How can i aim the Target Sections ?

[wolfman3000]

I want to aim at the Legs of the Mechs.

Do i have to have a Skill in Fire, or can i do it right away ?

I cannot aim the Different Targets, in this Case the Legs or better the Cockpit.

 

[MarkDey]

You need to use the Precision Shot ability, which becomes available when your lance gains enough Resolve during battle.

 

[Jade_Rook]

There are three conditions that allow full called shots, picking a specific component to aim at. The easiest is, as MarkDey mentioned, the Precision Shot ability.
The other two conditions are the target has either been knocked down (due to stability damage or a destroyed leg) or has shut down due to excess heat. You can make builds to exploit either of those conditions, but Precision Shot is the easiest way.

The other option is to use attack angles to increase the odds of hitting the legs. This will help even with called shots. Attacks from the sides have a near equal chance of hitting the side, arm, or leg, with a small chance to hit the center torso.
Attacks from the front are most likely to hit the torsos with low odds to hit the limbs. Same with attacks to the back.

If you don't have the morale to reliably do Precision Shots, go for the sides to tear off a leg and side torso. Then when they have been knocked down by leg destruction, you can make called shots on the other side or leg. Watch the initiative, falling down does reduce initiative by one phase, but a prone mech will always try to stand back up at the earliest opportunity.

 

[wolfman3000]

Great. Thx.

Another Question. Is the Ability inside the Gunnery Skill, the Piloting or Tactiks ?

 

[foamyesque]

Great. Thx.

Another Question. Is the Ability inside the Gunnery Skill, the Piloting or Tactiks ?

The ability to do so doesn't require any specific skill.

Precision Shot is one of the two blue icons on the right of the action bar at the bottom of the screen and is available to any pilot provided you meet the minimum resolve requirement (usually 30; 40 if the pilot has low spirits, 20 if they have high spirits). Resolve is generated each round based on your shipboard morale (with a bonus for the highest level of comm gear in a lance), plus a +10 bonus every time an enemy target ('mech, vehicle, or turret) is destroyed by your forces (things killed by allied forces don't count).

Called shots against fallen or shut down 'mechs will happen automatically.


The Tactics skill will, at 6 and 9 levels respectively, improve the likelihood of your pilots hitting the chosen section in particular, but isn't required to make the shot in the first place. The Marauder 'mech also has a special equipment, the Lance Command Module, that will provide a bonus.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

A bit of a side note.

When I am playing an Assassination Mission, I often deal with the target's escorts and then sprint to the target to get in nice and close. This is so I can more easily get into that side arc to improve hit chances to legs. Better to leg a target so it can't sprint to their extraction before you can take them out.

This is where those side arcs can come in handy for leg hits when you may not have the morale for Called Shots.

 

[Wumpus]

One thing I have noticed is that chances to hit the legs of a mech (with a default, not-precise shot) increase when you are shooting down on it from above. From equal height or below you are more likely to hit the arms and side/center torso.

 

[Doctor Machete]

One thing I have noticed is that chances to hit the legs of a mech (with a default, not-precise shot) increase when you are shooting down on it from above. From equal height or below you are more likely to hit the arms and side/center torso.

That's confirmation bias. Elevation doesn't have an effect for where you hit, Precision Shot or not.

 

[Wumpus]

That's confirmation bias. Elevation doesn't have an effect for where you hit, Precision Shot or not.

Ok, thanks.

 

[Wumpus]

I wonder if anyone can comment on the exact mechanics of terrain causing obstructed shots, and how that restricts hit locations. I've had a lot of success getting head shots without precision if I can arrange for a ridge line or some such to obscure the target making only the head visible. Is this confirmation bias, also?

 

[Doctor Machete]

I wonder if anyone can comment on the exact mechanics of terrain causing obstructed shots, and how that restricts hit locations. I've had a lot of success getting head shots without precision if I can arrange for a ridge line or some such to obscure the target making only the head visible. Is this confirmation bias, also?

Not 100% sure because it's possible there are UI quirks but almost certain it doesn't matter. For the head, being the chance so low without PS there's going to be a lot more variability but if you can aim at a leg with normal chances then it works the same for PS, just without the PS bonus. If you couldn't hit the leg the PS still would apply but just over a base of zero. That should be way easier to test.

 

[foamyesque]

I wonder if anyone can comment on the exact mechanics of terrain causing obstructed shots, and how that restricts hit locations. I've had a lot of success getting head shots without precision if I can arrange for a ridge line or some such to obscure the target making only the head visible. Is this confirmation bias, also?

It's true in the tabletop; if the bottom half of a mech is obscured, you roll on the punch table, which is about one in six. (This is why you never want to be punched by an Atlas.)

But I don't think it's true in HBSTech.

 

[Harmon Ward]

It's true in the tabletop; if the bottom half of a mech is obscured, you roll on the punch table, which is about one in six. (This is why you never want to be punched by an Atlas.)

But I don't think it's true in HBSTech.

They fixed that in Table Top. Everyone found out that using cover was a death sentence. In the latest version you roll on the normal to hit table, but if you strike the leg, you hit the obstruction instead. At San Diego Comic Con a few years back my Crockett was saved by that rule. I had 4 PPC shots intercepted by the Level One hill I was standing behind.

 

[foamyesque]

They fixed that in Table Top. Everyone found out that using cover was a death sentence. In the latest version you roll on the normal to hit table, but if you strike the leg, you hit the obstruction instead. At San Diego Comic Con a few years back my Crockett was save by that rule. I had 4 PPC shots intercepted by the Level One hill I was standing behind.

That makes way more sense. My rulebooks are out of date

 

[Harmon Ward]

That makes way more sense. My rulebooks are out of date

Total War is the the latest. The new rule works well because a hill significant enough to fill a hex is around 30 meters thick. A PPC is not going to burn through that . However, if you are standing behind a cheap building, the shot will penetrate it, lose some damage and still hit your legs. Different types of cover mean different types of protection.