Starship battles

[tabascojunkie]

I have an SH campaign brewing in my head, ( yes my head is rated for very high temperatures ) and I was curious to know how extensive space battles are in some of y'alls campaigns. Rare, minor skirmish, epic engagements with entire fleets? Just wondering, thanx in advance for any replies.

[keithcurtis]

I have an SH campaign brewing in my head, ( yes my head is rated for very high temperatures ) and I was curious to know how extensive space battles are in some of y'alls campaigns. Rare, minor skirmish, epic engagements with entire fleets? Just wondering, thanx in advance for any replies.

I ran a campaign that featured an entire space war, all played out tactically. Multiple fleet engagements from elements of four fleets throughout the solar system. I heavily adapted some fourth edition rules, and I used a automated database to track the ship movements.

If you're interested, Ill see if I can dig up the notes and post them.

Keith "Admiral(!)" Curtis*

*said in best Khan voice.

[Ben Seeman]

I ran a campaign that featured an entire space war, all played out tactically. Multiple fleet engagements from elements of four fleets throughout the solar system. I heavily adapted some fourth edition rules, and I used a automated database to track the ship movements.

If you're interested, Ill see if I can dig up the notes and post them.

Keith "Admiral(!)" Curtis*

*said in best Khan voice.

Keith,

I'm definitely interested, so please commence digging. I'd also be interested in seeing the automated db you used to track ship movements.

[tabascojunkie]

Please do post your notes! I'd love to see them, as I've never done anything with vehicles in Hero. As for the game mechanics, how difficult was it to do large scale battles?

[travellerne]

In regards to your original question, battles are rare and major in my campaign. It's just too expensive to mass a fleet in my campaign and so large fleets are only used to resolve really big issues. That is, you don't just set up a blockade to protest annoying protectionist policies of another planet; you'd only do it when you needed to completely topple that planet's government.

K.

[megaplayboy]

I am curious whether anyone has play-tested battles involving small fleets of TE-era ships?
the way the big ships are written up, it seems like it would take a long time to drop the shields and ablative armor using the beam weaponry.
But maybe volleys of anti-matter missiles would whittle down the ablative stuff pretty quick, assuming they could overwhelm the deflectors.

[keithcurtis]

OK, here are my notes. My apologies if they aren't clear or free from contradiction in places. They were a continually evolving work in progress and never intended fo the light of day. I am attaching the text file as well, since this is all text-only, and some of the stuff require tab-delimiting (particularly the very basic DB dump of the ships at the end.)
For anyone still interested, I have Filemaker DBs of the ships and a combat handler. IM or e-mail me and I will send them. I might also be able to scrape up deck plans, but I think I may save those for a Digital Hero article.

SPACESHIPS IN THE SOLAR COLONIES

OVERVIEW
Spaceships in the Solar Colonies campaign are fusion powered. They have been fusion powered for about 200 years and have slowly increased in efficiency and safety. Their method of propulsion is to create a point of fusion heat (several million degrees) and Use this heat to propel a reaction mass in the direction opposite the pilot desires to go. The reaction mass is almost always water, due to its relative plentitude as a liquid, non-volatility, and ease of handling.
The Solar Colonies possess no artificial gravity. The only time the illusion of gravity is felt on a spaceship is during acceleration, and when some or all of the ship is under spin. This latter is caused by centripedal force and is called "spin gee". Most interplanetary spaceships have some section that can produce spin gee, and the amount produced is usually changed during flight to acclimate the passengers to the change in gravity from their point of origin to that of their destination.


SIZE
Ships range from small one-man workbees up to huge agrotrawlers massing many thousands of tons. Any ship incapable of interplanetary flight is referred to as a "boat". The word "boat" can also be used to describe any ship which is normally carried by another ship. A Some common sizes are as follows:


MODEL GEES ARMOR BODY MASS (T) DCV CREW(P) PILOTS TECHS
Snub Fighter 6 20 17 20.5 10 1 1/1
Prospector 2 20 18 45 5 2 1/1
Phobos Shuttle 1 20 18 50 4 2(30) 1/1
Charter 3 25 21 569 5 2(12) 1/1
Destroyer 3 25 23 1738 5 25 3/2
Pirate Vessel 5 22 24 2846 7 30 1/7
Cruiser 5 27 28 10,314 6 150 7/18
Carrier 3 30 29 11,835 4 200 7/8
Agro Trawler .25 20 42 138,129 0 10 1/2

SHIP SYSTEMS

ARMOR
The minimum structural strength of a spaceship hull is equivalent to a hardened DEF 20. This makes spaceships very durable and quite resistant to most forms of hand weapons. The amount of protection is increased by simply piling on more armor. Half of all spaceship armor is considered ablative. EX. The Charter Vessel Persephone has a DEF of 21. The first time it is hit in combat for more than 20 points of Body, it receives an activation roll of 15-. Every time it takes another hit that exceeds it DEF, the activation roll lowers. If the activation roll ever fails, the DEF is considered to be half (10), for that particular attack.

WEAPONRY
There are two types of ship weapons: Lasers (RKA-AP energy) and Missiles (RKA-AP physical). Lasers are fast weapons. They hit their target instantly, and damage it by rapidly heating the hull. Missiles travel with 12 gee drive and must be piloted by computer. The gunner programs each missile before firing it. This programming takes a full phase. Missiles explode on contact, by timed charge or proximity (mines). Most missiles explode by chemical charges, but the most powerful (usually only military), are fusion-powered and explode by overloading the fusion drive. These are the most devastating. The listing for Ship-to-ship weapons is as follows:

WEAPON DAMAGE SPEED RANGE
Com Laser 4 RKAe AP instant 600"
Light Laser 8 RKAe AP instant 600"
Heavy Laser 10 RKAe AP instant 600"
Light Missile 12 RKAp AP 12g 200"
Heavy Missile 14 RKAp AP 10g 150"
TacNuke 18 RKAp AP 12g 200"
Heavy Nuke 20 RKAp AP 10g 150"

LIFE SUPPORT
Life support is fairly efficient and cheap. Air is recirculated, as is food. Both of these systems degrade over time, save in highly specialized vessels. Air scrubbers wear out, syntho food recyclers lose material with each cycle, producing less and less. A ship's life support is rated in Man-Days. Thus a ship rated for 1000 man days could keep a crew of 3 for nearly a year, or a crew of 50 for nearly three weeks. Cargos space can be temporarily fitted with extra life support equipment. One ton of cargo space can be retrofitted with life support equipment rated for 200 Man-Days at $10,000 per ton.
To replenish a life support system requires the proper facilities. It is done by trained technicians at the rate of 1000 Man-Days per day. The cost may vary from planet to planet, but averages out at $3 per Man-Day.

SENSORS
Spaceships have two basic types of sensing equipment, cradar and vid-scopes. These are both descendants of 20th century technology, but much more efficient.
Cradar is similar to modern radar, but computer enhancement has made possible the detection of more detail than possible by today's standards ("Computer-Radar" = "Cradar"). Cradar scopes give the rough outline of an object, plus some hint of its surface detail. Any ship detected can be cross indexed with ship profiles on file. Computer observations of trajectory and amount of Cradar reflection can give hints as to the object's mass and density as well. Note also that Cradar waves can be used to attempt to fool an enemy target. This is called ECM or Electronic countermeasures. A ship's sensor bonus can be used as a negative modifier on someone else's Cradar. If the roll fails by an amount less than the modifier

Vid-scopes are videotelescopes. They are optical devices, again computer enhanced. They must be aimed at an object in order to see it. Whereas Cradar is an omni-directional active scan, Vidscopes are directional and passive, using ambient light from the sun to make observations. Vidscopes can give a rough idea of an object's chemical make-up if the object is glowing or if light is shining through it, by use of spectrography. If a fusion-powered ship is operating its drive, the Vid-scope can spectrogrqphically analyze the exhaust and determine the type of ship. (As long as that type is on file). This requires SCI: Spectrography or SCI: High energy physics or some related science.
Each sensor system has it's own list of modifiers. Standard space hex scale is not used to determine range modifiers. This would make it impossible to see anything at any believable range. Divde distance by 1000 to get sensor range. When in doubt, use the rule-of-thimb distance modifiers in the second chart below. The base roll to perceive is the operator's Systems Operation skill. The operator may take extra time to get a better roll (as per the standard time chart) Traffic contrl stations have a +10 modifier.

Cradar
For every 100 tons of target +1
For every +1 on ship's sensors +1
OR +1 DCV (from ECM)
Target is remarkably dense +3
Operator has general co-ordinates +1 - +10 (GM's call)

Vidscope
No idea where to look -5
No Cradar lock-on -5
Target ship is using fusion drive +15

In general, Cradar is set to automatically scan near space and notify the operator of any anomolies. Once Cradar sighting is made, the operator can try for a vid-scope sighting. On a military spaceship, the Scopes Officer is in charge of many the Cradar and Vid-scope.

Here is a rule of thumb for Distance Modifiers:
2,500 -1
10,000 -5 Phobos orbit height
50,000 -9
100,000 -12
1 LS -15
1,000,000 -18
1 AU -32
Mars to Belt -33
Moon to Belt -34
Belt to Jupiter -35
Mars to Jupiter -36
Moon to Jupiter -37
Inner planets to Saturn-38

COMMUNICATIONS
Any ship expected to communicate over a distance of several million kilometers will probably have a Com-Laser. This is a specialized laser that fires in the radio frequency range. It is a laser in order to minimize signal attenuation over the vast distances involved. At close range, it can act as a weak weapon. Shipboard navigation programs can point the laser at the destination in a matter of seconds. To find a ship can take several minutes to an hour, based on how good the coordinates are. Since evern a laser will spread over time, the farther the distance, the greater the area covered. In the inner planets, this is hardly a problem. From the orbit of Neptune, a Com Laser would be able to broadcast to the most of the colonies at once. At this distance, the signal would probably be fairly weak, of course.

OPERATING COSTS
Propellent (per ton)
Mercury $1000
Venus $1000
Luna $100
Mars $100
Belt $75
Jupiter $10
Life Support Replenishment
1 Man/Day $3
Maintenance
per million km. $.1 per ton

Example: The charter vessel Antares masses 570 Tons, can carry 320 tons of propellent and has a life support rated for 700 man/days. If it makes an all out trip from Mars to Luna (exhausting all propellent, the trip will take x days. With a crew of seven, total cost of the 218 million kilometer trip is:

218 m-km (218*570*.1) $12,426 Maintenance
133 man-Days (7*19) $ 399 Life Support
320 tons of water $32,000 Propellent
TOTAL $44,825 Cost of trip

Assuming that five of those people are paying passengers, the cost of transporting them (and their cargo) is about $9000 each. Thus, a ticket to the moon would probably sell for about $15,000. Remember, this is a personal charter travelling to the moon as fast as possible. If you wanted to go coach in a space liner, it would probably be slower and cheaper.
Also, note that the ship's engineer can reduce the cost of maintenance by 5% for every 1 point his Spaceship engineer roll is made on a per-trip basis. KS: My Ship can be used as a complementary roll.
Also note that the maintenance cost does not have to be paid at once. It can be allowed to accumulate and then be paid all at once in a drydock or shipyard. Once the accumulated maintenance costs reach 1% of the value of the ship, it is considered unsafe to fly.


CREW

PILOT
A spaceship pilot is a difficult job requiring mathematics skills, excellent reflexes, keen spatial perception and high tolerance for stress. The term "Pilot" as used in the table above refers to the number of personnel responsible for the standard operations and maneuvering of the ship. In this case, the chief pilot is referred to as the "helmsman".

SHIPTECH
Shiptechs are the people whose responsibility it is to keep all of the systems aboard a spaceship in operating order. They must be possessed of a wide variety of skills and scientific expertise. They are reknowned for their ability to make in-flight repairs with little or no resources. The larger and more complicated a ship, the greater the number of specialists needed to keep it in good working order. The term "Shiptech" as used in the table above refers to the number of personnel responsible for the maintenance and repair of the ship. In this case, the chief shiptech is referred to as the "Engineer". Small ship shiptechs need to be extremely diverse in their areas of knowledge.
Many Shiptechs will want to spend some time tweaking out their ship for maximum efficiency. This is represented by KS: My Ship. The knowledge skill may be used as a complementary roll to PS: Shiptech or PS: Spaceship Engineer. KS: My Ship is good for one ship only, and may not be higher than PS: Shiptech or PS: Spaceship Engineer. A kind GM may allow the points spent to be transferred to a new ship, should the old one be lost, destroyed or abandoned, but they can only be transferred at a rate of 3 pt.s per adventure.

GUNNER
For every weapon mounted on a spaceship, there must be one gunner. The Gunner may be the pilot or the engineer, but any phase spent operating the gun means a phase in which pilot or engineer points may not be spent. (see below). To be a shipo's gunner only requires WF: ship to ship.

SCOPES OFFICER
The scopes officer is the one charged with manning the Cradar and the Vid-scope. The skill requires a sharp eye and a good intuition. The skill required to operate the sensors is Systems Operation. On small ships, the pilot usually operates the sensors.





COMBAT AND TACTICAL MOVEMENT
Combat is handled in phases and turns, just like standard combat. Each "space hex" is 500 meters in width. Ships travel as real objects do in space. That is, they continue to move in the direction and velocity they last moved until stopped by another object or force. Each ship is rated in terms of the amount of acceleration its engines can impart in one turn. There is no maximum velocity a ship can obtain (save those constraints imposed by fuel, propellent and Einsteinian physics).
Interplanetary movement is handled by the GM's computer.
Tactical movement uses three markers per ship.
1. The ship marker (usually a miniature)
2. The course marker, which indicates where the pilot wishes to steer the ship. The pilot moves the course marker at the beginning of their phase on round 12. They may move it a number of hexes equal to the maximum number of Gees their engines can produce. The ship will always end phase 12 on on the course marker.
3. The Vector marker. The vector marker is an indication of the ships present velocity and direction of travel. The ship will always begin phase 12 on the Vector marker. Throughout the turn, it will move from the Vector marker to the course marker in evenly spaced moves.

******UPDATED MOVEMENT EXAMPLE*******
Phase 12 Move the Vector marker to the Course marker
Move them together according to the ship's thrust
Throughout turn, move the ship to the Course marker, and move the Vector marker along with the ship's movement

STARTING AT REST
S-------------------
V-------------------
C-------------------

PHASE 12 - Set Course at 3 g
S-------------------
---V----------------
---C----------------
|--| ship moves this distance in turn 1

PHASE 4 - Move Vector and Ship Marker 1 Hex
-S------------------
----V---------------
---C----------------

PHASE 8 - Move Vector and Ship Marker 1 Hex
--S-----------------
-----V--------------
---C----------------

PHASE 12 - Move Vector and Ship Marker 1 Hex
---S----------------
------V-------------
---C----------------

POST 12 - Move Course to Vector . . .
---S----------------
------V-------------
------C-------------
. . . and set new course
---S----------------
---------V----------
---------C----------
|-----| ship moves this distance in turn 2 (at 2 hexes per ph)

COURSE AND VECTOR MOVE TOGETHER WHEN SETTING COURSE
DURING MOVEMENT
SHIP MOVES TOWARD COURSE MARKER
VECTOR MARKER PACES SHIP



TURN ORDER

PHASE 12
All shipboard characters may perform any phase 12 actions they are capable of. Pilots who wish to change their course the following turn will make a contest of piloting rolls to determine who gets to declare their course first. A wise pilot will hold their turn until the other pilots have set their course, thus being able to react to anothers plans, after their course is already set.
Engineers may make their initial engineering roll to determine the number of engine points they can distribute throughout the turn. This roll takes no time.


END OF TURN
Pilots declare their courses. The pilot character may move the course marker any number of spaces up to the number of gees their ship can produce. This may be modified by the engineer roll. (See table below)

COMBAT TURN
Characters act normally as their phases occur. The ship moves on the speed chart based on the number of hexes it moves from the vector marker to the Course marker.

GUNNERY
Combat is identical to standard Hero combat. Range modifiers are stepped up to match the space hex scale. Firing a spaceship weapon is a 1/2 phase action. See the notes on Gunner for the problems of having the pilot or shiptech handle the weaponry.

CREW ROLLS

COMBAT PILOT ROLL
For every point the roll is made by on phase 12, a Ship's Pilot gets one Pilot point. They can spend them on the following things:
2 +1 DCV
2 +1 OCV
2 Shift course marker to first adjacent hex (left or right)
5 Shift course marker to second adjacent hex (left or right)
2 Shift an enemy's hit to a different hit location by one area
5 Shift an enemy's hit to a different hit location by two areas

ENGINEER ROLL
For every point the roll is made by on phase 12, a Ship's Engineer gets one engine point. They can spend them on the following things:

2 Reduce an enemy's hit by 1 point of BODY
2 Give pilot 1 extra gee of thrust
5 Give pilot 2 extra gees of thrust
1 Add one damage class to any energy weapon

These points may only be spent on the character's phase and are a half-phase action. Spending of points ends a character's phase.


Ex. The Spaceship is the CSS Beowulf DCV 5, DEF 10
Polly the Pilot has DEX-14 and Combat Pilot-14
Enoch the Engineer has DEX-12 and PS: Ship's Engineer-14



__________________________________________________ ___________________
Database Dump of Ships

Number after model indicates
1=Older or outdated
2=Standard Service Model
3=New or cutting edge ship

Number after weapon indicates #dice RKA

Model DEF BOD Thrust OCV DCV Weapons Boat Bays (S, M, L)

Agro Trawler 20 42 .25 0 Com Laser 4 1
Belter Prospector 20 18 2 7 5 Com Laser 4
Bomber-1 22 18 3 6 6 STS Missile 10 STS Missile 10
Bomber-2 22 20 4 6 7 Laser Cannon 6 STS Missile 14 STS Missile 14
Bomber-3 22 20 4 6 7 Laser Cannon 6 STS Missile 10 STS Missile 10 Nuke 16
Bomber-4 22 20 4 6 6 Laser Cannon 6 Missile 10 Missile 10 Nuke 16
Carrier-1 32 31 3 7 4 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 2 2 2
Carrier-2 30 31 3 7 4 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 3 5 2
Carrier-3 30 34 3 8 3 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Nuke 20 5 5 4
Carrier-4 30 35 3 8 3 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Nuke 20 5 5 4
Charter 25 21 3 8 5 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8
City Ship-1 40 54 10 10 12 Missile 14 Missile 14 Missile 14 Missile 14 Missile 14 Missile 14 10 1
Corvette-1 21 20 4 7 6 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 6
Corvette-2 21 21 4 7 6 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 6
Corvette-3 21 21 4 7 6 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 1
Corvette-4 21 22 4 7 6 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 1
Cruiser-1 28 28 4 8 5 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 STS Missile 10 STS Missile 10 Nuke 16 1 2 1
Cruiser-2 27 28 5 8 6 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 STS Missile 14 STS Missile 14 Nuke 20 1 2 1
Cruiser-3 28 31 5 8 6 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 STS Missile 14 STS Missile 14 Nuke 20 2 2 2
Cruiser-4 28 32 5 8 6 Com Laser 4 Particle Beam 10 Particle Beam 10 STS Missile 14 STS Missile 14 Nuke 20 2 2 2
Cruiser-4.1 28 32 5 8 6 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 8 Particle Beam 10 Particle Beam 10 Missile 14 Missile 14 2 2 2
Destroyer-1 22 22 3 7 5 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 6 STS Missile 10
Destroyer-2 25 23 3 7 5 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 6 STS Missile 10 STS Missile 10
Destroyer-3 27 24 3 8 5 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 6 STS Missile 10 STS Missile 10 Nuke 20 1
Destroyer-4 27 25 3 8 5 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 6 Laser Cannon 6 Particle Beam 10 Particle Beam 10 Nuke 20 1
Dreadnaught 35 31 3 8 4 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 STS Missile 14 STS Missile 14 Nuke 16 2
Drop Ship 20 19 3 5 6 Com Laser 4 None None
Drop Ship-2 20 19 3 5 6 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 6
Drop Ship-C 24 20 3 5 6 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8
Freighter - 2 25 23 2.5 6 5 Com Laser 4 None
FTL Ship 28 32 7 9 7 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 STS Missile 14 STS Missile 14 Nuke 20 2 2 2
Gun-1 20 17 8 3 Laser Cannon 8 None
Gun-2 10 5 8 3 Laser Cannon 8 None
Missile 10 2 7 12 Laser Cannon 8 None
Mothership-C 40 51 1 10 0 Particle Beam 10 Particle Beam 10 Particle Beam 10 Particle Beam 10 Particle Beam 10 Particle Beam 10 80 30 20
Passenger Liner 20 24 1 5 3 Com Laser 4 2
Pavoni-1 40 63 24 10 27 Missile 14 Missile 14
Phobos Shuttle 20 18 1 5 4 None None None None None None
Pirate Vessel-1 22 27 5 7 6 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 STS Missile 14 1
Pirate Vessel-2 27 24 5 8 7 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 STS Missile 14 STS Missile 14
Ship’s Boat 20 17 1 8 5 None None None None None None
Snub Fighter-1 14 17 5 6 9 Laser Cannon 6
Snub Fighter-2 14 17 6 6 10 Laser Cannon 6
Snub Fighter-3 14 17 7 6 11 Laser Cannon 6
Snub Fighter-4 14 21 7 6 9 Laser Cannon 6
Snub Fighter-C 15 18 7 6 10 Laser Cannon 8
Spacestation-1 22 30 8 1 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 STS Missile 14 2
Spacestation-2 25 30 8 0 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 2
Spacestation-3 28 35 8 0 Com Laser 4 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 10 5 6
Spacestation-4 32 36 9 0 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Particle Beam 10 Particle Beam 10 10 5 6
Spacestation-5 28 49 7 0 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Laser Cannon 8 Missile 10 Missile 10 10 5 6
Spore 35 17 0 8 4
Warship-C 32 33 4 8 5 Com Laser 4 Particle Beam 10 Particle Beam 10 Particle Beam 10 Particle Beam 10 Nuke 20 2 2 2
Work Bee 15 16 .25 5 5
Work Bee-C 15 16 .25 5 5

Keith "Long-winded cuss" Curtis

[keithcurtis]

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Any feedback? Useful at all?

Keith "echo, echo, echo" Curtis