STAR FLEET ADMIRALS Progress Update

We have some updates on the Star Fleet Admirals game in early development. Here are the newest prototypes of the battle map sections.

JUMP ROUTES
There are different types of Jump Routes. The heavy white Jump Routes allow fleets of 2 or more ships to move simultaneously. the thin white Jump Routes only allow one or two ships at a time to use them. White Jump Routes are normal routes where ships can use one movement point to make a jump. Red Jump routes usually pass through unstable locations in space like certain nebulae, black holes and other space terrain. Movement along these routes can mean the destruction of ships. Each red jump route has a number shown that must be rolled for each ship enroute. If the die roll is less than the number shown, a ship is destroyed. Green routes are routes through regions of space that slow movement. Numbers are shown that detail the number of movement points used to make the jump.

HIGHSPACE GATES
Players can also place Highspace Gates (aka "stargates") in star systems to  allow ships to move directly from one gate to another without having to traverse the Jump Routes. These gates connect the sectors and new ones can be placed in sectors to allow ships to move from star to star within that sector. Highspace Gates can be sabotaged as well as built. The small bluish icon next to a star system is the place where a Highspace Gate is placed.

Ships cannot move except via these two options.

PLANETS
There are three types of planets. Earthlike, Barren and Hostile. Earthlike planets are represented as green planets, Barren as grey and Hostile as red/orange. Bear in mind that the artwork show here is preliminary. Some troop types cannot operate on any planet type but Earthlike, while others can operate on both Earthlike and Barren.  Some can operate on all three types.

Some stars have no planets but are merely locations along a jump route. Each planet has a numerical value that determines how many troop units of a single player (not including planetary defenses) can occupy that planet. In other words a planet with a "3" value means that a single faction can place up to three troops on that planet. If attacked it can only be attacked by a maximum of three enemy troops at a time. Militia units count as a troop.

ASTEROID FIELDS
Some star systems have asteroid fields which are identified as a cluster of grey rocks and a large "A" above them. Asteroid fields provide the defending player with a good defensive situation. Both players will have their die rolls reduced in combat due to the interference of asteroids.

SECTOR COMMAND
Each player must place an admiral in a sector where he has ships. The opposite corners of a sector map are the icons of both factions. This is where players place Sector Admirals of their choosing. These admiral's abilities determine the number of operations that can be played in that sector each game turn. There a spot for bot an Imperium admiral and a Federation Admiral.

THE BATTLE BOARD

All combat in the game takes place on the Battle Board. prototype is seen below...

UNITS IN COMBAT

Combat is a relatively simple affair. Players place all ships, troops, stations and admirals on the Battle Board.

Fleet admirals help in combat by modifying die rolls. Without a Fleet Admiral, ships have no modifications other than that posed by asteroid fields. Units are placed on the Battle Board with either their full strengths face up or reduced strengths face up. There are a series of numbers on all units. Yellow far left numerals represent the number of dice rolled for that unit. The Blue central number is the number of movement points for ships, while the White far right numerals represent he maximum die roll result required to get a hit on an opponent.  Most units have full strength sides and reduced strength sides. The numerals on the reduced sides are usually significantly smaller than in full strength. Once a unit in reduced strength is hit it is eliminated.

Here is a sample of a federation Jump Troop unit:

TROOP UNIT TYPES

Troops come in a variety of types: Federation Colonials, Imperial Militia, Federation Regulars, Imperial Troopers, Federation Jump Troops, Imperial Marines, Federation Armor, Imperial Armor and Imperial Guards.

Federation Colonials and Imperial Militia: These are essentially locally-levied non-specialist and poorly trained and equipped units of infantry used for cannon-fodder or for supplementing planetary defense. The Imperium also has Militia. These troops can only operate on Earthlike planets and cannot leave the planet they were levied on. Unlike other unit types, Colonials/Militia can be disbanded and returned to the reserve pool.

Federation Regulars & Imperial Troopers: These are standard grunts and boots-on-the-ground forces. They can operate on both Earthlike and Barren planets but not hostile worlds. They carry heavy equipment and are the swiss-army-knife unit used in almost all combat. They must be transported to a planet's surface via combat shuttles.

Federation Jump Troops & Imperial Marines: These specialized units carry light equipment and utilize Jump Suits - heavily armored suits that enable them to descend individually through an atmosphere onto a planetary surface where they set up landing stations for the regulars and armored forces. These guys are able to operate on any planetary surface.

Armored units: Armored units are essentially heavily armored fores utilizing gravtanks, artillery, etc. They can operate on any planetary surface and give extra punch to supplement regular troops.

Imperial Guards; The Imperium has a few Guards units that are incredibly powerful and used only to help guarantee a victory when no one else can, but losing them is a serious penalty in victory points so players are advised to use them only when necessary.

Next time I'll cover ship types and few other things.