Interesting discussion, but I think it's a moot point. I took a closer look at Hit the Dirt, and it's only good against Suppressive Fire, so it will not save James' bacon in this case, and I don't think it's worth the cost for 2 extra dice. I will take advantage of the die for Combat Sense, though.
Combat Sense:
1d6t5 1That's lucky. That drops James down to 7 stun.
As for the discussion, though, I see your points, especially concerning the basically free Interrupt Action on the last pass, which I agree is not likely to be RAI. I know I don't want NPCs using it
As for Piloting, my understanding is that so long as a Piloting action is made each CT, the air boat will not need to rely on its auto-pilot. So, James could effectively shoot during his first two passes, and then take control of the boat on his third. Is that your understanding as well? I'm getting that from the "Action" section on page 202 of the
CRB. Let me know if I need to adjust my ordering in IPs.
The air boat has now traveled 80 meters since the beginning of CT3. That's about 26 meters a pass, assuming 3 passes per CT. This should also put them at the island, should there be any cover benefits for skirting past the north side of it. That said, they've got a long ways to go before they get out of Medium range for the LMG, but things will go quicker for the grenade launcher. I'm re-thinking bailing into the swamp, but that's somewhat dependent on how cover starts to look the further they get away from the opposing shooters. Since this is a pretty wooded area, at what point will they be breaking LoS? Is there some sort of Piloting test that James can make to accelerate that process?
Since it's entirely possible that at least one participant from team geek James and Illeana will go first, I'll hold off on declaring my actions for CT4 IP1.
James is at 10/42 Alpha, 1/5 Edge, 7/12S, 0/10P.