Welcome to Battleshift!

Battleshift was born in a thread on The Miniatures Page. People were looking for a fast,
enjoyable space game that would let them field real fleets. Not like a dozen ships, but scores or
hundreds of ships .I knew I wanted that too. Big space battles are one of the sweetest sights in
sci-fi movies and TV - Babylon 5 in the last few seasons, the last season of Deep Space Nine, the
start of the new Star Wars movie, everything EE "Doc" Smith ever wrote, etc. But there aren't
many rules systems that really do it right. Most cap out at running ten or so ships effectively, a
few make it to twenty, but none of the commercially available sets really let you drop a couple
hundred on the table and decide the fate of the galaxy! Battleshift will fix that. As a playtesters,
not only will you be able to try it out before everyone else, but your input can add new features
and otherwise improve the game. It's your chance to influence the design process to make it more
like your ideal game. "Battleshift" refers to ships shifting into and out of battle through
hyperspace. This is a fairly unique gaming mechanism, though not uncommon in science fiction.
It allows units of ships to disappear from the table, and then re-enter the battlespace a few turns
later. I think it helps make maneuver in the game important, as you can't just focus on what's on
the table. Here's the hyperspace concept I've written for the game. Battleshift also features a
suppression system, which causes squadrons to lose accuracy as they take fire. Suppression has
traditionally been critical in battle. Modern infantry units are taught that if they are the first unit
to make contact with an enemy, their job is to suppress the enemy, pin them in place, and prevent
the enemy from effectively firing on other units that are maneuvering to flank and destroy them.
In naval gun engagements, near misses on enemy ships were still useful as they made crews
flinch, rocked the ship to spoil aim and obscured targetting. Few miniature games even looked at
suppression's effect on a battlefield. In reality, you usually want to put fire on as many targets as
possible to keep them from maneuvering and accurately firing back. In mini gaming, you usually
want to concentrate fire as much as possible, to quickly eradicate whole units because that is the
only way to eliminate their threat. The three miniature games I've got in playtesting each have
their own suppression system. I want them to be an important part of the games, but not a drag
on the game. In Battleshift, hits on squadrons work to blind the sensors on the ship through
shield flares, even if the shields fully block the attacks. Imagine the gigawatt lasers, plasma
beams, projectiles hurled at relativistic speeds, and other such weapons systems. Imagine the
power of the shields capable of harmlessly deflecting those energies. Now imagine what that
collision would look like - you'll get an idea why ships might start to lose their ability to target
effectively. Ships are organized into squadrons, which can be organized into task forces. Ships
in a squadron share sensor data, so if some ships are not hit by a volley of fire, they can quickly
recalibrate the sensors of the other ships in their squadrons. Taskforce flagships integrate the
sensor data of all squadrons in their group, allowing squadrons to synchronize their fire on a
target and helping to recover from the effects of suppression. The current rules set has very basic
weapons and ship building rules. Over time, these will be updated into specific fleets, with
specific abilities. Some rules will be listed as "experimental", indicating they could have major
issues and I'm especially interested in finding out how they work. Ideas for new weapons and
abilities are welcomed. Battles over spacestations, spacedocks, moons and planets should be the
mainstay of scenarios. There is very little reason to fight over empty space, especially when
hyperspace lets you bypass much of it. Scenario ideas are welcomed.

Hyperspace in Battleshift
It is generally understood that all matter and force in the universe can be described as the
vibrations and interactions of ten dimensional strings . These create the subatomic particles and
energies that bind and repulse them, and thus create the natural laws that govern the universe
gravity, electromagnetism, nuclear forces, chemistry, and everything that derives from those
fundamentals. However, the story does not end there. Though our universe functions in
frequencies of those ten dimensions, the strings can exist in many more vibration modes.
Hyperspace is a different universe, where strings functions on 12 vibrational levels. The two
universes have no vibrations in common, so no matter or force in one has a presence in the other.
The two universes apparently occupy the same space, but essentially pass through each other. It
is possible to alter the vibrations of strings, adding and subtracting vibrational dimensions.
Matter and energy can be transferred to hyperspace by flattening its vibrations in "natural"
dimensions, and forcing them to vibrate in the hyperspatial dimensions. However, such matter
still has ten resonances, not twelve, so it isn't really hyperspatial matter. While it maintains those
ten vibrations, "natural" matter retains all the critical electrochemical and nuclear properties to
allow it function almost normally. However, this matter is deficient in hyperspace - it lacks the
two extra vibrational dimensions. Over time, the strings will "decay" to pick up the extra
vibrations, causing them to no longer function as "natural" matter. This process accelerates over
time, eventually causing the former natural matter to become true hyperspatial matter. The more
hyperspatial strings that interact with "natural" matter existing in its universe, the faster this
decay occurs. Hyperspatial matter and energy is almost a complete mystery. Natural matter
doesn't interact with it properly, even when it is given the ten hyperspatial dimensions, so there
are no detectors made in this universe that can understand what normally goes on in hyperspace.
There are natural examples of anomalies in natural space where the string become altered in
vibrations. This creates zones without gravity, or with massive repulsive fields, or that absorb
light with no matter. Most of these appear to be tied to supermassive blackholes regurgitating
altered matter and energy from their cores, possibly partially in hyperspace as well. Some of
these zones have boundaries where the altered frequencies decay back to the natural ten
dimensions, creating a field of "new" energy and matter from what seems to be empty space.
Some weapons function by setting up new vibrations on levels beyond the "natural" ten,
disrupting the rules of matter and energy in a target. The most common of these are the
"disruptor" style weapons, which cause matter to fall apart at the subatomic level. Hyperspatial
drives function at the extreme edges of string science. They are really two different devices one
to phase matter and energy out of the natural universe, and the other a propulsion system that
functions in hyperspace. The former is essentially a ten dimensional resonator, which completely
flattens the vibrations of strings in the "natural" dimensions. This forces the strings to vibrate in a
completely different set of dimensions, effectively shifts the entire mass of the starship into
hyperpace. Rules about relativity, inertia, and gravity do not apply in the same way, though
nuclear and chemical rules are almost identical for the matter that is transfered. This allows ships
travel the equivalent of light years in minutes with no limitation by relativity, and then phase
back into the known universe by "flattening" the hyperspacial string vibrations back to natural
frequencies. However, they cannot stay in hyperspace for long, or too much of its mass and
energy will be lost to hyperspace decay and the ship will be unable to function properly.

In practical terms, this means ships can spend no more than six hours in hyperspace before they
begin losing significant portions of their mass and energy; 0.01% is generally considered the
maximum safe limit. Ships staying longer than nine hours can return, but usually with severe
damage and non-functional crew (though most crewmen can heal from the lost mass and
converted atoms, often the memory loss is so severe that they have no idea who they are or what
they can do). Twelve hours will kill most crewmen, and often the ship will no longer be able to
return to natural space. The fastest ships can travel 200 light years per hour in hyperspace, or
roughly the entire distance across the galaxy in roughly 19 days with minimal time spent in
natural space. In practice, there are enough hazardous areas in hyperspace (and natural space
watch where you try to reappear!) to navigate that multiphase trips are generally longer. The
fastest time set from the tip of the Sagittarius arm to the tip of the Cygnus arm has stood at 22
days, 14 hours for over a century. It is believed the dare devil achieving this record went directly
through the extremely dangerous galactic core, where the backwash from black holes makes
hyperspace and real space equally dangerous. At least 250 ships have been lost trying to beat this
record it will likely stand until a new hyperspatial drive technology or hyperspace detectors are
developed. Andromeda, the nearest galaxy, is 2.2 million light years away. Though no public
attempts to reach it have been made, it is assumed that many governments have made secret
attempts. Technically, it should only take 3 years or so of continuous phasing to reach
Andromeda and return, and there are no apparent reasons why such an attempt would fail. It is
also considered odd that there is no known record of Andromedans reaching our galaxy with
parallel galactic evolution, it is assumed that they would have evolved life forms capable of
equal scientific achievements.

Battleshift Scenario Slug Intercept

Interstellar commerce is only viable through hyperspace. No natural space drives are capable of
delivering goods between stars in a timely manner - even closest neighbors are centuries apart
through normal propulsion. But hyperspace travel is still very risky, and it requires near perfect
maintenance on phase drives to safely make a jump. To reduce the risk to life and property,
much of the galaxy's commerce travels via unmanned barges. These are sent through gates that
phase them into hyperspace, so the ships only need the much simpler deshifting mechanisms to
return to natural space. Such vessels often only have small drives for maneuvering into docks,
depending on tows from other craft. Spacers call these ship "slugs", because of their lack of
propulsion. Most major planets have "gateways" dedicated to sending ships into hyperspace,
with a programmed direction, speed and time to shift back into natural space. Slugs are
especially useful in wartime, when every expensive hyperdrive and able-bodied spacer needs to
be on a warship. Fleets on patrol or based in uninhabited systems will rendezvous with shifting
slugs for resupply. Knowledge of such rendezvous is prized by spies, as it is possible to pin
down exactly where an enemy fleet will be. Intercepting fleets can also make off with the slugs
themselves, denying resources to enemies and relaxing some strain on their own resupply efforts.

Basic Scenario
Spies have learned of a slug rendezvous! A fleet has been sent to intercept the enemy fleet, and
to steal the supplies. At the start of each turn, roll a die for each slug that has not appeared yet.
On a roll equal to or less than the turn number, the slug appears randomly in one of the interior
sectors. (Turn 1, a slug appears on 1; on turn 2, a slug appears on a 2 or less, etc). This means
that all slugs will appear by turn 6. The goal is to steal the slugs, and inflict as many casualties as
possible on the enemy. The defenders goal is defend the slugs, and inflict as many casualties as
possible on the attacker. Any ship size 4 or larger can capture a slug by moving into contact with
it (all ships have some kind of grapple or tractor beam). The slug can then be shifted out of the
battle with that squadron on the next turn (not the turn it was captured), or carried with the
squadron.
Victory Conditions
1 point for each slug captured and taken off the board.
1 point for destroying more VP of the enemy fleet than your fleet suffers.
A fleet will leave the battlespace if it suffers 30% or greater casualties, ending the battle.
<=2 Points = inconclusive
3 points = Victory
4 points = Total Victory.
Set-up
The attacker and defender both write out where their TFs will be on the first turn. The defender
sets up all TF's for the first turn; they are assumed to have been in the battlespace for several
turns already, while the attacker is just shifting in. This means the defender can shift out on the
first turn (though not with a slug). The attacker does not have to bring his full fleet onto the table
in the first turn, but must have written out when and where each TF will appear the first time.
Play is otherwise normal. A slug that is captured can be freed by moving an equal sized ship into
contact with the slug, or captured by moving a larger sized ship into contact.

Battleshift Scenario Battlespace Dominance

Basic Scenario
There are few reasons to fight over most of galaxy. Even ignoring the vast emptiness that lies
between star systems, few objects have an intrinsic value worth losing a few ships over. Any
rock capable of supporting life, of course, but almost any mineral resource can be found in

thousands if not millions of locations, if it can be found at all. Likewise, there are almost no
defensible barriers in a universe with a giant back door like hyperspace. Hyperspace itself can
create and alter matter in strange and unique ways. Areas of Twisted Space dump energy and
matter out of hyperspace, most likely originating in supermassive black holes. Sometimes natural
objects get altered passing through such areas, and drift along for eons until discovered by
chance. Many civilizations station response fleets on the edges of twisted space, waiting for
something interesting to pop up. Rare stable elements over atomic number 300 can sometimes be
found in the debris of stellar collisions. Dense asteroids are valued to build stealthy listening
posts, hyperspace relays and secret bases. When such treasures are found, standard doctrine is to
arrive with a fleet, drive off any enemy fleets, and establish a dominant presence to dissuade any
other fleet from trying to attack. Once dominance is established, the appropriate research or
recovery vessels can capture the objects, and take them back to a more protected location.
However, these things are (almost) never worth fighting to the death over - no commander wants
to be the guy who lost 20 battleships over a piece of weird rock. In this scenario, a large object
(or many) are in the battlespace. Two fleets will enter to dominate the battlespace. The first fleet
to lose 30% of its starting VP will bug out, leaving the space to the other side.
Victory Conditions
This is a very basic game of attrition. A side gains loses the VP for each ship destroyed, half VP
for ships in squadrons taking over their total damage which then bug out, and quarter VP for
ships in squadrons that bug out before they reach their total damage. This makes it prudent for
commanders to get badly damaged ships out of the battle before they can be destroyed. At the
end of each turn, determine the amount of VP lost. When a side has given up VP equal to or
greater than 30% of the starting total (for instance, 300 VP out of a 1000 VP fleet), they will bug
out. If both sides cross that total at the same time, the side that has lost the most VP will bug out.
Marginal Victory - Driving off the enemy but taking over 30% casualties yourself.
Victory - Driving off the enemy while taking less than 30% casualties yourself.
Total Victory - Driving off the enemy while taking less than 15% casualties yourself.
Players can agree before the game to increase or decrease the VP required to bug out.
Set-up
The battlespace can be as crowded or empty as agreed to by the players. There should be at least
one large object to represent what is being fought over. Players can agree to give special
properties to the object, such as intense gravity fields that pull ships within 12" of it d6" closer at
the start of each turn, or strange energies that weaken shields for ships within 18" of it, etc. Both
players can start shifting task forces into the battlespace on the first turn. The players should
write out when and where their TF's will first appear, with the standard rules applying.