Mellon said:

Wait... wouldnt that make it very difficult to damage ships in space combat? If a starting character has a high BS of 40, and void shields absorb the 1st hit against them, you'd have to roll a 20 or under for a damaging attack... which might not even penetrate the ship's armor. So you have to get SOME sort of modifier besides the total of (I believe) +15 from a combination of certain ship components to even have a chance of dealing good damage.

Um, if i remember the diagram I saw of a macro cannon's mechanism, the shells are gravity fed (sort of) with the recoild loading the next round. The ratings then pull the cannon back into position to be fired again.

Wait... wouldnt that make it very difficult to damage ships in space combat? If a starting character has a high BS of 40, and void shields absorb the 1st hit against them, you'd have to roll a 20 or under for a damaging attack... which might not even penetrate the ship's armor. So you have to get SOME sort of modifier besides the total of (I believe) +15 from a combination of certain ship components to even have a chance of dealing good damage.

Let's see...

Basic BS: 40
BS advances for 350 xp: 50
Put your Backs into it!: 55, maybe 60
Lock on Target: 65
Good MIU: 75
Command Bridge: 80

So confusing...

Sorry to hijack the thread, but this stuff is still on subject right?

More stuff that I need clarified:

The book says you can only take one shooting action per round in space combat, yet 90% of the ships available have 2-4 weapon slots. It doesn't make sense that an imperial ship would chose to hold back it's firepower. I'm assuming what it really means is that each weapon can only be fired one per round correct?

So far this is how I understand the shooting phase would go between my player's ship and their target:

PC Ship

Speed: 10 Turret: 1 Shield: 1 Armor: 14

Manoeuver: +33 Detection: +22

Hull: 31 Crew: 100 Morale: 98

Mars Pattern Macro Canon (x2) (Prow & Dorsal): Str 3, Crit 5, 1d10+2, Range 6

"Cargo" Ship

Speed: 5 Turret: 1 Shield: 1 Armor: 14

Manoeuver: -2 Detection: +15

Hull: 43 Crew: 100 Morale: 101

Mars Pattern Macro Canon (Prow): Str 3, Crit 5, 1d10+2, Range 6

Sunsear Laser Battery (Dorsal): Str 4, Crit 4, 1d10+2, Range 9

PC Party

Navigator

Rogue Trader

Astropath

Seneschal

Mutant (don't ask)

Arch Militant

Explorator

1) PC Ship goes first, having much better sensors. The Navigator makes her piloting check and gets the ship within basic firing range (no modifiers)

2) The Rogue Trader (assuming he takes scrutiny) does the Lock on Target action for the Dorsal Macrocannon and succeeds. (+5 to BS)

3) The Mutant makes an Intimidate roll for the Put Your Backs Into It! action for the Dorsal Macrocannon and succeeds. (+5 BS)

4) The Seneschal prepares to fire the Prow Macrocannon with an unmodified BS of 42 getting a roll of 29 (1 degree of success). The single shot is absorbed by the void shield and brings it down for the next attack.

5) The Arch Millitant prepares to fire the Dorsal Macrocannon with a modified BS of 57 (+5 from the bridge, +5 from The Mutant, +5 from the Rogue Trader) getting a roll of 35 (2 degrees of success). Damage rolls out as 2 (Shot 1 8 + Shot 2 8 - 14 armor).

Cheddah said:

You may only take a single shooting action per turn, but you may fire all your guns in that single Shooting action. Thus, if you've got a Master of Gunnery Void-Master, his skills and Ballistic Skill can benefit all of the guns, even if particular actions (like Lock-on Target) only benefit a single weapon.