System Assault Rules (long)

 I've layed this out as a comprehensive set of rules- pick the parts you
like, trash the rest.  (Just like everything else on the list.)  These
rules
can be a handy way to spice up one off battles as well as system
assaults in
campaigns.

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CAMPAIGN PLANETARY INVASIONS:
 This system is designed to fill in a gap in the campaign rules.  The
campaign rules work well for long distances and time scales, and FT
deals
well with battles- but the approach battle, the deployment of forces as
the
ships exit hyperspace, the ambushes and risks in the first minutes are
glossed over.  These rules are an attempt to patch the gap, allowing for
small scale strategy (or large scale tactics).

SYSTEM MANEUVERS:
 When a fleet moves to a system, the commanders must choose between two
major
stratagems.  The first is to jump beyond the system edge and slowly
gather
forces, the alternative is to jump between planets and obstacles, close
to
the target.
 Jumping beyond the system edge is the more conservative approach. 
Because
you are so far from the inhabited planet, it is unlikely that you will
be
struck before you can gather your forces.  [Unless, of course, they are
using
a hyperspace-realspace locator, and they jump out to get you.]	Your
ships
come in further apart, so you will not have to risk jump-field
interactions
that could damage or destroy your ships.  And, as you are relatively
distant
from large masses, there should be plenty of Omegagon particles for a
safe
transfer back to 'realspace'.  The only significant problem is that
reinforcements may arrive before you can gather your ships and strike. 
If
you choose to jump to the system edge, you may roll (2d6-2)x10%.  This
is the
percentage of your fleet that can be gathered to strike this turn (based
on
points value).	The following campaign turn, the entire fleet is
gathered and
may be used as desired.   
 Jumping directly into a system has many hazards.  Planets will destroy
vessels that jump too close, bunched ships invite destructive jump-field
interactions, and enemy patrol ships may strike the individual ships
before
they can group together.  The advantage is that all ships that survive
the
jump may be used the turn they jump in.
 The rules for jumping into a system apply no matter who owns the ships.
 A
defender reinforcing a garrison with a hop 'inside' is as likely to
loose
ships as an aggressor leaping in for a stealthy strike.  Or if he plays
it
too cautious, he might be able to assemble only a portion of his fleet
to
help reinforce the defenders- too small a percentage to stop the
attacking
jaggernaut.

SYSTEM SET-UP:
 I use 4 hex-boards that are hexagonal, 9 hexes across, placed so that
the
corners meet.  Other options are two battletech maps (flipped over to
the
white side), or anything else you can think up.  You'll also want some
ship
counters (decoys will work well, especially if they're already made up)
and
some planet counters (spare change can work).
 The defender begins by setting up a the system- the star (or stars),
its
planets, an asteroid belt or two, etc.	Set the inhabited planet at the
center of the map, followed by the star.  The star should be about
double the
R=2  distance (see the table under heavenly bodies, below) from the
inhabited
planet.  Follow this with some planets- they don't all have to be on
map.
 Most of the hexes should remain empty.  Details of the different
heavenly
bodies are in the next section.
 Now that the system has been placed, the defender places counters or
decoys
for his ships in 'standard patrol'- wherever they are at the start of
the
scenario.  Now that the defender has set up, the attacker sets up (at
map
edge, usually).  Jumping ships are not placed yet.

SCALE:
 Each hex represents a Full Thrust scale hexagon 60" across (or so). 
They
can be larger or smaller if both players agree before the game begins. 
Each
system sequence takes about the same amount of time as 3 turns of a FT
battle.

HEAVENLY BODIES:
 The table below describes some basic 'heavenly bodies'.  The examples
are
based on memory; use common sense instead of whatever I've got down. 
The
categories are as follows:
Type: The class of heavenly body in my memory of the universe.	If
you're
running around with dyson spheres or battling around neutron stars,
you'll
have to add new types.
Example: Pluto is a small solid planet, our Sun is a yellow star, and so
on.
R=0, etc.: These are the jump destruction rolls at a distance from the
heavenly body.	A indicates automatic destruction, - is safe, and a
number is
the save roll required to survive.  R=0 means that you are jumping into
the
hex of the body, R=1 is a jump into a hex that borders the body, and so
on.
 It is very bad to jump close to large bodies... you're running a risk
near
bodies as small as asteroids.

Type:  Example: R=0 R=1 R=2 R=3
(Planets)
Small Solid Pluto  4 1 - -
Med. Solid Mars  6 1 - -
Large Solid Earth  A 2 - -
Huge Solid ?  A 2 - -
Small Gas Neptune? A 3 1 -
Med. Gas ?  A 4 1 -
Large Gas Saturn  A 4 1 -
Huge Gas Jupiter A 5 1 -
(Asteroids)
Sparse	-  3 - - -
Light  -  4 - - -
Moderate Asteroid Belt 5 - - -
Dense  -  A 1 - -
(Stars)
Dwarf  -  A 6 1 -
Yellow	Sun  A A 2 -
Red  -	A A 3 1
Blue/Green -  A A 4 1	  

SYSTEM ASSAULT SEQUENCE:
1. Defending ships move
2. Scan
3. Place combat markers where ships from opposing sides share a space.
4. Fight 3 rounds from the current battle (in FT, on a separate table). 
If
no current battle, begin the battle with the earliest combat marker.
5. Attacker's ships move
6. Scan
7. Place combat markers.
8. New ships jump in.
9. Turn end... return to 1

 The phases of the assault sequence are detailed below.

1&5: MOVEMENT.	
 Ships with a thrust of 1-5 may move one hex per turn, while ships with
a
thrust of 6+ can move 2 hexes each turn.  Direction of movement is
unlimited,
but movement halts as soon as a hex with opposing ships is entered.
 Cloaked ships are a little odd.  Cloaked ships are moved on the board,
but
they are not allowed to scan and they can't be scanned.  Cloaked ships
may
also move through an occupied hex without stopping.  Neither side can
choose
combat while all ships on one side are cloaked.  Ships must choose to
cloak/uncloak at the beginning of movement.  This status lasts until
that
player's next turn.
 Stations must choose one type of orbit and stick to it.  The choices
are big
orbit and stationary.  Big orbit stations move 1 system hex per round, 1
hex
from the planet, in a circle.  Big orbit stations move 15" per FT turn
at the
map edge between the planet and the hex it moves through.  (For the
first
turn, start it 10"from the off board hex edge.)  Big orbit stations can
participate in combat on both sides- the planet hex and the 1 hex radius
it
passes through.
 Stationary  stations are actually in the hex that contains the planet.
 However, stationary stations are easier to evade... attacking forces
can
choose to come in from far side of the planet, etc.  Stationary stations
enter combat only if the attacker moves "offmap" toward the planet- or
if the
attacker chooses to attack the station.

2&6 SCAN:
 I don't like to take up a lot of time with rolling, so I extended the
scanner ranges and gave them definite effect.  (You can use the old
rules if
you like- their max range was 54", which makes drones & weasel boats
more
effective against improved sensors).
 During the scan phase, any ship may scan.  The specific ship need not
be
identified, but the scanning hex must be.  A ship with personal ECM is
immune
to all scans, except in a battle (where MT rules are used).  A ship with
area
ECM immunizes all ships in the same hex, BUT no ship in that hex may
scan.
 (Again, this can change at battlefield ranges... use MT).
 Remember, cloaked ships may not scan, and can not be scanned.
 If a ship scans, reveal information as based on the table below.  A
range of
0 hexes means that this information is passed on when you place a combat
marker on the board.

Range: Superior (2 hexes), Enhanced (1 hex), Basic (0 hexes)
Information: Ship classes (weasel still effective), drones are IDed as
'escorts'

Range: Superior (1 hex), Enhanced (0 hexes), Basic (40")
Information: Accurate ship classes (ignore weasel systems), remove
drones

Range: Superior (0 hexes), Enhanced (40"), Basic (20")
Information: Ship mass, armor/screens present <not level>,
military/cargo
ships

3&7: PLACE COMBAT MARKERS
 For simplicity, only one FT fight is fought at a time.  Other combats
wait
patiently, off to the side.  Ships in these 'queued' fights are removed
from
the board.  On a sheet of paper, each player writes down the ships
involved
in the fight queue and the turn the ship shows up to the fight.  (Hex
side of
entry is also very useful to record.)

4: FULL THRUST BATTLE (Fight 3 rounds)
 The battle is fought as a standard FT battle.	Ships enter at speed 4-8
if
they move 1 hex, speed 8-16 for ships moving 2 hexes.  The set-up
location is
the center 20" of the hex face.  (Each side of the hex is about 35"
wide).
 The ship's initial direction is also set by the hex-face of entry. 
Ships
can go up to 10" beyond the hex without leaving the battle- any further
and
they may choose to 'run away' <in which case, they are placed on the
system
map in the proper hex>, or they may choose to return to the fight.
 (Returning to the fight requires [6 turns / current thrust of the
ship], it
reenters at the same speed but opposite direction from the edge it
left).
 All normal FT and MT rules apply (modified as your group chooses, of
course).  Each system turn is 3 FT turns for calculating the timing of
reserves, etc.	If you are starting a new combat, fight the "back
rounds" to
catch the fight up to the current turn.

8. JUMP PHASE
 The jump phase has several sub-phases, summarized as follows:
a. Set jump points
b. Evasion move
c. Massive body check
d. Jump points open
e. Place remaining ships

a. Set jump points
 Each jumping FTL ship counter is placed on the board... at this point,
these
are jump targets- the ship hasn't arrived yet.	All ships are placed
simultaneously- if both sides are jumping, alternate placement.  FTL
ships
may NOT target a hex currently designated as a battlefield (currently
possessing a combat marker).
 Each ship that jumped more than 3 campaign hexes into combat must make
a
deviation roll.  The deviation roll depends on the distance jumped to
combat.
 (Jump 4, deviation= d6-4; jump 5, deviation= d6-3; jump 6, deviation=
d6-2).
 Roll a d6 to determine the direction of ship deviation.  Place the ship
counter on the hex indicated after deviation.

b. Evasion move
 Any ships in a square that is targeted for jump may make an immediate
evasion move.  They may only evade 1 hex, and they must do so now. 
Ships not
targeted by a jump point can not evade.

c. Massive body check
 Measure the ship's distance to all nearby massive bodies.  Check the
distance against the Heavenly Bodies chart.  If the chart result is A,
destroy the ship.  If the chart result is -, there is no need to
check... the
massive body has no effect on the ship.  If a number is in the table,
then
luck will have a part to play.	Roll a d6- if the number rolled is lower
than
the chart value, the ship is destroyed.  If the number is equal to the
chart,
then the ship's FTL engines are destroyed (and will take a week's work
to
fix- DC crews can't jury rig it any quicker!).	If the number rolled
exceeds
the chart value, then the ship has evaded the gravitational effects of
the
body.

d. Jump points open
 All remaining jumping ships now enter normal space.  Large bodies have
been
accounted for, but small bodies (ships, etc.) are still a terrible
threat.
 In each hex, total the number of FTL ships jumping in, and add that to
the
number of ships in the hex before the jump.  Roll a d6.  If the d6 roll
is
less than the FTL+existing ships in the hex, bad news!	Otherwise (the
roll
is equal to or greater than the total), the ships enter unscathed.
 If the d6 roll indicates bad news, roll 2d6 and look for the effect on
the
chart below.

2d6 Roll: Effect:
2  All ships in the hex before the jumping ships attempt to enter are
destroyed.  Jumping ships take 2d6 damage to each ship entering the hex.
3,4  Field creates an EMP burst.  All ships in the hex and jumping in
roll as
if hit by an EMP missile.
5-8  Energy wave causes 1d6 to all ships (both jumping and already in
the
hex)
9,10  Energy wave causes 3d6 to all ships (both jumping and already in
the
hex)
11  Random jumping ship destroyed.  All ships (both jumping and already
in
the hex) take damage equal to 1/4 of the destroyed ship's mass.
12  Jumping ship fields intersect- all jumping ships destroyed, ships
previously in hex take 1d6 damage and are moved 1 hex in a random
direction.

e. Place remaining ships
 All of the jumping ship counters that survived are now in normal space,
subject to attack, following normal movement rules, etc. 
(Congratulations,
you made it!)

9. End Turn
 So far, not much goes on here.  Add one to the current turn number (it
is
useful to keep a running turn number to keep the combats straight). 
After
that, return to the top (System Assault Phase 1).