Design Notes:
The intent of these rules is to make Knight Hawks a more realistic game but
still run almost as fast as the original rules. Note, for instance, that
in the original game 1 ADF = 3G. Not only is that an incredibly high
acceleration, completely impossible with the drives used in SF, but it
would plaster the pilots of fast fighters into a thin paste, and that kind
of acceleration in the larger ships would rip the superstructure into
little metal splinters (useful as a suicide bomb or a planetkiller weapon,
I guess...)
And yes, this is HEAVILY influenced by Star Fleet Battles. It's just a bit
more realistic..
Scale: 1 hex = 3333 km, 1 turn = 10 min, 1 ADF/turn = 1G, c = 54000 hexes/turn,
jump speed = 600 hexes/turn. Triple all listed weapon ranges (ie "1 hex"
still equals 10,000 km, or 3 "new" hexes).
Sequence of Play:
A. Repeat each minute:
1. Seeker missiles move & detonate
2. Launch seeker missiles
3. Declare rocket & torpedo fire
4. Ships move if scheduled to do so
5. Ships rotate & thrust
6. Mines detonate
7. Lay mines
8. Fire weapons
9. Resolve rocket & torpedo fire (from step A3)
B. Movement due to gravity & orbits
C. Electrical Fires
D. Repairs
Movement:
Vectored motion is used. To handle this, each ship must record its
velocity in each direction. During each minute, check the speed chart for the
ship's current velocity in each direction and move the ship in that direction
by the number of hexes listed. If a ship has a speed of more than 20 in any
direction, break the speed into as many twenties as possible, moving 2 for each
20, plus the movement listed for the remainder. (Example: A ship is moving at
a speed of 63 hexes/turn. In minute 4, it moves (2+2+2+1=7) 7 hexes.)
Ships can rotate a number of hexsides during each minute equal to their
MR/2 (round up), and can apply a 1 ADF thrust in the direction they are facing
each minute, up to a maximum of their ADF times per turn.
Rate of Fire:
Weapons listed as "Moving Player Only" can be fired at most every other
minute. All other weapons can be fired once every minute.
Seeker Missiles:
Seeker missiles are fired at specific targets, and are directly launched
during step A2 of the sequence of play. When a seeker missile is fired, the
firing ship secretly records which ship the missile is targeted at.
Seekers have an initial velocity of 4 relative to the firing ship in the
direction the launch tube is mounted (almost always forward). They thereafter
move as ships do, with 2 ADF and 2 MR, and enough fuel for 12 ADFs. The firing
ship can move the seeker in any manner desired.
Seekers can be evaded by fighters and assault scouts, or can be destroyed
by a successful weapons hit doing at least 4 HP damage (they have a reflective
hull and a -15% penalty to be shot at due to their size). Naturally, ICMs can
also be used against seekers.
Interstellar Armory (Dr 115):
Stealth (aka Masking Screen, cost = (50,000 + 5,000 * HS) Cr, volume =
50 m^3).
Laser Piston (volume = 20 m^3).
Light Armored Hull (combo of light armor plating + reinforced hull, MHS 3,
cost = (1,500 * HS) Cr, volume = 10% of all available, adds 25% to HP).
Heavy Armored Hull (combo of heavy armor plating + reinforced hull, MHS 6,
cost = (3,000 * HS) Cr, volume = 15% of all available, adds 50% to HP).
None of the other systems in this article are allowed.
Ship Construction:
Hull Size 1: Length/Diam = 15/2 (The original Size 1 Hull is not large
enough to support even the minimum equipment for a fighter)
All Hull Sizes: # of Engines = "# Hatches". Any ship can have a number of
hatches equal to its HS.
Atomic Drives (atomic fission powered): ADF & MR as listed for HS, minus
one point from one or the other (alternating) for each drive less than
the maximum the ship has. If the ship's ADF or MR are reduced below
zero, it needs more engines - it does not get a guaranteed 1 ADF & MR.
Ion Drives (battery/magnetic powered): Calculate ADF & MR as for an Atomic
Drive, then halve the ship's ADF and devote 10% of internal volume to
batteries. Fuel is stored externally.
Chemical Drives: Calculate ADF & MR as for an Atomic Drive, then divide the
ship's ADF by 4. (The entire concept of Chemical Drives needs to be
completely re-written to take into account increasing acceleration as
fuel is burned, but making that simple and playable is not a trivial
task).
Life Support: Replace "mass" with "volume" and "kg" with "m^3". This is
apparently a typo. I can't imagine that they really meant this.
Assault Rockets: Usably by any ships regardless of MR.
Defensive Systems: Swap the cost/volume/MHS stats for Proton and Stasis
Screens.
Limits: Total the Minimum Hull Sizes of all offensive and defensive systems
on a ship. If this total is less than or equal to twice the Hull Size
of the ship, all is well. If it is greater than twice the Hull Size of
the ship, remove some systems. This limit is in addition to the limits
of internal volume. There is no difference between military and
civilian ship designs.
SPEED CHART
min|20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
___|___________________________________________________________
1 | 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - -
2 | 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - - - -
3 | 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - - 1 - - -
4 | 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 - 1 - -
5 | 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 - 1 -
6 | 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 - 1 - - - -
7 | 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 - - 1 - -
8 | 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 - - -
9 | 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - - - - -
10 | 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Last modified: 95May14 09:31