Updated January 12, 2012

 

  A Play-by-Email Game of Galactic Warfare and Conquest

 

Chapter 1: Introduction

 

Galactic Empires is a giant electronic board game, with players from all over the world. Each player is the ruler of a separate Empire, attempting to dominate a portion of the galaxy. As ruler, you will give orders to your captains and other minions, which in the game is done using the Diploware program (which you download from the website). There is a due date for everyone’s orders, in which time all game events occur. Then, everyone is sent the results (and things continue onward in the same manner). This is the Rulebook, which you can use as a reference, in conjunction with the help menus of the Diploware. The website is:

 http://www.lords-of-conquest.com/galactic

If you dont have the diploware on your computer, you should download it asap here.

 

Tutorial:

If you are just starting out, you probably have only a vague idea of how things work at this point. Don’t worry; you shall soon get the hang of it. The tutorial is available from your start menu when you install the diploware, and its important that you work through it.  There are plenty of experienced players with good advice, just join the discussion group from the webpage and dont hesitate to fire off your questions.

 

Contents:

You can ctrl+click on the hyperlinks to go straight to a chapter or section – I’ve offset some of the links so that you don’t accidentally hit the wrong one.

Chapter 1: Introduction     tutorial, mechanics of sending and receiving turns, where to get help

Chapter 2: Headquarters   how to use the HQ of the Diploware

Chapter 3: The Map           how to understand what you see on the map

Chapter 4: Turn Events      the order in which the Diploware orders the game each turn

Chapter 5: Details               more in-depth on various aspects of the game

Chapter 6: Battles               the gritty details of how battles are won and lost

Chapter 7: Troops               combat strength, defence, speed, cost, upkeep – it’s all here

Chapter 8: Realms              a little historical data on each country, and where to find them

Chapter 9: Advice               what to do when you’re new, and 2 sheets well worth printing

Chapter 10: FAQ                 some miscellaneous questions

 

Opening Your Turn:  

First, close any unnecessary programs you have running. This helps to ensure that you don’t have too many things running on your computer, and so your Diploware will run efficiently. This is a very important step! After this, start the Diploware, which brings you to the Start-up Menu, where you can select a file to load. When you are playing in a game, you should select either your saved orders, or your newest Results file, which was sent to you by the GM. When you select this and open it, you are brought to your Headquarters (if not, then contact the GM for troubleshooting).

 

At the Top of the Diploware:

At the top part of the Diploware, you can see:

·         Main Menus: The Diploware has 4 main areas. Each has a separate button at the top:

1)       Headquarters: This is where you manage your diplomatic relations.

2)       Map: This shows you the map, and is where you manage your various forces.

3)       Messages: This shows you various reports and messages about what happened on the last turn.

4)       Game: This allows you to save your orders, or open a new turn.

·         HQ Plans: Also at the top of the menu, you can see HQ Plans. This has all of your planned Headquarters orders listed. These are orders for your realm as a whole, not for particular units you control. Any time you perform a Headquarters order, it will be listed here, and you can undo any orders if you change your mind. Note that your HQ Plans is available from all main parts of the Diploware.

·         Help Menus: The Diploware has a help message for most of the menus. If you are not sure about something on the Diploware, click on the question mark, which will show you the help message for that menu.

·         Turn Number: The number of the current turn is also shown at the top.

 

Messages Menu:

By clicking on the Messages at the top, you can see reports of the last turn’s events. You can click between normal Messages, Battle Reports, and Proclamations. You can see the following:

·         Messages: This shows you the messages for various events that happened.  

·         Battle Reports: This is the next button available. This is a list of battles in which your units were involved the during the last turn events.

·         Announcements: These are various announcements made by other rulers. You can earn gold by making a proclamation.

·         Issue Proclamation: This is done by clicking the Proclamation button at the bottom of the menu. This command is to send an announcement to all other realms. They will receive the proclamation on their next Results file. Issuing this order will yield 7 gold in revenue, as the morale of your populace is improved. Due to the fragile nature of morale, your proclamation must be suitable. If your message is too short, you won’t gain any revenue. Even worse, if your message is profane or is just gibberish (you are just typing junk to get the gold), you will suffer a loss of 7 gold! Thus, it is strongly advised that you only issue a Proclamation if you have something to say (whatever that may be), and it will be at least a little interesting or amusing for other players.

 

Game Menu:

Even though you are impatient to learn about the map, I will now talk about the Game menu. Here, you can do the following:

·         Exit: This is used to exit the Diploware. Be sure to save your orders first.

·         Resume Game: This is for if you clicked on the game menu, and you want to go back to issuing more orders. It takes you back to the Headquarters.  

·         Save Turn: This is used to save your orders. You can open your saved orders if you like. This also creates the file that you will send to the GM. It is a very good idea to give your turn a unique name, and save it somewhere on your computer that you will remember where it is. It is easy to accidentally send the wrong file, and that could be very harmful to your realm’s military position! JB: I just tell the game to save the turn. On my desktop, I have a shortcut to the folder where the game is.  This is where the game saves my turn to (in the Program Files folder). Once I’ve made my turn, I go to my desktop, double-click the shortcut, then right-click on the latest save-game file, and tell it to send it to the GM. Easy! My email program sends it. Also, when I get my new turnfile, I always save it into the same folder – it’s very easy to find that way.

·         Open Turn: This is the first button listed. It is used to open:

1)       Results file: this is a file sent to you by the GM, which has your latest results. Be careful to use your latest resultfile, not an old one (this file has the extension “.new” and the icon is a package”.

2)       Saved Orders: these are your saved orders, which you create with the Save Turn button. This will have your saved orders on it, which you can open and edit as you like. This is also the file you send to the GM.

3)       Upgrade File: This is a special file that you download from the website, then open. This will upgrade your Diploware automatically. This is only if there is some upgrade available, which the GM will let you know about. At the website, there is an upgrade file available, created by fans of the game. This adds all manner of sounds and art to your Diploware, it’s really nifty.   

·         Help Guide: This has a description of the basics of how to use the Diploware. There is also a trouble-shooting guide, if you are having problems.

·         Options: This has a few options available.  You can turn sounds on or off (to get sounds see the Final Notes section of this chapter).  You can also select to have the Diploware show in a small window, in case you don’t want it to cover your whole computer screen. 

 

Introduction To Turn Events:

Each unit can perform different orders. All game events happen during turn events, and all orders for all realms will be carried out at this time. Such things as units moving, battles and revenues, etc. happen. They occur in a certain order, which is explained in Chapter 4. If you are wondering about a particular game event (such as how units march, how revenues are collected, etc.), then please skim through Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, which detail these activities. Also, please note that game events happen in a certain order. There are 3 main parts to turn events; Initial Events, Movement Events, and Final Events. Each type of activity is explained better in Chapter 4, as well as the exact order in which it will happen during turn events, so be sure to look through that chapter (especially be sure to know about Phases, to help with your planning). For example, declaring war happens before movement, so this means that you can declare war on an enemy, and then move to attack him that same turn. But, troops are built after all movement and battles, so the troops you build won’t be there if an enemy attacks.  

 

Important Notes about Sending In Your Turn:

Turns are due at the same time for all games, and there is 1 turn per week (unless otherwise indicated for your game).

·         About Turns: Just to repeat how the game works: Each time turns are processed, you will be sent a unique Result file for your realm. This is a computer file attached to an email message, and you load this file into your Diploware to see your realm, troops, etc. You issue your orders using the Diploware, and then save them to an Orders file, and you send this as an email attachment to the GM. On the due date, the GM will run all turns at the same time, and all game events will occur. Then everyone is sent their new Result file, and things continue in this manner.

·         Due Date: The normal due date is: Tuesday, 5:00 PM, Pacific Time (Pacific Time is for California, USA. In GMT this is 1 AM Wednesday). For the first turn of the game, the due date may be different, but the normal due date is used for other turns. To help get your bearings with the time zone, see below:

 

LOCATION

DUE DATE

California, USA

Tuesday, 5:00 PM

New York, USA   

Tuesday, 8:00 PM

London, England

Wednesday, 1:00 AM

Sydney, Australia

Wednesday, 11:00 AM

 

If you don’t send your turn in on time, please don’t expect the game to wait for you. Sometimes you

might get lucky – if you haven’t received your next turnfile, there is a good chance you can still send

your turn in and get it processed, but there is no guarantee. Send your turn in before the deadline if you

want to be sure it will get processed.

·         Email Address: Send all email, and your turnfiles (the file created by the Diploware that has your orders) to:

·         Email Format: For sending turns, it doesn’t matter what the subject line or body of the email is, it can be anything. Also, please do not zip your turn, it is ready to be emailed without doing anything to it. You can send in up to 7 turns a week. It is wise to send in a “safety” turn early, which will be used in case you forget to send in a turn before the deadline.

·         The File You Send: Be very careful when sending in your orders to send the right file! Occasionally, people send the wrong file, either from a different turn, or even the same file that the GM sent them. The file you send is the Orders file you create using the Diploware. You need to create your orders using your newest turn you were sent, or your orders will be ignored!

·         How many turnfiles can you send in? You could send in a turn each day if you wanted to. The GM will process the last turnfile you send.

·         Making Plans: You have a Headquarters Plan, which has all of your planned orders for your realm as a whole (like changing diplomatic relations with other realms, etc.) In addition, each of your units has a separate plan. These are the planned orders for that particular unit (such as orders for an army to march, make transfers, etc.) It is a good idea to double-check all of your plans before sending your final set of orders to the GM. It’s easy to forget something!

·         Invalid Orders: On the Diploware, you can input orders for your unit, even if your unit won’t be able to perform them. For example, you can give your army orders to march to 40 different provinces, even if the army only has enough Move-points to only move 2 different provinces. If you do give that army orders to move too many provinces, it will only move as far as it can, and then stop during Turn Events. You can also make purchases greater than your available treasury if you want to. It is up to you to make sure your orders follow the rules (Rulers can always ask the impossible of their followers). Your followers will not be able to perform invalid orders during Turn Events.

·         Absence: If you know you’re going to be absent for a turn or more, and you want someone else to do your orders for you, let the GM know so that he can send a copy of your turnfile to your appointed person. This can only be done temporarily – making permanent replacements is within the GM’s prerogatives.

·         Turn Re-runs: It may occasionally be necessary to re-run a turn. A programming glitch may occur! In this event, it is within the GM’s discretion to re-run a turn. If that means your battle results come out a little worse *shrug* there’s a chance they could have come out better too. The GM will decide whether or not a re-run will provide the greatest fairness to the game as a whole. JB: In some years of playing, I think I’ve only ever seen one re-run.

·         Quitting: If you’ve decided to quit, send the GM an email so he can rapidly replace you. Quitting a game because you’re losing, by the way, is very poor sportsmanship, and doing so is likely to make you ineligible for invitational games. Sometimes people quit because their work gets too busy, or there’s a family matter that requires a lot of time. You just might have tried the game, but don’t want to continue with it. (*horror*) The GM is very understanding, but for the sake of the other players, it’s best to get a rapid replacement.

 

Final Notes:

·         Answering Questions: Players often have questions, which is completely normal. You can get answers in the following ways:

1.       Be sure you have followed through with the tutorial. Also, more detailed descriptions of how game events work are in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5.

2.       At the bottom of the rulebook, there will be a Frequently Asked Questions section. This has answers to questions which have been previously asked. There is a good chance your question will have an answer there.

3.       There is a discussion group for the game, and you can sign up at the webpage. Feel free to fire off your questions there, to get a faster response. And, for more experienced players, if you see a question in the group that you have the answer to, please be kind and answer it. JB: Read this rulebook first! I don’t want to answer questions that are very clearly covered in the rulebook. We experienced players are happy to help clarify things.

4.       As a last resort, if you can’t find answers to your questions elsewhere, then you can send them to:

But, please be advised that replies to email by the GM are fairly slow, because of the volume of email.

·         Sportsmanship: Many players will not survive to the end of the game. Many factors can work against you, such as bad luck, or a treacherous ally, etc. If you fight valiantly to the end, you will gain the honour of joining the very next game beginning. JB: Furthermore, there are games arranged occasionally by invitation. To date, a player who quits games has not been asked to play in these. So stick with it to the end. Once I was playing Castile, and just as I attacked the Muslims, England and France both broke alliance with me and declared war on me. I was a little depressed it’s true, it looked like I was going down bad, and soon. 20 turns later I had the biggest nation and army. You CAN turn things around. But I’m not telling you how I did it. J Not here, anyway. Please be advised that you will probably encounter both scheming scoundrels and faithful allies in the game. The choice of what playing style to use is completely up to you. But, please bear any misfortunes in the spirit of good gamesmanship. The Rules of Engagement include not making personal attacks against other players. For the enjoyment of everyone, this is not permitted, and a player can be excluded from a game for doing so. Sometimes harsh things happen, and one wishes to do avenge oneself, either with sharp words or even get out his authentic Conan Bastard Sword (R) that he purchased at Ebay and start swinging. But, everyone needs to remember that this is a game, and should not be taken too seriously. There are many different styles of play, some more mercenary than others. Deception, misunderstandings and broken diplomatic relations, etc. all goes on in real life in diplomacy between nations. It is reasonable to expect that they will also happen in the game. Be warned!

·         Game Number: Each game has a 3-character game number, which is used to keep track of it. Your game may be numbered something like ME1 or something, which helps to keep track of the game, and will be mentioned on some emails you receive from the GM.

·         For royalty rights, go to http://www.agegames.co.uk/donate.html

·         Also, in the rulebook, major orders are written in dark yellow font, to make them more visible. This is to help in finding them if you are skimming for a certain order. For example:

Offer Alliance: This is only for a neutral realm, and is to attempt to form an alliance.

        Sometimes you will see a message in green – this is advice from Joe Brennan, and may be of some value. J

 

       Starship Upkeep Costs are an Important Consideration

 

Chapter 2: Your Headquarters

 

Headquarters Overview:

After opening your turn, you are brought to your Headquarters, and you can return here by clicking on Headquarters at the top of the Diploware. You can think of this area as your Throne Room, where your advisors are available to carry out your commands. Performing an order would be similar to summoning your Grand Chamberlain, Chief Diplomat, or other minion to carry out your instructions. Here, you will see:

·         Your Empire: The name of your empire is listed at the top.

·         Ruler: Your ruler’s picture and name are listed next.  Each empire starts out with the default name of the ruler.  You can click on your ruler’s name to change it. Please note this kind of button! Any buttons that look like this can be clicked, but you may not recognize this at first. So, scrutinize menus carefully for these.  

·         Finances: The finances for your empire are shown at the top left. Here, you can see:

1.       Treasury: This is the amount of resources currently in your coffers.

2.       Upkeep: This is the total upkeep costs for all starships you own.

3.       HQ Expenses: This is the total resources cost of all Headquarters orders you have planned (such as annexing sectors, etc.).

4.       Garrison Expenses: This is the total resource cost of all orders by your Garrisons (such as building starships, etc.)

5.       Expected Surplus or Shortfall: If you are spending less resources than is available in your treasury, you can see the amount of resources that will be unspent. Unspent resources are added to your treasury for the next turn. If you are spending more resources than you have, then there will be a shortfall. In that case, some of your orders will fail during turn events. JB: This is the most important thing you need to pay attention to – so long as this value is 0, or better, you know you haven’t over-spent. The moment this value goes negative, find out how you’ve overspent. It’s very embarrassing when your annexations don’t work because you overspent on the cruisers!

6.       Expected Revenues: This is the amount of revenues you can expect to receive next season. Note that this income won’t be available for you to spend this season.

Please understand that these values are not always exact – some values may be rounded to the nearest number. For instance, if you own 4 starships with an upkeep value of 1.1 resources each, for a total of 4.4 resources, the expenses will be reported as only 4 resources. To be on the safe side, you should consider leaving a surplus of two resources in your treasury.

·         Holdings: On the left, you can see a list of your holdings.  

·         List of Foreign Empires: At the bottom of your Headquarters, you can see a list of all other empires on the map, and your diplomatic relations with each. There are a number of Empires in the game, and each player controls a different Empire.

·         Diplomatic Orders: On the right side of your Headquarters, there are a number of orders you can issue for other empires. First, you select a empire on the list of empires, and then select the desired order to perform for it. Not all orders will be available; the orders available will depend on your relations with the selected empire. For example, if you are at war with a empire, you can’t offer them alliance (you can only make such an offer to neutral empires). JB: Always be careful to check your HQ orders (click “HQ plans” top right of screen) before sending off your turn to the GM. Plenty of players have accidentally clicked the wrong empire or wrong option here, and breaking alliance or going to war with the wrong player is sometimes not tolerated too well. J

 

Diplomatic Relations:

Each Empire has Diplomatic Relations with every other Empire in the game, which is shown on the list of Empires at your Headquarters. Your main Diplomatic Relations with each empire will be one of the following:

·         War: Your forces will attack each other when they are in the same location.

·         Neutral: Your forces will ignore each other.

·         Alliance: Your forces will work together in battle.

The orders you can issue to change your diplomatic relations are:

1.       Offer Alliance: This is only for a neutral empire, and is to attempt to form an alliance.

2.       Cancel Alliance: This is only for an ally, and is to remove the alliance between your empires.

3.       Declare War: This is only for neutral empires, and is to declare a state of war to exist between your two empires.  

4.       Offer Peace: This is only for an enemy, and is to try to establish peace between your two empires.

 

Other Diplomatic Status:

Each Empire also has diplomatic statuses with other Empires, which are:

·         Acceptance: You can indicate whether you will accept gifts from another Empire or not. If you don’t want to accept any gifts from a Empire (like a sector they want to give you), then you can give instructions to refuse any gifts from that Empire. To change acceptance, you can:

1.       Accept Gifts:  This is to accept gifts from a empire.

2.       Accept Nothing:  This is to refuse any gifts from a empire.  .JB: Why you would choose to accept nothing from another player is beyond me. Keep it on! On the other hand, if you’re attacked by two players, you could try to give one empire gifts, and then tell the other enemy you’ve payed the first one off with sectors. I’ve seen it work…..once. Split their alliance up and they bickered and fought. I survived. J Very Macchiavellian. Maybe you should turn off gifts from your enemies….

·         Passage Rights: You can only move into sectors owned by another empire if you are at war, or if you have Permission to do so. Passage rights do not occur automatically when you ally with another player – if you want passage rights from your ally, they have to give it as a separate order. JB: You might want to ally with another player formally, just so they can’t declare war on you immediately. This doesn’t mean you want to give them permission to wander through your space! If you are not at war, and don’t have permission, then your movement will fail (this represents border patrol ships that will prevent unauthorized entry by foreigners). There are 2 ways to give Passage Rights. The first is done at your headquarters, and gives a empire passage through all your sectors. The other way to give Passage is to just give special Permission to a empire for a limited number of sectors. To change Passage Rights, you can:

1.       Grant Passage Rights: This is for any empire that is not an enemy and that has not already been granted Passage Rights. This is to allow another Empire to move through your sectors.

2.       Revoke Passage Rights: This is for any empire that you have previously granted Passage Rights to. This is to revoke Passage Rights from a empire.

·         Other Activities: You can also do the following for each empire:

1.       Give Sector: This is for all empires, and is to give a sector you own to another Empire.

2.       Send Ambassador: This is for all empires. This is to send your email address to another player, in the expectation that he will read your message, and then send you a private email, thus initiating diplomatic discussions.

3.       Send Resources: This is for all empires, and is to send a gift of resources to that Empire. You must own a garrison within 7 locations of the recipient for this to succeed, or the resources won’t be sent.

 

HQ Plans:

As mentioned before, at the top of the Diploware, you can see all of your planned Headquarters orders. This has:

·         Treasury: this is the amount of resources you own.

·         Used: This is the total amount of resources you have spent. This includes garrison activities (like building starships), as well as other headquarters actions. You may use more than you have, but this will probably result in not having enough resources to do everything you planned on doing.

·         Undo: You can select any planned order, and undo it.

 

Granting Full Passage Rights allows Cooperation, but can expose

You to Duplicity. Limited Permission May Be a Better Option.

 

Chapter 3: The Map

 

Map Overview:  

At last, we come to the map. To get here, click on the Map at the top of the Diploware. You can see a giant game board, with black sectors lined by golden borders, as well as the starships in each location. You can scroll up and down to see a greater area of the map. You can think of it as if your empire’s advisors have built a model replica of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Major locations and scouting reports of starships have been plotted here with miniatures as well, and all of this represents your view of the actual political situation of the area. It is up to you to write planned orders for your followers; to expand and protect your empire. Here, you will see the following:

 

Sectors:

A sector is a large area in the game. Some important notes about sectors are:

·         Ownership: Each sector is either owned by a Empire, or is independent. Each empire has a banner, and this banner is shown on the map. Sectors without a banner are independent. Your forces can invade sectors to conquer them. When owned and annexed to your empire, they will provide revenue.

·         Annexation: To get the full revenue from a sector, you must annex it (which costs resources). Being annexed to a empire means that the empire has established a government and dominion over that sector, so revenue can be extracted from it. A sector annexed to the owner will be adorned with a golden base under the ownership banner (otherwise, the banner is bare). The symbol signifies that the owner of the empire has established a bureaucracy there that will be able to extract revenue from the inhabitants.

 

Barriers:

Your forces can move between different locations that are adjacent to each other. However, there are various barriers to movement between locations. Some borders are blocked by natural features which are virtually impassable for a starfleet. Barriers to movement between sectors are shown on the map as thick blue bars. Starfleets cannot move between such sectors. Barrier borders are blocked by asteroid fields, time-space anomalies, dangerous nebulae, or simply haven’t been explored enough to allow safe warp travel.  

 

Starships:

Each sector and sea may have starships stationed there. On the map, the starships are shown in the following manner:

·         Starship Miniature: Starships at a location will be shown by a painted miniature. The miniature will be for the most formidable starship there.  A single miniature is shown for foreign starships (even if they are not mutually allied), and a separate miniature is shown for starships you own.

·         Starship Base: Each starship miniature has a base or shield. This indicates if you own the starships, or if they are owned by a foreign empire. Starships you own are shown with a blue base (or a blue shield). Foreign starships are shown with a red base (or a red shield).

·         Quantity: To the bottom right of the miniature, you can see the number of starships at the location.

For example, if you see a miniature of a starship, with a blue base, and the number 8, that means you own 8 starships there, and the most valuable type is the ship in view. If you see a miniature with a red base, and the number 3, then you know that there are 3 starships owned by foreign empires (it could be more than one empire), and the most valuable type is the ship shown.  

JB: To get more information, click on the Starship Miniature. A box will open, explaining what starships are there, and which empire owns them. Independent starships hold many sectors at the start of the game, and it is typical strategy for many players to start the game by attacking neighbouring independent sectors.

 

Map Options:

On the bottom-right of the map, there is a button with a hammer and wrench.  This changes the map display.  You can do the following:

·         Change Map View:  You can change the map view to show starships,  locations or revenue.  With the location view, you can see productions centers and defenses at each sector.  An Industrial center (represented by a planet icon) means that you can build starships there, and the sector will always have a garrison. (All sectors are assumed to contain inhabited planets, but only Industrial centers have shipyards and therefore appear on the map). A sector defence indicates that there are defenses there, which will increase the combat ability of defenders.  For example, a sector defence with a 3 means that there are Level 3 defenses at the sector.   

·         Show or Hide Miniatures:  On the Map Options, there are 3 checkboxes.  Use these to show or hide miniatures.  For example, if you uncheck Foreign Starships, then only your starships will be shown on the map.  If you un-check all options, then you will see a blank map.  These options are useful in case miniatures are covering something you wish to see.

 

Location Report:

To get more detailed information about a location, click on some part of it on the map. This brings up the Location Report. This shows you:

·         Name: The name of the sector.

·         Owner: This is the empire that owns the sector, or if it is independent (owned by no empire). 

·         Annexed To: This is the empire that the sector is annexed to (or, if it is annexed to no empire, it is locally controlled).

·         Sector Damage: Sectors can be damaged by battles, pillaging, or changing ownership. Damage reduces revenue, but it will recover over time.

·         Tax Revenue: This is the resources revenue the sector will yield if it is owned and annexed to your empire (the actual revenue will be reduced by damage). You can also get reduced revenue by pillaging it, in which case the annexation doesn’t matter.

·         Special Passage Rights: This is only shown if you own a sector, or if you have been granted special passage rights to a sector. This just means you have gained permission to move through the sector (of course, you don’t need this for your own sectors).

·         Industrial Center: Some sectors have an Industrial Center. An Industrial Center represents a planet with an important industrial base and shipyards. Only some sectors have an Industrial Center, which cannot be built or destroyed. A sector with an Industrial Center will always have a garrison, and starships can only be built in sectors with an Industrial Center.

·         Defences: Each sector may have defences built. There are different levels of defences, which give combat bonuses to the defenders in battle. Defences can be damaged from battles, and if so, will give a reduced bonus to defenders. The type of sector defences built, and a description of damage is shown.

·         Your Forces: There is a list of all units you control at the location. All of your units are shown, with the name, total combat strength, total hit points, and all starships.

·         Foreign Forces: There is a list of all starships owned by foreign empires, or independent starships. All such starships are shown, with the total combat strength and hit points.

·         Movement Routes: At the bottom, the movement routes available for the location are shown, including bordering sectors, and seas with coastal connections.

 

Sector Report Orders:

When you open the Location Report for a sector, orders may be available. The order buttons are on the right-hand side. These are all Headquarters’ Orders, and can be seen on the HQ Plans menu (these activities are not done by units). The orders available are:

·         Annex Sector: This is only for a sector you own, but have not annexed. This is to install tax collectors and regional administration in a sector, so it will yield revenues. You don’t gain income the same turn you annex, but you will in future turns. The cost is equal to the tax revenue of the sector, which will be deducted from your treasury.

·         Cede Sector: This is only for a sector you own, and is annexed to you. This is to make the annexation of the sector revert to local control.  This is useful if you have Commoner status, and want to un-annex a less valuable sector, so that you can annex a more valuable one.

·         Permission: This is only for a sector you own. This is to change the Special Permission for that sector. You can indicate a number of empires that will be permitted to move through this single sector, by adding or removing them from a list. Also, if you have been granted Special Permission by an independent sector, you can remove this, which will allow you to invade it. Units owned by such a empire will have permission to move freely through the sector. Changes take place before movement during game events.

·         Study: This is to get more information about something in the location. You can study a type of sector defence, or type of starship. Any starship at the location can be studied. Details about starships and sector defences are explained in Chapter 5.

 

Unit List:

Under the map, there is a list of units that you own. You can see the following for each unit:

·         Unit Type: There are 2 types of units: Garrisons and Fleets. A garrison is a force tied to a particular location, and is shown with a G (like G5 would be Garrison#5). A starfleet is a force with the ability to travel to other locations; these are shown with an A (like A11 would by Starfleet#11). 

·         Name: this shows the name of the unit. It’s a good idea to name units in a way that makes it easy to organize them.

·         Location: this is the location that they are currently at (you can give movement orders of course).

·         Starships/Admirals: There are 2 numbers shown here. The first is the number of starships in the unit (including ships and starships). The second is the number of admirals in the unit.

·         Moves: This shows the move points of the unit. The first number is the available move points (how many move points remain). The second number is the move points that the unit had before any move activities. Issuing movement orders will decrease the available move points, and transferring starships may change the starting move points. Of course, garrisons can’t move and so they have no move points. If you want these starships to move, form a new starfleet in the sector, and transfer the starships from the garrison to the starfleet.

·         Scout ability:  Each starship has a chance of scouting adjacent sectors.  Only locations with a movement route will be scouted.  Each starship has a normal scout ability, which is for scouting connected locations.  There is also a bonus scouting ability, which is to scout sectors connected to those. 

·         Cloaking ability: Some types of starships have the ability to cloak themselves.  This represents absorbing or deviating light, becoming practically invisible, and moving stealthily to avoid detection.  Foreign empires will not be able to see these starships (even if they are given Info sharing). Also, cloaked starfleets won’t fight in battles.  However, cloaked units can be decloaked if foreign units successfully search and find them.  When that happens, a unit will no longer be cloaked, so it can be brought to battle (your forces will only decloak neutral or enemy units, not friendly or allied units). Searching Ability:  Some types of starships have the ability to search for cloaked foreign starships.  Each starship has a chance of finding an uncovering foreign starships.  This will not uncover allied starships, only neutrals and enemies.

·         Important Note: If the unit list looks odd on your computer (it’s not in alignment, or you can’t scroll down), then you need to make a small change to your computer settings. To do this, go to the Start-up Menu, click on Help Guide, and read the trouble-shooting guide for how to fix the Unit List problem. If you are still in the dark, contact the GM. For most people, the unit list will look fine, and if so, you don’t need to do anything.

Major Unit Orders:

From the map menu, you can issue a number of orders to your units. First, select a unit on the unit list by left-clicking your mouse on the unit. The available orders for that unit will then be shown to the right of the unit list. When you select a unit, you can see its location on the map, as the starship base will be outlined in white. Also, any movement orders for that unit are shown with blue and red arrows (a blue arrow means you are moving through a location, a red arrow means the location is your last destination). You can also double-click on the selected unit, and the map will centre on it. Once you have selected a unit, you can perform different orders. The major unit orders available are listed on the right-hand side of the Unit List. You select an order, and then you receive a menu where you determine the specifics of the order. Each type of unit has different orders available. The orders are:

·         Travel: (For Starfleets) This is to move to a different sector. You can travel to more than 1 sector by issuing multiple travel orders.

·         Pillage Sector: (For Starfleets and Garrisons) This is to seize revenue and cause havoc and devastation in a sector. You can do this in a sector you own, or a foreign sector, but this yields less revenue than normal.

·         Build Defenses: (For Starfleets and Garrisons) This is to build a new sector defence in a sector.

·         Upgrade Defenses: (For Starfleets and Garrisons) This is to upgrade the sector defence in a sector to a higher level, for a cost in resources.

·         Raze Defenses: (For Starfleets and Garrisons) This is to raze 1 or more levels of sector defence in a sector. You may be able to salvage resources from doing this.

·         Form New Fleet: (For All Units) This is to create a new starfleet. To issue this order, select Form New Fleet.

·         Build Starships: (For Garrisons) This is to build starships. There must be an Industrial Center at the sector to do this.

·         Hire Admiral: (For Garrisons) This is to send your agents out to hire a admiral in an Industrial Center. They will then hire an individual of unknown skill. There is a cost of 15 resources to do this. Only a garrison with an Industrial Center can perform this order. The total resources cost for this order and all other garrison orders will be shown on your Headquarters.

·         Cloak Unit:  (For Starfleets) This is only for a unit in which all starships have cloaking ability, and is not currently cloaked.  When a unit is cloaked, it can move through foreign sectors without being seen, although it won’t fight in battles.  To issue this order, select Cloak.

·         Decloak Unit:  (For Starfleets) This is to decloak a unit that is cloaked, so it will be visible to other empires.  This is only for a unit that is currently cloaked.  To issue this order, select Decloak.

·         Search:  (For Starfleets and Garrisons) This is to search for foreign units that are cloaked in a sector, and decloak them.  The search ability of the starships in the unit determines your chance of success.

 

Unit Plan:

As you know, you can give your units various orders. The orders given to a unit are saved onto the Unit Plan for that unit. Each unit has a separate Unit Plan. To see the unit plan, right click on any unit on the unit list, or select a unit and press the View Orders button. The Unit Plan shows various information about the unit. In the middle part, you can see:

·         Name: The name of the unit. You can change the name with the order, Rename Unit: to do this, click on the unit name, then type in a new one.

·         Start Location: The location the unit is starting at.

·         Move-points: Starfleets can travel from one sector to another. The number of sectors that a starfleet can travel to is limited. This depends on the Move-points for the starship type in the starfleet with the lowest Move-points. For example, if the starship type in a starfleet with the lowest amount of Move-points was 2, then the starfleet would begin the turn with 2 Move-points. Move-points are used for movement, and also for other activities (this is explained in Chapter 5).

·         Orders: There is a list of orders here. All orders you do are listed. You can select any order and undo it by pressing the undo button. This removes the order, so the unit will not follow it during game events. Any time you issue an order, it will be listed here.

 

Managing Admirals:

At the top left of the Unit Plan, you can select to show the starships or admirals in the unit. If admirals are selected, then any admirals in the unit will be shown, and you can perform orders for them, which are:

·         Transfer Admiral: This is to transfer an admiral to a different unit. To issue this order, select the admiral, and press Transfer, and then the destination unit (this can only be a unit you own). Remember, both units must be in the same location at some point during game events, or the transfer will fail!

·         Assign Leader: Each unit can have only 1 leader. The unit will gain a bonus in battle from the tactics of the leader. Other admirals will not have any effect on the unit. To do this, select an admiral, and then assign him as the leader.

·         Disband Admiral: This is to retire an admiral from your Empire. To issue this order, click on the admiral in the unit. Then, select the admiral and press Disband. The admirals you may have is limited to 5, so you may want to disband completely unskilled individuals and try to hire a better one.

·         Rename Admiral: This is to rechristen an admiral with another name.

·         Study: This is to get more information about the admiral.  Admirals are explained in more detail in Chapter 5.

 

Managing Starships:

At the top left of the Unit Plan, you can see the starships in the unit. At the top, you can select to show admirals or starships. If starships are selected, then you can perform orders for them, which are:

·         Transfer Starships: This is to transfer starships to a different unit. To issue this order, click on the starships in the unit. Then, select a type of starship and select Transfer (you can only transfer to another unit you own). Remember, both units must be in the same location at some point during game events, or the transfer will fail!

·         Reassign Starships: This is to change the ranks that starships are placed in, which will affect when starships are taken as casualties during a battle. To issue this order, click on the starships in the unit. Then, select a type of starship and select Reassign Starships.

·         Disband Starships: This is to decommission starships from your Empire, so you don't need to pay upkeep for them. To issue this order, click on the starships in the unit. Then, select a type of starship and select Disband. You won’t gain any resources from disbanding starships.

·         Salvage Starships: This is the same as disbanding, except you may gain resources from the starships that are disbanded (this depends on the type of starship). The starships will be decommissioned. To issue this order, click on the starships in the unit. Then, select a type of starship and select Salvage Starships. You may gain resources from the disbanded starships (this happens during First Events).

·         Study: This is to get more information about a type of starship. Starships are explained in more detail in Chapter 5.

 

Administrative Unit Orders:

On the left side of the Unit Plan, there are different admin orders for units. Each type of unit (Starfleet, Garrison) has different orders available, and the units that can perform each order are listed. All of these orders are done from the Unit Plan. None of these orders cost Move-points to perform. In addition, for garrisons, you can examine sector defences in the sector.  The orders that can be performed here are:

·         Change Follow Option: (For all Units) This is to indicate if your unit will follow another unit or not during battles. When following, your unit will only retreat when the leading unit retreats. To issue this order, click the Following button. You can select a unit to follow, or follow no unit.

JB: This is useful if you have an starfleet with ships assigned to low ranks and another with ships set to high ranks. You can put some starships of the first fleet in the second rank, and tell them to retreat when the first rank is destroyed. You can then order the second fleet to follow the first. That way your second fleet  will retreat when your first fleet decides to do so. If this seems tricky, perhaps you should have combined both starfleets together before attacking. J Beware of the danger involved if the unit you are following is killed in battle. Without that good man’s leadership to tell the lads to retreat, all your other starships will die in the void of space beside him.

·         Change Retreat Level: This determines when the starfleet will try to retreat during a battle. To issue this order, click on the retreat level, and indicate the retreat rank (if following another unit in battle, then a unit ignores the retreat rank). To change the retreat rank, click this, then choose a rank from 1 (Front Rank) to 5 (Reserves).

·         Defend Sector defences Option: This determines if an starfleet will defend sector defences during a battle, or will remain outside during a battle (when remaining outside, the starfleet can retreat, but does not gain the sector defence bonus). Each starfleet indicates if it will defend sector defences or not. The starships in a unit defending a sector defence will gain a defensive combat bonus, but such a unit cannot retreat from battle. You can defend sector defences in your sectors, as well as those owned by a friendly empire. If this option is Yes, then a starfleet will enter into any sector defence during a sector battle, thus gaining a defensive combat bonus, but will not be able to retreat. If this option is No, then a starfleet will remain outside of sector defences in a sector battle, and will gain no bonus, but will be able to retreat if necessary. To issue this order, click on the Defend Sector defences button, which will switch to the other option.

 

Advanced Map Techniques:

There are some map options available that make viewing the map easier:

·         Map Options: There is a hammer and wrench next to the Zoom feature. Clicking on this gives you a number of options.

·         Zoom: Click on the small magnifying glass on the bottom right of the map. Clicking on this will switch between normal map view, and zoom-out (where you can see more of the map).

·         Change size of unit list: You can change the height of the unit list. To do this, place your mouse arrow in between the map and the unit list. Drag the unit list down to decrease the size of the unit list, to show more of the map. Drag the unit list up to increase the size of the unit list.

·         Determine Units Shown on the Unit List: You can change the unit list so that only some types of units are shown. Click on Map Options, and you can see 2 buttons: Starfleets and Garrisons. Clicking these buttons will change the units shown on the unit list. For example, click on Starfleets, making the button unclicked. Now, go to the map, and Starfleets are not shown on the unit list. Go back and select starfleets again, and they will now be shown on the unit list.

 

 

Strong Sector Defences increase starship combat strength.

 

Chapter 4: Turn Events

 

Everyone prepares their orders separately, and then sends them to the GM to be processed. Everyone’s orders will be carried out at the same time. If you don't send in orders, then your Empire won’t do anything except pay upkeep and collect revenues (your forces will still defend your sectors). But, other Empires will still carry out their orders. All the game events happen in a certain order, which is shown here. Pay special attention to the order in which events are listed. This is the exact order that they occur when turns are processed. Also, please see the Details section - these concepts are important for understanding this chapter.

 

Introduction to Turn Events:

Everyone’s turn is processed together at the same time. There are “First Events”, then “Movement Events”, and then finally “Last Events”. The First Events are things like declaring war, etc., which all happen before the Movement Events. The Last Events are things like gaining revenue, etc., that all happen after Movement Events. Pay close attention to the order of events in the Turn Events section. This is how you will know when each of your orders will happen when turns are processed. For example, changing Acceptance happens in First Events, so this will happen before any movement. Also, ownership change happens during Movement Events, so this is only after all First Events are done (Ownership change happens in phases, so the ownership of a sector can change more than one time during the turn). Resource revenues happen in Last Events, so this happens only after all movement and battles (in the Phases of Movement Events) are complete.

 

Phases:

Movement Events happen in a number of “Phases”. A Phase is about one Standard Galactic Month of time (a Phase could also be called an “impulse” if you are more familiar with that term in wargaming). Each phase, various events will occur, and they repeat a number of times until no units have any Move-points. For example, on Phase 1, all units move 1 location, and then battles happen, sector ownership changes, etc. Then, there is a Phase 2, and all units move 1 location, then battles happen, sector ownership changes, etc. These Phases continue until no units have any Move-points left. When there are no more units that can move, then there is 1 more extra Phase, and then Movement Events are complete. When that happens, the Last Events happen. For transferring, units will transfer only if they are in the same location at the same phase. If units never arrive at the same place at the same phase, then no transfer will happen! Also, remember phases for coordinating unit movement. For example, you give Starfleet#1 orders to invade enemy Sector A, and you give Starfleet#2 orders to move to friendly Sector B, and then invade Sector A. These starfleets won’t arrive at the same time! This is what will happen: Starfleet#1 will invade during Phase 1, while meanwhile, Starfleet#2 will move to Sector A during Phase 1. Starfleet#2 will invade during Phase 2 (although if Starfleet#1 succeeds, you will own the sector by the time Starfleet#2 gets there). A better plan would be to give Starfleet#1 orders to hold position and then invade, while Starfleet#2 has orders to move and then invade. This way, on Phase#1, Starfleet#1 will wait (remain in place) while Starfleet#2 moves to Sector A. Then, on Phase#2, both units will attack together.

 

Here is the list of all events that occur in each round, in order. Note that the movement events repeat until all possible ordered movements are completed. Each event is explained in the rest of the chapter, in order.

 

First Events:

 

This is the first part of Turn Events. These steps are:

 

War Declared:

This happens first. This changes the diplomatic relations between Empires from Neutral to War. This is done by Declaring War. Only one Empire has to do this, and then war will be declared. However, you can’t declare war with a Empire that is your Ally. In this case, you can’t declare war this same turn. For an ally, you will need to cancel your alliance. It will take one turn to break the first relations, and then you can declare war the next turn. When war is declared, then all Passage Rights and Special Permission will be immediately cancelled between the two empires, and cannot be established while the two empires are enemies.

Ctrl+click here for more on Invasions.

 

Acceptance Changed:

This step is to change the Acceptance between all Empires. You do this with the Change Acceptance action. This indicates whether you will accept gifts from another Empire (including sectors, transfers and resources sent). If you don’t want their gifts (for whatever reason), then change your Acceptance to No. This happens at this time. A empire could give you a sector it is about to lose to try and embroil you in a conflict you want nothing to do with.

 

Passage Rights Changed:

This step is to change Passage Rights between all empires. This is not the only way to give permission for an empire to move through your territories. You do this with the Grant Passage Rights or Revoke Passage Rights actions. You can grant or revoke Passage Rights to another empire (but not an enemy empire). If you grant Passage Rights to an empire, then they can move through all of your sectors at will. This is potentially hazardous, for should they decide to attack you, they could send out small units through your sectors. Next turn, they could declare war, causing all manner of havoc. For a trusted ally, this is useful, as he will be able to retreat into your sectors, etc.

 

Special Permission Changed:

This is to change the Special Permission for any sectors you own. For each sector, you can indicate which empires will be granted permission to move through it. You do this with the Grant Special Permission, Revoke Special Permission actions. This is to give a empire permission to move through a single sector, which is safer than granting full Passage Rights.

Ctrl+click here for more on Permission.

 

New Starfleets Formed:

This step is to form all new starfleets. This can only be done by starfleets and garrisons. For all new starfleets being formed, they are created now. Each Empire can have only 99 starfleets. Starfleets formed can have starships and admirals transferred into them, and can be given orders the same turn they are created.

 

Various Administrative Actions Performed:

At this time, a number of administrative orders are performed, which are:

·         Change Retreat Level: This is the Rank that when empty of starships, will cause the unit to retreat in battle (see Ranks & Retreat Level section for more information about Retreat Level).

·         Change Defend Sector defences Option: Whether the unit will enter into sector defences and defend them in battles or not.

·         Change Unit Leader: This changes the admiral that is the leader of the unit.

 

Starfleets Change Cloaking:

This is to change whether starfleets are cloaked or decloaked.  Cloaked units cannot be seen by foreign empires, and cannot fight in battles.  A unit can only become cloaked if all starships have Cloaking ability.  Starfleet cloaking changes also happen during Movement Events.  The following happen at this time:

·         Cloak Unit: Cloaking a unit is to become hidden so that foreign empires will not be able to see the unit or bring it to battle.  A unit cannot cloak itself if the weight is more than 10 times the storage (so a unit can have some excess weight, but not too much to be cloaked).

·         Decloak Unit:  This decloaks a previously cloaked unit, so it can be seen by all other units (this will allow transfers to happen between the unit and other units also).

 

Same Location Transfers Occur:

This step is to transfer starships and admirals between units. These are transfers that will happen because the recipient and giving unit are in the same location. These transfers will always succeed, and will happen at this time (prior to any movement happening). Transfers also happen during Movement Events.

Ctrl+click here for more on transfers.

 

Starships Reassigned To Ranks:

The next step is reassign starships to different ranks. Each unit has 5 ranks, and each starship in a unit is in one of these ranks. Remember, ALL starships cause damage against the enemy, no matter what rank they are in (Ranks and Retreat Level are explained in Chapter 5). Starships in lower numbered ranks are taken first as casualties in battle – as a general rule, put your worst starships up front. JB: I like to put heavy starships up front, because they often survive a small fight without any casualties. When I’m besieged, I also put them up front, because two cheaper units, each getting the benefit of sector defences, will make a bigger impact on my enemies. You can reorganize a type of starship by placing all of the individual starships into different ranks. All of the starships will now be placed into their new ranks. You should check your units to make sure the starships are assigned as you wish. Whenever you transfer starships into one of your starfleets, you should re-assign the new starships to ranks, and whenever you build new starships you should reassign them also – unless they are about to be put into another starfleet (in that case, you reassign them once they’ve been transferred). Keep in mind that starships are reassigned in First Events (not during movement). You can put as many (or as few) of your starships in each rank. You can leave ranks empty. JB: If you have a small force, and want them to attempt a risky move to a currently empty enemy territory, you might like to put one starship in the first rank, and set the retreat level to rank one. If enemies turn up, you’ll take casualties from the first round of combat, but the rest of your starships will flee like the cowardly scum they are. It’s better than having them all die, isn’t it???

 

Disbanding/Salvaging Starships:

This step is to get rid of starships that you do not want. If you don’t want to pay upkeep for admirals or starships, then you can disband or salvage them. Scuttling starships will remove the starship, so you won’t have to pay upkeep that same turn. Salvaging is the same thing, except that you may gain resources from doing this. Salvaging represents taking equipment, crew, etc. from the scuttled starships. 

 

Movement Events:

 

Okay, now that all of the first events are complete, the main part of the turn activities happen. These are called Movement Events. These steps are performed one at a time. After the last step, if there are any more starfleets or fleets that have orders to perform, then all of the steps in Movement Events will repeat in the same manner. Each time Movement Events happen, this is called a Phase (this is explained better previously in this chapter). This continues in a number of Phases (each phase, movement events happen). After all units have performed all their actions, there will be 1 extra phase, and then Movement Events are complete. For example, an starfleet has orders to Travel to sector A, then Travel to sector B. In the first Phase, all of the steps in Movement Events happen, and occur, and so during Phase 1, the starfleet will travel to sector A. On Phase 2, the starfleet will move to sector B. If more units have actions to perform, then there will be additional Phases. There may be a Phase 3, Phase 4, etc. The steps of Movement Events are:

 

Transfers Happen:

This step is for all transfers to happen. Transfers will happen exactly like they did in First Events, with the same requirements. Each unit will check to see if it has any transfers to perform, and if the recipient is in the same location. If the recipient is there, then the transfer will happen. If the recipient is elsewhere, then the unit won’t transfer (transferring is explained better in Chapter 5). JB: A simple rule of thumb is: starships can only transfer if they’re in the same place at the same time.

Ctrl+click here for more on transfers.

 

Starfleets Travel:

This step is for each starfleet to travel one sector for the current Phase. This will only happen if the starfleet meets all conditions for movement (Traveling is explained better in Chapter 5). Each starfleet will only travel to one sector at this time (a starfleet can travel to additional sectors in other Phases, but a starfleet can only move 1 location per phase). After an starfleet travels, then the Move-point cost is taken from the starfleet’s Move-points. For traveling to succeed, there are the following conditions:

·         Of course, starfleets can only travel between connected sectors - not sectors that are not connected. Barriers naturally will prevent movement.

·         An starfleet can travel to an enemy or independent sector, and invade it. If a sector does not belong to an enemy, then you must have Permission. If you don’t have Permission, and the sector is not enemy-owned or independent, then you will be refused entry. However, if you have been granted Special Permission by an independent territory, you must withdraw that first before you can invade it.

·         The starfleet must have enough Move-points to get to the sector. One Move-point is not enough to get you into an enemy sector. Nor is it enough to get starships into a sector you have conquered in the same turn (in an earlier phase).

·         If a starfleet moves into an enemy sector, and there are enemy forces, then a battle will occur there. Battles happen later, but are explained a little here as well, so you can understand how movement is related to battle. If two enemy starfleets each attempt to move to the other’s sector, then they fight it out on the border – neither side’s sector defences have any effect on this combat. The loser must then retreat to his sector, the winning side moves into the same sector, and another battle may then ensue in that sector – this is one of the two instances whereby an starfleet may fight more than one battle in a turn. The other example is when a sector is entered by multiple enemy starfleets during different movement phases of the same turn. eg Starfleet#1 enters on the first phase of movement, while Starfleet#2 moves into the sector where Starfleet#1 was. By the time Starfleet#2 moves into the enemy sector, Starfleet#1 has already been defeated. The enemy’s starfleet has now fought two separate battles, one against Starfleet#1, the second against Starfleet#2. JB: This is what I like to call “interesting planning”. If you have organised to go into battle with your ally, you can agree to attack, and then go in on the second phase. Your “ally” has lost his starfleet in the first phase, leaving him angry but now dependent on you, and you can take out what is left of the enemy starfleet on your own. On the other hand, it might just be an organisational glitch, in which case your two starfleets may be in for a terrible time. When your enemies screw up like this, it’s quite wonderful. It’s happened in every game I’ve played. By the way – although I’ve thought of screwing an ally in the way mentioned above, I’ve never actually done it. Yet. I’ve done something like it  – organised for my ally to attack a place, then not got there at all, but instead went neutral and subsequently attacked him. I admit; I’ve done that. J

Crtl+click here for more on Movement and  Movepoints.

Ctrl+click here for examples of Movement.

Ctrl+click here for more on Invasions.

Ctrl+click here for more on Coordinating Movement.

 

Defend Sector defences Option Changed:

This is for all starfleets to change their Defend Sector defence option, as they prepare for any battles. This option indicates if an starfleet will enter and defend a sector defence if there is a battle in the sector. If an starfleet does this, the starfleet will gain a defensive bonus from any sector defence. But, if there is a sector defence, the starfleet will not be able to retreat from the battle. If the unit is set to not defend sector defences, then it can retreat normally. If there is no sector defence, then this option has no effect (the unit will be able to retreat then).

Ctrl+click here for more on Sector defences.

 

Starfleet Cloaking Changed:

This is to change whether starfleets are cloaked or decloaked.  This is the exact same step that is described in First Events.  This happens now as well, so a unit that cloaks itself now can avoid battle.

 

Searches Happen:

This step is to perform the Search action.  Units with this order will scour the sector they are in, searching for cloaked foreign starfleets.  Starfleets will only be uncovered if they are owned by neutral or enemy empires.  This action has a chance of successfully uncovering a foreign starfleet (only neutral or enemy units will be decloaked).  A unit that is uncovered will no longer be cloaked, and can be seen in scouting reports and engaged in battles.  For each starship in a unit performing the Search action, there is a chance of successfully searching and finding each foreign starfleet.  For example, starfleet#1 has 3 ships in it, each  with a 10% chance of success when searching.  Therefore, for each foreign starfleet in the same location as starfleet#1, there will be 3 searches.  Each search has a 10% chance of success.  If the search succeeds, then any cloaked foreign starfleet with relations of War or Neutral to Starfleet#1 will now be decloaked.  As you can see, a unit could cloak itself in the previous step, but could now be decloaked by a searcher, and brought to battle this phase.

 

Cross-border Battles Are Fought:

Now, all Cross-border battles happen. This is a battle that happens when 2 or more enemy starfleets attempt to move into each other’s locations on the same border. This is related to starfleets traveling, and only the units actually moving are involved (garrisons will never be involved in cross-border battles, and neither will sector defences). For example, Sector A connects to Sector B. Starfleet#1 moves from A to B. An enemy starfleet moves from B to A (this is all happening in the same Phase). These 2 enemy units are moving to each other’s location, so this will cause a cross-border battle to happen, at the border of Sectors A and B. If another starfleet was moving from C to A, that starfleet would not be involved in this battle (only units moving from A to B or from B to A will be involved). You can consider the border a completely separate sector for the purposes of this battle, and any unit not on the border will not be involved. So, no sector defences will be involved, and neither will units located in the sectors, or units that were unloaded into the sectors. Cross-border battles are resolved similarly to normal sector battles. However, if a unit retreats, it will go back to where it was before it attempted to move. So, in the above example, if Starfleet#1 retreated, it would just move back to Sector A. This may cause another battle to happen in the next step (sector battles).

Cross-border battles do not affect the immediate movement of the winning starfleet – that force will continue to move to their ordered destination, and may fight another battle when they get there. As for the loser, his starfleet will not be able to successfully complete its ordered move.

Ctrl+click here for more on Battles.

 

Battles Are Fought:

This step is to check for all Sector Battles to happen. A sector battle is a bloody combat between enemy starfleets (and any garrison, if there is one) in the same sector. In the previous steps, all starfleets have traveled one location and fought any cross-border battles. Now, sector battles will happen in all sectors where there are enemy units. Battles will be fought according to the method explained in Chapter 6. Some important notes about sector battles are:

1)       Starfleets that are not at war will never fight each other. So, if your ally attacks a unit, but you are not at war with that unit, then you will simply watch, and won’t be involved.

2)       Independent starfleets will always consider an intruder an enemy, and will always engage in battles against those who cross their borders. The exception is if you have Special Permission to move into an independent territory, in which case you will be ignored when your forces enter the sector.

3)       At the end of each round of battle, each starfleet involved may retreat. If an starfleet retreats, then it flees into another sector. This will be the sector that the starfleet moved from, unless this sector has enemy starships in it. In this case, the starfleet will retreat to any available sector that it can move to. If there are no available sectors to retreat to, then the unit will not retreat, and will instead remain in the battle. When a unit retreats, all Move-points will be used up.

4)       Units in cross-border battles will still arrive at normal sector battles. They will arrive at the same time as other units that were not in a cross-border battle. Units that retreat from a cross-border battle will return to the sector from where they started movement. These units will be involved in any battle in the sector they started from (unless they were destroyed in the cross-border battle).

5)       You don’t have to destroy the sector defences of a industrial center to conquer the sector. You just need to kill off any starships defending it. If there aren’t any, then you conquer the industrial center without damaging it – the industrial center lowers its shields to you! But if there are defenders, it might be very beneficial for you to damage or destroy the defences first.

6)       If two attackers in an independent sector are hostile towards each other, the battle will be a 3-way battle; each side will attack all the others. His starships may attack you or the other invader.  The one he attacks is random, same with everyone else's forces.  For example, you have 10 starships, the other invader has 15, then for each unit owned by the independent, there is a 10/25 chance the independent will attack one of your starships, 15/25 chance of attacking the other invader.  The same thing for which starships you will attack, etc.

Battle only uses move points if fought on enemy territory.  Therefore, there is no move cost for a cross-border battle, or a battle that occurs on friendly or neutral territory.

Ctrl+click for more on Battles.

 

Sector Ownership Changes:

This step is for the ownership of sectors to change. If a sector is invaded, and all friendly starfleets are destroyed or have retreated, then the invaders will now own the sector. If a sector is invaded by more than one Empire, then the Empire with the greatest number of starships/admirals in the sector at this time must have a total combat of at least 10 (which means a lone siege machine cannot conquer a sector). Starships with cloaking ability have combat divided by 10 for this purpose.  This is because these are smaller units (a spy represents a few individuals, while an infantry starship represents a battalion of starships).  If ownership changes, the following happens:

·         If the sector contains a Harbour, there is 25% chance that the harbour will be destroyed in the looting that follows.

·         No empire will have Special Permission with that sector.

·         If a sector changes ownership, then any garrison for that sector will now be owned by the new sector owner. No starships can change sides with a change of garrison – they will all have died or retreated in a previous phase.

·         The Damage Level of the sector will be increased +1, but this happens during Final events (to a maximum of 1 level increase per turn).

If two or more empires have starships in a sector, and the sector is to change hands, then it will belong to the country which has the largest total of starships in the sector. Eg Vulcan and Federation are allies; both move to Ro’ Schala, and conquer it. Vulcan has eight  powerful starships, Federation has nine weak destroyers. Federation will get ownership, simply because nine is more than eight. The quality of the starships is irrelevant in determining ownership – quantity rules!

If your sector is conquered by another player, and that player doesn’t annex the sector, you have only three turns to re-conquer it, before your annexation is automatically cancelled.

 

Sectors are Pillaged:

This step is to perform all Pillage orders for all starfleets and garrisons. The ownership/annexation of a sector does not matter for Pillaging. To Pillage is to seize resources from a sector, which can cause devastation to that sector (increasing the damage level). The conditions are:

·         Each sector can only yield revenue 1 time per turn. If a sector has already been pillaged this turn (in a previous Phase), then nothing will happen, and no revenue will be gained.

·         A unit can only Pillage if it unit has at least 1 Move-point. If a unit has 0 Move-points, it can’t Pillage.

·         The unit must be at the location indicated for the action, or it won’t Pillage.

·         The Total Combat of all starfleets pillaging should be checked. This must be at least 10, or an starfleet cannot Pillage (in that case, the starfleet doesn’t have enough strength to steal from the inhabitants).

·         You can pillage sectors you own. For foreign sectors, if you have Passage Rights or Special Permission granted by the owner of the sector, then you can’t Pillage it. ie you must be at war to pillage another player’s sectors, and you can pillage your own sectors any time you wish.

If all conditions are met, then the sector will be pillaged. This results in:

·         Revenue Gained: The revenue of the sector will be gained and shared by the Pillaging units (this is explained better in Chapter 5). Pillaging a sector will mean that no revenue is gained from taxing that turn.

·         Pillaging uses up all Move-points for the unit for the rest of the turn (it takes all the turn to scour the sector’s planets for valuables).

·         The Damage Level of the sector will be increased +1, but this happens during Final Events (to a maximum of 1 level increase per turn).

 

Movement Events Repeat:

This step is to check to see if the Movement Events should be repeated. If any unit has Move-points, or can perform valid actions, then Movement Events will repeat. In this case, there will be another Phase (so if the previous Phase was 3, then there will be a Phase 4). After all units have performed all their actions, there will then be 1 extra Phase, and then Movement Events are complete, and then Final Events will happen.

 

Final Events:

 

After all the Movement Events are complete, then there are the Final Events. These happen now.

 

Sector Damage Increases:

This step is to check to see if the Damage of any sector is increased. Damage will occur if:

·         Pillage: If the pillage action was successfully performed in the sector.

·         Ownership Changed: If the ownership of the sector changed during Movement Events.

·         Sector Battles: For each battle that happened in the sector, there is a 10% chance that there will be damage (this is not for cross-border battles).

If any of the above events happened, then sector damage will be increased +1, to a maximum of 3. The damage can only be increased +1 each turn (if multiple events happened, sector damage is still only increased +1).

 

Resources Sent:

This step is to perform all Send Resources actions, where you send resources to another empire. There is a cost of 10% of the amount sent, which represent transportation expenses and merchant fees. The recipient garrison can be owned by a foreign empire, or the same empire. To send resources, the conditions are:

·         The receiving empire must have Acceptance of Yes.

·         Your empire must be able to draw a chain of connected locations from one of your garrisons to a foreign garrison. A sector can only be used if you have Permission for that sector. Any available route will be used to send the funds. However, if there is no such link between one of your garrisons to the foreign garrison, then the resources cannot be sent.

 

Upkeep Paid:

This step is to pay the upkeep costs for your admirals, starships and ships. Admirals gain upkeep first. Resources used for upkeep will be lost. If there is not enough upkeep, you don’t necessarily lose half your
troops, but each ship not receiving full upkeep has a 50% chance of being lost.  So, you could lose half, or less than half, based on the chance of each ship.

 

 

Starships Built:

This is for all starships built to be placed onto their garrisons. If there are not enough funds to build a type of starship, then the number to be built will be reduced to what you can afford. If the sector you were building in is conquered by another nation, you will not be able to build there. If your sector is attacked, but you successfully defend it, then you will be able to build starships there.

Remember that your HQ is not always precise in determining exactly how much surplus resources you have. If you have a surplus of two resources when you send your turn on, you can be confident that all of your purchases will succeed.

Ctrl+click for more on Building Starships.

 

Admirals Hired:

This step is for garrisons to hire admirals (only garrisons can do this). The conditions for this action are:

·         A garrison can do this only 1 time per turn.

·         There must be an Industrial center in the sector with the garrison, and your empire must have the resources required to hire a admiral.

·         Your empire must not have the maximum admirals. Royalty players can have 5 admirals, while commoners may have none. 

If the garrison meets all conditions, then a new admiral will be hired. This individual will have ratings in different skills, some admirals have higher ratings than others (you may get a highly skilled individual, or you may get an amateur). Admirals will improve their skills from successful battles.

Ctrl+click here for more on Admirals.

 

Sectors Annexed:

This step is for garrisons and starfleets to Annex Sector. Annexing means to assimilate it into your empire, and creating an infrastructure there with officials, governor and tax collectors, so that you can extract revenue from the local inhabitants. Annexation cost is equal to the revenue of the sector, as shown on the map screen. You pay the annexation cost now, but you won’t receive any revenue from the sector this turn (you will get revenue next turn). If you lose ownership of a sector, it will remain annexed to you for a few turns more, and then the taxation infrastructure will be lost, so it will be annexed to no one. So, if you lose a sector, and then recapture it soon, then you won’t have to annex it again. To annex a sector, you must own it now, and also you must have owned it at the beginning of the season. You do need starships to conquer a sector, but they don’t have to stay there while you annex – the sector could be empty of starships, and you could still annex it. Also, you don’t need to keep starships in an annexed sector – you can leave it empty, and it will stay yours forever. JB: Unless an enemy starfleet moves in and takes it from you, which you have to expect if you don’t guard your borders.

Remember that your HQ is not always precise in determining exactly how many surplus resources you have. If you have a surplus of two resources when you send your turn on, you can be confident that all of your purchases will succeed.

 

Sector Annexation Declines:

When a sector changes ownership, it will remain annexed to the empire that it was previously annexed to. However, if the ownership of a sector is different than the annexation, then the sector will not yield revenue. In addition, if this continues for 3 turns, then the sector will become annexed to independents. This represents the decline and wasting away of the officials and infrastructure previously organized there. So, if you lose an annexed sector, try to recapture it in a few turns, because after 3 turns it will no longer be annexed to you (if you recaptured it after a long period, you would have to annex it again).

 

Construction Happens:

This step is for building/upgrading/repairing sector defences. The conditions for construction are:

·         The unit must have successfully performed the Construction Action during First Events. That uses up the Move-points for starfleets.

·         There is a cost in materials for performing construction, a unit must have all of the resources available now (these can be gained by transfers). These will now be used up by the construction action. This is usually 14 resources.

·         3 starships are required to do nothing but build the sector defences for their turn.

·         For a garrison, the sector must not have changed ownership.

·         For a starfleet, the starfleet must not have retreated or moved from where it was during First Events.

·         You must have permission for the sector (annexation and ownership doesn’t matter). But, if you build in someone else’s sector, they will own whatever you build there.

·         For building/upgrading sector defences, each sector can have its Sector defence Level increased only once per turn. Also, you can’t build more than the maximum sector defence level (12).

·         For building/upgrading sector defences there must be starships present (this is not necessary for repairing sector defences).

·         Each sector defence can be repaired only one level per turn. 

For a unit that meets all conditions, the unit will now perform construction.

A sector could have it’s sector defence level go up twice in one turn, but only if it has damaged sector defences that are left in peace for the turn, and you decide to build another level of sector defence at the same time. Eg Your Fort is level 2, but it has suffered a little damage and is currently on Level One. The damage will repair automatically because the sector is not attacked that turn, and because you’ve ordered 3 starships to build there that turn, it will be on Level Three at the start of the next turn.

Ctrl+click here for more on sector defences.

 

Resources Decay:

This step is for any resources left in your treasury to decay. At this time, 7% of the resources in your treasury will now decay, which represents pilfering, and frivolous expenses by your ruler as he lives the high life.

 

Structures Razed:

This step is to raze a sector defence level in a sector. Only starfleets and garrisons can do this. Resources can be salvaged from razing, which is indicated for each structure. The conditions for razing are:

·         There is a requirement of workers required to raze a sector defence level. A worker is a starship. If there are not enough workers, then the razing will fail.

·         For a starfleet, it must not have retreated or moved from where it was during First Events (including being loaded or unloaded).

·         For a garrison, the sector must not have changed ownership.

·         You must own a sector to raze structures there (annexation doesn’t matter).

·         For razing a sector defence level, you can raze more than 1 level, but a maximum of four levels can be razed each turn. More than 1 unit can raze fortification levels, but no more than this amount can be destroyed in a single turn, due to the intense labour required.

If a unit meets all conditions, then the structure will be razed. Any materials gained will be placed into the storage of the unit (these won’t decay, because of course decay happened previously).

 

Sector Revenue Gained:

This step is for all sectors to yield revenue to your main treasury. Sector income is explained better in Chapter 5. The conditions for producing revenue are:

·         A sector will only yield income directly to your treasury if you own it and it is annexed to you. Sectors that are not annexed do not yield any revenue (also, a sector does not yield revenue the same turn it is annexed). If the sector is owned by one player, and annexed to another, nobody will receive the revenue.

·         A sector will not yield revenue the same turn that it changes ownership (there is too much disorganization across that sector).

·         A sector yields revenue only 1 time each turn. A sector will not deliver any revenue if it was pillaged that turn (this happens during Movement Events). This is because the revenue has already been seized by another force.

At this time, all sectors will deliver their revenues (which the inhabitants have worked hard all season long to produce).

Ctrl+click here for more on Sector Revenue.

 

Sectors Gifted:

This step is to transfer the ownership of sectors between Empires. On the Diploware, you can give another empire a sector you own. In order for this to happen, the following conditions must be met:

·         The recipient empire (the empire to receive the sector) must have Acceptance of Yes with your empire.

·         The recipient empire must have a starship in the sector, or in a connected sector. This represents a token force that is needed to accept the gift and install some basic infrastructure in the sector.

·         You may not gift more than two sectors to others in a single turn.

When ownership is changed, this won’t change the annexation of the sector, and will also not affect any sector defences or harbour in the sector (which will become owned by the recipient empire). Any garrison owned by the old owner will have all starships transferred into new units. So, you can’t use this to give away starships to another empire.

 

Proclamations Income:

This step is for the revenue to be gained from any Proclamation that you made. When you make a proclamation, this will increase your prestige, resulting in extra production by your followers. Accordingly, you will earn 7 resources, which is placed into your treasury. In order to gain the revenue, the proclamation must be suitable, as explained in Chapter 5. Your population does not want to hear vulgarities, and the GM is reading...

 

Sector Damage Repaired:

This step is to repair the damage level of sectors. Damage represents destruction that occurs to crops on agricultural planets, population centres, sattelite networks, etc. that reduces the revenue you can gain from a sector. Each sector has damage from none (undamaged) to 3 (heavily devastated). The damage level is increased at the beginning of Final Events (this happens from pillaging, battles, etc.) Damage is only repaired 1 level per turn. For damage to be repaired:

·         The Sector must not have changed ownership during the turn.

·         There must not have been a battle in the sector this turn (cross-border battles have no effect).

·         The Sector must not have increased damage this turn (from pillaging, etc.)

For sectors that meet these conditions, damage will be repaired 1 level at this time (this happens automatically). This step happens after revenues are gained of course, so revenues will be based on the damage level before damage is repaired.

 

Peace Established:

This step is to establish peace treaties between Empires. If 2 Empires are at war, they can attempt to establish a peace treaty. This will only succeed if both Empires offered peace to each other. If this happens, then they will now be neutral. Otherwise, they will remain enemies.

 

Alliances Cancelled:

This step is to cancel alliances. If 2 Empires have an alliance, then either Empire can cancel it. Only 1 Empire needs to do this, and then the alliance will be cancelled. If this happens, then they will now be neutral.

 

Alliances Formed:

This step is to form an alliance with another Empire. If 2 Empires are neutral, then they can establish an alliance. Both Empires will need to offer each other an alliance. If this happens, then an alliance will be formed between them. Otherwise, nothing will happen. You can’t offer an alliance if you're at war. So, you can’t move from enemies to allies in the same turn, because that would take 2 turns (the first is to gain peace, and then next is to form the alliance).

 

Info Sharing Changes:

This step is used to give or revoke Info Sharing with another empire.  Each turn, your units will perform scouting, to gain reports of different sectors and seas in the game, and what is located at each.  You grant another empire Info Sharing to share all of your scouting info with him, or you can revoke Info Sharing, so that you will no longer send your info to him.  Scouting info is shown the same way on your Diploware, no matter where you got it from.  Info sharing agreements are a good way to widen your knowledge of the known world.  However, your Suzerain will always have your info, and you cannot revoke it from him (he does not need to share info with his Henchmen, because after all, his word is law, and his Henchmen only need to know what he wants them to).  You can also use the Diploware to send limited scouting reports to another empire, but of course only Royalty can do this (this is another one of the privileges of having royal blood).

 

Espionage Occurs:

This step is to perform espionage, which is for agents to gather vital statistics about another empire (such as number of starships owned by that empire, etc.)  There is a cost of 35 resources to perform espionage.  An espionage report will be available on the target empire in your new turn.  There are different types of information that you may receive on the report, but you may not gain all of the information available.  This is an excellent way to size up a neighbor, and keep tabs on him.

 

Empire Limits Checked:

Each ruler has limited prestige. A ruler’s personal prestige is vital to retaining followers and maintaining authority over the populace. Commoner status represents an undistinguished individual, of unremarkable qualities and bloodline, who is less able to gather a large following in his pursuit of empire. Royalty status represents a battle-tested ruler of royal bloodline, with great charisma, leadership, and other traits that mark a distinguished warlord. One gains this eminent status by simply contributing his GM fee, which is a modest donation that helps the GM with running the game. A ruler with Royalty status can control a larger empire and retain the loyalty of a greater number of followers than a ruler that is a Commoner. The limits are the following:

·         Admirals: If a empire has more admirals than are permitted, then 1 admiral will resign at this time. Commoners may not have any admirals, while Royalty may have 5.

·         Annexed Sectors: If a empire has more annexed sectors than are permitted, then 1 will become annexed to local forces. This does not affect the number of sectors you own, only the sectors that are annexed to you. Rulers that are Royalty can have up to 60 sectors annexed. Rulers that are commoners can have only 7 sectors annexed.

Ctrl+click here for more on Player Status (Royalty / Commoner).

 

Defeated Empires Removed:

This is the last step. If there is a Empire that does not own any sectors or starships, then it is defeated. A Empire needs to have at least 1 sector or 1 starship, or it will be removed from the game. In this case, all remaining forces revert to independent status.

Ctrl+click here to go to information on Achieving Victory.

 

Scouting Occurs:

This step is for all units to send in a report of surrounding locations.  Scouting happens in the following ways:

·         Each sector you own will scout adjacent locations (both sectors and seas). 

·         Each starship you own will scout adjacent locations.  This depends on the scouting chance of the starship (this is different for each starship).  If a starship scouts a location successfully, then there is a chance that it will gain a scouting report of connected sectors, and the same with ships, except they only scout connected seas.  For example, a starship with scouting of 30, and bonus scouting of 10 has a 30% chance of successfully scouting connected locations.  For each sector scouted, there is a 10% chance of gaining scouting reports of all sectors connected to the scouted sector.

·         Info Sharing:  If a empire has granted you info sharing, then you will gain all scouting reports from that empire.  You may be able to establish agreements with other nations, where you each share your scouting reports, to widen your view of the game map.  Henchmen automatically send scouting reports to their suzerain.

If you see sectors with a skull and cross-bones on the map, you will know that you did not receive a scouting report of the sector this turn.  Rulers that are Royalty are able to share scouting reports with other empires in the game.

 

Turn Events Are Complete:

·         At this point, Turn Events are complete. Now, each player will be sent his new turn, and can load it into his Diploware, to see the results of the game.

 

Starships can only be recruited in a Garrison with an Industrial center.

 

Chapter 5: Details of How Things Work

 

Here are a number of concepts that are useful to know about, as well as details about how things work.

 

Resources:

This represents currency, precious metals, di-lithium crystals and other portable items of wealth. You can send resources to another empire for diplomatic purposes. Resources are used for building starships, paying upkeep, etc. You gain resources by owning annexed sectors, or pillaging a sector (you don’t need to own it to do that). You can also gain resources from making a proclamation.

 

Workers:

For construction activities (like building a sector defence) you need resources and workers. A worker is a starship. So, if a structure needed 3 workers to build, your unit would need to have at least 3 starships to build it.

 

Total Combat:

You can see the total combat of a unit on the Location Report or Unit Plan (click on the status button). You can also see the total combat on the location report. This is the total Combat of all starships and admirals in a unit, added together. Each starship has a combat rating. Most starships have just 1 attack, but some starships may have more than 1 attack (the Attack is the number of times it can cause damage each round of battle). The total combat of a starship is the attacks multiplied by the combat. The total combat of a unit is the total combat of all starships. For example, a starship with 2 attacks, and a combat of 35, would add (2+35) =70 to the total combat of the unit. In battle, this starship type would have 2 chances to cause 1 damage each round of combat, and each chance would have a 35% chance of success.

 

About Battles:

All types of units can also be involved in battles. A battle is a conflict between 2 or more enemy units in the same location (units owned by empires with relations of war). You don’t need to know all details about battles if you are just starting out, but some important notes are:

·         When planning an invasion, compare the total combat and total hit points of your forces against the enemy’s (including allies of each side). This is shown on the Location Report. This will give you a rough idea of the fighting strength of each side. If you bring stronger forces to the field than your enemy, you will probably be triumphant.

·         Concentrate your forces together when attacking. The more starships you have, the quicker you will wipe out the enemy. The fewer the rounds of battle, the less damage your forces will sustain.

·         For sector Battles, be aware of the Defend Sector defences option. Note that sector defences will add strength to the defenders, but a defender of a sector defence cannot retreat. Also, siege weapons can cause damage to sector defences. The more damage a sector defence has the less benefit it gives to defenders.

·         Put the starships you want to take as casualties in the lower ranks (like Rank #1) and the starships you don’t want to lose in your higher numbered ranks (like Rank#5). Starships fight the same no matter what rank they are in. Ranks allow you to determine which starships will be taken as casualties.

 

Units:

There are 2 types of units in the game: Starfleets and Garrisons. Each unit has a number of starships and/or admirals. Each empire controls a number of units, which can be issued different orders. A brief description of each unit type is:

1)       Starfleets: These are mobile groups of starships, which can travel from one sector to another, and invade enemy sectors. In addition, an starfleet can be loaded onto a fleet, and transported across seas, and unloaded onto coastal sectors.

2)       Garrisons: These are similar to starfleets, but cannot move. This represents a unit tied to a particular location, with orders to remain there and attempt to control the surrounding sectors. Any sector that has a Industrial center and/or sector defence will have a garrison. Garrisons will always defend their sector, and will never retreat in battle.  

 

Starships:

You can examine the statistics of any starship type from the Location Report, or the Unit Plan. A Starship represents a space-going man-of-war that can be placed into starfleets, such as a destroyer. Each type of starship has different ratings and statistics.  Important notes about starships are:

·         Combat: This is the percentage chance that the starship type will cause damage during each round of battle. Damage means severely mauling an enemy starship in battle. For example, a starship with a Combat of 50 would have a 50% chance of causing damage each round of battle. There are modifiers to combat (this is explained in Chapter 6). Most starships have only 1 attack (an attack can only cause 1 damage each round). However, some starships may have more than 1 attack. So, a starship with 2 attacks, and a combat of 80, would have 2 attempts to cause 1 damage each round of battle, and each attempt would have an 80% chance of success, so it could cause up to 2 hits of 2 damage; and one that had a combat of 25 would have 2 attempts to cause damage, and each attempt would have a 25% chance of success.

·         Hit-points: This is the Constitution of a starship, and represents the damage it can take before it will be destroyed. For example, if a starship has 3 Hit-points, it will take 3 damage to destroy the starship. A starship defended by a sector defence may gain a bonus to its Hit-points (depending on the sector defence level). A starship that has taken damage in battle may be scuttled at the battle’s end.

·         Cost: This is the cost in resources to build the starship type, and are different for each type of starship. Heavily armoured starships will usually require titanium and other metals, starships will also require trained crews, etc. You may also be able to gain resources by salvaging some types of starships.

·         Upkeep: This is the cost in Resources needed to maintain the starship type each turn. For starships that do not receive their upkeep, If there is not enough upkeep, you dont necessarily lose half your ships, but each ship not receiving full upkeep has a 50% chance of being lost.  So, you could lose half, or less than half, based on the chance of each ship.

·         Move-points: This is the number of Move-points that the starship has. The starships in an starfleet will determine how many Move-points the starfleet has to move into sectors (the starship with the least Move-points will be the Move-points of the starfleet).

·         Siege power: This is only for starships, and is the ability of a starship to cause damage to Sector defences. The more damage a sector defence has the less defensive benefit it gives to defenders.

·         Cloaking:  A starfleet that only has starships with cloaking ability can cloak itself.  This is usually done for a force of scouts, which you intend to travel through foreign space, gleaning scouting info.  When cloaked, such a unit will not be visible to foreign empires.  Also, cloaked starfleets won’t fight in battles.  However, cloaked units can be decloaked if foreign units successfully search and find them.  When that happens, a unit will no longer be cloaked, so it can be brought to battle (your forces will only decloak neutral or enemy units, not friendly or allied units).

 

Building starships:

To build starships, go to the map screen and click on a garrison unit in the bottom section. Then go to “available orders” (bottom right side of screen) and select “build starships”.  A box will appear, showing you the limit of the sector; it might say 0/13.  This means you have builded none, and can build up to 13 this turn. If you build two units, it will change to 2/11 (built two, can build eleven more). Pay attention to the price of your units. Make sure you don’t try to build what you can’t afford. The maximum number of starships you are allowed to build is equal to the maximum resource value for the industrial center, as displayed on the map.

You are limited in your builds to what may be builded in each industrial center. Major industrial centers are more likely to give you more options.  You can build whatever is available to you in a given industrial center. So a Ferengi starfleet might have difficulty replacing its really fast starships when they finally arrive in Cardassia. But they will be able to build Cardassian ships there. Over time, this allows your starfleet to take on some of the characteristics of the peoples you invade.

An industrial center will have the same build-list throughout the game – whoever owns Helior III will be able to build Bio-Cruisers – even Betazeds.  You are allowed to build starships in a industrial center without annexing it first, so long as you own the territory.  

The starships you build will not be available to you immediately. You are simply ordering them to be built. If you can afford them, they will appear where you requested them in your next turnfile.

If you wish to build different kinds of starships than those currently available to you, then conquer industrial centers in different regions, and see what you can build there. A list is not available here of what can be built in each industrial center, as it has been left as a pleasant surprise for you to find out as you play.

When your starships are built, they will be in a garrison. To move them, you will have to put them into a starfleet. If there is no starfleet to transfer them into, click on the garrison, then go to “available orders” (bottom right of map screen) and select “form new fleet”, then click on the garrison and transfer the starships across to the new unit.

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Starships Built.

 

Cloaking:

For taking over ownership of sectors, you need to have a total combat of at least 10.  Starships with cloaking ability have combat divided by 10 for this purpose.  This is because these are smaller units.

A starfleet can only change its cloaking one time per turn (cloak or decloak).  So, you can cloak on turn 1, then move into an enemy sector.  Then, on turn 2, you can decloak your unit there.  Your scout could
cloak on turn 1, then on turn 2 move into the sector and un-cloak.  On turn 3, the scout could cloak again and move out.

The movement costs are the same for cloaked units (2 to move into an enemy sector).
The only way for another empire to find your cloaked unit is to Search.  If successful, your unit won’t be cloaked anymore.  It will be a regular unit, and it can be attacked, etc.

It’s difficult to keep out spies.  One way to do it is to position starships with search ability on your borders.  Have them search each turn.  This will uncover any enemy or neutral scouts, so they won’t be able to move
further into your territory.  However, if decloaked on 1 turn, they can cloak the next and then attempt to move, although starships that search will be able to prevent their further movement by decloaking them that same turn.
Spy ships will not be kicked out of a sector once discovered.  They can only be decloaked (by the search action), and if that happens, a battle will occur like normal (if they are at war).
 The search ability is the ability to uncover hidden starfleets.  Each starship has a search chance, which if successful will decloak all enemy starfleets in the location. Hunters are starships with enhanced  search ability. 

A  scout cannot cloak itself, move into an empty enemy sector, then decloak itself and capture the sector all in one turn, because you can only cloak/decloak 1 time per turn.

Sharing recon info with another player (from the HQ screen) will not decloak your cloaked scouts to other players. There is only so much info that one is willing to share! J

A cloaked spy can enter independent sectors – there is an automatic war between all players and independents, so it will cost 2 movement. Independents never Search, so even if they have hunting ability, they will not use it.

Ships may not pillage while cloaked, and must have at least a combat factor of 10 to do so when uncloaked.

Cloaked units cannot move and uncloak themselves in the same turn, but if they uncloak while enemies are in the same sector, a battle will occur.

Admirals:

Admirals are skilled generals that can be assigned to lead units. A admiral will give valuable bonuses to starships in battle. Some important notes about admirals are:

·         Siegecraft: Each admiral has a Siegecraft rating from 0 to 100. A leader’s Siegecraft will affect the performance of siege starships in the unit (this is explained better in Chapter 6). Siegecraft can be increased from battles where the leader has caused damage to enemy sector defences.

·         Starship Tactics: Each admiral has a rating in Starship Tactics. A leader’s tactics rating will affect the performance of the starships under his command, giving a bonus to starships in battles. A admiral’s Tactics ratings can be increased by victory in battle.

·         Assigned Unit: Each admiral is always assigned to a unit you own (a starfleet or garrison). You can transfer admirals to other units you own, but not to foreign units.

·         Leader: Each unit can only have 1 leader (although multiple admirals can be in the same unit). Only the leader will give bonuses to the unit in battle. Other admirals in a unit that are not the leader do not give any tactics bonuses.

·         Combat: Admirals have variable hit points and combat. This represents the the admiral’s personal corvette starship. In a battle, admirals will always retreat if they are still alive, and there are no more starships in the unit. However, admirals can be taken as casualties like any other starship, and will be lost if this happens. Admirals will always be in the last rank, so to be taken as a casualty all starships in the first four ranks must be destroyed.

·         Hiring Admirals: Admirals can be hired by garrisons when there is a Industrial center in the same location as the garrison. The admiral you get is unpredictable; some may have the skills you desire, while others you hire may be lacklustre.

Different admirals will have different combat potential and very different abilities. 

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Admirals Hired.

Ctrl+click here for more on Admiral Modifier.

Ctrl+click here for more on Admirals in Battle.

 

Sector defences:

Sector defences are systems of space stations, sattelites, space minefields and immobile firing platforms which can be manned by defenders in time of war. Each sector may have a sector defence, which gives a defensive bonus to starships defending the sector. These structures can be built, upgraded, or razed. The statistics for each sector defence level can be seen by examining it from the map menu (go to the Location Report for any location, then click Study, and then select the sector defence there).  Some important notes about sector defences are:

·         Sector defence Level: There are a number of levels of sector defence. Higher level sector defences give greater defensive benefits to defending starships. A sector defence can be upgraded to a higher level, or razed to a lower level (or razed completely). The highest sector defence level is 12, and this can be achieved in any sector, if you’re prepared to keep building. You may upgrade only one level per turn, if you have the starships and resources available.

·         Build Costs: Each sector defence has different costs to build, in resources and workers. Also, you can gain materials from razing a sector defence (salvaging some of the materials used to build it).

·         Actual Defence Level: The actual defence level of a sector is the level of the sector defence, minus the sector defence damage. For example, there is a sector defence with level 5, which has level 2 damage. The actual fort level will therefore be: 5-2=3, so the actual fort level is 3. Starships will gain a defensive bonus as if the fort level was 3 (not 5).

·         Defence Capacity: Each sector defence has a defence capacity. This is the maximum number of starships that will gain the defensive bonus in battles. For example, if there was 20 defence capacity, then only 20 starships would gain the sector defence bonus in battle. If there were 30 starships, then only 20 will gain the sector defence bonus. The bonus transfers to other starships when casualties occur. Eg if 5 starships are killed, 5 other starships will now get the bonus, so that as long as you have 20+ starships in the sector, 20 will get the bonus, regardless of casualties. Each starship takes up one capacity.

·         Combat Bonus: Each level of sector defence has a Combat Bonus. This represents the increased combat ability of defending starships coordinating with the fixed defensive systems. This increases the chance of defending starships to cause damage to the enemy in a battle. For example, if the strike bonus was 63%, then starships would gain +63% to their normal strike (so a strike of 30% would be increased to 48%). The maximum number of starships that gain the Combat Bonus each round depends on the defence capacity. For example, if the defence capacity was 12, and there were 12 defenders or less, all defenders would gain the bonus. If there were 20 defenders, each would have a 12/20 chance of gaining the combat bonus. 

·         Hit-points Bonus: Each type of sector defence has a Hit-points Bonus. This represents the shields ability of sector defences (starships behind those shields are more difficult to kill). This increases the Hit-points of defending starships.  For example, if the Hit-points bonus was 1.5, then a starship with normal Hit-points of 1 would have its Hit-points increased to 1+1.5=2.5. The maximum number of starships that gain the Hit-points bonus per battle depends on the defence capacity. For example, if the defence capacity was 30, then 30 starship among the defenders would gain the If there were 50 defenders, each would have a 30/50 chance of gaining the hit-point bonus. 

If you conquer a sector and wish to quickly rebuild its defence, you can do so in two ways. Firstly, if the sector is peaceful for the turn, the sector defences will automatically repair, free of charge, by one level per turn. You can also use some starships and resources to build one level of sector defence each turn. Eg I reduced the level 2 defences to defence level 0.  The study view shows that it requires 3 workers and 14 resources to raise the sector defence level by one. I have three starships in the sector, so I order an increase in level to level 3.

The sector defences will repair one level per turn automatically, for no cost, so long as the sector is not attacked while repairs are in progress. Repair only happens if there is no battle in a sector during a turn, and no pillaging.  If all is peaceful, I should have a level 2 sector defence next turn. The turn after that, if I build sector defences again, the sector defence level will reach four: +1 due to building, +1 automatic repair if peaceful.

 

SECTOR DEFENSE LEVELS

Sector defence level

Defense Capacity

Combat bonus

Hit-point bonus

1

3

45%

0.7

2

6

47%

0.9

3

9

49%

1.0

4

12

51%

1.2

5

15

53%

1.3

6

18

55%

1.5

7

21

57%

1.6

8

24

59%

1.8

9

27

61%

1.9

10

30

63%

2.1

11

33

65%

2.2

12

36

67%

2.4

 

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Construction Happens.

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Defend Sector defence Option Changed.

Ctrl+click here for more on Sector defence Modifier.

Ctrl+click here for more on Sector defence Hit-points.

 

Permission:

Permission means that an starfleet has been granted the right to move through a sector (you don’t need this to invade an enemy sector). You have permission if you meet one of these conditions:

·         You own the sector.

·         You have been granted Passage Rights by the owner of the sector.

·         Your empire has Special Permission to move through the sector (this can be granted by players, or gained from independent sectors).

To give or receive Permission, you can do the following:

·         Grant or revoke Passage Rights to another empire.

·         Grant or revoke Special Permission to move through a single sector.

·         Request to be granted special permission by an independent sector (there is a cost for this).

All of these things happen before movement, so the change will be made before any forces move.  Declaring war also happens before movement, so you can declare war and invade the same turn. 

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Special Permission Changed.

 

Movement:

Starfleets can perform movement, which is travelling from one location to another. Each starship has a limited amount of Move-points, which are used for movement, as well as other activities. For movement, the following rules apply:

·         Move-points: The number of locations that a unit can move to is limited. This depends on the Move-points that the unit has. The unit must have enough remaining Move-points to pay the move cost, or the move will fail.

·         Locations Must Be Adjacent: A unit can only move to a location that is connected to the unit’s current location. Barriers prevent movement of course.

·         Permission: You can declare war on a empire, and then invade that same turn. To move into an enemy sector, you don’t need permission (but don’t forget to make the declaration of war). However, for a sector not owned by an enemy, you must have Permission. Without permission, attempting to move to a non-enemy sector will fail, as your forces will be refused entry.

Note: the Diploware will allow you to order moves that won’t succeed. It will allow you to order your starships to travel through six territories – even though the most Move-points you can possibly have is four! It is up to you to understand what the rules will allow your starships to succeed in doing in your turn.

 

Move-points:

Starfleets have Move-points (garrisons can’t move of course). Each unit begins each turn with a number of Move-points. This is the speed of the slowest starship in the fleet. For example, Starfleet#2 has a starship type with 2 Move-points and another starship type with 3 Move-points in it. The Starfleet will then begin the turn with 2 Move-points (because this is the starship type with the least amount of Move-points). Move-points are used to perform orders by starfleets, and are used in the following ways:

·         Traveling: This is only for starfleets. A starfleet can only travel to a sector connected to the starfleet’s current location. The Move-point cost of a sector is either 1 or 2. This depends on the following.

  1. If you have Permission, and the sector has not changed ownership during the turn, then the Move Cost is 1.
  2. If it is an enemy sector, then the Move Cost is 2. If you only have one Move-point left, it is not enough to get you into an enemy territory.
  3. If the sector has changed ownership during the turn, then the Move Cost is 2 for the rest of that turn (no matter who owns it and this lasts until the end of the turn). This represents the chaos and disorder of a sector after it has been captured, with burning space stations, confusion and refugees on the space routes, etc.

·         Waiting: A unit can Wait, which is to simply hold position in the same location for 1 Phase (Phases are explained in Chapter 4). The first time a unit waits, there is no move cost. All other times, the move cost for waiting is 1. This is useful for coordinating movement with your other units or your allies.

·         Other actions: Some actions use up all of an starfleet’s Move-points, causing them to be 0. These are:

a.       Building or destroying a Sector defence

b.       Repairing a Sector defence

c.        Pillaging

·         Battle: Battles that happen on friendly territory do not use additional move points. Battles that happen on foreign soil use all move points. Therefore, there is no move cost for a cross-border battle, or a battle that occurs on friendly or neutral territory.

·         Receiving Transferred Starships: A unit can move, and then transfer starships to another unit. This might affect the Move-points of the receiving unit. For example, Unit A moves, using 1 Move-point. Then, Unit A transfers a starship type with 3 Move-points to Unit B. The starship will have 3-1=2 Move-points. Unit B has mostly slow ships, and has 2 Move-points. This will not decrease Unit B’s Move-points, because the transferred starship will now have 2 Move-points while in Unit B. Another example: Starfleet A invades a sector (without battle), using 2 Move-points. Now, all starships in Starfleet A will have used 2 Move-points. Starfleet A transfers a light starship (3 Move-points) to Starfleet B. This light starship will have 3-2=1 Move-point. Starfleet B has only used 1 Move-point up to now, and has ships with 3 Move-points, so it would normally have (3-1) =2 Move-points. However, with the newly received light starship, the Move-points of Starfleet B will be reduced to 1.

When you conquer a territory, you won’t be able to travel through it for one Move-point until next turn. Neither will any other player – once a sector has been conquered by a player, anyone trying to move starships into that sector will have to use two Move-points.

JB: Pay attention to that! You might be used to sending in enough starships to conquer a sector, and then bring through slower units for one Move-point in the next phase. That won’t work any more – it will cost you two Move-Points to move through for the whole turn, and won’t become a one Move-point sector until next turn. Only the sectors that started the turn under your control (and those sectors you had permission to move through at the start of the turn) will allow you to move through for just one Move-point. Moving through two consecutive enemy territories will now work only if your units have four Move-points.

Your starfleet will lose all its Move-points if it is attacked by another player’s starships, unless it happened in a sector you own.

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Fleets Set Sail.

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Starfleets Travel.

 

Example Movement:

A starfleet, “The Cosmic Raiders” has 2 types of Starships. One type has 3 Move-points, but the second only has 2 Move-points. At the beginning of the turn, the starfleet will have only 2 Move-points (the same as the slowest starship type in the starfleet). This starfleet transfers all of the slow ships into a different starfleet. Now, The Cosmic Raiders will have 3 Move-points (because all of the slow starships are gone). The starfleet moves into a sector owned by the same empire, thus using 1 Move-point, so the starfleet will have 3-1=2 Move-points remaining. Now, the starfleet moves into an enemy sector, for a cost of 2 Move-points. The starfleet will now have 2-2=0 Move-points remaining, so it can’t move any farther in the turn. Example 2: Starfleet A has slow (2) and fast (3) ships. Starfleet A moves through two friendly sectors, using 2 Move-points. Starfleet A then transfers all slow pokes to Starfleet B. Starfleet A will now have (3-2) =1 Move-point to move. Starfleet B will have 0 Move-points, as the starships received had used up all movement before being transferred.

 

Another example:

I have 2 starfleets that I want to invade with. One starfleet is next to the target sector, but the other starfleet is 2 sectors away. What should I do to make sure they both attack at the same time?

I need to have my nearest starfleet hold position on Phase#1, and then attack on Phase#2. I need to have my farthest starfleet move 1 location on Phase#1, and then attack on Phase#2. This is what will happen:

Phase 1: Nearest stays where it is (no cost), Farthest moves (cost of 1)

Phase 2: Nearest starfleet attacks (2 move points used), Farthest attacks (2 move points used), and both will be in the battle.

As a footnote, I could transfer starships before the battle, during Phase#2. But, if I move and then transfer, the receiving starfleet will have the used move points of the giving starfleet! So, I won’t do that. Also, as another footnote, to transfer starships, both units need to be at the same location at the same time, or the action will fail.  

 

A final example:

The Romulans has moved starships to the Federation’s border. The Romulan starfleet can move to two Federation sectors. The Federation has one starfleet that could stop it. How can they guard both regions? One way is to stay still and hope the Romulans run into you. Or move to the other sector. Either way gives you a 50% chance of successfully hitting the enemy starfleet. You could travel to the other sector, and then travel back, but if the enemy has moved to the original sector, then you will have used one Move-point already, and it will now cost you 2 Move-points to return to your original sector, and unless your whole starfleet is made up of fast ships, you won’t be able to do this. The certain way is to hold position for a phase, then move to the other sector. This way, you have a 50% chance of him running into your starfleet, but if not, then you can be certain of hitting your foe in the other sector, and you haven’t used any Move-points, so you will be able to expend the required 2 Move-points to get to the other sector. The only problem with this strategy is that your foe will have invaded the other sector, which will result in a little less income for you, even if you recover the sector during the same turn. The best option is to know where your foe is going, and to know that you will need to have another player as a spy, within his confidence. It can be done!

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Starfleets Travel.

 

Invading:

You will increase the size of your empire by invading enemy sectors and conquering them. You can invade independent sectors without declaring war. To invade sectors owned by another empire, you need to be at war. If you are not at war with a empire, you can only move through its sectors if you have Permission. Your forces will never attack neutral or allied forces. As a note, the turn after you invade, you should annex all sectors if possible. Sectors only yield revenue if you have annexed them, and this investment will pay for itself many times over during the course of the game.

If two attackers in an independent sector are hostile towards each other, the battle will be a 3-way battle; each side will attack all the others. The independent’s starships may attack you or the other invader.  The one he attacks is random, same with everyone else's forces.  For example, you have 10 starships, the other invader has 15, then for each unit owned by the independent, there is a 10/25 chance the independent will attack one of your starships, 15/25 chance of attacking the other invader.  The same thing for which starships you will attack, etc.

At the end of a battle, all surviving troops will have 0 Move-points. If you invade an enemy territory and there are no enemy troops there, you may still have Move-points left eg: A V-58 Class Bio-cruiser has 4 Move-points. He spends 2 Move-points going to an enemy sector. If there are no enemy ships there, he still has 2 Move-points left, and can make another move. If there is an enemy scout in the first province he invades, however, and the cruiser eliminates the scout, the cruiser will not be able to move any further – he has fought a battle, and his Move-points will be set to 0. Exception: Move is not lost for battles fought in your own territory.

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Declare War

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Starfleets Travel.

 

Coordinating Movement:

Remember that each activity has different rules, and happens in a specific order during turn events. Each activity and the order in which it happens is explained in Chapter 4. Please note that turn events happen in Phases. This is important for coordinating the actions of your units, and in planning joint actions with your allies. It’s best to invade enemy sectors with your units at the same time, so all your combat power is concentrated at the enemy in one battle (the quicker you wipe out the enemy, the fewer casualties you will sustain). You can coordinate a starfleet with another starfleet by having the first starfleet wait one Phase, while the other starfleet moves next to the target sector (the first time you wait, there is not move cost). Then, both units can invade at the same time (having the units invade on different phases can be a disadvantage for you in battles). For example, if your forces are all together, then they may be able to kill the enemy in one round of battle. In this case you will suffer less rounds of damage from the enemy (if your enemy lingered for 3 rounds, he could cause many more casualties to your force.)

Note: A movement phase is not regulated by the Move-point cost. All one Move-point orders happen at the same time as the two Move-point orders. The first order happens in the first phase, whether it costs one Move-point, two Move-points or zero Move-points!

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Starfleets Travel.

 

Transferring:

Transferring is sending starships or admirals out of one unit and into another unit. For transferring, the following rules apply:

·         Transferring Admirals: Admirals can be transferred between all types of units, but can not be given to a different empire (they have sworn allegiance only to you). Each unit can have several admirals, but only 1 admiral can be assigned as the unit leader.

·         Transferring Starships: Ships can only be transferred between fleets and garrisons you own. Starships can only be transferred between starfleets and garrisons you own. You cannot give your starships to a different empire. When transferring, you select the rank that the starships will be placed into. They will be taken out of the lowest-numbered ranks in the sending unit, and will be placed into the specified rank in the receiving unit.

·         Same Location Requirement: A transfer will only happen if 2 units are in the same location at the same phase. If a unit has a transfer order, it will make the transfer as soon as the recipient unit is in the same location. So, if the 2 units are in the same location at the start of Movement Events, then the transfer will happen before any moves happen. If 2 units are never in the same location at the same phase, then the transfer won’t happen.

·         Cloaked Units:  A cloaked unit cannot make or receive any transfers.  The unit must first decloak itself before it can accept transfers.  You can decloak your unit, then transfer, then cloak it again during Movement events.

·         Move Cost: When a unit moves, then all starships in the unit will have used Move-points. For example, Starfleet A invades, using 2 Move-points. Now, all starships in Starfleet A will have used 2 Move-points. If Starfleet A transfers a ship (3 Move-points) to Starfleet B, this ship will only have (3-2) =1 Move-point remaining. This could slow down Starfleet B, to only 1 Move-point (the starship in a unit with the least amount of Move-points will be the Move-points of the unit).

·         Important Note: Please remember, although you can select to transfer between units that are not in the same location, the transfer will not succeed unless both units are in the same sector at the same time. Eg both starfleets are in Romulus, in the second phase of movement.

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Same Location Transfers Occur.

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Transfers Happen.

 

Sector Revenue:

Each sector yields resources revenue each turn. The amount of revenue a sector will produce depends on the damage level of the sector. Damage ranges from none to level 3 (the maximum), and occurs from battles and pillaging, and is repaired automatically by the local population (if the conditions are met). Damage affects revenue in the following way:

 

DAMAGE

REVENUE

None

100%

Level 1 (Light)

80%

Level 2 (Medium)

65%

Level 3 (Heavy)

50%

 

For example, a sector normally produces 40 Gold. The sector has a damage level of  2, so the amount of the gold gained will be reduced to 65%. The calculation is: 40*.65=26, so only 26 Gold will be produced. This works the same way with gold revenue (although production areas are not needed for gold revenue). Revenue is gained in 2 ways:

·         Normal Income: If a sector is both owned and annexed to your realm, then you will receive the gold income from that sector, delivered to your treasury. You don’t get gold the same turn you annex, but you will receive the gold each turn thereafter.

·         Pillaging: This is used to get income from a province and also damage the sector (this will increase the damage of a province +1 during Final events). The ownership and annexation of the sector doesn’t matter. For pillaging, revenue is reduced to 90% of normal. You may find that it is useful to pillage captured sectors to pay for the upkeep of your forces, or pillage your own sectors if you expect to lose them soon (a scorched earth policy). Remember that pillaging will increase sector damage, and can turn a once-prosperous sector into a wasteland that yields little income (damage to sectors is repaired at a rate of 1 level per turn, so it would take 3 turns for the sector with damage level 3 to normal productivity). For Pillaging, revenue will be shared between the units doing this. The revenue will be gained on the first Phase of Movement Events that the Pillaging happens. After a sector yields its revenue, it will produce nothing for the rest of that turn. If more than 1 unit pillages on the same phase, then the revenue will be shared (if the revenue has not been gained yet for that sector). For example, there are 2 units pillaging the same sector on the same Phase, and the sector has not yielded revenue yet during the turn. Starfleet#1 has 10 starships, and starfleet#2 has 5 starships, so Starfleet#1 gets 10/15 of the resources, and Starfleet#2 gets 5/15 of the resources (rounded to the nearest 1).

Ctrl+click to go to Turn Events: Sector Revenue Gained.

 

 

Player Status (Royalty/Commoner)

In days of yore, an individual’s bloodline was deemed an important quality in determining his potential. A ruler’s personal prestige was vital to retaining followers and maintaining authority over the populace.  In future galactic empires, although in some monarchy may still be prevalent, other factors intervene to make a ruler prestigious. In any case, to represent this there are 2 player’s statuses for each ruler:

·         Commoner:  This represents a relatively undistinguished individual, with average traits of rulership.  He is of the lesser nobility, and is viewed as an upstart by many of his peers, and some that serve under him. Such an individual is less able to gather a large following in his pursuit of empire.  There is no cost whatsoever for the game when you have Commoner status.

·         Royalty:  This represents a battle-tested warlord, with a true commitment to his Empire, and perhaps with a Royal bloodline. Or, an undeniable prestige gained by years of political service, like that of Vulcan ambassador Sarek. Such an individual is able to command greater allegiance, and is viewed by many to hold a Right to rule.  To gain this status, there is a small GM fee, which is used to support the game.

Here are the differences between the 2 statuses:

 

ITEM

COMMONER

ROYALTY

Admirals

None Will Join His Cause

5

Starships

No Limit

No Limit

Annexed Sectors

Maximum of 7

Maximum of 60

 

Other than the above differences, both statuses are the same. Please note that Royalty status is completely optional, and not necessary at all.  The average ruler can forge a powerful empire without it (but it has some useful benefits). Diplomacy is very important in the game (just like in real international politics). If you gather a small coalition together, your position will be strong, regardless of your status. Alliance victories are fine, so commoner status will not prevent you from sharing in the final victory.  To see how to rise to Royalty status, go to:

http://www.agegames.co.uk/donate.html

Of course, anyone can change between commoner and royalty status at any time, and you can play as a commoner forever if you like (to see your current player status, go to the Messages Menu and click Player Info).

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Empire Limits Checked.

 

Achieving Victory:

To discover the victory conditions, click on this hyperlink:

http://www.lords-of-conquest.com/victory  

 

Diplomacy:

Diplomacy is important in the game.  Try to forge some alliances, or at least non-aggression pacts for some of your borders.  If another empire wishes passage through your sectors, often the best option is to give them special permission to move through a limited number of sectors (this is one of the location orders).  Only give full Passage Rights to an empire that you have complete trust in.  Diplomacy may occasionally be erratic and unpredictable though. At various times a ruler can fall in battle, perish by illness, or be overthrown.  You will find the same holds true in the game, occasionally there will be a replacement for a neighbouring empire, so be aware of the small possibility that a valued alliance could be undone in a season, as a new ruler arises on your border.  Also, another empire may go without orders for a time, and this is completely normal:  it simply represents an empire in internal turmoil.  This can be an opportunity for you, and be prepared to take advantage of this if possible.  However, the great majority of empires will remain under competent rule by those seeking to expand.  Be wary in your negotiations, and in defending your borders, as some players may resort to deception and a sudden backstab.  As the ruler of your empire, you are also solely responsible for diplomatic relations, and neglecting this important element of rulership can be perilous.  To do so is to risk waking up one morning to find your empire besieged by enemies on all sides, without any allies to support you!

 

Strike with overwhelming strength to reduce your casualties.

 

Chapter 6: Battles: Mayhem and Destruction

 

A battle is a struggle between opposing groups of enemy forces.   There are two types of battles:

·         Sector Battle:  This involves starfleets and any garrison in a sector, for control over it.  This is the only type of battle that involves garrisons.  This happens when enemy starfleets and/or a garrison find themselves in the same sector.

·         Cross-border Battle:  This only involves starfleets that are moving across the same border between 2 sectors on the same phase.  Only starfleets moving across the border area on the same phase will be involved.  For example, Starfleet 1 is at war with Starfleet 2.  Starfleet 1 moves from Sector A to Sector B, and on the same Phase, Starfleet 2 moves from Sector B to Sector A.  Since they are moving across the same border at the same phase (and are enemies), there will be a cross-border battle.  

All battles happen during Movement Events.  During Movement Events, units move, then battles occur for locations which have enemy units in them. In real terms, battles represent a struggle between enemy forces that may last a period of days, beginning with initial skirmishes and probing attacks, as the enemy forces make contact.  This is followed by a final massive struggle between opposing forces on the battlefield, where one side achieves victory.

 

When Battles Occur:

Your forces will always attack those of your enemies.  This happens automatically when the forces of enemy empires are in the same location.  This is why you declare war on other empires, so that you will engage and hopefully vanquish them in battle, and conquer their sectors.  Also, when you move an starfleet into an enemy sector, and there are enemy starships there, a battle will happen, etc. Please remember that you will only attack enemies.  Therefore, if your allies attack each other, you will not be involved.  For cross-border battles, only starfleets moving across a particular border at the same time are involved (other units moving across other borders, or in the sector are not involved).  Sector and sea battles are described below briefly, and then there is a Battle Notes section which explains things better.  This is a lot of reading.  The main thing to know is that you will usually be triumphant if you and your allies have superior combat power and Hit-points.

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Cross Border Battles.

 

Note:  You don’t need to know all of the details about battles.  The most important thing to know is to arrange your campaigns so that your forces outnumber the enemy as much as possible.  If you outnumber the enemy, you will usually win.  That is enough to know for your first few game turns.

 

Space Battles:

 

Space battles are fought the same way, whether they are normal sector battles or cross-border battles.  Admirals have Hit-points and a combat statistic, and are treated exactly like starships for the purpose of battle.  The steps for resolving this kind of conflict are:

Ctrl+click here to go to Turn Events: Sector Battles are Fought.

 

Siege Damage Occurs:

This step is only for a battle in a sector where there is a sector defence (otherwise it does not apply).  Of course, this does not apply for cross-border battles.  Various types of starships have Siege Power.  This represents the ability to destroy sector defences (like tractor beams, field disruptors, etc.)  Of course, starships only attack enemy sector defences, and cause no damage to neutral or allied sector defences.  Each starship with Siege Power has one opportunity to increase the Damage level of a sector defence +1 per battle (this only happens 1 time before the battle begins).  The Siegecraft of the unit leader will increase the Siege Power of starships.  For example, a type of starship has a Siege Power of 30.  A starfleet with no admiral, and 3 such starships would have 3 attempts to cause damage, and each attempt would have a 30% chance of success (so if you were really lucky, you could increase sector defence damage +3, and if unlucky you would cause no damage).  The maximum damage that sector defences can have is the sector defence level of the sector (so, for example, a level 2 sector defence could have a max of 2 damage - such a sector defence gives no bonus to defenders).  After all enemy starships use their Siege Power, sector defence damage is assessed.  Sector defence damage will decrease the bonus gained by defenders (for example, a level 6 sector defence with 4 damage would have its effectiveness reduced to a level 2 sector defence, because 6-4=2).  When a unit successfully increases the damage of a sector defence, this will improve the Siegecraft of the unit leader (Siegecraft can only be improved 1 time per turn).  Total Siege Power for a starship is modified by the Siegecraft of the admiral, as determined by:

(Siege Power)+(Siege Power)*(Siegecraft)/200%

·         Siege Power:  The Siege Power of the starship type.

·         Siegecraft:  The Siegecraft of the leader of the unit, which is a rating from 1 to 100 (only the leader gives a bonus to the starships).

For example, a starship has a Siege Power of 30, and the leader of the unit has a Siegecraft of 42.  So, the total Siege Power of the starship will be:

30+30*42/200=36.3

Therefore, the starship will have a 36.3% chance of causing +1 damage to the sector defence (even fractions help a little bit).

 

Units Commit to Defending Sector defences:

This is only for normal sector battles where there is a sector defence in the sector (not for cross-border battles).  This step is to see if any units will commit to defending a sector defence or not (they make the final decision after assessing the damage to the sector defence).  Units gain a bonus if there is a sector defence, and they are defending it.  Note that Sector defence damage only happens prior to battle rounds (it does not happen after units commit to defending sector defences).  The bonus will increase their combat, and add Hit-points (the sector defence bonus depends on the type of sector defence).  However, a unit cannot retreat if it defends a sector defence.  A unit will defend the sector defence only if all conditions are met:

·         For a starfleet, it must be set to Defend Sector defences (this is determined by the Defend Sector defences option for the starfleet).  Garrisons always defend of course.

·         For a starfleet, the battle must be in a sector owned by you or an ally. The starfleet does not have to begin its turn in the sector, it just has to be present at the time of the battle.

·         The sector defence must not be ruined.  This happens if the sector defence level is the same as the damage level (like a level 2 sector defence with 2 damage would be ruined).

 

Battle Rounds Begin:
Now, the battle begins.  There are a number of rounds of battle, as general combat occurs (see the example battle for a better idea of how battles are fought).  Each round, all starships cause damage against enemy starships.  At the end of each round, if there are still enemies remaining, then battle will continue for another round.  If there are no enemies remaining on the field (they have retreated or have been destroyed), then the battle will be concluded.  For example, if a unit has a total of 10 hit points, then it will take 10 damage to destroy that unit. For you to arise victorious, all enemy starships must have retreated or been destroyed.  If there is even one enemy unit that has not been wiped out, then all enemy starships will continue to make hits for another round.

 

Starships Cause Damage:

The first step of a round of battle is for all starships to cause damage.  All starships will cause damage the same way, no matter what rank they are in.  All starships in a unit also continue to cause damage against the enemy until the unit retreats, or all friendly starships have been wiped out. Each starship has a Combat, which is the chance of causing 1 damage.  Some starships may have more than 1 chance to cause damage.  The chance of a starship causing damage is explained better in Battle Notes.  

Ctrl+click here to see an example of combat.

 

Determine Casualties:

Casualties take effect at the end of every second round. They accumulate every round. For each round of the battle, the damage made by starships against the enemy is determined.  This damage is added to enemy units.  For example, Unit A causes 5 damage, so this 5 damage will be applied to enemy units.  The enemy unit that takes the damage depends on which starships are in the front ranks.  Starships in front ranks take damage first, and friendly units work together for the purpose of taking damage (friendly means they are owned by the same empire, or allied empires).  For example, Unit A only has starships in Rank#3, and friendly Unit B has only starships in Rank#4.  Because these 2 units are friendly, Unit A will take full damage before Unit B takes any damage, because Unit A’s starships are in the front ranks, and thus are shielding Unit B.

If a starship has 2.1 hit points, then it will take 3 hits to kill it (if there were 3 of them, it would take 7 hits to kill their combined 6.3 hit points).  Fractions are used because starships also gain a bonus from sector defences, which will add fractions.

Casualties are determined every round, but the hits only take effect in removing troops every second round. This means that units eliminated in odd rounds still get to fire in the following round, even if they are technically “killed”. This does not apply if a force is wiped out however – the battle ends when that happens, whether it is a casualty round or not. JB: consider this – your foe has a fast moving starship, about to enter your sectors. You have one scout who can stand in his way. Put the scout in the second rank, set retreat to first rank. The scout will engage in one round of combat, then retreat. The scout may die in the Battle Aftermath, but the battle forces the fast moving foe to stop, and the enemy only has one round in which to inflict the fatal hit that would kill your peasant.

Ctrl+click here for more on Determining Casualties.

 

Units Retreat:

At this point, starfleets may retreat.  If an starfleet is following another unit, it will only retreat when that unit retreats.  This is determined by the Follow option of a unit (if the leading unit is not in the battle, then this has no effect).  If an starfleet is not following another unit, then it will retreat based on its retreat level.  This is explained in Battle Notes.  Units that retreat are removed from the battle.  The damage caused to the unit will result in casualties, which are listed at the end of the battle.

 

Battle Continues Or Ends:

If there are still enemy units on the battlefield that are not wiped out, and have not retreated, then battle will continue.  In this case, there will be another round of battle.  The starships in a unit will all make hits normally, no matter how much damage the unit has taken so far, or what ranks starships are in.  This simulates the simultaneous nature of the combat.  If all enemy units are wiped out, or have retreated, then the battle will be over.  In that case, all starships that are casualties will be determined, and Battle Aftermath will happen (which is explained in Battle Notes). A starship that takes damage will have a chance of being destroyed at this time. This is for both the victors and vanquished.  For example, if a ship with  3 hit points had only 2 hits made against it, then it is damaged.  This is because the ship has 3 hit points, and so it takes 3 hits to destroy one.  That ship with 2 hits would have a 2/3 chance of being destroyed at the end of the battle, regardless of who won the battle.

 

 

Battle Notes:

 

Here are a number of notes regarding battles, where certain things are explained in more depth.  Many of these notes apply for all types of battles, so they are listed here to save time. 

 

Battle reports:

The battle report shows all of the units in the battle, then the rounds of battle.  Here is an example battle report, which you will get on the Messages menu of the Diploware:

 

A sector battle occurred at:224 Tranome Sar

[The location of the battle is shown]

The following units were involved:

Patrol Force 2 (Our Starfleet #2), without any modifiers (Total Combat: 236, Total Hit Points: 9.2)

Romulan Starfleet #20, (Total Combat: 36, Total Hit Points: 5.4)

[All units in the battle are shown.  The modifiers for the unit are indicated, then the total Combat and total Hit Points of all starships in the unit are shown.  This gives you a good idea of the relative strength of the units involved].

 

The events for Round #1:

[The battle occurs in a number of rounds]

Patrol Force 2 (Our Starfleet #2) (Retreat Level 5):

1 Hawk Heavy Cruiser Caused 1 Damage

[This unit made 1 hit this round]

1 Negh’var Battleship Caused 2 Damage

[This unit made 2 hits this round]

Romulan Starfleet #20 (Retreat Level 5):

1 Hawk Heavy Cruiser Caused 2 Damage

[This unit made 2 hits also this round]

Unit Status for the End of this Round: #1:

 

Patrol Force 2 (Our Starfleet #2) suffered 2 damage (Total Hit Points: 9.2, Total Damage Taken: 2)

Romulan Starfleet #20 suffered 3 damage (Total Hit Points: 5.4, Total Damage Taken: 3)

[This shows the damage sustained by all units for this round, and the total hit points that each unit has.  For example, Patrol Force 2 has 9 hit points, and has taken 2 damage].

 

Casualties: None (this is not a casualty round)

[Casualties are only taken on even numbered rounds.  So the damage done in Round#1 will cause casualties in Round#2.  Any retreats will happen at the end of a round, but there are none in this battle.  A unit that successfully retreats will not suffer any additional damage in additional rounds of battle].

 

The events for Round #2:

[This is the next round, Round 2]

 

Patrol Force 2 (Our Starfleet #2) (Retreat Level 5):

1 Hawk Heavy Cruiser Caused 0 Damage

[This unit made no hit this round]

1 Negh’var Battleship Caused 3 Damage

 [The Battleship made 3 hits this time]

Romulan Starfleet #20 (Retreat Level 5):

1 Hawk Heavy Cruiser Caused 1 Damage

[The Romulan Hawk Heavy Cruiser only made 1 hit this time]

Unit Status for the End of this Round: #2:

 

Patrol Force 2 (Our Starfleet #2) suffered 1 damage (Total Hit Points: 9.2, Total Damage Taken: 3)

Romulan Starfleet #20 suffered 3 damage (Total Hit Points: 5.4, Total Damage Taken: 6)

[Now, the total hit points and damage taken is shown, as it is the end of round#2.  Patrol Force 2 is still alive, but Romulan Starfleet#20 will be wiped out, because the damage taken is greater than the hit points of the unit].

 

Casualties for Round #2:

 

Patrol Force 2 (Our Starfleet #2) suffered 3 damage, with these losses:

none

[The damage this unit sustained in Round 1 and Round 2 now causes casualties, but the Klingon Hawk Heavy Cruiser has six hit points, and survives].

 

Romulan Starfleet #20 suffered 6 damage, with these losses:

1 Hawk Heavy Cruiser (Hit Points: 5.4) is killed, 0 more Damage remains

[The damage this unit sustained in Round 1 and Round 2 now causes casualties, which results in it  being destroyed].

 

The battle has ended.

[The battle is now complete, because there are no hostile forces remaining in this location.  The Romulan  starfleet was wiped out, and this leaves Patrol Force 2 holding the field, victorious].

 

[Any Wounded Starships are now listed, and whether they are destroyed or not.  This is for both the victors and vanquished.  For example, since Patrol Force 2 had  3 hits made against it, then the Klingon Hawk Heavy Cruiser has  a 3/6.6  chance of being destroyed at the end of the battle, regardless of who won].

Ctrl+click here to go to Battles: Starships Determine Casualties.

 

Causing Damage:

In a battle, each starship has a chance of causing damage to enemy starships (some starships have more than 1 chance).  Admirals cause damage exactly like starships do.  

All starships in a battle will cause damage, no matter what rank they are in.  The chance of a starship causing damage depends on the Combat of the starship. For example, a combat of 30 would mean a 30% chance of causing damage.  Most starships only have 1 chance to cause damage, but some starships may have more chances.  For example, a starship with 2 chances to cause damage, and a combat of 20, would have 2 attempts to cause damage, each with a 20% chance of success (the starship could actually cause 2 damage if it was really lucky).  The combat of a starship has various modifiers. If the modified Combat is 100 or greater, then it will be reduced to 99 (there is a maximum of a 99% chance of success).  The combat of a starship may have modifiers, based on the situation of the starship in the battle.  To determine the total combat of a starship, after all modifiers, see the following list:

·         A starship in a battle: (Combat+Admiral)

(the starship is not defended by a sector defence)

·         A starship defended by a sector defence: (Combat+Admiral)*Sector defence Modifier

(The sector defence modifier is explained further down). 

Ctrl+click here to go to Battles: Starships Cause Damage.

 

Admiral Modifier:

The Admiral modifier is determined by the admiral that is the leader of the unit.  If there is no leader, then of course there is no modifier. Each Admiral in the game has a  starship tactics rating.  Each starship gains a bonus based on the Tactics of the admiral that is the leader of the unit (any other admirals not leading the unit give no bonus).  The tactics bonus is determined by:

(Combat)*(Tactics)/(Number)

·         Combat:  The Combat of the starship.

·         Tactics:  the tactics rating of the admiral (from 1 to 100). 

·         Number:  If a starship is defending a sector defence, or attacking starships in a sector defence, then this is 600.  If the starship is not defending a sector defence, and is not attacking starships in a sector defence, then this is 200.  This represents the fewer options to manoeuvre available to a admiral when a sector defence dominates the battlefield.  If only some enemy starships are defended by a sector defence, then there is a chance of which number is used.  For example, 10 enemy are defended by a sector defence, and 30 are not, so the chance of gaining the bigger number is 10/40.

For example, a starship has a Combat of 30.  The leader has a rating of 46 for tactics.  There is no sector defence involved, so the Number is 200.  Therefore, the bonus for the starship will be:  30*46/200=6.9 (even fractions help out a little bit).  If the normal combat of the starship was 30, then the combat will now be 30+6.9=36.9, so the starship will have a 36.9% chance of causing damage.  A different modifier would be gained by Mounted type starships in the same unit.

If the admiral had a 20 tactics, then an X5 Command Bioship (combat 56%, or 2x28%) will improve by 5.6%.   56*20/200=5.6.    56+5=61%   But remember X5 Command Bioships have two attacks at half their total, so it will actually be 2x 30.5%

Other starfleets in the same sector are not affected by an admiral. Only the starships in the same starfleet as the admiral can gain the benefit of the admiral’s modifier.

Ctrl+click here to go to Details: Admirals.

 

 

 

Sector defence Modifier:

If a starship is defending a sector defence in a battle, it will receive a modifier. This is not for Ships or for cross-border battles.  The sector defence modifier represents a starship’s greater effectiveness against other starships.  The number of starships that gains the sector defence bonus is different for each type of sector defence, and is based on the defense capacity (this represents the limited space for defending the sector defence at the same time, other starships must sally outside to bring their strength to bear).  For example, if a type of sector defence had defense capacity of 10 starships, then only 10 starships would gain the modifier each round, and others would not (the starships are randomly determined). Starships in garrisons will always defend the sector defence.  For starfleets, this depends on their standing orders.  A starfleet with standing orders to defend sector defences will defend if the sector defence is not ruined.  A starfleet with standing orders to remain outside of sector defences will never defend sector defences.  In addition, the sector must be owned by you or an ally.  The modifier gained depends on:

(Defence Level-Damage)

For example, a sector defence of level 8 that had 2 damage would be the same as a level 6 sector defence (8-2=6). For example, a sector defence is Level 5, with 3 damage, 5-3=2, so the benefit will be for Sector defence Level 2.  Sector defence Level 2 gives a combat bonus of +30% for starships.  A starship defending the sector defence with a normal combat of 40 would have its combat increased to 40+30%=52.

Ctrl+click here to go to Details: Sector defences.

 

Whoever owns the sector at the end of the phase before the invasion (and his allies) will be protected by the sector defences. If you have two allies, and they are at war with each other in your fortified sector, they can both get the benefit of your defences.

If the sector changes ownership in a phase, then the new owner gains the defensive bonus. The old owner  would then become the invader if his starships arrived in the sector in a later phase of the same turn.

 

Admirals in Battle:

Each admiral has a Hit-points and combat statistic, which is usually small, and represents the admiral’s personal corvette starship. Admirals act exactly like starships in all battles, as well as giving the leader bonus to a unit.  Admirals are always in Rank#5 (reserves), so they will be taken as casualties last, no matter what. The admiral will only affect the starships of the starfleet he is in. He will not affect other starfleets in the same sector, neither will he affect the starships of your allies. If you had several starships in the fifth rank, and the admiral is killed, the remaining starships will act as though they have no admiral.

Ctrl+click here to go to Details: Admirals.

 

Hit-points:

Each starship has a Hit-points rating.  This represents the constitution of the starship; how difficult it is to destroy.  For example, a dreadnought represents a tough well-armoured starship, which would be more difficult to destroy than lightly armed scouts or destroyers - accordingly, the dreadnought has more Hit-points.  Hit-points determine how much damage a starship can take before it is destroyed in battle.  For example, a starship with 2 Hit-points would take 2 damage to destroy. 

 

Sector defence Hit-point Bonus:

Each type of starship will gain a Hit-point bonus when defending a sector defence, based on the sector defence type, and the type of starship. The starships that will gain the bonus depends on the defense capacity of a sector defence.  For example, if the defense capacity was 12, then in each round 12 starships would receive the bonus. Each sector defence gives a different Hit-point bonus, based on the level.  For example, a Level 10 gives a 2.1 Hit-point bonus to starships.  So, a starship that had normal Hit-points of 3 would have 3+2.1=5.1 Hit-points when defending the sector defence, and a starship that had normal Hit-points of 1 would have 1+2.1=3.1 Hit-points when defending the sector defence. 

Ctrl+click here to go to Details: Sector defences.

 

About Retreating:

At the end of each round of battle, units may retreat.  Only starfleets and fleets can retreat (not garrisons).  Also, starfleets that are defending a sector defence (based on the Defend Sector defences Option) cannot retreat, as they are within the sector defence perimeter, surrounded by the enemy.  For each starfleet there is a Retreat Level.  If a unit is following another unit, then it will ignore the retreat level, and only retreat if the leading unit retreats (but only if the leading unit is involved in the battle, otherwise it is ignored).  If a unit is not following another unit, then the retreat level is used.  So, as you can see, following takes precedence over the retreat level:  this allows you to have all your units retreat at the same time if you wish (if all units are following the same leading unit, then they will all retreat when the leading unit does).  This is a rank from 1 to 5.  If all starships in this rank and all lower- numbered ranks are casualties, then the unit will attempt to retreat.  If at least 1 starship in this rank or any lower-numbered rank is not a casualty, then the unit will not attempt to retreat.  For example, the retreat level is 3, so the unit will attempt to retreat when all starships are casualties in ranks 1, 2 and 3.  When a unit attempts to retreat, it will try to move to a connected location. An invading starfleet will try to retreat to the sector it invaded from. A starfleet can only retreat to a sector that you have Permission for, and which has no enemy starships. If following, a unit will retreat to the same location as the leading unit, if possible.  Otherwise, a unit will attempt to move back to the location where it came from.  For a cross-border battle, there is no retreat location needed, because a retreating unit will simply retreat to where it was before invading across the border.  If an starfleet takes heavy damage during a round of battle, it may have casualties in ranks lower than the retreat rank (or, it may possibly be wiped out in a round before it can retreat).  In such a case, a unit will retreat as soon as it can.  So, if a unit had all starships in Rank#1, and a retreat level of 1, the unit might still be destroyed if all starships became casualties in the first round of battle.  When a unit successfully retreats:

·         The unit will have 0 Move-points for the rest of the turn (it could still be involved in another battle, and retreat from that one too, but could not do any movement).

·         Any construction actions will be cancelled (the unit will no longer be in the same location where it was to perform construction).

 

WORKING WITH AN ALLY:

When you go to war, working with an ally against a common foe, there are some things to be aware of.

Your starships work as though part of the same nation. If all your starships are in the first rank, and all your ally’s starships are in ranks two to five, all of your starships will take damage before any of your ally’s. It’s worth your while to discuss how all your starships will be ranked. There’s usually no point losing your cruisers to protect your ally’s scouts.

 

Breaking up with an ally:

There are a few things you should know about what happens when you break up with an ally.

1) If your ally goes neutral with you, there’s a good chance you’ll be at war the turn after. If you gave your ex-ally passage rights, there’s a good chance you’ll find foreign starships roaming through your sectors. The sectors will still belong to you this turn, but next turn when war is declared, you’re likely to lose those sectors, and the ones near to them. If your starships are near the enemy, then combat will not immediately occur – examine the turn event list, and you’ll see that there will be a phase of movement before combat and sector ownership changes – your starships will get the chance to move and engage or evade the enemy. Finally, if your starships are moving through their sectors, and they withdraw passage rights from you, then your starships will be stuck if there is no neighbouring sector they can move to. Your only options here are to ask for passage rights to be returned, or go to war, or have another player with whom you have passage rights to attack an adjacent sector.

2) If you’re doing the stabbing, then there are a few things to remember. Get as many of your starships traveling through your victim’s sectors, so that next turn you can take as much of his empire as possible, ruining his economy. Try to ensure you get your victim’s industrial centers, so that he can’t build new starships to fight you. And remember that ownership change does not occur before movement, so you may want to hold position for a phase in the next turn when you declare war, so that you conquer the sectors you have moved onto during the turn you went neutral. Also remember to withdraw passage rights from your ex-ally in the same turn you go neutral. This plan, by the way, is very nasty, and likely to get your victim very hot under the collar. But if you’ve ruined his economy and can defeat his starfleet, you only have to worry about the envious glances you’re getting from every other player in the game. J

3) If your allies break up, and you are still allies with them, then in any fights where your starships are present, your starships will not fight either of them. Your starships will watch the battle, because you are not at war with either of the combatants. If they fight in your fortified sector, they could both get the benefit of your sector defences!

 

 

Battle Aftermath:

When battle ends, these events happen:

·         All casualties are destroyed. When your unit causes damage to the enemy, this is added to the total damage taken by that enemy unit.  At the end of the battle, each unit will have taken an amount of damage.  This damage will cause casualties among the enemy ranks.  To determine which starships will be taken as casualties, the following process is used:  First, you select a starship to kill.  To select an enemy starship to kill, a wounded enemy starship will be chosen if there is one.  If not, then the casualty will be an enemy starship in the front ranks of enemy units. Casualties are taken from lowest numbered ranks first.  So starships in Rank#1 are chosen first, and the last rank that casualties are taken from its reserves (Rank 5).  Your units and allied units will work together for taking casualties.  This is done by forming a team, and then only a starship in the front ranks of the team will take the casualty.  For example, your starfleet has starships in Rank 1, and your ally’s starfleet has starships in Rank 2.  Therefore, for the first point of damage, your starfleet will take the casualty, and it will be taken from Rank 1.  Your ally’s starships in a rank farther back will be screened by your starships in front.  So, if you had a lot of cheap ships in front ranks, and your ally had lots of expensive ships in back ranks, you could work together in a battle, ensuring that his valuable starships had no casualties, while your more expendable starships took the brunt of the enemy damage.  This would not happen for a unit that was neutral to you (that unit would be on a separate team).  Once the starship that will be taken as a casualty is determined, there is a check to see if the starship is a casualty, or is only damaged.  If the remaining damage is equal to or greater than the Hit-points of the starship, then the starship will be a casualty.  If not, then the starship will only be damaged. This happens until all damage made during the round has done its deadly work. Sector defences add a bonus to the Hit-points of starships that are defending them (this is explained previously in this chapter).

·         Move-points Are Used Up:  The Move-points of all units involved in a sector battle are set to 0.

·         Tactics Increase:  The tactics ratings of victorious admirals will be increased.  Tactics can only increase 1 time per turn.  For multiple battles, the battle with the greatest increase in Tactics will be used as the increase for the admiral for that turn.  The more starships a unit destroys, the higher the tactics increase for a admiral can be, but there is a random element as well.  In addition, if a unit successfully caused damage to enemy sector defences, then the Siegecraft of the admiral will be increased as well (all admiral statistics have a maximum of 100).

 

 

Choose your forces wisely, keeping in mind the task at hand.

 

Chapter 7: Starships

 

There are different starships in the game.  These can be built in garrisons where there is an industrial center (use Map Options to show industrial centers on the diploware).  Each industrial center has different starships available, based on the region (for example, Cardassian Hideki ships can only be raised in some production centers, while Borg cubes are only found in other different centers).

All ships can be salvaged for materials, which yields resources in the amount of about 1/3 of the build cost.

 

Starships:

Two tables follow. The first sorts the units according to which empire can initially build them.

The second table sorts the units according to type, so that similar units can be easily compared.

 

STARSHIP LIST BY BUILDER

Name

Builder

Class

Attack

Hits

Move

Build

Keep

M94 Class Bio-Scout

8472 Hive

Scout

1x06

0.8

3

4

0.5

Q2 Patrol Bio-Ship

8472 Hive

Destroyer

2x09

2.1

2

5

0.5

Q14 Bio-Raider

8472 Hive

Light Cruiser

2x15

4.2

2

9

0.8

XR5 Command Bio-Ship

8472 Hive

Heavy Cruiser

2x28

9.2

2

18

1.5

RG4 Bio-Strike Vessel

8472 Hive

Strike Cruiser

2x60

2.8

2

11

0.9

V58 Class Biocruiser

8472 Hive

Battlecruiser

4x55

3.2

4

21

1.6

ZA8 Class Mothership

8472 Hive

Battleship

6x50

4.2

3

28

2.0

Borg Probe

Borg

Scout

1x06

0.8

3

4

0.5

Assimilator Scoutship

Borg

Destroyer

2x09

2.1

2

5

0.5

Borg Mauler

Borg

Light Cruiser

2x15

4.2

2

9

0.8

Borg Tactical Cube

Borg

Heavy Cruiser

2x26

8.4

2

17

1.4

Borg Sphere

Borg

Strike Cruiser

2x60

2.8

2

11

0.9

Queenship

Borg

Battlecruiser

4x55

3.2

4

21

1.6

Annihilation Class Cube

Borg

Battleship

8x45

4.2

3

33

2.3

Qur Taan Scout

Breen

Scout

1x03

0.5

3

3

0.4

Ghan Lak Destroyer

Breen

Destroyer

1x10

1.3

2

3

0.3

Tha Lak Attack Frigate

Breen

Light Cruiser

2x11

2.6

2

5

0.5

Nol Thek Armored Cruiser

Breen

Heavy Cruiser

2x20

6

2

12

1.0

Shok Taan Strike Cruiser

Breen

Strike Cruiser

2x40

1.8

2

7

0.6

Ghan Lak Battlecruiser

Breen

Battlecruiser

3x50

2.4

4

14

1.1

Ghor Tan Dreadnought

Breen

Battleship

4x45

3

3

17

1.2

Hideki Scoutship

Cardassian

Scout

1x03

0.5

3

3

0.4

Vasad Frigate

Cardassian

Destroyer

1x10

1.3

2

3

0.3

Rasilak Blockade Cruiser

Cardassian

Light Cruiser

2x11

2.6

2

5

0.5

Torka Heavy Cruiser

Cardassian

Heavy Cruiser

2x20

6

2

12

1.0

Brinok Torpedo Cruiser

Cardassian

Strike Cruiser

2x45

2

2

8

0.7

Galor Cruiser

Cardassian

Battlecruiser

2x60

2.1

4

11

0.9

Name

Builder

Class

Attack

Hits

Move

Build

Keep

Keldon Dreadnought

Cardassian

Battleship

6x50

4.2

3

28

2.0

Horda Class Scout

Dominion

Scout

1x03

0.5

3

3

0.4

Dominion Attack Ship

Dominion

Destroyer

1x10

1.3

2

3

0.3

Dominion Medium Frigate

Dominion

Light Cruiser

2x11

2.6

2

5

0.5

Dominion Heavy Cruiser

Dominion

Heavy Cruiser

2x22

6.8

2

14

1.1

Dominion Assault Cruiser

Dominion

Strike Cruiser

2x45

2

2

8

0.7

Dominion Battlecruiser

Dominion

Battlecruiser

3x57

2.6

4

16

1.2

Dominion Hvy Battleship

Dominion

Battleship

5x52

4.2

3

24

1.7

Defiant Class Scout

Federation-a

Scout

1x04

0.6

3

4

0.5

Norway Class Destroyer

Federation-a

Destroyer

2x06

1.5

2

3

0.4

Akira Strike Cruiser

Federation-a

Light Cruiser

2x12

3

2

6

0.6

Nebula Heavy Cruiser

Federation-a

Heavy Cruiser

2x20

6

2

12

1.0

Achilles Siege Cruiser

Federation-a

Strike Cruiser

2x45

2

2

8

0.7

Prometheus Attack Frigate

Federation-a

Battlecruiser

3x50

2.4

4

14

1.1

Sovereign Dreadnought

Federation-a

Battleship

4x45

3

3

17

1.2

Tolstoy Class Scout

Federation-b

Scout

1x03

0.5

3

3

0.4

Centaur Class Destroyer

Federation-b

Destroyer

1x10

1.3

2

3

0.3

Excelsior Class Frigate

Federation-b

Light Cruiser

2x11

2.6

2

5

0.5

Cheyenne Heavy Cruiser

Federation-b

Heavy Cruiser

2x18

5.4

2

11

0.9

Freedom Class Destroyer

Federation-b

Strike Cruiser

2x40

1.8

2

7

0.6

Niagara Class Cruiser

Federation-b

Battlecruiser

2x60

2.1

4

11

0.9

Galaxy Class Starship

Federation-b

Battleship

3x50

2.7

3

14

1.0

Akula Class Destroyer

Federation-c

Destroyer

2x09

2.1

2

5

0.5

Constitution Refit Cruiser

Federation-c

Light Cruiser

2x10

2.2

3

4

0.5

Constellation Hvy Cruiser

Federation-c

Heavy Cruiser

2x14

4.2

2

8

0.7

Miranda Class Cruiser

Federation-c

Strike Cruiser

2x30

1.4

2

5

0.5

Yoshida Class Battleship

Federation-c

Battleship

3x30

2.1

3

8

0.6

Krakta Class Scout

Ferengi

Scout

1x02

0.4

3

3

0.4

Scavenger Class Destroyer

Ferengi

Destroyer

1x09

0.9

2

2

0.3

Loorta Escort Frigate

Ferengi

Light Cruiser

2x11

1.8

3

4

0.5

Goront Heavy Cruiser

Ferengi

Heavy Cruiser

2x20

4.8

2

11

0.9

Fromta Class Gunship

Ferengi

Strike Cruiser

2x40

1.4

3

6

0.5

Tokorn Strike Cruiser

Ferengi

Battlecruiser

2x65

1.8

4

11

0.9

D’Kora Marauder

Ferengi

Battleship

6x55

3.8

3

28

2.0

Boa Scout

Gorn

Scout

1x04

0.6

3

4

0.5

Sidewinder Destroyer

Gorn

Destroyer

2x06

1.5

2

3

0.4

Ghdar Light Cruiser

Gorn

Light Cruiser

2x13

3.4

2

7

0.7

King Cobra Heavy Cruiser

Gorn

Heavy Cruiser

2x20

6

2

12

1.0

Viper Assault Frigate

Gorn

Strike Cruiser

2x40

1.8

2

7

0.6

Komodo Battlecruiser

Gorn

Battlecruiser

3x50

2.4

4

14

1.1

Grendel Dreadnought

Gorn

Battleship

4x55

3.4

3

20

1.4

Kazon Scout

Kazon

Scout

1x01

0.3

3

3

0.4

Kazon Lancer

Kazon

Destroyer

1x06

0.9

2

2

0.2

Kazon Raider

Kazon

Light Cruiser

2x09

1.8

2

4

0.4

Kazon Predator

Kazon

Heavy Cruiser

2x16

4.8

2

10

0.8

Kazon Bombard Vessel

Kazon

Strike Cruiser

2x30

1.4

2

5

0.5

Kazon Marauder

Kazon

Battlecruiser

2x37

1.5

4

7

0.5

Kazon Mothership

Kazon

Battleship

3x30

2.1

3

8

0.6

Klingon Bird of Prey

Klingon

Scout

1x03

0.5

3

3

0.4

K’Tinga Class Destroyer

Klingon

Destroyer

1x09

0.9

2

2

0.3

C-7 Light Cruiser

Klingon

Light Cruiser

2x13

2.2

2

5

0.5

Hawk Heavy Cruiser

Klingon

Heavy Cruiser

2x18

6.6

2

12

1.0

Name

Builder

Class

Attack

Hits

Move

Build

Keep

Kron Class Battlecruiser

Klingon

Strike Cruiser

2x45

1.6

2

7

0.6

Vor’Cha Battlecruiser

Klingon

Battlecruiser

3x63

2.4

4

16

1.2

Negh’var Battleship

Klingon

Battleship

4x50

2.6

3

17

1.2

Orion Wanderer

Orion

Scout

1x04

0.6

3

4

4

Orion Raider

Orion

Destroyer

2x08

1.9

2

4

4

Orion Light Cruiser

Orion

Light Cruiser

2x10

2.2

3

5

5

Orion Heavy Cruiser

Orion

Heavy Cruiser

2x16

4.8

2

10

10

Orion Gun Platform

Orion

Strike Cruiser

2x35

1.6

3

6

6

Orion Starfury

Orion

Battlecruiser

2x60

2.1

4

11

11

Orion Heavy Marauder

Orion

Battleship

6x50

4.2

3

28

28

Talon Class Scout

Romulan

Scout

1x03

0.5

3

3

0.4

Romulan Bird of Prey

Romulan

Destroyer

1x08

1.1

2

3

0.3

Harrier Light Cruiser

Romulan

Light Cruiser

2x12

3

2

6

0.6

Hawk Heavy Cruiser

Romulan

Heavy Cruiser

2x18

5.4

2

11

0.9

Falcon Class Frigate

Romulan

Strike Cruiser

2x35

1.6

3

6

0.5

Valdore Command Cruiser

Romulan

Battlecruiser

3x57

2.6

4

16

1.2

D’Deridex Warbird

Romulan

Battleship

4x55

3.4

3

20

1.4

Tholian Scoutship

Tholian

Scout

1x02

0.4

3

3

0.4

Onyx Class patrol Ship

Tholian

Destroyer

1x07

1.3

2

3

0.3

Topaz Class Frigate

Tholian

Light Cruiser

2x09

2.6

3

5

0.5

Akkrev Heavy Cruiser

Tholian

Heavy Cruiser

2x14

5.4

2

10

0.8

Obelisk Weapon Platform

Tholian

Strike Cruiser

2x35

2.0

2

7

0.6

Bloodstone Attack Cruiser

Tholian

Battlecruiser

3x25

2.1

4

8

0.6

Granite Archeo Dreadnght

Tholian

Battleship

2x40

2.4

3

8

0.6

Tarok Class Scout Lander

Vulcan

Scout

1x02

0.4

3

3

0.4

Surak Class Destroyer

Vulcan

Destroyer

1x09

1.5

2

3

0.3

Sh’Ran Light Cruiser

Vulcan

Light Cruiser

2x09

2.6

3

5

0.5

D’Kyr Heavy Frigate

Vulcan

Heavy Cruiser

2x16

6.0

2

11

0.9

Vulcan Torpedo Platform

Vulcan

Strike Cruiser

2x30

1.8

3

6

0.5

Nyran Combat Cruiser

Vulcan

Battlecruiser

3x45

2.8

4

14

1.1

T’Plana Dreadnought

Vulcan

Battleship

4x40

3.4

3

16

1.2

 

STARSHIP LIST BY CLASS

Name

Builder

Class

Attack

Hits

Move

Build

Keep

M94 Class Bio-Scout

8472 Hive

Scout

1x06

0.8

3

4

0.5

Borg Probe

Borg

Scout

1x06

0.8

3

4

0.5

Qur Taan Scout

Breen

Scout

1x03

0.5

3

3

0.4

Hideki Scoutship

Cardassian

Scout

1x03

0.5

3

3

0.4

Horda Class Scout

Dominion

Scout

1x03

0.5

3

3

0.4

Defiant Class Scout

Federation-a

Scout

1x04

0.6

3

4

0.5

Tolstoy Class Scout

Federation-b

Scout

1x03

0.5

3

3

0.4

Krakta Class Scout

Ferengi

Scout

1x02

0.4

3

3

0.4

Boa Scout

Gorn

Scout

1x04

0.6

3

4

0.5

Kazon Scout

Kazon

Scout

1x01

0.3

3

3

0.4

Klingon Bird of Prey

Klingon

Scout

1x03

0.5

3

3

0.4

Orion Wanderer

Orion

Scout

1x04

0.6

3

4

4

Talon Class Scout

Romulan

Scout

1x03

0.5

3

3

0.4

Tholian Scoutship

Tholian

Scout

1x02

0.4

3

3

0.4

Tarok Class Scout Lander

Vulcan

Scout

1x02

0.4

3

3

0.4

Q2 Patrol Bio-Ship

8472 Hive

Destroyer

2x09

2.1

2

5

0.5

Assimilator Scoutship

Borg

Destroyer

2x09

2.1

2

5

0.5

Ghan Lak Destroyer

Breen

Destroyer

1x10

1.3

2

3

0.3

Vasad Frigate

Cardassian

Destroyer

1x10

1.3

2

3

0.3

Name

Builder

Class

Attack

Hits

Move

Build

Keep

Dominion Attack Ship

Dominion

Destroyer

1x10

1.3

2

3

0.3

Norway Class Destroyer

Federation-a

Destroyer

2x06

1.5

2

3

0.4

Centaur Class Destroyer

Federation-b

Destroyer

1x10

1.3

2

3

0.3

Akula Class Destroyer

Federation-c

Destroyer

2x09

2.1

2

5

0.5

Scavenger Class Destroyer

Ferengi

Destroyer

1x09

0.9

2

2

0.3

Sidewinder Destroyer

Gorn

Destroyer

2x06

1.5

2

3

0.4

Kazon Lancer

Kazon

Destroyer

1x06

0.9

2

2

0.2

K’Tinga Class Destroyer

Klingon

Destroyer

1x09

0.9

2

2

0.3

Orion Raider

Orion

Destroyer

2x08

1.9

2

4

4

Romulan Bird of Prey

Romulan

Destroyer

1x08

1.1

2

3

0.3

Onyx Class patrol Ship

Tholian

Destroyer

1x07

1.3

2

3

0.3

Surak Class Destroyer

Vulcan

Destroyer

1x09

1.5

2

3

0.3

Q14 Bio-Raider

8472 Hive

Light Cruiser

2x15

4.2

2

9

0.8

Borg Mauler

Borg

Light Cruiser

2x15

4.2

2

9

0.8

Tha Lak Attack Frigate

Breen

Light Cruiser

2x11

2.6

2

5

0.5

Rasilak Blockade Cruiser

Cardassian

Light Cruiser

2x11

2.6

2

5

0.5

Dominion Medium Frigate

Dominion

Light Cruiser

2x11

2.6

2

5

0.5

Akira Strike Cruiser

Federation-a

Light Cruiser

2x12

3

2

6

0.6

Excelsior Class Frigate

Federation-b

Light Cruiser

2x11

2.6

2

5

0.5

Constitution Refit Cruiser

Federation-c

Light Cruiser

2x10

2.2

3

4

0.5

Loorta Escort Frigate

Ferengi

Light Cruiser

2x11

1.8

3

4

0.5

Ghdar Light Cruiser

Gorn

Light Cruiser

2x13

3.4

2

7

0.7

Kazon Raider

Kazon

Light Cruiser

2x09

1.8

2

4

0.4

C-7 Light Cruiser

Klingon

Light Cruiser

2x13

2.2

2

5

0.5

Orion Light Cruiser

Orion

Light Cruiser

2x10

2.2

3

5

5

Harrier Light Cruiser

Romulan

Light Cruiser

2x12

3

2

6

0.6

Topaz Class Frigate

Tholian

Light Cruiser

2x09

2.6

3

5

0.5

Sh’Ran Light Cruiser

Vulcan

Light Cruiser

2x09

2.6

3

5

0.5

XR5 Command Bio-Ship

8472 Hive

Heavy Cruiser

2x28

9.2

2

18

1.5

Borg Tactical Cube

Borg

Heavy Cruiser

2x26

8.4

2

17

1.4

Nol Thek Armored Cruiser

Breen

Heavy Cruiser

2x20

6

2

12

1.0

Torka Heavy Cruiser

Cardassian

Heavy Cruiser

2x20

6

2

12

1.0

Dominion Heavy Cruiser

Dominion

Heavy Cruiser

2x22

6.8

2

14

1.1

Nebula Heavy Cruiser

Federation-a

Heavy Cruiser

2x20

6

2

12

1.0

Cheyenne Heavy Cruiser

Federation-b

Heavy Cruiser

2x18

5.4

2

11

0.9

Constellation Hvy Cruiser

Federation-c

Heavy Cruiser

2x14

4.2

2

8

0.7

Goront Heavy Cruiser

Ferengi

Heavy Cruiser

2x20

4.8

2

11

0.9

King Cobra Heavy Cruiser

Gorn

Heavy Cruiser

2x20

6

2

12

1.0

Kazon Predator

Kazon

Heavy Cruiser

2x16

4.8

2

10

0.8

Hawk Heavy Cruiser

Klingon

Heavy Cruiser

2x18

6.6

2

12

1.0

Orion Heavy Cruiser

Orion

Heavy Cruiser

2x16

4.8

2

10

10

Hawk Heavy Cruiser

Romulan

Heavy Cruiser

2x18

5.4

2

11

0.9

Akkrev Heavy Cruiser

Tholian

Heavy Cruiser

2x14

5.4

2

10

0.8

D’Kyr Heavy Frigate

Vulcan

Heavy Cruiser

2x16

6.0

2

11

0.9

RG4 Bio-Strike Vessel

8472 Hive

Strike Cruiser

2x60

2.8

2

11

0.9

Borg Sphere

Borg

Strike Cruiser

2x60

2.8

2

11

0.9

Shok Taan Strike Cruiser

Breen

Strike Cruiser

2x40

1.8

2

7

0.6

Brinok Torpedo Cruiser

Cardassian

Strike Cruiser

2x45

2

2

8

0.7

Dominion Assault Cruiser

Dominion

Strike Cruiser

2x45

2

2

8

0.7

Achilles Siege Cruiser

Federation-a

Strike Cruiser

2x45

2

2

8

0.7

Freedom Class Destroyer

Federation-b

Strike Cruiser

2x40

1.8

2

7

0.6

Miranda Class Cruiser

Federation-c

Strike Cruiser

2x30

1.4

2

5

0.5

Name

Builder

Class

Attack

Hits

Move

Build

Keep

Fromta Class Gunship

Ferengi

Strike Cruiser

2x40

1.4

3

6

0.5

Viper Assault Frigate

Gorn

Strike Cruiser

2x40

1.8

2

7

0.6

Kazon Bombard Vessel

Kazon

Strike Cruiser

2x30

1.4

2

5

0.5

Kron Class Battlecruiser

Klingon

Strike Cruiser

2x45

1.6

2

7

0.6

Orion Gun Platform

Orion

Strike Cruiser

2x35

1.6

3

6

6

Falcon Class Frigate

Romulan

Strike Cruiser

2x35

1.6

3

6

0.5

Obelisk Weapon Platform

Tholian

Strike Cruiser

2x35

2.0

2

7

0.6

Vulcan Torpedo Platform

Vulcan

Strike Cruiser

2x30

1.8

3

6

0.5

V58 Class Biocruiser

8472 Hive

Battlecruiser

4x55

3.2

4

21

1.6

Queenship

Borg

Battlecruiser

4x55

3.2

4

21

1.6

Ghan Lak Battlecruiser

Breen

Battlecruiser

3x50

2.4

4

14

1.1

Galor Cruiser

Cardassian

Battlecruiser

2x60

2.1

4

11

0.9

Dominion Battlecruiser

Dominion

Battlecruiser

3x57

2.6

4

16

1.2

Prometheus Attack Frigate

Federation-a

Battlecruiser

3x50

2.4

4

14

1.1

Niagara Class Cruiser

Federation-b

Battlecruiser

2x60

2.1

4

11

0.9

Tokorn Strike Cruiser

Ferengi

Battlecruiser

2x65

1.8

4

11

0.9

Komodo Battlecruiser

Gorn

Battlecruiser

3x50

2.4

4

14

1.1

Kazon Marauder

Kazon

Battlecruiser

2x37

1.5

4

7

0.5

Vor’Cha Battlecruiser

Klingon

Battlecruiser

3x63

2.4

4

16

1.2

Orion Starfury

Orion

Battlecruiser

2x60

2.1

4

11

11

Valdore Command Cruiser

Romulan

Battlecruiser

3x57

2.6

4

16

1.2

Bloodstone Attack Cruiser

Tholian

Battlecruiser

3x25

2.1

4

8

0.6

Nyran Combat Cruiser

Vulcan

Battlecruiser

3x45

2.8

4

14

1.1

ZA8 Class Mothership

8472 Hive

Battleship

6x50

4.2

3

28

2.0

Annihilation Class Cube

Borg

Battleship

8x45

4.2

3

33

2.3

Ghor Tan Dreadnought

Breen

Battleship

4x45

3

3

17

1.2

Keldon Dreadnought

Cardassian

Battleship

6x50

4.2

3

28

2.0

Dominion Hvy Battleship

Dominion

Battleship

5x52

4.2

3

24

1.7

Sovereign Dreadnought

Federation-a

Battleship

4x45

3

3

17

1.2

Galaxy Class Starship

Federation-b

Battleship

3x50

2.7

3

14

1.0

Yoshida Class Battleship

Federation-c

Battleship

3x30

2.1

3

8

0.6

D’Kora Marauder

Ferengi

Battleship

6x55

3.8

3

28

2.0

Grendel Dreadnought

Gorn

Battleship

4x55

3.4

3

20

1.4

Kazon Mothership

Kazon

Battleship

3x30

2.1

3

8

0.6

Negh’var Battleship

Klingon

Battleship

4x50

2.6

3

17

1.2

Orion Heavy Marauder

Orion

Battleship

6x50

4.2

3

28

28

D’Deridex Warbird

Romulan

Battleship

4x55

3.4

3

20

1.4

Granite Archeo Dreadnght

Tholian

Battleship

2x40

2.4

3

8

0.6

T’Plana Dreadnought

Vulcan

Battleship

4x40

3.4

3

16

1.2

 

SEARCH AND SIEGE VALUES OF STARSHIPS

Name

Builder

Class

Search value

Siege power

M94 Class Bio-Scout

8472 Hive

Scout

10

 

Q2 Patrol Bio-Ship

8472 Hive

Destroyer

24

 

Q14 Bio-Raider

8472 Hive

Light Cruiser

8

 

XR5 Command Bio-Ship

8472 Hive

Heavy Cruiser

2

 

RG4 Bio-Strike Vessel

8472 Hive

Strike Cruiser

4

40

V58 Class Biocruiser

8472 Hive

Battlecruiser

50

 

ZA8 Class Mothership

8472 Hive

Battleship

5

28

Borg Probe

Borg

Scout

10

 

Assimilator Scoutship

Borg

Destroyer

24

 

Borg Mauler

Borg

Light Cruiser

8

 

Borg Tactical Cube

Borg

Heavy Cruiser

2

 

Name

Builder

Class

Search value

Siege power

Borg Sphere

Borg

Strike Cruiser

5

42

Queenship

Borg

Battlecruiser

50

 

Annihilation Class Cube

Borg

Battleship

5

28

Qur Taan Scout

Breen

Scout

10

 

Ghan Lak Destroyer

Breen

Destroyer

18

 

Tha Lak Attack Frigate

Breen

Light Cruiser

6

 

Nol Thek Armored Cruiser

Breen

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Shok Taan Strike Cruiser

Breen

Strike Cruiser

3

33

Ghan Lak Battlecruiser

Breen

Battlecruiser

45

 

Ghor Tan Dreadnought

Breen

Battleship

3

20

Hideki Scoutship

Cardassian

Scout

10

 

Vasad Frigate

Cardassian

Destroyer

18

 

Rasilak Blockade Cruiser

Cardassian

Light Cruiser

6

 

Torka Heavy Cruiser

Cardassian

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Brinok Torpedo Cruiser

Cardassian

Strike Cruiser

4

36

Galor Cruiser

Cardassian

Battlecruiser

43

 

Keldon Dreadnought

Cardassian

Battleship

5

28

Horda Class Scout

Dominion

Scout

10

 

Dominion Attack Ship

Dominion

Destroyer

18

 

Dominion Medium Frigate

Dominion

Light Cruiser

6

 

Dominion Heavy Cruiser

Dominion

Heavy Cruiser

3

 

Dominion Assault Cruiser

Dominion

Strike Cruiser

3

32

Dominion Battlecruiser

Dominion

Battlecruiser

47

 

Dominion Hvy Battleship

Dominion

Battleship

3

24

Defiant Class Scout

Federation-a

Scout

10

 

Norway Class Destroyer

Federation-a

Destroyer

20

 

Akira Strike Cruiser

Federation-a

Light Cruiser

6

 

Nebula Heavy Cruiser

Federation-a

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Achilles Siege Cruiser

Federation-a

Strike Cruiser

3

32

Prometheus Attack Frigate

Federation-a

Battlecruiser

45

 

Sovereign Dreadnought

Federation-a

Battleship

3

20

Tolstoy Class Scout

Federation-b

Scout

10

 

Centaur Class Destroyer

Federation-b

Destroyer

18

 

Excelsior Class Frigate

Federation-b

Light Cruiser

6

 

Cheyenne Heavy Cruiser

Federation-b

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Freedom Class Destroyer

Federation-b

Strike Cruiser

3

33

Niagara Class Cruiser

Federation-b

Battlecruiser

43

 

Galaxy Class Starship

Federation-b

Battleship

2

17

Akula Class Destroyer

Federation-c

Destroyer

24

 

Constitution Refit Cruiser

Federation-c

Light Cruiser

4

 

Constellation Hvy Cruiser

Federation-c

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Miranda Class Cruiser

Federation-c

Strike Cruiser

1

26

Yoshida Class Battleship

Federation-c

Battleship

1

14

Krakta Class Scout

Ferengi

Scout

10

 

Scavenger Class Destroyer

Ferengi

Destroyer

16

 

Loorta Escort Frigate

Ferengi

Light Cruiser

4

 

Goront Heavy Cruiser

Ferengi

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Fromta Class Gunship

Ferengi

Strike Cruiser

2

30

Tokorn Strike Cruiser

Ferengi

Battlecruiser

43

 

D’Kora Marauder

Ferengi

Battleship

5

28

Boa Scout

Gorn

Scout

10

 

Sidewinder Destroyer

Gorn

Destroyer

20

 

Name

Builder

Class

Search value

Siege power

Ghdar Light Cruiser

Gorn

Light Cruiser

6

 

King Cobra Heavy Cruiser

Gorn

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Viper Assault Frigate

Gorn

Strike Cruiser

3

33

Komodo Battlecruiser

Gorn

Battlecruiser

45

 

Grendel Dreadnought

Gorn

Battleship

3

24

Kazon Scout

Kazon

Scout

10

 

Kazon Lancer

Kazon

Destroyer

10

 

Kazon Raider

Kazon

Light Cruiser

3

 

Kazon Predator

Kazon

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Kazon Bombard Vessel

Kazon

Strike Cruiser

1

26

Kazon Marauder

Kazon

Battlecruiser

33

 

Kazon Mothership

Kazon

Battleship

1

14

Klingon Bird of Prey

Klingon

Scout

10

 

K’Tinga Class Destroyer

Klingon

Destroyer

16

 

C-7 Light Cruiser

Klingon

Light Cruiser

6

 

Hawk Heavy Cruiser

Klingon

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Kron Class Battlecruiser

Klingon

Strike Cruiser

3

33

Vor’Cha Battlecruiser

Klingon

Battlecruiser

47

 

Negh’var Battleship

Klingon

Battleship

3

20

Orion Wanderer

Orion

Scout

10

 

Orion Raider

Orion

Destroyer

24

 

Orion Light Cruiser

Orion

Light Cruiser

4

 

Orion Heavy Cruiser

Orion

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Orion Gun Platform

Orion

Strike Cruiser

2

30

Orion Starfury

Orion

Battlecruiser

43

 

Orion Heavy Marauder

Orion

Battleship

5

28

Talon Class Scout

Romulan

Scout

10

 

Romulan Bird of Prey

Romulan

Destroyer

16

 

Harrier Light Cruiser

Romulan

Light Cruiser

6

 

Hawk Heavy Cruiser

Romulan

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Falcon Class Frigate

Romulan

Strike Cruiser

2

30

Valdore Command Cruiser

Romulan

Battlecruiser

47

 

D’Deridex Warbird

Romulan

Battleship

3

24

Tholian Scoutship

Tholian

Scout

10

 

Onyx Class patrol Ship

Tholian

Destroyer

16

 

Topaz Class Frigate

Tholian

Light Cruiser

4

 

Akkrev Heavy Cruiser

Tholian

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Obelisk Weapon Platform

Tholian

Strike Cruiser

3

33

Bloodstone Attack Cruiser

Tholian

Battlecruiser

35

 

Granite Archeo Dreadnght

Tholian

Battleship

1

14

Tarok Class Scout Lander

Vulcan

Scout

10

 

Surak Class Destroyer

Vulcan

Destroyer

18

 

Sh’Ran Light Cruiser

Vulcan

Light Cruiser

4

 

D’Kyr Heavy Frigate

Vulcan

Heavy Cruiser

1

 

Vulcan Torpedo Platform

Vulcan

Strike Cruiser

2

30

Nyran Combat Cruiser

Vulcan

Battlecruiser

45

 

T’Plana Dreadnought

Vulcan

Battleship

3

20

 

Sector defences:

 

SECTOR DEFENSE LEVELS

Sector defence level

Defense Capacity

Combat bonus

Hit-point bonus

1

3

45%

0.7

2

6

47%

0.9

3

9

49%

1.0

4

12

51%

1.2

5

15

53%

1.3

6

18

55%

1.5

7

21

57%

1.6

8

24

59%

1.8

9

27

61%

1.9

10

30

63%

2.1

11

33

65%

2.2

12

36

67%

2.4

 

A note about “Federation” starships: Federation-a starships are the most modern, and are built by the Federation Core. Federation-b are slightly older types, typically from the Star Trek: The Next Generation era, and are built primarily by Andorians, Betazoids and Efrosians. Federation-c types are relics from the earlier Star Trek (i.e. James T. Kirk) era, and can be considered hand-me-downs, refit ships, or perhaps ships built with licensed plans by a minor power. These are found usually in the hands of independents. 


 

You must rule your empire with strength and wisdom.

 

Chapter 8: Empires

 

Each player inherits the rulership of a random empire. The different empires begin in a roughly equal standing. You can strengthen your position by allying with your local neighbours, but do not leave yourself undefended. Also, be sure to leave yourself a route of expansion, as you will need to vanquish a swath of space in order to claim victory. There are many independent sectors, that claim loyalty to no empire (these will attack intruders).

If an empire is controlled by Local (or “independent”) Forces, this means the computer is in control.  Such an empire will build troops and defend its sectors.  It will  only attack sectors that are annexed to it, no others.  It won’t change its existing diplomatic relations.  Even if you are at war with such an empire, it won’t invade sectors unless they are annexed to its empire.

The organized empires (which have players) are:

 

SPECIES 8472 HIVE

Species 8472 a sophisticated life form native to a realm of fluidic space a dimension apart from our universe, known only by its Borg designation (species 8472) because its self-ascribed name is unknown.

Species 8472 possesses organic spacecraft and a biogenetically engineered weapons technology. They consider humanoid genetics to be impure and feel deeply threatened by the violent tendencies of the many humanoid cultures. The Hive is located near  the middle of the right mapedge.

 

DOMINION WARFLEET VI

The Jem'Hadar are the feared, leathery-skinned storm troopers genetically bred by the Dominion Founders. They are not motivated by any of the causes of the Alpha Quadrant such as glory, nobility, politics, intrigue or even money but they do possess a chillingly detached mercenary quality that cannot be bribed. Since discovery of the wormhole leading to the Gamma quadrant, the Federation has met with the Jem'Hadar fighters many times. Each time they prove to be very tough competitors.  All three Dominion Warfleets appear around the upper left corner of the map.

 

DOMINION WARFLEET XII

A competing warfleet of Dominion Jem'Hadar, they might join the other Dominion forces, or perhaps attempt to become the dominating faction in this quadrant by themselves.

 

DOMINION WARFLEET XXV

A competing warfleet of Dominion Jem'Hadar, they might join the other Dominion forces, or perhaps attempt to become the dominating faction in this quadrant by themselves.

 

CARDASSIAN UNION

Cardassia has a very rich cultural heritage, but one that has virtually been raped by the military in order to provide funds for conquest and expansion. An uneasy truce exists between the Cardassian Union and the Federation, which was finally reached in 2366. This truce has been violated, in principle at least, by both sides, but no war has been declared by either side since the truce. The Cardassians are located near the middle of the left mapedge.

 

OBSIDIAN ORDER

The Obsidian Order is a faction of the Cardassians. They are present a little distance “south” of the Cardassian Union.

 

ORION PIRATES

Renowned merchants and members of the Federation, they maintained a black market in female slaves until a crackdown in the 2270’s. The Orion black market was also known for Dilithium crystals and rare minerals raided from the Coridan system. This was stopped with Coridan’s admission to the Federation in 2267. "Officially" the Orions have stopped their pirate/black market ways. Unofficially, there are many rumors that say otherwise.  The Orions are located on the lower left corner of the map.

EFROSIAN CORE

Efros is a cold harsh planet that has only just recently (the last thousand years) emerged from millennia long ice-age. However, the abundance of metal on the planet makes it valuable nonetheless

By the time the federation discovered them, the Efrosians had developed radio telescopes and atomic power. The Efrosians were overjoyed to learn that there was an abundance of intelligent life in the universe, both unlike and like themselves. They accepted the federation's offer of friendship, and joined the federation soon afterward. This empire is located along the lower mapedge, near the middle.

 

VULCAN CORE

Vulcans are natives of the planet Vulcan, known as T'Kashi to the natives. They are genetically identical to the Romulans, as Romulans are an offshoot of the Vulcan race. Vulcans are devoted to increasing their mental capacity by controlling their inner actions. To this end, they dedicate their lives to the suppression of emotions and devotion to total logic. Despite Vulcan's founding role in the UFP, there exists a substantial segment of Vulcan society which is extremely isolationistic and wants to have Vulcan free of interaction with "illogical" beings. The Vulcans live ear the center of the map, a bit to the “south” of the Federation core.

 

FEDERATION CORE

Humans/Terrans are the ubiquitous race of humanoids from Sol III. Since achieving interstellar spaceflight over 300 years ago, they have proved major figures on the galactic stage. They were instrumental in forming the United Federation of Planets, and now are the leading members. Earth is the "de facto" capital for the UFP, with Starfleet Command, Starfleet Academy, and the Federation Council all based on Earth. As one would expect, Earth is located near the map’s center.

 

BETAZOID CORE

A Federation member, Betazed has enjoyed a relatively untroubled history for the last few centuries.

Betazoid society is generally unremarkable, though they tend toward more formal and elaborate traditions and ceremonies than most cultures. Betazed is located centrally, to the “northwest” of the Federation core.

 

ANDORAN CORE

One of the first species to join the Federation, the Andorians are a violent warrior race. Unlike the Klingons they tend to fight for purely practical gain rather than for personal honor or glory. Andorian culture stresses discipline and self control, and this can make them appear unsympathetic at times. The Andorans are near the Federation core, to the “east” of it.

BREEN CONFEDERACY

The Breen are a humanoid race, and stand about the same height as humans. They have been called a warrior race. The Breen come from a planet of the same name. They have something of an aggressive history. They are politically non-aligned, and have been known to attack Federation vessels. The Breen utilize privateers. The Confederacy is located near the upper left corner, but not quite on the mapedge.

 

 

 

 

FERENGI ALLIANCE

The Ferengi have no political alliances. They prefer to maintain business with all sides. The Klingons detest the Ferengi, however, and embargo them. The Ferengi built their entire culture on pursuit of wealth. Ferengal can be found more or less centrally, “due north” of the Federation core.

 

BORG UNIMATRIX 1

The Borg are assimilated from many species, and therefore do not have a true home planet. However, their home quadrant is the Delta quadrant. The Borg are an incredibly powerful race of cybernetically enhanced humanoids. Soon after birth each Borg is fitted with various cybernetic devices giving them great technological and tactical abilities. The Federation has come across the Borg several times discovering that even if the Federation finds a successful battle tactic, the tactic only works once as the Borg are able to quickly adapt to any changes. The Borg are responsible for the destruction of many Federation neutral zone outposts, several colonies, and 40 starships at the Battle of Wolf 359. They are the greatest strategic threat to the Federation today. The Borg Unimatrixes appear at different locations on the mapedge, along the upper right corner of the map.

'Resistance is Futile!' - Locutus of Borg

 

BORG UNIMATRIX 2

Another collective of Borg.

 

BORG UNIMATRIX 3

Another collective of Borg.

 

BORG UNIMATRIX 4

Another collective of Borg.

 

KAZON COLLECTIVE

The Kazon are a humanoid species that tend to be aggressive in nature. They consider themselves to be great warriors. The Kazon are not great technicians and their ships tend to be relatively poorly maintained.

Many of them are bitter enemies of the Federation. The Kazon are located on the right mapedge, between the 8472 Hive and House Korgoroth.

 

REMAN PRAETORATE

Rumors have been circulating throughout the quadrant that the Remans are organizing for a stand to be recognized by their Romulan brethren. There are whispers that a human male of unknown origin is leading this campaign. These reports cannot be verified due the oppressive nature of the Romulan Empire on all matters dealing with Remus. The Remians are located “north” of the Romulan Empire.

ROMULAN STAR EMPIRE

As early as 2158 the Romulans have been at war with Earth (even before the Federation was created).

A peace treaty between Earth and the Romulans was signed, and a Neutral Zone between the two powers was established. Entry of the zone would be considered an act of war. Over the years various standoffs between the Federation and the Romulans have occurred, but all out war has been avoided. The Romulans are found in the right-center of the map, halfway between Andora and the Hive.

 

GORN HEGEMONY

Gorn are a saurian-based humanoid race that appear to be evolved from some type of reptile (or possibly dinosaur). A peace treaty was signed in 2267 allowing rights of free passage through Gorn space and ensuring peace. Before this, Gorn raiders attacked Federation ships or colonies that were too close to their borders. The Gorn are split between those who would negotiate peacefully with the Federation and the actionist faction who believe in direct confrontation. Both factions agree on the premise that the Federation must not hinder Gorn expansion and fulfillment of their "Manifest Destiny," but they differ on the methods to be used. The Gorn are located centrally, “southeast” from the Federation core.

 

THOLIAN ASSEMBLY

Tholians are a crystalline race renowned for their punctuality and highly territorial nature. The Federation has had a longstanding conflict with the Tholians over several dozen star systems near the Klingon border. The Tholians are near the middle of the lower mapedge.

 

KLINGON EMPIRE

Klingons are a warrior race who hold personal and family honor above all else. The Klingon Empire is rich in intrigue and political history and is centered around the planet Qo'noS, which is almost invariably referred to as the Klingon Homeworld. The Klingons have made war on and off with virtually all their neighbors, including the Federation and the Romulans. They have also been allied with both. The Klingon Empire is near the lower right corner of the map, but not quite on the edge.

 

HOUSE DURAS

House Duras is a dissident faction in the Klingon Empire, vying for power with those that currently hold it. Duras is due south of the Klingon Empire, near the mapedge.

 

HOUSE KORGOROTH

Another dissident faction of the Klingons, they can be found on the mapegde of the lower right corner of the map.

 

 

Chapter 9: Advice

“What to do when you’re new”

 

Here is a checklist of things to do when you’ve got your first turn.

1)       Examine the realm you are now the leader of. Work out what you’d like to conquer first. But you don’t know what your neighbours are up to, so…

2)       Send emails to all your neighbours, to all their neighbours if you’re really keen, send an email to every player in the game if you want! Try to work out who you want to work with, and who you want to conquer. You’ve got some time to finalise this decision, but it’s never too early to consider the possibilities. If you don’t write, other players may consider you hostile. Your first email shouldn’t be long - more than a page generally means you’re babbling, but you might like to open discussions about how the independents will be divided between you, whether you want an alliance immediately, and maybe suggest a move against a fellow neighbour in the turns to come. Take the initiative. When you’ve made up your mind what you want to do….

3)       Open your turn; you’ll be in the HQ screen. Offer alliances to those you want to befriend. Ignore the rest of the options. You shouldn’t be giving away passage rights at this stage, you can already accept gifts from any player, you don’t need to send ambassadors as you already know everyone’s email address, and you shouldn’t be giving away your sectors or resources. On to the map….

4)       All your starships are in garrisons. That’s no use to you, you want to expand. You should be able to conquer two or three neighbouring independents in your first turn. So form a new unit in each of your sectors, and transfer your starships from the garrison to the unit. Put the light starships in the lower ranks, and the heavies into the fourth or fifth rank. Leave the retreat level at 5 – you’re not going to retreat from battling independents, surely? Compare your force with the neighbouring independent. If your force has significantly more combat power and hits, you are almost certainly going to win. So go ahead, have a fight. Order your starfleet to move into the neighbouring sector. You can order two starfleets to hit the same neighbouring sector – let your forces gang up on your independent foe, teach him a lesson about why he should be in your empire. J

5)       The first few turns are all about grabbing independents.

6)       Make sure you build more starships. Click on the garrison of your industrial center sectors, then click on “build starships” and scroll through the options of what you can build. Work out if you want starships that will defend a border, or assault a foe. The most expensive starships you can buy are usually the best purchase, because they’ll be very powerful, and you want to expand. Try to get some light ships to work with your heavy ships – the latter are expensive to replace, whereas the little ones can often take more hits and are cheaper to replace.

7)       Consider building a admiral – if you’re royalty. Don’t worry so much about building sector defences yet, your first priority is to expand. Be aware that attacking a sector with defences is going to be significantly harder than one which is not. Don’t pillage your own sectors. To get a little more resources….

8)       Go to the Messages Screen, and make an announcement. Say a little something about how nice it is to be here, ask for everyone to send you a message, speak of your incredibly peaceful intentions for the galaxy…. J  Maybe do a little roleplay. This is all very normal. Try not to say anything that will offend the other players, or tip them off regarding your military intentions. Leave that for later.

9)       Go to the Game Screen, and click on “save turn”, exit the Diploware, and email your saved turnfile off to the GM. Done!

10)   Wait until the GM sends you your next turnfile. Try not to be anxious.

 

Here are some ideas to consider regarding strategy, and how to play a strong game.

 

Think Long Term:

The most successful players are those that have long-range plans. Although things probably won’t go exactly as you planned, it is best to think several turns down the road. The events of 1 turn will not decide the outcome of the game, so you can afford an unexpected lost starship here or there. Victory will be decided over the long haul.

 

Pillage what you can’t annex:

You can gain income from any sector you pillage. This is useful if you do not expect to own a sector for a long time, or if you have Commoner status. Commoners should annex only their most valuable sectors, and pillage the others. It takes a unit with at least 10 combat to pillage.

 

Expand Quickly:

Early in the game, there are many opportunities to expand into neighbouring sectors. But negotiate with your neighbours, to avoid an early war. Try to divide the sectors in a way that makes your valued neighbours happy.

 

Put Your Worst Starships Up Front:

Each starfleet has a number of ranks. Use these to place your worst starships (that you can afford to lose) in the lowest numbered ranks (like Rank 1 or 2). Keep your best starships in the back (in Rank 4 or 5). Starships will fight the same in any rank, so you can keep your valuable hitters in the rear, screened by your fodder starships.

 

Use Starfleets Together:

For hitting a tough foe, it is best to do so with overwhelming force. The fewer the rounds of battle, the less casualties you will have. So, try to wipe him out in the first round. You can send starfleets from multiple directions to converge at the battlefield. Just remember to make sure that they all have enough Move Points to make it, and you Hold Position if needed to synchronize their movement. Whether your forces are in 1 starfleet or 2 starfleets, it won’t matter for taking losses. For example, if you have an starfleet #1with 5 starships in rank 1, and starfleet#2 with 1 starship in rank 2, starfleet#1 will lose all of its starships first (the ranks work together). This works the same way with your allies (if you have an Alliance with another empire, your starships will also take losses as if you were in the same empire). With this in mind, beware of an ally asking you to help in an attack, while he puts all of his starships in the rear ranks, so that you will take all of the casualties!

 

Build Starships Wisely:

Each empire has various starships available to it. All are useful. Starships with more Move Points can move into a friendly sector and attack on the same turn. So, you can build them as reinforcements for an attack you will make. Slower starships are not able to move and attack the same turn (it takes 1 Move Point to move through a friendly sector, and you need 2 to attack an enemy sector). Also, use the heavy defensive starships in front. This can result in not sustaining losses during a battle. For example, a starship has 2 hit points. If you were in a battle with only that ship in Rank#1, and received 3 hits, you would only lose 1 starship (the other hit would not affect you). The Heavy defensive ships have a special advantage for this. Balance your attacks with enough hitting power in the rear ranks with enough cheap starships in the front ranks. Also, remember that when you have a large number of starships, upkeep costs will become a significant expense. If you are going to maintain a large force for a while that won’t see action, it is better to build the more expensive heavy defensive starships. This is because the upkeep is half the cost for the equivalent battle strength in weaker starships.

 

Maintain Secrecy:

Beware to whom you tell your plans to. Your trusted ally may be a double-agent for the opposition. Also, turns may possibly be delayed due to circumstances beyond the GM’s control. If this should occur, turnfiles may (but not necessarily) be accepted after the deadline. So, beware of telling anyone anything about your plans until AFTER you have received your new turn. If you divulge your plans, they may find their ways to the ears of your sworn enemies, who may then send in a late turnfile that could possibly be accepted. Usually, turns will not be accepted, but again, this is a matter of the GM’s discretion.

 

Send Your Turn In Early & Often:

You can send in a turn early, and you can send another turn in later if you change your plans. Of course, try not to send in 10 turns, because this will get a little old for the GM. But, 2 or 3 turns are acceptable. Getting that first turn in early could make a big difference if you should forget (or if you face a power outage that prevents you from getting your turn in later). In the long run, 1 missed turn will have very little effect on your success. Time and time again, it has been proven that those who are most successful are those who consistently work to improve their position over the long haul. History teaches that 1 lost battle means little to a skilled, intrepid leader who has the endurance and fortitude to fight on (for example, Alfred the Great, George Washington, all of the victorious powers in the world wars, etc.) This is the spirit of sportsmanship that PBeM games are all about.


JB: This page is well worth printing out. It shows things like, “Why doesn’t my alliance take effect at the start of the turn before my starships start moving into my ally’s sectors?” and “Why can’t I walk through my ally’s sectors – he just ordered passage rights for me!” 

 

First Events:

War Declared

Acceptance Changed

Passage Rights Changed

Special Permission Changed

New Starfleets Formed

New Fleets Formed

Various Administrative Actions Performed

Starfleets Change Cloaking

Same Location Transfers Occur

Starships Reassigned to Ranks

Disbanding/Salvaging Starships

Movement Events:

Transfers Happen

Starfleets Travel

Defend Sector defences Option Changed

Starfleet Cloaking Changed

Searches Happen

Cross-border Battles Are Fought

Space Battles are Fought

Sector Ownership Changes

Sectors are Pillaged

Movement Events Repeat

Final Events:

Sector Damage Increases

Resources Sent

Upkeep Paid

Starships Built

Admirals Hired

Sectors Annexed

Sector Annexation Declines

Construction Happens

Resources Decay

Structures Razed

Sector Revenue Gained

Sectors Gifted

Proclamations Income

Sector Damage Repaired

Peace Established

Alliances Cancelled

Alliances Formed

Info Sharing Changes

Espionage Occurs

Empire Limits Checked

Defeated Empires Removed

Scouting Occurs

Turn Events Are Complete

 

 

 

Bad things do happen to good people.

 

Chapter 10: Frequently Asked Questions

 

Here are some questions that have been asked, which may answer questions that you have:

 

Q: Is there a colour map available for me to print out and plan my moves?

A: No. But, you could do this by:

1)       Zoom the map out with the magnifying glass.

2)       Click the Tool button on the map. Turn off all friendly and foreign units (turn these back on when you are done).

3)       Then, do screen captures of the map menu. You do a screen capture by pressing “Print Screen”, then opening your art program and pasting.

4)       Paste all your screen captures together in your art program into 1 big file.

5)       Print it and show off your handiwork to impress friends and colleagues.

Some day some kind soul will upload this to the discussion group. Until then, we are all on our own.

 

Q: Is there some really neat way that I can see if all my orders will work as I want them to?

A: Yes! Click on the last button in your toolbar – it looks like a scroll – and it will give you a detailed listing of what will happen in each segment of the game. At the bottom it will tell you of any problems that the program will have with your orders.

 

Q: Are there any upgrades available?

A: Yes – go to http://www.agegames.co.uk/  

 

Q: I am worried that a neighbor is about to go to war with me.  Can I give a unit an order to travel into one of his sectors on the supposition that he wages war on me first? 

A: Yes! If he doesn't, then he's still neutral, and your starfleet will "bounce" because you can't travel into neutral territory without permission. 

 

Q: Can I follow that "just in case" invasion order with the "real" moves I want my unit to perform, so that the bounce costs me nothing (or something), and then I move as normal in the same phases I would otherwise move if I had NOT put in the invasion order? 

A: You can’t give "just in case" orders.  All orders you give will be followed.  It’s like you send a written set of orders to each unit, and you can’t change that once they are on the move for the season.

 

Q: I am having problems reading the file attachment you sent me (gw9N02.new). It come up as a word document, and is not allowing me to translate it into any other format, nor moving the file elsewhere. Please assist.

A: Each player is sent their results as a file attachment (a .new file). Do not try to open this file from your mail program. Just save it somewhere on your computer (remember where it is). First, open your Diploware. Then select "load turn", and then select the file "gw9N02.new". If you are using a mail program, just select "Save File", don’t try to open it with a different program.

 

Q: I would like to print out a copy of the rules, how can I do this?

A: Go to your Windows start menu, and there is a .doc form of the rulebook there.  You can open that in MS Word and print it out.  If that isn’t doable, then I uploaded a text file with the rules (no pictures).  Its at:

http://www.agegames.co.uk

Select "Save As", then save them to your computer, and you should be able to print them out (you might want to change the font to a smaller size so you have less pages too).

 

Q: One of the empires in my game does not seem to be replying to emails, what should I do?

A: Some people are not interested in diplomacy, and no one has to reply to email messages. Also, sometimes players drop out of the game for various reasons, the average is about 12% as time goes on, and it’s just a normal part of the game process. An Empire without an active player represents a domain in a state of civil unrest, which is not able to pursue their global conquest goals. If the nation is viable, the GM will attempt to get a replacement player. The GM is likely to do so if a player doesn’t send in the first turnfile of the game, or if he misses two consecutive turns during the game.

 

Q: Another player gave me all his sectors before quitting the game. Now another person has been given control of that empire’s starships – and sectors. What is going on?

A: I know this is disappointing, but if a ruler attempts to give away all of his sectors and disband all his forces, then his lesser functionaries will overthrow him in a palace coup (that would be an unchivalrous and cowardly act, and all the galaxy would despise the perpetrator).  In that case, his orders won’t happen, and he will be dethroned, tortured, drawn and quartered, beheaded, and finally burned by a phaser. 

 

Q: Can you please clarify to me how pillage works? They way I see it, I can station any unit in a sector and then pillage it every other round (e.g. Round 1 pillage, Round 2 let it repair, Round 3 pillage, Round 4 let it repair, etc.), so that I get the sector's income every other turn. Is this correct? Is there a chance of revolt due to pillaging? Of failure to pillage (even having combat > 10)?
A: You can pillage every turn.  The damage of a sector will affect the revenue (as indicated in the rulebook).  You need to have combat of at least 10 to pillage.  Under 10, it will fail, 10 or more it will
succeed.  It will never revolt.

 

Q:  When I cede a sector, independents gain control. Do they create starfleets immediately? Can I cede a sector and pillage it in the same turn?
A:  No enemy forces will be created.

Q:  What happens if two neutrally aligned empires simultaneously invade an independent sector? Who fights whom? Do they both fight the independents and then fight each other or is there a three fronts battle?
A: The two neutrals will each attack the independents.  You only attack empires you are at war with.
 
Q:  I suspect another player is cheating. What should I do?
A: Report your reasons to the GM. 

Q:  In the rules it says:
"Send Resources: This is for all empires, and is to send a gift of resources to that Empire. You must own a garrison within 7 locations of the recipient for this to succeed, or the resources won't be sent."
Does this mean, that you have to have passage rights to each and every sector between the two? Example Federation wants to send money to Hive, what restrictions are there for this example?

A: This will be hard to send with a route filled by foreign empires.  To use a sector though, you need passage rights (or special permission) for all sectors in between.  This is because you will need to be sending a convoy through those locations.

 

Q:  Let's suppose I have 2 starfleets. Starfleet #1 is actually a scout on rank 1, retreat lvl 5.
Starfleet #2 has many starships, on different ranks, having the lowest occupied rank 2 and retreat lvl 1.

I attack a sector with these 2 starfleets.

Round 1
Starfleet #1: 0 hits
Starfleet #2: 30 hits
Enemy Starfleet #1: 40 hits
Starfleet #2 retreats after the 1st round (it has no starships on rank 1). The battle continues.
Round 2
Starfleet #1: 0 hits
Enemy Starfleet #1: 35 hits
Now... I will only lose 1 scout while my foe will take 30 hits. Is this right?

A: No. Your retreating starships will take the hits. Such is the fate of starships who bare their backs to the foe! 

 

Q:  If my starfleet retreats to the sector where it came from, and this sector is attacked in the 1st phase
by another starfleet, I will be in time to defend it, right?

A: No. In your first phase, you have left your territory, if someone takes it over in the first phase, then, when it comes time to retreat, you will not be able to retreat to it, as it no longer belongs to you. Ha!

 

Q:  I got the impression that only one phase of battle occurs in a turn. Is that right?
A: No. A battle goes from start to finish in one turn, no matter how many phases are required. Battles of 18 phases have occurred, all in a single turn, until a victory has been achieved.

 

Q: How do I tell if a starship has Cloaking?
A: You can’t see a starship that is cloaked on the map.  To see if your starfleet is cloaked, click on the starfleet status, and on the left there is information, and it will say "cloaked" if this is the case.

 

Q:  My Question to you, is it your plan to have a player declare as soon as they reach victory conditions?
A: It is up to the victorious coalition to decide this.  Of course, if things are already decided on the map, and things are being dragged out unnecessarily, then I will require a conclusion.  But, things are fluid, it is possible that a coalition may break apart, so I am flexible about this.  If a person considers that the outcome of a game is a foregone conclusion, then I will permit him to join a new game also.

 

Q:  If a cloaked starfleet walks into an independent sector on phase 1, then on phase 2 a neutral player takes that independent over with might of arms: do I now have a cloaked starfleet in a neutral player's territory?  What if he sees me?
A:  Your starships will be in the other player’s territory, but he won’t see you because that would take a Search action, which he can’t do if he’s just committed a movement, as Search takes up a whole turn.

 

Q: What are the Victory Conditions?

A: To discover the victory conditions, click on this hyperlink:

http://www.lords-of-conquest.com/victory/

 

Q: What’s your rationale for the movepoints being the way they are?

A: The idea is that when invading, you pay a move cost of 2 because its unfamiliar territory, and you need to tread slowly to watch for ambushes.  If a battle happens in an enemy sector, you won’t be able to move any further, because of again you are in enemy territory, and your force will be much more disorganized after the battle, with disorganized supplies, etc., in addition to a great deal of time needed to pacify the area and regroup.  On friendly territory, a battle has no move cost, because you are surrounded by friendly planets, and supplies are assumed to be readily available, and no pacification of the area is needed.  So, battles on friendly territory have no move cost.

 

Q:  If two or three admirals are all present at the same battle, all fighting  for the same side, will
a) all of their combat modifiers be totalled and used
b) only one admiral be used, picked at random
A: Only the unit leader will modify the starships in his unit.

 

Q:  If I give orders to build starships in a industrial center and an enemy force takes it in the 1st move-phase and then, in the 2nd move-phase I take it back (so at the end of the movement, it belongs to me), then my starships will be build, right? I looked in the rulebook and it says that if you defend your industrial center, your starships will be built (and I am sort of defending it :)
A: Yes, they should be built.

 

Q: I’ve become addicted to this game, what should I do?

A: As of yet, there is no 12 step program for Galactic Warlords. It is very addicting, and you can feel better knowing you are not alone. At least it’s better than being hooked on crack :).

 

 

 

 

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