Space Trek Wars

 I've wanted an easy set of spaceship miniature rules that could be used to give the feel of space combat in the Star Trek original series universe. I found a set of rules, "Shooting Stars", by Martin Bourne at Vandering Publications available at the Wargame Vault. While this is a hex based game, it's easy to convert to a measured movement game.

To define the ships, I used the STAR TREK STARSHIP TACTICAL COMBAT SIMULATOR ON-LINE DATABASE & ARCHIVE. That said, my ship definitions should, in no way be taken for "canon". Though I used the data from this site, I am sure it is not used in the manner for which it was intended.

I did make many major changes to the rules, to suit my desires. Firstly, movement distance is determined by squareing the ship's movement factor. So, a ship moving at SpeedFactor 1, moves 1 centimeter, and a ship moving at SpeedFactor 6, moves 36 centimeters.

Shooting takes the largest departure from the original rules. I wanted a set of rules that allowed me to actually use a laser to shoot at the opposing ship. To do this, I got a Black & Decker laser level and designed a stand for it that would sit above the firing model.

The stand is placed over the firing ship, then the level is placed on top of the stand, turned off. It is then aimed at its target and switched on. If the beam crosses the target ship, it is hit.

The Ship's are defined in the manner similar to those in "Shooting Stars". A silhouette of the vessel is filled in with compartments that contain the ship's systems. I have put most information for the game on the Ship sheets. Here are a coupleof examples:

Some ships have a cloaking device. To represent this, I place a box over the cloaked ship. If the cloaked ship is fired atwhile cloaked, the shooter must aim while the ship is still covered. After the level is switched on. Only then will the cloaked ship be revealed and a hit determined.

Sensors in my game are used to modify shooting (at uncloaked ships). Once the ship with sensors has laid his shot, He can adjust the shot using the sensor guage. THe guage is placed inline with the laser beam at a specified distance from the shooter. The beam can then be adjusted between the marks on the guage.

Those are the high points of my space rules. I am sure that playtesting will result in many updates, but I am happy with the shooting mechanism.