Action Vehicular Combat Playtest 1 - Starhawk vs Typhoon

Now that we have an update to our Action Vehicular Combat, integrated the Chase rules, the Dogfighting rules and a few additional expansions, we need to test it out, with our newly revised Typhoons and Starhawks! Naturally, we need pilots, so we’ll choose our old friend Tobin Starlaw, to whom we’ll give this fancy new Ace Fighter advantage, and we’ll choose Starlet as his wingman. Starhawks are superior to Typhoons (they certainly cost more), and Tobin and Starlet are superior pilots, so they should be able to easily handle an array of mook fighters. Thus, for this battle, we’ll have the pair face off against a wing of 5 typhoons in an asteroid field (Rough, Normal terrain which starts at Distant range).

For simplicity, Tobin has Pilot 18, Gunnery/Artillery 16, Daredevil and Ace Fighter. Starlet has Skill 15 in everything pertinent. Tobin has an ally Tech-Bot with skill-18 in anything pertinent (mainly Electronics Operations, Hyperspace navigation and doing quick repairs). Starlet has some lame, run of the mill robot with no personality and skill 12. The Starhawk stats are here. What matters most is that the Starhawk has the following traits:

• 140 HP, HT 11
  
  
• An absolute maximum speed (for escape) of 650 (+14)
  
  
• +4 Dodge (in high agility)
  
  
• A best possible Chase Roll (high agility, afterburner) of +17
  
  
• +4 accuracy on its missiles (4 missiles), with 6dx10 damage
  
  
• -4 ECM (and a decoy launcher)
  
  
• ROF 12 cannon (+2 to hit), with 6dx5(5) damage
  
  
• DR 15 and force screen DR 200 which can be angled.
  
  

Our imperial pilots have skill 12. For a reference to a typhoon, see here. What matters most is that the Typhoon has the following traits:

• 90 HP, HT 9f
  
  
• An absolute maximum speed (for escape) of 750 (+15)
  
  
• A best possible Chase Roll (afterburner) of +15
  
  
• +5 dodge
  
  
• -4 ECM (and a decoy launcher)
  
  
• ROF 6 between two cannons (+1 to hit), with 6dx5(5) damage
  
  
• DR 15
  
  

Tobin Starlaw 2.0

I created Tobin for Iteration 3, but that doesn't mean Iteration 3 can't improve him.  The Fighter Ace template saw substantial chances as a result of the many spaceship playtests, so unsurprisingly, Tobin saw some improvement too.

Tobin Starlaw, Humble Fighter Ace, 250 points

SC_Privateer_Option

Attributes

ST 10 [0]
DX 14 [80]
IQ 12 [40]
HT 11 [10]

Secondary Characteristics

Damage 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs; HP 10 [0]; Will 12 [0]; Per 12 [0]; FP 11 [0]; Basic Speed 6.00 [-5]; Basic Move 6 [0]

Advantages

Ally (TB-7, Almost all the time) [9]

Charisma +1 [5]

Combat Reflexes [15]

Daredevil [15]

Fearlessness +2 [4]

Higher Purpose (Dogfighter) [5]

Honest Face [1]

Hot Shot Pilot +4 [20]

Luck [15]
Maverick [1]

Military Rank 2 [10]

Side Winder [1]
Signature Ship (Starhawk) [1]

Disadvantages

Compulsive Carousing (12 or less) -5]

Duty (Space Navy, 12 orless, Extremely Hazardous) [-15]

Impulsiveness [-10]

Overconfidence (12 or less) [-5]

Pacifism (Cannot harm innocents) [-10]

Sense of Duty (Comrades) [-5] 

Skills

Animal Handling (Blue-Milk Space Cows) (A) IQ [2]-12

Area Knowledge (The Farm World of Pechita) (E) IQ+1 [2]-13

Artillery (Guided missiles) (A) IQ+4 [16]-16

Beam Weapons (Pistol) (E) DX [1]-14

Brawling (E) DX+1 [2]-15

Carousing (E) HT+2 [4]-13

Computer Operation IQ [1]-12

Fast-Talking (A) IQ [2]-12

Free-Fall (A) DX+2 [2]-16

Gunner (Beams) (E) DX+6*[4]-20

Leadership (A) IQ+2* [4]-14

Mechanic (Contragravity) (A) IQ [2]-12

Mechanic (Starship) (A) IQ+1 [4]-13

Navigation (Hyperspace) (A) IQ+3*[1]-15

Parachuting (E) DX [1]-14

Pilot (Contragravity) (A) N-4* [0]-16

Pilot (Starship) (A) DX+6* [8]-20

Savoir-Faire (Military)(E) IQ [1]-12

Scrounging (E) Per+2 [4]-14

Spacer IQ+2 [4]-14

Stealth (A) DX+1 [4]-15

Vacc Suit (A) DX [2]-14

Wrestling (A) DX [2]-14 

Gear

Battleweave Vaccsuit: DR 30, $20,000 30 lbs,
Blaster Pistol: 3d(5) Acc 5, 1.6 lbs, RoF 3, Bulk -2, rcl 1, $2200
Tiny wrist-mounted radio: 100 mile range, $200, 0.05 lbs

Notes

Light Encumbrance

Dodge: 10, Parry (Brawling) 11.

Tobin keeps the same gear he had before (with a few minor updates that should have been there in the first place, honestly), as he's more concerned about his starship than he is about anything else.  He only sends $22,400 of his portion of the $150,000 budget.  He has TB-7, but as an ally rather than something he paid a dollar cost for.  And, of course, he has his Starhawk (a classic Starhawk is good enough for him), but he's chosen it as Signature Gear, and thus he leaves the $60 million budget completely alone.

This version of Tobin is far, far more lethal than he was before, thanks to the streamlined template.  He's not much good at anything other than flying a starfighter, but he's at least reasonably competent at "adventuring."

And, of course, what would Tobin be without his trusty sidekick, TB-7?

TB-7: 150 points

Like most robot allies, TB-7 has been around the block awhile and has begun to exceed his programming.  He's picked up a few additional programming quirks (disadvantages) that compensate for the fact that he's slightly better at repairing things.  Technically, he's too expensive for Tobin at this point (an error), but I'm overlooking it because I expect that the final characters will be 300 points.

Attributes: ST 8 [0], DX 10 [0]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 11 [0]

Secondary Characteristics: Damage 1d/2d-1; BL 34 lbs; HP 14 [0]; Will 10 [0]; Per 10 [0]; FP NA; Basic Speed 5.25 [0]; Basic Move 5 [0]

Advantages: TL 10 Tech-Bot [144]

Programmatical Advantages: Artificer 2 [20], Computer-Brain (1 slot, 4 points, Repair programs only -20%) [18],

Disadvantages: Cannot Speak [-15]

Programmatical Disadvantages: Clueless [-10], Curious (12 or less), [-5], Honesty (15 or less) [-5], Pacifism (Total Nonviolence, Galactic Sapient Organics only -80%) [-6], Sense of Duty (Master) [-2].

Features: Sculpted Body [0].

Skills: Beam Weapon (Projector) (E) DX+1 [2]-11, Savior-Faire (Servant) (E) IQ [1]-10 and one of Engineering (Contragravity, Starship, Robotics) (A) IQ+2* [8]-13,

Notes: Repair programs include Armoury (Any), Electrician, Electronics Repair (Any), Machinist, and Mechanic (Any), all (A) IQ+2* [4]-13. A Repair-Bot will generally use his Engineering skill to assess the problem, and then load the appropriate skill (takes 4 seconds) and begin repairs.