Dragon Flight v3.4 - Play Test

 On Wednesday 22nd April I ran a game of Dragon Flight at Dad's War Room in Sutton on Hull.

Three players, Lee, Aaron and Dave each took a pre-generated 30GP dragon. I refereed the Gold Rush scenario. We played on a 6x4 table with a game mat supplied by Joe. Dragons, chocolate coin treasures, flying stands, and a lair were all provided by me.  The lair, a stone tower was placed in the centre of the table and the coins scattered round it. The players were tasked with stealing treasures, before Skegness the Great Red Dragon returned to her lair. The treasures were at ground level, so a dragon had to either land next to a coin, and take off again next turn. Or make a Swoop and grab, dipping to ground level and rolling 4 or better on their Wings dice.

They could also attempt to steal treasure from each other in flight by making a successful Strike and stealing a coin instead of inflicting damage. 

As the treasure was at ground level, most of the action took place at Height Band 2 or less. Also, we determined that the Tower Lair was 2 high, so they had to avoid flying into it. 

Lee took the Big Green: Vent Vert

Name: Vent Vert (Large Green)

Attribute Dice Prowess GP: 30

Body:     D10     +1     11

Wings:     D8     +1      9

Strike:     D8     +1      9

Breath:     -     -     -

Defence: -         +1      1

Aaron had the Spotted Copper

Name: Spotted Copper (Small Green)

Attribute Dice Prowess GP: 30 

Body:     D6     +2        9 

Wings:     D10   +1     11 

Strike:     D6     +1     7 

Breath:     -     -     - 

Defence:     +2         3

And Dave had the Night Fox, the only one with a breath weapon.

Name: Night Fox

Attribute Dice Prowess GP: 30

Body:     D6     +1     7

Wings:     D8     +1     9

Strike:     D6     +1     7

Breath:     D6     -     6

Defence:     -     +1     1

Once the basic rules, manoeuvres and turn sequence were explained, the game went pretty well. Lee with the Large Green got a head start swooping and taking a couple of treasures, only to be robbed by Aaron's Spotted Copper. Dave with Night Fox avoided the initial skirmish to take a few treasures of his own. Most of the coins were picked up early in the game, then it went into a general scramble as they tried stealing from each other. 

Dave lined up a flame blast and managed to hit both, but they saved against the damage and escaped with a bit of soot and a light charring. Aaron went on the attack, harrying the Big Green and causing a couple of wounds. Unfortunately, Aaron lost his treasure to a sneak steal from Dave. Lee made it back to his Lair, losing height and trailing smoke. But he did keep his treasure. We finished the game after this. Lee and Dave had the most treasure, but Aaron got Victory Points for defeating Lee's Dragon.

All players had a good time, the game worked pretty much as intended, and I got a few pointers for improvements and clarifications.

Take Aways from this Play Test.

1. Dragon Kite Templates- We should have used the double size Kite templates to match the size of the model Dragon's. Or I need to make some smaller dragons. 
2. Bases - We used disposable wine glasses. These are about 6cm diameter. We found it easier to plot movement, by leap frogging bases. So long as all fliers are using the same bases this does not break the game, but it does change it. Leapfrogging does give an advantage to smaller dragons as they add their base size to each Manoeuvre. For a d6 body, it effectively doubles their movement. It also doubles their turn radius. Choose between convenience or precision. 
3. Breath Weapons - As the only dragon with a Breath Weapon, Dave felt they were rather ineffective. Having said that, he was rolling a D6 for Breath. It is an Area Effect weapon, so he managed to catch both rival dragons in one blast, and Breath Weapons let a dragon make a ranged attack without risking a counter strike. Using a flamethrower as an anti aircraft gun is always likely to be problematic, but it is good for ground attack. Still it needs further looking into.
4. Manoeuvre Diagrams - I still need to prepare these...
5. Prowess - Prowess is undervalued. It should be at least 2GP for +1. As is, it gives too much advantage for its GP cost. Probably Defence too. I will also need to repoint the example dragons to suit. 
6. The Swoop and Grab rules need writing into the game. We modified the Swoop manoeuvre (2 moves) to allow grabbing an item off the ground by rolling 4+ on Wings to succeed. 
7. The Stealing rules need writing into the game. A successful Strike attack scoring more than the opponents Counter or Evasion allows the attacker to steal an item (or crew) instead of inflicting damage. 
8. Crashing into the ground needs further thought. The rules are over complex and ineffective at the low Height Bands they were flying. 
9. Stoop or Plummet rules need adding to Manoeuvres. If a Dragon descends three or more Height Bands in a single move, then they need to make a Wings Roll scoring more than the number of Height Bands lost. Failure means the flier must descend one more Height Band before recovering control.

Dragon Fight v 3.2 rewriting.

 

I have been offered opportunity to run Dragon Fight game at my local games club. I need to finish writing the rules, or get them up to a presentable state, print them (I don't have a printer), acquire some suitable terrain for dragon lairs, and make up a few more bits and bobs. All of which is distracting me from rewriting my WW2 game (Slammer SMLE).

The core rules worked last time I tested them. I am expanding on the Advanced / optional rules, and it needs more diagrams. Maybe more dragons too...

In the latest amendment, I have taken out the Speed Kills Advanced Rules. These were a hold over from Fokker Fodder where they worked pretty well for biplanes with a set speed. In Dragon Fight they just added complexity without significant benefit. Having taken them out, I now need to adjust some of the Movement Point (MP) values for Climb and Dive manoeuvres. Climbing should cost more MP's and Losing height should cost less MP's. Previously these were compensated by gains or loss of Speed.

I also need to adjust the initial Wings rolls for Precedence and Movement Points. Previously these were adjusted by adding or subtracting Speed points. 

Now, If your Dragon has gained one or more Height Bands due to climbing, then reduce their Wings dice down one step.

If your Dragon lost one or more Height Bands due to swooping, diving or other manoeuvres but not due to a combat result. then increase their Wings dice up one step.

Generally one dice step changes the average score by +/- 1 point. A Dragon that climbs gains on precedence due to the greater Height Band, but loses on Movement Points due to the effort spent in climbing and loss of momentum. A Dragon that has lost Height in a dive reduces their Precedence due to the lower Height Bands, but gains MP due to 'going downhill'. I look forward to seeing how it plays out in practice.

Lastly, I am considering changing the name of the Game. Apparently Dragon Fight is a popular Martial Arts/Street Fighter type computer/console game. Dragon Flight would be a better choice as the game is more about flying than fighting. I may need to change the spelling to avoid conflict with Anne McCaffrey's estate! How about Dragonne Flyght ? 

SMLE Cover and Concealment

 I am having another go at updating my SMLE WW2 Skirmish game. I had opportunity to play Bolt Action a few weeks ago. The game was set up as Ardenes, USA regular platoon plus 1 field gun defending an ammo depot at a river crossing. vs German veteran platoon plus Stug(H), Field gun, and Pak 40 on table. Additional tanks for both sides came on during the game.

I was playing the Americans. Units were on the table when I started. Most of my units were placed in woods. Others dashed to cover. All units were visible on the table. This buggered my Ambush orders as the Stug sniped my one Bazooka team before moving into range. They also took out my artillery spotter when the ref helpfully pointed out his hiding place. Twenty dice vs one chap! After that it was pretty much fire everything you've got, and buckets of dice.

Casualty rates are horrendous, gratuitous overkill, ineffective cover, short ranges for the figure scale. The Jerries won. 

I can see why it's popular. It plays very quickly, the game mechanisms appear simple, the toys are pretty, and it is very well supported, but it didn't suit me. However, it did get me thinking about SMLE again. I have revised my rules for Cover and Concealment and added a Task roll for spotting Concealed elements. Further modifications are in process...

Cover and Concealment

Concealment or Soft Cover makes the target harder to see (and shoot at) but provides little protection from incoming fire. Elements in Soft cover gain a -2 modifier to hit.

For example: woodland, fence or hedge lines, foliage, bushes, long grass, curtains or internal partitions. 

Hard Cover provides physical protection to the target and may stop incoming fire. Elements in Hard cover gain a -3 modifier to hit. They may also get some protection from hard cover for effects of hits, but I have not looked into that yet.

For example: Foxholes, entrenchments, prepared positions, concrete, brick or stone walls and buildings, ditches, hedge or river banks, raised roads, sandbags, barricades or vehicle armour.

Cover and Concealment can be linear such as a hedge, wall or ditch, or a defined area such as woodland, buildings, broken ground, etc. The extant and area of effect should be clearly defined on the table. Figures get benefit of cover or concealment if they are within an area of cover, or behind and within two inches of linear cover.

If a target element is moving into or out of cover, they are more difficult to hit. If a target figure could claim advantage for two or more different cover modifiers. e.g. Moving out of soft cover, into and out of sight into hard cover. Then just apply the modifier for the best cover. i.e. Hard Cover -3.

An element in cover or concealment can observe (and shoot) out of an area of cover or through linear cover if they are within 2 inches of the edge or line. If they are deeper within an area of cover, they cannot see out or be seen by an element outside the cover. This may be adjusted by scenario or terrain types and lighting conditions.

A team or figure that starts the game in Cover or Concealment should remain hidden until:

• They open fire;
• They move out of concealment in sight of an enemy unit;
• An enemy moves within Close Range (4 inches);
• They are located by a successful spotting attempt.
• They reveal themselves, either on purpose or by mischance.

You can use a discrete marker e.g. a dice or counter to indicate the general location of a concealed team. Once revealed, the team or figure should be placed on the table. Depending on scenario it may be appropriate to include some dummy markers.

Fire may be directed at a suspected enemy in concealment. Activation modifiers for being under fire are applied to the concealed unit. But no hits are counted against them until revealed.

Spotting Concealed Figures

An element within line of sight may attempt to spot a concealed enemy by making a Task roll against the suspected enemy position. One attempt per team is allowed each round. Appropriate modifiers should be applied to the roll. Special equipment such as binoculars or telescopic sights give a +2 modifier..

• If the roll is successful, and there are enemy at that location then one enemy figure is placed on table. If there are no enemy at that location this should be confirmed too.
• If the roll is successful and scores a double i.e. two sixes or two fives then all the figures in the enemy element are revealed and placed on table.
• If the roll is unsuccessful, then no enemy are revealed. The spotting team can attempt to spot again in the following round.
• If the roll is unsuccessful and scores a double i.e. two ones or two threes then no figures are revealed and no further attempts to spot may be made by that team against that position.

A Concealed element may reveal their location by mischance if they fail a task roll when moving along  linear cover, moving within an area of cover, or observing from cover. This only applies if there is an enemy element within line of sight that could spot the concealed element.

• If the roll is successful, then the element remains concealed.
• If the roll is unsuccessful, then one figure is placed on the table.
• If the roll is unsuccessful and scores a double i.e. two ones or two threes then all the figures in that element are placed on table.

These rules benefit from having a referee or umpire supervise the game. In the absence of a referee, then common sense should always be engaged.

28mm figure painting

Last week I entered the painting competition at Dads War Room in Sutton on Hull. They provided the figures ready assembled and primed white. We got to pick one figure each, from a set of Warlord WW2 US infantry. We were given space, reference materials and encouragement to paint the figure over the evening. Paints were available if needed, but I had brought my own, a mix of Valejo and artists acrylic tube paints.

Three of us old skool painters sat together, sharing paints, palettes and reminiscing whilst the young un's did their thing at another table. One couple had travelled up from Portland for the night as they are setting up their own War Room in Havant.

This was the first 28mm figure I have painted in nearly thirty years! At the end of the night club members voted on their favourite figure and the winners got prizes. Mine didn't place, but I am pleased with him and want to do some more.

I painted his hands and face first with a jar of tanned flesh lightened to suit. After giving it time to dry, he got a spot of eyeliner and lippy to lift his features. I didn't have an authentic USA uniform colour so mixed up Valejo Russian Green and British khaki for his tunic and trousers. Then used a lighter khaki for his pack, webbing and gaiters. Burnt umber picked out his boots and dagger, Paynes grey did his pistol in a nice gun blue. A couple of thin washes of Valejo smoke picked up the sculpted lines, seams and details. Then a very quick application of grass green on the base. 

With a bit more time he might have got a light dry brush to flatten the shine on his uniform and give it some highlights. But my yellow ochre had dried up and the dark earth appeared too green. 

Only issue is, I now have a starter for a new army in a new scale. I will need at least a squad, more probably a platoon, then maybe some vehicles...

I tried Bolt Action rules last visit to the War Room. For various reasons I'm not struck on them so I will need to find something else. I have been looking at Nordic Weasel Games five core rules, and I really ought to have another go with updating my own WW2 rules S.M.L.E.

Updates to Starship Miniatures page

Since the last post, I have been looking at Battle Fleet Gothic. This was Games Workshop's entry to Space ships games but has been out of production for about ten years. Fortunately it still has a strong fan following. There are a couple of very active discord groups and living editions of the rules, plus fleet lists, house rules, campaign games and much more. There are also quite a few miniatures producers making ships suitable for 'Gothic Space' games. Many of these are 3d printed resin. This allows for a lot of customisation, but means models are printed to order rather than held in stock. 

There are a lot more races, factions or styles of fleet offering a pretty good range of designs within the Gothic Space aesthetic. Many of these would be suitable for Encounter One or other games. Some of the huge Chaos ships might make suitable Auregans!

Check out the Starships Miniatures page and click through the links to see what's on offer.

• 8th March 2026 - Added Hydra Miniatures.
• 26th February 2026 - Added Bits Blitz, Bunker Miniatures, and Soulforge Spaceships.
• 6th February 2026 - Added Battlefleet Colosus, and Printed Starships. 
• Amended links. 
• Updated Irregular Miniatures to new site.
• 2nd February 2026 - Added Battlefleet Galaxy.
• 19th January 2026 - Added Zero Hour Starship Designs.

 

Game File downloads

 I have started moving some of my downloadable game files from my Google Drive to Wargame Vault. Earlier last year in cooperation with Ivan Sorensen of Nordic Weasel games, I moved my Slammer rules to Ivan's site on Wargame Vault. This has been a success from my point of view. A lot more people have downloaded the game, and some of them paid us a little money for the privilege.  

There have been issues lately were people have been unable to access my game files from the blog. If they contact me, I can email the files out directly. However it seems a better idea to post my files on a public server. This has several advantages for me. 

• The files are directly available without accessing my personal drive. 
• If there are any issues with access, then Wargame Vault should be better able to fix them. 
• It puts my games in a vastly bigger shop window with a lot more exposure. 
• I get stats on how many times my games are downloaded. 
• And, while I offer all my games as Pay What You Want, so customers can still download them for free, I am happy to accept payment if you feel like contributing to my hobby fund! :o)

Currently, Slammer, Fokker Fodder, and Encounter One - 2021 are available for download on Wargame Vault. Other games and resources may be added as I get around to them.

Chris Nicole Games - Wargame Vault 

I do still have a few printed copies of Encounter One available. 

If you would like a set, I am asking £5.00 plus postage. Email me Chris Nicole with a request and your address. I can then create an invoice for the full amount via PayPal. 

Cheers

2026 First post

Updates to my Spaceship Miniatures page.

Just a quickie, I have updated my Spaceship Miniatures page. As it hadn't been amended since 2023, it was long overdue. 

I have removed Iliada Game Studios and Magister Militum. As far as I am aware they have ceased trading. Note. Iliada still has STL designs on Wargame Vault, but the physical miniatures are no longer available.

However I have added six new (to me) producers and amended my links to two current producers.   

Please contact me if you know of any other Spaceship Miniatures producers that should be added to the list.

Added 

• Added Combat Zone Scenery; 
• EM4 Miniatures; 
• Little Metal Spaceships; 
• Martian Models; 
• Scourge Scenics; and
• Zero Hour Starship Designs. 

Amended links to 

• Brigade Models; and 
• Khurasan Miniatures.

Removed 

• Iliada Game Studios; and 
• Magister Militum. 

Slammer Legacy Edition on Wargame Vault

 A while ago I mentioned that I had been in discussion with a games creator and publisher regarding further development of Slammer. That creator is Ivan Sorensen at Nordic Weasel Games. Ivan is a long time supporter of Slammer and has often promoted the game.

If you are not already aware of Nordic Weasel games, then I recommend them very highly. They cover a wide range of periods and genres, using innovative game mechanisms. Examples include, Five Parsecs from Home, Renegade Scout, Laserstorm, Five Men at Kursk, History Dad WW2, etc.  Ivan is prolific in turning out new games and updating his existing range. They are very good and well worth a look through. 

Ivan has posted a copy of Slammer on Wargame Vault as a pay what you want.

If there is enough interest, we hope to look at creating a wholly new edition of Slammer, updating and expanding the rules. 

 Cheers, 

 Chris 

 

A message from Nordic Weasel Games via Wargame Vault.

Published back when the internet was young, I have worked with Chris Nicole to make his Slammer skirmish scifi rules available again.

This is a straight conversion of the original document, though in the coming months we hope to both tidy up the game and add some examples, diagrams and so forth as well as work to create a new, cool edition of the rules.

This Legacy edition makes the game available again, as the website had finally vanished into the ether and lets you enjoy a personal favourite game of mine. 

What IS Slammer? 

The Slammer rules are usable for a range of Hollywood-inspired science fiction skirmish action, complete with big heroes, cool space troopers and bug eyed aliens. 

Featuring a clever reaction table, the morale and well being of your troops will affect what actions they can perform each turn but gameplay still moves quite quickly. 

A starting game can play well with a handful of characters on each side, while you can easily play with a platoon once you understand how the game works. 

The rulebook currently clocks in at under 40 pages, giving all the basic stuff needed to play a game without a lot of waffling about. You are here to shoot bug eyed monsters right?"

It is available Pay What You Want (suggested 5 USD) here:

https://www.wargamevault.com/product/519467/Slammer-Legacy-Edition

A new era begins 

It has been a while since I posted here. Last year I retired from work, and I have been busy. We have been getting our house in order, we have bought a Motor Caravan and we have been away seeing the sights and having adventures.

Last week, after nearly thirty years online I closed my web account and deleted my home web site. 

My website www.loran.karoo.net has been completely removed, Slammer Rules and Army lists, along with the TFT Codex 2000, Loran campaign and all my other Web pages. 

My Internet provider changed hands a few years ago. Apparently, they decided to stop hosting websites back then. Existing sites including mine remained online, but I was unable to access it or make changes. I was not notified and had assumed it was a technical issue or my password. As I didn't need to update much it was more an inconvenience to me.

I contacted my provider about updating the site. This was when they told me they had stopped web hosting. I decided to close my account and was told it would end in early March. The next morning it had already gone.

 

Now the good news. 

1. I have backups. If there is any interest I could restore my site or pages with another host.
2. My blog site is still online (Here). I will create new pages for my games rules on the blog in due course. Slammer is back online already in a truncated form.
3. I am in discussions with a well known game designer and publisher about a new edition of Slammer. I will provide more news as soon as I have any.

Please contact me directly if you have any comments or queries.

Cheers,

Chris

Encounter One - back in print!

 Is there still a market for home published rules booklets ?

Way back in the mists of time, a lot of wargames rules were published by their authors as A5 stapled booklets with card covers, black and white text, and minimal illustrations. They might include a printed card quick reference sheet.

They were often sold by mail order or at games shows that the authors were attending. Some of them sold well enough to be stocked by games shops or miniatures producers.

Now most gamers have internet access and a home printer, so digital downloads seem to have the market covered. 

Over the years I have published a few wargames rules that have been freely available online as pdf documents. 

Recently, I printed off a small batch of the new edition of Encounter One. 

My primary intention is to gift copies to people that have helped or encouraged the project, secondary is to have some rule sets available when I play the game for new players to pick up. If there are any left after that, I would offer them for sale and hope to recover some of my costs. Mainly, I would just like to see people playing the game.

Would you buy a printed rule set, even if you can download the rules for free then print it yourself? 

What would you consider a reasonable price?

A5 stapled rules booklet, card cover, black and white, 42 pages + A4 card Quick Reference Sheet. 

Encounter One - Fleet Design Factions and Races

The Empire are my faction of choice. Their approach to ship design is Peace through Superior Fire Power. Bigger ships and more of them. My Empire ships follow a traditional design approach harking back to wet navies when Battleships ruled the waves and Gunboat Diplomacy was standard policy. They have the resources and infrastructure that allows for assembly-line production of warships. Unfortunately, that also makes it more difficult for them to change production or produce new designs. 

The Empire's Arrow missile has good range and accuracy making it an effective match for their Beam arrays. Their Fighters are inexpensive, so I have tended to include fighter bays on my warships rather than build dedicated carriers. If you like Star Wars or Warhammer, then the Empire could be a good fit for you.

The Federation may have the best equipment in the human sphere. They are versatile with access to most systems. Where the Empire will build a bigger ship and then more ships, the Federation will design and build a better ship. And then work on improving it. I have tended to associate the Federation with the authoritarian military regime from Blakes Seven. This was distinctly unfair as Encounter One's Federation are much closer to the progressive good guys of Asimov's Federation in opposition to the stratified conservatism and centralised control of the Empire.

I have come to expect Federation ships to make use of the special equipment such as Mirage Projectors and mine fields to sow confusion amongst their enemies. The Federation Bolt is the best in the game with longer range and better accuracy. As the Feds don't get Arrow missiles, Bolt fills the missile gap. Scatterpack may not be the wonder weapon it appeared in the earlier editions, but may still have some use at close range. Kennedy Fields are great in defence and can negate some other systems e.g. Tractors and Photon Torpedoes. The downside is, they reduce the effectiveness of your own fire and when your Kennedy Fields fail, they are likely to take out your ship too.  

If you like Star Trek, then the Feds may be a good fit for you.

Novans are utterly hostile aliens. Their focussed aggression and xenophobia make them very dangerous. Expect hyper-aggression from the Novans. Most of their ships are in the 20-35 mass 'Cruiser' range, and they fly them like fighters. Then Inertialess Drive lets them reset the table for their next attack run.  They lack Escorts and larger ships due to the cost penalty. Zen auto repair and Clever Metal make them hard to kill, they can soak up missile attacks and shrug them off, but Novan ships are expensive for their size. Their best weapon system is their Photon Torpedoes, unless going against Kennedy Fields. Their Dart is the best long range missile in the game. Fighters are cheap, so send them out in swarms.

ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK! KILL ALL THE HUMANS! EXTERMINATE!

Rim Raiders are chaotic but they are largely underpowered with few special weapons or defences. They excel in boarding actions. Their Farradyne Field will make a mockery of your grand fleet manoeuvres and shut down your fighters. Their Bolt is a decent weapon. Expect swarms of small ships, close action and prepare to repel boarders. Rim Raiders are the Pirates, Reivers, Star Vikings and Barbarians. Rim Raider ships are captured, re-built and bodged together. You can use a real mix of different styles including repurposed ships from other factions in a Rim Raider fleet.

Auregans are strange. It is never entirely clear whose side the Auregans are on, or even if they know which humans they are dealing with. Their distinct Morale rules can make them behave oddly. You can hire them as mercenaries, but they might not stay bought or commit themselves to battle. Their ships start at Mass 20 and get bigger, so manoeuvrability can be an issue. They have one decisive Ship Killer weapon system, but at most table top ranges it is pretty ineffective. They get masses of cheap defences and their Drones are effective. Their large mass can make weaponised Tractor Beams horribly effective, especially if several Auregans get in a tug-o-war. But for all their size, they are vulnerable to critical hits and they don't like to take damage.  

DO NOT POKE THE AUREGAN. 

The Great Houses are autonomous space faring factions within the Empire and Federation. Their policy tends to align with the Federation as they pursue their own interests rather than be subsumed by the great Powers. They have access to most systems and decent equipment at reasonable cost. If don't want to get embroiled in the almost constant strife between Empire and Federation, then a Great House fleet could be a good choice. You could create several Great House fleets, each with a distinctive style or design philosophy.

The Guild are a commercial alliance of merchant houses operating within the Empire and Federation. They pretty much regulate most trade between star systems. Most Guild vessels are commercial Merchants, Transporters, Bulk Carriers, Hydrogen Tankers, Luxury Passenger Liners and Low Berth Coffin Ships, Couriers, Salvage Tugs, and Free Traders. The Guild with the assistance of Minor Houses also operates Pirate Hunters, Customs Cutters, and Q-Ships. They have access to technology from the Empire and Federation, but their main drive is making a profit and conflict is costly. Disputes within the Guild are usually resolved by arbitration, litigation, stock exchange, or in extreme cases hostile take-over. Guild Merchant Houses operate the Jump Point Space Stations, Traffic Control and Hyperspace beacons necessary for travel between the stars. Attacks on Guild ships may result in harsh commercial penalties, blockade, boycott and/or restrictions of trade against the offending planets and their ships.  In theory Guild ships may only carry defensive armament, but it is not unknown for Guild captains to take up Privateering as a profitable sideline. The Guild will hire out ships to the Minor Houses and these may be armed as warships.  

If you are building a merchant fleet then use the Guild list.

The Minor Houses represent the smaller semi-autonomous cultures within the Empire. They lack the capacity to build their own starships, so must hire them from the Guild. In return, the Guild will employ Minor Houses as mercenaries to defend their merchant ships or carry out limited offensive operations. 

Encounter One - Ship Design

 Encounter One - Ship Design.

I must spend a lot more of my time designing ships than I do playing the game with them. Some of that is in refining existing designs, swapping out weapons or equipment, or fine tuning mass and points costs. I like symmetry in my ship diagrams and round numbers for the points and/or mass. The main reason that my Broadheads have two Dart Launchers is that they neaten the points cost off to 250 points! I can argue that My Empire has a tradition of putting a physical shot across the enemies bow before opening up with their Beam arrays, but it's a fairly weak justification. 

Most of the model ships I use are about as old as the rules. I bought them a long time ago and have played a few games with them. We have history, and I am fond of them. Also, I am trying to complete a collection, which is another hobby in itself. 

You can use whatever ships you have. There are loads of wonderful miniatures available now. Use what ever you like. 

My two main fleets are Empire and Novans. I really like the QT models designs for the Empire's ships and over the years I have acquired a fair fleet from QT and Citadel. My Novan's have a xenophobic predator focus that fits nicely with the old Citadel bio ships. They are getting harder to find now, and the price for Tyranid War Drones is ridiculous. I do have a small Federation fleet, but they are not favourites and I usually think of them as The Enemy.

I believe there are two main approaches to ship design. There may be others but these are what I have in mind. They are not exclusive and most players will use a combination to get the fleet they want to play.

1 - Miniatures driven. Pick out a model spaceship, decide its role and what equipment it ought to have, then design the layout to fit. You may have to trim some of the equipment to get it within mass or points value, but you should be able to design someway towards your concept. 

2 - Competition driven, Work out your strategy, design your ships to maximise their effectiveness, then pick out some miniatures to suit. 

My designs are mostly Miniatures Driven. I start with the model ship then work out what its role is and how it should be equipped. I tend to design my ships for general roles rather than to meet a specific enemy. My fleets are built around the model ships I have, not the ones I want. I still want them to be effective in a game, so there are elements of maximising their weapons. 

It is a huge advantage if you have some idea what your opponent is bringing to the table, or what their likely strategy is. If you don't know what you are likely to be up against, then you may need to generalise on your design and make allowance for Plan B.

These are some of my Design Guidelines. 

• Loading up on Shields is little help if the enemy is mainly armed with missiles. 
• If the enemy has a lot of fighters, then you need point defence and or your own fighters. 
• Loading up on Point Defence is a waste of points and mass if the enemy doesn't use missiles or fighters. 
• If you have Marines on board, be prepared to use them. Either to defend your ship or take the enemies ships.
• Kennedy Fields are game changers. Not only do they provide very effective defence against Beam and Missiles, they also nullify many of the other special weapons such as Photon Torpedoes or Tractor Beams. They can be beaten by concentrated fire and they have a very specific vulnerability. 
• Clever Metal provides a very effective defence against Hull damage from most Missiles, Scatter Pack and Mines. But it is expensive, even if you are playing Novans.
• Concentrate your Beams in Arrays. So consider six ST5 Beam launchers as a single ST30 Beam array. You can do this with missile batteries too. 
• I have a tendency to put my best weapons in the forward arc. This works reasonably well with more agile smaller ships, but is less handy for bigger ships. They may struggle to keep the pointy end towards the enemy. In this case, broadside batteries and turrets can be your friend.
• Smaller ships are more cost effective.
• Bigger ships look more impressive.
• Don't mix Missile systems on the same ship. Recalculating Hit probability for each weapon system can soon gets tedious. And yes, I know my own published designs break this rule. But, these may not be the ships I put on the table! 
• Don't poke the Auregan.

Have fun, design some ships and put them on the table. If you send me your designs, I will add them to the blog (with permission) as part of a Jaynes Spaceships.

 

Encounter One - Turning Gauge

 

Encounter One - Turning Gauge

A handy widget useful for manoeuvring your model space ships 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.

E1_Turn_Gauge.pdf      pdf    52KB

E1_Turn_Gauge.gif        gif image   14KB     

If anyone has a laser cutter, I would be delighted if they could cut a couple for me!  

Encounter One - Factions Part 1

I had opportunity to discuss Encounter One's Timeline, Races (or Factions) and History with Malcolm Booth recently.

Hi Malcolm, 

just a quick query re Encounter One. Third edition introduced the Guild, Great Houses and Minor Houses. Apart from Photon Torpedoes, they don't say which stat line the new factions use on the missiles tables? 

I had followed the lead on Photon Torpedoes and used Empire stats for Great House Bolt and Federation stats for Guild and Minor Houses. Looking again, GH don't get Arrow like the Feds, so I wonder if they should have Fed Bolt?

On the same subject which Stats line should the new Factions use for Dart? 

Federation don't have Arrow or Drones so I used Empire stats for the new factions.

I am now thinking the Great Houses are aligned with the Federation. The Minor Houses align with Empire and the Guild can buy the best from both!

Malcolm:

It was sort of based on Dune to be honest, the Landsraad. The great houses provide a control over both the Empire and Federation - from memory in the history they grouped to stop a war between the two- and the minor houses just hope nobody gets annoyed at them 😊

It's a very long time since I read Dune. That does make sense with published time line in 3rd edition.

I was thinking of the Great Houses as autonomous star-faring cultures within the Empire and Federation.

They occupy multiple solar systems, but maintain treaties and mostly cordial relations with the great powers.

The Minor Houses have achieved space flight enough to occupy a few planetary systems, but need to hire their star ships from the Guild.

The Guild is a cooperative of Mercantile houses trading across the galaxy.

Malcolm followed up with an email giving a lot more info about the background to the game:

The question around the relationship between the Empire, Great Houses, and Minor Houses is a good one.

As I said, we were pretty much influenced by the social structure portrayed in Dune, with the Empire staring out as a Great House which became so powerful that it could not be challenged by any, or any grouping, of the other houses – so, in the potted history, House Corollan ‘…gains majority in the Council’, suggesting that they gathered sufficient support to become de facto rulers.

That sort of suggests that the ‘Empire’ is, in fact, a coalition of Great Houses, acting in concert, under the direction of one house, although the impression in the Dune universe is that House Corrino has become so powerful that it’s rule cannot be challenged.

To flesh out the Encounter One universe a little more you could imagine that House Corollan, rather than simply having influence over the other Great Houses, has in some way (marriage, purchase, intrigue) absorbed several of these Houses, together with their military infrastructure, to achieve a position of dominance which allowed them to declare themselves as an empire.

The timescale for this would be from -105PN, when the Great Convention is signed, to -10PN, when House Corollan declares itself as the first Terryan Galactic Empire, so around 950 years

The term ‘Galactic Empire’ was probably a bit grandiose, as the time scale from the first outward spread of colonisation would only be around 1,400 years.

Of course, once the improved hyper-space engine is developed (in year zero PN) you can imagine House Corollan, with its greater resources, getting the lion’s share of the new colonies and, more importantly, their resources, bolstering the empire’s position.

The Guild is, of course, a reference to the Spacing Guild in the Dune universe, except it doesn’t have the same monopoly on interstellar travel. I think your view of the Guild as a collection of mercantile houses is a good analogy, and if you use a Guild list then you are basically a Minor House which can’t source its own ships, rather than the Guild itself becoming involved in combat situations.

The Federation, as you say, is made up of newer systems operating in the periphery, but still part of the Empire. I think in this we were influenced by Asimov’s Foundation story line, with more progressive elements far from the centre of the Empire not being as influenced by tradition as the more established systems and pushing back against imperial influence. Systems which would have, over time, gained Minor House status but who don’t want to become embroiled in the politics of the Confederation of Great Houses in Council.

I think Minor Houses not being able to ally with the Federation sort of falls in with this, as you could imagine the Minor Houses, jealous of whatever influence they may have under the imperial social order, being wary of these ‘Johnny come lately’ peripheral systems who were threatening to turn the established order on its head.

The Great Houses, on the other hand, would be sure of their own position and would find common cause with the Federation if it suited their needs.

The Rim Raiders, from memory, were the outer systems and Minor Houses which were being persecuted by some faction and went rogue, suggesting they left their home system(s) for a more nomadic lifestyle (I think in the original edition the phrase was ‘fled to hide and flee again’)

Bottom line, we plagiarised everything from Dune to Star Wars, but fortunately neither Frank Herbert’s estate, Isaac Asimov’s estate, nor George Lucas have noticed. 😊

Re the Missile Tables: 

Stat lines for the new factions were missing from the missile tables in the 3rd edition rules. I added them to the 2021 digital edition but I was not sure that I got them right.

I think GH should use Fed Bolt, and G/HM should use Empire Bolt. 

Feds and GH don't use Arrow, and F don't use Drones. 

So that leaves Dart. I had Empire stats for GH & HM, and Fed stats for Guild!

These need to be Empire for Guild and House Minor, and Federation for Great Houses.

Malcolm:

I think what you’ve done makes sense. So Minor Houses have arrow, Feds are newer systems so don’t have it, Rim Raiders were rogue minor houses so do have it. And as you say, if anyone takes exception they can always flag it

I have now amended the missile tables and updated the rules.

Range:	20	40	60	80	100	120	140	160	180	200
DART
E / G / HM	3	1	1	2	3	5	8	11	12	13
F / GH	4	2	1	2	7	12	13	14	14	14
N	5	3	2	3	6	9	14	16	17	17
PD%	-	-	-	10	15	20	25	35	50	70
ARROW
E / G / HM	18	16	17	16	14	12	10	8	5	2
A	17	15	13	10	7	4	1	-	-	-
N	16	14	12	10	7	4	1	-	-	-
RR	19	17	15	12	9	5	1	-	-	-
PD%	10	15	20	30	50	60	70	80	85	85

BOLT
E / G / HM	20	20	15	10	5	-	-	-	-	-
F / GH	20	20	20	17	10	3	2	-	-	-
N	20	18	15	11	6	-	-	-	-	-
RR	20	18	16	11	5	1	-	-	-	-
PD%	10	20	30	45	60	80	95	-	-	-
Range:	20	40	60	80	100	120	140	160	180	200
DRONES
E/GH/G/HM	18	15	11	6	1	-	-	-	-	-
A	19	17	14	9	4	2	1	-	-	-
RR	17	14	10	4	1	-	-	-	-	-
PD%	5	10	20	35	50	75	90	-	-	-
Range:	20	40	60	80	100	120	140	160	180	200
PHOTON TORPEDOES
E/GH/G/HM	10	18	18	15	5	-	-	-	-	-
F	10	15	18	18	10	-	-	-	-	-
N	8	20	20	20	15	-	-	-	-	-
RR	10	18	15	10	-	-	-	-	-	-