GYROCOPTER The Gyropcopter is a airborne vehicle relying on steam to spin the turbine, rotating the blades mounted above the engine, to bring it aloft and to a hover. A single Dwarven pilot sits at the front of it, directing and guiding it by controlling the angle and rate of spin of the rotors. As it is based on a Steam Engine, the Dwarves have ingeniously converted it so that a blast of steam may be released to attack targets below and ahead of the Gryocopter. Strength: 6 Toughness: 8 Wounds: 15 Movement When on the ground, the Gyrocopter is incapable of moving itself. However, two dwarves or three or more people with a combined Strength of twelve may drag the Gyrocopter at half their slowest cautious move rate. It will take three rounds to start the Grycopter. It must first lift off for one round, to a height of at least ten yards. When the Gyrocopter is airborne it has variable Move Rates. Treat is as a creature with a maximum Move of 6. It may move at Cautious, Standard and Running Rates. It may move at any slower rate. It may climb or dive at 10 yards per round, but there may be no horizontal movement, due to it's lack of agility. Being a rudimentary flying mechanical devcice, it is not as agile as a creature that is a natural flying creature. The advantage of the Gyrocopter is that it may suspend itself in the air, inching forward. However, the use of the Steam Cannon will slow it down. When the Steam Cannon has fired more than three times, the Gyrocopter may not move at a Running rate. If the pilot is killed, incapacitated, or in any way is rendered incapable of flying the Gyrocopter, it will crash. All Climbs and Dives require the full concentration of the pilot, so that all attacks or parries by the pilot are impossible. If charged while at ground level, the pilot may evade by climbing ten yards, avoiding the charging attackers. Example: Gottfried Gottrek, pilot, boards his Gyrocopter. On the first round he starts it. Three rounds later, he climbs to ten yards. Spending three more rounds, he continues to climb, hovering over the same spot. He is now 40 yards, or a hundred and twenty feet in the air. He then moves forward at a Move Rate of Four, at a Cautious pace. Seeing a group of Orcs fleeing across a field, he flies towards them, increasing his move rate to six, and to a Running rate, moving at full speed. Arriving, he lowers two rounds, minus twenty yards, to a height of a sixty feet, where he proceeds to use his Steam Cannon. Firing four times, he has expended much of the steam. Seeing a Orc Wyvern take to the sky, he turns to flee. Moving at a Standard Rate of Six, due to the reduced efficiency of the Gyrocopter from overuse of the Steam Engine, he flees. Aerial Combat The Gyrocopter may always be attacked by airborne opponents. Airborne Opponents, if they charge from a dive at the Grycopter, suffer a S 8 Hit, as they strike the Spinining rotors. The Gyrocopter will also take a hit equivelant to the Opponents S +1. For the pilot to engage in hand to hand combat against airborne opponents, there is a penalty of -10, as he is distracted. All parries and Dodges are also at -10, due to lack of mobility. Bombs and the Steam Cannon may not be used if the pilot is in hand to hand combat. The Steam Cannon and the Bombs can not be used against aerial targets. Strikes resolved against the Gyrocopter automatically hit. They m ay do additional damage. If the Gyrocopter is reduced to a Wound of zero or less, it seizes up and plummets down. Ground Combat The Gyrocopter, when airborne, can be beyond comabat reach of opponents on the ground. Bombs and Steam Cannon may not be used if the pilot is fighting in hand to hand combat. If the Gyrocopter is attacked by a Wind Blast, Plague Wind, Death Wind, or a Wind Elemental of size 5 or more, the pilot must make a roll to maintain control. The Gyrocopter may hover near Ground Level, and be engaged by ground opponents in melee. The Attackers may strike at either the pilot or the Gyrocopter. The Gyrocopter pilot will be too distracted to fight back, and may not attack or parry, but may dodge at -10. If the Gyrocopter pilot is charged by opponents, he may evade by climbing from beyond ground level. This is considered a climb, and the pilot may not make any attacks while evading and climbing. If the Gyrocopter is reduced to zero wounds as a result of Hand to Hand combat at Ground Level, it just drops in heap. If struck while lying at ground level, it will explode as listed under "Crashing". Bombing As mentioned earlier, the Gyrocopter can carry up to ten bombs. The Gyrocopter pilot simply lights the fuse from the burner under the Steam Engine, aims, and then drops the bomb on the targets below... To hit, the pilot rolls against Ballistic Skill, with a +10 advantage due to the height advantage. If the target is not covered from the air, such as in a building or other location, all targets in soft cover incur no penalty to hit, and targets in Hard cover cause a -10 penalty to the Pilot's Ballistic Skill. Use the rules for bombs and deviation in the WFRP book, or in Apocrypha now... Hovering: +10 Height: -10 for every 100 feet of height. Speed: -10 if moving at a rate of more than 2 -20 if moving at a rate of more than 4 Gyrocopters and Magic Gyrocopter could very well be beyond the range of a spell. If the copter is attacked by a wind blast, and flies is in or flies into the area of effect, the pilot must make a flight roll to maintain control. Magic cannot be cast from a Gyrocopter. Steam cannon: The steam cannon, may be used once a round, but requires time to build up steam! It takes one round for the cannon to refill it's tanks. So the minimum wait time is one round. If used then on the second round after the initial firing: the S is 1. For every round thereafter, the steam builds, and the Strength increases until a maximum of 4. Since the weapon is steam, it ignores all forms of non magical armor. A magical shield, since it cover all locations, affords the armor points of only the enchanment on the shield. Magical armor only defends if it covers the whole body with it's bonuses. To use the Steam cannon requires a Ballistic Skill test to operate the mechanisms: at +10 due to the area effect of the weapon. A failure means the weapon did not function. A crit failure indicates the weapon malfunctioned and the Gyrocopter is immersed in a superheated cloud of steam. The pilot and the Gyrocopter takes the hit. A successful test automatically affects all in the area of effect. A roll vs I allows a leap aside for half damage. No other action may be taken on that turn by those who try. Dodge blow has no effect. and a shield parry if successful, will reduce the final damage by half. Steam Cannon may only be operated at attack height. The Steam Cannon burst is 10 yards long, and 5 yards wide, creating a swath of blistering steam. The Gyrocopter has enough steam to power the Gyrocopter for six shots. After firing three times though, the Gyrocopter will be less efficient if fired more times. The fourth to sixth shots, will reduce the Movement of the Gyrocopter, as detailed under "Movement". Psychology The sound of the Gyrocopter will cause Fear in all creatures of animal intelligence. Crashing When the Gyrocopter crashes from a Height above ground level, it will strike the Earth, causing damage to it's occupants and any in the immediate vicinity. The pilot, if still alive, takes a S8 hit in the crash. Any struck by the Gryocopter take a S6 hit. When the Gyrocopter crashes, the fuel used to heat the turbines, and the steam tank itself, explode, filling a 10 yard radius, with all in the radius, including those surviving the crash, take a S4 hit.