Highspeed combat

[psam_rage]

So we had an issue this last Sunday where our group getting assaulted by a flight of sams, and while most of the fight was our spiderbot pouncing a Sam and the grackletooth with his missile launcher, I took to the air and messed everything up.

So the group had been forgetting the move speed penalties for combat but once remembered it was easy, they aren't moving and the Sams are varying between 150 and 300 mph. (-3 to -6 to strike)

I however leapt into the air fold my wings into fighter mode and took off at 770 mph (USAF Combat pilot that just got rifted forward). Now we had the issue. At 770 MPH that is a -16 penalty. So we realized rules as written fighter pilots in rifts going mach 1+ cant hit each other.

Is this correct? Or should the calculation be the Target's speed minus attacker's speed?

[glitterboy2098]

i've always read that section as being relative speeds, so you'd subtract the firing unit's speed from the speed of the target* before figuring out the penalty.

i also tend to assume that you don't suffer a penalty from your own movement if your firing at a stationary or near stationary target, at least with built in remote operated weapons on a vehicle. the idea being that most vehicles with built in weapons fired through controls (as opposed to say a pintle mount where you do the work yourself), you will have at least basic gunsights that adjust for your own movement.

[dragonfett]

I have always seen it as relative speeds.

[Blindscout]

I haven't had it come up yet as I'm new to actually running RIFTS, but what GB98 says makes sense. Base it off the relative speeds. I certainly will be.

[dragonfett]

And pilots are trained to target at those speeds as well.

[Lt Gargoyle]

I would go with GB2098 statement.