StarMarines

I. Introduction

StarMarines are highly-trained human soldiers equipped with advanced weapons and armored battle suits. They defend human planets against alien invasions, perform rescue missions, and do anything else that requires dishing out violence against mankind's enemies. They are not as technically advanced as the Pelgari, nor as physically tough as the Norx, but they strike a good balance between precision force and brute force.

A StarMarine battle suit isn't just armor; it also allows the wearer to live and fight in hostile atmospheres, and can even keep him alive in outer space for a short time. Standard equipment includes ammunition pouches, an IFF transmitter to prevent friendly-fire accidents, communications and GPS equipment, and connections between its on-board computer, aiming reticle, and most StarMarine weapons. This latter feature turns the entire battle suit into a weapons system that optimizes itself for the wearer's weapons, enabling any StarMarine to handle any standard weapon with skill and confidence, even if he never saw it before in his life.

The StarMarines themselves are draftees from all over human-occupied space. Only the toughest and smartest are chosen for front-line duty. These are given the intense training and indoctrination that enables them to fight against horrifying enemies in unnatural surroundings. This training includes the best martial traditions from all of Earth's many societies, with emphasis on Prussian toughness, samurai zeal, British tenacity, and American resourcefulness.

A typical StarMarine battle plan involves the long-range weapons keeping the enemy under continuous fire, both reducing their numbers and keeping their heads down. Meanwhile, the close-assault forces advance steadily, looking for gaps in the enemy formations and exploiting them with their fast units. If no gap can be found, the heavies and the long-range weapons will make one. The goal is to get into the enemy rear, then turn and attack him, inflicting maximum destruction before he can retreat. StarMarines are taught that "the enemy who gets away today is the enemy who will kill you tomorrow." They will take prisoners if the mission allows it, but their usual goal is the eradication of the opposing force.

Unlike many races, the StarMarines' leader units aren't necessarily bigger or stronger than the soldiers they lead. A smart StarMarine commander keeps his leaders just behind the front lines, where they can give their leadership benefit to the troops without running foolish risks.

The base color for StarMarines is red. The borders of all StarMarine counters and markers are light red -- don't call it pink to a StarMarine's face!

The basic specifications of each unit and weapon are listed in tables at the end of this rule book. A general description of the units and weapons, along with specifics about special rules, takes up most of the book.

II. Troop & Vehicle Summary

• Troopers are the basic StarMarine foot soldier.
• Gunners are StarMarines equipped to use heavy weapons.
• PARMs (Powered Armor soldiers) wear heavyweight armored suits that can absorb an incredible amount of damage.
• Scouts can attack with their weapons, or assist other units by "painting" enemy units with their targeting lasers.
• JumpTroops are Troopers with short-range jet packs on their backs.
• Medics are unarmed combat physicians who heal wounds on the battlefield.
• Mechanics can fix damaged vehicles, enabling them to keep fighting.
• Leaders (Sergeants and Lieutenants) provide leadership to the foot soldiers. Every formation bigger than a fire team must have a leader.
• WarMechs are hulking combat walkers, heavily armed and armored.
• Skimmerbikes are small, high-speed, low-flying vehicles.
• Weapons Skimmers are heavy weapons on unarmored hovering platforms.
• Hovertanks are heavily-armored support weapons and personnel carriers.
• Maulers are the biggest, baddest weapons systems the StarMarines use.

III. StarMarine Soldiers

StarMarines are trained to be self-reliant in battle, but they still fight better in groups. StarMarine soldiers suffer a -1 penalty on separation checks.

StarMarine doctrine prohibits killing enemy wounded or the doctor-type units that tend to them, but it's not against any rule to block an enemy doctor from getting to his wounded, and if a frag weapon aimed at an enemy soldier happens to get the enemy doctor too... war is hell.

III-a. Forming an Army

Squad must contain 3 fire teams and at least one Sergeant. At least one of the fire teams must be troopers, and none of the three teams can be the same type, except for troopers. Heavy-weapons soldiers cannot be part of a squad. It can optionally include up to three vehicles, a Medic, a Mechanic, and a Hero.

Platoon must contain 3 full Squads, including at least one fire-team each of PARM's, Scouts, and JumpTroops, plus a fire-team of Gunners, a Lieutenant, and a Sergeant (the Platoon Sergeant). It can optionally include un limited vehicles, Medics, Mechanics and Heroes.

III-b. Soldier Types

Name:	Trooper
Type:	Basic soldier

Troopers are your basic foot soldiers, which will make up the biggest part of your army. They can carry any hand, light or medium StarMarine weapon. They wear medium-weight armored battle suits and are better protected than the foot soldiers of most other armies, but can still move reasonably fast. It is customary for one member of a Trooper fire-team to carry hand weapons, two to wield light weapons, and one to carry a medium weapon.

Name:	Gunner
Type:	Heavy-weapon soldier

Gunners are StarMarines with special armor to let them aim and handle heavy weapons. They can also wield smaller weapons, though there is little reason for them to do so. Their armor can't move as fast as a regular Trooper, but they don't usually move much. A Gunner cannot move and fire in the same turn; it takes a few moments to change the weapon from travel configuration to firing configuration.

Name:	PARM
Type:	Heavy soldier

PARMs (Powered ARMor) are heavy foot soldiers, encased in thick powered suits of battle armor. They can carry any StarMarine weapon except heavies, although they are almost always armed for hand-to-hand combat. These are your bulldozers, soaking up enemy fire while your less-heavily-protected troops advance, punching holes in enemy lines so the fast units can dash through. Only the bravest soldiers are chosen to wear a PARM, so these troops are unusually resistant to morale failure. They suffer no penalty on separation checks.

Name:	Scout
Type:	Light soldier

Scouts are lightly-armored and lightly armed. Their skill at camouflage makes them hard to aim at, and they are specially trained for exceptional weapons accuracy. When aiming at a Scout who didn't move in his most recent movement phase, an enemy must make two attack rolls and hit both times, or the Scout's camouflage fooled him and he missed. (This double-roll rule does not apply to frag weapons.) At least two Scouts in each Scout fire-team must carry laser rifles; the others can carry any hand or light weapon. Their missions are to illuminate enemy targets for heavy-weapons fire, and to snipe at targets of opportunity. Illumination adds +1 to the attack roll of any heavy weapon aimed at that target. Scouts must make an attack roll in order to illuminate; they don't need to repeat this on subsequent turns unless the target moves. They normally operate in pairs, one in each pair with a laser rifle.

Name:	JumpTroop
Type:	Airborne soldier

JumpTroops wear light armor similar to Scouts, and can carry only light weapons. Their ability to fly above the battlefield and land anywhere on short notice makes them invaluable. They aren't equipped for melee; their role is the lightning strike, followed by an equally quick withdrawal.

A team of JumpTroops can move normally on the ground. At will, they can light their jet packs and leap into the air, moving over any terrain, obstacles, or enemies. They can turn and maneuver in the air; they can move their entire flight-move allowance or only part of it. Once they land, they fight normally, but they must stay on the ground for at least one turn after jumping so their jets can recharge. JumpTroops cannot move on the ground and in the air in the same turn.

JumpTroops cannot fire their weapons while in the air; controlling their jet packs takes too much concentration.

Name:	Medic
Type:	Doctor

The Medic may be the most beloved member of the StarMarines. Each turn, a Medic can turn one StarMarine in the same hex (but not himself) or in an adjacent hex, from Wounded to normal.

Name:	Mechanic
Type:	Fixer

The Mechanic can repair damaged tanks and skimmers anywhere on the battlefield. Each turn, a Mechanic can do a level-1 repair on a StarMarine vehicle in the same hex or in an adjacent hex, or he can do a level-2 repair if he rolls a 3-6. The vehicle cannot move during turns when it is being repaired, although it can attack normally. Hovertanks and Maulers can carry a Mechanic inside, instead of a fire team; he can repair that vehicle from within, protected by the vehicle's armor, as long as it doesn't move its full move allotment in that turn.

Name:	Sergeant
Type:	Low leader

The Sergeant is probably the most important leader. Troops within 3 hexes of a Sergeant gain his benefit when facing morale checks. You can buy more Sergeants than you need; these "extra" Sergeants aren't attached to any formation, but can go wherever their leadership and fighting skills are needed.

Name:	Lieutenant
Type:	Medium leader

A Lieutenant must be part of every platoon. Troops within 5 hexes of a Lieutenant gain his benefit when facing morale checks.

Name:	Sergeant Nork
Type:	Hero

Sergeant Nork has taken much ribbing for his name, especially in units have have to fight the Norx. But when he picks up a weapon, no one laughs. His marksmanship is unparalleled. Sergeant Nork is a Veteran-level sergeant who gets a +2 aim bonus when shooting a gauss rifle, or +1 to-hit with any other weapon. He must be assigned as a squad's sergeant.

Name:	PFC Jofoss
Type:	Hero

Jofoss barely passed the tests for JumpTroop training. Once he strapped on a jet pack, though, everything changed. His instructors called him a natural flyer, and he taught himself the ability (normally considered impossible) to fight while flying. If armed with a gauss SMG, he can attack from the air once per turn (not twice like an SMG can usually do) as though he was on the ground, at no penalty to his flying move. His altitude adds 1 to the range, so an adjacent unit is actually 2 hexes away. He can also attack enemy airborne units at no penalty, firing twice like a normal SMG. PFC Jofoss must be attached to a team of JumpTroops and must stay within four hexes of at least one member of that team. His experience level is Veteran.

Name:	Cpl Berg
Type:	Hero

Avram Berg is a Scout, like most of the men in his family going back at least three generations. The tricks of camouflage have become an art form in the Berg family, and Avram is a master of that art. If he does not move during a turn, he cannot be hit by any weapon except a frag weapon. Cpl Berg also gives a leadership benefit to nearby units, like any other Corporal. He must be attached to a team of Scouts and must not get more than 3 hexes away from them. His experience level is Veteran.

III-c. Soldier Attributes

III-d. Weapons

• Grenades (can carry 1 of these in addition to any other weapon):
• Hand Grenades are short-ranged fragmentation bombs.

• Hand weapons (can carry two of these):
• Gauss Pistol is a lower-powered version of the gauss rifle.
• Shock Glove discharges a high-voltage zap when the wearer touches his target. This can damage the electronics of vehicles, as well as the well-being of foot soldiers.
• Monomol Sword is made of a hybrid alloy we acquired from the Dran; the blade's edge is only one molecule thick. This weapon can slice through most armors with one blow.
• Shield provides extra protection against weapons hits. It gives no attack, but if a weapon is fired at you, it first must pierce the Shield, with an armor rating of 3, before it can even try to hurt you. A Shield can try to stop up to two attacks per turn.

• Light weapons:
• Gauss Rifle is the standard StarMarine weapon. It has a medium range, good accuracy, and fair hitting power. This is the standard weapon for Troopers.
• Gauss SMG (Submachine Gun) is smaller than a gauss rifle but bigger than a pistol, and capable of automatic fire. It fires twice per turn, at the same hex with normal to-hit odds or at two adjacent targets at -1 on the attack rolls. This is the preferred weapon of JumpTroops.
• Grenade Launcher can fire hand grenades to a medium distance. You do not need to buy grenades to use this weapon.
• Laser Rifle can drill through almost anything at close range, and can hit with great accuracy at long range. But the damage it does decreases as the range increases. At any range, it can "paint" a target for heavy weapons. This is the preferred weapon for Scouts.

• Medium weapons:
• Flame-Thrower will destroy lightly-armored opponents at close range, but does little to armored targets and has a very short range. It gets +1 range if mounted in a vehicle.
• Over/Under is a combination gauss rifle and grenade launcher, popular among leader units. It can fire as either type of weapon each turn (not both at once).
• Autogun is a machine-gun version of the gauss rifle that can pour fire into a target. It fires three shots per turn; you can choose to fire them at one, two, or three targets, as long as they are all adjacent to each other.
• RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) is a medium-ranged anti-armor weapon.

• Heavy weapons:
• Scatterpack is a long-range antipersonnel weapon that fills a wide area with deadly fragments. It affects its target hex and all six adjacent hexes equally. This can include your own units, so use it with care! Its minimum range is 3.
• Gauss Cannon is a good, all-purpose heavy weapon.
• Plasma Blaster fires a short-ranged ball of superheated matter/energy that can incinerate foot soldiers or melt the heaviest armor. If used against foot troops, consider it a frag weapon.
• Laser Cannon shares the common problem of all energy weapons -- its damage drops off as the range increases. But its accuracy is unparalleled, and at short to medium ranges, it does more than enough damage to justify its existence. If it aims at a target too distant to damage, it still counts as illuminating the target for other weapons.
• Missile Launcher packs a hard punch over very great range. But on a crowded battlefield, it may be unable to lock onto a target unless the target is illuminated by a laser. If any hex adjacent to the target is occupied by an enemy unit, and the target is not illuminated, roll a die and use the Scatter Diagram to find out which hex the missile hit. If that hex is empty, the missile missed.

III-e. Vehicles

Name:	WarMech
Type:	Large ground vehicle (walker)

This vehicle is half man, half machine. When a veteran StarMarine is so badly wounded that his only other choice is to spend the rest of his life in a high-tech hospital bed, he is offered the chance to become a WarMech. If he accepts, his brain is surgically removed and connected to the controls of a three-meter-high walking war machine, deep inside multiple layers of thick armor. Each of his arms controls a weapon, which can be any of the standard hand, light or medium weapons, and a heavy weapon is mounted atop his shoulders, turning him into an awesome engine of destruction. The arm weapons cover the left/ahead and right/ahead sides respectively, while the shoulder weapon fires front. If he uses a hand weapon, it will be at +1 Armor-pierce and do +1 damage from the extra power the WarMech commands. He can use 1-2 weapons per turn (only one if he uses a close-combat weapon). WarMechs are immune to the rear-shot bonus to the attack roll if they are attacked.

Name:	Skimmerbike
Type:	Small skimmer vehicle

The Skimmerbike is a very fast, lightly-armored anti-grav vehicle that can be configured in a variety of ways. They usually carry a pilot and a medium weapon (typically an autogun) firing ahead. Or they can carry a light weapon and a Trooper or Scout instead. The soldier can use his weapon from the air at a -1 attack-roll penalty, firing to either side, or jump off and fight independently. The Trooper or Scout is exempt from separation checks as long as he stays on or next to the bike. Skimmerbikes are bought in pairs.

Name:	Weapons Skimmer
Type:	Small skimmer vehicle

This is a heavy weapon on an anti-grav sled, allowing it to move and fire in the same turn without affecting its accuracy. All skimmers carry a Gunner (who comes with the skimmer) and have room for an optional Trooper to "ride shotgun." The Trooper is exempt from separation checks as long as he stays on or next to the skimmer. The Skimmer also carries a light weapon.

Name:	Hovertank
Type:	Large skimmer vehicle

The hovertank is your most versatile heavy fighting unit. It is armored against most weapons, fast enough to keep up with your troops, and armed to the teeth. Its gun turret carries a heavy weapon (360-degree aim), plus medium weapons on both sides and a light weapon in the front. If you omit the turret and side weapons, it becomes a hover-APC (armored personnel carrier) that can safely transport two fire teams of StarMarines or Scouts, or one team of PARM's, Jum Troops, or Gunners, as well as one individual (Sergeant, Medic, or other single soldier). Soldiers cannot fire while riding in a hover-APC.

Name:	Mauler
Type:	Large ground vehicle (supertank)

The Mauler is for those situations where even the firepower of a hovertank isn't enough to do the job. The Mauler is far too heavy for anti-grav movement; it moves slowly on multiple tracks, grinding its way through all opposition. Its main turret carries a missile launcher and a laser cannon, which can be used for targeting or for destruction; both aim at the same target. Medium weapons are set into the front of the hull and on each side. It can also carry two light weapons, one atop the main turret and another in a small rear turret. As if all this wasn't enough, it has room inside its huge hull for a fire team of any kind. They do not suffer the rear-shot penalty to armor-pierce rolls when attacked from the rear.

IV. Game Tables