Saganami Island Tactical Simulator
Saganami Island Tactical Simulator Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Contents of the Box
- Important Concepts
- A1.0 Basic Conventions and Organization
- A2.0 Play Aids and Their Use
- A3.0 The Turn Sequence
- B1.0 Hex Maps and Map Display
- B2.0 The AVID and Ship Orientation
- B3.0 Vector Movement and Thrust
- B4.0 Integrated Movement Examples
- B5.0 Operational Movement
- C1.0 Shooting Bearings and Firing Arcs
- C2.0 Missile Launch
- C3.0 Beam Weapons
- C4.0 Missile Defense
- C5.0 Damage Allocation
- C6.0 Damage Control
- C7.0 Light Attack Craft
- C8.0 Missile Pod Operations
- D1.0 Officers, Crews and Miracles
- D2.0 Scenarios
- D3.0 Patrol Scenario Generator
- D4.0 Commander's Options
- Y1.0 Ken's Designer's Notes
- Y2.0 Second Designer's Notes
- Z1.0 Orientation with Tilt Blocks and AVID
Introduction
Impeller drive warships maneuver via Newtonian mechanics, using acceleration and momentum to change their course. Once a ship is moving in a given direction, it will continue to move in that direction until it accelerates in the opposite direction.
As the Havenite War has progressed, class sizes at Saganami Island have more than quadrupled, particularly with exchange cadets from allied powers. While some expansion of simulator capacity has occurred, the facilities have not kept pace with the demand for their use. The second, and more critical bottleneck has been suitably trained tactical officers to handle the programming. Most first and second form cadets get their initial exposure to the tactical nuances of 3-D vector maneuver and timing by using the tilt blocks and miniatures developed two millennia ago, and many officers in the Service of the Crown have kept their student issue kits for entertainment purposes, or for roughing out battle plans before committing to the hours of programming needed to place them into a simulator run.
Because the focus of this game is on tactics, the data is presented from a Tactical Officers perspective, and glosses over the physics of the tactical parameters. For more details on the actual hardware, please contact your Engineering Section Instructor at the Island. Where space permitted, we have included the background science behind the rule.
SITS is played on a map of hexagons (called hexes). Ships in SITS fly in full 3-dimensional space using vector movement, much like the old arcade game Asteroids. One hex is 0.8 light seconds from edge to edge. One level of altitude difference is also 0.8 light seconds. One turn is 6 minutes, and a thrust of 1 is 190 g. One g is treated as 9.765625 m/sec/sec. No more than one ship can be in a given hex and altitude level.
SITS exercises are played in scenarios, which are broken down into turns. Each turn is broken down into a plotting phase and two movement phases, and all ships move at the same time. With only small amounts of experience, its possible to play a turn in six minutes or less, playing the game in real time.
A system scale is provided for pre-scenario maneuvering. One hex on the system scale is eight light seconds, one game turn is nineteen minutes long, and many of the tactical maneuver constraints do not apply.
Movement in 3-D frictionless space is something unlike most of your convention experiences. Space ships do not move like atmospheric fighters or wet navy water craft. Much of the fun in playing a game of SITS comes from mastering the environment that Honorverse warships maneuver in.
Designer's Notes: Numbers versus Feel. David Weber, when he was writing these novels, was not really thinking about what would happen if someone tried to codify them into a game. A lot of things happen in the novels because that's the way the story needs to work. While David is better than most SF writers at plugging numbers into a spreadsheet and abiding by the results, there are a number of cases where strict adherence to the numbers he gives results in situations that don't feel like the novels.
In any situation where the numbers didn't match the feel of the books, we designed to match the feel of the novels rather than match the numbers.
Designers notes indicate where we've done this, and why throughout this rule book, and in a few cases, even give you a couple of options to explore if you want to try them with Davids numbers instead of ours.
Designer's Notes: Stacking Limits. The stacking limit is non-canonical, and represents a lot of hand-wringing during the design. Davids books give distances for units in formation going out to three or four hexes for the screening elements - but he also describes ships fighting in walls of battle merely 300 km apart, depending on the needs of the story.
Ultimately, a game about tactical maneuver is a lot more fun when you're juggling elements of formations around, rather than driving entire fleets as one miniature on the map.
Players who want the ultimate in canon experience are free to put their entire fleets in one hex if their opponent agrees to it. It isn't particularly fun, however.
A note about the rulebook: there's a lot to it - compared to, say Settlers of Catan or other family games, this rulebook is enormous. Compared to Warhammer 40,000, this rulebook is pretty small, and you'll find that it has very few exceptions and special cases. Ultimately, movement in 3-D Newtonian space takes a lot of explanation, but is easy to do, because the play aids hide the scary math from the players.
The rulebook is extensively cross referenced, because everything builds off of a set of interlocking concepts. We present the concepts in the order that you'll need to learn them, the cross references allow us to point you at things coming up later, or refresh you on things covered earlier, or to point you at interesting interactions to keep in mind.
While the rulebook uses an extensive, multi-tiered rule numbering system, explained a little later on, don't let that spook you - the rule numbers are there so that its possible to find things if you have questions. (Rule numbers don't make rules lawyers; ambiguously written rules do.) We, as designers, have seen what happens when existing rulebooks don't have rule numbers, and while it may not look as initially "friendly" with all those numbers laying around, when you're looking up a rule, they're very handy.
A lot of the work on the game has been put into the play aids, which are designed from the get go to make 3-D movement understandable and easy to use. They will do things in ways that are new and different if you're used to 2-D games, or if you're new to vector movement. Trust us that this all works the way its supposed to and stick with it. It has been our experience with this game and others that once you've learned to use the tools, the game lives on the play aids, and the rulebook more or less stays in the box.
Contents of the Box
The contents of the box break down into several categories of useful stuff; use this as a list to make sure you have everything!
Visual Aids
- Maps: There are two of them, identical save for the paper they're printed on. One is blue, the other is pale colored. They are geomorphic (meaning the hex pattern is continuous and identical across them), allowing you to link them up to make a playing surface matching the scenario given. After play has moved from one map to the second, the first map can be used if play continues off any edge of the second map.
- Box Miniatures: There are four sheets of these. Fold them along the creases, using a ruler, and glue the tabs together to make a box. Glue the long tab first, making a tube, then apply glue to the end tabs, and tuck them in to complete the box. Suggestion: before sealing the last tab, put a BB or a 4 mm ball bearing inside the box so it will roll freely. This provides counterweighting when used with tilt blocks.
- Tilt Blocks: There is one package of tilt blocks, with eight red and eight green tilt blocks in the package. These are used in conjunction with the box miniatures to show ships at different orientations.
- Stacking Tiles: There are two packages of stacking tiles, colored in white, light blue, dark blue and black. These nest together and are used to show different altitude levels on the map. They also "click" together underneath tilt blocks.
Illustration: A box miniature in two tilt blocks, showing nose up at a 30 degree angle, and rolled to the side at a 60 degree angle, on two stacking tiles.
Designer's Note: All of the Box Miniature/Tilt Block Illustrations use a stylized box miniature, designed for maximum contrast of the symbols (triangle, semi-circle, and anchor). Do not be alarmed that there is not a box miniature that looks like the picture above in your set.
Laminated Game Aids
SITS uses several laminated game aids. These are meant to be written on with grease pencils, china markers or erasable white board markers during the course of play.
- Movement Cards: There are nine Movement Cards, three of type 1, three of type 2, and three of type 3.
- Reference/Missile Defense Cards: There are two (2) Reference/Missile Defense Cards. Both are identical.
- Salvo Cards: There are twelve (12) Salvo Cards. They say Salvo Card on one side, and Missile Impacts on the other.
Other Material
There are a number of printed books as part of this product.
- Rulebook: What you're reading now.
- Setting Book 1: This provides an overview of the Honor Harrington Universe.
- Ship Book 1: This provides class histories and Ship Systems Displays (SSDs) of ships in the Honor Harrington Universe. Two additional SSDs are available for download once you've registered your game.
- Dice: There are three (3) ten-sided dice included with the game, two of the same color, one different.
- CD-ROM: The Honorverse CD-ROM, complete through At All Costs is also included in the game for your reference purposes.
Designer's Note: Additional ships are available for download by registering your copy of SITS.
Important Concepts
SITS is one of the simplest presentations possible of a knot of complex concepts. What follows is a glossary of concepts used throughout the game. While all of these are explained in more detail throughout the rulebook, this is a heads-up on things that we'll be going over.
- AVID: Attitude Vector Information Display - this is the tool used to record changes to a ship's orientation, its current vectors, and changes to vectors. It is also used for shooting bearings, and tracking firing arcs. The key concept of the AVID is that it's a top-down view of a sphere, divided into windows that are color coded in rings, showing how far away from the equator you are.
- Box Miniatures: Box miniatures are the "counters" of your ship in the game. They are printed on card stock with views of the ship printed on each side. The top surface has a triangle pointing towards the front and a semi-circle coming from the stern. Think of them as the feathers and arrowhead of an arrow matching the direction you apply thrust in. The bottom of the box has an anchor symbol on it.
- Hex: The game is played on a map of hexagons; called a hex map; each hexagon is called a "hex". Ships are in hexagons, facing either the side of a hex, or a corner, but not on the lines between hexagons. The hex map has a rosette in the center, labeled A through F going clockwise. There is a second ring to the rosette, labeled 000 through 330, used for other games Ad Astra publishes, but not for SITS.
- A ship's position on the map is shown by the hex it's in, while altitude is shown by placing stacking tiles under it.
- A ship's orientation on the map is shown with tilt blocks. The box miniature rests in the trough, and can either show a shallow angle (30°) or steep angle (60°). A box miniature that's pointed straight up or down is at a 90° angle.
- SSD: Ship Systems Display - the record sheet that shows your ships current capabilities. Systems can be destroyed on the SSD (their box is marked off) or disabled (the box is circled, and will be available once the condition that disabled it goes away).
- Pivots: Any facing change that moves the front of the box miniature around is a pivot, whether its done up or down or in the plane of the map. If you're used to turning a figure on a map to get it to face where you want, that's a pivot; SITS allows you to pivot up and down as well.
A1.0 Basic Conventions and Organization
Like most wargames, SITS has its own standard convention for how things are presented and organized and handled. This rule covers those concepts for you.
A1.1 Rulebook Organization
A1.11 SECTIONS. Each major section of the rulebook has an alphabetical designation; section A (what you're reading now) is the section that covers very high level concepts, like what the game is about, rulebook organization, play aids and the turn sequence, and so on. The section leader is shown on the tab on the outside of each page.
A1.12 LEVEL ZERO HEADERS. Each rule starts with a full width gray header with white text in it. The letter and number before the decimal place show that this is the first rule of section A, or rule A1. The "top level" header for the rule has a zero (0) after the decimal place. An example is at the top of the previous page. There will typically be an abstract at the opening of each rule, discussing the rules intent in plain English.
A1.121 While the rules are presented in the order they should be read for maximum clarity, level zero rules can be thought of as self contained.
A1.13 LEVEL ONE SUBSECTIONS. Each major subsection of the rule will have a column spanning header, like the one at the top of this page; these will change the first number after the decimal place to show which section of the rule you're in.
A1.14 LEVEL TWO SUBSECTIONS. Level two subsections have their rule number and subject in bold type; the number after the decimal place becomes two digits. The last digit shows that its the Nth rule in a given subsection. For example, this is not the 14th rule of section A1, this is the 4th rule of subsection 1 of rule A1.
A1.141 This is a level three subsection. The rule number is printed in a lighter shade of gray to avoid visually cluttering the page. The last digit signifies that this is the first level three subsection for rule A1.14. An example of a level three subsection rule in context is shown above with A1.121.
A1.1411 This is a level four subsection. The rule number is printed in still lighter type, and the rule itself is indented. The last digit indicates that this is the first subsection of rule A1.141.
A1.15 CROSS REFERENCES. Many rules cross-reference other rules in the game; this helps using the rulebook as a reference tool. Sometimes, exceptions or special cases will exist; these will be clearly marked. If rule A cites an exception to rule B, and rule B does not specifically list the exception from rule A, the exception still applies. Rule numbers for cross references are shown in a different typeface, like this: A1.211
A1.16 SIDEBARS. The sidebars of the page hold examples, definitions, illustrations and designer's notes.
Designer's Notes. Sometimes, rules need designers notes. Where examples, illustrations and definitions explain how a rule works, designers notes explain why a rule is the way it is. Designers notes are bounded top and bottom by the lightweight horizontal rules you see here.
Examples, Definitions & Illustrations. Examples, Definitions and Illustrations are printed in the floating sidebar, just like this one is. Periodically, Illustrations will be too large to fit in the sidebar, but will be placed on the page where the main text refers to them.
A1.17 PAGE HEADERS. The header of each page has the range of rule numbers covered by that page, to make it easier to flip through the rulebook when looking for a cross-reference.
A1.18 ANNEXES. Some information (index for the entire game, reference material) is printed in annexes at the end of the rulebook; these get updated with subsequent products.
Annexes. Some information, like a complete index to the game, are called annexes. These get updated with every product, and are available as downloads from the web site at: http://www.adastragames.com/
A1.2 Die Rolling Conventions
A1.21 TYPES OF DICE USED. SITS uses only ten-sided dice, called d10s hereafter. There are several die rolling conventions used in the game.
A1.211 d10: Roll a d10 and read off the number that comes up. On d10s numbered 1 through 0, the "0" is a 10, not a zero. This will usually be compared to a "roll under" target number (roll equal to or less than the target number to succeed) or "roll over" target number (roll equal to or greater than the target number to succeed).
A1.212 2d10-: Roll two d10s, and subtract the smaller die from the larger. This gives a result ranging from 0 to 9.
Example. For 2d10-, if a 7 and a 3 are rolled, the 3 is the lower die, and subtracted from the 7, giving a result of 4.
Designer's Note: 2d10- Probability Distribution. 2d10- is the most commonly used die roll in the game, and is new to most players. Here's the probability of each result on the roll:
Result Probability 0 10% 1 18% 2 16% 3 14% 4 12% 5 10% 6 8% 7 6% 8 4% 9 2% This gives a one tailed distribution skewed towards the lower numbers, and is used to eliminate a lot of table lookups.
A1.213 2d10+: Roll two d10s, and add them, results range from 2 to 20.
A1.214 3d10low: Roll three d10s, and take the lowest die.
A1.215 3d10med: Roll three d10s, and take the middle die.
A1.216 3d10hi: Roll three d10s and take the highest die.
A1.22 DIE ROLL MODIFIERS. Die roll modifiers (factors that add or subtract to a die roll) are applied after any other mathematical functions on the dice. For example, if you're rolling 2d10- and subtracting three from the result, you subtract three from the final die roll.
A1.23 CHART LOOKUPS AND COLUMN SHIFTS. Addition modifiers shift your column to the right on tables and charts. Subtraction modifiers shift the column to the left; there are more positive than negative shifts in the game. No shift can take you off of the rightmost or leftmost column on the chart; treat the final result of any shift that does so as the minimum or maximum column of die table.
A1.24 NUMBER PRESENTATION. Small quantities in rules text will be spelled out. Numbers used by game mechanics will always be presented as numerals. For example, the text "Allocate seven 3-point hits" means that there are seven hits of three damage points apiece to allocate.
A1.25 ROUNDING. Unless a rounding rule in this game states otherwise, assume you're rounding in the attackers favor.
A1.26 ORDER OF OPERATIONS. Wherever possible, we have tried to put any kind of mathematics more complicated than addition or subtraction into lookup tables. In situations where the order of operations can cause ambiguity, the Reference Card provides the definitive answer.
A2.0 Play Aids and Their Use
SITS relies on several play aids to make a 3-D vector movement space combat game work. This rule gives a quick guided tour of the parts of the game used to display ships on the map in 3-D, and then covers the laminated play aid cards used to play the game.
Don't Panic. This is a quick tour. If some of this is unclear, keep reading until you get to the end. The rule numbers at the end of each brief description point to the more detailed description.
A2.1 Pieces for Map Display
A2.11 BOX MINIATURES. Your ship is shown on the map with a cardboard box with artwork on all six sides called a box miniatures. The top of the box miniature has a triangle pointing towards the front and a semi-circle at the back. The bottom of the miniature has an anchor symbol. These symbols are explained in more detail in B2.12, and used again in C1.0.
A2.12 TILT BLOCKS. Tilt blocks are the injection molded plastic parts that look like cubes with a wedge cut out of them. There are sixteen in the package, eight are red and eight are green. If you put a box miniature in a tilt block, you can show that a ship has its front tilted up or down relative to the map plane. If you have two of them, you can show that a ship is both tilted and rolled. Tilt blocks are explained more in B2.13; ANNEX Z1 has a set of illustrations showing a box miniature in a tilt block in several different orientations to make it clear how this works.
A2.13 STACKING TILES. A stacking tile is used to show a ship's altitude on the map, and as the name implies, they stack together and remain stable. Put stacks of tiles underneath your ship to show its altitude above the map. White tiles show one altitude level, light blue shows four altitude levels, dark blue shows sixteen, and a black tile on top of the stack shows an altitude below the map. More on how stacking tiles are used is in B1.14.
A2.14 END OF TURN (EOT) AND MIDPOINT MARKERS. In the same sheet that your box miniatures are die cut into are punch outs that are meant to be creased and folded into tents. These tents are labeled Ship 1 EoT, Ship 2 EoT and so on. These are your End of Turn (EoT) markers. The small flat counters that have the same number are used to show the midpoint of your movement. There are three Midpoint markers per EoT Tent, which is more than you need; they provide extras in case some get lost. Midpoint and EoT markers are explained in (the printed sentence ends here in the source).
Illustrations: A Box Miniature; A Box Miniature Nose Down In A Tilt Block; A Box Miniature Pitched And Rolled In A Tilt Block, On Two Stacking Tiles; An End of Turn (EoT) tent.
A2.2 The Movement Card (MC)
A2.21 TYPES OF MOVEMENT CARD. There are three types of Movement Cards. The different cards let you set up the map in different ways to suit the scenario you're playing. While there are three distinct cards, the sides of the cards are differentiated by color, matching the colors of the tilt blocks (used to identify sides in a fight) and by orientation, telling you which direction (A through F) of the map to line the cards up with. The cards with the hexagons oriented so a corner is on top are used along the long axis of the map, while cards with the hexagons set up so that an edge is on top are used with the short axis of the map. See the sidebars for illustrations of the orientation of the hexagon.
A2.211 Card 1 has a Green A card printed on one side with a Red D card on the other. Both Green A and Red D are cards with the hex side pointing up.
A2.212 Card 2 has a Green A card printed on one side with a Red E/F printed on the other. Red E/F is a red card with the hex corner pointed up.
A2.213 Card 3 has Red D printed on one side, with Green B/C printed on the other. Green B/C is a green card with the hex corner pointing up.
Illustrations: The Green A (Hex Edge on top) AVID; The Red E/F (Hex Corner on top) AVID; The Plotting Grids.
A2.22 THE AVID. At the top of each Movement Card is a tool called the Attitude/Vector Information display, or AVID. The AVID consists of a hexagon, a set of eight arrows, and a series of concentric circles of different colors, divided into spaces called windows. The concentric circles on the AVID are a top-down view of a sphere, and are explained in more detail in B2.123.
A2.221 Outside the colored hexagon of the AVID are eight vector arrows, with a white part and a gray part. These are used to record your ships vectors (which go in the white part) and changes to vectors (which go in the gray part). Each of the gray arrows is labeled in one of the valid directions a vector can follow in SITS - these are the 6 map directions (A, B, C, D, E, and F), plus up (+) and down (-). For more information on these, see B3.1.
A2.222 To the lower left of the AVID is a space to write the ships Evolution Delay, which is the number of turns before it can change its position relative to the center of formation. This is covered in formation flying, which will be in a future product, and can be ignored for now.
A2.223 Above the AVID is a space to record your ship's name and ID number.
A2.224 Below the AVID in the gray box is a key showing the six ship orientation markers. The triangle, semicircle and anchor match the symbols on the box miniatures, and the entire set (and how they're used) are explained in B2.13.
A2.23 THE PLOTTING GRIDS. Below the AVID are tools used to record what directions you apply thrust in, in the vertical axis and in the horizontal hex grid. These are called plotting grids. Their use is covered in more detail in B3.24 and B3.25, and how thrust converts into movement is covered in B3.6.
A2.231 The color coding of the cells matches the color coding of the AVID rings, with yellow at 0°, blue zones at 30°, green zones at 60° and purple zones at 90°.
A2.232 The green hexagons of the hex edge plotting grid are used only when a ship is thrusting in the green ring of the AVID; this is explained in B3.25-.41.
A2.3 The Reference Card (RC)
A2.31 ELEMENTS. The Reference Card is broken up into four areas: the Vector Consolidation reference, the Turn Sequence, the Range Angle Lookup Table, and the Horizontal Bearings graphic.
A2.311 The Vector Consolidation reference gives a handy rule of thumb for how to consolidate (combine) vectors separated by 180° and 120°. This is explained in more detail in B3.3.
A2.312 The Turn Sequence lists all the steps needed to go through one turn of the game, in their proper order. The Turn Sequence is covered in more detail in A3.0.
A2.313 The Range Angle Lookup Table (or RALT) is a table of the Pythagorean Theorem, and is used for determining the range and angle you see a target at. Its use is covered in C1.14.
A2.314 The Horizontal Bearings Graphic shows the position of a unit (the triangle) and shades the hexes to match targets visible through a hex edge, or a hex corner. This is covered in more detail in C1.2.
The Reference Card (illustration) reads as follows.
Vector Consolidation. 180 Degree: subtract the smaller vector from the larger. 120 Degree: 1) Copy the smaller vector 1 hex side closer to larger vector, add it to any existing vector in that direction. 2) Subtract the smaller vector from both original vectors. This reduces the smaller vector to 0. Multiple Vectors: Consolidate all 180 degree, then all 120 degree vectors.
Turn Sequence.
- Place Midpoint and End of Turn (EoT) Markers
- AVID Plotting, Thrust Plotting, Displace EoT
- Launch Missiles
- 3a) Number of salvoes is set by range from EoT to EoT
- 3b) Shoot bearing from your current position to target's current position for Early salvoes
- 3c) Shoot bearing from your current position to target's Midpoint for Middle salvoes
- 3d) Shoot bearing from your midpoint to target's EoT for Late salvoes
- Early Missile Impact
- Move to Midpoint Marker, 1/2 Pivot and Roll
- Middle Missile Impact, First Beam Impact
- Move to End of Turn Marker, Finish Pivot and Roll
- Late Missile Impact, Second Beam Impact
- Add Thrust to Vectors, Consolidate Vectors, Perform Damage Control, Other Actions
Horizontal Bearings. Is the target visible through a hex edge or hex corner? If the target is three times as far away in one map direction as the other, it's visible through that hex edge. Otherwise, it's visible through the hex corner.
Range Angle Lookup Table. A triangular table of ranges (see rule C1.14 and the RALT printed on the Reference Card); columns are marked 0 to 35 along the bottom and rows by altitude difference, with the 0°, 30°, 60° and 90° ring boundaries shaded in colour.
A2.4 The Missile Defense Card (MDC)
"Their damaged jammers and decoys fought to blind and beguile the incoming fire, and they'd learned even more about Thunder's offensive fire control than Lieutenant Ash had learned about theirs. Three-quarters of the first broadside lost lock and veered away. Her battered countermissile arrays sent their charges downrange to induce wedge on wedge fratricide, and computer-commanded laser clusters quivered like questing hounds, pitting their minimal prediction time against the surviving laser heads' acquisition time. Beams of coherent light picked off targets with desperate speed, but Fearless couldn't possibly stop them all..." - Honor of the Queen
A2.41 ELEMENTS. The missile defense card describes the two layers of missile defenses in the Honorverse, ECM and Active Defenses. These are covered in C4.0.
A2.411 For the ECM layer and the Active Defense layers, you will cross reference a row to a column to find out the number of missiles killed; most of the factors [lines illegible in the source scan: factors and random elements favorable to the defender shift the column to the right; variables favoring the attacker shift the column to the left]. Which direction a given factor shifts the column is indicated by which direction an arrow is pointed; for example, the ECM arrow points to the right, and the ECM of the target will shift arrows that many columns to the [right].
A2.412 Values pulled from the defending ship's SSD are printed in arrows with [illegible] borders.
A2.413 On the left hand side of the card is quick reference for how weapons differ during Damage Allocation. Damage location is covered in more detail in C5.2, and weapon effects in C5.3. The Weapons list (in order of resolution) reads: Laser Head: 1x Depth, Span 1. Contact Nuke: Double PD kills, 1/2x Depth (round down), Span 5. Grav Lance: Range 0 only, roll d10 per box on attacker's thrust track. Each 3+ destroys one sidewall box. Energy Torpedo: 3d10low hits/launcher, 2x Depth, Span 5. Laser: 1x Depth, Span 1. Graser: 1x Depth, Span 3.
A2.414 Under the Weapon Reference is a series of dots for recording the number of incoming missiles. As missiles are destroyed, mark off the dots on this track.
A2.415 For larger salvoes (more than [illegible] missiles incoming), or for people who are faster at arithmetic than they are at counting dots, the Missiles Impacting box shows a work sheet where you can put the initial number of missiles, and subtract the number killed by each layer of the ship's defenses.
Designer's Note. When using the Missile Defense Card, record the MQL in the three boxes on the Missile Defense Card, then grab three pairs of dice (of three different colors) for the 2d10- rolls, and roll them in one batch, with a preset color order for each layer of the defense. By batching up the die rolls, the missile defense process can be sped up considerably.
Illustration: The Missile Defense Card. It has an ECM Layer table (Final ECM Quality, columns 1 to 25, against Number of Incoming Missiles, rows 1 to 100), an Active Defense Layers section (Countermissiles and Point Defense) with an Active Defense Table (Active Defense Quality, columns 1 to 19, against Probable Kills, rows 1/3, 2/3, 1 to 10, 20, 30), an Incoming missiles track, and a Missiles Impacting worksheet: Salvo - ECM Kills - CM Kills - PD Kills = Hits. The tables are given in full under C4.0.
A2.5 The Salvo Card (SC)
A2.51 SALVO CARD USAGE. While missiles are launched, they are not placed on the map. Rather, they are recorded on a small laminated card called a salvo card, which is filled out during the Missile Launch phase and handed to the person flying the target. Filling out the salvo card is covered in much more detail in C2.0; one salvo card can cover up to three salvoes, all hitting at different points of the same turn.
A2.511 The back (or Missile Impact) side of the Salvo Card has three columns of boxes, one column per salvo, for missile damage, target scale and sidewall strength. When these are combined, the depth modifier for damage allocation is determined.
Illustration: The Front Side of the Salvo Card. It has boxes for Link and Target, and three columns - Early (Ship to Ship), Middle (Ship to Midpoint), Late (Midpoint to EoT) - each with boxes for number of missiles (#), Range, Impact Window and Base MQL.
A2.6 The Ship's Systems Display (SSD)
A2.61 THE SAMPLE-CLASS SUPERDREADNOUGHT. We use the Sample-class superdreadnought to illustrate most of the functions of the Ships System Display (SSD). The Sample-class is shown below. Features will be highlighted as we go through the SSD. Full explanations are found in C2.0 and C3.0 (for missiles and beams), D1.0 (for officer grades), and C5.0 (damage allocation).
Illustration: The Sample-Class Super Dreadnought SSD (Generic Space Navy). It shows: Crew (4903: 440 Officers, 3963 Enlisted, 500 Marines), Small Craft (12 Cutters, 16 Pinnaces, 2 Assault Shuttles), Recon Drones (24); Base Cost 4434, Hull Boxes 774; four weapon mounts (Forward Hammerhead, Aft Hammerhead, Port Broadside, Starboard Broadside) each with Fire Control track, Magazine and weapon listings (missile launchers, CM, PD, Grav Lance, Decoys); an Officers & Crew table (TAC, EWO, ATO, HELM, ENG, CREW with Poor / Avg / Veteran / Elite game effects and costs); Range Bands (Range 0-1, 2-4, 5-7, 8-11, 12-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-29 with available Early / Middle / Late salvoes and Base MQL 4, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8); Internals (Bridge, Flag Bridge, Life Support, Communications, ECM, Pivot, Roll, Forward Impeller, Aft Impeller, Maximum Thrust, Hyper Generator, Hull, Structural Integrity); and the Hit Location Table (Scale 15, Core Armor 3) with Port and Starboard Sidewall tracks.
A2.62 THE TOP OF THE SSD. At the top of the SSD, we have the nationality (Generic in this case), plus the class name, and a space to write the ID number of the ship, and the ship's name.
A2.63 THE WEAPON MOUNTS. There are four weapon mounts shown on the SSD, the Forward Hammerhead, the Aft Hammerhead, the Port Broadside and the Starboard Broadside. A close-up of the Port Broadside is shown here.
A2.631 Each weapon mount has a shaded area where the mount's fire control systems are marked off if damaged (C5.432). There is also a firing arc diagram (shown as the globe with a grid overlay here), explained in C1.21, and for Port and Starboard, decoys.
A2.632 Each weapon type present has its own listing in the weapon mount, with check boxes for marking off individual weapons as they get damaged. The numbers in the check boxes are how many weapons of that type remain on the ship.
A2.633 Defensive systems have gray boxes. The numbers in the boxes are the probable kills that the array can achieve; see C4.13 for more information.
A2.634 The magazines for the missile launchers are shown in the weapon mounts to the left of the weapon. Each dot on the magazine is one full salvo of all launchers in that weapon mount. Ammunition is not tracked for countermissiles.
Illustration: The Sample-class's Port Broadside.
A2.64 THE HIT LOCATION TABLE. At the bottom of the SSD is the Hit Location Table. The hit location table is a top-down view of the ship; each cell in the table represents damage falling to a system of a similar type on the ship. Except for sidewall damage, you do not mark damage on the table itself, the tables codes tell you what boxes to mark off in weapon mounts or in the Internals box of the SSD. This is explained in more detail in C5.23.
Illustration: The Sample-class's Hit Location Table (Scale 15, Core Armor 3; Forward -10 to Broadside to +10 Aft; Starboard and Port Sidewall tracks; a note on the table reads "CIC = 1 hit to all fcon tracks").
A2.65 OFFICERS AND CREW. The upper right hand box on the SSD shows the ship's point cost and box count. Both are used for determining the margin of victory for close games. Underneath them are lists of modifiers for officer and crew quality, and how they modify the cost of the ship. Officers and crew are covered in more detail in D1.0.
Illustration: The Sample-class's Officers and Crew (Base Cost 4434, Hull Boxes 774). Game effect by quality (Poor / Avg / Veteran / Elite) and cost modifier (P / A / V / E): TAC +1 MQL (Poor, as printed) / - / -1 MQL / -2 MQL, cost -122 / 0 / +122 / +245; EWO -1 ECM / - / +1 ECM / +2 ECM, -45 / 0 / +45 / +90; ATO -1 CM / - / +1 CM / +1 CM & PD, -24 / 0 / +32 / +61; HELM -1 Piv & Rol / - / +1 Rol / +1 Piv or Rol, 6 / 0 / +2 / +8; ENG round down / - / round up / +1 thrust, 8 / 0 / +8 / +23; CREW <=2 / <=5 / <=7 / <=9, 88 / 0 / +66 / +133. Adjusted Cost: Points.
A2.66 MISSILE RANGE BANDS. The Range Bands box shows how this particular ships missiles behave in combat. Use of the Missile Range Bands table is covered in C2.13.
Illustration: Range Bands (Available Salvoes: Early, Middle, Late). Range 0-1, 2-4, 5-7, 8-11, 12-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-29; Base MQL 4, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
A2.67 INTERNALS. The gray box under the Range Bands shows the bulk of the damage tracks on the SSD. What each damage track is hit by (on the hit location table) and what the effects of damage are covered in more detail in the Damage Allocation rules in C5.0. Some general information to help you sort out the numbers:
A2.671 Boxes on a damage track that convey a capability will have the numerical value of that capability printed in the box itself.
A2.672 Damage tracks are marked off from left to right, one row at a time.
A2.673 The hit location code that a given damage track is hit on is shown in square braces before its label. Hit location codes for weapons match the letters for the weapons themselves.
A2.674 A damage track that changes from boxes to circles (like bridge and maximum thrust) means that a Crew Quality check is required to perform further actions or avoid penalties.
A2.675 Octagons (the stop sign shape with 8 sides) mean "roll this number or higher, or stop playing the ship."
A2.676 Boxes can be disabled - they cannot be used until whatever disabled them goes away. Disabled boxes should be lightly circled in pencil, rather than marked off.
Illustration: The Sample-class's Internals - tracks for [brg] Bridge, [flg] Flag Bridge, [lif] Life Support, [com] Communications, ECM, [piv] Pivot, [rol] Roll, [fwd] Forward Impeller, [aft] Aft Impeller, Maximum Thrust, [hyp] Hyper Generator, [hull] Hull, and [SI] Structural Integrity.
A3.0 The Turn Sequence
A game of SITS is played out in turns; each turn requires repetition of the same series of steps, which must be followed in a specific order. This order is called the Turn Sequence. Broadly speaking, the Turn Sequence breaks down to plotting steps, movement and damage steps, and record-keeping steps.
A3.1 Plotting Steps
A3.11 PLACE END OF TURN AND MIDPOINT MARKERS. Ships in the Honorverse move along vectors, and have some ability to change them over time. To reflect where the ship will be at the end of the turn, an End of Turn (EoT) tent is placed on the map. A flat Midpoint marker is placed halfway between the ships current position and it. See B1.0 (as printed, partly clipped in the source) for information on Midpoint and EoT Markers.
A3.12 PLOT PIVOTS, ROLLS AND THRUST. Ship's changes in maneuver are plotted during this step. All maneuver changes are [recorded] by drawing arrows on the Movement Card, and all plots are done secretly and simultaneously. In particular, the direction and number of windows of pivots and rolls are only revealed when a target moves, they are not announced before missile launch.
A3.121 Pivots and rolls are drawn on the AVID. See B2.0 for more information. The midpoints of both are marked.
A3.122 If thrust is applied, its applied in the direction the Forward Hammerhead is pointed in. If the ship pivoted, thrust is applied in the direction of the midpoint of the pivot. Thrust is drawn on the Vertical Plotting Grid first, to determine the vertical and horizontal components, then drawn on the appropriate Hex Edge or Hex Corner grid to break it down into map directions. See B3.2 for information on plotting thrust.
A3.123 If you applied thrust without changing the direction the front of your ship is facing, your ships EoT Marker will be displaced (moved on the map) from the thrust. See B3.27 for information on displacement.
A3.124 Record any vector changes in the gray parts of the vector arrows around the AVID.
A3.13 Missile Launch
Missile launch is a multi-step process that is covered in much more detail in C2.0. The rules in A3.13 are reminders, rather than explanations of how these rules work.
A3.131 Ships can launch up to three salvoes per turn, depending on the vectors of the launching ship and target. These salvoes can impact Early in the turn (before anyone moves), in the Middle of the turn (when both ships have reached their midpoint) or Late in the turn (after both ships have reached their EoT markers.)
A3.132 The number of salvoes that can be launched, including corrections for closure, is set by measuring the distance from your EoT Marker to the targets EoT marker. See C2.1 for more information.
A3.133 If you can launch an Early salvo, shoot a range and bearing from your current position to the targets current position. Use this to determine the Impact Window for the target, and the base MQL of the salvo.
A3.134 If you can launch a Middle salvo at the target, shoot a range and bearing from your current position to the targets midpoint marker. Use this to determine the Impact Window for the target, and the base MQL for the salvo.
A3.135 If you can launch a Late salvo at the target, shoot a range and bearing from your midpoint marker (including any changes to your orientation) to the targets EoT marker. Use this to determine the Impact Window for the target, and the base MQL for the salvo.
A3.136 Fill out the Missile Damage on the back side of the Salvo Card and hand the card to the target.
Illustration: The Reference Card's Turn Sequence; Range Bands.
Designer's Note: Elements. The (somewhat odd) seeming procedure of shooting bearings to your target's Midpoint and EoT Markers from your ship and Midpoint Marker automatically "leads the target" for you, factoring in your movement, the target's thrust, and the flight time of the missiles. It's one of the key places where we hide a lot of math so you can blow things up.
Because of the simultaneous pre-plotting of movement before missile launch, you have to guess on rolling the wedge before seeing the enemy launch missiles. In practice, this isn't that big of a deal; a bit of experience will tell you when it's best to roll wedge or not.
Designer's Note. The purpose of the damage and movement steps, indeed, the entire Turn Sequence, is to recreate passages like this one, from the novels:
"Missile launch! Birds closing at four-one-seven KPS squared. Impact in one-seven-zero seconds - mark!"
"Fire Plan Able," Honor said calmly. "Helm, initiate Foxtrot-Two."
"Aye, aye, Ma'am. Fire Plan Able," Cardones replied, and Chief Killian's acknowledgment was right behind him.
Troubadour rolled, inverting herself relative to Fearless to bring her undamaged port broadside to bear, and both ships began a snake-like weave along their base course as their own missiles slashed away and the decoys and jammers deployed on Fearless's flanks woke to electronic life.
"The enemy has returned fire," Lieutenant Ash's voice was taut. "Flight time one-seven-niner seconds. Tracking reports sixteen incoming, Sir."
Shannon nodded acknowledgment. Thunder had an advantage of two tubes, as well as his heavier missiles. He hoped it would be enough.
"Enemy jamming primary tracking systems," Ash announced, listening to his missiles' telemetry links. "Seekers shifting to secondary track."
Rafael Cardones fired his second broadside thirty seconds after the first, and Troubadour's launchers followed suit, slaved to his better fire control. A third broadside followed, then a fourth, and he nodded to Wolcott as Saladin launched her fourth salvo.
"Counter missiles now," he told his assistant.
Sword Simonds watched his plot and swallowed bile as half his first salvo lost lock and wandered away. The others charged onward, already up to more than fifty thousand KPS and still accelerating, but the Manticorans belched counter missiles to meet them at more than nine hundred KPS...
A3.2 Damage and Movement Steps
A3.21 EARLY IMPACT STEP. Any missiles that will hit in the Early salvo stage are resolved before ships move. The defender resolves them on the Missile Defense Card per C4.1, then does damage allocation for any missiles that survive according to C5.0.
A3.22 MOVE TO MIDPOINT MARKER. All ships move to their midpoint markers, including changing their facing to the midpoints of their pivots and rolls. A target's midpoint orientation is what will be used for resolving Middle missile salvoes.
A3.23 RESOLVE MIDDLE SALVOES, FIRST BEAM IMPACTS. Any missiles which are impacting in the Middle salvo step impact during this phase. After missiles are resolved using C4.1 and damage allocation by C5.0, check the range from the ship's current positions to see if they're close enough (and in arc) for beams combat. If they are, resolve beam combat immediately, by way of C3.0 (the source scan reads "C4.0"), again resolving damage by C5.0.
A3.24 MOVE TO END OF TURN MARKER. All ships move to their EoT markers, completing any pivots and rolls. This end of turn orientation is used when resolving Late missile salvoes.
A3.25 RESOLVE LATE SALVOES, SECOND BEAM IMPACTS. Any Late missile salvoes impact during this phase. After missile defense C4.1 and damage allocation C5.0 are resolved, check range and bearing from the ship's current positions for beam combat. Resolve any beam combat by means of C3.0 (the source scan reads "C4.0").
A3.3 Record Keeping Steps
A3.31 ADD THRUST TO EXISTING VECTORS. Add the numbers recorded in the gray parts of the vector arrows to any existing vectors in the white halves of the arrows. Vectors and vector movement are covered in B3.0. Erase them from the gray spaces when done.
A3.32 CONSOLIDATE VECTORS. Using the Vector Consolidation reference on the Reference card, resolve vectors 180° apart, followed by vectors 120° apart. Record the consolidated vectors in the white halves of the arrows. See B3.3 for more information on consolidating vectors.
A3.33 PERFORM DAMAGE CONTROL ATTEMPTS. You may attempt to repair any damaged box on the SSD by assigning damage control parties to it. Each wrench icon in the hull box is a damage control party. You may assign no more than two damage control parties to the same repair attempt. For each damage control party assigned, roll equal to or less than your ship's Crew Quality target number. If it succeeds, the system is back online. If the repair fails, the system remains damaged. See C6.0 for more information on Damage Control.
A3.34 PERFORM OTHER ACTIONS. This step is reserved for actions described in future products, such as formation changes.
B1.0 Hex Maps and Map Display
SITS is played on a map of regular hexagons called a hex map, or hexgrid, using box miniatures, tilt blocks and stacking tiles to show orientation. There are [a few conventions] unique to SITS that need explanation and illustration here.
Note on this transcription: the left edge of many pages is clipped in the source scan. Text in square brackets is reconstructed from context or marks lost words; fragments that could not be recovered are marked "[illegible]".
B1.1 Maps and Orientation
B1.11 MAP DIRECTIONS. The maps used for SITS have 6 directions printed in a rosette in the center, A through F, plus up (+) and down (-) (up and down are not printed on the map). Units are always placed in hexagons, they are never placed on the spines between hexagons. The center of the map has a rosette with A through F. The ring with 000 through 330 is not used for SITS and can be ignored.
Units can face hex edges or hex corners. See the sidebar for illustrations of which facings are allowed and which is not allowed.
Illustrations: The 6 map directions; Valid and invalid ship facings (facing a hex edge or a hex corner is valid, facing along the line between hexagons is not).
B1.12 ORIENTATION WITH BOX MINIATURES. Ships are represented on the map with little cardboard boxes with ship art printed on all six sides. These are called "box miniatures".
B1.121 The top surface of the box miniature [has] a triangle (pointing towards the Forward Hammerhead of the ship) and semi circle at the Aft. If you think of them as the arrowhead and feathers for a vector arrow, they will help you visualize the direction of your ship.
B1.122 The back face of the box miniature has the ships class name printed on it.
B1.123 The ID number of each box miniature is printed near the nose; this helps you tell Star Knight #1 from Star Knight #2 on the table.
B1.124 The bottom of the box miniature has an anchor symbol printed on it, next to the ship art. This makes it easy to tell, at a glance, that the ship is inverted.
B1.125 The box miniature illustration used in this rulebook is stylized, with [simplified] symbols, to be easier to understand in a small illustration.
B1.13 TILT BLOCKS. Tilt blocks are injection molded plastic parts that you can rest a box miniature in to [show] different angles of pitch (moving the Forward Hammerhead of the ship up or down) [and] a roll (banking the ship around its long axis). Tilt blocks come in red and [green to] make it easy to identify factions on the map. Pewter miniatures, flight boxes [and magnetic] flight stands are available from our web site, giving several options to [replace tilt] blocks for people who want a more aesthetically pleasing map.
B1.131 When using tilt blocks to show attitude and orientation on the map, [use] the pitch (Forward-up) angle as the lower block. If showing pitch and roll, [put the] second block in the trough of the first one, so that its trough is rotated perpendicular to the trough of the first one. The direction of roll is set by the direction the ship is pointed in, just like the pitch and yaw are set by the front.
B1.132 A ship with its front up at 90° has the stern of the ship pointed down at [the map]. A ship rolled to the side by 90° has one of its two sides pointed down at the [map], exactly one of which can be seen by looking at the symbols on the top.
Illustrations: A box miniature level with the map; A box miniature perpendicular to the map; A box miniature tilted up at 30°, rolled to starboard by 60° at two altitude levels.
B1.14 STACKING TILES. Altitude is shown with stacking tiles under the ship. Each level of altitude is the same measure of distance that the hex is. Because tracking every altitude in increments of one altitude tile would get very tiddly (and stacks of tiles would get so tall as to be unstable), a color coding scheme is used. White tiles are one altitude level, light blue are four altitude levels, dark blue are sixteen. Black tiles are negative signs.
B1.141 To reduce "tile fiddliness", always stack tiles (going top to bottom) from light to dark - the colors were selected to remind players of how the atmosphere changes color at extreme altitudes, and this keeps the units you have to make change to and from at the bottom of the stack, where they're easiest to handle.
B1.142 When showing changes in altitude between a ship's current position and its Midpoint and End of Turn (EoT) markers, use only the stacking tiles needed to represent the difference in altitude. If a ship at altitude level 7 is gaining one hex on its next movement, put only one stacking tile under its EoT marker, not eight.
B1.143 If a ship is losing altitude in its next movement, place an inverted stacking tile under its EoT or Midpoint markers as appropriate.
Illustration: The ship below is at 18 altitude (shown by the dark blue tile on top of two white tiles). Its vector will drop it by one altitude level shown by the inverted tile under the EoT tent.
B2.0 The AVID and Ship Orientation
The fundamental play aid used in SITS for 3-D orientation is the Attitude Vector Information Display, or AVID. Understanding the AVID is the key to understanding the rest of the game. This rule goes to great lengths to explain a lot of things that can be done with the AVID, but there is one fundamental concept that needs to be kept in mind:
The center of AVID is a top-down view of a sphere thats fixed relative to the hexmap - the north and south poles are always perpendicular to the map plane.
B2.1 The AVID
B2.11 THE AVID AND THE MOVEMENT CARD. The AVID is at the top of the Movement Card. As mentioned in A2.2, there are four different variations of the AVID on the movement cards, keyed to directions on the hex map. This allows movement cards to be placed around all four sides of the map sheet for [whatever] scenario requirements you may have, and nobody has to [turn the] card around to see things from the proper perspective.
B2.12 PARTS OF THE AVID. There are three distinct "parts" to the AVID: The outer vector arrows, the hexagon, and the inner colored rings. The vector arrows are explained in vector movement (B3.0).
B2.121 The red and green hexagon represent the hex your ship is currently in. They are keyed to match the colors of the tilt blocks to make faction identification easier.
B2.122 Inside the hexagon is a top-down view of a sphere; there is a gradient effect that makes the AVID "pop out" of the flat space of the card's surface. The sphere is broken down by concentric circular rings of different colors. Each of those rings is broken into spaces called windows.
B2.123 The rings of the AVID correspond to 30° solid angles for spherical geometry (don't worry, we're not going to make you look up sines or cosines or tangents!). The yellow ring is the 0° ring, and covers everything from -15° to +15°. There are [two blue] rings, corresponding to the 30° pitch angles. The -30° ring corresponds to [angles from] -16° to -45°. The +30° ring covers the positive versions of those angles. The [green rings] cover -60° and +60° respectively, with a span of 46° to 75°, respectively. The window in the center is perpendicular to the map, and is called the 90° [window, co]vering 76° to 90°.
Illustrations: The AVID - the lines point to specific features; A ship facing direction A, nose up at a 30° angle, with no roll; A ship facing direction C/D, nose at a 0° angle (level with the map), with no roll.
B2.13 FACINGS AND THE AVID. [Every ship] has six facings, grouped into three pairings. These pairings are Forward and Aft, Port and Starboard, Top and Bottom. Orientation markers are drawn on the [AVID with] grease pencil to show the ship's facing. Orientation markers from the [same pairing] will always be in the same colored ring of the AVID; thus, if the Forward [marker] is in the blue ring, the Aft marker will also be in the blue ring.
B2.131 A graphical reference for which symbol corresponds to which orientation [is] printed on the Movement Card under the AVID.
B2.132 Put a triangle (the symbol for the Forward Hammerhead of the ship) in the [wi]ndow the ship's front points through. For example, if your box miniature [is facing] direction A, with its Forward Hammerhead up in the blue ring, you'd draw [the triangle] in the blue window facing direction A. A ship level with the map, facing [the cor]ner between C and D (also called direction C/D), would put the triangle in the [yellow] AVID window facing direction C/D.
B2.133 The Aft marker (a semi circle) will be six windows away from the Forward marker, which means that for the first example given, it would be facing direction D in the blue ring, pointed down. To show that a symbol is in the bottom half we circle it. For the second example given, the Aft marker would be in [the opposite window] in the yellow ring.
B2.134 Place the Starboard and Port markers into AVID windows by counting 3 [windows] from the Forward triangle of the ship, clockwise and counterclockwise. Use angle brackets pointing outwards to show port and starboard. [If a ship] is rolled 180° on its long axis, the Port and Starboard markers will point [the other way].
B2.135 The Top and Bottom markers on the AVID are placed by counting three [windows] from both the Forward and Port (or Starboard) markers. The symbol [for the Top is a] pentagram, the symbol for the Bottom is an anchor (matching [the symbols on] the box miniature.)
B2.14 ORIENTATION MARKERS WHEN SHIP IS ROLLED. When a ship is rolled, the Top and Bottom orientation markers are shifted like the Forward marker when the ship is pitched up. For example, a ship facing direction A rolled to the right by 60° would have the Top marker in the upper blue window labeled B/C, with the Bottom marker in the blue window labeled E/F, circled to show it's underneath, with the Port and Starboard markers on the spines between the green windows of B and C and E and F.
Illustration: A ship facing direction A, rolled to port a 60° angle. Note that the Port and Starboard symbols are on the spines between windows in the green ring.
B2.15 ORIENTATION MARKERS AND SPINE PLACEMENT. Certain combinations of pitch and roll on the map can translate into confusing orientation marker placement on the AVID. The following rules of thumb should help:
B2.151 The Forward and Aft markers must always point through an AVID window. They may never be placed on the border between two windows.
B2.152 Any orientation marker in the yellow or blue ring must always point through an AVID window, and never through the border between two windows.
B2.153 Orientation markers in the green ring, provided they are not the Forward or Aft marker may be placed on the spine between two green windows if that's the only valid place that "counting three away" can put them from two other symbols that are also three windows apart.
(The source numbers these rules "B2.141, B2.142, B2.143" in print.)
B2.16 ILLUSTRATED EXAMPLES. ANNEX Z1 of this rulebook shows a catalog of various orientations drawn on the AVID with corresponding rendered illustrations of box miniatures in tilt blocks. A color PDF of these pages are available at the Ad Astra Games download library off of our web site, at http://www.adastragames.com/downloads/
B2.2 Facing Changes and the AVID
B2.21 PIVOTS AND ROLLS. Ships change their orientation by pivoting and rolling.
B2.211 The act of changing the direction your ship's Forward Hammerhead is pointed is called a pivot, regardless of whether you change its pitch (up or down) or its yaw (changing its map direction), or combining the two into one motion. Pivots change the direction that thrust is applied in.
B2.212 The act of rotating your ship along the axis defined by the Forward and Aft Hammerhead (or along the long axis of the ship) is called a roll. Rolls are used tactically to swap which broadside is facing a given target, or to interpose the wedge against incoming missiles or beam fire.
Illustration: These box miniatures show a ship with Midpoint and End of Turn markers.
B2.22 LIMITS ON PIVOTS AND ROLLS. In a finite period of time, ships can only pivot or roll so far. These limitations are recorded in the pivot and roll tracks of the SSD. The number in the left most unchecked box represents the maximum number of AVID windows that your ship can change its facing by. As [the] ship takes damage to these tracks, its ability to pivot and roll will decrease.
B2.221 The numbers [in] the boxes of the pivot track show the evolution delay for formation movement orders. This is covered in a later product.
B2.222 For the midpoints of pivots and rolls, round the number of windows down. Thus, a 1-window pivot has its midpoint in the original facing.
B2.23 HELM OFFICER. The quality of your Helm officer can alter the limits for pivots and rolls. Helm officer quality does not effect the evolution delay touched on above.
B2.231 A poor helm officer reduces your pivot and roll rating by one.
B2.232 A veteran helm officer increases the ship's roll rating by one.
B2.233 An elite helm officer can increase pivot or roll rating by one; she can only increase one of these two ratings at a time, but which one she [boosts] can be switched from turn to turn at will.
B2.24 PLOTTING A PIVOT ON THE AVID. To plot a pivot on the AVID, draw an arrow from the AVID window where the Forward triangle is pointed to the window you want it to be facing in at the end of the [turn]. You may make one "diagonal crossing" through the corner between two AVID windows (say, between direction A in Amber, and direction A/B in blue) per pivot. [Count] the windows the arrow goes through, and the window it ends up in. You may plot a pivot through more windows than your current maximum pivot rating.
B2.241 Mark the midpoint of the arrow with a double dashed perpendicular line. This is the direction your ship will be facing during the midpoint of its movement. [If] thrusting and pivoting on the same turn, this is also the direction your thrust accumulate in over the course of the turn. Pivot midpoints round down; a 1-window pivot has thrust accumulating in the direction faced prior to the pivot.
B2.242 If your pivot takes your Forward marker from the upper half of the AVID [to the] lower half, show the line of the arrow making a "U-turn" in the yellow window [of the] AVID, and circle the arrowhead in its destination window.
Illustration: A ship making a 3 window pivot from C/D (blue, upper) to D/E (blue, lower). Note the "U-turn" in D/E (yellow). The midpoint of the pivot is in D/E (yellow), shown by the double line. The pivot's destination is in the lower half of the AVID is shown by circling the arrow head.
B2.25 PLOTTING A ROLL ON THE AVID. [To p]lot a roll on the AVID, draw an arrow from the window your Top marker is in to [the window] you want your top marker to end up in. Like pivots, you may make one [diagonal crossing along] the track of this arrow. Count the windows the arrow goes [through, including the] destination window, but not the window of origination for [counting. This number of windows on the] arrow is for roll limits. [Double-dash] mark the midpoint of your roll. This is the direction your top [marker faces when the sh]ip reaches the midpoint of its move. Midpoints for [rolls are found by] counting the number of windows on the AVID. [If a roll takes] your Top marker from the upper half of the AVID to the [lower half, show] the arrow making a "U-turn" in the yellow window of the [AVID, and circle the arrow]head in its destination window. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
Illustration: A ship making a 2 window roll, moving the top of the ship from the border between D and E in the green ring to E/F in the blue ring. The initial position prior to the roll is the position that the previous illustration's pivot leads to.
B2.26 PIVOT AND ROLL INDEPENDENCE. [Pivots and rolls are] independent of one another. You may plot both a pivot and a [roll in the same turn, with no] penalty or trade-offs; for determining the final position [and midpoint, ...] [illegible] racing change happened during the turn (for example, a [one window roll will] complete before a three window pivot), and [...] the length in windows traversed, rolls happen before pivots. Due [to this, the question] of which way a target is facing when incoming [fire arrives is ambiguous; where this] applies, the ambiguity is resolved in the attackers favor.
B2.261 Pivots do not change the direction your ship is moving in; only thrust can do that. Thrust is covered in B3.0. Specifically, pivoting does not slow you down, nor does pivoting require thrust points to perform.
B3.0 Vector Movement and Thrust
Ships in the Honorverse move by Newtonian laws of motion. Objects in motion remain in motion. Objects at rest remain at rest until an outside force is applied to them. Objects under thrust have a lag between when thrust begins, their vector changes, and when their position changes.
The easiest and simplest way to describe vector movement is that your ship moves like the ship in the old computer game Asteroids did, or, like a truck skidding out on slick ice.
B3.1 Vector Movement Fundamentals
B3.11 VECTOR DEFINITION AND PERSISTENCE. A vector is a velocity that persists from turn to turn. For example, if your ship has a velocity of 7 hexes per turn in direction A (recorded as 7A), your ship will move 7 hexes in direction A on turn 1, 7 more hexes in direction A on turn 2, and 7 more hexes in direction A on turn 3. In fact, it will keep moving 7 hexes per turn in direction A until you apply thrust in a different direction. To stop moving in direction A, you will need to pivot until your Forward marker is facing direction D, and apply thrust until you've built up a vector of 7 hexes per turn in D, canceling out the vector in A.
Example. A ship facing F/A, level with the map, with no roll. It has vectors of 4B, 3A, 1+.
B3.12 VECTOR MOVEMENT ON THE MAP. Your ship's vector is shown by the ship's position at the start of the turn, and its End of Turn (EoT) marker and Midpoint marker. Continuing the example from the previous rule, if your ship had a vector of 7A, the EoT marker (which looks like a tent) would be placed 7 hexes away from your ship in direction A.
B3.121 Place your Midpoint marker (a flat counter) halfway between your starting position and your EoT marker, rounding up. Continuing the earlier example, the Midpoint marker would be placed 4 hexes away from the ship in direction A.
Example. The above vectors on the hex map, with the Midpoint and End of Turn (EoT) markers placed.
B3.13 THE TURN SEQUENCE AND MOVEMENT ON THE MAP. Movement happens in two steps - first, after all the plotting is done, ships move to their Midpoint Markers, including completing half their pivots and rolls. Second, ships move to their EoT markers, completing the other half of their pivots and rolls.
B3.14 INDEPENDENCE FROM ORIENTATION. One of the fascinating differences between vector movement and most terrestrial movement modes is that your facing is independent of your direction of travel. A ship rotated 90° from its prior course will still continue on its vector, drifting sideways. This is, in fact, a common maneuver objective in Honorverse space combats.
B3.15 VECTORS AND THE AVID. The outer ring of arrows around the AVID are used to record vectors; record how many hexes per turn [your ship is moving in] each direction in the white arrowheads, record any pending changes to vectors in the gray triangles in the arrowheads. Vectors in SITS can [be in eight di]rections (A through F), plus up (+) and down (-). Thrust gets added to vectors, and multiple vectors in the plane of the map get consolidated [...] no more than 60° apart, [remainder illegible in the source scan].
B3.2 Plotting Thrust
B3.21 DEFINITION AND DIRECTION. [Thrust] is applying acceleration to change your existing vectors. Thrust accrues in the [direction] your Forward Hammerhead is facing as of reaching your Midpoint marker. [If] you don't pivot, your thrust will be in the direction your Forward Hammerhead [is pointed] the entire turn. If you do pivot, your thrust will accumulate in the [direction] of the midpoint of your pivot.
Designer's Note. It is very easy, coming from a world where drag and friction are constant, to become a "lead-foot" when thrusting in a vector movement game.
One of the most important lessons to learn in maneuvering in SITS is knowing when NOT to apply thrust, and be patient, letting your vectors close at a rate that still allows a reasonable engagement suitable for your objectives.
Your rate of closure is usually more important than your relative distance on the map. Your orientation relative to the enemy is more important. While displacement can be useful, you should not be building your movement plan around using displacement to close to exactly the range you want, unless it's an immediate opportunity. Attempting to use displacement to close rapidly across the map against a foe will take you into range quickly - and take you out of range before the fight is over.
B3.22 MAXIMUM THRUST RATING. [A ship's maxim]um thrust rating, without running the risk of engine damage, is equal to [the number in the left most unc]hecked box on your thrust track. As you take damage to your impellers [which in turn re]duces the Maximum Thrust track, your thrust rating will decrease. [B3.221] An Elite Engineering Officer adds one to the thrust rating of the ship at [all times. This] cannot be combined with "red-lining" the compensators (B3.231).
B3.23 INERTIAL COMPENSATOR FAILURE. [In the books, there] is much concern over the inertial compensators and the possibility [of failure u]nder extreme maneuvers. There are three ways that inertial compensators [can fail in th]e game. In all three cases, when there's a chance for the inertial [compensators to] fail, the ship needs to roll equal to or less than their crew quality [number, minus the amou]nt of damage to their Structural Integrity track. Compensator [checks are] made after Thrust Plotting is done, but before missiles are launched.
B3.231 [A ship] can "red-line" their compensators and gain +1 to their thrust rating [at the risk of a compensator check.] (Part of this rule is illegible in the source scan.)
B3.232 A ship that has lost every box on one of their impeller tracks rolls for [compensator failure each turn] they apply thrust.
B3.233 [Once a ship's thrust is down] to the circled boxes on the maximum thrust track [it must make] crew quality checks to avoid compensator failure. This represents deep damage to the ship's propulsion mechanism.
B3.24 THRUST AND THE VERTICAL PLOTTING GRID. The Vertical Plotting Grid on the Movement Card is used to convert thrust into [vertical and] horizontal components. It is broken up into zones of color, corresponding [to the] color coding of the AVID. Like drawing pivots and rolls on the AVID, [you plot by dr]awing arrows. It is followed, in most cases, by plotting on the horizontal [plotting grid] shown in B3.25.
B3.241 Note which ring of the AVID your ships thrust is accumulating in, and [find the appr]opriately colored zone of the Vertical Plotting Grid.
B3.242 Decide how much thrust you're applying. In the appropriately colored [squares] on the Vertical Plotting Grid, draw an arrow from the triangle to a [square with a] number matching the thrust value used. A square that's split between [two colors can] be reached by a unit facing in either color.
B3.243 Cross reference from the square you drew to to the numbers outside the [Vertical Plot]ting Grid. This will tell you how many hexes of horizontal plotting you [have and how] many hexes of vertical velocity you've accumulated. Write the vertical [velocity ac]cumulated in the gray portion of the + or - arrowhead of the AVID.
Example. A ship facing direction A (blue, upper) plots a thrust of 4 on the Vertical Plotting Grid, gaining a vector of 3 in +, and 3 in the horizontal plane of the map.
Plotting Grid illustration (Vertical): zones +90°, +60°, +30°, 0°, -30°, -60°, -90°; the columns are numbered 0 to 7 across the top and bottom and the rows give the vertical component from +7 to -7.
B3.25 THRUST AND THE HORIZONTAL PLOTTING GRIDS. [Now that you've decided how] much horizontal thrust you've accumulated, it's time to plot things out on the horizontal plotting grids.
B3.251 First, determine what map plane direction you're thrusting in (A-F, or [one of the corner] directions, like F/A or B/C). If you draw an arrow to one of the purple boxes with a 4 in them on the vertical grid, you gain a one hex horizontal offset. You choose what direction that offset is in.
B3.252 Write the direction you're thrusting in the space provided under the appropriate horizontal plotting grid.
B3.253 Draw an arrow out to one of the hexes with the number appropriate to the horizontal thrust you're using.
B3.254 If you're thrusting to a hex edge, everything on that center row of hexes is in the direction of the hex edge, every hex that you go off the center row (one way or the other) is thrust in one of the other two adjacent directions. Thus, with a horizontal thrust of 4 in direction A, drawing to the leftmost hex with a 4 in it will give a thrust of 3 in A, 1 in F. Drawing to the rightmost hex with a 4 in it will give a thrust of 3 in A, 1 in B.
B3.2541 If your ship is thrusting in the green ring of the AVID, you cannot thrust to a hex corner. However, you can draw thrust plots to any of the green hexagons on the hex edge plotting board.
B3.255 If you're thrusting into a hex corner, the center of the hex corner plotting board has a line going up it - if you're thrusting on this line, you've accumulated velocity evenly split between the two "corner" directions. For each hex you go off the line, you trade one of those "balanced" units of velocity to one shifted towards one side or the other. For example, if you're thrusting at thrust 4 in the B/C direction, you can draw a line to the central hexagon with a 4, and have a velocity of 2B, 2C from your thrust. Or you could thrust to the leftmost 4, at which point, you'd have a velocity of 3B, 1C. Or you could thrust to the rightmost 4, and have a velocity of 1B, 3C.
Example. Continuing the prior example, the ship thrusting at 4 has a horizontal component of 3, going in direction A. There's only one choice, and they get a vector of 3 in A from this thrust (as well the 3 in + from the vertical component).
B3.26 RECORDING THRUST ON THE AVID. Once you've split your thrust into vertical and horizontal components, write the numbers derived into the appropriate gray triangles in the vector arrows of the AVID. This records your thrust change for the turn. Consolidation into new vectors comes at the end of the turn, meaning there's always some delay between thrust and when it takes effect.
Example. The thrust of 4 has turned into 3 hexes per turn of velocity change in A, and 3 hexes per turn of velocity change in +, recorded on the AVID.
B3.27 DISPLACEMENT FROM THRUST. If you applied thrust and did not pivot, your thrust will adjust the position of your EoT marker by one half of the total velocity change in each direction. This is called displacement. Displacement never changes the position of the Midpoint marker.
B3.271 If you accrue a half hex of displacement, it doesn't count on the turn it happens, instead it carries over for a later completion. Fill in the tiny triangular check box between the gray and white areas of the vector arrows. A consecutive half-hex of displacement [in the same direction] will accrue to a full hex of displacement. Not thrusting for [a turn will] eliminate all half hexes of displacements, as will thrusting in a different direction.
B3.272 A Poor Engineering officer loses all half hexes of displacement. A Veteran Engineering officer rounds all half hexes of displacement up to full hexes.
Example. Assuming an average engineering officer, the thrust on the AVID above would displace the EoT marker one hex in A, and one hex in +. The half displacements would be recorded by filling in the small triangles in A and +.
B3.3 Vector Consolidation
B3.31 CONVERTING THRUST INTO VECTORS. Vector consolidation is the process of adding thrust changes to existing vectors and then consolidating the vectors down to the minimum possible needed to describe the ships movement.
B3.32 ADD VECTOR CHANGES TO VECTORS. Before consolidating vectors, add any [chang]es in the gray parts of the AVID to existing vectors, then erase the [numbe]rs in the gray arrows, being [caref]ul not to erase any half-displacement [checks]. In the illustration immediately right, we have 3 thrust adding to a [vecto]r 5 in D; they combine to make [a vector] of 8 in D, which will be used for [the] current examples.
B3.33 CONSOLIDATING VECTORS. [We're goi]ng to walk through a vector [consolidati]on of a ship with vectors of [7A, 8]D and 4B - this is shown in the [illustratio]ns at upper right, with the map [showing] the entire path taken by following the vectors in turn.
B3.331 The first step is to combine [vecto]rs 180° apart. This means subtracting the 7 in A from the 8 in D, leaving 1 in D, and 0 in A. This is shown in the [second] set of illustrations at right [with a ve]ctor of 4 in B and 1 in D, [and the] map shows a greatly abbreviated [path].
B3.332 The second step is to combine vectors that are 120° apart. The [process] is to take the smaller [vector, copy it] one hex side (60°) closer [to the larger v]ector, and then subtract its [value from] both original vectors. This [means we co]py the vector of 1D over [to C] and subtract 1 from both of the [original vecto]rs, leaving 0 in D, and 3 in [B and 1 in C]. [The last illustration s]hows the final path taken [by the consolidated] vectors.
Illustrations: three AVID/map pairs: 7A, 8D, 4B before consolidation; 4B and 8-7 = 1D after the 180° step; 3B and 1C after the 120° step.
B4.0 Integrated Movement Examples
Movement in 3-D, even with the play aids of SITS, can be confusing to grasp just from text. We recommend that everyone fly a ship on the map a few times before actually trying to play a game. Much the same way that learning a video game often involves several hours of running into things to learn how the controls work, the same thing applies to SITS, only the graphics are a bit more solid state. To help this process along, we've provided a number of illustrated movement examples over the next several pages.
B4.1 Pivot and Roll with No Thrust
B4.11 THE MANEUVER ON THE AVID. Our ship, the HMS Princess Carol, begins the turn facing direction B, with a roll of 60° to starboard, putting the top of the ship facing C/D (blue, upper). The vectors are 7 in B, and 2 in +.
B4.111 A pivot is drawn from B (yellow) to C (yellow), and the midpoint is marked on it as direction B/C (yellow) on the AVID.
B4.112 A roll is also drawn on the AVID, starting from the star (the top of the ship) in C/D (blue, upper) and going through the purple window of the AVID and ending on the spine between A (green) and B (green).
B4.12 INITIAL POSITION ON THE MAP. On the illustration at the bottom of the page, the ships box miniature matches the orientation drawn on the AVID at left, and the end of turn marker is 7 hexes away in B. The 2 altitude gained due to vectors this turn is split evenly; one altitude tile is under the mid point marker, the other one is underneath the EoT marker.
Illustrations: The AVID for the HMS Princess Carol, with an initial position facing B, and the Top of the ship rolled to face C/D (blue, upper). Both a pivot and roll are drawn. At right, the initial orientation of the ship in the AVID above, with its end of turn marker 7 hexes out. It gains one altitude at the midpoint of its vector, and a second level of altitude at the end point.
B4.13 MIDPOINT OF THE MOVEMENT. In the illustration at right, the ship has moved to the midpoint marker, and is now facing the direction of the middle of its pivot, direction B/C. It has also [reached] the midpoint of its roll, and is [level wit]h the map.
B4.14 END OF TURN POSITION. The second illustration shows the ship['s fi]nal position for the current turn, facing direction C, with the top of the [ship rol]led to the spine between direction[s B] and C in the upper green ring, at [two altitu]de levels above the map.
B4.15 FINAL ORIENTATION ON THE AVID. At bottom right of this page, we have the final orientation on the AVID, completing the cycle.
Illustrations: The HMS Princess Carol at the midpoint of her movement, pivot and roll; The HMS Princess Carol at the end of the turn; The final orientation on the AVID.
Designer's Notes: Pivots, Rolls and Vector Movement. Maneuvering in 3-D space takes a fair bit of practice for most first form cadets. There's understanding the kinematics equations of v=a x t and d=Vi x at^2 in an abstract sense, and then there's actually using them for movement. Particularly as most people come from an environment where gravity and drag are the norm, it takes a certain period of adjustment.
Think about your orientation before you think about thrusting. There is a reason why the AVID is the first step in the movement procedure. The orientation you'll have at the midpoint and end of your movement requires a bit of thought. If it helps to visualize, work from the miniature and translate back to the AVID. In particular, look at your opponents mid turn and current position indicators - those will be the bearings incoming fire will be coming from, and what you should be aware of when checking your midpoint and EoT orientations, when doing your movement plots.
Keep in mind that your speed at the point of closest approach will determine how long you're engaged; high closing vectors are very common rookie mistakes. Just because you can thrust every turn does not mean you should.
B4.2 Thrust with Displacement
INITIAL ORDER PLOTTING. The Movement Card at left shows the order plot for the PNS Valiant facing direction C (blue, upper), with no roll, thrusting at thrust 3.
B4.211 The Valiant's initial vectors are 4 in C, 2 in D.
B4.212 The plotting grids are filled out - the vertical plot will give the ship a vector of two in +, the horizontal plot will put three more hexes per turn into the vector in C.
B4.213 Because the Valiant has not pivoted, its thrust will generate displacement equal to half of the vector change, so a displacement of 1 in +, and 1.5 in C. The 1.5 in C becomes 1 in C with a half displacement carried forward; the half displacement is shown by filling in the little triangle in direction C, shown in the illustration.
Illustration: The movement of the PNS Valiant, with thrust drawn on the plotting grids and vector changes recorded in the gray spaces of the AVID. The displacements will be half these amounts.
B4.22 INITIAL MAP POSITION. At the bottom of this page, we show the Valiant's initial orientation on the map, along with its future position markers; the End of Turn (EoT) marker is four hexes away in C and two hexes away in D, while the Midpoint marker is two hexes away in C and one hex away in D.
B4.221 Because of the Valiant's thrust, the EoT marker will displace one hex away in C, and one hex upwards. This is shown on the map by the partially transparent altitude tile and EoT marker in the illustration below. After plotting thrust, you would move the EoT marker to the indicated position. You never change the position of the Midpoint marker [with displacement].
Illustration: The PNS Valiant's initial position on the map, with midpoint and end point markers shown, and the displaced EoT marker shown "faded".
B4.23 MIDPOINT POSITION. The illustration at right shows the PNS Valiant at the midpoint of its movement, with the displaced EoT marker present in its correct position.
B4.24 END OF TURN POSITION. The second illustration shows the Valiant in its final position, with the next turns Midpoint and EoT markers [laid] out. The EoT marker is translucent [as a] reminder that there is a half hex [displacement carry available in that direction].
B4.25 CONSOLIDATING VECTORS. At the end of the turn, the two hexes per turn accumulated in + and the three hexes per turn in C get added to the existing vectors. 2+0 = 2 in +, and 3+4=7 in C. The combined vectors are written [in] the outer half of the vector arrows, as seen in the AVID below.
B4.251 The half displacement in C [is recorded] there, in case the Valiant thrusts [in C again] in the next turn.
Illustrations: The PNS Valiant at the midpoint of her movement; The PNS Valiant at the end of the turn; the AVID for the PNS Valiant after consolidation (2 in +, 7 in C, 2 in D).
Designer's Note: Reading Enemy Movement. Your opponent's EoT marker indicates where he'll be at the end of the current turn. During the plotting phase, you know that if he pivots, his EoT marker won't change position. If he thrusts without pivoting, his EoT marker may change by a hex or two in the direction the front of his ship is currently [facing]. [Ini]tially, but you'll have a good idea of where his vector change will be. He has [the same] information about your ship as well; this means there are always interesting trade-offs between thrusting in the direction you need to thrust in, displacing to get closer (or farther away) [while] keeping your broadside armament bearing at the target, [and] using these [tools to] are what separate good tacticians from also-rans.
B4.3 Simultaneous Pivot and Thrust
B4.31 INITIAL CONDITIONS. We start out with the HMS Dulcinea facing direction B/C, with vectors of 1 in +, 2 in F and 1 in E. The Dulcinea is drifting stern first.
B4.311 The captain of the Dulcinea draws a pivot to A/B (blue, upper). The midpoint of the pivot is in B (blue, upper).
B4.312 The Dulcinea's thrust is 3, and the thrust plot is shown on the plotting boards - gaining a vector of 2 in + and a vector of 3 in the horizontal plane. On the horizontal plane, the thrust of 3 accumulates in direction B. Both of these thrust changes are recorded in the gray areas of the thrust arrows.
B4.313 Since the Dulcinea is pivoting, she does not accumulate any displacements from thrust.
Illustration: The movement of the HMS Dulcinea, thrust drawn on the plotting grids. Thrust is accumulated in the direction of the midpoint of the pivot.
B4.32 INITIAL MAP POSITION. Shown below is the Dulcinea's map position, with Midpoint and End of Turn (EoT) markers indicated.
Illustration: The HMS Dulcinea at the start of the turn.
B4.33 MIDPOINT POSITION. [In the illustration at] right, we have the Dulcinea's Midpoint orientation and position.
B4.34 END OF TURN POSITION. The second illustration on this page [shows] the Dulcinea's position at the end of the turn.
B4.35 VECTOR CONSOLIDATION. [At the] bottom of the page, we show the AVID with the Dulcinea's consolidated vectors.
B4.351 The two in + adds to the existing vector, leaving 3 in +.
B4.352 The three in B becomes a [vector] of 3 in B. This consolidates with [the 1 in] E to become a net of 2 in B.
B4.353 The 2 in F and the 2 in B [are 120°] apart; arbitrarily, the vector in [F is] declared to be smaller and rotated [one hex] side closer to B, becoming 2 in [A. The] original value of F is subtracted [from] both original vectors, leaving 0 in F and 0 in B.
Illustrations: The HMS Dulcinea at the midpoint of her movement, pivot and roll; The HMS Dulcinea at the end of the turn; the consolidated AVID (3 in +, 2 in A).
Designer's Notes: Fluidity of Maneuver. A truism of vector movement is that by the time you actually realize you want to do something, its probably too late. The maneuver illustrated above was done by a veteran ship handler. The signs are these:
The thrust is controlled - note that the ship is moving at a fairly sedate 4 hexes per turn before thrust. This means that the captains options for where his upcoming vectors can go are maximized.
Note how the thrust was chosen to swivel the direction of travel in the plane of the map by roughly 90°, while tripling the vertical component. The captain not only knew where they wanted to be facing, but where they wanted to accumulate thrust. He could have chosen his pivots midpoint to be in direction B in the plane of the map - they would've had the same horizontal vector changes, but not the vertical vector change.
What does this captains plot and final orientation tell you about the likely threat they're facing? (Hint: Look at where their future position markers are for next turn, and where their broadside is pointed).
What maneuver options is this captain likely to perform next turn, given where the threat axis indicated above is?
Given the assumption that Manticoran missile range is superior to Havenite, what does the low velocity of the final course plot tell of the captains opinion of the tactical setting?
B5.0 Operational Movement
While predominantly a tactical combat engine, the Honorverse has ships moving across entire solar systems. These rules can be used to set up tactical scenarios, or for player run campaigns. Operational movement is still vector movement, only the turn length and hex size changes.
B5.1 Operational Scale Changes
Designer's Note: Hyper Limit and Hyper Footprint. The hyper limit is the minimum distance from a star that a ship can enter hyperspace at; it varies by stellar type.
The hyper footprint is the energy discharge that happens when ships leave hyperspace, and is one of the most easily detected man-made energy signatures known.
B5.11 TURN LENGTH AND HEX SIZE. The operational turn length is 19 minutes long. For the sake of campaign time keeping, assume there are 3 operational turns to the hour, 19 of them per 6 hours, and 76 of them per 24 hour day. One operational hex is 8 light seconds across. To convert light minutes to operational hexes, multiply them by 7.5. One Astronomical Unit (the distance from Earth to the Sun) is 63 operational hexes; most hyper limits will be in the realm of 70 to 150 operational hexes from their primary, with a maximum of 195.
B5.111 There are three and one sixth tactical turns per operational turn. If you're doing simultaneous timekeeping (tracking a tactical combat, and moving reinforcements in the same system on operational turns), every three tactical turns is one operational turn. Every sixth operational turn should consist of four tactical turns, rather than three.
B5.12 SCALE CONVERSIONS. One operational hex is 10 tactical hexes. When you reach 5 operational hexes from your target, it's time to change game scales to the tactical, starting ships out at range 50 from each other, with facing set at whatever the commander chooses. Because facing is arbitrary on the operational scale,
B5.121 All operational velocities are tripled when converted to the tactical scale. When converting to the operational scale, divide tactical velocities by three, and sum any fractions, assigning any cumulative whole velocity increments to the vector of the commanders choice.
Example. A ship with tactical velocities of 4A, 8B and 2+ converts from tactical to operational scale. 4A becomes 1A with a third left over. 8B becomes 2B with two thirds left over, and 2+ becomes 0+ with two thirds left over. With five thirds "left over", there's one additional point of velocity to assign, which gets put in the direction of the commanders choice, which happens to be in B. The remaining two thirds are lost.
B5.122 After converting velocities to the tactical scale, each ship gets a number of rounds of thrust bidding equal to their crew quality target number, where each ship can bid a number of thrust points equal to its maximum thrust rating. This represents, in a very generalized form, the ability of the command staffs to "set the engagement on their terms". For units flying in formation, the formation uses the thrust rating of the flagship for determining its maximum bid.
B5.123 Assuming the number of rounds on each side is the same, each round is bid in a secret and simultaneous write and reveal process. If one side gets more rounds of bidding than the other, half of the excess must be bid before the other side makes their initial bid, and the other half is bid after the opponents have made their final bid, with any odd increments happening in the later step. The sidebars on this page and the next give an example of this.
The maximum velocity that a ship can have in normal space is 0.8 c, which is 120 operational hexes per turn. This translates into a tactical velocity of 360 hexes per turn.
Example: Operational Scale Pursuit. A Manticoran destroyer (Average quality crew, thrust 3, velocity 12A, 4F and 2- after conversion) is running down a Silesian light cruiser (Poor quality crew, thrust 3, velocity 7A, 7B, 1- after conversion); the Silesian cruiser is visible in direction A-. The difference in altitude on the operational scale is 2 hexes. The hyper limit is 23 operational hexes away, in direction A/B.
Setting a common frame of reference, the map is assigned a velocity of 7A, which is subtracted from both their initial vectors, leaving 5A for the Manticoran destroyer, and 0A for the Silesian cruiser.
They will start their tactical maneuvering at range 50, regardless of the bidding; what's in dispute is their rate of closure.
The Manticoran destroyer gets to bid for five rounds of acceleration, while the Silesian light cruiser only gets to bid for two. The Manticoran destroyer places one bid before the Silesian cruiser gets to bid at all, and bids 3B. On round two of the bidding, the Silesian cruiser bids 3A, the Manticoran destroyer 3B.
On round three, the Manticoran destroyer bids 2A and 1B, while the Silesian cruiser bids 3A again.
At the end of round three, both sides consolidate vectors. The Manticoran ship has vectors of 5A, 4F, 2-, and added 3B on the first bid, 3B on the second bid, and 2A and 1B on the third bid, for a total vector (after consolidation) of 11A, 3B and 2-.
The Silesian ship bid started with vectors of 0A, 7B and 1-. It bid a total of 6A, for vectors of 6A, 7B and 1-.
The common reference frame adjustment is done again - the map is assigned an additional tactical velocity of 6A, 3B and 1- (for a total velocity of 13A, 3B and 1-), leaving the Manticoran ship with velocity of 5A, 1-, and the Silesian ship with a velocity of 4B.
On the next two rounds of bidding, the Manticoran ship bids 3B on round four, and 1B, 2A on round five. Another round of reference frame setting is done, adding 4 more to the maps velocity in B.
The tactical scenario begins with the ships starting 50 hexes apart, with the Manticoran 20 hexes above the plane of the map, retaining a velocity of 7A, 1-, and the Silesian cruiser at rest relative to the map. The map is moving at a tactical velocity of 13A, 7B, 1-, which translates into an operational velocity of 4A, 2B, 1-.
It will be four operational turns before the Silesian cruiser reaches the hyper limit, which translates into a tactical time limit of 12 turns.
B5.13 MAP REFERENCE FRAME SHIFTING. One way to handle large velocities is to assign [a velocity to] the map. In essence, if all units in a fight are moving with a common vector, the vector is assigned to the map, and subtracted from all units. This can be done in any tactical [combat], though the need is greatest when interfacing between operational scales and tactical.
B5.131 This is not recommended in instances of simultaneous timekeeping and [po]sition tracking relative to mobile units, where it's important to know where a combat hex is on the operational scale relative to potential reinforcements in the system.
B5.132 When coordinating time limits for a scenario, or reaching a fixed distance objective, translate the map frame velocity back to operational velocity, and figure out how long it will take to reach the objective. After each third tactical turn, look at the [velo]cities and see if they've appreciably changed the operational velocity.
B5.14 DETECTION ON OPERATIONAL SCALES. The simplest way to handle detection is to assume that everyone sees everyone, and [is] out in the open. Doing otherwise requires a referee, using the table below. All [rang]es are in operational hexes.
| Event | Det. Range | Event | Det. Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detect Hyper footprint [of more] than 100 mtons | 300 hexes | Detect Impeller Wedge Presence | 120 hexes |
| Detect Hyper footprint [of 50 to 1]00 mtons | 225 hexes | Determine acceleration and direction | 100 hexes |
| Detect Hyper footprint [of less] than 50 mtons | 150 hexes | Determine Impeller Wedge And Target Scale/10 | 80 hexes |
| Determine Impeller Wedge And Target Scale/5 | 60 hexes | ||
| Determine Impeller Wedge And Target Scale/1 (Exact Target Scale) | 40 hexes |
(The first-column event labels are partly clipped in the source scan; the last row reads "And Exact Target Scale".)
B5.141 These detection ranges assume broad parity of equipment. Detection of the second set of columns requires a crew quality check by the searching [ship], adding +1 to the die roll for each level of disadvantage the searcher has in stealth [or ECM] and adding +1 to the die roll per 10 operational hexes over 40 between [the searcher] and the target. The grade of the EW Officer (EWO) on the ship modifies [this] in the same manner it modifies the ECM of the ship.
B5.142 One attempt can be made to detect targets in one AVID window per ship [per operational] turn. Spending a recon drone to search reduces the range on a given [search by 5] operational hexes. Drones are single-use items on this game scale. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
B5.143 When a target's scale over a divisor is known, all the information the [referee gives is of the form] "Detected, accelerating at (insert value), velocities of (insert value), [target scale] is greater than X, and less than Y."
B5.144 LACs use 1/4 of the detection ranges listed above, and have a range penalty [applied] to the detection die roll per 10 operational hexes over an initial increment [of ...]. (Remainder illegible in the source scan.)
B5.145 Targets with their wedge down use 1/10th of the detection ranges [...]. [Bringing up] the wedge is an Other Action, and the wedge will be up [at the end of the] operational turn. Sidewalls will be up one tactical turn after wedge activation.
B5.15 OPERATIONAL SCALE WEAPONS. [This table gives] the operational scale weapons. Keep in mind that one operational hex is 10 tactical hexes.
| Event | Op Hex Range | Tac Hex Range |
|---|---|---|
| Three Drive Missile - Maximum Range | 28 hexes | 284 hexes |
| Three Drive Missile - Early salvo Range | 6 hexes | 63 hexes |
| Two Drive Missile - Maximum Range | 13 hexes | 128 hexes |
| Two Drive Missile - Early salvo Range | 3 hexes | 28 hexes |
| Single Drive Missile - Maximum Range | 3 hexes | 28 hexes |
| Single Drive Missile - Early salvo Range | 0 hexes | 6 hexes |
B5.151 The fire rate for combat on the operational scales have the longer missile flight times factored in. This will be covered in later products.
Because facing is arbitrary on operational scales, the defender can always put the facing of their choice towards an incoming salvo of missiles.
B5.152 Every hex of operational range past 3 increases the Missile Quality Level (MQL) by 2, making them less accurate. Apollo fire control affects this range modifier considerably.
B5.16 ENTERING AND LEAVING HYPERSPACE. Hyperspace transitions are used for setting scenario victory conditions. The following generalized restrictions apply.
B5.161 You cannot translate into hyperspace at a velocity of greater than 30% of c, which is a velocity of 45 operational hexes per turn. When transitioning across the alpha-band of hyperspace, only 8% of the velocity is retained. After the transition, take the velocity in the prior level of hyperspace (or normal space if going into hyperspace) and divide by 12, dropping fractions. This functionally sets the initial velocities to an operational speed of 3 immediately after translation over the alpha layer. The "divide by 12" rule is the underlying logic behind the velocities at the start of many scenarios, where the defenders are responding to attackers who've just dropped in from hyperspace.
B5.162 To determine the hex of entry from hyperspace, the person entering the system chooses an entry hex, and rolls 2d10- for each command group. The 2d10- roll determines how far away from that entry hex the fleet element will be. The direction they're away from that entry hex is chosen by the defender. While this isn't a perfectly accurate [model, it is] much simpler, and is likelier to result in fair and interesting tactical fights.
[Illegible in the source scan: a note that combat in hyperspace and in grav waves will be incorporated into a future product, and that for now any ship that successfully crosses the hyper barrier has left the (fight).]
Hyper Limits by Spectral Class. (Star Type / Hyper Limit in light minutes / Distance in operational hexes. K6 is absent from the printed table.)
Star Type Hyper Limit Distance (Op Hexes) O 49.60 LM 372 B 33.42 LM 315 A 28.75 LM 216 F0 26.42 LM 198 F1 25.98 LM 195 F2 25.54 LM 192 F3 25.10 LM 188
C1.0 Shooting Bearings and Firing Arcs
The AVID performs two functions in SITS. First, it provides an exact record of a ships orientation, and gives a frame of reference for facing changes and thrust recording; you've seen how this works in B2.0 and B3.0.
The AVID is also the key to the firing arc system used for SITS. Determining whether or not you can see a target, and what weapons bear on it are two of the key elements of tactical maneuvering.
Example. A ship in the AVID bubble, Forward down 30° in A, target visible through the upper blue ring in B/C.
C1.1 Shooting Bearings
Note: the source numbers two consecutive rules "C1.15"; the numbering below follows the printed numbers as read from the scan.
C1.11 DEFINITIONS & STEPS. Shooting a bearing is the process of determining where in the sky you see a target, which is then written on the AVID. It takes three steps, and requires using the Reference Card and the AVID. It is fundamental to everything else in this section, and will require practice to master. The steps for shooting a bearing are:
- Determining the horizontal bearing.
- Counting the range and the difference in altitude.
- Using the Range-Angle Lookup Table (RALT).
C1.12 HORIZONTAL BEARINGS. Horizontal bearings are, simply, determining whether or not you see the target through a hex corner, or a hex edge. Algorithmically, the question is whether or not a target is 3 times as far away in one cardinal hex map direction (A, B, C, D, E or F) as it is in another; if this is true, the target is visible through a hex edge. If it is not true, its [visible] through a hex corner.
C1.121 There is a horizontal bearing tool on the Reference Card, shown in the [sidebar], that graphically illustrates this relationship. Targets in white hexes are visible through the hex edges, targets in the gray hexes are visible through the hex corner, the [triangle] on the diagram is the position of the ship.
C1.122 If you think of the AVID as having slices like an orange, the horizontal bearing determines which slice the target is visible in. The next two steps narrow down what ring of the AVID the target is visible in; between these two, it gets narrowed down to an AVID window.
Example. A target is four hexes away in B, three hexes away in C, with the firing ship at altitude level 0, while the target is at altitude level 2. Four hexes away is not more than 3x three, so the target is visible in direction B/C. The difference in altitude is 2, and the total horizontal distance is 7 hexes.
C1.13 COUNTING HEXES AND ALTITUDE DIFFERENCES. [Count] the number of hexes between your ship and the targets hex, counting the hex the target is in, but not the hex your ship is in. Also count the difference in altitude; if [your ship is] at 0 altitude levels above the map, and your target is 4 altitude levels above the [map], the difference in altitude levels is 4.
C1.14 USING THE RALT. The large multi-colored table on the Reference Card is called the Range-Angle Lookup Table, or RALT. Count out the horizontal distance from you to the target on the bottom of the table, and go up a number of rows equal to the difference in altitude. The number in the cell will be the true range to the target, by the Pythagorean Theorem. The color of the cell will tell you which AVID ring the target is visible through.
Example. On the RALT, a target is 7 hexes away with a difference of altitude of 2. This gives a true range of 7, visible through the blue ring.
C1.15 ALGORITHM BEHIND THE RALT COLOR CODING. To quickly calculate the bearing angle without looking at the RALT, use this simple set of rules of thumb:
C1.151 If the target is 4x as far away in the horizontal or vertical as in the other direction, it's visible in the yellow or purple rings of the AVID.
C1.152 If the difference in altitude is greater than the horizontal distance, its visible through the green ring.
C1.153 If the target is farther away than the difference in altitude, its in the blue ring. If the horizontal distance is exactly equal to the difference in altitude, the target is in the blue ring.
C1.15 [sic] RECORDING A TARGET'S BEARING ON THE AVID. In the window that you see a target through, write down the range to the target. If the target is below you, and thus visible through the bottom half of the AVID, circle this range number. See the example in the sidebar on this page.
Example. On the AVID, the target in the prior example (7 hexes out, 2 altitude above the firing ship) is visible in direction B/C (blue, upper).
C1.16 BEARING RECIPROCITY. Because the AVID is fixed relative to the map, all bearings are reciprocal. What this means in layman's speak is that if you see a target through A (yellow), the target will see you through the opposite window on the AVID, or D (yellow). If you see the target through A/B (blue, upper), the target will see you on the bearing 6 windows away, in D/E (blue, lower). When filling out the Salvo Card, the Impact Window is the reciprocal of the bearing you shot to launch the missiles. This makes it easy for the defender to figure out where the inbound missiles are coming from.
C1.17 SHOOTING BEARINGS FROM DIFFERENT POINTS. Not all bearings are shot from your ship to the opponent's ship, though that is always the case for beam [weapons]. Missile salvoes will have you shooting bearings from your ship to the target ship, your ship to the target's Midpoint marker, or your Midpoint marker to the target's EoT marker. This is annotated on both the Turn Sequence and on the Salvo Cards, and is explained more fully in C2.0.
C1.2 Mapping Bearings to Firing Arcs
C1.21 FIRING ARCS AND THE AVID. The AVID is a top down view of a sphere that's fixed relative to the map plane. Firing arc diagrams, like the one [shown] at right, are the inside of that sphere, fixed to the [reference] frame of the ship. In short, the firing arc diagrams, which sort of give the "inside of the fishbowl" view from the ships perspective, spin inside the AVID as the ship changes facing. Determining [if a] weapon mount bears on the target is a matter of determining the targets bearing in relation to the facing markers of the firing ship, and then comparing that relationship to the firing arc diagram to see if the arc is clear or occluded.
C1.22 BEARINGS AND ORIENTATION MARKERS. [Figuring out] where a bearing maps to a ships orientation marker is a five step process.
C1.221 The first step is to count the number of windows between the bearing of [the target] and the nearer of the Top or Bottom markers of the ship. Using the illustration at the bottom of the sidebar of the previous page, the Top marker is in D (green, upper) and the target bearing (the number "7") is in B/C (blue, upper). The target bearing is two windows away from the Top of the ship.
C1.222 The second step is to count the distance (and relative direction) from the target bearing to the nearest orientation marker. If two orientation markers are equally distant to the target bearing, the attacker chooses which one is used, and this [is] used for all combat resolution on this damage step. Using the same illustration, the nearest orientation marker is the Starboard one, which is one window away. As the distance from the Top marker to the target bearing is two windows, and the distance from the Top marker to the Starboard marker is 3 windows, this means that the target bearing is one window away from the Starboard marker, towards the Top of the ship.
C1.223 Now, look at the firing arc diagram. The Top and Bottom of the ship are shown by the top and bottom windows of the firing arc diagram. We're going to [count] the same number of windows down from the top of the diagram as we did from the Top marker to the target bearing on the AVID; using our working example, this means we go two rows down in the firing arc diagram.
C1.224 Now, we count one window away from the Starboard side marker, going [toward the Top]. This needs to be in the same row we counted to in the last step - it is. (Doing these steps means that you'll never have an ambiguous firing arc situation, no matter what orientation the ship is at.) This window (shown by the white circle in the [firing arc] diagram at right) is the one we see the target through.
C1.225 The last step is looking at the color of the window on the firing arc [diagram]. If its black, that arc can't fire into that direction. If its white or gray, that [arc] is cleared to fire. Gray windows mean that you're protected by the sidewalls, [forward walls] and stern-walls. White windows mean that you're unprotected.
C1.23 TARGET PRACTICE. Shooting bearings is a learned skill. You'll be shooting bearings and tracking firing arcs [three] or more times each turn, so it's worth it to practice it until it's automatic. [Place] [marker]s at random altitudes and hexes, and shoot bearings on them, mapping them to firing arcs as your ship goes through different orientations. Anything you [illegible], you get to eat.
Illustration: the Port Broadside weapon mount of the Sample-class with its firing arc diagram (a globe with a grid overlay; a Port broadside example with a white circle showing the window through which the target is seen).
C2.0 Missile Launch
[Missil]es are the predominant arm of Honorverse space combats; impeller [drive] missiles [have long b]inning ranges, measured in light seconds, and out accelerate targets by a considerable margin.
The SITS missile launch system incorporates several factors under the hood, and as a result, can seem a bit counterintuitive; after you've followed the steps a few times, the procedures will click and understanding will emerge.
C2.1 Filling Out the Salvo Card
C2.11 MISSILE LAUNCH IN THE TURN SEQUENCE. Missile launch comes after plotting movement orders, and after all EoT markers have been displaced by thrust, but before movement on the map occurs. This means that when launching missiles, you do not know how much the target has rolled before you wrote the launch orders, or how much they've pivoted by, though if their EoT marker has displaced, you will know if they haven't pivoted, due to B3.27. While it's not quite the same order of operations as being able to declare a roll in response to seeing missiles salvoed, it gets very nearly the same outcome with less dithering and re-drawing of pivots and rolls, thus faster game play.
Designer's Note: Leading the Target. By measuring the distance between the EoT markers of the firing ship and the target, the salvo card system automatically corrects for the vectors of both the firing ship and the target, and any accelerations and displacements that they may make during the turn. This corrects for a lot of "headache moments" painlessly, like high rates of closure or separation.
Its a little bit counter-intuitive, but does work. Do it a few times, and it will make sense.
Range Bands (from the SSD). Available salvoes by range: Range 0-1, 2-4, 5-7, 8-11, 12-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-29 (Early / Middle / Late bands as printed on the SSD); Base MQL 4, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 respectively (as in the Sample-class table in A2.66).
C2.12 NUMBER OF SALVOES. The first step in launching missiles takes two parts. First, get the distance between your End of Turn (EoT) Marker and the target's EoT marker.
C2.121 Compare the range between the firing ship and the target's EoT markers to the range bands on the SSD, and read up from the ranges to find out which salvoes you get.
C2.122 It is possible to fire up to three salvoes per turn, one impacting at the end of movement (a Late salvo), one impacting at the Midpoint of movement (a Middle salvo) and one impacting immediately, before movement (an Early salvo). As a quick glance at the Range Bands table will show, it is nearly always possible to get a Late salvo in, its fairly common to get a Middle and Late salvo in, and difficult to get all three salvoes in. Cross out the unused salvoes on the front of the Salvo Card.
C2.123 Regardless of the number of salvoes fired by a ship, all of the salvoes fired at the same target on the same turn are recorded on the same salvo card.
Designer's Note: Missile Salvo Rates. Close reading of the earlier books in the series will show that missile salvo rates used in SITS are flat out too slow - three salvoes in 6 minutes? That doesn't match the cyclical fire rate of the HMS Fearless in the first novel, where the launchers cycled in 11 seconds!
We tried to make the book salvo rates work. With the ability to throw 12-15 salvoes down range per turn, while only changing by three hexes per turn, ships would get into range, empty their magazines in one turn, roll, and mutually destroy each other on the second turn of firing. This was completely at odds with the feel of the books, even if it matched the numbers. With David's blessing, we scaled down the salvo rates to something that made for a fun game that felt right.
C2.13 NUMBER OF MISSILES PER SALVO. SITS assumes that there is rarely a reason to fire less than your full complement of missiles on a single salvo. In the box with a # sign in it, record the number of missile launchers you have at the start of the turn, for each salvo. For ease of play (and not having to change numbers on the salvo card), it's assumed that destroyed missile launchers still get to fire all salvoes they've launched this turn.
C2.131 If desired, [players may reduce] the number of missiles, and changes to the MQL, in incoming s[alvoes to] represent damage to the launching ship during the Early damage phase in [which Early salvoes impact, affecting the] Middle and Late salvoes) and Middle damage phase (impacting Late salvoes). This will require a lot of swapping cards back and forth for very little real gain in [play, and is only recom]mended only for single ship duels.
C2.14 BEARINGS FOR MISSILE LAUNCH. The timing of the salvoes being fired (Early, [Middle or Late] determines where the) bearings are shot from, and to what marker [they are shot]. [Having shot the] bearings indicated, record the range in the range [box, and the] inverse of the bearing in the Impact Window space [on the card].
C2.141 If you're not going to get a particular salvo [(for example, you get only a] Middle salvo and a Late salvo), cross out the salvo you won't be using.
C2.142 For Early salvoes, shoot the bearing from the firing ship's box miniature to the target ships box miniature. This is listed as Ship to Ship on the Salvo Card.
C2.143 For Middle salvoes, shoot the bearing from the firing ship's box miniature to the target ship's Midpoint marker. On the Salvo Card, the reminder is Ship to Midpoint.
C2.144 For Late salvoes, shoot the bearing from the firing ships Midpoint marker to the target's EoT marker. This does require that you check the firing ships mid-pivot orientation to ensure that the launchers still bear on the target's EoT marker. The reminder on the Salvo Card says Midpoint to EoT.
C2.15 RECORD MISSILE QUALITY LEVELS (MQL). For each salvo fired, cross reference the range you wrote down on the Salvo Card with the Range Band for your ship, and record the Missile Quality Level (MQL) in the [Base MQL space] on the Salvo Card. Low MQLs are better for the attacker.
C2.151 If the firing ship has taken damage to the fire control track on the [weapon] mount that [fired the salvo, add] whatever number [is printed in] the left-most [unchecked box] [...] to the MQL [on] the Salvo Card. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
C2.152 If the [salvo] contains contact nukes, circle [the] MQL on the [front] of the card. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
C2.16 RECORD MISSILE DAMAGE. [Flip the Salvo Card to the Missile Impact side (there is a little blue [mark in the] corner to remind you of this.)] Record the size of missile fired (the number before the M; this [would] be 16 for the Sample-class) in the Missile Damage box. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
C2.161 If the salvo is made up of contact nukes, circle the missile damage on the [front] Impact side of the card.
Example. On the inset map, below and to the left, the Dauntless (at the top) and Boskone salvo missiles at each other. Both use the Range Bands table on the prior page.
The Dauntless starts at -2 altitude, and gains 3 altitude over its move. The Boskone starts at 0 and will gain 1 altitude during its move.
The distance between their EoT markers is 4 in the map plane, and they'll be at the same altitude. This means they get Early, Middle and Late salvoes. Both have 20 tube broadsides.
The Early salvo has them shooting bearings from Ship to Ship. Horizontal distance is 18, vertical difference is 2, for a range of 18, and bearings of E/D (Dauntless' fire on Boskone) and A/B (Boskone's fire on Dauntless). The Impact Window is the reciprocal of the bearing, so the Dauntless' incoming fire is coming from E/D, and Boskone's from A/B. At range 18, the MQL is 6.
For the Middle salvo, the Dauntless shoots a bearing from its current position to the Boskone's Midpoint marker, and Boskone does the same. The bearings are Range 14 in E/D and Range 16 in A/B. MQLs are 5 versus Boskone and 6 versus Dauntless.
For the Late salvo, the two ships fire bearings from their Midpoints to the targets End Points. This results in bearings of Range 9 in E/D and Range 10 in A/B; the bearings are inverted for Impact Windows, and the MQLs (both 4) are cross referenced from the ranges given.
Both Salvo Cards are shown below. Dauntless' card (as read from the illustration): Early range 18 E/D MQL 6, Middle range 16 E/D MQL 6, Late range 10 E/D MQL 4. Boskone's card (target Boskone): 20 / 20 / 20 missiles, Early range 18 A/B MQL 6, Middle range 14 A/B MQL 5, Late range 9 A/B MQL 4.
C2.17 LINKED SALVOES. Multiple friendly ships [with fun]ctioning communications gear that are adjacent to one another can fire linked salvoes at the same target. The target treats this fire as one large salvo for the purposes of ECM and Active Defenses. The target chooses which missiles are killed by Active Defenses (C3.2, as printed). Unlinked salvoes run through the targets defenses separately.
C2.171 The range and bearing for linked salvoes is determined from one ship. To link their fire, all other ships must be adjacent to this ship. Use the MQL and fire control penalty of each launching unit for this range and bearing. If the missiles, fire control penalty and MQL for all salvoes are identical, they can be consolidated on to one Salvo Card.
C2.172 Adjacency, for the purposes of linking salvoes, refers to the positions of the ships at the point where the salvoes are launched. Ships that are adjacent at the start of the turn, but not at the Midpoint of the turn, can link Early and Middle salvoes, but not Late salvoes. Ships that aren't adjacent at the start of the turn, but are adjacent at the Midpoint can only link their Late salvoes together. Ships that maintain adjacency through the start and midpoint can link all three salvoes.
C2.173 Show linked salvoes on the salvo card by putting a letter in the Linked box of each card - for example, three ships fire is linked as group A, put the letter A in the Linked box for all three Salvo Cards.
Designer's Note: Salvo Linking Trade-offs. There is a time and a place for everything, even linking salvoes. There is one very large benefit to the defender when faced with an incoming linked salvo - one decoy spent works against all the missiles, versus one decoy potentially being spent for every salvo launched. Of course, if the salvoes come in individually, there's less of an incentive to use the decoy in the first place.
Before launching a massive set of linked salvoes, look at what it actually gains you.
Example: Linked Salvoes. Three ships are firing linked salvoes, two at range 20, one at range 19. One of the ships at range 20 has a fire control penalty of 2. The MQL for all three ships is determined from range 19, while the ship with the damaged fire control adds 2 to the MQL of the missiles it fires.
C3.0 Beam Weapons
Missile engagements tend to result in one side or the other breaking off when they realize that they're disadvantaged. To score a kill, close action is called for, and close action calls for beams.
C3.1 Beam Weapon Procedure
C3.11 RANGE AND BEARING. After Middle and Late Missile Impacts are the First and Second Beam Impact steps. Shoot a range and bearing from the ship's current position to the target's current position; if the target is in arc, in range, and doesn't have their wedge showing, the beams hit automatically. There is no active defense against beams, nor do fire control hits penalize beams.
C3.111 Beam damage falls off with range; a 10/7/5L is a laser that does 10 damage at range 0 and 1, 7 damage at range 2, and 5 damage at range 3.
Example: Raking the Throat. A 10/7/5L is fired directly on the Forward marker of a ship with no bow-wall, from a range of 7. 7 halved is 3.5, which rounds in the attackers favor to 3, doing a 5 damage hit.
Beams can be brutally effective when raking across a ships forward aspect.
C3.12 TARGET ASPECT. The aspect that the target shows impacts how beam damage is resolved. One of the three cases below will be true.
C3.121 If the target's sidewall faces the shooter, determine the beams damage using the range shown by shooting the bearing. This is the normal case.
C3.122 If the target has their wedge showing, the beams cannot damage them.
C3.123 If the target has no sidewall or wedge showing, halve the range for determining beam damage. Round in favor of the attacker.
C3.124 Energy Torpedoes do NOT halve the range under any circumstances.
C4.0 Missile Defense
The novels give thrilling accounts of ships [whittl]ed down by ECM, decoys, countermissiles, point defense clusters, and finally, some small fraction detonating with lances of coherent X-rays, blunted by the might of the sidewalls.
The same excitement is to be found playing SITS, where winnowing through the incoming missiles go through two procedures: ECM and Active Defenses.
C4.1 Defensive Layers
C4.11 GENERAL PROCEDURE. For all of the missile defense procedures, the table lookups work like this:
C4.111 The initial column on a table is set by the MQL of the inbound missiles. Using the Salvo Card at top right (shown in the source illustration: Salvo Card for Star Knight, Early / Middle / Late missiles 20 / 20 / 20, ranges 18 / 14 / 9, Impact Window A/B in each, Base MQL 10 / 9 / 8), for the Late salvo, the initial MQL is "8". Write it in the box labeled Base MQL.
C4.112 Modifiers shift this column on the table; these are printed in arrows pointing in the direction of the shift.
C4.113 Cross reference the row with the column; the result is the number [ki]lled by that layer of the defense. There are blanks of circles for missile kills, and a [wor]k sheet for larger salvoes.
C4.114 Unless linked, each salvo [on the] card is a separate salvo, resolved against [defens]es individually.
C4.12 ECM MODIFIERS. After putting in the base MQL, add in the following modifiers in this order:
C4.121 Copy the ECM value of the target off its SSD into the ECM arrow.
C4.122 If the missile is hitting the wedge, use the +12 arrow and ignore ECM.
C4.123 Roll 2d10- and put the result in the arrow labeled "2d10-". You must have at least one box in the ECM track to make this roll, even if it's a "0" box.
C4.124 After seeing the result of the 2d10- roll, you may spend a decoy from the [mount] facing the salvo; the decoy shifts the column by the number in the box on the [SSD], and always kills a minimum of one additional missile. Missiles hitting from directly Forward, Aft or wedge can be distracted by decoys from either side. One decoy is good for one salvo, multiple decoys against the same salvo have no benefit. Each [decoy box] on the SSD is a one-use item.
C4.125 Cross reference the number of incoming missiles with the final column to [find] the number of missiles killed. If the number doesn't have a row, like 63, check the [row] for the first digit, then row for the second digit, adding the kills together.
C4.126 Linked salvoes use [the same] ECM modifiers (including wedge and decoys). If you get a column of 12 against one linked salvo, it's a column of 12 for all of [them].
Example: ECM Kills. A Star Knight is the target of 23 missiles with a base MQL of 8. It has an ECM value of 3, and doesn't have its wedge interposed. The 2d10- roll comes out to a 5. The total modifiers are 8+3+5=16. The player of the Star Knight knows that a decoy spent now will boost this to 20. Checking the column for 20 versus the column for 16, it looks like there are enough missiles coming in that burning the decoy is worth it.
Cross referencing 20 incoming with 20 ECM quality gives us 14 dead. Cross referencing 3 missiles (bringing the total to 23) with column 20 means two more have been killed, for a total of 16. There are 23-16=7 missiles left for the [Active Defenses] to deal with.
ECM Layer table (columns are Final ECM Quality, 1 to 25; rows are the Number of Incoming Missiles). The ECM Layer of the Missile Defense Card also has the boxes Base MQL, ECM, Wedge (+12), 2d10- and Decoy.
| Incoming missiles \ Final ECM Quality | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
C4.13 ACTIVE DEFENSES. Missiles that survive the ECM layer are engaged by the ships countermissiles (CM) and then by point defense (PD) clusters. These are a ships active defenses, and use the Active Defense Table, usually twice - first for CMs, then PD.
C4.131 The SSD has tracks, printed in gray to make them stand out, for the ships CM and PD systems. The numbers in each boxes are probable kills. Probable kills take the average probability of stopping a missile, times the number of systems available, to determine the likely number of missiles stopped with average rolls. This number determines which row on the Active Defense table is used.
C4.132 To determine the column used, copy the MQL of the incoming salvo into the box labeled Base MQL, and add a 2d10- roll to find the final column. Cross reference the column and the row, and that's the number of missiles killed by the system.
C4.133 Fire Control damage (or disabled fire control systems) can give a leftward column shift; there is an arrow pointing left labeled FCON for this.
Example: Active Defense Kills. The Star Knight in the previous example still has 7 missiles inbound. The Probable Kills for the Countermissile (CM) layer is 4, and for Point Defense (PD) is 4. A quick look at the tables and MQL 8 shows that its possible for one or two missiles to leak through.
The table is set up - the 2d10- roll for the CMs is a 3, getting column 11, killing 3 missiles.
On the Point Defense layer, the 2d10- roll comes up as an 8, for a column of 9. This kills 3 more missiles; there were only two left, so the entire salvo is trimmed down to one missile impacting.
It's worth noting that if the decoy had not been used in the ECM layer, the same die rolls would have three more missiles hitting.
Active Defense Layers / Active Defense Table (columns are Active Defense Quality, 1 to 19; rows are Probable Kills). The Active Defense Layers section of the card has the boxes Countermissiles (Base MQL, 2d10-), Wedge ("No CM, 1/2 PD kills") and Point Defense (Base MQL, 2d10-), with an FCON arrow pointing left.
| Probable Kills \ Active Defense Quality | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
C4.14 CIRCUMSTANTIAL MODIFIERS FOR ACTIVE DEFENSES. There are circumstantial modifiers for active defenses:
C4.141 If the target has the wedge interposed, no CMs may be used, and all PD kill totals are halved; round in favor of the attacker. Surviving missiles slide past the wedge to the nearer facing (Port, Starboard, Forward or Aft), going to the defender's choice in ambiguous cases.
C4.142 If the salvo is made up of contact nukes, all PD kills are doubled.
C4.143 Friendly ships at range one at Missile Impact can pool CM and PD missile kills. Ships at two hexes can pool CM kills, if the target of the salvo sees the escort next to the Impact Window; The escort uses CM and PD that bear on the Impact Window. The defender chooses what missiles die.
C4.1431 Formation rules offer more mutual defense options, and are slated for another product.
C4.144 A ship targeted by linked salvoes generates Active Defense kills once per linked set of salvoes; the defender picks the missiles killed.
Example: Lending Active Defense Kills at Range. If the Fearless sees missiles coming in from direction A/B, and the Troubadour is at range two, visible through any of the windows adjacent to A/B (A/B, A, B, and the three windows in the blue ring both above and below them), the Troubadour can give CM kills from mounts that bear on A/B to the Fearless.
If the Troubadour were at range one, its bearing would be immaterial; it could lend its PD and CM kills to the Fearless.
C4.15 CANISTER SHOT. Canister shot replaces an offensive missile with countermissiles. Each canister adds 1/3 probable kills to the countermissiles of the ship; combine fractions to make whole numbers. 1Ms to 4Ms are replaced by one canister each, 5Ms to 8Ms are replaced by two canisters each, 9Ms to 12Ms are replaced by 3 canisters each, and 13Ms to 16Ms are replaced by 4 canisters each. 17Ms and larger are replaced by 5 canisters.
C4.151 Holding a tube back is done during the Missile Launch step; each tube held back from a salvo (Early, Middle or Late) can be used defensively against the same salvo. Holding a tube back does not obligate you to fire the canister round.
C4.152 Each canister has a cost that must be paid at the start of the scenario. How many rounds of canister each broadside can fire is also recorded at the start of the scenario. Pricing for canister shot is covered in [D4.0, as read from the scan].
C4.153 The maximum number of missile tubes that can be devoted to canister fire in a single impact step is equal to the boxes in the facing Fcon track.
C4.154 Each missile tube that fires canister shot disables one fire control box for active defenses during [that] impact step.
C5.0 Damage Allocation
Once the missiles have hit the ship, it's time to [see how] badly. Damage Allocation starts with determining [the sidewall modifier and calcu]lating [the damage depth for the missiles], then rolling for the Depth of the hit for all of the [missiles] as that hit, then rolling on the hit location table to place the center of the damage [for] Depth values of 1 or greater.
The Hit Location Table tells you what systems have been hit, and you mark off damage to the appropriate damage tracks. Lastly, Damage Allocation covers the effects of damage to specific systems.
Tactical Note: Rolling Wedge. Rolling wedge is described in one of two ways. The first has the ship be nigh invulnerable, the second has missiles leaking past the edge of the wedge and doing some harm to the ship.
The first is rolling wedge at long range, the second is rolling wedge at short range. Rolling wedge at close range is the only beam defense.
Illustration: Wedge and Sidewall Coverage. These are top down and starboard side views of the arcs covered by the wedge (black windows), sidewall (gray windows) and bow/stern walls (white windows). The same gray and white shading is used in the firing arc diagrams to remind you which weapon mounts are covered by side walls completely, and which have partial cover.
C5.1 Incoming Damage Bearing
C5.11 SHOT PLACEMENT. When missiles impact, use the Impact Window and your ships current orientation to determine the nearest Facing Marker to where the damage is coming in from. You've already done most of this, in figuring out what weapons can bear on the incoming salvo.
C5.111 If beam damage is hits one of the AVID windows obscured by the wedge, the wedge protects completely. If missiles are hitting one of the AVID windows covered by the wedge, and survive the ECM and Active Defense layers, the missile hits the closest facing (Port, Starboard, Forward or Aft), with the defender choosing in ambiguous cases.
C5.1111 If the wedge is down (turned off, not "down" as a direction), an attack [through] the wedge is resolved on the nearest facing of the defenders choice, and all Penetration values are doubled. [Exception: Energy Torpedo damage is not doubled]
C5.1112 For a unit with a "bubble wall", like a base, attacks from Top and Bottom are resolved on the closest facing, with the defender choosing in ambiguous cases.
C5.112 If the damage is coming in from the AVID window containing the Forward triangle, or either of the two adjacent windows to Top or Bottom of it, or the AVID window directly to the Aft of the ship, the damage uses the Forward or Aft [edge of] the Hit Location table. Shots on these four windows are covered by the Bow [Wall or Stern Wall], if one is present. None of the ships in Ship Book 1 have Bow or Stern [walls].
C5.113 (number illegible in the scan) If damage is hitting one window adjacent of the Forward marker, or one [window adjacent] to Port or Starboard of the Aft Marker, it's resolved on the Port or Starboard [edge of the] Hit Location table, but hit locations rolls either subtract 10 from the die [roll (shifting] results Forward) or add 10 to the die roll (shifting results Aft.) Die rolls [of less than 2 or more] than 20 or less than 2 are re-rolled on the Aft or Forward side of the Hit Location [Table]. This shows missiles "leaking around the sidewall".
C5.12 AMBIGUOUS SHOT PLACEMENT. [Consid]er any ambiguity as to which window damage is resolved through, use [the rules] for shooting a bearing [from C1.0] to resolve it. If that does not resolve it, and [the situation] does not give the choice of ambiguous placement to the defender, the [placement is] chosen by the attacker.
C5.2 Damage Depth and Hit Location
C5.21 DAMAGE AMOUNTS. Each weapon has a base damage amount, printed on the SSD. For example, a 7M is a missile that does 7 damage. This damage amount is converted into a Depth, factoring in the side (Scale) of the target, by the following formula (printed with boxes to fill out on the Missile Impact side of the Salvo Card):
Damage - Target Scale + Sidewall = Depth Mod
C5.211 This Depth Modifier is added to a 2d10- roll, called a Penetration roll. The result is how deep into the hit location table the damage will strike.
C5.212 If the modified Penetration roll is less than 1, the sidewall has deflected the damage from that missile.
C5.213 On a natural Penetration roll of 0, the weapon does its listed damage in addition to automatically destroying a box on the facing sidewall, or, if no facing sidewall is available, the target automatically takes a Structural Integrity (SI) hit. Sidewall damage done this way is resolved at the end of the damage step; it does not weaken the sidewall for other missiles in the same salvo. Sidewall damage DOES matter for subsequent salvoes, even ones impacting on the same turn.
C5.214 (number illegible) A ship without a sidewall puts the number at the end of the sidewall track in the Sidewall box on the Missile Impact card.
Example: Damage Allocation. A Star Knight is hit by two missiles on the Port side in the middle salvo from the card above (Missile Impact side: Early / Middle / Late; Missile Damage 8 / 8 in Middle and Late; Target Scale 5 / 5; Sidewall -4 / -3; Depth Mod -1 / 0). The missiles are 8 damage each, the Star Knight is scale 5, and an initial sidewall of -4. The total depth modifier is -1.
The first Penetration roll is a 1. 1-1 is 0, so that missile is deflected by the sidewall.
The second penetration roll is a 4. 4-1 is 3, so that missile will go three deep into the table. The Hit Location roll is 10, and the Star Knight takes one hit to each of M (Missile), PD (Point Defense) and mag (magazine), marking off the left most box in each track, and rolling 2d10-, getting 3, marking off 3 salvo dots on the port weapon mount.
On the Late salvo, 3 missiles hit; because the Port sidewall is down a box, the sidewall box is -3, for a net modifier of zero.
The three Penetration rolls are 0 (sidewall box), 2 and 3. The two point hit rolls a 7, getting fcon (on the port side) then ECM. The one point hit rolls a 19, getting a forward fcon hit.
C5.22 BATCH PROCESSING OF DAMAGE. The SITS damage allocation system is designed for batch processing. Gather up pairs of the same colored d10s, and roll all the missile penetrations at once, culling out the natural zeroes first, then culling out any weapons that failed to penetrate, then sorting the weapons that did penetrate by their final modified Depth, from largest to smallest.
C5.23 HIT LOCATION ROLLS. Once you have the sorted list of penetrating hits, roll 2d10+ on the appropriate edge of the hit location table to place the shot, modifying for shot placement (C5.11). For instance, damage coming in from the starboard side of the ship uses the top edge of the table, and damage will be read from top to bottom. Damage coming in from the Port side would use the bottom edge of the table, and would be read from bottom to top.
Hit Location Table (shown for the Sample-class: Scale 15, Core Armor 3). The top edge (Starboard) and bottom edge (Port) of the printed table carry the numbers 2 to 20, running from Forward (-10) to Aft (+10) along the broadside; the left edge (Forward, +1) and right edge (Aft, +1) carry the rolls 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8, 9-10, 11, 12-13, 14, 15-16, 17-18, 19-20. The cells in the middle of the table (rows 9-10, 11 and 12-13 of columns 6 to 16, plus 2fwd and SI at row 11 columns 4 and 5, and SI and 2aft at row 11 columns 17 and 18) are shaded as the Core. The Starboard Sidewall track and Port Sidewall track each read: -4, -4, -3, -3, -2, -2, -1, -1, -1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3 and +3. A note on the table reads "CIC = 1 hit to all fcon tracks." Blank cells lie outside the silhouette of the ship.
Hit codes: fcon = fire control; hull = hull; dcy = decoy; sdwl = sidewall; mag = magazine; fwd = forward impeller; aft = aft impeller; ECM; L = laser; CM = countermissile; M = missile launcher; PD = point defense; G = graser; ET = energy torpedo; piv = pivot; rol = roll; SI = structural integrity; brg = bridge; flg = flag bridge; com = communications; lif = life support; hyp = hyper generator; CIC = combat information center; 2fwd/2aft = two forward/aft impeller hits.
| Forward/Aft edge roll (rows) \ Starboard/Port edge roll (columns) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-3 | fcon | G | M | M | ET |
C5.24 CORE ARMOR BELT. The shaded cells of the Hit Location Table are the Core of the ship [where it houses] command and control and other vital systems in it. The [thick border] around the Core of the ship is the Core Armor Belt. Crossing it [reduces the depth by an amount] equal to the Core Armor value printed on the S[SD]. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
C5.25 PUNCHING THROUGH THE SHIP. Damage in excess of what's needed to complete [passage through the Hit Location] Table (including crossing the Core Armor twice [- once] on entering the Core, once on leaving the Core) is lost - the damage has punched [clear through the ship]. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
C5.251 If damage would leave the silhouette of the Hit Location Table, the remaining damage is lost. See the example sidebar on this page for [more on] this.
C5.3 Weapon Effects
C5.31 ORDER OF RESOLUTION. Missile warheads are resolved with laser heads before contact nukes, and all missiles are resolved before beam weapons.
C5.311 Resolve beam weapons in the order: Grav Lance, Energy Torpedo, Lasers and Graser. Weapons destroyed before their resolution step cannot fire.
C5.312 All damage from weapons of the same type is simultaneous.
C5.32 WEAPON DEPTH MULTIPLIERS. Contact nukes halve the depth results, after all other modifiers, rounding any results down. Energy torpedoes double the generated depth. Attacks other than energy torpedoes hitting Top and Bottom on ships with down wedges do double the depth.
C5.33 WEAPON SPAN. A weapon's span is how many adjacent columns or rows on the Hit Location Table the weapon's full damage goes down. A Depth 7, Span 3 weapon does 7 damage down each of three adjacent columns or rows on the Hit Location Table, centered on the position rolled on the table (hitting 11 would also hit 10 and 12). If part of a span goes [off] the chart, that part of the damage is lost via C5.251.
C5.331 Laser heads and shipboard lasers have a weapon span of 1.
C5.332 Graser have a weapon span of 3.
C5.333 Energy torpedoes and contact nukes have a weapon span of 5.
C5.34 SPECIAL WEAPON RULES. There are two weapons with special weapon rules in SITS: The Grav Lance and the Energy Torpedo.
C5.341 The Grav Lance uses shaped gravity waves from the firing impellers [to tear] down the sidewall of the target. At a range of 0, roll 1d10 per box on the attackers Maximum Thrust track, including the ones shaped like circles. Every roll [of] 3 or higher destroys one sidewall box on the target. Grav Lances can never have a greater adjusted range than 0, even through the use of miracles (D2.2).
C5.342 The Energy Torpedo is a rapid fire launcher of concentrated plasma projectiles. It cannot affect a target with intact sidewalls, and its range and damage [assume] the targets sidewalls are down; do not modify them for C3.123 (as printed: C1.123).
C5.3421 Energy Torpedoes will get 3d10low hits per launcher that fires. Each hit is a separate Span 5 hit that uses double the normal Depth.
Weapons (Order of Resolution), from the Missile Defense Card.
- Laser Head: 1x Depth, Span 1
- Contact Nuke: Double PD kills, 1/2x Depth (round down), Span 5
- Grav Lance: Range 0 only, roll d10 per box on attacker's thrust track. Each 3+ destroys one sidewall box.
- Energy Torpedo: 3d10low hits / launcher, 2x Depth, Span 5
- Laser: 1x Depth, Span 1
- Graser: 1x Depth, Span 3
Example: Graser Damage on the Stern. A Sample-class SD is hit by two 18/10/6Gs (all that's left on the broadside of its opponent) at range 3 from directly astern. Because there's no sidewall, the range is halved for beam damage, rounding in favor of the attacker. This becomes 1.5, which rounds to 1, so they do 18 each.
The Sample has a scale of 15, and with no sidewall, its relying on the armor on the hammerheads, which are a +1. So the total damage is 18-15+1=4.
Each graser hit adds 4 to the Penetration roll. This, as the saying goes, will sting.
The first Penetration roll is a natural 0; it does one Structural Integrity hit, and goes 4 deep by 3 wide. The hit location roll is a 9, which is the 9/10 row. On the 9/10 row, the hits are CM, hull, piv. On the 11 row, the hits are M, hull and two points bounce off the Core armor. On the 8 row, the hits are G, hull and hull.
The second graser hit rolls a 3, for 7 depth, by 3 wide. The hit location roll is a 15. On the 15 hit, the damage hits mag, mag, aft, aft, hull, ECM, and portside magazine. On the 17 row, the first hit is hull, but the rest is lost, because it goes off the silhouette. On the 14 row, the hits are G, hull, hull, hull, aft impeller, hull, mag.
C5.4 Damage Effects
Note: parts of the following pages are cut off or illegible in the source scan. Text in square brackets marks words that were lost; "[illegible]" marks passages that could not be recovered.
Designer's Note: Shapes on Tracks. The mnemonic for octagons is "Roll this number or higher, or stop playing the ship" - think of the octagons as stop signs!
When a track of boxes on a ship is down to circles, the ship needs to make Crew Quality checks to avoid penalties.
Example. HMS Fearless bucked in agony.
Her port sidewall caught a dozen lasers, bending most of them clear of her hull, but two struck deep through the radiation shielding inside her wedge. The composite ceramic and alloys of her heavily armored battle steel hull resisted stubbornly, absorbing and deflecting energy that would have blown a Grayson-built ship's titanium hull apart, but nothing could stop them entirely, and damage alarms screamed.
C5.41 DAMAGE TO SYSTEM TRACKS. Unless noted otherwise in rules below, each damage point destroys one box of a given system type, the boxes are marked from left to right (or top to bottom for vertical tracks), and the contents of the box tells you what the current benefit is.
C5.411 The primary exceptions to "one damage point damages one system" are magazine hits and hull hits. For both of these system types, roll 2d10- and take that many hits on the track. A "0" result on 2d10- means nothing is marked off.
C5.412 For magazine, decoy and weapon hits, the placement on the Hit Location Table determines which weapon mount takes the damage. Ask the question "For damage coming into this side of the table, which weapon mount could shoot back?"
C5.413 When you run out of a specific system, that items hit location is skipped on the hit location table. [Exception: Hull hits fall to Structural Integrity, C5.422.]
C5.42 HITS TO STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS. The structural systems on the SSD are: Structural Integrity (SI), hull and life support.
C5.421 Structural integrity [SI] is how ships die.
C5.4211 There are no penalties for losing a square SI hit.
C5.4212 Taking a circular SI hit with a C is a Core cascade. Roll a Hit Location on the broadside, and take any non-SI, non-duplicated Core hits in that column. Hit locations of 2, 3, 19 and 20 don't have Core hits, and the cascade has no effect.
C5.4213 Octagons on the SI track represent a chance for the ship to explode. After marking an octagon, roll its number or higher on a d10, or the ship explodes.
C5.4214 Damage to the star at the end of the track destroys the ship.
C5.422 Hull [hull] hits represent the bulk storage areas and berthing spaces of the ship; each time hull is hit, roll 2d10- and mark off that many boxes. Each hull box with a wrench icon in it represents a Damage Control party. If a ship runs out of hull boxes, all remaining hull hits cascade to SI (including left over hull hits from a 2d10- roll). Cascade hits only do a single box of damage to the SI track.
C5.423 Life Support [lif] hits what keep the ship habitable. Until at least one life support box is permanently repaired, a crew quality check must be made every 6 hours (19 operational turns), or the ship will be lost with all hands.
Illustrations (damage tracks): [SI] Structural Integrity (a track of boxes with two "C" circles for Core cascades and octagons numbered 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, ending in a star); [hull] Hull (a track of boxes, some marked with wrench icons); [lif] Life Support (four boxes).
C5.43 HITS TO WEAPON MOUNTS. [Weapon mount]s have three broad categories of things that get hit within them: Fire control systems, weapons themselves and magazines.
C5.431 Each weapon type has its own designator, M for missiles, [L for] lasers, [ET for] energy torpedoes, G for grasers, CM for countermissiles and PD for point defense clusters.
C5.432 Fire control [icon] hits penalize all weapons fired from that weapon mount; the number in the left most unchecked box is added to the MQL for outgoing fire, and is a leftward column shift for active defenses.
C5.4321 [A CIC] hit does a fire control hit to all mounts. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
C5.4322 The number of towed missile pods (C8.0) a ship can fire is equal to the number of boxes in the fire control track.
C5.433 [A magazine (mag)] hit reduces the number of shots available for missile launchers in that mount by 2d10- salvo dots.
C5.434 [A decoy (dcy)] hit destroys one broadside decoy box on the ship. If its from fore or aft, the defender chooses which side loses a decoy.
Illustration: Port Broadside weapon mount of the Sample-class: [fcon] Fire Control 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3; [mag] Magazine (16M); weapons 17/11/7/5L, 18/10/6G, 7ET, CM and PD, each with a row of numbered check boxes.
C5.44 HITS TO COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEMS. Command and control hits are: Bridge, Flag Bridge [, Communications and CIC].
C5.441 Bridge hits represent the ability t[o ...]. When only the circular bridge hits remain, [the ship needs a Crew Quality check] to plot facing change on the AVID, apply thrust [or fire] missiles at a specific target. Failing the Crew Quality [check means these actions cannot] happen. Defensive systems (such as ECM, de[coys, ...] have enough autonomous control that they will work without [the bridge]. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
C5.4411 Numbers in the circles are penalties [to ...]. (Remainder illegible in the source scan; the Sample-class Bridge track reads: four boxes, then circles 0 and -1, then -2.)
C5.4412 Whenever you take a Bridge hit, roll 2d10-; on a 6 or higher, one of your officer ratings has decreased by one. Roll a d10 to see which officer gets hit; on a 1-2, it's the Tactical officer, on 3-4 it's the EW officer, on 5-6 it's the Assistant Tactical Officer (ATO), on 7-8 it's Helm, and on a 9 or 10, it's Engineering. No kind of damage allocation hit can reduce the quality of your [crew].
C5.442 Flag Bridge is a capability that will be explained with formation rules. (The Sample-class Flag Bridge track reads +7, +6, +5, +4, +3, +2, +1.)
C5.443 A CIC hit does one fcon hit to all four weapon mounts.
C5.444 At least one communications box is required on each ship in order to link salvoes, share active defense kills, or be part of a formation.
C5.45 HITS TO DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS. Hits to sidewalls and the ECM track reduce their capabilities to the left-most unchecked box in the track. Decoy systems are covered under weapon mount hits.
C5.46 HITS TO PROPULSION & MANEUVER SYSTEMS. Propulsion systems are the impeller tracks, the Warshawski sails, the hyper generator, and the Maximum Thrust track. Maneuver systems are the pivot and roll tracks.
C5.461 Hits to aft or fwd hit the impeller tracks of the ship. For each box you mark off of an impeller track, you also mark off one box of the Maximum Thrust track.
C5.462 The last box on each impeller track is a circled W. These are the Warshawski sails. If a ship takes a 2fwd or 2aft hit, they take two hits to the impeller track, one of which is to the Warshawski sail if it's still there. (If it's not there, it's still two hits to the impeller track.)
C5.463 The hyper generator's hit location is in the Core of the ship; the boxes are [in the] Internals area. Without hyper generators, a ship cannot translate into a different [band] of hyperspace; they do not automatically drop into normal Einsteinian space when the hyper generator is destroyed.
C5.464 The pivot and roll tracks take damage normally; your ships current pivot and roll rating are equal to the left-most unchecked box on the track.
C5.4641 The numbers under the pivot track are the delay between consecutive orders for movement (evolutions) within a formation. Formation movement rules are slated for a future product.
C5.465 If the Maximum Thrust track is reduced to just the circles in the track, a Crew Quality check is required each turn that thrust is used; if the Crew Quality check fails, the ship takes an SI hit. This same check (with the same consequences of failure) is also required to use thrust on each plotting phase if all the boxes in one [impeller] track are destroyed.
Illustrations (tracks of the Sample-class): [brg] Bridge: four boxes, circled 0 and -1, then -2. [flg] Flag Bridge: +7 +6 +5 +4 +3 +2 +1. [com] Communications: four boxes. ECM: 5 4 4 3 3 2 1 1 0. [piv] Pivot: 3 3 2 2 2 1, with delays 4 4 6 6 6 12 under it. [rol] Roll: 4 3 3 2 2 1. [fwd] Forward Impeller and [aft] Aft Impeller: ten boxes then a circled W. Maximum Thrust: 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 over 1 1 1 1 1 1 then circled 1 1 1 (the last three boxes are circles).
C6.0 Damage Control
Repairing damage is often as critical as delivering it to the enemy, and damage control is one of the places where crew quality differences show up.
C6.1 Damage Control
C6.11 DAMAGE CONTROL PARTIES. In the hull track on the SSD are wrench icons. Each wrench icon is a single damage control party.
C6.12 REPAIR PROCEDURE. At the end of each turn, during the record keeping step, you may assign damage control parties to repair destroyed boxes. Damage control parties can be assigned to repair boxes that were damaged earlier in the turn; there is no need to track a delay between when the box was destroyed and when it can be repaired.
C6.121 For each Damage Control Party assigned, roll a Crew Quality check; if the check succeeds, the box has been repaired. If it fails, that box cannot be repaired with combat damage control on a later turn.
C6.122 To improve the odds of success, you may send up to two damage control parties to repair one box on the same turn. This allows two repair attempts to be made on the same turn; if either of the repairs succeed, the system is up and running. This is the only way to roll twice to repair the same box. Failure means the box cannot be repaired during the rest of the fight.
C6.123 Unless specified elsewhere, one repair restores one box on a damage track.
C6.13 DURATION OF THE REPAIR. Systems repaired by combat damage control are jury rigged repairs, and will fail ten tactical turns after they've been fixed.
C6.14 UNUSUAL SYSTEMS. Repairing a magazine hit restores 3d10low missiles to the magazine; this can also be used to reload magazines. Magazines cannot be repaired on a turn that the missiles in that weapon mount have fired.
C6.141 Magazines are an exception to the "can only be repaired once" rule for combat damage control.
C6.15 EXCLUSIONS. The following systems cannot be repaired by combat damage control: Hull, Structural Integrity, Warshawski Sails, hyper generators.
C6.16 PERMANENT REPAIRS. Permanent damage control repairs take one operational turn to complete, and you may make one per damage control party; the Crew Quality check works normally and using two damage control parties on the same roll is still allowed. These repairs can be used on an[y box other than] the SI track. Repairing hull can return destroyed damage control parties [to service]. Unlike a tactical repair, you may try again on a failed permanent repair; [failing] a second time means it needs a shipyard. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
Example: Tactical Damage Control. A ship with 7 damage control parties and a crew grade of Average (succeeds on a 5 or less) is trying to repair damage.
The player allocates two damage control parties to the Forward Impeller track, and two damage control parties to the damaged ECM system. Three countermissile tubes get the remaining damage control parties.
The forward impeller track gets rolls of 7 and 9 - it's still damaged, and worse yet, cannot get another repair attempt.
The ECM system gets rolls of 2 and 4, and is repaired for the next ten tactical turns.
The three countermissile tubes get rolls of 3, 5 and 10, getting two of them back. The ship may not be able to run, but it can still defend itself.
Example: Permanent Damage Control. After disengaging, the ship in the prior example has four damage control parties remaining. The ship devotes two damage control parties to repair the forward impeller track again, getting a 3 and 4, repairing it (permanently), and allocates two more damage control parties to repairing hull boxes, trying to get more damage control parties back on line.
The first hull repair gets a 5, the second gets a 6. An operational turn later, a second attempt is made on the hull repair that got a 6, and three more hull repairs are attempted, getting rolls of 2, 7, 3 and 4. This restores three more hull boxes, and frees up another damage control party.
C7.0 Light Attack Craft
Light Attack Craft (LACs) provide the bulk of the cus[tomary syst]em defense capabilities of most star nations. Prior to the development of improved Grayson compensators, and improved yield fission reactors, the consensus on LACs was that they were on their way out of the operational picture. In later novels in the series, LACs have roles analogous to aircraft deployed from aircraft carriers.
LAC combat is subtly different from starship combat in maneuver, and very different in firing operations and damage allocation.
Designer's Notes: Where Are the Shrikes and Ferrets? The Manticoran Super-LACs are slated for a future product, though they will use rules similar to what's in here - for the most part, they get higher thrust ratings, better sidewalls and MUCH more impressive weaponry, plus increases in stealth systems for operational movement.
C7.1 LAC Maneuver
C7.11 SQUADRON OPERATIONS. LACs are operated in squadrons of up to 10 LACs, and maneuvered as one unit on the map - each squadron is one box miniature and is treated as one unit on the map. Multiple LAC squadrons can inhabit the same hex.
C7.111 When purchasing LAC squadrons, mark off the boxes of the unused LACs.
C7.12 LAC MOVEMENT PLOTTING. [Be]cause of their agility, LACs may plot their pivots and thrust after seeing the results of all conventional ships thrusts. In most cases, this won't make much of a difference, [so] LAC movement plotting can be combined with regular movement plotting to [save] time, when reactive plotting isn't needed.
C7.12 [sic] LAC FACING AND THRUST. [At] 10,000 to 30,000 tons, LACs are smaller (and have greater compensator capabilities relative to their mass, and shorter moment arms) than conventional warships. This gives them vastly greater maneuverability, which they need to survive. LACs can [change] facing to any AVID window before applying thrust, and may change its facing to any AVID window from its midpoint orientation to its EoT orientation.
C7.121 A LAC thrusts in the direction of its "midpoint" orientation. In order [for a LAC] to displace, its midpoint and EoT orientations must be identical.
C7.122 On the AVID, draw the first pivot and end it with a double line; if a second pivot is done end it with an arrowhead. A LAC that does not change facing after [its first pivot] may displace if the maneuvering player wishes.
C7.123 LACs do not suffer loss in thrust capability as a result of damage. In effect, any loss in impeller capabilities that would cause them to break off from their [mission] is assumed to have destroyed them instead.
C7.13 SQUADRON BENEFITS. LAC squadrons operate as integrated squadrons, gaining the following benefits:
C7.131 LACs in the same squadron and hex add all of their box launcher fire together into one salvo. This can, with a 10 LAC squadron, result in a very large salvo. [Each] squadron salvo can be linked (C2.17) with salvoes launched by other units.
C7.132 LACs in the same squadron and hex share the squadron ECM [value, and] all [probable] kills generated by the squadron are pooled and used to eliminate missiles [aimed] at the squadron as a whole.
C7.2 LAC Weaponry
C7.21 BOX LAUNCHERS. LACs missile launchers have no magazines; rather, each LAC launcher has a certain number of missiles that are launched as one salvo. LAC fire control systems allow them to fire one box launcher per broadside per firing opportunity; thus, a LAC with 3 box launchers could salvo one of them Early, one for Middle, and one as a Late salvo, but could not launch all three of them in Early salvoes.
C7.211 The number of missiles launched by each box launcher is shown in the launcher itself.
C7.212 When a box launcher is fired, it is marked off as destroyed.
Illustration: A Starboard weapon mount for a LAC squadron: columns A to K (one per LAC); a row of 3MB box launchers (6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6, twice), a 4L row, and a PD row of 2/3 over 1/3 per LAC.
C7.22 ACTIVE DEFENSE SYSTEMS. Each LACs point defense and CM systems are arrayed in a column of hits.
C7.23 BEAM WEAPONS. LAC beam weapons work identically to ships. LAC maneuverability means they're likelier to get a down-the-throat shot.
C7.3 Damage Procedure
C7.31 DETERMINING WHICH LAC GOT HIT. When missiles penetrate the defenses of a LAC squadron, roll a d10 per missile to see which LAC got hit. This is done before resolving the damage on any single LAC, and may result in several missiles overkilling a specific LAC.
C7.32 DAMAGING LACS. LAC damage is very much like damaging a ships structural integrity track. After determining the Depth modifiers of a weapon hitting a LAC (Damage, minus target scale, plus sidewall modifier), roll 2d10- and skip that many boxes on the track, and start marking damage from left to right. If damage hits the star at the end of the LAC, the LAC is destroyed.
C7.321 Blank boxes are "padding hits".
C7.322 Octagon hits are a chance for the LAC to be destroyed, just like SI. Further hits to a destroyed octagon skip to the next box in the string.
C7.323 Circular hits direct that damage point to a weapon of the appropriate type; weapons must be taken from the facing location first, then from the side of the defending player's choice. If no weapons of that type are left, the damage falls to the next box on the track.
C7.324 Weapons with Spans greater than 1 add 2 to the 2d10- "skip roll".
Illustration: LAC Damage Track (Scale 1), ten rows A to K, one per LAC; each row reads, from the left: blank padding boxes, circles M, L, 9 (octagon), P, 10 (octagon), and a star.
C7.33 CREW QUALITY AND DAMAGE CONTROL. LACs are assumed to have Average crew quality. So long as they still have one square box left on their damage control track, they have one damage control party left.
C8.0 Missile Pod Operations
Missile pods are one of the RMN's initial technology advantages as the Havenite war broke out. A missile pod is, in effect, a single shot box launcher (like the types carried on LACs) towed outside the targets wedge, and guided by the towing ships fire control systems.
C8.1 The Missile Pod Card
C8.11 INFORMATION. Ships can deploy missile pods. The cards are available for download off of the Ad Astra web site. Print them out and paperclip them to the SSD, or write the ship ID number of the controlling unit in the slot on the sheet with a #. Each card can have up to twelve missile pods; most ships will use far less than this due to other restrictions.
C8.111 Determine the number of pods deployed on the card. Each pod deployed costs a certain number of points, which varies by the quality of the Tactical Officer on the towing ship. Mark off unused towed pod boxes, and circle the appropriate point cost on the card. For example, using the pod card shown above, if four pods were towed by ship with an Average Tactical Officer, all but four of the boxes under towed pods would be marked off, and the number at the cross reference point between 4 pods and an Avg Tactical officer would be circled - 66 in this case, making the missile pods cost nearly half as much as a heavy cruiser.
C8.112 The Range Bands table works just like the Range Bands table for conventional missile launch.
C8.12 POINT COSTS AND VICTORY POINT CALCULATIONS. A pods point cost is added to the force budget for the force that deploys them. Each pod that's used is counted as destroyed, for the purposes of victory calculations (D2.2). This effect in victory points means that its unwise to launch pods at ships that cost less than the pod launchers do, which reflects events in the novels, where nobody launched pods at much of anything smaller than a battlecruiser.
Illustration: RMN Mk12 Missile Pod card (Introduction Date: 1905 PD). Towed Pods: 16MB, twelve boxes each marked 10. Range Bands (ranges, with Base MQL): 0-1 = 8, 2-4 = 6, 5-7 = 7, 8-11 = 8, 12-15 = 9, 16-20 = 10, 21-26 = 11, 27-31 = 12. Available salvoes as printed in the shaded zones: Early, Middle and Late in the first zone (ranges 0-7); Middle and Late in the second zone (8-20); Late only in the third zone (21-31). Points by number of pods and Tactical Officer quality:
Pods Poor Avg Vet Elite 1 10 14 19 24 2 20 31 31 31 3 32 48 48 48 4 44 66
C8.2 Restrictions and Drawbacks
C8.21 TOWING LIMIT. A ship can tow a maximum of Scale-10 missile pods without any reduction in maximum thrust; negative numbers (say a Scale 8 battlecruiser towing pods) are treated as 0 for this calculation. Each pod over this limit disables two boxes on the ships Maximum Thrust track; the boxes become functional once the pods have been fired. You may not tow pods that would bring your maximum thrust down into the circles on the track, though you may "red-line the compensators" (B3.231) to conceal a decrease in thrust rate.
C8.211 LACs cannot tow pods, or provide fire control guidance for them.
C8.22 SOFT KILLS. Any missile which rolls for Penetration on the target destroys a number of unfired towed pods equal to the basic Penetration roll.
C8.221 Soft kills on the Early missile impact phase will destroy pods slated to impact in the Middle and Late phases of that turn.
C8.222 Soft kills in the Middle missile impact phase will destroy pods slated to impact in the Late phase of the turn.
C8.223 Soft kills in the Late phase will destroy any unfired pods still towed by the ship, or pods that have been deployed, but are not yet stabilized to fire.
C8.23 DEPLOYING MORE PODS. Additional pods are deployed during the Other Actions step of the Sequence of Play, and are available for fire two Tactical turns after they've been deployed. A ship may deploy up to one pod per turn. After the pods have been deployed, but before they're ready to fire, the launching ship may not plot any pivots, rolls or thrusts without losing the pods, and the pods are still vulnerable to soft kills.
C8.231 Podlaying ships can deploy multiple pods per tactical turn, and the pods are available after a single turn delay rather than a two turn delay. Their pod deployment limits will be printed on their SSDs.
Example. A Reliant-class battlecruiser with five fire control boxes is towing five pods. It is effectively firing them at +3 MQL, which applies to any missiles it fires from its tubes facing that direction as well, and all its Active Defenses have a 3 column leftward shift to boot. While its initial salvo could be as high as 22 broadside missiles plus 40 capital missiles from pods, its paying a pretty severe penalty in accuracy for this ability.
Designer's Notes: Pods and Fun Game Play. Pods are one of those things that all fans of the Honorverse want to see in action, at least once. However, if you're not on the side with pods, its not going to be a lot of fun. Until the pods run out, your defensive forces are going to have to huddle together for mutual defense. Fortunately, prior to podlaying warships, the number of pods that can be deployed in a tactical scenario are pretty limited.
C8.3 Launching Missiles from Pods
C8.31 FIRE CONTROL LIMITS. Each pod deployed disables one fire control box on the bearing facing the enemy; these boxes come back on line at the end of the turn, after the pods have launched. Any fire control penalties accrued from disabled fire control boxes apply to all missile and point defense fire until the end of the turn the missiles were launched on.
C8.311 [Missile] pods use the Range Bands table on the Pod card, not the Range Band table on the SSD.
C8.32 DAMAGE FROM POD MISSILES. Missile pods have the [damage shown] on the card; typically these are capital missiles.
D1.0 Officers, Crews and Miracles
A starship is more than the sum of [its capa]bilities. It represents the workings of several hun[dred people] in a tight knit bond of camaraderie and team[work, and the] experience of its officers has a direct impact on its [combat capabilities].
Beyond the training of the officers and crew, some few officers are legendary; they do things that violate or redefine doctrine, or which quality - as being nothing short of miraculous. The novels are full of such events, mostly centered around Honor Harrington herself.
D1.1 Officer & Crew Grades
D1.11 OFFICER GRADES AND SHIP COSTS. SITS uses four grades of officer and crew quality, with the acronym "PAVE" - Poor, Average, Veteran and Elite. There are five types of officers, plus overall crew quality tracked, allowing a fair amount of player customization to work from. Officers are rated relative to their own service, not to an objective outside standard; thus, while Manticoran officer training is significantly better than Havenite officer training, this is reflected in other factors on the ship. You don't automatically start all Manticoran officers at Veteran and all Havenite officers at Poor, for instance.
D1.111 In the table at the upper right corner of the SSD is the Officers & Crew table. The first part of the table gives the benefit of that particular officer type, or, for the crew, the Crew Quality Target Number, which is the number you have to roll less than or equal to for a crew quality check. To the right is the price change to the cost of the ship for each grade.
D1.112 The base cost of the ship is printed in the box at upper left on the Officers and Crew box. Poor quality officers and crew reduce the cost of the ship, Veteran and Elite quality officers and crew increase the cost of the ship. Add the values appropriate for the grade of officer(s) or crew quality chosen to the base cost of the ship, and write it in the box labeled Adjusted Cost.
D1.12 INITIAL DISTRIBUTION OF OFFICERS AND CREW GRADES. When setting up your initial fleet lists for a campaign sector, roll 2d10- 6 times for each ship, showing the five types of officers described below, and crew grade.
D1.121 On a die roll of zero, the ship has a 50/50 chance of being below average in that category. If the dice rolled were odd, that officer or crew grade was Poor.
D1.122 On a die roll of 8, that category (officer or crew) is Veteran.
D1.123 On a die roll of 9, that category (officer or crew) has an Elite officer in it.
D1.124 A roll of 1-7 means the officer or crew grade is Average.
D1.125 Rolling for your officer grades does not mean that they're "free" for having been randomly assigned. You are still obligated to pay for them wherever you end up.
Example. A Star Knight class cruiser costs 124 points; the player rolls 2d10- six times, for each of the places where crew quality matters.
The first roll is a 1 - the Tac Officer is Average.
The second roll is an 8, the EW officer is Veteran and adds 2 points to the cost of the ship.
The third roll is a 0 - but both are even, so the Assistant Tactical Officer is Average.
The fourth roll, for the Helm, is a 2, for Average.
The fifth roll, for the Engineer, is a 7, for Average - very close to getting a Veteran engineer.
The sixth roll, for crew quality, is a 5, dead average.
The final cost of the Star Knight is 124+2=126 points. It will have +1 ECM for as long as the ECM track has anything.
The owning player circles the Veteran bonus on the EW officer line, and writes 126 in the final point costs box.
D1.13 OFFICER QUALITY AND CREW GRADES OVER TIME. Once per T-year, there is a chance that the crew grade or officer assignments will change. Officers get promoted, as do NCOs, and sometimes the key elements that make a department Veteran or Elite get split up by the needs of the service. Similarly the new draft of crewmen might be enough to boost the grade in some subtle way.
D1.131 Roll 2d10- six times per ship on its anniversary date (or, if that's more record keeping than you want, at the start of each calendar year), for the six categories above. On a roll of 0, and the individual dice rolled are 0s or 1s, the officer or crew grade has gone down by one. On a roll of 9, that category has improved by one grade.
D1.132 A miracle grade commander forces a fresh set grade rolls two months after taking command, for grades of Average or worse. For each level of miracle effect, add 1 to all crew grade rolls.
D1.134 Officer and crew grades are tied to specific ships, not to specific officers. You cannot take an Elite TO from a destroyer and put them on a superdreadnought at your whim; otherwise, all of the Elite officers would magically transfer to the largest ships at the start of the campaign.
D1.135 Any ship that wins an Overwhelming Victory gets to re-roll their officer and crew grades at +1 to the roll. A Legendary Victory gets to re-roll at +2 to the roll.
Example. After a year's cruise, the Star Knight with the previous example re-rolls their crew grades. The rolls are, in order, 1, 3, 7, 7, 9 and 0, with the 0 coming up with a pair of 5s. The net effect is that the Engineering officer improves from Average to Veteran.
Designer's Notes: Crew & Officer Grades in the Books. The books, because they're about a miracle grade officer, tend to have a VERY high percentage of Veteran and Elite officers. Some examples of officers from the books:
Rafe Cardones started out as a Poor ATO in On Basilisk Station, and was Veteran by the end. By the end of Honor of the Queen, he's clearly Veteran or Elite.
Shannon Foraker is an Elite EW officer, wringing things out of the Havenite electronics that even their designers didn't know they could do.
Whether Scotty Tremaine is a Veteran helmsman at the end of On Basilisk Station is open to debate; it's pretty clear that by the time he's serving on Apollo in Honor of the Queen, he fits that description.
Most of the Masadan officers, such as Lt. Ash on Thunder of God are Poor. This battle is difficult to judge, however, as it is rife with miracles.
The crew of HMS Wayfarer starts out as being Poor (Honor drafts all the bad apples) and is slowly refined and worked into an Average crew. Elements of that crew eventually bucked for officer and showed up later in the series.
D1.14 TYPES OF OFFICERS. There are five types of officers tracked in SITS; their abilities and abbreviations are described below.
D1.141 TACTICAL OFFICER (TAO, printed "TAG" in the scan): This is the missile fire control officer in the ship, and will modify the MQL of all missiles launched by that ship up or down, as is appropriate for their crew grade.
D1.142 ELECTRONIC WARFARE OFFICER (EWO): This the officer in charge of ECM and decoy deployment. The EWO modifies the ECM value used in the ECM Layer of the Defense Card. On an operational level, an EWO's ECM modifier adds to the Crew Quality number for detection.
D1.143 ASSISTANT TACTICAL OFFICER (ATO): The Assistant Tactical Officer manages the active defenses of the ship. A Poor ATO subtracts one from the probable kills for countermissiles (but never reduces them below 1 from this penalty). A Veteran ATO adds one to the probable kills for countermissile fire, and an Elite ATO adds one to the probable kills for both countermissiles and point defense fire.
D1.144 HELM: The Helmsman is the person who controls the ships maneuvers. A Poor helmsman subtracts one from the number of windows the ship can pivot and roll in a given turn: this penalty can never reduce these values to less than 1, so long as boxes in those damage tracks remain. A Veteran helmsman adds 1 to the roll rating of the ship, [and an E]lite helmsman can add 1 to either pivot or roll (but not to both at the same time), and may switch where the bonus goes during the plotting phase of each turn.
D1.145 ENGINEERING OFFICER (ENG): A Poor Engineering Officer will cause the [ship to lose half-hex di]splacements from turn to turn, rather than ac[cru]ing [them as a consistent hand] at the controls. A Veteran Engineering Officer causes fractional displacements to round up (and be used on) the turn of thrust; this [rounding of half displace]ments may be waived as needed. An Elite Engineering officer adds +1 to their ships thrust rating at all times, as well as the rounding benefits of the Veteran Engineering officer. This bonus to thrust ratings cannot be combined with "red-lining the impellers". (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
D1.2 Miracle Grade Officers
D1.21 RULE INTENTION. Some characters in the novels manage to overcome [odds and win] by the ability to pull "usable only once" stunts, or otherwise "break the rules." These rules breaking opportunities are referred to as [miracles. It is not that] Honor Harrington breaks the rules, because she's the m[ain character of th]e series. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
D1.211 While miracle grade officers can impact the quality of the crew and other officers on the ship, they have no direct impact on the cost of their ships themselves. Because miracles rely on low odds card draws, and can [only] happen [w]hen one side is grossly disadvantaged versus the other, there is no fair way to figure out how much a miracle grade admiral would cost as a percentage of their ships value.
D1.22 MECHANICS OVERVIEW. A "miracle grade" commander, fighting at a points disadvantage of 20% or more, draws from a deck of playing cards after a given number of turns (set by their level of "Miracle Grade").
D1.221 The cards are turned into a Black Jack hand; number cards have their numerical values, Aces can be worth 11 or 1, and face cards are worth 10. The goal is to get as close to 21 as you can, without going over. Going over causes all your cards to be shuffled back into the deck, and the process starts over. All cards are kept face down until a complete Black Jack hand is met; this makes it harder to predict whether your opponent is about to have an instance of divine intervention.
D1.2211 A Miracle Commander must always draw a card when they're eligible to.
D1.222 If the hand has a value of 19 or higher, a miracle has occurred.
D1.23 FREQUENCY OF CARD DRAWS. Miraculous commanders come in three grades, Superb, Excellent and Legendary. They'll be shown by diamonds (the printed symbol) after the ship name - the number of diamonds indicates the level of the effect.
D1.231 A Superb miracle grade officer (Sarnow, Tourville) draws their first card at the end of turn six of the game, and then draws one card every four turns thereafter, so card draws are on turns 4, 10, 14, 18 and so on [sic: as printed, which does not match "turn six"]. They add 1 to the officer and crew checks if they've been in command of that ship for two months or more.
D1.232 An Excellent miracle grade officer (Theismann, White Haven) draw their first card on turn four, and draw one card every three turns thereafter, so draws on turns 4, 7, 10 and 13.
D1.233 A Legendary grade miracle commander (Harrington) draws on turn 2, and every three turns thereafter (2, 5, 8, 11 and so on).
D1.234 When playing on the operational scale, due to the slower tempo of combat, the delays in card draws are the same as for tactical combat; for instance, Harrington draws a card on operational turns 2, 5 and 8. Switching over to the tactical scale causes all cards to be shuffled, and the card draws to start over again.
D1.235 Miracles may not be "banked up" - if you have a miracle, you have until your next card draw to use it. Your next card draw may cause you to "bust".
D1.236 [number illegible in the scan] Miracle grade commanders show up only in historical scenarios. Attempting to balance them in terms of point costs, or determine the frequency with which they appear, is in David Weber's hands, not ours.
Designer's Notes. This rule, more than any other in the game, is about Sanative Intent, and Dramatic Necessity.
In the end, this rule is about the feel of the novels, rather than the exact replication of every [stunt] within them. Trying to give exact cases for every stunt a major character has pulled out of their hat would quickly turn into a forest of special rules cases and exceptions. In particular, this rule is meant to let you try some of the things that happened in the books, though you're not limited to things that happened in print. If it seems like something fun, and plausibly fits the tone of the series, go for it.
For some play groups, it definitely won't add to the fun. For play groups that want to see just how unlikely some of Honor Harrington's victories were, this gives the mechanism to do it.
D1.24 LEVEL 19 MIRACLES. These are miracles that are appropriate to a Black Jack hand size of 19. In general, they are limited to things that are remotely, vaguely possible within the rules of the game, but are exceedingly unlikely. All of these effects are instant, lasting only for the turn the miracle has been used. All of these are suggested miracles.
D1.241 You can have your missiles completely ignore the ECM layer of the target's defense, or score a minimum of 3d10hi missiles (or the number in the salvo, whichever is less) reaching the target, regardless of the targets die rolls. On the defensive side, it can double the missiles killed by your own ECM layer, or declare that an interposed wedge is 100% effective for that turn only. It can also be used to use a decoy and not have it be destroyed.
D1.242 On the operational scale, this sort of miracle would be automatic detection of a target at maximum range, without having to play "guess the bearing to search on."
D1.243 When applied to damage allocation, it allows you to pick the hit location number of 10% of the missiles that impact the target, rounding fractions up.
D1.244 You may also use a miracle of this sort to automatically succeed in one SI check during the turn.
D1.25 LEVEL 20 MIRACLES. A hand of 20 will allow miracles that aren't technically allowed by the rules, but are reasonably plausible.
D1.251 The classic example of a Level 20 Miracle is the infamous "roll the ship and fire a double broadside". This allows you to fire one salvo from each broadside of the ship at the same target in the Late missile salvo, provided your ship has rolled at least 4 windows during the turn.
D1.252 Another use of the level 20 miracle is having a missile salvo take a mild "dog leg" - adjust the Impact Window to any adjacent AVID window at the time of launch.
D1.253 With this level of miracle, you can double your thrust rating for two turns, but only if you've taken impeller damage and not in excess of the original maximum. Alternately, you get to see what thrust your target has plotted before you plot your own thrust.
D1.254 On the Operational scale, a miracle of this order will let you spend a recon drone to know the exact size, vector and disposition of all enemy units within two Operational hexes of each other, without having to choose a bearing before doing the search. When transitioning from the Operational scale to the Tactical scale, you can use this level [of miracle to] specify up to half of the pre-tactical scenario thrust the opposing force uses. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
D1.255 [Number and first words illegible] damage allocation, it allows you to specify maximum penetration rolls [for a number of] weapons hitting in one impact step, and pick the hit location number [for them. ...] As always, round fractional weapon counts up. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
D1.256 [Number partly illegible] This level of miracle will let you re-roll previously failed damage control attempts; it [may also] automatically make all SI checks during a single turn. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
D1.257 You may halve the range when firing at a target with beam weapons, even if their sidewall is interposed. (The sidewall still applies normally for damage resolution.)
D1.26 LEVEL 21 MIRACLES. Level 21 Miracles can effectively let you en[force your will on the game]. [The only] real restrictions on Level 21 Miracles are that [the effect must be one that] both fits the Honorverse and that your opponent would find fun to deal with, and that you may not use the same Level 21 Miracle [twice]. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
Level 21 miracles are the only miracles that can have persistent effects past the turn of use; these effects cannot extend past the end of the current combat.
D1.261 A level 21 miracle will let you reduce [the ... of one of your systems for] two turns (representing a stunning insight into the [enemy's] systems). Alternately, it can be used to add 1 to the MQL of all enemy missiles fired on the ship of the Miraculous Officer, increasing by one every two combat turns. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
D1.262 On damage allocation, this can be used to specify that an entire salvo of missiles hits the throat or the kilt of the enemy ship, before rolling for Penetration or hit location rolls, even if the geometry doesn't allow it, or if the target has their wedge interposed.
D1.263 After the target has plotted their movement orders, you may plot yours, and change the position of your ship by up to 5 hexes, in addition to whatever plotted changes you make to your vectors. This is, honestly, the only way to explain how Harrington gets some of her miraculous beams shots.
D1.264 On the operational scale, this level of miracle will allow you to know the entire disposition of the enemy's forces, and will allow you to either move your forces five operational hexes in response to this information, or make your own forces appear to be in a different position by up to three operational hexes.
D1.265 This level of miracle can be used to fire beams as though the target had no sidewalls at all - effectively at half the true range, and ignoring the sidewall for the purposes of penetration rolls. If the beams would ordinarily fire at the wedge, they can be treated as a standard beam shot against sidewalls; the crew is managing to just clip the edge of the wedge.
D1.266 A ship can use a miracle of this type to ensure it automatically succeeds on all SI checks during the battle. It will still be destroyed if the "star" at the end of the SI track is damaged.
D1.267 A ship with this level of miracle can spend it to have "immortal magazines". Firing missiles does not consume magazine dots, though damage to the magazines still does, and having no magazines means you still cannot fire, though they can be repaired normally. This effect lasts until the ship transitions back to Operational scale movement, or 6 hours, whichever is less.
Designer's Notes: Miracles in the Books.
Miracle - Double broadside fire. Theisman already had his ship spinning on her central axis. Thunder was too slow on the helm and too close, but Theisman could bring both broadsides to bear in his window of engagement. He'd fire the first one with its missiles drives programmed for delayed activation, then fire the second as his other broadside rolled onto the target, which would bring them in together and let him get off almost as many birds as Thunder.
Miracle - Different Impact Window. "Stand by," Commander Theisman whispered as his ship flashed around the craggy moon with ever gathering speed. The base's sensors still fed his plot, and his teeth drew back. "Stand... by. ... Now!"
"Skipper! Astern of us -!"
Lieutenant Commander Amberson's shout wrenched Commander Alice Truman's eyes back to her display, and her face whitened in horror.
"Hard a-port!" she barked, and Apollo swerved wildly in response.
It was too late. The destroyer behind her had timed it perfectly, and her first broadside exploded just behind the open rear of Apollo's impeller wedge. X-ray lasers opened the light cruiser's port side like huge talons, and damage alarms screamed like damned souls.
Miracle - The Impossible Salvo Hits. ...then someone emitted a banshee shriek of triumph, and Honor stared at her repeater. It wasn't possible! No one could get old-fashioned nukes through the very teeth of a modern warship's defenses! Yet Rafe Cardones had done it. Somehow, he'd done it!
Miracle - Being Someplace Else. In the battle of Blackbird, Honor Harrington hides her force behind the impellers of the Grayson LACs...and then manages to be someplace unexpected when Theisman breaks for it, though it doesn't keep Apollo from getting hurt as Theisman escapes.
Miracle - No SI Hits Needed. During the Battle of Basilisk Station, a quick look at the Astra Armed Merchant Cruiser and the HMS Fearless shows that Honor made a thoroughly improbable number of Structural Integrity hits.
Miracle - She Did What!? The destruction of the PNS Tepes is an example of a miracle, though one that's not particularly useful in a wargame (though it would work fine for a roleplaying game!).
D2.0 Scenarios
Ships on the map fight in scenarios, attempting to achieve objectives, and scenario setups require a bit of thought. Determining who won a scenario requires calculating the Margin of Victory, which is a function of damage done to the enemy ships versus damage done to your own.
Designer's Notes. We assume that the forces fighting have a reason to fight, or you wouldn't've bothered putting miniatures on the map. If, after ten turns, neither side has done at least 2% damage to at least half the ships of the other side, the game ends in a cowardly draw.
If one player maneuvered to avoid contact while the other maneuvered aggressively to make contact, the aggressive player should declare victory, thumb their nose at their opponent, or make other gestures indicating ridicule appropriate to your social circle. After that, find someone who wants to play to win, rather than play "not to lose".
D2.1 Scenario Setup
D2.11 SETTING UP THE MAPS. Scenarios are played on the map sheets provided with the game; the map sheets are organized so that you can lay them edge to edge and make a larger area to play on. The two map sheets provided have different scales of hexes on each side, a small hex (19mm hexes) side and a large (35.5 mm) on the reverse. We recommend using the large hexes for tactical scale combat, and the small hexes for operational scale movement.
D2.111 Scenarios will specify the orientation of the map sheets, whether they go long edge to long edge, for a more or less "square" playing area, or short-edge to short-edge, for a long, thin area. Short-edge to short-edge is preferable for stern chases, while the other configuration is good for large squadron actions. Whichever way you arrange the maps, make sure that direction A on the compass rosette in the center of the maps points the same way for both maps!
D2.112 The two sides fighting the scenario will be specified as Red or Green, matching the tilt blocks and Movement Cards needed for each scenario.
D2.12 SIMPLE SCENARIO SETUP. After selecting mutually agreed to forces, both forces start within 5 hexes of opposite corners of a long-edge to long-edge double map sheet, facing at their choice, with vectors of up to 5 hexes per turn in any direction desired. One side will be at 12 hexes of altitude (using large hexes) or 20 hexes of altitude (using the small hexes).
D2.13 OPERATIONAL TO TACTICAL TRANSITION. When two forces reach range 5 from one another on the operational map, they transition to the tactical map. See B5.12 for more information. Most transitions from operational to tactical hexes should be done on a long-edge to long-edge tactical map sheet; again, stern chases may work better with the other configuration.
D2.14 HISTORICAL SCENARIO SETUPS. Specific scenarios will have map sheet arrangements listed for them, and will have the ship lists [for the scenario]. Some scenarios may have introductory paragraphs indicating that the battle has begun after the initial pod salvo has been fired, listing what ships were destroyed [by ...] and most will give the range of acceptable vectors for all units. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
D2.2 Victory Conditions
D2.21 SIMPLE VICTORY CONDITIONS. The simplest victory condition is for one player to stop because they see no way they can win, or because all of their units have been destroyed. This is fine for pick-up games and simple setup games, but less satisfying when the scenarios objectives are more complex than "blow up all of the other ships in the middle of the map", or for campaign games, or games where the margin of victory is important.
D2.22 DERIVED VICTORY CONDITIONS AND POINT COSTS. Derived victory conditions try to generate a margin of victory based on point costs of the units, and how much damage each has sustained.
D2.221 All ships have point costs which reflect their combat capabilities. Two ships with equal point costs should have about a 50/50 chance of winning in a straight up fight.
D2.222 Some scenarios will have defined scenario objectives. Achieving these objectives will give bonus points to the side that achieves them.
D2.223 When you damage an enemy ship, you get a fraction of its point cost equal to the percentage of the boxes on the ship destroyed. Destroying the ship gives you victory points equal to its cost. Round fractional VPs up.
D2.224 If a ship surrenders, it gives its full point cost to the enemy, minus 0.2 victory points per officer on board, and minus 0.01 victory points per enlisted rating or Marine onboard. Divide the officer count by 5, and divide the enlisted ratings by 100. This rule is designed specifically to give the players playing the war game a reason to consider striking their colors rather than fighting to the bloody end - it denies the enemy any victory points. This can be (and is often) offset by victory objectives that are worth more to achieve than the point costs of the ships lost in achieving them.
D2.225 Each missile pod (C8.0) used or killed in the fight counts as victory points for the opposing side.
Example. A Falcon class DD costs 36 points, and has 114 hull boxes. Over the course of the scenario it gets mauled, taking 47 boxes of damage. 47/114 = 36%, and 36% of 36 is 12.9 (rounds up to 13) victory points for its opponent. If it were completely destroyed, it would have netted the opponent 114 points.
Designer's Notes: Scenarios and the Books. Most wargamers want a scenario where either side can win. If you look at the situations in the books, you'll find that David is particularly fond of two kinds of fights:
A ship commanded by Harrington wins over incredible (impossible odds) by use of divine intervention
Someone on the strategic planning side of things manages to turn the tactical battles into one sided affairs that are on the Godzilla Stomps Bambi level
Very few of the battles in the book come out as Draws or Minor Victories. Examples of Legendary and Overwhelming victories abound, such as at Basilisk Station and the Third Battle of Yeltsin's Star. Victories and Major Victories mostly happen (for the Peeps) in the third book, such as at Poicters and Seaford 9 and Hancock Station.
D2.23 MARGIN OF VICTORY. Determining the margin of victory is a two step process, factoring in damage done to the enemy, the initial cost of your own force, then comparing to the enemy's results.
D2.231 Divide the total number of victory points you earned by the initial cost of your air force [sic: "your force"]. Include any victory points earned from reaching the scenario objectives. This gives the Victory Point Ratio (VPR) of what you earned versus what you brought to the battle, and can be thought of as "Victory Point Return On Investment."
D2.232 The Margin of Victory compares the Victory Point Ratios by the table [below] to determine how close the outcome was, given the initial forces present. Subtract the smaller victory point ratio from the larger to find the difference, then look [in the] table below for the margin of victory.
| Difference in Vict. Pt. Ratio | Margin of Victory |
|---|---|
| 0.00 to 0.10 (partly illegible in the scan) | Draw |
| [lower bound illegible] to 0.30 | Minor Victory |
| [lower bound illegible] to 0.60 | Victory |
| [lower bound illegible] to 0.90 | Major Victory |
| [upper bound partly illegible; ends in "30" in the scan] | Overwhelming Victory |
| [illegible] or more | Legendary Victory |
Example. The Manticoran player flying the Falcon in the example above scored 10% damage on a Conqueror-class CL worth 42 points, which is 4.2 points, rounded up to 5. The numbers are:
The Havenite VPR = 13/42 = 0.309
The Manticoran VPR is 5/36 = 0.138
The fight is a Minor Victory for the Havenites, as 0.309-0.138 = 0.171
D3.0 Patrol Scenario Generator
This rule provides a randomized way to generate scenarios, and is an intermediate step between running a full-blown campaign engine, and just picking points and duelling. It requires a deck of standard playing cards, and draws from a set of mission profiles. While it's not guaranteed to get an exactly balanced fight each time, it will generate interesting ones.
A secondary aim of patrol scenarios is acknowledge that squadron and task force commanders don't always get to choose what they take into a fight, or where they fight - they must make do with what's available.
D3.1 Force Selection
D3.11 SIDES. One player will be the Attacking player, the other player will be the Defending player, and each player chooses a faction to draw their forces from. The year will determine what ships are available; 1906 is the default year if no others are selected.
D3.111 Players should agree on a basic duelling point budget to work from; ships will be bought to fit into and underneath this budget. 600 points per side makes for reasonably interesting games that play in a reasonable period of time with a mixture of battlecruisers and cruisers. Larger ships will take longer stretches of time to play.
D3.112 Once the budget is set, both players should spend 60% of it on ships, including rolling and paying for crew and officer grades. The remaining points are spent on additional ships after drawing cards for force budget.
D3.12 THE LEMON RULE. Fleets are assembled from the forces available, and often aren't exactly a good fit for the mission at hand. 10% of the force budget should be spent by the opposing player for each side. Thus, if you're playing the Manticorans, the Havenite player selects 10% of your force budget for you, and you select 10% of his force budget for him.
D3.13 CARD DRAWS. Each player draws three cards from a deck of standard playing cards. One card is the force multiplier, one will determine the time limit before your force must start to disengage, and the last will have the mission objective. Each player looks at their cards, and chooses which card they want to use for which role. The cards are then placed face down in front of them for later verification. This preserves some elements of the fog of war. Some mission draw cards will require a second draw, all others allow a second draw to conceal the mission.
D3.131 Disengagement is defined as getting more than 50 hexes of separation between the closest elements between your force and the enemy's, with at least 3 hexes per turn of separation [velocity]. Failing to meet the disengagement conditions within 10 turns of the time limit forfeits 50% of the VPs you've scored. Failing to do so after 20 turns forfeits 100% of the VPs you've scored. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
D3.14 FORCE ADJUSTMENTS. Each player [adjusts their budget for] the force [multiplier] shown by the table in the sidebar of this page. They also write down the number of turns before they have to disengage from the fight - this is their clock to achieve their objective.
Card Draw: Force Multipliers. Ace: 130% of base; King: 120%; Queen: 110%; Jack: 100%; 10 through 5: 100%; 4: 90%; 3: 80%; 2: 70%.
Card Draw: Time Limits. Ace: 20 Turns; King: 18 Turns; Queen: 16 Turns; Jack: 15 Turns; 10: 14 Turns; 9: 13 Turns; 8 through 5: 12 Turns; 4: 11 Turns; 3: 10 Turns; 2: 9 Turns.
D3.2 Attacker Mission Draws
ACE: SPY. You have a spy on the enemy ship of your choice. [You may, once,] do one of the following things:
- Sabotage the ship: Pick four adjacent cells on the Hit Location Table [and do] two damage to each of them.
- Force the enemy to reveal their mission card.
- Prevent the ship from plotting any movement orders for the next three turns.
- Don't reveal, but score 5% of the enemy's total force budget as a victory point bonus. Draw another card to get your true mission; a second Ace allows you to choose whichever mission you like (in addition to the spy).
KING: DUMMY DRAW. Draw another card. Pick the defender or attacker's mission of your choice.
QUEEN: FORCE MAJEURE. Destroy the largest ship in the enemy force to double your victory point total.
JACK: CONVOY RAID. There is a convoy of freighters behind the enemy forces. For each hyper capable ship you disengage past the enemy force, you capture one freighter. Each freighter is worth 5% of your opponent's point budget. You may score points up to 50% of the base point budget in this manner.
10: VENDETTA. Pick one enemy ship; your force commander has a private vendetta with that ship's commander. If you destroy it, it counts for triple victory points. If it successfully disengages, it counts as double victory points for the other side.
9: DEEP STRIKE. You are on a deep strike raiding mission. Any of your units which lack functioning hyper generators are considered destroyed at the end of the scenario. All victory point totals you score are multiplied by 120%. You may draw a second card to conceal that you've drawn this one.
8: DUMMY DRAW. Draw another card, and take the Defender mission profile it gives, instead of this one. [On] another dummy draw, take the defender mission of your choice.
7: LIAR'S BLUFF. [Your force is a] bluff to convince the enemy that operations will begin in this area. None of your ships may disengage until one enemy has disengaged.
6: SPACE SUPERIORITY. Your fleet is to intercept the defending fleet and destroy them. You only receive 50% [of the] normal point values for damage to enemy ships that are not destroyed. (The card number is printed "5" in the scan; the Attacker list has no 6 otherwise.)
5: DEMONSTRATION OF METTLE. Your "disengagement" timer card does not count; you may not attempt to disengage until at least two hyper capable enemy units are destroyed.
4: SYSTEM BLOCKADE. You are here to prevent the enemy from reaching the hyper limit. Any enemy units that lose their hyper generators at the end of the scenario count for 150% of their normal VPs.
3: ECONOMY OF FORCE. Your fleet is to intercept the defending fleet and destroy them - but the enemy scores 125% of their normal VPs for damage to your fleet. You may draw a second card to disguise that you've drawn this one.
2: INTELLIGENCE GATHERING. You have been sent to gather intelligence on three enemy units, each of a different class, chosen at the start of the scenario. For every turn that you have at least one unit within range 5 of one of these ships, you gain a bonus of 1% of the enemy's point total. If you have one unit within range five of two of the ships on the same turn, you accrue a 2% bonus on VPs. If you have one unit within range 5 of all three ships on the same turn, you accrue a 4% bonus on VPs. You cannot accrue a bonus of more than 25% by these bonuses.
D3.3 Defender Mission Draws
ACE: VENGEANCE. The attackers achieved their objective. You are to ensure that they won't leave the system alive. You score double points for enemy ships destroyed, and the enemy gain double points for all ships that disengage.
KING: PINCER MANEUVER. One third of your point total is off the map, and will appear with vectors of your choice at range 30 in 3d10med tactical turns.
QUEEN: DUMMY DRAW. Draw one more card and use the mission on it instead. A second Dummy Draw gives you the Attacker mission of your choice.
JACK: ELITE CREW. One of the ships chosen by your opponent through the "Lemon" rule has an Elite TO and Elite Crew, in addition to whatever bonuses you bought for it. However, if it's destroyed by the enemy, its point value is doubled, and subtracted from your victory point total due to [lost] morale.
10: DUMMY DRAW. Draw another card, and take the Defender mission profile it gives instead of this one. If a second Dummy Draw is pulled, take the defender mission of your choice.
9: CONVOY DEFENSE. Behind you [is a convoy. For] each enemy ship that disengages past you subtracts its remaining [value from] your score, up to 50% of the base point budget. If no enemy ships disengage, [you] double your total victory points. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
8: SPACE SUPERIORITY. Your fleet is to intercept the defending fleet, and destroy them. You only receive 50% of the normal [point values for damage to] enemy ships that are not destroyed.
7: SYSTEM BLOCKADE. You are here to prevent the enemy from leaving. The [victory] point [value of every] enemy ship with a functioning hyper generator [that leaves the] map is subtracted from your victory point total. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
6: FLEET IN BEING. Your force is the only major group of naval comb[at strength in the system, and] it is vital that it be preserved intact, even if you must surrender the [field. Each ship of yours] destroyed or captured counts double for enemy [victory points]. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
5: SPACE SUPREMACY. Naval Command has assembled your force to frustrate any enemy plans in this system. You score double victory points if you prevent him from achieving [his objectives] by turn 10.
4: PICKET DUTY. Your force is due for a re-supply any week, but right now, you're short on nearly everything. Reduce all magazine totals by half, you may not use any pods in your force makeup. 25% of your force (calculated by points) have a poor crew due to supply issues and short rations. On any turn that you use countermissiles, roll 2d10-. On a 7 or higher, the countermissiles on that side of the ship are out of ammunition. Canister fire (if canister shot is purchased) is unaffected.
3: WALKING WOUNDED. 20% of your force, by points, including at least one of the largest ships in your force, have taken half of their SI hits as damage (and not blown up). You add 50% of their point values to your totals if they successfully disengage past the enemy when your time limit comes up. Which ships have taken the damage are recorded in secret before the scenario begins; it's only when they take an SI hit that you have to reveal that they're wounded.
2: POLITICAL APPOINTEE. Your second largest ship is commanded by a person with important political ties. Unfortunately, [he] filled the command decks with cronies; two of your officers on this ship MUST be Poor, and the crew cannot be better than Average. If this ship ever loses more than 50% of one broadside's worth of weapons, or successfully makes an octagon check SI roll, it must immediately roll a Crew Quality check, or attempt to leave the fight immediately. If it successfully disengages, the enemy scores 150% of their normal victory points for that ship. If it is destroyed, you lose victory points equal to twice its victory point total, due to political repercussions back home. You may draw a second card to conceal the fact that you've drawn this one.
D3.4 Victory
D3.41 VICTORY CONDITIONS. Calculate victory point totals and VPRs normally, and use the chart in D2.232 to calculate the margin of victory.
D3.42 MIRACLE GRADE OFFICERS. After setting up forces on the map, if one side is 20% under the other sides points, they may, with their opponent's permission, have a Miracle Grade Officer commanding their force.
D4.0 Commander's Options
Commanders Options are the little ways that individual commanders prepare for battle, and customize their forces. They're also used to spend extra points when building forces. They are distinct from purchasing improvements in Officer and Crew quality (D1.1).
Designer's Notes: Commander's Options. Commanders Options are meant to be a framework for letting your forces balance each other, and to provide replay ability.
In particular, crew grades and officer grades are not considered part of the commanders option items system, because it was found that when they were "players choice" rather than randomly rolled, every ship in every task force would typically take a slate of at least Veteran or Elite officers, and nobody ever took Average or Poor.
Pods are particularly tricky to balance, because, just as the books show, they give a truly asymmetric first strike capability, particularly with ships of battlecruiser size and smaller, where any pod missile that hits is going to hurt. Even worse is that the Havenite pods don't show up until 1910 PD, and there's 5 years of Manticoran ships blowing things into dust before the Peeps even get into weapon range.
In the end, our recommendation is this - let the new guy who's hot to use the pods use them at first, then give him a Havenite force to see what it's like at the receiving end, then go back to using them only when the scenario calls for it, or in very limited numbers.
Indeed, one good way to show lots of pods in a scenario is to write one with large numbers of crippled and destroyed ships at the start - the scenario begins after the pods have fired, and you're fighting with what's left!
D4.1 Ammunition
D4.11 PODS. After 1905 PD, the RMN deployed pods to units on forward assault missions. While pods proved to be devastating in use, they were also a major logistics train issue. The total point cost of a force may have no more than 10% of the book value (prior to adjustments for crew quality and officers) taken up in pods. Prior to pod-laying ships, pods were only used against Havenite elements.
D4.111 The date of availability for a given pod is included on the card.
D4.112 Some historical battles (such as the battle for Hancock Station) will exceed this limit.
D4.12 CANISTER SHOT. Canister shot can be purchased by any force at half a point per canister after 1902 PD. Prior to 1902 PD, the cost is one point per canister. For heavy cruiser missiles and larger, each missile is replaced by multiple canister rounds. Which broadsides have canister shot has to be recorded prior to the start of the scenario.
D4.13 RECON DRONES. Extra recon drones may be purchased; each one costs 2 points. A ship may never carry more than half again the quantity of recon drones specified in its class history, rounding up. Thus, a ship with 13 recon drones cannot buy more than 7 extra ones for a total of 20.
D4.2 Personnel
D4.21 DAMAGE CONTROL PARTIES. Ships may purchase up to three additional damage control parties at 2 points each. These damage control parties should be penciled into the hull track of the ship; they may never be [placed in] any of the hull boxes of the ship, counting entire rows, and they [may not be] adjacent to each other, or an original damage control party, on the hull track. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
D4.22 MARINE COMPANY READY TO DEPLOY. Having your marine companies [ready to deploy] costs 5 points at the start of the scenario.
D4.221 To see how many marine companies a ship has, consult Jayne's Intelligence Review [...]. Most battalions have 4 companies, though some services [differ]. (Portions of this rule are illegible in the source scan.)
Y1.0 Ken's Designer's Notes
Long before Attack Vector: Tactical [was published, one of the] "way out there" ideas was to take the movement engine [and apply it to other] settings. High on the list was David Weber's Honor Harrington novels. Through a mutual acquaintance, an early version of AV:T [was seen by David Weber, who] really liked it and gave me a glowing endorsement to put on the [box].
Fast forward to April of 2004. David was [attending a con]vention in my home town, and I had the printers proof and final components of Attack Vector: Tactical to show him - we played a very brief game (David, at [any con], manages to be in three places at once, but he does a pretty good job of [tracking it!]), and David admitted that, yes, he'd be interested in seeing an Honorverse adaptation of the game engine. He contacted his licensing agent at The Manticore Company, and put in a very nice letter of recommendation for me.
As much as AV:T was influenced by my work on Star Fleet Battles, I knew that SITS needed to be simpler. For the first iteration of the game, we didn't make it enough simpler. We also demonstrated that the numbers David gave didn't match the feel of the books, in particular rates of fire and acceleration and movement rates.
The original plan for a revision to SITS was to keep the SITS 1 engine, and change the game scale to something that would allow maneuver to exist. Had damage allocation had been fixable, that's likely what you'd've gotten.
As it was, since damage allocation was going to force an entirely new game, I went further afield, and looked at another project called Squadron Strike, which allowed me to simplify the movement engine considerably. Once we realized we'd have to re-do the SSDs anyway for superdreadnoughts, a lot of other cases of "You know, I've always wanted a better way to do X..." opened up.
We started with movement. First, while segmented movement has its uses, it only makes sense if there's a meaningful fire/no fire or thrust/no thrust decision to make each segment. In AV:T, those decisions are present every segment; in SITS 1, it was pretty clear that the segments weren't carrying their weight in record keeping. We went through several variations of changing the game scale, before I got the one we used here, with hexes ranging from 2 light seconds per hex, down to half a light second per hex, to 0.8 light seconds per hex, which is what we ended up with. Tom would keep pushing for smaller hexes and longer weapon ranges, to keep his salvo rates, I'd push for larger hexes, longer and shorter weapon ranges to keep maneuver part of the game.
The decision was made to reflect the feel of the books if they ever conflicted with the numbers, and wherever possible, remove record keeping, and add decision making. Once the tactical scale was developed, the operational scale flowed naturally from it. We're still not certain that the detection and counter detection rules are worth the hassle, but they're there if you have someone willing to referee. The integration of tactical and operational scales does allow for a pre-tactical scenario maneuver phase, which is essential for running campaigns. Future products will focus on force allocation and scenarios set through patrol zones, now that we can fairly easily integrate them all.
The damage allocation system got the next major piece of design attention. While the [AV:T] system is rich and variable, it takes time to resolve. SITS [1] tried to reduce [the time to] resolve, but ended up removing most of the variability that made it interesting, while also having scale issues when used for larger ships. The current system started [with] the realization that no ship in combat would ever take damage from the Top or Bottom facings of the ship - they're covered by the wedge. This allows a matrix to be made that's effectively a top-down view of the ship.
From there, the major aim was to move the resolution back to individual missiles, rather than aggregation, and to bring back the variability. In the process, we were able to use a nearly invisible log scale for ship sizes and weapon damage.
Designing the ships for second edition fell pretty much on Tom Pope's shoulders again, while I focused on play aid design and usability. Thomas Marrone did the layout for the Jayne's Intelligence Review books, and Tom Pope wanted to bring the game in line with that standard. He had, in his own words, prepared for a long argument on this, and was non-plussed when I said "yes" so easily.
One of the big changes in designing ships for second edition was automation. In particular, Adobe InDesign CS3 made importing from Excel spreadsheets (and retaining formatting, even conditional formatting) much easier. Once the data entry for the ship design is done into the spreadsheet, creating a printed SSD takes Tom about 15 to 20 minutes, rather than hours of hand labor.
After Damage Allocation was proven to work, we looked at adding more variability to missile fire, and tried to streamline the steps. This resulted in several simplifications; instead of taking the missile quality level and subtracting the range modifier from it, the MQL on the SSD had the range modifiers built in to the tables. Instead of having a quality percentage for missiles, and separate percentages for countermissiles and point defense systems, we used the MQL as the base column number, and used probable kills for the active defenses. A late addition to the game was multiple missile salvoes in a single turn, with the aim points adjusted for your future position and your target's future position markers. This gave an incentive to track midpoint orientation, which re-emphasized maneuver in the game.
Other things that were developed for the first edition of the game, but hadn't gotten published yet, were rolled into the core rules, such as LAC operations, and missile pod operations. The new damage allocation system allowed us considerable flexibility when making weapons distinct, and made grasers the truly vicious weapons they're described as being in the books.
Y2.0 Second Designer's Notes
(The heading of this second set of notes is not legible in the source scan. These notes are by the game's second designer and begin partway through a personal introduction.)
[...] SITS 1 was the product of many compromises, and as Ken mentions in his notes, tried to hew too closely to David's numbers, even when doing so made for a worse game. Attack Vector: Tactical (AV:T) provided the core game engine for the first edition, but the Honorverse forced us to make changes from the parent system. None of these was more heavily debated and controversial than the damage system. As Ken mentions in his notes, we tried to simplify the AV:T damage system to allow for dozens of missile hits per segment, while still retaining the core concepts.
Around May of 2006, we started playtesting for Ship Book 3. Almost immediately, we found serious problems with the system when it came to capital ships. Past a certain point, there was little point in doing any extra damage, as it would go out the other side of the hull. This threw the playtesting into a furor, as we tried to come up with several patches that would let us keep the work we'd already done. (Ken had already made the new game use a different game scale). The new damage system went through a number of revisions to end up where it is now. The first iteration was simply a pooled damage system with each missile treated individually (resulting in more accurate results at the expense of speed). Eventually the idea came about to build the damage grid as a top-view of the ship, and then Ken's idea to have the base damage per weapon be 2d10- plus the weapon damage for penetration, which added the variability back in.
The new damage system gave us a number of benefits. It's faster, keeps blow through very rare, and felt like the results in the books. The largest advantage in my mind is that it enforces strong class limits into the game. In SITS1 the difference between a Star Knight's effective damage and that of a Sultan was minimal. The disparity in system quality meant that the Star Knight hit about as many times as the Sultan, and pooled damage mitigated most of the differences in defenses.
In SITS2 the equation changes drastically. Now a destroyer firing on a superdreadnought probably can't do much more than whittle down its sidewalls, and pray for an SI hit, while the Star Knight versus Sultan battle has the Sultan shrugging off hits as it should. By point costs, it takes about 65 destroyers to face off against a superdreadnought. This is probably overstating the capabilities of the 65 destroyers, to be fair.
Ken and I have settled into a unique working relationship over the years, and have refined it with great precision over the last six months. We approach problems from very different angles, which results in disagreements followed by a net improvement in the quality of the final product. With respect to the rules, Ken looks at things from a game play or physics perspective while I look at things from an Honorverse canonical perspective. Most of our arguments have ended with him on the side of "is it fun?" and me on the side of "does it match the books?"
In designing the play aids, we had similar goals, but came at them from completely different directions. Ken would try to add things to the play aids, and I'd try to add white space and reduce visual clutter, and keep things visually consistent with the Jayne's Intelligence Review products. We both have the same goal (usability being key) but come at it from different directions. Both of us subjected the game to countless people in playtesting, each time coming back with refinements and revisions to the tools.
There are advantages and disadvantages to working on a project remotely. The disadvantage is that I am not able to slap Ken for making the latest suggestion that I happen to violently disagree with. The advantage, of course, is that he is not able to slap me when I do the same thing, and I think we ran about 50/50 when it came to ideas that made the other one cringe. I think the two most vicious arguments during SITS2 development could be summed up by the quotes "Lanchestrian lumps of doom" and "We're changing the game scale again?"
SITS2 refined that process to a fine art. We were both committed to ruthlessly stripping down any game element that was tedious, confusing, unfun or not worth the work it took to simulate whatever it was simulating. Paradoxically, we would occasionally swap positions completely, Ken arguing in favor of a position based on the books while I fought to strip it out as too slow, clunky or whatever. While it would have astounded anyone who knew us well, this managed to keep us both honest, and I truly believe that the game we created is better because of that experience.
Z1.0 Orientation with Tilt Blocks and AVID
Annex Z1 shows pairs of illustrations (a box miniature in tilt blocks on the map, and the matching AVID) for a catalog of orientations. The printed captions are as follows, in page order. Several captions are garbled in the scan; garbled parts are marked.
- Example: 90° straight up, Top facing direction D (yellow). The AVID illustration has the Top of the ship in the yellow window facing direction D, and the Forward and Aft symbols are in the purple window of the AVID, with the Aft symbol circled.
- Example: Level with the map, facing direction A, Top facing direction + (caption garbled; read as "up"). The AVID has the Forward triangle in direction A (yellow), while the Top and Bottom symbols are in the purple window, with the Bottom symbol circled, showing that it's down.
- Example: Facing A/B (yellow), with the Top in direction +. The AVID illustration shows the ship facing a hex corner (A/B). It is otherwise identical to the example above.
- Example: Front inclined up by 30°, facing direction A, Top facing direction D (green, upper). The AVID illustration has the Forward triangle in direction A (blue), while the Aft marker is circled to show that it's angled down. The Top marker is facing through direction D (green, upper).
- Example: Front inclined down by 30°, facing direction A (blue, lower), Top facing direction A (green, upper). The AVID illustration has the Forward triangle in direction A (blue), circled to show that it's pitched down, while the Top and Bottom symbols are in the green ring, with the Bottom symbol circled, showing that it's down.
- Example: Front inclined down by 30° (as read), facing direction A, rolled to starboard by 30°, Top facing direction B (green, upper). The AVID illustration has the Forward triangle in direction A (blue), circled to show that it's pitched down, while the Port marker has come up to E/F blue, the Starboard marker has gone down to B/C (blue), while the Top and Bottom symbols have shifted to the spines in the Green [ring] (caption cut off in the source).
- Example: Front inclined up by 30°, facing direction A, Top rolled 30° port. The AVID illustration has the Forward triangle in direction A (blue), while the Aft marker is circled to show that it's angled down. The Top marker is facing through direction D (green, upper). (As printed; this caption repeats text of the earlier 30° example.)