SCENARIO #11: THE PLANET KILLER
Play with Cadet ships or with Full scale ships. There is
reduced Planet Killer Damage chart for Cadet ships. The conditions of this
scenario have been changed from the published cadet booklet and SM1.0 in
basic set.
From a distant corner of the galaxy comes word that some "thing" is destroying entire planets. It is the size of several large ships and seems to be either a living thing or perhaps some massive ship sent on a raid by one of the hostile races. Your ship locates the monster as it approaches another inhabited world.
PLAYERS: One. The monster moves by automatic rules. As an alternative, find a friend and use two ships against the monster. This will teach you teamwork, as each ship must be ready to distract the monster if the other ship is in jeopardy.
REQUIRED MATERIALS: The 16 or 32-Impulse Movement Chart, DAC, the counters for one ship (and its shuttlecraft, torpedoes, or drones as appropriate), the counter for the planet, the counter for the Planet Killer, the SSD for the ship you selected.
MAP: Use entire map. If the ship leaves the map before the monster is destroyed, the monster wins.
SCENARIO SET UP: For purposes of the acceleration limits, all ships are presumed to have been moving at their maximum speed on the turn before the scenario begins.
The Planet Killer in hex 0101.
One planet in hex 2514 (See Cadet Scenario #9)
One ship in hex 2503. Facing is at the option of the player.
LENGTH: The scenario continues until either the monster destroys the planet or the starship destroys the monster.
SPECIAL
RULES
Movement.
The monster has a turn mode of "0" and can change direction by one or more hex sides on every impulse. That is, it can move freely without satisfying any turn mode requirements. If a target is behind the monster the monster will not move on it's call to move but will instead rotate in place to face the target.
Target
The monsters "mission" is to destroy the planet, so will always move toward the planet(unless distracted by a ship). In cases where the monster may move into either of two hexes (both of which are "toward" the planet), the player may roll a die (odd numbers going left, even numbers going right), toss a coin, or simply alternate. If the monster moves adjacent to the planet, it will cease movement and stay there firing at the planet unless a starship comes within range 2 and it then moves to follow it(starting at speed 6 on the very next impulse). If the planet killer spends two full turns at speed zero adjacent to the planet the monster fires it's planet killer weapon destroying the planet. This is separate from the 200 points of accumulated damage.
Speed
The monster has an initial speed
of eight hexes per turn.
Optional rule: Roll a D6 1-2 decrease speed, 3-4 it maintains the speed it went the previous turn, 5-6 increases the speed. If the monster reaches top speed for a turn(16/31depending on chart) then the next 2 turns each turn it reduces speed by a D6 die roll.
Rolls | Speed change |
1 | reduce speed by 2 |
2 | reduce speed by 1 |
3-4 | same speed |
5 | increase speed by 1 |
6 | increase speed by 2 |
Distraction
If, at the beginning of any impulse(before movement), a starship is within two hexes of the monster, the monster will begin to follow the starship (as a seeking weapon). If more than one starship the monster will follow the closer one. If two are at the same range, decide by die roll. It will not follow or fire at a ship if blocked from view by the planet. The Planet Killer will not follow a shuttlecraft, drone, or plasma torpedo.
Optional rules: If the distracting starship moves to 4 or greater hexes away from the monster it returns to going after the planet adding 4 to it's speed for the next turn.
Combat
The weapon has a 360 degree field of fire. There is no cooling period, it can fire on the last impulse and again on the first impulse or multiple times on the same impulse at different targets.
Same hex
If the monster moves into the same hex as a non-moving ship it will stop moving until the ship is destroyed or the ship moves out of the hex. If the ship moves out of the hex then on the next impulse the monster will start moving at speed 6.
Optional rule: If a monster moves into the same hex as a stationary ship and stays in the same hex for the entire next turn it will fire a second time at that ship in addition to any other fire on the last impulse and will subtract 1 from the die roll (6 becomes 5, 2 becomes 1 etc..) for that second shot. This will repeat every turn it is in the same hex as a non-moving ship.
Optional rule: The monster scores an automatic 20(10 for cadet) points when it enters the same hex as a ship as a physical blow.
Not same hex
There are two combat zones for the monster versus ships. Range 6 and range 2. On the first impulse that the monster "detects" (is within six hexes of) a planet or a starship or a NEW starship (was not previously within 6 range), it will fire its "weapon." This operates as a phaser, but uses the special chart below: Range has no effect on the result, but the weapon is limited to a range of six hexes.
Die roll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Damage
for full scale ships and planet |
40 | 35 | 25 | 15 | 10 | 5 |
Damage for Cadet scale ships and planet | 20 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 5 |
The monster can fire its weapon more than once per turn but only at different targets with the exception of same hex combat. The monster will only fire once a turn at a starship within range 6 unless a starship it has not fired at during that turn reaches range 2 causing the monster to start following and firing at that starship.
Optional rule: Allow the monster to hold fire until a later
impulse to try to hit a weaker shield if the speeds and facings of the
ship make it clear the monster will get closer before the end of the turn.
The monster will prefer firing on a weakest shield over a damaged shield.
Optional rule: Allow the monster to see which shields are
reinforced and by how much and try to avoid shooting that shield in favour
or weaker shields if possible.
Optional rule: Alternative weapon system. Fire 12 phaser 1's as the monsters weapon(rolling separately). 3 phasers per quarter turn, Roll a die to see if the first impulse of the quarter or the last impulse of the quarter. Reduce this to 4 Ph-1, and 4 Ph-2's for cadet play.
Optional rule: if the monster rolls 6 two turns in a row it's next roll has a -3 modifier.
Defensive fire
PLASMA: The monster will also fire its weapon at any plasma torpedo (operates as a phaser) that moves within two hexes.
DRONES: Whenever a drone enters the
hex of the monster, there is a 50%
chance that the drone will be destroyed before it hits. Roll a
die: 1-3 means the drone hit the monster; 4-6 means the drone is
destroyed.
SHUTTLES: The monster will also use this system on any shuttle within 3 hexes (4-6 means destroyed), but will not fire at a given shuttle more than once per turn.
HOW TO WIN
THE SCENARIO
The monster wins if it can inflict 200 points of damage on the planet or
spends 2 turns adjacent to the planet at speed 0. The player wins if he
can destroy the monster. The problem is that you don't know how to destroy
the monster. Use your labs (and possibly probes, but don't use too many of
them) to gain scientific information on the monster. When you have
accumulated 100 points, roll one die and consult the table below to
determine how the monster can be killed. If you are out of probes or
shuttles, gain 50 more points and roll again and those options are
automatic re-rolls.
DIE ROLL(2D6) | HOW THE PLANET KILLER CAN BE
DESTROYED. All rolls are done at the end of the turn. |
2 | A new monster appears at 0101. Now you have two monsters to research & stop. Roll again re this monster & future rolls of 2 are a re-roll. Only one monster will follow any one starship. |
3 | The monster will be destroyed by firing a phaser-3 at a crack you just found and you roll a 1 or 2 at range 1. |
4 | The monster can be destroyed by 300 damage points, only 150 points of damage scored prior to rolling this result is counted. |
5 | The monster can be destroyed if struck by a probe (fired as a weapon (2+2 arming)). |
6 | Insufficient data. Accumulate 20 more points, roll again. |
7 | The monster can be destroyed by 200 damage points, only 150 points of damage scored prior to rolling this result is counted. |
8 | Insufficient data. Accumulate 30 more points, roll again. |
9 | Get the monster to follow you to the edge of the map(counts as following you too close to the sun) |
10 | The monster can be destroyed by transporting a boarding party aboard after doing 10 damage(20 for non cadet) on a turn. |
11 | The monster can be destroyed by a suicide shuttlecraft launched at range 0. |
12 | The monster has "replicated". The "offspring" can be destroyed by 100, the "parent" by 200 points of damage. The "offspring" does not follow any ships for one turn and moves to a different hex than the first monster and avoids moving into to the same hex in the future. Only one monster will follow any one starship. |
NOTE: Accumulation of scientific data is continuous. Even after accumulating 100 points of this data, you continue to accumulate more. For every 50 points after the first 100, you can make another roll on the chart, which might give you the same result or a different one. If you receive result 4 but have no probes left, you'll have to find another way to kill the monster (by accumulating more data). Taking these actions before the research has no effect other than accumulating damage.
INSTANT REPLAY
Obviously, this can be played with any ship. An alternative is to use two
ships (in hexes 1401, 2814; each controlled by a different player) and
increase the speed of the monster. Use the optional rules to make it
harder or move the planet closer(or the monster closer).