S.A.B.O.T. Optional Units (set #1)

Copyright 2004 by Mike Fischer
Last modified: 10/04/2004

Table of Contents

I.   Introduction
II.  Vehicles, Soldiers & Weapons
III. Game Tables
IV.  Designer's Notes
V.   Revision History

I. Introduction

My S.A.B.O.T. game of futuristic land warfare includes eighteen kinds of vehicles and soldiers. That will be enough for many gamers. But for those who want even more variety in their armies, I offer the following optional units. There are fifteen new unit types in this supplement. All are completely compatible with the "regular" units, so a player who doesn't want to use them is at no disadvantage against a player who does. Both players should agree to whether these expansion vehicles can be used.

II. Vehicles, Soldiers & Weapons

An army can have only one Cybertank. Assault Squads and Scout/Sniper Squads become part of an existing four-squad platoon of soldiers, replacing one of the other squads. All other vehicles are bought in platoons of four of the same kind of vehicle.

There is a new vehicle type, the Walker. Walkers are subject to the same terrain rules as soldiers, but they are amphibious, they can't enter buildings, and they can be targeted and attacked like vehicles. Their movement through forest and swamp is also 1 hex per turn. Walkers can turn one hex-face per turn. All walker weapons must fire into the front three hexes. Some walkers have a limited flying ability, and the smaller ones can be air-dropped.

The SaboXtra counter sheet gives each player two Assault Squads, two Scout/Sniper Squads, one Cybertank, and one platoon of each of the other new units. It also has extra Missile markers, Cybertank damage markers, and two blank counters; that's one decoy for each player.

Name:Light Tank (LIT)
Type:Tracked vehicle
A light tank is a tracked version of the scout car, with the same benefits of scouting and amphibious movement. It differs from the scout car in having heavier armor.

Name:Light Assault Gun (LAG)
Type:Tracked vehicle
The light assault gun is a decent-sized cannon on a light-tank chassis. It suffers the same limits on firing arcs as the hover tank destroyer. But it's an inexpensive way to add some kick to your scouting platoons.

Name:Anti-Air Tank (AAT)
Type:Tracked vehicle
This vehicle carries two auto-cannons, both of which must fire at the same target. That target is most often a flying unit, but an AAT can fire on ground targets as well. The twin cannons count as two separate attacks in combat. An AAT can make overwatch attacks on flying units even if it moved in the current turn.

Name:Amphibious Armored Vehicle (AAV)
Type:Tracked vehicle
The AAV is a well-armored personnel carrier that can swim. It carries two squads of soldiers and a machine gun, and is fully amphibious.

Name:Armored Car (WAC)
Type:Wheeled vehicle
This is a big, eight-wheeled vehicle that carries an auto-cannon, two anti-tank missiles, and a squad of soldiers. It's a versatile unit that can do just about anything and won't break your bank. But its armor can't stand up to much. It can fire only one missile per turn, but it can fire its missiles into any hex, not just the front three.

Name:Hover Missile Carrier (HMC)
Type:Hover vehicle
The HMC carries three GP missiles instead of the missile tank's four. Its missiles follow the same rules as the MSL. It cannot move and fire in the same turn.

Name:Hover Howitzer (HFA)
Type:Hover vehicle
A hover howitzer is a big artillery piece on a hover chassis. It can't move and shoot in the same turn, and it isn't quite as nasty as self-propelled artillery. But it can get into position fast, and also run away fast if it has to. Its gun follows the same rules as self-propelled artillery, except it doesn't get a no-scatter benefit from close-range line-of-sight shots. A few hover howitzers travelling with some hover missile carriers can launch devastating "shoot-and-scoot" artillery raids.

Name:Grav Laser Tank (ALT)
Type:Anti-gravity vehicle
Only an anti-grav engine produces enough power to drive a combat-grade laser weapon. This vehicle carries a chemical laser strong enough to burn through just about any armor in existence. Because the laser draws so much power, the ALT can't move and attack in the same turn. However, it can move and use its weapon as a long-ranged laser designator for other units in the same turn. Also, energy weapons lose power as the range increases. For each two hexes of range to the target, reduce the laser's AP by 1. Thus, at point-blank range, the weapon gets its full AP; at a range of 2 or 3, the AP is reduced by 1; and at a range of 4 or 5, the AP is down by 2, and so on.

Name:Grav Personnel Carrier (APC)
Type:Anti-gravity vehicle
This is an AGT turned into a personnel carrier. It carries two squads of infantry, an auto-cannon and an AT missile. Naturally, all this firepower and mobility comes with a hefty price tag.

Name:Personnel Copter (RPC)
Type:Rotary-winged vehicle
This helicopter carries troops, but not into battle -- it's unarmed and very lightly armored. It carries two squads of soldiers, and can get them from point "A" to point "B" faster than anything else on the battlefield. If a personnel copter is destroyed, all soldiers on board are also destroyed, with no roll to see if they got out.

Name:Attack Copter (RAT)
Type:Rotary-winged vehicle
What do you get when you cross the high-powered frame of a personnel copter with the armor and weaponry of an armored car? Something that tankers do not like. The ATH carries an auto-cannon, a laser designator, and four AT missiles. Unlike other vehicles, it can use its laser and fire its missiles in the same turn.

Name:Assault Squad (ASL)
Type:Foot soldiers
You can substitute one Assault Squad for either a Heavy-Weapons Squad or a Jump-Troop Squad (not both) in each infantry platoon. Assault soldiers wear heavy powered armor and carry short-ranged, high-powered weapons. They aren't useful in every situation, but when you're coming to grips with the enemy at close range, an Assault Squad can come in very handy. Because they become part of an existing Infantry platoon, an Assault Squad costs nothing in build points.

Name:Scout/Sniper Squad (SSN)
Type:Foot soldiers
You can substitute one Scout/Sniper Squad for either a Heavy-Weapons Squad or a Jump-Troop Squad (not both) in each infantry platoon. These teams aren't long on combat value, but they have some important abilities: they add +2 to their scouting rolls, and when shooting at soldiers, they add +2 to their Damage. Also, any soldier unit that takes a "Disabled" combat result from Scout/Snipers must immediately move one hex away from that squad, unless they are already next to a hostile unit. Because they become part of an existing Infantry platoon, a Scout/Sniper Squad costs nothing in build points.

Name:Main Combat Walker (MWK)
Type:Walking vehicle
This vehicle is slow, but quite powerful. It carries a tank-sized cannon, an auto-cannon, and two AT missiles. It can fire any two weapons in a combat phase (the missiles count as one weapon if you fire them both at once), at the same target or at different targets. Once per game, it can begin flying at a rate of 3 hexes/turn; it can do this for 1-2 turns, and once it lands, it cannot fly again. It must fly straight ahead, without turning, and cannot attack while flying. It can be air-dropped, and will always land exactly where you want it (no scattering), but this counts as the walker's flying move for the game.

Name:Cybertank (CYB)
Type:Tracked vehicle (special)
Be afraid. Be very, very afraid. The Cybertank is coming, and it's as close to unstoppable as anything man has ever turned loose on the battlefield. An army can have only one Cybertank. It carries three heavy cannons, which can fire at separate targets, or two of them can pick on the same target. It carries four auto-cannons, which can fire at different targets, or up to two can aim at the same target. It carries eight GP missiles. It carries two laser designators, which it can use in the same turn as it fires its other weapons, and which work in a 360° arc. It carries the heaviest armor in the game.

What's worse, even if you hit the thing, you can't kill it with one shot. A cybertank takes damage differently from other vehicles. Each time you score a hit, instead of modifying the roll and checking for Disable or Destroy, you roll again and consult the Cybertank Damage Chart. This can result in knocking out weapons or causing damage. Enough damage will eventually destroy the cybertank.

Cybertanks are represented by double-sized counters. They move like other units, except that, to turn them, you swing the back of the counter into the hex where the front was, and move the front into a new hex. They can't turn in place like other units. They are so big that they can ignore rivers; they just wade across.

A recovery vehicle can't fix damage on a cybertank, and cybertanks are too big to use prepared positions or cross rivers on bridging tanks. A missile reloader can reload a cybertank's missiles, up to four missiles per turn.

If you use a cybertank, you'll need a copy of the Cybertank Damage Chart, and markers to keep track of damage on that chart. Use two missile markers until the tank has four or fewer missiles left. You can keep the missile markers on the damage chart instead of stacking them with the cybertank counter. The cybertank is not destroyed until its Damage marker goes to less than 1.

III. Game Tables

Vehicles & Soldiers Table
SymbolUnit CostType MoveToughRange DamageSpecial
LITLight Tank 20Tracked 43 3 3-
LAGLight Assault Gun 20Tracked 44 3 4Limited arc of fire
AATAnti-Aircraft Tank 25Tracked 32 4 32 shots
AAVAmphibious Armored Vehicle20Tracked 34 2 2carry 2 squads
WACArmored Car 20Wheeled 41 3 32 AT missiles; carry 1 squad
HMCHover Missile Carrier 20Hover 50 9 44 missiles
HFAHover Howitzer 25Hover 50 10 5-
ALTAgrav Laser Tank 40Anti-grav 44 6 4AP drops with range
APCAgrav Personnel Carrier 30Anti-grav 44 3 31 AT missile; carry 2 squads
RPCPersonnel Copter 15Rotary-wing70 0 0carry 2 squads
RATAttack Copter 25Rotary-wing92 3 24 AT missiles; laser
ASLAssault Squad -Soldiers 24 1 4-
SSNScout/Sniper Squad -Soldiers 21 3 1see text
MWKMain Combat Walker 30Walker 24 5
3
4
3
2 AT missiles
CYBCybertank 50Tracked 26 7 53 shots; 8 missiles
CYB (continued)334 shots; 2 lasers

IV. Designer's Notes

None of these units are needed for a good army; most of them aren't even original, but are the same components as the "regular" units, mixed and matched. But variety is the spice of life, and these units may add some spice to your battles. Most of the new units emphasize high speeds at the expense of firepower or flexibility, and better soldier-carrying is also a factor. I added some walker units almost as an afterthought. The cybertank was obviously inspired by the OGRE (Steve Jackson Games); I make no apology for this, since he didn't invent the concept either.

V. Revision History

10/04/2004: combat simplified.
05/17/2004: revised; errors fixed.
05/03/2004: first release.