Slag! Strategies, Tactics, and Notes

©1996 Neil Asato
(asato@cris.com)

OVERVIEW

Slag! is in some ways the space ship supplement of SpaceTime/ 
TimeLords. In fact, SpaceTime mentions it. The difficulty with 
relating it to rules on a humanoid scale is that it all qualifies as a 
megaforce level equipment.

This document is divided into two basic parts. The first part deals
with the techniques for optimized ship design, strategy and tactics 
within the game itself.  The second part covers the campaign 
aspects for relating the game to SpaceTime/TimeLords/CORPS 
campaigns.

The first part can be considered to cover the military aspects of
space travel, while the second part covers the social / political /
commerce / civilian aspects of space travel.  In both sections, 
variants and opinions will be included.

Most of the information given here is for the first edition game.  I
have treated the information for the 2nd edition (Given on July 10, 
1996) as variants/optional information for the purposes of this 
article.  This has the advantage of showing how changes in rules 
causes a shift in design strategies and optimization.


LAYOUT NOTE
When ships are described, I will not have a drawing of the ship. 
Instead, I will use a simple list that expands on the basic summary 
stats listing normally given.  It would appear as follows:

Name(Tech level):
Design type:
Size/Effective Size:
Damage Mod.:
Systems/Cost:
Sensors:
Thrust/Max. Thrust:
Armor/Force Screens:
Special Defense:
Weapons:
Front:
Front Internal:
Front Core:
Side:
Rear Internal:
Rear Core:
Rear:
Notes:

Name is just the name of the ship/base model. Tech level is the tech
level that it was constructed (note that different tech levels has
significant effects on the stats).

Design type refers to whether it is a ship, a planet/moon base, or a
space base type of design.

Size is as per rules.  Effective size is when systems like electronic
countermeasures or artificial intelligence are active.

Damage Mod., Systems/Cost, Sensors are as per normal rules.

Thrust is as per normal rules.  Max. Thrust is used when fusion
torches are used for double thrust option.

Armor/Force Screens are as per normal rules.

The remainder stats will just list the system codes that are
appropriate in the that stat.  There will be some overlap, since 
weapons and special defenses will have to have some location.


MILITARY NOTES

Note that not all systems will be commented on.

Size Effects
Designs will normally be in system units of 5.  This will maximize 
the use of each size.

As size increases, then nearly all systems become more
powerful/numerous.  The  first cost is that you become slower 
which reduces the ability to control the distance between that ship 
and opposing ships. The second cost is that you will be a bigger and 
slower target and therefore easier to detect and hit.  The net effect 
is that your ship's susceptibility to being hit increases by 2 units 
for every size increase, assuming maximum thrust for a given ship's 
size.  This effect stops at size 7+, though the poor maneuverability 
of the ship will generally result in most size 7+ structures being 
some sort of base type. Size with even numbers are better for: 
Damage Mod., Artificial Intelligence (for damage control), Hull 
(assuming you are trying to minimize amount needed), Force Screens 
(amount), Defense Array weapons, Sensor Drones, Space Mines.

Size with odd numbers are better for: Missiles (regular, kinetic, and
anti-matter), and Railguns.

Size 0 ships are referred to as fighters for purposes of fitting into
Fighter Bays.  These ships are more likely to be used for recon/short 
range work.

Size 1 ships are the upper limit for fitting into Hangers.  Most small
ships are likely to fit in this category for this reason.  They are
generally better at doing interceptor style work than fighters are.

Size 2 craft are the minimum size for having Fighter Bays.

Size 3 craft are the minimum size for having: Orion Drive, Hangar, 
and Redundant Systems.

Size 6+ ships have optimum resistance to standard Missiles.

It is worth noting that system point cost increases linearly with
Size. Mass increases by a multiple of 3 per system with Size (point 
cost was changed in 2nd edition Slag! - Greg Porter).  This usually 
puts small ships at a disadvantage in comparison with larger ships, 
since Size also determines overall ship performance.

Engine Notes
For most ship designs (less than Size 7), they will be designed to
have an engine output of 8 thrust points for maximum output.

Antimatter engines should only be used by well-protected High Tech
ships, preferably those with an Absorption Field system.  In this use, 
you only need two AM to get a thrust output of 8.

Burp Drive is only available to High Tech.  It allows space going
bases of Size 6+ to be practical.  Usually it will have an Auxiliary 
Power unit attached, just to allow it avoid gravitational dangers.  
Some might have as many as 9 Auxiliary Power units to allow for a 
high level of strategic mobility.

Fusion Torches are primarily of use only for atmosphere-only type
craft (Size 0 or 1).  For most military purposes, they are not useful 
for space combat.

Jump Drive.  Only one is needed per ship.  It will typically share its
Auxiliary power unit with a spine mounted weapon.  Available only 
at Medium and High Tech.  It is not needed for ships that are carried 
in other ships or use Jump Gates.

Jump Gates for military purposes will only have one Auxiliary Power
unit.  This means only Size 0 and 1 ships can use it.  This allows for 
a fairly efficient means of an outpost to just have one Hangar with a 
lot of Damage Control systems to keep small military ships fully 
stocked and maintained.  For an interstellar government, it allows 
for the quick re-allocation of small numerous forces as needed.

Plasma Accelerator with 7 Auxiliary Power units used together is 
the best combination, if you are going to use it.  It is not very useful 
for military purposes, due to its very limited range.  It does have one
particular use:  It is classified as an engine type and not really a
weapon.  For freighter/civilian designs, they are normally only 
allowed Railguns for weapons, but the Plasma Accelerator makes for 
a potent weapon against opponents stupid enough to get too close.  
The reason it might be allowed to be considered legal for civilian 
ships it that its weapon capability is "just its exhaust".

Plasma Drive is the most efficient and safest engine type.

General System Notes
Artificial Intelligence is an effective means of boosting a ship's
defenses for avoiding being hit.  It is generally used for Size 6- 
ships, where it is possible to have Thrust/Size/ECM/AI modifier of 
zero or less to being hit.

Breakaway is used for making Booster Pack designs for ships.  This
will be described later.

Bridge is only needed for Size 1+ ships.  Only one is needed.

Damage Control is best used to repair/resupply the small ships in 
Hangars.

Hangar is more useful for maintaining and restocking small ships 
than just holding them.  Note that under the normal game rules, 
small ships are not worth using.  Under somewhat different rules 
(which will be given later), then they can be very efficient and 
practical.

Hull is required.  As a rule of thumb use Size+1 systems worth.  Most
should be positioned to act as damage bait to draw damage away 
from other vital systems.

Redundant Systems are useful for ships with Antimatter based 
systems or for helping to keep the Armor and Ablative Armor 
effective.

Sensors is required for all military ships.  Most will have at least 
one.

Defense Notes
Ablative Armor is generally more useful than normal armor.  While it
can be degraded by successful attacks, it is initially more effective 
than normal armor.

Absorption Field is generally used by high-tech bases.  The system's
effectiveness depends on the Size.  Ships/bases with this system 
would not normally have any other defense system (Though Point 
Defense systems would be used, since this system is vulnerable to 
missile and kinetic energy related attacks.  See below).

Electronic Countermeasures are best for ships of Size 6-.  Two 
systems worth are typically used in combination with Artificial 
Intelligence for stealth oriented ships.

Force Screens is something most military ships would have.  Most
military ships would have two or more.  Note that some Force 
Screens on a ship can be used for general armor, while the rest can 
be used to help repel missile attacks.

Weapon System Notes
Spine mounted weapons are used for virtually all ships.  Usually only
one system is used.

Defense arrays should only be considered for Size 2+ ships.  It is
primarily for use against small ships with high thrust/evasion with
stealthy (ECM) features.

Graser weapons is used only when it has a strength of 4 or more.  It
is basically an anti-armor weapon.  It is efficient when the 
opponent's ship has 3+ Armor/Force Screen rating.

Kinetic Missiles are used the same as Missiles (see below).  One
difference is that damage is not guaranteed, depending on the armor
strength.  It is primarily used to give an extremely high penetration
weapon, where others fail (it is not affected by Nuclear Dampers).  
This type of missile generally covers the whole spectrum of 
conventional missiles, conventional tank weapons, and rail guns 
with a caliber of 90+mm.

Laser Cannon weapons are primarily used by small ships (Size 3-) 
and Defense arrays.

Missiles (tactical nuclear warheads, probably in the kiloton level)
are specialty weapons, due to the fact that it is used up in use.  It's
warhead appears to have a limited computer control to trigger if it 
can get within 1 meter or 1 kilometer, whichever can be reached 
closest. Most opponents will have a point defense or force screen 
just dedicated to stopping incoming missiles.  Those who want to 
use missiles will probably have to get very close, maybe even close 
combat range, to try overcome/over saturate the opponent's 
defenses.  Despite this drawback, it deals guaranteed damage if it 
hits.

Particle Beam weapons are good general purpose weapons.

Sensor Drones is only used to engage in specific strategic moves.
Space Mines are used to protect Sensor Drones and for some unusual
strategic/tactical moves.

Ship/Base Design
In general, ships and bases will have five types of system layout:
1)  Line. This is where the systems are simply laid out in a line.  It
lacks inner or core layers.  This design is of use only for very small
ships, Size 1 or 0.  Basically, the owner tries to force the damage to 
work very slowly on the ship.
2)  Sausage.  It is laid out 3 columns wide, with the center column
sticking out one system at the end.  Except for the ends, the middle 
column systems are on the internal layer.
3)  Star.  This is where the systems are laid out in the shape of a 
cross, with only the central system being an inner layer.  In some 
cases, more systems are clustered around the center to have more 
systems be apart of the inner or core layer.  The basis of this layout 
is to control damage like that of the Line layout, but still allow for 
features like spinal weapons.  This is a good layout for most ships.
4)  Cube with corners cut off (actually it is more of a sphere in
appearance, with dimples for imperfect number of systems).  This is 
where the systems are laid out like a square without the corners to 
get the maximum amount of internal and core layers.  Some space 
bases will have this design.  Note that this design is illegal in the 
standard rules. While it does obey the normal rules is system 
placement, the rules assume that the ship/base system arrangement 
has unequal lengths of axes.  See "Macho" ship design below, for an 
example of this. 
5)  T-layout/Half star.  This is where the systems are laid out in the
shape of a "T".  This is used by planet and moon bases that need extra
protection, with the internal/core layers deeply imbedded in the 
ground. These protected systems are usually made up of Auxiliary 
Control, Bridge, Damage Control, Hull, and Redundant Systems.

In the examination of the factors of combat, there are 4 basic design
orientations that leads to specializations.  They are:
1)  Difficult to hit:  2 ECM systems and an AI system.  High thrust 
and small size.
2)  Resistant to damage: Large size.  Large amount of armor/ablative 
armor, and force screens.
3)  High rate of hitting:  High sensor rating (Large amount of sensors
and/or sensor drones nearby).  Large size with at least one sensor 
system. Large amount of weapons (which hopefully can damage the 
target).  Missiles (with the deficiency of limited ammo), railguns 
(with limited range and limited damage),and defense arrays (with 
the deficiency of limited damage) have bonuses to the amount of 
hits.
4)  High damage weapons:  Large Size.  Spinal mounted weapons with 
as much Auxiliary Power Units that can be attached.  The Particle 
Beam weapons does the most damage.  The Graser weapons can 
penetrate armor and force screens the easiest, with the drawback of 
less damage than particle beam weapons.

Note that specialists tend to have to sacrifice the advantages of the
other design orientations due to limited space or conflicting 
requirements.  Optimized designs tend towards one orientation while 
still keeping enough of the other orientations to prevent it from 
having a fatal vulnerability.

Examples:
Name(Tech level): Archaic Jet (Very Low)
Design type: Ship, Star layout
Size/Effective Size: 0/0
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/3
Sensors: 0
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 2/2
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: L3s
Front: S
Front Internal:L3s
Front Core: 
Side: FT, SR
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: H
Notes:  It is basically a military jet with an experimental high-
powered laser cannon.  It will tend to be cannon fodder in most game 
scenarios.  A variant is to replace the L3s with a Kinetic Energy 
Missile (a conventional missile).

Name(Tech level): Air Fighter (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Star layout
Size/Effective Size: 0/0
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/5
Sensors: 0
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 3/3
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: L4s
Front: S
Front Internal:L4s
Front Core: 
Side: FT, SR
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: H
Notes: It is not much of a ship, and not worth using for the standard
game. It is basically a military jet.  A variant is to replace the L4s
with a Kinetic Energy Missile (a conventional missile).

Name(Tech level): Microbase, Laser Type (Very Low)
Design type: Base, T-layout
Size/Effective Size: 0/0
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/3
Sensors: 0
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 0/0
Armor/Force Screens: 3/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: 
Side: AA, AA, S
Internal: L4s, AP, H
Notes:  It is basically a very small laser base.  It is only useful 
where players are allowed unlimited bases on a planet/moon.  It is 
primarily for use against small fighters at close combat range.

Name(Tech level): Microbase, Missile Launcher Type (Very Low)
Design type: Base, T-layout
Size/Effective Size: 0/0
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/3
Sensors: 0
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 0/0
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: M, M, K, K
Side: M, M, K, K, S
Internal: H
Notes:  It is basically a very small missile base.  It is only useful 
where players are allowed unlimited bases on a planet/moon.  
Presumably, the crew runs away after launching the missiles, 
leaving the base as a decoy/cannon fodder.

Name(Tech level): Space Fighter (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Star layout
Size/Effective Size: 0/0
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/5
Sensors: 0
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 4/4
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: L4s
Front: S
Front Internal:L4s
Front Core: 
Side: PD,PD
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: H
Notes:  It is based on the same design philosophy as the Air 
Interceptor. Like the Air Interceptor, it does not do well against 
most opponents. Another variant is to replace the L4s with a Kinetic 
Energy Missile system.

Name(Tech level): Booster Pack Module, "Macho" Type (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Line layout
Size/Effective Size: +1/+1
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/5
Sensors: +1, if main body has S.
Thrust/Max. Thrust: -1/-1
Armor/Force Screens: +2/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: L4d
Front: H, AA, L4d
Front Internal:
Front Core: 
Side: 
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: S, BK at the end.
Notes:  The Breakaway system is the attach point to the ship that 
this Booster Pack will be connected to.  It is normally attached to a 
"macho" ship design (see below).  While attached to a ship, it 
artificially boosts that ship's Size regarding weapon damage and 
sensors at the cost of decreased Thrust and increased chance of 
being hit by weapons.  The ablative armor system is to help counter 
this vulnerability.  The L4d is to help counter the ship's vulnerability 
to missile attacks and small ships.

Name(Tech level): Booster Pack Module, Missile Type (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Line layout
Size/Effective Size: +1/+1
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/5
Sensors: +1, if main body has S.
Thrust/Max. Thrust: -1/-1
Armor/Force Screens: +2/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: 2 M or K or a mixture of M and K.
Front: AA, H, missile system
Front Internal:
Front Core: 
Side: 
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: missile system, BK at the end.
Notes:  The Breakaway system is the attach point to the ship that 
this Booster Pack will be connected to.  It is normally attached to a 
ship with an even numbered Size.  While attached to a ship, it 
artificially boosts that ship's Size regarding weapon damage and 
sensors at the cost of decreased Thrust and increased chance of 
being hit by weapons.  The ablative armor system is to help counter 
this vulnerability.  The regular missile system is good for most 
opponents.  The kinetic energy missile is useful for heavy 
penetration work.

Name(Tech level): Booster Pack Module, Mine/Sensor-Layer Type 
(Medium)
Design type: Ship, Line layout
Size/Effective Size: +1/+1
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/5
Sensors: +1, if main body has S.
Thrust/Max. Thrust: -1/-1
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: 0
Front: H, SD, SM
Front Internal:
Front Core: 
Side: 
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: DC, BK at the end.
Notes:  The Breakaway system is the attach point to the ship that 
this Booster Pack will be connected to.  It is normally attached to a 
ship with an even numbered Size.  While attached to a ship, it 
artificially boosts that ship's Size regarding weapon damage and 
sensors at the cost of decreased Thrust and increased chance of 
being hit by weapons.  The Damage Control system is used to re-load 
whichever system the owner desires.  A variant idea is to have 
larger module with the following extra systems between the H and 
SD: H, DC, DC, DC, DC.

Name(Tech level): Booster Pack Module, Sniper Type (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Line layout
Size/Effective Size: +1/+1
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/5
Sensors: +2, if main body has S.
Thrust/Max. Thrust: -1/-1
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: L4d, L4d
Front: BK, L4d
Front Internal:
Front Core: 
Side: 
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: L4d, S, H
Notes:  The Breakaway system is the attach point to the ship that 
this Booster Pack will be connected to.  It is normally attached to a 
ship with an even numbered Size.  While attached to a ship, it 
artificially boosts that ship's Size regarding weapon damage and 
sensors at the cost of decreased Thrust and increased chance of 
being hit by weapons.  This design assumes that you are attaching it 
to the rear of the ship, otherwise the layout will be the reverse.

Name(Tech level): Mine Layer (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Line layout
Size/Effective Size: 1/1
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 10/10
Sensors: -2
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 1/1
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: SD, SM, SD, SM, SM
Front: SD, SM, SD, SM, SM
Front Internal:
Front Core: 
Side: 
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: DC, H, AC, H, PD
Notes: This is a small ship whose only purpose is to lay out sensor 
drones and space mines.  It comes from a hanger of a base and 
returns to it to be re-loaded as needed.

Name(Tech level): Patrol Ship (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Star layout
Size/Effective Size: 1/-1
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 10/10
Sensors: 1
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 7/7
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: P4s
Front: H, S, AI
Front Internal: P4s
Front Core: 
Side: PD, PD
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: B, H, PD, PD
Notes: This is a small ship whose only purpose is to engage other 
small ships.  It normally patrols in groups of 2 or 3.  It comes from a 
hanger of a base and returns to it when not in use.

Name(Tech level): Super Kamikaze (High)
Design type: Ship, Line layout
Size/Effective Size: 1/-3
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 10/14
Sensors: 2
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 7/7
Armor/Force Screens: 1/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: Anti-matter Missile
Front: S, H, EC, EC, Anti-matter Missile
Front Internal:
Front Core: 
Side: 
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: AI, B, H, AM, AM
Notes: This basically a MIRV style missile of incredible 
effectiveness.  It basically closes on its opponent and drops its 
missiles at close combat range during its primary weapon initiative, 
then rams the target.  If only 5 of these units makes it through any 
base's defenses, then that base will be completely destroyed.  It is 
generally only cost effective against large targets.  Under normal 
game rules, it is not very cost effective.  If the rules are altered to 
make small ships cheaper relative to large ships, then this design is 
more practical.  In that case, this is an optimized design.

Name(Tech level): Stealth Frigate (High)
Design type: Ship, Sausage layout
Size/Effective Size: 2/-2
Damage Mod.: -1
Systems/Cost: 15/21
Sensors: 3
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 6/6
Armor/Force Screens: 1/0
Special Defense: AF
Weapons: G7s
Front: H
Front Internal: G7s, AP, 
Front Core: 
Side: H, S, B, JD, EC, EC, AI, AM, AM
Rear Internal: AP, H
Rear Core:
Rear: AF
Notes: This is an example of an extremely stealthy ship.  It will 
usually keep its distance in attacks, relying on its ability to play 
"cat and mouse" with its opponent to win.  Even if an opponent hits, 
the Absorption Field will usually stop most hits in a turn.  This is an 
optimized design.

Name(Tech level): Heavy Armor Automated Gunship (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Star layout with a thickened center
Size/Effective Size: 4/2
Damage Mod.: -2
Systems/Cost: 25/25
Sensors: 4
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 4/4
Armor/Force Screens: 10/3
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: G7s
Front: H, AA, AI
Front Internal: G7s, AP
Front Core:
Side: H, AA, AM, FS, S, AP, FS, JD, AA, FS, AM, AA, H
Rear Internal:  H, B
Rear Core:
Rear:  AM, AA, H
Notes:  There are two unused system spaces for limited 
specialization. These should be placed on the sides along the 
thickened center.  While the anti-matter engines pose a hazard, 
hopefully the defenses will keep out the damage.  The 2 extra 
systems can be used for the following systems:
Sensors, ECM, Boarding party, and some sort of energy weapon.  For 
the standard game, I suggest: G4, G4 (One in front and one in back).  
The extra weapons would enable it to deal with missiles.
It would typically come with a Booster Pack Module to enhance its
capabilities. The orientation of this design is resistance to damage.  
It is an optimized design.  If you want to optimize it further, use 
High Tech level and replace one of the antimatter engines with an 
optional system.

Name(Tech level): "Macho ship" (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Cubical layout
Size/Effective Size: 4/4
Damage Mod.: -2
Systems/Cost: 25/25
Sensors: 4
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 4/4
Armor/Force Screens: 10/3
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: PA11
Front: H, AA, H
Front Internal: PA, AP, AP, AP, AP, AP
Front Core:
Side: H, AA, FS, S, AP, FS, JD, AA, FS, AA, H
Rear Internal:  AP, AP
Rear Core:
Rear:  AA, H, B
Notes:  It is an unusually optimized design.  It usually comes with 
its own Booster Pack Module.  It basically charges its opponents and 
rips them apart in the same area without getting into close combat.  
It is very difficult to destroy and it can usually destroy virtually 
any other ship. Its only flaw is that it must get close its opponent.
Note that the cubical/squarish arrangement of its systems allows it 
to bypass one of the restrictions on limits of the number of internal 
systems. Therefore, this ship might be considered illegal in that 
regard, although the system layout is allowed in the rules.  The 
system layout is a square with a dimple in it.  Most of the systems 
are internal systems with an outer layer wrapped around them.

(Note - Neil is mistaken in the statement that it can bypass the 
number of internal systems. The number of internal or core systems 
a ship may have is dependent only on its Size. So, a Size 4 ship can 
have a maximum of 4 internal and 1 core system. These internal or 
systems must be adjacent to external systems, and his cubical 
design allows maximum flexibility in where the internal or core 
systems are, but does not allow an increase in their number. - Greg 
Porter)

Name(Tech level): Sniper Gunship (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Star layout with a thickened center
Size/Effective Size: 4/2
Damage Mod.: -2
Systems/Cost: 25/25
Sensors: 10
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 4/4
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: G7s, G7s, L3d, L3d
Front: H, S, AI
Front Internal: G7s, AP, G7s, AP
Front Core:
Side: H, L3d, AM, S, S, AP, S, JD, S, S, AM, L3d, H
Rear Internal:  H, B
Rear Core:
Rear:  AM, S, H
Notes:  Its frame is based on the Heavy Armor Automated Gunship, 
except oriented to hitting as many times as possible.  It is 
extremely vulnerable to damage.  It will generally come with the 
Booster Pack Module, Sniper type.  It is a borderline optimized 
design, generally needing other ships to help defend it.

Name(Tech level):  Hyper Assault Base (High)
Design type:  Base, Star with thickened center
Size/Effective Size: 6/4
Damage Mod.:  -3
Systems/Cost:  35/49
Sensors: 15
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 0/0 (Can move 2 with BD)
Armor/Force Screens: 1/0
Special Defense: AF
Weapons: P11s, G10s, P8, P8, P8, P8, G7, G7, G7, G7, G7, G4d, G4d
Side: BD, AP, JD, AP, AF, B, EC, EC, H, H, H, S, S, S, S, S, S, S, S, S,
P8, P8, P8, P8, G7, G7, G7, G7, G7, G4d, G4d
Internal: P11s, AP, G10s, AP
Notes: This is obviously a rather optimized base.  Its emphasis is 
hitting as many times as possible with as much damage as possible.  
Its only weakness are the limits of its Absorption Field.  This is not 
much of a problem, since most opponents will be destroyed long 
before they can get close enough to pose a threat to this base.  If the 
base is made larger, it becomes increasingly difficult to destroy.  
For those games using standard game rules on base Size limitations, 
just use a ship design (star layout) and replace three weapons (P8, 
P8, G7) with a Hull, Artificial Intelligence, and a Plasma 
Accelerator and use drift effect rules.  This type of design is more 
of a strategic offense/defense unit, since it takes an equally 
powerful unit, extreme odds, or complete surprise to destroy
this unit.

For those who want a larger base, use this addition:
Size/Effective Size: +1/+1
Damage Mod.:  -0.5 (round down)
Systems/Cost:  +5/+5
Sensors: +2
Weapons, additions: Add +1 to weapon strength due to increased Size.
P(Size+2), G(Size+1), add another of the general weapons every even
numbered Size of increase (try to keep the amount of each type of 
weapon equal)
G(Size-2)d
Side: S, P(Size+2), G(Size+1), add another of the general weapons 
every even numbered Size of increase, G(Size-2)d, H (added every odd 
numbered Size of increase)

Name(Tech level):  Automated Missile Base (High)
Design type:  Base, Star
Size/Effective Size: 6/6
Damage Mod.:  -3
Systems/Cost:  35/49
Sensors: -1
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 0/0 (Can move 2 with BD)
Armor/Force Screens: 1/0
Special Defense: 
Weapons: 
Side: BD, AP, JD, AP, AC, H, H, HG, HG, HG, HG, HG, HG, HG, HG, HG, HG, 
HG,
HG, HG, HG, HG, HG, HG, HG, HG, HG, HG
Internal: H
Notes: This type of base would be loaded with Super Kamikaze ships.  
It does not enter battle itself.  It just enters the edge of the board 
and launches all of its Super Kamikaze ships at its opponents.  The 
only value of the base is to carry the internal ships to the place 
where they are needed and transport the unused ones back out.  It is 
not worth it under the standard rules due to the point costs.  If the 
point costs of smaller ships were significantly cheaper relative to 
large ships, then this ship would be worth it.

Strategy and Tactics
Schooling:  This is where 2 to 3 ships of the same type group 
together within the same area, even to close combat range. They help 
increase the success of hitting and can watch each other's backs 
against faster ships. They generally force their opponents to divide 
their attacks.

Taste Test/Active Sensor: In the normal rules, the opposing player
does not get to know the system layout of a ship until damage is 
inflicted on the other ship (presumably the energy bouncing around 
the inside of the ship gives the opponent information of what the 
system layout is).  This involves opening the combat at extreme long 
range with an energy weapon that can damage the opponent.  This 
will probably involve high rating laser defense arrays.  While it does 
give useful information on the strengths and weaknesses of the 
opponent, most players will just pick up the information
when the opponent gets in range of their more powerful weapons.

Close and Destroy:  It involves the rather simple tactic of trying to
engage your opponent at close combat.  It is only of use for Super 
Kamikaze ships and Macho ships.  It assumes that the attacking ship 
is either immune to returning fire or is suicidal.

Dance of War at the Edge/Touch and Go:  This involves ships keeping
the opposing ships close enough to hit, but far enough to prevent the
opposing ship from hitting back (or at least minimize it) as it 
performs extreme evasive maneuvers.  Ships using this tactic will 
normally move just one less than their maximum allowed movement 
to allow facing for optimum set-up for attacking/defending.  This 
generally assumes that you can deal out more damage than having it 
inflicted back.  

Going for the Soft Underbelly:  This depends on attacking ships 
having significantly higher Thrust than a target ship.  If you know 
the system layout of the opposing ship, then you will try to stay on 
the side of the target ship that has the greatest vulnerability/less 
weapons.  In most ship designs, the rear of the ship is the side that 
is most vulnerable and has the least amount of weapons.  The 
downside of this tactic is that you will have to be relatively close 
to your target to counter its movements.

Missiles as Decoys:  This tactic involves firing missiles as the
initial volley during the turn of firing.  It forces the opponent to 
divert force screens and/or weapons to stop the missiles.

Missiles at the Last Second:  This tactic involves firing missiles
during the general volley as the last weapon fired.  This ensures that 
the target has the least amount of defenses against incoming 
missiles.

Critical hit:  When possible the usual order to do the most damage
are: Anti-matter systems (Engine or weapon type), Weapons, Engines, 
Hull. If the above are not available, then Bridge, Defenses, Redundant 
Systems, Damage Control, Artificial Intelligence, ECM, Sensors, and 
Hangar/Fighter Bay are suitable secondary targets.  In general, the 
ship's owner should do his best to protect those same systems.
Fortress Without Walls:  This involves setting up Sensor Drones and
Space Mines around non-mobile bases.  At the most extreme level, 
this involves one load of sensor drones in each sector of a hexagon-
shaped seven sector area (with the base in the center) and five loads 
of space mines in each sector (to counter ECM and AI).  It is an 
extremely useful way to counter small ships and boost the Sensor 
ratings of the ships and bases in the area.  The maximum sensor 
bonus that one can get is +7.

Running Away and Hiding:  For damaged ships (that still have working
jump drives) that need to withdraw and has a Thrust of 4 or less, 
then it can be better to use Silent Running rules to escape the battle.  
Note that you will not have the benefits of active defenses during 
this time.

Tech Level Effects

Very Low Tech:  This tech level has it rough in confrontations 
against higher level technologies.  In confrontations against 
otherworldly forces, it will have to adopt a Fortress Without Walls 
principle.  Most mobile military ships are limited to in-atmosphere 
ships.  While it is outside of the rules of the game, many bases and 
sea going vessels would be around on a single planet.  An interesting 
engineering design outside of the scope of the game would be a high 
pressure/volume pumps that would suck up nearby water and spray 
it around the ship to dissipate the effects of energy weapons (sort 
of like the Fuel system option).

If the Very Low Tech civilization has never considered other worldly
military forces possible before the battle, then most missiles will 
be under Kinetic Energy Missile type.  The nuclear type missiles 
would be rarely used, unless there are no restrictions, and be just 
experimental systems.  The strategic type nuclear missiles are 
outside of the scope of the game, though the Super Kamikaze type of 
ship does an imitation of one.  In this type of situation, most 
military hardware will be oriented against other forces on the 
planet, rather than space aliens.

If the civilization is aware of hostile space aliens, then the
Fortress Without Walls strategy would be implemented ahead of 
time (This is outside of the scope of the standard game).  Ablative 
Armor would be used for most large military structures.  Missile 
systems and crude laser systems would be the primary weapons 
against most large ships of alien invaders.  Bases would be based on 
planets, since space and moon based are too vulnerable.  There would 
be few ships that are space worthy.  These would be mainly used to 
help maintain the numbers of sensor drones and space mines.

Another type of ship outside of the scope of the game would be 
battle submarines: submarines with automated water proof laser 
cannon powered by its nuclear reactor.  These would use the ocean as 
its shield and cover, rising up to hit hard before hiding again.  It 
might have Kinetic Energy Missiles to use as well (see below in the 
Medium and High Tech for a possible weakness in Force Screens and 
Absorption Fields).

Low Tech:  This level is a slight improvement over Very Low Tech. 
They would generally follow most of the notes in Very Low Tech, 
except that they would have a clunky military space going fleet 
(using Plasma Drives). These ships would primarily serve as escorts 
for non-military ships and early warning systems.  The emphasis of 
space going military ships would be having a thick layer of Ablative 
Armor and maybe some ECM capability, since Thrust capabilities are 
still too limited.

Medium Tech:  Space going/capable military fleets are the primary
component of military forces.  It is possible to have ships pretty 
close to optimization for military purposes.  The number of military 
ships in battles are likely to be far greater than that in the basic 
game, though. Most combat will be performed with several sectors 
(thousands of kilometers) between combatants.  Artificial  
Intelligence has reached a point in development that they can be the 
ones to carry out warfare, out-thinking most living beings.

The one aspect of this technology level that would confuse lower 
tech levels is the development of the Force Screen.  In one mode it 
appears to provide a moderate amount of protection against 
weapons, in another mode it appears to provide nearly unlimited 
protection.  It might not be readily apparent that the second mode is 
a different aspect from the first mode and does not stop non-missile 
attacks.  The second mode appears to use a flash defense in which it 
stores up its energy until it detects the imminent detonation of a 
nuclear weapon or imminent impact with a missile, then it creates a 
brief high powered field to shield against the incoming energy. 
The book seems to imply that it might or might not stop a kinetic 
energy missile (it does not stop ramming attacks or Boarding 
Parties).  If it does not, then this might create confusion among the 
lower tech civilizations in which their "conventional" missiles and 
crude energy weapons technology can do more damage to a Medium 
Tech ship than a nuclear explosion.  In this case, the lower tech 
civilizations might just use their nuclear technology to power their 
weapons than as a weapon itself.

High Tech:  Completely optimized ship design is possible at this
technology level.
The development of the Absorption Field and the Nuclear Damper 
would cause problems to lower tech civilizations.  The Absorption 
Field would seem to make its ships indestructible.  It may have a 
vulnerability to ramming attacks, Boarding Parties, and Kinetic 
Energy Missiles like Force Screens, but this is not explicitly stated.  
Kinetic Energy Missiles (and any other non-missile weapon) are the 
answer to Nuclear Dampers, since their performance are not 
affected by them.

The development of the Burp Drive has the effect of making huge
military structures practical for offensive use.

Variant Rules
Randomized hit quantity:  This is given in the game book.  It adds a
bit of luck to the game in your effective Sensor rating.  Some 
designs might use this reasoning to reduce the number of Sensor to 
increase the number of weapons or Auxiliary Power Units to 
increase damage.

Random hit location:  This is given in the game book.  It adds a bit
of luck on what is damaged.  This lessens the value of system 
placement strategies, since you can't control what is damaged as 
well.

Slow missiles:  This is given in the game book.  This encourages 
ships to do a short retreat when missiles are fired at them.  Then, 
when the missiles are in the same sector, they dedicate everything 
to stop incoming missiles.  Presumably the opposing ship is not 
close enough to hit the defending ship while it is stopping the 
missiles.

System cost varying with mass instead of Size:  This involves having
unit system cost going up with the mass; instead, of being 
effectively the same.  The total system points available per player 
would have to be altered accordingly.  This would tend to keep ship's 
Size on the lower end of the scale.  One way to do this it to decide on 
the median Size, then use this formula: Total points per player = 100 
* (3 ^ [median Size]).  Then have ships/bases have this cost: Cost = 
(number of systems)*(3 ^ [Size]). 
Remember to keep track of these costs if you plan to tally points for
victory conditions.

Hangers and Fighter Bays come with their Craft:  This means that the
ships within the Hanger and Fighter Bays come free with the Fighter 
and Hanger Bay.  This would tend to favor Hangers and encourage the 
use of "carrier" designs and Automated Missile Base-style designs.

Multiple Bases and Unrestricted Size of Base:  Under the basic book
rules, only one base is allowed on a given stellar terrain feature and 
the base Size is limited to the largest Size ship of the same player.  
If multiple bases are allowed, then players might be tempted to have
multiple bases providing covering fire for each other and have
specializations (like providing supplies for re-arming Size 0 and 
Size 1 ships).  The advantage of multiple small bases is that they 
divide up the number of weapon hits back at them and increase the 
amount of successful hits against their opponents (the Schooling 
Effect mentioned above).

If base Size is not limited to the largest Size ship of the same
player, then there will be a tendency to larger bases.

Allowing Greater Than Size One In-atmosphere Bases With Fusion 
Torch Engines Only:  This basically simulates sea-going vessels.  The 
side of the base simulates the part of the ship above water.  These 
types of vessels never get a Thrust of greater than zero (it is too 
slow within the scope of the game).  The benefit is that they do not 
need the Streamlining system.  For those who want to simulate 
submarines, treat diving and surfacing as the rules govern entering 
and leaving an atmosphere.  If a submarine dives, the submarine is 
treated as if it is using a Fuel system as defense (the
submarine is normally still too close to the surface to avoid the 
severe effects of nuclear explosions) and can claim the benefit of 
silent running.  The down-side of submersibles is that they are 
governed by reduced system effectiveness of silent running 
operation when surfacing, though they still get to use their weapons 
(at the reduced effectiveness, including as if a fuel system was used 
against them) under water.  This last feature assumes that the 
submersible has weapons designed to have the ability to be
operational for underwater use (lasers that treat water as being
transparent, missiles that are designed to be fired under water, 
etc.).

A slight variant of this is the use of tanks.  These are designed like
sea-going ships.  One exception is that they have to follow the 
system layout for space bases to simulate the fact that they do not 
have their lower sections covered by the earth.  Another exception is 
that they can't dive into the earth (under normal circumstances, 
since caves are not that common and of limited use during regular 
combat).

Warning: Using this variant rule would tend to encourage the use of
defensive systems (extremely powerful/large tanks and ships) for 
planets and moons.

2nd Edition (July 10, 1996) Rules/Changes Effects

After the first Sensor, the extra Sensor system bonus is (Number of
bonus Sensor systems / 2) (Round down).  The effect is to reduce the
importance/use of attempting designs that are oriented around 
hitting as many times as possible through Sensors, due to the higher 
cost.  Another effect is to increase the relative importance of 
Sensor Drones and Defense Arrays.

Scout Sensors: Acts as Sensor with rating of (Size + 2) along spinal
arc only, and only one allowed per ship.  Any ship with a Spinal 
Weapon would want this system.  Its main effect is to help boost the 
effectiveness of ships of Size 0 to 4 (those with relatively high 
Thrust so they can point their Spinal weapon at the target).

New ship point cost = (Tech Level Modifier)*(Size + 1) ^ 2.  I assume
example costs are: Size 0 (Medium Tech) = 1 (for the whole ship),  
Size 4 (Medium Tech) = 25 (for the whole ship).  This means that the 
Size 4 ship is equal to the cost of the 1st edition game.  Those 
smaller have a significantly less cost, while those larger have a 
significantly higher cost.  This change in cost will tend to favor the 
use of large amounts of smaller ships versus a few large ships.

Here is the basic table of Size versus Point Cost:
Size   Total Cost   Cost/System   Usual cost to next Size   Old Cost
0         1            0.20            3                      5
1         4            0.40            5                     10
2         9            0.60            7                     15
3        16            0.80            9                     20
4        25            1.00           11                     25
5        36            1.20           13                     30
6        49            1.40           15                     35
7        64            1.60           17                     40
8        81            1.80           19                     45

     New random quantity of hits optional rule.  Number of hits = 
(Weapon Use Modifier) * (1 + ((Base Rating of number of hits) + 7 - 
(2d6 dice roll))/2 [round up]).  Max. number of hits (per weapon) = 4.  
Weapon Use Modifier: Offensive use = 1, Point Defense use = 2.  This 
will tend to favor those optimized designs with even number Sensor
rating/Range/Size/Thrust combination.  The largest effective bonus 
is 2, and the weakest is a -3.

For those making optimize designs the optimum Sensor 
Rating/Enemy ship Size and Thrust/Range combination is 4 (It hits 4 
times).  The minimum design for Sensor Rating/Enemy ship Size and 
Thrust/Range combination is -2 (It hits once).  This means that the 
Sensor rating to usually have is around 4, though greater amounts 
increase range.  A Size 4 ship is an optimum design Size to work 
with for regular weapons.  A Size 2 ship with a Scout Sensor is an 
optimized Size to work with for a Spinal type weapon.  A
Size 3 ship with a Sensor system is an optimized Size for a Defense 
Array type weapon.  This allows having maximum number of hits 
against a target in the same sector (though not in Close Combat 
conditions).  To have a greater range, it is often better to use Sensor 
Drones and multiple identical weapons in the same arc.

Kinetic Kill Missile.  An interesting weapon, but overall they can be
beaten with a Damage Modifier/Armor combo of 4.  They are very 
effective against small lightly armored ships.  They can be thought 
of as a space combat version of a "Bee-hive round" (It bounces off 
like rain against tanks, but it turns armored personnel carriers and 
helicopters into perforated sheet metal).  An interesting item is 
whether or not it can do penetrating damage like Plasma and Graser 
weapons, though I would say not (at least not much more than Lasers 
in any event).

Dogfight Missile.  Useful for Size 0 and 1 ships that are brave or
suicidal enough to get into Close Combat range.  Size 2+ ships would 
favor normal Missile systems, since they usually have better Sensor 
ratings than the Dogfight Missile.

Since they have their own Sensor rating, they might get the +4 Close
Combat bonus even when using the Dogfight combat rules and fired 
from more than 1 sub-hex away.  On the other hand, if you want to 
force a greater amount of risky very close combat, then require that 
the Close Combat bonus is purely that for Dogfight combat rules.

Kinetic Dogfight Missile.  Same as Dogfight Missile, but with the
peculiarities of Kinetic Missiles.  This type of missile has the
disadvantage of lower damage, though they are still effective 
against other small ships.

Dogfight combat.  An interesting breakdown of a close up of Close
Combat range.  For the person attempting Close Combat, getting 
close enough to the opponent (To get the maximum Close Combat 
bonus, you need to survive 4 sub phases) is much more difficult.
It is not certain to what extent facings before combat affects the
facings in Dogfight combat.  As an example, if the attacker enters 
Dogfight from the rear of the target, is the target forced to perform 
the entire Dogfight combat with the rear facing the attacker?  It 
makes some sense to say yes, though this is not certain.  Another 
question is whether facing by the attacker has any effect on the 
Dogfight level and to what extent it does and how it does.

Close Combat effectively increases the number hits that can be
exchanged with weapons, except those by any type of missiles, 
Boarding Parties or ramming.  Having Dogfight combat rules makes 
Close combat ranges extraordinarily deadly as both sides rain energy 
weapons fire against each other.  In some respects, this would be a 
good simulation of cinematic space combat (close enough to see your 
opponent with unaugmented eyesight and devastation measured in 
seconds).

(Note - It also adds a little bit of mind games to play, as parties 
have to decide simultaneously whether or not to fire in each 
subphase. The attacker could decide to fire early, and then retreat, 
giving them a tactical bonus to hit against an opponent who was 
holding fire waiting for the attacker to get closer - Greg Porter).

Additional Strategies and Tactics

Silent Running/Sleeping Dragon:  This uses the Silent Running rules. 
Under the new rules this tactic becomes more practical.  It is used 
for ships that meet these requirements:
1) Engines produce a Thrust of less than 5.  This is to make it more
worthwhile to shut off the engines than using them for evasive 
maneuvers.
2) Have only one Sensor system.  Having more will just penalize the 
ship. Using Sensor Drones is useful, since they can remain at full 
effectiveness.
3) Does not have Force Screens.
4) Has 2 ECM systems.
5) Has as much Armor or Ablative Armor as possible to resist 
weapon fire.

Given the requirements, this strategy will tend to be used by Very 
Low Tech and Low Tech levels.  Those of higher tech levels will 
prefer to use more active strategies.

Close-Combat Yo-Yo:  This requires that the attacking ship has the
following requirements:
1) The ship should reach maximum number of hits per turn at +4.  
This means having the total Sensor rating/Enemy Size and Thrust 
combination to be at 0 when within the same sector, but not in Close 
Combat.
2) The attacking ship needs to have greater thrust than the opponent.
3) The attacking ship needs to be able to survive extended periods of
direct combat with the target.
4) It needs to be agreed upon to what extent facings will matter in
Dogfight combat.  This will affect requirement # 1. This tactic 
involves the attacker firing as it approaches the target
until it reaches Close Combat sub-hex, then retreat while still 
attacking. The next turn, the attacker repeats the cycle.  This tactic 
is very dangerous, but it does force the engagement to essentially 
occur for 8 sub-phases, during which the opponent is unable to 
retreat or have any reinforcements beyond those friendly ships at 
Close Combat range.

(Note - Remember that even using the optional dogfight rules, a 
given weapon system can only fire once per turn - Greg Porter).

Stay On the High Ground, Never On Equal Footing:  This is an
observation that the Random Hit Quantity rule creates, on average, 
an unusual hit probability distribution pattern.  For regular Sensor 
systems, this probability distribution (Distance versus Average 
Number of Hits for a given target) resembles a hill with a flat top (a 
mesa).  You do not gain any significant advantage of having an 
opponent on the flat top, it is better to have them on the slope.  This 
will hopefully reduce the amount that the opponent will hit your 
ship.  Note that this probability distribution changes from ship to 
ship and the circumstances.

Examples:
Name(Tech level): Archaic Jet (Very Low)
Design type: Ship, Star layout
Size/Effective Size: 0/0
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/0.6
Sensors (General/Spinal): -3/1
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 2/2
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: L3s
Front: SS
Front Internal:L3s
Front Core: 
Side: FT, SR
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: H
Notes:  It is basically a military jet with an experimental high-
powered laser cannon.  It will tend to be cannon fodder in most game 
scenarios.  A variant is to replace the L3s and SS with a missile 
system (DM or KM), which will allow it in numerical superiority 
conditions be able to take down larger higher tech opponents.

Name(Tech level): Air Fighter (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Star layout
Size/Effective Size: 0/0
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/1
Sensors (General/Spinal): -2/2
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 3/3
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: L4s
Front: SS
Front Internal:L4s
Front Core: 
Side: FT, SR
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: H
Notes:  It is not much of a ship, and is marginally worth using for the
standard game.  It is basically a military jet.  A variant is to replace
the SS and L4s with missile systems (DM or KM).

Name(Tech level): Space Fighter (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Star layout
Size/Effective Size: 0/0
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/1
Sensors (General/Spinal): -2/2
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 4/4
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: L4s
Front: SS
Front Internal:L4s
Front Core: 
Side: PD,PD
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: H
Notes:  It is based on the same design philosophy as the Air 
Interceptor. Like the Air Interceptor, it only does well against most 
opponents when used in numerical superiority conditions.  A variant 
is to replace the SS and L4s with missile systems (DM or KM).

Name(Tech level): Super Cruise Missile (High)
Design type: Ship, Line layout
Size/Effective Size: 0/-3
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/1.4
Sensors (General/Spinal): -1/-1
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 8/8
Armor/Force Screens: 1/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: 
Front: EC, AI
Front Internal:
Front Core: 
Side: 
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: H, AM, AM
Notes:  An incredible missile that uses the strategy of Schooling and 
the tactic of Going for the Soft Underbelly.  They are very big 
missiles that are very difficult to destroy.

Booster Pack Modules are far more expensive under the new edition 
rules. While still useful, they are more likely to be permanent 
attachments (replacing the Breakaway system with another system) 
due to the cost.

Name(Tech level): Mine Layer (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Line layout
Size/Effective Size: 0/0
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 5/1
Sensors (General/Spinal): -2/-2
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 2/2
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: SD, SD, SD
Front: SD, SD, SD
Front Internal:
Front Core: 
Side: 
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: H, PD
Notes:  This is a mine layer for a carrier/base.  Alternatively, the SD 
can have SM, GM and FM.  After using up their load, they would return 
to their Fighter Bay and be fully re-stocked with a Damage Control 
system.  To saturate the area around a base, you will need: 3 SD 
layers and 12 (4 SM dropped per sector) of the offensive mine layers 
of the same type (to make it very difficult for the most stealthy 
ship to get past).  For those who want to make an area impassable, 
use SM and GM together.  Using the Fortress Without Walls strategy, 
you will need 27 points: 3 SD layers, 12 SM layers, and 12 GM layers.  
An alternative is to use Fighter Bays and Damage Control systems to 
reduce the cost.

Name(Tech level): Patrol Ship (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Star layout
Size/Effective Size: 1/-1
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 10/4
Sensors (General/Spinal): -2/3
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 7/7
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: P4s
Front: H, SS, AI
Front Internal: P4s
Front Core: 
Side: PD, PD
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: B, H, PD, PD
Notes: This is a small ship whose only purpose is to engage other 
small ships.  It normally patrols in groups of 2 or 3.  It comes from a 
hanger of a base and returns to it when not in use.  It is generally is 
a better deal than the Space Fighter, since it has a far better chance 
to  avoid being hit while having slightly better chance at hitting its 
target.

Name(Tech level): Super Kamikaze (High)
Design type: Ship, Line layout
Size/Effective Size: 1/-3
Damage Mod.: 0
Systems/Cost: 10/5.6
Sensors (General/Spinal): -1/4
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 7/7
Armor/Force Screens: 1/0
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: Anti-matter Missile
Front: H, EC, EC, SS, Anti-matter Missile
Front Internal:
Front Core: 
Side: 
Rear Internal: 
Rear Core:
Rear: AI, B, H, AM, AM
Notes:  A hard hitting MIRV-style missile.  It does not perform as 
well under Dogfight rules.  In that case it needs to exchange the SS 
and Anti-matter Missile system for DM and KM systems, if they are 
allowed to have full (+4) Close Combat bonus at greater than one 
sub-hex.

Name(Tech level): Stealth Frigate (High)
Design type: Ship, Sausage layout
Size/Effective Size: 2/-2
Damage Mod.: -1
Systems/Cost: 15/12.6
Sensors (General/Spinal): -1/4
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 6/6
Armor/Force Screens: 1/0
Special Defense: AF
Weapons: G7s
Front: H
Front Internal: G7s, AP, 
Front Core: 
Side: H, SS, B, JD, EC, EC, AI, AM, AM
Rear Internal: AP, H
Rear Core:
Rear: AF
Notes: This is an example of an extremely stealthy ship.  It will 
usually keep its distance in attacks, relying on its ability to play 
"cat and mouse" with its opponent to win.  Even if an opponent hits, 
the Absorption Field will usually stop most hits in a turn.  This is an 
optimized design.

Name(Tech level): Fighter Carrier (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Star layout
Size/Effective Size: 3/3
Damage Mod.: -1
Systems/Cost: 20/16
Sensors (General/Spinal): -2/-2
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 1/1
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 
Weapons: 
Front: H, DC, FB, FB
Front Internal:
Front Core:
Side: H, DC, PD, FB, FB, AC, AP, JD, FB, FB, FB, H
Rear Internal:
Rear Core:
Rear:  FB, PD, DC, H
Notes:  It is a carrier and will generally stay out of combat itself,
though it supports the spacecraft that it carries.  It has 3 DC 
systems.  It has 8 FB systems (2 ships each) though HG systems (1 
ship each) might be substituted for part of them.  It is good for 
holding fighters (Size 0 ships), though it is not as efficient in 
holding Size 1 ships.  The Fighter Carrier can be considered an 
optimized design under the second edition rules for carrying Size 0 
ships only.

If loaded with Super Cruise Missiles (a ship design), it can destroy
ships far larger than itself.  It could be argued that this is an unfair
design, since a player might just load up his side with as much of 
this type of combination as possible then fire them all off to 
destroy everything within 100 sector range.

Name(Tech level): Shuttle Carrier (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Star layout
Size/Effective Size: 4/4
Damage Mod.: -2
Systems/Cost: 25/25
Sensors (General/Spinal): -2/-2
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 2/2
Armor/Force Screens: 0/0
Special Defense: 
Weapons: 
Front: H, DC, HG, HG, HG
Front Internal:
Front Core:
Side: H, DC, PD, HG, HG, H, AC, AP, JD, HG, HG, HG, PD, DC, H
Rear Internal:
Rear Core:
Rear:  HG, HG, PD, DC, H
Notes:  It is a carrier and will generally stay out of combat itself,
though it supports the spacecraft that it carries.  It has 4 DC 
systems. It has 10 HG systems (2 ships each) though FB systems (3 
ship each) might be substituted for part of them.  It is good for 
holding Size 1 ships, though it is not as efficient in holding Size 0 
ships.  The Shuttle Carrier can be considered an optimized design 
under the second edition rules for carrying Size 1 ships only.

Name(Tech level): Heavy Armor Automated Gunship (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Star layout with a thickened center
Size/Effective Size: 4/2
Damage Mod.: -2
Systems/Cost: 25/25
Sensors (General/Spinal): -2/6
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 4/4
Armor/Force Screens: 10/3
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: G7s
Front: H, AA, AI
Front Internal: G7s, AP
Front Core:
Side: H, AA, AM, FS, SS, AP, FS, JD, AA, FS, AM, AA, H
Rear Internal:  H, B
Rear Core:
Rear:  AM, AA, H
Notes:  There are two unused system spaces for limited 
specialization.  These should be placed on the sides along the 
thickened center.  While the anti-matter engines pose a hazard, 
hopefully the defenses will keep out the damage.  The 2 extra 
systems can be used for the following systems: Sensors, ECM, 
Boarding party, and some sort of energy weapon.  For the
standard game, I suggest: S, G1d.
It would typically come with a Booster Pack Module (without 
Breakaway system) to enhance its capabilities.

The orientation of this design is resistance to damage.  It is an
optimized design.  If you want to optimize it further, use High Tech 
level and replace one of the antimatter engines with an optional 
system.

Name(Tech level): "Macho ship" (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Cubical layout
Size/Effective Size: 4/4
Damage Mod.: -2
Systems/Cost: 25/25
Sensors (General/Spinal): -2/6
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 4/4
Armor/Force Screens: 10/3
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: PA11
Front: H, AA, H
Front Internal: PA, AP, AP, AP, AP, AP
Front Core:
Side: H, AA, FS, SS (faces rear for PA use), AP, FS, JD, AA, FS, AA, H
Rear Internal:  AP, AP
Rear Core:
Rear:  AA, H, B
Notes:  It is an unusually optimized design.  It usually comes with 
its own Booster Pack Module (without Breakaway system).  It 
basically charges its opponents and rips them apart in the same 
area.  Unlike the first edition version, it will probably use Close 
Combat range to have a Dogfight, using the Close-Combat Yo-Yo 
tactic.  It is very difficult to destroy and it can usually destroy 
virtually any other ship.  Its only flaw is that it must get close to 
its opponent before it can use its weapon.

Note that the cubical/squarish arrangement of its systems allows it 
to bypass one of the restrictions on limits of the number of internal 
systems.  Therefore, this ship might be considered illegal in that 
regard, although the system layout is allowed in the rules.  The 
system layout is a square with a dimple in it.  Most of the systems 
are internal systems with an outer layer wrapped around them.

(Note - Neil is mistaken in the statement that it can bypass the 
number of internal systems. The number of internal or core systems 
a ship may have is dependent only on its Size. So, a Size 4 ship can 
have a maximum of 4 internal and 1 core system. These internal or 
systems must be adjacent to external systems, and his cubical 
design allows maximum flexibility in where the internal or core 
systems are, but does not allow an increase in their number. - Greg 
Porter)

Name(Tech level):  Hyper Assault Base (High)
Design type:  Base, Star layout
Size/Effective Size: 6/4
Damage Mod.:  -3
Systems/Cost:  35/68.6
Sensors (Normal/Maximum): 7/15
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 0/0 (Can move 2 with BD)
Armor/Force Screens: 1/0
Special Defense: AF
Weapons: P11s, G10s, P8, P8, P8, P8, P8, G7, G7, G7, G7, G7, G7, G4d, 
G4d,
G4d, G4d
Side: BD, AP, JD, AP, AF, B, EC, EC, H, H, H, S, SD, SD, SD, SD, P8, P8,
P8, P8, P8, G7, G7, G7, G7, G7, G7, G4d, G4d, G4d, G4d
Internal: P11s, AP, G10s, AP
Notes: This is obviously a rather optimized base, though not as 
powerful as the first edition version.  Its emphasis is hitting as 
many times as possible with as much damage as possible.  Its 
primary weakness is the limits of its Absorption Field and that it 
needs time to deploy the Sensor Drones.  It is generally less flexible 
than the first edition version.  Despite those weaknesses, it is still 
a very powerful design.     

A good companion would be to have a distant allied Fighter Carrier
with Sensor/Mine Layers and to replace its Sensor Drones with 
weapons.

CAMPAIGN NOTES

Conversion Notes
Note that I did not ask for help from BTRC for this.  I just tried to
reverse-engineer the game to TimeLords/Guns^3 rules as best as 
possible. The greatest difficulty is keeping in mind that all of the 
rules in Slag! is for "Mega-Force" level rules with many assumptions 
being taken at each step.  These are mostly guesses.

Range Class is almost useless compared to the level at which this 
game operates (Rail Guns seem to be about RC 4 to 6, the rest seems 
to on the order of RC 11+ up to RC 22).  Weapon rating of 1 seems to 
be about 100 to 500 in TimeLords DV.  The weapon rating after 1 
seems to equal (weapon rating - 1) in kDV.  Missiles are treated as a 
one-kiloton nuclear warhead.  Armor and Force screens might be 
extrapolated similar weapons in AV for overall system resistance.  
BP for vital systems might be about equal to about 200 times the 
number of Hull systems.  Except for Very Low tech Fusion Torches 
and Orion Drives, assume engines have enough fuel for one to
five years of operation.  Cost of structures might be about 1 
megacredit per ton of mass.  The rest of the conversions can be 
gotten based on the use of 1 hex is on the order of thousands of 
kilometers and each turn is on the order of minutes.

I suspect the reasoning behind the limited penetration ability of the
Laser Cannon and Graser Cannon might be due to the vaporized 
material of the target interfering with the energy beam.

Stellar note:  The distance from an Earth-like planet to its moon
would probably be about 50 hexes from the hex of the planet.  The 
distance between planets is on the order of 10 kilo-hexes to 100 
kilohexes.  The sun's gravity is expected to not be detectable about 
40 mega-hexes away. Earth's Moon is about Size 38.  Earth is about 
Size 43.  For those who want to simulate asteroids, assume that it 
has the maximum allowed armor based on Size and the rest of the 
systems are Hull.  For those who want to simulate moons, assume 
that it has the maximum allowed Armor based on Size
and the rest of the systems are Hull, and allow it to regenerate 1/10 
*Size (round down) systems per turn due to the effects of gravity 
holding the moon together.  For those who want to simulate the 
effects of a planet, assume that it has the maximum allowed 
Ablative Armor based on Size and the rest of the systems are Hull, 
and allow it to regenerate 1/10 * Size (round down) systems per 
turn due to the effects of gravity holding the planet together.  When 
moons and planets "repair the damage" the pieces of the
planet do not return to the same location or condition that they were
originally in (scars and craters are usually left behind with the 
debris "raining" down on the stellar body.  This "repair" is done 
during the Damage Control phase of the turn and it can "repair" 
Missile hits.  The only way to stop a moon or planet from coming 
back together is to completely damage or destroy all Hull for one 
turn (this will leave Asteroids feature behind).  Asteroids, moons 
and planets get to have Damage Modifiers based on Size like any 
other structure.

The above should not be regarded in any way official or realistic. 
Game Masters might want to discourage their players from actually 
running their own ship, since the entire party can get killed in just a 
few minutes.

(Note - This is why I didn't put any role-playing notes in Slag! It's 
just too damn deadly for characters - Greg Porter)

Jump Drives and Jump Gate Performance Effects
While these systems allow "faster than light speed" travel, there is
nothing that says that their speed is infinite, fixed or variable.  The
speed is the strongest determining factor of how much influence the 
various government systems has on people at varying distances from 
its components.  Similarly, it affects how quickly changes can be 
done with various influences.  In general, the slower the speed, then 
the more isolated the various people are likely to be.  Likewise, the 
faster the speed, then the more unified the various people are likely 
to be (social, political, and other forces can oppose these effects, 
though).  On a similar manner, how close the Jump Gate and Jump 
Drives can be used near gravity wells affect the overall speed.  If 
Jump Gates can be linked together, then it could allow a constant 
traffic of in-system travel to be as fast as intergalactic or even 
inter-universal travel.

Government, Taxes and the Economy
Governments (or other large societal structures) normally have 
direct effects on space travel.  They generally direct the research in 
technology.  They can declare war on other governments or anybody 
else for that matter. They institute taxes to manipulate markets and 
as a source of revenue. They have the power to set up rules of what 
is done under their power (the overall effect is one of a tax with a 
direction of use).  In general, they maintain the systems that no 
other societal structure could maintain (like large scale military 
forces).

Taxes and regulations controls the type of space operations done. 
Taxes are generally additional costs to running space operations 
(stellar traders and transport of goods, services, and people), 
making it more expensive to operate.  There are many forms of 
taxation: income tax, sales tax, trade taxes, social security taxes, 
etc.  You can check with your real-life governments on the various 
types of taxes that affect businesses.  Regulations are similar, 
though they directly affect how the space operation is performed.  
1st example: Size 2+ ships/bases are required to have at least one 
Life pod system (safety regulations).  2nd example: Ships/bases are 
only allowed to have one Railgun for a weapon (arms/weapon
controls).  3rd example: Size 2+ ships/bases need at least one 
Damage Control system (safety regulations, though Redundant 
Systems are a more likely requirement).  4th example:  Only Antigrav 
propulsion systems are allowed for in-atmosphere travel 
(environmental laws).  Other forms of regulation includes 
prohibitions/quarantines on some designated material (like no anti-
matter allowed on planets or diseases).  Likewise some taxes
and regulations might be designed to protect "local" industries from
competition against "alien" industries.  A variant type of regulation 
is legal liabilities.  People interested in the various types of 
regulations that affect businesses should check their governments 
and other real-life governments.

Space travel economics is generally tied to transportation of goods
and services (includes tourism).  Different areas have different 
types of resources: low-gravity, rare substances, extreme 
conditions (close to a star or far away from stars), pleasant living 
areas, compatible governments with the citizens, population 
centers, education levels, etc.  One resource that is only just 
becoming a major player in the late 20th century is the
information resource (in particular new technologies, sciences, and
entertainment).  This will tend to lead to trade routes being 
established based on ease/cost/length of travel between resources 
of the various types. The nodes of these trade routes will tend to 
develop into major points of power (political, economic, etc.)  The 
areas off the trade routes will tend to develop slower and be less 
involved with the affairs of other areas due to the effects of 
relative isolation.

On a miscellaneous note, smart governments will attempt to gain
information sources and sources of money from other governments.  
Since information sources are mobile (usually being made up of 
people) and have long term effects (though rarely short term 
effects), smart governmentswill try to tempt information sources 
to move to their areas by showing how living there will be more 
pleasant/profitable than where they currently are.  Similarly, 
sources of money are generally moderately wealthy people who 
might be persuaded to live under a government's area of control. 
Moderately rich people (unless they are misers) generally have to 
expend a fair amount of money (hopefully using the local businesses) 
to maintain their expected standard of living  and are often looking 
for ways to invest their money (hopefully the local businesses) or 
run businesses themselves (hopefully a source of tax revenue and 
uses the local business to operate to strengthen the local economy).  
The goal will be to have an end result of greater resources and tax 
revenue, therefore gaining greater power.  The down side is that the 
government has to be sure that the business and individuals being 
imported do not attempt to take or challenge the government's 
power.  This can be prevented by having citizens/locals being
granted equal or greater rights/privileges than foreigners/non-
citizens.

Tech Levels
Very Low Tech (TL 10 to 12 in TimeLords):  Nearly all space travel
technology are massive endeavors by governments or similar 
organizations. This is due to the high costs in fuel usage and long 
times it takes to travel to between planets.  Only those who are 
willing to commit years of their lives to space travel would actually 
be on interplanetary ships.  The technology is advanced enough for 
practical, though still somewhat experimental, laser weapons.  Early 
fusion technology is still on the experimental side.  If it is vitally 
needed, the technology for the Orion drive exists.  But this would 
only be done for scientific probes or for making long-duration ships 
for avoiding genocide due to dying worlds or something similar 
(essentially giant Life Pods).

These civilizations might or might not believe that there are
civilizations outside of their solar system.  If not, then they are not
likely to have much to do with weapons/defenses for dealing with 
threats from outside of the solar system.  If they have had a hostile 
encounter with a civilization outside of their solar system, then 
they are likely to have a united world-wide militaristic (not 
necessarily xenophobic, but they would be very cautious) 
civilization.  

Low Tech (TL 13 to 14):  Technology has reached a level where space
travel is practical, though faster-than-light-speed travel has not 
been developed yet.  Plasma Drives are replacing Fusion Torches as 
the primary means of space travel.  Colonies on other worlds are 
possible, though travel times measured in weeks are to be expected 
(travel to the local moon can be theoretically done in an hour).  
Space travel technology is at a point where the wealthier small 
businesses can afford a few ships.  The government will have a 
small military fleet for escort duty and planetary defense/offense.  
It is possible for colonies to  be started, have a "boom town" growth, 
then become "ghost towns", if they are not able to have a major 
trade route going through them or have something to keep settlers
there.  Most forms of interplanetary trade are generally with 
finished goods and services, since manufacturing and servicing on 
site is not practical at these distances at this technological level.

A common government regulation is for spaceship's of Size 2+ to 
have a Life pod system.

On the home planets, a surge of technological growth is likely to 
have taken place due to the effects of fusion technology providing 
most of the energy needs of those populations.  The people of these 
civilizations are likely to believe that they have reached the limits 
of technological growth, since their level of science probably says 
that force field related technology (include Jump Drives) are 
impossible.

Medium Tech (TL 14 to 17):  The development of force-field related
technologies (especially Force Screens and Jump Drives) enables
interstellar travel to become practical.  Travel between the stars is
affordable to small businesses.  Ships can easily travel from the 
surface of one planet to another.  Technology appears to have 
reached the "singularity point" where new developments impact on 
all other technologies which in turn feeds back on itself.  Artificial 
Intelligence technology has reached a point where they can be more 
intelligent and knowledgeable than most humans.  If the Game Master 
is using CyberSpace rules from SpaceTime/TimeLords, then the 
transportation of information (data objects and programs) would be 
a major source of trade.  The major ships are likely to be about Size 
4, though Size 1 and 2 ships would make up the bulk of the
ships in operation.  The bulk of the interstellar commerce is in 
components of goods and services (resources), since manufacturing 
and services can be performed on-site where needed at high 
efficiency.  For those Game Masters having difficulty understanding 
this, these are the principle of royalties, licensing agreements, 
subcontractors, and vendors (supplier of components and processed 
material).

Civilizations are likely to be in a constant state of flux, where
radical changes can be determined by anyone's actions.  Possible
regulations are: Only Anti grav engines are allowed in the 
atmosphere of planets (maybe inhabited moons, too) for 
environmental regulations; All civilian ships can only have Auxiliary 
Control systems (no Bridges to compete with military ships); No 
anti-matter based systems allowed in the atmosphere of any planet 
(for safety), and Civilian ships are only allowed a single Railgun 
system for weapon use (some governments might prohibit any
weapon system).

High Tech (TL 18 to 24):  A further improvement in technologies. 
Technology is reaching the point where it can begin to manipulate 
reality (Nuclear Dampers and Absorption Field).  Many civilizations 
at this level are likely to be highly alien to those of Very Low Tech 
level, since this tech level is likely to have extremely developed 
technologies (outside of the scope of Slag!) in biotechnology, 
artificial intelligence, interfaces with tools, entertainment, and 
energy storage density and efficiency in energy use.  Civilian ships 
tend towards Size 1 and 2.

Governments are likely to be extremely alien and maybe even
frightening to lower tech levels.  It might have an Artificial 
Intelligence infrastructure handling the long term planning and 
implementation and the biologicals handling the short term planning 
and implementation (an unusual form of symbiosis).  Another 
possibility is with an extreme form of biotechnology, everything and 
everybody in a civilization might be symbiotic organisms in a vast 
truly integrated ecosystem that spans the stars.  Another possibility 
might be where reality altering technology gets to the point where 
it effectively is magic (This would be on the level of Designer 
technology in TimeLords).  In any case, the civilizations at this
level would tend toward either those who are out to conquer the 
universe (generally united in a hive-like mind) or being more 
benevolent (not necessarily "good" or saints, though not normally 
aggressive unless attacked).

While there are higher tech levels, they tend to have societies 
almost incomprehensible to lower tech levels.  Any conflicts at 
those levels tend to have apocalyptic levels of effects where 
realities across the omniverse are likely to have collateral effects.  
For this reason, those tech levels are out of the scope of the game.

Ship/Base Examples

Name(Tech level): Portable Jump Gate (Medium)
Design type: Base, Line
Size/Effective Size: 2/2
Damage Mod.: -1
Systems/Cost: 15/15
Sensors: -2
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 5/6
Armor/Force Screens: 0/1
Special Defense: None
Weapons: None
Front: H, AC, JG, AP, AP, AP, AP
Front Internal:
Front Core:
Side:
Rear Internal:
Rear Core:
Rear: AP, AP, DC, JD, H, AG, FS, H
Notes: The power from the Auxiliary Power Units are shifted around
depending on its current use.  It is a very efficient portable Jump 
Gate. It is manufactured on a planet.  When it is ready to be launched, 
it allocates its power as follows: 1 for FS, 5 for AG.  It needs an 
escort from military ships and will probably be accompanied by 
ships with supplies as needed.  It will either go through another 
Jump Gate or use its Jump Drive (diverting one APU (or more if it 
increases speed) from AG) to its destination when it is able to with 
its escorts.  Upon reaching its destination, it will probably divert 
the 6 Auxiliary Power Units from AG to JG, allowing it to handle up 
to Size 5 ships.  The 1 AP for FS is just to handle incidental space 
debris, than for actual defense.  The Damage Control system is to 
help counter the effects of the system going down due to chance 
failure of a system.

It is a non-military base, though it would have military ships around
for protection.  For those along major trade routes, it might be
permanently linked to another Portable Jump Gate to allow for very 
short travel times by most ships along that leg of the route.  Those 
not along a trade route will have to be satisfied with the Jump gate 
being restricted to opening to areas further away from population 
centers, though it would have the advantage of being able to open to 
anywhere (or at least anywhere within whatever restrictions the GM 
decides).  Those bases intended for purely military use would be 
stationed in military shipyards, where it would send military ships 
where they are needed.  A few would accompany those military ships 
so that when the battle is over they can all return to their 
designated shipyard.  Its small size and relative cost would make it
a strategic asset.

Name(Tech level): Cyberspace Postal Ship (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Line
Size/Effective Size: 2/0
Damage Mod.: -1
Systems/Cost: 15/15
Sensors: 2
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 6/6
Armor/Force Screens: 0/1
Special Defense: None
Weapons: None
Front: H, S, B, AI, C, AP, AP
Front Internal:
Front Core:
Side:
Rear Internal:
Rear Core:
Rear: PD, PD, PD, PD, DC, H, FS, H
Notes: This is an automated ship that almost constantly goes from 
one portion of a trade route to another to help link the cyberspace 
networks. It uses linked Portable Jump Gates for interstellar travel.  
Its Cargo system is actually a huge node (see Cyberspace rules in
TimeLords/SpaceTime) with communication links.  Upon entering a 
solar system along its circuit, it quickly heads to a designated 
satellite/node station and connects to that node (effectively making 
the satellite and ship into one huge node).  An exchange of 
information is done as needed, then the ship breaks the link (usually 
after one minute).  The ship then heads to the next destination along 
its circuit.  In solar systems with multiple inhabited worlds/moons, 
there is one major satellite/node for the solar system and a number 
minor satellite/nodes for the individual planets/moons.  In those 
cases, the solar system will have its own dedicated Cyberspace 
Postal Ships to transfer information between the major 
satellite/node and the minor satellite/nodes.

Name(Tech level): High Tech Trade Ship (High)
Design type: Ship, Line
Size/Effective Size: 2/2
Damage Mod.: -1
Systems/Cost: 15/21
Sensors: -1
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 2/3
Armor/Force Screens: 1/1
Special Defense: AF
Weapons: None
Front: H, AC, L2, TB, AF, C, Q, AP
Front Internal:
Front Core:
Side:
Rear Internal:
Rear Core:
Rear: AP, AG, JD, DC, H, FS, H
Notes: This is a relatively small trade ship.  It lacks Life Pods, and 
it has a weapon.  The laser is actually for welding/cutting work.  It 
is not intended to be a military ship.  If it is being used for mining 
of asteroids, it will typically use the laser to cut away unusable 
material and use the Tractor Beam to haul around the usable 
material.      

In a High Tech level civilization, there is little need to carry goods
in bulk.  The owner of the ship will probably take what small jobs 
are available.  Think of it as a multi-purpose truck, with the ability 
shoot back if pirates show up (though it will usually try to call on
military/police ships and run away when possible).

Name(Tech level): Large Trade Ship (Medium)
Design type: Ship, Star layout with a thickened center
Size/Effective Size: 4/4
Damage Mod.: -2
Systems/Cost: 25/25
Sensors: 3
Thrust/Max. Thrust: 4/4
Armor/Force Screens: 0/1
Special Defense: 0
Weapons: R
Front: H, R, C, C, C, C, DC,
Front Internal: AC
Front Core:
Side: AG, AP, FS, AP, S, AG, AP, H
Rear Internal: H
Rear Core:
Rear: Q, Q, Q, DC, LP, AG, AP, H
Notes:  This a completely civilian trade ship.  It travels along the 
major trade routes through Portable Jump Gates.  It has very little 
ability to defend itself.  It complies with virtually every regulation 
at this tech level.  It can land on planets and moons.  While it is 
vulnerable to piracy, it normally stays in the areas where 
military/police ships can be called upon as needed.  In some cases, it 
will be escorted by a military ship.

End Article