Chapter Nine

Vehicles


An Assyrian detachment treks across the frozen wastelands of Iceworld.
Photo: Natalya
From "2011 Snowpocalypse"
Elements shown: LEGO

informal rights: Natalya 5/30/20

"Krysto" may be LEGO IP; remove reference

Heavy weapons are all about location; they're only as valuable as the targets they can reach. Sadly, it's rare to find an opponent considerate enough to build targets next to your weapon emplacements, or one who lets you build weapon emplacements next to their targets.

Rather than limiting weapons to the targets in a single location, it's handy to give them a means of moving around. The value of a fine weapon can be increased dramatically by strapping a vehicle to it.

9.1 Propulsion


Working together with their Dwarven allies, the Frostborne Tribe has constructed a Mammoth Siege-Sleigh. The propulsion of this mobile fortress is handled by a giant Frost Golem pushing from the rear.
Photo: Kenny "Kommander Ken" Bush
From "The Frostborne Tribe"
Elements shown: LEGO

image rights: Kommander Ken, signed 7/23

Uploaded, final

Creations that move around are vehicles, and every vehicle requires at least one propulsion system, even if the method of powering that propulsion is hard to explain. (Construction-brick siege engines are notorious for rolling around merrily despite a lack of horses or haulers to pull them.)

For game purposes, all that's important is the vehicle's type of movement. Whether or not it has any means to power that movement is politely overlooked.

Like all devices in BrikWars, every propulsion system should be represented by specific physical elements. Most will be obvious: wheels and sails and zeppelin balloons are represented by wheel elements and sail elements and zeppelin balloon elements, respectively. For more exotic propulsion systems, like levitation crystals that use sparkle magic to transport floating minifig bordellos between opposing war camps, the physical components should be pointed out to the other players so there's no confusion about which elements to target first.

Propulsion Types

While BrikWars vehicles can utilize whatever bizarre propulsion systems players come up with, they're generally sorted into one of two categories. Standard propulsion allows units to move around on tabletops, floors, and brick-built surfaces. Flight propulsion allows units to travel above the surfaces, flying over obstacles and sneering at ground forces hampered by petty gravity.

In terrestrial battles, ground and sea units will use standard propulsion, and air units will use Flight. In other locations and genres, this can change. In an undersea battle, submarines and swimming units will use undersea Flight, and only the crawling bottom feeders will be stuck in standard. In an outer space battle, the large capital ships can be treated as standard propulsion vehicles, while the spacefighters flying above and around them can use Flight.

For propulsion types outside of the standard and Flight categories (spider climbing, underground tunneling, or teleportation, for example), players are encouraged to come up with house rules as needed.

Alternate Movement

Vehicles may sometimes move outside of their usual medium if it's appropriate to do so. Common sense should be an adequate guide: automobiles can move at lower speed through standing water, but they can't fly; airplanes can move at lower speed on the runway, but can't swim; submarines may move at lower speed boating around the ocean surface, but they can't roll around on land or perform cartwheels.

Vehicles moving in an alternate medium move at Half Speed (4.1: Movement). No matter how many Move or Sprint inches they have to spend, no vehicle can move more than five inches in an alternate medium in any single turn.

Sprinting

Like minifigs, a vehicle can be made to Sprint (4.1: Movement) in order to add its operator's Action Roll to its Move inches, as long as it's driving in a straight line. As with any other unit, vehicles can't make any turns while Sprinting.

Move Inches

Move Enhancements
Attribute Base Enhancements
Move
0"
5"
10"
5"
FlightFly
10"
FlightFly
15"
FlightFly
-: Half Speed
Size Enhancements
Base Enhancements
0"
5"
10"
5"
Flighty
10"
Flighty
15"
Flighty
-: Half Speed

Creations are stationary by default, with zero Move inches to spend. Each Size Enhancement to Move adds five inches, up to a maximum Move of 10".

A player can also use a Size Enhancement to give a creation Flight propulsion. A creation with Flight can raise its Move to a maximum of 15".

A Move Impairment reduces a creation to Half Speed (4.1: Movement). Only creations that already have Move inches can take this Impairment.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to have an Impairment that can only be added after its associated Enhancement, but making sense has never been one of BrikWars' priorities. The Half Speed Impairment is often conditional - a creation can switch it on and off when it needs to activate a paired Enhancement that the Half Speed pays for (e.g., increased Power).
Vehicle Movement Speeds
MoveGround VehiclesWater VehiclesFlying Vehicles
5" bull­dozers, lawn­mowers,
golf carts
galleys, steam­boats,
surf­boards
zepp­elins, gliders,
mini­copters
10" tanks, trains, cars gall­eons, sub­marines,
speed­boats
assault heli­copters,
hover­bikes
15" (Flight only) fighter planes, space­craft

Most vehicles have a Move of 10", but players can choose whatever Move rating they feel is appropriate for their propulsion system. Five inches is the speed of a minifig, ten inches is the speed of a Horse, and fifteen inches is only possible for creations with Flight propulsion.

Move ratings don't always have to be in multiples of five inches, but it tends to make things easier to keep track of, especially if players are relying on sixteen-stud bricks to measure five-inch distances.
Move and Armor Example: The Space Pyramids

Example: Three floating Size 3" Pyramids have arrived from another dimension with unknown motives and mysterious properties. Players must decide on their stats and abilities.

0"3d10

If the Pyramids are active but stationary units hovering in place, their Size of 3" means they could have three Armor Enhancements, giving them 3 Armor, the highest level allowed for normal units.

5"2d10

If the Pyramids creep along the ground with 5" of standard propulsion, they can use their two remaining Enhancements to raise their Armor to 2.

15"
Flight
1d6
½
Power

If the Pyramids hurtle through the air with a terrifying 15" of Flight propulsion, they've spent more than their three Enhancements and must take a Half Power Impairment to pay for the fourth. Their Armor remains at the default 1.

Propulsion Damage

Propulsion Damage
DamageEffect
Major propulsion component lost -1" Move, cumulative
Half of propulsion components lost /
vehicle dragging on ground
Half Speed
All propulsion components lost Movement eliminated
Critical Flight component lost Flight movement eliminated
Aerodynamic Flight reduced to Half Speed Flight movement eliminated at end of turn

own drawing

Uploaded, final

For most devices, damage is an all-or-nothing affair. A steering wheel is either slagged or it isn't; an elbow is either attached or it's not.

Propulsion systems are a little more granular. If attackers can destroy or disable a major propulsion component (one tire off a dune buggy, one leg off of a RoboSpider), the vehicle's Move is reduced by 1" for each lost component. If half of the propulsion elements are destroyed (one leg off a Tyrannosaurus, one wheel off a motorcycle), or if any part of the vehicle is dragging on the ground, then the vehicle moves at Half Speed, after applying all other applicable penalties. If all the elements are destroyed (one pogo off of a pogo stick, one balloon off of a hot air balloon), the vehicle's movement ability is eliminated entirely.

Aerodynamic Flight systems are especially fragile (as opposed to space or magic Flight, which tend to be more resilient). The destruction of one blade of a helicopter or one wing of a dragon is enough to ground them immediately.

Vehicles flying above the ground need a minimum amount of propulsion strength to stay aloft. (Vehicles flying in orbit or in space have no such problems). Any time an aerodynamic flying vehicle is reduced to Half Speed for any reason, it falls out of the sky at the end of the turn.

Loss of Control

A vehicle can lose control for any number of reasons. The operator might be dead, absent, or distracted by text messages. The controls might be disconnected, destroyed, or contradicted by enemies interfering on auxiliary controls (8.5: Manning Guns). The propulsion system might be damaged, disabled, or sabotaged to function perfectly but in the wrong direction.

Out of control vehicles keep going in whichever direction they were already going, at whatever speed they were already moving. Their movement continues in a straight line every turn until they end up in a Collision (9.5: Collisions) or exit the battlefield, unless players come up with a specific reason they should change direction.

If a vehicle loses power (the fuel line is severed, the minifig pressing the gas pedal implodes) or loses propulsion effectiveness (a truck tips off its wheels, an aircraft carrier beaches itself), it can use Momentum to continue moving, buying 1 Move inches for each MOM spent before grinding to a halt. Flying vehicles, in particular, grind to a halt by nosediving straight down from their final position and smashing into the ground.

9.2 Maneuver­ing


own drawing

Uploaded, final

The Noxarian Peacekeeper Class APC features a missile rack to peacekeep urban landscapes into rubble and an advanced suspension to drive smoothly over them afterwards.
Photo: BrickSyd
From "Noxarian APC (Peacekeeper Class)"
Elements shown: LEGO

Minifigs and animals are used to unlimited maneuvering. Minifigs are free to spend their Move inches almost however they want - running, climbing, rolling around, and doing backflips at will. Most vehicles can't move quite this freely. Biplanes, monster trucks, and surfboards aren't able to twirl in place or hop from side to side the way minifigs can, and when they do, it means something's gone wrong.

Standard Maneuvering

In almost all cases, players' instincts about their own vehicles' maneuverability are good enough. Players tend to have a pretty good idea of what kind of maneuvers a tricycle can and can't perform as compared to a mechadragon or a hot air balloon. Maneuvering limits should only be used in isolated instances when players want a large vehicle to feel ponderous, or when vehicles enter a space that's tight enough for their maneuverability to be an issue.

Using standard maneuvering, players shove their vehicles and creatures around in whatever manner feels natural, and save their focus and attention for parts of the game more likely to result in stuff getting blown up (8.4: Heavy Explosives).

Advanced Maneuvering

When players insist on paying attention to a vehicle's steering limits, they should first take a deep breath and consider their priorities in life. Then they have to decide which type of steering best matches their vehicle.

Forward Maneuvering

Using Forward Maneuvering, this tank can make one turn each time it travels the length of its own chassis.
Using Stationary Maneuvering, the corner of the tank chassis moves four inches over the course of turning in place.
replace with photos

By default, most vehicles rely on forward maneuvering - they must be moving forwards or backwards in order to turn.

The minimum turning radius for a Forward Maneuvering vehicle is determined by the length of its main Structure (7.1: Structure). For a Forward Maneuvering vehicle, any turns up to ninety degrees are legal as long as it clears the length of its own Structure between turns.

Vehicles like large naval vessels and slow siege engines may need multiple player turns to travel their own Structure length. When this happens, it's better to use the vehicles' Move inches as Thrust rather than using forward maneuvering (9.3: Thrust).

Apart from airplanes in flight and rocket-based vehicles, almost all forward maneuvering vehicles can move backwards, but they do so at Half Speed.

Stationary Maneuvering

Some propulsion systems can turn in place while stationary. Rowboats, hovercraft, helicopters, antigravity spacefighters, and vehicles on treads or legs all have the ability to turn and face a new direction without the need to move forwards or backwards.

A Stationary Maneuvering vehicle may use its Move inches for forward maneuvering as usual, but it may also use inches to turn in place at any point during regular movement. The player finds the point on the vehicle's core structure furthest away from the center of rotation, and rotates that point as many Move inches as necessary for the vehicle to turn in place.

Flight Maneuvering

In the inevitable battle accompanying a State of the Union address by the President of Noxar, the players use industrial pylons to position flying vehicles at the proper altitudes. This places the Deep Space Management interceptor precisely in range of a biker's thrown dynamite.
Photo: BrickSyd
From "The President's Speech"
Elements shown: LEGO

image rights: BrickSyd, signed
Flight Limits

Due to BrikWars' open-ended nature, flying vehicles can be ripe for game-breaking abuse. If a player's forces are limited to sword-wielding knights, an opponent can ruin their day by fielding an assault helicopter, hovering just above sword-throwing range, and casually carpet-bombing the helpless ground troops into oblivion.

Obviously, this is fun for nobody, and the knightly player has not only the right but the obligation to break those opponents' noses if they try this.

In order to prevent this (the game-breaking, not the nose-breaking), flying vehicles limit themselves to a maximum altitude of five inches in ground battles.

When flying vehicles use forward maneuvering, their pitch changes are limited in the same way as their turn radius. If players aren't keeping track of flying vehicles' specific altitudes, they're considered to be five inches off the ground by default.

A flying vehicle must be no more than five vertical inches higher than a target in order to attack it.

When dropping bombs or other objects, flying vehicles may only target spots directly underneath their own flight path. The dropped object may end up off of that path due to a Missed Shot (5.3: Ranged Combat). The Use rating for aiming dropped objects is equal to the distance of the drop in inches.

Unlimited Maneuvering

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While uncommon, there are a few types of propulsion systems that can match a minifig's freedom of mobility. If a vehicle's propulsion system is based on sufficiently agile limbs (mecha, horses, robot velociraptors, minifigs) or hover flight (propeller drones, magic carpets, flying saucers), then that vehicle has unlimited maneuvering and enjoys the potential to prance around as freely as any minifig.

Unlimited maneuverability is too complicated for untrained minifigs to handle effectively. In order to take advantage of unlimited maneuvering, the vehicle must either be turned into a creature a Mind of its own  (10.1: Minds) or be controlled by an operator with the Piloting Specialty (9.4: Piloting). A maneuverable vehicle that's controlled by a non-Pilot minifig is limited to regular forward and stationary maneuvering instead.

Jumps

Staring down the barrel of an Assyrian Vanquisher Super Tank that just blew a hole in its own Death Wall to give itself a better shot, these Akkadian fanatics hatch a crazy plan. Using the rubble of the Death Wall as a ramp, they jump their death buggy up and onto the Vanquisher before it can respond.
Photo: Natalya
From "QoP: Head Separator Part III"
Elements shown: LEGO
image rights: Natalya, 4/20/20

Vehicles with jump capability can leap across any distance within their Move radius, although the height of the leap can't exceed twice the height of their legs (or other jumping propulsion system).

Vehicles without jump capability can only jump by building up Momentum (9.5: Collisions) and launching themselves off of ramps. When a vehicle is launched off a ramp, it continues traveling in a straight line in the direction at which it left the ramp. The distance of the jump is determined by the vehicle operator's Action Die and the vehicle's Momentum - each MOM spent adds one Action Die of jump distance (or 1" for creations without an Action Die). The vehicle can continue flying in a straight line for any distance up to the jump distance, and then drops straight down to end its movement for the turn. Depending on the height of the drop at the end, a jumping vehicle may take Collision damage with the ground when it lands (9.5: Collisions).

Non-flying vehicles generally have no ability to turn while in midair, but What I Say Goes exceptions might be made for vehicles equipped with some kind of sails or airfoils.

Players are encouraged to be generous in deciding which objects can be used as airfoils.

A Dreadnut can jump up to twice the height of its own legs in order to clear this inconvenient spike pit.
Thanks to some unexpected Bonus Dice, this stuntbike is able to convert its two MOMs into 16" of jump distance. This gives the bike enough altitude to cause Collision Damage from the height of the drop.

9.3 Thrust


In addition to the standard propulsion system, BrikWars allows for vehicles and objects that are moved by physically pushing or pulling the model with Thrust forces. For vehicles, directed Thrust can be provided by Thrusters like rockets, jet engines, propellers, or sails. Thrust is also the system used to handle the KnockBack from Shoves, Collisions, and attacks, or from unusual devices like tractor beams and gravity guns.

Each Thrust is a vector with two parts: a direction and a number of inches.

The Finger

The Assyrian Finger
Photo: Natalya
from "Assyrian Star Empire -- All Units"
Elements shown: LEGO
informal rights: Natalya, 5/30/20

Following the tragic Dimmification of the Teknik civilization, the Assyrian Star Empire sent the Armoured Core "Austere" to survey the Teknik swamp world of Dungobah for artifacts.

Unprotected against the Dim Side effects generated by the planet's Stupidity, the Pilot was barely able to avoid a crash landing. The impact and swamp splatter drew the attention of hundreds of slavering bayou Dimmies.

Outraged by the AC's sound construction and consistent color scheme, the Dimmies attacked with everything they had: sticks, rocks, and their own faces. The AC Pilot gave the attackers the official salute of impending Assyrian domination: the giant upraised Finger of the Armoured Core. This did nothing to discourage the Dimmies, who'd never seen a finger before and were not yet aware of the significance of Assyrian middle ones. As the Pilot began using the Finger to smash and skewer the nearest malcontents, the remaining Dimmies were forced to pause their Stupidity long enough to recognize the advantages of fleeing in terror.

No Dungam artifacts were located on that initial survey mission, but thanks to the assistance of Heroes from the newly-discovered Bayounikal tribes, the AC was able to escape from Dungobah and make its eventual return to Assyrian space. The Dimmy hordes, forever dominated by the Dim Side, took the traditional course and started a religion. Supercharged by the Stupidity of its leaders, the Cult of the Finger spread rapidly throughout the surrounding star systems and into extremist factions of Assyrian ultranationalist parties.

(BrikWiki entry: Armoured Core)
For objects affected by multiple points of synchronized Thrust, like the twin Thrusters on Jax's Invictus starfighter, a player can apply the Thrusts in whatever order they prefer, or give both fingers at once. Giving the finger isn't a precise science, and will often involve some fudge.
Photo: Ninja_bait
From "Ragnablok"
Elements shown: LEGO
image rights: ninja_bait, 7/24/20

As any mathematician will tell you, vector algebra is an infinitely bigger pain in the ass than either vectors or algebra would seem to indicate on their own. Worse, vector algebra becomes increasingly difficult to perform after a fourth shot of whiskey, making it useless for BrikWars halfway through the first turn.

Fortunately, a BrikWars player's instinctive response to Thrust vector calculations turns out to be the correct one: Thrust is handled by giving it the finger. The player places a fingertip at the point of Thrust (either an active Thruster or a point of impact, usually), and pushes the object the appropriate number of inches in the appropriate direction. The model on the table will move and rotate appropriately on its own without any need for further calculation. (Wheeled models may need to be stopped manually at the end of each Thrust to keep them from rolling away forever.)

KnockBack from Shoves, Collisions, large Weapon strikes, and Explosions are all executed neatly and efficiently by giving them the finger.

If the object is using Thrust as part of its own Movement, then it can apply Thrust before, after, or during whatever other maneuvers it makes during its turn.

Thrusters

When the Imperial Magikstrate sends in flying Imperial Angel shock troops, the Deadly SpaceMen on the ground don't miss a beat. The Pink and Yellow DSMs use their Orange Transparent Chainsaws to puncture and ignite the oxygen tanks of their Green and White DSM squadmates. Instant decompression turns them into single-use makeshift Small Thruster jetpacks.
The vertical Thrust plus the DSMs' 1" jumps allows them to take the fight straight to the Angels for a turn before careening into nearby walls and buildings and Disrupting themselves.
Photos: Natalya
From "You'll Die As You Lived"
Elements shown: LEGO
image rights: Natalya, signed 4/20/20
Thrusters
ThrusterWeapon
Size
EffectNotes
Small Thruster 1" × Weight " Thrust may roll any
Bonus Dice
Medium Thruster 2" × Weight " Thrust
Large Thruster 3" × Weight " Thrust must roll any
Bonus Dice
Giant Thruster 4" × Weight " Thrust

Thrusters are a special propulsion device that acts like a weapon, rolling dice to inflict inches of Thrust rather than points of damage. Thrusters are less predictable than standard forms of propulsion, but allow vehicles to exceed the usual limits on Move Enhancements (9.1: Propulsion).

Not all Thrusters are Damage-free. Depending on the whims of the players, the business end of a rocket can be treated as a makeshift FlameThrower, and a jet engine can be treated as a BlastGun that deals es of Thrust to objects unlucky enough to be caught in the Firing Arcs of its intake and exhaust.

A vehicle can use the Thrust from a maximum of two of its Thrusters in a turn. If it activates additional Thrusters for secondary effects (most commonly, spraying rocket flame on tailgaters), they provide no additional Thrust.

The effect of a Thruster depends on its physical Weapon Size and the Weight of the vehicle it's attached to (7.1: Structure). A Thruster with Weapon Size inches equal to its vehicle's Weight class acts as a Small Thruster with a of Thrust inches. At twice the Weight class, it's a Medium Thruster with inches. At three times, it's a Large Thruster with inches, and at four times or more it's a Giant Thruster with inches. A 2" jet engine strapped to a Weight 1 motorbike, for example, would act as a very reasonable Medium Thruster. The same 2" jet on a Weight ½ minifig it would be an out-of-control Giant Thruster, and on a Weight 3 heavy tank it would be too small to have any effect at all.

If a vehicle's Weight class is reduced by Size Damage, its Thrusters stay the same, basing their effect on the original undamaged Weight class - the vehicle's mass hasn't changed, only its structural integrity. If the Weight class is reduced by blasting off enough components to make the vehicle physically smaller, on the other hand, players can change the Thrusters' effect to match the vehicle's new Weight.

When a Thruster is fired, it spends the vehicle's Power according to its Weapon Size. The player rolls the Thrust die and immediately applies the result as Thrust inches in the direction the Thruster is pointing. For a Small or Medium Thruster, it's the player's choice whether to spend any Bonus Dice from the Thrust roll. For a Large or Giant Thruster, the player has no control - they must spend all Bonus Dice, regardless of whatever disaster might ensue.

Thruster Examples:
The Black Inches Galleon
and the Red Brootalz' War Dromund
Random loot on a rocky isle draws an inevitable logjam of ships. The Black Inches launches landing craft while its skeleton crew prepares to hold off the Red Brootalz' War Dromund and a fleet of rival vessels.

Example: In a nautical race for an island of suspiciously unburied treasure, players treat their sails as wind-powered Thrusters to supplement their ships' standard Move inches. Giving the finger at the base of the masts, the players Thrust forward for square sails, sideways for jibs, and in any direction for lateen sails.

In a "realistic" battle, the ships' minifigs would have to crew the lines and adjust the sails manually, assigning Thrust according to the wind and which sails were unfurled. No one has time for that; this is a race! Instead, the ships' Pilots activate whichever sails they feel like on a given turn and ignore the rest.

Black Inches Galleon
MoveArmorSize
5" 2d10 15"
Sail typeThrustersThrust
Jib 7" Large Thruster 1"
Square 9" and 8" Giant Thrusters
(foremast)
2"
9" and 8" Giant Thrusters
(mainmast)
2"
5" Medium Thruster
(mainmast)
1"
Lateen 7" Large Thruster 1"
Red Brootalz' War Dromund
MoveArmorSize
0" 3d10 18"
Sail typeThrustersThrust
Lateen 2 × 12" Giant Thrusters
(foremast, mainmast)
2"
7" Medium Thruster
(mizzenmast)
1"

While the Black Inches is armed with cannons and the War Dromund with rocket ballistae, the weapons of both ships are manually operated and don't draw on the vessels' Power. The ships' Power supplies are exclusively reserved for operating the sails.

The Black Inches' Weight class of 2 means that a 2" sail is a Small Thruster, a 4" sail is Medium, 6" is Large, and 8" is Giant. The War Dromund's larger Weight class of 3 means that a 3" sail is Small, 6" is Medium, 9" is Large, and 12" is Giant.

The Black Inches has an overwhelming 53" of sails, but vehicles can only use a maximum of two Thrusters in a turn, making most of the sails redundant backups. Which ones its Pilot chooses will depend on what the ship is doing - the jib and lateen for tight maneuvering, two of the Giant square sails for charging ahead, or the Medium square sail and lateen for a controlled advance, supplemented by the Black Inches' 5" of regular Move.

The War Dromund, by contrast, has no regular Move inches, relying entirely on its versatile lateen sails.

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9.4 Piloting


Controls

Traditionally, the controls of heavy assault mechs like this HellRaider are so complex and precise that only completely ordinary high school students have any hope of piloting them.
Photo: BFenix
From "HellRaider Assault Mech"
Elements shown: LEGO
informal rights: BFenix, 5/29/20

As with weapons (8.6: Manning Guns), a vehicle should include some type of controls for its propulsion systems (like a steering wheel, a flight sticks, or a computer console). A vehicle that lacks specific control elements should still at least have a specified control area where a minifig has to position himself if he wants to control the vehicle.

Unless a player declares otherwise, a vehicle's main controls provide centralized control of all of a vehicle's propulsion systems, weapons, and devices (like a fighter cockpit, a starship's master computer, a remote drone control station, or a warhorse's saddle). Specialized secondary controls usually only affect a single subsystem or device (like the individual gunners' stations on a Death Zeppelin, a ship's wheel on a galleon, or a self-destruct button in an ice cream truck).

Enemy minifigs can cripple a vehicle by destroying its controls. But better still, they can kill the vehicle's operators and commandeer the controls directly. Unlike the controls for weapons, if more than one team has minifigs controlling a vehicle's propulsion at the same time, they can each use their Actions to prevent the other from controlling the propulsion at all, rendering the vehicle out of control (9.1: Standard Propulsion).

Plastic-brick Control systems lack security precautions like passwords or ignition keys.

Systems

Assuming he has access to the proper controls, a vehicle operator can use his Action to pilot a vehicle and/or control the weapons and devices in one (and only one) of its systems, up to the vehicle's Power limit, focusing on a single target. The system may be any one of the following:

  • Ranged Weapons:  The operator can fire any number of Ranged weapons at a single target (5.3: Ranged Combat).
  • Close Combat Weapons:  The operator can attack with any number of Close Combat weapons against a single target (5.2: Close Combat).
  • Manipulators:  The operator can use any combination of devices to lift, carry, throw, drop, or otherwise manipulate one object or grouped set of objects.
  • Devices:  The operator can activate, deactivate, or otherwise control a vehicle's special-purpose devices, such as sensors, shields, transporters, cloaking devices, or in-dash music systems.

If no operator is actively controlling a system, it continues doing whatever it was already doing. Shields that are up stay up, sails that are unfurled stay unfurled, and robotic hands with a bloody grip on crushed enemy heads maintain their bloody grip on crushed enemy heads.

The Pilot

Pilot: own illustration

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Redesign stat card?

The purpose of vehicles is to move weapons, personnel, and equipment into position, but sometimes the nature of vehicular physics puts that position just out of reach. The vehicle may not be able to speed fast enough, stop short enough, turn tightly enough, or make ridiculous acrobatic leaps ridiculously enough. These desperate circumstances are the situations a Pilot is born for.

Stunt Driving

Stunt Driving Specialty :
once a turn, defy movement rules
for a controlled vehicle
for Stunt Inches
The United Systems Alliance considers aerial superiority the first step of any successful operation.
Photo: Silent-sigfig
From "Factions and Lore"
Elements shown: LEGO
photo rights: Silent-Sigfig
signed 3/25/21

Thanks to their extraordinary affinity with their vehicles, Pilots have the ability to push the envelope a critical couple of extra inches with Stunt Driving as a normal part of controlling the vehicle's movement. (Pilots may still operate the vehicle's systems as usual during the turn, whether or not they elect to do any Stunt Driving.)

When a Pilot wants to attempt a crazy maneuver, his player describes the maneuver being attempted, and determines how many stunt inches the vehicle will travel away from what should normally be possible. If a StarShip is trying to exceed its maximum Move, for instance, then the stunt Inches are the number of extra inches past the Move limit. If a FireTruck is trying to turn more tightly than standard maneuvering would allow, then the stunt inches are the amount of required distance between turns that the player would like to ignore. If a MiniVan operator is pulling the e-brake to powerslide sideways into a crowd of soccer hooligans, then the stunt inches are whatever distance the MiniVan is sliding sideways.

Once the player declares the number of stunt inches to attempt, the Pilot rolls his Specialty for Stunt Driving. The number rolled is the number of stunt inches he's able to complete successfully. If this number equals or exceeds the number of stunt inches being attempted, then the vehicle completes the entire stunt without mishap.

Otherwise, an enemy of the player's choice gets to take the remaining unsuccessful stunt inches and turn them into Thrust inches to use against the vehicle at the point where its successful inches ran out. After coming up with a story for how the Stunt went wrong, the enemy can use that Thrust to (for instance) stop the vehicle short of its goal, try to cause it to roll over, fishtail it in the wrong direction, or even launch it into the air - whatever seems appropriate for the type of failure they described.

If the Pilot attempting the Stunt rolls a Critical Failure, then not only does he fail at all of the Stunt Inches, but his opponent gets to add an extra Bonus 1" to the inches of Thrust used against him.

9.5 Collisions


The Allied Nations / United Systems warship Ripper acts as a delivery platform for an Orange Transparent Chainsaw the size of a battleship. The Akkadian flagship is less than pleased to accept delivery.
own photo

The best thing about big creations is smashing them into other creations. For many budding plastic-brick fans, smashing stuff into other stuff is the first game they play with their brick constructions, and for some it's all the game they'll ever need. BrikWars salutes the Human spirit and its fundamental compulsion to smash.

Limited versions of the rules for handling Collisions have been presented twice before, for two specific object Sizes. The rules given for minifigs (5.4: Charge!) are the rules for objects of Size 1", while the rules given for Horses (H.3: Fighting From Horseback) are the rules for objects of Size 2". The rules presented here are the generalized rules for objects of any Size running into one another, whether deliberately or otherwise.

Momentum

Momentum:
1 MOM per 4"
of straight-line movement,
up to a creation's Effective Size
Knowing of Warhead's uncontrollable mom obsession, the mysterious entity known as FedoraNuker creates an afterlife paradise for the souls of all moms. The ensuing momicide is the first step in a convoluted scheme to break Warhead down using the dark and forbidden art of PsychoTherapy.
From "The Unmortal"
Elements shown: LEGO
own photo
Charge attacks are not always on purpose. The Charging rules also apply to minifigs that unsuspectingly run headlong into sharpened-stake booby traps, or locomotives encountering abandoned laundry machines.
Elements shown: LEGO, string

own photo

Uploaded, final

Just as Vergilus Raskolnikov prepares to conquer the Britannian planet of Wraysford, My Little Pwnies swoop in from the FriendZone to crash their own home planet of Ekvestria into it. This event was the provocation for Raskolnikov's famous rallying cry: "Damn you pwnies! I was going to conquer that!"
Photo: Arkbrik
From "A Collision of Interests, Also Planets"
Elements shown: LEGO

image rights: Arkbrik, signed 7/23/20

Uploaded, final

Collisions become much more satisfying as the colliding objects get bigger, but they also become more complicated. Where a Size 1" minifig can build up a Momentum of 1 MOM with a Charge of four inches (5.4: Charge!), and a Size 2" Horse can gather 2 MOMs in a Charge of eight inches (H.3: Fighting From Horseback), a larger creation is able to build up a correspondingly larger pile of MOMs as it extends its Charge over a larger number of inches.

In order to build up its MOMs, a creation must Charge in a straight line. The Charge follows the same rules as a Sprint: the path of the Charge may go up or down sloping terrain or over gaps and obstacles if they're small enough for the creation leap over without slowing down, but if the Charge pauses, slows, or turns to the left or right, then all Momentum is cancelled and the creation will have to start over collecting MOMs from scratch.

For every four inches in its continuous Charge, a creation gains one MOM, up to a number of MOMs equal to the inches in its Size (or Effective Size, if it's taken Size Damage (7.2: Taking Damage)).

Large creations may not have enough Move to build up to their full Momentum in a single turn. Creations can extend a Charge over multiple turns to travel the distance required. These extended Charges are best used against inanimate targets like walls and security gates, since a more mobile target can casually walk off of the line of a Charge between turns and sidestep the attack entirely.

In the case of an unintentional Charge, such as for out-of-control vehicles, minifigs running into invisible walls, or paratroopers discovering they forgot their parachute, players may not have been keeping track of an object's Momentum. In cases like these, it's up to the players to estimate the Charge distances after the fact. Only the turn immediately prior to the impact need be considered; objects don't unintentionally make extended Charges.

Players should be generous in overlooking slight curves in the path of an unintentional Charge, since unintentional damage is much funnier than the regular kind.

As a rule, all of a falling object's travel is counted as being in a straight line. Parabolas are a Human invention, and players are expected to forget they know anything about them for the purpose of maximizing damage from falls.

Spending MOMs

While Charging creations can potentially have a much larger pile of MOMs than minifigs and Horses, they spend them in much the same ways. MOMs can be used for boosting extreme vehicular maneuvers or catapult launches, but they are most often used to add damage to a Charging weapon attack (up to a limit of one MOM per inch of Charging weapon Size) or KnockBack to a Collision. A MOM disappears as it is spent, but the creation can earn its MOMs back again by continuing to Charge in further four-inch increments, even during the same turn.

Crashes and KnockBack

Though its turret was knocked off by a giant chicken, Aloysius Black's steam tank still packs a punch - all the more potent because the punch is spiked.
Photo: Bragallot
From "After the Rift"
Elements shown: LEGO
image rights: Bragallot, signed
Order of Attack

There are three potential stages in a Charge attack: a Charging weapon attack, Crash damage, and KnockBack. Not every Charge attack will include more than one of these, but when one does, the stages occur in that order.

  • If a Charging unit successfully hits with a Charging weapon attack, including Jousts, then it can spend its MOMs to add dice to the Damage of the attack. Spent MOMs are now gone, and can't be used in the Crash or the KnockBack.
  • If the Charging unit still has MOMs and collides with a target, and either the unit or the target has a Weight class of one or more, then they deal Crash damage. The Crash damage is limited by the number of MOMs in the Collision, but it doesn't spend the MOMs.
  • Regardless of whether the Charging unit delivered a Charging weapon attack or Crash damage, if the Charging unit still has MOMs and collides with a target then it does 1" of KnockBack for each of its MOMs, resisted by the target's POPs. This spends as many of the Charging unit's MOMs as the target has POPs to resist with.

Collisions are an immediate and reliable outlet for aggression. They require no Action Roll, automatically succeeding unless the target manages to Bail out of the way (4.3: Enemy Response).

However, they can be equally dangerous to collider and collidee alike. Each object in a Collision does Crash damage to the other — as many es of Damage as its own Weight, up to the total number of MOMs in the Collision (including the target's, if both objects were Charging towards each other at the same time).

Crash Damage doesn't spend or use up any MOMs - they'll be spent on KnockBack instead.

After Crash damage has been resolved, the colliding object delivers 1" of KnockBack to the target for each of its MOMs. The defending object resists the KnockBack with its natural Physical Opposition, with one POP for every inch in its Effective Size.

Objects that are nailed down are only Knocked Back if they were broken by the Crash damage from the collision. If not, all the MOMs are lost without further effect.

If the defending object successfully resists the KnockBack, the colliding object is stopped and loses all Momentum. Otherwise, the Colliding object loses as many MOMs as the target object had POPs to resist with, and it can then keep right on Charging with its remaining MOMs (if any).


Momentum Example: The Black Legion Warwagon
Free High Speed Vehicular Hugs
The vehicle designers of the Black Legion have no interest in transporting soldiers safely. Their armored personnel carrier is built as a battering ram with a troop compartment tacked on.
Photo: Kastrenzo
From "Black Legion Warwagon"
Elements shown: LEGO
Warwagon Momentum
Momentum 0 1 2 3 . . . 6
Limited by Size 6"
Crash
Damage
0 1 2 3  
Limited by Weight class 3
KnockBack 0 1" 2" 3" . . . 6"
Spends MOMs
equal to target's POPs
Physical
Opposition
6  
Determined by Size 6"
Cordova Coalition Marines are not designed to survive vehicle collisions.
Photo: Kastrenzo
From "Monolith battleplate factions"
Elements shown: LEGO
Marine Momentum
Momentum 0 1
Limited by
Size 1"
Crash
Damage
0  
Limited by
Weight class ½
KnockBack 0 1"
Spends MOMs
equal to target's POPs
Physical
Opposition
1  
Determined by
Size 1"

Example: The superior Size and Weight class of a Black Legion Warwagon make it much better in collisions than its natural prey, the Cordova Coalition Marine.

Taking advantage of a solid Sprint roll, the Warwagon guns its engine and launches itself 16" at a Marine trying to reach cover, building up 4 MOMs of Momentum. The Marine Bails, but the roll is too low to escape the path of the Warwagon.


4 MOMs carry a potential 4 Crash Damage. The Warwagon's Weight class of 3 limits this to 3. The Marine does not survive the Crash, and is too soft and squishy (Weight class ½) to deal any Crash Damage in return.


The Warwagon's 4 MOMs inflict 4" of KnockBack to the Marine's corpse. The corpse has a natural 1 POP, and resists with 1" of Physical Opposition. A massive Critical Success on the Warwagon's KnockBack roll sends the Marine's corpse flying off the battlefield and into a low but stable orbit.

Because of the Marine's single POP, The Warwagon's MOMs are reduced from 4 to 3. It can use them to continue ramming forward through any additional Marines or random bystanders in its path.

Praetorian tank treads are well-known for their love of trampling minifigs.
Photo: Dilanski
From "V4 Zephyr Class Heavy Tank"
Elements shown: LEGO
image rights: Dilanski, signed

If a target is Knocked Back far enough to land on its side or upside-down, the object is knocked over and Disrupted, unable to take any Action or defend itself until it gets itself back upright. For vehicles, it's even worse: a knocked over delivery truck is largely helpless, knocked over boats are capsized and sink at the end of their following turn, and knocked over flying vehicles tend to crash.

If the Charging object is larger than its Disrupted victim, it may proceed to run right over it, inflicting a point of Trample damage for every inch by which its Effective Size exceeds that of its victim. Smash and Trample damage are cumulative with any other damage dealt in the course of the Collision.

Falling Damage

Falling Damage is treated as a Collision between a falling object and the ground. This doesn't generally end in success for the falling object, since the ground has a Size rating of over nine thousand, making its Physical Opposition almost limitless.

Generic ground surfaces can be divided into soft and hard ground according to color. Green (grass), brown (soil), or tan (sand) ground is considered comparatively soft with Weight 1, and so never does more than 1 of Crash Damage. Gray (stone) or black (asphalt) ground is considered much harder, with Weight 3, meaning it can do up to 3 of Crash Damage if an object falls far enough to build up the necessary Momentum.

If the falling object does enough Crash damage to exceed the ground's Armor rating (1 for soft ground, 3 for hard ground), players may elect to build a crater ring around the impact site, with bricks of height and inches of diameter equal to the falling object's number of MOMs.

It's a generally accepted action-movie fact that pools of liquid such as water or quicksand, no matter how shallow, will cushion Crash landings safely and completely. Of course, if the liquid is something like stomach acid or hot magma, it may subsequently do other types of damage on its own.