Rules: Combat

## Combat Procedure

Each Battle Hex (Hex in which Battle is taking place), must be resolved by the following procedures.

Resolution is determined by following Steps One through Seven. If either side withdrawals or retreats, then Step Eight can be used. If after Step Seven, there are still combatants on both sides, then the procedure return to Step two and continues until one side is destroyed or Withdrawals/Retreats.

Once the combats in all Battle Hexes are resolved, the combat phase can be considered complete and the game can progress to the next phase.

### Step One: Tactical Withdrawal

Step One is the Tactical Withdrawal step in which the Defending Player announces if he will voluntarily withdraw his forces from the Battle Hex location. If there is a Withdrawal attempt, the Attacking player announces if he will oppose the withdrawal or not.

Note: Only Starships can withdrawal - Starbases, Stations, PDUs, Fighters without Carriers are not able to withdrawal.

Tactical Withdrawal has Three (3) Options:
**Option One (1):** If there is No Withdrawal, then the Combat proceeds to Step Two.

**Option Two (2):** If there is a Withdrawal, but the Attacking player does NOT oppose the Withdrawal, then the Combat proceeds to Step Seven.

**Option Three (3):** If there is a Withdrawal, but the Attacking player is opposed to the Withdrawal. The Defending player may withdrawal some of his ships but is not required to withdraw any. The Defender has two Methods for calculating how many of his ships he may withdraw and may select either method as his option. Note: Also see Evading Combat under  Cloaking Devices.

*Method One:* The Defender may withdrawal up to One-Half of his ships, Round fractions down when determining how many ships may withdraw; a Single ship can NEVER withdraw without permission, with the exception of ships with Cloaking Devices.

*Method Two:* The Defender may withdraw any number of ships as long as he leaves a number of ships in the hex equal to the number of attacking ship in that Hex. Also one of the three units with the highest Command Rating must remain behind and must be the flag ship for the defending Battle Force.

Note: Crippled Ships, Stations, Starbases, Fighters and other Non-Combat ships CANNOT be left behind as part of the defending force, those that are do not count towards the total of defending ships required.

* Example #1: *Method One:* The Attacker has Ten (10) Ships, the Defender has Four (4). The Defender can withdraw two ships (1/2 of 4). Under *Method Two:* The Defender can not withdraw any ships, as he does not have enough to cover all the Attacker Ships.
* Example #2: *Method One:* The Attacker has Four (4) ships, the Defender has Ten (10). The Defender can Withdraw five (5) ships (1/2 of 10). Under Method Two: The Defender can withdraw Six (6) Ships, leaving behind Four (4) Defender ships to account for the Four (4) Attacker Ships.

Defending Forces that successfully Withdraw, proceed to Step Seven for Retreat rules.

Defending Forces that do not withdraw, proceed to Step Two of the Combat Procedure.

### Step Two: Bases

For Startrek: Galactic Conflict, during the Combat Procedure, Bases count as the following: Planets, Stations, Starbases, Shipyards, Convoys, Tugs, Mobile Bases, and any other Non-Combat Starship.

Blah Blah Blah... more pending.

### Step Three: Battle Force

There is no size limit to fleets in Startrek: Galactic Conflict. However, due to the problems of command, control, and communications, there is a limit on the number of units which can be used in combat. Both players must select, from the units they have in the Battle Hex, a “Battle Force” to be used in combat. This Battle Force may or may not include all of the units in the Battle Hex.

Blah Blah Blah.. more pending.

### Step Four: Combat & Damage Determination

This Step is performed simultaneously by both players using the following sub-steps:

#### Sub-Step One: Combat Potential

Each Player calculates the Total combined Attack Factor / Rating of all the units within each of his Battle Force; this determines the Battle Force Combat Potential.

#### Sub-Step Two: Battle Intensity

Battle Intensity is in effect the Intensity or Aggressiveness of a Battle. The more intense a battle, the great the risks and aggressiveness there is, resulting in more casualties.

In some cases, the fleet commanders have instructions to take greater risks in order to increase enemy loses. In other cases, they might wish to minimize their own losses, even if this also reduces enemy losses.

Also some races/governments tend to be either more passive or more aggressive than others, resulting in changes to the battles intensity. Klingons for example tend to be aggressive and as such automatically get a boost to their Battle Intensity Rating (BIR).

**Determining Battle Intensity**

To determine the Battle Intensity Rating (BIR) of a battle, each Battle Force commander select a BIR rating between 0 and 4, Modified by racial or hero factors. This selection is done secretly at the time of battle engagement.

The Game Moderator then combines the submitted BIR ratings from both sides to acquire the BIR level for the Battle itself. (Example: Tholian Commander selected BIR of 3, the Sheliak Commander selected BIR of 2 - the combined BIR for the Tholian/Sheliak conflict would be 5.)

**New BIR per Combat/Battle Round**

If a battle lasts longer than one combat/battle round, a new BIR is submitted by each commander for each new combat/battle round.

This is to represent the changing tide of a battle, panic, desperation, aggression all being factor.

**Application of Battle Intensity Rating**

Once the Battle Intensity Rating (BIR) has been determined, Each player rolls one (1) die (1D6), plus or minus any potential modifiers and then compares their roll in comparison to the Battle Intensity/Combat Coefficient Table under their BIR rating to determine their Damage Coefficient.

Example: Player One is in Battle and has BIR of 5, he rolls his 1D6 and gets a 4, he has no modifiers, so he would check under BIR-5 and under the number 4 - which is 30%. His Damage Coefficient is 30%.

Battle Intensity/Combat Coefficient Table

#### Sub-Step Three: Damage Coefficient and Damage Points

Once the Damage Coefficient is determined from the Battle Intensity/Combat Coefficient Table, Each player multiplies the Combat Potential (Sub-Step One) by the Damage Coefficient to produce the Combat Damage Result, which is expressed in a number of damage points.

Example: Player One has a Combat Potential of 20 and a Damage Coefficient of 30% - His Damage Points would be 6.

Note: Drop Fractions of 0.49 or less, round fractions of 0.50 or more the next number.

### Step Five: Direct Damage

Directed Damage represents a decision by the **Attacking Battle** Force commander to select a specific enemy unit as a priority target. This will usually be a scout, PDU, flagship, PF tender, base, or some other key unit, rather than just a randomly selected cruiser.

A player is not required to use this procedure in every Battle Round or any Battle Round.

#### Target Selection

The Attacking Player may, at his option, select one unit from the Defending Player’s Battle Force.

#### Direct Damage Infliction

The Attacking Player can then deduct from his Damage Points a number equal to double the number of damage points he wishes to inflict upon the target vessel.

Example: Player One select the USS Enterprise-E has his priority Target for a Direct Damage Attack. His Battle Force has 6 Damage Points available. Which means he could inflict up to 3 Damage (6 divided by 2 = 3) on the USS Enterprise-E at the cost of his entire battle forces damage points. He could like wise inflict less damage at the cost of 2 damage points per direct damage points.

Damage Points not used in Direct Damage will be applied to the Damage Allocation (Step Six).

### Step Six: Damage Allocation

After resolving Directed Damage (if any), each player must resolve the remaining damage against the units of his Battle Force.

#### Procedure

Each Player must allocate damage against his battle force units, to resolve the remaining Damage Points scored by the Opposing Player.

This is based on the defense factors of the units he selects, which account for the combined shields and super structure capacity of the unit - effectively the number of damage points it can absorb before destruction.

Example: USS Enterprise-E is a Sovereign-class Starship with a Defense Rating of 12. This means the USS Enterprise-E has the potential to absorb 12 points of Damage Before it it destroyed.

Each player will apply opposing damage points against his battle force as he sees fit, spreading it among several units or against a single one (note: If there are 10 damage points, and a unit only has a 4 defense rating then that unit is destroyed and the remaining 6 must be allocated to another unit). All Damage Points must be allocated.

**Explanation:** The reason the player allocates the opposing forces damage points is to simulate the tactics and fleet arrangements of their forces. If the players determined what damage they inflicted (outside Direct Damage), it would be obvious they would instantly target the oppositions best units. However, in any true engagement - there would be screening and or defending units for vital units. Likewise, an attacking force could send in lighter units or fighters to lead the charge - while its heavy units attack from afar. As a Result of these considerations, each player inflicts the opposing forces damage against their own battle force. Perhaps a lowly frigate sacrifices itself by taking a barrage of torpedoes meant for the Flagship. Maybe a swarm of Fighters slices into the enemy fleets defenses, getting destroyed by managing to create holes in the enemy fleets defensive formations.

Once Damage Points have been allocated, refer to the Damage results to determine if any negative effects are applicable to a unit that has suffered Damage.

#### Damage

Damage is caused by damage points from the damage allocation phase being applied to the defense rating of a starship. The Higher the percentage the more damage a ship is considered to have, the more damaged a ship is and penalties begin to be applied to the ship.

Damage Levels

0% - No Damage

1-25% - Light Damage

26-50% - Moderate Damage

50-75% - Heavy Damage

76-99% - Crippled

100% - Destroyed

**Light Damage**

Light Damage ranges between 1% and 25%.

Lightly damaged ships have no restrictions to their abilities and the only negative penalty is the damage itself.

**Moderate Damage**

Moderate Damage ranges between 26% and 50%.

Moderate Damage ships have a number of restrictions:

* Moderate Damaged Unit Attack Rating is reduced by 1 to a minimum of 1. (If ship has 0 to begin with it remains 0).
* Moderate Damage Unit are restricted to 5 movement points.

### Heavy Damage

Heavy Damage Range between 51% and 75%.

Heavily damaged ships have a number of restrictions:

* Heavily Damaged Units cannot use Reaction Movement.
* Heavily Damaged Units cannot use Cloaking Device / Cloaked Movement.
* Heavily Damaged Units Cannot use any special equipment, devices or weapons.
* Heavily Damaged Units are restricted to 3 Movement Points.
* Heavily Damaged Unit Attack Rating is Halved, if ratio is less than 1 then the Attack Rating is 0.

### Crippled

Crippled Range between 76% and 99%.
Crippled ships have a number of restrictions:

* Crippled Units cannot use Reaction Movement.
* Crippled Units cannot use Cloaking Device / Cloaked Movement.
* Crippled Units Cannot use any special equipment, devices or weapons.
* Crippled Units are restricted to 1 Movement Point.
* Crippled Units can be Boarded/Captured.
* Crippled Unit Attack Rating is Halved, if ratio is less than 1 then the Attack Rating is 0.
* Hero Characters on a ship that takes Crippled Damage suffer one level of damage.

### Destroyed

Destroyed is 100% damage. This as indicated, means the ship is destroyed. It is removed from the Battle Force and Game.

Hero Character on a ship that has been destroyed suffer the following:

* Hero Character on a ship that has been destroyed automatically takes two levels of damage (above and beyond any suffered previously).
* Hero character has a 1 in 3 change of being Killed outright. The Game Moderator will roll a die (1d6) a result of 5 or 6 means the character was killed during the ships destruction.
* If a Hero character is not killed, they have a 1 in 3 chance of being beamed aboard another friendly vessel before the characters ships destruction. The Game Moderator will roll a die (1d6) a result of 5 or 6 means the character has successfully been beamed aboard another vessel, the player who controls the character can determine which new ship the character is on.
* If a Hero character is not killer, but is also not transferred to another vessel, the character is considered to have abandoned ship and is floating in an escape pod until the end of the battle. If the character's side wins the battle, the character returns to that players active roster (be it injured). If however, the Characters side is defeated or withdrawals/retreats, the character is then captured by the remaining force and becomes a prisoner.

## Additional Combat Rules

### Capturing Ships (Combat)

Capturing a ship is difficult, especially during combat. Not only is there a battle going on, but also the enemy crews are ready to fight and repel boarders.

Capturing a Ship / Boarding Action - can NOT take place in the first Combat Round of a Battle, it can only take place at the earliest the 2nd round if not later.

Capturing a Ship / Boarding Actions can only be attempted against a unit that has been Heavily Damage or Crippled. (Note: see Tholian Webcaster rules for capture attempt using Tholian Webs.).

In order to perform a Capture Ship / Boarding Action - the player must select which of his vessels is attempting to do the Capture Ship / Boarding Action at the start of the Combat turn and which vessel they are attempting to Capture/Board. The boarding ship then has its Attack rating removed from the rest of the Battle Force Combat Potential (does not get included, even though it is part of the battle force and in combat - though the ship is still available for taking damage).

The Combat Round is then progress from Step One to Step Six as per Normal Combat.

Once Damage allocation has been applied to both sides and should the Boarding Vessel and its Target Vessel still remain, then the Capture attempt is processed as follows:

Capture Procedure

1. The Attacking (Boarding) Vessel's Attack Rating is then compared to the remaining Defense Rating of the Defending (Target) Vessel. If the Attack Rating is higher, then the Attacking Vessel has managed to deploy troops onto the defending (target) Vessel and move onto step 2 of capture procedure, if the Attack Rating is lower, then the defender still has defenses in place to prevent boarding and the boarding attempt ends.

2. If Attacking Troops have successfully boarded the target vessel, the Game Moderator rolls one die (1D6). A 1 to 3 roll means the Defending Crew manage to successfully scuttle/self-destruct their vessel, destroying it and the boarding party. Ship is not Captured. A 4 to 6 on the roll means the attacking boarding party managed to secure vital areas and personnel before thee ship could be destroyed. The Ship is captured.

Note: There are racial and character modifiers that can modify the die roll for a capture attempt.

Note: For a character's modifier to be applicable, the character must be on the ship that is attempting the boarding action and any abilities that effected the rest of the Battle Force, no longer apply to the rest of the Battle force while the character is attempting the boarding.

Note: Characters who are part of an unsuccessful boarding attempt automatically take one level of damage.

see Rules: Captured Ships

### Transporters

Though there are a lot of concepts that people might want to deploy using Transporters, they are heavily restricted when it comes to combat.

* Transporters can NOT be used to just beam a crew off a ship and into space.
* Transporters can NOT be used to beam explosives, warheads, toxins onto a ship during Combat (note: In theory something like this COULD be performed as part of a Hero Character Mission, but not as part of Combat.)
* Transporters can NOT be used to beam off/abduct Hero Characters off a ship during combat. (note: In theory something like this COULD be performed as part of a Hero Character Mission, but not as part of Combat.)
* Transporters can NOT be used to beam off components of a starship (ie: Warp Core) during combat. (note: In theory something like this COULD be performed as part of a Hero Character Mission, but not as part of Combat.)