I had an idea over last weekend - it's a bit rough and scrappy at the moment but I thought I'd post it up so other minds could have a look at it and point out the many glaring flaws I'm sure I haven't yet seen....
The idea is using (adapted) Battlefront Evo rules for fighter-scale space combat in Babylon 5 - each model would be a single Starfury (or whatever), organised into flights. I'll try and describe the rules by exception (i.e. where I'd see them as being different to normal evo rules).
Statline - note the lack of 'size' and 'close combat' - both are irrelevant.
Agility: The additional distance that the model may move in a single manoeuvre action.
Target: The number that the enemy must roll equal to or greater than on a single damage dice to score a single hit when making an attack against a model in this unit. If there are two numbers divided by a dash, the second score is the model's target value when able to use its stealth systems.
Unit leaders
As normal
Facing
It is important to be clear at all times in what direction models are facing. The direction that a model is facing denotes that models direction of travel, and this direction will only be altered as a result of using manoeuvre actions. Making a rotate action to bring guns to bear without accelerating (and hence not changing course) will not affect a models' facing (so although the fighter might be temporarily facing a different way, you should not move the model representing it). Many weapons can only fire through particular arcs, and some fighters may have stronger or weaker armour on particular facings. In addition, a model's facing is used to determine if an enemy firer is considered to be 'on the target's six', which makes it much harder to evade enemy fire.
Actions
Each turn, each unit must be nominated as the active unit once and once only. The active unit moves under inertia and may then make up to two actions. Note that you do not have to make both or even any actions if you do not wish to, but the unit will still move under inertia and so must still be nominated as the active unit.
Every model in the unit must perform the same action when a unit acts. There are four types of action:
Manoeuvre – Fires a unit's engines to accelerate and/or change course.
Rotate – Rotates a unit about its axis without changing forward momentum to bring fixed guns to bear.
Shoot – Opens fire with the unit's weaponry to blow the enemy out of the sky!
Ready – Allows a unit to do something unusual, such as lock on with missiles, activate a jump gate, or launch torpedos.
Movement
Inertia
All models will move under inertia each turn, before their first action. This movement will be 6” directly ahead in the direction of facing. Mark the model's starting point as it will be used to determine the new facing if the model manoeuvres.
Manoeuvre Actions
For each manoeuvre action a unit makes, models may be moved the model's manoeuvre distance in any direction (so the Starfury Nova unit above may move 4” if it makes one manoeuvre action, or 8” if both actions are manoeuvres). All manoeuvre actions must be carried out before any other type of action is made – you cannot make a shoot action then manoeuvre.
Course Change
Once both inertial movement and all manoeuvre actions have been made, the direction moved from the model's original starting position to its current position is its new facing, and it will make its inertial movement the following turn in that direction.
The left-hand fighter makes no manoeuvre actions, so moves 6” directly ahead on inertia when it becomes the active unit. Next turn it will continue to move straight ahead under inertia
The right-hand fighter moves 6” directly ahead on inertia and then uses one action to move to the right. The direction from the fighter's initial position shows the new facing to have turned 30 degrees to starboard, and inertial movement for next turn will be in this direction.
Shooting
Arcs of fire
Some (indeed most) weapons carried on fighters will be in fixed mounts, requiring the entire craft to manoeuvre to bring them to bear. Such weapons will be denoted by a description in the unit's profile – for example, the Nova Starfury's twin mini-pulse cannons are listed as FaF, or Fixed arc: Forwards. The possible arcs of fire are as follows:
FaF - Fixed arc: Forwards – the common arc of fire for most weapons mounted on fighter-sized craft, covering the front facing only.
EaF - Extended arc: Forwards – a wider forward arc of fire usually corresponding to swivel-mounted guns and chin turrets, covering the front, port and starboard facings only.
FaA - Fixed arc: Aft – only normally found on fighters with multiple crew, this arc represents 'tail gunner' turrets, and covers an important blind spot, firing through the aft facing only.
If no arc of fire is listed, then the weapon is capable of firing in any direction.
Close Range
If a model in a unit is within 10” of the closest potential firer, it is considered to be in 'close range'. Models within close range may be fired upon as a reaction after completing an action, may not claim any bonus to their target scores for stealth, and suffer a penalty for enemies 'on their six'.
Fire Zones
As normal. 6" fire zones.
Damage Dice
As normal
Stealth
Many fighters – most notably Minbari designs - include stealth systems, jamming devices, or simply a hull designed to reflect and refract away sensor signals. If a model has two values divided by a dash, the second value indicates the target score including the effects of the model's stealth systems. If a model is more than 10” from the closest firer, use the second target value as its stealth systems confuse enemy targeting computers. If any firers within the target unit are within 10” of the model, use its basic target value. This is decided on a model-by-model basis within the target unit.
'He's On My Six!'
If all models in a firing unit are within a model's aft arc and within 10”, the firers are considered to be 'on the target's six' – the target's own inertia makes evading fire difficult, and once damage dice have been assigned to models in the fire zone, any model being attacked from their 'six' adds +1 to any damage die assigned to it – this may cause damage dice to score hits where they would otherwise have not, or cause a hit to instead meet the target's 'kill' score. Rolls of a 1 are still discarded as normal.
Saving throws
As normal
Dodge Saves
As normal
Suppression
As normal
Rotate action
If a unit uses a rotate action then the individual models are assumed to have pivoted on their axis to bring their guns to bear on their target without checking their forward momentum. If a unit's first action of a turn is to rotate, it may shoot for its second action of the same turn in any direction relative to its facing, regardless of limited arcs of fire on its weapons.
Note that shots fired as a reaction will not benefit from this, and instead are always constrained by specified arcs of fire.
Reactions
Whenever an enemy unit completes an action within 10” of one of your units or shoots at one of your units, that unit may react with a free Shoot action. The shoot action must be aimed at the unit that triggered the Reaction – if this is not possible due to arcs of fire you may not react to that unit's action. A unit may only make one Reaction in every turn.
I've not had a chance to playtest this yet - only got it finished last night.
To start with, some ideas for the 'big four' units:
The idea is using (adapted) Battlefront Evo rules for fighter-scale space combat in Babylon 5 - each model would be a single Starfury (or whatever), organised into flights. I'll try and describe the rules by exception (i.e. where I'd see them as being different to normal evo rules).
Statline - note the lack of 'size' and 'close combat' - both are irrelevant.
Agility: The additional distance that the model may move in a single manoeuvre action.
Target: The number that the enemy must roll equal to or greater than on a single damage dice to score a single hit when making an attack against a model in this unit. If there are two numbers divided by a dash, the second score is the model's target value when able to use its stealth systems.
Unit leaders
As normal
Facing
It is important to be clear at all times in what direction models are facing. The direction that a model is facing denotes that models direction of travel, and this direction will only be altered as a result of using manoeuvre actions. Making a rotate action to bring guns to bear without accelerating (and hence not changing course) will not affect a models' facing (so although the fighter might be temporarily facing a different way, you should not move the model representing it). Many weapons can only fire through particular arcs, and some fighters may have stronger or weaker armour on particular facings. In addition, a model's facing is used to determine if an enemy firer is considered to be 'on the target's six', which makes it much harder to evade enemy fire.
Actions
Each turn, each unit must be nominated as the active unit once and once only. The active unit moves under inertia and may then make up to two actions. Note that you do not have to make both or even any actions if you do not wish to, but the unit will still move under inertia and so must still be nominated as the active unit.
Every model in the unit must perform the same action when a unit acts. There are four types of action:
Manoeuvre – Fires a unit's engines to accelerate and/or change course.
Rotate – Rotates a unit about its axis without changing forward momentum to bring fixed guns to bear.
Shoot – Opens fire with the unit's weaponry to blow the enemy out of the sky!
Ready – Allows a unit to do something unusual, such as lock on with missiles, activate a jump gate, or launch torpedos.
Movement
Inertia
All models will move under inertia each turn, before their first action. This movement will be 6” directly ahead in the direction of facing. Mark the model's starting point as it will be used to determine the new facing if the model manoeuvres.
Manoeuvre Actions
For each manoeuvre action a unit makes, models may be moved the model's manoeuvre distance in any direction (so the Starfury Nova unit above may move 4” if it makes one manoeuvre action, or 8” if both actions are manoeuvres). All manoeuvre actions must be carried out before any other type of action is made – you cannot make a shoot action then manoeuvre.
Course Change
Once both inertial movement and all manoeuvre actions have been made, the direction moved from the model's original starting position to its current position is its new facing, and it will make its inertial movement the following turn in that direction.
The left-hand fighter makes no manoeuvre actions, so moves 6” directly ahead on inertia when it becomes the active unit. Next turn it will continue to move straight ahead under inertia
The right-hand fighter moves 6” directly ahead on inertia and then uses one action to move to the right. The direction from the fighter's initial position shows the new facing to have turned 30 degrees to starboard, and inertial movement for next turn will be in this direction.
Shooting
Arcs of fire
Some (indeed most) weapons carried on fighters will be in fixed mounts, requiring the entire craft to manoeuvre to bring them to bear. Such weapons will be denoted by a description in the unit's profile – for example, the Nova Starfury's twin mini-pulse cannons are listed as FaF, or Fixed arc: Forwards. The possible arcs of fire are as follows:
FaF - Fixed arc: Forwards – the common arc of fire for most weapons mounted on fighter-sized craft, covering the front facing only.
EaF - Extended arc: Forwards – a wider forward arc of fire usually corresponding to swivel-mounted guns and chin turrets, covering the front, port and starboard facings only.
FaA - Fixed arc: Aft – only normally found on fighters with multiple crew, this arc represents 'tail gunner' turrets, and covers an important blind spot, firing through the aft facing only.
If no arc of fire is listed, then the weapon is capable of firing in any direction.
Close Range
If a model in a unit is within 10” of the closest potential firer, it is considered to be in 'close range'. Models within close range may be fired upon as a reaction after completing an action, may not claim any bonus to their target scores for stealth, and suffer a penalty for enemies 'on their six'.
Fire Zones
As normal. 6" fire zones.
Damage Dice
As normal
Stealth
Many fighters – most notably Minbari designs - include stealth systems, jamming devices, or simply a hull designed to reflect and refract away sensor signals. If a model has two values divided by a dash, the second value indicates the target score including the effects of the model's stealth systems. If a model is more than 10” from the closest firer, use the second target value as its stealth systems confuse enemy targeting computers. If any firers within the target unit are within 10” of the model, use its basic target value. This is decided on a model-by-model basis within the target unit.
'He's On My Six!'
If all models in a firing unit are within a model's aft arc and within 10”, the firers are considered to be 'on the target's six' – the target's own inertia makes evading fire difficult, and once damage dice have been assigned to models in the fire zone, any model being attacked from their 'six' adds +1 to any damage die assigned to it – this may cause damage dice to score hits where they would otherwise have not, or cause a hit to instead meet the target's 'kill' score. Rolls of a 1 are still discarded as normal.
Saving throws
As normal
Dodge Saves
As normal
Suppression
As normal
Rotate action
If a unit uses a rotate action then the individual models are assumed to have pivoted on their axis to bring their guns to bear on their target without checking their forward momentum. If a unit's first action of a turn is to rotate, it may shoot for its second action of the same turn in any direction relative to its facing, regardless of limited arcs of fire on its weapons.
Note that shots fired as a reaction will not benefit from this, and instead are always constrained by specified arcs of fire.
Reactions
Whenever an enemy unit completes an action within 10” of one of your units or shoots at one of your units, that unit may react with a free Shoot action. The shoot action must be aimed at the unit that triggered the Reaction – if this is not possible due to arcs of fire you may not react to that unit's action. A unit may only make one Reaction in every turn.
I've not had a chance to playtest this yet - only got it finished last night.
To start with, some ideas for the 'big four' units:
