Learn by Playing
Armored Stars includes gameplay mechanics that may be tricky for newcomers. These tutorial scenarios will help ease players into the fundamentals, introducing new rules and concepts one step at a time. The game is modular in complexity, so feel free to pause at the marked sections if you'd prefer to skip advanced rules like orbits and momentum for now.
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Scenario 1: Patrol Route
The Sol League Navy has no tolerance for smugglers and pirates during wartime. Patrol ships near the asteroid fields of Sol have orders to shoot-on-sight any ships that ignore hails or refuse inspections. Recover whatever cargo can be salvaged and return to New Anchorage Naval Station for further orders...
Setup: In this scenario, one or more players will take on the role of a smuggler piloting a single corvette-class ship. The remaining players will attempt to intercept the smuggler before they reach the opposite corner of the map.
To play this scenario, you will need the following minimum requirements:
- 8 Asteroids (MAP_MDL_asteroid.stl)
- 8 Asteroid Baseplates (MAP_BP_asteroid.stl)
- 2 Six Sided Dice (MISC_d6.stl) or custom
- 8 Hull Tokens (MISC_TKN_hull.stl)
- 4 Border Markers (MAP_MDL_border.stl)
- 1", 2", 3", and 4" Rulers (MISC_tickruler_x.stl)
- 1 Ruler or Tape Measure instead
- 1 Ship Card per Player (SHP_CARD_SL_CVT)
- One sheet will have both Corvettes if you want to mix it up and go "off script"
- Player 1 (Smuggler)
- 1 Ship per player
- 1 Corvette Model (SHP_MDL_gorgon.stl)
- 1 Corvette Baseplate (SHP_BP_CVT.stl)
- Player 2 (Patrollers)
- 2 Ships per player
- 2 Corvette Models (SHP_MDL_valravn.stl)
- 2 Corvette Baseplates (SHP_BP_CVT.stl)
[MDL - Model BP - Baseplate TKN - Token SHP - Ship CVT - Corvette Class SL - Sol League Navy]
Map Building: Each player takes turns placing up to 8 asteroids randomly on the map. The goal for patrollers should be to create chokepoints and obstacles so the smuggler cannot make a clean straight burn to the exit. Asteroids cannot be placed within 1" of each other and must be at least 2" from the map’s edge.
Once the map is set, the smuggler chooses a corner and spawns up to 2" from the border, facing any direction. The patrol ships spawn in the opposite corner. In order to win, the smuggler must reach any point of the map border within 5 inches of the corner :
(The patrollers will not be able block the entire exit by staying put, they must intercept before its too late)
Mission: The patrol ships must intercept and destroy the smuggler using only the stock weapons on their ships. The smuggler’s ship is lightly armed and may fight back, but its primary objective is to reach the opposite end of the map where the patrol ships start.
[Starting]
Turn 1 - Smuggler: The smuggler will go first. By looking at the ship card of the Gorgon Class Corvette, we see that it has 4 THRUST and 8 TURN. THRUST is used to move forward, TURN rotates on the baseplate. Before moving in a new direction, you must always spend 1 THRUST point to reset the baseplate arrow.
(Note: Rules for momentum-based movement will be added in a later scenario.)
In the example below, we see the ship rotating 2 Ticks then using 1 THRUST to actually change the direction of travel. Any future THRUST points spent will begin travel in this new direction:
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The smuggler in our example game will simply try to cover some ground, then react to the patrols movements.
[Moving and Turning]
Turn 2 - Patrol: The patrollers will now react and move to close the distance. The Valravn Corvette is offensively weaker than the Gorgon with only close range, inaccurate PDCs with its default design. Despite this, they do have a special ability that might come in handy; the "Fire Control Network". Valravn's that stay within close proximity of each other can feed other Valravn's targeting data for more accurate shots.
What the patrol will try to do is split slightly, then try to pincer the smuggler when they have a clearer idea of which way they will try to flee. One Valravn will TURN slightly after moving so we'll also only use 2 THRUST so we can change the direction of the baseplate arrow before the next turn.
[Long Range Shots]
Turn 3 - Smuggler: The smuggler will now get a little aggressive. The main gun of the Gorgon (a light forward-mounted Sheergun ) can be seen on the ship card and is also shown below:
In Armored Stars, the vastness of space means many of your shots will be fired predicting the future location of the enemy, and often, never actually hitting. Even though landing long range shots is difficult, it can still be enough to force and enemy to evade your projectile salvos and leading them into less advantageous positioning.
The smuggler will move forward slightly in the example and fire a shot in between the two asteroids shown. The patrol ship can easily evade of course, but the travelling Sheergun Slugs mean that this chokepoint is now too dangerous to traverse and will likely provide some breathing room as the Valravn moves to avoid any chance to get hit.
[Changing Direction]
Turn 4 - Patrol: With the smuggler closing in, the patrollers will move forward and rotate into a better position to go on the attack soon. The smugglers "bullet" token will move again at its tick speed (2) on the targeting diagram at the start of the smugglers turn so at this rate it shouldn't be a threat to our patrol corvette.
[Direct Attacks and Defense]
Turn 5 - Smuggler: The smuggler will rotate and move forward a little so that the enemy corvette will be in range to make a direct attack.
"Direct attack" means you get to roll the attack immediately without placing a traveling token.
*The projectile/targeting line has to make contact with the enemy ships baseplate to make an attack*
[Attacking with Bonuses]
Turn 4 - Patrol: The patrol will now start to fight back by closing in and taking some PDC shots. PDC's are usually turrets meaning that they have the full radius around the ships baseplate to attack. Don't forget to also account for the accuracy bonus from the Valravn's being in proximity to each other.
The left ship isn't quite in range so it will fire the projectile token just close enough to trigger next turn if the smuggler decides to boost forward instead of turning around.
[Evading and Projectile Tokens]
Turn 5 - Smuggler: This isn't looking good! Turning around is an option but the Valravns would likely just catch up in a turn or so. Full Speed Ahead! This means taking the hit from that PDC salvo in our path but it might just be worth it to get closer to the escape route.
Evading is when one ship "jumps" over the baseplate of an object or ship in your way. The difference in size determines how many THRUST points it takes to "jump". Because these are all Corvettes, it only costs 1 point of THRUST to evade. After evading you simply place the ship immediately after the obstacle and subtract from your thrust total for that turn.
Be extremely careful in later games with these maneuvers, it is possible to evade over a ship and then have momentum just carry them into you for a collision anyways.
Since we collided with that projectile (Projectiles and Special Weapons CANNOT be evaded like ships and asteroids) we need to resolve the attack as if it was made directly which is a 2D6 DMG attack versus the Gorgon's 1D6 DEF.
The Smuggler's Gorgon Corvette now only has 1 HULL point remaining, if it takes another shot he's done for but now he's also only 1 turn away from the escape route!
[Last Chance to Attack]
Turn 6 - Patrol: The patrol is going to turn around and try to take their last shots before the smuggler can outrun them. Unfortunately for the patrollers, only one could get into PDC range but at least the other can provide its targeting assistance (They only need one hit to finish off the Gorgon).
The Valravn attacks with its PDC Cannons again:
[Conclusion]
Turn 7 - Smuggler: The smuggler now has just enough THRUST for a full burn into the 5" escape zone. With one HULL point left this was pretty close but Valravns are defensive ships in nature and the Gorgan Corvette is a little faster, making it great for hit and runs (or smuggling).
If you would like to mix things up and try again, try giving the patrollers a Gorgan and see how things play out.
This concludes the first scenario. Play again until you are comfortable with measuring out movement and attacks with the tick ruler printouts (or a ruler/measuring tape). When you are ready to move on, the next scenario will add in some special weapons like missiles and torpedoes.
Scenario 2: Assault on Callisto
Earth and Mars are well protected but the same can't be said for many of the planetoids past the asteroid belt. One player will take a strike group of Basilisk Missile Frigates and some Patrol Corvettes to eliminate a pirate base operating near Jupiter's moon, Callisto. The pirates will be entrenched, have a defensive advantage, and be fitted with close-range weapons; effective use of missiles will be critical to rooting them out of Callisto.
Setup: In this scenario, one player will take control of a single Sol League Navy strike group and attempt to eliminate all other players (points split between pirates). The pirates have the advantage of setting up the map to their benefit but the attacking Sol League player has the benefit of choosing which corner to start in.
In addition to the items printed out for the last scenario, this one will introduce the Frigate warship classes (cards, models, and baseplates), as well as their special weapon tokens. For the environment, you will also need a moon and its baseplate.
Map
- 8 Asteroids (MAP_MDL_asteroid.stl)
- 8 Asteroid Baseplates (MAP_BP_asteroid.stl)
- 1 Moon (MAP_MDL_moon.stl)
- 1 Moon Baseplate (MAP_BP_moon.stl)
- 4 Border Markers (MAP_MDL_border.stl)
Incidentals
- 4 Six Sided Dice (MISC_d6.stl) or custom
- 8 Hull Tokens (MISC_TKN_hull.stl)
- 8 Ballistic Missile Tokens (MISC_TKN_missile.stl)
- 8 Energy Torpedo Tokes (MISC_TKN_torpedo.stl)
- 8 Ballistic and Energy Projectile Tokens (MISC_TKN_ballistic/energy.stl)
- 1", 2", 3", and 4" Rulers (MISC_tickruler_x.stl)
- 1 Ruler or Tape Measure instead
Fleets
- 1 Ship Card per Player (SHP_CARD_SL_CVT and SHP_CARD_SL_FFG)
- Player 1 (Pirates)
- 12 Points split between players
- Draft total points between the following choices:
- Chimera Frigate
- Valravn Corvette
- Gorgon Corvette
- Player 2 (Sol League Navy)
- 14 Points
- Draft total points between the following choices:
- Basilisk Frigate
- Chimera Frigate
- Valravn Corvette
- Gorgon Corvette
Drafting: Unlike the last scenario, we'll be spending points to assemble a fleet instead of using a predefined one. Split your points however you like but if you would still like a template to follow, the fleets below are generally pretty well balanced.
Pirate Chimeras: 3 Chimera Frigates, 3 Valravn Corvette
Sol League Strike Group: 3 Basilisk Frigates, 1 Valravn Corvette, 2 Gorgon Corvettes
After choosing your ships make sure they are loaded with the missiles or torpedoes given by their weapon cards:
Map Building: In this scenario, the defender (the pirates) builds the map into a defensible position. Place the Moon at the center of the map. The defenders may place the asteroids anywhere they choose, as long as each asteroid is at least 2" away from any other asteroid. The defenders may place their ships anywhere within 4" of the Moon.
Once the map is set, the pirates may place their ships anywhere within 6" of the moon in the center. Keep in mind the Sol League Fleet can start at any corner of the map so position yourself to adapt.
The Sol League Fleet will then be placed together in a single corner of your choosing.
Mission: The pirates will get the first turn of the match. Unlike the last scenario, this is a battle to the last ship(s) standing. For both players the goal is:
Eliminate all enemy ships
[Starting]
Turn 1 - Pirates: The pirates go first. We see that the Sol League Fleet chose to start in the top left corner so we'll turn to face them. The Chimera Frigates can fire multiple projectiles in one shot so we'll try to blanket a wide area with ballistic salvos as they close the distance.
After moving and turning into place the pirates can start shooting their scatterguns towards the enemy. The projectiles fired may be placed anywhere within 1" of the firing arc on the Gauss Scattergun Targeting Diagram. Projectiles may be rotated slightly up to the limits of the diagram but (almost 180 degrees in this case) but but still be travelling forward.
10 Projectiles have been fired towards the Attacker which will provide a bit of a challenge to move around and fire missiles.
[Reacting]
Turn 1 - Sol League Navy: The Sol League Fleet has a wave of ballistic salvos coming their way but there are a couple options. One use of this fleets ballistic missiles could be to fire around the projectiles then burn away to dodge the incoming scatterguns. The Sol League Fleet will move in then fire off some missiles:
Scenario 3: Patrol Route
The Sol League Navy has no tolerance for smugglers and pirates during wartime. Patrol ships near the asteroid fields of Sol have orders to shoot-on-sight any ships that ignore hails or refuse inspections. Recover whatever cargo can be salvaged and return to New Anchorage Naval Station for further orders...
Setup: In this scenario, one or more players will take on the role of a smuggler piloting a single corvette-class ship. The remaining players will attempt to intercept the smuggler before they reach the opposite corner of the map.
To play this scenario, you will need the following minimum requirements: