Earthforce Sourcebook

Overview of Ship Combat

These ship-to-ship combat rules are designed to be easy to understand, quick to read and fun to play. They also reflect the danger and brutality of combat in space. The object of any ship-to-ship engagement is to outthink the enemy and accomplish the mission objective (anything from disabling the enemy to protecting a merchant convoy) while taking a minimal amount of damage.

During combat, ships maneuver around each other trying to get a good line of fire while at the same time trying to make the opponent's line of fire inferior. When they open fire on one another, each attempts to damage the enemy ships enough so that they have no choice but to disengage or die. Each ship is capable of absorbing a certain amount of damage; once it has received that damage, it is destroyed.

Ships can move using two different methods. Each race uses one of these two methods. The first is a Reaction Drive system. Most of the younger races utilize these drive systems. Ships using Reaction Drives operate with engines and thrusters, which they use to push their ships through space. Once travelling in one direction the ship must exert effort to overcome its momentum if it wishes to travel in another direction. Races that have more technology use the second method of movement, a Gravimetric Drive. Grav systems make use of artificial gravity to decrease the strain on crewmembers inside and propel the ships. Unlike a Reaction Drive, a ship with a Grav Drive is able to transfer its momentum when it turns. This creates a system of movement best likened to flying in atmosphere.

In order for ships to move in the game, the players controlling them must decide what orders to have them execute. Before any of the ships move all of the players involved must put the movement orders their ships will execute in written form. Each side must anticipate the maneuvers the other will make and write orders such that their ships end in superior firing positions.

Once a ship is in a good position it opens fire on the opponent. Each ship has systems onboard which allow them to target and fire on one or more enemy vessel. There are several different types of weapons that ships use to try to damage their adversaries. If the ships are lucky they will be victorious over their foe and still be operational after the battle.

Large capital ships and their weapons are not the only factor in these life or death scenarios. Brave men and women who risk their lives in single pilot fighters attempt to keep the ships and crew on their side of the battle alive. Fighter Groups can attack enemy ships, helping to facilitate their demise. They can also set up defensive screens around the ships they wish to protect, forming a layer that other fighters must penetrate before they can attack the ship.

Fighters and capital ships cannot operate without their crews. The better the crew is, the more effective and efficient a ship will be in battle. As such if the crew of a fighter or capital ship contains player characters it can be expected to do exceptionally well. If these rules are being used to supplement roleplaying and PCs are aboard one or more of these vessels amazing things can happen. PCs may attempt to execute tasks that are more spectacular than the normal actions performed by everyday crewmembers in battle. As a result, ships that PCs are controlling to some extent can execute difficult maneuvers, which greatly increase those ships' potential in battle.

As ships continually clash, struggling for a victory, the game proceeds in a turn-based fashion. During each turn several phases occur which detail the order of events. The game continues turn after turn until one side has defeated the other. If the game was taking place as part of an ongoing roleplaying campaign, the tabletop game ends and the PCs must deal with the aftermath of the battle. The type of scenario the GM has created and the degree of success or failure of the players in combat will guide events that happen in the roleplaying game afterwards.

Setting up the Game

To play out a battle under these rules, you will need a few extra items beyond those used in regular roleplaying. In addition to paper and pencil, you will need a ruler marked in inches or centimeters (depending on your choice of scale) and copies of the Ship Control Sheet and Ship Order Sheet (in the Appendix) for each ship involved in the combat. You will also need several six-sided dice (it is helpful to have a few more than usual), some counters like those included in this book (also in the Appendix) to represent ships, and a playing surface. Some players will also prefer to use small models (also called miniatures) to represent their ships, as well.

The playing surface for your battles may be as simple as a plain tabletop or floor, as the game does not require a hex-grid or any other markings on the playing area. For best visual effect you may want to cover the playing surface with a black cloth or mat (several decorated with starfields are available through game and hobby stores). Place any fixed items, such as stations, jumpgates and asteroids in appropriate places on the table. Make sure you've got counters to represent each player's forces. Each counter represents one sizable ship in the battle or one group of six fighters. Each Fighter Group may be accompanied on the table by a small die that indicates how many of the original fighters in the group are still operational as the group takes losses in combat.

Basic Concepts

Here are a few basic concepts that are used to define the method by which ships operate.

Ranges and Distances

Throughout the tactical combat rules that follow, all distances (whether for movement or weapons range) are quoted in Movement Units (usually abbreviated "MU"). One MU can be anything that the players agree it to be, depending on the size of playing area they have available, the number of ships in the battle, size of miniatures or counters in use and so on. For most games, 1 MU is taken to be one inch (or 25mm), as this scale gives a good battle on any area larger than about three feet by four. If space is restricted, it is quite acceptable to use a scale as small as 1 MU = 1 centimeter.

The Ship Control Sheet

Each large ship in the game is represented on the table by a single counter. The information about the ship that is required for play is recorded on a Ship Control Sheet; this sheet shows (among other things) all the systems installed on the ship in the form of small icons (for example, the drive or propulsion units, offensive and defensive weapons and so on). The chart also shows a number of small boxes that form the Damage Track of the ship. Each box represents one damage point, and the boxes are filled in as the ship takes damage from enemy fire. Finally, at the bottom of the chart are Order Boxes in which the player writes the Movement Orders (and any other notes) for that ship in each game turn.

Vector Movement

Most movement in space is not limited by factors such as air friction or constant gravity. As a result, once a ship begins to move in one direction it will continue to move in that direction without expending energy. If enough force is applied in the correct direction the ship will either stop or change course. To reflect this a vector-based movement system is utilized. The direction and speed a ship travels depends not only on the thrusts and pushes it applies in each turn, but also on its movement in previous turns.

Courses and Directions

This system doesn't use a printed grid to regulate movement and directions. Instead, it uses a "clockface" method—imagine a clock superimposed over the ship, so that the front of the ship points to 12 o'clock. The ship model turns in increments of 30 degrees at a time, so that a right turn will make its Heading 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock etc. If it turns right around through 180 degrees it will face 6 o'clock. Each 30 degree increment is called a Course Point, so if a ship currently facing 12 o'clock is turned three points to starboard (fore is the front of a ship, port is the left side, starboard is the right side and aft is the back of the ship) it will end up facing 3 o'clock, having turned 90 degrees.

Counters

The counters included with this book are twelve-sided just like this clockface. By turning the counter for a ship exactly one face for every Course Point that the ship turns (it's easy to do this accurately by placing a ruler against one edge of the counter), you can quickly turn your ships without worrying about the angles. Each counter has a small dot in its center. These dots are used to determine all distances. Any time the distance between two objects is required measure from dot to dot.

The Turn Sequence

Space combat is carried out in turns. During each turn the players perform a number of Phases in order. These are: the Order Phase, the Ship Movement Phase, the Fighter Movement Phase and the Combat Phase. After the Combat Phase, the next turn begins with its Order Phase, and so on.

Phase 1: Order Phase

During this phase, all players note the Movement Orders (see Movement) for each of their ships on their Ship Control Sheets. These orders indicate whether the ship will make any changes to its Course and/or Velocity during the present turn—a ship with no Movement Orders will simply move in the same direction as it did the previous turn, at the same speed. Ships equipped with multi-role systems (such as Interceptors, which can be used against incoming pulse fire or against fighters, but not both in the same turn) should note in their orders which mode the system will be using for the duration of that turn. Written orders are not required for Fighter Groups.

Written orders remain secret until the Ship Movement Phase, although any player may ask another about the Velocity of a ship.

If any ships are recharging in this turn (see Weapon Systems and Combat: Recharging) roll for additional charge and note the new charge level in the Order Box ready for the Combat Phase of the turn.

Phase 2: Ship Movement Phase

Certain special weapons systems, such as Energy Mines, are launched at the beginning of this phase of the turn, before anything moves or orders are revealed. Also, any ship launching fighters does so before movement begins.

All players now reveal their ships' Movement Orders and move each of their ships according to those orders, in any sequence (all movement is considered simultaneous for game purposes). Fighter Groups screening other ships are moved along with the ship they protect

Once a ship has been moved, note its new Velocity in the Order Box for the next turn and rotate its Direction Arrow counter to a new facing if necessary (see Movement).

Phase 3: Fighter Movement Phase

In this phase, all players may move any or all Fighter Groups that they have in play up to the maximum distances allowed under the Fighter Movement Rules (Fighters: Fighter Group Movement).

If more than one player has fighters in use, each alternates moving a group, starting with the player with the most groups in play. The only Fighter Groups that are not moved in this phase are those presently providing Fighter Screens (Fighters: Fighter Screens) for other ships—such groups are moved at the same time as the ships they escort.

After fighters have finished their movement, Energy Mine detonation is resolved. Following Energy Mine detonation, any ships may fire their Anti-Fighter Batteries if they have valid targets.

At the end of this phase Fighter Groups choose and engage the targets that they will be firing on during this turn.

Phase 4: Combat Phase

This is often the longest and most interesting phase of the turn. Each ship may now fire any weapon systems it wishes, provided of course that the systems are in range of and can be brought to bear on a suitable target (counters are marked with Fire Arcs to determine this). The Combat Phase consists of two sub-phases: Ship Selection and Weapons Fire. Players decide randomly by rolling a die which side gets to go first, and then take turns executing these sub-phases until there are no more ships left that can fire their weapons. If one side has more ships than another does, the player controlling the smaller force will run out of ships first. The player with the larger force may keep firing until he or she runs out of ships

Weapons Fire is not considered simultaneous. All damage inflicted takes effect immediately, so a ship sufficiently damaged (or destroyed) by enemy fire might not be able to return fire on its attacker.

4A: Ship Selection

Choose a ship that has not yet fired this turn. This becomes the Active Ship.

If several Fighter Groups are engaged with each other and none of them are screening or firing on ships, the entire dogfight may be selected as the Active Ship. Any player with Fighter Groups involved in the dogfight may select it.

If a PC is in a Fighter Group, that group may be selected as the Active Ship regardless of its target. This means that the Fighter Group may be able to fire on a ship before that ship becomes the Active Ship. This is the only instance in which a Fighter Group may fire before the ship it is attacking becomes the Active Ship.

If the Active Ship is under attack by enemy Fighter Groups, resolve these attacks. If a Fighter Screen is defending the ship, start by resolving all combats between Fighter Groups (see Fighters: Dogfights). Finally, any Fighter Groups that have survived get their chance to attack the ship (see Fighters: Fighter Attacks).

4B: Weapons Fire

Now the Active Ship selects its target or targets, according to the range and Fire Arc for each (see Weapon Systems and Combat: Offensive Weapons Systems). Resolve the Weapons Fire for each target.

If a dogfight was selected as the Active Ship, resolve the combat as per the rules for dogfighting (see Fighters: Dogfights). Once the dogfight has been resolved it may not be selected as the Active Ship again in the same round.

The Active Ship is now finished with its actions for the turn, and cannot become an Active Ship again until next turn.

Since becoming an Active Ship not only allows a vessel to fire weapons, but also allows Fighter Groups to attack it, every ship in combat must become an Active Ship each phase—even if it takes no offensive action. The phase does not end until all eligible ships have been selected as the Active Ship once.

If a ship has fired any weapons or systems that require Recharging before further use, then a note of their remaining charge level (if any) is made in the Order Box ready for the next turn.

Movement

There are two different movement systems in these rules, to reflect the technological differences between the ships of the various races. Most of the "younger" races—the Narn, Earth Alliance and most of the non-aligned worlds—use Reaction Drives to propel their ships; the Centauri use a weak gravimetric drive that operates under most of the rules for a Reaction Drive the full rules are detailed under the Systems section under Centauri Drive Systems. Those races of superior technologies—the Minbari, Vorlons and other "older" races—use a Grav Drive instead.

Reaction Drive ships move using Vector movement. If a ship is traveling in one direction, and is pushed in another direction by using its drives, its resultant path is a new vector given by adding the new push to its original movement. The faster a ship is moving, the less a given amount of thrust will change its Course.

Grav Drives allow ships to ignore at least some of the normal laws of physics—a ship under Grav Drive can slide along lines of gravitational force, allowing it to maneuver much more easily than the more primitive Reaction Drive ships. Grav Drive movement rules are considered optional and are given in the Systems section under Gravimetric Drives. The normal rules given here are those used by Reaction Drives, as they are the most common system in use.

Course and Heading

A ship under Reaction Drive does not have to be moving in the direction the ship counter is facing, and indeed most of the time it will not be—it will usually need to have its main drives (at the stern) facing in a different direction in order to apply thrust to maneuver. Reaction Drive ships are therefore always marked with a small Direction Arrow counter placed by the ship counter; this marker always points along the actual Course (the direction that the ship is moving) irrespective of the orientation (facing) of the model or ship counter. The actual facing of the ship model or counter at any given time is called its Heading—thus a ship that is currently facing "backwards" (using its main drives to reduce its Velocity) might have a Course of 12, but a Heading of 6.

Velocity

One of the key concepts that players must remember is a ship's Velocity. At the beginning of a scenario or battle, all ships have a Velocity determined by the GM or by the guidelines for that scenario. During the game, a ship's movements will add to or subtract from the magnitude of its Velocity. At the end of each turn, the ship's Velocity is calculated and then written into the Order Box for the next turn.

The faster a ship is going, the harder it will be to maneuver, and if players are not careful ships will end up traveling so fast that they will fly off the table before they can stop. If this does happen, you may either "scroll" the play area (by moving all of the other ships on the table over a few inches) or you may declare that the ship is "turning around" and that it will return to play soon (roll a die: the ship will return to play where it left that number of turns later with a Velocity of 0).

Drive Units

Each Reaction Drive icon on the Ship Control Sheet represents a main propulsion unit with a thrust rating of 2—so a ship capable of thrust 4 will have two drive units. Each drive unit is treated as a separate system when checking for damage at Threshold Points (see Weapon Systems and Combat: Recording Damage). The loss of one drive unit reduces the total thrust available by 2, so if a ship with thrust 6 loses one drive unit it will be reduced to thrust 4; loss of a second unit will reduce it to thrust 2; and loss of all three will mean it can apply no thrust at all.

A ship's drive system consists of two components: its main drive (which moves it forward) and its thrusters (which steer it and allow non-sophisticated maneuvers). A ship's main drive capacity is equal to its thrust; its thruster capacity is equal to half its thrust. Thus a ship with thrust 6 (three drive units) can in a single turn apply up to six points of main drive and three points to thrusters.

Main Drives

The main drive of a ship is the primary engine. This engine is normally very powerful and capable of producing a large amount of force. The main drive is usually mounted in the aft of a ship and only propels the ship in the direction it is facing.

The primary engine's size allows it to change the Course of a ship more quickly and efficiently than thrusters by themselves. A common maneuver is to use the thrusters to point the main drive in the proper direction. Then with one powerful main drive burn, change the Course radically compared to what maneuvering thrusters can do.

To indicate use of main drive in ship orders, write orders as "MD [amount of thrust]" (for example, MD4 would be a burn of thrust 4 with the Main Drives, moving the ship 4 MU in whatever direction it is currently facing).

Thrusters

Thrusters can be used in several ways, depending on how they are to maneuver or steer the ship. These methods and notations for ship orders are discussed here.

Rotation

In order to use its main drives to change Course, a ship under Reaction Drive must be rotated so that its drives point in the direction that the thrust is to be applied. Rotation can also be used when no thrust is required, to change the Heading of the ship in order to bring weapons to bear. Rotation is accomplished by the ship's thrusters—each point of thruster power used for rotation turns the ship by one Course Point (30 degrees or one side of a Counter), so a ship on Heading 12 that applies three points of thruster power to starboard rotation will turn through 90 degrees to face Heading 3.

Thruster rotation orders should be noted as RP (for Rotate Port) or RS (Rotate Starboard), plus the amount of thrust applied—so RS3 would be a starboard rotation of 3 points as in the example above.

Pushes

A ship making a thruster push uses its maneuvering thrusters to alter the Course and/or Velocity of the ship without affecting its actual Heading—so that the ship ends the maneuver pointing the same way it started. Pushes may be made to port, starboard or aft (using the forward thrusters to slow the ship down without having to spin it around and use the main drive).

Push orders should be written as PP (Push to Port), PS (Push to Starboard) or PA (Push Aft), again followed by the number of thrust points applied—so PA3 would indicate 3 thruster points from the retros to push the ship 3 units "backwards" relative to its current Heading.

Pushes may only be applied directly to port, starboard or aft relative to the ship's Heading at that moment. No push movement can change the Heading of a ship.

Combining Maneuvers

If desired, a ship may combine several different uses of its maneuvering thrusters in a single game turn, provided the total of thruster points expended does not exceed the total available. It is quite acceptable for a ship with three thruster points available to make a 2-point rotation before applying a main drive burn, then a further 1-point rotation afterwards (probably to bring weaponry to bear on its desired target); alternatively it could, for example, make the 2-point rotation and then use the remaining thruster point for a 1 MU thruster push to port, starboard or aft as desired.

The actual sequence in which thruster and main drive burns are applied in a single turn makes a difference to the final Course and Velocity of the ship. Thus, the Movement Orders are applied to the ship strictly in the order that they appear in the Order Box. If the player writes "RP2, MD6", the ship will first be moved according to its starting vector (as always), then rotated 2 points to port (RP2) and moved 6 units along its new Heading (MD6). If, on the other hand, the order is written "MD6, RP2" (thus applying the main drive burn before rotating the ship to its new Heading) then the result will be very different in terms of the ship's final vector and position.

Atmospheric Capability

Some space vessels are designed in such a way that they are able to travel through atmosphere. Not only must these craft be able to handle the rigors of space travel, but they must also survive planetary re-entry and fly in a wide variety of atmospheres.

Ships with atmospheric capabilities are indicated with an icon on the Ship Control Sheet. Unlike other icons this does not represent an actual system on the ship. Instead it represents the overall structural and aerodynamic integrity of the ship. If the ship takes enough damage it is possible that the hull could be battered into a shape which will make the craft burn up on re-entry or be unable to maintain altitude in atmosphere. If a ship loses all of its Atmospheric Capability icons it is no longer able to function in atmosphere and will not survive an attempt to do so.

Moving the Counters

Movement under Reaction Drives is performed in a number of steps. First, move the ship along the Course it was on at the end of its previous turn (the direction indicated by the arrow on its Direction Arrow marker) a distance equal to its Velocity as noted at the end of the previous turn. This movement is always made exactly as per the end of the last turn, regardless of whatever Movement Orders have been written for the ship for this turn. The ship's Direction Arrow counter is left in its starting position at this stage, and is not moved with the ship.

Now apply any Movement Orders written for the ship in the Order Box. These can be burns with the main drive, rotations from the thrusters, and pushes from the thrusters. Apply these moves in the order they are written.

After the ship has finished executing its orders, lay a ruler or tape measure between the ship's new position and the Direction Arrow counter (which was left at the starting point), and measure the distance between the two. Round this to the nearest full MU and record this as the new Velocity for the turn end. Finally, with the ruler or tape still in position, move the Direction Arrow up to the ship again, pointing it parallel to the ruler line. Carefully lift the ship up and place the Direction Arrow underneath of the ship so that the dots on the center of each counter line up, then place the Ship Counter back on top of the Direction Arrow. The Direction Arrow now indicates the ship's new Course at the beginning of the next turn.

Maximum Speed

There is no maximum limit to Velocity in this game—in theory a ship can continue to accelerate each turn until it reaches an enormous speed. In practice, however, because meetings between ships most often occur in relatively small areas of space around planets, stations and jumpgates—the relative velocities tend to be reasonably low. Jump point entry and exit must be made within certain narrow Velocity limits for safety, and as soon as ships start to move fast they become very difficult to maneuver. Of course, this does not stop a ship from doing a "fast pass" attack across the playing area. The major races do not normally practice such tactics as it is hard to control and at that speed the path of a ship becomes predictable. Indeed, many battles are fought with the capital ships virtually stationary in order to allow them to pivot on the spot to aim their limited-arc main weaponry more effectively, with only the fighters zipping around for highly mobile attacks.

Weapon Systems and Combat

Weapon systems are complex mechanisms that require lots of manpower and equipment to work properly. Most weapons can be used only offensively (to score damage on opposing forces) or defensively (to intercept incoming fire or fighters), although some weapons can be used for both purposes.

Ship weapons are defined by several key elements. The first is the Fire Arc. This is the direction in which the weapon can fire, based on how it is mounted on the ship. The second element of a weapon is the ships' Fire Control system. Fire Control encompasses the targeting and other electronic systems that make the weapon fire, and determine what targets the ship may engage. Finally, there is the Weapon Battery. This is not just the actual turret of guns, but also the power source and associated mechanisms. The type of weapon in the battery determines the range and effect of the weapon when it hits the target.

Fire Arc

Each ship has four Fire Arcs through which its various weapons and systems may operate; they are the forward, port, starboard and aft arcs. The forward and aft arcs are each 60 degrees wide, while the port and starboard arcs are each 120 degrees. Fire Arcs are marked on the provided counters.

Most shipboard weapon systems (and some defenses as well) may only bear through one Fire Arc—thus a weapon mounted to fire forward may be used against targets in the ship's forward arc, but may not fire at targets in the side or aft arcs. The Fire Arcs are also relevant to incoming fire against the ship, as the arc where the incoming fire originates determines which defensive systems are able to function against it (if a ship takes fire from an enemy vessel that is in its port arc, only the ship's port-mounted Interceptor systems can protect against the incoming fire).

To determine the relevant arc for either outgoing or incoming fire, lay your measuring tape or ruler between the two ships and look at which side of the counter it intersects—this will show which is the correct Fire Arc. If the bearing to the target ship falls exactly on the dividing line between two arcs (or closely enough to cause dispute), simply roll a d6 to decide, with an even result indicating one arc and an odd result the other. No target may ever occupy two Fire Arcs at the same time.

Fire Control Systems

Each ship type has one or more Fire Control systems for its anti-ship weaponry. All ships have at least one Fire Control, with larger warships having two or even three. Each Fire Control system on a ship allows it to obtain a firing solution on any one target per turn, which may then be attacked with any combination of weapons that the firing ship can bring to bear on it. Thus a ship with two Fire Control systems may engage two different targets in the same game turn, dividing its available weaponry in any way desired between the two targets. Each weapon system may fire only once per turn, of course, regardless of the number of Fire Control systems on the ship.

If a Fire Control system is lost due to damage, the ship's targeting ability is reduced accordingly—if it was the only (or last remaining) Fire Control then the ship is now unable to fire ranged weapons. Interceptors, Anti-Fighter Batteries and similar defensive systems do not require the use of a Fire Control (they are assumed to have their own integral short-range targeting systems). Weapons that do not require Fire Control systems note this in their definitions.

Offensive Weapon Systems

There are two main types of offensive weapon systems carried by Earth Alliance ships and those races of similar technology levels: Pulse Batteries and Beam Batteries. Pulse Batteries are multiple guns that work much like giant PPGs, firing rapid volleys of plasma pulses which (although very fast) travel at sublight speeds and can therefore be intercepted by similar systems used in a defensive role see (Weapon Systems and Combat: Interceptors).

Beam Batteries are projectors for very powerful continuous-beam energy weapons. Each beam travels at the speed of light and is therefore impossible to intercept. But beam weapons require enormous energy input compared to that of the pulse weapons—the firing system for a ship's Beam Batteries must recharge between shots, so the weapons are not always able to fire at full power in every turn of the game.

Pulse Batteries

There are four different classes of Pulse Batteries; each battery may fire once per turn, at any target that is in range and within its Fire Arc. Pulse systems do not require any recharging period—they may fire every turn if desired. Each Pulse Battery has a class rating. From 0 to 10 MU the battery rolls a number of dice equal to its class rating. For each 10 MU past that the battery rolls one die less. For instance a class 2 Pulse Battery would roll 2 dice between 0 and 10 MU and 1 die between 10 and 20 MU.

For each die rolled during Pulse Weapons fire, count the results as follows:

• Scores of 1, 2 or 3 = No Effect (either the shot misses altogether, or hits but with negligible damage).

• Scores of 4 or 5 = One damage point is inflicted on the target.

• Score of 6 = Two damage points inflicted, PLUS the firer gets to reroll the die and thus may inflict further damage (treat the reroll as if it were a normal roll so a 4 or 5 is one point and a 6 is 2 with yet another reroll).

Beam Batteries

A Beam Battery consists of two (or more) separate elements: a Beam Power System (BPS) and one or more Projectors (each of which is considered a separate system for the purposes of damage rolls at Threshold Points). The BPS is a generator and power storage facility which produces the energy required for firing the beams, holding it in capacitor banks until it is discharged through the Projector(s). The BPS may store a number of Energy Points equal to the Class of the BPS—thus a Class 6 beam system could store up to 6 Energy Points in its capacitor banks at any one time. Each Energy Point stored allows one die to be rolled when a beam is fired. In a given turn, a BPS may discharge as many Energy Points as it has stored at that moment, through as many different Projectors as the player wishes (subject to usual targeting limitations and available Fire Control systems). It does not have to use all its stored energy at one time, though it may if desired.

Resolving Beam Weapon Fire

Fire from Beam Batteries is resolved differently from that of Pulse Batteries. First, measure the range to the target ship. The effectiveness of the beam diminishes with range—or every full 6 MU between firer and target, subtract 1 from the score of each die rolled. The resulting total score of all the dice in the shot, after deducting this range modifier from each die, is the total amount of damage done by the beam shot. Any die that rolls a 6 before range modifiers are deducted allows a reroll, and any rerolled damage is counted for full value, without any range deductions.

Recharging

At the start of each turn, during the Order Phase, roll 1 die for the Beam Power System on each ship equipped with Beam Batteries. On a 1 or 2 the result is 2 Energy Points, a 3 or 4 is 3 Energy Points and a 5 or 6 is 4 Energy Points. These points are added to the remaining state of charge from the previous turn. If the roll (or the power total) exceeds the Class rating of the system, any surplus Energy Points are wasted—no BPS may store more Energy Points than its Class allows.

Damage to Beam Weapons

When performing a Threshold Check on a Beam Battery (see Weapon Systems and Combat: Recording Damage below), roll separately for the Beam Power System and for each Projector. Projectors that suffer a critical hit from a Threshold Check are simply knocked out as with any other system. If the BPS is hit, immediately roll the die again: on a roll of 1 or 2 the system simply loses any stored power—it may begin to recharge again next turn as normal, and is otherwise undamaged. On a 3, 4 or 5 the system loses all stored power and its storage capacity is permanently halved—it may not be charged to more than half its original capacity (rounded up) for the rest of the game. On a roll of 6, the power system is completely knocked-out—the ship may not fire beam weapons from any Projector for the rest of the game—and the ship suffers a number of additional damage points equal to the amount of stored Energy Points currently in the system (thus if a Class 6 BPS were hit while fully charged it would do 6 points of damage to its own ship as well as being rendered useless for the remainder of the game).

Recording Damage

Damage is recorded by filling in the boxes on the Damage Track on the ship diagram, starting on the top row and filling successive boxes from left to right. Whenever you reach the right-hand end of a row of damage boxes, you have reached a Threshold Point where the accumulated damage is sufficient that it may cause some of the ship's systems (weapons, drives etc.) to fail. At this point a Threshold Check is made against all the systems on the ship, to see if any are damaged and rendered inoperative.

To make a Threshold Check, roll one die for each operational system on the ship—every symbol on the ship diagram. If the result is equal to or higher than the Threshold Number (the number at the end of the row of damage boxes) the particular system that is being rolled for is knocked out for the remainder of the game. Roll for all systems on the ship at each Threshold Check, regardless of their location on the ship or the direction from which the damage was taken. The final row of damage boxes has no Threshold Number, because when a ship has had its Damage Track filled the ship is destroyed.

Most systems on ships are knocked out the first time they fail a Threshold Check. There are a few exceptions to this rule (such as Jump Engines or Beam Batteries), as explained in the rules for those systems.

Catastrophic Damage and Chain Reactions

Most of the time damage to ships is progressive—each attack will knock a few more damage boxes off until eventually the ship is reduced to a drifting hulk. There are occasions, however, where a ship will suffer such massive damage in a short space of time that a chain-reaction starts in the ship's structure, with damage building upon damage until the entire craft explodes or breaks up.

If a ship takes enough damage in one game turn to require it to make two or more Threshold Checks, then there is the danger of a Chain-Reaction destroying the ship completely. The damage does not have to be caused in one single attack—several ships can fire on one target in order to cause this effect—what matters is that the total amount of damage suffered by the ship during all the fire combat of one turn is enough to require two or more Threshold Checks that turn. At the point that more than one Threshold Check is required, in addition to rolling for each system on the ship, first the player must make one extra roll. If this die scores over the number required for the most recent Threshold Check, then the entire next row of damage boxes is immediately filled in—thus requiring another Threshold Check, and another of the special Chain-Reaction rolls. If this progression results in the last row of damage boxes being filled, then the ship is totally destroyed.

Defensive Weapon Systems

Interceptors

Most warships carry defensive batteries of small pulse-firing cannon known as Interceptors, to protect them against incoming fire from some weapons systems. Interceptors can target incoming fire from Pulse Batteries and Fighter Groups that fire pulse weapons, reducing their effectiveness. They are not, however, of any use against Beam Batteries. In anti-pulse mode the Interceptors are actively shooting weapons fire directed at them. While they cannot shoot Fighter Groups in this mode, they can still target the fire that Fighter Groups use as long as it is a pulse weapon. The Narn, Centauri, Earthforce and Raider Fighter Groups all use some form of pulse weaponry. The Minbari Fighter Groups use a beam system. Each Interceptor Battery can cover only one arc of a ship, so for all-round protection a separate Interceptor system must be mounted in each of the four Fire Arcs. Very large ships may sometimes carry two Interceptor systems in some or all arcs. Each Interceptor may only protect against fire that is directed through its arc of coverage.

If there is one active Interceptor system covering an arc in which enemy pulse weapons are firing, then only rolls of 5 or 6 will damage the ship. Any rolls of 5 or 6 still inflict their usual damage, including rerolls for scores of 6. Note that since damage rolls of 6 do more damage and allow rerolls, just subtracting one from the attack die will not work.

If two active Interceptors protect the relevant arc of the ship, then only pulse weapon attack rolls of 6 damage the ship. These get through the Interceptor barrage and cause normal damage (including rerolls). Note that because a roll of 6 will inflict two points of damage and result in a reroll, subtracting two from each attack die rolled will not achieve the same effect.

More than two Interceptors in one arc have no additional protective effect, though there is no reason that a very large ship might not carry additional systems for backup in case of damage. Interceptor systems may also function as anti-fighter weapons against any Fighter Groups that are within 6 MU the ship (see Weapon Systems and Combat: Anti-Fighter Batteries below). In any given turn of the game, however, a single Interceptor Battery on a particular ship may be fired only once. If it is used against a Fighter Group, it may not be used to intercept incoming fire on the same turn. All Interceptor Batteries on one ship must be dedicated to either Anti-Fighter or Anti-Pulse fire in the ship's orders at the start of the turn—if the orders do not specify, the Interceptors remain at the same setting as they were in the previous turn. Interceptors begin the game configured for Anti-Pulse fire. An Interceptor system that is currently dedicated for use against one threat cannot be used against the other until it is reconfigured at the start of the next turn.

Anti-Fighter Batteries

Anti-Fighter Batteries are a simplified version of Interceptor Batteries, which may be used against attacking Fighter Groups only—they lack the capability to intercept incoming pulse Weapons Fire. Ships that are equipped with Anti-Fighter Batteries may use them as defense against Fighter Groups. An Anti-Fighter Battery may shoot at one Fighter Group that is within its specific arc of fire, and is within 6 MU. The Fighter Group does not have to actually be making an attack on the ship. If the ship has two or more AFBs covering the same arc, each can fire at a different Fighter Group or their fire may be combined against one group. All Anti-Fighter fire takes place at the end of ship movement. To fire an AFB roll one die. The number rolled on the die minus 2 is the number of fighters killed in the target Fighter Group. Note that this means that an Interceptor shot will not always take out fighters.

Fighters

Small one- or two-pilot fighters often make the difference between victory and defeat in a battle. Fast and maneuverable, they are able to do significant damage if they are not destroyed or engaged by other fighters. All races use some form of fighter craft in their space fleets.

Fighters move and attack in groups, known as squadrons. For the purposes of this game, each squadron is a Fighter Group of six fighters, represented by one Counter on the table. Next to each Fighter Group is also a die that represents how many individual fighters remain in the group. As fighters are killed from the group, the face of the die is turned to reflect how many survive. When there are no fighters left in the group, the Counter and die are removed from the table.

Fighter Group Movement

Fighter Groups move differently than other larger ships in game terms. In relation to large warships and transports, fighters are incredibly maneuverable and able to react to the movement of the larger vessels—they can quite literally fly rings round them. For this reason each Fighter Group does not require any written orders, but may simply be moved in any desired direction during the Fighter Movement Phase, up to a maximum distance according to the type of fighter. Fighter Maximum Movement is 20 MU for Raider, Narn and Centauri Fighters and 30 MU for EA Starfuries and Minbari Fighters.

Launching and Recovering Fighters

Ships that carry Fighter Groups have sufficient launching capability to handle half their total fighter complement each turn. A ship carrying four Fighter Groups could launch two of those groups in one turn, but one carrying only two Fighter Group could launch only one group per turn. Fighter Groups land back on the carrier ship at the same rate. However, the total number of Fighter Groups launched and recovered in one turn cannot exceed half the fighter complement, so a ship with four groups embarked could launch two Fighter Groups, recover two Fighter Groups, or launch one and recover another in the same turn.

To launch Fighter Groups, write a Launch order into the ship's Movement Orders at the start of the turn. The Fighter Groups are launched at the start of the Ship Movement Phase. When launched, a Fighter Group moves directly away from the front of the ship along a Course of the ship's current Heading 6 MU, and then moves along the ship's current Course for a distance equal to its Velocity. So if the carrier ship is traveling at 8 MU on Course 3 and Heading 6 at the time of launch, the fighters will move on Course 6 for a distance of 6 MU and then along Course 3 for 8 MU.

That launch is the Fighter Group's movement for the turn. A Fighter Group may not make attacks the turn it launches, but may defend itself if attacked by other Fighter Groups. On the following turn the fighters may move freely as per the normal Fighter Movement rules.

Ships may recover Fighter Groups during a turn without the need for written orders to that effect. To recover a Fighter Group, they must be moved so that they are within 6 MU of their carrier at the end of the Ship Movement Phase. If neither the Fighter Groups nor the carrier come under attack by enemy fighters during the Combat Phase the Fighter Groups are recovered, safely landing aboard the carrier, and their counters are removed from the table. If attacked by enemy Fighter Groups, they may either break to engage or attempt to land regardless. If they do not break to engage, the enemy Fighter Groups make their attack as normal with no danger of the landing fighters returning fire. If any of the landing fighters survive the attack they succeed in their landing attempt.

Scrambling Fighters

In an emergency situation, a player may wish to launch Fighter Groups to react to an attack by enemy Fighter Groups even though there are no Launch orders for Fighter Groups that turn. Scrambling fighters may only be attempted immediately after the Ship Movement Phase, and only if two criteria are met: the ship must have enemy Fighter Groups able to attack it (within 6 MU); and it must have no Fighter Screens. To attempt to scramble a Fighter Group, roll a die. On a score of 1-3, no Fighter Groups scramble. On a 4 or 5 one Fighter Group may scramble to meet the attackers. On a 6 the ship successfully scrambles as many Fighter Groups as it may normally launch in a turn. Fighter Groups that are Scrambled are not moved away from the carrying ship as they are during normal launches, but instead immediately take up position to Screen the ship from the attacking Fighter Groups (see Fighters: Fighter Screens below). Unlike normal fighter launches, Scrambled groups may attack the same turn they launch.

Fighter Screens

Fighter Groups may closely escort larger ships specifically to ward off enemy fighter attacks on that ship. When used in this role, a Fighter Group acts as a Fighter Screen for the ship it is escorting.

At the beginning of any Ship Movement Phase, any Fighter Groups within 3 MU of a ship may be declared a Fighter Screen for that ship.

When acting as a Fighter Screen, Fighter Groups remain within 3 MU of the ship they are escorting at all times. A Fighter Screen (which may be a single Fighter Group or several) does not move in the Fighter Movement Phase, instead it moves at the same time as the ship it is screening, during the Ship Movement Phase. If a Fighter Group chooses to move during the Fighter Movement Phase, it must break off of the Fighter Screen before the ship moves, and is once again on its own.

Whenever a ship with a Fighter Screen comes under attack from enemy Fighter Groups, the attacking Fighter Groups must engage the Fighter Screen using the Dogfighting rules before they may fire on the escorted ship. Each Fighter Group in the Fighter Screen must be engaged by at least one attacking Fighter Group. Once this condition has been satisfied, any further uncommitted attacking groups may fire on the escorted ship.

Dogfights

Whenever two or more Fighter Groups end the Fighter Movement Phase within 6 MU of each other, one may engage the other in a dogfight. This represents the individual fighters attacking and trying to destroy the craft in the opposing group. Since a single counter represents each Fighter Group the action is resolved abstractly. Move both/all Fighter Groups so that they are directly facing each other (simply to indicate that they are engaged in a dogfight). Each player rolls a number of dice equal to the number of fighters they have remaining in his or her Fighter Group. The table opposite gives the score required to kill one fighter from the opposing Fighter Group, depending on the types of craft involved. EA starfuries are better in combat than fighters from the Narn, Centauri or Raiders are, but poorer than the Minbari fighters due to the latter's advanced stealth technology.

In certain cases (indicated by a red 6 on the table), a score of 6 on any die kills two fighters from the opposing Fighter Group, and allows a reroll of that die as well. Where there is no red 6, a 6 is counted as just one fighter killed, with no reroll permitted. All fighter-to-fighter combat is simultaneous. Both players roll their dice at the same time, and no losses are noted until all Fighter Groups' hits have been determined.

Multiple Group Dogfights ("Furballs")

There will be times, especially when Fighter Groups are acting as a Fighter Screen for larger ships, where multiple Fighter Groups will be close enough to engage in a Dogfight. In such combats, all groups engaged in the Dogfight may fight only once per turn, firing on any one group of their choosing. The choice of whom to attack alternates between groups at the end of the Fighter Movement Phase starting with the player who moved the first Fighter Group. One Fighter Group may be attacked more than once, but all results and losses are still adjudicated simultaneously—that is, no fighters are counted as lost until all have had a chance to attack.

Fighter Attacks

A Fighter Group may attack any ship within 6 MU during the Combat Phase. The position of the Fighter Group relative to the ship will show which arc of the ship is under attack, and hence which Defensive Weapon Systems (if any) may be used against the attacking fighters. It is not necessary for the Fighter Groups to have ended their movement pointed at the ship they are attacking—merely being within the 6 MU range limit is sufficient, as fighters are agile enough to spin in flight and fire in any direction. As noted in the Combat Phase rules, any defensive fire by the ship under attack occurs at the end of the Fighter Movement Phase. Any losses to the Fighter Group from defensive fire are applied immediately and lost fighters will not get a chance to attack the ship.

A Fighter Group will fire on the ship it is attacking when that ship is chosen as the Active Ship (see The Turn Sequence: 4A Ship Selection). The only exception to this is if the Fighter Group has a player character in it. In this case it is possible to select that particular Fighter Group as the Active Ship which means that it does not need to wait for the ship to fire before it can attack.

For each individual fighter attacking, roll a die and count the results exactly as for Pulse Battery fire (rolls of 1-3 have no effect, 4 or 5 give 1 point of damage to the target, and a 6 gives two damage points plus a reroll).

Fighter Pilot Aces

Most fighter pilots are assumed to be reasonably good at their job. However, there are a few that are significantly better than others—these are considered Aces. If a player-character has good fighter pilot skills and is involved in a tactical combat, then he or she might be considered an Ace for the purposes of these rules—even if he or she hasn't been recognized as such in the game (see Player Characters in Ship Combat). Additionally, the GM may choose to allow players to randomly allocate a few Aces among their Fighter Groups by any agreed method (a good method is to roll one die for each group at the start of the game. Any groups that score a 6 have one Ace pilot with them). A Fighter Group with an Ace gains a bonus in normal attacks and Dogfighting, and may also attempt certain special actions. When a group containing an Ace takes losses, the Ace is the last fighter to be destroyed—after all, he or she is the best pilot in the Fighter Group.

Attacking Aces

If an attacking Fighter Group contains an Ace, that pilot may be used in one of two ways. First, he or she may attack normally with the rest of the group. When attacking normally, an Ace adds an extra die to the number of dice the Fighter Group would otherwise roll. So an undamaged Fighter Group with six fighters and an Ace among them will roll seven dice rather than the usual six.

Alternatively, the Ace can choose to attack a specific system on the target ship (such as a Weapon Battery, a Fire Control system or the ship's Main Drives). When attacking a system the Ace rolls one die. If a 6 is scored then the targeted system is knocked out. Any other result scores no damage. If an Ace attempts specific targeting, the rest of the group makes a normal attack at the same time, with normal damage results.

Aces in Dogfighting

If a Fighter Group contains an Ace, that Fighter Group rolls an extra die in dogfight situations. Thus an undamaged Fighter Group of six fighters including an Ace pilot would get to roll seven dice rather than the usual six. The result of this extra die is counted normally.

If both Fighter Groups involved in a dogfight have an Ace, then either player may choose to have his or her Ace seek out the opposing Ace and engage that fighter directly while the rest of the dogfight is going on around them. In this case, each of the Aces rolls just one die and consults the dogfight kill table for the results. If both roll sufficient scores, they can both be destroyed at the same time. While this single combat is going on, the remaining fighters in each Fighter Group roll for their normal dogfight attacks as usual.

SA-25 "Badger"

Both heavier and longer ranged than normal starfuries, Badgers have certain advantages. With their extended capabilities Badgers can stay on patrol more often than other fighters. If a ship has a compliment of Badgers on board it may have up to half of the SA-25s screening it at the beginning of combat. They are also more sturdy and heavy than most fighters. As a result, ignore the first score resulting in a kill on a Fighter Group of Badgers from each attacking Fighter Group or form of anti-fighter weapon every time the group is attacked.

Shuttles and Other Small Craft

A small craft is any spacecraft that is larger than a fighter, but too small to be worth representing in the game as a full ship design. Typical examples include the small shuttles used to ferry personnel and cargo between space stations and major ships. Each such small craft is represented by its own counter or model, but does not require a Ship Control Sheet. It moves during the Fighter Movement Phase and follows the same movement guidelines as fighters with the following exceptions: first, small craft may only move up to 12 MU per turn; second, small craft may not change Course by more than 3 Course Points in one game turn.

Each small craft has two damage points. It has no Threshold Points—it is simply damaged (but still functional) after it receives one point of damage, and destroyed after two. Damage to small craft can either be indicated with a marker or noted by the players.

Small craft may or may not be armed, at the players' or GM's discretion. An armed small craft can fire as if it were one fighter (with all-round fire, it rolls a single die to attack any target within a range of 6 MU. Results of 1-3 = no effect, 4-5 = 1 hit, 6 = 2 hits + reroll). An armed small craft that is damaged (i.e.; takes one hit) loses the use of its weapon system.

Collisions and Ramming

Space is very big and the chances of an accidental collision between ships are negligible, so for the sake of simplicity there are no rules for unintentional collisions. If two counters end up close enough that they touch or overlap, simply move each slightly to accommodate them on the table with the minimum changes of position. The counters do not represent the actual size of ships at scale anyway, so their touching does not indicate collision.

Deliberate ramming of one ship by another is possible in space combat, but is thankfully rare. It will usually occur only as a last act of desperation, sacrificing a ship and its crew so that others can survive. Ships' Captains are obviously very reluctant to use such tactics unless the situation is otherwise hopeless, and even then it takes a very brave and honorable commander to carry it through. The following ramming rules are meant to be used only with a stand-alone tabletop game. If a situation occurs during a campaign where PCs who are controlling a ship wish to ram, use the rules below in the Ramming with Player Characters section.

In order to attempt a ram, the ramming player must write Movement Orders so that the ship is within 3 MU of the target ship at the end of the Ship Movement Phase and specify that he or she intends to ram. The ramming ship must have at least one functioning Main Drive unit at this point.

It is a difficult task to decide to ram an enemy and even more difficult to convince the crew that it is the necessary and right thing to do. To reflect this (and to prevent players using ramming as a tactic of choice with no regard for their crews), any ship which wishes to attempt a ram must first roll a die during the Movement Phase on the chart below:

If the Ramming ship rolls the score listed or better, then it may attempt to ram. At the discretion of the referee or the agreement of the other players, modifiers to the die roll may be allowed in special circumstances. For example a Narn warship trying to stop a Centauri attack on a Narn refugee ship could well be given a +1 or even +2 on its die roll.

Provided the roll is successful, each player involved rolls one die, and adds to that roll the current Drive Rating remaining on the ship (any undamaged drives). If the ramming ship scores highest, it manages to ram the target. If the scores are equal or the target ship scores highest, it evades successfully. If the ramming attempt is successful, both ships suffer an amount of damage equal to the total original damage points of the smaller ship. The smaller ship will always be destroyed, and the larger probably crippled.

Ramming by Fighters

Fighter Groups may attempt to ram ships or other Fighter Groups in desperate circumstances, using the same rules and chart as for larger ships, with the following special conditions: all surviving fighters in a given Fighter Group must attempt to Ram or none may; and one morale roll is made for the entire Fighter Group.

If a ramming Fighter Group is dogfighting with another Fighter Group, each one rolls one die per fighter to see which make contact and which are evaded. Any fighters that Ram successfully destroy both the other fighter and themselves.

If the Fighter Group attempts to ram a capital ship, they will always be successful—larger ships have no opportunity to evade (although the fighters must have rolled on the ramming chart first to make sure that they will go through with it). Each fighter in the group will cause an automatic two points of damage to the target ship, destroying itself in the process.

Ramming with Player Characters

The above ramming rules should only be used in a stand-alone tabletop game. If the ramming ship is in the control of PCs, the decision is left to the players. The ramifications of ramming a vessel in a campaign are much more severe than when just playing a single game without PCs involved. If the players deem the situation dire enough to elicit ramming the enemy ship then they may attempt with no morale role.

If a capital ship is in the control of PCs and they wish to ram these rules are used instead of the ones listed above. First the player who is writing the orders for the ship must note the attempt to ram in the orders, and the ship must be 3 MU from the target vessel at the end of the Ship Movement Phase. If this occurs then the character who is actually steering the ship must make a static task resolution. It is not considered contested with the helmsman on the target ship because it is more of a matter of plotting the correct Course instead of outmaneuvering the enemy. The base difficulty is Tricky and 2 is added to the difficulty for each drive unit the enemy ship has above the amount on the PCs ship.

Ramming Damage

Damage caused by ramming an enemy ship is extremely brutal. It is very unlikely that that either ship will survive the ram. For this reason, Fortune Points may not be used to keep a ramming ship from being destroyed. It is also very unlikely that a character on board a ramming ship will be able to make it to a life pod before the ship is destroyed. It is rare that a player character survives if on the ramming ship.

Any character that is piloting a fighter may attempt to ram either a capital ship or an enemy fighter. No roll is made if the character wishes to ram into a capital ship. Fighters have such an agility advantage over these cumbersome ships that there is no way for them to evade the incoming fighter. If the character wants to ram an enemy fighter, he or she must beat the enemy fighter in a contested task resolution. If the character succeeds both fighters are destroyed. In both cases the pilot may not eject before impact. Constant course adjustments must be made to ensure hitting the target until the very last moment and ejecting would alter the path. There is no possibility of a pilot surviving an intentional ram.

Jump Points and Jumpgates

Ships may enter or leave the battle area via hyperspace through a jump point created either by a permanent jumpgate or one generated by a ship's Jump Engines. Jumpgates must be placed on the table before the game (see the Counters), and remain in a fixed position.

Any player may activate an unsecured jumpgate at the start of any game turn. A player may only open a secured jumpgate if their side owns the gate; any non-friendly ships must enter through jump points of their own making. Obviously, the GM must decide the security status of any jumpgates before the scenario begins. To open the gate, a player designates one ship as the requesting ship, which is the ship that sends the signal to the gate.

When a jump point or jumpgate is activated, place a jump point counter on the table at the beginning of the turn. The gate will remain open until the requesting or creating ship either passes through the gate, moves more than 12 MU away from the gate, or is destroyed, to a maximum of five turns.

A jump point formed by a ship's Jump Engines may be formed anywhere within 12 MU of that ship. Normally ships open jump points for themselves and any escorting craft, and thus form the point directly ahead of themselves in order to fly straight into it or behind them in order to protect their escorts; however there is nothing to stop a ship forming the jump point in any other direction in order to allow other craft to use it while the generating ship remains in normal space. In all cases, the point will collapse at the end of the turn when the ship forming the point has gone through, moved more than 12 MU away, or closes the point, to a maximum of four turns from the turn the point formed.

Ships equipped with Jump Engines require an enormous amount of power in order to use those engines. In order to open a jump point using Jump Engines, a ship must write an activate Jump Engines order into its Movement Orders (written "JP") on one turn. The ship may then open the jump point on the following turn. During these two turns, that ship may not fire any weapons: the power is diverted to the Jump Engines.

Once used, Jump Engines must recharge before they can open another point. Ships that arrive on-table through a jump point of their own making or that open a jump point on the table but do not go through may not open another jump point until six full game turns have elapsed. They may, of course, use a jump point created by another ship or a jumpgate at any time.

Successful jump point entry requires certain criteria to be met:

The ship's Course must take it into the point within the safe arc of the jump point counter (the front two faces of the counter) and the ship's current Course and heading must be within 1 Course Point of the Heading of the jump point—if the jump point counter is aligned on Course 12, then a ship must be traveling on Course 11, 12 or 1 in order to enter the jump point safely. A ship that intersects with the jump point counter at an incorrect angle will be destroyed.

The ship's Velocity must be at least 6 MU, but not more than 12 MU—any ship traveling at velocities outside these limits will suffer one complete row of damage on its Damage Track automatically on trying to enter the jump point. A ship can accelerate or decelerate on the turn it enters the point in order to be within the Velocity limits, provided it has the required thrust power available from its drives.

A jump order must be in the Movement Orders for that ship that turn, along with any Course change and/or thrust necessary to line it up with the jump point.

Collapsing Jump Points

All ships transiting a jump point during a turn that it is active will make the jump with no problems (provided they follow the successful jump point entry criteria). However, traveling through a collapsing jump point can prove fatal. A jump point collapses when it is terminated (either the ship which created it decides to collapse it, or the ship that created it has traversed the point). It starts to collapse at the beginning of the turn after it is terminated. It remains collapsing for one entire turn. At the beginning of the turn after collapsing it is gone and the counter is removed from the table.

A ship may make an attempt to transit a collapsing jump point. This is a significant risk, though—if caught in the "backwash" of the collapsing point the ship will be destroyed. Any ship attempting to use a collapsing jump point must roll a die. On a roll of 5 or 6 it makes a successful jump, following any others that may have gone through the point, but on a 4 or less it is completely destroyed in the attempt.

Feedback from Jump Points

Jump points take an enormous amount of power and effort to keep open. Without this constant attention they quickly become unstable. If a ship is damaged while going through a jump point, the energy discharge disturbs the forces keeping the point open and creates feedback through the Jump Engine of the ship that created the point. This feedback can damage and even destroy the Jump Engine, as well as the ship. If a jump point deals damage to a ship traversing the point, additionally it deals half of that damage (rounded up) to the ship holding the point open. If a ship is destroyed within the point use the amount of damage boxes it had left before being destroyed to calculate how much damage the feedback does.

If a ship with an undamaged Jump Engine takes feedback in this manner, roll a die. On a score of 5 or 6 the engine is damaged and the rules for a damaged Jump Engine take effect immediately, causing the point to collapse.

Damage to Jump Engines

Jump Engines, like any ship systems, may be damaged or destroyed during a Threshold Check. The first time the Jump Engines fail a Threshold Check, they are considered damaged. After failing a second Threshold Check, the Jump Engines are assumed to be disabled and unable to open a jump point at all.

Any time a damaged Jump Engine attempts to open a jump point, it is immediately considered to be collapsing. This point is considered to have been collapsing from the beginning of the current turn and will only stay on the table the round it was created.

If the Jump Engine forming the jump point is damaged while the point is open, the point is considered to be terminated and will begin to collapse at the beginning of the next turn.

Player Characters in Ship Combat

Combat between starships is deadly, using weapons of massive destructive power. More often than not battles will result in expensive ships being gutted or destroyed, with the loss of many (if not all) crew members. Players who are involved are at incredible risk.

Sometimes a space battle may occur as a backdrop to a game scenario, with the player-characters simply observing the battle from relative safety and then being influenced by its outcome. For example, the characters might be on a world or a large station while a battle rages in near space for the control of the area—the battle itself will not necessarily endanger the characters directly, but its outcome will have a significant effect on their immediate futures.

At other times, however, the characters may be directly involved in a battle. When this is the case they might be pilots or crew of a ship, and their skills will directly affect the outcome of the battle.

When a character has a skill directly applicable to a battle, he or she may contribute to the fight. There are many different skills that have a direct influence on combat, listed below. Under each job type a set of tasks are listed with difficulty numbers. These are tasks are above and beyond normal combat procedures.

Any character with the correct skill that is at an appropriate post may attempt these tasks. A normal static task resolution is performed to see what the result of the effort is. If the PC succeeds then a particular operation will be augmented. In the case of a Marginal or Normal failure the bonus is not received but no penalties are incurred and the operation resolves just as it would have had the character not attempted to enhance it. In the event of a Significant Failure or worse something detrimental happens as a result.

It is possible for two characters to use the teamwork rules when working on a given task. In order for them to be able to do this, they must both be on a console that allows proper access to the system and they must both be able to talk to one another. Usually this means they need to be in the same room as ships are sealed tightly in combat situations to minimize depressurization during hull breaches. They could also be speaking over a communications device such as a hand link or head set. The fact that two characters are using the teamwork rules must be declared before task resolution, as usual.

These tasks are performed under the stress of combat. They are complex and difficult to carry out in the very limited time that battle allows. Coordinating work between people in such a chaotic time frame is difficult to say the least. As a result more than two people may not be working together on any one of these tasks.

A character may take as many actions in one round as they want. However for each action after the first a cumulative penalty of four is added to the difficulty number. So it is a plus four on the second task; a plus eight for the third and so on.

Communications

Communications work deals with incoming and outgoing transmissions. Without communications it would be impossible to have several units working together in a battle. People who work in communications don't just send and receive friendly signals, often they are trying to intercept enemy transmissions, or jam enemy equipment. Consoles that allow access to these types of tasks are usually on the bridge of a starship.

Coordinate Fire (Miraculous): The character attempts to coordinate the firepower of two ships down to the split second. In the heat of battle it is an extremely arduous feat to organize the offensive capabilities of more than one ship so precisely. The character must attempt this when the first of the two ships he or she is coordinating is selected as the Active Ship. If it is successful, the Active Ship and the second ship both fire their weapons simultaneously in the Weapons Fire phase. This does not make the second ship the Active Ship, so the second ship must be selected at a later time (although it may not actually fire again). These ships must share at least one target. If the result is a Significant Failure or worse, the Active Ship does not fire now. Instead when the second ship is selected as the Active Ship they both fire. This is normally used with the System Operations skill.

Intercept Enemy Transmissions (Next to Impossible): The character attempts to intercept and decipher the enemy communications of a single ship. This task must be attempted after the opponent has written the orders for his or her ships but before the ship the character is on has its orders written. If successful, the character receives the written orders for that particular ship. If the task resolution results in a Significant Failure or worse, instead of obtaining the correct orders, the character messes up the deciphering and the opponent may tell the character any orders they choose (the orders do not have to reflect the actual written orders of that ship). This is normally used with the System Operations skill.

Jam Fire Control (Next to Impossible): Through the use of interference, the character tries to disrupt the enemy's ability to achieve a weapons lock on the ship. This task must be attempted after a ship has declared its targets but before it has fired. If the character succeeds the particular Fire Control system will fail to lock on and any weapons using that Fire Control to target will be unable to fire. Any Fire Control system that is jammed is considered to have already fired and cannot be used again on the same turn. If the result is a Significant Failure or worse, the character has managed to produce enough electronic noise that instead of jamming they have made their ship a glowing beacon and no other ships must expend a Fire Control to fire on it. This is normally used with the System Operations skill.

Increase Initiative (Difficult): The character tries to increase the speed that their side's ships react at. This task must be attempted before the die roll to determine who fires first is made in Phase 4. If done successfully a +1 is added to the die roll to see who fires first in Phase 4. On a Significant Failure or worse the character has only served to bog down the firing orders of the ships and their side suffers a -1 to the die roll. This is normally used with the System Operations skill.

Engineering

Engineering is one of the most broad-ranged job descriptions on board a starship. Engineers do everything from keeping a ship running to upgrading systems to repairing damage done to the ship. There are literally hundreds of conduits and engineering consoles around a ship from which an engineer can work.

Increase Laser Recharge Rate (Next to Impossible): The character attempts to redirect more energy to the Beam Power System to recharge it more quickly. This must be resolved at the beginning of the turn before the die is rolled to determine how much energy the beam system recharges. If successful add one to the result of the recharge roll (it will then recharge between 3 and 5). If the result is a Significant Failure or worse, the Beam Power System is over loaded: subtract one from the result of the recharge roll (between 1 and 3). In addition, This task runs the risk of damaging the Beam Power System. Roll a die: on a 5 or 6 the system is considered damaged (refer to the rules on Beam Systems for results). This is normally used with the Engineering, Electrical skill.

Increase Main Drive Output (Difficult): The character puts the reactor above normal safe output ranges and tries to provide the ship with a little extra power. This must be attempted before orders are written for that turn. If successful the main drive output of the drive unit the engineer was working on is increased by 1. A Significant Failure or worse indicates that the engine may burn itself out. Roll a die and on a 5 or 6 the engine is lost. This is normally used with the Engineering, Aerospace skill.

Repair System (Variable): When a system is destroyed during a Threshold Check it may still be possible to repair or replace it. An engineering character must attempt to repair a system at the beginning of the turn. The difficulty number depends on the amount of time the character wishes to spend repairing the system. The longer the character takes the easier it is to repair. For a single turn repair the Difficulty is Next to Impossible. If successful This system will be functioning at the beginning of next turn. For a two-turn repair the Difficulty is Very Difficult. If successful This system will be functioning at the beginning of the turn two turns from now. For a three turn repair the Difficulty is Difficult. If successful This system will be functioning at the beginning of the turn three turns from now. If the attempt is successful, treat the system as if it had not been destroyed at all. This means that if a system has several levels of damage, such as a Beam Power System or a Jump Engine, and is repaired it functions normally no matter what level of damage it was at before. If the character fails he or she must still spend the allotted amount of time attempting to fix the system. If the result is a Significant Failure or worse the system has been more severely damaged by the attempt and must be repaired back in dry dock. This is normally used with the Engineering, Mechanical skill.

Gunnery

Stationed throughout the ship are many gunnery consoles. There is normally one main console in the bridge, backed up by several redundant modules in various positions throughout the ship. From these areas characters can access the targeting systems and give orders to unleash offensive capabilities.

Rapid Fire (Miraculous): The character attempts to fire weaponry at a faster rate. This task is resolved before the character rolls for damage from the weapons groups by a Fire Control, but after the target is selected. If successful all Pulse Batteries under that Fire Control double the normal number of dice they roll. If the result is a Significant Failure or worse the guns overload and shut down, not firing at all and there is also a chance that the guns have been rendered inoperable in the process; roll a die, on a 5 or 6 the pulse guns are considered destroyed. This is normally used with the Weapons System skill.

Critical Hit (Next to Impossible): While firing, the character tries to locate a weak spot in the structure of the ship and exploit it, in an attempt to inflict more damage. This can be used when a shot from the gunner forces a ship to make a Threshold Check. If successful it decreases the Threshold number that the ship must use by one. On a Significant Failure or worse, the character has hit the exact wrong spot and the Threshold number is raised by one (never higher than 6). This is normally used with the Weapons System skill.

Blind Fire (Very Difficult): The character tries to approximate where the target is based only on visual information and fire on it without the assistance of a Fire Control. This must be done at the same time other weapons are fired. The character must nominate the target and may fire one weapon without the use of a Fire Control (even if the ship has no undamaged Fire Controls). If successful the character has hit the target and that weapon rolls for damage as normal. A Significant Failure or worse means that the character was not even close to hitting the target. If there is a friendly ship in the same Arc when a Significant Failure or worse occurs roll a die on a 5 or 6 the friendly ship is hit and damage is then rolled for as normal. This is normally used with the Weapons System skill.

Increased Weapon Damage (Very Difficult): By adding more power to the guns and aiming more carefully the character attempts to inflict more damage in a shorter amount of time. This is used after targets have been selected but before the damage for the shots has been resolved. If successful all weapons grouped under one Fire Control have one added to their damage totals. This means that each weapon (even pulse weapons) are guaranteed to do at least one point of damage. In the event of a Significant Failure or worse, the character has overloaded the guns and they may not fire next round. This is normally used with the Weapons System skill.

Intercept Pulse Fire (Very Difficult): The character attempts to utilize an offensive Pulse Battery in the roll of an anti-pulse Interceptor. This must be attempted when the ship is being fired upon. If successful, the main weapon acts as if it were an Interceptor set on anti-pulse mode for that turn. If a Significant Failure or worse occurs the shots are not stopped and there is a chance that the fire from the cannon meant to be defensive actually hits a friendly ship. Roll a die, on a 5 or 6 it hits a friendly vessel and deals damage as normal. This is normally used with the Weapons Systems skill.

Increase Weapon Range (Difficult): The character tries to augment the computer's firing solution and enhance it with human intuition to increase the range of the shot. This is attempted after targets have been declared but before damage has been resolved. If the character is successful, the guns under This Fire Control are considered to be one MU closer than they actually are (just subtract one full MU from the measured distance to the target). A Sig; nificant Failure or worse indicates that the character was wrong and the distance is considered to be one MU further away than skill. normal (add on full MU to the measured distance to the target). This is normally used with the Weapons Systems skill.

Increase Tracking (Tricky): The character attempts to aid the Fire Control system and increase the ship computer's ability to track and lock enemy ships. This is attempted before targets are chosen during the Weapons Fire phase. If successful, the character has allowed the ship to target one extra ship for the turn. On a Significant Failure or worse, the tampering with the system has caused problems and the ship may target one less ship than normal. This is normally used with the Weapons Systems skill.

Helm

The person at the helm is actually controlling the movements of the ship. Much different than piloting a fighter or shuttle, piloting a large space vessel is more a matter of controlling a large slow moving powerful craft than harnessing the speed and maneuverability of a small vessel. There are very few stations from which the ship can be steered and only one of these is active

Minimize Damage (Next to Impossible): The character attempts to position the ship using maneuvering thrusters so the incoming fire hits less vulnerable locations. This is attempted after a ship has taken enough damage to warrant a Threshold Check. If successful, the helmsman has decreased the collateral damage of a particular shot and the Threshold number for that check is increased by one (never above 6). On a Significant Failure or worse the .ship was in a worse position and the Threshold number is decreased by l. This is normally used with the Shiphandling skill.

Extreme Thruster Burn (Very Difficult): The character overrides normal safety mechanisms and applies more thruster burn than the ship would normally allow. This task must be resolved before orders are written. If successful the ship may use one extra thrust point to push or rotate This turn. A Significant Failure or worse means that the ship does not have the extra thruster point and that the ship is tearing itself apart from the effort, which causes the ship to take 1/10 of its original damage capacity in damage (round down). This is normally used with the Shiphandling skill.

Increase Main Drive Output (Very Difficult): The character positions the ship in a manner to better benefit from the use of its main drives. This is resolved before orders are written. If successful the ship has one extra main drive unit to use for This turn. In the event of a Significant Failure or worse, the ship does not receive the extra unit, but instead losses one unit of main drive thrust for the turn. This is normally used with the Shiphandling skill.

Ramming (Tricky): The character executes one final act of valor and attempts to plow their ship into an enemy vessel. This roll is made once all of the following criteria have been met: The intention to ram be mentioned in the orders; the ship must end the Movement Phase 3 MU from the enemy vessel; and the ship must have at least one drive unit left. There is an additional increase of 2 to the difficulty for every drive unit the enemy ship has above the ramming ship. If successful the ram occurs as per the ramming rules (Collisions and Ramming). A Significant Failure or worse means that the ship makes contact but it is a glancing blow which only damages the ramming ship. The ship takes one fourth of the normal ramming damage (rounded up) and the target ship is not harmed. This is normally used with the Shiphandling skill.

Payload

There are many jobs that deal with the payload of a ship. Mainly they interact with the ship's fighter complements or ammunition fed weapons. Instead of working at a console, a character working on payloads must be in the appropriate area of the ship.

Scramble Fighter Group (Next to Impossible): The character oversees the operation of emergency Fighter Group scrambling. This task must be resolved in place of the normal roll to scramble Fighter Groups in response to an attack. If successful, the ship scrambles as many Fighter Groups as it can normally launch in one turn. A Significant Failure or worse indicates that no Fighter Groups are launched and in fact a catastrophe has occurred. Roll a die for each Fighter Group that tried to launch, on a 5 or 6 the group is destroyed. This is normally used with the Engineering, Electrical skill.

Launch Extra Fighter Group (Very Difficult): The character attempts to speed up the process of launching Fighter Groups. This task is attempted when Fighter Groups are launched. If it is successful then one extra Fighter Group may be launched in This turn. On a Significant Failure or worse the extra Fighter Group: does not make it out and may be damaged along with the Launch Bay. Roll a die, on a 5 or 6 the Fighter Group collides into the docking bay walls and both the Fighter Group and Launch Bay are considered destroyed. This is normally used with the Engineering, Electrical skill.

Recover Extra Fighter Group (Very Difficult): The character tries to streamline the workings of the landing process so that the ship can recover Fighter Groups at an accelerated rate. This task is attempted when Fighter Groups are recovered. If the task is resolved successfully then one extra Fighter Group may be recovered that turn. If a Significant Failure or worse occurs there is a problem and only the normal amount of fighters are recovered. There is also a chance that the extra Fighter Group and the Launch Bay may be damaged. Roll a die, if a 5 or 6 is the result the fighters collide with the Launch Bay and both the Fighter Group and the Launch Bay are destroyed. This is normally used with the Engineering, Electrical skill.

Reload Weapon (Difficult): The character attempts to feed ammunition to a certain weapon system that needs it. This roll - is made right after beam weapons are recharged. If successful the weapon receives one extra piece Of ammunition if it was missing any. In the case of a Significant Failure or worse the ammunition has become jammed in the weapon and the weapon can no longer fire. This is normally used with the Engineering, Mechanical skill.

Piloting

Unlike other combat duties, pilots cannot control their craft from a console—they must actually be inside of the craft. Fighters have a high level of maneuverability and can do things impossible for large capital ships. Player character pilots may attempt these tasks and they also receive all of the benefits of a normal fighter Ace (see Aces,

Evade Fire (Next to Impossible): The pilot attempts to maneuver around incoming Weapons Fire. This may be used when the pilot's ship would normally be hit. If successful the pilot dodges out of the way and the shot passes harmlessly by. In the case of a Significant Failure or worse, the pilot's craft is not only destroyed but the pilot, who decided to stay at -the controls at the last moment, may not attempt to eject. This is normally used with the Piloting skill.

Anti-Pulse Interceptor (Very Difficult): The pilot attempts to use his pulse cannons to deflect pulse fire aimed at a nearby capital ship within 6 MU of the fighter. This must be attempted before damage is determined on the ship, If success, ful, the Fighter Group the pilot is in acts as - if it were an Interceptor on anti-pulse mode (it is not limited to protecting the Fire Arc it is in, though it may only cover one Fire Arc per turn). On a Significant Failure or worse the spray of shots from the fighter may hit friendly ships. If there are any friendly ships within 6 MU (including the ship the group is attempting to protect), roll a die on a 5 or 6 the ship is hit just as ifthe Fighter Group had gotten through defenses and attacked. The Fighter Group may only incidentally fire on one ship in This manner. This is normally used with the Piloting skill.,

Blindside Fighter Group (Very Difficult): The character employs a tactic in which the enemy Fighter Group either cannot see his or her Fighter Group or cannot fire upon it. This is attempted after Fighter Groups declare their targets but before anything is resolved. If successful the target Fighter Group may not fire back on the character's Fighter Group when Weapons Fire is resolved. If the result is a Significant Failure or worse the player's Fighter Group is in the wrong spot and the enemy Fighter Group is able to fire without the friendly group returning fire, This is normally used with the Tactics, Space Combat skill.

First Fire (Difficult): The character attempts to gain the edge in a dogfight and fire before the enemy can react. This is attempted after Fighter Groups declare their targets but before fire is resolved. If successful, the player's Fighter Group may fire on the enemy Fighter Group before the enemy can fire. Then the remaining enemies may fire on the player's Fighter Group (the damage is not simultaneous and the enemy . may very well lose fighters before they can fire). This is normally used with Tactics, Space Combat skill.

Eject (Average): The character tries to punch out of their cockpit before their craft is destroyed. This is attempted immediately as a character's ship is being destroyed or crippled. If successful the character is able to eject with no problems. With a Significant Failure or worse the ejection system fails entirely and falls apart (such as the handles falling from the ceiling of a Starfury). This is normally used with the Piloting skill.

Tactical

It is the job of a tactician to outthink the enemy. These tasks can be performed from any location where the character can gain significant information about the ongoing battle. Given these pieces of information and the enemy type a good tactician can often predict what an enemy will do in combat.

Anticipate Fleet Maneuvers (Miraculous): The character tries to figure out what each ship in the enemy's fleet is going to they desire. do. This task is attempted after the opponent has written down orders and before the friendly orders are written. If successful, the opponent must give a general idea of what the ships are doing (accelerating or decelerating and moving port or starboard). On a Significant Failure or worse the opponent may give the player any information at all, correct or not. This is normally used with the Tactics, Space Combat skill.

Anticipate Ship Maneuvers (Very Difficult): The character tries to figure out what a particular ship in the enemy's fleet is going to do. This task is attempted after the opponent has written down orders and before friendly orders are written. If successful, the opponent must give a general idea of what that ship is doing (accelerating or decelerating and moving port or starboard). On a Significant Failure or worse the opponent may give the player any information at all, correct or not. This is normally used with the Tactics, Space Combat skill.

Increase Initiative (Difficult): By predicting the moves of the enemy the character tries to position his or her ship in a way that it has the upper hand in firing. This task is attempted before the die roll to determine who fires first in Phase 4. If successful the player adds one to the die roll. On a Significant Failure or worse the player is in a worse position and subtracts one from the die roll. This is normally used with the Tactics, Space Combat skill.

Command

Command of a vessel works differently than any of the other jobs listed here. Instead of having a set list of tasks that someone at the command console can perform, it is assumed that the command console can access any of the ship's functions. Using the command console a character may attempt any of the tasks listed in This section. They can also use the command console to assist any character that is trying to execute one of these tasks. This makes it easier for the Commander of a space ship to personally coordinate the particular effects that

Using Fortune Points in Battle

Fate has as much influence on a starship battle as it does in other roleplaying encounters. Therefore players whose characters are involved in a battle (even those on a ship not directly involved in a particular attack or task) can use Fortune Points in order to affect the outcome. There are three different ways characters can use fortune points while involved in ship-to-ship battles.

First, a character may try to excel at something. As in the basic rules, the character can spend Fortune Points to increase their chances of succeeding on a certain task. 

Second, if a ship's Damage Track is filled up, any player with a character on board may spend 2 Fortune Points to keep the ship from being destroyed. This does not keep the ship operational, merely disabled but intact, with far fewer casualties. 

Finally, if Catastrophic Damage and Chain Reaction occurs, any player with a character aboard the ship may spend 2 Fortune Points to negate the effects of any failed Catastrophe Check. 

Keep in mind that only player characters and very important NPCs have Fortune Points. These abilities represent the fact that these characters are fated for something more than just dying on a crippled starship.

Sample Ships

This section provides a brief overview of the ship technologies of Earth Alliance, Narn, Centauri and the Minbari. It also contains the game info for the primary ships of each of those races as well as a few extra ships from Earth Alliance. Detailed information for ship-to-ship combat is displayed on each class' Ship Control Sheet, at the back of This book.

The Earth Alliance

The ships of the Earth Alliance are the benchmark around which the standard rules have been developed. Most EA ships use Reaction Drives under the normal rules and their weaponry is a mix of Pulse Batteries and Beam Batteries with Interceptor batterjes for defense. The one exception to the normal rules is the Nova-class dreadnought.

Omega-class destroyer/carrier: One of the more rugged Earthforce vessels, the Omega-class features a jump drive, a powerful (class 6) Beam System, eight Pulse Batteries, and four Interceptor Batteries. It carries four fighter groups.

Nova-class dreadnought: An older class of ships, the Nova features a jump drive, eight Pulse Batteries, four Interceptor Batteries, and four fighter groups.

Hyperion-class heavy cruiser: Hyperion-class ships feature a Beam System, four Pulse Batteries, and four Interceptor Batteries, and carry two fighter groups. Unlike most ships, the Hyperion's launch bay is not mounted in the fore of the ship. Instead it is in the middle of the ship. When fighter groups, are launched from a Hyperion, instead of having them go 6 MU along the Heading of a ship then moving the Velocity of the ship along the ship's Course, one fighter group launches 6 MU to the Port and tery. then the ship's Velocity along the ship's Course and the other fighter group launches 6 MU to the Starboard and then the ship's Velocity along the ship's Course.

Olympus-class corvette: Olympus-class vessels are fast and very deadly. Despite their small size they carry an impressive amount of firepower, including a Beam System, 8 Pulse Batteries, and four Interceptor Batteries.

Cotten-class long-range tender: The Cotten-class long-range tender resupplies and supports combat vessels. Though not designed for direct participation in combat action, it is equipped with four Pulse Batteries and four Interceptor Batteries. In ship-to-ship combat, each full line of damage boxes crossed off indicates that 20% of cargo space (and cargo) is destroyed.

CAS-958 "Condor" troop transport: A transport vessel for carrying GROPOS, the CAS-958 has several anti-personnel weapons clusters, as well as a large cargo bay sfor:troops and vehicles (these have no impact on space combat, so are not listed on the Ship Control Sheet). For defense against hostile ships, the Condor has one Pulse Battery.

CS-244 "Porcupine" Starfury transport: The Porcupine carries fighters, but has little combat capability itself (limited to a single Pulse Battery). The fighter bay is not enclosed, therefore the fighters can launch in any direction. When launching during ship-to-ship combat, move the fighters the initial 6 MU in any direction desired, then move them the ship's Velocity along the Course of the ship.

EA CAS-320 "Shepherd" Starfury transport: Like the Porcupine but atmosphere-capable, the Shepherd carries fighters but has little combat capability itself (limited to a single Pulse Battery). The fighter bay is not enclosed, therefore the fighters can launch in any direction. When launching during ship-to-ship combat, move the fighters the initial 6 MU in any direction desired, then move them the ship's Velocity along the Course of the ship.

The Centauri Republic

Despite the decay of their Republic, the Centauri's technology is advanced enough to give them a small edge over other younger races, particularly in maneuverability—their ships use the standard Reaction Drive movement rules, with one modification described below to account for their gravimetric drives, For weapons, the Centauri make little use of beams, preferring a large concentration of powerful Pulse Batteries. Though This can limit their potential to deliver massive damage in a single shot, the aggregate effect can be equally devastating—and they are not limited by problems of recharging or power storage.

Centauri Battle Cruiser: A very heavy vessel, the jump-capable Centauri Battle Cruiser features fourteen powerful Pulse Batteries (seven class 4; seven class 3) and three Anti-Fighter Batteries, along with four fighter groups.

Centauri Light Cruiser: Another commonly-encountered Centauricvessel, the Light Cruiser is equipped with eight Pulse Batteries (four class 3; four class 2), one Anti-Fighter Battery, and one fighter group.

The Narn Regime

Narn technology is at a similar level to that of the Earth Alliance, and a little bit (though not significantly) behind that of the Centauri. Their ships are powerful and ruggedi though not terribly maneuverable. They employ a mix of pulse Batteries and Beam Batteries (similar to the EA), plus a launched-weapon system known as the Energy Mine for which special rules are given below. In all other respects, Narn ships follow the standard game rules.

Narn Battle Dreadnought: Comparable to the EA Omega-class, the Battle Dreadnought features a jump engine, a Beam System, five Pulse Batteries, two AntiFighter Batteries, Energy Mine launchers, and four fighter groups.

Narn Heavy Cruiser: The Heavy Cruiser features jump engines, a somewhat underpowered Beam System, five Pulse Batteries, an Anti-Fighter Battery, an Energy Mine launcher, and four fighter groups.

The Minbari Federation

The technology level of the Minbari is significantly higher than that of the other races given in these rules. For This reason, there are a number of special rules and systems that apply only to Minbari ships. In most battles between Minbari craft and those of the younger races, the Minbari will almost certainly have a massive superiority. If a single Minbari ship is ganged upon by Several of younger-race warships, it can be killed—but not without cost.

Minbari War Cruiser: A very powerful warship, the Minbari War Cruiser is equipped with jump engines, a Jamming System, a Plasma Net, an extremely powerful Beam System that can fire in every direction, an EMP Cannon system, and four Fighter Groups.

Civilian Ships

Warships aren't the only types of vessels to see combat in a dangerous universe—civilian ships sometimes find themselves the target of raiders or in the middle of war zones. Some typical types of ships, as representative of any of the younger races as they are of Human designs, are covered here with Ship Control Sheets at the end of This book.

Typical Large Freighter: Civilian freighters are almost never jump-capable, and go armed with, at most, a single light Pulse Battery. In ship-to-ship combat, each full line of damage boxes crossed off indicates that 20% of cargo space (and cargo) is destroyed.

Typical Interstellar Liner: Like freighters, liners are rarely jump-capable, and are armed with, at most, a single light Pulse Battery. In ship-to-ship combat, each full line of damage boxes crossed off indicates that 20% of the passengers are killed.

Systems

This is a glossary of the systems used on the ship diagrams.

Anti-Fighter Batteries

These clusters of guns are designed to track down and destroy enemy fighters. Normally the clusters consist of several very small pulse cannons capable of extremely high rates of fire. These are reactive weapons that are an integral part of the ships defense grid to keep it safe from incoming fighter attacks. For more detail see (Weapon Systems and Combat: Anti-Fighter Batteries).

Antiquated Power Grids

This energy source is not as efficient or powerful as the newer models. As a result, if the ship's weapons are powered up and firing then each Main Drive unit may be used to generate either Main Drive thrust or Thruster Points, but not both.

Beam Batteries

This weapon is one of the weapons with the most potential for damage. At close range a shot from a Beam Battery can tear a ship into pieces. These systems require a large amount of energy and must recharge between shots. This limits their overall effectiveness but does not make them useless by any means. Ships have been outfitted with a wide array of Beam Systems ranging from a class 1 to a class 6. The smaller systems tend to deal less damage but are much more reliable and have an increased rate of fire. For more detail see (Weapon Systems and Combat: Beam Batteries).

Centauri Drive Systems

While the drive systems of Centauri warships are basically the same as those of the Narn and the EA (and use the normal Reaction Drive rules), the Centauri have developed advanced technology that make their ships more maneuverable than those of the other races. Therefore, Centauri ships have a Thruster power that is equal to the total output of their drive units, rather than half value as in the standard rules. With this advantage, Centauri ships are able to rotate much faster than under the normal rules, and can apply a side push or retro thrust equal to the power of their main drive burn. They are still not able to perform the radical maneuvers of a true Grav Drive ship like the Minbari, but will often be able to outfly Narn or EA ships. They are also able to keep their main weaponry trained on an enemy much more easily while they maneuver, which can be of great use.

Energy Mines

The Energy Mine is a weapon system used mainly by Narn warships (though the Earth Alliance has been known to use similar systems for the defense of space installations). Strictly speaking it is not really a "mine," but more of an area-effect energy projectile which is launched from the firing vessel and detonates in the vicinity of the target, causing damage to all craft within the effect radius of its detonation.

Each Energy Mine Projector system on a ship may launch one mine per turn, but has a limited supply of mines (three per projector) which are crossed off the system symbol as they are expended. Once a projector has fired all three of its mines it may not be used again in that battle. Each ship carries more mines but their loading time makes it impractical to reload during combat.

Energy Mines are fired at the beginning of the Ship Movement Phase of the game turn rather than in the normal Weapons Fire Phase—that is, they are launched after all players have written their orders for movement, but before the ships are moved. The mines detonate at the end of the Movement Phase.

An Energy Mine projector has a maximum range of 20 MU; when it fires, the player simply places a Mine marker at the desired detonation point (and crosses one mine off his ship record card). This point of aim can be anywhere up to 20 MU from the firing ship, but must fall within the Fire Arc through which the projector is mounted (a projector mounted in a ship's Fore arc can only aim mines at target points within that arc).

Mines detonate at the end of the Movement Phase. Ships that are unlucky enough to be close to a mine will take damage; the amount depends on how close the detonation is to the ship. When a mine detonates, any ship that is within 1 MU of the mine will take six dice of damage. Each MU further away reduces damage by one die, so at a distance of 3 MU the damage will drop to four dice, at 6 MU away only one damage die is rolled, and further than 6 MU there is no damage.

The total number rolled is the number of damage points inflicted, with no modifiers applied. Die results of 6 allow a reroll. Energy Mines require a Fire Control system to be used, and this Fire Control system may not be used to fire other weaponry in the same turn. One Fire Control system can, however, be used to fire any number of Energy Mine launchers provided that all the mines are targeted at points no more than 6 MU apart from each other.

Fighter Groups

Fighter Groups are a team of six fighter craft that work together in combat. These ships are much smaller and more agile than the larger capital vessels and are able to perform a variety of tasks due to their flexibility. At any time the Fighter Group can be called on for defense or offense. Each Fighter Group has its own hanger bay onboard the ship it is stationed on. For more detail see (Fighters: Launching and Recovering Fighters).

Fire Control Systems

These systems are used to track and fire on enemy vessels. The Fire Control system is much more than just the system used to aim the weapon. It also locks on to target ships and produces firing solutions. For more detail see (Weapon Systems and Combat: Fire Control Systems).

Gravimetric Drives

Ships using Grav Drives use a different movement system than those that use Reaction Drives.

When Movement Orders specify a Velocity change (acceleration or deceleration), then the change in Velocity is added to or subtracted from the previous Velocity and the ship is moved the new distance. So if a ship traveled at Velocity 6 in the last turn, and applies an acceleration of 3, it will move 9 MU in the current turn.

If a Course change is ordered, the ship is moved straight forward along its present Course for half its total movement distance for that game turn, then the counter is rotated by the amount specified in the orders before moving it on the new Course by the remainder of its total move distance. For instance, if a ship moving at Velocity 10 receives orders to turn 2 points to Starboard, it moves 5 MU, then turns 60 degrees Starboard, then moves its remaining 5 MU.

Grav Drive ships do not require a Direction Arrow counter, as a ship using a Grav Drive will always move in the direction that the counter is actually facing.

If a ship under Grav Drive does not change Course or Velocity in its written orders, then it is simply moved straight forward (in the direction it is currently facing) by its current Velocity in MU. Any ship with a Grav Drive that does not move at all in a turn—that is, its Velocity is zero at both start and end of turn—-may be rotated on its axis to point in any desired direction, provided orders have been written to this effect. This rotation may exceed the normal Course change limitations, and on the next turn the ship may begin to accelerate in its new direction if desired.

Movement orders for Grav Drive ships should be written in a similar way to those for Reaction Drives, with MD+ for a main drive acceleration, MD- for a deceleration, and RP or RS for turns to port or starboard. Thus an order to accelerate by 2 and turn 2 points (60 degrees) port would be MD+2, RP2; and order for deceleration of 6 with no Course change would be MD-6.

As with Reaction Drive ships, each Grav Drive Unit can produce a thrust of 2 and the sum of all the thrust of the drive units is the ship's Main Drive Rating. A ship may change its Velocity (accelerate or decelerate) by any amount up to its Main Drive Rating each turn. However, Grav Drive ships don't have thrusters—they use main drive power to turn. Thus, a Grav Drive ship may change its Course by up to half its Main Drive Rating each turn. Changes of Course and Velocity may be combined in one turn, but the total number of thrust points used in the changes must not exceed the drive rating available. Thus a ship with Main Drive Rating 4 could change Velocity by up to 4 MU, or could change Course by up to two points with two left over for Velocity change. It could not, however, change Course by three points (as this would exceed half the Main Drive Rating) and similarly could not apply two points to Course change and then accelerate by 4 (as this would total 6 points of thrust).

Interceptors

Interceptors are a much more versatile form of defensive weaponry than Anti-Fighter Batteries. While they are capable of shooting down Fighter Groups, Interceptors may also be used to lessen the effectiveness of Pulse Batteries. When used in this mode, they rapidly fire pulses at the incoming fire in an attempt to disrupt it and render the shot useless. For more detail see (Weapon Systems and Combat: Interceptors).

Jump Engines

These massive drives are used to create a jump point. It is necessary to travel through a jump point or a jumpgate in order to reach hyperspace. A Jump Engine basically rips a hole in real space and holds it open long enough for the vessel that opened it to go through and begin travel in hyperspace. These engines are quite large and require a massive amount of energy to power them and therefore may not be mounted on a smaller vessel. For more detail see (Movement: Drive Units).

Launch Bays

This is the area of the ship used to launch and recover smaller craft. The most typical use on a military vessel is for deploying Fighter Groups, though the launch bay is also used for shuttlecraft as well. This is a different location than the hanger bay where the smaller ships are stored. It is possible for a ship to have undamaged fighters and shuttles but have a damaged launch bay and not be able to get them out of the ship. For more detail see (Fighters: Launching and Recovering Fighters).

Minbari Beam Systems

Minbari ships are armed mainly with beam weapons. These weapons are of a significantly higher technology level than those used by the EA and Narn. A Minbari warship has a single Beam Power System in ship, as well as a number of Projectors spread around the ship in its different Fire Arcs. The system Can store up to twelve Energy Points at full capacity. This energy may be fired through any number of the ship's Projectors just as a normal beam weapon can. This beam causes one die of damage per energy point fired with a minus one penalty to each die for every full multiple of 6 in the range (sixes are rerolled ABS: and rerolls are not modified for range). The only limitation iS that any one Projector cannot handle more than six dice of energy in one turn. When the Recharge roll is made for a Minbari ship, instead of recharging at a normal rate, roll one die and double the result, thus recharging between two and twelve points per turn. A Minbari beam may also be fired as an anti-fighter weapon at any Fighter Group within 6 MU of the ship. In This mode, roll one die per Projector, with the number of damage points scored being the number of fighters destroyed. Firing in This mode does not require the expenditure of a stored Energy Point, and can be done by any functioning Projector even if the Beam Power System is discharged, damaged or knocked out—in the anti-fighter mode the beam Projectors are drawing the small amount of energy they need from the ship's general power grid. Each beam Projector may only ,fire at one Fighter Group per turn, and if it does so it may not be used again in another

Minbari Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons

The EPW is a special weapon system the Minbari,At is a short-range projector (capable of all-round fire) that can disable all the systems and electronics on another craft, putting it out of action. An EPW is powered from the ship's Beam Power System, and a single shot from the EPW consumes three stored Energy Points from the beam system. The EPW may only be fired once per turn, and then only if the required power is available. 

The EPW has a maximum range of only 6 MU, but any ship fired upon must immediately take a Threshold Check for each of the same wayas any other beam-equipped Ots onboard systems, with each system be ing knocked-out on a roll of 4 or above. The EPW may be fired at a Fighter Group, in which case each fighter rolls once — it is knocked out on a roll of 4 or above. 

Note that the EPW does not cause any actual physical damage to its target. Any system which failed the Threshold Check is still physically there but is considered unusable. These systems may be repaired just as a system knocked out by conventional means. The ship is still intact, and its crew is alive (though probably stunned for a short time), For next turn of the game the ship may not take any actions at all. On the turn following that, the ship may attempt to use any systems that survived the EPW attack as normal. Fighters knocked out by EPW attacks are effectively lost to the group, though players may wish to record the positions of the disabled fighters (floating dead in space) for subsequent recovery of their pilots.

Minbari Plasma Nets

More than any other weapon system, the Minbari plasma net exemplifies their mastery and superiority in technology. This system is much subtler than most weapons and has a very limited ability to do actual physical harm to a starship. The plasma net is a synthesis of plasma and gravitic technologies. 

Using the plasma net, the Minbari have the ability to push and or pull other ships. This weapon works much differently than any other weapon system. Instead of firing in the Combat Phase, it fires at a very specific point in the Movement Phase. After all ships have moved their Velocity along their Course and have applied all of their maneuvers, but before the Velocity and Course for next round has been determined (i.e. before the Direction Arrow is moved) the plasma net may fire. Firing This weapon does require the use of a Fire Control and that Fire Control may not be used again on the same turn. The plasma net is a gravitic device and therefore is fueled by the ship's Grav drives. When the system fires, any amount of unexpended main drive units may be applied to the shot. The target ship is moved either directly towards or away from the firing ship a number of MU equal to the amount of main drive units devoted to the fire. After the plasma net has moved the target ship, calculate its new Course and Velocity (a plasma net does not alter the Course or Velocity of another ship with a full Grav drive system). 

This system is based on the same technology used to create the Grav drives that run the Minbari ships. It can affect ships of most sizes, from a fighter group up to a dreadnought. The plasma net does not affect ships or space stations that are much larger than the vessel with the weapon.

Pulse Batteries

These are by far the most common weapons with which ships are outfitted. They are reliable and have a quick rate of fire, which makes them very dependable. The rules for these systems have already been detailed (Offensive Weapon Systems: Pulse Batteries).

Class 4 (Super Heavy) Pulse Battery: Maximum effective range is 40 MU; roll 4 dice for hits/damage at up to 10 MU, 3 dice up to 20 MU, 2 dice up to 30 MU and I die to 40 MU

Class 3 (Heavy) Pulse Battery: Maximum effective range is 30 MU; roll 3 dice for hits/damage at up to 10 MU, 2 dice up to 20 MU and 1 die to 30 MU. turn.

Class 2 (Medium) Pulse Battery: Maximum effective range is 20 MU; roll 2 dice for hits/damage at up to 10 MU, 1 die up to 20 MU.

Class 1 (Light) Pulse Battery: Maximum effective range is 10 MU; roll I die for 'B' ' hits/damage.

Reaction Drives

Races that have not yet achieved a tech nological mastery of Grav Drives use This form of propulsion. Instead of harnessing gravity, a Reaction Drive works off of thruster power. The vessel can maneuver by using a series of thrusters place along the entire ship to produce force. For more detail see (Movement: Thrusters).

Stealth Defenses and Jammers

Minbari ships carry very advanced jamming devices that can disrupt the targeting of other races' Fire Control systems, making it difficult for an opponent to get a positive firing solution on a Minbari ship. To reflect this in the rules, whenever a Minbari ship is fired upon by a ship of another younger race the Minbari player may roll a single die: if the result is a 4 or better, the attacking Fire Control cannot lock on due to the jamming, and no Weapons Fire is possible. If the roll is 3 or less, the fire is resolved as normal. This roll is made once for each Fire Control system that is attempting to control the attack, not for each individual weapon system firing. It is permissible for an attacking ship with two separate Fire Control systems to try and target a Minbari ship with both systems, in which case the Minbari player rolls once against each attempt. However, the attacking player must specify before the attack exactly which of his weapons are being directed by which Fire Control system. Thus if one locks on and the other fails, only the weapons directed by the successful Fire Control system may be used. A Fire Control system that is jammed is considered to have already fired and cannot be used again on the same turn.

The jamming system may also be used against fighter attacks. In this case one roll is made to attempt to jam the attack of an entire Fighter Group—it will either jam all or none. Minbari fighters themselves are capable of limited short-range jamming against enemy fighters, but no rolls are necessary in this case—the ability is factored into the numbers on the Dogfight Kill Table.

The Minbari jamming unit is depicted as a system icon on the ship, and may be lost due to damage in the same way as any other system. If this occurs, the ship may no longer attempt to jam enemy Fire Control systems.

Appendix: Ship-to-Ship Combat Components

The last few pages of this book contain the components needed to use The Babylon Project's ship-to-ship combat system—whether run during a roleplaying session or as a standalone battle. Included are Ship Control Sheets for eight classes of Earthforce warships (the Cotten, Hyperion, Olympus, Omega, and Nova-classes, along with the "Cotten," "Porcupine," and "Shepherd" transports); five types of alien ships (the Centauri Battle Cruiser and Light Cruiser, the Narn Battle Dreadnought and Heavy Cruiser, and the Minbari War Cruiser); and two typical civilian ships (a large freighter and an interstellar liner). Ship Order Sheets are also provided, along with a sheet of cut-out counters.

The Ship Control Sheets and Ship Order Sheets may be photocopied for use with the game—they come two to a page; photocopy as many as you might need and cut them apart before play. Photocopying a ship's Order Sheet onto the back of its Control sheet is convenient for keeping paperwork under control during the game—if you have access to a double-sided copier (or a local copy shop that will do that), you'll find it handy to do so. Either way, remember that you do need one Ship Order Sheet per ship in play.

The counters are printed in color on heavy stock. Remove them from the book by carefully cutting their page out—for best results, place a sheet of heavy cardboard under the counter sheet, then use a straight edge and a sharp art knife to trim the sheet out, cutting close to the spine of the book. Carefully trim the counters out, again using a sharp art knife for best results.