I don't know about you, but I've always felt that the current Critical damage table is just too random and not very realistic. I grant you that a stray shot coming from behind on a turning captial ship could indeed hit the prow for example, but the current table doesn't appear to properly portray the increased chances of hitting a large portion of the ship. When abeam the ships side is a huge target and I don't feel the current table reflects this.
Therefore, I propose a new table for your approval (
or disapproval) that could replace the current list or just be used by advanced players. Please see picture below then table, then further explaination.
Modifiers
Check which firing arc you are firing in to determine the amount of dice to roll
Attacking ship Closing : Roll 2xD6. If a double 6 is rolled an extra
D6 is rolled and added to the score to represent a lucky shot to the rear of the ship
Attacking ship Abeam : Roll 3xD6 . No Modifiers
Attacking ship Moving Away: Roll 3xD6. If a double 1 is rolled within those three dice then reduce the result by 1xD6, otherwise add 6 to the result. This represents a lucky shot to the front of the ship
Dice Results
Once the result is determined, apply the modifer above if you haven't done so already, then consult the table below
2 Prow : Significant damage to the prow, Prow Armenant cannot be fired until repaired
3 Prow: Damage to the prow, Prow Armenant fires at half strength rounded up until repaired. Nova cannon cannot fire until repaired
4 Dorsal : Dorsal weapons and defence Turrets take a savage beating from incoming fire and go offline as powerlines or compantments are destroyed. Cannot be repaired
5 Dorsal : Dorsal weapons and defence Turrets are temporaily taken offline as powerlines or compartments are damaged. Dorsal weapons and defence turrents cannot fire or defend until damage is repaired
6 Shields : Shield generators are overloaded by incoming fire and go offline while power is redirected. Shields remain offline until damage is repaired
7 Fire! : A fire breaks out in a damaged compartment. Fire will cause an additional damage point each subsequent turn until the fire is extinguished(repaired)
8 Broadside : The ships broadside takes a direct hit, power distibution temporaily goes offline, the ships Broadside weapons cannot fire or launch attack craft in the next turn while the crew try to re-route power to the damaged sections
9 Broadside : The ships broadside weapon takes a direct hit and is destroyed and cannot be repaired. The broadside weapon is chosen by the opponent and must be applied to the port or starboard weapon that the shot came from, if the ships broadside consists of a single weapon such as an Imperial Gothic class, then the weapon strength is halved rounded up instead. If the broadside is already damaged then roll a
D6, on a 1-2 the ship suffers an additional damage point, on a 3-6 the shot rips through the ship causing damage to the opposite broadside instead
10 Broadside : The ships broadside weapon takes a direct hit and is destroyed and cannot be repaired. The broadside weapon is chosen by the opponent and must be applied to the port or starboard weapon that the shot came from, if the ships broadside consists of a single weapon such as an Imperial Gothic class, then the weapon strength is halved rounded up instead. If the broadside is already damaged then roll a
D6, on a 1-2 the ship suffers an additional damage point, on a 3-6 the shot rips through the ship causing damage to the opposite broadside instead
11 Broadside : The ships broadside weapon takes a direct hit and is destroyed and cannot be repaired. The broadside weapon is chosen by the opponent and must be applied to the port or starboard weapon that the shot came from, if the ships broadside consists of a single weapon such as an Imperial Gothic class, then the weapon strength is halved rounded up instead. If the broadside is already damaged then roll a
D6, on a 1-2 the ship suffers an additional damage point, on a 3-6 the shot rips through the ship causing damage to the opposite broadside instead
12 Broadside : The ships broadside weapon takes a direct hit and is destroyed and cannot be repaired. The broadside weapon is chosen by the opponent and must be applied to the port or starboard weapon that the shot came from, if the ships broadside consists of a single weapon such as an Imperial Gothic class, then the weapon strength is halved rounded up instead. If the broadside is already damaged then roll a
D6, on a 1-2 the ship suffers an additional damage point, on a 3-6 the shot rips through the ship causing damage to the opposite broadside instead
13 Broadside : The ships broadside takes a direct hit, power distibution temporaily goes offline, the ships Broadside weapons cannot fire or launch attack craft in the next turn while the crew try to re-route power to the damaged sections
14 Fire! : A fire breaks out in a damaged compartment. Fire will cause an additional damage point each subsequent turn until the fire is extinguished(repaired)
15 Shields : Shield generators are overloaded by incomming fire and the grid is destroyed. Shields remain offline and cannot be repaired
16 Breach! : Compartments are ruptured from enemy fire, bulkheads close to seal off the area as atmosphere and components escape through the breach. The loss of power and the impact of the blast cause an additional damage point that is applied immeadiatly. The ship will count as if on special orders "Brace for impact" for the following turn as bulkheads are closed around the damaged section.
17 Engines : The ships engines take a direct hit, power regulation and control is temporarily lost causing the ship's movement and also its turning angle to be halved rounded up until the damage is repaired.
18 Engines : The Engine compartment is breached, the ship suffers from ship wide power failure and overloads. The ship suffers an additional D3 damage points that is applied immeadiatly. The ship also counts as having a Fire result until repaired as the crew desperately try to bring the ship back under control
Basically the concept is this, The new list with a modifier represents the chances of hitting specific parts of the ship.Therefore the Prow area of the ship is the lowest dice roll and the Aft section the highest dice roll with all the other results spreading across the ship in a logical order so Broadsides are logically in the middle. The modifiers then change the chances of hitting certain parts of the ship depending on what angle they fire at. For example, a ship which is classed as moving away is most likely to have its rear facing the ship that is firing, so the modifer alters the dice roll to ensure that the damage result stays in the upper side of the table where the Broadside and Rear parts are. However, if a double 1 is rolled it will then lower the dice roll thereby representing the chances of gettign a lucky shot on the Prow.
The same applies when closing but with a different modifier, lowering the result to keep the damage contained to the front and broadsides with a double 1 adding to the result to signify a lucky shot to the rear which from the angle of the ship would be a smaller target than broadsides and prow.
If abeam then no modifier is used as the whole ship is visible and so the shot can go anywhere. However, the fact that the broadside is a large target is represented in the table by having more Broadside results possible.
Also you'll note that the new damage results hinder more than destroy while the others can do some pretty mean damage, such as following through tothe otherside if the weapon is already damaged for example. I've tried my best to make the results hinder more than cripple a ship in order to promote better tactics. If you want to do the most damage you need to get behind and get a shot at the engines(Moving away)
Let me know what you think I've just tried to make it a bit more realistic while allowing for the chance of still being able to hit all the parts of the ship. The diagram is to help show in real terms how the roll results correlate to the position of the ship. I'm aware that this table does not work for Eldar, and therefore just like the rulebook will require a modified version like this.
Cheers
