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The Battle Engine (BE) is a remarkably flexible number
cruncher for abstract combat. Through the use of its tag system, a wide variety
of units and battlefield conditions can be simulated. In a recent rant to George Velez (sorry George), I
expressed how the BE can be used for more than just one gaming system. With the wave of a hand, one point of
damage can be a 20 KTon blast, a single point of fighter scaled damage, or even
a single hit point in a role-playing game/mass melee system.
Just a little history, the original BE was designed and
coded by Robert Boettcher and Greg Ellis.
I took over the project, ported it to VB, and added a little user
interface to the front. This became
version 2.0 of the original BE.
Over the next few years, we've had 20 releases and gradually increased
the detail of units, given the players more control of their units, and expand
the special effects of offensive and defense
systems.
The current incarnation of the BE reads in two CSV
(plain text comma separated values) files that describe two fleets, armies,
mobs, etc. and pits them against each other. The format includes group information
and unit information. Version 4.0
can handle 9,999 units per side, a unit can range in size from a nano missile on
up to city-sized space stations.
The first line of a CSV describes the fleet. The values (in order) are RaceName,
FleetName, Break off, ShipsTotal, FleetStrength, ShipsLeft, TargetBonus,
TargetPriority, Reserve. All fields
are required, the first are strings of characters and should be in quotes so
that punctuation or numbers will not confuse the
program.
"G'runge Empire","2nd
Strike"
The next six numbers control various fleet-wide
attributes. Break off is a percentage value that represents
the minimum break off point of the whole fleet. A value of 20 is 20%, ShipsTotal is the
number of ships in the fleet.
FleetStrength is the total hull points of the fleet. ShipsLeft is
normally the same number as ShipsTotal.
TargetBonus is a fleet wide modifier to combat that can be set to a
non-zero value for a number of reasons: fleet control units, exceptional
admirals and commanders, general technological advantages, etc. TargetPriority is similar to fleet wide
hull targeting without the ability to set the scope of the hull search. Reserve used to be a fleet wide reserve
trigger, but it is now replaced with per unit RESERVE tags, leave it set to
zero.
Assuming three ships with a hull of 10 each, we can have
a fleet data line like this:
"G'runge Empire","2nd
Strike",20,3,30,3,0,0,0
The unit data lines take up the remainder of the CSV
file. The fields are all numbers
with the exception of the first and the last which are strings of
characters. As before, all strings
should be in quotes to prevent the program from tripping on numbers or
punctuation. The fields are
ShipStr, MaxBeam, CurBeam, MaxShield, CurShield, MaxTorp, CurTorp, MaxHull,
CurHull, CurDam, Status, Ammo, and Special. The reason for maximum and current
ratings are to allow for damaged ships in a fleet. Status and Ammo are no longer used since
TAGs in the special string of characters allow for better design and
control. They should be set to
zero.
Our generic G'runge cruiser has a 10 hull with 20
equipment spaces. This allows room
for six beams, seven shields, six torps, and one space for whatever specialty
equipment is desired at design time.
"G'runge cruiser
A",6,6,7,7,6,6,10,10,0,0,0,""
Note that the Special field is present even if there is
nothing there. All data lines much
end in a carriage return or the program can not read it. This is especially important for the
last line of the file. If this were
a missile-launching unit, the unit data line might look
this:
"G'runge cruiser A",6,6,7,7,6,6,10,10,0,0,0,"MIS0011 AMMO
10"
The full CSV file would be:
"G'runge Empire","2nd
Strike",20,3,30,3,0,0,0
"G'runge cruiser A",6,6,7,7,6,6,10,10,0,0,0,"MIS0011 AMMO
10"
"G'runge cruiser B",6,6,7,7,6,6,10,10,0,0,0,"MIS0011 AMMO
10"
"G'runge cruiser C",6,6,7,7,6,6,10,10,0,0,0,"MIS0011 AMMO
10"
In the battle report, it would show up
as:
Battle Round 1
Attackers are the G'runge Empire, 2nd Strike
Fleet.
Current group Break-off level is
20%
The Ships are currently listed
as:
G'runge cruiser A Bm=6 Sh=7 Tp=6 Hl=10 "MIS0011 AMMO 10
"
G'runge cruiser B Bm=6 Sh=7 Tp=6 Hl=10 "MIS0011 AMMO 10
"
G'runge cruiser C Bm=6 Sh=7 Tp=6 Hl=10 "MIS0011 AMMO 10
"
While I used ships and fleets in these examples, I could
have easily used cowboys and indians, dinosaurs, or WWI dreadnoughts. Some of you may have noticed the
references to 'Fleet' and 'Ships' in the report. You can use whatever you want. There is a pick list of the most common
choices or you can make your own.
[I recently typed in "Flarg/Snorgats" and it worked just
fine.]
Current Unit Tags as of version
4.2:
AF #
anti-fighter only targeting 1=beam, 2=torp,
3=both
The AF tag is similar to the SCAN
tag except that it searches for presence of the FIGHTER or MINE tag and if it
fails to find such a tag if does not fire.
This allows the BE to model fighter scale point defense and mine sweeping
systems. AF can be used in
brackets, it is all lower case and there is no need for the scope field since it
only applies to that attack.
AMMO ##
unit can only use torps/batteries for X
rounds
The AMMO tag only affects the torp rating. It represents the number of salvoes that
a unit can fire. If a ship is
surprised or disabled, it will not expend ammunition needlessly. In brackets, AMMO is used for any type
of attack beam/torp/energy melee weapon, whatever.
AR #
resistant armor of X strength
Resistant armor is the uber
defense of the BE. It stops all
forms of damage up to its rating per attack. It is never depleted. Its one weakness is critical hits. HEAT, VIBRO, DIS and other special
effects can 'work around' heavy resistant defenses. Resistant armor is usually
reserved for advance races or supernaturally tough units. AR is not used in
brackets.
ARTILLERY # unit can fire from reserve 1=beam, 2=torp,
3=both
The ARTILLERY tag allows units to fire from the back of
the group. Units with the RESERVE tag can not normally fire until activated. The
tag does not affect normal attacks and has none of the properties that are
associated with the LONG tag. Think
of the difference between pack howitzers and full blown artillery units.
ARTILLERY can be used in brackets, it is all lower case and there is no need for
the scope (beam/torp/both) field since it only applies to that
attack.
BIO use
the bio-ship crit table
This is not the 'critter' tag. BIO units are large enough to be boarded
by marines and generally react to damage as a starship
does.
BP ## ##
Boarding party of X attack strength and Y defense
value
Boarding parties range from wicked
spores to marines in power armor.
Their attack strength in compared against the defender’s hull and defensive BP value. If they can overwhelm the defense, they
roll on a special 'critical hit' table and can possibly capture an enemy
unit. BPs can not attack targets
with the FIGHTER, SOLID, MINE, or GROUND tags.
If the unit is using brackets, weapons can be turned into
'bp' attacks. Bracketed boarding
party attacks can take advantage of special tags such as
pen.
"Sample
CA",10,12,8,15,"BP 0 6 [10][10][3 bp][3 bp]"
BREAK ##
break off percentage
The morale of the fleet can be determined by its break
off percentage. The lower the
number the less damage the fleet or army as a whole can take before
fleeing. So, a break off percentage
of 100 means fight to the death and a break off of 1% means flee after being
scratched.
BUILDING
use the ground facility crit table
When the 20/40/60/80/100 percent break points are reached
the unit takes a critical hit as normal, but they are rolled on the building
table instead of the default starship table.
CAPTURED ship
captured
Similar to being crippled, the unit is generally
protected from attack by both sides.
Actual ownership of the unit after the battle is determined by the game
master.
CARRIER
ship is vulnerable to hanger hits
When the 20/40/60/80/100 percent break points are reached
the unit takes a critical hit as normal, but they are rolled on the carrier
table instead of the default starship table. Some crit tables can be nested, for
example a bio-ship carrier would have the BIO and the CARRIER
tag.
CLOAK unit is
cloaked
This can be psionic, magical, or
electromagnetic cloaking. Being
invisible in a buffalo herd is different from the whole herd being
invisible. For a unit to gain
tactical surprise (a free round of fire) the whole fleet must be cloaked. If the fleet consists of mixed units,
cloaked units become very difficult to lock on to, but this does not mean that
they are immune to attack. The
effect only lasts for one combat round.
CRACK #
shield cracker weapons
1=beam, 2=torp, 3=both
Also known as shield disruptors,
CRACK attacks inflict double damage to shields and zero damage to hulls. Ships with shield cracking weapons
usually have some back up weapons to inflict hull or bodily damage. CRACK can be used with brackets, the tag
is all lower case with no scope field.
CREW ##
determines crew levels
default is 100
Ships are assumed to have 100% of their needed crew
onboard. Due to critical hits and special weapon attacks, this level can be
reduced significantly. If the level
reaches zero, the crew is incapacitated and the ship is crippled. Units with SOLID, FIGHTER, MINE, or
GROUND tags are immune to crew levels. CREW 100 tags are not required. The BE will generate a crew tag, if one
is needed. In theory, a ship can be
over-staffed and have a CREW level higher than
100%.
CRIT ##
selects a specific critcal hit table to use
The default for any unit that can take a critical hit is
table five. Tables 6 through 11
correspond to the building, carrier, orbital, volatile, bioship, and vehicle
tags. Custom critical hit tables
allow for unique units and abilities.
For example, if you have a race that can live in a vacuum, you can add a
custom critical hit table will all the hull breech flags set to
zero.
CRIPPLE
unit is crippled, no weapons fire
Bad news.
Can't shoot. Can't
move. And, unlike the CAPTURED tag,
the enemy can still attack you.
This effect lasts for the remainder of the battle or until the unit's
destruction.
DAMAGE ## this
is a unit's personal break off percentage
Unlike the break off percentage
where low is cowardly, the DAMAGE tag checks against the hull or shield
remaining. This value can be higher
than 100%. So, a value of 1 means
fight until you are 99% damage. A
value of 100 means fight until your shield rating is reduced to zero. And, a value of 150 means fight until
you have lost half of your shields.
DEFENSE ## defensive
bonus a miss is a clean miss
Used for ECM, magic spells, psionic defense, or agility,
each point directly subtracts from the enemy's chance to hit you. In a base 50% system, a DEFENSE of 49 or
greater means that only 1% of attacks might hit, baring other modifiers. [The BE has a minimum chance to hit of
1%.]
DELAY ##
reserve unit for specified number of rounds
DELAY is used as an additional trigger for the RESERVE
tag. It can used to form multiple
waves of fighters. A delay of
one will activate units on round two and remove them from the reserve. DELAY
does nothing without the presence of a RESERVE tag.
DIS #
disabling weapons
1=beam, 2=torp, 3=both
DIS is part of the family of weapons that can generate
spontaneous crit hits on the enemy.
DIS stands for disabling and disruption. It can be used in weapon
brackets, the tag is all lower case with no scope
field.
DL A Data
Link to group 'A', values range from A-Z & a-z
Data links allow units to slave their weapons together
and attack a single target, each attack is treated individually. Currently, data links can not be used
with attacks in brackets.
DRIFTING
unit's engines are temporarily disabled
The DRIFTING tag prevents a unit
from fleeing for one combat round.
This can be the result of shell shock, a blow to the head, or the engines
being taken off line. The unit can
still fight if it has any functional weapons.
FEARLESS
unit is too brave (or too stupid) to flee
Normally, when a unit loses any
chance to be combat effective, it immediately tries to flee. But, some units are too stubborn to let
go that easily and are willing to take a bullet for a friend that can still
fight. Robots, insect hordes, and
orc berserkers could all take advantage of the FEARLESS tag. This tag is also helpful in creating
special units such as a ship loaded with boarding party attacks or a
decoy.
Note: A FEARLESS unit will still follow orders
and obey break off and damage thresholds, if they are
set.
FIELD #
field effect attacks 1=beam,
2=torp, 3=both
The FIELD tag creates a form of attack that strikes every
unit on the enemy's side of battle.
Field effect attacks can be very unbalanced and are usually reserved for
GM usage. They represent hostile
environments such as gravitic and ion storms, radiation pulses from a star, or
the killing chill of a blizzard. It
can appear as part of an alien artifact boobytrap or an invulnerable 'storm
generator' placed on each CSV file.
FIELD attacks are usually combined with the LOW tag or the AF tag to
localize or minimize the kinds of units that are affected. The FIELD tag can be used with weapon
brackets. In such a case, the scope
field is not required and the tag is in lowercase.
FIELD attacks can be very complex and actually have
several sub tags to help the BE decide what to do in a given situation.
Currently, there is one sub-tag accessible:
FCAPTURE tells the BE to attack even
captured units.
As more
capabilities are added, additional sub tag will
created.
FIGHTER
unit is fragile
Fighters are units that are killed when they take one
point of damage. They can not be
boarded by BPs. While one generally
thinks of space fighters, this tag can be applied to other units such as flying
knives or insect hordes.
FLAK # flak
weapons 1=beam, 2=torp,
3=both
Certain weapons can have dual
firing modes. An example would be
Green Lantern's ring which can fire multiple zaps at a horde of mini-bots (with
the FIGHTER tag) or switch to a single big zap when the threat is gone. The presence of a FIGHTER tag in the
enemy squad will trigger a 'MULTI 1' effect until all the enemy FIGHTERs are
gone. Since there is not specific
targeting of fighter sized units, FLAK is more of a scatter beam effect. The FLAK tag can be used in weapon
brackets, the tag is all lower case with no scope
field.
[Green Lantern is the copyright and trademark of DC
Comics. Its usage here is for
illustrative purposes. No challenge
is intended or implied.]
FLED unit
has disengaged (if it has survived)
Normally used by the Battle Engine internally, FLED units
are using hard evasive maneuvers and maximum speed to leave the
battle.
FLEE unit
is running (this is FLED with a one round delay)
Normally used by the Battle Engine
internally, FLEE units have lost their weapons or have reached their breaking
point and will leave the battle after the next turn (if they
survive.)
FLICKER ## flicker
shields that are impenetrable X% of the time
Only works if a unit's shields are
still up. FLICKER shields represent
some form of impervious defense (like a flickering stasis field.) A value such as 40 indicates that any
single attack will be completely ignored 40% of the
time.
GLOBAL #
fire without regard to reserve status of
enemy
This tag is usually reserved for
fast medium to long range weapons that can strike anywhere with the enemy
formation. Jump torpedoes would be a good example of this kind of weapon.The
GLOBAL tag can be used in weapon brackets, the tag is all lower case with no
scope field.
GROUND unit can take
'hull' damage, but no crits
GROUND units can range from
individual troops and critters to whole battalions. They are immune to critical hits and
cannot be attacked by boarding parties.
HEAT # thermal
weapons 1=beam, 2=torp,
3=both
HEAT is part of the family of weapons that can generate
spontaneous crit hits on the enemy.
HEAT weapons are so powerful and so hot that they can possibly inflict
damage even if the shields of a target are not breached. Examples would be plasma flame throwers
or enveloping fusion bombs, explosive shells and lasers would not normally
qualify since they only attack one spot and not the whole unit. It can be used in weapon brackets, the
tag is all lower case with no scope field.
HULL ## ## hull target
value, 2nd value is the scope of the search
HULL targeting can represent
mission orders or weapon effects. Units hunting for the Bismarck might be
temporarily given Hull 15 0 orders so that if they see a unit that is exactly
hull 15 they will target it. This
tag can also be used to give weapons a 'favorite' target. For example, "[2 hull 2 1]" would favor
hull 1, 2 or 3 units. As indicated
by the previous example, the second value in the HULL tag acts as a modifier to
the base hull target value. The larger the second value, the wider the range of
acceptable targets. Like most targeting schemes, if a unit within the target
range is not found, the attack will accept whatever target shows up within
range. The HULL tag can be used in
batteries if it is lower case. The
second value is not removed.
LONG # long range/first
strike 1=beam, 2=torp,
3=both
LONG range weapons get to strike first, if the unit
firing them is not surprised due to tactical situation or enemy cloaking. After that, it functions as a normal
weapon. If both sides have LONG
range attacks, a LONG range only duel ensues and then combat begins as
normal. On a 14th century
battlefield, a company of archers could have the LONG tag to model their ability
to fire before being over-run. The tag can be used in weapon brackets, it is all
lower case with no scope field.
"Helm's
Bowmen",18,0,0,12,"GROUND [18 MULTI 3 AMMO 1][6
offline]"
Here they are modeled as having a powerful, but scattered
ranged attack backed up by a more focused but weaker hand-to-hand combat
attack.
LOW # low
intensity weapons 1=beam, 2=torp,
3=both
LOW intensity weapons can not
penetrate shields, but otherwise can damage units normally. Examples of such attacks would be wide
angle particle beams, high velocity sand/gravel, etc. In normal FOTS, a one point LOW attack
is a good example of a fighter scale weapon that can tear apart other fighters
and gnaw on shieldless targets. The
tag can be used in weapon brackets, it is all lower case with no scope
field.
MESON #
meson weapons 1=beam,
2=torp, 3=both
MESON is part of the family of weapons that can generate
crit hits on the enemy. MESON
weapons are radiation-based attacks that can possibly pierce shields and inflict
damage to electronics and the crew.
It can be used in weapon brackets, the tag is all lower case with no
scope field.
MINE unit
is a mine
MINEs are small units that can not be boarded. Later editions of the BE will introduce
mine sweeping units that are designed primarily to hunt and kill mines. Currently, minesweeping is done prior to
battle either as a strategic action or part of a pre-battle
conflict.
MIS####
spawn missiles with BSTH attributes, values zero to
Z
Missiles use trihexadecimal codes
to determine their warhead type and strength. In TriHex, 0 to 9 are numbers and A to Z
represent the numbers 10 to 35.
They inherit appropriate tags from their bracketed attack or main UDL
depending on if 'MIS' or 'mis' is used.
Currently, shield and hull rating do not affect missile survivability,
but a minimum of one hull is required.
Larger warheads may require larger hull values and thus reduce the number
of missiles carried on a ship.
Missiles follow their own rules for targeting so the tend to
scatter. The can
inherit
HULL and
SCAN tags from the launcher.
"Ragnor",5,9,12,13,"[5][6 mis0021 ammo 7][6 mis1001 vibro ammo
7]"
The Ragnor is this example has a 5 point primary beam,
and two 6 point missile batteries.
One battery is loaded with 2 point torp warheads and the other has a
gravity distortion beam that might cause structural damage to the target. The second battery is also an example of
a missile inheriting a tag from the launcher. The first bank of missiles will not have
vibrational warheads since they are separated by
brackets.
MSL
this is the 'I am a missile and can be shot down'
tag
Used by the point defense tag to
find missiles and intercept them before they can inflict damage on the
target. Units with the MSL tag are
also considered suicide units and are removed from play before the next
round.
MULTI # # break
fire up into X sized chunks
The multi fire tag breaks up large attacks into small
independently targeted packages.
The first value represents the packet size for beams and the second value
is for torps. When used in
brackets, multi is lower case and just one value is needed since the scope of
the multi-fire is within the brackets only.
NOBEAM no attack for
one round
Not used for bracketed weapons, this tag forces a one
turn delay on beam weapon fire. It
is not stackable like the offline tag.
NOMOVE unit can not
move until repaired
The unit can not flee the battle. It is often used for immobile units such
as artillery, sentry daemons, star bases, or
castles.
NOTORP no attack for
one round
Not used for bracketed weapons, this tag forces a one
turn delay on torp weapon fire. It
is not stackable like the offline tag.
OFFLINE used to deactivate a
weapon battery for one round
Used only in weapon batteries (and
is thus always lower case).
Multiple uses of the OFFLINE tag can be done in order to model short
ranged weapons or weapons that require a warm up time before
firing.
"Cheap
defsat",3,0,0,1,"[1][1 offline][1 offline offline]"
On turn one, the cheap defense satellite has a 1 point
attack. On round two, it has two 1
point attacks, and if it survives, it will have three 1 point
attacks.
The ONLINE tag is also used to model internal damage to
units such as weapon shorts or fire computer
malfunctions.
ORBITAL
use the orbital base crit table
Used by orbital bases and defense
satellites as an alternate list of critical hits. It can be used in conjunction with tags
such as CARRIER or VOLATILE.
PD ## point
defense accuracy rating of X percent
Currently, point defense is a
rapid firing 360 degree suite of weapons designed to intercept missiles before
they damage the ship. They can not
engage fighters, run out of ammo, or get swamped by large waves of
missiles. Any hit by a PD system
will destroy the incoming missile.
There are plans to upgrade the PD system to make it match the proposed
mine sweeper weapons suite. (SWEEPERs can only attack MINEs and PD will be able
to attack MSLs and perhaps FIGHTERs.
PD will become cheaper, but will not be the unlimited shots/ammo 'missile
shield' that it is now.)
PEN #
penetrating weapons 1=beam,
2=torp, 3=both
Penetrating weapons are unusually
intense attacks such as needle beams or phasing/tachyon weapons that partially
skip through a ship's shields.
Against unshielded units they act as normal weapons. But against an active shield, the first
point of damage in the attack leaks through and strikes the hull directly. When used in brackets, PEN is lower case
and no scope value is used.
REGEN # #
regenerating rate for shields and for hull
If a unit with this tag survives a
round of combat, it will automatically heal itself up to its maximum shield
and/or hull rating. Such units can
still be affected by critical units and no regenerating unit can come back from
the dead. High values of this tag
can be used to simulate magical or energy creatures that can only be destroyed
and not wounded permanently.
RESERVE ## reserve
activation percentage, unit is in reserve
Units with the RESERVE tag are
sitting in the second wave or the back of the fleet. The RESERVE value is a percentage
trigger similar to the break off percentage that determines when a unit joins
the battle front. Sitting in the
back of the fleet is not a perfect defense, if the main fighter or other unit
screen is too thin, stray shots can strike the reserves. Also, if the screen is destroyed,
reserved units will be thrown out of reserve status and into the main
battle. RESERVE is normally used to
set up a second wave of fighter/missile attacks.
Note: If
Reserve percentage is greater than the Break off value, the reserve units will
NEVER engage. Handy when you're
trying to protect something like a badly damaged capital ship or freighters and
the GM says they're vulnerable to attack.
RESIST ##
subtract this number from the damage roll
Resistance is an alternate tag for
supernatural toughness (see AR and FLICKER.) Many units such as werewolves or
neutronium armored battle cruisers have the ability to shrug off damage. The method is straightforward. The RESIST value is used as a percent
deduction from the weapon damage roll.
For example, if a 10 point attack rolls an 80%, the target normally takes
8 points of damage. With a RESIST of 20, the roll would become 60% and the
target would only take 6 points of damage.
If the original damage roll had been 20%, the target would have taken no
damage.
ROF # #
rate of fire
The first value is the reload
delay and the second is the first shot delay for staggered volleys. For example, ROF 2 0 fires every other
round and starts firing on round 1.
ROF 2 1 is the same but starts firing on round two. The ROF tag does not support rapid fire
weapons. To model that simply
multiply the damage done or break it up into packets, such as [10 multi 2] for
five 2 point attacks. ROF can be
used in tags, it will be lower case with two values for rate of fire and start
delay.
SCAN ## ## 100%
hull searching
Identical to HULL targeting,
except that instead of random looking for a hull, it chooses a random starting
point in the fleet and searches from there for an appropriate match. The first value is the targeting value,
the second value reflects the scope of the search. SCAN can be used in brackets, it is
lower case with no values removed.
SHOTS ##
unit can only use beams for X rounds
Similar to the AMMO tag but only
for beam weapons. It can be used as
a replacement for the ammo tag in a bracketed attack. So, [10 ammo 5] and [10 shots 5] are
identical in usage.
SOLID unit can
not be boarded
Commonly used by large units that
can not be boarded by troops. Cyber tanks and other AI units can be SOLID at the
GM's call. Energy based creatures and constructs might be considered SOLID as
well. SOLID is different from
GROUND in that the unit can still suffer critical hits. Crew hits against a SOLID unit are
usually construed as a decrease in vitality and may require prolonged healing or
a ready reserve of energy in order to recover.
SPECIAL # ## special weapons 1=beam, 2=torp,
3=both
Special weapons activate 20% of the time when they strike
a target. Values 1 to 4 correspond to the dis, heat, meson, and vibro crit
tables. As a example, I've added
table 12 to the be_crit.txt file. Using "SPECIAL 1 12" or "[5 special 12]" would
create a psionic beam weapon that has a chance of causing additional crew
casualties or disrupting operations on the target
vessel.
SPLIT split fire
mode (separate beam and torp into two attacks)
Not usable for weapons brackets,
SPLIT is the precursor to MULTI. The assumption is that the fire control systems
of the unit can fire on two target, if it uses two different classes of
weapons.
SR #
resistant shields of X strength
Similar to resistant armor (AR), resistant shields are
very tough shields that can shrug off minor blows. However, once the shield collapses (due
to overwhelming damage or critical hit) the shield loses its ability to ignore
minor damage.
STASIS stasis snap
shields
Stasis snap shields are the
ultimate defense, but they have some serious limitations in their use. When the shields on a ship fall, the
stasis shield kicks in and all additional damage is ignored. However, the effects lasts only for that
combat round and if the shields are dropped exactly to zero, the snap shield
dissipates before the next turn.
STASIS is a powerful tag for hit and run units as they can take a
tremendous beating and then run for the hills.
SUICIDE
unit is suicidal (random increase to yield)
SUICIDE attackers gain a +1d100%
to their targeting roll at the expense of not being able to dodge enemy
defensive fire. SUICIDE units
automatically take a single point of damage from these defenses. Thus, suicidal fighters always die and
suicidal ships are quickly whittled down.
AR and SR do not negate this damage although hull regeneration can
recover from this damage.
SURPRISE
unit is surprised
Surprised units can not attack for
one combat round. Total surprise
(where the targets do not even get shields) requires manipulation for the CSV
data and is extremely rare.
TARGET ##
targeting bonus counters ECM and may increase the
yield
A fixed bonus to a unit's
targeting roll. Like all
exceptional hits, and modified roll that is greater than 100% adds a small YIELD
bonus to the attack. Like the yield
tag, this bonus can not exceed the maximum damage of the
attack.
TIME ##
unit flees after X number of rounds have
elapsed.
A fixed trigger for disengagement
that is not based on fleet or unit damage.
Frequently used by missile heavy units that want to flee after they have
burned up all their ammunition. Can
also be used to simulate ships that want to flee, but have an engine warm up
delay. The TIME tag can be used in
conjunction with other tags such as RESERVE.
VEHICLE
take crits on the ground vehicle table
Depending on the scale, normal
vehicles are considered GROUND units and do not take critical hits. Some vehicles are so huge, they are
considered starship grade units (Ogres, CSUs, and Bolos to name a few.) These megatanks (as they are referred to
in NTV4) can take multiple hits from nuvlear-grade weapons and keep on
fighting.
VIBRO #
vibrational weapons 1=beam,
2=torp, 3=both
VIBRO weapons cause structural damage through intense
shaking and can stress internal structures to the point that they can fail even
if the shields are not breached.
Tractor repulsion beams, gravity warps, and temporal disruptors can all
cause these effects. When used in brackets, VIBRO is lower case and no scope
value is used.
VOLATILE
unit is explosive in nature and is vulnerable to
damage
Commonly assigned to tankers and missile colliers. Air sharks and other gas bag creatures
can also be considered VOLATILE.
YIELD ##
add this number to the damage roll minimum
The math can get complicated, but
the concept is simple. YIELD
increases the minimum damage that an attack can do. It does not increase the maximum, so
values greater than 99 are treated as 100% damage. Ships can gain a temporary YIELD bonus
for rolling greater than 100% on their attack rolls. Certain weapons can be given a high
YIELD value to represent all or nothing weapons that either smash the target or
are a clean miss.
--
The current TO-DO list or the future of the
BE:
Of course, the list is not written in stone and is
frequently subject to change. Greg
usually gets into some weird battle situation and needs a new feature quickly
added to solve the problem. When
that's not the case and I have time to add stuff to the Battle Engine, this is
the list I refer to.
Add Command/Leader tag, grants attack/defense bonus to
ships and fleets but it is lost when the bridge/CIC is hit or the ship
flees.
Add
an AEGIS tag, used for real area effect point defense that is lost when the
AEGIS unit is knocked out.
Add the SQUADRON tag, used to simulate a flight of
fighters on a single UDL while still keeping its normal properties like
fractional damage as units are destroyed, or representing a large target for
screening purposes.
Add the MINE tag, needed for in-combat mine
sweeping. Version one is already in
place and prevents BPs from attacking a MINE just like the SOLID
tag.
Add the AA/aa tag, AA are weapons that can not penetrate
shields and might add search for unshielded targets such as damaged ships,
fighters, squadrons, space monsters, mines, etc.
Target load balancing, makes it so that 18 fighters in a
SQUADRON are just as big of a target as 18 fighters in a loose
formation.
Add
HOT and SINK tags for BTech or steam punk support.
Add
BALANCE tag that causes break offs depending on the enemy to friendly hull point
total ratio.
Add
TENACIOUS for single minded attacks and attackers.
Add a
BE summary report:
# of Ships on Side A Break off %
# of Ships on Side B Break off %
Total Ships Engaged Total Hull Pts Engaged
# of Ships on Side A Destroyed
# of Ships on Side B Destroyed
# of Ships on Side A Fled
# of Ships on Side B Fled
# of Hull Pts on Side A Destroyed % of Total
Engaged
# of Hull Pts on Side B Destroyed % of Total
Engaged
Summary Post-Battle Ship Listing for Side A
Summary Post-Battle Ship Listing for Side B
(list crits on
surviving ships)
--
Version History
4.2 -
added low intensity weapons and fighter/mine only targeting added the field
effect weapons tag and the fearless tag
4.1 -
assorted bug fixes and added support for larger battles added the ability to
select the combat duration
4.0 -
added datalinks for weapons batteries
added boarding parties to
weapon batteries and changed their logic to make them more
weapon-like
added the DELAY tag to allow for more control over the timing of waves of
fighters and other units
added SPECIAL and CRIT tags for
custom weapons and criticals see the Battle Engine manual and be_crit.txt for
details
added the CREW tag to track casualties, a ship with no crew is marked as
a CRIPPLE
3.9 -
fixed toothless units logic
fixed ammo not last in bracketed weapon bug
add ROF tag for weapon batteries
3.8 -
fixed two stupid typos that had partially messed up
defense data links and attacker RESERVE
logic
added debug logic for file IO errors
added the MINE tag, similar to SOLID - it will also allow for future use
of the SWEEPER tag
changed CRACK into a shield disruptor
renamed MOVE and CAP tags to NOMOVE and
CAPTURED
Added DRIFTING as a temporary movement
penalty
Fixed a bug in the missile spawning code where it would get confused if a
malformed weapon tag existed.
3.7 -
a few bug fixes and a new process for cloaked
combat
For a unit to gain tactical surprise the whole fleet must be
cloaked. If the fleet consists of
mixed units, cloaked units become very difficult to lock on to. This does not
mean that they are immune to attack and the effect lasts for one
combat round.
In the name of space opera, I've added a 1% chance of always hitting and
a 1% chance of always missing.
Added an option to always inflict maximum
damage.
3.6 -
added the SOLID tag, and weapon batteries
Weapon Batteries are like arrays
of custom weapons that are built into a hull at design time. The format for weapon batteries is
[damage weapon tags]...
The three dots means that you can repeat the
pattern.
The current maximum number of weapon batteries is
200.
Only certain tags will appear as weapon tags. They are all lower case. Those tags are ammo, artillery,
bp,
crack, dis, dl, flak, global, heat, hull, long, meson, mis, multi,
offline, pen, rof, scan, special, target, vibro,
and
yield. Since each weapon tag
only applies to a specific battery, there is no need for scope
fields.
3.5 -
Battle Report reform, queue attacks so that they can be processed in batch mode,
added the TIME tag.
3.4 -
added the ARTILLERY tag, user configurable group and unit names, fixed
friendlies latching on to a LONG tag, made changes so that stand off missiles
can use the MSL tag,and fixed a bug in the FLEE
logic.
3.3 -
added the RESIST and YIELD tags in support of the new random damage model
(because massive combat modifiers were skewing the damage results too
much.) Maximum upped to 5,000 total
ships, units, and missiles.
3.2 -
more bug fixes
3.1 -
added FLEE and DAMAGE, fixed a few bugs
3.0 -
added armor, point defense, missile spawning, splitting, multi, disabling,
vibro, meson, heat weapons,
split fire, special crit tables, and resistant
defenses
2.8 -
add penetrating damage and suicide attacks
2.7 -
added data links
2.6 -
added boarding parties
2.5 -
added reserve attack percentage and stasis snap
shields
2.4 -
added static fleet header data to the status page
2.3 -
added an interactive status page so you can see the status codes in English and
tweak their values
2.2 -
added status code interface for the Shield Cracker
2.1 -
added assorted status codes
2.0 -
converted to Visual Basic
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