Slag! is the space combat game for people who aren't rocket scientists and who don't have an aerospace budget...but still want a realistic game.
Slag! boils things down to the minimum level, but still gives you multiple Tech Levels, complete ship design rules, and enough optional systems to recreate space battles from almost any fictional universe.
Slag! was BTRC's very first product designed as a saleable pdf. So, it is showing its age in terms of pdf sophistication (the original game rules are ©1995!), but it is still a great space combat system.
What you get
Slag! is a 28 page polybagged game or a 150 page screen-formatted pdf document. It includes rules, reference sheet, a hex map which you can photocopy for larger battles (in case you don't already have one), and a counter sheet.
Mechanics
The rules of Slag! are streamlined to the point where a several player battle with multiple ships per person can still be played in a few hours. Two player duels are fast and deadly.
Ships are composed of systems, which are discrete assemblies with a specific design function. How well it performs that function is often based on the size of the ship it is mounted on (Slag! supports ships from 50 tons to 250,000 tons). For instance, a "Sensor" array on a large ship will provide better targeting data than one on a small ship, because a "system box" on a large ship represents far more tonnage than on a small ship, and therefore a better quality sensor.
Combat is diceless, although there are optional rules for diced hits and hit location. Turns are several game minutes long, during which ships are expected to fire hundreds of shots, only a few of which will hit. Standard weapons include nuclear-tipped missiles, lasers, gamma-ray lasers, railguns and particle beams, depending on Tech Level. You can download a sample of the screen-format rules from here.
The pdf version of Slag! is available from our normal on-line vendors or direct from BTRC (US$5.50), while the print edition is by direct order only.
