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A Sky Full of Ships#2!
A Sky Full of Ships#2!
A Sky Full of Ships#2!
A Sky
Full of Ships
A simple (but not too simple) set of starship combat rules, which allows huge fleets
to engage each other in epic battle (and finish in a reasonable amount of time)
GAME DESIGN
Dan Abbott
DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
Mike Hoyt, Stephen Thomson, Alex Harkness
ILLUSTRATIONS
CGI GRAPHICS COVER
& STORYLINE
Stephen Thomson Dan Abbott
Matthew Baird
PLAYTESTING
A.J. Harkness, William Ellis, Adam Baird, Evan Tozer, Peter Mokrycke
Robinder Dhaliwal, Kris Harbury, Alex Harkness, Stephen Thomson, Mike Hoyt
SPECIAL THANKS
John Leahy, Andrew Urbanski, Bill Hamilton, Andrea Tosino, João Frade
and all the great guys at the ASFoS Yahoo Group
And thanks to everyone who's suggestions helped to make these a better set of rules
These are also generic rules; there is no specific Playing the Game
background or ship designs forced upon the user.
The generic nature of the rules will allow you to play You'll need a flat playing surface of at least
in whatever setting you prefer, using any starship 36 inches square (and preferably larger). A simple
miniatures at all from any background. Invent as tabletop will suffice, and covering it with a black
much or as little of your own universe, or borrow cloth or 'star field' covering will make the game seem
from the sci-fi background of your choice. These much more visually attractive.
rules will work equally well for either.
Beka Eslar allowed her gaze to wander about the cramped and cluttered confines of her duty station.
Observation outpost 234, one of the many unsung guardians for the Colm Star System, was without doubt the
most boring assignment she'd ever drawn, and it would be a minor miracle if she finished her tour of duty
here with her sanity intact.
"I'm gonna go nuts" Beka remarked aloud. Her voice echoed dully off the
bulkheads. "See, I'm already half way there. I'm talking to myself".
Suddenly, a series of warning lights lit up her sensor boards. Beka felt
chilled as she applied herself to her scanner controls and tried to refine
the data that was pouring into her computers from the system's sensor net.
"Status report!" The voice of the outpost commander boomed over the
intercom. He sounded calm, but then he was an old combat veteran.
Her eyes were fixed on the various icons that were appearing on her consoles. "Commander, we have
multiple contacts with an estimated 100 plus warships. They are a mix of capital ships, cruisers and light
escorts - I think there are also several troop transports following the warships". Beka spoke as calmly as she
could manage into her bridge pickup. It looked like the war had finally come to the Colm system after all.
Weapons Box
2 – weak
3 – average
4 – strong
5 – armoured
(or possibly even higher)
Electronic Defences
Usually a ship's defences are not limited to
Primary Batteries - The strength of a ship's main armour. Many ships enhance their defensive strength
long range weapons, is split into four 90 degree arcs through electronic means, by adding electromagnetic
of fire, forward, left, right and rear. Each arc can screens or force shields. Their strengths can range
have a different strength, depending on what from 0 (none) to 4 (maximum). These electronic
weapons are represented in that arc of fire. Forward defences do not exist independently, they are added
arc is commonly the most powerful although no to the ship's hull strength. The sum of a ship's natural
single arc normally has all of the Primary Battery hull strength and its electronic defences is called its
power. Defence Factor.
Secondary Batteries - These smaller, but possibly
more numerous, rapid firing short range batteries
have a 360 degree arc of fire, but a very short
maximum range. Engines
This example has no special weapons (special To move, all ships need a drive of some sort.
weapons are found in the optional rules section). The power of this drive, its acceleration and turning
capability, is represented by the Engine Rating. This
In this example the Primary Batteries have a rating ranges from 0 to 5 and this number determines
strength of 8 in the forward arc, 4 in the left how much a ship can turn, speed up, or slow down
& right arcs and 2 in the rear arc, a strength during each turn.
of 6 Secondaries and no Specials.
Hull Boxes
Defence Factor (DF) The next row is the hull boxes. They
represent the size of the ship. Damage to the hull is
DF represents the ship's total hull strength. taken in a similar fashion to weapons, marking off
The number inside the brackets represents the ship's the leftmost box and moving right. When all the hull
natural hull strength before being strengthened by boxes have been marked off, the ship is destroyed.
electronic defences. This example shows an average
hull (3) strengthened by one point of electronic
defence screens for a total defence factor of 4. The Critical Hits
natural strength is shown in case the screens are lost.
The third row is the Critical Hits, used only
with the optional rules.
Engine Rating
The last number, inside the icon in the lower
right of the display, is the engine's power.
Movement
Movement is simultaneous in A Sky Full of Each turn you keep track of your ship's current speed,
Ships. All distances are given in inches, however and may increase or decrease it by a maximum of
you may choose to use whatever measurement unit your ship's engine rating. Speed carries over from
you believe best suits your style of play or the size of turn to turn.
your playing area. For instance, using centimetres
may be more appropriate for smaller tables. Or, if
you are having trouble finding rulers marked in For example: if you had an engine power of
inches, simply use double the measurement in 2, and moved 6 inches last turn, you could
centimetres (ie 2 cm instead of 1 in) instead. speed up by a maximum of 2 this turn, and
move 8 inches, or slow down and move 4, or
A good starting speed for a game is 6 inches/turn. anything in between. Ships may not have
negative movement - this means they cannot
Engine Power move backwards.
Plotting
At the beginning of each turn you record
(plot) the movement of each of your ships. This can For example: Turn 1, speed up by 1 and
be as simple as writing your intended movement on a move forward 6. Turn 2, move 3 - turn right
piece of paper (the back of the ship display for – move 3. Turn 3, move forward without any
example), or you can use a more formal approach changes to speed or direction.
such as using the Plotting Chart (to the right).
Admiral Rom looked pointedly at his main tactical imager, the glowing lights from
its holographic deeps reflected eerily off his face. The Marz system was the target
of his attention, a binary star system with two yellow stars and a dozen planets,
one of which was suitable for habitation with a minimum of terra-forming work.
His lips twisted into a deepening frown. Once Marz had belonged to his people,
they had made a promising start at colonizing it and developing it into a viable
member of their interstellar community.
That was before the enemy had discovered the Marz system, ejected the original colonists and replaced them with
their own. Marz had been for a hundred years a jewel in that enemy's crown.
A smile flickered onto Admiral Rom's face, a jewel that he was about to pry loose.
Once movement plots have been completed Sometime ships travel a bit too fast and find they
for all ships (or squadrons), the ships are moved. It can't turn quickly enough to stay on the gaming table.
doesn't matter which player moves first or what order You can resolve this in one of two ways: 1) ships
the ships are moved since all ships must move that leave the table are gone, or 2) use a 'floating'
exactly according to their recorded plots. playing area. Since one area of space is the same as
another, whenever the action drifts towards one table
edge, and ships end up off table, simply move
everything the same number of inches back towards
the center of the table, keeping the same relative
locations and facing.
Turns
In the above example the ship model would
be moved 4 inches, make a 45 degree turn to As well as requiring power from the engines, turns
the right and finish by moving the final 4 also occur at a specific point in your movement. If
inches. The ship's current speed would be 8 you are making only 1 turn it occurs at the halfway
inches per turn. point. For 2 turns, the 1st is at the beginning of
movement and the 2nd at the halfway point. For 3
turns, the 1st is at the beginning, 2nd at the 1/3 point
and the 3rd at the 2/3 point (etc).
"CAPTAIN!" Both the Captain and the First Officer whirled to look at the
scan officer, who had just cried out. "Yes?" he responded with as much
unconcern as he could muster. Something felt wrong.
"One ship has broken away from the enemy convoy, it is on an intercept
course with us!" "Identify!" The Captain snapped urgently.
"Not if that ship is an auxiliary cruiser, Number One." A pause. "Scan, is the convoy scattering?"
"Yes sir, and at speed. Standard shot-gun scatter pattern."
The Captain watched with a mildly surprising dispassion as the approaching ship unsheathed hidden weaponry and
sensors. Warning alarms on the bridge screamed as they detected active targeting locks.
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Line of Sight
In order to fire at a target, a starship must be
able to 'see' it, which means it must be able to trace a
line of sight to that target. This means that an
imaginary line drawn from the firing ship to the
target must not be blocked by any intervening object.
However, regardless of the actual size of the
spaceship models, all ships in ASFoS are assumed to
In this example the Primary Batteries might be tiny compared with the scale of the battle.
have a strength of 8 in the forward arc, 4 in Therefore, all measurements should be done from the
the left & right arcs and 2 in the rear arc. exact center of the firing ship, (for example, the peg
During a game, you may have no eligible holding the ship model) to the exact center of the
targets in the forward arc, one enemy ship in target. This scale difference also means ship models
the left arc, and one in the rear arc. Since do not block line of sight, ships cannot hide behind
you can't use the strongest arc (no targets), each other.
you'd probably choose the next strongest and
fire into the left arc with a strength of 4.
11
"--Ready all primary weapons for firing!" The tactical officer's voice echoed
throughout the hushed stillness of the combat bridge.
Unconsciously Captain Wyn braced himself in his command chair against the
shock of firing, even though here snug in the innards of his ship they would feel
nothing. A dozen massively powerful rail guns were being laid onto target on the
enemy space station, the resultant bombardment of ballistic metal would rip the heavily protected station apart and
open the way for the conquest of this star system.
12
Dice Roll 1:3 1:2 1:1 3:2 2:1 3:1 4:1 5:1 6:1
0 — — — — — — — — —
1 — — — — — 1 1 1 2
2 — — — — 1 1 1 2 2
3 — — — 1 1 1 2 2 3
4 — — 1 1 1 2 2 3 3
5 — 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4
6 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4
Modifiers
Target is Range
Fast Ship -1 Short 0 – 12" 0
Slow Ship +1 Medium 12 – 24" -1
Stationary Ship +2 Long 24 – 36" -2
Modifiers are added to or subtracted from the dice rolls of Primary weapons fire only.
Secondary Batteries are not modified.
Rolls greater than 6 are treated as 6, rolls less than 0 are treated as 0 (rolling a '0'
actually means you missed). Fast ships are any ships moving 12" or greater for the
current turn. Slow ships are any ships moving 4 inches or less for the current turn.
Stationary ships are not moving.
13
Escorts require several other small changes in the When fired upon, the section in arc of the enemy is
rules that will also be found in the relevant sections. the only one that can be damaged. Once a section is
Firing at Escorts always receives a -1 to Primary completely destroyed, the Titan can no longer be
Battery and Special Weapons fire due to their small damaged except in other undamaged sections.
size. During construction, Escorts always start with a Critical Hits only affect the damaged section and
basic hull strength of 2 (weak) instead of 3 and do not only the rear section can receive the engine critical
get the bonus for this decrease. The break points (see hit, other sections re-roll that critical.
Morale rules) of Escorts are calculated per squadron
instead of per ship. During construction and regardless of the type, all
Titans begin with a basic hull strength of 4 (strong)
and do not have to pay for this strengthening. Titan
hulls may not be weakened below 3 (average)
Titans strength. Any ship firing at them receives a +1 to
Primary Battery and Special Weapons fire for each
Titan is a very general term applied to a 25 mass of the Titan. For example, a ship firing at a
great range of large ships. Any ship of 25 mass or 25 mass Titan receives a +1, at a 50 mass it receives a
greater is considered a Titan. +2, etc. The break point (see Morale rules) of a Titan
is calculated on the total mass as normal.
14
SCS Notation
Instead of using the full graphic ship strengths. Remember to keep the columns straight so
display, a player may wish to use a simpler way of it will be easy to mark off an entire weapons column
recording a ship's systems and capabilities. SCS whenever the ship takes weapon damage.
Notation does this by using only text to show all the
information contained in the standard ASFoS ship For example: We will recreate the Ship Display for
display. The format is: the Lion Class heavy cruiser "Bob" using SCS
Notation.
ID: name Mass DF: df ( ) Engine: power
Weapons ID: Bob 6 DF: 4(3) Engine: 2
Frwd: Weapons
Left: Frwd: 4 3 3 2 1 1
Right: Left: 3 3 2 2 1 1
Rear: Right: 3 3 2 2 1 1
Secd: Rear: 0 0 0 0 0 0
Special: Secd: 4 3 3 2 1 1
Hull: Special: 1 1 1 1 0 0
Crits: Br FC R E ED Mn Hull: H * H H H *
Misc: Crits: Br FC R E ED Mn
Misc: C TL:4 Pts:13
You will need as many weapon columns as the ship
has mass. These will be your pre-calculated damaged *=crew unit C=chaff
15
16
Point Values
The total of these calculations is the Total Ship Cost.
The basic cost of any ship (or Escort Do not round off fractions until the very end. If Tech
squadron) begins with the number of its Hull Boxes. Levels are used see page 17 for additional costs.
For example, the basic cost of a mass 12 battleship
(12 Hull Boxes) could be as low as 12 points. For example: to design a small battleship you
might choose to make it 10 mass, with 10
points for power requirements making its
Power Requirements Basic Cost 20 points. You may decide to
weaken the hull for -6 points (30% of 20) and
Old Ship Design Pointing System - It became to make up for this you might add 2 screens
increasingly obvious after a good deal of play, that for +4 points (20% of 20) giving the ship a
some designs were just better than others. This is due DF of 4. You might finish the design by
to the ability of some ships to mass their fire, while adding 2 Marine units for +2 points. The
others - remaining true to their origins, are forced to final cost would be 20-6+4+2 or 20 points.
spread their fire arcs out. A simple change is all
that's needed to bring these designs back into balance. The calculations above are used to create all
warships, ships that use 100% of their mass for
The Basic Cost is the mass of the ship combat purposes. To create civilian or mixed ships,
plus power requirements use the following procedure: Decide how much of
the ship's mass will be used for combat purposes and
Power Requirements - this depends on how a ship's calculate its total cost using the method outlined
weapons are concentrated and represents how much above. Next, calculate its non-combat portion of the
energy is required to power all the weapons in the ship's mass. The basic cost for non-combat mass is
ship's most powerful arc. It costs an additional 2 pts equal to half the normal cost. The rest of the
for each mass used for primary power or specials in calculations are performed in the normal manner.
the most powerful weapon arc (the other arcs are not Add the combat and non-combat costs together to get
calculated). To this add 1 pt for each mass used for the Total Ship Cost.
secondaries or fighters.
17
With twenty Battlecruisers at his disposal as well as a large screen of lighter warships and
troop transports, the enemy's ability to hold the contested system was soon going to be put
to the final test. The Admiral turned to his flag captain and chief-of-staff, both snapped to
attention.
"Order the Taskgroups into final formations, we will commence the attack on the system
defence squadron and space installations presently."
"Captain, open a channel to the fleet I wish to address them before we go into action." "As
you wish, Admiral."
"Soldiers of the Fleet! We are about to embark on a dangerous mission, But know this, we are going to do more
than win a tactical victory here, we are going to right a historic injustice - we are taking back what is rightfully
ours." The Admiral paused to let his words sink in. "I have every confidence that all of you will give me your best,
the eyes of our people are on us, the weight of history is behind us, the future and whatever it holds is before us.
Good luck and good hunting to all of you."
The Admiral then turned to the tactical imager again, and signalled to his subordinates with an off hand gesture,
"Commence the attack."
18
The battered cruiser Lorik pulled up alongside the secret asteroid repair base. The weary officers and ratings
heaved a sigh of relief, that they had finally made it to safety. They would be out of the heavy fighting for at least a
little while, as repairs were affected to their ship.
"I for one am glad to see port, even if it is only a dull repair station" one of the bridge officers remarked.
The Lorik needed it, the last few battles and actions had been as non-stop as they had been gruelling. The wear and
tear on the ship's fabric was matched by heavy losses in crew
19
20
Agile +1
per engine rating +1
escort/titan* - combat modifier
Agile -1
per engine rating -1
escort/titan + combat modifier
warrior race* +1
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Special weapons fire after Primaries and always fire When using Tech Levels, the Attack Factor of each
in the forward arc, possibly giving a ship a third 'shot' Mass Driver is equal to triple the firing ship's TL.
per turn. Unless stated otherwise, special weapons
are treated like primaries.
Particle Cannon (PC)
For example: a ship is targeted by an enemy A Particle Cannon is a powerful but short-
ship at long range, and at the same time it is ranged weapon that fires a large concentrated beam
attacked by another enemy ship at 6 inches. of charged particles at near relativistic speeds. Range
First, all three ships fire their Primary is limited by the difficulty in focusing the beam
Batteries for the appropriate arc, and because of the tendency of the charged particles to
damage is recorded. Then the ships fire repel one another and thus dissipating the beam.
Specials, if they have any in arc and they Because of this, damage potential drops off quickly
weren't lost during primary fire, and damage with range.
is recorded. Then the two ships within 6
inches fire their Secondaries (using new A ship with Particle Cannon(s) may fire them once
damaged strengths) at each other and record per turn, at targets in the forward arc. Each Particle
damage. Cannon has an attack factor of 8. When firing
multiple Particle Cannons from the same ship add
their AFs together to get a total attack factor, which is
Mass Driver (MD) then used against the target ship. All modifiers for
primary fire are used normally except range. Particle
A Spinal-mounted Mass Driver, also known Cannons do not use the range modifiers, instead there
as a Railgun or Gauss Gun, is a massive weapon is a column shift on the combat chart, making the
system that functions by using electromagnetic Particle Cannon weaker with range. If firing at
grapples to accelerate solid projectiles to high speeds medium range the Particle Cannon shifts 2 columns
and fire them along the axis of the ship. Although to the left on the combat chart, and at long range it
Mass Drivers become less accurate with range and shifts 4 columns.
have difficulty hitting agile targets, they are powerful
weapons due to the tremendous amounts of damage For example: firing 2 Particle Cannons with
they can inflict, which does not decrease with a total AF of 16, at a ship with a DF of 5,
distance. would normally result in a 3 to 1 attack ratio
on the combat chart. In this case however, if
Each Mass Driver may fire once per turn, at targets in the target was 18" away (medium range), the
the forward arc. Roll one d6 for each Mass Driver attack ratio would decrease by two columns
firing from a single ship, the basic chance of hitting is and become a 3 to 2 attack instead.
'4' or higher on the die. All normal modifiers for
Primary fire apply for this 'to hit' number. When using Tech Levels, the Attack Factor of each
Particle Cannon is double the firing ship's TL.
24
25
Energy Torpedo (ET) When using Tech Levels, the Attack Factor of each
Disruptor is equal to double the firing ship's TL.
An Energy Torpedo is a self contained burst
of high-power energy fired directly at the target ship.
Although slightly more accurate than Mass Drivers, Plasma Accelerator (PA)
due to a limited amount of self-guidance, Energy
Torpedoes are also slightly less powerful. As with A Plasma Accelerator depends on a burst of
Mass Drivers, Energy Torpedo damage does not confined high-energy hydrogen plasma to deliver
decrease with range. damage, either in a stream or as a self-contained ball.
Due to the physical nature of this plasma, the Plasma
Each Energy Torpedo may fire once per turn, at Accelerator is a very short-ranged weapon; its
targets in the forward arc. Roll 1d6 for each one damage potential drops off quickly. However, at
firing; the basic chance of hitting is 3 or higher on the close range, its power is far greater than that of
die. All normal modifiers for Primary Battery fire normal beam weapons.
are applied to this number.
A ship with Plasma Accelerators may fire them once
For example: firing at a slow ship at 32 inch per turn, at targets in the forward arc. Each Plasma
range would require a 4, 5 or 6 on the die (ie Accelerator has a basic Attack Factor of 4; however,
4 is rolled: +1 for Slow, -2 for range, total = the final AF depends upon the range to the target. As
3, a hit). An Energy Torpedo hits with an mentioned, Plasma Accelerators are very powerful
Attack Factor of 8. If multiple Energy but very short-ranged weapons. The short range is
Torpedoes from the same ship hit, add their represented by using six inch range bands instead of
Attack Factors together for a total AF. Roll the normal twelve inch bands. Its power is
for damage on the Combat Chart without represented by a basic Attack Factor tripled at close
modifiers (they've already been counted). range (0-6 inches), doubled at medium range (6-12
inches), and normal at long range (12-18 inches). All
When using Tech Levels, the Attack Factor of each combat modifiers (including range modifiers) are
Energy Torpedo is double the firing ship's TL. used. When firing multiple Plasma Accelerators
from the same ship, add their Attack Factors together
to get a total AF.
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Fighters are considered Other Ordinance. When When defending against multiple Fighter Flights,
attacked, Fighter Flights are reduced to damaged treat them as if they were a single target. The
status by the first hit and are destroyed by a second defending player decides which Fighter Flights suffer
hit. Each damaged Fighter Flight represents three damage (spreading out the damage has the advantage
fighters with an AF of 2 but with its DF of 3 of decreasing the ability of the survivors to
unchanged. concentrate). Fighters may only be attacked by
Secondary Batteries (and other Fighters) and only
A ship may launch and/or recover a number of one die (hull) is rolled for damage. Allied ships
Fighter Flights equal to one third of its (undestroyed) within Secondary range of the targeted ship may also
Fighter Bays per turn, rounded to the nearest whole attempt to shoot down fighters if not targeted
number (minimum 1). A ship may not launch or themselves.
recover fighters during a turn that it changes speed or
direction. When there are several Fighter vs Fighter combats
near each other, combine their factors and roll one
If the Hull Box containing a Fighter Bay is destroyed result as if it were a single large dogfight.
with the Fighters still inside, the Fighters are also Remember, when calculating the odds in dogfights,
destroyed; otherwise, the number of Fighter Flights calculate the total Attack Factor vs the defender's
the ship can carry merely decreases by one. Defence Factor (not numbers of Fighters vs numbers
of Fighters).
29
30
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"I don't see why we have to play nursemaid to a lousy fuel carrier!" Debin Hurn snapped in irritation. As tactical
officer of the Battlecruiser Lorne, he would much prefer to be in the frontlines, rather than assigned to some
secondary and dull routine logistical mission. His companion on the bridge watch, the first officer Davil, shook his
head in resigned acceptance of Hurn's fit of temper.
"Keep it down, Hurn" he remarked reproachfully. He jerked his head around to indicate that the rest of the bridge
staff was listening to them, although they were working rather hard at the moment trying to look industrious and
focused at their work stations.
Both men failed to notice the sound of footfalls coming closer as they talked near one of the ships computer panels.
They looked up to find their captain looking coolly down at them from the bridge walkway.
32
The commander of the battle cruiser squadron stared blankly for a moment at the order being relayed to him over
his comm. screen. The battle line was in desperate straits and needed precious minutes to withdraw and regroup;
minutes the victorious enemy was not going to give them. Not unless
something drastic was done. In this case the Admiral had decided to sacrifice
his battle cruisers to save the capital ships.
"How close do you want to take us?" queried one of the commander's staff.
"Close enough, that I can throw grappling hooks over and board the enemy
ships!" the commander snapped.
He watched as his six battle cruisers came about, turning their bows towards their pursuing enemy. It was an
impressive sight, but the commander knew he was sending his ships and more importantly their crews to their
deaths. Few of his ships would even reach the enemy battle line.
33
For example: a 3 mass Light Cruiser could Decide how you want X-ray Lasers to be delivered,
have one mass reserved for Primary Missile or ET (or both). For Missiles, they move just
Batteries, one for Secondary Batteries, and like regular missiles, do not need to hit anything, and
one used for Turrets. This would provide a explode during the Special Weapons combat
Beam Battery strength of 2 in left, forward, subphase. Measure the range from the Missile
and right arcs which would fire when Special counter to see which targets are hit by the lasers. For
Weapons fired. When using Super Weapons, ET, place a marker where you want it to explode
fractions of mass may be used. In this during the Special Weapons combat subphase and
example, the Light Cruiser could have 2 1/2 roll to see if you 'hit'. If you do, measure the range
mass in Turrets, giving it a Beam Battery from the counter to see which targets are hit by the
strength of 5 in any of the three arcs, but only lasers, if not remove the counter (it failed).
1/2 a mass would be left for Secondary
Battery power. When using Tech Levels, the Attack Factor of each
X-ray Laser is equal to half the firing ship's TL.
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35
They disrupt enemy targeting and are Stealth Technology has the effect of
deployed as an expendable defensive doubling the normal Running Silent
counter measure. Chaff/Decoys can modifier (ie -6). This makes a ship
be anything from tin-foil strips, sand, impossible to scan by most enemy
or decoys to electromagnetic pulses. ships unless they have a scanning
A Chaff/Decoy marker is placed next to the ship and bonus. Ships with Stealth Technology always begin
the ship is treated for the purposes of firing as if it the game Running Silent. During the Electronic
were in the center of a one inch radius dust cloud. Warfare sub-phase, a ship may declare that it is
Enemy ships now receive the -3/inch modifier for deactivating its Stealth Technology. A ship may only
scanning and/or firing. However, it may also lose reactivate its Stealth when it intends to leave the
lock-on with all enemy ships and may need to re- battle. Stealth Technology incurs a 50% increase to
acquire its own lock-on (also with the -3 modifier) the basic cost of a ship.
with no help from the rest of the fleet. Chaff/Decoys
only lasts one turn and a ship may fire it only once
per game.
"Ebon Group, Aqua Group, Saffron Group form up on me." The Wing
Commander's voice crackled over the comm. system. One hundred
and thirty-seven space fighters of various types reformed into an
attack formation.
Seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness as the three groups raced towards the enemy battle line, who seemed
oblivious to the threat. They would soon find out. "All groups! Mark!"
These three single words sent the forty two interceptors of Ebon Group blazing in on full after-burners, straight into
the now approaching enemy fighter screen. A furious dog-fight erupted as the powerful fighters twisted and turned
seeking killing hits on their opponents. The slower but deadly fighterbombers of the Aqua and Saffron Groups
dodged the firefight and struck towards the cruisers that lay beyond.
36
Crew Quality represents the crew's training For example: a Battleship of 12 mass and a
and professionalism, morale, and willingness to fight. Ship Break Point of 60% would have a break
All ships and escort squadrons begin with an average point of 7.2 Hull Boxes (12 x 60%) rounded
Crew Quality (2), although this can be modified. UP to 8. The eighth hull box from the left
Crew Quality ratings are: would be marked somehow (possibly with a
small star in the corner). When this eighth
1 - poor 2 - average 3 - elite Hull Box is lost, the Battleship would have to
disengage from combat.
This quality is used during boarding combat and is
added to the Command Quality to get the Ship A ship may also be forced to break off contact with
Morale. To increase/decrease this rating by one the enemy because of the loss of all its weapons. If a
level, a modifier of +15% / -15% is applied to the ship loses all its Weapon Boxes before reaching its
Basic Cost of the ship. Break Point, it has to roll a Morale Test to remain in
combat. The test is a simple one; roll the Command
Ship Morale and Ship Break Point Quality or less on 1d6. If successful, the ship may
remain in combat until it reaches its Break Point
In order to calculate Ship Morale, add the (when it has to disengage anyway). Failure means
Command Quality and the Crew Quality. This the ship must immediately break off from contact.
number, multiplied by 15, gives the Ship Break Point,
calculated as a percentage.
Captain d'Merl watched uneasily as his brand new ship went into action stations. The unease was caused by the
fact that this wasn't a drill, this time the enemy was real and the weapons being aimed at his ship could kill. "All
torpedo decks cleared for action, all energy batteries charged up, point defense on stand-by, Captain" his first
officer intoned crisply. He certainly looked calmer than his captain felt.
Captain d'Merl's gaze moved back to the tactical screen and watched as it plotted courses, updated information on
velocities, power signatures and made possible threat assessments. The captain found its quiet efficiency and
unrelenting logic soothing, computers unlike people, never panicked.
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Terrain
Basic Effects
Gas Clouds: Gas clouds interfere with line of sight. Asteroids: Asteroids are represented by objects of
For each inch of dust cloud between a ship and its appropriate shape and size. They block line of sight
target, a -1 combat modifier is applied. Gas clouds so no ship may target and fire at an enemy ship
may be passed through with no penalty. through an asteroid. Any ship that collides with an
asteroid is destroyed.
Dust Clouds: Dust clouds interfere with line of sight.
For each inch of dust cloud between a ship and its Planets, Moons and Other Large Celestial Bodies:
target, a -3 combat modifier is applied. In addition, The scale distortion created by these objects is
ships which move through dust clouds risk taking largely ignored. They are often represented along
damage. Multiply the ship's speed by the number of one entire table edge. Any ship crossing this table
inches of cloud the ship moved through. This is the edge is considered to have left the battle.
Attack Factor of the dust cloud which is compared to
the ship's DF. Roll on the Combat Chart using no Destroyed ships: Destroyed Cruisers are treated as a
modifiers except ship size and apply the result one inch diameter gas cloud. Destroyed Battleships
immediately, including any Critical Hits. (or larger ships) are treated as one inch diameter dust
clouds. Destroyed Titans leave a dust cloud equal in
radius to one inch plus their combat size modifier.
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Setup
Use any available board or tabletop, a 4 foot by 4
foot surface would be best. Place an irregularly
shaped 'gas cloud' in the center. For this gas cloud
use any irregular shaped 6 inch diameter shape or cut
one out of paper or cloth. For spaceships use
whatever models you like best.
The players each roll a six sided die. The player who
rolls highest chooses a corner and deploys his entire Victory
fleet within 6 inches of it. His opponent then deploys
his entire fleet within 6 inches of the opposite corner. The player that destroys all his opponent's ships or
All ships start the game with a speed of 6. drives him from the table is the victor.
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While it can be fun playing equal pointed Deep Raid - An opportunity to strike an unexpected
pickup games, where the two fleets set up on blow has presented itself. The enemy's fleet has
opposite sides of the board and fight it out in the stopped for resupply, and your spies have discovered
middle, sometimes something different is desired. If its position. A fast moving strike force has the
you're playing games generated from a campaign chance to inflict serious damage. It will be a difficult
then you are lucky, different scenarios will occur and dangerous mission.
naturally. For the rest of us, this scenario chart is
offered. The defender sets up his fleet, stopped, in the center
of the table. The attacker can spend half as many
To decide which scenario to use, simply pick your points on ships as the defender, and may only
favourite, or alternatively roll 2 six-sided dice and purchase cruisers and escorts. The attacker sets up
check the chart. Set Piece Battle will be the most anywhere, one movement turn outside weapons
common result. Once you've played the scenarios a range. Use ship morale points for victory conditions,
few times you'll know them well enough to modify the points for the defender's ships counting double.
them and their set-up or victory conditions to make
the games more balanced. Soon enough you'll be Whichever side inflicts the most points of destroyed
creating your own scenarios. and broken ships is the winner.
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47
Weapons Engines
In the basic rules, all weapons on a ship are grouped To move, all ships need a drive of some sort. The
into one of two main types; power of this drive, its acceleration and turning
capability, is represented by the Engine Rating. This
Primary Batteries or Secondary Batteries. rating ranges from 0 to 5 and this number determines
how much a ship can turn, speed up, or slow down
The Primaries are all of a ship's large powerful anti- during each turn.
ship beam batteries, and are split into four 90 degree
arcs of fire, while the Secondaries are short ranged all
around defensive weapons. The Weapons Box on the Ship Displays
Ship Display is used to show the current strength of
both types. The example below illustrates ONE The purpose of the Ship Display is to show the
Weapons Box. capabilities of a specific ship or ship type.
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Dice Roll 1:3 1:2 1:1 3:2 2:1 3:1 4:1 5:1 6:1
0 — — — — — — — — —
1 — — — — — 1 1 1 2
2 — — — — 1 1 1 2 2
3 — — — 1 1 1 2 2 3
4 — — 1 1 1 2 2 3 3
5 — 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4
6 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4
Modifiers
Target is Range Tech Level
Agile -1 Short 0 – 12" 0 -1 TL -1
Fast -1 Medium 12 – 24" -1 -2 TL -2
Slow +1 Long 24 – 36" -2 -3 TL -3
Stationary +2
Escort -1 Gas/inch -1
Titan +1* Dust/inch -3
Aspect -1/+1
Modifiers are added to or subtracted from the dice rolls of Primary weapons fire only. Secondary
Batteries are not modified except for Tech Level. Rolls greater than 6 are treated as 6, rolls less than 0
are treated as 0, (getting a '0' actually means you missed).
Agile ships are defined during the ship design process. Fast ships are any ships moving greater than
12" for the current turn. Slow ships are any ships moving 4 inches or less for the current turn.
Stationary ships are not moving. Aspects (if used) are defined during ship design.
* Titans: Any firing at Titans receives a +1 size modifier for each 25 Hull Boxes with which the Titan
began (ie +2 for 50 mass, +3 for 75 mass). Since Titans start with at least 25 Hull Boxes, firing at
them always has at least a +1 modifier.
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Combat Chart
Attacker to Target Ratio
Dice Roll 1:3 1:2 1:1 3:2 2:1 3:1 4:1 5:1 6:1
0 — — — — — — — — —
1 — — — — — 1 1 1 2
2 — — — — 1 1 1 2 2
3 — — — 1 1 1 2 2 3
4 — — 1 1 1 2 2 3 3
5 — 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4
6 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4
Modifiers
Target is Range Tech Level
Agile -1 Short 0 – 12" 0 -1 TL -1
Fast -1 Medium 12 – 24" -1 -2 TL -2
Slow +1 Long 24 – 36" -2 -3 TL -3
Stationary +2
Escort -1 Gas/inch -1
Titan +1 Dust/inch -3
Aspect -1/+1
A Sky Full of Ships is designed to be an easy, fast moving set of rules for large scifi fleet actions. Everything
required for play is included in this single 56 page book - ship design, movement and combat rules, optional rules
such as electronic warfare, special weapons and technological levels, as well as scenarios, sample fleets and more.
Hardpoint Games
http://www.hardpointgames.com