A few practical questions, to see if I apply it correctly

First, there is the question of being the target. Evasive manoeuvres seem to be a lifesaver, but do they apply to:

- Torpedoes? (This seems clear, as it is a form of shooting, and manoeuvring to avoid torpedoes has a splendid pedigree in the real world)

- Ramming? (This is not clear as evasive manoeuvres state shooting. On the other hand, it is a form of attack and it will be a hell of a lot harder if the other ship actively tries to avoid it)

- Boarding? (Same as ramming, this is no shooting but is again a lot harder if the other side actively avoids it)

Secondly, there is the shooting torpedoes question. BFK very clearly states that explorers or ship-board components cannot be used to aid the precision of a torpedo salvo, as it is all up to the murderous cogitator units of the missiles itself. That is abundantly clear, but how about the actions of the ship itself as opposed to explorer actions or ship components:

- Do evasive manoeuvres affect torpedo accuracy? (A tough one, as the torpedoes will try to hit their foe when they are far from the manoeuvring ship. On the other hand, a stable launch platform will be more then desirable and should affect the accuracy of these missiles as well. If evasive manoeuvres do not affect torpedo accuracy, that would mean any run in would be done dodging and jinking, making stopping a torpedo attack by fire even harder then it is now)

- Does 'Come to new heading' affect torpedo accuracy? (Same as above)

And a related item if not subject to manoeuvring, does the 'sensors damaged' crit affect the precision of torpedo attacks, ramming or boarding?

- Torpedoes: The critical clearly states that all shooting suffers a -30 penalty. As torpedoes are shooting and we are talking about aiming them at a target thousands and thousands kilometres away, this seems to imply it will affect torpedoes as well. Logically though, it will only affect torpedoes launched from then on (without a proper idea of the relative tri-dimensional position, speed and bearing of the target) while torpedoes launched before this crit is scored should be unaffected (as they got a good idea of the target position). To complicate matters, what does this mean for 'extra' hits, i.e. targets attacked by torpedoes that were not specifically aimed at (such as a ship that was silly enough to manoeuvre itself in the path of missed torpedoes).

- Ramming and Boarding: I take the two together here. Both are no shooting actions, so I could say that while getting in close range the damaged sensor arrays and limited back up systems give enough data to plot the course. On the other hand, a run in from, say, 7 VU's away will be severly affected by a good idea of that tri-dimensional position, speed and bearing and might very well aim for the wrong part of space.

Friedrich van Riebeeck, Navigator Primus, Heart of the Void

Well, for the Crit bit, the rules state that the torpedoes use their own sensor and cogitator units, so why would the ship's sensors going down influence the torpedoes? They're two separate sensor units.

Well without being able to look into BFK. The word aid would imply that:

Anything which buffs the BS skill would be ignored before shooting a torpedo. Anything that drops the accuracy counts though.

But this is purely reading RAW (useful skill in 40k), in RT i would apply common sense (if possible). This is a RPG after all, which tries to emulate realistic cause and effect strings. (Action has a reaction regardless if its a ball or a human emotion)

So going down your list, i would:

Apply Evasive maneuvering against any attack. If someone tries to ram my ship, id call that an attack.

Jinking the ship, wouldnt be too good for torpedoes. Playing silent hunter 5 for a few days now, i can guarantee that a stable firing platform really, really helps.

I would ignore the -30 penalty for torpedoes though. You only need the general direction of the enemy vessel. within 15.000 klicks (plus a little bit) the torps cogitators take over anyway. OTOH you could argue that the sensor damage might let you shoot torps at a realltively large angle, which would require a whole set of randomizers and since you can still steer your ship amongst asteroids fine, finding an asteroid sized ship shpould not be a problem.

Same goes for ramming and boarding. (Since boarding only happens after ramming, or close enough maneuvering). If a bridge has a huge viewport to the void (Mine has, and the introductory adventure i believe too), at some point you simply aim at the "OMFG superhuge and ludicrously bright" plasma torch coming out of the back end of the targets ship. Its basically a miniature sun, once you are close enough.

I hope this helps.

I think I come to quite comparable conclusions in so far the manoeuvring is concerned. There is still the shooting bit though, once your sensors are taken out your targetting becomes a whole lot less reliable. If we go on with the sub comparison (which fits quite well here), we are talking about firing our torpedoes with a solid sonar plot or just on the general bearing of a foe...that is a big difference, even for a **** smart MK48 torpedo, whose own sensor capabilities are good, but incomparable to the sensors of the boat. At 100,000 kilometres (10 VU), being a few percentage points of course will make it far far harder on the torpedoes sensors to find a target. So I think a case can be made for both, still unsure what would be best.

And Millandson, the sensor question is important as the ship still needs to plot a target for your torpedoes. Once they are fired they are on their own, but a good plot makes a vast difference. Even our most advanced weapons need good targetting info before they are unleashed to function at their maximum capability. Let alone Imperial weapons, where too much artificial intelligence is heretical!

FvR

You are right about the plot being calced before launch, and good sensor data helping.

I was basing this off, how bad sensors/this crit doesnt really affect flying through asteroids and stuff like that.

Since you can track an asteroid field semi reliably with damaged sensors, i would think one could pinpoint a 5 klick long cruiser within 100 klick sphere, which should be good enough for the torpedoes own cogitator suits.

Ahh, I hadn't thought of it that way - I'd always assumed that the torpedoes would have their own sensor equipment for plotting courses before firing, rather than relying on the standard sensors, but you make a good point - 40k doesn't really think ahead with "won't all our weapons using the same sensor suite mean we'll be defenceless if it gets taken out?", after all.

As a fellow Silent Hunter enthusiast (I prefer SH3 though - totally the best of the series ), I'd agree that a stable firing platform really is required for accurate calculations, especially with slower weapons like torpedoes. I'd therefore levy the to hit penalties on the torpedoes for the likes of evasive maneuvering and other such penalties, due to the added complication they'd have on target calculations.

Might be worth sending a rules question to the devs though, via the link at the bottom of the page.

Well, you are right that modern torpedoes (and many missiles) have their own sensors, it is just that they are far less sensitive and capable then the complex systems aboard a ship or aircraft. A MK48 torpedo has a very advanced sonar and 'brilliant' weapon capabilities, but it is still limited compared to the enormous sonar systems on a Seawolf (enormous bow sonar, arrays along the sides, towed array to top it all of). No way all of that can be fitted in a 21 inch torpedo. Same with an F22 with AESA radar firing its Amraam, it might be a fire and forget missile, but the targetting capabilities of the weapon fall far below those of the platform.

Good idea to make this an official question, I will do so. Even if I think we can all agree that the evasive manoeuvres and come to new heading should affect WH40K torpedoes (Darn, what would they give for thrust vectoring and helmet mounted sights. Obviously heretical stuff!).

FvR