Lancer Battlegroup PDF
Lancer Battlegroup PDF
Lancer Battlegroup PDF
Section 0 // Introduction
[2]
LANCER: BATTLEGROUP
By Kai Tave and Miguel Lopez
Editing
Melody Watson
Layout
Minerva McJanda
Playtesting
Thanks to ASullyVoice, Ffzdf, Paranomaly, Raiu, Spindle, Swordrager, Voy, And Garciaz, Anna “Dr. Wizard”
Wittholz, Anon 92841, Ayla Picard, Christopher “Suki” Salmon, Declan Bigger, Drew "DANCER" Fox, Edan
“CYAN” Otto, Erin “eternalAffliction” Graves, Evan Tungate, Gavin “Entropy” Jones, Hannah “AceEmpress”
Collins, Joe “Misc” Halberstadt, John "Perijove" Behrendt, Johannhawk, Jonas “Prudentia” Menz, Joshua
“zhansonic” Zhanson, Kartik Singh, Lars “The Captain” van Eijk, Lunatic Blue, Midnight Binary, Olivia
"ValourDyke" McCollum, Quinn Tuberose, Sam Hornigold, and all the other commanders of the 7th Fleet whose
victories and defeats helped to make this game possible.
Cover
Nicolas Vallet
Illustration
Conner Dodd, Peyton Gee, Ronan Le Fur, Juan Gee Tan, Nicolas Vallet, Gwen Williamson
Safety tools
[3]
INTRODUCTION
Lancer: Battlegroup is a standalone rules system for mass
space combat in the Lancer setting, designed for digital or
tabletop play with no need for a grid or hex map. Blending
Lancer’s deep unit customization and emergent story with a
new frontier of tactical narrative action, Battlegroup casts the
players as pilots and officers in a fleet deployed to the front
line of a naval campaign. Their missions may vary, but their
goals remain the same: win, survive, and return home.
Battlegroup features:
Section 0 // Introduction
[4]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 0: SECTION 4:
INTRODUCTION 4 GAME MASTER’S GUIDE 138
Playing Battlegroup 6 Running Battlegroup 140
Narrative Play and Uptime Checks 10 Inevitability, Fatalism, and Hope 142
The Setting 12 Rules of War 148
The Field of Battle 149
Sitreps 152
SECTION 1: Campaign Play 158
CHARACTERS 16 Battlegroup and Lancer 163
Non-Player Character Battlegroups 164
Ship Archetypes 166
SECTION 2:
ALL VESSELS ENGAGED 30
Structure of a Battle 33 SECTION 5:
The Engagement 37 THE DAWNLINE INCIDENT 196
Combat Basics 38 Places, Everyone 198
The Winding Gyre 44 Port of Call: Dawnline Shore 200
Posture and Uptime Actions 48 Campaign Arcs 208
Reserves 52
Damage and Destruction 53
Keywords and Definitions 55 SECTION 6:
SETTING & WORLDBUILDING TOOLS 216
Notable Shipwrights 222
SECTION 3: Battlegroups 224
THE BATTLEGROUP 60 Comms Chatter 232
Building a Battlegroup 62
Hulls 66 Index 234
Capital Ship Summary 97
Weapons and Upgrades 98
Escorts and Wings 110
Advancement Commendations, Legacies,
and Reputations 121
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PLAYING BATTLEGROUP
Fleet Commander Conrad Schuyler paced his private
deck on the Colossal Promise, his battleship and the BOOK STRUCTURE
flagship of the Armory’s 5th Dawnline Fleet. He wore This section, the Introduction, lays out the core rules
his battlesuit, helm held behind his back. Under of the game and gives a brief look at some key
thrust, he could walk without the aid of mag boots. elements of the setting.
The marble surface wouldn’t have accepted them
anyways. Alone, he paced the walk, a solitary figure The second section of this book, Characters (p. 16),
against the stark black of a starless void. talks you through creating a commander and
choosing a Background that will shape their story.
Outside, the enemy’s ships no doubt matched the
trajectory and burn of his battlegroup, their torpedo The third section, All Vessels Engaged (p. 30),
tubes open, their long guns fixed on where they presents the full, detailed rules for naval combat.
thought he was going to be. They were likely correct
– not much room to maneuver in this empty space The fourth section is The Battlegroup (p.60), in
above New Creighton – and besides, that was the which all options for choosing and outfitting ships
essence of naval combat: one could not hide when can be found.
one is the only thing in a void.
The fifth section is the Battlegroup Game Master’s
If Schuyler so desired, he could open a line to the Guide (p. 138), which offers advice for tweaking
Colossal Promise’s command deck and have the rules, creating non-player characters (NPCs), and
course of the enemy fleet cast to the panorama wall. running engagements.
He could stand before the Counters’ fleet in wireframe
miniature and hold it in his hand. Schuyler did not want The sixth section is The Dawnline Incident (p. 196),
that; he was not interested in paper boats. He wanted a an in-depth look at a key point of conflict occurring at
baron, and Invictus had quietly informed him that there the timeframe in which Battlegroup is set.
were none in the Counters’ fleet.
The seventh and final section, Setting &
Schuyler reached the end of his walk, turned, and Worldbuilding Tools (p. 216), contains information
paced back. The Preludes and their minor keys echoed on shipwrights, fleet organizations, naming
over his footfalls. He was nervous, to be sure – as any conventions, and comms formatting, which can be
sane person before an engagement – but confidence used to add more detail to your games.
and the piano tempered his nerves. This was not his
first duel. God willing and with proper planning, it would
not be his last. The closing notes of the final Prelude
boomed across the deck. Time, then.
Most of the players take on the role of commanders – INTERDICTION is a special type of roll that occurs only
these are the player characters, or PCs – but one during combat. Certain weapons and abilities can
player is the Game Master, or GM. The GM acts as a deal damage without attack rolls, and a battlegroup’s
narrative guide, facilitator, and the arbitrator of the Interdiction rating lets it defend against some of
game’s rules. They help create the story and narrative these attacks. When you make an interdiction roll,
your group will explore and portray all of the NPCs. you roll a target’s Interdiction and then subtract that
For more information on the GM role and a list of amount from the incoming damage. For more
rules, tips, and tools for GMs to use, refer to the information on INTERDICTION, see page 56.
Game Master’s Guide on p. 138.
MODIFYING ROLLS
THE GOLDEN RULES There are several ways rolls can be modified. The
There are two golden rules to remember when first of these is with a static modifier – a simple bonus
playing Battlegroup. that you add to the result of the roll. Static modifiers
are represented with a plus symbol followed by a
I: SPECIFIC RULES OVERRIDE GENERAL number: +1, +2, +3, and so on. If you’re rolling with
STATEMENTS AND RULES. +2, you just need to add 2 to whatever you rolled to
For example, certain attacks may not typically be determine the final result. For example, a particular
avoidable; however, some abilities or systems make it upgrade might add +2 to a battlegroup’s INTERDICTION.
possible to attempt to evade those attacks. Because
these latter abilities are specific rules, they supersede Rolls can also be modified by two kinds of bonus dice:
the general rules concerning those attacks. ACCURACY and DIFFICULTY. These modifiers represent
momentary advantages or disadvantages gained and
II: ALWAYS ROUND UP (TO THE NEAREST lost in rapid, chaotic moments of action.
WHOLE NUMBER).
Something to note is that narrative play in Battlegroup A check is only a single roll, and once made the
is even more freeform and abstract than it is in Lancer. result stands, whether you succeeded at your goal or
This game focuses primarily on engagements between failed. For example, a check made to sneak into an
fleets, using the outcomes of those battles to shape officer’s quarters won’t consist of multiple checks to
an overarching narrative. Your game might not even see whether you can do so undetected, the goal and
need narrative play; you might decide to play its outcome are all handled by a single check.
Battlegroup as a purely tactical combat game, on its
own or as a module for Lancer. Should your games
call for narrative play, however, these rules should CONSEQUENCES
provide you with everything you need. Before a roll is made, the GM must outline the
consequences of failure. These are the only
In narrative play, uptime checks are used to consequences they can inflict. The severity of the
determine the outcome of complicated situations and consequences depends on the situation: the higher
actions. They are only required in tense narrative the implied difficulty, the more complex or dangerous
situations and when making a roll will move the story the scenario and the more costly failure is likely to be.
forward. It can be assumed that your commander will
generally always succeed in mundane tasks, When you roll 9 or less on an uptime check, you
especially if they relate to their background. You suffer the established consequences. Since NPCs
don’t need to make an uptime check to open a door, don’t act on their own in narrative play, these
cook a meal, or talk to a superior officer – unless complications and consequences are the main tools
there’s something complicating your attempt, or the the GM has for responding to player action.
outcome might further a situation in an interesting
way, build on a relationship, or answer a question. For example: if you’re attempting to maintain good
fleetwide cohesion and temporal sync through a series
Uptime checks can cover activities as broad or specific of complicated navigational maneuvers with fleet
as the narrative requires. For example, an uptime check legion support, it’s unlikely that failure will immediately
might cover a week’s worth of noncombat operations to cause the loss of ships. But if you’re maneuvering
leash and harvest fresh ice for water from a nearby comet. through a series of complex course changes while
You might also roll for individual moments of action – being pursued by an enemy or with damaged systems,
plotting a new jump at a terminal, negotiating with a the possibility of dramatic, costly failure is much higher.
specific supply officer while docked at a station, or similar.
Here are some examples of consequences or
complications that might apply to a roll:
MAKING UPTIME CHECKS
Let’s break down the process of making an uptime check: HARM: Damage, injury, or bodily harm. If you fail to
take control of the gun someone has pointed at you,
First, you’ll name your goal and describe your you’re probably going to get hurt.
approach to achieving it. This helps set the context
for the GM to decide what the likely outcomes and GETTING HURT
consequences of this check will be. Battlegroup characters don’t have HP, the trait
used in Lancer to represent the health and
The GM then decides the consequences of failure hardiness of characters. Because of this, the
(e.g., losing time, being arrested, getting shot, etc). If severity of potential harm is a narrative,
there are no consequences, which occurs when there contextual matter that should be established
are no real stakes to what it is you’re attempting, then before a roll is made; failure shouldn’t result in
you automatically succeed. instant death unless the circumstances clearly
call for such a possibility.
Section 1 // Characters
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CHARACTERS
1
Characters in Battlegroup are under threat in a way
that characters in Lancer are not: pilots in their mechs CREATING A COMMANDER
are fearsome, singular warriors, with many tools and There are two steps in creating your commander:
strategies to ensure they can survive extended, costly assigning traits and choosing a background. The
fights. By contrast, even the most decorated officer following section explains the process. It discusses
aboard a battleship can be killed in a single shot and a traits, provides examples of the backgrounds you
sudden death is never far away. While your group may might use to define your character, and points toward
decide to adopt a less lethal narrative approach – further questions you might want to consider when
perhaps by allowing important characters to make it to roleplaying these far-flung cosmonauts.
escape pods in time – the Kill Table on page 53
illustrates just how dangerous naval combat is. Be TRAITS
aware of this if you intend to import your Lancer Unlike in many RPGs, creating a commander in
characters into Battlegroup and be sure that the other Battlegroup doesn’t involve assigning stats or skills.
players are okay with this danger. Their personal strength or perceptiveness is of limited
importance given the scope and scale of the action
In addition to the knowledge of their sudden and evident taking place. Commanders are defined more by traits
mortality, your character must also deal with time. stemming from their background, personality,
Except for instantaneous transit through blinkspace, characteristics, flaws, and foibles. When you create a
space travel occurs at varying degrees of relativity, commander, choose three traits that define them – two
across shifting horizons, with multiple observers and positive traits and one negative trait that complicates,
local experiences of time. This results in an unfortunate disadvantages, or influences them in some way.
but unavoidable consequence of interstellar travel: time
dilation. From the perspective of those left behind, What sorts of traits might you choose to create your
someone traveling through space at a rate approaching commander? Maybe they’re a brilliant tactician with a
lightspeed begins to slip forward in time. keen eye, but who is arrogant to a fault. Or perhaps
they’re steadfast and courageous in their drive to
This means that someone traveling through space – protect humanity, but reckless in their actions, often
whether awake and on duty or held in stasis – will endangering their battlegroup as a result. Traits can
drop further and further out of sync with the “normal” be physical or mental qualities, particular aptitudes,
progression of time on their homeworld. Should they something they’re especially known for, and other
ever return, they will have only experienced a fraction similar aspects of that nature. Whoever your
of the time lived by everyone else back home. For character is, make sure they have something that
some on shorter deployments or those having to defines them. It doesn’t have to be something big or
travel shorter distances, the effect could be negligible grand, just something that humanizes them. Heroes
– a trip to the edge of local space might mean only a are more compelling if they’re human.
matter of minutes or hours – while a journey to
distant stars might result in a difference of decades. Example positive traits: bold, brilliant, calculating,
courageous, daring, disciplined, empathetic,
These are the realities facing characters in forceful, honorable, idealistic, inspiring, iron will,
Battlegroup: In combat, they face sudden death keen eye, levelheaded, scholarly, steadfast, thick-
aboard their ships. In peacetime and transit, they face skinned, unorthodox, unrelenting, well-traveled.
something amounting to a social or temporal death, as
the friends and family they leave behind may die of old Example negative traits: aloof, arrogant, blunt-
age by the time they return. These immutable facts spoken, callous, disciplinary record, demanding,
haunt travelers through the stars, either as tragedy, as frail, guilty conscience, hidebound, impatient,
a harsh truths, or as blessed relief. infamous, obsessive, overzealous, prideful,
reckless, ruthless, self-centered, stubborn, quick-
tempered, uncoordinated.
Section 1 // Characters
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on in this fashion, mark it off. Traits that have been NAVAL FAMILY
marked off remain part of your commander, but can’t Born into tradition, you are the child of a family with
be used again until they’re regained. a long history of naval service. Your parents may
both have been or are currently in the same (or
You regain the use of all marked-off traits when one different!) naval force as yourself, as were their
of your commander’s negative traits comes into play. parents, and their parents, and so on down the line.
There are two ways this can happen: From when you were a child, you knew you would
one day pin the silver bars of an officer on your
• you make an uptime check that is influenced solely collar, and step to the stars...
by your negative trait, receiving +1 DIFFICULTY for
the roll; or This background can be taken along with any other
• the GM brings your negative trait into play in a way background.
that complicates matters for your character.
Section 1 // Characters
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CHARACTERS
1
Union Navy Background Notes Roll 1d6
1 Your life was comfortable; the opposite of everything you heard about the Diaspora. Out there,
billions were doomed to live from birth under the boots of kings or damned to suffer at the altar of
the market. Life in the Diaspora left behind by the Second Committee was not meant for living.
Instead, it was structured to squeeze wealth from the many and funnel it to a powerful, greedy few.
Your whole life you believed that needed to change, and your heart ached for the people of the
Diaspora – your brothers and sisters but for time and distance. When you were of age, you talked
with your family and told them of your decision. They wept, some sad, all proud, and gave you their
blessing. You would join the navy, you would train as an officer and be posted to a ship, and then you
would say goodbye to your family and your loves, your home and your world, and head out to the
stars. The galaxy needed your action more than your sympathy. How long has it been (realtime) since
you left your Metropolitan world? Have you seen combat, watching your ideals crash into reality? Have you
killed, or just ordered others to fire? Do you ever want to return home, and if so, how long until you can?
Who did you leave behind?
2 Your education in the ways of life outside the Core was clarifying. Though you grew up in comfort,
you recognized early on that it was a comfort that not everyone in the galaxy enjoyed. After a tour in
the Liberators – following in the footsteps of your parents – you transferred to logistics, and from
there to orbital/interstellar support. Now on the CIC of your frigate, you have at your command some
of the hardest power Union can bring to bear: ownership of the stars, and a mandate to right the
most terrible wrongs. What was the clarifying experience that sent you to enlist in the Liberators? As a
ground-pounder, did you ever see combat before your transfer? Has your faith in Union’s mission ever been
shaken? What do you bring to naval combat that you learned on the ground?
3 Once an enlisted crew, you rose from the pack to become a commissioned officer in the Union Navy.
You’ve been on multiple interstellar cruises and seen combat once or twice. You know your ship from
stem to stern. Now, in command for the first time, you’ll have to learn not only your crew, but the other
ships under your command. How has it gone so far? Have you endeared yourself to the other ships as you
have your crew? Among the other captains, is there one with whom you are particularly close with? If things
get desperate, will you sacrifice other ships to preserve your own?
4 When Union liberated your world, you resolved to return a debt you felt you owed. For every friend
lost before the red banner flew above the capitol, for every child who toiled in misery, for every
comrade whose backs could never stand straight, you decided to take the black and enlist. Ending
centuries of injustice against your own people was only the start: the galaxy roiled with cruel tyrants
who immiserated their people for want of gold. Though it may never end, your struggle is that of the
oppressed everywhere. Union’s flag flies above your world now, but this is just the beginning. One
day, the galaxy will be free. How long has it been since you left your home, and do you ever receive
communications from your family there? Are there any others from your world in your unit? Have you
engaged the enemy yet, or are you just out of training? When will you return, or is your fight not a
deployment but a crusade?
5 Your name carries weight in the navy – much to your chagrin. Your ancestors were some of the last
holdouts of the Second Committee, naval personnel who defected or mutinied and steered their ships
to bolster Harrison Armory’s Cradle reclamation force. Interdicted and destroyed by the Karrakin fleets
in the First Interest War, they never did strike Cradle, though the role they played was enough to earn
your name a black mark. Now, you work to repair that reputation. How does this desire manifest in your
actions? Are you repentant or rash? Do you wear your name on your sleeve or do you suppress your identity?
How do others receive you, and has this history gotten in the way of your progress in the navy?
6 Joining the UNC was only ever meant to be a rung on the political ladder – a way to ingratiate
yourself to the system that could make you powerful. Union, you learned, spanned more than just
your world, but thousands of worlds. This was a kingdom larger than a single mind could
comprehend, but not so large that a single mind couldn’t covet it. And so you joined, you trained,
you pledged, you served. But then, over time, you found that your priorities had… changed. How?
Section 1 // Characters
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KARRAKIN NAVAL ACADEMY
As a child or young adult, you gained admittance to the famed Karrakin Naval Academy, matriculating to one of
the campuses across the core of Baronic space, the Baronic Concern. The Karrakin Academy system was
founded in the wake of the Baronies’ terrible twin defeats at the hands of Union and Harrison Armory. Since then,
the Karrakins have gone on to adopt, hone, and expand upon the strategies that once left them defeated and
exposed. They have redefined the modern doctrines of space combat, producing some of the finest officers and
crew in the known galaxy – you included. Each world of the Concern has a campus of the Academy with its own
traditions, colors, and specific histories; the campus on Karrakis itself is generally considered the flagship school
and is often referred to specifically as the Royal Academy. Graduates of the KNA tend to be Baronic, with roughly
a sixty-forty split leaning ignoble (included in this ignoble category are students sent to the Academy on
diplomatic exchange with the Union Navy).
Now graduated and posted to your command, your words carry weight: regardless of which specific campus you
studied at, you’re from “The Academy. You are likely younger than the officers you serve with who didn’t attend.
The simple bronze globe-and-crown pinned to your lapel sets you apart, marking you as a graduate of the
Academy system for good or for ill. Graduates may further personalize their pins to indicate which campus they
graduated from, whether they graduated with distinction, and – one of the highest honors – if they won the Inter-
Academy Wargame, a ceremonial final test that pits the best officers from each campus against each other to
determine who is the greatest commander of that year’s graduating class.
Alongside your background note, answer the following: How did your school fare in the Wargame? Were you a
part of it, or did you watch from the observation decks?
Section 1 // Characters
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CHARACTERS
1
ORBITAL DEFENSE FORCE
Your world asked, and you answered: for years you have served in the orbital defense force of your state, arcing high
above the land you call home in small shuttles and modest subline ships, spending years aboard orbital cannons
and missile batteries. You have always known that the purpose of your work is to defend the world below from
threats above. Now, posted to an interstellar ship, you keep that feeling close – that place might be farther away, but
it is always there, just below your heart, your home to defend.
Veterans of orbital defense forces (ODF) run the gamut in training, experience, and competency; they can be
graduates of a premier naval college or locally trained cosmonauts.
Your character fought (or currently fights) in their homeworld’s (or home station’s) orbital defense force. They are
likely well versed in the operation of ships, as even officers in ODF units are called to square away their vessels
before, during, and after flights.
Section 1 // Characters
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PURVIEW INTERSTELLAR COLLEGE
Fresh faces from an equally fresh institution, the first cadet corps out of the Purview Interstellar College have much to
prove – you included. Despite a history of iconoclastic, daring naval exploits, the naval forces of Harrison Armory
never had a formal educational pipeline for naval officers: previously, enlisted crew and officers trained together, with
commissions granted through purchase or promotion. Now, the Purview Interstellar College has been established to
formally inaugurate the foundations of an Armory combat doctrine, to set Armory’s officer corps apart from what high
command sees to be rival schools in Union and the Baronies.
In line with many of the Armory’s other state-managed institutions, campuses of the Purview Interstellar College
(PIC) are startlingly cosmopolitan – for the Armory – with healthy representation from both Purview citizens and
students from the colonies. Like legion service, the Interstellar College is a popular choice for young people from the
colonies: graduation and service grants citizenship in the Armory. As the Armory’s frontier is contested and space is
far more unforgiving than atmospheric environments, the bar for admittance to the PIC is high; one cannot simply
purchase their spot – they mustfirst prove a certain level of aptitude.
The Armory’s formalized fleet doctrines are new compared to those of Union and the Baronies, and the frontier
is active: unlike some legion posts, commissions in the Armory’s naval branch are all but guaranteed to see
action. To prepare for this, cadets undergo a mix of campus-based learning on Ras Shamra and at least one
rotation to the front prior to graduation.
The Honest Truth is a massive, multitoroid station that orbits Argo Navis once every three Cradle-standard years. A
cohort of IPS-N’s officers are said to be “born” after one revolution – the time it takes for most candidates to
complete their training. The Honest Truth began, like most IPS-N facilities, as a merchant-cosmonaut training school
meant to better acquaint and equip the corpro’s pilots with the necessary skills for navigating the stars and moving
three-dimensionally through space. With the advent of space piracy and IPS-N’s subsequent upscaling and
consolidation of the interstellar freight and transportation sectors, the Honest Truth was expanded into one of the
largest orbital stations in the galaxy in order to train and equip sufficient personnel.
Now, with a permanent population in the millions and students hailing from around the galaxy, the Honest Truth
is a buzzing hive of activity. Civilian students, naval cadets, and security trainees learn side by side the rigors of
null-atmosphere maintenance, zero-gee movement, high-gee movement, and z-ax combat – every piece of
knowledge necessary to crew, pilot, and command ships in space.
With everything from lectures on Cosmopolitan culture and atemporal existence through to courses in naval
history, a sling-grav racing league, and ensign postings with Northstar’s GALCOMM Corps, the Honest Truth
produces some of the finest all-round cosmonauts in the galaxy, whether civilian or military. Graduates from the
Honest Truth tend to be steadfast, dependable crewmembers and levelheaded officers, with little time for the
pageantry of the Karrakin Naval Academy or the nationalistic fervor of the PIC. Many go on to serve as pilots in
respected private security firms, in vital, long-haul freight companies, and aboard line ships in the Union Navy.
Most, though, decide to keep close to home, joining up with IPS-N’s Trunk Security or Northstar GALCOMM.
Section 1 // Characters
[24]
CHARACTERS
1
Purview Background Notes Roll 1d6
1 The wealth of the Purview was never free. Whether taken from her colonies or squeezed from her citizens,
the gold that built Ras Shamra has always, always been squeezed from blood. Yours, in this case. Born on
Ras Shamra or one of the Armory’s other core Purview worlds, you and your family have always been
behind. Behind either in the socials – the Armory’s social credit system – or in debt, life was never quite
comfortable in the heart of the empire. For someone in your position, studying at the PIC simply made
social and financial sense: socially, the prestige upgrades were appealing; financially… well, it’s hard to
argue with a debt-wipe when you’re in so deep. How deep are you in? How long will you have to serve to wipe
your debt? Who is threatened as collateral if you skip your service or fail to meet the Armory’s rigorous standards?
2 The Purview must be expanded, and it will take brave youths like yourself to expand it. Hailing from
deep in the Purview, you and your comrades are descended from some of the first settlers on Ras
Shamra – you bleed Armory aubergine and have never known life outside of the Purview. Trained in the
PIC, you are now posted to a ship – are you eager for combat? What do you know of Union and the
Baronies? How far have you traveled within the Purview? What do you hope to gain from naval service:
Adventure? Titles? Land? Glory?
3 Your commission assigned and your docket assured, you headed off to the PIC with the rest of your
friends. College was a grand time – the sport, the people, the air of the place – and your early years in the
navy were much the same. Your first command now awaits, and there is talk of war in the Dawnline. Your
chums make up the bulk of the officer corps in this fleet, and now you’re back together it feels like college
all over again. You’re invincible, assured, and headed for glory. But do you really believe this to be true?
Do you have bad blood with anyone from the old college gang? Is there someone among them for whom you care
deeply? You’ve been in the navy for a while now, but have you seen combat, or will this be your first taste?
4 The Armory liberated your world decades ago, building your towns and villages into glittering modern cities.
Your grandparents may have labored under a tyrant, and your parents in the fire of war, but you have grown
up in what feels like a golden age. As part of the first generation to enjoy the fruits of the Armory’s efforts,
your parents and grandparents pushed you to give back: serve in the navy, see the liberators’ homeworld,
and send your pay home – such is the road to prosperity, and if it means wearing their flag and learning their
language, then so be it. You will climb as high as you can, prove your peoples’ worth in the Purview, and
never again knuckle under the crown of a tyrant. How far have you traveled from your homeworld to the PIC?
What of the time-slip between your parents, friends, and family back home – how many years have you fallen behind?
Are there others from your world in your class or on your ship? What was the development level of your world? Did
you know of Union, or learn of it after enlisting? Do you plan to return home, or are you committed to the naval life?
5 After your home was attacked by the Barons and defended by the Armory, your world’s government
formally recognized the Armory as an ally and integrated their armed forces with those of their
defenders. Though you initially enlisted in your world’s ODF, you quickly found yourself seconded to
the Armory’s naval forces. Now, you fight for the Armory – how do you feel about this? Did you
volunteer to extend your service, or are you still compelled to finish your current tour before
decommissioning? Do you consider the Armory an ally or just another distant power? Did you lose anyone to
the Baronies, or has your family made it through unscathed?
6 Father made sure your accounts were squared and debts paid before you purchased your
commission: lieutenant, junior grade, with an easy route to senior status if you proved a quick study at
the PIC. With a suite rented in the famous Terminus House and your staff set up next door, your time at
college was rather invigorating. Networking, sports, tactics, and strategy – you exceeded in them all,
well aware that you would employ this practical knowledge in your eventual billet. Those who perform
admirably at the PIC are sure to rise not just in the navy’s ranks, but those of society. Are you excited
for combat? Did you remain aloof through college, or did you make any friends? Did Father really square your
debts before school? Which is more important to you – the Armory, or your rank within it?
Section 1 // Characters
[25]
Honest Truth Background Notes Roll 1d6
1 The Honest Truth is many things: A trade school. A talent pool for freighters and private security
companies. A certificate program for crew from orbital and interstellar private escort outfits. For you,
it was the way offworld. On your home, there was nothing but dead ends. You could toil in the
factories or in the offices (or go build a factory or an office), but none of that was for you. You wanted
the stars, and IPS-N offered them to you. The Honest Truth was the culmination of that promise and
more. Your education there earned you a posting – do you ever want to go home? The Honest Truth
collects all types – did you make friends or enemies with someone who you’ll face on the opposite side? Was
your time in the Honest Truth above board, or did you mix it up with the spacers on the metro decks? Do you
have debts left to repay, or debts to collect?
2 You were born on the Honest Truth – a spacer through and through. The downwell life has never
appealed to you, and from the time you learned to navigate null-gee you’ve dreamed about crossing
the stars. Space – all of its depth and breadth – holds far more wonder and promise than any one
world. A tour in the navy will get you the pay and certifications you need – do you plan to stay for long?
Will you return to the Honest Truth? Did anyone from your block or deck wind up going to the Truth’s flight
school? Before your enlistment, did you work private? When you finally muster out, where will you go?
3 Your downwell life was a rough one. Raised in the Diaspora, you scrapped and worked for what was yours.
At fifteen you enlisted in a private mercenary company that hired anyone and everyone who wanted a
ticket offworld – all you needed to know how to do was sign your name and state that you were of age. You
hit the stars soon after, slinging short-pattern guns as a marine in your PMC’s naval security ops. In time,
you led your section and started to look for more: the Honest Truth was more. You earned yourself an
officer commission, but what happened to your old PMC? In your “old” life, did you make any friends? Did you
lose any? Did any come with you to the Honest Truth? Does anything from your old life haunt you?
4 You were born on the Honest Truth – a spacer through and through, though your life was a
comfortable one compared to most who call the metrodecks home. Raised in one of the nicer spin-
grav sections, your parents were IPS-N officers, assigned to the Honest Truth from fair Carina herself.
They always told you of the gentle world – her archipelagos and warm, still seas; the white sand
beaches and the skiffs that pole between islands; their home back on that sapphire sphere – and since
you could fly and bound you’ve always wanted to go. Only, life and your calling have got in the way.
Have your parents passed on, or have they retired to Carina? Do you see a route to the world, or are you
afraid it will always be a dream? As the child of well-positioned executive officers, did you engage at all with
people from the metrodecks? Was your education private, or did your parents send you to one of the Honest
Truth’s metrodeck public education centers? IPS-N’s executive dynasty programs, while largely bloodless, are
deeply competitive – do you have any rivals?
5 From Argo Navis straight to Trunk Security, you were born in the Company and will die for the Company
– and you wouldn’t have it any other way. Union was built by IPS-N, and you mean to continue the
tradition. Were you posted to the Honest Truth or born there? Has your loyalty or belief in the Company ever
been tested? Do you have a grand design in mind, or are you happy to serve? As a Company Person through
and through, what is your view of Union and its project? Do you see yourself as part of it, or apart from it?
6 The Honest Truth taught you how to be more than just a cosmonaut on a long-haul freighter. In its
curved gravity halls and metrodecks you learned to walk, talk, and bound like a spacer. In its vac-
spheres and 1:1 simulation chambers, you learned to fly like you were born in the void. When your
charter company asked you back, you refused – your lot was not hauling ice and chunks of rawmat, but
to follow a new dream: flying under your own banner. Will your old company send people after you? What of
your old crew – any entanglements there? What dream do you hold most dear – stability, or exploration?
Section 1 // Characters
[26]
CHARACTERS
1
SENIOR PETREL COSMOPOLITAN SECURITY CLUSTER
You are a member of an aged, interstellar order with Time. This is what you’ve learned of naval
roots dating back to Union’s First Committee. Lauded service: it’s all time. Distance is useless unless
as selfless heroes or chastised as irresponsible glory- you measure it in the hours, days, weeks,
hunters, deputized by Union or hunted as enemies of months, years, decades – centuries , even –
the hegemony, the Albatross have played many roles in you’ll spend ferrying between ports of call. This
the long and storied history of their organization. You is terrifying to some. To you, it’s just life. You’re
step into your command during an age of mounting an officer in a Cosmopolitan security cluster, a
strife. The call for help will echo across the stars – time-aligned security force in charge of
hunted or cheered, you and your cohort will answer. defending other Cosmopolitans while in transit, a
friendly face who knows the language, culture,
In contrast to the other officer corps depicted here, and conventions of the era – the “cluster” - you
those of the Albatross operate under a far more informal serve.
system of command. Their ranks are limited – Senior
Wing, Honored Wing, Loyal Wing, Wing, Senior Petrel, Like those who come up through planetary
and Petrel – and particular distinctions in command and defense forces and the Albatross’ makteba
seniority beyond those of rank are determined by close- system, many Cosmopolitans undergo a
knit, contextual social obligations and community combination of formal and informal training in z-
agreement. Some Senior Wings may be younger than axis navigation and null-grav maneuvering.
the Wings or Petrels they command – a quirk made Indeed, most Cosmopolitan children are
possible through the complexities of time dilation and schooled from a young age in all aspects of
the Albatross’s preference for skill over age. In a culture interstellar life, from donning and doffing
and organization exposed to and familiar with the hardsuits, to starship maintenance, to nearlight
brutality of time, communal decision-making, shared calculations, and orbital dynamics. Theirs is a life
histories, and record keeping take precedence. One removed from the “normal” time of the rest of
aspect of this shared history is that of the Petrel, the the galaxy, lonely to some but rich in parallel
role in which all Albatross begin their service. histories, stories, and legends – Cosmopolitans
know the void of space, the worlds that dot the
Each Albatross makteba trains its Petrels differently, stars, and the families that trek across time.
following centuries of local doctrine coupled with shared
records from the Albatross’s long history of interstellar travel Though they may seem mysterious or
and all-theater combat. Petrels – cadets – train in tight-knit anachronistic to Diasporans and Metropolitans,
groups of no more than a dozen, organized under their Cosmopolitans occasionally decide to apply
senior Loyal Wing and a retinue of advisers. The Petrel’s their considerable skills and comfort with
course is set from the moment they don their cadet garb: a interstellar travel and spatial navigation to the
shorn head, simple clothing, and unadorned hardsuits mark navies and security forces of non-Cosmopolitan
one as a Petrel, a squire destined to be a Wing once their states and entities. As humans who live in
training is complete. These Petrels learn together how to “normal time” make a great sacrifice in stepping
crew Albatross assault carriers, light cruisers, light and out of sync with their families, so too do
heavy strike-ships, and other vessels. The bravest – though Cosmopolitan crew and officers – only in the
also the most likely to die in service – are schooled in the opposite direction. As they age in “normal” time,
maintenance and support of their Loyal Wing’s mechanized their families – should they ever encounter them
chassis, learning with the goal to one day pilot their own. again – never seem to have aged beyond the
time that they left them. This is a comfort to
Albatross Petrels tend to be young, ranging from early some, and a great tragedy to others.
teens to early twenties, though older Petrels are not
uncommon, as anyone joining the order must begin at Cosmopolitans often need to translate their
this rank. Petrel crew and officers do not have formal “realtime” age to their subjective age, but few
ranks like conventional stellar navies – instead, they who step from their families young have reasons
lean on deeply ingrained systems of cultural seniority other than tragedy. Most desynced
and camaraderie, in which command roles not occupied Cosmopolitans would place themselves in
by Loyal Wings are designated to the most qualified middle age – often old for their ranks, but with
Petrel for the job. As a general rule, only Petrels near the tremendously valuable experience and
end of their training – around their early twenties – ever competency.
serve on the line. These Senior Petrels command
subline ships, act as executive officers for Loyal or
Honored Wings in command of capital ships, or fly
spearships of their own in support of mounted Wings.
Section 1 // Characters
[27]
Petrel Background Notes Roll 1d6
1 You trained with your Loyal Wing until they were killed in combat. Nearly ready yourself, you took up
their command and successfully completed a desperate objective. This was proof enough for your
Honored Wings back home – they promoted you then, and you have served with distinction ever since.
Who was your Wing, and what does their family (and your fellow Petrels) think of you? Do you serve in the
shadow of your Wing, or on their shoulders? Who killed your Wing, and do you seek to avenge them?
2 After a terrible injury and many years of recovery, your Loyal Wing lent their skills to the Albatross’s
theater command. When offered the chance to learn under a more combat-focused Wing, you alone
among your fellow Petrels declined. Your education has been cerebral, focused on the logistics and
big-picture strategy of how an Albatross makteba actually works when deployed. When your Loyal
Wing passed, they passed their responsibilities on to you. What happened to the other Petrels you once
served with? What did you learn of the galaxy, watching it from a bird’s eye view? What secrets of the
Albatross do you know? What do you feel about Union, the Baronies, and the Armory after watching them
from afar? Have you negotiated with IPS-N, your nominal backers, and what do you think of them?
3 You fought many years as a Petrel, earning your rank as Wing through courage, loyalty, and sacrifice.
Now you have your own clutch of young Petrels to guide, and it is with pride and comradely love that
you seek to teach them to be strong, swift, and brave. Who are your Petrels? What are their hopes,
dreams, loves, and worries? How do you teach them, and how do your fellow Wings see you as a teacher?
Have you lost any of your Petrels in combat?
4 As a child you displayed a proclivity for three-dimensional navigation, besting children many years
your senior in spheregames. You were fast-tracked for a command position, learning advanced
techniques for space combat and Albatross naval doctrines alongside Petrels and Wings. Your
brilliance was never in question – only the heights to which you would rise. Did you live up to this
potential? Did you make any rivals along the way? You likely have a clutch of Petrels that you train – how does
that responsibility sit with you?
5 The Albatross rescued you from a stranded space ship left in a desperate state by pirates, privateers,
or a hostile navy. With your family dead, you were raised in the makteba as one of the Albatross. You
chose the route of the Petrel, serving under the tutelage and command of a Wing until it was your time
to step into that same rank. What of your family’s killers – will you track them down and get your revenge, or
has it been so long that you’ve forgotten (or otherwise moved on)? Is your Wing still alive, or have they
perished? Who were the other Petrels in your clutch, and how did you get along with them? Who became
your family among the Albatross? How did you heal, or have you never healed from that horrible day?
6 Once, you served Union as a Liberator. In Union’s stiff, formal structures, you found yourself lost; the
Department of Justice moved too slow for you, arrived too late. You still did your job, as it was in the
service of the Three Pillars, but you saw too many worlds ruined by the echoes of the Second
Committee and the tender approach of the Third. You quit. You wandered. You plummeted lower than
you thought possible, but down there you found the Albatross. Now you’re a Wing, and you have a
galaxy to save. How low did you go? Who do you know back at the DoJ, and are you on good terms or bad?
Who was your Wing when you were a Petrel, and why did they advocate (or not!) for you to be allowed in?
Does anyone push back on your desire to take the action to (who you define as) the bad guys?
Section 1 // Characters
[28]
CHARACTERS
1
Cosmopolitan Security Cluster Background Notes Roll 1d6
1 You were born at nearlight, aboard a goodship as it burned at the edge of realspace on its way to the
next world that would host it. You grew up among your family’s decks, learning the proper way to fly in
null-gee the way a child downwell would learn to walk. Your grace and lithe strength found you
placement as one of your goodship’s security officers, escorting traders and decklords when they
went downwell or docked up on a station. You’ve seen scraps and learned to pilot for yourself. What
drew you away from this comfortable, normal life? Does your home still fly the stars, or has a terrible fate
befallen it? Do you keep in contact with others from your goodship, or are you on your own? Your goodship
dealt in trade and travel – did you ever escort someone to a unique or dangerous location? Did you ever
encounter los Voladores, or other strange things in deep space?
2 You were taken by raiders, made Cosmopolitan by their abduction. Freed and returned home, you found your
life – your work, friends, family, even your home and familiar surroundings – gone, paved over and
transformed in the time you were gone. Relativity is cruel in this way: you expected to lose a year or so,
nothing more, and instead you lost decades. For a while you scraped out an existence on your homeworld,
but even with a small group of others who had been pulled from their time, it was lonely. You decided that
your life was up there, out among the stars – the you that was loved on this world died in space, and a new
“you” took their place. With so much lost, do you fight for others or for yourself? Do you search for the raiders or
entity that took you? Do you have any physical reminders of your home and family, or have you thrown those away (or
never had them to begin with)? Do you maintain the customs of the time that once was yours, or are you able to
adapt to the new temporality?
3 You have become Cosmopolitan by action, though you still hold your homeworld dear. You joined a
long-haul ship as crew, eager for a new start offworld, and found that time-slip was a small price to
pay to see the full scope of humanity. How long have you been flying? Why did you leave the homeworld of
which you have such fond memories? How did you come to work security, and how did you learn to fly? Did
you ever have your own ship, or is this your first posting?
4 Out from the edge of known space, you have made your way into the core and back. There is a galaxy
of wonders and terrors, and you want to see them all. Hailing from a long line of Cosmopolitans, you
don’t feel the same tension and unease as those who merely dip a toe in the time-slip. You’re a true
onanon, and your goodship time is your anchor; the onanon fellows and families you meet again and
again are your community. You may be few on the galactic scale, but as a group you’re almost eternal.
What drew you to the realtime struggle? Why fight when you had found a kind of timeless, wandering peace –
who or what threatened that, and when will you feel safe enough to stop fighting?
5 How many years has it been? You stopped paying attention to time outside of your own conical
reference some time ago. When people ask, you just tell them you’re onanon – a Cosmopolitan concept
that means outside of “normal” time, but not outside of time. Some might think you’re free. Others might
think you’re lost. You might agree with them, but either way you know this: you’re alive, and forward is
the only way to move. Who were you before you became a Cosmopolitan? What happened to the life and
world you left behind? Were you running from something? Was your time-slip an accident, or the consequence
of a necessary journey? What drives you to keep flying? Do you even remember your old home? Do you have a
desire to return there some day?
6 Death is out there, waiting for you. As long as you fly, you can run from it. Right? If you keep flying,
maybe you’ll find a time in which you can divorce the mind from its container. The question is this: how
far are you willing to go?
Section 1 // Characters
[29]
SECTION 2
ALL VESSELS
ENGAGED
STRUCTURE OF A BATTLE 33 POSTURE AND UPTIME ACTIONS 48
THE ENGAGEMENT 37 RESERVES 52
COMBAT BASICS 38 DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION 53
THE WINDING GYRE 44 KEYWORDS AND DEFINITIONS 55
“Orientation. Orientation is going to kill you or save Battlegroup is all about the engagement. Pre-battle
your life, depending on how fast you understand it,” positioning, acceleration and deceleration, chasing
said Fleetmaster Lecuyer-Orion. He paced the down enemy fleets, navigation from one’s
lecture floor, addressing the assembled cadets. deployment zone to the battle line – all of that is
“Combat and navigation in a three-dimensional assumed to have already happened by the time the
environment is antithetical to our primate brain. We’re first dice are rolled. Battlegroup is about the
not fish; our natural impulse is to orient visually, to moments just before the unpredictability gap closes –
seek an immutable horizon and draw our orientation and the climax when it does.
from that. ‘Up’, ‘down’ – these are empirical things to
us, a species that evolved with its feet on the ground. There can be any number of reasons for two naval
In space, this primate desire to see the horizon will powers to engage in combat, a myriad of tactical and
get you killed.” strategic concerns or narrative events which have let to
this moment, but ultimately all engagements will come
Mayura Song took notes – she drew spheres, down to a deadly clash between fleets as commanders
shading them with cross-hatching. The Fleetmaster order their ships into battle against the enemy.
continued.
The enemy is out there, somewhere. Your
“As pilots and officers in command of ships, instruments place them around a hundred thousand
remember this – especially you born down a well. For kilometers distant – give or take a few hundred, as
you, there is no horizon. Do not attempt to orient by their sensor bafflers fight your own. Not yet visible on
static visual reference – ‘up’ and ‘down’ changes optics, but certainly within range. Radiation and
constantly. So, how do you orient? Which way is ‘up’, comms interceptors light up, and long-range suites
and which way is ‘down’?” Lecuyer-Orion crossed his highlight their ships in wireframe, their hulls stark,
arms and dropped his lecture voice. “Not a rhetorical unnatural crimson boxes against the starless black.
question, cadets, I’ll need an answer before we move
along.” The chase is done. The enemy is sighted. Battle is
engaged.
Song finished shading. It was an easy question –
Baronic decorum led the others to hesitation, which is
why the silence remained. She didn’t bother to raise KEY GAMEPLAY
her hand. “Fleetmaster,” Song’s voice cut the silence.
“You can orient by your gut. ‘Down’ is always paired to ASSUMPTIONS
thrust. ‘Down’ is always behind you.” Assume the following statements are true during
each engagement:
The Fleetmaster smiled. “Good. Correct, Cadet
Song, and well said. The rest of you, remember this: The field of battle is set and the enemy fleet will not
‘down’ is always behind. When you are in space, you continue to flee or maneuver away (at least to begin
only ever head one direction: up. Orient yourselves with). If you are defending, you either cannot outrun
accordingly.” the enemy ships or abandon your objective. Your
orders are clear: engage the enemy and defeat them.
The Fleetmaster continued, and Song started
sketching a new sphere. Any movement is – on balance – going to be blueshift
movement (or movement toward a target). As
players, you of course have the opportunity to
determine the best way to approach the enemy, but
overall, these movements will take you closer to the
enemy or the battle’s objective.
Going into combat, players will lead their own The GM’s overall responsibility in the briefing is to
personal battlegroups into the fray. Constructing a provide the players with some information they can
battlegroup, selecting the various ships, weapons, use when planning their fleet construction and
and upgrades which comprise it, is detailed on page strategies. The most important part of this is that you
62. This usually takes place prior to beginning a should never lie to the players. You don’t necessarily
game and embarking on a mission. have to tell them every single detail of the enemy
forces’ composition or environmental complications –
A battle is made up of five stages – briefing, forecast, holding some information close to your chest is fine
preparation, engagement, and aftermath. The first and even expected. If a player finds themselves
three stages, which happen before the fighting wanting more detailed information about upcoming
begins, are important for establishing the stakes and engagements, there are ways they can obtain it such
grounding the battle in a broader narrative context, as pre-battle uptime actions (p. 48). But the GM
as fleets rarely engage each other without a reason. shouldn’t, for example, inform the players to expect a
They are also important opportunities for the GM to heavy presence of carriers and strike craft, then
provide players with information and for players to include no carriers or strike craft whatsoever. The
prepare. It is highly recommended that you do not information provided to the players here, as detailed
skip any of these steps without consulting the rest of or vague as it might be, should always be truthful.
your group first.
Things to consider in terms of information that might
In some special circumstances – say, a surprise attack be useful include:
catches the players’ battlegroup off guard or some
esoteric weapon yanks them from cruising speed – • the number of enemy battlegroups they will be
you might skip the first three stages, jumping directly facing. Are their forces evenly matched, or are they
to Stage 4: Engagement. Even in a case like this, you’ll outnumbered?
likely want to do a little out-of-character run through • the presence or absence of a certain strategy or
the briefing, forecast, and preparation. This ensures armament, such as certain weapons, payloads, or
that everyone is on board with the situation as players wings
and can start to figure out how their characters will • whether the enemy forces are predisposed toward
respond to such a sudden engagement. combat within certain ranges, or are well-equipped
to defend against certain forms of attack
• whether the enemy fleet has any particularly
unusual units that stand out among the rest. Will
they be facing notable recurring antagonists,
experimental superweapons, or anomalous hull
configurations that have baffled their intelligence?
In Battlegroup, the stakes of a single fight can be This stage is also when the players choose whether
appreciably significant – greater, even, than in to select a posture (see p. 48) or take uptime actions
Lancer. The players are up against the strength of (see p. 49-51). Postures let them determine the
states and corpros. They aren’t just a single squad of starting position of their fleet, while uptime actions
powerful mechs, but a battlegroup of ships that are unique actions that allow them to better prepare
could, if their weapons were turned toward terrible for the coming battle. The results of these actions
ends, destroy worlds. The consequences of failure can further influence the construction of their
may mount, or they may be isolated to the sector of battlegroups as well. Commanders might gather
space that they occupy, but in most cases they additional information about enemy forces or gain
should be known and agreed upon out of character bonuses for their ships.
before heading forward.
Once the players are informed on the engagement to STAGE FOUR: ENGAGEMENT
come, know what their objective is, and know what Once everyone has had a chance to prepare and is
could happen as a consequence of the battle (i.e., ready to begin the battle, it’s time for the
they know the strategic big picture), they can begin engagement. This is when the players will have their
to plan their tactical approach. battlegroups and strategies put to the test as they
make contact with enemy forces.
STAGE THREE: PREPARATION Engagement starts with the GM setting the scene
Captains confer and plan in legionspace, matching their and describing the situation as the commanders
ship’s tunings to those of their compatriots, sharing arrive at the initial staging area. Perhaps the enemy
information on hardcopy munitions, printing schedules fleet has been engaged in battle with other forces
and specifics data from their group comps. Pilots on flight prior to their arrival and the wreckage of destroyed
decks bid farewell to friends with promises of drinks and ships is slowly drifting across local space, endlessly
downtime after the fight – if they make it back – and broadcasting automatic emergency beacons on
hurry to their ships for preflight checks. repeat. The battle may take place in a unique region,
perhaps blanketed by nebulas or in the heart of an
During the preparation stage, players may, if they like, asteroid belt. Comms officers may begin picking up
make modifications to the battlegroup they’ve panicked distress calls from refugee vessels fleeing
constructed – swapping weapons, systems, and ahead of approaching forces. Whatever the situation,
ordnance – and making any relevant decisions about now is the time to man action stations and prepare
“narrative” considerations (e.g., ordering onboard for combat.
marines to certain modules of their ship, describing
the general orientation or formation of their fleet,
The details and step-by-step processes of
describing where their commander is and what
engagement are outlined in their own section
they’re doing, and so on). Players can continue
on p. 37.
adjusting their battlegroup composition throughout
this stage, up until everyone has finished preparing
and the engagement is ready to begin.
1
LOGISTICS PHASE: During this phase, players and to find out where their battlegroup drops out of
the GM count down the timers on powerful, nearlight (see p. 51).
ponderous CHARGE weapons and PAYLOAD
attacks; restock and resupply depleted systems; and
activate some special abilities.
CHARGE weapons and PAYLOADS are some of the ROUND SUMMARY
most devastating weapons used in naval 1: LOGISTICS PHASE
combat, and their use frequently decides battles
all by themselves. 2: IMPACT PHASE
2
IMPACT PHASE: During this phase, any Charge
3: ACTION PHASE
weapons and Payload attacks that have
finished counting down can finally be fired.
4: BOARDING PHASE
3
ACTION PHASE: This is where individual
battlegroups maneuver, trade blows, launch
fighters and order subline ships to perform
attack runs, and so on.
4
BOARDING PHASE: Boarding actions are resolved
in this final phase. Marines, combat subalterns,
and mechs fight their way through cramped
corridors, disrupting and disabling enemy ships in the
hopes of turning the tide of battle in their favor.
Note that the three major types of counters handled More information on how the battle progresses over
during this step – Charge, Flight, and Refresh – all time can be found in on p. 45-47.
count down to 0. This is to make it easier for
everyone to see at a glance which of these significant
weapons and systems are close to being ready to IMPACT PHASE
use. If a CHARGE weapon has 2 Charge Counters During the Impact Phase:
remaining, then that tells you exactly how many
rounds remain before it can fire. • Charge weapons that have reached 0 Charging
Counters may fire now, resetting their counters, or
If there's ever a question of what order various effects hold their attack for later. Attackers roll to hit but do
and abilities happen in during this phase, such as not yet roll damage. Decide the order of this similar
multiple effects which occur at the start of it, resolve to how you would decide turn order (i.e., a player
them like you would during any other phase by letting with a readied weapon may elect to fire or hold, then
a player resolve their effects first, followed by an NPC, an NPC with a readied weapon, and so on).
and alternating until all effects are resolved. • Payload attacks that have reached 0 Flight
Counters automatically hit
RETREAT • damage is rolled for any successful CHARGE or
At the beginning of the fifth round of play (before the PAYLOAD attacks and the incoming damage from
Logistics Phase), every player needs to decide whether the two types of attacks are separately assigned to
their battlegroup will continue the engagement. By this the relevant ships and/or battlegroups
point, their ships’ nearlight drives have cooled down and
charged back up, their crews are well prepared and if it is possible to interdict any incoming Payload or
ready to take the necessary actions, and the likely Area damage, Interdiction is rolled for the relevant
tactical outcomes of the engagement should be clear. battlegroups and the results subtracted from that
Each commander must choose whether to jump away damage. During this phase, Interdiction is only rolled
from the fight or to stay engaged. once against all incoming attacks, which means that
coordinating the timing of multiple salvos so they
If a commander makes the call to jump, their arrive simultaneously is a powerful strategy for
battlegroup retreats from the combat, punching out ensuring damage gets through.
via nearlight ejection. If they do so:
MANEUVERS
Attacks performed as a part of a maneuver occur RAMMING SPEED
immediately. The following rules apply: Maneuver
You may only use this maneuver at Close Range or
• Single-target attacks are made against the target Point-Blank, and only if your battlegroup is able to
ship’s DEFENSE, and deal their listed damage on hit. move. Advance your battlegroup to Point-Blank,
• AREA-TARGEt attacks require no roll to hit. then choose one of your CAPITAL SHIPS and a hostile
• PAYLOAD attacks, whether single- or area-target, CAPITAL SHIP: both ships take 2d6 damage that
begin their flight toward their designated targets, cannot be prevented in any way.
with their progress tracked during the IMPACT PHASE.
• Some abilities simply deal damage to a target Ramming is not considered a standard combat
directly and do not count as attacks. doctrine by any major naval power and capital ships
are never designed with such actions in mind, but
desperate times may call for desperate measures.
RETROGRADE BURN
Maneuver
Choose one:
• Your battlegroup falls back one range band.
• Until the end of your next turn, you may ignore the
next hostile effect that would force it to move.
When attempting to repel boarders at the end of its Make sure everyone is on the same page and
turn, the player of a boarded ship rolls once per unit ready to move on.
boarding it, but using a maneuver to purge all decks
repels all boarders at once. 2. IMPACT PHASE
CHARGE weapons that have reached 0 Charge
NPC BOARDERS Counters may either fire, rolling to hit, or hold
NPCs can also attempt boarding actions against their attacks.
player Capital Ships. Those boarding actions have
unique effects, but otherwise work identically to PAYLOAD weapons that have reached 0 Flight
player boarding actions. Likewise, players repel NPC Counters automatically hit.
boarders the same way – either by each boarded
vessel succeeding on a roll against the boarding Roll damage for any CHARGE and PAYLOAD
party’s Tenacity at the end of its turn or by its weapons that have hit.
battlegroup committing to a maneuver to clear all
boarders from all Capital Ships in the battlegroup. Battlegroups may roll Interdiction and reduce
the result from relevant attacks.
Boarding actions also represent an ideal place to
take a break from Battlegroup and play out a mission 3. ACTION PHASE
in Lancer if your group wants to get into the action Battlegroups take turns using Maneuvers and
with their own mechs and pilots. If that is the case, Tactics, alternating between player and NPC
you may, of course, disregard the rules for boarding battlegroups.
actions and simply play them out using Lancer’s
rules. The rest of the naval battle may be placed on Non-CHARGE, non-PAYLOAD attacks made
hold, or continue in the background, be played out in during this step resolve immediately.
alternating turns or at natural breaks in the boarding
action, or similar. Commanders roll to repel boarders from each
boarded ship at the end of their turn.
After the Boarding Phase has been resolved, the
round concludes and play moves on to the next 4. BOARDING PHASE
round with the start of the Logistics Phase. Boarding actions launched during previous
phases arrive at their destinations.
“How long till we engage?” Gunner Parson’s voice Shorter distances open up new avenues of attack as
hissed in Fisher’s ear, deformed by the intense gees. carriers launch squadrons of fighters, bombers, and
mounted chassis on combat sorties and main
Fisher could only move his eyes – enough to see the batteries open fire with greater confidence and
subtext chatter flying across the Sanspeur’s open accuracy. Wolfpacks of subline ships prowl the flanks
channels. “Thirty minutes. You ready?” looking for targets of opportunity, and boarding
landers are sent on perilous journeys across a deadly
Parson hissed an affirmative around the gees. no man’s land to strike at the enemy from the inside.
“Good, load Starkill belts – CO wants us on fly- Inevitably, like a wire drawn tighter and tighter,
swatting duty,” Fisher said. something has to give.
Fisher would’ve laughed, but for the gees. Instead, All player battlegroups, unless otherwise noted, start
he chirped a-firm, and keyed his cannons into play in a range bands determined by their pre-
precycle warmup. engagement posture or uptime actions, typically
somewhere between Extreme Range and Scope
Thirty minutes to go. Range. More details on selecting a starting range
can be found on page 51.
Long Range
2
Scope Range
Collapsing Range
Close Range
As the engagement continues, engaged ships slowly Round 8+: All ships move to Point-Blank Range.
begin to draw nearer to each other, circling around From here on, battlegroups can no longer retreat:
the gyre and working to close the unpredictability they can only survive, surrender, win, or die.
gap in a way that gives them the most advantageous
position from which to fire their most devastating
weapons. As a result, engaged fleets push up against
a point of no return as the battle draws on. Seasoned
veterans and experienced commanders refer to this
as the tipping point.
At Collapsing Range:
• PAYLOAD attacks are fired with 2 Flight Counters.
Your ships spread out and adopt a more defensive, When using uptime actions, all player battlegroups
cautious posture for this battle, tempering their begin play at Extreme Range with no specific bonuses
speed and directing the saved power to forward or effects. If a commander wants to begin play at a
shielding, additional systemic redundancies, and different range band or with additional bonuses, they
boosted processing power for your legion. Your need select an appropriate uptime action.
ships deploy at Extreme Range. You may use one
additional tactic during the first round of combat. Uptime provides an opportunity to focus on the
personal and interpersonal – zoomed-in scenes that
NOMINAL POSTURE show what your character and their close circle are
Posture doing. The framing of uptime actions should be
“Helm, steady on. By the books and as the admiral informed by narrative context: if the players’
orders for this one – we engage as planned.” commanders are docked at a station or shipyard then
they may have different opportunities to pursue their
The tactical situation matches the strategic goals than if they begin preparations already in transit
parameters as outlined in your briefing; you order to a staging area aboard their flagship. Whatever the
your ships to their nominal trajectories and prepare framing, however, the overall outcome of the actions
to engage. Your ships deploy at Long Range. they take will ultimately remain the same.
Importantly, these rolls aren’t like regular uptime checks; Describe your actions, and roll:
they can’t be Risky or Heroic, you can’t use teamwork
on them, and you can’t push them to try again. On a 9 or less, your current capacity remains largely
unchanged despite your best efforts. This might
There are diminishing returns to repeatedly choosing the mean that your gun teams or engineers, while
same action over multiple engagements; there’s only so competent, don’t improve their skills; that you fail to
hard you can push your crew in a given direction before secure additional or specialized ordnance; or that you
they fail to return exceptional improvements, and part of make no special breakthrough in the analysis of your
effective command is understanding these limits. enemy’s defensive patterning. You begin the
Whenever a commander attempts the same uptime upcoming battle with a banked ACCURACY die. You
action two or more battles in a row, they treat results may spend this banked die to add +1 ACCURACY to
of 10–19 as if they were 9 or less instead. one of your single-target attack rolls during play.
Note that some uptime actions grant players On 10–19, your gunnery or engineering teams show
powerful benefits such as the ability to equip measurable improvement in their performance. Once
upgrades at a reduced cost. That being the case, during the upcoming battle, you may reroll one of your
players should always have the opportunity to adjust attack or damage rolls but must keep the second result.
and finalize their battlegroup construction after
uptime actions have resolved to take advantage of On 20+, efforts meet with significant success. This
this. Battlegroup construction is detailed on page 62. might mean your gunnery teams show dramatic
improvement, engineering makes a significant
breakthrough, you make a key discovery about the
ACTIONS enemy fleet’s defenses, you are able to route long-
SET A POSTURE flight torpedoes via an unconventional flight path, or
Textbook naval engagement doctrine involves similar. During the upcoming battle, you may choose
approaching battle from a conservative position, granting one of the following benefits:
ample time to optimize counterfactuals, analyze enemy
forces, and respond to unforeseen developments. Some • Reroll any one attack or damage roll you make
commanders, however, prefer a more aggressive during play but must keep the second result.
approach, seeking to overwhelm the enemy before • During the first Logistics Phase, remove an
they can coordinate their forces in response. additional 1 Charge Counter from a CHARGE
weapon in your battlegroup.
Unlike other uptime actions, setting a posture does • Add or remove 1 Flight Counter from any one
not require a roll – you may simply choose the effect PAYLOAD attack you make.
you want. This uptime action allows you to set a
posture (see previous page). Since this action does
not require a roll, you can choose it in subsequent
battles without penalty.
When consulting navigation and intelligence, you When consulting senior officers, you might catch up
might maintain relative speed and distance from the on the status of the ship and crew with the officers
other ships in your battlegroup, assign patrol orbits to who were on watch while you were under, gossip
defend against known-unknown attack vectors, about or discuss officers who have not yet been
review NHP updates on thrust control and ETAs cycled out of stasis, get the latest reports from the
relative to local stations and worlds, initiate long- various departments and modules of your ship, get
range surveillance on known and predicted enemy the latest rumors about other captains and officers in
movements, run specific deep scans on sighted the battlegroup (who to look out for, who to trust,
enemy vessels, and so on. etc.), brag or compare ship compositions and flight
tactics, bet on kill numbers, or similar.
Describe your actions, and roll:
Describe your actions, and roll:
On 9 or less, NAVINT is a mess and it takes far
longer than normal to sort signal from noise. You fail On 9 or less, your consultations with senior staff are
to glean much more useful intel, though your efforts less productive than you’d hoped. While nothing
may still identify some tactical advantages that you seems particularly out of order, no one has any
can exploit. You gain both of the following benefits: special insights to share regarding the upcoming
engagement. You begin the upcoming battle with
You begin the upcoming battle with a banked your choice of a banked ACCURACY or a banked
DIFFICULTY die. You may spend this banked die to add DIFFICULTY die. You may spend this banked die to add
+1 DIFFICULTY to any single-target attack roll made +1 ACCURACY to one of your single-target attack rolls
against you during play. or +1 DIFFICULTY to a single-target attack roll made
against you, as relevant.
You may ask the GM one question about the
upcoming battle. This question may be about the On 10–19, astute tactical analysis or canny leveraging
enemy’s fleet’s composition or the combat area (e.g., of available resources helps you and your officers to
whether the enemy forces include a specific type of formulate an effective plan of attack. You may choose
FLAGSHIP, the number of CHARGE weapons they have, one option from the RESERVES table (p. 52) to bring
whether there are any notable environmental hazards with you into the upcoming engagement.
that weren’t noted during the briefing, etc.), or it may
have a more narrative focus (e.g., morale among the On 20+, a flash of insight or a sudden windfall gives
enemy forces, the stakes for the enemy forces or you just what you need to exploit a critical weakness
their interests in the outcome of the battle, the in the enemy’s defenses or capitalize on an
personality and tactical deportment of a notable unexpected advantage. You may both choose an
enemy commander, etc). The GM must answer option from the RESERVES table to bring with you into
truthfully to the best of their abilities. the upcoming engagement and grant one of your allies
a banked ACCURACY die or a banked DIFFICULTY die.
On a 10–19, all systems are nominal and the report
you requested arrives on your desk promptly. You
gain both a banked DIFFICULTY die and you may ask
the GM three questions about the upcoming battle,
which they must answer truthfully as outlined above.
Section 2 // Reserves
[52]
DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION
DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION
No matter how much damage a ship takes, it remains
operational as long as stays above 0 HP – with even
just 1 HP remaining, the officers, crew, and automated
systems can keep the ship in the fight. At 0 HP,
A note about player safety: while Battlegroup
assumes that peoples’ lives are fragile in the context
of space combat, we never want players to be placed
in situations that they find unsafe. To that extent,
2
however, a ship is considered destroyed; any lower, clear it with your players whether or not they are
and you begin to see more and more catastrophic comfortable with the (very high) chance that their
levels of destruction. A destroyed ship is no longer a character could die in a session. If they are, play on
valid target for attacks and abilities. Use the Kill Table as written. If not, make sure to leave some wiggle
below to determine the degree to which a ship has room for characters to live.
been removed from the fight, and how many – if any –
members of the crew manage to escape.
KILL TABLE
REMAINING HP OUTCOME DETAILS
0 to -4 MISSION KILL The ship is “mission-killed”: its drive section is holed, life support systems
and reservoirs ruptured, navcomm and weapons systems rendered
ineffective, or it drifts uncontrolled through space. Whatever the specifics, a
ship in this condition is unable to continue the fight in an effective manner.
Fortunately for those aboard, the crew and passengers of a mission-killed
ship have time to escape via conventional systems (e.g., escape pods and
lifeboats) if they so choose, although they can grab only those personal
effects, supplies, critical hardcopy intelligence, and so on, that they can carry.
-5 to -9 SUNDERING HIT The ship suffers a sudden and catastrophic blow, shattering its hull and causing
irreconcilable damage to its superstructure. The damage at the point of impact
likely causes a section of the ship to shear off, boiling all proximal modules to
slag in a catastrophic rupture. Crew are killed outright or, worse, spaced. Some
of the lucky ones manage to escape on lifeboats, but they are few.
-10 to -14 TOTAL The ship is immediately destroyed by the attack. The brief, catastrophic
DESTRUCTION explosion (or series of explosions) as critical systems rupture immediately kills
nearly everyone on board. Survivors of the blast are limited to the single digits
– of these, few live longer than a handful of moments after the initial
explosion. The ship is not salvageable, having been reduced both by the
weapon impact and drive rupture to a glittering plume of slag and debris.
-15 or less ANNIHILATION The ship is immediately destroyed as its nearlight drive, magazines, or long-
spool capacitors suffer a direct, penetrating hit. The resultant explosion is so
massive that it blanks nearby ships’ sensors for a moment, and little remains
save for an expanding cloud of plasma. All hands are lost; no one can survive
an explosion like that.
1 CREW During ejection, the ship’s kinetic compensators fail to properly engage across all
CASUALTIES decks, resulting in numerous casualties. Roll 1d20: the result is the percentage of the
ship’s crew that are killed as a result of the ejection, crushed to death by unprotected
exposure to sudden, massive acceleration.
2 INTERNAL Whether due to existing battle damage or critical overloads caused by sudden nearlight
EXPLOSION acceleration, an internal explosion occurs aboard the ship immediately after it realigns
to realspace. The ship suffers 1d6 damage immediately and without mitigation. This
damage cannot reduce a ship below 0 HP, but may still prompt the remaining crew to
evacuate in order to avoid further danger.
3 MISALIGNED Due to a navigational error or hardware malfunction, when your ship finally retranslates
JUMP back to nominal velocity you discover that your ejection has placed you far off course.
This could also place you dangerously close to stellar bodies, a gravity well, or other
hazardous conditions.
4 DEAD IN THE The jump was successful – on target, with no injuries – but massive power surges have
WATER pushed the ship’s reactors into an automatic shutdown sequence. The ship is now
operating on emergency power to essential systems only. It will take several days or
more for the reactors to fully cycle down and then be brought back online – the larger
the vessel, the longer it takes. Until then, you’re adrift in space.
5-6 JUMP Despite the desperate circumstances, your ejection from battle is handled without error.
SUCCESSFUL, You retranslate on course, and while the ship and her crew may suffer minor systems
ALL CLEAR damage and treatable injuries in the aftermath, this is nonetheless a textbook example
of a successful jump.
SUPERHEAVY WEAPONS
WEAPON & UPGRADE TAGS
The weapons and upgrades available to commanders
include powerful weapons, electronic warfare systems,
enhanced command-and-control capabilities, and also
things like accompanying subline vessels or wings of
fighters and bombers housed aboard carriers.
2
The most powerful and devastating weapons
mounted on capital ships, SUPERHEAVY weapons draw Tags are specific terms that describe how a weapon,
down enormous power or launch volleys of powerful upgrade, or ability functions and what sort of rules
munitions. Unless otherwise noted, SUPERHEAVY are attached to it. Remember that specific rules
weapons without the CHARGE tag can only be used as override general rules. That means that if an upgrade
part of the Open Fire maneuver. has different rules to the ones outlined here, you
should use the specific rules given for that upgrade.
Superheavy weapons receive +1 DIFFICULTY on all
attack rolls against NPC ESCORTS, as they aren’t TAGS
optimized for use against such small, nimble targets. ACCURATE: Attacks with this weapon gain +1 ACCURACY.
To start with, you know you want to play a pack of bruisers – big ships that can take BATTLEGROUP PULLMAN [20]
hits and dish them out. Some of the other players in your group are going with lighter
builds – a range of quick carriers with plenty of wings and subline squadrons – and Thoreau Battleship [7]
planning to chip away at enemies, but you want to hit them with the knockout punch. Flagship [0]
You have 20 points to spend on ships and upgrades. 3x3 Block Short-Spool
Cannon [2]
So, off the bat, you’re going to buy three CAPITAL SHIP hulls: two GMS Caspian Sea– Heavy Kinetic Battery [1]
Class FRIGATES (3 points apiece) and one GMS Thoreau-Class BATTLESHIP (7 points), for Heavy Kinetic Battery [1]
a total of 13 points. You decide to designate the Thoreau as your FLAGSHIP, granting it Secondary Turrets [0]
+3 HP, +1D6 INTERDICTION, and an additional system slot. Secondary Turrets [0]
Fire For Effect [0]
The Thoreau has several abilities that complement a heavy-hitting play style,
including a powerful maneuver called Unleash Hell that allows you to fire a Caspian Sea Frigate [3]
SUPERHEAVY weapon alongside two PRIMARY weapons or up to four PRIMARY weapons all Heavy Kinetic Battery [1]
at once. It also has plenty of weapon slots so you can cover both possibilities. Flyswatter Missiles [0]
Meanwhile, the Caspian Sea–class frigates are effective at screening since they can
LOCK ON to enemies when assigned to a defensive screen and also give your allies Caspian Sea Frigate [3]
rerolls, making them very versatile and flexible ships. Heavy Kinetic Battery [1]
Flyswatter Missiles [0]
With your remaining 7 points, you’ll outfit your hulls with weapons and upgrades; any slots
you don’t have points to spend on, you can simply fill with 0-point weapons or systems. Banked Accuracy [1]
Your flagship is going to be the big damage-dealer of your battlegroup, so you want
to make sure it really slings fire. Although you have plenty of weapon slots between
the battleship and your two frigates many of the SUPERHEAVY weapon options don’t fire
like normal. Instead, they build up charges or launch payloads that have to travel to
their targets. There is, however, an option that’s perfect for this sort of playstyle: the
3x3 Block Short-Spool Cannon. Equipping that costs you 2 points.
In addition to its new cannon, the Thoreau has two PRIMARY weapon slots, two
AUXILIARY weapon slots, and (because it’s your FLAGSHIP) it also has a SYSTEM upgrade
slot. For its PRIMARY and AUXILIARY weapons, you choose a pair of Heavy Kinetic
Batteries and Secondary Turrets. The Heavy Kinetic Batteries cost 1 point each, and
the Secondary Turrets cost 0 points, leaving you with 3 points remaining. For the
system slot, you decide you want to make sure your big guns hit when you unleash
hell, so you install the 0-point Fire For Effect upgrade on your battleship.
Now we come to outfitting the FRIGATES, which have one PRIMARY and one AUXILIARY
weapon mount each. For another 2 points, you purchase another pair of Heavy Kinetic
Batteries to give your battlegroup even more firepower. You could simply take another set
of Secondary Turrets, but the mission briefing suggested that enemy forces may have
carriers in the area of operations, so instead you give each frigate a set of Flyswatter
Missiles for 0 points apiece.
One point remains. Unfortunately, you don’t have any free weapon or upgrade slots
left, but that just means it gets converted into a banked ACCURACY die for you to spend
during the upcoming battle.
With everything set, you make note of the weapons and systems equipped to each ship,
their traits and any special abilities they have, and each ship’s HP and DEFENSE, and then
you go about naming them accordingly. This particular battlegroup is being portrayed as
a strike force under the command of Union’s Department of Justice and Human Rights,
and is designated Battlegroup Pullman. This battlegroup will be accompanied by those
of the other players, and together, all of the battlegroups you command make up a fleet.
Section 3 // Hulls
[66]
FRIGATES
FRIGATES
3
0
Section 0 // Frigates
[67]
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
3 16 10 1 Primary, 1 Auxiliary
[68]
FRIGATES
3
GMS
SUPERIOR-CLASS FRIGATE
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
3 16 10 1 Primary, 1 System
Section 4 // Frigates
[69]
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
3 12 10 1 Superheavy
[70]
FRIGATES
3
[71]
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
4 14 12 2 Auxiliary, 1 System
[72]
FRIGATES
3
[73]
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
2 14 10 1 Primary
[74]
FRIGATES
3
[75]
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
4 18 8 1 Primary, 1 Wing
[76]
FRIGATES
3
[77]
IPS-N
MINOKAWA-CLASS FRIGATE
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
4 18 8 1 Primary
Section 4 // Frigates
[78]
FRIGATES
4
Section 4 // Frigates
[79]
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
3 16 10 1 Primary, 1 Auxiliary
Section 4 // Carriers
[80]
CARRIERS
CARRIERS
0
3
Section 0:
Section 0 // Carriers
[81]
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
4 14 14 2 Auxiliary, 2 Escorts
[82]
CARRIERS
3
[83]
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
6 14 15 3 Wings, 1 System
[84]
CARRIERS
3
[85]
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
4 16 12 2 Wings, 1 Escort, 1 System
[86]
CARRIERS
3
[87]
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
3 16 10 1 Primary, 1 Auxiliary
Section 4 // Carriers
[88]
CARRIERS
CARRIERS
3
0
Section 0 // Carriers
[89]
GMS
THOREAU-CLASS BATTLESHIP
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
7 25 12 1 Superheavy, 2 Primary, 2 Auxiliary
Section 4 // Carriers
[90]
CARRIERS
3
HA
LOUIS XIV–CLASS DREADNOUGHT
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
7 15 13 1 Superheavy, 1 Primary, 2 Systems
Section 4 // Carriers
[91]
HA
MICHEL NEY–CLASS DREADNOUGHT
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
7 25 12 1 Superheavy, 2 Primary, 1 System
Section 4 // Carriers
[92]
CARRIERS
3
FKS
CALENDULA-CLASS BATTLECRUISER
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
7 23 13 2 Superheavy, 1 Primary, 1 System
Section 4 // Carriers
[93]
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
7 23 13 1 Superheavy, 2 Primary, 1 Escort
[94]
CARRIERS
3
IPS-N
GREENLAND-CLASS BATTLECARRIER
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
6 30 10 1 Superheavy, 1 Primary, 3 Wings
Section 4 // Carriers
[95]
IPS-N
EILAND-CLASS COMMAND CARRIER
POINTS HP DEFENSE OPTIONS
6 30 10 1 Superheavy, 3 Escorts, 1 System
Section 4 // Carriers
[96]
CARRIERS
CAPITAL SHIP SUMMARY
FRIGATES
HULL
GMS CASPIAN SEA
POINTS
3
HP
16
DEF
10
WEAPONS
SUPERHEAVY PRIMARY
1
AUXILIARY
1
UPGRADES
WINGS ESCORTS SYSTEMS
3
GMS HURON 3 16 10 1 1
GMS SUPERIOR 3 16 10 1 1
HA CREIGHTON 3 12 10 1
HA HOUSTON 4 14 12 2
HA TURENNE 4 14 12 2 1
FKS CIRSIUM 3 14 10 1 1
FKS ONOPORDUM 2 14 10 1
FKS TOLUMNIA 5 16 10 2
IPS-N BAKUNAWA 4 18 8 1 1
IPS-N LAHO 4 18 8 1 1
IPS-N MINOKAWA 4 18 8 1
GMS AMAZON 4 14 14 4
GMS TONGASS 4 14 14 2 2
HA FARRAGUT 5 16 13 1 2
FKS TAGETES 6 14 15 3 1
SSC APEIRON 6 14 15 4
IPS-N TAWA 4 16 12 2 1 1
IPS-N MASAUWU 6 16 12 2 2
GMS MURIE 6 25 12 1 1 2 1
GMS THOREAU 7 25 12 1 2 2
HA LOUIS XIV 7 15 13 1 1 2
HA MICHEL NEY 7 25 12 1 2 1
FKS CALENDULA 7 23 13 2 1 1
FKS HESPERIS 7 23 13 1 2 1
IPS-N GREENLAND 6 30 10 1 1 3
IPS-N EILAND 6 30 10 1 3 1
Section 4 // Carriers
[97]
WEAPONS AND UPGRADES
SUPERHEAVY WEAPONS
WEAPONS
Each weapon lists all relevant information LONG-CYCLE PRIMARY LANCE
in its profile, including: Superheavy, Single-Target, Charge 3, Critical,
Reliable 3
• point costs [Range 4–0][12 damage][0 points]
• required slots
• any tags it has (e.g., CHARGE, PAYLOAD, The galactic standard armament for any heavyweight
and RELOADING) ship of the line, the LCPL encompasses a wide range
• whether it makes single-target or area- of directed-energy cannons and particle beams, all
target attacks of which share an outcome: the immediate and total
• its range and damage destruction of the enemy on a square hit. With
• other any additional effects or unique balanced spool times and high output, an LCPL is a
features. reliable main gun for any ship that can field it.
A weapon’s range rating indicates the Additionally, 1/round when you use a maneuver that allows you
maximum and minimum ranges at which to attack with a PRIMARY or SUPERHEAVY weapon, this weapon
it can be used, determined by counting gains a special Volley Counter, up to a maximum of 2 Volley
the range bands it can be fired in starting Counters. Attacking with this weapon automatically expends all
from the outermost band of the gyre and Volley Counters, dealing +6 damage on hit and gaining +2
working inward. For example, a weapon RELIABLE for each counter. When it has 2 Volley Counters this
with a range of 4–1 can be used weapon also gains the CRITICAL tag. This weapon cannot gain
anywhere from Long Range (4) to Close counters and attack as part of the same action.
Range (1) but cannot be used at all from
Extreme Range (5) or Point-Blank (0). A fearsome battery composed of three racks of three
vertically aligned short-spool spinal guns. Firing in
sequence, in oppositional tempo, or all at once, block
cannons represent a movement away from massive single-shot
spinal guns in favor of lighter kinetics. Thanks to a
faster firing cycle, an equivalent effect can be achieved
via accumulated damage, rather than single-tap kill shots.
Attacks with this weapon from further than Range 1 Ships of virtually every classification
receive +1 DIFFICULTY. carry primary kinetic batteries – clusters
of kinetic cannons that fire shaped
Old, reliable, and perfected systems, projectiles accelerated chemically,
conical kinetic projectors are simple close- electrically, or otherwise. Reliable in any
quarters weapons. The naval equivalent to a engagement, kinetic weapons grouped into
shotgun, CKPs fire adjustable-spread clouds batteries have been a mainstay of stellar
of microprojectiles intended to blanket combat since the first guns were strapped
areas, rather than target specific points. to a ship. Most rely on saturation fire to
At speed, the “kill-clouds” fired by CKPs score hits on their targets, though some
can ruin incautious ships. While especially finely tuned systems adopt a
devastating, these weapons rapidly lose more economical approach.
effectiveness at range, requiring commanders
to risk closing to unsafe distances in order PRIMARY SINGLE-STAGE TORPEDOES
to make the most of them. Primary, Single-Target, Payload -1
[Range 4–2][8 damage][0 points]
DORSAL RAZORBACK MISSILES
Primary, Single-Target, Payload A mainstay in stellar and wet-navy combat
[Range 4–0][1d6+6 damage][0 points] for millennia, single-stage torpedoes are
simple, reliable ordnance delivery systems
You may consume LOCK ON as part of firing this composed of an explosive payload stacked
weapon to add or remove 1 Flight Counter from it. atop a single-stage rocket body. Though
powerful by any measure, an individual
Typically dorsally mounted in 4x10 racks, torpedo is rarely enough to seriously
HA’s Razorback-pattern missiles are threaten a capital ship owing to the
designed to be used by line vessels as prevalence of defensive countermeasures;
broad-trajectory denial weapons, avoiding standard naval doctrine recommends
enemy point-defense weapons via target- launching torpedoes in salvos in order to
neutral tracking, positioning, and guarantee an effective kill.
overwhelming numbers.
SHORT-CYCLE LANCE BATTERIES
PINAKA SHIP-TO-SHIP MISSILES Primary, Single-Target, Accurate, Critical
Primary, Area-Target, Payload [Range 3–0][3 damage][0 points]
[Range 3–0][1d6+1 damage][0 points]
Quick to hit, slow to kill, and demanding
You may consume a hostile CAPITAL SHIP’s LOCK ON on power reserves, early energy weapons
when firing this weapon at its battlegroup to gain +3 were once found only on specialized vessels
damage, but it also gains +1 Flight Counter. until the creation of the GMS Grand-1
cyclical catalyst reactor. Miniaturization,
SSC’s Pinaka missile system was adapted and standardization, and effective logarithmic
upscaled from an older ship-to-ship design power scaling transformed ship-scale energy
for use in terrestrial theaters by the weapons from temperamental “paint to kill”
corpro’s Monarch ordnance platforms. Its weapons into single-punch weapons reliable
performance in that regard has proven so enough to earn the trust of even the most
successful that SSC revived the Pinaka skeptical commander. Tuned and perfected
system for its LIMITD line of naval weaponry. over subsequent centuries, the cyclical
catalyst reactor, or “cycle” power plant,
can be sized and tuned for either “long” or
“short” spool weapons.
HEAVY KINETIC BATTERIES You may consume a hostile ship’s LOCK ON at any
Primary, Single-Target, Reliable 2 point during your turn to change the target of any
[Range 4–1][5 damage][1 points] active LONG-FLIGHT ACTIVE CONTROL MISSILE PAYLOAD
attacks under your control to that ship. Additionally,
A simple upscaling of traditional battery- if this weapon’s current target is ever destroyed or
mounted kinetic weaponry, heavy kinetics flees the engagement before its payload impacts,
achieve increased effect on target through a you may choose to have that payload remain active
combination of greater projectile size, and continue to remove Flight Counters instead of
mass, payload, and material composition. self-destructing. If it reaches 0 Flight Counters
Representing the upper bounds of without a target it automatically self-destructs
conventional naval weapons, in sufficient without any effect.
numbers, these batteries can approximate the
destructive power of even a long-spool While most guided naval munitions employ
weapon. As with their smaller cousins, heavy standard 1+n copy drive or comp/con system
kinetics are produced in numerous calibers architecture, LFAC missiles maintain an ongoing
and makes according to a wide range of fleet legion link from launch to impact,
doctrines and by most major manufacturers. enabling direct control for agile target
reprioritization as circumstances dictate.
After firing this weapon, onboard systems begin When you attack with this weapon, you may also deal
calibrating its multiple warheads for dispersal which 3 damage to a hostile ESCORT (which cannot be the
takes until the start of your next turn. After same target as the attack) or up to two hostile WINGS.
calibration is complete, if this weapon’s damage is
not completely interdicted, it deals +1d6 damage Mass accelerators are kinetic weapons that
after Interdiction. operate on simple magnetic principles,
using atmosphere-ignorant catalyzation to
Powerful, modern torpedoes, Darkstar MWTs accelerate projectiles in furious “storms”
pack delayed-firing payloads into long of metal. Faster-tracking than conventional
warheads that trigger at randomized kinetic weapons, mass accelerator turrets
intervals to avoid enemy interdiction and are capable of engaging multiple
point-defense screens. Warhead detonation simultaneous targets including fighter-tier
patterns can be assigned to onboard guidance threats with no effective loss of accuracy.
and targeting systems or delegated to fleet
legion control for optimal saturation. THROUGHLINE SKIP DRONE
Primary, Single-Target, Charge 2, Limited 1,
LEGIONSPACE SCHISM Overkill, Unique
Primary, Single-Target, Accurate, Legionspace [Range 4–3][2 points]
[Range 4-2][3 damage][2 points]
This weapon does not automatically begin removing
On hit, choose one: Charge Counters. It begins charging when you
choose a hostile CAPITAL SHIP at the start of the
• An allied battlegroup may advance one range band Logistics Phase. Unlike other CHARGE weapons, this
or ignore all hostile effects that would force it to weapon must fire as soon as it is fully charged – it
move until the end of its next turn. Each battlegroup cannot be held. Instead of attacking normally, roll 1d20:
can only benefit from this effect 1/round.
• If the target’s battlegroup has any active PAYLOAD On 10+, this weapon hits, dealing 3d6 damage to
attacks in transit, it must choose one: take an the target and dealing 1d6+1 damage to all
additional 5 damage or add 1 Flight Counter to ESCORTS in its battlegroup.
an active PAYLOAD attack of your choice.
On 9 or less, or if your battlegroup is outside this
Conventional electronic warfare occurs at weapon’s effective range when it finishes charging,
the sublegion level throughout every stage this weapon misses its optimal delivery window
of naval combat, but some vessels also equip and only deals 1d6+1 damage to the target.
powerful narrowband omnitransmitter arrays
designed to enhance their fleet legion’s This weapon’s attack roll, damage, and range
ability to take direct, aggressive action cannot be modified in any way, and Charge
against enemy ships, disrupting coordination Counters cannot be added to or removed from it by
and creating advantageous openings for other effects.
allied battlegroups to exploit.
The skip drone hangs, still, drifting
alongside the great bulk of the frigate.
With a flash, it is gone; moments later,
three hundred thousand kilometers away, a
new star erupts. A clean hit.
When fired alongside any PRIMARY weapon, this When fired alongside any PRIMARY single-target
weapon deals 2 damage to up to two WINGS in the weapon targeting a hostile CAPITAL SHIP or ESCORT,
target’s battlegroup. this weapon deals 1 damage to that same target.
Under the big guns of any ship of the line All great compositions are the work of
are auxiliary weapons, tasked with managing first and second strings.
threats a captain would be wise not to
ignore: enemy strike craft. NEARSPACE DIRECTED-ENERGY PERFORATORS
Auxiliary
MESSENGER LEAD LASER [Range 2–0][1 points]
Auxiliary
[Range 4–2][0 points] When fired alongside any PRIMARY single-target
weapon targeting a hostile CAPITAL SHIP or ESCORT, this
This weapon cannot be fired alongside other weapon deals 1 damage to that same target and 2
weapons. Instead, whenever your battlegroup is damage to a hostile WING. In addition, while your
within this weapon’s range during the Logistics battlegroup is within this weapon’s effective range, it
Phase you may choose one of your PAYLOAD attacks gains +1 Interdiction for each instance of this weapon
that has reached 0 Flight Counters. That attack in the battlegroup, to a maximum of +4 Interdiction.
deals +1 damage for each instance of this weapon
in your battlegroup, to a maximum of +4 damage. NDEPs are auxiliary laser weapon systems,
typically automated or delegated to a
Lead and confidence lasers are “hot” legion partition, tasked with ensuring
targeting lasers, bundled comms and data nearspace defense against projectiles,
arrays tuned to weapons-tier wattages. missiles, inbound kinetic weapons, and
Messenger lead lasers ensure on-target fighter-tier vessels.
accumulation damage via thermal energy
pumped in from a ship’s main drive. CLOUDKILL KINETICS
Auxiliary, Limited 2 [2 points]
HARBINGER CONFIDENCE LASERS
Auxiliary When fired alongside any PRIMARY weapon, you launch
[Range 5–3][1 point] a kill-cloud of kinetic projectiles that threatens enemies
attempting to approach you along predicted routes.
This weapon cannot be fired alongside other Choose your own battlegroup or an allied battlegroup
weapons. Instead, 1/round when your battlegroup is in the same range band: until the end of your next turn,
within this weapon’s range and you remove a Charge each time a hostile ESCORT or WING makes an attack roll
Counter from a weapon, you may automatically deal 2 against or deals damage to the selected battlegroup
damage to a hostile CAPITAL SHIP or ESCORT of your during the Action Phase, it automatically takes 1d6+1
choice for each instance of this weapon in your damage. If this damage is enough to destroy the
battlegroup, to a maximum of 4 damage. attacker, it is destroyed before it can carry out its attack
or action and its effects are negated. Each battlegroup
Harbinger confidence lasers, like Messenger can only benefit from one kill-cloud at a time.
lead lasers, are “hot” targeting lasers.
The difference lies in the mechanism by Cloudkill kinetics use auxiliary-tier
which they generate spare thermal energy: conical projectors to defend against
while the Messenger draws exclusively from subline vessels and strike craft by filling
a ship’s main reactor, the Harbinger may high-confidence enemy trajectories with
also pump its wattage up by siphoning deadly flights of microprojectiles,
bleed-heat produced by cycle generators as adjusting for density and coverage radius
a ship’s main gun charges. as necessary with each firing.
All single-target attacks made by and against you at This ship gains +3 HP. This system can only be
Range 2-0 gain +1 ACCURACY. Additionally, 1/ taken once per ship.
engagement, you may choose one:
Extensive superstructural modifications and
• When a hostile effect or ability forces your endo/exo uparmoring can help a ship survive
battlegroup to move forward any number of range hits that would otherwise kill a stock
bands, one of your CAPITAL SHIPS gains 5 OVERSHIELD. version of the same vessel.
• When a hostile effect or ability forces an allied
battlegroup to move forward any number of range
bands, your battlegroup moves instead. If this CLEARED TO LAND
prevents a hostile ship from targeting the allied System, Unique [0 points]
battlegroup with an attack or ability as part of that
same action, it may target you instead. Gain the Cleared to Land tactic.
Your battlegroup’s combat doctrine emphasizes A deckie has one job: keep the deck clear,
aggressive movement, closing gaps and plotting planes loaded, bombers crewed, marines in
courses that more timid commanders would their pens, subalterns packed, wounded
eschew. This impetus is not without sacrifice, cleared, fires suppressed, munitions clean…
often requiring defensive positioning and
predictability to be traded for a chance to CLEARED TO LAND
take the fight directly to your enemies. Tactic, Limited 1
All of your ESCORTS and WINGS or all ESCORTS and
WINGS belonging to an allied battlegroup in the
BRACE FOR IMPACT same range band as you repair 2 HP. One ESCORT
System, Limited 1, Unique [0 points] or WING of your choice in that battlegroup may
repair 4 HP instead.
Choose one when you use this system:
• You may activate this system during the Impact FIGHTER LAUNCH CATAPULTS
Phase after attacks have been rolled and damage Unique, System [0 points]
has been assigned: all damage taken by ships in
your battlegroup is reduced by half until the end This ship gains +1 WING slot.
of your next turn. You may not use any tactics or
perform any maneuvers during your next turn While dedicated carriers have an uncontested
except for All Ahead Full or Retrograde Burn. place in conventional naval doctrine, many
• You may use the Brace for Impact tactic below commanders value the versatility of carrier
during your turn. tactics enough to modify other ships
modified so they can maintain and launch a
The order that every commander dreads to give. modest complement of fighter-tier strike
craft or mounted chassis. This can involve
BRACE FOR IMPACT either internal retrofitting or the addition
Tactic, Limited 1 of externally mounted hangar bays affixed to
Your battlegroup becomes BOLSTERED until the a ship’s hull.
end of your next turn.
You may reroll one of your attack rolls but must This ship gains +1 ESCORT slot.
keep the second result. On a reroll result of 20+, you
do not expend this system’s Limited use. The primary limiting factor in deploying
subline vessels is one of logistics. These
Veteran crews have been through the tense ships frequently sacrifice all but the bare
dance of interstellar combat before and are essentials in order to maximize their
well prepared to handle the stress and effective firepower, restricting their
chaos each new engagement brings. maximum deployment range and limiting the
time they can remain combat effective
without resupply. These restrictions can be
ECHOPRAXIC IMAGO overcome through the incorporation of
System, Boarding, Legionspace, Unique additional supply holds, hull upgrades, and
[Tenacity 10] [1 points] logistical infrastructure, allowing any
ship of the line to manage and maintain
This electronic warfare system can only be used to their own escorts for extended durations.
perform the Echopraxic Imago tactic:
When you assign FRIGATES to a Defensive Screen, Your battlegroup gains +2 INTERDICTION, and the
you may assign them to allied battlegroups in the Slingshot maneuver and Lithoscreen tactic:
range band either directly ahead of you or directly
behind you. Additionally, gain the Adjust Bearing An unorthodox (but not unheard of) naval
maneuver and Coordinated Impact tactic: combat tactic is the use of shepherded
asteroids and other loose debris as both
Developed as a joint venture between Harrison improvised weapons and defensive measures.
Armory’s Think Tank and Smith-Shimano’s There are certain advantages to employing
Ontologics & Cosubjectvity Research Campus, such “unsophisticated” armaments, namely
Battlespace is a next-generation command complete immunity to electronic/systemic
information center architecture that allows subversion as well as a minimal sensor
for more efficient and agile information profile. When sufficiently accelerated, even
flow between fleet legions and human bridge asteroids can cause as much damage as
elements. Though complete 1–1 human/legion conventional munitions. Such tactics are
cosubjectivity remains an as yet elusive more commonly employed by smaller or less
goal, this development represents a advanced naval powers as a cost-effective
significant step forward in full-spectrum substitute for capital-grade ordnance and
fleet command capability. shielding, but larger polities have also
been known to utilize them from time to time.
ADJUST BEARING
Maneuver, Reloading 2 SLINGSHOT
Your battlegroup may fall back or advance one Maneuver, Limited 1
range band, and you may move an allied Your battlegroup may advance one range band
battlegroup back or forward one range band. If forward, after which you lob a group of asteroids
you use this maneuver at Range 5-3, you may at a hostile CAPITAL SHIP. This counts as an attack
also LOCK ON to a hostile CAPITAL SHIP or ESCORT. using the following profile:
LITHOSCREEN
Tactic, Limited 2, Reloading 2
One Capital Ship in your battlegroup gains 5
OVERSHIELD. The next time a hostile CAPITAL SHIP,
ESCORT, or WING reduces this OVERSHIELD to 0 during
the Action Phase, the attacker takes 3 damage.
While capital ships duke it out at long range, sortie When a ship is destroyed, all ESCORTS and WINGS
combat occurs in the no man’s land of the gyre. Here, equipped to it are also considered destroyed. They
packs of subline ships and wings of strike craft may have physically survived their parent craft’s
engage enemy forces in an effort to win the midrange destruction, but without its protection and ability to
battle and disrupt incoming fire. Sortie combat is the resupply them they are no longer a factor in play.
field of young officers and pilots eager to make a
name for themselves. Smaller ships, debris, and kill- As upgrade types, ESCORTS and WINGS can only be
clouds make for a crowded and deadly field, where equipped to ships with the appropriate upgrade slots.
survivors become heroes and the dead are numerous.. You cannot put ESCORTS in a WING slot or vice versa.
DESTROYER COMMAND These special ships are tasked with scouting the
Tactic battlefield, and have already taken up their position
[Range 3–0] prior to the engagement. 1/round, you or an ally of your
Choose one DESTROYER assigned to your choice may add +1 ACCURACY to a single-target attack.
battlegroup and give it one of the following
commands: Sleek, fast, and minimally armed, subline
picket ships scout the predicted battlefield
• Cannonade: Deal 3 damage to a hostile days before capital ships arrive, running
CAPITAL SHIP. silent and cold to avoid enemy sensors. Picket
• Snapflight Torpedoes: Deal 6 damage to a postings are lonely and seldom comfortable,
hostile ESCORT. operating on minimal power and under
• Encirclement (Limited 1): Advance or fall communications blackout protocols for extended
back one range band. You may not use this durations, but once combat begins the data
command if you have used an effect or ability they feed captains on enemy positioning,
to move this turn, and after using it you may numbers, direction, and trajectory can be
not move again this turn. crucial to a fleet’s success.
CRUISER ESCORT
(GMS Blair Mountain, IPS-N Carina, FKS Khayradin, HA Chopin) CRUISER COMMAND
Escort [10 HP][3 points] Tactic
[Range 3–0]
When a hostile battlegroup forces your battlegroup Choose one CRUISER assigned to your battlegroup
or an allied battlegroup in the same range band to and give it one of the following commands:
fall back or move forward any number of range
bands, you may have this ESCORT deploy a field of • Fire at Will: Deal 4 damage to a hostile CAPITAL
seeker mines that deal 4 damage to a CAPITAL SHIP SHIP. You may also deal 2 AREA-TARGET
or ESCORT of your choice in that battlegroup. You damage to all ESCORTS in that ship’s
may use this ability 1/round for each CRUISER battlegroup and take 2 damage in return. This
ESCORT in your battlegroup, but only once per damage cannot be interdicted.
instance of hostile movement. Additionally, gain the • Defensive Gunnery: Gain +3 Interdiction until
Cruiser Command tactic. the start of your next turn.
• Local Kill Screen (Limited 1): Deal 5 damage
The largest subline ships, only a step below to a hostile CAPITAL SHIP or ESCORT, deal 2
frigates, cruisers mount a wide array of damage to all of that ship’s WINGS, and that
offensive and defensive systems that allow ship makes all single-target attacks with +1
them to flexibly and robustly reinforce a DIFFICULTY until the end of its next turn.
fleet’s threat envelope as circumstances
dictate. Relatively independent for subline
vessels and often used for in-system patrols
or local planetary defense, the command of a
cruiser is often seen as a vital step in a
naval officer’s career.
Bombers are larger vessels crewed by two to Chassis mounts are exterior-mounted frames
four crewmembers and loaded with anti- that allow mechs them to operate in deep
capital ordnance that lets them punch far space. With a mount installed, mechs rocket
above their weight class. If ignored, a toward enemy capital ships, dogfight, and
wing of these ships can be as dangerous as maneuver in space with far more agility
a single ship of the line. Bombers are also than conventional mech-tier EVA units would
frequently outfitted with large reserves of otherwise allow.
defensive countermeasures to help screen
their carrier’s advance and during strike CHASSIS COMMAND
operations, including pulse-flares, EMP Tactic
charges, and decoy signal emitters. [Range 3–0]
Choose a MOUNTED CHASSIS WING in your
BOMBER COMMAND battlegroup and give it one of these commands:
Tactic
[Range 2–0] • Toe-to-Toe: Deal 1d3 damage to a hostile
Choose one BOMBER WING assigned to your CAPITAL SHIP, ESCORT, or WING.
battlegroup and give it the following command: • Breach and Clear: Assign this unit to board a
hostile CAPITAL SHIP. Each time it succeeds on a
• Torpedoes Away: Deal 4 damage to a hostile boarding roll, the boarded ship takes 2 damage.
CAPITAL SHIP. You may assign another unused
BOMBER WING from your battlegroup to assist,
dealing an additional +2 damage.
ACTIVE COUNTERMEASURES
Tactic
[Range 4–0]
Choose one BOMBER WING assigned to your
battlegroup and give it the following command:
The Balor’s nanoswarm construction allows it to The integrated flak launchers and anti-aerospace
hellishly regenerate physical damage sustained munitions carried by this WING count as an AUXILIARY
during combat. During the Logistics Phase, this weapon for your battlegroup. When fired alongside
unit repairs 2 HP. any PRIMARY single-target weapon targeting a
CAPITAL SHIP or ESCORT within Range 3–0, these
Additionally, gain the Balor Command tactic. weapons deal 1 damage to that same target and 3
damage to a hostile WING in the same battlegroup.
One of the more infamous HORUS pattern- Additionally, gain the Barbarossa Command tactic.
groups, the Balor is a highly resilient
chassis that employs frame-integrated, Harrison Armory’s Barbarossa heavy siege
neurosynced “hellswarms” of greywash chassis is an artillery/anti-air frame
nanites in both offensive and defensive designed to engage targets in both
capacities. First encountered during the terrestrial and low-gravity operations.
latter days of the Sanjak Rebellion under Equipped with an integrated LGC-04
the command of the Maw, a Baronic Free “Apocalypse Rail” gravitic catapult, the
Company turned decentralized hive-being, Barbarossa can capably engage subline
the Balor enjoys a grim reputation as vessels, and in massed volleys can even
persistent and intractable danger within threaten capital ships. The additional power
Baronic space and beyond, but some plants and stabilizers provided by a chassis
ambitious Karrakin commanders in the mount help mitigate the drawbacks of the
Dawnline Shore have developed an famously temperamental Apocalypse Rail,
appreciation for the unique tactical allowing for more consistent output while
advantages they offer as horrifyingly still permitting full zero-g maneuverability.
effective boarding units.
BARBAROSSA COMMAND
BALOR COMMAND Tactic
Tactic [Range 3–0]
[Range 3—0] Give the BARBAROSSA CHASSIS WING one of these
Give the BALOR CHASSIS WING one of these commands: commands:
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Section 3 // Escorts and Wings
[120]
ADVANCEMENT
ADVANCEMENT
COMMENDATIONS, LEGACIES, AND REPUTATIONS
There are three different forms of advancement that
can be awarded to players and their battlegroups as a
result of successful missions and ongoing campaigns:
COMMENDATIONS
Commendations are granted in recognition of
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meritorious service and noteworthy acts of bravery or
• Commendations are decorations and citations skill. They are awards bestowed upon characters in
given to characters for exemplary skills and players’ battlegroups, granting those battlegroups
actions during battle. bonuses they can call on in battle. The recipients of
• Legacies are traits and qualities that ships acquire commendations are usually commanders, but they
throughout their history of service. can be awarded to other characters as well.
• Reputations are significant archetypes that
commanders grow into over time and by which While the GM can award commendations on their
they come to be defined. own, your group might prefer to decide together if
someone has earned one based on particularly
Advancement has both narrative and rules effects. memorable moments or pivotal actions.
Receiving a medal for valor both grants players Commendations are generally awarded for specific
additional abilities to draw on in battle and influences reasons – keep this in mind when deciding which one
how people see a character. Similarly, the acquisition of a best suits both the story and the player’s preferences.
legacy shows that a ship is developing its own stories
and superstitions with mechanical effects that reflect this. The commendations listed here are specific to the
Union Navy, but they are just examples. Other navies
Unlike Lancer, Battlegroup doesn’t grant characters might have different names for these awards, but you
experience points or have a system of levels. This can assume the effects are the same. For example,
means that the question of when to award instead of being awarded the Olduvai Cross, a
advancement is a matter for each group to decide. Harrison Armory naval commander might be awarded
That said, a good guideline is to award advancements the Hero of the Temperate Throne decoration, while
once every couple of missions. Advancements are a Baronic commander might instead receive the
also optional to use – if you’re playing a single Order of Karrakis.
engagement or using Battlegroup as a supplementary
module for Lancer, you might not need them at all. Unless specified otherwise, a player can only be
awarded any given commendation once over the
Commendations and legacies provide direct bonuses course of a campaign.
in combat, while reputations are specifically relevant
to narrative play. You should never make players
choose between being stronger in combat or having
more narrative options, so when advancements are
awarded choose one of the following:
Section 3 // Advancement
[121]
AZURE STAR
The Azure Star is awarded to all Union naval personnel upon retirement after 30 or more
years, death, or “the suffering of grievous injury sufficient to prevent further honorable
completion of one’s service.” Countless children and spouses across equally countless
worlds have received this medal to commemorate the loss of a loved one many light years
away, and to receive it while still living is an achievement viewed with a mix of great respect
and somber recognition.
The Azure Star is a commendation available to any character who dies while on deployment
or is otherwise (honorably) discharged. Few active-duty personnel pin this decoration to
their uniform, though it is not unheard of for some personnel to have come back from
retirement to serve once more.
Unlike other commendations, the Azure Star is generally only awarded in the event of a
character’s death. Should a player’s commander be killed in battle, then they’re eligible to
receive this commendation. Despite the character’s death, the commendation and its
benefits stay with the battlegroup in which they served. Note down when and how they
were killed in action.
The Azure Star may be awarded to a player multiple times, refreshing the ability to use
its effect again, but the benefit does not stack with itself.
Those with the Communal Order Ribbon are generally viewed with great respect and many
cosmonauts consider it auspicious to serve under a commander with this award. These
commanders can generally expect a free round of drinks in any port and are even certain to
be treated courteously by their captors should they be taken prisoner during battle.
Characters awarded the Communal Order Ribbon have earned it through selflessness and
sacrifice, whether it be in defense of their comrades or a commitment to saving lives, even
those of their enemies.
1/engagement, players with this commendation may reduce the damage taken by an
allied CAPITAL SHIP in the same range band to 0; however, their own FLAGSHIP then takes
that much damage. This ability cannot be used if their FLAGSHIP has already been
destroyed.
Section 3 // Advancement
[122]
ADVANCEMENT
GALLANTRY CROSS
A medal given for “honorable conduct befitting the finest traditions of naval service”, the Gallantry Cross is
typically awarded to naval personnel at the completion of at least two tours of duty without any significant
disciplinary infractions or court-martial offenses, but it can also be granted at other times for noteworthy
displays of skill and excellence both during and outside of combat. Performing critical repairs that prevent a
ship’s destruction, successfully plotting a pinpoint nearlight realignment that grants a decisive tactical
3
advantage, and commanding a ship in battle with minimal losses are all acts worthy of this commendation.
A spotless service record and a noteworthy display of tactical brilliance are two very different things, but
both speak to a commander that’s meticulous, thoughtful, and detail-oriented. Those with the Gallantry
Cross often have reputations for running tight ships and expecting (or demanding) the same sort of
excellence from those serving under them. Others, however, are prodigies thrust unexpectedly into
positions of great responsibility and even greater expectations.
When a player with this commendation rolls 9 or less on an uptime action (excluding Plot a Course),
they may perform a second, different uptime action. They must still accept the results of the first roll.
Those with the Interstellar Expeditionary Cross are recognized as seasoned veterans with a wealth of
experience. Whether they want it or not, others look to them for guidance and advice during difficult times.
Characters awarded the Interstellar Expeditionary Cross have participated in battles in multiple theaters,
generally as part of an ongoing campaign. They’ve traveled further and seen more combat than many
cosmonauts, and this undoubtedly colors their character in some way. How has this experience
affected them? What places have they seen, and what stories do they have to share?
1/engagement, players with this commendation who are forced to move by a hostile effect or
ability may choose to ignore that movement.
LIBERATOR’S SHIELD
There can be no doubt that one of the most important organs within Union’s Third Committee is the
Department of Justice and Human Rights (DoJ/HR). This body is tasked with critical missions
including first-contact scenarios, humanitarian aid, and direct interventions against those who would violate
the rights and well-being of others. While not part of the Union Naval Department’s organizational structure,
the DoJ/HR often works together with the navy, and more than one liberator team has been saved by timely
orbital fire support or extraction from a hot zone courtesy of an orbiting naval patrol. Those naval personnel
that participate in missions alongside the DoJ/HR are eligible to receive this award for their service.
Whether they feel they deserve the title or not, those with the Liberator’s Shield are recognized as
heroes by those who know of the DoJ/HR. Representatives of the DoJ/HR are likely to look upon them
favorably, vouching for them or even providing favors.
Characters awarded the Liberator’s Shield are generally recognized as part of Union’s ideological
spearpoint, having served alongside or embedded with DoJ/HR liberator units either in a combat or
universe-building capacity.
1/engagement, players with this commendation may immediately end any one ongoing effect on one
of their ships, such as an effect from a boarding action, Greywash Counters, an effect imposing a
DIFFICULTY penalty, and so on.
Section 3 // Advancement
[123]
MARINE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL
Among the many lethal aspects of naval combat, boarding actions stand out as some of the grimmest
affairs. Even victors are likely to suffer significant casualties in the course of duty. Marines who
participate in major combat operations – either in defense of their vessel or as part of a boarding action
– are eligible to receive this medal, posthumously or otherwise. Among Union marines, earning one’s
MDSM is considered a rite of passage, a marker dividing the fresh from the salt.
Those with the Marine Distinguished Service Medal are known to be tough as nails, lucky as hell, or
more likely some combination of the two. When breaching charges detonate and bullets start flying,
others will count on them to take point. The MDSM is also a sign that someone can back up their
bravado, or at least hold their own in a bar fight.
Characters awarded the Marine Distinguished Service Medal have been through the hell of boarding
actions and come out the other side bloodied but victorious. It isn’t a question of whether they’ve seen
friends die, but how many. Who have they lost in the corridors and spinal passageways of an enemy
ship? What scars have they collected?
1/engagement, players with this commendation may reroll one boarding roll they make, but must
keep the second result.
The MSB, as with the Marine Distinguished Service Medal, is another “gatekeeper” award, viewed by
officers and personnel as marking a clear line between those who have seen and survived combat, and
those who don’t know what they’re talking about outside of a sim.
Those with the Meritorious Service Bar have a story to tell of how they earned it. Depending on how
long they serve, the details of that story can grow more outlandish as time goes by.
1/engagement, players with this commendation may reroll any single-target attack roll they make,
but must keep the second result.
Section 3 // Advancement
[124]
ADVANCEMENT
OLDUVAI CROSS
The Olduvai Cross is the most prestigious decoration that can be awarded to Union naval personnel for
acts of singular devotion and valor above and beyond the call of duty. It is granted to fleet admirals and
junior enlisted personnel, to humans and to NHPs alike. As a result, it is most often awarded
posthumously; living recipients of the Olduvai Cross number in the dozens, if that. Each of these medals
is formally awarded at a special ceremony held on Cradle, though given the constraints of interstellar
3
travel, it can be months or even years before a recipient (or their next of kin) is officially decorated in
person.
Those with the Olduvai Cross are recognized as heroes and known by name and reputation by everyone
in their fleet. As such, any doors closed to them by rank or station can be opened, within reason.
Characters awarded the Olduvai Cross are among a rarefied few. The criteria for receiving the award are
as noted in its commendation: peerless valor. Your table decides what that means, keeping in mind the
extreme rarity of the commendation.
Prior to a battle, players with this commendation may roll two d20s before any engagement and
record the results: 1/engagement, they may, at any time, use one of those results in place of any d20
roll they would make. This must be decided before rolling.
SILVER CRESCENT
While strike craft and chassis pilots are eligible for a variety of special medals and decorations, the
Silver Crescent is given to fleet commanders who have displayed exemplary skill while leading carrier
operations during combat. This honor marks a commander as a canny tactician, but it speaks to more
than just combat performance metrics. Devotion and dedication to the pilots under one’s command are
the marks of a Silver Crescent candidate, and many recipients have extensive experience in the cockpit
of a strike craft themselves.
Silver Crescent recipients are universally well-regarded commanders in the Union Navy. It is a
commendation afforded to consummate, compassionate, courageous officers, usually following a
collective nomination from their crew; for this reason, the Crescent is seen as one of those rare awards
given from enlisted personnel to their commanding officers, even if the official presentation is from the
nominated officer’s own executive.
Those with the Silver Crescent tend to share a camaraderie with the strike craft and chassis pilots under
their command that’s perhaps a bit more personal or familiar than the relationship between other
commanders and their subordinates. Maybe they like to reminisce about the “glory days” when they
were in the cockpit, but it’s undeniable that their firsthand experience makes them an excellent
commander.
1/engagement, players with this commendation may issue a command to a WING equipped to their
battlegroup for free during their turn.
Section 3 // Advancement
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LEGACIES
Legacies are acquired by ships over the course of their service, through the numerous battles and actions they take part
in. Over time, crews start to anthropomorphize their ships (i.e., they might start thinking of it as “indomitable”, “cursed”, or
“lucky”). Although these characteristics are immaterial, they can have dramatic effects on the morale of the crew, staff, and
enemy forces, and contribute to the history of the vessel besides.
Like commendations, legacies can be granted during advancement by the GM (or the group) based on memorable events that
occurred during a battle or throughout the course of a campaign. Unlike commendations, however, legacies aren’t granted to
characters. Instead, they are granted to individual Capital Ships. This doesn’t just mean players’ Flagships, either. Legacies
grant bonuses to the ships they’re assigned to and often have narrative consequences, too; crew serving aboard a ship with
a legacy may develop little customs or superstitions over time, such as touching a certain picture for good luck, leaving
hull scars unpainted, or warning new crew members not to venture into the maintenance shafts between certain times.
Each ship can have up to two legacies at a time. If deemed appropriate, legacies can be exchanged for others during
advancement; however, the same legacy cannot be applied to the same ship twice.
• Remove 1 Flight Counter from an This ship is known to friend and foe • When a ship in your battlegroup is
active hostile PAYLOAD attack targeting alike as a powerful ally and fearsome destroyed, you may repair one of its
this ship or your battlegroup foe. Her crew is proud and ESCORTS or WINGS to full HP and
• Redirect an active hostile PAYLOAD competent, and will fight as such. reassign it to this ship.
attack toward this ship or your • When this ship is destroyed, you may
battlegroup, and then remove 1 repair one of its ESCORTS or WINGS to
Flight Counter from it. full HP and reassign it to another ship
in your battlegroup.
Often acting against doctrine, this
ship’s crew win with more victories Those that serve aboard and alongside
than not – and a steep butcher’s bill. this ship know it as a protector and safe
harbor, ready to weather any storm in
order to see those under its care make it
through the fight.
Section 3 // Advancement
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ADVANCEMENT
3
Section 3 // Advancement
[127]
REPUTATIONS
A commander’s reputation comes from more than just Choosing a reputation also gives you your choice of
endless fighting. It’s something that’s earned both on one of that reputation’s advances, and each time you
and off the battlefield. The lessons leaders learn and gain advancement for your reputation you can select
the choices they make become as much a part of another. Each reputation has five advances, which you
them as any scar, and speak to their character as can select them in any order you like. You may also take
much as any medal. a sixth advance, selecting it from a reputation other
than your own, but only after taking three or more
Reputations are archetypes that represent pivotal advances in your own reputation first.
moments in a commander’s past and grants said
commander special abilities and permissions for use in Note that the abilities and permissions that reputations
narrative play when playing to those archetypes. grant can be quite powerful. Some of them can only
Reputations can be earned and upgraded as be used once in any given scene while others only
advancements during play. Alternatively, if your group refresh only after a longer period – after the next
agrees, then each commander can begin play with a engagement has passed, for example. These limits on
reputation selected already. Each player can only have their use may prove less effective if the amount of
one reputation at a time. narrative play involved is short and succinct. It’s
recommended that you consider how much narrative
When you gain a new reputation, choose two new play you plan on including in your games before
traits for your character (one positive and one deciding whether to use reputations or not.
negative), and then choose one advance from the
reputation’s list. Unless otherwise specified, commanders can’t use the
abilities granted by reputations to affect engagements,
The two new traits from a Reputation bring a including pre-battle uptime actions (p. 48). Additional
commander’s total number of traits up to five, with traits apply as usual.
three positive and two negative. Having additional
positive traits gives players more potential sources of
ACCURACY for uptime checks and having another
negative trait gives both the player and the GM more
choices when it comes to refreshing traits that have
been marked off.
Section 3 // Advancement
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ADVANCEMENT
3
BEACON
ADVANCES
Eye of the Storm: You are immune to fear and
intimidation, and while you’re present in some fashion
(including talking one-on-one over comms, though
giving a general address isn’t sufficient) those around
you are similarly fearless. This doesn’t override their
sense of self-preservation, nor will it lead them to take
obviously foolhardy or reckless actions if they
otherwise wouldn’t, but it can prevent them from
panicking and keep them alert and focused on the
task at hand.
Section 3 // Advancement
[129]
BUTCHER
ADVANCES
Grim Specter: When you enter a scene, choose an
NPC. They know of your reputation. When they see
you for the first time, you may lock eyes with them
and name something you need. They either give you
what you want, right now, or they choose one:
Section 3 // Advancement
[130]
ADVANCEMENT
3
MUSTANG
ADVANCES
Situational Awareness: You get an itch, tick, or bad
feeling when you or anyone you consider close to you
is in immediate danger. You always get an opportunity
to act before something bad happens to you, even if
you were surprised or ambushed, and in any situation
(life-threatening or otherwise) where it becomes
important to know who acts first, you always act first
ahead of anyone else. If someone else has this
advance or a similar ability, roll a die or flip a coin to see
which one of you manages to pull ahead of the other.
How has your command style, which some might call Gut Check: 1/scene, you can describe a course of
impulsive, caused friction with more traditional, action to the GM that you plan to take in the same
conservative commanders? What happened one time scene. Your intuition gives you an accurate (if unclear)
those same fighter pilot instincts turned a battle feeling for how that course of action will play out. The
around in your favor? GM must respond with one of the following: Boon
(good outcomes), Bane (bad outcomes), or Chaos (a
mix of good and bad outcomes). You have a chance to
change your mind after listening to your gut.
Section 3 // Advancement
[131]
OPERATIVE
ADVANCES
Threat Assessment: Whenever you enter a scene, ask the
GM one or both of the following and receive a truthful answer:
Hidden Agenda: When you take this advance, the GM must hand
you a special hidden note with a particular objective on it for
you to fulfill. This objective shouldn’t be anything excessively
complicated; it can involve spying on someone, gathering
information, making or retrieving a dead drop without notice,
and so on. When you complete this objective, the GM must grant
you a reward proportionate to its difficulty. Objectives don’t have
to be completed in a single scene, but you can only ever have one
such objective assigned to you at a time. If you share information
about your objective with anyone else, for any reason, the mission
You serve two masters. You lead ships and is compromised and aborted, and you receive no reward.
execute strategies, yes, but you also act at Between engagements, if you have no outstanding secret
the behest of an intelligence organization, objectives left to complete, the GM must assign you a new one.
an assignment in which the lines of battle
aren’t so clearly drawn. Perhaps you were Covert Ops: With sufficient time to prepare (about 15–30
recruited straight out of the academy, or minutes) you can completely change your physical
maybe your particular skills caught the eye appearance with a blend of masterful disguise skills and
of someone in a high place. Either way, you advanced technology (e.g., prosocollars, voice modulators,
share dual loyalties: an overt one to your and mimic masks), making you look and sound like an entirely
naval organization, and a covert one to an different person in terms of your height, weight, build, hair,
intelligence organization. This intelligence clothes, and/or sex. If you’re trying to pass yourself off as
organization could be that of an adversary someone specific, you can pass at a distance, but trying to
(i.e., you’re a double agent) or internal (i.e., impersonate them up close may still require checks of some
you’re an asset for an internal intelligence sort. With a bit more time, an hour or two, you can also falsify
agency within the same state as the navy identification credentials that will pass most casual
in which you serve). inspections without a second glance.
Which agency do you serve, and how openly Authorized Access: Your affiliation with an intelligence
are your affiliated with it? Do you resent the service acts as a crude but powerful set of credentials that
double life you’re forced to lead, or do you can get you access to virtually any place or thing, no matter
consider it simply another part of your duty? how high the security or how confidential the information.
Using your affiliation in this fashion is guaranteed to raise red
flags and send people in high places scrambling for answers,
and you can count on a dressing-down from your superiors or
handler over your lack of discretion. You’ll need to wait until
after the next engagement to pull this off again.
Deep Cover: The next time you would die, you may instead
choose not to. If so, then your death is faked as part of a
clandestine mission that requires you to go off the grid. Whether
the people responsible for your apparent death are aware you
are still alive or not is up to you. This commander is removed
from play for one or more engagements and may be replaced
temporarily with another character. When you decide it’s time
for to return, you do so at a suitably dramatic time, though your
mission (which you are not at liberty to disclose) has left you
indelibly changed by the experience. Cross this advance out
and replace it with an advance from another reputation of your
choice. When you take this advance, you may die if you wish.
Section 0 // Advancement
[132]
ADVANCEMENT
3
OUTSIDER
ADVANCES
Cultural Exchange: When you enter a scene, you
may choose an NPC or a small group of people.
They’ve never met someone like you. They’re sure to
be fascinated and have questions, which you can
answer as you see fit. You can use this as a social
icebreaker and a way to make friends as well as
establishing facts about your background, culture, and
so on, but it can also serve as a handy distraction or a
means to draw attention away from something else.
Section 0 // Advancement
[133]
RELIC
ADVANCES
Old Scars: When all your positive traits are exhausted, you
can use one of your negative traits to gain ACCURACY on a roll
instead of it adding DIFFICULTY. If you do this, you
automatically suffer consequences in addition to any
other consequences imposed by the roll.
Section 3 // Advancement
[134]
ADVANCEMENT
3
SCION
ADVANCES
Aide-de-Camp: You have a servant of some sort in your
employ, an aide, valet, or majordomo. They are unflappable,
unwaveringly loyal if not mistreated, and proficient in a variety
of noncombat tasks and duties. Pick one task at which they
display exceptional skill (e.g., cooking, organizing social
functions, navigating bureaucracies, managing your daily
affairs, administering first aid, etc). Their exact naval rank is
loosely defined but they nonetheless accompany you aboard
your flagship, and outside of combat they can be tasked with
any number of errands on your behalf. They can only die if you
allow it, but should the worst come to pass a replacement will
eventually be found sometime between engagements.
Section 3 // Advancement
[135]
SCOUNDREL
ADVANCES
Poker Face: No one, no matter how perceptive, can
tell whether you’re bluffing or not. When you tell a wild
and outlandish lie, anyone who listens will
wholeheartedly believe it for a minute. If it’s merely
unbelievable, an hour. If it’s plausible, a day. If they want
to believe it, a week. After this, they realize it was a lie.
Section 3 // Advancement
[136]
ADVANCEMENT
3
STRATEGIST
ADVANCES
Eye for Detail: When given the chance to study someone’s
work in detail – a process that can take anywhere from 30
minutes to several hours – you’re able to glean insights into
their thoughts and character. This could include reviewing
the records of their prior battles, speeches they’ve made,
their writing, the way they play a game, or even their art.
Afterwards, you can ask the GM three yes-or-no questions
about that person, which they must answer as truthfully as
possible. This answer can’t provide you with information
you have no way of knowing. “Did they murder this
person?” is harder to evaluate than “are they capable of
murdering this person?”, for example.
Section 3 // Advancement
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SECTION 4
GAME MASTER’S
GUIDE
RUNNING BATTLEGROUP 140
INEVITABILITY, FATALISM, AND HOPE 142
RULES OF WAR 148
THE FIELD OF BATTLE 149
SITREPS 152
CAMPAIGN PLAY 158
BATTLEGROUP AND LANCER 163
NON-PLAYER CHARACTER BATTLEGROUPS 164
SHIP ARCHETYPES 166
RUNNING BATTLEGROUP
Like many tabletop games, Battlegroup requires a
GM. The GM is responsible for setting the stage, GM PRINCIPLES
outlining the stakes, assembling NPC fleets, and
challenging the players. FACILITATE FUN
As the GM, your job is to facilitate, arbitrate, and
This section of the book is for the GM. It dives into make rulings, and to adapt your notes, world, and
greater detail about how to run games and campaigns narrative in response to your players’ choices.
of Battlegroup. This includes advice on setting up
games, whether they be one-shots or ongoing Your job isn’t to defeat your players. Although your
campaigns; hazards and mission objectives you can role includes setting the tone and facilitating play,
add to engagements to create more challenging your mission isn’t to ensure your players’ characters
battles; a guide for creating NPC fleets; and ways in wind up dead and defeated – you’re there to make
which you can incorporate the outcomes of sure everyone is having a good time and engaged in
Battlegroup into a Lancer campaign (and vice versa). the collaborative story. That said, you should still
challenge your players – failure is rich narrative and
As the GM, you, like the others at the table, are a roleplaying territory.
player in this game. Your role is not to play a
character, but to facilitate, to describe the world in
which your players’ characters exist, and to give RENOUNCE CONTROL
voice to NPCs. To dip into both sport and analogy, it As the GM, accept that the story you tell may not be
is best to consider yourself more a goalkeeper than a the one that you outlined.
referee: like a goalkeeper on a soccer team, you are
an individual with a unique role and access to tools Your players will kill important NPCs before they
that only you can use. You’re there to help your team become important. Your players will not go to that
– the players at your table – not to adjudicate their colony where they could find an important data log.
play. Yes, you are the tiebreaking vote on rules Your players may not bite the hook you want them to
questions, and yes you at least provide the bite. Your players’ characters – with their backstories
framework of a narrative for your players to interact that are perfectly integrated into your campaign –
with, but that does not make you the referee. Unlike a might die, forcing you to revise your notes. Ultimately,
ref, you should be invested your players’ success; it’s important to go with the story that you’re telling
establish shared goals, make the game fun, play as a with your players at the table rather than try to stick
team, and you’re sure to be a good GM. to the one you originally envisioned.
Commanders are likely to spend most of their time But their job isn’t finished just yet. Once fighting has
having the final say in decisions presented to them by concluded comes damage control, search and
officers and the ship’s NHP. Between the sudden need rescue, and medical triage. These moments are just
to interdict or hard burn to avoid low-confidence as critical as any counterfactual evasion or firing
incoming fire, the stress never really lets up. Between solution in the battle and are just as dependent on
difficult decisions, they might spend time in well-honed skill and swift action. Then and only then,
legionspace virtualities to clear their heads, practice when the hull breaches have been sealed and all
meditation, take anti-anxiety cocktails, or even spend distress calls have been accounted for, can everyone
time in stasis while delegating command to their begin to relax as best they can. Weapon systems
executive officers. The urge to micromanage and power down while nearlight drives prepare for
oversee every aspect of a battlegroup’s operations is controlled exit from the area of operations, and the
one that experienced commanders invariably grow out fleet legion gradually disincorporates back into its
of, as such a desire, while understandable, is a desire constituent subjectivities following data archival.
for something impossible. To lead effectively, they
must learn to put their trust in their officers and crew.
WHAT COMES NEXT
The tempo of battle is one of inexorable acceleration. A naval engagement is a momentous event for
The early stages of an engagement can be measured everyone involved, and once the firing stops things may
in days as low-confidence salvos are launched, recon never again be the same. Lives are lost, borders and
pickets established, and long-cycle weapons store lines of control redrawn, and legacies made. As your
up devastating amounts of energy. Even during this group brings the fight to a close, you and the players
period, which may seem relaxed by comparison, may wish to explore the consequences in detail,
crews will be fully engaged and on combat footing at addressing questions and looking to the future. There
all times. There are no more letters or toasts, only are several ways your group may choose to frame this,
shifts between action stations, hasty meals, and ranging from formal ceremonies to more intimate
furtive sleep. In some high-intensity conflicts, combat personal moments of reflection. You may even choose
stims may be administered by the ship’s medical to shift focus onto other characters, letting them briefly
personnel to maintain alertness. take the spotlight as they react to everything that’s
occurred and reveal how it has affected them.
As the gyre begins to collapse, the time between
action and outcome collapses along with it. What Unlike the uptime actions that commanders
took days before may now only take a single day, undertake in preparation for an engagement, post-
then hours, and then if the battle has not yet been battle uptime doesn’t necessarily involve specific
won comes the brutal close-quarters fighting during rolls or actions. The aftermath of an engagement is
which ships move within visual range of one another instead an opportunity for everyone to decompress
and weapons are virtually guaranteed to hit instantly. and take stock of what’s happened, as well as to
Once this stage has been reached, engagements explore the reactions of their characters to the events
tend to not last much longer. One way or another, a that have unfolded.
victor will be decided.
Here are some examples of post-battle vignettes you
may decide to highlight following an engagement.
There are many people aboard a ship, and while PCs might not For many, the post-engagement
have access to their inner lives, the players themselves certainly experience is a grim one. A player’s
do. In these sorts of expanded scenes, you can – as players – commander, their crew, might even not
zoom in on action and actors that the PCs might not participate survive the battle. Maybe they drift alone
in or be wholly ignorant of. Use this space to flesh out life on (or one of very few) aboard the ruins of
your ships in a way that is compelling and builds additional their ship, watching the dial on their
context around your character and your battlegroup. oxygen reserves dip ever lower, waiting for
anyone to come and rescue them.
These scenes might include strike craft and chassis pilots
returning to their carriers, deck hands or gunners at work after What do they do in the time they have left?
the engagement, harried engineers working to repair damage to
the ship, NHPs reorienting to individuality after exiting
legionspace, and so on.
And so whenever the ship slowed to normal speeds to REMEMBER THE FALLEN
synchronize the omni, briefly touching the normal flow The main flight decks were still under repair, hull
of time like a leaf settling atop a lake, he settled in to compromised and exposed to hard vacuum, so they’d
read the letters and messages that were always waiting held the service in the mess hall instead. They only
for him, telling him about birthdays and holidays, new needed room for the one coffin anyway.
nephews and nieces, the harvests and the winter frosts.
In those unfurling moments, as he drifted across the No one was inside of it, of course. It was just a symbol.
vastness of space, there was a part of him that stood If they’d had a coffin for everyone who’d been lost
upon Fortuna once more, to feel the warmth of the sun there wouldn’t be any room left for the living to stand.
on his skin and smell the orange blossoms in the air. One of the walls had been covered with pictures of the
deceased, a mosaic of still moments in time, along with
For cosmonauts, “home” often means two things: the notes and mementos left by those who were still here.
ship they serve on, and the world they left behind. Offerings for the absent dead. Even the injured had
The effects of time dilation from stasis and nearlight come to pay their respects, their uniforms carefully
travel mean that they find themselves caught tugged on over bandages and slings.
between the subjective and the objective, the world
outside their fleet slipping inexorably ahead in time They could tend to their wounds in the days to come.
while they remain ageless. Such a life isn’t for For now, this moment belonged to the fallen.
everyone, and the ranks of long-serving naval
personnel are frequently comprised of those without For all those who serve aboard a ship, the specter of
temporal roots, content to travel the stars until death is a constant companion. The blinding flash of
retirement or death. a long-spool weapon, the megaton detonation of a
torpedo salvo, the slow hiss of a punctured suit –
Still, some sailors, notably auxiliaries and those these are the ways a spacer dies.
serving limited terms, have anchors out there in the
galaxy beyond their ships. Friends, family, loved For these brave souls, then, remembering the fallen is
ones, a homeworld they fondly remember. Even a comforting and necessary ritual. They know that
career spacers may maintain contact with their when their time comes there likely won’t even be a
families over the years and generations that pass for body let alone a grave – their physical form
them on the other side, a distant figure maintaining a transmuted to dust or left to drift among the stars –
presence in their lives through the omninet. and so these rituals serve to imbue the memories of
the departed among those who still live, preserving
While some post-battle vignettes take more collective something of their essence. They provide a chance for
approaches, involving multiple characters and looking closure, a moment to reflect and to say final farewells.
at things from a big-picture perspective, this offers a
much more personal and intimate window into the
ANTI-ORBITAL DEFENSES
Primary, Single-Target, Reliable 2
[Range 3–1][6 damage]
On hit, deal 2 damage to up to two ESCORTS or
WINGS in the target’s battlegroup.
Section 4 // Sitreps
[152]
SITREPS
REINFORCEMENTS
Many sitreps call for reinforcements. Reinforcements are
additional NPC battlegroups that are brought in to
replace losses incurred during combat, adding additional
SITREPS AND BOARDING
ACTIONS
Some sitreps include special boarding actions that
4
pressure as the players strive to complete their must be performed to achieve mission objectives,
objectives. Sitreps outline how many reinforcements ranging from extracting a VIP to securing an objective
should be prepared. In terms of pre-mission briefings aboard an enemy vessel. Importantly, boarding units
and intelligence-gathering, the players only have do not need to leave the boarded vessel to
information on the initial enemy fleet. Any reinforcements successfully perform these objectives, and after
remain unknown until they enter the battle. doing so they may continue attempting additional
boarding actions until repelled as normal. If a
Reinforcements arrive following the destruction of an battlegroup (player or NPC) possesses no abilities or
NPC CAPITAL SHIP, which are also referred to as upgrades that allow it to undertake boarding actions,
FLAGSHIPS (see Non-Player Character Battlegroups, it may still attempt one of these special boarding
p. 164). At the start of the next Logistics Phase, the actions by spending a maneuver to dispatch a hastily
destroyed ship is replaced by a reinforcement assembled away team. This ability has Range 2-0,
battlegroup consisting of a CAPITAL SHIP accompanied does not leave behind boarding units when used (and
by 1–2 ESCORTS or 1 ESCORT and 1 ACE. therefore has no Tenacity), and can only be used to
Reinforcement battlegroups may act as usual during attempt special sitrep boarding actions. It has no
the round in which they arrive, following the normal effect otherwise.
rules for turn order.
In sitreps that involve sending boarding units to seize
You can also bring reinforcements in if an NPC and retrieve an objective, that objective is typically
battlegroup surrenders at the beginning of a round. In transferred to specified CAPITAL SHIP (such as a
this case, they do not enter play until the start of the battlegroup’s FLAGSHIP). If the relevant CAPITAL SHIP is
next round’s Logistics Phase. destroyed before the boarding units have a chance to
secure the objective and transfer it there, then the
Of course, you can also use reinforcements during objective can be transferred to another CAPITAL SHIP
regular, non-sitrep engagements if you want to add (chosen by the player or the GM, as relevant). If there
an additional challenge for your players. To do this, are no valid ships to transfer an objective to, then it
simply prepare reinforcement battlegroups equal to cannot be transferred and attempts to do so
half the number of player battlegroups, remembering automatically fail.
to round up (i.e., for a group of three players, you
would create two reinforcement battlegroups), and
deploy them into combat whenever NPC CAPITAL
SHIPS are destroyed, as normal.
Section 4 // Sitreps
[153]
DEFENSE
Defense missions require the players to defend a SCORING
space station or shipyards, vital assets necessary for At the end of each round, whichever side controls the
the infrastructure of any naval force. Installation gains 2 points. They also gain 1 point for
every hostile Flagship (player or NPC) they destroy or
force to surrender. If the enemy forces have the
VICTORY CONDITIONS highest score by the start of Round 5, then the
Player Victory: The players have the highest score players have failed and the mission is over. If the
by 2 or more points at the start of Round 5 and the players have the highest score by the start of Round
Installation is intact, or the players protect the 5 or if the score is a tie, however, then they have
Installation until the start of Round 7. successfully held the station and proximal space
around it long enough to secure it.
Enemy Victory: The enemy force has the highest score
at the start of Round 5 and the Installation is intact. Should the players succeed, their margin of victory
determines if the engagement continues from here. At
No Victor: The Installation is destroyed. the start of Round 5, if the players have won by 2 or
more points then any remaining enemy forces will
eject from the battlefield. If the players have only won
OBJECTIVE by 1 point or tied, enemy forces may instead shift their
At the beginning of the mission, place an Installation focus to attempting to destroy the Installation to deny
on the gyre at Scope Range (3). The players must the players a total victory. If the Installation is
protect this facility from both capture and destroyed, then neither side wins; however, at the start
destruction. It counts as a player-allied CAPITAL SHIP, of Round 7, the opportunity to destroy the Installation
has 30 HP, 10 DEFENSE, and 1d6 INTERDICTION, and it is lost and any remaining enemies must either eject or
gains 5 OVERSHIELD at the start of every Logistics surrender, leaving the players victorious.
Phase. The Installation cannot be moved beyond
Range 4-2 by any abilities or effects other than the
collapse of the gyre, but otherwise counts as a ENEMY FORCES
battlegroup for the purpose of movement effects and Prepare initial enemy forces as normal. Make sure to
abilities. Player battlegroups in the same range band include some Capital Ships and Escorts that can use
as the Installation may spend a tactic during their boarding actions. Additionally, prepare reinforcement
turn to do one of the following: battlegroups equal to the number of players. If the
engagement has the chance of continuing beyond
• Move the Installation one range band forward or back. Round 5, decide based on the state of the NPC
• Give the Installation BOLSTERED until the start of the forces at that time whether or not they should retreat
next Action Phase. While BOLSTERED, hostile boarding or continue fighting.
actions succeed on a roll of 10+, instead of 8+.
• (Limited 2) Repair 5 HP to a CAPITAL SHIP in their
battlegroup.
Section 4 // Sitreps
[154]
SITREPS
ESCORT
Escort missions require the players to safeguard a
VIP until their fleet can disengage from combat.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
EXTRACTION
Extraction missions ask the players to identify an
enemy flagship carrying a high-value target,
successfully extract them, then retreat.
4
Player Victory: The players eject from the battle with VICTORY CONDITIONS
the VIP aboard one of their ships. Player Victory: The players eject from the battle with
the VIP aboard one of their ships.
Enemy Victory: The VIP is in enemy control at the
beginning of Round 7. Enemy Victory: The VIP is in enemy control at the
beginning of Round 7.
No Victor: The VIP is killed.
No Victor: The VIP is killed.
OBJECTIVE
Before setting postures or performing uptime actions, OBJECTIVE
select a player at random: there is a VIP aboard one of The players must first identify the enemy FLAGSHIP
the CAPITAL SHIPS in their battlegroup. The players must carrying the VIP. Scanning an NPC FLAGSHIP can only be
survive until the start of Round 5, at which point they done within Range 4-0, and requires spending a tactic.
will be able to perform a nearlight ejection. When a Scans made at Long Range (4) have a 50 percent
battlegroup with the VIP aboard one of its ships ejects chance to reveal whether the VIP is aboard the target
from battle, the objective is successfully completed. ship. Scans made at closer ranges automatically
succeed. The players cannot attempt to extract the
Enemy forces can abduct the VIP by boarding the VIP until they have determined their location.
ship and successfully performing a special boarding
action. If they succeed, the VIP is extracted and held Once the VIP’s location has been identified, the
captive aboard that hostile battlegroup’s FLAGSHIP. players can extract them by boarding the relevant
Players can rescue an abducted VIP by boarding the FLAGSHIP and succeeding on a special boarding
FLAGSHIP on which they’re held and succeeding on a action. If they succeed, the VIP is extracted and
special boarding action, transferring them back to the relocated to a CAPITAL SHIP in that player’s
original CAPITAL SHIP. If the ship the VIP is on is battlegroup of their choice. Enemy forces can
destroyed, they are killed and there is no victor. When attempt to rescue the VIP by boarding the ship on
this happens, the players remain locked in combat which they’re held and succeeding on a special
until Round 5 when they can eject as normal. boarding roll. If this roll succeeds, the VIP is
extracted and held captive aboard that battlegroup’s
FLAGSHIP. If the ship that the VIP is on is destroyed,
ENEMY FORCES they are killed and there is no victor. When this
Prepare initial enemy forces as normal. Additionally, happens, the players remain locked in combat until
prepare reinforcement battlegroups equal to the Round 5 when they can eject as normal.
number of players.
Once the VIP has been extracted, the players need to
survive until the start of Round 5, at which point they
can perform a nearlight ejection.
ENEMY FORCES
Prepare initial enemy forces as normal and secretly
choose one of the NPC CAPITAL SHIPS to house the
VIP. Additionally, prepare reinforcement battlegroups
equal to the number of players.
Section 4 // Sitreps
[155]
HIJACK HOLDOUT
Hijack missions see the players making daring Holdout missions place the players in a grim and
attempts to infiltrate, disable, and gain control over an unenviable position with only one objective –
enemy FLAGSHIP, which is designated the Target Ship. surviving as long as possible.
Enemy Victory: The players have not disengaged from Enemy Victory: The players reach 0 points.
battle in control of the Target Ship by the beginning of
Round 7, or it is destroyed after being hijacked.
OBJECTIVE
No Victor: The Target Ship is destroyed before being The sole objective is for the players to survive as best
hijacked. they can for as long as they can. This mission can
only be won by standing fast against a seemingly
OBJECTIVE endless wave of enemy reinforcements while holding
To successfully hijack the Target Ship, the players must the line: if they survive long enough, they will have
succeed on three boarding action rolls against it. These won a costly but important victory.
rolls can be from any combination of players, they do
not need to be consecutive, and they can be for any
boarding command, but they must be rolls and must be SCORING
successful – effects that automatically apply successful The players begin the engagement with 5 points. At
boarding results don’t count. Once the players succeed the end of each round, if they have not destroyed or
at hijacking the Target Ship, it is removed from enemy forced the surrender of at least one enemy CAPITAL
control and placed on the gyre at Scope Range (3). It SHIP, they lose 1 point. The players also lose 1 point if,
retains its HP, DEFENSE, and INTERDICTION, but cannot use at the beginning of Round 7, their fleet has less than
any maneuvers or tactics of its own and all of its traits 25 percent of their starting CAPITAL SHIPS remaining.
and abilities are disabled. ESCORTS that were assigned to
the Target Ship are treated as if it was destroyed. The players win if they still have 1 or more points
after this, as remaining enemy forces break away at
Once the Target Ship has been hijacked, any player the last moment or allied reinforcements arrive and
may spend a maneuver during their turn to move it tip the scales. No ejection from battle is necessary.
one range band forward or back and BOLSTER it until
the beginning of the next Action Phase. If the players ever have less than 1 point, they can no
longer hold out and the mission is lost. Their only
When it becomes possible to eject from battle, a player remaining option is a last-ditch chance to escape,
in the same range band as the hijacked Target Ship can rolling on the Nearlight Ejection Table.
disengage from battle with the ship by performing a
nearlight ejection, completing the objective.
ENEMY FORCES
As an alternative to hijacking the target ship with Prepare initial enemy forces as normal. Additionally,
successful boarding rolls, you may instead choose to prepare several reinforcement battlegroups.
have players play out the infiltration and hijacking as Reinforcements for this sitrep are effectively limitless.
a mission using Lancer’s rules, with players taking on The enemy cannot be completely destroyed – the
the role of mech pilots. Success will allow players to only option is to survive.
hijack the ship. If this attempt fails, the players may
continue using board rolls to hijack the ship.
ENEMY FORCES
Prepare initial enemy forces as normal. Identify the
target ship to the players either during the pre-mission
briefing or at the beginning of the engagement, before
anyone has acted. Additionally, prepare reinforcement
battlegroups equal to the number of players.
Section 4 // Sitreps
[156]
SITREPS
INTERCEPT
Intercept missions require the players to act swiftly to
destroy or disable a high-speed target.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
There are two variations of this sitrep: In the first, the
players simply need to destroy the Objective by
reducing it to 0 HP or less. If they accomplish this
before the beginning of Round 5, their mission is a
success. In the second, the Objective needs to be
4
Player Victory: The Objective is destroyed before disabled and captured. The Objective is disabled
Round 5 or it is disabled and successfully extracted when it is reduced to between 0 and –4 HP. Once it
(as relevant). has been disabled, a player battlegroup must move
into the same range band and perform a nearlight
Enemy Victory: The Objective is intact at the start of ejection when that becomes available. If the objective
Round 5. is reduced to –5 HP or less, it is destroyed
completely and neither side succeeds.
No Victor: An Objective is destroyed that was meant
to be disabled.
ENEMY FORCES
Prepare initial enemy forces as normal.
OBJECTIVE Reinforcements aren’t necessary, especially if the
At the beginning of the engagement, place an mission is to destroy the objective rather than disable
Objective on the gyre at Long Range (4). During the and capture it; however, you may prepare
briefing, the GM must declare whether the purpose of reinforcement battlegroups equal to the number of
this mission is to destroy it or to disable and capture it. players if desired.
Section 4 // Sitreps
[157]
CAMPAIGN PLAY
In many cases, winning a naval engagement is all BATTLEFRONTS
but equivalent to winning a war; however, in A campaign is more than just a series of clashes that
conflicts between great galactic powers – for take place in a set location. War has a tempo, beginning
example, if the Karrakin Trade Baronies were with early battles as one side attempts to secure an
engaged in a multifront campaign against Harrison advantage over another, then moving on to attempts to
Armory – or when one side has retreated without capture territory, seize strategic objectives, and
insurmountable losses, it is likely that additional ultimately secure total victory.
battles will need to fought before a clear winner
can be decided. If your story has more battles in Whether the players are the attackers or the defenders,
its future, the following guidelines can help you various battlefronts such as the examples listed below can
organize these engagements into an ongoing be zoomed in on over the course of a war, charting pivotal
narrative campaign. moments during a campaign and setting the stakes for
engagements, as well as tracking the overall state of affairs
A naval campaign is a series of linked for both sides. A campaign might not necessarily touch on
engagements fought to either a strategic end point every battlefront: you might decide to gloss over the
that signals the end of a campaign or the total establishment of a beachhead, starting things off at a later
military defeat of one or more parties, leaving them point, or you might choose to skip over the expeditionary
unable to continue fighting in a meaningful sense. front if it feels more appropriate to do so based on how
things have progressed so far. Different types and
In Battlegroup, there are two types of campaign: arrangements of battlefronts can be used to create a
abstracted campaigns and grounded campaigns. campaign as well, depending on the scope of the narrative.
Advancement in an abstracted campaign is primarily
narrative – instead of using any particular system or BEACHHEAD
framework, outcomes can simply be agreed upon by This is where any campaign begins, whether offensive or
the table depending on narrative context and how defensive. The establishment of a beachhead is likely a
they decide the story should progress. large affair, during which the attacking side attempts to
overwhelm the enemy’s defenses and establish a series
By contrast, advancement in a grounded campaign of forward bases, supply lines, and operational zones
is informed by a simple system for framing from which they can launch further attacks.
engagements and tracking progress that places
more of an emphasis on the particular outcomes of If the attackers fail to establish a beachhead, there are
engagements, such as how many ships are lost several ways a campaign might still progress. The
during a battle, or at which point during a campaign attackers may launch another, more desperate assault to
a particular victory or defeat occurs. This section try and secure a foothold before their momentum falters,
provides a framework for playing grounded or the force that was on the defensive may try to turn the
campaigns and tracking the state of affairs at tables and launch a counterattack, placing the former
various points, which can in turn inform the fiction aggressors on the defense instead.
as it continues until the end.
EXPEDITIONARY FRONT
A campaign’s expeditionary front represents advancement
beyond initial contact. Whether the players are attacking or
pushing back against enemy aggression, the first probes
into enemy territory after the establishment of a beachhead
are always expeditionary: not a fleet’s full forces but its
vanguard and scouts, attempting to find the path of least
resistance. The battles here are likely smaller than those in
the beachhead phase, as they are exploratory in nature.
In this stage of a campaign, the momentum is firmly on Battles at this stage are large in scale, befitting the
the side of the attacking force. That’s not to say that the importance of this battlefront for both sides. The
defenders are staring down defeat, but defensive attacking side will likely not achieve total victory just yet,
actions at this stage are likely to be reactive in nature. but success here does put such victory within their
Commanders on the attacking side will be on the grasp. Meanwhile, the defenders can, with a heroic
lookout for opportunities to continue this forward effort, stymie the push toward their most desperately
momentum by securing critical objectives and scattering guarded territories. If they can withstand the
the defensive lines, while defenders will be tasked with emboldened offense then the campaign may reach its
quickly reinforcing positions and slowing the enemy’s conclusion here as well, though the losses they suffered
advance long enough for their own forces to rally. reaching this point will still be felt for generations.
• Infiltrating an enemy ship to disable a powerful Of course, naval battles can do more than set the stage.
long-cycle weapon, adding CHARGE counters to it They also make for suitable climaxes for mission arcs. As
or even destroying it outright. the players progress through their missions, they may
• Being tasked with engaging and eliminating an have the opportunity to lay the groundwork for a naval
enemy ACE, fighting through their wingmen before battle meant to decisively secure victory within the theater.
confronting the ace pilot themselves, removing Sabotaging defenses, gathering intelligence, and
that unit from play if successful. participating directly in the final engagement can all be
• Joining a boarding action with orders to plant critical steps necessary to tip the odds in their fleet’s favor.
demolition charges in a ship's magazines or
reactor systems, causing significant damage to, if
not destroying, an enemy ESCORT. Section 4 // Battlegroup and Lancer
[163]
NON-PLAYER CHARACTER BATTLEGROUPS
NPC battlegroups are composed of two main parts: Then for each ESCORT or ACE assigned to a CAPITAL
the CAPITAL SHIP, which is the centerpiece of its SHIP, that battlegroup may perform one additional
battlegroup, and its ESCORTS, which are the attendant maneuver or use one additional tactic during its turn.
ships under its command. Optionally, NPC This additional maneuver or tactic can only be spent
battlegroups may also incorporate an ACE, a powerful on a maneuver or tactic granted by that ESCORT or
and unique WING. ACE. If the ESCORT or ACE doesn’t have a maneuver or
tactic associated with it, then it does not grant
Battlegroup doesn’t provide a predefined catalog of additional actions. ESCORT and ACE attacks and
NPCs. Instead, there are a number of basic NPC ship abilities are considered to have come from that ship
archetypes including CAPITAL SHIPS, ESCORTS, and for the purpose of systems and effect triggers. Other
ACES. These archetypes can be combined to build a abilities granted by ESCORTS or ACES, such as traits,
wide range of fully customized battlegroups. A brief CHARGE weapons, and Systems, can be used
summary of what each archetype does and their role whenever they would normally be used.
in combat is included in their description.
NPC battlegroups may surrender or retreat from battle
Creating enemy fleets for players to face is a three- following the same guidelines as players: they can
step process: surrender at any time in the round before the Logistics
Phase, while the decision to eject from battle or not is
1. Decide on the ratio of NPC battlegroups to player made beginning from the start of Round 5, also before
battlegroups (with a default ratio of 1:1, or one the Logistics Phase. They do not have to worry about
NPC battlegroup per player, for an “even” match). moving out of Point-Blank range to do so (because
2. Choose one CAPITAL SHIP to be the centerpiece of NPC battlegroups do not occupy range bands the
each NPC battlegroup. same way as PC battlegroups do), but from Round 8
3. Choose one to three ESCORTS to accompany each onward, any NPC battlegroups that remain in the fight
CAPITAL SHIP. One ESCORT is a somewhat easier may no longer retreat.
challenge, two provides a solid mix of additional
capabilities and is a good “default” choice, and
three represents a more significant threat. POSITION AND MOVEMENT
Unlike player battlegroups, NPC battlegroups do not
Optionally, you may assign ACES to one or more of have positions on the gyre. Although they are
these battlegroups. considered to be within the scope of the active battle,
their exact positioning is abstracted. The GM doesn’t
need to worry about whether an NPC battlegroup is at
ACTIONS AND TURNS Extreme Range or Scope Range because the
Like a group of player battlegroups, multiple NPC player’s position determines whether their battlegroup
battlegroups are considered a fleet. Individual NPC can attack an NPC and whether an NPC can attack
battlegroups alternate with player battlegroups in the their battlegroup. To put it a different way, the range
turn order, with the first NPC battlegroup acting after bands on the gyre indicate the position of player
the first player has acted (unless otherwise stated). battlegroups in relation to the NPC fleet.
NPC battlegroups act along the same lines as player Similarly, NPC battlegroups do not move along the
battlegroups: on their turn, they may perform one gyre as player battlegroups do. Instead, NPC
maneuver and use one tactic, or they can trade out battlegroup movement is represented by abilities that
their maneuver to use a second tactic. Where NPCs force player battlegroups to move, representing the
differ is that they don’t have a standardized list of way that the lines of battle shift throughout combat.
maneuvers and tactics to choose from the way An NPC battlegroup that aggressively moves toward a
players do. Instead, each ship (or group of ships, in player battlegroup may pull them forward into closer
the case of Escorts) has a unique set of maneuvers range, while an NPC battlegroup that wants to put
and tactics listed on its profile. The one maneuver more distance between themselves and hostile forces
and one tactic (or two tactics) that each battlegroup will do so by pushing player battlegroups back.
starts with can only be used for the maneuvers and
tactics listed in the CAPITAL SHIP’s profile.
SHIP ARCHETYPES
HP 30 DEF
Capital Ship
6 INTERDICTION
Tyrants of the gyre, Man o’ Wars are massive
ships with equally large weapons, built out
2D6
COUNTER-BATTERY FIRE
Maneuver, Primary, Single-Target, Reliable 2
[Range 4–0][6 damage]
On hit, the target’s single-target attack rolls all
4
of the Corregidor Group’s Titanyards. Crewed receive +2 DIFFICULTY until the end of its next turn.
by hundreds to thousands of cosmonauts and
officers (depending on the ship’s size, age, Commanders on great ships know that they
and level of automation), Man o’ Wars are are unlikely to avoid incoming fire, so
rarely anything other than the flagship of they adopt different strategies instead.
their fleet. A warship above all others, the Counter-battery fire is one such aggressive
Man o’ War dominates the battlefield. defensive measure: by destroying the guns
that threaten your ship, you thus ensure
you will not be hit by them in turn.
TACTICS
The Man o’ War is a well-rounded, robust ship that INEXORABLE ADVANCE
can be the centerpiece of a variety of battlegroup Maneuver
compositions. Its Demisolar Lance is slow to charge The Man o’ War gains 5 OVERSHIELD. Advance a
but acts as an impending threat that grows as the hostile battlegroup forward one range band.
fight goes on. While the lance is charging, the Man o’
War can lay down Counter-Battery Fire and blanket The feint, the parry, maneuver and
the battlefield with Pulse-Pack Missiles, steadily deception, these are the strategies of the
damaging and disrupting enemies and preventing frail. There is only one way to advance –
them from launching coordinated counterattacks. straight toward the enemy.
PULSE-PACK MISSILES
DEMISOLAR LANCE System, Reloading 2
Charge, Superheavy, Single-Target,
Accurate, Charge 4, Critical The Man o’ War launches a massive volley of multi-
[Range 5–3][20 damage] warhead missiles that blanket an area in devastating
explosions and deadly radiation. During the
Each time this weapon removes a Charge Counter, deal Logistics Phase, choose one range band from 4–3.
2 damage to a hostile CAPITAL SHIP within Range 5-3. Until the start of the next Logistics Phase, any
hostile battlegroup that ends its turn in the chosen
Despite the name, demisolar lances don’t range band takes 2d6 AREA-TARGET damage.
literally draw half of a star’s energy;
however, they demand and output truly Pulse-pack missiles detonate in stages after
staggering wattages. Even a demisolar’s release from a single warhead, blanketing an
targeting laser can devastate a ship: a area spanning hundreds of kilometers with
square hit will take anything out of the sky. nuclear radiation. Ships without sufficient
shielding face immediate lethal consequences
for their personnel, and even those hardened
against that degree of radiation struggle to
withstand proximal detonations.
SHIP ARCHETYPES
HP 25 DEF
Capital Ship
8 INTERDICTION
The Paladin is a modern ironclad built out of
the Corregidor Group’s flagship campus, the
2D6
SUPERNOVA MULTI-STAGE TORPEDOES
Maneuver, Primary, Area-Target, Payload
[Range 3–0][8 damage]
If this weapon’s damage is not completely
4
Purview Starworks. These vessels are the interdicted, the target battlegroup takes 2d6 AREA-
svelte cousins of the Man o’ War. With TARGET damage if it remains in the same range
advanced systems and weapons, they compose, band at the end of its next turn.
hold, and dominate the battle line – assuming
one can afford their equally impressive cost. The latest in close- to mid-range naval
munitions, these advanced torpedoes employ
a staggered payload delivery sequence that
TACTICS unleashes multiple waves of warheads
The Paladin is a “jousting” ship that excels at against targets, overwhelming close-in
crossing lances with other ships. Enemies hit with the defense screens with successive barrages.
Paladin’s RED GIANT Solar Lance during the
Impact Phase will be forced to make a difficult
decision even before they’ve had a chance to make COORDINATED ADVANCE
any attacks of their own, which can disrupt their Maneuver
window of opportunity for firing CHARGE weapons. Choose one of the following effects. The Paladin
Meanwhile, Low-Albedo Plating provides an may not choose the same effect twice in a row:
enhanced defense whenever incoming fire is
expected. While the Paladin’s main armaments both • The Paladin targets a hostile battlegroup, which
operate on a delay, Coordinated Advance allows it must choose one: advance one range band
to serve in a support role while it waits for the RED forward, or the Paladin gains 5 OVERSHIELD.
GIANT Solar Lance to charge and its Supernova • An allied CAPITAL SHIP of the Paladin’s choice
Multi-Stage Torpedoes to hit. gains 5 OVERSHIELD.
• LOCK ON to up to two hostile CAPITAL SHIPS.
RED GIANT SOLAR LANCE The Paladin’s advanced systems and robust
Charge, Superheavy, Single-Target, Charge 3, CIC design allow its fleet legion to
Critical, Reliable 5 coordinate multipronged offensive advances
[Range 5–2][15 damage] across the entire theater.
[186]
SHIP ARCHETYPES
HP +0 DEF +0 TAGS TEMPLATE
4
HP 20 DEF 8 TAGS UNIQUE
[188]
SHIP ARCHETYPES
HP 10/10 DEF 8 TAGS -
4
Aged and ironed, these cruisers burn bright They bolt on to your battlescape from an
against the night’s backdrop. They may not uncharted trajectory, sending your escorts
be as modern, but their hulls are sturdy scrambling to reorient. Two destroyers,
and their weapons are still fearsome enough sleek and slim, their weapon ports open and
to present a significant threat. charging. Your blood runs cold – they have
you flanked.
TACTICS TACTICS
Stalwarts are a well-rounded ESCORT option that Wardogs grant a battlegroup a mix
adds several attack actions to battlegroups that of all-range support and close-range
otherwise lack them. Forward Kinetic Batteries is a firepower. At longer distances, Relay Target Data allows
basic single-target attack with some movement to go a battlegroup to LOCK ON to multiple targets at once,
along with it, while Longbow Torpedoes provide any while up close their Rapid-Fire Mass Drivers make
CAPITAL SHIP the ability to launch PAYLOAD attacks. them a powerful weapon against ships of all types.
This pairs well with other PAYLOAD weapons, allowing
battlegroups to coordinate volleys meant to
overwhelm enemy defenses. RAPID-FIRE MASS DRIVERS
Maneuver, Primary, Single-Target,
FORWARD KINETIC BATTERIES Accurate, Critical
Maneuver, Primary, Single-Target [Range 2–0][5 damage]
[Range 3–0][5 damage] The Wardogs can either attack with this weapon
While both ships remain in this ESCORT group, it may normally or automatically deal 2 damage to up to
advance a hostile battlegroup within Range 5-4 one two ESCORTS or WINGS.
range band forward before or after making this attack.
Within closer ranges, volume of fire begins
Fixed forward kinetic batteries lack the to overtake single-shot accuracy as the
punch of long-spool weapons or the coverage primary approach to gunnery. Conical
of turreted designs, but their stable kinetic projectors and kill-cloud munitions
housing allows for continued fire even are common tools for achieving projectile
while approaching the enemy at speed. saturation, but just as common are rapid-
fire weapons such as magnetically
LONGBOW TORPEDOES accelerated mass drivers, capable of
Maneuver, Primary, Single-Target, Payload –1 tracking and engaging multiple targets
[Range 4–2][6 damage] without interruption.
While both ships remain in this ESCORT group, this
weapon can attack two targets at a time, firing
separate PAYLOAD attacks that are tracked individually. RELAY TARGET DATA
Tactic
Fired in volleys designed to overwhelm The Wardogs act as a relay for their CAPITAL SHIP’S
enemy point defenses through sheer numbers, targeting systems. LOCK ON to one hostile CAPITAL
subcapital torpedoes frequently trade the SHIP for each remaining ship in this ESCORT group.
sheer killing power of capital-grade
munitions for speed and maneuverability, Telemetry, trajectory, and triangulation
allowing them to more quickly achieve are the foundations upon which all
positive effect on targets. effective firing solutions are built.
SHIP ARCHETYPES
HP +5 DEF
Escort
0 TAGS
NAOPHOROS OMNIGUN
Charge, Superheavy, Single-Target,
Charge [ERROR]
[Range 5–0]
ALBEDO CAVALIER HP 10
Wing
Like a spark dancing atop a flame.
SHIP ARCHETYPES
Wing
It does not want to die, and so it does not.
HP 6
SHIP ARCHETYPES
Wing
Where they fly, death follows close behind.
HP 10
DS = Dawnline Shore; HA = Harrison Armory; KTB = Karrakin Trade Baronies; R1 = Ring 1. Ring 1 is a partial-
ring habitat located at New Madrassa Lagrange 4 and providing power for New Madrassa. It is a KTB
mega-engineering project that has been underway since the Second Expansion Period and is currently an
independent polity under protection of the KTB.
All powers active in the Dawnline Shore acknowledge Canopy City, in the north, is the primary garrison
Upper Laurent as the formal name for DS8. Upper for the Boulder Company. It also serves Canopy
Laurent’s capital city is Canopy City, and its planetary Lombard, Upper Laurent’s northern statite.
governor is Stonelord Hermine Atlia, of House Atlia.
Constantinopolis, in the southern hemisphere,
LOCAL POWER serves Canopy Constantine and houses the
Upper Laurent is covered by two polar canopy statites primary BUC garrison on Upper Laurent.
(canopy-style defensive installations unique to the
Baronies, often deployed in permanent orbit over polar Laureline is an autonomous commune spread
caps) and an equatorial defense constellation: across an archipelago of hundreds of islands in
• Northern Pole Statite – Canopy Lombard Upper Laurent’s equatorial sea. It is one of the
• Southern Pole Statite – Canopy Constantine few vassal-states in the Baronies that retains its
• Equatorial Defense Constellation – EDC I, colloquially own governors and limited sovereignty.
called “Le Mur”
LOS VOLADORES
5
There have been several sightings of a group of los Voladores crossing New
Madrassa’s orbital plane. Their ship, the Ojala, is a conventional Volador vessel: part
market-station, part traveling home. It measures just over a thousand meters in length
and seven hundred meters in width. Incapable of atmospheric flight, the Ojala can be
accessed via chaperoned shuttle when it is in-system and los Voladores are accepting
trades. Specifics around trade goods and rituals can be
found in The Long Rim (pp. 26–27). The Ojala’s suite of
weapons is unknown. If attacked, it will carve away.
THE ALBATROSS
Also present in the Dawnline Shore are
forward elements of an Albatross
makteba, MK Siha. Following the outbreak
of hostilities between the Armory
and the Baronies, MK Siha
dispatched two patrol-strength
groups of corvettes and mounted
mechs to act as a rapid-response
force to monitor and, if necessary,
intervene in the fighting to protect
civilians. These patrols can be
combined into a single battlegroup-
strength force. Their commander is
Loyal Wing Farda Baia-4990.
ENTERPRISES
Two of the Long Rim’s enterprises,
Mastodon and the Brigade Legion, are
operating in the Dawnline Shore in small
numbers. Mastodon units have been
sighted providing security for Baronic
personnel at Beachhead, while Brigade
Legion security personnel have been seen
doing the same for Armory executives.
IPS-N
IPS-N has also recently established a single
starbase in the Dawnline Shore: Lighthouse
Station, a trade port that caters to
resource haulers and
Cosmopolitans serving the
Dawnline Shore. It is open to all
who dock there (with clearance
from the harbormaster, of course)
but it is not a luxury getaway.
RANKS
Use the table below as a reference for ranks across the different navies. The asterisk (*) next to some Armory
ranks indicates commissions that can be purchased, avoiding the lengthy meritorious or “time-in”
progression otherwise necessary to attain them. Union ranks are identical across regulars and auxiliaries.
UNION NAVAL DEPARTMENT ARMORY NAVAL COMMAND BARONIC UNIFIED COMMAND
RING ADMIRAL EXECUTIVE* ARMADIER
ADMIRAL LORD DIRECTOR FLEETMASTER
VICE ADMIRAL DIRECTOR* VICE FLEETMASTER
FLEET COMMANDER LORD COMMANDANT LORD CAPTAIN
LINE COMMANDER GROUP CAPTAIN* LINE CAPTAIN
COMMANDER STRIKE CAPTAIN LANCE COMMANDER
CAPTAIN COMMANDANT COMMANDER
CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER (4-5) CHIEF PETTY OFFICER (5) MASTER CHIEF (5)
WARRANT OFFICER (1-3) PETTY OFFICER (1-4) CHIEF (1-4)
LIEUTENANT LIEUTENANT LIEUTENANT
LIEUTENANT, JR. LIEUTENANT, JR.* ATTACHÉ
ENSIGN DECK OFFICER* ENSIGN
ENLISTED (1-6) ENLISTED (1-6) ENLISTED (1-6)
An overall defeat here will mean that the Armory is able to begin
their invasion of New Madrassa in earnest. With their orbital
dominance above the planet, Union and Baronic forces have
no choice but to retreat. A brutal ground campaign ensues,
with the defenders facing overwhelming odds until
reinforcements can be mustered. Should success be achieved,
however, both the Armory and the Baronic navies withdraw,
routed or standing down. Union is then free to turn its attention
directly towards the ground war on New Madrassa, awaiting
naval reinforcements due within months via Blink 1…
In 5019u, the situation in New Creighton explodes BEAT 2: WEIGHT OF STONE – EARLY 5020U
into all-out war. Baronic Unified Command (BUC) While the bulk of the Baronic naval forces push to trap
scrambles forces in support of the Concordant the Armory’s strength at DS1, thousands of transport
Administration, the Baronies’ planetside ally. The ships struggle to ferry the combined forces of the
BUC was caught off guard by the Administration’s Boulder Company, the BUC’s ground troops, and a
sudden attack on the Perfect Ministeriat, but with the number of other free companies up from DS8 (Upper
Armory escalating the Baronies has no choice but to Laurent) before an Armory interplanetary missile strike
match and overwhelm its rivals. hits the world. These soldiers are bound for New
Creighton and, secretly, DS4 – New Madrassa –
Struggling under the weight of its old Concern, the making a successful defense of the operation critical…
Baronies seek to ride the momentum of this sudden
flare-up to secure its holdings in the Dawnline Shore Success here is predicated on the PCs destroying an
– thus expanding its territory into a new frontier with inbound kill vehicle containing a payload of orbit-to-
room to house its massive population. Baronic surface missiles and destroying it before they can hit
representatives on CentComm point to Armory’s Upper Laurent. Treat this as an Intercept sitrep. Failure
aggressive response as a casus belli for Baronic may not impact the naval battle above New Madrassa
escalation; with this justification, they argue they are in later beats, it certainly impacts the ground fighting
fighting a defensive war and are thus entitled to that will happen there as evacuating Baronic forces
respond in a swift and devastating fashion. suffer heavy losses in the bombardment.
If the players choose to battle the Armory, To begin with, the PCs will face a normal combat engagement
they’ll also have to contend with an to blunt the first wave of Armory ships arriving to invade New
experimental vessel boasting unusual Madrassa. A failure during the previous beat will mean the
gravitic/blinkspace manipulation capabilities. PCs face stiffer resistance from Armory forces, and that the
Removing this vessel from the equation is wreckage of the first-wave ships and defense platforms has
imperative in order to allow allied formed a Debris Field environmental modifier. Other
reinforcements to safely spool up to environmental modifiers may be brought into play as well.
nearlight. Treat this vessel as a Needleship
with the Mastermind template, along with Success here throws the Armory’s naval advance into disarray
1-2 additional ESCORTS and/or 1 ACE and places them on the back foot. Forced to settle in for a
accompanying it. Treat this engagement as a more protracted siege, they begin maneuvering orbital
Hijack sitrep, with the target vessel being platforms into position to begin dropping reinforcements
the Needleship. Destroying the target ship directly into Green Zone Alhambra, and following repair and
creates a morass of gravitic anomalies and resupply the PCs are ordered to spearhead an assault to
blinkspace wormholes that disrupt ship destroy these platforms before they can begin deployment.
systems and dangerously interfere with Treat this as an Intercept sitrep. If the PCs failed or only
transit through the route until they subside, achieved a Pyrrhic victory during the previous engagement of
counting as a failure. this beat, then the Armory presses forward implacably and it
falls to them and the remaining defenders to stem the tide
Failure in this beat means the players will before it’s too late. Treat this as a Holdout sitrep.
face stronger resistance during the next
beat. Choosing to defend against Union in Overall defeat here sees Baronic forces retreating to San
this beat will also mean they lose additional Simeon, Union pulling back to the blink gate, and the Armory
assistance during the next beat as well. establishing control over New Madrassa, beginning a brutal
ground war to pacify the world. Baronic, Union, and local
ground forces join together against the Armory, but the fight is
likely to be hopeless as the Armory controls the skies. Baronic
representatives move to protest in CentComm, demanding
intervention to hold the Armory’s aggression on New
Madrassa. Union, slow to act, begins to plan a more direct
method by which to stop the Armory’s maneuvers…
DAGGERFLIGHT WING
Threat risk: Low
LEGION advice:
Keep busy with
BATTLETHREAD clouds
At this point, you’ve got everything you
need to play Battlegroup and dive into STATE CHARACTER STATE ORGANIZATION
the Dawnline Shore conflict. For those
who want to read more, this section 1-2 Tyrannic 1-2 Monarchy
contains additional details about the
navies and naming conventions of the 3-4 Egalitarian 3-4 Oligarchy
various galactic powers, as well as
assorted worldbuilding tools, random 5-6 Democratic 5-6 Theocracy
tables, and setting information
pertaining to naval matters within the 7-8 Communal 7-8 Anarchy
world of Lancer.
9-10 Tribal 9-10 Federation
OPTIONAL MODIFIERS
Interesting Times Roll twice for State Organization: the first
result is the old form of state power, the
second is the emerging form.
3-4 This vessel is fresh from the shipyard, perhaps undergoing shakedown or on her maiden voyage.
5-6 Something about this vessel is deceptive; it may appear to be a different class, or possess
hidden capabilities a ship of its type isn’t ordinarily expected to.
7-8 This ship is considered to be cursed by those who’ve served aboard her, with a history of
misfortune following in her wake.
9-10 A prototype vessel, this ship is equipped with experimental cutting-edge technology of some sort.
11-12 The history of this ship is a grim one, a participant in numerous bloody engagements in which no
quarter was given.
13-14 One of the PCs has a personal history with this ship, a memorable encounter or even a rivalry.
15-16 A particularly ostentatious and opulent vessel, as much a symbol of prestige (or vanity) as it is a
warship.
17-18 The design of this vessel matches no known class or manufacturer; it could be bespoke or the
product of an unknown shipwright.
19-20 According to records, this ship once belonged to another navy, perhaps even your own, before
being captured or salvaged after battle.
HOOK
1 Beset by pirates, you have no other option but
ROLL 1D20
CORREGIDOR GROUP
SYNGIN-DUAT After Ras Shamra and IPS-N, Harrison Armory’s third
Syngin-Duat is an independent, minor corpro affiliated most prolific naval supplier is the Corregidor Group,
with a gnostic–monastic HORUS sect endemic to an enclave corpro founded under Harrison II and
SSC’s Constellation. Syngin-Duat technology is widely bequeathed to his niece, Emile Salvacruz, of the 2
used aboard Skyhook-class vessels and Constellar percent Creighton-Cruz forking line.
Gendarme and Midnight subliners. Primarily a producer
of systems and materials, Syngin-Duat does produce a The Corregidor Group produces two distinct hull
range of limited-release monocoque hulls popular with lines: The first is made up of licensed IPS-N clones
EWAR specialists and navies that adhere to more built to Ras Shamran specifications. The second is
esoteric doctrines. Syngin-Duat monocoques can be bespoke vessels for the Armory’s steward classes
encountered among SSC’s gendarmerie, in use as and officers wealthy enough to purchase
private yachts for the security forces of Karrakin nobility, commissions and supplement their existing
and among the ranks of the BUC’s EWAR vessels. commands. Built to accept Legion-standard fittings,
munitions, and powerplants, Corregidor Group hulls
In addition to their own proprietary technologies, are considered by Ras Shamran high command as
Syngin-Duat vessels utilize many Union Science complementary to existing, state-produced vessels; if
Bureau-cleared HORUS technologies and systems. one is wealthy enough to add specialized Corregidor
Documentation shows no clear link between SSC Group hulls to their state-provided command, the
and Syngin-Duat, though the connection between the legion will allow it, and prestige likely demands it.
two corpros is plainly visible.
UNION NAVY
Even in its scaled-down form under the Third
Committee, the Union Navy is the largest and most
capable navy in the galaxy by orders of magnitude. It
has outposts, docks, installations, battlegroups, and
patrols in almost every sector of space – those in
which it does not have a presence, it can reach with
priority access to the blink network. Union naval
strength is best imagined as an inexorable
accumulation rather than a limited resource: without
fail, Union has the strength to respond to a threat or
provocation – the only constraint on the application
of such force is the amount of time it takes for
battlegroups to arrive. Union can field any vessel of
any type, from the largest, most unique
dreadnoughts, to the smallest fighters.
Section 6 // Battlegroups
[224]
BATTLEGROUPS
NAMING CONVENTIONS
Whether they are operating under the direct
SUBLINE SHIPS
Subline ships draw on a vast range of possible
6
command of the Union Navy or in support of DoJ/HR naming schemes, from cities and towns, to figures
missions, the names of specific Union ships, and creatures of legend and myth – anything deemed
battlegroups, and fleets themselves tend to fall on appropriate by the Union Naval Department Board of
the “dry” (or “professional”) side. They are usually Names and Registers.
named after figures or events from history,
geographic and geologic features found on Cradle, WINGS
and other proper nouns. While there is some Wings are typically given an alphanumeric
variance, some principles tend to remain true. designation: a letter based on their division
placement (i.e., a ship’s first wing would be “A”) and
BATTLEGROUPS AND FLEETS a number based on their proximity to their command
Union battlegroups typically adopt single-word element (the commanding officer of a wing, for
codenames, usually proper nouns. There are few fighters, bombers, and mounted mechs, or the
restrictions. Fleets are named in the order that they commanding ship in the case of larger subline
are raised. vessels; i.e., “1” for the commander). For example,
the command element (“1”) of the UNS-CV Tompkins
Battlegroup examples: Battlegroup Comet, Square’s first wing (“A”) would be “A-1”. In voice and
Battlegroup Ceremony, Battlegroup Orchard. text comms, the officer or command vessel would
likely respond to a phonetic corresponding to their
Fleet examples: 1st Fleet, 2nd Fleet, 3rd Fleet. “A” designation. As a wing, they would be known as
“Able-One”, “Assassin-One”, “Archer-One”, or
FRIGATES something along those lines.
Frigates are generally named for inland seas and
lakes found on Cradle, seasons and months on All other wings in the A group would be numbered
Cradle, cities (extant or long gone) found on Cradle, consecutively from their command element: A-2, A-3,
and folk heroes and figures from labor history. A-4, and so on. Individual pilots are referred to by
their callsign, save for the wing commander, who is
Frigate examples: UNS-LS Tahoe, UNS-LS referred to as “[phonetic] Actual” (i.e., Able Actual,
November, UNS-LS Kinshasa, UNS-LS Joe Hill. Assassin Actual, Archer Actual, etc).
CARRIERS
Carriers are generally named for rivers and canals
found on Cradle, forests on Cradle, folk heroes and
events in labor history, capital cities (extant or
ancient) on Cradle, and so on.
BATTLESHIPS
Battleships are generally named for naturalists and
environmentalists, mountain peaks and canyons on
Cradle, large geographic features on Cradle, theorists
and writers, and so on.
Section 6 // Battlegroups
[225]
KARRAKIN TRADE BARONIES
The combined strength of the Karrakin Trade considerations – logistics, navigation, and space/
Baronies is second only to Union in terms of potential orbital combat – are handled so that the house
fleet size; however, as a uniquely structured company (or companies) billeted aboard its ships can
federation of states and noble dominions, bringing perform their duties.
the total united strength of the Baronies to the field
would be an unprecedented undertaking. Regardless, Most house company missions consist of between
each Karrakin world is capable of fielding a eight and twelve ships of the line and their escorts.
tremendous amount of naval power, whether alone or Unlike most BUC naval groups, house company
within a temporary strategic structure. missions often field carriers laden with house
company soldiers, chassis, and ground personnel.
By Karrakin law, warships can only be authorized and Such missions are still commanded by BUC group
fabricated by the Federal Karrakin Monarchy and commanders, though they likely have the command
organized under the BUC. The federal Karrakin staff of the house company they are escorting
armed forces crews and commands the Karrakin breathing down their neck.
navy. Although it is technically illegal for the noble
houses to possess naval forces of their own, many Union considers house companies to be private
do in the form of converted yachts, barges, and other organizations; as such, they have no priority access
pleasure-craft armed for “self-defense.” in blink gate queues.
Section 6 // Battlegroups
[226]
BATTLEGROUPS
NAMING CONVENTIONS
BATTLEGROUPS AND FLEETS
Baronic fleet-strength forces are called “armadas”,
while battlegroup-strength detachments are called
“naval groups”. Both types of force are numbered in
SUBLINE SHIPS
Like frigates, Baronic subline ships carry the names
of genera, species of flowering plants, and ignoble
officers who have retired from the service or been
6
the order in which they are raised, following which is killed in battle.
a name. Naval groups are either given the
designation “Federal”, named after the house with WINGS
which their commanding officer is associated, or Wings are numbered according to their position in
named after the house company they are supporting. their carrier’s (or group’s) deck organization and carry
Armadas take the name of the world to which their the name of their parent carrier, sometimes
commanding fleetmaster is sworn. For example: abbreviated for convenience. For example, wings
assigned to the carrier FKS-CV Baron Bilal would,
Naval group examples: Naval Group 2 Federal, beginning with the uppermost command element, be
Naval Group 1 Yond, Naval Group 33 Boulder. designated 1-Bilal, 2-Bilal, etc.
Armada examples: Armada 1 Khayradin; Armada 5 Bo. Individual pilots are referred to by their callsign, save
for the wing commander for that ship, who is referred
FRIGATES to as “[carrier] Leader” (i.e., Bilal Leader). Baronic
Baronic frigates are referred to as “rasées”. They are pilots place a great deal of importance on their
usually named after families, genera, and species of callsigns, and performing notable deeds is often
flowering plants. They may also be named for ignoble accompanied by a ceremony in which their callsign is
officers who have retired from the service or been “graduated” to reflect this personal glory. The
killed in battle. exception is the wing commander whose callsign
always remains the same, as the honor of leading a
Frigate examples: FKS-RE Dendrobium, FKS-RE Didier wing is considered great enough to not require
Haillet, FKS-RE Berthe Bonnel, FKS-RE Aberrans. further elevation.
CARRIERS
Baronic carriers are named for heroes of Karrakin
myth and history, legendary weapons, and cities
across the Concern. Carriers may also be named for
living Karrakin nobles.
BATTLESHIPS
Baronic battleships are called “battlecruisers” and are
named for heroes of Karrakin myth and history, worlds
of the Concern, warrior virtues, and the major signs of
the Karrakin deck of fates. Battleships may also be
named for living figures of Karrakin high nobility.
Section 6 // Battlegroups
[227]
HARRISON ARMORY
Harrison Armory is a robust, centralized corpro-state NAMING CONVENTIONS
with an incredible ability to punch above its weight. BATTLEGROUPS AND FLEETS
Proven in numerous critical battles against Baronic Armory battlegroups are numbered based on the
forces, the Armory enjoys unparalleled logistical and order in which they were raised and named for the
strategic vision backed by powerful, cutting-edge world from which they were raised, followed by their
weaponry. Centuries of imperial expansion have role (i.e., planetwatch or force projection). They may
driven the Armory’s military development, creating a also have an agnomen, depending on their history.
martial culture that produces disciplined officer corps Armory fleets are temporary force organizations, as
and professional enlisted soldiers. Its broad territorial legion commanders can be territorial about their
holdings are directly administered by its central command, and are named for the task they are
government on Ras Shamra. formed to accomplish.
The Armory’s entire naval power is comparable in size Battlegroup examples: 3rd Ras Shamra,
to the federal naval forces allotted to a single Baronic Planetwatch; 1st Cordoban, Force Projection.
world, but the Armory’s command over logistics,
strategy, and center-point tactics makes it a nimble, Fleet examples: 1st Expeditionary Fleet, 2nd
comparatively fearsome threat with the ability to win Expeditionary Fleet, 5th Purview Defense Fleet.
wars in a single, rapid strike.
FRIGATES
Armory frigates are named for heroic figures of human
BATTLEGROUPS and Armory myth and history, warrior virtues valued by
Modern Armory battlegroups evolved from orbital the Armory, and ranking legionnaires, as well as c-suite
support fleets. Only recently has Ras Shamra began to Armory executives.
produce naval forces organized for full-scale combat.
As a result, while the Armory’s ships and personnel are Frigate examples: PCV-L Marco Polo, PCV-L
equipped with some of the finest technologies, Alacrity, PCV-L Praetor Charles Clemens, PCV-L
systems, and weapons in the galaxy, they are largely Director Joseph Columbus.
unproven in real battle. The fluid state of Armory naval
doctrine manifests in a tendency toward the adoption CARRIERS
of radical, unconventional strategies – and, just as Carriers are named for heroic figures from ancient
likely, the potential for disaster. Cradle, virtues, and heroes and executives of the
Armory. They may also be named for “matronly”
Armory fleets are organized according to one of two adjectives and qualities, Purview metropolises, and
doctrines: planetwatch and force projection. women of myth.
Planetwatch fleets are configured to support Armory
ground legions and ensure total theater dominance. Carrier examples: PCV-GC Gawain, PCV-GC
Force projection fleets, meanwhile, are the Armory’s Steadfast, PCV-GC Dutiful, PCV-GC Fearsome.
standard naval groups, meant to engage in a range of
ship-to-ship actions. BATTLESHIPS
Armory battleships are called “dreadnoughts” and are
named for leaders of the Armory, as well as monarchs,
SHIP DESIGNATIONS conquerors, and composers from Cradelian history and
Harrison Armory naval vessels have the following myth. They may also be named for heroic or virtuous
designations: qualities, worlds of the Purview, and gods of power and
import from various human religions and mythologies.
• Frigates: PCV-L (Purview Command Vessel – Line)
• Carriers: PCV-GC (Purview Command Vessel – Battleship examples: PCV-DN Creighton II, PCV-
General Carrier) DN Charlemagne, PCV-DN Indefatigable, PCV-DN
• Battleships: PCV-DN (Purview Command Vessel – Orwell, PCV-DN Odin.
Dreadnought)
SUBLINE SHIPS
For example, the proper designation for the Armory Armory subline ships are named for minor cities in
frigate Hannibal is Purview Command Vessel – Line the Purview, minor heroes of Cradelian myth, and
Hannibal, or, PCV-L Hannibal. middle-tier Armory executives.
Section 6 // Battlegroups
[228]
BATTLEGROUPS
6
WINGS
Armory wings are alphabetically designated in order of Individual pilots are referred to by their callsign, save for
their position on the carrier’s force organization chart the wing commander for that ship, who is referred to as
and named for their parent ship, sometimes “[carrier] One” (i.e., Gawain One). When in flight with a
abbreviated for convenience. For example, wings wing, this can also be combined with that wing’s own
assigned to the carrier PCV-GC Gawain would, designation. For example, when in flight as part of
beginning with the uppermost command element, be Gawain-A, the wing commander’s callsign would more
designated Gawain-A, Gawain-B, etc. In voice and formally be Gawain One-A or Gawain One-Alpha,
text comms, the officer or command vessel may though in common practice this is often elided.
assign a phonetic corresponding to their alphabetic
designation, such as Gawain-Alpha, Gawain-Beta, etc.
Section 6 // Battlegroups
[229]
FRIGATES SUBLINE SHIPS
NGC frigates are named for simple qualities NGC subline ships are named for large or
associated with IPS-N virtues and mythic creatures carnivorous fish, sharks, and aquatic mammals found
associated with flight or the sea. across the galaxy.
NGC frigate examples: NGCS-FF Keen, Trunk Security subline ships have a wide variety of
NGCS-FF Thunderbird. names, but are denoted first by a four-character
alphanumeric key, split by a hyphen, with one letter in
Trunk Security frigates are identified with simple two- the second digit: 9A-38, or 2B-99, or 8Z-21, and so on.
or three-digit alphanumeric tags, with additional
phonetics to differentiate between frigates with WINGS
duplicate numbers. Wings are named following their parent ship,
sometimes abbreviated for convenience, and
Trunk Security frigate examples: 34-Charlie, 56- numbered according to their order on the flight deck.
Kilo, 203-China. For example, wings assigned to the carrier NGCS-CV
Chaac would, beginning with the uppermost
CARRIERS command element, be designated Chaac-1,
NGC carriers borrow their names from North, Central, Chaac-2, etc. Trunk Security wings use the
and South American gods and mythologies. Additionally, accompanying phonetic of their parent ship where
they are often named using qualities related to IPS-N’s applicable. For example, wings assigned to the
internal virtues. carrier 1900-Gold would be designated Gold-1,
Gold-2, etc.
NGC carrier examples: NGCS-CV Chaac, NGCS-
CV Honest Deal. Individual pilots are referred to by their callsign, with
wing commanders given specific callsigns that are
Trunk Security carriers are identified with simple, four- particular to their parent ship. For example, the wing
digit alphanumeric tags, with additional phonetics to commander aboard the NGCS-CV Chaac is always
differentiate between carriers with duplicate numbers. designated THUNDER, while the wing commander
aboard the carrier 1900-Gold is always designated
Trunk Security carrier examples: 1100-Kilo, 1900- JACKKNIFE.
Gold, 1001-Hotel.
BATTLESHIPS
NGC battleships are named for islands found across
Cradle and IPS-N’s conservation worlds; they may
also, like frigates and carriers, be named for qualities
related to IPS-N’s internal virtues. Trunk Security
does not field any battleships.
Section 6 // Battlegroups
[230]
BATTLEGROUPS
CONSTELLAR SECURITY
Constellar Security is the official body responsible for
a number of Smith-Shimano Corpro’s security and
intelligence organizations (both on-book and off-
book), organizing them within a single force structure
for operations outside of the Constellation. Constellar
NAMING CONVENTIONS
FLEETS
Constellar Security does not have a fleet-equivalent
force structure. Its largest force organizations are
around battlegroup size. These forces are referred to as
6
Security itself is an arm of the Constellar Congress, “missions” (abbreviated to “M.”) and given code names.
Smith-Shimano’s civic governing body; as such,
Constellar Security groups, vessels, detachments, Battlegroup examples: M. Capital, M. Signet, M.
and so on, are organized under the auspices of the Crown.
Constellar Congress, not Smith-Shimano.
CARRIERS
Most Constellar Security forces in the Dawnline Skyhooks are, by function, carrier ships. Constellar
Shore are based on the ground. Tasked with naming follows internal SSC bicode terms,
providing security for Constellar Congressional combining two nouns into a code phrase.
delegations, diplomats, and development officers,
these forces operate from unique, low-orbit mobile Carrier examples: C-HK Sightline Green, C-HK
platforms – Skyhook-class carriers. Constellar Canopy Atlas, C-HK Pinnacle Dome.
Security only fields few other ships: a mix of
corvettes and mounted chassis wings, all rated for SUBLINE SHIPS AND WINGS
atmospheric and vacuum operations. Constellar Security identifies both subline ships and
wings as “gunboats” , and both carry the same
Agents of the Constellar Midnights – SSC’s off-book prefix: GB. They are differentiated by a marker
deniable operations force – are rumored to be character, either “C” for large subline vessels or “W”
operating in the Dawnline Shore. As of yet, this has for fighters, bombers, and mechs, and are named in
not been confirmed. reference to their Skyhook. For example, C-GB
Pinnacle 1, C-GB Pinnacle 2, and C-GB Pinnacle 3
are corvettes assigned to the C-HK Pinnacle Dome.
SKYHOOKS W-GB Canopy 1 and W-GB Canopy 2 are two fighter
Large ships that blur the line between space station wings assigned to the C-HK Canopy Atlas.
and carrier, Skyhooks have massive internal and
external carrying capacity: in transit, a Skyhook can Individual strike-craft pilots are referred to by their
support a dozen mounted mech wings stored callsign, save for the wing commander for that ship, who
internally and multiple externally mounted corvettes is referred to as “[carrier] Alpha” (i.e., Canopy Alpha).
and gunboats, along with up to a thousand personnel
in well-equipped and comfortable quarters.
SHIP DESIGNATIONS
Skyhooks are denoted by the designation C-HK
(Congressional - Skyhook).
Section 6 // Battlegroups
[231]
COMMS CHATTER
If you’re playing Battlegroup via text (whether in real IDENTIFYING SPEAKERS
time or play-by-post) and want to be “in character” or In ALLCOMMS messages, the speaker is indicated
write an after-play summary, this section offers some by a three-letter label and parenthetical official
tips on presenting your communications in the style designation, all within square brackets, following the
of in-game comms chatter, much as would play out open comms marker, like so:
during an engagement.
>//[AUG(UNS-LS_03272)]:: SEND MESSAGE
Some commanders forego the formal construction Subtext tends to use normal, American English
and simply separate their lists with “+++”. This is punctuation (i.e., no “+++” or “===” notation,
acceptable, though it can make for difficult record necessarily) and tends to be presented only in lower
keeping down the line. If one were to apply this less case, though case change is acceptable.
formal method to the above text, it would look like this:
Section 6 // Index
[234]
INDEX
Escorts
Destroyed Capital Ships
Escort Groups
Special Tags
182
182
182
Sitreps
Reinforcements
Sitreps and Boarding Actions
152
153
153
6
NPCs and Information 165 Structure of a Battle
NPC Profiles Example Objectives 34
Boarders/Greywash 165 Stage One: Briefing 33
Boarding 165 Stage Two: Forecast 35
Charge/Reloading 165 Stage Three: Preparation 35
Payload 165 Stage Four: Engagement 35
Range 165 Stage Five: Aftermath 36
Systems 165
Traits 165 Weapons and Upgrades
Position and Movement 164 Escorts and Wings
Ace Squadrons 118
Posture and Uptime Actions Escorts 111
Posture 48 Wings 114
Uptime Actions Systems 104
Consult Gunnery and Engineering 49 Weapons
Consult Navigation and Intelligence 50 Auxiliary 103
Consult Senior Officers 50 Primary 100
Plot a Course 51 Superheavy 98
Power At a Cost 51
Set a Posture 49 Weapon and Upgrade Tags
Accurate 57
Reserves 52 Boarding 57
Charge X 57
Running Battlegroup 140 Critical 58
Battlegroup and Lancer 163 Escort 58
Campaign Play 158 Greywash 58
Environmental Conditions and Modifiers 149 Inaccurate 58
Rules of War 148 Legionspace 58
Limited X 58
Setting and Worldbuilding Overkill 58
Artificial Intelligence and NonHuman Persons 13 Overshield 58
Battlegroup and Naming Conventions Payload/Payload X 58
Constellar Security 231 Reliable X 59
Harrison Armory 228 Reloading X 59
Karrakin Trade Baronies 226 System 59
Northstar Galactic Command 229 Tenacity 59
Union 224 Unique 59
Comms Chatter 233 Wing 59
Communications 12
Diasporan States 218
General Hooks and Complications 221
Gravity 13
Fleet Legions and Legionspace 14
Notable Shipwrights 222
Objective Vessels & Very Important Persons 219
Robotics and Drones 14
Ship Naming Conventions 220
Society and Culture 12
Travel and Time 12
War and Conflict 13
Section 6 // Index
[235]