HELICOPTERS!

Helicopters!

Setting

TBD. May in fact not involve helicopters.

Characters

Modern combat VTOLs are user friendly and automated enough, and modern soldiers augmented enough that a single pilot can easily handle all systems on the aircraft, movement, weapons and electronics. You are one such soldier, flying at the interface where ground meets sky.

You begin with 15 CP to generate your character.

Stats

Stats represent how good you are at a particular thing, all traits are necessary to fly the aircraft and many have use out of combat. All stats run from one to ten. Each point of stat requires one CP.

All checks are one d10 + stat +vehicle stat vs. a target number

Physical

Making Pilot Checks, firing hand weapons.

Wits

Making snap tactical decisions, aircraft gunnery, initiative.

Intelligence

Navigation, mission planning, controlling defensive electronics

Perception

Spotting things, Using sensor systems

Charisma

Directing Additional Crew and calling in support

Integrity

Keeping a cool head under pressure, surviving information attacks

Traits

Traits are special rules, usually related to the story that apply to your character. You begin with one trait. You can suggest others and the GM may accept them.

Never Say Die

You may invoke Never Say Die once per session on a roll that would otherwise shoot down your aircraft. You are not shot down.

Important to the Plot

Something about your back story is important to the plot, making you the focus of the story at least sometimes. Gain a +1 bonus to rolls concerning this.

Hey Good Looking

Add your charisma up to 3 rolls per session, in addition to other bonuses

Ace Combat Air Channel

You gain 2 additional support requests per mission

Blue on Black

No matter how close you engage, you don't hurt friendly troops

Patrick

You seem to be unable to die, no matter what happens to your aircraft.

Sixth Sense

You have an uncanny sense of ambushes, gaining a +2 on dice rolls to detect them

Hot Shot

gain one additional stunt bonus on any stunt you make. (Must make a stunt to receive benefit)

Advantages

Advantages are like traits, but are bought with CP, and are often related to special skills. Additional advantages maybe suggested to the GM.

Additional Fate

1 CP Per additional fate point

You begin with 1 fate, each CP buys you another

Allies

2 CP

Any NPCs you build gain +3 CP, and promotes up to 2 of them, giving them a trait

ZR Uniform

1 CP

+3 to all charisma checks in person

Favourite Enemy

1 CP

Pick one type of enemy (infantry, soft vehicles, light armour, tanks, or helicopters) gain +2 on all rolls against that type of enemy. Alternatively, gain +3 to all rolls against enemy fast movers.

Weapon/Gadget Master

1 CP

Gain +3 bonus on all rolls on one specific weapon or piece of equipment

Pop Up Attack

1 CP

Gain +3 on rolls concerning stealth

Useful secondary skills

1 CP

You are a medic, engineer, computer specialist, or something else useful in your spare time.

Aircraft

Your aircraft are vertical takeoff and landing, and serve the same role, more or less, as helicopters do in on twentieth century earth. Rather than becoming increasingly multi-role as technology increases as Earth aircraft have however these aircraft have continued to specialize and fill their own roles: Scouts search for targets, gunships kill them, and transports move ground forces around.

Because of the specialist nature of these units, any flight (like the PC party) must have one of each before any duplicates can be chosen.

While modern craft can manage with a single pilot, most non-gunship aircraft carry several crew to fulfil other functions such as firing door mounted weapons, navigation or the like.

Vehicle Statistics

Agility

How good the aircraft is at lateral manoeuvres and dodging, used in breakaway tests.

Speed

How fast the aircraft crosses ground

Combat Electronics

The vehicles combat electronics score, it's usual rolled defence.

Sensors

The helicopters ability to identify targets.

Hit points

The amount of damage that the aircraft can take

Armour

the number subtracted from enemy damage rolls.

Weapons Spaces

How much room the aircraft has for weapons

Scouts

Scouts are the smallest type of military VTOL used, and the toughest. There small profile is well armoured, and defended by various passive stealth features, a layer of altered carbon armour and a suite of defensive electronics and point defence weapons. These features are necessary as Scouts are always on the closest approach to the enemy, hovering low to

While scouts are armed, a large part of their job is to cue other assets, particularly gunships but also fast movers, artillery and orbital fire.

Basic Scout

Agility: 4

Speed: 3

Combat Electronics: 5

Sensors: 5

Hit Points: 8

Armour: 3

Point defence system: unmodified wits roll to shoot down incoming enemy missiles

2 weapons spaces

2 door weapon spaces

Choose type A or B:

Type A

Prioritizes stealth and speed

-2 on enemy detection rolls

+2 Speed

+1 Agility

Type B

Prioritizes armour and weapons

+2 Armour

2 additional weapon spaces

+2 HP

Options

Pick one

1: Drone Pod

Deploys micro UAVs and UGVs into the same square as the scout, capable of searching buildings and cover.

2: Self Repair System

Repairs 1 HP damage every 4 turns.

3: Troop Carriers

Carries a 4 person chalk of NPCs in the back

Gunships

Gunships are the primary weapons of the near ground battlefield. Heavily armoured and laden with numerous weapons and point defence, Gunships are never the less considerably more vulnerable than scouts and are usually best advised to sit back and allow the smaller aircraft to find their targets before engaging.

The biggest threats to gunships are paradoxically, close range infantry ambushes, and long range missiles that can engage beyond their range.

Basic Gunship

Agility: 2

Speed: 5

Combat Electronics: 2

Sensors: 3

Hit Points: 8

Armour: 4

Point defence system: unmodified wits roll to shoot down incoming enemy missiles

20 weapons spaces

Chose Type A or B

Type A

Prioritizes Speed and Agility

+2 speed

+1 Agility

Type B

Prioritizes Armour

+2 Armour

+1 Combat Electronics

Options

Pick one

Co-Pilot

You have an NPC helping you, designed under the standard NPC rules

Fast Tracking Point Defence

Gives an additional Point Defence shot against incoming missiles

Stealth Coating

-2 on enemy detection rolls

Transports

Basic Transport

Agility: 3

Speed: 3

Combat Electronics: 4

Sensors: 3

Hit Points: 10

Armour: 4

Point defence system: unmodified wits roll to shoot down incoming enemy missiles

2 Door Gun Mounts

Carries a chalk of 14 Troops

Chose Type A or B

Type A

Armed Transport

Adds +8 weapons spaces

Type B

Heavily Defended Transport

+2 Armour

+2 Combat Electronics

Options

Choose one

Stealth Coating

-2 on enemy detection rolls

Extra Door Guns

2 Extra door gun mounts

Self Repair System

Repairs 1 HP damage every 4 turns.

Weapons

Lasers

10 spaces

Keywords: Anti-Aircraft, Anti-Missile, direct fire

Damage +6 Unlimited ammo

Gauss Gun

18 spaces

Keywords: Anti-Aircraft, direct fire

Solid Round: Damage +16. Reactive Armour Piercing +10 Damage AP 5, Canister Round Damage +4, burst unlimited ammo

Brilliant Missile System

4 spaces per missile system

Keywords: Missile, +3 Guidance Countermeasures 2

High Explosive Missile +10 damage, burst, Anti-Tank Missile: Damage +6 AP 4, Thermobaric Damage +8 Burst, ignores cover, Top Attack, +6 Damage, AP 5, no Countermeasures. x8 rounds

Heavy Missile System

6 Space per missile system

Keywords: Missile +4 Guidance, Countermeasures 3

High Explosive Missile +12 Damage, Burst, Thermobaric Missile +10 damage, Burst, ignore cover, Anti-Tank Missile +8 Damage AP 5, Top Attack +8 damage, AP 6, no Countermeasures. x3 Rounds

Glide Bomb System

3 Spaces

Keywords: Must be flying towards the target, Missile, +1 Guidance Countermeasures 1

High Explosive Missile +10 damage, burst, Anti-Tank Missile: Damage +6 AP 4, Thermobaric Damage +8 Burst, ignores cover, Top Attack, +6 Damage, AP 5, no Countermeasures. Burst x10 rounds

Guided Rocket Pods

4 spaces

Keywords: Missile +1 Guidance

HE +5 Damage, Thermobaric +4 damage, ignores cover. Unlimited Ammo

Cannon

2 Spaces

Keywords: Direct fire

+4 Damage

Unlimited Ammo

Air to Air Pod

4 spaces

Keywords: Missile, Air to Air, +4 Guidance countermeasures 4

+5 Damage, x10 shots

Anti-Radiation Missile System

4 spaces

Keywords: Missile, +8 Guidance, Sensor Seeking Countermeasures 4

+6 damage, x4 shots

Door Guns

Machine Gun

+1 Damage, Range 3 squares

Minigun

+2 Damage, Range 2 Square

Grenade Launcher

+4 Damage, range 1 Square

Support

VTOLs are only one part of the combined arms framework of a modern army, and so can expect to operate with all kinds of support from off the map, high altitude, or even space. Crews must be thrifty with their support though, as there's only so much to go around. Most operations will receive only 2 supports for the entire operation, with additional ones being gained by successful charisma rolls on the part of the PCs.

UAVs

Small Recon Drones flying high above the battle are an excellent recon method, though in the modern battlefield, the proliferation of camouflage techniques and combat electronics which even the lowest tech guerrilla armies improvise forces scout helicopters to descend

This support positions a UAV over the battlefield. Each round it may scan a particular square for enemies, with a perception + sensors of 8, and launch an attack with its onboard brilliant missiles, of which it has eight.

The UAV is usually stealthed, but if it attacks it may be subject to engagement by heavy enemy anti-aircraft systems.

Artillery

Each use of this support calls in a barrage of rounds from a distant artillery unit. Modern artillery is almost always mobile, and generally either uses a few fairly expensive equipped with extensive stealth, evasion and armour or a large number of very cheap rounds to overcome enemy point defence.

And artillery unit may fire several types of rounds at the battlefield on request. All rounds impact the turn after the artillery strike is called. Artillery must be called on a specific grid square. Charisma is used to call in the strike.

V2AV

Vertically Vectored, Anti Vehicle Rounds attack all enemy (or some) vehicles and buildings in the gird square to roll electronic warfare or suffer a +15 damage attack. The target must be designated with a perception + sensor roll and must be within line of sight of at least one VTOL unless a UAV is present.

ABIF

Airburst Incendiary Flechette rounds cause all infantry, soft skinned vehicles and VTOLs in the grid square hit to roll electronic warfare at difficulty 11 or die. Don't call them on the square you're in

SU/CHE

Standard Unitary/Cluster High Explosive Rounds damage everything in the grid square inflicts a charisma +4 attack (+10 damage) on all units in a designated grid square.

One support call gives four strikes fire before the artillery battery will be reassigned.

CAS Strike

A CAS strike is performed by tough, relatively slow aircraft at low altitude. Modern CAS aircraft are heavily armoured and fusion powered, and armed with lasers, very heavy cannons (which are probably about the weight of a gunship) rockets, and glide bombs.

Designate one file of the battlefield. CAS makes a pass on that file and attacks every revealed enemy target on that file. The attack roll is charisma +4. Each CAS aircraft has an unlimited number of +6 damage attacks, 6 +10 damage attacks and 6 +8 damage burst attacks. These do not refresh between passes.

A CAS aircraft may make 2 passes before using up the support request.

Interdictor Strike

An Interdictor Strike is a long ranged alpha strike conducted with a swarm of heavy long range missiles from distant aircraft, usually either specific fast, stealthy fighter bombers or else fighters equipped with standoff weapons. On a modern battlefield, multirole fighter aircraft, while they may carry bombs do not perform CAS or make close approach to the battlefield due to the profusion of weapons that can kill a high flying aircraft.

Instead, volleys of high speed, low visibility cruise missiles do the moving for them.

Specific interdictors are usually used to penetrate deep behind enemy lines and are extremely stealthy and fast in their own right.

An interdictor strike attacks one specific grid square with 20 heavy missiles. Treat these as standard heavy missile attacks, moving in from one board edge for point defence purposes. They can attack on their own, or be guided to their target by a VTOL.

2 grid squares maybe struck in this way for one support request.

SEAD strike

Modern Suppression of Enemy Air Defence is performed almost exclusively by unmanned craft. Decoy drones are deployed first to insight enemy radar to engage them, then stealthy follow up aircraft armed with laser weapons and high speed missiles destroy the revealed radars and launchers.

Make a Charisma + 6 roll against each SAM operator on the map's Wits + Sensors. Any air defence vehicle that is beaten loses its radar and is attacked by a +8 damage attack.

1 SEAD strike maybe mounted with this support.

NPCs

Most aircraft have some number of NPCs attached to them.

Scouts have 2 Crew Chiefs and an operator in the back, and may optionally have four ground troops (three extras and one leader)

Transports have 2 crew chiefs (4 with the additional door gun options) generated as named characters, and 14 ground troops (2 generated as named characters).

PCs should generate their NPCs themselves.

Characters

Generated with 12 points

1 Trait

Crew Chiefs and ground forces receive +3 physical.

Basic Ground Troop

Generated with 10 points

No Traits

+3 physical