v4.6 / 2022-08-20

Intro

Players manage fleets of starships, and attempt to blast each other into protons. Ships are represented by counters on the map, and by corresponding ship sheets representing their states and capabilities.

On the map, each ship is represented by a ship counter, which is located inside a particular hex, and which must always face one of its adjacent hexes. Each ship also has a vector counter, also placed inside a nearby hex, which represents the location of the ship after movement if the ship executes no maneuvers.

A ship's sheet lists its systems: hull, weapons, and internal systems. Each of a ship's systems is listed as a collection of boxes, each representing one damage point (DP). Most systems also have a rating, which represents its functional capacity; this is usually denoted by the left-most (undamaged) number inside the system's DP boxes. Some systems (like hull) have no rating, while others (like maneuvering jets) have multiple ratings depending on their state.

Dice Mechanics

Each dice roll is a number of dice (N) rolled against a hit number (H). All dice which roll less than or equal to the HN are hits. Any die which rolls a "0" is counted as a hit, and rerolled for possible additional hits (subsequent rolls of "0"); any die which rolls a "9" is counted as -1 hits, and is rerolled for possible additional -1 results (subsequent rolls of "9"). Total hits from all dice are the roll's result, or hits.

Rolls are noted in the rules as N@H.

Crew Skill

Each ship's crew is divided into sections. Each section has a skill between 4 and 8, totaling 20. Skill is the number of dice rolled for various ship actions, against a hit number determined by the health of the related system (as detailed in the next section).

Piloting

Ships roll against Piloting@CnC to determine move order, as described in the turn order section later.

Engineering

Ships roll against Engineering@Reactor to reduce reactor stress, as described in the turn order section later.

Gunnery

Ships roll against Gunnery@TargetingComputer when firing weapons at other ships.

Ship Systems

Hull

When the last damage box in the hull section is damaged, the ship itself is destroyed and is out of the game.

Reactor

A ship's reactor provides all the power a ship requires, but increased demand on the reactor is measured by stress (tracked by yellow chips). Stress equal to the reactor's Strength (indicated by the circled value on the ship sheet) is automatically removed during the Check Reactor phase of the turn; ships roll Engineering@Rating to remove additional stress. If the last damage box on the reactor is destroyed, the reactor fails, and the ship is out of the game.

Weapons

Weapons are used to deal damage out to opponent ships. Most weapons may fire at most once per turn, and only at one target, which must be in the firing weapon's arc. A ship may fire at different target ships with different weapon systems, of course. Weapons have one damage box each, and when destroyed, the weapon no longer functions. Weapons fire is explained below.

Beam Weapons

Fired at enemy ships. Beam weapons are rated by a list of ranges and modifications to the Gunnery roll used to fire it. The resulting hits (roll plus mod) are the number of damage points delivered to the target ships. 0 or fewer hits deliver no damage.

An example beam weapon is shown below.

Class-D Neutral Particle Beam (S=1)
4+2	9+1	16+0	26-1	37-2

When firing this weapon at a target up to 4 hexes away, it does a number of damage points equal to Gunnery@Targeting+2. If the target were greater than 4 hexes away but still within 9 hexes, this would be Gunnery@Targeting+1 damage points, and so on. Firing the weapon incurs 1 engine stress.

Pulse Weapons

Fired at enemy ships. Pulse weapons are rated by a list of ranges and the number of hits required on the Gunnery roll in order for the shot to reach the target ship, and by a set amount of damage that a shot will deliver.

An example pulse weapon is shown below.

Class-F Plasma Cannon (S=2, dam=10)
2:1	6:2	10:3	16:4	22:5	30:6	38:7

Firing this weapon at a target up to 2 hexes away requires the firer roll Gunnery@Targeting and get at least 1 hit; at up to 6 hexes away, this roll must yield at least 2 hits, and so on. If this hit roll is successful, then the weapon delivers 10 damage points to the target. Firing the weapon incurs 2 engine stress.

Interceptors

Fired at seeker weapons. Interceptors are the only weapon which may affect multiple targets on a single use. They are rated in terms of range and hits required to destroy a seeker weapon at that range. The firer rolls Gunnery@Targeting, yielding a number of hits; these hits are then allocated to enemy seeker weapons by the firer.

An example interceptor is shown below.

Class-E Interceptor
5:1	11:2	18:3	26:4	35:5

For this weapon system, seeker weapons within 5 hexes of the firer require 1 hit to destroy, seekers within 11 hexes require 2 hits to destroy, and so on. If the Gunnery@Targeting roll yielded 3 hits, then one hit each could be allocated to three seekers 4 hexes away; or, one to a seeker 3 hexes away and two hits to another seeker 9 hexes away; or, all three hits could be allocated to single seeker 15 hexes away. Antimatter torpedoes always cost twice the normal amount of hits to destroy as standard seekers. Interceptor weapons never incur reactor stress.

Torpedoes

Seeker weapon. Torpedoes are launched by ships, which then become tracked on the map along with ships. Torpedoes are rated in terms of acceleration (how much a torpedo can change its vector each turn, in any direction) and warhead size. A torpedo's target is written down in secret by its firer, and tracks that target until destroyed, or until it strikes its target, doing its warhead in damage. This is more thoroughly described in the turn section below.

Antimatter Torpedoes

Seeker weapon. Antimatter torpedoes work the same way as normal torpedoes, except that they must be charged (incurring reactor stress) prior to being fired. One turn is spent charging the torpedo, and the following turn, it may be fired.

Plating

A ship has six sides of plating, each which absorbs damage directed at the ship from attacks from its corresponding angle. Once all DP boxes from a plating facing is destroyed, then the plating is gone, and further hits go against the interior of the ship (as explained below).

CnC

Command and Control is the bridge and other components of the ship used to control it. Once the last DP of a ship's CnC is destroyed, the ship is adrift, and is removed from the map.

Targeting Computer

Indicates the number each weapon die needs to be less than or equal to in order to be considered a hit.

Thrusters

Thruster rating represents the number of hexes by which a ship may alter its vector during the Movement phase, and how much reactor stress each change incurs. When all boxes are destroyed, the rating listed to the right of the last box is used.

Maneuvering Jets

Maneuver ratings represent the number of facings by which a ship may alter its facing during the Movement phase, and how much reactor stress each change incurs. When all boxes are destroyed, the rating listed to the right of the last box is used.

Sensors

Sensor rating of attacking ships is added to their range when attacking other ships. The higher the rating, the more damaged a ship's sensors are, and the less effective their weapons fire will be.

ECM

ECM works similarly to the way Sensors work, but increase the range to the ship for other ships firing on it.

Taudrive

A ship's Taudrive allows it to travel through tauspace. This isn't used in most table-combat scenarios.

The Turn

Turns are resolved, in phase order, until the scenario resolution condition is met - usually when only one player's or one team's ships remain. The phases for each turn are listed below. Once all phases have been processed, if more than one player or team is still active, play returns to the top of the phase list.

Phase 1: Initiative

Initiative order is determined by all ships rolling Piloting@CnC, ties resolved by further rolls of Piloting@CnC. Ships move in inverse order of the results; ie, the player with the fewest hits on the Piloting roll moves first, then the second-fewest hits, and so on, with the ship with the most hits moving last.

Phase 2: Movement

Step 1

The ship's vector counter may be rotated, changing its facing, earning the ship an amount of reactor stress as indicated by the corresponding Maneuvering ratings.

Step 2

The ship's vector counter may be moved a number of hexes from its current position to one within the 120° arc (centered on the ship's heading), maintaining its same orientation, earning the ship an amount of reactor stress as indicated by the corresponding Thruster rating equal to the number of hexes moved.

Step 3

Place the ship's second vector counter along the same vector from its first vector counter.

Step 4

Move the ship counter to the position of its first vector counter, and remove the first vector counter (it will be used as the "second vector counter" in the next turn).

An example of movement is below.

Ship (left) and vector (center)		Step 1: vector rotates 60°; incurs Maneuver Jets stress		120° front arc of new vector orientation
Step 2: ship moves 1 hex; incurs Thruster stress		Step 3: new vector counter placed		Step 4: Updated positions of ship and vector

Phase 3: Fire Weapons

Each of a ship's weapons may fire at any target the weapon's arc (as indicated on its ship sheet), and must specify that the shot will go against the target ship's Midships, Engines, Weapons, or Control. Success is based on the firing ship rolling Gunnery@TargetingComputer.

A weapon's effectiveness is based on effective range, or simply, range. This is based on the true range (in hexes), plus the firing ship's Sensor rating, plus the target ship's ECM rating. Depending on range and Gunnery roll, the weapon will do damage to the target ship as detailed on the ship's sheet.

When fired upon, the target ship will roll Damage@ShieldGen; damage is reduced by the number of hits on this roll. Remaing damage is then applied to the target ship's plating facing the firing ship (the defender chooses if the shot hits a spline between two facings). Remaining points of damage then strike the interior of the ship based on the firer's choice of target section: the ship receives a number of gray chips for each Midships hit, red chips for Engine hits, blue chips for Weapon damage, and green for Control. These are used to resolve damage in the next phase.

For a defensive Damage@ShieldGen, each die which rolls exactly the ShieldGen number induces a point of reactor Stress to the defending ship.

Firing certain weapons incurs reactor stress; this will be indicated on the ship sheet.

Phase 4: Move Seekers

Each seeker moves following the same procedure for ships (in Phase 2) All seekers can change their facing by any amount per move, and by a number of hexes per move based on seeker type.

If a seeker ends its movement in the same hex as its listed target, it takes its effect on the target ship:

Phase 5: Resolve Damage

Roll one die for each point of damage, and check the hit location table below. Each result indicates one DP box damaged on the listed system. A result of "-" indicates no effect, and "Crew" indicates that one of the ship's section's skills drops by one (target's choice). Once each chip has been rolled for, they are removed from the ship sheet.

Phase 6: Launch Seekers

Counters representing new seekers are added to the map. Each seeker launcher is noted on its ship sheet with a launch vector; the seeker is placed in the hex adjacent to the launching ship in the direction of its launch vector, and the seeker's vector is placed in the hex adjacent to the launching ship's vector in the same way.

For example, if a ship has a torpedo launcher with a launch vector straight ahead, then the torpedo will be placed on the map as follows.

Position of launching ship		Position and vector of launched torpedo

Firing ships record the seekers' targets in secret, and seekers must always seek this target during the Move Seekers phase. If a seeker's target no longer exists, it is removed from play.

Phase 7: Check Reactor

Ships now remove a number of yellow chips representing reactor stress equal to the reactor's Strength (indicated inside the circle on the ship sheet) plus Engineering@Reactor. For each chip which remains, roll one die against the following table. After damage is rolled, yellow chips are not removed from ship sheets as is the case for combat damage.

Phase 8: Check Status

All ships are now checked to see whether they remain viable. Ships with no hull left are destroyed, and are out; ships with no CnC are disabled and also out. In addition, any ship which has traveled further than 50 hexes away from the average position of every other ship is considered "wandered off", and is also out. All remaining ships start a new turn.

Sessions

Sessions are individual combat scenarios. Players are divided into teams (represented by colors), assigned ships, and then the scenario is run until its goal is met. Usually, this means that only one team's ships remain in play.

Ships

Here is the Ship list.