7f) Combat -- Attacks

Attacks

Every time one character attempts to harm another with a punch, kick, knife thrust, pistol shot, artillery barrage, nuclear weapon strike or whatever, they are making an attack.

Weapons have a number of statistics, but the most important are: Range (RNG), Accuracy (ACC), Penetration (PEN) and Damage Class (DC). PEN and DC will be explained later in the sections on armour and wounds. Some weapons do lethal damage and some do non-lethal damage.

Below are listed some common historic melee weapons and modern firearms calibres. More complete lists for different historical or futuristic settings can be found in the source books.

Melee Weapons                              PEN     DC

Switch-blade knife                        1        ½

Dagger, hunting knife                   1         1

Bowie knife                                 1         2

Broadsword, cutlass, sabre etc.      2        4

Battleaxe, one-handed                  3        3

Common Firearms Calibres:

Pistol and Submachine Gun   PEN DC

.22 Long Rifle                       2     1

.25 ACP                               2      1

.32 ACP, .32 S&W                 2      1

.380 ACP                             2      2

.38 Special                          3      2

9mm Parabellum                   4      2

.357 Magnum                       4      3

.45 ACP                               3      3

.45 Long Colt                       4      3

.44 Magnum                         5      4

Rifle and Light Machine Gun      PEN    DC

5.56mm NATO, 5.45mm Soviet     5       2

7.62mm Soviet, .30-30 Win         6       3

7.62mm NATO (and similar)         7      4

.44-40 Winchester                      5      3

Shotgun                                       PEN    DC

20-gauge                                 *        6

12-gauge                                 *        7

10-gauge                                 *        9

* Large buckshot 4, small buckshot 3, large birdshot 2, small birdshot 1.

Heavy Machine Gun                   PEN    DC

.50 Browning                            12     10

Weapon Profiles

Each weapon in Lead and Chrome has a standard set of statistics as follows:

Name: The generic or commercial name and/or military designation of the weapon.

Type: The class of weapon, and therefore what skill is needed to use it Types include: Handgun (HG), Sub Machine Gun (SMG), Carbine (CAR), Rifle (RIF), Shotgun (SHG), Heavy Weapon (HVY), Muzzle-Loader (MZL) Thrown (THR), Bow (BOW), Crossbow (XBW), Energy Weapon (EW) and Melee (MEL).

Action (ACT): The operating principle of the weapon. This has an effect on Single Shot, including multi-barrelled weapons (SS), Single-Action (SA), Double-Action (DA), Self-Cocking (SC), Lever-Action (LA), Pump-Action (PA), Bolt-Action (BA), Self-Loading/semi-automatic (SL), Automatic (AU) and Gatling (GA, including revolver cannon and motor cannon).

For melee weapons this stat represents the class of weapon – Bludgeoning (B), Cutting (C) or Thrusting (T), which has an effect on PEN versus different types of armour (flexible or rigid).

Reliability (REL): A measure of how physically strong and mechanically or electrically sound a weapon is. Reliability has five classes: Dangerous (D), Bad (B), Average (A), Good (G) and Excellent (X).

Accuracy (ACC): The inherent precision and ease of use of a weapon, measured as a to-hit modifier from -5 to +5. Weapon accessories such as telescopic or laser sights add their own to-hit modifiers.

Recoil Modifier (RM): Automatic weapons have a second accuracy modifier after the first, applied cumulatively to additional shots after the first when firing in fully automatic mode. The number is always a negative modifier, and may be a whole number or a fraction.

Maximum Range (RNG): This is the limit at which a ranged weapon can be used effectively, given in metres and yards (or kilometres and miles).

Penetration (PEN): This measures the weapon's effectiveness against armour, from 0 to 100.

Damage Class (DC): The wounding potential of the weapon, from ⅙ to 100.

Calibre (CAL): The type of ammunition fired by a firearm. Some calibres are compatible with others – see appendix 1. This statistic does not apply to explosives, bows, thrown or melee weapons.

Ammunition Capacity (CAP): The number of shots a weapon holds in its magazine, cylinder or barrel(s). A +1 after the number indicates that an extra round may be loaded into the chamber above a full magazine.

Rate of Fire (ROF): For non-automatic ranged weapons, this indicates how many shots can be fired in one combat action. For automatic weapons, it is the maximum number of rounds that can be fired in one burst or in one combat round, and is calculated by dividing the weapon's real-world ROF in rounds per minute (RPM) by 30 and rounding to the nearest multiple of five.

Concealability (CON): How easily hidden a weapon is. There are four classes of Concealability: Vest Pocket (V), Pocket (P), Jacket (J), Long Coat (L) and Not Concealable (N).

Weight (WT): In kilograms and pounds.

Availability (AV): How easy it is to find and purchase a weapon of this kind. The four classes are: Rare (R), Uncommon (U), Common (C) and Everywhere (E). This stat is based on a combination of production numbers and legality. All things being equal, Rare availability means a production run of less than 10,000, Uncommon means between 10,000 and 100,000 produced, Common between 100,000 and 1,000,000 and Everywhere more than 1,000,000.

Price: In the most widely accepted currency for the setting.

Weapon profiles are presented as follows:

Name • Type • ACT • REL • ACC • RM • RNG • PEN • DC • CAL • CAP • ROF • CON • WT • AV • Price

Some example weapon profiles are given below:

Colt Single Action Army or 'Peacemaker'

HG • SA • X • +2 • 100m/yd • 4 • 3 • .45LC • 6 • 1 • J • 1kg/2lb • C • $750

Luger P08

HG • SL • A • +1 • 200m/yd • 4 • 2 • 9mmP • 8 • 2 • J • 1kg/2.25lb • C • $1,200

IMI Uzi

SMG • AU • G • +1 • -1/2 • 200m/yd • 4 • 2 • 9mmP • 20/25/32 • 2/20 • L • 4kg/9lb • E • $900

Winchester Model 1912 riot/trench gun

SHG • PA • G • 0 • 32m/yd • by shot • 7 • 12ga • 6 • 1 • N • 3kg/6.5lb • E • $400

AK-47

RIF • AU • X • -1 • -3 • 600m/yd • 6 • 3 • 7.62mmS • 30 • 2/20 • N • 5kg/11lb • E • $500

How many attacks can I make?

A character can attack once per Action in a combat round, and a character can perform up to two actions. For ranged weapons, the character can fire as many single shots as the weapon's basic, non-automatic rate of fire (ROF) per attack (generally 1-3), up to the remaining number of shots held in the weapon. Fully automatic weapons can be fired up to their automatic ROF as a single Long Burst attack, which effectively takes the whole round and negates a second attack, or two bursts of up to one-third of automatic ROF. Weapons with a Controlled Burst feature can fire as many such bursts as their semi-automatic ROF.

Recoil and ROF

A weapon's ROF is listed in its profile, so it is not usually necessary to calculate it. There should be enough guns in the equipment list to satisfy anyone's appetite for destruction. However, since the GM and players may wish to make rules for even more real-world weapons, or invent some new ones, We need to explain how ROF is worked out.

To decide the in-game ROF of a self loading, selective fire, double-action or self-cocking firearm, we need to make an estimate of how much recoil it produces. Take the weapons PEN or DC, whichever is highest, and consult the following table:

Handguns and SMGs

Calibre ROF

5.45mm pistol, .22 Long Rifle, .22 Magnum,

.25 ACP, .32 ACP, .41 Short Rimfire etc. 3

4.6mm H&K, 5.7mm FN, 7.62mm Nagant,

7.65mm Luger, 7.62mm Mauser/Tokarev,

9mm Parabellum, 10mm Auto, .380 ACP

.38 Special, .357 Magnum, .40 S&W,

.41 Long Colt .41 Magnum, .44 Special,

.45 ACP, .45 Colt etc. 2

.44 Magnum, .454 Casull, .50 AE etc. 1

.500 S&W Magnum, .500 Maximum etc. 1/2

Rifles

Calibre ROF

.22 Long Rifle, .22 Magnum etc. 4

4.6mm H&K, 4.73mm Caseless,

5.45mm Soviet, 5.56mm NATO, 5.7mm FN,

.30 Carbine etc. 3

7.62mm Soviet, 7.62mm NATO,

7.92mm Mauser, .30-30, .30-06,

.303 British etc. 2

9.3mm Brenneke, .375 Magnum,

.458 Magnum etc. 1/2

12.7mm Soviet, 14.5mm Soviet,

15.5mm BRG, .50BMG etc. 1/4

A weapon with some kind of muzzle compensator or gas porting, or which has a special layout which reduces felt recoil and 'muzzle flip', or which is just unusually big and heavy for its calibre has an ROF one level higher than normal. Having more than one of these design features doesn't increase the ROF any further, but each additional feature increases accuracy by +1.

A weapon which is unusually small and light for its calibre has its ROF reduced by one level. The other features listed above can be used to cancel this penalty.

Semi-auto ROF can never increase beyond four, since there is a practical limit to how fast one can pull the trigger.

Single-action weapons (such as the Colt Peacemaker or the Remington Model 95 Derringer) automatically have an ROF of 1, regardless of calibre, although this can be increased by fanning the hammer (see below).

Recoil to-hit modifiers for multiple shots

Every single-shot attack made from a firearm after the first in the round suffers a cumulative -1 to-hit modifier. Thus, the first shot has no modifier, the second has a -1 penalty, the third -2 and so on. For handguns, using a two-handed grip reduces the penalty by one point, so the first two shots have no modifier, the third -1, the fourth -2 etc.

Low-calibre firearms (those with a combined PEN and DC of 1-3) have so little recoil that the penalty for additional shots is halved (rounded down): 0 for the first two shots -1 for the next two, and -2 for the two after that.

Fanning and Slam-Firing

Single-action revolvers can be fired rapidly by 'fanning' the hammer with the non-shooting hand, as seen in hundreds of western films.

Slam-firing is a similar way of firing a pump-action shotgun, by holding down the trigger while cycling the action. This can only be done with older pump-guns which lack a trigger disconnecter (a safety feature design precisely to stop slam-fires), specifically the Winchester Models 1897 and 1912 and the Ithaca Model 37.

In game terms, this doubles the ROF of the revolver or shotgun from 1 to 2, but the to-hit modifier for shots after the first is also doubled. The first shot has no modifier, the second has a -2 penalty, the third -4 and the fourth -6. Remember to add any penalties for fast-drawing, snap-shooting or shooting from the hip.

The reliability of the weapon is reduced by one level while fanning or slam-firing.

Ranged Attacks

The To-Hit task difficulty for ranged weapon attacks (guns, bows, thrown weapons etc.) is dependent on the range or distance between the attacker and the target and the type of weapon used. The table below sets out the different range bands (from Point Blank to Very Distant) and the corresponding shooting task difficulty numbers for various classes of weapon.

Shooting Task Difficulties

Range Band	Handgun	SMG/ Carbine	Shotgun	Rifle/MG	Bow	Thrown	Cannon, GL or Rocket	Missile
Point Blank (0-1m/yd)	10	10	10	15	15	15	N/A	N/A
Close (1-12m/yd)	15	15	15	20	20	20	25	N/A
Short (12-25m/yd)	20	20	20	20	20	25	20	20
Medium (25-50m/yd)	25	25	25	20	25	30	20	20
Long (50-100m/yd)	30	25	N/A	25	25	35	20	20
Very Long (100-200m/yd)	35	30	N/A	25	30	N/A	25	20
Far (200-400m/yd)	40	35	N/A	30	35	N/A	30	25
Very Far (400-800m/yd)	N/A	40	N/A	35	N/A	N/A	30	25
Distant (800-1,600m/yd)	N/A	N/A	N/A	40	N/A	N/A	35	30
Very Distant (1,600-3,200m/yd)	N/A	N/A	N/A	45	N/A	N/A	40	35

Situational To-Hit Modifiers

Unaimed shot: -5

Shooting from hip: -2

Using two weapons: -3 to both

Two different targets: -3 to 2nd

Dim light: -1 to -5

Total darkness/blind: -10

Smoke or dust obscuring: -3

Bright light shining in eyes: -3

No-stress, non-combat situation: +5

Ambush/shooter not under attack: +3

Aiming for a Round (first shot only): +3

Shooting from rest: +2

Telescopic sight:

Medium range: +1

Long to Very Long range: +2

Far range: +3

Very Far range : +4

Distant range and beyond: +5

[At Long range or greater, treat as one range band less – effectively +5 to hit]

Laser/red-dot sight, up to Long: +1,

no penalty for shooting from hip.

Cybersight: +2

Cybersight + optic reticule: +3

Shooter walking: -3

Shooter in moving vehicle: -2

Shooter driving vehicle: -3

Target immobile/helpless: +3

Target walking: -1

Target running/evading: -Agility/3

Target size:

Huge (building, ship, airliner): +10

Very large (truck, tank, helicopter): +6

Large (car, microlight, large animal): +4

Small (football, bottle, small animal): -4

Tiny (ping-pong ball, mouse, insect): -6

Aimed shot to body location:

Arm/leg: -4

Hand/foot: -6

Chest: -2

Abdomen: -2

Heart: -6

Head: -6

Eye: -10