KommissarK you miss a vital point of what I was asking about. My player just wanted the droid fighter pilot combo to be more efficient together. The Pilot is played by his son.

He knows every action he can take as an Astromech while slotted in an Y/X/E-WWing, which I'll list here

• Damage Control/Repair
• Plot Course
• Co-Pilot
• Boost Shields
• Scan the Enemy
• Spoof Missiles
• Fire Weapons
• Watch your back
• Target Lock

Again, these are actions, the last two are exclusive for Astromechs and cannot be done by regular Co-Pilots. So you see, it does not take away from the Pilot, because the Astromech actually can't steer the ship. He can't "Gain the Advantage". And as it was shown in a perfect example, when the pilot is using gain th advantage, the Astromech can actually fire the weapons. We can even explain it cinematically:

Pilot: "Reaper! I am going to try and get behind that Leader's rear. I'll concentrate on flying, you shoot when he's right in our sights, understood?"

R3-4P: "Weeow, beep boop!"

Pilot: "Good, let's do it!"

The other Actions the Astromechs are capable off, are fare more worthy most of the time, but on some occassions the players might want to switch around for a better tactic.

We had a similar discussion in the group about this. It was about if the Gunner spec is a good one to get as an astromech. I think we can say, yes! It improves the team work between Pilot and Astromech Droid.

(This is not directed at the post immediately above.)

Having someone other than the pilot firing the fixed-forward cannons makes no sense narratively. The fixed-forward cannons can only fire exactly where the craft is pointed at the instant the trigger is pulled. Imagine a situation in which one person is holding a gun and pointing it, but someone else has a string attached to the trigger, and is expected to wait for the person holding it to line it up and then fire at a moving target -- while they're both running at full speed.

Furthermore, this is not a case of "line up target, pull trigger, weapons fire once and might hit" -- there's a lot of maneuvering going on while firing to try to get and keep the guns pointed such that when the shells or "blaster bolts" arrive at where you think the target is going to be, the target is actually there. The pilot actually DOES fire and maneuver the craft at the same time, he HAS to in order to both have any chance of hitting the target, and to keep his craft from being an easy target at the same time.

The trigger for fixed-forward guns has been in the hands of the pilot in just about every multi-seat combat aircraft ever built, and for a reason -- that's the only setup that works.

For pete's sake, go watch some air combat documentaries if you want to let it sink in just how silly this idea of a separate gunner firing those guns is.

I'd allow it in an instant.

I don't get you right now... are you now opposed to an Astromech firing the frontal lasers or not?

Also: Astromech: Droid brain, Star Wars. Not Reality. In the Clone Wars cartoon R2 is piloting a Jedi Starfighter alone and fires the guns, so why should he be unable to do it with one in it.

I'd allow it in an instant.

I don't get you right now... are you now opposed to an Astromech firing the frontal lasers or not?

Also: Astromech: Droid brain, Star Wars. Not Reality. In the Clone Wars cartoon R2 is piloting a Jedi Starfighter alone and fires the guns, so why should he be unable to do it with one in it.

I thought you meant other weapons, like a turret, missiles, torps, etc.

I would require whoever wanted to fire the fixed-forward cannons to also be piloting (that is, steering) at the same time, because that's the only way they can be aimed.

I'd allow it in an instant.

I don't get you right now... are you now opposed to an Astromech firing the frontal lasers or not?

Also: Astromech: Droid brain, Star Wars. Not Reality. In the Clone Wars cartoon R2 is piloting a Jedi Starfighter alone and fires the guns, so why should he be unable to do it with one in it.

I thought you meant other weapons, like a turret, missiles, torps, etc.

I would require whoever wanted to fire the fixed-forward cannons to also be piloting (that is, steering) at the same time, because that's the only way they can be aimed.

Not entirely true, even those "fixed" guns swivel a bit. Rewatch the attack on the first death star, you see, that Vaders bolts first fire straight forward along his flightpath and the slightly turn left to hit the rebel craft. He does this by using the targeting computer. Similar thing happens with the rebels. It even happened in the X-Wing games.

Also, I'm sorry if I was really intense about that... I got some really terrible news right as I started replying to this thread.

The thought that occurs to me in this thread is that there are cases of modern computers actually doing the weapon firing when it is properly lined up, and the person aiming the weapon pulls the trigger just as a way to tell the computer that it can fire whenever it thinks the time is right.

Check out the “Precision Guided Firearm” from TrackingPoint.

Isn't there some qualifier for ship weapons regarding the type of crewmember that can fire them? E.g. some weapons are classified as "pilot" weapons?

I just have a hard to accepting this idea that anyone but the pilot can reasonably used fixed wing weapons. Those require the pilot to maneuver the ship into a firing position. The actual act of firing the weapon is trivial.

Thus, I could see an astromech operating a turret weapon remotely, but not firing wing mounted guns remotely.

You're thinking tactical combat simulation where each roll indicates a single movement. The game is narrative for a given round of combat which can last a minute, so the PC firing the fixed weapons simply waits until the target comes into their arc. They are likely on the comm to the Pilot telling them 'line me up for another pass!'.

My point is more that its an action on the part of the pilot, not an action on the part of the droid, unless the droid is actually the pilot of the ship.

I can see the operation of ordnance and turrets, but I can't see fixed wing weapons being operated by anyone other than the one with the flight stick.

Why? Even current generation aircraft are all fly by wire and computer controlled. Missiles on drones are fired by people in trailers in Nevada at targets in the middle east.

I doubt a Vulture droid was pulling a trigger on a flight control stick.

1. I am saying I am fine with a droid firing missiles. My complaint is with fixed wing weapons.

2. Its more a matter of dictating who the pilot is. If a droid is going to operate the fixed wing weapons, then the droid is the pilot. I have my concerns about letting players swap out the pilot on the fly.

Note that AoR:SoT allows astromechs to take over anytime the pilot wants them to. Including flying the ship.

It's just that Gunnery mechs are frowned upon... thanks to the Separatists.