Why doesn't combat work exactly the same as regular skill rolls? Width as speed and height as quality, with quality in this case meaning damage. There are also several strange anomalies in the rules as they are written. This  questions led to the creation of these alternate rules for Nemesis. The rules below are based upon the alternate combate rules for Godlike by Tom Miskey. 

Height = Damage

Simply put, combat now works the same as every other skill roll: Width determines speed, Height determines quality, in this case damage. (Height represented "quality" before, in a way, by determining hit location, but damage is a more direct indication of the quality of a hit.)

• Height, not Width, determines damage.
• If an attack does both Shock and Killing, the Height is always divided in half between the two types of damage (Height 8 = 4 Shock, 4 Killing).
• If the Height is an odd number, always round in favor of Shock (Height 5 = 3 Shock, 2 Killing).
• Some weapons only inflict 1 type of damage, not both. You still divide the Height between them, but you ignore the unused half. (A fist attack with Height 7 does 4 Shock and no Killing.)
  
  

Hit Location

Under the original rules, the Height of your attack determined the hit location. In this version, pick one die in your die pool that is a different color or size than the rest. Whatever it rolls is the hit location. It does not matter whether this die is part of the set that hits or not--whatever that die comes up is the location. This way, everything is still resolved by 1 roll. (If you don't have a die of a different color or size, just roll 1d10 after you hit to find out where.)

Example: Rolling for an attack, you use 1 red die as the Hit Location die. Although it was not part of the matching set of 3x5, its value of 9 means you hit the torso.

Called Shots: Because Height now determines damage, not hit location, we must slightly alter called shots. To make a Called Shot, just drop 1 normal die from your pool and roll the rest. You do not set 1 die to the number you are aiming for, or need to match it with your other dice, such as 10 for the head (because doing so would affect the damage of the attack). Instead, if the attack hits, you may bump the number showing on the Hit Location die either up or down, by an amount equal to the roll's Width. So, if you hit the Torso with a roll of 3x7, you could bump it up to the head (location 10) or down to either arm (locations 4-6), but you could not hit the legs.


Health

This system provides for much finer granularity in damage. A typical roll may result in anything from 1 Shock to 5 Shock and 5 Killing. While the average hit, with a Height of 5, causes 3 Shock and 2 Killing, the broader range of values results in increased lethality for characters. As the game is already quite deadly, I suggest increasing the base Health points for characters. An increase of about 60% (for a total of 6 points in the Head, 16 in the Torso, and 8 in each limb) maintains the deadly atmosphere of the game while still providing for increased survival. Natural Healing: Natural Healing from Shock is similar to the original rules. Half the Shock on each body location is recovered after a combat. After a good night's rest, you may recover more. Roll Body+Health and if successful, you recover Shock points equal to ½ the Height of the roll, round up. Surgery and healing from Wounds are unchanged from the Nemesis rules (pg. 22).


Armor

After the roll has been divided into Shock and Killing, apply any armor the target is wearing.

Light armor: Light armor subtracts its value (LAR) from Killing first, and then Shock if there are any points left.

Example: A bullet hits your torso with a Height of 5, but luckily you are wearing a flak jacket. The bullet would normally do 3 Shock and 2 Killing, but your 3 points of LAR reduces the Killing to 0, and the remaining point cancels 1 Shock. Final result: You suffer 2 Shock points.

Heavy armor: Heavy armor subtracts its value (HAR) from both Shock and Killing.

Example: Another bullet with a Height of 5 hits you in the head, but this time you are behind a 1" concrete wall with a value of 2 HAR. The 3 Shock and 2 Killing are each reduced by 2 points, resulting in a mere 1 Shock point of damage to you. Good thing you kept your head down!

Penetration values: The penetration value reduces any armor by the listed amount. Penetration is only half as effective at long range, and the width of the attack roll does not add to penetration. If the target has no Armor, ignore any penetration value.

Example: A Panzerfaust 30 is fired at a Josef Stalin Heavy Tank. The tank's normal HAR of 9 is reduced to 2 by the penetration value of 7, and damage is figured normally from there.


Weapons and Damage

The chart below replaces the Nemesis Standard Weapons Table (pg. 30/31) and the Base Damage Rating table (pg. 9). Remember, the Height of the attack ordinarily includes both the Shock and Killing damage. Half the Height is Shock damage and half is Wound damage, with any odd point going toward Shock. Not all weapons or attacks do both types of damage, however, so only record the appropriate types of damage and ignore the other half.

Spray, Area, and Burn: Spray, Area dice, burning, drowning, falling, etc., all remain unchanged from the original rules.

Everything Else: Use these suggestions to extrapolate anything that is not covered below. For example, a high Body now adds to the Height of a melee blow, not the Width. Specific cartridges also add/subtract to the Height rolled for guns. Electrocution only does Shock damage, so it would do ½ the Height, round up.

Fists and feet - Only Shock damage is done. (½ Height, rd up)
Truncheon, bottle, brass knuckles - Only Shock damage. (½ Height, rd up) + 1
Club, flat side of shovel - Only Shock damage. (½ Height, rd up) + 2
Small knife, broken bottle - Only Wound damage. (½ Height, rd down)
Large knife, shovel, unfixed bayonet - Only Wound damage. (½ Height, rd down) + 1
Fixed Bayonet, Axe, Spear, Saber - Only Wound damage. (½ Height, rd down) + 2
Pistol, submachine gun - Does both Shock and Wound damage.
Carbine - Does both Shock and Wound damage. Height + 2
Long rifle, machine gun - Does both Shock and Wound damage. Height +4
Grenade - Does both Shock and Wound damage. Full damage to target, + Blast damage: +2 Shock to all locations and +1 Wound to each location rolled on the Area dice to all within 10 yards. Reroll hit locations for each.
Mortar, bazooka, rocket - Does both Shock and Wound damage. Height + 2. Full damage to target, +Blast damage: + 2 Shock to all locations and + 1 Wound to each location rolled on the Area dice to all within 10 yards. Reroll hit locations for each.
Cannon, artillery - Does both Shock and Wound damage. +4 Height. Full damage to target, plus Blast damage: +2 Shock to all locations and +1 Wound to each location rolled on the Area dice to all targets within 10 yards. Reroll locations for each.
Flamethrower - 1 Wound to the location of the main attack, +1 Shock & burning to it and each location rolled on the Area dice. (Only rolled locations are set on fire.)