Minimal Space Combat A Very Simple Space Combat Game Game Design by Timothy Swenson Copyright 1996 This game is Freeware and may be distributed freely. 1.0 Introduction The premis behind this game is this: what is the simplest playable game possible to game tactical space combat. The game must make some reasonable attempt to come close to simulating space combat and not just the simplest possible game. The emphasis in this game is fast and easy. Playability is given more consideration than realism. There is no consideration for expansion of these rules, because then it would not be minimal. Use the game for those times when you want a quick and dirty space combat game or for introducing someone new to gaming. If you want to go beyond this minimal game, there are other Freeware games that can do it. So, here it is, enjoy it, and blast each other to bits. 2.0 Ships Ships are comprised of the following elements: ENGINE: Determines the maximum SPEED that a ship may travel. SHIELDS: Determines the amount of damage a ship may take before being destroyed. TO-HIT: The odds of a ship hitting another ship. WEAPONS: The list of weapons a ship has and their firing arc. Each ship has six sides. They are Front (F), Front Left (FL), Front Right (FR), Rear Left (RL), Rear Right (RR), and Rear (R). See the Facing/Firing Arc Chart below for a diagram. Ship Turn Record: During the game, damage, speed, and movement is tracked for each ship using Ship Turn Records. At the beginning of the game, the ship's stats are entered on the Ship Turn Record. If a ship does not have a weapon on a particular side, fill in that oval. If a ship has ENGINE 4 then all but 4 of the ovals are filled in. The rest of the ovals are filled in when the ship takes damage. 3.0 Ship Design Each ship is designed using a number of Build Points (BPs) to spend on the various elements of the ship. Each unit of ENGINE, SHIELD, or TO-HIT costs 1 BP. Each weapon costs 2 BP. ENGINE, SHIELD, and TO-HIT may never exceed 5. Only one weapon may be placed on each side of the ship. No weapons may go in the Rear of the ship. This means that only 5 weapons may be bought per ship. Different sizes of ships can be built, it depends on the number of Build Points used. The average ship costs about 15 BPs. Other BP values are 10 and 20. A ship of 25 BPs is the largest possible. Below are some example ship designs using 15 BPs. Ship 1 Ship 2 Ship 3 ENGINE 3 2 4 SHIELDS 3 4 4 TO-HIT 3 3 5 Weapons F,FL,FR F,FL,FR F 4.0 Turn Sequence Turns are comprised of the following phases: Move Orders Phase Movement Phase Initiative Roll Player 1 Combat Phase Player 2 Combat Phase Before combat takes place, both players roll a die. The player with the highest die roll becomes player 1. Ties are re-rolled. 5.0 Setup The setup of the game is entirely up to the players. How many ships, what type of ships (how many BP's each), the starting location of the ships, and the victory conditions are for the players to decide. It is recommended that players first start off with a small number of ships and gradually build up over subsequent games. The most obvious victory condition is to see who can destroy whom. Needed for Play: A number of 6 sided die, ship counters (one color per side), and a blank hex map (preferably with numbered hexes). 6.0 Movement SPEED is how fast the ship is currently traveling. SPEED may never exceed the current ENGINE rating. Ships start out the game at any SPEED less than or equal to the ENGINE rating. SPEED is written on the Ship Turn Record during the Move Orders Phase. Acceleration and Deceleration: Ships may accelerate or decelerate by 1 SPEED each turn. SPEED is written down in the Move Orders phase. Moving a Ship: Ships may either move forward, turn left (one hex side) or turn right (one hex side). Each one of these movements costs 1 SPEED. Ships may not turn twice in a row, but must move at least one hex forward between turns. A ship must expend all of its SPEED in each turn, either by moving forward or turning. Ship Movement Orders: All movement is plotted before any movement takes place. These Movement Orders are written on the Ship Turn Record during the Move Orders phase. Movement Orders are written down like "2L1". This means to move two hexes forward, turn one hex side to the left, then move 1 hex forward. Since all movement (direction and SPEED) is plotted before any ships move, both players may move thier ships at the same time. 7.0 Combat Ships may fire on other ships when the following occurs: target ship is within range of firing ship, there is a clear line-of-sight between the ships, and the target ship is in the firing arc of one of the firing ship's weapons. See the Facing/ Firing Arc chart below to determine which arc the target ship is in. Each weapon on a ship may fire once per turn. Range: All weapons have a normal range of 4 hexes. Ships may fire at 5 or 6 hexes, but with a -1 on the To-Hit Roll. Ships firing at 1 or 2 hexes fire with a +1 on the To-Hit Roll. Range 0 (same hex) is at +2 on the To-Hit Roll. To-Hit Roll: Once all of the above conditions have been met, roll 1 die for each weapon firing. If the die roll is equal to or less than the To-Hit of the firing ship (taking Range modifiers into effect), then the target ship has been hit. Damage: Each weapon delivers one hit of damage to the targeted ship. Roll 1 die. On a roll of 1-4, mark off one oval of SHIELD. On a roll of 5 mark off one oval of ENGINE. On a roll of 6, the weapon on that side of the targeted ship is destroyed. If there is no weapon on that side or the weapon is already destroyed, mark off one oval of SHIELD. If there is no ENGINE, mark off one oval of SHIELD. All damage is applied immediately. Destruction: Any ship with no more ovals of SHIELDs is considered destroyed. Facing/Firing Arc Chart F FL \__/ FR __/..\__ \__/ RL / \ RR R *Note: Notice that as you extend the firing arcs, some hexes will be in two firing arcs. Ship Turn Record Ship Name: _______________________ Unit #: _____ ENGINE: O O O O O SHIELD: O O O O O TO-HIT: ______ Weapons: F: O FL: O FR: O RL: O RR: O Turn Speed Move Turn Speed Move 1 _____ __________ 16 _____ __________ 2 _____ __________ 17 _____ __________ 3 _____ __________ 18 _____ __________ 4 _____ __________ 19 _____ __________ 5 _____ __________ 20 _____ __________ 6 _____ __________ 21 _____ __________ 7 _____ __________ 22 _____ __________ 8 _____ __________ 23 _____ __________ 9 _____ __________ 24 _____ __________ 10 _____ __________ 25 _____ __________ 11 _____ __________ 26 _____ __________ 12 _____ __________ 27 _____ __________ 13 _____ __________ 28 _____ __________ 14 _____ __________ 29 _____ __________ 15 _____ __________ 30 _____ __________