Overview

Star Navy is a two or more player space battle game played on a hex map.  Space battle games tend to be rules-heavy.  This game is designed to minimize rules and maximize fun.

Ship placement and movement is hex based.  Action takes place at sublight speeds according to Newtonian physics, although ships may disengage at light speed. 

Materials

1. hex map
2. print out of the Star Navy Tables
3. four dice

Each player should have the following:

1. a ship
2. a printed copy of a ship console: Chicago Class Dreadnought, Detroit Class Battleship, Milwaukee Class Cruiser, Saint Louis Class Frigate, Pittsburgh Class Destroyer, or Cincinnati Class Corvette
3. some kind of screen to hide the console (optional)
4. 23 markers
5. a felt tip pen

Use a counter from another game or a penny with a design taped on as a ship.  Use small hex nuts for markers.

Victory Conditions

Assign an arbitrary point value to the region of space in play (e.g. 3).  The last player remaining in the area scores that value.  In addition apply the following:

• Players lose 2 points for any of their own ships destroyed or captured.
• Players lose 1 point for any of their own ships still in possession but strategically disabled (unable to move at light speed).
• Players gain 2 points for capture of any opponents' ships which are not strategically disabled.
• Players gain 1 point for capture of any opponents' ships which are strategically disabled.

Ship Systems

A ship has six outer sections which contain hulls, shields, weapons, capacitors and thrusters.  These sections face corresponding adjacent hexes on the map.  The sections in the front are the Left Front, Front, and Right Front.  The sections in the rear are the Left Rear, Rear, and Right Rear.  (Forgive the non-nautical terminology.)  A ship has one inner section which contains engines, interstellar drives (ISDs), marines, and integrity.

Energy is periodically generated by the engines (1 point per engine) and stored for a time in the capacitors (1 point per capacitor).  Energy allocated to other systems is first taken from the capacitors; then if they are empty directly from the engines.

Engines as a group and capacitors as a group are marked to show how much energy they currently hold.  Thrusters, shields, weapons and inter-steller drives (ISDs) are likewise marked to show activated components.  As system components are destroyed, use a felt tip pen to cross them off.

When allocating energy to systems, a player can always choose to activate fewer than the available components (presumably to reduce energy consumption).

The frequency of use of some ship systems (such as weapons) may be limited.  For these systems a status ("Ready", "Recover") must be tracked.

Setup

Place each ship in a hex on the map; face the ship toward one adjacent hex.  Assign weapon types to each ship section: (C)annon, (L)aser, (P)ulser, or (T)orpedo; weapon types should be left-right symmetrical.  Mark capacitors and engines as completely full.  Choose and mark speed.  Mark all shields as fully activated.  Mark thrusters as 0 activated.  Set status of weapons, ISDs and marines to "Ready".

Turn Play

Turns are grouped into a six turn cycle, which is repeated as often as necessary.  Each individual turn is divided into the phases below.  At the end of the sixth turn in each cycle, a special Engine phase occurs.

1. Move
2. Command
3. Resolve
4. Engine (Turn 6 only)

Move Phase

Move all ships according to the Move Chart.  If a ship is scheduled to move, move it into the adjacent hex to which it is facing.  Ships in the same hex do not collide; they are simply stacked.

If a ship moves within one hex of a mine, the mine explodes and damages all ships within range.  For each ship, roll a die; determine the ship's hit section according to the Section Hit table.  Apply 12 points of damage to the hit section.

If a ship moves into an asteroid hex, determine damage (see Terrain).

Resolve all damage due to movement (see Resolve Phase: Damage).

Command Phase

Players may execute one command from the following list:

• Turn Left
• Turn Right
• Fire weapons from one ship section
• Board another ship

Mark the command on the Ship Console and apply the necessary energy.

The energy cost of turning is the ship's speed (less 1 for cruisers/ frigates; less 2 for destroyers/ corvettes).  Mark a corresponding number of thrusters as activated.

The energy cost of firing is 1 point per weapon.  Weapons are fired by ship section.  Weapons in a ship section may be fired at most once every other turn cycle.  Only a section marked "Ready" may be fired; move the marker to the number of activated weapons.  Weapons are effective at range 1 to 15 hexes from the target.  And the target must be within a 60° firing sweep (30° either side of the center of the firing section).

Mines are technically weapons, but they operate differently than the others.  Dropping a mine requires no energy.  One mine may be dropped every turn.  A mine must be placed two hexes straight behind the ship, and no ship may be within one hex of the mine at that moment.  Cross off the mine on the Ship Console as if the mine were destroyed.

Boarding marines require no energy.  Marines may be deployed at most once every other turn cycle.  Marines may only be deployed if marked "Ready"; move the marker to the number of activated marines (that is, all available).  Marines are effective at range 0 to 3 hexes from the target.

Resolve Phase

Perform the following:

1. Turn
2. Fire
3. Damage
4. Board

Resolve Phase: Turn

Execute all commanded turns simultaneously as a 60° turn.  Each turning ship should face a new adjacent hex.

Resolve Phase: Fire

Execute all commanded firing simultaneously.  Choose targets at this time; if pertinent, roll dice to determine order of player choosing.  The target must be within a range of 1 to 15 hexes, and be within a 60° firing sweep (30° either side of the center of the firing section).

If lasers are fired, determine the damage to target for each laser by range according to the Laser Damage table above.  Total the damage for all lasers fired from a section and apply to one section of the target ship.  Roll a die; determine the target's hit section according to the Section Hit table above.  Orientation refers to whether the firing ship is facing exactly one section of the target, etc.  The section hit may be to the immediate left or right of the facing section.  "Lesser Facing" refers to the lesser facing of two sections that face the firing ship, not a section on the far side.

If torpedoes are fired, roll a die for each torpedo; each result greater than the speed of the target counts as a hit.  Torpedoes may hit different sections; for each hitting torpedo, roll another die and use the Section Hit table above.  A hitting torpedo inflicts 6 points of damage.

Pulsers inflict a small amout of damage to each section of the target ship.  If pulsers are fired, determine the damage to the target's sections by number of pulsers fired according to the Pulser Damage table above.  Roll a die; determine the target's primary hit section according to the Section Hit table above.  Apply the larger damage number to the hit section and to both adjacent sections.  Apply the smaller damage number to each of the three remaining sections. 

Cannons degrade over time.  If cannons are fired, roll a die for each cannon; total the die results.  If the cannons had been fired once previously, subtract the number of cannons currently firing from the results.  If the cannons had been fired at least twice previously, subtract twice the number of cannons currently firing from the results.  Apply the remaining amount as damage to one section of the target ship.  Roll a die; determine the target's hit section according to the Section Hit table above.  Track the number of times the cannons have been fired by circling the "1" or "2" cannon on the Ship Console.

For the above weapons, if the firing ship and/or the target is in an asteroid field hex, adjust accordingly (see Terrain).

If a mine is dropped, place it (use a marker) two hexes straight behind the ship.  No ship may be within one hex of the mine at that moment. 

Resolve Phase: Damage

Total all damage to a ship section from all firing sources.  Active shields in the hit section absorb and reduce a corresponding number of damage points.  De-activate the applicable shields.  Active shields in excess of the damage remain active.

Each point of unabsorbed damage destroys one ship component.  Roll a die and use the table below to determine which are destroyed.  Descend the resulting column until the requisite number of components are identified.  If a component does not exist, move on to the next.  If the bottom of a column is reached, move to the top of the next column to the right.  Wrap back around to column 1 as necessary.  Cross off destroyed components on the Ship Console.

Hulls, shields and weapons in the hit section only may be affected.  "Cap/Thr" results in a destroyed capacitor if the hit section is in the front half of the ship; it results in a destroyed thruster in the rear half.

If the ship loses all integrity, it immediately collaspses into space dust.

Resolve Phase: Board

Execute all commanded boardings one at a time; if more than one player is attempting to board, roll dice to determine order.  Effective range is 0-3.

To attempt a board, roll a die.  If the result exceeds the number of active shields in any section of the target ship, the board succeeds.  A battle then ensues.

Defenders fire first.  Roll one die for each defending marine; each result of 5 or 6 destroys one opposing marine.  Attackers then either retreat or fire.  Repeat until attackers retreat or no defenders remain, in which case the ship is captured.

If the ship is captured, control passes to the capturing player.  The player may immediately distribute remaining marines between the two ships.

Engine Phase

This phase only occurs at the end of turn 6 of the turn cycle.  Each player performs the following:

1. Activate shields, activate ISDs, and/or change speed (first opportunity).
2. Empty capacitors (energy is lost).
3. Transfer all remaining engine energy to capacitors.
4. Fill engines completely with fresh energy.
5. Activate shields, activate ISDs, and/or change speed (second opportunity).
6. Attempt interstellar travel.
7. Advance the status of systems.

The energy cost of activating shields is ½ point per shield; therefore activate two shields with each point of energy.  Mark the shields accordingly.  Shields stay active in perpetuity, or until they absorb damage.

The energy cost of activating ISDs is 1½ points per ISD; therefore activate two ISDs with each three points of energy.  ISDs may be fired at most once every other turn cycle.  They may only be activated if they were marked "Ready" at the beginning of the Engine phase; mark the applicable ISDs as activated.  (Note the status will quickly change to "Recover" at the end of the phase.)  ISDs may not be fired inside an asteroid hex.

The energy cost of changing speed is 1 point per acceleration/deceleration step (less 1 from the total for cruisers/ frigates; less 2 for destroyers/ corvettes).  Mark a corresponding number of thrusters as activated.  Speed must be in the range 0-6.  Mark the new speed accordingly.

Additional components of the same or different systems may be activated during the second opportunity.

Engine Phase: Interstellar Travel

Attempt all interstellar travel one at a time; if more than one player is attempting, roll dice to determine order.

To attempt interstellar travel, roll a die; if the result is less than or equal to the number of active ISDs, interstellar travel is achieved.  If successful, to permanently disengage, remove the ship from the map.  Otherwise, place the ship in any desired location, with any desired facing and speed.  Mark the new speed accordingly.

Interstellar positioning is not precise; after all travelling ships have been placed, perform the following procedure on each ship to reflect this.  Roll a die to identify a ship section.  A result of 1 identifies the front section; 2 identifies the right front section, etc.  Roll another die and slide the ship the number of hexes matching the die result in the direction of the identified section.  Note this procedure only changes the ship's location, not its facing or speed.  Repeat this procedure a second time.

Engine Phase: Advance Status

Advance the status of a weapons, ISDs, and marines.  If a number of components are activated, set status to "Recover"; if the status is already "Recover" set back to "Ready".  Mark thrusters as 0 activated.  Leave active shields alone.

Terrain

Planets or moons of any size may be placed on the map during setup.  Such objects do not block line of sight for any weapons.  Ships running into such objects are destroyed. 

Asteroid fields of any size may be placed on the map during setup.  A ship moving into an asteroid field hex suffers damage equal to half its speed (round up) on or near its Front section.  Roll a die and use the "Facing Exactly One" portion of the Section Hit table to determine whether the Left Front, Front, or Right Front sections is hit.

An asteroid field does not block line of sight for any weapons.  However, for any ship firing weapons from inside an asteroid hex, and/or at a ship in an asteroid hex, consider the effective number of weapons to be one less than the actual number.  Mines operate normally.  ISDs are ineffective inside an asteroid field hex.

The edge of the map may be declared during setup as floating, "sticky", or solid.  Ships running into a sticky edge stay where they are until they are able to turn away.  Though they do not appear to be moving, their speed is still considered to be their marked speed.  Ships running into a solid edge are destroyed.

Appendix