Se Science Fiction Combat Rules - for 25mm _ Miniatures Bite aaelcah = P . Jon Tuffley Taio | ACTIVE tor oko tenuis“SALGRUNT Had OTS. tar QuaUTY ano Lezotrsu” vavue: 3 BetananngQuAsW ao EAs # iS 3 icici 4 eer ona ies ean 3 veut 0085 ON Foor a CREDITS: warren ay: Jon Tuffley ‘Smor Graphs, oeduorertane, Needham Mae 6 GAP, oT08 Jin Tratonay, enn Dare Pn ae. ‘igre ara terry Kase olenove paca! Frente 01 ‘Gireseeges Keun Utica! nani oPahtews te" CONTENTS eT 2 oe lost coment ncsouutione a rn et ey ie Sa Barun pie a nt Coot Roan ‘peer andl ete ecyononehnrrdont REQUESTING AIR SUPPORT: See ee tae Set nS as rane Son waa ieee een ocean 4 —INTRODUCTION Sergeant Thrasher is moving cautiously through the brush with bis leading squad: Private Funk 1s on point (for the third day ranoing, “something to do vith what happened to the Offices’ latrines...) behing him are Thrasher, four mare riflemen and the squad ‘machinegurner. Suddenly ite amber ight flashes in Funk's HUD ‘sor, centred on a clamp of rocks and bushes to his right at the same time he hears the chatter ofan automatic weapon, and dives flat. There fare yells and curses over the sqvad comm, anda single shor scream. Thrasher's vore overrides the babble on the comm: "Squad, target? Designate green ~range two hundred free fire!” Funk peers up overa nce large rock he has found, and his HUD gives hhim a green Hasher where the Sergeant is designating the target point. He bears Anderson let ip withthe SAW from somewhere behind him, long with sporadic shots from the rest of the squad: realising that no ‘one (especialy Thrasher) can see him, he sles down behind the rock ‘2gai0 no point in letting the Euries know where he is by shooting at them The enemy fire seems t have stopped. Someone is yeting over the comm: "Shit Sarge - Harry's copped one, we need a Cac for Chistake,.." Grunts, Squaddies, Pongoes,Footsioggers. cal em what you will - the infantry have been there as long as armies have been around. Sure, they've gat lots of shiny new toys, missiles that'e smarter than they are and all the rest but they sil the ones that get left upto their knees inmud, getting shelled and sniped at, holding the ine like no tank or urshia can ‘These rules are for infantry actions ina science fiction environment, whether this s set twenty ears from now or two thousand is Up fo You "35 far as your little metal Soldiers are concerned they'll stil get the rough end oft What syle of game is STARGRUNT I? Wel, for a start its not meant to bbe "HOW WAR WiLL BE FOUGHT IN THE FAR FUTURE™. I don’t KNOW hhow war wil be fought in the far future (you DO knew how tw actualy happen, could you let me know next week's lottery numbers ‘while you're about it..2) but I could hazard a guess that a ot of it wil involve a few automated drones shooting at each other over a virtually empty battiefels- not very inspiring as a miniatures game! No, what we are doing here i cresting an environment for SF mini atures games that haya similar syle to those portrayed in Combat SE novels lms and TV series; most ofthese have ther roots firmly in present-day military concepts, tactics and organisation - which fs why ‘he Colonial Marines inthe Aliens movies look (andl act) ust like present-day US Marines, andthe “oot camp” sequences in Heinlein's asic Starship Troopers would be familiar to any rectult from WW onwards. | guess this is because these are concepts that we all understand and are reasonably familiar with, so they can be taken as read and not getn the way ofthe ation and storytelling - we can all relate to the situations and things "feel" right, s0 the whole thing becomes believable anc accepted. Consider that although technology and tactics may change, basic human nature doesnt Look atthe average solder of today, compared to the average solaer of, say, Napoleonic times. Sure, today's grunt is, better trained, better fed, and MUCH better equipped - but he ist [ust a man with al the same hopes, emotions and vulnerabilities - and he sil regards Officers with distrust and Sergeants with a complex smisture of fear, loathing and grudging respect Wwe can safely assume that our SF1roops will have very much ike infantry have done ‘throughout history, whieh gives us a starting point we can identify wth So, what we have tried to do with STARGRUNT I is to produce a system ‘or simulating $F actions where the ordinary soldiers are not 100 Unlike ‘those tramping across the battlefields of yesterday or today - they may ‘attya Gauss rifle rather than an M16 or 9 Brown Bess, But they are stl the Paor Bloody Infantry and stil think the same way. Thelr supporting tanks may hover or float on gray files, but they are sil tanks artillery and air suppor stil ull similar batleielé roles to their entieth ‘century counterparts Realistic? Probably not. Believable? Maybe. Fun? We sincerely hope so! 50, what are you waiting for? Lets get out there and kil something, 1 love the smell of Plasma In the morning DESIGNERS’ NOTES: Some of you may be thinking “this STARGRUNT It - so what was STARGRUNT 7” Well the orginal STARGRUNT was a small-prss rules booklet we fist pubished six years ago, as an attempt to do an SF combat system that actually made the troops react ke “real” soiiers Father than little tn claivoyant superheroes. 5G has sold a good few hundred copies in its ife and acquited a keen following of players, but due to its format has aways been offer limited availabilty In SG ‘we have taken the opportunity to completely revise the game and bring the mechanisms up to date, while keeping (we hope) the essential feel that made SG s0 popular We have tried to produce a game that encourages the players to THINK TACTICALLY. The rules on Confidence, Motivation, Suppresion et. are designed in sucha vay that a simple frontal assauit (you know, the line "em all up at the baseline and advance acros the table” approach so common (sadly) with many sargamers) sul inal ikelihood NOT Work - 3 least, not unless you have MASSIVE force superiority in which ‘ase you haven't thought out the scenario properly! In SG, you can't just rely on your firepower and some lucky de aling ‘to-win the game for you = you actually have to work fori ‘Aswith the original, SG is 9 GENERIC rules set- itis designed to be tailored to whatever forces figures and background you wish to Use We have provided our own “offical” (in the loosest sense ofthe word) background ina separate section, s0 that those of you who wish to use itmay do so without it itruding too much on the main generic rules, It you with to use your own background oF one lifted from a fil, book ‘or IV saris, then you will eed ta adapt some parts ofthe ruleeto st the particular hardware and style of ation from your chosen source. Realism”, in terms of Science Fiction games, means being as faithful as, possible 1o your source material, whatever that may Be. Payers of our preceding rules set, DIRTSIDE 1 (1/300 SF armour rules) wll notice immediately that we have retained many ofthe basic mechanisms ana principles from these rules in STARGRUNT Il ths. party fo give common factor tothe two games which will enable players to transfer easily ffom one tothe other, and partly because the principles worked very well DSiL-as the old saying goes, “If ain't Broke, don't fit...”INTRGAUCTIGN Read the rules through, then use them as you wish - you've paid out the money, and its now your game a8 much a: ours! RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STARGRUNT II AND DIRTSIDE ‘There are many links between DIRTSIDE I, our 1/300 SF combat rules, and the STARGRUNT I system. Both books share a common (optional) background, and simulate the same kind of warfare on very cifferent ‘petationa levels, Many of the rules mechanisms are common to both 2s, in overall concept atleast - in Sil we have taken advantage of ‘some ofthe improvements and additional ideas that have surfaced Since DSI was written, and several of the new eas can be easy Fatrofitted into DS te enhance your games of that system. Hf you are already familiar withthe vay DSI splayed, you wll find much of SGI Shares the same principles ond will be quickly picked up If you look at the typical SGI batl, it represents what would be avery smal section of a DSI game ~ comparing the groundscales, an average 6" pay table in SGI equates to an area no more than about 7” x5" fon a DSI battlefield. A typical SGI battle represents, in much greater {etal the kind of action that would be resolved in OSI using the rather abstract infantry combat mechanism should be noted that while we have tried to keep 2 lot ofthe detail (oF Sil common to that of DSI especially in regard to types of techno: ‘9, we have allowed ourselves leeway to change things that we felt rmde fora better game. We do not claim that an SGil battle EXACTLY Fecreates what happens ina DSi infantry assault. In particular, Sl has (for obvious reasons) much more detal and variation among infantry weapons and such, replacing the very abstract categories used for ease of play with large armies in DSI. ne area where we have deliberately kept things as late as potsible bbetvten the two games sin vehicle design and use, sof you play bath ‘gemes you can easy take vehicle designs from DSIl and we them rectly in SGI. We have included enough vehicle design note in SGI (ina simplified form) for this book to be complete in ist «its not necessary to have orto purchase DIRTSIDE Ilin order to use vehicles in ‘Gli games. Always keep in mind that SGI is primarily an INFANTRY ‘game with vehicles in supporting roles where applicable ~if you really ‘rant to play massed armour battles then we suggest you use DSI and "1300 scale forces anyway. USING THIS RULEBOOK: ‘Throughout these rules we have included brief RULE SUMMARIES Gn the highlighted pancls). Much of the main text ofthe rules is discussion and explanation as to WHY we have done things a certain way, a8 ‘well a expaning how the rule actually works, once you have ead ths through and understood it. you should only need to refer tothe highlighted summary to remind you of how the rule works in play. For convenient reference during the game, we have collected all the mast important summary boxes together on of the PLAYSHEET, once yu are reasonably familar with STARGRUNT i'you should be sble to play most games with minimal reference to the actual rulebook, using {he information supplied on the Playset. THE SPIRIT OF THE GAME: OK, jets get something straight right now. This is NOT a game for members of those sad sub species of Wargamer, the Povier Gamers and the Rules Lawyers. You're not one of those, are you? Na? Good, ‘The main reason for playing ary game isto have FUN. It your oppo: ‘nents are so determined to win at all cots that they seek aut and {exploit any tiny loophole in the rules in order to get an advantage over Yeu, then this NOT FUN (rot in my book, anyway) There area ‘umber of possiblities for dealing with such playe's, some involving the se of heavy blunt instruments, but probably the most fective (nd lego way isto use an impartial umpire. Smallunit actions are inerehibly ‘complex things to game with any degree of “realism”, and sometimes ‘things wil happen that were never thought of vn either writing or playtesting - wihen this occurs, an umpire i by far the best way oF Adlusiesting any dtagreements that crop up. you do not have anyone available to umpire the game, then its ux tothe players to think in terms of the SPIRT ofthe game, ther than the letter of the rules; neve ose sight ofthe fact thatthe rules are simply here to provide a framework to make the game function - you ‘are tying to simulate “real” events (hati, events consistent with your Preferred background), not playing chess or some other highly ‘formalised game. if something occurs during a game inthe game thats not specifically covered in this rulebook, try to work out logialy whet ‘would be the mos likely outcome i he situation were to be REAL: if you stil can't agree, then let adie rol decide it. ‘Above ll, emember: DON'T PLAY THE RULES, PLAY THE GAME! ‘A Quick Note on Gender: in most cases in these rules, the masculine {forms have been used for convenience - this snot in any way relevant to the game, as most forces wil include both male and female troops, all with equal opportunities of getting maimed, Killed er outright vaporised. Anyway, some of our ‘most vicious playtesting has come from the female side (hi, Mery...)INTRODUCTION ‘THE ROLE OF THE UMPIRE: LUmpiring @ game can bea ot of fun - often moreso than being 3 player! This because you know exactly what is REALLY going on; the players know only what you have told them, which of course may oF may not be entirely true depending on how good their miltary Intelligence Is and how nasty you are feling atthe time. The role of the Umpire in SGI is similar to that of the Games Master in a roleplaying game; you ae responsibie for running the scenario (and probably for designing iin the fist place, informing the players what they can and can’ do, and adjudicating any disputes. Umpiring 2 miriatures battle is not quite as demanding as running an RPG, as most ofthe time the players are taking care of the tuen-by-turn mechanics of play you are just there to oversee things. You must, of course, be far $d impartial; any dirty ticks you throw in should have the cnance of affecting both player, unless you are using them to balance an otherwise one-sided game, {Good umpiring can make an enjoyable game out of the most unbal: anced forces if one player turns up on a dub ight with a “super” army and another has only a motley bunch of poor troops, they can stil fight: the umpice just has fo bias the scenario so thatthe powerful player has alot of obstacle putin his way, while the weaker force has a ‘much easier objective that i within the grasp of even his limited Fesourees. This ives everyone a good game, as well 3s putting the club Power Gamer firmly in his place There may be times wihen the umpire decides to throw in a ite off the cuff extra rule to help the flow ofthe scenario; ths is fine, andthe ‘pposed-roll mechanism is an ideal tool for this. I player i trying to {80 something that fn directly covered inthe rules, just get him to roll the Quality dle ofthe unit he s attempting the action with against a die rolled by the umpire; if the player win he succeeds inthe action, I he loses then the umpire get to think up a nasty side-effect ofthe failed attempt! YOUR FIRST GAMES OF STARGRUNT II: if you are new to miniatures gaming, orto our rules in particular, we strongly recommend that you keep your fst game or twa a: simple as ‘posible, STARGRUNT Is very straightforward ints base concepts, ‘hough some ave quite unconventional and may take you afew goes to get used to Read through the rules (ust the main sections: don't worry about the advanced and optional Bits yet) Until you are happy that you have ‘rasped the bases, especialy with regard to the tum sequence, actions! Sctivations the confidencereaction systems and the infantry weapons Darts ofthe combat system. Now set Up and play a game or two Using Just very small, simple forces - we suggest no more than three or four {mall squads (perhaps five oF sie man units) per side, without concern ing yourself with all the add-ons lke vehicles, aircraft, off-table support land 40 on, Thede first games can be encounter battles or basic attack ‘defence actions, 35 described in the section on P14, Conce you have done this you wil be familiar with the most important aspects ofthe rules everything ese isa logical extension of these basics, so you are now ready to progress to larger forces and as many of the optional advanced rules as you and your opponents wish to use. STARGRUNT Ils potentially capable of handling quite large forces up to full Company Strength and maybe even beyond - but very often you wil find that smaller games of around Platoon strength will be more fun and even more tactically challenging: you also dont need to spend jut on such large forces! The system works as wel for just a couple of ‘quack per side a it does for tenor twenty, but we would recommend that if you are using just 2 very few figures then you spit them into 3 greater number of smaller units o allow mare flexibility i the turn Sequence - for example, if you have thy oF more troops then you ‘might use them in 6 of 8 man squads, ut if you have just a dozen they ‘ould be better organised as three four-man fieteamts so a5 10 alo you three units to activate each tur. TACTICAL NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS: itis probably worthwhile mentioning here a few points that you wil find useful in your Sil games; some were deliberately designed Into ‘the game from the outset, while others have come to light during playtesting, Fiesty, throughout the game you are making decisions and trade-offs which unit do you activate when, do you use your support weapons to increase your infantry Trepower or fite them separately at something ese, should you play safe with “normal” movement or risk dicing for 2 ‘combat move, et. etc Your decision on any of these can make a great sifference to the outcome of the game ~ don’t just rely on a few lucky dice to bring things round if you make mistakes! The game structure Is supposed to reward good planning and command, and is thus pretty unforgiving on poor decisions. Poor quality tops can be a definite problem, but poor LEADERS ace ‘even worsen mary ways you are better off with ows quality unt ‘with good leadership thon vice-verss Just because there are only three levels of leadership ablity, don’t think there Is not alot of difference betwveen them. Remember, level 1 leaders are the charismatic hero guys ‘who can lead their men through hell ang back; level 2 are your verage, run-of the mill officers and NCOs, competent but nothing ‘outstanding: level 3 leaders ae the ones vo keep sidling up to their Senior NCO in the midale ofa firefight and whispering “what do you think should de now, Sergeant Lovel 3 leaders are BAD NEWS, so if you are stuck with some try and put ‘them where they can do the least harm to your plane! \While on the subject of leadership, make good use of your higher command levels The chance of re-activating some unit lathe actions Of a senior officer can tp the balance more often than you'd think, and In Several playtest games vietory went to te player who made Dest use of his chain of command. One other important point ia many cases, expecially with average weapons and armour being used on both sides, ranged fire combat may result in relatively fers casualties; this is deliberate, as we wanted to lemphasse the fact that not many people go killed in ranged Frafights, Sure, afew will go down, more if you start bringing heavier weaponry into play, but in general if you want to kl os ofthe enemy you either have to drop something explosive on them or else get up lose and take them our the old-fashioned way. Two units sitting in cover either side ‘of a clearing and blazing away at each other with small-arms wll ‘svally result in very litte except alot of wasted ammunition Bear in ‘mind thatthe main purpose of ranged small-arms fire ito keep the {enemy pinned down (suppressed) while you get into a suitable postion todo nasty things to him = use it this way, rather than relying on it to Win the battle for you, wich it probably wort. Finally, many battles are not won, they ae lost; the “winner” is the one that does not run away. To paraphrase a wonderful quote from Mary Gentle: "Victory usvally goes to the side that screws up NEXT to lastZz FIGURE SCALE: ‘The game is designed for play with 25mm scale miniature figures ane vehicles, which we feel provide the most visually attractive game; you {are limited on either space or Budget, Ismm figures are 3 wable diternative. 20mm figures area possibilty, though very few SF models ‘are made in 20mm - however, the wealth of “modern” ranges in this Scale allows good conversion potential Each individual miniature figure represents one real trooper, and as 2 ‘general convention all troops are taken as being equipped with ‘whatever the actual miniature is depicted as carrying. BASING YOUR FIGURES: Assuming you ace using 25mm scale miniatures on the recommencsed ‘groundscale of 1" = 10m, we suggest that each figure & mounted on a Clockface Direction Method Direction "12" towards an agreed ledge of table olla 12 whenever 2 ‘fandom direction it Called fr. ‘THE COUNTER SHEETS: With this book, you should have two sheets of die-cut counters Cerefully punch out al the counters, sort them into types and store them safely small gtip-op plastic bags ora segmented storage tray are the best ways. Most ofthe counters on the sheets are MARKERS for use in ply: they are designed to indicate the status and condition of units on the table, land te perform other game functions to effectively remove the need for witten record keeping during the game. Ths speeds up the flow of play and prevents important information from being overlooked, The markers are designed to actully be placed on the table next to the Lunits and elements they affect, thus showing ata lance the exact Status of any given unit. While ts true that this allows your opponent 10 ee the condition of your unit, it does work both ways, and we feel ‘that this is a small price forthe ease of play thatthe markers allow. \We are aware of the fact that some players may prefer NOT to actually S00 the markers placed on the table (perhaps for aesthetic reavone), 50 we suggest that if preferred players may put the counters on a sheet of paper ruled up with a box per unit inthe player’ force. The relevent, ‘markers fr each unit are simply paced inthe boxes on the sheet felating to that unit, rather than on the table itself. This method stil lispenses with the need to make any written records, but does aso romove the immediate sual link between the markers and the models they affect While we would recommend the ‘markers on table’ methd, please feel fee tose the record sheet method if you are happier with iZ| GAME SCALES THE COUNTERS AND MARKERS: ‘The ful set of counters for Sil consist of the following, printed on ‘wo sheets |A) THE ACTIVATION AND CONFIDENCE MARKERS: ACTIVATION MARKERS - Colour indicates Unit Quel, ‘Number indicates Leadership rating, (84 in total - 10 YELLOW, 18 GREEN, 28 BLUE, 18 ORANGE, 10 RED) CONFIDENCE LEVEL MARKERS - Grey counters, white letters indicate Confidence Level. (84 total-21 "CO", 21ST", 18°SH", 14 "BR", 10 “RO") '5) CASUALTY AND FIRE EFFECT MARKERS: + | @ TREATED CASUALTY MARKERS - “Red Cross" medical symbol, used to show when a wounded figure has been stabilised by medical attention. (Quantity 28) UNTREATED CASUALTY MARKERS - white “skull” symbol for wounded troops not yet given medical ad (Quantity 28) DEAD MARKERS - black “skull” symbol indicates figure is dead. (Quantity 28) SUPPRESSION MARKERS - indicates unit has been suppcessed by fre. (Quantity 28) TURN COUNTER - used on the Turn Track to record lapsed Game Time, (Quantity 1) HOVER MARKERS to indicate air vehicles in HOVER ‘mode. (Quantity 6) ‘~ & DETACHED ELEMENT MARKERS -to indicate sub-nits ‘detached from thelr Squads. (Quantity 14) _ SWIPER MARKERS -to represent “hidden” snipes. (Quantity 7) LAST STAND MARKERS - to indicate units subject tothe LAST STAND rules. (Quantity 7), % ELECTRONIC WARFARE CHITS elements (Quantity 21) Issued to active EW eS = LETTERED MARKERS -to represent hidden units, incoming fire missions ete (Quantity 26) DUMMY MARKERS -t0 confuse enemy intelligence. (Quantity 30) “%~ Ag ‘SUPPORT REQUEST CHITS sued to command units for calling support fire. (Quantity 21) PANIC MARKERS - used to indicate unis subject toa PANIC reaction. (Quantity?) MISSILE MARKERS to indicate missiles in flight and record missile ammunition supaies, (Quantity 28) IMPACT MARKERS - for indicating impact points of explosive fire, (Quantity 14) SMOKE MARKERS - used to indicate the centre point of smoke clouds and the impact point of smoke rounds (Quantity) BOOBY TRAP MARKERS -to indicate concealed booby ‘raps. (Quantity 7) ‘CONMAND:DETONATED MINE MARKERS - to indicate concealed CDM, (Quantity 7) ANTLPERSONNEL MINEFIELD MARKERS - BLACK mine symbol: ncieates centre point of AP minefield (Quantity) ANTLVEHICLE MINEFIELD MARKERS - RED mine symbols indicates centre point oF AV minefield. (Quantity 7) [MIXED AP/AV MINEFIEL MARKERS - BLACK/RED mine symbols; inicates centre point of mixed minefield (Quantity IMMOBILISED VEHICLE MARKERS to indicate vehicles immobilised by suspension hits. (Quantity 5) DISABLED VEHICLE MARKERS - to indicate vehicles completely disabled. (Quantity 5) VEHICLE “SYSTEMS OUT" MARKERS - to indicate vehicles ‘with weapons and system knocked-out. (Quantity 4) DECOY MARKERS - to indicate ant-guided:weapon decoys when vsed. (Quantity 7) DRONE COUNTERS -to represent recon drones in flight (Quantity 7) IN POSITION (1) MARKERS to ingicate units that are “in position" (Quantity 4) FPRE/FLAME MARKERS - to indicate the centre point of fire oF incendiary burst. (Quantity 14)GRGANISING Ya ORGANISING YOUR FORCES: Betore starting the game, you will need to organise your miniatures Into UNITS, which are squad size groups of troopers: the basic ‘operating formation used in SGI AURIT is any group of figures tha includes a LEADER figure and is thus Capable of independent actions. & unt can theoretically be of any ‘humber of men, but atypical infantry squad will comprise from four to ten troopers - with six to eight being common for most forces. As 8 ‘general rule, the higher the tech level ofthe forces involved, the fewer ‘men they are likely to have in each squad, Single figure or specialist teams of two or three figures operating as sub-units of quads (ie: without thelr own Leader, but subyet to the Leader of thet “parent” squad) are referred to as ELEMENTS. A single ‘ode! vehicle with ts awn crew and commander considered @ UNIT inits ov right, wile @ transport vehi attached to 2 squad and ‘rested by members of the squad is consideree an ELEMENT. ‘Avall times duting the game, each unit. has wo markers (counters) placed with ton the table - one is the ACTIVATION MARKER, the other Fe the CONFIDENCE MARKER. They function ofthese markers fully ‘explained inthe relevant sections on P.9 (Activation markers) and P.20 (Confidence markers) ‘One UNIT, or SQUAD, Isa group of figures with a LEADER. ‘Assub-unit without a LEADER isan ELEMENT. Several SQUADS wil be combined to form a PLATOON (usualy from ‘0 to five Squads) and @ numberof Platoons (typically Nee OF fou) ‘wil be grouped into a COMPANY. Each ofthese organisational levels (Squad, Platoon, Company) is called a COMMAND LEVEL this sore fully explained below. ‘Ax SQUAD level, the LEADER figure i an integral part ofthe Squad at higher Command Levels, there must be a speciic HQ/Command nit that contains the Leader figure for that Command Level and his command staff, communications specialist and so on - this Command Unit unetions asa separate Squad, Note: we are using contemporary military terminology here to describe the various Commang Levels as this wll be familar to most players ‘There's no eeason why you cannot call your Command’ Levels anything you wish, to fit in with whatever background you are using - your Squads can be called Sections, Lances, Maniples, anything you like, and similarly with your Platoons and Companies. {it isequally possible to omit certain Command Levels altogether in some circumstances for instance, a force might be composed of many mall units (“squads”) all under a single overall Company-levelcom- ‘and, wth no plataon” command evel being wed (this sort of "ltuation might occur were the force la mass of non-military personnel under a single charismatic leader, eg: in feudal societies or massed gang warfare) é UR Fai sana ces ‘Organisational notes fr the major forces in our own backaround timeline are oven in the BACKGROUND section, but in keeping with ‘ur intention of making the main rules as genetic as posibie we have listed below an example that you can modify as you wish to sult your ‘own frees: SAMPLE FORCE ORGANISATION: ‘This TORE is not representative of any ofthe particular armies detailed in the background sections ofthis book; it is simply an example of hove a force may be put together to give yau a starting point for warking fut your own organisations. This ful Reinforced Company would give a BIG game taking quite 2 while to play, and for most games we would suggest only using parts of the force. REINFORCED COMBAT COMPANY: Company Command Unit: (One squadsize unit incorporating the Company Commander with one Command APC courted as an integral part ofthe unit. Unit may include specialist elements such 25 EW or lason teams. Fire Support Battery: 3 light RAM mortar teams with one transport vehicle each; these will normally be off table and do not need to be represented by miniatures Unless desired [Attached Armour Platoon 3 Tanks or ether combat vehicles, each of which acts asa separate UNIT, ‘one of the three is designated as a Platoon Command Unit. Three Infantry Platoons each of Platoon Command Unit: ‘Squad size unt incorporating the Platoon Commander, Platoon Sergeant, Support Liaison element and possibly an EW element, plus a ‘ew lin troopers for defence issued with ane APC or other vehicle as appropriate to type of force." Three Infantry Squads Units of eight men, each of Squad Leader, SAW gunner, Special \Weapon (eg: GMSIP or Plasma Gun) trooper and five line troopers, with ‘wanspert if appropriate.” Other support assets available: Battalion level artillery, Regimental level ‘Gunship fight. * Ifthe force is MECHANISED infantry then an APC or MICV wil be issued to each squad, AIRMIOBILE infantey vill have VTOL craft for ‘ansport, though not necessarily enough to carry al the fore at once Ordinary “leg” infantry Companies have to gat transport allocated from support echelons If available - more often than not they wl find themselves walking COMMAND LEVELS: Throughout these rules you wil ind references to COMMAND LEVELS, This represents tothe organisational “chain of command”, and is particularly relevant xo attempts to transfer actions, request support ne generally communicate between unite As explained above we Atypical platoon suitable for a small to medium sized game. The platoon consists of four sixvman squads, one of which isthe platoon command squad. The two markers with each squad show the quality and leadership of the unit and its present confidence level.& GRGANISING YOUR FORCES hove kept to standard miltery terminology for this: you are of course ‘ee to rename any or all ofthe Command Levels to fit your own background if you wish, ‘The progression of COMMAND LEVELS isa follows: ‘SQUAD (srailos), PLATOON, COMPANY, BATTALION, REGIMENT, While on-tabe forces wil almost never represent anything above COMPANY level, oftable support wil frequently be organised at Battalion or Regimental level and thus these command levels are Included in the sequence above ‘The bass ofthe Chain of Command is that orders and communications are generally only passed up oF down one command level at atime: ‘thus a Company cammander wal alk to his Paton cammanders, but ‘would be unlikely to communicate directly with a Squad leader unless ‘reomstanees were exceptional - normally this would be the job of the Platoon commander. The structure of the command and communica- tions rules in SG is designed so that interaction Between units following the normal chain of command is usually fairly straightforward (unless you have some very poor troops andor very poor officer), but if for any reason you need to bypass one ar more of the normsl Command levels “eg: ifthe Company commander O1D need to talk 10 fone of his Squadk cirecty = t becomes progressively more dificult to Communicate successully Whenever provision is made in a scenario for oft table assets (artillery Support, ai support or even orbital support, the COMMAND LEVEL at which these assets are alloceted must be specified, asi wil affect the Or-table units attempts to communicate with ther off table assets. For example a force of Platoon strength (withthe Platoon commander 35. ‘the highest on-table Command Level) might be told that it has access to support from the Company mortar section (one level up, thus quite easy to~btain fre fom), the Battalion artliry battery (wo levels up) and a flight of Acrespace support cra organised at Regimental level Whee levels up, and thus very unlikely to be available when needed!) Progression of COMMAND LEVELS: ‘SQUAD, PLATOON, COMPANY, BATTALION, REGIMENT. ACTIVATION MARKERS: Throughout the game, each units marked with a counter that is Feferred toi the rules st an ACTIVATION MARKER. The COLOUR of the Aetwation marker denotes the Unit Quality - RED for ELITES, ORANGE ‘for VETERANS, BLUE for REGULARS, GREEN for GREENS surprise.) and YELLOW for UNTRAINED, while the NUMBER on the marker indicates ‘the Leadership Rating (forthe definitions ofthe Quality and Leadership level, se below). Thus, for example, a Regular unit with an average ‘commander would have a BLUE "2" activation marker. Looking st some fof the extremes, a Veteran unit that had losis previous leader and had him replaced by some hopeless case just out of training might be rated ORANGE "3", a5 the troops would nat Wust the new squad leader 25 far as they could throw him on the other hand, 2 raw unit of new Fecruits could be spurred on to grea things by a really char'smatic and competent leader this would be a case for 3 GREEN "1" The Activation Marker remains with the unit at all times during the ‘game; it serves 2s 2 reminder of the die type and leader value used in allconfidence and reaction test for the Unit, andi also inverted each {urn to indicate when a unit has been activated for thet tuen. The onky times that an Activation Marker wil be changed for another are ifthe unit commander is ost when a matker with a worse Leadership Rating may have to be used to indicate 2 lessexperienced asistant taking ‘ver, and i) if two oF more depleted units are merged under the rules {or regrouping! ‘COLOUR of ACTIVATION MARKER is UNIT QUALITY; NUMBER on marker i LEADERSHIP. YELLOW = UNTRAINED GREEN = GREEN BLUE = REGULAR ORANGE = VETERAN. RED = ELITE UNIT QUALITY AND LEADERSHIP VALUE: ach squad-sized UNIT in 2 player's force has two important characters: ties «its UNFT QUALITY and the LEADERSHIP VALUE ofthe unit commander. The Unit Quality i ated as one of five level, from LUNTRAINED through to ELITE, as described bolow. The Leadership Value 's. 9 measure of how good the commander ofthat unit i at his od, and hhow hei ikedrespected by his oops, Leaders are rated 261, 2 or 33 grade 1 leader isa man that so inspires his men that they would fallow him through anything, 2 grade 2 leader isan altround ‘average! officer and finally a grade 3's more likely 0 get shot by his own men than by the enemy! Leadership Value (LV) ranges from 1 (best) to 3 (worst) LV denoted by NUMBER on activation marker. Note thatthe terms use for the different Quality levels ae actualy quite loose, asthe level does not refer solely to te degree of Combat experience it also reflects the amour of formal or informal taining the toops have received, thelr general level of competence, skill with Weapons, coolness under fire and many ether factors. ‘The five QUALITY LEVELS are LUNTRAINED troops are usally non-military personnel Ge: civilians, with ittle or no weapons training and no real idea of how to function in combat. This grade should only be usee where non-combatant personnel are forced to take up arms by cicumstances, eg: cizens Sefending their homes, miners or workers protecting thet claims or Installations against attacking forces et. “Leaders” for UNTRAINED Units may be cvc leaders with no combat experience (usually LV 3), oF may sometimes be police or security personnel (maybe retired military) Invwhich case they may actually be quite good (LV 2 or even 1). The QUALITY DIE of an UNTRAINED squad isa Bd; Untrained squads have YELLOW activation markers, GGREEN troops are those who have had at least litle velevant combat training, but have seldom fever had to fire a shot in anger. Such troops would generally be new, raw recrults to either milkary oF Security forces. They can fight. but are by no means very good att. This level ould also apply 9 members of local volunteer militia forces (Wational Guard types), who have received some formal training but have lite rea! Knowledge of combat, Leaders for GREEN squads may potentially be of any LV. Tre QUALITY DIE Tor 2 GREEN squad iss D6; Green squads have GREEN activation markers, REGULAR troops are “average” in terms of combat training and experience; they wil form the bulk of most miltary units, Squads of REGULAR status normally have at least same experience of being under fire, know howto react in combat conditions, and are easonabiy ‘competent with weaponry. REGULAR Leaders may be of any LV ‘The QUALITY DIE for REGULARS Is a DB; Regular squads have BLUE activation markers, VETERAN troops are particularly well-trained and experienced in Unit integrity Squad sn unt integrity as each member is within 2° ofthe next figure; Squad @ aso in unt integrity because ts ‘members are within 26” diameter cice; the two figures ‘marked B1 have boon designated a detached element, 6 may ‘operate outside the integrity stance. f they were not designated a¢ detached then Squad B asa whole would not be in unit integrity. LINE OF SIGHT AND LINE OF FIRE: ‘Some rules systems provide lengthy mechanisms, charts and formulae to determine whether lines of sight are blocked by intervening terain, {spacially where the observer and the target are thersslves at citfering height levels. ll that we feel is required, however, isa reasonable attitude and a bit of common sensel Ifyou cen stretch the tape ‘measure ina straight line between the two elements without the tape touching an intervening obstace, then there isa clear line of sight (and hence tine of fie, if within range). As the relationship between model size and terrain scale i distorted anyway (see notes on scales and Sefintions, any more detailed method fs actualy pretty abstract and ot all that relevant to play inthe majority of cases, Ifyou REALLY want te work it all out mathematically in every case then feel free to do so! Lines of sightiie ae blocked by raised ground, bulidings and woods, Lnless the observerfirer ison terrain high enough that he may see over the abstacle, Smoke and other obscuration agents wil also block sight ane fring The NAC squad (on the left) hase clear line of sight to the ESU squad in the bushes on the concealed behind the hil {A clear line of sightline of fires required between fer and target for all fire combat except indirect support fire: a clear line of sights ormally required fo all bservation and spotting attempts, ness Using remote sensors. but not to the second ESU squad {As the playing area ofa STARGRUNT Il game cepresents quite small area, there isno limitation to visibility estance on the table in NORMAL CONDITIONS (daylight, good weather and an assumed temperate Earthlike environment). Variations in any ofthese factors, however, may atthe agreement of al players be deemed to limit overall sighting distances; some suggestions for other conditions (both climatic and ‘overall environment) are given in the sections on WEATHER and EXOTIC ENVIRONMENTS an .57. All arbore craft are assumed to actually be fjng considerably higher than the model's actual stand height, and are generally visible fram anywhere an te table (unless thera» parieuar VERY tall eran Teature in the way) -conversely, such areraft can also SEE anything on the table themselves, and thus potentially attack it. No limit on visibility in normal circumstances line of sight exists Lnless physically blocked. MEASURING RANGES BETWEEN UNITS: ‘As mast activity in STARGRUNT Ils carved out using GROUPS of figures (UNITS), the measurement of such things 28 ranges and lines af sight is ‘not quite as simple as measuring between two singe figures. Whenever 8 distance needs to be measured or 2 Ine determined between two Units, players must measure from the approximate CENTRE of each {f0up of miniatures (normally fom the “middle” figure in the group) A certain amount of common sense and “Tair play” needs to preval hhere- most cases will not be too contentious, but sometimes it could ‘make the difference between one Range Band and the next -in certain ‘cases Ike this it may be necessary to use an Umpire’s adjudication or a dle rol if you really cart agree in a gentlemanly manner! Itshould be noted that using the notional "centre" of a group may ‘mean that some figures inthe unit may appear to be at closer or longer ‘anges individually, but itis always the distance to the group centre that is used forall ame purposes{A similac situation can arse when some of the figures in a group ae in fone kind of cover, and others in different circumstances (og: if two figures in the unit are behind a small bit of solid cove, ana the rest are Justin bushes), n this cose, the standard ruling is thatthe type of cover br concealment applied tothe unit isthe one the MAJORITY (i: more than half of the unitare in fa unit conssting of an even number of troops is spit exactly halt-and-hal in two cover types, count the LESS protective cover as the default value (eq) a six man squad has three men in hard cover and three in soft couer, the unit woule count as alin Sot cover when fred on if four of the troops were behing the hard Cover and only ton the sft then the whole unit would count asin hard cover Inthe same way, for a unit to be deemed “visible” for linet sight and lineof ire purposes AT LEAST HALF ofthe unit's members must be in iow of the fring/sighting element - thus if three of 2 she man squad are fully outotsight behind a building or similar and the other three are in clear view, the unit asa whole is deemed wsible for firing purposes. ALTERNATIVE RULE: Ifthe players prefer, and especialy for smal ‘gees with Fes units, fa unit has members spit between two cover {yes (or some visible and some hidden) then the figures that are in the LESSER cover, or are clearly sible, may be fired on normally a they were separate from their unt the fire's conducted in the usual way, but when allocating any hits among the figures this is done ONLY between those inthe sub-group fred a. Such fre may be cariee out entirely atthe cacretion ofthe fier, but must only apply when the target group isin two oF more differen circumstances itis not permitted to fire ata partial group ifthe entre group isin the same ‘wen judging line-of-sight and line-of fire to or rom a vehicle, this must also be trace {ror the CENTRE of the moeel- thus ifa vehicle model f partly hidden behind a terrain feature or bulding then its Only visible to the enemy if line from the cbserver to the centre of the ‘vehicle is not blocked by the terrain All distances and ranges are measured to and from the CENTRE ‘of any group of figures. IF MORE THAN HALF a unit is in cover or ( PRINCIPLES GF PLAY hidden then whole units hidden, TARGET PRIORITY: ‘This is an important rule, but (it must be admitted) one that wil probably couse the most cisputes between players. concerns the Selection of target unit) for an activated unit to fire at (there sa choice presented tothe player Itis almost impossible to put down 2 watertight st of rules for this, as ‘every situation wl be different and must be judged om is oven mes The basis ofthe TARGET PRIORITY rule is that: ANY UNIT WILL TREAT AAS A PRIORITY TARGET THE ENEMY UNIT THAT IS SEEN AS THE GREATEST THREAT TO THE FIRING UNIT ITSELF. This needs considerable amplification, so we can add the following to the general prince: |) Units wil generally engage an alteadyactvated enemy unit rather than one that has not yet activated for that turn. [A unit that has ‘already moved andor Fired has draw attention to ise] {ip Units will normelly engage enemies closer to them rather than ones further away, unless the nearer enemy poses les ofa threat tothe fier. i) Units will normally engage an enemy that sin the open, rather than ‘one concealed ar in caver, again unless the exposed element dos not pose am immediate theeat Hopefully you wil by now appreciate why itis impossibie to actualy legislate about Target Priority. Every individual situation must be ‘ssessed on Its merit, and a reasonable decision reached. As with any ‘other rues disagreement, any real dispute can always be settled by the Umpire or by a die ol ‘Any unit wil teat as a priority target the enemy unit that is ‘seen as the greatest teat to the fring nit itself. EFFECTS OF WOODS: \Wlooded areas onthe table block lines of sight and fie, and can aso offer concealment to troops and vehicles. Woods are defined as LIGHT ‘or DENSE for unit movement purgotes, but forall other game Functions both types of Woods are treated the same way Any unit that occupies a Wooded ares must be deciared to be either WITHIN the wood (its Mobility type allows ths), or on the EDGE of the wood. Tobe counted as on the EOGE of a wood, the mojority of Figures in the unit must be in contact withthe defined finge of the wood area (0s useful f woods are depicted an the table bya cloth or paper area dotted with model tees, rather than just using the trees Dione - this gues a clearly delineated “edge” to the wood). Units which are on the edge of a wood may fie normally at targets ‘outside the wood, and count as being in SOFT COVER when fred at. Units that are actually WITHIN the wood may neither fire, nor be fred ‘an by, direct fire weapons or small arms; they may only be engaged in Close Assault by infantry that are also inside the wood, or attacked by Ingirect Fire Urillery of Air attacks targeted on the wood ist Unit on EDGE of woods are in softcover. Units VIITHIN woods ‘may only be engaged by others in same wood, then only by Close Assault or Artillery. COVER AND CONCEALMENT: Infantry units (and vehicles) may adopt ‘covered positions in bushes, and scrub, in wood fringes ad soon, such positions count a the tlement being in SOFT COVER (avehicie "hull down” has the same fetfec). The nit in cover may fire and perform other combat actions Formally, but receives defensive bonuses when being fired at. To {uly fo the benefits ofthe cover, the majory of Figures in the unit ‘rust Be in physical contact with the feature that they are claiming ‘over behind or within, Y > Benefits of cover ‘Squad Ai hiding behing a wal Squad @ i na clump of bashes. Against incoming fre from Point X, Squad A gets hard ‘cover from the wal, nd Squad 8 gets softcover. From Poi, ‘Squad 8 stil in sft cover, but Squad Ais counted asin the ‘open a the val ony gives cover in one direction.BASIC PRINCIPLES GF PLAY Ia unit isin cover of a solid object such asa walla clump of rocks or boulders, behind a hil crest or ridgeline etc, then they are taken a+ being in HARD COVER, which conveys greater benefits in terms of protection from fire than Soft Cover does, Units in SOFT COVER always benefit from having their Range Die (Target ie) shifted up one type wen Tred at: units in HARD COVER get their die shifted up TWO types Similar sift are applied to the ARMOUR dice ‘of units in cover-up One de fr SOFT, oF two for HARD cover. Alot of cover, both soft and hard, ie DIRECTIONAL - that, t gives protection only agains fire coming through the cover for example, if troops ae hiding behind a wall they wil get a HARD COVER benefit {rom anyone firing at them irom the other side ofthe wall but NOT ‘yom any toops that get round behind ther. ia unit i actually within an area of bushes, rocks or scrub (as opposed to hiding behind it) they may caim alleound cover, {In SOFT cover = shift both Range and Armour dice up one type In HARD cover = shift both Range and Armour dice up TWO ‘types. UNITS IN POSITION: Being IN POSITION represents a unit making the best use of what cover for concealment is avalable, with each trooper finding himself a good firing position with as much potection as the terrain allows. The better ‘rained (ie: higher Quality the troops ae, the mere easly they will be able to go IN POSITION - their Leadership also a actor, 0s 0 good. leader can ensure that his troops ae doing what they should: "Funk {get your ****ing head DOWN or I'l save the Euries the trouble and hoot you MYSELF." Getting a unit IN POSITION takes one action, and needs a REACTION TEST roll AS no area of terrain on the table is ever really "clear", units ‘may attempt to go IN POSITION even if out inthe open = this indicates, ‘the men are prone and taking cover behind anything that is avallable {mal rocks, clumps of srub, smal folds in the ground or whatever. Ofcourse, itis easier to go In Position when in decent cover than when ‘ut in open ground, and thi is eflected in the Threat Levels applied to the Reaction test Ifthe unit is N COVER (soft or hard), the Threat Level {or the test to go In Position is0; for units inthe open, tis 2 ‘Example: Regular unit with a level 2 leader attempts to become IN POSITION: it rolls» 08 for its Reaction test -/f unit sin cover the score ‘must exceed 2 (LV + 0) but fin the open It must exceed 4 (LV + 2). Failing the reaction test means the unit does NOT go in position, and the action is wasted If the test is passed, the uit is marked with an IN POSITION matker and ‘gains the benefits of being in position for as ang as it does not move it may freely carry out non-movement actions, eg: te, observe, commun ‘ate etc). Ifa unit caries out a REORGANISE action while IN POSITION, it must take another reaction test (atthe same levels as before) to se iit can REMAIN in postion - faling this means the Reorganise action happen as normal, but the in position marker i lost. \Wihen an IN POSITION unit wishes to move, the player has two choices - he may either spend an action to remove the IN POSITION marker (success is automatic in this case), and then move in his next action; alternatively, he may attempt to get the unit to move inthe same Action athe removes the IP marker to-do this he must take (and pass) @ Reaction test ata Threat Level of 2 (whether the unt iin cover of in ‘the open). Falling tis test means the IP marker remains, and the unit fannot move - that action I lost Hf the test is passed the unk may move 35 desited, using normal or combat movement tothe player's choice BENEFITS OF BEING IN POSITION: Units that are IN POSITION are move difficult to hit with both direct and inne fire \When an POSITION unit fred on with dec fire, teat the RANGE asbeing ONE RANGE BAND GREATER than it actually is (eo the Target Die will be shifted up one die type). This die shift ison top of any ShIM(S) due to sot or hard cover. If the die shift puts the Target Die over 2 D12 then casualties are impossible ‘Troops engaged by direct fire do NOT get an Armour Die shift for being IP just the Range Die modification. \when figures from an IN POSITION unit are caught in the blast of ary INDIRECT (artillery) attack, shift heir ARMOUR DIE Up ane die ype {again this ison top of any shifts due to cover) this s because troops ‘are less vulnerable to shrapnel ang blast f they are prone and “hugging the ground?” Thus troops that are in hard cover AND in pasion will ‘ctually benefit from shifting their die type THREE levele- two for the ‘over plus one for being I ‘This Armour modifiers an OPEN SHIFT, sa ifthe targets” Armour Die shouldbe shifted to over a D12 then apply any extra shifts to LOWER the IMPACT ce of the blast Example: Troops n Full Combat Armour (Armour Ole 08) are caught in an arilery burst of D10 impact value: the troops are in HARD COVER “nd IN POSITION, thue getting THREE die shifts this would shit their 108 toa 014 (which of course does not exist, 50 the die used isa D12 4nd the extra 1 shift is used €© move the firer's IMPACT die from a 010 Sonn 0.2 D8. One action to go “in position”: rll Quality die, exceed LV49 in cover, LV+2 in open. Must REMOVE IP marker before moving: trying to move without removing IP frst then need reaction test first (LV42). \When in postion, sift Range Die up one type when fred at by Direc fie, and shift Armour Die up one type for indirect fire, Normal COVER shifts apply. FIELD DEFENCES: Field Defences covers the provision of man-made defensive positions such os hulldown emplacements for tanks and AFV, trenches or foxholes for infanary etc. Defenceworks like tis should be represented ‘om the terain in such 9 way that they are