Editorial

Well, it seems that we've done the impossible, you're now holding the second issue of STOCS3 that we've produced in one year. Well to tell you the truth this update contains material that was developed in tandem with the vehicle rules we printed in the last update. Hopefully you'll find it useful (we know you player will).

Oh, yeah visit our web site too, with a whole new look for '97. Find us at:

http://indigo.ie/~waste

Bye for now

"The Gang of Three" a.k.a. the Wasteland Games Staff

Heavy Weapons for STOCS lite

In the basic STOCS lite rules hand held firearms and melee weapons are covered, for some situations the characters will want something with a bigger bang (even when it isn't necessary). The following sections give special rules for the use of heavy weapons and plenty of examples. Many of these weapons will only be encountered affixed to vehicles, so a number of examples of armed vehicles are also included.

Heavy Weapons Use

The base skill for using all these advanced weapons of destruction is Combat (Heavy Weapons), however if the referee wants to create alternate sub-skills for ATGWs, large caliber guns and autocannons who are we to complain? Except where noted below, heavy weapons use the normal STOCS lite to-hit tasks and modifiers as presented in the STOCS lite basic rules. Most heavy weapons have an effective, long and extreme range just like small arms. Special cases are noted below.

Types of Heavy Weapons Rounds

APDS (Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot) and APFSDS rounds

Specialist discarding sabot AP (APFSDS and APDS) rounds have a greater armour penetration than conventional AP rounds, to simulate this treat them as AP rounds with an armour multiplier of x½. These rounds also have superior range to conventional AP rounds and so have their RNG characteristic increased by 20%.

HE (High Explosive) rounds

Many heavy weapons fire HE rounds as they have an area of effect in which all targets are potentially damaged. HE is often used against soft targets as any armour is very effective against the fragmentation damage of HE rounds.

As HE rounds have an area of effect it is important to find out where they land even when they miss their intended point of impact (the to hit roll is failed). If a shot misses roll a d10 on the HE scatter table below (however on a critical failure the GM may decide that the round is a dud and no explosion takes place). The distance scattered from the aiming point is shown on the table as a percentage of the range from firer to aiming point. All indirect fire and fire at extreme range doubles the distance scattered. If using indirect fire and a forward observer is present to relay corrections (and they make their Combat(Heavy Weapons) skill check) then the second and subsequent rounds scatter half the rolled distance. Stationary fixed mount direct fire weapons always halve the scatter for second and subsequent shots at the same aiming point.

HE Scatter table (d10)

1 Short (20%)
2 Short (10%)
3 Short and Left (10%)
4 Short and Right (10%)
5 Left (10%)
6 Right (10%)
7 Long and Left (10%)
8 Long and Right (10%)
9 Long (10%)
10 Long (20%)

Explosions are discussed in the STOCS lite rules. The rules below replace those from the basic set.

All explosive devices have a danger radius associated with them. Within this radius explosions have two damage causing effects, blast and fragments (frag). The base blast and frag values apply to characters within 2m of the explosion. For each doubling of the radius (4m, 8m, 16m, etc), ¼ the blast and frag values (round nearest). Modify the values as follows:

· Characters in contact with the explosion double both the blast and frag values.

· Characters who are prone or in hard cover half the blast and frag values.

· In a confined space the blast value is doubled.

· Underwater explosions double the base blast radius to 4m and halve the damage of fragments.

Inside the blast danger radius a character takes the blast value in d10s of damage. Blast causes damage mainly by concussion and cannot be protected against by most personal armour. If the blast doesn't kill the character instantly then being blown into walls etc. can cause falling damage. In addition, any character that takes 5 or more points of blast damage must roll WIL or be panicked.

Within the fragment danger radius the character is hit by a number of fragments equal to the frag value. Each fragment does 2d10 points of damage and has an armour multiplier of x4.

HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank) rounds

HEAT is a type of warhead used on many modern anti-armour weapons as it's armour penetration is not dependent on the velocity of the round at impact. This makes it the best choice for the low-velocity rounds fired by most personal anti-armour weapons. It is also used by conventional tank guns at long ranges (where conventional rounds would have lost most of their velocity) or against soft targets where the additional explosive effects can prove useful in inflicting a mission kill.

All HEAT rounds have an explosive blast value equal to 10% of their damage bonus. This effect can normally be ignored unless there are personnel close to the explosion.

Due to the unpredictable nature of chemical energy rounds, whenever a HEAT warhead hits a target generate the damage as per normal and then determine the actual damage by a rolling a d20 on the table below. Some vehicles have special composite, spaced or active armour that is especially effective against HEAT warheads. This is indicated by placing an S after the AV of the vehicle. When such a vehicle is hit by a HEAT warhead, roll a d10 instead of a d20 for HEAT warhead effectiveness.

HEAT damage multiplier (d20)

1 x0.1
2 x0.2
3 x0.3
4 x0.4
5 x0.5
6 x0.6
7 x0.7
8 x0.8
9 x0.9
10-20 x1.0

Smoke rounds

These rounds rapidly combust to form a vision obscuring smoke screen. In general it takes 1d10 rounds for the smoke cloud to form. While the cloud is forming there is a -5 to hit all targets behind the smoke. When the smoke cloud has formed there is a -10 to hit targets behind the smoke and -5 to hit targets in the smoke. This effect usually will last for 10+1d10 rounds, although high winds will disperse the smoke in half this time. Thermal imaging equipment will reduce the effective modifier for smoke by 5 e.g. no modifier while the smoke is forming. The size and shape of the smoke cloud depends on the prevailing wind conditions but in light winds it will form a circle with a diameter of approximately 30m for grenades and guns up to 100mm or 50m for larger guns. Multiple smoke rounds may be fired at the same impact point, this has the effect of doubling the visibility modifier where their areas of effect overlap. If this means the modifier is -20 (i.e. target behind a double density fully formed cloud) then no fire is possible as the line of sight is blocked.

WP (White Phosphorous) rounds

These are a special type of smoke round that explosively generates a cloud of rapidly burning phosphorous fragments. WP rounds have no formation time and the smoke cloud only lasts for 2+1d10 rounds. The smoke cloud is only half the diameter of a normal smoke round. In addition to the smoke effects, WP inflicts a WIL - 5 panic check on all within the burst radius and causes 2d10+10 damage to 1d10 random locations. All flammable substances within the blast radius hit by fragments will ignite (these puppies burn at 2700 ºC).

Chemical rounds

There are a variety of chemical warheads available, these range from incapacitating irritant gas (BZ, CS, CN) to deadly nerve agents (Sarin, VX). For simplicity agents are divided into two types as shown in the table below: All chemical rounds have a danger radius equal to a smoke round of the same type. If the referee rules that the exact chemical or dose is more or less effective then the task difficulty should be altered.

Type	Effects
Incapacitating	For each combat round within radius make a Hard(-5) roll against the average of WIL and CON, if failed then the target takes an AAM equal to half the amount failed by. This effect lasts from 1d10 x 10 minutes. The gas cloud disperses as per normal smoke.
Lethal	For each combat round within radius make a Hard(-5) CON roll, if failed then target takes an AAM equal to the amount failed by. This effect lasts like any other wound, note a character will be killed if they fail the roll by 10 or more. Non-persistent agents disperse as per normal smoke. Persistent agents' dangerous effects can last for months or years.

There are a variety of protective measures from water soaked rags to full CBW (chemical, biological warfare) suits, in general the more advanced and lethal agents require more sophisticated protection. Effective protection should reduce the difficulty of the survival tasks as follows:

Type	Modifier	Notes
Improvised protection	+5	Only effective for 2d10 rounds
Gas mask/heavy coveralls	+5	Only effective for 2d10 rnds against modern lethal agents
Depleted/badly donned CBW suit	+10	CBW suits typically only have 2 hours at peak efficiency
CBW suit	+15	Referee should make DEX or Combat roll to see if properly donned, if not use +10 modifier instead

Special Weapons Rules

Anti-Tank Guided Weapons (ATGWs)

ATGWs have no extreme range. ATGWs have a minimum rage listed after the slash in their RNG statistic, no targets may be engaged up to this range due to warhead arming, guidance limitations etc. All ATGWs, anti-tank rockets and recoilless rifles have a backblast zone extending several metres behind the launcher. Any characters caught in this area when the weapon is fired take blast damage equal to 10% of the RNG of the weapon (exception the Armburst backblast is only 10). This makes firing most of these weapons impossible inside an enclosed space such as a building.

Grenades

Hand grenades can use either Physical(Athletics) or Combat(Heavy Weapons) when rolling to hit. Rifle Grenades always use Combat(Heavy Weapons) and are -5 to hit at all ranges. HE grenades should roll for scatter just like other HE rounds.

Range Effects on Damage of Heavy Weapons

Due to the huge distances traveled by heavy weapons a significant reduction in damage occurs at longer ranges. To simulate this half the number added to the 2d10 roll when rolling for damage at extreme range. HE, HEAT and WP rounds do not suffer from range effects. This rule could also be used for small arms but it is not usually worth the extra detail.

Automatic Fire with Heavy Weapons

The RCL numbers given in the heavy weapon table have been reduced to represent fire from fixed mounts such as vehicles or tripods . The standard STOCS lite rules are used to roll to hit with an autofire burst. No burst may be larger than 30 rounds. After a burst has hit, add the target's size modifier (e.g. Large target +5) to the dice rolled for hits on the target. This makes anti-vehicle automatic fire effective out to longer ranges than anti-personnel automatic fire. In general the RCL of a fixed/tripod mount weapon should be reduced by 4, a bipod reduces RCL by 2.

For example, a 20mm Autocannon firing at a vehicle (Large target, +5) at 150m fires a burst of 30 rounds. This burst must roll to-hit normally and then rolls 10d10 to determine how many hits are achieved on the vehicle. The effective recoil number is 5 (base) + 5(large target) = 10, so 10 hits are automatically achieved.

Other Anti-Armour Weapons

In addition to the "big guns" there are a number of different types of man-portable anti-armour weapons that PCs will be just dying to get their hands on. These also use the Combat(Heavy Weapons) skill. The weapons presented below range from unguided rockets to Anti-Tank Guided Weapons (anti-tank missiles) and back to 40mm grenade launchers. Unless otherwise noted these weapons all use HEAT warheads.

Weapon	ROF	MAG	WT	RCL	RNG	Damage
Disposable Anti-Tank Rockets
M72A3 LAW	1	1	2.4	-	30	2d10+370
Armburst	1	1	6.3	-	50	2d10+370
RPG-22	1	1	3	-	30	2d10+320
Anti-Tank Rocket Launchers
RPG-7	1+4	1	7/2.3	-	50	2d10+270
M20 Bazooka	1+4	1	5.9/3.5	-	30	2d10+220
Anti-Tank Guided Weapons
AT-3C Sagger	1+10	1	15/11	-	600/300	2d10+450
AT-5 Spandrel	1+10	1	15/8	-	800/100	2d10+600
M47 Dragon	1+10	1	4.5/10	-	200/60	2d10+600
M47B Dragon 3	1+10	1	4.5/10	-	300/60	2d10+800
BGM 71A TOW	1+10	1	50/28	-	750/60	2d10+600
BGM71E TOW 2B	1+10	1	50/28	-	750/60	2d10+800
Hellfire	1+10	1	100/43	-	1400/500	2d10+1100
Recoilless Rifles
M55 57mmRCL	1+4	1	30/3.5	-	100	2d10+80
M20 75mmRCL	1+4	1	72/11	-	150	2d10+220
M27 105mmRCL	1+6	1	208/24	-	200	2d10+330
Miscellaneous
7.62mm Rifle Grenade	1+4	1	0.7	-	30	2d10+250
5.56mm Rifle Grenade	1+4	1	0.5	-	20	2d10+100
M79 40mm GL	1+2	1	2.8	-	35	see ammo
M203 40mm GL	1+2	1	1.6	-	25	see ammo
HK69A1 40mm GL	1+2	1	2.6	-	30	see ammo
40mm GL HEDP	1+2	1	.25	-	30	2d10+80
40mm GL HE	1+2	1	.25	-	30	B = 4, F = 4
Hand Grenades
M34 WP	1	1	0.75	-	½STR	special
M26A1 Offensive HE	1	1	0.5	-	½STR	B = 6, F = 3
No36 Mills Defensive HE	1	1	1	-	½STR	B = 8, F = 8
Stun Grenade	1	1	0.5	-	½STR	B = 4, F = 0
M7A3 CS Gas	1	1	0.5	-	½STR	special
AN-M8 Smoke	1	1	0.6	-	½STR	special
RPG-3M AT	1	1	1	-	½STR	2d10+175
Note: Unless otherwise noted all these weapons have HEAT warheads. Note: To find the HE damage of a recoilless rifle look at the same caliber weapon in the heavy weapons table Note: Treat the 40mm GL HEDP round as HEAT.

Vehicle Mounted/Towed Heavy Weapons

Example Vehicles

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