Encounter One - 2021 Edition
Encounter One is a tabletop wargame for battles with miniature space ships. Encounter One was written by Phil Brough and Malcolm Booth as Starfleet Studies. Both were members of Sheffield Wargame Society. They were published by Tabletop Games with some ships produced by QT Miniatures. The third edition was published in 1983.
The ship design system in Encounter One is relatively simple. You select weapons, defences, drives and other systems up to an agreed points total. Each item adds one mass and one Hull box to your ship. The more equipment your ship has the bigger it is and the more Drives you need to move or turn it. The seven (and a half) different 'Races' in Encounter One, each have various advantages and special systems. It is a challenge to make the most of your fleet and minimise its disadvantages.
Turn Sequence and movement are straight forward. There are no written orders required, ships align their shields, then move in sequence alternating between players moving one ship or squadron at a time. When all ships have moved attacks are carried out, once again alternating between players.
The combat system may look complex at first but it is easy to pick up. Beam weapons always hit, but the damage they do is reduced by range, target mass, tactical factors and the target's shields. Missiles have a chance of hitting (or missing) and may be stopped by point defence. If they hit they do one or two points of damage. Each point of damage takes out a Hull box or ship system. Hit location is random, it is possible to disable a ship with one hit if a vital system such as the Reactor, Bridge or Drive is struck.
There are rules for Morale, Fighters, Tractor Beams, Boarding Actions by Space Marines and the effects of Gravity around Planets.
I may be a bit nostalgic, but I still like this game and going through the rules again just reinforce that opinion. I would like to play it again and see others playing it. To that end and with Malcolm Booth's cooperation I have produced an updated set of Encounter One rules that you can download and try for yourself.
The new version of Encounter One - 2021 edition rules can be downloaded for your own use as a pdf file here:
If you do try it out, please let us know how you get on or if you have any questions.
Malcolm Booth
Chris Nicole
Encounter One - Ship Design Spreadsheet
I have prepared some resources for Encounter One that may be useful. The first is a ship design spreadsheet in Google Sheets format. There are worksheets for each Race showing the equipment they use and the points cost for each.
Note. You do not need a spreadsheet to design ships. Pen, paper and some basic maths will do the job. The spreadsheets are handy if you want a digital copy of your designs or to print them out.
I usually run up a ship design on the spreadsheet then copy and paste to a word processor and take out the bits I don't need.
You are free to download these to your own device to use:
Encounter One - Fire Chart
Encounter One - Quick Reference Sheets
- Fire Charts
- Missile Range Charts
- Tactical Factors
- Movement, Turns and Acceleration
- Tractors
- Morale
7th May 2023
Encounter One - Turning Gauge
A handy widget useful for manoeuvring your model space ship
s on the table top. This one can turn to Port or Starboard. Scale 1cm to 1 Metral. Print it to scale onto self adhesive label paper, stick to a suitable piece of card, mdf or plastic and then carefully cut it out.
Free download in *.pdf and *.gif format. Other formats can be made available on request.
If anyone has a laser cutter, I would be delighted if they could cut a couple for me!
14th June 2023
Thank you so much for bringing this game to light!
ReplyDeleteGive it a try and let us know how you get on. You may need a few games with different fleets to work out your designs and tactics.
ReplyDeleteHave fun!