Return to Gaming and Encounter One - Variants

 It's been a while since I last posted to the Blog. Life has been going on and my interests moved to other hobbies. Sailing Pond Yachts for example. Lately I have reconnected with some of my old wargames buddies at the Hull and East Riding Wargames Club formerly North Hull Wargamers.  I fancy rolling a few dice and moving models round the table top again.

I even picked up a set of Napoleonics rules (De Bellis Napoleonicis). These look interesting and well thought out, I like the way they work and they only need relatively small numbers of figures. As it is I don't have any Napoleonics figures, but I know some people who do...

I have also been thinking about Encounter One. I fancy playing a few games or running them for someone else to try, just to see how well they play and how fleets evolve. With this in mind, I have come up with a few variant rules that could do with play testing.

I have also updated my Spaceships Miniatures page, adding links for Monday Knight Productions, Khurasan Miniatures and Irregular Miniatures. 

Encounter One - Table Size

Encounter One was written for games clubs were 6'x8' or larger tables were readily available. The recommended scale of one Metral to one centimetre reflects this. But it means firing can start at 200cm or more. These days we are lucky to get a 6'x4' table to play on. I suggest using one centimetre to two Metrals. This should allow for some manoeuvre before effective firing starts. 

If I wanted to be really radical, I might suggest keeping movement distances at one centimetre to one Metral while using one centimetre to two Metral for firing ranges. This needs testing out.

Encounter One - Game Set Up

The standard set up is for two fleets of equal points value encounter each other head on across (or along) the table. While this set up is pretty common in Sci Fi media (e.g. Star Trek), it does seem rather limiting to me. There are plenty of other options for a set up, e.g. Convoy or Fleet defence; Pursuit; Ambush; Planetary system defence; Piracy or Commerce Raiding; etc. 

Mix it up a bit. 

• Dice for entry points on the table. 
• Dice for when fleets come onto the table.
• Take a Hyper Space jump into the battle space. 
• If fleets are split vary the entry points for each division.
• Consider victory conditions other than comparing losses. e.g. Save the merchant convoy; Delay the enemy for so many turns; Break through the enemy line; Find the lady; Capture the Starbase,  etc. 
• Look at historic naval battles, see how they could be replayed in space.
• Put a planet on the table and use the gravity rules.

Have Fun. 

Encounter One - Fire Control Systems

All ships ships of mass ten or above except Novans, need a Fire Control System (FCS). Novans Bridge system counts as their FCS. Rim Raiders also control their Shield alignment using FCS. If a FCS is damaged all weapons fire is at half effect immediately. If your ship can repair or has a secondary fire control then your ship can regain full effective fire. It's not stated how long it takes to restore Fire Control, but I would go with the rules for secondary Bridges and use two (Fire) turns.

Other spaceship rules link Fire Control systems with the number of targets that a ship can engage. Encounter One doesn't, a ship can engage as many targets as it has weapons systems. 

As a variant rule, you could try playing E1 so ships engage one target each turn at full fire effect for each Fire Control system they have. If they have more targets than Fire Control, then they engage surplus targets at half effect as if they had taken a FC hit. Novans may engage extra targets for each secondary Bridge they carry. This gives a reason for carrying a secondary FCS beyond spare parts.

The disadvantage of this system comes if you are facing swarms of enemy ships.

Edited for clarity 10th April 2023