FTA3 Military and Combat

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1. From the Ashes 3
2. FTA3 Military and Combat
3. FTA3 Ship Design
4. FTA3 Economy
5. FTA3 Espionage
6. FTA3 Ethos & Politics
7. FTA3 Research & Development

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Logistics & Support

All military equipment has a logistical weight listing in their unit entries, representing the amount of supply that they burn in the course of normal operations. This cost is paid whenever a ship fights in combat (above and beyond things like routine anti piracy patrol), or in a star system that lacks a forward operating post or supply base. See the notes in the next section for information on how to calculate supply use. Supply can be generated in a few different ways; purchasing on the open market, production from a Supply Generator landmark, or through salvage. The market rate for supply fluctuates from year to year, depending on events on the Grid.

Supply Burn

Supply use is determined by ship weight, times the number of systems away from a point of supply, which is any location that counts as a territory for supply purposes. This means it’s relatively uncomplicated to patrol systems directly connected to your home system, but staging large battlegroups away from centers of supply is genuinely difficult. Supply lines, if unprotected, can also be vulnerable to enemy raiding.

There are two types of bases one can construct away from your territories to provide relief to supply costs. Establishing one of them is a required prerequisite to claiming a territory.

Forward Operating Base

A Forward Operating Base costs $2000 and one military token, taking a year to complete. A FOB allows 100 logistical weight of units - the Open Palm standard size squadron - to operate in a system without additional cost for being outside a Supply Point, and halves the distance for calculating the supply burn for those units operating away from it as counted from the nearest Supply Point. Units beyond the weight limit will pay their full cost for supply. A Forward Operating Base does not count as a Supply Point for determining supply cost.

Supply Base

A supply base counts as your territory for the purposes of counting supply burn. Its cost is $4000 and two military tokens, taking a year to complete. A region must have a supply base established before it can become a new territory .A Forward Operating Base may be upgraded into a Supply Base by paying the requisite difference in cost and spending a military token. The upgrade is completed in a year.

Supply Limitations

It’s impossible to get negative supply. Any combination of Supply Bases/FOBs/Long Legs traits/whatever else can only cumulatively make it so ships cost no additional supply to operate in a system.

Your supply cost is based on the furthest a ship has been from supply in a calendar year, and normal supply burn happens once a year. Additional combat burns are above and beyond this.

Example

Bill has a weight 50 cruiser group operating four jumps from his home system. This means the base supply burn value for this cruiser group doing its business is its total weight of supply, in this case 50, times four, for a total of 200.

Bill establishes a Forward Operating Base in the system he’s got these cruisers in. That means after the base is established, the cruisers can operate in that system and that system alone for their normal upkeep cost. Deploying them further away from his home system, however, still burns higher supply. Say Bill is deploying them two more jumps away from his home system, for a total of six jumps. The FOB doesn’t prevent higher supply burn, but it halves the distance modifier, so instead of costing its 50 weight of supply times six, it only costs 50 times 3, for a total of 150. The next year, Bill upgrades the FOB to a Supply Base, after which the system counts as a territory for the purposes of supply, both for operating in the system where it is located and for systems within a one jump radius of it. It also allows for the operation of unlimited weight of ships to be supplied, unlike a FOB. It also generally means that resupply missions don’t have nearly as much to fear from raiders or pirates.

Space Combat

There are two types of combat resolution, the more involved set designed for small unit engagements, single ship duels, etc. The system designed for mass combat resolution uses the same core stats but instead of having players decide every single tactical decision you give the resolution program broad directives.

Pre Battle

Enumerate Fleets

Each side simply lists the number and type of ships potentially involved in the fight

Determine (potential) Battle Type

There are two types of possible battles:
Mobile
Where both fleets are fully able to use their speed to maneuver for advantage. Note that actions to protect mobile things, like troop transports and merchant vessels are still mobile battles. Where otherwise unlisted, assume that such vessels have a speed of 1. Also note that a fleet defending a fixed objective may attempt to meet the attacking fleet in deep space, and fight a mobile battle, though this may create some risk of the fleet attempting the interception being out maneuvered, and the attacking fleet getting some amount of time to attack the objective without intervention from any defending units attempting an interception.
Fixed Objective
Where there is some fixed objective to be fought over, such as a planet, space station, or other objective that is relatively immobile. Assuming the defending fleet is not attempting any deep space interceptions, both sides declare their lowest speed.
Declare Speed
In a Mobile Battle, Each fleet will then declare the speed it is using. Any fleet elements unable to keep up with that declared speed become temporarily detached into a new fleet. If both sides wish, they may split their fleets into multiple elements with different declared speeds, and attempt to fight different engagements. Though this usually invites defeat in detail.

Example of a multi-element battle

A cowardly fleet decides to break formation and flee before battle is even joined, devil take the hindmost. The fleet splits into three elements, of speed 1, speed 2, and speed 3, all fleeing the region as fast as their engines will carry them. The opposing fleet, confident of victory over such spineless cowards, breaks their own fleet into a speed 2 section, which will intercept the speed 1 enemy, and a speed 3 section which will run down the speed 2 enemy. The fleeing speed 3 enemy is simply let go.

Avoid/Bring to action (Mobile battles only)

In a mobile battle, it's possible that one fleet will decide it doesn't want to fight, after all. If the fleet opposing them has a higher speed, they can be automatically brought to action. If the fleets have equal speed, then each fleet controller rolls a d20; if the fleet trying to avoid action rolls higher, they have successfully avoided a battle, for now. This is why speed 1 battleships make poor pirate vessels; normal slow merchant vessels have slightly lower than 50% chance of successfully running away from them.

Out-maneuvering a fleet attempting a deep space interception

or why it's generally smarter to defend 'close':

As mentioned above, it's sometimes possible for a fleet trying to attack a fixed target to outmaneuver a defending fleet trying to intercept them in deep space.

Each fleet rolls a d20.

If the attacking fleet is 1 speed higher than the defender, the die rolls are unmodified, with ties going to the defender. If the defending fleet loses the roll off, the difference between the rolls is how many rounds the attacking fleet will have available to attack the fixed objective (and any ships in 'close defense' until the fleet that was attempting the interception arrives.

If the attack fleet and intercepting fleet have equal speeds, the intercepting fleet gets a +5 to the roll. 
 

Attacking fleets with lower speeds are automatically intercepted.

A successful interception means a Mobile Battle.

If the entirety of the defending fleet simply decides to defend 'close' to the objective, it's a Fixed Objective battle instead.

In a Fixed Objective Battle, each side simply declares the speed of their slowest ship. (Note that Starbases and other fixed defenses are speed 0, so defenders with fixed defenses in Fixed Objective battles will always have initiative.)

Prepare for action

List ships taking place in battle

Now that any pre-battle maneuvering is done, each player enumerates the ships actually taking part in the battle.

Determine Initiative

In a Mobile Battle, if one fleet has a higher declared speed, that fleet gets a +1 to position rolls for the whole battle.

In a Fixed Objective Battle, if one fleet has a lower declared speed than the other, that fleet gets a +1 to position rolls for the whole battle.

If both fleets have the same declared speed, then fleet position rolls are unmodified. Battle

Launch Fighters (start of battle only)

Both players launch can fighters at this time. Note that cloaked ships without deep cloak must decloak to launch fighters. Ships with deep cloak may launch fighters and remain cloaked.

Fighter Interception Phase (every round)

If there is a large tech discrepancy between the fighters on each side, take the average TL of each side's fighters. If one side has an average TL advantage of 0.5 or higher, their fighters can intercept up to two times as many fighters, at the owning players discretion.

Assuming no TL advantage, the side with the lesser number of fighters has all their fighters intercepted. An equal number of fighters from the larger side must allocate an equal number of fighters to the lesser side to intercept them.

Example

One side has 10 TL5 fighters, the other has ten TL3 fighters. The TL5 fighters have an obvious TL advantage, so the TL5 side may allocate between 5 and 10 fighters to interception. If the allocate five, which is enough to intercept all ten of the TL3 fighters, they can send five fighters on to attack the opposing fleet, or they may allocate up to five more of their fighters to the interception (i.e. a maximum of 10, as if they did not have a tech advantage).

Un-intercepted fighters may then go on to make as many anti-shipping attacks as they are able (e.g. first strikes from a Magnum Catapult or the Fighter doctrine, then the regular turn order anti-shipping attacks). There is only one 'dogfight' phase per turn, so fighters who are otherwise able to make multiple anti-shipping attacks get no extra dogfight rolls.

Fighter Dogfight Phase (every round)

Each player rolls a d20 for each fighter they have involved in the dogfight. The TN for killing an opposing fighter is 20, but they add their fighter TL to this number. For example, TL3 fighters need to roll a 17 or greater to kill an opposing fighter, while a TL5 fighter would kill on a 15 or higher. Certain doctrine choices or abilities may allow fighters to make more than one dogfight roll, or add additional bonuses to this roll.

Each player allocates kills to their fighters as they choose. (i.e. lower TL fighters get killed first)

Fighter First Strike (start of battle only)

For every different attack a fighter is able to make (i.e. multiple first strikes, regular anti-shipping attacks) the player controlling the fighters is able to redirect the fighters to attack different valid targets. There is no need to waste later attack runs (e.g. second first strikes) on targets that have already been killed.

A maximum number of fighters equal to the ship's weight can attack it at any one time.

The TL of the fighter making the attack has no influence on anti-shipping strikes.

For each fighter attacking a ship, roll a d20

• 1-10 Ship takes 10 damage
• 11-15 Nothing happens
• 16-20 attacking fighter is (mission) killed

If the ship the fighter is attacking has the flak trait, the fighter adds two to the roll. Certain other traits or doctrines may also modify the ship strike roll.

Note that the 'reconstitution' of mission killed fighters by Fighter Direction Centers does not happen until the end of the round, so fighters able to make multiple attacks may be killed before they can make them all.

Fighter Cloak Detection

Instead of making normal first strike anti-shipping attacks, fighters on attack runs can instead be used to detect cloaked ships. It takes five fighters per speed rating of the cloaked ship to detect it. Fighters able to make multiple first attacks can use their following first strike attacks to detect more cloaked ships, or to attack any revealed ships as normal.

Stand Off attack resolution (start of battle only)

Each player lists out the total number of stand-off attacks they have available.
Any ship under regular cloak must de-cloak at this time to make stand-off attacks. Afterwards, they count as a ship operating normally. Ships with Deep Cloak can simply re-cloak after making stand-off attacks, and continue to operate under Deep Cloak as normal.

In any event, stand-off attacks don't benefit from the attack advantages of being fired from a cloaked platform, they are simply fired from far enough away for the defender to properly react to them.

Stand-off attacks automatically hit, and only roll to pierce. Standoff attacks do not benefit from piercing bonuses, such as those granted by torpedo and secondary battery modules, or by doctrine.

Each player receiving stand-off attacks then calculates the relative percentages of weight for each of their ships being shot at.

The player receiving the stand-off attacks then allocated them under the following rules:
Each ship in the fleet must receive at least one attack, if available. If there are less stand-off attacks than receiving ships, the heaviest ships must be targeted first. With a large number of stand-off attacks, the attacks must be (roughly) split by the percentage weights calculated above. The player receiving the attacks may resolve any 'fractional' splits as they wish. If the stand-off attacks do different amounts of damage, the defender may also allocate them as he wishes.

Example

In this action, Player Bob has two Battleships (each weight 33) two heavy cruisers (each weight 16) and 3 frigates (each weight 8), for a total weight of 122. So each of the battleships would have a 33/122 = 27% share of any incoming stand-off attacks. The fleet listed is receiving 40 standoff attacks, 32 doing 6 damage, and 8 doing 4 damage. The defender allocated them as follows:

• BB1: 10x 6 attacks
• BB2: 10x 6 attacks
• CA1: 6x 6 attacks
• CA2: 5x 6 attacks
• FF1: 1x 6 attack and 2x 4 attacks
• FF2: 3x 4 attacks
• FF3: 3x 4 attacks

After the attacks are allocated, roll to pierce any attacked ships, and inflict damage as normal.

Determine Fleet position (every round)

Fleet position is re-rolled each round of battle. In subsequent rounds, the player that won the position roll last round gets a -2 to their roll. If they have won the position roll several rounds in a row, they get a cumulative -2 for every round they have one. This resets to 0 once they lose a position roll.
Each player rolls a d20; The fleet with initiative gets a +1 on the roll. Re-roll ties.
The player that won the position roll determines what distance each pair-off of ships engages at (see below)

Pair Off (every round)

The player that won the position roll picks one of their ships and 'pairs' it off with one of the other players unpaired ships of their choice. The other player then does the same with one of their unpaired ships. Note that certain ship traits may affect pair assignments. If the number of ships is excessive, so that the alternating choices would take forever, [s]bribe[/s] grab a GM or uninvolved player and get them to do it. Once ships are paired up, they fight until one is destroyed or disengaged, and the survivor/victor is made available to either pair up with a new opponent or Flank into an existing combat. If a ship on the other side is available, they must pair off.

Flanking

If either player has ships 'left over' after all ships have been paired, these ships can be assigned to any 'pair' that the player chooses. These excess ships are referred to as ‘flanking’, they are able to declare their range to their target ship as they desire, even if the controlling side lost the position roll.

Attempt to disengage

A ship may disengage if its side wins the positioning roll-that is, attempt to withdraw from combat. The ships it is engaged with may attempt to pursue, requiring a 15 on a D20 to force the withdrawing ship to stay in battle. For each point of speed advantage the pursuer has over the pursued, reduce this TN by 2. If this roll is failed, the disengaging ships are removed from combat and don't participate in an engagement any further.

Subhunting

Cloaks are a special mechanic that curve-balls the normal combat mechanics. Standard cloaks are the archetypal Romulan cloaking device. Installing them has an added cost but they have fairly limited impact on other ship systems. A ship operating under 'regular' cloak must drop it in order to fire, perform sensor sweeps, etc. Once a ship has decloaked it operates essentially like any other ship.
Deep cloaks are 'submarines in space' in that they operate under cloak at all times. This has a significant impact on many aspects of ship design and consequently deep cloaks are only found on specialized hulls (currently Prowlers and Hunter-Killers).
Space is big and ships are small, so it is essentially impossible to simply fire randomly into space and hope to hit a cloaked ship that you know is in the general area. You have to detect them with your ship's sensors before you are able to get a target lock on a cloaked ship and fire on it.
As many systems which provide protection for a ship against incoming fire are active and directed (e.g. shields, pin-point barriers, etc) rather than simply passive (e.g. armor) an attack from an unexpected direction can severely reduce the effectiveness of 'protection' type defenses. In addition, many of the same types of active protections can not be running while under cloak. So ships under normal cloaks need a few moments to bring these defenses online after decloaking, while ship with deep cloak devices simply do not mount such systems at all.

Sensor check by defenders against cloaked ships (each round)

For each ship engaged with a cloaked target (either paired or flanking) rolls a d20 in an attempt to detect it, ships with the subhunter trait may roll two dice and choose which result they prefer. On a 16 or more, the cloaked ship is detected before it can fire. As such subhunting rolls take place 'at the same time', there is not time to transmit the location of the cloaked ship to others before the opportunity to fire is gone. In the unlikely case that two cloaked ships are in combat against each other, at least one ship has to detect the other for any shooting to occur. If both detect the other, they both get the decloak piercing bonus against the other (if ships with regular cloak), or are simply able to fire at the other ship (deep cloaked ships).

Decloaking and firing

A cloaked ship that is not detected before it fires gets a +5 bonus to piercing against its victim. If the cloaked ship is detected, it may shoot as normal, but its victim has the time to properly direct its defenses, so there is no bonus.

Shooting back vs cloaked ships

If a ship under 'regular' cloak is detected before it has a chance to decloak and fire, the detecting ship is able to attack it with a +5 piercing bonus; if it was not detected beforehand, the retaliating ship fire at the decloaked ship as normal.
For deep cloaked ships, the detecting ship has to detect it to get an opportunity to fire on it at all. Fire on deep cloaked ships is resolved as normal. Unlike ships under 'regular' cloak, there is no normal bonus to shooting at ships you detect under deep cloak.
Note that the STAG module gives a +2 bonus to shoot at any type of ship it detects under cloak, regardless of cloak type.
After a ship with 'regular' cloak decloaks and fires, it operates as a normal ship for the rest of the battle. A ship with a deep cloak will require subhunting rolls every round.

Protect actions

Ships with the protect trait can now declare which ships they are protecting. They are able to direct the attacks of one flanking ship of their choice on to themselves. The flanking ship will roll against the protecting ship’s defenses (avoidance, protection), not the defenses of the protected ship.

Regular shooting (every round)

All shooting is simultaneous, so, for example, any flanking ships may not choose to attack a different ship this phase, even if their target has ‘already’ been killed.

Each ship will have a certain number of attacks. Where attacks are written in the condensed XxY (e.g. 11x6), the first is the number of attacks, and the second is the amount of damage each attack potentially does.

When rolling to hit or pierce, a 20 on the die before modifiers is a critical success and always succeeds and a 1 on the die before modifiers is a critical miss and always fails.

To Hit

Attacks against the Avoidance defensive stat are referred to as ‘to hit’.

Range Bonuses

Each type (Spinal, Direct, Seeking) has a favored range. And gets bonuses to hit at that favored range.

Range

	Close	Far
Spinal Mount	+1	-1
Direct	+2	0
Seeking	+2	+4

Other Bonuses

Certain doctrines and certain ship modules may give a bonus ‘to hit’. Remember to total all appropriate bonuses when rolling.

Roll to Hit

Roll a d20 for each of your ships attacks and add your total to hit bonus to each roll, The target number is the target ships avoidance value. Results that match or exceed the target number are ‘hits’.

To Pierce

Attacks against the Protection defensive stat are referred to as ‘to pierce’.

Weapon Bonuses

Spinal mounts have an inherent +3 to pierce.
Direct weapons have an inherent +2 to pierce.
Seeking weapons have no bonus to pierce.

Other Bonuses

Certain doctrines and certain ship modules may give a bonus ‘to pierce’. Remember to total all appropriate bonuses when rolling.

Roll to Pierce

Roll a d20 for each of your ships attacks that hit add your total to piercing bonus to each roll, The target number is the target ships Protection value. Results that match or exceed the target number are ‘pierces’.

Inflict Damage

The target ship takes (number of pierces) time (the damage of the attacking ships weapons). Remember that all shooting is simultaneous, so even dead ships get to ‘shoot back’.

Regular Fighter Anti-Ship Attacks (every round)

See directions in the ‘Fighter First Strike” phase, above, for directions on how to conduct fighter anti-ship attacks.

Fighter Reconstitution (every round)

At the end of the round, FDC may attempt to reconstitute any killed squadrons (i.e. roll a d6 for every killed fighter, as reconstitute them on a 4+). If there is any difference in the squadrons killed, the player who owns the killed fighters decides which ones are reconstituted from among the slain.

Total up the total number (and TL) of any fighters still alive at the end of each round.

Determine Casualties (every round)

Any ship reduced to zero or less HP is considered mission killed. Its actual status will be determined in the Post Battle Phase.

Also determine how many fighters (and of what TL) died this round, and record how many fighters (and of what TL) will be active on the next round.

Ending the Battle

A battle ends once at least one side's ships have all fled or been destroyed. Any fighters or boarders still active at this point are assumed to surrender, barring exceptional circumstances, such as the defense of your home world. In such cases, these remaining forces can fight to the bitter end.

Post Battle

Record Damage level of surviving ships (see Damage levels, below)

Land Fighters

Count the number of surviving fighters, and the number of hangars on surviving ships able to receive them. Any fighters in excess of available hangars are lost, unless you are in friendly territory. Then, the excess fighters can land on that territory.

Resolve Fate of killed ships

Overkill or Critical Damage

Any ship that took a critical piercing roll from any attack in the turn it died or was overkilled by 60% or more of its max HP value is hulked and the ultimate fate of the drifting hulk and associated narrative is determined by the polity whose forces control the battlespace at the end of combat. It may be possible to retrieve technical data (i.e. doctrine research) or small amounts of resources from hulked ships. For each hulked ship, roll a d10:

• 1-5 The ship is too heavily damaged to be of any further use.
• 6-9 The ship may be salvaged for 20% of its base hull $ cost immediately. Any advanced equipment, such as fold drives, may also be immediately salvaged on a 5+ roll of a d6. Roll separately for each piece of advanced equipment. If you are willing to leave units behind to control the battlefield, you may also salvage 20% of the ships base hull cost in single use DI after one quarter’s worth of work. If a battlefield is never not under control by someone's military units, anything of remaining value is quickly stripped by opportunists.
• 10 The ship is remarkably intact, considering the circumstances. It may be immediately pressed into service with heavy damage.

Also, see ‘Value of different TL of salvage’ (below)

Successful Flight

For killed ships that were not Run Down [1], roll a D10, which may be modified by having a damage control module (+1) or other bonuses. A ship may choose to spend a character shield automatically score a 10 on Damcon and may not be run down.

• On a 1-4, the ship is destroyed. D-E-D dead. Escape pods launch but the ship is irrecoverable.
• On a roll of 5-6, the ship is mission killed and sufficiently damaged to be a write-off. It escapes on a vector to the nearest supply point (unless run down, see pursuit rules) but must be evacuated and becomes derelict upon arrival. It may be salvaged, producing a value of 40% of $ cost and single-use DI, which must be transported back to safe territory, or sold off to local salvagers/pirates/etc for a flat 60% value in $$ cost only based on the hull type assuming a standard of TL5 equipment. Advanced OPF equipment, such as fold drives, may be salvaged on a D6 roll of 4+ (roll for each advanced gizmo the ship might have)
  • Also, see ‘Value of different TL of salvage’ (below)
• On a roll of 7-9, the vessel escapes on a vector to the nearest supply point and may choose to rendezvous with another allied fleet. The ship is heavily damaged (see below) unless it has the regeneration trait, if so, it only has medium damage. .
• On a roll of 10+, the ship is largely intact. It retreats to the nearest supply point, or it may choose to rendezvous with an allied fleet. It burns its weight in supplies (in addition to its normal burn) , has light damage (see below), or is in fine condition if it has regeneration, and becomes available to fight after the resolution of the battle it escapes from is over.

Running Down ‘Killed’ ships

Sometimes you just want a guy dead. Ships mission-killed in combat may still escape to warn allies, transfer critical supplies, or even become a thorn in your side for the rest of the campaign. But that's only if they get away.
You may assign ships to Run Down mission killed assets and either destroy them or attempt to capture them. To run down a ship, you must send one or more ships with a total mass that is equal or greater, and all pursuing ships must match or exceed the speed of the running ship. All pursuing ships are removed from the current mission and not available for subsequent actions.

You need to roll a flat 1d20. On a roll of 11 or higher, you catch the ship. For every ship caught, you may either automatically destroy them, or, if the pursuing ship(s) have a boarding module and appropriate troops, automatically capture the target.

When you choose to destroy the target, your pursuing ship becomes available again in a number of weeks equal to the transit time to the next node, and automatically rejoins its fleet after that time. Pursuing ships that choose to destroy their targets are not vulnerable to interception by the enemy during this time, barring the most egregious of defensive espionage failures. Ships destroyed in this manner do not yield resources or research opportunities.

If you choose to capture the target, the pursuing ship must take the time to escort the captured ship back to friendly territory. If you capture several ships, all the (formerly) pursuing ships may travel in convoy together, and you may choose to assign additional ships from the victorious fleet to escort your prizes back to friendly territory. This ‘prize fleet’ may be vulnerable to interception by the enemy, depending on the distance back to friendly territory and the normal course of fleet operations. Any prize ships ‘recaptured’ roll on the Successful Flight table [2] to resolve their fate, any recaptured ships that get the ‘write off’ result are scuttled and destroyed.

Prize ships typically yield resources and research opportunities, not ships that you can repair and press into service. Roll a d10 for each prize ship.

• 1-4: The ship is too heavily damaged to provide any further value.
• 5-9: The ship provide 40% of their base cost in $ and single use DI.
• 10+: The prize ship is fully recoverable, and is brought into your service with Heavy Damage.

Any advanced equipment, such as fold drives, may be removed on a 4+ on a d6. Roll separately for each piece of advanced equipment.

Value of different TL of salvage

The given values for salvage assume TL5 ships. TL4 pays -10% for each value, and TL3 pays -20% for each value. TL6 pays for 150% of each value.

Ship damage

Damage Levels

Maybe your ship got damaged in battle. Maybe it landed a little hard and it has a booboo. Ship damage is tracked as one of four levels (Fine, Light Damage, Medium Damage, Heavy Damage). After whatever the situation (battle, crash, squid encounter, etc) is resolved, check what percentage of the ship’s current HP is of its total possible HP. Fine is 100-75.1% total health, Light Damage is 75-50.1% health, Medium Damage is 50-25.1% health, and Heavy Damage is 25 - .1% health. To determine the HP thresholds for damage, multiply by ¾, ½, and ¼ and round as normal.

Heavy Cruiser Example Thresholds

Fine	161 - 122 HP
Light Damage	121 - 82 HP	161*¾ = 120.75, rounded to 121 is the light damage threshold
Medium Damage	81 - 41 HP	161/2 = 80.5, rounded to 81 is the medium damage threshold
Heavy Damage	Less than or Equal to 40 HP	161/4 = 40.25, rounded to 40 is the heavy damage threshold

Fighting While Damaged

Damaged ships enter battle with starting HP equal to the damage threshold number. For example, the CA from above, entering battle with medium damage, would start at 81 HP.

Repair

Cost

The cost to repair a level of damage is $ 1/6th of the ship’s $ construction price, rounded normally. For example, for a heavy cruiser that cost $175 to build costs $29 per damage level to repair (175/6 = 29.17, rounded to 29).

Time

Repair time per threshold is 1 quarter for every year the ship took to construct. For example, repairing a Cruiser (2 years construction time) from Medium to Light Damage would take 2 quarters.

Repair Location

You may repair light damage at a Forward Operating Base. Repair of medium damage requires a supply point, or the territory of a formal ally. Heavy damage can only be repaired within your own territory.

Strategic Operations - Mass Combat Resolution

When combats get to a certain size, it becomes impractical to resolve them player versus player in anything resembling a timely fashion. In this case, we resolve these combats in the autoroller, with players making some top-level tactical decisions and some basic rules adjustments so the autoroller can handle everything. This section breaks down those changes.

Rule Simplifications:

In mass combat, the following simplifications take place:

• Fighter Dogfights: Instead of the previously laid out rules, Fighters are first allocated to mutual interception, and the side with excess fighters may then go on the attack. Higher technology fighters do still get their extra interception ability.
• Disengagement is automatically successful (but may still be “Run Down” post-battle, per above). When ships reach your threshold to withdraw, assuming they aren’t completely killed off in that phase, ships automatically disengage. Ships that disengage under 10% health may be subject to a modified roll on the casualty table post-battle. Disengaged ships count as destroyed for the purpose of determining when a force automatically disengages, so this is a balance point for aggressiveness, keep that in mind.

Tactical Decisions:

In mass combat, a commander (the player) designates a few conditionals to guide the combat roller in its resolution. These conditionals are as follows:

• Preferred targeting for each type of ship (capital, cruiser, escort, meaning which type of ship do they try to engage with in pairing)
• Preferred target for excess fighter squadrons if they exist (particular hull type first, followed by ships with X% of damage, etc)
• Preferred disengagement orders for both individual ship type (HP%) and your force as a whole (% of combat weight lost, disengaged ships count as a loss)

Ground Combat

Ground Combat Units

The use of highly trained ground troops never entirely went away, but with the generally degraded level of technology after the Collapse, and the need to ensure none of the remaining server-spires or other advanced technology polities need to rebuild, means that interface troops are an essential part of any standing military. You can’t bomb an autofac from orbit and then expect it to keep working, after all. These represent, perhaps even more than naval forces, ‘expeditionary’ ground troops-they’re designed to be ferried in transports away from your home system and break things. Each ground force unit has two ‘trait’ slots for customization purposes (along with one inherent trait appropriate for its unit type, Espatiers having two), and may gain Keywords as appropriate during the course of play. Divisions and Corps, representing the inherent efficiency gained from larger-sized formations of similar composition, gain a third trait as long as they are not broken down into smaller units. Custom divisions built out of a myriad of component units do not get this bonus-you’re looking for optimization, this represents logistical and operational flexibility.

Units can be constructed & mixed together as much as you’d like, with the rule (for simplicity) that three battalions equals a brigade and three brigades equals a division. Yes this is simplified but we’re trying to keep things easy to resolve here. All ground forces take one year to be raised.

Interface Battalion/Brigade/Division/Corps $35/$70/$105/$140 & 5/10/15/20 DI
Specialists in orbital insertions, planetary hot-drops, and storming airless moons. Often known as Marines.
Quality: 2
Mobility: 3
Firepower: 2
Morale: 3
Traits: Insertion

Espatier Battalion/Brigade/Division/Corps $40/$80/$120/$160 & 5/10/15/20 DI
Specializing in spaceborne boarding operations, SAR, and other particularly skilled and sensitive work. The scalpel to the Interface unit’s sword.
Quality: 3
Mobility: 2
Firepower: 2
Morale: 3
Traits: Boarding, Void Jockey

Armored Battalion/Brigade/Division/Corps $50/$80/$140/$200 & 10/15/20/25 DI
Not as easy to get on the ground as an interface unit, as their gear often has to be physically transported to the surface of a body (and is useless inside a station or small habitat) but has significantly more firepower when they’re able to actually use it.
Quality: 2
Mobility: 3
Firepower: 3
Morale: 2
Traits: Breakthrough

Mobile Infantry Battalion/Brigade/Division/Corps $30/$60/$90/$120 & 5/10/15/20 DI
Infantry not designed primarily for insertion operations, but with light power armor, integrated transports, and light support. The bread and butter of most Polity ground forces.
Quality: 2
Mobility: 2
Firepower: 2
Morale: 2
Traits: Dig In

G.T.O. Defense Battalion/Brigade/Division/Corps $40/$80/$120/$160 & 10/15/30/60 DI
Solving the problem of enemy orbital superiority throughout a theater of operations has been a problem since mankind achieved spaceflight. Modern systems represent an effective screen against enemy orbital superiority through a combination of mobile shield generators, shroud projection systems and an extensive battery of beam emitters and railgun launched missile systems mated to modern FC suites that are capable of engaging enemy ordnance and beams and either destroying or deflecting them.
Quality: 2
Mobility: 2
Firepower: 0
Morale: 2
Traits: Mobile GTO Network

Interface/Space Fighter Wing: $10 & 5 DI
Aerospace interface fighters designed to conduct orbital and atmospheric operations. Terrible in deep space against true fighters, deadly in atmosphere or in close orbital space where speeds are much slower and air pressure is a factor. Used to support ground assaults on planets with atmosphere, or alternatively, to defend against said assaults. Take up a hangar slot on ships or can be deployed to a Territory.

Moving Ground Units Around

Ground Forces are assumed to come with their own integrated troop transports that can defend themselves to a slight degree but really should be escorted as defending against a Pirate frigate with Common quality tech and a wolfpack of OPF Standard quality destroyers is quite another. These transports are assumed to have the ability to support logistically and land ground forces as needed. They do not, generally, have ortillery, however.

Some states have designed dedicated combat-capable troop transports, however, and these ships tend to add a significant multiplier to ground operations.

Mustering, Combining, and Splitting Ground Units

The ground combat system as designed strikes a balance by being “easy” for entry-by allowing players to purchase large, single design units, that may not be as optimizing but are more inexpensive, while also allowing players who want greater fidelity and engagement by allowing them to build their own units. As a result, it is possible to muster an interface division, and then break them down into individual brigades and battalions, and in theory save money. However, to represent the inefficiency inherent there, when breaking a large unit into smaller components, you have to pay 50% of the $ and DI cost of the parent unit to represent regenerating command & control, supply networks, and other factors. You may combine units freely, either those mustered as smaller units or those who have this surcharge paid for, but you don’t get to, for example, buy an interface division and an armored division and then just rearrange the battalions. This may not be entirely realistic but reality here has to bow to game mechanics.

Unit Size Table

This table below represents a quick reference of unit sizes to other unit sizes.

Unit Size Battalion Brigade Division Corps Battalion 1 1/3 1/9 1/27 Brigade 3 1 1/3 1/9 Division 9 3 1 1/3 Corps 27 9 3 1

Ground unit Stats

Quality

The Quality of a Ground Unit depends on its type, as well as any modifiers from if the unit is Elite or not. In effect, this ranges from 0 to 4. The default quality of all Regular line units is 2, but some Q3 and 4 units exist.

Mobility

Mobility also depends on the type of the Ground Unit. Mobility ranges from 0 to 4.

Firepower

Some ground units have more firepower than others. This ranges from 0 to 4.

Morale (and Fatigue)

Morale and Fatigue is, again, rated on a scale from 0 to 4, and ties in to the supply of a ground force, how long they’ve been deployed, what they’ve been doing (Good luck finding high morale during COIN operations), and numerous other factors. The default morale is 2 and moderators will make judgment calls adjusting morale as appropriate to circumstance (also some game effects can raise or lower morale, it’ll be clearly stated.)

• 0 - The crews don’t want to be there, and the fleet is low on supply or is far from home.
• 1 - Morale is low, be it due to a recent defeat, long deployment, unpopular officers, a grueling insurgency, or low Stability.
• 2 - Average morale, the resting baseline
• 3 - Eager. The US Marine Corps on an off day
• 4 - Fearless. Iranian Basij during the Iran-Iraq war.
• Tech Level (TL) and ground troops
• TL 6 troops have +1 mobility and firepower after any other bonuses.
• TL 5 troops have the ‘default’ stats.
• TL 4 troops have -1 mobility and firepower after any other bonuses.
• TL 3 troops have -2 mobility and firepower after any other bonuses.

The normal stat maxima of 4 must be adhered to before these bonuses are applied; TL 6 units can have effective Mobility and Firepower of 5, if they were at 4 before their bonuses were applied.

Example: a TL 6 armored brigade with artillery, fast would have final stats of (Morale 2, Mobility 5, Firepower 5, Morale 2).
Half TL advancement If any rules still involve ground forces fighting at +.5 (one half) tech level, treat them as having +1 Mobility.

Mustering, Combining, and Splitting Ground Units

The ground combat system as designed strikes a balance by being “easy” for entry-by allowing players to purchase large, single design units, that may not be as optimizing but are more inexpensive, while also allowing players who want greater fidelity and engagement by allowing them to build their own units. As a result, it is possible to muster an interface division, and then break it down into individual brigades and battalions, and, in theory, save money. However, to represent the inefficiency inherent there, when breaking a large unit into smaller components, you have to pay 50% of the $ and DI cost of the parent unit to represent regenerating command & control, supply networks, and other factors. You may combine units freely, either those mustered as smaller units or those who have this surcharge paid for, but you don’t get to, for example, buy an interface division and an armored division and then just rearrange the battalions. This may not be entirely realistic but reality here has to bow to game mechanics.

Moving Ground Units Around

Ground Forces are assumed to come with their own integrated troop transports that can defend themselves to a slight degree but really should be escorted as defending against a Pirate frigate with Common quality tech and a wolfpack of OPF Standard quality destroyers is quite another. These transports are assumed to have the ability to support logistically and land ground forces as needed. They do not, generally, have ortillery, however.

Some states have designed dedicated combat-capable troop transports, however, and these ships tend to add a significant multiplier to ground operations.

Ground Unit Traits

Air Defense

This unit has innate air-defense capabilities beyond shoulder fired munitions and the like. Each Air Defense trait in a unit counters one wing of enemy interface fighters.

Assault

These troops are designed to assault fixed fortifications and fight in dense close quarters. They tend to burn a whole lot of supply as a result. Counters enemy Engineers.

Boarding

This unit has the training and equipment to do boarding operations without significant penalty. (See Boarding for details)

Breakthrough

A unit victorious in combat can force one rerolled Damage Save roll for enemy units for each Breakthrough trait it possesses. Breakthrough and Dig In rerolls cancel each other out.

Defensive

A unit with the Defensive trait cannot be used in offensive operations. This trait cannot be removed or swapped by any method if it is a unit's inherent trait.

Dig In

A unit taking a Damage Save can reroll one result for each Dig In trait it possesses. Breakthrough and Dig In rerolls cancel each other out.

Engineers

This unit has a reinforced detachment of engineers for combat operations. This unit gains a 4+ (on a d6) recovery save if they are Exhausted or Destroyed in combat. Recovered exhausted units are fine, and recovered destroyed units are merely exhausted. Countered by the Assault Trait.

Extra Artillery

This unit has an additional company of artillery platforms to support it in combat. +1 to firepower

Fast

This unit is designed to move quickly both strategically and tactically, either because of hovertanks, VTOLs, simply being trained for it, whatever. +1 to mobility.

Garrison

Only applicable from the Revenant polity trait, Garrison units fight at +0.5 TL in a specified node.

Insertion

A unit with Insertion has a 4+ (on a d6) recovery save if they are Exhausted or Destroyed by Intercepting fighters on landing. Saved Destroyed results are reduced to Exhausted, whereas saved Exhausted units are available for combat operations.

MASH

A force with a MASH trait restores Exhausted units to combat. Each battalion equivalent with MASH as a trait can restore three battalion equivalents to the line.

Military Police

Units with this trait can suppress the negative consequences of a territory having different ethos from the rest of your state. You need 1 battalion-equivalent per CI in the territory to achieve this effect.

Mobile GTO Network

GTO Networks protect a 1:3 ratio of equivalent sized units from enemy ortillery, alongside the immediate area that the unit is stationed. Units protected against enemy ortillery fire that are targeted by it gain a +4 save on a d6 against the attack and on a pass do not have to make the damage check. Every GTO network past the first protecting the same target increases the success chances of a unit's save against ortillery by +1, up to a maximum saving throw of +2. Units with GTO Networks count as protecting themselves if targeted directly. Additionally every warship using ortillery against a target protected by a GTO network suffers a single Standoff attack per a round of bombardment of 5 attacks at base damage 6, per a battalion sized unit defending the target. Note: The only way to take this trait is with the GTO Defense Unit.

Secured

As with the ship trait, although this also represents improved loyalty.

SCIENCE

This unit is equipped to deal with Weird Shit. Primarily an out-of-combat effect but could have unconventional impact on combat from time to time.

Special Forces

These troops are trained for Black Ops and other off-the-books espionage work, they gain a +1 specialization bonus while on Espionage Ops, and do not contribute to Operational Loudness (unless tasked to do something especially loud).

(Terrain Type) Specialist

Some troops are specialized in fighting in particular types of terrain. These match the world types. Terrain specialists gain a bonus when fighting in their favored terrain, and are (story wise) also resistant to any excesses that type of terrain has to offer.

Resolving Ground Combat

Damage Saves

Ground units engaged in combat make ‘Damage Saves’. To make a damage save for a battalion, roll a d20. A result of 10-15 exhausts the battalion, and a result of 16-20 destroys it. Several things can modify the roll or result of a damage save, or even allow for one or more re-rolls. Exhaustion Exhausted units have taken enough casualties that they are effectively unusable for a quarter until they’ve been refreshed with replacements.

The following only apply to damage saves made as a result of ground combat, not interdiction or ortillery:

Mobility Advantage

Where ground combat is occurring, the side with the higher average mobility gets a -1 bonus to it’s damage saves,

Firepower Advantage

Where ground combat is occurring, the side with the higher average firepower inflicts a +1 penalty on damage daves to the opposing side.

Mission Priority

• A side fighting at high mission priority suffers a +2 penalty to damage saves.
• A side fighting at low mission priority gains a -2 bonus to damage saves.

Breakthrough

For every battalion with the breakthrough trait a side possesses, they may force one battalion on the other side to roll two damage saves and take the worse result. The units suffering this penalty must be picked before the damage saves are made. The breakthrough and Dig-in traits cancel each other out.

Dig in

Units with the dig in trait may roll two damage saves and take the better result. The breakthrough and Dig-in traits cancel each other out.

Engineers (and Assault)

A battalion with the ‘engineers’ trait gains a 4+ (on a d6) recovery save if they are Exhausted or Destroyed in combat. Recovered exhausted units are fine, and recovered destroyed units are merely exhausted. An opponent who has forces with the ‘Assault’ trait may cancel these recovery saves on a 1 btn to 1 btn basis. The player with Assault decides which recovery saves to counter before any rolls are made.

MASH

A force with a MASH trait restores Exhausted units to combat. Each battalion equivalent with MASH as a trait can restore three battalion equivalents to the line.

Losing

The side that lost a battle phase takes a +2 penalty to damage saves.

Ortillery

Ships in orbit or supporting a ground attack with the Ortillery Capability are capable of engaging and neutralizing ground targets. A Ship with Ortillery can force a number of ground units depending on the ship’s size to immediately make a Damage Save.

Ship Siz Ortillery Targets Escort 1 Battalion Equivalent Cruiser 3 Battalion Equivalent Capital 9 Battalion Equivalent

The player suffering the ortillery attack gets to choose what units are targeted.

Fighters

Interception and Dogfighting

Interception and dogfighting are handled the same as ship combat, with interface fighters acting as any other fighter squadron during interception and dogfighting. Any ‘extra’ fighters may go on to provide Interdiction of landing forces, or to ensure Air Superiority.

Interdiction

Defending Interface fighters that have not been intercepted may directly attack ground units that are attempting to land on a planet. Each un-intercepted interface fighter squadron may attack a single landing battalion. Ground battalions so attacked must make a Damage save, with a bonus of +4 added to the roll. The player suffering the interdiction attack(s) gets to choose what battalions are targeted.

Air Superiority

A ground battalion with the air defense trait counters one fighter squadron on the Air Superiority mission. A side with any number of un-countered fighters assigned to the Air Superiority mission receives a +1 to its battle resolution roll.

Battle Value (BV)

The BV of a battalion (btn) is the sum of its four stats. Battalions fighting in terrain they are specialized in add an additional one to their BV. The BV of a whole force is the average of the BV of its different battalions. The average mobility and firepower of the units should also be recorded, as they will have an effect on the number of casualties taken. Note that units exhausted or destroyed by ortillery or interdiction don’t fight, so there is no need to compute with BV.

Example:
A force consists of:
2 brigades (6 btn) of interface troops (Q2 M4 F2 M3) who are also specialized in the current terrain, so the BV of each interface btn is 12 (2 (quality) + 4 (mobility) + 2 (firepower) +3(morale) +1(specialization bonus).
2 divisions (18 btn) of mobile infantry (Q2 M2 F2 M2) with extra artillery; BV 9 (2 (quality) + 2 (mobility) + (2 +1 for artillery) (firepower) + 2 (morale)
And
1 armored division (9 btn) (Q2 M3 F3 M2); BV 10 per battalion.

So the average BV for the whole force (33 btn) is 9.82 ((6 * 12 + 18 * 9 + 9 * 10)/33)
The average mobility is 2.64 ((6 * 4 + 18 * 2 + 9 * 3)/33)
The average firepower is 2.82 ((6 * 2 + 18 * 3 + 9 * 3)/33)

Differing BV

Compare the BV of the two opposing forces, and round the difference between them. This difference is the bonus that the better quality force will have to their resolution roll.
Example:
The force above (BV 9.82) is fighting a force of mobile infantry (BV 8), (round(9.82-8) = 2), so they gain a +2 advantage to their battle resolution roll.

Relative Size

The Relative Size of units in combat is, again, based on the unit’s size. Battalions are the smallest possible unit, Brigades are larger than Battalions but smaller than Brigades, and Brigades are the largest. Three battalions make a brigade and three brigades make a division. Give the smaller force a 1 and the larger a 2. IF the larger force outnumbers it two to one, give the larger force a 4. If by three to one, a six; four to one, an eight.

Mission Priority

Sometimes a force is willing to rush the enemy guns, trading increased casualties to greater battlefield effectiveness, this is high mission priority; sometimes they are mainly interested in running out the clock, waiting for reinforcements, this is low mission priority.
Units fighting with high priority gain a +1 to their resolution roll, and units with low priority take a -1 to their resolution roll.

Leadership and Strategy

Both sides roll opposed d6 rolls, with each side getting a bonus to the roll depending on the plan of the force going into the battle and how it interacts with the other side’s plan. The winner of the roll adds the Lead (up to a maximum of +4) to their resolution roll.

Battle Resolution

Each side of the battle rolls a d20, adding and subtracting the bonuses and penalties above. The side with the higher roll has won this phase of the battle. Every battalion involved in the ground fighting (i.e. not those that have already been exhausted before the fighter started) then rolls a damage save. Units that lost the battle phase take a +2 penalty to their damage saves. See Damage Saves (above) for a longer list of what can affect them.

Time

A combat phase in ground combat represents a full quarter (one RL week), as all this abstraction really is simplification of protracted ground campaigns spanning hundreds of kilometers, with terrain and numerous other factors in play. This could be waived in some circumstances, like a couple of brigades being dropped on a battalion or whatever, at moderator’s discretion.

With the basic battle results resolved, moderators will then make a judgment if one side or the other withdraws or surrenders, based primarily on four

Boarding

Boarding is very hard to do, normally requiring specialized troops known as Espatiers. Under combat conditions it’s normally done very rarely, and most Espatier work is done post-combat as part of pursuit. Moderators will determine when Boarding operations can occur and handle resolution as shit’s complicated and not intended to be a mainline combat tactic.

Outdated Boarding Rules

These rules were originally written when it was thought boarding was to be a mainline combat tactic and are here for reference purposes only.

As a note, using a unit without the Boarding trait increases difficulty by 50%. Notably, lower tech-level units do not suffer a notable penalty for fighting in boarding actions-at close range, there’s only so many ways to skin a cat and the tech disparity isn’t as important as grit and big booms.

First, the boarding unit has to actually successfully dock with the target. Coming from a ship with a Boarding Pod module helps, while the enemy possessing the Flak trait makes things more difficult. It’s also generally more difficult if the ship has undamaged engines or is faster than the ship carrying the Espatiers.

Boarders can attempt to seize control of the ship- or do damage to it from the inside. Whichever is chosen by the controlling player when the boarding action starts.

Actually damaging a ship is the easier of the two. Every turn that an Espatier unit is on board a warship, it will do damage to the ship’s HP equal to the sum of its Quality and Firepower rating times two. Damage from all on board. If a ship is destroyed this way, then the Espatiers disembark.

Capturing a ship is the hard part. In order to capture a ship, an Espatier Unit has to make a capture check: this is, roughly, 1d8 + Quality + Mobility+ Firepower versus 10 + half the target’s logistics weight. Defending Espatier units force the attacker to instead overcome the full logistics weight of the target. Multiple attacking units may add together their numbers, with each battalion of Espatiers adding together their values (but the D8 is only added once).

A captured ship is effectively disabled, and can be seized by the victorious side after battle- or scuttled.

Every turn that an Espatier unit is onboard a ship, be it attempting to destroy it or attempting to capture it, that unit will have to make a Damage Save, adding the Size of the ship and the Firepower of any hostile Espatier units to the roll. A result of 12 or more has the boarding Espatiers forced to retreat. A result of 15 or more sees the Espatiers destroyed. A result of 9, 10, or 11 sees the Espatiers take casualties but continue the mission; if they succeed, then they will have to spend a quarter recovering from the losses.