Movement During Combat

As
explained
under
Vehicle
Statistics (p. 462), a vehicle’s Move
score is split into two numbers:
Acceleration
and
Top
Speed.
Acceleration functions just like Basic
Move for a character; at this speed or
less, the vehicle has no special restric-
tions on movement. At higher speeds –
anything up to Top Speed – use the
High-Speed Movement rules (p. 394),
but substitute control rolls (see
Control Rolls, p. 466) for DX rolls.
Acceleration: A vehicle can acceler-
ate up to its Acceleration each turn. A
diving flyer may add 10 ¥ local gravity
in Gs (1G on Earth) to this.
Deceleration: A powered, wheeled
ground vehicle can decelerate by 5
yards/second per turn. An animal-
drawn or tracked, walking, or slither-
ing ground vehicle can decelerate by
10 yards/second per turn. Most air and
water vehicles can decelerate by (5 +
Handling) yards/second per turn
(minimum 1 yard/second). These rates
assume safe deceleration. It is possible
to decelerate further with a successful
control roll, as explained under
Pushing the Envelope (p. 395); failure
means a loss of control.
Control Rolls
The operator must make a control
roll whenever he attempts a risky
maneuver or encounters an obstacle,
and whenever his vehicle suffers
knockback or major damage. On a
failure, he loses control of the vehicle.
If you are using a rulebook that sup-
plies a “crash table” for that type of
vehicle, roll on the table; otherwise,
see the applicable paragraph below. In
addition to these results, a failed con-
trol roll always erases any accumulat-
ed bonuses for Aim maneuvers, and
gives a penalty equal to the margin of
failure to any attack from the vehicle
until the operator’s next turn.
Air Vehicle: Failure by the vehicle’s
Stability Rating (SR) or less means the
vehicle loses 5 yards of altitude and
decelerates by 10 yards/second. If it
was flying dangerously low or slow, it
could hit the ground or stall; other-
wise, it just blunders ahead. Failure by
more than SR, or critical failure,
means an uncontrollable dive, tailspin,
etc. If the vehicle was climbing, it
stalls, then starts to fall; otherwise, it
dives at Top Speed each turn. Either