Close Combat Weapons & Handguns

The following rules were presented in Ambush Z, but we know that many of you who are not interested in zombie fighting would like to have them for use in your Ambush Alley games. So, without further a-do, here they are:

Some weapons have been designed specifically for use in close quarters battle, including fire arms like the shotgun, submachine gun, or pistol and specialized melee weapons like swords, axes, and hockey sticks.

Close Combat firearms have been designed to be very effective at “in your face” ranges, but the factors that make them so useful in a virtual knife fight don’t serve them so well when engaging targets at long range.

In game terms, Close Combat weapons such as shotguns and SMGs throw an extra die in Close Combat or when firing at a target within Optimum. Beyond Optimum Range, Close Combat weapons use a d6 for their Firepower Quality die regardless of the firing unit’s Troop Quality.

Figures armed with melee weapons also add an additional die in close combat.

Like SMGs and Shotguns, handguns are very, well, “handy” in close quarters. They don’t throw down the volume of fire that a subgun or shotgun does, however, and so are a little less effective.

A figure firing a handgun at a target in Optimum Range receives a reduction of one die type to its Troop Quality (i.e., a figure with a Troop Quality of D8 would throw a D6 when using a handgun). Troop Quality cannot be reduced below D6.

Handguns cannot fire effectively enough at targets beyond Optimum Range to engage them at all.

Handguns are very effective in Close Combat, however, and figures using handguns in Close Combat receive a bonus Firepower die.