Extreme Range is a fourth range classification beyond Long Range for all BattleTech weapons. Extreme range is based on a given weapon's Long Range and depends on the weapon's type, as given below. Weapon Type Long Range (in hexes) Extreme Range Multiplier Extreme Range Hexes (Meters) Small Laser 3 x 5 = 15 (450) Medium Laser 9 x 5 = 45 (1350) Large Laser 15 x 5 = 75 (2250) Particle Cannon 8 x 5 = 90 (2700) Long Range Missiles 21 x 5 = 105 (3150) Short Range Missiles 9 x 5 = 45 (1350) Autocannon/2 24 x 5 = 120 (3600) Autocannon/5 18 X 5 = 90 (2700) Autocannon/10 15 x 5 = 75 (2250) Autocannon/20 9 x 5 = 45 (1350) Machine Gun 3 x 10 = 30 (900) Flamer 3 x 1 = 3 (90) Hitting at Extreme Range The To-Hit target for extreme range is 12. All other Ranged Attack Modifiers are applied as usual. Example: A Mech Warrior with a Gunnery Skill of 3 fires his 'Mech's PPC atan enemyMech ata range of 1000meters. The target is moving 2 hexes, and there are no other modifiers to the fire table such as cover or movement by the firing 'Mech. The To-Hit target will be 12-1 (for a Gunnery Skill of 3) = 11. The firing 'Mech will achieve a hit on a roll of 11 or 12. If the target 'Mech was standing still, there would have been an additional modification of -4. The target 'Mech would have been hit on a roll of 7 or more. Maximum Range Missiles, high-velocity shells, and laser beams always travel farther even than the Extreme Range listed for any given weapon. It is possible (if unlikely!) to hit a target at a distance greater than Extreme Range. At the referee's discretion, characters may be allowed to fire at targets which are at ranges greater than the weapon's Extreme Range. This new range category, called Maximum Range, is determined by checking the table below. Maximum Range Table Weapon Maximum Range All Lasers Horizon: Line-of-Sight PPC Horizon: Line-of-Sight Autocannon Extreme range x 1.5 Long-Range Missiles - Short-Range Missiles - Machine Gun Extreme Range x 2 Flamer - Thus, lasers are theoretically capable of engaging targets clear to the horizon. A machine gun could fire at a target up to 1800 meters away with at least some chance of hitting it. Hitting at Maximum Range The base To-Hit number at distances outto aweapon's Maximum Range is 15. All other fire table modifiers are applied as usual. Note that a MechWarrior would have to have a Gunnery Skill of 1 to have even a chance of hitting a BattleMech moving at 1 or 2 hexes per turn at maximum range. A MechWarrior with a Gunnery Skill of 5 would have the same chance of hitting a BattleMech which was standing still (1 5+1-4=1 2). It is extremely difficult to achieve a hit at these ranges, but it is possible. MODIFIERS FOR TARGET SIZE Targets selected forattackat Extreme or Maximum Range are notalways BattleMechs. Larger targets (DropShips or buildings) generally stand still when attacked. Smaller targets (hovercraft, infantrymen) are much more difficult to hit. At Extreme or Maximum Range, fire against such targets is generally applied at a broad area and is referred to as Area Effect Fire. At normal ranges, there is an automatic To-Hit modifier of -4 when firing at buildings. In addition, fire directed at buildings from an adjacent hex always hits. When applying the optional rules variant for combat at Extreme or Maximum Range, use the following table to determine the To-Hit modifier for large targets. Maximum Range Table Target Range Fire Modifier Building to 1000 m. -4 Building over 1000 m. -3 Very large building to 1000 m. -5 Very large building over 1000 m. -4 Union-class DropShip to 1000 m. -4 Union-class DropShip over 1000 m. -3 Overlord-class DropShip to 1000 m. -5 Overlord-class DropShip over 1000 m. -4 30-meter hex to 1000 m. -3 30-meter hex over 1000 m. -2 For purposes of comparison and calculation, a Union-class; DropShip stands 60 meters tall, while an Overlord-class DropShip is 108 meters tall. "Building" above refers to the normal buildings encountered in CityTech, which may be as much as 3 levels (18 meters) tall, while a "Very large building" is any unusually large structure-a skyscraper or sprawling, spaceport terminal complex. Area Effect Fire and the use of a 30-meter hex as a target are discussed below under Area Effect Fire. AREA EFFECT FIRE Infantry and infantry vehicles are too small for accurate targeting at Extreme or Maximum ranges. However, fire can be directed at such targets by firing at the general area in which they are located. In BattleTech and CityTech, this means the 30-meter wide hex in which the infantry unit is located. Damage is applied to the unit in 5-point groups as usual for attacks against infantry. However, the following factors are applied to the damage suffered by the unit: Armored units (e.g., BattleMechs and tanks) in the open (i.e., not receiving modifications for cover) do not receive twice the amount of damage if they are at Extreme or Maximum range. Infantry caught in the open still has all damage it receives doubled. All units (armored or not) at Extreme Range have the damage points they suffer reduced to one half (fractions rounded up). All units (armored or not) at Maximum Range have the damage points they suffer reduced to one quarter (fractions rounded up). Units which are undercover other than in abuilding (e.g., in a woods hex) have the damage they receive reduced to one half (fractions rounded up). Units inside a building have damage inflicted against the building passed on to them according to the Infantry/Building Damage Table in City Tech and the BattleTech Manual Rules of War (e.g., 3/4 damage in a Light Building, 1/2 damage in a Medium Building, etc.). All of these damage point reductions are made after and in addition to any reductions in the number of damage points due to range, smoke, or other factors. (see: Beam Attenuation, below). Example: A Rifleman fires a large laser at an infantry unit at a range of 800 meters. The shot is made with a base To-Hit number of 12, with a fire table modifier of -3, and will hit on a roll of 9 or more. If the Rifleman pilot makes the roll, he must determine how many damage points were inflicted against the infantry. Extreme Range for a large laser is 2250 meters; 800 meters is less than 50% of Extreme Range, so 6 points of damage are delivered to the target (see: BEAM A TTENUA TION, below). The target is in the open, and it is infantry, so the amount of damage it suffers is doubled. Damage is reduced to one half however, since the attack takes place at Extreme Range. The infantry unit suffers a total of 6 damage points. If the target had been a BattleMech, it would only have suffered 3 points of damage. Example: The same Rifleman fires a heavy laser at a Heavy Building in which the pilot suspects enemy infantry is hiding. The building is at a range of 3000 meters. The building is at Maximum Range, but there is a modification to the fire table of -3 because of the target building's size. The Mech Warrior (with a Gunnery Skill of 4) rolls a 12 and hits the target. At Maximum Range, a large laser will deliver 2 points of damage to the target, which is inflicted against the building. According to the Infantry/ Building Damage table, 114 of the damage inflicted against a Heavy building is passed on to troops inside it The 2 points of damage is reduced to .5, which is rounded up to 1. The Infantry unit inside the building suffers 1 point of damage, while the building suffers 2 points. APPLYING EXTREME AND MAXIMUM RANGES IN BATTLETECH Various modifiers to the BattleTech Fire Table are listed on the back of the BattleTech game rules book, the back of the CityTech rules, in FASA's BattleTech Manual, and in other FASA products. All listed modifiers are applied to the To-Hit number in combat at Extreme or Maximum Ranges. The following notes to that table should be applied when the referee allows fire at targets at greater than Long Range. Most of these notes will apply at any range. Beam weapons have Maximum Ranges theoretically limited only by the distance of the horizon. The distance to the horizon depends on the viewer's altitude and on the size of the planet and can be calculated using a simple formula. This formula is given in the section of these rules entitled Horizon: Line-of-Sight, below. Both long- and short-ranged missiles have Maximum Ranges equal to their respective Extreme Ranges. In other words, there are no Maximum range figures or effects for either type of missile. The strength of laser and particle cannon fire falls off sharply with range due to attenuation of the beam. See the Beam Attenuation Table below. The number of missiles which hit a target is reduced at Extreme/ Maximum Range. See Missile Scatter, below. The damage caused by Autocannon fire is reduced at extreme and maximum ranges. See Autocannon Scatter, below. The damage caused by machine gun fire also falls off with distance. Machine gun fire is only effective against BattleMechs within 3 hexes (90 meters) and causes no damage to 'Mechs at all at longer ranges. Machine gun fire against other BattleMechs is possible, therefore, only within the 3 hex range presented in the rules. Machine gun fire at soft (i.e., unarmored) targets at greater ranges is possible, however. Further, when fired at other targets, machine gun hits at extreme or maximum range cause 1 point of damage, instead of the usual 2. Flamers are special weapons with extremely limited ranges. With an Extreme Range Multiplier of x1, Flamers have no Extreme or Maximum Range effects. HORIZON: LINE-OF-SIGHT Beam weapons (lasers and particle cannons) have their maximum ranges limited by line of sight out to the horizon. The distance of the horizon depends on the size of the planet and on the height of a viewer. This ranges from the distance from the ground to the viewer's eyes if he is standing in the open, to ten meters for the pilot of a BattleMech, to almost any desired altitude for an observer in a tall building or on a mountain top. The formula for calculating the distance of the horizon is: d = [square root of] (r+h) squared - r squared d = distance to the horizon r = radius of the planet h = height of viewer Be sure to keep all units of measurement the same. Distance and radius can be changed from kilometers to meters by multiplying x 1000, with h being height in meters, or distance and radius can be written in kilometers with height expressed as a decimal fraction of a kilometer (e.g., a typical BattleMech is .01 kilometer tall). On Earth (radius = 6378 kilometers), the horizon from a 10 meter tall BattleMech appears to be about 11.3 kilometers away, or nearly 7 miles. A man standing on an absolutely flat plain (or looking out across the water) sees the horizon 4.8 kilometers away, assuming his eyes are 1.8 meters off the ground. From the top of a 100-meter cliff, the horizon is over 35 kilometers away. Other planets will, of course, have different radii. In nearly all cases, it can be assumed that a local world is close to Earth in size, and that the horizon appears to be about 11 kilometers away from the cockpit of a BattleMech. Planets described in Battle Technology's Worldbook column have their planetary radii listed under Planetography. Referees who wish to create logical figures for the radii of other planets than Earth can multiply Earth's radius by any desired decimal figure. For example, a planet 1.3 times as big as Earth would have a radius of 1.3 x 6378, or about 8294 kilometers. A planet only nine-tenth's Earth's size would have a radius of .9 x 6378, or 5740 kilometers. This procedure can be used to determine the horizon's distance anytime the referee wants to calculate the information with precision. The distance to the horizon should be determined if there is a question as to whether or not a BattleMech can see a target such as a city, a DropShip, or an enemy BattleMech force, at ranges of more than a few kilometers. The information can be applied both to attempts to sight the target and to attempts to fire at it with beam weapons. BLOCKING TERRAIN The calculations listed above for determining the distance of the horizon hold true only for absolutely flat terrain. Any hill or ridge crest, woods, or city skyline will block the line of sight between a viewer and the horizon and will create a new "horizon" much closer than the actual one. The referee may always arbitrarily dictate that intervening terrain blocks the horizon. In this case, the horizon will appear to be the crest of the ridge or hilltop, the tops of a city's buildings, or the highest point on whatever terrain feature is blocking the viewer's line of sight. In certain cases, mountains or distant ridge crests actually extend the horizon's distance by rising into the viewer's line of sight from beyond the curvature of the planet. Except on very small bodies (asteroids or small moons) this will not drastically affect the calculations given above and can be ignored. Another factor which can extend the distance to the horizon isthefactthat air refracts (bends) light to a certain degree. Again, this effect can generally be ignored; it would be an important factor only on worlds with atmospheres denser than Earth's and is completely nonexistent on airless bodies. It will be only rarely that MechWarriors will find themselves looking across a truly flat surface from a point with no elevation at all relative to the surrounding terrain (such as across the sea from the water's edge). Innearly every case, for simplicity, the horizon can be assumed to be between ten and twelve kilometers distant, whether the characters are in a 'Mech or not. The distance to the horizon from a high observation point such as the top of a cliff or tall building can be at least 2 or 3 times that value. LINE OF SIGHT INTO SPACE If the target is an air- or spacecraft or a very tall building it may be visible to an observer even though it is farther away than the horizon. Individual MechWarriors will rarely be concerned with this, however, since targeting incoming enemy aerospace fighters is generally the task of planetary defense batteries or antiaircraft artillery. The referee should be aware, however, that targets may be visible when they are more distant than the horizon. In the days of sailing vessels on Earth's oceans, sailors could often see the masts and sails of another ship before the ship itself was visible; the hull of the target vessel was below the horizon, while the masts extended above the horizon and into the viewers' line of sight. This principal may apply to tall buildings, grounded DropShips, mountains, or hilltops. It does not generally apply to objects as small as 'Mechs. LIMITS TO VISIBILITY A target cannot be fired at if it cannot be seen. This fact puts an additional limit on line-of-sight weapons such as lasers. Weather effects, obviously, will limit visibility. Rain, snow, haze, fog, darkness or battlefield smoke can all sharply restrict visibility and the distance at which a target can be seen. Another factor is the size of the target. A BattleMech can be seen by an observer with good eyes at a range of 10 kilometers, but the same observer would not be able to see a lone man at that distance without a telescope or other optical aid. It can generally be assumed that BattleMechs have radar, infrared vision, telescopic optics, and targeting computers which can allow the 'Mech to track and target 'Mechs, vehicles, and even individual soldiers even when it is impossible to see them at all without artificial means. For simplicity, however, the referee will usually want to limit attempts to hit distant targets to targets which can be seen and identified with the naked eye. Future BattleTechnology articles will deal with the special optics and tracking devices carried aboard BattleMechs. BEAM ATTENUATION Laser and particle beams spread out slightly over long distances, and the effects of atmosphere, smoke, clouds, and dust in the air will weaken them, limiting the amount of damage they can cause. The ability of a beam to carry long distances through atmosphere without weakening is largely a factor of the amount of energy in the beam. The following table may, at the referee's option, be used to lessen the effects of energy weapon beams at long distances. Beam Attenuation Table Weapon Weapon Damage at percentage of Extreme Range To Maximum Range to 50% to 70% to 100% Small Laser 2 1 1 1 Medium Laser 4 3 2 1 Large Laser 6 4 3 2 Particle Cannon 8 6 4 2 Effect on Damage Points For: Light Rain: -1 Heavy rain/Snow: -2 Light dust/Haze/Heavy Snow: -3 Heavy dust/Smoke: -4 Heavy smoke: -5 The range to the target is determined. The extreme range for the weapon being fired is determined, and that range is multiplied by.5 and by.7 in order to learn the values for 50% and 70% of Extreme Range. Rolls are made against To-Hit target numbers for each shot made. The numbers in each column gives the amount of damage for each weapon to each indicated distance. The second part of the table shows the reduction in damage points 5 caused by various atmospheric conditions which might further affect the strength of an energy weapon's beam. A particle beam which inflicts8 points of damage at a range of 1000 meters will inflict only 8-5=3 points of damage if the beam passes through heavy smoke. At the players' discretion, these reductions in damage points may be applied to damage inflicted at Short, Medium, and Long Range as well. Damage which is reduced to 0 or less does no damage to the target. Unless conditions are specifically stated in the rules for a given scenario, it is up to the referee to arbitrarily determine conditions, based on the situation and on the local terrain. A battlefield can be expected to be quite smoky after an hour or two of combat. Conditions in dry, dusty or sandy terrain might reduce the effectiveness of beam weapons if the combatant vehicles are moving rapidly, throwing up large clouds of dust. All damage is allocated to the target in the usual way. Example: A Warhammer fires its PPCs at a target 'Mech at a range of 1500 meters. The maximum Long Range for a PPC is 18 hexes, or 540 meters, and the maximum Extreme range is 5 times this, or 2700 meters. Fifty percent of 2700 meters is 1350 meters, while 70 percent is 1890 meters. If the Warhammer hits the target, it will do the amount of damage listed in the column "to 70%", since 1500 meters is between 1350 meters and 1890meters. Each PPC bolt which hits the target at that range wificause 6 points of damage. If the range to the target had been 2600 meters, each hit would inflict only 4 points of damage. If the PPCs hit a target at any range greater than 2700 meters, each hit will inflict 2 points of damage. Heavy smoke would reduce the 6-point damage result to I point, and all other results to 0. MISSILE SCATTER Missile salvos fired at Extreme Range tend to scatter slightly, causing fewer missiles in the salvoto hit their target than would bethe case atcloser ranges. For missiles salvos fired at Extreme Range only, the following Missile Hit Table is used instead of the usual Missile Hit Table. MISSILE HIT TABLE: EXTREME RANGE Die Roll Number of Missiles Fired 2 4 5 6 10 15 20 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 4 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 5 1 1 1 2 2 2 5 6 1 1 2 2 2 3 5 7 1 1 2 2 3 3 5 8 1 1 2 2 3 3 5 9 1 1 2 2 3 3 5 10 1 1 2 3 3 5 8 11 1 2 3 3 3 5 8 12 1 2 3 3 5 8 10 Each missile which hits its target does the usual amount of damage, i.e., 1 point for each LRM, 2 points for each SRM. AUTOCANNON SCATTER Autocannons are categorized by the number of "rou nds"-actu ally cassettes containing a number of individual rounds or shells-fired in one turn. Each cassette round is fired as a burst of as few as four or as many as 100 projectiles, depending on the caliber of the shells. At Extreme and Maximum Ranges, these bursts tend to disperse somewhat, resulting in less damage at those ranges than at the "Effective Ranges" of Short, Medium, or Long Range. The following table shows the number of damage points applied for each hit by an Autocannon at greater than effective range. AUTOCANNON SCATTER Weapon Type Damage at Specified Range Extreme Maximum AC/2 1 1 AC/5 3 2 AC/10 5 3 AC/20 10 8 The amount of damage caused by the AC/2 at Extreme or Maximum range is only slightly reduced at these ranges, because each burst contains a very large number of small-caliber shells. The AC/20 fires bursts of only 2 to 4 shells, but those shells are of much larger calibers. Each shell which hits still does significant damage. All weapons still cause the same amount of heat build-up to the firing 'Mech, of course, no matter what the range. MACHINE GUN SCATTER Machine Gun fire at Extreme or Maximum Range causes 1 point of damageinsteadof 2. This is due partly to the fact that fewer individual bullets hit, and partly to the fact that each bullet is travelling more slowly at, say, 1000 meters than it was at the muzzle of the weapon. Machine guns will cause no damage at all to BattleMechs at ranges greater than 3 hexes (90 meters). NOTE Rules Variant 0103-A is entirely optional. It is recommended that referees use it sparingly, if only to reduce the number of combat calculations they must make during a typical BattleTech gaming session! In the vast majority of cases, 'Mech combat will take place at distances equivalent to Long Range or less. Note that it is quite difficult to hit targets at ranges greater than BattleTech's Long Range-and that hits by beam weapons at these longer ranges tend to cause only slight damage. This variant will increase the realism of certain special combat situations, however, by allowing characters to use their weapons at realistic ranges. The use of Extreme and Maximum Ranges is especially useful in situations where the characters are attempting to slow or scatter enemy attacks across long, open distances, or to attack stationary targets from a long way off. From a kilometer or more away, 'Mechs may attempt to damage buildings, installations, grounded DropShips, or'Mechs parked at an enemy base. A defensive line could begin recording damage against an advancing enemy while he was still several kilometers away. APPLYING EXTREME AND MAXIMUM RANGE TO BATTLEFORCE These rule variants can be easily folded into BattleForce situations. One hex in BattleForce equals 180 meters. Range calculations applied to BattleForce situations should be rounded down to the nearest whole number of hexes. Thus, an autocannon (Extreme Range of 2700 meters and a Maximum Range of 5400 meters) would have, in BattleForce, an Extreme Range of 15 hexes, and a Maximum Range of 30 hexes. Obviously, the rules for combat at such ranges should be incorporated into BattleForce only under very special circumstances. Damage inflicted on enemy'Mechs at Extreme or Maximum Range will be slight, and worth recording only when the players are keeping track of the fate of individual machines within a BattleForce lance. This will be of interest when the players are incorporating a BattleForce battle into an on-going MechWarrior role-playing campaign, but it is not necessary in ordinary BattleForce play. APPLYING EXTREME AND MAXIMUM RANGE TO MECHWARRIOR The ranges dealt with in these rules variants are far longer than those commonly available on normal BattleTech game maps. In MechWarrior scenarios, it will rarely be practical or necessary to keep track of the movements of all potential targets within the new, extended radius of fire created by this rules variant. Where necessary (the characters are attempting to missile an enemy base from extreme range, for example, and must first sneak up in their'Mechs on the encampment) the referee can designate a hex where the target is located on a BattleTech or BattleForce scale mapboard and allow the characters (and the target) to maneuver using the normal rules for MechWarrior movement until the characters decide they want to try a shot. At that point, the referee can determine range by counting hexes. Five BattleForce hexes, for example, is 5xl 80=900 meters-within Extreme Range for a BattleMech's PPC. Usually, the referee can simply determine a given range arbitrarily: "Okay, you see ten enemy 'Mechs coming towards you across the valley. The range is about 2000 meters..." Back to BattleTechnology 3 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1988 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com