  We consider localisation problems belonging to the chiral symmetry classes,
in which sublattice symmetry is responsible for singular behaviour at a band
centre. We formulate models which have the relevant symmetries and which are
generalisations of the network model introduced previously in the context of
the integer quantum Hall plateau transition. We show that the generalisations
required can be re-expressed as corresponding to the introduction of absorption
and amplification into either the original network model, or the variants of it
that represent disordered superconductors. In addition, we demonstrate that by
imposing appropriate constraints on disorder, a lattice version of the Dirac
equation with a random vector potential can be obtained, as well as new types
of critical behaviour. These models represent a convenient starting point for
analytic discussions and computational studies, and we investigate in detail a
two-dimensional example without time-reversal invariance. It exhibits both
localised and critical phases, and band-centre singularities in the critical
phase approach more closely in small systems the expected asymptotic form than
in other known realisations of the symmetry class.
