This article gives a few suggestions on using some of the weapons of the military in your campaigns. First a few definitions: Crew - most larger vehicles and weapons require a minimum crew to operate efficiently. Each crew member can be considered to have the base stats as described in the Judge's Book. Each gains a +1CS when using the weapon or piloting the vehicle they have trained for. Untrained persons trying to fire a heavy weapon must first make a Red Reason feat roll to be able to make it work, then a -1CS to operate it. Sensors - some aircraft are able to fly and land without visibility using radar alone. Radar waves can be controlled with magnetic or electrical control powers on a successful feat roll. Almost all naval craft are equipped with some form of sonar. Sound control can make a character invisible to sonar with a successful feat roll. Guided missiles and torpedoes - these either have active or passive control systems. Active control allows the missile to be guided by the person who fired it. The passive control missile has homing abilities using heat, sound, or some other target-finding system. The Control rank represents the accuracy of the tracking system. With a passive system, the person firing the missile rolls on teh control system's rank rather than their Agility. Each missile is designed for one attack mode: air-to-air, air-to-ground, shit-to-ship, etc. If it is used for another purpose its Control rank is at -1CS if it can be used at all. Only those designed to go underwater can do so, all others will explode upon hitting the water's surface. Bombing and strafing - two types of bombs are explosives and napalm. An explosive bomb is like a large hand grenade, everyone in the targeet area rolls on the Hack and Slash column for damage. Napalm causes IN flame and heat damage. This may only be dodged by hyper-speed or teleportation. Strafing occurs when an aircraft fire their guns at ground targets. There may be a -1CS to hit with jets that have high minimum speeds. Bullseye and kill results - certain unarmored parts of a vehicle should be available for bullseye results. A vehicle should receive some serious damage on a kill result. Whiskey V Class SubmarineCTRL: EX Armament: the Whiskey carrys four bow torpedo tubes and each is able to fire 21" diameter torpedoes. It also has two stern tubes able to fire 16" diameter torpedoes. The torpedoes have RM Control, EX Speed and EX Body with a 25-area range. They usually carry concentrated explosives that do RM damage, but NATO believes they can carry nuclear bombs of unknown size - UN to CL. 1000 damage. The sub also has several types of deck guns, so the Judge can put almost any size machine gun or artillery piece there. Crew may be equipped with almost any type of hand weapon. The subs body consists of a very heavy, pressure-resistant hull. The hull is compartmentalized so if one chamber is breached it is sealed to protect the others. Each time a chamber is flooded, Body and Control are reduced one rank. If either reaches FB the sub sinks. The electrical system has GD shielding from electrical and magnetic attacks. Bull's eyes may be scored against the periscope or the radar antenna disc. Destroying the disc - GD material - destroys the ships radar capabilities. Damaging the periscope - TY material - renders the ship blind (except for sonar) when submerged. A Kill roll allows the attacker to disable one of the sub's two propellers - EX material - cutting Speed and Control in half. If both are damaged the sub sits dead in the water, if submerged it can still surface. A Kill result with enough power to breach the hull an damage one of the sub's four engines. Two diesel engines are used when surfaced, and two electric engines are used when submerged. Top speed is 18 knots on the surface and 14 knots submerged. It's best depth is secret but assumed to be less than 500'. To go below that requires a Feat roll vs. the hulls strength. A White or Green means the hull survived, a Yellow means the sub drops one rank in every class, and Red means the sub is crushed. The sub requires 25' of water to maneuver on the surface. In shallow water it will run aground. Escape then requires a Green feat on the TY column, but can only be tried once every 10 turns. The Whiskey-class submarine was designed in the early 1950's and is a small vessel that forms a compromise between having a long cruising range and having the ability to maneuver close to a coastline. Approximately 260 were built and they have been sold to Poland, North Korea, Cuba, Egypt and Indonesia, among other places. The People's Republic of China has produced its own version of this model. One ran aground near a major Swedish naval base in 1981. Others have been detected in the same area since then, suggesting this submarine is being used for coastal reconnaissance. Nanuchka class III Missile CorvetteCTRL: TY Armament: the Nanuchka-class Corvette carries two close-range weapons systems: a 76-mm gun - IN (40) damage, and a Gatling turret - RM (30) damage. Its principal anti-aircraft long range defense is a twin SA-N-4 surface to air missile launcher. The launcher is housed in the deck and requires about five minutes or 50 combat rounds to pop up when needed. An SA-N-4 missile is fired vertically, then guided by radar (GD Body, IN Control, EX Speed, 60-area range, RM damage. The ships main weapon is a set of two triple SS-N-9 surface to surface missile launchers. The SS-N-9 missile is a radio-linked missile, so its course can be corrected if fired at a target over the horizon - EX Body, IN Control, EX Speed, 68-mile range, 70 points of damage in the target area, 20 points in adjacent areas. These missile corvettes were designed for firing antiship missiles. Each corvette has a wide hull which makes it a steady missile-firing platform in rough seas. They operate both as fleet escort vessels and as shore patrol boats. Though lightly armored, these ships have advanced electronic countermeasures of RM efficiency to prevent them from being seen on radar. The hull is compartmentalized so if one chamber is breached it is sealed to protect the others. Each breach of the hull causes loss of one rank in Body and Control. If either reaches FB the ship sinks. Bull's eyes may be scored against the radar disc, radio antenna, and any crew member on the deck. Destroying the disc - GD material - destroys the early warning system. Breaking the antenna prevents the ship from communicating by radio and cuts off its electronic countermeasures. A Kill means one of the three propellers - EX material - has been damaged, cutting Speed and Control by one-third. The ship has six diesel engines and normally travels at 32 knots. The ship requires 40 feet of water to maneuver or it runs aground. Escape requires a Green feat on the TY column, and it can try once every 10 rounds. The Nanuchka is produced by the Russians for their own navy, but they have also been sold to several countries in the Middle East and to India.
Mi-24 Hind HelicopterCTRL: EX Armament: the Hind comes in several versions, each with different types of armament. All can carry four missiles. The Hind A has a heavy machine gun - RM (30) damage - mounted in its nose. The Hind C has no nose gun while the Hind D and E each carry a four-barrel machine gun - RM (30) damage for each. The Hind A, C, and D carry either the AT-2 Swatter or AT-3 Sagger antitank missiles. The AT-2 Swatter is a heat-seeking missile - EX Body, RM Control, EX Speed, 7,000' range, IN (40) damage. Its guidance system is designed to find hot tank engines. The AT-3 Sagger is a wire-guided missile - EX Body, EX Speed, 840' range. The Sagger's Control is equal to the pilot's Agility since he guides the missile by sight. The Sagger, also known as the Milutka, can be fired by two-man teams on the ground. The Hind E carries four AT-6 Spiral missiles, which are guided by a laser beam focused on the target; the laser can be operated by men on the ground or the helicopter. The Spirals warhead is designed to penetrate armor, while its Control rank is equal to the operator's Agility - EX Body, AM Speed, 16,500' range, IN (40) damage. A Bulls-eye may damage the tail rotor; requiring it to land immediately. A Kill destroys the motor or main rotor, causing it to crash immediately. The Hind gunship has a cruising speed of 140 mph and a 300-mile range. It can land and take off in a single area and hover in one place until it runs out of fuel. While hovering it can turn to face any horizontal direction. The Hind is a multipurpose attack antiarmor helicopter. It is in service all over the Soviet Union and has been used extensively in Afghanistan, where it has become a symbol of Soviet brutality against a poorly armed enemy. Sukhoi Sui-17 Fitter-CCTRL: EX Armament: the Fitter-C carries two 30mm NR-30 cannons - RM (30) damage - one mounted on each wing with 70 rounds of ammo. The jet also carries drop tanks and has six wing pylons able to carry up to 11,023 lbs. of bombs, napalm and missiles. This jet normally carries AS-7 Kerry air to surface missiles - EX Body, RM Control, EX Speed, 6.8 mile range, 70 points of damage to the target area, 20 points in adjacent areas. The AS-7 is believed by Western sources to follow a beam sent by the aircraft to its target. It is not known if the beam is a laser or radar beam. The Sui-17 can ram for RM damage to itself and the target if in flight. If either Body or Control falls to FB it blows up. It must make an immediate Control check (Yellow feat) in order to avoid going out of control when it strikes anything or is struck itself. If the plane is damaged, the pilot may eject if he makes a feat roll against his Agility. The plane is equipped with radar and two separate radios, one for contacting its base and other aircraft and one for talking to ground troops. The Fitter-C has a single turbojet engine. At sea level its maximum speed is 798 mph, while it can go 1,432 mph at its standard altitude of 59,050'. It can climb 45,275' per minute. It is designed for close support of ground troops and often operates well at near-ground level. It requires 25 areas of smooth, hard surface in a straight line in order to take off and land. The pilot is protected against all chemical and biological weapons while his cockpit is sealed. The control and communication systems have PR protection against magnetic and electrical attacks. The plane has electronic countermeasures that provide GD protection against radar detection. A Bullseye result may damage the control surfaces of the plane, forcing it to land as soon as possible. A Kill result damages the single engine and causes a crash. The pilot can only be struck if an attack penetrates the plane's armor. The Sui-17 is a tactical ground support jet fighter. The Fitter-C model was built part for export and is used not only by Russia but by Peru, Egypt and several Warsaw Pact countries. They saw combat in both sides of the recent Libyan-Egyptian conflict.
T-62 Main Battle TankCTRL: EX Armament: The T0-62 has a forward-mounted 115mm cannon - IN (40) damage, 20-area range - which uses shells with rear fins to stabilize them in flight. It can only fire in the direction it's facing, but the turret can turn 360 degrees. Also on the turret is a 7.62mm machine gun - RM (30) damage, 10-area range. The infrared spotlight is mounted next to the guns and removes any loss of accuracy at night. It can also produce a smoke screen of EX density. This screen is produced by pumping diesel fuel into the exhaust system, and it spreads over 1 area every 2 turns behind the tank. The tank can ram for RM (30) damage. If it rolls a Red on the RM column it will run over the target (if not too large) and do IN (40) damage. The T-62 has up to 3" of welded armor and weighs 16,600 lbs. The crew received EX protection from all chemical and biological weapons, and also from radiation when the tank is sealed. The electrical systems, including the ignition and radio, have EX protection against Energy attacks. Bullseye targets include the radio antenna and headlights and infrared spotlight. It also has two periscopes when the hatches are shut. They all have TY material. On a Kill result, the Judge may jam the treads or damage the engine, freezing the tank in place until it is repaired. The T-62 has a water cooled diesel engine capable of 30 mph in flat terrain. The tank can climb a slope of 60 degrees, climb over vertical obstacles 30" high, and ford water up to 4 1/2' deep without modifications. Enough fuel is carried for 310 miles, but extra gas tanks can be carries on the rear. The infrared spotlight removes any Control loss during night travel. This vehicle is used by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, Israel, Iran, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Turkey. |
