Encounter One - Imperial Escorts

No, not those alluring individuals that frequent Spaceport bars (or so I'm told). This time I am looking at small ships of the Imperial Navy. The Broadheads may be the iconic ship of the Empire, but much of the day to day policing of Imperial space is done by less glamorous craft. These small ships serve a multitude of roles within the Navy. The Frigates, Corvettes, Mine Layers and System Patrol Boats.

These busy, hard working little ships are regarded as a plum command for the ambitious young gentlemen* of the Imperial Navy.

As usual, most of my Empire Escorts are from QT Models Starships range. I have a couple of Moscow Class 'Strike Cruisers' and a couple of squadrons of Banshee Class 'Light Cruiser'. The Moscows were originally part of QT Models Solar Force, the Banshees part of their Ramorian Fleet. The Banshees were later reissued by Games Workshop for their Space Fleet game, then again for Battle Fleet Gothic as Stalwart Escort Ships. I am not sure if the Moscows were included in Space Fleet or BFG.

* Imperial Navy tradition always refers to its officers as Gentlemen, even though a large proportion now are neither male, gentle or strictly human. 

Banshee Class Frigate

NSF9 Banshee Class 

The Banshees are the scruffy terriers of the Imperial Fleet. Smart enough to flush out a nest of rats and fierce enough to corner a badger.

As small ships the Banshees lack the mass for a heavy Beam array so I tend to arm them with missiles. They can carry enough weapons to have some effect, especially if they are deployed in groups or squadrons. With a single Shield St4 and Point Defence, the Banshees rely on their small size and agility to avoid the worst of enemy fire.

The base Banshee carries three Arrow launchers forward and two Bolt launchers in all round turrets. These can easily be swapped out for a different weapons fit or a more specialised roles such as Mine-layers, Police Patrol, Customs Cutter or Starbase runabout. 

For example, An Assault Boat replaces the arrow launchers with a Tractor and a couple of Marine squads. Or a Coma Tender among a pack of Banshees can provide a nasty surprise for someone.  

EMPIRE	Ship		Banshee Class Frigate
Equipment	No		Mass	Points
Core Systems
Bridge	1		1	1
Reactor	1		1	0
Main Drive	1	Strength 5	1	7
Manoeuvre Drive	1		1	1
Fire Control	1		1	1
Defence	No
Shield St 4	1		1	5
Point Defence	1		1	2
Weapons & Systems	No	Facing
Arrow Launcher	3	Forward	3	21
Bolt Launcher	2	Turret	2	14
Turret	2	All Round	0	22
Hull and Cargo
Hull	0			0
Total			12	74

Moscow Class Fleet Scout

NSF1 Moscow Class Strike Cruiser

At Mass 15 the Moscows are a larger hull than the Banshees allowing for a better defence or heavier payload. As I only have two in my fleet they tend to act independently as Fleet scouts. I have given them an extra shield and point defence rather than more weapons. Their weapon payload is the same as the Banshee, but at mass 15 they can carry three Beam ST5 in place of the Banshee's Missile Launchers in their forward array. Some commanders may prefer to fit Arrow Launchers in the turrets for it's better range and accuracy over the punch of a heavy Bolt launcher.

That big scanner dish on the bow pretty much demands they carry a Probe or some form of advanced search / communication system.  

EMPIRE	Ship		Moscow Fleet Scout
Equipment	No		Mass	Points
Core Systems
Bridge	1		1	1
Reactor	1		1	0
Main Drive	1	Strength 5	1	7
Manoeuvre Drive	1		1	1
Fire Control	1		1	1
Defence	No
Shield St 4	1		1	5
Shield St 3	1		1	4
Point Defence	2		2	4
Weapons & Systems	No	Facing
Beam ST5	3	Forward	3	21
Bolt Launcher	2	Turret	2	14
Turret	2	All Round	0	22
Probe	1		1	10
Hull and Cargo
Hull	0			0
Total			15	90

 Encounter One - Revised Ship Records

Feel free to print these off and use them in your games or adapt to your own designs.

Empire - Broadhead Strike Cruiser

Note: Broadheads can swap out their Beam arrays for Arrow or Bolt missile launchers at no change in points cost.

Banshee Class Frigate

Moscow Class Fleet Scout

Novan - Vespid Light Cruiser

Novan - Hunter Killer Light Cruiser

Novan - Head Hunter Battle Cruiser

Novan Snake Head Command Carrier

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

   

Encounter One - Novan Incursion

 Ships of the Novan Incursion.

Ruthless Alien Raiders in Living Ships. The Novans are described as hyper-aggressive aliens and this is reflected in their Morale chart. Ramming and Self-Destruct are expected tactics from the Novans.

"The most bloodthirsty and cold blooded race known to Man (Including Man himself). 

First contact with the Novan empire came in 103PN and forced a sudden, albeit temporary truce between the warring factions. The Novan Empire, was, and still is, the only galaxy wide Empire known to Man. The early Novan incursions into Primary Known Space, although ruthlessly efficient and invariably successful, soon petered out into sporadic raiding, ironically removing mankind's last great unifying cause. The unexpected drop in the frequency of Novan raids has been attributed to internal strife, although this remains speculation."

Novans have a unique Zen Auto Repair system and Clever Metal self healing bio-metal skin that can heal hits from missiles but not energy weapons. Their Bridge also functions as Fire Control so they do not get Fire Control as a separate system. Their best weapon system is the Photon Torpedo, this is the best in the game, except it is wholly ineffective against Kennedy Fields. Novan Dart Launchers are also pretty good. With Clever Metal they have less need for point defence. They do not use Drones, but fighters are cheap. Most of my Novan ships have Inertialess Drives and will use it to position themselves for their next attack. 

Clever Metal provides pretty good resilience against missile attacks, if is not total immunity. Missiles will still hurt a Novan ship and damage any components they hit. There has been a tendency when fighting against Novans to concentrate on Energy weapons. My Novans usually carry heavier Shield layers than most ships of their mass. 

Novan ships are relatively expensive as they start with 30 points for their Bridge and Zen Auto-Repair. If you want Clever Metal then that starts at Mass 20 and means you spend at least 50 points before adding any weapons, shields or other equipment. You can of course build Novans without Clever Metal, but you still have to pay 30 points for their Bridge.

My standard vessels range from mass 20 to 35 which puts them in the cruiser class. Novans can build smaller ships but don't get Clever Metal below mass 20. Heavy Vessels go from 36 to 55 and Station Vessels have no mass limit. 

My Novan fleet for Encounter One are all from Citadel's Star Cruisers range. These were produced back in the 80's. Some were reissued as Tyranids for Space Fleet or Battle Fleet Gothic and now go for ridiculous prices on EBay.  I have seen some smaller ships from https://www.ravenstarstudio.com/ that would make good strike boats or Escorts but have not acquired any yet. Also some larger ships that could mean re scaling my current fleet to suit. 

I must have been influenced by Chris Foss's wonderful paintings of spaceships as I did mine in black and yellow wasp markings. My ships have most of their weapons pointed straight forward. They are pretty much flying guns. These will always try to blast their way through the enemy line then come round for another go.

Edited 17th April 2023 - Ship diagrams amended to Gif, Snake Heads uprated to Mass 40.

13th April 2023 - Ship diagrams added

Citadel Star Cruisers - The League

Novan Raiders

GW- Citadel Star Cruisers - The League

SCL4 - Sinca Veche - Light Cruiser. Codename Vespid

One of the smaller ship classes seen in a Novan raid. The Vespids tend to act as scouts and skirmishers. Scouting ahead of and guarding the flanks of the main fleet. Their usual armament is a forward Beam array of St20 supplemented by four photon torpedo launchers. Their beam turrets can add to the forward array or hit targets on their flank. They are well shielded for their mass but like most Novans tend to neglect point defence in favour of Clever Metal.

NOVAN	Ship		Vespid	Scout Cruiser
Core Systems		No		Mass	Cost	Comments
Bridge		1		1	30	[ ]
Reactor		1		1	0	[ ]
Main Drive		1	Strength 5	1	6	[ ]
Secondary Drive		1	Strength 5	1	6	[ ]
Manoeuvre Drive		1		1	1	[ ]
Inertialess Drive		1		1	5	[ ]
Defence		No
Shield St 4		3		3	15	[ ][ ][ ]
Shield St 3		2		2	8	[ ][ ]
Point Defence		2		2	6	[ ][ ]
Weapons & Systems		No	Facing
Beam St5		4	Forward	4	24	[ ][ ][ ][ ]
Beam St5		2	Turret	2	12	[ ][ ]
Turret		2	Port, Forward, Starboard	0	16	[ ][ ]
Photon Torpedo Launcher		4	Forward	4	12	[ ][ ][ ][ ]
Probe		1		1	8	[ ]
Hull and Cargo
Hull		24			0	[  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]
Clever Metal		Yes		0	24
Cargo Holds		0		0	0
Total			Mass	24	173	Points

SCL3 - Moinesti - Light Cruiser. Codename - Hunter Killer

Often Encountered in the front line of Novan Raids, the Hunter Killer's are brutal gun ships. Their fire is concentrated in their forward arc with a St30 Beam array plus four photon torpedo launchers. Unusually for Novan's they carry a pair of turreted Bolt Launchers for peripheral defence. They are heavily shielded and will usually make a head on attack to punch through the enemy line.

NOVAN		Ship	Hunter Killer	Strike Cruiser
Core Systems		No		Mass	Cost	Comments
Bridge		2		2	32	[ ][ ]
Reactor		1		1	0	[ ]
Main Drive		1	Strength 5	1	6	[ ]
Secondary Drive		2	ST4 x2 = Total ST 8	2	10	[ ][ ]
Manoeuvre Drive		2		2	2	[ ][ ]
Inertialess Drive		1		1	5	[ ]
Defence		No
Shield St 4		3		3	15	[ ][ ][ ]
Shield St 3		2		2	8	[ ][ ]
Shield St 2		2		2	6	[ ][ ]
Point Defence		2		2	6	[ ][ ]
Weapons & Systems		No	Facing
Beam St 5		6	Forward	6	36	[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
Bolt Launcher		2	Turret	2	12	[ ][ ]
Turret		2	Port, Forward, Starboard	0	16	[ ][ ]
Photon Torpedo Launcher		4	Forward	4	12	[ ][ ][ ][ ]
Hull and Cargo
Hull		30			0	[  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]
Clever Metal		Yes		0	30
Cargo Holds		0		0	0
Total				30	196	Points

SCL5 - Nyiregyhaza - Pursuit Cruiser. Codename Snake Head

Rarely seen, Novan Snake Heads appear to act as command carriers for a raiding fleet. They will usually be found near the centre of a raid and may be screened by other Novan warships. Snake Heads usually carry at least two flights of fighters in addition to their complement of Beam and Photon torpedo.  Novan Fighters are cheap at 2 points each, so I tend to maximise their numbers and send them out in swarms. 

When I first uploaded this design, I made a mistake. By building it at 36 mass it moved it into the Heavy Vessel class costing an additional 20%. Reducing it to Mass 35 to get it into Standard Vessels class, wasn't all that impressive for a command ship. Increasing its forward Beam array to ST30 and adding two more fighter bays for 32 fighters and Mass 40 it is rather more of a threat. 

NOVAN	Ship	Snake Head		Command Carrier
Equipment		No		Mass	Points	Comment
Core Systems
Bridge		2		2	32	[  ][  ]
Reactor		1		1	0	[  ]
Main Drive		1	Strength 5	1	6	[  ]
Secondary Drive		2	ST5 x2 = Total ST 10	2	12	[  ][  ]
Manoeuvre Drive		2		2	2	[  ][  ]
Inertialess Drive		1		1	5	[  ]
Defence		No
Shield St 4		4		4	20	[  ][  ][  ][  ]
Shield St 3		2		2	8	[  ][  ]
Shield St 2		2		2	6	[  ][  ]
Point Defence		3		3	9	[  ][  ][  ]
Weapons & Systems		No	Facing
Tractor		1		1	3	[  ]
Turret		1		0	8	[  ]
Beam St 5		6	Forward	6	36	[  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]
Beam St 5		4	Turret	4	24	[  ][  ][  ][  ]
Turret		4	All Round	0	44	[  ][  ][  ][  ]
Photon Torpedo Launcher		4	Forward	4	12	[  ][  ][  ][  ]
Fighter Bay		4		4	20	[  ][  ]
Fighters	F	32	8 Fighters in each Flight		64	F F F F F F F F   F F F F F F F F   F F F F F F F F   F F F F F F F F
Probe		1		1	8
Hull and Cargo
Hull	H				0	[  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ] [  ][  ][  ][  ]
Clever Metal		Yes		0	40
Total			Mass	40	431	Points

SCL6 - Rimnicu Villa - Cruiser. Codename Head Hunter

Novan Headhunters are amongst the largest of their 'Standard' vessels. It is unsure whether the 'Death's Head' design on their prow represents a supernatural entity or their impression of humanity. It certainly does not resemble any known Novan entity examined so far. 

Head hunters are heavily shielded with the usual concentration of Beam and Photon Torpedoes in their forward arc. They also carry a turreted array of beams to cover their flanks.

NOVAN		Ship	Head Hunter		Battle Cruiser
Core Systems		No			Mass	Cost	Comments
Bridge		2			2	32	[ ][ ]
Reactor		1			1	0	[ ]
Main Drive		1	Strength 5		1	6	[ ]
Secondary Drive		2	ST4 x2 = 8		2	10	[ ][ ]
Manoeuvre Drive		2			2	2	[ ][ ]
Inertialess Drive		1			1	5	[ ]
Defence		No
Shield St 4		4			4	20	[ ][ ][ ][ ]
Shield St 3		3			3	12	[ ][ ][ ]
Shield St 2		2			2	6	[ ][ ]
Point Defence		2			2	6	[ ][ ]
Weapons & Systems		No	Facing
Tractor		1			1	3	[ ]
Beam St5		6	Forward		6	36	[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
Beam St5		4	Turret		4	24	[ ][ ][ ][ ]
Turret		4	Port, Forward, Starboard		0	32	[ ][ ][ ][ ]
Photon Torpedo Launcher		4	Forward		4	12	[ ][ ][ ][ ]
Hull and Cargo
Hull	H	35				0	[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
Clever Metal		Yes			0	35
Total					35	243	Points