Rules of play

5

© 2015 GMT Games, LLC

Speed: The number of hexes that a ship can move in the course of a 

Round. Each ship may only move, at most, ONE hex per Impulse. 

Since ships, in general, have a Speed less than 6 and there are 6 Im-

pulses in a Round, ships will not be able to move in every Impulse. 

Turn Radius: A measure of the maneuverability of the ship. This 

value dictates the number hexes a ship must move straight, after 

turning, before it can turn again.

Power Phase: This is a special phase that occurs after Impulse F. 

Weapons are charged during this time and each ship’s Power Curve 

may be adjusted.

Weapon Group: All of a ship’s Weapons are combined into one to 

three Weapon Groups. All of the Weapons in a Weapon Group share 

the same Charge Bar and Firing Arc(s). All Weapons in a group must 

be fired when that group fires. Individual Weapons within a Weapon

Group may select different targets, as long as the targets are within 

that Group’s Firing Arc.

Weapon: Within a Weapon Group, there are one or more icons 

which correspond to an individual Weapon.

Firing Arc: Each Weapon Group has one or more arrows designating 

the direction(s) that Weapon Group may fire.

Charge Bar: This is the bar made of red and yellow boxes next to 

a Weapon Group. Charged state is indicated by marking off boxes. 

Red boxes are charged during the Power Phase. Yellow boxes may 

be Actively Charged with AP (see Spending Available Power) or 

Passively Charged during the Power Phase (see Power Phase).

Shield Arc: A groups of shields on a ship protecting it from dam-

age in a particular direction. Each shield box represents 1 point of 

damage that Shield Arc can sustain. Damage to shields is indicated 

by marking off boxes.

Hull Box: Each box represents 1 point of damage a ship can sustain. 

A ship is destroyed when all Hull Boxes are marked off. Damage to 

hull is indicated by marking off boxes.

Critical Hull Box: Some Hull Boxes cause Critical Damage to a 

ship when marked off. The Critical Damage Table determines the 

outcome.

Battery/Afterburner: Many Terran ships have Batteries and many 

Talon ships have Afterburners. Batteries are marked off when 

charged; Afterburners are marked off when spent. See those sections 

of the rules for more details.

5.2 Hull designations

This game uses standard naval hull designations to identify a given 

ship class as listed below.

 Hull 

Abbreviation

 Scout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . SC

 Destroyer  . . . . . . . . . . DD

 Frigate. . . . . . . . . . . . . FF

 

Light Cruiser. . . . . . . . CL

 

Heavy Cruiser. . . . . . . CA

 

Battle Cruiser  . . . . . . . BC

 Battleship  . . . . . . . . . . BB

 Dreadnought. . . . . . . . DN

 Fighter  . . . . . . . . . . . . FTR

 Carrier. . . . . . . . . . . . . CV

 Transport. . . . . . . . . . . Tran

5.3 Firing Arc and Shield Arc

(5.3.1) Firing Arcs: Weapons may only fire at targets within their

Firing Arc. There are four Firing Arcs in the game—forward, left, 

right, and rear. These are indicated by the arrows next to the Weapon. 

See the image below or the image on the Player Aid Card to deter-

mine which hex around a ship is in which Firing Arc.

EXAMPLE: If a Weapon has an arrow pointing to the left and an 

arrow pointing to the front, it may fire at any targets within the left 

and/or front Firing Arcs.

(5.3.2) Shield Arcs: Shield boxes absorb damage from fire within

the Shield Arc. There are four Shield Arcs in the game—forward, 

left, right, and rear. These are represented by the shields on the 

ship counter. The Firing Arcs and Shield Arcs are the same. There 

is no need to draw lines of sight to determine which Shield Arc is 

hit while firing (8.0).

EXAMPLE: If an enemy ship was in the Forward Arc of a Heavy 

Cruiser, only Weapons that could fire to the front would be able to 

target the enemy. Likewise, any fire from that enemy ship would be 

applied to the front shield of the Heavy Cruiser. 

5.4 Power Curve

(5.4.1) Each ship has a Power 

Curve, listed on the Player Aid 

Card, which shows the Power (1st 

number), Speed (2nd number), 

and the Turn Radius (3rd number) 

at all possible Speeds. The start-

ing Power Curve for each ship is highlighted on the Player Aid Card.

EXAMPLE: The starting Power Curve for a Terran Heavy Cruiser 

(CA) is 3-3-2.

(5.4.2)  Indicating  the  Power 

Curve: When the Speed for the ship 

is chosen, the corresponding three 

numbers of the Power Curve are 

written in the rectangular white box 

and circle on the front of the ship 

counter.

(5.4.3) Changing Speed: During the Power Phase, each ship’s Power 

Curve may be adjusted up or down. Normally, a ship can only change 

her Speed by one. Most Power Curves do not go below a Speed of 1 

because normal combat ships must always have a Speed of at least 1. 

DESIGN NOTE: In general, as a ship increases Speed, the ship’s 

Turn Radius will increase and the Power will decrease. 

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