Star Trek Sim, Rules and Guidelines

[Lt. Staplic]

here's a question I have....

say I build an H-Class ship in the shipyard on planet yourmom, but I don't have a fleet stationed at yourmom, where does that H-Class ship end up? do I decide which fleet to send it to, does it mothball until then?

[BigJKU316]

here's a question I have....

say I build an H-Class ship in the shipyard on planet yourmom, but I don't have a fleet stationed at yourmom, where does that H-Class ship end up? do I decide which fleet to send it to, does it mothball until then?

Good question. In a bit of handwaiving you can deploy them to any fleet that has an unbroken line of supply to its logistical base so long as that fleet is not moving that turn. If the base comes under blockade or someone gets between that and your fleet you are cut off and have to clear things out before you can send new ships to that fleet. If you are moving towards the enemy new ships can't catch you either.

I had thought about putting in a system to track deployment of new ships, but it just becomes a mess and really once things are going it makes little difference. If I delay everything a year there is just a one year lag so you are still getting the same things every year.

[Lt. Staplic]

okay, so do we just message you with where we want them deployed upon completion, or do we just add them to the fleet the next turn?

[BigJKU316]

okay, so do we just message you with where we want them deployed upon completion, or do we just add them to the fleet the next turn?

I add them to your Starships section when I send you your new report and then you can deploy them as you see fit.

[BigJKU316]

A grabbag of questions I have answered.

1) Can I R&D new weapons and design a ship for them at the same time?

Yes. Just input all the numbers for both the ship and your desired weapon increases and I will modify your sheet to use the new weapons numbers on the ship. You get the ship when whichever portion that takes the longest is done.

2) What determines my torpedo rate of fire for each tube?

This number is taken from the DITL numbers for rate of fire. You can find them under the fleets tab and the fleet strength introduction. Whatever your race has as its max rate of fire is what is used here. When you design a ship the simplest way to figure out its rate of fire is to use only your best tubes and just multiply that rate of fire time the number of tubes.

3) What if I trade for a technology, how does it get deployed?

That really depends on a case by case thing. In the series you see cloaking devices installed basically without support, like you are just plugging in a lamp. On the other hand many races seem to have struggled with things like Quantum Torpedoes and rapid fire launcher so that might be harder to integrate.

In general if it is for ships you will get a cost to do the work and to do it you will have to refit the ship (ie take it out of service for a year).

[BigJKU316]

Ok, I wrestled with this for most of the drive home and this is the best solution I can come up with.

A lot of people want to upgrade ships they already have. This is reasonable. The hard part for it is this. You can't just wave a wand and upgrade your whole fleet, that makes no sense. It takes time to do it. There were two options for how to do it. One was to have a whole new sheet to track the changes you are making to existing ships. I don't want to do that.

So here is my simple way to do it and a how to.

1. I want to improve ship design X by increasing its speed, weapons, shields, ect. How do I do it?

Step 1- Pull up the ship in the DITL ship strength calculator. Make the changes you wish to make.
Step 2- Input the changes into the spreadsheets R&D section.
Step 3- The Mass of the ship must be equal to the previous model.

This will produce a cost and time frame to develop the improved design. Once that is done the following rules apply.

Rule 1- You must activate a production line to make the new model of the ship. It will be called Excelsior Mk II or something like that.

Rule 2- To change existing ships to the new variant you simply place them in refit/rebuild in their fleet status. It takes one year to do the work.

Rule 3- You may refit up to 3 times the number of ships you are building new. If you are building 12 of the new types you can refit 36 each year.

Rule 4- If you are not building the original version of the ship still, you cannot upgrade the old ones. So if the Excelsior is out of production you can't upgrade them any longer.


If anyone has questions or a better suggestion let me know. This is designed to let you do upgrades but make it take just a little bit of time.

[BigJKU316]

I wanted to clarify why logistical bases for fleets are important. Originally these were unwritten additions to the battle rules just for my benefit but I don't want to spring it on anyone as a surprise and have someone get mad, so here it is supplementing what is in the first set of battle resolution rules.

Figuring out a LOC is simple. Draw a straight line from your fleet to its logistical base.

Battles where both sides have unobstructed Lines of Communication with their logistical base

Battles will be resolved by rolling a 100-sided dice. The comparative combat power of each side is added, modification for orders are considered and each side gets their proportion. Say we have a fleet of 100,000 power vs one of 50,000 power with no particularly brilliant orders to modify it and it is a meeting engagement in empty space.

The 100,000 power fleet is the winner if the dice rolls 1-66. The 50,000 fleet is the winner if the dice shows 67-100. To add another layer to it if the 100,000 fleet rolls 13 or less (20% of their possible numbers) they have a major victory. If they roll 14-53 it would be a victory (60% of possible). 54-66 is a minor victory.

The 100 sided dice is then rolled again to determine damage. If you scored a major victory you destroy 50% and damage 80% of whatever the dice roll comes in at. So if it rolls a 60 then you would have destroyed 30% of the other fleets combat power and damaged 48% of it. Using the same dice roll your casualties are computed using a percentage based on the outcome to figure lost and damaged ships.

Final totals will be modified a bit up or down based again on your orders and other objective conditions. If you have a fleet of ships that max at Warp 8 and lost badly to a fleet with ships capable of warp 9.5 and the other side ordered their ships to pursue you to the end, they will do just that and your losses will be higher. If you are faster then your losses would be a bit lower than the die rolls would have allowed since you can get away.

Modification if one side is cut off from the Lines of Communication

First, there are two ways you can can get cut off from your lines of communication. The first is leaving a major world within 10 LY's of your line of communication in the possession of your opponent. This is assumed to be the maximum distance at which runabouts and fighters could impeed the flow of supplies to your fleet.

The second is if an enemy fleet moves in between your force and its logistical base.

Once either of those happens your fleet is deemed cut off. This in and of itself is not bad, but it does impose a couple of conditions.

1. You cannot deploy new ships to this fleet.
2. You cannot transfer ships from another fleet to this fleet.
3. In the event of a battle all your damaged ships are considered lost as they cannot get back to a starbase for repairs.
4. After one battle your strength will be reduced between 10-40% due to inability to get more torpedoes, phaser coils and shield emitters to replace those damaged and expended in battle.

Most of the time you would not want to operate under these conditions. However there are times it might makes sense to conduct a deep strike on say an enemy shipyard, kind of like what the Breen did against Starfleet. Just keep in mind, they lost pretty much every ship that attacked Earth. Once you get in, it can be a long way out.

[BigJKU316]

There are three types of trade in the game. Below is a guide for how to do each.

1. A special trade.

If you want to sell a ship, technology, planet, citizens/slaves ect to another power simply negotiate a price and let me know. It will be added to both players sheets in the admin adjustment column.

If you buy foreign ships it is necessary to refit them (basically to replace all the consoles with something your people can read and make use of) so it will take a year to make them active in your fleet.

2. Trade of specialized industrial materials.

This is where you trade the things you need to make ships. Essentially you subcontract to another power to make certain thigns for your ships so that you can produce more without expanding your production domestically. Again, simply negotiate a price for a given amount of production (KT/yr) and I will add it to your sheet.

3. Trade Agreements

This is where you execute a broad trade agreement with another power and is the simplest way to increase your trade income. The basics are pretty simple. First and foremost. THERE ARE NO MERCHANT SHIPS IN THE GAME. They are simply assumed to exist. You need not order ships anywhere and military ships cannot engage in trade.

a. Your income sheet will now list an allotment of trade points. This represents tradeable goods from your empire. These are what you trade with someone.
b. You negotiate a trade agreement with another power to say import 200,000 units a year while you export 300,000 units to them. This increases your economy and you earn income based on your prevaling tax rate as your citizens earn and spend more.
c. From time to time one party can and will pay a fee to trade with another power. If this is part of your agreement enter the per year fee as well. If you are paying, enter it as a negative number.
d. Select a trade gateway. This is basically where all the freighters of the foreign power go and drop things off, so it can be distributed to the rest of your empire. Logically it would be near your border with that power. If either gateway comes under blockade then trade income is stopped.

Beware to some extent. Merchant ships talk a lot. People will find out more about you if you trade. But it also draws powers closer together. There are benefits and drawbacks to trade. Just consider that you are basically inviting the other power into your space and act accordingly.

[Tsukiyumi]

Looking forward to the update.

Will this start next turn, or this one?

[BigJKU316]

Looking forward to the update.

Will this start next turn, or this one?

It will be for the 1st 1 year turn.

[Tsukiyumi]

Cool.

[BigJKU316]

Replaced, see below

[BigJKU316]

A brief note on how intel operations work.

You give me a list. For each operation I run a list of random numbers. Say they come up as follows

30
43
18
53
2
34
16

I track those turn to turn with each operation. When your total gets over 90, the operation begins to generate information.

Counter-Intelligence detracts from those numbers. If you select counter-intel and say communications intel from one power than whatever you roll counts against their effort at any type of communications intel. If you select black ops it works the same way.

If you drive an operation below 0 with counter intel it is considered burned and you get to to use it the next turn to feed mis-information to your opponent.

If you stop paying for an operation, it starts over. You points are cumulative but cap at 100. The floor is zero.

[BigJKU316]

Piracy Issues- Happens when protection of trade ships in given area is
insufficient or missing.

1. Localized Pirates- 5% of income on given trade route for 2 turns.
2. Targeted Raids- 15% of income on all of a powers trade routes for 5 turns.
3. Plague of Pirates- 50% of trade income for a power, 25% GDP loss
no internal supplies move.

Raiders- Attacks on planets that are undefended

1. Criminal- 50% loss of planets GDP contribution for that turn.
2. Viking- 100% loss of planets GDP contribution for that turn, 50%
next turn. 10% population reduction on planet.
3. Mongol- 200% loss of planets GDP contribution for that turn, 100%
next turn, 50% following turn. 30% population reduction on planet.

Organized Crime- Black Markets that emerge in heavily taxed
economies/war scarcity

1. Street Gangs- 2.5% of empire income lost
2. Organized Crime- 5% of empire income lost
3. Crime Sydicates- 10% of empire income lost

Private Militia- Formed by threatened citizens who feel the central
government does not protect them.

1. Simple Training- 5% of citizens form into militia troops but take no action.
2. Open Action- Uncontrolled attacks on "enemy"
3. Indiscriminate Hostility- Attack anyone against their cause, central government or external

Military Revolt- Formed when the military thinks you are not doing
what you should be doing.

1. Planning Stages- Talks among officers.
2. Mid-level- 10-25% of forces start acting independently.
3. Widespread- 50-75% of forces being efforts to replace government.

Civil Revolt- Formed during unpopular/losing wars, long periods of
high tax with no return/general incompetence.

1. Tax Revolt- GDP reduced 15%
2. Work Revolt- Production stops on military items
3. Violent Revolt- Population moves against military, 25% of populace
becomes militia.

[BigJKU316]

Tactical Combat Rules

If both players consent this is how combat will be resolved.

There are three types of engagement, depending on how contact was made.

Meeting Engagement- Both forces meet, knowing the other force is coming and combat ensures. Everyone deploys along their back 1/3rd of the map.

Assault- The Defending force can deploy along 1/2 of the map. The attacking force must in its 1/3rd of the map.

Ambush- One force is caught by surprise by a force it did not expect. You do not get to move on turn 1 if you are ambushed and can only return fire. If you are the ambushing force you can deploy along 2/3rds of the map.

Essentially you can sub-divide your fleet or task force (whatever is engaged) however you choose. This is the part that is up to the players. For you to subdivide you are going to have to give me a breakdown of unit types in each group and figure the combat power (and break it into an overall/torpedo category) for each group you are using in a tactical situation.

YOU MAY HAVE NO MORE THAN 16 SUBGROUPS. NO EXCEPTIONS.

EACH SUBGROUP MUST CONTAIN NO MORE THAN 8 SHIPTYPES. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Each hex is 50,000 KM.

Turn Structure

Turns will now be broken down into two phases.

Movement Phase

Move-You can go move to any adjacent, unoccupied hex. You are allotted 3, 5 or 7 moves per sub-group per turn depending on the manoeuvrability rating of each group. Highly rated groups move more. Low rated groups move less. Changing facing cost one movement point for each hex faced turned. (IE I want to go from facing due North to due South, this is 3 faces to turn so it takes 3 movement points). You can only move in the direction of facing.

Retreat- If you wish to retreat certain units from the map you may do so by moving them to the edge of the map side from which you started and waiting one full turn to jump to warp. If your enemy is faster than you at warp you must keep them from reaching your backline of the map for two full turns or your forces will be placed back on the map, facing the wrong way as they will be run down by the opposing force. This basically means you have to dedicate a force to holding the enemy off.

There is no provision for going to warp within a battlefield. Movement is completed and then attack orders will be given. Cloaks cannot be used once the tactical phase is entered. They can only be used to ambush an enemy fleet beforehand.

Cloaking- If you have cloaking devices you may cloak a group only so long as it has NO DAMAGED SHIPS within the group. Cloaking takes one whole movement and tactical phase where you may not fire your weapons or otherwise move. All units start either cloaked or uncloaked. Once cloaked your chances of being detected are based on the range to the nearest enemy unit. I will generate a random number between 1 and 20. If you are 1 hex away then your chance of being detected are 10/20. If you are 2 they are 9 out of 20 and so on out to 10 hexes. Beyond 10 hexes the chance is always 1 out of 20. If you are detected you can be targeted and unless you have cloaks that operate while you are shielded you will take damage against your armor only.

Tactical Phase

Attack- Pick an enemy target and open fire. Torpedoes are given a range of 1 Million KM, though their accuracy increases greatly as you close distance. Beam weapons are useful from 300,000 on in and your combat rating will be figured by adding your Torpedo and Beam ratings together.

Attacks are stackable which means that if three of your groups attack one enemy group it is all resolved as one combat action with the combined rating of your forces against their one.

When figuring damage each attack ordered is considered a separate event. Your forces now take no damage when attacking, except in Melee combat where both units target one another until someone breaks.

To determine the result of an attack your attack rating is totalled against the opponent's defensive rating for the targeted group. A random number, 1-100 is generated and based on the offensive vs defensive ratings three break points are calculated. If two forces had equal strengths in these two areas an attacker will win if the roll is less than 50 and achieve major victory if the roll is less than 10. The defender will achieve victory if the roll is more than 50 and a major victory if the roll is more than 90.

A defender achieving victory does not mean that no damage is taken.

To determine damage a damage roll is then done on the same 1-100 scale, with 100 being the highest. This is modified by ranges (different tables for both Torpedo and Beam range combat) and the result. For example a 50 damage roll during a beam battle at 200,000 km would destroy 3% and damage 5% if the target achieved a regular victory. The same 50-damage roll would destroy 15% and damage 30% if the target had suffered major defeat. In a torpedo battle at 500,000 km a major defeat would only lead to 8% and 15% being destroyed. If you were in a melee battle at close range a defeat would destroy 40% of your ships and damage 80% of them due to the tight quarters you were fighting in.

In short, the situation determines a great deal about the amount of damage you are able to do. Even high damage rolls during long range torpedo exchanges won't do decisive damage.

Each turn you get a report of damage. There are combat bonuses and penalties for the following.

Flank attack- If you are able to attack from the flank (defined as not directly to the rear of the enemy but behind the direction they are facing and the two adjacent hex faces to that) you get a 25% bonus to your combat power.

Rear attack- If you are able to attack from the rear quarter (directly behind enemy orientation) you get a 50% bonus to your combat power.

Combined attack- If you gain the bonus of a flank or rear attack it applies to the whole group that is involved in the attack.

Flagship attack- You can order your group to target the flagship of the enemy. Your combat power is reduced by 50% for this specialized targeting but your chances of taking out the flagship triple (normal chances are figured by taking the number of ships destroyed and dividing it by the total in the group so if the group has 50 ships and 10 are destroyed it has a 1 in 5 chance of being destroyed). If you take out the flagship your enemy loses the ability to issue movement commands for 1 turn while command is switched to another ship.

Melee- If two units occupy adjacent space a commander may order their forces to enter a Melee in which all ships press to point blank range. At this point it becomes impossible to disengage except for retreat or rout of one of the two units involved. Any unit attempting to attack the two units in the melee must also enter that state.

Retreat- If you order a unit to retreat from Melee it will move at maximum speed to your side of the battle map. Once there it must wait one whole turn before jumping to warp. During that time it has an effective combat rating of 10% its total and will take heavy losses. You can do this to get out of a melee not going your way.

Rout- If a unit loses 50-75% of its units there is a chance it will rout with every ship making a mad break for its own safety. Klingon, Breen and Dominion ships will not rout under any circumstance (though this is not always a positive as routing preserves ships for later use that otherwise would be destroyed) Other powers have different chances of doing so based on their cultural standing.


Other Issues

When you issue your next round of movement orders you have one major decision to make. Will you send your damaged ships to the rear or will you have them soldier on and fight with you. Damaged ships fight at 50% of the combat power of undamaged ones. In any combat rounds that follow if you were to have more ships damaged those ships will be destroyed. So if you have 8 damaged ships with you and the result states 10 more were damaged then those 8 will be destroyed and you will have 2 damaged ships.

This will vastly increase your losses. You can mitigate that by sending the ships to the rear. If you win the battle or are able to successful retreat from the battle the sub-group to which those ships belonged you can repair them and use them again later. But you lose the firepower those damaged ships could have contributed.


Special Units

Starbases- Starbases are represented by a cluster of icons. They have no facing and may direct all their combat power in any direction at any time. Thus they may not be flanked. However the combat power of all units firing upon a starbase in a given turn are totalled together. Depending on the type of starbase its combat power will be reduced each time it is engaged and loses, until it is destroyed.


Other Considerations

Each ship class will now has a "weapon facing" classification. For forward facing, like Klingon ships are designed, then you will attack at 150% your rated output on targets directly in front of your group (ie I can go straight along a line of hexes in the direction of your facing to the target). You will attack at 125% on targets 1 hex off that line to either side.

If you select all around weapons for that class then that ship suffers no penalty on flank attacks and only a 25% penalty on attacks from the rear.

This should give the battles more of a distinct feel. Just be warned that if you mix ships of the two types within your fleet they need to stay in different battle groups in the battle or you get no bonus at all. Most fleets should have a distinct feel to them. Almost all Federation designs other than the Defiant are all around types. All Klingon ships and Cardassian ships were forward biased ships.




Mines

Mines will now be available to deploy on the battlefield in certain, limited circumstances. Essentially available only to defenders and only when a fleet is present they are designed more to control the routes of advance for an enemy than to really destroy a large number of ship. They can only be deployed by a fleet defending against an assault of a system, otherwise space is simply too big thus are of no use in meeting engagements or ambushes in deep space.

Mines come in two types.

Regular Mines- Visible on sensors and thus not displayed on the map these type mines cost 50,000 per hex.

Cloaked Mines- Not visible on sensors and thus not displayed on the map these type of mines cost 100,000 per hex, you can only deploy these if you have developed cloaking technology.

Deployment Rules- You can deploy 2 sets of mines for every week your fleet has been present at the location it is defending without opposition. You can deploy no more than 10 sets of mines at any time on the map.


Mines do little damage to high-end warships. They mostly prevent enemy ships from moving through the hex until they are cleared. If your unit runs over mines it takes the following tactical turn and the next movement turn to destroy them. During that time the unit can do nothing else.

Cloaked mines are not always the best option either. If your goal is to force the enemy into a certain portion of the map regular mines are likely cheaper and more effective at this.