SO... yeah... Weapons have a Fire Arc, determining where they can fire... and the Side bar does specify that a forward arc weapon, cannot hit a target in the rear arc.

But the way combat works in this is abstract... you dont plot exactly where ships are in relation to one another... so really... do they serve any Mechanical purpose?

Or is it simply listed for narrative use?

Or have I missed a rule that certain Actions and Maneuvers place a ship in a targets certain Arc?

It's very much a narrative thing with little mechanical support. Firing arcs are only as important as your group wants them to be.

Sil 5 or larger vehicles, ships, and buildings are supposed to keep better track of arcs.

But yeah on smaller craft it's really not really a thing, except for kicking around the forums watching "experienced" GMs going off the rails about how somebody's homebrewed fighter is under or over powered because it has or doesn't have turrets.

It's very much a narrative thing with little mechanical support. Firing arcs are only as important as your group wants them to be.

Gain the Advantage to get into a specific arc of your opponent isabout it.

It might matter in a chase? If narratively you're on someone's tail, that would suggest to me only forward firing weapons versus their aft firing weapons.

Edit: Somehow I missed the whole "mechanical versus narrative" part of the discussion. I'll see myself out.

It's very much a narrative thing with little mechanical support. Firing arcs are only as important as your group wants them to be.

Gain the Advantage to get into a specific arc of your opponent isabout it.

Is that mechanical? Becuase I cant see anything in the book about that.

It's very much a narrative thing with little mechanical support. Firing arcs are only as important as your group wants them to be.

Gain the Advantage to get into a specific arc of your opponent isabout it.

Is that mechanical? Becuase I cant see anything in the book about that.

Just a common assumption/house rule, not mechanical, and it actually can cause problems when you place certain craft against each other.

As written, having successfully used Gain the Advantage lets you select which of your target's defense zones you fire upon during your attacks, but it doesn't stop him from pointing whatever arcs he wants at you when it's his turn to attack. Turns are of indeterminate length, but generally long enough that there is assumed to be back and forth positioning among combatants even within a turn.

I can see firing arcs informing both the narrative and the mechanics...

For example, Luke is flying his newly-acquired X-wing down the trench of the Death Star. He picks up three TIEs on his six. If he aborts his attack run he can attack the enemy fighters, but he knows that the fate of the galaxy is hanging on this mission. So he chooses to stay on target, and his enemies remain outside of his forward firing arc. Mechanically, GM Lucas decides that Luke may not target the three enemies fighters without aborting his attack run, quite possibly running out the clock on the destruction of Yavin IV.

As a similar example, the attack on the Death Star II saw the Millenium Falcon and several snubfighters flying straight through the partially-constructed monstrosity, and you tell me if there was any room to "turn around and shoot" down there at least until they got to the reactor core. So there again, firing arcs are very helpful in determining what a ship can shoot at, from time to time.

Narratively speaking, an example might be a dogfight. Say you miss your attack. The GM, knowing your firing arcs, has a ready excuse for why you were unable to make the shot: the enemy is behind you, and you couldn't quite outmaneuver him.

Add a couple Threat to that mix, and it gives the enemy a Boost die or you a Setback die, or something similar, and again that can be easily attributed to the relative firing arcs and narrative positioning.

Add some Advantage instead, and even though you were unable to get the bogey back in your sights, you managed to disengage and set yourself up for a fresh attack run.