I've looked through the forums and either failed my skill check or the information is missing. I am trying to fully understand the combat as outlined in Rites fo Battle for vehicles. Specifically who has control of weapon systems the crew is listed as Driver and Commander. Under the stock configuration there are 3 weapon systems. The Machine spirit can control (with the Commanders assistance) one of the systems but who has the control of the 3rd system. And can any of the passengers assume control of weapon systems

Thank you for your time and I apologize if this information has been covered in the past.

I apologize I left out that I am using the Land Raider as the example in my question. It applies to several vehicles but that is the one that I am referencing.

Start off with a caveat: FFG's vehicle rules seem, at least to me, a bit under-developed. A few details are skimmed or missing entirely.

That Said:

Vehicle entries "should" identify which weapons are 'driver operated' and which are 'gunner operated' (or commander operated in the Land raider's case). The land raiders configuration should be: the center mounted weapon (heavy bolter on phobos, assault cannon on Crusader) should be the driver operated weapon, and the sponsons are under the control of the commander/spirit.

Some vehicles may include weapon systems that may be fired by any crewmember, I 'could' believe the weapons of the land raider might fit in this catagory. There are also vehicles that allow a single crewmember to fire multiple weapon systems at once, such as the Thunderhawk.

The machine spirit doesn't target enemies by itself, rather the gunner designates a target and weapon for the machine spirit (free action) which then fires the designated weapon at the target. The gunner is then free to fire a seperate weapon at another target.

Weapons on pintle mounts may be used by either driver of gunner, depending on which hatch it is mounted to, the driver's hatch is the one closest to the front of the land raider. Space Marine Pintle mounted weapons have been depicted as remote operable and therefore can either be fired by hand, or via a remote slave system without the need to open the hatch. Pintle arcs are described as 360 in tabletop out of simplicity, but I feel these weapons should have a 90 to 135 degree arc to the front (or in the direction the turret is facing if on a turret), UNLESS the hatch ring is free rotating then it should also be 360.

I'm certain space marines riding a land raider could use the passenger control panel to operate one of the main guns (center mounted or sponsons) allowing the gunner/driver to fire another weapon or a pintle mount instead. I am also for allowing the Land Raider's significant automation to allow a single operator to fire multiple guns as long as all the guns are targeting a single target, a gunner firing both T/L lascannons at a single enemy for instance.

In the instance of specialty land raiders (Ares and Terminus Ultra variants) other rules must be considered. An Ares for instance would require a loader for the demolisher cannon at least, although the normal commander/driver situation should work fine for the most part. Tthough not all of the secondary weapons on an Ares would be able to be fired in a single turn without either another gunner or a special rule, but then again if the Ares is firing the big gun I don't think its crew would be too concerned with other targets at that moment. The Terminus Ultra practically needs a rule allowing its multiple weapons to be fired by a single gunner or it needs more than a single gunner, for this I'd suggest allowing any number of lascannons to be fired by a single gunner (even machine spirit) as long as all of said lascannons are being fired at the same target.

We'll call this last rule, "Advanced Automation: Any number of indicated weapons may be fired by a single gunner as long as these weapons are targeting a single enemy unit." The Land Raiders would then have the following:

Phobos (normal Land Raider) - Advanced Automation: Lascannons
Crusader - Advanced Automation: Hurricane Bolters
Helios - Advanced Automation: Lascannons
Prometheus - Advanced Automation: Heavy Bolters
Terminus Ultra - Advanced Automation: Lascannons

You'll notice the Ares and Redeemer are not listed. I don't think the flamers on these tanks could, would, or should benefit from this rule. They are, afterall, primarily defensive, and these weapons on these vehicles seem more "either, or" to me (not a big deal for the redeeemer anyways).

A lot of information, I know, but the topic does need a close look for one, and the chosen vehicle to discuss was complicated and had many variants. Hope the information helps though.

Have fun.

Thank you very much for your prompt and thorough response. Most of what you described I was leaning towards was just hoping for confirmation, you provided that and much more. Thank you again, and may the Emperor protect.