One of my correspondents, Nicholas Moran, has pointed out a small hole in the three-second rule (6.4.1.5), which deals with incoming cruise missiles shot down at the Very Last Minute by close-in gun systems. Ballistics being what they are, "down" may come too late for the ship, with it being struck by a mass of flaming debris. Our friend's rule suggestion clarifies exactly when a gun system shoots down an incoming missile, which can have very important consequences.
Imagine an inbound Big Nasty Missile (e.g., a Shipwreck or some such with a speed of 12nm per Engagement Turn). The target is a Knox-class FF with a single 5" gun with a 5nm range.
In Engagement Turn 1, the missile finishes its movement at 4.5nm away. So, the Knox gets a shot off at 5% chance to hit. Assume it misses, and go on to the next turn. The missile moves and will hit the ship. Assume there's another Knox, also with a SS-N-19 inbound, but this one finishes its movement about a mile distant from the ship. The frigate's Mk42 5 inch opens up, but this one has a 25% chance to hit. Is it fair that the ship should have a higher chance to hit merely because of a game mechanic?
What Nick recommends in such a circumstance is that if a missile is going to hit a ship, and it has a greater movement than the gun's air range, use the gun's die roll to hit to see how far out the missile is engaged. If the roll is low enough that it would have hit the target at long range (51-100%), assume the missile to have been hit at long range, possibly outside three seconds' flight range. On the other hand, if the roll was high, but still hits, say a close 24, the missile was hit at the last minute and the three-second rule would almost certainly be invoked.
By the way, Nick swears his pet, "Nessie," had nothing to do with this idea.
Thanks to Nessie@clubi.ie
BT
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