(Answered) Heat and Combat Vehicles

[c_gee]

So I was looking over a few unit cards in the MUL when I noticed that all combat vehicle cards have an OV value and heat scale.

Here is an example.

This got me thinking. I know that in BT, all vehicles must be constructed with enough heat sinks to fire all their weapons and therefore don't have to worry about having a heat scale. They also get affected differently by certain heat weapons (like inferno SRMs). 

That said, despite looking around in a couple of places (AS rulebook, errata and here on the forum), I can't seem to find a rule or ruling that says that vehicles in AS ignore heat and their effects.  There is however, mention of "heat-tracking units" in the AS rule book but I can't seem to find a definitive rule explaining exactly what a heat-tracking unit is (though I could guess).

Certainly, no vehicle in AS has an Overheat value of anything other than "0" (at least as far as I'm aware), so no vehicle can climb the heat scale by overheating. 

Can can they still climb the heat scale by taking heat damage (or from terrain/condition effects)?
Would they then also be affected by heat like any other unit (-2" move reduction and +1 to-hit penalty per point on the heat scale)?

Is there a rule somewhere in the AS rule book or errata that I've missed?

[nckestrel]

So I was looking over a few unit cards in the MUL when I noticed that all combat vehicle cards have an OV value and heat scale.

Here is an example.

This got me thinking. I know that in BT, all vehicles must be constructed with enough heat sinks to fire all their weapons and therefore don't have to worry about having a heat scale. They also get affected differently by certain heat weapons (like inferno SRMs). 

That said, despite looking around in a couple of places (AS rulebook, errata and here on the forum), I can't seem to find a rule or ruling that says that vehicles in AS ignore heat and their effects.  There is however, mention of "heat-tracking units" in the AS rule book but I can't seem to find a definitive rule explaining exactly what a heat-tracking unit is (though I could guess).

The intent when the rulebook was written was that only unit types that track heat would have a place on the card to track heat.  Unfortunately, the MUL doesn't yet have a separate non-heat tracking card for non-heat tracking units.
The Alpha Strike Companion notes that only 'Mechs and aerospace fighters calculate an OV value, they are the only ones that should have a heat track on their card.

Certainly, no vehicle in AS has an Overheat value of anything other than "0" (at least as far as I'm aware), so no vehicle can climb the heat scale by overheating. 

Can can they still climb the heat scale by taking heat damage (or from terrain/condition effects)?
Would they then also be affected by heat like any other unit (-2" move reduction and +1 to-hit penalty per point on the heat scale)?

Is there a rule somewhere in the AS rule book or errata that I've missed?

No, vehicles don't track heat.  They (any non-heat tracking unit, ie. anything other than 'mechs and aerospace fighters) take damage instead. p39, last sentence under the Heat special ability.

[c_gee]

Thanks.

That's what I figured.

Might I suggest that the next time the AS rule book gets errata'd, it includes a rule that explains what exactly a "heat-tracking unit" is? Otherwise, the rules rely on the record card to make that distinction for the player... not that that's a bad thing but a little redundancy here wouldn't be the end of the world.

[nckestrel]

I posted errata after replying to your question yesterday :).