Have read through he book a couple of times now, but am still confused as to how to run space combat, i see no opposed rolls, no use for pilot skill and no reason at all for speed ratings.

I know i am missing something, can someone help?

All of the things you mention are in there, just not strongly. Look at speed restrictions on Maneuvers for a start.

You're not alone in this sentiment, Rimmer1. I've run some space combat on several occasions and I feel like I'm missing details too.

HappyDaze is right, the rules are there but not called out in a very clear manner. There are, however, a few handy sheets in the "compiled resources" thread, you might find those handy? There's a step-by-step sheet I found in there.

I've requested some live play example of space combat from certain podcasters but thus far, it's not as hot a topic as others so I don't expect we'll see it soon.

All that aside:

*your gunnery difficulty rolls are set by silhouette differences

*your pilots (and maybe copilot's) maneuvers add or subtract dice from enemy pools. There is no direct opposed rolls between pilots.

This might be a house rule, but I have the pilot roll his piloting skill and note the success/advantages/triumphs rolled, and that sets the difficulty for an enemy trying to counteract a certain maneuver.

Have read through he book a couple of times now, but am still confused as to how to run space combat, i see no opposed rolls, no use for pilot skill and no reason at all for speed ratings.

I know i am missing something, can someone help?

Rolls are (usually) against standardized base difficulties with the characters able to take actions that can apply bonuses and modifiers (similar to personal level combat). This is a mechanic that (combined with many other elements) helps balance the playing field between characters of different power levels. When you've got a game with a setting like star wars you need to keep the limited balance, or you end up with iconic opponents like stormtroopers becoming worthless cardboard standups when the players hit a certain power level.

The pilot skill is required, but not every turn. FFG wanted to free up pilots do do more then just make piloting rolls over and over every turn (important when one man fighter craft are an expected part of the game). Pilots don't have to roll to "not crash" like they do in other games. Pilots do have a list of special actions that only they can take, but their use is a tactical decision so some actions won't always be useful against all enemies all the time.

Speed in EotE is a representation of both how fast a craft can go and how it can use that speed when maneuvering. So a lamba shuttle, speed 3, and a y-wing, speed 4, both fly at roughly the same speed when trying to cover ground, but when it comes to certain combat maneuvers (like gain the advantage) the y-wing is just a little more agile and as such a harder target.

In combat there is not really any opposed rolls. You have a base difficulty due to silhouette comparisons, ranges. Followed by Boost or setback dice for other defensive or offensive actions taken

Piloting rolls are only really needed when performing "Gain the advantage" and if you are in a chase. otherwise you are just making the ship harder to hit, or a more stable platform to fire from.

The most important thing about space combat is that trying to run it literally in a vacuum, i.e. open space without environmental obstacles, is going to be boring as all get out. As was mentioned in another thread on the general forum, Speed and Silhouette really come into play when you have obstacles and environmental conditions to avoid, and that's probably where a lot of the player-side creativity will occur too.

What I usually do is ignore the maneuvers section in the rules entirely, and have each pilot spend one maneuver on their turn on a "Dogfight Maneuver". This is an opposed Piloting check between them and their target (modified by ship handling, circumstances, etc.). Each success moves the enemy ship one facing, while every 2 advantages moves them one facing on the enemy ship.

Example:

A NPC TIE/LN Fighter is on the tail of a PC BTL-A4 Y-Wing.

Y-Wing has a TIE Fighter in its Rear Arc.

TIE Fighter has a Y-Wing in its Front Arc.

The PC pilot goes first.

The PC takes a Dogfight Maneuver, resulting in two Successes and two Advantages.

1 Success: move TIE Fighter from Y-Wing's Rear Arc to Left Arc.

1 Success: move TIE Fighter from Y-Wing's Left Arc to Front Arc.

2 Advantages: move Y-Wing from TIE Fighter's Front Arc to Left Arc.

The PC can now use his Action to attack with a weapon capable of firing into the Y-Wing's Front Arc.

The skilled Y-Wing pilot loops around,shaking the TIE off his tail and then coming back in at a sharp angle, firing steadily.

The NPC Pilot goes next.

The NPC takes a Dogfight Maneuver, resulting in three Advantages.

2 Advantages: move TIE Fighter from Y-Wing's Front Arc to Left Arc.

1 Advantage: regain 1 Strain.

The NPC cannot use his action to attack, as the Y-Wing is still in his Left Arc. However, he is outside of the Y-Wing's Front Arc as well, and as it's a BTL-A4, all of its weapons are fixed Forward.

The TIE pilot leverages his vessel's superior maneuverability to cut inside his opponent's turn. Although he can't get the enemy into his own gunsights, he breathes a sigh of relief as he escapes the Y-Wing's line of fire.

Have read through he book a couple of times now, but am still confused as to how to run space combat, i see no opposed rolls, no use for pilot skill and no reason at all for speed ratings.

I know i am missing something, can someone help?

It varies depending on the situation but this is generally how i have been doing it:

1. GM announces initial range..

2. Players roll for initiative

3.. When its a pilots turn, he/she rolls an opposing piloting check against the Other ships pilot (if against multiple ships, against the pilot with highest piloting skill), if the roll is successful, the pilot gets to successfully perform whatever "Pilot Only" maneuvers/actions (on pg 232-235 in core rulebook) they want (no additonal roll). If they failed the piloting check, the opposing ship has shaken off that pilots attempt, no maneuvers or actions granted.

In regards to speed, if an opposing ship is not matching the other ships present speed, the opposing pilot will receive a number of setback dice on opposing piloting checks, equal to how many speed points they are short. Also, they will simply lose them in as many rounds as i see fit (if the ship is trying to escape the other ship).

There are exceptions to the rules ofcourse, but by sticking to the above as my default approach has kept space combat flowing nicely for my group now! Hope it helps

In space combat, any pilot checks usually include avoiding obstacles and such.

The entire set up for space combat is narrative, using maneuvers in comparison between combatants.

The difficulty for gunnery checks is based upon range and silhouette size, as listed in the core book.

How i set things up is to narrate the encounter between combatants, allowing pilot checks when needed to avoid obstacles and such if required.The other characters in the ship will focus on things such as piloting,repairs,gunnery,ect. This gives each character something to do in combat.The pilot uses most of the maneuvers listed.The whole point of narrating space combat is to give the feel of the fast pace action in star wars.The rules for space combat are not much different than those for characters.