Torpedoes

score, Nik would move next, but since
he’s only got one ship, he holds moving
it until Pat moves all his ships.
Marlyn then moves one of her ships.
Pat moves another ship. Nik holds off
again, as does Marlyn, who is down to
her last ship. Pat moves his last ship,
Nik follows with his ship, and Marlyn
finishes the Movement Phase with her
last ship.
Drift
The standard movement system is a simplification
of space flight which does not
represent the effect of drift which would
be caused by the application of thrust in a
gravity-free vacuum. The following rule
may be instituted to simulate the effects of
drift during a battle.
At the beginning of each Movement
Phase—before any ships move and before
initiative is even rolled for—each ship with
a Drive of 6 or more must roll a Drift Die
based on it’s current Drive. Consult the
Drift Table to determine which die to roll.
The result is the number of hexes the ship
must move straight forward. Once all eligible
ships have drifted, roll for initiative
and continue on with the Movement Phase
normally.
A craft that does not move or change facing
during a Movement Phase can declare
a full stop. It will not drift on later Movement
Phases until it begins moving or
changes its facing. Ships at a full stop are
considered to have a Drive of 0.
If a ship is about to drift off the map, the
starcraft merely stops on the map-edge hex
and drifts no further. Similarly, if two ships
are about to drift into each other, the vessel
with the pilot with the lowest Piloting
stops in the hex before the hex in which
the two ships were to meet. In case of a tie,
roll 1D10 and add that to each pilot’s Piloting.
If it’s still tied, roll again.
Drift Table
Current Drive Drift Die
0–5 —
6–10 1D4
11–15 1D6
16–19 1D8
20+ 1D10
Turning
Here are three options regarding turning
starcraft.
Turning Restriction
Starcraft with 4 or more movement
points (5 or more in the case of gunboats)
at the start of a Movement Phase should be
forced to enter a new hex before performing
either a normal turn or a tight turn.
This prevents a vessel from making a turn
at the end of its previous Movement Phase,
then beginning its next Movement Phase
with another turn in the same hex.
Set Cost Turns
If players do not like rolling a die to randomize
the number of movement points
they spend when performing a tight turn,
they can utilize the following option.
The first hexside turned within a hex
costs 3 movement points, while the second
and third cost 2 each (e.g., it costs 7 movement
points to turn three hexsides). However,
a pilot must still roll a die to see if a
tight turn maneuver is successful.
Roll 1D10. If the result is less than the
pilot’s Piloting value, the tight turn is successful,
otherwise, the vessel may only turn
one hexside (at the cost of 3 movement
points) and must enter another hex before
attempting another facing change during
that Movement Phase.
Drive 0 Turns
Players may allow a vessel with a Drive
number reduced to zero to change facing
by one hexside per turn. This would represent
the action of mini-thrusters used by
all vessels during docking maneuvers. Allowing
this option provides crippled ships
with a minimal tactical option. Any Drive
0 turns have to be performed at the beginning
of the Movement Phase, after any ships
have drifted (see Drift above) but before initiative
is rolled for. Note that ships with a
Drive of 0 still do not count as being able
to take part in the movement order.
Destroyed Ship Debris
When a ship is destroyed, replace it with
a marker or tip the ship on its side. Any
ship or torp that enters the hex sustains a
3D6 attack scoring Low damage.
quickly spun his Blizzard
into a series of
evasive maneuvers that
proved pointless when
Abadan swooped in and
took out the torp with a
single shot from his
disruptorgun.
Still, the Talon was
on Basaam’s tail. Pulse
lasers skittered off of
the Blizzard’s armor,
removing the paint but
leaving the precious
plating behind. Basaam
did everything he could
to shake the Talon off
his tail, but it was no
use.
Suddenly, the Talon’s
own disruptorgun
found the Blizzard’s
hull. Basaam’s evade
thrusters had been hit.
Now he had little
chance of avoiding the
Talon’s attacks. It
seemed that he was
doomed.
Still, there was some
fight left in him yet. He
zigged and zagged as
hard as he could, and
when he came out of a
particularly brutal
maneuver, he found
himself staring up the
tail of the Star Raven.
Hamad’s Drakar was
getting the worst of the
exchange between the
two gunboats. The
69