Aftermath Rules

Background

When mankind took its first tentative steps beyond its solar system, it was thought that a new golden age of peace and prosperity had arrived. The fledgling colonies established on nearby worlds thrived and slowly the dominion of man expanded. The discovery of alien ruins renewed hope that mankind was not alone amongst the stars, but it was the Corvus Incident that proved it beyond doubt. The ship was immense, dropping out of FTL right on top of the Corvus Kappa colony. There were no warnings, no demands for surrender: in a matter of minutes the colony was obliterated. Ships fled to Earth, but arrived only hours before the alien vessel itself. Every armed vessel Earth could muster was thrown into the fight, while civilian transports fled to the colonies. Orbital defences and ground to space missiles vied with swarms of drones and advanced weaponry the ships of Earth could not hope to match. In the end, despite the bravery of its defenders, Earth fell to the alien forces and its surface was scoured. Not content with the destruction of its inhabitants, the alien vessel used a weapon of unprecedented destructive power to rip the atmosphere from the world, leaving it a barren wasteland.

Systems

The strength of the colonies is based upon the systems they control, spread out in a roughly circular shape around the homeworld. Some worlds are highly developed, others are little more than frontier outposts barely scraping by. The technology of mankind is sufficient to develop worlds in a surprisingly short space of time, allowing them to expand quickly to meet the challenges ahead.

System Type	Output	Upgrade Cost	Upgrade Time	Defence Factor
Major Core	300	5000		16
Established Core	250	4500		14
Minor Core	200	4000		12
Major Colony	150	3500		10
Established Colony	100	3000		8
Minor Colony	50	2500		6
Stable Colony	0	2000		4
Frontier Colony	-50	1500		2
Peripheral Outpost	-100	1000		1
Uninhabited	0	500		0

The defence factor of a system indicates the relative number of heavy ships required to take the system by force. In general, each supercapital class ship provides one Invasion Point, and the invasion points of a fleet must exceed the systems defence factor to capture it.

Constructions

Small Fortress
A small fortress increases the defence factor of a system by 50% (rounded up). Provides a virtual General Heavy Capital for system defence.
	+ Offensive Weaponry: virtual ship is Interceptor instead
	+ Defensive Weaponry: virtual ship is Defender instead
	+ Superweapon: virtual ship is Hunter instead

Medium Fortress
A medium fortress increases the defence factor of a system by 100%. Provides a virtual General Supercapital for system defence.
	+ Offensive Weaponry: virtual ship is Interceptor instead
	+ Defensive Weaponry: virtual ship is Defender instead
	+ Superweapon: virtual ship is Hunter instead

Large Fortress
A large fortress increases the defence factor of a system by 150% (rounded up). Provides a virtual General Flagship for system defence.
	+ Offensive Weaponry: virtual ship is Interceptor instead
	+ Defensive Weaponry: virtual ship is Defender instead
	+ Superweapon: virtual ship is Hunter instead

Subcapital Shipyard
Produces up to 5 subcapital ships at a time.
	+ Expanded Bays: capacity increased to 10

Light Capital Shipyard
Produces up to 4 light or subcapital ships at a time.
	+ Expanded Bays: capacity increased to 8

Medium Capital Shipyard
Produces up to 3 medium, light or subcapital ships at a time.
	+ Expanded Bays: capacity increased to 6

Heavy Capital Shipyard
Produces up to 2 heavy, medium, light or subcapital ships at a time.
	+ Expanded Bays: capacity increased to 4

Supercapital Shipyard
Produces a single supercapital, heavy, medium light or subcapital ship.
	+ Expanded Bays: capacity increased to 2
	+ Flagship Upgrade: Can manufacture a single Flagship class ship (only 1, even with expanded bays)

Small Observatory
	Detect alien vessels in adjacent hexes.
Medium Observatory
	Detect alien vessels within two hexes.
Large Observatory
	Detect alien vessels within three hexes.

Research Facility
	Performs research and development. Only one is required per empire.

 

Starships

Ships have two basic defining attributes: their class which is a measure of their relative size and power, and their role which defines how they perform relative to other ships in their class.

Interceptor

Armed with fast-tracking turrets, these ships are designed to take on fast enemies but their weapons lack the punch to take on heavier opponents. They have a bonus when fighting ships of a smaller class, but a penalty when fighting ships of a larger class.

General

The basic class of warship: they suffer no penalties but also have no bonuses. They can adapt to fulfil any battlefield role, but excel at none. Their main advantage lies in this flexibility, as they cannot be pinned down by ships without being able to retaliate properly.

Hunter

Armed with heavy weapons, rarely turreted and often axially mounted on larger ships, these warships have one goal in mind: annihilating enemy capital ships. They have a bonus when fighting ships of a larger class, but a penalty when fighting ships of a smaller class.

Scout

These ships are intended to find new resources and new jump routes. If a fleet containing a scout enters a system, all unexplored jump lanes leading out of it are revealed. In addition, scouts provide advanced sensor information and countermeasures. Scouts provide Intelligence points based on their class (1 for strike craft, 2 for subcapitals, 4 for light capitals, 6 for medium capitals, 8 for heavy capitals, 10 for supercapitals and 20 for flagships). The side with the highest Intelligence score has a small bonus in combat over the side with the lower intelligence score. Scouts do not generate Invasion points.

Defender

Sacrificing heavy firepower for additional armour, these vessels anchor formations and draw enemy fire by their simple refusal to die. While they may not dish out as impressive a broadside as their counterparts, they can take punishment that would cripple less well armoured ships.

Carrier

These ships are armoured but lightly armed. Their battlefield strength comes from their ability to deploy swarms of strike craft against enemy formations. These ships are vital for empires that deploy large strike craft formations, as strike craft cannot move at FTL speed under their own power. Carriers do not generate Invasion points.

Transport

These ships are intended for the movement of materials from A to B. They can be modified to fulfil a number of roles, as indicated below. They are lightly armed and armoured, and should be kept away from the front-line wherever possible. Transports do not normally generate invasion points.

Transport Roles

When constructed, a Transport ship can be assigned to any role. It can thereafter be changed to a new role on any turn, provided it does not move or engage in combat, and is within a system controlled by you. There is no cost for switching roles. Note that if you issue orders to change a transports role, and the fleet is then engaged in combat, the role change will be aborted. The new role takes effect in the following turn.

Supply Transport

A supply transport allows you to spend a number of supply points equal to its cargo capacity in the system, as though it were a system you owned. Resupplying a large fleet in the field will require numerous transports.

Troop Transport

A troop transport has been refitted to undertake planetary invasions. A number of troop transports working together can generate Invasion Points. It takes one supercapital, two heavy, four medium, eight light or sixteen subcapital ships to generate one invasion point. A flagship generates two invasion points.

Carrier Transport

The hangar bays of a transport can be used as an adhoc base of operations for strike craft. Since they lack the armament, armour and specialised equipment of true carriers, they are not as useful in the front-line, but carrier transports can be used to rapidly move strike craft around behind the front line, or to reinforce fleets that have lost their own carriers until replacements are ready.

Q-Ship

An idea long pre-dating the space age, Q-Ships are armed transports usually interspersed with ordinary transports as part of a convoy. They can also be used to bolster a systems defence, providing a modicum of firepower until dedicated warships can arrive to push the enemy back. Q-Ships have the armament of a General warship of their class, but lack the armour to go with it and so are more fragile. A supercapital Q-Ship generates an invasion point.

Ship	Class	Role	Cost	Build Time	Support	Cargo	Hangar
Interceptor Wing	Strike Craft	Interceptor					
Fighter Wing	Strike Craft	General					
Bomber Wing	Strike Craft	Hunter					
Unmanned Probes	Strike Craft	Scout					
	Strike Craft	Defender					

Ship	Class	Role	Cost	Build Time	Support	Cargo	Hangar
	Subcapital	Interceptor					
Corvette	Subcapital	General					
Monitor	Subcapital	Hunter					
Scout	Subcapital	Scout					
Ironclad	Subcapital	Defender					
Escort Carrier	Subcapital	Carrier					10
Courier	Subcapital	Transport				20	(5)

Ship	Class	Role	Cost	Build Time	Support	Cargo	Hangar
	Light Capital	Interceptor					
Frigate	Light Capital	General					
Destroyer	Light Capital	Hunter					
Explorer	Light Capital	Scout					
	Light Capital	Defender					
Light Carrier	Light Capital	Carrier					20
Light Freighter	Light Capital	Transport				40	(10)

Ship	Class	Role	Cost	Build Time	Support	Cargo	Hangar
	Medium Capital	Interceptor					
Light Cruiser	Medium Capital	General					
Strike Cruiser	Medium Capital	Hunter					
Surveyor	Medium Capital	Scout					
	Medium Capital	Defender					
Medium Carrier	Medium Capital	Carrier					40
Medium Freighter	Medium Capital	Transport				80	(20)

Ship	Class	Role	Cost	Build Time	Support	Cargo	Hangar
	Heavy Capital	Interceptor					
Cruiser	Heavy Capital	General					
Heavy Cruiser	Heavy Capital	Hunter					
Research Vessel	Heavy Capital	Scout					
Armoured Cruiser	Heavy Capital	Defender					
Heavy Carrier	Heavy Capital	Carrier					80
Heavy Freighter	Heavy Capital	Transport				160	(40)

Ship	Class	Role	Cost	Build Time	Support	Cargo	Hangar
Battlecruiser	Supercapital	Interceptor					
Battleship	Supercapital	General					
Dreadnought	Supercapital	Hunter					
	Supercapital	Scout					
	Supercapital	Defender					
Fleet Carrier	Supercapital	Carrier					160
Bulk Hauler	Supercapital	Transport				320	(80)

Ship	Class	Role	Cost	Build Time	Support	Cargo	Hangar
	Flagship	Interceptor					
	Flagship	General					
	Flagship	Hunter					
	Flagship	Scout					
	Flagship	Defender					
	Flagship	Carrier					320
	Flagship	Transport				640	(160)

Research

Research and development is largely limited to the unlocking of alien technologies, and perhaps the discovery of a means to resettle the Earth. The GM will inform you of what technologies are available and how long they will take to unlock. There is generally no cost to research things, but you may need to build prototypes before you can put alien designs into full-scale production.

Unique Traits

Each empire has a unique trait, defined by discussion with the GM. This provides an advantage in a particular area over other empires, but should not be heavily overpowered. These traits are not technologies, though they may represent a particular technology the empire possesses, and so cannot be developed by other empires. If the trait is one affecting ships then it will stay with the ship if it is subsequently transferred to another empire’s control.

System Raids

If a fleet contains insufficient forces to capture a system, it may instead raid the system for resources. The fleet must possess sufficient ships to intercept enemy shipping, represented by Raid Points. A light capital generates one raid point, a medium generates two, heavies generate four, supercapitals generate eight and flagships generate sixteen. Carriers and Carrier Role transports generate raid points at half this rate, while scouts and all other transports (except Q-Ships) do not generate raid points. The raid points of a fleet is the total resources they can divert to their own empire, up to a maximum of the systems total output.