Starships: Purple Fuzzy Monster Miniatures Rules

PURPLE FUZZY MONSTER MINIATURES RULES
Starships
MARK OPASKAR, PURPLE FUZZY MONSTER GAMES
APRIL 2014
Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

(This page intentionally left blank.)

Credits
Written and Designed By: Mark Opaskar

Editing, Art, and Layout By: Leanne Opaskar
Advice and Suggestions: Bridgette O’Gorman, Toby Tolentino, Jared Ritter,
Justin Ritter, Kevin Dill, Christopher Thomas, Chuck Betts, Creslyn Murphy,
and Ken Brucker
is an imprint of Autumnside Productions

http://www.purplefuzzymonster.com
©2014


Table Of Contents
1 Introduction 1 3.9 Thrust 6
3.10 Overthrust 6
2 Components 1
3.11 Weapons 6
2.1 Starship Miniatures 1
2.2 Arc Gauge 2 4 Definitions 6
2.3 Inertia Marker 2 4.1 Units 6
2.4 Ordinance Markers 2 4.2 Drifting Objects 6
2.5 Navigation Markers 3

5 The Turn 7
2.6 Dice 3
5.1 Gravity Phase 7
2.7 Ruler 3
5.2 Initiative Phase 7
2.8 Momentum Token 3
5.3 Movement Phase 7
2.9 Order Markers 3
5.4 Drift Phase 7
2.10 Distortion Markers 3
5.5 Combat Phase 7
2.11 Debris Markers 4
5.6 End Phase 8
2.12 Terrain 4
2.13 Jump Safety Markers 4 6 Initiative 8
2.14 Captain Markers 4 6.1 Procedure 8
6.2 Resolving Ties 8
3 Ship Attributes 4
6.3 Empty Magazines 8
3.1 Name 4
3.2 Class 4 7 Movement 9
3.3 Ship Type 4 7.1 Procedure 9
3.4 Quality 5 7.2 Coasting 12
3.5 Hull 5 7.3 Sideswiping 12
3.6 Armor 5 7.4 The Edge of Forever 12
3.7 Shields 5 7.5 Collisions 12
3.8 Point Defense 6

8 Combat Phase 13

8.1 Introduction 13 10.4.5 Co-location 21
8.2 Damage 13 10.5 Missiles 21

10.5.1 Strength Points 21
9 Direct Fire Weapons 14 10.5.2 Launching Missiles 22
9.1 Introduction 14 10.5.3 Attacking a Ship 22
9.2 Arcs 14 10.5.4 Damage 22
9.3 Targeting 14 10.5.5 Other Ordinance 22
9.4 Obstructions 14
11 Ramming 22
9.5 Resolving a Laser Attack 15
9.6 Resolving a Spine Attack 15 12 Squadrons 23
9.7 The Blind Spot 15 12.1 Composition 23
9.8 Modifiers 16 12.2 Required Squadrons 23
9.9 Shields 16 12.3 Formation 23
9.10 Distortion Markers 16 12.4 Initiative 24

12.5 Movement 24
10 Ordinance 16
12.6 Special Orders 24
10.1 Introduction 16
12.7 Combining Ordinance 24
10.2 Launching Ordinance 17
12.8 Taking Fire 24
10.2.1 Inheriting Inertial State 17
12.8.1 Beam Weapons 24
10.3 Fighters 17
12.8.2 Strike Groups 24
10.3.1 Launching Fighters 17
12.8.3 Mines 24
10.3.2 Fuel Limits 18
12.8.4 Missiles 25
10.3.3 Recall 18
12.8.5 Contacting Ordinance 25
10.3.4 Patrol Groups 18
10.3.5 Strike Groups 18 13 Special Orders 25

10.3.6 Attacking Ships 19 13.1 Procedure 25
10.3.7 Other Ordinance 19 13.2 In the Movement Phase 25
10.3.8 Co-location 20 13.2.1 Break Formation 25
10.4 Mines 20 13.2.2 Dock with a Station 26
10.4.1 Launching Mines 20 13.2.3 Draw Fire 26
10.4.2 Triggering Attacks 20 13.2.4 Join Squadron 26
10.4.3 Attacking a Ship 20 13.2.5 Jump to Warp 26
10.4.4 Attacking Other Ordinance 21 13.2.6 Overthrust 27

13.2.7 Turtle 27 18.1 Introduction 35
13.3 In the Combat Phase 27 18.2 Fleet Composition 36
13.3.1 Ramming 27 18.3 Role 36
13.4 In Any Phase 27 18.4 Objectives 36
13.4.1 Jury Rig 27 18.4.1 Fleet Engagement 36
13.5 Removing Order Markers 28 18.4.2 Port Strike 37
18.4.3 Blockade 37
14 Debris Fields 28
18.4.4 Reinforcing a Station 37
15 Space Stations 28 18.4.5 Evacuating a Station 37
15.1 Chaff Launchers 29 18.5 Postures 37

18.5.1 Generating 37
15.2 Orbits 29
18.5.2 Explanation of Postures 38
15.3 Special Orders 30
18.6 Locations 39
16 Convoys 30 18.7 Deployment 40
16.1 Generic Freighter 30 18.7.1 Deployment Order 40
16.2 Freighters in Squadron 30 18.7.2 Deployment Zones 41
16.3 Capturing Freighters 30 18.7.3 Choosing Zones 41
16.4 Freighters in Combat 31 18.8 Momentum 42
16.5 Special Orders 31 18.9 Victory Conditions 42

18.9.1 Victory Points 42
17 Terrain 31 18.9.2 Margin of Victory 43
17.1 Introduction 31 18.10 End of Game 43

17.2 Jump Points 31 18.11 Beginner’s Scenario 44
17.3 Gas Giants 32
19 Ship Construction 44
17.4 Garden Worlds 32
19.1 Generic Ship Profiles 44
17.5 Comets 33
19.1.1 Escorts 44
17.6 Asteroids 33
19.1.2 Destroyers 44
17.7 Random Generation 34
19.1.3 Cruisers 45
17.7.1 Garden World 34
19.1.4 Behemoths 45
17.7.2 Inner Sphere 34
19.2 Ship Design Worksheet 45
17.7.3 Gas Giant 35
19.3 Existing Miniatures 45
18 Scenarios 35 19.3.1 Ship Type 45

19.3.2 Hull 46 20.10.3 Surrenders and Parole 53
19.3.3 Shields 46 20.11 Shipyard Sub-Phase 53

19.3.4 Point Defense 46 20.11.1 Crew Quality 53
19.3.5 Armor 46 20.11.2 Ship Assignments 54
19.3.6 Thrust and Overthrust 46 20.11.3 Training Cruises 54
19.3.7 Lasers 47 20.11.4 Officer Management 54
19.3.8 Spinal Mounts 47 20.12 Treaty Sub-Phase 54
19.3.9 Fighters 48
20.13 Peace Phase 54
19.3.10 Mines 49
20.13.1 Spoils of Victory 55
19.3.11 Missiles 49
20.13.2 Prisoner Exchange 55
19.4 Point Costs 49 20.13.3 Crew Quality 55
19.4.1 Survivability 49 20.13.4 Refit Warships 55
19.4.2 Weapons 49 20.13.5 Mustering Out 55
19.4.3 Survivability to Weaponry 50
20.14 Personalities 55
19.4.4 Tweaking Your Design 50
20.14.1 Introduction 55
19.4.5 A Note About Fighters 50
20.14.2 The Personality Cards 56
19.4.6 Final Ship Cost 50
20.14.3 Assigning Personalities 56
19.4.7 Crew Quality 51
20.14.4 Officer Abilities 56
19.4.8 Further Examples 51
20.14.5 Rescuing Personalities 56
20.14.6 Officer Deaths 57

20 Campaign Rules 51
20.14.7 Officer List 57
20.1 Introduction 51
20.2 Fleets 51 21 Downloads 60
20.3 Favor 51
22 Designer’s Notes 60
20.4 Winning 52
20.5 Losing 52 23 Acknowledgements 62
20.6 Order of Play 52
24 Fleet Rosters 65
20.7 Campaign Turns 52
20.8 Faction Phase 52 25 Quick Reference Sheets 67
20.9 War Phase 52
26 Fleet Design Sheets 69
20.10 Combat Sub-Phase 53
20.10.1 Generating Scenarios 53 27 Printable Counters 71
20.10.2 Earning Favor 53



1 Introduction
The time is the near future, and humans can barely travel the stars. Time and distance have placed
the new settlements at odds with Old Earth, and the first cold navies face off as relationships
deteriorate.
Starships puts you in command of one of these nascent navies. Your fleet does not maneuver with
the luxuries of wind and sea. There is no friction. There is no drag. Your helmsman’s only real tools to
fight your inertia are the thrust of the ship’s main engines, and gravity (when available).
The game balances real world physics with tabletop mechanics to get you as close to reality as a
miniatures game can, and finish within three hours.
2 Components
To play Starships, you’ll need several components. We’ve provided counters in the back of this book,
which can be copied for use in your game. Other components (such as miniatures and dice) need to
be obtained on your own.
2.1 Starship Miniatures

These are the heart of the game. Each starship miniature should have an obvious centerline, to
differentiate between fore, aft, port and starboard. Each quadrant is 90 degrees of arc, and the fore
and aft are split by the centerline.
Starships has no maximum base size. It does have a minimum, as a

smaller base confers an advantage in the rules. The minimum base size
is a one-inch diameter circle.
The ship model is only a placeholder. The ship’s actual position coincides
with the post of the flight stand holding the ship. When the exact position
of a ship is required (for example, when calculating line of fire), use the
post. If a model is large enough to need multiple posts, designate one to
represent the ship’s position before play begins.
Starships 1

2.2 Arc Gauge
This gauge is a circular template that marks a ship’s arcs when aligned with its centerline.
There are four primary arcs (left, right, fore, and aft), and two secondary arcs (the spinal mount firing
arc, and the ship’s blind spot).
The ship’s engine mounts determine which template to use. Ships with rear-mounted engines use the
template on the left, while ships with split engines use the template on the right.
2.3 Inertia Marker

This marker is placed on the table to indicate the ship’s current course and
speed. It must be labeled to identify the ship to which it belongs. You will need
one inertia marker for every starship miniature, ordinance marker, and debris
field marker on the table.
2.4 Ordinance Markers

These markers represent ordinance in the same manner that miniatures represent starships. You may
replace them with miniatures. If the miniatures’ bases are not the same size as the markers, you will
need your opponent’s approval. (Larger bases confer an advantage.)
2 Purple Fuzzy Monster

2.5 Navigation Markers
These markers are used to plot maneuvers on the board. They are removed from the
table after the completion of a move, so each player only needs two.
2.6 Dice
Starships uses ten-sided dice exclusively. A successful
roll of a die equals or exceeds its target number. When
you are asked to roll multiple dice, each die represents
a separate test.
If you roll a 10, it is always a success regardless of

modifiers. Similarly, a 1 is always a failure.
Sometime the rules mention a “scatter die”. A

dedicated scatter die is a die that has arrows on the
faces instead of numbers. You may use a ten-sided
die to mimic a scatter die by using the high point of a
rolled die as the point of the arrow.
2.7 Ruler
Distances in Starships are measured in inches. If you need to retain a distance (for example, when
plotting a move), it’s acceptable to measure to the nearest half inch. When in doubt, round up.
Pre-measuring is encouraged. (It’s the future, after all.)
2.8 Momentum Token

Whenever a tie between opponents needs to be resolved, the player with the
momentum token chooses who takes the first action. The player then passes
the momentum token to an opponent.
2.9 Order Markers

After giving a ship special orders, mark it with the appropriate order marker. The ship enjoys the
benefits (and suffers the costs) of this order until the marker is removed at the end of the turn.
2.10 Distortion Markers

Distortion markers represent shield distortions. A ship whose base touches a distortion
marker has its shields reduced by one for each marker it touches.
Starships 3

2.11 Debris Markers
A debris field is the remains of a destroyed ship.
2.12 Terrain
Space is not entirely empty. You’ll need markers or miniatures to represent the
terrain in the area of operations. See section 17 for the possible terrain types.
2.13 Jump Safety Markers

Terrain influences how safe it is to jump to warp. These optional markers can be
placed on the table to remind players of local conditions. Jump to warp is a special
order, and can be found in section 13.2.5. Jump safety is fully defined in section 17.2.
2.14 Captain Markers

These markers are used when captains are separated from their ship. The
number of stars or pips on the marker corresponds to the captain’s influence.
See section 20.14.5.
3 Ship Attributes
The navies of Starships are generally incapable of fielding homogenous squadrons. Each ship
miniature must have an entry in your fleet roster. (Roster sheets can be copied/printed from the back
of this book.) Each ship has the following attributes:
3.1 Name
The ship’s name should be marked on both the model and its inertia marker.
3.2 Class
Ships with the same roster profile can be grouped together in the same class. Ships represented by
copies of the same miniature should be in the same class.
Example: Enterprise and Intrepid are both Constitution-class starships.
3.3 Ship Type

This describes the ship’s size and role in the fleet. Warships are ranked in ascending order: Escort,
Destroyer, Cruiser, and Behemoth.
Freighters are not warships. Even if they have more hull boxes than an escort, they are still
considered “smaller” as they are not built for combat.
A cruiser is any ship around which fleets are usually built. Depending on its sub-role, it might also be
referred to as a heavy cruiser, battleship, or carrier. A behemoth is a cruiser taken to its extreme.

An escort does not usually operate on its own. It typically rounds out a fleet by escorting the cruiser(s)
around which the force is built. If escorts operate independently of a cruiser, they organize in
squadrons, as they can’t accomplish much on their own. Depending on the navy, they might be called
frigates, corvettes, or destroyer escorts.
Destroyers are the backbone of a cold navy. They are powerful enough to operate on their own, and
cheap enough to risk on missions that don’t require a task force to accomplish. Besides “destroyer”,
this general type can also include light cruisers and carriers.
3.4 Quality
This attribute represents the crew quality of the vessel. The ratings are green (the worst), veteran,
and elite (the best).
Veteran crews are the default in Starships. These crews know their jobs and have either seen combat,
or have undergone intense peacetime training that simulates combat.
Green crews represent crews rushed into combat. They know their jobs, but are not used to combat
so are not as effective as they should be. Unpainted spaceship miniatures always have green crews
— their ship has obviously been rushed from the dock for this emergency.
Elite crews are crews that have seen multiple campaigns together. They are rare for multiple reasons,
not the least of which is that their members are promoted out to stiffen green crews. Fleets that are
successful for an extended period of time might have one or two elite crews.
3.5 Hull
This represents the structure of the ship. The ship loses hull boxes when it takes damage. When the
ship runs out of hull boxes, it is destroyed.
3.6 Armor
This represents the ability of the ship to resist damage. It is the target number against which attacks
are rolled, and can be different based on the ship’s facing. (For example, “6/7 fore” means that
attacks on the fore quadrant requires a 7 or more to hit, while attacks on the other 3 quadrants
requires only a 6.
3.7 Shields
The primary component of a shield is aerosol, glitter, or some similar reflecting medium that can
deflect incoming laser fire. The chaff is electrically charged and contained by a magnetic field
generated by the ship. The chaff is ejected from the ship at one pole of the magnetic field, flows
the length of the ship along the magnetic lines of force, and is collected at the other pole for reuse.
Incoming fire displaces chaff and weakens the shield until the chaff can be redeployed.
The rating represents the strength of this ship’s shields. When this ship is attacked by lasers, place
a distortion marker on the ship’s base until the number of markers on the base is equal to the ship’s
shield rating. Those hits are ignored. Every hit after that damages the ship.
Starships 5

3.8 Point Defense
While shields might be technological wonders, they are ephemeral when compared to the more solid
ordinance weapons. Warships are required to deal with ordinance differently. Some fleets use small
lasers, and others use old-fashioned Gatling guns.
This rating represents the ship’s ability to defend itself against attacking ordinance. When attacked
by ordinance, roll a number of dice equal to the vessel’s point defense against the ordinance’s armor
value. Successes indicate damage inflicted on the incoming ordinance. The effects of this damage
are different depending on the ordinance. See section 10 for details.
Escorts in base contact with a friendly ship under attack from ordinance contribute their PD in defense
of the attack. Add a number of dice equal to the escorts’ PD to the roll.
3.9 Thrust
Thrust describes how maneuverable a vessel is. This is the ship’s acceleration under normal
conditions. (For the technically minded, this is measured in inches/turn2.)
3.10 Overthrust
This is the ship’s maximum possible acceleration, and describes how maneuverable a vessel is under
the overthrust special order.
3.11 Weapons
A ship may have up to five weapons entries.
For direct fire weapons, each entry contains the weapon’s type, the weapon’s arc (the quadrants
into which it can fire), the weapon’s range in inches, and a number representing the “strength” of the
weapon. The strength is the number of dice rolled when this weapon attacks.
Ordinance weapons have fewer attributes. See section 10 for details about the different kinds of
ordinance.
4 Definitions
4.1 Units
The following are units: ships, squadrons of ships, strike groups of fighters, individual missiles, and
space stations. All units roll initiative. With the exception of space stations, all units have inertia
markers and thrust ratings.
4.2 Drifting Objects

Mine fields and debris fields are drifting objects. They have inertia markers, but do not thrust in the
movement phase. Drifting objects never roll initiative.

5 The Turn
5.1 Gravity Phase
If there are any gravity wells of sufficient size on the table, they alter inertia markers now. See section
17.3 for details.
5.2 Initiative Phase

Every unit rolls a die for their initiative this turn. A higher quality crew can swap its result with that of a
lower quality enemy crew. See section 6 for details.
5.3 Movement Phase

Units move in this phase.
Starting with the unit with the lowest initiative, and proceeding in order to the unit with the highest
initiative, move each unit. In the case of a tie between opponents, the player with the momentum
token chooses the unit to move, and then hands the token to an opponent.
When a ship with distortion markers moves during the phase, remove the markers.
See section 7 for more details.
5.4 Drift Phase

Drifting objects move in this phase.
Starting with the player with the momentum token, each player chooses a drifting object to move. It
doesn’t have to be one the player owns, but it cannot be an object that has moved already this turn.
If a minefield is chosen, the owner gets to roll the dice for resolving any attacks triggered when the
mines drift through an enemy ship.
If a debris field is chosen, an opponent places any distortion markers created when they pass through
a ship.
Repeat until all drifting objects have moved.
See section 7.2 for details.
5.5 Combat Phase

Resolve all combat, starting with the unit with the highest initiative, and proceeding in order to the unit
with the lowest initiative. In the case of a tie between opponents, the player with the momentum token
chooses the unit that attacks, and then hands the token to an opponent.
Starships 7

Combat resolves sequentially, with the results of one action affecting the next. Firing a single
weapons bank counts as a combat action, as does resolving the ramming special order. Resolve all
combat actions for one unit before proceeding to the next unit.
See section 8 for details.
5.6 End Phase

Remove all special order markers from the table.
Remove all units and drifting objects whose inertia markers have moved off the table.
6 Initiative
6.1 Procedure
Roll one die for each unit on the table. Place the result with the unit; the usual way to do so is leave
the die (with the result face up) next to the unit or on its inertia marker.
Once dice are rolled, ships and squadrons may now swap initiatives with enemy ships and squadrons
of lower quality. Squadrons use their flagship’s quality. (See section 12.1 on choosing the flagship.) All
elite units swap first, then veteran units. A unit may not choose to swap initiative more than once, but
a veteran unit might swap twice — once because an elite enemy swapped with it, and again because
the veteran chooses to swap with a green enemy.
The actual order of swapping within a quality band is up to the players. Remember that units may not
swap within a quality band.
Ordinance might not roll for initiative, depending on its situation. Any ordinance that was launched on
the immediately previous turn uses the launching unit’s initiative. (See section 10.3.)
Note that while missiles and fighters are normally considered units, ordinance does not have a
quality, so never swaps initiative on its own. Its initiative might change as a side effect of its launcher’s
initiative being swapped.
6.2 Resolving Ties

Initiative ties between units on the same side are generally unimportant. The owning player chooses
the order in which their actions resolve.
Initiative ties between opponents are more interesting. The player with the momentum token chooses
which unit acts first and hands the token to their opponent. That player chooses the next unit to act if
there is still a tie between opponents. (Note that this is unit, not side.)
Ordinance sharing its launcher’s initiative does not count as a separate unit until they move. (See
section 10.3.)
6.3 Empty Magazines

Fleets cannot fight indefinitely. Ordinance magazines empty, and shield chaff bleeds into the vacuum

or sticks to the wrong parts of your ship, even when your opponents aren’t blasting it away.
Starting on turn six, a unit that rolls an initiative die less than the turn number has expended its
consumables. Its ordinance and shield values drop to zero. (Ordinance without ratings, such as
missiles, are similarly prohibited from launching for the rest of the battle.)
This occurs immediately when the die is rolled. Trading the die away does not transfer the condition
to an enemy.
7 Movement
7.1 Procedure
Starships is an inertial game. A unit’s previous move is used as the basis for the next move. To record
the previous move, place the unit’s inertia marker in the direction of the unit’s last move, at the
distance of that move. If the unit is a ship, orient its model so that the hull centerline lines up in the
direction of its last thrust.
At the beginning of its next move, measure a radius from the inertia marker equal to the unit’s thrust
rating. The unit can now move to any spot within that radius.
Starships 9

Place one of your navigation markers on the spot where you intend to move the unit. Measure the
distance from the unit to that marker. Extend the unit’s path, and place the other navigation marker an
equal distance farther down the path. This will serve as the basis for the unit’s next move.
Check the path from the unit to the first navigation marker, and resolve ordinance attacks or terrain
effects (such as crashing into a planet) triggered by that movement. If the unit survives, replace the
first navigation marker with the unit’s miniature or marker.

If that unit is a ship, orient the miniature so that its centerline is in line with the inertia marker, with the
aft pointed at the inertia marker. This reflects the positioning of the ship’s engines as they thrust.
If a squadron, orient the flagship as detailed before, and place the rest of the squadron parallel with
the flagship. (See section 12.5.)
Finally, replace the second navigation marker with the unit’s inertia marker, and remove both
navigation markers.
Starships 11

7.2 Coasting
Moving to the spot of the inertia marker is referred to as “coasting”, while moving to a different spot is
known as “thrusting”. If a ship coasts, then it is allowed to face whatever direction its owner chooses
at the end of its move. The inertia marker is placed along the path taken, as normal.
Drifting objects always coast.
A ship that is coasting may choose to turtle at the end of its move. (See section 13.2.7.)
7.3 Sideswiping
Whenever a ship ends its move touching an enemy’s base, the two ships are close enough that their
shield bubbles interact poorly. Place enough distortion markers between the ships to reduce the
shields of both ships to zero.
If a ship moves after being sideswiped in the same phase, its shields regenerate as normal. This
means that the sideswiping ship has unfortunately dropped its own shields without discomfiting its
enemy.
A ship that begins a combat phase adjacent to an enemy may

choose to ram the enemy instead of firing weapons. (See section
13.3.1.)
A ship that begins a combat phase adjacent to an enemy

controlled freighter may attempt to capture the freighter. (See
section 16.3.)
An ordinance marker that ends its move adjacent to an enemy

may choose to attack. This may not be in addition to any attack
made by moving through the enemy. (See section 10.)
7.4 The Edge of Forever

If a unit moves (or a drifting object drifts) off the playing surface, it is immediately removed from the
game and may not return. A ship or squadron that moves off the playing field counts as retired for
victory purposes. (See section 18.9.)
If a unit or drifting object loses its inertia marker off the playing surface, the unit or object is removed
from the game during the following end phase and may not return. If the inertia marker belongs to a
ship or squadron, it counts as retired for victory purposes.
7.5 Collisions
Given the distances involved, and the tiny size of the ships in comparison, units do not collide by
accident. As a result, ships may pass through other ships without consequence while moving.
If a unit crosses an enemy ordinance marker, it triggers an attack. Drifting ordinance will also attack if
it passes through an enemy unit. See section 10 for details.

Debris fields that cross a unit will affect that unit. See section 14.
At the end of a move (and subsequent attacks by ordinance) units may not be placed in the same
space as another unit. At their closest, their bases may touch. If ships or squadrons, they would
sideswipe an enemy. (See section 7.3.)
If a ship would end its turn occupying the same space as another ship, the moving ship is placed
touching the closest point of the other ship’s base. If the moving ship would end up in the same space
as a third ship, move to the other side of the ship.
If a ship’s move is adjusted once, it cannot coast. If a ship’s move is adjusted twice, it must overthrust
to make the violent adjustments to recover. Place an overthrust marker next to the ship, and it suffers
the costs of overthrusting. (See section 13.2.6.)
Squadrons must maneuver with their flagships if possible. If a ship in a squadron cannot maintain
formation, it breaks formation (see section 13.2.1) and overthrusts (see section 13.2.6).
If a ship cannot normally overthrust because it’s already following a special order, it still overthrusts,
but cannot fire any weapons during the next combat phase (not just ordinance).
If a unit or drifting object collides with terrain, the effects can be unfortunate (such as a loss of shields)
or fatal (such as crashing into a moon). Refer to section 17 for details.
8 Combat Phase
8.1 Introduction
Each ship has multiple weapons entries. On its initiative, the ship may fire all, some, or none of its
weapons. Each weapon entry attacks separately and sequentially, with its results affecting the fire of
the next weapon.
Weapons are divided into two categories: direct fire weapons (see section 9) and ordinance (see
section 10). Direct fire attacks are resolved when they are declared, while ordinance weapons are
placed on the board and track their enemies.
Instead of firing, a ship may ram. See section 13.3.1.
8.2 Damage
Strike a hull box off the target ship for each hit scored. When the ship has only half its hull boxes
remaining, it is disabled, and the following ratings are halved, rounding down: all weapon strength
values, Point Defense, and Shields. Missiles may no longer be fired. Thrust and Overthrust values are
halved, and half inches are retained. (For example, disabling a Thrust-5 destroyer reduces its Thrust
to 2.5 inches.)
When a ship loses all its hull boxes, it is destroyed, and replaced with a debris field that inherits the
ship’s inertia. See section 14 for details.
Starships 13

9 Direct Fire Weapons
9.1 Introduction
Because of the distances involved, direct fire weapons are the fleets’ tools of choice. Besides high-
powered lasers, the various combatants experimented with more exotic weapons that they collectively
refer to as spines.
9.2 Arcs
Each entry has an arc associated with it. Place the arc gauge over the firing ship and draw a line from
its post to the target ship’s post. To fire on a target, that target must lie in one of the weapon’s valid
arcs.
There are four primary arcs: left, right, fore, and aft; abbreviated L, R, F, A. There are two secondary
arcs within two of the primary arcs: the spinal mount firing arc (abbreviated S), and the ship’s blind
spot (abbreviated B).
Similarly, a target will receive fire in a particular arc. If a vessel has a split armor value, place the arc
gauge over it to determine the arc from which it is receiving fire. (For example, 6/7F means a 7 armor
in the fore arc, and a 6 in the other three.) Receiving fire through the spine arc and blind spots attacks
the fore and aft armor arcs, respectively.
9.3 Targeting
A direct fire weapon must fire on the closest target in its valid arc. Ships of a lesser type than the firing
ship may be ignored. For example, a destroyer does not have to target the closest enemy escort, and
may fire on the closest destroyer instead. It may not target a cruiser beyond that destroyer.
A weapon may not ignore a ship of a lesser type to fire on a farther ship of the same type. For
example, a cruiser may not ignore the destroyer two inches away to fire at a destroyer (or escort) six
inches away.
In the case where two targets are equidistant, the player with the momentum token chooses which is
closest and passes the token to an opponent.
Weapons may never ignore a unit following a draw fire special order, even if the firing vessel is of a
larger type. (See section 13.2.3.)
9.4 Obstructions
Beam weapons travel on a direct line to their target, so objects (usually planets) get in the way. Draw
a line from post to post; if it crosses an obstruction, then the target might not be a legal one. See
section 17 for details.
Because this is the future, players are encouraged to check for obstruction when pre-measuring
distances.

9.5 Resolving a Laser Attack
Lasers form the backbone of most fleets. They are small enough to mount in turrets, and are
unaffected by the ranges of fleet combat.
Roll one die for each strength point of the weapon’s entry. Adjust each result by the applicable
modifiers. (See section 9.8.) Compare that result to the target’s armor value.
In the case of a target with multiple armor values, place the arc gauge over the target model so that
the center line of the vessel and the gauge align. Find the quadrant containing the firing vessel, and
use the armor value that corresponds to that quadrant.
Every result greater than or equal to the target’s armor is a hit. Natural 10s always hit, and natural 1s
always miss.
If the target has any shields remaining, they absorb hits first. Place a distortion marker for each hit the
shields deflect. (See section 9.10.) If there are any hits remaining after the shields absorb hits, they
are scored on the target. (See section 8.2.)
9.6 Resolving a Spine Attack

Particle accelerators are too big to mount in a turret, and produce enough recoil that the weapon
needs to be in line with the ship’s engines. As a result, these weapons run the length of the ship’s
spine and are referred to as spinal weapons, spinal-mounted weapons, or even spines (as if the
ship’s core is the weapon itself).
Spines resolve in the same manner as lasers, but are restricted to the ship’s spinal mount firing arc
on its arc template. Spines ignore shields.
9.7 The Blind Spot

Every ship has a blind spot through which it cannot fire, created by the ship’s engines. Receiving fire
through the blind spot attacks the aft armor arc.
You may not fire at a target in the firing ship’s blind spot.
Starships 15

9.8 Modifiers
Long Range: –1. For every full 12” between target and shooter.
For example, firing on a target 24” away incurs a –2 modifier. Firing on a target 15” away incurs a –1
modifier, and firing on a target 8” away incurs no modifier.
Punching Up: –1. Lighter ships firing on heavier ones don’t hit as hard as the weapon count would
indicate. If a ship’s laser is firing on a heavier type (e.g., an escort firing on a destroyer) apply this
modifier. (Note that weapons are graded as a reminder, using the first letter of the ship type. Example:
a Laser-D is a destroyer-grade laser.)
This modifier is applied only once, even if the firing ship is more than one type lighter than the target.
Firing on a Squadron with an Untargeted Freighter: –1. See section 16.4 for details.
Firing on Ordinance: –1 (Escorts: +0). Lasers may fire on ordinance, but spines track a little too
slowly to be truly effective. Lasers (excluding escorts’) firing on ordinance apply this modifier. Escorts’
fire is unchanged. Spines may not fire on ordinance.
Ordinance armor numbers: fighters, 6; mines, 6; missiles, 8.
9.9 Shields
Shields are chaff surrounding the ship. Lasers that strike the chaff don’t stay coherent enough to
penetrate armor. The ship’s shield value is the number of laser hits that the ship can ignore every turn
under normal circumstances.
Shields are only effective against lasers. Ordinance and spines ignore shields.
A ship following the turtle special order has its shield value doubled. See section 13.2.7.
9.10 Distortion Markers

Lasers blocked by shields still distort the chaff suspended in the magnetic bubble. When
a shield blocks a laser, place a distortion marker on the target’s base. Once the ship has
as many distortion markers as it has shields, then apply any further laser hits as damage.
(See section 8.2.)
When a ship moves in the movement phase, remove its distortion markers.
10 Ordinance
10.1 Introduction
“Ordinance” is a catch-all term that describes a variety of guided and semi-guided munitions that can
be launched by a warship. Depending on the type of ordinance, it might stalk its intended target, or it
might drift through space awaiting an unwary vessel.

10.2 Launching Ordinance
Ordinance does not attack the instant it’s launched. To launch, place the appropriate marker in
contact with the ship’s base.
A ship may launch ordinance only once in a combat phase.
10.2.1 Inheriting Inertial State

Before ordinance is launched, it’s already moving through space on the launching ship, and has to
overcome that inertia to track its target. In game terms, this means that on the first turn the weapon
moves, its speed and direction are exactly the same as the launching ship. During the ordinance’s
first movement phase, it moves on the parent’s initiative and uses the parent’s inertia marker for its
move. (For ease of play, move all ordinance before the parent ship.)
Exception: mines are drifting objects, so are handled a bit differently. See section 10.5.1 for details.
10.3 Fighters
Fighters are semi-expendable gunboats armed with weapons normally too light
or slow to concern a ship. The fighters overcome this problem by maneuvering
inside the enemy’s shields and attacking precisely. Because they persist on the
table while hunting their target, fighters are considered ordinance.
10.3.1 Launching Fighters

Fighters do not operate singly; they are deployed in groups depending on their role. If they’re
attacking enemy ships, they form a strike group. If they’re intercepting enemy ordinance, they form a
patrol group.
There is no roll to launch fighters in the combat phase. Every ship is allowed to launch groups made
up of fighters equal to the ship’s fighter strength.
A fleet may not launch any new fighters if the total number of friendly fighters on the table equals or
exceeds the total fighter strength of all surviving friendly ships.
When launched, all fighters must be assigned to a strike group or a patrol group. No single group may
exceed 6 fighters.
Starships 17

10.3.2 Fuel Limits
Strike groups are limited in the amount of fuel they carry, and can’t just loiter around. If a strike group
rolls a natural one on its initiative roll, then it’s low enough on fuel that the group returns to a carrier.
Pull the entire strike group from the table.
This only happens on its own roll, not when it’s inheriting the parent’s inertial state.
Patrol groups are unaffected by fuel limits.
10.3.3 Recall
Fighter groups may be recalled at the start of the Combat Phase. Remove the markers from the table,
and they can be re-launched.
Both strike and patrol groups may be recalled.
10.3.4 Patrol Groups

Patrol groups are used to augment a fleet’s defenses. When launched, these patrol groups are
assigned to the carrier or to another ship within three inches. They remain in base contact with that
ship until removed from play.
Escorts are more maneuverable than fighters, so patrol groups may not be assigned to an escort.
Newly launched fighters may be assigned to existing patrol groups, or form their own. A ship may only
have one patrol group, and no patrol group may have more than 6 fighters.
Patrol groups intercept ordinance that attacks friendly ships within three inches of the ship to which
the group has been assigned.
Against mines and strike groups, remove the smaller of the two units, and reduce the strength of the
larger by the smaller.
Example: a patrol group of six fighters intercepts a mine field of four mines. The mines are removed,
along with four of the fighters. A patrol group of two fighters remains.
Fighters that intercept a missile detonate it prematurely. Remove the patrol group and missile from
the table. Place distortion markers on the target ship up to the ship’s current shield rating. If any
ordinance is in contact with the target, remove them from the table as well.
10.3.5 Strike Groups

A strike group’s mission is to attack enemy ships. While the weapons that fighters carry are not as
powerful as ship-mounted ones, the fighters are able to target ships more effectively from close range
— a range where ships cannot outmaneuver kinetic weapons.
Because their mission’s success relies on mass, strike groups follow different formation rules than
patrol groups. Instead of being parceled out at a player’s whim, all strike fighters in a particular launch
must be assigned to new strike groups, and must form the minimum number of strike groups possible.

For example, a launch of 8 fighters must be organized into two strike groups. The groups could be
balanced (two groups of 4) or not (one group of 6 and one of 2).
When deployed as a strike group, fighters have a thrust of 8.
10.3.6 Attacking Ships

When a strike group ends its move in contact with an enemy’s base, the fighters attack the ship. A
strike group also attacks any ship that moves through the group’s marker.
If a patrol group is within three inches of the target, compare the strength values attacking and
defending groups. Remove the smaller from the table, and reduce the strength of the greater by that
of the smaller.
Example: a patrol group of two fighters intercepts a strike group of six fighters. Remove the patrol
group from the table, along with two of the strike fighters. A strike group of four fighters remains.
If the strike group remains, roll one die for each point of the ship’s point defense. Any die that rolls
greater than or equal than 6 removes a strength point from the strike group.
Any escorts in base contact with the target ship may also make point defense rolls at this time.
If any fighters in the strike group survive, roll one die for each strength point remaining. For every roll
greater than the target ship’s lowest armor value, remove one hull point. (Shields don’t help in this
case.)
At this point, the fighters have expended their ordinance; remove them from play.
10.3.7 Other Ordinance

Because of the nature of their mission, strike groups would rather ignore enemy ordinance. The
converse cannot be said of the other weapons.
If a strike group encounters a minefield, the mines attack the group. Remove the weaker unit’s
strength points from the stronger unit, and remove the weaker unit from the table.
Example: a six-strong strike group encounters a four-strong mine field. Remove the mine field from
the table, along with four strike fighters. A strike group of two fighters remains.
If a strike group encounters a missile, the missile detonates, eliminating both the missile and the
strike group.
If a strike group encounters another strike group, the fighters will engage each other, even though
their weapons are not properly configured to destroy the other. The formations will break up as the
fighters chase each other, expending fuel and ammunition until the pilots return to their carriers to
share exaggerated tales of derring-do. Remove the weaker unit’s strength points from the stronger
unit, and remove the weaker unit from the table.
If a strike group attacks a ship that launched ordinance the previous turn, and if the ship has not yet
moved this turn, then the strike group may attack the ordinance before attacking the ship. (If the ship
Starships 19

has not moved, then neither has the ordinance, as the ordinance has inherited the ship’s inertia.)
10.3.8 Co-location
A strike group may not end its turn in the same location as another unit. If that unit is an enemy, the
fighters must attack, and be removed after the attack. If the unit is friendly, the group must instead
move to an empty valid location.
Strike groups that cannot move to a valid location are removed from play.
10.4 Mines
Some weapons are meant to interdict the enemy’s movement. They launch from
ships like other ordinance, but carry only enough fuel to clear the parent ship.
Once free, they drift until an enemy is careless enough to cross their path.
10.4.1 Launching Mines

No roll is needed to launch mines in the combat phase. A ship launches mines equal to its mine
strength.
All mines launched by a single ship must be grouped in a single minefield. Ships that are squadroned
together may group their mines together on launch.
No minefield may exceed four (4) mines.
Once launched, a minefield places its inertia marker within 12 inches of the launching ship’s inertia
marker. This represents the energy expended by the launching ship to fling the mines away from
them.
The mines will coast normally in the upcoming drift phase.
10.4.2 Triggering Attacks

When a minefield moves, it moves through a corridor defined by the edges of its marker and its inertia
marker.
The minefield attacks any enemy ship whose post that lies within that corridor. The minefield attacks
any enemy ordinance marker that even partially lies within the corridor.
If multiple targets lie within the corridor, resolve the attacks from the mine’s position to its inertia
marker. If two targets are equidistant, then the player with momentum chooses which target is
attacked first, and passes the momentum token.
10.4.3 Attacking a Ship

If a patrol group is within three inches of the target, then compare the strength values of the mines
and fighters. Remove the smaller from the table, and reduce the strength of the greater by that of the
smaller.
If any mines survive, the ship resolves its point defense. Roll a number of dice equal to the ship’s PD

rating. Any dice that roll equal to or higher than a 6 remove a strength point from the minefield.
Any escorts in base contact with the target ship may also make point defense rolls at this time.
If any mines survive, roll one die for each strength point remaining. For every roll greater than the
target ship’s lowest armor value, remove one hull point and one strength point from the minefield.
(Shields don’t help in this case.)
If any mines survive, they continue coasting past the ship they just attacked.
10.4.4 Attacking Other Ordinance

While mines will generally distinguish between friend and foe, they aren’t very discriminating
otherwise. If a minefield’s path crosses an enemy ordinance marker, remove the marker with fewer
strength points from the table, and reduce the strength points of the stronger by the value of the
weaker.
If a minefield encounters a missile, the missile detonates, eliminating the missile and the minefield.
10.4.5 Co-location
Sometimes mines should end their move in the same space as a ship, but that’s not allowed. Instead,
they will move to the first legal spot along their path while maintaining its inertia. Any units that would
be attacked by this extra move are ignored. The mines’ fuses have become fouled in the mass of
shields and comms.
Before moving the mines, measure the distance between the mines and their inertia marker. Place
one navigation marker in the spot where the mines will now be moving, and another the measured
distance up the line from the first. Then replace the first marker with the minefield, and the second
with its inertia marker. (In other words, the distance between the inertia and minefield markers does
not change, nor does the direction from one to the other. All that changes is where the mines are.)
10.5 Missiles
The missile is the mother of all ordinance. Each is piloted by a sophisticated AI
whose sole purpose in life is to guide the massive warhead to its target. Such a
weapon is so expensive that it sometimes comes with its own shields and point
defense weapons to ensure its success.
10.5.1 Strength Points

Missile racks do not have strength points. To avoid fratricide, ships with missile racks may launch only
one missile a turn.
Starships 21

10.5.2 Launching Missiles
The missile is placed on the launching vessel’s base in the combat phase and moves during the
movement phase. It inherits the ship’s inertia during the first movement phase after launch. No die roll
is needed to launch missiles in the combat phase.
A missile has a thrust of 8.
10.5.3 Attacking a Ship

If the ship is defended by a patrol group within three inches, the missile will detonate prematurely (see
damage, below) upon intercept. If there is no patrol group, roll point defense against a target number
of 8. (This reflects the missile’s own shields and armor.) Any hits destroy the missile.
Any escorts in base contact with the target ship may add their point defense to this roll.
A surviving missile attacks the ship, rolling one die against the ship’s lowest armor value. A hit means
that the missile has found its target, while a miss means that the missile has detonated prematurely.
10.5.4 Damage
The warhead on a missile is the peak of destructive engineering. It explodes with the power of a small
star. Conversely, a ship is hardened against the natural radiation found in space, so a missile has to
be very close to do serious damage.
A ship hit by a missile takes a variable amount of damage. Roll two dice, and keep the lowest roll—
that’s the number of hits the target ship takes.
Any missile attack (even one that misses) distorts the defender’s shields. Place a number of distortion
markers equal to the ship’s active shields on the ship’s base.
Example: a missile hits Kublai, a Shield-2 destroyer. Two dice are rolled, resulting in a five and a nine.
Kublai takes five hull hits, and adds two distortion markers.
10.5.5 Other Ordinance

If a missile encounters enemy ordinance, remove the missile and the ordinance marker from the
table. The missile has detonated and destroyed the ordinance.
If a missile attacks a ship that launched ordinance the previous turn, and if the ship has not moved
this turn, then the missile will attack the ordinance instead. Destroy all enemy ordinance, remove
the missile, and add distortion markers to the ship equal to its remaining shields. (If the ship has not
moved, then neither has the ordinance, as the ordinance has inherited the ship’s inertia.)
11 Ramming
You order a ship to do the most dangerous thing they can do: ram another ship. If performed correctly,
there is almost no chance that they will be returning from this, much less alive.
Your ship must begin its combat phase in contact with an enemy ship, and cannot be following a

special order. The ramming vessel may not fire on vessels during this combat phase.
Measure the distance between the two ships’ inertia markers, rounding up to the nearest inch. This is
the target number the ramming ship must roll to ram its target. (The greater the difference in velocity,
the less time your helmsman has to make contact.)
Remember that natural 1s always fail, and natural 10s always succeed.
If the ram is successful, each ship removes one hull point for each of other ship’s hull points when
the ram was initiated. Armor doesn’t help in this situation, as it’s designed to stop lasers, bullets, and
radiation.
12 Squadrons
While the rules so far have assumed that each ship is moving independently, larger fleets organize
their ships into manageable units known as squadrons. A squadron moves, fires, and is attacked as
one.
12.1 Composition
A squadron is made up of a flagship and two other ships, for a total of three. The flagship must be the
largest ship, by type, of the squadron. If more than one ship is the largest, the owning player chooses
which is the flagship. Generally, the ship with the highest quality is the best choice.
The flagship’s inertia marker is used to mark inertia for the entire squadron.
Ships in the squadron can be detached from the squadron during the movement phase with the break
formation special order. (See section 13.2.1.)
Ships may be added to a squadron (or create a new squadron) if the ships end a movement phase in
base contact. See the join squadron special order (see section 13.2.4).
12.2 Required Squadrons

Depending on the size of your battle, some ship types may be required to start the battle in a
squadron, and cannot follow the break formation special order. If enough ships in a squadron are
destroyed, the survivor may operate on its own.
Weight Class Point Range Squadrons Req'd
Destroyer under 500 none
Cruiser 500-2000 Escorts
Behemoth more than 2000 Escorts, Destroyers
For example, you’re playing a 1500-point battle. This battle is in the cruiser weight class. Escorts
would be required to be part of a squadron, but any larger ships can operate independently in this
battle.
12.3 Formation
The ships in the squadron must be linked by base-to-base contact with all other members of
Starships 23

a squadron. Ships are allowed to change positions around the flagship, so long as contact is
maintained.
12.4 Initiative
A squadron uses the flagship’s quality when rolling initiative. The entire squadron acts on that
initiative.
12.5 Movement
Move the squadron by moving the flagship and then the rest of the squadron, using the lowest Thrust
and Overthrust ratings in the squadron.
For example, a squadron contains the cruisers Svelte and Gordo. Svelte has an elite crew, so has
been chosen as the flagship. Gordo has a Thrust of 2, which is less than Svelte’s Thrust of 3, so the
squadron’s Thrust is 2.
12.6 Special Orders

Squadrons follow special orders as one, and cannot follow any special order that requires the acting
unit to be a single ship.
12.7 Combining Ordinance

Mines and fighters launched by a squadron during a shooting phase may be combined into a single
group or minefield. Keep in mind the limits on ordinance unit size: mines 4, and fighters 6.
12.8 Taking Fire

One of the advantages of being in squadron is that the enemy attacks the unit as one. For the
purposes of targeting, only the largest ship type in the squadron counts.
12.8.1 Beam Weapons

Lasers and spines fire on the closest ship in the squadron, and continue in sequence to the farthest.
Roll the dice as normal, and resolve the dice from highest roll down to lowest. If the first ship is
destroyed before all dice are resolved, target the next closest member of the squadron and repeat the
process until all dice are resolved or all the squadron’s ships in range are destroyed.
12.8.2 Strike Groups

If a squadron contains escort ships and larger types, a strike group may choose to ignore the escorts
to attack the larger ship. Any escorts in the squadron contribute their point defense to the target ship.
12.8.3 Mines
A minefield attacks each ship under its path sequentially, as normal. Remember that escorts touching
the target ship may contribute their point defense to the target.

12.8.4 Missiles
If a squadron is composed of escorts and ships of a larger type, the missile can ignore any
intervening escorts to attack the larger type. Any escorts in the squadron contribute their point
defense to the target ship.
12.8.5 Contacting Ordinance

If a squadron initiates contact with ordinance, the ordinance will attack the flagship. Because
formation is maintained, any support fire is determined by ship placement before the move.
If this seems restrictive, remember that the squadron may break formation at the beginning of its
move, and could choose to intercept the ordinance with a component escort or a new squadron of
escorts before moving the core of the original squadron.
Example: Svelte is in a triangle formation with two escorts, meaning all ships are adjacent to each
other. Svelte passes through a minefield on its move, so both escorts are allowed to contribute point
defense to Svelte’s. The escorts are not attacked on their move.
13 Special Orders
Not all situations are covered by “move or shoot,” and require special orders to follow.
13.1 Procedure
Orders have certain prerequisites. When a ship or squadron of ships meets those prerequisites, it
may follow a special order. If required, place the appropriate order maker on the ship’s base. In the
case of a squadron, place an order marker on all its ships.
Ordinance and space stations may not follow special orders. Freighters are limited in the special
orders they may follow. (See section 16.5.)
13.2 In the Movement Phase

13.2.1 Break Formation
The unit must be a squadron, and this order must be declared on the squadron’s initiative in the
movement phase, but before the squadron moves.
One or more of the squadron’s ships moves independently of the squadron. These ships move before
the squadron, and use the squadron’s inertia marker to plot their moves. In the course of finishing the
move, the ships’ own inertia markers will be placed on the table.
The new unit acts on the squadron’s initiative in the combat phase on the turn it broke formation. The
player should mark the new unit with the squadron’s initiative upon breaking formation.
For this order, no marker is placed on the unit.
Note that the squadron composition requirements may not be violated by this order. (See section
12.1.)
Starships 25

13.2.2 Dock with a Station
The unit must end its move in contact with a space station, and cannot already have a special order
marker.
Roll one die. If the result is greater than the distance between the station and the unit’s inertia marker,
then the unit has successfully docked. (The quality of that docking might be a little suspect, but that’s
beyond the scope of this game.)
Currently, only freighters with an inbound posture need to dock with a station, and are removed from
the table as part of the victory conditions when they do so. (See section 18.9.1.5.)
No marker for this order is placed on a unit.
13.2.3 Draw Fire

This order can only be performed by squadrons containing two or more escorts.
The order is declared during the movement phase. The squadron may not already
have a special order marker.
The ships in this squadron cannot be ignored during the combat phase, even by
ships of types larger than themselves. The ships in this squadron may not launch
ordinance while operating under this order.
Place a draw fire marker on this unit.
13.2.4 Join Squadron

Two or more friendly units must be in contact at the end of a movement phase. (In other words, all
units have already moved.) The total number of ships in the units may not exceed three. None of
these units may have a special order marker already placed on them.
The units merge into one squadron. Choose a flagship for the new squadron from the flagships of
the merging units. (Normal squadron composition rules still apply.) Single ships are counted as the
flagship of a one-ship squadron for this rule.
Keep the flagship’s inertia marker on the table. Remove the inertia markers of any other ships in the
squadron.
13.2.5 Jump to Warp

The unit must be in terrain that allows it to jump to warp (see section 17), and cannot already have a
special order marker.
In some cases, the terrain will also require that a ship take hull damage for the escape. If a ship would
be destroyed this way, its unit cannot jump to warp.

13.2.6 Overthrust
Declare before this unit moves. The unit may not already have a special order
marker.
The unit uses its Overthrust value instead of its Thrust value when moving this
movement phase.
Add a distortion marker to each ship in the unit at the end of its move.
The unit may not launch ordinance this combat phase.
Place an overthrust special order marker on this unit’s base.
13.2.7 Turtle
The unit must coast this movement phase, and the order is declared upon coasting.
The unit may not already have a special order marker.
During the combat phase, this unit’s shield values are doubled.
The unit may not fire during the combat phase. Point defense weapons may still fire
in the movement phase.
Place a turtle special order marker on this unit’s base.
13.3 In the Combat Phase

13.3.1 Ramming
This order is limited to single ships. The ship’s base must be touching an enemy
ship’s in the combat phase. The friendly ship may not already have a special order
marker.
The ship will attempt to ram the enemy. See section 11 for details.
Place a ram special order marker on this unit’s base.
13.4 In Any Phase

13.4.1 Jury Rig
This order is limited to disabled ships, or squadrons containing a disabled ship. The unit cannot
already have a special order marker.
Treat one of the reduced attributes of the disabled ship as if it were at full strength
for this turn. For weapons, this is limited to one weapons entry. This could be used to
reactivate a disabled missile rack, but not an empty one.
Place a jury rig special order marker on this unit’s base.
Starships 27

13.5 Removing Order Markers
Special order markers are removed during the end phase, and any bonuses the unit had from
following those orders expire.
14 Debris Fields
When a ship is destroyed, replace it with a debris field. The ship’s inertia marker
remains. The debris field uses this inertia marker.
Debris fields are drifting objects, and normally move in the drift phase. When
drifting, the debris field moves through a corridor defined by the edges of its
marker and its inertia marker. If a ship’s post lies within that corridor, place a
distortion marker touching the ship’s base. (A ship may only receive one distortion
marker during a drift phase.)
A ship never drifts in the drift phase on the turn it is destroyed. When a ship is destroyed during
the movement phase (usually as the result of an ordinance attack), the new debris field drifts on its
initiative that turn, instead.
Unlike most other objects, a debris field can end its move co-located with any unit or drifting object. If
the debris field moves through a planet, it is removed from play.
Firing lasers through a debris field is like firing through a shield. If a unit is firing through a debris
field, the first hit places a distortion marker on the field instead. Note that this is by unit, and not by
weapons bank.
Laser fire is affected by only one debris field. If the line of fire passes through more than one debris
field, ignore the second and subsequent fields.
Mines that pass through a debris field could get confused during the transit. Roll a die for each
strength point of the ordinance. Any roll of a one reduces the minefield’s strength by one. Mines roll
once for each debris field they pass through in a drift phase.
15 Space Stations
Space stations are built for widely varying purposes. One station is a mining center in an asteroid
belt. Another orbits a gas giant and refines the planet’s atmosphere into starship fuel. A third provides
a high port for an inhabited world. Finally, the courier port at Moultrie can be found out at the jump
point, orbiting the star.
Because of the wars, every space station must also be armed well enough to repel lone raiders. In
game terms, a space station can be thought of as a ship without thrust or weapons arcs. They count
as cruisers for type, and every laser mounted on a station has a 360 degree arc. A space station has
no blind spots.
Unless overridden by scenario rule, the station stat line is: Armor 7, Shield 2, PD 3, and rated as
veteran. Determine its hull and weapons by the number of station points a station has. A station has

one point per 200 points of enemy fleet strength, rounding up.
For each station point, the station has two hull points, plus one of the following weapons:
2 lasers-C (range 18”), up to a maximum of 24 lasers.
4 fighters, up to a maximum of 18 fighters (ignore the extra half point).
6 mines, no maximum number.
1 missile rack, maximum one rack.
These weapons entries can be divvied up however the owner sees fit, with the following caveat: a
station may not have more than five weapons banks.
15.1 Chaff Launchers

Because stations are stationary compared to starships, they can get by with less complicated
defensive technology. Instead of shields, a space station is equipped with chaff launchers.
At the end of every movement phase, remove all distortion markers in contact with a space station.
The station has ejected more chaff to replace that which has been displaced by laser fire.
15.2 Orbits
Space stations are built somewhere for a reason, and that somewhere has a gravity field.
A garden world: the station is in orbit around a garden world. The station starts the game in base
contact with the planet. In its movement phase, it moves one inch clockwise around the planet.
Lagrange points: if a garden world possesses a significant moon, then the interplay of their gravity
creates five Lagrange points. Depending on a station’s mission, it might be located at any one of
them: L1 is located between the planet and the moon, 2 inches from the moon. L2 is on the same
line on the other side, 2 inches away from the moon. L3 is on the same line, but on the far side of the
planet from the moon (8 inches from the planet). L4 is located ahead of the moon on its orbit, eight
inches from both the planet
and its moon. L5 is in the
same spot behind the moon.
Choose one of the Lagrange

points, and place the station
there. It will not move during
the course of the battle.
Moons: if a station orbits

such a rock, then it’s likely
to be inhabited. Treat it as
a garden world for station
orbit.
Gas giants: place the station with its base touching the outer edge of the planet’s danger zone. (See
section 17.3.) It’s far enough away from the planet that it doesn’t move during the course of the battle.
A gas giant also has Lagrange points, but the interplay of all the moons typically means they’re not
Starships 29

stable enough to host a station.
Asteroid belt: asteroid miners use the station as a base of operations. Place it within an asteroid belt
(but not touching any large asteroids). The station’s shields are unaffected by the asteroid’s dust
clouds.
The station will not move during the course of a battle.
Jump point: the station is orbiting the star. Place it in the center of the table at the start of the
scenario. It will not move.
15.3 Special Orders

A station cannot follow any special orders.
16 Convoys
Not all ships involved in a space combat are warships; sometimes, civilian vessels get involved. No
matter what their purpose, they’re referred to as “freighters.” When convoys are present in a scenario,
deploy one freighter for each 500 points of fleet strength, rounding up. (Ex: a fleet of 1800 points
would deploy a convoy of four freighters.)
16.1 Generic Freighter

Compared to a warship, a freighter is under-armed, under-armored, and under-powered. The
following stat line is used for freighters that have been hastily modified for combat.
Quality Hull Armor Shields PD Thrust Over
Veteran 1 6 2 1 4 0
16.2 Freighters in Squadron

Freighter is the lightest vessel type, so a freighter may only be the flagship of a squadron made solely
of freighters. The freighter may still dictate the lowest thrust and overthrust rating, as its ratings might
be the lowest in the squadron.
16.3 Capturing Freighters

Freighters will surrender when facing certain death. When an enemy ship is in contact with a freighter
at the start of the weapons phase, count the number of hull boxes of any friendly vessels in contact
with, or in squadron with, the freighter. If the enemy ship has more hull boxes than that total, the
freighter surrenders. If any ship in the freighter’s squadron is escorted by a patrol group, each full two
fighters in the patrol group count as a hull box.
A patrol group cannot continue to escort a captured freighter. Remove the fighters from the board.
(They return to their carrier.)
The freighter is now in squadron with the enemy vessel, and controlled by its captors so long as the
freighter remains in squadron with at least one enemy warship. If the enemy is destroyed or breaks
squadron, then the freighter reverts to friendly control.

If playing with a non-generic freighter with weapons (see section 19.3), the captor cannot order a
captured freighter to fire on friendly warships.
The freighter may be recaptured by friendlies.
16.4 Freighters in Combat

Freighters count as one ship type smaller than escorts, and can therefore be ignored by all warships
during the combat phase. If a freighter is in squadron with a vessel that is targeted by direct fire, the
shooting player may choose to avoid hitting the freighter. This makes the actual target harder to hit by
–1, but the freighter cannot be destroyed by excess hits on the squadron.
Ordinance that passes through a captured freighter can choose to ignore the freighter.
16.5 Special Orders

Freighters may follow only the following special orders: Break Formation (13.2.1), Dock with a Station
(13.2.2), Join Squadron (13.2.4), Jump to Warp (13.2.5), and Turtle (13.2.7).
17 Terrain
17.1 Introduction
There are two very basic types of terrain: rocks and dust. Rocks get in your way — they block your
fire, and bad things happen to your ship if you run into one. Big enough ones can drag you towards
them. Luckily, gravity is an inverse square thing.
Dust, on the other hand, is just an inconvenience. It knocks down your shields, confuses your
sensors, and dissipates your fire.
Gas giants (in effect, if not actual), garden worlds, moons, and big asteroids like Ceres and Eros
(currently classified “dwarf planets”) all qualify as rocks.
Comet tails, large planetary rings, and small asteroids (which are most of them) count as dust.
17.2 Jump Points

The only other locales worth mentioning are jump points. Jump points are places where you can jump
to warp safely. Almost all of the universe is a jump point, except for the interesting bits. Gravity wells
warp space on their own, so jumping close to a star is quite risky — and “close” in this sense includes
habitable zones. As you move spaceward, you start finding places to jump. Or would, if those gas
giants weren’t in the way.
This leads to three basic classifications of jump zones: safe, risky, and blocked. If a locale is safe,
then a ship can jump from there without penalty. If a locale is risky, the ship takes damage when it
jumps. (Escorts and freighters take no damage. Destroyers take a point, cruisers two, and behemoths
take three.) Blocked means that jumping is certain death — a captain would order a ram before
jumping from blocked.
Starships 31

17.3 Gas Giants
Gas giants are conglomerations of gas that are weighty enough to capture other rocks, but not
weighty enough to catch fire like a star. Examples: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
The gas giant itself is represented on the table by a circle at least six inches in diameter. (There is no
maximum, but you would need a table that will accommodate it.) That disk is the “hard” part of a gas
giant. Any unit or drifting object that moves through the gas giant is destroyed. No weapons can fire
through a gas giant.
A danger zone surrounds the gas giant. Any unit or drifting object that ends a movement phase within
that zone has its inertia marker moved towards the center of the planet.
Distance to Gas Giant Move Inertia Marker Inward

Within 8 inches 1 inch
Within 4 inches 2 inches
Within 2 inches 3 inches
Within 1 inch 4 inches
Gas giants can be lonely, but are more likely accompanied by a moon or three and a ring. Moons
are smaller rocks (from a half inch to an inch in diameter) and located outside the danger zone.
Movement through a moon destroys the moving unit, and fire is blocked. (Moons do not have enough
mass to generate a danger zone.)
A ring is a mass of dust particles that orbits a planet. Most planets have them, and small rings are
ignored. However, some are substantial enough to make an impact on combat. Because Starships
is a 2D game in a 3D universe, rings are depicted edge on: as a line that runs from one edge of the
danger zone, through the center of the planet, to the other edge of the danger zone. In essence, a
ship will be either “above” or “below” the ring during a battle.
Firing through a ring is just like firing through a shield. If a unit is firing through a ring, the first hit
places a distortion marker on the ring instead. Note that this is by unit, and not by weapons bank.
Mines that pass through a ring could get confused during the transit. Roll a die for each strength point
of the ordinance. Any roll of a one reduces the field’s strength by one.
As much as a ring can protect a ship, it’s still a cloud of dust. Any ship that ends its movement after
crossing a ring has its shields distorted: place a distortion marker in contact with the ship at the end
of the turn. If a ship ends its move in contact with a ring, its shields are knocked down: place enough
distortion markers in contact with the ship to reduce its shields to zero.
The gas giant and its danger zone are jump blocked, while the rest of the table is jump risky.
17.4 Garden Worlds

They’re called “garden worlds” because they’re habitable, not because they’re particularly pleasant.
As one explorer was known to say: “Sure, it’s a garden. A rock garden.”

It might be interesting to the people who live there, but to you, in combat, it’s a rock. It’s represented
by a circle between an inch and 1.5 inches in diameter. Moving through it destroys the moving unit or
drifting object, and direct fire is blocked.
Like a gas giant’s, moons of garden worlds aren’t always worth mentioning. If they are, they’re almost
the size of the planets they’re orbiting. Luna is large enough to place on the table, but Phobos and
Deimos aren’t. The large moons are represented by circles one-half inch to one inch in diameter, and
placed eight inches away from the planet (measure from edge to edge).
Because garden worlds are so close to their star, the table they are on is jump blocked.
17.5 Comets
For warships, comets aren’t any concern unless they’re found starward. At that point, their tails are a
big deal. The dust and spray contained in a comet’s tail is enough to foul shields and weapons.
A comet tail is represented by an irregular triangle roughly eight inches long and three inches wide at
the fan.
Firing lasers through a tail is just like firing through a shield. If a unit is firing through a tail, the first hit
places a distortion marker on the tail instead. Note that this is by unit, and not by weapons bank.
Mines that pass through a tail could get confused during the transit. Roll a die for each strength point
of the ordinance. Any roll of a one reduces its strength by one.
As much as a tail can protect a ship, it’s still a cloud of dust. Any ship that ends its movement after
crossing a tail has its shields distorted: place a distortion marker in contact with the ship at the end
of the turn. If a ship ends its move in contact with a tail, its shields are knocked down: place enough
distortion markers in contact with the ship to reduce its shields to zero.
Comets with tails are close enough to their star for their locale to be jump blocked.
17.6 Asteroids
As mentioned before, asteroids come in two flavors: the big ones, which are represented by one-half
inch to one inch circles; and small ones, which are just dust, and represented by irregular shapes
about six to eight inches on a side.
When playing with asteroids, place a region of small asteroids with a large asteroid near its center.
The region is dust, and behaves just like a comet’s tail. The large asteroid is a rock, and behaves like
a moon or garden world.
Asteroids can show up anywhere in a star system, but they are most commonly in the inner sphere
and therefore jump blocked.
Starships 33

17.7 Random Generation
There are four basic regions in which a battle can be fought. From starward to spaceward, they are:
a garden world, the inner sphere, a gas giant, and the jump point. Once you know which region the
battle is taking place, you can roll on the following charts to determine the terrain. Do not roll for jump
points; their part of space is always empty.
17.7.1 Garden World

Place a single garden world at the center of the table.
Roll one die to determine if the garden world has a moon.
Die Roll Moon?

1-4 No significant moon
6-10 Moon. Roll a scatter die, and place the moon 8” from
the garden world in the direction indicated.
A space station will always be in low orbit around a planet with no moon (see section 15.2). If the
garden world does have a moon, roll one die:
Die Roll Station’s Position

1-3 Station in low orbit around the planet
4 Station in low orbit around the moon
5-6 Station at Lagrange Point L1
7 Station at Lagrange Point L2
If a station is in low orbit, roll a scatter die to determine its starting position above the body. It will orbit
clockwise from there.
17.7.2 Inner Sphere

If there is a space station, the table has an asteroid field, which contains the space station. Roll a
scatter die to indicate the direction the station is placed from the large asteroid.
Otherwise, roll one die:
Die Roll Terrain

1-4 No terrain
5-7 Asteroid field
8-10 Comet

If the map has an asteroid field, place the asteroid field in the center of the table.
If the map has a comet, roll the scatter die. Place the comet in the center of the table, with the axis of
the tail in line with the arrow of the die.
17.7.3 Gas Giant

Place a single gas giant in the center of the table.
Roll one die to determine if the planet has a ring:
Die Roll Ring?

1-6 No ring
7-10 The planet has a ring. Roll a scatter die and place the
ring aligned with the direction indicated.
A gas giant always rolls for moons. Roll one die and divide the result by three, rounding down. Any
moons will be eight inches from the gas giant, just outside the danger zone. For each moon, roll one
scatter die, and place the moon in the direction of the scatter die from the planet.
If there is a space station in addition to moons, roll one die:
Die Roll Station Placement

1-4 Station orbits planet
5-6 Station orbits Moon 1
If the rolled moon does not exist, place the station around the planet instead. Place it as if placing
another moon.
If a station is in orbit around a moon, roll a scatter die to determine its starting position above the
moon. It will orbit clockwise from there.
18 Scenarios
18.1 Introduction
War is a messy business, and battles do not become “scenarios” until they are history. Starships
attempts to model that messiness and combine it with a semblance of game balance.
“Balance” in this context means that a player has a chance to win, not that the chance is exactly an
even one. A beginner’s scenario can be found in section 18.11, and is designed to teach multiple
players the rules of the game.
Starships 35

When generating a scenario, players will select fleets of equal strength, and then determine the
following in order:
• Role
• Objectives
• Postures
• Location
• Deployment
• Momentum
18.2 Fleet Composition

As much fun as Starships is, the game is designed for four-to-five ordinance-launching maneuver
groups. The limiting factor is the initiative system. A scenario could theoretically be played with
anywhere between 200 and 12000 points, so long as you choose the right weight class and
formations. At 200, you play with individual escorts, while the second is played with squadrons of
behemoths. [Those are some big squadrons! — ed.]
This group requirement also means that ships too far below the weight class of the battle must be
played in squadrons, as per rule 12.2.
Players should choose a weight class and an appropriate fleet cost. Cruisers at 2000 points is a good
average choice.
18.3 Role
Role is fairly simple: a player is either the attacker or the defender. If the defender, the player’s fleet is
fighting in a friendly system. The attacker is not.
If playing the Shifting Alliances campaign (see section 20), the players will know their roles.
Otherwise, choose the role randomly, either by flipping a coin or rolling a die.
18.4 Objectives
Opposing admirals’ objectives are not always symmetrical. The attacker rolls one die, and generates
the objectives from the following list:
Die Roll Objectives

1-4 Fleet Engagement
5-6 Port Strike
7-8 Blockade
9 Reinforcing a Station
10 Evacuating a Station
18.4.1 Fleet Engagement

This is the simplest battle: the fleets square off against each other and attempt to destroy each other.

Whatever objective they might have had before has become secondary.
Attacker’s objective: Destroy the Enemy Fleet
Defender’s objective: Destroy the Enemy Fleet
18.4.2 Port Strike

The attacker has entered the system to destroy the defender’s station.
Attacker’s objective: Destroy the Station
Defender’s objective: Defend the Station
18.4.3 Blockade
The attacker has entered the system to hunt and destroy enemy shipping.
Attacker’s objective: Attack the Convoy
Defender’s objective: Defend the Convoy
18.4.4 Reinforcing a Station

The defender is escorting freighters to resupply a station that’s under attack.
Attacker’s objective: Attack the Station
18.4.5 Evacuating a Station

Things look bleak at the station, and the defenders are evacuating all non-essential personnel.
Attacker’s objective: Attack the Convoy
18.5 Postures
18.5.1 Generating
A fleet’s possible postures depend on the combination of objectives. For any combination that
contains a convoy, determine the convoy’s posture first:
Objective Convoy Posture

Reinforcing a Station Inbound
Evacuating a Station Outbound
1–2 Inbound
Blockade 3–4 Outbound
5 – 10 In Transit
Starships 37

The defender’s posture might be different if there is a convoy:
Convoy Posture Defender Posture

1-5 Pursuit
In Transit
6-10 Stable
1-4 Pursuit
Other 5-8 Stable
9-10 Dispersed
The attacker’s posture is independent of the defender’s:
Die Roll Attacker Posture

1-5 Pursuit
6-9 Stable
10 Dispersed
18.5.2 Explanation of Postures

Inbound and outbound: even if no player has a station objective, there is a station on the table.
Depending on the posture, the convoy will either be flying to or from the station.
If inbound, the convoy deploys in the entry zone farthest from the station, and the convoy’s objective
is to dock with the station. Place the convoy’s inertia markers ten inches from the ships on a line from
the ships to the station. Remove freighters from the table when they dock with the station.
If outbound, the convoys begin adjacent to the station and their objective is to exit through the farthest
deployment zone. (Presumably, they’re en route to the jump point.) Place the convoy’s inertia markers
underneath the ships, or flagships if in squadron.
If in transit, the freighters deploy in the same zone as the rest of the defender’s fleet, and their
objective is to leave the table through the opposite zone. Place the freighters’ inertia markers as if
they had the same posture as the rest of the fleet.
Pursuit implies that the fleet is rushing to battle. The fleet deploys in one corner, with their inertia
markers ten inches away, on a line from the ships towards the center of the table.
Stable implies that the fleet has reached the Area of Operations in good order, and has deployed into
line of battle. The fleet is deployed in one edge zone, with their inertia markers placed away from
the ships and the closest edge, at a distance equal to the lowest Overthrust of the fleet’s warships.
(Freighters are not warships.)
For both pursuit and stable postures, if your opponent has already deployed (and this includes station
and convoy placement), then the fleet is deployed in the open legal zone farthest from its enemy.
Dispersed indicates that a fleet is assembling as the battle is taking place.
If the attacker is dispersed, then the defender deploys first. The attacker assigns his ships into
squadrons. For each squadron, randomly deploy in an entry zone devoid of friendlies. The inertia
markers are placed as if the attackers are in pursuit.

If the defender is dispersed, and the attacker is not, then the attacker deploys first. The defender
then builds any desired squadrons. For each unit, randomly deploy in an empty zone. (If the center
zone contains a gas giant, it is not empty.) The inertia markers are placed at a distance equal to the
overthrust of the slowest ship in the unit (not the entire fleet) and headed towards the center of the
board. If a unit is deployed in the center zone, place the unit’s inertia marker underneath it.
18.6 Locations
Postures, objectives, and locations are intertwined. In order of precedence:
If an inbound or outbound posture is present, roll a d10:
Die Roll Terrain

1-4 Garden World
5-8 Gas Giant
9 Trojans (asteroids that are jump risky)
10 Asteroid Belt (asteroids that are jump blocked)
If an in transit posture is present, use this table instead:
Die Roll Terrain Jump Safety

1-3 Comet. Re-roll the die to determine 1-7: jump blocked
jump safety. 8-10: jump risky
4-6 Asteroids. Re-roll the die to determine 1-5: jump blocked
jump safety. 6-10: jump risky
7-10 Empty space. Re-roll the die to 1-5: jump blocked
determine jump safety. 6-10: jump risky
If the previous postures are not present, but a station objective is active:

1-4 Garden World Jump blocked
5-8 Gas Giant Gas giant and danger zone: jump
blocked. Rest of table: jump risky
9-10 Asteroids. Re-roll the die to 1-3: jump blocked
9-10: jump safe
Starships 39

For all other combinations:

1-2 Empty space. Re-roll the die to 1-2: jump blocked
7-10: jump safe
3-4 Asteroids. Re-roll the die to 1-4: jump blocked
9-10: jump safe
5-6 Comet. Re-roll the die to 1-7: jump blocked
7-8 Gas Giant Gas giant and danger zone: jump
blocked. Rest of table: jump risky
9-10 Garden World Jump blocked
Refer to section 17.7, Random Terrain Generation, to fill in the details of the terrain.
18.7 Deployment
18.7.1 Deployment Order
Deployment order is based on unit type and fleet posture. Deploy units in this order:
• The station, if present.
• Inbound and outbound convoys (their squadrons may include escorts).
• Stable fleets.
• Fleet in pursuit.
• Dispersed defenders.
• Dispersed attackers.
If a convoy is in transit, deploy it when the rest of its fleet deploys.
If both fleets have the same deployment posture, flip a coin. The winner chooses either the order of
deployment, or receives the momentum token. The loser gets the unchosen option. (This excludes
dispersed fleets.)

18.7.2 Deployment Zones
Even on a larger table, the core Area of Operations (AO) is four feet by four feet. All terrain and
deployment zones are contained with that AO.
Corner zones are 9 inches by 9 inches, and sit in the corners of the AO. Edge zones are six inches
deep, and occupy the 30 inches between corner zones.
For a dispersed defender, divide the AO into nine equal zones. Each will be 16 inches by 16 inches.
For a dispersed attacker, divide the edge of the AO into twelve zones. Four of those zones straddle
the corners (8 inches on each of the two edges), while the other eight are 16 inch-long zones
between the corners (two on each of the edges).
18.7.3 Choosing Zones

Deployment zone is dictated by posture.
A stable fleet is deployed in one edge zone, with its units’ inertia markers placed away from the ships
and the closest edge, at a distance equal to the lowest overthrust of the fleet’s warships. (Freighters
Starships 41

are not warships.)
A fleet in pursuit deploys in one corner, with its units’ inertia markers ten inches away, on a line from
the ships towards the center of the table.
For both pursuit and stable postures, if your opponent has already deployed (and this includes station
and convoy placement), then the fleet is deployed in the open legal zone farthest from its enemy.
Squadrons of dispersed fleets choose their zone randomly with a scatter die. Roll the die once for
each squadron, and deploy the squadron in the indicated zone. If the zone is already occupied, select
an adjacent zone instead.
For dispersed defenders, the center zone is indicated with a zero (or ten) roll on the scatter die. If
the center zone is occupied by a gas giant, ignore the number rolled and only deploy on the exterior
zones.
18.8 Momentum
If the momentum token hasn’t been assigned during deployment, assign it randomly.
18.9 Victory Conditions

18.9.1 Victory Points
Players earn victory points based on their objectives. Victory points are tallied at the end of the game.
18.9.1.1 Survival
Players always earn victory points for how much of their fleet survived. (The higher-ups like not
having to pay for new ships.) For friendly ships:
Able ships earn VPs equal to their point cost. (Able ships are any that do not fall into the other three
categories.)
Retired ships earn VPs equal to one-half their point cost. (Retired ships are those that have left the
board, but are not destroyed.)
Disabled ships earn VPs equal to one-quarter their point cost. (Ships that are both disabled and
retired only count as retired for survival points.)
Destroyed ships are worthless.
18.9.1.2 Destroying the Enemy Fleet

Players with this objective earn victory points for inflicting damage on the enemy fleet. For enemy
ships:
Disabled ships earn VPs equal to one-half their point cost.
Destroyed ships earn VPs equal to their point cost.

18.9.1.3 Attacking the Station
Players with this objective earn 100 victory points for every hull box damaged on the enemy station.
18.9.1.4 Defending the Station

Players with this objective earn 50 victory points for every surviving hull box on their station.
18.9.1.5 Defending an Inbound Convoy

A player with this combination of objective and posture earns 500 victory points for every freighter that
docks at their station.
18.9.1.6 Defending an Outbound Convoy

A player with this combination of objective and posture earns 500 victory points for each freighter that
successfully exits the table through its exit zone. Jumping to warp does not count as exiting through
the exit zone.
18.9.1.7 Defending a Convoy in Transit

A player with this combination of objective and posture earns victory points for every freighter that
escapes through its exit zone. If the freighter’s inertia is 10 inches or less on the turn it escapes, it’s
worth 500 points. If the freighter’s inertia is more than 10 inches on the turn it escapes, it’s worth 250
points. Jumping to warp does not count as escaping for victory purposes.
18.9.1.8 Destroy Convoy

A player with this objective earns 500 victory points for every freighter destroyed, and 1000 victory
points for every freighter captured and still held at the end of the game.
18.9.2 Margin of Victory

For a pick-up battle, victory goes to the player with the highest score.
In a campaign game, degree of victory or defeat is important, and is based on the scenario’s fleet
size. So, for a 2000 point game, 5% is 100 points.
Victory Point Advantage Margin of Victory

less than 25% draw
25%-50% marginal victory
more than 50% stunning victory
A player may surrender at any time in the course of a game. If one does so, their opponent earns (at
worst) a marginal victory. Calculate the victory points as normal to see if the winner earns a stunning
victory.
18.10 End of Game

The game ends when one player’s forces no longer occupy the table, or after one player surrenders.
Starships 43

18.11 Beginner’s Scenario
For two or more players. Set up a gas giant in the center of the table. (Optionally add a ring and
moons.) Each player gets an empty corner to set up in. They’re in pursuit. If playing with more than
four players, each player after the first four sets up in an empty corner at the beginning of each turn.
The overall objective is to learn the game, but the tactical objective is to exit the table via the opposite
corner from where the player’s ship deployed.
There are no allies, so every other ship is an enemy.
This battle is best played with destroyers.
19 Ship Construction
Since Purple Fuzzy Monster is a rules company, and not a minis company, it is expected that players
will need to create profiles for their own ships. To that end, we’ve provided a generic set of profiles
(see section 19.1), a ship design template (19.2), and suggestions for designing ships from existing
miniatures (19.3).
19.1 Generic Ship Profiles

For those players who want to play immediately, here are a handful of generic profiles. Each ship type
re-uses the same “survivability” line, and is paired with a weapons profile and point cost. For weapon
entries with an arc, it follows their type. “2 laser-e LAR” would read: “two escort-class lasers that
reach the left, aft, and right arcs.”
Class e and d weapons have a 12” range, class c weapons have an 18” range, and class b weapons
have a 24” range.
(Refer to 19.4.7 for crew quality.)
19.1.1 Escorts
Survivability: Hull 1, Shields 2, PD 3, Armor 7, Thrust 10, Overthrust 15
• Laser variant: 4 laser-E LFR, 2 laser-E LAR; 70 points.
• Spine variant: 2 spine-E S, 2 laser-E LFR, 2 laser-E LAR; 66 points.
• Mine variant: 4 mines, 2 laser-E LFR; 62 points.
19.1.2 Destroyers
• Missile variant: missile, 3 spine-D S, 6 laser-D LFR, 6 laser-D LAR; 334 points.
• Spine variant: 9 spine-D S, 4 laser-D LFR, 2 laser-D LAR; 292 points.
• Carrier variant: 12 fighters, 3 laser-D LFR, 3 laser-D LAR; 310 points.

19.1.3 Cruisers
• Missile variant: missile, 6 spine-C S, 10 laser-C LFR, 8 laser-C LAR; 624 points.
• Spine variant: 18 spine-C S, 6 laser-C LFR, 3 laser-C LAR; 588 points.
• Carrier variant: 18 fighters, 5 laser-C LFR, 4 laser-C LAR; 562 points.
19.1.4 Behemoths
Survivability: Hull 24, Shield 2, PD 3, Armor 7, Thrust 0, Overthrust 2
• Missile variant: missile, 9 spine-B S, 16 laser-B LFR, 16 laser-B LAR; 1122 points.
• Spine variant: 27 spine-B S, 8 laser-B LFR, 8 laser-B LAR; 1038 points.
• Carrier variant: 24 fighters, 8 laser-B LFR, 8 laser-B LAR; 912 points.
19.2 Ship Design Worksheet

Included in the back of these rules (along with the other freely-copiable pages) is a ship design
worksheet. It can be used to quickly design ships that are not quite so generic. You’ll want a calculator
to crunch the numbers.
(Refer to section 19.4.7 for crew quality.)
19.3 Existing Miniatures

This section is for those of you looking for even more customization. The design worksheet will still
help out, but you’re free to ignore many of the limits it imposes for simplicity. The assumption is that
you’re holding an existing ship model, and you want its in-game stats to match more closely.
This is the only way that you’ll be able to design profiles for armed freighters, should you need them
for scenarios you design.
The first page of the design worksheet can still be helpful with this kind of design. Just ignore the
worksheet’s weapon limits, and use the ones in this section instead.
19.3.1 Ship Type

The first thing to do is determine the mini’s type. Since their canvas limits sculptors, we recommend
using the ship’s length as a guide. For example:
• Escorts (and Freighters): two inches or less.
• Destroyers: two to three inches.
• Cruisers: three to four inches.
• Behemoths: over four inches.
Ship Type will limit the values you can assign to some attributes.
Now is a good time to decide which arc gauge the ship should use. Ships with rear-mounted engines
Starships 45

should use the gauge with the single large blind spot, while ships with side-mounted engines (on
nacelles, perhaps) should use the gauge with two smaller blind spots.
19.3.2 Hull
Except for escorts, a ship always has an even number of hull boxes.
Escorts (and Freighters): always have one hull.
Destroyers: defaults to 8, but can be any value from 4 to 10, inclusive.
Cruisers: defaults to 16, but can be any value from 12 to 20, inclusive.
Behemoths: defaults to 24, but can be any value from 22 to 32, inclusive.
19.3.3 Shields
All ships typically have two Shields.
One and three are both valid values, but are restricted to special cases for balance purposes. For
example, an escort with too many lasers might be balanced by reducing its shields.
19.3.4 Point Defense

All ships have at least one Point Defense. If a ship model has secondary turrets, I use those as an
excuse to boost PD rather than add more weapon entries.
The maximum value is four, as it should take a full squadron to consistently fight off full-strength strike
groups. Ship classes with 4 PD should be rare.
19.3.5 Armor
Freighters are unarmored, so their armor value is six.
Warships have an armor value of seven. Six is possible for very light escorts (like patrol cutters), but
unusual for fleet combat.
Heavier warships (destroyers or larger) can have a fore arc value of eight.
Some warships might have an overall value of eight, but only if the ship is under-armed or under-
shielded.
19.3.6 Thrust and Overthrust

Thrust and Overthrust values are linked. While there is some flexibility in how much Thrust a ship
might have, Overthrust values must be between 150 and 200% of a ship’s Thrust value. (Behemoths
and freighters are exceptions to this rule.)
Freighters are light and well-powered, but don’t carry enough fuel or crew for combat operations. A
typical freighter is has a Thrust value of four, and an Overthrust of zero.
Escorts are light and overpowered. A typical escort is Thrust 10, and Thrust values range from 8 to
12. Overthrust is usually 150%, because you don’t need more than that on a tabletop.
Destroyers are the “nominal” case. A typical destroyer is Thrust 4, and Thrust values range from 3

to 6. Overthrust is usually 150%, but some destroyers are meant to bulk up an escort squadron, so
Overthrust at 200%.
Cruisers are heavy. A typical cruiser is Thrust 2, and fast ones are Thrust 3. Overthrust is 4 and 5,
respectively.
Behemoths are super-heavy. Their Thrust value is always zero — they cannot maneuver without a
special order! A typical Overthrust value is two, and “fast” behemoths can Overthrust at three.
Within a fleet, I tend to look at the number of engines a ship has, and adjust from there. So if a fleet
has two destroyer classes which have two and four engines, then the two-engined destroyer gets the
normal Thrust (4), and the four-engine destroyer is fast (Thrust 6). Unfortunately, there’s not much
room for differentiation in the larger types, so you only really get “normal speed” and “fast” — while
destroyers can be “slow” to “really fast”.
19.3.7 Lasers
Lasers come in five grades:
Freighter grade (lasers-F) are range 9 and punch up (see section 9.8) against everything but other
freighters.
Escort grade (lasers-E) are range 12 and punch up against destroyers and larger.
Destroyer grade (lasers-D) are range 12 and punch up against cruisers and behemoths.
Cruiser grade (lasers-C) are range 18 and punch up against behemoths.
Behemoth grade (lasers-B) are range 24, and never punches up.
A ship could conceivably have lasers outside its weight class. I normally use smaller lasers as an
excuse to raise a model’s PD value, while any laser that would be too large for the ship normally is
called a spinal mount instead.
Assign the weapons’ arcs so that they reflect their reach as they’re modeled. You may need to fiddle a
bit, as you want to limit the total number of weapon lines to five, and you don’t want a ship’s maximum
fire value to be too low. In both cases, assigning arcs that are bigger than modeled is acceptable. The
reasonable converged fire values for types are:
• Escorts, between 4 and 8 (exclusive).
• Destroyers, between 10 and 15 (exclusive).
• Cruisers, between 15 and 25 (exclusive).
• Behemoths, between 20 and 35 (exclusive).
Obviously, these limits hold for ships exclusively armed with lasers. If a ship has both lasers and
spines that can be combined against a target, the number of spines should be less than the minimum
number of spines, and the total number of beam weapons should fall within the laser values above.
19.3.8 Spinal Mounts

Not every bow-mounted weapon is a spinal mount. Spinal mounts should be glaringly obvious when
modeled. If there’s any question whether a weapon is a spinal mount or just a laser, go with laser until
determining the point cost (see section 19.4). If the ship is too lightly armed, switch it to a spine.
Starships 47

Spinal mounts are classified a bit like lasers:
Escort grade (spines-E) are range 12 and punch up (see section 9.8) against destroyers and larger.
Destroyer grade (spines-D) are range 12 and punch up against cruisers and behemoths.
Cruiser grade (spines-C) are range 18 and punch up against behemoths.
Behemoth grade (spines-B) are range 24, and never punches up.
There is no freighter grade, because if a ship carries a spinal mount, then it’s at least an escort.
The reasonable strengths of spinal mounts by type are:
• Escorts, less than 3.
• Destroyers, between 5 and 10 (exclusive).
• Cruisers, between 10 and 20 (exclusive).
• Behemoths, between 15 and 30 (exclusive).
If a spinal mount can be combined with lasers, keep the total number of beams within the laser
ratings. (So a destroyer with 4 spines and 5 lasers in the forward arc would be OK.)
Note that the given spinal values aren’t required to be modeled on the miniature — it could be that
there is only one mount that resolves as strength four.
19.3.9 Fighters
Fighters are among the most flexible of sculpted weapons, as all sorts of details could launch and
recover single fighters. If you see such things on a ship, and need to add some ordinance, one fighter
per greeblie is a good rule of thumb. Assigning them in multiples of six is good, too.
Fighter bays, on the other hand, are a temptation to go totally overboard. If a ship has launch tubes to
go along with the fighter bays, I rate the fighter strength of a ship with a bay as double the number of
launch tubes.
Of course, this assumes that fighter bays and launch tubes co-exist on the same model. You’re left
with playing games with the ship’s S/W ratio (see section 19.4.5) to balance the number correctly.
The reasonable strengths of fighters by type are:

• Escorts, zero. (They should be launching mines.)
• Destroyers: 3, 6, or 12 fighters.
• Cruisers: 6, 12, or 18 fighters.
• Behemoths: 12, 18, or 24 fighters.
The highest number for each class is reserved for ships that are obviously carriers. I.E., they’ve got
fighter bays, and not enough beam weapons to meet the “reasonable” suggestions above. The lower
two numbers are for vessels where the fighters are secondary weapons, and the lowest number is for
ships that also carry other ordinance.
E.G., a destroyer that has 4 spines, 7 lasers, and a missile rack could have (at most) 3 fighters. A
destroyer that has six lasers should launch 12 fighters.

Lastly, if your carrier has an open (flat) flight deck, it’s obviously got some sort of artificial gravity,
which will cause ordinance and shield chaff to “fall” onto the deck. This ship is best designed with
minimum hull points and the maximum number of fighters.
19.3.10 Mines
Mines are a catch-all term for all sorts of kinetic projectiles with proximity fuses. Cannon shells,
unguided rockets, actual mines, you name it. Pretty much any weapon sculpted on the model that
isn’t obviously one of the others gets called a mine.
The game is pitched such that mines are escort-level weapons. Escorts that have enough beams
should be limited to 2 mines. Escorts that don’t can have up to 4 mines.
Heavier vessels should not be armed with mines.
19.3.11 Missiles
Missiles are pretty obviously modeled, unless your ship includes features that would be described as
a “vertical launch tube” on a wet navy vessel such as an ballistic missile submarine. There’s no limit
to the number of missiles a ship can have, but they still launch only one missile a turn — meaning all
the extra launchers are just window dressing.
Also, keep in mind that missiles are weighted for destroyers — it’s how they contribute as “tweeners”
in fleets that would otherwise be built around cruisers and escorts.
19.4 Point Costs

Once you’ve got your basic ship design, you’ll need to do the math to see if it’s properly balanced for
the game you’re playing. Not only does this allow you to use point costs for pick-up battles, but it also
lets you make sure that your ship has the right balance of weapons and survivability.
The second page of the design worksheet contains all these equations.
19.4.1 Survivability
Survivability is the interplay of hull points, defenses, and maneuverability. The point system assumes
that a ship has at least one shield and one point defense. Hull and base armor are “free” in the sense
that they aren’t paid for separately, but contribute to the equations that price other features.
Shield cost = shield strength x hull x (base armor – 1).
PD cost = 1/2 x PD strength x hull x (base armor – 1).
If a ship has an improved armor arc, then its cost is 1/2 x shield strength x hull.
Maneuver cost = (thrust + overthrust) x 1/2 x hull.
Survivability = sum of the preceding costs.
19.4.2 Weapons
Weapons are more straightforward, since a particular weapon will cause only so much damage while
it is in play. Laser and spines are more complicated to design, in that the ship type determines the
range and effect of the weapon.
Starships 49

Weapon grade modifier = 1 for a freighter, 2 for an escort, 3 for a destroyer, 4 for a cruiser, and 5 for a
behemoth.
Arc modifier = 2 for one or two arcs, 3 for three arcs, and 4 for a 360° arc.
Laser cost = laser strength x grade modifier x arc modifier.
Spinal mount cost = 2 x grade modifier x weapon strength.
Missile cost = 24 for a missile launcher.
Mine cost = 4 x weapon strength.
Fighter cost = 6 x fighter strength.
Weaponry = sum of the preceding costs.
19.4.3 Survivability to Weaponry

Generally speaking, you don’t want to put too many points into a ship and then discover that its zillion
weapons are destroyed in the first turn, or end up with a rugged ship that just can’t kill anything.
Dividing the ship’s Survivability value by its Weaponry value calculates a ratio expressing how
balanced a ship is between the two. The official target values are 1.0 for an escort, and 1.35 for larger
ships. Warships are allowed to fall within 20% of the target.
Freighters have a minimum of 1.5, but no maximum.
Note that these are “official” in the sense that it gives players playing pick-up games or tournaments
a common target. If you and your friends aren’t expecting to do such things, then you can choose any
target ratios, so long as you’re relatively consistent.
19.4.4 Tweaking Your Design

The simplest tweak to a ship design is altering the ship’s hull value. It still matches the ship you
see on the table, but its engineers have either strengthened its hull or (in some cases) botched the
internal layout so that it’s weaker than it looks.
19.4.5 A Note About Fighters

Fighters aren’t just offensive weapons — they can be used defensively, as well. Including them in the
Weaponry calculation is not necessarily correct. A carrier that has a S/W of 1.5 will probably use its
fighters offensively, while a carrier with a S/W of 1.0 will need to use most of its fighters defensively.
That second carrier should probably count six of the fighters as part of its Survivability instead.
If the S/W of a ship with fighters is too low, subtract the fighter cost from its Weaponry and add it to its
Survivability. If the resulting S/W ratio is now 1.35 or higher, then you don’t have to adjust the ship’s
design.
19.4.6 Final Ship Cost

Add Survivability to Weaponry to produce the ship’s Cost. The expected values for ship types are:
Escorts are 50 to 75 points.
Destroyers range from 200 to 400 points.
Cruisers normally range from 500 to 700 points.
Behemoths range from 700 points up.

19.4.7 Crew Quality
The more observant reader has noticed that the calculation of point costs did not include crew quality.
Rather, what was generated was the base cost of the design. In a campaign game, this is the cost
you will use, and the quality will go up (or down) based on the crew’s experience.
For a one-off game, the crews are all veteran. You may add one elite crew for every five ships (round
down), excluding escorts and freighters.
19.4.8 Further Examples

For folks who have a tough time envisioning a fleet design, there are listings at http://www.
PurpleFuzzyMonster.com/Starships for fleets that were used in the playtest.
20 Campaign Rules
20.1 Introduction
After Moultrie fought Earth to a standstill and established the independence of the former human
colonies, Human Space entered a period of near-constant warfare. Alliances during this period were
short-lived, as planet-states jockeyed for dominance. Enemies in one war would be allies the next,
engendering an odd courtesy between the combatants.
About the only constants were Moultrie and Earth.
Shifting Alliances is a simple campaign game that’s designed for players with a limited collection of
models, and meant to generate even battles. Players play the role of the admiral of a planet-state,
where the objective is to amass glory to be used as political capital at home. Victory is a key to that
glory, but fair treatment of your opponents can lead to useful concessions in peace.
20.2 Fleets
Before beginning the campaign, players assemble a fleet roster of 2000 points. All ships start the
campaign as veteran, but can be shifted up or down by events. The exception to this rule is unpainted
ships, which start green, and are unable to advance until painted.
(2000 points is not a firm number. Players may agree to any total they wish, so long as they maintain
the correct number of maneuver groups. See section 12.2.)
This is the fleet with which you will fight this campaign, unless you spend political capital to alter its
composition.
20.3 Favor
During the course of the wars, players will accumulate Favor from the powers they serve. Depending
on the planet-state, these Favors could represent the voice of the populace, the attention of the
mandarins, or the gratitude of a king.
In any event, Favor is tracked as currency, to be spent when the player needs to upgrade one’s fleet
or rid oneself of pesky subordinates.
Starships 51

A player starts the campaign with one point of Favor, which represents the minimum status necessary
to gain command. During the course of a campaign, a player may gain and lose Favor, but may never
willingly spend his favor below zero.
20.4 Winning
Shifting Alliances is designed as a way to connect battles together. If the players want a victory
objective, a player wins if they enter a peace phase with a predetermined amount of Favor. (20 is an
achievable amount.) This represents an admiral gaining enough Favor to move into higher levels of
government — your objective is to leverage your glory into becoming president or king.
20.5 Losing
Normally, a player won’t go negative in Favor, but there are rare occasions where they might. If a
player goes negative enough (minus 10), it is recommended that you allow the player to reset to 1
Favor, as his previous admiral has been sacked for incompetence and replaced by a handsomer
sibling.
20.6 Order of Play

When you begin a campaign, you will need to determine the order in which players act. It doesn’t
matter how you establish that turn order, so long as you record it, and keep it constant during a
campaign. Suggestions include first letter of a player’s name, oldest to youngest player, order of sign-
up, etc. New players can be added to the end of the roster during the peace phase.
20.7 Campaign Turns

A campaign turn consists of three phases: the faction phase, where the coalitions for the next war are
established; the war phase, where wars are fought; and the peace phase, where the players deal with
the aftermath of a war.
20.8 Faction Phase

The players are divided into two coalitions during the faction phase. The starting player leads the first
faction, and the next player leads the second faction. The third and subsequent players choose which
faction to join until the sides are divided evenly.
So, in a six-player game, if players three and four choose to join the same faction, players five and six
automatically fill out the other faction.
The player who leads the current second faction will be the starting player of the next faction phase,
and the next player will lead the new second faction. (In a larger campaign, players could choose to
advance the starting player two spots instead of one — so player three would be the staring player in
the next faction phase.)
20.9 War Phase

The war phase is further subdivided into three sub-phases: a combat sub-phase, a shipyard sub-
phase, and a treaty sub-phase. Unlike the other two phases, a war phase probably will be repeated
before moving on to the next phase.

20.10 Combat Sub-Phase
If this is the first combat phase of this war, the first coalition leader is the starting player. At the end of
every shipyard phase, the next player becomes starting player.
20.10.1 Generating Scenarios

Beginning with the starting player, each uncommitted player chooses an opponent from the opposing
coalition. If a player has already been chosen for a battle, they do not get to pick this phase. A player
may not be chosen twice in the same combat phase.
The choosing player is considered the attacking player, and players roll for the scenario as normal.
In a campaign with an odd number of players, one player in the larger coalition will get a bye. A bye
does not count towards victories. (Such a campaign is an exception to the rule that you should wait
until a peace phase to add a new player. Obviously, the smaller faction can add a player during a
war.)
Fight the battles on the tabletop, and keep track of the results.
20.10.2 Earning Favor

The admirals earn Favor based on their performance: a stunning defeat earns no Favor; a marginal
defeat earns 1 Favor; a draw, 2; a marginal victory, 3; and a stunning victory earns 4 Favor.
20.10.3 Surrenders and Parole

As noted in section 18.9.2, an admiral may surrender at any time during the scenario. The fleet is
paroled, on the condition that the admiral may not willingly choose to refight the current opponent
during the next combat phase. (Being chosen by the opponent, or having no other opponent to chose,
does not violate this rule.)
20.11 Shipyard Sub-Phase

Admirals update their rosters based on the state of their fleet in the shipyard phase. Ships are rebuilt
and repaired, and an admiral’s glory attracts personalities who are looking to ride a successful
admiral’s coattails to their advantage.
For the following actions, all players take one kind of action in the same order used for selecting
battles. In other words, all players adjust crew quality, then all players make ship assignments, and so
on.
20.11.1 Crew Quality

If a ship was destroyed, it is rebuilt. Reduce its crew quality to green.
If a ship was disabled, there is a chance that it’s lost enough vital crew to reduce its quality. Roll one
die: on a 10, a veteran ship is reduced to green; on a 7-10, an elite crew is reduced to veteran.
Any ship that has not been reduced in quality may have, instead, learned enough to increase in
quality. For each of those ships, roll one die: on a 3-10, a green ship becomes veteran; on a 9 or 10,
Starships 53

a veteran ship becomes elite.
20.11.2 Ship Assignments

Junior admirals don’t normally have much say on the composition of their fleets. It takes a well-
respected officer to overcome political inertia, and add ships that better match actual tactics.
This is modeled by requiring a player who has second thoughts about their fleet composition to pay
Favor to swap ships into their fleet roster. The cost is determined by the ships added: 1 for each
escort, 2 for each destroyer, 3 for a cruiser, and 4 for a behemoth. The ships removed are ignored.
The ships that are added are treated just like any new ship, in that they start with a green crew.
20.11.3 Training Cruises

The tempo of war is such that it becomes difficult to find time for the drills that make a crew effective.
Most of the time, crews have to learn their business under fire, but favored admirals can slow their
deployments enough to drill.
An admiral can pay one Favor to upgrade the crew of one ship from green to veteran.
20.11.4 Officer Management

Combat attracts officers who want to gain glory by serving in a fleet. Truly successful admirals can rid
themselves of officers who don’t meet their standards.
If a fleet has more ships than officers, its admiral must draw an officer from the Personality Deck. That
officer is now part of the admiral’s fleet, and must be given a command. (See section 20.14.)
For the cost of 1 Favor, an admiral may draw a single additional officer from the Personality Deck, but
only if the fleet still has more ships than officers. An admiral may not add more than two officers in
any single shipyard phase.
An admiral may sack an officer by paying that personality’s Influence in Favor. Remove that officer
from your fleet.
If an admiral has the same number of ships and officers, an officer must be sacked before a new
officer can be drawn from the Personality Deck.
20.12 Treaty Sub-Phase

If one faction scores at least twice as much Favor as the other in the combat phase, the war is over;
the losing side sues for peace. Continue to the peace phase.
Otherwise, the war continues. Return to the combat phase.
20.13 Peace Phase

During the Shifting Alliances period, “peace” was a relative term. Planet-states took the opportunity to
exchange prisoners, train crews, and refit warships. As an admiral, you oversee these efforts, along
with the personnel shake-ups that occur when officers leave your service.

20.13.1 Spoils of Victory
If your side won the war, your admiral gains 2 Favor.
20.13.2 Prisoner Exchange

If you’ve managed to rescue any enemy personalities, they are now repatriated. For every enemy
personality you rescued, you now gain 1 Favor, and the officer is returned to their original admiral.
20.13.3 Crew Quality

With the arrival of peace, admirals are able to properly drill their crews, and distribute effective petty
officers between ships. Roll one die for each ship. On a 1-5, that ship returns to veteran. Otherwise,
the ship retains its current quality.
20.13.4 Refit Warships

After a war, admirals have more time to interact with their superiors and alter their fleets to reflect the
lessons learned in war. During the peace phase, you may swap ships into and out of your roster for
free. All new ships are added as green.
Unlike the shipyard phase, an admiral may also refine a class’s design. The new design’s cost must
be within 10% of the previous design’s. This does not affect the crew’s quality.
A fleet still cannot exceed the campaign total (usually 2000 points).
20.13.5 Mustering Out

Your officers now take the opportunity to assess their own positions. The greater the Influence, the
more likely they are to pursue rewards outside your fleet.
For every officer in your fleet (including those repatriated by your enemies), roll one die and add the
officer’s Influence.
If the total is greater than 10, the officer has found employment back home as a legislator or minister.
Return their card to the Personality Deck, and gain one Favor for their support.
At this point, your fleet needs all the officers it can get, so you don’t get to sack any of those
remaining. If you manage to have more officers than ships, reduce down to an equal number by
returning them to the Personality Deck. You must remove the lowest Influence officers from your fleet
first, but can choose between officers of equal Influence.
20.14 Personalities
20.14.1 Introduction
Because almost none of the cold navies in the Shifting Alliances period had a professional officer
corps, planet-states were always short of competent captains. Anyone with connections or experience
could wrangle command of a warship. Admirals found themselves commanding captains of varying
ability, and forced by political connections to place them in key positions.
Starships 55

20.14.2 The Personality Cards
A personality is defined by four things: a name, a portrait, their Influence, and a special ability (if they
have one). If you choose not to acquire the cards, you can use a standard poker deck. See the list of
personalities for card assignments.
20.14.3 Assigning Personalities

An officer’s Influence ranges from 1 to 4, and reflects how connected they are back home. The more
connected they are, the greater the expectation that they have a significant command.
All officers must be assigned to a unique ship. They must be assigned in order of Influence, from
highest to lowest, and must be assigned to the open ship with the highest value. You choose which
officer of equal Influence gets the better ship.
Further, if two officers are assigned to ships in the same squadron, the ship commanded by the officer
with the highest Influence is the flagship. In cases of equal Influence, you choose.
See section 20.11.4 for attracting and sacking officers.
20.14.4 Officer Abilities

Good officers influence their ships in a positive way. Bad officers take up valuable space in your
command structure.
If an officer has a special ability, he confers it on his ship. These special abilities alter the rules for that
ship, as long as the officer is in command. If an officer commands the flagship of a squadron, and his
ability refers to a unit (instead of a ship), then the ability is conferred on the entire squadron.
Some abilities will be impossible to activate if the officer is subordinate in a squadron.
20.14.5 Rescuing Personalities

When a ship is destroyed, the loss of life can be surprisingly low. Because of the technologies
involved, a warship simply falls apart from the damage instead of exploding in a fireball. Proper
design of airtight compartments means that the pieces of a warship are no different from lifeboats.
When a ship is destroyed, place a marker with its debris field. This represents any personalities
present on the ship. If any ship (friend or foe) passes through that debris field, those personalities
have been rescued. They now travel with the ship and share its fate until the end of the battle.
If rescued by a friend, the officer remains in a part of the fleet, and you gain 1 Favor for the tales told
about your fleet’s concern for its fellows.
If rescued by an enemy, the officer is now held prisoner. The officer is removed from your roster, and
held by your opponent until the next peace phase.

20.14.6 Officer Deaths
If a personality is un-rescued at the end of a battle (whether you hold the table or not), he’s been lost,
and presumed killed in action. There might be statues in his honor, but there’s a good chance that
blame for his death will attach to his admiral.
For each officer lost in battle (and not captured by the enemy), roll one die. On a 6 or higher, you’ve
managed to properly attach yourself to the celebration of the officer’s courage. On a 5 or less, the
loss tarnishes your reputation, and you lose Favor equal to the officer’s Influence immediately. (This
is the only way your Favor could go negative. You cannot willingly spend yourself negative.)
In any event, the officer is returned to the Personality Deck. (He could survive the experience, and
return … for revenge!)
20.14.7 Officer List

The following is a list of personalities mapped to a standard 54-card playing deck. For players who
want a minimum of useless officers, remove the clubs from the deck before using. (Leave the jokers.)
Personality Influence Ability Card to Draw

Julian Watts 4 Watts’ player always chooses the fleet’s black joker
posture, if more than one posture is
legal. That posture must still match the
objectives.
Fnan Mehari 1 Mehari’s player always chooses the red joker
scenario’s general location. (E.g., a
gas giant.) That location must match
the objectives, and the details are still
randomly generated.
Manuela Bürger 1 She’s not really a warrior. Her family’s 2 of clubs
convinced her to be here.
Dorothée Chandonnet 1 She has no taste. 3 of clubs
Teija Immonen 1 She cannot dissemble. 4 of clubs
Yobachi Uwaezuoke 1 She knows everything about your enemy’s 5 of clubs
culture. You’re keeping an eye on her..
Ymkje Spoolder 2 She plays games in her off time. 6 of clubs
Anton A. Andresen 2 He’s the best captain there is. Just ask him. 7 of clubs
Natálie Hlaváčová 2 She expects the worst of the High 8 of clubs
Command.
Loure Perić 2 He stutters. 9 of clubs
Jun Hsieh 3 He’s vocally loyal. You suspect he’s spying 10 of clubs
on you.
Mayrbek Godina 3 You don’t think he ever sleeps. jack of clubs
Ana Oliveira Melo 3 She hates the enemy with a passion. queen of clubs
Otto von Stroh 4 He looks marvelous. king of clubs
Starships 57

Fahad Fakhr al Din 4 He’s always squared away. You’ve made ace of clubs
Attia a note to retain him as your chief of staff
when you’re dictator.
Sandra Guest 1 Roll one die during any Shipyard Phase 2 of diamonds
during which Guest is a captive. If you roll
a 3 or less, she escapes and returns to her
owning player.
Jimmy McMath 1 McMath’s player always chooses the 3 of diamonds
objectives, and does not roll them.
Captain Sir John 1 If Sir John’s unit ties initiative with an 4 of diamonds
Mayhew enemy, Sir John’s player chooses how to
break that tie.
Wahibah Saminah Isa 1 As long as she commands a ship, a fleet 5 of diamonds
containing Isa may swap the initiative
of any two ordinance once per Initiative
Phase.
Winta Tesfey 2 Tesfey’s unit may swap its initiative with 6 of diamonds
ordinance. All ordinance is considered to
be of lesser quality than her unit.
Prince Oana 2 The jump zone is always one grade less 7 of diamonds
risky for Oana’s ship.
Mildred Knight 2 When Knight’s ship would be displaced by 8 of diamonds
the Collisions rule (7.5), the other ship is
displaced instead.
Tony Wilmer 2 Wilmer’s ship does not need to be in 9 of diamonds
squadron to draw fire.
Lou Drill 3 During the Shipyard Phase, the ship 10 of diamonds
commanded by Drill during the previous
Combat adds one to its quality roll
(20.11.1).
Dirk P. Jones 3 Jones swaps initiative first, and only once. jack of
He may swap with anyone. diamonds
Margarita Sundgot 3 Sundgot’s unit may swap initiative with queen of
friendly ships and squadrons. Ignore diamonds
quality.
Tarr Marcell 4 Will never swap initiative, nor can his king of
enemy swap initiative with him. diamonds
Robin Sweet 4 If Sweet’s ship is able after Combat, earn ace of diamonds
one extra favor.
Garland Braxton 1 Braxton’s unit moves last, and shoots last. 2 of hearts
He still rolls initiative to track exhaustion
(6.3).

Liz Chen 1 So long as one of the special orders is jury 3 of hearts
rig, Chen may perform two special orders a
turn.
Bet Mellum 1 Mellum does not lose shields when she 4 of hearts
sideswipes an enemy (7.3).
Sun Yin 1 Yin’s ship counts as having one more hull 5 of hearts
box when defending a freighter against
capture.
Germany Smith 2 Smith does not have to coast to turtle. 6 of hearts
Hotaru 2 Patrol groups assigned to Hotaru’s ship 7 of hearts
may intercept ordinance within six inches.
Ismo Nyman 2 Nyman’s ship jams ordinance. All 8 of hearts
ordinance attacks his unit at –1.
Chu Quí Tǎng 2 Tǎng’s ship may never be the target of a 9 of hearts
ram.
Georgia Wood 3 Wood adds one to her laser rolls when 10 of hearts
firing on ordinance.
Violante Sagese 3 If Sagese’s ship is not an escort, it starts jack of hearts
the battle with two more hull boxes. If it is
an escort, it starts with one more hull box.
Damage effects are based on the new
total.
Florence Bates 3 If Bates’ ship is disabled, it ignores one hit queen of hearts
a turn.
Stahler 4 Stahler’s ship may re-roll missed PD rolls. king of hearts
The second result stands.
Danny Napoleon 4 If another ship in Napoleon’s squadron ace of hearts
could be the legal target of an attack, then
that ship must be attacked first.
Kathleen Klingmann 1 Mines launched by Klingmann’s unit move 2 of spades
on the turn they are launched. (Klingmann
may be assigned to an escort, even if it
violates the fleet’s command structure.)
Radosław Rutkowski 1 When ramming, Rutkowski’s ship counts 3 of spades
as having two more hull boxes.
Ilona Bobrova 1 When her ship attempts to ram, reduce the 4 of spades
distance rolled against by two.
Captain Jacques Bertín 1 Bertín’s unit moves first, and shoots first. 5 of spades
He still rolls initiative to track exhaustion
(6.3).
Chantal Jade 2 Jade’s ship may launch ordinance while 6 of spades
overthrusting.
Starships 59

Carmella West 2 West’s ship is not limited to firing one kind 7 of spades
of ordinance a turn.
Nuka Fleimonsen 2 Fleimonsen’s ship may launch two missiles 8 of spades
per turn.
Papp Lilla 2 Whenever Lilla’s ship attacks with a spine, 9 of spades
roll another strength-1 spine attack for each
die that rolls a natural 10. This includes the
new attacks.
Quincy Cliché 3 Cliché’s ship adds 6 STR to one laser bank 10 of spades
per turn.
Jake Bolt 3 Bolt’s ship counts as having one more hull jack of spades
box when capturing freighters.
Eawinda Elizondo 3 The maximum size of a fighter group queen of
Laureano launched by Laureano’s ship is nine. spades
Roy Maverick 4 When choosing a target, Maverick’s unit is king of spades
not required to choose the closest in range.
Thomasina Serrano 4 Serrano’s ship may re-roll ones when firing ace of spades
lasers. The second result stands.
21 Downloads
Keep an eye on http://www.PurpleFuzzyMonster.com/Starships for variants of these rules and other
announcements.
22 Designer’s Notes
Starships has rolled around in my head in one form or another for many years, since I first played a
spaceship game that was more “ship” and less “space”. I won’t criticize any of them directly, because
they were fun — even if most of them were World War One dreadnaughts with funky miniatures.
Obviously, it bothered me. When I was young, I went through the trouble of earning a real-life Rocket
Science degree, so I knew what movement in space should be like. I knew it could make it to the
tabletop.
The trick is to make it simple and easy. I think I’ve succeeded.
So the next question, then, is how realistic is Starships?
If you’re playing in empty space, it’s plenty so, because the scale is entirely indeterminate. Once you
add planets to the table, though, it’s obvious to anyone who does that math that the time and distance
scales are not right.
This is because space is big.
No, I mean really big.

Imagine that a turn was 15 minutes of real time, and an acceleration of one “gee” was represented
by a Thrust of one inch. Earth would be about an inch and a half across, and our moon would be a
three eighths of an inch. Those distances are about what they are in the game. (Well, the Thrust for a
cruiser, sort of.)
However, the average distance from the Earth to the Moon would be four feet, which kind of presents
a problem.
So I made some choices to fit interesting locations onto a tabletop. I won’t lie and pretend there’s
some sort of sliding logarithmic scale. I did it because I wanted to play a game with more than one
major planetary body on the table at a time — and when your fleet goes screaming past Encedalus
on the way to Titan, you’re not going to care that the distance between Titan to Saturn is supposed to
be 153 inches.
Or maybe you will. Maybe enough of you will promise to buy the “even more realistic version” that I’ll
crunch enough of the numbers to pull that off. Some of us actually played Harpoon back in the day,
so who knows?
At any rate, the best way to describe Starships right now is, “realistic, but not accurate.” For example,
the gravity rules are realistic, in that they’re built around the inverse square rule, but inaccurate in that
gravity’s been reduced to a stepwise function.
Besides trying to make the game feel more like real space, I also wanted to get away from pre-
plotting moves. (My friends hate pre-plotting moves.) This is where the whole initiative system came
from — it gives you the feel of simultaneity without having to write things down.
The disadvantage is that it doesn’t scale up well. This game drags badly if you go beyond the limits
I’ve set in the rules, and is the reason why I’m so emphatic about those limits. In multiple places.
Including my designer’s notes.
The final design decision was to choose simple weapons and damage rules. Some spaceship
games add more detail here, but I wanted the focus of the game to be the movement system, not the
weapons. The weapons needed to be just detailed enough to make the players think about how they
maneuver, and not any more than that.
So that describes Starships in a nutshell: a playable physics-based spaceship rules set for between
five and fifteen ships that doesn’t require plotted moves, plays on a card table, and finishes in under
three hours.
Enjoy!
Starships 61

23 Acknowledgements
While technology is moving towards a designer not needing any assistance, I still needed some, and
wouldn’t have been able to finish this without the help of my wife, Leanne, who performed the roles
of editor, illustrator, and layout artist; and our artist, Bridgette, who did all of the portraits on the officer
cards.
I owe a thanks to the taxpayers of multiple countries who, through NASA, provided all the
photographs used as the basis for our art. Most photo credits are officially: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space
Science Institute.
I also thank the playtesters who provided early feedback that helped pare the rules down to a
manageable size: Toby, Chris, Justin, Jared, Chuck, Sarah, and Creslyn. Not to mention Leanne and
Bridgette again.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning the games that have influenced these rules in one form or another:
Squad Leader (Avalon Hill), Battle Fleet Gothic (Games Workshop), Traveller (the Mongoose edition),
Clan War (AEG), and Maurice (Sam Mustafa).
Sadly, as of this writing, only Traveller and Maurice are still available.

Starships 63


Ships of the Line
Commander: Fleet: Favor:
Name Quality Status Weapons Str Ran Arc

Dis KIA
Ret Exp
Class Type Cost Hull Damage
Hull Armor Shields P.D. Thrust Over
Captain:

Dis KIA
Ret Exp
Captain:

Dis KIA
Ret Exp
Captain:

Dis KIA
Ret Exp
Captain:
STARSHIPS
PFM-01-14 This page may be copied for personal use.
©2014 Mark Opaskar

Escorts and Freighters
Commander: Fleet: Favor:

Ret
Exp
Ret
Exp
Ret
Exp
Ret
Exp
Class Type Hull Armor Shields P.D. Thrust Over Cost

Ret
Exp
Ret
Exp
Ret
Exp
Ret
Exp

Ret
Exp
Ret
Exp
Ret
Exp
Ret
Exp

Ret
Exp
Ret
Exp
Ret
Exp
Ret
Exp
Dis: Disabled Exp: Expended KIA: Killed In Action P. D.: Point Defense
Over: Overthrust Ran: Range Ret: Retired Str: Strength
STARSHIPS
©2014 Mark Opaskar

quick reference
5.0: Turn Order 9.0 Direct Fire Modifiers
5.1 Gravity Phase • Long Range: -1
5.2 Initiative Phase (6.0) • Punching Up: -1
5.3 Movement Phase (7.0) • Firing on a Squadron while
5.4 Drift Phase avoiding its Freighters: -1
5.5 Combat Phase (8.0) • Firing on Ordinance: -1
• Unless Escort firing: +0
5.6 End Phase
10.0: Ordinance
Type Max Thrust Armor Notes
10.4 Fighters 6 8 6 Patrol groups have 3” range
Thrust on launch only.
10.5 Mines 4 12 6 Drifting object.
Roll 2 dice for damage, choose lowest.
10.6 Missiles 1 8 8 Failed attack still distorts shields.
13.0 Special Orders 20.7 Campaign Turn

Order Phase
20.8 Faction Phase
13.2.1 Break Formation Movement
13.2.2 Dock With Station Movement 20.9 War Phase
13.2.3 Draw Fire Movement
20.10 Combat Phase
13.2.4 Join Squadron Movement
13.2.5 Jump To Warp Movement 20.11 Shipyard Phase
13.2.6 Overthrust Movement
20.12 Treaty Phase
13.2.7 Turtle Movement
13.3.1 Ramming Combat 20.13 Peace Phase
13.4.1 Jury Rig Any
17.0 Terrain Effects

Rock: Gas Giant (17.3), Moon (17.3, 17.4), Gas Giant Gravity
Garden World (17.4), Large Asteroid (17.6) Range 8 4 2 1
Move Through: None. Unit or object is destroyed. Gravity 1 2 3 4
Combat: Blocks direct fire.
Dust: Ring (17.3), Comet (17.5), Asteroid Field (17.6), Debris Field (14.0 )
Move Through: Yes. Add a Distortion marker at end of move.
Combat: Treat as an extra shield once per unit.
STARSHIPS
©2014 Mark Opaskar

quick reference
15.0 Space Station
Quality Hull Armor Shields PD Thrust Over Weapons Legal Special Orders
See
Veteran 15.0 7 2 3 0 0 See 15.0 None
16.1 Generic Freighter

Quality Hull Armor Shields PD Thrust Over Weapons Legal Special Orders
Break Formation, Dock At Station,
Veteran 1 6 2 3 4 0 None Join Squadron, Jump to Warp, Turtle
19.1 Generic Ship Profiles

19.1 Generic Escort
Quality Hull Armor Shields PD Thrust Over Weapons
See 19.4.7 1 7 2 3 10 15 See Variants Below.
Laser Variant: 4 Lasers-E LFR, 2 Lasers-E LAR. 70 points.
Spine Variant: 2 Spine-E S, 2 Lasers-E LAR. 66 points.
Mine Variant: 4 Mines, 2 Lasers-E LFR. 62 points.
19.2 Generic Destroyer

Missile Variant: Missile, 3 Spine-D S, 6 Lasers-D LFR, 6 Lasers-D LAR. 334 points.
Spine Variant: 9 Spine-D S, 4 Lasers-D LFR, 2 Lasers-D LAR. 292 points.
Carrier Variant: 12 Fighters, 3 Lasers-D LFR, 3 Lasers-D LAR. 310 points.
19.3 Generic Cruiser

Missile Variant: Missile, 6 Spine-C S, 10 Lasers-C LFR, 8 Lasers-C LAR. 624 points.
Spine Variant: 18 Spine-C S, 6 Lasers-C LFR, 3 Lasers-C LAR. 588 points.
Carrier Variant: 18 Fighters, 5 Lasers-C LFR, 4 Lasers-C LAR. 562 points.
19.4 Generic Behemoth

Missile Variant: Missile, 9 Spine-B S, 16 Lasers-B LFR, 16 Lasers-B LAR. 1122 points.
Spine Variant: 27 Spine-B S, 8 Lasers-B LFR, 8 Lasers-B LAR. 1038 points.
Carrier Variant: 24 Fighters, 8 Lasers-B LFR, 8 Lasers-B LAR. 912 points.
STARSHIPS
©2014 Mark Opaskar

Warship Design Worksheet
Ship Type: Escort Destroyer Cruiser Behemoth
Escort 1 Cruiser 14 16 18 20 22
Hull
Rating Destroyer 4 6 8 10 12 Behemoth 24 26 28 30 32
Shields Point Defense Armor

2 1 2 3 4 Unarmored 6 Overarmored 8
Required Required Rare Armored 7 Extra Fore
Thrust Overthrust
Escort 8 9 10 11 12 Cruiser 2 3 Behemoth: 2 3
Cruiser: 4 5
Destroyer: 1.5 x Thrust
Destroyer 3 4 5 6 Behemoth 0
Escort: 1.5 x Thrust
Weapons Range for

Weapon Arc Str Range
Direct Fire
Escort: 12”
Destroyer: 12”
Cruiser: 18”
Escorts may choose up to three. All other ships may choose up to four. Behemoth: 24”
Weapon Type Escort Destroyer Cruiser Behemoth Arc

Lasers 2 x3 6 x2 9 x2 16 x2 F, L, R, A
Spines 2 x1 3 x3 6 x3 9 x3 S
Missiles X 1 x1 1 x1 1 x1 —
Mines 2 x2 X X X —
Fighters X 3/6/12 x3 6/12/18 x3 12/18/24 x3 —
For each ship type, the first column indicates the amount of STR per choice. For Fighters only, the first column indicates
the total number of fighters the ship receives for one, two, or three choices. Do not add those numbers together.
The second column is the number of times a ship of that type may select that choice.
STARSHIPS
©2014 Mark Opaskar

Warship Design Worksheet
x ( -1 ) x = 1
Shields Armor Hull Shield Cost
x ( -1 ) x ½ = 2
PD Armor Hull
PD Cost
Extra Fore Armor? Y / N x ½ = 3

If N, enter 0. Shields Hull
Extra Fore Armor
( + ) x ½ = 4
Thrust Overthrust Hull
Maneuver Cost
Add Boxes 1 through 4 = 5

Survivability
Weapons Grade Modifier Arc Modifier

2 Escort 3 Destroyer 2 One Arc 2 Two Arcs
4 Cruiser 5 Behemoth 3 Three Arcs 4 All Arcs
x x = 6=
Laser Strength Grade Mod Arc Mod Laser Cost
x x = 7
x x = 8
2 x x = 9
Spine Strength Grade Mod Spine Cost
24 x = 10
Missiles Missile Cost
4 x = 11
Mines Mines Cost
6 x = 12
Fighters Fighters Cost
Add Boxes 6 through 13 = 13

Weaponry
Add Boxes 5 and 13 =

Total Cost
STARSHIPS
©2014 Mark Opaskar

+ + + + + + + +

in in in in in in in in
er er er er er er e er
PFM-01-14
ti ti ti ti ti ti rt ti
a a a a a a ia a
+ + + + + + + +
er er er er er er ert er
ti ti ti ti ti ti ti
a a a a a a ia a
+ + + + + + + +
a a a a a a ia a
+ + + + + + + +
a a a a a a ia a
+ + + + + + + +
a a a a a a ia a
+ + + + + + + +
a a a a a a ia a
©2014 Mark Opaskar

This page may be copied for personal use.
fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi
gh + gh + gh + gh + gh + gh + gh + gh +
PFM-01-14
te te te te te te te te
r s r s r s r s r s rs rs rs
r s r s r s r s r s r s r s rs
r s r s r s r s r s r s r s rs
mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi
ss+ ss+ ss+ ss+ ss+ ss+ ss+ ss+
il il il il il il il il
e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e
©2014 Mark Opaskar

M
M
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
M
M
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
M
M
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
M
M
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
+ ES
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
Jump Jump
Safety Safety
momentum SAFE MIXED
Jump Jump
Safety Safety
RISKY BLOCKED

©2014 Mark Opaskar

nav nav nav nav nav nav nav nav
Navigation Markers
Distortion Markers
©2014 Mark Opaskar

D D D D D Tu J
Fi ra r Ra
EB EB EB EB re w tl
e m Riury
g

RI RI RI RI
S S S S D Tu J
PFM-01-14
Fi ra r Ra
re w tl
e m Riury
g
D D D D
EB EB EB EB
D Tu J
RI RI RI RI Fi ra r Ra
S S S S re w tl
e m Riury
g
D Tu J
D D D D Fi ra r Ra
EB EB EB EB re w tl
e m Riury
g
RI RI RI RI
S S S S D
Fi ra
Tu
r Ra J
re w tl
e m Riury
g
D D D D
EB EB EB EB
D Tu J
Fi ra r Ra
m Riury
RI RI RI RI tl
S S S S re w
e g
D Tu J
D D D D Fi ra rtl
Ra
m Riury
EB EB EB EB re w
e g
RI RI RI RI
S S S S D Tu J
Fi ra r Ra
re w tl
e m Riury
g
D D D D
D
EB EB EB EB
Fi ra
Tu
r Ra J
tl m Riury
g
RI RI RI RI re w
S S S S e
D Tu J
r
©2014 Mark Opaskar

Fi ra Ra
re w tl
e m Riury
g
n
n
i
i
ta
ta
ta
ta
p
p
Ca
Ca
Ca
Ca
n
n
i
i
ta
ta
ta
ta
p
p
Ca
Ca
Ca
Ca
n
n
ai
ai
ai
ai
pt
pt
pt
pt
Ca
Ca
Ca
Ca
n
n
ai
ai
ai
ai
pt
pt
pt
pt
Ca
Ca
Ca
Ca
n
n
ai
ai
ai
ai
pt
pt
pt
pt
Ca
Ca
Ca
Ca
n
n
i
ai
i
ta
ta
ta
pt
p
p
Ca
Ca
Ca
Ca
Comet Template
Arc Template: Arc Template:
One Blind Spot Two Blind Spots
©2014 Mark Opaskar


Starships: Purple Fuzzy Monster Miniatures Rules

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Starships: Purple Fuzzy Monster Miniatures Rules

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

PURPLE FUZZY MONSTER MINIATURES RULES

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

Written and Designed By: Mark Opaskar

is an imprint of Autumnside Productions

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

2.4 Ordinance Markers 2 4.2 Drifting Objects 6

2.5 Navigation Markers 3

3.4 Quality 5 7.2 Coasting 12

3.5 Hull 5 7.3 Sideswiping 12

3.6 Armor 5 7.4 The Edge of Forever 12

3.7 Shields 5 7.5 Collisions 12

3.8 Point Defense 6

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

8.2 Damage 13 10.5 Missiles 21

9.2 Arcs 14 10.5.4 Damage 22

9.3 Targeting 14 10.5.5 Other Ordinance 22

9.8 Modifiers 16 12.2 Required Squadrons 23

9.9 Shields 16 12.3 Formation 23

9.10 Distortion Markers 16 12.4 Initiative 24

10.3.5 Strike Groups 18 13 Special Orders 25

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

15 Space Stations 28 18.4.5 Evacuating a Station 37

15.1 Chaff Launchers 29 18.5 Postures 37

16.2 Freighters in Squadron 30 18.7.2 Deployment Zones 41

16.3 Capturing Freighters 30 18.7.3 Choosing Zones 41

16.4 Freighters in Combat 31 18.8 Momentum 42

16.5 Special Orders 31 18.9 Victory Conditions 42

17.1 Introduction 31 18.10 End of Game 43

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

19.3.3 Shields 46 20.11 Shipyard Sub-Phase 53

20.14.6 Officer Deaths 57

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

2.1 Starship Miniatures

Starships has no maximum base size. It does have a minimum, as a

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

2.3 Inertia Marker

2.4 Ordinance Markers

2 Purple Fuzzy Monster

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

If you roll a 10, it is always a success regardless of

Sometime the rules mention a “scatter die”. A

Pre-measuring is encouraged. (It’s the future, after all.)

2.8 Momentum Token

2.9 Order Markers

2.10 Distortion Markers

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

2.13 Jump Safety Markers

2.14 Captain Markers

Example: Enterprise and Intrepid are both Constitution-class starships.

3.3 Ship Type

4 Purple Fuzzy Monster

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

4.2 Drifting Objects

6 Purple Fuzzy Monster

Ezekiel Hartman (Order #6755606)

5.2 Initiative Phase

5.3 Movement Phase

See section 7 for more details.