Campaign Map Movements and Actions

The following rules outline how fleets and armies move on campaign maps, which are the overhead maps of regions detailing all of the different star systems.

## Etherspace, Etheric Geography

**The campaign map depicts the layout of etherspace**, a planar dimension which sits atop of the setting's normal reality, called realspace. Etherspace is smaller than realspace, which means that equivalent points in etherspace are closer together than in realspace, allowing for faster-than-light travel.

Etherspace has a number of features:

* **Etherfog:** these are the black regions of the campaign map. Etherfog is what it sounds like: thick banks of fog which occlude vision and impede movement. Etherfog contains currents and storms which may sweep ships away if they are not careful (see etherfog travel rules below). Traveling through etherfog is easier for lighter, less armored ships than more armored ships.
* **Clearspace (bubbles):** the regions with accessible systems are called clearspace bubbles. These are regions of space where movement is free and unimpeded. Ships can travel from one point in clearspace bubbles to other points in clearspace bubbles without issue.
* **Etherlanes:** Some systems are connected by dashed lines, which represent etherlanes. These are tunnels which go through the etherfog. Etherlanes allow ships, especially large and armored ships, to travel safely and quickly from one point to another.
* **Etherwalls:** The jagged teal lines on the map are etherwalls, formations of etheric fog which are so thick that no ships can pass through them. They are impassible and cannot be drilled through in any way.

Ships in etherspace cannot interact with or communicate with ships or planets in realspace and vice-versa. Ships travel into and out of realspace through a process called breaching.

## Systems

Systems are named locations on the campaign map. They are often the location of something important, such as planets, stations, stars, and planetoids. Fleets and armies must expend a point of movement in order to breach into or out of the system.

Tokens which are to the left of a system are in etherspace. Tokens which are to the right of the system are in realspace. Tokens which are on the system are disembarked inside a station in etherspace.

## Tokens

 These tokens represent fleets, which are made up of warships built by nations and other factions.
 These tokens represent armies, which are made up of divisions.
Every fleet and army is composed of a certain amount of army or navy power, which is represented by the red number above their token. Every fleet has remaining movement, which is represented by the green (sometimes blue) number above their token.

## How turns are done

### Production phases

*For more on producing divisions and warships, see: War production stats*
Every month starts with the production phase. Every faction involved in the war will decide upon what they will produce for the month, privately. This information is kept hidden from the enemy but can be shared and coordinated with allies. Once all players announce they are ready, all players will post their production for the month to designated channels simultaneously.

Unless there are extraneous circumstances involving rules changes, rules misunderstandings, or miscalculations, posted production is final and cannot be changed during the month. Production can be canceled, but the points spent are lost and not refunded.

### Movements

Movements on the campaign map are done simultaneously to simulate the command, control, and information lag inherent in a conflict at this scale, as well as the simultaneous nature of conflicts. While you act, the enemy is acting as well, and what results is often a collision of your respective movements.

Every month is broken down into "turns," where each fleet and army can make one move per turn. Each turn is processed in this way: when the turn start is announced, all sides must write down their movements into a channel dedicated to their side which serves as a written record of all moves they have ever taken. They must not post until the other side has declared that they are ready. Once all sides have declared that they are ready, someone will count down, and all sides will post.

Once posted, the moves are final and cannot be retracted. Players must then run through the moves which have been made in a rational order, moving pieces and subtracting movement points until no more movements remain. A running list of all battles which must be resolved should be kept.

Once the move is fully processed, battles can be run through and resolved. Once they are all resolved or reach the next turn, the next turn can occur.

### Time

It is important to keep track of time at every level of the war. Most months begin on the 1st of that month, though this is not a requirement. Here is a link to Aoshtai's calendar system. Turns on the campaign map take a discrete amount of time, though because tokens move at different speeds, they take different amounts of time to complete different actions. The time it takes for fleets and armies to complete movements is 10-their speed days. All other movements, such as breaching in and out of systems, require 1 day.

Turns take the length of time it takes for the slowest token to complete their movement. This is usually 6 days, as the tokens with the slowest speed are armored ships with a speed of 4, though this can also be 7 if heavy divisions or ships with armor reinforcements (speed 3) are making their moves.

Timekeeping is the responsibility of the DM or host of the event. If a DM is not present, the responsibility should be assigned to a specific person, and the day range should be posted at the start of every turn.

Months turn over on day 30.

## Starfleet Actions

Fleets have movement points which are equal to the speed of the slowest ship in the fleet. Fleets can be split up or merged at any time in order to take advantage of the different speeds of the ships in the fleet. Movement points recover at the end of each month if the fleet has a straight-line connection to their home territory or other base of supply. If a hostile army takes up a position in a system which is in the path of that straight-line connection, the connection is considered severed because the army will use various assets at its disposal to interdict the passage of supplies.

Fleets may take the following actions, each of which cost one of their movement points, unless otherwise specified:

* **Move:** Draw a straight line from the force's location to the next location. If the force can make it there in one jump, the move expends 1 action. Otherwise, the move requires one more action every time the the fleet is required to change direction. The number of days it takes to cross the distance is equivalent to 10-the unit's maximum speed.
* **Avoid Battle:** If your fleet has greater or equal speed to that of a fleet which is approaching, you may avoid battle with them by moving to another location. If they have greater speed and opt to pursue you to the next location, they will catch up with your fleet on the way, and you will be forced to fight them. If a battle such as this occurs without your being able to draw up your fleet for battle, you will begin the engagement with a formation decided by the DM, with the enemy on your rear.
* **Draw up fleet for battle:** Assume a battle-ready formation with your fleet at the current location or in the current system on the map. When two fleets have drawn up for battle opposite each other, they are locked into place and cannot move except if one of them uses the "withdraw" action. If you cannot draw up for battle and are attacked, your forces will start the scenario in a formation which is appropriate for the situation, decided by collaboration between the DM and the player. Depending on the situation, it is possible that not all of your forces will be present in the engagement at the start, but will trickle in gradually as the engagement progresses.
	+ **Attack (no action cost):** You may attack an enemy fleet if they are within the same location as your own, in which case a space battle between the two forces will ensue.
	+ **Hold (no action cost):** You hold your formation with part of or your whole force.
	+ **Withdraw (no action cost):** If the odds in front of you do not appear to be in your favor, and you have a force with greater or equal speed than the one which has drawn up for battle opposite you, you may attempt a withdrawal with part of or your whole force. If the enemy chooses to hold, rather than pursue, the ships you have chosen to withdraw are free to move and take other actions.
	+ **Pursue (no action cost):** If an enemy which has drawn up for battle in front of you attempts a withdrawal, you may pursue them with part of or your whole force.
		- You will automatically engage all forces in their fleet which are of a lesser speed than the ships you have selected to attack them with.
		- If the enemy is of an equal or greater speed to your own force, you will shadow them to their destination and engage them automatically if they opt not to move to another location from there.
* **Breach:** Breach into or out of a system which your fleet is currently on top of on the map. Ships in etherspace cannot engage ships which are in realspace and vice-versa.
* **Orbital Bombardment:** Participate in an ongoing army battle on a planetoid with your warships.
* **Raid Settlement:** Carry out a raid on a settlement while inside a system belonging to the opposite faction. Every 10 NP involved in the raid adds 1 to the opposing faction's save DC, up to 5. A raid carried out by a fleet with 100 NP or more will utterly wipe out a minor system.
* **Raid Shipping:** While between system controlled by the opposing faction, carry out attacks on that faction's commerce. Every 10 NP involved in this raid adds 1 to the opposing faction's save DC, up to 5.
* **Reconnaissance mission:** At the cost of a moment, send some or all of a fleet to patrol a section of etherfog. Their mission is to discover an enemy fleet attempting to pass through that screen from the other direction during the turn. Reconnaissance missions are required to observe an enemy's movements to trigger a prepared action. Reconnaissance actions within the etherfog require navigation rolls. Ships deployed in this way are assumed to be spread out over a large area. They can be deployed in small flotillas, though in these cases only one detection range (the largest) can be used.
* **Deploy screening force:** Deploy certain assets as a screen ahead of your force, potentially engaging an enemy's reconnaissance assets in a space battle. In these cases, the enemy's reconnaissance assets will be deployed over the bottom half of a large etherfog map. You will be able to place your fleet and screening assets in places of your choosing. Their goal will be to find the fleet they are looking for while your screening assets prevent them from doing so. If you manage to force their reconnaissance assets to retreat or to coalesce such that they are incapable of finding and shadowing their target, you cause the enemy's reconnaissance mission to fail. This costs a movement from the screening forces.
* **Prepared actions:** Fleets may prepare actions which are conditional on certain events, such as reconnaissance assets observing a particular behavior in an enemy fleet, or encountering an enemy. Successfully triggering a prepared action is conditional on the advanced warning provided by forces deployed on reconnaissance. Prepared actions only cost a movement point if they are triggered.

## Army Actions

### Campaign map actions

This list of actions which can be taken by armies on the campaign map supercedes the one on the Armies page. Unlike on the armies page, armies have only their movement points to use. This is the list of actions which armies can take on the campaign map by spending their movement points:

* **Move:** Draw a straight line on the campaign map from the army's location to the next location. If the army can make it there in one jump, the move expends 1 action. Otherwise, the move requires one more action every time the the army is required to change direction. The number of days it takes to cross the distance is equivalent to 10-the unit's maximum speed.
* **Avoid battle with an incoming fleet:** If your army has greater or equal speed to that of a fleet which is approaching, you may avoid battle with them by moving to another location. If they have greater speed and opt to pursue you to the next location, they will catch up with your fleet on the way, and you will be forced to fight them.
* **Breach:** Breach into or out of a system which your fleet is currently on top of on the map. Ships in etherspace cannot engage ships which are in realspace and vice-versa.
* **Embark or Disembark onto a planetoid or station:** Embark or disembark on space, naval, or air transports at a given location, typically a station or planetoid.
	+ **Light Divisions:** Light divisions can deploy onto and embark from a live battle in one day and can move and act on the next day. They must deploy into tiles not covered by the enemy's air defense.
	+ **Medium Divisions:** Medium divisions take 4 days to fully deploy onto and embark from a map without a controlled starport. If they deploy into a live battle, only half of them can touch down with the initial assault. The other half will arrive on the fourth day.
	+ **Heavy Divisions:** Heavy divisions require 6 days to fully deploy onto onto and embark from a map without a controlled starport. If they deploy into a live battle, half of them will deploy on the third day, and the other half will deploy on the sixth day.
* **Raid Settlement:** Carry out a raid on a settlement while inside a system belonging to the opposite faction. Every 10 AP involved in the raid adds 1 to the opposing faction's save DC, up to 5. A raid carried out by an army with 50 AP or more will utterly wipe out a minor system.

### Planetoid Map Actions

* **Move:** Draw a straight line on the campaign map from the army's location to the next location. If the army can make it there in one jump, the move expends 1 action. Otherwise, the move requires one more action every time the the army is required to change direction. The number of days it takes to cross the distance is equivalent to 10-the unit's maximum speed.
* **Draw up for Battle** - While on a planetoid, and opposite an enemy force which you wish to engage, draw up your army for battle in front of the enemy camp, city, or force.
	+ **Attack (no action cost):** You may attack an enemy army if they are within the same location as your own, in which case a ground battle between the two forces will ensue.
	+ **Hold Position (no action cost):** You hold your formation with part of or your whole force. You may begin to entrench yourself an amount equivalent to the total build points of your force multiplied by the days which go by with no action.
	+ **Withdraw (no action cost):** If the odds in front of you do not appear to be in your favor, and you have a force with greater or equal speed than the one which has drawn up for battle opposite you, you may attempt a withdrawal with part of or your whole force. If the enemy chooses to hold their position, rather than pursue, the divisions you have chosen to withdraw are free to move and take other actions.
	+ **Pursue (no action cost):** If an enemy which has drawn up for battle in front of you attempts a withdrawal, you may pursue them with part of or your whole force.
		- You will automatically engage all forces in their army which are of a lesser speed than the ships you have selected to attack them with.
		- If the enemy is of an equal or greater speed to your own force, you will shadow them to their destination and engage them automatically if they opt not to move to another location from there.
* **Build (no action cost)** - While your force is idle in a location, it is assumed that they will construct fortifications. Every week, they spend in a location, you may build 7 times their total build points.

## Etherfog Travel

Etherfog, the region of etheric space populated by storms, currents, and a dense material called etheric fog, requires special skills to navigate. All travel through the etherfog takes twice as much time as travel on an etherlane. A character within the fleet needs to make a **Navigation check** every single time the fleet enters etherfog or changes direction within it. This roll is done with !cogent (Navigation). What happens to them during their journey will depend on how high they score on the table below.

For every 4 naval power of armored ships in the fleet, subtract 1 from the final result. For every 20 naval power of unarmored ships in the fleet, subtract 1 from the final result. Ships can be divided into different squadrons and every squadron can roll separately. For every 1 heavy division, 5 medium divisions, and 10 light divisions, subtract 1 from the final result.

Squadrons without a navigator with a Cogent sheet can simply roll !cogent 9.

Ships inside etheric fog are stealthed and cannot be seen by the enemy unless tracked within a ship's, shuttle's, or strike craft's detection radius. During a campaign, movement of ships which enter etherfog are tracked individually by the player and then revealed to the rest of the players when those ships are revealed. The player may be asked to show the exact path the ship took after the fact, to ensure honestly.

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### Scouting in the etherfog

It is possible to send assets on reconnaissance missions into the etherfog. This requires an action from the assets or the carrier launching the assets. For the duration of that turn, the asset(s) will patrol the region outlined. During that turn, all assets will make a single !cogent spotting roll. The number rolled is found by adding all of their detection ranges together. By default, a warship's detection range is 6.

The spotting roll must defeat a fleet's stealth roll, which must be rolled if the fleet is in the region indicated by the spotter. A fleet's stealth roll is arrived at by subtracting the total fleet's NP from 30, and must then by rolled using !cogent. If the spotting roll defeats the stealth roll, the hidden fleet is revealed and may be attacked during that turn.