If you wish to discuss my Life
The Scalable Starship Combat System
By James M. Dugan
Copyright 1997
The purpose of this is to produce a system for starship combat that is
useable for varying levels of play. A step on the scale for 3-D Tactical
Play, a step up in the system for squadron level, and another step up,
for really large battles that would bog down if played out in any other
fashion.
It's a difficult thing to run 4 to 6 ships to a side without things
bogging down - even harder to do it in 3 dimensions with realistic
Newtonian movement. I have elected to not try 3-D except in the
smaller-scale scenarios, and to try and emulate Newtononian motion in
the larger scale system.
I have tried to keep the system simple, and avoid much math. I have also
tried to include "real world" systems (such as ECM and Stealth) in the
system, while giving a lot of fantasy/cartoon weapon effects for those
that like their Science Fantasy with a less hard edge.
Math was unavoidable in the Construction System, but fear not, I have
not gone in too deep. You should have seen some of the prototypes,
though.....
In the years I have tried to create the "perfect" Sci-Fi Starship Combat
Game, It has gradually dawned on me that it was difficult (if not
impossible) to get as close to reality as I would like.
The first problem is that we DON'T KNOW what the future will be like.
Upon reading a futurist book from the 80's, I broke out in laughter more
than a few times. How many books written in the "Golden Age" of Sci-Fi
were even CLOSE?
The Second is the limited ability of the Human Mind. Can you honestly
keep track of more than 30 ships in 3D, with realistic movement, along
with heat levels, What's not working, etc? A gimmick of some sort is
sorely needed.
_______________________________________________________________________
3-D Tactical -
This system is still in the works, 3-D is hard to do in a board game, and
still keep it reasonably fast-paced. Try Peter Drake's ASTROMACHIA in the
interim.....
_________________________________________________________________________
Squadron Level Rules -
General -
Scale -
1 Hex is 2615 Kilometers across
1 Turn is 5 minutes long
Acceleration of 1 hex per turn is 1 "gee"
Basic Systems - Most of these are on every ship, but not every ship has
every system...
Attack - This is a measure of how much damage a ship weapon can
dish out in combat in damage points.
Armor - This is hull plating in excess of that required to keep
the ship the together. The amount is given in the amount
of damage it can absorb. Armor is "used up" when damaged,
and must be replaced at a repair facility. It is hit only
if the shields are penetrated.
Auxillary Systems - These are systems that are not on every
starship, but are big/useful enough to include on the
Ship Data Sheet.
Drive - The engines that move the ship in normal space, and also
a measure of how well a ship manuevers.
Gate - A device that enables travel from star to star. It opens a
portal into hyperspace where normal movement is effectively
multiplied milllions of times.
Range - This is a measure of how far a ship weapon can effectively
hit a Target.
Shields - These project a field of some type that protects from
the ship from damage. Shields can be raised in the turn
after they are penetrated. Some types have limited
capacity, some are better designs that protect more.
Order of Play during each round
(no differentiation between a round and a turn)
1) Declaration Phase -
The following are declared:
Speed must be declared every turn
These are declared only if they are actually done:
Docking
Launching
Repairs
Boarding (Boarding is resolved in
the Activity phase)
2) Movement - see the movement rules
3) Activity - the following occur in the Activity phase:
Docking in complete if all conditions met
Launched vehicles are now free of the mother-ship
Repairs are completed
Boarding Combat is resolved
Rounds are completed in the above order until one of these conditions
are met:
All Parties agree to a truce
All the combatants on a side are rendered incapable of resistance
All resistance-capable combatants have seperated themselves
sufficiently to avoid further contact.
Movement -
1) Use a BIG sheet of Hex paper
2) Movement carries over from turn to turn, and must be either
Nullified by using the drive (move points- MP), or is
additive until you go so bloody fast you zoom off the
paper...
3) You also use the Drive to turn your ship to a particular
direction, or other useful things. MP (move points)
equals:
Drive Rating squared
(drive rating X drive rating)
4) MP is used to manuever, to Accelerate, or to Decelerate.
It takes 1 MP to:
change speed by +1 or -1
start Evasive Manuevering - each MP used for this
makes your EFFECTIVE range one hex
greater than REAL range. The only
limit is how much MP you have.
5) Changing the Direction of Movement is determined by One of
the following methods, determined before play begins:
A) this Formula:
Cost = Speed X .66 (round fractions up)
B) Cost equals speed
C) the Turn cost Chart:
This is just Speed X .66,
As the formula above
Speed Turn Cost
1 1
2 2
3 2
4 3
5 4
6 4
7 5
8 6
9 6
10 7
11 8
12 8
13 9
14 10
15 10
16 11
17 12
18 12
19 13
20 14
6) The fastest ship moves first, and makes all the movement they
have to, and expend all the mp they want to,in their turn.
When the fastest ship has moved it's whole turn, they may
elect to fire weapons from some hex that was in their
flight path. It need not be the final hex, but must be a
hex through which the firing ship moved. Weapon fire that
is directed toward them, must be targeted at the them at
the END of their movement, that is, the hex that they last
moved into.
This allows small ships to gain the tactical advantage of
small size and high speed that they would actually possess
in reality, without additional rules.
7) The next fastest moves after the fastest, and so on until the
slowest. If ships are moving the same speed, then the ones
with the highest manuever goes first, then to the slowest
in order. If Drive is the same, then a roll of the dice is
used - highest roll winning. If the ships in question are
on the same side, then the dice roll is not needed - the
commander determines who is first in that case.
Weapons Use -
Determine Arc -
While it is possible for some ships to manuever well enough to
bring all weapons to bear, manueverability plays an important
part in determining which ones can.
To determine if you can, compare the firing ship's Drive Rating
to the chart below and compare it to the firing arc chart:
Drive Value 1 -
Primary Weapon can only fire into Forward Arc, Secondary
can only fire into Forward and Side Arcs, Defensive
Weapons can fire into any Arc.
Drive Value 2 -
Primary Weapon can only fire into Forward and Side Arcs.
Secondary and Defensive Weapons can fire into any Arc.
Drive Value 3 -
Any Weapon can fire into Any Arc.
Rolling to Hit
Roll a number of D10's equal to the weapon's RANGE. A hit occurs if
the rolled total is equal to or greater than the EFFECTIVE Range.
A weapon with a range of 6 would roll 6d10 to determine if a hit is
made.
Increasing the Effective Range:
A ship may not be hit, if it has enough factors that
change how hard it is to hit. These factors may change
the Effective Range. ECM, Evasive Manuever - for each used
(mp for evasive, level of ECM) add real range to itself.
If a ship is using 4 ECM, and using 2 MP for Evasive, and
is at a real range of 5, it must roll 30 or better with the
specified # of D10's. Cloaks also increase the effective
range, multiply the cloak field value times the effective
range. Cloaks can be used with evasive manuever, but not
with ECM.
Selective Targetting:
You may elect to hit a specific area of the ship, (ie -
"target engines only") but this incurs a penalty. The
ship is treated as if it was 3x as far away. That is,
the effective range is 3x the real range.
Doing Damage
If a weapon succesfully hits a target, then apply the given
attack value - the result is the amount to apply to the target.
A ship may not take damage, if it's shields and armor is greater
than the weapon damage it receives in a turn. Armor and shields
reduces the incoming Damage 1 for 1, but is only effective until
every value is used versus a point of damage.
If more damage is received in a turn, than the ship has Armor or
shields, then the ship takes damage. Shields are hit first, and if
they are penetrated, then the remaining damage hits armor. Further
Damage actually causes the ship harm, and causes damage to ship
systems.
Use this chart to determine what systems are hit:
Hit Chart - use 1D6
1 Drive
2 or 3 Weapons
4 - 6 Auxillary Systems
The Group should determine beforehand, whether to roll for each point
that penetrates, or allow each salvo to exhaust the systems hit.
Each type of system above should be placed in the order that you
would prefer them hit when building the ship. Ships that are pre-
generated (that come with the game) are already laid out in the
desired order.
The Result of Damage
When the ship has a value of 0 in every category, the ship is then
completely destroyed - it's so much scrap. It can be repaired,
but it can no longer fight. It may be cheaper to build a new one.
Damaging all Drive systems also stops all power production. The
following systems will continue to function when Drives are offline:
Missiles are Autonomous
Repair has it's own power supply
Antimissiles have their own power supply
Armors use no power
Hitting Missiles and Projectiles:
- Each requires only one damage point to destroy or disable.
- Antimissile can hit them, due to their small size and high
speed, with no penalty. Other weapons multiply the real range
by 3, due to the missile's high speed and small size.
- The missile is assumed to be fired at in the midway point of it's
course. The real range for the attack on the missile is half of
that from the missile launching ship to the missile's target.
- You only get one chance to hit the missile or projectile per
Weapon used. You must declare which ones (how many) are actually
firing. All the ammo designated is marked as used.
Damage Control:
If a ship doesn't receive enough damage to reduce it to scrap, then
it may attempt repair.
Roll 1d6, fighters may put 1 point back online if they get a 6,
ships may put 1 point back online if they get a 5 or 6.
This is actually Damage Control, not a full repair.
If a particular part of the ship is hit a second time, it may not
again be brought online by damage control, it must be REPAIRED.
Each point rolled for must be designated before the roll, and have a
crew member available to perform damage control. You cannot roll for
more damage control than you have crew.
If the part is rolled for, and fails, then it cannot be brought
online, and cannot be rolled for again. It must be REPAIRED.
Damage Control is annouced in the Declaration Phase, and one point
of the designated system is brought online in the Activity phase.
Total Ship Damage Capacity:
A ship is not just mass of steel, a loose wire can easily cause
loss of a component's function as well as vaporizing tons of
metal.
Here's how starship "hit points" are figured...
Each weapon - 1 point
Drive - 1 point for each rating (it's the ships Achille's
heel)
Auxillaries - 1 for each "point" of system
That's why I made damage control an "iffy" thing - you might've
lost a wire, or had a trainload of laser vaporized...
Docking -
In order to dock, the following conditions must be met:
No Evasive Manuevers by either party.
Both ships must be going the same speed, with the same
direction of travel, and in the same hex(es) for 2 turns.
Both ships must be able to dock. You can't use 2 destroyers
to dock with a single fighter (though they could dock to each
other) - there isn't room on the fighter for both destroyers
to dock.
Boarding Squad Combat -
Before Boarding can occur, both ships must have been docked for a
turn.
Roll 1d6, and consult the chart below. Rolling the number given
or LOWER indicates that the targetted unit is destroyed. Both
units get a roll as attacking unit, before the round is resolved.
Defending Unit
Regular|Marine|Commando|Heavy | Powered
Crew |Squad | Unit |Weapns| Armor
Attacking Unit| | | | |
Regular Crew | 1 0 -1 -2 -3
Marine Squad | 2 1 0 -1 -2
Commando Unit | 3 2 1 0 -1
Heavy Weapons | 4 3 2 1 0
Powered Armor | 5 4 3 2 1
Defenders on their own ship are -1 to attack, and +1 to be hit
Boarders cannot attack on the first turn, as they are gaining entry.
Before the combat starts, the squad may designate the "mode" they
wish to be in. This cannot change until all the combats are resolved.
MODES:
Evasive - +2 to be hit, and to hit
Defensive - +1 to be hit
Offensive - -1 to hit, and to be hit
Suicidal - -2 to hit, and to be hit
The squad may not elect to assume any MODE at all.
If there are more than one squad on a side, then assign certain units
to specific "enemy" units. Each squad has only one "attack". A squad
may be attacked by more than one attacker.
Boarders that win a combat in a "component" now have control of that
component, and may cease it's operation. They cannot cause the
component to work however they desire, until the ship has been taken.
The ship is taken one turn after there are no more defending boarding
squads, and there is an attacking squad in each "component".
Ramming -
Must be decalred in the declaration phase.
Procedure:
During movement, ramming ship must roll 3x it's manuever or
less on a D10.
To avoid, target must roll 3x it's manuever or less on a D10.
Damage to both ships is 5x the closing speed.
Repair -
Cost is 1/2 the cost of the original construction cost, in repair
parts.
Boarding parties CANNOT be repaired.
You cannot use Repair, Fabrication, Construction, or Factory Modules
in Combat. Ship must not fire weapons, and not Accelerate or turn.
Systems:
Repair requires parts, which are stored in cargo (one part
takes one slot). If a system has a repair cost of 10, it
needs 10 repair parts. Repair is a crewman working with a
semiautonomous robot.
Fabricators - Require raw material, equal to the amount
given in the following chart:
type description amount needed
per repair part
1 Bits of Broken ship systems 2
2 Basic (scrap) 4
3 semi-refined or rich ore 10
4 Raw Ore 30
5 Poor Ore 60
6 Interstellar Dust 120
Time given assumes type 1 material, increase time in
proportion to the amount of material used for raw
material.
Factory Modules - these are similiar in operation to
Fabricators, but build complete systems, ready for
installation. They use the same type materials, with the
same limitations as Fabricators. They don't build Hull or
Armor systems.
Constructors - these are units that Build Hull and Armor
Systems from type 1 or 2 materials only.
Starship Design -
Designing Your own ships -
I tried to make this as painless as possible, but you still
need to use some math. I have incorporated some "fun" stuff
for those of you that enjoy a Universe that is akin to the
"WarHammer" style play, but tried to maintain a tenous link
to reality in most places.
I have predicated design on cost, not size. I don't
especially care for empirical limits. If you compare a
Battleship at the turn of the century with the Missouri,
you will find that the latter is MUCH more capable, and
certainly bigger - yet they are both BATTLESHIPS!
The same applies in other cases, and I tried to make it
apply here.
General Guidelines -
Round fractions down to the whole number. Place Weapons
and Auxillary systems in the order you would have them
damaged when completing the ship data sheet.
Steps in Design -
Decide on Weapons (to some the only important part).
Calculate the size and cost.
Decide on Shields usage, and calculate size and cost.
Calculate required hull and crew.
Pick Auxilliary Systems, calculate size and cost.
If you want Armor, calculate size and cost.
Based on Desired Drive rating, calculate engine size
and cost.
Each step uses values from the previous section to calculate the
appropriate values.
1) Weapon Design -
If a value is not given, it is 1 or X1. All Weapons
take one damage to disable.
Weapon Creation process:
Notes:
Size Max for Missiles cannot exceed SHIP TOTAL SIZE x.1
This is due to Recoil effects.
Recoil also limits Railguns, Antimissile, and Torpedoes.
The damage limit for these is SHIP TOTAL SIZE x .05
Energy limitations limit the energy weapons (Railguns,
Torpedoes, Beams, Cannons and Projectors) to a damage limit
of ENGINE SIZE x .35
These should be double checked at the end of the design
process.
Missiles are weapons, but they have their own process for
calculating their stats - they ignore the "damage" and
"size" steps - go straight to the "type" section.
Damage - Start by selecting amount of damage the weapon
is to cause. You use non-variable amounts for
projectors, and use 10 sided dice for the others.
Non-variable damage costs 2 per Damage.
Dice (d10's) cost 12 each
Decide RANGE of Weapon:
Range cost is 2 per hex.
Now add Range cost and Damage cost to get the total.
This will be multiplied later by multipliers to get the
total weapon cost.
Size - Weapon size is (at this point) the same as cost.
Later multipliers will give the total size.
TYPE of Weapon:
Calculate as per the explanations below -
Railguns Or Mass Drivers: These Guns have 5 shots
in the magazine. They use energy to drive a
projectile to hypersonic (or near relativistic)
speeds(G)
Cost X0.25
Range X0.5
Size X1
Antimissile Defense: Defensive System - used to shoot
down Missiles and Projectiles. Antimissiles have 10
shots in the magazine. Antimissile systems run
independent of ship's power. (AM)
Cost X2
Range X0.25
Size X1
Beam: Lasers, Phasers, Disruptors, "Death Beams"
(BM) Beams Use energy, and have no magazine.
Cost X1
RangeX1
Size x1
Cannon: Generally, larger and shorter-ranged
versions of Beams. (CN) They use energy, and have
no magazine.
Cost X1
Rangex0.5
Size x1
Damage X2
Torpedo: The energy version of a missile. (TRP)
Torpedoes have 5 shots in the magazine. They also
use energy.
Cost X2
Range X0.5
Size X1
Dam X3
Magazine reloads (not the shots that come in the
weapons) require 50 slots to store.
Missiles: Missiles are almost independent weapons, like the
cruise missiles of today. They have the following
stats:
Range - the range in hexes that the missile is most
useful in. Their is no limit to range, except
for how large you want the missile to be.
Drive - the Manueverability and acceleration
capacity of the missile (just like ship
drives, but smaller). Current Technology is
limited to a drive of 10.
Warhead - The number of 10 sided dice to roll to
determine damage caused by the missile if it
hits. Again, there is no limit to warhead but
for size.
"To-Hit" process: Missiles roll their drive value or less on
a d10 to hit. For each hex (of effective range) the
target is beyond Missile range, add 1 to the roll.
Avoiding missiles: You may either shoot them down, or dodge
them by rolling your drive or less on a d10. Most
weapons treat the missiles as being 3x their real
range away, Antimissile Systems don't.
Missile Construction: Decide the Range, Drive, and Warhead
Stats, and plug them into this equation for the
size of the missile:
(Range x Drive X Warhead)/8
Cost is equal to:
Range + (Drive X Drive) + Warhead
Projectors: These are really large weapons, that affect
EVERY target in the target hex. They produce
special effects, fields, or unique types of damage.
Projectors must use non-variable damage. Their
range multiplier is X 1, unless otherwise noted.
The types of projectors are given on the chart
below:
Projector Effect:Cost Multiple:Size Multiple:
- notes are given on the line below
Energy Blast 15 1 Range X 0.25
(Simple "shotgun" effect - value is the damage
done to the ships in the target hex)
Tractor Beam 60 4
(Pulls EVERYTHING in the arc of the weapon
towards the ship - value is the pull in MP)
Repulser Beam 60 4
(Exact OPPOSITE of Tractor Beam)
Electromagnetic Pulse 30 2
(Shuts down ALL Ship operation for "value" turns,
to every ship in the target hex - ship "coasts"
until those turns have elapsed. )
Stasis Beam 45 10 Range X 0.25
(Stops all movement, fire, and action every turn
used for all ships in "value" hexes in the target
hex. The "held" ship cannot be effected by anything
while in stasis)
Force Plane 25 6
(Erects a "wall" of force that has a width equal
to 1/4 the value in hexes. The wall can be up to
1/2 the value away from the ship. The wall can
absorb up to "value" damage points.)
Dazzle 5 0.5
(Projects a great deal of noise, making the ships
within 2 hexes of the "Dazzling" ship extend their
effective range by "value" hexes. The ship using
the effect extends it's effective range by 4x
value hexes)
Image Projector 10 1
(Projects an image - apparently real in all
respects - the ship may project up to "value"
images)
Displacer Pulse 100 8
(Dumps the target into a Gate, and it reappears
in another hex designated by the firing ship.
Target must be within in 1/2 Value hexes)
Cloak Field 150 2
(Hides the using ship from vision. Effective
range is increased to Value X actual range)
Shield Projection 20 2
(Enables the ship to extend it's shields - at
full strength - to ships within 1/2 value hexes)
Transfer ECM 15 0.25
(Allows the using ship to transfer it's own ECM
to ship(s) in another hex)
Desired Arc -
Primary Arc is to the front -
Cost: x1
Range: x1
Size: x1
Secondary Arc is to front and sides -
Cost: x1.5
Range: x1
Size: x2
Defensive Arc is to any side, front and back -
Cost: x2
Range: x0.5
Size: x3
After going through the above process for cost, size, and
range, you will have these values to add into the system
values and weights noted later.
2) Shields -
Note: Shields are power-limited to having a rating not more
than ENGINE SIZE X .25
Shields are field generators, and protect against all but
Missiles, Antimissiles, and Railguns.
Multiply the desired value by 8 to find the size, and by 2
to find the cost.
3) Hull - a REQUIRED auxillary system, the hull required is equal to:
Total Missile Size/20 + Railgun,Antimissile,Torp Damage/25 +
Beam,Cannon Damage/40 + Shields/20
OR 1
Whichever is more, round up to the nearest whole number.
Non-fighters add 1 more for crew quarters
cost is .5 each, size is 1 each
CREW -
number of crew minimum is (# of Weapons) X 3 + 3
(# of weapons doesn't count missiles)
For non-fighters,
Fighter crew is 1 or 2
Crew is considered an Auxillary system
4) Auxilliary Systems - you need not use any if you don't wish to.
These are as follows:
ECM - cost: 50 each
size: 1 each
Command Suite - cost: 20
size: 2
Hull - None of these are required, the crew has
quarters already. These are for Guests,
Passengers, Troops, and excess storage (freight).
Quarters - cost:0
size:1 for 5
(10 people each quarters)
Barracks - as Quarters, for Troops
Recreation - cost: 0
size: 1
Stateroom - cost: 1
size: 1 for 2
Hospital - cost: 10
size: 1 per 25 patients
Freezer - cost: 1
size: 1 for 100 people
For storage of casualities, that
are unable to be healed in the ship's
hospital facilities, or beyond help
(ie dead). May also be used for
"sleeper ships".
Storage - cost: 0
size: 1 for 100 "slots"
For ready access to crew
Repair Parts are held in
Storage.
Cargo - cost: 1
size: 1 for 200 "slots"
For transport of Goods
Hold - cost: 2
size: 1 for 50 "slots"
For use as a workspace or
hangar - has power available
Hangers - For storage and repair of fighters
Hangars cost 3 for each fighter (or other
Vehicle) it holds, it has a size equal to
the vehicle size + 2
Repair - There are various types, this is NOT
damage control - it restores to like-new
condition.
Repair - Cost 25, Size 10
Does 1 point of repair in 6 turns
Requires a repair part for each
point repaired.
Fabricators - Cost 50, Size 5
Makes 1 point of repair parts in
10 turns. Requires suitable Raw
Materials.
Constructors - Cost 100, SIze 20
Makes 1 cost of structure in 6
turns. Requires Suitable Basic
Components. Used for hull systems
and Armor only.
Factory Modules - Cost 5000, Size 1000
Creates 1 cost worth of structure
in 6 turns. Requires suitable Raw
Materials.
Laboratory -
Lab - Basic Information Gathering - 1
point per turn. Cost 5, Size 1
Analyze - In depth analysis - 1 point per
5 turns. Cost 25, Size 5
Boarding Group - space and cost as follows:
Marine Squad - cost 5, size 1
Commando Squad - cost 15, size 1
Heavy Assault - cost 25, size 3
Armored - cost 250, size 10
Stargate Initiator - (Gate)
Cost 10,000 SIze 50 - creates a Gate to
allow Faster than Light travel. The Gate
is 3 hexes across, and persists for 5
turns.
Add Systems to Weapon(s) and Shields
5) Armor
Armor is heavy, and is inefficient in comparison to
shields. It is, however, the only protection afforded
at certain levels of Techological Development. They also
will stop certain types of damage that only the most
advanced shield types will protect from. Armor protects
from all types of damage, unless otherwise noted.
Armor Size is equal to Armor level X systems weight X .5
Armor costs .25 per size.
You may armor components, the weight is equal to:
Armor level X square root of System weight X .5
5) Drive
Engine Size = Manuever X Ship weight subtotal X .1
Engines Cost 2 per size
6) Evaluate Design - check to see if your new design doesn't exceed
these limits:
Recoil limits:
1) Missiles Size per turn cannot exceed -
Total Ship SIze X .05
(one missile cannot exceed this number)
2) Railgun, Missiles, & Torpedo Damage
combined cannot exceed -
Total Ship Size X .05
Energy Limit:
Torpedo, Beam, Railgun, Cannon & Projector
cannot exceed -
Total Engine Size X .35
These Rules are Copyright 1997 by James M. Dugan.
If you wish to discuss my Life