Name:  Combat Vehicle Escape Pod
Type (Category):  Equipment (Other)
Reference:  Tactical Operations: Advanced Units & Equipment (p. 121)

Description:
A radical concept in Combat Vehicle escape systems, the Combat Vehicle Escape Pod (CVEP) is a cramped, self-sealing mini-cabin built into a vehicle’s rear quarter and used to escape certain destruction in hostile atmospheres. Though it is modeled on the design of the Lyran Commonwealth’s revolutionary full-head ejection system for BattleMechs, the compartmentalized design and segregated control stations of most Combat Vehicles negates much of its value by forcing the vehicle crew to decide on their own when the time has come to employ the emergency egress system, rather than auto-ejecting them to safety in the event of catastrophe. This single flaw has effectively prevented the CVEP from entering full-scale production.

Game Rules:
Only Combat Vehicles may mount a CVEP, which is treated as a weapon item in the rear and may thus be damaged by any weapon critical hits to that location. During the Movement Phase of any turn, the crew of a Combat Vehicle may choose to use the CVEP to escape their vehicle, so long as the system has not been previously damaged. Once launched, the crew makes a Piloting Skill Roll with a +2 target modifier. If successful, the pod travels up to 4 hexes (at the controlling players’ choice) directly behind the vehicle, where a standard MechWarrior Ejection roll with a +2 modifier is required to see if the pod lands safely. A failure on either the launching roll or the landing roll indicates that the ejected crew suffers physical damage from the violent escape, with each failure resulting in a hit to one crewman (determined randomly). Once the pod lands, the crew may step out and make for safety as a conventional foot infantry unit (with a size equal to the surviving crewmen), or—if landed on water or in an otherwise toxic environment—remain in the capsule to await rescue.

Attacks against a jettisoned CVEP may be made as if targeting an immobile unit, in which case the CVEP is considered breached (and its occupants—if any—killed) after sustaining more than 2 points of damage. Once a CVEP is jettisoned (whether successfully or not), the vehicle is considered to have suffered a Crew Killed result and is treated as destroyed for the remainder of the scenario.

Jettisoned CVEPs may not be salvaged and reinstalled once deployed.

Combat Vehicles

Prototype Date:	3038
Production Date:	3079
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

Combat Vehicle Specific Construction Rules

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE
RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
ALPHA STRIKE WEAPON CONVERSION TABLE
Special Unit Abilities

MegaMek Output → Critical Slot:  ISCombatVehicleEscapePod
Record Sheet Output → Critical Slot:  Escape Pod