New, optional Slag! systems.
Various optional rules.
A list of ship designs.
A scoop-equipped ship may skim gas giants for fuel.
In order to dip into Gas Giant atmosphere, a ship must have speed of 4
or more (speed, not thrust - drifting is included) and streamlining, or thrust
of 4 and combined Armour/Force Screens rating of 4. Dipping takes one turn
(refill one fuel system for each functioning Fuel Scoop system) during which the
ship is treated as being in atmosphere. Leaving the gas giant requires two
points of thrust.
Ships with thrust of 4 and more may float in upper layers of Gas Giant
indefinitely. Crewed vessels also require a combined Armour/FS/DM rating
of 5 or more, to protect human personnel from the radiation and magnetosphere
of a Gas Giant.
A giant external clamp system, for grabbing other ships.
The maximum size of grabbed ship is the number of Clamp systems, times two.
Size 0 ships cannot be clamped, size 1 and size 2 ships use up one Clamp per
ship, size 3 and size 4 ships use two Clamps per ship, and so on...
Instead carrying multiple, independent thermonuclear warheads, graser
missiles detonate a thermonuclear warhead that energizes a bundle of one-shot
gamma-ray lasers - just like graser mines.
A graser missile hit delivers 4 points of graser damage. Since the
missiles explode further away, they require two hits from point defense
weapons for a successful interception. Nuclear Dampers do prevent graser
missiles from working.
Graser missiles can also wait with their detonation until they're very
close-in, like normal nuclear missiles. However, since they lack
multiple independent warheads of normal Missiles, each hit from a point
defence weapon will take out two of them. Still, if they do get through
point defence, they results are DEVASTATING. The target suffers both normal
Missile damage and a 4 point graser hit. Ouch.
Basically, a spinally mounted railgun. It has a base 'damage' of 1/4 ship's Size (round down). It is almost useless for ship-to-ship combat (it shoots
large projectiles with a speed of 'damage' sectors per round, but has a low
ROF), however, dedicating a Cargo system to Mass Driver provides it with a
supply of thrust 0.1 kinetic energy harpoons - usable against planetary
targets, bases and ships with a thrust of less then 0.1. Harpoons do ramming
damage like size -1 ships, and have 1 point of Ablative Armour (to survive
re-entry when used against planetary targets).
A Mass Driver can shoot Size -1 cargoes (1 box of Size 0 ship, that is, 1 CSP)
with normal speed, Size 0 cargoes with half speed and Size 1 cargoes
with quarter speed.
Using 'Slow Missiles' optional rule straight from the Slag! rules, even
though it makes sense, adds strategical complication and makes bases a
feasible defensive weapon, turns them aganist the Ultimate Weapon of Doom
against No-See Ums, which usually can't pack a Point Defence weapons. Even
though a No-See Um can have enough thrust to avoid just lanuched (or low-tech)
missiles, it wont. The rules do not allow for any defense against missile threat
other then point defense. Also, with Slow Missiles, Sensor rating of the
launching ship is only important for Initiative purposes. In other words, Slow
Missiles always hit. That's a bit weird, IMHO, so I cooked
up this rule:
Missiles have on-board Scout Sensors of 0, and Sensors of -4. If they have a
higher Thrust rating then their target, they get to enter Close Combat for a
+4 Sensor bonus. (If they have a lower Thrust rating, they go in as a
dispersed cloud, to hit the target regardless of its maneuvers)
Missiles may combine to get a hit, just like fighters. Missiles that hit
may be shot down by point defence, missiles that miss are left on the board,
and killing them with point defence fire is done at one-to-two ratio.
Slow Missiles are fast, but their endurance is limited. They have 3 rounds of thrust, 2 if Very Low tech. Optionally, a ship may have a Long Range missile system (LM) - it launches Size Missiles, with a Thrust 2 points lower than standard, but with an Endurance of 12 rounds (8 rounds if VLow Tech).
Since empty fighter bay or hangar is not destroyed, M/SM/SD expenditure
should be marked separately from the 'destroyed/not destroyed' status.
That way, even after launching missiles, the missile launcher can be used to
absorb a hit.
Also, using 'Slow Missiles' rule, the launcher has (Size+2) missile markers
that can be launched separately, in any order.
For point calculation purposes after the end of the scenario expended (as
opposed to destroyed) systems are counted as half the normal amount of points,
and fuel systems are free. (Water/LHyd is cheap)
(An extension of "Slow missiles" optional rule)
Missiles are treated like Size -1 vessels. They are assumed to allocate their
thrust to evastion. They can also sprint and/or sacrifice evasion capability
for speed (see optional rule above).
You CAN shoot at missiles outside of your sector. And if it's a bank of
12 graser missiles, it's a good idea to do so. ;>
Add 1 point to ramming damage for each point of rammer's thrust over the
target's thrust.
Example: Hi-Tech KEM (with a Thrust of 10) manages to get past the point
defence of a Size 6 cruiser with Thrust of 2 and Armour of 3. Standard ramming
rules would indicate that the cruiser takes no damage (Strength 10 hit, -6 for
target size, -1 for KEM size is a Strength 3 hit, which is nullified by
armour). However, kinetic energy of a missile at tens of kilometers per second
will devastate anything, so this is a bit weird. Using new rules, KEM has 8
points of thrust advantage, and the cruiser is damaged by an 8 point hit.
Ouch.
(Note: using this rule, Dogfight missiles have a Thrust of a normal missile,
that is, Dogfight KEMs have a Thrust of 8 at Medium Tech Level.)
Sprinting velocity is treated as effective thrust. KKMs/Drones are thus truly devastating when ramming stuff. (And are really easy to shoot down before they reach their target, so this will be used only against targets that are not capable of defense)
Sprinting is simply vector movement. You can declare any number of
points towards sprinting. This reduces your evasion rating, but the next round,
you will be able to drift this number of sectors. And next round, and next,
and next... To stop drifting, you have to spend appriopriate number of thrust
points (and reduce your evasion rating, of course).
This rule adds some complication to initially simple rules of Slag! (as most
of my optional rules do ;))), but it greatly increases the range of ships.
It also means that ships with fractional thrust will be capable of movement
in tactical timescale - a ship with .5 thrust will be able to change his vector
by 1 in two turns.
I use this rule mainly for the beginning of scenarios with interplanetary
ships - they move onto the playing board with a set vector, say, 4-6 hexes per
round [you can see how many km/s it is in spr to kps conversion table].
The simpler version of this rule is sacrificing
evasion ability for speed:
ships that are moving in straight line can sacrifice evasion for speed -
for each point subtracted from evasion ability (which makes them easier to
hit) they may move one sector more.
In space combat, most of the work is done by computers, but the crew still
has something to say - mainly in tactics and damage control. Crafts manned by
experienced crew will be more effective in combat, but highly trained crews
are not very common - space combat is deadly.
Ship can be manned by Recruits, Green crew, Regular, Veteran or Elite crew.
Regular crew has no modifiers. Each level above or below Regular gives the
ship a pool of two bonus/penalty points, to be distributed along six
categories: Sensors, ECM, Evasion, Initiative, Boarding and Damage Control.
No category can have a bonus higher then +2 (and getting +2 in one category
costs three points from the pool), and you can not assign any penalties to
a category you don't have (for example, Damage Control).
Sensors increase Sensors rating of the ship - pretty simple. ECM works in the
same manner, but increases ECM rating (it still can't increase the ECM bonus
over the Tech Level difference limit).
Evasion and Initiative modify Thrust rating for purposes of evasion and
initative (intuitive, isn't it?).
Boarding modifies strength of on-board Boarding Parties and Intruder Defense
systems. If the ship has no friendly BP/ID systems, it modifies the strength
of attacking BP.
Increasing Damage Control gives you one or two 'free' Damage Control systems
that can not be targeted, but still count against the Size limit of number of
DC systems.
Point costs:
A ship crewed by recruits costs 30% less. A ship crewed by Green crew costs 15%
less. A ship crewed by Regulars costs 20% more and an Elite ship costs 40% more
and is should be included in scenario in order to be bought at all.
An AI-controlled ship should be at least Regular, and can have a third
quality level: Genius. It can't be bought at all, only earned the hard way (see
below). For scenario purposes, it increases the price of the ship by 70%.
Campaign experience:
Simple experience rules: a ship has to go through one real combat (and
participate, not hang around on the edge of the map) to move from Recruit to
Green. To move from Green to Regular, it has to endure three more battles. From
Regular to Veteran - six more, and from Veteran to Elite - twelve more (for a
Green->Elite total of twenty-two battles). An AI can advance to Genius level
after twenty-four more combats.
One month of heavy practice (only training, nothing more), or three months of
normal service (system patrol, customs service etc.), can substitute
for one combat, but only for Regular (or worse) crews.
Size 0 and 1 ships can be unmanned drones, but (unless equipped with an AI)
they are considered Green quality (Sensors and Initiative lowered by 1).
However, using a manned ship for suicide ramming increases its point
value by 100% (so losing a size 0 fighter means losing 2 points, and using
a size 1 manned cutter for suicide mission costs now 8 points).
To reflect long ranges of Traveller weapons, good sensors and high
amounts of IR radiated from ships with powerful weapon and drives, all ships
are (for fire-control purposes) treated as Size+5, and unpowered
(silent-running) ships are treated as Size+0.
Also, in Traveller large ships can have very strong structure that allows
them accelerations of 6G and more. Instead of the 8-size restriction,
Traveller Size 2+ ships can have no more thrust then 5 (VLow and Low
Tech), or 8 (Med and High Tech) - the crew of a big battleship can't take
more than two uncompensated gees. (OK, they can, but each next gee lowers your
Sensor and ECM rating by 1, and no Damage Control is possible.)
Note: AI driven ships have no such limits.
However, to calculate the Hull requirements of the big, fast ship, use
the higher number from Thrust or number of engines, and ignore the (Size+1)
limit of the number of Hull boxes.
That is, a Size 8 Tigress battleship can have Thrust of 6 (just like in
Traveller), but it also needs 10 Hull boxes (1/2 Size plus Thrust of 6).
I don't use Force Screens. Also, High-Tech hulls allow the construction of
faster ships than it's normally possible: the Thrust limit becomes 10-Size
instead of 8-Size. And for mixed-tech design purposes, Hull interacts not only
with Armour, but also with Engines.
High-Tech components can be bought, for *1.5 the normal price, but solely
High-Tech components (ND,AF etc.) are not available.
Low-thrust ships: 0 thrust becomes 0.5 thrust, -1 thrust becomes 0.1 thrust and
-2 thrust becomes 0.01 thrust. Ships with -3 thrust or no working engines are
dead in space.
Also, most of the ships here are generalist designs, because in Real Life,
military hardware designs are a compromise, not
The-Best-Optimized-Combat-Monsters-From-Hell. ;>
Size Classified DM Classified Design Cost Classified is not Sensors Classified available Thrust Classified Armour Classified
Fast combat craft, designed to combat the slowly increasing pirate threat.
Size 3 M DM -1 H Cost 16 (0.9) S DC AA Sensors 4 HG [ H ] HG Thrust 5 L2d [ G5s ] S Armour 6 ------------------ H [ B ] AA 2 small craft SD [ DC ] H 5 Missile counters S PD L2d 2 Sensor Drones A A AM AM
This ship is a general-purpose Systems Defense Boat, designed to be able
to combat both capital ships up to cruiser class (spinal graser) and pirate
ships (point-defence lasers, high thrust), with sensor drones and hangar
space for two multi-purpose Vector-class heavy interceptors.
Vehement-class SDB is a variant equipped with three Fighter Bays
instead of two Hangar Spaces and Missile system, for a total of 6 size 0
combat drones.
Size 1 DM DM -0 H Cost 4 (0.4) SS [P4s] AA Sensors -2 (3) ----------- Thrust 7 [ B ] Armour 2 AM H AM PD
Multi-purpose fast combat craft, able to intercept small ships with dogfight missiles and equipped with a spinal weapon that makes it more than just a nuisance for capital ships. For attacking large craft, the rack of Dogfight Missiles on the nose can be exchanged for Dogfight KEMs.
Size 0(+1) PD Note: This is an unmanned ship. DM -0 DM It has ECM and sensors lowered Cost 1 (0.2) -- by 1 point. Sensors -3 H Thrust 8 AM Armour 0 AM
Fury is a very big, fast and expensive missile that costs 25 megacredits apiece. Against small enemies it will simply release the deadly payload of dogfight nuclear missiles, and against large ships, it will use the cloud of missiles as a cover to ram the target vessel.
Size 4 CL CL CL Note: This ship can clamp on and DM -2 L3d carry up to Size 6 ships. Cost 25 (1.0) S [ H ] S Its engines have a combined Sensors 5 H [ B ] H thrust of 5, so Size 4 ships Thrust 4 ----------- do not reduce thrust, Size 5 Armour 0 S [ JP] HG ships reduce it by one and H [ AP] H Size 6 ships - by two. 2 small craft PD AG PD PD
Helping Eye is a long range DSSAR ship designed to find, retrieve and bring back home damaged and derelict ships. It carries one sensor/support sloop and one rescue/salvage sloop.
Size 1 C DM -0 C Cost 4 (0.4) DC H DC Sensors -4 --------- Thrust 3 SD H SD Armour 0 PD PD
This small craft is designed to support DSSAR in both search and rescue capabilities. It deploys Sensor Drones that enhance DSSAR's chance of finding the distressed ship, and is equipped with damage control and repair supplies to provide necessary repairs to the derelict.
Size 1 B DM -0 H Cost 4 (0.4) SS [L6s] DC Sensors -2/2 PD [ H ] PD Thrust 3 Q Armour 0 C
A small craft for personnel rescue, equipped with a heavy cutting laser (to cut through damaged sections) and a medical bay.
Size 1 C C C Note: Five modular cargo pods DM -0 C (25 metric tons each) for Cost 4 (.4) C a total capacity of 125 tons. Sensors -4 ------- 10 CSP (5 x 2 CSP) Thrust 2 JD H AG Size 0/Thrust 3 with detached Armour 0 AP H cargo pods.
Modular deep space free trader, incapable of atmosphere operations, but with large, unstreamlined cargo pods.
__ Size 1 /SR\ Note: Four modular cargo pods DM -0 | | (20 metric tons each) for Cost 4 (.4) _/ JD \_ a total capacity of 80 tons. Sensors -4 / C AP C \ Thrust 2 /----------\ 8 CSP (4 x 2 CSP) Armour 0 \H C AG C H/ |__|==|__|
Free trader, designed to operate on the frontier worlds, where orbital spaceports are scarce. Uses antigravity engine for environmentally friendly atmospheric operations. Streamlining and 2 gees of thrust mean it can take off vertically from worlds with surface acceleration under 20 m/s^2 and horizontally from worlds with surface acceleration up to 30 m/s^2.
Size 4 C Note: this is a Size 4 civilian DM -1* C C C ship with 10 cargo pods. Cost 25 (1.0) C C C Thus, it has only half the Sensors 4 C C C Damage Modifier of a military, Thrust 1 S H R non-modular ship in the same Armour 0 ----------- size range. H [ ID] H 2 small craft LP [ AC] Q Total cargo capacity is HG [ JD] H circa 1200 metric tons. Size 2, Thrust 3 [ AP] after detaching AG 50 CSP (10 x 5 CSP pods) cargo pods PD
Big 'pusher'-type cargo ship, with 10 cargo pods (120 metric tons each). Carries two small craft, usually a cargo sloop and a fast courier/shuttle. They are streamlined and service planets with no orbital spaceport.
Size 6 C C C C C Note: This is a Size 6 civilian DM -2* C C C C C ship with fifteen cargo Cost 36 (1.2) C C C C C pods. Again, it has only Sensors 5 R [ H ] S half the Damage Modifer of Thrust .5 --------- a comparable military ship. Armour 1 C [ ID] H Q [ AC] LP 4 small craft R [ AP] H Total cargo capacity: H [ JD] HG circa 12 000 metric tons. Size 3, Thrust 3 C AG H without cargo pods A 105 CSP (15 x 7 CSP pods) AM
A giant ship with 17 cargo pods (710 metric tons each) and a hangar for four sloops. A typical Megacorporate design servicing a few worlds with high volume of trade between them.
Size 1(0) EC
DM -0 H
Cost 4 SS [P4s] AP
Sensors -2(3) -----------
Thrust 5 AM [JD ] AM
Armour 0 B
H
Light attack ship, used for eliminating slower escorts. Employs his (hopefully) superior thrust to maneuver into a good firing position. It is a variation on the no-see um theme - it relies on maneuverability and ecm equipment for combat survival: once hit, it's space toast, as any no-see um.
Size 1(0) EC
DM -0 H
Cost 4 SS [P5s] B
Sensors -2(3) -----------
Thrust 7 AM [AP ] AM
Armour 0 H
AM
Same as above, only more. More thrust and better firepower mean a nasty
surprise for system defence forces who had a run-in with marauders and expect
slower and easier to hit raiders. Those who know about fast attack cutters
still have problems figuring them from raiders - they have the same engine
signature, so with reduced thrust they are indistinguishable.
At least the doctrine says so. :)
Size 0 DM DM -0 DM Cost 1 -- Sensors -2 H Thrust 6 AM Armour joke, right? AM
Rather fast and maneuverable fighter. Its attack method to close in while avoiding hits, enter close combat (still avoiding hits, of course), then swarm the target with short range dogfight missiles. Life expectancy among crews is rather low.
Size 3(1) H
DM -1 HG [AP ]
Cost 16 [P7s] EC
Sensors 3(5) S
Thrust 5 L2d FB SS
Armour 0 EC
-----------
H B H
[AP ]
HG
[JD ]
AM H AM
AM
Its main function is carrying fast cutters and fighters into battle. It also occasionally pounces on some unwary escort ship with its powerful particle beam.
Size 1(0) EC
DM -0 JD H AP
Cost 4 [BP ]
Sensors -2 -----------
Thrust 5 [BP ]
Armour 0 B
AM H AM
Unarmed craft, carries boarding parties for taking prizes (arrr, mateys! ;)). Usually hangs aroung map edges, away from combat.
Usually the whole fleet arrives in a tight bunch, if possible about 10
hexes from the targets. It gives attackers some time to deploy ships, and
usually not enough time for targets to do something constructive. :) Light
craft operate in pairs, which enables combined fire. Similarity of engine
signatures and sizes makes for some nice confusion while the opponent tries
to guess which target is which:
if all craft look exactly the same (faster ones at reduced thrust, all small
ones at disengaged ecm, and "Magnitogorsk" at full thrust and full ecm),
weell... :)
Recently, owner of the fleet noticed rather small cargo capacity of his fleet,
which is a bit inconvenient for cargo raiders. This fact, combined with space-
wasting design of fleet (four size 1 ships with jump drives - inefficient) and
some free design points (from recent booties :)) may spell some heavy
redesigning...
This table converts velocity, in sectors per round, to kilometers per second. It assumes 10.000 km long sectors and 10 minute rounds, rounding the result to the nearest good looking number. :))
spr kps spr kps 0.01 0.2 0.05 0.8 0.1 1.7 0.5 8.4 1 17 2 34 3 50 4 67 5 84 6 100 7 117 8 134 9 150 10 166
Please note that at 3 kms, the kinetic energy of a mass is equivalent to the
same mass of TNT. At higher velocities, the 'vee squared' part of kinetic
energy equation takes over.
More fun facts: 1% of lightspeed (0.01 c) is 3000 kms, that is, 180 spr, and
0.1% of lightspeed (0.001 c) is _only_ 300 kms - 18 sectors per round. Three
rounds for a thrust 6+ ship. One hour for thrust 3+ ship.
Since Bill Stripp's Slag! page is no longer with us, I put my copy here, so everybody can see where I got my ideas for Crew Quality rules from. :)
Go back to my home page.