Age of Iridium Summary - Scenario Information - 2/6

This message includes the background for the Age of Iridium scenario.
After
the scenario background are the special rules I used for the battle.

AGE OF IRIDIUM - Scenario Background
copyright 1996 by Allan Goodall

The first clash between the Nipponese Shogunate and the Tsarist Empire
occurred in 4331. The Shogunate fought a war with the Sihonese Hegemony
sparked by a minor political incident (rumour has it that the Shogunate
actually incited the incident). The resultant conflict saw the Shogunate
absorb most of the Sihonese "worlds" (actually planetary moons around a
gas
giant) in a very short time. However, before the Shogunate could
consolidate
its success, the Tsarist Empire entered the picture.

The Tsarists appeared ostensibly as the protector of the Sihonese
Hegemony.
They issued an ultimatum to the Nipponese and ordered them out of
Sihonese
space. This ultimatum caught the Nipponese off guard, resulting in a
minor
clash. The battle, essentially a skirmish between two small task groups,
saw
the Tsarists lose an old battleship while the Nipponese lost two
cruisers
and had one battleship severely crippled. The Nipponese actually boarded
the
Tsarist battleship, but the boarding party was forced to leave
prematurely
as Tsarist ships arrived on the scene.

Both forces prepared for war, but in fact the Shogunate was ill equiped
to
wage war with the larger -- and better prepared -- Tsarists. A treaty
was
struck and the Nipponese left Sihonese space. After doing so, the
Shogunate
watched helplessly as the Tsarists went on to annex the very systems
they
had declared as protectorates.

It's now 4343 and the Shogunate has spent the last 12 years wisely. They
have built a larger, more advanced battle fleet. In the meantime, the
Tsarists have found that the Sihonese were far easier to conquer than
subjugate.

The Shogunate waited until the Tsarists were busy with a Sihonese
uprising
before striking. The first target was the Tsarist port world of New
Vladivostok. The Nipponese slid into the system, brushed aside a small
protective picket, and moved on the New Vladivostok Dry Dock. When they
arrived at the dock, they discovered a problem: it had a large civilian
population. Unknown to the Nipponese, the Dry Dock was actually a
civilian
installation used by the Imperial Tsarist Navy. Neo-chivalry decreed
that
the Nipponese could not bombard the largely civilian facilty.
Furthermore,
the facilities defenses were strong enough that a boarding action would
be
costly in soldiers and materiel.  

The Nipponese instead laid seige to the installation, hoping to force
the
civilians into surrender.  A truce was quickly organized and the
Nipponese
soldiers met with the Tsarist civilians to discuss the situation. The
two
sides drew up an agreement. If a Tsarist fleet failed to relieve the New
Vladivostok Dry Dock within 1 standard month, the facility would
surrender
to the Nipponese. In the meantime, the Nipponese would allow food and
medical aid into the facility. The Nipponese pulled back most of their
ships
to guard the solar jump point and both sides awaited the inevitable
conflict.

It is now day 25 of the seige. Five days earlier, after repeated
attempts, a
stealth packet boat managed to evade the Nipponese blockade of the jump
point and dropped through an N-space dimple into Tsarist space. The
Tsarists
have quickly assembled a relief force while the Nipponese wait beyond
the
jump point.

AGE OF IRIDIUM - Scenario Rules
copyright 1996 by Allan Goodall

BATTLEFIELD DESCRIPTION

The game is played on a "virtual" battlefield. That is, there are no
limits
to the "gaming surface." The battlefield is set up on an x-y grid with
the
first number being the x (left and right, or east/west) co-ordinate, and
the
second number is the y (up and down, or north/south) co-ordinate.

The map grid looks like this:

		   | y = 200
		   |
   quadrant 4	   |	  quadrant 1
		   |
 x = -200 ---------+---------- x = 200
		   |
   quadrant 3	   |	  quadrant 2
		   | 
		   | y = -200

Ship headings are given as numbers from 1 to 12, representing the
numbers on
a clock. 12 is also known as heading 0. Heading 12 (0) is towards the
top of
the map, 6 is to the bottom, 3 is to the right (or east), and 9 is to
the
left (west).

The system's jump point is at co-ordinate 100, 100. The New Vladivostok
port
is at co-ordinate 20000,100 (i.e. a long way off!).

The jump point is within the corona of one of the system's suns. This is
represented by "damage bands" on the battlefield. The bands are found at
x
co-ordinates 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120. If a ship ends a turn with an
x
co-ordinate greater than (>) 100 and less than or equal to (<=) 120, the
ship will take one point of damage. If a ship ends a turn with an x
co-ordinate of > 80 and <= 100, the ship takes 2 points of damage. In
the 60
to 80 band a ship will take 4 points of damage. In the 40 to 60 band it
will
take 8 points of damage. In the 20 to 40 band the ship takes 16 points
of
damage. If a ship ends a turn with an x co-ordinate less than or equal
to
20, the ship is destroyed.

The game is played almost entirely within quadrant 1, though players
could
slide down into quadrant 2 if they wanted. The sun(s) take up quadrant 3
and 4.

For set-up purposes, there are two other "damage bands": the 140 band
and
the 160 band. The defender (Nipponese) is not allowed to place mines in
a
position where the x co-ordinate is > 120 and <= 140, but the defender
may
place ships. Although this band won't result in damage during the game,
it
is considered hot enough that ships and mines stationed here will take
damage prior to the game. Ships starting in this band will take 1d6
points
of damage (determined just before the game begins). Mines are not
allowed to
be set up in this band since one point of damage will destroy a mine. If
ships or mines are set up with an x co-ordinate of > 140 and <= 160,
there
is a 1 in 6 chance that the ship or mine will take one point of damage
(if a
mine takes one point of damage, it is destroyed).

Ships entering from the jump point appear within 10 "inches" of the jump
point (i.e. can appear at 100,110 or 110,100 or 90,100, or 97,101, etc.)
at
the beginning of the first turn. They then make a normal move. These
ships
may be given a heading of 1 to 5. They can also have any speed from 1 to
30,
with limitations. Due to the "ether" that the ships travel through in
N-space, high speeds result in friction against the ship hulls. Ships
can
travel safely up to a speed of 10. If the ships exit the jump point with
a
speed of 1 to 10, the ships take no damage. If they exit at a speed of
11 to
20, the ships take 1d10 points in damage to a maximum of the ship's
speed
minus 10 (i.e. a ship travelling at a speed of 13 will take 1d10 damage
to a
maximum of 3 points of damage). If the ships exit the jump point at a
speed
of 21 to 30, the ships will take 2d10 points of damage to a maximum of
the
ship's speed minus 10.

Ships leaving the board through a jump point must end the turn within 10
"inches" of the jump point. They must also plot an "FTL Jump" as part of
their orders for the turn. The ships will move and go through a combat
round
as per the normal rules, and will then be withdrawn from the
battlefield.
They can enter the jump point travelling any speed from 1 to 30 (but the
ship will take no damage). If a ship jumps at a speed greater than 30,
it
will be destroyed.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

Total the points for Tsarist ships destroyed or surrendered.  Add to
this
one half of the points of any Tsarist ships that escaped through the
jump
point.	Total the points for the Nipponese ships destroyed or captured,
and
add half the points of any Nipponese ships that escaped through the jump
point. Subtract the Nipponese points from the Tsarist points and check
the
chart below.

Point Total	Victory Level

1500 or more	Decisive Nipponese victory
1000 to 1499	Tactical Nipponese victory
500 to 999	Marginal Nipponese victory
-399 to 499	Draw
-400 to -799	Marginal Tsarist victory
-800 to -1199	Tactical Tsarist victory
-1200 or less	Decisive Tsarist victory

Also, if the Nipponese "hold the field" (i.e. all Tsarist ships have
been
destroyed, captured or retreated) increase the victory by one level in
the
Nipponese' favour. If the Tsarists "hold the field" increase the victory
by
two levels in the Tsarists' favour (they were able to relieve New
Vladivostok).

GAME LENGTH

The game continues until:
1) only one side "holds the field", or
2) all of the ships in the battle have either zero thrust or no weapons,
or
3) one or both sides "break off the engagement"

Breaking Off the Engagement

Both sides have reinforcements preparing to enter the battlefield, so it
might make sense for a side to break off from the battle and await
reinforcements (this new engagement can be played as a new scenario).

The engagement can be broken in two ways:
1) All of the ships on either side are out of range of the weapons of
their
opponents, and both sides agree to a breaking off of the engagement, or
2) All of the ships on either side are out of range of the weapons of
their
opponents, and all of the ships of one side are travelling away from
their
opponents at such a speed that it would be impossible for their
opponents to
get to weapon range within 10 turns.

STRIKING THE COLOURS

A ship will still strike as per the usual rules.

The side accepting the surrender will be told nothing about the ship,
outside of regular sensor information, except the ship's current drive
level
and the fact that it struck.

After a ship strikes its colours, the side accepting the surrender will
give
the surrendering ship its movement orders, as though that ship is part
of
that fleet. 

The GM will give the ship its repair orders, with each damage control
party
assigned to a different system, and systems repaired in the following
order:
drives, shields, weapons, other systems. Weapons will be repaired
largest
size to smallest, beams before other weapons. In all other cases, the
system
repaired will be determined randomly.

The ship will not fire weapons during this period, but its shields will
stay up.

The opposing side captures the ship by placing a prize crew aboard it.
To
put a prize crew onboard, a ship from the capturing side must end its
turn
3" away from the surrendering ship or closer. Once captured, the
capturing
side will control the ship and know everything about it, but the ship
will
NOT be able to fire its weapons (not enough of a crew will remain on the
ship for that).

Neither side may fire on a ship that strikes its colours. 

A ship that has struck the colours--but no prize crew was, yet, put
aboard
it--will NOT surrender if at the end of any turn there are no enemy
ships
within 36". However, the ship that struck will be at a +1 chance to
strike
again on future attempts.  For instance, a ship hits a mine 50" away
from an
enemy ship, and the damage forces it to cross the first threshold. It
tests
for striking, rolls a 6 and fails. The ship would normally strike its
colours, but there are no ships within 36" range so it does not strike
its
colours. The next time it passes a threshold, instead of striking on a 5
or
6, it will strike on a 4, 5, or 6.

If a ship surrenders, it will surrender BACK to the original crew if
there
are no ships from the capturing side within 36" of it, and a there is a
ship
from the original side within 36". No prize crew is necessary as it's
assumed that the original crew takes over. If a ship is taken over by
it's
original side, it can no longer fight in combat. It's assumed that all
but a
skeleton crew was killed or captured from the ship and it is no longer
combat worthy.

The most obvious thing to do with a captured ship is get it out the jump
point, at which point it can not be recaptured.

Allan Goodall:	agoodall@sympatico.ca 
"You'll want to hear about my new obsession.
 I'm riding high upon a deep depression. 
 I'm only happy when it rains."    - Garbage