Operator Comrade "Gunner" Ability

By pearldrum1, in Only War Rules Questions

So, I am trying my hand at Only War and I am sure those of you that know me are pounding your head into your keyboards right about now because you know just how many questions I ask.

:-D

So, my first PC is an Operator who will be manning a Tauros. I have taken the "Gunner" passive ability for my comrade, Chucho, and the wording is a little confusing. (If this has been addressed here or in the Errata already I apologize. Bear with me).

The first sentence is clear enough: Chucho can jump into the rear gunner's position and blast away at enemies at my command. OK.

It goes on to say: If my PC is driving, he can make an attack with the weapon his comrade is on as though he were manning it himself. And this uses the Comrade's full action for the turn.

The jist I am getting is that, aside from the redundant wording, it seems that my PC can spend a full round action to drive AND gain a ranged attack action in that round. Also, if my PC is not in the vehicle, can the comrade jump in the gun and still light enemies up? It would seem silly if he could not.

I suppose I am confused because the first sentence and everything that follows it seem like the exact same thing only worded differently. I believe I may be looking too much into this.

If I understand the advance right, it means that you as the driver can do anything you want with your action, and make your comrade take a full action to shoot one of your vehicle weapons. That can mean that you fire two guns, too.

However, if you're not in the vehicle, I think that this doesn't apply. Yes, it seems somewhat silly, but the comrade is not meant to be able to actually do anything by himself. This advance allows an operator more maneuverability and firepower while in a vehicle, but it doesn't allow him extra firepower out of one.

Of course, that's only my interpretation.

I really hope my GM is on the more logical-side of the interpretation and will allow the comrade to stay on the gun if, say my PC had to fix the engine during a combat or vice versa.

So, it means I can fire two guns (if the vehicle is capable of doing so) but not fire the same gun twice in one rounds - once by the companion and then once by my PC. Right?

Yeah, because only one of you mans that gun.

And yeah, it's not entirely logical, but I think that's what the rules say. I'd allow it, and hope your GM does too :)

I can picture it now...

...Chucho is laying down heavy cover fire on the Heavy Stubber as Poncho slams on the accelerator, jerking in and out of road hazards. He leans back to yell something at his comrade when a BOOM from under the hood brings the Tauros to a crawl.

"Chucho, watch my back," screams Poncho from the driver's seat and he is immediately answered by the bark of the Heavy Stubber as Chucho tears apart two chaos cultists that approach from the south. Poncho jumps out of the vehicle and dives under the hood, desperately trying to fix the problem. But for some reason the gun has gone silent.

"Chucho, keep firing at them!" No response. Poncho looks up from his work and sees Chucho frozen in place. A snarl on his face as he tries desperately to press teh trigger but has been unable to ever since Poncho left the drivers seat.

... then a Carnifex falls on them both.

Maybe what they mean is if you are driving, and your Comrade is manning the gun, they can fire with your BS 55. If you get out of the vehicle, and break Cohesion with the little guy, he reverts to his own stats, which reference using the Guard stat block at the back. I think he's BS 30, or something, at that point. You shouldn't, I don't think, lose the gun firing, but you might notice a loss of accuracy to the firepower, and Comrades might not be eligible for Righteous Fury outside of Cohesion, I don't remember.

And I could be totally wrong, of course, too, but if the Comrades for the Master of Ordnance can do stuff out of his Cohesion range, I would think yours can, too; they just might not be as impressive without you to hold their hands.

Ah, OK. I see. I really need to read how cohesion works in OW. I keep having the DW version of it in my mind.