beyond, but decreased accuracy as distance increases.

Hitting The Enemy

Choose your target as described above
Roll a number of D6s equal to your Ballistic Skill rating
Roll an additional D6 for each six you score
Count up the number of dice that have scored a 5+ (These are called Hits)
Multiply this number by 5". This distance is called you Accuracy. If your target lies within this range, he is hit. If not, you miss.

Example:

A gangster (BS 3) fires at an enemy model 7" away. Rolling his 3 dice, he scores one 2 and two 5s. This gives him two hits, which equates to an accuracy of 10". As the enemy model is ony 7" away, the shot hits.
If the enemy model had been 11" away, or if the dice had come up as one 5 and two 2s for example, the shot would have missed.

COMPLICATIONS

Effective Range

Whilst a bullet will carry far beyond the distances over which gang fights occur, their accuracy drops off with range until hitting is far more luck than judgement. In N:ME, as with other games, this is represented by the range characteristic. Where my system differs from the previous edition of necromunda, however, is that it is possible to hit targets beyond this distance. It's just very hard.
Every weapon has an effective Range stat on it's profile, given as a multiple of 5 (ie 5", 10", 15"). This is the range at which the weapon's accuracy declines, making it very hard to hit targets outside this distance.

System: As soon as you have enough Hits to reach your Effective Range, further hits only add 1" to the distance rolled rather than 5". For example, a gangster firing a stubgun (ER 10") scores 4 hits. The first two count normally, giving 10" of accuracy. However, as this is the weapons Effective Range, the remaining two hits contribute only 1" each for a total accuracy of 12".

Aiming

A fighter who takes the time to aim properly has a much better chance of hitting his victim than one who simply points and shoots. Because of this, if you did not move the model during the movement phase and chose to aim rather than take two shots, You may double their Ballistic Skill for that shot, giving you more dice to roll.

Cover

The Undercity is a dark and gloomy place, littered with buttresses, girders, barrels and ruins which makes it easy to conceal yourself from the enemy.
A model who is roughly half covered by intervening terrain is said to be in cover. A gangster who is in cover receives an unmodified save of a 4+ on 1D6 against all hits from shooting attacks. If this save is made, the gangster is pinned but otherwise unharmed.
A model roughly three quarters or more covered by intervening terrain cannot be seen. Models who are Hiding also cannot be seen.
A certain amount of impartiality is called for when deciding if a model is or isn't in cover, which can be difficult during a game, so in the interests of avoiding arguments either have an impartial third party or give the model in cover the benefit of the doubt: the Undercity is a very dark and cluttered place, after all.

Pinning

You don't have to hit your mark to have an effect upon him. When there are bullets ricocheting all around you, whistling past your head like angry bees, most people get understandably anxious. They forget all thoughts of attacking anyone and seek to become as small as possible, throwing themselves to the floor and crawling towards cover.

In Necro ME, this is represented by Pinning. A model that is shot at but missed by only a single hit becomes pinned (Some other situations may also cause a model to become pinned). e.g. A model fires at a target 15" away and scores two hits. He misses, but since one more hit would have given him 15" the target is pinned.

When this happens, place the model on it's back, face up, to show that it is Pinned. The model may not do anything until it recovers. Pinned models are Inactive and may only be targeted by enemies within 5", in the same way as Downed models (see later). Pinned models who are in cover hide and cannot be seen.

Example of Pinning

Firing at an enemy model 14" away a gangster scores two hits. This gives him 10" of range and thus his shot misses.

However, had he scored one more hit, he would have had 15" of range, enough to hit his target. Therefore his shot is judged to have only just missed and the enemy model is pinned. Note that at ranges of less than 5" the target is therefore automatically pinned.

Template Weapons and Pinning

Weapons that use a template (see "Kiss My Arsenal!" for more details on templates) work slightly differently to less explosive weapons. Instead of pinning the target in the normal way, these weapons pin any model, friend or foe, who's base is within 1" of the edge of the template. This applies to both Blast and Flamer templates.

Recovering From Pinning

Gangsters recover from pinning in exactly the same manner as described in the rulebook, missing their next turn unless they have a friend nearby and pass an initiative test.

Ammo Rolls

No weapon is one hundred percent reliable, particularly given the harsh conditions of the Underhive and the amount of use that they get put through from day to day. To represent this, before firing you must make an Ammo Roll.

This roll represents how likely your weapon is to keep running and represents both it's inherent reliability and how much ammunition you are likely to be carrying for it. Bolters, for example, have rare and expensive ammunition AND are prone to mechanical falure, giving them less chance of succeeding than a straightforward bolt-action rifle.

The test itself is very simple. After declaring your target but before rolling to hit them, you must roll 2 D6. If you do not score a double of any kind, or a double of your weapons ammo rating or higher, the test is passed and you can complete the shot. If you roll a double of less than your ammo rating, the test is failed and your weapon runs out of ammo, jams solid or simply breaks down - rendering it useless until your next battle.

For example, a fighter who's weapon has an ammo rating of 4+ will fail the test if he rolls a double 1, 2 or 3 but will pass on any other roll, even other doubles. A fighter whose weapon has a rating of 6+, however, will fail on any roll of a double except for double 6.

NOTE: this system pleases me more than the last one, but I don't know how people feel about taking a test (even a simple one like this) before each of their shots. Let me know what you think, but bear in mind that you probably won't be doing enough firing for it to present much of a problem - this isn't 40K, after all!

Shooting Into Hand-to-Hand Combat

Normally, this is an extremely stupid idea as you have as much chance of hitting your own guy as theirs. It may happen, though, that you are playing a multiplayer game, there are two models fighting and neither of them are yours. This is the only time it is permitted to fire into combat, as to shoot your comrades in the back is to stick a knife into your own: you need to be able to trust your friends.

If there is a combat that does not involve any friendly models you may fire into it. You have an equal chance of hitting any of the combatants. Randomise hits in a mutually acceptable manner.

Shooting a Man While He's Down

If you really want to you can shoot at downed or pinned models. There will usually be a more threatening target available, but if you feel it is necessary to fire upon inactive targets then go right ahead.

Inactive models are lying on the ground, on their knees or otherwise reduced in size and so become harder to see. Until you get up close, your eyes pass over them with ease. Thus they can only be targeted if they are within 5". Other than this, however, they are shot at as normal.

Blast, Template and Sustained Fire Weapons

The systems for using these weapons can be found, along with all other special rules for weapons, in "Kiss My Arsenal!".

Advanced Rule:Critical Hits

Sometimes you hit your mark spot on, in just the right place. To represent this in the game, any time you roll enough sixes on your to hit roll to reach the target, you score a critical hit. Critical hits strike a particularly vulnerable spot and so have their strength value doubled.

e.g. You fire a stubgun (strength 3) at a target 10" away. Rolling your dice, you score two sixes, a five and a three. This hits the target and since you rolled enough sixes to hit regardless of other dice your hit is strength 6.

You will note that it is, quite rightly, much easier to score a critical hit up close than at a distance: don't let the enemy shoot you at point blank range or you won't live to regret it.

Advanced Rule:Point Blank Range

If you fail to score any Hits (rolls of a 5+) there is still a chance you will hit, if your target is close enough. Your foe must be at a distance of 4" or less for this to be possible, wich is admittedly slightly beyond point blank but, hey, that wasn't as snappy!

In this situation, you may count your accuracy as being your highest roll: eg if you roll three D6 and score 2, 2, 3 then you will hit a target within 3" (despite not having rolled any Hits). If your highest roll exceeds the distance required (for instance rolling a 4 to hit a target 3" away) then a critical is scored (assuming that you are using critical hits).

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