Jak, I was having a hard time with that ruling also (I was a recreation major, not a mathematician or enginner) so I did some digging myself.
Here's the quote (page 50): "This margin of success is referred to as the Effect. For example, if a player rolls a 4 and 3, and has a +3 DM for a total of 10, then his Effect is 10 – 8 = 2."
So, if you need an 8 to hit, and you subtract 8 to get the effect, then all positive dice modifiers and extra points on the roll equal "The Effect", which is added to the damage. Did not realize that.
Also, there's this from page 66 (Armor): A hit with Effect 6+ always inflicts at least one point of damage, regardless of the target’s armour.
Looks like the fights just got meaner!
Does/should this apply to vehicle and space combat also? In the case of missiles (space combat, pg. 148-149), which could potentially have a to hit roll of 6 (based upon the result of the launch roll) you could be doing an extra 2 points of damage. Reasoning being, effect is based off of a base to hit of 8, and since a to hit of 6 is "better", there would be a +2 bonus. What do you think? Sounds like a house rule to me.
Thanks,
Whitt