Delta Vector the Game: Reactions

I've always hated in IGOUGO games how you simply sat waiting for enemies to approach en masse, then blast you without you attempting to dodge or retaliate.  Pretty unlikely and not much fun.

So... when a spaceship whooshes past your ship, lasers blasting, you should be able to react!

EvE Online. A game awesome and frustrating in equal measure.

Glossary: CZ = Control Zone. A radius around a ship equal to its CQ. So a CQ8 ship would have a 8" CZ.

Reactions
These occur in response to the activated, moving ship or squadron.

There are two types of reaction:

Defensive reaction in response to direct attacks on them or squadron-mates (i.e. if fired on, can nominate to fire back, evade etc)

Offensive reaction, initiated by the non-inititaive moving through its CZ, when the active, moving player has not attacked but the reacting players want a fight anyway....

Reaction Roll

This will be a contested roll. Any failures (i.e. roll above CQ or similar) means 

(a) the action attempted was failed

(b) no further Offensive Reactions may be attempted this turn (ships can always attempt to react when fired upon though)

Repeated Reactions*

Record each reaction a ship takes by placing a micro d6 beside it and using the dice to show the amount of reactions taken.   

Each reaction modifies the reactee's shots by -1 or similar. This allows a single large ship to be worn down to near ineffectiveness by repeated attacks by smaller ships, or for salvoes of missiles to overwhelm defensive fire.    

*Recordkeeping Alert: If this is to much of a pain, a simple -1 for ALL reactions will be applied.

Reactions to squadrons

A ship can only make one Offensive Reaction against a squadron (i.e. must choose only 1 ship of the squadron to fire against) but may make a Defensive Reaction against all and any attackers if fired upon.


Reaction Types

Ships that react successfully may return fire (hitting and applying damage first, if they won the contested roll) or evade by moving (if they have not already moved that turn) or perhaps apply some defensive bonus (channel power to shields etc). More details in the appopriate sections.

Slow Reaction/No Reaction

Some large or unwieldy weapons (like torpedoes or spinal mount massdrivers) may have a penalty to their contested roll or may not fire at all in reaction.  This penalty may be applied to their reaction firing roll as well.

Delta Vector the Game - Initiative & Contested Rolls

The exact mechanics are a little 'grey' as I haven't worked out what dice types to use:
1. all d10s = very easy, consistent for calculating points values etc
2. all d6s = very convenient (everyone has them) but a bit limited in scope; probably use in pairs Warmachine style
3. range of d6, d8, d10, d12 = very convenient for 'modifiers' and crew quality but not everyone is a hardcore D&D player

Glossary: CQ = Crew Quality

 "The Contested Roll"
Simple:  Two players roll dice (2d6 + modifiers for CQ) or (d6, d8, d10 dice depend on CQ); highest wins; perhaps must also beat a number (4+ like Ambush Alley games?)
D10 Infinity:  Two players roll dice (d10 or say 2d6) and compare to their CQ scores. Let's say they are CQ5 and CQ7.

The aim is to throw the HIGHEST number that is still equal or less than the score. I.e. if the CQ5 player threw a 4 and the CQ7 player threw a 3, the CQ5 player wins.  If the CQ5 player threw a 6 (rolling over their CQ score and thus failing) the CQ7's player 3 would win. If both scores are successful (and equal) the higher CQ player wins. If that is still a tie, the player with the Initiative wins.


If a player throws the exact number = to their CQ (i.e the CQ5 player threw a natural 5) then it is a critical success and automatically succeeds.

Ahh, Homeworld, how I loved you...

Initiative

Players choose a ship or squadron to activate. They then roll a contested CQ check.  The winner can choose the winning ship to activate first, have the enemy ship activate first, or  choose an enemy ship to activate who is within its CQ range (a CQ of 8 would have a 8" radius)   

If the ship is within CQ range of the flagship they can use the flagship's CQ instead. 

Recon ships can act as a 'relay' for flagship orders (doubling the range) - which would give scoutships and perhaps escort type ships value besides simply acting as a meatshields for the big hitters.

Note:  Being able to force enemy ships to move first is quite powerful, rather like the 'tailing' rule for aircraft games it can confer a huge advantage. It represents the commander reacting to and predicting enemy moves. This makes low velocity, high thrust ships unpredictable and low thrust, high velocity ships very predictable in their moves. 

Initiative: Squadrons
Squadrons are groups of 2-4 ships that are activated simultaneously.  They must be in a range to each other = to half the CQ of the best ship. I.e. A CQ8 and a CQ6 destroyer must remain within 4" (half of CQ8) of each other.  

Note:  I will add other benefits to squadrons like linking fire, increasing detection or reaction radius, or providing mutual point defence.  Thus widely scattered ships have more flexibility (each getting individual inititative rolls); but squadrons are far more powerful.