BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
Full Thrust/Fleet Book 1 and 2 Space
Combat Rules Adaptation
If you are reading this, you
are either a die-hard BSG addict in dire need of continued “fix” now that the
series has come to an end (here’s hoping for a few “prequels”) or someone
impressed by Jon Tuffley’s innovative, flexible, and easy to use generic space
combat rules, Full Thrust (FT), especially their Fleet Book (FB) incarnations.
Or, if you are like me, both.
Because, having given some
thought to finding a rules system that would capture the “feel” of BSG battles,
I came to the conclusion that the FT/FB rules can be readily adapted to capture
the essence of space combat in the BSG universe.
The “Feel”
One of the many strong
aspects of the new BSG series were the spectacular, dramatic space combat
sequences which (like much of the rest of the series) have set a high bar for
science fiction TV and movie producers to reach. Space combat in the series
tends to occur between relatively small numbers of Colonial and Cylon
spacecraft, which are big, majestic and…lethal. Although the ships (fighters
excepted) do not exactly dash about the TV screen, combat between them, once
joined, tends to be extremely violent and swiftly resolved in favor one or the
other side. For that reason, the ships designs listed below tend to be bigger
than the norm of the Fleet Book designs, and have relatively low thrust
ratings.
Moreover, BSG space combat
is characterized by the lethality of fighter craft (capable of carrying nuclear
missiles, after all), so much so that keeping enemy fighters away from own
capital ships is a major design and tactical concern for BSG commanders of both
sides, much more so than in normal FT games. This necessitates a few rules
changes (see below).
The final attraction of BSG
battles is their asymmetry. Colonial and Cylon craft follow radically different
design philosophies (strikingly reflected in their appearance) and tactical
doctrines. Ship designs in this section attempt to capture these differences.
The Cylons
As far as sci-fi villains
go, few project a greater air of menace than the Cylons. An appearance of a
single baseship or a flight of raiders is enough to get the attention of
everyone concerned. The sheer scale, ferocity, and relentlessness of combined
missile and fighter onslaught from multiple Cylon baseships leaves a strong
impression of an irresistible force being unleashed. If the Cylon ships have a
weakness, it is their relative fragility, as they tend to not last very long
once subjected to sustained attack.
In FT/FB terms, Cylon
weaponry is best represented by a combination of SMLs, fighters, and
submunition packs, with the following special rules.
SMLs are capable of
all-round (i.e., six arc) fire, with no additional weight cost per launcher.
Cylons use reloadable
submunition packs, with each additional shot (or reload) costing half a weight
point.
Cylon baseships reactionless
drive is best represented by allowing them to use Kra’vak vector movement.
Cylon raiders are considered
to be Torpedo Fighters, with the following changes: They do not suffer any
penalties in combat against other fighters, and may use their torpedo ability
in every attack (subject only to endurance limits). For conversion purposes,
each fighter unit in these rules is considered to represent 20 fighters (and
each fighter bay accommodation for 20 fighters), rather than the standard 6 in
the FT/FB rules. However, this does not affect combat resolution in any other
way. Each Cylon fighter unit is assumed to be a combination of normal and heavy
raiders.
Submunition packs (here
representing Cylon short-range missiles) may act as single-shot PDSs.
Secondary explosions: one of
the observed key weaknesses of Cylon baseships is that once struck, their vast
stores of munitions appear to contribute to their own ships’ destruction, as
evidenced by the spectacular fireballs accompanying the break-up of a baseship.
Whenever a salvo missile launcher is destroyed due to a threshold check, all of
the missiles still in the launcher are automatically lost. However, conduct a
threshold check on each of the remaining salvoes to check for a secondary
explosion. Any salvo that fails the check is treated as an SML strike on the
ship, with no possibility of defensive fire.
With that in mind, we have:
Classification: Cylon Baseship
Displacement: 57,000 tonnes
(MASS Factor 570)
Crew: Crew Factor 29
Armament:
6 Salvo Missile Launchers,
each with a 6-salvo magazine
6 Submunition Packs, each
with 6 reloads
Defenses: none
Sensor Suite:
Standard Sensors
6 Fire Controls
1 Area Defense Fire Control
Drive Systems:
Hangars: 24 Fighter Bays
Colonial Forces
As menacing as the Cylons
are, they have more than worthy adversaries in the form of Colonial
battlestars, which follow a rather different design philosophy. While Cylon
battle tactics focus on swamping the enemy with waves of missiles and
expendable (and resurrectable…) raiders which really represent the business end
of a baseship, since Colonial forces do not have the luxury of resurrecting
viper pilots, their approach to space warfare has been different.
Thus, if the baseships
represent irresistible force, battlestars as close to an immovable object as
you can find. Their durability and resilience is their most remarkable
characteristics, next to the sheer volume of defensive fire. And although battlestars carry a strong fighter
complement, it would appear their main anti-ship weapon are the heavy
mass-driver weapons, forward-firing in the case of heavy weapons, and
turret-mounted for lighter weapons.
The following special rules
are in effect for Colonial forces:
As for Cylons, each fighter
squadron represents 20 vipers and raptors, and each fighter bay can accommodate
20 fighters. Each colonial fighter squadron is assumed to be a mix of vipers
and raptors.
Colonial fighters are
treated as both Torpedo Fighters and Interceptors, with none of the negative
characteristics associated with each type. The torpedo ability can be used in
every turn the fighter is operational.
Turret-mounted Class 1 and
Class 2 Kinetic Guns have a highly effective anti-fighter role. They may be
targeted against fighters and missiles instead of capital ships. Roll to score
a hit normally. If a hit is scored, it is equivalent of fighters being attacked
by a Kra’vak scattergun.
Both Class 1 and Class 2
Kinetic Guns are treated as having all-around fire arc, with no additional mass
cost.
Colonial Point Defense
Systems should be treated as Kra’vak scatterguns, but with unlimited shots (one
shot per turn limit still applies).
Normal vector movement
should be used.
Galactica
Classification: Battlestar (Early Model)
Displacement: 45,000 tonnes
(MASS Factor 450)
Crew: Crew Factor 22
Armament:
12 Class-2 Kinetic Guns
4 Salvo Missile Racks
Defenses:
12 Point Defense Systems
Grade 40 Armor
Sensor Suite:
Standard Sensors
4 Fire Controls
1 Area Defense Fire Control
Drive Systems:
Hangars: 8 Fighter Bays
The Mercury-Class
battlestars, including the Pegasus, appear to be bigger, with a stronger
fighter complement, and more powerful weaponry.
Pegasus
Classification: Battlestar (Late Model)
Displacement: 64,000 tonnes
(MASS Factor 640)
Crew: Crew Factor 32
Armament:
4 Class-4 Kinetic Guns
16 Class-2 Kinetic Guns
4 Salvo Missile Racks
Defenses:
14 Point Defense Systems
Grade 50 Armor
Sensor Suite:
Standard Sensors
4 Fire Controls
1 Area Defense Fire Control
Drive Systems:
Hangars: 10 Fighter Bays
Apart from the battlestars,
it is evident that other combat ship classes exist as well in the BSG universe.
Bill Adama is known to have commanded several, so they must exist. Question is,
what kind of an escort makes sense in a threat environment where the basic
building block of Cylon power is a baseship. Fighting Cylons seems like an
all-or-nothing proposition, either you are coasting peacefully through space or
you are fighting off swarms of raiders and missiles. A viable, survivable,
non-expendable (and there is no reason to believe Colonial forces believe in
expendability, given the defensive abilities of their battlestars) escort would
therefore have to be a fairly substantial ship, with formidable staying power
in its own right.
Moreover, the question
arises what kind of an escort does a battlestar need. It seems there are two
roles an escort could provide. One, augment battlestar’s defensive anti-fighter
firepower. Two, compensate for the relative difficulty a battlestar will
experience in bringing its heavy guns to bear against the slightly more nimble baseships
(more nimble on account of their modified vector movement). In my view, and on
the basis of fan drawings of escort ships, the following seems like a
reasonable escort vessel of which a battlestar could use a couple in its
battlegroup.
Tiger
Classification: Colonial Destroyer
Displacement: 18,700 tonnes
(MASS Factor 187)
Crew: Crew Factor 9
Armament:
12 Class-2 Kinetic Guns
2 Class-4 Kinetic Guns
Defenses:
8 Point Defense Systems
Grade 20 Armor
Sensor Suite:
Standard Sensors
3 Fire Controls
1 Area Defense Fire Control
Drive Systems:
Hangars: None
Another speculative ship
type is the skirmishstar, one of the several interesting classes of ships to
spring from the fertile minds of the show’s legion of fans.
Classification: Colonial Light Skirmishstar
Displacement: 11,800 tonnes
(MASS 118 Factor)
Crew: Crew Factor 6
Armament:
6 Class-2 Kinetic Guns
Defenses:
6 Point Defense Systems
Grade 20 Armor
Sensor Suite:
Standard Sensors
3 Fire Controls
1 Area Defense Fire Control
Drive Systems:
Hangars: 2 Fighter Bays
Mike J.
The J-8 Shop
http://geocities.datacellar.net/pmj6/