A Billion Suns: Interstellar Fleet Battles Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setting Up
  • Deep Space
  • Fleets
  • Round Structure
  • Winning the Game
• Spaceships
• Playing the Game
  • Jump Phase
  • Activation Phase
  • Attacking
  • Earning Credits

Setting Up

You will need some spaceship miniatures or paper tokens; tokens to represent space beacons; a tape measure; any sized table to play on; and a handful of sixed-sided dice.

Deep Space

Divide your play area into two roughly equal sections (or use two different surfaces, like a table and a counter-top) to represent two separate 'sectors' of space. Deploy three space beacons, the first anywhere on the first section and the other two anywhere on the other section.

Fleets

Players don't start with any spaceships in play. They instead start with 0 Credits. They must spend into debt to buy ships (record your credits with a pencil and paper, or with dice), and then recover that expenditure by earning credits from the contacts (see Winning the Game before).

Note: there are a maximum of 25 credits available to earn on each of the three game rounds, so be careful not to spend outside your means!

Round Structure

The game lasts for three rounds. Each game round has the following phases:

1. Initiative Phase: The players roll-off, and the winner has Initiative for the first turn.
2. Jump Phase: Players spend credits to purchase and jump in new ships.
3. Activation Phase: Players take it in turns, clockwise from the player with initiative, to activate one of their ships, until all ships have activated.
4. End Phase: Players earn credits from the missions.

Winning the Game

At the end of the third game round, the player with the most credits is the winner.

Spaceships

Three classes of spaceship are available in these quick start rules. Many more feature in the full game, from wings of recon ships to colossal planet-smashing battleships.

Ship Class	Cost	Mass	Thrust	Silhouette	Shields	Primary Weapon	Primary Range	Primary Dice	Primary Dmg	Auxiliary Weapon	Auxiliary Range	Auxiliary Dice	Auxiliary Dmg
Fighter Wing	2	0	6"	3	0	-	-	-	-	Auto Blasters	0" - 6"	3D6	1
Gunship	3

Cost is how much to purchase and jump in a ship of that class. Mass indicates the ship class's general displacement. Thrust is how far the ship can move. Silhouette indicates how large and durable the ship is (ships with larger silhouettes are easier to hit, but withstand more damage). Shields defect incoming hits.

Ships have Primary Weapons, which have a front 45º arc of fire, and Auxiliary Weapons, which have a front 180º arc of fire. Auxiliary weapons may make passive attacks. Each weapon has a minimum and maximum Range, a number of Attack Dice it rolls and a Damage value for each unsaved hit.

Playing the Game

Jump Phase

Players take it in turns, clockwise from the player with initiative, to have a chance to purchase and Jump In one ship. This continues round and round until all players have passed.

To purchase a ship, a player must spend Credits equal to the listed cost.

Once purchased, the ship may be jumped in by placing it anywhere on one of the two tables, more than 10" from any space beacon. Play then passes to the next player to jump in a ship.

Important: the jump phase happens every round, so you can bring in reinforcements in later rounds.

Activation Phase

When a ship activates:

1. it may first move,
2. then it might suffer passive attacks,
3. then it may make active attacks.

Moving: When a ship moves, it may first pivot on the spot by any amount, and then move straight ahead up to its Thrust value in inches.

Passive Attacks: After a ship has finished moving, all enemy ships that are able to attack the active battlegroup with their Auxiliary weapons may do so immediately.

Active Attacks: The active ship may attack with all of its Primary and Auxiliary weapon systems.

Attacking

When a ship attacks with one of its weapon systems, do the following:

1. rolls that weapon system's attack dice.
2. Each attack dice that is equal to or lower than the target's Silhouette value causes one hit.
3. For each hit, the target may roll a Shield save. Each shield save roll that is equal to or lower than the target's Shields value cancels one incoming hit.
4. Give the target battlegroup one damage token for each unsaved hit.

When a ship has a number of damage tokens equal to its Silhouette value, it is destroyed: remove it from play.

Earning Credits

Hack Beacons: Each space beacon is controlled by the player with the greatest combined mass of ships within 6" of it. In each End Phase, players gain 5 credits for each beacon they control.

Secure Sectors: Each of the two tables is controlled by the player with the greatest number of ships on that table. In each End Phase, Players gain 5 credits for each table they control.