Heavy Weapon Tricks

These tricks are available for any Heavy/Large class weapon (machine guns, heavy cannons) regardless of weapon type. Your accuracy comes from the weapon type skill (e.g., Weapons Ranged Slug); these tricks add specialised heavy-weapon techniques on top.

Tactical

Brace and Mount:

Cost: 2 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action
Requires: Tactical Training, Large Class Weapon
Duration: Until you move
Effect: You deploy your heavy weapon on a surface, tripod, vehicle mount, or your squadmate's shoulder. While braced, you gain Boon(1) to all attack rolls with the weapon and ignore the Bane normally imposed by firing a Large weapon without powered armour. Moving, being knocked Prone, or being forced to relocate ends the brace. Setting up is an Action; tearing down is free.

Brace & Channel:

Cost: 2 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action
Requires: Tactical Training, Large Class Weapon
Duration: Until you move or your next turn, whichever is shorter
Effect: You plant your feet and channel the weapon's recoil into the ground rather than across your stance. While braced you gain Boon(1) on AF defence rolls from any direction (the weapon is a solid bulwark in front of you), and your next attack with the weapon deals +1 Hit. Moving, being knocked Prone, or losing the brace ends the effect. A natural companion to Brace and Mount; you may use both on the same turn if you have both purchased.

Spray Discipline:

Cost: 3 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Tactical Training, Large Class Weapon
Duration: Encounter
Frequency: Once per encounter
Effect: Once per encounter, when you sweep with a Heavy weapon (Sweeping Fire, Walking Fire, or any equivalent maneuver), the sweep does not consume ammo from your reserve; it draws from a buffered burst you've been managing all fight. The shots still hit; the magazine still has rounds. Heavy gunners call it the silent reload; everyone else calls it cheating.

Heavy Sight:

Cost: 3 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action
Requires: Tactical Training, Large Class Weapon
Duration: 1 shot
Effect: Spend an Action to designate an aim point through your Heavy weapon's optic. Your next attack with the weapon this turn gains Boon(1). The aim point is a precise square within your weapon's Range; declare it openly. The squad spotter usually calls it for you when you're too busy keeping the barrel level.

Crew Served:

Cost: 2 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action (designate)
Requires: Tactical Training, Large Class Weapon, an ally adjacent to you willing to act as Loader
Duration: Encounter
Effect: Spend an Action at the start of an encounter to designate an adjacent ally as your Loader. While the Loader is adjacent and not Wounded, once per round you gain an Extra Action that can only be used to fire your designated Heavy weapon. The Loader does not have to use any of their own Actions; feeding the gun is its own reward, and being adjacent to a Heavy weapon firing constantly is its own kind of cover.

Expert

Sweeping Fire:

Cost: 3 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 2 Actions
Requires: Expert Training, Heavy Weapon with the Full Auto property
Duration: Passive
Effect: You spray an area with sustained automatic fire. Heavy Guns with Full Auto can perform this maneuver.

• The weapon uses one Shot for each target, up to the quantity of ammo remaining
• You can target up to the maximum number of targets listed under the weapon description, as ammo allows, and roll attacks against all of them
• OR if the weapon has the Arc property, you can fire against all targets in the Arc as ammo allows with a single attack roll
• You cannot skip targets in your sweep; everyone is targeted from the left-most to the right-most or vice versa
• This attack gains Boon(2) to Hit
• The weapon deals its normal Hits to each creature hit

Walking Fire:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 3 Actions
Requires: Expert Training, Heavy Weapon with the Full Auto property
Duration: Passive
Effect: You walk a stream of automatic fire across the battlefield in a line. Designate a starting square and an ending square within your weapon's range (maximum 6 squares apart). Roll a single attack. Every creature in the line between those two squares is targeted by the attack. Consumes 1 Shot per square in the line. The weapon deals its normal Hits to each creature hit. You cannot move during the round you use Walking Fire.

Lock Mount:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Expert Training, Brace and Mount
Duration: Passive (while Braced and Mounted)
Effect: Brace and Mount no longer ends at the start of your next turn; it persists across rounds without re-setting, provided you do not move from your braced position. You may turn the weapon's facing as part of any Action without breaking the mount. Re-setting the mount after movement still costs an Action.

Recoil Channel:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Expert Training, Brace & Channel
Duration: Passive (while Channeling)
Effect: While Channeling with Brace & Channel, your Heavy weapon attacks deal +1 Hit and you ignore knockback effects (forced movement of any kind, regardless of source). The recoil that would push you backward instead drives the weapon's barrel into the next shot; every Hit lands a little harder than the last.

Heavy Calibre:

Cost: 5 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Expert Training, Large Class Weapon
Duration: 1 shot
Frequency: Once per encounter
Effect: Once per encounter, declare a single Heavy attack as a Heavy Calibre shot. The attack ignores up to 2 of the target's DR (any damage type). Apply this before DR degradation is calculated; the target's protection is bypassed for that hit, not eroded. The first time the squad sees you do this, they remember the round. The second time, they remember to stand behind you.

Bipod Drop:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Expert Training, Brace and Mount, Large Class Weapon with an integrated bipod
Duration: Passive
Effect: Gain an Extra Action that can only be used to deploy your weapon's bipod. While deployed, the bipod functions as Brace and Mount until you move from your square or the bipod is folded. The Extra Action refreshes once each time you stand from a Braced position. Faster to drop than to lock; faster to lock than to fire.

Master

Saturation Fire:

Cost: 6 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 3 Actions
Requires: Master Training, Heavy Weapon with the Full Auto property, 20+ Shots remaining
Duration: Until the start of your next turn
Effect: You pour an obscene volume of fire into a designated kill zone. Select a 4-square-by-4-square area within your weapon's range. Roll a single attack; this becomes the Saturation TL for the zone. Until the start of your next turn:

• Any creature that enters the zone or starts its turn there takes the weapon's full Hits
• Creatures in the zone that attempt to move must beat your Saturation TL with their DF or be Staggered(1) and pinned in place
• Consumes 20 Shots
• You cannot move, take other Actions, or change targets while saturating
• Light cover in the zone is destroyed. Heavy cover takes a Glitch Check

The ammo bill is terrifying. The effect is worse.

Tripod Master:

Cost: 5 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Master Training, Brace and Mount, Lock Mount
Duration: Passive (while Braced and Mounted)
Effect: While Braced and Mounted, you gain Boon(1) on AF defence rolls and the Bane normally imposed by firing a Large weapon without powered armour is reduced to nil. The mount becomes part of your stance; you defend behind it, you fire across it, and the only way out is when you decide to stand up.

Storm of Steel:

Cost: 6 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Master Training, Brace & Channel, Recoil Channel
Duration: Passive (while Channeling)
Effect: Each consecutive round you Channel with Brace & Channel, your Heavy weapon attacks gain a stacking +1 Hit, to a maximum of +3 (round 1 = +0, round 2 = +1, round 3 = +2, round 4+ = +3). The bonus drops to +0 the moment you stop Channeling, move from your square, or are Staggered; there is no ramp-down, only a switch.

Wall of Fire:

Cost: 6 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 3 Actions
Requires: Master Training, Heavy Weapon with the Full Auto property, 30+ Shots remaining
Duration: Until the start of your next turn
Effect: You designate a 4-square-wide line within your weapon's range. Roll a single attack; this becomes the Wall TL for the line. Until the start of your next turn, any creature that crosses or starts its turn in that line takes the weapon's full Hits and is pushed 1 square away from your firing position on a Hit. Consumes 30 Shots. You cannot move, take other Actions, or change targets while maintaining the wall. The Wall is not where the enemy goes to die; it is where the enemy stops going.

Cannon Shot:

Cost: 6 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 2 Actions
Requires: Master Training, Large Class Weapon
Duration: 1 shot
Effect: Spend 2 Actions to overcharge a single shot. The attack deals +2 Hit. After the shot resolves, the weapon loses 1 Quality. Useful when one Hit is the difference between the target stands and the target does not.