Orbital Battle

Copyright 2002 by Mike Fischer
Last revised: 10/15/2004

I. Introduction

This two-player game comes with counters and map sheets. You'll also need some of my M8 map tiles (see Section III). All you provide is a six-sided die, and pencils and paper for some very simple record-keeping.

II. Game Terms and Concepts

• Build point - a point of industrial capacity. Build points are created by controlled planets and by Factories, and can be spent on new units and structures.
• Contested - a contested planet is one with land units from both sides on it.
• Controlled - a player controls a planet when he/she has at least one land unit on that planet, and the other player has no land units there.
• Player 1 - each turn, players alternate going first. Whoever moved first at the start of the current turn is considered Player 1, and the other player is Player 2.
• Vacant - a planet is vacant when no units or structures are on it.

III. Setting Up the Game

Each planet has three starports, an armory, and three resource clusters. The symbols for these features are color-coded, to help you remember which planet map goes with which planet in its orbit.

• Starports are facilites to let spaceships land and take off. Most land units cannot land on a planet except through a starport. Starports appear as colored bull's-eyes.
• Armories are training bases where new land units are built. Armories appear as yellow sergeant's stripes.
• Resource clusters are sources of raw materials. Factories built next to them generate the build points you need to buy land units, spaceships, and structures. Resource clusters appear as turquoise triangles.

Planet 1	Planet 2
Map 054 (desert) Starports in hexes 0401, 0204, 0604 Resource clusters in 0202, 0505, 0601 Armory in 0403	Map 065 (island) Starports in hexes 0201, 0104, 0703 Resource clusters in 0402, 0601, 0405 Armory in 0102 (becomes land)
Planet 3	Planet 4
Map 011 (forest) Starports in hexes 0400, 0103, 0605 Resource clusters in 0302, 0404, 0603 Armory in 0601	Map 047 (grass) Starports in hexes 0300, 0104, 0604 Resource clusters in 0501, 0505, 0203 Armory in 0403
Planet 5	Planet 6
Map 034 (grass) Starports in hexes 0003, 0600, 0606 Resource clusters in 0201, 0405, 0702 Armory in 0403 Bridges in hexes 0203, 0501	Map 009 (grass) Starports in hexes 0102, 0405, 0701 Resource clusters in 0401, 0305, 0704 Armory in 0503
Planet 7	Planet 8
Map 081 (lunar) Starports in hexes 0201, 0205, 0703 Resource clusters in 0102, 0504, 0601 Armory in 0402	Map 083 (lunar) Starports in hexes 0101, 0701, 0406 Resource clusters in 0204, 0401, 0503 Armory in 0605 All 7 hexes of the big crater count as being inside it.

• Grass and Desert (treat them the same) have no effect on movement or combat. Bridges that don't connect to roads are treated as grass.
• Forest costs 2 move units for land units to enter.
• Hills give land units +1 range when attacking.
• Swamps cannot be entered by Mech Inf, Armor, or Artillery.
• Craters and Depressions (treat them the same) hinder movement, but are easy to defend. A unit entering a crater must stop, no matter how many move units it has left. In combat, a defender in a crater adds 1 to his die roll, unless the attacker is in the same crater. Only land units are affected by craters.
• Rivers and Water (treat them the same) cannot be entered by land units.
• Roads enable land units to move faster. Two adjacent road hexes count as one move unit.
• Resource Clusters have the same effect on movement as Swamps.
• Starports and Armories all give a +1 bonus to the defender's combat roll for units in the same hexes as these map features.

Roll a die. Whoever rolls the higher number gets first choice of a planet to be his/her home world. The other player picks a vacant planet, and will move first when the game begins.

Each player starts the game with 50 build points. He/she can spend these points on any units or structures that will fit on or around his/her homeworld, or save the points for later. Use pencil and paper to keep count of your build points as you earn and spend them.

IV. The Units

Counter	Unit	Qty	Cost	Attack	Defense	Move	Description
	Army	10	2	2	2	1	The basic land unit. Like almost all land units, it cannot land on a planet except through a Starport.
	Mechanized Infantry	3	3	2	2	3	A unit of infantry that can move very fast.
	Marines	6	3	2	1	1	Marines can land anywhere on a planet; they do not require Starports.
	Armor	2	4	3	3	2	Tough, fast land units.
	Artillery	2	3	2	1	1	See the "Artillery" section of the rules for Land Units.
	Air Force	2	3	2	1	5	See the "Air Force" section of the rules for Land Units.
	Militia	6	1	1	1	1	Militia are weak, inexpensive land units that cannot leave their home planet.
	Transport	6	3	0	1	2	See the "Transports" section of the rules for Spaceships, and the "Loading and Unloading Transports" section of the rules for Land Units.
	Destroyer	6	4	2	1	4	Small, fast spaceship
	Light Cruiser	2	6	3	2	3	Medium spaceship
	Missile Cruiser	1	8	3	2	3	See the "Missile Cruiser" section of the rules for Spaceships.
	Heavy Cruiser	2	8	4	3	3	Heavy medium spaceship
	Battle-Cruiser	1	10	5	4	3	Fast big spaceship
	Battleship	2	12	6	6	2	Heavy big spaceship
	Planet Defense	4	8	4	3	0	Must be next to a Starport. See the "Planet Defense" section of the rules for Structures.
	Factory	16	5	0	1	0	Must be next to a Resource Cluster. See the "Factory" section of the rules for Structures.

V. Playing the Game

1. Orbit Phase: on the Solar System map, move each planet one hex clockwise, following the colored path of its orbit. If a planet moves into a hex with a ship in it, move the ship into the next hex in that planet's orbit. If that hex is occupied, move that ship one hex (ship owner's choice, and not along the planet's orbit unless there is no room elsewhere) to make room for the ship that "got in the planet's way."
2. Factory Phase: each player counts his/her controlled planets, plus his/her Factories, and adds this number to his/her build points.
3. Build Phase: each player can spend build points to buy as many new units and structures as he/she can afford. New land units must be placed on or next to an Armory on a controlled planet. New space units are placed on the Solar System map, next to a controlled planet. New structures must go on a Planet map.
4. Loading/Unloading Phase: each transport next to a planet may load up to three friendly land units that are in or next to a Starport on that planet. Each loaded transport next to a planet may unload up to three land units onto that planet. If the land units require a Starport, then they must be placed in or next to a Starport with no enemy units in or next to it.
5. Player 1 Space Movement Phase: player 1 moves his/her space units.
6. Player 1 Space Combat Phase: Player 1's ships attack. This includes planet defenses.
7. Player 1 Bombardment Phase: player 1 attacks player 2's land units from space.
8. Player 2 Space Movement Phase: player 2 moves his/her space units.
9. Player 2 Space Combat Phase: Player 2's ships attack. This includes planet defenses.
10. Player 2 Bombardment Phase: player 2 attacks player 1's land units from space.
11. Player 1 Land Movement Phase: player 1 moves his/her land units.
12. Player 1 Land Combat Phase: player 1 land units attack.
13. Player 2 Land Movement Phase: player 2 moves his/her land units.
14. Player 2 Land Combat Phase: player 2 land units attack.
15. Victory Phase: if one player controls six planets, he/she is the winner.

VI. Spaceships

1. Spaceship Movement
   A spaceship can move as many hexes per turn as its Speed rating, or a lesser number of hexes, or not at all. Movement can be in any direction. The facing of the spaceship's counter on the map does not matter. Ships can move through friendly spaceship counters while moving, but not through or onto enemy ships, planets, or the sun. Two or more ships cannot occupy the same hex at the end of a turn. Ships cannot enter half-hexes at the edge of the solar-system map.

2. Zones of Control
   Unlike land units, spaceships do not have zones of control. Moving next to an enemy spaceship does not end your ship's move for that turn.

3. Missile Cruiser
   A missile cruiser is a special medium-sized spaceship that can attack enemies from two hexes away, as well as adjacent ones. When attacking from two hexes away, the missile cruiser ignores any combat result that destroys it or makes it retreat, unless its target is a missile cruiser. Missile cruisers cannot bombard land forces from two hexes away. When attacking adjacent foes, treat the missile cruiser like other spaceships.

4. Bombarding Land Units from Space
   A spaceship next to a planet can attack enemy land units, as long as it did not attack any enemy spaceships during the Combat phase. Treat this like land combat, except that the spaceships attack at -2 on their die roll, and any terrain bonuses for the land unit are ignored. Spaceships in bombarding actions ignore any combat result that destroys them or makes them retreat, unless the defender is a Planet Defense. If a spaceship bombards a Factory, the structure is automatically destroyed.

5. Transports
   Transports can load land units into themselves, carry them across space, and unload them on another planet. Units loaded in a transport are stacked under that transport's counter and move with the transport. Land units cannot move from one Transport to another in space. Details on loading and unloading land units are in the section on Land Units.

VII. Land Units

1. Land Unit Movement
   A land unit can move as many hexes per turn as its Speed rating, or a lesser number of hexes, or not at all, subject to the terrain it enters. Movement can be in any direction. The facing of the unit 's counter on the map does not matter. Land units can move through friendly unit counters while moving, but not through or onto enemy units. Two or more units cannot occupy the same hex at the end of a turn. Land units cannot enter half-hexes at the edge of a planet map.

2. Zones of Control
   All land units control access to the hexes next to them. If a land unit moves next to an enemy land unit, that unit's move is done for this turn, even if it has move units remaining.

3. Loading and Unloading Transports
   To load land units onto a friendly transport, the following conditions must be met:
   • The transport must be adjacent to the planet where the land units are.
   • The land units must be in or next to a Starport with no enemy units in it.
   • The transport must have room for the land units. A transport can carry up to 3 land units.
   If these conditions are met, take the land units' counters off the Planet map and stack them under the transport's counter on the Solar System map. They will move with the transport until unloaded.

   To unload land units from a transport, the following conditions must be met:

   • The transport must be adjacent to the planet where the land units want to land.
   • If the land units are not Marines, they must be unloaded into or next to a Starport with no enemy units in it. Marines can set down in any empty hex on the edge of a planet, as long as no enemy land units are next to that hex.
   If these conditions are met, remove the land units' counters from under the transport and put them in the desired locations on the Planet map. They can move and attack normally when that player's land-unit move phase comes around. A transport cannot load and unload in the same turn.

4. Artillery
   Artillery is a special land unit that can attack enemies from two hexes away, as well as adjacent ones. When attacking from two hexes away, artillery ignores any combat result that destroys it or makes it retreat, unless the enemy unit is artillery. When attacking adjacent foes, treat artillery like other land units.

5. Air Forces
   Air forces must land in a Starport, not next to one. They cannot actually move; once they land, they must stay in that Starport until the planet is controlled. They can attack an enemy unit up to five hexes away from their Starport, and then immediately return "home" if they were not destroyed. This unit is not affected by enemy units' zones of control, and can move through any terrain, structure, or map feature. Once you control a planet, you may move an air force to any Starport on that planet.

6. Supply Lines
   Land units on a contested planet must subtract 1 from their attack rolls if there is no friendly spaceship next to that planet.

7. Attacking Structures
   A land unit that attacks a structure treats an attacker-destroyed result as a "Retreat 2."

VIII. Structures

• Factories must be built next to Resource Clusters (not on them). Each factory generates one build point each turn for the player who owns it.
• Planet Defenses must be built next to a Starport. They can shoot at spaceships adjacent to their planet during their owner's Spaceship Combat Phase as though they were spaceships, and all other land units on that planet get +2 on their defense rolls against bombardment. Planet defenses ignore any combat result that makes them retreat. They cannot shoot land units. A planet can have only one planet defense on it.

IX. Combat

Ranged units, such as missile cruisers, can fire through occupied hexes to hit distant targets at no penalty. If a missile cruiser is attacking a distant enemy spaceship, the missile cruiser must be able to trace a line from the center of its hex to the center of the target's hex, without passing through any part of a planet or sun hex.

Spaceship and land-unit combat are resolved identically. The player doing the attacking chooses which units attack which enemy units. Resolve each combat before moving on to the next. Multiple attackers can gang up on one enemy unit, but one attacker cannot attack more than one enemy at a time.

Add up the Attack ratings of all units doing the attacking. Each player rolls a die; the attacker adds his total Attack ratings to his roll, and the defender adds his unit's Defense rating. Add any terrain modifiers as well. Compare the results:

• If the result is a tie, combat is inconclusive; nothing happens.
• If the winning total is 1 or 2 greater than the loser, the loser must retreat that many hexes.
• If the winning total is 3+ greater than the loser, the loser is destroyed.

X. Winning the Game

XI. Designer's Notes

The other key concept in the game is the mix of space battles and land battles. They affect each other, and you have to win both kinds in order to triumph. The need to build factories and buy more units, coupled with the need to conquer more planets, makes this a limited sort of 4X game.

If you've played EasyStar or SLOBS, the starships will look familiar. Land units use standard military symbols. The land maps are small, but there will rarely be huge armies on any given planet anyway. This game is a battle of small forces and single spaceships, not humongous armies and gigantic fleets.

XII. Revision History