Hey Game Fans, we’re back with some more information on Abstract Aerospace Combat. Aerospace fighters add a certain level of complexity to Alpha Strike.
We want to make sure you get the best use of these forces for your games. Last time we talked about movement. This time we’re going over Combat. You’ve all wanted to wage a bitter air war, right? Let’s take a deeper look Aerospace Combat.
Abstract Aerospace Combat
Abstract Aerospace Combat (AAC) follows a procedural path like ground combat. I’ll break down each step, and cover different special rules that crop up in each case. Some basics to get you started:
- Some Aerospace units feature multiple firing arcs (which will show up on their cards). These are the only units that can make multiple attacks. Most units are restricted to a single attack in each round.
- Aerospace units in the Central Zone can declare Air to Ground Attacks against units on the Alpha Strike board.
- Air to Ground attacks are broken up into Strafing, Striking, altitude bombing and dive bombing. Units must have the BOMB# special ability to make bombing attacks.
- Aerospace Units in other zones can only declare air to air attacks against units in the same zone.
- Units with the Overheat (OV) special ability use it as normal, declaring how much to overheat before dice are rolled.
- You can’t combine Overheating attacks with bombing attacks.
- You can’t combine Overheating attacks with bombing attacks.
AAC Resolution
Resolving AAC follows a similar process to Ground Combat, and we’re going to break down the 7 step procedure for you. The seven steps are:
- Verify Line of Sight (LOS)
- Verify Firing Arc
- Determine Range
- Determine To-Hit Number
- Roll to Hit
- Determine and Apply Damage
- Roll for Critical Hits (If needed)
Let’s break down each step for you.
Step 1: Verify Line of Sight
Airborne units always have line of sight to ground units unless the unit is completely submerged, inside a structure, or underground. Air units can still make bombing attacks against targets they don’t have line of sight to.
Step 2: Verify Firing Arc
Air to Ground Attacks require that the attacking unit designate a linear flight path over the ground map (we talked about this briefly last week). this path helps identify units that can be targeted with the four types of Air to Ground attacks. There are templates included in the Alpha Strike rulebook to figure out ground attacks, and I strongly encourage their use.
- Strafing Attacks: Strafing attacks target a specific 10 inch segment of distance along the Aerospace Unit’s flight path. The attacking unit determines which 10 inches it wants to target and the attack hits every unit (friend and foe) within an inch of either side of the flight path. Strafing attacks use the attacking unit’s forward firing arc.
- Strike Attacks: A Strike attack targets a specific unit along its flight path. Most units use the weapons in their forward arc, but Spheroid Dropships use the weapons in their aft firing arc for Strike.
- Altitude Bombing: The bombing equivalent of a strafing attack, altitude bombing requires the attacking unit to mark out points of impact (POIs) along the flight path. A bombing unit has to mark at least two points, but can mark as many as it has bombs. Starting with the first point marked, the Bombing unit drops 1 point of bomb on the designated area, moves two inches forward (along its path) and drops another. The process repeats until all points of impact have had bombs dropped onto them. If the attacking unit brought multiple bomb types, it can select which one to drop.
- Dive Bombing: Dive bombing targets a single POI somewhere on the unit’s flight path. A successful bombing attack will use that POI as the center of impact for any radii determined by the bomb’s type.
Step 3: Determine Range
All Air to Ground attacks occur at Short Range.
Step 4: Determine To-Hit Number
There is a chart on page 57 that features all of the additional modifiers for AAC. The basics to keep in mind are the skill of the unit sets the base T-H Number, and everything else adds to that base. Crew damage adds to the T-H number, as do a number of other factors including Terrain of the target unit, movement, and type. Bombing attacks do not apply unit type, movement or terrain modifiers to hit.
Step 5: Roll Dice
Once you’ve calculated your To-Hit Numbers, it’s time to roll some dice and see what kind of damage you cause. Roll 2D6 and compare the result to the T-H Numbers calculated in the previous step. If the result is equal or higher than the T-H Number, the attack hits. If it’s lower than the T-H Number, the attack misses. There are some special cases.
- Strafing Attacks: Strafing attacks require an attack roll for each unit targeted. Units that are hit take Strafing damage. Units that aren’t hit don’t take any damage.
- Strike Attacks: Strike attacks work as normal.
- Bombing Attacks: Bombs require an attack roll per bomb dropped. If a Bomb attack hits, center the template for the bomb over the designated POI and note which units are hit. If a bomb attack misses, the bomb scatters off of its designated POI and hits “something.” To see where the bomb lands, use the Area of Effect template and set the 1 position to where the Aerospace unit is travelling from. the numbers in parentheses on the template will tell you where the bomb can land from an altitude bombing attack. The numbers outside the parentheses will show you where the bomb can scatter from a dive bombing attack. Once you’ve figured out the direction of the scatter, roll 1D6 and multiply the result by 2, and that’s the number of inches the bomb scatters. See if anything’s under the template and note what the effects are.
Conclusions for today
We’ve run out of time and space for today, but we’ll pick this up again next week and clue you in on how to apply damage and check out critical hits. We’ll also be covering Air to Air combat, and we might try to throw together a scenario featuring the Abstract Aerospace Combat system in action so you can get a feel for it. Remember, that these rules are optional and you don’t need to play with aerospace units at all if you don’t want to. We think they add an interesting layer of complexity to the game and find them to be a lot of fun.
Today’s Art comes from Colourbrand, and you can find him on DeviantArt.
Game On, Game Fans
