Rules For Attack Vector

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Copyright 1996 by Mike DeSanto

[email protected]

Table of Contents

Basic Rules

Overview1.Materials2.

The Ship Description Sheet3.

Starship Components4.

The Order of Play5.

1.

Advanced Rules

New Rules1.

New Devices2.

Starship Design3.

Campaigns and Experience4.

2.

Campaign UniverseHistory1.

The Physical World2.

Groups and Alliances3.

Scenario Seeds4.

3.

Helpful Reference Sheets

Attack Vector Ship Record Sheet1.

Movement Quick Reference Sheet2.

Hull Point Cost Table3.

Thruster Point Cost Table4. Beam/Plasma Weapon Point Cost Table5.

Rocket Point Cost Table6.

Miscelaneous Weapon Point Cost Table7.

Some Sample Starships8.

4.

Basic Rules

Overview

Attack Vector is a game of futuristic combat between ships in space. I have attempted to add some realistic elements to the game, while keeping it fun to play.

Attack Vector is best when played with small fleets of ships, 3 to 5 per player. With more ships, bookkeeping becomes a problem. With less, strategic elements are minimized.

Attack Vector is designed as a tabletop game. These rules assume you will be using measuring tapes as the only point of reference. However, if you would like to use a hex map, the same rules can be used.

Attack Vector - Space Combat in the 27th Century http://web.archive.org/web/20010613071537/http://www.io.com/~desantom/AttVec/ATTVEC.HTM

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These rules

Ship Description Sheets

Statistic Allocation Tables

suitable playing surfaceTwo counters to represent each ship.

Two or more players.

The Ship Description Sheet

The Ship Description Sheet shows the capabilities of a single ship. It lists the ship's name, the capabilities of the engines, computer and hull of the ship, and any devices

in the ship, such as armor, thrusters, sensors and weapons.

If you are just starting out, much of this sheet will not make sense to you. The description is placed early to let you become acquainted with the layout and terminology

involved.

Ship Name

The line at the very bottom of the sheet is for the ship type. For example, Stealth Fighters, Assault fighters, and Gunboats are all different ship types.

The ship shown is an Assault Fighter.

In the upper right corner is a space for the model name. Use this space to note exactly which model represents this ship.

Ship Statistics

In the Upper Left Corner of the sheet is the Ship Statistics. These are E - Engine, C - Computer and H - Hull and $ - Cost. These statistics represent the resources the

ship has to allocate to various systems. Sensors require resources from the ship's computers, Thrusters require resources from the Engines, and so on.

Crew Statistics

The crew can affect the abilities of a ship. The available skills are Electronic Counter-Measures (ECM), Piloting and Gunnery. These are listed in the upper right corner, just under the model designation.

Crew skills are explained in the Advanced Rules section. The crew in this example has average skill, represented by all zeros.

Basic Devices

At the bottom of the triangular 'ship' image is a listing of basic devices. A device is a part of the ship that does something. Thrusters give the ship acceleration. Sensors scan for other ships.

There are 5 basic devices: Armor (A), Cloak (CL), Point Defense (PD), Thrusters (T) and Sensors (S). Only Thrusters and Sensors are mandatory for every ship. The others are common enough to warrant

being on every sheet.

The sample ship has only two basic devices, Thrusters and Sensors. The Assault Fighter has a max Thrust value of 8 and a max Sensor value of 6.

Additional Devices

The triangular area above the basic devices is used to display additional devices such as weapons, warp pods, or hangars.


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Attack Vector Space Combat in the 27th Century http://web archive org/web/20010613071537/http://www io com/~desantom/AttVec/ATTVEC HTM


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Place a stationary ship (both counters on the same spot) on the starting point. Assume this ship has a Thrust of 5. Maneuver this ship so that it passes through each coin in a figure eight pattern, and comes

to rest at the starting point.

Attacks

When all ships have been moved, the attack phase begins. Attacking takes three steps: Attempt a Sensor Lock, Weapon Fire, and Damage Allocation.

All attacks are resolved by a Contest. The attacker rolls a d10 and adds a value from the ship sheet. The defender does the same. If the attacker's total is higher, or the totals are the same, the attack is

successful. If the attackers total is lower, the attack failed.

Sensor Lock

Before you can fire weapons at an enemy, you must obtain a sensor lock. Remember that each inch on the table represents from 50 to 5000 miles. If you do not know exactly where the enemy is and what

direction it is moving, you will not hit.

You may attempt a sensor lock once per turn on each enemy ship. If the lock attempt fails, you nay not fire at that ship, but you may attempt to lock onto another.

The contest for a sensor lock uses the following formula:

Attacker: d10 + Sensor setting - Range

Defender: d10 + Cloak setting

If the attacker wins this contest, continue to the Weapon Fire phase. If not, the attacker may attempt to lock onto another enemy.

Weapon Fire

Once a sensor lock is obtained, any weapon that can be brought to bear on the locked ship may be fired. This is also a contest, using the following formula:

Attacker: d10 + Computer setting of Weapon

Defender: d 10 + Thrust setting

No weapon may be fired more than once in a single turn. Once a target has been fired upon, you may not go back to a previous target. For example, Ship Z has 4 Particle guns. It fires at ship A with 2,damaging it. It then fires at ship B, which is destroyed. Ship A can not be fired at again until next turn.

Damage Allocation

When a ship is hit, the damage is spread across the ship systems. First, subtract Armor from the damage done. Then, for each point that penetrates the armor, roll a d10 on the following table.

Damage

Allocation

Roll Effect

1-3 -1 Engine

4-6 -1 Computer

7-9 -1 Hull


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1 S x 10 0 - S

2 S x 5 S - 2xS

3 Sx2 2xS - 3xS

Shockwave bombs are not fired, they are dropped. They must be mounted on a Drone or attached to a ship as a self destruct mechanism. A Shockwave Bomb requires 1 Computer and 1 Engine to detonate.

If the ship or drone carrying a Shockwave Bomb is destroyed, the bomb may not be detonated. If the Drone carrying a Shockwave Bomb or the shockwave bomb itsself is damaged by a device hit, the

bomb may not be detonated.

Example of Shockwave Bomb use:

A Groombridge Federation suicide fighter has a Size 1 Shockwave Bomb. It uses it to clear a UPS Minefield.

Turn 1

Setup1.

Movement2.

Attack

Shockwave Bomb detonates.

Every ship within 1" takes 10 points of damage.

3.

Turn 2

Setup1.

Movement

Any ship passing through the area affected by the

shockwave bomb takes 10 points of damage.After all ships have moved, the effect expands to 2".

Anything within 1" of the detonation point is now safe.

2.

Attack

Before any ships fire, any ship between 1" and 2" of the

detonation point take 5 points of damage.

3.

Turn 3

Setup1.

Movement

Any ship passing through the area affected by the

shockwave bomb takes 5 points of damage.After all ships have moved, the effect expands to 3".

Anything within 2" of the detonation point is now safe.

2.

Attack

Before any ships fire, any ship between 2" and 3" of the

detonation point take 5 points of damage.

3.

Turn 4

Setup1.

Movement

Any ship passing through the area affected by theshockwave bomb takes 2 points of damage.

After all ships have moved, the effect expands disappears.

2.

Attack3.

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Each point in a statistic costs 5 points. The Hull of a ship must be equal to or greater than the sum of the Size of all the devices it contains. (See the next section for details.) The Hull also may not be less

Engine and Computer statistics may have any value. Keep in mind the requirements of the ship's devices when assigning statistics.

Device Costs

The cost of all devices may be taken from this table.

Device Costs

Name Size Cost Formula

Max Thrusters 1 Hull per point

Max Sensors 1 5 per point

Max Cloak 1 2 * Hull per point

Armor 1 50 per point

Warp Pod 3 50

Hangar special 5 * Size

Cargo Pod 1 1

Boarding Pod 1 2

Point Defense Systems 1 Max Eng. * 30

Expanded Arcs of Fire

(weapons only)N/A

x 1 - 90 Degree Arc

x 2 - 180 Degree Arc

x 3 - 360 Degree Arc

Beam Weapon 1 Max. Eng. * (Max Comp.)

Plasma Weapon 1 Max. Eng. * (Max Comp.)

Rocket 2

((2^A) + (2 * D)) * S

A = Attack Score

D = Damage

S = Number of Shots

Cannon 2

((2^D) * C) + S

D = Damage

C = Max Computer

S = Number of Shots

Shockwave Bomb Varies10^S

S = Size

Swarm Missile 2

((D*10)+(2^C))*S

D = Damage per missile

C = Attack Score

S = # of Shots

Blight Torpedo 2(10 * 3^A) * shots

A = Attack Score

Tractor/Pressor Beam 1(2*E)*(C)

E = Max Engine

C = Max Computer

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N = Number of thrusters (total) on the ship.

Crew Skills

The skill of the crew modifies the value of the ship as shown in the Crew Skills Table.

These modifiers apply to each skill individually. If a crew has -3 Piloting (-300 points), +1 ECM (100 points) and +1 Gunnery (100 points), the total is -100 points for skills.

No matter what skill modifiers are applied, no ship EVER costs less than 100 points.

See the section on Campaigns and Experience for more information about crew experience.

Crew Skills

Skill Ship Cost Modifier Crew Starting Experience

-5 -500 -5000

-4 -300 -3000

-3 -200 -2000

-2 -100 -1000

-1 -50 -500

0 0 0

1 50 500

2 100 10003 200 2000

4 300 3000

5 500 5000

Campaigns and Experience

Eventually, nameless fleets fighting for unknown reasons becomes tiresome. This section adds spice to the game by giving each player a fleet that grows or shrinks depending on the players success.

Knowing that losses in the current battle will affect future battles makes the game much more fun.

Calculating Experience

When a battle ends, add up the Cost of all enemy ships destroyed, plus bonus points for Enemy forced to flee and special objectives achieved. This total, which is also used to determine the victor, is your

experience.

Experience can be used for three things; repairing damaged ships, buying new ships and increasing crew skills. Experience may also be saved over several battles, for use when it is most needed.

Ships currently in the fleet may not be modified, but may be scrapped. Scrapping a ship gives zero experience, it just removes the ship from the fleet.

Repairing Damaged Ships

When a ship is damaged in combat, it takes resources to repair it. These resources are represented by experience points. Repairing a damaged device or restoring lost statistics costs the same experience as

for a new ship. The values are listed in the Device Costs table.

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N I l d h J ld i d k b h il i hb I f il d Th i h bi h h l h i i d k d



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New Israel was created so the Jews could escape oppression and attacks by hostile neighbors. It failed. The inhabitants have gone on as they always have, persevering against unwarranted attacks and

New Israel will not start a fight, but they will darn well finish it once it is started, and they don't mess around in the process.

Nippon Allied Stars

The Nippon Allied Stars, like Japan in the 1800s, is quite isolationist. They are attempting, through commercial and diplomatic means, to become the power they once were. They are polite and even

amicable. However, each of their systems is a no fly zone. They export, but do not import. They absorb, but do not ally. They, like New Israel, do not mess around when they are threatened.

Independent Stars

These are systems that became self sufficient after the UP stopped supporting them, and have not been absorbed by any other powers. Some have kept independent by force, others by simply not being

valuable.

Independent stars may be anything from Buddhist sanctuaries to penal colonies. When you find an independent colony, you never know what the reception will be.

Independent colonies often fight with each other, often between colonies in the same system. There are dozens of little groups of planets who would like to be the sixth power.

Relations Between Powers

Relations Between Powers

UP GF IE NI NAS

UP Cool Hostile Good Neutral

GF Cool Neutral Hostile Hostile

IE Hostile Neutral Good Neutral

NI Good Hostile Good Cool

NAS Neutral Hostile Neutral Cool

HostileAttack whenever met.

CoolDo not trust, avoid if possible. Shoot to kill if attacked.

NeutralDo not provoke, but defend yourself if attacked.

GoodRelations friendly, trade encouraged.

Scenario Seeds

This section details several scenarios for play. Roll on the following chart to randomly select a scenario.

In this section, the terms Attacker and Defender are used. The defender is the owner of the systen where the combat takes place. Any ship may be used. The attacker may only use ships which have warp

pods or can be carried within hangars by the rest of the fleet.

Random Scenario Table

Roll Scenario

1 Battle around Planet

2 Escape

3 Protect Outpost from Destruction

4 Protect Outpost from Capture

5 Grab and Hold

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Two fleets meet in a battle to decide the fate of a star system.

Fleet Composition

Both players may use their entire fleet.

Setup

Place a planet, from 4" to 10" in diameter, roughly in the center of the board. Moons, 1" to 2" in diameter, may optionally be placed from 20" to 40" from the planet.

The player with the largest number of ships places one ship. The players take turns until all ships have been placed.

Objectives

There are no specific objectives in this scenario.

Escape

The attacker is escorting a defector with sensitive information out of enemy space. The enemy found out, and has blockaded the nearest L-point. The attacker must break through the blockade and get the

defector out.

Fleet Composition

The attacker gets half of their total fleet value in the battle. They also must escore the defector ship, which has the following stats: E-5, C-3, H-2, Thrust 5, Sensors 3, and a Warp Pod.

Setup

The defender places a 3" diameter counter to represent the L-point. The defender places her ships within 15" of this point. The attacker then places her ships witin 8" of the table edge farthest from the

L-point.

Objectives

The attacker gets 1000 points if the defector enters the L-point and activates the Warp Pod. The Defender if the defector ship is captured. No bonuses are given if the defector ship is destroyed.

Protect Outpost from Destruction

The attacker has discovered a secret enemy listening post, and has sent a force to destroy it. The defenders small defense force must protect the outpost.

Fleet Composition

The attacker may use her own fleet. The defender gets 3/4 of her fleet. The outpost is considered a ship with no cloak or thrust. All attacks automatically hit the Hull. The outpost has 100 Hull points.

Setup

Roll a d10 to decide the diameter of the planet the outpost is on. The edge of the planet is marked to designate exactly where the outpost is. Place the planet roughly in the center of the board.

The defender sets up first, within 12" of the planet. The attacker sets up within 6" of any edge of the table.

Objectives

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The attacker has learned of a productive enemy outpost in a sensitive location, and has decided to take it.

Fleet Composition

The attacker gets her entire fleet. The defender gets 1/2 of her total fleet value.

Setup

Roll a d10 to determine the diameter of the planet, and place it roughly in the center of the board. The defender selects a point on the edge of the planet to designate the outpost.

The defender places her fleet first. All ships must be within 12" of the planet. The attacker then places her ships within 6" of any table edge.

Objectives

If the outpost is not captured, the defender recieves 1000 points. If the outpost is captured, the attacker recieves 1000 points.

Grab and Hold

An asteroid field has been discovered with deposits of extremely rare and valuable minerals. Two fleets are sent to retrieve the minerals, and arrive at the richest spot at the same time.

In this scenario, both players are considered the attacker. The goal is to retrieve valuable asteroids and leave the board with them.

Fleet Composition

Both players may use their entire fleet. Note that a hangar is needed for each asteroid retrieved. Any fighters displaced by asteroids are considered destroyed.

Setup

Roll a d4+2 to determine the number of valuable asteroids. One player places the asteroids at least 15" from the edge of the table.

Roll d10+4 to determine the number of asteroids. The players take turns placing asteroids.

The player who did not place the valuable asteroids sets her ships first, then the player who placed the valuable asteroids. All ships must start within 6" of the table edge.

Objectives

For each valuable asteroid recovered, the player recieves 500 points.

Notes:

Asteroids must be stored in hangars. To pick up an asteroid, the ship must end the turn at a stop within 1" of the asteroid. At the beginning of movement next turn, the asteroid is removed and ship may

maneuver normally.

If a ship is destroyed, all asteroids inside are released with the same velocity and direction as the ship which carried them. Any asteroids that leave the table are lost.

Battle in Asteroids

An enemy outpost was discovered in an asteroid belt, and a fleet sent to destroy it. However, the enemy anticipated the attack and laid in wait in the asteroids.

Fleet Composition

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Roll d10+4 to determine the number of asteroids. The players take turns placing asteroids until all are placed.

The defender places 1/2 of her fleet value within 8" of one end of the board. Then the attacker places her entire fleet within 8" of the opposite edge. The defender then places the remainder of her fleet

anywhere 16" or more from the attacker's table edge.

Objectives

The attacker must get as many ships as possible to exit the table on the Defender's side.

Notes

The attacker recieves 500 points to make up for the defender's ambush.

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Documents

Rules For Attack Vector