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"SPACE FIGHT!" Starship combat boardgame

Morrus

Well, that was fun
Staff member
OK, I liked the Squadron idea so much that I've incorporated it with a small change. Instead of not limiting repeated use of a system in one round, I've simply given the squadron 12 copies of the system. This voids the need to have an extra exception in the rules, and allows the player to follow the rules as normal for AP expenditure.

New document has been uploaded, including the sample Colonial Fighter Squadron.

With this change, I think I'll make the Squadron Leader's ability to be that he grants his squadron extra Action Points.

It occurs to me that with this change a squadron should no longer be able to do full damage to another squadron, because we're now treating the shots individually instead of as a cumulative squadron damage. We don't want squadrons wiping out entire other squadrons with a single torpedo! It should also lose the Weapons Down status when it reaches Crippled on the damage track, since that doesn't make sense when applied to multiple ships. [Edit - ah, yes - you mentioned that!]

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Morrus

Well, that was fun
Staff member
Update uploading now - includes tractor beam rules, the new squadron rules, a couple more ships converted to the new stat card format.
 

Alex319

First Post
Movement:

When a multi-hex ship rotates, which hex does it pivot around?

Do you activate ship systems such as weapons etc. before, during, or after movement (or can you do it at any of those times)?

Do special movement abilities (such as Wingover) cost thrust points to use? Do they count toward "number of hexes moved" for the round (since you always move a number of hexes equal to your speed)?

Shields:

Do you have to spend AP each round to maintain shields, or do you just spend it once and they're up (and absorb damage each round)? The first one would make the most sense, otherwise everyone would just put their shields up at the beginning and keep them up (there's rarely times when you would prefer to have shields down).

Bombers:

In the proton bomb example, what's the "range" of the bomb - i.e. what hexes can it target?

Death of a Starship:

The text mentions "the hex" that a ship is in, but many ships take up more than one hex. If this is the case then how does that work?

Sensors:

Do you have to spend AP each round to maintain the sensor lock? I assume not, because you can only activate sensors once per round and some sensors let you maintain simultaneous locks on multiple targets.

"Changing your sensor lock target requires an action point" - does it also require a to-hit roll? And is it only ONE action point, even if activating sensors normally requires more than one AP for that ship? Probably a more intuitive way to word this would be to say that when you activate sensors, you try to get a sensor lock on another target (which is in addition to the sensor locks you have now) and if that makes it so you're over your sensor lock capacity, then you have to lose a sensor lock of your choice.

Also is there any range limit on sensor locks? Can you get a sensor lock on anything on the board?

Tractor Beams:

Let me see if I understand how these work. Suppose an Imperial Destroyer (ID) is trying to tractor a Rebel Freighter (RF). Suppose the ID goes before the RF in initiative order.

1. (ID round 1) The ID activates tractor beams and targets RF. (Any to-hit roll required?) At this point RF has its speed reduced. (If it's reduced to negative, I assume he doesn't get tractored in just yet, because in the example he doesn't, and he can't spend thrust points to increase his speed to positive until his turn.)

2. (RF round 1) RF spends thrust to increase his speed. (It's only now that if his speed is negative, he gets tractored in.)

3. (ID round 2) ID continues tractoring this ship (Does he have to spend AP to activate tractor beams again? Does he have to make another attack roll, if any?)

4. (RF round 2) Let's say at the end of this round, the RF's speed is negative. This sets up the next question:

5. (ID round 3) Let's say the ID stops tractoring the RF. Is the RF's speed still negative or does it get reset to zero? If it's still negative...

6. (RF round 3) What happens if the RF's speed is still negative (from previous tractoring) even though it is no longer being tractored?

Heroes:

Legendary Engineer: How many hit points does the LE's "free repair roll" give its ship?

Science Genius: How does the "attack cloaked ships" power work? Does the attack happen on the SG's turn (and if so does that mean that the ship has to save AP from its previous turn in order to have AP to fire at this time)? Or does it happen on the ship's next turn?

Spy: The "look at opponent's stat card" power should probably be changed. All the stat cards are in the back of the rulebook, so anyone who's read the rulebook will already know what all the stat cards are. Also there are other abilities (like the Saboteur's ability) that require the user to choose an entry on the opponent's stat card, which only makes sense if they already know the cards by default.

Plucky Pilot: Can the PP be part of a squadron? If so does he grant his squadron a free turn?

Levels:Do heroes that have a bonus that doesn't require a roll (like the Seasoned Admiral or Squadron Leader) benefit in any way from levels besides the + to initiative and the - to enemies affecting them?

Ship Powers:

Colonial Support Vessel: Does the ECM ability get rid of sensor locks, or just suppress them temporarily? How soon after the ECM ability is used can you use sensors again?

Imperial Destroyer: The tractor beam has a range but no listed strength rating. And wow it has a lot of hit points!

Hive Cube: Is the assimilation ability in addition to, or instead of, the Drones' normal damage roll on a turn? And does the Shield Neutralizer require an attack roll?

Shadow Battle Spider: Does the "Cloak" ability require APs each round to maintain? Does it require APs to decloak?

Spartan Scout: I think the "it can be detected with a dedicated sensor sweep" part belongs under "cloak" and not "tractor beam". And why does this ship need special rules for detecting it with sensors, when there are already rules for detecting cloaked ships with sensors?

Alliance Warship: I think you forgot to change the name from "Tinashi" to something else.

Scenario: When Universes Collide:

What are the rules for the asteroids in this scenario?
 

Morrus

Well, that was fun
Staff member
Some of the answers to those questions are "to be determined" (rules which haven't yet been written, or which have been briefly intoruduced but not fully fleshed out).

Those which are of a clarification or typo nature - I've gone through the document and clarified those points. That covered nearly all of them, fortunately - easy clarifications.

This is an excellent example of why extra sets of eyes are important. Many of the questions seemed really obvious to me, but I have to remember that you're not inside my head and don't know what my intentions were unless I specifically write them down! :)

I think the document is about half done at this point. Lots to add and areas to expand. The basic structure is there, and I think it's a basically playable game in the form it is, although continued playtesting will result in tweaks and changes.

When a multi-hex ship rotates, which hex does it pivot around?

That's a question I can't answer yet. The answer is "whichever ends up being the least fiddly in play". I'm trying different options.

What are the rules for the asteroids in this scenario?

I hadn't written any asteroid rules at that point. I've just quickly added some, although they aren't playtested and a little rough.
 

Alex319

First Post
There's a mistake in the new style stat card for the Imperial Assault Craft. It has 10 hit points but the damage track is for a 3 hit point ship.
 




Morrus

Well, that was fun
Staff member
When are you planning to publish this, Morrus?

When it's done! Technically, it's already published.

It's a new (to me) way of doing it I'm trying - develop in public, develop gradually, allow people to have the game at each stage of the process.

At some point, when I think it's as good as it's going to be, I'll put out a POD softcover version and then move on to the supplements.
 

Morrus

Well, that was fun
Staff member
New update today - targeting specific hit locations.

Opinion question: critical hits currrently do max damage (like in 4E). I'm considering having them temporarily disable a ship system (save ends). Any preferences on either?
 

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