BOHICA

Fast Play Rules for Mass Starship Combat

Art of War Games

Ronald Copley (order #6834540)

players pass and fail Activation rolls, until they have all had a chance to try

BOHICA

& activate each Unit in their command. The turn is over when all units have

These rules are adaptations of the FUBAR ruleset for Space Battles. All of

the Hard work was done by the crew at Forgeofwar

(http://www.forgeofwar.uk.com/forum/index.php) and Gawd 'elp Us

Games (http://thegamesshed.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/fubaronepage
sfmodernrules/) I highly recommend these rules for fast ground based
games.

number given in the Unit Training/Experience Table.

instead. Add one to the roll if there is no visible enemy.

activate together using the unit with the highest activation value (the

ignore it or modify it.

multiple activation must be declared before the activation roll is made).

The units must then all follow the same action as a cohesive unit/fire at the

same opponent but may again use the leading unit's expertise value when

Sixsided dice conventions

Any unmodified roll of a Six is a success.

determining hits.

Any unmodified roll of a One is failure.

Once Activated a Unit can do one of the following:

When playing BOHICA ship movement distances are as follows:

Move

Dreadnaught 4

Spd

Battleships 6

The unit may also fire at one point during their move.

Cruisers 8

Escorts 12

All Ahead Full

Small Craft/Gunboats 18"

2xSpd

Fighters 24"

May not fire or launch fighters

Units

Evasive Maneuvers

A player has one or more units, as defined by the relevant Force

1.5xSpd (round down)

Supplement.

Each Unit is defined by its level of training & experience, speed (spd) in

inches, and by its weapon/armor selection. A unit could be a single ship

or a squadron of fighters or gunboats.

Activation

Expertise

Seasoned

4+

5+

3+

2+

6+

4+

4+

Suppress

Playing the game

This game is played in turns, when all ships, squadrons or stations have
attempted to activate or activated then the turn is over and initiative is
rolled.

Initiative
At the beginning of a turn each player rolls 1D6 & adds any scenario

modifiers. Reroll any ties.

The player that scores the highest can attempt to Activate a Unit first. He

can continue to activate units until he fails an activation, then the

initiative passes to his opponent. If there are more than two players the

initiative passes to the next highest score. The initiative passes to & fro as
Ronald Copley (order #6834540)

cover

Spd

Level

5+

Cannot fire weapons or launch fighters, unit counts as in soft

Turn

Unit Training/Experience

Elite

Activation
To Activate a Unit, a player must roll equal to, or more than, the Activation

Multiple units of the same type (that are within 2 of one another) may

Where a rule does not make sense in particular situation,

Veteran

activate.

If a unit has a leader with a better Activation Level the unit may use this

The Cardinal Rule

Green

had a chance to

Capital Ships may make one 45 degree turn halfway through their

movement. Escorts may make one 90 degree turn at any point in their

movement. Fighters and small craft may make any number of turns of any

size at any point during their movement.

Micro Jump

may move anywhere on the board but may scatter up to 2d6 inches from
their target point.

Ships only, no small craft or fighters may perform this action.

Launch / Recover Small Craft

Spd

Unit may launch or recover one squadron for every two crew points of the
ship.

On Guard
A Unit can react once per turn by firing at enemy movement across their

field of view or charging the enemy. If charging, the Unit cannot change

facing but must move straight ahead.

Barrage Fire

Suppression
A squadron or small craft that is Suppressed it placed on its side or marked

with a token. It may not fire and it takes a penalty to its next activation of

Unit gets +1 to firing but may not maneuver

1/suppressed figure After the next activation stand the figure up/remove

Concentrated Fire

The maximum number of Suppressed figures a Unit may have is related to

Half the Units FP (round down) for +1 on the Damage

rolls. The Unit may not maneuver.
Boarding Action
1.5xSpd (round down)

the token, it is no longer suppressed and may act normally.

its Training/Experience.

It cannot fire & it takes a penalty to its next activation of 1.

Warships, transports, and space stations cannot be Suppressed, they take

Damage instead.

Move into base to base with an enemy

Cover

Ram

it. If the target of a firing attack is in cover the number the firer needs to

2x Spd

Can perform a ramming action

At least half of a unit has to be in cover for the whole unit to benefit from

roll to hit is modified as shown below.

No cover modifier can make a Units Expertise worse than 6+.

Fighters move through cover at their normal speed

Repair
1xSpd

Can Repair any number of damaged systems per crew point

Withdraw
Spd / Counts as two actions

Unit calculates a jump to a safe location and is out of the fight.

Cover Modifier Examples

Soft +1 Nebulae or gas cloud

Moderate +2 Debris or asteroid field

Hard +3 inside a planetary atmosphere

Boarding Actions

A Unit must use an Boarding Action activation to move into close combat

Units that fail to activate may either move up to their Spd fire at one

with an enemy Unit.

then it must move its Spd value away from the nearest enemy or

and is not dead in space, the unit being charged must make an Expertise

enemy, or go On Guard, unless the unit has more than 50% damage,
towards their deployment zone if none are visible.
Firing
A unit cannot fire if they are Suppressed

A Unit can fire at any enemy units that they have a clear line of sight to.

It can split its fire amongst more than one target.

A Unit may fire at a target up to 2x its weapons listed range, but at

Before moving models, if the defending unit still has movement capability
check or it must withdraw 1d6.

The attacking Unit moves its model into base contact with the enemy
model, no model moving more than 1.5xSpd.

Ships have Crew Points based on their size.

SuperDreadnoughts = 14

Dreadnoughts = 10

Battleships = 8

total FP for the Unit (round down).

Cruisers = 6

exceed their Expertise rating. Each die that does so is a Hit.

Small craft = 1

Ship makes its save, fighters or other small craft being transported do

determine hits.

Each model in a Unit throws one die per Fire Point, trying to equal or

Any target units equipped with armor get a save against these hits. If the

not have to.

For each unsaved hit suppress a figure up to that units suppression limit,
then remove the remainder as casualties. If there are still unsaved hits

then remove suppressed figures as casualties.

A Unit may fire at an enemy in cover if some of the enemy figures are
within 2 of the covers edge.

Escorts = 3

Both sides simultaneously roll one die/Crew Point vs. Expertise to

Weapon Bonus
Marines +1

Marines in Powered Armor +2

Myrmidons or equivalent in Powered Armor +3

A Unit can only target enemy figures that share the same area of cover if

Ships that are Stunned before this attack strike after all other attacks

A defined area of cover will block line of sight.

All hits in a boarding action are saved by their skill rating and not by

they are within 6. The target will get a cover save.

Ronald Copley (order #6834540)

resolved.
armor.

Cover has no effect.

Result

loss of crew points.

Weapon damaged 1/2 FP (owner chooses)

units involved automatically activate at that point. They cannot

Life Support Hit, 1 Crew points / turn

Units may only take casualties, not Suppression. Unsaved hits result in a
The combat continues at the beginning of each subsequent turn. The
subsequently activate in that turn.

Effect

Crew Stunned, 2 to next activation only

Weapon Destroyed cannot be repaired
Bridge Hit, 1 to skill

To withdraw from close combat a Unit must make a successful Activation

Engine Hit, 1/2 movement

make a successful Activation roll they can follow up 1d6. If they catch

Reactor Hit, Ship is destroyed.

roll & then move 1d6 away from their opponents If the opponents also

their enemies the combat continues.

Engine Destroyed, ship is Dead in Space

If an effect is rolled a second time in a single turn, use the next higher

Weapons
The following are a small sample of common weapons they may be

further modified by weapon attributes. A Unit may mount one Weapon

per Crew point.

effect.

Destroyed ships are left on the table as medium cover.

Ships may not be suppressed, nor can fighters launching from a destroyed
vehicle.

Partial damage such as Weapon Damaged an Engine Damaged can be

Fighter Weapons

Range

Fire

raired on a successful skill check.

Rail Gun

1FP

Ramming speed

18

2FP

order and moving up to 2x Spd toward the targeted Ship. The target Ship

Points
Laser

12

Torpedo

12

3FP

Ship Weapons

Range

Fire

path of travel. If the ram is successful, both models roll an Expertise check

Rail Gun

32

4FP

Each successful result is a hit. Save for hits normally.

Capital Ship Torpedoes

12"

6FP

Heavy Laser

18"

5FP

Plasma Battery

12

6FP

Missile

Points

Capital Ship Missiles 32"

Laser

Heavy Rail Gun

4FP
24"
32

Energy Cannon

28

Particle Cannon

32"

Plasma Torpedo

18"

1FP

may make an Activation Roll to get out of the way. If successful, move the
target model forward only far enough to be out of the ramming models

for each level of armor it has. (i.e.: none rolls 1 die, light rolls 2 die, etc).

Fighters, Gunboats and Small Craft

4FP

Can move up to 24" and fire no weapons

5FP

Can move up to 12 and pick up ejected pilots, cargo or dock with a ship

4FP

fighters and Missiles

3FP

5FP

Ship armor
For each hit, roll d6 and negate a hit for each result equal to or greater
than the save listed for that armor type.

A fighter or ship may ram another Ship or Station by declaring an Ram

Can move up to 18 and fire all weapons

Fighters can fly CAP for a ship within 2" and adds +1 to its defense against

Always have a saving throw of 3+ to represent the difficulty in being

targeted by large weapons.

Bugs/xenomorphs

Bugs cannot be suppressed or withdraw.

Bugs use the best activation value of any friendly model the table or a

Type

Save

Example

Light

5+

Escort Ships

Bugs rereoll dice for boarding actions

Battleships

Robot/ai/drone units

None
Medium
Heavy

Superheavy

6+

4+

3+

2+

Civilian Freighters
Cruisers

Dreadnoughts

Damage
For each unsaved hit to a Unit of warships or transports, roll once on the

Damage Table and apply the results

Ronald Copley (order #6834540)

value indicated in the scenario if controlled by an offtable intelligence.

Bug armor saves may never be worse than 4+

Robots, AI controlled, and drone units gain +1 to FP rolls due to increased

stability/targeting systems.

Robots, AI controlled, and drone units may not be suppressed.