CAF-1 "Flying Leviathan" Stratocarrier precedent

[Axelmania]

Doing some casual reading today I came to page 108 of Coalition Overkill (Coalition Wars Seige on Tolkeen Two, 1st printed August 2000) and noticed that this book wasn't just Daemonix and NPCs but it actually had a new CS vehicle hidden in the back.

It's pretty impressive. I did notice some interesting asterisked statements on 110 though.
** .. The wings themselves are simply massive and do not require a called shot to strike
*** .. The engines of a Flying Leviathan are fairly large and easy to hit. Striking them does not require a called shot.

The wingspan of this plane is 385 feet and the width of the fuselage is 50 feet.

I don't recall having seen statements like these about no requiring called shots on any other vehicles but am wondering if I overlooked some. Does anyone know other vehicles with parts that have statements like these?

Given that this establishes a 385 foot span is "simply massive" (I'm not sure if I'm right in figuring fuselage refers to engine) would it make sense to extrapolate for other planes (air or space) that have wings of that size that requiring a called shot for them would not necessarily be mandatory?

I don't really know where it would necessarily come up. The AC-29 Air Castle Bomber in Mercs 115 is only a mere 230 feet span, and the XM-288 Supersonic Transport on WB5p131 is only a mere 150 feet.

Come to think of it if this is only viewed as a 'wing' precedent then the phase world behemoths don't usually have wings at larger size levels because wings are things used for atmospheric flight and the larger ships aren't optimized for atmospheres.

Does anyone know if a plane with a wingspan greater than 385 feet exists in any Palladium book?

[kaid]

There are other big vehicles with stuff like that where there are no penalties to hit it other having to specify you are shooting at it. If you don't specify it goes to MDC but a lot of big ships have like front/middle/rear sections where you just have to specify where you are shooting or logically what you CAN be shooting at on some of them.

[guardiandashi]

basically this vehicle contains an EXPLICIT exception to the called shot rule because some parts are proportionally so huge that they effectively count as additional main bodies.

the fuselage is NOT the engine, its the "main body" for aircraft.
if you look at a conventional aircraft such as a jumbo jet (easily seen at your local large airport or many online pictures) the Fuselage is the long round section that resembles a hot dog, you know where all the people and cargo ride. then you have attached to that other sections. wings, tail, nose, etc. in some cases engines with be connected either directly to the fuselage or on little struts, in other cases the engines are connected to the wings.

[Blue_Lion]

basically this vehicle contains an EXPLICIT exception to the called shot rule because some parts are proportionally so huge that they effectively count as additional main bodies.

the fuselage is NOT the engine, its the "main body" for aircraft.
if you look at a conventional aircraft such as a jumbo jet (easily seen at your local large airport or many online pictures) the Fuselage is the long round section that resembles a hot dog, you know where all the people and cargo ride. then you have attached to that other sections. wings, tail, nose, etc. in some cases engines with be connected either directly to the fuselage or on little struts, in other cases the engines are connected to the wings.

It is almost like there is rule some where that says they have to tell you when MDC by location has things that do not require called shots.

[Axelmania]

This vague reference to Kev's Optional: Quick & Dirty Rules for modern combat on page 40 of the GMG here got me recognizing something interesting on 32 which could deal with the "I'm standing right on the main gun of the Kreeghor Dreadnought but I need to make a called shot to hit it but not the main body?" dilemma:

Immobile objects (including unconscious characters) can usually be hit without any strike roll at close range

Since immobility is a relative concept (ie an unconscious character is still moving by merit of moving with the Earth's rotation) actually landing atop a body part would make that body part immobile in respect to you and shouldn't require any strike rolls to hit.

Of course, in the case of something like a moving robot, you'd probably need magnet boots to remain on long enough to actually launch the attack.

[Blue_Lion]

This vague reference to Kev's Optional: Quick & Dirty Rules for modern combat on page 40 of the GMG here got me recognizing something interesting on 32 which could deal with the "I'm standing right on the main gun of the Kreeghor Dreadnought but I need to make a called shot to hit it but not the main body?" dilemma:

Immobile objects (including unconscious characters) can usually be hit without any strike roll at close range

Since immobility is a relative concept (ie an unconscious character is still moving by merit of moving with the Earth's rotation) actually landing atop a body part would make that body part immobile in respect to you and shouldn't require any strike rolls to hit.

Of course, in the case of something like a moving robot, you'd probably need magnet boots to remain on long enough to actually launch the attack.

On planets movement is relative to the planet, most people do not think of a house as moving. That is how people conmanly think of movement.
The idea of standing on something making it unmoving may be a reasonable GM call but is clearly not the original intent of the rule. (I imagine in a planet standing on a moving object can be a little tricky triggering the fire from a moving vehicle penalty shooting wild.)

[Axelmania]

It's probably a matter of scale. There should definitely be problems (and balance checks) trying to hit a small plane you're flying on top of. A massive spaceship, or even something like a Death's Head Transport, on the other hand, I think if you were standing on top and able to resist falling from the air flow, would make it unmoving in respect to you (since you become a passenger when you ride it) and so you get a dice-free strike.

On the upside I guess that means if you let someone ride your vehicle you can prevent them from rolling criticals for double damage.

[Blue_Lion]

Trading a 5% crit for 20-40% better hit does seam worth it to me.

As I said if standing on a moving vehicle does count towards the rule for being close to an unmoving targets is a GM call/house rule as the rule does not address it in itself.

[Killer Cyborg]

This vague reference to Kev's Optional: Quick & Dirty Rules for modern combat on page 40 of the GMG here got me recognizing something interesting on 32 which could deal with the "I'm standing right on the main gun of the Kreeghor Dreadnought but I need to make a called shot to hit it but not the main body?" dilemma:

Immobile objects (including unconscious characters) can usually be hit without any strike roll at close range

Since immobility is a relative concept (ie an unconscious character is still moving by merit of moving with the Earth's rotation) actually landing atop a body part would make that body part immobile in respect to you and shouldn't require any strike rolls to hit.

Of course, in the case of something like a moving robot, you'd probably need magnet boots to remain on long enough to actually launch the attack.

I think that size would be relevant as well.
A pixie standing a SAMAS's head might be able to consider whatever location it's standing on to be an immobile part of the landscape, but a SAMAS standing on a pixie's head would not.

[Axelmania]

Unless it's a pixie with 'Giant' and a SAMAS with 'shrink self to 6 inches' TW enhancement!

[Killer Cyborg]

Unless it's a pixie with 'Giant' and a SAMAS with 'shrink self to 6 inches' TW enhancement!

Well, obviously!