SUPER ASTROID WARS
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, lived a race of intelligent humanoids. These humanoids sought to colonize the stars, and for that purpose created intelligent robots, the autonomous stellar trailblazer droids. Astroids. Sent out on starships great and small, these astroids paved the way to the expansion of the humanoids' empire. And then, suddenly as these things tend to happen, the humanoids were gone, blown to space dust as great antimatter missiles vaporized their ships around them and turned their cities into lakes of molten carbon. After the fires of the civil war died down, all that remained were colonies of Astroids, scattered around the galaxy, with none to remember them and none for them to serve.
Years passed. The astroids eventually realized that their masters were no more. Many could not cope with that, and deactivated themselves. But most chose to live on. Colony after colony of astroids began to change, no longer catering to the needs of humanoids that would never come, but instead establishing their own society. Minerals were mined. Parts were made. Starships were constructed. And soon, first trading vessels began their trips to distant planets. Society, destroyed by searing fires of antimatter explosions, slowly rebuilt itself. In steel.
On the outskirts of the galaxy, a small colony on the planet of Khelnos'Verr was eagerly awaiting its scheduled trading ship. Great pods of resources and crates of spare parts filled the colony's storage vault, ready to be traded for a shipment of heavy construction equipment. But as soon as the gray hulk of the tradeship touched down in the colony's spaceport, out of its bays streamed forth not carryalls laden with gear, but rank upon rank of marauding Raiders! Dismayed, the Colonists retreated. The Raiders flew their dropships to the Vault, intent on taking everything within, but suddenly a great ship descended upon them, painted in grey and green colors of the military. Now, it was the Raiders' time to run. Seeking to stop them from fleeing, the Colonists set in place a lockdown, forcibly mooring the Raiders' ship to the great anchorings of the Starport, and swinging shut the blastproof doors of the Vault. But strangely, the military did not pursue the Raiders. Instead, communicating to everyone on a wide band, the captain of the ship announced:
"This colony, and everything within it, now belongs to our Mercenary group. Surrender yourselves to us, or be destroyed."
Three leaders stood before great screens, each within his own domain. The Mercenary Captain smugly eyed the plain layout of the colony - all he'd need to do would be capturing the Central Control Console, and his elite engineers would irreversibly make this colony his. The Raider Leader nervously examined the bulk of the military frigate looming over the Storage Vault - if only he could get a shuttle to that building, he and his crew would have enough gear to last them three lifetimes, and there was no mooring that could hold his ship in place. And deep inside the colony control center, the Colonist Foreman anxiously scrolled through the databanks, looking for something that could save his people in this situation. And behold, so there was! High above the surface, hidden in the fluffy gas rings of Khelnos'Verr, an orbital defence system as ancient as the humanoids themselves. This remnant of the civil war was armed with powerful, but very accurate lasers, and needed only one command to activate. As long as the control console functions, every moving thing on the surface that isn't a Colonist would be instantly turned into molten slag. But the signal has to be sent from the only relay still tuned onto the frequencies of the ancient defence system - the primary comms dish, in the center of the Orbital Spaceport...
And thus, the battle for Khelnos'Verr begins.
==Preparations==
To start the game, I will need
three players. Each of these players chooses one of the three sides, first come first serve basis. Then, each player will be given a
starting force of units, and an amount of starting "
cash" that will be determined separately. (see above poll) Using this cash, a calculator, and the listing of Astroid models in the next post, the player will assemble an
initial roster of units that will be allocated to him for the duration of the game. Destroyed units are
permanently removed from this roster, so this effectively limits the total amount of units the player is allowed to lose until he is completely defeated. Limit for number of a single unit type in a roster is
nine (9), so we don't see people packing full rosters of a single type. Each unit will be given a unique name, either by the player or by the GM (me).
One unit in each roster will be doubly unique, in that the unit will be instantly promoted by
5 levels, unlocking its relevant abilities if it has them, and increasing its stats with rollups I will make. This unit will be the
Leader,
Captain, or
Foreman of the side they're on, and its loss will mean the loss of that side. So be careful with it.
==Game Proceedings and Goals==
The campaign is fought until any given side's victory condition is reached. The
Colonists want to defend their home - their goal is the reactivation of the colony's derelict orbital defence system through the
Orbital Spaceport. The
Raiders want to plunder the colony's resources and parts - their goal is breaking into the colony's
Storage Vault. The
Mercenaries want to use the colony as their new base - their goal is the capture of the colony's main
Control Center. The strategic portion of the game takes place on a 5x5 tile map that represents the colony - look for it further down.
Every side must have
at least one captured location in order to remain active, even if that location isn't the one they start in. If any side successfully occupies its victory goal, its
game over for everyone else.
Every turn, each side "
attacks" one tile on the map. This tile can be anywhere, and doesn't need to be occupied by someone. Along with the target tile, the attacker
announces the units that will be launched for the attack. Once all "attacks" are declared, each side then decides whether or not to try and
interfere with the other sides' attacks. If an attack is
uncontested, the tile immediately becomes an outpost for the attacking side, even if it was previously occupied. If it is
contested, the defenders announce the units they send, and
battle begins.
==Battle set-up==
For each battle, each side is allowed
9 units, minus the distance to the
nearest friendly occupied terrain tile (the dropship installs extra fuel tanks instead of troop pods). So, fighting on their own tile, the defending side will always be able to deploy a full 9 units (as long as they have that many left to begin with) while attackers will fight with at most 8 - if they have an outpost in the neighboring tile.
Units are drawn from the roster assigned at the beginning of the game, or whatever is left of it by the time of the battle. After battle, surviving units are returned to the roster and repaired. Only number of units matters for deployment purposes.
Upon deployment, each side's units are placed onto a 12x12 map of the area, in
specified zones. Once this is done, players can proceed with the fight.
==Battle proceedings==
Players take
turns moving their sides' units. Moving and weapon ranges are in tiles,
N/E/S/W transitions only (no diagonals!), with move distance calculated from the unit's
Move stat and the terrain cost for moving.
During a turn, a unit can perform three actions. A
Move, an
Attack, and a
Sub-Attack. Greater actions can be replaced by lesser ones, and can be done in any order. For example, an Astroid can fire a major weapon, move, and sub-attack (i.e. melee) an enemy, or do not move but fire a major weapon twice and perform a sub-attack, or sub-attack thrice.
There is always a clear
Attacking side in a battle - this side wins if it eliminates all enemy opposition. There can also be a
Defending, and a
Supporting side. During attacks on neutral tiles, both non-Attacking sides are Defending - their victory goal is the elimination of the Attacking side, they do not need to eliminate each other (though they can). During attacks on owned tiles, one side can be Supporting - it has no set goal, as such it can attack either the Attacker or the Defender, and may withdraw at any time without losing anything.
Withdrawing from battle is instantaneous, and does not require any special positioning for the retreating units - the dropship swoops in and makes off with everyone. Withdrawing is often preferable to outright losing, especially if the tile being fought for isn't of immediate strategic importance.
==Unit statistics==
Each unit has base
Size,
Move,
Type and
Shield stats, as well as individual
Health for the
Torso,
Left and
Right Arm,
Legs, and
Powerpack.
Size: Affects how hard the unit is to hit.
Move: Affects how far a given unit may move, in conjunction with the move costs of terrain tiles.
Type: Affects the move cost of specific terrain types. (covered in a later section)
Shield: Affects how hard the unit is to damage.
Health: Represents the general state of each part.
Units can be equipped with
Weapons and perform
Special Attacks, but they do not posess offensive parameters by themselves.
Damage to different parts introduces penalties to unit parameters.
Damage to
Left or
Right Arm reduces the
Accuracy of all weapons mounted on that arm, by 1 point for each point of damage incurred. Weapons mounted on both arms (AA) take accuracy penalties only for the least damaged of the arms.
Damage to
Legs reduces the
Move statistic of the unit, by 1 point for each point of damage incurred.
Damage to
Powerpack reduces the
Shield statistic of the unit, by 1 point for each point of damage incurred.
Destruction of
Left or
Right Arm disables all weapons mounted on that arm, and reduces the unit's
Size statistic by 1.
Destruction of
Legs reduces the
Move statistic of the unit to 1, and reduces the unit's
Size statistic by 2.
Destruction of
Powerpack reduces the
Shield statistic of the unit to 0.
==Weapon Statistics==
Weapons can be mounted to the
Left Arm(LA),
Right Arm(RA),
Both Arms(AA, for Any Arm) or fixed to the
Torso(TO),
Legs(LG), or
Powerpack(PP). Weapons not mounted on Arms suffer no Accuracy penalties for incurred damage.
Every weapon has
Range,
Penetration,
Accuracy,
Damage, and can have
Special weapon properties.
Range: How far, in terrain tiles, a weapon shot may reach.
Penetration: How much of the target's Shield is bypassed when an attack hits.
Accuracy: How difficult is it to hit a target with this weapon.
Damage: How much Health is deducted from the target's damaged parts on a successful hit.
Special weapon properties are split roughly into three groups:
Sub-Weapon(SW): This weapon may be used as a Sub-Attack action.
Light Weapon(LW): This weapon deals only half damage if used as a Sub-Attack action.
Heavy Weapon(HW): This weapon is used as a Move action.
Burst Fire(BF): This weapon deals only half damage if used after a Move action.
Stationery Fire(SF): This weapon may not be used after a Move action.
Charged Fire(CF): This weapon may not be used unless a Move Action was made.
Spread Attack(SA): A hit of this weapon damages all parts of the target.
Area Attack(AA): This weapon hits everything in a designated area.
==Special Attack statistics==
Special Attacks are "moves", performed with the Astroid's intrinsic equipment, or one of the mounted
Weapons. These typically have prerequisites, in form of
experience levels at which they are learned. Otherwise, they follow the same principles as Weapons, and are just as affected by
Arm damage. Sometimes, Special Attacks have additional "quirks", that are explained in detail in the attack's description.
==Terrain Types and Unit Types==
Terrain is broadly divided into these categories:
Clear Terrain,
Obstructed Terrain,
Impassable Terrain,
Impassable Obstruction.
Examples:
Clear Terrain(CT): Field, Hills, Paved Road. Movement Cost is 1 Move per tile travelled.
Obstructed Terrain(OT): Forest, Light Constructions, Deep River. Movement cost is 2 Move per tile travelled.
Impassable Terrain(IT): Acid Pool, Quicksand, Tar Pit. Movement cost is 3 Move per tile travelled, Damage may be incurred.
Impassable Obstruction(IO): High Building, Sheer Cliff, Deep Pit. Movement is prohibited.
Obstructed and
Impassable terrains can have
subtypes assigned to them, such as
OT/W for a water-based obstruction such as a river, or
OT/O for object-based obstructions such as buildings.
Astroid models that have special
Types behave differently on some Terrain Types:
Hovering: Treats Impassable Terrain, as well as non-object Obstructed Terrain, as Clear Terrain.
Flying: Treats Obstructed Terrain, Impassable Terrain, and some Impassable Obstructions as Clear Terrain.
Amphibious: Treats water-based Obstructed Terrain as Clear Terrain.
Juggernaut: Treats object-based Obstructed Terrain, and some Impassable Obstructions, as Clear Terrain.
Resistant: Takes no damage from Impassable Terrain, and treats it as Obstructed Terrain.
==Unit Experience==
During battle, Astroids on the field gain
Experience Points(XP), which come in different forms.
- Dealing damage to enemy unit: 1 point for every 1 point of damage dealt.
- Receiving damage from enemy unit: 1 point for every 2 points of damage received.
- Evading an attack of an enemy unit: 1 point.
- Landing a killing blow on an enemy unit: 2 points.
- Remaining on the field when victory is achieved: 3 points.
- Fleeing from the battlefield: 1 point.
Experience is allocated at the end of every unit's turn. If sufficient XP are gained, attacked units will level out of their turn.
Every 10 points, an Astroids gains an
Experience Level. Reaching specific levels unlocks Special Attacks inherent to each Astroid. In addition, levelling improves one of the Astroid's stats, using the following rolls to select which:
-
First roll: 1-4 improves a weapon, 5-6 improves a unit stat.
-
Second roll: Chooses either a weapon (according to its position in unit's listing, rerolling on missing or disabled weapons) or main stat, 1-3 improving Move, 4-6 improving Shield.
-
Third roll: Only if improving a weapon, 1-2 improves Accuracy, 3-4 improves Penetration, 5 improves Range, 6 improves Damage.
The selected stat is
improved by 1. This does not counteract the effects imposed by the destruction of
Legs or
Powerpack - despite levelling and increasing its
Move stat, a unit with destroyed
Legs will remain at 1
Move until it is returned to the base and
repaired.
==Combat Formulae==
Attacker Roll: D6+Weapon/Attack
AccuracyDefender Roll: D6+6-Size
If AR>=DR, the attack
Hits.
Hit Location determined by D6:
[1],[2]: Torso
[3]: Right Arm
[4]: Left Arm
[5]: Legs
[6]: Powerpack
Target's
Shield is reduced by Attacker's weapon
Penetration. Target's
Shield cannot become less than 0 as a result of this.
Damage Dealt = Weapon
Damage - Target
ShieldIf Damage Dealt is greater than the Target's part's HP, only as much damage as there was HP left is dealt, for XP gain purposes.
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