Another noob joins the ranks!

Hi Nick,

I've never played Armored Core, but I came up with a rough idea for a combat system a while ago that might work with customized mech combat. Basically, take the silhouette of whatever the target is (in this case, an enemy mech) and overlay a grid of triangles over it. Each triangle corresponds to a specific part of the mech that you can target (eg. one for each shoulder, upper arm, forearm, lower torso etc.) The target area is a small grid of 4 triangles (like that Legend of Zelda icon) with the central triangle being the intended target. It can be oriented pointing either up or down depending on the orientation of the central target. When shooting, a die is rolled to determine which of the 4 triangles has been hit (or missed as the case may be). The type of die depends on any factors that might influence accuracy such as the accuracy of the weapon being used, the range at which you are firing and the number of actions being devoted to targeting. For example:

1D4: 1: hit center (25%)
2: miss left
3: miss right
4: miss up/down
1D6: 1 - 3: hit center (50%)
4: miss left
5: miss right
6: miss up/down
1D8: 1 - 5: hit center (63%)
6: miss left
7: miss right
8: miss up/down
1D12: 1 - 9: hit center (75%)
10: miss left
11: miss right
12: miss up/down
1D20: 1 - 17: hit center (85%)
18: miss left
19: miss right
20: miss up/down

I think this might work well with customized units if the weapons and upgrades were added to particular parts of the mech (hand-held, shoulder mount etc.) Depending on where you are trying to hit (what system you are trying to take out), the 3 misses might be nothing but air or they may be a different part of the mech that you weren't aiming for. For example, if you go for the sure thing and aim for the middle of the mech's torso, you will still hit something if you roll one of the misses, but it will probably be a heavily armored, non-critical part and will do little actual damage. A head shot on the other hand will do more critical damage if it hits, but miss left, right or up and your shot whizzes by harmlessly.

Depending on how complex you want to make it, you can have different targeting grids for the front, left side, right side and rear of each mech. The grids can also either be standard for all mechs or you can have different grids for different body types.

I've never tested any of this, so I'm not sure how well it would work in reality, but I hope it sparks something.

Good luck!

- Dan

Look at CAV and Heavy Gear for fast play mech rules. They are both fun games and may give you inspiration.

When you get a chance to test out that combat system, let me know how it goes. I'd be very interested in feedback.

Thanks!

- Dan