Babylon 5 Wars

Babylon 5 Wars Rulebook

Table of Contents

Introduction
Pre-Turn Activities and Allocations
Movement and Maneuver
Combat Procedure
Fighter Flight Level Combat
Critical Hits
Weapon Technologies
Types of Units
Miscellaneous Procedures
Scenarios
Historical Backgrounds
The First Ones

Introduction

Welcome to the Babylon 5 Wars Second Edition Rules Compendium! This product combines all the rules text from each of our major supplements published to date (the Core Rules, War of Retribution, Earth Wars, League-1, and Shadow War), plus selected items from the first two Showdowns and Variants books. If you're already a player of B5 Wars, you now hold all these rules in a single consolidated package for easy reference. If you're new to the game, you can skip buying all those supplements and jump right in!

What: is Babylon 5 Wars?

Babylon 5 Wars

, or B5W, is a tabletop game of spaceship combat in the Babylon 5 Universe. The intent of the game is to provide an exciting starship combat experience while remaining true to the events and situations pictured on the Babylon 5 television show. In addition, we've placed emphasis on simplicity and ease of play. With this game, you'll be able to participate in battles ranging from simple ship-on-ship duels up to large fleet actions with 10 or more ships (and their fighters) per side— without getting bogged down in complex rules and calculations!

What You Need to Play

For a basic game of B5W, you need these rules, a few ship or fighter control sheets, any hex-grid map, some dice, and a set of counters or miniatures to represent your fighting units. We've provided all of these with the Core Rules boxed set. Of course, you also need a table (or other convenient flat surface) and one or more opponents, but you'll have to find these yourself!

Control Sheets

Ships and fighters are represented in B5W using control sheets

, which are graphical representations of those units. Ship systems, such as weapons and thrusters, are shown as icons on the control sheet, and each icon is made up of a number of damage boxes which are crossed off when destroyed in battle. Feel free to photocopy the control sheets as needed for use during play (but only for personal use).

A sample ship control sheet is shown on the next page. This example shows how the Minbari White Star is displayed for game purposes. The important parts of the ship control sheet, or SCS, are labeled for easy reference. A more detailed explanation of each follows:

Ship Datacard:

This set of three information boxes shows the ship's vital statistics, such as ship class (in this case a medium ship), in-service date for this model (2260), and other info. The various numbers in these boxes will, like many of the other details listed here, be explained in more detail later in this book.

Ship Type & Model:

This shows the type of ship (White Star) and any model, if applicable. If the ship is a variant of another type, this fact will be listed above the type name.

Revision Info:

The revision number and product in which this SCS appeared (CR = Core Rules, EW = Earth Wars, N C W = Narn -Centauri War, LI = League-1, SW = Shadow War, SI = Showdowns-1, V I = Variants -!, etc.). Ifthis sheet is later reprinted or updated in another product, the revision number will be incremented so you can tell at a glance if you have the most recent copy.

Combat Point Cost:

This value is used as an approximate representation of the ship's value against other units in the game. It is used most often for balancing scenarios or generating free-form battles. See "Scenarios" later in this book.

Ship Diagram :

Most control sheets show some kind of diagram or image letting you know what the ship actually looks like, allowing you to match it easily with its miniature during play.

Special Notes:

This box (if present) shows anything special about the ship. In this case, the box notes that the White Star is agile, gravitic, and atmospheric, attributes that are explained later in this book.

Hit Location Charts:

When a hit is scored on the ship, the firing player rolls on this chart to learn which system was dam aqed by the in com inq fire. Each ship has a unique hit location chart, which is almost always located on the upper left side of the SCS.

Adaptive Armor Datacard:

Ships with adaptive armor (such as the White Star and Vorlon units) possess this box, which indicates how the ship's adaptive armor is deployed against various weapon types. Use of this armor is described in the section on Combat.

SHIP CONTROL SHEET [SCS] RECOGNITION GUIDE

Sensor Data:

Used to record the ship's sensor allocations. Each turn, your use of electronic warfare will be recorded in this block. See the section on EW for more information.

Sensor Strength:

This number, always found in the sensor icon, shows how much electronic warfare is produced each turn by the ship's sensor system.

Icon: These shapes represent various ship systems. The one shown here is a thruster, distinguished by its "nozzle" shape. The icon recognition chart will help you identify other icons.

Icon Recognition Chart:

Used to identify the icons by shape. After a few games, you'll begin to recognize these at a glance, particularly the more common icons such as thrusters, engines, and sensors.

Ship Silhouette:

This shows you the basic top -view shape of the ship, which will help you identify it when using counters to represent ships on the map.

System Armor:

Almost all systems are armored against incoming damage. The strength of this armor is shown inside a small circle next to the system icon. The value shown is subtracted from any damage volley before any hits are marked against that system (see "Combat" for more information).

Engine Power:

The amount of free thrust produced each turn by the ship's engine is shown as a number within the icon, as shown in the example. Engines are described in the section on Maneuvering.

Copyright Notice:

This lets you know the year the ship was published. As explained on the copyright line, you are permitted to photocopy the ship for your own personal use, but you may not distribute or repost them (e.g., you cannot place them on the Internet).

Shuttle Datacard:

Stats for shuttles normally used by the ship are shown in this datacard. Most shuttles are unarmed (and have no Combat Point cost), but Minbari units use an armed version called the Combat Flyer, as shown here. To use one, pay the cost in Combat Points, and deploy them using the rules for Hangar Operations later in this book. If you do not pay for a Combat Flyer, you 'll use an unarmed version instead (it has the same stats otherwise).

Some vessels use special types of shuttles (assault varieties or breaching pods, for example), and if so, they will also have their own datacards on the ship control sheet.

Firing Arc:

Weapons, shields, and other directional systems have an arc display located next to them. This not only shows the direction in which they can fire (or block incoming fire), but also often affects whether or not they can be hit by incoming shots. For more information, see the Combat chapter.

Ship Sides:

Most ships have a forward, port, starboard, aft, and primary side, for use in various rules. The lines, if present, indicate where ship sections begin and end. As a medium -class ship, the White Star has only forward, primary, and aft sections (but has port and starboard thrusters as shown). Capital ships also have a port and starboard side, and bases often have a variety of different section arrangements.

Weapon Number:

All weapons and shields on a ship have a number for easy identification. The most common use for this is to easily specify which weapon(s) is/are being shutoff for extra power, as described in the Power section of this rulebook.

Hangar Datacard:

Ships with shuttles or fighters will have this box, which indicates the number of unarmed shuttles and fighters they carry. If there is more than one hangar, there will be multiple hangar datacards. If the ship normally carries unarmed shuttles, their damage tracks will appear in this box.

Weapon Datacards:

Each weapon type on the ship will have its own datacard in this section of the SCS. These cards display the statistics for weapon class, firing modes, damage, range, and so on. The value in the diamond represents the amount of power required to operate the weapon. In addition, a small version of the weapon icon is shown for easy reference.

Turn Chart:

This handy chart can be used as a quick reference to determine turn costs and turn delays for this ship at lower speeds. For higher speeds, simply extend the chart using the obvious logical progression (e.g., speed 13 would require a cost and delay of 5). Rules for turning are found in the Maneuvering chapter.

Fighter Control Sheets

Fighters are an important part of Babylon 5 Wars. Carried by many ships, they provide additional firepower and a significant force projection ability to any fleet. A task group with superior fighters has an advantage over any comparable opposition. With their high speed, low profile and incredible maneuverabilty, fighters can go places and do things no ship could hope to accomplish.

In the game, fighters are represented with their own special type of control sheet referred to as a fighter control sheet, or FCS. Though it shares many of the same features as an SCS, the FCS has enough differences to warrant its own section in these rules. A description of each item found on the FCS follows:

FighterType:

This shows the race and type of fighter, in this case theE A

Thunderbolt, one of the newest and most advanced fighters employed by the Earth Alliance.

Fighter Datacard:

Displays the vital statistics of the fighter, including its Combat Point cost (per fighter), year in service (for this version), class (light, medium, heavy, etc.), and so on. Combat stats are shown in the exact same location as similar data appears on an SCS's ship datacard. There are some differences, however (e.g., fighters have free thrust and offensive bonuses listed instead of engine efficiency and extra power). These are explained in the section on Fighter Combat.

Illustration:

A drawing or image of the fighter.

Firing arc:

This display shows the firing arc used by the fighter's main weapons. The arc shown is typical for most fighters, though some use wider or offset arcs (e.g., the arc shown on the Combat Flyer on the SCS example).

Armor values:

Fighters have armor values in four directions: forward, port, starboard, and aft. These are arranged on the armor diagram as shown.

Flight Number:

Each flight on the FCS is displayed separately. Typical sheets include up to 8 flights, although this sample shows only two to conserve space (the others are all identical to the first two). Each flight holds 6 fighters, as shown to the right of the silhouette. Note that in B5W, flights of 6 fighters always fly together and share the same statistics, except for internal hits (represented by structure).

Silhouette:

A top view of the shape of the fighter.

Structure Boxes:

Each fighter has its own block of structure, each consisting of a number of boxes that are checked off as damage is applied. Thunderbolts have 15 structure each (and so take 15 damage to destroy), which is relatively high as fighters go. The average fighter has 10-12 points of structure.

Fighter Status:

These areas are provided as a handy place to note the status of each fighter or the flight as a whole. If a fighter drops out or is destroyed, mark the appropriate box. The other blocks are used to record a flight's initiative, speed, thrust used, and jinking levels each turn (see the rules later in this book for an explanation of these terms). The "Notes" box can be used for any other purpose not shown here, such as to record the location of an Expert Pilot or other special feature within the flight, or to keep track of missiles used (if applicable).

Navigator Data:

Fighters with navigators (or the option to buy them) possess this box, which lists the abilities of that individual. See "Navigators " later in this book for more details.

Flight Level Combat:

Fighter combat takes place on a flight level, with all fighters firing at a target using a single dieroll. After this roll is made, this chart is referenced to see how many hits were scored. See "Flight Level Combat" for a better explanation and examples of the procedure.

Special Notes:

Some fighters possess this box, which lists any special features of this fighter type. The Thunderbolt, for example, can carry 6 missiles with a launch rate of 2 per turn, and can purchase an optional navigator. Other possible special notes include gravitic movement (for more advanced races), non-atmospheric (fighters can move through atmosphere safely unless noted here, the Starfury being the main example of the non-atmospheric type), and so on.

Weapon Datacards:

All weapons used by the fighter have their statistics in this location. The Thunderbolt, for example, uses a gatling pulse cannon and can launch missiles. Some fighters also have heavy weapons, which would also be listed in this space.

Revision Number:

The version number and product this fighter was published in.

5hip Representation

On the playing field (the hex map), the positions of your ships and fighters are represented by counters or miniatures. For example, when a ship moves, you indicate this by moving its counter or miniature across the hex map. Counters provide a simple and easily portable means to represent your units, although some players will prefer the more visually appealing miniatures (sold separately). A sample counter is shown to the left, while a painted White Star miniature appears to the right. Note that miniatures are sold unpainted and unassembled (but painting them is part of the fun!).

The miniatures themselves are sold in two scales, Full Scale (for those who prefer larger and more detailed figures) or Fleet Action scale, which are smaller and more useful in huge battles. In either category, all units of a given class (capital ship, medium ship, fighter, base, etc.) are generally to scale with each other. Fighters in Full Scale are intended to represent six fighters at a time (otherwise the map becomes too cluttered), while Fleet Action fighters are designed to fit six to a stand.

The scale you choose is generally a matter of personal preference, and mixing scales is not only acceptable, it's encouraged!

To play a game of B5W, you need a scenario, which provides your setup rules and goals. This can be a simple free-form battle ("You take Earth, I'll take Minbari, and we'll fight until only one fleet's left") or a complex multi-player war with dozens of special rules. If you're just getting started, we recommend free-form games for now. More advanced scenarios can be found in the Showdowns supplements, and player-designed scenarios are available on many WorldWide Websites.

Ships and fighters are all provided with an estimated value in Combat Points (CPs)

, as shown on their control sheets. These values are approximations and won 't cover every situation, but provide a quick and easy way to set up a battle where each side is relatively equal to each other in strength. For example, you might agree to play a free-form game where both players have 3,000 Combat Points, or some other value. The larger the number, the longer the scenario.

If you've read the rules once and want to jump right in and try your hand, the sample scenario shown on the next page will get you started. It provides a battle of around 5,000 Combat Points and showcases the advanced Minbari technology versus inferior, but more numerous, EarthAlliance units. Use the basic hex map provided with the Reinforcements Pack (which also includes all the counters you'll need) or any other handy hex map.

This sample scenario also shows the layout of the typical B5W scenario found in the Showdowns products and other supplements. This includes a brief intro followed by set-up rules, which first list the units in play by each side and then instructions on how to place them on the map. Any special rules are then defined, such as the example shown here. Victory conditions describe how the scenario ends and who should be considered victorious (sometimes these can be complex, including multiple possible levels such as Amazing Victory, Pyrrhic Victory, or Crushing Defeat). Finally, if this was a historical scenario, a historical note describing the actual outcome will be provided. This wasn't the case with our sample, but many other scenarios include such data.

Fleet: Action

Babylon 5 Wars is designed for small fleet combat, with point values in the 1,000 -15,000 point range. If you wish to try even larger

SAMPLE SCENARIO

An Earth and Minbari fleet encounter each other unexpectedly during the Earth-Minbari War, and a shooting match results.

Scenario Set-Up

Earth: One Nova Dreadnought, one Hyperion Heavy Cruiser, and two Olympus Corvettes.

Minbari: One Sharlin War Cruiser and one Tinashi War Frigate.

All sides are fully outfitted with fighters.

The Earth and Minbari players setup in opposite corners of the map facing each other, each at a speed of 10.

Special Rules

Ramming is not permitted.

One of the Starfury flights has an Expert Pilot. The Earth player secretly records this before the scenario begins, revealing the pilot’s presence only when he does something a normal pilot couldn’t do.

The Earth player can spend up to 50 points on special missiles for the Olympus.

battles, the Fleet Action game a l

Victory Conditions

lows for monstrous duels between huge armadas. This product, and the miniatures to go with it, is sold The player whose ships hold the field after the battle ends is the victor. If all ships are destroyed and only fighters survive, the scenario is a draw.

separately.

A Few Wards About Dice

This game uses several sizes of dice to institute randomness during play.

At a minimum, you need two different types (at least one six-sided die and one twenty-sided die) to play the game, though several of each type are recommended.

These can be purchased at any game or hobby shop. Babylon 5 Wars can be played with only six-sided and twenty-sided dice, though ten-siders are also handy.

Throughout these rules, you may see references to terms like "1 d20 " or

"2 d6." This may seem like some kind of obscure code if you aren't familiar with this sort of notation. The first number (the one before the "d") refers to the quantity of dice, and the second number (after the "d") is the type of die being rolled. Thus, " 1 d20 " means to roll one 20 -sided die, while " 2 d6 " refers to a roll of two six sided dice.

Oned 20 and oned6 are the basic types used in play. However, it's possible to use thed 20 to generate result sofad l 0. If a d l 0 is called for, simply roll thed 20, and subtract 10 if the number shown is greater than 10.

Structure of These Rules

This rulebook is setup to quickly teach you howtoplay Babylon 5 Wars, beginning with the basic Combat Sequence, continuing with movement and combat, and concluding with additional details and supporting material.

Additional rules for special procedures, such as ramming and hyperspace travel, follow the basic movement and combat system.

After all the rules are background sections for all the races published to date in the Babylon 5 Wars Universe.

We've even added some extra details never seen before. Rules for the Shadows, Vorlons, and other First Ones also appear in this section.

The Combat Sequence

The combat system in Babylon 5 Wars is turn-based

While many actions can be performed in the space of a single turn, some take place over two or more turns. One example of such an extended event is the recharging of heavy weapons, which may take two or more turns to accomplish.

In B5W, turns are very structured, with events taking place in a distinct order. This structure is referred to as the Combat Sequence . The complete Combat Sequence is quite detailed, but for now, you only need to be aware of four separate steps, shown on the chart below. These are explained in more detail in the chapters which follow.

Initial Actions Step

During this step, the following actions are performed, in this order:

Power Resolution:

Ships adjust their power output to cover shortages and pay for optional abilities, such as extra thrust or enhanced sensors.

Initiative Determination:

All units roll for initiative, which determines the order in which they will move during the turn.

Ballistic Weapons Launch:

Players with

ballistic weapons secretly determine their launch and targeting instructions.

Electronic Warfare Allocation:

Ships allocate the electronic warfare points provided by their sensors, either for self-protection or to lock onto and target enemy units.

Jump Point Formation:

Any jump points opening (either for arrival or escape purposes) are initiated at this point.

Movement Step

In the Movement Step, each unit maneuvers for position against the enemy. Each unit moves in order of its initiative, as determined earlier in the turn. The aim here is to arrange your own ships and fighters to get the optimum shot against your opponent, while denying him the same privilege. Many players believe the game is won and lost in this step of the turn.

Each turn, ships will move a number of hexes equal to their speed. While moving, they also have the option to make additional maneuvers as desired, assuming the required

Combat Sequence Extract

Initial Actions Step

Ship Power Adjustments

Initiative Determination

Ballistic Weapons Launch

Electronic Warfare Allocation

Jump Point Formation

Movement Step

Units Move in Initiative Order

Pivots & Rotations

Close Combat EW Allocation

Ramming Resolution

Combat Step

Fire Determination

Fire Declaration

Defensive Fire Allocation

Resolve Ballistic Weapon Attacks

Resolve Ship Weapons Fire

Resolve Fighter vs. Fighter Fire

Resolve Fighter Drop-Out

Resolve All Other Weapons Fire

End of Turn Step

Critical Hit Resolution

Jump Points Close

Hangar Operations

Repairs & Adjustments amount of thrust is available. This includes simple turns and rolls, as well as more complex actions like slips, pivots, and snap turns.

After unit movement is complete, any rotations or combat pivots are accomplished, close combat EW is allocated, and ramming attempts are resolved. These are described in more detail later in this book.

Weapons Fire Step

Unlike movement, which takes place in initiative order, all weapons fire is declared simultaneously. Once declared, weapons fire allocations can 't be changed. Weapons then roll to hit, and score damage, in a set order, which is as follows:

Ballistic weapons roll first. These include missiles, energy mines, and similar items. Weapons of this sort are actually launched before movement, and spend the Movement Step approaching to attack their target.

Ships shots off.

fire weapons next. Among other things, this lets ships knock out enemy fighters before they can get their Then, fighters fire at other fighters . This allows fighters to employ combat air patrol missions, engaging and dogfighting enemy fighters before they can take shots at ships.

Finally, fighters fire at ships

. Because this happens last, fighters making attack runs on enemy ships will have a tough time arranging a good shot— if the target is well-defended, that is!

Post-Turn Actions Step

This step covers anything that happens after all combat is completed, including but not limited to the following:

Critical Hits:

These are rolled for every system which suffered damage but wasn't destroyed during the turn.

Hangar Operations:

The launch and recovery of fighters is performed at this point, as are any other hangar operations which might be necessary, such as the loading of extra ordnance (e.g., missiles).

Repairs & Adjustments:

Finally, any additional required adjustments are performed as needed.

The following chapters expand on the Combat Sequence in more detail.

Pre-Turn Activities and Allocations

This chapter focuses on actions taken at the start of the turn, before any movement or combat actually takes place. In general/these actions usually take the form of power resolution, initiative determination, and electronic warfare (EW) allocations, as described in the sections that follow.

Ship Power

Reactors

All starships have a reactor that provides power for weapons and other systems on board. Without power from this reactor, a ship will be useless in combat. Reactors appear much like the sample icon shown here, with a distinctive "battery " shape.

Most reactors produce enough energy to power everything on the ship at normal efficiency. If the reactor suffers damage, its power production can be reduced, forcing the ship to deactivate systems to compensate for the loss (see below). If the reactor is completely destroyed, the ship is considered destroyed (the reactor has "gone critical").

If a ship should have two or more reactors, the loss of one still destroys the ship, unless the ship's description or other rules state otherwise. In the case of bases, only the section the reactor is in is destroyed. Of course, if this should be the primary section, the base would be lost.

In the ship datacard, you will find a value labeled either "Extra Power" or "Power Shortage." For most ships, this value will be a zero, meaning the reactor provides exactly enough energy for all weapons and systems to operate at normal levels. If the ship has extra energy, though, the excess can be used as backup (in the case of critical reactor hits) or for other purposes as described hereafter. In the case of a shortage, the ship will need to deactivate one or more systems to make up for this lack of energy. If the shortage is so severe that it cannot be covered in this manner, the reactor shuts down, and everything on the ship that requires energy is automatically deactivated.

Deactivating Systems

Any system that uses power can be deactivated, freeing up its energy for use elsewhere. The amount of energy recovered is shown in the diamond -shaped power symbol (like the example here) which accompanies the system icon. For weapons, the power symbol is found on the ship's Weapons Chart. Systems with no power symbol, like hangars and thrusters, cannot be deactivoted Deactivation of systems occurs at the beginning of the Pre-Turn Actions Step of the Combat Sequence, which is also the same point where a previously deactivated system would be reactivated. (You cannot both deactivate and reactivate the same system on the same turn, of course.) If reactivated, it would begin any arming steps (in S ^ the case of multi-turn arming weapons, for example) from scratch at that point. Example: Suppose you deactivate a heavy laser cannon, which has 4-turn arming sequence, on turn 1 of the game. In order to fire it at the next possible opportunity thereafter, you would need to activate it on turns 2, 3, 4, and 5 (and it would be ready to fire on turn 5).

Deactivated systems must be announced as such to your opponent. For example, if you turn off a weapon, your enemy will be able to detect that it's unavailable for use. There may be some exceptions to this rule, but these will be specifically defined in their individual descriptions (typically, such systems will be wholly internal and have Zero-Power Systems A system with a zero in the power diamond (such as a missile rack) draws a nominal amount of power in order to operate, although this is not significant enough to affect combat. Such systems can be deactivated, though there is little point to doing so. However, if the reactor is forced to shut down, these systems will be deactivated along with all others that require energy. Zero-power systems can also be forced to deactivate due to the effects of certain weapons, such as burst beams.

little or no direct effect on gameplay). Note that this does not allow you to detect the arming status of a weapon, only if power is being applied!

If a system has been destroyed, the power it requires is also lost— the power grid that services it has shorted out, making its energy unavailable. A destroyed system cannot be deactivated for extra power! As an example, assume a ship has a power shortage of -2, but loses a twin particle array (which has a power requirement of 2) to battle damage. This does not erase the power shortage, because the 2 points of energy used by the twin array are destroyed along with the weapon itself.

Fighters and shuttles normally cannot deactivate systems for extra power, though there may be exceptions to this rule in the case of certain fighters operated by advanced races.

Uses of Extra Power

There area number of reasons to deactivate systems, but the primary one is to cover a power shortage (either one built into the ship or caused by damage to the reactor). This isn't an option, it's a requirement!

If your reactor has lost

10 points of power due to damage, you must deactivate systems totaling at least 10 points of power in order to compensate. If not enough systems can be shutdown, then the reactor itself will shutdown, and no power-using systems can be used thereafter. Needless to say, this will be a disaster in the middle of a battle!

Extra power can also be used for a number of other purposes during play. Examples of these include purchasing additional thrust points for movement (by channeling the power into the engine), increasing the sensor yield (making more electronic warfare points available), and providing for special weapon arming modes (such as sustained mode fire for certain heavy weapons). These will be detailed in future chapters

Initiative

Determining Initiative

During the Movement Step of the Combat Sequence, ships and other units will move one at a time. The order in which this is done is determined by their initiative.

Initiative is rolled on 1d20 during the Pre-Turn Actions Step, after all power allocations (as described in the preceding chapter) have been completed. Each ship makes its own roll, as does each flight of fighters (i.e., each group of up to 6 on a fighter control sheet). Do not roll once per player— initiative is done on a unit-by-unit basis!

The actual initiative roll should be announced before any units are actually moved. Typically, this is done by placing the initiative die next to your counter or miniature where it can be seen by all players. The unit with the lowest total is then moved, followed by the one with the next lowest initiative, and so on.

Effect of Initiative

When movement is performed, the unit with the lowest initiative rating moves first, followed by the one with the next lowest roll, and so on up the chain. Since units with higher numbers are therefore able to more easily react to their slower opponents' moves, they have the advantage. If you lose the initiative, you will need to move more conservatively, or at least force your opponent into making a difficult choice when his turn to move arrives.

If two competing units tie for initiative, the one with the highest initiative bonus (see below) wins. In the event both have identical bonuses, each should roll off against each other to determine which will move last during the turn.

There can be no unresolved ties between opposing units.

Built-In Initiative Modifiers

STANDARD

INITIATIVE

BONUSES

Minbari Units: +1

Ancient Units: +2

Capital Ships: +0

Heavy Combat Vessels: +6

Shuttles: +9

Medium Ships: +12

Light Combat Vessels: +12

Super-Heavy Fighters: +14

Heavy Fighters: +16

Medium Fighters: +18

Light Fighters: +20

Ultralight Fighters: +22

Many units have a bonus or penalty to their initiative dieroll.

This is shown in the datacard at the top of the control sheet, under the label Initiative Bonus (or Initiative Penalty ). In general, smaller and more maneuverable units will possess higher modifiers, as will units from more advanced races. Some examples of these are shown on the accompanying chart.

Note, however, that these bonuses and are only guidelines and will already be factored into the Initiative Bonus rating shown on the control sheet. There may be exceptions to these general rules from unit to unit. In all cases, the Initiative Bonus on the control sheet takes precedence.

Action Initiative Modifiers

In addition to the built-in modifiers, the actions some units take

(and damage they sustain) can affect the initiative roll. Some examples of these are:

Land/Launch Procedures:

A ship that launches or lands at least one fighter or shuttle (during the Post-Turn Actions Step of the Combat Sequence) suffers an initiative penalty of -4 on the ensuing turn. This penalty does not apply to bases.

In addition, any fighter/shuttle launched by a ship or base will suffer a penalty of -10 to its initiative roll during the ensuing turn. This penalty does not apply to fighters launched from a catapult or external rail.

Slowness Modifiers:

Slow -moving units by their nature tend to cede the initiative to their opponents. This is represented by a penalty of -2 for each point of speed less than 5. Thus, a ship moving speed 4 will have an initiative penalty of -2, a ship with a speed of 3 will have a penalty of -4, and so on. This penalty does not apply to immobile bases, orbital satellites or any other immobile units. Note that ships moving speed zero have a penalty of -10, which is an excellent reason not to use "park and shoot" tactics in this game!

Command & Control:

Critical hits to the command & control (C&C) system of a ship can disrupt its initiative for the ensuing turn or the remainder of the scenario. These penalties are listed in the Critical Hits chapter.

Combat Effects:

Some weapons or other combat effects can lower the initiative of a target unit by disrupting crew operations. This is generalized in game terms by forcing the unit to accept a penalty on its dieroll. Examples of this include the effect of Abbai comm disruptors or attacks by enemy breaching pods.

Voluntary Penalty:

A ship may voluntarily reduce its initiative bonus to any lower value, even a negative amount, but no more than 20 below what it was originally entitled to. This decision must be made before the initiative die is actually rolled. The player does not need to announce that he is taking a voluntary reduction, only what his total bonus is (again, before he rolls). While it may seem strange that a player might want to penalize his own ships, there might be certain times where this is desirable, depending on the scenario.

Note that all of these modifiers (and any other action modifiers provided in future supplements) are cumulative.

Optional Initiative Alternatives

If desired, there are several options available to enhance or bypass the initaitive system.

These are recommended for advanced players only.

Secret Initiative

If all players agree, initiative rolls can be kept secret until movement is actually required.

This results in a bit of tense excitement in close fights, as you can no longer be sure if your opponents will be moving before or after you until your initiative (or theirs) has come up. However, some method should be used to ensure honesty between the players. For example, an impartial judge can watch the rolls, or the die can be rolled inside a cup and revealed when the player’s turn to move arrives.

Simultaneous Movement

In the case of a tie during initiative rolls, each player writes down his movement exactly, then both players reveal their moves at the same time. This reflects the fact that both units are basically moving simultaneously.

Fully Plotted Movement

In this alternative, the initiative system isn’t used at all. Instead, players all determine their moves in advance and reveal them simultaneously. While this is more realistic than the basic initiative system, it is also very time-consuming and should be used only for small battles.

Phased Movement

Instead of using initiative, the movement step of the turn is broken down into a number of phases equal to the speed of the highest-moving unit. In the simplest such system, all units will make one move on the first phase, another on the second, and so on until they’ve moved all the hexes they’re entitled to based on their speed. In a more complex system, a chart can be developed averaging the moves out across the turn, with the fastest units moving in each phase and slower ones spreading their moves out evenly (e.g., a speed-12 unit might move every phase while a speed-6 one moves every other phase). Such a chart is, however, beyond the scope of this book.

Electronic Warfare

(EW) represents the ability of a ship to generate electronic countermeasures for its own protection (defensive EW), or to cut through the same sort of interference being produced by an opponent (offensive EW). Put simply, defensive EW makes your ship harder to hit, while offensive EW makes your opponent easier to hit.

Ships produce EW through their sensor array, represented with an icon with a distinctive dish-like shape a top it. The sensor array provides a number of free EW points every turn, as shown within the dish (so in the example pictured here, the ship would have 8 points of free EW each turn). Of course, if the sensor array is turned of for destroyed, it will not produce any EW.

In addition, certain critical hits can reduce its effectiveness during the scenario.

Buying Extra EW Points

Additional EW points may be acquired by applying extra power from the ship's surplus or from deactivated systems. The amount of energy required to "buy " just one extra EW point is equal to the total EW points you'd have after the purchase. For the sample sensor array shown above (with a rating of 8), it would require 9 points of energy to gain an extra EW point (thus boosting the total to 9 EW).

There is no limit, other than available power, to the number of additional EW points that can be purchased. To provide 10 total EW, the sensor array shown above would require 9 power for the first extra point and 10 for the second extra point, a total of 19 points of energy! In general, a ship won 't be able to buy more than one or two points of extra sensor power during a turn due to the extremely high cost of doing so.

Special Sensor Conditions

Damaged Sensors

If a sensor array has been damaged and its output reduced, the cost to buy additional points of EW is based on its original level, not the current one. Thus, if an 8-point sensor array like the example above had been reduced to an output of 6 EW, it would still cost 9 energy (not 7 energy) to buy an extra EW point.

If the sensor array’s rating has been reduced to zero by critical hits, it may still buy extra points using the above procedure. For example, if the 8-point array had been reduced to zero, 9 points of power would increase it to a rating of 1.

If the rating is reduced to a negative value, these negative points count against any extras purchased, but do not otherwise provide a penalty (the ship is never required to allocate “negative EW” to any EW function). For example, if an 8-point array is down to -1, 9 points of power will get it back to zero and a further 10 power will reach the 1-point level. However, if it is left at -1, this can safely be treated as a zero for all other purposes.

Multiple Sensors

In the case of units with multiple sensor arrays, each purchases extra points separately, although only bases are permitted to boost any of their arrays using this procedure— ships may only buy extra points for the most powerful sensor array they currently possess. Thus, a base with two 8-EW arrays would pay 9 energy to buy an extra EW point for either of them (not 17 energy). However, a ship with one 8-EW array and one 4-EW array could only improve the larger of the two (unless that array had been destroyed or reduced below 4 EW in total strength).

Units with more than one sensor array combine their EW totals into a single pool for use during the turn, but each array buys extra points (and suffers critical hits) separately. For example, a ship with an 8-point array and a 4-point array would be treated as having 12 EW points available. It is not required to spend the first 8 for one purpose and the other 4 for something else (unless that is what the player wants to do, of course).

Allocation of EW Paints

Immediately after initiative is rolled (during the Pre-Turn Actions Step of the Combat Sequence), players secretly (and simultaneously) decide how to allocate their EW points. These points can be spent for either defensive EW or offensive EW, or any combination of the two. For example, a ship with 8 EW could put all of it into defense, all into offense, or split its points 4 and 4, 3 and 5, or any other desired combination .

These points should be recorded in the Sensor Data box on the ship control sheet, like the one shown here. Defensive EW is recorded in a single location, while offensive EW can be allocated to one or more enemy targets, as described hereafter. Note that these values can be changed every turn (during the Pre-Turn Actions Step), so be sure to record them in pencil, and keep an eraser handy.

Defensive EW

Defensive EW points protect your ship by making it harder for enemy weapons to target you.

Each enemy weapon which attempts to hit your ship suffers a -1 penalty for every point of defensive EW your ship generates! If you wish, you can assign all your EW points to defensive mode— a tactic which may be desirable in some situations, but really limits your offensive capabilities.

Offensive EW and

Lack-Ons

Defensive EW Example

A damaged Centauri Primus is attempting to form a jump point and escape before being destroyed.

Several Nam ships are nearby and the Centauri player suspects they will be targeting him in the coming turn. Since he knows there is little chance he can damage or destroy enough of them to ensure his escape, he decides to “go defensive” and applies all 10 of his available EW towards his own defense, if the Narn ships attempt to fire on him in the coming turn, they’ll have to do so with a -10 penalty to hit!

Offensive EW is used to improve your chance to hit specific enemy targets. You assign these points to enemy units individually, except for fighters and shuttles, which are locked onto on a flight-by-flight basis. ("Flights" are six fighters traveling together and attacking as a unit, or a group of any six shuttles as defined by the player allocating the EW, during the EW Determination Step of the Combat Sequence.)

For every point of offensive EW allocated to a target, your weapons have a + 1 to hit that unit. More than one point can be spent on any specific target, adding to the bonus to hit. Thus, if you apply 4 EW to a single ship, you have + 4 to hit it during that turn. Naturally, it's permitted to "paint" a single enemy with all your EW, thus guaranteeing a good chance to hit— but this limits your options and telegraphs your intentions to your opponent!

If you have at least 1 point of offensive EW

Offensive EW Example

applied to a given unit, you are said to have

A Narn G’Quan Heavy Cruiser faces off against a lock-on to that target. Without a lock-on, three Centauri Vorchan Warships, all of whom fired enemy units are extremely difficult to see at their plasma accelerators at a different target on the great distances, so any range penalties you preceding turn. Because their big guns are recharging, he suspects they will attempt to elude him on the next turn, and decides allocating EW to defense will be unnecessary. He could choose to allocate 3 of his 8 offensive EW points against two of the ships and 2 points against the third ship, giving him a decent chance to hit any of them. Another possibility is to concentrate 6 OEW against a single Vorchan (obviously the primary target) and 1 point against each of the others, ensuring a lock-on in case the primary opponent eludes him. Other combinations are also possible, depending on the situation.

have will be doubled! This requires you to put some forethought into who you will be shooting at later in the turn. (Note that you double the range penalty, not the range itself. For example, if your weapon's range penalty is 1 per 2 hexes, and the target is 3 hexes away, the normal penalty would be -2, since the fraction would be rounded up. Without a lockon, though, the penalty is doubled to -4. If you had incorrectly doubled the range instead, your penalty would work out to -3!)

PRE-TLIR1XI ALLOCATIDiXIS

Close Combat: EW

Close combat EW, or CCEW, is a broader form of offensive EW that can be used against attacking fighters or shuttles only (it cannot be used against ships, including light combat vessels). It is treated as offensive EW except as noted here.

Instead of specifically applying offensive EW points to a particular fighter or shuttle flight, the player instead applies electronic warfare to the CCEW function. Then, after movement, he specifically allocates those CCEW points to enemy flights! The only disadvantage of this is that the enemy flights must be within 10 hexes of the ship in order for the CCEW to function. (If you use too much CCEW, your opponent might well just fly his fighters off to some other target, making your close combat EW useless.) Note that CCEW points must still be assigned to specific enemy flights— they don 't affect all enemy shuttles and fighters within 10 hexes!

Example of Close Combat EW

An Earth Omega Destroyer is being attacked by three flights of Min bar iNial fighters. The Omega has 8 points of EW to spend, and his fighters are elsewhere this turn, so he’s very concerned about the Nials (as well he should be). He could, if he wished, directly allocate 3 offensive EW on each of two of the flights and 2 on the third, but realizes he’d be better off just targeting a single flight and trying to destroy it, rather than splitting his fire among three full flights. However, if he directly applies all 8 EW to one flight, it will simply turn and leave while the other two trash his ship. So, he allocates 8 EW to close combat EW instead.

Now he can wait until the fighters have moved, and choose his target after that point. Of course, if the Nials all leave the area, his EW is worthless— but in this particular case, that result is fine, as he’ll be able to bring his Starfuries back to his ship’s defense on the following turn!

Optional EW Alternatives

Secret EW

For an interesting challenge, don’t require players to reveal their EW until weapons fire has been written down and announced. EW must still be determined at the usual point in the Combat Sequence (only its announcement point is changed). Note that this requires a great deal of honesty on the part of yourself and your opponents!

Limited Offensive EW

Some players find that the ability to fully “paint” a target with large amounts of EW makes it too easy to score a kill with medium and long range fire. To restrict this, limit the amount of offensive EW that can be applied against a single target to one-half the ship’s total EW on any turn. This rule should not apply to bases, which are designed to target very distant enemies.

Half EW

For a longer game, with more weapon misses and a higher emphasis on maneuver, halve all EW values in the game (including fighter offensive bonuses), but do not alter weapon fire control ratings. This tends to favor ships with weapons that fire every turn, so be careful when using this alternative. If increasing the effect of maneuver is your goal under this system, you might consider increasing the thrust and thrust ratings of all ships as well.

Announcement of

Electronic Warfare

After all players have secretly determined their EW levels, these levels should be announced. The order in which players make the announcement doesn't matter, though it isn't permitted to change your allocations after you've heard what your enemy is doing with his EW! Typically, each player will point at each one of his units in turn, announcing its defensive EW followed by the targets of its offensive EW (and the amount of EW applied to those lock-ons). Any close combat EW would also be announced at this point, although — as mentioned above— actual targets don 't need to be defined until movement is complete.

For some alternatives to this procedure, see the options box provided.

These should be used by advanced players only.

ELIIXIT Functions

ELINT ships (also referred to as scouts) are also available for use. These provide advanced EW functions, such as fleet support or blanket defense. Rules for such units are presented later in this book.

Fighter and Shuttle EW

Fighters and shuttles don 't use electronic warfare points as such, since their sensor array is much simpler and depends mostly on visual targeting. Instead, they have a single offensive bonus (also called the combat bonus) which represents a built-in offensive EW capability. The combat bonus counts as offensive EW every turn, and can't be allocated to defensive EW at all. Note, however, that most fighters have a very small profile and are difficult to hit in any case.

Since fighters and shuttles use a visual targeting system (meaning that the pilot basically fires at whatever is in his crosshairs, with little or no electronic assistance), they don 't need to worry about lock-ons. Assume that fighters and shuttles have a lock-on (as such) against all units in the scenario, unless the target is protected by a jammer (see below). Additionally, they are immune to defensive EW when using non -ballistic weapons. Their offensive bonus and visual targeting systems can easily bypass it.

Minbari Jammers

Minbari ships, fighters, and other units are equipped with jammers that provide a powerful alternative to defensive EW. An example of a jammer system icon is shown here.

While the jammer is activated, the protected unit cannot be locked -onto (and thus all weapons fire will be at the double range penalty described previously). However, offensive EW, fire control bonuses, and the like still function normally against jammer-protected ships.

In addition to this, the launch ranges of all ballistic weapons (missiles, etc.) are halved against a target under a jammer's protection (drop any fractions).

For example, if a Minbari Sharlin war cruiser has a jammer active and an enemy puts 3 points of offensive EW onto the ship, it earns the + 3 to hit that this EW provides, but no lock-on is gained, so all weapons suffer double the usual range penalties. Similarly, a fighter would get to use its offensive bonus, but would still have the double range penalty (though fighters typically engage at very close ranges, mitigating the effect). Also, a missile with a normal launch range of 15 hexes could not be launched at the Sharlin until the ship reached a range of 7 hexes or closer.

A Minbari ship can voluntarily deactivate the jammer (and use its power elsewhere as needed).

If it does so, it loses the jammer's benefit (the same thing would happen if the jammer were destroyed). Note that in some terrains, such as nebulas, jammers won 't function at all, so the player might as well deactivate it and use the power elsewhere.

Note: Minbari units can lockon to other Minbari, even if they have active jammers. First Ones and Ancient races, such as Shadows or Vorlons, also ignore the effects of jammers.

Experimental EW System:

Aegis Sensor Pods

Originally an attempt by the Earth Alliance to develop a system capable of defeating Minbari jammers, the aegis pod later evolved into something entirely different during its development. While it seems highly useful, it is prone to breakdowns and requires significant amounts of maintenance to keep the pod operational. Currently, these pods appear only on a special variant of the Earth Alliance Hyperion Heavy Cruiser.

The aegis pod has a rating within its icon. This rating represents a number of points of CCEW the pod provides against a single fighter flight. This bonus CCEW cannot be combined with any other EW produced by the aegis ship, including OEW, CCEW, or other aegis pods. This limitation proved to be one of the major weaknesses of this technology.

Aegis pods are sensitive devices and must be mounted externally, so they cannot be armored, and their exposed position allows them to be easily destroyed with called shots. Any called shot against an aegis pod has a +2 bonus to hit, after all other modifications are taken into account.

Optional Jammer Alternatives

The way the jammer functions in Babylon 5 Wars has been one of the most hotly debated subjects since the game’s original edition. After much discussion and playtesting, the rules herein were adopted as the official version. However, a number of other choices have been suggested over the years. In case the jammer rules in this chapter don’t appeal to your group, we present the following unofficial alternatives.

First Edition Jammers

The jammer rules presented in the First Edition of B5W generated a lot of debate from players, resulting in the adoption of the rule described previously. If you’d like to experiment with the older system, use the following rules. Jammers prevent enemy ships from benefiting from offensive EW bonuses, although they do not prevent lock-ons. Thus, a ship using one offensive EW point against a Minbari ship or fighter would gain a lock-on but would not benefit from the +1 bonus. Fighters firing at a jammer-protected unit use only half their offensive bonus (round fractions up), but all fire control bonuses work normally. The main complaint about this rule was that it forced Minbari opponents to use defensive EW only (except for the one point needed to lock-on), thus making them too predictable.

Double the Range

Under this optional alternative, jammers do not prevent lock-ons or any other EW-like function, but the range to any protected unit is always considered to be double its true value.

Thus, if a Minbari is 8 hexes away, any weapons shooting at it are treated as being 16 hexes away. This may seem like a subtle difference, but the real impact comes in when a weapon (typically a ballistic one) has a maximum range limit, or scores damage based on the range to the target— e.g., antimatter weapons.

“White Noise” Jammers

Under this option, jammers are considered to put out a certain amount of white noise that interferes with opposing sensors. In order for an opponent to achieve a lock-on, they must use enough offensive EW to exceed the defensive EW being used by the Minbari unit (fighters and shuttles are assumed to have a value of 3 for this purpose only). Thus, if a Minbari ship puts up 10 points of defensive EW, any opponent must paint that ship with 11 or more offensive EW points in order to gain a lock-on. In any case, the offensive EW still provides its usual bonus to hit. Fighters are assumed to use their offensive bonus as offensive EW under this option.

Rated Jammers

This option assumes that all jammers have a jammer rating which provides free defensive EW equal to that rating. In order to achieve a lock-on to the protected unit, this rating must be exceeded by offensive EW or offensive bonuses (as with White Noise, above). While the jammer is active, the Minbari unit cannot use defensive EW at all (though he could deactivate it and use defensive EW normally, if desired). If using this option, basic Minbari units have the following ratings: Norgath Starbase 12, Shargoti Battlecruiser 10, Grey Sharlin 9, Sharlin War Cruiser 8, Tinashi War Frigate 6, White Star 4, Nial Heavy Fighter 3, Flyer 2. For units in future products, assume all units of a similar size have like ratings. Note: This jammer rule is particularly powerful; if used, increase the costs of all Minbari units by 10%.

Movement and Maneuver

Basic Movement: Concepts

Movement in space, unlike atmospheric movement, is a constant. Unless an outside force influences an object, it will continue to move in the same direction at the same velocity forever. It is only through maneuvering that a unit's direction and speed can be altered.

The rules that follow deal specifically with movement and maneuver for ships. Rules for fighters and shuttles are defined in a later section.

Stacking

There are no “stacking limits” in Babylon 5 Wars. Any number of ships and fighters can be placed in a hex on the map, usually accomplished by placing the counters involved on top of one another— hence the term stacking. Thus, accidental collisions won’t occur. It is, however, possible to deliberately ram another ship, as described later in this rulebook.

The only exception to this rule comes in the case of Enormous

Units, a classification usually reserved for very large bases that occupy an entire hex on the map. Any ship entering such a hex will have to make a ramming check, as described in the ramming rules, unless using a special procedure (e.g., docking to a base or entering the vortex provided by a fixed jumpgate).

Thrusters

A ship uses thrusters to maneuver through space. Thrusters allow the ship to change its speed and its direction of motion. Without thrusters, a ship cannot accelerate, decelerate, or turn.

Thrust in B5W is represented by thrust points, which are provided by the engines (as described in the next section).

Thrust points are generated by the engine every turn, and can be spent for various maneuvers as described hereafter.

Most ships have four sets of thrusters: Forward (in the front; typically used to decelerate), port (on the left side of the ship; used to turn right), starboard (on the right side; used for left turns), and aft (in the back; used to accelerate).

Aft thrusters are often referred to as main thrusters and forward thrusters are occasionally called retro thrusters or retros .

Thrusters are represented on the ship by one or more exhaust-port-shaped icons, as seen in this example. The maximum amount of thrust which can be channeled through any thruster is displayed at the top of the icon (in this example, no more than 2 thrust can be used by this thruster during the turn). This is known as the thrust rating . If more than one thruster is available in a given direction, players are free to channel thrust through whichever thruster (or combination of thrusters) they choose.

Generally, it is advisable to spread this out as much as possible in order to avoid overthrusting.

Overthrusting

If a thruster channels more thrust during a turn than its rating allows, it must roll for one critical hit at the end of the turn (during the Post-Turn Actions Step) adding to the roll any damage suffered by the thruster plus the amount of overthrust done by the thruster. These are in addition to any critical hit check required by normal damage, which would be a separate roll entirely. Obviously, doing a

Overthrusting Example

lot of overthrusting is a sure way to penal A Narn T ’Loth Assault Cruiser is flying at high ize your movement abilities later in the speeds in an attempt to reach a jumpgate. In order to game— so use this option only if you've little avoid weapons fire, it is forced to turn away from its goal temporarily. To make the turn, the ship must apply choice in the matter.

5 thrust to aft and 5 through the port side. There are

Note: Regardless of overthrust limit a plenty of aft thrusters available, but only one port tions, thrusters cannot expend more thrust thruster— and it only has a 4 rating! This generates 1 during a turn than twice their rated value.

point of overthrust, so at the end of the turn, the player

For example, a thruster with a rating of 3 must roll for a critical hit to that thruster, with a +1 to the cannot use more than 6 points of thrust in dieroll.

a turn.

Engines

A ship's engine is used to provide power to the thrusters. Without an engine to power them, thrusters are useless. Note that certain ships (such as the advanced vessels used by some ancient races) don 't use engines— rules for such exceptions will be provided as appropriate.

Engine icons usually appear in the central area of the ship, and are similar to the example shown here. There is usually only one engine on any given ship. If more than one engine is present, they provide thrust as a unit, but critical hits affect them separately.

Engines produce a set amount of free thrust each turn. The number of free thrust points provided is shown in the engine icon, so in the example here, the engine provides eight such points. It is possible that critical hits to the engine might lower this value, and of course if the engine is destroyed, the ship will have no thrust available whatsoever— it will be stuck at its current course and speed for the rest of the game!

Power and Thrust

It is possible to use extra reactor power to buy additional thrust points during a turn. In the ship datacard, there is a value called the Engine Efficiency Rating.

This is displayed as a ratio, such as 3 /1. The ratio represents the amount of power needed to purchase one additional point of thrust, so in the 3/1 example, it takes 3 points of energy to earn another thrust point. There's no limit (other than ship's power) to how many extra thrust points can be purchased during a turn.

If the engine has been destroyed, the ship may not purchase additional thrust points, because there's no engine left to produce them !

Consolidated Example of Extra Thrust and Overthrusting

A Narn G’Quan Heavy Cruiser is trying to get behind an asteroid so that several pursuing Centauri units lose line-of-sight for the turn (and therefore cannot fire at theN am ship). The space rock is 13 hexes away and theN am must get behind it, requring a total of 14 hexes of movement.

However, the G ’Quan is only moving speed 9. Consulting his ship control sheet, the Narn player discover she has 12 thrust available (from the engine icon) and an accel/decel cost of 3 (from the ship datacard). This means he can only accelerate by 4 (to speed 13), so he will fall one hex short of his goal.

Realizing this is a critical maneuver, the Narn player decides to purchase extra thrust. His engine efficiency rating is 3/1, so it will cost him 9 power to buy the 3 thrust he needs for one more point of acceleration. To get this power, he deactivates one of the twin arrays (2 power) and all four light pulse cannons (8 power total), leaving 1 point of energy left over. (He can find another use for this energy or leave it unallocated with no penalty.) Using the extra 3 thrust this 9 power buys, he accelerates to speed 14 and moves safely behind the asteroid.

We’re not done yet, however. The G ’Quan’s three aft thrusters (which must be used for the acceleration maneuver) can only safely channel 4 thrust each, and he used 15 thrust, so some overthrusting will come into play. He could choose to apply 1 of the 3 overthrust points to each thruster, but then he might get a critical hit on all three of them! Instead, he decides to place all 3 into one thruster (he selects the middle one, as they are all otherwise identical). After all weapons fire is done, he’ll have to roll a critical hit against this thruster with a +3 bonus for the 3 points of overthrust.

Movement and Speed

In the basic case, movement takes place in a forward direction, with the ship facing the direction of motion. There are, of course, some exceptions to this. Ships may freely move in reverse, simply by accelerating in the opposite direction they are facing. It's also possible for ships in the process of a pivot maneuver to fly sideways, although this makes acceleration and turning difficult.

A ship possesses a speed indicating the number of hexes it will move during the turn. For example, a ship moving speed 9 will move 9 hexes— this is a requirement, by the way, and is not optional! As noted earlier, if the ship doesn't act to change its speed in some way, it will continue moving 9 hexes each turn (at no cost in thrust points whatsoever).

Thrust points are only spent to alter speed, not to maintain it!

The maximum speed a ship can move in space is unlimited, although in most scenarios it will be 20 or less. With no friction, gravity, or other forces to work against a ship, it is free to accelerate to whatever speed it wishes. However, the faster a ship goes, the harder it is to make other maneuvers, such as turns.

Acceleration and Deceleration

Acceleration and deceleration are performed at the beginning of movement. When a unit's turn to move has arrived (based on its initiative roll), acceleration and deceleration must be done first, before any motion occurs or other maneuvers are performed.

All ships have an Accel/Decel Cost shown in the ship datacard at the top of the control sheet. This represents the amount of thrust points required needed to change the ship's speed by 1. For example, a ship with an accel/decel cost of 2 moving speed 8 would pay 6 thrust points to accelerate by 3 to a new speed of 11.

To accelerate, a ship spends some of its thrust points by channeling it through the aft thrusters. To decelerate, it thrusts in the opposite direction (i.e., through the retro thrusters). The ship then moves at the new speed for the remainder of the turn. Note that if a ship accelerates or decelerates into a speed where it would suffer an initiative penalty, the new penalty would not take effect until the following turn.

Moving In Reverse

A ship may move in reverse by simply decelerating so much that it begins moving backward. For example, a ship moving speed 5 which decelerates by 8 will now be moving speed -3 (speed 3 in reverse). While moving backward, all thruster requirements are switched. Thus, acceleration (in the reverse direction) requires the forward thrusters, not the aft ones, and turning left would require the port (not starboard) thrusters. There are, however, no other adverse effects.

Note that a ship's aft thrusters are usually the ones with the highest ratings, so moving in reverse will limit your maneuvering options somewhat. Thus, forward movement is recommended in most situations.

Normal Motion ling

After acceleration and deceleration are performed, the ship will now move a number of hexes based on its current speed. If the ship doesn't do any other maneuvering, simply move it one hex per point of speed and you're done.

However, you will probably want to maneuver somewhat to arrange an optimal firing solution (if at all possible), or to achieve other goals. The maneuvers you can perform are described in the following sections.

Turning

Unless they act to change their direction of motion, ships move in a straight line across the map. Changing directions is accomplished by making a turn maneuver.

A turn maneuver changes the facing of the ship by 60°, i.e., one hex facing to the left or right. Movement then proceeds in the new direction until altered by another turn later on in the Turn: The Multi-Purpose Word The term "turn” is used in these rules for several purposes. Where the actual meaning may be unclear, the word is accompanied by an identifier for clarity. For example, a “turn maneuver” refers to altering the course of your ship, while a “combat turn” is a division of the game in which all ships maneuver and fire weapons at each other one time. A scenario consists of multiple combat turns, while a ship can make many turn maneuvers during the game.

game. In the example pictured here, the Omega Destroyer (moving forward, towards the top of the map) turns to starboard (right) in hex 0205. Note that the turn is made first, and independently of movement, so it is possible for a ship to turn in a hex and not move out of it (assuming, of course, that it does not have to move again during the turn).

Ships have two factors which affect their ability to turn. These are the turn cost and the turn delay, both of which are shown on the ship datacard. These are usually fractional amounts, but a handy chart is provided just below the datacard so you don 't need to do any actual calculations (at least not at moderate speeds).

Turn Cast:

This value represents the thrust cost to make a turn, and is based on the ship's current speed. For example, a ship moving speed 6 with a turn cost of 2 /3 would require 4 thrust to turn. Any fractional amounts would be rounded up (although the values in the turn cost chart have already done this for you). There is a minimum thrust cost of 1 to turn, even if the ship is moving speed zero.

Thrust points used to turn must be evenly divided between the aft thruster and the side thruster opposite the turn.

For example, a ship turning left using 4 points of thrust to turn would have to channel 2 points of thrust through the aft thrusters and 2 points through the right (starboard) thrusters. Of course, if the ship is moving in reverse, the thruster requirements would be swapped.

If there is an odd point leftover, it can be used in either thruster at the option of the owning player. Usually, you'd choose to put it in an aft thruster, as this is usually the one with the highest thrust rating. It's notable that at very slow speeds (usually 2 or less), a ship can actually turn without using side thrusters at all, because it will only need 1 point of thrust and can choose to use the aft engine for this "odd " point. This can become very important if a ship loses its side thrusters in combat!

Note that if a ship is moving extremely fast, it might not be able to afford to turn without overthrusting. If this is the case, the player can either choose to take the risk, or must slowdown in order to make the turn safely. It's to your advantage to take note of your ship's thrust ratings and determine, in advance, the maximum speed you can afford to go without the risk of overthrusting when you turn.

Turn Delay

After turning, a ship must move a number of hexes equal to its speed times its turn delay before it can turn again. As with the turn cost, round any fractions up, although there's a handy chart under the datacard that you can use without having to bother with the fractional math involved.

For example, if a ship is moving speed 9 and has a turn delay of 1/2, its turn delay would be 5, meaning it must move 5 hexes after any turn before it can turn again. Assuming the thrust is a vailable, multiple turn maneuvers are possible in the same combat turn. There is no minimum delay period, so a turn made at speed zero will always have a turn delay of zero.

Shortened Turns

At the time a turn is made (NOT after the turn has already been completed), a ship may spend additional thrust to shorten the turn delay period. For each 1-hex reduction, the total turn cost is increased by 1 point of thrust. This is known as a shortened turn.

For example, if a ship makes a turn which costs 5 thrust and has a delay of 4 hexes, it can shorten the delay to 3 hexes by paying 6 thrust, 2 hexes for 7 thrust, 1 hex for 8 thrust (the minimum delay). The resulting total thrust requirement (the basic amount plus the shortening cost, i.e., 8 in this example) is considered to be the full turn cost for the maneuver, so it must be divided evenly between thrusters.

Note that once the turn is made, and the thrust spent for it, it’s too late to shorten the turn any further. Turn shortening must be done immediately— it can’t be delayed or applied to a turn already performed!

The turn delay requirement is satisfied the moment the ship makes its last required movement. This is important if the ship accelerates (or decelerates) at the start of the next combat turn. If the turn delay has been satisfied already, the new speed won 'thave any effect, and the ship could turn immediately if needed. However, if the turn delay has not been satisfied, it must be adjusted to match the new speed. For example, consider a ship moving speed 12 with a turn delay of 1 /2. During combat turn # 1, it turns and moves 5 hexes, then runs out of movement. Then, on combat turn # 2, the player chooses to accelerate his ship to a speed of 15. The turn delay time would increase to 8, of which 5 has been satisfied. The ship must now move 3 more hexes before it can turn again.

Extended Turns

If a ship is moving extremely fast, or has suffered damage to critical thrusters, it might wish to extend its thrust expense into the next combat turn. This option is occasionally seen if a fast moving ship wishes to avoid overthrusting.

To make an extended turn

, the player announces that he is paying some fraction of the required thrust (but at least 25% of the turn cost) to make an extended turn. He must also announce the direction of the turn. The ship, however, doesn't actually change facing yet, but continues moving as before, and may not make any other maneuver (including accelerations or decelerations) until the extended turn is finished.

On the ship's next combat turn, it must pay

Snap Turns

Some ships are capable of snap turns. If a ship is allowed to use this maneuver, it will be described as agile in its description and on the control sheet.

Snap turns are 120° or 180° direction changes, not 60° changes like a standard turn. The thrust cost of a snap turn is double that shown for a normal one (minimum 2 thrust) for 120° turns, or triple the cost (minimum 3 thrust) for 180° turns. However, the delay time is not increased in either case. For example: An agile ship with a turn cost of 1/3 and a turn delay of 1/ 2 is moving at a speed of 17. In order to make a turn, it must pay 6 thrust and move 9 hexes before it can turn again. A 120° snap turn, however, would require 12 thrust and a 9-hex turn delay.

Thrust to pay for a snap turn is channeled through thrusters in the same way as with a normal turn. Snap turns may not use the extended turn option, though they are permitted to use turn shortening.

the remainder of the turn cost immediately, before moving even a single hex on the map. The extended turn is completed at this point, and the ship changes facing and direction. (Note that the ship may not accelerate or decelerate on this combat turn, because accelerations and decelerations must be done before any other maneuvers.) The turn delay count begins at this point, not when the extended turn began!

If for some reason the ship cannot pay the thrust requirement (such as one or more required thrusters being blown off the ship in the preceding turn), the entire maneuver is canceled. Note that cancellation cannot be done voluntarily— it is permitted only if it is physically impossible (due to thruster or other restrictions) to complete it. If canceled, the ship is still not permitted to accelerate or decelerate, and any thrust spent previously is lost. Extended turns may be shortened as described earlier. The extra cost is paid in the second game turn in which thrust is applied.

Slides

In some cases a ship may wish to move slightly to one side without actually turning. To do this, it can use a slide maneuver. Slides are also referred to as slips or sideslips.

When a slide is performed, the ship's direction of motion is not altered.

Instead, the ship simply moves one hex to the left or right as shown in the example here. A slide is considered the same thing as one hex of normal movement for all purposes, and counts towards turn delay periods just as any other movement would. For example, if a ship had a turn delay of 2 hexes, moved forward once, and slid to the right once, its turn delay would be satisfied (and this would count as 2 hexes of movement for that turn).

Making a slide requires thrust points equal to 1 /5 the ship's current speed (round all fractions up), channeled through the side thruster opposite the direction of the maneuver. For example, if a ship is moving at a speed of 12, 3 points of port thrust are required.

A ship may slide several times during a turn (limited, of course, by available thrust and the rating of the side thrusters). However, a ship must make one normal movement forward before it can slide again. In addition, it may only slide in one direction during a game turn (e.g., once a ship has made one slide to starboard, it cannot make a slide to port during the same combat turn).

Since slides count as one hex of normal movement, a ship obviously cannot slide if it is moving at a speed of zero!

Ralls

In some circumstances, a ship may wish to roll so that it is effectively flying upside-down. (This is, of course, relative, as there is really no "up " or "down " in space.) It is assumed that all ships enter a combat scenario in a normal, un-rolled state unless otherwise noted in the scenario description.

To make a roll, the ship pays the roll cost shown in the datacard at the top of the control sheet. Two numbers are shown, separated by a " + " sign. The first of these is the amount to initiate the roll and the second is the amount required to halt it. These costs can be paid by any thruster or combination of thrusters.

The first half of the roll cost is paid when the maneuver is initiated, which can occur at anytime during a ship's movement. The ship is considered to be at its current (normal) orientation for the duration of that combat turn. The actual flipping over does not occur until the start of the Movement Step of the next turn. In fact, it occurs outside the initiative sequence, before any ships move during that turn. You can see the exact timing by examining the complete Combat Sequence.

The ship completes its roll by paying the appropriate thrust cost at anytime during its movement for the next turn (after it has flipped over). It stops rolling immediately, and all maneuvering and weapons fire limitations are lifted at that point. If for some reason the ship doesn't pay the required cost, the roll continues, and on the next turn, it will flip over again. In fact, it will continue to do so in perpetuity until the cost is paid!

While a roll is in progress, a ship may not perform any maneuver (turn, pivot, slide, etc.) except acceleration /deceleration, and may not launch or land shuttles or fighters. (Exception: Gravitic Drives; see the rules later in this A ship with a roll cost of 2+3 commences a roll maneuver while chapter.) In addition to this, the moving on turn #4, paying 2 points of thrust to do so (the first por ship suffers a -3 penalty to all tion of the roll cost). During this turn, the ship is considered to be at weapons fire while a roll is in its normal orientation, but suffers a -3 to weapons fire for the rest of progress, representing the diff i the turn. At the start of the Movement Step of turn #5, the ship is flipped over (used a “Rolled” counter to indicate this). If the ship culty of the ship's gunner store pays the remaining 3 thrust to halt the roll, it will stop rolling and act to the shifting situation.

continue upside-down for the remainder of the scenario (unless it

Agile ships are a special case.

rolls again), and the weapons fire penalty will be lifted immediately.

Agile ships have a single cost

If it does not pay the halt cost, it will flip over again during the Move shown for rolls, and that cost repment Step of turn #6, returning to its normal orientation. It will be resents the thrust required to both under the maneuvering and weapons fire restrictions noted above start and stop the roll. When this until it halts the roll.

cost is paid, the roll is completed immediately. The ship is under the weapons fire penalty for the rest of that turn, but suffers no other restrictions of any kind.

Rolling Example

Pivots

When a ship wishes to change its orientation without actually turning, it can use a pivot maneuver to accomplish this. Pivots cause the ship to rotate about its center in a controlled manner, one hex facing at a time, without actually changing its direction of motion. The thrusters required for this are shown in the table to the right.

Thrusters Required for Pivoting

Clockwise Pivot:

Counterclockwise Pivot:

Forward+Port -or- Aft+Starboard

Forward+Starboard -or- Aft+Port

Much like rolls, pivots have a thrust cost displayed as two numbers separated by a " + " sign. The first number is the amount of thrust required to begin the pivot and the second is the thrust required to stop it. Thrust for pivots must be channeled equally through a pair of thrusters, as shown. If there is an extra point leftover, it can be applied to either thruster at the player's option.

Note that this refers to starting a pivot. To conclude one, use one of the opposing thruster pairs. In all cases, if there is an odd point of thrust leftover, it can be applied to either of the two thrusters at the owning player's option.

A ship may begin a pivot maneuver at any point during its movement. The moment it pays the required cost, it pivots 60° in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, as determined by what thrusters are used. It now can do one of two things: either stop the pivot immediately (by paying the halt cost) or let the pivot continue.

If the ship stops the pivot, it continues on in its current direction of motion at its new facing. The only maneuvering it can do while in this state is to roll, slide or pivot— it cannot turn, accelerate, or decelerate. (Exception: Units with gravitic drives; see "Gravitic Drives" later in this chapter.) However, a ship may turn into the pivot if it is only pivoted one hexside. In this case, the ship may turn normally and the act of the turn cancels the pivot.

If the pivot is not halted, the ship will continue to make one 60° facing shift at the start of the next turn, at the beginning of the Movement Step of the Combat Sequence (at the same time rolling ships flip over). While the pivot remains in progress, the ship can 't make any other maneuvers except rolls or slides (as described above), and may not launch or land fighters or shuttles. The ship can stop pivoting at anytime during its movement, simply by paying the required thrust cost. However, under no circumstances can a ship pivot more than one 60° facing during a turn, except for agile ships (see below). This means you cannot halt a pivot and start another one in the same turn! Note that if the ship doesn't pay to stop a pivot, it will continue to change facing every turn (just as a rolling ship will continue to flip over every turn until stopped).

During any turn in which a ship pivots 60° (regardless of when the facing change takes place, or if the pivot has been halted), the ship's weapons suffer a -3 firing penalty, and the ship may not launch or land fighters/shuttles.

One use of pivots is to bring the ship to a reverse facing, allowing fast moving ships to change from forward to reverse motion without actually having to turn a round. In the example shown here, a ship moving speed 1 begins a pivot on turn # 1, making its first facing change immediately. The second facing change happens at the beginning of the Movement Step of turn # 2, and the third at the same point during turn # 3. The ship could then halt the pivot, and would now be moving in reverse!

Some ships are not permitted to pivot. These include bases (which use rotation instead) and many commercial vessels (which can 't take the stress). If a ship cannot pivot, it will have a pivot cost of "N /A " in the Pivot Cost section TACTICAL

NOTES

if moving slowly, consider coming to a halt and issuing a series of speed-zero turns rather than using the pivot maneuver. At speed zero, your turn cost is only 1 thrust per hex facing, the turn delay is zero , and you won ’t have any weapons fire penalties.

Plus, you can make several turns back-to-back, potentially turning 180° in a single combat turn, whereas pivoting that far would take three combat turns to complete!

of the ship datacard. This would be different from a pivot cost of zero, which would represent a ship that can pivot at no thrust cost!

Agile ships are a special case. They have only a single pivot cost listed on their datacard, and can pivot up to 180° all at once. The cost shown both starts and stops the pivot immediately, and is paid per hex side pivoted, so an agile ship with a pivot cost of 2 would pay 6 to pivot the full 180°. If it pivots at all, the ship suffers the -3 weapons fire penalty (but only once, not once per hex side pivoted) and may not launch /land fighters.

Emergency Rolls

Nothing is more embarrassing to a ship's captain than to begin a pivot maneuver and have the opposing thrusters (the ones needed to halt the pivot) blown off the ship. The pivot can't be stopped, causing the vessel to sail off into deep space, spinning wildly around as it exits the scenario helplessly!

Emergency rolls can be used to recover from this situation, and provide an exception to the rule prohibiting a pivoting ship from rolling. The emergency roll must be declared at the point in the Combat Sequence where the ship rolls initiative (not during the usual maneuvering sequence). After the player declares the emergency roll, he must make a critical hit check on the C & C chart, suffering any resulting effects immediately. The initiative roll is then made at an additional penalty of -4. This penalty (but not the C & C critical) is also suffered on the following turn, when the roll is ended.

Note that the pivot cannot be halted until the roll maneuver has been successfully completed. Of course, while the ship is rolling and pivoting simultaneously, it suffers both weapons fire penalties (i.e., it has a -6 when shooting any Skin Dancing Skin dancing is a Minbari phrase referring to a maneuver wherein a unit flies only meters above the surface of a large unit or base. It is a very dangerous maneuver only performed by the most agile of ships and skilled helmsmen, and even then it is usually computer-assisted.

To perform skin dancing, a ship must be of the medium class or smaller and must be classified as agile (fighters and shuttles are considered agile for this purpose). The target unit must be of enormous size (see the unit classifications later in this book) and must be moving no faster than 5 hexes per turn. If the target is moving, the dancing ship must be moving in the same direction or the exact opposite direction.

A skin dance can be declared only if the dancing ship ends its movement in the target unit's hex and the target has already moved during that turn. The actual check for success, however, is made after all movement is completed, in initiative order. (See the Combat Sequence for the exact timing.) To determine if the unit is successful, roll a standard d20. If the roll is 15 or less, the skin dancing maneuver succeeds. Use the modifiers in the chart below.

If the roll fails by 5 or less (i.e., the modified roll is a 16, 17, 18,

19, or 20), the dance is aborted with no ill effects, and there is no chance of a ram. Otherwise, a failed roll means you smash into the hull of the target. Treat this as an automatically successful ram (see the section on ramming for more details), although you will need to roll on the Ramming Result Table with a + 2 modifier.

Since your ship is probably going to be destroyed, you can see why this maneuver is rarely attempted except under ideal conditions!

If a fighter flight attempts to skin dance and fails by more than

5 (as described above), one fighter at random crashes into the

Skin Dancing Modifiers

If the dancer’s speed is greater than 5, add 1 to the roll for each 2 points of speed (or any fraction) above this limit. Thus, a ship moving speed 10 would add +3.

If either unit is rolling or pivoting, add +5 to the roll. These are cumulative, so if the skin dancer is rolling while the target is pivoting, add +10. A rotating base is not considered to be pivoting.

If a skin dancing ship has lost any of its thrusters (regardless of their location), add +1 for each point of thrust rating no longer available. For example, a White Star that has lost two of its aft thrusters would have a +8 to the roll.

If a skin dancing fighter is jinking, add +3 for each level.

If a skin dancing ship has an expert helmsman, subtract 5 from the roll. If a skin dancing fighter flight has one or more expert pilots, subtract 2 for each such individual. If a flight of two-seat fighters contain navigators, subtract 1 from the roll (just 1, not 1 for each navigator).

hull as above while the others break away. The survivors cannot fire (even defensively) or guide weapons on that turn as they are too busy pulling out of the maneuver.

If skin dancing is successful, your unit cannot be fired upon by enemy units unless they also skin dance over the same target (exception: ballistic weapons). The vessel you are skimming over cannot fire at you, and cannot fire defensively against your weapons, because you're inside its weapon's tracking zones. Finally, any of your forward firing weapons (those which can legally fire into the row of hexes directly ahead of your ship) automatically hit the target unit! (For weapons with a varied effect depending on the actual attack roll, assume you rolled a " 1 " on your to hit die.) In fact, your weapons may not fire at any other target (except other skin dancers, against whom they use the normal firing procedures) unless they can fire outside the 120 Y forward area ahead of

Skin Dancing Restrictions

Because of the Combat Sequence, ballistic weapons cannot be launched when skin dancing. (They would be too dangerous to employ in this way in any case.) A ballistic weapon launched earlier in the turn by a unit that later skin dances would use the normal attack rules, and could be defended against normally. It would not automatically hit.

A ship which is not moving may not skin dance. Skin dancing ends as soon as the combat turn is over, so you must re-roll for success every turn, after moving away from the target and maneuvering to return to its hex. Just because you skin danced last turn doesn't mean you’ll be successful again this time!

Fighters cannot guide missiles or other ballistic weapons towards a target (even the unit being skin danced over) even if they have a navigator. The pilot and any other crewmen are too busy controlling the fighter and its on board weapons to perform another mission.

the ship. If this is the case, they can choose another eligible target if desired. That unit may use intercept fire or other defensive devices normally.

Gravitic Drives

Minbari ships and the ships of some other races (the Vree and Brakiri from the younger races, as well as most of the First Ones) use gravitic drives for propulsion. While functionally they are very different, for game purposes they use most of the same rules. For example, Minbari thrusters don 't produce exhaust, but they still have thruster-like systems which have maximum ratings just like the thrusters of other races do.

If a race uses gravitic drives, this will be noted in the race description and on their control sheets (in the "Special Notes" box). The main difference of gravitic drives is an enhanced ability to operate while using roll or pivot maneuvers. The following rules apply to each case.

Rolls: A gravitic drive allows a rolling ship to perform any other desired maneuver without restriction. For example, a gravitic ship can roll and pivot at the same time (and would simultaneously suffer all required penalties and other restrictions). It cannot, however, launch or land shuttles/fighters, and it is still under the noted weapons fire penalties.

Pivots: While pivoting, ships with gravitic drives ignore the restrictions against other maneuvers, although fighter/ shuttle launch/land procedures are still prohibited, and the weapons fire penalties are still in place. This, for example, allows a ship to accelerate or decelerate while facing in a direction other than its direction of motion. In order to resolve which thrusters to use for this purpose, consider the thrusters relative to the current facing. For example, assume a Sharlin is pivoted 60° to port. In order to accelerate, it must use the thrusters facing opposite its direction of motion, which in this case would be the port thrusters. (Note: The thrusters required for other maneuvers, such as turns, are not altered. If the ship turns, its facing relative to its new direction of motion may remain the same, or it may turn into the pivot, at the owning player's option. In the example above, if the Sharlin turned left, it could either assume a new direction of motion, or leave itself pivoted 60° to port, relative to its new heading.)

In addition to their movement benefits, gravitic drives also provide artificial gravity to those a board the ship.

However, this has no effect on gameplay in Babylon 5 Wars.

Agile Ships

Ships defined as agile have several movement related benefits, most of which have already been described. The chart below summarizes these abilities.

Most agile ships are of the medium class or smaller, and have their agile status displayed prominently on the control sheet. All light combat vessels are considered agile unless otherwise noted. Fighters and shuttles are not agile as such (the classification is normally used to refer to ships), but benefit from some of the same advantages, as listed below.

Agile Unit Advantages

Initiative: Some agile ships have a built-in bonus to their initiative, although this varies from ship to ship. This bonus is included in the rating shown on the ship datacard.

Snap Turns: Agile ships may turn up to 180° at once using the Snap Turn maneuver. Non agile ships may not do this, although fighters (but not shuttles) are permitted to do so.

Pivots: Agile ships may pivot up to 180° in a turn, and complete the maneuver immediately.

See the rules on pivoting for more information.

Turning While Pivoted: An agile ship may turn while pivoted, regardless of how far it has pivoted. The turn must be performed in the direction the ship is facing, and costs the usual amount.

For example, an agile ship moving in direction A (towards the top of the map) which is facing in direction C (towards the bottom right) could turn while pivoted, but only in direction C. The turn automatically sets the ship’s facing to the new direction (no pivot is required for this), so in this example, the ship would now be moving in direction Cand facing direction C. Agile ships with gravitic drives can choose to ignore this facing reset if they wish, remaining in their original orientation, as mentioned in the gravitic drive section above. Thus, in this example, a gravitic agile ship (such as the White Star) could choose to either have its facing reset to C, or remain in the same orientation, i.e., moving in direction C while facing indirect i onE.

Rolls: Agile ships complete rolls immediately, as defined in the rolling rules earlier in this chapter.

Skin Dancing: Agile ships may skin dance. Fighters and shuttles are considered agile for this purpose.

Fighter/Shuttle Movement:

Thrust

For fighters and shuttles, most of the movement concepts are the same as with ships. However, since these smaller units are much more maneuverable, they have some advantages over their larger space going brethren.

First of all, fighters and shuttles have a specific amount of thrust they can use during the turn. Although they have thrusters like any ship does, these are assumed to be available as needed (for simplicity's sake), so there is no need to "channel" thrust through particular thrusters. However, it is not possible to purchase additional thrust points for fighters and shuttles. They will have to make do with what they have and nothing more.

Acceleration & Deceleration

These maneuvers are performed the same way as ships do them (fighters with gravitic drives, such as the Minbari N ia l, can accelerate while pivoted). All fighters and shuttles have an accel/decel cost of 1 unless noted otherwise on their control sheets.

Turns and Snap Turns

These maneuvers are essentially the same for fighters and shuttles as for ships. All shuttles have a turn cost of 1/ 3 and a turn delay of 1 /3 unless noted otherwise. Fighters have a turn cost of 1 /3, but a turn delay of zero (unless otherwise noted), as shown on their FCS.

All fighters may make snap turns as though they were agile ships. Shuttles may not do this unless specifically noted otherwise in their rules.

Fighters and shuttles may turn regardless of their current facing (i.e., if they are pivoted in a direction other than their current heading). When the turn is made, the maneuver automatically shifts the fighter/shuttle so that it now faces its new direction of motion. There is no need to pay any sort of pivot cost for this action. Note that fighters with gravitic drives may ignore the facing reset if desired.

Slides

Fighters and shuttles can slide in the same way as ships can, except the maneuver costs only one point of thrust regardless of speed.

Pivots

Fighters and shuttles have more control over pivots than ships do due to their small size and maneuverability. A fighter or shuttle can pivot to face any direction at will, paying 1 point of thrust for each 60 ° of facing change. Any such change in facing happens immediately (there is no delay) and stops at that point— the fighter/shuttle doesn't keep pivoting like ships will. For example, a fighter wishing to pivot so it faces opposite its direction of motion would make three 60° facing changes, costing 3 thrust. There are no weapons fire penalties for fighter pivots.

While pivoted to a side, a fighter cannot accelerate or decelerate (unless it has a gravitic drive), although it can turn (see "Turns" above). In order to accelerate or decelerate, it must pivot again so it is facing in its direction of motion (or exactly opposite it, so it is moving in reverse). Note that a turn can also be used to restore a fighter to its correct orientation.

Combat Pivots

After all movement is complete (by all units at all initiative levels), fighters and shuttles may make a combat pivot.

This is exactly like a normal pivot except it costs twice the normal amount (2 thrust per facing change) for fighters and three times the normal cost (3 thrust per facing change) for shuttles. If a fighter or shuttle makes a combat pivot, it suffers a -1 penalty to its weapons fire, regardless of how many facing changes are actually made.

Typically, fighters use combat pivots to bring their weapons to bear on enemy fighters or other units that "got the drop on them " due to initiative limitations. Note, however, that in order to use a combat pivot, you 'll need to leave at least a couple of thrust points unspent during movement!

Rolls

Fighters and shuttles may roll for a cost of 1 thrust point. The maneuver takes effect instantaneously and brings with it no weapons fire penalties. For most fighters and shuttles, rolling is a pointless maneuver, however, because their weapons are usually arranged symmetrically.

Jinking

Fighters (but not shuttles) may make a special jinking maneuver to increase their defensive rating. For every 1 point of thrust spent jinking, the fighter gains the effect of 1 point of defensive EW. However, its own weapons also suffer a -1 penalty to hit. Each point of thrust is said to buy one level of jinking , so a fighter with 4 levels has + 4 to its defensive EW and a -4 penalty on all weapons fire.

Jinking is declared when the fighter is taking its turn to move, and must be announced to all players. It can be declared at anytime during the movement step (at the beginning, end, or anywhere in between, but only when it is the fighter's turn to move), simply by announcing you are using the required thrust for this purpose. Jinking must be paid for each turn— it is not a continuous action once started!

Jinking is only effective against ships or at ranges beyond pointblank. Thus, fighters can ignore the jinking levels used by enemy fighters so long as both units are in the same hex and the attackers are not themselves jinking.

Typically, fighters jink when approaching or leaving a target, but not on turns when they are making a firing run (as it disrupts their own weapons too much). They also jink like crazy while under attack by missiles, hoping to throw off the limited targeting abilities of such weapons.

Jammer-equipped fighters can not benefit from both jinking and jamming effects. They apply the best effect these actions would normally incur. For example, a Min bar iNial fighter jinking at level 4 would normally give any enemy fighter a -4 to hit. However, its jammer also forces range penalties to be doubled. Thus, a fighter weapon with a range penalty of -2 per hex would use the jinking adjustment if shooting from range 0 or 1, either penalty from range 2, and the jammer penalty from range 3 or beyond.

It does not get to combine the jinking and jammer benefits simultaneously.

Fighter Class Jinking Limits

Ships and shuttles (even armed ones) may not jink unless otherwise noted in their descriptions.

Super-heavy fighters: 4 levels

Heavy fighters: 6 levels

Medium fighters: 8 levels

Light fighters: 10 levels

Ultralight fighters: Unlimited

Note that the above limits assume the fighter has enough thrust to pay for the number of levels desired! A light fighter with only 9 thrust could not use the 10th level unless it had some other way to gain a thrust point (e.g., an expert crewman of some type, or a special scenario rule).

Combat Procedure

Maneuvering is merely the setup for the most important part of the game — destroying your enemy before he destroys you! This chapter explains how weapons are armed and fired, how damage is resolved against a target, and other special procedures that have to do with direct combat between ships. (Fighter combat will be explained in the next chapter.)

Preparing Weapons

To fire a weapon, the weapon must first be powered. As noted in the power system rules, ship reactors automatically provide enough energy to power everything on the ship (including weapons) automatically. Thus, a weapon won't be powered only if it is (a) destroyed, (b) voluntarily deactivated by you, or (c) unpower able due to other factors, such as a damaged reactor.

All weapons have a rate of fire associated with them. For example, heavy lasers have a rate of fire (ROF) of 1 per 4 turns. This means that after firing (or being shutoff andre powered), they must wait four turns before they can shoot a gain.

Thus, if a heavy laser fires on turn 5, it could fire again on turn 9, but no sooner. If it were deactivated for extra power on turn 6, andre powered on turn 7, it would have to wait for all of turns 7, 8 and 9, and could shoot again on turn 10. For all intents and purposes, you can consider the last turn a weapon was deactivated to be the last turn it was "fired ."

Some small, defensive weapons have an ROF of 1 shot (or more) per turn. Even if shutdown on one turn, they could immediately fire again on the following turn (assuming they are powered on that turn, of course). Unless otherwise noted in a specific rule, a weapon with an ROF faster than 1 shot per turn cannot be partially shut down (it's all or nothing).

TACTICAL

Weapons with a rate of fire of 1 per turn should always be used in some way every turn. Either fire them at a target (even if your chance to hit is miniscule), use them in defensive mode, or shut them off for extra power.

Cooldown Periods

Some weapons have a cooldown period associated with them, during which time they cannot be armed. During a cooldown turn, the weapon may not be powered under any circumstances. This power is not lost, however, but can be distributed to other systems using the normal rules.

For example, the particle repeater must cool down for one or more turns if fired multiple times, and weapons using sustained mode (described later in this chapter) must cool off after use. If a weapon uses a cooldown procedure, this fact will be noted in its specific rules.

NOTES

You need to decide at the start of the turn (before movement) if you want to shut the weapon off, so carefully evaluate whether you think you’ll need it to take a shot, either offensively or defensively, before making your decision.

Declaring

Fire

All units declare fire at each other simultaneously, at the beginning of the Weapons Fire Step of the Combat Sequence. In order to ensure that this is truly simultaneous (and not just are action to an opponent's shot, or lack thereof), you 'll want each player to secretly write down his or her weapons fire.

This eliminates "me -too fire "— and a lot of arguments.

Some weapons are capable of firing in defensive mode (as explained later in this chapter), using their shot to attempt to stop an incoming enemy weapon. If used in this mode, simply write "defensive" down for its firing orders. After you have learned what the enemy is shooting at you, you can then decide which shots to block (if anything). However, you could not change such weapons from defensive mode to offensive mode once this declaration has been made, even if no one shoots at you. Weapons set to defensive mode aren't required to make a defensive shot if you so choose (this might be an option for defensive weapons with slow rates of fire).

Firing Arcs

Although the target of your shot may be obvious, your ship's weapons may simply be unable to aim at your opponent due to the limitations of firing arcs.

Firing arcs represent the field of fire the weapon is capable of shooting in. A sample arc is shown to the right of this paragraph. The weapon with this arc is assumed to be in the central hex of the display, and can fire in any hex filed or partially filled by gray (and outward across the map, limited only by the weapon's maximum range), including the firing ship's hex. Note that units in the same hex as the firing ship are not automatically "in arc" of its weapons— to judge arcs in such situations, see "Determining the Direction of Fire" later in this section.

If the arc extends into a half-hex, as in the case of arcs like the example shown to the left of this paragraph, any half-hex is considered within the arc of fire.

In the case of the 360 ° arc, like the one shown to the right, the hexes are shown on top of the gray area in order to avoid confusion (especially after the control sheet has been photocopied, after which the gray will tend to turn black). Very few weapons possess this arc, as most are mounted on inflexible hardpoints for stability.

Most fighters use a special arc display (shown to the left), which is narrower than most ship weapons. As with all other arcs, this one extends outward as far as the ship's weapons can reach (it is not limited to only the hexes shown on the graphic). Fighters, however, typically have very short-ranged weapons. Like ships, fighters are permitted to fire at units in the same hex as themselves (see "Determining the Direction of Fire" for more on this subject).

Line-DF-Siglrt

It is not possible to shoot at a target you do not have line-of-sight (LOS) to. The only things in the game which can block line -of-sight are huge objects, such as enormous units, moons, asteroids, and other terrain features. Other ships, fighters, and so forth will not block LOS.

To determine if LOS is blocked, draw an imaginary line between the center of the firing unit's hex to the center of the target unit's hex. If this line enters the hex containing something that blocks LOS, or touches the edge of such a hex, then no weapons fire can be exchanged between the two units on that turn. For example, in the diagram shown here, the Omega Destroyer in hex l 824 has line -of-sight only to the fighter flight in hex 2023. LOS to the fighter group in 2025 is obviously blocked by the asteroid, while the fighters in 2024 are hidden only barely, because the line -of-sight touches the asteroid's hex (the top edge of hex 1925).

Ballistic Weapons

These weapons, such as missiles, are unique in the way they operate. They do not fire during the Weapons Fire Step, but are instead launched at the same time EW is determined (see the Combat Sequence in the Appendix for the exact timing). However, they don 'tactually make their attack— that is, roll to hit— until the Weapons Fire Step, like all other weapons do.

The tactical effect of such weapons is that, because they are launched before movement, the firing ship— and the target— can adjust their positions and facings to react to the attack. For example, a fighter could simply turn away from the target after launching a missile, winding up well out of range of the ship's guns when its missile impacts. Or, that same fighter could charge in and attack a different enemy unit while the missile continues towards its target, hopefully tying up that ship's defensive weapons against the missile instead of the fighter itself.

When the firing unit launches a ballistic weapon, it should leave a counter in the launching hex to represent the point of launch. Line-of-sight is required at the time of launch, but not when the weapon rolls to hit. Note that if the target disengages from the scenario somehow during the Movement Step— perhaps by entering a jump point— the ballistic weapon automatically misses.

Further rules on ballistic weapons are provided later in this chapter.

Weapons Fire Resolution

After weapons declarations are made, weapons fire is resolved in a specific order, as mentioned in the chapter on the Combat Sequence. First, ballistic weapons (launched before movement) make their to -hit rolls. Then, ships take their shots. Next, fighters fire at fighters. Finally, fighters fire at ships. These four elements are referred to as combat resolution steps , and are handled individually, one after the other.

The main effect of this sequence is that it's possible to destroy a weapon or fighter before it gets a chance to take its shot. A weapon or fighter which allocated fire in the same combat resolution step that it is destroyed, however, will still get to shoot (since all fire in that step of the sequence is effectively going on simultaneously). For example, if a ballistic weapon hits a ship and destroys a laser that had been allocated to fire that turn, the laser will be lost before it can shoot. However, if two ships exchange laser fire, and one destroys the other's laser cannon, that cannon will still get to take its shot. The two weapons were basically firing at the same time.

Defensive fire at an incoming weapon is resolved during the attacking weapon's combat resolution step. In this way, a ship-mounted turret can shoot at an inbound ballistic weapon (for example) during the ballistic weapon resolution step.

Firing Order

If you have allocated more than one weapon to fire at the same target during the same combat resolution step, you can resolve those shots in any order you choose. However, you must announce the order you 'll be taking the shots before you actually make any dierolls.

This can be very important when using different types of weapons that score damage in unique ways, or when combining small shots with larger ones.

You might, for example, choose to fire your smaller weapons first, since these will be more likely to damage poorly armored systems before your heavy guns strip them away. Otherwise, your light weapons might bounce off the more heavily armored interior of your target.

TACTICAL

Because you can choose the order your shots are resolved (within the same resolution step), you have some flexibility.

Consider your target’s defenses and the potential damage you can score before announcing your decision.

NOTES

If your weapons have special modes or abilities, be sure to take those into account. A plasma stream, for example, can damage armor permanently, and should always be the first thing you fire. That way later volleys will be more likely to penetrate the weakened armor of your target.

Rolling To-Hit:

Once your weapons declaration is done, and the time comes to actually fire, you must figure out what your chance to hit is. This process requires several easy steps, as listed below. Not all of these steps come into play with every weapon, of course.

Determining the Direction of Fire

Before you can make any calculations, determine the direction of fire. There are four directions a shot can come from: forward, port, starboard, or aft, as shown in the diagram here. Note that the forward and aft areas are only 60 ° arcs, whereas the port and starboard regions are 120°, making those areas twice as likely to take damage in In the case of an indeterminate shot (one that comes down the "spine " and could hit one of two possible areas), the target of the shot chooses which section is hit.

However, he must choose the same side for all weapons coming from the same source in that turn. He could not choose to take half the weapons fired by a particular ship on one side and half on the other! If fire is coming from two different ships (even if they are in the same hex), he could choose to split them (and probably will).

If two units are in the same hex (range zero) and one shoots at the other, determine the firing situation (firing arcs and direction of fire) based on the positions of the two ships just before the last of the two entered the hex in question. It is a fact of the initiative system that one of the two will enter the hex after the other! (If using the secret movement option for initiative tie -breaking, determine the facings randomly by tossing a coin.)

Determining the Base Chance to Hit

Once you know the direction your fire is coming from, find out the target's defensive rating for that direction. The defensive rating is a representation of the ship's profile when viewed from the front/back or from the side. For example, long and narrow ships like the Minbari Sharlin tend to have lower forward /aft values, while fat, wide ships will have lower side values.

The defense rating values will be located in the datacard on the top right of the control sheet. For example, if a ship has a forward /aft defense rating of 15, you need a roll of 15 or less (onad 20) to score a hit if shooting at its front or rear sections. Thus, the lower the value, the harder the ship will be to hit.

Combat Resolution

Example

For the remainder of this section, we ’ll present an ongoing example of the fire resolution process using the diagram shown here. In this sample, an Omega Destroyer in hex 1726 is firing weapons at a Minbari Sharlin War Cruiser in hex 2022.

The first step in the procedure is to determine the direcition of fire. Consulting the diagram on the preceding page, it can be seen that the Omega is firing at the forward section (barely). To see this for yourself, trace a line from the center of hex 1726 to hex 2022. Since a Sharlin has a forward profile of 15 (as shown on its control sheet), the base to-hit number will be 15 or less onad20.

If the Minbari ship had been in 1923 instead, the direction of fire would be split evenly between the forward and port sides. By rule, the target would select the direction in this case, but his choice would affect ALL fire by this Omega Destroyer during this combat turn.

Adding nr Subtracting for

Electronic Warfare

If the target ship has any defensive EW, the EW value effectively reduces the chance to hit appropriately. Thus, a ship with 5 defensive EW will effectively have a defense rating 5 points lower than normal (in all directions). Remember, though, that fighters shooting non -ballistic weapons at a target ignore its defensive EW entirely!

If you have assigned any offensive EW to the target (or, in the case of a fighter, if you have an offensive bonus available), add this amount to the base chance to hit. For example, if the target's defense rating (as modified by EW) is 12, and you have 4 points of offensive EW painting that unit, your chance to hit is 16 or less.

Applying EW Modifiers

Continuing the example above, assume the Minbari ship has allocated 4 points of defensive EW and the Omega has fully painted the Sharlin with 8 offensive EW. The net result is a +4 in the Omega’s favor, so he now needs a 19 or less to hit.

Adding Weapon Fire Control Modifiers

Each weapon type has its own fire control system associated with it. This feature is represented by three values separated by slashes. The first of these is the bonus (or penalty) against capital ships and heavy combat vessels (or anything larger); the second is the bonus against medium ships and light combat vessels; and the third is the bonus against shuttles and fighters (and anything smaller).

For example, a heavy weapon might have these modifiers: + 3 / + 1 / - 2. If firing at a capital ship, it has a + 3 bonus to hit. At medium vessels it would have a + 1 bonus, but against fighters and shuttles it would have a -2 penalty.

Note that most fighter weapons don't have a fire control listing. As fighter pilots usually just eyeball their targets (with Fire Control Mods The Omega Destroyer in our example wishes to fire its Heavy Laser Cannons at the Sharlin. A quick check of the firing arcs on the Omega SCS shows the Sharlin is a legal target of laser #2 only (#1 fires in the forward port area only, and #3 and #4 are aft firing weapons). The fire control rating of an HLC is +3/+2/-4, meaning it has a +3 to hit capital ships (of which the Sharlin is an example). The Omega’s to hit number is now up to 22 for the laser cannon. Note that other weapons have different fire control ratings (e.g., the pulse cannon has a +4) and so might require different target numbers from this point on in the process.

the assistance of their on board computer's offensive systems), fire control ratings are already built into the combat bonus statistic. There may be exceptions to this rule in other products, particularly for fighter-mounted heavy weapons like those found on the Centauri Rutarian Strike Fighter.

Subtracting the Range Penalty

Range Penalties

Consulting the weapon datacard once again, the Earth player sees that his Heavy Laser Cannon has a range penalty of -1 per 3 hexes. The range to the Sharlin is 5 hexes, so the penalty would be -2 to hit. Flowever, the Sharlin also has an active jammer, preventing a lock-on, so the range penalty is doubled to -4. The to-hit number is now down to 18.

As there are no additional modifiers (the Sharlin has no other defense bonuses such as shields or interceptors), the Omega must roll an 18 or less onad20 to hit with its heavy laser cannon.

Weapons also have a range penalty that determines how effective they are at longer ranges. Count the distance in hexes between the firing ship and the target, and apply the listed penalty to your chance to hit. Round any fractions up. For example, if a weapon's range penalty is -1 per 3 hexes and the target is 7 hexes away, the penalty to the to -hit roll is -3.

To find the distance between your ship and the target, simply determine the closest possible path between the two units, and count the number of hexes involved. Do not count the hex your ship is in, but do count the target's hex, unless you are both in the same hex (which would be a range of zero). For example, if your ship is in hex 2110 and is firing at a ship in hex 2104, the distance would be 6 hexes.

Note that if you are firing without a lock-on (e.g., if you applied no EW to the target), your range penalty would be doubled. Do not double the number of hexes— double the penalty itself. Thus, if your range penalty is -3, and you have no lock-on, that penalty would be -6.

Subtracting Defense Bonuses

In some cases the defender will have certain advantages which make it harder to hit. These are described in other rules, such as those regarding various terrains.

If the target is protected by a shield or interceptor's energy web, subtract the shield factor or intercept rating from the chance to hit. Note that only one of each type can protect a target at a time, so if multiple shields/interceptors overlap, the defender should select one and use its rating (usually the one with the highest rating). Ships with shields or interceptors show the lower defense ratings in parenthesis next to the originals, representing the effect of the defensive item.

If the target is a fighter and is using the jinking maneuver, subtract 1 for each level of jinking.

Damage Resolution

After you've actually hit a ship with a weapon, you must determine how much damage your shot has caused.

Each weapon does a certain amount of damage as listed in its statistics box on the Weapon DataSheet. For example, a heavy laser cannon causes 4 d l 0 + 20 damage, meaning the player will roll four 10-sided dice and add 20 to the result. The total number of points of damage, referred to as a volley, is then allocated to the target.

The rules which follow deal with damage to ships. Fighter and shuttle damage resolution is handled in a later section.

Determining What: Was Hit

The first step in resolving damage is to determine what system on the target ship is hit. On each ship control sheet, you'll find hit location charts which are used for this purpose.

For capital ships, you'll find hit charts for each section of the ship (forward, aft, port, starboard, and primary). For heavy combat vessels and medium ships, there are only forward, aft, and primary hits. These represent the forward half and rear half of the ship, respectively. Light combat vessels use only a single hit chart. Some other ship types might use different hull arrangements, and if so, rules for this will be defined in the appropriate ship description or rule.

All hit location rolls are made onad 20. For example, if a volley strikes a Minbari Sharlin from the front, and the firing player rolls a 7, a Neutron Laser is hit. If the player rolled a 19 or higher, he would score a Primary Hit, which is provided as a separate chart.

(Primary Hits represent damage which penetrates to the central core of the ship.)

If a volley hits a system and there are several possibilities

(e.g., several of the same type of weapons available), the target player chooses which one will be damaged. However, he must choose one on the side of the ship being struck (forward, port, starboard, or aft)— items on the other sides are not eligible for damage.

If applicable, weapons/shields that bear on the firing unit must be selected first. Finally, in addition, he must select one which is undestroyed— destroyed systems can't be selected to accept damage! If there are no systems left of the type rolled, damage hits

Damage Location Example

A Minbari White Star is hit from the forward port quarter by four volleys. As the White Star is a medium ship (with no “Side Hits”), all of these volleys roll on the Forward Hits chart.

The first roll results in a shield hit, and the Minbari player may only choose the shield labeled #6, because it faces the firing unit.

The second hit strikes a molecular pulsar, and the player chooses #2, which is damaged but not destroyed.

The third volley is determined to be a Primary hit, and the additional roll yields a Port/Stbd Thrust result. This means that only the port thruster can be damaged, as that is the side the fire is coming from.

Finally, the fourth and final volley hits another molecular pulsar. The player may now select either an undamaged one (#3, #4 or #5) or the damaged one (#2) at his option.

structure instead.

Subtracting for Armor

Almost all ship systems are armored. Armor is shown next to systems in a circle icon, similar to the example here.

When a volley hits a system, subtract the system's armor value from the number of hits scored by that volley. Thus, if a volley of 15 points hits a system with 2 armor, it would score 152 = 13 hits, and the player would mark that many boxes destroyed with the system.

Note that armor is non -ablative.

This means that it is not destroyed with damage, but continues to affect future volleys (including other volleys that may strike the same system on the same turn) until the system it is attached to is destroyed. For example, if four particle beams hit a system with 2 points of armor and each rolls a total of 8 damage, the damage caused would be (8-2) + (8-2) + (82) + (8-2) = 24, not (8 + 8 + 8 + 8)-2 = 34. Remember that each weapon causes its own volley of damage, which is resolved separately!

If a ship is equipped with adaptive armor (described later in this chapter), and one or more points have been activated for use against weapons of the type hitting the ship, simply add those points to the listed armor value for the system being struck.

Subtracting for Shields

If a ship has a shield that covers the side being fired upon (i.e., the shield's arc faces the firing ship), the shield factor is subtracted from the volley's damage (before any armor subtractions are handled). Thus, for example, if a structure block with 5 armor took a 12 -point hit, but the shot came in through an arc covered by a 3 -point shield, only four boxes would be marked destroyed on the structure. Shields will affect each volley only once.

Note that only one shield system can protect a ship from any in dividual volley. If two or more shields overlap, the target player can select which one to use (and will almost certainly pick the one with the highest rating). Even if the shield is destroyed, it still protects against any damage scored during the same combat resolution step.

Marking the Damage

When the total damage has been determined, mark it off on the target ship's control sheet by crossing out or filling in the boxes of the system that was hit. When doing this, the player who owns the target (not the firing player) chooses which boxes to mark off (if it matters).

If even a single hit is marked on a given system during a turn, then that system is eligible for a critical hit at the end of the Weapons Fire Step of that same turn. See the chapter on critical hits later in this book.

If a system is completely destroyed, it can no longer be used for any purpose (and neither can its armor), beginning immediately. If the destroyed system is a weapon, and was allocated to fire during the same resolution step of the weapons fire sequence, then it may still take its shot; otherwise it won 't get the opportunity. For example, if a ship allocates a heavy laser to fire at another ship, but that heavy laser is destroyed by a missile, it would not get a chance to fire. On the other hand, if the heavy laser was destroyed by an enemy ship's guns (effectively simultaneously), it would still get its shot off.

Overkill

If all of the targeted system's boxes are destroyed during a volley and there are still unallocated hits left over, these overkill hits penetrate to the structure block on that side of the ship (or, if that structure block has already been destroyed or is not applicable, to the primary structure). However, armor does apply to overkill damage, greatly mitigating the effect.

For example, if a volley of 15 points of damage hits a forward twin array with 3 armor and 6 damage boxes, the entire array will be destroyed, with 6 points of overkill remaining. This would be applied to the forward structure, since the twin array is part of the forward area of the ship. If the forward structure had 4 armor, then 2 boxes would be marked destroyed, concluding the volley.

Destrayed Structure

The bulk of most starships is structure, representing the actual hull of the vessel.

Structure appears as boxes with no icon, as in the example here.

Capital ships have five structural locations: forward, port, starboard, aft, and primary (the central hull). Heavy combat vessels have only forward, aft, and primary structure blocks. Medium ships and light combat vessels have only primary structure. Fighters and shuttles don 'thave structure blocks, but use a single damage track that is marked off regardless of the direction of the shot.

If a structure block is destroyed, this represents the loss of a major section of the vessel. After all weapons fire is done (technically, during the Post-Turn Actions Step of the Combat Sequence), any system located in the same structural area as a destroyed structure block should also be marked destroyed. (Structural areas are denoted on the control sheet by black lines separating each ship section.) Note that since this happens after all weapons fire is done, systems attached to a destroyed block can still be selected for damage on the same turn (and such hits would be wasted).

After a forward, aft, or side structure block is destroyed, any additional damage allocated to it on the same turn is scored instead on the primary structure. Damage allocated to a destroyed structure block on future turns (i.e., after the entire section has fallen off the ship) is instead rolled as a Primary Hit.

Note that in neither of these cases will the destroyed structure's armor be counted for any purpose.

If the primary structure is completely destroyed, the ship is destroyed immediately ( don 'tal locate any

TACTICAL

if you want to kill a ship as quickly as possible, pour a lot of damage into one side during a single turn. Once the side structure is gone, any additional hits to structure will automatically hit the primary structure, and when that’s gone, the ship is destroyed! However, by doing this you risk wasting fire on systems that would otherwise automatically be lost when the structure block falls off the ship at the end of the turn. And.since primary structure usually has the best armor on the ship, destroying it will require a large amount of damage.

NOTES

If, on the other hand, you do not enjoy overwhelming firepower and just want to cripple the target, fire just enough damage to take the side off. (Figuring out how much is “just enough” will take a bit of practice.) All weapons and other systems will automatically be destroyed at turn’s end. Then, future shots through that side will be scored as Primary Hits, further weakening the ship by damaging crucial systems like sensors, engines, reactors, and C&C. It’ll take longer to destroy this way, however, and your opponent will almost certainly try to maneuver his weak side away from you.

more damage) and is removed from play.

Weapon Firing Modes

Most weapons score their damage in "standard " mode. However, some will allocate their volleys in different ways. The different firing modes a weapon can use are described below. All weapons will use one or more of these modes, and the specific modes available are listed with each weapon's description.

Standard Made

The typical weapon (particularly smaller, defensive ones) will score its damage in standard mode. In standard mode, all damage is scored in a single group. For example, if a standard mode weapon scores 14 damage to a system with 5 armor, simply mark 9 boxes destroyed and move on to the next volley.

Raking Made

Many heavy weapons, especially beam weapons, tend to spread their damage across a ship's hull. When fired in this way, this is referred to as raking mode. Many heavy weapons can only fire in raking mode, not standard mode, since their beams fire for several seconds in order to achieve maximum effect.

When a weapon fires in raking mode, first

Weapon Firing Modes

At a Glance

Standard: All damage is scored at once in a single volley.

Raking: Divides damage up into multiple subvolleys, usually of 10 points each.

Piercing: Divides damage into three sub-volleys. The first hits the facing side, the second primary, and the last the opposite side of the target.

Sustained: Fires continuously for two or more turns. After the initial hit, future hits are automatic provided the target remains in arc and all other conditions are met.

Flash: All damage is a single volley, but excess is re-allocated to a new location. Cannot hit primary until everything on the facing side is destroyed.

Pulse: Scores a random number of standard mode volleys with bonuses based on the quality of the hit.

Linked: Linked weapons roll to-hit normally but will all hit the same location on the target. Used chiefly by fighter weapons.

determine the total damage caused, then break it up into groups of 10 -point sub-volleys. Any leftover points go into a final, smaller sub-volley.

For example, if a heavy laser (a raking weapon) causes 25 damage on a hit, this would be resolved as two 10 -point sub-volleys and one 5 -point sub-volley.

Each sub-volley rolls separately for hit location (rolling the full 10 -point sub-volleys first, with any fractional one last). However, since these are all part of the same volley, do not subtract armor or shield effects again once these have already been applied to a previous sub-volley of the same shot. For example, assume the 25 -point heavy laser from the previous example hits a Centauri ship on the port side. The first sub-volley hits the port structure, which has an armor value of 5, resulting in 5 damage to the structure block. The second sub-volley hits a twin array, which has 3 armor, causing 7 damage to that gun (leaving 1 damage block). Finally, the third sub-volley (this one of 5 points) is found to hit the port structure. Although the structure has 5 armor, this would be ignored since a previous sub-volley already hit that system. These 5 boxes would thus be marked off as damage.

Some raking weapons are capable of scoring raking sub-volleys in lots other than 10 points. For example, a raking weapon may be designated as scoring 8 -point, 12 -point, 15 -point, or even larger sub-volleys. If this is the case, the firing mode will be listed as Raking (X) or R(X) where X indicates the sub-volley size. For example, a gun which scored its volleys in 15 -point increments would be listed as Raking (15) or R(15).

Raking mode does not use the above procedure against fighters or shuttles. If a raking weapon hits such a unit, score all its damage in standard mode against a single target (do not break it down among the elements of the flight).

For example, if a heavy laser hits a flight of Starfuries, it will hit (and probably destroy) one of them, leaving the others intact.

Raking mode is perhaps the most common among heavy weapons. Raking weapons can cause good damage, sometimes knocking off several systems in a single shot. In addition, they are less likely to overkill destroyed systems because their hits are broken up into several sub-volleys.

Piercing Hinde

Some weapons, particularly the more powerful beam systems, can be concentrated into piercing mode . If this option is available, it will be listed with the weapons statistics and in its description. If it is not listed, a weapon may not use this option .

The decision to fire a weapon in piercing mode is made at the moment of firing, before rolling to hit. As the shot requires great precision, the target must have been painted by at least 4 points of offensive EW. However, there is also a -4 penalty to hit, which effectively cancels out the offensive EW. Piercing mode does not require a lock-on, so it can be used against jammer-protected units (the 4 offensive EW points are still required, of course).

If a piercing shot hits, divide the damage into a number of volleys equal to the number of structure location the shot would travel through if it passed cleanly through the target (regardless of whether or not said sections have already been destroyed by damage). Thus, on a capital ship or base, divide your damage into three equal volleys (forward-primary-aft or port-primary-starboard). On heavy combat vessels, divide it into three equal volleys if coming from the forward or aft directions, or two if coming from a side arc (i.e., forward and primary if in front or aft and primary if from the rear; in ambiguous situations, the target chooses). On a medium ship or light combat vessel, it is always treated as a single volley, but loses 2 points of damage per die with a minimum of 1 point per die (this is due to the fact that there is much less ship to burn through and some of the energy is wasted on a target this small).

Piercing mode cannot be used against fighters or anything smaller than a light combat vessel.

Roll hit location for each resulting volley, once on each appropriate hit location chart (rerolling any primary hits generated on a side chart), and apply each volley in standard mode. However, any overkill is lost, not applied to structure. If the side in question has already been destroyed, that damage is lost.

Piercing Mode Example

A Centauri Primus hits a Narn G’Quan with a battle laser in piercing mode. It is firing into the forward structure, so the damage will be divided into three separate volleys. A total of 35 points is rolled, resulting in three 11-point volleys and 2 extra points. The extras are allocated as the target player sees fit, but must be on different sections; he chooses the first and last volleys.

The first volley is rolled on the forward chart and hits structure. The second is rolled on the primary chart and hits the jump engine. The final volley is rolled on the aft chart and hits a light pulse cannon. It only takes six points to destroy the cannon (2 for armor, 4 for the actual damage boxes) so the reaming 6 points of damage are wasted.

Piercing mode is often used in an attempt to cause a significant critical hit to a key enemy ship. Since the damage is divided into an extra set of volleys, it is mitigated by armor more than any other weapon (and armor in the primary section of the ship is usually the strongest). Piercing mode can also be used when your target is very close to destruction, but the section facing you is still in good shape. In this case, normal fire will take forever to get through, but a piercing shot might score enough damage to the primary structure to finish off the target.

Sustained Made

The most powerful and most advanced weapons are capable of firing in sustained mode. To do this, the ship feeds extra power into the weapon for an extended period of time, then channels it to the target in a deadly continuous stream.

To fire a weapon in sustained mode, it must first be double -armed

. This means its power requirement is effectively doubled, throughout its entire arming cycle! For example, if a weapon usually requires 5 points of power (i.e., it has a " 5 " in its diamond -shaped power icon), it will require 10 points on every turn of arming in order to use sustained mode. The extra 5 points of power must be acquired from surplus energy Double-Arming Example A Minbari Sharlin wishes to fire a neutron laser in sustained mode. Neutron lasers normally require 6 power, but this energy is already present since the ship’s reactor is designed to provide power for everything on the ship at normal levels (and the Sharlin has no power deficit).

Double-arming the neutron laser will therefore require 6 additional energy. To acquire this power, the Sharlin must deactivate other systems. A good choice might be one of the other neutron lasers, or six of the fusion cannons (if the ship is not expected to reach short range before the laser has finished firing in sustained mode).

(if available) or by deactivating other systems on the ship. Note that even if you don 't fire the weapon as soon as possible, you still must pay the extra arming cost to keep it online and ready (otherwise it reverts to a normally-armed state).

To denote sustained arming, write an "S" next to the weapon on your control sheet, or record this information on any other handy slip of paper. You do not need to reveal the fact that your weapon is armed in sustained mode until it actually shoots (at which point it will be obvious).

If the weapon hits, it scores the normal amount of damage as listed on the weapon datasheet. The damage is scored in whatever mode the weapon usually fires in (typically either raking mode or standard mode); it cannot be combined with piercing or any other special modes unless otherwise noted in the weapon's description. This will be whatever mode is listed first as a weapon firing option. For example, neutron lasers fire in raking, piercing, or sustained mode. As raking mode is listed first, their sustained mode shots would be resolved in raking mode. Weapons that can only fire in sustained mode, such as the particle cutter, use raking mode for damage resolution unless otherwise specified in their rules.

The true benefit of sustained mode fire is not felt on the turn it is first fired, but rather on the next turn, because it not only continues shooting until then, but will automatically hit!

Of course, there are certain conditions to be met for this to happen. First of all, the weapon must still be double -armed as described above. Second, the target must still be in the weapon's firing arc (obviously). Third, the line of sight between the firing ship and the target must remain intact.

Finally, the firing ship must have kept the target in its firing arc throughout the entire Movement Step (or, if the target moved out of arc during its movement, the attacker must have moved in such away that the target was brought back into arc as quickly as possible). If all of these conditions are met, the second half of the sustained shot hits automatically. It doesn't matter if the range increased or decreased, or even if a hit would technically be impossible due to range penalties or other factors. The firing ship does not even need to maintain a lock-on to the target!

If the weapon missed during its first attempt to hit, and the above conditions are met, it may make a new roll on the second turn of sustained fire (the hit is not automatic in this case). However, it must attempt to hit the same target— it may not switch to a new one!

TACTICAL

Sustained mode weapons are normally used early in a battle as an opening salvo, and rarely thereafter.

The extra energy cost is usually drawn from aft-firing defensive weapons that aren ’t likely to come into play during an approach.

NOTES

Because sustained weapons automatically hit on following turns, and don't require any kind of lock-on, you can feel free to allocate all your EW for defensive purposes while your sustained guns continue to pound the enemy.

Since the second turn of firing is considered to be a continuation of the same shot, shields and armor already used against the first turn's volley(s) will not be effective a second time. For example, a ship which took damage to its forward structure on the first turn of sustained fire would not get to use that structure's armor against the second portion of the same shot. In effect, the second turn's damage is a continuation of the original volley! This, combined with the automatic hit, makes sustained mode weapons particularly deadly.

For most sustained weapons, the weapon ceases firing after the second shot and does not continue. There are some exceptions to this, however, such as the improved neutron laser operated by the Minbari White Star. This weapon is capable of firing for three turns of sustained mode, not two. Assuming the conditions for sustained fire are met, the third shot would automatically hit (as long as the first or second had already hit; otherwise it would have to roll). Weapons which can fire in sustained mode for more than 2 turns are listed as Sustained (X) or S(X) where X indicates the number of turns. The improved neutron laser is thus listed as "Sustained (3)" or "S(3)

After all sustained mode fire is done (regardless of successor the actual length of time the weapon was firing), the weapon must be deactivated for a full turn so it may "cool off." For example, if an improved neutron laser fires in sustained mode on turns 4, 5, and 6, it must be deactivated on turn 7 and could begin its arming cycle again on turn 8. If the weapon is, for some reason, unable to complete the last shot(s) of sustained mode (perhaps the target moved out of arc or behind a convenient moon), that turn can be used as the cooldown turn. Of course, while the weapon is cooling down, its power can be used for other purposes— it is not lost!

Unless specifically overridden in scenario setup rules, weapons may not begin a game in sustained mode. If a weapon is to be armed in this way, it must begin sustained arming on the first turn of the scenario.

Sustained mode is normally used only by very large ships with power to spare during along approach (usually by deactivating rear-firing or defensive weapons). It is not to be used at close range as the target might easily slip out of arc. Sustained mode is deadly to bases or slow -moving units that give the firing ship time to prepare its guns and then move away during the cooldown period.

Flash Made

Flash damage is scored by several different types of weapons, typically those which produce a severe energy or plasma discharge against a ship or other target. If a weapon scores damage in flash mode, it usually is not capable of any other mode (including standard mode).

If a flash weapon strikes a ship, roll location normally and apply damage as though this were a standard mode weapon. However, any overkill does not penetrate to structure. Instead, whatever is leftover makes another hit location roll (armor applies as usual). Continue this process until the volley's total damage has been scored. Note: A flash weapon cannot score damage in the primary section of the ship unless every system and struc

Flash Mode Example

A flash weapon hits a Hyperion Heavy Cruiser on the front, scoring 40 points of damage.

The first location roll hits a thruster, which has 3 armor and

8 structure. The thruster is destroyed, leaving 29 points in the flash volley. Normally this overkill would hit structure, but flash weapons don 't use that procedure, instead re -rolling for a new hit location.

The second roll hits an interceptor, with 4 hits and 2 armor.

It too is destroyed, leaving 23 damage remaining.

The third roll is 20, normally indicating a Primary Hit, but flash weapons may not hit primary until the facing side is completely destroyed. The player re-rolls and hits a thruster. The previously destroyed thruster cannot be used for damage, so the other one must be taken instead. 12 damage remains.

The fourth roll indicates thruster again, but none remain.

Normally such a result would fall through to structure, but flash damage causes are -roll. The new roll hits structure. After subtracting 5 armor, 7 hits are marked off on the forward structure and the volley is concluded.

ture box on the facing side has been totally destroyed (both the structure block and all systems attached to it). If a Primary Hit is rolled and this condition has not been met, roll again. If a flash weapon completely wipes out a side during a turn (or strikes a side with no systems or structure), the rest of its damage rolls on the Primary Hits chart thereafter.

Flash damage also has a significant side effect— it scores bonus damage to all units in the target's hex! This collateral damage is equal to 25% of the original damage caused by the weapon, rounding fractions of 0.5 or more up. This does not affect the original target, but will affect all other units (ships, fighters, mines, etc.) in the hex— including friendly units!

A few weapons, such as the energy mine, do damage as a flash weapon, but don 'tactually score the collateral damage described above. Instead, all units in the hex take the full amount of damage listed. These exceptions will be noted in each applicable weapon description.

Pulse Made

Pulse mode weapons fire a group of energy bolts at a target, counting on the spread of shots to earn at least a few hits. Pulse guns were originally developed by the Dilgar and are based on an old weapon system called the bolter, and later refined into another device known as the pulsar. These are considered inferior in today 's galaxy. Examples of pulse guns include the light, medium, and heavy pulse cannon.

Pulse weapons score a set amount of damage — usually 8 or 10 points— but can hit more than one time in a turn.

For example, a medium pulse cannon does 10 points of damage 1d5 times when it hits. This is listed on the weapon data sheet as "101d5 times" (the 1d5 is referred to as the volley count roll). Each 10 points scored by such a weapon would be a separate volley for all purposes, so armor would be subtracted in each case (unlike a raking weapon, for example). Do not roll to -hit for each volley, however. If the pulse weapon hits, its pulses will hit together. Of course, each one will make its own hit location roll (they don 'tall hit the same spot, unless you're using a called shot).

As pulse cannons fire groups of energy bolts in a close formation, they benefit from the accuracy of their shot. For every four full points the to -hit roll is exceeded, a pulse cannon gains a bonus of + 1 on the volley count roll. Thus, for example, a pulse cannon which needs a 12 or less to hit and rolls a 9 -12 would have no bonus, while a 5 -8 would give a + 1, and a 1 -4 would allow a + 2 on the volley count roll. The four-point zone which determines where these bonuses are scored is called the pulse grouping range , and may vary from weapon to weapon— most of the older

Pulse Weapon Example

A medium pulse cannon is determined to require a 20 or less to hit. A normal weapon would not even need to roll (it’s automatic) but pulse weapons use the to-hit roll for the volley count bonus. The player rolls a 10. Since medium pulse cannons have a grouping range of +1 per 4 (as shown on their weapon datacard), and this is 10 under the to-hit number, the volley count bonus is +2. (A roll of 17-20 would have no bonus, 1316 would be +1, 9-12 would be +2, and so on.)

With the bonus determined, the player now rolls to see how many volleys are scored. The medium pulse cannon scores damage in 10-point volleys and normally earns 1d5 of them, increased by +2 for this shot due to its accuracy. The player rolls a 5, which should score 7 volleys. However, the MPC has a max pulse limit of 6, so the total is reduced to this number. The end result: 6 standard mode volleys of 10 points each strike the target.

pulsars, for example, have a pulse grouping range of 5, while more advanced molecular pulsars have a 3.

Pulse weapons will have a maximum number of pulses defined in their statistics (e.g., the medium pulse cannon can hit with no more than 6 pulses, as that is how many the weapon produces during a turn). If the modified roll exceeds this amount, it is reduced to the listed maximum .

When a pulse weapon is fired at a group of fighters or shuttles in the same hex, the firing player can select which unit(s) are to be targeted by the weapon (a flight of fighters is considered a "unit" for this purpose), and makes his to -hit roll against the best defended unit in the group. The defender will then choose which of his units will take damage, and can do it on a pulse-by-pulse basis. Example: A Minbari player has a flight of Nial fighters in a hex along with two Combat Flyers and two normal (unarmed) Flyers. A nearby Omega Destroyer targets one of his heavy pulse cannons on the stack, but chooses to direct his shot only at the flight of fighters and the two armed Flyers, ignoring the unarmed ones. Since theN ials have the best defense ratings, the shot uses their defense as a baseline. Four of the pulses hit. The Minbari player chooses to take one pulse against each of the Combat Flyers and the remaining two against two different Nials of his choice. He could have used two pulses each per Combat Flyer (since they can absorb 16 damage each, plus 1 armor, and a heavy pulse cannon scores damage in 15 -point volleys), thus destroying both and leaving theN ial flight unscathed, but he wanted to retain as much firepower as possible. He could not have selected either of the unarmed Flyers, as the firing player specifically excluded them from the list of targets.

Linked Made

Most fighter guns fire in linked mode. In this mode, they roll to -hit once, and hit the same location on the target (or, if firing at flights, the same fighter in the flight). Each is still treated as a separate volley, and must penetrate armor on its own. If the target system is destroyed by the first shot of a linked grouping, later shots go to structure, ignoring the armor on the destroyed system (remember, destroyed systems never count their armor against any volley).

The damage scored by linked weapons is resolved using the standard mode rules unless otherwise noted in the weapon's description.

Linked Mode Example

A pair of linked weapons fires at a ship, and both weapons hit. The roll for hit location comes up “thruster.” The target can choose which thruster is hit, but both weapons will hit that same thruster (the target cannot split their fire between two different thrusters). If the first shot destroys the thruster, the second goes to structure.

Additional Weapons Fire Rules

Some weapons operate on special mounts or can use alternative firing options. As these rules do not fit well under any other heading, they are provided here.

Vree Weapon Turrets

Vree ships are saucers, and generally mount one or two turrets (one on top and one on bottom). Turret-mounted weapons are denoted as such on the ship control sheet, inside a separate circle representing the turret itself.

The primary advantage of the turret is its 360 Y field of fire, which applies to any weapon or system within it. Of course, this is also a disadvantage, as such weapons are more likely to be damaged. If an on weapon system is located on a turret, that system is destroyed on "weapon " hits (even if it is not technically a weapon). Hangars on turrets can launch their shuttles or fighters in any direction desired.

Although a turret has an effectively unlimited firing arc, all weapons located on a turret must fire into the same 60 Y arc during any given

Single-Shot: Twin Weapons

When using this optional rule, twin arrays (and other weapons which feature dual-mounted guns on a single mount) can fire only one -half their available shots for a cost of one -half the listed power (round any fraction up). For example, a twin array, with a power cost of 2 energy, could deactivate one of its two guns, returning 1 point of power to the ship for other uses. This optional rule allows ships which need an odd point of power to get it without deactivating an entire weapon.

Note: If the dual-mount weapon is half-deactivated, the deactivated portion must begin the arming period from the beginning. However, any critical hits affect both we a p turn. For example, a turret with two ons equally.

Similarly, a weapon with three, four or some other antimatter cannons that fires one of them directly ahead of the ship can amount of weapons can also use this rule, dividing the power cost by the number of weapons, rounding any fraction of not fire the second more than 60 Y 0.5 or more up. For example, an Abbai quad array could (one hex side) away from that same target on that same turn. This rule deactivate 1 of its 4 shots for 1 point of power.

applies only to weapons fire— for example, if a turret has both a weapon and a hangar, the shuttle's launch direction is not affected by the direction the weapon is fired on that turn.

Called Shots

If this optional rule is used, any standard damage weapon (except ballistic types) may make a called shot against a specific system on the target ship (except structure or systems within the primary section, such as reactors or sensors).

As a general rule, any system located in the area marked "Primary" on the control sheet is invulnerable to attack by called shots. Systems in this area are located deep within the ship and can't be singled out for destruction in this way.

(Exceptions: The port and starboard thrusters on heavy combat vessels and smaller ships can be targeted by called shots, but the firing ship must be facing the appropriate 120° side area in order to do this. Also, weapons located in the primary area can be targeted by called shots, but the firing unit must be within their firing arc to make the attempt.)

Called shots are announced with the rest of your weapons fire declarations, and suffer a penalty of -8 to hit. For example, if you have determined that you need a 15 or less to hit, but wish to specifically target a system (typically a crucial weapon or thruster), the chance to hit would be a 7 or less. You do not need to have a lock-on to use a called shot, though it would certainly be helpful!

If a called shot hits, roll damage normally but do not roll for target location. All damage caused by the shot will automatically hit the designated system! Armor applies as usual, of course. If the system is completely destroyed by the called shot, additional damage is treated as overkill, as with any other volley. If more called shots have been declared against the destroyed system (or if more pulse or sub-volleys from the same shot are to be allocated against it), these would revert to a random hit location roll once the targeted system is completely destroyed. Of course, they would still suffer the -8 to hit penalty for the called shot (a good Called shots are useful Fighters can use called reason not to fire too many called shots at in many circumstances.

shots to destroy shields, the same system).

For example, they can light weapons, intercepC alled shots cannot be used with rakbe used to take out a tors, and other extering, piercing, or flash attacks (including susweapon currently firing nally-mountedd efen in sustained mode, sive devices, making it tained weapons that resolve their damage thereby avoiding the easier for ships to hit the in any of these modes) or by ballistic we apnext turn’s damage.

target on later turns.

ons, unless otherwise noted in their specific

TACTICAL

NOTES rules.

Defensive Fire

Some weapons can be used defensively, to intercept incoming fire. To use a weapon in this fashion, it must be declared as such when weapons fire is declared (as explained earlier in this chapter). Laser weapons cannot use defensive fire, nor can any weapon which has an intercept rating of "N /A " (not applicable), as shown on the weapon data sheet.

When weapons are declared to be operating defensively, the player is permitted to wait until he sees the targets of his opponent's weapons before choosing which shots to intercept. He is also permitted to learn if any given weapon is using a special firing mode (such as piercing or sustained mode), or a called shot, before deciding whether to use a defensive weapon against it. However, he cannot wait for to -hit rolls or damage rolls to be made, nor can he wait to find out other information, such as the type of missile that's about to impact. Note that choosing not to fire at all is an option.

When a weapon fires defensively, it acts as a negative modifier against the incoming weapon. All weapon specifications will list an intercept rating , which indicates the negative modifier to be used. For example, if a pulse cannon is fired at a ship and needs a 10 or less to hit, but that ship defensively fires a weapon with an intercept rating of -2, the pulse cannon would need an 8 or less to hit. Note that defensive weapons fire against only one particular incoming shot, not against all incoming shots!

Multiple weapons can fire defensively against the same incoming weapon, but each one after the first suffers intercept degradation . Each additional weapon after the first is 1 pointless effective than the previous one. Thus, if three EarthForce Mark I interceptors, which have a defense rating of -3, are used against a single incoming weapon, the first would apply a -3 penalty, the second a -2, and the third a -1, for a total penalty of -6. Additional interceptors would have no effect. Note: There is no intercept degradation against ballistic weapons!

Defensive Fire Timing

A Centauri ship allocates a twin array for defensive use. When weapons fire is declared, he learns that a nearby Narn is firing a plasma cannon at his ship, and a fighter flight is also firing at him later on in the resolution sequence. He must decide whether to use his twin array against the plasma shot, against the fighters, or not at all, before the plasma gun makes its to-hit roll. If he chooses to use it against the fighters, and the plasma hit destroys the defensive weapon, it will never get a chance to shoot!

In general, weapons may only defensively engage incoming shots against their own ship. For example, one Omega Destroyer could not intercept shots fired at a nearby Hyperion, nor could it intercept an energy mine targeted on a nearby hex. Exceptions to this rule (such as the Centauri guardian array) will be clearly defined in their own rules.

Typically, the only weapons intended for use in defensive mode are smaller ones with limited ranges. If these weapons are powered and have a short arming cycle, consider using them defensively if your opponent is keeping his distance.

Shields

Shields are a defensive item used by Vorlons, some League races, and the Minbari White Star. They come in various types, but all have the same basic abilities. The shields used on the White Star are of the electromagnetic variety, and are often called EM shields. Other types include the gravitic shield used by the Abbai, some Brakiri ships, and a few other races. A sample shield icon is shown here.

Shields are protective devices that attempt to deflect some of the effect of incoming fire from striking the ship's hull. They have two basic effects: reduction of the chance to hit, and absorption of some incoming damage. EM shields do these things by producing an electromagnetic screen that partially surrounds the ship, while gravitic shields accomplish the same goal by warping space enough that incoming weapons are shifted slightly as they approach. Each shield system protects only a certain area (arc) of the ship, and if destroyed or deactivated, that leaves a hole in the defense screen that can be exploited by an opponent.

Only one shield can protect against any single incoming volley. If more than one shield system covers the same arc, the defender must choose which one to use (and will probably choose the best one available).

Fighters and shuttles which reach range zero to a shield-protected ship can ignore the shield's effects when they fire. It is assumed that they simply "fly under" the shield, something nothing larger than a fighter or shuttle could accomplish. Note that this does not imply that they will themselves be protected by the shield!

Defense Value of Shields

Shields can deflect incoming shots so they miss their target entirely. Apply the shield factor (the number shown in the icon— e.g., a 2 in the example above) as a negative modifier to the to -hit roll of any weapon. Note that ships defended by shields will have the lowered defense rating shown in parenthesis next to the normal rating listed on the ship datacard.

Absorption Value of Shields

Shield Example

A shield like the one shown here is protecting the forward arc of a targeted ship. The firing vessel fires a laser and calculates is normal to-hit chance as 12.

The shield factor, however, is a 2, so this is reduced to 10.

The laser rolls a 9 and hits. Its damage roll is 30 points, scored in raking mode.

The shield subtracts its factor from this total, resulting in 28 damage, scored in three sub volleys (two of 10 points and one of 8 points).

Shields also act as a kind of "armor" against shots which do penetrate to score damage. Reduce the total value of any volley by the shield factor. Note that this is per volley, so if this damage was a basic raking hit, for example, the shield factor would be subtracted first and then divided into I 0point sub-volleys (not smaller sub-volleys). Similarly, piercing weapons would subtract the shield factor before dividing into their separate segments. As a final example, pulse weapons (which deal damage indistinctly separate volleys) will subtract the shield strength from each of their pulses, making them particularly vulnerable to a shield's effects.

Adaptive Armor

This advanced armor system, found only on Vorlon ships and hybrid vessels like the White Star, is capable of improving itself against specific attack forms during a battle. Essentially, the hull "learns" how to defend itself against incoming fire, adjusting its texture and construction to make it less easily damaged.

To represent this armor function on the ship control sheet, there are two armor values. The first is the usual type (as it would appear on any other ship, in circles next to each ship system). This permanent armor is non-adaptive, and represents the basic inherent strength of the hull and systems. If the ship is hit by weapons that destroy or avoid some or all of an armor's value (e.g., plasma weapons, which ignore one -half of the armor rating), it is this permanent armor (only) which is affected.

The second armor number is the adaptive segment, shown in a special box on the side of the control sheet (like the one shown in the first chapter of this book). This can be applied, in whole or in part, to any specific attack form so long as that ship has encountered it in the recent past. For most scenarios, it is assumed that the ship has never encountered such weapons (or has not done so recently), so the adaptive armor segment is unavailable until the ship has been struck at least once (note that it must actually be hit— a miss will not "release" the adaptive armor points for use by the ship, nor will a hit that scores zero damage because of shields or other non -armor factors).

Each individual weapon striking the ship releases one point of adaptive armor for future use against that type of weapon (regardless of how many damage points are scored or how many pulses or subvolleys the shot is broken down into). Weapon Adaptive Armor Example A structure block has 5 permanent armor and the ship has 3 adaptive armor. On the first turn of a battle, this structure is struck by a heavy laser cannon for 30 points of raking damage and three particle beams for 12 standard-mode damage each. The ship has not been hit by any of these weapon types in the recent past, so no points of adaptive armor are available. The 30 points of raking damage thus score 25 total hits (the first sub-volley is reduced by 5 for the permanent armor, the remaining two sub-volleys score 10 each) and the three particle beam hits each score 7 damage (12 minus the 5 permanent armor). At the end of this turn, the ship now has access to 1 point of adaptive armor against laser attacks (though three raking sub-volleys were scored, this was only a single attack, so only one point is released) and as many as 3 points against particle weapon attacks.

types are as defined later in these rules (particle, laser, plasm a, etc.). Note that regardless of where the ship is actually hit, the impact of a weapon allows every system on the vessel to benefit against future attacks.

If adaptive armor points have been released, the player must record how they are to be used. This is done by indicating it in the appropriate block in the Adaptive Armor box on the control sheet. A given point can only be allocated once per scenario, although it can be left unallocated as long as desired (i.e., a released point doesn't have to be specified immediately). Activation of an armor point is not secret, and is done (and announced) at the same time electronic warfare points are allocated.

A player may assign released points to the appropriate categories in any quantity, except as listed on the control sheet in the adaptive armor datacard. For example, if a Vorlon cruiser and a White Star were both hit by three missiles, the Vorlon player could use three points of adaptive armor against ballistic weapons thereafter, but the White Star player could assign no more than one point of his adaptive armor against that category. This is a limitation of the hybrid technology.

All adaptive armor must be allocated the same way across the ship. Thus, if 3 points are a vailable, the player could choose to use 1 of them against lasers and 2 against particle weapons, but this would be the same for every system on the ship. The player could not choose to change this allocation for specific systems, such as thrusters or weapons, as the adaptive armor "skin" is assumed to cover them all in the same way.

Some rules or scenarios may specify that some or all ships present have previous experience against particular weapon types. In free-form battles, however, it should be assumed that the ships in the scenario have no prior experience at all (unless otherwise agreed by those players present). Note that the Vorlons, who have had ages to accumulate experience against every weapon type, start any scenario with at least some points available for immediate assignment. This will be specified on their ship control sheet in the adaptive armor datacard.

Bulkheads

Gaim ships are equipped with special bulkheads which can be slammed shut in areas which are receiving (or about to receive) damage. These represent much more than simple doors which can be closed— they also include special heat sinks to accept overloads and similar hardware, all of which are built without regard to the safety of the individual Gaim crewman (who,

Bulkhead Example

A Gaim ship takes 10 points of damage, determined to hit a packet torpedo with 4 armor and 6 internal hits available. The Gaim player does not wish to lose this weapon, so he chooses to accept the hit damage on a 4-box bulkhead instead. The 10 points of damage are thus dealt with as follows: the first 4 points are absorbed by armor, the second 4 points are marked on the bulkhead (destroying it), and the last 2 boxes are marked on the packet torpedo.

These 2 points could not be absorbed on another bulkhead (if there was a second one attached to the same structure block) because only one bulkhead can be used in any volley.

as far as the Gaim Queens are concerned, are completely expendable).

Bulkheads are denoted on the ship control sheet as rectangular icons of extra boxes attached to the structure blocks. Typical bulkheads have from 3 to 6 boxes. When a system takes damage, the Gaim player is allowed to mark bulkhead boxes instead of that system, protecting it from the blow. The bulkhead must be attached to the same structure block which the damaged system is attached to. A bulkhead could also absorb damage striking the structure block, though this somewhat defeats their purpose (unless the structure is about to be completely lost).

A given system may be protected by only one bulkhead in any single volley, and if used, it must be employed in its entirety (i.e., you cannot use just part of it). If the bulkhead absorbs less damage than it has boxes, mark the damage on the bulkhead instead. The original system takes no damage at all, and no critical hit need be rolled. If, on the other hand, the bulkhead does not have enough boxes to absorb the full impact of the incoming damage, anything left over goes to the system being protected (which also gets a critical hit roll, assuming at least 1 point of damage penetrated that far). Note that bulkheads themselves have no armor; however, bulkheads are used after any armor or shields have already been subtracted from the incoming damage.

Note that the choice to use a bulkhead in any volley is always up to the Gaim player. They are never forced or required to use a bulkhead at anytime.

Fighter Flight Level Combat

Flight: Organization

Fighters and shuttles use many of the same combat procedures that ships do. However, there are some differences you should be aware of. For purposes of the discussion which follows, fighters and shuttles use the same rules, except as noted.

Each fighter control sheet shows several rows of fighter flights. A flight is defined as a group of six or fewer fighters which travel together. You'll use a single counter or miniature to represent this flight during play, unless using the Fleet Action scale miniatures, which are small enough to represent individual flight elements (see photo).

In order to keep the map from becoming cluttered with the large numbers of counters that EA Thunderbolts in regular scale (left) and Fleet Action scale (right)

Brakiri Falkosi

would be required in any reasonably-sized B5W fighter counter scenario, all fighters in a flight will stay together (6 fighters) at all times. Also, for simplicity's sake, all fighters in a given flight must be identical.

Note that under some circumstances

(only as defined in specific rules), it may be necessary to break off an individual fighter for some specific purpose, outside the flight structure.

If this is the case, it is still considered part of its original flight (if any) for purposes of enemy lock-ons. However, a single fighter will not use the special group weapons fire system described hereafter. Instead, it will fire its guns individually, like a ship does. Otherwise, all the rules hereafter apply. Most shuttles, including armed ones, are flown as individuals.

Weapons Fire

Except for ballistic weapons (see below), fighters in a flight fire their guns simultaneously, and will make a single dieroll to hit. Fighters with linked guns must fire all their weapons at the same target at the same time. Fighters or shuttles with unlinked guns (such as the Minbari Combat Flyer) can choose different targets for their weapons, but if one fighter in a flight fires a weapon, every fighter in that flight must fire the same weapon at the same target.

Note that fighters don 't use

EW, and completely ignore the defensive EW created by enemy ships. Instead, fighters use an offensive bonus as though it were built-in, free offensive EW for all purposes.

When determining the chance to hit, calculate the to -hit number as usual (they will all be the same) and roll once. Do not roll for the individual fighters.

Then, consult the list shown to the

Flight Level Combat Resolution

If the flight’s to-hit roll is equal to the chance to hit or up to 2 points below it, one-half of the fighters hit. For example, if the to-hit chance is 6 or less and the player rolls a 4, three fighters would hit.

If the number of fighters in the flight has been reduced by damage, round fractions of one-half or more up (e.g., a flight with 5 fighters would score 3 hits).

If the to-hit roll is higher than the chance to hit but within 2 of it, then only one-third of the fighters hit. Again, if the flight has less than 6 fighters, round fractions of one-half or more up, so a flight of 5 fighters would score two hits while one of 4 fighters would score only one hit.

If the to-hit roll is 3 or 4 points above the chance to hit, then only one-sixth of the fighters hit. If it is 5 or more points above, then no hits are scored.

If the to-hit roll is 3 or 4 points below the chance to hit, then two-thirds of the fighters hit. If it is 5 or 6 points less, five-sixths of them hit. if it is 7 or more below the calculated chance, then all fighters hit!

Note: The above data is also summarized on all fighter control sheets for easy reference.

right to see the effects.

After the number of hits is determined, roll hit locations and damage normally. Note that if a fighter uses linked guns (and most of them do), you can make just one hit location roll per fighter, but must still roll damage individually, since each shot is a separate volley. If the fighter's guns are unlinked, each rolls to -hit and damage separately.

Using these rules affords fighters that would normally have no chance of hitting (e.g., if the chance to hit is zero or below) a possibility of scoring at least some damage when they fire, if they roll well enough. On the flip side, however, fighters that would normally have an automatic hit (such as a to -hit roll of 20) might have a few misses if they roll poorly. A single fighter outside its flight (or an armed shuttle) wouldn 't use these rules, and would either hit (if it rolled equal to or below its to -hit chance) or miss.

■ B M B M

Flight Level Combat Example

A flight of Starfuries is firing on a Minbari Sharlin. The fighters are at range 1 and are facing the port side of the ship, which has a 19 defense rating. The uni-pulse cannons used by the Starfuries have a range penalty of -2 per hex, which is doubled because the Sharlin is protected by a jammer. Starfuries have an offensive bonus of +5, and since they are fighters, they ignore any defensive EW the target is generating. The chance to hit is calculated as follows: 19 (defense rating) -4 (range penalty) +5 (offensive bonus), totaling 20. The dieroll is 17, 3 points less than the target number, so two-thirds of the fighters (four of the six in the flight) score hits.

Since Starfuries have two linked uni-pulse cannons, each of the four that hit will roll once for hit location, and then resolve two shots against whatever system is indicated. Each shot scores 1d6+4 damage against that system. The rolls and their results are as follows:

Fighter #1 rolls a 3 for hit location, hitting the port thruster. The first gun rolls a 5, scoring 9 damage. After subtracting the 4 armor, 5 thruster boxes are marked destroyed. The second gun rolls a 3, for a total of 7 damage. The armor applies again (though linked, the two guns are still treated as separate volleys), so 3 more boxes are marked off, leaving 8 of the original 16 boxes undestroyed.

Fighter #2 rolls a 14 and hits the port structure. His damage rolls are 1 and 6, scoring 5 and 10 damage respectively. As the structure has 5 armor, the first shot bounces off completely, while the second marks off 5 points of damage on the structure.

Fighter #3 rolls an 8 and hits a fusion cannon. The damage rolls are 2 and 3, scoring 6 and 7 points respectively. The Minbari player is free to choose any of the port side fusion cannons in arc of the incoming fire (i.e., #11 through #15), but whichever one is selected must absorb both hits (since the shots are linked). He picks gun #11 and marks 7 of the 8 boxes destroyed.

Fighter #4 rolls a 9 and hits a fusion cannon. The damage rolls are both 4s, scoring two volleys of 8 damage. The Minbari player is again free to select any of the five eligible fusion cannons. However, he notes that the total damage caused by this fighter would be sufficient to destroy any of the five, so rather than destroy an undamaged gun, he chooses the previously damaged fusion cannon #11. The first uni-pulse cannon scores 5 points of damage on this cannon after armor, destroying it and leaving 4 points of overkill. Normally this would be applied to the port structure, but as the armor value there is 5, the overkill bounces cleanly off. The second uni-pulse cannon would be applied to cannon #11, but it is now destroyed, so the entire shot passes cleanly through to structure (ignoring the fusion cannon’s armor, as destroyed systems never provide their armor to any volley). After the structure’s 5 armor is subtracted, three boxes are marked destroyed. Note that if another shot later hits the port side, fusion cannon #11 is no longer a valid target, as it has been completely destroyed.

Optional Individual Fire

Rules

If all players agree, fighters in flights can fire their weapons separately (rolling their own to-hit dice). If this is done, they can fire at separate targets, but linked weapons will still work normally. If this option is used, the number of die rolls will be greatly increased, especially in large battles, and defensive fire will work on a fighter-by-fighter basis.

However, players will have more targeting options and results will be more statistically accurate, so this choice may be desirable.

Defensive Fire vs.

Flights

If a flight fires grouped weapons at a ship, that ship can attempt to use defensive fire just as it would against any other incoming shot, except that the intercept rating should be reduced by 1 (unless there is only one fighter in the flight). The usual intercept degradation rules apply, of course. For example, if a full flight fires at an Omega Destroyer and needs a 6 or less to hit, and that Omega uses three Mark I I Interceptors (with a -4, -3, and -2 intercept rating respectively, but each is reduced by 1, yielding a total of -6) against the flight, the to -hit chance is reduced to zero! (Note that a to -hit roll is still required, since a 1 or 2 on the die would result in one-third of the fighters hitting, and a roll of 3 or 4 would allow one-sixth of the flight to hit.)

Fighter Ballistic Weapons

Fighters do not use the group fire procedure when launching missiles or other ballistic devices. Instead, each such weapon is resolved individually. The flight launches whatever ballistics it needs to fire (these do not have to be the maximum available, nor must they all be at the same target) at the same point in the Combat Sequence that ships launch similar weapons. When the time for impact arrives, each missile's chance to hit is determined and is rolled separately. Defensive fire against these weapons is also handled on an individual basis (do not use the rules in the previous paragraph). Note that fighter launched ballistic weapons are subject to the target's defensive EW, just as any other ballistic weapon would be.

As noted elsewhere in this book, a fighter must keep the target in its primary firing arc, and must maintain line -of-sight, in order to provide its offensive bonus to its ballistic weapons. The arc restriction, but not the LOS requirement, can be offset if a navigator is available.

Unless the fighter has a navigator, the fighter may not fire other weapons while guiding missiles towards its target (if it fires normal weapons, it cannot provide its offensive bonus to any ballistic weapons, even if it keeps the original target in

Fighter Ballistic Weapon Example

A flight of Thunderbolts fires a volley of missiles at a Sharlin that is 5 hexes away (basic fighter missiles have a launch range of 10, but this is halved since the Minbari ship is protected by a jammer). Since T-bolts can launch 2 missiles each per turn, the full salvo is 12 missiles (they could fire fewer if desired, but the player does not choose to exercise this option). During the Movement Step of the Combat Sequence, the Minbari player realizes his ship is moving too slowly to get out of range (the distance range is triple the original launch range, or 30 hexes; the jammer does not affect the distance range). Instead, he maneuvers his ship so the missiles are hitting through the front (relative to the launch point of the missiles), as the forward direction has a lower profile than the side.

He also allocates six of his fusion cannons to fire defensively. The fighters do not have navigators and are forced to turn away during the Movement Step, and lose their offensive bonuses. The missiles calculate their chance to hit as follows: 15 (the Sharlin’s front defensive rating) +3 (the offensive bonus all missiles have) -4 (the ship is generating 4 points of defensive EW), a total of 14. Each missile then rolls to-hit individually against this target number. However, the Minbari player chooses to use his six fusion cannons (which he previously allocated to defensive fire) against the missiles, firing one at each of the first six attacks, and lowering their chance of success by the cannon's intercept rating of -2. (Note that he could have combined his fire against one missile, for a total of 12, since intercept fire against ballistic weapons does not degrade. However, in this case he feels it’s a wiser option to spread these shots out against six different targets.) Thus, the first six missiles need a 12 or less to hit, while the remaining six need a 14 or less to hit.

arc).

Damage Tracks & Armor

The fighters in a flight each have their own damage track, which represents the amount of hits required to destroy them. When the last box is marked off for a given fighter, the fighter is destroyed, and when the last fighter in a flight is destroyed, that counter or miniature should be removed from play. In the example shown here (theE A Thunderbolt), the fighter can absorb 15 hits before being destroyed. A control sheet for this fighter will display a number of rows of six fighters, representing a flight.

Fighters have armor like ships, but instead of armor on a system-by-system basis, they use armor values for each direction they can be hit from. Thus, the direction of fire determines the amount of armor that will apply to each volley. For example, a fighter with an armor display like the one shown here has 3 points of armor when hit from the front and 2 points to port, starboard and aft.

Most shuttles list only a single armor value. This represents the armor in all directions.

Lacking Dnto Fighters

Fighters are locked onto on a flight by flight basis. When allocating EW, each point can be used against any flight of your choice. If some of the fighters have been destroyed, the flight is still considered an entire "unit" for this purpose, so you cannot, for example, use one EW point to lock-onto two flights with three fighters each.

If some shuttles on the map are using the individual movement rules, they count as part of their original flight, if any, for purposes of EW. To lock onto any shuttles (e.g., a Minbari Flyer), pick up to six of them and define them as a "flight" for purposes of EW. Thus, a single EW point could lock onto six independent shuttles (even if they aren't in the same hex, or even near each other on the map), or one normal flight of fighters. Note, however, that independent fighters/shuttles cannot be used to fill in the "holes" in partially destroyed, formally defined fighter flights!

Damage Allocation to Flights

All weapons strike a flight of fighters as though it were a single unit. The target player chooses which fighter in the flight absorbs each volley, however. There are some exceptions to this method of selection— the Minbari electro-pulse gun, for example, can select a particular fighter to suffer its effects. Note that the target player cannot choose a destroyed fighter to absorb damage! However, volleys which strike a single individual system repeatedly (such as linked shots from fighters, but not the individual pulses of a pulse weapon) may expend themselves on a destroyed fighter if called for in their rules. For example, if a Starfury fires its two uni-pulse cannons at a damaged Centauri Sentri and destroys it with its first gun, the second gun will be wasted on the debris that remains. It does notre-roll against another fighter.

Special weapon modes, such as raking, piercing, and sustained modes, can't be used against fighters unless noted otherwise in their specific rules. Treat all weapons fire against fighters as being in standard mode. Weapons permitted to fire only in these special modes (e.g., the particle cutter) must still obey all the rules and restrictions of that mode, but resolve their damage against a fighter in standard mode. In general, weapons of this type are not designed for use against fighters and will not be used against them except in dire circumstances.

Flight Level Defensive

Fire

Fighters in a flight can attempt to use defensive fire if they wish, but must declare it for all fighters simultaneously (i.e., some cannot fire defensively while others fire offensively). Unless otherwise noted, the intercept ratings of all fighter weapons are -1, and they do not suffer from intercept degradation. Thus, the Starfury (with two linked guns) would have a -2 intercept rating against an incoming shot. ANia l, with three weapons, would have a -3 intercept rating. Note that a fighter that used lasers (or any other weapon specifically noted as lacking a defensive capability) as its main weapon would not be able to use defensive fire.

Some heavy weapons on fighters may have different intercept ratings, and these will be defined in the weapon's datacard. For example, the gatling pulse cannon on the Thunderbolt has a -2 intercept rating.

Defensive Fire Example

A flight of Centauri Sentri fighters comes under attack by three missiles. The flight declares it is using defensive fire against the incoming weapons. Each fighter has a total intercept rating of -2 (its guns are linked, so they must fire together), for an aggregate total of -12. The Centauri player can choose to allocate all of these points against a single missile (very likely knocking it out of the sky), -4 to each of the missiles, or some other legal combination. The missiles are attacking the front of the fighters (obviously, as otherwise their weapons would not be in arc to fire defensively), which has a defense rating of 7. The missiles have their usual +3 offensive rating, and the fighters are jinking by two levels, so the basic to-hit chance for each missile works out to 8 or less. The Centauri player decides to apply a -8 rating to one missile (ensuring its failure), and -2 to each of the other two, forcing them to each roll a 6 or less to hit.

Fighters can use jinking and defensive fire in combination. They do not suffer a penalty to their intercept rating because they are jinking.

Fighter Drop-Out

After all damage has been allocated to a flight during a specific weapons fire step, there is a chance that damaged fighters in that flight might drop out and return to their carrier (or flee off the map). Fighter drop -out represents the effects of shorted-out systems and damaged life support systems that force a fighter to leave before it is completely destroyed, as well as the overall morale level of the pilot.

The exact means by which a fighter escapes isn'tim port ant, only that it departs the battle somehow. If their original carrier survives the fight, it's assumed that the fighter is recovered by that ship (even if it retreats); otherwise, it can be picked up by any other surviving vessel that has the space to carry them. In a campaign, where escaped fighters might return to fight another day, assume a dropped fighter is recovered if (a) friendly ships hold the field of battle at the end of the scenario, or (b) a friendly ship escapes and has an open fighter slot somewhere among its hangars that is capable of holding and servicing the fighter. Even if the fighter can't be recovered in this latter case, the pilot is still assumed to be rescued by

TACTICAL

When an enemy flight is severely damaged, and many of its fighters are eligible for drop-out rolls later that turn, consider firing at other, fresher targets. Depending on how much damage they’ve suffered, they might drop out without any further effort from you. If they don’t, however, hit them again next turn to earn another roll.

NOTES

On the other hand, in a campaign (or other series of scenarios where fighter recovery is important), you’d be better off trying to destroy the damaged targets before they can drop. If they get away, they’ll surely be back later on to harass your forces —and repairing a damaged fighter is a lot easier than replacing a destroyed one!

any ship which escapes the scenario (by whatever means). Otherwise, he is killed or captured, depending on campaign rules.

To determine if a fighter drops out, roll a singled l 0 at the appropriate point in the Combat Sequence (after ships fire at fighters and fighters exchange fire with each other). If the number rolled is greater than the amount of hits left on the fighter, it drops out as described above, and is gone for the rest of the scenario. Obviously, a fighter with at least 10 hits remaining doesn't need to roll. In addition, fighters are not required to roll unless they have taken at least 1 hit of damage (otherwise , some light fighters could drop out without ever getting a chance to do anything).

Some weapons , like the Minbari EP gun, can force an automatic drop -out (super-heavy fighters are immune to this, but can still drop from normal damage).

If this occurs, the fighter is out of play immediately (do not wait until the usual point in the Combat Sequence) and is not eligible for any further damage on that turn. Since the firing player is free to resolve weapons fire in whatever order he

Optional Fighter Repair Rules

Assume a dropped-out fighter lands aboard any available carrier one full turn per every 10 hexes (or fraction thereof) away from the nearest carrier after it drops out. For example, a fighter 25 hexes from a capable carrier would require 3 turns to arrive and land. (The actual method it uses to reach that point is unimportant.) If the carrier is destroyed or retreats by that point, and no other carriers are available, the fighter is lost.

Each turn after recovery, the owning player can mark one destroyed fighter box undestroyed. Repairing a box requires a full turn’s hangar bay action (see “Hangars” later in this book). The fighter can return to battle four turns after it lands, or when it is fully repaired, whichever is shorter. If it launches while in a damaged state, it is not required to roll for drop-out again until it has suffered at least 1 point of damage later on in the scenario.

The jury-rigged repairs using this rule are only temporary, and will require more detailed work after the scenario ends. Because they are unstable, the fighter has a penalty of +1 to its dropout roll for every 3 boxes repaired under this rule (or any fraction). For example, a Starfury that repaired 4 boxes and returned to battle would have to add 2 to any dropout roll thereafter.

A recovered fighter that was forced to drop out by a special weapon, such as a burst beam, can return to battle later in the scenario if this rule is in force. Two turns of hangar activities are required before the repair crews can fix the electronics and other equipment damaged by the attack. If the fighter is also damaged, any hits can be repaired concurrently with this work.

chooses, he 'll usually try to force drop -outs first, but this is up to the player to decide.

Some races and special fighters may also have bonuses or penalties to the drop -out roll. Fighter pilots may also choose to voluntarily drop out, but can only do so at the time normal drop -out rolls are made (thus, a flight could not launch into battle, launch missiles, and then drop out before enemy missiles have a chance to make their attack rolls).

Drop -out rolls are performed by every fighter which took damage during the current turn. The fighters make the roll just before fighters fire on ships (see the Combat Sequence). If a fighter took no damage on the current turn, it does not need to roll regardless of how crippled it might be at the moment.

Some scenarios may specify that the fighters on one side or another are particularly desperate (or cowardly), and in such cases will be entitled to a bonus (or penalty) to their drop -out roll. Some scenarios may also state that the fighters of one side are immune to drop -out due to the desperate nature of the situation. In either of these cases, drop out could still be forced by an EP gun (which actually shorts out the fighter's combat systems), and voluntary drop -out would still be permitted, unless stated otherwise.

Once a fighter has dropped out, it may not return to the battle during that scenario.

Missile Hardpoints

Some fighters possess external hardpoints any such hardpoint is a missile. Basic fighter missiles are the usual type, as shown in the data box below. Additional types may be defined in future products. Note that a fighter can use only those missiles specifically noted as usable on hardpoints (most of the other missiles in the game are designed for ship based racks).

To add missiles of the basic type to a hardpoint-equipped fighter (such as the Thunwhich can carry additional ordnance. The most common addition to Basic Fighter Missile:

Damage: 10

Launch Range: 10 hexes

Distance Range: 30 hexes

Launch Rate: 1 per turn unless otherwise specified

Cost: 8 Combat Points each derbolt), the player must pay a cost of 8 points per missile (including any desired replacements, which would be stored on the carrier). The number of missiles a fighter can carry, if any, will be listed in the fighter's rules. If those rules do not list any available hardpoints, the fighter cannot carry missiles. Note that there are some fighters that have both a missile version and a non-missile version. Generally, missile variants have a higher point cost but are otherwise identical (or nearly so).

One missile is destroyed each time a fighter suffers at least two points of damage in any volley. The owning player is free to select which missile, but he cannot choose an empty hardpoint over an actual missile, if one is present. The loss of this missile does not otherwise affect the fighter.

An enemy unit can detect the presence of a missile on a fighter from a range of 16 hexes for ships or 12 hexes for fighters or shuttles. At these ranges, the number of missiles can be counted by the enemy and should be announced.

Dummy missiles (costing 1 point) are available as deception items, but these are revealed as such if any unit reaches range 4 or less to the fighter. Dummy missiles may be destroyed from damage instead of normal missiles if both are present on the fighter.

Assigned Fighter Missions (Optional)

Each flight of fighters normally operates in an autonomous role, able to act and react as the pilots and flight leader so designate. However, in some cases they can be assigned specific missions by the carrier’s captain or the fleet admiral. The mission is defined when the fighters launch and can be changed during the scenario only by forcing the fighters to suffer a -12 initiative penalty on the turn the change is made (during which they operate with no specific mission parameters). Missions are changed at the same time EW is announced. Fighter missions are always known, as their formation and method of flying are easily detected and evaluated.

No Special Mission: This is the normal role for fighters unless otherwise stated.

Combat Space Patrol: The flight is assigned to interdict enemy fighters entering a zone of up to 10 hexes surrounding their carrier or a designated key ship. They cannot intentionally leave this zone, but while within it, they act as though they had an expert dogfighter (cumulative with that expert, if present). If they attack ships while on this mission, they suffer a - 3 to their offensive rating for all weapons (minimum 1).

Anti-Ship Action: The flight attacks enemy ships specifically and attempts to avoid dogfights. While attacking ships with anything other than ballistic weapons, they receive a bonus of +1 to their offensive rating. If they attempt to attack enemy fighters, they suffer - 3 to their offensive rating (minimum 1).

Scout Penetration: In this case the flight is attempting to avoid direct action and pass through enemy screening units, presumably on their way to another target. Their main intent is to avoid damage. Their defense ratings are reduced by 1 in all directions, and they are permitted to jink by one extra level if they have the thrust available. However, their offensive ratings are reduced by 3 for all weapons (minimum 1).

Defensive Intercept: In this specialized role, the flight must be in the hex of a friendly ship after movement is completed, and will attempt to defend this unit from incoming ballistic weapons. The flight must face its guns towards the ballistic weapon’s launch hex. Calculate the intercept rating using the Flight Level Defensive Fire rules explained earlier in this chapter. They can break up this bonus for use against any incoming shots however they wish (e.g., a flight of Starfuries could put - 4 on each of three incoming missiles), but only against ballistic weapons.

All fighters suffer a penalty of - 3 to their offensive rating while in this mission (minimum 1).

Critical Hits

Critical hits are the disruptive effects caused by damage to various systems. Whenever any system, other than structure, marks even a single box destroyed during a turn, that system is required to make a critical hit roll. Usually, only one roll is required no matter how many points of damage were scored on the system (or how many volleys actually scored that damage). Overthrusting provides an exception to this rule, as this causes an extra critical roll for overthrusting (as described in the Movement chapter).

All critical hits are rolled after all weapons fire is completed during the turn. In this way, you don 't need to waste time rolling criticals for systems which actually windup destroyed. Obviously, there's no point in a critical hit if the entire system is gone! There is an exception in the case of missile racks, which can cause a special magazine critical (see the description of these weapons in the Weapons chapter).

Critical hits are all rolled using a singled 20, modified by + 1 for every point of damage marked on the system in question at the time the roll is made. Obviously, this means a heavily damaged system is more likely to suffer a debilitating critical hit than a lightly damaged one!

Unless otherwise noted, multiple criticals on a given system are cumulative. If there are no rules stating otherwise, they last for the remainder of the scenario and may not be repaired.

Basic rules for critical hits follow .

There may be some additional rules for specific system descriptions (e.g.,

WHEN TO ROLL CRITICAL HITS: some weapons have their own spe

Criticals are rolled in the End of Turn Actions Step. Basically, they are the first thing that happens after all weapons fire and effects are resolved.

cific critical charts), and when new systems are introduced in future products, critical hits for those systems will be defined at that time.

Some players

WHAT CAUSES CRITICALS:

If a system takes damage during a turn, make one critical check at -I-1 per destroyed box.

Missile racks take a special critical on a natural " 20 " (or other value depending on the rack's rules). They must roll for this even if destroyed, assuming they contain any missiles.

consider critical hits optional. This is acceptable if agreed to by all parties in the battle , and is actually recommended for very Thrusters must make a special critical check if they overthrust, at +1 per point of overthrust.

Systems that use power must roll if hit by certain special weapon types

(particularly electromagnetic ones) depending on the weapon's rules. See the next chapter.

large scenarios, as it will speed up play.

Damaged jump drives must roll for a critical when used, and if they fail this roll, they explode and destroy the ship.

Structure blocks with external fighter rails must roll for a critical (with no modifiers) if they take damage during the turn.

Even in this case, how ever, it's recommended that critical hits to primary systems (especially C &C) should still be used.

Listed hereafter are the various critical hits that can be scored on various ship systems. If a system isn't listed here, it either can't suffer a critical (e.g., structure) or has special criticals defined by the system's own rules, found elsewhere in this book or in future products.

Basic Weapon Criticals

1-12:

No critical hit.

14 -18: Range reduced. Reduce the distance factor by 1 hex, e.g., -1 per 3 hexes goes to -1 per 2 hexes. If the penalty is at -1 per hex, it is reduced to -2 per hex; -2 per hex goes to -3 per hex; and so on. If the weapon has no range penalty (e.g., most ballistic weapons), its maximum range is reduced by 20% (round fractions of 0.5 or more up). Thus, for example, an energy mine system would have its maximum range reduced to 40 hexes from its original value of 50 hexes.

19 -24: Damage reduced. The weapon suffers a -2 penalty to damage per die (but no single dieroll can be less than 1). For example, a weapon doing 3d 10 which rolled a 9, 5, and 1 for damage would have these values reduced to 7, 3, and 1 respectively for a total of 11. In the case of pulse weapons (or other weapons which do a flat amount of damage), the -2 penalty is per pulse (so a pulse cannon doing 8 1d5 times would instead do 6 1d5 times, while a missile rack would subtract 2 points from the damage scored by any of its missiles).

25 +: Both of the above effects are suffered.

Note: These are general critical hits. Some weapons may define different ones. See the individual weapon rules for more details. If there are no alternate critical hit instructions there, use the above rules where applicable.

Some weapons, such as missile racks, suffer special criticals on a natural " 20 " or other value ("natural" refers to an unmodified roll). These will be defined in the individual weapon descriptions later in this book.

Thruster Criticals

1-14: No critical hit.

15 -19: Outlet failure: The first point of thrust applied to this thruster during the turn is ignored (i.e., lost) due to the clogged exhaust port, although the "lost" point does not count against the thrust rating. Thus, if you needed to send 3 thrust points through the damaged thruster, you'd actually have to send 4 in order to perform the maneuver you sought, although it would count as only 3 thrust towards the thrust rating. The outlet critical also reduces the thrust rating by 1, and if the thrust rating reaches zero (due to multiple criticals), the thruster melts down and should be marked completely destroyed.

20 -24: Efficiency reduced. The thruster now requires 2 thrust points in order to produce 1 point of thrust through that thruster. Additional efficiency criticals are cumulative, so a second one on the same thruster would make it require 3 energy to produce 1 thrust, and so on. Note: Ships with gravitic drives cannot suffer this critical the first time it is scored on a given thruster during a scenario. Ignore this result the first time it is scored on a given gravitic thruster.

25 +: Both of the above effects are suffered.

Engine Criticals

1-14: No critical hit.

15 -20: Thrust reduced. The engine produces 2 fewer points of free thrust for the remainder of the scenario.

21 -27: Engine shorted. Damage has caused a temporary short in the engine controls, which will take effect on the next turn only. Roll 1d 20 again, with no modifiers. On a 1-14, the engine simply provides no thrust whatsoever next turn. On a 15 or greater, however, the controls become stuck in the maximum position. This forces the ship to involuntarily accelerate at the engine's maximum thrust rating on the ensuing turn. In other words, all the thrust the engine can provide is automatically channeled through the main thrusters, even if this would cause overthrusting. If there are no main thrusters, then nothing happens, but the engine's thrust is still lost. A ship may not shunt additional power to an engine in this state, although a ship with multiple engines could send power to another one not under these effects. If the ship is involved in a pivot or other maneuver that normally prevents acceleration, the engine will thrust anyway, causing no acceleration but instead causing severe stress on the ship. Score one point of damage on the primary structure for every point of thrust produced, and this ignores armor. If this is sufficient to destroy the ship, it explodes when the acceleration occurs, not when this critical is recorded (this will give the ship a chance to launch fighters or shuttles, for example, before being destroyed).

28 +: Use both of the above effects.

Sensor Criticals

1-14: No critical hit.

15 -18: Output slightly reduced. The sensors provide 1 less EW for the remainder of the scenario.

19 -22: Output noticeably reduced. The sensors provide 2 less EW hereafter.

23 -26: Output significantly reduced. Sensors provide 3 less EW hereafter.

27 +: Output critically reduced. Sensors provide 4 less EW hereafter.

Aegis Sensor Pad Criticals

1-1 5 : No critical hit.

16 +: The pod ceases to function.

Jammer Criticals

1-1 5 : No critical hit.

16 -22: Partial burnout. The jammer blocks only part of any enemy lock-ons. As long as an opponent targets them with at least 1 EW, their range penalties are only increased by 50% (round fractions up), not doubled. For example, if the range penalty was -7 against a ship with a partially burnt-out jammer, this would be increased to -11 (not -14).

23 +: Complete burnout. The jammer has no effect thereafter. (It can, however, be shut off for extra power.)

Reactor Criticals

1-10:

No critical hit.

11-14: Minor power loss. The reactor suffers a shortage of 2 power for the rest of the scenario.

15 -18: Moderate power loss. The reactor loses 4 points of power.

19 -26: Major power loss. The reactor loses 8 power.

27 +: Containment breach. The reactor loses 10 points of power. In addition, the reactor has a chance of exploding each turn it remains in operation. This chance is a percentage equal to the number of destroyed boxes on the reactor, so if 15 boxes are destroyed, there is a 15% chance the reactor will explode, destroying the ship. This roll is made during the Ship Power Segment of the turn at the beginning of the Combat Sequence. Just before this roll, the player may voluntarily shutdown his reactor, possibly averting disaster, but if this is done, no power-requiring systems on the ship will function on that turn. The reactor can be reactivated in any turn, but the chance of detonation remains unless the critical hit is somehow repaired.

If an enormous base rolls a natural " 20 " on a reactor critical, that reactor may no longer transfer power to other sections of the base, in addition to any other critical that results from the chart above.

Shield Criticals

1-15:

No critical hit.

16-19: Strength reduced. The shield factor is reduced by 1.

20 -24: Effectiveness reduced. The shield no longer absorbs incoming damage, but will still apply its factor to the ship's defense rating. Thus, an enemy ship firing through a 3 -point shield with a 15 to -hit number would have to roll a 12 or less to hit, but would not lose 3 points off his damage volley.

25 +: Both of the above effects are suffered.

Hangar Criticals

1 -1 2 :

No critical hit. Note, however, that any damage to this system also reduces the hangar's ability to hold fighters and shuttles by 1 per box. This is not a critical hit; it is an inherent feature of this system.

13 -18: Docking links damaged. All hangar bay activities (fighter reloading, pilot replacement, etc.) take twice as long as usual.

19 -24: Partial bay collapse. The bay's launch/recovery rate is cut in half (drop any fraction). A second critical of this type would reduce the launch/recovery rate to 1 /6 of its original value. A third critical of this type destroys the bay entirely.

25 +: Both of the above effects are suffered.

External Fighter Rail Criticals

Structure blocks with fighter rails (see the Hangar Operations chapter) are subject to a unique critical hit roll. If the structure takes damage during a turn, roll 1d 20 as with any other critical, but do not add any modifiers (including those from weapons which normally provide their own bonuses).

On a natural roll of 16 -20, one entire rail is destroyed! The owning player is free to choose which rail is destroyed by this critical. Naturally, any fighters present on a destroyed rail will also be destroyed, so the player will almost certainly select the one with the fewest fighters (if any).

Jump Drive Criticals

There are no critical hits for this system. However, if the jump drive is not completely intact, there is a percentage chance (equal to the percentage of destroyed boxes versus total boxes, dropping fractions) that the jump engine will explode— totally destroying the ship— when a jump point is opened or held open on a future turn. For example, a ship with a 40 -box jump engine which had 10 boxes destroyed would have a 25% chance of being destroyed if it opened a jump point. Even if it made this roll, it would need to roll again every turn it held the vortex open.

Complete rules for jump point operations are found later in this book.

Vree Weapon Turret Criticals

If a weapon or system on a Vree turret is hit, roll oned 20 (in addition to the normal weapon critical hit roll, but with no modifiers for damage). On a roll of 17 -20, the turret is restricted to the 60 Y arc in front of the ship for the remainder of the scenario. This affects weapons, shuttle launch, and any other directional rules associated with systems on that turret. It would not, however, restrict systems that normally don 'thave directional requirements. For example, a sensor array on a turret would not find its coverage area reduced.

Command & Control (C&C] Criticals

This system contains the command & control systems for the ship. Damage to this system, even slight damage, can severely disrupt ship operations.

1 -8: Sensors disrupted. EW levels may not be altered on the next turn (they must remain the same as they were during the turn the critical was caused). If the EW level must be reduced because of sensor damage, the player is free to choose where he will subtract these points. If some of the EW was allocated offensively against a target no longer in play, those points can be reallocated, but to defensive mode only. This problem is cleared up after the next turn is over.

9 -11: Communications disrupted. The ship suffers a -1 penalty to initiative for the rest of the scenario.

12-14: Fire control computers scrambled. All weapons suffer a -1 penalty to hit for the remainder of the scenario.

15 -17: Sensor controls damaged. The ship loses 2 EW points for the remainder of the scenario and may use no C&C Recovery (Optional)

Under this rule, ships which lose their last C&C system are not out of the battle, but transfer control to an auxiliary command post elsewhere in the primary section. This allows a ship without a C&C to continue fighting, albeit at tremendous penalties.

On the turn after the C&C is destroyed, the ship suffers the effects of the worst C&C critical hit (the ship cannot maneuver or fire weapons). In addition, it also receive the penalties listed for the first five critical hits on the C&C list. Thereafter, the ship can maneuver and fire under the restrictions of these penalties.

If the ship takes another C&C hit, the damage falls through to structure (as would any hit which struck a destroyed system), but regardless of armor or whether any damage is actually scored on the structure block, the auxiliary command post is destroyed automatically. The ship again suffers the effects noted in the previous paragraph until another auxiliary post can be set up, and any initiative, sensor, and other penalties are cumulative (each time, lower ranking officers rally to command the ship, and these penalties reflect their lower skills and experience). Theoretically, this could happen multiple times in a scenario, with no limit to the number of occurrences other than the amount of structure left on the ship.

affect the more than half of its EW offensively for the rest of the game. If this critical is received again, only the -2 EW penalty is cumulative.

18 -20: Major communications disruption. The ship suffers a

-4 penalty to initiative on the next turn, and a -2 penalty for the rest of the scenario thereafter.

21 -23: Communications severely scrambled. Combine the effects of the two previous criticals.

24 +: Severe power loss. The ship cannot maneuver, use sensors, or fire weapons on the next turn, and suffers the effects of hits 1214, 15 -17, and 18 -20 above.

If the ship has more than one

C & C system a board (additional ones representing backup systems), the criticals caused to each of them are recorded separately. The player then designates (at the same time EW is allocated) which one of them is being used to command the ship on any given turn. Critical hits suffered by the inactive C & C don 't ship at all. Obviously, a ship with a backup C & C system has a significant advantage in this situation.

If a llC & C systems on the ship are destroyed, the penalties of critical hit # 24 + above (the ship can't maneuver, use sensors, or fire weapons) are automatic and permanent!

Antimatter Weapon Criticals

Weapons in the "antimatter" category suffer their own variety of critical hits. Use this chart instead of the "general" weapons crits listed previously. Multiple applications of the same criticals have no effect.

1-13: No critical hit.

14 -18: Range reduced. Add + 3 to all range calulations.

19 -24: Damage reduced. Reduce the "X" in any formula by 2. However, X may not drop below zero.

25 +: Both of the above effects are suffered.

Critical Hits far Fighters (Optional)

Fighters in the flight level system don 't suffer in dividual critical hits, because the fighters among the flight must be considered essentially identical in order to make the system work. However, sometimes damage that affects several fighters in the flight can slow the whole flight down or reduce its combat abilities.

Whenever at least one fighter in a flight takes damage during the turn, a critical hit should be rolled for the entire flight. Add + 1 to the roll for each different fighter beyond the first that suffered damage on the turn (so a flight which had four fighters damaged during the turn would suffer a critical roll with a + 3 modifier). Individual shuttles should also make a roll, but without any modifiers. Note that many of the criticals below will not apply to shuttles, and should be treated as "no critical hit" (don't re -roll in such cases).

Note: These rules will slow down play, so don 't use them in very large battles.

The critical hits available are:

1-11: No critical hit.

12 -14: Special item critical. If the flight has any non-standard item (i.e., not something that normal fighters use), it is destroyed by this critical hit. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Minbari Jammers: When these are destroyed, the entire flight no longer benefits.

Shields: Fighters with shields, such as certain Abbai and Vorlon units, lose this protection.

Stealth: The stealth feature, regarless of how it is provided, is lost.

Navigators: The flight loses the navigator's abilities. This could be because the navigators are disabled or killed or because their delicate equipment is damaged. In a campaign, roll 1d20 with the same modifiers used by the original critical roll. On a 16-19, one navigator was killed and must be replaced. On a 20 or greater, 1 d6 navigators were killed.

Special Equipment/Abilities: If the flight purchased optional equipment as described later in this book, such as improved thrust or offensive ratings (but not skilled pilots or other officers), this is lost. In a campaign, these are repaired at the same time as the damaged fighters and don 't need to be replaced.

Note that if a fighter possesses more than one item on the above list (or a similar item that falls into this category but isn't listed above), only one such item is destroyed for each critical of this type. The owning player is free to choose which item is lost.

15 -16: Fire control critical. The offensive bonus of the flight is reduced by 1, to a minimum value of zero.

17 -18: Engine critical. The thrust rating of the flight is reduced by 2, to a minimum value of 1.

19: Power Plant critical. The recharge time of all weapons in the flight is increased by 1 turn. Thus, a flight armed with weapons that can fire every turn would be reduced to firing them only once every other turn. If such weapons fired on the turn the critical was suffered, they would not be able to fire next turn. On the other hand, if they didn 't fire on the current turn, they could consider that their recharge time and could fire on the following turn (if desired). Note that the launch rate of missiles is not affected by this critical, as they require no power and aren't hooked into the power grid at all.

20 -21: Pilot injured. The pilot of one of the damaged fighters (roll randomly, if more than one damaged fighter exists) suffers an injury due to battle damage. In order to protect the pilot, the flight must slowdown to compensate, and suffers the effect of items 15 -16 and 17 -18 above until the fighter is destroyed or drops out.

22 or greater:

Pilot killed. The pilot of one of the damaged fighters (roll randomly, if more than one damaged fighters exist) dies as a result of injuries suffered during the turn. The selected fighter automatically drops out. It can be recovered only by the side which holds the field of battle at the end of the turn. Alternately, you can place a drifting fighter counter (it maintains the current heading and speed) on the board and track its motion, so that it could be captured during the battle (or destroyed by a friendly unit hoping to keep it from being captured).

Weapon Technologies

In Babylon 5 Wars, weapons come in a variety of types, many of which have special abilities and considerations, as listed later in this chapter. The category a weapon falls under will be listed in its description and on the weapon's datacard.

Weapon Categories

In brief, the types of weapons found in the game areas follows:

Particle: The most common class, they are considered average in almost all respects. Their simplicity makes them ideal for use as short and medium range weapons by many races, including the EarthAlliance, Centauri Republic, and Narn Regime. The Drazi, however, are considered the masters of this technology.

Laser: Among the more powerful weapon classes, lasers are distinguished by their near-instantaneous fire-to impact time, making them almost impossible to intercept. However, their slow charging time and the pinpoint fire controls required prevent their use as defensive weapons. Many races use lasers, but the Hyach (a League member race) specialize in this category.

Plasma: One of the oldest technologies, plasma guns drop off in damage over distance, making them useful only in short-ranged circumstances. Their incredible heat allows them to ignore half a target's armor values, however, and they can be quite powerful when used properly. The Pak'm a'ra use plasma weapons almost exclusively, while a number of other races also continue to use plasma as a secondary weapon type.

Molecular:

These advanced weapons operate by taking matter a part at the molecular level. While they have no specific special rules, they tend to be more powerful and longer-ranged than similar devices of a like size used by less advanced races. The Shadows operate the most powerful molecular guns, while the Minbari also use this technology.

Electromagnetic:

This type of weapon produces a significant electrical discharge, useful either to cause damage or to cause special effects against the target. These could include extra criticals, bonuses on critical rolls, deactivation of systems, and the like, as defined in the weapon's specific rules. The Vorlons are the masters of EM weaponry, and the Ipsha (another League race) are also known to uses such devices in large numbers.

Matter: These relatively large guns fire physical objects (such as rocks, bullets, pellets, and the like) at the target at high speeds. The resulting impact bypasses all armor and tears systems a part, but rarely penetrates beyond the initial strike, and so does not cause overkill. A number of races use such technology, but the difficulty of supplying matter guns with ammunition creates significant logistical troubles. The Belt Alliance, a mining organization, is known to specialize in matter weaponry.

Gravitic: These advanced devices affect gravity, usually by manipulating gravitons themselves. This can be used to score damage as well as to cause special effects such as involutarily moving or turning the target. In addition, grav tech can be employed defensively in the form of shields. Because of the special construction requirements involved, few races dabble in gravitic weapons, but instead are forced to specialize in it. The Brakiri are one such race.

Antimatter:

This dangerous technology is powerful, operating as it does on the catastrophic combining of matter and antimatter. In general, the more antimatter delivered to the target, the more damage is scored, so the quality of a hit actually affects the damage scored. Despite this advantage, few races want anything to do with this technology, and those that do must research special safety measures to protect themselves from accidents. The Vree are the most well-known users of such weapons.

Ionic: This low-tech category is similar to particle weaponry, but adds the side effect of radiation into the mix.

Since this is also dangerous to the user, few races operate ionic weapons, despite the fact that they are among the fastest-firing devices available. The Cascor (a League race whose people are naturally resistant to radiation) are the most well-known users of ionic weaponry.

Ballistic: This weapon class includes all self-propelled devices that launch from an origin point, track their target, and impact against it after a significant period of time. In some cases these target a unit, while other times it is a location (where it typically explodes or produces another sort of ranged effect). Examples of the ballistic class include missiles and torpedoes of various types. The primary advantage of such weapons is the lack of a range penalty (since they lock onto and "seek" their target), but they are so slow they can be intercepted with no degradation. The Earth Alliance is one of the foremost users of ballistic weapons (particularly missiles), while a number of other races also have ballistic devices in their arsenal.

Particle Weapons

Particle Weapon Summary

Tech Level: Low

These are one of the most basic and common weapon types.

Range: Short-Medium

Particle guns are relatively old technology, and are used by many

Firing Rate: Average-High of the races, but usually as lighter, support weapons or for anti Damage: Average fighter work. Examples of particle beams include the light, stanInterceptable: Yes dard, and heavy particle cannons, along with the more sophistiSpecial Rules: None cated twin array used as a primary defense by the Centauri, as Notes: Typically score standard well as the EarthForce interceptor.

mode damage

In general, particle weapons have no special damage procedures or abilities. However, they often cause damage in standard mode, meaning they can do a significant blow to a single system on a hit.

Pulse Cannons

Modes: Pulse (Standard)

Primary Users: EarthAlliance, Nam

Pulse cannons are an advanced form of pulse weapon developed in 2240 after experimentation with Dilgar pulsar technology. The resulting weapons spread quickly through known space and may have been developed simultaneously by several races. Pulse cannons come in three basic sizes, as listed below.

The heavy pulse cannon, or H PC, launches a series of six rapid bursts each time it fires. When it hits, a number of these pulses impact the target, doing a considerable amount of damage to several systems. It has a shorter range than the heavy laser, but the HPC has the potential to score incredible amounts of damage on a good hit.

The medium pulse cannon, usually called simply the pulse cannon or MPC, is a medium -strength version of the typical pulse gun. It is essentially a scaled-down version of the HPC, scoring less damage but firing more rapidly. It has a maximum yield of 6 pulses.

The light pulse cannon, or LPC, is the weakest of the pulse weapons, used normally for an anti-fighter role. Like the medium and heavy pulse cannons, it fires a series of short bursts towards the target, to a maximum of 6 hits.

Though its damage yield is very low, its ability to fire rapidly makes it a capable defensive gun.

Particle Cannon

Modes: Raking

Primary Users: Drazi, Raiders

This weapon is an enlarged and enhanced version of the standard particle beam found on many civilian and EarthForce ships, but the beam is more powerful and lasts longer, resulting in a raking effect (unusual among particle weaponry). It is a common weapon found on many ships operated by the Drazi, who are believed to be the original inventors of this technology. Its ease of construction has also caused it to appear on many Raider ships.

Particle Blaster

A/loc/es:Standard

Primary User: Drazi

The particle blaster is a common Drazi heavy weapon, and is often referred to simply as the blaster.

Instead of a steady stream of charged particles which rake a target, the blaster concentrates its power at a single point. The result is a lower chance to hit but a greater amount of damage on a successful shot.

Particle Repeater

Modes: Standard

Primary User: Drazi

This is a rapid -fire particle beam mounted on a swiveling turret. The basic shot it fires is similar to a slightly enhanced standard particle beam, which would not make this weapon particularly useful except for its "repeater" ability.

The particle repeater is outfitted with a specialized targeting system, and if it successfully hits a unit, it can fire two or more shots in a single turn. In order for this to function, the firing ship must have a normal lock-on to the target. Then, if the first shot hits, the repeater can roll again (at a -1 penalty) for a second hit. If this shot hits, it can fire a third time, this time at a -3 penalty. It can continue to fire, increasing the to -hit penalty by -2 for each successive shot (i.e., -5, -7, and so on), for as long as it hits and for as long as it has energy (see below).

Each shot is treated as a separate volley. As soon as it misses once, all remaining shots automatically miss— they still fire, however, so the number of actual shots taken must be announced.

In order to fire more than one shot, the weapon must have been armed with additional power at the start of the turn. The amount used (or even the fact that it is armed with more than the basic shot) need not be announced until the weapon is fired. Each shot beyond the first requires 1 point of energy, usually acquired by shutting down other systems on the ship. For example, if the weapon is to fire 3 shots, it must have been given 2 extra points of energy (remember, the first shot is already taken care of). In practice, applying more than a couple of points of energy to one of these weapons is not very efficient unless you're very sure you 'll have a high chance to hit.

If fired in defensive mode, the particle repeater must be used against a single incoming shot, and its intercept rating is improved by 1 for each extra point of power in the weapon. Thus, if 5 points were added to the repeater, its intercept rating is increased from the basic -1 to -6. In other words, the repeater has an intercept rating of -1 for each shot it takes— with no degradation!

For every 2 shots (or fraction thereof) after the first two fired by the repeater (including defensive mode), the weapon requires a " cooldown time " of 1 turn. During a cooldown turn, the weapon must be deactivated, and its power can be used elsewhere.

Thus, since particle repeaters have a basic recharge time of 1 turn, if it fires just 1 or 2 shots, it can (if powered) fire on the very next turn. However, 3 or 4 shots require 1 turn of cooling before it can be used again. 5 or 6 shots increase the cooldown period to 2 turns, and so on. Note that this is based on the number of shots fired, not the number of hits!

If the repeater attempts 10 shots, but the first one misses (thereby spoiling the rest), the cooling period is still 4 turns!

Each successive shot must be fired at the same target; it cannot switch targets unless enhanced by a special gunsight system (see

Repeater Gunsight

This enhancement to the particle repeater allows it to fire its shots at different targets. Each shot must stiil be at a target in the same hex, or at most one hex away, from the original target (and still in arc of the weapon, of course). If the target is a fighter in a flight, successive shots can be at different fighters in the flight or any other nearby shuttle or flight within 1 hex. If fired at the same flight, the defender still chooses which fighter to accept the damage. The target of each shot is selected before each roll to-hit.

Repeater gun sights cost 12 points (per repeater).

They are destroyed if the particle repeater itself takes even a single point of damage (after armor). This is not a critical hit; it is an automatic and basic disadvantage of this enhancement.

The repeater gunsight does not affect the defensive mode function of the weapon. It must still fire solely at a single incoming shot.

the info box). If fired at a shuttle or fighter, successive shots must be on the same unit (selected by the defender after the first shot hits), as the weapon is not sophisticated enough to switch targets while repeating.

Particle Cutter

Modes: Sustained only (resolve damage as Raking)

PrimaryUser:Drazi

The Drazi designed this as a particle beam capable of firing in sustained mode, a difficult prospect considering the tendency of particle guns to overheat quickly. It is one of their most powerful weapons, but is difficult to employ properly. Because of this, it is rarely seen in quantity, normally appearing only once on any warship.

The Drazi built this weapon with sustained mode in mind, and thus it has no need of the extra power requirement most sustained mode weapons use. It also may begin a scenario armed (if not otherwise specified by scenario rules), something not normally permitted for sustained-mode weapons. However, it must obey all the other rules and restrictions of sustained mode.

Solar Cannon

Modes: Standard

Primary User: Drazi

This unusual weapon is a relatively new addition to the Drazi arsenal. It is a bright, blinding weapon which delivers a tremendous amount of heat to the target. This causes armor to melta way and damage to be done both to the system struck by the beam and the structure which houses it.

If a ship is hit, roll for location and damage normally. The damage caused is first reduced by armor and shields in the usual way, but the armor value is then reduced by 2 points for the rest of the scenario (minimum value zero), beginning at the end of the current turn (after all weapons fire has been resolved). Damage scored is marked first against the system struck, and then an equal amount on the facing structure (ignoring, and not affecting, that structure 'sar mor). This added damage represents the "melting" effect of the weapon. Note, how ever, that damage from a solar cannon does not "overkill" into any other Solar Cannon Damage Examples Example #1: A solar cannon strikes a heavy laser with 3 points of armor. The facing structure has 5 armor. The solar cannon rolls 12 damage, which is reduced by 3 because of the laser’s armor, to a total of 9. The laser has only 8 points of damage, and so is destroyed, but the 1 remaining point does not cause overkill. 9 points are also scored on the structure because of the melting effect, but these are not reduced at all by the structure’s armor (and that armor value is not lowered). Note that the 3 armor of the heavy laser would also be reduced to 1, but this is moot since that the laser has been destroyed. The armor on the structure block is unaffected.

Example #2: A solar cannon hits a ship’s forward structure for 14 damage. The structure block has an armor rating of 6 (which is reduced by 2 to a new value of 4), lowering the volley to 8 damage. 16 boxes are marked destroyed on the structure.

system. Excess damage is lost (it bleeds off into space).

If a solar cannon's initial shot hits structure, first reduce the damage for armor and /or shields and lower the armor rating as noted above, then mark the resulting damage against the structure block twice (the first time for the basic damage, and the second for the "melting " effect). The armor value is only reduced one time, not twice.

If a solar cannon hits a fighter, there is no "melting " effect, but normal damage is still scored and the armor facing the incoming shot is still reduced.

Standard Particle Beam

A/lodes: Standard

Primary Users: Earth Alliance, Drazi, Raiders

The standard particle beam (often referred to as the SPB) is EarthForce's primary light weapon and is also found on a number of other ships from many races. It is similar to an older device called the light particle beam, which is rarely seen today.

Intended for use against fighters, the SPB is also effective against ships due to its standard-mode damage and decent fire controls. Its range is relatively short, meaning that heavier shipboard weapons will engage before these are in effective range. Some captains prefer to use these beams for interception duties, though they are not very effective in this role.

The standard particle beam is more damaging than the Centauri twin array, but gets only one shot per turn.

Particle Concentrator

Modes: Raking

Primary User: Gaim

The Gaim developed this weapon as a means to take advantage of their penchant for long range fire. A particle concentrator is basically a particle cannon with a supporting option, allowing it to be combined with one or more particle cannons from other Gaim ships.

A particle concentrator can be fired individually at a target (in which case it works exactly like a particle cannon) or can combine with one or more particle concentrators fired by the same ship or nearby ships. (To combine with a nearby ship's fire, that ship can be no more than one hex away, and must be firing at tbfe same side of the target. All ships combining fire must be within 1 hex of each other.)

Particle Concentrator Example

Three Gaim Moas Gunships, all within 1 hex of each other, fire their particle concentrators at a Narn G’Quan. One Moas is 6 hexes away and has 4 points of offensive EW, the second is 6 hexes away and has 7 points of offensive EW, and the third is 5 hexes away and has 1 offensive EW. The average of all three ships’ EW is 4 points, giving a +4 to hit, and the closest ship is 5 hexes away, yielding a range penalty of -3 (the particle concentrator has a range penalty of -1 per 2 hexes). Since there are three concentrators involved, they have a further bonus of +4 to hit, bringing the adjusted total (adding in all the factors above) to +5. If it hits, the combined shot does an extra 2d 10 above its base damage. Note that it fires only one time, not three times!

If combined, all of these "linked " weapons fire as one, rolling to hit one time, and producing just one damage roll (not one roll for each weapon).

To determine the chance to hit, use the distance from the closest ship to the target to find the range penalty (doubling the penalty if any of the ships does not have a lock-on to the target), and use an average of the offensive EW values of all ships involved (round fractions of 0.5 or more up). The chance to hit is improved by + 2 for each additional weapon (beyond the first) involved in the joint shot (to a maximum of + 10), and the damage roll is similarly increased by 1 d10 to a maximum possible bonus of 5 d l0. If a hit is scored, all damage is rolled as a single raking shot. (While at first this may seem to be less than efficient, note that a large quantity of particle concentrators firing at long ranges can score hits easily, and the damage caused will be tremendous.)

Twin Array

Modes: Standard

Primary Users: Centauri, Nam, Drazi

The twin particle array (usually just called the twin array) is actually two light particle beams housed together. Either or both of these guns may fire in any turn, and each makes its to -hit and damage location roll separately. The twin array's primary duty is defense against incoming fighters, or in defensive mode against heavy weapons fire, as the twin array is a short-ranged weapon.

The twin array can fire either or both of its two weapons defensively. If it intercepts with one shot, it can fire the other shot offensively (if desired). If both shots fire against the same incoming shot, they suffer intercept degradation just like any other weapons would do in the same situation.

When rolling for critical hits against a twin array, use the normal weapon chart except that any result of 20 or greater results in a special critical. In this case, one of the two guns of the twin array is destroyed, and only the remaining one is available thereafter. (Note: Other critical hits scored on the twin array turret affect both of its guns equally.) If this critical is scored twice on the same twin array, it is considered completely destroyed.

Quad Array

A/loc/es:Standard

Primary User: Abbai

This is a quartet of particle beams in a single, large turret. It is similar to (and, in fact, based on) the Centauri twin array, but has some restrictions and disadvantages. It was first developed by the Abbai after twin arrays were first seen in action.

The quad array can fire in either offensive or defensive mode, but not both in the same turn.

If fired offensively, all shots must be against the same target or targets in the same hex (such as a flight of fighters). If fired defensively, each of its four defensive shots must engage incoming fire from the same opposing unit (or units in the same hex, such as a fighter flight). The individual shots do not have to defend against the same volley, however (and if they do defend against the same volley, they suffer the usual intercept degradation).

Quad arrays also have a tendency to overheat if fired rapidly (which is why they were never adopted by the Centauri, who were not influenced by the desperation of the Dilgar War). If three or more shots are fired from the turret in a turn, that turret may not safely fire in the following turn at all (it is "cooling down"). If it elects to take the risk and fire anyway, roll for a critical hit against the turret. Modifiers: If only 3 shots were fired in the previous turn: -2; + 2 for every shot fired on the current (overheat) turn; plus the usual modifiers for damage the weapon has suffered.

When rolling for critical hits against a quad array, use the normal weapon chart except that any result of 20 or greater results in a special critical. In this case, one of the four guns of the array is completely destroyed, while the others are unaffected. Other critical hits scored on the turret affect all of its guns equally.

Quad Particle Array

Modes: Standard

Primary User: EarthAlliance

This huge weapon was designed as Earth's answer to the Abbai quad array, for which they earned a huge measure of respect during the Dilgar War. The quad particle array, or Q P A, is essentially four standard particle beams on a single turret, allowing them to be placed in a smaller external hardpoint than four SPBs would have used. Unfortunately, the power linkages and other internal problems restricted its use to bases and other huge units only.

Each beam on the QPA can fire independently of the others, and can be used in either offensive or defensive mode. If used defensively, the individual guns use intercept degradation like any other This weapon uses the same special critical hit rule as the quad array (above).

Heavy Array

Modes: Standard

Primary User: Centauri

This is a recent advancement in technology which began to appear on the Demos-class warship just after the Narn -Centauri War. Operating along the lines of the twin array, the heavy array features more powerful particle beams in a similar, but larger, housing. The heavy array fires just as quickly as the twin array, but has a longer range and greater damage yield. All other special rules (including the special critical hit) are the same as with the twin array.

The heavy array is a rare weapon and cannot simply replace any twin array on a ship.

Significant internal modifications are required on any variant, and its lack of appearance on new construction hulls may indicate difficulties in design not represented on the control sheet. It's also possible Centauri politics play a role, as the device was created by a House now out of favor in the Cent a rum.

Interceptor

A/loc/es: Standard

Primary Users: Earth Alliance, BeltAlliance

The EarthAlliance is one of the few powers to employ weapons dedicated specifically to an interception role. These weapons are highly effective at deflecting some or all of an incoming shot, as reflected by their high intercept rating. There are three types seen to date, the original Prototype version with a defense rating of -2, the improved Mark I, which has a rating of -3, and the newer Mark I I, with an advanced defense rating of -4. All interceptors on a given ship will be of the same type.

In addition to their normal use as defensive weapons, interceptors also generate an energy web (similar to shields) which surrounds the ship. This web reduces the ship's defensive rating in all directions covered by the arcs of active (and undestroyed) interceptors. Thus, any ship equipped with interceptors will have two defense ratings for each direction, as shown in the example here. The first of these is in force only if there are no active interceptors which bear on the incoming fire. If, on the other hand, there is at least one interceptor facing the approaching shot, the second rating (in parenthesis) is used instead. Note that the second, interceptor-enhanced defense rating affects all weapons, even lasers!

Note: This does NOT mean that an interceptor can fire defensively against lasers. The energy web is a passive defense, like a weaker variety of shield, whereas defensive fire is an active defense Interceptors can be set to offensive mode , in which they are employed strictly as weapons to shoot at shuttles or fighters (in fact, they are not permitted to fire at anything larger than fighters or shuttles, nor can they be used for defensive fire while in this mode). This is a job at which interceptors excel, as they rarely miss a fighter at close range, as reflected by a high fire control rating against fighters and shuttles (although the range penalty is quite severe).Even if interceptors are used in offensive mode, the ship is still protected by the energy web, as described previously.

Changing to offensive mode (or back to defensive mode) requires one full turn, and each interceptor can make this change independently. While an interceptor is changing modes, it must be deactivated. Obviously, while in this state, it cannot contribute to the ship's energy web, though many Earth vessels provide overlapping coverage for their interceptors, allowing some to change modes without affecting the web's overall defense levels.

At the start of a scenario, a player may choose the mode (offensive or defensive) for each interceptor on his ship and may keep it a secret until they are used. Note, however, that the strength of a ship's energy web can be detected at all times. If any of the interceptors are ever deactivated for any reason, this must be announced (although the mode they change to — if they indeed change— can be kept secret until they are used again).

Note that the energy web provided by the interceptor is EarthAlliance proprietary technology and is used only by theE A. Other races or organizations (such as the Belt Alliance) that use interceptors do so without the benefit of the energy web. The interceptor otherwise operates normally. If a race's interceptors have this limitation, it will be so noted in their specific rules.

Heavy Interceptor Battery

Modes: Standard

Primary User: EarthAlliance

A larger interceptor often seen on the larger Earth bases (such as the Orion Starbase), this is enhanced with a greater ability to shoot down fighters. While its basic intercept rating and energy web protection are not increased, its fire control and damage against fighters are greatly improved.

In addition, the heavy battery does not require a turn's delay while changing from offensive to defensive mode or back again. The player may switch them at will at the start of the turn, during the Power Allocation Step of the Combat Sequence.

Guardian Array

Modes: Standard

Primary User: Centauri

The guardian array is a Centauri device similar to the EarthForce interceptor, but has the added ability to defend against shots fired at friendly ships. It does not, however, possess the interceptor's energy web, so it does not automatically lower the defense rating of the ship it is mounted on. Like the interceptor, the guardian array possesses both an offensive and defensive mode and switches between them using the same rules as the EarthAlliance weapon.

To intercept fire targeted at nearby friendly ships, the following conditions must be met. First, the defending ship must be between the firing vessel and its target. Second, the guardian array must be facing the firing ship, available to fire, and allocated for defensive use on that turn. Finally, the guardian array must not be in offensive mode.

To qualify as being between the firing ship and the target, the guardian vessel must be within the same damage location arc that is being damaged on the target unit. The arcs in question are forward, port, starboard, or aft, regardless of the unit's size, except for bases (which have their sections' arcs clearly defined on the control sheet). For example, if the target is being hit through the forward area, the guardianship must also be within the forward arc.

In addition to this, the guarding ship must be closer to the firing ship than the target. If the defender is in the hex of the firing ship or the target ship, determine its relative position using the same-hex positioning procedures (i.e., take the last one to move back to its previous location and determine facings from the resulting position). It is possible for these conditions to be met if all three units are in the same hex, but only if they all entered the hex in a precise order.

Scattergun

/'/lodes: Standard

Primary Users: Gaim, Markab

The scattergun is a piece of Markab technology which the Gaim procured using careful "acquisition" operations. After the Markab race perished in the Drafa plague, many of their ships were collected by Gaim salvage operations (or purchased on the black market), and Gaim scientists were able to successfully reverse-engineer samples of the scattergun well enough to reproduce and repair it.

The scattergun is apulsed particle weapon which fires a series of small blasts at nearby targets. When fired offensively, it gets 1d6 shots, all of which can be at different units (unlike many pulse weapons, the player makes the volley-count roll before choosing targets). Each such shot is treated entirely separately, and causes its damage in standard mode. Some or all of the shots could be at the same target, if desired.

If fired defensively, each shot of a given scattergun gets its full intercept rating, though only one shot can defend against any single incoming weapon. If two or more different scatter guns are employed against the same shot, each one after the first would suffer the usual degradation in effectiveness.

A scattergun may fire in either offensive or defensive mode during any turn. It may not fire some of its shots offensively and some defensively. Markab ships possessed an enhancement which allowed this possibility, but the Gaim were not able to reproduce it (this enhancement will appear in a future supplement).

Scatter guns are not particularly long -ranged, but they have an excellent firing rate, and area good weapon to use against fighters.

Pulsar Mine

Modes: Standard

Primary User: Nam

Pulsar mines are short-ranged weapons designed to keep an area of space clear of enemy fighters. They are particularly effective when employed by several units in a chain or other formation, as they can produce a wide zone within which all fighters are subject to automatic attack.

Pulsar mines fire outside the normal combat sequence, doing so during the Movement Step, not the Weapons Fire Step. They fire whenever a fighter or shuttle is located within 2 hexes of the ship (even if that fighter is not finished with its movement). As soon as this condition exists, you should interrupt the fighter or shuttle's movement and resolve the pulsar mine attack immediately. (Note: Do NOT do this when the ship itself moves! It functions only when fighters or shuttles are in motion.)

An obvious tactic is to fly your pulsar mine ship, such a saG 'K a rith, into the same hex as a flight of fighters— as soon as those fighters take their turn in the movement sequence, they'll be targeted and fired upon. In this case, the shot would occur after they made their first hex of movement (if they don 't move, they will still be fired upon).

To resolve the attack, determine the chance to hit based on the defense rating of the target and the fire control bonus of the weapon. All EW, jinking, jammer, and range bonuses/penalties are ignored. If the target is hit,it suffers the listed damage. If not, there is no effect. Regardless of the result, the fighter or shuttle cannot be attacked by that same pulsar mine in the same turn, even if it moves out of range and back again, or moves closer to the target ship.

If a flight of fighters is hit, use the Flight Level Combat Chart on the fighter control sheet to determine how many fighters are actually damaged. For example, if an 11 is needed to hit a flight of fighters and the attacker rolls a 12, one-third of the fighters (2 of them) take damage. Round any fractions of 0.5 or more up.

A given pulsar mine can engage no more than 18 targets in a given turn. If a flight of fighters enters the 2-hex "zone of death" and not enough shots are available to engage them all, the flight's owner can select which units take the shots, but must do so before the attack rolls are actually made. Note that the weapon's owner does not make this choice— in fact, short of shutting the weapon off, he cannot order his pulsar mine system not to fire at a given enemy target. The pulsar mine will not, however, fire at friendly targets (even if ordered to do so) due to the limitations of its computer-controlled firing system.

Note that due to the Combat Sequence, fighters cannot skin dance in order to avoid pulsar mine fire. They cannot dance at speed zero, so at some point in the turn, they must move out of the larger unit's hex and then return. When that movement comes, the pulsar mine will shoot at them automatically.

Particle Impeder

Modes: Standard

Primary User: Abbai

The particle impeder is similar to the interceptor, but has no offensive capability or "energy web." Instead, it functions wholly in a defensive role. It operates by throwing a kind of metallic chaff into space, blocking or deflecting an incoming shot. Particle impeders are effective in blocking laser weapons, and in fact were created specifically to defend against Centauri battle lasers.

The particle impeder is fired defensively at a single incoming shot just as any other defensive weapon would be.

However, to use the system to its fullest extent, you may specifically allocate some of your electronic warfare points to it. To do this, write "Impeder" (and the number of the specific impeder system) in the Targeting Data space on your Ship Control Sheet. (For example, if you were to apply 4 EW points to a forward -bearing impeder, it might appear as:

"Impeder# 1: 4 " on your sheet.) Any EW applied to an impeder is treated as defensive EW versus any weapons fire— even shots from fighters— coming into that impeder's arc later in the turn (but ONLY through that arc). This is known as the impeder's passive benefit In addition, any impeder gains a bonus equal to the EW amount applied to it when firing defensively at an incoming shot! This bonus is in addition to the impeder's normal intercept rating, and is referred to as the active benefit. Thus, if you apply 4 EW to an impeder with a -3 intercept rating, it would then have a -7 rating (for that turn only, of course) against anyONE incoming shot. Note that both the active and Particle Impeder Example An Abbai ship puts 6 EW in a rear-facing particle impeder, producing a passive benefit of 6 in that arc. A Centauri ship, unable to maneuver for a better shot, fires a battle laser through the rear arc later in the turn. The Abbai ship’s rear defensive rating is a 16, and the impeder’s passive benefit further reduces this to a 10. The battle laser has a total -2 range penalty, but the Centauri player has locked-onto the Abbai with 3 points of offensive EW, bringing the chance to hit up to 11. However, the Abbai player chooses to defensively fire his impeder at the battle laser, bringing the active benefit into play. The defense rating of the impeder is a base of -3, with a further-6 because of the active benefit. The Battle Laser can only hit if it rolls a 1 or a 2!

passive benefits are cumulative!

Only one impeder's passive benefit can affect an incoming shot. If two or more impeders overlap, the defender chooses which impeder he will employ. If he opts to use an active benefit, the same impeder must also be used for the passive benefit (i.e., he cannot use one impeder's passive and another's active benefit against the same incoming shot).

Critical Hits:

If a particle impeder suffers damage, roll the usuald 20. If a 17 or greater is rolled, the impeder is partially disabled. Its intercept rating is reduced by 1 and its EW benefit is limited to half (round fractions up) of any electronic warfare put into it.

Uni-Pulse Cannon

A/lodes: Standard

Primary User: Earth Alliance

The uni-pulse cannon is a fighter-mounted weapon which appears on Starfuries of various types, included the Aurora found in this product. Although it is a pulse weapon, it fires only one shot.

This is a pulse-class weapon which does damage in standard mode.

Gatling Pulse

Cannon

Moc/es: Pulse (see below)

Primar/User: Earth Alliance

Also known as the gatling cannon or gatling gun, this is a new development in fighter armament, and appears only on Thunderbolts. It fires a burst of pulses in a narrow field, all of them at a single target. Though technically a pulse weapon, it makes only a single to -hit and damage roll, and does not use individual pulses.

For a fighter weapon, it is particularly powerful— it can easily destroy any fighter it hits, and score significant damage against ships.

Light Particle Gun

Modes: Standard

Primary Users: Centauri, Gaim

This is a very small particle weapon operated by Centauri intercept-class fighters. While an efficient weapon well suited for the small, speedy fighters the Centauri use, it does not cause very much damage when it hits.

Paired Particle Gun

Modes: Standard

Primary User: Nam

This weapon is normally operated only on heavy fighters, such as the Frazi. While similar to the light particle guns operated by the Centauri, the paired gun (also called the medium particle gun ) is capable of scoring far more damage with each of its shots. However, it uses up more space, making it unsuitable for use on anything smaller than a heavy fighter.

Light Particle Blaster

Modes: Standard

Primary User: Drazi

A variant of the particle blaster optimized for use on Star Snakes, this is a powerful gun that is greatly feared. It is also extremely expensive and dangerous to use, possibly contributing to the low survival rate of Drazi fighter pilots.

Light Particle Beam

Modes: Standard

Primary User: Gaim

This weapon is actually the results of modifications made to standard particle beams to adapt them to fighter based use. It is among the most average of all fighter guns.

Ultralight Particle Beam

Modes: Standard

Primary User: Abbaii, Raiders

This weak fighter-mounted weapon is a low -tech device well suited for cheap fighters and races not normally inclined towards warfare. Its primary advantages are its low cost and maintain ability. Among fighter weapons it is one of the least powerful, however.

Laser Weapons

Lasers are also older technology, but whereas particle beams strike in a single blast, lasers tend to linger on a target, meaning they almost always do damage in raking mode. Examples of lasers include light, medium, and heavy laser cannons.

Because lasers are coherent light, they strike a target effectively instantaneously, meaning they can't be blocked by most kinds of defensive fire. On the other hand, they are incapable of themselves firing defensively. This is both an advantage and a disad Laser Weapon Summary Tech Level: Medium Range: Medium-Long

Firing Rate: Low

Damage: Average-High

Interceptable: No

Special Rules: Can’t be intercepted

Notes: Typically score raking mode damage vantage, as you can well imagine.

Heavy Laser Cannon

A/lodes: Raking, Sustained

Primary Users: EarthAlliance, Narn

The heavy laser cannon is the primary heavy weapon used by EarthForce ships. It is capable of damaging multiple systems in a single shot due to its high damage yield and raking mode. The major disadvantage of the heavy laser is its slow rate of fire.

Medium Laser Cannon

Abodes: Raking

Primary Users: EarthAlliance, Nam

The medium laser is an average-sized weapon approximately equal in strength to the medium plasma cannon and pulse cannon. Though it lacks the punch of the heavy laser, it can be armed more swiftly. It made its first major impact during the Dilgar Invasion, and was later copied by other races.

Note that unlike the heavy laser, the medium version cannot use sustained mode.

Light: Laser Cannon

A/lodes: Raking

Primary User: Raiders

This early precursor to the medium laser is rarely seen on contemporary ships, and typically resides only on small vessels or those of a more civilian nature (such as transports). It is one of the weakest raking weapons in existence, and for a light gun, its inability to operate in defensive mode is a real disadvantage.

Laser/Pulse Array

Modes: RakingorPulse

Primary User: Earth Alliance

The laser/pulse array, or LPA, is a double weapon found on some Earth ships. It was designed for flexibility, allowing the ship's captain to choose which weapon (laser or pulse) was needed for a given situation. However, the weapon system is extremely difficult to maintain, since it effectively required the spare parts of two weapons in a single housing. The maintenance nightmares caused by this problem meant it was suitable only for use on specialty vessels. Warships which mount these arrays tend to use no other heavy weapons at all— just row after row of LPAs. The best example of this is the Nova Dreadnought.

The laser/pulse array can fire as either a medium laser or a medium pulse cannon (but not both at the same time). This decision is made when weapons fire allocations are determined (i.e., at the same time you are choosing targets for your guns). The mode in which it was used during the previous shot doesn't affect the current shot, so you could — for example— use it in pulse mode every time it fired during the scenario.

The medium laser and medium pulse cannon modes have different rates of fire (1 per 3 turns and 1 per 2 turns, respectively). The time requirement before the next shot can be taken is based on the next mode used (it has no bearing on the previous type of shot). For example, if fired on turn 1 in either mode, it could fire again on turn 3 in pulse mode, but could not be used as a laser until turn 4.

Heavy Laser/Pulse Array

Modes: Raking, Sustained or Pulse

Primary User: EarthAlliance

This is the obvious extension of laser/pulse array technology, extending up to the heaviest possible version of this versatile weapon class. It is very rare and difficult to maintain, appearing only on special command variants of the Omega and a few other specialty designs. Except for its basic statistics, it can be treated the same as a normal LPA for all rules (including critical hits).

If it fires in laser mode, it can use sustained fire. However, it must observe the usual cooldown period associated with this mode, which will also delay its use as a pulse weapon until the cooling time has expired.

Neutron Laser

Modes: Raking, Piercing, or Sustained

Primary User: Minbari

The primary heavy weapon of the Minbari fleet, the neutron laser

(also called the neutron cannon

) does a devastating amount of damage and has a comparatively short rate of fire. It is also coupled with a highly accurate fire control system and can engage both capital ships and fighters effectively.

Improved Neutron Laser

Modes: Raking, Piercing, or Sustained

Primary User: Minbari

The Minbari created this advanced weapon after adding certain Vorlon improvements to their basic neutron cannons. The result is a slightly better damage yield and fire control rating, but the real strength is its ability to fire in sustained mode for three turns in a row. While it may seem that this ability is unremarkable (considering the difficulty of maintaining the firing requirements for that length of time), the fact that the weapon is found on the highly maneuverable White Starships puts its abilities in an entirely new light.

Battle Laser

Modes: Raking or Piercing

Primary Users: Centauri, Abbai

The heaviest weapon the Centauri place on warships, the battle laser is somewhat less powerful than the Narn and Earth equivalent. However, this is offset by the fact that the weapon fires more often and has a longer range. It also sacrifices sustained mode capability for these advantages.

Combat Laser

Modes: Piercing

Primary User: Abbai

The combat laser is related to the Centauri battle laser, but is not as flexible as that weapon.

Unlike battle lasers, the combat laser can only fire in piercing mode. It does not have the option to use a standard, raking, or sustained mode shot. However, the combat laser uses dedicated sensor equipment tied directly into its fire control, allowing it to ignore the normal piercing mode requirement of 4 offensive EW, as well as the associated -4 to -hit penalty. In effect, the weapon itself provides this EW (which cannot be redirected elsewhere). Note that this does NOT provide any sort of automatic lock-on to the target!

Plasma Weapons

Plasma weapons do most of their damage in the form of heat, which has advantages against armored targets but disadvantages at longer ranges. Plasma weapons are among the oldest weapon types, hearkening back to the days when early plasma welding tools were converted into makeshift plasma torches for impromptu use against piracy. Examples of this weapon type include the light, medium, and heavy plasma cannon, as well as the plasm a accelerator.

Plasma Weapon Summary

Tech Level: Low

Range: Short-Medium

Firing Rate: Average

Damage: Varies by range

Interceptable: Yes

Special Rules: Loses damage at range

Notes: Generally ignores one-half of target’s armor (drop fractions)

The main advantage of plasma weapons is their effectiveness against armor. When a plasma weapon hits its target, divide any armor in half (dropping any fraction). For example, if a plasma gun scored 18 damage on a system with 5 armor, that armor's value would be considered as a 2, so 16 points of damage would actually be scored. Note that the armor won 'tactually be reduced in level permanently, just in effectiveness against the plasma hit. Thus, assuming that system survived the 16 points of damage, it would still have an armor level of 5 against future hits.

Another advantage of plasma weapons is that their damage is usually scored in standard mode. There may be exceptions to this, of course.

The primary disadvantage of a plasma gun is its weakness at long range. Since their payload is basically superheated energy, and that heat is traveling through the frigid vacuum of space, some of its strength bleeds away before it reaches the target. Thus, most plasma weapons will be listed as losing a certain amount of damage for each hex they move. For example, a plasma accelerator scores 4 d l 0 + 5 damage -1 per hex, so if fired at a target 10 hexes away, you would subtract 10 from your damage roll before rolling for hit location. Note: Some advanced weapons, such as the mag gun (which encases its plasma warhead in an explosive shell), are not subject to this limitation.

Plasma weapons operate best at very close range, and are quite effective against heavily armored opponents.

Due to their relative slowness, they are not very good against fighters and shuttles, with heavy penalties to their fire control against these targets.

Plasma Cannons

Modes: Standard

Primary Users: Pak'ma'ra, Narn, Centauri, EarthAlliance, Raiders

Plasma cannons are the most common types of plasma weapons, and the smaller versions are among the oldest weapons in known space. They come in four basic sizes, all of which are similar in function, except for their rate of fire and damage yield.

The mega plasma cannon is the largest variety and is primarily operated by the Pak'm a'ra, who actually dedicate entire ship hulls to this weapon type. The mega cannon is mounted on capital ships only, as it is too large to use effectively on any smaller hull. It does a tremendous amount of damage, but suffers the same accuracy and range problems that other plasm a guns do.

The heavy plasma cannon is one of the cheapest and easiest heavy weapons to operate. For example, when the Narns set out to build their own ships for the first time, they experimented with a number of weapon types. The heavy plasma cannon, capable of a devastating amount of damage, was their first choice among such weapons. After installing it on the T'Loth and a few other ships, however, they discovered its range limitations, which did not mesh well with their recent developments with energy mines. Seeking to develop a fleet which could fight well at extreme ranges, the Narns phased out heavy plasma cannons where possible.

The medium plasma cannon is the most commonly seen type, and is usually referred to as simply a plasma cannon . Much like its heavier cousins, the plasma cannon is very effective at close ranges but quickly loses its punch as it cools off. As it tends to move towards its target slowly, it can be more easily avoided by fighters and shuttles and suffers a significant fire control penalty against such units.

Finally, the light plasma cannon is the oldest and weakest of these basic plasma guns. It is rarely seen on naval warships, but occasionally appears on Raiders and other small vessels. It is considered the root of all plasma weapons in use today.

Fuser

A/lodes: Flash

Primary User: Pak'ma'ra

The fuser (occasionally called the fusertorpedo

, though this is a misnomer since the weapon is not of the ballistic persuasion) is the ultimate example of plasma weaponry in use by a younger race. It is used only by the Pak'm a'ra, and only on special cruiser-sized or larger ships designed to mount it. The weapon does a ridiculous amount of damage and rarely misses except at long range. On the other hand, it loses power quickly with distance, takes forever to arm, suffers penalties against small ships, and requires at on of power.

Ships armed with fusers are usually built around the weapon, as it is too large to simply add later as a modification or refit. Most such ships possess enlarged (and expensive) power plants capable of arming the torpedo.

Ranged Fuser

Modes: Flash

Primary User: Pak'ma 'ra

This is actually the forerunner of the what is now called the "fuser," and originally used that name. When the Pak'm a'ra improved the strength of the gun at the expense of range, the original was relegated to bases and fixed defenses while the heavier weapon became the centerpiece of heavy attack ships such as the Pshul'shi.

The ranged fuser is the longest-ranged non -ballistic plasma weapon currently fielded by the Pak'm a'ra. It appears on bases and satellites only.

Plasma Accelerator

Modes: Standard

PrimaryUser: Centauri

The plasma accelerator is the result of a unique experiment in plasma technology. The intent was to create a plasma gun that fires a controllable amount of firepower to the target.

While the results were not entirely what was expected, the accelerator is much more flexible than a typical plasma weapon.

The plasma accelerator can fire as often as the owning player wishes. If fired at the minimum rate of fire (i.e., every turn), its damage yield is very small, such that it would only be truly effective at very short range. If allowed one turn's delay (i.e., fired every other turn, a rate of fire of 1 per 2 turns), it scores more damage than it does at the lesser level. However, its true strength is shown if allowed its optimal ROF of 1 per 3 turns. In this case, its damage yield is impressive and the weapon becomes viable at longer ranges. Delaying fire beyond this point does not further increase the weapon's firepower, but holds it at full strength. As with any other weapon, if it is fired or shutdown, it must start the rearming process from scratch when recharging.

Mag Gun

Modes: Flash

PrimaryUser: Nam

This plasma railgun fires a small nuclear charge to a target's location, damaging anything in the hex. The mag gun is a huge weapon, and ships that mount it are generally designed around its emplacement. A hit from a mag gun can cause severe damage and affect a number of other units in the same hex, as it scores damage in flash mode. Note that if the weapon misses, the warhead does not explode (a safety feature built into the device).

This was included in the design to avoid damaging friendly ships, and cannot be voluntarily disabled or superseded.

Plasma Stream

Mode: Raking (5)

Primary User: Centauri

Plasma streams are a special variety of plasma weapon designed to weaken a ship permanently, leaving it open to future attacks. It is the combination of several failed weapons experiments, which when combined produced a barely adequate device. It is generally considered a poor substitute for more powerful guns and is rarely seen.

Plasma streams are raking (5) weapons, i.e., they score damage using the raking rules in 5 -point (not 10 -point) increments. However, subsequent sub-volleys do not ignore armor (in effect, you can treat each sub-volley as an entirely new volley for all purposes). Regardless of this, remember that this is plasma damage, and ignores one -half of the target's armor in any case.

For every full 5 points which strike a system (regardless of the effect of armor), that system's armor value is decreased by 1. This happens IMMEDIATELY— do not wait until the end of the turn! Plasma streams are usually the first weapons to fire in any attack, thereby weakening the target's defense against later volleys— a combination that can be quite deadly!

Dual Plasma Stream

Moc/e: Raking (5)

Primary User: Pak'ma'ra

This is a unique type of plasma weapon which consists of two plasma projectors on a turreted mount. The two streams roll to hit as a single shot. They do excellent damage, but fade quickly at long Dual Plasma Stream Example A dual plasma stream is fired at the front of a ship which is missing its forward structure due to previous battle damage. 28 points are scored, all of it by chance striking the primary structure, which has 8 points of armor. This results in 5 volleys of 5 points and one of 3 points.

As this is plasma damage, only half of the armor rating applies, so the 5-point volleys will each score 1 hit on the structure and the 3point volley will do nothing. In addition, the primary structure’s armor value is reduced to 3 (since five full volleys were scored) for the rest of the scenario.

ranges. Note : The damage listed is a total; do not roll it twice!

As explained above, plasm a streams cause a special armor-degrading type of raking damage. Their damage total is broken up into 5 -point volleys (not 10pointers like normal raking weapons would be), and all volleys (even ones which hit the same system multiple times) are degraded by armor. However, each full 5point volley will permanently reduce the armor value of any system it hits by 1 point! This effect is applied immediately. Note that volleys of less than 5 points will not reduce armor levels (though they might still cause damage as usual). Also, armor ratings cannot drop below zero.

Special Critical Hit:

If the dual plasma stream suffers a "Damage Reduced" critical roll, one of the two guns in the dual array is knocked offline, and weapon damage is halved (instead of 6d 10-2 damage, roll 3d 10-1). Other statistics are unaffected. After this critical is suffered, additional critical hits should use the normal weapon critical chart.

Plasma Web

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Pak'ma'ra

The plasma web is a defensive device related to the energy net produced by EarthForce interceptors. Plasma web generators on the ship expel a cloud of gaseous plasma in the path of incoming weapons, causing them to miss or be reduced in strength. The plasma can also be spewed into space near the ship, creating temporary heat zones which damage shuttles or fighters. The plasma web can be used in either defensive or anti-fighter mode during a turn, but not both.

Defensive Mode :

The primary use of the plasma web is in an interceptor-1 ike form, but unlike normal defensive weapons which must be allocated to a specific incoming shot, plasm a webs block fire from units in a single hex. (This could be one ship, several ships, a fighter flight, or a combination of ships and fighters, so long as they are all firing from the same hex.) Use of the web in this manner reduces the chance to hit (even for laser weapons) by the web's intercept rating. In addition, any laser, antimatter, or particle weapon (not any other types) are reduced in strength by the intercept rating; e.g., a laser doing 27 damage to a ship protected by a plasma web with a rating of -2 would be reduced to 25 damage. Defensive web effects cannot be combined with those of other plasma webs.

Note that, like most interceptor-type weapons, these do not affect proximity shots like energy mines. Note also that the defensive mode of the plasma web protects only the web-equipped ship, not any other unit.

Anti-Fighter Mode :

Plasma webs can be used to fill a hex near the ship with a temporary cloud of superheated plasma. The hex chosen must be within 3 hexes of the ship and in the web generator's arc of fire. Mark the affected hex with a counter, and note the turn on which it was created. It dissipates at the end of the next turn. Creating such a hex costs 1 point of extra power. Note that in most cases the extra point must be applied during the weapons arming step of the Combat Sequence, but many Pak'm a'rash ips are equipped with plasma batteries (see below) for added flexibility.

If a fighter or shuttle is in the hex of the web when it is created, or passes through a plasma hex during its movement (even if it does not remain in that hex), it suffers 1d6 + 2 damage immediately. As plasma damage, this ignores half of the unit's stated armor (use the armor value in the direction that faced the hex when the fighter entered it). Note that the plasma hex does not affect anything larger than a fighter, and will not damage mines, which are shielded against such effects. The plasma web will reveal the presence (or lack thereof) of a mine in the same hex as the web, though it will not provide any further information about it.

Plasma hexes are not cumulative with each other. If more than one is present in a hex, there is no additional effect.

Light Plasma Gun

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Pak'ma'ra

This is a small plasm a cannon created specifically to use on fighters. Though it can do damage equal to a light particle blaster at short distances, it is almost useless at any range other than point blank.

Plasma Battery

Some Pak'm a'rash ips are equipped with plasma batteries, which store extra energy for use in plasma webs and for other uses. Batteries can hold as much power as they have undestroyed boxes, and at the start of a scenario it is assumed they are completely full (unless otherwise noted in the set-up rules). A sample icon is shown here, though they can vary in size and box count depending on the ship.

Energy from such a battery can be used to arm a plasma weapon. Arming energy can be called forth only during the normal weapons arming step of the Combat Sequence— it could not, for example, be used during the weapons fire step to fire a weapon which was deactivated. There is a partial exception to this rule in the anti-fighter mode of the plasma web. If the web system was armed (not deactivated), the extra energy needed for anti-fighter plasma webs can be applied during weapons fire using a plasma battery.

Plasma batteries can also channel their power into the ship's engine, providing additional thrust points. This is done at a rate equal to the engine efficiency rating (so if that rating is 3 /1, for example, it would require 3 points of battery power for an extra thrust point). Extra thrust can only be "purchased " in this way during the Deactivate Systems step of the Combat Sequence, at the same time extra thrust would normally be acquired — it cannot be used during movement, because channeling battery power into the engine takes too long to be used at a moment's notice. Note that the engine must be intact for batteries to be used for extra thrust!

When a plasma battery is used, some of the energy it contains is drained and must be replaced. This is accomplished by deactivating some other system and using that power to refill the battery. Generally, you should mark an empty battery by placing dots in the boxes. When the power is replaced, simply erase the dots. Of course, a destroyed box cannot hold power (and if it was destroyed while power was in it, that power is lost).

Normally, Pak'm a'rash ips refill their batteries during turns in which they are maneuvering well away from a target. They then use the batteries for emergencies, especially those nasty surprises caused by reactor criticals.

Critical Hits:

If a plasm a battery is hit, roll 1d 20. If a 13 or greater is rolled, the battery loses all power it is currently holding. There is no other effect.

Molecular Weapons

These high-tech weapons take apart matter at a molecular level. They are found only in the hands of advanced races, such as the Minbari and Shadows.

Molecular

weapons use no special damage procedures, but are advanced in other ways. Typically, they do more damage, have better ranges, and use more firing options than similar weapons operated by lower-technology races. Some molecular weapons have special rules which will be defined in their individual descriptions.

Molecular Weapon Summary

Tech Level: High

Range: Medium-Long

Firing Rate: Low-Average

Damage: High

Interceptable: Yes (except as noted)

Special Rules: Varies

Notes: The more powerful types can ignore armor entirely

Molecular Pulsar

A/lodes: Pulse

Primary User: Minbari

Encouraged by examinations of captured pulse guns operated by the younger races, the Minbari developed their own pulse cannon prior to the Earth-Minbari War, refitting a few Sharlinclass cruisers to test their prototypes. Since these guns replaced the more effective and longer ranged neutron lasers, however, they did not prove popular. The Minbari shelved the project (their first weapons development effort in over a century) at that point, as they had little need to develop a brand-new ship class just to employ this technology.

The impending Shadow War changed this, however. The White Star prototype proved incapable of mounting more than one improved neutron laser, and the Minbari had need of a weapon that was more powerful than the fusion cannon if they hoped to mount a serious effort against Shadow ships. The molecular pulsar was found to be the ideal choice, as it easily fit on the wings of the White Star. The pulsar is found on few other Minbari ships, however.

The pulse grouping range for this weapon is 3, not the traditional 4 of other pulse weapons.

It also has am axium of 7 pulses instead of the normal 6 other pulse cannons use. This weapon may also use a rapid fire mode, in which it may fire every turn, but has a maximum of 3 pulses (roll 1d3) with no volley count bonuses perm ittted. (If it fires two turns in a row, it is automatically using rapid -fire mode.)

Molecular Disruptor

Modes: Raking

Primary User: Minbari

One of the original Minbari weapons, the molecular disruptor (or simply the disruptor) was used during the previous Shadow War. It was the primary heavy weapon in use before the neutron laser was developed.

The disruptor operates pretty much like its name implies: it disrupts the cohesion between molecules, tearing objects apart at the atomic level. It has a shorter range and longer recharge time than the neutron laser, but does more damage on average. In addition, every time it hits a ship, it reduces the structure armor on the facing side by 1 point permanently. This effect occurs even if the structure block did not actually absorb any damage during the volley, and is a result of random disruptions across the superstructure. Note that armor loss is not actually recorded until the Critical Hit Step of the Combat Sequence, so it will not affect any other weapons hits scored on the same turn.

The molecular disruptor is seen only on a few Minbari ships in their current navy. The Sharlin does not use it because that ship is optimized for long-range use, whereas ships that are intended to fight at closer ranges can benefit from the disruptor's power.

Fusion Cannon

Modes: Standard

Primary User: Minbari

Similar in nature to most other races' light armaments, the fusion cannon is somewhat more accurate and damaging. While its arcs are less open than those of some other races, there tend to be so many of them on the ship that this is not really a factor.

There is a light version of this weapon which is used on fighters and some smaller Minbari ships.

Other than technical specifications, it is functionally similar to the normal fusion cannon.

Molecular Slicer Beam

Modes: Raking (15), Piercing (athigherarming levels)

Primary User: Shadows

This is the main weapon on most larger Shadow ships, such as the ubiquitous Shadow Cruiser.

It is used to literally cut apart enemy vessels. It is a raking weapon, but scores damage in 15 -point volleys, not 10 -point volleys like the guns used by the younger races.

Slicer beams are incredibly intense molecular weapons, and are not affected by armor (except adaptive armor set to molecular defense). This, more than anything, allows them to tear apart the ships of the younger races. Slicers are affected by shields and other defenses normally (except for those nullified by the ship's advanced sensors).

Molecular slicer beams can be fired as often as desired, but no more than once per turn.

However, the longer they go without firing, the more powerful they become, up to a certain maximum. On the ship control sheet, the Weapons Specs chart lists damage yields based on the number of turns of arming since the last shot was taken. If not otherwise specified in a scenario, assume that Shadow ships begin play with the weapon fully charged.

Molecular slicers can be employed against multiple targets, "sweeping" the beam through space. The Shadow player does this by allocating any subset of his damage dice (before rolling for damage) to the targets of choice. For example, he could apply 4d 10 to a nearby fighter flight and the remainder of the damage to a ship. All selected targets must be in the weapon's firing arc, of course, but their ranges can be vastly different. Naturally, the ship must roll to hit each target normally, and a cumulative penalty of -1 applies to each target after the first (the Shadow player is free to specify the order of targets in whichever way he chooses). If he fired at four different flights, for example, the first would be at no penalty, the second at -1, the third at -2 and the last at -3.

Slicer beams can be employed against the individual fighters in a flight. The firing ship is free to specify which specific fighter is damaged by his shot (the defender does not choose, as is the case with most weapons). If the slicer is broken up and fired several times into the same flight, each extra segment of the shot suffers the penalties noted in the previous paragraph.

Finally, slicer beams can operate defensively against incoming weapons. Fore a chId lOused for defensive purposes, the weapon operates as a weapon with a - 2 intercept rating. This can be combined with as many 1d 1 Osas are available (from the same weapon) with no degradation, i.e., 2d 10 would count as a - 4 intercept rating, 3d 10 would be - 6, and so on. If desired, 6 points of "constant" damage can be expended a sad l O, so 3d 10 + 6 would count as a - 8 intercept rating.

Each defensive use counts as a full "shot" by the weapon for purposes of multiple firing penalties, and defensive fire must be considered first for this purpose. Thus, if a slicer beam fired 2d 10 against a particle beam, l d l O + 6 against a missile, and the rest of its damage against a nearby ship, both intercept shots would be at - 4 and the offensive fire would be at a - 2 penalty.

Light Molecular Slicer Beam

Moc/es: Raking

Primary Users: Shadows, Earth Alliance

This is a weaker version of the slicer beam. It is found on smaller Shadow vessels as well as the EarthAlliance Shadow Omega.

This weapon uses all the rules of the normal slicer beam (i.e., it ignores armor, can 't be intercepted, can fire at multiple targets, etc.) except that it cannot be operated defensively. Its only other differences are in its weaker statistics. For example, it does not score damage in Raking (15) mode, but normal Raking (10) instead.

Multiphased Cutter

Modes: Standard

Primary User: Shadows

These weapons are less powerful than molecular slicer beams, and are employed on smaller vessels. Their main purpose is destroying enemy fighters, though they can significantly damage ships by cutting holes in their hull.

Multiphased cutters can fire up to three times per turn, at the same or different targets.

Each of these shots can fire offensively or defensively, though if more than one is fired at the same incoming shot, they suffer the usual degradation.

Light Multiphased Cutter

Modes: Standard

Primary Users: Shadows, EarthAlliance

This is a basic multiphased cutter without the multiple firing ability (it can take only one shot per turn).

It appears on some smaller Shadow ships and the ships of Shadow servants, including theE A's Shadow Omega. It is primarily a defensive weapon, operating in place of standard particle beams on the Shadow Omega , for example.

Vortex Disruptor

Modes: Special

Primary User: Shadows

This is a special weapon which was originally developed solely for the purpose of destroying Vorlon ships (which employ jump drive technology only slightly more advanced than that used by the younger races). The Shadow theory was that if they could ever convince the Vorlons to actually engage them in combat, the fight would be to the death— the Vorlons would either win, or die trying to escape.

The vortex disruptor is fired directly into an open jump point, with a base chance to hit of 20 (minus the range penalty). If it hits, that vortex begins to collapse. Any ship in the jump point at the time (this is possible due to the Combat sequence, as noted in the Core Rules) will be automatically destroyed by the resulting rift in the fabric of space. There is no roll for damage; destruction is automatic. If the disruptor misses the jump point, there is no effect whatsoever.

Vorlon ships, which use a slightly advanced form of jump engine (developed in response to the vortex disruptor), have a chance to slip through the jump point before it collapses. Determine the difference between the Shadow player's dieroll to hit the jump point and the required to -hit value, and add to this the distance the Vorlon ship moved to reach the jump point on this turn. Now roll 1 d20. If the result is equal to or greater than the calculated total, the Vorlon ship escapes; otherwise, it is destroyed.

Example: A vortex disruptor needs a 16 or less to hit a jump point and rolls an 11, a difference of 5. The Vorlon ship moved 6 hexes to reach its jump point on this turn. If the result of the dieroll is 11 or greater, the Vorlon gets away.

Phasing Pulse Cannon

Mode: Pulse

Primary Users: Shadows, EarthAlliance

The phasing pulse cannon is a Shadow device used on some support ships and a few other vessels. It is an advanced pulse gun originally designed to phase its way through shields, though the Vorlons quickly adapted their technology to block the effect. Against non-electromagnetic shields operated by younger races, it ignores both the damage absorption and lowered defense ratings. It also ignores energy webs, particle impeders, plasm a webs, and any other shield-like energy field which provides a similar type of defense (unless operated by another First One). It is not immune to defensive fire or EW, however.

The phasing pulse cannon comes in several varieties, including light, medium, and heavy versions. They are functionally similar, except for differences in damage and other statistics. Note the improved grouping range typical of molecular pulse weapons.

Polarity Cannon

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Shadows

This weapon is used by Shadow fighters. It is a multi-shot weapon and normally fires twice per turn, but if not fired, it can take three shots on the next turn (or any turn thereafter, until it shoots and empties itself of energy, which starts this cycle over again). Note: On the turn a Shadow fighter is launched, this weapon cannot be used, and on the turn after this, it will have only two shots available.

Electromagnetic

Weapons

Electromagnetic

weapons, or EM weapons, damage their targets using a powerful electrical discharge. Often, this is nondestructive damage, leaving the target system or fighter relatively intact while savaging it with critical hits or other effects. An example of this is the Minbari electro-pulse gun, which is used to knock fighters out of a battle without actually destroying them.

EM Weapon Summary

Tech Level: Medium

Range: Short-Medium

Firing Rate: Varies

Damage: Low

Interceptable: Yes

Special Rules: Dropout benefits

Notes: Can add various effects such as system deactivations and power drains The Vorlons have advanced their electromagnetic technology to incredible levels, and can score amazing amounts of damage with their lightning cannons and other devices.

Electro-Pulse Gun

Mode: Special

Primary User: Minbari

The electro-pulse gun, o rEP gun, is used by Minbari ships to disable small craft so they can be more easily captured. It fires a powerful electromagnetic burst which can short out the systems on fighters and shuttles. Larger units are unaffected by this weapon, as they contain more shielding to prevent this sort of occurrence.

The firing player can select any desired fighter in a flight as the EP gun's target, and can wait until all other weapons have been fired at that flight before making this choice (this allows the Minbari player to choose a fighter not already damaged earlier in the turn, if he wishes). If it hits, the target unit is disabled and automatically drops out at the end of the turn (super-heavy fighters are immune to this effect).

Note that this weapon is extremely short-ranged, and thus is useful only against fighters that come too close to the ship.

Critical Hits:

The EP gun suffers from the "range reduced" critical hit like any other weapon, but if it takes a "damage reduced" critical hit, there is a chance it will have no effect when it hits. On a hit it scores later in the scenario, roll 1 d6 and subtract 2 for every "damage reduced" critical the weapon has suffered. If the result is less than 1, it does not affect the target fighter (otherwise it forces drop -out as noted above).

Electro-Burst: Beam

Moc/e: Special

Primary User: Nam

The electro-burst beam, usually referred to simply as the burst beam, is an electromagnetic weapon designed originally for anti-piracy operations. The weapon scores no physical damage when it hits a ship. However, roll hit location normally. If the target is structure (regardless of location), the burst beam shorts out vital reactor conduits, reducing the ship's power by 1 for the remainder of the scenario. Multiple hits of this type are cumulative and there is no limit to the shortage that can build up, other than the total amount of energy produced by the reactor.

If the target is a powered system, that system must be deactivated on the next turn. This applies to any system with a power icon, even if that icon shows a zero (e.g., missile rack so rEM shields). In addition, while such a system is deactivated, its power is lost due to brownouts caused by the burst effect. (If the item in question had been deactivated on the turn it was hit, it must still be deactivated on the ensuing turn, but the power is not lost since the various power conduits were also deactivated and not subject to brownouts.) Note: When allocating damage, the defending player may not choose a powered system previously struck by a burst beam on the same turn, unless there are no other alternatives a vailable. In the case of such a duplication, the system will not be affected further (multiple hits of this type are not cumulative).

If a burst beam hits a ship protected by an active EM shield (but not any other kind of shield), it does not roll for hit location, but causes the effect described in the previous paragraph against the relevant EM shield generator automatically. Multiple hits on the same shield in the same turn cause no additional effect (the shield absorbs them all).

If the burst beam hits a jump drive, the jump delay time is reset— one of the reasons these weapons came in so handy against jump -capable Raiders. The jump drive is not fully deactivated, just interrupted enough to force a recycling of the recharge time. This does not release the player from the requirement to power the jump engine on future turns, unless he has been freed from this restriction in another way as defined within the jump engine rules.

If the burst beam hits a non-structure system that does not require power (i.e., it does not have a power icon), such as C & C, reactors, engines, or thrusters, it scores no damage but forces a critical hit roll at a + 4 on the die. This is rolled in the usual critical hit step of the turn and is cumulative with damage and other burst beam hits on the same turn. Note that this bonus applies only on the current turn, not future turns.

Burst beams used against fighters do not score damage, but cause automatic drop out. (Super-heavy fighters are immune to this effect.) This is similar to the effect caused by the Minbari EP gun, except the firing player cannot select a fighter of his choice— the owning player chooses which fighter is affected, as he would with most other fighter damage. The target player may not, however, pick a fighter which has already been forced to drop out by another electromagnetic weapon at the same time!

Shack Canaan

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Minbari

The Minbari use this device to disable pirate vessels and other craft without actually harming the owners. It is not found on front-line ships, but only on police vessels, and is a comparatively recent development. It is similar to the EP gun, but is much more powerful and can affect ships as well as fighters.

If the shock cannon hits a non-structure system, score the listed damage, ignoring armor entirely. No damage is scored against structure, however. Instead, divide any such damage (including overkill damage) by four, dropping any fraction. The resulting number represents the amount of points of power the ship loses for the remainder of the scenario. For example, if a shock cannon scores 12 damage against a twin array, the first six points will destroy it and the remaining six would overkill to structure. However, do not mark this damage. Instead, divide 6 by 4 and drop fractions, yielding 1. The ship's power is reduced by 1point thereafter.

There is no limit to the amount of power that can be drained by this weapon, other than the amount of energy the ship's reactor produces. Should all such power be lost, the reactor would simply shutdown (it would not explode and destroy the ship).

If the shock cannon hits a fighter, score the listed damage (ignoring armor). Should the fighter survive, it automatically drops out.

Communications Disruptor

Mode: Special

Primary User: Abbai

Some Abbai ships are fitted with this weapon, which is an example of the race's superior communications technology. The comm disruptor operates by jamming inter- and intra-ship communications temporarily, as well as causing significant sensor interference. This causes no appreciable damage to the target (which could be a fighter as well as a ship), but drastically affects its combat performance on the next combat turn.

Comm disruptors are armed and fired like any other ship's weapon. When they hit, roll two six sided dice, one at a time. The first die indicates the penalty to the Comm Disruptor Example A comm disruptor strikes a Centauri Primus battlecruiser on turn 1 of a scenario. The dice rolled are a 4 and a 2. On the next turn, the Primus has -4 to its initiative roll and -2 from its sensor rating (which would be reduced from a 10 to an 8). These effects fade after turn 2 is over, although if another communications disruptor hit the Primus during turn 2, the Primus would suffer a new batch of penalties on turn 3.

target ship's initiative on the ensuing turn. The second die indicates the reduction in the target's sensor rating (or offensive bonus in the case of fighters) during the next turn. The effects of the disruptor last for the next turn only. Note that under no circumstances can a target's sensor rating or offensive bonus be reduced below zero, although negative initiatives are possible!

Multiple comm disruptor strikes on the same target are cumulative! Abbai ships sometimes fire massed comm disruptors on a key enemy ship, hoping to reduce its sensor rating to zero and preventing it from locking onto targets in the following turn. (Note that the ship would spend extra power for additional sensor points based on the sensor array's original value, not the reduced value, as explained previously. Since the sensors cannot be reduced below zero, additional points purchased with extra power will never be subject to the comm disruptor's effects.)

If a comm disruptor is used against a flight of fighters, the result is slightly different. Instead of rolling for effect, simply reduce the initiative and offensive bonus of the entire flight by 1 each. This assumes, however, that the flight still has at least 5 active fighters. If the flight contains only 3 or 4 fighters, reduce both values by 2, and if it has less than 3 fighters, reduce both values by 3.

Comm disruptors do not function in a nebula.

Critical Hits:

Comm disruptors suffer a special critical hit. If they take damage, roll a d20 as you would for any other critical. On a 1-16, there is no effect, but on a 17 or greater, the disruptor loses half its effectiveness, jamming communications only but not producing Optional Rule: No Talking!

To experiment with the comm disruptor’s effect on external communications, delete the penalty to initiative but instead do not permit the target ship’s owner (player) to communicate with his allies until the comm disruptor’s effects have faded! This prevents that player from being a part of any tactical decisions or plans regarding the upcoming turn, and largely depends on honesty (i.e., no secret communications— such as note passing or hand signals— are permitted). This option is really only viable if the players in the scenario are each operating just one ship (how do you exclude a player from discussions if one of his units is jammed but others are not?), and thus is not usable in most situations.

However, it is still an interesting option and adds a uniquely different “feel” to the game.

interference. Thus, the weapon will continue to penalize a target's initiative but will no longer affect its EW levels. Multiple criticals of this type have no added effect.

Lightning Cannon

Modes: Raking (Varies), Piercing

Primary User: Vorlon

The lightning cannon is the primary weapon employed by Vorlon capital ships. It is an electromagnetic gun which usually appears as a huge "prong " that extends from the front of the vessel, typically arranged in groups of four. The prongs are each separate weapons, but can combine their effects to produce spectacular amounts of damage. The following choices are available:

If a beam is fired individually, it is a comparatively weak weapon, scoring little damage and with a rather limited range. It is, however, very good against fighters and requires little power. This is referred to as a "light" shot, and scores damage in standard mode.

Two lightning cannons can be combined, firing a medium -strength beam which is effective at the middle ranges. The power requirement is significant, however, as it is greater than two individual shots added together. It scores damage in raking (10) mode.

Three cannons can also work together, producing a heavy shot with some serious damage potential. This is very power-hungry, however, and will quickly drain the capacitor if used frequently. It scores damage in raking (15) mode.

Finally, four prongs can fire as one, producing a single beam of incredible power and range. However, this "mega " shot will drain the capacitor system on all but the largest Vorlon ships. The mega shot scores damage in raking (20) mode. (It is not possible to combine more than four prongs into a single shot, even if a ship has more than four guns available.)

Note that in all but the last case, the actions taken by some of the prongs do not impact what the others do on that same turn. For example, a cruiser which combined two beams into a single shot could fire the other two individually, combine them into another medium -strength beam, or leave them unfired, depending on the whim and need of the Vorlon player.

The ship control sheet lists the firing data for each type of shot (light, medium, heavy, or mega) separately. Note that a combined blast is better than the sum of its parts, but is less efficient (in total power overtime). Note also that heavy and mega shots can use piercing mode, while light and medium ones may not. Due to the nature of the capacitor system, sustained mode is not available.

If any of the individual guns suffer a critical hit, they apply that critical to any larger shot they are a part of. If several guns have criticals, only the worst one is used. For example, if four lightning cannons fire a mega shot, and two of them have suffered "damage reduced" criticals, this would count as only one such critical against the mega shot's damage. The "worst" critical is the one scored by the highest critical dieroll, and if this was a "multiple effects" critical, both such criticals take effect.

Lightning cannons are huge, and take up significant space on the ship. They are considered part of both the forward section as well as the side they are mounted on. This means that if one of the two appropriate structure blocks is destroyed, the weapon will not be automatically destroyed as well. Instead, both the front and side blocks must be destroyed for this to occur. Of course, the weapon can be destroyed by direct damage in the usual way, and can be hit by called shots from either the front or the appropriate side.

Discharge Gun

Moc/e: Raking

Primary User: Vorlon

This weapon is used as secondary armament on Vorlon ships of all sizes. Its main advantage is that it is extremely flexible. It can fire up to four times a turn, and each shot can be boosted in strength up to two levels.

The damage listed assumes the weapon is being fired at the listed power level. If, however, it is armed with extra energy, the base damage can be increased. If the listed power is doubled, 1 d10 + 1 damage is added on a successful hit, and if the power is tripled, a further 1d 10 + 1 is added (a total of 2d 10 + 2 extra damage). The Vorlon player must announce how much power he is putting into the weapon before he rolls to -hit, and cannot alter his choice after his dieroll. Bonuses higher than 2d 10 + 2 are not possible. Extra power added also improves the intercept rating of the weapon by 1 point to a maximum of 2 points of improvement.

The discharge gun can also fire multiple shots per turn. It can fire up to four times, limited only by available power.

Each shot costs the listed amount, and these shots can be improved in strength as described in the preceding paragraph. Each shot is completely independent of any other shot, so if two such shots were used to defend against an incoming weapon (for example), the second would suffer the usual degradation.

Light Discharge Gun

Mode: Raking

Primary User: Vorlon

This is a light version of the discharge gun which appears only on fighters and small vessels. It can fire two shots per turn, or can combine both shots into a longer-ranged blast which scores damage in a single volley. While the two individual shots can cause more destruction than the combined blast, especially against lightly armored targets, longer range and lessened vulnerability to armor makes the single shot quite useful.

Planet-Cracker Beam

Mode: Special

Primary User: Vorlon

This is a tremendous weapon which appears only on Vorlon planet-killer ships. It has only one use: total annihilation. There is no target and no roll to hit— if the unit is in arc and in range, the weapon hits automatically!

The firing arc is the row of hexes directly in front of the ship, from 1 to 4 hexes out, not including the firing vessel's hex. Any ship, moon, planet, or other object in one of these hexes is destroyed. No damage needs to be rolled — destruction is automatic.

The beam is capable of cracking planets as large as Jupiter, though it will have no appreciable effect on stellar bodies (even brown dwarfs or black holes, which are too massive to be broken apart by the weapon).

The planetary annihilation beam does not use the capacitor system (it is self-powered, and damage to the capacitor will not affect it). It has a recharge rate of 1,000 turns, meaning it will fire only once in most scenarios (we hope!). Typically, the scenario rules will specify how many turns are left before the beam is ready to fire. For example, the setup rules may state that the planet-cracker cannot fire before turn 10, giving the defending forces a chance to eliminate the weapon or somehow divert the ship from its destructive course.

Critical hits do not affect the planet-cracker beam. However, if the ship's C & C is destroyed, the beam cannot fire.

Note that the beam does not require a lock-on to its target in order to hit it.

Special Notes: Called shot volleys may not be used against the planet-cracker weapon. It is simply too much a part of the main structure to be directly targeted.

Matter Weapons

Matter weapons operate by accelerating an object (typically a metal sphere or explosive shell, but often something less refined, like a rock or piece of scrap iron) at high speeds towards a target. The impact of such a weapon will knock a significant chunk of material off a ship's hull, paying no heed whatsoever to armor. Weapons that fall into this category include the matter cannon and railgun. The mass driver is also technically a matter weapon, but is too slow for use against ships and is generally considered solely a planetary bombardment device.

If a matter weapon strikes a target, it totally ignores any

Matter Weapon Summary

Tech Level: Medium

Range: Medium

Firing Rate: Average

Damage: Low

Interceptable: Yes

Special Rules: Ignores armor

Notes: Scores no overkill; may have special limits on ammunition armor values on whatever system it hits. However, any overkill damage is lost; it does not penetrate further into the ship. Thus, matter guns are excellent at blowing single systems off a ship's hull (or doing large amounts of damage to a structure block), but can't be expected to score any further penetration.

Mass Driver

A/lode; Standard

Primary Users: Centauri, Dilgar

Massdrivers are terror weapons employed only in strict violation of interstellar treaties signed by all races following the Dilgar Invasion. The mass driver is a large, slow -firing device used to blow up cities and kill sentients by the thousands. The huge rocks it fires are of absolutely no use against ships or fighters, though they can be troublesome to bases.

The combat statistics given for massdrivers are useful only against bases, or any enormous unit moving speed zero. Any other unit will simply avoid it using its local maneuvering jets (unless it is a total derelict).

Mass Drivers on Centauri Ships

Some Centauri ships can be equipped with these huge devices, using the following rules. It should be noted that the use of such weapons is a violation of any number of interstellar treaties and could result in sanctions against the Republic, so use these rules with caution!

Attaching a mass driver requires the addition of a special module which costs 75 Combat Points, the installation of which requires weeks at a Kraken class starbase. The module occupies a large space on the underside of the ship, often blocking the arcs of certain weapons. Although the mass driver itself requires a huge amount of power to operate, the addition of this module does nothing to relieve the resulting deficit, so the resulting power shortage will need to be dealt with by shutting off weapons or other systems.

Mass driver modules can be added to the following Centauri vessels:

Primus and variants: One module only. The firing arcs of two of the forward twin arrays (the two on the bottom of the ship) are partially blocked, preventing fire in the forward 120° area directly ahead of the ship.

Centurion: One module is permitted, but to make room for it, the forward battle laser must be entirely removed, as must all the power couplings (so its power is not available to help arm the mass driver, or for any other purpose).

No other weapons are affected.

Octurion: Two modules (one on the bottom left and one on the bottom right) can be used. The ship cannot operate with only one module as its thrusters would be unbalanced. Each module reduces the arcs of the side twin arrays, cutting off the forward 120° area (as with the Primus, above).

The rocks fired by a mass driver are so large that they can be intercepted with no degradation (and most bases will choose to do this, considering the amount of damage a mass driver can cause if it hits).

Massdrivers are matter weapons, but score damage against structure only. There is no need to roll for hit location when a mass driver hits its target.

Simply apply its damage directly to the facing structure block. Remember that as a matter weapon, any overkill damage is lost.

Matter Cannon

A/loc/e: Standard

Primary User: Centauri

Matter cannons are effectively scaled-down versions of the mass driver. A series of magnetic coils are arrayed down the length of a barrel which, when energized, fires a small explosive round at the enemy. The high velocity of the pellet imparts a lot of kinetic energy, allowing it to punch through the heaviest of armor as though it weren't there. Once inside the armor, the pellet explodes, damaging interior components and structure.

This is a common weapon on older Centauri ships, though they rarely use it on newer designs.

Railgun

Mode: Standard

Primary User: EarthAlliance

The railgun is an older weapon which fires chunks of metal at hyper-velocities towards a target.

Though capable of doing significant damage, the difficulties of supplying the gun caused headaches within EarthForce, and the system was phased out in newer ship designs.

For most scenarios, the amount of ammunition available for railguns will not be a problem, as railgun ammo can be carried in greater quantities than missiles. Thus, there is no need to track ammunition quantities on the control sheet. There may be scenarios which provide a limited number of shots for each railgun, however, in which case you can assume that all railguns on the ship draw from the same supply. As soon as that supply runs out, all railguns will be useless, and should probably be shutdown and their power used elsewhere.

Gravitic Weapons

Gravitic weapons operate by controlling both magnetic and gravitic forces and focusing them on a target. Because they depend on the ship's drive system to provide much of the forces involved, they can only be used by races that use gravitic or Gravitic Weapon Summary Tech Level: Medium-High

Range: Medium-Long

Firing Rate: Low-Medium

Damage: Average-High

Interceptable: Yes

Special Rules: Requires gravitic tech

Notes: Many of these weapons can fire in special modes with extra power magneto -gravitic drives for movement.

The primary advantage of most gravitic devices is flexibility.

Typically, such guns can be improved by the addition of extra power, or can split their fire against multiple targets. Examples include the graviton pulsar, which can increase the number of pulses if more power is added to the weapon, and the gravitic lance, which can fire as a single long-ranged beam or split its fire into two standard graviton beams when required.

Some gravitic weapons can actually affect the motion or facing of other units in the game, causing them to turn or move unexpectedly. The gravitic shifter is the one example (it can turn its target to a new facing), as is the plasma net, which can cause its target to move several hexes. Devices of this type cause their effects before other weapons are fired during a combat turn, thereby altering the tactical situation drastically.

Tractor Beam

Moc/e: Special

Primary Users: Minbari, Centauri

The tractor beam is used to grab hold of small craft, either to pull them into the docking bay or to dock with them. Tractors are short-ranged and can require a tremendous amount of power to capture a target. Normally, the beam is only used once the target has been disabled by some means.

Tractor beams are activated during the Tractor Stage of the Combat Sequence. In order to tractor a fighter or shuttle, the target must be in the same hex as the tractoring ship. The two do not need to be moving the same direction, but they must have a velocity difference of 3 or less. The power cost to make the tractor effective is equal to the velocity difference plus the amount of thrust the fighter or shuttle is currently generating, with a minimum cost of 1 energy (note that if this is a willing target, it can simply deactivate its thrusters to make this easier). The fighter or shuttle can then be pulled into any open space in the hangar bay in the next Launch/ Land Fighters Stage of the Combat Sequence. In the meantime, it remains on the board (held in tractor) and moves in the same direction and speed as the Minbari ship.

If a fighter or shuttle is tractored in this way while it is disabled, it is captured automatically. If it is not disabled, the pilot can open fire on the shuttle bay with his weapons (during the usual Weapons Fire Stage of the Combat Sequence, of course). Roll damage normally and apply it to the shuttle bay first (with no armor benefit). The box containing the "captured " fighter or shuttle will be the last one destroyed by any such damage. Any damage remaining after the bay is completely destroyed is scored on the structure block that supports the hangar bay, with no armor benefit.

A ship may also tractor another ship, providing that vessel is of the same class or smaller. To do this, the two ships must be moving at the same speed and in the same direction, and must be in the same hex. The power cost is equal to the Ramming Factor of the target ship divided by 4 (round fractions up)— this is considered the mass of the target.

The tractor cannot be established unless the target is disabled or willing to allow the tractor attempt without resistance.

To be considered disabled, a ship must be powerless (its reactor destroyed), out of control (its C & C destroyed), or unable to thrust (its engine destroyed, or all thrusters destroyed). It could also surrender, and allow tractoring without resistance.

Once the tractor is attached, the tractoring ship and target ship both maneuver as one. They can turn, roll, and perform other maneuvers, but the tractoring ship must pay any costs or delay periods (the target cannot thrust without disrupting the tractor), and any such costs or delays are equal to the sum of the costs/delays of both units. For example, a cruiser with a turn cost of 1/2 and a roll cost of 5 which tractored a commercial freighter with a turn cost of 1 and roll cost of 6 would pay a total turn cost of 3 /2 and a roll cost of 11 to perform such maneuvers. Note that if a gravitic-drive ship tractors a vessel without a gravitic drive (or vice versa), all benefits of the gravitic movement system are suspended until the tractor is released. Also, if an agile ship tractors an on -agile one (or vice versa), agile status is similarly suspended.

Any amount of power can be put into the tractor beam. However, if more power is used than is needed, the excess is lost. Under normal circumstances, the tractor beam is left deactivated, though this returns no energy (the tractor beam is listed as having a power requirement of "? " due to its variability, but when not being used its power requirement is zero).

There are no critical hits for this device.

Gravity Net IPIasma Net]

Mode: Special

Primary User: Minbari

This was an attempt by Minbari scientists to create a device capable of controlling the movements of other ships. Using a combination of plasma and gravitic forces, the gravity net (also referred to as the plasma net due to the harmless plasma discharges it puts out while operating) can push, pull, or shove an opposing ship into a position of the Minbari's choice. Unfortunately, the device proved relatively short-ranged, and did not quite live up to expectations.

The gravity net scores no damage on any ship or flight of fighters it hits, but instead allows the Minbari player to move the target (which could be an entire fighter flight) up to six hexes from its current location. Roll 1 d6 if the weapon scores a hit, and move the target unit up to that many hexes away, in any direction desired. Subtract 1 from the distance roll if the target is equipped with a gravitic or magneto-gravitic drive system (this would include any Minbari unit). Note that the facing of the target is not altered by the move, and turn delay periods and the like are not affected.

A unit may be affected by only one gravity net in a given turn. If two or more are used on the same unit, and the grav nets are under the control of the same player (or team), only one makes the distance roll, but each additional net which hit adds + 1 to the dieroll (to a maximum of 10 hexes of movement). On the other hand, if the plasm a nets are under the control of different players who do not agree on where to move the target, they should each announce their choice of destination, then roll oned 20 against each other, with the higher rolling player's plasm a net taking effect and the other's doing nothing whatsoever. Do not add +1 to the dieroll, as the nets are competing against each other!

The target cannot be moved into any hex which the firing ship does not have line -of-sight to, and cannot be forced into a ramming or collision situation (so it cannot be forced to move into a hex with an Enormous Unit, an asteroid, a planet's surface, or the like). In addition, the unit may only be moved into or through hexes which are in the firing arc of the gravity net (and if multiple nets are combining on the same target, the hexes of motion must be within the arc of ALL such nets).

The plasma net is fired during the Weapon-Based Movement Step (at the beginning of the Combat Sequence), so the movement it causes occurs before any other weapons fire is declared. This allows the Minbari player to move a target into a more optimal firing position (either a friendly unit to a better position or an enemy unit into a worse one), for example. If used on a friendly unit, the gravity net must still obey all other rules as listed herein (i.e., it does not automatically hit, suffers the penalty to the distance roll with regard to gravitic-style drives, etc.). A grav net cannot be used on the firing ship itself!

Gravity nets cannot be used against any unit of a larger category than the firing vessel (e.g., a medium ship could not use one against a heavy combat vessel, and a capital ship could not use a grav net against an Enormous Unit).

Nets firing in support of other nets must also abide by this limitation. For this reason, few Minbari medium ships or heavy combat vessels mount this weapon.

Graviton Beam

Mode: Raking

Primary User: Brakiri (Ak-Habil, Im-Rehsa)

The graviton beam is the heavy weapon of choice on Brakiri ships, including the majestic Avioki Cruiser. It is powerful and long -ranged, but requires a large amount of power, which is why the AkHabil (who specialize in graviton beams) do not use shields. Its primary disadvantage is its low recharge rate, affording Brakiri opponents plenty of time to respond to a strike by these weapons (especially if they fired defensively against it during the initial attack).

Gravitic Lance

Mode: Sustained

Primary User: Brakiri (Im-Rehsa)

Developed by Im-Rehsa Technologies during experiments to develop a longer-ranged gravitic weapon, the lance is actually two graviton beams in a single housing. These beams can fire independently if desired, just like normal graviton beams, and can even be used against different targets if the owning player wishes.

If fired as a gravitic lance, both beams must be eligible to shoot (i.e., they must have completed their rate of fire restrictions). The range and damage scored by the lance are higher than any single beam, and the weapon fires in sustained mode only (this is not an option). There is no requirement to arm the lance with extra power, as it is designed around this firing mode. It will, however, suffer the normal cooling restrictions.

This weapon suffers standard weapon critical hits, but any such criticals affect both graviton beam shots if the gunfires in dual mode.

Grav Cannon

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Brakiri (Pri-Wakat)

A relatively weak heavy weapon operated by Pri-Wakat Concepts & Solutions, this gun appears unimpressive at first glance. However, Brakiri defenders have learned to appreciate its long range and rapid rate of fire, which enable it to harass a foe at every step.

Graviton Pulsar

Mode: Pulse

Primary User: Brakiri

This is a defensive weapon employed by the Brakiri to destroy fighters and other close-range targets. Unlike many weapons, it can be armed with a varying amount of power. Normally, it is armed with 2 points of energy, the default. However, 2 more points can be added safely, and a further 2 more points (to a total of 6) can be applied if the situation demands it.

Each upgrade step increases the possible number of pulses coming out of the weapon, slows the rate of fire by 1 turn, and improves the intercept rating by 1. For example, a graviton pulsar with 2 power in it (the normal amount) will produce 1 d2 volleys of 10 points of damage, and would have a rate of fire of 1 per turn and an intercept rating of -1. If it had been armed with 2 extra points (totaling 4), it would produce 1d3 + l 10 -point volleys, would have a RoF of 1 per 2 turns, and would have an intercept rating of -2. The maximum strength of the gun (the basic 2 energy plus 4 more) would provide 1 d3 + 2 pulses and an intercept rating of -3, but would require 3 turns to rearm.

If the maximum 6 points of power are used to arm the weapon, there is a chance that it will overload and cause a critical. Roll for a critical hit when the weapon fires (if it is armed, but doesn't fire, on that turn and is armed at a lesser state the following turn, no roll is needed), using the standard weapon critical table.

Gravitic Bolt

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Brakiri

This older weapon was the precursor to the graviton pulsar, and was used by the Brakiri up until the development of the pulsar by Im-Rehsa Technologies in 2249. It was the sale of this weapon to the other corporations that enable dIm-Rehsa to begin fielding their own warships to defend their own interests (previously, the only ships they had built were prototypes paid for by others).

Like the pulsar, the gravitic bolt is a defensive gun which can be increased in strength by the addition of more power. Use the graviton pulsar rules for this, except that instead of adding more pulses, the strength of the actual bolt is increased by 3 points for every 2 additional energy added to the weapon. As with the pulsar, no more than 4 extra points of power can be used. All other rules (the extended rate of fire, the increased defense rating, and the extra critical hit) apply as explained in the pulsar's description.

In scenarios set before 2250, all graviton pulsars shown on Brakiri ships should be replaced with the gravitic bolt.

This returns 10 Combat Points per pulsar to the Brakiri player, effectively reducing the cost of the ship. Note that vessels with a Service Date of 2250 or later cannot use this rule, as they would always have been built with graviton pulsars instead of the inferior bolt weapon.

Light: Gravitic Bait

A/loc/e: Standard

Primary User: Brakiri (Ly-Nakir)

This is a weaker gravitic bolt used strictly on fighters. It scores less damage, and cannot be increased in strength, but otherwise is treated as a gravitic bolt for all purposes.

Gravitic Shifter

Mode: Special

Primary User: Brakiri (Im-Rehsa)

This is a specialized device currently found only on Brakiri warships operated by the Im-Rehsa corporation. It is used to disrupt the movements of enemy ships and keep their weapons facing away from Brakiri targets.

Gravitic shifters are unlike other weapons in many ways. First and foremost, they fire before other weapons do. The Im-Rehsa player announces he is firing a gravitic shifter during the Weapon Based Movement Segment of the Combat Sequence (just like a Minbari plasma net). If the gravitic shifter hits, it warps space around the target vessel (or flight of fighters), causing it to involuntarily turn! The player who fired the shifter is allowed to — but is not required to — turn the target ship one 60 -degree hex facing (or up to 60 degrees if using the miniatures rules) in either direction, a this option. Note that due to the Combat Sequence, shifters cannot cause pre-declared fire to become invalid. The target player always determines and declares his fire after seeing his new facing.

Forced turns override any rules that normally prohibit turning, such as when the target is in the process of executing a roll or pivot. When a ship is turned by the shifter, its turn delay "count" is not affected. If the ship is involved in an extended turn, it may complete it normally. Note, for clarification, that a shifted ship's direction of motion actually changes (not just its facing)!

A given unit may be attacked by only one gravitic shifter during a turn. If two or more shifters fire on the same unit (regardless of whether or not the source is a single ship or multiple ships, or even if the firing ships are on different sides), they all automatically miss. No roll to hit is required or permitted in any case.

Gravitic shifters can be used by the Brakiri on their own ships or an ally, and in fact this can be a very useful tactic.

However, the shifter must still roll to hit (it does not function automatically).

Gravitic shifters do not work as well against opponents which do not employ standard thrusters. A gainst any target which uses a fully gravitic drive (or more advanced system), such as a Minbari, Brakiri, or Vree ship, they suffer a -3 penalty to hit. If a race uses a gravitic drive, this fact will be so noted in their rules and on their ships' control sheets.

Graviton Mine

Mode: Flash (No Collateral)

Primary User: Brakiri (Im-Rehsa)

Graviton mines are an experimental weapon currently operated only by Im-Rehsa Technologies. As of 2264, they had appeared only on a few Tashkat test bed variants. Though they are currently only of limited usefulness, the Im-Rehsa hope to increase their strength as experiments continue.

Graviton mines are rarely launched alone, but usually appear in a "spread " consisting of at least two and usually more of them. They use the proximity weapon rules (described later in this chapter) but are listed here as they are technically classified as gravitic. Unlike energy mines, they have no chance of a "scatter" or "fizzle," but always hit their designated target hexes.

Any unit within 5 hexes of alone mine during the Ballistic Impact Segment of the Combat Sequence is moved one hex in the direction of the mine. If there is any doubt as to which hex is appropriate (the target must be moved closer to the target hex if at all possible), the owner of the unit makes the call. The unit may not be forced into a hex containing an enormous unit or terrain feature, so do not consider any such hex as a possible destination. If no applicable hex exists that is closer to the mine, then no movement occurs. In the event several mines exist which could move the target, only the closest one affects it, but if these are in conflict, as hearing effect will occur instead (see below). A unit may not be moved more than one hex by graviton mines during a turn.

The true potential of this weapon is discovered when a unit is caught between two or more graviton mines. The unit in question does not move, but instead takes shearing damage as the two mines conflict with each other and try to pull it apart. Note that the unit must be within 5 hexes of all such mines; any beyond 5 hexes are irrelevant. If only two mines are present, the unit must be directly between them (draw a line between the centers of the mines'hexes, and if this line touches the unit's hex, it is eligible for damage). If there are more than two mines, the unit must be within the zone formed by their arrangement on the map. For example, if mines land in 0105, 0305, and 0307, a unit in 0105, 0204, 0205, 0206, 0305, 0306, or 0307 would be affected, while a unit in 0106, 0107, or 0207 would not.

Shearing damage is calculated by first determining the dis

Gravitic Mine Damage Factors

| j j

Mines, other small units

Fighters/shuttles, OSATs

Light combat vessels

Medium ships

Heavy combat vessels

Capital ships

Enormous non-base units tance between the unit and the mine nearest to it, adding 1 to this total. This result then multiplied by the factor shown on the Gravitic j Mine Damage Factors chart shown here.

Damage from shearing is scored on the side of the ship facing the most distant mine within 5 hexes of the target. If two or more mines meet this criteria, the target chooses which side suffers the damage. Damage is scored in flash mode, but causes no collateral damage to other units in the same hex, and ignores armor.

For example, a capital ship is located in hex 2024 facing towards the top of the map, and finds itself caught between graviton mines in 1723, 2123, and 2125. Its range to the nearest mine is1 hex(2125), so the player adds 1 to this range and multiplies by the capital ship factor of 5, for a total of 10 damage. This is scored on either the forward or port areas at the target's option, since the farthest mine (1723) faces down the forward port hexspine.

Enormous bases, when fixed in place, produce enough of a gravity field of their own that they can throw off the effects. Terrain features, such as asteroids or moons, are not affected.

Graviton mines are not cumulative. A unit may suffer shearing only once during a turn. A graviton mine will affect friendly units as well as the enemy, so use them with caution!

Gravitic Shield

Gravitic shields operate by creating a slight gravity well around the vessel, causing weapons to shift slightly on their courses and either miss or glance off the target. Functionally, they are identical to EM shields for all purposes, and even share the same type of icon, like the sample shown here. Gravitic shields a ndEM shields cannot be present on the same ship.

Gravitic shields are very power-hungry. In order to supply them with enough energy to operate, a special shield generator is required, which appears in the primary area of the ship. At nominal levels, this generator can only power a limited number of shield emitters, shown as a number within the generator icon. For example, an icon with a " 4 " (as in the example shown here) would power four shields per turn. The player should select which shields are in use at the same time ship systems are deactivated (during the Ship Power Segment of the Combat Sequence). This selection is then announced immediately thereafter, as shown in the Combat Sequence.

It is possible to activate more than the standard number of shields at a significant power cost. For each additional shield, the ship must apply power equal to the amount the shield generator requires (as shown in the diamond power icon next to the generator). For example, a generator with a " 4 " in the diamond icon would require 4 extra power to activate an extra shield, 8 power for two shields, etc.

If the shield generator is deactivated, all shields on the ship are also deactivated. It is not possible to partially deactivate the generator. Note that gravitic shields do not themselves have a power icon, since they are powered entirely by the generator (i.e., they cannot be individually deactivated for extra power).

Grav shields function normally in all terrains except nebulas, in which their shield ratings are reduced by 1 point.

Due to the nature of the field they produce, gravitic shields must be open to space, so they are very difficult to harden with armor. In fact, each point of armor (if used) would reduce the field strength by 1, so the Abbai are forced to leave their shield generators unprotected and exposed, with armor ratings of zero (on bases, they do not benefit from the structure's general armor protection). Electromagnetic shields (such as those appearing on the White Star and Vorlon ships) do not suffer from this problem.

Critical Hits:

The shield emitters use the same critical hits asEM shields (see the Critical Hits chapter). The shield generator uses the following chart:

1-15: No critical hit.

16 -21: Power Deficiency: Increase the power requirement of the generator by 2.

22 -26: Control Loss: Reduce the number of shields that can be powered by 1.

27 +: Both of the above criticals are suffered.

Shield Projector

This device is huge, and is found only on Abbai bases, satellites, and other fixed defensive platforms. It can operate as a normal gravitic shield, but also has the following additional abilities.

Each turn, a given shield projector can enhance the shields around a single friendly target, so long as that unit is within 5 hexes when weapons fire takes place, and is within the arc of the shield projector. The Abbai player determines and announces which unit is to be protected at the same time EW is declared (not when weapons fire is announced). The target can be a ship, a flight of fighters, or a group of up to six shuttles in the same hex.

Assuming all conditions are met, the target receives the benefit of the projector's shield factor during the Weapons Fire Step of the turn. This amount is added to the shield factors of all shields on the target, although it does nothing if no shield is present (it can only enhance existing shields, not produce new ones). Note that this can make ships all but invulnerable to weapons fire, which is one reason the Dilgar could never crack the defenses of the Abbai homeworld during the Invasion.

Shield projectors are not cumulative. If multiple shield projectors target the same unit, use only the one with the best rating.

The shield projector is powered by shield generators just like any other gravitic shield would be. While projecting a shield, the device cannot protect the base itself, only the target unit. (It can operate as a normal gravitic shield, but if it does, it cannot project a shield on the same turn.) Note that since most Abbai bases have multiple shield projectors in overlapping arcs, they will be able to defend several ships without opening any vulnerabilities in their own defenses.

Shield projectors cannot affect enormous units due to the scale involved. Thus, two Abbai bases could not protect each other using these devices. Satellites and smaller bases may defend each other this way, however. This makes rows of chained OSATs into highly effective defensive elements.

Antimatter

Weapons

Originally used by the Minbari hundreds of years ago during the previous Shadow War, these weapons are now used infrequently due to the inherent dangers of dealing with antimatter.

The Vree are now the primary users of antimatter weapons among

Antimatter Weapon Summary

Tech Level: High

Range: Short

Firing Rate: Average

Damage: Varies with accuracy

Interceptable: Yes

Special Rules: See text

Notes: The accuracy of your shot determines how much damage you score the younger races.

Antimatter weapons score damage by causing an explosive interaction between the particles they fire and the normal matter that comprises their target. Thus, the better they can be trained on the target (i.e., the better the shot), the more damage they will score on the enemy. To resolve this, take the difference between the base to -hit roll and your actual roll and call this value "X ". For example, if you need a 10 or less to hit and roll a 7, X would be 3. The value of X will then be defined in each weapon's damage formula, e.g., 2 X + 3 ("2X" represents 2 times X, and is always resolved before the addition part of the formula). Thus, if X were 3 as in the previous example, 2 X + 3 would yield 9 points of damage.

In any such formula, the minimum value of X is zero (representing the weakest hit from the weapon). Any value below zero is a miss and scores no damage, regardless of what the formula might indicate. Many weapons also list a maximum value of X, which does not mean anything higher is a miss, but that any higher value should be reduced to the listed maximum. For example, if a weapon with a maximum X of 10 needs a 20 or less to hit (normally automatic, but a roll still needs to be made) and rolls a 1, X would normally be 19, but should be reduced to the maximum value of 10. If a weapon does not list a maximum X, then there is no limit to its value.

Antimatter guns treat range penalties differently than normal weapons. Instead of doubling the range penalty, they double the range itself. For example, an antimatter cannon firing from range 6 without a lock-on treats this as range 12. This applies to all antimatter guns unless otherwise noted in their descriptions.

Antimatter weapons use a different critical hit chart. See the critical hits chapter for more information.

Antimatter Converter

Mode: Flash

Primary Users: Minbari, Vree

This close-range weapon is the result of Minbari experiments in antimatter technology, and appears only on older Minbari vessels (such as the Tigara attack cruiser) and some Vree units.

When its beam locks onto a target, it converts some of the subatomic particles present in the hull into their antimatter equivalents, resulting in a powerful explosion.

As with most antimatter weapons, the better the to -hit roll, the more damage will be caused.

Note that this weapon has no maximum "X " value, a considerable advantage.

Antimatter Cannon

Mode: Raking

Primary User: Vree

This is the Vree's main heavy weapon, and is found mounted on the turrets of Xorr War Saucers and several other warships. Like most antimatter weapons, the cannon can score damage in a wide range, from very small amounts to huge volleys on a good roll.

This weapon has a range penalty of zero from range 0 through 10 hexes from its target, while it has a penalty of -1 per hex from ranges 11 through 20 and -2 per hex for each hex thereafter. For example, if a shot is taken at range 22, the penalty would be -14 to hit (-10 for the ten hexes from 11 to 20, and -4 for hexes 21 and 22).

Antziprortan Gun

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Vree

These were the original Vree antimatter weapons, and are now used as a secondary armament on most saucers. Antimatter cannons are too large and powerful to fit on side mounted hardpoints, as they would unbalance the hull, so anti proton guns fill these slots.

They are not usually turreted, but sit in fixed mounts with limited firing arcs.

The anti proton gun uses a range calculation similar to that of the antimatter cannon, but is shorter ranged. It has a range penalty of zero from range 0 through 5, -1 per hex from ranges 6 through 10, and -2 per hex per hex thereafter.

Antiprntnn Defender

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Vree

Some Vree ships use a defensive version of the anti proton gun, which does less damage and has a decreased range, but is better against fighters and possesses a better interception mode. It is also a somewhat smaller weapon, allowing it to be mounted in greater numbers on defense-oriented ships like escorts and traders. The icon for the defensive version is recognizable by its smaller size (half that of a normal anti proton gun).

Antimatter Shredder

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Vree

This is the ultimate in Vree antimatter technology, and is a relatively recent development. The weapon is devastatingly powerful, especially to large numbers of fighters. It made its first spectacular appearance during the Shadow War, mounted on the Xill Battle Saucer.

The shredder carpets an area with a rain of antimatter bolts, each fired from a ring of 15 separate antimatter mini-cannons linked together (think of a huge antimatter Gatling gun). To use it, the firing player selects a hex anywhere within the shredder's firing arc at a range of at least one hex away from the firing ship. Every unit (even friendly units)w i thin that hex, or any of the surrounding hexes, has a chance to be hit by the resulting rain of antimatter bolts. Note: The surrounding hexes must also be within the shredder's firing arc; if not, objects within them cannot be affected. The shredder can affect units in the firing ship's hex (which is always considered to be in arc of the weapon), but will never affect the firing unit itself.

The shredder must roll to hit each unit in the affected zone (using the normal rules for weapons fire). If fired into a flight, it rolls once against each fighter, not the flight as a whole!

Antimatter Shredder Example

A shredder fires into hex 0723. There is a Gaim Suom in 0722, three Koist fighters in 0824, and a Moas in 0623, all of which are within the affected zone. The Suomis a heavy combat vessel, and thus can be hit 1d3 times by the shredder (the firing player rolls a 2) and the Moas, a capital ship, has the potential of 1d6 hits (the attacker rolls a 5). Thus, the shredder may make one attack on each fighter, 2 attacks on the Suom, and 5 attacks on the Moas.

Mines, fighters and shuttles can be hit at most once by any shredder shot, while medium ships and heavy combat vessels can be hit 1d3 times, capital ships 1 d6 times, and enormous units 1d6 + 3 times. There is no limit, other than the size and quantity of units in the affected zone, to how many attacks the shredder can make in a single blast. However, shredders are NOT cumulative, so if multiple shredders overlap a given hex, only one (determined randomly) may attack.

Once the number of actual attacks is determined, the shredder rolls to hit using the standard procedure, except that it ignores all EW (offensive, defensive, ELINT, etc.) and jinking.

Jammers, stealth, and other "masking " technologies do not affect this weapon. The range penalty is determined by figuring the range from the firing ship to the original target hex, not the target unit's actual location. If the shredder hits a target, it calculates its damage like any other antimatter weapon would (i.e., using the shredder's damage formula).

Antimatter shredders affect ships, fighters, shuttles, bases, mines, fixed jumpgates, or any other similar unit. They have no appreciable effect on planets, asteroids, or other terrain types, unless otherwise specified by scenario or terrain rules.

Cannon Mode:

For long -range use, shredders are equipped with an extractable gun emplacement, or barrel, which allows the antimatter bolts to be combined into a directed beam. This allows the gun to operate exactly as an antimatter cannon. The decision to switch to this mode is done in the Fire Determination Step of the Combat Sequence, and is announced with the rest of your weapons fire. The firing arc of the gun is not altered. Switching between shredder and cannon mode does not affect or alter the rate of fire of the weapon.

Ionic Weapons

The category that includes ion-based weapons is another dangerous one, as these devices use significant amounts of radiation during operation. Thus, while they are considered somewhat low-tech, ionic weapons are generally avoided by most races.

There are exceptions, of course, particularly in the case of beings immune or resistant to radiation exposure. Some ion weapons provide exceptions, but these are so well-shielded or contained in other forms that they are effectively another weapon type alto Ionic Weapon Summary Tech Level: Low Range: Medium-Long Firing Rate: Fast Damage: Low

Interceptable: Yes

Special Rules: Dangerous to use

Notes: Most examples of this class will be presented in a future product gether. The ion torpedo, for example, is actually considered a ballistic weapon for all relevant rules.

The primary advantage of ship-mounted ionic weapons is their rate of fire, which is usually faster than most comparable weapons in a similar class. However, they tend to score lower amounts of damage, so a race employing ionic weapons must keep up a constant barrage on the enemy in order to ensure victory.

I an Balt

Mode: Standard

Primary Users: CentauriCascor

This fighter-mounted weapon was originally developed by the Cascor, but was later adopted by the Centauri for use on their top-secret Rutarian stealth fighters. Like many ion weapons, it produces a significant amount of radiation, a problem the Centauri solved by mounting the device well to the rear of the fighter and away from the pilot. The gun must be shutdown before the fighter lands and is never activated a board ship, but these issues can be safely ignored for gameplay purposes.

The ion bolt is a fighter-mounted heavy weapon and tends to draw a great deal of power on the turn it fires. For this reason, any fighter mounting this device cannot use any other energy-based weapons (such as its light guns) on the same turn the ion bolt is fired.

Ballistic Weapons

Ballistic Weapon Summary

Ballistic weapons are those which are launched at a target early on in the turn, then roll to -hit after movement is completed.

See the complete Combat Sequence in the Appendix for the precise timing of launch. Note that players are required to determine ballistic launch at the same time as EW (near the beginning of the combat turn). In this way, a player cannot wait to find out which enemy units didn 't use defensive EW, and then overwhelm them with a missile salvo.

Tech Level: Low-Medium

Range: Long

Firing Rate: Average

Damage: Medium (usually fixed)

Interceptable: Yes

Special Rules: Launched before movement; usually suffer no range penalties

Notes: Can be intercepted with no degradation; often have ammunition limits There are three basic types of ballistic weapons: missiles, torpedoes, and proximity weapons . Missiles are just what you'd expect— a warhead with a rocket attached to the back. While they have some advantages (typically in their selfguidance abilities), they are large and cumbersome, and require significant logistical support. Torpedoes are more advanced devices, often energy-based, created by their launcher and guided to the target by the ship that fires them.

Proximity weapons are similar to torpedoes, but are targeted at a location, not a specific unit. Upon arrival at their destination, they either explode (causing damage to any unit in range) or deliver other effects to nearby targets.

All ballistic weapons are assigned a target when launched (sometimes this target must be announced, as is the case with missiles and ballistic torpedoes; other times it is secret, e.g., energy mines). The target cannot be changed after launch. The target is always a specific unit, except proximity weapons, which target a hex on the map. The launching player must announce which launcher fired the weapon (and, in the case of weapons that can fire multiple times, the quantity of warheads fired), but need not announce any other specific data. For example, the player does not have to reveal which type of missile his rack just launched until it actually impacts. The type must, however, be recorded at the time of launch, and cannot be changed afterward. If the weapon misses, the warhead type need not be revealed until the scenario is over (unless noted otherwise in the warhead's specific rules).

When a ballistic weapon is launched, place a counter on the table to mark the firing position. It is from this location that the range and firing directions will be determined. Note that the weapon must have line -of-sight to be launched at a target, but need not maintain it thereafter. If the target disengages from the scenario, however, the ballistic shot will miss. The weapon can also be voluntarily ordered to miss (in effect, self-destructed in flight) as a safety precaution, an option which may be useful in some situations.

Ballistic weapons usually have no range penalties, although they do have a maximum launch range , which limits their distance when fired, and a distance range which determines the maximum number of hexes they can travel during the turn. Unless otherwise stated, these ranges are the same. Thus, for example, a ballistic torpedo can be launched from no farther than 25 hexes from its target, and can travel no more than 25 hexes to its target without automatically missing. Some weapons, however, have an extended distance range— most missiles, for example, have a distance range equal to three times their launch range. Unless noted otherwise, the value shown on the weapon datacard is the same for both ranges.

Ballistic weapons roll to hit during the Weapons Fire Step (after movement). In fact, they have a significant advantage in that they roll to -hit and score damage before any other weapons fire is exchanged during the turn. This, combined with the fact that the firing ship doesn't have to expose itself to an enemy, is the primary benefit of a ballistic Ballistic weapons are usually long -range devices that have few, if any, range penalties. Their main disadvantage is a vulnerability to defensive fire. If fired at a unit, that unit can use any number of defensive weapons against a ballistic shot without any degradation in effectiveness. See the chapter on Combat for more information on this.

Missiles

Missiles are simple, self-guided devices that home in on a target in order to deliver their warhead (or other payload). Because they use built-in optical systems, they do not benefit from the launching ship's EW, but use their own "offensive rating " instead. All missiles (unless stated otherwise), including those launched from fighters, have an offensive rating of + 3. This represents the guidance system found in the missile itself. Note that this applies to the Basic Missile and any newer devices— older missiles may have a lesser rating (or no rating at all), and if so, this will be mentioned in their descriptions. Some special missiles may have a further bonus against certain units, e.g., the anti fighter missile has a bonus to its offensive rating when used against fighters.

Missiles are launched from special racks that must be able to "see" the target (thus, they have a firing arc just like any other weapon). Extended guidance from these racks can also help the missile reach its target, as represented by a built-in fire control rating. This rating is used by any missile launched by the rack, in addition to the built-in offensive EW noted above. However, the fire control rating applies only if the launching unit has line -of-sight to the target at the time of impact (i.e., after movement, when the missile actually rolls to hit). Thus, a defender can duck behind handy asteroids or enormous units to try to throw off a missile. Similarly, if the launching ship is destroyed or leaves the scenario before impact (perhaps it is lost to a ramming attack, or enters a jumpgate), the rack's benefit cannot be used. The rack does not need to be in arc of the target to provide its fire control bonus.

For fighter-launched missiles, the fighter may apply its offensive bonus (in addition to the normal

Example of Missile Fire

An Earth Olympus Corvette launches a basic missile at a nearby

Centauri Primus. The Primus is 14 hexes away at the moment of launch (before movement on that turn), so it is well within the 20 hex range of the basic missile. Since the distance range is triple this value, the Primus would have to get to range 61 to force an automatic miss, so it doesn’t even try. Since a Primus’s forward profile is only 16 compared to aside defensive rating of 17, the Centauri player turns his ship to face the launch hex in order to present his best face towards the missile. In addition, he fires four forward twin array shots in defensive mode at the incoming warhead. Thus, the missile requires a base to-hit roll of 16, less 8 for the intercept fire (there is no intercept degradation against ballistic weapons), or 8 (unfortunately, the Primus was running no defensive EW). The Olympus maneuvered to keep line-of-sight on the Primus, so he can provide his rack’s fire control bonus of +3, in addition to the missile’s built-in +3, raising the required to-hit number to 14 or less onad20. If he hits, the missile scores 20 points of standard mode damage.

3 bonus noted above) so long as it keeps the target in arc, maintains line -of-sight, and does not fire any other weapons on that turn. A navigator can remove the arc and weapons fire restrictions, but does not alleviate the LOS requirement. Note that fighters do not use the flight level system when launching ballistic weapons, but treat each such device as a totally independent launch for all rules. This is described further in the Flight Level Combat rules found earlier in this book.

All missiles, unless noted otherwise, have a distance range equal to three times their launch range. For example, the basic missile has a listed range of 20. This means the target must be within 20 hexes at the time of launch, but can be up to 60 hexes away when the missile impacts. Some racks alter the range of missiles they fire, but this is applied after the tripling factor is calculated. For example, the Class-L long -range rack adds +10 to the range, so a basic missile fired from such a rack would have a launch range of 30 hexes and a distance range of 70 hexes.

Torpedoes

Torpedoes are in many respects the basic ballistic weapon of Babylon 5 Wars. While missiles must be individually tracked (and can run out of ammunition during a scenario), this is usually not the case with torpedoes. Indeed, the launching ship can usually create its own torpedoes as needed, so it will never run out of ammo.

Torpedo weapons (ion torpedoes, packet torpedoes, etc.— basically anything with the word "torpedo " in its name) benefit from the offensive EW provided by the launching ship. They do not have the built-in + 3 offensive EW that missiles use, but replace this with their ship's offensive EW, if any. While this is a disadvantage if the ship needs to go on the defensive, it also provides an opportunity to "paint" a target with maximum EW and all but guarantee a hit.

Tactical

When fighting a fleet with ballistic weapons, move fairly quickly and time your approach carefully . End one turn just out of range of their ballistics, then charge in on the next turn.

Notes

This works because races that concentrate on ballistic weapons are light on other guns and can be overwhelmed by close-range attacks.

When the range of the typical torpedo weapon is factored in, the combat effects of such weapons can be devastating. Only the fact that they can be intercepted with no degradation works against them .

Torpedo weapons also have fire control ratings, which operate exactly like those on missile racks (i.e., it only functions if the launching ship can see the target at the time of impact). Fighter launched torpedoes operate like fighterlaunched missiles, except they do not have the + 3 bonus to hit. While this may seem to be a disadvantage, such weapons typically have a much greater range than fighter-launched missiles.

Unless otherwise noted, the launch and distance ranges of torpedo weapons are identical.

Proximity Weapons

Proximity weapons fall under the "ballistic " category unless otherwise noted. However, they are not launched at ships, but at a hex on the map. Unless noted in their descriptions, this hex is recorded secretly, and announced only when the weapon arrives at its destination. The launching ship requires line -of-sight to this hex, but requires no lockon and generally does not need to roll to -hit (though some proximity weapons, like energy mines, might scatter or otherwise have a chance to miss). Proximity weapons cannot be intercepted by any weapon not specifically noted as being able to affect them. They can be safely fired into any sort of terrain or placed effect (e.g., anti-fighter plasma webs) unless noted in other rules, or unless it's painfully obvious that the terrain would destroy any such weapon (for example, a planet's surface, star, or black hole).

Proximity weapons usually do not have range penalties, but will have a maximum range which cannot be exceeded (unless a scatter effect pushes them outside that range). This range, and other basic statistics, will be specified in their datacard.

Proximity weapons score only half the listed damage against enormous units, such as starbases.

Ciass-5 Missile Rack

Mode: Varies By Missile

Primary Users: EarthAlliance, Drazi

Missile racks are found mainly on older ship classes, as more modern vessels tend to eschew them in favor of energy-based guns that don 't require constant rearming. They come in several types, one of which is the Class-S rack shown here.

Class-S missile racks can launch one missile every other turn. This uses the ballistic weapons procedure as defined earlier in these rules. The range of a missile is dependent on the missile type (as listed hereafter).

Missiles come in a limited supply. The Class-S rack carries 20 missiles when full. As each missile is launched, check off a box on the track provided on the control sheet, and when the rack is empty, no more missiles can be used. Missiles cannot be transferred between racks during a scenario. Note that during a typical game, you won 't be able to use all 20 missiles, but this could have meaning in a campaign or series of inter-connected battles.

Some scenarios might also specify that one or more racks are empty or partially empty. Also, players may voluntarily use fewer missiles if desired, but this must be declared at the start of the scenario (it can be kept secret, but should be recorded somewhere to be revealed when necessary).

If a missile rack takes damage or is destroyed, the missiles it contains are usually unaffected (they are stored in a protected magazine). However, because of this magazine, missile racks are subject to a special critical hit. Use the usual weapon critical chart— even if the rack has been destroyed during the turn— but if a natural 20 (that is, a 20 unmodified by any bonuses or penalties) is rolled on the die, the rack's magazine has been hit and the detonators explode in a chain reaction! This has the following effects.

First, count the number of missiles still in the rack, multiply this by their warhead strength (20 for basic missiles), and divide by 4. This determines the magazine potential of the explosion. Next, mark the rack (and all its missiles) destroyed. Then, apply the magazine potential as a raking volley against the side of the ship which supported the missile rack. Normal armor will affect this damage normally, but shields and the adaptive portion of adaptive armor won 't apply. Example: An EarthForce Olympus Corvette takes a hit on its port side missile rack and a natural 20 is scored as its critical hit. There are 12 missiles still in the rack, all of them basic missiles, with a conglomerate warhead strength of 240. The missile rack and all its missiles would be immediately be marked destroyed. The magazine potential is 60 points (one-fourth of 240), resulting in one raking volley consisting of six 10 -point sub-volleys, all scored against the port side.

In typical scenarios, basic missiles don 't cost any Combat Points to buy. Assume the rack is full at no cost (unless special missiles are used, or the player voluntarily lowers the number of missiles). However, in a campaign, filling a rack may require some expense for missile construction, as well as the logistics of resupply.

Class-L Missile Rack

Modes: Varies By Missile

Primary User: EarthAlliance

A long-range rack, this is equipped with a special targeting booster array that increases the range of any missiles it fires by 10 hexes. Racks of this type were expensive, and usually appeared only on specialty ships designed for them (such as the Sagittarius missile cruiser).

Class-R Missile Rack

Modes: Varies By Missile

Primary User: EarthAlliance

The "rapid -fire " rack has two missile tubes instead of one, and can fire up to one missile per turn instead of one every other turn. Two missiles in a single turn is not possible due to the alternating nature of the rack.

The main disadvantage of the class-R rack is an increased vulnerability to magazine hits (due to the double connection to the magazine itself). Magazine criticals are scored against this rack on a natural " 19 " or " 20."

Class-A Missile Rack

Mode: Standard

Primary User: EarthAlliance

This is a specialized missile rack designed to launch anti fighter missiles rapidly— it can fire one each turn. It may not, however, use any other type of missile.

Class-A racks hold 20 missiles, just like class-S racks. The cost of ships equipped with A-racks includes a full load of type-A missiles (though the player can voluntarily lower this if desired), although in a campaign, any replacements would have to be paid for at the normal price.

The Class-A rack, like the Class-R, is slightly more vulnerable to magazine criticals due to the nature of its ordnance linkages. Magazine criticals occur on a natural 19 or 20 against this sort of rack. Otherwise, use the normal missile rack critical hit chart.

Class-B Missile Rack

Modes: Varies By Missile

Primary User: EarthAlliance

This rack was designed for use on bases or OSATs, and to last through very long battles. It is capable of firing one missile per turn (like the class-R rack), holds sixty missiles in its magazine, and does not suffer from magazine critical hits (due to the depth and strength of the armor surrounding it). Due to improved tracking abilities, any missile launched from a class-Brack has its usual maximum range increased by 10 hexes (just like the class-L rack).

Reload Rack

This system, which appears only on a few missile-dependent ship types, is designed to provide extra missiles without a need for restocking during along-term campaign. Each reload rack on the ship holds up to 80 missiles, which can be of the special types listed hereafter (though each must be purchased separately). If no special ones are purchased, basic missiles are assumed. In a campaign or series of interconnected scenarios, the use of each should be tracked until reloads arrive.

During a turn, a reload rack can move at most one of its missiles (even large ones) into a missile rack, or it can take one out of a missile rack and into its own storage space (assuming there is enough room). The missile rack in question cannot be used on that turn, though this does not count as "deactivation " for purposes of launch rates. The missile transfer is recorded at the start of the turn, during the Power Allocation Step of the Combat Sequence, and the missile remains in its current position (for purposes of magazine criticals) until the Repair/Adjustment Segment at the end of the turn.

Note that reload racks can be used to move missiles out of the magazines of destroyed missile launchers (assuming those magazines survived). Ships without reload racks to use as intermediaries cannot transfer missiles between magazines during a scenario.

Reload racks are subject to the same special magazine critical (the natural 20 roll) of a missile rack, but do not suffer any other criticals. Note that since the reload rack almost always appears in the primary section of the ship, such a critical hit will be catastrophic!

Missile Types far Ships

The various types of missiles available are listed in this section. These types have a single letter identifier which can be written in the missile track on the ship control sheet. As each missile is launched, simply check it off on this track.

Standard (basic) missiles are the default type and are used unless otherwise noted. The special missiles listed below replace basic missiles in any type of rack, except as noted otherwise. Some of them replace more than one basic missile If a rack holds several different types of missiles, it can fire any of them (player's choice) during a turn— there is no need to record their order in the rack's magazine. This is due to the special rotary delivery system used by most modern racks Note that there is an added Combat Point cost (shown in the chart at the end of the list) for using any of these missiles. These missiles cannot be carried on fighters, only in missile racks. Each special missile must be purchased and tracked separately in any campaign, as replacements for them are not free!

Basic Missile (B):

This is the standard missile. Unless otherwise specified, racks are filled with this type.

Flash Missile (F):

This is identical to the missile of the same type originally introduced by the Dilgar. It scores the same damage as a normal missile, but does so in flash mode. Missiles of this type were excellent against flights of fighters, as the flash explosion scores collateral damage against all other fighters in the flight.

Heavy Missile (H):

These missiles traded propulsion systems for an enlarged warhead. They are so short-ranged as to be all but useless in battle, though ships with Class-L racks found them quite powerful. If used on a fighter-sized target (including super-heavy fighters), they suffer a penalty of -3 to hit.

Anti-Fighter Missile (A):

These were equipped with a special fire control system allowing them better shots at enemy fighters ( + 3 to hit). Though their range is somewhat decreased over a basic missile, this was not seen as a disadvantage considering the usual engagement ranges used by fighter flights.

Long-Range Missile (L):

The opposite of a heavy missile, these traded warhead strength for increased propulsion Coupled with a Class-L rack, long -range missiles could be launched at targets at ranges almost equaling those of ion torpedo or energy mine.

Piercing Missile (P):

These were developed specifically for the purpose of damaging or destroying Minbari jammers The theory was to deliver a shaped charge that penetrated the outer structure and scored at least some damage a gains a primary system (hopefully the jammer). Unfortunately, their cost exceeded their usefulness in battle.

HARM Missile (X):

These special missiles were designed to follow an active lock back to the enemy, then produce a blast of interference that disrupts the ship's sensors. These missiles have a bonus of + 1 to hit for every point of offensive EW the target is using against the firing ship. If the missile explodes, roll 1 d6. This represents the amount the target's sensors should be reduced on the coming turn. Multiple HARM missiles are cumulative, although no sensor array can be reduced below zero in any turn (excess does not carry over to future turns, but is lost). Although HARM missiles score no actual damage, they are treated as having a warhead strength of 20 points for purposes of magazine criticals. HARM missiles do not affect shuttles or fighters.

Missile Summary Chart

Class Cost Warhead

0 (20)

10 each

Range

Available

2165

2229

2225

2231

2225

2244

2248

2256

2230

Special

Flash

-3 to hit fighters

+3 to hit fighters

Piercing

Disrupts sensors

Up to six shots

Target has -3 to hit

Multi warhead Missile (M):

This special missile was designed to take down incoming fighter flights. It must be targeted on a fighter flight in order to function. Upon launch, it splits into six sub munitions, which will each engage a separate fighter (if there are fewer than 6 fighters in the flight, excess sub munitions are lost). Each sub munition rolls to hit and scores damage separately. Because it bursts immediately, the fact that a given missile is of class-M is obvious and must be announced. Multi warhead missiles take up two missile spaces in any rack, and count as 60 points for purposes of magazine criticals.

Chaff Missile (C):

This specialized missile does no damage to the target, but instead creates a thick cloud of metallic particles in front of the enemy unit's gun ports. Any non-ba 11istic weapons fire from that unit at any target on the same turn is reduced by the chaff missile's intercept rating of -3. After that turn is over, the chaff disperses and has no further effect. Multiple chaff missiles from the same unit at the same target are not cumulative. Chaff missiles count as having a warhead strength of 0 points for purposes of magazine criticals.

Missile Types far Fighters

Fighters use a standardized missile referred to as the basic fighter missile . This has a launch range of 10 (distance range 30) and scores 10 points of damage when it hits.

Unless noted otherwise, fighter missiles cannot be used on ships, or vice versa. Rules for other types of fighter launched missiles will appear in future products.

I an Torpedo

Mode: Standard

Primary Users: Narn, Cascor

While it uses an ionic core, the ion torpedo is treated as a ballistic weapon for all rules. It is the classic torpedo weapon — long -ranged, quick to arm, and scoring a fair amount of damage. Only the inherent radiation issues in the device's ionic make upkeep it from being more popular on Narn ships and vessels operated by other races.

Ballistic Torpedo

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Centauri

The ballistic torpedo fires an energy weapon housed in a metallic shell. It operates much like a missile, but because its warhead is created on demand by the energy weapon system, its ammunition does not need to be tracked (the shells can be stored by the hundreds with little difficulty). In addition, there is no magazine, so there is no risk of a catastrophic critical hit to the ship.

A ballistic torpedo launcher can hold up to six shots at once, and can launch any or all of them during any turn. Each one must be fired at a different unit, however, unless using saturation mode (see below). Typically, the ship fires a spread at a cluster of enemy vessels or a flight of fighters.

Against flights, the torpedoes will automatically select different fighters— the same fighter will never be hit by two torpedoes from the same launcher in the same turn, and if there aren't enough fighters in the flight, some of the torpedoes will miss.

As long as the weapon is powered and undestroyed, one ballistic torpedo will be created within it every turn (hence it is listed as having a ROF of 1 per turn). Thus, after six turns, an empty one will have been completely refilled.

Once full, new torpedoes will not be generated until at least one of them has been launched and a "free slot" opens up. If the weapon is ever deactivated, all torpedoes within it a rede-energized and lost. Unless otherwise noted, the weapon is considered fully armed (with six torpedoes) at the start of any scenario!

As with most ballistic weapons, ballistic torpedoes are launched during the Movement Step of the Combat Sequence. Targets must be announced at this time.

Saturation Mode

When launched in this mode, some or all of the ballistic torpedoes in a given launcher are group -fire data single enemy unit, usually a key ship in the opposing formation. The torpedoes all follow the same path, each slightly behind the other, in the same way as pulse cannon shots are fired. Thus, it should not be surprising that the saturation mode torpedo uses similar rules.

To fire a ballistic torp in saturation mode, simply announce (at the time of launch) the number of warheads being used against the target. The resulting attack is resolved as a single dieroll, treated as a normal ballistic torpedo shot, except that for every 4 points the to -hit roll is exceeded, one additional torpedo will hit (up to the number that were fired). When used against fighters, use the pulse rules to resolve the attack, although in most cases it is wiser to simply fire the ballistic torpedo in normal mode against such targets.

Saturation Mode Example

A Demos launches three ballistic torpedoes at an enemy

G ’Quan cruiser. After factoring defense ratings, EW, and the like, the torpedoes need a 24 or less to hit (the G ’Quan was well-painted with EW). The G'Quan player, realizing that the torpedoes can be intercepted with no degradation (since they are ballistic weapons), fires his forward twin arrays defensively against this attack. Each twin array shot gives a -2, reducing the chance to hit to 16 or less. If the Centauri player rolls a 13-16, he will hit with one torpedo. If he rolls 9-12, he gets 2 hits, and 8 or less would earn 3 hits. Note that no matter how well he rolls, he cannot score better than 3 hits since he chose to only launch 3 warheads when he fired the weapon (and cannot change this decision now).

It is possible to fire groups of ballistic torpedoes against different targets in the same turn, up to the limit of how many warheads are a vailable. For example, you could fire three shots against one target, two against a second unit, and one on a third. Any target which receives more than 1 torpedo from a single launcher uses the above saturation mode rules to resolve the attack.

Note that it is NOT permitted to fire two or more separate salvoes against the same target in the same turn! If you fired two shots against a ship and two more against the same ship (from the same torpedo launcher), that would be one attack with four torpedoes, not two attacks with two each!

Packet: Tnrpeda

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Gaim

One of the few Gaim -designed weapons, this is a kind of crossbreed between particle cannons and an ion torpedo. The device creates a packet of energy which "locks -onto " its target after firing.

The packet torpedo is a ballistic weapon which uses the normal ballistic rules, except that it has a range penalty. Its distance range and launch range are identical (a maximum of 50 hexes), but the range penalty is based on the distance range. If used against jammer-protected ships or ships without a lock-on, all appropriate effects apply (e.g., against a jammer, the launch range is halved and the range penalty is doubled).

The target of a packet torpedo need not be announced at the time of launch (though it must be determined and recorded at this time). The target is actually announced when other weapons fire is announced, affording the target player no chance to use movement as a defense. This is the primary advantage of the packet torpedo weapon.

Antimatter Torpedo

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Vree

One of the more unusual experiments undertaken by the Vree Guild of Technological Research was the development of along-range ballistic weapon for use against stand-off targets. The classic problem of antimatter weaponry (the relatively short range) was countered by the addition of a matter shell surrounding an antimatter core. The resulting torpedo remained stable for a longer period of time, permitting volleys to be used against targets that would normally be out of range of Vree weaponry.

Like most antimatter weapons, the torpedo is unaffected by range to a point, then begins to receive a range penalty thereafter (if used against a jammer-protected ship or without a lock-on, all appropriate penalties apply, just as with the packet torpedo). Also typical of the class, it scores more damage depending on the quality of a hit, as described in the antimatter weapon section of this chapter. Though it is treated as an antimatter weapon for class purposes, it uses the ballistic rules where launch and impact are concerned.

Energy Mine

Mode: Flash (No Collateral)

Primaiy User: Nam

A weapon created by Narn engineers, the energy mine is designed to damage or destroy incoming fighters and ships before they get within normal engagement range. Protons and anti-protons are introduced together within a stasis field. This field degrades at a pre-determined rate, dependent upon the distance the weapon is being fired. When it fully degrades, the protons and anti-protons collide, causing an explosion which covers a large volume of space. Occasionally the stasis field is not properly tuned and degrades improperly, causing the mine to implode in on itself harmlessly or scatter in an unpredictable direction.

Energy mines are proximity weapons, and use the proximity launch rules described earlier in this section. The weapon's target hex is not revealed to the opponent until the roll for success is made. When the mine reaches this hex, the firing player reveals this information and then rolls to hit, with a base chance of 15 or less. If it hits, the mine explodes at that location. If it misses, roll oned 10. On a 1 -6, the mine scatters (see below) in the direction shown on the die, and on a 7-10 it fizzles and does nothing.

If the mine scatters, it misses in the direction shown on the die (where 1 is towards the top of the map, 2 is towards the top right corner, and so on clockwise around the map). The miss occurs 1 d5 hexes away from the original target hex. Note, however, that the mine may not scatter more hexes than the distance between the launching hex and the original target hex. If the number on the distance die is greater than this distance, it should be reduced to equal it.

Thus, for example, if an energy mine is launched at a spot 3 hexes in front of the firing ship, and the scatter roll is a 5, it should be reduced to a 3.

Damage for energy mines is two numbers separated by a slash. Any unit (even friendly units) in the hex where the mine lands takes the damage shown before the slash (determine the direction of the hit based on the unit's facing towards the original launching hex). Units one hex away take the number after the slash, and are hit from the direction of the explosion. In the case of fighters, all fighters in the flight suffer this damage. Enormous units, such as bases, take only half damage from energy mine explosions (their huge hulls are better able to shunt off the effects). There is no collateral damage scored for the flash effect.

Energy mines have a maximum range of 50 hexes when launched, and a minimum range of 1 hex (they cannot be launched into the same hex as the firing ship). Scattering mines can exceed the 50-hex limitation, but this is the only case where this is possible. It is not permitted to voluntarily scatter a mine!

The energy mine is a very capable weapon against massed fighters. The Narns found it a highly useful device in large fleet battles, but somewhat less than effective in smaller engagements.

Light: Ballistic Torpedo

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Centauri

This device is an attempt by the Centauri to develop a non-missile ballistic weapon for use on fighters. It has the same range as a normal ballistic torpedo, but is not as powerful. Its primary advantage is an unusually long range for a fighter-mounted weapon, but like any ballistic device, its carriage is limited (see the individual fighter rules to find out how many can be used). A ship can reload 2 light ballistic torpedoes per fighter per turn of hangar bay activities.

Light ballistic torpedoes are treated as fighter-launched missiles for all rules, including the need to keep the target in arc to benefit from the fighter's offensive bonus. They do not receive a missile's + 3 to -hit bonus, however, but make up for this deficiency with a longer range.

Light Ion Torpedo

Mode: Standard

Primary User: Nam

The light ion torpedo is a fighter-mounted version of the ion torpedo system use donD ag'Kars and other Narn vessels after 2239. Several variants of the device have appeared, but none worked properly until the development of the Tarza variant of the Gor i thin 2255. Like the light ballistic torpedo, the primary advantage of this weapon is its range, but is limited by available ammunition. A carrier can reload just 1 torpedo per fighter per turn of hangar activities.

Light ion torpedoes are treated as fighter-launched missiles for all rules, except that they don 't gain a missile's inherent + 3 bonus to hit.

Types of Units

In Babylon 5 Wars, there area number of types of units, ranging from the various categories of ships and fighters to more unusual items like bases and satellites. This chapter provides a summary of those that have already been described in these rules, and introduces the rules for a number of new unit types.

Starships

There are four basic categories of ships: capital ships, heavy combat vessels, medium ships, and light combat vessels. Some of their features have already been discussed previously in this book, but will be listed again here for easy reference.

Capital Ships

This is the basic ship type in the game. Capital ships are distinguished by four sides (forward, port, starboard, and aft), plus a primary section. The sides of a capital ship are generally larger than the forward and aft sections, but as they are twice as large (for incoming fire purposes), they tend to take damage more often.

As the diagram here shows, capital ships have four structure blocks plus a primary block. The lines indicate how incoming damage would be applied to these blocks.

Some examples of capital ships include battleships, dreadnoughts, heavy cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers (for some races, such as the EarthAlliance), heavy carriers, most scouts, exploration vessels, and similar types of large spacecraft. The Earth Omega Destroyer, Minbari Sharlin War Cruiser, Centauri Primus Battlecruiser, and N am G 'Quan Heavy Cruiser are the most basic examples of this ship category.

Heavy Combat: Vessels

These ships, often referred to as HCVs, are intermediate units. They are not as large as capital ships, but can often carry the same kinds of heavy armament usually reserved for larger classes. Their smaller size typically affords them greater speed and maneuverability, making them ideal as hunter-killer units. However, because they have only three sections (forward, aft, and primary), they are more vulnerable in combat. While a capital ship that loses a section can simply turn another side to the enemy, an HCV without a forward or aft structure block is in serious trouble.

The diagram here shows the main difference between an HCV and a capital ship: only three structure blocks instead of five. The fact that incoming damage is only distributed to two areas (forward and aft) instead of four (forward, aft, port, starboard) makes heavy combat vessels much more vulnerable to damage than capital ships.

Examples of heavy combat vessels include small destroyers, escorts, light carriers, large frigates, miscellaneous warships, and the like. The Earth Olympus Corvette, Minbari Tinashi War Frigate, Centauri Vorchan Warship, and Narn Rongoth Destroyer are the most frequently encountered HCVs fielded by the major races.

Medium Ships

These swift and maneuverable vessels are used for a variety of missions. Their small size prevents the use of most heavy weapons, limiting their firepower, but because they are not all that expensive, they can be employed in quantity. In addition, their size makes them difficult targets. Unfortunately, they have only one section (primary), so they are relatively easy to destroy (compare the basic structural diagram to that of the much more sturdy heavy combat vessel and capital ship designs). Only the fact that incoming fire must still be split between forward and aft makes medium ships combat-worthy.

The medium ship category includes most frigates, light escorts, fast warships, police craft, corvettes, and many civilian freighters and other support vehicles. Examples include the Earth Tethys Corvette, Minbari White Star, Centauri Haven Patrol Boat, and Narn Then tus Frigate. Medium ships are usually too small to carry fighters, so there are few vessels of this type in use as carriers. Jump engines are also rare among medium ships, the White Star being the obvious exception.

Light: Combat Vessels

Something of across between a ship and a fighter, the light combat vessel (LCV) is generally considered in appropriate for military use (though a few races have specialized in this ship category).

While incredibly cheap to build, the LCV is so small it can usually be destroyed by a single heavy weapon hit (the basic structural diagram shown here is almost unnecessary).

An LCV's small size prevents the use of any sort of heavy armament, so their combat abilities are extremely limited. In addition, because they have little storage space for supplies or fuel, their patrol range is very short, usually limited to a small area of territory near their base.

Light combat vessels are normally used only by civilian or Raider organizations as a cheap defense unit for a colony or outpost. Because they cannot travel through hyperspace on their own (and are extremely vulnerable to adverse hyperspace currents), they are almost never seen with an attacking force. However, as noted above, there are some races that have specialized in LCVs, designing special ships to carry and deploy them in reasonable numbers.

The Drakh are the prime example of this.

Light combat vessels are treated as medium ships except as noted hereafter. For example, this means a weapon's fire control against medium ships should be used when targeting an LCV The following differences apply:

LCVs have only one structure block (just as medium ships do), but use the same hit location chart (but not defense rating) regardless of which direction enemy fire comes from. They do not have a Primary Hits chart, so they can be easily crippled on a lucky roll. Called shots can only be used against weapons when firing on LCVs.

LCVs do not operate heavy weapons, as they are too small to mount a gun with that sort of firepower. The largest weapon operated by an LCV is a medium laser cannon. Most LCVs do not carry missiles or other weapons with consumable ammunition, primarily due to space limitations. If an LCV has a missile rack, for example, its magazine may be limited in size, as defined in the individual ship description.

LCVs have a basic initiative bonus of + 14, which may be even higher on some vessels. They are always agile (any initiative bonuses from that status are included in the bonus listed on the control sheet) and are always atmospheric capable unless otherwise listed. One advantage of such ships is that they can operate from ground bases on planets with unusually thick or hostile atmospheres, where a normal fighter could not. This fact, more than any other, has influenced the development of light combat vessels by races that would otherwise not have a reason to bother.

Sensors and C & Care combined on an LCV into a single system called "control." This uses the same icon as a normal sensor suite. If this system takes damage, roll for a critical hit on the Sensor chart, but not the C & C chart. If it is destroyed, this is counted as a destroyed sensor system, and roll once on the C & C chart. Barring any resulting C &C critical, the ship's C & C abilities can operate normally even if the control system is destroyed.

LCVs are limited in the use of their electronic warfare points. While a larger ship can apply its EW as it wishes, LCVs must use all but two of their points for offensive EW. The remaining two can be used for any purpose. For example, an LCV with a sensor rating of 5 must use 3 points forO EW, but can use the other two forO EW, DEW, or CCEW in any combination desired.

Engines and thrust are combined on an LCV into a single system called "drive." The ship can apply thrust in any direction desired, assuming the drive is operational. If the system takes any damage, roll critical hits on the Engine chart. If it is destroyed, treat this as a destroyed engine. Regardless of the thrust generated, LCVs do not suffer from overthrusting.

Reactors work normally on LCVs except that their loss does not immediately destroy the ship. If the reactor is destroyed, it simply shuts off. LCVs do not roll for overload, regardless of how damaged their reactor is.

No more than one breaching pod can attach to an LCV at anytime.

LCVs do not carry shuttles or fighters. For service or to on load /offload crew, they must dock to larger units. They are small enough to fit into the internal bays of large bases like Babylon 5, but not the hangar bays of starships.

Certain large vessels designed to carry one or more LCVs may appear in future products, but none are presented herein.

Variants

Variants (also called models or versions) are physical alterations to a standard ship's basic form. For example, the pulse variant of the Earth Omega Destroyer replaces the heavy laser cannons with heavy pulse cannons. Some variants include just a few changes, as in this example, while others can be quite extensive. Often, a given ship class will receive a number of different variants over the course of its lifetime.

In B5W, the basic ship is usually the one published first (not necessarily the one first built historically). Variants published later will have the line "Ship Variant" listed just above the class name on the control sheet. If a ship is not a variant, this line will not appear. Variants are subject to certain availability limitations listed later in this section.

Some examples of variant types include the following:

Carrier: These ships typically modify an existing warship hull to add an increased fighter capacity. Often, this means a reduction in firepower or other systems, but in the mind of the designer, the addition of fighters to the battlefield should more than make up for this.

Escort Carrier: These are similar to carriers, but instead of a major overhaul to the hangar bay, they instead usually add just a few fighters for limited support. Often, these are added by attaching an auxiliary hangar directly to the outside of the hull, rather than in the primary section. This hangar is frequently left empty, and used strictly to reload and refuel fighters launched by main line carriers.

Strike Carrier: The strike carrier is a relatively rare ship type designed to operate alone, or with limited escorts.

In theory, it (along with its fighters) should be able to move into an area and conduct a military strike (hence the name).

Should it come under attack by an enemy vessel, it is more than capable of defending itself.

Gunship: These ship types operate heavy weapons, often in large quantities (e.g., the Nova), often at the expense of defensive firepower. Though they are powerful, their lack of defenses forces the fleet commander to treat them with caution, lest they be isolated and destroyed.

Close Escort: This unusual variant is designed purely for short-ranged, defensive firepower. Its main purpose is to accompany a carrier, command ship, or other key vessel and shoot down anything that dares to get close (typically fighters).

Missile /Bombardment Ship: As the name suggests, these ship types specialize in ballistic firepower. Though they have few "big guns," these fire support platforms can operate from the rear of a fleet, harassing the enemy with missiles and other ordnance. For this reason they are often the target of fighter attacks.

Assault Ship: This type, typified by the T'Lot hand Secundus, is designed to carry troops and perform ground attacks.

Sometimes they also hold breaching pods

(as described in the Earth Wars supplement) to better aid in capturing enemy ships. The need to hold huge quantities of troops and equipment often limits their armament and maneuvering abilities.

Leader /Command Ship: These rare ships are equipped with special C &C facilities allowing them to better control the actions of their own ship and others in their fleet. This is usually represented by an initiative bonus to the ship itself and occasionally an effect on ships nearby (as defined in the ship's description). Additional abilities of these ships will be defined in the Babylon 5 Wars Fleet Action product.

Scout: The ELINT variant is one of the more useful conversions, and also one of the most difficult to build. The sensor arrays of the typical warship are integrated throughout the hull, so upgrading them to ELINT status requires a major overhaul and redesign of these systems. For this reason, scout variants are relatively rare, and when they appear, they are sadly lacking in firepower.

Survey Vessel: The survey ship is one of the few types designed to operate alone, and for long periods of time.

The EarthAlliance Explorer is a perfect example of the class. Typically outfitted with cargo space for supplies and ELINT sensors to explore newly discovered systems, the survey vessel can explore unknown areas during peacetime, and during war, can perform covert intelligence gathering operations on enemy star systems.

Others: There are, of course, many other ship variants not listed above. These will appear in future products.

Special Deployment

While many ship variants are effective in battle, they often suffer from construction and support difficulties not adequately represented in a tactical game. This and other factors contributes to their rarity in fleet structures, no matter how useful they may appear. To represent this, many variants are assigned special deployment rules which limit the number which can appear in scenarios or be built in campaigns. Deployment rules apply to free -form battles as well as published scenarios, except under special circumstances. In campaigns, they apply only to construction (once a player has built his ships, he should be allowed to deploy them however he wishes).

There are four levels of availability, as defined below.

Common (Unlimited Availability): This is the standard unless otherwise noted. Common ships can be built without limitations or restrictions, unless otherwise noted in their descriptions.

Uncommon (Limited Availability): Uncommon variants are limited to no more than one in every three of that class. Thus, in any three ships of a specified class, only one can be uncommon; the others must be common types.

Rare (Restricted Availability): These variants are limited to no more than one in every nine of that ship class, and count as an "uncommon " ship for all rules.

Specialty (Special Rules): These variants are treated as rare ships, but are also under other special rules.

Examples include uniqueness (such as the Grey Sharlin) or similar limits. See the individual ship's rule for a full explanation.

Fighters: Fighters use squadrons as their class type, but uncommon or rare types are limited by flight. For example, no more than one flight in every three squadrons of a given class can be uncommon, and no more than one flight in every nine squadrons can be of a rare variant.

Campaign Notes: Purchase restrictions apply to construction limitations only.

For example, a player could build one uncommon or rare variant, but the next two Variant Deployment Summary IF YOU HAVE...

THEN YOU CAN USE...

would have to be common versions. If a player wishes, he could move all his rare / 1 unit of a given type 2 units of a given type 3 units of a given type 4 units of a given type 5 units of a given type 6 units of a given type 7 units of a given type 8 units of a given type 9 units of a given type 1 rare or uncommon type 1 rare/uncommon, 1 common 1 rare/uncommon, 2 common 1 rare/uncommon, 1 uncommon, 2 common 1 rare/uncommon, 1 uncommon, 3 common 1 rare/uncommon, 1 uncommon, 4 common 1 rare/uncommon, 2 uncommon, 4 common 1 rare/uncommon, 2 uncommon, 5 common 1 rare/uncommon, 2 uncommon, 6 common uncommon variants into the same fleet, so long as the limitations are observed at construction time . Some campaigns may require the first ship of a given class to be of the most basic type (signifying the prototype model), but this is up to the campaign designer to define.

Note that only variants have to worry about these classifications— basic ship hulls do not have or need them.

Some ships, such as the Dargan, have their own special availability rules, but these will be listed on a case by case basis in their individual descriptions.

Enarm ous Units

Enormous units are huge, and fill an entire hex (or more) on the map. This affords them a number of special rules and conditions, as listed hereafter. Most enormous units are bases, although a few ships of this type exist. Examples include the EarthAlliance Explorer class as well as the Vorlon Planet-Killer.

Because an enormous unit entirely fills the hex in which it is located, any unit passing through that hex has a significant chance of hitting it. Thus, a ramming check is always required, even if neither unit actually intends to ram.

(See the chapter on Ramming for more details.) If the enormous unit passes through a hex with a smaller unit, however, do not make a ramming check unless the smaller unit doesn't move out of the hex later in the turn. However, if an enormous unit enters the hex of another, ramming is automatic!

Another feature of enormous units is that they usually block line -of-sight (there are some exceptions to this rule, such as fixed jumpgates). Thus, if you have such a unit on your side, you can use it as a shield against enemy fire. If an opponent locks onto you, simply interpose the enormous unit between yourself and the enemy. If you do so, however, the enemy has the option to alter his offensive EW to the enormous unit instead! In such situations, the opposition has little choice but to destroy the larger unit so he can get to your other forces. Unfortunately, their huge size makes enormous units generally easy to hit, even from long range, so this is not as difficult as it may appear.

Because they are so bulky, enormous ships often operate under other restrictions. For example, the Earth Explorer is not permitted to pivot (its structure is not capable of surviving the forces involved). If these conditions exist, they will be noted in the ship description.

Note that proximity weapons score only half damage to enormous units.

Bases

Bases are immobile outposts used as logistics centers, docking ports, and defensive installations. They are often referred to as space stations , starbases, base stations, and similar names. They are usually of enormous size, though some are treated as capital ships or even smaller units (if this is the case, it will be noted on the base's control sheet).

While they cannot move, they can rotate and are often placed in orbit. If in orbit, they will not move during a scenario, as this motion is not fast enough to be represented in the short period of time represented during a game.

While they operate much like ships, bases have a number of special rules, as noted hereafter.

Rotation

Many bases, particularly those that are regular in shape, can be set to rotate. This is normally done to provide gravity for the inhabitants (unless the race has artificial gravity, e.g., the Centauri or Minbari). It also has certain tactical uses and can operate as a backup gravity source if the artificial generators fail.

If a base is rotating, this fact must be noted before the scenario begins, a long with the rotation direction (clockwise or counterclockwise). Rotation always occurs at the rate of 1 hex facing per turn, and may not be altered during a scenario, with the exception of certain advanced races as defined in their rules. This rotation occurs after all other movement, during the Combat Pivot Segment of the Combat Sequence, and is involuntary (the base may not elect to skip its rotation).

Some bases, such as Babylon 5, cannot rotate due to their unique construction. If this is the case, it will be noted in that unit's specific rules.

A few bases possess their own thrusters. If this is the case, they may be able to pivot or alter their rotation speed.

See the unit's description for more information.

Stability

Bases are considered fixed in place for most rules, a feature of their sturdy construction and great mass. This affords them immunity to any weapon that causes involuntary movement or facing changes, such as gravity nets or gravitic shifters. For similar reasons, they cannot be moved by tractor beam.

In addition to this, the stable platform a base provides enhances the launching abilities of certain ballistic weapons, such as missiles. Any ballistic device launched from a fixed base uses its distance range as the launch range for all purposes. Thus, missiles (which have a distance range triple that of their launch range) can launch missiles at extremely distant targets. For example, a standard missile (which normally has a launch range of 20 and distance range of 60) has both a launch and distance range of 60 hexes if fired from a fixed base!

Unless otherwise noted in scenario rules, a base is always considered stable for these purposes. Certain base-like units, such as the Vree Xeecra Trading Post, can stabilize their position once in orbit and would therefore receive the above benefits. However, stable status cannot be altered during a scenario. If a unit is stabilized, it cannot move or maneuver (though it could be rotating, if this was declared at the start of the scenario). If not, it does not receive any of the above immunities, but is capable of independent movement (if it possesses thrusters, of course).

Note that only certain special units are capable of stabilizing themselves, not just any ship. If a ship can do this, it will be noted in its description. Orbital satellites (described later in this chapter) are not treated as stable for the above rules.

Structure

In order to represent the huge amount of structure blocks required for most bases, a mega box (counting as 10 hits) is displayed to save space. A sample is shown here. Note that the two mega boxes in this structure block are much larger than the normal boxes, and include a "10 " as a reminder that they are the equivalent of 10 smaller boxes.

Whenever you take 10 points in a single volley, use one of these boxes for administrative convenience. Do not round any volley up to 10, as these represent exactly 10 points of damage (no more and no less). If, for example, you need to mark 9 hits, either mark 9 small boxes, or mark a mega box and erase one normal box.

Many players have found the mega box concept confusing or tried to read too much into their presence. Just remember that alia mega box does is replace ten normal boxes with one bigger one. It doesn't have any other special meaning or connotation .

Sides

Bases have sides like any other ship, but these vary in number from as few as 2 to any number (depending on size). For example, the Centauri Kraken has 6 sides, while the Narn Ja'Stat 5, the Centauri Marcanos 4, and the Narn Ja'Dul 3. Other combinations are certainly possible and may appear in future products.

When determining which side was hit by enemy fire, the target of the shot selects a side, but it must be one which faces the incoming shot (as represented by the firing arc next to the structure block in question). If there are no eligible sides, the shot penetrates as a primary hit. Note that if the enemy is firing multiple weapons from a single unit, all weapons from that unit must strike the same side of the base. However, shots from different units— even those in the same hex— could hit different sides, so long as they all had arcs facing the incoming fire.

Piercing weapons divide shots against bases into three segments, as they would with a capital ship. The first segment hits the facing section, the second the primary, and the third the section exactly opposite the first. On bases with an even number of sides, such as the Kraken or Marcanos, the results of this will be obvious. On bases with an odd number, however, there will be two possibilities for the third damage element.

In such cases, the defender makes the choice (as he would when resolving other ambiguous situations).

The firing ship can use the called shot procedure to target a specific side with a -8 penalty. In addition, it is possible to narrow the shot down to a specific system at a further -8, for a total of -16 to hit. (This may seem prohibitive, but the defense ratings of many large bases are in the 20s, making them vulnerable to this tactic.)

Firing Arcs

In addition to determining whether a structure block can be hit by an incoming shot, a section's firing arc also applies to all weapons attached to that structure.

Armor

All systems on a base have armor equal to that found on the structure block they are attached to (be it side or primary structure), except gravitic shields (which always have an armor value of zero). Thus, armor is displayed in only one place, next to the structure block itself.

If a base is hit by a weapon that destroys or reduces armor permanently, that effect will apply only to the system being struck (not every system attached to a given side). In this case you 'll need to keep track of the armor value on the targeted system individually for the rest of the scenario. Simply write the new value next to the affected system.

Reactors

Each side of the base, and the primary section, possesses its own reactor. If this reactor suffers any criticals or is destroyed, the power loss affects only the systems on that side (and if it is destroyed or goes critical, the explosion only destroys the side the reactor is attached to). The reactors CAN transfer power between sides, however. In effect, you can pool your reactor power as needed unless a particular reactor is critically damaged or destroyed.

Each reactor suffers its own critical hits— however, instead of + 1 on the critical roll per hit scored, reactors on an enormous base receive a modifier of + 1 per 2 hits scored (dropping fractions). If a natural " 20 " is rolled on the die, the reactor cannot transfer or receive power out of its section for the remainder of the scenario, in addition to any other critical hit caused by that dieroll.

Destruction

Bases are destroyed just like ships, i.e., you must knockout all the primary structure boxes. The loss of any number of sides will not cause a base's destruction.

Fighters

Fighters are small, usually one-man attack craft designed for a variety of roles, including anti-ship actions, ground attacks, short-ranged patrols, police work, and intercepting enemy fighters. Used by almost all races due to their high firepower-to-cost ratio, fighters come in a variety of types, each with their own features, as listed hereafter.

Light Fighters

The most basic fighter, these are usually fast but poorly armed craft most suitable for an interception role. Their primary advantage lies in their low cost and high speed. Because they are so small, a single hit from an enemy fighter or defensive weapon will usually destroy them or force them to drop out.

Light fighters have the ability to jink up to 10 levels, a feature that can make them all but unhittable when fully employed.

Examples of light fighters include the Centauri Razik, Brakiri Falkosi, Drazi Star Snake, Vree Zorth, and Raider Delta-V.

Medium Fighters

One of the more common fighter types, medium fighters are considered average in most respects. They normally carry standard fighter weapons on amid-sized frame capable of surviving the first engagement in a dogfight. Their average nature makes them suitable for a number of roles, though they are generally too small to carry any additional external ordnance.

Medium fighters can jink up to 8 levels.

Examples of medium fighters include the Narn Go rith, Centauri Sentri, Minbari Tishat, Abbai Kotha, Gaim Koist, and Pak'm a'ra Por'fa'tis.

Heavy Fighters

The combat fighter of choice for a number of races (including the EarthAlliance, who specializes in such types), heavy fighters can carry just about any weapon suitable for use on a fighter, and often have a number of external hardpoints. Their size affords them the ability to survive one or two blows from an opponent, and many are heavily armored enough to enjoy extended staying power. If there is a disadvantage to this category, it is in its high construction and support cost.

Heavy fighters can jink up to 6 levels.

Examples of heavy fighters include the Earth Starfury, Earth Thunderbolt, Min bar iNial, Narn Frazi, Brakiri Pikitos, Vree Tzymm, and Dilgar Thorun.

Super-Heavy Fighters

These gigantic fighters are so big they cannot be employed from a standard hangar. Instead, they must be carried externally and launched from special catapults. (See "Hangar Operations " for more details on this system.) For this reason, most races avoid using fighters of this type, as they are usually considered more trouble than they're worth.

The Drazi are the obvious exception, as they are always looking for larger and more combat-capable attack units.

Super-heavy fighters are so large they count as an entire flight of fighters for lock-on purposes. They do not operate as formal flights or squadrons, but are targeted individually. They operate as fighters for all rules except flight combat (super-heavy fighters always use the individual fighter rules) and EW. When locking onto a super-heavy fighter, it is treated as an entire flight, and if EW is lent to such a fighter, it benefits as though it were a ship. Note, however, that it is treated as a fighter for any other purpose, such as weapon fire controls and the like, except as noted herein.

Super-heavy fighters are hardened against many EM effects and provide extra protection for their crews. They are immune to any special weapon effect that forces an automatic drop -out, and if using the optional fighter critical hit rules, they have a bonus of -1 to any such dieroll.

The typical super-heavy fighter carries a heavy fighter's armament, as well as at least one heavier gun used for anti-ship work. Most fighters of this class also carry a number of external hardpoints, usually for missile carriage.

Super-heavy fighters can jink up to 4 levels.

The only super-heavy fighter example published to date is the Drazi Sky Serpent, along with its command variant, the Fanged Serpent.

Ultralight: Fighters

These tiny craft are employed by only a few fighter-specialized races, such as the Cascor. They are extremely small, and will be crushed by a single shot from most weapons. In addition, they use only the lightest guns, making them only mosquito-like in their effectiveness. However, like the insects they resemble, they have the ability to swarm an opponent. Their low cost and small size means they can be employed in huge numbers (assuming that many pilots are available). Opponents using heavy fighters against them will find their guns are overkill against their tiny foes.

Unlike larger fighters, ultralights are small enough to be packed into hangars at twice the normal rates. Thus, a hangar normally capable of holding only twelve fighters could support up to twenty-four ultralight ones. The launch rate of the hangar is not increased, however. (Note: Some light fighters, like the Vree Zorth, are also able to use this same ability due to their unique construction. Such fighters will have this ability noted in their specific rules.)

Ultralight fighters have no jinking limitations. They can jink as many levels as they can afford, using the usual thrusting rules.

No ultralight fighters have been published to date. This rule is listed here only for consistency. The rules for Cascor ultralight fighters will appear in a future League of Non -Aligned Worlds supplement.

Shuttlecraft

Usually referred to as simply shuttles, these craft are designed for a variety of missions, such as transporting crew or supplies, boarding other ships, rescuing escape pods, and the like. The typical shuttle is unarmed, and includes a simple damage track and information box on the control sheet of the ship that carries it. This information appears in the hangar datacard, like the sample Earth shuttle info shown here.

Shuttles occupy boxes in the ship's hangar (one shuttle per box, as noted on the control sheet). When deployed, they count against the hangar's launch and recovery rate. A box containing a shuttle also includes supplies and support equipment for that unit, and cannot be exchanged for a fighter or other craft. Unless noted otherwise, fighters are not permitted to use shuttle space in a hangar.

Shuttles do not use flight level combat, although groups of up to six of them will be treated as a flight (for example, when allocating EW against them). Unless noted otherwise, shuttles have an initiative bonus of + 9.

The shuttle datacard does not include a ramming factor under most circumstances. To calculate this, simply add the number of structure boxes to the amount of armor available. For example, the Earth shuttle in the box above would have a ramming factor of 11.

Certain special types of shuttles are available. These are listed hereafter.

Armed Shuttles

In some cases, standard shuttles are armed for combat. This is rare, and normally occurs only in special situations, often as a surprise for an enemy. An example (a typical civilian shuttle) is shown in the diagram provided.

If a shuttle is to be armed, use the standard shuttle type shown on the ship control sheet, but add a small weapon to it (as listed in the race's unit list). The armed shuttle replaces the unarmed one, and the point cost shown must be paid (there is no "refund " for the unarmed shuttle). Armed shuttles other than those listed are not a vailable— i.e., this is not an excuse to put any kind of weapon you like on a shuttle!

Only standard shuttles may be modified. Troop shuttles, cargo shuttles, and other shuttle variants may not receive added weapons (except as noted otherwise in the rules for those units).

All firing arcs are identical to those found on standard fighters, except as noted. The range penalty is -2 per hex and the fire rate 1 shot per turn, unless listed otherwise.

Armed shuttles are not fighters, but are treated as shuttles for most rules, except as noted herein. For example, an armed shuttle cannot jink. It can make a combat pivot, but this requires three times the normal pivot cost, as described in the rules regarding Fighter/Shuttle Movement.

Shuttles armed with weapons cannot be identified as such unless an opposing unit closes to range 8 (range 4 for shuttles or fighters), and then only if viewed from the front. This gives them an opportunity for a surprise attack, or at least for use as decoys.

Assault Shuttles

These are large armed shuttles used for the purpose of carrying troops and supporting their deployment. They are normally used only by assault ships (i.e., troop carriers). Assault shuttles are the size of medium fighters, but are treated as shuttles for most other rules (they cannot jink, and combat pivot like shuttles do). They use the individual shuttle rules, not flight level combat. A sample assault shuttle diagram (an EarthAlliance unit) is shown here, with a hit record for two such shuttles available.

Assault shuttles cannot be used in shuttle boxes a board ship, but are deployed from their own special type of hangar box. Troop ships that use assault shuttles will note this fact on their control sheet in the hangar datacard. Other types of carriers occasionally deploy assault fighters for special missions, launching them from any box capable of supporting a medium or larger fighter. For this reason, is permissible to trade an assault shuttle for a fighter, or vice versa, but this costs 5 Combat Points per hangar box converted.

Assault shuttles are almost always armed, allowing the craft to fight its way through an enemy fighter screen on its way to its destination.

Minesweeplng Shuttles

The shuttles used on minesweepers utilize an enhanced sensor package optimized for mine detection. These shuttles (but not fighters, if any are present on the same ship) have an improved offensive bonus of 4 and can operate it at full strength, not half-strength, when detecting mines (see the mine rules for more information on this procedure).

A non-minesweeper may upgrade a standard shuttle to the minesweeping type for a cost of 10 Combat Points per shuttle or + 20% to its cost, whichever is higher. This would not be done normally (i.e., while the ship is on patrol), but only if the ship expected to encounter mines in an upcoming base or planetary assault. Armed shuttles can receive this improvement (e.g., a Combat Flyer with a minesweeping package would cost +14 points).

Minesweeping shuttles are included in the cost of any minesweeper. If converted to an armed design, they lose their minesweeping abilities, unless this is paid for as above.

Cargo Shuttles

These are special shuttlecraft designed to transport cargo. They are generally large and slow, and are almost never armed. Because of their size, they cannot be used in normal shuttle boxes, only on enormous units or ships specifically denoted as carrying them. If a cargo shuttle lands on a ship not normally equipped with cargo shuttles (other than an enormous unit), it requires two undestroyed boxes in the shuttle bay. If one of these boxes is destroyed while the shuttle is a board, it is also considered destroyed.

Cargo shuttles are capable of carrying cargo, crew, marines, and other supplies. A shuttle of this type must spend a certain length of time in the landing bay loading these items. A shuttle can load or unload one "unit" of cargo each turn, how ever a "cargo unit" might be defined in the scenario rules. Generally, this will be a number of crates or pallets already prepared for loading or unloading, and varies depending on container size and shape as well as contents. Cargo shuttles can hold one "cargo unit" for each undestroyed box of structure they possess (and if these boxes are destroyed in combat, each box takes one cargo unit with it when it goes).

Each turn, a cargo shuttle can load up to 10 people if they are members of a military unit (like a platoon of ground troops) specifically trained for this purpose. Untrained individuals, but those still with military training (like a ship's crew), can board a shuttle at a rate of 5 per turn. The rate for civilians, injured people, and the like is 2 per turn.

Breaching Pods

These heavily armored shuttles are designed to attach to an enemy ship, cut a hole in its hull, and allow Marines access to the interior. More often than not, the attackers are met by resistance from the target vessel's crew, making their mission difficult at best. If they manage to breakthrough, however, they can attempt to perform various acts of sabotage or even capture the ship!

Breaching pods are treated as shuttles for most rules except as described hereafter. They are listed in a separate section due to the complexity of their rules.

Attaching a Pod

To attach to an enemy unit, a breaching pod must end the

Movement Step of the Combat Sequence in that unit's hex. The difference in speeds between the two units may not be greater than the pod's thrust rating. If the target is moving faster than the pod, roll 1d l 0, and if the result is equal to or greater than the difference in speed between the ship and the pod, the pod can attach. For example, if a breaching pod with 6 thrust moving speed 8 attempts to attach to an Omega Destroyer moving speed 14, it would need to roll a 6 or greater (14 -8 = 6) to attach. If the pod is moving at the same speed as, or faster than, the target unit, the chance of success is automatic so long as the pod's thrust rating can compensate for the difference. For this reason, a pod moving at a rate equal to its thrust value or less can always attach to a speed-zero base or other unit, for example.

Pods cannot attack units equipped with advanced armor (e.g., First Ones), but any other race is fair game unless listed otherwise in that race's special rules. Shields and other defensive items will not prevent a breaching pod from attaching unless otherwise specified. Finally, a pod cannot attach on the turn after it first launches, as it needs time to orient itself on the battlefield and its target. (If it was attached to an enemy ship and detaches, this restriction is ignored.)

If the above conditions are met, the pod attaches immediately (at the end of the Movement Step). Once attached, a breaching pod may not be fired upon by the unit it is connected to, and if any units friendly to the ship (but not enemy units) shoot at the pod, their weapons will automatically hit and damage the target ship (in addition to the pod, should they hit it). This would equally apply to any ballistic weapon targeted at the pod before it attached; however, the player cont roll ling the ballistic weapon is permitted to voluntarily miss (by sending an abort signal to the weapon) to avoid this sort of "friendly fire."

Breaching pods attach to the side of the ship they are facing when the Movement Step of the Combat Sequence is completed. No more than two pods can be attached to any ship section at a time. For example, on medium ships, only two can attach as there is technically only one "section" available (one pod could connect to the forward area and the other to the aft area). Heavy combat vessels can support four (two forward and two aft), and capital ships can accept eight (two in each of the four areas). Enormous units and bases can hold two per section unless otherwise noted, while light combat vessels and OSATs can hold only one regardless of size. Pods can attach to destroyed sections, but are still limited by the above rules.

Breaching pods remain attached to the ship until destroyed or the target unit is destroyed (in which case it detaches and escapes safely). If, however, the side structure the pod is attached to is directly destroyed while the pod is present, the pod is also considered destroyed. If any of these occur on the turn it attaches, it does not get a chance to deliver its Marines. (Note: The pod can also detach voluntarily during any turn. See the end of these rules for more information.)

Delivering the Marines

Each pod can carry a group of Marines, referred to in these rules as a contingent. The size and makeup of such contingents varies depending on the race, but all are mobile, heavily armed units designed to strike quickly and inflict maximum damage from within, then retreat safely with minimal losses.

Once attached, the breaching pod deposits its Marines on the next turn, during its opportunity to move in the initiative sequence. The defending ship rolls I d lO at this point to see how well its crew deals with the attacking Marines. Modifiers: + 1 if the defender is allowed to ram in the scenario (representing the desperation of the situation), -1 if the attacking side can ram, + 1 if the defenders are Narn, -1 if the attackers are Narn, + 2 if the defenders are Gaim, -2 if the attackers are Gaim, -2 if the pod is attached to a destroyed ship section. Consult the following chart:

5 or less: Marines defeat the defenders and can proceed with their mission.

6 -8: Marines are driven back and the pod is forced to detach (launch) on that turn. Mission fails.

9 +: Marines are killed and the pod must detach. Mission fails.

Note that if the pod detaches with Marines a board, they can attempt to attach again on the next turn, to the same or any other target. In any event, if the pod detaches, it is subject to initiative penalties on the next turn as if it had launched from a ship, but the target ship is under none of the usual penalties for launching fighters or shuttles (unless it is on the same side or team as the owning player).

Marine Missions

Once aboard, the Marines can attempt one of several missions: sabotaging a system , wreaking havoc , rescuing a captive, deactivating a satellite , or capturing the ship . These attacks are made during the Post-Turn Actions Step of the Sequence of Play, just before critical hits are rolled (so any damage caused would be subject to critical hit rolls).

If the Marines have not been killed or forced to withdraw, they can make one attack each turn. (If they choose not to make an attack, the defenders can make an attempt to drive them off the ship or kill them using the preceding chart.

The Marines can also voluntarily retreat, and the pod can make its getaway, on any turn the Marines do not make an attack.) If the ship section they are in is destroyed while they are still a board, they are killed (along with any enemy crew in that section). The various attacks are defined hereafter.

In each of the following cases except capturing the ship, the following modifiers are applied to any dieroll: -1 if the attacker can ram, + 1 if the defender can ram, -1 if the attackers areN arnor Gaim, or 4-1 if the defenders are Narn or Gaim. All of these modifiers are cumulative.

Sabotaging a System

If the Marines choose this mission, they can select any one system (but not structure) attached to the structure block they landed on and try to blow it up with demolition charges. (If they attached to a medium ship, or to a destroyed ship side, they can attempt to sabotage systems located in the Primary area, but otherwise they are limited to the structure block they attached to.) The Marines are free to select whatever system they like, although it must be undestroyed. Roll on the following chart, using the modifiers listed above:

1 or less:

Satchel charges explode, scoring 3 d6 + 2 damage to the targeted system. The Marines escape unaf fected.

2 -3: Satchel charges explode as above, but score only 1 d6 + 2 damage. The Marines escape unaffected.

4 -5: Satchel charges score 1 d6 + 2 damage as above, but the Marines are killed in their attempt to retreat from the area.

6 -8: No effect. The Marines fail, but manage to escape the area with slight casualties. They can try any mission next turn at a + 1 cumulative penalty on mission dierolls.

9 +: The Marines are killed before they can accomplish their mission. If a natural "10 " was rolled, most of the Marines are actually pinned down and captured (which could have meaning in a campaign).

Damage scored is treated as though it were caused by a matter weapon, i.e., it ignores armor and all overkill is lost. If the Marines survive, they can continue to make attempts on future turns, but cannot attack any other area of the ship (i.e., they cannot move deeper into the enemy vessel).

Wreaking Havoc

In this mission, the Marines disperse into the ship, killing crewmen at random and generally disrupting operations at every opportunity. As each Marine is largely unsupported, this is generally considered a suicide mission, and can be attempted only if the Marine player is permitted to ram (i.e., the situation is particularly desperate). Exception: Gaim Marines, who have little self-preservation instincts, can attempt this mission at anytime. (Note: If the breaching pod that deposits the Marines is destroyed or departs, this is not an excuse to start wreaking havoc!)

When this attack is made, it automatically continues every turn until a "Marines Killed" result is received. There is no way to recall the Marines, and the pod will probably detach as soon as this mission is announced. A Wreak Havoc mission cannot be turned into one of the other missions once declared.

As with the Sabotage mission, this mission is resolved us ingad lO with modifiers as listed previously. Use this chart:

1 or below:

A Marine manages to score damage in a crucial area. 1d 6 damage is caused to a primary system.

Roll on the Primary Hits chart, re -rolling any Structure hit, and ignore all armor and overkill.

2: Disruption to internal operations reduces the ship's initiative by 1d6 on the next turn.

3: A jamming device is setup, reducing the ship's sensor rating by 1d3 on the next turn.

4: A Marine manages to clog up the engine conduits, reducing the ship's free thrust by 1d3 on the next turn. (On ships with gravitic drives, there is no effect.)

5: A signal emitter is activated, allowing ships with a lock-on to the vessel a + 1 bonus to hit it on the next turn.

6 -8: No effect, but at least one Marine is killed in action, so further rolls on future turns are at a + 1 penalty (cumulative with previous mission rolls).

9 +: The Marines are killed, captured or otherwise eliminated from effectiveness.

Rescuing a Captive

This mission can be undertaken only in certain scenarios, wherein an individual or group is being held hostage or a particular item or object must be safely recovered. It is assumed that the target of the raid is being guarded. If not, the attacking player receives a -3 bonus on his dieroll (this could be the case in scenarios where the defender doesn't know what he has).

This mission can also be used to capture or kill a particular individual, such as an expert or elite officer known to be aboard. In this case, scenario rules will specify any bonuses or penalties to the roll. In campaigns where this mission might be allowed, the raiding force must know the officer exists (typically by having encountered him in a previous scenario). The campaign rules may also specify certain intelligence conditions, such as learning the true identity of the officer and possibly acquiring photographs or other means of identification.

This mission also may be employed to steal certain items (such as data crystals), collect computer information, gather technology or intelligence, depositor rescue a spy, or perform any other small, scenario-specific goal. Scenario designers are encouraged to think up their own unique uses for this mission!

When the "Rescue" mission is attempted, roll on the chart below, with modifiers as in the previous two missions:

2 or below:

The raid is successful and the Marines escape unscathed.

3 -4: The raid is successful, but so many of the Marines are killed during the retreat that the contingent is effectively destroyed.

5 -6: The raid is unsuccessful, but the Marines survive and can try again next turn, at a + 1 cumulative penalty.

7 +: The Marines are killed in the attempt, which is unsuccessful.

Deactivating a Satellite

Marines can attempt to deactivate unmanned OSATs if their pod successfully attaches to one. (Manned OSATs must be captured as though they were ships.) The Marines basically work their way through the satellite in an attempt to locate key control circuits, which are usually well hidden to prevent just such operations. Roll on the following chart with the usual modifiers:

1-2: The attempt succeeds and the satellite is deactivated. If the satellite is being controlled by a player, the Marines must remain in place (if they leave, the satellite reactivates on the next turn, beginning all weapon arming cycles at that point). If the satellite is uncontrolled, the Marines can depart safely.

3 -4: The Marines find a crucial system, but it self-destructs, killing them in the explosion. The OSAT is deactivated for one turn (and all weapons must start rearming cycles over after this delay) while controls are shunted to new systems.

5 -6 :

The raid is unsuccessful, but the Marines survive and can try again next turn, at a + 1 cumulative penalty.

74-: The Marines are killed by automated defense systems. Their mission fails.

Capturing a Ship

This mission is usually attempted only by multiple breaching pods at once, and is very difficult to pull off. Typically, the target vessel is disabled and stripped of weapons by called shot fire, allowing the pods easy and safe access to its hull. The attacking ships often fly alongside, allowing pods to land and load more Marines if their first attacks fail.

To attempt to capture a ship, the Marines must first deal with the defending crew, who will take up arms to defend themselves and their vessel. Assume that there are the equivalent of one contingent of Marines a board for every 20 points of Ramming Factor (which is a good measure of overall hull structure, and therefore crew strength), plus any extras purchased (see below). Use a ratio of one Marine for every 15 points of Ramming Factor in the case of Gaim ships.

During a battle to take a ship, each attacking and defending Marine on board rolls 1d 10, subtracting 1 for Gaim units, and subtracting 1 if the space battle has already been won by the appropriate player (thus reflecting the crew's morale). If the roll is 5 or less, they hit and kill one defender. Each unit on either side is permitted one such roll every turn until the attackers are all defeated, or the defenders are killed (at which point the ship is captured).

Captured ships surrender, and agree to pilot themselves off the field of battle at the direction of their new owner.

They do not, however, fire upon their former friends (and the last act before they surrender is usually to lock out the weapons systems so this cannot be done). Note that the friendly side can attempt to recapture the ship by landing his own breaching pods, in which case the weapons could be unlocked after the ship is retaken.

Aftermath of the Attack

Pods can detach after Marines have returned (either successful or not), after they have been killed, or while the Marines are still in action (in which case their mission effectively becomes a suicide run, though this does not perm it wreak havoc missions to be undertaken unless already allowed by other rules). When the pod detaches, it is treated as having launched (for initiative purposes) and has the heading and speed of the ship it was attached to. It must be facing away from the side it attached to (i.e., towards the hex edge opposite the side on which it landed).

If any Marines are left a board hostile ships when the scenario is over, they usually surrender (assuming the hostile vessels hold the field of battle) or are ordered to stand down. Captured Marines might have value in special scenarios or during a campaign.

Purchasing Breaching Pods and Marines

Breaching pods replace either normal shuttles (at a cost of 10 Combat Points, in addition to the pod 's cost) or fighters/assault shuttles (at no extra cost, other than that of the pod itself), on a one -for-one basis. No more than one such pod can be purchased for any medium ship or HCV, no more than two per capital ship, and no more than four for enormous units or bases. Assault ships (i.e., those vessels specifically noted as carrying troops, such as the Narn T'Loth) can carry double these numbers if they have enough shuttle boxes to perm it it. Certain exceptions may exist for specialty ships or in published scenarios, and these will be described in the appropriate ship rules.

Each pod comes with two contingents of Marines, although extras can be purchased for 10 points. The maximum number of contingents which can be bought as extras (not those that come with pods or already present on the ship) is equal to 1% of the ship's Combat Point value, rounding any fraction up. In addition, some ships carry contingents as standard equipment. Assault cruisers (capital ships) have four, assault HCVs have three, and assault-class medium ships carry two. Bases have one for each section (i.e., one for the primary and one in each of the attached sides). If a ship has a different quantity, the amount will be listed in the "Special Notes" box on the control sheet and in the ship description. There is no cost for these "inherent Marines."

For example, the Narn T'Loth, an assault cruiser, carries four Marine groups as standard equipment. In addition, the player can buy up to 4 breaching pods in place of the T 'Khar assault shuttles or fighters, or in place of normal shuttles at a cost of 10 points each. These pods provide a further 2 contingents apiece. Finally, 1% of the T'Loth's Combat Point cost is 5 (after rounding up), so 5 additional Marine units can be bought, for a total of 17 Marine units!

Only one contingent can be used by any pod at any given time. If the pod can return to the launching ship, it can pickup another Marine group after 1 full turn of hangar bay actions. Note that unused Marines can help defend the ship if an opponent tries to capture it, as described previously.

Grappling Claws

Developed by the Drazi as a means to attach a small vessel to an enemy warship during battle, this device uses both physical force and magnetic attraction to force the two units into contact. Once attached, holes are drilled through the floor of the claw assembly and marine contingents are free to make their assault.

To attach, the claw -equipped ship must win initiative on the target and end its movement in the ship's hex. The attacking unit then makes the attempt at the same point in the Combat Sequence that breaching pods attach. The chance to succeed is rolled on 1 d20. If the number rolled is greater than the difference in speed between the two units, the attempt is successful. (Thus, a speed difference of zero guarantees success.) An expert helmsman adds + 1 to the roll, and a bonus of + 2 is allowed if the target unit is enormous.

The grappling claw can only operate if the ship is facing the target properly, as represented by the "firing arc" on the claw 'sic on. This arc also affects the direction from which the claw can be hit by incoming fire. The claw is not a true weapon, however, as it does not score damage on the target. Its power requirement is zero, though it draws a nominal amount of energy, so it will be deactivated if struck by a burst beam (for example) or if the ship suffers critical power losses.

Once the two ships are joined, neither can fire weapons at each other. They continue to operate independently for most other purposes, however. For example, both operate their own EW, and both accept loaned EW independently of each other. The attaching unit cannot perform any maneuvers, but the target may do so, if it is of the same size or larger than the attacker. Its turn costs and turn delays are increased to the sum of both units' values (e.g., a ship with a 1 /3 turn cost attached to one with a 2 /3 turn cost would produce a total turn cost of 1). Retain all fractions. The target unit moves the conglomerate group when its turn arrives in the initiative sequence, and it may maneuver normally (if it rolls or pivots, any firing penalties apply equally to itself and the attached unit). Since both units are connected, they will both be affected by terrain equally, and will both enter a vortex together.

No more than one unit can use grappling claws to attach to a medium ship or heavy combat vessel. Two units can attach to a capital ship, but both must be on opposite ends. One unit can attach to each section of an enormous base. Breaching pods cannot also attach to any section to which a claw -equipped vessel is connected.

The structure block to which the ship attaches must be intact. If it is destroyed during the battle (or if the ship itself is lost), the claw -equipped vessel is broken free and any attached claws are destroyed. The destruction of either ship will not affect the other, except as noted above.

Once the attacking ship has attached itself to the target, all fire by weapons through the claw 's firing arcs is blocked by the target's hull (they cannot fire at the target unit for safety reasons)-*. If the attached unit's weapons are capable of firing into other arcs or into a wider range, they can shoot at targets in those positions. The unit to which the ship is attached is not prevented from firing any weapons (except at the attached unit), a necessary simplification.

Each attached claw can deliver one marine contingent per turn, using the rules for breaching pods. One such contingent can also be recovered each turn (this does not interfere with any new ones being deployed). The typical use for this attack is to attempt to capture the enemy target, though other missions are certainly possible.

Orbital Satellites

Orbital satellites, also called defense satellites

, OSATs, or a defense grid, are a special type of unit designed for use as a fixed defense element. Technically, they are treated as medium ships, with the same structural arrangements and initiative bonuses (where initiative would apply). Despite the fact that they cannot move, orbital satellites have no initiative penalties for their lack of speed. A sample OSAT (a typical design used by the EarthAlliance) is shown to the right.

Maneuvering

OSATs have no engines, but use a specialized omnidirectional thruster suite as a primary hit. This thruster can only pivot the satellite— it cannot be used for any other maneuver. The thruster can pivot the satellite to any facing desired by the owning player (treated as a combat pivot for all purposes, with no need to track thrust— note the lack of a thrust rating in the icon on the sample satellite shown here). If it has suffered damage exceeding one -half its boxes, it can only pivot the satellite one hex facing per turn. The thruster suffers no other critical hits.

Controls

Orbital satellites are usually (but not always) unmanned, and are under the control of the player defending the planet around which they are positioned. It is assumed that someone on the ground is commanding the satellites, allowing them to operate even if every ship on their side is destroyed. If the planet surrenders or is captured by ground operations (which may be possible in some scenarios), the OSATs would deactivate at that point. If an unmanned satellite is operating in open space, it deactivates when all ships on its side are destroyed or have lost their C & C systems.

It is also possible that OSATs might operate under automatic rules. If this is the case, the scenario will explain the contingencies under which they will fire (or give instructions to the owning player on how this might be done). If operating automatically, OSATs cannot accept other commands during a scenario, and will continue to act on their own until destroyed (even if the owning player surrenders or is defeated).

Deployment

OSATs are typically deployed by freighters or other logistical elements and cannot activate during scenarios. On rare occasions they are placed in open space near a staging area to defend against surprise attacks by an enemy. If carried by a freighter, OSATs cannot be activated during a scenario (as they are basically stored as cargo). Standard OSATs require 40 boxes of cargo space, so the basic civilian freighter can hold four of them.

Towing

The Minbari and other races with tractor beams have been known to tow satellites to the scene of an engagement, though this is extremely rare. In such cases, the OSATs are pulled along in a combat-ready state. They cannot, however, use their weapons or thrusters while in tractor, though they can be tractored on the same turn in which they fired or maneuvered. Once a tractor beam is released (in the appropriate step of the Combat Sequence), the OSAT must then spend the entire ensuing turn stabilizing itself before it can take any actions. For example, if the tractor was released on turn 2, the OSAT could not fire or thrust on turn 3, but could use its weapons on turn 4.

Note that while being towed, OSATs are permitted to charge their weapons, including those with long rates of fire.

For example, if a Minbari OSAT fires on turn 4, and a Sharlin subsequently tractors it at the end of turn 4, moves it to a new location on turn 5, and releases the tractor on turn 5, the OSAT could be ready to fire its neutron lasers on turn 7 because it could be rearming those weapons during the intervening time.

Mines

One of the subtler methods of waging war in space involves the use of mines to protect important strategic targets, such as colony worlds, industrial outposts, and bases. In some rare cases, mines have even been used as part of an elaborate trap, similar to the one used to win EarthForce's only real victory of the Earth-Minbari War.

The rules hereafter present the basic system used to setup and operate simple minefields in Babylon 5 Wars. Note that no attempt is made to explain how mines are constructed, or how they might be physically deployed by military units. These specifics will be left to the Babylon 5 Wars Campaign Guide. The sole purpose of the rules herein is to allow mines to be used in scenarios.

Mine Deployment

In general, mines will appear as a pre-existing condition as defined in the scenario rules. For example, the scenario might specify that mines of a given type or types will be present in a certain range of hexes on the map. The minefield-owning player will then place them secretly within the defined parameters. In some cases, the actual types of mines may not be specified, but the player may be given a certain number of points to spend to buy mines, and a broad latitude in their placement. Most of the time, minefields will appear only in specific published scenarios and won't be used in simple "let's get together and fight" type games, unless all sides agree to experiment with preplacement of mines. Note that under these rules, there is no way to lay a mine during a scenario and activate it, though such rules may appear in the Campaign Guide or other product.

Because mines exist as a pre-scenario condition, all players in the game will likely know about them (though their exact locations may not be known). This can bechalked up to military intelligence work, long -range scanning, or a previous encounter with the minefield. Only in a campaign would it be possible for a scenario to exist where one side does not know about the mines in advance, but even then, a player would be foolish not to check for the presence of a minefield before engaging an enemy. Rules will be presented for this procedure in the Campaign Guide.

Because the sensors mines use are restricted in a nebula, minefields will not appear in that terrain. Minefields may also not be used in hyperspace, as the currents therein will quickly scatter or destroy the mines. It is not possible to position a mine in a hex containing a planetary or moon surface (though they could be adjacent to such a surface), or in an atmosphere.

Placement: of Mines

Usually, a mine -controlling player will be given a range of hexes or a zone in which he can place his minefield.

These are not displayed directly on the map, but are instead marked on a mine location form in secret. Only if the mines are detected (or activate their weapons, if applicable) should their locations be revealed on the main map.

There is no restriction on the number of mines which can be in any given hex. Players should always leave at least a 10-hex buffer between the minefield's edge and any approaching enemy ships, to give them at least a chance to maneuver before encountering the field— the scenario rules will almost always arrange for this when listing the minefield deployment range.

Although the map itself is of a limited width, it is assumed that the minefield will actually extend off its edges, in a basically spherical pattern around the target (planet, base, or whatever). In many cases, the fixed point being defended is well away from the fringes of the minefield (as many as 100 hexes) and often won 't even be involved in the scenario. For this reason, minefields cannot be avoided simply by flying off one edge of the map, moving around the field, and reentering the map elsewhere. The scenario rules will usually prohibit this sort of maneuver. If desired, players can extend a minefield into additional maps " off the edges," simulating the "belt" of mines that surround the defended point.

Except as noted above, mines can be placed in any hex on the map which is within the minefield deployment zone (as defined by the scenario rules).

Paying For Mines

While many scenarios will simply list the types of mines to be placed in the field, some will allow an amount of points to be spent on mines of the player's choice. Players may also want to purchase mines for use in "pickup" battles.

The basic cost of any minefield is 100 points. That is to say, in order to have any mines present at all, you must pay 100 points just for the privilege! This represents the strategic cost of producing, acquiring, and laying mines. Note that this refers only to pre-existing minefields— no provision is made for laying mines during a scenario (at least not in this / product).

In addition to this, add the cost of each individual mine in the field. Price spermine are provided at the end of this section. The resulting subtotal— 100 plus the cost of all individual mines— is then increased by 10% for each different class (proximity, captor or DEW) of mine selected after the first, representing the difficulty in procuring and supplying each type, as well as the tactical advantage of having a variety of options present.

For example, an EarthAlliance player creates a minefield containing 10 Class-P3 Proximity Mines (20 points each, 200 total), 30 Class-Pl Proximity Mines (10 points each, 300 total), and 6 Class-D3 DEW Mines (25 points each, 150 points total). The subtotal would be 650, plus the 100 -point cost of the field itself, or 750 points. However, there are three different classes of mines, increasing the total by a further 20% to 900.

Types of Mines

There are three basic categories of mines: Proximity, Captor, and Directed Energy Weapon (DEW). Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Proximity mines are simple explosive types which are cheap to build. They are very short-ranged, as theyrely on their own explosion to cause damage (the intended victim must therefore be close by). Basically, they are little more than a bomb-pumped beam weapon with a proximity detection fuse attached to it. Because of their simplicity, they are relatively inexpensive and ordinarily appear in very large numbers, forcing an enemy ship or fleet to slow down to avoid or destroy them .

Captor mines are mobile, with their own small engine and thruster in addition to the usual explosive. When a viable target comes within their activation range, they accelerate to incredible speeds in an attempt to impact and explode on the target, which could be several hexes away. This makes them capable of doing significant damage even in small numbers, but they are vulnerable to point defense systems.

Directed Energy Weapon mines (DEWs) are basically weapons mounted on small, fixed platforms. They have their own power source and are renewable, unlike other types of mines. In addition, advanced control systems are available which allow the targets of these mines to be directed by players, as opposed to automatic rules.

Detecting Mines

Mines are shielded from detection by electronic signature masking devices, low -reflectance surfaces, and similar technologies (varying by race, mine type, cost, and enhancements). Each mine has a signature rating which indicates how hard it is to see. This is a numeric rating— the larger the number, the harder it is to detect.

To locate mines, a ship applies electronic warfare points to "mine detection" (instead of offensive or defensive EW or ELINT functions) during the Determine & Announce EW Status step of the Combat Sequence. After all EW determination has been made by all players, those who have spent EW on mine detection announce this (even if using the Secret EW optional rule) and any detected mines are revealed. Note that players may not see the result of one ship's attempts before choosing their own EW status or levels (even ELINT ships)!

Fighters and shuttles can attempt to detect mines, but not as effectively. To do this, a fighter/shuttle would simply declare some or all of its Offensive Bonus points are being used for this purpose, and those points would not be available for combat on that turn. However, each point of Offensive Bonus is only half as effective as a ship's EW points would be (drop any fraction). Thus, a fighter using 7 offensive points would consider this to be only 3 EW points for purposes of mine detection. Note: Shuttles are considered to have an Offensive Bonus of 3 (before halving) for this purpose only, unless stated otherwise in the race's rules or the shuttle description.

When mines are being detected, the detecting player announces how many points of EW he allocated to that purpose. The minefield owner then looks at his master map or list of mine types and locations, and reveals any detected mines by placing a counter, coin or other convenient marker in the correct hex. A mine is detected if the EW "pulse" is of a strength equal to or greater than the mine's signature plus the range to the mine. For example, a mine 5 hexes from a detecting ship would be detected by a 6-EW detection pulse if the mine had a signature of 0 or 1, but not if it had a rating of 2.

Detection EW remains active throughout the turn, and works throughout a unit's movement. Each time a unit moves, check its detection EW against any mines in the area, and reveal any which have been detected.

Once a mine is detected, it can be fired upon by any unit on the same side as the detecting ship. It's assumed that the detecting ship feeds this information to its allies automatically, but for gameplay purposes, it is actually done this way in the interest of expedience. If you wish to experiment with truly secret mine locations (warning: this will get very complex and will probably lead to arguments), only the detecting player would actually know where the mines were, and should be provided with a separate list. Of course, he can choose to communicate this information to anyone he wishes (unless his ship is under the restrictions of an Abbai comm disruptor, or he is otherwise restricted from talking to other players).

Any unit which can "see" a mine (because he or an ally detected it previously) may shoot at it, but is not considered to have a firing lock-on, and so would have to suffer the double range penalty restriction. If the unit has actually detected the mine on that same turn (using the detection rules listed above), it still suffers this penalty, but has a bonus to hit equal to the EW spent in excess of the minimum detection requirement. This is known as having a general lock-on to the mine, and any such bonuses apply to the detecting ship only. For example, if a ship spent 10 EW on mine detection and spotted a mine at range 3 with a signature of 1, it has + 6 to hit that mine. Other ships on the same side could fire at it as well, but would not have this + 6 bonus (unless, of course, they were also putting enough EW into mine detection).

If greater precision is needed, a ship (but not a fighter or shuttle) can gain a specific lock-on to a mine by applying at least 1 point of offensive EW into locking onto it. This is treated exactly as locking onto a ship (i.e., each offensive EW point provides a + 1 to hit, and at least 1 point will eliminate the double range penalty), and is cumulative with any bonuses from general lock-ons. Specific lock-ons cannot be achieved on the same turn the mine is first detected (because of the Combat Sequence), but can by performed at anytime thereafter (during the same scenario). Once a specific lock-on is gained, the detecting ship learns what kind of mine it is (i.e., its type), but not until then. Note that the mine's targeting instructions cannot be detected regardless of the strength of the lock-on— although they could always be discovered the hard way!

If a mine is located in an asteroid field, dust cloud, or similar terrain, its signature rating is increased by 50% (round fractions up). Some terrains may also improve or degrade the signatures of mines, and these will be defined in the terrain description if applicable.

DEW mines have two signature ratings. The first is their usual rating, while the second number (in parenthesis) is their signature when they have activated their weapons. Once a DEW mine is active, use the second number for all purposes.

Destroying Mines

Proximity and captor mines are always destroyed by the first point of damage they take, whereasD EW mines have a damage track and armor similar to that of a fighter (they have only one unidirectional armor value, which applies to any incoming shot). Some very largeD EW mines have critical hits, shields, or other special functions which will be explained in their description.

The base chance to hit a mine is 12 minus its signature rating. Of course, if the firing ship or fighter has no lockon, remember to double any range penalties. There are some caveats, however:

(

Mines can be targeted by any weapon and are treated as medium ships (the center category in any fire control bonus list) when determining to -hit benefits. However, any weapon which normally cannot shoot at medium ships is allowed to fire at a mine using its fire control vs. fighters with an assumed -4 penalty. An example might be an EarthForce interceptor in offensive mode.

(

Weapons which cause no damage, such as Minbari electro-pulse guns or Abbai comm disruptors, will not affect a mine unless noted otherwise in their rules description.

(

Mines are not affected by proximity weapons such as energy mines or other explosive mines (they are shielded from such effects). The mine must be specifically targeted and shot in order to damage or destroy it.

Minesweepers

Some ships are specialized for minesweeping duty, and will be noted as such in their descriptions and on the ship control sheet. Examples include the EarthAlliance Pegasus and the Gaim Kuach classes.

The primary advantage of minesweepers is a bonus to their sensor ratings for mine detection. On the control sheet's Special Notes box, the ship will have a minesweeping bonus noted. For example, a minesweeper might have a bonus of + 4. Such as ship would be treated as always generating 4 points of bonus EW for the mine detection mission. This EW cannot be modified or used for any other purpose other than mine detection, and does not count towards the sensor rating when purchasing extra EW points.

Another advantage of minesweepers is that their shuttles utilize an enhanced sensor package optimized for mine detection. These shuttles (but not fighters, if any are present on the same ship) have an improved Offensive Bonus of 4 and can operate it at full strength, not half-strength, when detecting mines. These shuttles are included in the cost of the minesweeper. Note: If a non-minesweeper wishes to upgrade a shuttle with this ability, this can be done at a cost of 10 points per shuttle or + 20% to its cost, whichever is higher. This would not be done normally (i.e., while the ship is on patrol), but only if the ship expected to encounter mines in an upcoming base or planetary assault. Armed shuttles can receive this improvement (e.g., a Combat Flyer with a minesweeping package would cost +14 points).

Activating Mines

Most mines are activated in response to movement by enemy units. There are some exceptions in the case of enhanced mines (see the section on enhancements to follow).

Proximity mines detonate whenever a viable target enters their range (1 hex unless otherwise noted). The mine can be preset to select only capital ships, medium ships, and /or fighter-size targets, but not anything more specific than this. When activated, the mine explodes, causing standard mode damage to one single unit the moment that unit enters the mine's range (roll for hit location immediately, before accomplishing any other movement). Note that the movement rules do not allow two or more units to set of famine simultaneously, except in the case of fighter flights (in which case, the defender chooses which fighter is affected). Because proximity mines detonate without warning, they cannot be intercepted or blocked (though some passive defenses, such as shields, will help against them) and always hit— the only defenses are to avoid or destroy them before setting them off.

Captor mines are similar to proximity mines, but have a range greater than one hex. The owning player can preset them to accept targets entering their range or any lesser range, but once set this cannot be changed. Ranges can be different for each of the three classes of unit. For example, a captor mine with a maximum range of 6 could be set to activate against capital ships entering a range of 6 hexes, medium ships at range 4, and fighters at range 1 or less. The mine will activate against the first acceptable target that moves within this range.

At the moment they are activated, captor mines "launch " towards their target. This is detected immediately (treat it as a ballistic weapon launch at that point), but the roll for effect is not made until the Weapons Fire step, at the same time ballistic weapon impact is resolved. Captor mines have no distance range limit, so once they begin their attack, they cannot be outraced.

Captor mines have an Accuracy statistic, reflecting a bonus or penalty to the base chance to hit the target.

Determine the chance to hit as you would any weapons fire (i.e., use the defense rating of the target unit, modified by EW), treating the mine as a ballistic weapon with no range penalty. The mine automatically has a lock-on, unless the target is protected by a jammer or special lock-on -breaking device or terrain, in which case its maximum range is cut in half (it will not attack a target outside its maximum range). Defensive fire can also modify the mine's to -hit roll, and will not suffer from degradation.

If the mine hits, it causes its damage to the side of the unit which faces the mine's original hex. Damage is scored in standard mode unless otherwise specified in the mine description. The mine is destroyed during its attack (whether it hits or misses), and is removed from play.

For example, a mine with an accuracy of + 4 attacks a capital ship with a defense rating of 16, meaning the mine hits on a roll of 20 or less (i.e., automatically). However, the target is protecting itself with 5 points of defensive EW and chooses to fire an Interceptor M k-I (-3 defensive rating) to try to knock the incoming mine aside. The 20 to-hit is reduced to 12. The mine-owning player rolls a 13, which misses.

DEW mines follow many of the same procedures as captor mines. Their weapons can be targeted in the same way, with ranges defined for the three basic types of units (capital ships, medium ships, and fighters/shuttles). DEW weapons are powered by on board generators and batteries holding them in a constantly ready to fire (at least during a scenario). They will shoot during the Weapons Fire step of the Combat Sequence, choosing the first unit which ended its movement within the appropriate range. All weapons fire together and at the same target unless the mine has had the Multiple Target enhancement. All DEW mines have a 360 Y arc of fire.

As soon as the mine activates and locks onto (or attempts to lock onto) the target, its location is known and its signature rating changes to the second (weaker) value. If not destroyed, it remains in play at this lesser rating, arming its weapon(s) at the fastest possible rate and firing as often as range and targeting parameters allow. A mine will not take a shot if its calculated chance to hit is zero or less.

Some DEW mines possess defensive weapons, which protect the mine from incoming shots. These are defined in the mine's description. If the description does not specify defensive fire capabilities, a DEW weapon cannot fire in that mode.

Mine Enhancements

It is possible to add modifications to certain mines in order to improve their abilities. In general, the number of points available for enhancements will be specified by the scenario rules. For example, a scenario might list the types of mines available and some quantity of points available for improvements. Other scenarios might give players a number of points for whatever mines they want, with enhancements purchased out of this overall total. However, in such cases it is recommended that no more than 10% of all the points available for mines can be spent on mine enhancements.

Enhancements which increase numeric values (range, signature, etc.) can be purchased multiple times, but each point of increase is treated as a separate enhancement. Thus, raising range from 4 to 6 would require two enhancements, each paid for separately.

When adding up percentage-based enhancement costs, retain all fractions until all enhancements are added, then round any fraction of 0.5 or more up, others down.

Improved Range increases the distance at which a captor or DEW (but not proximity) mine can engage a target. The cost to improve the range by 1 hex is equal to the current range value. For example, a mine with a maximum range of 5 hexes would pay 5 points to increase its range to 6. The minimum cost for any range improvement is 4.

Improved Signature raises the signature rating (both ratings in the case of a DEW mine) by 1. The cost is equal to the new signature rating plus one, so raising a signature of 2 to a 3 costs 4 points. ForD EW mines, use the highest resulting signature value. The minimum cost for any such improvement is 4.

Improved Armor raises the armor value of a DEW mine by 1. The cost is equal to the new armor value, so adding 1 to an armor value of 3 costs 4 points. The minimum cost for this improvement is 4. Armor cannot be increased to more than 50% of its original value.

Improved Accuracy increases the accuracy bonus of a captor or DEW mine by + 1. The cost is equal to 10% of the mine's basic price for captor mines, or 20% of the base cost of a DEW mine. For example, a captor mine costing 30 points would pay 3 points to increase its accuracy by 1, whereas a 40 -pointD EW mine would pay 8 points for a +1 accuracy bonus. Accuracy cannot be increased by more than 50% of its original value, so a mine with an original accuracy of + 5 can be increased to + 7, but no higher.

Multiple Targets allow saD EW mine with more than one weapon to set different targeting parameters for each of its guns. This effectively makes each weapon a totally separate entity with its own targeting rules, specified by the player. For example, a mine with two twin arrays and this enhancement could set one array to fire solely at capital ships and the other only at fighters. The cost is 25% of the mine's base price.

Jammers are currently available only for Minbari mines. A mine with this enhancement cannot be locked onto by non -Minbari. Some Minbari mines include this enhancement automatically; if not, it can be purchased for 25% of the mine's basic cost.

Command Controllers are available for all types of mines. These allow a nearby ship (on the same side controlling the minefield) to give orders to the mine, allowing direct player control of who it shoots at or explodes against. (For example, if two ships and a fighter flight enter a proximity mine's hex, the controller could choose to use it against either ship or any of the fighters— his choice of which!) Automatic controls can still be left in place, but can always be overridden by command controls during the scenario. The command ship must be within 30 hexes of the mine, and can be of any type. If, for some reason, two or more ships on the same side try to give a mine conflicting orders, the closest ship takes priority (if both are at the same range, choose one at random). Note that only a ship can command a mine; fighters and shuttles may not. Command controllers cost 33% of the mine's base price.

Identify Friend or Foe (IFF) Systems can also be purchased for any mine. These useful detectors allow a mine to avoid activating against the ships of the owning player (but not any other player). If these enhancements are not used, a mine might accidentally fire at a friendly target, as basic mines do not have very sophisticated identification sensors. The cost of this improvement is 10% of the mine's base cost.

MINE ENHANCEMENT SUMMARY

Ability

Cost

Improved Range

Improved Signature

Improved Armor

Equal to current range, minimum 4

Equal to new signature rating + 1, minimum 4

Equal to new armor, minimum 4; max 50% increase

10% of base cost, max 50% increase

20% of base cost, max 50% increase

25% of base cost

33% of base cost

10% of base cost

Impr. Accuracy (Captor)

Impr. Accuracy (DEW)

Multiple Targets

Jammers (Minbari only)

Command Controller

Identify Friend or Foe

Miscellaneous Procedures

Hangar Bay Operations

Hangars

Most ships use a hangar of some sort to store smaller support craft, such as shuttles and fighters. Many warships carry at least a flight of fighters for defense against similar units operated by the opposition. Almost all ships have at least one shuttle to aid in the transfer of crew and other supplies. Larger commercial vessels may have cargo shuttles specifically designed to move large amounts of goods or passengers.

The number of boxes in a hangar icon represents not only the amount of damage that the hangar can take, but also the number of fighters and shuttles it can support. If a hangar box is destroyed and a fighter or shuttle is "in that box," it is also destroyed. Note that the owning player can choose which box to mark destroyed, and will usually pick one that isn't occupied.

On the ship control sheet, you will find a datacard regarding the ship's hangar (or hangars, in the case of ships with more than one of them). This datacard lists exactly what can be carried in that hangar. In the example shown here, the hangar carries no fighters, but does hold two shuttles. Note that the statistics of the shuttle(s) are listed here, including thrust, armor (in all directions), and defense rating (shown as forward -t-aft/port+ starboard), as well as a damage track. If the shuttle were armed, information on its weapons would also be provided.

Some hangars are limited in the type of fighter they can carry.

For example, a hangar might be noted as operating only medium or smaller fighters, or only a specific type of fighter. This will be defined in the information block, and in the ship's description (if there is no note, it can use any fighter unless this is superseded in the fighter's own rules). Note that shuttles may be operated from any fighter box, but under no circumstances may any fighter replace a shuttle!

Assault shuttles, such as those operated by the Narns, are treated as medium fighters, and also cannot be used in just any shuttle box (though they could be used in a fighter box, assuming that box can support at least medium sized fighters). It is permissible to trade an assault shuttle box for a fighter box, or vice versa, but this costs 5 Combat Points per box converted.

Launching and Landing Procedures

During the Post-Turn Actions Step of the Combat Sequence, ships can launch or land fighters. To do this, the ship simply announces the fact and places the required counter(s) on the map. The number of shuttles/fighters which can be launched and /or landed at once— the hangar's launch rate — is shown as a number in the hangar bay icon on the control sheet. For example, in the sample shown here, the hangar holds 26 fighters/shuttles and can launch or recover up to 12 of them (2 flights) in any turn. Note that it can do this in any combination, so it could launch 6 fighters while recovering 6 others, launch 10 and recover 2, launch 0 and recover 12, or any other combination. It could not launch 12 and recover 6 as this would exceed the bay's limitations.

Note that ships may not launch or recover fighters or shuttles on any turn in which they are rolling or have pivoted. This applies even if a pivot maneuver has been halted, or if a roll is completely immediately (since agile ships can do this).

When a fighter or shuttle is launched, it is placed on the board in the same hex as the carrier, facing the same direction (unless there are one or more launch arrows attached to the hangar, in which case the fighters are launched facing in one of those directions).

For example, the hangar shown here (from the Hyperion) can launch its fighters in either the forward port or forward starboard directions at the owner's option. The shuttles or fighters will have the same speed and direction of motion of the carrier, regardless of facing. Note that fighters suffer a significant initiative penalty on the turn after launch (and the carrier suffers a similar, but less strict, penalty).

In order to land a shuttle or fighter, that unit must be in the same hex as the carrier, and must be moving in the same direction. Its speed must be equal to or greater than the carrier's speed, but not less; in addition, its speed cannot exceed the carrier's speed by more than the fighter/shuttle 's thrust rating (actual thrust spent during the turn does not matter). For example, a fighter with 10 thrust could land on a carrier moving speed 6 only if the fighter's speed was in the range 6 to 16. Any maneuvers performed by the fighter (e.g., rolling or pivoting) don 't affect its ability to land safely.

When a fighter or shuttle lands, simply remove its counter from the map and note on the control sheet that the unit is aboard.

Note that since fighters and shuttles are usually handled on a flight-by-flight basis (groups of 6), it is possible for partial flights to be launched or recovered during the game. If a partial flight is launched, treat it like a regular flight, but assume the unavailable fighters are "destroyed" until the others arrive. The flight can collect its missing units by being in the same location and facing as the carrier when the missing units are launched, or by matching speeds and headings with its missing elements and announcing the merger. Flights may not, however, split apart unless some of them are landing while others are remaining in play. One reason to do this might be to reload ordnance onto some of the fighters in a flight while the others remain in combat.

Launch Catapult:

The launch catapult is a special type of external hangar bay designed to hold and service super-heavy fighters. Each catapult is designed around a specific fighter type operated by the appropriate race, and cannot launch, land, or service any other type of fighter. Catapults are not part of the ship's usual shuttle bay, but are separate systems on the control sheet, using an icon like the one shown here.

Each turn, a catapult can launch or land one super-heavy fighter. Due to its specialized facilities, neither the ship nor the fighter suffer initiative penalties for launching (but the ship would incur a penalty if a fighter lands). Hangar operations in the catapult take place at the same speed as any other hangar.

Catapults can only launch their fighter towards the front of the ship (they are fixed in place) and the fighter can only land if it enters the ship's hex from the rear. Note that the catapult can only service the specific type of fighter they are designed to support; no other fighter can land on or launch from this system.

Unlike most hangar bays, catapults have more than one box in them (even though they carry only one fighter).

The catapult can launch or land a fighter regardless of any damage the system has sustained, but if a fighter lands on a damaged catapult, it suffers damage equal to the number of boxes marked on the system itself. If this is sufficient to destroy the fighter, it still makes the landing (and is considered recovered) but cannot launch again during the scenario (it could be repaired later in a campaign). Catapults suffer no other critical hits due to damage.

Raider External Fighter Rails

The Raiders build their ships for the quickstrike. Their doctrine is to fly into an area, engage a civilian target, and get away clean, as quickly as possible. To this end, they have developed a system of launch rails that increases the speed _ _ ^ _ _ _ _ of their launching and recovery operations. While this allows fighters to be injected into combat swiftly, it does have a few disadvantages.

External launch rails are shown on the ship control sheet as a row of detached boxes (not in an icon) connected to a structure block. In the example here, two 3 -box rails are shown attached to a single 15 -box block of structure.

One fighter is attached to each box in the rail, and can launch and land independently of any other fighter on the ship. In addition, there are no initiative penalties imposed on the fighter on the turn after launch, although the ship will suffer the usual penalties on the turn launching or landing is performed.

Unfortunately, the fighter rails are vulnerable to damage. They are considered to be part of the structure block for all purposes, and since structure hits are the most common, they are far more likely to be destroyed than a normal hangar bay. If a rail box is destroyed and a fighter is present, it can attempt to escape (using the escape rules provided in the Core Rulebook). If this is successful, the fighter is not exempt from initiative penalties on the following turn!

Structure blocks with rails are also subject to a unique critical hit roll. If the structure takes damage during a turn, roll 1d20 as with any other critical, but do not add any modifiers (including those from weapons which normally provide their own bonuses). On a natural roll of 16 -20, one entire rail is destroyed! Note that a rail is any row of external fighter boxes connected by a single straight line segment (not just a single fighter box). The owning player is free to choose which rail is destroyed by this critical.

Fighters attached to Raider external rails are not within any kind of hangar, but must perform hangar bay operations through narrow airlocks. Thus, any hangar ops take twice as long to complete. In addition, if the ship is considered "surprised" in any scenario, it will take twice as long as normal to get the fighters ready for launch. Thus, if the scenario rules stated that the ship could not launch fighters for 2 turns, it would take a Raider ship with external rails 4 turns to get its pilots to their fighters and ready to launch.

Other Hangar Operations

Within the hangar bay, certain operations can take place which can have effects on the battle or in certain scenarios. Many of these take the form of actions which take a number of turns to complete. When an action is stated as requiring "one full turn," that means the entire turn from start to finish. The fighter or shuttle cannot launch or land on that turn, or the operation will not be completed (it is aborted in order to get the unit to the launch position, or move it away from the landing position, as applicable).

Replacement of Injured Pilots

If a pilot is injured somehow (or if he is killed and the fighter recovered), the pilot can be replaced. This operation requires two complete turns after the fighter has landed, and is concurrent with any other hangar bay operations in progress. Once the pilot has been replaced, the fighter can rejoin its flight by either launching and matching speeds with that flight, or launching while the flight is located in the carrier's hex (as described previously).

Ships have effectively unlimited quantities of shuttle pilot replacements available, but only a number of replacement fighter pilots equal to 50% of their original fighter capacity (note that a ship that doesn't normally carry fighters will not be able to provide a fighter pilot replacement). It is not likely this limit will come into play during a scenario in the case of a full-fledged carrier (considering the infrequency of pilot injuries) but might have meaning during a campaign.

Note that there are no specific actions described in this book which can injure or kill pilots, but there may be ways to do so in future products or certain scenarios.

Reloading of Weapons

Shuttles and fighters may be capable of carrying missiles or other reloadable munitions. In general, it takes one full turn to load one missile, mine, or other object onto a fighter or shuttle. This can be done concurrently with any other operations. Specific rules for exceptions to this procedure will be defined in future products.

Note that missile replacements are not free— they must be purchased before the scenario using Combat Points, at the same rate you would pay to buy them for the fighter itself. If the ship is not carrying any fighters which use missiles, it may still buy replacement missiles.

Flight Recombination

If two partial flights land on the same carrier, they are permitted to combine into a full flight (or some other arrangement) if the owning player wishes, so long as they spend at least one full turn a board while shifting around.

This can be concurrent with other hangar ops.

For example, if two flights of three Thunderbolts land to reload their missiles, they could combine into a single flight while reloading, then launch as a single unit. Naturally, the new arrangement must be announced upon launch.

Dropped -out fighters may not return to combat unless using the optional fighter repair rules described in the Fighter Combat section.

Recovery of Fighters/Shuttles/Escape Pods

Ships have grapples within their hangar bays capable of capturing a derelict fighter or shuttle, such as one from which a pilot has voluntarily ejected, or escape pods. These grapples are present in all hangar bays (but not external rails) unless otherwise noted.

To use the grapple, the ship must be in the same hex as the target, moving the same speed and in the same direction. The attempt is automatically successful, and takes place during the ship's turn in the Movement Step of the Combat Sequence. Note that if the ship's hangar bay is currently full, it cannot recover fighters or shuttles (but could capture escape pods). If the hangar has been destroyed, it cannot recover anything at all!

This ability cannot be used to capture a fighter which is attempting to resist, as long as that fighter has at least one thrust point available to maneuver— even if it has already spent all its thrust during a turn. It's assumed that the pilot can use small maneuvering jets well enough to avoid a grapple, so long as the pilot is alive and conscious, and the fighter or shuttle isn't so crippled that it can no longer move away.

Shuttle/Fighter Escape

If a ship is destroyed while some fighters or shuttles are still a board, there is a chance some of them might be able to get out of the hangar in time to avoid destruction. (The death of the ship is handled immediately in game terms, though it might actually take several turns to finish breaking apart.)

Roll oned 20. If a 1-5 is rolled, no fighters or shuttles can escape. If a 6 -10 is rolled, only one-fourth of the fighters and shuttles may get away (drop fractions); the player can select which ones. If an 11 -18 is rolled, one -half may escape, and if a 19 or 20 is rolled, all of them manage to getaway.

Escaped fighters are treated as having just launched, and have a facing and speed as if they just launched from the appropriate hangar. They can do nothing (maneuver, fire, etc.) on the turn they escape. During the next turn, they may accelerate, maneuver, fire weapons, or otherwise act normally, but would be subject to the -10 initiative penalty at this "pint,,.

Cargo Holds

Some ships, particularly transports and freighters, possess cargo holds. These holds normally carry bulk cargo, though they are occasionally outfitted for other purposes, like the transportation of passengers, colonists, military forces, prisoners, or refugees. The uses of cargo space are limited only to the imagination of the ship's owner, who is usually a private businessman or employee of a larger freight company (but occasionally an individual of more dubious means).

Cargo holds appear much like structure blocks, but are found within a simple rectangular or trapezoidal icon, such as the one shown here. The transfer rate of cargo is shown as a number in the cargo icon. This represents how many boxes' worth of cargo can be loaded into, or offloaded from, the cargo hold during a turn. This might be important to timing in scenarios where cargo is being transferred. For example, two freighters might be transferring cargo between each other, with scenario rules stating that neither may attempt to depart the area until the transfer has been completed. (Note that cargo bays like the one in this example are often labeled with letters for easy record-keeping.)

In general, a box in a cargo hold represents a percentage of the cargo in that hold. The hold is a huge open area, usually packed with goods, people, or whatever else the ship is carrying. When a box is marked destroyed, an equivalent percentage of the cargo is also destroyed. If, for example, a freighter has 20 boxes in a cargo hold and that hold loses 5 boxes in combat, 25% of its cargo is destroyed.

Ejection of Cargo

Some holds, like those on smuggling ships, are set up so they can be ejected or released into space if the pirate (or whoever) needs to dump his contraband. If this is the case, the hold in question will be located on either the front, side, or aft sections of the ship (rather than within the primary structure area). If the hold is ejected, it simply drops off the ship (retaining the ship's facing and speed) while the ship continues on. The hold may not be recovered during the scenario, but is considered captured by whichever side occupies the map when the scenario is over. If a cargo hold (or pod, or pallet) can be dropped, this fact will be noted in the unit's description.

Cargo Mass lOptional]

The statistics shown for ships with cargo holds assumes the holds are filled with light cargo or are empty. In some scenarios, a loaded freighter might suffer additional penalties to its movement and other statistics.

Fully loaded freighters suffer a penalty of -1 to their initiative for every 50 cargo boxes (or fraction thereof) they possess. These boxes are packed with dense or heavy materials, but not to critical levels. For every 100 cargo boxes (or fraction thereof), the ship must add + 1 to its turn delay period and + 1 to its accel/decel rating. Thus, if a freighter with 125 fully loaded boxes made a turn which would normally require 6 hexes to satisfy the turn delay, said turn would instead need 8 hexes of movement. Turn shortening can be used to offset the normal delay requirement (6 hexes in this case) but cannot eliminate any of the penalty hexes. The turn cost is not affected.

Overloaded freighters suffer a penalty of —1 to their initiative for every 25 cargo boxes (or fraction there of). Every available inch of packing area is stuffed with massive cargo, such as heavy metals or other dense materials. For every 50 cargo boxes (or fraction there of), the ship must add + 1 to the turn delay and +1 to its accel/decel cost, and for every 100 boxes, it must add + 1 to the turn cost. Thus, if a freighter with 125 overloaded boxes made a turn that normally required 6 turn delay hexes and 6 thrust, the requirement would instead be 9 hexes of turn delay and 8 thrust. As with fully loaded freighters, turn delays can be reduced by turn shortening, but the penalty hexes cannot be eliminated.

Note that freighters capable of dropping their holds might consider doing so in order to reduce or eliminate some of the above penalties.

Hyperspace Movement and

Jom pEn gines

Hyperspace Travel

Eventually, most sentient races reach for the stars, despite the great distances involved. Races in the infancy of expansion into the galaxy try covering these distances with sleeper ships — ships which house colonists in deep hibernation so they will survive the long trip. But this process is both slow and expensive and doesn't allow for trade or communications with the colony once (and if) it is established.

Most races also spend some years trying to break the faster-than-light barrier, though no race has yet to find a way to violate this nature-imposed speed limit. Eventually, though, these races stumble across hyperspace, either by accident or with deliberate purpose. Often a race already established will come across a sleeper ship and contact the mother planet, as the Centauri did with Earth.

Hyperspace

is a parallel dimension which lies very close to our own. For this reason you can navigate with some accuracy in hyperspace and know, approximately, where you will come out in normal space. There are dangers to traveling in hyperspace, however. It lies close enough that large gravity bodies in our dimension affect it. This has the effect of creating currents which can, if the crew is not alert, drag a ship far off course, becoming lost in hyperspace forever. Sensors are nearly useless due to these same currents, so tracking down a lost ship is nearly impossible, more a matter of luck than skill or technology.

Access to hyperspace is achieved by warping the fabric of space and creating a tear, sometimes referred to as a vortex (or more commonly as a jump point), which leads to hyperspace. This process requires a tremendous amount of energy, so much so that only the largest or most advanced ships can carry the jump engines necessary to do so.

Large ships (capital ships, heavy combat vessels, and some other ship types) are the only craft capable of opening their own jump points. In addition, the various spacefaring races have established fixed jumpgates (basically a skeletal structure with a reactor dedicated to the task of creating vortices on demand) at key points throughout their territory. (These are described in detail in a later section.)

Traveling the

Hyperspace Lanes

When a ship moves into hyperspace, it can cross the void between star systems in a few days or weeks, instead of the decades it would take in normal space. Note that the ship does not actually move faster in hyperspace; it merely moves a shorter distance.

Only a few ships, generally those which are equipped with their own jump engines, can move at will through hyperspace. Even these ships tend to avoid this as it can be dangerous should equipment fail. All other ships are restricted to following established hyperspace beacons.

All fixed jumpgates house one or more hyperspace beacons

. Each of these beacons is linked to another at another jumpgate some distance away. A given beacon will only trace a line to one other beacon. These lines are generally referred to as hyperspace lanes . Ships in hyperspace follow these beacons from one gate to another, often having to move through several different jump points to get to the desired destination, much like changing planes several times when you fly today.

A jumpgate can only support a limited number of hyperspace beacons. Too many beacons will cause the signals to interfere with one another. Jump gates must also be placed far a part from one another or the same effect can occur.

This means that there are many cases when a ship must cross open space for several days to reach the next jumpgate necessary to continue its journey.

Further details on the strategic nature of jumpgates will be presented in the Babylon 5 Wars Campaign Guide.

Movement within Hyperspace

Movement within hyperspace varies in several ways from that of normal space. It can be likened to an endless river, with currents and eddies which can change capriciously. There can even be dangerous anomalies like "rapids" and "whirlpools ."

If a scenario is fought in hyperspace, the units within that scenario are assumed to compensate for steady currents. However, during each turn of the game, currents might shift or flow in unexpected ways, affecting each unit in the scenario differently.

At the start of the Movement Step of any turn taking place in hyperspace (before any ships make their movements), roll 1d20 and consult the following chart. Some scenarios held in particularly rough (or weak) areas of hyperspace may specify a bonus (or penalty) to this roll.

Note that during normal (non-combat) travel through hyperspace, these anomalies are handled automatically by a ship's navigation systems. Only rarely are currents encountered which are too strong to overcome. Fortunately, ships can detect these currents before they enter and wait for them to calm down before proceeding. Additional rules for hyperspace anomalies, such as whirlpools, rapids and wave forms, will appear in future products.

Jump Engines

Jump engines are large generators capable of opening a jump point to hyperspace.

The size of these engines limits their deployment to large vessels, as mentioned previously.

Jump engines are very delicate and must constantly be maintained in order to be usable at a moment's notice during a battle. Jump engines which are damaged become very unstable when activated and can cause the ship using them to explode, as described in the chapter on Critical Hits. Also, if held open for long periods, the power drain on the ship's reactor becomes severe.

Jump Delay Times

In the datacard for any jump engine -equipped ship is a statistic labeled Jump Delay.

This indicates the number of turns the engine must wait between the time its last jump point closed before it can open a new point. For example, a ship with a jump delay of 20 turns which left hyperspace to arrive in a scenario on turn 3 of the game could not open an escape vortex until turn 23.

If the jump engine is ever deactivated during any turn, the engine becomes discharged, and must recharge at 10 times the listed jump delay period (beginning at the point the system is again powered). However, no ship can voluntarily deactivate its jump engine for extra power, unless specifically allowed by scenario rules (or your own house rules). While it may seem tactically wise, it's something no ship captain would normally do — he would always want to keep that escape route open. This restriction is lifted if the jump engine is more than 50% damaged, as the captain may well feel sticking around is less dangerous than trying to open up a jump point!

Opening a Jump Paint

To open a vortex, the ship simply announces it is doing so during the Jump Point Formation Segment of the Combat Sequence (at the very end of the Initial Actions Step). There is no power cost to do so, although the jump engine must not be deactivated (see above). The player may select any hex within 4 hexes of the ship opening the vortex, marking it with a counter, coin or other convenient chit. This represents the location of the jump point itself.

(Note: Some advanced units, particularly those of ancient races such as the Vorlons, can open vortices at greater distances. These will be defined in the rules for such ships.)

In addition to the target hex, the player must also select a vortex facing

. This is a single hex side, or direction, through which the jump point allows access. Units may not enter the vortex through any of the other hexsides. For example, if the vortex formed towards the top of the map (direction # 1), only ships which entered the jump point's hex from direction # 1 could enter hyperspace through that point. The vortex facing cannot be altered once the jump point begins to form .

The hex with the jump point may contain any other units (even enemy units) but cannot contain any of the following: planets, moons, or other terrain objects; other jump points or jumpgates (no "bonehead maneuvers" are allowed unless specifically overridden by scenario rules); or Enormous Units. There may be other restricted items released in future projects, which will be noted at that time.

Jump points opened on a given turn (the initiation turn

) are not fully formed until the end of that turn. They finish opening during the Vortex Activation /Closure step of the turn they are initiated (see the Combat Sequence). Units are not permitted to enter a jump point during the initiation turn, but can do so at anytime thereafter.

Any unit— not just the ship which opened the vortex— can use it as long as it is open. To use a jump point, a unit must either be in the point's hex at the time it becomes active, or must enter the hex by moving into it (at any speed).

The direction from which it entered (even if it is already in the hex) must match the vortex facing. Note that a unit does not have to end its movement in the jump point's hex— it merely has to move into the hex. If it moves into the hex but still has movement remaining, that movement is lost— the ship's movement ends the moment it enters a vortex.

Entry into an open vortex is entirely optional. A unit which passes through a jump point's hex, or is in that hex when the vortex forms, only enters the vortex if it so chooses— and if it does, entry is automatically successful (so long as the vortex facing is correct, of course).

Once within a vortex, the unit is effectively out of the scenario. It may not fire weapons (or be fired upon), nor may it launch or recover fighters or shuttles, or do much of anything else. It could, of course, recover fighters and shuttles on the other side of the vortex. Note that some scenarios may specify that combat will continue in hyperspace, but this is a rare situation, and will be fully explained in the scenario rules. Under most circumstances, a ship which enters hyperspace (or which leaves it, if the scenario starts in hyperspace) is considered disengaged and can't return to the battle.

Jump points are one-way passages— two-way vortices cannot be created. A ship in normal space cannot open a jump point to allow units in hyperspace to come through, for example. A ship may, if it wishes, open a jump point opposite the normal direction. That is, a ship in hyperspace could open a jump point into normal space that would allow a ship in normal space to enter hyperspace but the ship in hyperspace could not enter normal space through that point.

Closing a Jump Point

The ship which opened a jump point can either let it close automatically (at the end of its first full turn of operation), or elect to keep it open. If it chooses not to maintain it, the vortex closes immediately. The announcement that a jump point has closed is made during the Vortex Closure Segment of the Combat Sequence, near the end of the turn.

Jump points also close if the ship holding them open enters its own vortex. As soon as the ship does this, the vortex begins to collapse, closing at the end of that turn (other ships can still enter it during that turn). It cannot be held open from the other side.

Note that vorticesd on 'tactually close until the Vortex Closure step of the Combat Sequence, near the end of the turn. Since the vortex is open throughout the rest of the turn (during which ships that entered it are "in transit"), those ships are vulnerable to the effects of Shadow vortex disruptors.

Maintaining a Jump Point

If a ship prefers, it can hold a jump point open for more than one full turn. The decision to do so is made during the Vortex Closure Segment of the Combat Sequence, and must be announced. For example, a ship which opens a jump point at the start of turn 3 would be able to make use of it on turn 4. At the end of that turn, it can either allow the vortex to close, or could choose to maintain it. A vortex can be maintained for no more than four complete turns (counting the first one), so in this example, it could be held open during turns 5, 6 and 7 and must be closed at the end of turn 7. A vortex must also be closed if the ship maintaining it moves more than 4 hexes from the jump point.

In order to hold a jump point open, the ship must turn off all weapons and other power-absorbing systems, except for sensors and the jump engine itself, channeling this power and any other free energy into the jump engine. This represents the strain on the ship as it holds the vortex open and stable. The ship can continue to maneuver normally, although if it moves more than 4 hexes from the vortex, it can no longer maintain it (as noted above).

If the engine has any damage marked on it, it will require a roll each turn to see if it overloads (see Critical Hits).

This roll is made during the Jump Point Formation step of the turn (not during the Critical Hits Segment). Obviously, a ship which suffers damage to its jump engine while holding a vortex open should consider dropping it during the Vortex Closure step to avoid an overload roll early in the next turn.

Fixed Jump Gates

Fixed jump gates

(normally referred to as simply jump gates) are large structures with a simple reactor capable of charging, opening, and holding a jump point on demand. The jump point forms in the same hex as the jumpgate; it cannot be "projected " to any other hex.

Any unit wishing to open the gate must simply get within 10 hexes of the gate and tell it to open. The ship must signal the gate during the Jump Point Formation Segment, and it will open in the same way as ship-generated jump points, with its vortex always facing the same as the jumpgate's facing. If multiple players are competing to see who gets to command a jumpgate, the player who "owns" the gate gets first call. "Ownership" is usually obvious or specified by the scenario. If no owner is clearly stated (or it is noted as a totally neutral gate) then use the closest unit.

If several are equally distant, then each competing player rolls off, highest roller getting to make the call. Do not use initiative!

Jump gates can be programmed to stay open for a certain time period or until specific vessels enter the gate, but in neither case will they remain open for more than four complete turns. The unit opening the gate does not have to use it, nor does it need to remain within the 10-hex access range, once the gate has been signaled. Once an order is given, the gate can not be given a new order until it completes the previous order. Once the jump point closes, it has a jump delay period of 20 turns before it can open again.

A control sheet for the typical fixed jumpgate is provided in this product. It is usually a neutral unit, operating under automatic rules. Since it has no weapons, and cannot maneuver, it usually just sits in place until activated (see above). If it takes damage, a player on the side not shooting at it selects which systems to mark destroyed, if a choice is needed. Note that even though this is an Enormous Unit any ship or fighter entering its hex does not have to make a ramming check (as described later in this chapter). This is due to the construction of the jumpgate itself.

The fixed jumpgate uses an automated power system and cannot alter its reactor usage. For every 3 boxes of reactor destroyed, the jump delay time (normally 20 turns) increases by 1 turn, and for every 15 points of reactor damage, the maximum time the vortex can be held open is reduced by 1 turn (from the original maximum of 4 turns).

If the reactor is completely destroyed, the jumpgate should be marked destroyed. Note that the reactor on a fixed jumpgate does not suffer any other critical hits, and no other damage affects the gate unless it is destroyed or the jump engine itself is damaged. In this latter case, the engine has the same chance of exploding when used as any other jump engine would — see the Critical Hits chapter for this procedure.

Jumping Into Combat

According to the Combat Sequence, units creating a jump point on a given turn cannot enter it until the following turn, and are effectively out of the battle as soon as they are within it. The same applies for jumping into combat. On the turn units are to begin arriving (either as specified by scenario rules or as defined by the players), place a vortex counter on the map at the point specified in the scenario description. However, this applies only to historical scenarios where the jump point location is historically known, or to fixed jumpgates which always open in the same location. In the case of a free-form or campaign battle, the starting location may vary well beyond what is expected or desired.

To determine the exact starting point of an unknown vortex, the owning player places a counter representing his desired arrival point, and then rolls 1d20 on the chart shown here to determine where it really appears. The ship creating the jump point must be specified before the dieroll is made, as its sensor rating and other abilities apply modifiers to this chart, as listed hereafter. In addition, the player must specify the desired jump point facing, which can be shifted on a poor dieroll.

The arrival hex cannot be within a solid object (e.g., a planet) , off the

If DieRoll Is...

Then the Vortex Moves...

edges of a fixed map , or in the

Less than 1

Zero hexes (precise placement)

1-3

1d3 hexes in a random direction

From 4 to the ship’s sensor rating

1d6 hexes in a random direction

Higher than the sensor rating but less than twice the sensor rating

1d 10+1 hexes in a random direction, plus roll 1d6: on a 1-2, the vortex facing shifts 60° left; on a 5-6 it shifts 60° right Equal to or greater than twice the sensor rating 2d10+2 hexes in a random direction and the vortex is shifted to a random facing same hex as an enormous unit such as base or asteroid. In these cases, shift the vortex to the left or right (random determination) until the conditions no longer exist. Maintain the same distance if at all possible, alter ingd i- Modifiers: Minbari -1; Jump Accelerator -1; Expert Jump Officer -1; First One Ship -5; arriving in a nebula +3. These bonuses are cumulative. In addition, if a friendly base is present on the map when the jump point is opened, apply a further - 3 modifier, or if a scout is present apply a -1.

rection before distance until a clear hex has been found. In most cases, the new site will be obvious. Please note that in scenarios where blocking terrains or items are present, it is theoretically possible for a jump point to form directly facing such objects. In such terrain, the player is advised to choose a low starting speed for his arriving forces so they do not slam into the obstacle!

Once the location of the vortex has been determined, place the counter on the map and note its facing. Ships entering through it arrive on the map on the next turn. The owning player decides which units are using the vortex (and their speeds and other status information) during the Jump Point Formation Segment of the Combat Sequence, and announces this simultaneously with any other arrivals taking place on the same turn. Arriving units do not, however, make their appearance until the end of the turn, during the Vortex Activation /Closure Segment. Thus, they cannot be fired upon, nor may they themselves fire, on the turn of arrival. Weapons capable of disrupting or otherwise affecting jump points can do so on this turn, just as they can with vortices opened for escape purposes.

While within the vortex, the arriving ship cannot fire weapons, but can launch fighters or do anything that does not require its specific presence on the map. It can roll or pivot, but cannot perform other maneuvers such as acceleration, turns, and the like. It can reload missile racks, move officers or other internal items around, perform self-repairs if available, execute hangar bay activities, and so on. It can arm weapons in sustained mode (or other special modes) if desired, and if enough turns have elapsed (including the preceding one, when the jump point formed), the weapon can be ready to fire when the ship arrives on the playing field.

The turn after arrival, newly placed units are eligible to act normally, and can fire weapons, maneuver, or take any other desired actions. They may, however, suffer an initiative penalty due to their unfamiliarity with the battlefield. This modifier is equal to the number of hexes the vortex "scattered" (as determined using the preceding chart) plus 2 for each 60° of facing shift. For example, if a vortex arrived 10 hexes from the target location and was facing exactly opposite what was intended, the arriving force has an initiative penalty of -16 (-10 for the ten hexes of distance and - 6 because there were three 60° shifts involved in reversing the vortex facing).

Ramming

The Kamikaze Attack

Ships and fighters may attempt to ram other units. This is usually a desperation move, as true kamikazes don't exist in any of the major races. In some situations, however, ramming might be allowed.

When Ramming Can Be All awed

Normally, ramming can be used only in times of desperate war, if one side is losing badly against superior technology and feels they have no other choice. In the past, it has also been done by races that are defeated in war but refuse to submit to the heel of slavery. Under these conditions, a proud captain might choose to "take some of the enemy with him " rather than surrender.

In published scenarios, ramming is not allowed unless the rules of the scenario specifically permit it. Scenarios of this type will be ones in which the situation is particularly desperate, or in which a particular key enemy unit must be destroyed (or a key friendly unit protected) at all costs.

In free-form games or player-designed scenarios, ramming is an optional rule. It is up to you, the players, to decide if it is to be allowed in your game or scenario. However, if those involved in your game have not already discussed the matter, assume that ramming is not allowed.

In campaigns, it is up to the campaign rules to define when and where ramming can be done. This will be discussed in greater detail in the B5W Campaign Guide.

Even if the ramming rules are not in use, and a unit enters the same hex as an Enormous Unit (by whatever means), it will automatically make an attempt to ram (even if this isn't the owning player's intention). This is due to the sheer size of the Enormous Unit, which occupies a huge volume of space approximately equal to the entire hex on the map.

Ramming Conditions & Restrictions

Ships can ram other ships, and fighters or shuttles can ram other fighters/shuttles, or even ships if they wish to.

Ships cannot ram fighters or shuttles, as they are too small and maneuverable, unless those units are incapable of maneuvering for some reason.

Ramming can be attempted by simply moving a unit into the same hex as another unit. The two units must end the Movement Step of the Combat Sequence in the same hex; they cannot simply "pass each other by" during the turn.

Note that, in general, you will need to achieve initiative in order to arrange for this to happen (especially if your opponent knows you are trying to do it). Also, you must be moving at least speed 1 in order to make a ramming attempt.

The ramming attempt is actually made at the end of the Movement Step of the Combat Sequence. Units which wish to ram make the announcement at this point. Note that because this happens before weapons fire is exchanged, you can't count on shooting down an opponent before he tries to ram you!

Note: Hexes in B5W are large enough that only Enormous Units occupy a vast area within them. Thus, units can easily pass through hexes without hitting each other, and in fact this is normally handled automatically by subtle piloting maneuvers beyond the scope of the game. Only if a unit directly attempts to ram another— or if a unit enters an Enormous Unit's hex— is ramming possible.

Making the Attempt

These rules assume that ramming is being attempted by only one of the two parties involved. If both are trying to ram each other, or if both units are of enormous size, the chance of success is automatic; skip to the next heading.

Roll a singled 20. On a roll of 13 -20, the ram is successful. The following modifiers are available, and all are cumulative:

2 if the target is
4 if the target is a capital ship and the ramming ship a smaller class of vessel.

a ship and the ramming unit a fighter or shuttle.

6 if the target is of Enormous size.
6 if the ramming unit is of Enormous size.

+1 if the target is moving speed 4 or 5.

2 if the target is moving speed 2 or 3.
3 if the target is moving speed 1.
5 if the target is not moving.

-2 if the ramming ship is a capital ship and the target is a smaller size class.

-1 for every 5 points of speed (or fraction there of) that the target is moving faster than 5. For example, a ship moving speed 6-10 would have a -1 modifier, speed 11 -15 would have a -2 modifier, and so on.

-1 for every level of jinking the ramming or target unit is using (if applicable).

Results of the Ram I5hip vs. Ship]

On the datacard of each ship control sheet, ships are assigned a ramming factor . This factor is based, in part, on the amount of structure on the ship, as well as its basic profile and sturdiness when making or absorbing a ram. It is this value that will be used to determine the damage caused when your am (and the defender's ramming factor will determine how much damage your ship takes). Damage a ship has sustained doesn't affect the ramming factor, except that it should Ramming Results be reduced by a proportion equal to the number of entire 1-6: Glancing blow. Each ship takes dam-1 age equal to 25% of the other’s ramming factor, structure blocks which are missing. For example, a capital rounding any fractions of 0.5 or more up.

ship (which has five blocks— forward, aft, port, starboard, and

7-12: Moderate hit. Each ship takes 50% of | primary) would reduce the ramming factor by 20% if it were the other’s ramming factor.

missing its forward structure. Round fractions of 0.5 or more

13-16: Solid blow. Each ship takes 75% of | up when making this calculation.

the other’s ramming factor.

When the ram occurs, roll oned 20 and consult the chart

17-20: Perfect shot. Each ship takes the full shown here. All damage is scored in raking mode. If the ram ramming factor of the other.

ming ship moved into the target's hex front-first, with initiative, add + 1. If the two ships are head -to -head, add + 1. These modifiers are cumulative. Round fractions up in all cases.

Results of the RamI Fighter/Shuttle vs. 5hip]

Fighters have a ramming factor shown on their datacard (shuttles calculate theirs by summing the original number of hit points and their basic armor value). As with ships, this represents the amount of damage they can hope to cause when ramming. Reduce this value by 1 for each point of damage the shuttle or fighter has suffered.

Roll the ramming attack using the same chart shown in the previous section (Ship vs. Ship), with a further +1 bonus due to the maneuverability of the ramming unit. Note, however, that regardless of the effect on the target ship, the fighter or shuttle is automatically destroyed. The pilot may not eject; even if he did, his velocity would carry him into the ship, with deadly results.

Note that when a flight rams a ship, each fighter or shuttle makes the ramming attempt separately. Thus, it is possible for some of the fighters to ram while others miss the target and continue past it.

Results of the Ram (Fighter/Shuttle vs. Fighter/Shuttle]

Roll on the chart found in the Ship vs. Ship section (above). The ramming unit receives a +1 bonus on the dieroll due to its small size and maneuverability, unless it is a shuttle trying to ram a fighter, in which case no bonus is available. Some special fighters may receive greater bonuses, and some scenarios might permit additional bonuses to this roll.

When a flight of fighters makes a ramming attempt on another flight, each fighter makes the attempt individually, and must choose a particular enemy unit to ram. The choice of target is never random, nor does the defender have any control over the selection. It is permitted for more than one fighter to try ramming a single enemy fighter, but if this is done, it is handled simultaneously— so if both are successful, the target gets its full ramming factor against both attacks! This makes "gang -tackling " somewhat counter productive.

Ramming often results in the destruction of both units. While it might seem that a heavy fighter would wish to ram light fighters, as his own greater mass would give him an advantage, there is a significant chance that even a light fighter might (on a high roll) destroy the heavy one— and even if it doesn't, it will cause more damage than the heavy fighter might be willing to accept.

ELINT Ships

Often referred to as scouts, ELINT ships are designed to gather intelligence about the sector of space they occupy with a minimum of contact with the enemy. They are also used to support fleets during wartime operations and guide other units through hyperspace or unknown and potentially dangerous territory. These missions are possible due to the impressive array of sensors installed a board such vessels. Most scouts are jump -capable capital ships with a long cruising range, as these features best allow them to complete the missions described above. A few ELINT ships, such as the Abbai Shyarie, are designed for more specialized roles, but these are rare.

While on intelligence-gathering missions, scouts slip into an enemy system and silently record all the electronic emissions they can detect. Depending on the level of detection technology employed by the opposition, the scout may move very close to planets and bases, cataloguing everything it sees for later analysis, all while remaining hidden in the depths of space. If an ELINT vessel is sighted in a system, it will be targeted for immediate destruction, and this normally forces the ship to flee immediately with whatever data is has collected. Information on the strategic nature of ELINT vessels will be presented in a future product.

During a battle, ELINT ships have the capability to provide superior targeting information to their fleet, allowing the force to engage at longer ranges and with more accuracy than normal.

Scouts can also hide the size of a fleet by throwing up large amounts of "white noise" which can effectively block sensors.

This forces the enemy to engage without proper intelligence on the size and composition of the fleet.

Types of ELINT Support

Offensive: Increases the to-hit roll of one or more friendly ships versus a given target.

Defensive: Lowers the defense rating of a friendly ship versus all attackers.

Disruption: Cancels one or more EW points used by a single enemy target.

Blanket Protection: Lowers the defense rating of all friendly ships within range.

Identification: Detects the type of enemy ship or weapon in use.

Offensive ELINT

During a battle, scouts can be used to improve the accuracy of one or more friendly ships. They do this by providing additional targeting data from their own systems to the firing vessel, which thereby enhances its targeting solution. This ability is usually referred to as "loaning offensive EW" to the friendly ship.

Procedure: The unit being aided must lock onto the target (enemy) with at least 2 points of offensive EW (OEW).

The scout must then lock onto the friendly vessel with at least one point of OEW, and must lock onto the target enemy unit with at least 2 points of offensive EW. For every 2 full points of OEW used against the target (drop any fraction), the friendly unit receives the benefit of 1 extra point of OEW versus the target. This allocation is determined during the EW Segment of the Combat Sequence and cannot be changed once EW has been announced. Close combat EW cannot be loaned.

Example: A Covran locks onto a Primus with 1 point of OEW and a nearby G 'Quan with 10 points of OEW. The Primus also locks onto the G 'Quan with 2 of its own OEW. The Primus earns 5 extra OEW versus the G 'Quan.

Fighters: A flight of fighters, or group of up to 6 shuttles, is considered a single unit for this purpose. However, such flights receive only half the normal bonus (drop fractions) due to their limited sensor systems. For example, a scout locking onto an enemy with 8 OEW will provide only a + 2 bonus to a flight of fighters it has also locked onto (not a + 4 bonus).

Ranges: The ELINT ship must be no farther than 30 hexes away from both the friendly unit and the target unit. This restriction applies both at the time EW is determined and at the time weapons are fired. If one or more of the ships moves out of range during its movement, but the others move in such a way as to rectify this, the loaned EW will still apply.

Line-of-sight:

LOS to both the friendly unit and the target unit is required at the time ELINT is determined and at the time fire is actually performed. If it is broken during movement but restored after movement, it will still function normally.

Jammers: Since lock-ons are required, a unit cannot loan offensive EW to a friendly jammer-protected unit unless it can penetrate the jammer or the jammer is deactivated. Similarly, loaned OEW cannot be used against a jammerprotected enemy unless the scout and the friendly ship both have some way to penetrate this defense. Note that Minbari can always defeat their own jammers.

Limitations:

An ELINT ship can provide its benefits to several friendly ships (limited only by the number of units it can lock onto) but cannot combine loaned OEW with OEW from other scouts. Thus, a Covran could lock onto three other Centauri ships and an enemy unit, providing loaned EW to all three friendly units against that enemy target.

However, another Covran in the vicinity could not do the same and combine its benefits with those of its counterpart.

Combinations:

The scout continues to benefit from the offensive EW it uses against the enemy target. Thus, if it uses 8 OEW against an enemy and locks onto a friendly ship, the scout gets + 8 to hit and the friendly ship gets + 4.

(Note that two scouts loaning EW to each other can be very effective in combat. If two Covrans lock onto each other, and both lock onto a single enemy target with 12 OEW, they will each have a combined total of + 18 to hit that target.

It is perhaps fortunate that most scouts are poorly armed, giving up weapons for their considerable sensor suites.)

Defensive ELINT

ELINT vessels can be used to help protect key ships within a friendly fleet. This ability is usually referred to as "loaning defensive EW."

Procedure: The scout must lock onto the friendly unit with at least 2 points of defensive EW. For every pair of EW points used in this way, the target gains a bonus of 1 point of defensive EW. Any fractions should be dropped. This allocation is determined during the EW Segment of the Combat Sequence and cannot be changed once EW has been announced.

Example: An Oracle scout locks onto an Omega Destroyer with 8 points of defensive EW. The Omega receives + 4 to its DEW for the remainder of the turn.

Fighters: Any flight of fighters, or group of up to 6 shuttles, can be considered a "unit" for this purpose, and benefit as any ship would.

Ranges: The ELINT ship must be no farther than 50 hexes away from the friendly unit. This restriction applies both at the time EW is determined and at the time weapons are fired. If either ship moves out of range during its movement, but the other moves in such a way as to rectify this, the loaned EW will still apply.

Line-of-sight:

LOS to the friendly unit is required at the time ELINT is determined and the time fire is actually performed. If it is broken during movement but restored after movement, it will still function normally.

Jammers: Since lock-ons are required, a friendly unit cannot defend a jammer-protected unit unless the scout can penetrate this defense or the target deactivates the jammer. Note that Minbari can always defeat their own jammers.

Limitations:

An ELINT ship can provide defensive EW to any number of friendly units, limited only by available EW.

However, each is treated separately, and no combinations are permitted. Thus, if a scout provides 6 defensive EW to one unit, it cannot use those same points to help another unit or for any other purpose. It could, however, provide 2 or more points to another friendly unit if any additional EW points are available.

Combinations:

The scout does not itself benefit from the defensive EW it loans to the target. Any number of scouts can loanD EW to a specific unit during a turn, but loaned DEW cannot, in combination with the ship's ownD EW, reduce a target's profile below zero. For example, a target with a forward /aft profile of 15 using 10 points of self generated DEW cannot benefit from more than 5 loaned DEW. A vessel with a profile of 10 using 12 points of self generated DEW will have a profile of - 2, so no loaned DEW can further protect it.

Disruption ELIIXIT

ELINT vessels can disrupt an opposing ship's sensors, filling it with "white noise" that makes lock-ons difficult. This process is referred to as "breaking enemy EW" or (where appropriate) "breaking lock-ons."

Procedure: The scout must apply at least 3 points of EW against the enemy target. For every 3 full EW points used in this way, one point of OEW or CCEW being used by the target on that turn is nullified. Any fractions should be dropped. The number of OEW points used to break enemy EW, and the target of the effect, should be determined during the EW Segment of the Combat Sequence. Once all EW announcements are made, the player then decides which of the target's OEW or CCEW points are lost. This choice is the scout's, not the target's. Only OEW or CCEW can be broken; if the target goes full defensive, the scout cannot affect it. This decision must be made immediately— it cannot wait until after movement.

Example: A Sho'Kos applies 3 points of disruption EW against an enemy O c turion. When EW is announced, the O ctu rio n reveals that it locked onto the Sho'Kos with 1 point of OEW, allocated 1 point to CCEW, and used the rest for its own defense. The Sho'Kos can choose to nullify either theO EW point (thus breaking the lock-on) or the CCEW point, but must make the decision right away (it cannot wait until later in the turn).

Fighters: Fighter and shuttle offensive bonuses cannot be disrupted.

Ranges: The ELINT ship must be no farther than 30 hexes away from the target unit. This restriction applies both at the time EW is determined and at the time weapons are fired. If either ship moves out of range during its movement, but the other moves in such a way as to rectify this, the disrupted EW will still apply.

Line-of-sight:

LOS to the target unit is required at the time ELINT is determined and the time fire is actually performed. If it is broken during movement but restored after movement, the EW disruption will still occur.

Jammers: No lock-on is required to break enemy EW, so OEW or CCEW employed by jammer-protected units can be disrupted.

Limitations:

Each 3 points of disruption EW can affect only a single point of enemy EW. Offensive EW being loaned to the target by an enemy scout cannot be disrupted, but the scout can break the lock-on that permits it— this is often referred to as "counter-ELINT." Note that if the target does not use OEW or CCEW on that turn, there will be nothing to disrupt, so any disruption ELINT allocated against that target will be wasted.

Combinations:

A scout can break as many points of EW as its sensors allow. However, two scouts cannot break EW against the same target. If two scouts attempt to do so, use the one with the most EW points allocated to this function. If both used the same number of points, roll randomly to see which one can break the target's EW on that Blanket: Protection ELINT vessels can generate a defensive field that protects all nearby friendly units. Though expensive, this can be a much more efficient means of defense where large armadas are concerned. This ability is usually referred to as "blanket protection ."

Procedure: The scout must generate a minimum of 4 points of EW for this purpose. For every 4 points produced (dropping any fraction), all friendly units within range receive the benefit of 1 point of defensive EW. This allocation is determined during the EW Segment of the Combat Sequence and cannot be changed once EW has been announced.

Example: A Minbari Leshath uses 12 points of EW for blanket protection. All friendly units within range receive + 3 DEW for the remainder of that turn.

Fighters: Fighters and shuttles benefit in the same way as ships.

Ranges: All friendly units within 20 hexes when weapons fire is resolved will benefit from the blanket protection.

The position of friendly units at the time EW is announced is irrelevant. If there is a question as to which units are "friendly," the scout's owner can make this determination on a unit by unit basis, but must do so at the time blanket protection is announced.

Line-of-sight:

LOS to the target unit is required at the time weapons fire is resolved, but is not necessary at the time EW levels are announced.

Jammers: Since lock-ons are not required, a scout can provide blanket protection to units protected by jammers.

Limitations:

EW used for blanket protection cannot be used for any other purpose on that turn. Since this ability is so sensor-intensive, a scout cannot use any other ELINT functions on a turn it generates blanket protection. It may, however, use non-ELINT EW (such as defensive EW) if it wishes.

Combinations:

A ship may receive blanket protection from at most one scout on any given turn. If several ELINT ships in the same area use this ability, only the best defense level will apply. Blanket protection can be combined with loaned DEW, but counts against the limits described in that section.

Identification

One important use for ELINT ships is the identification of ships, weapons, terrain objects, mines, and similar items. This ability is of particular importance when surveying newly discovered star systems, or searching such systems for enemies that may be hiding therein. The identification abilities of ELINT ships can also be used during a scenario for several other purposes, as listed hereafter. This is not an all-inclusive list, as new abilities may be added in future products.

Ship Identification:

ELINT ships have bonuses when attempting to determine the exact class and variant of an enemy unit. When using the Ship Identification rules (see the Scenarios chapter), they can make two attempts per turn and each such attempt is at a + 3 bonus. Using this ability does not require the use of EW in any way.

Sun/eying: An ELINT ship may survey star systems, explore asteroid fields, and perform other scouting duties. This has little effect on gameplay, but could be important in a campaign or in specific scenarios. If this is the case, specific rules will be provided for the survey mission.

Minefield Detection:

An ELINT ship can detect the presence of minefields, a fact which is of great importance in campaign battles. To do this, the scout must allocate one point of EW to the "minefield detection" mission at the start of the turn. This point can be used for no other purpose that turn. When the player announces his use of this ability, he immediately (i.e., before movement) learns if any mines are present within 30 hexes of his ship. Any player whose forces include mines must announce whether the quantity of mines within range is "small" (1 -10 mines), "medium "

(11 -20 mines), or "large " (21 or more mines). This refers only to mines that player actually knows about (which could be important in multi-player scenarios where more than one person controls a minefield). No further information is gained, however. To identify mines once their presence is known, see the rules for mine identification presented in the previous chapter.

Ballistic Weapon Identification:

An ELINT ship can allocate one or more of its sensor points to this function each turn. This is determined like any other EW allocation, but is announced as "ballistic identification," and these points can be used for no other purpose on that turn. Each point spent allows the scout to precisely identify any four ballistic weapons deployed within 50 hexes of the ELINT ship at the moment of launch (they do not have to be targeted on the scout). If these conditions are met, the launching player is required to reveal to the scout player the exact class of missile or other ballistic weapon upon request. Note that this only identifies the type of weapon (e.g., a heavy missile), not its target if that target is normally kept secret. Thus, this function cannot be used to identify the impact points of proximity weapons, for example. Its main use is determining which missiles would be the best ones to intercept.

Chameleon Sensors

Several years before the Narn -Centauri War began, the Centauri Republic began working on a special ELINT system that became known as the Chameleon Sensor Suite (CSS)

. The system is extremely expensive and has so far been seen on only one type of ship, the Darg an Strike Cruiser. The CSS operates in all ways like standard ELINT sensors, with the following additional abilities.

Deception

The main purpose of the CSS is to disguise the ship as another type of unit when viewed from a distance. The chameleon suite may alter the appearance of the ship so that it appears as any other kind of ship (including light combat vessels, medium ships, heavy combat vessels, or capital ships). It cannot make a ship look like a fighter or any other small unit (shuttles, OSATs, etc.), nor may it disguise a ship as a base or enormous unit. If a fighter is equipped with a CSS, it can only simulate another fighter or shuttle, never anything larger or of a radically different type (e.g., it could simulate a breaching pod, but not an OSAT).

On the playing field, the chameleon ship should substitute a false counter or miniature and employ a fake control sheet at all times. The exact unit the CSS will simulate must be determined in advance, as the ship's sensors must be programmed ahead of time with this information (and cannot change it during a scenario). So long as the chameleon ship does nothing that the false image could not normally do (e.g., accelerate much faster than would normally be possible, or fire weapons the simulacrum doesn't have), the enemy cannot pierce the disguise at any kind of range.

Only if an opposing ship gets within 5 hexes (or a shuttle or fighter gets within 2 hexes) can it reveal the deception.

The chameleon ship must be careful with certain rules in order to avoid giving itself away. For example, if it disguises itself as a unit that normally has a greater initiative bonus (e.g., a medium ship or LCV), the enemy will know something's fishy. Note that the rules allow a ship to voluntarily reduce its initiative bonus, so a Darg an (for example) could disguise itself as a medium ship or HCV and get away with it. To do so, however, the Centauri player must voluntarily lower the initiative ratings of some of his smaller ships on other occasions, so that the opponent is never quite sure which ships are Dargans and which are really HCVs or mediumships disguising their abilities. (This is the same sort of strategy used when bluffing in poker.)

If an enemy unit fires a taC SS-equipped ship, resolve the fire using the simulated ship's defense ratings. Shots which hit the simulacrum but don 't hit the "real" ship should be rolled and recorded on the false image's ship control sheet, but these have no effect on the CSS ship itself. Similarly, shots which miss the false signature but actually strike the real ship will give no outward sign of damage, but do need to be marked. In order to make the rolls without giving things away, the player should use the next dierolls made during that turn (e.g., the next to -hit or hit location rolls made onad20) to figure which systems are hit (in addition to the normal use for such dice).

Otherwise, damage to the disguised vessel should be rolled normally and marked publicly on the false control sheet, but secretly recorded (using the appropriate hit location rolls) on the CSS ship's sheet at the same time. If the sensors are destroyed or deactivated, the deception is revealed immediately. The sensor suite accepts critical hits like any other sensor array; there are no special chameleon-related criticals.

Obviously, an impart i alG M will be a great help in these situations. The point is that sniping and random hits or misses are not enough to reveal a CSS, as the sensors adjust their signature to account for "damage " or the lack thereof.

Masking Weapon Signatures

Chameleon suites mask the arming status of weapons. Under the standard rules, all ships are required to reveal which of their weapons are being armed (though not necessarily in what mode). If a ship is equipped with a CSS, however, it does not need to make this announcement, even after the chameleon deception is revealed! In fact, while the ship is in disguise, the owning player can lie about whether his (simulated) guns are active or not. This provides at least some benefit— however small— to C SS -equipped ships once they have been revealed as such.

Enhancements

This section presents a number of enhancements and officers that can be added to ships for variety. Note that all of these enhancements are optional and should not be used in tournaments. If your group uses them, feel free to alter them as you wish, or disallow certain ones if you feel they are unbalancing.

All of these improvements have Combat Point costs, and many of these costs are multipliers against the base cost of the unit being altered. In all cases, round any fractions of 0.5 or more up, otherwise drop any remainder. Since all enhancements are done separately and are based on the ship's original cost, the surcharge for each can be calculated separately and then summed at the end of the process. For example, if a 500 -point ship receives two modifications, each costing 10% of its base value, each improvement would cost 50 points and the ship's resulting cost would be 600. (Do not raise the cost to 550 and then to 605!)

Enhancements far Ships

Gunsighfs

Developed during the Earth-Minbari War to help counter Earth's difficulty in dealing with Minbari jammers, these give a weapon a +1 bonus to hit. This bonus is applied directly to the fire control rating of all three categories. It is not EW, and will not be counted towards earning a lock-on in any way.

Point Cost: Determine the maximum damage a weapon can cause in a single shot. The cost of the gunsight for that weapon is one-fourth this value.

Limitations: Only one gunsight can be present on any given weapon.

Available : 2 2 4 3 .

Advanced Defensive Targeting

When theE A developed interceptors, they achieved this technological advancement by experimenting with various defense targeting systems. Some of these came into the hands of other races, who then experimented with adding them to their own light weaponry.

If advanced defensive targeting (ADF) is added to a weapon, it allows that weapon an additional -1 point of effectiveness when firing in defensive mode. This does not increase the protection of energy webs on Earth vessels, just the intercept rating against specific incoming shots.

Point Cost: 8 points if the new intercept rating is -2, 16 if it is -3, or 24 for -4. If the weapon can fire more than once per turn defensively, multiply the cost by the number of times it can fire, e.g., x2 for twin arrays or x4 for quad arrays.

Limitations: This enhancement can be purchased only once for any given weapon and cannot increase a weapon to better than a - 4 rating.

Available: 2 1 9 0 .

Improved Sensors

Various attempts have been made to improve sensors over the years. This enhancement increases the sensor rating of the sensor array by + 1.

Point Cost: Equal to five times the new sensor rating. For example, if a ship with a 6 sensor rating increases it to 7, the cost would be 35 points. On ELINT ships, this cost is doubled. Minesweepers pay a cost based on the total sensor value, but both levels are raised simultaneously (e.g., 6 + 4 M would be increased to 7 + 5 M for a cost of 60 points).

Limitations: This improvement can be purchased no more than once for any given sensor array.

Available: 2 2 1 0 .

Improved Engines

Engines can be enhanced to provide an extra free thrust point during each turn of the scenario. For example, a ship with 7 free thrust could increase this to 8.

Point Cost: Equal to five times the new free thrust total. For example, an engine with 7 free thrust which increased this to 8 would pay 40 points for this improvement. This could be bought multiple times; increasing from 7 to 9 would cost 40 + 45 = 95 points, for example. If used on an enormous unit, the cost is doubled.

Limitations: The free thrust provided by any engine cannot be increased by more than 50% of the original engine's rating. Thus, an engine with 7 free thrust could be enhanced as high as 10 thrust, but no higher.

Available: 2227 for one point of thrust only, 2246 for up to the 50% limit stated above.

Improved Reactor

Reactors can be upgraded to provide extra power, although they become unstable in the process. This enhancement adds 1 point of power on medium ships, 2 points on heavy combat vessels, 3 points on capital ships, and 4 points on enormous units.

Point Cost: 10 times the amount of power added (10 points on medium ships, 20 on HCVs, etc.). If the ship has a power deficit, triple the cost.

Limitations: If the reactor is in danger of exploding, double the percentage chance when making the dieroll.

Available: 2230 (it was first seen on Dilgar ships).

Improved Thrust Rating

Since the Dilgar Invasion, various ships have been produced with enhanced thrusters, hoping to surprise an opponent who expects lesser maneuverability. This enhancement increases the thrust rating of a single thruster by 1, and can be purchased multiple times.

Point Cost: Sum the thrust ratings of all thrusters which aim in the same direction, and multiply this value by 2.

For example, the Omega Destroyer has four aft thrusters, each with a " 2 " rating, so increasing one of them to 3 would cost 16 points. Increasing another one would then cost 18 points.

Limitations: The thrust rating of a given thruster cannot be increased to more than double its original value. A thruster with a rating of 6 could be improved to 12, for example, but no higher.

Available: 2 2 3 5 .

HardenedArmor

Some rare materials make better armor, but are in such short supply they cannot be used for normal vessels. This enhancement increases the armor value of a system by 1. It cannot improve adaptive armor, though it can be used on the permanent armor of adaptive -capable ships.

Point Cost: Add the number of boxes in the system, multiply by the current armor value (minimum 2), and divide the result in half. For example, a thruster with 10 boxes and an armor value of 3 would cost 15 points to increase to armor level 4. Note that because the cost is so high, hardening the armor of structure blocks is very expensive and rarely done. Generally, you will want to use this enhancement on small weapons and thrusters only.

Limitations: Armor values can be raised only one time for any given system. A system with an armor value of zero cannot be improved.

Available: 2 1 9 8 .

Stealth Coating

While developing their Rutarian strike fighters, the Centauri discovered a special "stealth" coating that could be applied to ships. The coating interfered somewhat with enemy lock-ons, effectively increasing the defense rating of the vessel it was applied to.

If a ship or fighter has a stealth coat, its defense ratings are considered to be 1 pointless (in all directions) if the ship is locked onto. Enemy units firing without a lock-on use the original, unmodified defense rating.

The stealth coating is very delicate, and after a short period of time (perhaps a month or so of constant flight), impacts with microscopic debris (stray molecules and dust) tend to strip the coat from the hull, especially on the ship's leading edges. Thus, the coating must be constantly reapplied, making it expensive to maintain. (This is why the Centauri eventually gave up on the material.) It is possible to meet a ship which has a stealth coat on the rear and sides (or just the rear) due to degradation. If this is the case, reduce the Combat Point cost by 25% (or 75% if it is only present on the rear section).

Point Cost: The cost for this enhancement is equal to the ship's price divided by the average of the forward /aft and starboard /port defense ratings (round fractions up after the calculations are finished, but retain them when averaging). For example, a ship with a cost of 1000 and a defense rating average of 16.5 would pay 61 points for a stealth coating. (This improvement can be added to fighters or shuttles, using the same cost schedule. For example, a fighter with a cost of 42 and average defense rating of 6 would pay 7 points for the stealth coat. When using flight level rules, all fighters must purchase the enhancement together.)

Limitations: This can be purchased only once for any unit.

Available: 2 2 5 9 .

Advanced Engine Module

These modules were produced by the Minbari during the development of the White Star. The technology was later delivered to all the races of the Interstellar Alliance.

Advanced engine modules are more efficient, reducing the efficiency rating of the ship's engine by one -half a point, to a minimum of 1 /1. For example, an engine with an efficiency rating of 2/1 would be improved to 3 /2 (4 /2 -1 /2 = 3 /2), while one with a rating of 3 /2 would drop to 1 /1. Engines better than 1/1 efficiency are not possible using current technology, including this improvement.

Point Cost: The cost of this improvement is 10% of the ship's base cost.

Limitations: This can be purchased only once per ship. Also, the module is very fragile. If the engine takes even a single critical hit (regardless of type), the module is considered destroyed, and the engine efficiency returns to its original value. This effect cannot be repaired during a scenario, even by officers with repair abilities or advanced self repair systems.

Available: 2 2 5 8 .

JumpAzcelerator

This device speeds up the ship's jump engine and increases the distance at which the jump point can be formed.

Though the technology is relatively common, it is rarely installed due to the strain on the ship and the amount of fuel it requires to operate.

If a ship is equipped with the accelerator, the listed jump delay time is reduced by 33% (round fractions of 0.5 or more up), and the resulting vortex can be opened at a distance of up to 2 extra hexes away from the generating ship (6 hexes for most ships). However, the ship's jump engine power cost is doubled, so the extra power must come from deactivated systems or free power. For example, if the jump engine has a power cost of 6, this will be doubled, and the extra 6 points of energy must come from somewhere— typically by deactivating weapons or other systems. (Note: It is not permissible to use the original, lower values to save power if this system is installed, due to its near-total integration with existing jump engine systems.)

If an accelerator-equipped jump engine takes damage, the chance of destroying the ship when the vortex is formed is doubled. Thus, for example, a jump engine with 25% of its boxes destroyed will have a 50% chance of blowing up when a jump point is opened.

Point Cost: The cost for this enhancement is 10% of the ship's base cost, meaning it can really be afforded only on very small vessels. There is also an ongoing maintenance fee not reflected in this cost, but this would be applicable in a campaign.

Limitations: This can be purchased just once on any ship.

Available : 2 1 7 5 .

Hardened Shields

This is an enhancement to shield generators, improving their defensive value by 1 point over the listed value. For example, a shield with a defense of 2 could be improved to 3.

Point Cost: The cost of the improvement is 10 times the old shield value (thus, in the example above, the cost would be 20 points) if the shield covers a 60 Y arc, 20 times for a 120 Y arc, 30 times for a 180 Y arc, etc.

Limitations: This can only be purchased once for any given shield generator. It cannot be used on Abbai shield projectors and is not cumulative with the effect of a shield projector (so if a projector is used on an upgraded shield, the effect of the upgrade is lost).

Available : 2 2 6 0 .

Enhancements far Fighters and Shuttles

Some items on fighters and shuttles can also be improved for a cost in CPs. Again, round fractions of 0.5 or more up. Unless stated otherwise, any rules below which refer to fighters also refer to shuttles. If purchased for one fighter, all fighters in the flight must also buy it.

Improved Thrust

This enhancement increases the thrust rating by + 1.

Point Cost: Equal to the new thrust rating of the fighter. Thus, a fighter with a current rating of 8 thrust would pay 9 points to increase this to 9 thrust.

Limitations: This improvement can be purchased once per fighter.

Available: 2 2 2 5 .

Improved Targeting Computer

This enhancement adds + 1 to the offensive bonus of the fighter.

Point Cost: Equal to twice the current offensive rating. Thus, a fighter with an offensive bonus of 5 could increase this to a 6 for a cost of 10 points.

Limitations: This can be purchased just once per fighter.

Available: 2 2 0 7 .

Ramming Prow (Fighters Only)

In the anguish of a lost war, some races turn to desperate measures. Kamikaze-style attacks are just one example of this. Late in the Earth-Minbari War, some Starfuries were outfitted with experimental prows to aid in ramming attempts, though in the end these never saw combat. The Narns reportedly used the same sort of technology on a flight of Go rith medium fighters late in the War of Retribution, although they never returned from their mission (obviously), so the Narns never found out how effective their attack really was.

The ramming prow is a huge block of armor fitted over the front of the fighter, obscuring the pilot's view and limiting his flying to instruments only. The armor rating of the fighter's front is increased by 2 points, but its weapons firing arc is reduced to the row of hexes extending directly ahead of the fighter. In addition, any weapons fire is at a 2 penalty, and missiles cannot be used.

In addition to these effects, the ramming prow increases the fighter's ramming potential by 50% (round fractions up). Note that this includes the extra points of armor added by the prow. In order to benefit from the 50% bonus, however, the fighter must be the one doing the ramming, or else be rammed through its forward section. If a fighter equipped with a prow attempts to ram, its pilot may successfully eject only 50% of the time (due to his limited view of the target). Roll 1d 20, with a roll of 11 or greater indicating success. A skilled pilot may add 1 for every level of pilot expertise.

Point Cost: The cost of this enhancement is

10% of the fighter's base value. Note that ramming prows can be purchased for use only in scenarios where ramming is specifically allowed (or is normally permitted by local house rules).

Limitations : This can be purchased just once per fighter.

Available: 2 1 6 5 .

Detecting Enhancements

in general, enhancements on ships and fighters cannot be detected unless they are used and have a visible effect. For example, a weapon with a boosted fire control would reveal its enhanced status the first time it fired, but not before. Similarly, a fighter with an extra point of thrust would keep this fact secret until it actually used the bonus point.

The exception to this rule occurs when the modification is externally visible. Anything that reduces the defense rating of a ship or fighter can be detected simply by examining the ship’s profile (this would include enhanced shields and stealth coatings). Similarly, since the arming status of weapons can be determined by studying the reactor’s output, any alteration in the reactor’s power curve can also be detected (this would reveal improved reactors so long as the extra power provided was actually in use). Improved armor, however, cannot be identified until damage is actually scored on the targeted item.

Elite Officers for Ships

These officers provide special abilities to any ship which possesses them. In general, they must be in the appropriate ship system (as noted in their rules); if more than one such system is available, the player can select any of them at his option.

Officers are considered disabled (and unusable for the rest of the scenario) if the system they are in is destroyed, but there is also a chance they will be killed by any damage to the system. Use the normal critical hit roll to determine this (make a roll even if the system is totally destroyed). If this roll results in a " 20 " or greater (including any modifications), the officer is killed. This is in addition to any other critical hit effects.

Elite officers may not be transferred to another ship of a different class, or they lose their abilities. If transferred to a variant which is more expensive, the difference in Combat Points must be paid or his abilities will not be usable until this is done. (There is no refund if he transfers to a lesser-valued ship of the same hull type.) While this has little meaning during most scenarios, it can be very important during a campaign.

In order to move an officer from one ship to another during a battle, the officer must leave his post at the start of any turn, and will not provide his benefits on that turn. During the Shuttle Launch Step of the Combat Sequence, he can launch in any convenient shuttle (but not a fighter). If recovered safely by another ship, he can begin to provide his abilities two turns later (assuming the above conditions are met) but no sooner.

If more than one of the same officer is present on a ship, they do not combine their abilities. However, one can operate as backup for the other if desired.

Elite officers do not have an "availability " year. They function regardless of the time period in which they are used.

Expert Helmsman

A skilled helmsman can anticipate enemy maneuvers. Any ship with such an expert gains a +1 initiative bonus.

In addition, if his ship winds up tied with another unit which does not possess an expert helmsman, the expert's ship automatically wins the initiative tiebreaker.

The helmsman also has certain abilities with respect to the various terrains described elsewhere in this supplement, as follows. Subtract 1 from the ship's speed when calculating damage from atmosphere, subtract 1 from the die roll for hyperspace whirlpool singularity effects; and subtract 1 from the dieroll for meteor impact.

Point Cost: 5% of the base cost of the ship. Halve the cost for capital ships and larger units.

Location: C &C .

Expert Engineer

An expert engineer can jury-rig repairs to critical hits. He can repair one critical hit per turn, but cannot repair a critical until the ship has suffered its effect for at least one full turn. For example, if a thruster takes an efficiency critical on turn 3, and suffers the effects of this on turn 4, it could be repaired at the end of turn 4.

Repair of critical hits is automatic, except in the case of C & C criticals, which are repaired only on a roll of 16 or greater on a singled 20. If he makes this attempt and fails, he cannot repair anything else on that turn.

Point Cost: 5% of the base cost of the ship.

Location: Engine.

ExpertScanner

The expert scanner has an uncanny ability to determine how best to apply his ship's sensors. Some would say his powers are psionic in nature, but most of the time he just gets lucky.

Each turn, the expert scanner can "save" one (and only one) of the ship's sensor points. The "saved" point can then be applied either defensively or offensively (but not for any ELINT abilities), and the player can wait until the end of the Movement Step of the Combat Sequence is over before using it. (He can wait until all ships and all initiative levels have moved, but must announce how he's using the EW point before weapons fire is determined by any player.)

Note that the "saved" EW point is NOT a bonus point. It is drawn from the ship's existing sensor levels. A ship with 8 points of sensor strength could, for example, put 7 points into defensive EW and save the eighth point for use by the expert scanner after movement is over. This could, for example, allow him to gain a lock-on to an enemy ship which moved in close to attack him, or increase his ship's defense rating by one more point if he expects to come under heavy fire.

Point Cost: This officer costs 7% of the ship's price.

Location: Sensor array.

Expert Navigator

Skilled navigators are masters of maneuver. They can use a ship's thrusters in amazing ways, allowing the ship to perform movements an enemy might never expect. This has the following benefits:

Turn Cost: The turn cost of the ship is reduced by one level. The levels areas follows, in descending order: 2, 1.75, 1.66, 1.5, 1.33, 1.25, 1.0, 0.83 (five-sixths), 0.75, 0.66, 0.5, 0.33, 0.25, 0.16 (one-sixth), and 0.1.

Pivot/Roll Cost: All costs are reduced by 1 point (minimum 1). Thus, a ship with a pivot cost of 3 + 2 would have these values lowered to 2 + 1. A pivot cost of 1 + 1 would not be reduced any further. Ships which already have a cost of 0 gain no advantage from this.

Accel/Decel Cost: This is reduced by 25%. Retain all fractions until the full acceleration /deceleration cost has been determined, then round any remainder up. Thus, for example, a ship with an accel/decel cost of 2 would have this lowered to 1.5. If it accelerated by 1 hex per turn, the cost would still be 2 points of thrust (1.5 rounded up).

However, if it accelerated by 2 hexes, the cost would be only 3 thrust.

Point Cost: The cost of an expert navigator is 7% of the base cost of the ship, dropping fractions.

Location: C &C .

ExpertTechnician

These rare officers are highly prized for their ability to subtly enhance the power curve and energy usage of the typical warship. Technicians have the following skills:

Improved Power: A technician's ability to fine-tune the reactor provides an extra 2 points of power (over any extra points already available) and allows the player a -2 bonus on any critical hit dieroll involving the reactor.

Efficient Transfers: If a weapon or other system is shutdown for extra power, that system provides 1 extra point of energy than it usually would. This can be used on only one system in any turn, not all systems! Efficient transfers do not actually increase the power usage of deactivated systems, but merely represents an ability to eliminate some of the waste normally seeping out of overworked conduits. Note that systems with no power requirement cannot use this benefit.

Improved Circuit Breakers: If a system is destroyed, the technician's unique breaker system allows it to provide 33% of its energy requirement (drop all fractions, and do not include the extra point of energy from the preceding "efficient transfers" benefit) back to the reactor as extra power. Thus, for example, a destroyed battle laser would provide the ship with 2 points of extra energy.

Point Cost: The cost of an expert technician is 9% of the ship's base cost.

Location: Reactor.

Expert Jump Officer

This elite officer operates best when the optional jump point arrival rules (see the Scenarios chapter) are in effect.

He also has several other abilities which affect jump points created by his ship, as defined hereafter.

He permits his ship to open a jumpgate up to 5 hexes away (not 4 hexes) from his ship, and can hold it open for one turn longer than normal.

If the jump engine takes damage, he reduces the chance of a catastrophic explosion by 20%. For example, if exactly half the boxes of the jump drive are destroyed, the chance of detonation would be 30%, not 50%. The jump drive still cannot be used if all boxes are lost, however.

The jump officer provides a -1 shift to the vortex scatter chart (as listed in the modifiers) if his ship is the one opening the vortex.

He can cancel 60 Y of unintended facing change caused by a vortex shift (this does not allow him to alter the facing from its original position, however).

Any initiative penalty produced by scatter is reduced by 4 for his unit only. Note that this is not an initiative bonus, only a reduction of an initiative penalty!

Location: Jump drive.

Cost: 5% of the ship's base value.

Availability: Any race except Raiders, Belt Alliance, and anyone who does not possess jump drive technology.

Elite Crew

Elite crews are the epitome of training and natural ability, the kind of group who works so well together you'd think they were all part of the same family. The skill and cooperation they possess provide a number of benefits to the ship's combat abilities, as noted below. Note that these are cumulative with benefits from other items and officers, although any bonuses are added in after all other benefits and costs are calculated.

Initiative: Expert crews add a + 1 initiative bonus.

Thrust: Expert crews provide the ship's main engine with 1 point of bonus free thrust.

Thrusters: The thrust ratings of all thrusters are considered to be one level higher.

Sensors: The rating of the ship's main sensor array is increased by 1 point.

Defense: The defense rating of the ship is decreased by 1 point (for all ratings).

Maneuver: Whenever the ship turns, it gains 1 free point of turn shortening.

Hangar: The launch /land rate of shuttles and fighters is doubled (but is never greater than the number of shuttles/ fighters the ship carries). Hangar bay operations take half as long as listed.

Shuttles: If applicable, one of the shuttles is armed (see rule elsewhere in this supplement). Use the weakest shuttle type listed for the race in question. This comes at no additional cost.

Reactor: The ship's main reactor provides an extra 2 points of power in addition to any other free power it already delivers.

Weapons: All weapons do +1 point of damage per die, although no die can be greater than its maximum yield (e.g., if you rolled a 9 onad 10 it would be treated as a 10, but if a 10 is rolled, it would not be improved).

Criticals: All critical hit rolls made by the ship have a -1 bonus.

Jump: The jump delay time of the ship is reduced by 20% (round fractions of 0.5 or more up).

Point Cost: The elite crew costs 50% of the ship's base cost. It can be purchased a second time (for an "ultra elite" crew), but this requires a total cost of 125% of the ship's base value. In this case, all of the above modifiers are cumulative!

Location: The elite crew is located throughout the ship, and cannot be disabled or killed. However, it is destroyed if the ship is destroyed.

Elite Officers for Fighters and Shuttles

Some elite officers are best used in fighter combat, and provide benefits to an entire flight of fighters. The owning player must note which fighter has the officer, and if that fighter is destroyed or drops out, the benefits are lost. The fighter with the elite officer cannot be detected by the enemy, however, unless he does something specific to identify himself. Thus, for example, a Minbari player firing an EP gun would have to guess at which fighter has the expert dogfighter— but if all fighters have been damaged except one, it's a pretty good guess which one has the officer!

A flight may not benefit from more than one expert officer of the same type (except as noted), although multiple ones may be used to ensure redundancy. A given expert can be of only one of the following types, unless noted otherwise. These benefits can be provided only if the officer is a board a fighter normally operated by his race (not a captured unit). On two-seat fighters, these experts can sit in either seat as desired, except as noted.

Expert Dogfighter

This individual is skilled at engaging in dogfights, and provides a + 1 initiative bonus to his entire flight as a result.

In addition, if the flight ties another unit in initiative, it automatically wins the tiebreaker unless there is an expert navigator or expert dogfighter present on the enemy unit.

Point Cost: One -half the base cost of the fighter.

Limitations: A flight may only benefit from one dogfighter at a time.

ExpertMotivator

This elite officer can tell stories, sing inspirational songs, or do whatever it takes to motivate his fellow pilots to fight to the bitter end. The fighters in his flight have a -2 on any drop -out roll, in addition to any other bonuses or penalties they may already possess.

Point Cost: One -half the base cost of the fighter.

Limitations: A flight may benefit from only one m o tiva to rat a time.

ExpertMissileer

This officer knows certain tricks which can help missiles slip by enemy EW systems. All missiles launched by the flight gain a + 1 to hit their targets.

Point Cost: One -half the base cost of the fighter, plus 1 for every missile the flight is capable of carrying (regardless of whether the fighters all carry their maximum amounts).

Limitations: A flight may benefit from only one missileer at a time. If the fighter has a navigator's seat, the missileer must use that seat; otherwise he can occupy a pilot's position.

ExperfEvader

This elite officer can arrange to angle his flight so that incoming fire scores less damage. To make this maneuver, the player announces that his flight is "evading " during the Combat Pivot step of fighter movement. This costs thrust equal to that required for a combat pivot, in addition to any other combat pivot made at the same time. The fighter group does not actually change facing due to the evasion maneuver, but it does suffer a -1 penalty to its weapons fire (cumulative with any penalties for jinking or combat pivots).

The effect of evasion is that incoming fire on the flight is reduced by 1 point per volley scored on that turn, before subtracting for armor or other factors. For example, an 8 -point shot hitting an evading Starfury would score only 7 points before armor is subtracted.

Point Cost: Equal to the cost of the fighter.

Limitations: A flight can benefit from only one evader at a time. Fighters using the evasion maneuver cannot guide missiles towards a target unless they have a navigator available.

Expert Coordinator

This expert allows a flight to react quickly to nearby threats, often with near-incredible feats of anticipation. The flight may make a combat pivot for half the normal thrust cost (i.e., 1 point instead of 2) and with no weapons fire penalties as a result, unless the combat pivot was a full 180 Y, in which case a penalty of -1 is applied.

Point Cost: One -half the base cost of the fighter.

Limitations: A flight may benefit from only one coordinator at a time.

Expert Electrician

This officer is capable of rigging special powers hunts in his flight's power plant hookups. This allows the fighter to deactivate its weapons for extra thrust or offensive bonuses during a scenario.

A flight may deactivate any or all of its weapons. For each weapon deactivated in a turn, add the maximum damage it can cause to a running total, then divide this by the number of guns in the flight, rounding fractions of 0.5 or more up. This results in a number of points which can be added to either the flight's offensive rating or thrust rating for that turn. However, any added offensive rating points apply only to direct-fire weapons, not ballistic weapons.

For example, a flight of Narn Frazis has a total of 12 paired particle beams, each of which can score as much as 11 damage on a hit (1 d6 + 5). If 5 of these are deactivated, the sum of the damage potentials is 55, which (after dividing by 12 and rounding the fraction up) yields 5 points to distribute between the flight's thrust rating and offensive bonus for that turn. It is permissible to put all of these points into one or the other, so the flight could arrange for a + 5 to its offensive rating or + 5 thrust, though this could also be divided between the two ( + 2 to one and + 3 to another, etc.) as desired.

Because of the jury-rigging required in setting up this kind of powers hunt, there is a possibility that each deactivated weapon may fry its circuits and notre-activate after use. Roll 1d6 for each weapon (not just one roll for the whole flight), and on a roll of 1, it is lost for the rest of the scenario. There are no modifiers to this roll. Note that if the weapon fails to reactivate, its power is still available for use as described previously.

Point Cost: Equal to the cost of the fighter. In a campaign or multi-turn scenario which tracks repairs, any weapon damaged by the above procedure counts as one box of damage on the fighter for repair purposes.

Limitations: A flight may benefit from no more than one electrician at a time. Fighters with heavy weapons, such as the Rutarian (but not the Thunderbolt), cannot benefit from expert electricians due to the already tenuous nature of their power plant hookups.

Expert Pilot

Pilots all receive a certain amount of training, but some are so skilled, experienced or simply gifted that they rank among the elite. Pilots provide the following benefits to their flight:

Offense: + 1 to the flight's offensive bonus.

Jinking: The flight can use one level of jinking without paying any thrust cost for it. Additional levels require the standard amount of thrust (calculated as though this "free " level were not being used). The bonus level does not count against jinking limits for that fighter class.

Hyperspace: In hyperspace, he shifts all "hyperspace current" dierolls by 1 in the most favorable direction.

Ejection: The fighters in his flight have a bonus of -1 on any dieroll to successfully eject.

Point Cost: Equal to the base cost of the fighter.

Limitations: The expert pilot may not be in the navigator's position on two-seat fighters. Up to four expert pilots in the same flight are cumulative, except for Raider flights, which can use no more than two due to poor training methods.

Race-Specific Elite Officers

This section includes several elite officers that are available only to certain races. Others either cannot buy them at all or must pay a premium for the privilege, as defined hereafter.

Expert Security Officer (EarthAlliance)

The security officer is vital for maintaining order, catching spies, and controlling dissent among the crew. His presence improves morale and ensures command and control operations proceed smoothly. This provides a +1 bonus to the ship's initiative, and a - 2 to any critical hit rolls against the C &C.

The security officer provides improved defenses against raids by enemy boarding parties. Whenever a breaching pod attacks, shift all dierolls by up to 2 in any direction desired by the defending player (after the roll is made), if desired. For example, if an enemy attempts a Wreak Havoc mission and rolls a 10, the defender could change this to an 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12, depending on which result he feels is the least painful. If the attacker has any modifiers to his roll, he must add these in before the security officer makes his alterations.

Location: C &C .

Cost: 5% of the ship's basic value.

Availability: Non-E A increase the cost by 50%.

Expert Religious Leader (Minbari)

Higher level members of the religious caste provide a morale boost to their crews, simply by virtue of their presence a board ship. In addition, if they are killed, wounded or captured, this can stir the crew into a berserker frenzy.

A religious leader provides an automatic + 2 to the ship's initiative. In addition, each weapon the ship fires scores + 1 damage per volley (not per sub-volley or per die). If he is wounded, captured or killed, the initiative bonus is doubled, and the ship receives + 1 to its sensors and defense ratings thereafter (note that + 1 to the defense rating is not a bonus, but a penalty).

Location: Any primary non-weapon system.

Cost: 15% of the ship's base value.

Availability: Not available for other races unless they are theocracies or are otherwise strongly guided by religion. The Markab, for example, could purchase a religious leader, but not the Drazi or EarthAlliance.

Expert Political Officer (Centauri)

Most Centauri ships are sponsored by Imperial Houses, who like to keep an eye on their charges. One common means for this is the political officer, who is actually little more than a glorified spy for the nobility. The political officer is not a part of the military, but occupies a civilian post. His presence is almost always despised, or at best tolerated (as one might tolerate a severe head cold). There are, however, a few rare political officers who choose to make themselves useful.

Though they have no shipboard duties, expert political officers have Influence with a capital " I." This enables them to acquire better equipment and service for their ship. This has the following benefits:

The ship possesses one armed shuttle. If this shuttle can use missiles, it comes loaded with one set of standard missiles at no cost.

The political officer's reputation attracts other important or skilled figures to the ship's crew. Select either an expert navigator, expert helmsman, expert engineer, expert scanner, or elite pilot and add him to the crew at no cost. These are not lost if the political officer is killed, but remain on the ship.

Due to improved armor (normally too expensive to install, but available due to the political officer's influence), 5 ship systems (selected by the owner) receive + 1 to their armor values. The owner must select 5 different systems (i.e., these cannot be combined) and cannot select structure blocks. This armor is not lost during the scenario if the officer is killed, but within a few weeks (in a campaign, by the end of the campaign turn) the extra armor falls into disrepair and is lost.

The ship receives a stockpile of spare parts enabling the ship to repair damage between scenarios of campaigns.

If the campaign rules provide no procedures for such repairs, assume the ship can fix up to three destroyed or damaged systems completely between scenarios (but cannot fix destroyed structure blocks or anything attached to such blocks). If campaign rules allow such repairs, increase their rate and /or limits by 50%.

Once during each scenario, the political officer can give astirring speech to his ship's crew, quoting the past glories of the Republic, the honor of serving the Emperor, and other political m umbo -jumbo. This provides the ship with + 6 to its initiative on that turn. The speech must be announced before initiative rolls are made on that turn (by any player).

Location: C &C .

Cost: 40% of the ship's basic value.

Availability: Capital ships or larger units only. Not available to non-Centauri.

ExpertWarLeader (Nam)

Narn history is replete with heroic leaders who rose to the occasion, getting their people out of danger or fighting to victory despite desperate odds. When such a leader commands a fleet, he provides significant benefits to the entire force.

An expert war leader adds

+1 to the initiative of every Narn ship present, so long as his ship is in command.

Should his ship be disabled , or his C & C destroyed, he can transfer his flag to another vessel, but will not provide his benefits until he moves (presumably by shuttle or fighter) to the new unit's C &C .

Once and only once during the scenario, the war leader can do each of the following, but can only do one on any turn:

He can select a single enemy unit, declaring it as the subject of his personal wrath. All ships gain +1 to hit that unit on that turn only. This must be announced before any weapons roll to -hit.

He can declare a single friendly unit to be the "center of glory." It receives a + 2 bonus to hit on that turn only. This must be announced before any weapons roll to -hit.

He can taunt the enemy, drawing their attention to himself. They receive a + 1 bonus to hit his ship on that turn, but a -1 penalty to hit any other ship (but not fighters or shuttles). Note that this would be a good turn to suggest his ship use a full complement of defensive EW!

He can anticipate his enemy's actions. He must announce the use of this ability at the start of the turn, before the EW Determination Step of the Combat Sequence. On this turn only, he can wait to determine his ship's (and only his ship's) EW until after his opponents have all announced their EW. He must still determine ballistic weapons launch at the usual time, however. In addition to this, his ship receives a bonus of +12 to initiative on that turn only, in addition to all other benefits.

Location: C & C .

Cost: 5% of the base cost of all units involved in the scenario (assume this to be 500 in a campaign), plus 25% of the cost of his own ship.

Availability: All races have such influential leaders, but they are rarer outside Narn space, and cost 50% more than the listed price.

Expert EUNT Officer (Abbai)

With Abbai advances in electronics and communications, it is only natural they have experts in this field. The expert ELINT officer is one such individual. He provides the following advantages:

The sensor rating of his ship is increased by + 1.

All critical hit rolls against the sensors are reduced by 2.

The range of all ELINT functions is increased by 25% (round fractions of 0.5 or more up).

If the ship identification rules from Showdowns-1 are in force, the ship gains a + 3 bonus on any I Drolls.

If the ship puts up blanket protection, the total EW value is divided by 3 (not 4) for purposes of ballistic weapons only. Thus, if 12 EW is applied to blanket protection, all friendly units in range receive - 3 to their defense ratings for normal weapons and - 4 versus ballistic types.

Location: Sensors.

Cost: 15% of the ship's base value.

Availability: Double the cost for non-Abbai vessels. Not available for races whose current main line ships do not have at least an 8 sensor rating. For example, the EarthAlliance could not purchase such an officer prior to the development of the Omega Destroyer.

Expert Graviton Controller (Brakiri)

Brakiri research in the area of gravities has produced a number of experts in the field. These can provide special abilities to the ship's weapons and drive systems, as follows:

All gravitic beam weapons score + 1 damage.

All graviton pulsars or gravitic bolts roll to hit normally, but after they hit, they determine their result as though the to -hit dieroll was 1 point lower. For example, if a graviton pulsar fired needing a 10 to hit and rolled a 7, this would be treated as a 6, thus resulting in +1 to the volley count roll.

Tweaking of the drive improved its free thrust by 1. Increase the thrust rating of the largest aft thruster by 1 as well.

Once during the scenario, during the Movement Step, the gravitic drive can be "rotated." This is generally a desperation move, as it is completely uncontrollable. Roll 1d6 and rotate the ship to face the resulting direction (with "1 " indicating the top of the map, and other numbers rotating clockwise from there). Heading, turn status, and the like are unaffected. On the turn a rotation is done, the ship's weapons suffer a - 3 penalty to all weapons fire, even if the ship winds up facing the same way it was originally heading.

Location: Engine.

Cost: 10% of the ship's base cost.

Availability: Non -Brakiri races which use gravitic drives or weapons can purchase one for 50% higher than the listed cost.

Expert Warrior

(Drazi)

A race so intent on conflict cannot help but produce experts in combat. These are referred to as " To r 'galla , " the Chosen, and some of the more religious sects believe they have godlike powers. Whatever the case, they provide a number of special abilities whenever they fight, and some of these seem to flow into the crews that surround them .

A ship with an expert warrior receives + 1 to hit with all weapons, and all weapons cause + 1 extra damage per die. The ship receives a + 2 bonus to its initiative and any fighters or shuttles it launches receive the same initiative (but not to -hit or damage) benefit. All critical hits, regardless of system, have a -1 on their rolls, and any critical hits caused by the expert warrior's ship gain +1 on their rolls.

Once and only once per scenario the expert warrior can also do each of the following (but cannot do more than one of them in a given turn):

He can "charge " an opponent by pointing his ship at the target and moving directly towards it for his full movement. The "charge " is declared as this maneuver is performed. He must move at least 4 hexes towards the enemy and must have beaten him in initiative. If this is done, he gains a further + 2 to hit that unit with all his ship's weapons.

His ship can execute one snap turn as though it were agile, at a cost of 1 pointless thrust than it should. If the ship is already agile, the thrust cost is halved instead.

He can make a "precision strike," a single called shot, with only one weapon, without the usual called shot penalty.

He can make a "supreme anticipation," earning his ship a + 10 initiative bonus (in addition to any other benefits) on the next turn. However, on the turn after that one, his ship suffers a -10 penalty.

Location: C & C .

Cost: 50% of the ship's base cost.

Availability: Drazi only.

Expert Troop Leader (Gaim)

The expert troop leader is a genetically engineered Gaim designed for independent thought and leadership abilities. His primary focus is in the direction and control of ground forces, which does not apply to most Babylon 5 Wars situations. However, a board a ship he still has a few abilities he can lend to his crew.

If the ship is attacked by enemy breaching pods, he provides a penalty of 2 on all enemy rolls and a bonus of 2 on all defense rolls. If any of his own ship's breaching pods attack an opponent, they gain a +1 bonus on any attack table. The troop leader can also accompany a breaching pod, and if this is done, he gives a further + 2 bonus (a total of + 3) to any rolls. If any result appears that "kills " his contingent, roll 1d6, and on a roll of 1-4 he manages to escape with his pod (but not the rest of his team). This is not available on Wreak Havoc missions.

The expert troop leader also provides heightened training to many of his crew, enhancing their reflexes. Nowhere is this more acute than with the crewmen whose job it is to control the bulkheads. Thus, all bulkheads on the ship are considered to have 1 extra box. This benefit remains even if the troop leader is killed in combat, but only for the duration of that scenario, after which the bulkheads revert to normal.

Location: Hangar.

Cost: 5% of the ship's base cost.

Availability: Gaim only. Expert troop leaders are, after all, the product of a Queen's genetic manipulations.

Expert Plasma Scientist (Pak'ma 'raj

Being masters of plasma technologies, and somewhat single-minded of purpose, some Pak'm a'ra have become true experts in their field. An expert plasma scientist provides several benefits to his ship, as follows:

All medium or heavy plasma weapons on the ship score + 1 damage (this would include medium plasma cannons and larger, as well as plasm a streams, plasma accelerators, etc.). Fuser torpedoes score + 2 damage, not + 1.

All plasma weapons on the ship ignore the first two hexes traveled when reducing damage scored against an opponent. For example, a weapon which suffered -1 point of damage per 2 hexes which struck an enemy 10 hexes away would lose only 4 points of damage, not 5.

All plasma batteries can store an extra point of power, and receive a - 3 bonus on any critical hit roll. They cannot operate if completely destroyed (despite the + 1 power bonus).

Plasma webs receive a + 1 bonus to range, even if suffering from a critical hit.

Location: Engine.

Cost: 10% of the ship's base cost.

Availability: Any race using plasma weapons can use these officers, but the cost is doubled. However, since some of the benefits do not apply to non -Pak'm a 'raun its, this will almost always be too expensive to bother with.

Expert Turret Officer (Vree)

The expert turret officer is adept at using his turret efficiently and getting its weapons out of harm 'sway when necessary. This has the following effects:

Weapons on the turret gain + 1 to hit.

When rolling for critical hits against turret-mounted weapons, subtract 1 from the dieroll. When rolling for the special turret critical, subtract 2 from the dieroll.

If no weapon on the turret fires in a given turn, the owning player can declare it to be "sheltered." If this is done, no incoming fire can hit its weapons unless they use called shots. The "sheltering " announcement must be made before any other players determine weapons fire, thus revealing to everyone that you have no intentions of shooting turret-mounted weapons on that turn.

Location: One turret-mounted weapon. The turret operator can only aid that turret, not any other turrets on the same ship (if any).

Cost: 5% of the ship's base value.

Availability: Vree only.

ExpertTargeter (Raider)

One area in which Raiders excel is that of knocking critical systems (weapons, thrusters, etc.) off enemy units. In many cases, this is the only way they can complete their goal of capturing freighters with their cargo intact.

The expert targeter is a true boon to a Raider band. With him on the ship, called shots have a + 4 bonus to hit.

This does not provide any benefit to normal attacks, only called shots. It does not cancel the usual - 8 called shot penalty, either.

Location: One structure block. All weapons attached to this block receive the benefit. On a medium ship, he must choose either forward or aft weapons, and will aid only those weapons which can be hit from the chosen direction (on the Hit Location Chart).

Cost: 10% of the ship's base cost.

Availability: Raiders only. Races which specialize in raiding or thievery, such as the Llort, could also acquire one for double the cost.

Scenarios

A scenario in Babylon 5 Wars is defined as a set of parameters (including the game objective, fleet composition, starting locations and so on) which define the situation at the start of a game session. The following sections will set down guidelines to follow when setting up your own B5W scenarios. After a couple of games, you will probably determine for yourselves the way you prefer to set up a scenario and you should, by all means, follow your preferences. As stated earlier, these are simply guidelines which can be used to get you started.

Combat Points

When setting up a scenario, it is useful to know an approximate combat strength of each unit in order to achieve balance between sides. To this end, ships and other units are assigned costs, which are expressed in Combat Points These are approximations and cannot reflect the skill of the players involved, but should suffice to arrange a generally even battle if used properly.

The Combat Point values of ships, fighters, and shuttles are found on their individual control sheets. There are also options, such as missiles for fighters or the Thunderbolt's navigator, which cost an additional amount of Combat Points. Future products will list other enhancements that can add to the cost of a fleet or a unit within that fleet. As these are only estimates, however, you should take these values with a grain of salt. For example, a 5,000 point force consisting of all fighters may not stand up well to an opponent who chooses a large number of ships armed with anti fighter weapons. If the opponent had, however, chosen ships with virtually no fighter defenses, the result will be vastly different.

Type of Scenarios

There are many different types of scenarios which can be played in B5W. The most common of these will be touched on below.

Meeting Engagement

Meeting engagements occur when two fleets approach each other from some distance. Generally, both fleets have been in the same system for sometime and are fully aware of the other's presence. Thus, they are both approaching each other with the intention of engaging the opposing fleet. As both are in balance, the Combat Point values of each side should be roughly identical.

This is the most common type of scenario to play and is the easiest to set up. With both sides fully prepared, both can set up however they like. Usually, you 'll position the two (or more) forces along one edge of the map, opposite each other and at least 30 or more hexes apart. Speeds are no greater than 10 hexes per turn, though acceleration could, of course, be performed as soon as the scenario begins.

Defend/Mack Objective

In this scenario, one player is defending an objective, such as a small moon or base, and one player is attacking the same, with the intent to capture or destroy it. This scenario is somewhat more difficult for the defender as his maneuvering room is curtailed by the need to remain a close distance to the objective. However, if a base or other fixed defense is involved, the defender may well have the firepower advantage. Use approximately equal Combat Point values in this scenario, though these may need to be altered depending on what is being defended and how strictly the defender's movements are restricted.

Normally, the base, small moon, or whatever will be placed in the center of the map, and the defender will set up his units first, within a certain range (perhaps 5 hexes) from the objective, moving no faster than 5 hexes per turn. The attacker will then position his forces along one mapedge, facing the target, and moving no faster than 10.

ConvoyRaid

One of the most effective ways of curtailing an enemy's capability of fighting is to disrupt his supply lines. Convoys are the most common target to achieve this end. These scenarios are similar in many respects to Defend/Attack scenarios except the objective (the convoy) is moving. Future products will provide details for freighters of the type often seen in convoys. This sort of unit makes an excellent "target" for such battles. However, it's also possible to simply assume the freighter is nearby and must be defended simply by preventing the opponent from entering a certain zone on the map or disengaging successfully in a particular direction. As the defender's job is extremely difficult, he should receive a combat bonus of 25% or more in points in order to hope to prevent the loss of his strategically important units.

As with the defend /attack scenario, place the objective (the convoy) in the middle of the board, facing any direction it wishes (all defenders in the same direction, however) with a speed of no more than 3. The attacker arrives on any one mapedge he chooses at a speed of up to 15.

Pursuit Battle

Pursuit battles are usually the final results of a previous scenario. Generally, one player will be running for an objective, such as a jumpgate or friendly fleet, and the second player will be trying to prevent his reaching the objective. Usually, this scenario starts with the fleeing player being cutoff from his objective by the attacking player, forcing the fleeing player to try and skirt around the enemy or engage him hoping to quickly defeat (or blow by) him.

The scenario becomes all the more interesting when the attacker has more Combat Points available than the defender.

A warning about pursuit battles: the velocity on ships can get quite high and the forces might be spread out over a wide area. You might need several maps to handle such fights!

Jump Engagements

Jump engagements can be combined with any of the above scenarios (with the exception of a meeting engagement) but with the additional parameter that one side enters the battle via hyperspace. This situation changes the tactical setting significantly as neither the attacker nor the defender will know exactly what the other side has or where they will be. Often the defender is taken by surprise at the start of the engagement.

For a general setup of this sort of scenario, have one player (the attacker) leave the room and choose his forces, the hex his jump point will form in, and the facing and speeds of all his units on arrival. While this player is absent, the defender places his units on the board. The scenario then begins with a jump point forming at the start of turn 1, and the attackers arriving on the map on turn 2. This gives the defenders one turn to react to the appearance of the vortex.

When the attackers arrive, their forces appear in the hex of the jump point, which then closes behind them.

Setting Up a Scenario

The following sections will detail out how to setup certain scenario details. As noted earlier, these are strictly guidelines and players should feel free to use them or discard them as the individual group feels.

Fleet Composition

The first thing that must be done, no matter which scenario type is being played, is the selection of each player's fleet. In some cases these will be chosen well in advance (such as a published scenario, variation of same, or a campaign battle). Other times, some other factor or factors can be used— perhaps a random draw or lottery. The Combat Point system provides an easy means to set up an even fight. Many battles are formed by having the players simply select a point value for each side and choosing forces that add up to no more than that value (remember that the cost of fighters and armed shuttles is not included in the price of ships). In such cases, the actual selection of ships and other units is normally kept secret until deployment occurs on the scenario map, adding to the tension as players don 't know what they might be facing.

The opposing sides should also choose any limitations on what may be selected. Some examples of this include certain races or technology, particular units which might disrupt a scenario condition, units which were historically unavailable at the time this battle is being fought, and so on. Depending on your gaming group's opinions, some rules might not be used (such as the optional ramming rules) or might be altered for special purposes. The point is that it's your scenario and you should feel free to play it how ever you choose— so long as everyone in the game agrees about it in advance!

Pre-Scenario Intelligence

In most scenarios a player will not know what his opponent (or opponents) is bringing into the battle until the scenario actually starts. In some cases (base assaults and convoy raids, for example) he may have some idea of the defenses. In base assaults, the type of base will be known, as will the approximate point value of any other fixed defenses in the area. In convoy battles, the attacker will normally know the number and type of freighters, but not the escorting ships.

Once the scenario has begun, the class of ships, fighters and shuttles will be known immediately (and must be announced, although shuttles and fighters that haven't yet been launched can be kept secret until they appear).

Players do not have the right to ask for other details, like what units might still be carried in hangar bays, the arming status of weapons, or what pre-existing damage might be present on a ship (which might be specified in some scenarios, particularly campaign battles). In general, a player may not look at another player's ship or fighter control sheets during a game (though he can always look at a blank one for reference). The only data he will know about the status of a ship is the damage he himself has caused to that ship during play.

WeaponsStatus

It's assumed that all weapons are fully armed and ready to fire at the start of any battle. There might be exceptions to this in some scenarios, of course (if one side is "surprised," their weapons may have to begin arming from scratch, as they would have been deactivated before the game started). Note that unless a special rule is in use, weapons may not begin the game in sustained mode.

Ships armed with missiles can choose to remove some of the missiles from their racks (presumably to avoid some of the effects of a disastrous magazine critical) but this must be recorded in advance— it can be kept secret from the enemy, but the written record would have to be revealed when needed. If this is done, the missiles that are taken out cannot be "reloaded " during the game.

Ending the Scenario

Generally, a scenario ends when one side or the other is destroyed or retreats. In some cases, the scenario may specify some other victory condition (like destroying a base or other key unit, or a time limit) which, if achieved, ends the scenario at that point.

Often, a scenario ends if one side "retreats." This is usually done by fleeing into a jump point. However, a side can retreat by disengaging, which means basically accelerating off into the distance and leaving the area.

A unit can disengage voluntarily by spending a full turn putting all available thrust (up to its maximum safe levels) into accelerating away from any enemy forces, then announcing that it intends to continue doing so in perpetuity. As long as the unit is out of range of any opposing weapons, and is moving at a speed of 20 or greater, it can disengage under this rule; otherwise the opponent can demand an additional turn (or more) until the fleeing unit is out of range.

A player may also declare that his opponent has disengaged if the opposing player's forces are all more than 50 hexes from the original center of the map, more than 25 hexes from the nearest enemy unit, and are heading away from the player's forces at the start of the turn. If these conditions are met, the opponent must disengage (though strategically he is still in the vicinity, his opponent has won the day).

Optional Extras

This section lists a number of additional options that can be added to any scenario to increase the challenge involved.

Crew Readiness

Ships are not always 100% ready for combat. Their status often depends on their readiness state at the start of the scenario. Unless stated otherwise, assume ships are at battle stations when the scenario begins.

The following states are possible:

Baffle Stations

This is the assumed level in the game. The ship is expecting battle and is ready for it. All weapons are online, charged, and manned; fighters are ready to scramble; compartments are sealed; damage control teams are on duty; etc.

Weapons capable of sustained mode cannot begin play in that mode unless the scenario specifically allows it (which is possible if the opposing forces have been closing on each other from a great distance or were forewarned of each others' presence).

Patrol Stations

The ship is cruising in a dangerous area and faces the possibility of action in the very near future. The crew is ready for this, but is not at full battle stations.

The ship suffers an initiative penalty as battle stations are quickly assumed. During turn 1, this penalty is -3, but it drops by 1 point every turn, so by turn 4 the penalty will be gone. This penalty does not apply to fighters launched by the patrolling ship.

Weapons and fighter flights may not be active on ships at this readiness level. Roll 1 -10 onad 20 for each weapon /flight for it to be prepared at the start of the scenario. Weapons which fail the roll have no energy, but can begin the arming process immediately on turn 1 (note that this will have no effect on weapons with a recharge time of 1 turn, so there is little point in rolling for these in the first place).

Fighter flights which fail the roll require 166 turns for their pilots to reach them and launch (after turn 1, so a roll of 2 means the flight cannot launch until turn 3). Note that at patrol stations, a ship with more than 1 flight will always have at least 1 flight active, regardless of rolls.

Cruise Stations

This is the normal level in peacetime, or well behind the lines in wartime. The crew is not expecting trouble and is performing normal, non -combat duties and maintenance. A small complement of crew is in a ready state, however, just in case. This represents the usual staff of command watch and the like.

Cruising ships have a significant initiative penalty as they hurry into battlestations from what is essentially a rest state. This penalty begins at -6, but drops by 1 each turn, and will be eliminated by turn 7. The penalty does not apply to fighters launched by the ship.

About 75% of all weapons and fighter flights are unprepared for battle. Roll 1 d20 for each weapon and fighter flight, with a 1 -5 indicating it is ready to use at the start of play. Weapons and flights which fail the roll must roll again at the start of the next turn, and each successive turn, until the roll is made or the scenario ends. Weapons cannot begin recharging and fighters may not launch until the roll is successful. The chance of success increased by 2 each turn, so on turn 2 a 1 -7 would indicate success, on turn 3 it increases to 1 -9, and so on.

Pilots of inactive fighter flights roll 1d6, and cannot launch until that many turns have elapsed (as with patrol stations), but this runs concurrently with the activation check. Thus, a flight which was not initially ready to launch and had to wait 3 turns for its pilots to arrive would have to wait until at least turn 4 even if it made its activation roll on turn 1 or 2. However, if the pilot arrived a this fighter on turn 4 and activation was not yet successful, he would have to wait around until the roll succeeded— but could launch later on that same turn once the check was made.

Drill Stations

During peacetime or well behind the combat lines, or during training missions, ships often perform combat drills to enhance performance. The ability to move quickly from cruise stations to battlestations is very important (as you can see from the penalties applied to ships at cruise stations). On some rare occasions, ships performing a combat drill will come under attack by real enemy forces!

The arming status of weapons and fighters for drilling ships is functionally the same as battlestations. However, ships performing combat drills arm their weapons at a significantly lesser state to avoid accidents (especially when drilling against friendly targets). When scoring damage with drill-status weapons, assume all damage dice roll 1 's, and no critical hits can be caused. Note: This applies to energy weapons only. Missiles and the like are loaded, but with dummy warheads which do no damage whatsoever.

After the first 1d6 turns have elapsed, weapons may be shutoff (or non-energy weapons like missiles deactivated) for 1 turn, after which they can be armed normally. Roll thed6 for the entire ship, not per weapon. Weapons which do not spend one turn deactivated (and fighters which do not spend one turn on board the carrier) after this period will still fire their weapons at the lower arming level.

Tactical Surprise

In some situations, ships which believe themselves to be totally safe will suddenly be set upon in a surprise attack.

When this happens (as will be specified in some scenarios), the surprised forces are under some restrictions, while the attackers benefit from several advantages. This can allow a much smaller force to achieve a major victory over a larger, surprised enemy.

On the first two turns of the scenario, surprised units will be almost completely shutdown, with only a skeleton crew on duty. The following restrictions are in force during this period:

All systems which require power are deactivated, and their power is unavailable for other uses. The reactor is running at a low level, and the power is being used chiefly for life support and other intangibles. Thus, no system on the control sheet with a power (diamond-shaped) icon can be used, even if that icon has a zero (there is still a nominal amount of power required, just not enough to count during most scenarios). This includes most weapons, defenses, shields, sensors, jump engines, jammers, and the like. On shuttles and fighters, no weapons can be armed or fired, and the offensive bonus is cut in half (round fractions up).

The engine is partially deactivated. Only half the listed free thrust points (round fractions up) are available. This applies to fighters and shuttles as well.

No fighters or shuttles may be launched (unless the scenario specifies they are already in play). Fighters and shuttles already on the map are permitted to land (if they can), although no other hangar operations are permitted.

Initiative is automatically lost by all surprised units, regardless of dieroll or unit size. If there happen to be multiple players with surprised units, each should roll off against each other, but all unsurprised ships and fighters (of all sizes) will automatically win initiative.

During the above two-turn period, the attackers, having achieved tactical surprise, have the following advantages. Note that these function only if the attacking units are actually themselves ready to fight. If they blunder into the defenders, they may not be able to benefit from these abilities (the scenario will specify this, if applicable).

Weapons capable of sustained fire can begin play in sustained mode, if desired by the owning player.

Called shots (if that rule is in use) may be made at one -half the normal penalty (usually -4 to hit instead of -8). In addition, called shots may be made to structure blocks, but at twice the listed penalty (i.e., -8 instead of -4). Note:

This does NOT mean you can make called shots to structure under normal, non-surprise circumstances at a -16 penalty!

Weapons fire is less likely to do low levels of damage. For any damage roll onad 10, treat any roll of less than 3 as a 3, and any damaged6 which rolls less than 2 should be treated as a 2. This applies only to weapons which score physical damage to their targets. Other effects, such as those caused by Abbai comm disruptors, are not improved.

After the first two turns of the scenario have elapsed, the surprised units begin to recover (assuming they survived).

Reactor power is brought back on line slowly, with 25% (round fractions of 0.5 or more up) of its powerfully restored (less any critical hits, of course) each turn. Two free thrust points are also restored each turn. Also beginning on the third turn of the scenario, the ship may begin launching fighters and shuttles at the normal rate, may execute any desired hangar bay operations, and may roll initiative at a -4 penalty. This penalty is reduced by 1 point in each succeeding turn until initiative rolls return to their normal level. In addition, after the second turn, all benefits available to the attackers are lost.

For example, consider the case of a surprised ship that has 12 free thrust and systems totaling 47 used power. On the first two turns, it could use only 6 of this thrust and none of the power. On turn 3, 8 thrust would be available as well as 12 power (which could be applied to sensors, weapons, or whatever else the player needs it for). In addition, the ship would be at a -4 initiative penalty. It could, however, launch fighters if it had any available.

To continue the example, on turn 4, 10 thrust and 24 power would be available, and the initiative penalty drops to -3. Turn 5, all thrust is restored, available power is 35, and the initiative penalty is -2. On turn 6, a minor penalty of -1 applies, but all other restrictions of surprised status have been lifted. Turn 7 and after, the ship is fully functional again.

Ship Identification

This optional rule is similar to Secret Ships (above), except that ships and fighters are permitted opportunities to identify ships by their shapes and weapon arrangements at range. Currently, many ships can be told apart from each other simply by checking their defense ratings, but as more and more ships and variants are added to Babylon 5 Wars, this will change.

Each turn, after EW has been assigned and announced (or, if using secret EW, after that step in the Combat Sequence has passed), each unit in the game is permitted to make one attempt to identify an enemy target. ELINT ships, enormous units other than bases, and non-enormous bases can make two attempts on the same or different targets, while enormous bases can make three attempts. A "unit" is defined for this purpose only to be one ship, flight of fighters, or individual shuttle. (This provides an actual reason to use unarmed shuttles in the game, other than scenario-specific situations where shuttlecraft are important.) Identification rolls are made sequentially, in any order desired by the player, so it's permitted to wait and see if one roll is successful before making the next.

To make the attempt, calculate the identification chance using the normal to -hit rules for weapons (i.e., begin with the defense rating of the target unit). Assume the I Dhas a range penalty of -1 per 5 hexes (-1 per hex in the case of fighters or shuttles), has no fire control values, and benefits from EW in the usual fashion (including penalties for lack of a lock-on, the effect of jammers, etc.). If the identifying unit is an ELINT ship, add + 3 to the identification chance.

No other bonuses apply. Note that a line -of-sight to the target is required at the time the identification check is made.

For example, assume an EA Oracle Scout (an ELINT ship) is attempting to identify a Minbari unit at range 20, and has 10 points of offensive EW against that ship. The Minbari unit has a defense rating of 19 on the side facing the Oracle, has its jammer active, and is running 6 defensive EW. The chance of a successful I Dis 19 - 6 (defensive EW)

10 (the range penalty of -1 per 4 hexes, doubled because of the jammer) + 10 (offensive EW) + 3 (ELINT ship bonus) for a total of 16.

Roll 1d20 to determine the ID's success. If the roll fails, no information is gained (other than the ship's defense rating, which may be enough to learn the ship's basic hull type). If the roll succeeds by less than 5, the player learns what weapons and thrusters are facing him (and whether are not said weapons are being powered, unless the target has chameleon sensors), but no other information. If the roll succeeds by 5 or more, he learns the exact ship type, can examine a basic control sheet for that variant, and knows (for that turn only) whether or not each weapon on the ship is currently being powered, unless the target is chameleon sensor-equipped.

Continuing the above example, the Oracle player rolls a 15, which is successful but not good enough to specifically identify the target ship. After his enemy describes the number of neutron lasers and fusion cannons which face him, he knows he's looking at a Sharlin or a variant, but does not yet know enough to tell if it's a Shargoti or Grey Sharlin. Since he needs to know this information for certain, and ELINT ships can make two tries, he uses his second against this ship and rolls a 14. His opponent announces his ship is a Shargoti, and theE A player begins to think about a hasty retreat from the area...

Secret: Ships

Under this optional rule, players don 't know what ships the other side is using. They can identify units on the map only by type: shuttle or fighter; medium, heavy, or capital ship; or enormous unit. They must identify exactly what unit is in play by observing its weapons fire and other actions. Note: Ships equipped with the chameleon sensor suite can keep their ship type a secret as well, and can announce any vessel size they choose.

All damage rolls are made normally, but their allocation (and the results) are secret. The firing player knows only whether or no the hit and the total amount of damage scored.

If an impartial judge is available, the damage rolls can become even more secret. After determining whether or not a hit was scored, and how much damage was done, the judge makes the hit location rolls out of view of the firing player.

Hiding in Asteroids

In some cases, ships which have been occupying an asteroid field for along period can hide themselves among the rocks. This is a slow and careful procedure and can 't be accomplished while a scenario is in progress.

If a scenario specifies that one or more units are hidden in asteroids, the unit counters are not placed on the map until detected (or the ships perform some action that reveals their presence). A hidden unit will be located in the actual asteroid hex and should also indicate a hex side which it resides on. The unit can exit the asteroid hex safely by leaving through this hexside or either of the adjacent hexsides, but if it attempts to move any of the other three directions, it will collide with the asteroid. In addition, line -of-sight is blocked by rock through any direction the unit cannot safely move. This applies both to the hidden unit and any unit attempting to target it.

Ships hiding in asteroids are very close to them (almost touching), using maneuvering thrusters to avoid collision.

At this range, they appear to be part of the rock itself. They cannot be seen unless an enemy unit has a line-of-sight to the hexside of the asteroid the ship is hiding in and is within 2 hexes of it.

Alternatively, the searching player can allocate a number of EW points to a specific asteroid hex, as part of his electronic warfare allocation. He then roll soned 20. If the result is less than or equal to the points allocated to that hex minus the range to that hex, any hidden unit must be revealed, as long as the searching ship has line-of-sight to the hex side where the unit is hidden.

At the end of each turn, a hidden unit may move to any adjacent hexside of its asteroid hex (e.g., if it was facing towards the top of the map, it could move so that it is facing towards the top left or top right) without revealing itself.

This is performed using a "slide " maneuver. The hidden unit may also turn, roll or pivot without being noticed by an opponent. If it leaves the asteroid hex, launches anything, uses any electronic warfare except self-defensive EW, or fires a weapon, it is automatically revealed.

Disabled Ships

Some scenarios call for a ship to be "disabled." This means the ship is incapable of escaping from the battle scene (note that this does not mean it is unable to continue fighting, as it may have weapons remaining). In order to meet this criteria, any one of the following must be true:

All its forward and aft thrusters are destroyed. (If its rear thrusters are destroyed, it can always fly backwards.)

Its engine is destroyed. If there is a jump engine on the ship, that too must be destroyed (or the ship must be at a complete stop, making it impossible to enter a jump point).

A llC & C systems are destroyed.

Note: The easiest way to disable something is to knock both the forward and aft structure blocks off of it.

Alternatively, the called shot rules can be used to directly target thrusters.

Debris {Optional]

Debris is leftover material from destroyed ships and other large objects. In some scenarios, debris may already be present on the map (this will be defined in the scenario's set-up rules). It can also be created whenever a large enough unit is destroyed in play.

Debris is said to have a "strength factor" representing the amount and concentration of bits of metal and other flotsam residing in the hex. Typical strengths range from 1 -3, with heavier concentrations arising through non-natural means (e.g., the explosion of a small moon, or extremely thick rings surrounding a gas giant).

If a unit enters a debris hex, it is subject to possible impact with the remnants there. (Fighters and shuttles are treated individually and do not use the flight level rules.) Any such hit will come in through the side of the unit entering the debris hex. Make the roll immediately using the rules hereafter, and apply any damage at that moment. Do not, however, roll critical hits until the end of the turn, in the Critical Hit Step of the Combat Sequence.

First, divide the defense rating of the side being hit by 3 (by 4 for agile ships, and by 5 for fighters, shuttles, or anything smaller). Use the base defense rating only, not including any modifications for shields, energy webs, EW, or any other item or system. Then, multiply the result by the strength factor of the debris hex (rounding any fractions of 0.5 or more up after the calculations are complete). This represents the base chance of hitting debris. For example, a capital ship with a forward /aft defense rating of 14 entering strength-2 debris would have a base impact chance of 9.333, rounding down to 9. An expert helmsman or expert pilot reduces this by 2 after all other calculations are complete.

Next, roll 1d 20 against the base value. If the result is equal to or less than the base impact chance, score 1 d10 (1 d6 for fighters or shuttles) plus the unit's speed to the facing side. If the roll is less than the amount needed to hit, add +1 for every point less than the base chance. For example, if the base to -hit is 10, the ship is moving speed 8, and a 4 is rolled, the result is 1d l 0 + 14 damage. Damage is standard mode and armor applies normally.

Note that units make a debris impact check each time they enter a hex containing debris, which could happen several times during a turn's movement. If they enter the same hex multiple times during the scenario (or even in the same turn), they would have to roll each time, as the debris moves around unpredictably. Units already in a debris hex do not need to roll when they perform other maneuvers unless they leave the hex and later return.

Units can use defensive fire as they enter debris hexes in an attempt to lower their chance of impact. Each such weapon applies its intercept rating against the base chance of impact, so a Mark-1 interceptor would lower the chance by 3. Normal degradation rules apply, and of course this counts as the use of that weapon during the turn. Each weapon can only defend against a single debris hex, and only the at the moment of entry— if the unit later returns to the same hex, previously fired defensive weapons won 't help out a gain.

Creating Debris During Scenarios

If desired, debris hexes can be created during a scenario using the following guidelines. Note that any debris hexes retain the speed and direction of motion of the unit they were created from (this cannot be altered during play by special devices such as plasm a nets, though it will change as a result of gravity and other terrain effects). The debris moves at the end of the turn in the Terrain-Related Movement Step of the Combat Sequence. If it enters the hex of another unit, make an impact check as though that unit had entered the debris hex.

Destruction of Enormous Units: If an enormous unit is destroyed, the hex it was in should contain debris of strength 3. On the following turn, after all movement is complete, all hexes surrounding this debris will be filled with strength-2 debris (representing the expanding cloud of remains). The turn after that, all hexes one hex further out should be filled with strength -1 debris. The cloud will not expand anymore than this during the scenario.

Enormous Unit Sides: If the side of an enormous unit is destroyed, place strength -1 debris in that unit's hex.

This represents pieces breaking free of the unit and expanding into the local area. Note that this hex is not attached to the enormous unit, and if that unit moves away, the debris will remain where it was (moving at the speed and direction of the unit when the side was lost).

Capital Ship Destruction: If a capital ship is destroyed, its hex is filled with debris of strength 2. On the following turn, all surrounding hexes will be filled with strength-1 debris. The cloud will not expand further during the scenario.

Smaller Ship Destruction: If a heavy combat vessel or medium ship (but not a light combat vessel) is destroyed, mark its hex with strength -1 debris. Smaller units do not create debris.

Planet Destruction: If a planet is destroyed (which is possible through scenario events or using a First One planet-killer), the entire map will eventually become covered with deadly debris. Begin with the mapedge where the planet is located, filling the edge row with strength-20 debris. Each turn, the next three rows will be filled with debris of one strength pointless than the previous turn. For example, if a planet is off the left side of the map and is destroyed, theO lxx row will have strength-20 debris. On the next turn, rows 02xx through 04xx will have strength-19, the following turn rows 05xx through 07xx will have strength -18, and so on until the expansion is complete.

Moon Destruction: Destroyed moons use the procedure for planets, but expand outward in a spherical pattern at a rate of one row per turn, not three rows. The hexes originally containing the moon begin at a strength equal to the diameter in hexes (maximum 20).

Terrain Rules

Planets

The scale of Babylon 5 Wars is such that each map hex is just a few kilometers wide. At this scale, a planet the size of Earth would be over 10,000 hexes across! Thus, the surface of a planet is usually represented on a scenario map by a row of hexes, and any unit entering that hex row either crashes (if incapable of landing, as with most ships) or lands (in the case of fighters or shuttles). A fighter or shuttle can only land safely if it has enough unspent thrust available to counter its forward velocity at the instant it enters the planet hex. If it cannot do this, it crashes (the pilot can eject safely if desired, and can later be recovered from the same planet hex).

If the planet has an atmosphere, the fighter or shuttle must be atmosphere-capable in order to safely land. All fighters and shuttles are considered to have this capability unless stated otherwise. Among such units published to date, only the Starfury is non-atmospheric. More specific rules for movement in atmospheres a represented hereafter.

If a unit crashes, it is destroyed for game purposes. Roll percentile dice to see what percentage of the crew survives the impact, subtracting 5 from the roll for every point of speed above 1 the unit was moving at the time of impact.

If a unit lands, it can be targeted from units still in space, though it cannot jink (in the case of fighters). It cannot fire weapons while on the ground. It can liftoff from the surface in the same step in the Combat Sequence in which fighters and shuttles launch from a carrier.

Manns

Many large asteroids, planetoids, and moons are just a few kilometers long, and thus would be represented on the playing field as a single- or multi-hex object. All of these possibilities will be referred to as "moons " for the remainder of this discussion.

If a moon appears in a scenario, the rules will note a center hex and a radius or diameter. Unless specified otherwise, the moon is assumed to be round, and thus will occupy all hexes which fall into the defined area. For example, a moon centered in hex 0826 which had a radius of 2 hexes would include 0826 as well as the surrounding hexes of 0825, 0926, 0927, 0827, 0727, and 0726. If using the Miniatures Rules presented in the War of Retribution product, a radius of 2 inches will indicate a 2 " globe surrounding a point on the map.

It is assumed that moons of such small sizes will not include any appreciable atmospheric or gravity effects.

However, there are exceptions to this. Very heavy stellar bodies, such as brown dwarfs, might be incredibly dense. It's also possible that a thick atmosphere might surround a dense moon with a gravitational field strong enough to hold it. In these cases, see the description of atmospheres and gravitational effects hereafter.

Atmospheres

In some cases, it may be necessary to enter an atmosphere. This is often the case when landing a ship on a planet, or when attempting to elude or ambush an enemy by flying through a gas giant.

Atmospheres have a "thickness factor" which determines their effect on movement. Most atmospheres have a factor of 1 or (at most) 2. The effect of this is to "drag," or slowdown, the movement of any unit moving through the atmosphere. If a unit passes through atmosphere during any turn, even if only partially, its velocity (in whatever direction it is currently moving) is reduced by the thickness factor. If several layers of thickness (say, in a large gas giant) are passed through, used the factor of the dense stone. This cannot reduce a unit's speed below zero, of course. For example, a ship flying at speed 9 which entered a level-3 layer of a gas giant would have its speed drop to 6.

If a ship is not atmospheric-capable, it will suffer damage due to the unexpected friction and pressures buffeting its hull. A ship's description and control sheet will note if it is capable of flying through atmosphere safely. Fighters and shuttles can do so unless their description specifically says they cannot (e.g., the Starfury). This is a generalization, however, and any exceptions to it will be noted in the appropriate unit descriptions.

The damage a non-atmospheric unit takes in atmosphere is equal to its speed times the thickness factor. One standard-mode volley of this amount is applied to the side facing the atmosphere (as the unit moves through it) for each hex the unit passes through. As this represents internal stresses, armor does not mitigate the effects! Note that a non-atmospheric unit cannot land through an atmosphere, no matter how slow it is moving, unless it crash-lands (see the rules for planets, above).

For example, if an Omega Destroyer moving speed 5 moved into a gas giant, passing through two hexes of thickness-1 and three hexes of thickness-2 atmosphere, it would suffer two volleys of 5 damage and three volleys of 10 damage.

Gravity Wells

In some scenarios, a gravitational effect may come into play. There are two forms of this: general and specific.

General gravity comes from a particular side of the map (perhaps from a planet or star located along that edge or beyond it). Specific gravity comes from a point on the playing field.

Regardless of type, the effect is to draw units closer to the gravitational source. The strength of the gravity well will be defined in the scenario rules (it's usually 1, although it can be higher). This strength factor determines how many hexes each unit is drawn towards the source in a given turn.

In the case of general effects, all units in the field of play will be drawn towards the noted edge of the board each turn, after all other movement is complete. They will be drawn a number of hexes equal to the gravitational strength.

When deciding which hex to move a unit into, the first priority is to move it into the hex closest to the mapedge. If there is more than one choice, move the unit in the direction of its motion (the direction it is moving at the end of the turn, but if this does not resolve the question, use the last appropriate direction).

For local sources, all units are drawn towards the hex in question, a number of hexes equal to the strength of the gravity well. Use the rules above to resolve ambiguous situations. Note that a unit will not be pulled farther than the center hex of the gravity source.

In most cases, the scenario rules will note that some sort of physical object (such as a black hole or planet's edge) exists as the source of the gravitational pull. Any unit which enters such a hex would be destroyed— either smashed against the surface or torn apart by gravitational forces. A gravity factor as small as 1, however, is still so strong that most humanoid lifeforms would be unable to survive on the object for any but the shortest period (unless they had the ability to nullify the gravitational effect somehow).

Asteroids

In some dense asteroid fields, there are enough asteroids to make maneuvering difficult. Asteroids are represented by scattering a number of asteroid hexes randomly on the map (or placing them in certain specific hexes as defined by the scenario); each entirely occupies the hex it appears in. Asteroids of this type block line-of-sight through their hex.

If a unit enters an asteroid hex, it takes damage equal to its current speed times a roll of 1 d10, resolved as a raking volley and applied to the side of the ship which faced the asteroid hex before entry (or, for fighters and shuttles, against its damage track). Armor does apply to damage from asteroids.

In some scenarios, units can begin the game hidden in asteroid hexes. Use the rules provided elsewhere in this supplement.

Dust:

Some areas of space are clouded with fine dust particles. If a scenario takes place in a dust zone, the entire map will be considered covered with dust, and units will be damaged each turn as they move through it.

After movement is complete (see the Combat Sequence), each unit takes damage depending on its speed during that turn. For ships, divide their speed by 2, drop fractions, and apply the result directly to the forward structure (or, if there is no forward structure, the primary structure). For fighters and shuttles, subtract 10 from their speed, divide this by 3, drop fractions, and apply the result to the fighter's structure. Note that, in both cases, armor facing the direction of motion does apply to the incoming damage, increasing the ship's resistance to this effect. (If a unit turns or pivots, the "armor facing the direction of motion " is considered to be the one facing that direction for the majority of movement. If there is a tie, the owning player chooses which side is damaged.)

Nebulae

As with dust zones, a nebula fills the entire map. Ships and other units in the nebula suffer various degrading effects during a scenario. The following limitations apply:

• All thruster ratings are reduced by 1. This includes both the thrusters on ships and the thrust ratings of fighters and shuttles.

• No ships can use EW of any kind.

• The fire control bonuses of all weapons and shuttles/fighters are cut in half, and fire control penalties are doubled.

• Weapons firing in defensive mode have their intercept ratings reduced by 1.

• All weapons suffer -1 on each die of damage they roll. Pulse weapons do -1 point of damage for each pulse that hits. Plasma weapons suffer double the usual heat dissipation per hex of range, in addition to the -1 damage per die.

• The range of all missiles is halved (this includes both the launch and distance ranges).

• Jinking requires 2 thrust per level, not 1 thrust.

• Minbari jammers do not function.

• Electromagnetic weapons do not function unless mounted on First Ones ships (e.g., the Vorlons).

Meteor Swarms

These are clouds of rocks, usually formed from the debris of asteroids, moons or comets which broke apart during a close encounter with a huge gravity source such a sagas giant or solar body. The cloud of meteors is usually fairly small, and occupies a known orbit, so can be easily avoided. However, because they cause random amounts of damage, ships being pursued have been known to dive into them in the hopes of eluding a larger opponent.

The meteor swarm occupies a particular zone on the map (or, in some cases, the entire map). The meteors are not represented by individual counters, however, as they are too small and numerous. Instead, each time a ship or other unit moves into a meteor-filled hex, it rolls 1d 20 on the chart shown here to find out how many meteors hit it (if any). Note that this is done for every hex the unit enters during its turn, not just once per turn!

If a unit is moving at a speed of 4 or less, it can subtract 1 on this chart, while units moving faster than 12 must add 1. A unit with an expert helmsman can also subtract 1 from the dieroll. Expert pilots can subtract 1 if they have at least 1 level of skill, but earn no other benefit.

If a meteor hits, it scores damage equal to 1 d l 0 plus the unit's current speed. Armor will help protect against this.

All damage scored by meteors is done in standard mode.

In addition, defensive weapons which face the direction of motion can be setup to defend against meteors during movement. This must be announced at the start of the turn, and if done, the weapons cannot be used for any other purpose (either offensive or defensive) during that turn — including defense against enemy weapons fire.

If a weapon is defending against meteors, it must be allocated to a specific meteor strike , and will block only that Meteor Swarm Chart Die Roll 1-12 13-14 Fighter/

Shuttle

meteor. Multiple defensive weapons can fire at the same meteor with no degradation. The decision to fire must be made at the moment the meteor is discovered to be inbound (you cannot wait until all movement is complete, then choose which meteors to shoot at). If weapons are targeted on a meteor, all damage caused by that meteor is reduced by the total interception rating of all weapons used against it.

Note: Technically, the rocks in this terrain are not "meteors." The term meteor refers to a rock or other particle as it burns up in an atmosphere. However, as the word is immediately recognizable (and sounds better than the correct meteoroid), we decided to use it anyway.

Hyperspace Whirlpools

Medium

Ship/LCV

Heavy

Cmbt Vsl

Capital

Ship

Enormous

Unit

Meteor Swarm Example

An Omega Destroyer, facing forward, is entering a meteor swarm at speed 6. It allocates its two forward facing interceptors to defend against meteors. The Omega moves through six hexes of meteors, rolling a d20 in each case. The first roll is a 5, resulting in no meteor strike. The second roll is a 10, so again no meteors hit the ship. The third roll is a 15, so one meteor impacts, and the player elects to use one interceptor against it. 1d10+6 (6 because of the ship’s speed) is rolled for damage against the forward section, resulting in a total of 8. The Interceptor Mk-ll has a rating of -4, reducing the damage to 4, which is determined to hit structure and does not penetrate the armor there. The last three meteor rolls are 1,14, and 9, resulting in no further strikes. The second interceptor, which had no target, is wasted as it cannot be used for any other purpose on that turn.

Hyperspace whirlpools, as their name suggests, appear only in hyperspace, in areas where part of that alternate dimension pokes into normal space. The result is a singularity which causes hyperspace currents to draw objects spiraling towards its center.

The hex containing the whirlpool's center (the singularity) should be marked on the map with a counter, such as a fixed jumpgate, or other convenient object. In addition, the direction of the spiral effect (clockwise or counterclockwise) should be noted. Usually scenario rules will specify both of these, but in player-designed battles, they can be chosen by lot or agreed upon by some other means.

The nature of the whirlpool is such that it will tend to speed up ships moving in the same direction as the spiral, slow down those moving against the current, and draw all units closer to the center. This has the following effects for all units within 50 hexes of the whirlpool's center:

Before Movement: Before any movement is performed during the turn, all units are moved one hex (with no change in facing) in the direction of the spiral. To determine the hex moved into, use a string fastened to the singularity hex, stretch it out so it is on the center of the counter (or miniature), and— using the singularity as the pivot point— rotate it in the spiral's direction so the unit moves one hex. If there is any doubt as to which hex is actually entered, choose the one closer to the whirlpool's center. This movement will never result in the unit's arrival in a hex farther from the singularity.

During Movement: Any unit which maneuvers in the direction of the spiral (for whatever purpose— turning, sliding, accelerating, etc.) requires a smaller amount of thrust. If the unit in question is within 10 hexes of the singularity, the thrust cost for the maneuver is halved. If the unit is between 11 and 30 hexes away, the cost is two-thirds of normal. Outside of 30 hexes, the cost is 75% of the listed value. In all cases, round fractions of 0.5 or more up, while dropping any other remainder.

Similarly, units which thrust aqainst the current must pay a penalty to do so. Within 10 hexes, the cost is doubled; from 11 -30 hexes it is increased by 50%; and 31 -50 hexes requires an extra 25%. Again, round fractions of 0.5 or more up, while others are dropped.

After Movement: After all

Hyperspace Whirlpool Singularity

Effects

units are done moving, all units are moved one hex closer to the singularity. Note that in many cases, there will be two possible choices which any unit might be moved into. The one in thed i DieRoll Effect 4 or less rection of the spiral should always be selected — the unit doesn't get to choose. Treat this 5-8 as a gravitational effect, as described earlier in this chapter.

The Singularity: If a unit enters the hex of the singularity, for whatever reason, roll 1d20 on the chart hereafter. Enormous units add 2, while agile ships may subtract 1, as may ships with elite helmsmen (these 9-15 are cumulative). Fighters may subtract 1 for each level of pilot quality. Note that in the flight level rules, each fighter must still roll individually.

16 +

“Ride the edge” and survive, but take damage (on the side facing the singularity) depending on unit type: Fighters and shuttles = 50% of speed (drop fraction), medium ships = 2 x speed, heavy combat vessels = 4 x speed, capital ships = 6 x speed, enormous units = 10 x speed. All damage is in standard mode, and armor does protect against this effect.

The unit is spun wildly and flung outward in a random direction and facing, 1d6+1 hexes away from the singularity. The unit’s new direction of motion is assumed to be the direction it was thrown from the center (its speed is unchanged), but (in the case of ships) the unit is also assumed to be involuntarily pivoting and must pay its listed cost to stop the pivot. The unit takes damage equal to that listed in the previous entry, in addition to an equivalent amount scored as a Primary hit.

The unit is drawn into the singularity and expelled from hyperspace (and out of the battle) at an unknown location in normal space. Take damage as noted in the preceding entry. If multiple units in the same scenario suffer this effect, they will be “near” each other in normal space, though probably thousands of kilometers apart.

The unit is destroyed. In the case of fighter pilots/escape pods, no survival is possible.

Hyperspace

Waveforms

One of the more dangerous aspects of hyperspace is its occasional ability to "overlap " itself. This represents nothing less than a wrinkle in hyperspace, creating a kind of speed bump for ships.

The waveform is represented on the map as a row of hexes in a straight line, usually (but not always) extending off the edge of the playing field for an effectively infinite distance. For example, a waveform might be listed as occupying the 01 xx hex row, and would then extend in either direction ad infinitum.

Generally, wave forms are static, although in some scenarios they might move across the board at a set speed. If this is the case, it will be given a direction and speed, and will "move " after all ships and fighters have moved. If it contacts any unit during this movement, it will cause damage exactly as if that unit entered the wave's hex.

If a unit should contact a waveform, it suffers damage on the

Waveform Ship

Size Modifiers

Size

Multiplier

Light Fighter

Medium Fighter

Heavy Fighter

Shuttle

Medium Ship

Heavy Combat Vessel

Capital Ship

Enormous Unit

Speed x 0.5

Speed x 0.75

Speed x 1

Speed x 2

Speed x 4

Speed x 6

Speed x 10 v side facing the wave (that is, the side facing the wave hex that the unit actually entered). The damage scored is equal to the target unit's speed times a factor depending on its size, as shown on the chart to the left. Round fractions of 0.5 or more up. Damage caused is scored in standard mode, and is mitigated by armor in the usual way. If the waveform is moving, add its speed to the unit's speed before determining the damage caused.

Note that sometimes hyperspace wave forms come in stronger

(or weaker) versions, which will be explained in the scenario rules.

To make matters more complex, they sometimes appear in groups, either in parallel rows or, more rarely, in intersecting patterns.

There are even reports of "boxes" being formed by cris-crossing waves, but these are extremely uncommon.

Hyperspace Rapids

Rapids are regions of hyperspace where the current flows strongly and in one general direction. Usually, the entire map will be considered affected by the rapids. However, in some cases certain zones will be outside the effect, or operate at a reduced level.

The scenario will specify the direction the rapids are flowing, as well as the region (or entire map) where the effect is noted. While a unit is in the affected zone, it is effectively being carried along by the rapids. At the end of each turn, it is moved in the direction of the flow a number of hexes equal to the strength of the current. This motion has no effect on turns and other maneuvers.

In addition to this, any maneuver performed in the direction of the flow (such as a slide, turn, or accel/decel), has its thrust cost reduced by 10% for every point of current strength. For example, a strength 5 current will reduce the thrust cost of accelerating along with it by 50%. Round fractions of 0.5 or more up, while dropping any other remainder. Similarly, actions performed against the current will cost extra, at the same percentage rate.

Note that, because of the hexgrid movement system, all maneuvers will either be "with" or "against" the current.

Consider a ship within hyperspace rapids that are flowing in direction 1 (toward the top of the map). If that ship is facing in direction 1, then any turn (to either side) will necessarily involve fighting the current (which is trying to push the ship directly forward), and thus would invoke the penalty. If the ship were facing in direction 2 (toward the top right of the map), and tried to turn right, it would fight the current, but if it turned left, it would be going with the current.

Electromagnetic Storms

These storms are often caused by sunspots, but also occur in certain nebulae. They produce random electromagnetic (EM) effects which vary from unit to unit. If an EM storm is active, it will affect every unit in the scenario unless otherwise noted.

At the start of each turn, before EW status is determined, each unit suffers the following effects. Note that these effects are temporary and end at the conclusion of the current turn.

• Ships suffer a penalty of 1d6 from their sensor ratings. Fighters and shuttles loseld 3 from their offensive bonuses, but never more than one -half (drop fractions) of their offensive rating.

• All units suffer a penalty of 266 from their initiative ratings.

• Ships might temporarily lose power. Roll 166, and if a 4 or less is rolled (5 or less for enormous units, 3 or less for medium ships), reduce the ship's power by the number of points shown on the die.

• Ships suffer "attacks" by the EM storm against their exposed systems. Medium ships are attacked once, heavy combat vessels 162 times, capital ships 1 d3 times, and enormous units 1 d6 times. Roll each attack against a random side (but do not count a destroyed side as a valid target, e.g., if a capital ship has no port side, it can only be attacked on its forward, starboard, and aft sides). The attack always hits, so roll for location against the affected side. If structure is hit, there is no effect. However, any other system will be involuntarily deactivated exactly as if it had been hit by a Centauri electro-burst beam. Multiple hits on the same location in the same turn are not cumulative. (Note:

Ships with EM shields may elect to accept this effect using a facing shield, but this must be declared before the roll for location is made. If such a ship is hit by more than one EM storm "attack " in the same turn, it cannot use the same shield against more than one attack.)

Dark Matter Clauds

Dark matter exists in clouds throughout the Galaxy. Within such a cloud, direct vision is blocked and only the strongest sensor lock-on scan be used to target an enemy.

To play a scenario in a dark matter cloud, a set of very honest players are needed (or a completely impartial judge can be used). The locations of all ships and other units in the scenario is kept secret, recorded on a separate sheet of paper by each player. Use the Secret Ships optional rules in all cases. There are no counters on the map, other than those revealed by sensor echoes.

At the start of the turn, while EW status is being declared, a player may choose to issue a "ping " from his sensors.

This costs 1 point of EW for every 5 hexes of range (in all directions) to be scanned. When this is done, the player reveals his own location (placing a counter on the board) and all players who have units within the specified range (5, 10, 15, etc.) must also reveal their locations. The "ping " will reveal the type of unit (shuttle, fighter, medium ship, heavy combat vessel, capital ship, or enormous unit) but no further information. Minbari units which issue a ping cannot, in that turn, also benefit from a jammer's protection.

After all pings are resolved, players may attempt to lock on to targets. A target which was "lit up" (or which lit itself up by issuing a ping) can be locked onto with no penalty, using the normal rules. However, if a target was not seen, lockon costs are multiplied by the number of turns since it was last spotted (counting the current turn as the first). For example, if a Primus executed a ping on turn 1, thus revealing itself, but was not again " lit up" on turn 2, it would cost a nearby G 'Quan double the normal EW to lock-on to it (i.e., 2 points for the usual lock-on, 4 points to have a + 2 to hit, etc.). On turn 3, if not again spotted, it would cost three times the usual EW amount, and so on.

When players move their units, they do so in secret, revealing their new locations only if they move out of the dark matter cloud. They then allocate fire based on where they think their target has moved. After all fire declarations are made, units which are firing place a counter indicating their location (but not ship type) on the board and announce which weapons are being activated, what their firing arcs are, and the target of each shot (this can be done even if they have no lock-on). If the target isn't also firing (and is thus invisible), the player owning the target then determines, based on this information, what the chance to hit is for each weapon. As the attacker rolls, the defender announces only whether or not a hit was scored (he doesn't have to reveal if there was no chance to hit because the target is out of arc, although this may become obvious after a few dierolls). Any damage scored is rolled normally, but marked in secret, as the firing player can 'tactually see what is happening.

Note that an impartial judge can speed up this process tremendously, resolving all the weapons fire him self and revealing only which weapons actually hit, if any. However, a judge isn't required in order to play a scenario in this terrain.

Energy mines which explode in dark matter clouds do not "light up" the map, and in fact, players who take damage from them do not even need to announce this. The attacker should make a hit location roll, and anyone affected by the energy mine simply marks it off in secret. This same rule can be extended to any "proximity " weapon or device that has a zone of effect on the map, such as the anti-fighter mode of a plasma web.

Proximity, captor, and DEW mines will not function in dark matter. Their sensors are simply not powerful enough to cut through the interference.

Historical Backgrounds

Race Backgrounds

This chapter provides background information on the races published to date in Babylon 5 Wars. In the original products featuring these races, the background data was followed by rules for that race's technology, ships, and fighters. Since all weapon and system rules have been integrated into the preceding chapters, and the spacecraft will be reprinted in the Ships of the Fleet product, this chapter includes only the background descriptions of each race.

The Galactic Map

The map on the facing page shows the relative locations and borders of the races found in Babylon 5 Wars. These are, of course, approximations, and nothing is shown to scale. In fact, due to the vagaries of hyperspace travel, some systems that are actually quite distant can be reached quickly (represented by short jump routes), and sometimes systems that are very close together cannot be easily accessed via hyperspace (and thus are not connected at all). This map also does not show every system, only those containing some sort of outpost, colony, or strategic/historical importance. A map showing every star system in a region of space this large would be too cluttered to read!

The various jump routes shown on the map appear in three varieties. Thick lines represent commonly traveled paths through relatively safe areas of hyperspace, and are frequented by all sorts of mercantile and civilian traffic (and, naturally, are also the hunting grounds of Raiders). Thin lines are less traveled, either because of length, dangerous hyperspace paths, or poor racial relations between the nations on either end. Finally, dashed lines show routes restricted to military use, primarily because the path they take through hyperspace is too dangerous for civilian vessels. While it may also be possible to travel between systems not connected by jumpgates, this is a risk rarely taken, as any such vessel or fleet might drift off course and be forever lost.

The Races

The various races shown on the map are listed below in alphabetical order, along with a brief description of their people and technology. Further information on some of these races can be found later in this chapter, while other data will be provided in future game supplements.

Abbai: This matriarchy is actually the founding member of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. They are pacifistic, and their ships are designed for self-defense.

Balosian: This weak race is subterranean in nature, and has some of the best ground forces in the galaxy.

Though their starfleet is poor, they have little anyone would wish to conquer.

Brakiri: A government controlled by corporations that build ships for their own self-interests. Their forces operate powerful gravitic devices, but rarely cooperate.

Cascor: A race of fun-loving adventurers, this race lives for excitement. Their ships are weak compared to those of their neighbors, but they use large numbers of fighters to compensate.

Centauri: A race in decline, this remnant of a once mighty empire still wields power in the form of a huge space navy. Their ships feature laser and particle weapons that are excellent at nearly any range.

Ch’Lonas: Another former Centauri subject race, this warlike people has developed their own technologies from leftover Centauri devices. They are a constant threat to the flank of the EarthAlliance.

Descari: Another of the newer races on the galactic scene, these ape-like people are xeno phobic and distrust everyone. Their ships and weapons are very low -tech, and only their ferocity in battle has prevented their destruction by any of several nearby races.

Dilgar: A dead race, these catlike people once embarked on a war of conquest that threatened to sweep up most of the League. Cooperative efforts by the League and EarthAlliance forced the Dilgar back to their homeworld of Omelos, where they were destroyed by a stellar event.

Drazi: These aggressive people have fought wars with nearly everyone nearby (including each other). Their forces consist primarily of small, maneuverable vessels in large quantities.

EarthAlliance: Humanity's presence in the Galaxy is represented by an alliance of colonies. EA ships tend to be slow and ponderous, but heavily armed with a variety of weapons.

Gaim: This insectoid race is among the newest of the spacefaring governments. Their fleet consists primarily of old hulls bought from other races, as to date they lack their own shipyards.

G rome: Another young race, the G rome are proud and reticent, refusing to accept anyone else's technology even as a gift. Thus, they are among the weakest races in the galaxy, and their ships are unlike those used by others.

Though they are huge, their ships tend to be flimsy and come apart easily.

Hurr: This young race's government is formed from representatives of any of a number of city-states that dot their hostile homeworld. They are relatively weak, but have developed a number of powerful matter weapons.

Hyach: This relatively old race is one of the more technologically advanced among the League. Their vessels are powerful and operate numerous heavy laser weapons, but tend to lack sufficient defenses.

Ipsha: These starfish-like creatures operate ships powered by singularity drives. Their technologies focus almost entirely on electromagnetic weaponry.

Kor-L y an: Actually two races in symbiosis, the eel-like Kor command the dull-wittedLy ans to do their bidding.

Unwilling to risk themselves directly in combat, the Kor have developed long -range ballistic weaponry to the ultimate degree.

Koulani: This race is more like a business than a government. They are xeno phobic and tend to focus primarily on their own concerns. They specialize in flash weaponry, but are not terribly advanced in the field.

Llort: These burrow dwellers have no concept of possession, and tend to take things they want whenever they see them, thus earning a reputation as galactic thieves. Their ships area hodgepodge of captured technologies and unusual construction designs.

Luma ti: The Lumati are a proud and haughty people, and believe themselves to be superior to others. They have a variety of customs and practices that other races find strange and unusual. Their ships are sleek and powerful, but are hampered by their crews' feeling of indestructibility, which often gets them into trouble.

Markab: This theocracy was once a relatively powerful race, but were recently wiped out by a plague. While they lived, they operated tough starships with some of the best defensive weapons in the galaxy, many of which are now in the hands of the Gaim .

Minbari: Among the oldest of the Younger Races, this technologically advanced civilization is organized into three castes: Warrior, Worker, and Religious. They specialize in molecular weapons, and their ships are protected by powerful jammers that prevent lock-ons from functioning.

Narn: A former Centauri subject race, the Narns have grown into a large galactic power in a short time, chiefly through a ruthless expansion program. Their ships are inferior to those of the Centauri, but make up for this in strength of construction and weapon variety.

Pak ’m a ’ra: A race of individualists working together for a common purpose. They are carrion eaters who are physically repulsive, but are so friendly they are accepted almost everywhere. Their ships are designed for long range travel and cargo transport, and often act as logistical elements for the League.

Tal-kona ’sh a: A middle -born race, they permit no visitors inside their territory. Their ships are organic and robotic in nature, and defend their borders tenaciously. The presence of this race around the top left region of the map hash emmed in much of the League and prevented much core ward exploration.

To rata: This aquatic race is made up of a powerful but small royal caste and a huge slave population. Not trusting the low -born on starships, they are limited in crew resources and have developed flexible ships and weaponry to compensate.

Vorlon: Now absent from the Galaxy, the Vorlons were once the mightiest star force in the region. Their worlds are now uninhabited, but remain protected by automated defenses sufficient to destroy any who approach. Only when the younger races are ready can they access these worlds and the technological secrets they hold.

Vree: These "visitor" style aliens operate flying saucers powered by gravitic drives and specializing in antimatter weaponry. They are merchants, and have a considerable trading empire operating throughout the galaxy.

Yolu: An old race, they were unwilling participants in the previous Shadow War. Their ships are powerful, but they tend to shy away from committing them to any sort of direct action. If pressed, the pacifistic Yolu typically retreat.

Others (Cor ill an i, Ant are an, Goli an, Deneth, Tokati, T h ra ka llan, and Tikar, plus various nomads and off-map races not depicted): These are reserved for future game development.

The EarthAlliance

Before the development of the government that became known as the EarthAlliance (EA), Earth still operated under the United Nations, and its people were still divided into hundreds of separate countries and nationalities. It would be decades before the EarthAlliance would finally unify the world 's people and governments into a single entity, and those years were difficult times filled with strife and terrorism. Despite this, however, humanity continued to advance towards the stars, as revealed in the following pages.

Genesis

World War III broke out in 2080, when Pakistan and India went to war. This conflict rapidly spread to cover much of the Pacific Rim, and later, the planet. By 2084, Pakistan and India had used nuclear weapons on each other, and the whole planet had seen combat of some sort. Over the next year, the United Nations was formally dissolved and the EarthAlliance was created to take its place. The New EA embarked on along term plan to gradually increase its power and decrease the sovereignty of its constituents, as well as adding the holdout nations.

In the 2120s, the solar system was wracked by piracy as miners found enough valuables to tempt the unscrupulous. In the absence of effective governmental authority, the miners organized a protective union. Fighters were cobbled together, and some of the corporations and independents formed dedicated protective units to combat the pirates. These grew into the Belt Alliance.

The pirates were suspected to be backed by Terran governments, but it was impossible to prove this to a degree sufficient to allow a response. This proved to be a side effect of growing national tensions that eventually threatened to destroy theE A. To combat this piracy, and provide a means of combating the national forces in the event of a civil war, EarthForce was formed in 2130 from the former members of the national forces of the members of theE A.

Though there were some skirmishes between EarthForce and the Belt Alliance, theE A acted quickly to quell this conflict. TheB A was legally limited to smaller fighters and their ships were limited to patrol craft and convoy escorts.

Larger weapons and high capability ships were forbidden. TheB A was to protect its assets and those contracting for protection, while the EF would conduct offensive operations against the pirates. This quickly broke the back of the organized pirates, and a period of peace quickly arrived.

Missions were launched to nearby stars to seek alien life, known to exist from SET I operations. Many of these were under the control of national governments rather than the EarthAlliance. Bases were emplaced on Mars.

Despite the appearance of prosperity, once more the EarthAlliance began to fracture, with rising tensions between nations and factions seen as inevitably leading to civil war. A military build -up by EarthForce and the remaining national forces took place, with paramilitary groups springing into existence to aid one side or another in W W IV The world prepared for the end.

First Contact

Then, in 2156, the aliens arrived. The Centauri made First Contact with theE A. While this was met with great rejoicing, it was also a moment of terror for the human race. The aliens were far more advanced and demonstrably more powerful than theE A. Quietly, the human race began to make attempts to be better prepared. The differences that were going to lead toW W IV were summarily forgotten. One of the more interesting results was the creation of a joint fighter design project combining the expertise of the Belt Alliance and EarthForce. The Delta program produced the Delta series of fighters, the latest models of which are still in use.

As it happened, the Centauri were busy with their own affairs, and even sold jumpgate technology to theE A in 2161. The Centauri trade and technology provided a boost to inter-alliance commerce, and new civilian hulls were created to take advantage of this.

Recognizing the risks of alien diseases, Quarantine Command was organized, a joint force with elements from every space going human military, police or paramilitary force to ensure that no plague reached Earth, and such lesser tasks as customs duties and search and rescue.

AdA stra

In 2163, the first EarthAlliance ship equipped with a jump drive began exploration. The Oracle alpha class EAS Argo was the origin of many of the traditions of the Deep Space Exploration Command. While theE A concentrated on the tricky task of exploring hyperspace and creating new beacon routes, the corporations concentrated on exploring the existing web of alien beacons. This quickly paid big dividends. The first new system found was Proxima Centauri, rich in Quantium 40, vital in the construction of jumpgates and drives.

The Aegis Program

In 2168, theE A is able to successfully test a new interceptor web, a technology developed from an IPX archeological mission to one of the many formerly inhabited planets found all over known space. This was the first fruits of the Aegis program, a large scale program to protect humanity from any threat. The famous StarFury program, to develop and field the most capable non-atmospheric fighters possible, was a component of the more comprehensive Aegis Program.

Though the Star Fury non-atmospheric fighter line was generally more famous and served in larger numbers, EarthForce always had a supply of atmospheric capable fighters for those situations which required that capability.

These were never properly part of the StarFury lineage, but in the minds of the public, any EarthForce fighter was generally called a Star Fury, regardless of the actual model.

This period of precaution proved to be necessary. In April 2169 the Koulani attacked an EA outpost at 61 Cygnus A I I with a light cruiser and its fighters. TheE A was woefully unprepared and was forced to remove the beacon that would have given them access into Koulani space. The cruise rEAS Asia was damaged so badly in the action it was scrapped, and 1,500 of the 2.000 inhabitants of the station were killed. The Koulani negotiated removal of the beacon and an end to attempts to expand closer to their world, though they later renegotiated this.

The Ch'Lonas attempted to accomplish a similar feat at Ross 128 IVin January 2170, but the additional preparation time had been put to good use by theE A. This raid was met by a carrier, EAS Avenger, with the newAries class fighters and destroyer support from theE AS M errim ack andE AS Lincoln. The Ch'Lonas were defeated when their fighters were unable to support their ships due to the interference from theE A fighters. This led to an ongoing cold war, with occasional conflict as the Ch'Lonas attempt to take Ross 128 IV.

In 2172 theE A and the Centauri Republic began a series of skirmishes that lasted until 2175, which, although they showed the ongoing inferiority of theE A, also showed the growing power of EarthForce and earned admiration from the Centauri.

Interregnum

The join tEA/BA fighter project now produced the Delta-V, a capable and remarkably successful aerospace fighter used by EarthForce, the Belt Alliance and many others. This was, however, the end of that cooperation. It became less vital, and as the need for unity to compete became less, differences in opinion were allowed to grow. Eventually the two forces decided that their needs were different enough that nothing more would be gained by cooperative designs.

The increasing influence of EarthForce finally led to additional steps to protect the Earth, and in 2198 the old Centauri jumpgate orbiting the Earth was finally shutdown and replaced in service by a human built gate at lo base.

The 23 rd century started with another period of Terran dissension, spearheaded by a Martian independence movement and a corresponding upgrade to fleet elements. Once again, the rising tide of intern alEA conflicts threatened to lead to civil war. This time EarthForce would be ready, and the fleet frantically attempted to add as many new ships as possible and update older ships to current technology so the feared war could be contained.

The war came in 2212, and was quickly quelled by prompt and overwhelming EA force. Despite the rapid end to the conflict, President Kiyoshi was assassinated by a fanatic loyal to the losing side. Meanwhile, relations with the newly encountered Narn Regime were deteriorating rapidly.

In 2219, the Narn troubles flared into open combat. Epsilon In diV was invaded, but the Narn forces were repelled with relative ease. Earth was never threatened, though skirmishing on the frontiers continued until the 2224 treaty ended the conflict.

Dilgar Invasions

With near Terran unity, good relations with the Centaurian don speaking terms with the other powers, the Earth Alliance was where it desired to be. TheE A was content to carve out its own sphere in known space without harassment or annoyance from others. The largest controversy remaining was the relative importance of the military budget, with the majority feeling that the conflicts against the Centauri, Narn, Ch'Lonas and Koulani had ended any danger of war ever again except raiders and civil wars, and the presence of more forces than were needed to suppress raiders and guard the borders was simply a call for to civil war. Others pointed out the dangerous nature of reality in interstellar space. But even they failed to comprehend what was out there.

The Dilgar were on the move. By the time theE A noticed, the Dilgar were at war with several important League nations, and had totally conquered several others. The more paranoid among the EAse nate prevailed upon the whole to send a mission to seek additional data, but theE AS Persephone was destroyed by the Dilgar, who claimed it was an accident and warned of the consequences of visiting combat zones.

While nothing was done, theE A began to take official notice of the Dilgar. As Dilgar offensives drove through the League, bringing nations such as the Brakiri into the war, theE A warned the Dilgar that operations close enough to threaten theE A would be met with force. Small forces were sent to reinforce the normal pickets on the border, and contingency plans were quietly drawn up.

League ambassadors, present on the Pyrotinia, the sole surviving ship of the Ala can fleet and on a mission seeking allies since the fall of their nation, continued to lobby the EAse nate and media with increasing sophistication, especially as the parallels between the Dilgar and Nazis were discovered. One of the more subtle bribes presented were samples of captured Dilgar Thor unfighters, which EarthForce examined and used to redesign the new Nova fighters(2230).

Though theE A had warned the Dilgar, nothing obvious had been done and the Dilgar decided to call the Earth Alliance's bluff, invading the Markab Theocracy. This was on the border of EA space, and EarthForce sprang into high gear. Ships were placed in motion, plans to intervene in support of the Markab were activated and the Dilgar were warned once again that this was their last chance.

The Dilgar were amused by the lack of resolve the humans had shown, untilE A ships showed up and opened fire.

The Dilgar, taken by surprise, fled with few losses. They realized that a fight at close odds too far from their own main supply facilities was a bad idea, and withdrew to their closest bases.

The Earth Expeditionary Forces, und erAD M Hama to, intended to pause and allow the fleet to setup a forward depot, but the Markab were in a holy war. The EEF was forced to pursue the Dilgar lest their allies destroy themselves.

Several League nations were liberated on the way, adding additional forces to the Allied fleet. Though production wasn't keeping pace with losses and few ships were available to be pulled from other missions, A D M Hama to grew to appreciate the virtues of keeping the pressure on the Dilgar, preventing them from regaining their balance.

By this point, the EEF/League fleets were pressing the Dilgar from one direction, while the Drazi and token allies were pressing from another. The Dilgar were planning to knock one thrust out of the war, to allow concentration on the other, but had not yet decided which to strike when the Dilgar fleet was brought to decisive battle at Balos.

The free Balosian forces were sent into Balosian space to tempt the Dilgar into destroying the entire Balosian Free Navy. As forces were sent to crush this persistent annoyance, the rest of the fleet would be sprung in ambush.

A D M Hama to had developed a reputation for a willingness to accept overly complex plans, perhaps even an enjoyment of them. This was one time when his legendary luck failed. The Dilgar forces were present in larger numbers and greater strength than expected, and the operation to land forces on Balus was underway when the fleets engaged. The EEF/League forces were forced to withdraw by the spirited Dilgar fight, leaving the assault echelons of the liberation forces on Balus, with Balosian guerrillas and Dilgar garrisons.

The Allied fleet made a hasty attack to take the system before the Dilgar could resume fortification, but were repulsed. Against the desires of virtually everyone involved, the allied fleet decided it was imperative to retake the system at any cost, and the forces went in once more.

The battle that followed broke the back of the Dilgar navy, and came close to the same for the allies. A new standard of ferocity was reached, with Dilgar and Markab forces routinely ramming enemy units when they could no longer effectively fight. Though another major battle awaited the fleet a tO melos, the war was won at this point simply due to the greater capacity to restore losses the allies had compared to the Dilgar.

A D M Hama to 's luck failed him once more a tO melos, as his flagship was lost to a kamikaze attack.

In 2235, Omelos, the Dilgar home system, was scoured of all life by a stellar event which released enough radiation to destroy the Dilgar bio system.

The Golden Age

The most far-reaching result of the war to naval technology and design was the development of pulse technology.

Dilgar bolters and pulsars were examined by the victorious allies, and more than one realized the theoretical error made by the Dilgar than prevented them from achieving the modern pulse series of weapons. TheE A was first, and arguably most enthusiastic, but not the only nor the last.

EarthForce examined its performance carefully, and created another major fleet update program. The new technologies developed in the era were to be integrated, and the lessons learned from the war were to be applied to enable the fleet to better deal with major problems.

After the defeat of the Dilgar, theE A enjoyed great influence over the League, an undamaged economy and a golden era of public contentment.

A renaissance took place in exploration, with Deep Space Exploration Command receiving new designs and construction in an effort to sustain a long-term growth. A gradual slowing of exploration as ships were lost faster than they were replaced was corrected, and once again EarthForce explorers scoured hyperspace.

The Minbari War

The most dangerous period of human history, thus far, began when a reconnaissance group built around theE AS Prometheus encountered the Grey Council, while seeking information on the mysterious Minbari. CPT Jankowski misinterpreted Minbari Warrior Caste protocol as evidence of hostile intentions, and opened fire. His ships were able to escape, but they heavily damaged the Valentha, flagship of the Minbari fleet and home of the Grey Council and the Chosen One. Dukhat and several of the Council were killed, and the survivors sought vengeance. The Humans would pay.

And pay they did. Despite desperate battles using cutting edge human technology, the Minbari were greatly superior in almost every respect. Their fighters were at least twice as effective as the otherwise impressive Auroras dueling with them, the Minbari weapons were harder hitting and longer ranged, but the worst of it was that the Minbari had a jamming system that prevent edEA targeting computers from achieving a lock, crippling theE A fire control systems.

Quickly discovering the existing force could not engage the Minbari and realistically hope for survival, much less victory, the EarthAlliance began seeking foreign aid and support. The League of Non-Aligned Worlds offered sympathy for its protectors, but nothing else for fear of the Minbari. The Centauri were also limited to sympathy. The Narn were willing to sell weapons and technology for their own reasons.

The Minbari were delayed more by their own difficulties in mobilizing their forces while already in combat thanE A resistance. As the war lasted into its second year, theE A was reduced to shutting down jump beacons to hinder Minbari attempts to find EA worlds.

Though theE A was now capable of fighting the Minbari at less of a disadvantage as the new technologies were integrated into the fleet, it was not enough to offset the crushing technological superiority. TheE A was inexorably pushed back into its own territory, and eventually the final battle arrived. The Minbari found the Sol system.

The EarthAlliance used an experimental technology to alter the Sun's radiation to hinder Minbari jump drives and prepared for the worst. The fleet was massed to defend humanity's home. Mars attempted to proclaim its neutrality, a move which explains the later actions of theE A towards its oldest colony.

The Battle of the Line saw the bulk of the remaining human combat forces massed to buy time for the evacuation of a few more refugees. The Minbari, who were not bothered by the votex jamming technologies, were leisurely demolishing the last hope of mankind when they surrendered. The full story has never been released to the public. It was enough that Mankind would survive.

Recnnstructinn

After the devastation of the Minbari War, theE A was forced to rebuild its fleet virtually from scratch. To make matters worse, the fleet, in its existing form, had proven inadequate to the task of defending the Earth. As a consequence, surviving shipyards were ordered to continue building the ships and classes already in production, while studies attempted to define the future direction of the fleet.

Some needs were immediate and obvious. The existing colonies and possessions needed protection. This required something to be on site immediately. Others were straightforward, such as the need from even before the war for greater endurance as theE A expanded. Some were difficult, such as how to kill a Sharlin class War Cruiser.

The destruction of basically the entire armed force available to humanity was a crisis of unprecedented proportions. In addition to the need to protect the surviving citizens, EarthForce was faced with an immediate need to protect the borders from aggressive aliens and police the increasingly unruly colonies. Mars was occupied in the face of virtual succession during the final stages of the Minbari War, the Ch'Lonas had already attacked during the closing stages of the war, and others were feared.

New programs were immediately begun to build the kind of fleet needed to protect Earth. But figuring out what was needed would take time, so for a period after the war, whatever was being built in the surviving shipyards (Mainly Hyperions) was continued. Later new production was started.

The Omega class destroyer was the symbol of the resurgent EarthForce after the war. Built on the Nova hull, the Omega had been planned before the Minbari War as a high endurance cruiser. Based on lessons learned, the design was dramatically altered, and production began. For around a decade mostE A warship production was the Omega hull, leading to an odd fleet structure, and even today the fleet retains evidence of this unbalanced force.

The Babylon Project

It was decided that the close call mankind had just suffered was not ever going to be allowed to happen again.

But the fact was, the EarthAlliance simply wasn't powerful enough to protect itself from any possible foe, as there was not away to catalogue all possible threats. The Babylon Project was created to solve the problem in another way.

Rather than building a fleet able to face any opponent theE A would prevent or defuse problems and create new allies.

The Babylon Station proved to be a difficult task. The first, second and third stations built all were destroyed by industrial accidents or sabotage. The fourth station, the largest and most powerful, simply vanished. The first through fourth stations had all been built with substantially the same parts, as that which was still usable was the core of the next station. With nothing left and nothing to show for its money, theE A was on the verge of abandoning the project.

Help arrived from an unexpected quarter.

The Minbari, Centauri and League of Non -Aligned Nations all pledged funds to finish the station. Though it wasn't enough to duplicate the missing B 4 (2254), Babylon 5 would exist. The station, in a much stripped form, was placed into service in 2256.

Time of Troubles

As Babylon 5 went into full service, theE A entered what has become known as the Time of Troubles. This period saw Martian revolts, theE A Civil War and the Shadow War. EA forces were heavily involved in combat throughout this period.

In 2259 the Narn Centauri War took place, with various other conflicts occurring on the periphery. After the Narn were defeated, the Centauri began fighting much of the League, while theE A, under President Clark, attempted a period of isolation. Clark began to consolidate power, as he removed the people and programs put in place by his predecessor, President Santiago. This program eventually created an opposition party, and open warfare broke out as military forces attempted to capture General Hague (Chair of the Joint Chiefs and leader of a major faction opposing Clark) and colonies began to secede. The Civil War had begun.

The fleet was split. Some were loyal to Hague, others opposed Clark, some were loyal to the serving government or to Clark in particular, more were neutral or undecided and went with the flow. The Rebels, as they were collectively known, were unable to build new ships. This was balanced by a tendency all through the war for units to defect from the Loyalist forces. While this was all underway, the wars and battles in the wake of the Narn Centauri War grew into the Shadow War. Rebel forces, in cooperation with John Sheridan's Army of Light, a multi-national force eventually opposing the two most advanced and powerful nations known, took part in conflicts against the Shadows and later Vorlons. In return, Sheridan eventually led his forces into action against the Clark regime. In rather spurious logic, Sheridan decided that the war needed to be confined to humanity, but that the Anla'Shok White Stars, built by the Minbari and crewed by a mix of Humans and Minbari, were not alien forces. These were committed into action, and Sheridan's force, again called the AoL, was quickly able to achieve dominance. In a dramatic battle over both Mars and Earth, Clark was defeated, and Earth was saved from destruction at the hands of the now dead Clark.

The Interstellar Alliance and the Current Era

After the liberation of Earth, theE A had the familiar problem of rebuilding its forces once a gain. This time, only the An la 'S ho k/I A White Starfleet had proven to be more than theE A could handle, at least in the odds faced. This mean that pre-war plans were allowed to go through, with one glaring exception. TheIA, as part of the agreement when theE A joined, gave the Terrans access to gravitic tech.

Today, the future seems bright for the EarthAlliance. With new technologies and unlimited opportunities available to them, humanity will only continue to reach for the stars.

The Minbari Federation

Early Civilization (c.5000 E3C- 1050AD]

While not strictly resource poor, the world of Min bart ends towards sparseness in resources - a fact which forced the early Minbari to continue a life of seasonal nomadic migrations.

As the population grew, the tribes were eventually forced into competition for resources. The losers of these early conflicts were typically annihilated. Occasionally, several tribes would ally themselves either for defense or to defeat another tribe and share its territory. This led to clans which were comprised of multiple tribes intermingled and covering larger territories. Because of these conflicts, the warriors of the clans became the dominant members of the society.

A round this time, some of the tribes/clans in more temperate regions had begun experimenting in agriculture.

The seasonal, semi-permanent holdings of these clans started to transform into permanent establishments, with some clan members settling there as "caretakers" during the off-seasons. Mysticism had always played a strong role in early Minbari culture, but now with the settlements forming, the clan Elders begin to play up the mystical aspects of religion to direct the aggression of the warriors. The thinkers, scholars, and philosophers (such as they were at this point) among the people tended to take on the roles of priests charged with guiding the well-being and further development of the clans. To better maintain their own form of control, they developed a cult of withholding pertinent knowledge of how or why things work. This of course caused some conflicts between castes within clans, but such issues were resolved (one way or another) when a dispute with a neighboring clan inevitably arose. The interests of the clan always outweighed the interests of the castes.

Due to the dispersion of the Minbari people across the globe, pockets of civilization developed which were slightly more advanced. These more advanced clans were of course targets of less-well-off neighbors, and they had to develop a significant military presence. However, their wealth in resources as well as established agriculture permitted such clans to increase their populations by adopting new member tribes and clans (either voluntarily or through conquest). As their populations grew, they were forced to expand their own boundaries - at the expense of their less advanced and less organized neighbors. Soon there were several federations of clans across the surface of Min bar, some of which were in conflict, others remaining in isolation. But within all of them, the member clans maintained their own independent heritage, and occasionally clans within a federation would breakout into fighting. This would either result in the dissolution of the federation, or the complete absorption of the losing clan by the victor. By this point in history, advances in agriculture were successful in providing sufficient food resources, resulting in less constraint on the size of clans. Where the largest clan had typically dominated a federation, now smaller clans were either merging or fighting to absorb others to increase their own size and thus improve their position within the federations.

With the growing cooperation between clans, Minbari society was starting to see a slight shift in focus from clan allegiance to caste allegiance. The effects were very slight at this point, but there were signs of greater cooperation between members of the same Castes across clan divisions within a federation. Warriors from different clans were working together in military operations, members of the Religious Caste were guiding the development of multi-clan settlements, and the Workers were applying their abilities to mutually support these settlements.

Min bar, compared to most other inhabited planets, has small seas in size and capacity. This prevented wet naval forces from achieving the same relative importance as occurred on Earth. The emphasis on cavalry oriented land forces colored the early Minbari space forces.

Early Space Ic.1050-1100)

As the Minbari civilization continued to grow, further developments became increasingly expensive.

This in part was responsible for the push into space. A round 1050, the Minbari established their first off-world outposts. For the next 50 Earth years, they explored and mined their home system.

This period was not without conflicts. The rivalry between federations for possession of off-world resources was fierce and the inherently dangerous environment of space did not dissuade the Warrior Caste from practicing their trade. Lack of experience meant all of their techniques were developed from theory and the vague feeling that there must be a reason for warriors to still exist, even if it was not immediately apparent.

Tensions between the Castes increased. The Warriors felt the need to validate themselves, the downtrodden Workers became even more heavily relied upon to maintain critical machinery, and the Religious Caste continued to maintain their air of mystery and withholding specific knowledge, which was easily accomplished since their members included the scientists and researchers.

With the increased tensions, Inter-Caste violence rose - occasionally even within the same clan! In 1079, the Workers, spurred on by their increased relative power, rebelled. A fierce struggle began, and all Castes and clans were heavily embroiled in the bitter fighting. This war caused the birth of the first true warships of the Minbari people, the lineage of which can still be seen in many of their contemporary majestic ship classes.

The Minbari Federation, in its modern sense, is an outgrowth of that conflict. A Grand Council, still in existence as the next level of government below the Grey Council, was created to oversee concerns that crossed Clan and Caste boundaries. This body sits in Yedor, on Min bar. It currently handles matters seen as not deserving of the direct attention of the Grey Council. The war also lead to a discovery which forever changed the Minbari species and which was to have far reaching impact throughout the entire galaxy.

To the Stars (c.1100-1B49)

In 1085, a Minbari ship discovered an ancient artifact of unknown origin in the outermost reaches of their system.

The immediate effect was to elicit a new round of strife as various parties vied for possession of this alien object, but the Religious Caste soon enforced a cease-fire while the artifact was researched. By 1105 the gate had been examined enough to understand its purpose, and the first expeditions were sent through.

What they found was the swirling chaos of hyperspace.

The casualty rate was high amongst the first explorers, but soon the discovery that some hyperspatial anomalies were actually shadows of material objects such as stars and planets in normal space was made. Exploration continued a pace and the Minbari began to establish colonies in other systems.

While the original gate builders were never discovered, it was found that not only were there other systems to reach, but that some had inhabitants - a few of which were also taking their first tentative steps into hyperspace.

The War Without End |c.1E50-1BB0]

Throughout the 1240s, tensions ran high throughout many of the other species with whom the Minbari had contact. Incidents led to skirmishes, skirmishes led to wars. Like a brush fire, conflicts arose across known space, from rivals finally facing off to Jihad. And in the background was an increasing frequency of raids by nomadic aliens of unknown origins.

Soon it became apparent that there was some other force at work, manipulating events to bring about conflict.

Some species were distinctly playing the role of instigators. Rumors spread of fearsome Soldiers of Darkness and their masters, known only as the Shadows. These rumors told of Great Wars of the past, when the Shadows would rise up to spread strife amongst the races in the care of other Ancients. The last Great War, it was told, had happened approximately 9000 years before, and that was the last time the Ancients had walked openly amongst the younger races. Fear ran high as it was pointed out that this time the Ancients were not around to stop the Shadows.

Reactions to these events and rumors varied amongst the different nations. Some, such as the Ikarrans, already pushed to the brink by countless invasions, sought to isolate themselves and bolster their own defenses. Others, such as the Yolu, had not been drawn into the fighting, and did not feel that it was their battle. The Minbari and a handful of other races, however, drew together in an alliance to protect their borders against neighbors who had succumbed to the manipulations of the Shadows, migrating raiders, and the Shadows themselves if it came to that.

It did.

Amidst all the squabbles of neighboring nations, the alliance was also forced to fend against direct assault by the Shadow minions, those races which had given themselves over to the philosophy and teachings of the Shadows. At first the alliance stood strong and held their ground, but soon the alliance strongholds which had been bastions against the forces of the minions began to fall. The Shadows had finally turned their attention to the alliance.

The allied forces had nothing that could fight Shadows on an even basis. With the forces allied with the Shadows, the allies were certainly not of greatly superior numbers. But the weakness was more organizational than technical.

The Alliance was not solid. Even the Minbari Federation was wracked by internal conflict, Warrior Clans fought for dominance and leadership, occasionally even leading to open battles between Minbari factions.

Failing to earn any victories against the Shadows themselves, the alliance began to fall apart. Members began to turn on one another. The Minbari clans bickered over strategies and leadership.

Finally, in 1253 the great starbase from which the fleets of the remaining alliance members had been directed was destroyed by the Shadows.

With the destruction of the great starbase the alliance lost not only their main command facility both also an invaluable logistics center. The remaining alliance forces were forced to scatter and the Minbari fleets retreated back towards Minbari space.

Even as they retreated, their fleet remnants stumbled across a massive starbase. On that starbase, they found a sole Minbari flanked by shining beings of enlightenment, appearing as if born directly out of Minbari legend. The sole Minbari was Valen, a Minbari not born of Min bar.

The Beings of Light were, in fact, an ancient alien race: the

Vorlons. Where Valen brought the Minbari a new command base, new technology, and hope born of religious a we, the Vorlons provided the Minbari with the first victory directly over the Shadows (and they brought the religious a we, but had only revealed themselves to the first arrivals and highest ranking Minbari). Bolstered by a victory, the newly inspired Minbari regained some of the other alliance members. Directed by Valen, they also set about calling out the other Ancients who had withdrawn from the affairs of the younger races but had not yet departed the galaxy. With their remaining forces and a few new allies showing up, the alliance began the long struggle to turn the tide of the war.

Gradually they gained ground. There were still losses, but now there were victories as well. And slowly the alliance ranks began to swell as other races joined.

The new command base was Babylon 4, a human battlestation built in a later time. This was a massive and powerful starbase, with a host of new technologies to exploit. The Vorlons were brought into the alliance, though they seldom worked with the other members, preferring to follow their own ends where they may. But even with all of that, the biggest advantage the Minbari received was Valen. Valen acted with alacrity and perception. His first moves were calculated to quickly catapult himself into leadership of the alliance, made possible by Vorlon backing. He then assumed command of the war effort and reorganized Minbari society. The Grey Council was created to provide a link between Valen, the unifying commander, and the clans that made up the castes. When certain factions in the Warrior Caste refused to follow him, he organized the Anla'Shok, meaning the application of force. This was an army of carefully selected troops assembled from any who volunteered and was able to meeting the standards, regardless of caste or clan: A force Valen could depend upon. He used it originally to shame the Warriors into resuming the conflict, but later it was his shock force and fire brigade. The picked force that would spearhead attacks, blunt enemy offensives, retrieve lost battles or win new ones.

Valen arrived in 1253 and with his arrival the tide of the war began to turn. However, it took several years before significant ground had been recovered. The Shadows continued to advance on many fronts and the alliance was often strained at best. Tension still simmered between the Warrior Caste and the An la 'sh o k over then inclusion of Worker and Religious Caste among Valen's elite force. At times, even in the worst parts of the war, Valen appears to have been forced to hold the Minbari Federation together by sheer force of will, while juggling the constant problems of holding the multi-racial alliance together, and coordinating a war against a vastly superior foe.

Some outside historical sources also claim that tension also existed between Valen and the Vorlons regarding the progress of the war. While he never stated it publicly some anecdotal accounts of private conversations with Valen indicate he was unhappy with the level of practical support provided by the Vorlons and the other Ancients.

Despite these immense difficulties, Valen managed to hold the alliance together. The three years between 1253 and 1256 saw the retreat of the alliance slow. To be sure the alliance forces were still in retreat through most of this period, but the Shadow advance began to slow. Fleets that would once have been routed or destroyed managed to withdraw in good order. Outposts that would once have burned were evacuated. Finally, after three years of hard fighting the retreats stopped. By conserving their resources, saving what they could and abandoning what could not be saved the alliance had managed to build a formidable force. Now the alliance forces turned on the Shadows, and for the first time the Shadows were beaten back.

By 1258, the tide had finally turn in the favor of the alliance, and it was the Shadow minions and their masters who began fighting a stalling action. Yet even then, events threatened to turn the momentum. One of the most damaging was the action of the overzealous Tak'cha. Worked up to a fanatical fervor by Valen's leadership and the sense of the shifted tide in the war's progress, the Tak'cha began attacking species which continued to sit on the sidelines. Many of these, already ravaged by the war and the Shadow 's machinations, were hapless victims of the Tak'cha attacks. By the time Valen learned of the Tak'cha aggressions, it was too late for several worlds, but his forces arrived in time to aid the Yolu standoff the Tak'cha attack. Stunned by their actions, he banned the Tak'cha from the alliance and swore that they would get no aid from him if they fell a foul of the Shadows or their minions. Despite this, the Tak'cha still felt a sense of religious a we for Valen and the battlestation he had brought with him.

That event challenged the integrity of the alliance, and set back the progress of the war significantly.

It took another two years before the Shadows finally retreated back to their hiding places to await another chance in the future.

The Teachings of Valen 11260-1360)

Valen's leadership was not purely tactical, nor were his greatest tests those put forth by the Shadows. He was forced to turn Minbari society on its ear. Aided by the cult-like sense of a we that grew up around him as well as the strategic victories that were attributed to him, he slowly was able toweld Minbari society back together. Valen elevated the Worker Caste from their pre-war role of servitude to equality with the other two Castes. He brought the three Castes together in the Grey Council, comprised of 9 members, 3 from each of the Castes. It was the Grey Council's role to rule Minbari society. Most significantly, he was able to pass the decree that no Minbari should shed the blood of other Minbari.

Valen reorganized the Minbari military as well. In an effort to ensure equality among the Castes, Valen ordered that control of the Minbari fleet be divided equally among all three Castes. He placed many of the members of the Worker and Religious Caste members of Anla'Shok into command positions within the general fleet. Some sources record that the Warrior Caste leaders of the day had been so impressed by the skill and honor of the Anla'Shok that they welcomed them. Less romantic accounts speak of heated debates among the Caste Elders and at several noted leaders among the Warrior Caste appear to have retired in protest.

Valen also worked to integrate other races into the Minbari Federation. A number of allied races along the Minbari border had suffered terrible losses during the Great War. Now these races could not effectively defend themselves from the raiders or threats from other hostile neighbors. Valen, and the Grey Council, extended their protection to these races, creating the Minbari Protectorate. While these worlds maintained their own internal government and society, their trade and diplomatic relations with other races where linked to the Minbari Federation. The defense of these worlds was given over to the Minbari fleet, in exchange for logistical support and exclusive trading rights.

In the years that followed these reforms, Valen put forth a number of prophecies about the Shadows returning in a thousand years, and that another race would prove to be critical in the upcoming struggle. He assigned the Anla'Shok the task of watching for their return and of being ready to face them when the time came. By this time most of the Worker Caste members of the Anla'Shok had either retired and returned to their more traditional lives or joined the Worker or Religious Caste ships of the new Minbari fleet, while conservative elements of the Religious and Warrior Castes were able to overrule Valen's attempt to continue recruiting Workers. Within thirty years of the end of the Great War the ranks of the An la 'sh o khad become entirely devoid of Workers. Valen never abandoned that fight, but was unable to overcome the united opposition and gains he made during his life in this area were lost as he passed beyond.

Slaw March Toward Isolation {1360 - 1464]

Following Valen's passing some within the Minbari Federation sought to over turn his more radical reforms. The internal reforms of Minbari society had become too entrenched, and had far to much popular support, to do away with. However, Valen's foreign policy was another matter. With the notable exception of the founding of the Protectorate, the Minbari Federation had already begun to pull away from the rest of galaxy following the Great War. Indeed most of the races of the alliance had begun to go their own way once it was clear that the Shadows had gone. The need to rebuild their own territories from the devastation wrought by the Shadows left little resources for maintaining close ties with their neighbors.

Meanwhile a number of new races had begun to step out among the stars. These rising new races, reaching space after the Shadow war, did not share the sense of holy purpose once possessed by the Minbari, leading the Minbari to see them as "lesser" races. Having once faced the might and terror of the Shadows, the Minbari were contemptuous of the comparatively petty squabbles and concerns of the younger races. Seeing little virtue in involving themselves in such affairs, the Minbari chose to distance themselves from the politics and disputes of the new races and focus their efforts in "more noble " directions. The new races, in turn, saw the Minbari as an aloof and arrogant, but powerful, race best not disturbed.

With the exception of the An la 'sh o k, most exploration beyond Minbari space was curtailed during this era.

Exploration for it's own sake was no longer seen as a productive venture.

The Garmak War (14G4 - 14G8)

Not all the younger races believed the Minbari had the right to their aloof arrogance. The Garma k, an aggressive younger race set on building themselves an interstellar empire, believed the older race to be old and complacent.

Secure in this belief the Garma k decided that they would defeat the powerful and respected Minbari and so claim a place of power among the stars.

The Garma k began a series of raids along the Minbari border, testing their defenses. Then, without warning, the Garma k attacked and destroyed several Minbari outposts along their border. The outposts fell with relative ease and the Garma k believed they had been right all a long. The Minbari were a power gone weak with age.

The Minbari were outraged by the attacks on their space, more so by the fact that the outposts attacked had been peaceful, undefended religious retreats. The Minbari responded with a holy war against the Garma k empire. Some sources had speculated that the war against the Garma k was fueled as much by a desire among the Warrior Caste to test their skills in battle, as by a desire to punish the Garma k.

The Minbari's more advanced fleet struck into the Garma k space and swept the younger race before them.

Minbari forces savagely destroyed the colonies and outposts of the Garma k race. Though the Minbari stopped short of their homeworld, the Garma k were thoroughly defeated. Their burgeoning interstellar empire was smashed and eventually they become subjects of the next great interstellar empire, the Centauri Republic.

Pax Cent a rum {1470 - 1780)

In the wake of the Garma k, another aggressive younger race, the Centauri, unified much of the know galaxy under their rule. Having witnessed the Garma k defeat from a respectful distance the Centauri decided it wise not to attempt any aggression into Minbari territory.

The Minbari, for their part, retreated further into isolation. The Garma k War had convinced the Grey Council that they must stand aside from galactic affairs and focus on their own higher goals. As the Centauri Republic began to appear as the dominant force in the new galaxy the Minbari opened cool and distant diplomatic relations, sufficient to ensure that the Centauri would not interfere in their affairs. The Centauri for their part were content to leave the destroyers of the Gar makin peace. A few minor border skirmishes between the two races occurred from time to time, but largely the two races left each other alone.

The Wen’dan Horde [1780 - 1793]

It is a strange circumstance that the galaxy is home to a number of interstellar nomads. TheW en'dan were a particularly aggressive example of such a race. Their homeworld has never been conclusively located, but is believed to lie toward the spinward rim of this spiral arm. Neither is it known what drove theW en'dan from their world into the vagabond existence they practiced when they were first encountered. Some have speculated that their world was destroyed by the Shadows during the Great War. Others, who do not wish to see the Shadows behind all things, suspect some sort of natural disaster. Sadly, little evidence supports these theories. The truth may never known.

What is known to that theW en'dan appeared in our part of the galaxy and began a series of raids into known space around the Earth year 1780. However, some scholars speculate, based on odd reports of unknown raider attacks, that they may have been striking at shipping on the outskirts of the Centauri Republic and Orieni Empire for decades before. The colonies and outposts struck were almost completely stripped of portable equipment and materiel, their populations ruthlessly slaughtered.

The Orieni, Centauri and other important governments of the era failed to see the significance of these attacks, not being pressed hard and being involved in their own issues.

The Minbari, however, did see the threat from what it was. The A nla'shok, patrolling the frontiers searching for signs of the Shadows eventual return, detected what appeared be a massive fleet approaching known space. They investigated further and discovered what they were facing. TheW en'dan were hostile nomads. They invaded systems in their path, capturing worlds to strip them of their resources before they moved on. TheW en'dans a wall other races as competitors for the resources they sought and killed those who were in their way. The early attacks were simply probing raids by the immense W en'dan world-fleet, searching out weaknesses along the borders of the great empires.

Faced with such a ruthless and deadly foe the Minbari rallied. For long centuries the Warrior Caste had been preparing for a great battle against a powerful enemy and now they rose to the challenge. The Minbari Federation moved to engage theW en'dan horde.

The war was fought largely along the spin ward frontier, beyond the borders of the Centauri and Orieni nations.

While their own histories show that they were aware of the Minbari fighting with an unknown enemy there is no indication that either race was aware of the seriousness of the conflict that raged out among the stars.

For the Minbari it was not an easy war. TheW en'dan were advanced, powerful and ruthless, but in the end the Minbari had the advantage. TheW en'dan had only those resources they captured from others. While they were masters of using those resources efficiently they were ultimately no match for the Minbari's advanced and established industrial base.

Finally theW en'dan world -fleet was defeated, though not destroyed. Many of the alien ships vanished into hyperspace after the final defeat of their central fleet. Many believe they simply decided that this part of the galaxy was too dangerous and moved on to easier targets.

Interregnum [1795-1999]

While the Garma k Warsaw little in the way of ship design or improvement, the period following that warsaw little significant influence by the Minbari on the rest of known space. They continued to guard the Protectorate, they continued to do whatever they desired, but they desired to do little outside of their own territory.

The Fall of Empires [2000-2050)

This period saw the decline and fall of the two great galactic empires of the age, the Centauri Republic and the Orieni Empire. During this period of unrest the Minbari found themselves increasingly called upon to defend their space from raiders, younger race slashing out as they gained their freedom and even the scattered remnants of Centauri and Orieni fleets, when those weren't busy fighting each other. This was an era of major war and the most powerful known nations, short of the Minbari Federation, were attempting to destroy each other. In response the Minbari closed their borders and strengthened their fleets.

Raiders and "misguided " forces from the combatants threatened Minbari borders and protectorates. As the war continued, the Minbari became more strident and energetic in their responses to these provocations, until finally their borders were completely closed as the war ended. The Minbari forces faced no major battles, instead dealing with occasional raids, pin-pricks and provocations.

In 2016, the Streib picked one of the worst possible times for an incursion into Minbari space. The Minbari Fleets were fully prepared and alerted because of the ongoing anarchy in what used to be well policed Centauri and Orieni space. The Streib were roughly handled and were pursued back to their homeworld, where the Minbari fleet made it very clear that the Minbari and their Protectorate were to be off-limits.

Isolation [2050 - 2245)

The Minbari remained in isolation from the galactic community during the reconstruction and eventual decline of the Centauri Republic. They watched impassively while the Narn fought their way to freedom and began their own battles of conquest. They stood by in silence as the Dilgar rampaged through the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. They dispassionately observed the growth of the fledgling EarthAlliance until events caught them up again and brought them back into the galaxy. This period marks the height of Minbari confidence and power, as no known foe was capable of meeting them on even terms, nor challenging their superiority.

The old alliance with the Vorlons had been fraying for the last few hundred years. With no need for the Vorlons to seek aid, the Minbari were increasingly ignored. In 2150 contact with the Vorlons ceased after a gradual slowing.

Expeditions were sent into Vorlon space, but none returned.

This period ended with the discovery of the humans, a relationship decisive to the fate of the galaxy.

Earth-Minbari War (EE45-EE48)

The Earth-Minbari War began by accident. Over the course of the last millennium, the Minbari became distanced from the immediate relevance of Valen's prophecies. Increasing segments of Minbari society began to pay less and less attention to the details, claiming that only the broad strokes and concepts were still relevant, due to the changing nature of even Minbari society. The Anla'Shok, made up of Religious and Warrior Caste Minbari, were among the last stalwarts. As the time of the next prophesied Shadow War approached, they began to seek increased appropriations and personnel. This was resisted by the Warrior Caste, who felt the equal to any foe, even the legendary Shadows, as well as the less devout of the Religious Caste and the more pragmatic Workers. Lenonn, the leader of the Anla'Shok, met withD ukhat and the Grey Council to seek such an increase, and when pressed for his reasons, fell back on piety. Though members of the Council were unmoved, Dukhat was able to manipulate the Council into traveling to Z h a 'h a 'd u m to see if the Shadows were indeed awake.

Meanwhile, the humans had sent a mission into Minbari territory to seek information before opening an official dialogue. CPT Jankowski, leader of the battlegroup built around theE AS Prometheus, misinterpreted Minbari Warrior Caste greeting protocols as evidence of an attack and shots were fired. The human force, with surprise on its side, was able to badly damage the Valentha, killingD ukhat and members of the Council. The survivors voted for a holy war. The EarthAlliance was unprepared for a war, much less a war against a rabid force of technologically superior holy warriors in ships and fighters that resisted a target lock. The biggest problem faced by the Minbari in the war was its unexpectedness.

The humans fought fiercely and well, but to little avail. JumpGates were shutdown, buying time by forcing the Minbari to explore for the next system in the chain, but it was done. The Warrior Caste was grateful for the distraction from the preparations to fight the Shadows, as here was a real foe, an enemy who deserved his fate, who actually existed, who was available, and who was unable to fight on even terms, though occasionally able to make the Warriors pay for their successes. It was nonetheless not in doubt who would win and who would lose. Minbari casualties were low except for occasional ship losses and ground combat, where the Minbari advantages were not as decisive. The Dra/a Fi, flagship of the fleet seeking Earth, was destroyed by LCDR John Sheridan of theE AS Lexington.

This delayed the war as the Minbari reorganized and became more cautious, to reduce unnecessary losses. During this intermission, the Wind Swords presented the Council with a series of devastating bio weapons for use against the humans. Despite the holy war of extermination, this was deemed to be a path without honor and the weapons were stored without use. Also during this time, Delenn the Vorlons who had been adv is ingD ukhat, and they resumed that role with Delenn, subtly steering her away from the war. While the Workers and Religious Castes lost their taste for human blood, the Warriors continued the advance, with the increasingly unhappy others loyally serving the holy cause.

Finally, the humans were driven back to Earth. The Minbari fleet was crushing the last remnants of EarthForce, when the interrogation of a randomly captured human pilot revealed a terrible secret, resulting in the immediate surrender of the Minbari. Though called a surrender, it was actually a cease-fire and armistice returning to the status quo ante-bellum, with no reparations or penalties. Despite this the Trigati, a Sharlin class War Cruiser under Shai Alyt Sineval, refused to surrender and went rogue. Sineval ritually killed himself to purge his humiliation, and his crew left the site of their fellows while seeking away to restore the war and their honor.

Repercussions of the War [EE48-EE58)

The Minbari began to take a more active role in interstellar relations, even to the length of taking part in the human sponsored Babylon Project, and paying part of the budget when the humans were on the verge of abandoning it after 4 failures. This contact with aliens, despite the best efforts of the more conservative Minbari, occasionally forced the Minbari to take action or even intercede in the affairs of "lesser" peoples. Both the isolationist faction and the fanatical Valen supporters were dismayed, the former for the idea of consorting with outsiders, and the later for the vulnerability it created as the prophesied Shadow War approached.

The Final Shadow War IBB59-BBG1)

The Minbari began this dangerous period of history determined to avoid threats if at all possible. It was recognized that the previous Shadow War had begun with a series of conflicts inspired by the Shadows and their allies. The Narn /Centauri War was identified as the initial conflict of this phase. Faced with the truth of Valen's prophecies, the Minbari accelerated preparations, despite an increasing division between the Castes.

Additional preparations included revitalization of the Anla'Shok, with mixed results. JeffreyS in clair became Anla'Shok N a, or Ranger One. In protest, the Warrior Caste withdrew support for the An la 'S ho kin April of 2259, and its members left that organization. This left the Religious Caste as the sole membership of the Rangers, pending the full training of the human inductees.

June saw the reorganization of the Gray Council, replacing Delenn of the Religious Caste with Nero on of the Warriors. Before any real result of this shift in power other than a sharp rise in tensions, Jenimer, the Chosen One, died. His dying wish was for Sin clair to become the first Entil'Zha since Valen.

As 2260 arrived, the training program for new Anla'Shok had forced a further expansion of the project, and a Drazi world on the edge of Centauri space was selected as a secondary training site. After the defeat of the Narn, the Centauri widened the conflict and blockaded the ranger camp. The new White Star, a prototype for mass production, was sent into action commanded by John Sheridan, AKA Star killer, to rescue the rangers. In March, the rangers were ordered to leave EA space due to the increasing threat. The timing was impeccable, with open combat in what was to become theE A Civil War breaking out immediately thereafter. Then, in April, an event foretold by Valen occurred.

Babylon 5 was attacked by EarthAlliance ships, and defended by others. Delenn plead with the Grey Council for aid, and when it was denied, she broke the council. The Religious and Worker Castes walked out, taking with them their shares of the Minbari fleet. The Warriors stood by, while the Workers and Religious Castes joined the Alliance of Light to fight against the Shadows.

Entil'Zha Sin clair went missing in action on a secret mission. Delenn became Entil'Zha, leader of the de facto military forces of the AoL, while John Sheridan served as the Commander in Chief/President. The new White Starfleet, as the first batch of the production ships were amassed, was declared ready for action under the newly trained Rangers. As the year ended, the AoL won its first victory against the Shadows at the Battle of Sector 83. Losses were very heavy. Sheridan traveled to Z h a 'h a 'd u mand destroyed a major city, but was missing and presumed dead. He appeared later, having risen from the dead and accompanied by Lorien, the First One. After a pause, the Shadows and Vorlons raised the war to a new height. Both began destroying worlds inhabited by the other's allies or used by their foes in some way. Sheridan, advised by Lorien, developed a plan to end the war. The remaining First Ones were assembled. The Shadows and Vorlons were to be brought to battle and confronted with the truth.

To this end, a Ranger named Niels Ericsson was used in a decoy mission which he and his ship did not survive. It was a success, with the Shadows fooled into appearing at a predicted Vorlon target with the assembled might of the Army of Light on hand. At the end of the day, the First Ones had left the galaxy. The Shadow War was over, but peace was not yet at hand.

The Warrior Caste had consented to join the others in the Shadow War towards the end, but relations between the Warrior and Religious Castes had finally broken down completely. Minbari began to fight Minbari. The Minbari Protectorate was raided by the Drakh, former Shadow thralls. After 3 months of conflict, the war was ended when Delenn surrendered to the Warriors and forced the ancient Wheel of Fire ceremony, in which Nero on gave his life to end the conflict.

Delenn reformed the Gray Council with a Worker Caste majority. Minbari forces took part in the Liberation of Earth under the leadership of John Sheridan, an act which ended in the formation of the Interstellar Alliance.

The Interstellar Alliance (BBGB+)

The newly reunified Minbari Federation was one of the stalwarts of the Interstellar Alliance. The Anla'Shokand the White StarFleet became the I A military forces. Tuzanor became the capital of the Interstellar Alliance. In many ways, the Minbari have conquered known space. Under President Sheridan and Vice President Delenn, great things are expected of the new government, already facing challenges from the intern alEA telepath problem, and the recent war with the Centauri Republic by elements of theIA.

The Centauri Republic

Early Civilization fc. 4000 BC - 132SAO)

The Centauri have very little documentation of their early history, when they were locked in a struggle with a rival intelligent species on their homeworld. The two species developed on separate continents, but once they came into contact there was continual conflict. The Xon were actually the dominant of the two, and many of the Centauri people suffered brutal slavery at their hands. Those Centauri who clung to freedom were organized by clan, and these clans, or Houses as they were called, were forced to forge alliances with one another for common defense against Xon invasions. The allied Houses were collectively called the Centaurum - a term that also came to apply to the council meetings of House leaders where strategies for dealing with the Xon were planned. Despite common political disagreement within the Centaurum, they made gradual headway against the Xon invasions and eventually began sending their own forces to invade Xonos, the Xon home continent. The tides had turned and the Centauri began repaying the Xon for centuries of bloody predation.

The Republic was founded when the Centaurum finally united completely under the leadership of Tuscano close to the year 200. Records indicate the presence of Technomages on Centauri Prime at this time, although the reasons for their visit were not detailed beyond mention of involvement with House Tuscano, one of the foremost powers in the Centaurum. The exact nature of this interaction with the Technomages is open to speculation, as the level of technology held by the Centauri at this point was pre-industrial. There is a record of an invasion attempt by an alien race called the Shoggren, although current belief amongst historians is that they were Shadow thralls in pursuit of the Technomages rather than a true invading force. Tuscano's leadership is credited with repulsing the Shoggren invasion (the degree of assistance from the Technomages is a matter open to debate), and this success helped propel him to becoming the first Emperor ruling over the entire Centaurum. To celebrate his ascendancy to the newly formed Imperial Throne, Tuscano commissioned The Eye as a symbol of Imperial power and authority.

With the Centaurum finally guided under one rule, it was only a matter of time before they were able to wipe clean the last Xon strongholds on Xonos. Centauri Prime became home to only one sentient species circa year 500.

Without the constant warfare with the Xon, the Centauri population increased and their civilization began to spill across the planet. The early rule of the Emperors was not easy, however, as the Houses had formed around constant conflict, and without the Xon they focused their aggression on one another. This period is punctuated with many inter House conflicts, some of which grew into full civil wars as several Houses began laying claims to the Imperial Throne.

The Road to Greatness tc. 1325-1499]

The Imperial Throne faced a serious challenge in early 1300 s when surveys of a remote mountain region on the continent Xonos revealed the wreckage of a spacecraft. One of the Shoggren ships had failed to make it to safety over a thousand years before, and its alien technology now spawned a war that was more damaging than the original Shoggren attack. Civil war once again blossomed amongst the Centaurum as the Houses fought for control over the recently discovered alien technology. Slowly, the current Emperor was able to overcome the renegade Houses and shift focus to development of the new technologies, which helped push forv/ard the fledgling Centauri space program.

Exploration of the Centauri home system progressed and their first off world colony was established on Centauri Beta I in 1382. In spite of the technological progress, however, the Centaurum still lacked political stability. As their space program developed, the Houses continued to vie for control of key technologies and resources, especially after hyperspace was discovered.

As with many of the younger races, the Centauri discovered a jumpgate on the edge of their home system. They were blessed with a head start on the technology from the Shoggren wreckage, but their first steps into hyperspace were still tentative and subject to a high casualty rate. The most significant benefit of the Shoggren technology was in helping them learn the tricks to finding other jumpgates in the chaos of hyperspace, so their initial forays were not quite so costly as those of other young races.

The earliest colony in another system was established on Immolan V in 1438. Others followed rapidly as the Houses scrambled to launch missions to exploit the new worlds being discovered. As a political maneuver for maintaining control over the new colonies, and possibly to stem the tide that was beginning to depopulate their homeworld, the major Houses of the Centaurum agreed to impose population limits on the colonies. Naturally there was conflict amidst the Centaurum, and small skirmishes erupted, but a healthy paranoia of discovering advanced spacefaring races prevented any full wars from developing.

The paranoia went unfulfilled for many years, however, as the only alien species encountered were either prim i- fives or just barely getting into space themselves. These were easily conquered by the aggressive Centauri forces.

Eventually, rumors were heard of other more powerful races in the universe. The closest of these was the Garma k Empire, another aggressive species only slightly older than the Centauri. Caution in the face of potential conflict with the Garma k led the Centaurum to form the Royal Navy - a multi-House force which owed allegiance first and foremost (in theory) to the Republic as a whole. The role of the Royal Navy was that of conquest and general defense of the empire, and drew on the clannish heritage of the House forces in being a unified military dealing with all environments - ground, water, air, and space. Each House continued to maintain their own forces for use in these roles as well, but would supplement the Royal Navy if necessary (i.e. if the House was directly threatened).

As the Republic's territory grew, the needs of managing an interstellar empire forced the Republic to develop four other systems as regional capitals. These four key systems were called Quadrants, and as more territory was added, that name was adopted for all additional regional capitals.

This expansion brought them closer to contact with the Garma k Empire, but that rival first took it upon themselves to test an older race which normally remained aloof from the affairs of others. The Garma k saw this as a sign of weakness and had been greedily eyeing the holdings of the Minbari Federation. The Garma k probing attacks backfired when the Minbari responded by completely crushing the Garma k Empire. This removed the G arm akasa concern for the Centauri and replaced them with the Minbari Federation as the new bogeyman haunting them.

Lion of the Galaxy (c. 1500-1BOO)

In the vacuum left by the collapse of the Garma k Empire, the Centauri boldness quickly reasserted itself and the Centauri enjoyed a string of easy conquests, including the Garma k homeworld and what remained of the G arm ak possessions. Eventually they began to run into stiffer competition as their actions inspired other races to begin enhancing their own armed forces.

The expanding borders and general toughening of opponents began to tax the abilities of the Royal Navy, forcing the central Centauri forces to evolve into a three -pronged military. Protecting Centauri systems became the responsibility of the Garrison Fleets, which were primarily supplemental forces to aid local House forces in defending Centauri territories. The second branch of the armed forces was the Expeditionary Fleet, whose task was the exploration, colonization, and (if required) assault of new systems. The Battle Fleet was the third branch and its role was as a reactionary force whose primary duties were to resolve conflicts with heavily armed opponents, whether on the defensive in conjunction with Garrison Fleets or on the offensive to aid the Expeditionary Forces. On the rare occasion when defensive action was required, the Battle Fleet followed the repulsed invaders back to their homeworlds to return the favor - often drawing on the Expeditionary Forces to absorb the new regions.

In the late 1600s, the first significant civil war occurred since the Centauri Republic had begun its aggressive expansion in space. With the growing dependence on a centrally controlled Royal Navy, many Houses in the Centaurum were becoming concerned with the erosion of their own power. The conflict was resolved fairly quickly, but the net result was to weaken the Imperial Throne because several remote and uninvolved Houses in the fringe territories were left unsupported when the Royal Navy was drawn into the affair. After the dust settled from the civil conflict, the Centauri Republic had lost some border systems to aggressive neighbors and the Houses were able to gain more control over the Royal Navy. The slight decentralization of control in the Republic slowed the expansion of their empire and introduced a number of logistical difficulties as politics interfered with the management of the huge region now covered.

By 1700, the Centauri Republic had expanded to include more than 100 systems, and they were at the pinnacle of their achievements. Relations with the Minbari were limited and somewhat cool, which suited the Centauri just fine.

Memory of the fall enG arm a k Empire had not yet faded, and in the late 1700s there were rumors that the Minbari were engaged in another fierce war. "Good, let them vent their aggressions elsewhere!" was the common sentiment.

A nother old race was learned of, but attempts at establishing contact with them failed as expeditions into Vorlon space never returned. Several races on par with Centauri technology had been met and vanquished due to the Republic's vast resources. Expansion had halted in another direction with the contact of an old and advanced race known as the Hyach. Numerous small nation snipped at the Centauri borders, keeping the panicky border Houses calling on the Royal Navy for support everywhere.

First; Decline [c. 1800-E000)

As 1800 approached, the Centauri Republic was beginning to show signs of decay and decline. Early in the century, another civil war erupted as a strong Emperor tried to reassert more control over the Republic. Numerous festering inter-House squabbles contributed to the fighting, and the Royal Navy backed up the Emperor in dealing with the multi-faction civil war. Shortly after the war, the Emperor pushed for expanding the Republic's territories. This new wave of expansion led to few actual additions as contact was made with two new significant species - the Drazi and the Orieni. The Drazi were just powerful enough to blunt the advances of the Royal Navy, but the success of their resistance owed more to Centauri politics than to actual military might. They lacked unification and were essentially just a moderately powerful nation of raiders. The Orieni Empire, however, was another matter.

The Centauri Republic saw a rival in the Orieni who had the strength to actually give them a significant challenge.

Over the next century, numerous border skirmishes took place between the two empires, often revolving around the small buffer nations maintaining a precarious existence between the two. Neither empire was willing to commit itself to an all-out war, but each was more than willing to devote vast resources to developing their military might in case that all-out war started. This state of cold war existed for nearly a century and a half, with each side repeatedly introducing new technologies and performing sweeping refits on their fleets. The use of telepaths in the Centauri military was officially sanctioned for acquiring intelligence along the borders by any means necessary.

The Orieni War IZOOI-EOIO)

In 2001, a sequence of events occurred which ignited one of the most drawn -out wars between any two empires ever witnessed by the younger races. Relationships between the remote Houses and the Royal Navy were strained, especially after the Royal Navy rushed to the aid of the Emperor to put down several rebellious Houses. Border raids were increasing, particularly along the shared borders with Drazi space. Inter-House politics had become of a burden to the control of the sprawling mass of the Centauri Republic. Houses on the borders of Minbari space were worried about invasion from there, Houses on the borders of Orieni space worried of invasions from them, and Houses on the other borders lost sleep to worries over the universal bogeyman - nomadic hordes. The Centauri Republic was reaching critical mass.

The spark was provided when a Centauri taskforce managed to intercept a group of Drazi raiders and obtained evidence of Orieni collusion with the Drazi. The Royal Navy reacted swiftly and the long -anticipated war was finally under way.

Wars never go according to plan, however. The Republic was not actually ready for a war. The Emperor at the time was not a strong political figure. The Royal Navy was distracted by petty squabbles with the myriad of Houses. Few of the Houses could stand to ally with one another for any length of time. Fortunately for the Republic, the war also caught the Orieni before they were fully prepared.

The initial Centauri offensive lacked coordination and rapidly divorced itself from the original plans. The Royal Navy, hampered by House politics along the border, was unable to support a full mobilization. The fleets of battleships and waves of assault fighters upon which the Centauri had long relied performed poorly in the face of particular Orieni strategies. With their initial thrust deflected, the Centauri forces were forced to withdraw to their side of the border.

The Orieni dealings with the Drazi had been aimed at along-term weakening of the Republic, and they already had many plans worked out for attacking the Republic. Their counter-offensive made use of these plans, but they had not reached the level of preparedness needed. After penetrating deeply into the Republic's territories, their offensive also stalled.

The initial success of the Orieni offensive almost united the Centaurum, but several Houses still balked at committing significant forces to the war. Most of these Houses had controlling interests located in the regions furthest from the Orieni border. Even so, the Centauri Republic was able to draw on its vast resources, and the Royal Navy spearheaded a broad offensive along the front. At high cost, the Orieni were finally able to stop the Centauri advance.

The war continued in this fashion for several years, with each side slowly grinding the other down, but neither able to hold onto any border territory for long. The cost was high for both sides. The Centauri had a more robust economy to draw upon in support of their war effort, but the Orieni Empire enjoyed a much greater degree of unification. The cost was even higher for the minor neutral powers crushed between the two goliaths.

In 2008, the Orieni were forced to divert a significant portion of their remaining forces to their far borders for a brief time. This allowed the Centauri to push forward, and the returning Orieni forces were unable to dislodge the Centauri spearheads. Sensing victory, the Royal Navy and the remaining Houses still involved in the war pushed forward, but internal politics and increasing supply lines prevented them from maintaining the tempo. Their advance staggered, faltered, and then collapsed. As had happened too often in the war, the advance was not pushed back so much as it just lost momentum and fell back due to overextended fleet trains and the lack of forward bases to operate from.

The war was officially over in 2010 when neither nation was able to launch a significant offensive. The damage was done, however. The Orieni had suffered a mortal wound, and although the Centauri Republic was unable to follow through on conquering them, the Orieni Empire began to disintegrate. Subject races broke away, and minor powers moved in to snatch up colonies. The Centauri Republic suffered greatly as well. Much of the region involved in the fighting had been reduced to the stone age, requiring years to rebuild to the point of some value, even as a source of raw materials. The Houses which survived being involved in the war were weakened and several fell prey to Houses which had held back from committing to the fighting. The Centauri people were drained from the drawn -out struggle, and the politics were tinged with great bitterness between the veterans of the war and those who held back.

After effects of the War IB010-E046)

The Centauri learned many lessons from the war with the Orieni. Their fleet doctrine saw a shift towards greater reliance on smaller ships. Assault fighters were generally thought to be outdated by the improved anti-fighter weaponry and for the most part dropped from usage. The Royal Navy, or what remained of it, actually emerged with a stronger position relative to the House forces. New technologies, chief of which was rudimentary gravity control, led to numerous advances in ship and weapon designs. As the Republic struggled to pull itself back together, the Houses once again saw opportunity to put themselves ahead by grabbing up what technology and design concepts they could. Inter-House espionage was elevated to unprecedented levels. Threatened by the improved status of the centrally controlled Royal Navy, many of the House forces began "black projects" to bolster their own fleets and give them the edge over rivals and the Royal Navy.

Unfortunately, many of these projects never had a chance to fully mature. The society of the Republic was scarred by the long, drawn -out struggle with the Orieni. The economy was in tatters. The Houses were squandering away resources toward bolstering their own power and working on their secret projects. To make matters worse, the Imperial Throne had become an unsteady perch. Three consecutive Emperors died after sitting upon that Throne for no more than 3 years each. When Emperor Thalis took the Throne in 2039, there was still strong loyalty amongst the Royal Navy but the chain of command had become increasingly confused. For example, ten years previously, the daughter of one of Thalis' predecessors had ordered the Royal Guard to stand watch over the first flower of that spring. That post was still maintained when Thalis took the crown.

The Civil War (2046-2048)

Emperor Thalis survived numerous assassination attempts, managing to hold the Republic together for seven years, but when he died in 2046 he left no clear heir to the Throne. Three of the strongest Houses stepped forward, each with their own claimant to the Throne. At first the Royal Navy took no sides, allowing the three claimants to put forth their cases. A few fringe slave worlds attempted to break free while the Republic was distracted, but were brutally put down by the Royal Navy. Unable to settle the claim to the Throne, the three factions began fighting in the core of the Republic. The Royal Navy was hard pressed to put down revolting worlds, protect against raids, and try to maintain peace in the core - especially as each of the Houses began to unveil their black projects.

After two years of chaos, House Kasto and the remains of the Royal Navy finally put an Emperor back on the Throne. Emperor Liare had been the commander of the Royal Navy forces along the border of the Republic which was held by House Kasto. Instead of becoming embroiled in the civil war, Liare had held his post and supported House Kasto in defending its territories. House Kasto had been only a moderately powerful House prior to the civil war, but two years of fighting had whittled the more powerful Houses down to mere shadows of their former power. Seeing the opportunity, House Kasto put forth Liare as a candidate for the Throne based on a claim to remote blood ties with an old Imperial House from the 1700s. The remnants of the Royal Navy flocked to support their fellow officer in this claim, and the issue was settled.

Just prior to the Orieni War, the Centauri Republic controlled over 100 systems. Following the Civil War, Emperor Liare's realm consisted of only 15 surviving systems with ethnic Centauri populations. Many of the ex-Centauri holdings were left in ruins from the war. The Royal Navy had been brutal in its efficiency in putting down early rebellions during the internal power struggle, but as it was drawn into the conflict the borders were opened up to external predators who started snapping up unprotected worlds. Seeing their chance with the preoccupation of the Royal Navy, the remaining slave worlds had begun to breakaway and fend for themselves. Most of these were unable to stand on their own, and were quickly crushed or absorbed by others. As the conflict peaked, several border Houses had broken away with their holdings, but without the backing of the central fleet they were unable to hold their own amongst the minor powers that were springing into the vacuum of the remote Centauri holdings. Ex-Centauri conquests rose up against their masters in a manner reminiscent of the Centauri retaliation against the Xon.

Birth aft he Second Republic |c. 2050-2150)

Under Emperor Liare's guiding hand, the Republic was reborn amidst its ashes. He sent his forces to reclaim the lost Centauri territories, but they were only able to retake a fraction of those worlds. Minor kingdoms had sprung up in the fiercely competitive vacuum left by the Republic's fall, and by the time the forces of the newly reformed Republic arrived they were facing the toughest of those powers. Realizing the Republic did not yet have the strength to commit in that direction, and constrained on other fronts by powerful nations, Liare was limited to expanding the Republic in a different direction while biding his time to reclaim the lost glory of the first Republic. This set the stage for a new doctrine for dealing with alien races. In place of the old Centauri aggressiveness, the new expansion would often establish trade relations with space-faring races they encountered. If a defenseless nation was encountered, the Centauri response was still to snatch it up, but now this was often under the guise of "protecting " the younger race.

Liare's rule had a profound effect on the shape of the Centauri military. Having come from the ranks of the Royal Navy himself and been witness to the frailties of the previous system, he defined the Royal Navy to be the primary force relied upon for all military actions. House forces could be used only for minor policing of local regions, and were subject to regulation by the Royal Navy to "ensure they met the standards required to serve the Republic." Furthermore, the Civil War had proven to be a test-bed for many of the untried technologies and tactics developed from the Orieni War, and the entire fleet doctrine shifted. Gravity technology had proven itself repeatedly and revolutionized basic ship design. The performance of small attack ship wolfpacks and improved anti-fighter weapon technologies during the Civil War reinforced the belief that the assault fighter was truly obsolete. The Royal Navy had entered a new era in which it was to be redesigned from the ground up, even as it set forth to rebuild the glory of the Centauri Republic.

The Republic gradually gathered new territories, occasionally establishing trade with existent nations - often including as part of the deals outdated ships and technologies being removed from service as part of there definition of the Royal Navy. They found that the Hyach had withdrawn their borders, so the Centauri happily snatched up their leavings. The Drazi were still a nuisance, and now several upstart nations began to pop up - in some case sex-slaves which had made good with the technology stolen from the Centauri when they broke away. Sidestepping such nations, the Centauri expansion eventually hit a wall when they butted up against the boundaries of the Abbai Matriarchy in the very early 2100s, followed soon afterwards by collisions with the boundaries of the well-established nations of the Markab and Yolu. Limited by the borders of these nations, the Republic turned its exploration efforts towards looking for worlds that may have remained undiscovered within the bounds of their current jumpgate network.

The Second Decline (c. 2150 - 2240)

Despite the strengthening of the imperial power and the softening of the nature of Centauri expansion, the underlying essence of the Centaurum was still cutthroat politics, and the political maneuver ings gradually began to erode the new Republic. The weaker posture on claiming new territories contributed to the decay, as the society could no longer maintain the image of being the Lion of the Galaxy. This feeling was intensified when they found themselves hemm ed in by other significant nations, even more so as the trade deals with neighbors began to include technological aid and consignment of maintenance teams supporting those technologies. That was not something the original Republic would have ever contemplated. By the middle of the 2100s, the weakening of the Republic was noticeable and some of their neighbors and conquests alike were beginning to test the resolve the Centauri power. When the Centauri made contact with the newborn EarthAlliance, they made only a token effort to absorb the young nation by claiming it was a "long -lost colony," and failing with that approach they established trade relations.

Little did their young trade partner realize that even at that time, the Centauri were on the verge of another civil war. Internal fighting did break out, and tragedy struck the Imperial House when The Eye was lost at the Battle of Nu'Skok. No one in the Republic had the energy for a real civil war, however, and the civil "unrest" fizzled after the tragedy be fell The Eye.

In 2160, the captive Narn population began a silent rebellion under the guidance of a core underground organization known as the Kha'ri. The Centauri response of shipping troublesome slaves away from their homeworlds proved to be to be ill-conceived as members of the Kha'ri were thus able to network with similar movements on other worlds. A combination of the growing unrest amongst slave populations, increasing internal disagreements, occasional skirmishes with neighboring powers, the alliance of many minor powers into the League of Non-A ligned Worlds, and the sheer volume of space covered by the Republic all contributed to the decision to start withdrawing from some of the most remote systems. The withdrawal in the region of Narn space was hastened when open revolt broke out. By 2200, the Centauri had already abandoned several systems in the region, and the Narn were left with ripe pickings when they finally broke free in 2209.

The Narn expansion followed the Centauri withdrawal from the region, which the Narn naturally saw as proof that they were pushing the Centauri forces out. Bolstered by this "success", the Narn snatched up several surrounding systems and launched themselves into the empire building process.

Economic and political considerations were forcing the Centauri to cut back significantly on their military spending. When the Dilgar erupted into the regions held by the League of Non -Aligned Worlds, the majority of the Centauri fleets were mothballed and the Royal Navy was in no shape to lend anyone much support. They removed contract maintenance teams from some of the threatened worlds, which inadvertently reduced the readiness of the defending fleets of those worlds. At the same time, increased Royal Navy activity on the Drazi border and generous economic ties with the Dilgar gave rise to charges of collaboration, though nothing firm enough to convince the League to spread hostilities to include the Centauri. They remained uninvolved in the conflict, except for attempts to make a profit off of the growing Dilgar and squabbling former Centauri subjects.

Awakening the Lion (2230 - 2258)

For decades, young and upcoming members of the Centaurum bewailed the lost glory of the Lion of the Galaxy.

But they failed to put in effect any changes to reclaim that glory, and eventually they joined the jaded ranks of other House lords who were too busy dealing with the internal politics of the Republic to worry much about external affairs.

That changed when the rising star of the EarthAlliance following the Dilgar War served as awake-up call to the Centauri Republic. Suddenly they were not merely stagnating, but were now threatened with being eclipsed by a young upstart nation - and one that they even introduced to the interstellar society!

Even so, it took nearly a decade for the fractious Centaurum to develop any sort of momentum in a new direction.

By the time the Centauri began official development to revitalize the fleet, the EarthAlliance had already established itself as a major power and was quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with.

The mid -2240 s caught everyone by surprise, and for the second time the Centauri bore witness to an aggressive young race awakening the wrath of the Minbari Federation. Despite the natural nervousness of some Houses sharing a border with the Minbari, the motto "If you do not bother them, then they will not bother you" had proven to be a worthy summary of the Centaurum 's stance on political relations with the Minbari. But EarthAlliance, with its confidence raised by the Dilgar War and political successes since, made the mistake of testing the Minbari Federation. The EarthAlliance certainly made a brave showing as they followed in the footsteps of the Garma k Empire, but their fate was written as soon as the Prometheus squadron fired upon the Grey Council flagship.

Or so it appeared.

The surprise of the start of the war was nothing compared with the shock of the ending when the Minbari, on the verge of victory, surrendered. Obviously, something of vital political importance occurred, and everyone missed it. The EarthAlliance had some mysterious importance to the Minbari. The Centauri Republic began paying much closer attention.

Following the Earth-Minbari War, the Centauri Republic suffered from an interesting dichotomy of objectives.

Emperor Turhan was looking to establish peace with neighboring countries, even going so far as to consider reparations to the Narn. The majority of the Centaurum, however, was taking an increasingly anti-N am stance and favored reclaiming the past glory of the Republic. In both cases, an increasingly active role in interstellar politics and strong support for the Babylon Project were desirable to protect Centauri interests.

Emperor Turhan's attention was distracted from the interstellar stage in the early 2250 s when his only son was killed in a boating accident. Certain of foul play, Turhan's attention turned toward uncovering the responsible parties.

This allowed an opening for his opponents in the Centaurum, who stepped forward with plans to advance Centauri interests amongst their neighbors. Unfortunately for their plans, several failed assassination attempts on the Emperor resulted in drawing his attention back to the realm of the Centaurum and interstellar politics. The Houses of Coro no, Bleda, and Mad rin were accused of treason and purged from the Centaurum, and Turhan began to work more fervently towards his objectives of peaceful relations.

Despite his attempts, the year 2258 saw tensions between the Narn and the Centauri at an all-time high. The Narn had "reclaimed " the agricultural colony of Ragesh III from the Centauri, but were forced to relinquish control of it by the Babylon Council, which was applying pressure on the two powers to negotiate a treaty. The political scene was shaken up when the notorious Dilgar "Deathwalker" resurfaced, uncovering more long -hidden hatreds, mistrusts, and secrets. The only significant victory scored by the Republic during these tumultuous times was the recovery of The Eye. This was followed by the pleasant surprise of the mysterious destruction of the Narn base in Quadrant 37.

War of Retribution [2E59]

The year 2259 began with a shock as news of the spectacular death of the EarthAlliance president spread.

Following that, political discord seemed fashionable on the interstellar scene. In the Centaurum, where political discord was always in fashion, plots were developed for replacing the Emperor. The warmongering faction of the Centaurum had found a figurehead in the ambitious Lord Refa. The destruction of the Narn base was discovered to have been caused by a mysterious race with ties to the Centauri ambassador to Babylon 5, Londo Moll a ri, and Lord Refa sought to bring him into the plot.

While visiting Babylon 5 in April - reportedly in an attempt to smooth out relations with the Narn - Emperor Turhan was suddenly taken ill and died. Nearly simultaneously, Londo Moll a ri's mysterious allies attacked and destroyed a Narn colony in Quadrant 14. The Narn immediately declared war on the Centauri after reinforcements to that system discovered the presence of a Centauri squadron scouting there. In the wake of the Emperor's passing, Refa's faction rushed to push Turhan's weak-minded nephew, Car tag i a, onto the throne. Prime Minister Mal a chi was assassinated shortly after, removing the last of the strong supporters for the Emperor's peaceful goals. With Car tag i a a mere puppet on the Throne, Lord Refa's warmongering faction of the Centaurum advanced their plans to reestablish the Republic as the Lion of the Galaxy. First, there were the Narn to deal with.

The Narn had spent decades preparing for their attack on the Centauri. They were not yet fully prepared for the war, but the Narn hatred for the i rex-masters and the desire for revenge over the loss of Quadrants 27 and 14 over rode any rationalizations. They struck hard and fast, and managed to penetrate to the core worlds of the Republic, even striking at the oldest of Centauri colonies in the Immolan system. By that time, however, the Royal Navy had reactivated significant portions of their mothballed fleet.

The fighting lasted nearly half a year, with the Royal Navy gradually gaining the upper hand as more of their resources were brought to bear. Throughout this time, Londo's mysterious allies, the Shadows, did not take any direct action beyond strengthening their ties to the Centauri central government. They finally took on a more active role when the Centauri had already whittled the Narn empire down to a handful of systems. The unexpected aid resulted in the Narn fleet being smashed while attacking the Centauri supply depot at Go rash VII, leaving the Centauri fleet free to settle into orbit over the Norn homeworld and began bombardment with mass-drivers. The interstellar community looked on in horror as the Centauri plied the planet with weapons banned by interstellar conventions of war.

Emperor Car tag i a, puppet to the warmongering faction of the Centaurum, looked on with glee as incipient signs of insanity ate away at the strings that controlled him.

The Final Shadow War [EE60-EEG1)

The Centauri did not realize it, but just as Car tag i a had been puppet to Lord Refa's faction, the Republic as a whole was puppet to the Shadows. The Shadows were an Ancient race who espoused a philosophy of evolution through chaos and strife, and the Narn -Centauri War was only the start of their planned activities. Small wars began to spring up between neighboring nations like brush fires. Following the establishment of a puppet government on Narn, the Centauri launched attacks into several neighboring nations while also hunting down Narn refugees. Inner turmoil was threatening to tear apart the EarthAlliance, and the Minbari society was showing signs of fragmenting.

Amidst the chaos, Emperor Car tag i a 'sin sanity took the form of a god complex and he was no longer controllable on the throne. Those who stood up to him had a tendency of dying soon after.

The stakes in the war were raised when the Vorlon Empire, Ancient nemesis of the Shadows, mobilized their forces and began destroying worlds which had been tainted by the Shadows.

One such world was Centauri Prime.

In an act of desperation, Emperor Car tag i a was finally assassinated by Londo Moll a ri, who then broke all ties to the Shadows just as a Vorlon planet-killer arrived over Centauri Prime. At the same time, the younger nations' "Army of Light", with the aid of several remaining Ancients, faced down the Vorlon and Shadow fleets at Cor i a naV I. Shortly afterwards, all of the Ancients, including the Shadows and Vorlons, departed the galaxy.

Following the departure of the Ancients, the Shadow stronghold at Z 'h a 'd u mwas destroyed but many of the Shadow thralls fled that destruction. One such group of thralls, the Drakh, turned their attention to the Centauri Republic and began infiltrating the Centauri government, exploiting the bonds forged there by their Shadow masters.

The Regent, heading the government until a new Emperor could be installed on the throne, fell under the power of the Drakh and soon began to exhibit some instabilities of character. Meanwhile, the victorious younger nations turned their attention to the civil war dividing the EarthAlliance. Much of the war effort against the Shadows had been directed from the EarthAlliance station Babylon 5, which had been forced to declare independence from the Earth Alliance. After the Ancients went beyond the Rim, the forces directed by Babylon 5 were able to address the issues of the civil war.

The Interstellar Alliance(EE6E+)

When the EarthAlliance civil war was resolved in 2261, the need was seen for a new interstellar government to encompass all nations and species, from the minor members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to the major powers remaining in the galaxy. Headed by President Sheridan, who had led the Army of Light against the Vorlons and Shadows, the Interstellar Alliance drew in most of the major and minor powers alike, including the Centauri Republic.

The Republic, however, was falling increasingly under the control of the Drakh, whose plans were not intent on benefiting the new alliance.

Throughout early 2262, the Interstellar Alliance was tested as unidentified raiders attacked many of the members of the Interstellar Alliance, disrupting interstellar trade and reigniting old hatreds. Eventually knowledge came to light indicating that the Centauri were behind the attacks. Armed with this knowledge, many members of theIA declared war on the Centauri Republic. Succumbing to his growing insanity, the Regent opened Centauri Prime to attack by diverting key forces away from the sectors they were protecting to respond to threats that existed only within his mind.

Centauri Prime was bombarded as various factions of theIA. At that fateful moment, the Regent died, and Londo Moll a ri stepped into the leadership of the Republic. He ended the war by decree, and theIA set the terms. Reparations and compensation were to be paid to all injured parties by the Republic. The Centauri Naval forces, especially the less disciplined Houses, were to be restrained and limited. TheIA decided how much naval power the Centauri Republic needed for defensive tasks, and excess forces were mothballed at sites with I A observers. Shipyards were also watched, and a time limit was set preventing updates to ships except at long intervals, to prevent an increase in capabilities rather than numbers. The Centauri suffered only token damage in the bombardment in real terms, but in terms of confidence, the blow was almost mortal. The Centauri economy was critically injured by the new, insanely cautious lending policies, and the attempt to avoid any risk to assets destroyed any hope of growth, even leading to some contractions.

Politically, the Centauri have removed themselves from theIA and embraced isolationism while they seek a new understanding of their place in the universe.

The Narn Regime

Before the Centauri

Narn civilization predates the last Great War with the Shadows. Little is known from that time, but some information has trickled through the ages. During the course of the previous war, the Shadows established a base on the Narn Homeworld, but the prophet G 'Quan led the Narn in driving them away. During this struggle or soon afterwards, all Narn telepaths, known as "Mind walkers," were killed. Other notable individuals that continue to influence Narn society also date from this period. The prophet G 'S ton predated these events by about 500 years. A third prophet, G 'Lan, followed sometime after G 'Quan. All three prophets maintain strong followings to this day. Although there is a vigorous rivalry between the followers of these prophets, relations are normally friendly.

According to the Narn ambassador to Babylon 5, the Narn were a peaceful agrarian people prior to the Centauri conquest of their homeworld in 2113. Although this claim seems dubious because of the rich tradition of assassinations and blood feuds, the Narn do not feel that their customs were particularly warlike or incompatible with peace.

The fact that they established several colonies by slow -boat, most notably Raghesh 3, makes it apparent that they had an industrialised society. However, at this point in their history, the Golden Age before the Centauri conquest, agrarian professions were high-status. It can be concluded that the Narn see little contradiction in their claims, despite whatever a dispassionate observer might think. Of course, this does not prevent the Narn from exploiting this misunderstanding.

Sadly for the Narn, they had no appreciable military presence in space. At the time the Centauri arrived, the Republic was following a doctrine of establishing trade treaties with races practising space travel, but more primitive cultures were seen as ripe for conquest. It is interesting to note that had the Centauri arrived 50 years later, the history of their interaction with the Narn would have been quite different. It is also sobering to note that had the Centauri arrived at Earth 50 years earlier in the Sol system, humans might well have received similar treatment.

After becoming slaves to the Centauri, the Narn caused enough problems locally that some of the serious troublemakers were shipped off-world. A round 2160, the decline of the Centauri Republic became apparent to many of these Narn, and the core of the Narn resistance, the Kha'Ri, stepped up their subversive activities with the aid of some off-world contacts. Full-scale rebellion did not begin until 2195, at which point the Kha'Ri launched simultaneous attacks on numerous Centauri facilities on the Narn homeworld. Centauri retaliation resulted in the deaths of many Narn civilians, but this just fueled the fires of rebellion. The conflict dragged on for another 14 years before the Centauri finally withdrew from the Narn homeworld. At that time, the Centauri appear to have been abandoning some worlds in that region of space; which may or may not have had a connection to the activities of the Kha'Ri.

Like all political institutions, the Kha'Ri has always had its cliques and factions. The two most important groups in the Kha'Ri, while not formal parties, can best be described as the Optimists and the Realists. Both believed in the need for further action against the Centauri and the need for a strong, expanding Regime. The main difference was in the magnitude of the obstacles each saw on the route to these goals.

The Optimists believed that the "Lion of the Galaxy" was a rotting corpse, with only the mangy fur holding it still together. A vigorous push was all that was required to cause the carcass to collapse. The Realists, on the other hand, felt that although victory was theirs for the taking, the Centauri were still a dangerous foe, with great resources to draw upon and a potent fleet, even if, at times the professionalism if their navy left something to be desired. Unfortunately for the Narn, Centauri timidity between 2210 and 2257 made the Optimists claims seem the more factual. When the Narn finally went to war, overconfidence and a lack of strategic planning were to prove their undoing.

2210-221B: Initial Expansion Period

Having constructed their first ships, the young Narn Regime claimed its first worlds, under the guise of freeing them from the yoke of Centauri tyranny. These were the very same worlds with which the Kha'Ri had established friendly contacts during their off-world slavery. The pace of this expansion was cautious, however, as the Narn watched for response from the Centauri. None was forthcoming, fueling Narn confidence. Not everything went the Regime's way, however. Attempts to conquer the Gaim and the Descari both failed. The Narn are strangely reticent about why it was that they never renewed these attempted conquests. It seems likely how ever that in both cases the cost in lives to conquer the planets was not deemed worth the prize.

Notably, during this period the Regime also fielded its first vessel capable of constructing jumpgates. This important development resulted in immediate dividends with the discovery of the Q 40 rich system of Dra'Shu. The Narn quickly established three colonies to exploit this system.

These developments, coupled with Centauri inactivity, enabled the Narn to feel a degree of security. Centauri timidity, however, began to foster overconfidence in some members of the Kha'Ri. This was ultimately to prove fatal.

BB1B-BBB5: Stalling of the First Expansion

The initial expansion was repeatedly plagued by three factors: caution towards the Centauri (despite an understandable in ability to resist goading them whenever the opportunity arose), insufficient resources, and the need to gather experience in the art of managing a growing empire. By 2225, Narn expansion had completely stalled, in part due to over-extension of their fleet and support network but also due to a significant increase in Centauri activity along the border. In this period, the Narn took up the role of arms dealers for the first time, partly to help finance their own fleet building and also to establish some contacts that might eventually be turned to their advantage in their vendetta against the Centauri.

The need for a pause was proven in 2219 when a confrontation with the EarthAlliance over the Epsilon Ind i system went badly for the Regime. The EarthAlliance was never seriously threatened and the Narn were forced to abandon all claims to the system in the treaty of 2224.

The Regime continued to develop its ability to expand with a more capable explorer design. This significant development established theN arnas a nascent major power in the galaxy and they proceeded to develop their local network of jumpgates as a matter of priority.

2EB5-BBB9: Consolidation & Building fur the Next Push

To allow consolidation, a tentative non-aggression agreement was reached with the Centauri. It should be noted that this was simple expediency; the Regime had no intention of keeping this treaty for longer then was required to construct sufficient warships to crush the Centauri. The Regime devoted much of its energies to constructing the infrastructure required for further expansion. Several diplomatic overtures were made to League races, in attempts to build an anti-Centauri alliance. It was during this time that the prospect of Narn membership of the League was ruled out by the League itself.

The Second Expansion

The Dilgar War afforded the Regime a golden opportunity. There was considerable collaboration between the Dilgar and Narns, with exchanges of raw materials, intelligence and technology. Perhaps the most important aspect of these agreements was Narn neutrality. Without this guarantee, the Dilgar would never have been able to contemplate a successful war. Bolters and later Pulsars appear in the Narn fleet after the war, though the Narns explained that these were acquired from the Llort. The Narns supplied the Dilgar with mining technology.

In addition, the Narns took the opportunity to slip more planets into their proverbial pockets while the rest of the universe focused on the bloodthirsty aggression of the Dilgar. The tenuous peace along the Centauri borders continued, and so conquest focused on the planets outside the immediate sphere of Centauri interests. During this period, the Narn occupied T 'llin and Tuchanq, amongst others. This expansion was not without the occasional setback.

Shortly after the Dilgar War, the Cor ill an i worlds of Or ill an and Cor ill an broke free of Narn rule and joined the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. The League, bolstered by their victory over the Dilgar and anti-Narn sentiment for their raids on League members, actually stood firm against the Narn demands and backed the new nation of Cor ill an in their bid for independence. There were rumours that another race; possibly a League member or even the Centauri themselves backed this rebellion, but there is insufficient evidence to support this claim.

BB4B-BBS1: Second Stall

About a decade after the Dilgar War, the Narn were running out of easy conquests, and began looking either to League members or the Centauri. The Earth-Minbari War provided them with an opportunity to generate more ill will towards the Centauri by supplying Centauri designed weapons to the Humans. The end of the Earth-Minbari War allowed attention to shift back to other events in the universe, and the initiation of the Babylon Project threatened to bring to light some of the Narn Regime's less savory deeds. This forced some added wariness in regards to political repercussions. The Narn continued their subterfuge of turning races against the Centauri, as well as expanding their role as arms suppliers. Failure to establish an alliance against the Centauri over the years drove Narn diplomacy to undermining other alliances.

BB5B-BB59: Preparation for the Big One

With Narn participation in the Babylon Project, Babylon 5 became an arena for the Narn to attempt to leverage opinion against the Centauri, but the Narn Ambassador found his people had a well-earned reputation that he had first to overcome. In 2256, The Narn invaded Raghesh 3, but then backed out due to political pressure. Numerous major and minor incidents soured Narn relations with many members of the League and squandered the good will that aid during the Earth-Minbari war had built up with the EarthAlliance. Participation in the Babylon Project was to prove to be a squandered opportunity.

BB59: War of Retribution

In 2259, the Narn outpost at Quadrant 37 was destroyed. A few months later, the defenses at their colony of Quadrant 14 were annihilated. When reinforcements finally arrive in response to distress calls, they found a Centauri occupation force present. Despite arguments by the Realist faction of the Kha'Ri that the Narn Fleet was not yet ready to take on the Centauri, the Optimist faction managed to sway the undecided and war was officially declared. The first act of the Regime was to drive the Centauri out of the Quadrant 14 system. From there the Narns enjoyed a brief period of success followed by a slow and steady series of retreats, until finally they were defeated by overwhelming Centauri military power (plus a little help from their Shadow allies).

The Narn -Centauri War resulted in the decimation of the Narn homeworld, and near-complete destruction of the Narn fleet. One Bin'Tak was known to have survived, along with a handful of G 'Quans and some smaller ships.

Production facilities were mostly ruined, with the exception of a few smaller, out-of-the -way sites and a secret facility or two. Most notably, the Centauri did not discover the existence of the research and production facilities at B or'Goth, and it is here that the survivors of the Regime fleet congregate. The Centauri found no records of this facility, and of course, everyone except foolish humans knows that you do not go to Sigma 957.

Barring more direct interference by the Shadows, it is believed that the Narns might have tipped the scales in the war if they had been able to field more ships using Energy Mines and Ion Torpedoes. Production had been limited on both theD a g 'K a rand the Bin'Tak, leaving those G 'Quans which had received the refit to strategically deploy these weapons. It must be noted, however, that the Narns were overconfident to a dangerous degree and seemed to have no clear objectives. The Optimist faction of the Kha'Ri were in the ascendant and they held the Centauri in contempt.

BBBO: Occupation

During the second Centauri occupation, the Narn regime almost ceased to exist. Not quite, however. Two main enclaves of free Narns continued to be a thorn in the resurgent Centauri side. The first of these was B or'Goth. The Centauri never really gained an inkling that this research and construction establishment existed. The remnants of the Narn fleet retreated here and underwent repair. New construction slowly continued, with a view that one day, even if it took one thousand years, the ships of B or'Goth would drive the Centauri from Homeworld.

More visible were the Narn residents on Babylon 5. The Centauri learned early on that the EarthAlliance was very reluctant to extradite even the most hardened of Narn criminals. Even the ex-N am Ambassador, the last surviving member of the Kha'Ri, was given sanctuary by the Council. Worse was to come. All attempts to place influential Narns sympathetic to or acceptable to the Centauri Republic in positions of authority on Babylon 5 failed dismally. Threats to the families of those Narns on the station were as ineffective as they had been during the previous occupation.

During this dark time, the Narn government in exile strengthened its ties with the nascent Interstellar Alliance and the Minbari Rangers. After Babylon 5 declared independence, Narns were co -opted as security troops for the station.

The Narns began to acquire a completely new reputation, as did the Centauri.

Liberation for the Narns was to come far quicker than anyone expected. While on a state visit to the Narn Homeworld to oversee the execution of the last member of the Kha'Rist ill at large, Emperor Car tag i a survived a massive and fatal heart attack. The Royal court, as always in attendance on Car tag i a, concluded that this was a sign from the Gods that the Centauri should leave Narn, which they promptly did, ceding back control of Homeworld and several other colonies.

SBG1+: Post-War, Post-Liberation

The Narns were now once again required to rebuild their world and fleet. Although they had the umbrella protection of the Interstellar Alliance to shield them from major aggression, their weakened state made them ripe for raiding. The remaining fleet was inadequate to fend off any sort of invasion or provide a significant hindrance to piratical raiders. This weakness caused the once proud Regime to become junior partners to the Drazi in their raids on the Centauri Republic, a sad state of affairs that many in the Regime military are determined to rectify.

The Abbai Matriarchy and the

League of IMon-Aligned Worlds

Early Civilization (-4000 BC - 1200 AD)

The Abbai have been a united people since the dawn of their recorded history. With nearly 90% of their home world, Ssumssha, covered by water, the semi-aquatic Abbai did not suffer the same population pressures that other races struggled with. Rather than war against each other, the Abbai were forced to band together against the planet itself. As a relatively young planet, Ssumssha was tectonically active, with frequent earthquakes and volcanoes. Islands would rise, combine with other islands and sink beneath the waves in the course of only a few short centuries. A natural disaster was always just around the corner.

Set against this planet, the Abbai were left with little choice but to work together. Villages were small to minimize death and damage resulting from the latest disaster and when destroyed, other nearby villages would help rebuild. If a better means of growing crops was found, each village passed the knowledge on to its neighbor. Where one gained, all gained. This freedom of information had the added benefit of maintaining a level technological base across the planet so that no one village was significantly more advanced than the next. There was no need to take by force of arms from another.

As time passed, technology made it possible for larger cities to form. However, with the rise in localized population came the problems of rule that the original, small village council system was unable to contend with. A new governing system was therefore established around female rule. The female population had always held a significant place in Abbai culture. With natural disasters constantly threatening local populations, the female Abbai represented a village's future. In time, through natural selection, the female population rose to nearly 80% of the planetary population. In time, a single female Abbai known as the Natar, or Empress-Mother, would rule the entire planet. A popularly elected 200 -member council, known as the Mart i, was established to support her.

The Light in the Sky (1201 AD -1449 AD)

Early astronomers had first labeled the object circling the 8th planet a small asteroid. However, as telescopes advanced, opinions began to waver. The first radio telescope observations of the object set the scientific community on its ear. The object was not composed of base minerals but of some unknown material unlike anything else in the entire system. Rumors a bounded, including the quaint notion that the object was an ancient alien artifact. The majority of the scientific community countered with a number of more plausible explanations but no one had a definitive answer. The Abbai space program was begun in the desire to solve this mystery.

In 1201, the first Abbai probe arrived at the object and confirmed what some had predicted an others feared. The object was indeed an advanced artificial construct. TheN at a r easily quelled the population 's initial fears but the object's existence would color the thought processes of the Abbai far into the future. The facts were clear. The Abbai were not alone and whoever was out there was very advanced and knew of their system's existence.

The alien object proved to be a jumpgate, though it took the Abbai years to reach and study it. During this time, they conducted their space program with careful consideration and preparation, and took steps to defend themselves using minefields and early defense satellites. Only when the Abbai felt safe would they begin to explore hyperspace.

Unfolding of the Universe (1450 AD - 1529 AD)

In 1450, the jumpgate was activated for the first time. Even as the jump point formed, a Sitar a research cruiser lay waiting. She returned a few days later with indications that a beacon was being generated by the gate and that there may be other such gates in distant solar systems. The gate was subsequently shutdown while the Sitar a and two others were upgraded with defensive weapon systems. They then re-entered hyperspace and went in search of these other systems.

Over the next several years, Abbai explorers would encounter a number of other races. Initially the Abbai avoided contact. However, none of the races were the gate builders and most weren't even spacefaring. The peaceful Abbai chose to leave these younger races alone and moved further into the growing web of jumpgates.

It wasn't long before more advanced races were located. In 1461, the Hyach were encountered, a species who clearly possessed a higher level of technology than the Abbai. A peaceful contact was made and in the following years a tentative non-aggression pact was established. The Abbai came away from the encounter convinced that lasers were the superior weapon and reoriented their research accordingly. Starting with industrial lasers and with some helpful tips from the Hyach, the Abbai managed to field a weapon grade laser by 1465.

The Hyach encounter also convinced many Abbai people that the heavens could be colonized peacefully. There was apparently plenty of room and thus no need to fight for undeveloped areas. The Abbai responded by establishing permanent colonies in the Utriel and Tirous systems. These two colonies supplemented a growing number of temporary mining sites. However, in each and every case, each system's defenses were fully established before the colonists or miners were brought in. The Abbai simply considered the idea of solid defenses a prudent safeguard.

The wisdom of their decision was quickly confirmed. In 1466, a research cruiser encountered the Centauri while evaluating a new system for Quantium -40. The Centauri were observed invading a pre-industrial intelligent species located within the system. The research cruiser managed to avoid detection and return to base with news of the sighting. The news sent the Mart i into fearful confusion, forcing theN at a r to step in. She called for the deactivation of any gates between Abbai systems and the system where the Centauri were encountered. She proclaimed that all further exploration would be conducted away from the potential foreign aggressor. In a final move, she commissioned a new series of upgrades to the existing defenses of Abbai systems.

In 1510, a new breed of spacecraft arrived with the launching of the jump drive equipped Nataka Leap cruiser.

No longer tied to the existing jumpgate network, this improved scout cruiser had her role altered to act as a guardian and command vessel for other exploration vessels. It was a simple mater of fact that sooner or later a hostile race would be encountered and that the Abbai must be prepared.

The Snake and the Lion (1530 AD - 1799 AD)

In 1530, the Abbai experienced their first brush with combat when a Nataka -led group of explorers jumped into a new system. Unfortunately, the jump landed them in the middle of a mining colony operated by the Drazi, who wasted little time in opening fire. The Abbai quickly escaped but not before losing two ships. Acting quickly, the Abbai commander gathered a large force and returned two weeks later. The Drazi forces again opened fire, but the Abbai's superior electronics allowed them too stave off major damage while they disabled the Drazi light ships. Once the shooting stopped, the Abbai requested that their damaged ships and their crew be returned. The Drazi responded by demanding that the Abbai leave. The Abbai simply repeated their request and waited. Ultimately the request was granted and further negotiations began. Several months later a non-aggression pact would be put into place, as the aggressive Drazi could not be convinced to enter into an outright alliance. Many years would pass before Drazi relationships would improve, and that was due to the Centauri pressing into Drazi space.

The Centauri finally came for the Abbai in 1655 when one of their fleets entered the Tirolus system. Though clearly surprised by the Abbai forces in-system, the Centauri Admiral wasted little time in opening a dialogue. As the Admiral described the Centauri strengths and magnificence, he ordered his fleet to continue to close. He kept the Abbai force leader talking when, suddenly, the entire Centauri fleet charged theM oskora-B Bastion Station with all weapons blazing. The charging forces promptly encountered the large minefield protecting the base even as the station and supporting defense satellites poured fire into the Centauri. With no chance at reaching the base, the Centauri force jumped out. Two weeks later, a larger Centauri fleet returned and was promptly met by an equally enlarged Abbai fleet, again backed by the station, the satellites and the mines. The Centauri departed without firing a shot and Centauri ambassadors soon followed to establish a non-aggression treaty.

With Centauri aggression curbed for the moment, the Abbai took stock of what they had learned in the battle. The minefields had proven a valuable factor, but it was clear that the Centauri were the technological equal of the Abbai.

The appearance of Centauri fighters had been a bit of a shock but more shocking was the incredibly high losses those fighters had suffered. The Centauri clearly did not value life, even their own, and the fighters were dismissed as a wasteful use of intelligent life.

Golden Age 11800 AD - 1999 AD)

During this age, the Abbai found themselves in the midst of a period of relative calm aside from the occasional Centauri raid or accident with Drazi explorers. They used this time to expand all of their major colonies both at home and in other systems. Exploration continued at careful pace and contact with Centauri was kept to a minimum.

Encounters with other spacefaring races were conducted very carefully. When a new race was deemed peaceful, Abbai diplomats were sent to establish peaceful coexistence. Those races that appeared potentially hostile were not approached. Instead, a series of autonomous surveillance satellites were setup to keep an eye on these races.

The Vree actually found the Abbai first and quickly setup a series of trade ventures, happily buying goods that had no apparent value to the Abbai. A chance encounter with the reclusive Minbari ended with a cordial but very firm indication that they wished to be left a lone. The only significant incident came with the disappearance of a small exploration fleet near the border of the Minbari, which turned out to be claimed by an ancient race known as the Vorlons. A brief message from the Minbari indicated that the Vorlons were better left alone and the Abbai respectfully abandoned exploration in that area. Peace seemed to be universal at the moment, with the obvious exception of the Centauri, who were once again in the midst of a brush war with the Drazi.

Lessons Learned IEOOO AD - E049 AD]

Centauri border troubles came to ahead in 2001 when they declared war on the Orieni. Unfortunately for the Abbai, several Centauri houses on the Abbai border had other ideas. Unaffected and remote from the Orieni war, they saw this as the perfect opportunity to increase their personal holdings without interference from the otherwise engaged Centauri Emperor. The Abbai were seen as a perfect pre-developed source of industry and technology to take. Aware of the Abbai's defensive prowess, these houses began a slow and careful buildup towards a surprise assault and in 2006 they struck.

Without warning, the Centauri houses assaulted the Abbai colony located in the Tirolus system. Unlike previous incursions, the Centauri entered with a significant fleet presence. Worse, it quickly became clear that the Centauri had taken a major step forward in laser technology. Longer ranged and faster firing than anything the Abbai possessed, the new laser forced the Abbai to abandon the cover of its defenses to repel the Centauri. Losses were heavy and though the Centauri were ultimately rebuffed, the system's fixed defenses were in ruin. TheN a tarand Mart i ordered the evacuation of all non-essential personnel but were forced to remain committed to the defense of Tirolus as the system provided a number of strategic materials.

Undaunted by their initial defeat, the Centauri houses continued to fight for possession of the system. The Abbai responded with larger and larger defense fleets and a massive increase in the size of the minefields around the colony.

And though the Abbai managed to retain control of the colony itself, the Centauri ranged throughout the rest of the system. Unable to take the colony, the Centauri houses abandoned direct assaults and returned to raiding actions.

The Abbai countered by scattering minefields throughout the system and the resulting stalemate meant that neither side was able to take advantage of the system's resources.

In 2011, the conflict ended as quickly as it began when Imperial forces, returning from the now ended Orieni war, put down the renegade houses. The Abbai were left with a Tirolus system that was in shambles and the fact that their vaunted defenses had nearly been breached. Stung by this fact, the Abbai moved quickly to redress the balance.

Captured copies of the new Centauri laser were sent home for careful examination. In time, the weapon would be successfully reverse-engineered and refitted into nearly every available ship. But what was really needed was a new defensive system capable of directly intercepting lasers. Gravitic Shields was clearly not enough. Intense research was begun in this direction, but a major breakthrough would not be imminent. The rebuilding of Tirolus system was limited to replacing the lost defensive systems and there opening of mining operations. Future improvements to the colony were deemed impractical due to its proximity to the Centauri and only critical mining personnel were allowed to remain in system. The evacuated colonists were instead moved to the Utriel system.

Lessons Taught (2050 AD - EE14 AD)

In 2050, without warning, the Centauri began to pull out of nearly all their border systems. The Abbai had known that several Emperors had been assassinated over that last 30 years, but no one had expected such a sudden change in Centauri attitudes. Rumors over the last few years had indicated that several worlds within the Centauri Empire had rebelled and broken away. Unknown to the outside, the revolts had finally managed to shock the Centauri back into an uneasy unity. The latest Emperor had decided to consolidate all Centauri holdings and ordered a general withdrawal from the border worlds to concentrate on retaking several of the escaped inner worlds. Once the Empire was again on stable ground, the Emperor decreed that future expansion would be directed into new areas. Unfortunately, several of these new areas included space around the Abbai and it was only a matter of time before Centauri and Abbai forces skirmished yet again.

It began over jumpgate utilization. The Centauri were unwilling to share gates, calling them strategic assets that they needed to control in order to protect their border. Abbai guarantees of limited jumpgate access were initially rebuffed and the Centauri instead chose to seize the gates. The Abbai again settled in behind their defenses, only coming out to heavily mine regions around the gates. The Centauri once again realized that a war with the Abbai was pointless. The Abbai would not fight and seemed maddeningly content to hide behind their defenses and wait. Worse, the Centauri could not keep the space lanes cleared of mines and the occasional defense satellites without committing a sizable force. Once again, the Centauri were forced to call off further military action and agree to allow the Abbai to police its jumpgates.

One of the unexpected results of the Centauri pullout from the border systems was the sudden increase in spacefaring races. One of these races, the Brakiri, was encountered in 2133. A former subject of the Centauri, the Brakiri were pleased to meet a friendly advanced race. The Abbai were equally pleased to find that a race subjugated by the Centauri could come through the occupation without picking up the Centauri's more crass attitudes. So pleased were the Abbai that they quickly opened a diplomatic dialogue and established an open trade agreement.

Unfortunately, it seemed the Brakiri had picked up some of the subtler Centauri attitudes after all, for in 2155 a Brakiri organization managed to steal Gravitic Shield technology. At a loss as to how to respond, the Abbai settled for lodging an official protest and consoling themselves with the fact that the stolen technology was defensive in nature.

They also stepped up their security and began to more carefully regulate technology transfers. It also convinced the Abbai to update their observations of younger border worlds in hopes of being more prepared to deal with new spacefaring races.

The League of Worlds (2215 AD - 2227 AD)

One of the other effects of the Centauri withdrawal was the proliferation of raiders. Fed up with the need to engage these raiders, the Abbai sent forth a series of envoys to the smaller races calling for the establishment of a "League of Worlds." The goals of this proposed League would be to provide for mutual defense, an open exchange of knowledge and to slowdown raider activity by giving the Raiders fewer places to hide and less support from other governments. As a show of good faith, the Abbai sold three old cruisers, minus their jump drive and shields, to the nearby Ala cans in the hope that the other races would see the advantages of the proposed League. The Abbai also pointed to the Centauri as a further need to unite. By joining together, smaller races could give the larger races, like the Centauri, a unified front, which could halt further aggression.

While many races agreed in principle to the ideas of the proposed alliance, few moved to actively support it.

Arguments over how technology would be distributed, trade agreements launched and deployment of forces within foreign borders sank the Abbai grand union. Instead, the Abbai were forced to accept a far more open-ended League that was worth little more than the piece of paper it was written on.

Winds of War (222BAD - 2229 AD)

In February 2228, alone Ala can At rimus Light Cruiser, the Pyrotinia, appeared in the Tirrith system. With it came a tale of brutal invasion by the Dilgar. The shocked Abbai had known that the Dilgar was a warlike race, which is why they had kept an eye on them through a series of spy satellites, but apparently these satellites had missed the Dilgar buildup. Nevertheless, the lead Abbai in Tirrith immediately called for a meeting of the League of Worlds to discuss possible responses. The meeting was an abysmal failure, with too few League members present and those in attendance unable to agree on any unanimous actions. The Vree, sensing the deadlock, sent a small task force in an attempt to verify the Ala can claims. The force returned a few weeks later with news that the Dilgar were only responding to Ala can sponsored raids. Incredulous that the Vree and the other races would accept such an obvious fabrication, the crew of the Pyrotinia asked for, and received, permission to travel to the Abbai homeworld and tell their story directly to the Martiand Natar.

The Martiand Nat a r were well aware of the ferocity and aggressiveness of the Dilgar. There had been ongoing skirmishes between the Dilgar and the Drazi for sometime, but the Drazi were seemingly always involved in one skirmish or another. Reports of the Dilgar's surprising power sent the Mart i into prolonged debate which concluded that the Dilgar would not attack the Abbai as they were larger and more advanced then the Ala cans. As a precaution, the defenses of the Abbai would be bolstered but direct confrontation with the Dilgar was ruled out. As for the Pyrotinia, the Mart i was sorry to inform the hopeful crew that since the Ala cans were not a formal member of the League of Worlds, there was little the Abbai could do. Ignoring offers of sanctuary, the Pyrotinia departed for Drazi space in hopes of finding a more sympathetic ear.

The invasion of Balos convinced the Abbai that the Dilgar threat was far larger than they first appreciated. The number of ships used in the Balosian invasion could pose a significant threat to even the Abbai core systems. Desperately, the Abbai called for the League of Worlds to unite and commit warships towards halting further Dilgar aggression. With the exception of the Drazi, no races stepped forward. The Abbai and Drazi thus agreed, in secret, to a mutual defense. If one were to be attacked, the other would immediately respond. While a valiant attempt, the agreement became moot when the Dilgar attacked both races simultaneously.

Came The Dilgar 12230 AD-2232 AD)

The Abbai campaign was brutally short and painful. Expecting an attempt on the now evacuated Tirolus system, the Abbai were surprised when the Dilgar attacked the Utriel system instead. In a show of suicidal fanaticism, the Dilgar charged into the teeth of the Abbai defense, which was centered on a still incomplete Pirocia Starbase.

Resorting to suicidal ramming attacks, the Dilgar destroyed the base, thus opening the planet to attack. Uninterested in invasion, the Dilgar proceeded to annihilate the entire colony through global bombing and the introduction of biological plagues.

At the homeworld, the Abbai prepared and waited. They waited as theD i gar took the abandoned Tirol is system.

They waited as the Dilgar swept the outer planets of their home system, and finally they waited as the Dilgar massed their forces. There was really little other choice. The Abbai navy was too small to engage the Dilgar forces without direct support of their planetary defenses. So they waited until the Dilgar finally attacked and then they fought with everything they had. Anchoring their defenses was a completed Pirocia Starbase and the densest mine and defense satellite field the Dilgar would ever face. Several assaults were repulsed before the Dilgar realized that it would require committing the bulk of their available forces to knockout the base. Unable to commit so many ships, the Dilgar gave up and left a sizable guard force to watch the Abbai while they moved deeper into League Space.

Though no longer interested in invading, the Dilgar continued to harass the Abbai planet with long range bombardment. The Abbai could do little but wait for the Dilgar to change their minds. Nearly all of their orbital shipyards had been destroyed and the few remaining warships, now refitted with the new Combat Laser, were unable to lift the siege. Fortunately, as the year came to an end, the new Kotha Medium Fighters appeared. These new fighters provided a significant addition to planetary defense while not taxing the remaining industry of the planet.

In May of 2231, the Abbai slipped a small taskforce through the Dilgar blockade. The Martiand Nat a r had concluded that the Abbai had to know what was transpiring in the rest of the Galaxy. More importantly, they desperately needed help. The escaping force was tasked with recruiting support from the outlying worlds. Unfortunately, the closest League races were already embroiled in the war and those further away remained unwilling to engage the Dilgar. The Narn were steadfastly neutral, as were the Centauri and Minbari. Some success was achieved with the Pak'm a'ra, but they alone were not large enough to affect the conflict.

In desperation, the Abbai approached the upstart power known as the EarthAlliance. Initially, their pleas fell on deaf ears, but the Abbai were out of options and refused to let Earth ignore them as so many others had. Fortunately, the Dilgar made a fateful decision. Their invasion of Markab space allowed the Abbai to play on Earth fears by convincing many that the Dilgar were establishing a staging area for the eventual invasion of the Alliance. In a brilliant political ploy, Abbai diplomats successfully compared the Dilgar to Earth's Nazi Germany, so when the Dilgar moved to within one jump point of Alliance space, Earth was primed and ready to act.

Even with the EarthAlliance now fully involved, it would be another year before the Abbai siege would be lifted.

The battles to free the Abbai homeworld would result in heavy losses for Abbai forces. Yet, having freed the homeworld, the Abbai committed the bulk of their remaining units to the final invasion of the Dilgar. Even as the end drew near, the Dilgar continued to fight to the last ship, neither offering nor receiving quarter. When the battle was over the Dilgar menace was finally ended.

A New League 12233 AD - 2256 AD)

With the war over, the Abbai took stock of their position. The home system was heavily damaged, the systems of Utriel and Tirolus almost completely destroyed, with the colony in Utriel now virtually uninhabitable and the fleet was in ruin. Other races were in equally bad shape, and if ever there was a time to work together this seem to be it. To that end the Abbai visited all of the League worlds in an attempt to strengthen the League of Worlds treaty. What they found was worlds too overwhelmed with rebuilding their war-torn economies and infrastructure to consider a new and improved League. While disappointed, the Abbai were not really surprised.

In 2245, in a series of misunderstandings, the EarthAlliance found itself at war with Minbari. The battles that followed were virtually one-sided as the technologically superior Minbari routed the forces of Earth. Pleas from Earth for aid were countered by warning from the Minbari that any race providing aid would also be destroyed. The Abbai, like all of the other League races, decided to heed the Minbari warnings. But just as Earth was driven to the point of extinction, an incredible change of fate was played out. Inexplicably and without warning the Minbari surrendered.

Earth had somehow won the war.

Even with the victory, a frightfully clear message was sent to all the League races. Any race, even as large as the EarthAlliance, could be wiped out, which made the smaller races even more vulnerable. None heard it louder than the Abbai. To them it seemed the perfect opportunity to try once last time to revive their original League concept.

Playing on the fears of League leaders, the Abbai approached the races and found active interest. But once again, distrust between the races threatened to derail the new League. Then news came that the EarthAlliance was building a diplomatic station from which the major races could work out their differences. Fearful that the major races might start making decisions for their smaller neighbors, the League races finally came together and formed the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. The new League then approached the major powers and demanded the right to be heard. In response the League was granted a position within the Babylon Council and given the right to vote as a single entity with the likes of the EarthAlliance, Centauri Republic, Minbari Federation, Narn Regime and even the Vorlon Empire.

In 2257, when the fifth Babylon station successfully went on line, the League of Non -Aligned Worlds finally had a neutral site to conduct their meetings. Initially, the newly formed League Council was deadlocked as to who would chair the organization with each race wanting the prestige of being the first elected chair. Finally, with no race able to gain the upper hand it was decided that Abbai would be allowed to become the first leader as a sign of respect for the Abbai's efforts informing the League.

Shadows Over Babylon (EE57 AD - 2260 AD)

When the Shadows first approached the younger races they had one simple question: "What do you want?"

Many of the League races found that they had an answer. The Abbai's answer was noticeably different from most of the others, for they wanted peace. This was not one the Shadows were looking for. As a result, the Shadows ignored the Abbai and focused their efforts on the more aggressive races, managing to convince or bully them into attacking their neighbors. The Abbai chose to throw up their hands at the whole thing and returned to their heavily defended worlds.

Throughout the remainder of the brief but bloody League Wars, the Abbai remained quietly neutral. The defensive prowess of the Abbai held them in good standing and except for a couple of brief probing attacks they were left alone.

That sentiment changed in 2261, when the Vorlons began to destroy any world that had harbored the Shadows.

A month later the Shadows began to respond in kind. Neither of the ancient races seemed willing to engage the other but both were quite willing to destroy everyone else. They both had to be stopped and the Abbai decided that they would be part of it. When John Sheridan returned, alive, from Z 'h a 'd u m, the Abbai found someone to follow. If he could go to that planet and return, then he was the answer. A month later, the Abbai fleet, with the rest of the Army of Light, managed to stop the Shadows and Vorlons at Cor i an a 6, ending the Shadow war for all time.

Sheridan now turned his attention to his homeworld of Earth. The year before, he had been forced to break away from Earth in protest of the new government's actions. His first move was to have all the League worlds sever all ties with the EarthAlliance. When the Abbai and other League races offered their support he accepted with the requirement that the League limit their aid to logistical support. The League respected his wishes and remained outside of the fight, acting only as escorts for supply convoys for Sheridan's campaign.

Everything changed when Earth forces captured Sheridan. Inspired by the Centauri and Narn ambassadors, the League decided to open active hostilities against the EarthAlliance if Sheridan was not immediately released. Before the combined races could make good on their threat, Sheridan escaped. He allowed League forces to join in the final push to Earth. Though kept in reserve, these units proved invaluable when the president of the EarthAlliance, in a last insane move, attempted to turn Earth's Defense Grid on Earth itself.

The Interstellar Alliance 12261 AD -?)

As Sheridan dealt with the fallout of his assault, a great new alliance began to take form. Sponsored by Delenn of the Minbari, the new Interstellar Alliance promised the advantages of trade, technology and peace. Supported by the Narn, Centauri and Minbari, the new Alliance found instant acceptance with many of the League of Non-A ligned Worlds. The Abbai was initially cautious for it seemed too good to be true. The caution was short-lived and the Abbai became members, quietly hopeful that lasting peace was imminent.

Sadly, a year later, the Centauri broke the treaty and attacked several of its bordering neighbors. The Interstellar Alliance responded with a blockade of the Centauri and the Abbai did their part. Fortunately for the Abbai, the Centauri-lnterstellar Alliance conflict did not include their area of space and the Centauri never moved in their direction.

Since the war, the Abbai have shifted back to a reclusive status. Unsettled by the failure after failure of each new treaty, all of which promised a lasting peace, the Abbai have become somewhat mistrustful. Still willing to trade and interact, the Abbai warily await the next war that seemingly must always come. And, though they value peace above all else, the Abbai continues to prepare their defenses so that they are never found wanting.

The Brakiri Syndic racy

Early Civilization (-XXXX BC - 1699 ADI

The planet of Brakir has always been a dry and thirsty world, with its population centered on limited water resources. During the Brakiri Bronze Age, various clans established city-states around these water supplies in order to deny their access to rival clans. The greatest concentration of water was located in the northern hemisphere and the largest clan in the north was patriarchal group known as the Kronate. By virtue of their larger population, the Kronate were able to expand their influence over neighboring lands. In time they would dominate major portions of the northern hemisphere.

Once the north was secured, the Kronate turned south, but here they encountered a large, slightly more advanced empire in the southern hemisphere. The initial encounter consisted of sporadic raids at the edges of each empire's borders but quickly escalated into open warfare. Nearly 150 years of general bloodshed followed before the war ended in an uneasy peace.

The peace consisted of little more than both sides licking their wounds and biding their time for a new offensive.

A total of 150 years would pass before the second war began with a series of water raids by southern parties. The Kronate responded with the intention of wiping out all of the southern empire and opened a general offensive. Over two centuries would pass as each side struggled for final victory. At the end, both sides lost the ability to wage war. A lasting peace was finally found when the Kronate agreeed to merge with the southern leadership to create a single ruling body. Numerous city-states, both northern and southern, rebelled and broke away from the new Kronate.

Initially, the new government lacked the ability to prevent this, but in time managed to reintegrate each city-state through negotiation or force of arms.

The new Kronate now dominated the whole of Brakir, though its rule is more figurative then literal over a large percentage of the world. Nevertheless, Brakir entered a golden age of peace as its people returned to the pursuits of the arts, philosophy and religion. Unfortunately, the Kronate Empire was just too large to maintain. In less than two centuries, it collapsed under its own weight. Several regional governors rebelled and formed their own kingdoms, reminiscent of the fall of Earth's Roman Empire. Warfare again broke out as the Kronate and several other would-be rulers attempted to establish orre-establish power.

The Lion Strikes 11700 AD - 1974 AD)

One of Brakir's more famous astrologers noted the coming of the Centauri as he charted the night sky. The actual conquest of Brakiri involved little more than the Centauri landing, setting up a series of bases and killing anyone that approached. Once they were fully entrenched, the Centauri declared themselves gods from the heavens and that the Brakiri were theirs to command.

Initial military assaults by various Brakiri factions did little to deter the Centauri occupation or their construction of a permanent jumpgate. Its completion heralded the departure of the occupation force and the arrival of the Centauri House Torra. Arriving with the new planetary governor of Brakir was a portion of House Tora's fleet and a small retinue of followers. Woefully understaffed, the governor immediately chose to add several native Brakiri to his household staff as servants and menial laborers.

Several months later, additional Centauri citizens arrived and establish the first Centauri city. They are mostly laborers and technicians tasked with setting up more permanent and modern cities. They used the local Brakiri population as a general labor pool with little regard for their health and well-being. Most of the new Centauri cities were erected near the southern and northern poles, which provide a more comfortable climate for the growing population of Centauri citizens. Several small factories were also built in orbit and on the surface. They supported a rapidly growing mine operation that includes both planetary and asteroid mining.

In 1775, the last major increase in Centauri population arrived. Almost all are members of House Torra and its affiliated houses. Large-scale strip-mining of the planetary surface was conducted without concern or interest of its effects on the planet's ecology. Brakiri were indiscriminately removed from their homes to facilitate Centauri operations. Entire clans were rounded up to work strip mines and processing centers. Many Brakiri retreated to the equatorial regions in hopes of escaping Centauri notice. Those that escaped found a small research facility hidden away near the equator of Brakir. Its location was unusual, as the Centauri tend to avoid the hotter climate. Few Centauri ventured here, and it soon became obvious that no regular supply ships approached it. Many Brakiri began to suspect that House Torra was hiding the place from the other members of the Centauri.

By 1825, mining conditions in the asteroid fields had deteriorated to the point where accidents were regularly killing Centauri workers. The resulting delays quickly endangered the chances of meeting Republic mining quotas.

The Torra governor was forced to institute a policy whereby Brakiri would be used for further high-risk operations.

Brakiri "volunteers" were quickly given a minimal level of space training and were sent to the mines. A number of these skilled workers formed a small underground. They were led by several of the larger original city-state clan leaders, and began a carefully coordinated covert effort to acquire Centauri technology. Initial success was limited, as they were unable to deal with Centauri security. The ultimate goal was to penetrate the hidden research facility at the equator, which had continued to grow. Much of its growth was hidden underground and a number of Brakiri used as slaves were held on the site to perform the labor.

In their first major operation, the underground movement deliberately crash-landed a Centauri shuttle when Brakiri workers overpowered the pilot and guards. Several key pieces of technology survived the crash and were hidden away for study. Several years later, they managed their first major computer theft when they accessed an advanced technology database. Unfortunately, the database did not include weapons grade technologies.

Sleeping Lians Lie (1775 AD - 2049 AD)

In 1975 the Centauri population began a steady decline spurred by the planet's failing environment. Two hundred years of massive strip mining had damaged the parched planet's delicate balance. Deserts in the southern hemisphere began to grow, swallowing up abandoned strip mining sites. The exodus hastened 25 years later with the rumor of a war on the far side of the Centauri Republic. Dissatisfaction with mounting taxation was openly expressed by House Torra. Eventually, Royal Navy warships ceased to make regular stops at Brakir leaving only House Torra's ships. Soon, the only remaining Centauri were of House Torra. A large percentage of the planet was now left to the Brakiri as House Torra's interests in the planet diminish. Whole cities, mining facilities and factories were abandoned by the Centauri and ultimately examined by the Brakiri.

In 2040, a large Centauri Royal Navy task force entered the system. They charged House Torra with conspiring to overthrow the current Emperor. By Imperial decree, House Torra was stripped of its position and the governor was taken into custody. In addition, due to economic and political pressures within the Republic, this colony was abandoned. The Royal Navy quickly removed all Centauri citizens and began to systematically destroy all advanced technology. The Brakiri underground struggled to secure as much as possible. Fortunately, the hidden research facility was missed, allowing a small clan whose members include many of the workers enslaved at the site to covertly seize the facility intact. Also captured were a number of Centauri scientists. Completing its sweep, the Royal Navy pulls out, having deactivated the jumpgate. As it departed, it destroyed major portions of the in-system orbital facilities and most of the mining operations. Brakir was free.

A New Start (2050 AD - 2059 AD)

Brakir's new found freedom quickly dissolved into open conflict as competing Brakiri interests fight over abandoned Centauri cities and facilities. In time, cooler heads managed to convince the others that the Centauri or some other race may soon return. There is also the fact that the planet is an environmental disaster. A new government was quickly formed based on the original Kronate Patriarchy that ruled before the Centauri. The new government managed to mobilize the entire population to maximize productivity. The primary goals were to unlock the secrets of all available Centauri technology, repair the planet's ecosystem, and establish a military presence capable of preventing the Brakiri from ever being enslaved again. It was a daunting proposition. Mobilization quickly rallied around the remaining Centauri cities.

As a result of the Centauri occupation, the original clans had been hopelessly intermixed. Rather than return to clan titles, several of the city groups declared themselves corporations. Though originally a Centauri concept, the word seemed to embody the most productive means by which the Brakiri can meet their goals. At first, successes were rapid and far-flung, but it quickly became apparent that the new corporations spent far too much time competing to be the first to unlock the same piece of technology, thus wasting valuable time and resources. The most blatant were the large companies: Ly-Nakir in the southern hemisphere, a ndAk-H a bilin the north. Both were trying to be the first into space. The Kronate, backed by other corporations, approached the two companies, demanding that they put aside their differences. The two companies bowed to the pressure and agreed, at least publicly.

Several months later the first act of industrial espionage occurred. The idea proved popular, resulting in corporations wracked by sabotage, theft and corporate raids. The Kronate empowered a new company, Pri-Wakat, to act as security and government sanctioned reaction force, answerable only to the ruling body. The new organization moved quickly, and overnight greatly reduced the more aggressive activities of the corporations but by no means halts it.

By 2057, A k-H a b i landLy-Nakir successfully launched the first manned mission into orbit. Follow -up missions soon arrive at the Centauri jumpgate. The former cooperation between Ak-Habil andLy-Nakir was quickly lost as they squabbled overrights to research the gate. The Kronate again attempted to step in, but this time was unable to resolve the issue. It fell to the other corporations, many of whom supported one or the other of the two giants, to broker an agreement. The resulting resolution gave control of jumpgate development to A k-H a b il, in exchange for whichLy Nakir was given the prestigious responsibility of saving the planet.

Since the departure of the Centauri, the planet continued to be plagued by longer and longer droughts, and the deserts were expanding faster than ever. The planet needed water on a massive scale. Scientists determined that the answer lay in the large ice fields that resided on a number of asteroids in Brakiri space, andLy-Nakir was tasked with the development of an ice mining and transportation operation.

The Krona and the Great: Leap IB060 AD - B1G4 AD)

Following its failure to resolve the jumpgate dispute, the Kronate's power began to fade as it is wracked with indecision and corruption. Pri-Wakat, the company formed by the Kronate, redeveloped itself into a security and special operations firm, catering directly to the corporations rather than the Kronate itself. Ultimately the Kronate is forced to dissolve. A new ruling body formed of member corporations was formed. It was named the Krona in deference to its historical predecessor.

One of the first companies to contract Pri-Wakat's services was a small technologies company known as ImRehsa. Originally a small, unassuming company, it had recently merged with a series of other small technology firms.

Im-Rehsa holdings included the equatorial research facility captured from the Centauri. To date, Im-Rehsa had managed to keep its secrets to itself using the very latest in security technology.

Ly-Nakir also contracted Pri-Wakat to defend it from industrial sabotage as it establishes the ice mining operation.

The operation was greatly enhanced when Centauri equipment was discovered abandoned in the asteroid fields. The first major shipment of ice followed a year later with great fanfare. Its delivery garnered a great deal of prestige for LyNakir. However, the following year, a series of "accidents" slowed the operation. Ly-Nakir, fearing but unable to prove sabotage, orbited a series of defense satellites, designed by Pri-Wakat, around its operations.

In the year 2080, Ak-Habil announced it had figured out how a jumpgate works and that the jumpgate can be reactivated. In an emergency meeting, the Krona decided to delay activation of the jumpgate until a better understanding of the technology is achieved. This would also allow more time for the development of additional defenses.

Five years later, Im-Rehsa stunned the world when it announced the successful development of artificial gravity. In reality, the technology had been available for sometime, stolen directly from the Centauri research facility. However, Im-Rehsa delayed announcement until it fully understood the technology. Im-Rehsa quickly followed with the statement that it was developing a weapon system completely unlike anything used by the Centauri, though once again it was based on research originally conducted at the former Centauri research facility. It took several years of work before the Gravitic Bolt weapon system, which is based on gravity technology, was perfected. Several copies were sold to all major companies, with Pri-Wakat agreeing to an immediate long-term deal to build the weapons under license.

With ice mining operations in full operation, Ly-Nakir began to look for new business avenues. With the Im-Rehsa weapons announcement a ndAk-H a b il's jumpgate news, they concluded that weapons research could be very lucrative. Moving quickly, Ly-Nakir purchased several Gravitic Bolts and began reverse-engineering the design.

In 2105, Ak-Habil backed up its original jumpgate findings with the announcement that conceptual development of the first jump drive is complete. It approached the Krona with a request that the jumpgate be turned on so they can begin research on hyperspace. Permission was given and the jumpgate was activated for short periods of time, which confirmed the existence of a series of potential navigation sites. The first successful manned entry and exit of hyperspace followed two years later. The Krona continued to limit exploration, concerned that an active jump beacon could attract the Centauri or some other potentially hostile race to Brakir.

With all of its major construction facilities dedicated to ice mining, Ly-Nakir decided to develop a small fighter craft similar to that used by the Centauri. The new fighters would be armed with a new lightweight version of the Gravitic Bolt. Several ice freighters were also converted to makeshift carriers to improve the development of fighter operations. When the new fighter was finally revealed, Im-Rehsa quickly concluded that the Light Gravitic Bolt must have been based on their standard Gravitic Bolt. They demanded compensation, butLy-Nakir refused, stating that they have just as much right to develop weapons and safeguard Brakiri as any other corporation. Im-Rehsa petitioned the Krona, but ultimately drops its protests when questions about its own research were raised.

Contact was made with first extra-solar, non -Centauri occurs a few years after exploration of hyperspace began.

The new race, known as the Abbai, quickly called for a series of negotiations for peaceful co-existence. The Abbai peaceful overtures, indirect contrast with the Centauri, opened the door for a series of trade treaties. The Abbai also indicated that they have had skirmishes with the Centauri and recommended a staunch defense. Over the ensuing years the Brakiri took this to heart, developing numerous new defenses and colonizing several other worlds.

Masters of the Magnet 12165 AD - 2228 AD)

During this period the Brakiri advanced their technologies significantly, developing gravitic drives and advanced gravitic weapons. In addition, Ly-Nakir stole key information from the Abbai allowing the creation of gravitic shields, drawing a weak protest from the Abbai that was later dropped. The gravitic shield actually represented a turning point forLy-Nakir. After over one hundred of years of work, the planet of Brakir was becoming environmentallys table. Major ice mining operations were greatly curtailed andLy-Nakir was pushed to the edge of bankruptcy. Their vast fleets of ice freighters were mothballed in orbit, as operational expenses could no longer be afforded. In a deal to save them from bankruptcy, Ly-Nakir agreed to sell a large number of their ice freighter stoT or-Sikar Log tech. The ships were converted to supply and colonization ships for the new colonies in the Com a eand Eklatla systems.

In 2222, the Abbai approached the Krona with a plan to form a League of Worlds. The proposed League would act as an economic and military protectorate for all of its member worlds. The Krona agreed immediately, secretly hoping to economically dominate several of the smaller races. The Abbai delegate hoped the new League would deter future aggressive races, some of which they were watching even now. The Krona accepted that anything was possible, but remained focused on the potential for economic gain. However, in deference to the Abbai claims, the Krona did call for the construction of newer, larger and more impressive vessels. At the time, only Ak-Habil was capable of developing a large new hull and they were awarded the design effort by default.

Days of Dead I222B AD - 2B33 AD)

In early 2228, the Ala can ship Pyrotinia arrived in the Tirrith system. With them was the claim that their world has been attacked and besieged by a race known as the Dilgar. After the initial shock, the Abbai representative in system called for a meeting. The Brakiri delegate to the meeting was unconcerned and was more interested in a series of contested mining sites located in Tirrith. When the meeting failed to produce any significant results, the Vree decided to send a small force to determine the truth. The force was turned away with news that the Dilgar were responding to raids by the Alacns. Satisfied with the report, the Brakiri went back to work.

A year later, news of a second invasion was reported by the Abbai. They called for the enactment of the mutual defense clause of the League treaty in the hope that the Dilgar menace could be quickly halted. The Krona remained unconcerned, believing that they were too large to be attacked and too distant from the Dilgar. The Krona once again ordereds series of token increases in defensive forces but continued to underestimate the situation.

The Brakiri received awake-up call in 2230 when the Abbai were attacked. Shocked that the Abbai would be targeted, the Krona ordered Ak-Habil to accelerate construction on the hulk now classified as the Corum a i Dreadnought.

The Krona also ordered all existing defenses to full alert. A group of Salosian combat vessels, survivors of the Dilgar assault, were interned around Brakir to bolster the fleet.

The Dilgar attack on Brakiri space began in the first few months of 2231. In short order, the colonies at Cormac and Elkata fell. The Brakiri forces fell back to the homeworld incomplete disarray. In the following months, two major assaults on Brakir itself were miraculously thwarted, the first with the help of Salosian and Vree forces who were luckily in the area, and the second by a last-minute launch of the still-incomplete Corum a i Dreadnought. Despite a valiant defense, Brakir and Kara still took major damage as centuries of work were blasted into waste.

Fate would favor the Brakiri once more when the Dilgar decided to bottle up the remaining Brakiri forces and move on. This Dilgar plan of action was currently working with the Abbai and the Dilgar saw no reason why it wouldn't work here. Fully intending to return and finish the job, the Dilgar left a sizable watch force and moved on.

Later that year, the EarthAlliance lead multi-national force arrived to push the Dilgar out of the Brakiri space. To the people of Brakir, a final miracle had been witnessed. The Krona immediately offered all of their remaining ships to the alliance fleet. By the end of the year the war was over.

Starting Over Again 12234 AD - 2244 AD)

The devastation caused by the Dilgar War left the Brakiri homeworld and colonies in ruin. The fleet was little better off, having expended itself defending Brakir and then fighting to end the war. The Abbai called for a reaffirmation of the League of Worlds, but the Krona ignored them as there were so many more pressing matters. At first, little more could be done than repair the surviving ships and rebuild the defense grid. Most of the remaining resources were dedicated first to Brakir and then Kara. However, most of the other local League worlds were in similar states and thus could not capitalize on the vulnerable Brakiri. Unfortunately, raiders found the situation as a happy hunting ground of derelicts, poorly escorted shipping and limited anti-piracy forces. In time, Pri-Wakat would manage a credible deterrent to raider activity, but most of its efforts were limited to the home system.

While life slowly improved for the Brakiri, history took a turn for the worst for the EarthAlliance for in 2245, the EarthAlliance accidentally touched off a holy war with newly encountered Minbari. The Brakiri watched in horror as the saviors of the Dilgar War were routed again and again. When Earth representatives first approached the Krona for aid, they were met with cautious support. However, two weeks later a large force of Minbari Sharlin cruisers jumped into Brakiri space with one simple message, "Help the EarthAlliance and be destroyed." The Brakiri took this message to heart and broke contact with Earth. They watched with haunted fascination as Earth was driven to the point of extinction as loss after loss mounted. But fate was kind to the Earthers, for just as the Minbari forces were moving on Earth itself, incredibly and inexplicable the Minbari surrendered.

Even in victory, the Earth-Minbari War haunted the Brakiri. If the Earth All a in ce could be virtually wiped out, so too could the Brakiri. So when the Abbai once again started mentioning is new League, the Brakiri found themselves ready to listen. And when news of the EarthAlliance 's plan to build a diplomatic station surfaced, the Brakiri pushed to head League planning. They played a major part in the new League of Non -Aligned Worlds' demand to be heard. Although disappointed with being granted a single vote, the Brakiri were convinced that this one vote would be useful.

■storm Shadows 12245 AD - 2261 AD]

The success of Im-Rehsa's post warship construction program led many corporations to make offers of merger and collaboration. While entertaining these offers, Im-Rehsa representatives first broached the possibility of capturing a number of planets in nearby space. They claimed that League was weak and only through strong leadership could it grow. The Brakiri should be those leaders.

Im-Rehsa eventually approached Ak-Habil offering the brand new Gravitic Lance weapon if they would helps way the Krona to begins military actions against a number of adjacent races. A k-H a b il agreed to consider the matter, but remained skeptical. Over the course of several weeks, Im-Rehsa introduced several other companies to certain individuals. These individuals claimed that if the Brakiri were to strike now, they could make themselves strong enough to resist even the rampaging Centauri. Though some were nervous and others outright scared of the power these individuals represented, most saw the opportunities before them. A month later, the Krona voted to open hostilities with the Gaim. Weeks later, the Drazi would suddenly choose to attack the Brakiri as small brush wars sprang up throughout the League.

These League Wars ultimately benefited no one as no one League member gained a real advantage. In fact, most suffered significant damage. The Brakiri were no exception, as their homeworld was again subject to attack and its shipyards and orbital factories again destroyed. In the lull that followed the wars, everyone in the Krona attempted to blame everyone else. But before anything could be determined, the Shadows moved into Brakiri space and all of Brakir was once again in danger. Fortunately, the Shadows chose to destroy only the Brakiri outer holdings. When Sheridan convinced the Vorlons to attack the Shadows rampaging through Brakiri space, most of the corporations quickly joined with Sheridan (wit hIm-Rehsa the notable exception). In the end, the Shadow War was won and the Brakiri returned once again to reconstruction.

So impressed with Sheridan was the Krona that they agreed to sever all diplomatic contact with EarthAlliance at his insistence. The Krona even went so far as to provide ships for his march against his former home and Brakiri ships to put in the final assault on Earth. Afterwards, they were on of the first to sign the on with the new Interstellar Alliance when they learned that Sheridan would be president.

The Interstellar Alliance 12262 AD -)

Brakiri membership in the Interstellar Alliance got off to a rocky start when a series of raids were conducted against their shipping. In each case, the attackers managed to slip in and completely destroy the convoy without leaving a trace of their identity. Complaints to President Sheridan were slow to produce results, but in the end Sheridan revealed that the Centauri were behind the raids. As punishment the Interstellar Alliance ordered a blockade of the Centauri. A series of military clashes between Centauri and Brakiri forces blockading the Centauri Republic soon followed. As the blockade stretched on, the Brakiri ambassador to Bablyon 5 was approached by the Narn and Drazi.

They attempted to enlist the Brakiri for a direct strike on the Centauri homeworld, an act strictly forbidden by President Sheridan. The ambassador declined but the attack went on to devastate Centauri Prime, effectively ending the war.

Since then Im-Rehsa quietly released the Takata Mine Cruiser, another new variant using yet another new technology. A few high ranking Brakiri now knew that Im-Rehsa had been in contact with the Shadows, who must have helped them with their development. They also now understood why Im-Rehsa chose not to help in the fight against the Shadows. But the Brakiri people were still in the midst of recovering from their losses, an dIm-Rehsa represented a powerful source of technology and new source for ships to defend Brakir. So, for the moment, no action has been taken. Only time will tell if the Brakiri people will again be divided or will step forward into the stars.

The Drazi Free hold

Early Exploration

When the Drazi entered space (circa 1325), it was as a result of a continuing arms race. Their first space vessels, and the majority of those that followed, were warships. The Drazi quickly expanded through their home system, and in the 1340s, a military patrol detected an alien artifact orbiting a gas giant planet midway out from their sun. Several expeditions were quickly organized, and the victorious one set about study of the jumpgate. After fifty years of study, their scientists had learned several things: they could reactivate the jumpgate, they could build jump engines for their ships, and the element vital for the operation of this technology (Quantium 40) was exceedingly rare in their home system of Zhabar.

In 1395 the first Redbird Hyperspace Probes were launched to map existing hyperspace beacon routes and jump gates, and discovered that Q - 40 scarcity was the rule every where they looked. In 1405, a Redbird Probe entered a star system controlled by an old and powerful race and was discovered. The Hyach escorted the visiting Drazi "diplomats" to their outpost, and staged a military demonstration for their benefit, thus beginning along history of good relations and trade between the two powers.

Expansion and Trade

As the 1400 s progressed, the Drazi expanded to the stars. They founded Sham bah, their first interstellar colony, and subjugated a race of bronze-age primitives. Within fifty years, these new possessions inspired their first interstellar civil war. In 1530, the Drazi meet a second starfaring race. When Abbai ships approached a Drazi outpost, they were immediately attacked and driven off. A period of skirmishing ensued, but when it became clear that the Abbai outclassed the Drazi technologically, and had a material advantage in greater access to Q - 40 as well, the Drazi submitted to the Abbai's peaceful initiatives.

Initially, the Drazi fleet used no jump warships, reserving their limited supply of Q - 40 for exploration ships. In 1535, small increases in the availability of Q - 40 (from out system mining and trade) and the obvious tactical benefits lead to the introduction of the Albatross Jump Cruiser. From this point, the standard Drazi operational practice was built around large squadrons of light warships supported by a jump -capable warship. This is true even in modern times, although to a lesser degree.

As the 1500 sand 1600 swore on, the Drazi began to pay more attention to the outside universe, foreign policy beginning to grow more important compared to the traditional internal squabbling. This stemmed largely from repeated contact with advanced alien powers. During this period, Drazi traders in Hyach space encountered the long rumored Centauri in the person of their merchants, although the two powers did not yet share a border. In 1690, a Drazi exploration mission entered Tal-kona'shas pace, and were immediately repelled. The mission's survivors let there be no doubt about these new aliens' technological superiority and belligerence.

The Long Hunt:

In 1707, the Drazi made contact to core ward with the Woon Stellar Association, an interstellar nation composed of a major power (the Woon) and 2 or 3 small "associate" powers, with significantly less political and economic power. The Woon were technologically equivalent to the Drazi and controlled about twice as many systems, but the Asssociation was largely a mercantile organization. They only had a small navy, and viewed war as a last resort. The Drazi began raiding Association space as early as 1710, and were unable to see Woon avoidance of conflict as anything other than weakness.

In 1760 the Drazi invaded theWS A in force, with fair success. This began a seemingly endless series of wars as the Woon, unwilling to attempt counter-invasions, severed beacon routes whenever military gains brought enough systems under their control. The Drazi would then throw exploration assets into opening new routes into Woon space to restart the cycle. The conflict (known to the Drazi as "The Long Hunt") finally drew to a close in 1840 when the Woon adopted a scorched earth policy, destroying Drazi-held colonies to create a buffer zone and severing beacon routes several links deep. Combined with extremely heavy hyperspace patrolling, this made further attempts by the Drazi to expand in their direction too expensive. Several Drazi and Woon worlds were isolated and never rediscovered during this conflict.

Came the Centauri

Direct contact with the Centauri came in 1875, further discouraging core ward adventurism. Intermittent skirmishing occurred along the Centauri-Drazi border, but full-scale war didn 't breakout— the Drazi had no interest in taking on the Lion of the Galaxy by themselves, and the Centauri were distracted by tensions along the Orieni border on the opposite side of the Republic.

As the twentieth century dawned, the Drazi controlled four major star systems (Zhabar, Sham bah, Descartalos, and Latig). The years of the Long Hunt had cost them greatly, but recovery was beginning. In the 1930 s, diplomatic contact was made with the Orieni to explore common goals. Meanwhile, the Freehold's old ally, the Hyach, were in decline. Over the course of the 1900s the Drazi took custody of several colonies as they were abandoned by the Hyach. Latig, Fend a mar and eventually Tithalis are modern Drazi possessions gained in this manner.

By the early 1990s, the Drazi agreed to step up their raiding on the Centauri border, in exchange for Orieni technology, to draw Centauri forces away from the Orieni border. The collusion was discovered by Centauri forces, triggering the Centauri-Orieni war of 2001 -2010. The Drazi suffered little for their role. Aside from a single Royal Navy punitive expedition, Drazi involvement consisted only of intermittent raids by House forces. After the war was over, the Centauri were too greatly weakened and war-weary to take the fight to the Drazi, and in 2046 the Republic collapsed into civil war. By 2048 the Centauri had been reduced to 15 star systems, and the Drazi were quick to take advantage. They moved rapidly into former Centauri space, almost doubling in size within a few years. Many of these systems were eventually lost, either to their own inhabitants or back to the Centauri, but the major colonies at Mofaka, Heptharg, and Zagros all date to this period.

In the 2100s, as the Drazi moved anti spin ward along with the Hyach withdrawal, they came into contact with the Cascor, Brakiri, and Ipsha, and watched as the Centauri expanded again to rim ward. By 2210, when the Narn burst onto the interstellar scene, the Centauri were again in decline. This period also saw first contact between the Drazi and Balosians. Although there was intermittent skirmishing amongst these powers and the Drazi, the 22 n d century was peaceful for the Drazi by and large, culminating with their membership in the League of Non -Aligned Worlds in 2215. It was not to last.

The Dilgar War

In 2228 the Dilgar War engulfed the League, and for four years the Drazi suffered. The Freehold was seen as the Dilgar's greatest obstacle to conquest, and they bore the brunt of the fighting. Although the Drazi fought enthusiastically, poor coordination and internal dissent caused them to take horrifying losses. In the end, they were able to hold the Dilgar off until theE A joined the war, and the tide turned.

For all of the suffering and loss of the Dilgar War, the Drazi still benefited from it. The Freehold emerged from the crucible of total war more unified than they had ever been. Internal strife was almost non-existent, and centralized military control and professionalism were on the rise. In the late 2240 s, the Drazi annexed the former Dilgar systems of Ettamm and Son'Goth. As the mid -2200 s approached, a doctrinal shift towards larger warships and a greater proportion of jump-ships became apparent.

Recent Conflicts

The Narn-Centauri War was closely watched by the Drazi, but to no avail as the Centauri emerged triumphant.

Immediately thereafter they had to defend themselves as the Centauri began invading Drazi space to create a "buffer zone." The Shadow War soon overwhelmed these events, and although the Drazi were manipulated into attacking other League powers early in the conflict, they eventually made a large contribution to the Army of Light and its magnificent victory. Later that year, the Drazi were forced to give up control of a world they had held in subjugation through Raider hirelings. There is some speculation that the world 's residents, the Im phili, may be a los tWo on (or Woon Associate) colony from the Long Hunt period, but this has not yet been substantiated.

In 2262, the Drazi began losing ships at an alarming pace. It gradually became clear that they were being attacked by Centauri warships, operating in an unusual manner. As the lA -Centauri War seemed to stall, the Narn and Drazi, through their admirals assigned to theIA, conspired to directly strike Centauri Prime. Due to the seemingly irrational behavior of the Centauri Regent, the attack proceeded flawlessly, bringing the war to a close.

At the beginning of 2263, the Drazi seem poised to take their place as a major power.

The Gaim Intelligence

The Age of Rationality

With the Narn invasion of N 'Cha k 'F a h in 2213, the Gaim Queens discovered that they had a common enemy.

While the Narns had retreated, the Queens knew that it had been as much the hazards of their world, poisonous to the Narn soldiers, as their own strengths that had repelled the invaders from above the clouds. The Queens realized that, had the Narn been better prepared for the hazards of the environment, they could have defeated the Gaim 's divided armies and conquered N 'Cha k 'F a h.

The Queens realized the danger this represented to all of them. If the Narn could come down from the clouds and seek to take their world, others could as well. Perhaps the next invaders would not be poisoned by the air and would be able to defeat the divided armies of the Queens. There was only one answer: they would have to put aside their differences and come together as one race.

Storms Beyond the Clouds

Seventeen Earth-years after the Queens agreed to work together against an invader from beyond the clouds, the next invasion came. For the Dilgar, N 'Cha k 'F a hwas a minor world of no real interest in its own right. However it was strategically important in their push to the Rim. They had already learned from the Narns of the hazards of the planet's environment and the ferocity of its native life.

The Gaim, for their part, believed they were ready for the arrival of the Dilgar. Through trade and diplomatic contacts made with the ever inquisitive Pak'm a'ra, the Gaim had learned something of the galaxy. They had been warned of the advancing Dilgar invasion and had even agreed at the possibility of lending troops to fight this new enemy. The Queens gathered their unified forces in preparation for battle with the Dilgar. The Queens felt they were well prepared for whatever may come. They were wrong.

As the Dilgar had no desire to con querN 'Cha k 'F a h, they made no attempt at the ground invasion for which the Gaim were so well prepared. Instead the Dilgar ships settled, unopposed, into orbit around N 'Cha k 'F a hand began round the clock bombardment of the surface. The Gaim could only watch in horror as the Dilgar massdrivers hurled asteroids into their world. The great, unified army of the Queens was smashed from orbit. Its bases and supply facilities were destroyed and any large concentrations of troops died in the bombardment. Only then did the Dilgar attempt to land ground forces, hoping to simply crush the remains of the devastated Gaim race. They underestimated the ferocity of the Gaim. The handful of Dilgar who survived the attempted landing routed back beyond the clouds.

The Dilgar continued their attempts to bomb the Gaim into submission. They reasoned that the continuous bombardments would break the Gaim morale and make their invasion easier. The Dilgar completely failed to realize, despite multiple attempts, that the bombing had exactly the opposite effect. The various classes of Gaim are engineered by the Queens to feel pleasure at completing their assigned duties and to feel fear and even pain at the possibility of failing in their task. The Gaim warriors are no exception. Enraged beyond reason by their inability to oppose the Dilgar bombardment, the Gaim warriors attacked the Dilgar landing craft with unimaginable savagery.

When the combined fleets of the League arrived at N 'Cha k 'F a h, the Dilgar willing retreated from the deadly world. Despite the devastation caused by the Dilgar bombardment, the Gaim Queens kept to their treaty with the League and agreed to contribute ground forces to assist in the war against the Dilgar. A Gaim expeditionary force fought and died in the liberation of Balos, earning the Gaim a reputation among the League as savage and powerful ground fighters.

Gathering Forces

The Dilgar had taught the Queens a hard lesson. The Gaim had believed that, with a strong and unified ground defense, they would be able to repel any invasion from beyond the clouds. They had never even considered the possibility of orbital bombardment on the scale used by the Dilgar. It was now clear that, in order to protect their race, they would have to go beyond the clouds themselves.

The Queens began two effects to reach this goal. First, they began to develop the kind of heavy industry needed to build the great machines used by the other races. Until this point the Gaim had relied only on light industry and then only when it filled a need that could not be met by the biological engineering at which they were instinctively adept.

The Queens' second initiative was the development of the Gaim diplomatic class. In an unprecedented move, the Queens combined their genetic material to create a class that was loyal not to a single Queen but to the entire race.

The diplomats were created to be bipeds, since that seemed to be the form of most of the races beyond the clouds.

Traveling first on Pak'm a'rash ips, then later on other civilian transports, the Gaim diplomats went out among the other races. The Gaim diplomats made trade agreements with several Earth and Brakiri corporations and with the Centauri noble houses, exchanging carefully crafted pharmaceuticals for technology and eventually for starships with which the Gaim could travel among the stars themselves. To defend themselves, they bought weapons technology from the Centauri (apparently in exchange for biological weapons of questionable legality) and from the Markab (in exchange for a number of mind altering pharmaceutical compounds used in Markab religious rituals).

The Great Conquest March

By 2252 the Gaim had built up a small but impressive spacefaring military force in their home system. Composed chiefly of rearmed, obsolete Centauri warships, the Gaim fleet was primitive, but not insignificant. Their freighters had already begun to travel throughout known space in the wake of their exploration ships. Their nearest neighbors, the Descari, were becoming increasingly nervous about the growing Gaim fleet. Tensions between the two races had been escalating for almost a year, chiefly over Gaim use of the Descari jumpgates.

Finally, in June of 2252, the situation exploded when the Descari caught a Tiac Long Range Explorer conducting an unauthorized survey of their home system. The xeno phobic Descari attacked and destroyed the Gaim ship and its fighter escort. The Descari then expelled all Gaim merchants and diplomats from their space and declared the system closed to the Gaim. Less than a month later the Gaim fleet jumped into Descari space and declared their intention to conquer the system as others had tried to conquer them. In fact, the Gaim Queens had been waiting for such an excuse. They had reasoned that it was not enough to simply possess a space-faring military force. Only when the other races saw their power would they come to respect and fear the Gaim. In order for the Gaim to be respected as a force in the galaxy they would have to demonstrate their strength.

What followed has come to be known as the Great Conquest March. Over the next year the Gaim 's makeshift fleet managed to overrun the Descari defenses atTad 'la 'th a and the neutral mining colonies at Sin 'tal it hand Gamma 7. Toward the end of the conflict, the Gaim even managed to launch a nearly suicidal ground invasion of the Descari homeworld. However, it became clear to the Gaim that they did not have a sufficient fleet to maintain their offensive.

The Queens agreed to allow the Abbai to mediate a peace before the Descari could also realize this and capitalize on the weakening state of the Gaim fleet.

Under the Abbai peace the Gaim returned the territories they had conquered and agreed to pay reparations to the Descari. However, the Gaim considered the Conquest March a victory. They had shown the galaxy that they were a powerful race and not to be toyed with. They had taken their place as one of the major races of the League of Non Aligned Worlds.

Gaim Colonies

Some have speculated that the Gaim had no intention of holding the worlds they took in the Great Conquest March. In fact this is correct. Since they have moved into space the Gaim have founded no colonies or even outposts off their homeworld. For the Gaim the reasons are obvious: to found a successful off-world colony would require a Queen. However none of the existing Queens have any desire to abandon their holdings on N 'Cha k 'F a hand none of them can agree which of them should produce a new Queen. The possibility of a Queen produced by all of them is unthinkable at present. Even if it is possible to produce one agreeably, a new Queen might upset the delicate balance of the power that presently holds their race at peace. Therefore the Gaim have simply restricted themselves to their homeworld.

The Centauri Invasions

The Gaim hailed the Centauri defeat of the Narns in the War of Retribution as a triumph. They welcomed the Centauri, who they considered to be at least a sympathetic power, as neighbors. When the Centauri began to invade surrounding systems in an effort to create a "buffer zone" around their new holdings, the Gaim considered it to be simply a wise strategic move on the part of the Republic. They did not even object when the Centauri annexed several minor systems, including the neutral mining colony of Sin'talith, along the border of Gaim space.

Following the annexation of Sin'talith, the Centauri began construction of a military outpost in the Sin'talith system, building up substantial forces along the Gaim border. Finally the Gaim started to become concerned. The Queens sent a formal protest to Centauri Prime objecting to the Centauri military presence so near to their space.

They insisted that the Centauri withdraw their forces from the border. The Centauri refused, and instead started to move more ships toward the Gaim border.

The Gaim realized the threat to their system represented by this base. Diplomacy having failed, the Gaim launched a preemptive strike. By sheer luck they managed to seriously damage the Centauri outpost before the bulk of the Centauri reinforcements could arrive. The Gaim then retreated and fortified their position around their homeworld.

Perhaps fortunately for the Gaim, their attack coincided with a shift in Centauri policy. Emperor Car tag i a's advisors had convinced him to pull the Centauri fleet back and consolidate their holdings. After only a few probing assaults into Gaim space the Centauri fleet at Sin'talith was ordered to simply fortify their position.

The League Wars

Following the cessation of Centauri hostilities, the Gaim continued to focus their efforts into strengthening their defenses around N 'Cha k 'F a h. A round them the League began to fall into chaos, as the major League powers started warring among themselves. The Gaim did not become directly involved in these conflicts, but their buildup of forces led their neighbors and old foes, the Descari, to start strengthening their forces along the borders. The Descari, also seeing the League fall into chaos, feared that the Gaim buildup was in fact a prelude to invasion, and so they began to increase their forces in response. This in turn led to military buildups among the Llort, the Cascor and the Ipsha, the latter two already involved in conflicts with the Brakiri. Tensions began to grow toward conflict as each waited for the inevitable attack.

The attack that finally came surprised everyone.

The Shadow War

When the Shadows began to openly attack the Brakiri, it stunned the Gaim and the other neighboring races. The Gaim had heard rumors that the Brakiri had a powerful new ally but now it seemed this ally had turned on them. It was immediately obvious that the Brakiri were badly overmatched by this powerful and ancient race. The Gaim, fearing the possibility that if they acted they would call down the wrath of this ancient race on them, chose to hide and remain uninvolved. The neighboring worlds did likewise, believing also that the Gaim would be clear to attack them should they divert their forces elsewhere.

The Brakiri turned to Babylon 5 for aid. Captain Sheridan, in turn, looked to the Gaim and their neighbors. The Cascor, Llort and Ipsha all refused to commit forces unless the Gaim did likewise, and the Gaim refused unless Sheridan proved to them that this was a war they could win.

Sheridan agreed. A short while later, a Vorlon task force defeated the Shadow forces in Brakiri space. The Gaim, believing that with the support of the powerful Vorlons the war could indeed be won, agreed to ally with the Brakiri.

The rest of the League quickly followed suit and the battle against the Shadows was joined. The Gaim did not contribute a large number of ships to the Shadow war, due to the small size of the Gaim fleet and the Queens' refusal to send to their ships far from N 'Cha k 'F a h, lest the homeworld be attacked. However, what ships they did send out fought well alongside the rest of the League, and Gaim task forces were present at many of the major battles, including the final confrontation against the First Ones at Cor i an a 6.

The Reconstruction

Following the Shadow war, the Gaim had lost a sizable portion of their fleet, despite their best efforts. They began the lengthy process of rebuilding, purchasing damaged or derelict hulls, available in abundance, from any race willing to sell. They found themselves becoming more and more involved in the growing galactic community, centered at Babylon 5.

The Interstellar Alliance

The Gaim joined the Interstellar Alliance as much for the promise of technical advancement as out of loyalty to the League. They began almost immediately to us ethel A's offers of technology to improve their heavy industry and even have begun construction on their own native shipyards and designs for the first Gaim designed battleships.

Unfortunately, the Gaim membership in the Interstellar Alliance has not brought them peace. In 2262 Gaim space was invaded by a race of galactic nomads. The Gaim managed to drive off the unknown race, who later attacked Babylon 5 before being driven out of Alliance space. The Gaim remained uninvolved in the Alliance war with the Centauri, perhaps out of a lingering sense of compassion to the Centauri Republic but more likely out of a continued dislike of the Narn Regime.

Most recently, the Interstellar Alliance policy of technology exchange has lead the Gaim into conflict with another Alliance race, the Vree. The Gaim Intelligence has declared war on the Vree Scientists Guild over the patent rights to certain biological technologies that each side claimed to have developed first. So far the war has consisted of only a few minor skirmishes, but observers fear that escalation is inevitable.

The Pak ’m a’ra

Centauri Occupation

The Centauri occupied the Pak'm a'ra homeworld toward the end of the First Republic. Overall it was a bad experience for them, because the Pak'm a'ra didn 'tunder stand what was happening. The highly individualistic Pak'm a'ra simply could not grasp the concepts inherent in subjugation.

To the Pak'm a'ra, the Centauri seemed very odd indeed. They told Pak'm a'ra to do things that were not part of their particular goals -of-the -moment and got very upset, even violent, when those requests were not met. They were unwilling to share or even discuss their new ideas, expecting the Pak'm a'ra to understand without need of explanation. They simply made no sense.

For the Centauri the occupation was very frustrating. The Pak'm a'ra were, to Centauri eyes, lazy, smelly, disgusting carrion eaters. They didn 'to be yord ers but they didn 't seem to have any kind of organized resistance either. Killing their leaders did no good and installing leaders loyal to the Centauri was likewise useless as the leaders seemed to be deposed and replaced constantly without rhyme or reason.

Eventually, the Centauri realized that the whole affair was not a worthwhile effort and largely withdrew. They maintained nominal control over the Pak'm a'ra (who did not care in the least) through Centauri planetary governors (who were invariably given the position as punishment for some terrible misdeed). The Centauri placed high taxes on the Pak'm a'ra, who took the matter as simply a new task to be handled like any other. As long as the Pak'm a'ra paid their taxes in a timely fashion, the planetary governors were thrilled to leave them alone (the less contact with Pak'm a'ra, the better, in the Centauri opinion).

When the First Republic declined and the subject worlds rebelled or were abandoned, the Centauri administration on the Pak'm a'ra homeworld was more than willing to leave and never look back.

The Road to Space

When the Centauri Republic abandoned Me lat (the Pak'm a'ra homeworld) during the fall of the First Republic, they destroyed or stripped most their major installations, factories and military bases. However, they left behind a large amount of "junk." In exploring the ruins of the Centauri facilities, the Pak'm a'rad is covered a number of clues that led them toward more advanced technologies. For example, among the ruins of a Centauri base the Pak'm a'rad is covered a semi-functional technological database. The files had been incompletely purged. While the data was insufficient for the Pak'm a'ra to duplicate the Centauri technology, it gave them ideas.

In the years following the Centauri departure, the Pak'm a'ra carefully considered and discussed the possibility of following them into space and seeing what other odd beings with new and strange ideas might be out in the universe.

After along and often difficult debate, the entire Pak'm a'ra race decided that it would be worthwhile to begin a new task, the task of Discovery. They turned to the Centauri database once more for inspiration and began to develop the technologies needed for space exploration.

After many years the Pak'm a'ras pace program proved successful. The basic needs for space travel had been addressed. Many individuals had gathered and prepared for their new task of Discovery. A remarkably large number of ships, needed to accommodate the many who had dedicated themselves to this new task, were constructed. Finally, Pak'm a'ra scientists unlocked the abandoned Centauri jumpgate and they took their first steps out among the stars.

In the words of Centauri historian To maLo well i, "The universe has never smelled quite the same since."

Joining the League

As the Pak'm a'ra expanded into space, they began to establish trading outposts. They exchanged the goods and raw materials that they knew the Centauri had valued for curiosities and trinkets that would provoke discussion back home. Furthermore, they used these trading outposts are a means to learn more about the races they were trading with. For the Pak'm a 'ra, talking with their "customers" was the most important part of trading.

When the Abbai began the process of creating the League of Non -Aligned Worlds, the Pak'm a'ra were among their earliest supporters. To the Pak'm a'ra, the League would provide them with an excellent opportunity for peaceful contact with any number of races, as well as serving to protect them from hostile powers, like the growing Narn Regime.

The Dilgar War

By the 2230 s the Pak'm a'ra trade network had expanded through the League. When the Dilgar began their invasions, the Pak'm a'ra were became aware of them but generally paid them little attention. Conflict among the races of the League was not so uncommon as to be a new thing of discovery.

However, when the Ala can ship Pyrotinia arrived at the Pak'm a'ra outpost orbiting the Gaim homeworld of N 'Cha k 'F a h, the Pak'm a'ra took notice. The Dilgar's rapid advance and genocidal strategy was indeed something new. Moreover, the Pak'm a'ra at the outpost were quick to realize that if the Dilgar were allowed to succeed they would soon have few races to share experiences with. They immediately abandoned the outpost at N 'Cha k'F a h, which they could not defend anyway, and agreed to lend aid to the worlds be set by the Dilgar.

A sword spread among the Pak'm a'ra, many agreed that the Dilgar must be opposed. However, it was never agreed among the Pak'm a'rath at a unified military action against the Dilgar the answer. Indeed it is doubtful such an action was ever seriously considered among the individualistic Pak'm a'ra. Working together to protect their homeworld the Pak'm a'ra could understand, but Me lat was never in danger of invasion.

Instead, the Pak'm a'ra began to do that which their years of trading had taught them well: they began to provide logistical support to the embattled League. Throughout the war, Pak'm a'ra freighters ran supplies, cargo and refugees through Dilgar occupied space. They willingly risked their lives running Dilgar blockades of besieged systems to provide needed supplies and intelligence data to the League worlds.

The Dilgar, for their part, destroyed Pak'm a'rash ips wherever they could, but made no real effort to invade Pak'm a'ras pace. They reasoned that the Pak'm a'ra had not yet committed their full military forces to support the League and would not, since the Dilgar invasions of Drazi and Hurr space had shown the Pak'm a'rathe power of the Dilgar fleet. The Dilgar never realized that, had the Pak'm a'ra assembled all their ships in one place, they would have posed a significant threat. The Pak'm a'ra, for their part, simply never saw the need to do so.

The League Era

Following the defeat of the Dilgar, the Pak'm a'rare turned to their task of Discovery among the League. Their actions in support of the many besieged worlds had won them many friends among the League races, and the Pak'm a'ra found themselves suddenly welcomed in places that had shunned them before. Pak'm a'rash ips became common sights at almost every League port. Small clusters of Pak'm a'ra dedicated to Discovery and Trade became a feature of every trading hub in the galaxy. Pak'm a'ra transports began to haul freight for many of the League races, as well as carrying their own goods. As one human trader put it, "These guys are the truckers of the galaxy."

The Centauri Invasions

The simmering conflict between the Narn and the Centauri had been a backdrop against which most of galactic politics has been played since the Narn first stepped into space. It was therefore not much of a shock when that conflict finally erupted into open war. The Pak'm a'raw a tched the Narn -Centauri war with a sense of dread. They knew that both mighty races had a taste for conquest and feared that if either power prevailed over the other it would eventually go badly for the Pak'm a'ra. They began to withdraw their scattered fleets and gather them at homeworld in hopes that their combined forces would give the victor pause and avert an invasion of theMe lat. The assembled armada was massive, far larger than anyone would have anticipated. Unfortunately, it was not enough to deter the victor.

Before facing and defeating the mighty Narn war machine, even the great Centauri fleet might have paused before the amassed fleets of the Pak'm a'ra. In fact, many in the Centauri military felt that the invasion of Pak'm a'ra space, coming as it did along with the invasions of almost every other race bordering on the newly expanded Centauri Republic, was foolish. The fact that this assessment was correct did not spare them from the Emperor's wrath and their successors wisely obeyed orders and tried to make the best of the situation.

Once the Centauri began their attacks into Pak'm a'ras pace, they found the situation to be far better than they had feared. The sheer size of the Pak'm a'raf leets, which had seemed so intimidating, was in fact a disadvantage to the Pak'm a'ra. Their mentality was simply not well suited to large fleet actions and instead of facing one large armada the Centauri found themselves opposed by a large number of small, disorganized task forces which simply could not seem to coordinate their efforts.

Using the Pak'm a'ra's disunity and inability to react quickly to changing situations, the Centauri managed to keep them off balance and slowly whittled away the Pak'm a'raf leet. The Pak'm a'rare a lized that they could not win this conflict alone and turned to others for help. They first formed an alliance with their neighbors, the Drazi. The Drazi were also hard pressed by the Centauri invasions, but they knew that if Me lat fell the Centauri would be able to move from there to quickly conquer the G rome and Hurr. This would leave Drazi space surrounded and then they would eventually fall. The Drazi agreed to the alliance and sent a task force to support the Pak'm a'ra. The Pak'm a'ra, in turn, sent a number of task forces to reinforce and support the Drazi. They reasoned, correctly, that their forces would do more good there than confusing things near their homeworld.

The alliance forced the Centauri to reevaluate their strategies against these races and in the pause the Pak'm a'ra and Drazi appealed to Babylon 5 to help them mediate a peace agreement. Unfortunately the Centauri demands for peace were unacceptably high for the Drazi and the peace talks broke down almost as soon as they started. The Centauri invasions continued until Emperor Car tag i a 'sad visors finally convinced him to pull back and reinforce the Republic's borders.

The League Wars

Shortly thereafter, the Pak'm a'ra were approached by mysterious figures who promised protection from the Centauri and opportunities for greatness. While the former appealed to the Pak'm a'ra, the latter did not. As a people the Pak'm a'ras imply have no interest in expansion or conquest, and hints of possible roads to greater power simply did not interest them. The Pak'm a'ra desired to discuss and debate a possible alliance with this mysterious race, but their would-be benefactors pressed for a more immediate response. The Pak'm a'ras imply would not agree and the Shadows turned to other, less difficult, prospects. The Pak'm a'ra continued to try to talk to the rest of the League. As conflicts began to grow among the other League races, the Pak'm a'rare fused to take sides.

Eventually the Pak'm a'ra found themselves briefly drawn into the spiraling conflict when their old mercantile rivals, the Vree, began to attack Pak'm a'ra trade convoys. The Vree had been convinced by the Shadows that the Pak'm a'ra were smuggling biological weapons in support of some of the warring factions. However, the Vree attacks turned up no evidence of this mythical plot. The Pak'm a'ras imply refused to be drawn further into the conflicts and the Vree backed off their attacks.

The Shadow War

When the Shadows began to openly attack the League worlds, the Pak'm a'ra were stunned. The race began to debate amongst themselves what the best course of action to take would be. It seemed clear to the Pak'm a'rath at the Shadows, like the Dilgar before, were intent on mass destruction, and many felt that they should be opposed as the Pak'm a'ra had opposed the Dilgar. Others argued that the Shadows were far more advanced, even beyond the Minbari, and just like the Minbari to they would destroy any who aided their enemies.

The debate raged until finally Captain Sheridan of Babylon 5 convinced the Vorlons to strike against the Shadows and began to unify the League to oppose the great darkness that was gathering. The Pak'm a'ra joined the rest of the League. Perhaps they finally decided that they must honor their alliances and attack together with their stricken League allies. More likely they were, typically, curious about what would ultimately happen.

As they had in the Dilgar War, the Pak'm a'ra chiefly provided logistical support for the other League races. They assisted with the transportation of the growing numbers of refugees fleeing the war. Rarely did the Pak'm a'ra fight on the frontlines, but they were always there. Pak'm a'rash ips were present on the famed Battle of Sector 83, where the League delivered the first defeat to the Shadows, behind the lines protecting the refugee transports. When the Vorlons went mad the Pak'm a'ra risked their lives running ahead of the Vorlon planet killer fleets trying to rescue as many civilians as they could from the wrath of the Ancients.

Finally, in the Battle of Cor i an a 6, the Pak'm a'ras tood with the rest of the League against the Ancients and watched as the First Ones left the galaxy forever.

The Reconstruction & the Interstellar Alliance

Following the victory of the younger races over the Ancients, the Pak'm a'ra again began to serve as logistical support for the League, this time assisting in the reconstruction of colonies, outposts and bases damaged during the Shadow War. Due to their heavy involvement in transporting goods for the reconstruction, the Pak'm a'ra suffered heavily at the hands of raiders. They willing supported the continued Babylon 5 alliance. When Sheridan offered to use the Rangers to put down raiders and other enemies, the Pak'm a'ra offered logistical support to the Rangers.

During the Earth Civil War, they joined the other League races in supporting Sheridan's rebellion against President Clark, even going so far as to provide logistical support first for the rebel fleet and later for the joint League forces.

Finally, the Pak'm a'ra became one of the first races to join the Interstellar Alliance. When membership in the Rangers was opened to all the races of the Interstellar Alliance, a Pak'm a'ra moved quickly to join, owning to the great respect they now held for the Rangers. The Pak'm a'rare manded neutral in the war against the Centauri and continue to be one of the more moderate factions within the Alliance. They continue as they have before, running cargo and trading experiences with the many races of the galaxy.

The Vree Trading Guilds

The Vree are blessed with an unusually rich star system. In addition to their homeworld, it contains two life bearing planets: smallD eruzala, nearly as verdant as Vreetan, and icy Photikar, still surprisingly hospitable to Vree biology. Photikar's moons and a rich asteroid belt provide the necessary materials for industrial concerns. It is hardly surprising that when the Vree first entered space (circa 1650) that their energy went towards developing the inner system, and colonizing their sister worlds. It was a century and a half before the artifact in their outer system was investigated, and a further half century before their first hyper-capable ships were prepared.

In 1860 the first successful interstellar mission made peaceful contact with the Yolu, and in the next year, the Markab. At this time the Vree were unusually well developed for interstellar newcomers, but it is nonetheless fortunate for them that their first encounters were with non-aggressive aliens. War has always been Commerce by other means for the Vree, and their contact-period warships were primitive plasma-armed vessels that would have fared poorly against their more conquest-oriented neighbors. Once appraised of the dangers of the interstellar community, they rapidly sought out and purchased additional weapons technologies, and set about building a more credible defense.

Exploration & Trade

The Guilds spread out rapidly through the interstellar community; exploring, researching, and establishing trade missions wherever they went. In the 1940 's a scientific mission surveyed Earth and the Solar system. The loss of a reconnaissance shuttle and various other incidents caused much consternation among the Human population, but in the end the Vree decided that the profits to be made were outweighed by the risks associated with bringing a warlike species into contact in their own backyard.

In 1958 a joint Scientists and Merchant-Adventurers Guild expedition made perhaps the greatest discovery in Vree history. A group of ancient Minbari warships, destroyed in the last Shadow War, were found in a the LaGrange point of a dead world, where they had apparently been ambushed. These wrecks became the focus of intense research, and made Vree naval technology what it is today. Vree ships have always used the familiar saucer layout, and were originally armed with an array of conventional Plasma weapons. After contact, they purchased various Particle weapons, and used a mix of Particle and Plasma weapons thereafter. The first payoff from the salvaged Minbari ships was improved sensor technology, appearing in the Xu Attack Saucer of 1962 (coincidentally, this was also their first turreted saucer). In 1985, gravitic drive and artificial gravity became available, and by 2092, the first antimatter weapons had been developed.

The 2100s were a quiet, peaceful time for the Vree. Their economy continued to expand, and their traders and Xeecra mobile commercial bases became a common sight throughout known space. In 2124, the Vree established their first, and to date only, interstellar colony at Alzeral. The Centauri resurgence was of some concern in this period, but it eventually became clear that they were expanding along a different axis, as well as looking for weaker fish to fry.

Recent Wars

In 2228, the Dilgar War spread across known space, and the Vree were there at the beginning. The Dilgar were the greatest threat to free trade that the Guilds had yet seen, and they opposed them enthusiastically. Unfortunately, the small size of their fleet of dedicated warships (mostly Xorrs and a few Xeel carriers) combined with poor coordination made them less effective than they might have been.

The Vree emerged from the War as ardent supporters of the League, and with the understanding that they needed a larger and more controllable Navy. Of the wars in the late 2250 sand early 2260 s, the Vree were least affected by theE A and Minbari Civil Wars and the Narn -Centauri War. Aside from shrinking markets, there was little in these conflicts to concern them. The Scientists Guild dispute with the Gaim over advanced chemical patents has yet to flare into full-blown combat. Distance shielded them from the worst of the Centauri incursions into League space after the Narn defeat, although their shipping and trade bases did suffer.

The Shadow War and League Wars were a different matter, however. The Merchant-Adventurers Guild was an early and strong supporter of the Interstellar Alliance, perhaps due to their experience with the leavings of the previous Shadow War, and their ships were a standard component of the AoL. Although the Vree lost some ships to Centauri raids during the lA -Centauri War, the Vree did not participate in theIA retaliation.

These wars showcased the new breed of Vree warships, such as the excellent Xill War Saucer and impressive Xonn Dreadnought. As the mid 2260 s approach, it appears that the Vree may be prepared to assume a position of some prominence on the interstellar scene.

The First Ones

The ancient races that still reside in the Galaxy areas powerful as they are rare, and their ships are awesome to behold. Many of the systems used by First One ships are quite different from those employed by the Younger Races.

For the most part, these are represented as closely as possible in familiar terms, using icons similar to those in the basic game rules. Although their actual form might be different, they carry out the same functions. For example, Vorlon engines are nothing like those used by the EarthAlliance or even the Minbari, but still exist to provide thrust, no matter how much larger or advanced they may be.

However, some systems are new, using highly advanced technologies for purposes as yet undreamed of by the Younger Races. Others are extremely enhanced versions of more familiar devices. These items, common to most or all of the First Ones, are listed hereafter.

Advanced Armor

Advanced armor is a term used to describe the armor employed by Vorlons, Shadows, and other First Ones. This type of armor provides a number of special abilities as listed hereafter. Note, however, that these abilities work only against the weapons employed by Younger Races. Weapons fired by other First Ones ignore all of these advantages.

Weapons on hybrid ships (such as the White Star or Shadow Omega) are treated as Younger Race technology for this purpose. Note that such hybrids do not themselves possess advanced armor unless the ship's rules or control sheet specifically indicates it is present (thus, the White Star would not benefit from this type of armor, while the Shadow Omega does). If a ship has advanced armor, this fact will be listed in the "Special Notes" box on the control sheet.

Advanced armor has the following advantages:

Plasma weapons do not ignore half the value of advanced armor, but are affected by its full strength.

Matter weapons treat advanced armor as though it were two points less than listed (they do not ignore it completely). In the case of systems with two or less points of armor, they are considered to have a zero value.

Weapons which damage or destroy armor (e.g., molecular disruptors or plasma streams) do not use these abilities against advanced armor.

Electromagnetic weapons which cause effects other than damage (e.g., reducing a ship's power, low ering sensors, reducing initiative, deactivating systems, or forcing drop -out) do not affect a ship or fighter protected by advanced armor. EM weapons which cause damage still score this damage normally, but if they are listed as ignoring armor, they ignore only half of advanced armor (round fractions up, so an EM weapon doing 10 damage to a system with 5 points of advanced armor would score 7 hits).

Advanced armor can adjust and shift its surface's nature, preventing breaching pods and docking clamps from attaching. Tractor beams, gravitic shifters, and the like will still function normally.

Advanced armor can anticipate ballistic weapons due to their slower rate of approach. Its value is considered 2 points higher versus any ballistic device (missile, torpedo, energy mine, etc.).

Self-Repair Systems

Most First Ones ships are equipped with self-repair systems capable of removing some amount of damage their ships have suffered during a scenario. Each such system is displayed on the control sheet in a hexagon-shaped icon.

Each turn of the scenario, during the Adjust Ship Systems step of the Combat Sequence, a self-repair system can repair a number of destroyed boxes equal to the repair rate shown in the self-repair icon. It can only repair damage that occurred on a previous turn (not the current turn), cannot repair self-repair boxes, armor, or shuttles/fighters, cannot replace structure on blocks which were completely destroyed (or anything attached to such blocks), and cannot recreate fighters or shuttles that have been lost. Vorlon ships can temporarily double their repair rate by deactivating all their ship's weapons and shields, but other races cannot do this.

Self-repair systems can work on as many different systems as they wish, limited only by damage and their repair rates. If there are two or more self-repair systems on the same ship, each does its work separately, and can combine their efforts if desired. The use of self-repair is never required or forced upon the player, but is always employed a this option.

Critical hits can be repaired with self-repair systems. These count as one "box " being repaired, except for C &C criticals, which count as four "boxes." Note that systems which have suffered multiple critical hits must repair each of them separately. A critical which tells you to apply the effects of two or more other criticals counts as multiple crits for this purpose, not a single one.

Self-repair systems can make repairs to a device that has been completely destroyed by damage (except an entire structure block or anything attached to such a block). However, that system will not be functional again until it has been totally repaired. If even one destroyed box remains on it, it will not work at all. Even if fully repaired and restored to functionality, it will retain any critical hits it had suffered before its destruction, unless those are also repaired.

Self-repair systems are limited to a maximum number of boxes' worth of repairs during a scenario. This limit is equal to ten times the number of undestroyed boxes on the self-repair system itself. Thus, a self-repair system with 15 boxes could repair at most 150 boxes (or their equivalent— critical hits count as one or more "boxes" as described above) during a scenario. If a box is destroyed, repaired, and destroyed again, repairing it a second time counts as a second repair against this limit.

If the self-repair system is damaged or destroyed, recalculate the maximum limit immediately, although any previously completed repairs are not lost. Repairs in progress which would push the self-repair system over the new limit will not be completed.

Critical Hits:

On a critical hit roll of 19 or greater onad 20, the repair rate is cut in half.

Advanced Sensors

The First Ones operate sensors in the same way as ships of the younger races, but theirs are more advanced. A ship which uses advanced sensors will have this fact listed in the "special notes" box on its control sheet. Advanced sensors have the following advantages:

They are immune to the effects of "masking " technology, including Minbari jammers, Centauri chameleon sensor suites, stealth technology, and similar items. Items with similar abilities operated by First Ones will still function.

They ignore all defensive ELINT capabilities (blanket protection or single ship protection) and cannot be disrupted by ELINT. Enemy ELINT ships may still use their offensive aid function normally. ELINT ships operated by other First One ships ignore this rule and can use all their abilities normally.

Advanced sensors cut through any non-First One protective systems which lower a ship's defense rating with the exception of defensive weapons fire and defensive EW generated by the target. EA energy webs, for example, would not lower their ship's defense rating against an advanced sensor, but the interceptor could still be used defensively.

Similarly, Abbai particle impeders cannot use their EW abilities, but could still fire in defensive mode. As a final example, a gravitic or EM shield would not get its defense rating bonus against an advanced sensor, but would still lower the damage caused by incoming weapons in the usual way.

Note that advanced sensors are not immune to defensive EW, though they do ignore defensive ELINT functions.

Effects of Terrain

First Ones are adept at moving through various terrains and through hyperspace, as befits their great experience surviving within the Galaxy. This provides them with a number of benefits, as listed below.

Atmosphere: First Ones ignore the first thickness point of atmosphere. For example, in a gas giant of thickness 2, they would treat this as a 1.

Gravity: First Ones treat gravity sources as 1 pointless than they actually are. Thus, for example, a source of strength 3 would be treated as a 2.

Asteroids: First Ones subtract 2 from their speed when rolling for asteroid damage.

Dust: First Ones reduce dust damage by 25%, applied before fractions are dropped. For example, a ship moving speed 11 would normally take 5.5 damage (5 points after dropping fractions). A First One would take 5.5 - 25% or 4.125 damage, or 4 points after dropping fractions.

Nebulae: First Ones ignore the effects on thrusters and jinking, but all other items apply as listed.

Meteor Swarms

: First Ones subtract 2 from their dieroll.

Electromagnetic Storms

: Subtract 1 from all effect rolls, except that First Once do not temporarily lose power, and are immune to the "attacks" generated by the storm.

Dark Matter Clouds

: Ping range is doubled (e.g., 1 point of sensors reaches out 10 hexes) but only reveals the First One at the normal range (e.g., 1 point of sensors reveals the ship to units within 5 hexes). First Ones with jammer like benefits do not cancel these bonuses if they issue a ping.

Hyperspace Travel

: First Ones ignore or avoid many of the effects on the Hyperspace Table in the Core Rules.

Treat any roll of 14-15 as no effect. On a 16 -17, First Ones ignore any roll of 6-10 or 16 -20 on the subsequent shift check. On an 18-19, speeds are reduced by 10%, not 20%. On a 20, use both of the preceding effects as usual.

Hyperspace Whirlpools

: First Ones subtract 4 from the die, cumulative with any other bonuses.

Hyperspace Wave forms

: First Ones treat themselves as one size category smaller for calculating waveform damage (e.g., a capital ship would be considered a heavy combat vessel, while a light fighter would take no damage).

Hyperspace Rapids

: First Ones treat the rapids as 2 levels lower than listed. They can voluntarily forego this benefit (or treat it as 1 level lower) but must announce this decision before the start of the scenario and cannot change it during that scenario.

Vorlon Technology

Vorlon ships are based on a kind of organic technology. The ships themselves are part machine, part living creature. They form a symbiotic relationship with the Vorlon who controls them. Pilot and ship have a telepathic bond, and thus the ship requires no controls of any kind. It simply obeys the will of its master. Normally a single ship has a single Vorlon to pilot it, although larger capital ships have full crews, usually made up of Vorlon agents. The ships are fully capable of repairing and maintaining themselves, just like any living organism, although critical damage may require extensive "healing time " at a base. All the Vorlon needs to do is provide a brain to give the craft direction.

The creature's skin or hull, like all Vorlon technology, adapts itself to the conditions it finds itself in. Thus, once it has been exposed to some enemy weapon (lasers, plasm a, and so forth), it actually modifies its own structure and makeup to become more resilient to damage from that source. Depending on the situation, the ship can even alter its resiliency within the course of a single battle, customizing itself to the various foes it is facing. On the offensive side, the Vorlons employ a number of powerful electromagnetic weapons capable of ripping less powerful ships to shreds in short order.

Adaptive Armor

Vorlon ships also use the same adaptive armor found on the White Star (though usually more powerful). The combination of adaptive and permanent segments are collectively treated as "advanced " (so, for example, you would not add 2 to both values versus ballistic weapons), and the lack of either does not reduce or eliminate advanced armor abilities.

Vorlon ships, with their vast experience over the ages, always have some memory of just about any weapon type they have ever encountered. For this reason, they can begin any scenario with some of their adaptive armor points pre-assigned. If they wish, they can wait to do this until they have learned the nature of their opponents (if the scenario calls for an unknown deployment of enemy units). The amount of pre-assigned points available is shown on the ship control sheet in the adaptive armor datacard.

Remember that weapons which ignore or damage armor would apply such effects only to /against the permanent segment of adaptive armor. The adaptive segment would operate normally and would not be affected by armor damaging weapons. For example, this would mean that the adaptive segment of such armor is capable of fully blocking matter weapons and molecular slicer beams if set to defend against those weapon classes.

Advanced Jump Drives

Vorlons use jump drives similar to those employed by the younger races, except theirs are more advanced. The jump costs and delay times are usually very low as a result. In addition, the jump point can be formed up to 12 hexes away from the ship (it is not limited to a mere 4 hexes), and can be held open indefinitely.

Vorlon jump drives do not require a specific maintenance cost. Instead, they are held ready to operate at any time using built-in bioelectrical energy sources. When they are activated, the required amount of energy shown in the power diamond must be drawn from the capacitor. See the description of the power capacitor for more information.

Vorlons in a jump point also have a chance of escaping from a Shadow vortex disruptor attack; see the description of that weapon in the Shadow chapter for the specifics.

Limited Autonomy

The living ships used by the Vorlons are capable of flying themselves without direction from an actual Vorlon captain. This would apply if a true Vorlon is not piloting the ship himself (in a special scenario), or if the ship's C & C is destroyed. Under these circumstances, the ship suffers the following penalties:

Reduce initiative bonuses by 2.

Lower free thrust by 25%, dropping all fractions.

Lower all shield ratings by 1.

Lower sensors by 2.

Lower the capacitor recharge rate by 20%, dropping all fractions.

Self-repair systems operate at half their normal rates.

The ship may only hold a jump point open for a single turn.

All hangar bay activities require twice as long to complete.

These penalties apply because the ship creature is required to devote some of its limited cognitive power away from controlling these operations and into driving the vessel. Note that a llC & C criticals continue to apply even if the ship is not piloted by a Vorlon (they are assumed to affect the ship directly).

Note that it is very unusual for a cruiser-sized or larger Vorlon to use these rules (except as a result of damage), but smaller vessels— especially transports— do so frequently.

Power Capacitors

Vorlon ships do not use reactors, but have a built-in power capacitor system instead.

This capacitor is biological in nature, and is part of the living ship's body. The electrical energy produced by this life form fills the capacitor overtime, and it is from this source that the ship draws power for its weapons, jump engines, and extra thrust.

All capacitors can hold at most one point of power per box, and the destruction of a box both lowers their capacity and destroys any power contained in that box. (The release of such energy will not affect the ship, as it simply bleeds off into space.) Capacitors also recharge a certain amount of power each turn automatically— this amount is shown as a number within the capacitor icon. Recharging occurs just before movement, as shown in the Combat Sequence.

Each time the Vorlon ship uses a system which requires power, or purchases extra thrust, it must draw energy from the capacitor. (Weapons on Vorlon ships are not automatically powered each turn, but use the capacitor for this purpose.) If the capacitor runs out, the ship can do nothing more until the next turn, when more energy is restored into the system. Fortunately, most Vorlon vessels have large enough capacitors to operate at peak efficiency indefinitely. The real advantage of the capacitor system comes when the ship is required to make a series of intense maneuvers, or fire its heavy weapons as frequently as possible.

To account for the energy used, simply keep a running total of the capacitor's energy level (either on the control sheet or a nearby sheet of paper). Points are subtracted in the following cases:

Each time a weapon is fired, subtract its energy cost from the capacitor's total. For example, a weapon with a " 4 " in the power diamond would cost 4 points of energy from the capacitor. Note that there is no reason to deactivate weapons for extra power on a Vorlon ship. Vorlon weapons can be fired as often as power can be drawn from the capacitors to supply them.

Extra thrust (beyond the basic free thrust amount provided with the engine) is purchased by drawing energy from the capacitor. For example, if a ship with an engine efficiency of 4/1 requires an extra point of thrust, subtract 4 energy from the capacitor. Note that the engine can operate normally if the capacitor is destroyed, but cannot purchase extra thrust.

Sensors operate normally without any expenditure of power (they do not have a power diamond for this reason). It is possible to buy more EW using the normal rules, expending capacitor energy for this purpose, although this is somewhat expensive.

When a Vorlon ship opens a jump point, the amount of energy shown in the jump drive's power icon must be drawn from the capacitor. The jump point can be held open indefinitely as long as this amount of energy is paid each turn.

Finally, the Vorlon ship can double the rate of capacitor recharge by voluntarily shutting down all its weapons and shields. This option must be chosen and announced at the 1-17: No effect.

beginning of the turn in the appropriate step

18-22: -1 to recharge rate.

of the Combat Sequence. The doubled power

23-27: -2 to recharge rate and the capacitor loses one recharge occurs immediately thereafter. For half (drop fractions) of the energy it is currently holding.

example, if the ship would normally regener28+: -4 to recharge rate and the capacitor is completely ate 8 power, it would instead receive 16 power.

emptied.

On the same turn in which this is done, all

Note that the capacitor cannot explode or go critical, a repair rates of self-repair systems are also significant advantage over the reactors used by younger races.

doubled, though this will not take effect until

Capacitor Critical Hits the end of the turn, at the appropriate point in the Combat Sequence.

Shadow Technology

The key to Shadow success when it conies to creating chaos is their powerful ships. Like those of the Vorlons, Shadow ships are based on a highly advanced bio-technology. The ships themselves are living beings coupled with technological enhancements. The ships have a rudimentary intelligence, but require a pilot to operate effectively. Long ago the Shadows piloted their own ships, but after the first war with the Vorlon puppets the Shadows quickly changed tactics. While Shadow numbers have always been greater than the Vorlons, they are also more susceptible to physical damage. A great many Shadows were lost in that first war, and Shadow birth rates are no better than those of other First Ones (which is to say, almost non-existent). While licking their wounds and preparing for the next war, the Shadows decided they needed to find an alternative pilot for their ships.

The ships themselves were then simplified and made even more user-friendly than before. They were redesigned to accommodate any kind of lifeform the Shadows might want to use. The Shadows can use nearly any sentient species as pilots. First, the potential pilot must have its brain outfitted with cybernetic implants that will allow him or her to interface directly with the Shadow machinery. In effect, the pilot and ship become one joined entity. These implants are so versatile and powerful that they will even allow the pilot to interface with non-Shadow technology. The implants will metamorphose to force an adaptation into any device. The implants also serve to severely retard free thought and disloyal feeling within the subject. The result is a pilot who is entirely subservient to the Shadow cause and Shadow instructions and yet retains the independent initiative and creative thinking useful in piloting a starship in combat.

Shadow Ship Layout:

Most Shadow vessels have no front, rear, or side structures at all (though they do have front/rear and port/ starboard defense ratings). Thus, any damage they take is automatically a Primary hit. Piercing mode weapons treat Shadows as medium ships for damage purposes.

Systems on Shadows may not be attacked with called shots.

Bio-Drives

Shadow ships do not move using any sort of conventional drive systems. Instead of thrust, they redirect bio-energy using advanced technologies not even dreamed of by the younger races.

Shadow ships have a series of small "bio -drives " or "bio -thrusters" that produce all their ship's thrust.These are considered to face any direction desired at the time the thrust is needed, although an individual bio-drive may only apply thrust in one direction (forward, port, aft, or starboard) during any turn. A bio -drive 's location on the control sheet does not affect this choice (a drive system on the port side could be designated a starboard thruster if needed, for example).

Although Shadow ships do not have engines on their control sheets, they still have an engine efficiency rating which determines how much power is needed to produce an extra point of free thrust.

Bio-drives can overthrust, and accept critical hits like any other thruster would. They share the same icon as normal thrusters, although "Bio -Drive System" will be noted in the Special Notes box as a reminder that these are treated differently.

Energy Diffusers and Tendrils

Each leg, or tendril, of a Shadow ship is attached to a damage distribution system known as an energy diffuser . Damage which hits the ship can be absorbed instead into a tendril, preventing actual boxes from being marked off. The stored damage points can then bebled off into space safely, without harming the Shadow vessel. This is why Shadows are capable of absorbing so much punishment without being destroyed. However, there is a limit to the absorption ability of the tendrils.

Once this has been exceeded, the Shadow ship is rapidly and easily eradicated.

The diffuser system appears as a concentric circle icon with a number of lines attached to various tendrils on one side of the ship. The tendrils on a side can be used only against shots coming in from that side (the typical Shadow vessel has two diffusers, one on either side, though there may be exceptions to this rule). Indeterminate shots are resolved in the same way as with

Energy Diffuser Example

A raking volley of 40 points hits a Shadow ship. This is subdivided into four 10-point sub-volleys per the normal rules. The first sub-volley rolls hit location and hits the slicer beam, which has 5 armor. Rather than let the remaining 5 damage hit the weapon, he absorbs it into a tendril, writing “5” in that tendril’s record box. The second 10-point sub-volley rolls hit location and again hits the slicer. Since the slicer has already used its armor against this volley, the full 10 points would be applied against it. However, the Shadow player again absorbs the sub-volley, this time into a different tendril (incidentally filling it). By luck, the third 10-point sub-volley hits the slicer beam. As it happens, the only tendrils on that side which are not already filled with damage hold 5 points already and have a capacity of only 10 points. The Shadow player absorbs the sub-volley into one of these tendrils, filling it, and the remaining 5 points are marked as damage against the weapon (he cannot apply them to a different tendril as only one tendril can be used against any sub volley). The final sub-volley hits the slicer a fourth time. Cursing, the Shadow player absorbs 5 points into a tendril and 5 points hit the slicer beam, which is enough to destroy it (it was previously damaged before this example), with 1 point of overkill. The Shadow ship can now choose to absorb this 1 point into a different tendril (as overkill is permitted to be transferred to another tendril), or let it hit the structure. He chooses the latter, and the 1 point bounces off the structure's armor.

any other weapons fire:

The Shadow player chooses which side is hit, but must select the same side for all shots coming from the same unit on that turn.

When any volley or sub - volley a

Shadow vessel, roll for hit location normally and subtract armor in the usual way (and apply special effects, such as matter or plasma armor interactions, or effects that weaken or destroy armor, if necessary — remember, Shadows possess advanced armor that may nullify such abilities).

The Shadow player may now choose to either mark the remain- ing damage from the volley on the listed system, or absorb it into a tendril. If it is Diffusers vs. Flash Damage absorbed, simply write the damage amount in one of the diffuser record boxes provided Flash damage is a special case, resolved as follows. First, for this purpose. The total amount absorbed determine the system hit in the normal way and subtract armor into any specific tendril cannot exceed that as required. The Shadow player then selects at most a single tendril's maximum rating (shown in the tendril and absorbs as much damage as it can handle. If extra box)— if it does, the remaining damage pro damage is leftover, resolve it as a completely new volley, exceeds on to hit the originally damaged sysactly as above (i.e., roll for a new system hit, subtract armor tem (it cannot be absorbed by a different even if that system was hit in the previous volley, and proceed with tendril absorption). A different tendril (but only one) can be tendril). If a volley or sub-volley is completely used with each volley. Repeat the procedure until the flash absorbed, and no damage actually pen weapon damage is all used up or the Shadow ship is destroyed.

etrates into the targeted system, then no

Should any damage penetrate to a system (either because the critical hit will be generated for that system Shadow ship runs out of tendrils or because the player chooses by that volley.

to allow it) the system will absorb damage until it is destroyed,

Note that absorption is performed at and then a new volley will be generated as above.

the sub-volley level, so a Shadow ship could, for example, choose to accept some subvolleys from a single raking shot into diffusers while other sub-volleys could be taken as actual hits. If a volley later results in further damage to another system (e.g., through overkill or other effects),

Diffuser Critical Hits

I-1 0 : No critical hit.

II-15: No effect to the diffuser. However, one of the attached tendrils is destroyed (player’s choice). Mark an X in its box to indicate this. The pilot suffers “pain” (described under “Shadow Pilots” hereafter) on the next turn equal to the tendril’s absorption capacity (treated as damage, even though no damage points are actually marked off anywhere in the ship).

16-19: Lose a tendril as described under 11-15, and reduce the diffuser’s discharge rating by 1.

20-24: Lose a tendril, reduce the discharge rating by 2 and lower the absorption ratings of all remaining tendrils by 2.

25+: Lose two tendrils, reduce the discharge rating by 3 and lower the absorption ratings of all remaining tendrils by 4.

the Shadow player can choose to accept the remaining damage into a different diffuser at this point, or allow it to damage another system using the normal rules.

At the end of each turn, a diffuser can discharge some of the energy in its tendrils by bleeding it off into space. The amount of energy which can be discharged is shown in the diffuser's icon.

This amount can come from one or more tendrils in any combination desired. Energy absorbed on the current turn can be discharged if the Shadow player so wishes.

The diffuser itself services all tendrils to which it is attached. If it is destroyed, those tendrils can no longer absorb or release damage. The Shadow player is, therefore, advised to always absorb any damage that would hit a diffuser!

Phasing Drive

Shadow ships use this unique engine to phase directly into or out of hyperspace without the need for jump drives or jumpgates. To use it, the ship simply activates the drive during the Announce /Open Jump Points step in the Combat Sequence. The ship begins to phase out at this point (this must be announced) and all weapons (but not other systems, such as sensors) are deactivated immediately (and automatically) to feed power into the drive. At the end of the turn, during the Adjust Ship Systems step, the Shadow vessel disappears and is removed from play (treat this as disengagement from the scenario unless otherwise specified by that scenario's specific rules).

During the turn of phasing out, the ship is vulnerable to fire from enemy weapons. If the phasing drive is damaged— with even one point of damage after armor and diffuser absorption — during a phase-out, the drive overloads and destroys the ship! For this reason, the Shadows usually move well away from a combat zone before phasing, or at least make sure the general area is clear of any enemy units.

If a Shadow ship is phasing into a scenario, it uses the exact same procedure except that it is not quite as vulnerable. Its weapons do not need to be deactivated (though they cannot fire during the phase-in, at least they will be ready on the following turn). The ship is, however, still subject to destruction if one box of the phasing drive is destroyed.

The ability to use a phasing drive is built into the hulls of Shadow ships, and is tied into the energy diffuser tendrils.

If even one of these has been destroyed, or if the phasing drive itself is destroyed, the ship may not phase into or out of hyperspace. If the drive is damaged but not destroyed, it can be used, but with the same risk of overload as damaged jump engines have (see the Core Rules).

If a Shadow ship cannot phase out for any of the reasons listed above, another Shadow vessel of the same size or larger can dock to it and phase them both (assuming it meets the criteria for phasing, of course). The two ships must match speeds and headings, and be in the same hex, and they must spend one full turn flying together to complete the docking procedure. On the following turn, they can phase out safely. While docking, or while docked, neither can fire weapons, though they can use energy diffusers if needed. They are treated as separate targets for all other purposes.

If the main ship is destroyed while phasing out, the docked vessel is also destroyed!

Half-Phasing

The maneuver referred to as half-phasing temporarily shunts a Shadow ship partially into hyperspace, making enemy weapons more likely to miss. Half-phasing uses the phasing drive to its limits, so that system must be completely intact to use this maneuver. As with phasing out, damage to the drive will destroy the Shadow ship if it is involved in a half-phasing attempt.

To use this procedure, the Shadow player announces during his step in the movement sequence that he is partially phasing out. This requires the full use of any two undamaged bio-thrusters (their thrust is channeled directly into the phasing drive). If two undamaged thrusters are not available, the maneuver cannot be executed.

Half-phasing lasts throughout the duration of the turn. While the maneuver is underway, the following effects occur:

The Shadow ship's defense ratings are improved by 8 against ballistic weapons (including proximity types) and by 4 against any other kinds of weapons. Note that this applies directly to the ship's defense ratings (it is not EW).

The Shadow ship suffers a -10 penalty to any weapons fire on that turn.

The Shadow ship cannot use vortex disruptors while half-phasing, nor can it launch or recover fighters.

While half-phasing, the Shadow ship cannot be rammed, nor may it ram, unless the other unit is itself half phasing. If the half-phased ship enters a hex containing a solid object such as an enormous unit, asteroid, or planetary surface, it passes through unharmed, so long as it ends the turn in open space (at the end of the turn it will rematerialize, even if the player intends to continue half-phasing on the subsequent turn). If it ends up in the same hex as a solid object, it is forcibly thrust into hyperspace (or normal space if already in hyperspace) with such force as to destroy itself without damaging or affecting the object it appeared within.

The ship may not phase into or out of hyperspace on a turn in which it is half-phasing (the phasing drive can be used for only one purpose on any given turn). Half-phasing does not affect the jump rate of the Shadow ship.

Half-phasing can be done each turn, though it stops at the end of that turn and must be restarted on the following one. It is normally used when the Shadow ship becomes the target of large numbers of ballistic weapons, which are otherwise difficult for a Shadow vessel to defend against, or believes it is about to be the subject of a ramming attack.

Shadow Pilots

A Shadow pilot is one with its ship. Thus, any damage scored on the ship causes considerable pain to the pilot.

For every 10 points of damage or destroyed tendril capacity (not counting energy blocked by armor or absorbed into the diffusers), dropping any fraction, the ship suffers a -1 penalty on weapons fire, has a -1 penalty to initiative, and loses 1 point of free thrust. These penalties apply on the next turn only, after which the pilot recovers. During this "pain turn," the Shadow ship emits a horrible scream which can be heard over most communications channels.

It is possible to kill the pilot directly with a lucky hit to the precise center of the ship. If all Pilot boxes are destroyed, the ship is "killed " (it crumples into a wasted shell). If some, but not all, boxes on the Pilot system are hit, each one is considered a "wound " (causing the same effects as pain, explained above, except that they remain for the duration of the scenario, and cannot be repaired with self-repair systems). Wound and pain effects are cumulative.

Shadow pilots bring with them any abilities or skills they had before converted to Shadow service. Thus, a pilot who was an elite officer would retain those abilities (which, naturally, would have to be paid for in Combat Points) should those optional rules be in use. Since there is only one pilot, however, he can only have the abilities of one officer, and cannot be considered an elite crew under any circumstances.

Telepaths vs. Shadows

The Shadow ship (and its pilot) is vulnerable to telepaths, who can make a devastating psychic attack during a scenario. The primary means to determine the effect of such attacks is the telepath's psi rating, which normally ranges from 1 (weakest) to 12 (strongest). Some rare cases may exceed these levels, but nothing higher than PI 5 has ever been recorded.

Usually, scenario rules will specify which ships have telepaths (and their levels). In free-form scenarios, players may not buy them individually, although one may be employed if all sides agree. Due to their varying effects and the fact that they function only against Shadows, it is impossible to set a proper point value for them. As a general rule of thumb, however, assume they cost 50 points per psi rating level, with a maximum level of PI 2 available under most circumstances.

Telepaths can be employed on any ship or fighter. Even the Narns (who do not have natural telepaths) can use them, presumably hiring one from outside sources. Historically, most ships do not include telepaths as part of their normal crew, and before the Shadow War, even if one was present he would not know about his abilities versus the Shadows. Thus, in a scenario set before the Shadow War, telepaths should not be used (except by the Vorlons).

All Vorlons are telepaths of level PI 5, but cannot use their abilities without dropping all control over their own ship. Thus, their vessel would be forced to operate autonomously if the Vorlon flying it began aps i attack, and due to the captain's need for total concentration, the ship would be forced to fly in a straight line (no maneuvering is permitted). In addition, if it sps i attack failed, the Vorlon would still be under these restrictions for the rest of the turn— during which its opponent would be sure to turn the tables on its would -be attacker! (Note: Unless the scenario specifically calls for this ability to be used, Vorlons will never employ it, as directly involving themselves in a mental attack is considerably distasteful to them. Thus, in a free-form battle, Vorlon telepathic powers cannot be used, and in a campaign, their use should be severely restricted.)

During any turn, a telepath can make a psychic attack on a Shadow vessel within a number of hexes equal to the psi rating times 2, so long as the target ship can be directly seen by the telepath in question (a video image is not sufficient). Normally, the telepath is positioned on the bridge (or cockpit of a fighter), and thus can directly see targets only through the forward 120° arc (or the rear arc if located in the navigator's seat of a two-seat fighter). In some cases, the telepath will be in another part of the ship (this option is not available for fighters). If this is the case, assume that any location in the primary hull or forward structure area can see through the forward arc, any location in the port area sees through the port arc, and so on. If located in a weapon emplacement, the telepath gains a field of view equal to that weapon's arc. However, the telepath is considered disabled (but not killed) if even one box is marked destroyed on the system he resides in, and is considered killed if that entire system is destroyed. If disabled, he is unavailable for the rest of the scenario, but could be used again later in a multi-scenario campaign. If desired, the telepath (if not disabled) can move to another part of the ship, but will be unavailable for two full turns while in transit (only one turn if the location is in or attached to the same structural area).

To make his attack, the telepath roll sad 20 just after electronic warfare status has been announced by all ships on the map (i.e., before movement during the turn). The telepath's presence and location is revealed at this point. If the dieroll is equal to or less than his psi rating, he "locks on" to that Shadow vessel. Once lock-on is achieved, the following effects occur:

The Shadow ship's speed is temporarily reduced by a value equal to the psi rating (to a minimum of zero).

Thus, a ship moving 15 hexes per turn under attack by a P8 would drop to speed 7, while a ship moving 10 attacked by a PI 2 would drop to speed 0. Available free thrust points are reduced by an equal level. Any rolls or pivots in progress are temporarily halted. Speed, rotations, and thrust are restored as soon as the telepathic link is broken (picking up where they left off, as applicable).

The Shadow ship cannot fire weapons or launch /recover fighters while the telepath is locked on, although its weapons continue to charge (if applicable). If the ship operates fighters, which are semi-autonomous, they can continue to attack, but at a penalty to their initiative equal to one-third the psi rating (drop all fractions); e.g., a PI 1 would reduce initiative by 3.

The Shadow vessel cannot activate its phasing drive for any purpose, and other Shadows cannot dock to help it escape.

Energy diffusers cannot bleed off energy into space.

Note: If the target ship is actually piloted by a telepath— something the Shadows were trying to arrange during the Shadow War— subtract the defending ship's psi rating from the attacker's rating before any of the calculations above are made. Thus, a PI 2 attacking aSh a dowP7 would be considered a P5 for all purposes herein. If the defender's rating is equal to or greater than the attacker's, then no attack can be made (but the defender gains no other benefit).

Since few Shadow ships are known to have been piloted by telepaths, this can only happen in specific "what-if"

Once a Shadow ship has been locked onto by a telepath, the lock-on can be cancelled in any of the following ways:

The telepath must roll each turn to continue holding the Shadow ship in his mental grip. Each turn after the first, however, his psi rating is reduced by 1 for this purpose only, representing the strain of "holding on." Thus, a PI 2 would have to roll a 12 or less to grab a Shadow on the first try, an 11 or less to hold it on the second turn, a 10 or less the turn after, and so on. This roll is made at the same time in the Combat Sequence that the original lock-on attempt is made.

If the attacking telepath can no longer see the target (because one or the other of them moves in such a way that the attacker's position no longer "sees" the Shadow, as described earlier in this section, or if line -of-sight is lost), then the lock-on is broken. All restrictions against the Shadow are lifted, although movement-related ones are still in effect for the current turn.

If the system containing the telepath takes at least one point of damage, the attacking telepath is automatically disabled (or killed, if the system is destroyed) and lock-on is lost. All restrictions against the Shadow ship are lifted at the start of the next turn.

Once lock-on is lost (or if the attack fails), the telepath suffers a kind of psychic exhaustion due to the strain of attacking the alien Shadow ship. For two turns thereafter, plus the number of full or partial turns that lock-on was maintained, that telepath cannot make another attempt on the same or any other Shadow vessel. Thus, a telepath who locks onto a Shadow ship for 2 turns, beginning on turn 1 and ending on turn 3, cannot try again until the start of turn 7 (4 more turns after lock-on is lost). A telepath who tried and failed could try again two turns later (assuming the Shadows, now knowing where he is, permit him to survive long enough to make the attempt).

Self-Repair Systems

Shadow ships have a self-repair system similar to that used by other First Ones, and use the same rules except as noted herein. Their repair devices are more limited, however.

Shadow self-repair systems cannot repair structure at all (whether totally destroyed or not). They also cannot repair tendrils which have been destroyed due to diffuser criticals (though these will regenerate over the course of several weeks).

Energy Damping Field

This is not a weapon, but an effect of the Shadow Energy Cloud. Any ship or fighter within the cloud at the start of the turn suffers from the effects listed below.

One -half (round fractions up) of all free thrust is lost while in the damping field, and engines (except those on First One ships) function at double the listed ratings (e.g., an engine rating of 2/1 functions as 4 /1).

The first turn a unit is in the damping field, all energy is drained out of jump engines, sensors function at only half efficiency (round fractions up), no special weapon functions (piercing mode, sustained mode, etc.) can be used unless that is the only method the weapon may use to fire, and energy equaling one-fourth (round fractions of 0.5 or more up) of the total number of weapons on the ship must be deactivated (and their power is lost, not transferred to other systems).

The second consecutive turn in the field, sensors function at only one-fourth efficiency (round fractions of 0.5 or more up), special weapon functions are lost as above, and one -half of the ship's weapons must be deactivated.

The third consecutive turn (and later) in the field, sensors and weapons are totally drained and useless.

Once the ship is no longer in the field, the penalties above are lifted. Any weapons that were shutoff must, naturally, begin the rearming process again from scratch.

Fighter Bomb

Shadow carriers do not employ separate fighters, but instead create them by drawing off part of their essence. The fighters are then spewed forth in a clump, something the younger races have euphemistically dubbed the "fighter bomb ."

A bomb can contain any amount of fighters, but the Shadow ship cannot operate more fighters during a scenario than its listed maximum (shown on the hangar icon). In addition, since the destruction of a fighter robs the ship of some of its structure (see below), a Shadow ship cannot create more fighters in a scenario than its structure allows.

Shadow ships do not maintain or launch fighters using their hangar like most ships. Instead, they draw from their own structure to create fighters. Whenever a fighter is formed, place a dot or slash in one structure box. If the fighter is later recovered, erase this mark. If all structure boxes contain marks, no more fighters can be produced.

If a marked structure box is destroyed in combat, the fighter is cutoff from its carrier and can no longer land. It will die and shrivel up after the scenario is over (but can continue the battle otherwise unaffected).

If a fighter is lost (and was not already cutoff as above), the corresponding structure box on its carrier is also lost (mark it destroyed). If that was the last structure box on the ship, the ship is destroyed! Note that Shadow fighters cannot drop out of combat, so players can actually damage (or even destroy) a carrier by picking off its wounded fighters. The fighters cannot phase out, but can flee the map and disengage in the hopes of being recovered later.

They can remain unattached to their carrier for several hours (assuming they are not cutoff by damage to the ship), even if separated by great distances. However, it takes the carrier several days to recover from the loss of a fighter, so it cannot generate a replacement until at least that much time has passed.

To use a fighter bomb, the Shadow ship treats the hangar as it would any other weapon. The bomb is launched during the Weapons Fire step of the Combat Sequence, and targets a hex in the hangar's arc, at a maximum range of 10 hexes away. There is no chance of a miss, so no dieroll is needed. The bomb immediately bursts into any quantity of fighters the Shadow player wishes (subject to the ship's fighter maximum and the amount of hull boxes available, of course). They have the same heading and speed as the firing ship, and are all located in the targeted hex. Note that since they arrive on the map during the Weapons Fire step, they cannot take any actions until the following turn (and their guns would not begin arming until that turn).

Shadow hangars cannot recover fighters, only launch them as above. Fighters are recovered by using the normal fighter landing procedures. If a fighter lands, it is immediately reabsorbed into the structure, and can be launched again as soon as the following turn (with all of its existing damage repaired). Any damage the fighter had when it landed, or any energy contained in its diffusers, must be absorbed into a single diffuser of the carrier's choice (any excess penetrates as damage to a random system, ignoring armor).

Shadow hangars do not suffer from critical hits.

Note: Shadow fighters are not free, but must be paid for at the listed cost in Combat Points. If they are not purchased, it is assumed that the ship's pilot is incapable of controlling fighters and therefore cannot use them.

Shadow fighters can never be purchased independently, but must have a carrier available. In published scenarios, such as those presented later in this book, Shadow ships are assumed to be fully capable of launching all their fighters unless otherwise noted in scenario rules.

The Ancients

While some data is available regarding the Vorlons and Shadows, almost nothing is known of their ancient brethren. These elder races (referred to herein as "Ancient Ones"), with populations measured in single or at most double digits, travel the Galaxy with little thought to the doings of the younger races. Though they are cousins of the Shadows and Vorlons, they see little reason to get involved in their ongoing conflict, even though most of them abhor it.

To these immortal beings, life has evolved onto a higher plane, with their goal to strive to the next level of existence— whatever that might be. The younger races, still a few rungs below the Ancients on the cosmic evolutionary ladder, should be left to climb — or fall— of their own accord. Some of the Ancients wished to end the great Vorlon Shadow war, but knew that they alone cannot bring it about. They are simply too few in number, and to removed from understanding the ways of the younger races, to get involved.

Nonetheless, at the last, the Ancient Ones were instrumental in bringing about the final termination of the "War Without End." It was the First One himself who saved Sheridan from death at Z 'h a 'd u mand returned him to Babylon 5. Then, at the behest of himself and the Rangers, other Ancient Ones agreed to join the fight to end the great war.

This section describes those who participated and their ships, some of which are like nothing else that has ever been seen in the Galaxy. Note that, because these races are so unique, their weapons are described in this part of the book instead of the weapon technology chapter.

Ancient Technology

The Ancients have had untold eons to develop and perfect their ships, which are more than a match for any small fleet of ships from the younger races. Despite this, they can be defeated, as they ceased all technological advancement millennia ago, losing interest in weapons and defenses when the need for them was gone. Otherwise, who knows how powerful they would actually be?

Even so, it is difficult to represent their tremendous technology in game terms. Every effort has been made to display their vessels in the familiar format. For example, even though most do not use "thrusters" as we might understand them, they all have systems that perform the same purpose, and these appear as thruster icons on the control sheet. Some of the more significant differences include the following:

Advanced Technology:

Ancient ships use advanced armor and advanced sensors, just as the Shadows and Vorlons do. Note that many of the benefits of such systems are ignored when used against other First Ones. For example, an ancient plasma gunfire data Shadow would ignore half that ship's armor.

Maneuver: Ancient ships are all treated as using a fully gravitic drive system unless otherwise noted.

Hangars: The Ancients do not have a need for shuttles, and do not operate them. It is assumed there is some method available for docking to other units if needed, but this is not denoted on the control sheet.

Movement To/From Hyperspace:

Each Ancient One has its own method for traveling into hyperspace, but these are all listed on the control sheet as a "special jump drive" for consistency. The drive affects only the Ancient's ship and nothing else (unless otherwise noted). As with a phasing drive, the jump drive is initiated at the start of the turn and takes the ship out of (or into) the scenario by the turn's end, though the vessel will be vulnerable to weapons fire in the interim. Except as noted, the ship may not fire weapons while jumping into /out of a scenario. If the jump drive itself is damaged while the ship is departing /arriving, it has only half the usual chance of detonating. Ancient jump drives cannot be affected by vortex disruptors.

Self-Repair:

All Ancient Ones possess self-repair systems which operate using the rules given previously in this supplement. Though their repair abilities are limited during scenarios, they can completely regenerate themselves given enough time (typically several weeks of inactivity).

C&C: If an ancient ship completely loses its C & C, it can continue to maneuver, and can jump out of the scenario if desired (assuming its jump drive is intact). It may not fire weapons, however, except in defensive mode.

Uniqueness:

Ancient ships are unique, and cannot be built or duplicated by other races. It may be that others of their type exist somewhere in the Universe, but they are not likely to ever be seen in our Galaxy. It is possible that a future product may appear detailing others of their kind, so some of the rules hereafter may use general terminology.

Such a product would focus on ages long since past.

The Ancient of

Ancients: Lorien

The original Ancient One lived on Z 'h a 'd u m, the heart of Shadow territory, apparently oblivious to all that went on in the Galaxy. The Shadows felt that his presence there made their bases and cities immune to attack, for who would dare bring destruction to the home of their most ancient and revered ancestor? In addition, the fact that he did nothing to stop the Shadows proved they were in the right. Unfortunately, this attitude is like claiming God in on your side because He does not strike you down with a lightning bolt!

In truth, the First One, who called himself Lorien in the presence of the younger races, was quite interested in everything that went on in the Galaxy. From his home at Z 'h a 'd u m, he could safely observe all that occurred, keeping an eye on all Shadow and Vorlon activities while remaining uninvolved. Not wishing to see those he considered his children fight each other directly, he was secretly pleased that the Shadows chose his world as their base, for this meant the Vorlons would indeed never make a direct attack on the Shadow citadel. Satisfied to watch, he never became involved in any way, until the very end.

For most of history, he was content to let the Vorlons and Shadows persist in their non -confrontational conflict, himself not sure which of their beliefs was correct. But then things began to change as the Vorlons started to get directly involved in the development of the younger races. He disapproved, but still chose to do nothing. Then the Shadows began to break the "rules" to match the Vorlons, and Lorien could see a dangerous escalation developing.

Soon, very soon, he knew his children would cross the line he hoped they would never cross. When they did, he knew he had to act.

When Sheridan fell into the caves of Z 'h a 'd u m, Lorien sensed in him the key to the entire puzzle. Saving the Captain from certain doom, the First One escorted him back to Babylon 5 to take his place as the pivotal point in the Shadow War. Lorien then proceeded to convince other Ancient Ones to join the fight, hoping to force the Shadows and Vorlons to realize that their war must end, and let the younger races go their own way, without anymore Ancient interference.

Lorien has a small spacecraft similar to a shuttle, which he alone pilots, although it is not clear whether this was a real vessel or one he merely created on a temporary basis. This ship is unarmed— he has no need for conflict— and no other Ancient One would ever consider firing upon it. Thus, it is a noncombat an fand can safely be left out of any scenario. Should it have a need to appear in a scenario, assume that no Shadow, Vorlon or other Ancient One will fire on it, and no weapon of the younger races (even ones based on Shadow or Vorlon technology) can affect it.

The Walkers of

Sigma 9 57

Near the world of Sigma 957 there is a tear in the fabric of reality that leads to another kind of space— "Other space," if you will. The Walkers explore this Other space, entering and leaving it through the Sigma 957 rift and other rifts elsewhere in the Galaxy. As children of our Universe, however, they cannot stay long in Other space, which may be another plane of existence, or a different universe entirely (it is doubtful any member of the younger races could fully comprehend it). They return from Other space drained, resting until they can resume their exploration. To this end, the world of Sigma 957 has been hollowed out and turned into a kind of waystation. This is the closest thing the Walkers have to a home in the Universe.

In ancient times, the Walkers were the first to explore the Galaxy and map its many features, systems, and anomalies. Exploration and discovery seemed to be the most important facet of Walker life from the beginning. While other Ancient Ones were doing whatever interested them, and generally staying put in their own territory, the Walkers were moving around, constantly surveying new places and meeting new races. They were the first to discover hyperspace, enjoying the challenge of this new terrain. They were also the first to go beyond the Rim, though always they returned to their familiar home, for reasons of their own. For countless millennia they bounced from galaxy to galaxy, always mapping, always exploring, and always coming home in the end.

Each time the Walkers came back, they found their once -familiar surroundings changed. Growing empires of younger races, so promising centuries before, would be altered or destroyed, with new civilizations growing in their place. Sometimes the very terrain itself— planets, stars, nebulae— would be forever disrupted. This was the equivalent, as far as the Walkers were concerned, of having a bad taste left in their mouths. Instead of a home that was familiar and serene, it was under constant change and conflict. Imagine yourself leaving your own hometown for a year and returning to find your house modified and every neighbor replaced with someone else— this is what always awaited the Walkers upon their return.

Yet, despite this, the Walkers did nothing. The Vorlons and Shadows, younger kin to the Walkers, were far more numerous and too well integrated into galactic societies. So, rather than interfere, the Walkers instead withdrew. In the course of reacquainting themselves with the Galaxy, and looking for familiar places that had not yet been touched by Vorlon or Shadow influence, they discovered the rifts to Other space and set about exploring this exciting and unique place. In so doing, they made their withdrawal complete, ceasing any pretense of being interested in Galactic affairs.

When the Rangers began contacting First Ones, with the hope of enlisting their aid in the Shadow War, Sigma 957 was the first place they visited— but only because they knew an Ancient ship (Traveler-Through-All, or simply the Traveler) moved frequently in the area. Even so, the Walkers were unwilling to join the war, still seeing what was happening as beyond their control. In the end, the Walkers only agreed to participate when brought down to the same level as the Vorlons by a feisty Commander Ivanov a— an attitude the Walkers desperately wanted to dissuade. They still might have changed their minds at the end if not for the appearance of Lorien.

Special Jump Drive

When it wishes to move into hyperspace, Other space, or some other dimension, the Walkers' ship (the Traveler) lets loose with a coruscating field of crackling lightning, fading away into the center of the resulting maelstrom. This operates as any other Ancient jump drive, except that the Traveler is permitted to fire weapons on the same turn it departs the map. Additionally, the Traveler suffers no chance of being destroyed if its jump system is damaged during a turn the drive is in use, though jump -out will be cancelled if the drive is completely destroyed.

Due to the Walkers' extensive experience in hyperspace, the Traveler may choose to ignore any hyperspace penalties, adjustments or effects. This includes those from special features such as whirlpools and wave forms. If entering a hyperspace singularity (see "Hyperspace Whirlpools " in Showdowns-1) the Traveler can choose any desired result from the table and will take no damage from the effect.

Lightning Array

Class: Electromagnetic

Mode: Flash

The lightning array is a massive electromagnetic weapon used solely by the

Traveler. It functions as an advanced communication device allowing the Walkers to communicate across vast distances and through dimensional barriers, but can be switched into offensive mode. This provides a truly devastating weapon with a considerably longer range than most other Ancient armaments. It is, however, possible to dissipate or redirect such an attack by throwing flak or other particles into the beam 's path, so it is susceptible to interception.

The array can fire up to four times per turn at the same or different targets. In addition, two or more of these shots can be combined, using the statistics shown on the control sheet. The decision to use combined fire is announced before any shots are taken by the Traveler.

Critical Hits:

Do not use the normal weapon critical hit chart. Instead, roll 1 d20 with the usual modification for damage taken by the weapon. If a 28 or greater is rolled, the lightning array loses one of its shots per turn. This is cumulative with any previous critical of the same type.

Chromatic Pulse Driver

Class: Electromagetic

Mode: Pulse

Visible on the sides of the Traveler and on the lightning array are often several small, multi-colored spheres. These are an extension of one of the various arcane sensor suites at the Walkers' disposal, the purpose of which would be incomprehensible to the Younger Races. Like most of the Traveler's scientific technology, it is so potent that it can easily cause significant damage when used in an offensive manner.

If not fired on a given turn, more pulses become available on the ensuing turn, as shown on the weapon datacard.

Energy Absorption Field

The Walkers are fanatical about recording and mapping every single micron of space.

To this end they employ a fantastic sensor suite that investigates matter and energy at the molecular level in a zone surrounding all of their ships. It is very dangerous for an insufficiently shielded ship to travel within such a zone, as the effect drains the energy out of all electrical systems.

This device produces a field of negative energy that deactivates power-consuming systems on any units approaching within 5 hexes of the ship. So long as the energy absorption field is active, any ship ending its turn inside the Energy Absorption Field suffers the following effects, calculated in the Critical Hit Step of the Combat Sequence:

The ship loses I d lOof the following attributes on the next turn, increased by a fur the rId lOf or every additional turn ended in the Energy Absorption Field. The minimum any attribute can be reduced to is zero.

Free Thrust: If thrust is reduced to zero, the ship will be unable to maneuver unless it has some other way to acquire thrust.

Energy: If the ship's reactor is completely drained of power, this will force the deactivation of everything on the ship that requires energy. This includes any weapon or system with a power diamond, even if that icon contains a zero (such as missile racks)— these systems require a nominal amount of energy that would be completely drained by the field. Note that this would include a ship's jump drive and sensors!

Initiative: The initiative loss takes the form of an additional modifier, similar to moving at a speed of less than 5 hexes per turn. Initiative penalties produced by the field cannot exceed a total of -20.

The ship's total EW is reduced by 1d 6 for the next turn, increased by a further 1d6 for every additional turn ended in the Energy Absorption Field. The minimum total EW that a ship can have is zero.

Any fighter or shuttle trapped in the Energy Absorbing Field at the end of the turn must immediately test for drop -out on 2d 10 instead of the usual I d l O, also increased by an additional 1d 10 for every successive turn spent in the Field. Even if the fighter/shuttle does not drop out, it will not be able to shoot next turn, and loses initiative and free thrust in the same manner as a ship.

In addition to the above effects, the Energy Absorption Field also applies a cumulative -1 targeting penalty for every hex of field between the firing ship and its target. This essentially reduces the Traveler's defensive profile by 5 from all angles (so long as the firing ship is outside the field), but is not limited to only the Traveler. Simply trace the most direct route between the firing unit and its target, and add up the number of hexes that the targeting beam must pass through the Energy Absorption Field. Apply the result as a penalty to hit. Plasma and antimatter class weapons treat every hex within the field as 2 hexes, not 1, unless operated by other First Ones.

Flash weapons are extremely sensitive to the dampening of the field. If they strike a unit located within the field (either the Traveler or another nearby unit), they will only affect the target (collateral damage will not be scored). The first unit will still take full damage, however. This applies to First One weapons as well as the weapons of Younger Races.

Proximity weapons, such as energy mines, which land within a field hex only detonate in that hex, losing any explosion radius they might normally have. They will still cause their full damage within the target hex, affecting any unit therein. This applies to weapons operated by other First Ones as well as Younger Race technology.

Enormous units are large enough to be shielded from much of the field 's effects. The modifiers are limited to the first die ( - I d l O or -1 d6), and are do not increase with every additional round.

The Traveler, and other Walker ships, are (naturally) immune to the field 's effects, and additional fields do not provide cumulative modifiers. The total targeting penalty from multiple fields is still calculated, but overlapping hexes are only counted once. If multiple Walkers are somehow allowed in the same scenario, it would be a common tactic to use several of their support vessels to screen the larger ships, forcing the enemy to target through ten or fifteen hexes of Energy Absorption Field in order to hit the Walkers' flagships.

The Energy Absorption Field will affect any non-Walker ship, including those of other Ancients, regardless of the desires of the Walker player (i.e., he cannot specify that it will ignore certain other ships, such as other Ancients). The Traveler can, of course, deactivate the energy field if moving amongst friendly units, but cannot deactivate some hexes (or reduce its radius of effect) without turning off the entire system. The Energy Absorption Field will not affect the Vorlon planet-killer or Shadow cloud.

Critical Hits: Roll a d20. If a 21 or greater is rolled, the radius of the field is reduced by 1. The field cannot be driven below a radius of 1 hex by critical hits.

The Kirishiac Lords

The Kirishiac Lords are the youngest of the Ancients and thus were the most numerous. Eons ago, they were of a similar mind as the Shadows, believing in a philosophy of growth through change. To this end, they adopted a policy of expansion and control of territory within the Galaxy, going to war with many of the other Ancient races and either destroying them or driving them out of the Galaxy. Only the most powerful and oldest remained, for the most part keeping out of the Kirishiac Lords' path.

Once they had dominated the Galaxy, however, the Kirishiac longed for further conquest. They set their sights on other nearby galaxies, sending a few ships across the vast intergalactic voids, but these did not return. The Lords who remained tried to comfort themselves with what they had, but a burning desire for conflict still raged within them. They looked upon the territory controlled by the other Ancients and grew jealous. Worse, the aloof way which their elders treated them filled the Kirishiac with a wave of hatred and eventually paranoia. In their ire, the would -be Lords of All struck out against the Ancient Ones, and in the brief war that followed, they were soundly defeated. The other Ancients asked Lorien to pass judgment upon the Lords, but he refused, retreating instead to Z 'h a 'd u mand (apparently) turning his back on Galactic affairs.

The Kirishiac thus went unpunished, but they had lost many of their kind during the disastrous war, and knew there was nothing more to be found in this Galaxy. Most of them passed beyond the Rim, never to return, humiliated by their defeat and the knowledge that they would never be powerful enough to win control of the Milky Way.

One Kirishiac Lord remained, however. When the rest of his people departed, he could not bring him self to do so.

Something about his home galaxy still held his interest, though he could not fathom why. So he remained, watching, trying to discover what held him to this place so strongly.

The Shadows and Vorlons, his distant brethren, also stayed behind, and the Lord kept his eye on them. Through the millennia, wherever they brought conflict, he was watching from his hidden citadel, studying their actions and their results. He came to understand the Shadows and Vorlons like no one else, not even Lorien. When the final phase of the Shadow War began, he could sense the end was near, that events were spiraling beyond the control of either of the puppetmaster races.

To his great and everlasting surprise, the Kirishiac discovered that he actually cared about the conclusion to the war. Though his ship had not been seen in the Galaxy for uncounted millennia, he took to the stars once again, determined to see the end of the fighting first hand, however it might result. When Lorien sought him out, asking his aid on behalf of the younger races, the Lord readily agreed. Like a spectator to the Championship Game of All Time, suddenly given a chance to join the contest, he could not turn away from such an opportunity!

When the Shadow War finally ended, the last Kirishiac knew his inexplicable connection to the Galaxy was finally gone. Conflict and strife had fought order and stability to the last, and the result was a stone cold stalemate. Finally cured of his thirst for battle, he went beyond the Rim to join the rest of his kind.

Orbital Segments

The Kirishiac ship, known as the Lordship, can separate up to eight pieces of itself from the main body. These "orbital segments" are shown on the control sheet as separate structure blocks with a single anti gravity beam. At any given time they are in one of two states:

Deployed:

Unless otherwise noted by the Kirishiac player, the orbitals are considered deployed at the start of the scenario. In this state they float above the structure they are associated with, and can be hit on any normal attack to that side (there is a separate hit location chart for such cases). They can also be specifically targeted as if they were fighters (this does not mean they actually are fighters or that they use any other fighter rules, however). Use the defense ratings shown on the control sheet. If this is done, calculate the hit location as shown on the "Orbital Hits" chart.

Called shots may not be made on the orbital or weapons attached to them. If there is any overkill on the orbital's weapons, it passes to the orbital's structure. Any further overkill would be lost (it does not pass to the associated structure block), though flash damage could pass to another system. Weapons on an orbital cannot be deactivated for extra power while deployed. If the associated structure block is destroyed while an orbital is deployed, the orbital is also destroyed.

Undeployed:

In this state the orbital is attached to the main hull of the ship. Its structure is treated as part of the associated structure block for all purposes. Its weapon cannot be hit while undeployed (treat any "orbital" roll on the hit location chart as "structure"). While undeployed, weapons on the orbital can be deactivated for extra power.

To move between the deployed and undeployed states, the orbitals launch or land like fighters, doing so in the Hangar Operations Segment. They do not suffer from initiative penalties for doing so and do not force similar penalties on their mothership. The Lordship is permitted to deploy or recover orbitals while rolling, pivoting, or performing other advanced maneuvers. Each orbital can be deployed or undeployed independently from the others.

When deployed, the orbital segments move with the Lordship, using the same heading and executing turns, pivots, accelerations and decelerations simultaneously. Their positions remain relative to the Lordship if it rolls or pivots. In effect, they remain in the exact positions shown at all times, maintaining the displayed firing arcs. If the Lordship transitions to or from hyperspace, all its orbitals make the shift simultaneously. If the central ship is destroyed, all segments are destroyed.

If the pieces are damaged or destroyed, they can be regenerated. To do so, they must be recovered (i.e., undeployed) by the main ship and remain in this state for 5 complete turns (even if the orbital is "destroyed," enough bits of it remain to form the framework of a new segment). So long as the associate structure block has not been completely destroyed, all damage on the orbital will be erased when the 5 turns have elapsed (even damage scored on it while regenerating). This is done independently of any self-repairs performed by the main ship. The orbitals are destroyed with their associated structure block and cannot regenerate if that block has been lost.

Hardened Advanced Armor

When they were a power within the Galaxy, the Kirishiac launched many campaigns against the other Ancients, preparing their ships by developing superior armor. The Lordship is encased in an ultra-dense material, providing protection even deep into the ship's structure. It grants the Lordship all benefits of advanced armor, in addition to the following:

Against weapons that would normally ignore advanced armor, the Lordship's armor counts as half, rounding fractions down. This includes weapons operated by other Ancients, as well as every sub-volley from a raking shot, even if they all hit the same location. Hardened advanced armor is always applied.

Against flash mode weapons, all armor counts as double, even against weapons operated by other Ancients.

Armor is not halved vs. plasm a class weaponry, even if operated by another Ancient. Even the mighty plasma weapon operated by the Triumvir on is unable to gain its special benefit.

Hypergravfton Blaster

Class: Gravitic

Mode: Raking (20)

This weapon is an incredibly advanced form of the graviton beam. It can fire every turn, and sends a wall of hypergravitons towards its target, ripping it to pieces. Like gravitic weapons operated by Younger Races, it is interceptable but highly versatile:

This weapon causes damage in raking mode; however, the shot is broken up into raking volleys of 20 points of damage, not 10.

If desired, the hypergraviton beam can withhold fire for a turn, then fire in double strength on the following turn.

As the graviton emissions of the beam are tied closely to the propulsion system of the ship, some energy from the engine can be routed to the weapon at the sacrifice of mobility. For every 6 points of thrust applied to the hypergraviton blaster, increase the damage bonus by + 10 points.

This permits the weapon to dish out some seriously insane amounts of damage, but only if all defensive weapons are taken off-line and the ship foregoes maneuverability entirely.

If the weapon completely destroys its target or destroys a structure block on a heavy combat vessel or larger unit, any remaining damage can be shunted to another target. This is possible due to the huge size of the beam and the Lordship's control over it. Use the following rules and restrictions:

The new target must be in the same hex or within 1 hex in any direction. It can be of any size (it does not need to be the same size as the original target).

The firing player must roll to hit the new target using the normal procedures. This is referred to as the "transfer roll." Should the transfer roll succeed, any remaining damage is applied to the latest victim in 20 -point rakes. (For example, if the blaster scores 90 damage to a ship and the 35th point destroys the facing structure block, the remaining 65 points can be shifted to another unit.)

If the transfer roll fails, 20 points of damage are subtracted from the remainder of the volley. A nother transfer roll can then be attempted, or the damage can be scored on the previous target without a roll. (Continuing the previous example, if the transfer roll failed, the remaining 65 points would be dropped to 45. The player could make another transfer attempt, or apply the remaining 45 damage to the previous target using the normal 20 -point raking Should transferred damage destroy the new target, the excess can continue to be passed on to new units using the procedure herein, so long as unallocated damage is left in the beam and each new target is within one hex of the shot's previous recipient. (Thus, for example, a transferred shot could pass through several units along a line, provided each is destroyed or loses a structure in the attack, and each is within one hex of the next.) All targets must, of course, be in arc of the weapon at the time of firing.

If the initial shot (the first one taken by the weapon) misses, 20 points of damage are subtracted and the weapon may roll to hit a gain. It may not, however, transfer targets, but must continue to attempt to hit the original target until it either hits or runs out of damage. (Note that this will require the firing player to determine how much damage is scored before actually rolling to-hit.)

Shots which have transferred away from a given target can later comeback to that same target, but a new to hit roll would be required.

Note that transferring damage to another target is always voluntary. The Kirishiac player is not required to do so.

One excellent use of this feature is to rip entire flights of fighters out of space in a single swipe.

Anti gravity Beam

Class: Gravitic

Mode: Standard

The Lordship's orbital segments are armed with these weapons, which put forth a quick, powerful blast of standard -mode antigravitons that punch holes in the target.

The beam normally fires just once, but can be split apart into three different shots if desired (typically to attack a fighter flight). The firing player does this by specifying (before rolling to hit) which targets will be fired upon. Against a fighter flight, the defender does not choose which targets are struck; this determination is made by the firing player at the time the weapon is used.

Note that the anti gravity beams may not fire if the orbitals are not deployed. They may, however, be deactivated for extra power if this is the case. They cannot be deactivated for power on the turn the orbitals are deployed or recovered.

The Triad

Like most Ancient races, the true name of the Triad is unpronounceable (it begins something like "Trdvlm rvkckz," but goes on for a bit longer). The Triad contains some of the oldest living creatures in the Galaxy. Only three of them exist, and over the eons they have become so closely linked by mind and experience that they are one being for all purposes save the physical.

The members of the Triad were not always so closely tied together. In the beginning, they were of separate minds, each seeing the Universe differently. One saw it as an infinite playground, a place where his dreams could be made reality, and made to serve his will. A second viewed chaos and order as two sides of the same coin, with struggle towards either end inherently self-defeating. The third was imaginative, reveling in the creation of new things and new experiences— perhaps the ultimate artist.

For a time, these three philosophies— so closely linked with the attitudes of chaos, neutrality, and order— seemed destined to collide and destroy each other. Desperate to avoid this fate, the three sought answers from Lorien, one of the few beings older and wiser than they. His response was merely that in separation could be born togetherness. Thus the Triad broke apart, remaining so for countless eons, staying in their own thirds of the Galaxy and not interfering with each others' lives.

Then, almost simultaneously, the three realized something was missing. Each went on their own quest to learn what this was, and in the end, they met each other at the Galactic core. What had been lost was each other, and they never separated again.

Their long time apart showed each of them that no single view of life or the Universe was necessarily correct.

Instead of disliking and contradicting each other's attitudes, they embraced them, learning to see the advantages and disadvantages in each. In time, they began to think as one, so that today they are almost impossible to distinguish from each other.

One feature of the Triad's understanding nature is an appreciation for the views of others and a burning desire to learn and embrace these concepts, adding them to their own. Thus, in recent times, the members of the Triad have traveled the Galaxy in search of knowledge. As they come to each world, they survey its people, finding the good and bad among them and understanding each one. Then they move on, visiting the next planet, always seeking new attitudes and dispositions.

At first, the Triad believed that the Shadow-Vorlon conflict was a good one, as it had away of eliminating tired, old beliefs and encouraging fresh new ones to rise to the forefront. Were it not for the constant stirrings of the pot by the Shadows, the Triad believed— at least at first— that the existing empires of younger races would eventually stagnate rather than evolve. But over the millennia, things changed. The new thoughts and attitudes that developed from the chaos eventually began to repeat themselves. Instead of encouraging new views and outlooks, the Shadow Wars only caused them to die out and start over from scratch. They were never allowed the chance to evolve or grow on their own. Indeed, the constant Shadow attacks began to encourage a typical sort of attitude in those races that survived them: weariness of the endless conflict.

The Triad wanted to intervene in the war, but they were only one ship against hundreds, and of the other Ancients, only the Walkers maintained a visible presence in the Galaxy— and they were obviously uninterested. So the Triad watched and waited, always seeking a key moment to intervene. When Lorien left Z 'h a 'd u m, they realized that time may be near, and they were more than happy to join the fight at the end.

After the war, the Triad was the one group among the Ancients who actively desired to stay behind. With the Shadows and Vorlons gone, new attitudes and philosophies would surely develop among the younger races, and the Triad wanted to be there to discover them. Lorien, however, convinced the Triad to go beyond the Rim and experience instead the viewpoints of the other First Ones who had gone before. In the end, this idea proved more interesting than watching the younger races develop, although who's to say the Triad might not one day return?

The Triumvir an

The ship of the Triad is actually a manifestation created through the will sof the beings inside, and is called by them "The Triumvir on." The design has varied along with the whims of the Triad, but has remained relatively the same for the past several millennia. It resembles a three -pronged claw, with a triple set of weapon spokes that fire a massive sweeping beam across space.

The Triumvir on uses a hyperspace-phasing device similar to that used by the Shadows. When used, the ship appears to blink in and out from hyperspace almost at will. (This provides no advantage in combat, as the device's activation can be detected by nearby opponents.) If they wish, they can fade more slowly.

Structure Self-Repair

The Triad is able to repair their ship using the force of their will, even if the damage is substantial. This ability is represented on the control sheet as a Structure Self-Repair system (which appears as two concentric self-repair icons).

In the Repair Segment of the Combat Sequence (and in addition to the normal self-repair available to most First Ones), the Triumvir on is able to use its Structure Self Repair, as described below.

Up to the listed number of Structure Boxes may be repaired, even if the damage has been taken on the current turn. This enables the Triumvir onto reattach destroyed sections, as long as the section has been destroyed this turn.

Any weapons or systems on are attached section retain all the damage previously suffered.

Structure self-repair cannot be used on any other ship systems, which will require the use of the normal self-repair using the regular rules. It functions on structure only.

If the primary structure is completely destroyed, the ship is lost in the Combat Step of the turn, and thus is unable to use its structure self-repair.

Hyperplasma Cutter

Class: Plasma n_jn

Modes: Raking (15), Sustained (3)

These are actually three weapons which fire as one. They project a field of hyper-intense energy i r (similar in appearance to that employed by the Vorlon lightning cannon) that is concentrated into a single beam. This then sweeps across space to cut apart its targets. If one or more of the cutters are destroyed, the survivors can continue to operate normally. The field scores damage by super-heating its target, and is resolved as a plasm a-class weapon. Due to the wide and varied nature of the beam, the weapon is interceptable.

Each of the cutters can project the listed number of d10 'sof damage, but these do not all have to be used against the same target. In fact, the ship is free to allocate all of itsd 10 's against any units it wishes.

For example, if the three cutters have 30 d l 0 available between them, the ship could fire l O d l O at a specific enemy ship, 5d 10 against another ship, I d l O against each of six fighters, and hold 9 dice in reserve for defensive fire. (In appearance, this would look like a single beam slicing through space in a wide arc, with pulse-like bursts within the beam striking the individual targets.) The division of thed l 0's must be decided in the Prepare Weapons phase of the Combat Step, but the exact number of dice used to intercept each particular shot may be allocated as the incoming shots are resolved (e.g., 9 dice in defensive mode could be used as a single -9 interception, three at -3, nine at -1, or any other combination totaling -9). Note that there is no penalty for successive shots as there would be with the molecular slicer beam.

The cutters normally score damage in raking (15) mode, but if the full strength of all three beams are brought together on a single target, it can be used in sustained mode for up to 3 turns. There is no requirement to arm the guns with extra power in order to pull this off, though they must still endure the usual cooling off period following the shot's termination.

Critical Hits:

Do not use the normal weapon critical chart. Instead, roll the usual 1d 20 modified by damage to the weapon. On a 24 or greater, the gun loses I d l Oda mage, and on a 30 or greater, it loses 2 d10 damage. Each lost d l 0 is treated as a separate "critical" for purposes of self-repair.

The Tarval us Speculators

The race known as the Torvalus were among the first to become incredibly bored by their immortal existence. For centuries, they constantly strove to find new ways to amuse themselves, moving about the Galaxy as their whims drove them. In due course, most of them came to believe that they had seen everything there was to see here. One by one, they left their home galaxy to seek new experiences beyond the Void.

Eventually, only a few Torvalus were left, traveling the stars together. They alone of their people had discovered something interesting to do, something that could occupy their time and provide constant amusement. This activity was gambling.

The Torvalus would wager on just about anything, ranging from the simple and immediate to complex and millennia-spanning events. Visiting a star system, they might view the inhabitants of a primitive world and make bets on what form the dominant intelligent lifeform would eventually take. Three million years later, they would return to that place to see which among them would win the wager.

The rewards for victory in such contests were intricate and known only to themselves, but the Torvalus considered each bet— even the smallest— worth winning. What was more, they would not tolerate cheating, which to them was the most heinous of sins. Overtime, the thought of interfering in a wager was no longer even a consideration.

As far as the Torvalus were concerned, the Galaxy provided an endless supply of personalities, places, and events which could be speculated upon. The ship would travel in secret and silence, watching but never interfering, and leaving whenever the results of their latest wager had been determined. Civilizations rose and fell, nations grew and shattered, and the Torvalus had a bet for each and everyone.

One of the greatest wagers of all time, so far as the Speculators were concerned, was the one they placed on the outcome of the Shadow War. Each of them had a different theory: the Vorlon philosophy of total order would win; the Shadows and their order-through -chaos theories would win; Lorien would put a halt to it; and so on. One even held that the war would never end— that the younger races would die out before victory by either side could be determined.

None of them, however, considered the possibility that the Vorlons and Shadows would ever become directly involved— that would, of course, be cheating.

The Torvalus did not limit their betting just on the outcome of the overall war, but placed side wagers on each thousand-year cycle, as well as individual battles through the ages. The Shadow War dragged on, and for eons seemed no closer to its conclusion, until Babylon 4 made its trip back through time to take its place in the war a thousand years a go. This surprising turn of events made the Torvalus sit up and take notice— something significant had changed in the equation!

The next millennium passed ever so slowly, and the Torvalus waited it out with great anticipation. As developments progressed, they were always there, watching and cheering on their favorite participants. But then something went wrong. Sheridan's sacrifice at Z 'h a 'd u mwas another unexpected turn, and the Vorlons began to take matters into their own hands. As they started to destroy planets, attempting to eradicate the Shadows completely, the Torvalus could only watch in horrified shock. They were breaking the rules! All bets were off— and an outcome the Speculators had waited uncounted ages to discover was spoiled, ruined!

As the Torvalus were still reeling from this development, Lorien himself contacted them, asking if they would help against the Vorlons and Shadows. Never in their entire history had they interfered in any Galactic affair, but for this— this travesty— they would make an exception!

Thus the Torvalus were present at the end, a long with the rest of the Ancients. They took a perverse pleasure in destroying Shadow and Vorlon units, moving through the field of battle with great abandon. Only when it was over did they realize what they had done. They had broken their own cardinal rule, and proven themselves no better than the Vorlons and Shadows. In shame, they agreed to pass beyond the Rim, wondering if perhaps there was more to life than endless wagers.

The Dark Knife

The Torvalus' starship, the Dark Knife, is their means of moving silently through the Galaxy, unseen— for if they were noticed by the younger races, their very presence might alter events and nullify a bet. To accomplish this secrecy, their vessel is equipped with a shading field that can make them invisible at any sort of distance. In addition, it is armed with a series of advanced laser weapons, as listed hereafter.

Power Laser

Class: Laser

Modes: Raking (15), Piercing, Sustained

This is perhaps the most flexible laser weapon ever designed. It can be used as a raking, sustained, or piercing mode weapon (using the normal rules for each, except that its raking volleys are divided into groups of 15, not groups of 10). It is also very fast as lasers go, firing every other turn, and has an excellent range. Like most other laser weapons, it cannot be intercepted.

Volley Laser

Class: Laser

Mode: Pulse

The Torvalus' answer to pulse-particle weapons of the other races, the volley laser is a rapid-fire laser capable of shooting off a burst of shots quickly. It acts as the lone defensive gun on the Dark Knife. As it is a laser weapon, it is non-interceptable.

Shading Field

This device projects an electromagnetic shell around the Dark Knife, protecting it from weapons and making it invisible at long ranges. So long as it is undestroyed, it operates as a jammer for all purposes, and will affect other First Ones as well as ships of the Younger Races.

The shading field has two states, normal operation and "shading mode." In the normal mode, it simply projects a 4 -point EM shield in all directions around the ship. This operates exactly as any other EM shield would if given a 360 ° arc, except that fighters cannot "fly under" the shield (it is too close to the hull). Naturally, if the shading field system is deactivated, this effect is lost.

At the start of the turn, before EW is determined or declared by any player, the Torvalus player may declare he is switching to "shading mode." If this is done, the following effects occur:

The shield's effect on the ship's defense rating is doubled. This does not increase the shield's absorption rating versus incoming weapons fire.

The ship may not fire weapons on that turn, although it can continue to arm them. (Typically, the Knife will activate the shading field on any turn in which its lasers are rearming.)

If the ship is more than 15 hexes from all enemy units at the time shading mode is declared, the Dark Knife counter can be removed from the map. The owning player moves the ship normally, but is not required to reveal his location unless he is within 15 hexes of an enemy unit (and that unit has line-of-sight) at the conclusion of the Movement Step of the Combat Sequence. If the Dark Knife cannot be seen at this point, any lock-ons to it are lost and the ship cannot be targeted by weapons fire on that turn.

At the beginning of the game, the Dark Knife is always deployed last. If the Torvalus player decides to be using Shading Mode in the first turn, the location of the Dark Knife does not have to be revealed at all. If other players should attempt to fire on the Dark Knife, use the rules for Dark Matter Clouds in Showdowns-1 to resolve this (an impartial judge would be very helpful here). Note that this requires the Dark Knife player to be extremely honest and diligent in bookkeeping, and thus this rule may not be usable in all scenarios.

The shading field may be used in combination with the ship's jump drive. This, along with the ship's stealthy nature and extreme speed, make it a difficult target to track if it wishes to escape.

Critical Hits:

Roll the usual 1d 20 with modifiers for damage. If a 26 or greater is rolled, the device loses 1 point of shield protection. Its jamming effects are not altered by critical hits.

The Mind riders

Like many of the Ancients, the race that came to be known as the Mind riders was constantly wondering what their purpose was in the Universe. The various Ancient Ones dealt with this unanswerable question in different ways. Most eventually left the Galaxy in their quest for answers, but a few remained. Some, like the Walkers of Sigma 957, explored space and beyond, trying to advance to the next level of existence. Some, like the Speculators, gave up looking for answers and sought refuge in temporary amusements. Each went on in their own way.

The Mind riders were the most spiritual of the Ancients, eventually finding away to leave their physical bodies permanently, existing as disembodied spheres of energy (much as Lorien does). Even this, though, did not bring them any closer to furthering their evolution. Could it be that they had reached the pinnacle, that there was no way to proceed further? This conclusion, too, was hard to swallow. There could only be one answer— in having been born immortal, they had never experienced the mystery of mortality. Had they missed something by being born too soon?

Did the key lie inexperiencing life from the bottom rungs of evolution?

Thus, the Mind riders began a bold experiment: to live life in every means possible, from the lowest form to the most advanced, chronicling the experience from birth through death. They moved from world to world, spending millennia at each, placing their life essences in newly born creatures and living with them as part of their lives. They did not interfere, merely observed from within.

Although the Shadow War did not directly affect their grand experiment, they knew it was going on, and realized that each burgeoning civilization destroyed in that war was one less chance the Mind riders had of finding the Answer they sought. Perhaps one of the races that held that Answer had already been eradicated! So, as the Shadow War dragged on, the Mind riders watched the conflict closely. Each race that seemed likely to be struck was quickly chronicled by one or more Mind riders, hoping top reserve some record of their existence. Even so, they could not visit them all, and some were always lost, to their everlasting regret.

As the Shadow War drew to a close, Lorien offered the Mind riders a chance to put an end to the Vorlon-Shadow conflict once and for all. They gave this aid freely, though they secretly doubted the plan would work. Upon its conclusion, Lorien explained that the Great Answer the Mind riders sought would not be found by living other lives, only their own. They had learned all they could from the younger races, and the time had come to continue their quest elsewhere. Thus did the Mind riders pass Beyond, joining their long -departed comrades at last, believing— despite Lorien's remarks to the contrary— that they were richer for the experience.

Thaugtitfarce

The Mind riders' ship, Thought force, resembles a huge, four-pronged caltrop. Its interior is mostly hollow, as it serves only as a vessel for sustaining its crew 's life-essences when they are not involved in the Grand Experiment.

When the Mind riders themselves are on a planet, living other lives, the ship is left on a nearby rock or asteroid, shut down and disguised as a terrain feature. Since no one else except an on -corporeal being could possibly command the ship, the Mind riders see little risk in this.

Special Hull Arrangement

Viewed from above, the ship is radially symmetrical, and thus possesses a special structure arrangement. Instead of the usual 60° forward /aft and 120° port/starboard layout, it divides these four structural areas into even 90° segments (forward port, forward starboard, aft port, and aft starboard). A diagram showing how to resolve incoming fire is shown here and on the control sheet. Note that in the case of shots coming in directly on a spine, the firing player can choose which side is hit, but must select the same side for all weapons firing from the same unit on the same turn (just as explained in the Core Rules).

This hull arrangement offers several benefits:

The ship has no pivot cost, enabling it to operate pivot maneuvers for free. It is still limited to one pivot per turn, however.

The ship suffers no firing penalties for being pivoted, rolling, or using other special maneuvers.

When performing a turn, the entire thrust cost must be paid out through the single opposite-side thruster, similar to performing a slide. The exception is if Thought force is pivoted and wishes to turn into the pivot, in which case thrust may be split as normal between the two opposite-side thrusters.

Incoming damage hitting a thruster can be allocated to either of the two possibilities of the owning player's choice. Side-mounted weapons operate similarly, although only weapons in arc are eligible for hits, as per the normal Ultra Pulse Cannon Class: Particle

Mode: Pulse

The Mind riders' main weapon (also referred to as the mental pulsar

) operates by concentrat ing aggressive thoughts from each of their people together into bolts of energy. These are then focused and fired at the target. As with most pulse guns, these shots are interceptable.

This weapon uses the same rules as any other pulse cannon does within the game. However, it can use any of three modes, referred to as light, medium or heavy (as they relate to the size of the pulses being fired). In light mode, the shots are small, but more numerous and better able to target fighters. In heavy mode, there are few shots, but they are huge and can smash enemy ships to bits.

Medium mode is a compromise between the two.

The decision to fire in any mode is made at the time the weapon shoots, but must be announced before the to -hit roll is made. As with any other pulse weapon, the firing player selects the targets of each pulse if it should strike a fighter flight or group of shuttles. See the Core Rules for more information on this procedure.

Trioptic Pulsar

Class: Particle

Mode: Standard

This small weapon is strictly defensive in nature, operating as an anti-fighter device. It fires three pulses (there is no random roll for pulse quantity, nor is there a grouping range statistic) doing random amounts of damage. Its primary advantage is that it can fire each turn.

Thought Shields

These defensive devices are a direct extension of the crew 's minds, deflecting incoming shots with the pure power of thought.

The thought shield array projects a special shield equal to the number of boxes in the system icon (25 points if undamaged) on each of the ship's four sides. If desired, the Mind riders can voluntarily lower any given side's shields in order to strengthen another, but no side's shield can be more than doubled in strength. This change must be made during the EW Determination Step of the Combat Sequence and is announced along with the ship's EW levels. For example, if anticipating an attack from the forward or port directions, the aft and starboard shields can be lowered to strengthen the forward and port directions. A given side's shield can be lowered partially if desired; e.g., the aft shield could be dropped by 10 and the forward increased by 10. This can be changed each turn, but once set, cannot be altered until the next turn's EW Determination Step.

The effect of the shield is to absorb incoming damage. It does not affect the ship's defense ratings or armor level.

Each shield point absorbs exactly one point of damage before it is eliminated, and the shield must absorb the first damage that hits the ship (regardless of type). The shield does not protect against attacks that score no damage, such as the involuntary movement caused by a gravitic shifter or plasma net.

For example, an EarthForce Omega Destroyer fires a heavy pulse cannon and a heavy laser at Thought force. The Omega player decides to resolve the laser first, as its 10 -point rakes will not be as effective as the HPC against this well-armored target. Earlier in the turn, Thought force deactivated a non-facing thought shield and doubled the thought shield facing the Omega (which could not maneuver to avoid firing at the doubled shield). The laser rolls 40 points of damage, which knocks down 40 points of shields, leaving 10. The heavy pulse cannon scores three 15 -point hits, the first of which drops the rest of the shield and does a volley of 5 points, while the other two pass cleanly through for two volleys of 15 points each.

Thought force's shields regenerate completely each turn and can be redistributed as described previously. This occurs because they are in part generated by the ship's crew. If one of the C & C systems is destroyed, the thought shield system's ability to generate shield points is halved (drop fractions), and if the other C & C is destroyed, no thought shields can be produced at all. The thought shield generator does not suffer any critical hits.