POINT OF NO RETURN
"S.O.S. This is the Prescott. Maximum Burn. Repeat. We are out of Fuel.
Velocity is Mark 5. Current Position 90.5-42-6.3. Bearing 34.7-78.9-69.2.
We've reached the point of no return. Someone come & get us..."
---Commander Randal F. Graves, Last Transmission---
INTRODUCTION
Spaceship combat using simple vector movement & inertia.
MAP
Use a Hex map with a star field background.
CHITS
Chits or counters are used to indicate the position of planets, ships, and
other objects on the map.
Players may want to use chits to indicate velocity, fuel, missiles, and damage.
SHIP RECORD SHEETS
Each ship should have its own record sheet with the following data:
Ship Name, Captains Name, Allegience, History.
Crew number, experience, and morale.
Hull Points, Cost, List of all systems.
Number of Fuel Tanks & Missiles carried.
Velocity, Systems damaged.
The records will be altered during play as the ship uses up fuel & missles,
and sustains damage.
TURN SEQUENCE
1-Navigation Phase
2-Launch Missles Phase
3-Gun Phase
4-Missle Strike Phase
5-Damage Control Phase
6-Resupply & Repair Phase
7-Docking Phase
8-Victory Phase
NOTES
All sides act in each phase.
All actions in a phase are considered simultaneous except for Navigation Phase.
1-NAVIGATION PHASE
Start with the fleet with the fewest ships.
Players take turns moving one ship at a time.
Move larger ships before moving smaller ships.
A ship can burn one fuel tank per engine per turn.
The Burn can be used for 3 things: Acceleration, Deceleration, or Turning.
(De)Acceleration changes velocity by one hex/turn per burn.
If used for Turning, the ships facing is turned 60 degrees per burn.
Turns can take place at any point during the move.
A ships velocity can be indicated by a marker chit.
A ship must always move(not including turns) a number of hexes equal to
its velocity.
Movement is always in the direction the ship is facing.
Ships at 0 velocity may change their facing for free.
Ships that leave the map are lost from the scenario forever.
2-LAUNCH MISSILES PHASE
A ship can launch one missile per launcher per turn.
Missiles have a range of up to two hexes.
Declare launches & Targets.
Only one target per computer system is allowed
Multiple missiles may have the same target. They all make seperate attack rolls.
3-GUN PHASE
Guns include beam & projectile weapons such as:
Lasers, Particle Accelerators, Rail Guns, & Plasma Generators.
Lasers can fire at ships or incoming missiles in the same hex (Range = 0).
Particle Accelerators, Plasma Generators, & Rail Guns cannot target missiles.
Particle Accelerators have a range of 1 Hex.
Rail Guns have a range of 2 Hexes.
Rail guns are forward facing, they can only fire into the 2 hexes in front of the ship.
Plasma Generators have a range of 0. They use up a fuel tank when they fire.
Only one target ship (or missile) per computer is allowed.
Multiple guns may have the same target. They all make seperate attack rolls.
All attack declarations for all guns are made before any resolutions are made.
GUN ATTACK TABLE
D6 RESULT
1 Miss
2 Reflected
3 Surface Damage
4 Noncritical Puncture
5-6 Target Hit- Use Damage Table (Target Missile destroyed).
MODIFIERS
+1 to roll if target stationary.
-1 to roll if target velocity is 3 or greater.
-2 to roll if target velocity is 5 or greater.
Plasma Generators get a +3 to rolls on this table.
Treat a ‘noncritical puncture' result as a ‘Target Hit' result against
converted or nonmilitary targets.
4-MISSLE STRIKE PHASE
Roll on the missile attack table for all missles not shot down by lasers.
MISSLE ATTACK TABLE
D10 RESULT
1-3 Miss
4-5 Near Miss
6 Launch Abort- Targeting computers Hesitate. Missile Did not launch.
7+ Target Hit- Use Damage Table.
NOTES
Smart missles have a +1 to rolls on the Missle Attack Table
+2 to roll if target stationary.
-1 to roll if target velocity is 3 or greater.
-2 to roll if target velocity is 5 or greater.
DAMAGE TABLE
D6 RESULT
1-3 1D6 Cargo bays Destroyed (or half as much Armor, rounded up).
4-5 1D10 Cargo bays Destroyed (or half as much Armor, rounded up).
6 Critical damage or 1 Superstructure point destroyed.
NOTES
Armor is destroyed before cargo bays.
Empty cargo bays are destroyed before others.
Cargo bays containing missiles are destroyed before those containing fuel tanks.
If no Cargo Bays are left, roll on the critical damage table.
(Cargo Bays will of course be carrying cargo on transport ships.)
(On other nonmilitary vessels replace the cargo bay results with scilabs,
crew quaters, luxury pods, or whatever is most common).
Only spacestations & ground installations have Superstructure points.
1 Superstructure point is equivalent to 100 Cargo bays or Hull points.
If a Nuclear missile hits roll 1D10 times on the Damage Table.
If a Railgun hits roll 2 times on the Damage Table.
CRITICAL DAMAGE TABLE
D10 RESULT
1 Engine Damaged
2 Computer Damaged
3 Living Quaters Damaged- Automatically Kills crew or passengers.
4 Launcher Damaged
5 Sensor Suite Damaged (-1 to Attack rolls).
6 Nonessential System Damaged- Lifeboat, SciLab.
7 Gun Damaged- Laser, Particle Accelerator, Rail Gun, Plasma Generator.
8 Power Grid Damaged- Ship can take no actions until this system repaired.
9 Directional Thrusters Damaged- Ship cannot turn.
10 Ship destroyed in a spectacular explosion.
NOTES
Reroll if target system has already been damaged.
Damaged systems do not function.
5-DAMAGE CONTROL PHASE
If a ship did not burn or attack this turn a crew may attempt to repair one damaged
engine, computer, launcher, lifeboat, laser, sensor suite, or scilab.
DAMAGE CONTROL TABLE
D6 RESULT
1-2 Total Loss. The system must be replaced at a port with shipbuilding facilities (Repay MC cost)
3 Extensive Damage. System can only be fixed at port.
4 Too soon to tell. Try again next turn.
5 System requires two turns to fix.
6 Minor Damage. System repaired.
6-RESUPPLY & REPAIR PHASE
Ships docked at a station may replinish their supplies of fuel & missiles in this phase.
Pay in megacredits for these items from the facilities supply surplus.
They may also make repairs at this time if repair crews are available.
Roll on Damage Control table to determine if the damage is a total loss.
Recalculate Supply totals of Repair facilities.
Ships docked with each other may also trade cargos & crews in this phase
REPAIR FACILITIES
Space stations, bases, and colonies have the following stats:
Docking Bays- The number of ships that may dock with the base at one time.
Repair Crews- The number of damaged systems that can be replaced or repaired per turn.
Superstructure Points- Units of Damage. Each point lost is a whole
section of the structure destroyed.
Supply Surplus- Megacredits available that can be spent on replacing
Fuel tanks, Missles, Crews, and Systems.
Resupply- Megacredits generated or recieved per turn.
Defenses- Numbers of guns, missles, launchers, computers, and sensors.
Laserarcs- Number of lasers that can be used against targets in any one 60 degree arc.
Ground targets can only attack or be attacked from 3 arcs (The planet shields their other arcs).
7-DOCKING PHASE
Ships may automatically dock with satelites, space stations, and friendly ships in the same
hex, only if both vessels are at the same velocity and facing.
Space stations and satelites face all directions.
Undocking also occurs in this phase.
Enemy ships with no ability to move or fight may also be boarded
and will automatically surrender.
Disabled ships may be towed at no detriment to the tower.
A ship may make up to 2 docking connections, one per airlock it has.
If two or more ships are docked together only 1 of them may use their weapons.
Ships docked to space stations may not fire their weapons.
8-VICTORY PHASE
Each scenario will specify victory conditions.
LIFEBOATS
These are launched in Navigation Phase.
They can carry 1 crew to safety.
If hit they are automatically destroyed.
They carry no weapons.
They have one small engine and enough fuel for 3 burns.
SCENARIOS
Use the following rules for designing ships
DESIGNING & BUILDING SHIPS
ITEM HULL COST CARGO NOTES
Hull --- 1 --- 1 per other system required
Living Quaters 1 2 --- Any damage kills crew in that module
Crew --- 4 --- Located in living quaters
Power Grid --- 2 --- Only 1 per ship required
Computer 1 3 --- Only 1 target per computer
Engine 1 3 --- 1 Burn per turn
Directional Thrusters --- 2 --- Only 1 per ship required
Airlock 1 1 --- Allows 1 Docking connection
Cargo Bay 1 --- --- Holds Missiles & Fuel Tanks
Fuel Tank --- 1 1 Stored in cargo
Sensor Suite 1 3 --- A ship cannot target without sensors
Launcher 1 3 --- Fires 1 Missile per turn
Missile --- 1 1 Stored in cargo
Smart Missile --- 2 1 Stored in cargo, do not require a computer for targeting
Nuclear Missile --- 10 1 Smart Missile + Extra Damage
Laser 1 3 --- Attack 1 target per turn, unlimited ammo; Range=0
Particle Accelerator 2 7 --- (PA)Attack 1 target per turn, unlimited ammo; Range=1
Rail Gun 3 10 --- (RG)Attack 1 target per turn, unlimited ammo; Range=2
Plasma Generator 1 3 --- (PG)Attack 1 target per turn, Range=0
Lifeboat 1 4 --- Evacuates 1 crew.
Armor 1 1 --- Counts as 2 Cargo bays on Damage Table
Scilab 1 3 --- These are always destroyed before computers or sensors.
Luxury Pod 1 2 --- These are always destroyed before crew quaters.
NOTES
Cost is in monetary units called Megacredits.
The Hull column indicates how many Hull spaces the system occupies.
A ship must have at least 1 hull point per system.
Hull points not occupied by systems are automatically considered to be cargo spaces.
The Cargo column indicates how many cargo bays the material occupies.
All ships must have (The Basic System Package):
1 crew quaters, 1 computer, 1 engine, 1 sensor suite, 1 power grid, 1 directional thrusters, 1 airlock.
Every ship also needs several cargo bays for holding fuel tanks.
Building extra basic systems gives the added advantage that if a system is damaged there is a backup.
Ships of hull size 100-199 must burn 2 fuel tanks to (de)accelerate (or turn) once.
Ships of hull size 200-299 must burn 3 fuel tanks to (de)accelerate (or turn) once.
Large warships are known as dreadnaughts.
Ships cannot be built or upgraded during battles.
SCENARIO: THE TYCHO IMPERATIVE
Background- Political prisoners from a detention center on the moon have gained control of
Tycho Base, a European Commonwealth mining colony and have demanded sovereignty.
Negotiations lasting several months have failed.
The New Tycho leadership has gained support from various African & South American Nations.
War ships from several commonwealth countries have been gathering at the L5 colony.
The Europeans are split on the decision whether to attack.
Either side will quikly give up if the war starts going against them.
Use the following victory conditions:
ACTION VICTORY POINTS NOTES
Destroy enemy Warship 1 -
Damage colony 2 Per 1 Superstructure point
Any Colony 50% damaged Automatic Win
One side will surrender if the other leads by 4+ Victory points or destroys all their Warships.
SETUP: THE TYCHO IMPERATIVE
Map: The Moon should be in the middle. Tycho may be attacked from the 3 bottom hex arcs.
L4 & L5 should be at opposite ends of the Map.
Earth is not on the map. New Tycho will not directly attack Earth.
Ships start at their colonies.
All ships automatically have: 1 crew, 1 launcher, & The Basic System package.
All remaining Hull spaces are empty cargo bays that may be loaded with a mix of
missiles and/or fuel tanks during setup using the spacestation starting supplies.
NEW TYCHO FORCES
NAME TYPE HULL SYSTEMS
Afrikanner African Warship 50 3 Launchers, 2 Computers, 1 PAgun
Zulu African Warship 40 2 Launchers, 10 Armor
Alkatraz Converted Freighter 30 5 Plasma Generators, 2 Engines
Freedom Converted Tanker 40 25 Cargo Bays only carry Fuel tanks
Elba Converted Passenger Ship 30 10 Crew Quaters, 3 Lifeboats, 2 Luxury pods
Justice Converted Rescue Ship 20 2 Engines, 3 Crew Quaters, 1 Lifeboat, 2 Airlocks
Porto Captured Warship 30 2 Lasers, 5 Armor
Tresspass Converted Yacht 20 2 Engines, 2 Luxury pods
Nostros Converted Science Vessel 20 2 Computers, 2 Sensors, 3 Scilabs
El Grande South American Warship 40 2 Launchers, 2 Engines, 5 Armor, 1RailGun
Brazil South American Warship 20 2 Launchers, 2 Lasers, 2 Computers
EUROPEAN COMMONWEALTH FORCES
The Europeans have to defend L4 and L5
NAME TYPE HULL NOTES
Saxon Warship 50 10 Armor, 4 Lasers, 2 computers, 2 Engines
Milan Warship 40 4 Launchers, 10 Smart Missles
Spaniard Warship 40 10 Armor, 3 PAGuns, 2 Crew Quaters, 2 Cews
Napoleon Warship 60 10 Armor, 3 Engines, 2 Railguns
Joan of Arc Warship 60 20 Armor, 2 Lasers, 2 computers, 2 Engines, PGGun
Berlinner Warship 80 4 Launchers, 4 Computers, 30 Armor, 4 Lasers, Railgun
SPACE STATIONS NEW TYCHO L4 L5 NOTES
Docking Bays 6 4 4 -
Repair Crews 10 10 10 -
Launchers 4 6 6 -
Laserarcs 6 5 5 -
Computers 8 10 10 -
Superstructure Points 14 6 6 -
Starting Supplies 200 100 100 Missiles, Fuel tanks
Resupply Rate 6 10 10 Per turn
Shipbuilding Facilities No No No For a longer game allow ship construction