Valor Steel and Flesh question

[Chuck1372]

HI

I recently bought Valor Steel and Flesh and have a couple of questions.  They both involve close combat with the tougher creatures/ races.  First how do you apply the beat by score? At first reading I thought it meant the you have to beat the creature by 1 or more to score a wound if its beat by score is a +1.  You beat regular troops by beating them by one and as most of the critters seem to  have beat by scores of +1, I dont see the difference.  My other interpretation of the rule is that the +1 is in addition to the normal 1 or more you need to beat some one by. So if the beat by score is a one you need to beat them by 2 or more to cause a hit.  Which interpretation is correct?

My second question is on the hits to kill stat.  It says that it is the number of hits needed to kill a creature in a single round of combat or in a single shot.  As most troops only cause a single hit in close combat and guns only cause a single hit, how do you deal with exceptional creatures if it takes two or more hits to kill them?   If the  hits to kill score is a 2, do you simply tally up the hits caused by a unit and take away a model for every two hits whether by firing or close combat?

Lastly, under big critters, it says big critters are notable targets and you should add the big critter score to the basic to hit number.  Do you add that to the normal to hit of 0,1,2,3?  So a critter with a score of 3 would be hit on a 0,1,2,3,4,5,6?  Do you also then add the modifier for being large?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.  They look like a fun set of rules and I look forward to using them.

Chuck

[Sterling Moose]

I'm looking forward to a knowledgable response to these questions, as I don't understand those bits either.

[Skrapwelder]

+1 is the standard "Beat by" number for one normal opponent vs another. Your second interpretation is what our group went with. The additional "Beat by" of the larger creatures and mechanified troops was added to the normal =1. So that a creature like the  Plorse with a "Beat by" of =+1 would need to be beat by 2 or more in combat to get a win.

The HTK number is used in a couple of different ways. If the shooters weapons are of a power rating less than the target's Big Critter number the target does not count as being "Hit" until a number of hits equal to its Big Critter number are scored in a single round. Most Rifles have a power of zero so with a Big Critter number of 3 your shooters would need to score 3 hits in one round to equal a normal hit to the creature. When the hits made in this fashion equal or exceed teh creatures HTK number it may be killed. The creature gets to make a save based on the number in parenteses next to the HTK number in the stat line. (Page 33 "Less than Human" sidebar) For example, the Triceratops has a Big Critter number of 2, an HTK number of 4 and a save of 5 so it takes two hits from rifle fire with a power of 0 in a single round to equal one HTK hit.  When multiple shots over time get to the HTK of 4 the Triceratops would have to roll 5 or lower to survive.

I think the Big Critter number is added to the "to hit" chance in lieu of the normal large target modifier.

Hope that helps. The rules are very fun to play but sometimes you have to dig around to find what you'r elooking for.

Mike

[Chuck1372]

Thanks scrapwelder.  That helps.