Combat

Description

Combat occurs when a player orders an attack by his ships or colonies against another player's ships or colonies. The attacking ship/colony must be at the same orbit, within the same system, as the target colony/ship. Combat is executed in rounds and the number of rounds is indefinite, depending on the length of time in fulfilling the mission or the length of time the troops, fuel, missiles, and military supplies last. Raids are an exception to this rule, as they only take one round.

Military Supplies

Military supplies consist of ammunition, supplies, etc. used up during combat. One unit of military supplies is used up per soldier unit per combat round.

Percentage of Commitment

All orders given in combat require a percentage of commitment given. This deals with the number of units in an order a player is willing to commit to an attack. If the attack is an invasion or a raid, the percentage of commitment applies only to soldier units and military robot units. The percentage of commitment for bombard orders involves fuel (for energy weapons) and missiles.

Attack

Attack Orders

All combat orders are executed simultaneously, and only one combat order per turn can be given (per ship/colony). There are four types of attack orders; raid orders, bombard orders, invasion orders, and support orders. A raid order has a ship/colony steal one type of unit from another ship/colony. Any type of unit may be stolen, including population units. An invasion order has a ship/colony invade another ship/colony¹ in order to capture it. Bombard orders have a ship/colony use missiles and energy weapons against another ship/colony in order to destroy it. Support orders are used to assist another player in an invasion, and also for defense (See defense). The supporting and supported players do not attack each other, and fight as one unit.

Raids and Invasions

During the initial stages of a raid or invasion, the computer arms the soldiers, sends them into battle, and makes the attack. This is done only in round one. The computer will automatically assign all committed troops to assault craft; uncommitted troops will remain at the ship/colony for its defense.

If there are not enough assault craft available for the committed troops, the remainder will be placed in transports and armed with assault weapons. Those units left without assault weapons or transports remain with the uncommitted soldier units.

Assault craft

Assault craft serve as transportation for soldier units. Each assault craft requires one soldier unit to operate it; one soldier unit is the maximum that it will hold. An assault craft can be considered as a ship-tank.

Assault weapons

Each unit of assault weapons requires one soldier unit to operate it. An assault weapon unit is destroyed when the soldier unit operating it is destroyed.

Transports

Transports are unarmed land/space craft that can carry soldier units to battle. Fuel use and carrying capacity in combat is not the same as for transferring. A transport used in combat consumes 0.01 fuel units times its TL^2^ per round trip. The carrying capacity of a transport during combat is 3 mass units times its TL per combat round.

Military robots

Military robots can be used to replace soldier units. They function in all ways as soldiers do, except that the robots are quicker, stronger, and harder to kill. The number of soldier units that can be replaced is equal to the military robot unit's TL x 2. The percentage of commitment applies to the robots, also.

Bombardment

Bombardment by colonies

Colonies may bombard ships or other colonies with missiles or energy weapons, with one exception. Since energy weapons operate on direct line-of-sight, one surface colony can not use them against another surface colony.

Distance factors (used by colonies only) are:

Bombardment by ships

A ship's distance from the planet it is orbiting, the orbiting colony, or the target ship, is determined by a random number generated by the computer. The numbers range from 1 to 100, in increments of 10,000 miles. Ships cannot fire missiles or energy weapons until they are within a range of 10 (100,000 miles) from the target colony or ship.

Defense

A ship/colony will automatically defend itself from raids, invasions, and bombardments.

Defense against soldier units

The assault craft and transports carrying the soldiers will be fired upon by the defending ship/colony's energy beams and anti-missiles. After reaching the surface, the attacking assault craft will be met by the defender's assault craft, and the troops that were carried in transports will be met by the defender's uncommitted soldier units. The ship/colony fires missiles and energy beams² at the attacking ship/colony.³

Defense against bombardment

A defending ship/colony will fire anti-missiles at attacking missiles, and will turn on the energy shields to deflect the attacker's energy beams. Also, the defending ship/colony fires energy beams and missiles at the attacking ship/colony.⁴

Defense while invading

If a ship/colony is in the process of invading, and is itself attacked, its soldier units will return home unless they have been successful; in which case only half will return, and the original order will be aborted.

Defense against raids

Defense against raids is similar to defense against soldier units, except a raid only lasts one round.

Defense support

Support orders can be used to assist another player in the defense of his ship/colony. If a supporting colony or ship is invaded, its soldier units will return home.

Combat Factor

Combat factors are used in determining the casualties in raids and invasions; each unit used in a raid or invasion is assigned a combat factor as follows:

Combat factors are calculated by adding a soldier unit's basic combat factor to its weapon's combat factor. Thus, a force made up of 5,000 soldier units armed with TL1 assault weapons and 5,000 soldier units armed with TL1 assault craft will have a total combat factor of 70,000.

Casualties

Invasion casualties

Combat losses for invasions are calculated as follows

((A / D) x R₁) x D = DL
((D / A) x R₂) x A = AL

Where:

For example, the attacker has a combat factor of 500, and the defender's combat factor is 100. ((500 / 100) x 0.3) x 100 = DL. 500 divided by 100 = 5, times 0.3 = 1.5, times 100 equals 150 combat factors lost by the defender ((100 / 500) x 0.5 x 500 = AL. 100 divided by 500 = 0.2, times 0.5 = 0.10, times 500 equals 50 combat factors lost by the attacker.

The percentage of soldier and weapon units a player looses in a raid or invasion equals the percentage of combat factors lost. Thus, the attacker in the example would lose 10% of his soldier units, 10% of his assault craft, and 10% of his assault weapons. The defender would lose all his men and weapons.

70% of all combat casualties (losses) are killed in action, and will be removed from play. The remaining 30% are wounded, and will be added to the ship or colony's unemployables.

Troop transport casualties

The following rule applies only to soldier units in transports and assault vehicles when moving to the traget ship/colony. If an assault craft or transport is hit with an energy beam or anti-missile, it is destroyed with all aboard.

Bombardment casualties

75% of the missiles and energy beams that hit a colony or ship will hit energy weapons, missile launchers, and space drives; the other 25% of the hits will be in other parts of the target, and may include population units. The computer randomly selects the number of population units, factory units, etc. that were hit.

Raiding casualties

Raiding casualties, for both attackers and defenders, are computed by using the invasion casualiyy formula and multiplying the result by 0.01.

Damage

Energy Weapons

Description

An energy weapon, per round, can fire once at a ship or colony, and will fire at missiles, transports, and assault craft whenever they attack.

Energy weapons against ships/colonies

The amount of energy units per beam is 10 x its TL. Each unit of energy that strikes a target destroys a mass unit.

Damage is calculated as follows:

((F + D) x E) - SH = DA

Where:

For instance, a ship fires 10,000 TL1 energy weapons at a colony which is 5 distance units from it. The colony has 1,000 TL1 shields, ((10,000 / 5) x 10) - 10,000 = 10,000 mass units damage. If the 10,000 mass units of damage were done to a ship, 7,500 of them would be applied to the ship's missile launchers, energy weapons, and space drives. The balance of the damage would affect other parts of the ship, including population units. If the damage was done to a colony, 7,500 mass units of damage would be applied to missile launchers and energy weapons, the balance of damage would affect other parts of the colony.

Energy weapons against transports and assault craft

When a surface colony is invaded or raided, half of the energy weapons will fire at the assault craft and transports, and 10% of the beams fired will hit them. When an orbiting colony is raided or invaded, 75% of the energy weapons will fire and 20% of the beams fired will hit. When a ship is raided or invaded, all of the energy weapons will fire, and 40% of the beams make contact. Any assault craft or transport hit with an energy beam will be destroyed with all aboard.

Energy weapons against missiles

All energy weapons will fire at missiles; 25% (+ 5% x their TL) of the beams fired will hit the missiles. A missile hit with a beam is destroyed.

Energy shields

The amount of energy units deflected by an energy shield per round is 10 times its TL.

Missiles

Missiles are launched by missile launchers, one missile per launcher per round. Missiles are launched only at ships and colonies. To determine the possible hits by missiles, the following formula is used:

M / D² = H

Where:

Each missile that hits does 100 X its TL in damage of mass units. 75% of the mass units damage in ships or colonies are applied to space drives, missile launchers, and energy weapons. The other 25% will affect other units (including population units) in the ship or colony.

Example: A player fires 1,000 missiles at a ship or colony which is 2 distance factors away.

M = 1,000, D = 2
H = 1,000 / 2²
H = 1,000 / 4
H = 250 hits

The number of hits will be reduced by the number of missiles hit by energy weapons and anti-missiles.

Missile launchers

The TL of a missile launcher affects the accuracy of the missiles it fires. It has no effect on anti-missiles. The way in which the accuracy of the missiles is improved is by subtracting the average TL of the ship/colony's missile launchers from D² referred to in the formula under Missiles. If this would result in D² being less than 1, D² remains at 1.

Anti-missiles

Description

Anti-missiles are used for destroying small, fast-moving targets. These targets are missiles, transports, and assault craft. Anti-missiles are launched by missile launchers; one anti-missile per missile launcher per attack. Anti-missiles being launched do not inhibit the launching of regular missiles.

Against missiles

Each anti-missile that hits a missile will destroy it. To determine the percentage of anti-missiles that hit missiles, add 50 to the anti-missiles' TL x 5.

Example: Out of 300 TL2 anti-missiles, 60%, or 180 anti-missiles will destroy missiles.

Against transports and assault craft

Any transport or assault craft that is hit by an anti-missile is destroyed with all aboard. To determine the number of assault craft or transports hit, use the formula given above in 3.b.; and divide by two for the number of transports hit; and divide by four for the number of assault craft hit. Assault craft will absorb hits first; if they are all destroyed, the remainder of hits will be applied to the transports.

Ship Movement During Combat

Ships move only when given a bombard order. Ships move each round after all weapons have been used, and casualties and damages have been calculated. The distance they move per round is determined by their speed. (See Space Drives.) If a ship has been ordered to bombard, the computer moves the ship closer to its target. If a ship not ordered to bombard is under attack, the computer moves it away from its attacker.

End of Round

If the attackers have not succeeded in capturing or destroying their assigned targets, and if they have not used all of the soldiers, fuel, military supplies and missiles which were assigned to the attack, then combat will continue for another round. Conversely, if the attackers have fulfilled their mission or used up soldiers, fuel, military supplies, or missiles, then combat will not be continued.

Surrender

When ever invading or defending soldier units face odds of six to one, they automatically surrender. Military robots, however, fight until killed. Surrendering soldier units become unemployables and remain in the colony in which they surrendered.

Captured Colonies

When the defending soldiers of a ship/colony have been destroyed or have surrendered, the ship/colony becomes the property of the attacking player, if he still has troops there.

Captured population units

When a captured ship/colony is transferred to its new owner, 50% of the loyal population units become rebels; 50% of all rebels convert to the loyal population; and the remaining soldiers, if any, will automatically be disbanded, and become unemployables. If the captured ship/colony is inhabited by a different race from the new owner's race, they will tend to become rebels at double the rate of normal population units.

Combat and Ship/Colony TL

A captured ship/colony is reduced by one level of TL, unless it is already at TL1. A colony that has not been captured, but has suffered a 20% loss of population due to bombardment or rebellion, will lose one level of TL, unless it is already at TL1.

Footnotes

1. An invasion of a ship can be considered a boarding party.

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2. A surface colony can not fire upon another surface colony with an energy weapon.

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3. If an attack is made by two or more players, only one player's ships/colonies will be fired upon.

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4. If an attack is made by two or more players, only one player's ships/colonies will be fired upon.

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