War In Space (Pt 1)

I've been developing a set of homebrew space combat miniatures rules for a year now.  Playtesting began in earnest six months ago and I am now comfortable enough with the game to transfer it from my notebook to this blog.  I designed this game for myself.  Therefore it has things I've always enjoyed or wanted to see in other space games (fog and friction, cinematic play, energy allocation) and avoids things I didn't ("real" vector movement, overly-complex ship design, aliens with cosmetic blemishes on their foreheads).  The game also features compromises, but compromises I was comfortable with.  In short it may not be the perfect space game out there, but it's the perfect game for me.  I'm posting because maybe someone out there shares my tastes in spaceship gaming and will appreciate another free game system.   


War In Space uses written orders in the form of standard playing cards.  The cards represent how a starship captain intends to allocate his vessel’s energy.  A dice roll determines whether sufficient energy gets produced and correctly distributed to meet the commander’s intent.  Damage from enemy attacks changes the type of dice rolled, reducing the average amount of energy produced, and may even prohibit certain cards from being played.
 
Scale: Fairly abstract.  In addition to scratchbuilt ships, I occasionally use ADB SFB miniatures, but any starship scale works.  The game is designed for models to represent individual capital ships.  Planets, stars, asteroids and such can be represented on the table, but obviously are not to scale.  I use a 1.5m by 2.25m piece of black vinyl (with appropriate painted star background) as my playing surface.

Scope: War in Space is a game of interstellar ship-to-ship combat, inspired by the “World War I U-boat” style featured in shows like Star Trek.  The game supports small engagements, roughly 2-10 vessels per side, depending on ship crew experience.  Rules for space fighters attacking larger vessels don’t exist, but you can play fighter v. fighter battles using the basic rules.  

Materials Needed:
•    Miniatures
•    Terrain (playing mat/surface)
•    Scenics (if desired)
•    Polyhedral dice
•    Standard playing card decks for each player
•    Ship Design Sheets (SDS)
•    48” wooden dowel
•    Numbered markers
•    Small cylindrical markers

The following polyhedral dice are the minimum required: three 4-sided, three 6-sided, three 8-sided, three 10-sided, and three 12-sided.  I recommend five of each type.
Cut the dowel rod down to 1 meter; retain the smaller piece.  The larger of the two dowels is the range stick.  Mark six bands on the range stick, with the separations at 5cm, 10cm, 20cm, 35cm, and 60cm.  The smaller dowel can be used as a movement stick.  Mark four bands on the movement stick, with the separations 5cm apart (one band will be smaller; ignore it like the unmarked part of a ruler or cut off this excess).
I use polymer clay to quickly make small white plastic discs which I then label with a marker.  I mark about 30-40 of them with various numbers in black ink, to represent speed.  I mark another 30-40 or so with numbers in red to represent energy for weapon charging and firing.  I mark another 30-40 or so with numbers in green to represent energy for defense.  Finally, I mark another 10-15 or so with numbers in black and a small curved arrow symbol to represent energy for tight turns.  Mark both sides with different numbers and you double your number of available counters.

Next up: the Ship Design Sheet.  Stay tuned...