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Top:[[Star Frontiersman]] main page
| Up: [[Star Frontiersman Issue 6]] main index
| Up: [[New Rules]] main index
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</div>
[[File:DrammuneRunP28.png|right|300px]]
by [[C. J. Williams]]

Imagine invading a system with your massive
ships, then they launch their fighters for
multiple maneuvers, including bombing enemy
ships and even the planet’s surface. The fighters
move from hangar to fast-moving space combat to
entering atmosphere, carrying on atmospheric dog fights,
then strafing anti-aircraft guns, and then conducting drops
of soldiers and robots who now do battle on the ground,
all the while transferring the scale of proportion,
movement, and turn time.

Here you will learn a system for carrying on great
adventures that move from one location to another and
from one movement speed to another without adversely
affecting combat.

This system bridges movement between Alpha Dawn
vehicle combat and Knight Hawks Ship combat, and lets
the Aerospace Fighters move between them with ease.
This doesn't change either system. It just provides them
with more shade and makes them flow together
seamlessly.

One thing not covered in the STAR FRONTIERS board
game mechanics for vehicle and space flight is the third
dimension. Previously, all battles have been performed in
2 dimensions without any consideration of the third
dimension. This article rectifies this.

==Sliding Scale Movement==
Knight Hawks was designed for large space-fairing vessels
that are up to 200 times larger than the fighter, and their
cruising speed can be expected to be up to 200 times
faster.

The size also affects how well these units can maneuver.
A fighter could easily slow down and turn and battle within
a 10,000 km hex, or even just 100 km. How do you
determine exactly where it’s going or that it’s even
moving or not if the piece stays in the same hex? A larger
ship, however, isn’t likely capable of the same abilities
within a 10,000 km hex.

In this system, 10,000 km is the scale for a hex and is
used for 10 minute time scale for space units (like Knight
Hawks). 2 m is the scale for a hex (previously a square) in
6 second time scale for characters on foot (like in Alpha
Dawn). These are the two extremes. One is very, very
fast, while the other is very, very slow movement. These
cover battle in speeds from 2 kilometers an hour to
600,000 km per hour. When you're traveling at 2-6 kph
(walk-run), and reaction speeds are quicker, 6 seconds is
more than enough time to take action and conduct battle.
At 600,000 km per hour, however, conducting a battle in
6 seconds is nigh on impossible. So 10 minutes ends up
being the best period for ships to maneuver and to aim
weapons.

If ships are traveling 6,000 km per hour, however,
movement is impossible to demonstrate on 10,000 km
hexes and far too fast for 2 m hexes, and 10 minutes is
really more time than necessary, as ships moving at this
speed can maneuver pretty well and take aim in under
two minutes, so 2 minutes ends up being the optimal turn
time and 20 km hexes are ideal for movement.

60,000-600,000 kph on 10,000 km hexes with 10 min
rounds is the highest end of the scale, which is the
standard Knight Hawks movement range. Anything higher
and battle is effectively impossible to continue (In fact,
battle at this speed is generally unrealistic in itself.
Changing scale is the cure. Though this system still allows
players to battle at this scale if they so choose), and
anything slower cannot be accurately demonstrated on
that scale.

Use the Movement Sliding Scale table below to change
scale at different times in your game.

<div style="border: thin solid black; background:#eeeeee; width: 50%;
padding: 0 5px; float:right; margin:0 0 0 5px;">
'''Note:''' To adjust your refereeing style and space battle
philosophy, consider the average speed of units
involved in the battle per what you feel to be realistic,
then handle them on the relative hex size and turn time
related in the scale chart. If you think over 60,000 kph
is too fast for effective battle, then move it down to
6,000 kph per hex traveled.
</div>
{| style="width:300px;"
|+ '''MOVEMENT SLIDING SCALE TABLE'''
|- style="color: white; background: navy; font-weight:bold;" align="center"
|SV|| Turn|| Hex Size|| kph/hex
|- align="center"
|1|| 6 sec|| 2m|| 1.2
|- style="background: #eeeeee;" align="center"
|2|| 6 sec/30 sec|| 10m/50m|| 6
|- align="center"
|3|| 1 min|| 1km|| 60
|- style="background: #eeeeee;" align="center"
|4|| 2 min|| 20km|| 600
|- align="center"
|5|| 5 min|| 500km|| 6,000
|- style="background: #eeeeee;" align="center"
|6|| 10 min|| 10,000km|| 60,000
|}

''Example: 6 hexes per turn at SV 4 equals 3,600 kph, and 2 minute turns are best to resolve combat.''

===Changing Scale on the Fly===
[[File:ShadesOfMotion.png|right]]
This system is meant for changing scale on the fly (no pun
intended). If you have fighters flying around the ships, or
if a battle moves from space to the upper atmosphere of a
planet, the units involved will slow down dramatically and
continue to slow down until they reach atmospheric
velocity (recommended at under 6,000 kph; SV 4). As a
result, the scale of both distance and time will need to
change. Scale must change depending on distance
traveled and reaction times. This sliding scale allows
action to continue on a gradual reduction or increase
based on the circumstances.

Of course, when you change scale on the fly, graphic
maps become irrelevant, so the key is just to stick to one
hex map without graphic (unless you’re using a board
game program on computer with hex scaling that allows
you to change hex size in relation to the background
graphic).

It is recommended to change scale when action slows to
under 1 hex movement or increase to more than 10 hex
movement on the current scale and especially when you
want to determine what is going on within a single hex.

While movement appears to be dead on the current map,
it may still happen on a lower SV. When a ship slows
down or speeds up, its acceleration and deceleration must
adjust as its mass becomes increasingly harder or easier
to control relative to its thrust, and the resultant gees also
affect the strain you can put on the ship, its passengers,
and its systems. As a result, ADF and MR do not change
significantly when changing scale. The exact gradient of
momentum change can’t be minutely measured without a
huge number of calculations, so it is approximated
through the change in SV.

When movement slows to 0 hexes on the current SV, but
movement is still considered to be occurring, you may
change to a lower SV measurement. If a ship is in
movement, apply the remainder of its ADF on the new SV
measurement. On that measurement, you
are now considered to be moving at 9
hexes (10 - 1 to represent a speed
slower than 1 hex on the higher SV; 10
hexes on the current SV equals 1 hex on
the higher SV).

''Example: Your ship has an ADF of 4. You are traveling at 3 hexes per turn (180,000 kph), and choose to slow down by 3 hexes on the current SV, but want to still move. You are now traveling at 9 hexes of movement on SV 5 (54,000 kph). You have 2 ADF left to spend, and you want to slow down a little more, so you slow to 7 hex movement on SV 5 (42,000kph).''

===ADM/MM/VM===
In [[Star Frontiersman Issue 5]] I introduced the
maneuver modifier (MM) and acceleration/
deceleration modifier (ADM), but have
decided to drop these in favor of
simplicity and because of no clear
improvement of accuracy. Considering
the near lateral move, the
modifiers would only complicate
the game. The velocity modifier
numbers have also been dropped
in favor of a new system
explained under the subheading:
Combat Modifiers.

===Scale Combat Modifiers===
When ships conduct combat,
conditions of speed and size
affect the ship’s ability to make
an attack, thus affecting the
combat modifier. Clearly, it’s
going to be hard for a large ship to attack
a fighter. Knight Hawks completely
overlooks this.

'''Forward firing''' is nearly impossible for
KH Size 20 leviathans against small
fighters. Thankfully, they usually have
turrets and guided weapons. Likewise, a
fighter has almost absolute certainty to
hit the leviathan. So clearly, forward
firing in a fighter has almost no need of
an attack roll if you’re just trying to attack
the ship as a whole. It’s quite certainly a
given. But the shades in-between need
clarifying.

'''Size modifier''' - If the ship that is being
attacked is larger, then add the difference
between V Sizes to the modifier (To
determine KH ships V Sizes, add 10 to
the Hull Size). If it is smaller, then
subtract the difference. If the attacking
ship is larger and using FF weapons,
multiply the difference times 10.

'''Velocity Modifier.''' If the ship being attacked is traveling
on a different direction or one ship is standing still in
relation to the other, multiply the number of full hexes the
faster ship ends up on its SV away from the slower ship’s
direction that turn times 10. Subtract the total from your
combat modifier.

''Example: A V Size 15 ship (Hull Size 5) traveling on SV 4 makes an attack using turrets on a fighter of V Size 7 that starts out 3 hexes away on SV 5 traveling 2 points (60º) in a different direction at 3 hexes per turn, which puts them 1 hex further away from each other at the end of the turn. So the attacking ship gets a -8 for the size difference, plus -10 for the SV direction difference for a total of -18.''

<div style="border: thin solid black; background:#eeeeee; width: 50%;
padding: 5px; margin:5px;">
'''Note:''' If you consider ship beam cannons to vaporize a
broad spread all at once (such as the size of a planet),
then ignore these combat modifiers or even all combat
modifiers altogether.
</div>

==Third Dimension of Flight==
Triangulation is the best means of tracking an object
through a three-dimensional space. Use the following
rules to literally give your game a new dimension.

===Height===
When using a hex grid for a planet’s surface, the third
dimension of atmospheric flight can be simulated by
keeping track of a fighter’s distance from a stationary
point. For now, consider that to be the ground of a planet,
or the hull of a large nearby ship (likely the ship from
which you launch. Track these as imaginary hexes, as
they affect and are affected by your speed and direction in
relation to the larger body.

The object you choose as “the ground” will always be on
the same plain. Do not think of this as a focal point, but
more as a flat surface. For ships as the ground, you can
move below the field of the ship, but that ship should
always represent a flat plain in relation to the surrounding
stars.

You are now freed from the confines of a 2-dimensional
map. While your fighter appears to be stationary on one
hex, it could be moving at full speed in a perpendicular
direction to the map.

<div style="border: thin solid black; background:#eeeeee; width: 50%;
padding: 5px; margin:5px;">
'''Note: Height-tracking is the recommended form of
tracking for miniatures, though the following double-mapping
can still apply if you have a second miniature
to represent your ship, though this requires much more
table room.
</div>

===Double-Mapping===
Of course, it’s easier to track the third dimension when
distances are already measured for you. This can be done
by tracking movement on a second hex map. This form of
triangulation can help facilitate quick movement.
However, you don’t need to use a large second map,
unless you want to. Instead, you can use the vertical track
on the previous page. Use the hex at Point Zero to
determine the plane above and below which the action
takes place. You do not need to use a ship to identify
Point Zero.

In the atmosphere of a planet, consider the bottom hex to
be connecting to ground level. If the vessels are too far
above ground level, then consider the middle hex to be
Point Zero as per normal.

==Tracking Hexes in Three Dimensions===
If you move in any direction other than vertical on the
vertical track, just move the piece as if on a full map,
cycling back and forth between left and right hexes as you
move (as demonstrated by the arrows inside the
diagram), maintaining the chit’s facing. If you need to,
demonstrate the movement on the full map and then use
the result to determine where it would end up on the
vertical track.

Spend ADF/MR with applicable modifiers the same as for
two-dimensional movement, except divide it between
each movement on both maps (you can move 2 hexes on
one map and 1 hex on the other map, representing that
you moved 3 hexes), spending all perpendicular
movement on the horizontal map and all vertical
movement on the vertical track. On the vertical track or
map, only count vertical movement and all facing
changes.

Now that you’re moving in three dimensions, tracking
hexes is slightly more complicated, but once you get a
hang of it, it will become as normal as moving in two
dimensions.

===Ground Coordinates===
Determining your ship’s position in relation to your
destination point on a rotating planet as you go from space to
atmosphere is pretty much impossible in a tabletop board
game, so just assume that your ship and any vessels in
pursuit have traveled until reaching your destination point.

If you are actually role-playing, your Referee chooses where
you enter the atmosphere from in relation to your
destination.

==A New Adventure==
You are now prepared for a greater board game and
roleplaying experience. Nothing will stop you from carrying on
games from one environment to another without stop. Seize
the opportunity to revitalize your Star Frontiers campaigns.

Incorporating these things into your campaign is both easy
and desirable. With it, you can bring new levels of excitement
to your campaign.

These rules are easily adaptable to other game systems, so
feel free to use them in any space battle game you play.

Good gaming to you.

Shades of Motion - Revision history

Terl obar: Created page with ' Top:Star Frontiersman main page | Up: Star Frontiersman Issue 6 main index | Up: New Rules m…'

Terl obar: Created page with '
Top:Star Frontiersman main page | Up: Star Frontiersman Issue 6 main index | Up: New Rules m…'