The Rules of Engagement
When a pilot of the Imperium may fire, at whom, and when he must not. Every licensed pilot answers for every round he fires.
1. The principle
An aircraft is the heaviest weapon a single man can carry. It fires further, kills more and does more damage to property than anything on the ground. For that reason a pilot fires less freely than a rifleman, not more.
RULE 1 · EVERY ROUND NEEDS A REASONA pilot fires only at a lawful target, for a reason he could give an officer afterwards. The rule of the ground, every kill needs a reason, binds the air twice over.
RULE 2 · THE PILOT ANSWERSThe penal code of the Imperium applies to the air exactly as to the ground: murder, manslaughter, assault (2.1.1 to 2.1.4) and the destruction of property (3.1.4). The aircraft is no excuse.
2. Lawful targets
- Enemy aircraft in the air during a raid, an attack on the Imperium or an ordered operation.
- Enemy vehicles, guns and men in the open who are attacking the Imperium or its men, during a raid or an operation.
- Anti-aircraft positions firing on Imperial aircraft.
- Targets named in an order by the commander of the operation, and only those.
RULE 3 · POSITIVE IDENTIFICATIONIdentify before you fire. A pilot who cannot tell friend from enemy does not fire. Friendly fire from the air is the pilot's fault, never the target's.
3. Forbidden in every case
RULE 4 · NO FIRE ON SPAWNSNo strafing, rocketing or bombing of any team's spawn, deploy area or safe zone. Spawnkilling and spawncamping (2.2.0) is a Major offence for one occurrence and a Capital offence for more.
RULE 5 · NO BOMBING OF THE TOWNNo bomb, rocket or strafing run on the streets, squares and buildings of a city of the Imperium. A Stuka that bombed a street in Madrid in September killed members of the Graend Council and was prosecuted for the improper use of planes. That case is the standing precedent.
RULE 6 · NO RAMMINGNo aircraft is ever flown into a man, a vehicle, another aircraft or a building on purpose. Ramming is vehicle deathmatch from the air.
RULE 7 · THE IMPERIAL TOWERNo aircraft flies into, over at roof height, or fires on the Imperial Tower. Ever.
RULE 8 · NO KILLZONE ABUSENo aircraft is used to hold a killzone over a choke point, a gate or a road where men cannot answer it (1.1.8).
RULE 9 · NO FIRE OUTSIDE A FIGHTOutside a raid, an attack or an ordered operation, a pilot does not fire at all. Not at players, not at NPCs, not at cars, not to test his guns.
4. Conduct in the fight
- Obey the commander of the operation and the senior pilot in the air. Failure to comply (1.1.4) applies in the air.
- Break off when ordered, and when the fight is over.
- A pilot who is shot down is dead: he does not take another aircraft into the same fight to chase his killer.
- Do not fire on a parachute.
- Report every kill and every friendly-fire incident to your commander after the flight.
5. Student pilots
A student pilot is unarmed and stays out of every fight. If a raid begins while he is airborne he lands at once, or flies away from the fighting and lands as soon as it is safe. A student who flies into a fight to watch it has broken the Air Regulations.