Game Aid: AC-130

If you have played a shooter in the last several years in the modern setting, you've probably heard of the American AC-130 Gunship, and the power it can bring to bear. Here I wanted to put into Savage World's terms as an asset the players can call in on missions, in a military type setting. It will allow the players to have a tense moment and then proactively deal with threats that are overwhelming or they aren't equipped to handle at the time.

First of all, the AC-130 traditionally flies most of its missions at night where it is protected by darkness and it can make the best use of its FLIR and night vision targeting systems. It is equipped with flares to deter missiles fired at it (giving a +2 in addition the normal bonus), as it dumps a large amount of flares. It also flies out of range for any personal weapon, aside from a SAM launcher, that infantry would carry.

To call these assets takes some creativity on the part of the players but generally takes a turn and a Notice (+2) roll for the TV Gunner to spot the target. Common ways of marking targets (or the location of friendly units) by infantry are smoke grenades (often colored smoke), IR strobes, flares, or pointing out a land mark (though this does not confer the Notice bonus). Once the AC-130's gunner has found the target they may fire (on the same turn if they score a raise). The AC-130 has multiple variants that are outfitted differently. I will outline some of the variants' armaments below. Note that the aircraft's targeting systems make range and autofire penalties non-applicable as they are compensated for.

AC-130H

• L/60 40mm Bofors Cannon: 4d8; ROF2; 8 shots; AP2, MBT, HW, 1 turn reload
• M102 105mm Howitzer: ROF1; 1 shot; 1 turn reload, HW

*105mm HE and HEAT have differentstats in some areas:

• HE: 4d10; AP12, LBT
• HEAT: 5d10; AP40, MBT

AC-130U Spooky II

• GAU-12/U Equalizer 25mm Gatling Cannon: 3d8+4; ROF 1 MBT (+4 to hit); AP4, HW
• L/60 40mm Bofors Cannon: 4d8; ROF2; 8 shots; AP2, MBT, HW, 1 turn reload
• M102 105mm Howitzer: ROF1; 1 shot; 1 turn reload, HW

*105mm HE and HEAT have differentstats in some areas:

• HE: 4d10; AP12, LBT
• HEAT: 5d10; AP40, MBT

AC-130W Stinger II/AC-130J Ghostrider

• ATK GAU-23/A 30mm autocannon: 3d8; ROF3; 10 shots; AP6, HW
• 'Gunslinger' weapons system: May launch AGM-176 Griffin missiles (4d6+1; ROF1; 10 shots; AP20, MBT) or GBU-44/B Viper Strike munitions (TBD)
• 2 Wing Mounted Hardpoints (4 weapons per hardpoint): May carry AGM-114 Hellfire (5d8; ROF1-4; AP140, MBT) Missiles, GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), and/or GBU-53/B SDB II