Full Thrust:

Remixed
Ground Zero Games
August 2008

Revision 1
All rules and text in this publication are Copyright 2008 J.M. Tuffley, H. Fisher, and Ground Zero Games.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission from
the publishers.
This publication is sold subject to the following conditions:
1. It shall not by way of trade or otherwise be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior permission in any form
of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
2. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers. Published 2008 by Ground Zero Games.

Purchasers of this book are hereby granted permission to photocopy any required System Status Displays, counters, and record
sheets for personal use only.

5 Fighters

Contents Text

16

5.1 Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1 Introduction

5.2 Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2 Rules Overview

5.3 Anti-fighter defences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.1 Ship models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5.4 Fighter to fighter combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.2 Playing area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5.5 Fighter screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.3 Time and space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5.6 Interception of missiles

2.4 3D, or not 3D? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.5 Ship classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.6 Ship System Status Display

. . . . . . . . . . .

2.7 Sequence of play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

5.7 Endurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.8 Morale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.9 Specialised types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.10 Pilot quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3 Cinematic Movement

5.11 Re-arming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

3.1 Ship movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.2 Making course changes

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.3 Movement orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6.1 Firing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3.4 Special orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

6.2 Defence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3.5 Ships leaving the table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

6.3 Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6 Salvo Missiles

3.6 Collisions and ramming . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

21

6.4 Mountings and magazines . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

3.7 Squadron operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

6.5 Magazine capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

3.8 Moving table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

7 Threshold Points

3.9 Disengaging from battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4 Ship Combat

23

7.1 Damage to systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

12

7.2 Core systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4.1 Fire Arcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4.2 Fire control systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

7.3 Damage control parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.3 Beam weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

7.4 Crew casualties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.4 Defensive screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

7.5 Cargo and passengers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.5 Hull armour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

8 FTL

4.6 Threshold points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

25

8.1 FTL exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4.7 Pulse torpedoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4.8 Needle beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

8.2 FTL entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4.9 Submunition packs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

8.3 FTL tugs and tenders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4.10 Introductory scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

8.4 Non-FTL ships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

9 Ship Design

27

13 Terrain
13.1 Asteroids

9.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

41
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

13.2 Movement of asteroids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

9.2 Mass rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

13.3 Dust or nebulae clouds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

9.3 Hull strengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

13.4 Solar flares

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

9.4 Cargo and passengers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

13.5 Meteor swarms and debris . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

9.5 Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

13.6 Battle debris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

13.7 Starbases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

9.6 Atmospheric streamlining . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

13.8 Really big bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

9.7 Hangar bays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
14 Planets

9.8 Defensive Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

44

14.1 Entering and leaving orbit . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

9.9 Weapon systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

14.2 Atmospheric streamlining . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

9.10 Ship design procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

14.3 Atmospheric entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

9.11 Mass and points cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

10 Vector Movement

46

15.1 Tournaments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

32

10.1 Vector movement system

10.2 Course and facing

15 Settings for Full Thrust games

15.2 Other backgrounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

. . . . . . . . . . . . 32

15.3 Humour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

15.4 Background and timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

15.5 Human history 1992 to 2183 . . . . . . . . . . . 49

11 Advanced Rules

35
Scenario SSDs and counters

11.1 Sensors and ECM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

11.2 Advanced sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
11.3 Dummy bogeys and weasel boats . . . . . . . . 35
11.4 Electronic counter measures

. . . . . . . . . . 36

11.5 Boarding actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

11.6 Fleet morale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
11.7 Striking the colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
12 Advanced Systems

38

12.1 Mines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
12.2 Ortillery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
12.3 Wonder weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
12.4 Mass and points cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

52

Introduction

Finally FLEET BOOK VOLUME 2 introduced the alien fleets of

the first Xeno War, complete with their own ships and new
technologies.

1 Introduction
FULL THRUST

designers notes

Despite all these books, FULL THRUST has remained a fast,

simple, and fun system with most players being able to play
games from memory without consulting the books at all. But
if you are new to FULL THRUST, or do need to look something up, having four books can get a bit complicated! FULL
THRUST : REMIXED brings together the core and advanced
rules from the original four books into a single volume. It
replaces the Second Edition, More Thrust, and the new rules
introduced by Fleet Book 1. (But not the rules for alien fleets
in Fleet Book 2.)

Way back in the early seventies, Skytrex Ltd. released their

first resin-cast spaceship models suitable for gaming, which
led to the first one-page GZG rules system. Since then that
original system has evolved (mutated?) through many versions and guises, culminating in the publication, in 1991, of
the First Edition of FULL THRUST. The reaction to the First
Edition was so overwhelming that it seemed an obvious step
to re-issue the game in a much improved format, the Second
Edition, making it accessible to many more gamers through
full trade distribution.

Credits and Thanks

The premise of the game has always been that this is not a
super-realistic simulation that takes hours to make a single
move. It is a system for fast, fun games with fairly large numbers of ships (a dozen or more per side is no problem), which
can be played in a reasonable length of time. No longer will
you have to end a game after three turns because it is closing
time with FULL THRUST you can hammer the enemy (maybe
even twice!) and still get that pint in before last orders!

Original FULL THRUST designed and written by: Jon Tuffley

REMIXED

edited and updated by: Hugh Fisher

Thanks to all the members, active and lurking, of the GZG

email list, especially to those who have contributed ideas via
the list which we have adapted for use in this volume. All the
input has been invaluable in shaping not only this book but
other stuff yet to come.

The game seems to have really struck a chord with many

gamers tired of ultra-complicated systems that take a week
of evenings to play, and above all it has achieved at least one
of its major goals: it has given gamers a simple basis to tinker with, without spoon-feeding them with huge volumes of
official rules that leave little room for the individual imagination. If we have managed to do just a little to help restore
gamers creativity and imagination to its rightful place in the
hobby, then that is reward enough (mind you, the money
helps as well).

Of course, this book wouldnt exist if it wasnt for all the keen
FULL THRUST players out there who keep buying the stuff we
make, so thanks also to everyone who is reading this for your
support past, present, and (hopefully) future.
Special thanks to: Paul Allcock, Oerjan Ariander, Jim Bell,
Paul Birkett, Karen Blease, Chris Bowen, Zoe Brain, Chris
Brann, Simon Burroughs, Liz Christensen, James Clay, Dave
Crowhurst, Kevin Dallimore, Chris Laserlight DeBoe, Jed
Docherty, Mike Elliott, Simon Evans, Andrew Finch, David
Garnham, Roger Gerrish, Allan Goodal, Phillip Gray, Marshall Grover, Dean Gundberg, Gary Guy, Jerry Han, Joachim
Heck, Donald Hosford, Martin Kay, Mark Indy Kochte, Jim
Langer, Paul Lewis, Paul Lewis, Brian Lojeck, Greg Mann,
Alan Marques, Tom McCarthy, Mike McKown, Bruce Miller,
Mike Miserendino, Stuart Murray, Simon Parnell, Tim Parnell, Rob Paul, Nigel Phillips, Phil Pournelle, Brendan Robertson, Ben Rogers, Mark Seifert, Alex Stewart, Alex Stewart,
Graham Tasker, Steve Tee, Aaron Teske, John Treadaway,
Kevin Walker, Tim Walker, Ashley Watkins, Jim Webster, Chris
Weuve, Jon White .

The actual rules are divided into the Core rules the basic mechanisms of play and the Optional rules which add
much more detail to the game. The Core rules on their own
will give a very simple, fast game with absolutely no complications, even when using big fleets. Once you are familiar
with the basics, the various parts of the optional rules may
be added, either all at once or piecemeal as desired. Pick and
choose which you wish to use, but just remember to agree
with your opponent which ones are in play and which are
not!
Above all, FULL THRUST is intended to be an enjoyable game
if you are not happy with a rule or system, throw it out and
use your own that is what SF gaming is (or should be) all
about!
This edition
The Second Edition of FULL THRUST was followed by MORE
THRUST , a supplement of new ideas that did not change the
original core rules. A few years later came FLEET BOOK VOL UME 1 which introduced new and much more flexible ship
design rules and many small changes to other aspects of the
game. It also contained the ship designs for the four major
powers of the GZG universe setting. Although never officially
named as a new version, many players refer to this as FT 2.5.

Rules Overview

Occasionally the rules require a D12 roll. If you dont have a

twelve sided die, just roll 2D6: if the first is 1-3, use the second as rolled; if the first is 4-6, add 6 to the second.

2 Rules Overview
2.1

Ship models

Other equipment for play

As this is primarily a miniatures game, we obviously recommend that it is played with actual starship models. Although
the game will work perfectly well using counters or other
markers to represent the starships, the visual aspect is greatly
enhanced by using miniature ship models, either commercially produced or scratchbuilt.

You will need a tape measure or long ruler, graduated in

whatever units you are using for play (inches or centimetres);
a ruler or straight edge can also be useful for checking lines
of fire. A number of coloured counters are useful for marking points on the table; simple card counters may be used,
or packs of tiddlywinks type plastic counters may be purchased very cheaply from toy or game shops.

If you do not wish to use model ships, the game will also
run perfectly well using card or plastic counters to represent
ships; all you need is some identification mark or code on
each counter, a mark to indicate the centre of the counter (for
measurement) and something to show the facing (ie present
direction) of the ship.

The Course and Arc-of-Fire Gauge printed at the back of this

book may be photocopied, cut out and stuck to a piece of
thick card, or a more elaborate version may be constructed as
players desire. (Eg from clear plastic sheet or similar.) While
this template is not essential to play, it does make moving
ships much easier and more accurate, and should also reduce any arguments about fire arcs!

We have actually supplied enough copy-and-cut-out counters in the back of the book to enable you to play out the
introductory scenario; we hope this will get you sufficiently
interested in the game to start collecting your own fleets of
models!

Photocopy the ship SSD diagrams and fill in the details of

your ships; if you wish you can then put the SSDs in clear
plastic document wallets and write orders and damage in
Chinagraph pencil, so the sheets can be re-used.

If you decide to use miniatures, they may be simply place flat

on the table or mounted on some kind of base or stand. Ships
on stands certainly look better and the centre of the stands
base gives a useful reference point for measuring distances in
play. Some manufacturers supply a plastic or wire stand with
their ship models; for those that do not, you can either buy
separate packs of plastic stands (available from most games
shops or direct from GZG) or else produced your own stands
from a square of perspex, wood, or plastic and a short length
of rigid wire.

Other than these few items, all you need is a good imagination and a couple of six-packs, and youre off into deepest
space, To Boldly Go, etc.
Scanning and computer reproduction
These days, a great many of you will have access to scanners
and computer equipment that will enable you to reproduce
ship data panels for the purpose of making up your own system status displays for the game. This is perfectly acceptable
provided it is for your own personal use, and not for any kind
of commercial gain or payment. We also have a number of
enquiries from time to time about the posting of SSDs, etc
on web sites; our policy on this is that you may web-publish
your own designs freely for non-profit purposes, including
using the standard SSD format and icons, but we would ask
you not to post any of the actual ship designs given in any
GZG publications to any website; if people want to use them,
they can buy a copy of the book!

If you are using fighter groups in the game, there are a number of ways these can be represented. To give maximum visual appeal you can mount the correct number of individual
fighter models on a single base so that they are removable in
some way to indicate losses, either stuck to the base with very
small blobs of Blu-Tack, or on short individual wire stands
that are then plugged into holes drilled in the base.
A much simpler way of denoting fighter groups is to permanently mount a few fighter models (or even a single one) on
a base, then use either a numbered counter of a small D6
placed by the base to indicate the actual number of fighters
it represents.
In addition to the actual ships, there are a number of other
items that can be represented either by counters or models
(depending on your time, resources, and the overall visual
impression you are aiming for). These include asteroids and
bogeys (unidentified sensor contacts) suggestions on how
to model these are included in the appropriate sections.

We would also ask that, for both legal reasons and out of
courtesy, any website devoted to or containing material connected to FULL THRUST or any of the supplements contains a
clear statement of our copyrights plus details of how to contact us for further information. (These can be found at the
back of this book.)

Dice

2.2

To play FULL THRUST you need a number of normal (6sided) dice, referred to in the rules as D6. Just a couple of
dice will do, but a half-dozen or more will be useful when firing lots of weaponry at once.

One of the great advantages of starship combat games is that

you do not need any terrain! You can use any suitable flat
area for the game, such as a tabletop or even the floor. (Pets,
small siblings, and vacuum cleaners notwithstanding. . . )

Playing area

Rules Overview

If you want maximum visual appeal, obtain a large piece

of black cloth, paper or card to cover the playing area and
speckle it with varying-size dots of white and yellow paint. A
starfield can be produced in about half an hour on a piece
of black mounting board and looks surprisingly effective.
2.3

in much of the SF media. If you want to give the classes

more exotic names, feel free to do so! Note that if you are
using commercial model ships, just because a manufacturer
happens to classify a particular model in the range as a Destroyer in no way prevents you calling it a cruiser, or anything else that fits in with your fleet structure.

Time and space

Combat starships are divided into three broad groups: escorts, cruisers, and capital ships.

Reading through this book, you will notice that we have given
all measurements, ranges, and distances in the rules in terms
of MU. This stands for Measurement Unit, and replaces the
old method of giving all distances in inches. For general play,
we assume that most people will use 1 MU = 1 inch (or approx. 25mm in metric), which makes the playing area of a 6
by 4 table 72 MU by 48 MU.

Escorts are the smaller ship classes, ranging from the tiny
couriers through corvettes and frigates, up to destroyer class
ships. Although sometimes used on detached duty in lowthreat areas, or patrol missions and courier duties, escorts
are more normally used to support heavier ships of cruiser
or capital ratings. Ships of the escort group are generally
very manoeuvrable, but lightly armed and armoured; they
are effective against their own kind, but of relatively little use
against heavier ship units.

It is just as valid to have a scale of 1 MU = 1 centimetre if

you are playing on a small tabletop (or if you want a game
with very high speeds and lots of manoeuvring room on your
normal size of table). Basically, 1 MU can be any distance
you want it to be according to the size of playing area you
have, the size of models you are using, and simply personal
preferences. If you have a whole sports hall to use, then why
not try using giant ship models and 1 foot (or even 1 metre)
units?

Cruisers are the medium sized warships, used to support the

heavy line of battle ships but also capable of holding their
own on independent operations. Cruisers are divided into
light, escort and heavy cruiser classes. They are reasonably
agile and well protected and mount heavier weaponry than
the small escorts.

The ship models used in Full Thrust (and indeed any other
tactical space game) are actually vastly over-size compared
to the space combat distances represented in the game; in
true scale, the actual ships would be so tiny you probably
couldnt see them! All measurements and arcs of fire are
therefore relative to a designated centre point on the model,
not the edges or corners.
2.4

Capital ships are the heavy line-of-battle classes, from battlecruisers and battleships up to the vast superdreadnoughts
and fleet carriers. These ships are ponderous leviathans,
bristling with heavy weaponry and solidly armoured against
attack. Capital units form the core of a battlefleet or task
force and many carry their own onboard fighter groups as
both an offensive and defensive weapon.

3D, or not 3D?

Some starship combat games have made attempts to simulate 3-dimensional movement and combat, with varying degrees of success. Indeed, a number of users of the first edition of Full Thrust have sent in interesting ideas and methods of applying 3D effects to the game. While many of these
ideas do actually work, it is the authors personal view that
the added complication of attempting 3D actions is not really
worthwhile; the end result can too often be visually confusing, hard to follow and so slow as to remove one of the major
elements of the game having fun!

See section 9.2 for more detail.

2.6

The ship designs given in this book all use a standard system
status display (SSD) as illustrated in figure 1. The SSD shows
the symbols for all the weapons and systems that the ship is
fitted with.

In an aerial combat game the third dimension (height) is vital, because atmospheric craft behave differently in the vertical plane than they do in the horizontal. Once you move into
space, however, all the dimensions are essentially the same
thus very little is lost by compressing the game to only two
dimensions, and a great deal is gained in the way of simplicity and playability. By all means continue to experiment with
3D play, and keep sending your ideas in, but we are not including any 3D rules in this edition.
2.5

Ship System Status Display

The rows of small boxes above the drive symbols are the hull
or damage track that shows the actual damage point total
that the ship can take. When damage is inflicted, these points
are marked off the target ships hull boxes on its SSD, starting
at the top left and crossing out one box per damage point inflicted. When you reach the end of one line of boxes, refer to
the rules on threshold points and system damage.
As each system is knocked out as a result of a threshold point
check it is crossed off the diagram.

Ship classes

Ships are referred to in the rules by common naval titles

(frigates, cruisers, battleships etc) as this will be simple for
most players to relate to, and is also the terminology used

When a ship has had all of its hull boxes crossed out (ie it
is reduced to 0 damage points or less) then it is considered
destroyed and removed from play.

Rules Overview

Beam
weapons

Launch missiles. Both players alternate in announcing

and firing missile salvoes from any missile-armed ships.
Players alternate by ships, not by single salvo. The player
who lost initiative launches first.

4. Move ships.

Both players simultaneously move their ships, strictly

in accordance with orders written in phase 1. Fighter
groups currently acting as fighter screens are moved at
the same time as the ship they are screening, and must
remain within the screening distance of the ship.

PDS
Hull and
armour

FCS

Ships laying mines are moved before all others.

Screen

Ships entering or exiting FTL are moved or placed last.

FTL drive

5. Allocate missile and fighter attacks.

Fighter groups may, if desired, make a secondary move

in this phase.

Main drive (4)

All missile salvoes and fighter groups that are within the
specified attack ranges of suitable targets (and wish to
attack, in the case of fighters) are placed in contact with
the intended target.

Core systems

Figure 1: System Status Display

6. Point defence fire.

Fighter vs. fighter actions (dogfights), attempted fighter
interceptions, fighter groups defending against missile
attacks, and screening actions by fighters are resolved
before actual point defence fire is allocated to surviving
ships.

Open book games

An open book game is one where players can ask their opponents for the last known speed of enemy ships before writing movement orders, or to look at the System Status Displays of enemy ships. This is because they are assumed to
have intelligence briefings (military designs are never as secret as their owners think!) and various types of reconnaissance platforms, sensors, computer predictions, etc that give
quite accurate knowledge about the current state of the enemy fleet. In space, there really isnt anywhere to hide, so this
is quite reasonable.

Any ship under missile and/or fighter attack allocates its

defences against attacking elements, then rolls for effects. Weapons in FULL THRUST can only be used once
per turn, so a ship under attack from multiple fighter
groups or missile salvos must divide weapons between
them.
7. Missile and fighter attacks.

2.7

Sequence of play

All missile salvoes and/or fighter groups that penetrate

defences in the previous phase now have their attacks
resolved. Damage resulting from these attacks is applied immediately, including threshold point checks if
applicable.

A FULL THRUST game consists of turns. Each turn, all players

move and fire their ships in the following sequence:
1. Write orders.

8. Ships fire.

Each game turn starts with both players simultaneously

(and secretly) writing the movement orders for all the
ships they own.

Starting with the player who won initiative, each player

alternates in firing any/all weapon systems on one ship
at one or more targets subject to available fire control.
Damage caused is applied immediately, and threshold
point checks are made where applicable as soon as all
weapons fired by one ship at that one target have been
resolved.

2. Roll for initiative.

Both/all players roll a D6 each: highest roll has initiative
for this turn.

In FULL THRUST weapons can only be used once per

turn, so any system used in the point defence phase cannot be used again to fire on other ships.

3. Move fighter groups.

Both players alternate in moving one fighter group each
until all fighter groups in play have been moved (if desired). Player who lost initiative moves first. All fighter
groups being launched this turn must be moved before
those already in flight.

When a ship is selected to fire, announce the targets for

all the fire the player intends to carry out with that ship,
before any dice are rolled for fire effects; for example:
I am firing both 3 batteries at the heavy cruiser in my
fore arc, and the 2 battery at the frigate to starboard.

Screening fighter groups do not move in this phase.

Rules Overview

This prevents the player from (in this example) rolling

for the effects of the shots on the cruiser, then deciding
to fire the 2 battery at the cruiser as well instead of at
the frigate in the hope of maybe crippling the cruiser.
That would not be permissible, as all the fire from any
one ship is assumed to be more or less simultaneous.
After a ship has fired some or all of its weaponry and
play has moved on to another ship, that ship may not
fire any other weapons or make any further actions in
that game turn. A single target ship may, of course, be
fired on more than once in the turn, by different attackers.
9. Damage control.
Damage control repair rolls can be made. Finally, if the
optional Core System rules are being used, count down
1 completed game turn from bridge or life support systems and roll to see if reactor systems explode.
Variations
Many players combine the point defence and missile/fighter
attack phases. Once all the defensive fire has been allocated,
it is easier carry out the defensive fire and missile or fighter
attack phases one ship at a time.
In a single ship per side battle, the initiative roll becomes
too important. It is optional but recommended in such battles for players to record the amount of damage suffered
from ships fire but not actually apply damage and threshold
checks until after both ships have fired.

Cinematic Movement

The thrust rating of a given ship is the total maximum

amount of thrust that may be applied in any one game turn.
In one turn, any or all of the available thrust may be used to
change the ships velocity (up or down, to accelerate or decelerate the ship), but only up to half the thrust rating may
be applied to course changing. In other words, a ship with
a thrust rating of 4 could accelerate or decelerate by up to 4
MU per game turn, or could apply up to 2 points of thrust to
course changes and still be able to make a 2 MU change to
velocity in the same turn. The ship cannot however, apply
more than 2 of its available thrust points to changing course.

3 Cinematic Movement
3.1

Ship movement

FULL THRUST has two rule systems for movement. The original Cinematic system described in this section allows ships
to move as they are most often depicted in the SF media, with
much less regard for the laws of physics. The optional Vector movement system gives a more accurate portrayal of how
objects really manoeuvre in space; they are also a little more
complicated than Cinematic, though far less so than certain
other rules attempts at the same thing!

If the ship has an odd number of thrust points available,

the portion that may be expended on course changing is
rounded up: a ship with Thrust rating of 5 could alter course
up to 3 points per game turn.

Course determination
A ship may only move on one of twelve courses, which are defined by using a clock face method. At the start of the game,
each player should decide which direction represents course
12 usually away from the base edge of the play area is convenient and then work out each course from this reference
point. This is also called the ships facing.

Each point of thrust applied to course changes will alter the

ships course by one course number during the game turn.
Example: A ship with thrust rating of 6 decides to apply 3
points (its available maximum) to altering course. The ship
is currently travelling on course 10; if it is to turn to port it will
turn anticlockwise, ending up on course 7. Should the turn be
made to starboard (clockwise), the final course will be 1.

Example: In figure 2, ship A is travelling on course 12 and ship

B is on course 5.

Movement

12

The movement of a ship in any given game turn is defined

by two factors: the ships course and velocity. The current
course indicates the direction in which the ship will move,
and the velocity shows how far it will move along that course.
Ships obey one of the basic Laws of Motion, in that once
they are moving in a particular direction they will continue
to move in the same direction and at the same speed until
they apply thrust to alter course and/or velocity.

This means there is effectively no maximum speed for any

ship theoretically it can continue to accelerate each game
turn if the player so wishes, and will maintain whatever velocity it reaches until it applies more (reverse) thrust to decelerate again. At higher velocities, however, a ship may not be
able to manoeuvre quickly enough to remain on the playing
area, so think carefully before going too fast!

Figure 2: Ship Course Example

Velocity
The current velocity of a ship is defined as the number of
Movement Units (ie inches or centimetres) that the ship will
move in that current game turn. A ship travelling at velocity 8
will move 8 MU in that game turn, provided it does not apply
any thrust to alter that velocity.

3.2

Making course changes

A ship making a course change is assumed to be applying

a sideways thrust vector throughout the movement in that
game turn, and would therefore move in a curved path ending the turn pointing towards its new course.

Ships must always move the full distance specified by their

current velocity, unless the velocity is altered by applying
thrust.

To simulate this when moving the ship model, half of the

course change is made at the start of the ships movement,
and the remaining half at the mid-point of the move. If the
total course change is an odd number, then round down the
initial part of the change and round up the mid-move part.

Thrust ratings
Each ship has a Thrust Rating, which is a measure of the output of its drive systems relative to the Mass of the ship. This
available Thrust is used to alter the ships course and/or velocity as desired, in accordance with the movement orders
plotted for the ship at the start of the Game Turn.

Example: The ship in figure 3 is currently moving on course

3 at a velocity of 10. The player decides to alter the ships
course to 12, by turning 3 points to port. At the start of its

Cinematic Movement

movement, the ship is turned one point to port (half the total course change, rounded down) bringing it to course 2. It
is then moved half its velocity 5 MU along course 2, then
turned again through two course points, bringing it round to
course 12 as intended. Finally, the ship completes its movement by travelling its remaining 5 MU along course 12. All
measurements are made from a point on the model.

5 MU

Final

Start

U
6M

1p
oin

Final

5M

Start

Figure 4: Course change by 1 point

int

o
2p

3.3

Movement orders

At the start of the turn, each player must write orders for each
ship. If you wish a ship simply to move ahead at its current
speed, no orders are necessary; but we recommend that you
at least write down the (same) final velocity. Any ship with no
orders will move straight ahead at unchanged speed, as will
any that are given impossible orders, such as one that would
exceed the ships thrust rating.

U
5M
1 point

The actual orders are written in brief notation, giving course

change (if any) and direction (port or starboard), plus any acceleration (as a +) or deceleration (as a -). The new final velocity is then written after the order, as reference for the next
turn. Most players use the naval convention of Port and Starboard to indicate course changes, but air force enthusiasts
may prefer Left and Right.

Figure 3: Course change by 3 points

If the ships velocity is an odd number, also round down the
first half of the distance and round up the second half.

For example, an order of P2+4: 12 would indicate a ship with

an initial velocity of 8 making a two point turn to port (P),
plus acceleration of 4 MU, with a new final velocity of 12 (8 +
4).

Example: The ship in figure 4 is moving on course 7 at a velocity of 6, and is to accelerate by 5 to velocity 11 and make a
one-point turn to starboard to bring it on to course 8. At the
start of its movement the ship does not alter course (half of one
being rounded down to zero), so moves half its distance (5 MU
after rounding down) along course 7. Now the ship makes its
one point of turn to course 8, and then moves the remaining 6
MU.

Rolling ships
Although FULL THRUST makes no attempt to simulate 3dimensional movement or combat there is one simple rule
addition that we are including here: the ability to roll a ship
180 on its central axis, thus effectively swapping the port
and starboard sides (ie the ship is upside down relative to
the other ships on the table). This manoeuvre can be very
useful when ships start to lose systems due to damage, as
it can allow undamaged weaponry to bear on targets that
would otherwise be on the wrong side of the ship.

Special notes on movement

Ships may not have negative velocities, ie they may not move
backwards. To retrace its course, a ship must be turned
around.
A ship with a velocity of zero (ie stationary) may be given orders to rotate on the spot to any desired course, irrespective
of available thrust or normal limitations on course changes,
provided it does not also change velocity or apply any other
thrust in that turn.

To perform a roll, the player simply writes Roll in the movement orders for that turn; the roll expends 1 thrust factor which comes off the turning allowance. For example,
a thrust-4 ship, normally capable of 2 points of turn, could

Cinematic Movement

only turn 1 point if it also rolled that move; but would still be
able to use its other two thrust factors to accelerate or decelerate as normal. The roll then occurs at the start of the ships
movement, and a marker is placed by the model to indicate
its inverted condition. Rolling has no effect on combat (except that the port batteries now bear to starboard, and vice
versa). An inverted ship may roll back upright in any subsequent turn, or may remain inverted as long as the player
wishes.
For simplicity of play, we strongly suggest that rolled ships
should still have their movement orders written in relation
to the actual miniature rather than their theoretical inverted
condition thus an order written for a port turn will still turn
the model to the left, even though to the inverted ship this
would actually be a starboard turn. Keeping to this convention should avoid a lot of confusion and arguments.
3.4

Special orders

Although not strictly movement orders, certain other actions

must be written down as well.
Fighter launch
A ship that is launching fighters cannot use the main drive to
perform any manoeuvre; so need only write Launch.
All fighter-carrying ships, whether specialised carriers or not,
are allowed to launch as many groups per turn as they have
operational fighter bays. Fighter recovery (landing) is of necessity a slower process than launching, so any fighter carrying ship may only recover fighter groups equal to half its
number of operational bays in any one turn. Launching and
recovery operations may both be performed by one ship in
the same turn if desired.
When reference is made to carriers in the rules, treat it as
meaning any ship that is equipped to carry one or more
fighter groups, whether or not that is its primary mission
function.
FTL
A ship intending to enter or leave the playing area by FTL
drive must write FTL as its only order for that turn. As with
launching fighters, it may not change course or velocity.
3.5

Ships leaving the table

As there is no maximum speed for any ship (they can theoretically keep accelerating each turn without limit), sometimes
a ship may find it impossible to turn enough to avoid flying
off the playing area. This is usually considered a retreat from
the battle, but as an optional rule roll 1 die: on a roll of 1, 2,
or 3; the ship may not return to play during the game. A roll
of 4, 5, or 6 indicates the ship may re-enter the table after the
equivalent number of turns have elapsed (eg 5 turns if a 5 is
rolled). Ships will always re-enter play from the same side of
the playing area as they left, though the actual point of entry
is up to the player.

10

3.6

Collisions and ramming

The distances represented by the movements and ranges

in the game are so vast that the risk of an accidental collision between two ships is incalculably small, and is therefore ignored for all game purposes. (Collisions with asteroids and other large bodies are possible, see the Terrain section.) Ships can freely move through both friendly and enemy ships or fighter groups. If two ship models would actually be touching at the end of all movement, they should
simply be arranged as closely as possible, to the agreement
of both players.
Deliberate attempts to ram another ship are possible in some
circumstances, but such suicide attacks should be rarely attempted crews would not be very keen on officers who ordered such tactics as a matter of routine! Ramming is therefore an optional rule.
A player who wishes to attempt a ramming attack writes as
part of movement orders that the ship is going to attempt to
ram, and then rolls a D6 at the end of the movement phase.
Only on a roll of 6 may the ramming attempt proceed. (Players may agree that certain scenarios and/or certain races
may make ramming attacks more likely, and hence reduce
this required die roll for them.)
In order to attempt the ram, the ship must end the movement within 2 MU of the intended target ship (or models
touching in the case of large ship models). Only if you succeed in anticipating the enemy move, and then succeed in
rolling a 6 as explained above, may the actual ram be attempted.
Both players (attacker and target) roll a D6 each, and add the
score to their respective ships thrust ratings. If the attacker
ends up with the highest total, the ram is successful. If the
targets total is equal or higher, it has evaded the ramming
attempt.
When a ram succeeds in making contact, each player rolls
another D6 and multiplies the result by the current (remaining) damage points that the ship has. The final result of this
is the number of damage points inflicted on the other ship as
a result of ramming.
Example: A corvette with 2 of its original 3 damage points left
actually succeeds in ramming an undamaged heavy cruiser
with all 16 of its damage points. The corvette player rolls a 4,
which inflicts 8 points of damage on the cruiser. The cruiser
owner rolls a 3, thus doing 48 points to the corvette. The result
is one vaporised corvette, and a badly damaged cruiser.
It will be clear from this example that ramming can be very
deadly when it succeeds, small ships are almost certain to
be destroyed, and even the largest can be crippled. Players
who insist on using this tactic in unrealistic circumstances
should be penalised in the most effective way possible: dont
let them play again.

Cinematic Movement

3.7

Squadron operations

If you are playing an especially large game, involving several

dozen ships per side, perhaps as a multi-player game, there
is one simple shortcut you can take to make the game flow
more quickly: that is dividing the fleets into squadrons of
several ships each, which then move and fight as cohesive
units.
Squadron operations are especially suited to groups of
smaller escort ships, though there is no reason why major
craft should not also operate in this way.
Basically, a squadron of ships all move together, using just
one movement order: they all change velocity and course together, remaining in some sort of formation throughout the
manoeuvre. The player has only to write the one set of orders for the squadron each turn, rather than ones for each
individual ship.
The player plots out the move for one ship in the squadron
(which may be the leading ship, or one in the middle of a
formation, as desired); all the rest of the squadron are then
placed in suitable relative positions to the moved ship, to retain their formation.
Note that this does require a fair degree of tolerance between
the players due to the somewhat vague nature of the positioning of ships. If a particular placement is critical to range
or arc of fire etc, then we suggest that the affected ships
movement should be carefully plotted as normal. For this
reason, squadron movement is not recommended for competitive or tournament play.
As a typical example, if a fleet consisted of four capital ships,
six cruisers, and a huge swarm of twenty assorted escorts,
it would make the game much quicker if the cruisers operated in perhaps two squadrons of three ships each, while
the escorts were divided into maybe three or four squadrons.
The capital ships could still operate individually, or if preferred could be grouped into one major "battle squadron" (or
even split between the other squadrons to form mixed task
groups, though in this case each group could obviously only
manoeuvre at the rate of its least agile ship).
It is quite possible to device rules to allow firing to be carried
out by groups or squadrons in the same way as movement
- one possibility is to allow all ships of a squadron to make
their attacks at one time, rather than alternating ship by ship
as in the normal rules. Just how far you go with this depends
entirely on personal preference and how many ships you are
wanting to use.
3.8

every ship and object in play a certain agreed distance back

towards the opposite table edge; effectively you can think of
it as extending the playing area under the ships. (All things
are relative, as someone once said.) The result is the same as
the old boardgame trick of picking up a vacated section of a
multi-part map and transferring it over to the other side of
the map.
3.9

Disengaging from battle

If you use the moving table in a game, it will become possible

to continue pursuit of a fleeing enemy. Under the normal
rules a retreating force simply has to leave the table in order
to break off combat, but with the moving table the pursuit
may go on until one side either catches or outruns the other.
Particularly when playing campaign games, which for obvious reasons are very seldom fought to the death, it is advantageous to be able to disengage from battle if things are going
badly for you saving your remaining ships for the next engagement can be much more important than going out in a
heroic blaze of glory.
If one player decides to disengage, it is possible to actually
play out the full pursuit stage as described above. If, however,
this is felt to be too time consuming, there is an alternative
abstract method that may be used.
The disengaging players ships must all move off the table via
the same table edge; until the last ship has left the table, the
battle will continue as normal. When all the ships are off the
table edge, each player rolls a D6. If one player has any ship
that has a higher thrust than all opposing ships, then add 2
to the die roll. Eg, if the disengaging player has some thrust8 escorts while the opposing fleet has nothing with a thrust
above 6, the former adds 2 to the roll.
If the final total of the player who is trying to disengage is
equal to or higher than their opponents roll, they have successfully disengaged and are safe from pursuit. If, on the
other hand, the opponents roll is higher, then the pursuing
player may elect to continue pursuit; in which case the game
continues with a new set-up as a stern chase. The fleeing
player may then attempt the disengagement again by leaving the opposite edge of the new playing area.

Moving table

Earlier we mentioned ships leaving the edge of the table or

playing area, and thus leaving the battle. However, as space
does not actually have edges, it really should be possible for
the entire battle to move off the edge of the playing area and
still continue this may happen if both sides are moving in
the same general direction, eg in a pursuit scenario. If you
find that all ships in the action are starting to get very close
to one end or side of the table, it is a simple matter to move

11

Ship Combat

Rear arc

4 Ship Combat
4.1

Fire Arcs

The 360 degree space around each ship is divided into six
arcs, each of 60 degrees. The arcs are indicated in figure 5,
and are designated FORE (F), Fore Starboard (FS), Aft Starboard (AS), Aft (A), Aft Port (AP), and Fore Port (FP). The centres and edges of the fire arcs correspond to the course facings used in movement, and can be judged by eye from the
hexagonal or clock-face style bases that most players mount
their ships on.

Fore
Starboard

Aft
Port

Close range defensive systems such as PDS are permitted to

fire through the aft arc to engage hostile fighter groups or
salvo missiles.
Optional rule: Players may decide to permit aft-arc fire by
weapons that are mounted to bear accordingly on any game
turn in which the firing ship did not use any thrust from
its main drive engines to accelerate or decelerate. Course
changes are permitted without affecting fire through any arc.

Fore
Fore
Port

No ship may fire offensive weaponry through its aft arc, this
is due to the spatial distortions of the ships drive fields,
which make it impossible to accurately track a distant target
through the rear 60 of the ships arcs. This rule enhances positional play and the use of tactics considerably, making players think much harder about the relative positions of their
ships.

4.2

Fire control systems

The fire control systems (FireCons) of a ship are some of its

most important fittings. Each FireCon represents a suite of
sensor systems and computer facilities to direct the fire of the
ships offensive weaponry. Without these, ships are unable to
locate and track the enemy with the precision required to fire
at it.

Aft
Starboard
Aft

Figure 5: Firing Arcs

These fire arcs determine which of a ships weapons may be

brought to bear on a particular target, as some will be unable to fire through certain arcs. A given target ship may only
be in one fire arc of the firing ship. (If the line dividing the
arcs passes so nearly through the centre of the target that it
is impossible to determine which arc it is in, then decide by
a random D6 roll, odds = one arc, evens = the other.)
Note that it is the centre of the model, or the centre of the
stand if it is mounted on one, that is used to determine the
exact location of the ship itself; all distances and ranges are
similarly measured to and from this centre point. Other ships
do not block lines of fire no ship can hide behind another.
All weapons that are capable of bearing through more than
one arc have this indicated by putting a ring of six segments around the system icon and blacking-in the segments
through which fire is not permitted. (Even though a single
weapon is able to bear through eg 3 arcs, it can still only fire
once per turn, at a target in any one of those three arcs.)
Weapons or systems that can only bear through one arc have
this indicated by the orientation of the system icon on the
ship diagram ensure that it is pointing clearly towards the
relevant arc. Systems that have no directionality to their
icon, eg PDS, have all-round (6-arc) fire capabilities.

12

Each FireCon system permits the ship to engage one target

during the firing portion of a turn. Thus if a ship has two
FireCon systems operational it can split its fire between two
separate targets in one turn if desired; these targets may be in
the same or different fire arcs, and fire from the ships various
weapons may be divided in any way between the targets (depending on the arcs through which each weapon may bear,
of course). Note that no single weapon may split its dice roll
between targets in any circumstances, eg a beam-3 at close
range must roll all three dice against the same target ship.
Two separate beam-3 weapons may each engage a separate
target, provided that two FireCon systems are available.
In general, escort classes each carry a single FireCon as standard, cruisers have two systems, and capital ships have three
or more. Merchant ships may have a single system.
Individual FireCon systems are not specifically linked to individual weapon systems. If a ship loses one of its FireCons,
the remaining ones may still be used to fire any or all of the
ships weaponry.
Purely defensive weapons, PDS and beams used against
fighters or missiles, are assumed to have their own dedicated
FireCon equipment built in. They do not require the use of
the ships main FireCon systems in order to engage fighter
groups or salvo missiles.
4.3

Beam weapons

The main weapon system used by most ships in the game

is an energy weapon, referred to simply as a beam. In the
background provided for the game in this rulebook, these

Ship Combat

beam weapons are assumed to be a development of a particle accelerator. If you are using your own background material then the weapon can represent a laser, phaser, blaster, or
whatever. Beam weapons can be individual mounts or batteries consisting of a number of projectors slaved together
under a single control system.
Beams are divided into numerical classes. The class number
indicates the number of D6 rolled per shot, minus one die for
every full 12 MU in distance to the target.
Example: A class 3 beam rolls 3 D6 at less than 12 MU, 2 at
12-24 MU, and 1 only at 24-36 MU. At ranges greater than 36
MU the weapon is out of range. A class 1 beam rolls 1 D6 at
ranges 0-12 MU, and is out of range beyond 12 MU.
For every die rolled, damage is inflicted on an unscreened
target ship as follows:
Every 1,2, or 3 rolled = no effect. (Either a miss or insignificant surface damage.)
Every 4 or 5 rolled = 1 damage point to the target.
Every 6 rolled = 2 damage points inflicted.
These damage levels can be reduced by the use of screens on
the target ship, as fully explained in section 4.4.
Example: A ship fires at an enemy vessel at a range of 18 MU.
The firing ship can bring two beams to bear through the arc
containing the target, one beam-3 and one beam-2. (Whether
the ship also carries any beam-1 weapons is not relevant to
this example, since they would be out of range.) The beam-3
has a firepower of 2 dice at a range of 12-24 and the beam-2
has 1 die at the same range; thus the firepower total against
the target is 3 dice. Rolling the 3D6, the firing player scores 1,
5, and 6. This inflicts a total of three points of damage on the
target the 1 is a miss, the 5 does 1 point of damage, and the
6 does 2 points and a re-roll. Note that this example assumes
that the target ship does not have any screens to protect it. If,
for instance, it had level-2 screens in operation then the damage total for the same dice rolls would be only two, not three
the 6 rolled would do only one point of damage instead of
two.
The most common weapon batteries are class 1 (used as secondary defensive armament in most cases, or as a limited offensive system on very small ships), class 2 (primary systems
for small/medium ships, and secondary weapons on large
classes), and class 3 (the most common primary weapon
system for capital ships). Class 4 batteries are occasionally
found on very large vessels, and a few forces have experimented with class 5 and above (especially for fixed installation stations) however the huge size and power requirements for these large systems preclude their general use.
The standard icon for a beam battery is a circle with the battery class inside it. Arcs through which the battery can bear
are indicated by a six-segmented circle around the icon.
Each beam on a ship can potentially fire independently of
the others, but the total number of different targets that can

be engaged during one turn of firing depends on the number

of FireCon systems the ship is equipped with.
Re-rolls
Beam weapons are capable of penetrating damage. Any roll
of six inflicts the usual damage and allows a re-roll: roll an extra D6, and apply any further damage that is indicated by the
result. The re-rolls ignore any defensive screens or armour
and damage is applied directly to the hull. If a re-roll is also
a six, then apply the damage and roll again. There is no limit
to the number of re-rolls you can make if you keep throwing
sixes. (But if you get more than three in a row maybe you
should go out and buy a lottery ticket this week!)
If the target ship has screens active, then the effects of the
screen are deducted from the initial attack dice as usual (if
applicable) but not from the result of any re-roll dice the
re-roll is assumed to have already penetrated the screen, and
any further damage is applied directly to the ship itself.
Re-roll damage is applied to armoured ships in a similar
manner: any damage from the basic die rolls of an attack is
applied to armour boxes on the ship, but if a 6 is rolled then
any damage caused by the re-roll die(s) is applied directly to
the ships ordinary hull damage track irrespective of whether
it still has armour boxes remaining.
4.4

Defensive screens

These are energy screens which protect against beam

weapons fire and some other kinds of damage. The actual
degree of protection given depends on the level of screens
that the target ship is carrying. Each level is represented
on the SSD by a single screen generator icon, so a ship with
level-1 screens would have a single screen generator.
If a ship that is protected by screens is fired on by beam
weapons (of any class) the damage inflicted by each die is
varied as follows:
For level-1 screens, rolls of 5 inflict one point of damage
and rolls of 6 do two points. In other words, ignore any
rolls of 4 that would have damaged an unscreened ship.
With level-2 screens, rolls of 5 and 6 each inflict only one
point of damage.
Screens only protect against fire from beams and fighters.
Other weapons such as pulse torpedoes and the highly focused energy of needle beams are able to penetrate screens
with no degradation of their damage effects. See the description of each individual weapon system type for whether they
are affected by screens.
4.5

Hull armour

Armour may be added to the ship in the form of additional

damage boxes that absorb hits before the hull structure begins to take damage. Armour boxes are indicated on the ship
diagram as a row of circles to differentiate them from the

13

Ship Combat

square boxes of the main damage track, and are placed above
the top row of hull boxes. Once the armour is all gone, the
ship takes damage to the hull in the normal way.
There is no threshold roll made at the end of the row of armour boxes, but any further damage is applied to the first
row of hull boxes.
Some or all of the damage from certain weapons is classed as
armour-piercing. Half the damage scored by weapons of this
type (rounded up) is taken on the armour, and the remainder
applied directly to the hull boxes.
Example: A ship with 8 armour boxes is struck by three salvo
missiles that roll 1,4, and 4 for a total of 9 points of damage.
Half rounded up (5) is taken on the armour, the remaining 4
points applied to the hull. Another ship then hits with beams
for 7 more damage points: before the missiles all would have
been absorbed by the armour, but there are only 3 boxes left so
the other 4 are applied to the hull.
Penetrating damage from re-rolls bypasses armour boxes
and is applied to hull boxes directly, even if there are intact
armour boxes left.

4.7

A pulse torpedo launcher fires a bolt of plasma contained

within a gravitic field, which is able to punch through screens
and cause significant damage to any target.
Pulse torpedoes have a maximum range of 30 MU. One D6 is
rolled per torpedo fired, and hits are scored on the following
rolls:
At range of
0-6 MU
6-12 MU
12-18 MU
18-24 MU
24-30 MU

Threshold points

As a ship takes damage from incoming fire, there is a chance

that some of the ships specific systems (drives, weapons, etc)
will be damaged or destroyed.
To avoid having to roll for possible critical hits every time
damage is inflicted we instead use the idea of threshold
points at which the players will check to see if each system
on the ship is still functioning. A threshold point occurs each
time the accumulated damage points reach (or pass) the end
of one row of hull boxes on the ships damage track. At this
point, the player must roll one D6 for each system on the ship
(except for any already destroyed).
At the first threshold point (the end of the first row of hull
boxes), any system for which a 1 is rolled is knocked out. At
the second threshold point (end of the second row) a system
is lost on a roll of 1 or 2; at the third on a roll of 1, 2, or 3. (No
threshold checks need to be made at the end of the last hull
row, since the ship is considered to be destroyed!)
If a ship suffers enough damage in a single attack to push it
over more than one threshold check, make only one check
(for the last row destroyed) but subtract 1 from each die roll
for each extra threshold point passed in that attack.
As each system is knocked out as a result of a threshold point
check it is crossed off the diagram, with the exception of the
ships main drive system. When the drive first suffer a destroyed roll on a threshold check it is reduced to half the
original thrust rating. If is then hit a second time on a subsequent threshold check, it is disabled completely.

14

Score to hit
2
3
4
5
6

Screens do not affect pulse torpedoes.

Damage per hit is 1D6, and no re-roll is applied to scores of
6. Pulse torpedoes are armour-piercing : if the target is armoured, then half the damage scored (rounded up) is taken
on the armour, and the remainder applied directly to the hull
boxes.
4.8

4.6

Pulse torpedoes

Needle beams

A needle beam is a short range energy beam projector with

a tightly focused output and very accurate targeting systems.
While it is not able to do the structural damage of a main-gun
beam, it is used as a sniping weapon to pick out individual
systems on the target vessel to knock out drives, weapon
mounts, FireCon sensor arrays, and so on.
The maximum range of a needle beam is 12 MU. Within this
range the firing player may nominate any one specific system
on the target, and attempt to kill it with the needle shot. Once
the target is nominated, roll 1D6. On a score of 6, the targeted
system is knocked out and 1 damage point is applied to hull
boxes. On a score of 5, the target system is unaffected but 1
damage point is still inflicted on the hull. Rolls of 1-4 have no
effect. Needle beams are penetrating weapons: ignore both
screens and armour.
A functioning FireCon system is necessary to fire a needle
beam, and may only direct needle beams at one specific system on the target. If a ship was firing two needle beams at
an enemy and both were targeted on the enemy drive, then
only the one FireCon would be needed for the two shots. If
however one needle beam fires at the drive and the other at
a weapon, the firing ship would need two FireCons to make
this attack.
A FireCon that is being used to direct a needle beam attack
may not be used to fire other weapons at the same time, even
if they are firing at the same target ship.
Note that, as with threshold point damage rolls, a needle hit
on a ships drive does not automatically destroy the drive.
The first such hit reduces the ship to half thrust capability,
and a second hit knocks the drive out altogether.

Ship Combat

4.9

Submunition packs

Submunitions are one-shot packs of short range unguided

scatter missiles, which are often used to give smaller ships
a cost-effective punch against larger vessels. Each pack represents a single cluster of missiles that are fired as a single
salvo, all aimed at the one target. When the pack has been
fired it is crossed off the ships SSD and it may not be used
again.
The maximum range of a submunition pack is 18 MU. The
number of dice rolled depends on the range:

card to stop them moving too easily by accident.) The game

is then ready for play.
The opposing fleets enter the table from opposite ends, with
all ships moving at an initial velocity of 6. (Ie moving 6 MU
per turn.) The action from then on is up to you!
Once you have played through this small battle, read the rest
of the rules and then try the same battle again with some different weapons experiment with giving the cruisers a pulse
torpedo or needle beam, or allow each side to use a fighter
group or two. (Assume the fighters are based at an off-table
orbital installation).

At a range of 0-6 MU, 3D6

At 6-12 MU, 2D6
At 12-18 MU, one D6.
Damage points are scored from these dice rolls just as for
beam weapon fire: 1, 2, 3 = no damage; 4, 5 = 1 damage point;
6 = 2 damage points and a re-roll.
Screen systems do not protect against the effects of submunition attacks: the full damage is inflicted whether or not the
ship is screened.
4.10

Introductory scenario

This is a very simple, quick scenario designed to allow players to familiarise themselves with the basic mechanics of
movement and combat in the game. The two forces involved
are evenly balanced and the situation is a simple meeting
engagement between two fleets. Victory goes to the player
who survives longest or who persuades the enemy to flee the
table.
This first scenario can be played using just the core rules covered so far, and on page 52 you will find a full set of counters
you can copy and cut out to represent the ships used in the
battle, so you can set up and play almost immediately without needing any ship models.
Each player has the following forces:
Two cruisers, each with a thrust rating of 4, armed with three
class-2 beams, two class-1 beams, defended with level-1
screen and grade 3 armour. They also have two PDS, though
these will play no part in this scenario as there are no fighters
or missiles. Each cruiser has 14 damage points.
Three frigates, each with a thrust rating of 6, armed with two
class-2 and two class-1 beams, and a PDS which again will
not be used. Each frigate has 7 damage points.
SSDs for these ships are also on page 52.
(For the curious, you can find these ships in FLEET BOOK 1.)
All you need to do is photocopy that page twice (one copy
for each player) and fill in names for your ships if you desire.
(You may wish to glue the ship counters onto some heavier

15

Fighters

5 Fighters
Fighters are small combat craft that are not themselves FTLcapable; they are carried between stars by larger ships, either
specialised fighter carriers or some of the larger ship classes.
Fighters operate in groups of 1 to 6 craft, with each group
moving and firing as a single unit. As fighters are lost from
the group, the player must record the losses by whatever
method is most suitable to the way the fighter group is represented on the table. Either individual fighter models can be
removed from the group stand, or a small D6 or counter can
be used to indicate the current strength of the group.
Fighter groups may be launched from a carrier or mothership in any turn, but to do so the carrier must not make any
changes to either course or velocity in that turn.
Recovery (landing of fighters back on their carrier) is similar
to launching: the carrier must move at a constant course and
velocity for that turn and the fighter group must be moved so
that it meets the carrier at the end of the movement.
As fighters are very small craft, it is reasonable to assume that
they will carry only a limited amount of fuel, ammunition
and even life-support for their crew. They will not be capable
of prolonged operation away from their carrier or base, but
rather are launched for a specific mission or attack and will
return quickly to the carrier following completion of the mission. The endurance limit is six Combat Endurance Factors,
CEF, per standard fighter group.
5.1

Once all ship movement has been made, players have the
option of making a secondary move with any fighter groups
they wish, of up to 12 MU. As with the basic move, this can
be in any direction up to the maximum 12 MU, even if the
group moved its full 24 MU in the primary move phase. Any
fighter group that makes this secondary move loses 1 CEF.
The secondary move may be used to bring a group into contact with a target that would otherwise have evaded it, or in
some cases to get them out of trouble but it may not be
taken if the group has already been engaged in a dogfight by
another group.
Whoever lost initiative and moved first in the main fighter
move phase must also move first in the secondary move
phase.
Example: In figure 6 one of player As standard fighter groups
is moved 20 MU in the main fighter movement phase, being
placed in a position that A hopes will allow it to intercept one
of Bs ships. Following the fighter movement, player B fires
a missile salvo and places its counter in a position that will
threaten one of As ships after it has moved. Both A and B now
move their ships in accordance with their orders. Player A sees
that the fighter group is now out of position to attack its intended target (B having anticipated well and changed course),
but by taking a secondary move with the group then it could
either follow its original target or it could move to intercept
the salvo that is attacking As ship. A has a free choice as to
which option to take (if any), but if A chooses to move the
fighter group then 1 turns worth of combat endurance for the
group must be marked off to represent the additional fuel it
has consumed to make the intercept.

Movement

All fighter groups should be moved after the players have

written their movement orders for their ships, but before the
ships are actually moved.

11

If the optional pilot quality rules are being used, both players
must move all their turkey groups before any normal ones,
and all normal groups before any that include aces.

16

Standard fighter groups have a maximum move distance of

24 MU. Fighter group movement is performed after both
players have written their ship movement orders, but before
the ships are actually moved and before placing markers for
salvo missile fire.
Players alternate in moving one fighter group each until all
have been moved (if desired), with the player who lost initiative for this turn moving first.

10

If a fighter group then ends up with an enemy ship within

6 MU and in the forward arc after ship movement, it may
attack. This forces players to try and predict at least
roughly where the enemy is going to be, in order to position their fighters effectively thus simulating the fact
that although fighters are very fast and highly manoeuvrable
(hence the abstract nature of their movement, without orders or course/velocity recording) they have limited fuel reserves for extended travel and must therefore try to predict
intercept trajectories to get them close to their intended
prey.

Figure 6: Fighter Secondary Move

5.2

Attacks

A fighter group may attack any ship within 6 MU and within

the fore arc of the group at the end of the secondary movement phase, indicated by moving the fighter group into con-

Fighters

tact. All fighters in the group must engage the same target
ship.
(After defensive fire the group may have to make a successful
morale check to carry out the attack.)

MU away, they are currently attacking a ship which is within

ship Bs protective ADFC range of 6 MU. Fighter groups Y and
Z are safe from being fired on, as neither is presently attacking
anything.

Standard fighters are armed with a single weapon equivalent

to a beam-1 in effect. Roll 1D6 per remaining fighter in the
group. Hits and damage are scored per die, using the same
results as beam weapon fire: a roll of 4 or 5 inflicts one damage point, a roll of 6 two damage points and a re-roll. Screens
protect against fighter weapons fire.

Anti-fighter defences

5.3

Point defence systems

Each point defence system (PDS) on a ship may fire once
per turn, either as an anti-fighter or anti-missile defence
weapon. Roll 1D6 per PDS: scores of 1-3 have no effect, 4
and 5 each kill one fighter, while a 6 kills two and allows a
re-roll (same results apply to re-rolled scores). All PDS batteries on a ship must have targets allocated to them before
any of the effects are rolled for, and wasted shots may not
be reallocated to other targets.

4 MU

5
M
U

Class-1 beams
Instead of firing in an offensive role, class-1 beam systems
may act as secondary point defence systems against fighters
or missiles. In this role they fire as for a PDS, but rolls of 14 are misses, while 5 or 6 each kill one fighter. A 6 allows a
re-roll as usual. If used in the PD role, a class-1 battery may
not fire offensively in the same turn. Only class-1 beams are
usable in this way larger beam batteries are not capable of
the fast response times necessary for the role. Class-1 beam
batteries may not be used in an area defence role, even if an
ADFC is available.
Area-defence fire control
An ADFC is an enhanced anti-fighter/anti-missile fire control system that allows a ship to protect other nearby ships
with fire from its own PDS. One ADFC allows the ships PDS
(any number of them) to fire at any combination of threats
(fighters, salvo missiles, etc) that are directly attacking gone
other ship that is within 6 MU of the ADFC carrying ship.
Ships with multiple ADFCs may divide their PDS fire to protect as many ships as the number of operational ADFCs, but
each PDS may only be fired once per turn. PDS used in area
defence mode roll dice and score kills exactly as normal PDS
fire.
An ADFC functions only as an enhanced PDS fire-director
link, and may not be used as a normal fire control.
Example: In figure 7, ship A is under attack by fighter group
X which is 2 MU away. Fighter group Y could attack ship B
but has chosen not to, and Z is too far away. Ship B is carrying PDS and an ADFC, while ship A has PDS only. Ship A can
engage fighter group X with its own PDS. Ship B can also engage engage group X, as although the fighters are more than 6

Figure 7: Fighter Defence

5.4

Fighter to fighter combat

If a fighter group is within range and arc of an enemy group

then it may attack the enemy fighters exactly as it would an
enemy warship, by moving into contact. No morale check is
needed to attack other fighters.
The two groups then dogfight: both groups may fire, and all
fire within the dogfight is considered simultaneous. Roll 1D6
per fighter and inflict casualties as for beam-1 fire against an
unscreened target.
If one player moves a group into base contact with an enemy
group, and the opponent does not wish to engage in the dogfight, the group may move away provided it has not already
moved that turn; if it does this, however, the attacking group
gets a free round of attack rolls before contact is broken.
When fighters are engaged in a dogfight, none of them may
fire their weapons at any other targets outside the dogfight;
similarly other ships or fighters may not fire into the dogfight,
for fear of hitting their own sides fighters.
Example: Player A moves a group of 5 fighters into contact
with an enemy group of 4 fighters which has already taken
its movement for that turn. As player Bs group cannot evade,
it is forced to engage in a dogfight. Player A rolls 5 dice, scoring 2,2,6,4,1 and therefore getting three kills. (One with the 4,
two with the 6.) In retaliation, player B rolls 4 dice combat
in dogfights is simultaneous, so all four fighters get to engage

17

Fighters

even though three have been hit and scores 3,1,5,5 for two
kills. (One with each 5.) Both players now remove the lost
fighters, leaving A with three and B with only one. In the following turn, either player may elect to break off the dogfight,
or both may decided to continue. If Bs lone surviving fighter
breaks and tries to run, the three of As group may immediately
take a parting shot at it, which the retreating fighter cannot retaliate to. Note that this shot counts as As firing for that turn
with that particular fighter group they may then move, but
may not fire at anything else that turn.
Multiple group dogfights
There will be cases, especially when fighters are screening larger ships, where multiple group dogfight situations
(known to fighter pilots as furballs) may occur. In such combats, all groups engaged in the dogfight may fire only once
per turn, but may choose to attack just one enemy group or
to split their kills between two or more enemy groups. If the
player chooses to split fire, the dice are rolled as normal and
the casualties then divided as equally as possible between
the relevant groups.

even if they defeat all the fighters in the screen. They will
have to try to follow the ship and attack it in the following
turn if they wish to. (Though if all the screening groups are
engaged by other groups, then any excess attackers may of
course attack the ship in that turn while the defenders are occupied.) While they survive, screening fighters are very useful for keeping attacks away from lightly protected shipping.
5.6

A fighter group may attempt to intercept and engage any

missile salvo that is within 6 MU of it at the end of either
the fighters main or secondary movement. Simply move the
group up to the missile counter, and roll one D6 for each
fighter. One missile from the salvo is destroyed for each 5 or
6 scored by the fighters (scores of 6 allow re-rolls). The missiles cannot actually fight back or target the fighters, but for
each missile that is hit roll 1 D6. On a roll of 6 (no re-roll) then
a fighter is lost by being caught in the blast of the destroyed
missile. (Trying to take out missiles is a tricky and dangerous
job at high speeds and very close quarters.)
5.7

5.5

Fighter screens

Fighter groups may be assigned as close escorts for larger

ships, specifically to ward off enemy fighter attacks on that
ship. When used in this role, the fighter group is said to be
acting as a fighter screen for the ship it is escorting. When
assigned as a fighter screen, the fighter group must remain
within 3 MU of the ship it is escorting at all times if it is
moved further away then it has broken off from its escorting
duties and no longer functions in a screening role. A fighter
screen (which may be a single group or several) always moves
at the same time as the ship it is screening, rather than being moved in the normal fighter movement phase. Screening
fighters can exceed the normal fighter movement allowance
if the ship they are screening is moving faster than the fighters could normally move.
Whenever a ship that is being escorted by a fighter screen
comes under attack from enemy fighters, the attacking
group(s) must engage the screening fighters using the dogfighting rules instead of attacking the ship in that turn. Each
group of screening fighters must be engaged by at least one
attacking fighter group, but once this condition has been satisfied any further uncommitted attacking groups may fire on
the escorted ship.
Example: A NAC transport ship is being escorted by a screen
of 3 groups of fighters. 4 groups of ESU fighters move to attack the transport three of them must pair off against the
three groups of screening fighters and engage them in dogfights, while the fourth is thus free to attack the ship directly.
The ESU player could prefer to instead allocate all four groups
against the screening fighters (two onto one, and one each
onto the other two) in an attempt to destroy as many as possible, leaving the transport without fighter cover for the rest of
the game.
Attacking fighter groups that are forced to engage screening fighters may not then attack the ship in the same turn,

18

Interception of missiles

Endurance

A group will use up 1 CEF each turn it engages in combat,

whether attacking a ship, another fighter group, or being attacked itself. A fighter group also uses 1 CEF every time
it makes a secondary move. Normal movement during the
main fighter movement phase does not consume combat endurance factors.
When all combat endurance is exhausted, the group may still
move normally (though it may make no secondary moves)
but may not make any attacks. There is no time limit on a
group returning to its carrier after exhausting its CEF. A group
that is engaged in a dogfight by an enemy group after exhausting its CEF may return fire, but only scores one kill on
rolls of 6.
5.8

Morale

A fighter group is a collection of individual pilots and their

craft, and as such is much less predictable in its actions than
a single ship with a captain and crew. If there are only two
fighters left out of a group of six, it is by no means certain that
they will press home an attack on a battleship that is spitting
flak at them they may well decide that it is a lot safer somewhere else!
To simulate this dropping of morale when suffering losses,
simply roll a single D6 before making an attack with any
fighter group that has lost one or more members. If the roll is
less than or equal to the number of fighters remaining in the
group, they may carry through the attack. If the roll is greater
than the number of fighters left, they abort this attack and do
not fire. If an attack is aborted the group remains in position
and may freely move or attempt to attack again in the next
turn.
Note that any group that fails an attack roll is not considered
to have expended combat endurance for that turn, as they
never went through with the attack.

Fighters

Any fighter group that contains an ace pilot may subtract one
from all morale rolls, giving it a greater chance of success.
Any group classed as a turkey group always adds one to the
die roll.
5.9

Specialised types

Fighters are assumed to be good average, basic types moderately fast, with reasonable anti-ship and anti-fighter capabilities; an all-round multi-mission type of craft. Standard
multi-role fighters cost 18 points per group of 6, 3 points per
fighter.

of 6, which destroy one fighter only. When engaging other

ships, however, attack fighters add 1 to all their die rolls other
than 6, ie if firing on an unscreened target ship they would inflict one damage point with rolls of 3 or 4, and two damage
points with 5 or 6.
Because anti-ship capabilities are usually of more importance in the game than dogfighting, an attack fighter group
costs 24 points, 4 per fighter.
Long range fighters

The rules that follow modify fighters into rather more specialised or improved types.

While normal fighters have six combat endurance factors, a

long range group has nine CEFs due to additional fuel tanks,
life support, ammunition, etc.

Fast fighters

A long range fighter group costs 24 points, 4 per fighter.

While normal fighters have a movement allowance of 24 MU

per turn, fast fighters have more powerful drives giving them
a movement of 36 MU per turn; they still have a limit of 12
MU for secondary moves.

Torpedo fighters

A group of 6 fast fighters costs a total of 24 points, 4 points

each.
Heavy fighters
Heavy fighters have the same offensive and drive capabilities
as normal fighters, but are better protected against attack by
armoured hulls, heavier structural components, etc. When
heavy fighters are attacked by PDS point defence fire or other
fighters, rolls of 4 have no effect. Standard fighters and PDS
will therefore inflict only 1 casualty on an original roll of 5, 2
casualties on a roll of 6 and a re-roll.
A group of 6 heavy fighters costs 30 points, 5 points each.
Interceptors
The interceptor is a specialised type of fighter with no effective anti-ship capability, but optimised for anti-fighter performance. Interceptors may only fire against other fighter
groups or missiles, not ships or installations. When they
make such an attack they may add 1 to all die roll results
thus they kill one normal fighter on a roll of 3 or 4, two on
rolls of 5 or 6.
When themselves attacked, either by fighters or point defence, they take casualties normally.
An interceptor group costs the same as a standard multi-role
group, 18 points or 3 points each, as they are trading off their
anti-ship capability for their enhanced dogfighting.
Attack fighters
Specialised attack fighters are really the opposite of interceptors they have very little ability to engage other fighters,
but carry increased weaponry loads for anti-ship missions.
When in a dogfight with an enemy fighter group of any kind,
attack fighters only hit and kill opposing fighters with rolls

These are a further specialisation of the attack fighter, carrying a heavy single shot anti-ship weapon on each fighter.
When the group attacks an enemy ship, roll once per fighter
to see how many hits are scored. Each fighter needs a roll of
4 or more to score a hit, and those hits that hit inflict damage equal to the die roll. A roll of 1-3 is a miss, but 4 = 4 DP,
5 = 5 DP, and 6 = 6 DP. No re-rolls are made on 6. Damage is
applied half (rounded up) to armour if any, half to hull.
The group may only attack once in this manner, and for simplicity assume that all the fighters in the group will attack
the same target at the same time it is not permitted to fire
just some of the group and save the others for a later attack.
(Unless of course you wish to agree this between yourselves,
and work out the necessary record keeping.) Once the group
has expended its torpedoes it may then only fight in the
same limited anti-fighter mode as for attack fighters (needing rolls of 6 for one kill) and may not make any further attacks against enemy ships. The torpedo fighter group is thus
very much a one-shot weapon, but a potentially extremely
powerful one.
A torpedo fighter group costs 36 points, 6 per fighter.
When using specialised fighter groups, use the normal
hangar icon for the ship SSD, but add the appropriate letter
for the fighter type: an H for heavy fighters, T for torpedo, etc.
Note that all fighter groups, regardless of type, have the same
mass and hangar space requirements in the carrier or mothership, and operate under all the normal rules for launching,
recovery, and turn sequence.
5.10

Pilot quality

The pilot quality rules are optional.

While most fighter groups are classed as average in pilot performance, you do get the occasional outstanding pilot the
Ace. At the other end of the scale you have the really raw, inexperienced, or just plain bad pilots the turkeys.

19

Fighters

An Ace is an individual, the crack pilot attached to an otherwise average group. Turkeys, on the other hand, tend to
come in flocks: the whole group may be classed as a turkey
group due to low experience, poor training or a multitude of
other factors.
If you wish to allow aces to be bought with points, then by all
means do so. We would recommend, however, that a random
roll is made for each fighter group in a fleet at the start of the
game or campaign. If a 6 is rolled, the group contains an ace.
A roll of 1 indicates that the group is a turkey group. Rolls of
2-5 give normal, average groups.
Using aces
Fighter groups with an ace pilot make their initial launch
move after all turkey or normal groups launching in that
game turn; and from then on the fighter group moves after
all turkey or normal groups have been moved.
If an ace pilot is present in a fighter group, the group gets one
extra die during all normal attacks, so a full strength group
of six fighters including an ace would roll seven dice instead
of the usual six. The presence of the ace also affects group
morale, subtracting one from all morale rolls.
The ace pilot also has the ability to make one specific system attack per turn if wished: when the group attacks a ship,
while the other members of the group attack as normal for
fighters with one die each, the ace may choose to attack as
a needle beam instead. In this case the ace may choose to
target one specific system on the ship being attacked, rolling
just one D6 and treating the attack just as for a needle beam
shot.
Note that in this case the rest of the group does not get the
extra die that the ace would normally contribute towards the
attack. A group with five remaining fighters including an ace
could choose to either attack normally with six dice, or to
have the four average pilots attack normally with 4 dice while
the ace attacks a specific system with just one die roll.
This option also extends to dogfighting between fighter
groups. An ace may either add an extra die to the groups
overall attack, or may choose to specifically target an opposing ace if there is one present in the other group, in which
case roll just one die as normal.
For simplicity, we assume that in normal combat the ace in
a group will always be the last fighter left surviving, after
all he/she is supposed to be the best, and getting the hero
killed in the first dogfight is not good space opera! The only
case in which an ace may be killed before other members
of the group is if specifically targeted by an opposing ace in
an enemy group, in the best movie traditions. (Lukewarm
Jaywalker ignores the rest of the Imperial fighters, and goes
straight for the ship of his arch enemy Duck Wader. . . )
The trouble with turkeys
Any group unlucky enough to be classed as a turkey group
must always add 1 to its morale rolls as mentioned above.

20

Turkey groups attack ships as normal (such attacks are

largely computerised anyway), but when they are engaged
in a dogfight with other fighters they modify their attack rolls
by subtracting 1 from every die roll they make.
Turkey groups must launch and move before all non-turkey
groups in the same game turn.
5.11

Re-arming

This rule is optional, and may be used or amended to

choice according to the background you wish to use and the
timescale that you prefer a game turn to reflect.
When a fighter group is recovered by its carrier, roll 1 D6. On
a score of 1, the group may not be re-launched in this game
(severe damage to returning fighters, crew fatigue, etc). On
2-5 the group will be patched up, refuelled, and rearmed after 1 full turn, so it may re-launch in the second turn after
recovery. On a 6, the group makes a crash turnaround and
may re-launch on the turn immediately following that of recovery.
If depleted groups are combined to make full strength ones,
roll for each partial group and the worst case result applies to
the entire new group.

Salvo Missiles

6 Salvo Missiles
The salvo missile (SM) system is either a set of launch tubes
or external racks that fire groups of six relatively small antiship missiles, each group being termed a salvo. The missiles
are only one turn duration. Each SM system may fire one
missile salvo each turn.
There are two types of missile salvo available: standard SMs
and enhanced range (ER) SMs. Both types work in the same
way, but the ER missiles have (as their name implies) a
greater range than the standard types, and cost proportionally more.
6.1

Firing

Missile fire occurs in the same phase as fighter group movement, that is after orders are written but before ships are
moved. The firing player announces the launch of a missile salvo, and places a salvo counter at the intended point
of aim. This may be anywhere up to a maximum range of
24 MU from the firing ship, or 36 MU for an enhanced range
missile salvo, but must be within the boundaries of the fire
arcs through which the SM system may bear. The marker is
left in place while all ships are moved.
If at the end of the movement there is an enemy ship within
6 MU of the marker (in any direction) then the missiles will
attack it. If there is more than one potential enemy target
within 6 MU then the salvo will go for the closest of them.
Move the missile salvo marker next to the target ship and apply countermeasures/defences before resolving missile hits.
Note that if there is no valid target within 6 MU at the end
of movement, the salvo is wasted and the counter removed
from play.
Optional If you choose to use the vector movement system
instead of the standard cinematic movement rules, then we
strongly suggest reducing the attack radius of salvo missiles
from 6 MU to 3 MU this will prevent the missiles becoming
too accurate against the more predictable manoeuvre envelope of a vector movement ship. If a particular scenario calls
for the mixing of vector and cinematic movement ships, then
allows missiles to attack if within 6 MU of a cinematic drive
ship but only within 3 MU of a vector drive ship. If you want
some PSB to justify this, then assume that the gravitic drive
cinematic movement ships have a higher drive signature for
the missiles to home on than the reaction drives of the vector
movement ships.
6.2

Defence

When resolving SM system fire, the target player must first

decide what defences to allocate against each missile salvo.
After this is announced the attacking player rolls a D6 for
each salvo marker: the result is the number of missiles in
the salvo that are actually on target. The target player then
resolves defensive fire as follows:
For each point defence system (PDS) that is allocated to antimissile defence roll a D6. Rolls of 4 and 5 each kill one missile; rolls of 6 kill two and a re-roll.

For each beam-1 or screening fighter that is allocated to antimissile defence roll a D6. Rolls of 5 kill one missile; rolls of 6
kill one missile and a re-roll.
Note that this is the roll per fighter in screening groups, so a
full strength group will roll 6 dice, killing a missile on each 5
or 6 scored. For each missile killing by a fighter roll an additional D6: on a roll of 6 the fighter is destroyed as well.
After subtracting any missiles that are intercepted from the
score that the attacker rolled, any positive number is the
number of missiles that actually get through the defences
and hit the target. If defensive fire killed more missiles than
were in the salvo then the extras are overkill, they cannot be
allocated to other salvos. If there are no defences at all then
at least one missile will always get through.
6.3

Damage

For each missile in the salvo that reaches the target ship, roll
1 D6, the number rolled is the number of damage points inflicted. Rolls of 6 score 6 damage points but do not get a reroll. Screen systems do not reduce missile damage. If the
target is protected by armour, then half of the total damage
(rounded up) done by the salvo is taken on the armour, and
the remainder on the hull. Missiles that get through the defences are deadly, so try and stop them if you can!
Example: Two missile salvoes are fired at a single target ship.
The ship has the following systems that can defend it against
missile fire: one point defence battery (PDS) and two beam-1
batteries that can function in a defensive role. Before the defender knows exactly how many missiles will actually strike
home, the ships captain has to decide how to allocate defences.
The defender chooses to use the PDS alone against one incoming salvo, and the 2 beam-1 batteries to combine fire against
the second salvo. The attacking player now rolls for each missile salvo. For the first the roll is 2, but the second is luckier
and rolls 5.
The first salvo has only two missiles on target, and the defending player rolls the PDS die and gets a 6, thus shooting them
both down. (There would be a re-roll for the six, but there is
no point as both target missiles are already stopped.) For the
second salvo with five missiles incoming, the defender gets to
roll 2 dice for the 2 beam-1 batteries, and rolls a 4 and a 6.
The 6 allows a re-roll, but this only gets a 2. So the defender
has killed only one incoming missile from this salvo of five.
The end result is that four missiles of the second salvo get past
all the defences, and deliver their warheads in a blaze of energy. A D6 is rolled for each of them, scoring 3, 1, 3, and 6;
missile hits dont re-roll so this gives a grand total of 13 damage points to the target ship. Enough to cripple a smaller warship and cause serious harm to even a large one. If the ship
has seven boxes or more of armour, half of the total missile
damage (rounded up) will be taken on the armour and the
remaining 6 on the hull boxes.

21

Salvo Missiles

6.4

Mountings and magazines

Salvo missile systems come in two types: reloadable launching tubes, denoted salvo missile launchers or SML, which are
fed from an internal missile magazine; and externally carried
single missile launchers, salvo missile racks or SMR.
One SML may fire one salvo per turn provided ammunition
is left in the magazine. One SMR may fire its salvo load at
any time, but is then empty until replenished after the battle from a base or fleet auxiliary. SMRs provide the cheapest maximum throw weight since every missile on the ship
may be fired at the same time if desired. For extended operations, however, one or two conventional launchers backed
up by a good magazine capacity is the most flexible and costeffective solution.
In general, SMRs tend to be fitted to smaller craft where the
saving in mass is critical (and the ship may well not survive
long enough to fire more than one or two salvoes anyway!),
while SMLs and magazines are used more on larger classes
which need sustained fire capacity.
Example: Fitting one SMR (assuming standard missiles) takes
4 mass, as opposed to the 5 mass needed for an SML with the
same one missile magazine, however one SML with a 2 salvo
magazine takes only 7 mass against the 8 needed for a pair of
SMRs. The ship with the single SML and magazine can only
fire one salvo per turn, while the twin SMR ship can fire both
at once.
As the weapon load increases, the difference becomes more significant still if you had 40 mass available on a very large
warship, you could if desired fit 10 SMRs and be able to deliver
all ten salvoes simultaneously, but the same 40 mass would allow you to fit four SML tubes and a 14 salvo magazine to feed
them.
6.5

Magazine capacity

The mass allocated to magazine space during a ships design

stage may be broken down into separate magazines at the
designers discretion, but with the following important limitation: any one launcher system may only be fed from one
magazine, though a single magazine may feed more than one
launcher. Thus if a ship has 2 SMLs and 8 mass of magazine space, the designer may decide to fit just a single 8
space magazine feeding both launchers, or could give each
launcher its own 4 space magazine instead; as shown in figure 8.
The disadvantage of the single magazine is that all the SM
capability could be lost with one bad threshold roll (as one
magazine is rolled for as a single system, regardless of its capacity or the number of salvo loads in it); on the other hand,
with two smaller magazines the player does not have the option to feed missiles to either launcher if one launcher is
lost while it still has missiles in its dedicated magazine, those
missiles are useless, they cannot be fired by another undamaged launcher that was not originally fed from that magazine.

22

Figure 8: SMLs and magazines

The intended type of loadout is another factor to consider
when installing missile magazines. In the example above, the
ship with a single mass 8 magazine could choose its loadout
as 4 standard salvoes, or 1 standard and 2 ER salvoes. (A 2
standard and 1 ER loadout is also allowed, but wastes 1 space
in the magazine.) If the same ship had 2 mass 4 magazines,
however, carrying any ER salvoes would be much less efficient as the spare space in each magazine would be wasted.
The SM magazine icon is a box linked by lines to the SM
launcher(s) it feeds. The number of salvoes carried in the
magazine is indicated by small arrowhead icons within the
box which are crossed off as they are fired. For a standard SM
salvo leave the arrowhead white, and for an ER salvo shade it
in black. SM racks, on the other hand, have either a white or
black icon according to the load carried.
The ship designs in the fleet books assume standard salvo
loads in the magazines. If you wish to load a ship with ER
salvoes then shade in the required number of salvo icons and
delete any excess if a ship design shows 3 standard salvo
icons in a mass 6 magazine and you wish to use 2 ER salvoes
instead, shade two icons black and cross off the third one.

Threshold Points

7 Threshold Points
7.1

Damage to systems

Each screen generator on a ship is considered a separate system when checking for system damage at threshold points,
and may be knocked out individually either by threshold
damage or needle beam weapons. If a ship with screen level2 has to make a threshold damage check and loses one of its
screen systems, it drops to level-1 screen.
Ships carrying fighter groups have their hangar bays rolled
for just as for any other system. When a fighter bay is
knocked out any fighters still aboard that bay are lost, and the
fighter bay can no longer recover fighters that are in flight.
For example, if a fleet carrier has launched its full fighter
complement and then loses two of its six fighter bays in a
threshold point check, then if all six groups make it back two
of the groups will not be able to land! (Though the individual
fighters may take spaces in other bays available due to losses
in other groups basically the loss of a bay simply reduces
the carriers capacity by six individual fighters.)
Salvo missile systems roll separately for each launcher and
magazine. If a magazine is destroyed by a threshold check it
cannot be repaired: all the missiles are considered lost.
7.2

Core systems

This is an optional rule.

While weapons, fire control sensors, and screen emitters are
all surface features on most ships and thus are very vulnerable to incoming fire, there are certain vital systems that are
usually buried deep within the ships hull. These are the core
systems and consist of the Command Bridge (which also includes computer systems, electronics, etc), the Power Core,
and the Life Support System.
These three systems are grouped together on the ship system
status display, with a box drawn around them. Whenever the
ship reaches a threshold point, the systems within the core
box are each rolled for but at -1 to the current threshold number thus at the first threshold point, where systems are lost
on rolls of 1 only, the core systems do not need to be rolled
for. At the second threshold point, where normal systems go
down on rolls of 1 or 2, the core systems are only hit on rolls
of 1, and so on for subsequent threshold points.
The core systems do not need to have mass allocated to them
during the ship design phase: they are assumed to be part of
the essential structure of all ships.
If using needle beams, the core systems may not be targeted
by these weapons. Needle beams may only fire at surface features on the ship such as weapons, sensors, or drives.
The core system rules are entirely optional: if you do not wish
to use them, simply ignore the systems within the core box
on the ship SSDs.

Command bridge
If the command bridge takes a hit, then a further D6 roll is
made immediately. If the roll is 1 to 5, then the ship is out
of control for that number of turns, until command can be
restored through backup links and secondary command systems. If the roll is a 6, then the ship is permanently out of
control for the duration of the game.
While a ship is out of control it will continue on its present
course and velocity, and may not fire weapons, launch fighters, or take any other offensive action. Passive defences
(screens, armour) are still operational, though active defences (PDS) are not. Once control is regained after the number of turns indicated by the die roll or a successful repair
roll, all undamaged systems come back on line.
Damage control parties may be used on any turn to try
and restore control earlier, using the normal damage control
rules for the bridge system.
Power core hit
If the power core takes a hit, it is damaged and may go critical and explode. It continues to supply power for the ship,
but the safety systems that control it are damaged or destroyed.
At the end of each turn the player must roll a D6: on a 5 or
6, the core explodes and destroys the ship. Damage control
parties may be used as normal to try and stabilise the power
core such attempts are made before the roll for explosion
for that turn, and success will bring the core back under control and negate any further effects. Each turn, before rolling
the die, the player may make a choice: dump the core or
abandon ship.
Dumping the core avoids the risk of explosion, but leaves the
ship without power for anything but emergency life support
the ship is intact, but unable to do anything further in this
battle except continue to drift on its present vector.
If the player chooses to abandon ship, the ship continues to
drift while still rolling each turn to see if the core explodes
in this case, however, the needed number for an explosion
drops by 1 each turn as the core is running out of control with
no-one to damp it down, thus it will explode eventually and
the ship will be lost. A ship that dumps core will be no further
use for that battle, but may be salvaged afterwards and its
power restored.
Life support hit
If the life support systems take a hit, then a further D6 roll is
made immediately. The number rolled indicates that the life
support will fail after that number of complete turns. Damage control parties may be allocated to try and repair the
life support system as for any other system. If life support
fails before being repaired, then the crew must immediately
abandon ship or be lost. A ship without life support becomes
a drifting hulk, though it may of course be recovered and repaired after the battle if it survives.

23

Threshold Points

7.3

Damage control parties

The number of damage control parties (DCP) a ship has is

proportional to its crew size, which is in turn a function of
ship mass. This assumes that a certain percentage of the
crew is allocated to form damage control teams during combat situations. Military ships have one crew factor (CF) for
every 20 mass or part thereof, and one DCP per crew factor.
Thus a mass 1-20 ship has one CF and hence 1 DCP, a mass
21-40 ship 2 CFs and 2 DCPs, a mass 81-100 ship 5 CFs and 5
DCPs, and so on.
For merchant and civilian vessels, which usually have much
smaller crews than warships, there will be one CF per 50
mass (or part thereof ) of ship size. How many crewmen a
single CF represents is entirely up to the kind of background
you are using, but in the GZG one we assume that one CF
represents about 20 personnel.
A single DCP might therefore be four or five crewmen, and
usually includes medical personnel to assist crew casualties
as well as engineers to patch up equipment.
For ships with multiple DCPs, more than one may be allocated to a single repair job at one time. One DCP on its own
will manage to bring a system back online on a roll of 1, and
each additional DCP on the same job increases this needed
number by 1. The maximum number of DCPs on a single job
is three, so that the highest chance of repairing a system is
50% (1-3 on a D6) if three teams are allocated to it. Note that
all teams put on one system in a single turn make just the
one roll.
Example: A mass 90 ship, with 5 CF and thus 5 DCPs available, is trying to repair systems lost at a threshold point. The
player decides to combine 3 DCPs (the maximum allowed on
one job) to try and get a FireCon back online, and use the other
two to attempt to fix a damaged weapon system. The firecon
will be fixed if the player can roll 1, 2, or 3; and the weapon on
1 or 2.
7.4

Crew casualties

For simplicity, assume that crew casualties run proportional

to the amount of hull damage suffered by the ship. As damage is taken and crew casualties are suffered, CFs are lost, and
the available DCPs are reduced accordingly. To record this on
the ship SSD, dots are placed in certain boxes on the damage
track to denote the points at which crew factors are lost; a
ships current CF (and thus its current number of DCPs) is
the number of dots still remaining in non-destroyed boxes
on the damage track.
All the designs given in the Fleet Books already have the CF
dots marked in their damage tracks, but if you are designing
a new ship type from scratch then you will need to distribute
the CFs correctly through the damage track. To do this, divide the number of hull boxes the ship has by the number of
crew factors. Round the result up if it is not a whole number,
then count along the damage track until you reach the number and place the first dot there. Count the same number
again and place the second dot, and so on. When you reach

24

the end of the damage track, put the last dot in the last box
assume that the last of the crew will be killed when the ship
is finally destroyed, if they havent abandoned ship by then.
Example: the mass 90 ship above, with 5 CFs, has an average
hull integrity and thus has 27 hull boxes (30% of 90), arranged
as 7/7/7/6. Dividing 27 by 5 gives us 5.4, which is rounded
up to 6. The first CF dot will be placed in the sixth box of the
damage track, the second in the twelfth (ie the fifth box of the
second row), the third dot in the 18th box and the fourth in
the 24th box, the fifth and final dot is placed in the last box
on the damage track (the 27th). Each time the ship takes six
points of cumulative damage, it will lose another CF and thus
another DCP.
7.5

Cargo and passengers

The holds and passenger space are arranged on the ship diagram as a row of boxes, containing an H or P identifier as
appropriate and a number that represents the actual capacity of the space. The larger spaces are placed first (to the left),
and are the first to be crossed off as damage is taken.
One of the holds or passenger areas is automatically lost each
time the ships cumulative damage reaches a threshold point.
When a hold or passenger space box is crossed off, any cargo
stored in it is assumed lost and any non-evacuated passengers in that area are killed.
Note that specialist areas on other ships may be represented
in the same way as cargo and passenger space using exactly
the same rules for survey ships devoted to science, staff
and lab facilities can be represented by boxes marked S, and
naval troop carriers will have T boxes to represent their troop
accommodation.

FTL

8 FTL
Faster than light drives
The forces generated by FTL drive units are very powerful,
and result in spatial distortions that can be highly dangerous
in close proximity to any other mass, including other ships.
Most transitions to and from FTL are therefore made well out
in open space, far from other shipping or planetary bodies. A
fleet entering a system in FTL will generally perform normal
space re-entry on the fringes of the system, with the ships of
the fleet widely dispersed for safety, and then assemble into
formation before entering the inner system on normal drive.
Occasionally, however, it may be either necessary or tactically expedient to run the risk of an FTL transition while actually engaged with the enemy. Such a dangerous manoeuvre might be a frantic attempt by a threatened ship to escape
from the action, or a surprise attack by dropping out of FTL
directly into combat. (A particularly desperate tactic considering the danger involved.)
The following rules cover such attempts to enter or exit FTL
on the playing area, and the consequences of failure.
8.1

FTL exit

If a ship attempts to engage its FTL drive while on the table,

the owning player must note this in movement orders for
that turn. The ship may not apply any thrust in that move,
nor may it use any offensive weaponry. (Though defensive
systems and screens may continue to be used.) When the
ship is actually moved, the player must announce that the
FTL drive is being warmed up the energy emissions from
the ship will be immediately obvious to enemy sensors.

Example: If a 10 DP ship failed its FTL entry and exploded, the

energy release would cause 10 points of damage to every ship
within 6 MU of the explosion point.
Once a ship has left the table under FTL drive, it may not return to play at any time during that battle.
8.2

FTL entry

Any ships that are to enter the game by dropping out of FTL
actually on the playing area must be noted as such at the start
of the game, giving the number of the game turn in which
they will enter, plus a specified point of entry on the table;
the latter is usually most easily defined as a simple pair of
coordinates measured from one corner of the table.
When the specified game turn arrives, the player must announce at the start of the turn (after writing of movement
orders) that the ship is making an FTL dropout, and place a
counter or other marker at the intended entry point. Roll a
D12 to give a direction on the course gauge, and a D6 for distance. The marker is then moved in the direction rolled to a
distance in MU equal to the D6 roll. The resulting final location of the marker is the point at which the actual ship is
placed on the table.
Example: The two ships in figure 9 attempt FTL dropout side
by side. Each rolls for direction and distance of error in their
entry points. Ship A rolls 6 for direction and 4 for distance,
and ship B rolls 10 for direction and 5 for distance.

Course 10
5 MU

On the following turn, the ship moves half its current velocity
on its present course, then disappears from the playing area,
having gone into FTL space. Note that any ships performing this manoeuvre should actually be moved after all other
ships on the table have been moved for that turn.
If any other ship, asteroid, fighter group, etc is within 6 MU
of the actual point of FTL entry (the point that the ship disappears from the table) then problems occur.

Course 6
4 MU

The ship attempting to enter FTL drive rolls a D6:

On a roll of 1, the FTL drive fails to engage. The ship remains in normal space at its present course and velocity
(and completes the current movement).
On a roll of 2 to 4, the ship completes its FTL transition safely, but all ships and/or objects in the 6 MU radius immediately suffer 1D6 of damage, unmodified by
screens or armour.
On a roll of 5 or 6, the ship attempting the FTL jump is
completely destroyed, and all other ships within 6 MU
immediately suffer damage equal to the total original
damage points of the exploding ship.

Figure 9: FTL Entry

Optional rule: To add extra confusion and danger, if the distance D6 roll gives a 6, then roll a second D6 and multiply the
result by the original roll of 6. This gives a potentially massive
error (up to 36 MU) and represents the dangerous inaccuracy
of FTL exit if this means a ship appears off table then that
ship is deemed unable to enter the table during the battle.

25

FTL

As with ships leaving the table via FTL, those entering battle
also risk damage if they appear too close to another object.
Again, the danger radius is 6 MU around the actual point of
appearance; if any ship or other body is within this distance
when the ship enters normal space, roll a D6 for each ship or
object including the entering ship itself:
On a roll of 1 to 5, the ship/object being rolled for takes
damage equal to the dice score.
On a roll of 6, roll a second D6 and multiply the result by
the original 6, giving from 6 to 36 points of damage.
8.3

FTL tugs and tenders

There are times when ships are unable to travel in FTL drive
under their own power, but still must be moved between star
systems. Obvious examples are system defence ships being
transferred between duty stations, and starships that have
suffered drive damage and loss of FTL capability, which can
only be repaired at a major naval facility.
For jobs such as these, most forces use FTL tugs or tenders,
which are ships with massively over-powered FTL drives capable of extending their drive field around another ship and
carrying it through FTL space. A tug is normally a ship designed to recover other large vessels, while a tender is more
commonly a transport for several smaller ships such as light
system defence boats.
The main use for tugs and tenders will be in campaign
games, for moving system defence ships around the map and
for recovering crippled starships for repair. It is unlikely that
a tug or tender would ever be risked in combat, but of course
there is always the possibility of a scenario concerning the attempted recovery of a damaged ship in a hostile star system,
or a surprise attack on a recovery mission.
Any ship can be made a tender by having internal bay space
allocated to carry other ships (whether the carried craft are
FTL-capable or not), at the same rate as for carrying fighters
and other small craft every 1.5 mass used for hangar bay
space provides capacity for 1 mass of carried ship(s). Note
that this allows for support and launching facilities, and is
thus different from plain cargo space. A ship with 30 mass
devoted to bay space could carry a mass 20 ship, or two mass
10 ships, etc. The points cost of such space is the same as for
other hangar facilities, 3 the total mass used.
Tugs, which are designed to tow other ships through jump
by extending their jumpfield around them, require much
larger than normal FTL drives. They need a drive equal to
10% of their mass just to provide their own jump capability,
plus for every 1 additional FTL drive mass they can tow an
additional 5 mass of other ships. Thus to tow a ship of mass
108, the tug would need spare jump drive capacity of mass
22. If the tug itself was a mass 60 ship, it would need its own
mass 6 FTL drive plus the additional 22 so it would have to
devote a total of 28 mass to its jump drive package.

26

8.4

Non-FTL ships

Although most ships in the game are considered capable of

FTL travel between star systems, there are many possible
classes of non-FTL capable vessels which operate entirely
within a single star system. Typical examples are in-system
freighters, system defence ships, and monitors (large, low
thrust weapon platforms designed for close orbital defence).
Non-FTL craft are designed in exactly the same way as FTL
starships, except that (obviously) they do not have to pay
points cost for the FTL drive.
The use of non-FTL ships must be carefully controlled in
one-off games, otherwise everyone will use them. They
should be restricted to the planetary defence forces of relatively large or important colonies or core worlds, where they
can be supported and maintained by local facilities. Small
settlements and outposts will have to rely on starships that
can return to naval bases in other systems when they require
maintenance.

Ship Design

9 Ship Design
9.1

fleets destroyer may, in reality, be a bigger and more powerful ship than anothers light cruiser.
Ship class
Scout or Courier
Corvette
Frigate
Destroyer
Heavy Destroyer
Light Cruiser
Patrol or Escort Cruiser
Heavy Cruiser
Battlecruiser
Battleship
Heavy Battleship
Dreadnought
Superdreadnought
Escort Carrier
Light Carrier
Heavy Carrier
Attack Carrier

Overview

Most players will probably run their first few games using just
the basic ship types. Sooner or later, however, many of you
will want to start modifying the designs provided, or else designing your own ships from scratch experimenting with
different weapons fits, hull sizes, and so on.
Ship design is all about a balance between the three essential
factors: mobility, firepower, and protection. Mobility is represented by the thrust rating available to the ship, firepower
by the amount and types of weapons carried, and protection
by the screens and armour used (if any) and the overall damage points.
The ship design rules detailed in this section are constructed
so that every ship has to be a compromise between the three
basic factors. Although a near-perfect superfast, ultra heavily
armed, and heavily protected ship is theoretically possible, it
will turn out to be so incredibly expensive in points cost that
just one will take most of your fleet budget! Remember that,
especially in a campaign, a ship can only be in one place at
one time for most purposes a balanced fleet of lighter craft
will be more cost effective than just a few superships.
Constructing a ship involves two main considerations: the
ships mass, which is a measure of its overall size, and its
point cost.
The mass of the ship determines its class and how much in
the way of systems (weapons, screens, fighter bays, etc) can
be fitted into the hull.
The cost of the ship is the total of the mass cost, the hull cost,
the drives cost, and the individual costs of all the systems
that you decide to install.
9.2

Mass rating

The total mass of a given hull is a representation of the capacity of that hull for outfitting it with drives, weapons, defensive systems, etc. This total mass figure is used to refer
to the size of the ship: a size 25 ship could be fitted with a
maximum of 25 mass of systems. Note that the mass ratings
of systems are abstract figures used to indicate the required
volume, power requirements, etc rather than being an exact
measure of the bulk or weight of a given system. If you assume that (in a given background) one mass is equivalent to
around 100 tonnes, then a mass 1 system (such as a point defence installation) will not necessarily weigh in at 100 tonnes;
it will, however, require 100 tonnes (1 mass) of hull capacity to mount the system and its infrastructure, control and
power requirements, sensors, crew, etc.
The table below shows the standard basic ship classifications
used by most space navies, along with the accepted designations and a rough guide to the typical mass ratings of the
classifications. These figures are very loose, as most navies
tend to classify ships by function rather than by tonnage: one

Abbreviation
SC
CT
FF
DD
DH
CL
CE
CA
BC
BB
BDN
DN
SDN
CVE
CVL
CVH
CVA

Range
4 - 10
8 - 16
14 - 26
24 - 36
30 - 44
40 - 60
50 - 70
60 - 90
80 - 110
100 - 140
120 - 160
140 - 180
160 +
80 - 140
120 - 180
160 +
150 +

(To avoid any possible confusion over ship classifications,

please note than an escort cruiser is a cruiser, not an escort
its designation simply indicates that its primary function is
that of supporting (escorting) capital units rather than independent action. Similarly, a battlecruiser is not a cruiser but
is classed as a capital ship it is, in effect, a slightly cheaper
and lighter armed version of a battleship.)
The total mass includes the Core Systems and no extra points
are paid for these.
Some systems, eg weaponry, are a fixed mass per system, regardless of the size of the ship on which they are mounted.
Other systems including drives and screens are a percentage
of the total mass, and thus become more expensive as the
mass of the ship goes up. (As, of course, does the cost of the
hull itself.)
Because they are calculated as percentages of the overall ship
mass, choosing a hull size that is not an exact multiple of 10
will mean that some system masses may not be whole numbers. Some of these will be rounded up and some down: in
general terms, decimals of .49 and less should be rounded
down, while those of .5 or higher should round up. The only
specific exception to this rule is in the case of thrust factors,
as explained below.
For example, if you are building a mass 64 ship then the 10%
required for the FTL drive will be 6.4, which will round down
to 6. If the same ships main drive is thrust-4, however, this
will take 20% = 12.8 which will round up to 13 mass. In general, most designs will come out about even in the rounding;
occasionally a ship may end up fractionally better or worse
off than another of broadly similar design, but that shouldnt
be a serious problem. Besides, if we dont give the maximisers and number crunchers something to work at theyll all
get bored!
Important: no single system can ever be rounded down to
mass 0. A very tiny ship of (say) mass 4 will still have to pay
1 mass for an FTL drive, even though 10% for it is only 0.4.

27

Ship Design

Thus the smallest possible FTL-drive ship is actually a mass

3 scout or courier boat, that will use 1 mass for hull integrity,
1 mass for FTL drive (the smallest unit available) and 1 mass
for main drive (for which it could get thrust-6). The boat
would be unarmed, and have just 1 damage box.
The smallest usable combat ship will be around 5 or 6 mass,
which will get you a tiny armed scout or light corvette with
only a single fire control and probably only a single small
weapon system, crewed by a handful of very brave spacers.
9.3

Hull strengths

FULL THRUST uses a sliding scale of different hull strength

factors. The chosen hull strength uses mass from the ships
total and is directly related to the number of damage boxes
the ship has.

The hull integrity represents the amount of the ships structure that is devoted to reinforcing the basic hull envelope, including bulkheads, compartmentalisation, internal
strengthening, etc. It is entirely separate from the armour
used (if any), which is external protection. It is perfectly possible to have a ship with a fragile hull structure but lots of
armour around it: such a ship will be fine until some damage
manages to get through the armour, in which case the hull
integrity will fail very quickly!
There are no fixed percentage limits on hull integrity. Ship
designs may have as many or as few hull boxes as the designer wishes, subject only to a lower limit of a minimum of
10% of the total ship mass. The actual number of hull boxes
chosen does not have to exactly equal any given percentage
of the ships total mass, but the following terms may be used
to describe the kind of structure a ship has:
Fragile hull
Weak hull
Average hull
Strong hull
Super hull

10% of total mass

20% of total mass
30% of total mass
40% of total mass
50% of total mass

9.4

Cargo and passengers

Mass devoted to cargo or passenger space costs no additional points during the ship costing procedure, though of
course the actual hull that encloses them is paid for in the
normal way. Each mass factor used provides one factor of
hold space (H) or passenger space (P).
The total amount of cargo or passenger space available on
the ship is divided into separate groups, one for each row
of hull damage boxes, in much the same way as the ships
hull damage boxes are divided into the four rows of the damage track. If the number does not divide evenly then the first
holds or passenger areas are the larger ones.
Example: If a freighter has 50 mass of cargo hold space, this
would be divided into two holds of mass 13 and two of mass
12.
9.5

Drives

The FTL drive for interstellar capability requires 10% of the

total mass.
The ships main drive requires 5% of total ship mass per
thrust factor. Add the percentages together and then determine the mass required.
The points cost of the total drive package is twice the mass
used.
9.6

Atmospheric streamlining

Streamlining allows ships to safely enter a planets atmosphere as described in section 14.2. Partial streamlining requires 10% of the ships total mass, while full streamlining requires 20% of the total mass. The points cost of streamlining
is 2 points per mass used for the aerodynamics.
Example: To give a mass 50 ship partial streamlining will use
5 mass and cost an additional 10 points on top of the basic
hull cost; to give the same ship full streamlining will use 10
mass and cost 20 points.

The mass used for hull integrity is the number of hull boxes
that the ship has to absorb damage points. The hull boxes are
arranged in four rows to form the damage track for the ship.
Example: For a mass 60 ship with hull strengths chosen to be
exact multiples of 10%, a weak hull would be 12 hull boxes
arranged in rows 3/3/3/3; while a strong hull would be 24 hull
boxes in rows 6/6/6/6.
Each row should be of equal length, but if the number of
damage boxes does not exactly divide by the number of rows
the extra boxes are placed in the upper rows. For a standard
four row design, a ship with just 2 damage boxes has one box
in each of the first two rows and nothing in the last two, and
a ship with 15 boxes has three rows of 4 boxes and one of 3.

9.7

Hangar bays

Hangar bays for fighter groups and other small craft have a
mass equal to 1.5 mass of capacity and a points cost three
times the mass. The standard fighter hangar bay has a mass
of 9 (6 fighters at 1 mass each 1.5) and a points cost of 27.
Hangars for other types of craft use a different icon with the
capacity in mass marked.
The points cost for a hangar bay does not include the fighters
or craft carried inside.
9.8

Defensive Systems

Armour
Armour consumes 1 mass per box of protection. The total
number of armour boxes is called the grade, so a ship with

The points cost of the hull integrity is twice the mass used.

28

Ship Design

grade 10 armour will be able to absorb a total of 10 damage

points with the armour before taking any damage to the actual ship structure.
The points cost of armour is twice the grade, 2 points per box.

PDS
Point defence systems have a mass of 1 and cost 3 points
each.
Pulse torpedoes

Screens
Screens require 5% of the ships mass for a level-1 screen system (one generator), and 10% for a level-2 screen (two generators), but with minimum requirement of 3 mass for level-1
and 6 mass for level-2 screens. Any ship up to mass 60 thus
requires 3 mass to install a level-1 screen system, while larger
ships require 5% of their total mass.
There are no level-3 screens. Additional screen generators
above two may be purchased at a cost of 5% mass (minimum
3) each and installed if desired, but will not be of use except
as backups to bring online if one of the main screens is lost
through damage.

The basic mounting for a pulse torpedo has a mass of 4 and

fires through only 1 arc. The torpedo may be mounted to traverse through up to two extra adjacent arcs for a maximum
total of three, requiring one mass per extra arc.
Pulse torpedo points cost is three times mass.
Needle beams
The needle beam is a 1 arc weapon. The mass is 2 and the
cost is 6 points.
Submunition pack

The points cost of a screen is three times the mass, minimum

of 9 points for level-1 and 18 points for level-2.

A submunition pack has a mass of 1 and fires through only 1

arc. The cost is 3 points.

9.9

Salvo missiles

Weapon systems

FireCons
A FireCon has a mass of 1 and cost 4 points each. AreaDefence Fire Controls (ADFC) have a mass of 2 and cost 8
points each.
Beams
Basic mass requirements of a given battery start at 1 for a
class 1, and double for each class increase so a class 2 takes
2 mass, a class 3 takes 4 mass, a class 4 takes 8 mass, and
so on. At 16 mass for a class 5 and 32 for a class 6, these
larger systems rapidly become non cost-effective for most
purposes.
Class 1 batteries are automatically capable of all-round (6
arc) fire at their basic mass cost of 1.
Class 2 batteries at their base mass of 2 are capable of 180
traverse, firing through any 3 adjacent arcs, and may be given
full traverse (6 arc) for an additional 50% mass cost (3 mass
rather than 2).
Class 3 batteries and above have only 1 fire arc (60 ) at their
base mass cost. Adding additional arcs of fire requires 25% of
the base mass per additional arc covered so a class 3 covering 3 arcs would require 4 + 1 + 1 = 6 mass, while a class 4
with the same traverse would require 8 + 2 + 2 = 12 mass. Arcs
must be adjacent.
Beams and all other weapons without 360 traverse must
have their fire arcs chosen when the ship is designed.
Beam point cost is three times mass.

If SMLs are fitted to a ship, the launcher itself takes 3 mass

while each salvo load carried in an internal magazine takes
up 2 mass for standard missiles or 3 mass for enhanced range
types.
An external SMR takes 4 mass for the complete rack including a standard missile salvo, or 5 mass for a rack with an ER
salvo.
Missile salvoes for SMLs take up magazine capacity at the
rate of 2 mass per standard salvo, and 3 per enhanced range
salvo.
The points cost of an SMR or SML system is three times the
total mass of launcher and magazine. No extra points are
paid for the actual missile salvoes.
9.10

Ship design procedure

Step 1
Decide on the overall size of your ship, the total mass rating.
Example: We are building a heavy cruiser sized vessel, and decide on a total mass of 86. The basic points cost will be the
same as the mass, ie 86 points.
Step 2
Choose the hull integrity for the ship.
Example: We decide to give our heavy cruiser an average hull
integrity. This will use up 30% of the total 86 mass, or 26 mass
(actually 25.8, rounded up). The points cost of the hull integrity will be 26 2 = 52. The chosen hull integrity gives the
ship 26 hull boxes that will be arranged in rows of 7/7/6/6.

29

Ship Design

Step 3
Choose and fit drives to the ship.
If selecting an FTL drive to give the ship an interstellar capability, this will require 10% of the total mass.
Decide on the required thrust factor for the ships main drive,
which uses up mass at the rate of 5% of total ship mass per
thrust factor.
Example: Our heavy cruiser needs an FTL drive, which will
require 10% of the total ship mass (8.6, rounded up to 9); we
also decide on thrust-4 for the main drive, which takes 4 5%
= 20% of ship mass (17.2, rounded down to 17). Total mass of
the drive package is thus 26, and points cost for the drives is
26 2 = 52.
We now have a hull with drive systems installed. The total
mass used so far is 26 + 26 = 52, leaving 86 - 52 = 34 for fitting
the ship out with other systems. The points cost so far is 86 +
52 + 52 = 190.

Basic hull
Hull integrity
FTL drive
Main drive thrust-4
sub-totals

86
26
9
17
52

86 pts
52 pts
18 pts
34 pts
190 pts

2 x beam-3 (3 arc)
beam-2 (6 arc)
2 x beam-1
2 x FireCon
SML
magazine (3 loads)
level-1 screen
2 x PDS
sub-totals

12
3
2
2
3
6
4
2
34

36 pts
9 pts
6 pts
8 pts
9 pts
18 pts
12 pts
6 pts
104 pts

mass 86

294 pts

Totals

The System Status Display for this ship is figure 10.

Step 4
Select the desired mix of offensive and defensive systems to
fit to the ship, according to its intended role. The mass and
points values of the various systems are set out in the systems
table.

Example: Our heavy cruiser is intended as a multi-role ship,

for both extended patrols and as a combat ship to support the
main battleline. Accordingly, we decide on a balanced mix of
offensive and defensive systems to cope with a wide variety of
possible threats.
We choose to fit two standard Fire Control systems, using 1
mass each and costing 4 points each. This leaves us 32 mass to
play with.
The main offensive punch of the ship will be a mix of beam
batteries and salvo missiles. We decide on two beam-3 batteries each bearing through 3 arcs (fore arc and two side arcs port
and starboard respectively, to give an overlapping coverage),
at 6 mass each; one beam-2 with all around fire (3 mass), plus
a backup armament of 2 beam-1 at 1 mass each. A single salvo
missile launcher is mounted forward, covering the front 3 arcs
or 180 zone) at 3 mass, with a magazine holding 3 standard
salvoes (3 x 2 = 6 mass). Total offensive systems mass is 6 + 6 +
3 + 1 + 1 + 3 + 6 = 26, with all offensive systems costing mass
3 = 78 points.
We have 6 mass left for defensive systems to protect the ship:
we decide on an active defence capability of two point defence
systems (PDS) at 1 mass each, leaving 4 mass to use up. We
could spend this on 4 boxes of hull armour, or alternatively we
could fit a level-1 screen generator for 4 mass. (5% of 86 = 4.3,
rounded down to 4). On balance, we decide the screen would
be of most value. Total defensive systems mass is 6, costing
mass 3 = 18 points.
So, the total systems fit for the ship is:

30

Figure 10: Heavy cruiser SSD

There are any number of different choices we could have
made when designing the cruiser example above: some may
have resulted in a better ship, some a worse one, though the
true value of any design depends on the threat it is facing at
any given time.
If we had wanted to give our cruiser a fighter complement,
we could have made space for this by dropping the SML and
magazine, giving us the 9 mass that one fighter group and
its hangar requires. Alternatively, replacing the SML and its
magazine with all beam weapons would have given us a ship
that could sustain its fire longer (as beams do not run out
of ammo like the SML systems do) but would not have been
able to deliver such a hard punch at the (preferably) vital moment in the battle!
We could have chosen to drop the hull integrity to weak
rather than average, saving us 9 mass that could have been
spent on armour or other systems; but then the ship would

Ship Design

only have had 17 damage boxes (arranged 5/5/4/4). Fitting

9 boxes of armour would have boosted its survivability considerably, but only until it met a weapon that penetrated the
armour and struck directly at its weaker hull. While it is of
course possible to optimise a ship or fleet to take on a specific
opposition, well balanced designs will more often be the best
option if your regular opponent always seems to use beamheavy ships then you might feel like leaving off things like
PDS and armour in favour of better screens, until next week
when new designs appear sporting SMLs and fighter bays!

9.11

Mass and points cost

Mass

Basic construction
basic hull
hull integrity
hull armour, per box
Cargo/passenger
Partial streamlining
Full streamlining
Drive systems
main drive
FTL drive
Weapon systems
beam-4 (1 arc)
beam-3 (1 arc)
beam-2 (3 arc)
beam-2 (6 arc)
beam-1 (6 arc)
SML
missile magazine

core systems

4
hull

main
drive

FTL

H
8

SMR
submunition pack
needle beam
pulse torpedo (1 arc)

10

cargo
hold

fighter
bay

armour

hangar
bay

Point defence system

Fire Control
ADFC
hangar bay, standard
hangar bay
level-1 screen

screen

ADFC

PDS

3-arc

2-arc
beams

FireCon

Old and new pulse

torpedo symbols

needle
beam

standard
ER
salvo missile racks

submunition
pack

1-arc

level-2 screen

total mass of ship

10+% of total mass
1
1 per space
10% of total mass
20% of total mass

1
2
2
None
2
2

5% total per factor

(minimum mass 1)
10% total mass
(minimum mass 1)

8, +2 per extra arc

4, +1 per extra arc
2
3
1
3 (launcher only)
2 per salvo
3 per ER salvo
4 standard, 5 ER
1
2
4, +1 per extra arc
maximum of 3
1
1
2
9 (space 6 fighters)
1.5 mass carried
5% total mass
minimum 3
10% total mass
minimum 6

3
3
6
9
3
9
3
3
3
3
6
3

3
4
8
27
3
3
3

Fighter types
All fighters require 1.5 mass of hangar bay space per fighter.
Standard is 6 fighters for mass 9 hangar. Points cost per group
of 6:
Standard
Heavy
Fast
Interceptor
Attack
Long range
Torpedo

SML
launcher

2 standard and
1 ER magazine

Figure 11: SSD symbols

Points

31

18
30
24
18
24
24
36

Vector Movement

thrusters are driven by the same power systems as the main

drive when the main drive takes damage, thruster power is
halved or lost accordingly.

10 Vector Movement
10.1

Vector movement system

This is a completely optional alternative movement system,

which players may use instead of the standard FULL THRUST
movement rules. To differentiate the two systems, the system presented here is referred to as Vector while the standard movement rules are termed Cinematic. While not being
a strictly accurate mathematical model of how things really
move in space, the system gives a reasonable feel of how
things should be done without the need for any complex calculations or excessive record-keeping.
Whether you choose to use vector movement or not will depend entirely on personal taste and whether it fits the particular background you are using if you are recreating a film or
TV series where the ships clearly do not move in a true vector
fashion, then you will obviously not want to use these rules.
Using the vector movement rules will become very straightforward once you are used to it, but we suggest taking a short
while to read through the rules and examples carefully, and
to plot a few movement examples out with a ship model to
get the feel of the system before starting your first game. Radical course changes become much more difficult to do under
the vector rules, especially at high velocities remember that
the faster you are moving, the less manoeuvrable your ship
will be under the vector system. It may also take you a while
to get used to the fact that the ship is not always pointing in
the direction it is moving!
If you are using the official GZG background, or one of your
own devising, then you may feel free to use either system at
the agreement of your players. It is perfectly possible to mix
both vector and cinematic movement in the same game, to
represent ships with different drive systems, older and newer
ships in the timeline, or different levels of technology. Each
ship simply follows the relevant rules according to its own
drive system.
Because the thrust ratings of ships are used in similar ways in
both systems, any given ship design may be used with either
movement system without modification.
Thrust rating
In addition to the main drive, all ships have thrusters: small
drives positioned in clusters around the ship, pointing forward, port, starboard, etc. The thrusters may be used to
push the ship to alter its course, or to rotate the ship onto
a new facing. (In reality ships would also of course have up
and down orientated thrusters, but as we are not concerned
with 3D movement in FULL THRUST we can ignore these except for their use in rolling the ship. We have not depicted
the thruster systems as separate icons on the ship diagrams,
in order that any design may be used with either movement
system without alteration.
All thrust, whether for main drive burns, ship rotations, or
thruster pushes, comes out of the total thrust factor of the
main drive. For the purposes of damage, assume that the

32

10.2

Course and facing

Under the standard cinematic movement, a ship will always

be facing in the same direction that it is moving; under the
vector system the ship may actually be moving one way and
facing another. The direction in which the ship is actually
moving is termed its course, while the direction in which
the ship is actually pointing is called its facing. The current
course is indicated by a small arrow marker placed next to
the ships stand, and this marker is also used as a reference
point during the process of moving the model. It should be
noted that the facing of a model should always be in one
of the 12 clockface points, though the mechanics of vector
movement mean that the course will usually not correspond
exactly to a clockface direction.
Main drive thrust
Each point of thrust applied in a turn will accelerate the ship
by 1 MU along the axis of the ship. If a ship facing in its direction of travel (ie its course and facing are the same) and currently moving 6 MU per turn applies 4 points of thrust from
its main drive, it will end up moving at 10 MU per turn. If
the ships facing and course are not the same (ie the model is
pointing one way and moving another) then the application
of thrust from the main drive will alter the ships course and
velocity. To decelerate using the main drive (as opposed to
using the forward retro thrusters), the ship must be turned
so that it is pointing backwards relative to its current course.
When writing orders for your ship, main drive thrust is written as MD followed by the number of thrust points being applied. MD4 will move the ship 4 MU in the direction of its
present facing.
Rotation
Rotation of a ship around its axis requires much less power
than actually changing its vector. When the thrusters are
used to rotate a ship onto a new heading, one manoeuvre
point from the thrusters allows the ship to be rotated by any
desired number of facing points. Thus, for the expenditure
of one point of thruster power a ship can be rotated to face
in any of the 12 possible facing directions, regardless of the
thrust rating of its drive. (The only difference between rotating 30 and rotating 180 is simply that once the thrusters
have started the ship spinning, the ship is allowed to rotate
for longer before the thrusters burn again to cancel the spin.)
Note that a rotation changes the ships facing only, and never
its course.
Note: when thrusters are used to rotate the ship onto a new
facing, several of the ships thrusters are fired in unison to
achieve the desired effect for example, to rotate the ship
to starboard it would fire the port forward thrusters and
the starboard rear thrusters simultaneously to spin the ship
around its centre of mass. It is assumed that, in the same

Vector Movement

turn, a compensating burst is applied as the desired new facing is reached in order to stop the ships rotation: the combined effect of these operations constitutes one rotation action.
Multiple rotations in a single turn are permitted, but 1 thrust
factor is used for each rotation, so a thrust-4 ship could, for
example, rotate to a new facing, do a thrust-2 burn with its
main drive, then rotate again to bring its weapons to bear at
the end of the turn.
Rotation orders should be written down as TP (turn port)
or TS (turn starboard) followed by the number of points of
heading change. TP2 indicates a rotation to port of 2 clockface points, 60 .
Example: The ship in figure 12 is facing in the same direction
it is moving (ie its course and facing are currently the same)
and its velocity is 10 at the start position. The player writes
movement orders of TP3, MD6. Firstly, the ship is moved along
its present course by 10 MU. It is then rotated 3 points (90 )
to port. Now it is moved along its new facing by the amount
of its main drive burn, ie 6 MU, to its final position. Finally,
the distance between start and final positions is measured
rounded to the nearest whole number it will be 12 MU and
this is recorded as the starting velocity for the next turn. The
course marker is moved up to the model again, parallel to the
line between the start and final.

Rotate 3
6 MU

Thruster pushes (side or retro) are limited to a maximum of 1

thrust point per turn from any one set of thrusters ie a side
push plus a retro push (1 thrust point each) is allowable, but
two side pushes are not.
Push orders should be written as PP (push to port), PS (push
to starboard), or PR (push in reverse). Pushes may only be
applied directly to port, starboard, or rearward relative to the
ships facing at that moment.
A thrust-4 ship could do a 1 point push to starboard, a 1 point
retro push, a rotate, and still manage a thrust-1 burn with the
main drive, in any order desired.
Example: The ship in figure 13 is facing in the same direction
as it is moving, and its currently velocity is 6 at the start. The
player writes movement orders of PS. First the ship is moved
along its present course by 6 MU. Now, the ships side thrusters
fire to push it 1 MU to starboard, to the final position, without
changing the facing. The distance between starting and final
positions is measured rounded to the nearest whole number
it will be 6 MU and this is recorded as the starting velocity
for the next turn. Lastly the course marker is moved up to the
model again parallel to the line between the start and final
positions.

12

10 MU

Final

its model pointing the same way as it started, although its

course may have changed. Pushes may be made to port, starboard, or reverse (using the forward retro thrusters to slow
the ship down without having to spin it around and use the
main drive). One manoeuvre point of thrust applied with the
portside thrusters will shift the ship 1 MU to starboard, but
for simplicity of play, this is referred to as a starboard push.
To avoid confusing orders we always use the direction of the
effect rather than the location of the thrusters being used.
Note that a push changes the ships course and/or velocity
only, and never its facing.

1 MU

U
6M

6 MU

U
Final

Start
Figure 12: Move and rotate

Start

Thruster pushes
A thruster push is firing a combination of manoeuvre
thrusters to alter the course and/or velocity of the ship, without affecting its actual facing. The ship ends the turn with

Figure 13: Thruster push

33

Vector Movement

Combining manoeuvres
The actual sequence in which thruster and main drive burns
are applied in a single turn will make a difference to the final
course and velocity of the ship, so it is necessary to rule on
what order things are done in. Each effect is applied to the
ship strictly in the order they are written down by the player.
If the player writes TP2, MD6 then the ship will first be moved
according to its starting vector, then turned 2 points to port,
and then moved 6 MU along its new facing. If, on the other
hand, the order was written MD6, TP2, thus applying the main
drive burn before rotating the ship to its new facing, then the
result will be very different in terms of the ships final vector and position plot each one out and youll see what we
mean!
The final position, course, and velocity would be measured
after all manoeuvres are completed.
Moving ships under the vector system
Once the orders are written by all players, all ships are moved
simultaneously in accordance with their starting vectors and
any relevant manoeuvre orders. When moving a particular
ship, always start by moving it according to its starting vector ie move the model in the direction of its present course
(as indicated by its course marker arrow) a distance equal to
its current velocity, being very careful to keep the facing of
the model exactly the same as at the start of the turn; at this
stage, leave the course marker in its starting position. Now
apply any thrust (main drive and/or thrusters) indicated in
the ships orders, making sure to apply each effect in the sequence it is written down. Where the model ends up after all
thrust has been applied is its finishing position for that turn.
Now place the tape measure or rule between the courser
marker and the ships final position, and read off the distance
this (rounded to the nearest whole MU) is the ships final velocity for the turn, and should be written on the order sheet
ready for the next turn. Finally, move the course marker up to
the stand of the model, with its arrow pointing in the direction of the ships new course ie parallel to the tape measure.
The ships vector at the start of the next turn will now be in
the direction of the course marker arrow, at the new velocity
written down.
Collisions
If there are any objects on the board that are deemed big
enough to pose a collision risk, such as asteroids or very large
space installations, such a risk will only occur if the line between the ships starting and final positions intersects with
the object. In effect, it is this line (as shown by the tape or
rule when measuring the final velocity of the ship) that most
nearly approximates the true path followed by the ship during the turn. The position of the ship model at any other
time during the movement sequence is merely for calculation purposes, and does not indicate that the ship actually
occupies that point at any time. Of course, even doing it this
way is an oversimplification of the true mechanics but we
feel it is close enough for game purposes!

34

Advanced Rules

11 Advanced Rules
11.1

Sensors and ECM

11.2

Advanced sensors

These optional rules for more advanced sensors can be used

for disclosing information about ship capabilities and status
to opponents.

The use of this optional rule allows a basic form of limited

intelligence to be brought into the game, to make the initial
fleet dispositions for a battle much more interesting and tactically challenging.

Advanced sensor suites are classified as enhanced or superior grade. Enhanced sensors require 2 mass, superior 4. The
points cost is mass 4, so 8 for enhanced and 16 for superior.

When the opposing forces enter the playing area, the actual
ship models are not placed on the table. Instead, each ship
is represented by a Bogey marker (either a simple counter or
something like a black globe made from a ping-pong ball).
These bogeys represent long range sensor contacts indicating the presence of a ship, but not revealing its exact type. All
that can be deduced about the ship is its general classification (escort, cruiser, capital, or merchant) from its detectable
drive emissions.

If enhanced or superior active sensors are used, the scanning

player also rolls 1 D6. If the ship is using enhanced active
sensors use the die score as rolled; for superior sensors add 2
to the score. The final adjusted score gives a result from the
table below:

Basic sensors immediately illuminate the ship using them

and the scanned ship, so models for both are placed on the
table.

1-2: No information disclosed

Each bogey marker should be identified with a code letter or

number, which the owning player must secretly note as representing one actual ship. The bogeys should also be marked
in some way to show the classification of ship they are representing. The easiest way to do this is with small adhesive
coloured stickers on the globe bases, using different colours
for escorts, cruisers, etc.
During the opening moves of the game, players write orders
and move their bogey markers just as if they were moving the
actual ships. (They must of course remain within the manoeuvring ability of the ship that each bogey represents.)
Bogeys may be revealed (positively identified and replaced
by the actual ship model) in one of two ways: either by passive or active sensor scans.

3: Mass only of ship disclosed, and whether military or

merchant
4: Data on mass, drive, and screen systems (original values)
5: Data on all onboard systems (original values)
6+: As for 5, plus current damage status and systems
functional, ie all data about vessel
The owner of the scanned vessel must disclose the required
information verbally to the scanning player. The information
should only be stated once per successful scanning attempt
it is up to the player to remember and/or note down information about the opposing ship.

Passive sensors are carried by all vessels, civil and military.

When any ship comes within 36 MU of an opposing bogey,
its passive sensor array can identify the contact firmly: replace the bogey with the actual ship. (If both ships are represented by bogey markers, then they are both revealed simultaneously.)

Obviously a degree of trust is necessary here that true information is being given if advanced sensors are being used in
a competitive game we suggest the umpire should check and
relay the information rather than the player.

All military vessels also carry basic active sensor arrays.

These are longer-ranged detection systems than the passive
sensors, but have the side effect that when they are operated,
the emissions from them will reveal the identity of the ship
making the sensor scan, as well as the ship being scanned.
They are acquired free as part of the hull and basic systems
and do not need an icon on the ship SSD.

These are optional rules for adding extra confusion and uncertainty to play. With the agreement of both players, each
side may deploy a number of dummy bogey markers alongside the real ones, representing drones equipped to output
the signature of an actual ship and thereby confuse the enemy as to the actual strength and disposition of the fleet.

The maximum range for active sensor scans is 54 MU. If a

player wishes to use active sensors on a ship, note this in the
orders for that turn. If the ship is still represented by a bogey at that time, reveal it and announce that it is making an
active scan. Escort ships may scan one opposing bogey per
turn, cruisers two, and capital ships up to three. The player
chooses which of the enemy bogeys to scan (of those within
54 MU range) and these must then be revealed.

11.3

Dummy bogeys and weasel boats

Each dummy bogey costs 20 points from the owners fleet

budget, and emits the drive signature of an escort class ship.
It can be moved on the table with the manoeuvring ability
of any main drive strength the owner chooses. The dummy
is simply removed from play as soon as it is scanned, either
with active or passive sensors.
The maximum number of dummies that may be employed in
any battle is equal to the number of real ships in the players
forces.

35

Advanced Rules

Weasel boats are an alternative to the drone decoys. These

are small manned ships (usually couriers or scouts, but larger
classes may be used if desired) that are equipped with systems designed to emit the signature of a much larger vessel.
A weasel decoy system requires 4 mass to emit the signature
of a cruiser class, 8 mass to emit the signature of a capital
ship. The points cost is mass 4.

11.5

Boarding actions

A boarding party is normally composed of part of the Marine

contingent from the attacking ship, specially equipped with
combat vacuum suits or powered armour.

While the weasel boat is represented by a bogey marker, that

bogey is labelled as if it were the classification that the decoy system is emitting. Once it is scanned, the true nature of
the ship is revealed. (The system can only confuse the initial
long-range information, not the close in sensors.)

To launch a boarding action the attacking ship must first be

brought close to the target vessel, so that it is within 6 MU
of it at the end of movement. The attacking ship must also
be travelling at a velocity that is not more than 1 factor different from the velocity of the target ship, and on a course
that is again not more than 1 point different from the targets
course.

The weasel boat can of course manoeuvre as a normal

courier, scout, or whatever class it really is, but remember
to restrict its moves to those possible for what it is acting as
your opponent may become just a little suspicious if a battleship suddenly makes a four point turn!

For example, if the target ship ends its movement at velocity

6, on course 4, a boarding attempt could only be made if the
attacking ship can get within 6 MU with a final velocity of not
less than 5 or greater than 7, and on a course between 3 and
5 (using the same 12 as the target ship).

11.4

This rule is to allow players a little leeway when it comes to

trying to match trajectory but not too much; it will still be
quite difficult to do so unless the ship you are attacking has
very little thrust available to evade with such as if you have
already crippled its drive.

Electronic counter measures

These additional optional rules allow players are also able to

use ECM (Electronic Counter Measures) to jam enemy sensors.
Ships may be fitted with individual ECM packages (to protect that ship only) at a mass requirement of 4 and a points
cost of 16. Alternatively, a ship may be fitted with an areaeffect ECM package that can also protect other nearby ships
against sensor scans, at a mass of 6 and points cost of 24.
It should be noted that, in general, area effect ECM is only
fitted to dedicated electronic warfare ships that would then
accompany a flotilla of non-ECM equipped vessels.
Individual ECM systems can only jam sensors aimed at the
actual ship carrying the system, while area effect ECM systems can jam sensor scans against any friendly vessel that is
within 12 MU of the ECM ship. While an individual or area
effect ECM system is in active use, the carrying ship (or any
ship covered by the area of jamming effect) also suffers the
jamming effects if it tries to use its own active sensors to scan
an enemy. (The jamming produces a blanket effect that inhibits all active sensor use, friendly and enemy.) For this reason, it is necessary to note in a ships orders for a given turn
that the ECM is active for that turn otherwise it is assumed
to be switched off.
When an active ECM system, individual or area, is protecting
a ship, the player owning that ship may make a D6 roll whenever an enemy tries to scan the ship with active sensors. This
die roll is then subtracted from the roll the scanning player
makes for sensor results, and the final figure applied to the
sensor table above. Thus jamming is not always effective if
a player is using superior sensors (+2) and rolls a 6 giving a total of 8, while the opposing player only rolls a 1 for ECM, the
final result will be 7; still enough to reveal everything about
the scanned ship.
If a player is trying to make a sensor scan while being effectively jammed by a friendly ECM, simply roll twice, subtracting the second roll from the (modified) first roll.

36

Once you have got your ship into the correct position to be
able to launch a boarding assault, the Marines may cross between the ships. They are assumed to do this either in small
assault pods specially made for such actions, or in their own
powered armour suits if they are equipped with them.
For the size of Marine forces available for boarding actions,
consider the marine detachment to have 1 boarding factor
per crew factor, each boarding factor representing a small
team. (The number of boarding factors is therefore equal to
the number of damage control parties that the ship has.)
If the ship has taken damage, it is safe to assume marine casualties are in proportion to other crew thus the available
boarding factors are always equal to the current number of
crew factors that the ship has left.
The strength of the defenders is determined in the same way.
We assume for simplicity that the same percentage of the
marines is available to defend as for the attackers, as the
rest have probably been seconded to damage control teams
and the like. Anyway, these are only supposed to be abstract
rules!
If the target is a civilian craft, it will be able to muster only
defensive factors equal to half the remaining damage control parties, rounded down this is because a merchant crew
will be much more poorly armed and equipped for combat.
(And remember that civilian ships already have fewer crew
factors than military.)
To resolve the combat between the attacking and defending
parties, roll 1 D6 per factor for each side and total their results. Thus if 4 boarding factors were up against 2 defending factors, the attacker would roll 4 dice and total the scores
while the defender would roll 2 and total them.

Advanced Rules

If either sides total score is more than twice the other players
roll, the higher scoring player has won the action. If this is
not the case, then the action continues with the lower scoring
force losing 1 factor and both sides then rolling again. (Obviously if this causes one side to lose its only factor, they have
lost.)
Thus in the example above, if the attackers rolled 2,5,1, and 3
for a total of 11; and the defenders were lucky enough to roll
6 and 6 for a total of 12, the attacking (boarding) side would
lose 1 factor, dropping them to 3. The combat would then
be rolled for again, but with the 3 attacking factors to the 2
defending.
The combat continues to be fought in repeated rounds like
this until there is a clear-cut winner who takes (or retains)
control of the ship. If the attacking party loses and is repulsed, they may return half (rounded up) of their surviving
factors (teams) of marines to their own ship. The remainder
are assumed captured or killed in the attempted withdrawal.
Should the boarding party win the combat, the surviving defenders are assumed to be locked below decks and a prize
crew will be sent over from the attacking ship to bring the
captured vessel fully under control.
(It must be noted that all of the boarding action is fought to
a conclusion in the space of the one game turn the action
does not carry over several turns.)

11.7

The surrender of an individual ship is a slightly different matter to the withdrawal of the complete fleet. There are many
possible circumstances where the captain of a ship may decide that, orders notwithstanding, the survival of the crew is
more important than continuing to fight in a hopeless situation.
One possibility is to make an extra roll at the same time as
any threshold check, using the normal scores for losing systems at threshold points, ie 6 the first time, 5 or 6 the second, etc. If the ship fails this roll then its captain decides to
strike the colours and surrender to the nearest enemy vessel. Whether this surrender is accepted is, of course, up to
the opposing player.
Using this rule can result in the surrender of a vessel that
has taken relatively little damage however naval history is
rife with precedents for this where colours were prematurely
struck due to damage suffered being grossly overestimated.
One point must be made here the use of this rule is strongly
dependant on exactly who the two fleets are; for example, if
using the FULL THRUST background then it is very unlikely
that any human ship would even attempt to surrender to a
KraVak or vice-versa, simply because they would not expect
to survive capture.

Of course, if you want to work out more detailed rules for

boarding that fit more accurately with the troop contingents
aboard the ships, feel free to do so. Boarding actions should
be sufficiently uncommon, however, that the rather abstract
system here will suffice in most cases.
11.6

Striking the colours

Fleet morale

The question of morale in naval games, whether SF or historical, is always a bit of a problem. Will a fleet fight to the
last ship, or will it turn tail and run (or even surrender) after
relatively few losses?
The answer to this really depends on the kind of scenario being played, as the reactions of the fleet and its overall commander will be heavily influenced by what is at stake. If a
force is defending a colony world against an invading fleet,
it may well fight to the death in a desperate attempt to protect the colony. On the other hand, if it is a meeting engagement in a relatively unimportant star system, then it would
be quite likely that the admirals on either side would consider the preservation of their own ships and crew to be quite
a high priority.
If playing a simple engagement (or a competitive game) then
we suggest that the loss of 50% of a players overall force
(calculated in mass of ships destroyed) would be enough to
cause the commander to withdraw from battle.
For other games we recommend that the level of losses to
force a withdrawal should be written into the scenario when
it is designed, bearing in mind the story-line being used.

37

Advanced Systems

When a ship is using a minesweeping system in active mode,

it may not use any offensive weapon systems in that same
turn; it may use defensive weaponry and any screens as normal.

12 Advanced Systems
12.1

Mines

The mines used in FULL THRUST are actually more like dormant missiles, small drones equipped with detonation beam
warheads. When a hostile ship (ie one not answering the correct IFF codes) comes within a certain distance of the mine
the warhead charge will detonate, directing a focused pulse
of energy into the target ship in the microseconds before the
mine itself is consumed by the blast. If the resulting beam
hits that target, it does similar damage to a close range hit
from a beam-2 weapon.
The detection range of a mine is 3 MU. Any enemy vessel
that enters this radius from the mine marker, at any point
during its movement, not just at the end of its move, will be
detected and fired on by the mine. Roll 2D6 and apply damage as for normal beam fire, reducing accordingly if the target
is screened. After a mine has detonated, remove its marker
from the table.
Minelaying
Ships equipped with minelaying systems may deposit mine
markers on the table during their movement phase. The
player must note in the order for that ship that it will deploy
mines in that turn by writing Mine in the order box.
Each minelayer system fitted may deploy one mine per turn,
so a ship with two mine systems may drop two markers during its movement, either both at the same spot or at different points. The mines may be placed anywhere along the
ships course during that movement. Ships dropping mines
are moved first after writing orders, so there can be no question of a player positioning mines in response to the enemys
movement in that turn.
Each minelayer system carries a number of mines as each
one is deployed, cross out one spot on the minelayer symbol.
A mine marker does not become active until the game turn
after the one in which it is deployed. Once placed, the marker
will remain on the table (completely stationary) until it detonates, or is cleared by a minesweeping system.
Minesweeping
Just as certain ships may be equipped to lay mines, so others
may be provided with systems to clear enemy mines safely.
To attempt to dispose of a mine marker, the minesweeping
ship must have its sweeper system activated by noting this
in its orders for that turn. It must then pass within 3 MU
of the mine during the course of its movement, and at that
point 1D6 is rolled. On a score of 1, the mine immediately
attacks the minesweeper, detonating and causing damage as
normal. On a roll of 2, the mine does not attack, but is also
not disabled; it remain in position and can attack other ships
as normal. On rolls of 3 to 6, the minesweeper system succeeds in disabling the mine safely: the mine marker is removed from play.

38

12.2

Ortillery

This is a planetary bombardment system used for ground

support fire from orbiting starships or monitors. It has no
function in space combat, and cannot be used as an antiship weapon. The use of this system is described in the DIRTSIDE II interface rules. If you are using FULL THRUST with a
different ground combat rules system then the rules given
should allow you to relate this weapon to your chosen game
with a little thought.
12.3

Wonder weapons

The intention behind these is to simulate certain special

weapons seen in certain TV series or films, to enable battles from those settings to be fought under the FULL THRUST
rules. As they were never meant to fit in with the basic game
system, they can do very weird things to the game balance.
We would strongly recommend that these systems are used
with discretion, and then only with the express agreement
of all players. They are not recommended for games where
there is any kind of competitive element in play or in fleet
design.
Please note that were not telling you not to use any or all
of these systems if you wish. Just be aware that their indiscriminate use may throw up anomalies in the game, and you
should be prepared to deal with these as you see fit.
Spinal mount nova cannon
This is probably the single most deadly system available;
however it does have its disadvantages as well by all means
experiment with fitting one to your largest ships, but dont
say we didnt warn you!
The nova cannon is a massive weapon that can only be
mounted in the spinal core of a capital ship, and fires only
directly forward not just through the fore arc, but actually
on the centreline of the ship only. In other words, the weapon
fires in whatever direction the ships bow is pointing.
Firing a nova cannon draws a massive amount of power from
the ships power plant. On the turn it is to be fired, the player
must note this in orders for that ship, and the ship may not
expend any other power at all for that turn: it may not apply any thrust, to accelerate or manoeuvre, may not fire any
other weapons, and even its screens do not function for that
turn! If the nova cannon is then not fired that turn, for any
reason, then its arming is lost and it must be re-armed the
next turn the player wishes to use it.
When the cannon actually fires, a massive railgun system
projects a huge round that consists of an uncontrolled
plasma generator and a powerful gravitic field system. The
projectile is hurled out to 6 MU in front of the ship (its minimum arming distance) and the core is detonated, with the

Advanced Systems

field holding the plasma long enough for it to form a selfsustaining reaction, like a miniature sun.
Place a 2 MU diameter template at the arming point (6 MU
from the ships bow) and then move the template 18 MU outward along the line of flight. Any and all ships or other objects that are contacted by the template during its flight immediately suffer 6D6 of damage! At the end of its total 24 MU
move, the template is left in place on the table. On the next
turn, at the start of the firing phase, the 2 MU template is replaced by a 4 MU one, which is then moved 24 MU along its
original course. Anything hit by this new template is subject
to 4D6 of damage. Finally, on the third turn, the 4 MU template is replaced by a 6 MU one which is then moved another
24 MU, damage from this template being 2D6. At the end
of the third turn of movement the nova reaction exhausts its
fuel and burns out the template is removed from play.
Neither screens nor armour affect a nova cannon.
Wave gun

tack from energy weapons such as standard beam batteries.

The interesting aspect of the reflex field is that it has the capability to actually return some or all of the attacking beam
energy back to its source, causing damage to the firing vessel!
This nasty little device may be activated in any desired turn,
but it must be written in the carrying ships orders that the
field device is to be activated. On any turn that the player
does not order the field to be in use, assume it is turned off.
The opposing player is not told of the fields status until the
ship is fired upon, by which time it may be too late.
If the reflex field is activated, the carrying ship may not use
any weaponry of its own that turn, thought it may move and
manoeuvre normally. Other specialised actions, eg launching or recovering fighters, are also prohibited while the field
is active.
When a ship with an operating reflex field is fired on by beam
weapons, roll for hits and damage in the normal way. Now
the player owning the target ship tells the attacker that the
ship has an active field, and rolls 1 D6.

The wave gun is a smaller and slightly less over-the-top variant on the nova cannon. The system fires a plasma charge
that expands as it travels along its line of flight, causing damage to any vessels in its path.

On a roll of 1 the field has no effect: full damage is applied to the target ship as normal.
On a 2 the field stops some damage: the target receives
only half the normal damage, rounded up.

As with the nova cannon, the wave gun may fire only along
the main axis of the carrying ship, ie in a straight line bearing directly forward along the ships current course. The ship
may not fire any other weaponry in the turn that it fires the
wave gun, and also counts as unscreened through its entire
frontal arc while the weapon is being fired.
The wave gun needs to be charged prior to firing. Each turn
that the player orders the weapon to charge, roll one D6 and
write the result down; when the accumulated rolls reach six
or more the weapon is fully charged and may then be fired at
any turn. Firing the wave gun totally discharges the capacitors, which must then recharge from zero again.
Unlike the nova cannon, the wave gun burst has a life of only
one turn. Its full range is 36 MU. Over the first 12 MU, move
a 2 MU diameter template along the line of fire, at 12-24 MU
the template expands to 3 MU diameter, and then from 24-36
MU it expands again to 4 MU diameter. This all happens in
the one turn, after which the template is removed. Any ship
touched by the template during its flight suffers damage: 4D6
at 0-12 MU range, 3D6 at 12-24 MU and 2D6 at 24-36 MU.
There are no defences against wave gun fire: neither screens
nor armour reduce the damage inflicted.
If the wave gun is knocked out by a threshold roll or a needle
beam hit while it is charging or charged, the carrying ship
suffers damage equal to the current charge in the weapons
capacitors. Note that a ship fitted with a wave gun may apply thrust or change course in the same turn that it fires the
weapon, unlike the nova cannon.
Reflex field
The reflex field is a variation on conventional screen technology in that it protects its carrying ship (partially) against at-

On rolls of 3 or 4, the field absorbs all the damage and

none is applied to the target.
On a 5, no damage is applied to the target, but half
(rounded up) is reflected back to the firing ship.
On a 6, the field reflects the full damage back to the firer!
Cloaking field
Cloaking fields are systems that render ships totally invisible and undetectable on all forms of sensors and visual
scanning. They are thus very useful under certain circumstances, but they have one big disadvantage as well: though
the cloaked ship cannot be seen, it also cannot see out. While
the cloak is active it is in its own little world, with no interface
to outside reality. (Bit like some gamers. . . )
The cloaked ship is thus reduced to navigating inertially,
based on the data it had when entering cloaking mode
it has no idea what is going on around it until it decloaks
again. The suggested way of simulating this is that when
a ship wishes to cloak the player must note this in orders
for that turn, and the number of turns the ship is to remain
cloaked, eg 3 turns. At the start of its movement for that turn,
the ship model is removed from the table and a marker of
some kind is placed to mark its location on entering cloaked
mode. This marker then remains stationary until the ship decloaks, when it can be removed. For each turn the ship is in
cloaked mode, the player writes movement orders for it exactly as normal, although of course nothing is placed on the
table to indicate its movement. After the required number of
turns in cloak have elapsed, the player returns to the cloaking

39

Advanced Systems

marker and proceeds to plot out all the moves written for the
ship while cloaked, finally placing the ship wherever it actually ends up. Properly planned it will still be on the table, if
not it may well be halfway into the next room!
Of course, the player has an advantage over the imagined
captain of the cloaked ship, in being able to see the flow of
the battle and writes orders accordingly however this is balanced somewhat by having to specify in advance the number
of turns in cloak, to prevent ships choosing to decloak just
because a juicy target has wandered into range.
This is just a rough idea for the system, and it may be tinkered with as much as you like in multiplayer games where
each participant has only one ship, it may be interesting to
try sending the player out of the room for the turns the ship
is cloaked so he or she really has no idea what is going on!
12.4

minelayer

minesweeper

Mass and points cost

Mass

Advanced systems
Minelayer
Minesweeper
Ortillery system
Enhanced sensors
Superior sensors
Weasel cruiser emitter
Weasel capital emitter
ECM system
Area effect ECM
Wonder weapons
Nova cannon
Wave gun
Reflex field
Cloaking field

Points

2
+ 1 per mine
5
3
2
4
4
8
4
6

6
2
15
9
8
16
16
32
16
24

20
12
10% total mass
minimum 10
10% total mass
minimum 2

60
36
6

ortillery
enhanced
sensors

cruiser decoy

superior
sensors

capital decoy

ECM

Area ECM

Nova cannon

Wave gun

10

Reflex field Cloaking device

Figure 14: SSD symbols

40

Terrain

13 Terrain
It may sound a bit odd to talk of terrain in a space battle,
but if you think about it there are a number of possible ideas
you can use to render certain parts of the table more difficult,
dangerous, or just plain different. The following are suggestions for a few features that you can have on the table to make
things a bit more lively than just the usual open space.
13.1

Asteroids

Ships cannot block line of sight or line of fire, in other words

you cannot hide one ship behind another, regardless of their
classes. However, there are some bodies (such as asteroids or
small planetoids) that do have a significant size in relation to
the playing area and therefore are able to block lines of fire,
movement, and sensor detection.
If asteroids are to feature in a particular game, we must first
define exactly how they interrupt sighting and firing. If you
are using round or spherical objects to represent the asteroids then it is simple: any line between two ships that crosses
any part of the asteroid is blocked.
If, however, you are using irregularly shaped asteroid models,
such as foam chunks, then it is necessary to mount them on
bases (perhaps 1 or 2 MU across, depending on the asteroid
size). A line between two ships is then blocked if it crosses
any part of the asteroids base, which saves any disputes that
could be caused by the irregular shape of the asteroid model
itself.
If the line of sight between opposing ships (between base
centres of models, remember) is blocked by an asteroid,
those ships may not fire at each other with any beam or torpedo weapons, or place salvo missiles along that line. Fighters and similar may still fly around the asteroid to attack as
normal.
Sensor scans are also blocked by asteroids. At the start of the
game, some ships may be hidden behind bodies in an asteroid field; they are represented by bogey markers in the usual
way for unconfirmed contacts, but do not have to be revealed
until an enemy ship comes within scan range and can get a
clear line of sight onto the bogey. (Note this blocking applies
equally to active scan attempts as to passive.)
Asteroids can also be a serious hazard to navigation, especially if the field is moving relative to the play area and ships
are attempting to travel too fast. If any part of the ships
movement causes it to intersect with an asteroid, there is the
possibility of the ship crashing into it. To find if the ship manages to avoid a fatal collision, subtract the ships total available thrust rating from its current velocity; the number that
results must be equalled or exceeded by the roll of 1D6 in order for the ship to avoid hitting the asteroid.

Note that if the needed number for avoidance is 1 or less,

then the ship is automatically able to avoid a collision; if the
number is greater than 6, then a crash is inevitable!
When any ship, regardless of its class, hits an asteroid, the
ship is completely destroyed. Ramming a billion tons of rock
at any speed is not recommended, even in a superdreadnought! The implication of this rule is simple dont try to
manoeuvre big ships near asteroid fields, youll regret it.
13.2

Movement of asteroids

If a field of asteroids or other planetoids is present on the table, it may either be stationary (ie all bodies remain in fixed
positions on the table throughout the game) or else the field
may be moving in relation to the playing area (which is much
more fun).
If you wish to use a moving asteroid field, all bodies in the
field will move at the same speed, and in the same direction,
each turn of the game.
Roll at the start of the game to determine the direction and
speed of the fields drift: the direction (course) should be
rolled on a D12 with a D6 used to give the speed of drift in
MU. Rolls of 9 and 4 would mean all asteroids will drift 4 MU
each turn along a course facing of 9.
The movement of the asteroids is carried out each turn, after all players have written their movement orders but before
any ship models are actually moved.
Please note that if an asteroid moves into or through a ship,
this counts as just the same as if the ship was moved to intersect with the asteroid, and is resolved in the same way. Note
that fighter groups, if used, can always avoid collisions with
asteroid bodies, but may also use them to hide behind just as
ships can.
Damage to asteroids
The normal rules assume that asteroids cannot be destroyed
by weapons fire. (Or even by ships impacting with them.)
However, you may give each asteroid a large damage point
value (perhaps 50 for a very small chunk, 100 for a larger one,
etc) and then allow players to fire on them. When an asteroid
is reduced to zero damage, it disintegrates into 1D6 smaller
chunks, which all move at random courses and speeds out
from the point of destruction. Try to avoid that lot. . .
13.3

Dust or nebulae clouds

These have the following effects:

Example: If a cruiser with a thrust rating of 4 is travelling at

velocity 9 and its movement intersects with an asteroid body,
subtract the thrust (4) from the velocity (9) to give 5. Thus a 5
or 6 must be rolled for the cruiser to evade the asteroid on a
roll of 4 or less, exit one cruiser!

1. Travel through a cloud is restricted to a maximum safe

velocity of 12; any ship attempting to exceed this in a
cloud will suffer potential damage roll 1 D6 and apply
damage as for beam weapons fire. Screens offer no protection, but hull armour does.

41

Terrain

2. Clouds inhibit beam weapons and fire control lock-on:

when attempting to fire at a ship in a dust cloud, or if
the firing ship is itself in a cloud, roll a D6 after nominating the target. On a roll of 1-3 the dust has prevented
a successful target lock-on and the ship may not be fired
at. On a 4-6 the shot may be fired as normal, but if
using beams treat the target as having one screen level
higher than normal due to beam attenuation caused by
the dust. (Screen levels above 2 remain at 2.)
Note that this rule may, if desired, also be used to simulate
the effects of ships operating in the fringes of planetary atmospheres, such as when skimming gas giants.
13.4

Solar flares

Flares may occur at random, perhaps diced for each turn, if

the battle is happening fairly close to a very active star. They
may be assumed to affect the entire table, or just a specific
area as the players desire. Any ship that is caught in a flare
rolls 1 D6 for each of its FireCons and sensor systems (if the
advanced sensor rules are being used), adding 1 to the score
per active screen level. On a score of 4+ the system is undamaged, otherwise it is knocked out due to damage to sensory
antennae, etc.
13.5

Meteor swarms and debris

These may cover areas of between 6 MU and 12 MU diameter

(or other shapes/sizes at players discretion) and may be stationary on the table or moving in a similar way to the moving
asteroid rules.
Any ship that enters or is hit by such a meteor swarm or debris field has 1 D6 rolled for every full 6 MU of velocity, with
the actual score rolled equalling the (penetrating) damage
sustained. Up to velocity 5 = no damage, 6-11 = 1 D6, 12-17 =
2 D6, etc.
This rule may also cover the effects of the debris in the rings
of a ringed planet, in which case a large arc of it could be
depicted on the table to cause all sorts of problems!
13.6

Battle debris

When a ship is destroyed by enemy fire, ie reduced to zero

damage points or less, it may simply become a drifting hulk,
or may actually explode into a cloud of debris.
To determine if this happens, note the amount of excess
damage inflicted (over that required to reduce the ship to
zero points) and roll a D6. If the score is less than or equal
to the excess damage then the remains of the ship explode.
For example, if a ship has 2 hull boxes left and suffers a further 5 points of damage, a die roll of 5 - 2 = 3 or less will cause
it to explode.
An exploding ship creates a cloud of debris 2 MU in diameter
for an escort, 4 MU for a cruiser, or 6 MU for a capital ship.
The debris cloud exists for only 1 turn after the explosion,
during which it moves on the same course and velocity as the

42

ship was travelling at the point of destruction. In this turn

any ship encountering the cloud treats it exactly as for the
meteor and debris rules given in the section above. After the
one turn the debris is assumed to have spread out sufficiently
to present little risk to other ships, and is removed from play.
These are just a few ideas for the effects of spatial phenomena. Mostly they are pure space opera (ie very high PSB factor) and anyone who has seen a few episodes of the typical
science fiction television show will doubtless be able to think
of lots more!
Depicting spatial phenomena
The various effects suggested above may be represented on
the table by means of pieces of card, cloth, acetate, etc; cut
to the relevant sizes for the affected areas. Meteors and debris clouds can be depicted by small cork-bark chips or even
gravel spread over the required area. Explosion templates
may be made if desired for destroyed ships, which if suitably
graphic (lots of red and orange explosion effects!) can be very
effective.
13.7

Starbases

Some games and scenarios may call for the use of starbases,
orbital defence installations and similar non-powered space
constructs. As the possible sizes and designs of such installations are so varied, the rules that follow are simply guidelines to allow you to design and use such equipment. If you
really want to build something like the Death Star youll have
to work out the stats yourself!
Movement
Generally, starbases and installations can be treated like asteroids for purposes of movement, ie they can be either fixed
(stationary relative to the play area) or can be moving on a
pre-determined course and speed each turn.
The mass of such installations can be virtually anything
large starbases will have mass ratings of several hundred with
damage points to match. Most installations can be considered as unpowered ships and outfitted with weapons and
systems accordingly, using the warship rules for military stations and the merchant rules for civilian/scientific bases and
habitats. All systems fitted must be paid for in the normal
way, including the overall hull cost, but of course you do not
have to pay for any FTL or normal space drives. Installations
may mount screen systems just like ships, and may carry any
weapon in the rules including fighter groups.
An installation can have an SSD, but requires no movement
orders.
Ships may, if desired, dock with installations, although this is
unlikely to be done during combat. To accomplish a docking,
the ships movement orders must be planned so that it ends
up within 2 MU of the installation at the end of the turn. If the
installation is stationary, the ship must also come to a dead
stop within 2 MU in order to dock. In the case of a moving

Terrain

installation, the ship must exactly match both course and velocity with the station at the end of the turn. On the following
turn, the ship may be taken as docked with the installation.
One full turn is also required to cast off and undock again,
after which the ship may manoeuvre away from the installation as normal.
While a ship is docked to an installation the ship may be fired
on as normal unless it is actually docked internally. (Some
very large stations will have bays large enough to take smaller
vessels.) An externally docked ship is, however, protected by
any screen systems that the installation has while docked. A
ship docked to an installation, internally or externally, cannot fire any of its own weaponry or operate its own screens.

Typical installation types

1. Military system defence installation: mass 200, 50%
hull. Normally equipped with screens and at least four
fighter groups, plus a powerful mix of weaponry.
2. Orbital research station: mass 160, 25% hull, 10% for
weapon systems. Usually a screen and some defensive
weaponry.
3. Starbase (small orbital facility for minor colonies): mass
400, 25% hull, 10% weapon systems. Well equipped with
screens and defensive weaponry, often able to dock two
or three ships of up to mass 20 in internal bays. May
carry one or two fighter groups for local defence.
13.8

Figure 15: A large starbase

dice equal to the number of hull box rows the destroyed section had. In the example, if the Fore section were to be destroyed then the sections on either side and the core would
each suffer 4D6 points of damage.

Really big bases

For very big installations and bases, a good way of dealing

with them in game terms is to consider them as several separate sections joined together, with each section having its
own independent damage points, firecons, and everything
else.
Figure 15 shows an SSD for a station divided into seven sections six sections of its outer disc and a central core section. When fired on, we suggest that fire from ranges of 18
MU and greater hits a section of the station determined at
random, while fire from closer than 18 MU may be specifically targeted at a chosen section.
In the example given in the diagram, it seems logical to give
each of the outer sections a limited fire arc for its weapons
while the central core has all-round fire capability.
Very large sections may use five or more rows of damage
boxes, adding one extra row per 100 mass above 400. When
rolling for threshold point damage at the end of a row, the
score required starts at 1 on the first as usual, increases to 1-3
by the third row, then remains at 1-3 for all following threshold rolls.
As a final suggestion, if one section of a multi-unit station
is totally destroyed (reduced to zero damage points) then all
adjacent sections take immediate damage. Roll a number of

43

Planets

14 Planets
While asteroids and small planetoid bodies were covered earlier, no mention was made of actual planets and moons. If
you wish to play a scenario where the action is in close proximity to a planet, we suggest the following rules.
Planets and other large bodies may be represented on the table with any suitably sized round or spherical object, with
the ideal size being that of a dinner plate or a large football.
(Soccer ball to our American readers, as an American football
would give a very odd shaped planet severe gravitational
stresses, maybe?). A plate or card disk may be placed flat on
the table, though a well painted sphere or half sphere looks
very impressive. The actual size can vary according to how
big the planet/planetoid is supposed to be we are not going to define any scales, as they are quite obviously ludicrous
compared to the ship models. Just treat everything as abstract and symbolic!
Once you have your planet, you can define the optimum orbit distance from its surface. Simply measure the radius of
the planet model or marker, and the orbit is a circle of twice
this radius.
Example: In figure 16 the planet is represented by a 12MU diameter (6 MU radius) disc, so the orbit would be 24 MU diameter (12 MU radius). Ships would thus orbit in a circle around
the planet, 6 MU above the planetary surface.
When in orbit, a ship must be travelling at a velocity equal
to the orbital distance above the surface. In this example,
ships would orbit at a velocity of 6 MU per turn. To move a
ship around the orbit, simply measure around the arc with a
flexible tape and move the model the required distance.

Enter orbit
velocity 6

(section 14.3. If it accelerates to above the orbital velocity it

will leave orbit and move normally, in a straight line at the
clock face heading that is the closest tangent to its orbital
path.
(Note here to the armchair physics brigade: yes, this is dreadfully abstract, oversimplified, and in some places just plain
wrong; but it is easy to use and gets the right feel in game
terms. If you really want to do all the math and work it out
properly, go ahead. . . )
While in orbit, the ship does not have to have any course
change orders written for it, the player simply notes that it
is in orbit . Any velocity change will cause the ship to leave orbit, either down or up.
For simplicity, gravitational effects on ships that are not actually in orbit are generally ignored, but if you want to plot
the gravity well around the planet and apply varying results
according to proximity to it, by all means do so!
14.1

Entering and leaving orbit

As noted above, to leave planetary orbit a ship has simply

to accelerate to above the orbital velocity; it will then move
away from orbit on a tangential course, as illustrated in the
diagram.
To enter orbit, a ship must approach the planet at the correct
orbital velocity. When it reaches the orbital distance from
the surface, it may (without expending thrust on turning) enter an orbital path, which may be clockwise or anticlockwise
around the planet. This is another great simplification, but
trying to position your ship at the correct tangential course
to the planet seems too difficult a way of doing it, and frankly
not worth the hassle.
If the ship hits the orbital distance at less than the orbital velocity, it will enter an automatically decaying orbit and start
to enter the atmosphere. If it arrives with greater than the
correct velocity it will ram straight into the atmosphere in an
uncontrolled entry you have been warned!

In orbit

Using table edges

Figure 16: Orbiting a planet

If you do not actually want to represent planets on the table, a

valid alternative is the system designed by Jim Webster. One
edge of the table is defined as deep space, and the opposite
edge is the planetary orbit. To safely enter orbit, a ship must
exit the planetary edge through a small window marked on
the table edge say 6 MU wide at a given velocity or less.
This velocity must be specified to suit the scenario, but we
would suggest it should be no greater than 6. If a ship exits
the planetary edge at greater than this velocity, or misses the
window, it will suffer an uncontrolled atmospheric entry.

If the ship decelerates to less than the orbital velocity, its orbit will decay and it will start to enter the atmosphere for
the effects of this see the rules on atmospheric operations

Using this system, the deep space edge of the table can, if
desired, also be considered to represent the safe jump limit
from the planetary gravity well.

Leave orbit
velocity 7+

44

Planets

14.2

Atmospheric streamlining

Add 1 for every 1 point of velocity in excess of safe orbital

velocity.

The great majority of starships are not built to ever enter a

planetary atmosphere or attempt to land; most are assembled in space and spend all of their operational lives there,
using shuttles and other interface craft to carry personnel
and cargo to and from planetary surfaces. Such ships are
characterised by their totally unstreamlined structure and
often square, blocky, or fragile looking designs.
Some ships, on the other hand, are built to operate in atmosphere as well as in deep space, to varying degrees of
efficiency. A vessel that is fully streamlined is completely
atmosphere-capable, and can fly like an aerospace craft.
Other ships may be classified as partially streamlined, which
gives them some capability of atmospheric operations and
landing, usually by sheer brute thrust from their drive rather
than any kind of aerodynamic lift.

Add 1 for every full 6 MU distance by which orbital insertion window was missed.
Add 1 if ships drive is damaged (half normal thrust), or
add 3 if drive knocked-out.
On a final result of 2 or less, the ship manages to miraculously survive a ballistic entry, and crash-lands on the planetary surface. The chances of survival for crew/passengers
and subsequent events are up to the individual scenario.
On a final score of 3 to 5, the ship burns up in the upper atmosphere, but there is enough time for any interface craft
(shuttles, dropships, etc) or fighters on board to attempt to
launch. Roll for each small craft on the table below.

For an average world with roughly earth-like gravity, a fully

streamlined ship requires a thrust rating of at least 4 to allow it to operate in an atmospheric or interface mode; on the
same world, a partially streamlined ship would need at least
thrust 6 to enable it to safely land and take off. These figures can be adjusted for other planetary sizes and gravities
as players wish.

On a final score of 6 or above, the ship burns up and all crew,

passengers, and equipment on board are lost.

The provision of a streamlined hull to permit atmospheric

operations consumes some of a ships available mass. This
represents the necessary aerofoils, control surfaces, and
heatshields as well as the reduction in usable internal capacity caused by the streamlined hull shape.

On a 1 or 2, does not manage to launch or else launches

but is unable to control its entry and burns up. Either
way, it is destroyed.

14.3

Emergency interface launch

Roll 1 D6 per interface craft or group of fighters:

On a 3 or 4, successful launch and a semi-controlled entry, ending up force-landing at a random destination.

Atmospheric entry

On a 5 or 6, a controlled entry and ends up in the correct

place for the intended landing.

A ship may enter planetary atmosphere for a number of reasons: if the ship is fully or partially streamlined, it may enter
atmosphere deliberately in order to land on the worlds surface. Alternatively, a ship of any configuration may be forced
to enter atmosphere due to either a decaying orbit, caused by
attempting to enter orbit at too low a velocity; or approaching a planet at too high a velocity and/or missing an orbital
insert window.
To make a deliberate safe atmospheric entry, a ship must first
enter orbit as described above and then decelerate to less
than orbital velocity. It will then make a controlled descent
and enter the atmosphere. Provided its drive can provide sufficient thrust for its configuration, it may be assumed to enter successfully and be able to make a safe landing. A ship
entering atmosphere with a suitable velocity and configuration, but insufficient thrust available, will make a safe entry
but will then crash-land. The effects of this are up to the individual scenario being played.
If a ship makes an uncontrolled entry into atmosphere, roll a
D6 and apply the following modifiers:
If the ship is non-streamlined, add 4.
If partially streamlined, no modifier.
If fully streamlined, subtract 2.

45

Settings for Full Thrust games

15 Settings for Full Thrust games

15.1

Tournaments

Full Thrust was never intended to be a competition style

game when it was written; it was designed to be a simple
system for enjoyable, friendly games or even to resolve large
space battles easily for use with other game systems or roleplaying. However the systems inherent simplicity and flexibility, coupled with the very easy to use design mechanisms,
have proved it a suitable basis for tournament and competition play.
The most important point to remember when trying to use a
rules system such as FULL THRUST to run competition games
is that, as a deliberately open and generic system designed
for players to modify as they wish, some aspects of the rules
are far too flexible to let the dreaded greater spotted rules
lawyers loose on without specifically closing up some loopholes first.
The notes that follow are intended as a guide to anyone wishing to organise FULL THRUST competition games, and as such
may themselves be modified or totally ignored as you prefer!
Ship design and fleet composition
There are several ways of dealing with ship design for competitive games.
One is to run a limited game in which players are allowed to
use only the specific ship designs given in the FULL THRUST
fleet books, with no modifications, changes in weapons, etc.
The players have the freedom to select any ships from the
classes provided, up to a maximum points limit set for their
fleet; and possibly with limits on classes as well, for instance
no more than half points spent on capitals, or a requirement
to have 2 cruisers and 2 escorts for each capital. This should
give a game where the tactics of play decide the victor, rather
than who can stretch the design rules to the furthest limit!
An even more limiting but quite useful idea is to actually give
each player a fixed, identical force that way you are really
finding out who is the better tactician (or just luckiest with
the dice). This method can be effectively used for enter on
the day competitions where players do not have to bring
their own fleets along, but use one provided by the organisers.
Another is to have an open contest, where players are allowed to modify their ships to suit their own preferences and
ideas of what is most effective.
For open games, all weapons and systems described in the
rulebook may be permitted. Whether the organisers wish to
allow the use of any of the additional ideas from supplements
or fleet books is up to them, but we strongly suggest they try
them out for themselves a few times before permitting them
to be used in competition we make no guarantees about
what they will do to the balance of play!

46

We recommend that players providing their own fleets of

models should be required to have an identification somewhere on the base of each model that not only contains its
actual ID number or letter but also describes the specific ship
class: frigates labelled FF, light cruisers CL, and so on. This
permits the opposing player to have some idea of the supposed mass of a ship, regardless of what kind of model is being used to represent it.
Size of fleets
We suggest that for most competition play the fleets should
be kept fairly small to allow a game to be played to completion in a reasonable time. The ideal size is probably around
1500 points in total, though fleets as small as 1000 points can
still be effective. Forces of over 2000 points will probably be
a bit large unless plenty of time and table space is available.
Type of game and scenario
Most historical competition gaming is of the both armies
line up facing each other and advance to beat the **** out
of the opposition type of scenario. Although rather uninspiring, this kind of game is certainly the easiest to use as it
avoids the problems of balancing a specific scenario to give
an equal chance to both contestants. Simply play the game
as a meeting engagement with each fleet entering from a
different table edge at a pre-agreed velocity. Note that it is
not necessary to have the players approaching from opposite table edges; it is probably more valid to have them enter
from the two corners of the same edge, on slightly converging vectors, as though the two fleets were trying to intercept
each other by matching trajectories.
A bit of extra fun can be introduced by a few randomly placed
asteroids on the table moving ones if the organisers are really feeling nasty.
Of course, it is possible to use a more involved scenario for
competitive games if you are prepared to design it very carefully, but be aware of the potential difficulties.
Suggested special rules and limitations
1. No FTL drive entry or exit may be attempted at any time
during the game assume the battle takes place too
deep in a gravity well. All ships, however, must be FTL
capable: system defence ships are not permitted.
2. No stationary installations are permitted, unless part of
a specific scenario.
3. Sensor rules may be used at the organisers discretion,
either simple or more detailed. In general, we recommend that no sensors or bogies are used, all ships being
in plain view at all times.
4. If an umpire (or ideally two) is available, we suggest that
after the players have written their movement orders
their sheets are handed to the umpire(s) who then actually move the ships according to their interpretation
of the written orders. The decisions of the umpire(s) are

Settings for Full Thrust games

final regarding any dispute over ship positioning. This

prevents any deliberately vague order writing and creative flexible movement by some players (not that you
would even think of such a thing, would you?)
5. Ships leaving the table, either deliberately or by accident, may not return at any time during the game.
Please note: competition organisers are hereby granted permission to reproduce limited portions of the Full Thrust books
as necessary for defining special rules to be used in competition, including the copying of ship SSDs and quick reference
sheets. Permission is specifically not granted, however, for the
reproduction of full or partial versions of the actual rules of
play for the purpose of supplying these to entrants or for any
other purpose.
15.2

Other backgrounds

Although it is perfectly acceptable to play a one-off battle

without any thought being given to the background setting of
the action, having some idea of the origins and intentions of
the fleets involved does give an extra dimension to the game.
The official FULL THRUST background is just one possibility
among countless ones drawn from films, television, novels,
and (not least) from the players own ideas and imaginations.
Several of the more famous movies and series will naturally
spring to mind, but we hope this section will also guide you
towards some less obvious settings.

Another enormous area of possible background material is

to be found in Anim (Japanese animation) and its printed
relative, Manga. There is a huge wealth of science fiction
settings here just begging to be used, especially as several
of the films and series feature lots of spacecraft and some
titanic battle sequences. Some particular examples are SU PERDIMENSIONAL FORTRESS MACROSS , SPACE CRUISER YAM ATO , GALL FORCE , GUNBUSTER , and the lesser-known LEG END OF THE GALACTIC HEROES (which features some of the
most amazing massed capital ship engagements you could
wish for). Many, of course, feature that perennial Japanese
favourite: the Very Big Robot or Mecha. These can range
from the reasonably sensible smallish types used in MACROSS
and MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM up to the really silly huge ones in
GUNBUSTER great fun if you suspend your disbelief and take
it all at face value.
If you want to use the very large Mecha types we suggest that
these are treated as ships in their own right, and use the normal design rules with perhaps a few special tweaks for their
unusual nature. Smaller Mecha may be treated much like
fighters, operating in groups of up to 6. Given many Mecha
designers love of using lots of missiles, it would be reasonable to use submunition packs and salvo missiles as the major weapon type on Mecha of all sizes. (And perhaps work
out a smaller, shorter ranged submunition system for the little Mecha fighters.)
One very Anim weapon has been included in these rules:
the Wave Gun ( page 39) was strongly influenced by the very
big weapon systems used in several shows and films, including YAMATO.

We cannot actually print rules for using FULL THRUST to simulate the battles in some of the better known settings, as they
are already licensed to other game companies. Many players have created rule ideas and conversions that feature ships
with pointy-eared first officers and very Scottish chief engineers, and most of these ideas play very well; with a little
thought most of you should be able to come up with something very similar.

(For a very good reference on Anim starships, look for a copy

of Mecha Press magazine, issue no. 9, produced by Ianus
Publications, 2360 de LaSalle Ave, No.211, Montreal, Canada.
This particular issue contains an in-depth look at many Anim spacecraft, including statistics from which FULL THRUST
designs can be easily extrapolated. The issue also gave us a
nice plug for FULL THRUST itself thanks, guys!)

So, what about the sort of alternative backgrounds that we

are allowed to print?

15.3

Well, a particularly unusual but thought-provoking one is the

Victorian Science Fiction theme taking as its basis the idea
that, in an alternative history, space travel becomes possible
in the era of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. By the close of the
19th century mankind has got a fair way towards exploring
our own solar system, using spaceships made of boiler plating and lots of rivets! This sort of background can be played
very simply using just the basic FULL THRUST rules the
smaller ship classes become the little gunboats and torpedo
boats, the capital ships huge lumbering space ironclads. For
added flavour, rename the weapons with something more
period the pulse torpedo becomes the Truscott-Ridley
Mark III Ether Torpedo Discharger. You can tinker with the
rest of the rules as much or as little as you like, but remember to really ham it up while playing: English gentlemen (It
was hell Carruthers, fourteen weeks in space without even a
trouser press), monocled Prussians, unwashed anarchists,
and all the other stereotypes you can think of!

Humour

Some players take their gaming far too seriously. FULL

THRUST is an ideal antidote to an overdose of serious gaming, and it is very unusual not to have participants rolling
around in laughter after someone cracks a particularly awful
SF clich.
There is quite a lot of good SF humour around in books, television, and films from which to gain inspiration for running
some really silly games. Just remember when running this
sort of game that humour is generally more effective in small
quantities a little satire can often hit the mark much better
than a pie in the face joke. If you go too far over the top the
game will degenerate into chaos, whereas a few well-timed
bits of silliness will liven up the evening no end.
If you do want the game to degenerate into chaos, it is traditional in any humorous GZG game for sheep to be present,
if not actually the greatest threat to humanity. No walking
balls of wool, these sheep range from the merely savage and

47

Settings for Full Thrust games

carnivorous to the twisted unnatural flocks that worship Primordial Horrors From Beyond Space and Time. If you find
yourself in a scenario with the mission objective being to to
defend Baabylon 5 against the forces of Baath Vader, expect
the worst!
15.4

Background and timeline

FULL THRUST was written from the start as a generic system,

that is, it was not set in any specific Future History but instead provided a rules framework for players to fit into whatever background they preferred whether from a book, film,
another game, or just their own ideas.

For completeness, we do include an optional background

setting. This optional nature cannot be over emphasised:
there is a full setting and history provided here if you wish
to use it. If you prefer to ignore it completely and use your
own ideas, then all the better! For too long, gamers have
been spoon-fed by certain companies into believing that
they should only set their games in the official universe for
that system.
Please treat the background just like any of the advanced
rules; if you like it, by all means use it if you dont, then write
your own and ignore anyone who tries to say youre doing it
wrong!
(Like all science fiction future histories, the real world has
diverged since this was first published.)
The Road to the Stars
Following the break-up of the former Soviet Union in the
early 1990s, the first part of the 21st century was a time of
unprecedented peace for the major countries of Earth. Peace
did not necessarily mean prosperity, however, as worsening
economic and ecological problems continued to beset many
nations; minor confrontations and brushfire wars persisted
between the smaller powers despite valiant efforts by the
United Nations to maintain stability and mediate in disputes.
By the 2020s, the economies of the USA, the former Soviet
states, and many of the poorer nations of Europe were looking decidedly shaky. Increasing industrialisation in South
America, Asia, and parts of Africa began to show dividends
for those countries in the world markets, while Japanese
technological innovation continued to expand at a virtually
exponential rate.
Ironically, one of the most horrific events ever to be perpetrated on humanity was itself to prove the stepping stone to
its greatest advance. On April 23rd, 2027, the state of Israel
was effectively wiped from the face of the world by a series of
terrorist-planted nuclear and biochem weapons detonated
in or near all of its major cities and military installations.
Those areas not reduced to radioactive slag were rendered
uninhabitable by fallout and chemical agents, and casualty
figures were estimated at 73% within the first twelve hours
after the attacks.
The events of 23rd April shook the world, in a literal as well
as political sense. No less than fifteen separate Islamic fringe

48

groups claimed responsibility in what they called the final

victory; the sheer horror of their act seemed to so overwhelm
public opinion the world over that the UN was thrown into
confusion, unsure of how to react, or who against. Initial
cries for massive nuclear retribution gradually died away as
it was realised that retaliatory genocide was as pointless as
it was globally dangerous. In the end it was the remnants
of the Israeli military and intelligence services that exacted
some small shreds of revenge, when the leaders of nine of
the terrorist groups responsible were systematically exterminated over the first week of May, regardless of the nations in
which they had taken refuge.
As the Jewish peoples of the world began to pull themselves back together, many groups swore oaths of undying
vengeance against the forces of Islam; others, however, began to look for ways to rebuild. Their homeland might
be gone, but their nation lived on in communities scattered
throughout the world, as it had lived in their hearts and
minds for centuries before. In 2029 the Gilderstein Foundation in New York began a recruitment programme for the
greatest mathematicians, engineers, and theoretical physicists in the world, offering huge salaries and incentives for
the best people. Purchasing a small island off the Philippines
in 2032, the Foundation (with massive technical support and
funding from several Japanese megacorporations) initiated
its visionary programme: to break free from the confines of
the solar system, and find a world on which to found the New
Israel, the second Promised Land.
There followed many years of false starts and dead-ends
for the Foundations work, while the economic situation the
world over fluctuated wildly. Early in 2045 the Eastern states
of the Russian Commonwealth were subject to border incursions from the increasingly hostile Beijing government, and
in 2046 South Korea fell to a lightning strike by North Korean
and Chinese forces. Again the UN dithered, its major supporters too busy with worsening internal affairs to actively
intervene. The Asian unrest culminated in January 2047 with
the Third Russian Revolution, in which a Chinese-sponsored
coup returned Communism to several of the states of the
Commonwealth and declared the formation of the Eurasian
Union. By mid-2047 the only Commonwealth states clinging to freedom were the Ukraine, Byelorussia, and the Baltic
States, the remainder of the former USSR being firmly in the
grip of Beijing.
On the other side of the world, the USA was also faring very
badly. The staggering economy finally collapsed in 2049, followed immediately by the downfall of the Federal government, precipitated by the assassination of President Amy
Koslowski in the bombings of the White House by an unknown group. As the US began a rapid descent into anarchy
and state feudalism a group of senior officers under Air Force
General Parham declared the formation of a military government from NORAD headquarters. This apparent coup was
violently opposed in many states, and the situation began to
deteriorate further towards a second civil war.
In 2050, General Parham requested UN military involvement
to quell the uprisings in over twenty-six states, but the UN
was still preoccupied with the problems in Eurasia and re-

Settings for Full Thrust games

fused direct intervention. Finally the military government

turned to Canada and Britain, the latter having been steadily
reforging its traditional links with the USA over several years
due to growing disillusionment with the French-dominated
European Community. At first the British and Canadian
governments were reluctant to become too involved, until
September 2050, when separatist elements in Florida carried
out a limited nuclear attack on North Dakota. A week later,
a large task force of British and Canadian troops arrived in
the US and supported the national military in seizing control of most of the nuclear installations throughout the nation. The pacification of the United States was to take another six years, and led to the formation in 2057 of the Anglian Confederation, uniting the former US and Canada under the British Crown, the office of Lord Governor being established to oversee the rebuilding of the North American
economy and industrial base. Despite Parham being the obvious candidate for the post, public opinion and media pressure resulted in Admiral Dewsbury (USN) being appointed as
the first Lord Governor in July 2057.
Meanwhile, the Gilderstein Foundation had been continuing
its work on its isolated and fortified atoll, seemingly oblivious
to the world-shattering events taking place elsewhere. Having moved all its funds to Japanese banks some years earlier,
the Foundation was unaffected by the US collapse; in 2058 a
report was leaked to several scientific journals that indicated
a breakthrough was imminent. Shortly afterwards the Foundation used EuroSpace launch facilities to put an extensive
lab module at the L5 Lagrange Point. In 2059, the L5 lab simply disappeared from all Earth and orbital sensors; a significant energy discharge was registered at the moment of disappearance, but no remnants or debris were ever located.

15.5

Human history 1992 to 2183

By the dawn of the 22nd century the human colonisation of

nearby star systems is well established following the development of the jump drive in the 2060s, but mankind has still
not learned to put aside conflict. Instead, the expansion to
the stars has simply given humanity a much bigger area over
which to fight. The discovery of the first few habitable worlds
around other stars caused a frenzied landgrab by almost all
nations of Earth, each trying to secure their own piece of the
new real estate thus most of the nearer worlds (the Inner
Colonies) each have numerous small settlements from different nations and alliances. This, of course, means that all
the rivalries and hatreds of the various political and ethnic
groups have been exported to the new worlds along with the
emigrants it does not take many of these groups long to decide that they need to fight their neighbours as well as their
new environments. . .
The two largest power blocs on Earth and in colonised
space are the New Anglian Confederation (NAC), a primarily British-controlled alliance encompassing Canada and the
former USA which grew out of the rubble of the Second
American Civil War, and the Eurasion Solar Union (ESU)
which is the Chinese dominated Sino-Russian bloc. The
United Nations, by now very much an independent body
with its own resources and military forces, continues to try to
keep some kind of lid on the simmering pot of international
(and now interstellar) relations.
2014 Britain withdraws from the United Federal Europe following the
Spanish invasion of Gibraltar.
2018 Nicholas III crowned Czar in St. Petersburg as the Romanovs
return to Russia.

It was 2026 before the Foundation revealed to the world press

that two of its top researchers, Dr. Theodore Krensberg and
Dr. Mai Tsukuda, had been lost in the L5 disappearance
while working on the final development of their Spatial Displacement System, the prototype for what is today known
simply as the FTL drive (although technical personnel continue to refer to it as the Tsukuda-Krensberg drive, or TK
drive, in honour of its inventors.)

2023 Creation of the UFE sponsored Economic Union of African Republics (EUAR) in central and southern Africa. Arab African
countries remain outside of the Union.
2027 Destruction of Israel by Islamic terrorist action.
2032 The Gilderstein Foundation purchases an island off the Philippines, and with technical and financial support from Japan embarks on its research programme into FTL travel.

In May 2063 it was announced that the Foundations first

functional trans-solar probe was ready for a test flight.
Twenty days later the probe returned from Barnards Star
with enough photographs and sensor data to convince even
the most sceptical scientists that Einsteins theories had
been, if not broken, then at least cleverly circumvented.

2042 The EUAR follows the example of the UFE and becomes a federal super-state the Pan-African Union (PAU).
2043 The House of Saud completes its suppression of its fellow Arab
states and creates the Islamic Federation.

The loss of three out of five of the following probe missions

due to unexplained causes delayed sending of a manned
mission until 2067. In that year, on the 8th of July almost
98 years since mans first footsteps on the moon Captain
Yoshida Mifune and Dr. Gloria Vandenberg, on board the
FTL Probe ship Shalom, became the first human beings in
recorded history to leave mankinds nursery and reach out
for the stars.

2045 Heavy fighting on the Sino-Siberian border as the Beijing government presses long redundant border claims against a financially and politically bankrupt Russia.
2047 A Beijing sponsored coup in Moscow results in the return of
Communist government to Russia and several of the Commonwealth republics. The Czar and a sizeable military force flee to
the Ukraine, which along with Byelorussia and the Baltic States
remains free. The communist states then create the Eurasian
Union; the remaining Commonwealth states create the Romanov Hegemony.

Condensed from Breakaway Mans Road to the Stars by Thomas

Yokuna-Falken, published by New Anglian EPress, Down, Albion,
22/10/2152.

49

Settings for Full Thrust games

2049 The US economy collapses, followed by the federal government

as the president is assassinated in the bombing of the White
House. General Parham declares the creation of a military government.
2050 Parham requests UN military involvement to restore order in
the US. The request is denied. The military government turns
towards Britain and Canada for help. The pacification of the
former USA begins.
In South America, the US inspired Organisation of American
States collapses and is replaced by the Brazilian/Argentinian
dominated League of Latin American Republics.
Philippines conquered by Indonesia and assimilated into the
new Indonesian Commonwealth. In response to the growing
Indonesian threat, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea,
and a number of South Sea Island states create the Oceanic
Union.
2051 The Eurasian Union crosses the Himalayas and invades the Indian sub-continent.
2054 The remainder of Indo-China falls to the forces of the Indonesian Commonwealth.
2057 Britain, Canada, and the United States unite under the Crown
and create the Anglian Confederation. Admiral Dewsbury appointed Lord Governor of the territory previously known as the
United States of America.

2104 The Treaty of Saarbrucken brings a conclusion to the FSE/NSL

war, confirming territorial boundaries on Earth and the Inner
Colonies and establishing spheres of influence in the Outworlds.
The pease accord is sponsored by the UN and NAC, and although neither of the protagonists is really happy with the outcome they are both too economically weakened by the war to
protest effectively.
2110 War breaks out between the Indonesian Commonwealth and
the Oceanic Union in Papua New Guinea. Generally a low intensity war, it is notable for the widespread use of grav vehicles
as major combat weapons for the first time on Earth.
2112 The Sydney Accord ends the Papua New Guinea war.
2123 Islamic Federation and ESU forces clash on Earth as the ESU
massacres many Muslims in an anti-Islamic pogrom in the Indian sub-continent. Diplomatic efforts result in an escalation of
full scale war being averted.
2124 Expanding interests on the colony worlds and the difficulty of
maintaining strong centralised control forces some liberalisation within the ESU. Poland and Czechoslovakia petition to join
the ESU as economic partners, considering themselves to have
been poorly treated by the NSL.
2127 The balance of power within the ESU shifts away from Chinese
domination as the Union Government is moved from Earth to
the mainly Russian-settled Nova Moskva.

2059 The Gilderstein Foundations L5 Lab disappears from orbit.

2062 The Foundation reveals the true nature of the disappearance of
the L5 Lab.
2063 The first trans-solar probe is launched to (and returns from)
Barnards Star.
2067 The Gilderstein Foundation sends the first manned FTL mission
out of the solar system.
2069 Both the Anglian Confederation and the UFE launch FTL craft
and begin the colonisation of space.
2070 With help from the UFE, the Islamic Federation, the PAU, and
the Romanov Hegemony all launch FTL craft.
2072 The Eurasian Union launches its first FTL ship and renames itself the Eurasian Solar Union.
2075 The LLAR launch their first FTL craft, as does the Indonesian
Commonwealth.
2096 Founding of New Israel on Garden world in the Epsilon Indi
system.
2099 First settlement of Albion by Anglian Confederation colonists.
2101 The struggling and unstable United Federal Europe finally disintegrates as Germany, Austria, and several East European states
agree to form the Neu Swabian League (NSL) in protest at continued French domination of the UFE. In response, France and
the remaining members of the UFE (notably Italy and Spain)
dissolve that organisation and reform as the Federal Stats Europa (FSE). War breaks out between the NSL and the FSE over
border area claims and counter-claims.
2102 The Netherlands, which had been at best an unwilling associate
member of the FSE since the UFE collapse, breaks all ties with
the FSE. Refusing an offer of alliance from the NSL, the Dutch
reassert their independence.

50

2128 LLAR mercenary forces hired by the Indonesian Commonwealth clash with Anglian forces on Earth against their employers will. The Indonesians execute the entire force in a move designed to conciliate the AC. The LLAR protests at the outrage and
attacks the Indonesian Commonwealth. The Mercenary War, as
it becomes known, lasts four years with both sides employing
large contingents of mercenary and volunteer forces to complement their existing arsenal.
The Islamic Federation and PAU clash over spheres of influence
in space. The FSE enforces a peaceful solution.
2130 Shiite fundamentalists declare independence from the Islamic
Federation on their Outworld settlements of Abu Mana and Sad
Al Bari. The two colonies declare the formation of the Saeed
Khalifate, and in efforts to raise much needed hard currency
soon begin to utilise their armed forces as mercenary units for
hire.
2132 ESU and Anglian forces skirmish on Chi Draconis VII as
both powers continue to expand their colonial settlement programmes. Over the next five years such border skirmishes become more frequent, especially in the minor colonies and Outworlds.
2133 Radical French separatists in the colony settlements of Bretonneux, Doullens, and Compville declare unilateral independence
from the FSE. Elements of the Colonial Legion are sent to quell
the insurrection.
2135 The Anglian Confederation moves its Parliament to Albion,
which now has a population almost as large as England thanks
to massive immigration and engineered population growth. The
reigning monarch, King Charles V, divides his time between
palaces in England, Vermont, Ottowa, and Albion.
2136 The Anglian Confederation renames itself the New Anglian
Confederation and revises its constitution to include all related
colonies as independent members.

Settings for Full Thrust games

2137 The Eurasian Solar Union declares war against the New Anglian
Confederation due to the hostile actions and intents of the imperialists. Five years of intense warfare known as the First Solar
War follows throughout the inner colonies and the Outworlds.

2173 The Sumani IV incident: ESU and NAC peace negotiators assassinated by an Islamic Federation terrorist attack. Years of distrust between the two powers lead to them blaming each other
and failing to identify the real culprit.

2142 The Accord of Freisland brings the First Solar War to an end,
with the Anglians hailing it as a major victory while the ESU licks
its wounds and considers its next move. Human Space enjoys an
all-too-brief period of relative peace.

2176 Archaeologists discover the remains of a non-human civilisation on a rim world planet in Indonesian space.
2177 A sudden ESU fleet attack on the Anglian Nagisa system signals
the start of the next hot phase of the Third Solar War.

2143 The United Nations Space Command (UNSC) is formed to forbid space conflict in the core systems, and provide a peacekeeping force where required in the inner colonies. Pressure by several major powers results in the UNSC having no mandate to
operate in the Outworlds, except in a scientific research capacity.
2145 A surprise strike against the Romanov Hegemony by ESU units
heralds the outbreak of the Second Solar War. This time more
major powers are quickly dragged into the conflict, with the NAC
and NSL supporting the RH against the Communist Aggression while the FSE and the PAU enter the war on the Eurasian
side. UNSC presence prevents the war intruding on the core systems, although combat occurs on several inner colonies.
2154 The FSE concludes a peace treaty with the NAC, NSL, and RH
alliance and withdraws from the Second Solar War. The PAU
makes a last abortive attempt to retake Grand Lahou before joining the peace negotiations.
2157 Following long negotiations, the Treaty of Khorramshahr brings
the Second Solar War to an end.
2159 California and Texas declare themselves independent from the
NAC, and claim all rights to the colonies on Austin and Fenris (which they rename New Pasadena). After much diplomatic
protest and sabre-rattling, plus a few token military strikes,
the NAC accepts the declaration and the Free Cal-Tex (FCT) is
formed.
2163 Islamic fundamentalists seize power in New Riyadh, murdering the remaining members of the Saudi royal family. Loyalist
elements attempt to regain power in a two year civil war but
fail. The Islamic Federation becomes increasingly hostile towards both the NAC and the ESU.
2165 The Third Solar War breaks out as NAC forces launch a
blitzkrieg attack to regain worlds lost to the ESU following the
Treaty of Khorramshahr. Initial successes falter as the FSE joins
the ESU, providing men and materials as well as money to hire
mercenary contingents from the Indonesian Commonwealth
and the LLAR.

2183 The UNSC survey cruisers McCaffrey and Niven are lost while
on a mission in the outworld rim; the UNSC despatches the
PeaceForce cruiser Heitman to investigate, and identifiable debris from the Niven is located showing signs of combat. There
is no trace of the McCaffrey or any hostile forces; all spacegoing
nations deny any involvement in the incident, and public speculation grows that the UN is suppressing information about the
unknown aggressors . . .

Situation update: 2183

The political situation in human space as of 2183 is a highly
unstable one. The major power blocs of the ESU and NAC
are locked in a decades-long war of attrition punctuated by
sudden bursts of renewed fighting, while many of the smaller
spatial and Earthbound powers are involved in minor wars,
skirmishes, and disputes of their own.
The UNSC has so far managed to carry out its primary function, that of preventing space warfare (and thus the risk of
planetary bombardment) in the core systems of Sol, Centaurus, and Barnards Star. It has, however, been largely ineffective in its secondary role as a peacekeeper in the multinational inner colonies. The Outworlds minor colonies and
outposts, mainly claimed by single nations are suffering
badly from the effects of the Third Solar War and the consequent disruption of the trade and commerce which is their
lifeline.
The recent disappearance of the two UNSC survey ships has
caused a storm of panic speculation among the media, with
the sensationalist press screaming headlines of Aliens from
Beyond the Rim. . .

2166 The Third Solar War escalates further as the NSL attacks the
bordering FSE frontier. Mercenary forces from New Israel are
hired by the NAC. The Romanov Hegemony attacks the ESU and
refuses safe passage for Indonesian or LLAR mercenary units
through its space.
2169 Sponsored by NAC agents, the French separatists in Bretonneux and Doullens overthrow the Federal forces and proclaim
the New French Republic.
2170 Compville joins the New French Republic, which is still denied
any kind of diplomatic recognition by the UN due to FSE pressure.
2171 The war enters a relatively quiet phase, with most protagonists
involved in little but minor skirmishing and diplomatic posturing. The major powers use the next few years to consolidate
and rebuild their depleted forces, and an uneasy state of peace
within war ensues.

51

2008 GZG. Permission granted to copy for personal use.

Scenario SSDs and counters

Frigate
X

Frigate

Frigate

Z
6

Cruiser

Cruiser

B
2

2
1

Turn 1
Cruiser A

V: 6

Cruiser B

V: 6

Frigate X

V: 6

Frigate Y

V: 6

Frigate Z

V: 6

52

2008 GZG. Permission granted to copy for personal use.

12

11

10

Course and
Fire Arc gauge

Vector
course markers

Bogey

Bogey

Bogey

Capital

Escort

Cruiser

Merchant

Bogey

Bogey

Bogey

Bogey

Bogey

Mine

Mine

Mine

Mine

Mine

Mine

Capital

Escort

Cruiser

Merchant

Bogey

Bogey

Bogey

Bogey

Mine

Mine

Mine

Capital

Escort

Cruiser

Merchant

Mine

Mine

Mine

53

GZG Miniatures

FT-1405 Austin destroyer

The FULL THRUST starship miniatures line now

includes over 200 different models. For sales in
the UK, Europe, the Americas, but not Australasia, please contact GZG at the address below.
Customers in Australasia should contact Eureka
Miniatures.
Ground Zero Games
www.gzg.com
Email: [email protected]
Eureka Miniatures
www.eurekamin.com.au
Email: [email protected]
The partial list here is as accurate as possible at
time of writing (August 2008) but availability of
every model cannot be guaranteed.
EURASIAN SOLAR UNION ( ESU )

IMPERIAL JAPANESE STAR FLEET

FT-1301 Wakizashi light fighters

FT-1302 Ninja scoutship
FT-1303 Bakemono strike corvette
FT-1304 Ashigaru patrol frigate
FT-1305 Soyokaze destroyer
FT-1306 Arashi light cruiser
FT-1307 Ronin patrol cruiser
FT-1308 Samurai heavy cruiser
FT-1309 Kesshi battlecruiser
FT-1310 Yamato battleship
FT-1311 Musashi super battleship
FT-1312 Shogun command dreadnought
FT-1313 Hiryu light carrier
FT-1314 Akagi super carrier
FT-1321 Katana heavy MMCF fighters
FT-1321A Katana fighters - MECHA mode
FT-1322 Naginata strikeboat
FT-1324 Shoya sensor picket
ISLAMIC FEDERATION

FT-1001 Djinn light fighters

FT-1003 Khabar corvette
FT-1004 Al Hawar frigate
FT-1005 Saladin destroyer
FT-1007 Patrol cruiser
FT-1008 Heavy cruiser
FT-1010 Sword of Islam battleship
FT-1012 Dreadnought
FT-1013 Battle carrier
FT-1021 Ghazi heavy fighters
FT-1022 Al Shaulah strikeship

FT-201A Kilo fighters

FT-201B Katya fighters
FT-202A Lenov scoutship
FT-203 Nanuchka class II corvette
FT-204 Novgorod frigate
FT-205 Warsaw destroyer
FT-205A Volga super destroyer
FT-206 Tibet light cruiser
FT-707 Beijing escort cruiser
FT-208 Gorshkov heavy cruiser
FT-208A Voroshilev heavy cruiser
FT-209 Manchuria battlecruiser
FT-210 Petrograd battleship
FT-211 Rostov battledreadnought
FT-212 Komarov superdreadnought
FT-213 Konstantin attack carrier
FT-214 Tsiolkovsky light carrier
FT-221 Kisha heavy fighters

MERCHANT, SURVEY, AND SUPPORT SHIPS

FT-302 Clarke exploration/survey cruiser

FT-305 Hamburg heavy modular star freighter
FT-305A Star freighter extension unit and cargo pods
FT-306 Bustler space tug
FT-307 Antares inner system shuttle
FT-308 Medium freighter
FT-309 Medium freighter alternative
FT-310 System defence cruiser
FT-311 Bremen freighter
FT-314 Schwarzwald heavy freighter
FT-316 Short-haul light freighter
FT-317 Light tanker ship
FT-318A Medium freighter, type A bridge
FT-318B Medium freighter, type B bridge
FT-319 Heavy modular freighter
FT-320 Light personnel shuttles

FEDERAL STATS EUROPA ( FSE )

FT-601 Mirage IX fighters

FT-602 Mistral scoutship
FT-603 Athena corvette
FT-604 Ibiza frigate
FT-605 San Miguel destroyer
FT-605A Trieste super destroyer
FT-606 Suffren light cruiser
FT-607 Milan escort cruiser
FT-608 Jerez heavy cruiser
FT-609 Ypres battlecruiser
FT-610 Roma battleship
FT-611 Bonaparte battledreadnought
FT-612 Foch superdreadnought
FT-613 Bologna light carrier
FT-614 Jeanne DArc fleet carrier
FT-621 Camerone heavy fighters
FT-622 Requin strike boat
FT-625 Hydra destroyer

NEW SWABIAN LEAGUE ( NSL )

FT-501 Adler fighters

FT-501A Wulf interceptors
FT-502 Falke scoutship
FT-503 Stoschen corvette
FT-504 Ehrenhold frigate
FT-505 Waldburg destroyer
FT-505A Waldburg/M destroyer
FT-506 Kronprinz Wilhelm light cruiser
FT-507 Radetzky escort cruiser
FT-508 Markgraf heavy cruiser
FT-509 Maximilian battlecruiser
FT-509A Richthofen battlecruiser

FREE CAL - TEX

FT-1401 Long Horn fighters

54

FT-510 Maria von Burgund battleship

FT-511 Szent Istvan battledreadnought
FT-512 Von Tegetthoff superdreadnought
FT-513 Der Theuerdank fighter carrier
FT-514 Kaiser Fredrich light carrier
FT-521 Wespe heavy fighters

NSL XENO WAR NEW CONSTRUCTION

FT-522 Strikeship
FT-523 Corvette
FT-524 Frigate
FT-525 Destroyer
FT-526 Light cruiser
FT-527 Escort cruiser
FT-528 Heavy cruiser
FT-529 Battlecruiser
FT-530 Battleship
FT-531 Battledreadnought
FT-532 Superdreadnought
FT-533 Light carrier
FT-534 Super carrier
FT-535 Missile destroyer
FT-536 Orbital assault ship
FT-537 Escort carrier
FT-538 Attack cruiser
FT-539 Strike carrier
FT-540 Heavy battleship
FT-542 Scoutship
FT-545 Heavy destroyer
FT-546 Type II light cruiser
FT-547 Type II escort cruiser
FT-551 Light fighters
FT-552 Heavy fighters
FT-561 Fleet replenishment tender
FT-562 Fleet refuelling tender

NEW ANGLIAN CONFEDERATION ( NAC )

FT-101 Firestorm I fighters

FT-101A Firestorm II fighters
FT-102 Harrison scoutship
FT-103 Arapaho corvette/lancer
FT-104 Minerva frigate
FT-105 Ticonderoga destroyer
FT-106 Huron light cruiser
FT-107 Furious escort cruiser
FT-108 Vandenburg heavy cruiser
FT-109 Majestic battlecruiser
FT-110 Victoria battleship
FT-111 Avalon battledreadnought
FT-112 Valley Forge superdreadnought
FT-113 Inflexible light fleet carrier
FT-114 Ark Royal fleet commander super carrier
FT-121 Phantom heavy fighters
FT-121B Heavy fighters
FT-123 Lancer
FT-124 Tacoma heavy frigate

OUTRIM COALITION ( ORC )

FT-1201 Fighters
FT-1204 Frigate
FT-1205 Destroyer
FT-1206 Light cruiser
FT-1208A Type A heavy cruiser
FT-1208B Type B heavy cruiser
FT-1208C Type C heavy cruiser
FT-1210 Battleship
FT-1220 Defence outpost
RAVAGERS

- RIM PIRATES

FT-X01 Attackers
FT-X02 Raiders
FT-X03 Cruiser
FT-X04 Raider Type II
FT-X05 Carrier
UNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND ( UNSC )

FT-1101 Dauntless fighters

FT-1102 Hermes diplomatic courier
FT-1103 Warrior battle corvette
FT-1104 Hunter frigate
FT-1104A Lawkeeper patrol cutter
FT-1105 Lake destroyer
FT-1106 Mountain light cruiser
FT-1107 Bay escort cruiser
FT-1107A Bay Mk II escort cruiser
FT-1108 River heavy cruiser
FT-1109 Point battlecruiser
FT-1110 Luna battleship
FT-1111 Sea battledreadnought
FT-1112 Gaia superdreadnought
FT-1112A Sol extended range superdreadnought
FT-1113 Star light carrier
FT-1114 Constellation heavy carrier
FT-1115 Visionary deep range explorer
FT-1116 Fleet replenishment tender
FT-1117 Comet escort carrier
FT-1118 Storm fast strike cruiser
FT-1121 Defender heavy fighters

Not shown are the alien KraVak, Phalon, and SaVasku ships
for FLEET BOOK 2, and the GF Range of miscellaneous craft
and accessories.
GZG and Eureka Miniatures also offer Fleet packs which offer a considerable saving over the cost of buying the ships at
individual prices.

OCEANIC UNION ( OUDF )

FT-901 Fighters
FT-905 Destroyers
FT-906 Light cruiser
FT-908 Heavy cruiser
FT-911 Light carrier
FT-921 Heavy fighters

55