Subject: sensor rules and Military Combat System Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 11:44:24 -0700 From: bmac@astro.ucla.edu (Bruce Alan Macintosh) To: craig_barnett@iname.com The sensor rules (called, in a fit of hubris, the "Definitive Sensor Rules" are floating around the web - possibly Joe's web site would be a good place. If you can't find them let me know and I'll be more specific. My work-in-progress Military Combat System follows. I would deeply welcome any comments from you, especially if you actually use it. I'm in the process of revising it for a more general release (including tweaking the balance between missiles and PD, and simplifying some of the damage recording.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a slightly old draft. In particular, the point defence and missile rules are being tweaked to balance them against each other - probably by applying only half of a ship's fire control to its point defence. Comments extremely welcome (especially involving people who design and playtest for the system.) This system still needs a name: I'm waffling between "Military Combat System" (MCS for the acronym types), or (drumroll), "Fusion Guard". Several people have provided important advice or assistance so far - most noteably (in no particular order) Rob Brennan, Doug Berry (several ship designs), Merrick, John MacPherson, Eris, Thanasis Kinias, and Anders Backman, (the God of Log Scales.) Andrew Akins is working on an adaptation to his magnificent FFS2 spreadsheet to calculate combat values on this system. GDW's Battle Rider and High Guard products were (obviously) major inspirations. Traveller is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises. Portions of this material are Copyright 1977-1997 Far Future Enterprises. The underlying system is Copyright 1998 by Bruce Macintosh (bmac@astro.ucla.edu) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a draft for a space combat damage system for T4.1. The goal was to have a system that is relatively quick to use, produces reasonable results, and scales well from tiny ships to large ships - ideally something that's slightly more reasonable than High Guard (and hence vastly more reasonable than T4.0). One major (potentially controversial) decision was to abandon the USD chart from T4 (which came from BR, originally) and replace it with a clean log-type chart. This has enormous advantages, since multiplication on a log scale becomes addition - one can model fire of a squadron of hundreds of fighters just by adding +9 to the USD of one fighter, for example. However, it means that one has to labour (briefly!) with a table to convert T4 stats into this new system. The rules include model to-hit and damage, but include only abstract movement rules; they may be adapted to a hexgrid map, though. I would welcome any and all commentary. A lot of tweaking has gone into it to get the level of lethality right - but it's not perfect. The way weapons scale in FFSx tend to mean that weapons get less powerful relative to the ships that carry them as ships get bigger. If we want (which people seem to) big capital ship spinal mounts to be fairly dangerous, an unavoidable consequence is that small ship engagements become extremely dangerous - typically only a couple of solid laser hits required to cripple a 100-ton ship. This is probably realistic (small ship combat is pretty lethal today) but not optimal; the optional "PC survivability" rule tries to deal with this (and may be made mandatory, as it also addresses the balance between laser and PAW weapons.) (For people who are familiar only with Traveller: The New Era, T4's version of Fire, Fusion and Steel uses basically the same system, except that reactionless thruster plates are now (again) the canonical drive system, all weapon/armour values are scaled up by 1.4, and sensors are on a fancy new log scale. TNE players should still be able to use these rules by tracking maneuver fuel, ignoring sensors, and paying attention during the conversion.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.0 USD format: The "combat" USD of a ship (as opposed to non-combat info like cargo, etc.) should look something like this: Class: Midu Agashaan TL:15 Type: DD Displacement: 3000 tons Size: 5 Armour: 11 Toughness: 10 Maneuver: 6 Jump: 4 Power: 10 GTolerance: 8 JFuel:1200 tons Cargo: 19 tons Crew: 52 Troops: 10 Passengers: 3 Computers: 10xFib Sensors: PEMS:1x14 AEMS: 1x12 LIDAR: 4x15.5 1x13.5 1x11.5 Signature: Vis:-1 IR: 0 Active: 0 Lidar: -0.5 Fire Control: +6 (all batteries) Weapons should be rated in a USD format with ROF, followed by Penetration: Damage at very short, medium, and long range, and a Point Defence rating for shooting down missiles: (ROF) (Pen:Dam Pen:Dam Pen:Dam Pen:Dam) VShort Short Medium Long range range range range eg 4xLaser Turret (+2) (14:8 14:8 14:8 14:8) PointDef: 2 1 turret each Some weapons are capable of damaging targets out to Extreme range and hence are rated at 5 ranges: eg 4xLaser Battery (+3) (15:10 15:10 15:10 15:10 15:10) PointDef: 5 2 turrets each Spinal PAW (+1) (15:15 15:15 15:15 15:15 15:15) Missile batteries are given with the missiles salvo strength (similar to an ROF) and Penetration:Damage, together with the missile's evasion rating (a measure of how difficult to hit it is) and the number of salvos carried. eg 4 x Missile Barbettes: (+2)19:13 (-6 size&evade) 3 salvos each. 2 missiles per salvo, 12 salvoes in cargo. Sandcasters are rated with two numbers - one used for each of the two optional sandcaster rulesets. The first number (always negative) is the sandcaster "Screen" value, for use with the optional "sand clouds" rules. The second (always postiive) is the sandcaster "Armour" value for use with the standard "blocking sand" rules. eg 1 x Sandcaster battery: -2: 12 30 cannisters Batteries of nuclear damper turrets have only a Point Defence rating: eg 2 x Damper Turret PointDef: +1 Meson screens are given a Protection rating: eg Meson Screen: 12 In addition, the average skill level and attribute of the crew should be noted for the purpose of resolving tasks. If the crew are PCs, their individual skills may be used; otherwise the level of skill (and average attribute) depends on the crew quality: Crew Quality Skill Skill+Attribute Green 1 7 Trained 2 9 Line 4 12 Crack 6 14 Elite 8 17 Section 6 explains how to rate ships and weapons under this new USD system. 2.0 Combat Sequence [This section is very rough - someday a better movement system will show up here.] Combat turns should follow this sequence if using an abtract (no map) system. Players using a board movement system (RPSC, BL, BR) should instead follow that system's sequence of play and substitute these rules for to-hit and damage only. 1. Allocate acceleration to maneuver, aiming, and evasion. Group ships into squadrons (Optional) 2. Roll for initiative 3. Determine range (Ships may deploy sand if using Sand Cloud rules) 4. Fire Missiles 5. Fire weapons 5.1 Check for sensor lock 5.2 (Target may deploy sand if using Sand Cloud rules.) 5.3 Roll to hit 5.3.1 Target fires "Blocking Sand" if using those rules. 5.4 Penetrate screen 5.5 Resolve surface damage 5.6 Penetrate armour 5.7 Resolve interior damage 2.1 Acceleration Each ship's acceleration can be allocated to three purposes: maneuver (moving to close or expand the range), evasion (dodging enemy fire) and aiming (aiming a spinal mount at hostile targets.) The total number of G's allocated to these purposes by each ship cannot exceed the ship's acceleration. Each ship in a fleet or squadron must allocate the same number of G's to maneuver but may allocate different amounts to evasion or aiming. Evasion G's effects are covered in the section on hit procedure below. Aiming G's are an optional rule: a ship with a spinal mount must allocate at least one-half of it's total current acceleration (round down) to aiming, or suffer a -1 on the spinal mounts rate of fire. A ship that allocates no G's to aiming suffers a -2 on rate of fire. The maximum number of G's a ship's crew can tolerate without penalty is listed as its G-tolerance. For each G the ship's total acceleration (manuever + evasion + aiming) exceeds this, all tasks are 1 die more difficult. If 1 G or more is spent on evasion, reduce the G-tolerance by 1 (evasion Gs are more unpredictable and hence harder to tolerate.) Example: a squadron contains three ships - a battleship with acceleration 4 G, a damaged battleship with acceleration 3G, and a destroyer with acceleration 6 G. The squadron commander decides to allocate 2 Gs to maneuver for all ships. The intact battleship allocates the other 2 Gs of its acceleration to aiming. The damaged battleship would need to allocate 1.5 Gs (half its damaged acceleration) to aiming, which it cannot do, so it allocates 0.5 G to aiming and 0.5 to evasion, and will suffer a -1 on its spinal ROF. The destroyer, with no spinal mount, allocates its remaining 4 Gs to evasion. 2.1.1 Squadrons (Optional) Each side may also group its ships into one or more squadrons - a squadron being a group of ships operating closely together (within several thousand km) for mutual protection. The fleet may be grouped into as many squadrons as desired. Each ship in a squadron must have the same number of G's allocated to evasion. Ships may also be allocated to the Reserve Squadron. The Reserve Squadron is two range bands farther from the enemy than the body of the fleet. There must always be more ships in the main body than in the Reserve. Reserve Squadron ships may not fire their spinal mounts. 2.2 Initiative: each side rolls 2d, plus the Fleet Tactics of the commanding admiral, plus the twice number of G's allocated to maneuver by that side. 2.3 Range: The winner of initative may decide to increase or decrease the range by one band or hold it constant. 2.4 Firing weapons: the procedure is described in the following sections. All damage takes effect at the end of the turn. Each player presents their ships for fire in decreasing order of size, alternating between players, starting with the largest ship on the side that won initiative. The opposing player then states which ships and weapons will fire at that ship. If using the "Sand Cloud" rule the target may deploy a sand cloud if certain conditions are met. 2.4.1 Sensor lock: the simplest sensor rule is to ignore all sensors. The second simplest is to require that a ship have a functional LIDAR for all weapons fire. The third-simplest (a subset of the Definitive Sensor rules) is given in the Optional Rule section. 3.0 Hit procedure: To determine if the target is hit, roll several dice (depending on range) and compare to Gunnery skill + Fire Control Rating + Weapon ROF modifier + Target Size - Evasion Factor Range Dice Evasion Factor Evasion Factor (laser or PAW) (meson) VShort 1d (Easy) 0.5 x Evasion G's 1 x Evasion G's Short 2d (Average) 1 x Evasion G's 2 x Evasion G's Medium 3d (Formid.) 2 x Evasion G's 4 x Evasion G's Long 4d (Stagger.) 4 x Evasion G's 8 x Evasion G's Extreme 5d (Imposs.) 8 x Evasion G's 16x Evasion G's (Task difficulty levels on the T4.1 scale are given for reference purposes.) Fire by missiles (or ships/fighters that have closed to exceptionally short ranges) use two special range bands: Range Dice Evasion Factor Evasion Factor (laser or PAW) (meson) Impact 1d3-1 0 x Evasion G's 0 x Evasion G's Point Blank 1d3 0.25 x Evasion G's 0.5 x Evasion G's For players using hexboards, the range bands correspond to the following distances (given in tenth-light-second "Brilliant Lances" hexes): Range Distance Impact 0.01 Point Blank 0.5 VShort 1-5 Short 6-10 Medium 11-20 Long 21-40 Extreme 41-80 For example, a Line crew (Gunner-4) is firing the Midu's laser turret at a 100-ton escort. The target number is 4 (Gunnery) + 6 (Fire Control) + 1 (ROF) + 2 (size) = 13. If the target was at Medium range, one would roll 3d and compare to this target number. Ships may devote some fraction of their maneuver capability to evasion. The number of G's devoted to evasion is multiplied by a factor depending on the range and subtracted from the target number. (Note that these modifiers are doubled for meson weapons.) If the escort above was evading with 4 G's of acceleration, the target number would be decreased by 2 x 4 = 8, for a target number of 5 (substantially harder; small ships evading at long and extreme ranges are very hard to hit without very high ROF weapons.) Round fractions of 0.5 or less down, greater than 0.5 up (so a 1-G ship evading at Short range gets an evasion modifier of -1.) For every 2 points by which the to-hit roll is made, increase the damage (but not penetration!) of the weapon by 1 point, up to a maximum increase equal to the weapon's ROF bonus, to represent multiple hits. For example, if the Midu gunner firing at the non-evading scout rolled a 10, the laser's damage would be increased to 9. If the gunner rolled a 8, the damage would still only be 9. Squadron Fire: a group of ships or fighters in a squadron may combine their weapons fire to attempt to damage a target that would otherwise be too large. Each ship must be armed with exactly the same weapons. The attempt is resolved as a single to-hit roll (using the average skill of the ships in the squardon), with the ROF increased based on the number of ships firing: Number of ships ROF Bonus 1 0 2-3 1 4-7 2 8-16 3 17-31 4 32-63 5 64-127 6 256-512 7 This ROF bonus will typically result in increased damage, at least at short ranges. (Example: a squadron of 32 fighters armed with (+1)(13:7 12:6 11:5 10:4) lasers is firing at a light cruiser (size code 15.) Normally the fighters would be hard-pressed unable to damage the cruiser - even at short range, the maximum damage rating would be 8 (base of 7 plus 1 for ROF), incapable of damaging the cruiser. However, if all thirty fire together, their ROF bonus is increased to +6, and the fighters can do up to 13 points of damage. These rules may also be used to group multiple batteries on a single ship together. 4.0 Missiles Missiles are fired during the "fire missiles phase". Missiles fired at Very Short, Short, or Medium range strike their targets during the fire phase of the same turn. Missiles fired at Long or Extreme range strike their targets during the fire phase of the next turn. The target of a missile is revealed only when it attacks. 4.1 Fire vs Missiles: Point Defence Missiles that are attacking a ship during the current turn may be fired at before they attack using a special kind of fire called "Point Defence Fire." Only the target ship and ships in the same squadron with it may use Point Defence Fire. Point Defence Fire is carried out immeditately before a given missile salvo attacks a ship. Only batteries that have not yet fired may be used for Point Defence, and those batteries may not later fire at any other enemy ships. All laser batteries use their point defence rating for PD fire. Add together (gunnery skill/2) + fire control + Point Defence Rating. (Round fractions down when dividing gunnery skill.) Subtract the missile's size/evasion modifier and salvo strength. The result is the point defence target; to succeed, the gunner must roll less than or equal to this number on 1d6 (for missiles at Point Blank range) or 1d3 (Impact range.) Example: the Midu's laser battery is firing at a +3 missile salvo. The target is 3 (gunnery/2) + 6 (fire control) + 5 (Point Defence) - 6 (missile evasion) - 2 (salvo stength) for a total of 5. Batteries may group together using the Squadron Fire rules to increase their Point Defence Rating. 4.2 Nuclear dampers: Nuclear damper batteries fire using the Point Defence rules above. However, the missile salvo gets no size/evasion modifier. 4.3 Missile attack The quick missile rule: Semi or Fully independent laser missiles always hit their target. Add the missile's salvo strenght to its damage value for the final damage level. The long missile rule: When laser (chemical or x-ray) missiles attack their target they use the normal laser hit procedure, at Point Blank, using the missile's salvo strength in place of ROF. Controlled missiles use the Gunner's skill and base evasion modifiers on the range from the controlling ship to the target ship. Semi-independent missiles use the half the Gunner's skill and evasion modifiers based on Point Blank range (0.25 * evasion G's.). Fully independent missiles use their fire control rating (or zero if they don't posess an MFD) and no gunnery skill. Fragmentation missiles detonate at Impact range but use the "Medium" range line of the to-hit chart (rolling 2 dice, and using 2xEvasion G's for evasion bonus); fragmentation missiles must always be semi or fully indepent. These rules are summarized in the following chart: Missile Type Range To-hit To-hit Evasion Mod dice target Laser, controlled PB 0.5 Gunner skill+ (firing ship range) ship FC + target size + salvo strength Laser, SIM PB 0.5 0.5*Gunner+ 0.25 * evasion G's missile FC+ target size+ salvo strength Laser, FIM PB 0.5 Missile FC+ 0.25 * evasion G's target size+ salvo strength Fragmentation, SIM Impact 2 0.5*Gunner+ 2 * evasion G's missile FC+ target size+ salvo strength Fragmentation, FIM Impact 2 Missile FC+ 2 * evasion G's target size+ salvo strength 5.0 Damage Resolving a hit is a several step process. Lasers and PAWs hit both the surface and (if they penetrate armour) the interior of a ship. Meson weapons hit only the interior (if they penetrate the meson screen.) 1. Penetrate Sand or Screen. 2. Surface Hit: a. Determine the severity of the hit b. Determine the location of the hit c. Apply effects of damage 3. Interior hit: a. Determine if hit penetrates the armour or meson screen b. Determine the severity of the hit c. Determine the location of the hit d. Apply effects of damage e. Apply crew hits 5.1 Sand and Screens Screens: Meson screens are given a protection rating, roughly indicating the level of meson weapon they can expect to block. Each time a meson weapon hits, the screen operator rolls a Average (2d) task against his Screens+INT asset. (For large fleet engagements this step can be skipped and meson screens can be assumed to always operate at normal level.) Success indicates the meson screen is applied against the attack at full value. Failure indicates the meson screen rating is reduced by 3; spectacular success indicates it is increased by 3. The meson screen value is then compared to the meson weapon Penetration using the armour table in section 5.4. Sandcasters: [Designer's note: I haven't decided between two sandcaster approaches - the "Sand Cloud" approach, which visualizes big clouds of pre-deployed sand, or the "Blocking Sand" approach, which is more High-Guard-style - sandcasters deploy to block one laser attack.] Sandcasters block laser weapons and detonation-laser attacks. They have no effect on PAW, meson, or energy weapons. Chose one of two rules (Blocking Sand or Sand Cloud) before each game: Blocking Sand (recommended): Each time a laser weapon hits a target ship, and that ship has sandcaster batteries that have not yet fired, the ship may fire one sandcaster battery to block the attack. Blocking an attack is an Average(2d) task against the operators Screens+INT asset. If the roll succeeds, apply the sandcaster's Armour value as armour against the laser's Damage Value - *not* the laser's penetration, but the DV of the whole battery - using the Armour table in 4.4. Once a sandcaster battery has fired it may not fire again until the next turn. Example: A single laser turret (Pen: 11 DV: 8) hits a target defended by a single sandcaster (Armour: 8.) The operator succeeds in the sandcaster task roll. Since the sandcaster Armour equals the laser DV, the laser DV is reduced by 3 before being applied to any surface hits. If a second laser hit the target the sandcaster would have no effect. Sand Cloud (more realistic): In this version, ships deploy sand clouds that last for a whole turn, usually before enemy fire. After the range determination step each player announces which ships are deploying sand clouds, with the player who lost the initiative going first. A sand cloud is deployed between a ship and a particular enemy ship or squadron, applying only to weapons fire to or from that enemy unit. Sand may also be deployed during the firing phase, at the moment a ship is declared to be a target of enemy fire. If the target ship has not yet fired its weapons deployment is automatic. If the target ship has fired its weapons, deployment requires a succesful Staggering (4d) roll against Ship Tactics + INT. Once a sand cloud has been deployed, all laser fire through that cloud - from the enemy ships the cloud has been deployed against to the deploying ship, or vice versa - has its Penetration and Damage Value reduced by the Screen value of the cloud. If the deploying ship's captain makes a succesful Staggering (4d) roll against Ship Tactics + INT the deploying ship may ignore this modifier for outgoing fire. The modifier always applies vs incoming fire. A deployed sand cloud also reduces the ship's LIDAR signature and sensitivity by 0.5. Example: A single laser turret (Pen: 11 DV: 8) hits a target defended by a sandcaster battery (Screen: -2.) The laser is reduced to Pen: 9 DV: 6. If the sand-deploying ship wished to return fire, its own laser fire would be similarly attenuated unless the ship's captain made a Ship Tactics roll. 5.2 Severity The severity of any hit is determined by taking the DV of the weapon, subtracting the target size, and adding 1d6: d6+DV-target toughness Effect 0 or less No effect +1 to +3 Light damage +4 to +6 Heavy damage +7 to +8 Critical damage +9 2x Critical damage +10 3x Critical damage +11 4x Critical damage etc. (2x damage indicates two hits should be resolved with seperate hit location rolls, etc.) 5.3 Surface Hits Surface hit locations are rolled on the following chart: 3d6 Location 3 Spinal Mount Aperture 4 Bay Weapon 5 Launch Port 6-8 Turret Weapon 9-10 Sensor 11-12 No Effect 13-14 Drop Tanks or Grappled Craft 15-17 PP Radiator 18 Armour Weak Spot The effects of a hit depend on the location hit and the severity. All hits on non-existent facilities (eg weapon on unarmed ships) are treated as "No Effect". Exception: bay hits on a ship with no weapon bays are treated as turret hits. Spinal Mount Aperture: Light: No effect Heavy: Reduce spinal mount USD by 2 points. Critical: Reduce spinal mount USD by 3 points. Bay Weapon: Light Damage: One bay weapon USD is reduced by one point. Heavy Damage: One bay weapon battery USD is reduced by 3 points. Critical Damage: One bay weapon battery is destroyed. Launch Port: Light Damage: The ship loses one launch facility per 10000 tons. If the ship is less than 5000 tons, the launch facility is only damaged; no craft may be launched or recovered for one turn. Heavy Damage: The ship loses one launch facility per 2000 tons. Critical Damage: The ship may not launch or recover carried craft. Turret Weapon: Light Damage: One turret weapon battery USD is reduced by one point Heavy Damage: One turret weapon battery USD is reduced by 3 points. Critical Damage: One turret weapon battery is destroyed [Note: for normally-designed ships the battery hit can be selected randomly, but see the "Weasel rule" below...] Antenna/Sensor: Roll 2d6 for the affected system: 2 Communicator (choose one randomly) 3-4 LIDAR (choose one randomly) 5-6 AEMS (always hits the largest AEMS) 7-9 PEMS (always hits the largest PEMS) 10-11 ECM jammer (chose randomly) 12 decoy dispenser (choose one randomly) Communicators, LIDARs: Light Damage: One system per is destroyed; if target size < 1000 tons, one system is damaged (reduce sensitivity by 3 points.) Heavy Damage: One system per 5000 tons is destroyed (minimum 1) Critical Damage: One system per 1000 tons is destroyed (minimum 1.) AEMS, PEMS, jammers Light Damage: The affected sensor's sensitivity is reduced by 0.5 Heavy Damage: The affected sensor's sensitivity is reduced by 1 point Critical: the affected sensor is destroyed No Effect: The weapon hits bare hull (but is still resolved against the interior.) [Optionally, roll 1d6. On a 1, the jump grid is damaged if the hit is Heavy or greater; add 1 to chance of misjump. On a 6, the stealthing is damaged (if any); increase all signatures by +0.5 (maximum of one such increase.) Drop Tanks: (If carried): Light Damage: one-tenth of J-1 worth of fuel in tanks is lost. Heavy Damage: J-1 worth of fuel in drop tanks is lost Critical Damage: all fuel in drop tanks is lost Grappled Craft: Resolve the hit against one carried craft (chose randomly.) Power Plant Radiator: Light Damage: Increase IR signature by 0.5 point Heavy Damage: Reduce the power plant's output by 1 point and increase IR signature by 1 point. Critical Damage: Reduce the power plant's output by 2 points and increase IR signature by 1 point The maximum signature increase from any combination of radiator hits is 2 points. Weak Point: The weapon hits a region where the target armour is thin; apply to the interior but reduce the target's armour by 6 points for this one hit. Surface hit example: the spinal PAW hits the Midu given above. The hit location rolled is "4" - turret weapon. The roll for severity is "3", so the total severity is (3 + 14 (weapon DV) - 11 (target size)) = Heavy damage. The Midu's laser battery is reduced from (14:13 14:13 14:13 14:13) to (14:10 14:10 14:10 14:10) 4.4 Armour penetration After hitting the surface, the hit carries over into the interior. First, it must penetrate the target's armour. Compare the penetration value to the target armour: Armour Table Pen Value Effect Pen Val < armour no penetration (no interior hit.) Pen Val = Armour Partial penetration (reduce DV by 3 points) Pen Val = Armour+1 Partial penetration (reduce DV by 2 points) Pen Val = Armour+2 Partial penetration (reduce DV by 1 point) Pen Val > Armour+2 Full penetration (use full DV) 4.5 Interior Hits The severity of an interior hit is determined as for a surface hit: d6+DV-target toughness Effect 0 or less No effect +1 to +3 Light damage +4 to +6 Heavy damage +7 to +8 Critical damage +9 2x Critical damage +10 3x Critical damage +11 4x Critical damage etc. The hit location is then rolled: 3d6 3-4 Electronics/Bridge (C) 5 Spinal Mount 6 Missile Magazine (C) 7 Turret Weapon 8 Bay Weapon 9 Cargo/Fittings (C) on fittings 10 Fuel 11 Crew Quarters 12 Power Plant (C) 13 Manuever Drive (C) 14 Jump Drive (C) 15 Hanger (C) 16 Screens (C) 17-18 Special Critical Hit (C) Hits marked with a (C) can cause crew casualties - see below. The effects of a hit depend on the location hit and the severity. All hits on non-existent facilities (weapon on unarmed ships) are re-rolled. Electronics/Bridge: Roll 1d6: 1: Bridge. Light: All tasks at +1 die for one turn. Heavy: Bridge damaged. All tasks at +1 die for remainder of battle unless a auxilliary bridge is available. Critical: Bridge destroyed. Ship may not maneuver or fire for one turn. All tasks at +1 die for remainder of battle unless a auxilliary bridge is available. 2-3: Fire Control. Light: One MFD destroyed per 10000 tons Heavy: One MFD destroyed per 1000 tons and reduce all FC ratings by 1. Critical: All MFDs destroyed. Reduce FC rating to zero. 4: Computer Light: one computer damaged (or destroyed if ship < 1000 tons) All tasks at +1 die unless a backup is available. Heavy: one computer destroyed per 1000 tons (minimum 1.) Ship may not maneuver or fire unless a backup is available. Critical: All computers destroyed. Ship may not maneuver or fire for one turn. All tasks at +1 die for remainder of battle. Non-fiber computers struck by a PAW have the severity level of the hit increased by one level (Light becomes heavy, heavy becomes critical.) 5-6: Sensor: Light: All sensor sensitivities reduced by 0.5 Heavy: All sensor sensitivities reduced by 1 Critical: All sensors sensitivities reduced by 2 Spinal Mount: Light Damage: One spinal weapon USD is reduced by one point. Heavy Damage: One spinal weapon USD is reduced by 3 points. Critical Damage: One spinal weapon is destroyed. Bay Weapon: Light Damage: One bay weapon USD is reduced by one point. Heavy Damage: One bay weapon battery USD is reduced by 3 points. Critical Damage: One bay weapon battery is destroyed. Missile Magazine: Light Damage: 10% of full missile load destroyed Heavy Damage: 25% of full missile load destroyed Critical Damage: All carried missiles destroyed If a ship has chemically-propelled missiles on board (generally only TL9 or below), any missile hit has a 50% chance of causing a secondary explosion (see below.) Turret Weapon: Light Damage: One turret weapon USD is reduced by one point Heavy Damage: One turret weapon battery USD is reduced by 3 points. Critical Damage: One turret weapon battery is destroyed Cargo/Fittings: Roll d6: 1-2 is cargo, 3-6 is fittings (eg machine shops), -2 for freighters Light damage: 1% of carried cargo is destroyed, or one fitting per 10000 dTons is destroyed Heavy damage: 10% of carrried cargo is destroyed, or 1 fitting per 5000 dTons Critical: All cargo is destroyed or all fittings of one type are destroyed Hanger: Light Damage: 1% (minimum 1) carried craft suffers one Critical surface and interior hit. Heavy Damage: 10% of carried craft are destroyed and one launch facility is destroyed Critical: All carried craft are destroyed and all launch facilities are destroyed Fuel: Light damage: Fuel equal to 0.1% of ship's displacement is lost Heavy damage: Fuel equal to 1% of ship's displacement is lost Critical: Fuel equal to 10% of ship's displacement is lost If only power plant fuel is present, ignore Light and Heavy fuel hits. Critical fuel hits destroy fuel equal to 1% of the ship's displacement. Note that even if all fuel is destroyed, the power plant will continue to operate for 1d6 days on internally stored fuel; fuel hits mainly affect jump potential. Crew Quarters: Light damage: 1% of crew quarters destroyed/rendered useless. Heavy damage: 10% of crew quarters destroyed/rendered useless. Critical: 100% of crew quarters destroyed/rendered useless. In addition, any passengers suffer the equivalent of a "C" hit. Screens: Light damage: Reduce USD of meson screen by 1 point Heavy damage: Reduce USD of meson screen by 3 points Critical damage: One meson screen is destroyed Power Plant: Light damage: Reduce power plant rating by 1 for one turn. Heavy damage: Reduce power plant rating by 1 permanantly. Critical: Power plant destroyed. Generally, each point of power plant damage reduces maneuver by one or disables one weapon battery per two points. (Applying the "weasel rule" if necessary.) Optionally, designers may track how much power each weapon battery or major system requires. Maneuver Drive: Light damage: Reduce maneuver rating by 1 for one turn. Heavy damage: Reduce maneuver rating by 1 permanantly. Critical: Maneuver drive destroyed. Jump Drive: Light damage: Add +1 DM to chance of misjump. Heavy damage: Reduce jump rating by 1. Critical: Jump drive destroyed. Special Critical Hit: Roll 1d6: 1-2: Secondary Explosion: Reroll two interior hits one level more severe (light become heavy, heavy becomes critical; if the original was critical damage reroll 3 critical damage hits.) 3: Electronics power spike: Apply the hit to all electronics systems 4: Life Support: Light damage: No air recycling until repaired. Heavy damage: Reduce G-tolerance by 1G. Critical damage: G-comp and air recycling destroyed. Reduce G-tolerance to 2. 5-6: Structural damage: Light damage: reduce max. acceleration by 1. Heavy damage: reduce armour rating and max accel. by 1. Spinal mount may not be fired. Reduce toughness by 1 for all future damage purposes. Critical damage: Ship explodes. Crew Casualties: all interior hit locations marked with a (C) can cause crew casualties, based on the damage level: Light Damage: 1 crew per 5000 tons (round up) disabled. (If ship is less than 5000 tons, 1 crew member is injured but not disabled.) Heavy Damage: 1 crew per 2000 tons (round up) disabled Critical Damage: 2 crew per 1000 tons (round up) disabled Disabled crew members are killed one-third of the time (1-2 on d6) and heavily injured the remainder of the time. The effects of crew losses are factored into the damage results, so crew casualties have no additional effect in combat. Meson weapons and PAWs inflict double the number of crew casualties, representing radiation injuries. Double all crew casualties if crew is not wearing vacc suits. Example: the PAW hit described above continues. The weapon's penetration (14) is equal to the target armour (12) plus 2, so the weapon's damage value is reduced one point, to 13. The roll for severity is a 6, so the total severity is 6 + 13 (weapon DV reduced for armour) - 11 (target size) equals 8, a Critical hit. A 12 is rolled for hit location and the Midu's power plant is destroyed. In addition, 6 crew members are disabled. 4.5.1 Component Armour Some ships will have armoured comparments surrouding specific components (the bridge, for example.) This should be noted - together with the armour value of the component armour - on the ship's USD. When a laser or PAW hit strikes the armoured component, compare the penetration of the attack to the armour value. If the penetration is less than the armour value, the hit has no effect. If the penetration is equal to the armour value, the hit severity is reduced by one level (Critical becomes Heavy, Heavy becomes Light, Light becomes No Effect.) 4.5.2 Torodial PAWs (TPAWs) Torodial particle accelerators are sometimes installed in weapons bays; they are much more compact and efficient than conventional (linear) PAWs but also more vulnerable to damage. When a TPAW is hit - even with Light damage - it is always completely disabled. 5.0 Optional Rules 5.1 Optional sensor rule: When a ship wishes to fire, compare Signal = (Firing ship sensor rating) + (Target Signature) to the following table to determine if a sensor lock occurs: Range passive/LIDAR active signal needed for lock needed for lock Impact 10.0 9.5 Point-Blank 11.5 11.0 Very Short 12.0 11.5 Short 12.5 12.0 Medium 13.0 12.5 Long 13.5 13.0 Extreme 14.0 13.5 If the sensor operator makes a succesful Formidable (3d) roll against his (sensor skill + int), increase the sensitivity of all the ship's sensors by 0.5 for the duration of the turn. If the ship only has one operational sensor decrease the sensitivity by 0.5 (since it must use the sensor both for tracking and scanning.) Targets that are hiding or not firing weapons have their signature reduced by 0.5. Alternatively, use the Definitive Sensor rules and all the modifiers therin. ECM is handled in the Definitive Sensor Rules as well (but may be added here some day in the future.) 5.2 Optional Damage Rule 1 (The "weasel rule"): Exceptionally treachorous ship designers will "pad out" their ship designs with many disposable single-weapon batteries. The best solution is not to play with people like that, but if you feel obliged to, and are confronted with a design with 2/3 or more of its batteries being 2 or more points weaker than its strongest battery, you can invoke the "weasel rule" for all weapons hits. Every other weapons hit (even-numbered hits) hits a battery of the firing players chosing rather than a randomly-selected battery. 5.3 Optional Damage Rule 2 (The "PC Survivability Rule") Laser weapon hits roll 1d3 for their damage level rather than 1d6. PAWs and meson weapons roll 1d6 normally. This rule may be made mandatory depending on how future experience shows the balance between lasers and PAWs. 5.4 Spread Fire A battery of weapons normally concentrates its fire on a single point. Alternatively, a gunner may opt to spread out the fire of the various weapons in the battery, increasing hit probability but decreasing damage. Using spread fire the gunner may increase the battery's ROF but must decrease the battery's damage by 2 points for every 1 point of increased ROF. The maximum ROF that can thus be achieved is equal to the weapon's Point Defence Rating. 5.5 Attacking squadrons or swarms A single battery attacking a squadron may opt to spread its fire to hit multiple ships in that squadron. Use the normal to-hit procedure and use the size modifiers for the most common type of ship in the squadron. For each point the to-hit roll is made by, multiple targets are hit: # of points # of ships hit 0-1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 6 6 8 7 11 8 16 9 23 10 30 11 42 12 60 13 85 14 120 15 170 16 240 Once all ships in the squadron have been hit, for each two extra points the to-hit roll was made by, increase the damage to all ships by one point. Optionally, when firing at very large fighter swarms, the attacker may opt to only roll the severity and hit location once and apply the same result to every fighter in the swarm. When using these rules to fire at missile salvos, reduce the to-hit roll by two points to reflect the need for multiple hits to definitely kill a missile; all missiles hit are then destroyed, and the strength of the salvo can be recomputed using the rules for rating missile salvoes in the next section. 5.6 Quick combat rule ("Battle Rider Style") For large fleet engagements, one can ignore "light" and "heavy" hits, and remove the die roll for damage level. Instead, each hit does a number of criticals equal to (damage value)-(toughness). Optionally, if (damage value-toughness) equals zero, score a Heavy hit. In addition, treat armour as "all or nothing": if the Penetration is less than or equal to the armour value the shot does not penetrate to the interior. 5.7 Countermissiles Missile salvoes may be fired to intercept other missile salvoes during the point defence stage. Add together the salvo strength and size/evasion rating of the intercepting missile salvo; subtract the salvo strength and evasion rating of the incoming missile salvo. The result is the target number that must be rolled on 1d6 to intercept the salvo. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.0 Rating designs: 6.1 Toughness/Size/Armour The ship's base toughness is found from the following chart: Mass Toughness Code (tonnes) 0.0-2.1 -7 2.1-3 -6 3.1-5 -5 5.1-9 -4 10-19 -3 20-29 -2 30-49 -1 50-99 0 100-199 1 200-299 2 309-499 3 500-999 4 1000-1999 5 2000-2999 6 3000-4999 7 5000-9999 8 10000-19999 9 20000-29999 10 or A 30000-49999 11 or B 50000-99999 12 or C 100000-199999 13 or D 200000-299999 14 or E 300000-399999 15 or F 500000-999999 16 or G 1000000-1999999 17 or H 2000000-2999999 18 or J 3000000-3999999 19 or K 5000000-9999999 20 or L 1000000+ 21 or M If only a ship's displacement is known, not mass, then use (displacement*10) in place of mass on the above table. The final toughness is modified based on the ship's nature: Ship is >70% cargo plus fuel (by volume): -1 Ship is High Automation: -1 Ship is Open Frame: -1 Displacement Size Code (dTons) 0.00-0.15 -4 0.16-0.5 -3 0.6-1.0 -2 1.1-3 -1 3.1-10 0 11-30 1 31-100 2 101-300 3 301-1000 4 1001-3000 5 3001-10000 6 10001-30000 7 30001-100000 8 100001-300000 9 300001-1000000 10 A ship's armour rating is found from the USD chart. (Divide FFS2 armour values by 1.4 before using the USD chart.) Example: a 3000 d-ton ship has an armour of 100. It will have a toughness rating of 11, a size of 5, and a armour value of 12. A 10000-ton modular tanker with high automation would have a Toughness of 10. A ship's power plant rating is found by dividing its total power plant output by the power required to maneuver at 1 G - normally equal to 0.025 MW times the ships mass, or 0.35 MW per displacement ton. A ship's G-tolerance is equal to its G-compensation plus 2. Ships with G-tanks for all workstation crew increase this by 1. 6.1 Weapons Weapons may be grouped in batteries according to the designer's preferences. A battery always requires one gunner (regardless of the number of turrets in the battery), either at a seperate work station or at a workstation in one of the turrets in the battery. A battery should normally also have its own MFD. If the ship has more batteries than MFDs, either (a) some batteries should be permanantly noted as lacking MFDs, or (b) a note should be made of the total number of MFDs present in the ship's "Fire Control" line (like the "Midu" example above.) Bay weapons and multiple parallel spinal mounts are not normally grouped into batteries but may be. Weapon batteries may be evaluated in three different ways depending on their range: Normal batteries require a beam pointer of at least 150,000 km range and have their performance evaluated at 5 hexes for Very Short damage, 10 hexes for Short, 20 hexes for Medium, and 40 hexes for Long. Extended-range batteries require a beam pointer of 300,000 km range and are evaluated at the above ranges and additionally at 80 hexes for extreme range. Short-range batteries require a beam pointer of 30,000 km range. They are evaluated with their 30,000 km performance for Very Short range, and have a rating of "-" at all other ranges. To determine damage value at each of these ranges, total the damage value of all weapons in the battery and compare to the USD chart. To determine penetration, take the penetration value of a *single* weapon from the battery (penetration = damage for PAWs and MGs, penetration = damage times 10 for most lasers) and evaluate on the USD chart. If the weapon's damage is less than 1 at a given range, indicate this with a dash ("-"); the weapon may not fire at targets at that range. The weapon ROF bonus depends on weapon rate of fire: Pulses/30-min turn ROF 10 -2 20 -1 50 0 100 1 200 2 400 3 800 4 If the weapon's ROF bonus is negative, reduce the damage at all ranges by that amount. Example: The TL-15 150Mj laser has a DV of 30-30-30-30-30 at 5-10-20-40-80 ranges. A battery of three such lasers would have a USD damage of 11 at all ranges. A single such laser has a penetration of 300, so it has a USD rating of (+0) (14:11 14:11 14:11 14:11 14:11) if powered to ROF 50. If powered to ROF 10 it would have a rating of (-2)(14:9 14:9 14:9 14:9 14:9). Damage MCS USD Value <1 - 1 0 2 1 3 2 5-6 3 7-9 4 10-13 5 14-20 6 21-30 7 31-44 8 45-65 9 66-96 10 or A 97-142 11 or B 143-209 12 or C 210-307 13 or D 308-451 14 or E 452-663 15 or F 664-973 16 or G 974-1429 17 or H 1430-2098 18 or J 2099-3080 19 or K 3081-4521 20 or L 4522-6636 21 or M 6637-9741 22 or N 9742-14299 23 or P 14309-20989 24 or Q Note: this chart is for FFS2 damage and armour values. Multiply FFS1/TNE values by 1.43 before converting. Laser batteries must also have a point defence rating generated for them. This depends normally only on the number of weapons in the battery and their rate of fire. Note that if a weapon has a high peak ROF that it cannot sustain for a whole turn (for example, a battery-powered or chemical laser) it can use that peak ROF, providing it can sustain it for at least one minute. A laser weapon must have a USD damage value (at 30000 km range) of at least 4 to get it's full PD rating; reduce the PD rating by 1 point for every point the USD value is below 4. Number of Weapons Point Def Rating 1 +0 2-3 +1 4-7 +2 8-15 +3 16-31 +4 32-63 +5 64-127 +6 128-255 +7 ROF Point Def Rating (pulses/30 minutes) 10 -2 20 -1 50 0 100 1 200 2 400 3 800 4 1600 5 3200 6 6400 7 Example: A dedicated PD laser has a peak ROF of 3200 pulses per turn (powered by batteries for up to 3 minutes). A battery of 4 such lasers would have a PD rating of 8. If the lasers had a DV of only 2, their PD rating would be reduced to 6. A standard laser turret (one laser powered to ROF 50) has a PD rating of 1. Missile batteries are rated based on the performance of a single missile and the number of missiles in a typical salvo. For normal (controlled or semi-independent missiles) the number of missiles in a salvo will be the number of missiles the battery can control. This is normally one per missile turret. For missile barbettes or bays (which typically include a built-in MFD) the number is given by the following table: TL Missiles per salvo per launcher 8 1 9 2 10 3 11 3 12 4 13 4 14 5 15 6 If additional missile MFDs are available per launcher the designer may adjust the number of missiles in a salvo accordingly. Alternatively, the designer may chose to include fewer than the above number in a standard salvo to conserve ammunition. Launchers without an autoloader fire only one missile per salvo. For fully-independent missiles the designer can select any number of missiles per salvo up to the battery's total launch capacity (typically 10 missiles per turn per launcher) and/or ammunition capability. In both cases the designer should note the total number of ready salvos and salvos stored as cargo. The number of missiles per salvo determines the salvo strength number (which is treated similarly to a ROF) from the following table: Number of Missiles Salvo Rating 1 1 2-3 2 4-7 3 8-15 4 16-31 5 32-63 6 64-127 7 128-255 8 The single-missile peformance is found from the following table (for standard 0.5-dTon controlled missiles): Type Pen:Damage Size/Evade Nuclear Det-Laser TL15-16 19:13 -6 TL13-14 18:12 -6 TL10-12 17:11 -6 Chemical Det-Laser 12:10 -5 Fragmentation KKM 12:15 -3 (Non-standard missile warheads can be rated using the general weapons rating rules. Nuclear Det-Laser missiles are assumed to have a penetration equal to 20 times their warhead damage from FFS2, and a damage value equal to twice their FFS2 damage. Missile evasion ratings should be calculated assuming the missile has expended half its fuel. Alternative chemical and fragmentation warheads will be forthcoming, as will TL8-9 missiles.) Example: the Midu has 4 missile barbettes. A barbette contains 6 missiles and includes its own MFD. The designer choses to treat each barbette as a seperate battery and arm them with nuke det-lasers. The total number of missiles in a salvo per barbetter could be up to 6 but the designer choses to group each salvo as 2 missiles. An additional 24 missiles are carried as cargo. The missile batteries would be rated as 4 x Missile Barbettes: (+2)18:12 -6 size/evade 3 salvos each. 12 reloads in cargo. Normal missiles have a size of -3 and an armour value of 2; if the armour or size is different this should be noted. For conviencience, the missiles total (size + evasion) rating at attack range should be noted (this will be -3 (size) + -1 (12 G * 0.25) = -6 (Note to missile designers: calculate the acceleration for evasion ignoring the weight of fuel, since the missile will have burned off most of its fuel by the time it attacks.) Fragmentation missiles, since they attack at Impact range, get no evasion modifier, so their total size/evade is -3. 6.2 Defences Nuclear damper batteries have only a point defence rating, based on the number of dampers in the battery (all such dampers must have effective ranges great enough to reach detonation distances.) Number of Weapons Point Def Rating 1 +1 2-3 +2 4-7 +3 8-15 +4 16-31 +5 32-63 +6 64-127 +7 128-255 +8 Sandcaster batteries require two ratings [until such a time as I decide on a definitive set of sandcaster rules]. The sandcaster's Screen rating is determined based on the number of sandcasters in the battery and the size of the ship: Size Code Sandcasters required for screen-1 screen-2 screen-3 -3 to 1 - - 1 2 1 - 2 3 1 2 3 4 2 3 5 5 3 5 7 6 5 7 10 7 7 10 15 8 10 15 20 9 15 20 30 10 20 30 50 TL-13-14 sandcasters move up one line on the chart. TL-15 sandcasters move up two lines on the chart. The sandcaster's armour rating is based on the total armour value of all the sandcasters in the battery. Each sandcaster is assumed to deploy one cannister; add together the armour values and compare to the USD table. For convienience - and for FFS1 owners, whose sandcasters don't have a set armour value - the number of 'casters required to achieve a given armour value is listed below: Armour Value Number of Sandcasters Required TL TL TL TL 8-9 10-12 13-14 15-19 ignore these 25 39 50 79 lines 17.5 27 35 55 7 1 - - - 8 - 1 - - 9 2 - 1 - 10 3 2 - 1 11 4 3 2 - 12 6 4 3 2 13 9 6 5 3 14 13 8 7 4 15 19 12 10 6 16 27 18 14 9 17 39 26 20 13 18 58 38 29 19 19 84 55 42 27 20 124 80 62 40 21 181 118 91 58 22 266 172 133 85 Designers should also record the total number of cannisters per launcher. Example: A 2000-ton ship has size-class five. It has ten TL-12 standard sandcaster turrets, grouped as two batteries of five each. These will have a Screen rating of -2 and an Armour rating of 12 (and carry 30 cannisters.) The batteries will be rated as 2 x Sandcaster battery -2:12 30 cannisters Meson screens are rated based on their Protection Value, read off the USD chart. Ship's Power Plant Values: Divide the ship's power plant output (in MW) by the power required for 1-G acceleration (in MW.) Round fractions to the nearest whole number. Converting from T4: T4 ships may be converted to this system relatively quickly. The ship's Toughness and Size are determined from its displacement using the normal chart. The ship's Armour is determined by dividing it's T4 armour by 10 and then reading off T4 conversion chart below. Weapon battery damage values are similarly read off the chart below, with the four T4 ranges mapping to the 5 new ranges as follows: New System T4 VS Very Short Short Very Short Medium Short Long Medium Extreme Long. T4 conversion chart: T4 USD value New USD value 0 0 1 8 2 10 or A 3 11 or B 4 12 or C 5 13 or D 6 14 or E 7 14 or E 8 15 or F 9 15 or F 10 16 or G 11 17 or H 12 18 or J 13 18 or J 14 19 or K 15 19 or K 16 20 or L 17 20 or L 18 21 or M 19 21 or M 20 21 or M 21 22 or N 22 22 or N 23 22 or N 24 23 or P 25 23 or P 26 23 or P 27 24 or Q If the ROF of a T4 battery is not specified, it is assumed to be +0 for a mostly-civilian design and +1 for a mostly-military design. If the battery is specifically listed as being for point defence or some similar function they may be given a ROF of +2. If ROF information is available from another source (the original spreadsheet, for example) it may also be used. In all cases, reduce the damage value of the weapon by the ROF *before* conversion. The penetration of a T4 Meson or PAW weapon is equal to its DV. The penetration of a laser weapon is somewhat harder to determine. Unless otherwise indicated, all T4 laser weapons should be given a penetration of 14. If the battery is specifically noted as being "heavy" (generally 400 MJ or more) increase this by +1; if it is "light" (100 MJ or less) decrease by 1. This gives the penetration at Very Short range. At other ranges, decrease the penetration by the same amount the DV has decreased relative to the Very Short range DV (ie the difference between Penetration and DV stays the same regardless of range.) If the designer has notes how many laser turrets are present in each battery, assign them a PD rating using the normal rules. If this has not been noted one must assume that there is only one turret per battery. Missile batteries should be rated based on how many missiles they fire in a normal salvo. Civilian missile turrets will normally fire one missile per salvo; military launchers use the following table (which assumes one MFD per launcher.) TL Missiles per salvo per launcher 8 1 9 2 10 3 11 3 12 4 13 4 14 5 15 6 When converting it will often be efficient to group several T4 launchers into one battery. Example: Doug Berry's "Coronation" Class Battleship is 90,000 dTons displacement. It therefore has a Size of 8. It has a mass of 1.2 million tonnes, for a toughness of 17. It has a T4 armour value of 50, which converts to an armour value of 13. Its spinal meson battery is listed as 1xSpinal Meson (+4) 2/14-11-9-6 The +4 is the fire control rating. This would translate into 1xSpinal Meson (+1) 18:18 18:18 16:16 15:15 13:13 Its meson bay weapons are listed as 3xMeson Bay (+4) 2/8-5-3-2 which translates into 3xMeson Bay (+1) 14:14 14:14 12:12 10:10 8:8 Its PD laser batteries are rated at 10xLaser Turret (+4) 1/10-2-0-0 The ship has ten batteries; the text notes that there are 100 turrets, implying ten turrets per battery. This translates into (+2) 14:15 14:15 8:9 - - PDR: 5 Its heavy laser batteries are rated at 10xHeavy Laser (+4) 1/12-12-12-9 (5 per battery) which translates into (+1) 15:17 15:17 15:17 15:17 13:15 PDR: 3 Its light lasers are rated at 30xLaser (+4) 1/7-7-4-2 with 9 lasers per battery: (+1) 13:14 13:14 13:14 10:11 7:8 PDR: 3 It has 20 missile batteries, at TL-12 each would fire 4 missiles per salvo. This would rate as: 20 x Missile Batteries: (+3)17:11 -6 size+evade 4 salvos each. however, we will group these into 5 batteries, each with 4 launchers firing a total of 16 missiles: 5 x Missile Batteries: (+5)17:11 -6 size/evade 4 salvos each It has 50 standard sandcasters. We will group them as 5 batteries of ten each, providing screen values of -1 and armour of 14: 5 x Sandcasters (-1 : 14), 50 cannisters It has a factor-15 meson screen, which translates to a PV of 19. Coronation TL: 12 Type: BB Displacement: 90000 Size: 8 Armour: 13 Toughness: 17 Maneuver: 1 Jump: 3 Power: 5 GTolerance: 4 JFuel: 27000 Cargo: 910 Crew: 2838 Troops: 450 Passenger: 0 Sensors: PEMS: 2x14 AEMS: 2x11 LIDAR: 3x14.5 Signature: Vis: -0.5 IR: 0.5 Active: 0 Lidar: 0 Fire Control: 4 (all batteries) Weapons: VS S M L X 1xSpinal Meson (+1) 18:18 18:18 16:16 15:15 13:13 3xMeson Bay (+1) 14:14 14:14 12:12 10:10 8:8 10xPD Laser Btty (+2) 14:15 14:15 8:9 - - PDR: 5 (10 turrets each) 10xHeavy Laser Btty (+1) 15:17 15:17 15:17 15:17 13:15 PDR: 3 (5 turrets each) 30xLight Laser Btty (+1) 13:14 13:14 13:14 10:11 7:8 PDR: 3 (9 turrets each) 5 x Missile Batteries: (+5) 17:11 -6 size&evade 4 salvos each. (16 missiles per salvo) Defences: 5 x Sandcasters (-1:14), 50 cannisters (10 turrets each) Meson Screen: 15 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Example: Example ship statistics: an early version of Doug Berry's Coronation- class IN battleship and a TL-11 light cruiser also designed by Doug. Note that these were not specifically designed for this combat system and hence aren't particularly optimal - take a look at the set of example ships in the next section for better-weaselled designs. Coronation (Royal-class BB) TL-12 Displacement: 90000 Crew: 2,838 Size: 8 Armour: 13 Toughness: 17 Maneuver: 1 Jump: 3 Power: 5 Sensors: PEMS: 2x14 AEMS: 2x11 LIDAR: 3x14.5 Signature: Vis: -0.5 IR: 0.5 Active: 0 Lidar: 0 Fire Control: 4 (all batteries) Crack Crew: Skill: 6 Skill+Attribute: 14 Weapons: VS S M L X 1xSpinal Meson (+1) 18:18 18:18 16:16 15:15 13:13 3xMeson Bay (+1) 14:14 14:14 12:12 10:10 8:8 10xPD Laser Btty (+2) 14:15 14:15 8:9 - - PDR: 5 (10 turrets each) 10xHeavy Laser Btty (+1) 15:17 15:17 15:17 15:17 13:15 PDR: 3 (5 turrets each) 30xLight Laser Btty (+1) 13:14 13:14 13:14 10:11 7:8 PDR: 3 (9 turrets each) 5 x Missile Batteries: (+5) 17:11 -6 size&evade 4 salvos each (20 missiles/salvo) Defences: 5 x Sandcasters (-1:14), 50 cannisters (10 turrets each) Meson Screen: 15 Hollyfields (Lineman-class Light Cruiser) TL-11 Displacement: 15000 Crew: 789 Size: 6 Armour: 14 Toughness: 15 Maneuver: 1.3 Jump: 2 Power: 7 Sensors: PEMS: 1x13 AEMS: 1x11 LIDAR:1x15 2x12.5 Signature: Vis: 0 IR: 0.5 Active: 0.5 Lidar: 0 Fire Cotnrol: 3 (all batteries) Elite Crew: Skill: 8 Skill+Attribute: 17 Weapons: VS S M L X 1xSpinal PAW (+1) 14:14 14:14 14:14 14:14 14:14 5x Laser Bay (+3) 15:16 15:16 15:16 14:15 13:14 PDR: 5 (3 bays each) 20xLight Laser Btty (+3) 13:12 13:12 ----- ----- ----- PDR: 6 (10 turrets each) 5xMissile Batteries (+4) 17:11 -6 size&evade 3 salvos each. (12 missles per salvo) Combat example: The Coronation and the Hollyfields begin a battle at Extreme range. Each player secretly allocates their acceleration; the Coronation allocates 0.5 G to evasion and 0.5 G to aiming, while the Hollyfields allocates 1 G to maneuver and 0.3 G to evasion. The Coronation rolls 8 for initiative, +6 for Fleet Tactics = 14. The Hollyfields rolls 7, +8 for Fleet Tactics and +2 for maneuver = 17. The Hollyfields opts to close the range to Long. Both sides then fire missile salvos. Since the range is Long, the salvos will strike their targets next turn. Both sides then fire. Since the Hollyfields won initiative it presents itself for fire first. The Corontation fires the spinal mount at the Hollyfields. The to-hit roll is 6 (skill) + 4 (fire control) + 1 (ROF) + 6 (size) - 2 (evasion) = 14 on four dice. The Coronation rolls a 16 and misses. The Coronation then fires its heavy lasers. They need a 6 (skill) + 4 (fire control) + 1 (ROF) + 6 (size) - 1 (evasion) = 16 on four dice. It rolls a 17,14,11,16,10,17,16,18,15,and 20, for six hits. Three of these (the first, second, and fourth hit) made their to-hit roll by 2 or more points and will get +1 (the weapon's ROF) to damage. The laser has a PEN:DAMAGE of 15:17 at this range, increased by one to 15:18. The surface hit is resolved first. The d6 roll is 2, for a total damage of 2+18-15 = 5, Heavy Damage. The hit location roll is 12 - no effect. (The shot struck bare metal.) The shot then attempts to penetrate to the interior. The penetration of 15 is then compared to the Hollyfields armour of 14. Since the penetraion=armour+1, the DV is reduced by 2 points to 16. The damage roll is 3, for a total damage of 3+16-15=4, again Heavy Damage. The interior damage roll is an 8 (Bay Weapon). The Hollyfields takes the hit on a Missile Bay, redcuing its Salvo rating by 3 to +1. The bay hit causes crew casualties - 1 per 2000 tons, so 8 crew members disabled. The second laser hit rolls a 4 for a Critical hit. The hit hits a Sensor. The 2d6 roll indicates a PEMS; the Hollyfield's main PEMS is disabled. The hit then penetrates the interior and rolls a 1 for Light damage, and a 15 for location (Hanger): one of the Coronation's shuttles suffers a critical hit. Hanger hits also cause crew casualties - one per 5000 tons for a light hit, so 3 crew members disabled. The third laser hit (damage only 17), produces a Heavy sensor hit, reducing the backup PEMS sensitivity by 1 point. In the interior it scores a light turret hit, reducing one light laser battery by 1 point. The fourth laser produces a Critical turret hit, destroying one light laser battery, and a Heavy Crew Quarters hit, destroying 10% of the onboard crew quarters. The fifth hit (damage 17) scores a Critical surface hit, on a sensor; the sensor roll indicates a LIDAR. The interior hit is Heavy damage to a turret weapon - another light laser battery is damaged by 3 points. The sixth hit scores Heavy damage but on bare hull; in the interior it causes Light damage to fuel tankage, destroying 15 tons of fuel. The Coronation's meson bays fire. Each needs a 14 to hit on 4 dice. They roll (11, 13, 13); all three hit, one at +1 damage. The first meson hit (DV 10+1=11) rolls a 5, for damage 5+11-15=1, light damage to a hanger. The other two meson hits have no effect. None of the Coronation's light lasers score effective hits either. The Hollyfields returns fire. Its spinal PAW has its ROF reduced by 1 since it didn't expend any movement for aiming. It needs a 8 (skill) + 3 (FC) + 8 (size) - 1 (evasion) + 0 (ROF) = 18 on 4d. It rolls a 9 and it hits The severity of the surface hit is 5 (d6) + 14 (damage) - 17 (toughness)23, Light damage. The roll is a 10 (sensor), hitting a PEMS and reducing sensitivity by 0.5. The damage value is then reduced 2 points for penetrating the Coronations armour 13. The damage rolls is 5 (d6)+12-17=0, no effect. The Hollyfields heavy laser batteries need 21 on 4d to hit (ROF+3). They roll 12, 14, 16, 14 and 16. All five hit; three have their DV increased by +3 and two by +2. The first laser hit has PEN:DAMAGE of 14:15, increased to 14:18. The Coronation considers blocking with its sandcasters, but as they have a blocking value of only 14 they would have no effect. The laser rolls 6 for severity, giving a Critical hit; unfortunately the roll is No effect. The interior damage is reduced 2 points due to armour, and the damage roll is 5, for a Heavy hit on Cargo/Fittings; 18 fittings are destroyed - a random roll indicates that all the Coronations galleys are destroyed. The second laser rolls a 1 (light damage) for surface hit, also No Effect. The interior hit roll is a 4, Light damage to the missile magazine; the Coronation loses 10% of its missile load. The third laser scores a No Effect surface hit and a Light maneuver drive hit, reducing the Coronation to a Maneuver rating of 0 next turn. The fourth laser scores a Heavy turret hit, reducing one of the Coronation's light laser batteries by 3 points. The interior hit is a Heavy Bay Weapon hit, reducing one laser bay by 3 points. The fifth laser's surface hit is No Effect, and its interior hit is a Light fuel hit, destroying 90 dTons of fuel. None of the other weapons can do much damage at this range. Next turn, the Coronation has no maneuver capability left. The Hollyfields allocates 1 G to maneuver and 0.3 to evasion again. The Hollyfields' captains' drugs have finally worn off, and he realizes that he is attacking a ship six times his size, so he intends to run away. However, the Hollyfields rolls a 4 for initiative (total = 14) while the Coronation rolls a 9 (total=15) and wins initiative. The Coronation choses to close the range to Medium. (In "real world" terms one could assume that even though the Coronation can't maneuver the two ships have built up a brisk closing speed.) Both ships launch another missile salvo. The Coronation is presented for fire first. The Hollyfields fires its spinal PAW and hits, but rolls No Effect for both damage rolls. The five laser bays fire; they need an 8 (skill) + 3 (FC) + 8 (size) + 3 (ROF) = 22 on 3d; all five hit and all score +3 damage. Various minor systems are damaged. In addition, two score Critical surface hits, one destroying a PD laser battery and the other hitting a LIDAR, destroying all the Coronations LIDARs. The interior damage is now 18 (DV=19, -1 because PEN=15 vs Armour 13); one rolls a 6 and scores a Critical hit and destroys the Coronation's spinal mount, while two others score Heavy hits, one damaging the meson screen by 3 points and the other destroying 10% of all carried cargo/supplies. The five +4 missile salvos launched last turn then attack. The Coronation's point defence batteries fire first. The target is 3 (gunner skill/2) + 4 (fire control) + 5 (point def rating) - 6 (missile evasion) - 4 (salvo strength) for a target of less than 2 on 1d6. Two PD batteries fire at each salvo and three are intercepted. Its light laser batteries also fire at the missiles, grouped into five sets of six batteries using the Squadron Fire rules (+2 to their rating), also needing a 2 or less; one more salvo is intercepted. The remaining salvo strikes (using the "quick" missile rule) with a damage of 11 + 4 = 15. It scores a Heavy surface hit to bare hull and penetrates the armour completely, scoring a Heavy maneuver drive hit - the Coronation loses 1 G of maneuver permanantly. The Coronation then returns fire. Damage doesn't take effect until the end of the turn, so the spinal mount may fire. Since the ship's maneuver capability is 0 G it requires no aiming Gs, and the to-hit roll is 14 on 3d6. It hits, with a damage value of 17 vs a toughness of 15. The Coronation rolls a 5, for a Critical hit. It rolls a 14 and destroys the Hollyfields' jump drive, also causing 60 crew casualities. The laser batteries require a 16 on 3 dice; all ten hit at +1 damage. Five score critical surface hits, destroying one turret battery, the remaining backup PEMS, and the AEMS sensor and striking bare hull twice. Various heavy and light hits cause minor damage, including another -1 to the remaining PEMS. The damaged laser battery scores no effect. The corresponding interior hits include one critical, three heavy, and six light. The critical hit strikes the jump drive and is wasted. The heavy hits hit the missile magazine (destroying 25% of all carried missiles, or one salvo per launcher - the Hollyfields is now out of missiles), the power plant (reducing output by 1 point), and roll a 17 for a special hit to Life Support, reducing the Hollyfield's G-compensation. The meson weapons and light lasers cause no damage. The Coronation's four missile salvos attack (salvo strength +5); the Hollyfields Point Defence needs a 4 (skill/2) + 3 (fire control) + 6 (PDR) - 6 (evasion) - 5 (salvo) = 2. Three batteries fire at each salvo. Two are intercepted and one hits, with DV=16. It scores a Heavy surface hit (disabling a turret battery) and a Heavy interior hit to fuel tankage. At this point the Hollyfields has lost its jump drive, G-compensation, missiles and all sensors except one damaged PEMS operating at 10.5 (not good enough for fire control.) Three light laser batteries have been destroyed and several damaged. The Coronation has lost its spinal mount and all LIDARs and cannot maneuver, though it is overall more combat effective and will probably be able to destroy the Hollyfields before it can withdraw. These results aren't necessarily typical of the combat system, though. Both ships are relatively heavily armed, slow, and lightly armoured (understandably, since they weren't optimized for this combat system; Doug's later designs are much more effective.) Still, several basic lessons are apparent. Sensors are very vulnerable - ships should have several backup sensors, and many, many, LIDARs. Large capital ships should strive for armour values around 16 (to block lasers from doing interior damage) or, ideally, 18 (to block detonation lasers.) Large laser batteries are the most effective weapons at long ranges (possibly the "lasers roll 1d3" rule should be made mandatory.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sample Ship Designs: These are several ship designs rated on the new system - a couple of Early Imperial Ships (a heavy fighter, an escort frigate, and the Scout and Free Trader; the two capital ships in the combat example can also be used.) Also included are two late-Imperial ships (a destroyer and a light fighter) and two of their Zhodani opponents (a patrol corvette and a strike cruiser.) Class: MF357B Drachen Jaeger Class Heavy Fighter TL:12 Type: FH Displacement: 37 tons Cost: MCr 90 Mass: 931 tonnes Size: 2 Armour: 8* Toughness: 4 Maneuver: 7 Jump: 0 Power: 10 GTolerance: 6 JFuel:0 tons Cargo: 32m3 ordinance Crew: 2 Troops: 0 Passengers: 0 Computers: 2xFib Sensors: PEMS:1x13 AEMS: 1x11 LIDAR: 1x14 Signature: Vis:-1.5 IR: 0 Active: 0 Lidar: -0.5 Fire Control: +4 1xLaser Battery (+1) (16:10 16:10 16:10 15:9 13:7) PointDef: 2 1 spinal laser 32 m3 air-to-ground ordinance or 3 FIM missiles: 1xFIM rack: (+1)17:11 (-5 size&evade) 3 salvoes 1 missile/salvo only useable at Medium range or less Armour: 11 component armour around crew and electronics 5-ton pod grapples can hold an additional missile pod with 3 +2 salvoes otherwise identical to the above; performance drops to Maneuver 6. Taken from Brian Songy's excellent THUDD 7 entry, tweaked slightly to take full advantage of the new system. Class: Kuvasz TL:12 Type: FFE Displacement: 500 tons Size: 4 Armour: 14 Toughness: 9 Maneuver: 3 Jump: 2 Power: 3 + 2 GTolerance: 5 JFuel:100 tons Cargo: 22 tons Crew: 42 Troops: 0 Passengers: 0 Computers: 3xFib Sensors: PEMS:1x13.5 AEMS: 1x12 LIDAR: 2x15.5 1x13.5t 1x14.0s Signature: Vis:-0.5 IR:0.5 Active: 0.5 Lidar: 0.0 Fire Control: +4 (all batteries) 2xLaser Battery (-1) (14:9 14:9 14:9 12:7 10:5 ) PointDef: 1 2 turrets each 5xLaser Battery (+2) (13:9 13:9 11:7 9:5 ---- ) PointDef: 4 2 turrets each 2 x Missile Bays: (+2)16:10 (-8 size&evade) 6 salvos each. 2 missiles per salvo only useable at Very Short range or less 1 x Sandcaster battery: -1: 12 10 cannisters Notes: Escort/anti-fighter frigate. Two power plants - 1170 MW fusion and 500 MW fusion+; the latter is only run during combat situations. The bays contain high-speed (20 G) short-range (2 G-hour) missiles that can be launched in SIM or FIM mode. Docking ring for 20-ton gig. Class: Scout (Advanced) TL:12 Type: S2 Displacement: 100 tons Size: 2 Armour: 14 Toughness: 4 Maneuver: 2 Jump: 2 Power: 3 GTolerance: 4 JFuel:20 tons Cargo: 8 tons Crew: 2 Troops: 0 Passengers: 2 Computers: 3xStd Sensors: PEMS:1x13.5s AEMS: 1x11.5 LIDAR: 1x14.5 Grav:7.5 Neut: 8 Signature: Vis:-1.5 IR:-0.5Active: -0.5 Lidar:-0.5 Fire Control: +0 1xLaser Battery (-1) (13:8 13:8 11:7 9:5 ---- ) PointDef: 0 1 turrets each Slightly enhanced type S scout/courier, with an enhanced military/science sensor suite and stealthing. Military versions add an MFD (+4 fire control) and power the laser to the +0 level (enhancing damage at all ranges by +1) and delete the science optimization of the PEMS. 1x2 ton air/raft in minimal hanger Class: Free Trader TL:12 Type: A1 Displacement: 200 tons Size: 3 Armour: 9 Toughness: 5 Maneuver: 1 Jump: 1 Power: 2 GTolerance: 3 JFuel:20 tons Cargo: 90 tons Crew: 5 Troops: 0 Passengers: 6 Computers: 3xStd Sensors: PEMS:1x13.0s AEMS: 1x11.5 LIDAR: 1x14.5 Signature: Vis:-0.5 IR:0.0 Active: 0.0 Lidar:0.5 Fire Control: +0 1xLaser turret (+0) (13:7 13:7 11:5 10:4 8:2 ) PointDef: 1 1 x Sandcaster battery: -1: 8 30 cannisters Standard Milleu 0 Free Trader (design by Doug Berry.) The backbone of the secondary transportation and trade industry. Truly a no-frills spacecraft, the Type A can carry six passengers in relative luxury and 90 dTons of cargo. This model has been outfitted with a single laser for self defence, along with a sandcaster for additional protection. 1x4 ton air/raft in minimal hanger. Class: Rampart-15 Light Fighter TL:15 Type: FL Displacement: 10 tons Cost: MCr 63 Mass: 218 tonnes Size: 0 Armour: 10 Toughness: 2 Maneuver: 6 Jump: 0 Power: 25 GTolerance: 8 JFuel:0 tons Cargo: 32m3 ordinance Crew: 1 Troops: 0 Passengers: 0 Computers: 2xFib Sensors: PEMS:1x13 AEMS: 1x11.5 LIDAR: 1x14.5 1x13.5scan ECM: PassDJam:14 AEMSDJam:11 Signature: Vis:-1.5 IR: -1 Active: 1 Lidar: -0.5 Fire Control: +6 1xLaser Battery (+4) (11:8 11:8 9:6 8:3 4:1) PointDef: 6 3 fixed lasers Milleu 1100 light fighter, armed with a triple ultra-rapid-pulse light laser, devastating against unarmoured targets. Generally used for patrol duties during peacetime; in Fleet operations Ramparts serve as interceptors to defend against hostile fighters and missiles. Class: Midu Agashaan TL:15 Type: DD Displacement: 3000 tons Cost: MCr 3759 Mass: 33381 tonnes Size: 5 Armour: 11 Toughness: 10 Maneuver: 6 Jump: 4 Power: 10 GTolerance: 8 JFuel:1200 tons Cargo: 19 tons Crew: 52 Troops: 10 Passengers: 3 Computers: 10xFib Sensors: PEMS:1x14 AEMS: 1x12 LIDAR: 4x15.5 1x13.5 1x11.5 Signature: Vis:-1 IR: 0 Active: 0 Lidar: -0.5 Fire Control: +6 (all batteries) 4xLaser Battery (+3) (15:10 15:10 15:10 15:10 15:10) PointDef: 5 2 turrets each Spinal PAW (+1) (15:15 15:15 15:15 15:15 15:15) 4 x Missile Barbettes: (+2)18:12 (-6 size&evade) 3 salvos each. 2 missiles per salvo, 12 salvoes in cargo. 3 x Sandcaster battery: -2: 12 30 cannisters 2 x Damper Turret PointDef: +1 Meson Screen: 14 Classic Late Imperial destroyer design - fast and heavily armed but relatively fragile. Highly automated, comfortable, and self-sustaining. During the last Frontier War Midu-class destroyers served in large squadrons as fleet screening elements; during the Rebellion they saw extensive service on all sides, often operating as the core of light task forces engaged in commerce raiding or Black War ops. 2x50 ton cutters in minimal hangers. Class: Zhodani Patrol Corvette TL:14 Type: PC Displacement: 300 tons Cost: MCr 480 Mass: 5064 tonnes Size: 3 Armour: 10 Toughness: 8 Maneuver: 5 Jump: 3 Power: 10 GTolerance: 7 JFuel:180 tons Cargo: 1.5 tons Crew: 13 Troops: 6 Passengers: 0 Computers: 3xFib Sensors: PEMS:1x13.5 AEMS: 1x11.5 LIDAR: 2x15.0 Signature: Vis:-1.0 IR:-0.5Active: 0 Lidar: -0.5 Fire Control: +5 (all batteries) 3xLaser Battery (+2) (14:10 14:10 14:10 12:8 10:6) PointDef: 4 2 turrets each Zhodani light warship, optimized for escort and patrol duties rather than fleet combat. Carries 1x10-ton skiff in external grapple. Class: Zhodani Strike Cruiser TL:14 Type: CS Displacement: 10000 tons Cost: MCr 13040 Mass: 171182 tonnes Size: 6 Armour: 16 Toughness: 13 Maneuver: 4 Jump: 3 Power: 11 GTolerance: 7 JFuel:3000 tons Cargo: 33 tons Crew: 383 Troops: 100 Passengers: 0 Computers: 31xFib Sensors: PEMS:2x14 AEMS: 2x12 LIDAR: 10x15.5 15x15.0 Signature: Vis:0 IR: 0.5 Active: 0.5 Lidar: 0 ECM: PEMSDJam: 15 AEMSDJam: 12 AEMSAreaJam: 12 Fire Control: +5 (all batteries) 8xLaser Battery (+3) (14:13 14:13 14:13 12:12 10:10) PointDef: 6 10 turrets each 5xXLaser Battery(+1) (15:15 15:15 15:15 15:15 15:15) PointDef: 4 10 turrets each 2xTPAW Battery (+2) (14:14 14:14 14:14 14:14 13:13) 1 toroidal bay each 1xMeson Battery (+2) (14:14 ----- ----- ----- -----) 1 bay 5 x Missile Bay (+7)19:13 (-7 size&evade) 4 salvos each. 64 semi-independent missiles per salvo 4 x Sandcaster battery: -2: 15 10 cannisters 7 turrets per battery 3 x Damper Battery PointDef: 3 4 turrets per battery Meson Screen: 15 Zhodani missile cruiser intended primarily for planetary strike missions but also as a fleet support unit. Carries the advanced Zhodani Zeglitz 5m3 16G24 HEPlaR strike missile (MCr 2.2/missile.) Carries one company (100 troops); 36 are trained as drop troops and usually deployed in squads as fire control spotters. Usually carries several clarivoyant adepts in addition. The meson bay is primarily for ground support.