Getting into Battlespace

[Gaifin]

What is the best source of rules for doing space combat? I have played a lot of battletech but just getting my feet wet with Space stuff but not sure where to start.


Thanks for Your Help
Gaifin

[pheonixstorm]

for the current rules, Strategic Operations is what you want. Print copies are getting difficult to find though, so may want to go with the pdf for now. Much cheaper anyway.

[Gaifin]

Thanks for the info. I just got 3057 also and looking at the Texas it don't have the nose weapons or aft where is that info at?




Gaifin

[Liam's Ghost]

The Texas doesn't carry any weapons in its nose or aft arc.

[Gaifin]

lol that don't sound like to much of a good idea, guess that is what the fighters are for  :)

[Weirdo]

Yeah, it's very much a broadside fighter. Keeping scary things off of your centerline is your helmsman's job. :)

[sillybrit]

lol that don't sound like to much of a good idea, guess that is what the fighters are for  :)

The Texas was built by the Star League, and the SLDF was big. Really big. Mutual support for SLDF WarShips was a given and a Texas would almost always be operating in a flotilla with another WarShip, often another battleship. When the SLDF were slightly miffed, they'd probably send a division, adding another four WarShips. If you get them mildly vexed, then you'd perhaps get a full squadron of three divisions to come sugar your tea. By the time they become actually irritated, you're going to be fighting in the shade.

And all that's before their DropShips and fighters introduce themselves.

If any WarShip design can afford to neglect arming its bow and stern arcs, it's a SLDF battleship.

[pheonixstorm]

They just suffer from trench run disease. Just scatter a few dozen fighters about and the drop like flies. Especially when they have very important people on board.

[Tyler Jorgensson]

On a similar idea (I always ask this and forget) where are the rules for creating Warships, Jumpships, and Dropships?

[pheonixstorm]

Strategic Operations for Warships, Jumpships, and Space Stations. Dropships and Small Craft are part of Tech Manual

[Empyrus]

Equipment is found in TechManual and Tactical Operations.
So for constructing WarShips, one needs TM, TO and SO.

[Gaifin]

I was wondering if there is a program to make warships and stuff like that or a book of record sheets out there ?



Gaifin

[Sjhernan3060]

Many moons ago a buddy of mine played bsttlespace or aerotech the box set with the cardboard warship cut outs. Which was that one?

In the new version is there a set which has similar cardstock picies?

[Mendrugo]

The BattleSpace boxed set had folding stand-up rectangular WarShip pieces.  The AeroTech 2 book had a tear-out sheet of square cardboard counters, including some WarShips.

[Giovanni Blasini]

I was wondering if there is a program to make warships and stuff like that or a book of record sheets out there ?



Gaifin

Once upon a time, Records Sheets: Aerotech 2 was published, and went over like a lead balloon, or perhaps a Jade Falcon WarShip ramming a planet.  It's probably been out of print for better than 15 years, and on top of everything else, had lots of issues that needed errata.

For software, I'm pretty sure there are some spreadsheets floating around, but ages ago, the guy who published Heavy Metal Pro did an aerospace equivalent, Heavy Metal Aero, which covered fighters through WarShips. It hasn't been officially updated in years, though it has less official updates to cover more recent weapons, and it has some odd rounding errors that sometimes throw things off a little, but it's good enough for most purposes.  I think MegaMekLab also has aerospace construction options for fighters at least - anyone remember if they added DropShips yet?

[pheonixstorm]

No dropships yet, and it only handles aero. No small craft or conventional fighters. I have thought about adding at least conventional fighters but not well versed in that code to attempt it yet. Even if I do get it coded not sure how long till the devs would look it over and accept it. One of the drawbacks of not being a dev over there :crazy2:

[Sjhernan3060]

so if i want those cardboard pieces i need the box set?

[Mendrugo]

Yes.  The BattleSpace box came with folding pieces and plastic stands for JumpShips, WarShips, fighter squadrons, and DropShips.  The WarShip illustrations are generic, and don't resemble any particular ship classes from TRO:2750 or TRO:3057.

It also comes with asteroid tokens and arrow tokens to mark inertial direction when a ship has spun on its axis and is drifting in a different direction than the nose is pointing.

[Giovanni Blasini]

Wait, I could've sworn it used TR2750 art for the WarShips cutouts, just like the rulebook.

[Mendrugo]

Wait, I could've sworn it used TR2750 art for the WarShips cutouts, just like the rulebook.

The DropShips and JumpShips are accurate, but I can recall looking at the WarShips and being unable to identify them as representing any particular 2750 ship class.  I'm nowhere near my collection at the moment, and can't find a picture of the WarShip counters online.  If anyone else can check and verify?

I felt the art was too generic, and preferred using Star Wars, Star Trek, and Babylon 5 micro machines (all of which came out around the time BattleSpace was released) in lieu of the cardboard counters.

Edit:  I found a low-res picture (attached).  I can't really tell from it if it's anywhere close to a TRO 2750 ship.

[Sjhernan3060]

is battlespace still available with feeling extorted? : )

I am hoping to run a scenario where either Clan Blood Spirit or Hells Horses interfere with the Smoke Jag Annihilation in the Homeworlds. Therefore I need a good amount of proxies for the three way space battle I am hoping to create

[Mendrugo]

Can't provide any links, but eBay has active auctions for under $30, with the cardboard ships included.

[Weirdo]

The Battlespace box is heavily obsolete.

Assuming you already have Total War for the basics of aero combat, you need StratOps for the rules for large craft, and 3057r will get you the ship stats you need.

[Mendrugo]

I think he just wants the cardboard ships.

[Weirdo]

Ah. :)

[Liam's Ghost]

is battlespace still available with feeling extorted? : )

I am hoping to run a scenario where either Clan Blood Spirit or Hells Horses interfere with the Smoke Jag Annihilation in the Homeworlds. Therefore I need a good amount of proxies for the three way space battle I am hoping to create

One can still pick up a print or pdf copy of Aerotech II Revised from the catalyst store, which is significantly closer to current.  I'm pretty sure it has the counters in back (which you could print out if you went the PDF route).

[Sjhernan3060]

Yep I am in it for the hex maps and cardboard pieces so aerotech 2 revised will get me what I need?

[Weirdo]

It won't get you the maps, but it does have cardboard counters in the back, albeit different from the ones in Battlespace.

[Sjhernan3060]

Ok now I am getting somewhere!

So if I am understanding everyone Aerotech 2 revised will have more updated fluff, cardboard stands etc for the canon warships and I can still get this?

What do folks recommend I use for the hexmaps for naval combat?

[Weirdo]

Same maps as you use for ground combat will work fine, especially if you've got the maps with the blank hexed reverse side. The Battlespace maps use slightly larger hexes, but there's no real need for them to be that big.

If you really want your maps to be all space-ey, my advice is to look up other starship combat games that use hexes(such as Federation Commander or Babylon 5 Wars), as they often have a way to buy the maps solo.

Note: The cardboard bits in AT2 are not stands, but flat counters. Figured I'd warn you, in case the 3-D-ness is a big factor for you.