Strike Force

Version 1.2

Science-Fiction Tabletop Wargame Rules, for 15mm to 28mm scale figures

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Strike Force

Science-FictionTabletop Wargame Rules

CONTENTS

Copyright ©Agema Publications 2004All Rights Reserved

To contact us: AGEMA 1 The Forge Lowdham Nottinghamshire NG14 7BP

Or e-mail us at: agema@hotmail.co.uk

Sequence of Play 2

Objectives 3

Weapons 4

Army lists 8

Logistics, impulse & control 11

Movement & Tactics 12

Reactions 13

Cover & Special characters 14

Shooting & Indirect fire 15

Anti-personnel Table 16

Anti-vehicle Table 17

Shooting at 2+ units 17

Directors & Stabilisers 18

Melee & Big creatures 19

Vehicle notes, blast charges 20

Flying, Skirmishing 20

HQ’s in action, Jamming 21

Jamming avoidance 22

Strike Force Intervention 22

Anatomy of an Army 23

Encounter at SPG-1 27

Unit Info. cards 30

Quick Ref. sheet 31-33

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Sequence of Play

A moves, then B:

1. A chooses tactics. HQ attempts to call in a strike force or rolls torestore Impulse (unless being jammed or HQ to move and/or shoot ormake a jamming attempt). An Impulse roll cannot be made withoutHQ help.

2. A rolls to rally units currently being forced to follow a reaction re-sult.

3. A checks if Logistics & Control intact.

4. Move any or all units, including embarking onto vehicles as neces-sary. Any moving into contact with enemy figures are in melee (unlessvehicles) - if Impulse lost for each unit to see if each can move towardenemy at all. B uses overwatch shooting as necessary (reactionsapplied), but roll to see if allowed if Impulse lost.

5. A disembarks passengers.

6. A shoots, but check to see if able for each unit if Impulse lost, thenreactions applied except against targets with reactive order markers.

7. B carries out reactive shooting (checking first if allowed if Impulselost). Then apply reactions to themselves and those shot at.

8. Fight close combats (reactions applied).

9. Make a jamming attempt (if able, and HQ hasn’t moved and/orshot, rolled for Impulse or rolled for calling in a strike force).

Then start again, for Side B, to complete that game turn. Then startthe process again for the next game turn.

The game is played in aseries of game turns, eachturn consisting of phasesas shown in the sequenceof play.

The game is played in a series of moves. At the beginning of the game roll dice to choosewho is side A, and who Side B, then follow the sequence shown below.

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ObjectivesIn each game there are several objectives. The side which holds the most at theend of the game wins.

To count as holding an objective, a single vehicle or a unit of at least four figures in strengthmust be adjacent to it. Several weaker units cannot count as holding the objective, in order

to retain the integrity of the unit size rules.

Before the game begins, each player chooses between 1and 3 objectives. These can be either a building, otherpiece of terrain, or a mobile item such as a one foot highalien crystal pyramid artifact. The latter are known as mobileobjects.

After placing all objective markers, deploy your armies. Hav-ing done so, if your opponent demands it, you have to rollfor any or all of the objectives you have deployed. On a rollof 1 or 2 remove it. Note that there must always be at least

one objective marker in play placed by each side (or two objective points, in other words, onthe tabletop in total). So, if your opponent demands you roll for all of your objective counters,you can do so in any order you wish, but should you be left with only one objective, then youdo not roll for it, as you must have at least one.

Unless designated as mobile, the objective is static and cannot be moved. Usually objectivesshould be represented by a counter, marker or suitable model, and cannot be destroyed un-less you decided otherwise before the game begins.

A mobile object can be carried by two or more figures or a suitable Size 3 or 4 creature(unless they are slimy worms, for example, and so unable to carry anything!). A vehicle canbe loaded with a mobile object and then move away with it on board, but figures need to car-ry it to the vehicle first, it cannot just pick it up as if by magic

ENDING THE GAME

At any point after the fourth game turn, the player with the most objectives / objects in hispossession can call ‘end game’. Roll a die, on a ‘1’ the game ends and he wins, otherwise itcarries on. Only one ‘end game’ call can be made each game turn. Alternatively, if one sideconcedes defeat, the game ends immediately at any time, or players can agree to end thegame as a draw.

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Solid State WeaponrySuch weapons are the kind we are most familiarwith today, such as those using gunpowder andshooting bullets. All solid state firearms use achemical propellant to shoot a missile or projectile.The range and penetrative effect is limited in prac-tical terms, for example by being able to see yourintended target and get through the armour protec-tion it enjoys, but also due to theoretical consider-ations. The upper limit of the muzzle velocity ofthe weapon is limited when used within a planet’satmosphere. Too high a velocity and the projectilewill actually burn up and melt due to friction. Thisof course does not apply when fighting in a vacu-um or in a thin atmosphere which cannot bebreathed.

Special rule If fighting in a non-atmospheric situation,for example on the surface of a moon, an asteroid,uninhabitable planet or starship with a hole in itshull, there is no upper range limit for solid stateweapons. If the firer can see the target, he canattempt to hit it!

Smart MunitionsSmart ammunition has the guidance system insidethe projectile itself, rather than in the weapon firingit. This is a reasonably high tech idea, but its mainlimiting factor is one of cost and bulk. Each time aslug is fired, an entire guidance system is wasted,and having such a system attached means lessammunition can be carried as the munitions arebound to be larger than standard. The great ad-vantage is that Smart Munitions can hit targets thefirer cannot actually see! However, to be able to doso the firer must be aware that the enemy is thereto be shot at. Especially in relation to the cost ofthese things, no self-respecting commisariat willlet soldiers shoot them off against speculativetargets. It would safe to assume that the SmartMunition will not allow itself to be shot unless thereis a definite target!

Special rule Smart ammunition can be used in thegame. You must announce which figures, if any,are equipped with such ammunition prior to thestart of the game. A figure equipped with it may notfire any other kind of ammunition.

Weapons of WarThe limitations· The firer cannot move the turn in which

he intends to fire· He can fire at an enemy figure or model

which has been seen by ANY friendly fig-ure on the table at some point in thegame.

· If the Comm Link is down this turn due tojamming, no smart ammunition can beused (so figures equipped with it may notfire under any circumstances even if hecan see the target himself; the Smart Mu-nitions are temporarily off-line or corrupt-ed).

The benefits· Any target within range, even if not visible

to the firer, can be shot at as if it were vis-ible.

· The target cannot count as being in eitherhard or soft cover (the Smart Munitionswill dodge any cover in the way!).

Laser WeaponryAll laser weapons deliver the entire energy of abeam of coherent energy of visible or invisible lighton a target point at a single moment. If visible thebeam will only be faintly seen (if at all depends onits frequency), and only then for a fraction of asecond, along the path of fire. It is reasonable tosay the target may not even know what hit it!

Small arms laser weapons cause localised dam-age at the target point, and do damage by burningthe target at that point. They do not have muchpenetration capability.

Lasers can melt armour, be it metal or a plastic,and can kill the occupant of body-armour but do notpossess sufficient penetrative ability to damagevehicle crews behind heavy armour-class vehiclesor fortresses. They can wreck medium class ar-mour as under the stress of the heat this level ofarmour is considered to crack, throwing moltenfragments about the place!

Large infantry support and vehicle-mounted lasersdiffer from small arms lasers in that they deliver acontinuous laser beam, not a series of pulses, andso require a continuous source of power. Theytherefore have to be fitted with an electrical gener-ator and are considered to be so equipped.

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Special rules· Woods, wooden structures and other

flammable objects deliberately shot at bylaser weapons will be hit, if in range, andcatch fire, and remain so for the rest ofthe game, obscuring line of sight. Figuresand models in touch with them mustmove away so they aren’t, and will do soautomatically despite reaction and othermove orders. They do this immediately,even though it is their opponent’s phase,but should be moved by the shortestroute out of contact, and once not in con-tact, stop moving. If they cannot escape,they are removed from play. They cannotmove during their next phase, any badreactions results will be held over untilthe following turn. They cannot fire eitheruntil the following turn! In effect they losea turn.

· If a laser penetrates a figure wearing ar-mour or heavy armour, or a vehicle ordefensive position with medium classarmour, the fragments may hit and killother figures/models within 1" of it andnot themselves protected by heavy ar-mour (for a figure) or medium or heavyarmour (for a vehicle or defence works).For each figure or vehicle liable to be de-stroyed by a flying fragment, roll a die, 6= killed. If the target was in a wood orother flammable object the latter catchesfire, as described above.

· Smoke, fire and similar atmospherics willnegate lasers which cannot be success-fully fired through such ‘obstacles’.

Special rule Stun settings can be used in the game byany figure carrying a small arms laser weapon (nota heavy laser) or by anyone using any kind ofparticle beam weapon. To use, announce the firershave changed their setting to stun, and roll to hit asusual, except that a -1 to kill modifier is applied (soif 5 is needed to kill, 6 is required to stun instead).A figure successfully stunned is placed on its side,but any flying at the time die.

Stun results have a different effect against vehi-cles and robots - they stop working for a gameturn! Other stunned figures remain so for the restof the game, and each can be carried off by twofigures (be they friendly or hostiles!) moving athalf their maximum movement rate at most.

Stun SettingWhile it would be more usual on the field of battleto try and take out your opponent by killing him, itis feasible to set a small arms laser or any particlebeam weapon to stun. They may be more appro-priate for police units finding themselves in a warsituation than for proper army units, but you maycreate a scenario where due to local laws thepolice involved have weapons only capable ofbeing used on a stun setting!

The lower charge used does make it less likely atarget will be downed by such an attack, but it willallow a stunned figure to be taken prisoner forinterrogation, ransom or - in the case of an alien -dissection(!).

Particle Beam WeaponrySuch weapons fire using an energy source formedout of either atomic or subatomic particles. Onhitting their target, these cause damage by heatabsorption and the propelled shock of X-raywaves. The latter shock waves means damagecan be sustained to a target even if its armour hasnot been penetrated. For example, the crew of avehicle could be killed without the armour beingpunched through. Ironically, this means particlebeams can be most effective when used againstwell armoured targets, rather than, say, an unar-moured vehicle.

Sheltering behind cover, however, can prove evenmore effective than usual. There is a greaterchance of a hard cover obstacle absorbing the hittoo early, causing the resulting shock waves toreverberate out before reaching the intended tar-get behind.

Particle beam weapons are bulky as they have ahigh energy consumption rate requiring some kindof generator to be attached. When shooting theygive off a sound akin to thunder, while producing abright, visible, lance of energy from the muzzle tothe point hit

Although not entirely relevant during a one-offgame, these weapons produce radiation alongtheir path of shooting, so you could have, in ascenario or campaign game, a patch of groundwhich saw heavy use of such weapons consideredtoo dangerous for unarmoured figures to enter?

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