I'm still reading through the beta rules and maybe I just haven't found where this is stated or I'm overcomplicating things.

Weapons have a listed range to them. Example: A holdout blaster is close while a blaster rifle is long range. Are the weapons able to be used outside of that range with an increased penalty or can you simply not target an enemy outside of a weapons listed range? I'm thinking it is the second option but I would just like to make sure before we sit down to play because I know it will come up.

The ranges listed are the maximum range an attack from the weapon in question can reach. Note that the Marksman Barrel attachment is a food solution for increasing range capabilities.

I believe I just found something in the beta rulebook that contradicts that. Pg. 149 of the beta rulebook under Starship and Vehicle Weapons, range bulletpoint. "Range: This is the rnage band within which the weapon is most effective. As in personal combat, range in space combat is measured in several broad bands from close to long range. Unlike in personal combat, the differences in distance between range bands at starship scale are so great that starships cannot attack targets beyond their range band. "

The bold part would seem to indicate that personal weapons can be used beyond their stated range.

My current guess is that you roll 1 difficulty dice up to whatever the weapons range is and add 1 for each range band beyond that. If anyone has better information please chime in.

I belive that bolded text has been removed in the updates and it now states something to the effect of: Like personal weapons, starship weapons cannot be used beyond their listed range.

Merlin82 said:

The range listed is the limit of the weapon. So if it says Close, then it can't be used for anything further than that.

There are talents which allow personal combat weapons to be used beyond their "maximum" range.

Thanks everyone. I know it was infered to work that way but it just wasn't very clearly stated. Overall I like how it works though. Forces you to make real choices about gear selection.