Homeworld Fleet Command
Homeworld Fleet Command Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- What's Included
- Sequence of Play
- Setting Up the Game
- Cards
- Activation Tokens
- Playing the Game
- Winning the Game
- Playing Command Cards
- Rules for Basic Actions
- Power Attack
- Attack Dice Pool
- Roll War Dice
- Armour
- The Valour Token
- Focus Fire
- Close Quarters Attacks
- Defensive Fire
- Damage Control
- Scenarios
- Setting Up the Scenario
- Scenario 1: First Contact
- Scenario 2: The Khar-Selim
- Scenario 3: Icebreaker
- Turrets
- Arc All Around
- Missiles, Bombs, and Torpedoes
- Drones
- New Action: Reinforce
- Bays
- Disembarking Strike Craft
- Deploying Capital Ships
- Scenario 4: Fool's Gold
- New Action: Harvest
- Ramming
- Combat Air Patrol
- Boarding Actions
- Retrieving Artifacts
- Drifting Hulks
- Transferring Crew and Leaders
- Scenario 5: Nova Raid
- New Terrain Feature: Minefield
- Crew
- Scenario 6: Save the Bentusi
- Scenario 7: Relic Raid
- Scenario 8: Freeform Battle
- Scenario 9: Convoy
- Scenario 10: Empire's Last Stand
- Freeform Battles
- Building Your Force
- Assigning Leader Cards
- Unit Tabs
- Setting up the Board
- Designing Scenarios
- Solo & Co-Operative Play
- Enemy Command Cards
- Capital Ship Reinforcements
- Crippled Ships
- Objective Target Table
- Target Priority
- Target Selection
- Enemy Behaviour Table
- Rule References
- Order of Play
- Orders
- Models per Unit
- Ship Facing
- Icon Key
- Rules Summary
- Ranged Attacks
- Armour Modifiers
- Defensive Fire
- Ramming
- Boarding Actions
What's Included
Tokens
- 74 Activation Tokens: 8 Fighters pairs A to H, 8 Corvettes pairs A to H, 5 Platform pairs A and B, 12 Frigates pairs A to L, 6 Super Capital pairs A to C, 4 Station pairs A and B.
- 1 Rounds Tracker
- 9 Crippled Weapons tokens
- 9 Crippled Engines tokens
- 9 Crippled Bays tokens
- 8 Evading / Lockdown tokens
- 12 CAP / Braced tokens
- 20 Double-sided Stars tokens
- 35 Focus Fire tokens
- 18 Crew Damage tokens
- 2 Objective tokens
- 4 Stations
- 4 Cryo Trays
- 5 Platforms
- 1 Valour
- 16 Asteroid Fields
- 9 Minefields
- 1 Bentusi Ship
- 9 Drifting Hulks
- 4 Planets
Boards
- 1 Double-sided Game Board with hex grid
Cards
- 52 Command Cards
- 40 Unit Cards
- 42 Leader Cards
Miniatures
- Kushan models (blue): 1 Carrier, 1 Destroyer, 1 Mothership, 12 Frigates, 12 Corvettes, 24 Fighters
- Taiidan models (red): 1 Carrier, 1 Destroyer, 12 Corvettes, 12 Frigates, 24 Fighters
Sequence of Play
Each round of play consists of the following steps:
- Draw Command cards
- Roll for initiative
- Play Command cards
- Clean up
The winner of the initiative roll plays the first Command card. Players take turns playing Command cards, activating units one at a time, until they have no cards left or pass. They then clean up and a new round starts.
Continue playing rounds until one player has won the game.
Setting Up the Game
The scenario booklet contains ten pre-designed scenarios, adding more game elements and complexity as you move from first to last.
Each scenario has a setup illustration showing the units controlled by each player and where to place them on the board, along with any specific terrain such as asteroid fields, planets, or scenario-specific units.
Each player takes the indicated Unit, Leader, and Faction cards and places them on their side of the table as shown.
The game board is designed so the set up zones and gameplay area covers a space 13 x 9 hexes. A 14th row of hexes represents the turn tracker and is not intended for gameplay use.
Playing with 3-4 Players
If there are two or more players on one side divide the forces between each player. Players on one side must choose which player will activate a unit on their turn. To divide the forces you split the units and Leaders between the players. Each player shares the Hand and Play of the Leaders across the team. For example one player might take the fighter squadrons and corvettes, another the capital ships.
Cards
Homeworld: Fleet Command play is driven by cards. Unit cards represent the ships in play on each side, Command cards describe orders that players can give units, and Leader cards add abilities to the units they are assigned to.
This section provides examples of each type of card and how to read them.
Unit Cards
Your force is made up of different units, with a Unit card for each type of ship. Units can be single large ships, squadrons of fighters or small ships, or even space stations and other large installations.
Each card governs a number of models on the game board, corresponding one to one with ships of that type.
Faction Icon: This shows the faction the unit belongs to (Kushan or Taiidan). Some Unit cards have no Faction icon, representing neutral ships or terrain.
Attributes
Following the Ship icon are a number of symbols that represent the basic combat attributes for each ship represented by that unit.
- War dice: Each ship with a weapon in a unit can roll a specified number of 6-sided war dice. The number following the icon is what you need to roll on each die to get a success in combat. Combat is explained starting on page 16.
- Armour: The unit's durability. The number following the icon reduces the number of successes scored against the unit.
- Move: This number shows how many hexes the unit can move with a Move order (this is explained further under "Command Cards" starting on page 14).
- Crew: The Crew value indicates the unit's strength in boarding actions. (This special attack won't come into play for your first games).
- Ram: Ships can make ramming attacks to crash into other units. The Ram value represents the unit's strength when ramming. (This special attack won't come into play for your first games).
Unit Abilities
Some units have other special abilities, following the weapon listings. Each has an entry in bold, followed by the description of its effect. Unit abilities will be explained later, as scenarios introduce them.
Unit Colours
The opposing factions, Kushan and Taiidan, use different-coloured models. Each fleet has one design of model for Fighters, Corvettes, Frigates and Destroyers, but different unit cards will differentiate the ships.
Unit Name
The type of ship or other unit described by the card. One Unit card can represent several units of the same ship type on the map.
Immediately below the unit name is the number of ships (models) represented by that unit. This Interceptor unit starts with 6 fighters; that number decreases as the unit takes damage in battle.
Stars
Each Unit card has a number of stars that indicate its cost and strength, and are used to purchase units in freeform scenarios. They also count towards the victory conditions in some scenarios.
Unit Strength
The number of models in each unit is indicated by the number printed on the Unit card.
For example, this unit represents a group of 5 fighters, and 5 fighter models are placed in the hex.
This unit represents a group of 3 corvettes.
When a unit takes damage, remove a number of models from its hex equal to the number of successes scored.
Ship Icon
The Ship icon represents the kind of ships in the unit.
Strike Craft: These are small ships that can be transported by carriers. They have blue borders.
- Fighter
- Corvette
- Platform
Capital Ships: These larger ships range in size from frigates to massive space stations and are capable of hyperspace travel. They have yellow borders.
- Frigate
- Super capital ship
- Station
Weapon Listings
A unit can have one or more weapons listed on its card. Each weapon listing includes some standard elements.
- Attack Dice Pool: This is shown as a number of war dice per ship. (Calculating the attack dice pool is discussed further in the combat rules.) For example this Frigates' Ion Cannon rolls 3 war dice per ship. The unit card shows 2 frigates when the unit is at full strength, for a total of 6 war dice.
- Range: This number indicates how far the weapon can fire in hexes (up to and including the target's hex, but not including the hex the attacking ship occupies).
- Weapon Abilities: Some weapons have one or more special abilities. Each has an entry in italics, followed by the description of its effect. For example, this Interceptor unit's weapon has the Rapid Fire ability.
Weapon abilities and symbols will be explained later, as scenarios introduce them.
Leader Cards
Leader cards can be assigned to specific units and grant special abilities to them. If you assign a Leader card to a unit, place the Leader card under the Unit card as shown.
Each unit can have only one assigned Leader card.
Hand and Play
Each Leader card has a Hand value and a Play value, reflecting that individual's role in leading your force. Hand value indicates how many Command cards you can hold at the start of a round; Play value shows how many you can play when giving orders to your units.
At the start of the scenario, add up the Hand values for all your Leader cards and your Faction card (see below) to get the total Hand value of your force. Leaders held in reserve do not count toward the totals. Do the same for the Play value.
If a Leader card is removed from play, during clean up (see page 12) reduce your Hand and Play values by the amount listed on that card. If you have no more Leader cards in play, but you still have units left, you can still use the Hand and Play values from your Faction card.
Hand and Play Example
This player has two Leader cards assigned to units (Vice Admiral and Squadron Leader) and one Faction card.
The Faction card has a Hand value of 2 and a Play value of 1.
The Vice Admiral card has a Hand value of 4 and a Play value of 2. Its ability: "Cool Under Pressure: This unit gets +1 war die on damage control checks."
The Squadron Leader card has a Hand value of 1 and a Play value of 1. Its ability: "Ace Pilot: This unit gets +1 war die on close quarters attacks."
Adding these together gives a total Hand of 7 and Play of 4.
The player draws up to seven Command cards into their hand at the start of every round. They can play up to four cards every round, so long as the Vice Admiral or Squadron Leader cards remain in play.
Faction Cards
Each faction, Taiidan and Kushan, has its own Faction card that provides Hand and Play values as well as a special ability.
- Kushan Faction Card — Redundant Systems: On your turn, remove 1 Focus Fire or Crippled token. Then turn this card over; it cannot be used again this battle.
- Taiidan Faction Card — Ferocious Attack: Reroll all the dice in an attack, as if using the token shown on the card's icon (read as the Valour token; see The Valour Token below). That token cannot be used on the same attack roll. Then turn this card over; it cannot be used again this battle.
Both Faction cards begin the battle READY.
Activation Tokens
Activation tokens keep track of which units have received orders in the turn. They are sets of paired counters, each pair showing the same letter (A, B, C, or D) and having the same shape as the unit type they are assigned to.
Each unit on the board must have an activation token matching an activation token on the corresponding Unit card, as shown in the setup example above.
Activation tokens are two sided, both sides having the same letter. The blue side indicates the unit has not yet been activated and can receive an order; all units begin the game with this side face up. The black side shows the unit has already been activated and cannot receive any more orders this turn.
Activation token shapes:
- Fighter
- Corvette
- Platform
- Frigate
- Capital Ship
- Station
Each Unit card can have multiple activation tokens, each representing a specific unit on the board.
If you assign a Leader card, place the corresponding activation token next to the Leader card to show which unit it is assigned to. Any activation token that is not assigned to a Leader remains on the Unit card.
For example, take a look at this Interceptor card from the example setup. It represents three units of fighters (A, B, C) on the board. Unit A has a Wing Commander assigned to it. Unit B has a Squadron Leader assigned to it. Unit C has no Leader card assigned. That token is set aside or kept on the Unit card separate from the assigned tokens.
Setting Up Your Unit Cards and Activation Tokens
Each player places their Unit cards and any assigned Leader cards on their side of the board as shown in the example setup with their activation tokens.
Here two Unit cards, the Interceptor and the Attack Bomber, represent different kinds of fighters. Each card can represent multiple units of ships and thus can have multiple possible activation tokens (in this example A, B, C):
- A is an Interceptor unit with an assigned Squadron Leader.
- B is an Interceptor unit with no Leader cards assigned. The token remains on the Unit card.
- C is an Attack Bomber unit with no Leader cards assigned. The activation token remains on the Unit card.
Rounds Tracker
This token keeps track of the number of rounds played. If the scenario has a rounds limit, place the rounds tracker on the board at the stated number. For example, if the rounds limit is 6, place the token on Round 6 on the board. During the Clean Up phase move the rounds tracker down one round. If it reaches 0 the game is over.
Playing the Game
Before playing the first scenario, you might find it helpful to try a basic combat between one or two units on each side, with no Leader cards but just Faction cards to guide play.
Step 1. Draw Command Cards
At the start of a new round, both players draw Command cards up to their current Hand value. The number of cards in your hand cannot exceed your Hand value. Before you draw, you may optionally discard as many Command cards from your hand as you wish.
Playing Command cards is explained in more detail starting on page 14.
Command Deck: Place the deck of Command cards next to the board. During clean up, place used Command cards on the discard pile next to the Command card deck.
Step 2. Roll for Initiative
Each player rolls a die, with the highest roll winning the initiative; reroll ties. The winner will play the first Command card this turn.
Before rolling, each player can choose to discard one or more Command cards from their hand to add 1 to their initiative roll per card. The total of the discarded cards and the initiative roll can never be higher than 6. Cards used to increase the roll count only once; in the event of a tie, players must decide whether to discard more cards before rerolling.
If neither player currently possesses the Valour token, the loser of the initiative roll takes it (see "The Valour Token" on page 20).
Step 3. Play Command Cards
Command cards come in two varieties: orders and interrupts. During each turn, each player may either play an order or pass. Once you have passed, you cannot play any more orders that round. You can still play interrupts. If both players pass, the round ends.
When you play an order, one or more of your units take one or more actions as described on the Command card. Each unit can receive only one order per round, although a single order might enable a unit to take more than one action.
A unit that has received an order is activated. Activated units cannot receive any more orders during that round; however, an activated unit can still perform interrupts. Flip the activation token for that unit to the black side to mark it as activated.
Each Command card you play as an order counts against your Play value. Put the played Command cards face up on your side of the table to keep track of how many orders you have played. The exception to this is interrupts cards which do not count towards your Play value.
Once you've played a number of orders equal to your Play value, you can't play any more until the next round and you must pass. You can still play Interrupt cards.
Unit Activation: After giving an order to a unit, place the Command card face up on your side of the table and flip the unit's activation token to its black side so you know it's been activated.
For example: A has been activated and cannot receive another order; B has not been activated yet.
Step 4. Clean Up
Put any Command cards used in the round into the discard pile. If you've lost or gained any assigned Leader cards with Hand or Play values, adjust those values for your force. Decide to keep or discard any unused Command cards in your hand. Then draw up to your Hand value.
If the Command deck doesn't have enough cards left for both players to draw up to their full Hand totals, shuffle it into the discard pile to create a fresh deck.
Flip all unit activation tokens to their Not Activated sides face up.
If the scenario has a rounds limit, advance the rounds tracker to the next number on the rounds track. If the tracker reaches round 0 the game is over.
Winning the Game
Each scenario has specific victory conditions. Typically a player must earn 3 medals to win.
Scenario Medals
The "Mission Briefing" page for the scenario specifies the victory conditions for each side, with medals awarded for achieving objectives. Each objective has a condition that must be achieved and a number of medals that are awarded for completing it.
If, at any point in the round, you can claim all 3 medals, you immediately win the game. If the scenario ends because the rounds limit has been reached, the player who has earned more medals is the winner. If there is a draw the player with the most Stars is declared the winner. If there still no winner declare a draw.
Stars Objectives
Some scenarios specify an objective in stars to achieve victory.
Whenever an opponent's unit is destroyed through any means, you take that unit's model(s) and add its star value to your total achieved. If the destroyed unit has a Leader card assigned to it, you also take the Leader card and gain its star value.
Capture Objectives
Some scenario objectives require capturing a unit or object, such as space stations, planets, ancient wrecks, disabled ships, and so on. To capture an objective you have to win a boarding action (see page 13) against the target unit specified in the scenario. Doing so automatically grants the medals for that objective. In some scenarios, if you have gained stars from capturing an objective, and your opponent then captures this objective you may lose those stars.
Playing Command Cards
You play Command cards to give orders to your units on your own turn or, in some cases, as interrupts during your own or your opponent's turn.
The front of each Command card indicates its type (special order or interrupt) and what actions the unit or units can take. Special orders have a blue bar, while interrupts have a yellow bar.
You may use the back of a Command card to issue a Basic order which is one of four actions Move, Attack, Reinforce, and Harvest.
You'll use only the Move and Attack actions to start with; after you have played scenario 1, you will learn about the Reinforce and Harvest actions.
Orders
- Move
- Attack
- Reinforce
- Harvest
Spending a Command Card
Some scenarios or rules tell you to "spend a Command card". Doing this costs 1 Play and activates the unit as usual, but in addition you must discard one Command card.
Special Orders
You may use the front of a Command card to play its Special order or Interrupt.
Special orders grant one or more actions and might include instructions or requirements.
Examples of different types of orders and interrupts:
- Brace for Impact (Action, Buff): Place the Brace token on any Unit card except Fighters. The token remains until the unit receives a new order or takes a Focus Fire token. Buff: Brace. +1 Armour.
- Stay in Formation (Action): The second unit can Lightning Move and Attack only if it can end its turn adjacent to the first unit.
- Interrupt Attack (Interrupt): 1 allied unit can Attack at any time during an enemy unit's Move, Lightning Move, or Reinforce. This attack must target the enemy unit that was activated.
When you play a Command card, you can ignore any actions on the card that your units cannot follow, or that you do not wish them to do.
For example, with All Ahead Full the player could decide not to use both move actions to avoid colliding with an asteroid, but would still be restricted to moving in a straight line.
Taking Actions
Most special orders grant one or more actions. When taking multiple actions the unit takes the actions in the sequence given, reading from left to right. You may choose to omit an action if you wish.
Some special orders allow more than one unit to be activated. In those cases, the actions are listed in several lines from top to bottom. Only one unit can take each action; the same unit can't take both. Before activating the units, specify which ones are receiving the orders. Then flip the units' activation tokens to show they have acted this turn.
For example, the Stay in Formation card above lists two sets of actions for two units: Move and Attack, then Lightning Move and Attack.
The All Ahead Full card allows a unit to take the Move action twice, up to its Move value each time. (This action also has a special restriction: the unit can move only in a straight line.) Its description reads: "Both Move actions must be in one straight line. +1 war die on ramming attacks."
Special Orders With Lasting Effects
Most special orders take effect immediately when you play them. Some, though, have lasting effects stated on the card. Such effects are marked with a specific token; place the appropriate token next to the models on the board to indicate which unit it is affecting. These effects remain until the specified end condition is met.
- Beneficial effects (buffs) remain until the unit receives a new order or takes a Focus Fire token (see page 25).
- Hindering effects (debuffs) remain until a damage control check is successfully made (see page 26) or the unit receives the Deploy Engineers order.
Interrupts
Interrupt cards can be played during your own or your opponent's turn. An interrupt can be played on a unit regardless of whether or not it has been activated that round.
Each Interrupt card states when you can use it and describes the actions the unit can take. Basic actions, such as Move or Attack, are handled as normal. However, interrupts are not orders and do not count against your Play value.
You can play Interrupt cards in the following situations:
- Interrupt Move and Interrupt Attack are played only during your opponent's turn.
- Interrupt Repairs can be played during either your or your opponent's turn.
- Interrupt Counter-Intelligence can be played during either your or your opponent's turn.
You can play a maximum of one Interrupt card of each type (Move, Attack, Repairs, or Counter-Intelligence) during the round. After playing the card, place it in front of you to keep track of which types you have played so far; place them all in the discard pile at the end of the round.
If you want to perform an interrupt during your opponent's turn, ask them to pause their turn, then resolve the card's effect. If their unit is currently moving through another unit's space, it must enter the next empty hex before pausing. Once the Interrupt is resolved, your opponent continues their turn from where they paused.
If you want to play an Interrupt card that states "during an enemy move", an opponent's unit must have moved at least 1 hex as part of a Move action on their turn. If your opponent plays a special order that includes a Move action, but does not move that unit at least 1 hex, you can't play that interrupt.
Rules for Basic Actions
This section goes into further detail about how to execute the most common basic actions of the game: moving and attacking.
Move
Each Unit card shows its Move value: how many hexes it can move in a turn. When a unit takes a Move action, all ships in the unit are activated at the same time and move together a number of hexes up to its Move. You don't have to move the ships the full distance, or even move them at all, but all must move the same distance in the same direction. Some terrain might affect the Move cost to enter or leave a hex.
Only one unit can ever occupy a hex.
You can move through your own (allied) units, but not through your opponent's (enemy) units or other units dictated by the scenario.
When taking a Move action, before entering a new hex, a unit can first make a free turn to face any hex side. The unit must end its movement facing in the direction that it moved into the last hex.
If a unit does not move into a new hex, it can spend 1 Move to face in any direction the player chooses.
Examples: In this example, the unit ended its movement last turn facing in this direction. This turn it is given a Move order and first makes a free turn of one hex side to the right, then moves 1 hex forward. It then makes a free turn of one hex side to the left and moves 1 more hex forward. The ship must end its movement facing in the new direction as shown.
In this example, the ship moves forward 1 hex to get a clear line of sight on super capital ship A. The player chooses to spend 1 Move and turn the ship to face the enemy, rather than leave its rear face exposed and vulnerable.
Lightning Move
The Lightning Move ability works just like a regular Move action; however, it is available only to certain units and is triggered by certain Command cards. The Unit card lists this special ability and how many hexes the unit can move using it.
Attack
A unit can take an Attack action to make a ranged attack (using a weapon), a ramming attack, or a boarding action (these two are explained later).
Ranged Attacks
A unit can make a ranged attack only if it is equipped with a weapon. Unit cards with no weapon listings (such as the Kushan mothership) can't make ranged attacks.
When making a ranged attack, all of a unit's ships can fire only one of their weapons. If the activated unit has more than one listed weapon, you must choose which one to fire before resolving the action.
Determine Range
The next step of making a ranged attack is to determine which targets are in range. All weapons except turrets (see page 28) can fire in all directions.
The weapon's range shows the number of hexes, up to and including the target's hex, but not including the hex the attacking ship occupies.
Find the shortest path from the attacking unit to the target and count the number of hexes. The result must be equal to or less than the weapon's range.
All ships in the attacking unit can target only one enemy unit in range unless otherwise specified on the attacking unit's card.
Line of Sight and Terrain
Sometimes the shortest path to the target passes through a terrain feature such as an asteroid field or a planet. In such cases, follow any rules affecting the attack on the terrain feature's card.
You can fire through hexes occupied by units. For each occupied hex the attack passes through, reduce the number of war dice in the attack dice pool (see below) by 1, to a minimum of 1.
If there is more than one shortest path to the target, and any of them passes through an occupied hex or blocking terrain feature, then the applicable rules must be followed.
Rear Shots
Frigates and capital ships are slow and lumbering, with vulnerable engines. Thus, it's important to check whether an attack enters the rear side of such a unit's hex. If there is more than one shortest path, and any of them pass through the rear side of the target's hex, the attack is deemed to come from the rear (see Ranged Attack Armor Modifiers on page 19).
Unit A makes a ranged attack against unit B. There are two possible paths to B, but one of them enters its rear hex side and thus counts as a rear shot.
Unless otherwise stated by a weapon ability, Frigates and capital ships cannot target enemies in hexes directly to their rear, as shown here.
Ship Facing
Make sure all models in a unit of capital ships face in the same direction. If more than one ship's rear is facing a different hex side, then your opponent can claim a rear shot against the whole unit through that hex side.
Power Attack
Some Units have a Power Attack, a special ability that is activated by certain Command cards and makes the attack stronger.
Example weapon listing: Large Ion Cannon. Penetrating 1 (-1 to target's Armour). Penetrating 2 (-2 to target's Armour), shown with the Power Attack icon. Slow (cannot target Fighters).
Weapon abilities with the same name do not stack.
In this example, the unit has Penetrating II when using Power Attack; use the higher value shown next to the Power Attack icon instead of Penetrating I.
Attack Dice Pool
Every kind of attack works the same way: first compile an attack dice pool, then roll them all to determine the attack result.
Check the unit's weapons listing to see how many war dice each of its ships rolls for attacks. The listing will show a number of dice per ship like this:
Example: 1 war die per Fighter. This Interceptor rolls 1 war die per fighter. The Unit card shows 6 fighters when the unit is at full strength, so the attack dice pool starts at 6 war dice.
Some Leader cards have abilities that add to the attack dice pool. Such a bonus is applied once to the unit the Leader card is assigned to, not to each ship.
Some Command cards add to the attack dice pool.
Deduct 1 dice from the attack dice pool for each intervening unit or terrain feature.
For example, the Interceptor unit in the setup example is assigned a Squadron Leader with the following ability: Ace Pilot — This unit gets +1 war die on close quarters attacks. This ability adds 1 war die to the Interceptor's attack dice pool of 6 war dice to make a total of 7 war dice, but only during a close quarters attack (see page 26).
Roll War Dice
Once you've determined the attack pool, roll that many war dice and count the number of successes.
- 5+: This war dice success value is 5 or higher.
- Successes are dice rolls that are equal to or above the attacking unit's success value.
- Failures are dice results below the attacking unit's success value.
Rerolls: Before resolving the final result, apply any rerolls from unit abilities.
- Evasive X: Reroll X number of enemy successes.
- Rapid Fire Y: Reroll Y number of this unit's failures.
These abilities cancel each other out. For example, if the attacker has Rapid Fire 2 and the defender has Evasive 1, the attacking player rerolls just 1 failure.
If the attacking player has the Valour token or the Taiidan Faction card, they can use it now to reroll all the dice in the attack pool. Any Rapid Fire or Evasive rerolls then apply again. See below for more about using these.
Armour
Remove Successes Reduced by Armour
Each unit has an Armour value shown on its Unit card. Armour reduces the number of successes against the defending unit.
Once all rerolls have been resolved, remove a number of successes equal to the defender's Armour value, starting with the highest dice roll.
Ranged Attack Armour Modifiers
- +1 Armour for shots entering the front hex side for a unit with Prow Armour.
- -1 Armour if a shot enters the rear hex side of a frigate or capital ship.
- -1 Armour for each Focus Fire token on the target unit.
- -1 or -2 Armour per level of the attacking unit's weapon with Penetrating.
Resolve Damage
For each remaining success, remove 1 ship model from the target unit.
Example of Combat
The attacking player's Interceptor unit is targeting a Heavy Corvette unit. Using the above example of the Interceptor and Squadron Leader, the attacker rolls a total of 7 war dice (6 war dice for the Interceptor's fighters plus 1 war die for the Squadron Leader's ability).
The rolls are: 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1. The Interceptor unit has the following weapon ability: Rapid Fire 1 — When attacking strike craft (Fighter, Corvette, Platform) this unit can reroll 1 failure. The attacker rerolls one 4 and gets a 6!
The rolls are now: 6, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The Heavy Corvette it is targeting has 1 Armour, so the highest success is removed from the roll.
After removing the 6 result, we have: 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The Interceptor's success value is 5+, so the attacker scores 2 successes: two Heavy Corvette ships are destroyed! The defender removes two models from that unit's hex.
The Valour Token
This token is printed with the Kushan icon on one side and the Taiidan icon on the other.
Each player can use the Valour token once per round. After use, flip it to the other side and give it to the opponent. Once both players have used it, place it next to the Command deck. It is no longer in the possession of any player for the rest of the round.
You are never forced to use the Valour token. If you don't, you retain possession into the next round.
When rolling for initiative, if neither player possesses the Valour token, the player who lost the initiative roll takes the Valour token and turns it over to show their faction icon. If a player currently possesses the Valour token when rolling for initiative, it remains in their possession.
Using the Valour Token
A player can use the Valour token to reroll any of their units' dice rolls but must reroll all dice in the process.
For example, when attacking you can use the Valour token to reroll the attack dice pool. Any Rapid Fire or Evasive rerolls are then applied as usual.
The Valour token can also be used when you play an Interrupt Attack card and you want to reroll the dice.
The Valour token starts next to the Command deck, although you can place it anywhere you like. When you take possession of the Valour token, flip it to the side showing your faction.
Taiidan Faction Card
The Taiidan player's Faction card allows a reroll just like the Valour token, but it can be used only once in the scenario. It cannot be used to reroll dice that were previously rerolled using the Valour token and vice versa.
Focus Fire
Focus Fire tokens represent system damage and other disruption that makes it easier to destroy a large ship.
After an attack is resolved, for each roll of 1 in the attack dice pool, place a Focus Fire token on the defending unit. Tokens are double-sided; flip them to the -2 side to represent 2 tokens.
Each Focus Fire token on a unit reduces the unit's Armour by 1 when resolving future attacks against it.
Each Focus Fire token on a unit reduces its defensive fire dice pool by 1 war die (see Defensive Fire below).
Some special abilities can add more Focus Fire tokens.
Example: An Interceptor unit attacks a Heavy Corvette unit and rolls 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1. The Armour absorbs the damage and no ships are removed.
So one Focus Fire token is placed on the Heavy Corvette unit; the next time it is attacked it will have 1 less Armour. A second Interceptor unit then attacks the same Heavy Corvette unit. The attack dice pool is 6 war dice.
The rolls are: 6, 5, 4, 4, 2, 1 (after the reroll for Rapid Fire 1). The Focus Fire token reduces the Heavy Corvette's Armour to 0, so no dice are removed. Two successes are scored.
Since the Armour has been reduced to 0, the two successes destroy two Heavy Corvettes.
Fighters
Fighters do not take Focus Fire tokens; the ships are so small that any damage destroys them.
Corvettes and Frigates
Each time a ship in a unit of corvettes or frigates with Focus Fire tokens is destroyed, remove one Focus Fire token from that unit.
First resolve the attack and place any Focus Fire tokens, then remove destroyed models, then finally remove one Focus Fire token from the unit for each ship destroyed.
Focus Fire Tokens
Focus Fire tokens are double sided, with -1 printed on one side and -2 on the other. Make sure to add up the total correctly when placing them.
This unit has two Focus Fire tokens on it, but the total reduction to Armour is 3.
Close Quarters Attacks
Weapons with the close quarters icon can attack only with a close quarters attack. These attacks come from a variety of threats, such as asteroids or bombers. Close quarters attacks trigger defensive fire.
Overrun
If a defending unit is destroyed by a close quarters attack, the attacking unit can move into the target's hex. This is known as an overrun.
Example: An Interceptor unit of 6 fighters sees a vulnerable Heavy Corvette unit that has already lost a ship and taken a Focus Fire token, and sweeps in for the kill.
As soon as the attacking unit moves adjacent to the Heavy Corvette and declares a close quarters attack, the defending unit can roll defensive fire since the Heavy Corvette weapon has the Defensive Fire icon.
Its defensive fire dice pool is 2 war dice for each ship in the unit, for a total of 4 (it has lost one ship from a previous attack). However the pool is reduced by 1 for the Focus Fire token, for a final total of 3 war dice.
The defender rolls 6, 3, 1. The Interceptor unit forces a reroll of the 6 for its Evasive ability, but the reroll is 5 — still a hit. 1 Interceptor is lost.
The Interceptor unit rolls 5 war dice and gets 5, 5, 4, 3, 2.
Since the Heavy Corvette has a Focus Fire token on it, the unit's Armour is reduced by 1 to 0. The result of the attack is 2 successes, destroying the remaining two ships in the defending unit.
The Interceptor unit completes an overrun and moves into the hex previously occupied by the Heavy Corvette unit.
Defensive Fire
Some units' weapons have the Defensive Fire icon. Such weapons can make a free defensive fire roll when targeted by close quarters attacks (see above), asteroids, ramming, missiles, drones, bombs, or torpedoes. This roll happens before the attack is resolved.
Add up the defensive fire dice pool using the weapon's war dice with the following modifiers:
- Add 1 war die for each allied unit adjacent to the defending unit that has a weapon with the Defensive Fire icon.
- Subtract 1 war die for each Focus Fire token on the defending unit.
- Ignore the attack pool penalty of any terrain the attacking unit occupies.
Roll the defensive fire dice pool and resolve it against the attacking unit.
If the defensive fire is against an attacking unit, resolve damage as usual.
For asteroids, missiles & torpedoes each success reduces the attacker's dice pool by 1 war die.
Units can use defensive fire even if they have been previously activated.
Damage Control
When a unit is activated, you can make a free damage control check for it, rolling 1 war die. On a success, remove 1 Focus Fire or Crippled token from the unit.
Cool Under Pressure
Some Leader cards have the Cool Under Pressure X ability, which adds 1 war die to the damage control check for each level of ability (shown by X in Roman numerals). This ability can be used only for the unit that Leader card is assigned to.
Now go and play Scenario 2. Once you have finished, continue with the next part of the rules.
Scenarios
The scenario booklet contains ten pre-designed scenarios that progress in complexity from first to last. The first scenario, "First Contact", is described here.
The scenario map shows the starting positions of both players' units as well as any terrain features. There might also be indicated setup zones or escape zones. For the first scenario, both players start with 3 Interceptor units. Each side has a Wing Commander and a Squadron Leader assigned to units, as shown.
The scenario also includes several asteroid fields, whose effect on the game is covered by a separate Unit card. Set up the units, cards, and terrain tokens as shown on the scenario map.
Setting Up the Scenario
Mission Briefing
Before starting the scenario, read the "Mission Briefing" page, which sets out the objectives for both sides.
Scenario Cards
Some scenarios have additional terrain or objectives represented by cards; the first scenario uses the Asteroid Field card to describe the effect on play.
Terrain Feature: Asteroids
Entering an asteroid field hex costs 1 Move as normal. However, the Asteroid Field card has an attack listing: Asteroid Collisions.
Any unit that activates in or enters an Asteroid Field takes a close quarters attack from Asteroid Collisions. Asteroids cannot be destroyed but their Attack dice pool can be reduced by units with defensive fire. See "Close Quarters Attacks" on page 26 for more information.
When targeting ships inside an asteroid field's hex with a ranged attack, the attack dice pool is reduced by 2.
The rules for harvesting don't come into play for this scenario.
Asteroid Field card (Asteroid Impact): Penetrating 1 (-1 to target's Armour). Asteroid Collisions: Units entering or activating in the asteroid field's hex must take an Asteroid Impact attack. Unit abilities: Cover 2 (-2 war dice on ranged attacks that enter or pass through the Asteroid Field's hex). Minerals: Can be harvested.
Terrain Feature: Planets
Planets have two effects on play: they block line of sight and have gravity wells.
Gravity Well: Hexes adjacent to a planet are within the planet's gravity well. Ships can enter those hexes as normal, but it costs 2 Move to leave a gravity well hex and enter an adjacent normal hex. Entering other hexes within the gravity well has no additional cost.
Once you have played Scenario 1, continue with this next part of the rules.
Scenario 1: First Contact
| Codename | Briefing | System | Round Limit | New Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Contact | Taiidan scouts have been detected entering the Kharak system. Kushan Interceptors scramble to try to stop the scouts getting close enough to scan the planet. | Kharak | 7 | Hand & Play, Orders, Line of Sight |
Kushan Objectives
- Stop Taiidan units moving to within 2 hexes of the planet. (2 medals)
- Destroy 2 Taiidan units. (1 medal)
Taiidan Objectives
- End an Interceptor unit's turn within 2 hexes of the planet, then move the unit back to the Taiidan setup zone. (2 medals)
- Destroy 2 Kushan units. (1 medal)
Setup illustration (page 23): the map and unit placements are shown as a diagram in the printed rulebook and are not reproduced in this text. Kushan units A, B and C and Taiidan units D, E and F are placed as shown there.
Kushan Cards
- Interceptor (C): 6 Fighters. Abilities: Evasive 1 (Reroll 1 enemy success against this unit). Afterburners 2.
- Squadron Leader (A), Fighter Unit: Ace Pilot. This unit gets +1 war die on close quarters attacks.
- Squadron Leader (B), Fighter Unit: Ace Pilot. This unit gets +1 war die on close quarters attacks.
- Kushan Faction Card: Redundant Systems. On your turn, remove 1 Focus Fire or Crippled token. Then turn this card over; it cannot be used again this battle.
Taiidan Cards
- Interceptor (D): 6 Fighters. Abilities: Evasive 1 (Reroll 1 enemy success against this unit). Afterburners 2.
- Wing Commander (E), Fighter Unit: Ace Pilot 2. This unit gets +2 war dice on close quarters attacks.
- Squadron Leader (F), Fighter Unit: Ace Pilot. This unit gets +1 war die on close quarters attacks.
- Taiidan Faction Card: Ferocious Attack. Reroll all the dice in an attack, as if using the blue wave token. The blue wave token cannot be used on the same attack roll. Then turn this card over; it cannot be used again this battle.
Scenario Card
- Asteroid Field (see Setting Up the Scenario above).
Scenario 2: The Khar-Selim
Beginning with scenario 2, larger ships come into play, so additional rules apply.
| Codename | Briefing | System | Round Limit | New Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Khar-Selim | The Khar-Selim is a Kushan support vessel that was attacked by Turanic Raiders before it could complete its mission to test the Mothership's Hyperdrive. Kushan forces must retrieve critical data from the Khar-Selim. Turanic Raiders try to intercept them! | Kharak Outer Region | 7 | Armour, Defensive Fire, Focus Fire |
Kushan Objectives
- Move the Salvage Corvette unit adjacent to the Khar-Selim, then spend a Command Card to move the Objective Core token onto the Salvage Corvette. That Salvage Corvette must then move onto the mothership's hex removing it from play. (2 medals)
- Destroy 6 stars of enemy units. Note that the Taiidan units represent Turanic raiders in this scenario. (1 medal)
Taiidan Objectives
Note that the Taiidan units represent Turanic raiders in this scenario.
- Destroy the Salvage Corvette unit before it reaches the mothership with the Objective Token. (2 medals)
- Destroy 8 stars of enemy units. (1 medal)
Scenario Rules
The Drifting Hulk token represents the Khar-Selim. The Khar-Selim cannot be moved through, blocks line of sight, and cannot be destroyed.
Kushan Cards
- Mothership (1 Super Capital Ship, 7 stars). Unit abilities: Harvest 3 (Can harvest asteroid fields within 2 hexes). Factory (Can disembark fighters and reinforcements in adjacent hexes). Launch Tubes 2 (Can disembark 2 units per turn). Squadron Assigned (Comes with 1 Interceptor unit at no additional star cost; this unit is assigned to the Mothership).
- Interceptor (B, C), Fighter Unit: 6 Fighters. Evasive 1 (Reroll 1 enemy success against this unit). Afterburners 2. Rapid Fire 1 (When attacking strike craft this unit can reroll 1 failure).
- Salvage Corvette (2 Corvettes): Prow Armour +1 (+1 Armour vs. attacks that enter the front hex side, and when resolving damage after ramming). Marines 1 (This unit gets +1 war die on boarding actions).
- Kushan Faction Card: Redundant Systems (see Scenario 1).
- Vice-Admiral (A), Station or Super Capital Ship: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Wing Commander (A), Fighter Unit: Ace Pilot 2 (+2 war dice on close quarters attacks).
- Commander (A), Corvette Unit: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
Taiidan Cards (Scenario 2)
The Taiidan cards for this scenario are shown on page 25 of the printed rulebook:
- Carrier (1 Super Capital Ship, 5 stars). Taiidan.
- Interceptor (D, E), Fighter Unit: 6 Fighters. Abilities: Evasive 1 (Reroll 1 enemy success against this unit). Afterburners 2.
- Heavy Corvette (3 Corvettes, 3 stars). Weapons: Heavy Projectile Cannon, Penetrating 1 (-1 to target's Armour).
- Taiidan Faction Card: Ferocious Attack (see the Valour Token section above).
- Vice-Admiral (B), Station or Super Capital Ship: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Wing Commander (F), Fighter Unit: Ace Pilot 2 (+2 war dice on close quarters attacks).
- Commander (B), Corvette Unit: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
Scenario card: Asteroid Field (see Setting Up the Scenario above).
Scenario 3: Icebreaker
| Codename | Briefing | System | Round Limit | New Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Icebreaker | Kushan crew held in cryo-stasis are under attack by Taiidan forces. The Kushan defenders race to save as many as possible. | Kharak | 7 | Missiles, Reinforce, Planets, Cryo Trays |
Kushan Objectives
- At least 5 Cryo Trays must survive. (2 medals)
- Destroy 3 Assault Frigate units. (1 medal)
Taiidan Objectives
- Destroy 5 Cryo Trays. (2 medals)
- Destroy 10 stars of enemy units. (1 medal)
Setup illustration (page 27): the map and unit placements are shown as a diagram in the printed rulebook and are not reproduced in this text.
Kushan Cards
- Mothership (1 Super Capital Ship, 7 stars). Unit abilities: Harvest 3 (Can harvest asteroid fields within 2 hexes). Factory (Can disembark fighters and reinforcements in adjacent hexes). Launch Tubes 2 (Can disembark 2 units per turn). Squadron Assigned (Comes with 1 Interceptor unit at no additional star cost. This unit is assigned to the Mothership).
- Interceptor (B), Fighter Unit: 6 Fighters, 3 stars. Abilities: Evasive 1 (Reroll 1 enemy success against this unit). Afterburners 2. Weapon: Projectile Cannon, Rapid Fire 1 (When attacking strike craft this unit can reroll 1 failure), Rapid Fire 2 (Reroll 1 additional failure).
- Heavy Corvette (B), 3 Corvettes, 3 stars. Weapon: Heavy Projectile Cannon, Penetrating 1 (-1 to target's Armour).
- Attack Bomber (C, D), 6 Fighters, 3 stars. Weapon: Plasma Bombs. Abilities: Evasive 1 (Reroll 1 enemy success against this unit). Afterburners 2.
- Kushan Faction Card: Redundant Systems (see Scenario 1).
- Vice-Admiral (A), Station or Super Capital Ship, 3 stars: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Squadron Leader (A), Fighter Unit, 1 star: Ace Pilot (+1 war die on close quarters attacks).
- Commander (A), Corvette Unit, 1 star: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
Taiidan Cards
- Assault Frigate (B, C, D), 2 Frigates, 5 stars. Weapons: Large Projectile Cannon (H.E. Rounds: +1 war die for each 6 rolled before rerolls; rolls of 6 on the added dice are handled as normal). Plasma Bomb Launcher (Bombs: the target can use the Power Attack icon, and this unit gets -1 war die for each success; Penetrating 1 (-1 to target's Armour); some icon-only conditions are not legible at scan resolution). Unit abilities: Prow Armour +1 (+1 Armour vs. attacks that enter the front hex side, and when resolving damage after ramming).
- Admiral (A), Station or Super Capital Ship, 4 stars: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Taiidan Faction Card: Ferocious Attack (see the Valour Token section above).
Scenario Cards
- Asteroid Field (see Setting Up the Scenario above).
- Cryo Tray (2 Cryo Trays, 1 star). Unit abilities: Cryo Trays cannot move or attack but are treated as units for purposes of taking damage. Cryo Trays are represented by a token with 2 Cryo Trays on one side and 1 Cryo Tray on the other. When attacked the 1st success flips token to the 1 side and the second success removes it.
Beginning with scenario 3, more complex rules come into play.
Turrets
Very large ships or stations might be equipped with turrets. Turrets have a 270-degree arc of fire, and hence cannot fire down the line of hexes directly behind the unit (see also "Rear Shots" on page 17). Enemies can take advantage of this vulnerability to attack units with turrets and avoid defensive fire.
Arc All Around
These weapons can fire at targets all around them, covering a complete 360-degree fire arc.
Missiles, Bombs, and Torpedoes
These weapons can have a range greater than 1 but are slow-moving and thus subject to defensive fire. For each success scored in defensive fire, the weapon's attack dice pool is reduced by 1 war die.
Missiles, bombs, and torpedoes target units in any direction.
Drones
Drones are self-guided munitions, similar to missiles and bombs in that they are subject to defensive fire to reduce their attack dice pool.
When using Power Attack, drones gain Evasive 1, forcing a reroll of 1 war die.
Drones can target units in any direction.
New Action: Reinforce
Certain scenarios, like Scenario 3: Icebreaker, start with some units out of play that are deployed onto the board later.
The scenario dictates how many stars' worth of units are held in reserve as reinforcements, if any. The scenario may dictate when units can be called in from reserve, but if not the player can choose to deploy them when they wish. Keep those units off the board but place their activation tokens on or adjacent to the corresponding Unit cards.
In freeform battles (see page 44), players agree amongst themselves to choose the units in reserve before the game begins.
If a unit is held in reserve or has not yet disembarked (see below), the Hand and Play values of any Leader card attached to it do not count. When a unit with an assigned Leader card is brought into play during a round, its Hand and Play values are counted at the beginning of the next round when players draw Command cards.
This action is also used by Factory units to deploy new units, see page 31.
To reinforce, a player uses the Reinforce action on the back of a Command card. That Command card is then discarded and its special order is not used.
Strike craft embarked on a parent unit count towards the total number of stars held in reserve. When the parent unit is deployed, all the strike craft are also deployed but embarked.
The player then chooses to deploy either an embarked strike craft from the parent unit or a capital ship.
Some special orders might allow the deployed unit to take an additional action.
Bays
Very large units, such as the Kushan mothership or a space station, might have bays to carry strike craft.
Such a unit has blue tabs on the edge of its card to represent bays and is referred to as the parent unit. Any units inside the parent unit's bays are said to be embarked.
The embarked units' models should be placed below the parent unit's card until they enter play (disembark).
For a pre-set scenario, the colours of the tabs do not matter. They come into play for freeform battles.
Disembarking Strike Craft
To disembark strike craft (Fighter, Corvette, Platform), you must play a Reinforce action on the chosen unit. That unit is placed in a hex adjacent to the parent unit and counts as activated.
If the strike craft unit has a Leader card assigned to it, the Leader card disembarks along with it.
Deploying Capital Ships
Frigates and super capital ships are capable of hyperspace movement and can be deployed onto the board as reinforcements in the player's setup zone. If the unit has bays, any assigned strike craft units arrive embarked on it.
Place any embarked strike craft off the board near their Unit cards or those of the parent units to indicate they are embarked. Place their activation tokens on their Unit cards.
Now go and play Scenario 3. Once you have finished, continue with this next part of the rules.
Scenario 4: Fool's Gold
| Codename | Briefing | System | Asteroids | Round Limit | New Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fool's Gold | The Kushan Mothership needs to harvest mineral rich asteroids to re-supply. Taiidan forces wait in ambush, aiming to starve the Kushan of critical resources. | The Great Wasteland | Set up Asteroids with values: 1 x 3 stars, 6 x 2 stars, 3 x 0 stars | 10 | Asteroid Field, Harvest |
Kushan Objectives
- Harvest 8 stars of resources from the asteroid fields within 10 rounds. (2 medals)
- The mothership must survive. Once it has collected 8 stars it may move to any map edge and spend 1 Move to exit the map, removing it from play, completing this objective. (1 medal)
Taiidan Objectives
- Destroy the mothership. You cannot harvest asteroid fields. (2 medals)
- Prevent the mothership from harvesting 8 stars of resources. (1 medal)
Setup illustration (page 30): the map and unit placements are shown as a diagram in the printed rulebook and are not reproduced in this text.
Kushan Cards
- Mothership (1 Super Capital Ship, 7 stars). Unit abilities: Harvest 3 (Can harvest asteroid fields within 2 hexes). Factory (Can disembark fighters and reinforcements in adjacent hexes). Launch Tubes 2 (Can disembark 2 units per turn). Squadron Assigned (Comes with 1 Interceptor unit at no additional star cost. This unit is assigned to the Mothership).
- Interceptor, 6 Fighters, 3 stars. Weapon: Projectile Cannon, Rapid Fire 1 (When attacking strike craft this unit can reroll 1 failure), Rapid Fire 2 (Reroll 1 additional failure). Abilities: Evasive 1 (Reroll 1 enemy success against this unit). Afterburners 2.
- Heavy Corvette, 3 Corvettes, 3 stars. Weapon: Heavy Projectile Cannon, Penetrating 1 (-1 to target's Armour).
- Scout (B), 6 Fighters, 2 stars. Weapon: EMP Bomb, Ionizing (Place a Focus Fire token on a roll of 1 or 2 when this unit attacks). Abilities: Evasive 1 (Reroll 1 enemy success against this unit). Afterburners 2. Survey (After ending this unit's movement adjacent to 1 or more Asteroid Field tokens you can look at the underside of the tokens, then replace them as they were).
- Kushan Faction Card: Redundant Systems (see Scenario 1).
- Vice-Admiral (A), Station or Super Capital Ship, 3 stars: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Squadron Leader (A), Fighter Unit, 1 star: Ace Pilot (+1 war die on close quarters attacks).
- Commander (A), Corvette Unit, 1 star: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
Taiidan Cards
- Carrier, 1 Super Capital Ship, 5 stars. Weapon: Hull Defence Guns, Rapid Fire 1 (When attacking strike craft this unit can reroll 1 failure). Abilities: Harvest 2 (Can harvest asteroid fields within 2 hexes). Launch Tubes 2 (Can disembark 2 units per turn). Strike Factory (Can disembark strike craft and reinforcements in adjacent hexes). Squadron Assigned (Comes with 1 Interceptor unit at no additional star cost. This unit is assigned to the Carrier).
- Interceptor (C), 6 Fighters, 3 stars. Weapon: Projectile Cannon, Rapid Fire 1 (When attacking strike craft this unit can reroll 1 failure), Rapid Fire 2 (Reroll 1 additional failure). Abilities: Evasive 1 (Reroll 1 enemy success against this unit). Afterburners 2.
- Salvage Corvette (D), 3 Corvettes, 2 stars. Abilities: Prow Armour +1 (+1 Armour vs. attacks that enter the front hex side, and when resolving damage after ramming). Marines 1 (This unit gets +1 war die on boarding actions).
- Taiidan Faction Card: Ferocious Attack (see the Valour Token section above).
- Vice-Admiral (B), Station or Super Capital Ship, 3 stars: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Wing Commander (D), Fighter Unit, 2 stars: Ace Pilot 2 (+2 war dice on close quarters attacks).
- Commander (C), Corvette Unit, 1 star: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
Scenario Card
- Asteroid Field (see Setting Up the Scenario above).
New Action: Harvest
The Harvest action allows a unit to mine nearby asteroids. The unit can take a free Move action, then target one Asteroid Field token within the unit's Harvest ability range. Asteroids may be harvested even if another unit is in the asteroid hex.
Setting Up Asteroid Fields
Asteroid Field tokens are double sided, with a number of stars printed on the back (values are between 0-3). They are placed randomly with their star value hidden.
When an asteroid field is harvested, the player turns the token over. If it shows stars, the player takes that many stars in tokens and places them on the harvesting unit's card. The Asteroid Field token remains on the board face up as terrain; once harvested, it cannot be harvested again.
Surveying Asteroid Fields: Scout
Units allow you to quickly find valuable asteroid fields. They have the Survey unit ability: by ending the unit's movement adjacent to an Asteroid Field token, you can secretly look at the underside of the token, then replace it star side down. If the Scout unit ends its movement adjacent to multiple Asteroid Field tokens, you can look at them all.
Harvested stars can be spent to create new units using the Reinforce action (see above). Those stars do not count towards the scenario's victory conditions unless stated otherwise. If a unit that harvested stars is destroyed, any stars that remain on its Unit card are also lost.
These stars are in addition to stars held in reserve from Force Building (Page 44).
Factory Units
Some units, such as the Kushan mothership, have the Factory unit ability and are known as factory units. A scenario might dictate a number of stars available for production, or the factory unit might acquire more stars during play, such as through harvesting asteroids.
By playing a Reinforce action, you can convert stars into a new unit (paying its star cost) and disembark that unit adjacent to the factory unit. A Factory unit may be limited to only producing certain types of units.
Creating a new unit does not take an action but is part of the Reinforce order. The newly produced unit counts as activated.
Stars gained from destroying enemy units cannot be used to create new units; they count only towards the scenario's victory conditions.
Example: the Carrier unit shown here can make only strike craft with its Strike Factory ability.
Now go and play Scenario 4. Once you have finished, continue with this next part of the rules.
Ramming
Most ships have a Ram value, allowing them to crash into enemy ships. A ramming unit must use a Move action and must end its move adjacent to the target with at least 1 Move remaining. The ramming unit must end its movement facing the unit to be rammed.
The ramming unit cannot make another attack in the same turn.
Ramming counts as a close quarters attack and the defender can use any defensive fire. The results of defensive fire are applied before rolling the ramming attack.
The overrun rule applies if the defending unit is destroyed.
Resolving Ramming
After defensive fire is resolved, the attacker makes an attack roll against the defending unit.
Attack Dice Pool: The ramming unit has an attack dice pool equal to the unit's Ram value multiplied by the number of ships in the unit.
- Strike craft move at extremely high velocities and add their Lightning Move value in war dice to the attack dice pool.
- Fighter units can make ramming attacks but can't be targeted by such attacks, as they are agile and can evade the attacking ships.
- If a Fighter unit's ramming attack scores at least 1 success before Armour is checked, place a Crippled token of the attacker's choice (weapons, engines, or bays) on the defending unit. The ramming unit is destroyed.
Defender's Roll: The defending unit also rolls an attack dice pool equal to double its Armour value.
- The attacking unit adds 1 Armour against this attack if it has the Prow Armour ability; however, it cannot reroll using the Evasive ability.
- The defender rolls the dice even if that unit is destroyed, representing the impact of the collision.
Ramming: Cannot Ram / Can Ram (diagram in the printed rulebook).
Example: An undamaged Kushan Light Corvette unit rams a Taiidan Frigate unit. The Light Corvette unit has 3 ships and Ram 2, so it has a starting attack dice pool of 6 war dice. The ramming unit also has the Afterburners I ability, granting 1 Lightning Move, so it adds 1 war die to the pool. The total attack dice pool is 7 war dice, rolling 6, 5, 4, 2, 2, 1, 1 for 2 successes. The Frigate unit does not have the Defensive Fire ability, but 2 successes are insufficient to penetrate its Armour 2. The unit receives 2 Focus Fire tokens for the two rolls of 1.
The Ion Cannon Frigate unit has 2 Armour, so it rolls an attack dice pool of 4 in defence. The defender's roll results in 5, 5, 4, 2. The Light Corvette unit has Prow Armour, however, so it adds 1 to its Armour value against this attack, giving it 2 in defence. Thus, it takes no damage from the defender's attack.
After the attack, the Light Corvette unit is undamaged and the Ion Cannon Frigate unit has 2 ships remaining, with 2 Focus Fire tokens.
Combat Air Patrol
Capital ships are pivotal units whose loss can sway a game. Fighters can be assigned to protect a valuable asset by patrolling around it to intercept incoming threats. Borrowing a term from atmospheric fighters, this assignment is called combat air patrol (CAP).
Use a Move action on a Fighter unit to move it adjacent to the allied capital ship unit you wish to protect, then place a CAP token on the capital ship unit. Remove the patrolling unit's models from the board and place them near their Unit card; they are now represented by the CAP token, and move with the capital ship.
Only 1 Fighter unit can be assigned as the patrolling unit per capital ship unit.
Resolving CAP
When a unit with a CAP token is targeted by a close quarters attack, the defending player can choose to spend a Command card to activate the patroller's CAP and make an attack. The attack is resolved according to the type of incoming threat.
The patrolling unit counts as activated for the turn; flip the CAP token to its activated side. During the clean up step, flip the token back again to its bright yellow face.
Fighters: Both units roll their attack dice pools and resolve damage simultaneously. If the unit that initiated the attack survives, it can continue that attack against its target, which can use any defensive fire as usual.
Minefields: The patrolling unit and the minefield both roll their attack dice pools simultaneously. Successes caused by Mines remove fighters as normal. If the patrolling unit scores any successes, the minefield is reduced (see page 37). If the Mines token is not removed, it then makes another attack against the parent unit.
Asteroid Fields: The patrolling unit and the asteroid field both roll their attack dice pools simultaneously. Successes caused by asteroid impacts remove fighters as normal. For each success the patrolling unit scores, reduce the asteroid field's attack dice pool by 1; the asteroid field then makes another attack against the parent unit with this reduced dice pool.
Missiles and Torpedoes: Before the incoming missile or torpedo makes its attack, the patrolling unit can make an attack roll against it. Each success reduces the incoming attack dice pool by 1 war die. The defending unit can also use defensive fire.
Ramming and Boarding: The patrolling unit can make an attack roll against a unit conducting a ramming attack or boarding action. The incoming units do not make a defensive fire roll against it. If the unit that initiated the ramming attack or boarding action survives, it can continue that attack against its target, which can use any defensive fire as usual.
A unit that is assigned to CAP can be given an order, leaving its assignment, but only if the unit it was assigned to has not yet been activated (since the patrolling unit would have already moved with the capital ship). Place the unit's ships in an empty hex adjacent to the capital ship and remove the CAP token.
A patrolling unit can be targeted by enemy attacks as normal, measuring range to the unit with the CAP token. Remove destroyed models from the unit that is off the board.
If the capital ship unit is destroyed, remove the CAP counter and replace its model with those of the patrolling unit, which now returns to the board. It counts as activated if either the capital ship was activated this turn or the CAP token is flipped to its activated face.
Boarding Actions
Any unit with a Crew value can make a boarding action as an Attack action; if it does so, the unit cannot make a ranged attack or a ramming attack that turn.
The attacking unit must end its movement adjacent to the target unit.
A unit with a Crippled Weapons token can still make a boarding action.
A boarding action is treated as a close quarters attack, and the defending unit can use any defensive fire against it before resolving the boarding action.
Boarding Action Attack Dice Pool
Once any defensive fire has been resolved, compile the attack dice pool for the boarding action.
- Multiply the number of war dice for the boarding unit's Crew value by the number of ships in the boarding unit.
- Remove 1 war die for each Crew Damage token on the boarding unit.
- Add any war die bonuses from Leader cards on the boarding unit.
Then roll the attack dice pool for the boarding action and count the number of successes.
For example, a Kushan Assault Frigate has Crew 3. There are 2 ships in the unit, for a starting attack dice pool of 6 war dice. The unit has 1 Crew Damage token on it, reducing the attack dice pool to 5 war dice.
The unit has an assigned Marine Commander with the Inspirational I ability, which adds 1 war die to the attack dice pool, bringing the total back to 6.
Boarding Action Armour Modifiers
Remove a number of successes equal to the defending unit's Armour value, with the following modifications:
- -1 Armour for each Crew Damage on the defending unit.
- -1 Armour for every 2 Focus Fire tokens on the defending unit.
Crew Damage tokens affect Armour only during boarding actions; they have no effect during other attacks.
Unit and Crew cards might have unit abilities that modify the defender's Armour value; these do not count unless they specifically state they affect boarding actions.
Resolving the Boarding Action
- For each success remaining, the defending unit removes 1 ship.
- For each 1 rolled in the boarding attack dice pool, the defending unit takes a Crew Damage token.
Counterattack
If the defending unit has not already been activated, it can then make a counterattack with its next activation. Doing so requires spending a Command card to make an Attack action against the attacker. Since both units are already locked in combat, there is no defensive fire against the counterattack.
Boarding Action Example
A Salvage Corvette unit attempts to board an Ion Cannon Frigate unit. The defending unit does not have the Defensive Fire icon and so cannot use defensive fire against the incoming attack.
The Salvage Corvette unit has 3 ships with Crew 2 per ship, so the attack dice pool is 6 war dice for the boarding action. The unit gets an additional 1 war die for its Marines unit ability.
The attacker rolls 7 war dice and gets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6 for a total of 3 successes and 1 Crew Damage token.
The Ion Cannon Frigate's 2 Armour reduces the number of successes by 2. The remaining 1 success destroys one of its ships and because a 1 is rolled in the boarding attack dice pool, the defending unit takes a Crew Damage token.
The Ion Cannon Frigate counterattacks with its next activation, and its player spends a Command card. The unit has one remaining ship with Crew 3 and 1 Crew Damage token. The attack dice pool is 2 (3 - 1 for the Crew Damage token) and the roll results in a 3 and a 5, for 1 success. That success is reduced to 0 by the Salvage Corvette's Armour 1, so the counterattack fails.
Capturing Units
If a scenario requires the capture of a unit (for example Scenario 5: Nova Raid) or large facility, such as a space station, the attacker makes a boarding action as usual. If the attack scores 1 or more successes, the player can choose to capture the target instead of destroying it. The attacking unit takes a Crew Damage token to represent the transfer of crew to operate the captured unit, which is now in the attacker's possession.
Units cannot be captured unless so stated by the scenario.
Retrieving Artifacts
A scenario might require an artifact to be retrieved from a unit. To do so requires a boarding action; any success also retrieves the artifact. Move the token from the defending unit onto the attacking unit.
Transferring Artifacts
You can spend a Command card to transfer an artifact from one adjacent allied ship to another. Either ship can take the action and then counts as activated.
Fighters cannot capture or transfer artifacts.
Example: An Ion Cannon Frigate unit is adjacent to the drifting hulk of an enemy Destroyer unit, which has 6 Crew Damage on it. Its player can spend a Command card to transfer 2 Crew Damage to the Ion Cannon Frigate unit, which reduces the Crew Damage on the Destroyer unit to 4. The transferring player takes control of the Destroyer unit and takes its Unit card, replacing the Drifting Hulk token with the Destroyer model.
Drifting Hulks
If a capital ship or station has more Crew Damage tokens than its total Armour value, all its crew are killed and it becomes a drifting hulk. Replace the unit's model with a Drifting Hulk token. This counts as terrain and thus affects movement and ranged attacks.
Drifting hulks cannot take any actions, use interrupts, or perform damage control.
Transferring Crew and Leaders
Two adjacent units can transfer crew between them to reduce damage from boarding actions. The receiving unit must have some Crew Damage tokens on it. The transferring unit's player spends a Command card to move a number of Crew Damage tokens from the receiving unit to the transferring unit.
You can also choose to transfer a Leader card at the same time at no extra cost. You can transfer a Leader without also transferring Crew Damage tokens.
The receiving unit can be activated on the following turn. If the receiving unit was a drifting hulk, it can be activated by the transferring player on the following turn.
A unit cannot have more Crew Damage tokens than its Armour value after the transfer is complete.
Now go and play Scenarios 5, 6, and 7. Once you have finished, continue with this next part of the rules.
Scenario 5: Nova Raid
| Codename | Briefing | System | Round Limit | New Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nova Raid | The Kushan must capture the space station, it is protected by a minefield, behind which the Taiidan have prepared their defences. | Nebula | 6 | Minefields, Boarding |
Kushan Objectives
- Capture the Space Station within 6 rounds. (2 medals)
- Destroy 10 stars of fighters or platforms. (1 medal)
Taiidan Objectives
- Destroy the Kushan Destroyer unit. (2 medals)
- Destroy 12 stars of enemy units. (1 medal)
Setup illustration (page 36): the map and unit placements are shown as a diagram in the printed rulebook and are not reproduced in this text.
Kushan Cards
- Mothership, 1 Super Capital Ship, 7 stars. Unit abilities: Harvest 3 (Can harvest asteroid fields within 2 hexes). Factory (Can disembark fighters and reinforcements in adjacent hexes). Launch Tubes 2 (Can disembark 2 units per turn). Squadron Assigned (Comes with 1 Interceptor unit at no additional star cost. This unit is assigned to the Mothership).
- Destroyer, 1 Super Capital Ship, 7 stars. Weapons: Large Projectile Cannon, H.E. Rounds (+1 war die for each 6 rolled before rerolls. Rolls of 6 on the added dice are handled as normal). Large Ion Cannon, Penetrating 2 (-2 to target's Armour), Slow (Cannot target fighters).
- Interceptor (A, B, C), Fighter Unit, 6 Fighters, 3 stars. Weapon: Projectile Cannon, Rapid Fire 1 (When attacking strike craft this unit can reroll 1 failure), Rapid Fire 2 (Reroll 1 additional failure). Abilities: Evasive 1 (Reroll 1 enemy success against this unit). Afterburners 2.
- Salvage Corvette (A), 3 Corvettes, 2 stars. Abilities: Prow Armour +1 (+1 Armour vs. attacks that enter the front hex side, and when resolving damage after ramming). Marines 1 (This unit gets +1 war die on boarding actions).
- Kushan Faction Card: Redundant Systems (see Scenario 1).
- Vice-Admiral (A), Station or Super Capital Ship, 3 stars: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Commander (B), Corvette Unit, 1 star: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Marine Captain (B), Corvette or Frigate Unit, 2 stars: Inspirational 2 (This unit gets +2 war dice on boarding actions).
Taiidan Cards
- Space Station, 1 Station, 5 stars. Weapons: Hull Defence Guns (Rapid Fire 1), Torpedo Tube (Penetrating 1). Abilities: Fighter Factory and Launch Tubes 1.
- Interceptor (D), Fighter Unit, 6 Fighters, 3 stars. Weapon: Projectile Cannon, Rapid Fire 1 and Rapid Fire 2. Abilities: Evasive 1 and Afterburners 2.
- Attack Bomber (C), 6 Fighters, 3 stars. Weapon: Plasma Bombs. Abilities: Evasive 1 and Afterburners 2.
- Weapons Platform (C, D), 2 Platforms, 3 stars. Weapon: Ion Cannon, Penetrating 1 (-1 to target's Armour). Platforms are represented by a token with 2 Platforms on one side and 1 Platform on the other. When attacked the 1st success flips token to the 1 side and the second success removes it.
- Vice-Admiral (A), Station or Super Capital Ship, 3 stars: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Wing Commander (E), Fighter Unit, 2 stars: Ace Pilot 2 (+2 war dice on close quarters attacks).
- Squadron Leader (F), Fighter Unit, 1 star: Ace Pilot (+1 war die on close quarters attacks).
- Taiidan Faction Card: Ferocious Attack (see the Valour Token section above).
Scenario Card
- Minefield, 5 Mines (see New Terrain Feature: Minefield below).
New Terrain Feature: Minefield
Scenario 5 introduces hazardous terrain.
Like asteroid fields (see page 22), minefields make close quarters attacks against units entering the hex. The Minefield card states how many war dice form the attack dice pool per Mines token.
Minefield card (Mines): 1 war die per Mines token; Penetrating 1 (-1 to target's Armour). Mines: Units entering or activating in the minefield's hex must take a Mines attack. The Mines token starts with the 5 side up. The first time it destroys any ships or its attack dice pool is reduced by defensive fire, flip the Mines token to the 3 side after its attack is resolved. After the second time, remove the token from play.
Mines do not block line of sight and cannot be attacked; however, a minefield can be reduced in two ways:
- When it destroys one or more ships of a unit that has entered its hex or causes the entering unit to take a Focus Fire token.
- When its attack dice pool is reduced by defensive fire.
A minefield starts play with 5 mines. The first time it is reduced, flip the Mines token from its 5 side to the 3 side. If a Mines token with the 3 side face up is subsequently reduced, the token is removed from the board.
A minefield can be reduced twice in the same activation.
The force that owns the minefield may move through without being subject to an attack from the mines. If no force owns the minefield in a scenario they will attack all forces.
Fighters
Fighters cannot take part in boarding actions. They have no Crew value and are too small and too fast to be boarded.
Crew
Large ships have a Crew value, representing crew assigned to vital functions aboard. Crew can be used in boarding actions.
Such a unit has a total Crew equal to its Crew value multiplied by the number of ships in the unit. For example, the Ion Cannon Frigate unit shown below has Crew 2, and there are 2 ships in the unit, for a total Crew of 4.
Crew damage is tracked by Crew Damage tokens.
Crew Damage Tokens
Crew Damage tokens are double sided, with -1 printed on one side and -2 on the other.
Scenario 6: Save the Bentusi
| Codename | Briefing | System | Asteroids | Round Limit | New Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Save the Bentusi | The Bentusi have been helping the Kushan and are under attack from the Taiidan! The Kushan fleet rushes to their aid. | Tenhauser Gate | Use Asteroids with values 2 x 0 stars | 6 | None |
Kushan Objectives
- Prevent the Bentusi ship unit from being destroyed. (2 medals)
- Destroy 12 stars of enemy units. (1 medal)
Taiidan Objectives
- Destroy the Bentusi ship unit. (2 medals)
- Destroy 12 stars of enemy units. (1 medal)
Scenario Rules
The Kushan player can use Command cards on the Bentusi Ship.
Setup illustration (page 38): the map and unit placements are shown as a diagram in the printed rulebook and are not reproduced in this text.
Kushan Cards
- Mothership, 1 Super Capital Ship, 7 stars (as in Scenario 5).
- Destroyer, 1 Super Capital Ship, 7 stars (as in Scenario 5).
- Interceptor (A, B, D), Fighter Unit, 6 Fighters, 3 stars (as in Scenario 5).
- Attack Bomber, 6 Fighters, 3 stars. Weapon: Plasma Bombs. Abilities: Evasive 1 and Afterburners 2.
- Vice-Admiral (A), Station or Super Capital Ship, 3 stars: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Commander (B), Corvette Unit, 1 star: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Squadron Leader (C), Fighter Unit, 1 star: Ace Pilot (+1 war die on close quarters attacks).
- Kushan Faction Card: Redundant Systems (see Scenario 1).
Scenario Card
- Bentusi Ship, 1 Super Capital Ship, 1 star. Unit abilities: All Around Armour (Armour is not reduced for rear shots against this unit).
Taiidan Cards (Scenario 6)
- Destroyer, 1 Super Capital Ship, 7 stars. Weapons: Large Projectile Cannon (H.E. Rounds: +1 war die for each 6 rolled before rerolls; rolls of 6 on the added dice are handled as normal). Large Ion Cannon (Penetrating 2; Slow, cannot target Fighters).
- Ion Cannon Frigate, 2 Frigates, 4 stars. Weapon: Plasma Bombs, Penetrating 1 (-1 to target's Armour); a second weapon line reads "When attacking [unit-type icon] this unit gets +2 war dice" (the icon is not legible at the scan resolution used for this transcription). Abilities: Evasive 1 (Reroll 1 enemy success against this unit). Afterburners 2.
- Assault Frigate (B, C), 2 Frigates, 5 stars. Weapons: Large Projectile Cannon, Plasma Bomb Launcher. Abilities: Prow Armour +1 (+1 Armour vs. attacks that enter the front hex side, and when resolving damage after ramming).
- Vice-Admiral (C), Station or Super Capital Ship, 3 stars: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Captain (A), Frigate, 1 star: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Taiidan Faction Card: Ferocious Attack (see the Valour Token section above).
Scenario 7: Relic Raid
| Codename | Briefing | System | Asteroids | Round Limit | New Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relic Raid | The Kushan have discovered the presence of two ancient Precursor artifacts on wrecked ships that could be valuable. Kushan and Taiidan forces races to capture them first, and deprive the enemy of the artifacts. | Tenhauser Gate | Set up Asteroids with values: 1 x 3, 3 x 2, 3 x 0 | 6 | Reinforcements |
Setup illustration (page 39): the map shows the Kushan Setup Zone, the Taiidan Setup Zone and the two Objective tokens, and is not reproduced in this text.
Kushan & Taiidan Objectives
- Retrieve both Precursor Artifacts (represented by Objective tokens) and return them to your setup zone. (2 medals)
- Retrieve 1 Precursor Artifact and return it to your setup zone. (1 medal)
- Destroy an enemy unit carrying a Precursor Artifact. (1 medal)
- Destroy 15 stars of enemy units. (1 medal)
Scenario Rules
Each player starts with 25 stars of units on the board and 5 stars of units in reserve. Reserves can deploy on round 3 or later and must start in the opposing player's setup zone.
To retrieve a Precursor Artifact, a player must win a boarding action; the token is then transferred to the victor's unit (see "Retrieving Artifacts" on page 35). They must then move back to their setup zone.
A unit carrying a Precursor Artifact that enters its setup zone is removed immediately from play.
A unit carrying a Precursor Artifact cannot use Interrupt Move cards or All Ahead Full.
The two Precursor Artifacts (Objective tokens) start on each of the two wrecked ship units. Each wrecked ship has automated defenses giving 2 for the purposes of boarding actions.
Kushan Cards
- Mothership, 1 Super Capital Ship, 7 stars (as in Scenario 5).
- Interceptor (B), Fighter Unit, 6 Fighters, 3 stars (as in Scenario 5).
- Salvage Corvette, 3 Corvettes, 2 stars (as in Scenario 5).
- Vice-Admiral (A), Station or Super Capital Ship, 3 stars: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Squadron Leader (A), Fighter Unit, 1 star: Ace Pilot (+1 war die on close quarters attacks).
- Marine Captain (A), Corvette or Frigate Unit, 2 stars: Inspirational 2 (This unit gets +2 war dice on boarding actions).
- Heavy Corvette (B), 3 Corvettes, 3 stars. Weapon: Heavy Projectile Cannon, Penetrating 1 (-1 to target's Armour).
- Marine Commander (B), Corvette or Frigate Unit, 1 star: Inspirational 1 (This unit gets +1 war die on boarding actions).
- Attack Bomber, 6 Fighters, 3 stars. Weapon: Plasma Bombs. Abilities: Evasive 1 and Afterburners 2.
- Wing Commander (B), Fighter Unit, 2 stars: Ace Pilot 2 (+2 war dice on close quarters attacks).
- Kushan Faction Card: Redundant Systems (see Scenario 1).
Reserve (Kushan):
- Assault Frigate (B), 2 Frigates, 5 stars. Weapons: Large Projectile Cannon, Plasma Bomb Launcher. Abilities: Prow Armour +1 (+1 Armour vs. attacks that enter the front hex side, and when resolving damage after ramming).
Taiidan Cards
- Destroyer, 1 Super Capital Ship, 7 stars (as in Scenario 6).
- Assault Frigate (A), 2 Frigates, 5 stars (as in Scenario 6).
- Carrier, 1 Super Capital Ship, 5 stars (as in Scenario 4).
- Carrier Captain (B), Carrier, 1 star: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Vice-Admiral (C), Station or Super Capital Ship, 3 stars: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Interceptor (E), Fighter Unit, 6 Fighters, 3 stars (as in Scenario 4).
- Wing Commander (F), Fighter Unit, 2 stars: Ace Pilot 2 (+2 war dice on close quarters attacks).
- Taiidan Faction Card: Ferocious Attack (see the Valour Token section above).
Reserve (Taiidan):
- Ion Cannon Frigate, 2 Frigates, 4 stars (as above).
- Captain (C), Frigate, 1 star: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
Scenario Card
- Asteroid Field (see Setting Up the Scenario above).
Scenario 8: Freeform Battle
| Codename | Briefing | System | Asteroids | Round Limit | New Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freeform Battle | Kushan and Taiidan forces clash in orbit around a distant world. | Tenhauser Gate | Set up Asteroids with values: 2 x 3, 2 x 2, 2 x 0 | 10 | None |
Setup illustration (page 41): the Kushan Setup Zone and Taiidan Setup Zone and the terrain layout are shown as a diagram in the printed rulebook and are not reproduced in this text.
Kushan Objectives
- Destroy 15 stars of enemy units. (2 medals)
- Destroy 10 stars of enemy units. (1 medal)
Taiidan Objectives
- Destroy 15 stars of enemy units. (2 medals)
- Destroy 10 stars of enemy units. (1 medal)
Scenario Rules
Freeform Battles (see page 44). Each player builds a force with up to 25 stars of units. Try using the rules for Freeform Battles and Designing Scenarios to try different setup zones, terrain, objectives and stars totals. We'd love you to share your scenario designs with the community!
The scenario has a suggested layout for asteroids but you can change the number of asteroid tokens and then use the Placing Asteroid Fields (see page 45) rules.
Scenario Card
- Asteroid Field (see Setting Up the Scenario above).
Scenario 9: Convoy
| Codename | Briefing | System | Asteroids | Round Limit | New Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Convoy | A Kushan convoy attempts to resupply an allied outpost, Taiidan forces have discovered its location and make haste to destroy the incoming vessels. | Wolf 359 | Set up Asteroids with values: 2 x 3, 3 x 2, 2 x 0 | 10 | None |
Kushan Objectives
- Purchase up to 15 stars of units in addition to the Planetary Spaceport (Planet token), Bulk Freighters, and their Crew cards.
- Redeem 4 stars of resources from the Bulk Freighters. (2 medals)
- Redeem 2 stars of resources from the Bulk Freighters. (1 medal)
Taiidan Objectives
- Purchase up to 20 stars of units, of which 10 stars must be held in reserve. You can deploy reserves only on round 4 or later.
- Destroy 4 or more Bulk Freighter ships (there are 2 freighter ships per unit). (2 medals)
- Destroy at least 2 Bulk Freighters. (1 medal)
Scenario Rules
The Ion Cannon Frigates represent Bulk Freighters, which may not take the Attack action.
The Kushan player redeems 1 of resources per Bulk Freighter by moving the unit to any hex adjacent to the planet; the unit is then removed from the board.
Use the Placing Asteroid Fields rules to place 2 x 3 stars, 3 x 2 stars, and 2 x 0 stars asteroid tokens.
Setup illustration (page 42): the Kushan Setup Zone, Taiidan Setup Zone and the Planet are shown as a diagram in the printed rulebook and are not reproduced in this text.
Kushan Cards
- Military Outpost, 1 Planet, 2 stars. Weapon: Defence Batteries (Gravity Bound: can be used only for planet hexes). Unit abilities: Planet (The Military Outpost can be destroyed as usual; however, the token remains in play. The token blocks line of sight). Launch Tubes 1 (Can disembark 1 unit per turn).
Taiidan Cards
- Military Outpost, 1 Planet, 2 stars (as above).
- Ion Cannon Frigate (B, C), 2 Frigates, 4 stars. Weapon: Plasma Bombs, Penetrating 1 (-1 to target's Armour). Abilities: Evasive 1 (Reroll 1 enemy success against this unit). Afterburners 2.
- Carrier Captain, Carrier, 1 star: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Commander (A), Corvette Unit, 1 star: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Taiidan Faction Card: Ferocious Attack (see the Valour Token section above).
Scenario Card
- Asteroid Field (see Setting Up the Scenario above).
Scenario 10: Empire's Last Stand
| Codename | Briefing | System | Asteroids | Round Limit | New Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empire's Last Stand | The Taiidan make a final stand around Hiigara in an attempt to stop the Kushan gaining control of their homeworld. | Hiigara | Set up Asteroids with values: 2 x 3, 2 x 2, 2 x 0 | 10 | None |
Kushan Objectives
- Destroy 30 stars of enemy units. (2 medals)
- Destroy 20 stars of enemy units. (1 medal)
Taiidan Objectives
- Destroy 30 stars of enemy units. (2 medals)
- Destroy 20 stars of enemy units. (1 medal)
Scenario Rules
Each faction starts with 25 stars of units in their setup zone and 25 stars of units in reserve. Each player has maximum 5.
2, 3 or 4 Players
When playing with 4 players each player has one corner setup zone as shown on the map, and stars for the main force and reinforcements may be split between players as they like. When playing as a 2 player scenario each force may use both corner setup zones on their side of the map. Players should have their own hand of Command cards. Each round, every play takes it in turn to play a command card, alternating between sides.
Reinforcements may only be called in on Round 3 or after.
Setup illustration (page 43): the map is shown as a diagram in the printed rulebook and is not reproduced in this text.
Kushan Cards (must start in play)
- Mothership, 1 Super Capital Ship, 7 stars (as in Scenario 5). (A)
- Kushan Faction Card: Redundant Systems (see Scenario 1).
Taiidan Cards (must start in play)
- Military Outpost, 1 Planet, 2 stars (as in Scenario 9).
- Destroyer, 1 Super Capital Ship, 7 stars (as in Scenario 5). (B)
- Vice-Admiral, Station or Super Capital Ship, 3 stars: Cool Under Pressure (+1 war die on damage control checks).
- Taiidan Faction Card: Ferocious Attack (see the Valour Token section above).
Scenario card: Asteroid Field (see Setting Up the Scenario above).
Freeform Battles
Some scenarios are freeform battles with pre-set purchase limits and setup zones. However, players can create freeform battles of their own, following the rules set out here.
Building Your Force
Choose which force you will command, Kushan or Taiidan, and take the corresponding Unit and Leader cards. You can select units only from your faction's cards, and scenario details might further restrict the composition of your force.
Each unit costs a number of stars, printed on its card, and the scenario dictates which units are available or how many stars each player can spend. If you are creating your own scenario, agree ahead of time on the total stars available.
It's best to begin by choosing your Leader cards, since they strongly influence the composition of your force and its resilience in battle.
You might wish to try out several compositions before you decide on your final force for the battle.
Assigning Leader Cards
Each Leader card must be assigned to a specific unit. Below the card's name is the icon and name of the unit type it must be assigned to. If that unit is destroyed, the assigned Leader card is also lost.
This Squadron Leader card must be assigned to a unit of Fighters.
Unit Tabs
Some Crew cards have coloured boxes (tabs) printed at the left hand side of the card that allow you to purchase other units. Tabs are colour coded and govern the type of units purchased.
For a force to be valid, each type of unit purchased must correspond to one tab: yellow for capital ships, blue for strike craft.
Some capital ships, such as carriers, have blue tabs printed on the sides of their Unit cards. These allow you to purchase strike craft units and carry them into battle embarked (see the rules for reinforcements starting on page 28).
- A solid-coloured tab denotes the unit of the corresponding colour is compulsory and must be purchased. Each unit counts against only one compulsory tab. When purchasing a unit with the compulsory tab on a Crew card, that card must be assigned to the purchased unit. This tab shows one capital ship unit must be purchased.
- A half-filled tab denotes the unit of the corresponding colour may optionally be purchased. This shows one strike craft unit may be purchased.
- If a tab also has a unit type symbol and is solid, that specific unit type must be purchased (in this case, a super capital ship).
- If a tab also has a unit type symbol in it and is half filled, that specific unit type may optionally be purchased (a frigate in this case).
- Some units come with free assigned units, which are part of their purchase cost. The tab assigned to a free unit is greyed out and can't be used to bring in other units as it is already occupied.
Setting up the Board
After deciding on the total star value for your forces and how many stars are held in reserve (if any), both sides deploy their units. Each force's setup zone should be a line of two hexes along opposing board edges unless otherwise agreed by the players.
Placing Terrain and Units
Decide ahead of time if any terrain, such as planets, minefields, asteroid fields, or other features will be used. One player places the terrain and the other decides which board edge to start from. The first player then sets up on the opposite board edge.
During the first initiative roll, the player who lost the roll must deploy the first unit. The players then take turns deploying one unit at a time.
Placing Asteroid Fields
Before starting the game, players can agree on a number of Asteroid Field tokens on the board (if any). Turn them face down so you cannot see the star value and mix them up. The player placing the terrain chooses their locations. An Asteroid Field token cannot be placed within two hexes of a board edge, and there must be at least one clear hex between each token. Spread the Asteroid Field tokens fairly between both players. Not every token should be the same, so try a mix of star values: for example, a few 0s, some 2s and one or two 3s.
Consider the maximum number of stars you want to be accessible to each player; harvested asteroids can translate to new units and result in a longer game. See the Stars Per Objective table below for guidance on how many Stars to include.
For example if you want a Small Asteroid Field in your scenario, you would place 2 each of 0, 2 and 3 stars Asteroids, with a Minor Objective for harvesting 4 stars and a Major Objective for harvesting 6 stars.
| Asteroid Tokens | Small Asteroid Field | Medium Asteroid Field | Huge Asteroid Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 stars | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 stars | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 stars | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Total stars | 10 | 16 | 24 |
Campaign Play
If you would like to track progress through the base game scenarios, keep a record of how many Medals you gain in each scenario to determine an overall winner for the campaign.
Designing Scenarios
If you know the Homeworld video games or are a fan of science fiction, you might already have a few ideas for scenarios to try out. The following section will give you some guidelines on how to design scenarios that are fun for all players.
Are you designing a head-to-head battle, or is one side on the defensive? Is it an ambush or a chase? Does one side need to board a drifting hulk to gain some ancient technology, or are both sides after a prize on a space station?
Have a think about what type of game you would like to play and whether to use special rules such as boarding actions, retrieving artifacts, ramming, harvesting, and the like.
The scenario booklet includes a number of maps with examples of setup zones in different locations to inspire you, or you could come up with your own design, maybe the defenders start in the centre of the board, for example.
Multiple Copies of the Game
The game board is designed so several boards can be combined to make larger maps. Having more than one copy of the game will allow more units, terrain and much bigger fleet battles. This can also then support even more players for huge scenarios.
A good design choice is for one player to create the scenario with interesting objectives and the required stars per side, then let the other pick which side they would like to play. You can design the forces for both sides, then let your opponent pick first to keep it fair, or use the freeform rules to let both players create their own forces. If you find it's too easy or too hard for one side to win a scenario each time you play, consider adjusting the stars available to players, or changing where both forces start the game or the locations of the objectives.
Purchasing Forces
First decide how many stars you want available to each force, and how many stars are held in reserve, if any. This decision affects how long the game will be. For example, if you want a quick fun encounter, go for around 20 to 25 stars for a play time of around 30 to 60 minutes. We recommend setting a round limit, or you can play an epic fleet engagement (upwards of 100 stars) that lets you field all the ships in the box and would take a whole afternoon or evening to play out!
Mission Briefing
Write a short paragraph that introduces the battle for both sides and explains what objectives must be achieved for victory. The scenario book has plenty of examples to inspire you.
Medals and Objectives
The scenario should state what objectives gain each player medals; again, use examples from the scenario booklet for ideas.
Each side must be able to gain 3 medals to win the game. These can be split into three minor objectives worth 1 medal each, or one major objective worth 2 medals and 1 minor objective worth 1 medal.
Stars
Competing for stars is a simple objective that can be used in all games. Before starting, players should agree on how many stars are required for victory. As a guide, use the following table to work out when you would claim 1 or 2 medals.
The threshold of stars claimed through enemy units destroyed, harvesting asteroids or other methods to complete an objective can be found by cross referencing the Force Total (stars) with the Objective type.
For example if you are playing a game with a Force Total of 10 stars then you gain a Minor Objective when you destroy 4 stars of enemy Units, and a Major Objective when you have destroyed 6 stars of enemy Units.
Victory Calculator
| Total (stars) | Major Objective 2 (2 medals) | Minor Objective 1 (1 medal) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 stars | 6 | 4 |
| 15 stars | 9 | 6 |
| 20 stars | 12 | 8 |
| 25 stars | 15 | 10 |
| X | 60% of X | 40% of X |
Capture Objectives
The scenario objective might require capturing facilities, such as the space station, or a valuable ship such as a carrier. Determine what unit the target is going to be, where it will be placed on the board, and how many medals it is worth.
You might also want to consider what happens if the objective is destroyed, or even make its destruction an objective for one side.
Retrieving Artifacts
Your scenario's objective might be to capture an artifact. You will need to determine where the artifact starts and where it needs to be taken to complete the objective, such as one side's setup zone.
Harvesting Asteroids
Homeworld: Fleet Command games often start with the Kushan mothership arriving in a star system and starting to harvest asteroids before the enemy arrives.
Think about where each player could reach with their mothership or carrier. There should be an equal number of Asteroid tokens of similar values accessible to each player, unless you are creating a scenario where one player is harvesting and the other attacking, like scenario 4. See "Placing Asteroid Fields" above for more guidance.
To determine how many stars of asteroids must be harvested to gain a major or minor objective refer to the table below:
| Asteroid Tokens | Small Asteroid Field | Medium Asteroid Field | Huge Asteroid Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asteroid Field (stars) | 10 | 16 | 24 |
| Minor Objective 2 (2 medals) | Harvest 6 | Harvest 10 | Harvest 15 |
| Minor Objective 1 (1 medal) | Harvest 4 | Harvest 6 | Harvest 10 |
Rounds Limit
You can add a rounds limit to the game to create time pressure for completing an objective. Getting the number of rounds right might require play testing the scenario a few times, but a good starting point is working out how many Move actions each side would need to get to the objective and complete it. For example, if the objective is simply to board a space station and getting there would take 3 rounds, with at least 1 more round to board the station, you might want to allow an extra round for flexibility as the other player will be trying to stop that. Keep rounds limits tight if you want a quick game and more open if you'd like plenty of time for fleet tactics.
Setup Zones
You will need to determine setup zones for both sides: where their units begin play. Below are some examples of setup zones from the scenarios, however you can decide what you like. One player could create the set up zones, and the other player chooses which ones to take. Setup zones could be based around planets or space stations.
- Opposite Ends: This layout leaves plenty of room between the opposing forces.
- Opposite Sides: This layout is good for large fleet actions when you want the forces start closer together.
- Central Bowl: In this layout, the central hex is equidistant from both sides.
- Opposite Corners: In this layout, both setup zones are an equal number of hexes apart.
- Same Side Corners: This layout works well if the objective is in the top middle area of the board.
- Gauntlet: In this layout, the objective is usually on one side of the board. Here, the Taiidan player must run the gauntlet of Kushan units to get to the objective. (The Taiidan and Kushan setup zones could be swapped.)
Custom Layout
Don't be limited by our suggestions! Feel free to create your own setup zones; just make sure there are enough hexes for all the units on both sides. We find symmetrical setup zones make for fairer games, but your scenario might require something different.
Solo & Co-Operative Play
If you can't find an opponent to play with, or want to try a scenario on your own, this section provides rules for automated enemy behaviour. You could also play a co-operative game where you split one side's forces between you and a friend.
The sequence of play is the same. You will roll for both sides for initiative as usual.
The Valour token is not used during solo play.
Enemy Command Cards
Draw your command cards as normal but on the enemy's turn, draw a Command card from the deck and follow the rules below to resolve it. The enemy does not use Hand & Play, instead continue to draw Command cards until all enemy units have been activated.
Here is a simple process to follow for each Command Card drawn:
- Draw the Order Card.
- If it's an Interrupt card it is banked.
- Disembark Units.
- Choose Unit Priority strike craft or capital ship.
- Check for Objectives.
- Assign Target Priority.
Interrupts
If the card is an Interrupt, set it aside. The enemy can set aside one Interrupt card plus one additional Interrupt card for each Admiral or Vice-Admiral in their force. This becomes the interrupt bank.
If you have already banked one Interrupt card this turn, draw another Command card. Keep drawing and banking any Interrupt cards, up to the size of the interrupt bank, until you draw a Special Order card, then follow the rules in the "Special Orders" section below.
If the bank already contains the maximum number of cards, swap out lower-priority interrupts for higher-priority ones as they are drawn. Discard surplus cards.
Interrupt Priority: (from left to right) Interrupt Attack, Interrupt Counter-Intelligence, Interrupt Repair, Interrupt Move.
During your turn, the enemy plays one Interrupt card from the bank at the earliest valid opportunity.
If you are playing the enemy force to achieve objectives you can choose an Interrupt Priority that better suits their goal. For example it may be better for them to have Interrupt Move to get to an objective, or Interrupt Repair to stop their carrier being destroyed.
Disembarking
If the automated enemy has Embarked Units these Units are the first to be activated and always use the Reinforce Basic Action instead of the Special Order to disembark, until the parent units Launch Tubes limit is reached. The disembarked units count as activated this turn, as normal.
Special Orders
When you draw a Special Order card for the enemy, look up the programmed behaviour for that card in the Enemy Behaviour table below and attempt to carry out that action.
Some special orders contain multiple actions; carry out all that apply, skipping any that cannot be completed. If the special order is not possible, use the default order listed at the top of the Enemy Behaviour table below.
Choosing the Unit Priority
When choosing which enemy unit to activate, consult the Unit Priority column in the Enemy Behaviour table. The column will show either a strike craft set (Fighter, Corvette, Platform) or a capital ship set (Frigate, Super Capital Ship, Station) if none of the specified units are in play or have valid targets within range, choose any other unit that has a valid target. If there are several options available, pick the unit that will be most advantageous for the automated enemy and least advantageous for your force.
Where objectives are part of a scenario, use the Objective Priority table to help determine the activating ships, this overrides the Unit Priority and Target in the Enemy Behaviour table below.
Scenario Objectives
We recommend playing against the Taiidan fleet as an automated enemy. The Kushan fleet generally has more objective oriented missions and so the Taiidan will be easier for an automated enemy to play.
The automated enemy cannot distinguish objectives, so you have two choices. You can ignore the objectives for the enemy and let them simply try to defeat you by completing the Stars Major and Minor Objectives (see Stars Per Objective table). Alternatively, you make the best decisions possible for the enemy to achieve the objectives in the scenario you want to play. For example, if an enemy unit has a choice of firing on a space station or boarding it to secure an objective, it performs the boarding action. If there is an optimal order of actions (such as attacking before boarding), make choices based on what is best for the enemy where possible. If you are ever unsure what the automated enemy would do, check what would be most advantageous for its force, and least advantageous for yours.
Capital Ship Reinforcements
If a scenario specifies enemy reinforcements arrive on a specific round, on that round and every round after you may bring in a number of reserve Units using a Reinforce Basic action, equal to 1 plus 1 Unit per Admiral or Vice Admiral. Each Reinforce Basic Action takes an enemy turn.
Crippled Ships
The enemy always activates units with Crippled tokens last.
If an enemy unit has a Crippled Engines token and is not within attack range of an enemy, or if it has a Crippled Weapons token, it will forfeit its action to make a second damage control check.
Objective Target Table
- Capture: Units with 6 Crew or more, and Units with Marine Commander or Marine Captain Crew cards assigned always treat Objectives as the Target Priority. If there are no such vessels choose the Unit with the highest Boarding Action Attack Dice Pool.
- Destroy: Use the Unit Priority Column assigned target.
- Harvest: Carriers / The Mothership move to harvest Asteroids.
Target Priority
If there are no objectives that need to be targeted then use the Target Column of the Enemy Behaviour table below. The column specifies whether a target unit is the strongest, weakest, or nearest. Only consider targets that are in range or that the Unit can Move to within range. If several units fulfil the target criteria, first consider which has the best tactical advantage (can it get a rear shot, is the line of sight obscured by asteroids or would it force the enemy unit to move through asteroids) if they are truly equal roll a dice to decide which one to attack.
Enemy Units should be moved so that they end up facing a direction which reduces the chance of the player being able to attack the rear of the unit.
Only units that have not been activated can execute orders, as normal. Once the enemy order is resolved, you take your next turn or pass.
Target Selection
If more than one enemy unit is activated by an order, and one unit has weapons with the Penetrating ability, any units with ordinary weapons attack first, followed by the units with Penetrating weapons using the Penetrating Unit Weapon ability entry on the table below.
Target Selection Table
| Target | Penetrating Weapons | Ordinary Weapons |
|---|---|---|
| Nearest | Target the unit the fewest number of hexes away, with the fewest intervening terrain or Units | Target the unit the fewest number of hexes away, with the fewest intervening terrain or Units |
| Weakest | Choose the capital ship unit with the most Focus Fire tokens, to within range, and attack. If there are no valid targets, choose the strike craft unit with the fewest ships, to within range, and attack. | Choose the strike craft unit with the fewest ships, to within range, and attack. If there are no valid targets, choose the capital ship unit with the most Focus Fire tokens, to within range, and attack. |
| Strongest | Choose the capital ship unit with the highest Armour, to within range, and attack. If there are no valid targets, choose the strike craft unit with the most ships, to within range, and attack. | Choose the strike craft unit with the most ships, to within range, and attack. If there are no valid targets, choose the capital ship unit with the most Focus Fire tokens, to within range, and attack. |
Enemy Behaviour Table
| Name | Unit Priority | Target | Order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Default Order | 1 strike craft set | Weakest | Move to within range and attack. |
| All Ahead Full | 1 capital ship (Frigate / Super Capital Ship) | Weakest | As written |
| Stay in Formation | 1 capital ship and 1 strike craft | Weakest | Choose 1 enemy capital ship unit and 1 enemy strike craft unit that are adjacent to each other, Move both units so they remain adjacent, then Attack. The second unit is subject to the normal restrictions of the card. |
| Pincer Attack | 2 strike craft | Strongest | Lightning Move 2 enemy units, then attack the same target. The second unit is subject to the normal restrictions of the card. |
| Intercept | 1 strike craft | Weakest | Move and Lightning Move and Attack. |
Transcriber's note: in this table the printed icons are spelled out in words (strike craft set, capital ship set, Move, Lightning Move, Attack, Focus Fire token, Crippled token) from the legend on pages 48 to 50. Where the printed cell reads "As written" that wording is the printed text.
Rule References
Order of Play
- Draw Command cards
- Roll for initiative
- Play Command cards
- Clean up
Orders
- Move
- Attack
- Reinforce
- Harvest
Models per Unit
- 6 Fighter Unit
- 3 Corvette Unit
- 2 Frigate Unit
- 1 Destroyer
- 1 Carrier
- 1 Mothership
Ship Facing
Frigates and capital ships have a front and a rear. Shots entering the rear hex side are rear shots (see Rear Shots above).
Icon Key
Card Icons
- War Dice
- Defence
- Ram
- Move
- Lightning Move
- Crew
- Range
- Attack
- Power Attack
- Close Quarter Attack
- Defensive Fire
- Turret
- Drone
- All Round Attack
- Torpedo
- Asteroid
- Reinforce
- Harvest
- Star
- Medal
Token Icons
- Rounds Tracker
- Crippled Bays
- Crippled Weapon
- Crippled Engines
- CAP
- Braced
- Evading
- Lockdown
- Focus Fire
- Crew Damage
- Valour
Unit Types
- Fighter
- Corvette
- Platform
- Capital Ship
- Frigate
- Station
Rules Summary
Ranged Attacks
- The attacking unit has an attack dice pool equal to the unit weapon's war dice multiplied by the number of ships in the unit.
- -1 war die for each unit the attack passes through.
- -2 war dice for each Asteroid Field token.
- Evasive X: Reroll X number of enemy successes.
- Rapid Fire Y: Reroll Y number of this unit's failures.
- Evasive and Rapid Fire levels cancel each other out.
Armour Modifiers
- +1 Armour for shots entering the front hex side for a unit with Prow Armour.
- -1 Armour if a shot enters the rear hex side of a frigate or capital ship.
- -1 Armour for each Focus Fire token on the target unit.
- -1 Armour for each level of the attacking weapon's Penetrating ability.
Each time a ship in a unit of corvettes or frigates with Focus Fire tokens is destroyed, remove one Focus Fire token from that unit.
Defensive Fire
Units with the Defensive Fire icon roll defensive fire against close quarters, torpedo, and drone attacks, ramming, and boarding actions.
- +1 war die for each allied unit adjacent to the defending unit that has a weapon with the Defensive Fire icon.
- -1 war die for each Focus Fire token on the defending unit.
Ramming
Attack Dice Pool
- The ramming unit has an attack dice pool equal to the unit's Ram value multiplied by the number of ships in the unit. Roll the attacker dice pool, then resolve it like a normal attack.
- Fighter units can make ramming attacks but can't be targeted by such attacks.
- Strike craft add their Lightning Move value in war dice to the attack dice pool.
Defender's Roll
- The defending unit also rolls an attack dice pool equal to double its Armour value. The defender rolls the dice even if that unit is destroyed.
- The attacking unit adds 1 Armour against this attack if it has the Prow Armour ability; however, it cannot reroll using the Evasive ability.
Boarding Actions
Attack Dice Pool
- The boarding unit has an attack dice pool equal to the unit's Crew multiplied by the number of ships in the unit.
- -1 war die for each Crew Damage token on the boarding unit.
- Add any war die bonuses from Leader cards on the boarding unit.
Armour Modifiers
Remove a number of successes equal to the target's Armour value modified by:
- -1 Armour for each Crew Damage token on the defending unit.
- -1 Armour for every 2 Focus Fire tokens on the defending unit.
Resolution
- For each success remaining, the defending unit removes 1 ship.
- For each 1 rolled in the boarding attack dice pool, the defending unit takes a Crew Damage token.