Minimal Space Combat: The Strategic Game
Game Design by Timothy Swenson
Copyright 1996
This game is Freeware and my be distributed freely.
1.0 Introduction
Minimal Space Combat: The Strategic Game (MSC:TSG) is the
Campaign game for Minimal Space Combat (MSC). MSC:TSG allows
players to fight wars on a strategic level and either use MSC or
Strategic Combat to fight the tactical battles. MSC is needed
for play and it is assumed that players are familiar with it.
Like MSC, MSC:TSG is kept minimal.
2.0 Definitions
Fleet: A fleet is composed of one or more ships.
Occupied System: A system that has a fleet in it.
Captured System: A system that had been occupied, but is no
longer occupied.
Owned System: A system that is either occupied or captured.
Offensive BPs: Number of BPs spent on WEAPONS and TO-HIT for a
ship.
Defensive BPs: Number of BPs spent on SHIELDS for a ship.
3.0 Turn Sequence
The game is played in the following phases:
Production
Initiative Roll
Player 1 Movement
Player 2 Movement
Strategic Combat / MSC Combat
Player 1 and Player 2 is determined by the initiative roll. Both
players roll a die. The player with the highest die roll becomes
Player 1. Ties are re-rolled.
4.0 Set Up
Needed for Play: A number of 6 sided dice, Fleet Counters (one
color per side), System Counters (three colors; two for each side
and one for neutral), and a hex map (preferably one with the
hexes numbered).
Building a Fleet: Each player gets a set amount of BPs to
create his entire fleet. The amount of BPs is dependent upon the
size of the scenario being played. An average game would have
30-40 ships per player. With the average ship being 15 BPs,
then a total of 525 BPs (15 BPs times 35 ships) would be a good
start for a game. It's up to the players what the total of BPs
is for their game.
Setting Up the Map: The size of the map and the total number of
systems is chosen by the players. Each system takes up one hex.
Systems should be placed evenly around the map.
Home System: Each player designates one system as his Home
System. Home Systems are usually at opposite ends of the map.
Starting Positions: All fleets start the game in the Home System
and move out from there.
Fleet Control Sheet: Fleet Control Sheets are used to keep
track of the ships in the fleet. Fleet Control Sheets are filled
out before the start of the game and kept current during the
game. For each ship in a fleet the following information is
needed:
Ship name or number
Offensive BPs
Defensive BPs
Engine: The ENGINE value of the ship.
5.0 Victory Conditions
The objective of the game is to destroy the enemy. This can be
done by destroying the entire enemy fleet or by occupying the
enemy Home System.
6.0 Production
The Production phase of a turn involves calculating the
production from Owned Systems, building ships, and bringing these
new ships into play. Each Owned System produces one BP per turn.
Ship Building: Ship building is done in the Production phase.
As BPs are built up from production, they may be spent on
building new ships. Ships may be built of 10, 15, and 20 BPs.
Follow the rules in MSC for building ships. Once a ship is built
it may only enter the game from the players' Home World. New
ships may either stay at the Home World and await more new ships,
or they may move to join up with a fleet (they become a one ship
fleet).
Production Control Sheet: The Production Control Sheet is used
to keep track of how many BPs are produced per turn and when they
are spent.
7.0 Movement
Fleet Movement: Each fleet may move a number of hexes up to the
lowest ENGINE value of any ship in the fleet. Movement may be
made in any direction. A Fleet may pass through the same hex as
friendly or enemy fleets.
Ship Transfer Between Fleets: Ships can be transferred from one
fleet to another or fleets can be combined into one fleet. To
transfer ships between fleets, both fleets must end movement in
the same hex. Ships are transferred at the beginning of the next
movement phase.
Capturing Systems: Systems are captured by occupying them for
at least one full turn. If an enemy fleet is occupying the
system, then they must be moved or destroyed before the attacking
player can occupy the system. Once a System is captured, it
remains captured until it is occupied by an enemy fleet. A
captured system does not produce until 1 full turn after being
captured. A system captured in Turn 7 does not produce until
Turn 9.
Fleet Sensors: When a fleet ends movement within 3 hexes of an
enemy fleet, the moving player may ask the other player how many
ships are in the enemy fleet.
8.0 Strategic Combat
When enemy fleets end their movement in the same hex, then combat
takes place. Combat only takes place between these two fleets.
Combat can be resolved two different ways: Using Minimal Space
Combat or using Strategic Combat defined here. If the players
use MSC for combat, then a game of MSC is setup with the two
fleets.
The Strategic Combat phase is composed of a number of subphases -
Attacker Attacks, Attacker Defends. The difference between the
two phases is who is attacking. In the Attacker Attacks subphase
the Attacker is attacking, where as in the Attacker Defends
subphase the Defender is attacking. After each player has had a
chance to attack, combat either continues, or it is broken off by
one of the players by moving (retreating) his fleet one hex
toward his Home World.
The Attacking Player is the one that moved his fleet into the hex
of the enemy fleet, thereby instigating combat. The other player
is the Defending Player.
Strategic Combat is resolved in the following manner:
- The Attacker totals up the Offensive BPs for his fleet.
- The Defender totals up the Defense BPs for his fleet.
- For each 7 Offensive BPs or 3 Defensive BPs each player gets
1 die.
- Both players roll the dice.
- Each 6 or 5 rolled by the Attacker is one enemy ship
destroyed.
- Each 6 or 5 rolled by the Defender is one ship saved.
(If the Attacker rolls 3 6's and the Defender rolls 2 6's, then
the Defender only loses 1 ship.)
- The Defender gets to choose which ships are destroyed.
Fleet Control Sheet
Ship Name/Number Off. Def. Engine
BP BP
1 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
2 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
3 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
4 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
5 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
6 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
7 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
8 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
9 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
10 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
11 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
12 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
13 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
14 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
15 ____________________ _____ _____ _____
Production Control Sheet
Turn Production Spent Running Systems
BPs BPs Total Captured
1 __________ __________ __________ __________
2 __________ __________ __________ __________
3 __________ __________ __________ __________
4 __________ __________ __________ __________
5 __________ __________ __________ __________
6 __________ __________ __________ __________
7 __________ __________ __________ __________
8 __________ __________ __________ __________
9 __________ __________ __________ __________
10 __________ __________ __________ __________
11 __________ __________ __________ __________
12 __________ __________ __________ __________
13 __________ __________ __________ __________
14 __________ __________ __________ __________
15 __________ __________ __________ __________
16 __________ __________ __________ __________
17 __________ __________ __________ __________
18 __________ __________ __________ __________
19 __________ __________ __________ __________
20 __________ __________ __________ __________
Example System Map
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