Colonial Battlefleet
Second Edition
v. 1.0
By Harry and Leslie Pratt
Introduction
BSG: Colonial Battlefleet is intended to replicate the feel of space combat as it appears on the new Battlestar Galactica show that airs weekly on the SciFi channel.
To play the game you will need:
- Miniatures or counters to represent the spaceships
- Miniatures or counters to represent missiles and torpedoes (a lot of them!)
- Several each of six sided, eight sided, ten sided, and twelve sided dice (d6,d8,d10,d12)
Note: In some places you will be required to roll one or more d9’s. To roll a d9, roll a d10 normally, but treat the 10 as a zero.
- Printouts of the ship combat record for each ship participating in the battle
- A battle mat marked in hexes large enough to accommodate your ship models/counters*
*Colonial battlestars are assumed to take up 2 hexes in this rule set.
The game is designed to be simple to learn and fast paced, yet still provide an engaging tactical experience that will provide countless hours of fun.
The object of the game is to destroy your enemy’s fleet. The cylons accomplish that by hanging back with their carriers and sending wave after wave of missiles and fighters at the colonial fleet, possibly accompanied by Cylon battleships, trying to overwhelm the Colonial defenses.
Conversely, the colonials want to get in as close as possible to the cylon base carriers so that they can pound them into so much scrap with their powerful rail guns.
You may also wish to create scenarios with other objectives as well, perhaps based on sequences from the show, such as the battle at Ragnar Station, or simply scenarios you dream up yourself.
Playing the Game
The simplest way to learn BSG: Colonial Battlefleet is simply to walk through each step of game play and explain the rules that pertain to it.
When you have started with the Game Effects phase, and proceeded all the way through the Damage Control phase, you have completed a turn. Unless you are playing a certain scenario, there is no set limit to how many turns each game lasts. You will find that in the early and late stages of the game, the turns are completed fairly quickly as there is not a lot that takes plave in any individual phase. Towards the middle of the game the turns tend to stretch out a little as many ships are taking lots of actions.
Experienced players should be able to complete a small task force on task force game within 2 hours at most, assuming only one player per side. If instead you have multiple players per side with each player controlling a single capital ship and its accompanying fighter squadrons, the game will be somewhat longer. An additional hour for each experienced player per side is probably a good rule of thumb.
On to the game!
Turn Sequence
- Game Effects
- Roll Initiative
- Capital Ship Movement
- Capital Ship Shooting/Missile & Torpedo Deployment
- Missile Movement
- Capital Ships Deploy Fighters
- Fighter Movement
- Fighter Shooting
Game Effects
During this phase, ongoing special damage results are applied or and or appropriate rolls are taken. If it becomes relevant which order Game Effects are applied, the side that won initiative the previous turn chooses the order.
Special scenario rules can also be handled during this phase after all other game effects have been applied. Examples could include asteroid drift, gravitational attraction towards a black hole or other space object, and so forth.
Roll Initiative
One player from each side (Cylons and Colonials) rolls 1d12 for the entire side, re-rolling ties. The side that rolls the highest wins initiative for the entire turn.
Capital Ship Movement
The side that lost the initiative roll must move all their capital ships before the winning side moves theirs.
Normal Movement
Each capital ship has a speed value. This is the number of hexes that ship can change its velocity each turn. At the beginning of the game all ships start with a carry-over velocity of 2. The first turn each ship may then adjust its velocity up or down by its speed value before making its move. Its current velocity is then recorded and carried over to the next turn. A ship may never have a negative velocity, ships always move forwards or not at all!
Example:
A colonial battlestar (speed 2) has a carry-over velocity of 5 from the previous turn. This means that this turn the battlestar MUST move forward a number of hexes between 3 (-2 speed change) and 7 (+2 speed change). The battlestar does not have to change the full 2, however. It can add or subtract any number 0-2 from its velocity.
The colonial player decides to subtract one from his velocity, and moves his ship forward 4 hexes (5-1). He then records 4 as his current speed, which becomes his carry over velocity for the following turn.
In addition to a speed value, each ship also has a turn rate. This number is the number of “clicks” a ship may turn. Turning in BSG: Colonial Battlefleet is done in half-hex side increments. Thus a turn of 1 “click” from a flat hex side facing means the ship is now facing down the “point” of the hex.
When moving down the “point” of a hex, simply count each hex line, and each open hex as 1 hex moved forward. If you land on a hex line (due to an odd rather than an even current velocity) you simply choose which of the two hexes on either side of the line the ship winds up in at the end of its movement.
This method may seem harder at first than only turning full hex-sides, but it is necessary due to the subtle changes in heading called for by the barrage of missiles you will soon be placing on the board! It does create a more interesting and tactical game and after just a couple games will become second nature to you!
All changes of facing happen before movement. Therefore a capital ship is always turned first, then moved in a straight line. It may never change its facing later in its move.
If a ship has a zero velocity for the turn it may spin to any facing regardless of its turn rating.
Lumbering
Some ships with older drive systems are so big and slow that they use a different set of rules for movement. These ships will have “Max X” for their Speed and “Lumbering” for their Turn Rate. The X in their Speed stat is the number of hexes the ship may move in any turn. The ship may move any number of hexes up to this number each turn, but must move only in one direction for any given turn.
Example: A ship with Max 4, Lumbering may move 1-4 hexes in direction A on turn 1, then may move 1-4 hexes in direction B on turn 2. What it may not do is move two hexes one way, then two hexes another in the space of a single game turn.
Capital Ship Shooting/Missile & Torpedo Deployment
The side that won the initiative shoots with its capital ships before the looser. However, all shooting is considered to be simultaneous, therefore damage is not applied until the end of the phase.
All fire must be declared before any dice are rolled. The shooting player may shoot all remaining weapons carried by his ship each turn if he or she wishes. There is no penalty for splitting fire, but you may not change targets once you start rolling dice and see how effective your shooting is.
To declare that a weapon is being fired at a target, the target must lie in the weapons firing arc. Missiles and torpedoes have their own special rules (see below) and turret mounted weapons are considered to have a 360 degree fire arc. Otherwise a weapon will have one or more of the following fire arcs:
(F)orward
(P)ort
(S)starboard
(A)ft
The forward firing arc begins with the hex directly in front of the ship and extends away from the ship in a cone. The aft firing arc is a mirror image of the forward firing arc, except it begins with the hex directly behind the ship.
Anything to the left of the ship that is not in its forward or aft firing arc, is considered to be in its port firing arc. Similarly, anything to the right of the ship not included in its forward or aft firing arcs is considered to be in its starboard firing arc.
Direct Fire Weapons
Direct fire weapons include rail guns, beam cannons, and any other weapon that does not launch a projectile whose movement is plotted on the tabletop.
Each direct fire weapon will have a “To Hit” value of a certain number of dice. For example, a Heavy Rail Gun has a “To Hit” value of 2d12.
To shoot a direct fire weapon, the player rolls the to-hit dice, adds them together, and compares the total to the range to the target. If the result of the die roll is equal or greater than the range to the target, a hit has been scored!
Example: A colonial Mercury class battlestar dreadnought wishes shoot a Cylon battleship 13 hexes away with a heavy rail gun battery. The heavy rail gun has a to-hit value of 2d12. The colonial player rolls 2d12 getting a 3 and an 11, for a total of 14. Since this is greater than the range to the target, a hit is scored, and the colonial player may roll for damage against the cylon ship.
If a hit is scored, you then roll the listed damage dice of the weapon and resolve the damage as described under Damage Resolution in the multi-phase rules section below. Damage resolution is listed separately because the same mechanics apply to each of the various shooting phases in BSG: Colonial Battlefleet.
Missiles and Torpedoes
Some ships, such as Cylon carriers, are not equipped with direct fire weapons, and instead have missiles or torpedoes as their primary weapons systems. The movement of missiles and torpedoes is plotted on the battlegrid and therefore no to-hit roll is required. Instead, use the following rules:
During the capital ship shooting phase, missiles and torpedoes may also be deployed. Missiles and torpedoes are deployed in any adjacent hex to the firing ship with any facing. However, they must be placed so that their subsequent movement in the next phase does not enter the ship’s own hex causing the ship to shoot itself!
It is important when deploying and moving missiles and torpedoes that the miniature/counter clearly shows which hex side or hex point the miniature is facing as this will become very important later in the game!
Missiles hit or miss the target by entering a hex occupied by a capital ship during the missile or torpedo movement phase (or if they missiles or torpedoes are run over by a capital ship during the capital ship movement phase!) They will attack any capital ship whose hex they enter, friend or foe!
The difference between missiles and torpedoes lies in how they move, as described below.
Missile & Torpedo Movement
Each player moves the missiles (or torpedoes) he or she deployed in the current or previous turns.
Missile Movement
To move a missile, you may turn it up to one click in either direction, then move it straight forward six hexes. If it enters the hex of any capital ship, friend or foe, it attacks and damage is resolved. Any reactive fire flak batteries carried by the target ship get a chance to shoot down the missile before damage is rolled.
Torpedo Movement
Torpedoes move in a similar fashion to missiles. However, they receive only one change of facing on the first movement phase after their deployment. Thereafter they move in a straight line 6 hexes per turn until they enter a hex occupied by a capital ship, leave the board, or are deemed to no longer have any chance of affecting the battle. Like missiles, torpedoes may be shot down by reactive fire flak batteries carried by the target ship.
For more information on Reactive Fire weapon systems, see the special rules section.
Capital Ships Deploy Fighters
Unless the scenario specifies otherwise, fighters are always assumed to start the battle docked safely in the ship that carries them. In order to use the fighters, the player must first deploy them.
Capital ships may deploy fighters in their fighter deployment zones. Initiative is not relevant to this phase, so each side may deploy fighters simultaneously.
For Battlestars (assuming a battlestar takes up 2 hexes), the fighter deployment zones are the middle hex in the three adjacent hexes on each side. Thus, a battlestar may deploy 2 fighter squadrons per turn.
Cylon ships may deploy fighters in any adjacent empty hex. Thus carriers may normally deploy up to six fighters per turn.
If a fighter deployment zone hex is occupied by any object, the capital ship may not deploy fighters into that hex.
Note: Each fighter model in BSG: Colonial Battlefleet represents one squadron of fighters.
Fighter Movement
The side that lost the initiative then moves all fighters currently in play. Fighters have a speed value like capital ships, however they are not subject to the same movement restrictions. Fighters have no “facing” and may simply move any number of hexes in any direction(s) up to the max move value of the fighter as listed on its sheet.
After the side that lost the initiative has moved its fighters, the side that won the initiative moves its fighters following the same process.
If a fighter carrying boarding parties moves into a hex occupied by an enemy capital ship, remove the fighter and follow the rules for boarding actions starting in the next Game Effects phase. See the special rules section below for more information on boarding parties.
Fighter Shooting
The side that won the initiative proceeds through each applicable step of the fighter shooting phase as described.
1. Cylons may make one Cylon Computer Infiltration roll against every colonial capital ship with networked computer systems within range. Any fighters that participate in the cylon computer infiltration attack, may not participate in any later steps in the cylon shooting phase. For more information on the computer infiltration attack, see the Special Rules section.
2. Any fighters armed with torpedoes may deploy their torpedoes. Note that these torpedoes will not be moved until the next missile/torpedo movement phase.
3. Surviving fighters may shoot at adjacent targets. Fighters must be adjacent to a target in order to attack it. Fighters shooting at a capital ship with reactive fire flak batteries will receive return fire as they execute their attack runs.
3a. Any targets with the Dogfight special rules that are attacked by fighters may take simultaneous return fire against the attacking fighters – assuming they have not already made a dogfight roll this turn. In a dogfight, damage rolls are made for both sides before models are removed. See the Dogfight special rule.
After the side that won initiative has completed all steps of the shooting phase, the side that lost the initiative may then proceed through each step of the shooting phase with any surviving fighters.
Multi-phase Rules
Damage Resolution
Ships (and missiles) have an Armor or Defense rating that determines whether the ship takes damage from a particular weapon hit. Generally, capital ships will have Armor ratings, while fighters, missiles, and other small craft will have a defense rating that represents their ability to dodge, rather than absorb weapons hits. Armor and defense ratings work in similar ways with small differences. These differences are outlined below. In addition, some weapons may have special rules that apply only against targets with one type of rating or the other.
Armor Ratings – To see if a weapon hitting a target with an Armor Rating does damage, roll the appropriate damage dice for the weapon. Compare each damage die individually to the target’s armor rating. If the die roll equals the target’s armor rating it inflicts 1 point of hull damage. For each point by which the die roll exceeds the target’s armor rating, it inflicts an additional point of damage. Total the damage done by all dice from the weapon, and mark off that many hull point boxes on the target’s damage track.
Defense Rating – To see if a weapon hitting a target with a defense rating does damage, roll the appropriate damage dice for the weapon and compare each die rolled individually against the target’s Defensive Rating. Any roll equal to or greater than the target’s Defensive Rating destroys the target. Ships/missiles that have a defense value, do not have hull points and are destroyed by any successful damage.