RULES FOR SCENARIO #8

This scenario involves a pirate raid on a convoy of freighters. The pirate will attempt to capture freighters by boarding them or holding them in a tractor beam. To play this scenario, you will have to learn several new rules. These include how to handle different movement costs, a simplified version of the tractor beam rules, transporters, and a simplified version of the boarding party combat rules.

(B3.2) FRACTIONAL ACCOUNTING
This section is entirely optional, and you may wish to skip it for now and return to it later. You will find it in Basic Set and it is important to playing Captain's Edition Star Fleet Battles. Many functions in the game require less than one unit of power. In this scenario, for example, the Orion ship needs only 2/3 of an energy point to move one hex, only 1/2 of an energy point to fire a phaser-3, and only 1/5 of an energy point to operate a single transporter.

As fractions are rounded up, however, the act of moving 10 hexes (6-2/3 energy points rounded to 7), firing one phaser-3 (1/2 energy point rounded to 1), and operating two transporters (2/5 energy point rounded to 1) would require 9 points of energy. Players with passing mathematical skills can gain the effect of slightly more power by calculating all power use in fractions, rather than whole numbers. Using fractions (6.667 + 0.50 + 0.40 = 7.567 rounded to 8) you could save one energy point above, enough to fire a phaser-1. Batteries can hold less than a full point of power, so you could leave the above answer at 7.567 and store .433 points of power in a battery, if you wish.

(C2.12) ENERGY COST OF MOVEMENT
Most of the ships in Cadet Training Handbook are about the same size and require about the same energy for movement (one point of power per hex moved). The hundreds of ships in the Captain's Edition include units which cost from 1/10 of a warp energy point per hex to two warp energy points per hex.  This concept is portrayed in Cadet Training Handbook by the Orion Pirate Raider, which requires 2/3 of a warp energy point to move one hex. This is a simple mathematical relationship; for example, six hexes of movement require four warp energy points. A chart on the bottom of the pirate SSD shows these calculations. Regardless of the ship's movement cost, one point
of impulse power always produces one point of movement. However, no more than one point of impulse power can be used for movement purposes. Unless you are using the fractional accounting, round all movement costs to the next higher whole number, e.g., 1-1/3 = 2.

(G7.0) TRACTOR BEAMS
Tractor beams are magnetic force beams that are used to retrieve small objects and tow starships.

(G7.1) GENERAL RULE

(G7.11) Tractor beams may be used at any speed.

(G7.12) Tractor beams may be activated during any impulse of a turn. Once attached, they can be released during any impulse. Once released, a given tractor beam cannot be reused on that turn. This is done in the Tractor Beam Step.

(G7.13) Each tractor beam on a given ship may only be used once each turn. Once released, it cannot be used again on that turn, or on a subsequent turn if within eight impulses of release.

(G7.14) There are no firing arcs for tractor beams (they all may be used in any direction).

(G7.15) One unit of energy is required to operate each of a ship's tractor beams.

(G7.2) USE OF TRACTOR BEAMS

(G7.21) Tractor beams are used to tow starships; see below.

(G7.26) Tractor beams cannot be used to hold a plasma torpedo. They can be used to hold drones and are a powerful defense against those weapons.

(G7.27) Objects held in a tractor beam cannot be forced into contact with another unit. 11 (10 + 1). The pirate uses a speed of 11 for the rest of the turn (unless it releases the freighter or tractors another freighter). When a freighter (or some other object) is held in a tractor
beam by one ship, and a tractor beam from a second ship is linked to that freighter, both tractor links are broken and those tractor beams cannot be used for the rest of the turn. Either ship could re-establish a tractor link using a different beam.

(G7.3) OPERATIONS
Gaining a tractor beam hold on another ship or object is referred to as gaining a tractor link to the ship or object. This may be attempted during any impulse, but if a tractor link is made, it must be re-established at the start of each turn or it is lost. It is not mandatory to attempt to re-establish a tractor link. Once a tractor link is established, it can only be broken by rule (G7.4) below. It cannot be broken by the application of speed. It could be voluntarily released (G7.12) by the ship operating it. 

(G7.31) RANGE: Tractor beams may only be used againstships or other objects in adjacent hexes or in the same hex. If atractor link is made, the tractored object will follow the tractoringship (maintaining a parallel course) for as long as the tractor linkis maintained. The courses are parallel in relation to the mapgrid, not in relation to each other. If a ship that is holding a objectin a tractor changes facing, the held object does not "swing"through a 60° arc to maintain the same orientation.

(G7.32) TOWING: In Cadet Training Handbook, tractor beams are used to tow freighters (not other starships) in the Convoy Raid scenario (#8). They cannot be used (in Cadet Training Handbook) to hold an enemy ship. (The rules for that are very complex and can wait for Basic Set) They can also be used to hold drones and prevent them from hitting your ship. They can be used to hold shuttlecraft. Tractor beams cannot be used to hold your own seeking weapons as this interferes with their guidance.

(G7.33) RELEASING A TRACTOR BEAM: If a tractor beam is attached to an object, it can be released voluntarily by the owning player during the Tractor Beam Step of any impulse in the turn. If energy is not allocated at the start of the next turn, the tractor beam is released. A ship released from a tractor beam operates normally for the remainder of the turn, moving with a speed equal to that with which it would have had without the beam. The turn mode (and in Scenario #10 the sideslip mode) is not affected.

(G7.34) DESTRUCTION OF TRACTOR BEAMS:
If tractor beam boxes on the SSD are destroyed during the course of a turn to the extent that a ship does not have as many tractor beam boxes as it has tractor beam links established, beams must be voluntarily released until there is a working box (with power supplied to it) for each beam still operating.

(G7.4) TRACTORING A STARSHIP
When a ship is holding a freighter in a tractor beam, the movement cost of the starship is increased by 1/3 for each freighter towed. The freighter's engines are automatically shut down when the tractor link is established. If this is done during a turn, the movement cost of the pirate ship must be recalculated immediately. Take the total cost of the pirate ship and all freighters it is towing. Divide this into the warp power allocated to movement by the pirate ship. Then add one if a point of impulse power was applied.

EXAMPLE: The pirate ship has allocated 10 points of warp energy (producing 15 points of movement) and 1 point of impulse energy (producing 1 point of movement). The pirate tractors a freighter. The movement is immediately recalculated based on a movement cost of one (2/3 + 1/3) to slow the pirate to a speed of (G7.5) CAPTURING SHUTTLES AND DRONES

(G7.51) The conditions for gaining a tractor link to an enemy shuttle or drone are as follows: The capturing ship must be in the same or adjacent hex, have an operable tractor beam, and have one point of power allocated to it.

(G7.52) If a drone is tractored and held until its fuel is exhausted, it is removed from play. If a drone is held in a tractor beam by a ship on the same side as the ship that launched it, it loses its tracking and is removed from the board. Enemy seeking weapons do not lose tracking.

(G7.53) Drones cannot be destroyed by being towed by a
tractor beam. (In Cadet Training Handbook neither can shuttles.)

(G8.0) TRANSPORTERS
Most starships in the game contain transporters which are used to move personnel and equipment from one starship to another over short distances. Transporters may be used in Cadet Training Handbook to transport boarding parties.

(G8.1) GENERAL RULES

(G8.11) Transporters are capable of picking up people and moving them to their location or transporting people at the location of the transporter to another location. There does not have to be a transporter unit on both ends of the transfer. Transporting may be done during any impulse, but each transporter may be used only once per turn.

(G8.12) In order to use transporters, the given ship must have undestroyed transporter boxes on its SSD sheet.

(G8.13) It requires one unit of energy to operate up to five of a given ship's transporters. If a ship has 6-10 transporters, two units of energy must be allocated if all are to be used. Each transporter can transport one boarding party. If using fractional accounting, each transporter requires 1/5 of an energy point. (G8.14) The maximum range of transporters is five (5) hexes.

(G8.15) Transporters can never be used to beam enemy personnel or objects (including shuttle pilots, cloaking devices, etc.) without their permission (due to special security systems).

(G8.2) EFFECT OF SHIELDS ON TRANSPORTERS
(G8.21) Transporters will not function through shields, so a ship may have to drop one or more shields to use a transporter.
Transporters work on a direct line from ship to ship. To determine which shield must be dropped or destroyed in order to use transporters, use the same rules as are used for direct-fire weapons, i.e., (D3.4) on page #12.

(G8.22) Players may, at their option, voluntarily drop any specific shield to facilitate the use of transporters. A given shield can be dropped during any impulse, but it must remain dropped for one-quarter of a turn, even if this extends into the next turn.

(G8.23) General shield reinforcement (introduced in Scenario #10) will block the use of transporters, even through shields that are voluntarily dropped or destroyed by damage. If a player announces that he is trying to transport boarding parties onto an enemy ship, and the target ship still has general reinforcement shielding power available, then the attempt fails with no loss or damage to either side. However, as each transporter may only be used once in a given turn, no further attempt could be made with that specific transporter until the following turn. Note that reinforcement can be dropped, as shields can, under (G8.22).

(G8.24) In the event that the line of sight passes exactly through the junction of two shields, either may be dropped by the owning player to facilitate the use of transporters. If enemy boarding parties are trying to board such a ship, use the same procedures as determining the shield that would be hit, i.e.,(D3.4) on page #12.

(D7.0) BOARDING PARTY COMBAT
This section is somewhat simplified from the Captain's Edition. Ships have a limited ability to transport boarding parties onto enemy ships or freighters for the purpose of capturing them. Each boarding party consists of six humans (or five Gorns, who are larger and take more space on the transporter platform). As a practical matter, capturing an enemy starship is very difficult but not impossible.
Boarding parties (BPs) arrive by transporter during various impulses of the turn. Boarding party combat is resolved at the end of the turn, after all of the impulses. To resolve boarding party combat, conduct the following steps for each ship that has boarding parties from both sides:
1. Determine how many BPs each side has on board.
2. If one side has more than 10 BPs, divide these into a group of 10 and a group of less than 10 (whatever is left over; if there are more than 20, there will be two groups of 10 plus a smaller group, etc.).
3. For each group, roll one die and cross-index the result with the number of BPs in the group on the chart below.

DIE
ROLL
NUMBER OF BOARDING PARTIES
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2
3 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3
4 0 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 4
5 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5
6 1 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 5 6

4. The result is the number of "casualty points," that is, the number of enemy boarding parties eliminated. Both sides attack simultaneously.
EXAMPLE: Fourteen Klingon boarding parties are fighting 8 Federation boarding parties. The Federation player rolls a 5, producing 4 casualties. The Klingon player rolls a 3 for his group of 10 (3 casualties) and a 2 for his group of 4 (producing 1 casualty). The Federation is reduced from 8 boarding parties to 4, the Klingons from 14 to 10.
5. If all enemy boarding parties have been eliminated and additional casualty points have been scored, then each one of those points indicates one control station (Bridge, Emergency Bridge, Auxiliary Control) has been captured. (For example, to capture the Federation cruiser it would be necessary to capture six control stations (two bridge boxes, two emergency bridge boxes, and two auxiliary control boxes on the SSD) by scoring six casualty points over and above the number required to eliminate the boarding parties. When all enemy-held control stations have been captured, the ship has been captured. (Freighters have two control stations.)
6. A captured enemy ship may be moved and controlled by the capturing player, but the weapons cannot be fired because of the coded computer interlocks. These can be decoded, but this will take more time than is represented in one scenario.