If scenario 1 was any indication, then Arrow IV Homing Missiles sailing overhead are going to be a common sight this campaign, however due to general confusion concerning how Arrow IV Homing Missiles are actually targeted (they have to target a specific hex, they have to target a specific mapsheet, they have to be fired in a specific direction, and they can hit anywhere on the board were all suggested at one point before people generally settled on they have to be fired in a specific direction as being the most correct sounding possibility) I decided to dig out my copy of TacOps and see if I could make any sense of the situation. Initially, things looked pretty confusing as the rules in TacOps were vague enough that any of the previously described possibilities could be considered to be correct, however, while consulting the TacOps errata I found the following statement:
Arrow IV Homing Missiles (p. 354)
Under game rules, insert the following bullet before the existing bullets "• An Arrow IV Homing Missile targets a mapsheet, not a hex. On the turn the Arrow IV Homing Missile arrives, the firing player rolls 2d6, on a result of 4+ it strikes the map, on a 2 or 3 the missile fails to hit the map and is lost."
So, to the best of my understanding the procedure for firing Arrow IV Homing Missiles is as follows (assuming they are not being direct fired during the Weapon Attack Phase):
1. The controlling player fires the Arrow IV Homing Missile during the Targeting Phase at a specific mapsheet.
2. On the appropriate Indirect Artillery Attack Phase (as determined by the Indirect Artillery Flight Times table), the controlling player rolls 2d6. On a result of 4+ the Arrow IV Homing Missile successfully arrives at the target mapsheet; on a result of 2 or 3 the missile apparently got bored and wandered off to somewhere else.
3. The controlling player then determines which TAG designated target on the target mapsheet the Arrow IV Homing Missile shall strike. If there are no TAG designated targets on the target mapsheet when the Arrow IV Homing Missile arrives, then the missile explodes harmlessly in midair.
4. The controlling player rolls 2d6. On a result of 4+ the Arrow IV Homing Missile successfully strikes it's target; on a result of 2 or 3 the missile strikes the hex the target was occupying instead.
However, there is one additional aspect of Arrow IV Homing Missiles that needs to be clarified, which I am unable to determine what the correct answer to is:
Do Arrow IV Homing Missiles kill mechwarriors?
Total Warfare specifies six situations in which a mechwarrior is considered to be killed:
1. Destruction of the head.
2. Critical hit to the cockpit.
3. Center torso destroyed by an ammunition explosion with auto-eject disabled.
4. Center torso destroyed by an area effect weapon.
5. Accumulation of six or more pilot hits.
6. Exposure to a hostile environment.
Now, artillery weapons are all area effect weapons (meaning if they destroy the center torso then they kill the pilot) with the singular exception of the Arrow IV Homing Missile, which is.....weird. The rules for an Arrow IV Homing Missile specify that when it strikes its target it delivers 20 points of damage "treated as a hit from a direct-fire ballistic weapon" to its target and delivers 5 points of damage "treated as an area-effect weapon" to "all other units in the target's hex." In addition, the Artillery Ordnance Table specifies the Arrow IV Homing Missile's damage type to be Area-Effect. Thus, does the phrase "treated as a hit from a direct fire ballistic weapon" mean an Arrow IV Homing Missile inflicts 20 points of direct ballistic damage to its target or is it simply supposed to mean the 20 points of damage don't cluster into 5 point groups, but still count as area effect damage? If the 20 points of damage are actually direct ballistic damage, then it leads to very weird situations in which an Arrow IV Homing Missile that hits its target can't kill the pilot, but an Arrow IV Homing Missile that misses its target and hits the hex can kill the pilot. On the flip side, if those 20 points are considered to be area effect damage, then why do they only effect the target and nothing else in the hex?
Getting this question resolved quickly is rather important since the Coalition lost a Crab to center torso destruction from an Arrow IV Homing Missile and the WoB lost an Awesome (with a veteran pilot no less) to center torso destruction from an Arrow IV Homing Missile in Scenario 1. So, are those two mechwarriors dead or alive?
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Topic: Arrow IV Homing Missile Clarification (Read 5606 times)