Federation Commander

(4ΩM) SHORT-RANGE CANNONS

When the Orion Raider Cruiser Throne of Ozymondas agreed terms with the government of Aurora III, it transpired that one of the systems found stored in its cargo bay was a prototype Klingon anti-drone system. For a time, this system was left languishing in storage, with no immediate use for the device.
However, when the Auroran Navy found itself faced with neighbors operating tachyon missiles, which a standard anti-drone could not readily counter, the Aurorans modified the prototype system into a weapon more suited to their needs. The short-range cannon replaces the anti-drone's high-speed missiles with an energy-assisted explosive shell. This increases the flexibility of the system, but at the cost of requiring energy to operate.

(4ΩM1) GENERAL RULE
Unless noted below, short-range cannons work in exactly the same fashion as anti-drones, as detailed in (4E).
(4ΩM1a) Ship Card: Each “SRCâ€? box on the Ship Card represents one short range cannon. It is disabled by one “droneâ€? Damage Point, and is repaired by four Repair Points. Like anti-drones, each short-range cannon may be fired once per impulse. Unlike anti-drones, there is an energy cost (of one-half of an Energy Point) to fire a short-range cannon. Also unlike anti-drones, short-range cannons have hemispheric firing arcs; the arc for a given short-range cannon is noted on the Ship Card.
(4ΩM1b) Ammunition: As with an anti-drone, each short-range cannon mount has a limited supply of ammunition (12 rounds), shown as a track on the Ship Card, as well as an Impulse Used track to match. There is no equivalent of the Federation combined drone/anti-drone rack for short-range cannons and other such weapons (such as tachyon missiles). A short-range cannon may not fire anti-drone rounds.
(4ΩM1c) Overloads: Short-range cannons cannot be overloaded.
(4ΩM1d) Reloads: Short-range cannons follow the same reload procedure as anti-drones, as detailed under (4E1d).
(4ΩM1e) Targets: Short-range cannons, due to their more powerful warheads, are capable of damaging a wider variety of targets than an anti-drone can. Separate damage listings are noted below depending on whether the target is a ship, shuttle, or drone. Note that, unlike anti-drones, short-range cannons treat tachyon missiles as drones, not as shuttles. (This is a key distinction that explains why the FRA was keen to develop this weapon.)

(4ΩM2) DEFENSIVE FIRE
Short-range cannons can be fired during the Defensive Fire Phase (1E2c) of the Sequence of Play, at the same time as anti-drones. The player who owns the ship firing the short-range cannon uses the following procedure.
(4ΩM2a) Step 1: He announces which short-range cannon he is firing (which must be un-disabled) and the target (which must be a drone, tachyon missile or suicide shuttle within the firing arc of the short-range cannon in question).Other players can confirm this data (or show it not to be true) and point out any rule or condition which would prevent firing.
(4ΩM2b) Step 2: The player owning and firing the anti-drone expends one-half of an Energy Point, and rolls one die. If the result is a 1-4, a hit is scored; if the result is a 5-6, the shot misses.
(4ΩM2c) Step 3: If the target is a drone or tachyon missile, a hit scores eight Damage Points upon it. If the target is a suicide shuttle, score six Damage Points upon it.
(4ΩM2d) Step 4: If the target is not destroyed (by the short-range cannon shot), then the target could be engaged by phasers in the next step of the Defensive Fire Phase (1E2c).

(4ΩM3) OFFENSIVE FIRE
Short-range cannons can be fired during the Offensive Fire Phase (1E2d) of the Sequence of Play. The player who owns the ship firing the short-range cannon uses the following procedure.
(4ΩM3a) Step 1: He announces which short-range cannon he is firing (which must be un-disabled), and the target (which must be within two hexes of the ship, and within the cannon’s firing arc). Other players can confirm this data (or show it not to be true) and point out any rule or condition which would prevent firing.
(4ΩM3b) Step 2: The player owning and firing the short-range cannon rolls one die. If the result is a 1-3, the target is hit. If the result is 4-6, the target was missed. If the target is a drone or tachyon missile, a hit scores six Damage Points upon it. If the target is a shuttle or fighter, score four Damage Points upon it. If the target is a ship, score two Damage Points upon it.
Example: An Auroran Battlecruiser (which, in this case, does not possess the tachyon missile refit) has an inbound M-era tachyon missile in its #6 shield facing at range one, while a second, T-era missile has impacted upon its #3 facing. In the Defensive Fire Phase, it elects to use the ship’s starboard short-range cannon (which has an RS firing arc) at the impacted T-missile. One-half of an Energy Point is paid and the short-range cannon is fired. It rolls a “4� to hit, scoring eight Damage Points on the missile; not enough to destroy it, but enough to require only four additional Damage Points from the ship’s phaser suite to finish it off. In the Offensive Fire Phase, the ship wants to fire its port short-range cannon (with an LS firing arc) at the inbound M-missile. It determines that the chosen short-range cannon is within range, is within arc, and is not disabled. One-half of an Energy Point is paid and the short-range cannon is fired. A die roll of “3� results in a hit, which scores a total of six Damage Points on the missile.