States of Detection in MT HG:
A ship can be undetected at all (not on map, special case), detected (on map, location known ±10 million meters), or Located (Scanned), or target-locked.
Detection doesn't tell you anything other than "There is something roughly there, and it's going this fast"
Remember the ranges:
Visual = 1 space (but should be same space - errata item)
Near = 2 spaces
Far 3-10 spaces
Extreme 11-100 spaces (Book says 11+, but again...)
Anything within 100 spaces is pretty much detected just by looking with sensors of near range (=planetary) or better.
A ship gets 1 free sensor action each round.
a ship gets one gunnery action per battery.
Gunnery actions can be used for extra sensor actions.
A sensor action can be to improve from detected to located.
Roll 2d6+Your Computer - (squares range) for the best difficulty listed that you still have sensors for.
So, If using passives, use your Pass Obj Scan. If using acitves, use ActObjScan
Fumble (failed by >2, or failed with nat 2): Not located
Fail by 1: Strong and/or Large target located
Made by 0 to 1: Strong/Large or Moderate/Medium target located.
Made by 2+: Strong/Large, Moderate/Medium and weak/small located
Made by 4+: any target located.
A second action is needed to lock the target and to get detailed answers about it.
Again, 2d6+YourComputer - (range in squares)
Locks use the PassObjPin or ActObjPin, rather than scan.
They have double valued the task. Uncertain means there are two rolls, yours and the GM's.
Yours succeeding gives you a lock, no matter what.
If one of the two succeeds, you get power and tonnage, but NOT type nor other data.
If both succeed, you get type code.
You must have a lock to fire.
Note that sensor status is shared across a side. So, if D1 locks M4, D2-D6 can all fire on M4.
Also, if the Sensor Officer or Gunnery Officer is a PC, they can use their Sensor Ops skill in place of the Computer model number. It's seldom worth it.
Oh, and those tactics pools? you can spend them BEFORE ROLLING to increase your skill or computer model number
Actually Shooting Stuff
Assuming you haven't used all your gunnery actions on sensors...
And you have a lock on the target...
step 1: State the target
Step 2: decide how many batteries are firing. You cannot fire more than you have batteries bearing (which is on the ship data).
Step 3: Resolve one battery at a time
Step 3.1: Roll To-Hit.
Step 3.2: Roll to penetrate. Repeat for each relevant defense
Step 3.3: roll system hit(s)
Step 3.4: resolve criticals, if needed.
Step 3.5: repeat for next battery.
Rolling To Hit
11+ on 2d6 + Your Computer + Range Mod – Target's Def DM.
(You may spend tactics points from the ship's pool or the fleet pool to increase your computer for one shot)
Defense DM is listed on the target's data.
| Range | Visual | Near | Far | Extreme |
| Laser | 0 | 0 | –1 | –1 |
| Misile | 0 | 0 | +1 | +1 |
| Meson | 0 | 0 | –2 | –2 |
| Plasma/Fusion | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A |
| Tractors | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A |
Special Cases:
Line Of Sight: If something blocks the line of sight, you can't shoot.
Visual Range Pinpoint Shots: If at Visual range, and you roll at least 2 more than needed, you get to pick which system type is hit. If you roll 4 more than needed, you may pick a critical hit.
Meson Guns: To Hit roll is modified by the to-hit number. This is because it's literally a huge (up to 1/2 km) ball of death...
Spinal Mounts (Rules only include PA and Meson): Target numebr is Routine (7+), not difficult. Also, you get to use agility instead of computer.
Gunners: If a battery's head gunner is statted out, you may use his/her weapon skill in place of the computer number.
Penetration
Once you have rolled to hit and succeeded, you need to get past the degenses.
For each defense screen that applies.
Difficult (11+) on 2d6 +You Computer + Table Modifier – Their computer model.
Beams have to penetrate sand. Beams means Lasers, PA's, Plasmas, and Fusion. Rather than separate tables for Plasma and fusion, they get +2 to penetrate above the table. Look up the weapon factor across, the sand factor down.
Disintegrators and nuclear missiles have to pass the dampers
Missiles (nuclear or conventional) have to pass the sand and the repulsors.
Tractors have to pass the repulsors.
Meson Guns have to penetrate the Meson Screen and have to penentrate the ships configuration.
If you passed all the penetration rolls for the battery, go on to damage
Damage Rolls
If weapon is not a spinal: one damage roll on each allowed table
If weapon is a spinal: Factor-9 rolls on each allowed table
Weapon Type determines which tables are used.
Note that this makes PA's, Nuclear Missiles, Antimatter Missiles, Disintegrators, and Meson Guns doubly nasty: they all roll that many times on each of the two tables
Each damage roll is 2d6.
Long list of mods...
| What | Surface | Radiation | Interior |
| Factor ≤9 (non Spinal) | -6 | –6 | –6 |
| Factor ≥A (10) (Spinals) | +0 | —— | —— |
| Armor | | | |
| Pulse Laser | +2 | —— | —— |
| Nuclear Missile | +6 | +0 | —— |
| Black Globe/White Globe | | | |
[tc=3]AV ≤42: +0
AV 43: –1
AV 46: –2
AV49: –3
AV52: –4
AV55: –5
AV58: –6
AV61: –7
AV64: –8
Etc.[/tc]
[tc=3]+6 AV per factor of flicker[/tc]
[tr]
The damage tables on p 101 tell you what gets hit.
A weapon hit kills a number of batteries equal to its rating, until only one is left, then that last one takes a reduction to its rating, instead.
Fuel hits are that percentage of fuel. On small ships, the minimum loss is 10 tons of fuel. (Ships with less than 333 tons of fuel always lose 10 tons on any fuel hit.)
A drive hit reduce that drive's rating.
A computer hit reduces the computer number.
Critical Hits: Look Up the (p 93) Critical Hit Distribution number. Subtract it from the weapon's UCP Factor. The remainder is the number of critical hits rolled and also the number of armor factors lost.
Note that a Factor 3 vs a 100T ship is going to be 2 crits - it's possible to get a single turret up to factor 4... enough to do a crit ona 400Td merchant. Crits are what really kills...
All Crit rolls are a flat 2d6 on the table on page 94.
Criticals shut down a system.
