Here's my stab at the rules. The italisized text is to be removed and replaced by the bolded text. Sorry for the confusion by the software is rather limiting.
Missile Combat
Unlike most weapons which travel at or close to the speed of light and so hit strike enemy ships almost instantly, missiles require time to reach their target. take time to cross the gulf of space. However, despite this drawback limitation, missiles are capable of doing a great deal of damage when they hit an enemy ship can inflict tremendous damage if they are able to hit the enemy.
Launching Missiles
Missiles cannot be used against targets within Adjacent or Close ranges, as there is not enough time for them to obtain a solid lock and safety protocols are engaged to stop the, turning back and hitting their own launch vessel. Missiles cannot target an enemy that is Adjacent or at Close range since due to safety protocols related to gaining a good target lock. (NOTE: These aren’t torpedoes in the water, and really this should not be explained as a technological issue, as it’s something that could be easily overcome or over-ridden). It might be a good place to put in here that missiles launched at Adjacent or Close range gain no modifiers, positive or negative, due to their very short flight time. Maybe they hit on a 10+, and can't be engaged by point defense? In the Starfire universe this would be launching missile in sprint mode, very deadly if you could survive long enough to close the range. Just a thought, or maybe an addition to the alternate rules section?
Missiles launches are tracked and treated as are launched in salvos. A salvo is all the missiles launched by a ship against a single target in the same combat round. This could be a single missile from one turret or dozens from multiple turrets or bays (see High Guard for more information on weapon bays).
Missile salvos effectively have a Thrust of 10 and will reach their target a number of combat rounds after they have been fired, as shown on the Missile Flight table. If a missile has not reached its target within 5 rounds, it will run out of fuel and become inert.
Missile Flight
Range Rounds to Impact
Close and Short Immediate
Medium 1
Long 2
Very Long 3
Distant 5
Note that while missile salvos can be fired at Distant ranges, the attacking ship must have detected its target before they can be launched. Given the limited information that can be gained from sensors at this range, friendly fire incidents may be common among Travellers who are too trigger happy with their missiles.
If a missile has not reached its target within 5 rounds, it will run out of fuel and become inert.
Missiles and Targets
When a missile salvo reaches its target, the missile makes an attack roll as normal. However, the Gunner skill of the Traveller(s) that fired the salvo is not used as a DM.
Instead, the number of missiles in the salvo greatly affects their chances of making a successful attack. Apply DM+1 to the attack roll for every full 5 missiles in the salvo. (NOTE- This is true, but clunky. You could get ridiculously high DM’s. A hundred missile salvo gives you a +20 DM. Unless we can scale up the defensive DM’s just as high, which in theory you should be able to do, this gives too much of an advantage to an attacker).
Note that missiles almost always have the Smart trait (see page 75). For missiles, use the TL of the missile itself or that of the attacking ship, whichever is greater.
Finally, missiles launched at Distant range expend most of their fuel just reaching their target, leaving little to counter the target’s manoeuvres. Missile salvos launched at Distant range suffer DM-6 to their attack rolls. (NOTE – Why the negative DM? By the ways the rules are constructed there should be no negative aspect to entering any range band. We already don’t give bonus G speed to launched missiles, so why do we give bonus to targets because the missile is ending it’s flight phase at long range? It should be 100% efficient till the END of turn 5, when it no longer has the capability of maneuvering)
Impact
If an attack roll for a missile salvo is successful, the target will sustain damage. If the salvo consists of just a single missile, this is performed as normal.
However, if a salvo consists of more than one missile, do not add the Effect to the damage caused. Instead, add 1D of damage for every point of Effect. This represents the increased damage of multiple missiles striking their target.(NOTE – This explanation, taken on it’s own doesn’t make much sense. If you are going to be referring to an Effect, you should define it here. Otherwise a player may ask, are we talking radiation, regular damage, etc?).
Variant Missiles
High Guard introduces different types if of missiles that have increased accuracy, increased range or higher thrust ratings are more accurate, carry more fuel or are faster, but these These rules suit apply to all missiles included in this Core Rulebook. If a ship launches different types of missile at the same target in the same round, then all the missiles of each type are counted as a different considered individual separate salvoes.
Electronic Warfare
A Traveller performing sensor operator duties on a spacecraft can use the Electronic Warfare action to destroy jam or misdirect incoming missiles before they impact his vessel or another ship within Close range.Missiles that are successfully jammed or misdirected automatically self-destruct and are immediately removed from the salvo.
The sensor operator must succeed at a Difficult (10+) Electronics (sensors) check (1 round, INT) in order to destroy jam or render inert incoming missiles within a single salvo. The Effect of this check is applied as a negative DM to the salvo’s attack roll when it reaches the target. A sensor operator may only attempt to jam a salvo once per round.
Note that a negative Effect on the Electronics (sensors) check will give the salvo a bonus to hit – the sensor operator has made a critical mistake and effectively broadcast the position of his ship, giving the missiles a better electronic profile to attack!(NOTE – This shouldn’t occur. If the effort fails, it fails and the missiles are no more effective than they would have been to start.)
Electronic warfare may be performed upon a salvo multiple times over several rounds, with the effects being cumulative. However, an individual salvo may only be subjected to a single electronic warfare once per round, no matter how many sensor operators are available.
Long Range Launches
At extreme ranges, combat involving missiles creates a very different atmosphere. The target spacecraft will likely have detected the launches and its crew will have several tense minutes to watch the blips on their sensor screens gradually get closer and closer.
Fortunately, the crew need not be idle as they await their destruction as there are several countermeasures that can be taken against incoming missiles.
Electronic Warfare: A sensor operator may engage in electronic warfare once every round, following the rules above.
Flee: A spacecraft under missile attack may simply turn around and engage its manoeuvre drive, thrusting away from the missiles. Missiles are extremely long-ranged weapons and so it is not normally possible to outrange a missile in this way, but it can perhaps buy enough time to prolong electronic warfare or make a jump.
Point Defence: Finally, just as a salvo is about to strike, gunners may engage in point defence, as detailed on page 160.
[[[ Replace text on page 160 ]]]
Point Defence (Gunner)
Using a turret-mounted laser (beam or pulse), a gunner can destroy incoming missiles. Note that a weapon used for point defence cannot be used to also make an attacks in the same combat round, and vice versa. Weapons may only be used once a single instance per round in either the offensive or defensive role. (NOTE – Put in the rule here on how mixed-weapons turrets can function in the point defense role) Point defence may only be performed against missile salvos (see page 161) as they are about to make their attack roll against a target – missiles are too small and too fast to be targeted at greater ranges.
The gunner must succeed at a Gunner (turret) check against any missile salvo that is about to make its attack roll against his their spacecraft. If the salvo consists of a single missile, a successful check will automatically destroy it. Otherwise, the Effect of the check is used as a negative DM applied to the missile salvo’s attack roll. Note that, unlike electronic warfare (see page 162) a failed Gunner (turret) check will not provide the missile salvo with a bonus to its attack roll. A successful check will reduce the number of missiles in a salvo by the number of lasers controlled by the gunner in a turret.
Missile Combat
Unlike most weapons which travel at or close to the speed of light and so hit strike enemy ships almost instantly, missiles require time to reach their target. take time to cross the gulf of space. However, despite this drawback limitation, missiles are capable of doing a great deal of damage when they hit an enemy ship can inflict tremendous damage if they are able to hit the enemy.
Launching Missiles
Missiles cannot be used against targets within Adjacent or Close ranges, as there is not enough time for them to obtain a solid lock and safety protocols are engaged to stop the, turning back and hitting their own launch vessel. Missiles cannot target an enemy that is Adjacent or at Close range since due to safety protocols related to gaining a good target lock. (NOTE: These aren’t torpedoes in the water, and really this should not be explained as a technological issue, as it’s something that could be easily overcome or over-ridden). It might be a good place to put in here that missiles launched at Adjacent or Close range gain no modifiers, positive or negative, due to their very short flight time. Maybe they hit on a 10+, and can't be engaged by point defense? In the Starfire universe this would be launching missile in sprint mode, very deadly if you could survive long enough to close the range. Just a thought, or maybe an addition to the alternate rules section?
Missiles launches are tracked and treated as are launched in salvos. A salvo is all the missiles launched by a ship against a single target in the same combat round. This could be a single missile from one turret or dozens from multiple turrets or bays (see High Guard for more information on weapon bays).
Missile salvos effectively have a Thrust of 10 and will reach their target a number of combat rounds after they have been fired, as shown on the Missile Flight table. If a missile has not reached its target within 5 rounds, it will run out of fuel and become inert.
Missile Flight
Range Rounds to Impact
Close and Short Immediate
Medium 1
Long 2
Very Long 3
Distant 5
Note that while missile salvos can be fired at Distant ranges, the attacking ship must have detected its target before they can be launched. Given the limited information that can be gained from sensors at this range, friendly fire incidents may be common among Travellers who are too trigger happy with their missiles.
If a missile has not reached its target within 5 rounds, it will run out of fuel and become inert.
Missiles and Targets
When a missile salvo reaches its target, the missile makes an attack roll as normal. However, the Gunner skill of the Traveller(s) that fired the salvo is not used as a DM.
Instead, the number of missiles in the salvo greatly affects their chances of making a successful attack. Apply DM+1 to the attack roll for every full 5 missiles in the salvo. (NOTE- This is true, but clunky. You could get ridiculously high DM’s. A hundred missile salvo gives you a +20 DM. Unless we can scale up the defensive DM’s just as high, which in theory you should be able to do, this gives too much of an advantage to an attacker).
Note that missiles almost always have the Smart trait (see page 75). For missiles, use the TL of the missile itself or that of the attacking ship, whichever is greater.
Finally, missiles launched at Distant range expend most of their fuel just reaching their target, leaving little to counter the target’s manoeuvres. Missile salvos launched at Distant range suffer DM-6 to their attack rolls. (NOTE – Why the negative DM? By the ways the rules are constructed there should be no negative aspect to entering any range band. We already don’t give bonus G speed to launched missiles, so why do we give bonus to targets because the missile is ending it’s flight phase at long range? It should be 100% efficient till the END of turn 5, when it no longer has the capability of maneuvering)
Impact
If an attack roll for a missile salvo is successful, the target will sustain damage. If the salvo consists of just a single missile, this is performed as normal.
However, if a salvo consists of more than one missile, do not add the Effect to the damage caused. Instead, add 1D of damage for every point of Effect. This represents the increased damage of multiple missiles striking their target.(NOTE – This explanation, taken on it’s own doesn’t make much sense. If you are going to be referring to an Effect, you should define it here. Otherwise a player may ask, are we talking radiation, regular damage, etc?).
Variant Missiles
High Guard introduces different types if of missiles that have increased accuracy, increased range or higher thrust ratings are more accurate, carry more fuel or are faster, but these These rules suit apply to all missiles included in this Core Rulebook. If a ship launches different types of missile at the same target in the same round, then all the missiles of each type are counted as a different considered individual separate salvoes.
Electronic Warfare
A Traveller performing sensor operator duties on a spacecraft can use the Electronic Warfare action to destroy jam or misdirect incoming missiles before they impact his vessel or another ship within Close range.Missiles that are successfully jammed or misdirected automatically self-destruct and are immediately removed from the salvo.
The sensor operator must succeed at a Difficult (10+) Electronics (sensors) check (1 round, INT) in order to destroy jam or render inert incoming missiles within a single salvo. The Effect of this check is applied as a negative DM to the salvo’s attack roll when it reaches the target. A sensor operator may only attempt to jam a salvo once per round.
Note that a negative Effect on the Electronics (sensors) check will give the salvo a bonus to hit – the sensor operator has made a critical mistake and effectively broadcast the position of his ship, giving the missiles a better electronic profile to attack!(NOTE – This shouldn’t occur. If the effort fails, it fails and the missiles are no more effective than they would have been to start.)
Electronic warfare may be performed upon a salvo multiple times over several rounds, with the effects being cumulative. However, an individual salvo may only be subjected to a single electronic warfare once per round, no matter how many sensor operators are available.
Long Range Launches
At extreme ranges, combat involving missiles creates a very different atmosphere. The target spacecraft will likely have detected the launches and its crew will have several tense minutes to watch the blips on their sensor screens gradually get closer and closer.
Fortunately, the crew need not be idle as they await their destruction as there are several countermeasures that can be taken against incoming missiles.
Electronic Warfare: A sensor operator may engage in electronic warfare once every round, following the rules above.
Flee: A spacecraft under missile attack may simply turn around and engage its manoeuvre drive, thrusting away from the missiles. Missiles are extremely long-ranged weapons and so it is not normally possible to outrange a missile in this way, but it can perhaps buy enough time to prolong electronic warfare or make a jump.
Point Defence: Finally, just as a salvo is about to strike, gunners may engage in point defence, as detailed on page 160.
[[[ Replace text on page 160 ]]]
Point Defence (Gunner)
Using a turret-mounted laser (beam or pulse), a gunner can destroy incoming missiles. Note that a weapon used for point defence cannot be used to also make an attacks in the same combat round, and vice versa. Weapons may only be used once a single instance per round in either the offensive or defensive role. (NOTE – Put in the rule here on how mixed-weapons turrets can function in the point defense role) Point defence may only be performed against missile salvos (see page 161) as they are about to make their attack roll against a target – missiles are too small and too fast to be targeted at greater ranges.
The gunner must succeed at a Gunner (turret) check against any missile salvo that is about to make its attack roll against his their spacecraft. If the salvo consists of a single missile, a successful check will automatically destroy it. Otherwise, the Effect of the check is used as a negative DM applied to the missile salvo’s attack roll. Note that, unlike electronic warfare (see page 162) a failed Gunner (turret) check will not provide the missile salvo with a bonus to its attack roll. A successful check will reduce the number of missiles in a salvo by the number of lasers controlled by the gunner in a turret.
