CORE RULEBOOK

W riter Introduction 2
Matthew Sprange
The Tur n 5
E ditor
Charlotte Law
Movement Phase 6
Attack Phase 9
L ayout and G raphic D esign
Will Chapman Boarding Phase 14
C over I llustration
End Phase 17
Peter Johnston Special Actions 18
I nterior I llustrations Special Traits 20
Carlos Nunez de Castro Torres Advanced Rules 22
P laytesters Fighters 24
Andy McMillan, Sean Sutton, Joe Cowlishaw, Ron
Purvis, Steve Wilson, Tristan lomas, Jason Coffey, Stellar Debris 27
Paul Eyles, Greg Smith, Nick Robinson and Raymond The Universe 29
Becker
Starship Technolog y 42
S pecial T hanks
Chris Wiese, Peter Curzon, Nick Robinson and the The Empire 44
Members of SWAT The Church 45
The Merchant League 49
A Call to Arms ©2011 Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved. Aliens 54
Reproduction of this work by any means without the written permission
of the publisher is expressly forbidden. All significant characters, names, Scenarios 57
places,items, art and text herein are copyrighted by Mongoose Publishing.
Campaigns 74
This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United Kingdom
and of the United States. This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to
actual people organisations, places or events is purely coincidental.
Weird Situations 86
Fading Suns, Noble Armada and related materials are (c) 2011 Holistic
Fleet Lists 88
Design Inc. Used with permission. Printed in the USA.
Making Stellar Debris 116
w w w. m o n g o o s e p u b l i s h i n g . c o m Product Catalogue 118

2
 Introduction
Once the suns shone brightly, beacons in the vast night, calling humanity onward
The stars were symbols of humanity’s vast potential, a purpose and destiny revealed in progress, inciting an exodus of unlimited growth to the distant
stars. Once people looked to the heavens with hope and longing in their eyes.
Then the stars began to fade.
It is the year 4998 and history has come to an end. Humanity’s
greatest civilisation has failed, leaving ignorance and fear scattered
amongst the ruins of many worlds. A new Dark Age is upon
humanity and few believe anymore in renewal and progress. There
is only waiting, waiting for a slow death as the age-old stars fade to
cinders and the souls of the sinful are called to Final Judgement.
Not everyone believes in this destiny. A new leader has arisen, an
Emperor sworn to unite the worlds of Human Space under one
banner, to ignite the fires of hope once more.
There are enemies everywhere, those who seek to selfishly profit
from humanity’s demise; vain nobles ruling far-flung worlds,
power hungry priests who seek dominion over the lives of men,
and the greedy merchant guilds growing rich as they barter away
humanity’s needs and wants.
They are not alone. Others are waiting out there among the
darkening suns, alien races angry at humanity for age-old slavery
and alien empires with agendas too paradoxical to fathom.
A C all to A rms :
N oble A rmada
A Call to Arms: Noble Armada is the game of space combat in
the universe of Fading Suns. Throughout humanity’s new Dark
Age, the Royal Houses have duelled and fought, even as a new
Empire is forged among the stars. Now you can play out these
confrontations on the tabletop with entire fleets drawn from the
Royal Houses, Imperial Navy, Inquisition or any one of the many
other fleets that range across the galaxy.
From skirmishes involving lone frigates to the clashing of large
fleets against their bitterest rivals, A Call to Arms: Noble Armada is
your ticket to exciting battles that take place in the depth of space.
T he R ules
This game is divided into several chapters that may seem to
contain a lot of rules that need to be memorised but, fear not, it is
far easier than it looks! The core rules of A Call to Arms: Noble
Armada are detailed in the following sections.
2
Basic Rules: This section contains everything you need to know
in order to enjoy games of A Call to Arms: Noble Armada.
Advanced Rules: Once you have mastered the basic rules, start
adding rules from this section in order to get the full Noble
Armada experience – from wings of fighters to asteroids and other
stellar debris...
Battles in Space: Up to now, you will have been playing the basic
A Call to Arms: Noble Armada scenario introduced to you in the
Basic Rules chapter. Now unleash your tactical genius in a wide
range of scenarios and campaigns!
Fleets of Noble Armada: The most common ships available in
the Fading Suns universe can be found here, allowing you to start
playing immediately.
W hat Y ou W ill N eed
As well as this, there are several other things that you will require
in order to play A Call to Arms: Noble Armada properly. A
minimum of two players are required, each with their own fleet of
ships (you can readily use the counters included in the back of this
book, though if you have miniatures, keep on reading). You will
also need a flat playing surface – the kitchen table will do, though
the scenarios included in this book normally assume a playing
surface of around six foot by four foot in size.
In addition to this, you will also need pens, some six-sided dice,
scrap paper to jot down notes and a measuring device marked in
inches. With all those collected together, you have everything you
need to begin fighting in the galaxy of Noble Armada.
S cale and M iniatures
A full range of miniatures is available for A Call to Arms: Noble
Armada, with full details to be found on Mongoose Publishing’s
web site. Additionally, you can photocopy the counters provided
at the back of this book to get playing quickly – you can even mix
and match counters and miniatures!
2
All distances in A Call to Arms: Noble Armada are measured
from the stem of a ship’s base or the very centre of the counter (or
from the edge of the base/counter in the case of fighters). In this
case, pick one and measure only from that.
All distances in A Call to Arms: Noble Armada are measured in inches.
environment is assumed, so ships can pass over one another,
planets, space stations and so forth.
Every ship in A Call to Arms: Noble Armada has five firing arcs.
These are the areas that various weapons can fire into, as noted in
their descriptions in the Fleet Lists chapter.

R e -R olls Fore F – 90 degrees forward

Some special situations may call for you re-rolling a dice. This Aft A – 90 degrees back
simply means you may ignore the first failed result that a dice Port P – 90 degrees left
rolled and roll again. You must always accept the result of the Starboard S – 90 degrees right
second roll, even if it was worse than the first – re-rolls can be used Turret T – 360 degrees all round
to get you out of a tricky situation but they are never guaranteed!
S hips in A C all to A rms :
P re -M easuring N oble A rmada
You are allowed to pre-measure distances and ranges at any time
No doubt you have already breathlessly flicked through the last
in A Call to Arms: Noble Armada. Spacecraft have very advanced
section of this book and seen some of the ships available in A Call
sensor systems, allowing their Captains to precisely judge how to
to Arms: Noble Armada – you might even have flicked to the fleet
manoeuvre and when to unleash a devastating salvo.
lists at the back of this book! Every ship in the game is defined by
its entry in the Fleet Lists chapter.
M ovement and F iring
Though A Call to Arms: Noble Armada is played on a flat A ship’s entry looks like this – the example given here is of a
surface and ‘altitude’ rules are not used, a full three dimensional Hornet-class frigate, one of the stalwarts of House Hawkwood.

Hor net-class Frigate 100 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3

frigate
Damage: 18/6

Hornet
Ramming: 2
Troops: 6
Craft: None
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Missile Launchers 28 T 2 Guided, Slow
Light Lasers 24 P 4 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Lasers 24 S 4 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise

3
2
 Ship Name: What a ship is called is up to you but it has been noted in our playtesting that ships with names always
seem to last longer!
Class: This is the actual type (or class) of ship.
Speed: This is the maximum distance in inches a ship can usually move in a single turn.
Turns: As described in the Movement Phase chapter, this reflects how quickly a ship can turn to come about on its
enemies.
Hull: The higher the value here, the better armoured a ship will be to withstand incoming fire.
Shields: Most ships have strong shields that allow them to resist withering attacks.
Damage: The first figure shows how many points of damage a ship can withstand before being destroyed. The second
marks the point at which the ship becomes Crippled. In the example, once the Hornet takes 12 points of damage,
reducing it to 6 overall, it becomes Crippled.
Ramming: This is the base amount of damage caused to other ships when a collision occurs.
Troops: Whether a few scattered security personnel or dedicated marines, most ships have the ability to conduct
boarding actions.
Craft: A few ships can carry smaller craft on board, normally fighters. The number of craft that can be carried will
be noted here.
Special Traits: Many ships have special rules that allow them to perform actions impossible by others. Special Traits
are detailed on page 20.
Weapons: Any vessel intended for battle will have multiple weapon systems, all of which will be detailed here. Every
weapon is defined by its Range, which Fire Arc it can fire into and the number of Attack Dice it uses. Some weapons
also have Special Traits, as defined on page 21, which further influence their effect in the game.

Void Krakens
There are… things… in space. Things which are seemingly alive in the void, where no life should exist. Never glimpsed
in full and never leaving direct proof, these things have nonetheless left their mark on the hulls of battered starships or
shown themselves in the sea of floating crewmen flooding from ruptured hulls, forming a graveyard of unburied dead
preserved forever in the chill vacuum.

Perhaps as a result of humankind’s re-acquaintance with magic, or perhaps merely as a delayed reaction to the Second
Republic’s vast expansion, these creatures began to appear between the stars in the very void of space soon after
Alexius’ coronation. Monsters came from out of the inky blackness and devoured starships whole, or left little behind
to tell the tale. A new terror descended on humanity; space was no longer safe.

Once the matter had been researched, it was discovered that these mysterious ship destroyers had been around for
a long time. Reports of disappearing ships were common during the Diaspora, but the voices of the few witnesses
claiming to have seen monsters were unheeded, considered but the prattling of insane minds suffering from oxygen
deprivation. The reports soon died down, but they reappeared during the Second Republic’s frontier search and
terraforming craze. Again, the crazed eyewitness accounts were unheeded. Instead, Vau were believed to be the
culprits, using ships of a new, unknown design. Before the matter was ever resolved, the attacks ceased.

But now, in an age of extreme superstition, the new reports travelled among the populace like wildfire, igniting fears
and legends. Some are convinced that these assaults are the work of a mysterious new race from worlds far from
Human Space. Their cyclic activity implies that they either leave for long periods or go into hibernation. Whatever the
reason, they have either returned or are again awake. Vau have been questioned (diplomatically, of course), but they
know no more than humans. It is clear, however, that they have suffered similar assaults throughout history and have
many of the same questions as humanity. The stars lanes are now deadly paths to tread.

4
2

During each turn of A Call to Arms: Noble Armada, players will
make many tactical decisions, ships will move and then launch
devastating attacks upon one another. To make the process of
space combat a lot easier, with the huge range of options and
strategies available, each turn is split into five distinct phases.
Players will run through each phase together and, when each
turn is complete, every ship on each player’s side will have had a
chance to act and effect the outcome of the battle.
The five phases are played in order – Initiative Phase, Movement
Phase, Attack Phase, Boarding Phase and End Phase. When the
End Phase has been completed, the turn ends and the next one
begins with the Initiative Phase.
I nitiative P hase
The Initiative Phase is used to resolve any actions that do not require
players to make any choices (such as moving ships that are Running
Adrift) and to decide who will have the initiative for the turn – in
other words, who has gained a position of tactical advantage.
At the start of each turn, both players roll for initiative using 2D6.
To this result, each player will modify the total, depending on the
race or fleet he is using. Every race or fleet has its own modifier, as
described in the Fleet Lists chapter. Any ties are re-rolled.
M ovement P hase
The player who won the Initiative Phase by rolling higher than
his opponent will now decide whether to move a ship first or force
his opponent to do so. Players then alternate the moving of their
ships. First, a player nominates one of his ships and moves it, then
his opponent nominates one of his own and moves that. This
continues until all ships have been moved. Note that a particularly
large fleet may still have ships to move after its enemy has finished
moving all of its own. In this case, the larger fleet will carry on
moving ships until they have all had a chance to move.
A ttack P hase
Once ships have been moved into position, they are allowed to
fire their weapons in an effort to destroy their enemies. Players
then alternate the firing of their ships. The player who won the
Initiative Phase nominates one of his ships and then attacks
with it, resolving all damage dealt. His opponent then nominates
one of his ships and attacks. This continues until all ships have
attacked, or had a chance to attack. Note that it is not compulsory
for a ship to attack, even if it has a viable target. The player may
simply nominate it and choose not to fire. However, he may not
The Turn
select it again that turn and then choose to fire – he must make the
decision to attack then and there and not hold back!
B oarding P hase
It is often preferable to capture a valuable and irreplaceable ship
than it is to destroy it outright. In this Phase, players will grapple
with enemy ships and send over boarding parties to capture their
prizes, one section at a time. The Boarding Phase will see the most
vicious fighting in the game, with marines going hand-to-hand in
a desperate bid to overwhelm the defenders of a ship, or fight to
the last man in order to protect the bridge.
E nd P hase
The End Phase is used to ‘tidy up’ the battlefield and make sure
all players know what is happening. This is the time Damage
Control and other book-keeping are performed. Once complete,
a new turn begins.
The Ar ms Race
It is the basic desire of any admiral to have the finest,
most powerful and sleekest ships in the galaxy, but the
resources available to any one Royal House are rarely
sufficient to cover every need. While every fleet can
count on having a good supply of frigates, destroyers
and cruisers, the more esoteric vessels can be harder
to come by, especially if they require huge amounts of
money or rare technologies to construct.
The fleets of al Malik and Li Halan are notable for their
lack of dreadnoughts, with both fielding carriers as
their largest vessels. Both are pursuing the construction
of their first dreadnought class of ship and spies from
other houses have already reported the hull of the first
al Jalil dreadnought has been laid down.
Houses Decados and al Malik are the only fleets to sport
stealthships, and it is known both Hazat and Li Halan
are desperately trying to acquire similar technology.
House Hawkwood, with its close ties to the Empire, is
reported to have an operational squadron of the almost
mythical Aurora-class stealthships, something the
nobles of the House strenuously deny.
5
2
 Movement Phase
The ability to manoeuvre a ship into a position of advantage
is vital. By outwitting your opponent, you will gain the chance
to keep your ships at optimum range for their weaponry while
keeping out of your opponents most dangerous fire arcs.
Once it has been determined who has the initiative for the current
turn, players then take turns to move their ships. A ship may only
be nominated to move once in every turn and every ship must be
nominated. You are not allowed to skip ships, even if it means that
you will move into a position of disadvantage if you do so!
M oving S hips
When nominated to move, every ship must be moved a distance
in inches between its Speed score and half this amount. All
movement must be in a straight line forward.
Now that you have your ship in motion, you will at some point
want to change the direction of its movement. All ships have a Turn
score, which rates how quickly they can turn, giving the number of
turns they can make during one movement and the maximum angle
each turn can be. This will always be one of the following.
1/45°
1/90°
2/45°
2/90°
SM
The first, for example, shows that a ship could make one turn
every time it moves, to a maximum angle of 45°.
SM stands for Super Manoeuvrable. Such ships (usually extremely
agile craft, such as fighters) do not worry about turns. They are
free to move in any direction the player chooses, making as many
turns as he wishes along the way – so long as they are not subject
to other special rules, such as Special Actions or Running Adrift.
SM ships are also able to not move at all in a turn, having no
minimum requirement to move at least half their Speed, unlike
other ships.
All ships (except those rated Super Manoeuvrable) must move at
least two inches forward in a straight line after a turn has been
made, before another can be performed.
Ships may never be stacked on top of one another. If your
movement ends ‘on top’ of another ship, simply place your ship
as far as it may normally move without being stacked on another.
Fighters (see page 24), however, may be placed on top of ship
counters or bases but never on top of other Fighters.
6
Those are all the rules you will need to know in order to move
your ships and begin attacking with them. However, there are
a range of Special Actions you can attempt instead of moving
normally, from forcing an enemy ship to surrender or redirecting
power to engines in order to increase speed. See page 18 for a list
of these Special Actions.
C hanging S peed
It is possible, by taking critical hits for example, for a ship’s
Speed to be reduced. A ship’s current Speed is always equal to its
original score, minus any penalties it is currently suffering. So, for
example, a ship that normally has Speed 8 but suffers a –2 penalty
to Speed, now has Speed 6 and must move three inches before
turning, rather than the original four inches.
Money
The basic unit of commerce since Alexius took the
throne is the “firebird” (so called because it bears his
phoenix crest on one side and his portrait on the other).
This unit is broken into quarters (“wings”) and halves
(“crests”). Firebirds are minted only on Byzantium
Secundus using a unique metal called prismium
requiring Second Republic tech to forge (this tech
is heavily protected by the Imperial Eye, making it
extremely hard to counterfeit). Its value is actually equal
to the coin it represents — one coin holds about one
firebird in value in its metal alone.
There is no central stock exchange for the Known
Worlds. The Empire tries to set a fixed firebird rate for
certain items, such as military construction contracts, but
outside of Byzantium Secundus or Tethys, merchants
and manufacturers can charge whatever they think they
can get away with.
The advantage the League has over local guilds is that
they can set their own fixed rates across the Known
Worlds, providing interstellar travellers some stable
spending base — as long as they trade with League
merchants. On certain worlds, they will even lower their
prices somewhat to compete with local prices. However,
since they are interstellar and depend on repeat business,
they rely instead on more expensive but dependable
goods. Travellers cannot be sure what they are buying
when they buy local.
2
 E xample of M ovement

A Hornet (Speed: 12, Turns: 12/45˚) engages a Mantis from The Hornet must move forward in a straight line at least half its
House Decados. speed -6, in this case.
e
ov
M
2”

45˚ Turn 45˚ Turn

The Hornet may now turn 45˚towards the Mantis, It must move The Hornet makes a second turn, It could move further forward
another 2” forward before it can turn again. (it has only travelled 8” so far), but instead stops, as it is already
in a perfect attack posistion!

2
2
 Attack Phase
Now you have moved your ships, no doubt you will be wanting
to unleash their raw firepower and reduce your opponent’s ships
into chunks of burning metal! From the small gun decks of
frigates to the immensely powerful spinal mounts found on board
dreadnoughts, there are dozens of different ways in which you can
destroy your enemy.
As described on page 5, players alternate the firing of their ships,
calculating all damage and resolving its effects before moving
onto another attacking ship. This, of course, can make gaining the
initiative very important in some turns.
Once a ship has been nominated to fire, the player follows this
process:
• Nominate targets for each weapon in each fire arc.
• Check ranges.
• Resolve firing and damage.
E ligible T argets
For a target to be attacked successfully, two conditions must be
met. First, it must lie in the appropriate fire arc of the weapon
system that will be firing at it, as shown on your ship’s roster.
Second, it must be within the range of the weapon, as also shown
on the ship’s roster. You must nominate a target for every weapon
you intend firing from your ship at the same time, before any
attacks are made.
If a target lies on the border between two fire arcs, then the
attacking player may decide which of the two arcs the target will
be considered to be within. He must choose one fire arc in this way
– he may not attack the target with weapons from both fire arcs.
Unless your ship is under rules to the contrary, you may fire each
weapon system once during every turn.
Note that ships do not block line of sight in A Call to Arms: Noble
Armada as it is assumed that they are fighting in a full three-
dimensional environment. You may fire ‘through’ any ship, be it
friendly or enemy.
You may never target one of your own ships under any
circumstances.
A ttacking
Each weapon system listed on a ship’s roster has an Attack Dice
(AD) score listed. This is the number of dice rolled every time
Special Traits
Some weapons will be affected by shields in different
ways, ignoring them, or temporarily knocking them down
so other attacks have an easier time of damaging an
enemy ship. This is covered by the Special Traits that each
weapon system has. These are fully detailed on page 21
but to summarise:
Burn-out/Double Burn: These weapons are designed
to fry shield emitters. A Burn-out weapon striking a
shield will disable it. Shields disabled in this way will
automatically regenerate in the End Phase.
Slow: These weapons travel slow enough that they are not
affected by shields in any way. They ignore any shields
present on the target and roll for damage against the hull
as if they were not there.
Weak: Whether through a lack of technology or a
declining military budget, some weapons are simply not
as powerful as their military-grade counterparts. These
weapons will have no effect on a ship with active shields.
the weapon system is fired. Each weapon system may only fire at
one target at a time – you may not split Attack Dice up between
different targets.
When Attack Dice are rolled, the resulting number on each dice
is compared to the target’s Hull score. For every Attack Dice that
equals or beats the Hull score, a hit has been scored. A roll of a 6
is always considered to be a success, while a roll of a 1 is always
a miss.
Shields
Total the number of hits the weapon system has dealt to the
enemy ship and then deduct the number of functioning Shields
the enemy ship still has in place.
Any hits that are not absorbed by Shields will go through to the
hull.
Damaging Enemy Ships
For every hit that goes through to the hull after the effects of
Shields have been calculated, roll 1D6 on the table overleaf.
9
2
 Attack Table
1D6 Attack
1 Bulkhead Hit: No damage dealt.
2–5 Solid Hit: –1 Damage to target ship.
6 Critical Hit: As Solid Hit but also roll on
Systems Table.
T hresholds
Damage scores have a secondary figure, as noted on each ship’s
roster. For example, a Hornet has Damage 18/6. This means that
it can take 18 points of Damage but when it has been reduced to 6
points, a threshold has been reached.
Crippled
If the Damage score is brought to this threshold level or below, the
ship is considered to be Crippled. All turns will be reduced to 45
degrees and it will make one fewer turns (to a minimum of one)
during its movement. Super-Manoeuvrable ships will be reduced
to Turns 2/45º. In addition, it’s Speed score will be permanently
reduced by half and only one weapon system may be used while
attacking. Finally, roll a D6 for every trait the ship possesses – on
the roll of a 4 or more, the trait will be destroyed.
Running Adrift
Some damage effects can cause a ship to be Running Adrift. For
the rest of the game, the ship is moved at half its current speed in
a straight line in the End Phase, until it moves off the table.
Stricken Ships
When a ship’s Damage score is reduced to zero, it is considered
to be destroyed but the opposing player must roll 1D6 on the
following chart, adding +1 for every point below zero the damaged
ship is taken. Once a ship has rolled on this table, it may not be
attacked again.
Damage Table
1D6 Damage
1–4 Running Adrift: As detailed previously.
5–8 Ship Destroyed: Burned out hulk left
stationary on table.
9–12 Ship Explodes: The ship will Run Adrift and
then be blasted apart by internal explosions
at the end of the next Movement Phase. All
targets within 4 inches are attacked by half
the exploding ship’s starting Damage in AD
(maximum 15 AD). Remove the ship after
this is done.
13+ Ship Explodes: The ship is immediately
blasted apart by internal explosions. All
targets within 4 inches are attacked by half
the exploding ship’s starting Damage in AD
(maximum 15 AD). Remove the ship after
this is done.
Note that you must roll for all attacks declared on a ship before
rolling on the Damage Table – even if you do not want it to
explode!
10
Critical Hits
If a critical hit has been scored during an attack, roll 1D6 on the
following table to determine exactly what has been hit.
Systems Table
1D6 Location Hit
1–2 Engines
3 Reactor
4 Weapons
5 Crew
6 Shields
Once the location of a critical hit has been determined,
consult the appropriate table.
When a location sustains a critical hit, it will gain a Critical
Score equal to the damage caused by the hit. For most
weapons this will be one, though some weapons with the
Devastating trait (see page 21) cause more. Consult the
location and its Critical Score and apply the Extra Damage
and Effects listed for that Critical Score and all others below
it to the ship immediately.
Subsequent critical hits to the same location will add to the
Critical Score.
So, for example, a Mantis-class frigate receives a critical hit to its engines
from a Light Slug Gun. It gains a Critical Score of 1 on the engines,
causing an extra point of damage and reducing Speed by –1. If the
Mantis then receives a new critical hit to its engines from a Light Laser,
then the engine’s Critical Score will go up to 2. It will take an additional
3 points of damage and have a total penalty of –2 to its Speed.
If the Mantis then receives a critical hit to its reactor from a Light
Meson Gun with the Devastating +1 trait, it will immediately have a
Critical Score of 2 on the reactor. It will suffer a total of 4 points of
Extra Damage, be at –1 Speed, –2 Shields, lose a random trait and the
reactor location will be subject to the Escalate rule.
The special effects of critical hits are cumulative and where several
critical hits affect the same ship in a similar way (such as loss of
Speed on Engine hits), then the total is applied.
Note: All modifiers to Speed are applied to the ship’s current
Speed. Thus, if a ship has been crippled and reduced to half
Speed, a critical hit will reduce this Speed directly, rather than
being applied to the ship’s original Speed and then halved.
The maximum Critical Score any location can reach is 6. Further
critical hits to the same location will cause Extra Damage as for a
Critical Score of 6 but further Effects are ignored.
Escalation
Some critical hits have the Escalate rule listed under some of their
Critical Scores. This means things are bad on board and are likely to
get worse if the crew do not do something about the damage quickly!
If a ship has reached a Critical Score that has Escalate listed, roll
a dice at the end of the End Phase. On a 4 or more, the Critical
Score of that location will increase by +1.
2
C ritical H it T ables
Engines
Critical Score 1 2 3 4 5 6
Extra Damage 1 3 3 D6 D6 2D6
Damage Power Relays Fuel Systems Multiple Fires Thrusters Fuel Systems Engines Disabled
Destroyed Ruptured Damaged Ruptured
Effects –1 Speed –1 Speed Escalate, Crew Ship Adrift Reactor Critical Damage Control
Critical Score +1 Score +1 rolls at –1

Reactor
Critical Score 1 2 3 4 5 6
Extra Damage 1 3 3 D6 D6 0
Damage Capacitors Power Feedback Shield Failure Reactor Leak Reactor Overload Reactor Breach
Damaged
Effects –1 Speed, –1 Lose one Shields to 0, no –2 Speed, lose Ship Adrift, make Crew Ship Explodes
Shields random trait, –1 Shield repair in one random Quality check of 9 at end
Shields, Escalate End Phase trait, –1 Troops of every End Phase or
Explode

Weapons
Critical Score 1 2 3 4 5 6
Extra Damage 1 3 3 D6 D6 2D6
Damage Targeting Power Weapons Offline Power Fluctuations Weapons Weapons offline
Systems Disrupted Control
Damaged
Effects All weapon All weapons One random Make Crew Quality check Must roll 4+ No weapons
systems gain –1 Attack Dice weapon system of 9 at end of every End before firing may fire
Inaccurate cannot fire Phase or +1 Reactor each weapon,
trait. Critical Score Escalate

Crew
Critical Score 1 2 3 4 5 6
Extra Damage 1 3 3 D6 D6 2D6
Damage Fire Multiple Fires Localised Secondary Crew Shaken Hull Breach
Decompression Explosions
Effects –1 Troops –2 Troops, All Crew No Special Must roll 4+ –3 Troops, no Damage
Escalate Quality checks Actions, –2 before firing Control, no Special Actions,
at –1 Troops each weapon lose one random trait

Shields
Critical Score 1 2 3 4 5 6
Extra Damage 1 3 3 D6 D6 2D6
Damage Shields Fluctuating Power Feedback Shield Emitters Shields Shields Down Shields Offline
Damaged Phasing
Effects Each attacking –1 Shields, make Crew –1 Shields, –2 Shields Shields to 0 Shields to 0
weapon system Quality check of 9 Escalate
ignores shields on a at end of every End
roll of 4+ Phase or +1 Reactor
Critical Score

11
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Resolving Random Fire Arcs
Some Critical Hits will stop a ship from firing out of one
random arc. Up to now, we have left this to players to
resolve from themselves but we have been using a system
in our office campaigns that is eay to use and can quickly
end any disputes.
When your ship suffers from one of these critical hits,
simply consult your ship’s entry in the fleet lists. From
the top of the weapon descriptions, count down all the
unique fire arcs (Turret and count for this!).
Note that some ships may have just one fire arc and so
will lose all weapons on these Critical Hits – this is an
intentional and built in weakness!
Slug Guns
Large magnetic rail guns, slug guns lob a large mass of heavy metal
or explosives at enemy ships, resulting in substantial damage.
However, slug guns are slow, short ranged and easily stopped by
shields. For this reason, most ships armed with slug guns are also
equipped with EM pulse guns to take down enemy shields.
The Vuldrok have developed a slightly different approach, utilising
warheads with explosives that burn out enemy shields. Fleets in
the Known Worlds have never bothered with these shells because
of their extremely short range and erratic targeting procedures.
Lasers
Like energy shields, the development of lasers efficient enough
for space combat came from Vautech filtered through Second
Republic manufacturers. At the height of the Second Republic
some of these weapons went beyond the Vau’s own levels of
design but that was a long time ago.

Ships adopted laser weaponry after the adoption of shields, since the
energy involved in their discharge burns shields out, knocking them
Weapon Systems in Noble Armada
down to leave a ship vulnerable to more powerful weapons. The
Most human fleets use the same technological basis for their
shipboard weaponry, though different fleet captains will have
different opinions on how it is best used. Alien races, by
comparison, utilise weaponry that often seems strange or even Special Weapons
impossible to human eyes. Gatling lasers and grapple guns are not counted as weapon
systems, and are dealt with elsewhere in these rules (see
All weapons mounted on combat vessels can be graded into a set below). However, they are listed in the weapon descriptions
series of designs, as listed here. The number of actual weapons of ships in the Fleet Lists chapter. This is purely for
and which arc they can fire into will depend on the ship they are convenience and easy reference for determining which fire
mounted upon. arcs they may act within.

Weapon Range Special

Gatling Lasers
Light Slug Gun 12 Accurate, Multihit 2 These are small but high-powered point defence weapons.
Medium Slug Gun 18 Accurate, Multihit 3 Though very short-ranged and lacking the strength to even
Heavy Slug Gun 24 Accurate, Multihit 3 knock down a shield temporarily, they are highly useful
Light Laser 24 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise weapons when targeting fighters, incoming boarders and
Medium Laser 28 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise even grapple lines.
Heavy Laser 36 Accurate, Burn-out, Multihit
2, Precise Gatling lasers are automatic defence systems. See page 22
Light Blaster 16 Burn-out, Multihit 2 for more details.
Medium Blaster 24 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Heavy Blaster 32 Burn-out, Multihit 3 G r a pp l e G u n
Light Meson Cannon 15 Devastating +1, Multihit 4 This weapon shoots a strong cable that magnetically clamps
Heavy Meson Cannon 10 Devastating +2, Multihit itself to the target. The cable then immediately retracts;
3D6 drawing the two ships together unless the defending vessel
EM Pulse Gun 24 Double Burn manages to sever the cable with point defence weaponry.
Rocket 20 Inaccurate, Slow The cable itself is attached to an interior bulkhead of the
Missile 28 Guided, Slow firing ship and new cables immediately reload into the gun
Torpedo 32 Guided, Multihit 2, Slow for future use. See page 14 for more details.
Gremlin Gun 12 Disable, Slow

12
2
coherent beam of a laser tends to break up as it travels through gas
and debris but it remains one of the most versatile weapons available.
Blasters
These weapons generate plasma from fusion energy using a
mysterious transference chamber stolen from Vau weaponry. Only
a few master weaponsmiths understand the operation of blasters,
revealing their secrets to loyal apprentices only after years of study.
When the gun fires, a force field forms about the plasma and
blasts down the barrel. It begins exploding once it exits the barrel,
leaking through the field. Once the discharge hits a physical
object, the field disintegrates, loosing the full force of the plasma.
This makes blasters powerful weapons that can burn out shields
but with a relatively poor range.
Meson Cannon
Among the most fearsome weapons of destruction are meson
cannon, hallmarks of humanity’s technological quest to harness
nature’s destructive energies. Only dreadnoughts mount the heavy
meson cannon and then only as a spinal mount with the ship
literally built around the massive weapon.
Despite the tremendous power of the meson cannon, it is very
short-ranged, forcing dreadnought captains to move within easy
boarding range in order to use them.
EM Pulse Guns
This recently rediscovered technology has yet to see widespread
implementation but a few ships sport them as a complement to
slug guns. An ElectroMagnetic pulse gun sacrifices a little of its
damage potential to burn out more shields.
Gremlin Guns
This strange weapon only affects electrical systems on its target,
rendering them useless until repaired. Almost every vital system on a
ship can be affected by this weapon, which bypasses shields, from the
targeting sensors of weapons to the stations at which the crew work.
Fighter Weapons
The weapons used on fighters share many technological principles
as those found on the gun decks of much larger craft. However,
they lack the energy and hard-hitting power of these weapons.
The characteristics of fighter weaponry can be found in the
descriptions of fighters in the Fleet Lists chapter.
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 Boarding Phase
Once you have pounded your enemy into submission and moved in
close, it will be time to send your marines across the void of space
to launch a boarding action! These are vicious close-in fights waged
by small numbers of highly trained troops through the corridors and
command centres of enemy ships. The bridge of the enemy ship is the
ultimate prize, as control of this will allow you to eventually take over
the entire vessel and perhaps bring it over to your side in the battle –
expect the enemy to fight ferociously in order to stop you doing this.
In order to conduct a boarding action, a ship must move to within
very short range of an enemy ship and then grapple with it, firing
lines to pull the two ships closer together. If this is successful,
marines will then be launched to gain entry to the enemy ship,
fight through its interior and, hopefully, take over the bridge.
Grappling
Ships in A Call to Arms: Noble Armada use grapple guns to
lock themselves onto an enemy ship in order to provide a stable
platform from which to launch marines.
Only a ship with at least one grapple gun may attempt to board
another ship and it must use the ‘Prepare to Grapple!’ Special
Action (see page 19) in the Movement Phase in order to do so.
Grappling an enemy ship uses the following procedure:
• Declare the Prepare to Grapple! Special Action.
• Move your ship so at least one of its grapple guns is within 2
inches and within its fire arc of an enemy ship. You are not
required to move your ship a minimum distance in order to
do this and can, in effect, launch a grapple ‘mid-move’.
• Make a Crew Quality check of 7 in order to successfully
grapple the enemy ship. A separate Crew Quality check must
be made for each grapple gun you use and you may only use
each grapple gun once during a turn.
• If a successful grapple has taken place, move the two ships into
contact with each other at the start of the Boarding Phase.
A successful grapple may stop the enemy ship from moving or
taking any Special Actions itself if it has not yet moved in the
Movement Phase.
If a grapple fails, either because you are unable to move your ship
into range and fire arc of your grapple guns, or you fail your Crew
Quality check, then you must carry on your movement if you have
not already moved your ship’s required minimum distance. Note
that fighters cannot be grappled.
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Moving While Grappled
If one ship has a lower starting Damage score than the ship with
which it is grappled, then it is just along for the ride as the more
powerful vessel drags it through space! However, the larger ship
will have its Speed score halved so long as it is grappled.
If the ships have the same starting Damage scores, neither may
move while grappled.
If more than one ship has grappled to an enemy, the enemy may
still move (with its Speed halved as normal) if it’s starting Damage
score is more than that of all the other ships combined.
Grappled ships may never move if one or more friendly ships are
involved in the same grapple.
If one grappled ship is ‘pushed’ off the table by another, then
all ships involved in the grapple will be assumed to have made a
Tactical Withdrawal (see page 23).
Special Actions and Grapples
While a ship is involved in a grapple, it may not perform any
Special Actions. There is simply too much chaos for the crew to
co-ordinate themselves.
Firing While Grappled
Until they have been moved into contact in a Boarding Phase,
ships are free to fire in the Attack Phase as normal – even at a ship
that has just fired grapple lines into them.
Once they have been moved into contact, grappled ships are
still free to make attacks with their weapon systems but they
cannot fire any weapons into a fire arc in which they are
grappled and nor can they any longer fire upon any ship they
are grappled with.
Ending a Grapple
A ship that has grappled an enemy must remain grappled for
at least one full turn. After that, it may automatically end the
grapple, allowing both ships to move normally thereafter, in any
End Phase (possibly leaving its Troops behind!).
Attacking and Defending
Throughout a Boarding Phase, the player who initiated the
boarding action is the attacker and his opponent the defender.
2
Note that their roles can switch if the defender beats the attacker
and decides to launch a counterattack! See page 16 for more
details on counterattacking.
Boarding Actions
Once two or more ships are grappled, it is time to let loose the
troops for a vicious boarding action!
The attacker must first decide how many Troops he will send over
to board the enemy ship. These Troops should be noted on the
opposing player’s ship. The attacker is not required to use all of his
Troops during a boarding action. Indeed, there may be situations
where it is advisable to keep some back just in case another enemy
ship tries to board him while he is boarding the first ship!
The number of Troops the attacker has sent to the enemy ship will
be the number of Troops Dice he uses in the boarding action. The
defender will get a number of Troops Dice equal to all the Troops
he has on board his ship.
Boarding Combat
Both players then roll their Troops Dice. Every roll of a 5 or more
will result in their opponent losing one Troops Dice.
The player losing Troops Dice may always select which dice he
will lose if he is using different troop types (see page 16).
Attacker Wins
If the defending player loses all of his Troops Dice, then he has
lost the boarding action and his ship! The ship is now under the
control of the attacker and can be used as if it were part of his
fleet.
The ship’s new Troops score will be the number of Troops Dice
the attacker has remaining. However, if the attacker’s ship is still
grappled, he may divide the remaining Troops Dice between
the two ships as he sees fit (either pushing more Troops into the
assault, or pulling some back). The newly captured ship must have
at least one Troop kept on board or control of it will revert back
to the defender.
Defender Wins
If the attacking player loses all of his Troops Dice, then he has
been seriously beaten back by the frenzied defenders! This will
normally end the boarding action but the defender may be able to
launch a counterattack (see page 16).
C r e wm e mb e r s and Boarding Actions
Some ships maintain a lifepod for the officers and nobles but
the rest of the ship’s complement have less luck. Vacuum
suits cost too much for most captains to consider issuing
them and emergencies often leave little time to don them.
Instead, most crewmembers will have vacuum bags installed
at their battle stations. These require little training to use
and protect each crewmember from the effects of explosive
decompression and lack of air.
A vacuum bag consists of an airtight suit with a face mask
and hose connected to a grid of life-support pipes running
throughout the ship. The grid configuration allows the
system to automatically shut down damaged areas and still
provide the vital flow of oxygen to each crewmember. The
lightweight bags restrict movement as little as possible and
are designed to be easily repaired or replaced.
A few ships do equip crewmembers with full vacuum suits,
allowing them to move around freely and quickly. However,
technicians do not make the best marines and most captains
do not feel the suits are worth the extra expense. Indeed,
such crewmembers are not renowned for their loyalty,
doing their jobs and getting home safely being their primary
objectives. They are rarely disappointed to miss out on a
boarding action.
For their part, boarders rarely attack crewmembers, treating
them as non-combatants. They prefer to force them to
operate the ship when it has been captured and ransom them
after the battle.
Stalemate
If both players still have Troops Dice remaining, then the boarding
action has become bogged down as a vicious firefight erupts
throughout the target ship.
If the attacking ship is still grappled, the attacker may withdraw
his Troops from the attack, ending the boarding action.
Otherwise, the Troops stay locked in combat and will fight again
in the next Boarding Phase.
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 Multiple Boarding Actions
When more than two ships are involved in the same boarding
action, things can get very chaotic!
If two or more ships are boarding one enemy ship, simply combine
all their Troops together in one total.
A ship may only elect to board one enemy at a time, so if multiple
ships from different fleets have all grappled on to one another, the
player who won the Initiative in this turn must nominate one of
his ships and declare which enemy it is boarding. His opponent
then does the same and they continue to take turns declaring
boarding actions until all ships are involved.
However, once a ship has been declared as the target of a boarding
action, it may not be nominated to launch its own – it is too busy
defending itself!
In this way, you can break up a huge scrum of ships into smaller,
individual boarding actions which can be conducted as normal.
Troop Types
Some special, well-armed or well-trained Troops gain special
bonuses during boarding combat.
Elite Troops: Gain a +1 bonus to their dice rolls.
Marauders: Gain a +2 bonus to their dice rolls and will lose half
as many Troops Dice (rounding down) when attacked, be it from
boarding, gatling lasers or critical hits.
If you are using several different types of troops in the same
boarding action, use different coloured dice to represent the troops
or roll for each type separately.
C ounterattacks
If things go badly for a boarding party, the defenders might see an
opportunity to turn the tables and launch their own assault on the
ship that attacked them, possibly taking it over instead!
Once all of an attacker’s Troops Dice have retreated or been
destroyed, the defender can start launching a counterattack.
However, he must act quickly, as the attacked, knowing he has
failed, is likely casting off the grapple lines in an effort to get away!
If the counterattacking ship has any grapple guns in the fire arc
in which the enemy ship lies, then the attempt is automatically
successful. The enemy ship will not be able to move away in
the End Phase (as the counterattacker has now used his own
grapple guns at point blank range) and the boarding action
begins again in the next Boarding Phase (likely with the
counterattacker successful, unless the target ship has help from
the rest of his fleet).
16
If there are no grapple guns in that arc, then the original defender
must launch his counterattack with all haste.
Both players must make an opposed Crew check. If the
counterattacker wins, then he may automatically initiate a
boarding action in the next Boarding Phase, even if the enemy
ship breaks contact and moves away in the coming End Phase
(though he will have to face any gatling lasers the ship has). If the
opposing player wins, then he may move away as usual in the End
Phase without being boarded.
Note that if the opposing player cannot, for any reason (such
as critical hits to the engines) move away, then any attempt to
counterattack will be automatically successful.
T ransferring T roops
If two ships from the same fleet are in contact with one another
and neither has taken a Special Action, they may attempt to dock
in the Boarding Phase. Neither may fire weapons into the arc
occupied by the friendly ship they are trying to dock with.
One ship must make a Crew Quality check of 7 in order to dock
successfully (this is a routine procedure normally but it requires
some skill to do quickly under battlefield conditions).
If successful, Troops can be transferred between the two ships as
the owning player sees fit.
Both ships may move normally next turn, disengaging immediately.
The Fading Suns
It is a true and universally acknowledged fact that
the suns are fading. Even the Vau recognise this.
But why? There are as many answers as there are
opinions. The Church is undecided, and many
sects battle over interpretation. In general, however,
a consensus emerges: The suns are dying because
history is over. The passion play is coming to an
end. Man’s time in the universe is nearly done, and
what he has done with it will be tallied at the end
and judged for good or ill. Many fear it will add up
to more ill than good. Thus, humanity must unite
to save itself, to show a united front of penance —
hence, the importance of the Universal Church.
But different voices whisper other meanings when
the Inquisition’s collective back is turned. Some
say the Vau or Symbiots are causing the suns to
fade, and that their secrets should be wrested from
them. Others dare to say it is the jumpgates that are
at fault, that with every jump a star loses its vital
energy and begins to die.
2

Once all players have moved and attacked with all their ships,
the End Phase is played out to complete the turn. This is used
to complete any bookkeeping needed for special rules, as well as
providing a vital chance for players to repair any damage their
ships have sustained from critical hits.
You should go through the following procedures, in order, during
every End Phase.
• Compulsory Movement
• Damage Control
• Recover Shields
• Check for Escalation
C ompulsory M ovement
Some ships must be moved in a certain way, with no choice on
the part of the player. These include ships Running Adrift, due to
having taken massive damage. Such ships are always moved in the
End Phase, even if they have already moved in this turn (they will
not get to move in the next Movement Phase and everyone will
know exactly where they will be for the whole of the next turn,
until the next End Phase).
D amage C ontrol
During the End Phase, players can repair their ships through
Damage Control. The player who won the initiative during the
turn does this first, for all of his ships that have been damaged.
Many critical hits have special effects that further debilitate a ship
beyond the raw damage they cause. Weapons systems can go
End Phase
offline, corridors can be flooded with reactor gas and flashbacks
from ammunition stores can cause terrible harm.
These special effects are the only things Damage Control can
repair – it cannot be used to restore Damage or Troops. A player
may only attempt to repair one location on each of his ships.
To repair a critical hit by Damage Control, select one location that
currently has a Critical Score and roll 1D6, adding the ship’s Crew
Quality score. For every point you roll above 8, the Critical Score
of that location is reduced by one. Any traits lost by a critical hit
on this location will also be repaired.
If you roll 8 or less, the Critical Score remains unchanged and the
effects persist, though you may try again in the End Phase of the
next turn.
Locations with a Critical Score of 6 may never be repaired.
R ecover S hields
Shields that have been knocked down by Burn Out weapons will
be recovered and brought back on line in the End Phase.
C heck for E scalation
Any critical Hit Location that is subject to the Escalate rule must
be rolled for right at the end of the End Phase. For each such
location, simply roll one dice. On a 4 or more, its Critical Score
will increase by +1. Remember to keep rolling for Escalation,
until and unless the Critical Score drops below the point at which
Escalate appears.
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 Special Actions
Special Actions are a vital part of A Call to Arms: Noble
Armada, as they permit players and their ships to do some
extraordinary things. Whether it is bracing for impact against
incoming attacks or forcing a damaged enemy vessel to
surrender, Special Actions greatly increase the tactical options
available for all players.
P erforming S pecial A ctions
When a ship is nominated to move, a player can also choose to
perform a Special Action. Some of these are automatic, while
some require a Crew Quality check for success. Each ship
may only attempt one Special Action in every turn, though
any number of ships may attempt them every turn. A Special
Action must be chosen and attempted before the ship begins
to move.
A Crew Quality check is performed by rolling 1D6 and adding
the ship’s Crew Quality score. If the total matches or exceeds that
listed in the Special Action’s description, the action is successful
and will be performed. If failed, the ship moves as normal.
Some Crew Quality checks are listed as being ‘Opposed’. This
means both players roll 1D6 and add the Crew Quality scores
of their respective ships (as detailed in the Special Action’s
description). If the player attempting the Special Action beats his
opponent’s total, then once again, the action is successful and will
be performed in this turn. In the case of a tie, the player who won
the initiative in this turn will win.
If you are not using the random crew quality scores on page
22, assume all your ships have military grade crew, with a crew
quantity of 4.
If a ship is restricted from performing Special Actions (such as
from some critical hits), then it will also immediately lose any
Special Action it is currently performing, losing all benefits in
the process.
The range of Special Actions that may be attempted are described
here:
18
All Hands on Deck!
Crew Quality Check: Automatic
Effect: The Captain orders the entire engineering division to
alert. If successful, the ship gains +2 modifier when attempting
Damage Control and can attempt to repair any number of
locations in this End Phase. Only one weapon system may be
fired in this turn.
All Power to Engines!
Crew Quality Check: Automatic
Effect: Diverting all power away from side and station-keeping
thrusters, the Captain orders his crew to make best speed. The
ship adds +50% to its Speed for this turn. During this turn, the
ship’s Shields will be reduced by –2 (automatically regained in the
End Phase).
All Stop!
Crew Quality Check: Automatic
Effect: Once a position of advantage has been gained, the
Captain may be reluctant to relinquish it. The ship may move
between 0 and half of its Speed but no turns may be attempted.
If the ship is in a gravity well at the time, another Special Action
may be attempted in the same turn. If the ship also performed ‘All
Stop!’ in its previous turn, you may also turn the ship on the spot
by any amount you desire, though you will only be able to fire one
weapon system if you do so.
Bring Battle Shields Online!
Crew Quality Check: 8
Effect: Using emergency generators, the crew bolster their
defences with auxiliary battle shields. Divide the ship’s current
Damage score by 10, rounding down. For this turn only, the ship
will increase its current Shield score by this amount. However
during this turn, the ship’s Speed will be halved and it may only
fire one weapon system.
Close Blast Doors!
Crew Quality Check: Automatic
Effect: Securing all bulkheads and bringing online short range
defensive systems, the crew prepares to withstand a brutal attack.
2
If successful, the ship may only fire one weapon system – if the
ship only has one active weapon system, it may not fire at all.
However, for each point of Damage or Troops lost this turn, roll
one dice. On a 5 or more, the loss is ignored.
Come About!
Crew Quality Check: 9
Effect: Pushing the ship’s thrusters to dangerous levels, the Captain
orders his ship to turn hard to gain a position of advantage. The
ship can either make one more turn than normal (following the
usual rules for turning on page 6) or may increase one existing
turn by an extra 45o. Ships with the Lumbering trait may only
increase an existing turn by 45o. They may not gain an extra turn.
Give Me Ramming Speed!
Crew Quality Check: Opposed
Effect: A desperate captain may decide to make the ultimate
sacrifice and order a course that heads straight for an enemy
vessel. Pushing the engines beyond their usual limits, he will
turn his entire ship into a potent weapon – but may well end up
destroying himself and his crew in the process.
A ship attempting to perform a ram may not make anything more
than a single 45 o turn when it moves, nor may it use any weapon
systems in the Attack Phase. If its base contacts that of an enemy
ship at any point in its movement, a ramming attempt can be made.
If the opposing player wishes to avoid the ram, both ships must
make an opposed Crew Quality check. A –1 penalty is imposed
on ships with the Lumbering trait and a +1 bonus is granted for
ships with the Agile trait. If the ramming player does not beat his
opponent’s check, then the ram has failed and the ship’s movement
continues as normal.
If he does beat his opponent’s check or if his opponent chooses not
to make the check, then the ram is successful. The ramming ship
immediately stops its movement as it crashes headlong into the enemy!
Both ships will take damage during a ram and all damage will
ignore Shields just as if it were a weapon with the Slow trait.
The amount of damage a ship takes during a ram is equal to the
opposing ship’s Ramming score multiplied by the roll of a dice.
For every full 10 points of damage a ship receives in a ram, it will
receive one automatic critical hit, with a Critical Score determined
by the roll of a further dice.
If a ramming attempt is failed or if the ramming ship completely
destroys its target, then the ship will continue moving normally
and may attempt to initiate another ram if it can move into
contact with another enemy ship. A large and fast-moving ship
may be able to plough through several smaller vessels if they are
in a tightly packed group!
Maximum Fire power!
Crew Quality Check: Automatic
Effect: By ordering well practised firing solutions, the
Captain concentrates his ship’s weapons onto a single target,
with devastating effect. Nominate one enemy target within
12 inches immediately – no other target may be attacked by
this ship in this turn. The ship increases the number of its
Attack Dice for all weapon systems by 50% (rounding down).
However, it will be unable to cause any critical hits (simply
treat them as solid hits).
Pre pare to Grapple!
Crew Quality Check: 7
Effect: The ship readies its grappling guns and organises its
marines for assault – the captain has ordered the boarding of an
enemy ship! See page 14 for the rules on grappling ships. Note
that you must declare this Special Action before your ship moves
as normal but the Crew Quality check is made when you attempt
to grapple an enemy.
Run Silent!
Crew Quality Check: 8
Effect: The ship powers down all systems in an effort to avoid
detection by the enemy. If the Crew Quality check is passed,
the ship gains the Stealth 3+ trait for this turn only. If your ship
already has the Stealth trait, it gains a +1 bonus to its Stealth score
(maximum 6+). During this time, it may not fire, move more than
half Speed, or turn. If the Crew Quality check is failed, these
restrictions still apply – the crew are still trying to run silent, they
are just not very good at it.
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 Special Traits
In A Call to Arms: Noble Armada, Special Traits are applied to
both ships and weapons. These are special abilities that in some
way alter the core rules of the game. For example, a ship protected
by Interceptors has a chance of avoiding each hit it sustains in
a game, whereas a ship without them will suffer damage as
normal. In the same way, there are weapons that are exceptionally
powerful compared to normal guns and others that are markedly
less effective.
Traits listed in italics may never be lost for any reason.
S pecial S hips
Ships with Special Traits can affect the game in all kinds of ways,
including movement, firing and the ability to resist damage, as
well as wholly new effects that can take place outside of normal
combat. Special Traits are one of the ways that vessels from
different fleets distance themselves in the ongoing technological
race.
Agile: The ship can pull very high-G turns, allowing it to out-
manoeuvre other vessels with ease. This ship need only move ¼
of its Speed in a straight line before making turns and need only
move 1 inch in a straight line before making subsequent turns.
Carrier X: This ship has been designed as a fleet carrier and can
deploy its flights of fighters extremely rapidly. While most ships
are limited to launching just one flight of fighters in a turn, this
ship can launch or recover a number of flights equal to its Carrier
score. It may also start a game with up to half (rounding down) of
its fighters deployed within 6 inches of the ship.
In addition, so long as the fleet carrier remains on the table, every
fighter flight in the fleet is granted a +1 bonus to its Dogfight score
(this is not cumulative if you have multiple carriers), giving them
an edge in combat, as ranks of fighter controllers on board give
them detailed and explicit instructions when engaging the enemy.
Finally, whenever you remove a fighter flight within 30 inches of
your carrier, roll one dice. On a 5 or 6, the flight was not completely
destroyed and managed to struggle back to the carrier. It will be
available next turn for launch, completely revitalised and ready
for battle. If an enemy ship (not fighter flight) was within 4 inches
of the counter when it was removed or if it was removed during a
dogfight, apply a –1 penalty to this dice roll. A +1 bonus to the roll
is granted if the flight was within 10 inches of the carrier. If you
roll lower than this, the flight is completely destroyed or scattered
and will not reappear.
20
A fleet carrier may only repair and replenish craft that it could
normally carry, so it will be unable to use this special ability on
craft from allied fleets.
Command +X: A ship with this trait is equipped with
advanced communications systems and is usually crewed by
high-ranking officers who use it as a flagship, dictating the
actions of an entire fleet. So long as the ship is on the table
and not Crippled, the owning player gains an extra bonus to his
initiative equal to the Command score. This is not cumulative
and may not be added to the bonus granted by other ships with
the Command trait.
Dodge X: Some ships (notably fighters) are exceptionally nimble
and can make sudden, violent movements to thwart attack.
Whenever the ship suffers a hit, roll one dice. If the dice equals
or exceeds the Dodge score listed for the ship, all effects of the
attack are ignored. The ship has literally dodged the attack. Ships
that are Adrift, or those that cannot or have not moved during
the Movement Phase may not benefit from the Dodge trait. The
Dodge trait can also be used against the Prepare to Grapple!
Special Action. One Dodge roll can be used to avoid each grapple
gun used, with success meaning the Special Action has failed,
even if the Crew Quality check is made.
Fighter: Though counted as ships for the purposes of most rules
in the game, flights of Fighters do not have a Damage score and
are destroyed by the first hit they suffer. Fighters may never take
any Special Actions.
Lumbering: Either under-powered or simply too massive for the
most advanced engines, this ship is ungainly and turns slowly. It
may only make a single turn during a Movement Phase and may
never make more under any circumstances. In addition, the ship
may not move forward any further after making this turn.
Scout: This ship has been designed specifically for gathering
intelligence on enemy fleets and relaying it back to friendly ships.
The presence of just one scout ship can therefore make an entire
fleet fight far more effectively. A ship with the Scout trait can
perform a number of duties during a battle.
If you have more ships with the Scout trait than the enemy fleet,
you may re-roll initiative for both setting up and during every
Initiative Phase, so long as the scenario allows these rolls in the
first place.
2
If the Scout ship is within 36 inches and in line of sight of a ship
with the Stealth trait, it may target the enemy ship and make a
Crew Quality check at the start of the Attack Phase. If it rolls an 8
or more, the ship will have its Stealth score reduced by one for the
remainder of the turn.
Alternatively, the Scout ship may try to redirect attacks aimed
against an enemy ship within 36 inches and within line of sight.
Make a Crew Quality check. If the result is 8 or more, you may
choose any one weapon system on any ships attacking the enemy
target. You may re-roll all Attack Dice for those weapon systems
that fail to hit the target.
Stealth X: Some ships have superior active stealth systems that
can render their ships all but invisible to their enemies. After an
attacker has declared any weapon attacks on this ship, a lock-on
must be achieved. This is done by rolling a dice and comparing it
to the target’s Stealth score.
The target gains a +1 bonus to its Stealth score if the attacking
ship is more than 20 inches away and a –1 penalty if the attacking
ship is within 8 inches. An additional –1 penalty is applied if any
other ship in the same fleet has successfully attacked the target in
the same turn and is still on the table and not Stricken or Running
Adrift. If the Stealth score is equalled or exceeded, the attack
proceeds as normal. If not, the attack is wasted as the firepower is
uselessly expended into empty space (note that One-Shot weapons
will not count as having been fired if this roll is failed).
If a ship with Stealth grapples an enemy, that enemy may fire
freely upon it before they move into contact, without having to
roll against its Stealth. This will count as a successful attack for
any other enemy ship that attacks it, thus granting the normal –1
penalty to Stealth.
Think Machine: Highly advanced ships may have incredibly
sophisticated flight control systems, to the extent that the ship
can almost fly itself. A ship listed as having a Think Machine can
never have a Crew Quality score less than 3.
S pecial W eapons
The Special Traits used for weapon systems typically revolves
around the capabilities of the weapon itself and what it can do
in battle. Some weapons are made vastly more superior by these
traits, while others have their effectiveness reduced.
Accurate: With superior targeting systems or effects that take
little time to travel the gulf of space, these weapons are very
accurate and likely to hit their targets. They gain a +1 bonus to all
of their Attack Dice.
Burn-out: These weapons are designed to fry shield emitters. A
Burn-out weapon striking a shield will disable it. Deduct a Shield
from the target ship for every Burn-out hit it sustains.
Devastating +X: When these weapons strike a vital area on an
enemy ship, they can be extremely punishing, sometimes blasting
entire decks out. Whenever this weapon deals a critical hit, add its
Devastating score to the normal Critical Score of the ship it has
hit. So, for example, a Devastating +1 weapon dealing a critical hit
will give a Critical Score of 2 on its first strike upon a location. If
it hits the same location again, the Critical Score will go up to 4.
Disable: Created by strange technologies, these weapons are
used as normal but will ignore all shields and cause no damage to
be deducted from the target. However, each Disable weapon that
successfully hits its target will cause an automatic critical hit. Do
not roll on the Damage Table, simply roll for a critical hit location
and add +1 to its Critical Score.
Double Burn: These weapons are even more efficient at
destroying enemy shields. Deduct two Shields from the target ship
for every Double Burn hit it sustains.
Guided: This weapon has its own motive systems and sensor
arrays, allowing it to track a target and make corrections to its
trajectory to better guarantee a hit. Whenever this weapon misses
with any Attack Dice, it may be re-rolled.
Inaccurate: Either using slow moving ammunition or simply
having poor targeting systems, this weapon rarely hits its target.
Apply a –1 penalty to all of this weapon’s Attack Dice.
Multihit X: Some weapons are extremely powerful and whether
through raking fire or huge explosions, they can cause immense
amounts of damage. For every successful Attack Dice this weapon
system has in an attack, it will deal a number of hits equal to its
Multihit score.
One-Shot: Ammunition or payload is limited for this weapon and
so once used in an attack, it may not be used again for the rest of
the game. Note that if a One-Shot weapon targets a ship with the
Stealth trait and fails to lock on, it will not count as having been
fired.
Precise: Using either superior firepower or technologically
advanced targeting systems, these weapons can consistently deal
Critical Hits to their targets. You may add +1 to all rolls on the
Attack Table.
Slow: These weapons travel slow enough that they are not affected
by shields in any way. Ignore any shields present on the target and
roll for damage against the hull as if they were not there.
Weak: Whether through a lack of technology or a declining
military budget, some weapons are simply not as powerful as their
military-grade counterparts. These weapons will have no effect on
a ship with active shields. In addition, they suffer a –1 penalty on
the Attack Table.
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 Advanced Rules
Once you have got the Basic Rules under your belt, it is time to
expand your games to include the Advanced Rules of A Call to
Arms: Noble Armada. These rules will add a lot more depth to
your games and allow you to simulate the full action of Noble
Armada on your tabletop.
C rew Q uality
By default, all ships are considered to have Military-Grade crew
(Crew Quality 4) on board. These rules allow you to have random
crews in your fleet in order to reflect a force of green recruits being
thrown into the fire of war, or a squadron of battle-hardened
veterans able to take on several ships with ease.
Variant Crew Quality scores are used most often in campaign
games but are summarised here.
Crew Crew Quality Score
Elite 6 lines are cut in this way, then the boarding action is immediately
Veteran 5 cancelled!
Military-Grade 4
Green 3 If the grapple lines still remain after a gatling laser has fired, it
Civilian 2 may continue shooting as the boarders sail across space to the
G atling L asers
Compared to the larger weaponry found on gun decks of warships,
the gatling laser is much smaller and is unable to damage large
vessels. Because of this, it is used as a point defence weapon.
Because of this, gatling lasers do not use the normal rules for
weapon systems. Instead, they come into use automatically under
certain circumstances.
Gatling lasers will automatically function when one of the
following threats moves into their fire arc and within 2 inches.
• Enemy fighters.
• A rocket, missile or torpedo attack.
• A boarding action using a grapple gun.
Whenever a gatling laser reacts to one of these threats, roll three
Attack Dice for it.
Enemy Fighters
At the end of the Movement Phase, a gatling laser will target as
many enemy fighters as possible (splitting its three Attack Dice
22
between multiple fighters) that are within range and its fire arc.
Roll against their Hull score as normal but a gatling laser counts
as being Fast-Tracking and will thus ignore any Dodge trait the
fighters have.
Rockets, Missiles and Torpedoes
Any rocket, missile or torpedo attack made against the fire arc a
gatling laser defends may be nullified. Roll Attack Dice for the
gatling lasers used. On each 5 or 6, one successful Attack Dice
of rockets and missiles will be nullified, the projectile vaporised
before it reaches its target. On each 6, one successful Attack Dice
of torpedoes will be nullified.
Grapple Lines
If a boarding action is commenced in a gatling laser’s fire arc,
then it may target every grapple line used in the boarding action.
Roll three Attack Dice at the end of the Attack Phase. Every 5
or 6 rolled will cut one grapple line in that fire arc. If all grapple
ship! Roll three Attack Dice for every gatling laser in the fire arc
in which the boarding action is taking place, when your opponent
declares how many boarders are being used. For every 5 or 6 you
roll, one boarder will take a hit.
Note that a gatling laser can defend against all three threats in a
turn, though a player is never required to use a gatling laser. If, for
example, he welcomes a boarding action, he need not use it!
M ultiplayer G ames
When you begin creating your own scenarios, it may cross your
mind to have more than one fleet present in the same battle.
Perhaps Houses Hawkwood, Decados and Li Halan are all
fighting over the same mineral-rich moon. Maybe House al-
Malik decides to aid House Hawkwood against vicious Hazat
oppression. Whatever the reason, you may find it exciting to try a
game with three or more players.
In order to introduce additional players, very few changes to the
standard rules are required. During the Initiative Phase, players
roll for initiative as normal, re-rolling any ties. Play can then begin
in this order, with multiple players simply taking their turn.
2
For example, suppose in an Initiative Phase the Hawkwood player
scored 7 for initiative, the Decados player 6 and the Li Halan
player 12. The Li Halan player has the choice of whether to move
first or wait his turn. If he declines, the Hawkwood player then
makes the same choice. If he too declines, the Deacdos player will
be forced to move first, followed by Hawkwood and then finally
Li Halan. Each moves one ship after the other, before it is the
Deacdos player’s turn to nominate another ship to move.
ranking commanding officer will be issuing all sorts of orders
and ‘suggestions’ to his lesser captains in an effort to make the
squadron operate as efficiently as possible.
A ship may leave the squadron during any Movement Phase,
simply by you declaring it so. This is especially useful if a ship has
become Crippled or suffered a critical hit to its engines, to avoid
slowing the other ships of the squadron down.

Play continues in this pattern. In the previous example, the Tactical Withdrawals
Li Halan player would nominate a ship to attack first, then the Any ship may choose to retreat from the battleground by simply
Hawkwood player and then finally Decados, before the Li Halan moving off a table edge. By doing so, the ship escapes safely but
player gets to choose a second ship to attack. your opponent will receive one quarter of its full Victory Points at
the end of the game (see page 57). Note that some scenarios may
You will find it much easier to create multiplayer scenarios if you have restrictions on which table edges may be exited safely. If one
either have very strongly defined objectives for each fleet or if of these edges is not chosen, then the ship will count as if it has
fleets are allied into two separate forces, with the fleets on each been destroyed and thus give up half its full Victory Points.
side pursuing the same objective. In this way, you will avoid the
natural inclination in most players to instantly ’gang up’ on a
single fleet and thus remove it from the game quickly. Tur n Sequence
As you begin to add more advanced rules to your games, you may
find the turn sequence below easier to follow. Ships moving and
S quadrons fighting do so in the order shown here.
In larger fleet engagements, several ships are often placed together
in the same squadron, in order to concentrate firepower and allow Initiative Phase
tactical objectives to be decided with greater speed. Players may
also find combining ships into squadrons a good way of playing Movement Phase
huge battles involving dozens of vessels on either side. Special Actions declared
Ships moved
You may only place ships in squadrons in games of 2,000 points Fighters moved
or more. Scout trait used
Gatling lasers target fighters
If you use squadrons, you must organise any ships into them Attack Phase
before a scenario begins. Up to three ships may be placed in a Attacks and Dogfights
squadron, though they need not be all of the same type. However, Roll Attack Dice
as you will quickly find, some ships complement each other better Gatling lasers defend against missiles, rockets and torpedoes
than others, so be prepared to experiment! Dodges
Shields
Once ships have been placed into a squadron, they must always Roll on Attack Table
remain within 6 inches of at least one other ship in the squadron. Critical Hits
Close Blast Doors rolls
While in the squadron, all ships are moved and fire at the Gatling lasers target grapple lines
same time. In effect, you nominate the entire squadron to Boarding Phase
move or fire, instead of just one of its ships. You are under no Move boarding ships together
restrictions to use the same Special Orders or target the same Decide which Troops will board
enemy ships with the entire squadron – the only requirement Gatling lasers defend against incoming troops
is that you keep all the ships within 6 inches of each other Roll Troops Dice
at all times and make every effort to maintain this formation Check ownership of ships
if they are ever split up. By the same token, enemy ships will End Phase
still choose one ship as a target for their weapons, rather than Compulsory movement
selecting the squadron as a whole. Damage Control performed
Recover shields
All ships use the highest Crew Quality score of all ships within Escalate damage
the squadron for all purposes. It is assumed that the highest Fighters launched

23
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 Fighters
Though space belongs, ultimately, to the warships of the Noble
Houses, fighters are highly effective supporting forces. Small one
or two man craft, the archetypal fighter is fast, agile and capable
of delivering a punishing strike on even the largest warship when
used in co-ordinated flights. Their pilots are intelligent, daring and
among the best any House has to offer.
Using Fighters
A fighter will have the Fighter trait and is treated as a ship for all
purposes, unless otherwise mentioned.
All ranges for fighters are measured from the edge of their base or
counter, rather than the centre.
Note that fighters do not have Crew Quality scores. They also
cannot be boarded, rammed or use any kind of Special Action.
De ployment
Unless otherwise stated by the scenario, all ships with the Carrier
trait may deploy up to half of their fighters (rounding down)
within 6 inches of the ship before the game begins.
Movement Phase
A fleet with fighters moves all its ships in initiative order as
normal. Once all the ships of all the fleets involved in the battle
have been moved, the player who won the initiative must then
choose whether to move his fighters first or force his opponent
to do so. Once this decision has been made, then all the flights of
fighters in a fleet are moved at the same time. Then the opposing
fleet does the same with their fighters. This is done to reflect the
relative freedom of movement that small craft have in battles
involving warships and also keeps things quick and easy in battles
featuring many flights of fighters.
Attack Phase
Though the bigger guns mounted on warships are designed to hit
other large vessels and not small fighters, there is always a chance
that a flight can be hit and destroyed by these huge discharges of
energy.
A fighter may be attacked in the same way as a ship. Any successful
hit that equals or exceeds a flight’s Hull score will automatically
destroy it but the fighter may use any Dodge trait it possesses as
normal.
24
Fighter Attacks
Fighters make their attacks in the Attack Phase, just like ships.
When you want to attack with your fighters, simply nominate
targets for every fighter and then resolve their attacks, just as if
you were nominating targets for a ship’s weapon systems against
different targets – in effect, all of your fighters act as a single ship
in the Attack Phase, with each fighter being one weapon system.
Fighters attack as normal, though you will usually find their
weapons have a very limited range. You may fire on other fighters,
treating their attacks as if they were ships, as described previously.
However, you will find fighters are far more effective at destroying
one another in dogfights.
Any number of fighters may attack a single ship in any one Attack
Phase and you are free to place them on top of a ship’s base,
though you may not stack flights upon each other. Fighters that
are in contact with a ship’s base will ignore its Stealth trait, if
present.
Dogfighting
Though larger ships rely heavily on point defence weaponry, such
as gatling lasers, for defence against hordes of fighters, there is
only one sure way to effectively clear the skies – send out your own
fighters to destroy the enemy’s, so you are free to attack heavier
warships without interference.
Once you move into contact with an enemy fighter, you are
considered to be dogfighting and so follow these rules. Fighters
may only conduct dogfights against other fighters, not ships.
A dogfight starts automatically once two or more fighters are
in contact with one another and no fighter involved may move
until the enemy has been destroyed – you will soon find it is very
important to retain the initiative when fielding large numbers of
fighters!
Every flight has a Dogfight score, as found in the Fleet Lists
chapter. This is a reflection of a fighter’s potential to move into
position and destroy its enemy.
You resolve all dogfights that your fighters are involved in when
you nominate your fighters to attack in the Attack Phase. When
two opposing fighters are engaged in a dogfight, both players roll
one dice and add the Dogfight scores of their fighter.
2
Add +1 to your dice roll for every extra fighter you have in base
contact with the enemy fighter you are dogfighting. A fighter may
support any number of dogfights in this manner but a fighter
Furballs
You may occasionally come across a situation where
supporting a dogfight may never initiate a dogfight itself. Other
several fighters have all jumped into a mass brawl where
than this, it is up to you how you arrange your dogfights for the
every fighter is touching another. In cases such as this,
best advantage!
working out who is dogfighting who can be confusing!
The player who scores the highest will win the dogfight and
There is an easy way to resolve fights like this. Simply
automatically destroy the enemy fighter that attacked it (it will
remember the following.
not destroy fighters that merely supported). If the scores are equal
then all fighters involved will be locked together and may not
The player who nominated his fighters to attack chooses
move until another dogfight has been fought and won. You may
which of the enemy fighters will be attacked by each of
only destroy one enemy fighter in each dogfight, no matter how
his own fighters and which of his remaining fighters will
many are arrayed against you.
be supporting.
In general, fighters will only dogfight once each turn. However, it
is possible for a fighter to dogfight twice if a player nominates his If the defending player has any fighters not directly
fighters to attack and only gains a draw in a dogfight or is fighting engaged, only then may they support.
against multiple fighters. The fighters will remain locked together
until his opponent declares his fighters to attack, in which case No fighter may both dogfight and support!
another dogfight is fought immediately.
Each separate dogfight will destroy just one enemy fighter,
The Stealth and Shields traits are always ignored during dogfights no matter how many fighters are supporting on each side.
and have no effect.

A fighter may either choose to shoot normally in a turn or

dogfight, never both.

25
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 Launching and Recovering Fighters
A few ships are able to carry a fighter or two. Other ships act as
full-blown carriers and may have an entire squadron on board.
Fighters act as point defence for larger vessels and are able to
deliver precision attacks that, while light, can still cause a large
amount of damage to an enemy.
A ship that has not performed a Special Action may launch one
fighter. At the end of the End Phase, place the fighter anywhere
within 3 inches of the ship. In the next turn, the fighter is free to
act.
Recovering a fighter also requires a ship to not use any Special
Actions and for fighters to be moved into contact with it. A ship
may recover any friendly fighters, even those belonging to other
ships. However, it may only do so if it has less fighters already on
board than are listed in its Craft score on its roster.
Note that a ship can launch or recover fighters in a turn, not both.
One-Shot Fighter Weapons
A ship with the Carrier trait can rearm fighters that use weapons
with the One-Shot trait. Simply recover them as normal and
make a Crew Quality check for each fighter in the End Phase. On
an 8 or more, the fighter is reloaded with its One-Shot weapon
once more and is ready for launch. If the Crew Quality check
is not successful, the fighter must stay on board for a full turn
while rearming continues. Another Crew Quality check may be
attempted in the next End Phase.
Suppor ting Ships and Fighters
Fighters are also adept at providing close escort for ships and
other fighters, protecting them from any sudden attack.
Up to four fighters may be moved onto the base of a friendly ship
and one may be moved in contact with another fighter. When
this happens, the fighters are automatically considered to be
supporting the ship or fighter and will be moved whenever the ship
26
or fighter is moved (though they will be forced to leave its base if
the ship or fighter travels further than their Speed). Fighters may
also be placed on the base of a ship before the battle starts.
Versus Enemy Fighters
Whenever an enemy fighter attempts to attack the supported ship
or fighter, one or more supporting fighters may be immediately
moved in base contact with it, starting a dogfight. Whatever the
result of the dogfight, the attacking fighter may not go on to attack
the ship or fighter, even if it destroys all supporting fighters. All
defending fighters that survive the dogfight may be returned to the
base of the ship in the End Phase (even if they would normally be
locked in a dogfight).
Versus Enemy Boarders
Whenever enemy boarders attempt to attack a supported ship, one
or more supporting fighters may be immediately used to attack
the boarders on the first turn the supported ship is grappled by
the enemy ship only. Using their weapon systems as normal, the
fighters may attack any boarding troops. The Hull of the Troops is
5 and any bonuses or penalties the fighters have to their shooting
is applied here.
Firing into Dogfights
Dogfighting fighters may not be fired upon by either side for fear
of hitting their own people. However, in multiplayer games, it is
quite possible that two or more sides will be engaged in a dogfight
and another force will be quite ready to fire into the melee if none
of its own fighters are present. In this case, you must randomise
each Attack Dice used in an attack against the dogfight.
In practice, this can simply be done by rolling the number of
Attack Dice you plan to use and then separating the dice. All
dice that score 1–3 will be the Attack Dice used against Fleet
A, while all those that score 4–6 are the Attack Dice targeted at
Fleet B. Attacks are then resolved normally against both sides.
In the unlikely event that three separate fleets are engaged in the
dogfight, the Attack Dice can be split by rolling 1–2 for Fleet A,
3–4 for Fleet B and 5–6 for Fleet C.
2
 Stellar Debris
Space is very large but that is not to say it is always empty. Battles
in space may take place light years from the nearest dust cloud
or asteroid field but some may take place in the heart of an
over-crowded system, with ships fighting to steer their way past
mountains of floating rocks as much as trying to target the enemy.
Stellar debris can take several forms and players can always agree
to fight in empty space or scatter debris around the tabletop as
they see fit. Some of the scenarios from page 59 onwards have
some specific requirements for the placement of stellar debris.
Unlike other models on the table, stellar debris will block line of
sight between ships on opposite sides of it. Ships that are inside
stellar debris may fire at ships outside and vice versa. They may
also fire at ships within the same stellar debris.
The various types of stellar debris are detailed here.
Asteroid Fields
Many planetary systems have asteroid fields, the wreckage left
from an age of planetary destruction millennia ago. Some asteroid
fields form vast rings around stars or planets while others gather in
localised gravitational clumps.
An asteroid field may be of any size (indeed, you might like to try
your skill at fighting a battle within an asteroid field that covers the
entire table!) but most will take up an area of around four to six
square inches. They can be represented on the tabletop by counters, a
scattering of pebbles or you might like to make up your own asteroid
miniatures using painted polystyrene or stones mounted on bases.
We have provided a guide on making asteroids on page 116.
Each asteroid field has a density rating, which measures how close
the rocks are together and how quickly they move relative to a
passing ship. The density rating may be freely chosen or generated
randomly on the following table.
Asteroid Density Table
D6 Density Rating
1–2 6 Finally, a ship attempting the ‘Run Silent!’ action from within the
3 7
4 8
5 9
6 10
A ship may freely enter an asteroid field at any time. However,
it must roll 1D6 and add its Crew Quality score, gaining a total
equal to or greater than the field’s density rating. Fighters will
instead roll 1D6 and add 6. If the test is passed, the ship moves
through with no problem. If the test is failed, the ship suffers an
attack using as many Attack Dice as the distance the ship moved in
inches in this turn. This attack is counted as having the Accurate,
Multihit 4 and Slow traits.
Ships with the Dodge trait may use it as normal. Those that run into
an asteroid field while Adrift will automatically suffer an attack.
If attacked while within an asteroid field, a ship will gain the
Stealth 3+ trait (or a +2 bonus to Stealth, if it already possesses
the trait), whether attacked from within the field or outside, as the
asteroids interfere with precise target locks.
Dust Clouds
Some gas clouds are vast and these are the secret places where the
stars themselves are born. Others are far smaller and simply float
between the stars, waiting to gather with other clouds and so begin
the process of stellar renewal.
By themselves, dust clouds are not something to be feared
by ship’s crews and cause little damage other than throwing
sensor readings off the scale, disrupting delicate equipment and
sometimes interfering with internal or fleet communications.
Engineering crews are well-versed in the effects of dust clouds on
their vessels and can quickly recover from any of these adverse
effects. However, dust clouds can be of interest to captains for
their tactical usefulness.
A ship may move freely into a dust cloud at any time. While
inside, it will temporarily suffer a –1 penalty to its Crew Quality
score as the efficiency of the ship is impacted by the random
glitches common in a dust cloud. At the same time, it will gain the
Stealth 2+ trait (or a +1 bonus to Stealth, if it already possesses
the trait) against any weapon system it is attacked by, whether the
weapon was fired from within the cloud or outside, as the dust
cloud interferes with precise target locks.
cloud will gain a +2 bonus to its Crew Quality check in order to do so.
Planets
The largest stellar bodies used in A Call to Arms: Noble Armada,
planets are immense and most star systems will have several,
even if they are lifeless rocks. Planets are best represented on
the tabletop by round templates of a size relating to the planet,
as described on the Planetary Table that follows. Ships that are
27
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 Planetar y Table
D6 Planet Size Template Diameter
1–3 Lifeless Rock Up to 3”
4–5 Earth-like World 4” –9”
6 Gas or Ice Giant 10” or more
Running Adrift when they move onto the planet are automatically
destroyed though other ships may fly ‘over’ it without penalty. A
planet blocks line of sight to enemy ships, as with other stellar
debris, unless either ship is actually on the planetary template, in
which case line of sight will be clear to any ship within range.
Typically, you will only have one planet on the table at any one time –
planets orbit at great distances from one another and you would need
a gaming table a mile or so in length to represent these distances!
All planets exhibit their influence on objects around them in the
form of a gravity well, the area of space extending away from
the planet’s surface in which the effects of its gravity can still be
felt. This is where all orbiting satellites and bases will be found
and is where a canny ship’s captain can gain a valuable tactical
advantage. In A Call to Arms: Noble Armada, the gravity well
extends from the edge of the planet’s template to a distance shown
on the Planetary Table, depending on the size of the world.
Orbiting
If a ship begins its movement within the gravity well and parallel
to the planet’s surface as shown in the following example, it may
take advantage of its position. So long as the ship stays at the same
distance from the planet as it started, it may be moved forward
around the planet, with the distance moved equal to the arc travelled.
However, for all purposes, it will count as having just moved forward
in a straight line as the planet’s gravity keeps it in orbit.
15” Move Around Planet (Orbiting)
15” Move
Gravity Forward
Well
28
Moons Gravity Well Slingshot
0 2” 3”
1D6-4 6” 5”
1D6-3 12” 8”
This allows a cunning player to change direction very rapidly,
while perhaps taking advantage of Special Actions that require
him to move in a straight direction.
Slingshot
There is another way to use a gravity well – to accelerate your
vessel to great speed. This is called a Slingshot. In order to do this,
a ship must move towards a planet (in other words, end up closer
than when it started) and end its movement within the planet’s
gravity well. In addition, the ship must also keep at least part of the
planet in its Fore fire arc. If it accomplishes these conditions, then
the ship will automatically be moved an extra distance forward
equal to that shown on the Planetary Table. Even ships reduced to
0 Speed or Running Adrift (but not those with the Immobile trait)
may take advantage of this Speed increase if they are within the
gravity well and the planet is in their Fore arc.
If you perform the ‘Give me Ramming Speed!’ Special Action
while using a Slingshot, then the damage caused by the ram will
be increased by half for both ships.
Moons
Many planets have large bodies orbiting them and many of these
will be large enough to be counted as moons. The number of moons
a planet has can be randomly generated using the Planetary Table.
All moons are counted as Lifeless Rocks and orbit at a distance of
4D6 inches from the edge of the planet’s template.
Planetar y Rings
Quite often, gas or ice giants will have elaborate planetary rings
surrounding them. To randomly determine whether such a ring
exists around a generated gas or ice giant, roll 1d6. On a 3 or
more, a ring exists, at a distance of 1d6+6 inches away from the
edge of the planet’s template. The ring will typically be 3 inches
wide and will be counted as either a dust cloud or asteroid field
(equal chance of either).
Generating Stellar Debris
When using the scenarios starting on page 59, you may be asked
to randomly generate stellar debris to scatter across the battlefield.
In order to do so, divide the battlefield up into 12 inch squares. For
each square, roll one dice. On a 6, a random piece of stellar debris
should be placed anywhere within the square. The exact type of
debris should be rolled for on the following table.
D6 Stellar Debris
1–3 Asteroid Field.
4–5 Dust Cloud.
6 Planet – only one planet is permitted on the battlefield.
Re-roll this result if you have already rolled for a planet.
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 The Universe
The chronicle of humanity’s history among the stars is a long
one, stretching over two millennia. It is not a quiet story. From
the greedy planet-grabbing of early colonists to the bloody battles
of the Emperor Wars, humans have rarely slept peacefully in the
void. They have prospered, suffered defeat and dared to hope
again. They have not travelled down the paths of history alone;
aliens walk among them, with long histories and destinies of their
own to complete. To understand where humanity now stands, one
must look to the beginning…
P rehistory
Humans know little of interstellar history before they reached
space. What they do know comes from the histories of the Ur-
Obun, Ur-Ukar and amphibian Oro’ym alien races, along with
theories suggested by Second Republic archaeologists and a
smattering of phrases from the enigmatic Vau, who may know
much they are not telling. These tales and the evidence cobbled
from terraforming digs shows that there were once at least one,
although possible two, now extinct alien races of incredibly high
advancement. One of these presumed races left the jumpgates
behind. Little is known about them. Gargoyle-like figures – both
demonic and angelic in appearance – can be found in many
ancient ruins and on the jumpgates.
Together, these two races are called the Anunnaki, or the
Preadamites. They are also known as the Ur (proto-race), which
is also a prefix used to identify their relics. Scholars believe one of
these races – those presumed to have built the jumpgates – is older
than the other. This race is called by various names: Jumpmasters,
Gatekeepers, Inceptors, Architects and many more. The presumed
younger race is known as the Successors, or Marauders. This latter
name comes from alien legends, for their myths speak of two races
of gods or elder beings that often warred against each other. One
race protected mortals, while the other harassed them. Scholars
believe that these ‘gods’ were not mere metaphors but memories
of the Ur.
The idea of a mythical pre-historical war between elder races has
some physical evidence to support it. Different digs have revealed
ruins of extreme age with architectural motifs resembling
those found on certain jumpgates. These ruins were not simply
abandoned; they were destroyed in a war. Planetary cataclysms
and upheavals cannot explain the devastation clearly wrought
by high-tech weaponry, perhaps fusion guns and bombs. This
great war was surely the cause for the disappearance of these
two races, who leave the stage of history, abandoning their
caretaking or harassment of the Children of the Ur some time
around 100 AD.
The Children of the Ur are not the only races to have been touched
by these precursors. Their mark is found in every system that bears
a jumpgate, not only in the gate itself but on nearly every planet
in the system. While some of their remains may be only survey
markers, others are more extant, from small cities to whispers of
their behaviour in the mythologies of most sentient races. Indeed,
most races, including humans, believe that they were visited and
affected by the Ur at some point early in their development. For
what purpose, none can say.
The Anunnaki’s only seeming legacy is their technology. The
jumpgates opened space for humans, the Children of the Ur and
the Vau. But they also left a mystery behind. People still gaze in
wonder at the enigmatic Gargoyles jutting from ancient ruins or
from the edge of jumpgates.
T he F irst R epublic
Humanity’s dream of a united, one-world government was finally
realised by the beginning of the 22nd century. Decades of strife
and war by extremist but minority political factions left the mass
of world citizenry desperate for peace. The price of this peace
was freedom and the people, exhausted after years of global
violence, gladly paid it. The First Republic, also called the Human
Combine Age by Second Republic historians, was created by a
conglomeration of mercantile leaders, ardent capitalists made
rich from years of war who had come to realise that overt war
(and increasing anarchy) was hurting profits and growth. Banding
together to back a world government initiative begun by the United
Nations, these ‘zaibatsu’ soon ruled the Republic. Representatives,
originally elected by UN member nations, were nothing more than
shills for the most powerful zaibatsu, international corporations
whose money kept these troubled nations alive.
Eventually, even the illusion of elected representation was
dissolved and the duly enfranchised leaders of the Republic were
overtly made of up of corporate heads. Corporate policy became
government policy. The hallmark of united and stable government
was built on a foundation of vast police powers and conditional
civil rights. Nonetheless, the First Republic took humanity to the
stars. Certain visionaries within the government recognised that a
new frontier was required to channel the energies and aggressions
of the populace and to garner new resources to make up for the
dwindling resources of the overdeveloped Earth. Corporations
turned their eyes to space. The first project was the moon and a
moonbase was quickly established.
Next came Mars. After initial disasters, humanity finally landed
on the red planet and found it relatively hospitable. Colonisation
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 followed, along with massive resource extraction industries. The
rest of the solar system followed in the following centuries.
The lure of yet more distant stars initiated an ambitious long-term
program: the launching of ‘slow ships’. These starships travelled
below the speed of light and would take generations to reach even
the closest star system but people lined up anyway to volunteer for
these expeditions outward to new horizons. There were two types
of slow ships, the Generation Ships (where the crew lives awake
for their journey, sealed inside a Dyson sphere) and Deep Sleep
Ships (where the crew is frozen to be thawed on arrival). Relatives
bid their loved ones goodbye, knowing they would probably never
see them again but hopeful that their descendants would one day
meet on distant worlds. The ships were sealed and launched,
beginning their journey through the void toward distant lights.
Then, soon after the turn of the 24th century, the jumpgate was
discovered. Floating at the edge of the solar system, past Pluto,
was an amazing alien artefact from a race long gone.
T he J umpgate
The jumpgate was a monumental curiosity. It was the first sign of
alien life and technology encountered by humanity (excepting the
controversial remains left on Mars, long covered up and unknown
to the public). It was baffling. Long ‘powered down’, the gate
showed no sign of activity. Its function was hotly debated. Finally,
a team of scientists working long shifts triggered the power and
activated the gate. The space inside the hoop of the gate warped
as light was bent in an inward spiral – and then opened onto alien
vistas, a view of a distant star system.
This was the first sure sign that humanity had of the Anunnaki
and their works. The realisation that humans were not the only
race to reach the stars was a humbling experience but one which
many frontier-minded humans quickly got over. The zaibatsu saw
opportunity where others saw awe.
Data was quickly retrieved from the powered-up gate and
translation began. Soon, enough theoretical knowledge about the
gate’s technology existed to allow manufacture of a proto-jump
engine. It was bulky and huge. Attached to an unmanned probe,
the Republic prepared to launch it into the new infinity. This was
a major unifying event, bringing people all over the world together
in rapt expectation as the probe’s retros fired and sent it hurtling
into the gate. In a flash, it was gone. Now, the waiting commenced.
Three months later, the gate activated and the probe floated back
into Earth’s solar system, transmitting its image data collected in
Unknown Space. A solar system waited, with a habitable planet
similar to Earth. It was not long before the First Republic had
volunteers lining up across the globe to be the first to see another
world. A crew was selected, trained over long months and finally
readied for launch.
Again, the world gathered to see it. The intrepid crew took off,
shooting through the fiery glow of the alien jumpgate – and no
one expected what came next. Each astronaut experienced a
sublime moment of ecstasy and profound remembering of some
deep truth once known and since lost. When they arrived on the
30
other side, the memories again faded but their afterglow remained.
A religion was born, named after the word left on the lips of all the
astronauts: Sathra.
The new world had no sentient life and was ripe for colonisation.
It was called Sathra’s Boon (since renamed Sutek). Soon, the
exodus – and the conflicts – began. Internal, covert war ignited
among the zaibatsu, as corporations fought for control of space’s
new riches. Most citizens were unaware of the conflicts exploding
in the corridors of power on Earth, Mars and on Sathra’s Boon.
The First Republic found the religion of Sathraism to be an
annoyance. Pilots who had ‘found God’ were harder to control.
In addition, the pilots sought to undergo more jumps than were
necessary, risking their health (and thus their ships). Sathraism
was outlawed but to little effect. Only when the Republic managed
to design a force field buffer preventing the Sathra experience did
the religion suffer a serious setback. Ships were built with integral
buffers; any attempt to dismantle the buffer disabled the engines.
The mystical visions were over; without communion, many pilots
could not maintain their zeal and lapsed from their mystical
convictions, so easily forgotten anyway, like a dim dream. Many
Sathraists tried to build their own ships and still received their
visions for many years. But the Republic was ruthless in hunting
down rogue ships and destroying them. Within a matter of years,
Sathraism was forgotten, an underground religion with few
converts (although it would briefly surface again in the coming
age of exodus).
Progress and expansion pushed on. Further study of the jumpgate
revealed new routes to yet more worlds. The wagon train was on.
With people spreading so far so fast and with the zaibatsu busy
attacking and defending their own, the discontents and idealists
slipped away into the night and seized the stars for themselves.
The First Republic’s New Frontier had become the means to its
own end. The Diaspora and the fall of the First Republic, had
begun.
D iaspora
The first colonists were mainly workers from the many
corporations involved in resource extraction but among them
were those seeking escape from the corporate control and
centralisation, which had so long strangled Earth. The First
Republic had become an oppressive institution serving the best
interests of a top elite, deaf to the pleas of the common man. But
once the jumpgate allowed entry to other worlds, each with new
jumproutes leading to a staggering array of still other worlds, the
First Republic could no longer control their citizenry. They were
free among the stars.
An age of Balkanisation and independence began, as tight-knit
special interest communities took off on ships of their own (the
jumpgate engine technology was ‘leaked’ by a cabal of anarchists).
Many of the worlds they landed on saw new experiments in
government; the early homogeneity of these colony worlds
ensured that some of these experiments worked. Where hostile
conditions or hostile colonists would not allow it, worlds fell into
survivalist barbarism, as the First Republic refused their pleas for
2
 T im e l i n e
Date Event
BC 40,000 Date for oldest known Anunnaki ruin.
AD 100 Anunnaki disappear from history as they abandon the Ur-Obun and Ur-Ukar.
1800 Vau reach space.
2100 First Republic, solar system developed.
2305 Humans discover the jumpgates.
2500 First Republic collapses, nobility rises up.
2500-3500 Diaspora.
2700 First Contact with the Shantor.
2723 Prophet sees Holy Flame; Age of Miracles.
2730 Shantor Revolt leads to creation of alien reservation system.
2845 First Contact with the Vau.
2849 Death of the Prophet; Age of Miracles ends.
2855 Ukar War. The Church unites humanity against invading Ur-Ukar. Merchant interests combine forces to
create Second Republic with capital at New Istanbul (later Byzantium Secundus), massive terraforming.
4000 Mass unemployment, intensified by fading suns phenomenon and increased religious millennialism,
leads to collapse of Second Republic. Nobility leaps in, seizes Byzantium Secundus, and ensures that the
Republic cannot be saved.
4000-4986 Dark Ages.
4525 Barbarian Invasions. Human star-nations unaligned to nobles, Church or League ally to plunder Known
Worlds and are beaten back after many casualties on both sides.
4540 Vladimir begins uniting stars through his campaign against the
Barbarians.
4550 Vladimir I is crowned emperor and is assassinated. A regent, elected
every 10 years by electors (composed of major houses, the Church and
the League), stands in the emperor’s stead.
4900 Symbiot Wars begin. Symbiots attack outlying worlds. Parasitic forces convert many planets, forcing the
human populations to evacuate. They are halted at Stigmata.
4956-4995 The Emperor Wars.
4992 Kurga Conflict on Hazat border begins.
4993 Alexius Hawkwood crowned emperor.
4995 All five Royal Houses finally concede victory to Emperor Alexius.
4999 Noble Armada begins…

aid, too busy itself fighting to maintain control over Earth’s solar
system. On many of these worlds, governments grew up around
strong individualist leaders who left the reins of power with their
progeny, creating royal lineages. These noble houses become the
main means of the zaibatsu’s downfall, as they began small wars,
seizing First Republic resources here and there, whittling down
the dwindling Republic.
The untrammelled richness of some of the worlds allowed the
colonists to create mini-mercantile empires of their own, while
other places saw colonists fight bitter and violent wars for poor
resources. But everyone wanted a piece of the action, a world they
could call their own.
T he P rophet and H is
C hurch
Amid this exuberant chaos, the Prophet began his sermons.
Travelling from world to world, this powerful religious figure
single-handedly created a new monotheism.
The discovery of greatly advanced alien races (the Ur jumpgate
makers) changed everything humanity had ever assumed about
its own origins and spiritual destiny – humans were no longer
unique for their intelligence and tool-using capability. In light of
irrevocable proof of intelligent life in outer space, the leaders of
the major religions of Earth were too backward looking to advance
their churches into the new era of space travel. As humans left for
the stars, they left their gods behind to search for new ones.

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 During the Diaspora, human colonies fractured their ties to
central government, society and religion. Ancient Earth religions
long dead, many of them polytheist and pagan, were resurrected
by colonists desperate to escape the materialistic technocracy that
they believed was strangling their destiny. A new age of spiritual
diversity began, bringing with it tribalism, dogma and fanaticism.
But old religions and archaic forms of worship rang hollow amid
the stars. Something new was required. Something which would
address both hope and grief, as did all the great religions. Into this
void of belief came the Prophet.
Much has been said or written about him since and many divergent
beliefs are professed by different peoples as gospel, as is the way
with all true prophets.
His name was Zebulon, a Catholic or Orthodox Christian priest
(argument continues as to which) fascinated with the new potential
opened up by the jumpgates. He went to the stars in search of
more evidence of their makers. He found something greater by
far. All lay members know the litany: ‘In 2723, the Prophet saw
the Holy Flame’. On a frontier world (lost now amid the fading
stars), Zebulon was gifted by God with a mystical vision of the
Holy Flame residing in the Empyrean. God gave the Prophet new
words for his children, to take them into the new age of space
exploration.
But he was also given a vision of hell, revealing that demons lurked
in the ‘dark between the stars’, seeking to snuff the Holy Flame.
Church heads say that the suns grow cold as the demons and the
sins they awaken in humanity block the light of the Holy Flame
from the universe. Zebulon began to preach his vision throughout
the frontier, creating a new religious movement. He spoke of evil
hidden among the stars, demons whose shadows blocked the light
of the Holy Flame. He spoke of the need to expand outward and
explore, gathering the marvels that were found into cathedrals. He
spoke out against the soullessness of machines and the nihilistic
effect they had on humanity, in defiance of the reigning techno-
fetishism among Diasporans.
Zebulon searched holy texts and teachings from Earth and
elsewhere for wisdom, realising that only by uniting all of
humankind’s wisdom could humanity’s faith thrive under
the pressures of their star sojourn. As the Prophet revised his
teachings, he introduced ideas from a variety of religions. He
called God the Pancreator and revealed that this was the same
God spoken of in all religions and that only now, once humans
had reached the stars, could the creator of the universe – of all
the worlds and creatures therein – reveal him/her/itself in full
glory. The suns were not only potent symbols of the Pancreator’s
divine light; they were material manifestations of divine spirit, of
the Holy Flame which quickens all life.
The Prophet gathered many faithful under his banner but there
were seven special disciples honoured by the Prophet above others.
These have become saint-like figures by the time of Emperor
Alexius, with many legendary parables and powers attributed
32
to them. There was actually an eighth disciple, an Ur-Obun, but
she has been ignored by the Church and is recognised by only
a few, although she created an Ur-Obun sect of the Church,
which still thrives on Obun. During the Prophet’s time, Sathraism
experienced a silent resurgence as engineers dismantled the field
buffers, which prevented jump ecstasy. With no Republic to stop
them, pilots again began their communions. But the Prophet stood
against them, opposing the hallucinatory ecstasy of unfettered
jumps. As the Universal Church gained power, Sathraism again
went into decline. Soon, ship owners, often devout Church
members, forbade anyone to shut down the Sathra dampers on
their ships. Eventually, all ships were again fitted with dampers
from their factories and Sathraism was dead.
The Prophet died in a jumpgate accident while trying to plead for
peace with the Vau, who were enacting punishment for violation
of their space. His Church blamed the Vau for years, although
many have realised that the Prophet’s final mission to them was
for peace and have since sought conciliation. The symbol of the
Church is still a modified jumpgate, the sign of the Prophet’s
death and his message of questing.
The exceptionally long life of the Prophet is a source of awe for the
faithful, who attribute his near-immortality to faith, while others
believe it a testament to longevity drugs. Regardless, the years of
his life are seen as an Age of Miracles by post-Fall humanity, a
time when any person of faith could work wonders. It is said that
the first theurgic rituals were codified then, although their practice
waned during the Second Republic such that the existence of
such magic was considered a hoax by some. Its return in the Dark
Ages, however, has renewed the simple folks’ faith in miracles.
After the Prophet’s death, his core teachings were collected into
one book titled the Omega Gospels. Church theologians argue
that there are two phases to his teachings, the early Omega
Gospels, teaching about warding evil and cultivating the virtues
and the later Compassionate Truths, mystical teachings about
understanding and love. Over the millennia since the Prophet
walked the stars, the Church has grown and developed its own
answers to theological questions raised in the Prophet’s teachings.
By the time of Emperor Alexius, theology is a thorny and many-
sided issue argued over by many different sects and orders.
The Universal Church was formalised after the Prophet’s death
by one of the Prophet’s followers, Palamedes, a son of House
Alecto. Palamedes gathered the disparate faithful together against
the threat of the Vau and the Ur-Ukar, cementing the burgeoning
religion into a political force. It was Palamedes’ place in Church
history that later helped Vladimir I gain the Church’s help in his
bid for empire. The creation of the Church was by no means
sudden and clear. Other followers of the Prophet went off in their
own directions with their own ideas for a Church. But in the end,
Palamedes’ religion won out, although with certain exceptions
(the sects and orders). Palamedes declared himself patriarch, the
spiritual and temporal head of the Church and set forth guidelines
on how future patriarchs were to be chosen (by a college of
archbishops). Since then, the Church has been led by a long list
2
of venerable men and women (women can hold the office of
patriarch and may elect to be called matriarch if they wish). The
Church guided humanity through the Fall (although they aided
in engineering its start) and now holds a steady front against evil
from within and without.
F irst C ontact : T he S hantor
Amid the territorial struggles of the Diaspora, humanity
encountered its first sentient race. The Shantor of Shaprut were an
equine-like race who had achieved a degree of civilisation despite
their limited tool-using capabilities. Living on the vast grass
plains of Shaprut, they celebrated a culture that valued strong
family ties and romantic relationships, although this also enforced
a fierce tribalism, which often led to conflicts with other tribes.
Indeed, clan warfare was common and good soldiers were the
most honoured members of a tribe. However, no soldier was long
respected if he did not revere his family or play out the elaborate
rites of courtship with his spouse. The Shantor also practised a
religion akin to sun worship.
But their world was rich in minerals and their indigenous cultures
stood in the way of extraction. In the Diaspora, interplanetary
supremacy depended on resources. The feeling of the Shaprut
colonists was that if they did not take the bounty, someone else
would. In addition, the Shantor could not communicate with
humans without technical assistance, such as computer voice
boxes. All too often, they were viewed as little more than smart
animals. For these reasons, most humans did not feel responsible
for displacing the Shantor. They even saw themselves as a necessary
civilising influence on the horse-like race, providing them with
jobs in the mines, although with often gruelling, laborious tasks.
Many Shantor revolted. Those who still lived on the plains
led assaults on colony mining operations. The large and clever
Shantor are dangerous when riled and the loss of life and property
they caused summoned the wrath of the colony leaders. Armies
descended onto Shaprut to put the unruly rebels down. A guerrilla
war ensued but the result was never in question. The broken
Shantor rebels were herded up and shipped off-world, scattered
onto reservations throughout human space, sometimes onto
worlds hostile to their way of life. Families were separated, their
members never to see each other again.
The great shame of humanity’s first contact has haunted many
humans for centuries. The Prophet was only beginning his questing
as the Shantor’s culture was dismantled but he spoke out against
the tragedy. However, he had too few followers then and no power
to change the course of history as yet. Restitution has yet to be
made to the surviving Shantor. Certain people believe that if the
Prophet had not met such an untimely death in Vau Space, the
fate of the Shantor and other sentients to follow them might have
been different. But Palamedes, first Patriarch of the formalised
Universal Church of Celestial Sun, concerned himself little with
the injustices committed against politically impotent alien races.
So the fate of most sentient races encountered by humanity
followed that of the Shantor. Regardless of their tenacity and
degree of technology, they soon came under human rule. While
some live in peaceful coexistence with humans, such as the Ur-
Obun, Vorox and Gannok, others resisted human encroachment
bitterly. The programs of forced relocation and land grabbing
were to cause centuries of bad relations with the most advanced
power in the known universe: the Vau.
T he V au
A newly discovered jumpgate delivered humanity onto a small
but lush world they called New Monaco (now called Apshai). It
was the home of the G’nesh, a quiet, insectoid alien race who
spent most of their time making elaborate and beautiful plant
and tree sculptures linked by organic webbing. They ignored
the new colonists at first but when the colonists forced some
G’nesh from their gardens and claimed the land for themselves,
the G’nesh became quite indignant. All they would say was, ‘It is
not allowed. Please leave.’ Of course, the colonists scoffed. These
weak gardeners offered no threat to them.
But their patrons did.
A massive starship appeared through the jumpgate, a ship whose
like had never been seen before. Harnessing a great ball of raging
plasma energy, this dreadnought destroyed the human fleet placed
around New Monaco. Small ships disengaged from its hull and
went hurtling to the planet below, there dropping off vicious cargo:
Vau soldiers. These soldiers systematically began wiping out all the
human colonists encountered. The minor house officials in charge
of the planet desperately tried to surrender before the greater and
technologically superior forces but their cries went unheeded. The
Vau killed everyone.
Afterwards, they boarded their ships and left. The G’nesh went
back to gardening. The only thing the Vau left behind was a
message: ‘Leave this planet alone. It is the property of the Vau
Hegemony. Do not follow the jumproads from this gate further.’
Of course, humanity did go further, seeking retribution for their
loss. What they found were more Vau worlds, worlds of vastly
superior technology. Few returned to tell the tale; those that did
were ‘allowed’ to return. Finally, the Vau accepted a human
diplomat, Benjamin Verden of House Justinian.
Benjamin returned from his first sojourn overwhelmed by the
superiority of the Vau. He was thankful for one thing he had
become convinced of on his trip: The Vau were non-expansionist.
Their very political structure sought and upheld stability over all
other virtues. Their empire and way of life had changed little in
the last few centuries, following the dictates of their first space
emperor.
Benjamin discovered that the G’nesh were a conquered race. The
Vau dealt with their subjects in very different ways than humans.
The G’nesh put up a valiant fight against the invading Vau. Upon
surrender, the general of the G’nesh, having learned Vau culture
well, demanded the Vau give him ‘face’ before he could stop the
war. This is an important concept to the Vau: Honour and dignity
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 come before life itself. For the general to willingly suffer such a
shame as defeat the Vau had to also sacrifice something: They
gave the G’nesh long life and peace in return for submission. In
other words, the G’nesh live under a socialised retirement granted
by their conquerors, all because their general had understood the
Vau social system.
This insight was to help humanity well in dealing with the Vau in
centuries to come but for now, the Vau made it clear that they had
no interest in the ‘pollutant’ that was humanity. Relations were
distant and formal for centuries. It was clear that, while the Vau
did not want foreign ideas to infect their society, they also did not
want humanity to get too close a look at their technology.
The encounter with the Vau bolstered the power of the Church,
especially after the death of the Prophet in a jumpgate accident
in Vau Space. Humanity trembled before the threat of a
technologically superior (though non-expansionist) alien race.
Palamedes’ Church drew them together and bolstered their
confidence. Humanity was, after all, chosen for the stars. It was
its destiny. To turn back now would be to fail the Pancreator. The
urgings of the priests gave humanity a unifying creed, a universal
doctrine of excellence with which to move forward in the face
of defeat. It is ironic that it was the Church that gave humans
the prod to reach so high; the same Church, which centuries later
would admonish them for such a sin.
The event that would finally cement the power of the burgeoning
Church arrived before word of the Prophet’s death had spread to
all the worlds.
T he U kar W ar
The Ur-Ukar had struggled through centuries of internal conflict
on their hostile and subterranean world of Kordeth before finally
reaching the stars. They colonised three planets near their system,
Okh’cha and Kradle (later called Aylon and Istakhr) and Ustar
(now a Lost World) and were ready to expand still further when
they encountered humans on Criticorum. It was hate at first sight.
The vain Ukari saw a world for conquering and a race to enthral.
They attacked with little warning and took the main capital
on Criticorum. Human response was swift. Noble families on
Shaprut and New Istanbul formed a fleet to retake the planet. A
long and bitter war ensued, taking place on almost every planet or
moon in the system.
The revolt spread as Ukari slipped onto other planets and began
guerrilla assaults. Soon, humans on nearly a dozen worlds had
suffered from the aliens. The Ur-Obun, who had been encountered
soon after the Shantor, quickly recognised their ancient brethren
and spoke out against them, joining the humans in condemnation
of the Ukari tactics. The Obun’s anti-Ukar speeches helped gain
them the greater sovereignty status they still enjoy in Emperor
Alexius’ time.
Then, an Ukar on Shaprut used his psychic powers to force the
Shantor to revolt. The Shantor broke from their reservation and
stormed across the villages and towns, which sat on the Shantor’s
once-open plains. The retribution was fierce and decisive;
34
nearly a quarter of the Shantor were killed before the remainder
surrendered. When it was discovered that Ukari psionics had
been responsible, Patriarch Palamedes raised the fist of the newly
formed Universal Church.
Psychic powers had developed strongly in humanity after the
first sojourn through the jumpgate and the practice slowly grew,
with new powers being developed as the years and generations
passed. With the suppression of Sathraism, the advent of new
psychic powers slowed. Rarely during any of this time, however,
were psychics viewed as particularly dangerous. Rather, humanity
was fascinated with the new potentials revealed. All that changed
when the Ukari arrived.
The Ukari were advanced psychics from birth but they had little
compunction governing the use of their powers. When they
employed mind tricks against the Shantor, humans began to fear
them and no longer sought a peaceful
end to the Criticorum conflict. Humanity could not rest until
these mind controllers were in chains.
Patriarch Palamedes used these assaults to preach against alien
dangers and the need for humans to unite. The words of the
Prophet seemed eerily designed for such effect, with their talk of
demons and evil among the stars. The presence of an Ur-Obun
among the disciples was conveniently overlooked. New converts
to the Church grew every day, especially after each Ukar terrorist
manoeuvre. Finally, Palamedes gathered together the leaders of
those worlds harmed by the Ukari and sent them to take retribution
from the Ukari first-hand.
Using information gathered from some unknown source,
Palamedes sent the fleet to the Ukari homeworld of Kordeth,
whose location had been previously unknown. Spiralling out
of the jumpgate, the fleet split up and began hitting any ship
they came across. The surprised the Ukari – the ill-prepared
system defenders retreated and formed a phalanx around their
homeworld. A stand-off began.
On the planet below, panic broke out and old Ukari clan
rivalries ignited. Kept in check by the powerful Overlord and his
expansionist campaign, enemies of the ruling family rose up and
sabotaged the planetary defence. Pilots loyal to the minor clans
heeded the calls and broke off from the phalanx, leaving the
planet defenceless against the assault. The human fleet rushed in
and began bombing the surface of the planet, unaware that most
Ukar cities were deep underground.
The fleet sent in a landing party to seize the surface capital, home
of the Overlord. The Overlord surrendered while his rivals hid
in the caverns below, knowing that they would inherit the planet
once the humans had gone. Their plan did not go as well as they
had wished. The humans did not leave but only came in greater
numbers until all Ukari resistance was squashed. Nobles and
merchant leaders of numerous worlds came to ensure that the
Ukari would not rise again. Ukari colony worlds were seized and
eventually sold to noble families, while Kordeth itself was sold to
powerful mercantile consortiums.
2
In the later times of the Second Republic, the Ukari would sue
for greater freedom from the domination they suffered for their
mistaken acts and they would be given such freedom but for now,
they were a kept people. Palamedes’ victory ensured the safety
of Human Space, or so the Church preached. The bold event
was trumpeted to people on worlds far from Kordeth who had
suffered little from the war but it still had an effect. The fear of
alien invasion was imminent everywhere and a Church that had
proven itself effective against such enemies was a beacon shining
in the night.
O rder F rom C haos
New technology progressed quickly, as scientists made amazing
discoveries by observing phenomena on other worlds, or by
taking lore from alien races (occasionally sharing it). Incredible
advances were made but they were not spread equally among
the commonwealth of humanity. There was no central unity by
which the whole of humanity could prosper from the work of
the many worlds.
As some worlds prospered (most often those with strong,
hereditary leadership: the nobles), they subsumed others under
them and soon many star-faring, interplanetary governments
flourished. The heart of all these operations, however, was
commerce. Some planets had certain resources in abundance
while lacking others. Trade was necessary for the betterment of
life everywhere. The greedy, overarching attitude of the zaibatsu
and the new royalty could not long maintain a foothold in the
new sprawl of worlds, where another choice always existed.
Eventually, the worlds did come together again. A new mercantile
alliance was formed with great democratic ideals, temporarily
silencing the resentful royalty by strength of numbers. The
Second Republic was born.
It is again ironic that it was the Church’s teachings of a humane
and ethical philosophy that gave rise to an institution that was to
eclipse the Church’s role. Indeed, under the Republic, humanity’s
yearning for spiritual answers was drowned by the array of
material comfort and sensual stimuli available to every citizen.
The Church would soon revise its previous philosophy and adapt
one much harsher to human luxury.
S econd R epublic
Some thinkers at the close of the 20th century believed that liberal
democracies were the ultimate progression of government that,
after such a form of governing becomes universal, no further
progress is possible. Perfection of governance will have been
achieved. Many citizens of the Empire believe these thinkers were
right. But hindsight, as they say, is 20/20.
Humanity reached its pinnacle in the form of the Second Republic,
a time of quick progress and amazing changes. The standard of
living for the average citizen was raised on all worlds. Technology
knew no limits. With the vast resources of other worlds and a
unity of purpose, nothing was impossible. All was to be achieved.
It was a time of genetic engineering, curing many diseases and
deformities but often leading to the creation of freakish, near-
human races. A time when terraforming was all the rage, when
almost every world in humanspace was ‘fixed’ to be more
Earthlike, to make better homes for humanity (wiping out native
ecosystems in the process, along with the natural habitats of many
alien races). A time when the threat of physical danger was a myth
and accidental death a nearly-forgotten idea. Sports of extreme
danger were practised readily, for a personal energy shield or
MedPac was always around to protect or revive the victim of even
fatal accidents.
The citizenry soon forgot the traumas and triumphs that had
forged their way of life. Existing in an unbroken bubble of
prosperity, they forgot what it was to be human, to strive, to love
and to sacrifice. And to hate.
The bubble soon burst from within. The Republic had grown too
far and too fast in technological mastery. Many of its wonders
were introduced with no consideration for their effect on the wider
populace. Most technology displaced workers and soon there
was no need for work. But the economy did not keep up with
these changes and people still needed money to live. But where
to get it? The welfare system of the Republic was grand but not
built to uphold the sheer number of citizens displaced from their
livelihoods by technology (or cheap alien labour). As this reality
was sinking in, unknown terrorists managed to sabotage the central
computer net controlling welfare information. Anarchy ensued on
many worlds as citizens were denied money. Riots began.
D ivestiture
The nobility of many worlds, though weak, saw their chance.
They began orchestrating deals with the overextended central
Republic government for more local power to crush riots in return
for increased tax revenues, all the while refusing to pay out welfare
money. This begins a period later historians term Divestiture, for
as the Republic ceded out power, it lost more and more control
over the bureaucratic beast the government had become. Finally,
massive corruption in the central government, along with the
increased tax burden, caused outlying worlds to secede.
These Rogue Worlds, typically under the power of noble families,
were too powerful to put down; the Republic was forced to deal
with them on their own terms.
Then the stars began to darken. Only after three suns with
populated planets noticeably dimmed did people begin to realise
that the fading suns phenomenon was not going away. But what
was causing it? Many disgruntled and discontented people
had their own answers: ‘The Republic is to blame; some damn
experiment gone wrong!’ ‘The scientists are responsible; their
technology’s doing this!’ ‘It’s the aliens’ fault, some sort of cruel
revenge.’
The Universal Church began to preach, explaining why the
suns were fading: Humans were sinful and had, in their pride,
overreached, claiming the powers of the Pancreator for themselves.
The Pancreator chose to take their power from them by taking the
very light of the worlds away. This message hit the right nerves
and a vicious millennialism was born. People needed reasons to
35
2
 hate and a target to direct it toward. While the Church fathers
were genuinely concerned with the souls of a largely unspiritual
populace, they could not help falling into old habits. They took
humanity’s discontent and directed it at the Republic, the source
of the Church’s own problems.
In an attempt to recapture support, the Republican president
made a deal with the Orthodox sect of the Church. In return for
the Church’s open acceptance of the Republic’s secular authority,
the Republic would declare Orthodoxy the official and only
recognised sect of the Church. This ignited religious wars as
breakaway sects – and religions wholly unaligned to the Universal
Church – fought for their rights. It is during this time that the
legendary Saint Rasmussen spoke his famous lament: ‘Oh that my
head were water and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might
weep day and night for lost humanity! Tremble, ye sinners, for the
long night is upon us and the suns themselves are seen to fade.
Repent, and know salvation. Repent, or die!’ He was torn apart by
a rioting crowd of zealots as the words left his lips.
The nadir of this conflict came when certain Rogue Worlds, with
the support of alien races, arrived through Byzantium Secundus’
jumpgate to seize control of the government. This surprise
assault took the Republic off-guard and Byzantium fell to the
rebels. As word spread to the worlds of the Republic, utter chaos
ensued. The major noble houses knew their chance had come at
last, that all they had worked toward over the years had finally
come to fruition. Ten houses banded together and sent a fleet to
retake Byzantium Secundus. With their now-vast military might,
gathered through the years of Divestiture, they retook the capital
with little resistance. As the smoke in the presidential palace
cleared, the Ten Houses raised their own banner.
The Fall of the Second Republic was complete. Progress died.
History worked its way toward a peak and then reversed itself. As
the Church proclaimed, humanity now suffered the humiliation
of reliving its past failures over again, in a grand lesson of hubris
for a fallen race.
But many remember the humanism and ideals of the Republic and
hold them close to their hearts. The Merchant League refuses to
relinquish them, even in the face of Inquisitorial censure from the
Church or military might from the houses. An ideal is not reality,
however, but a guiding light. Many have been lost in the darkness
even while standing in the light. So it was with the citizenry of the
Second Republic. The lights were dimmed. The New Dark Ages
had begun.
T he N ew D ark A ges
The 10 triumphant noble houses soon gained the backing of the
Church, for they supported (for political purposes) the Republic’s
recognition of Orthodoxy. They also officially accepted the tenet
that humanity was sinful and that the Church had righteous power
over the lives of the sinful. In return, the Orthodox patriarch
backed the houses, finding many lines in scripture to prove the
nobles’ case against the godless Republican senators. Besides,
the Rogue World rebels had many sectarian leaders among
them; they could not be allowed to build a new government
36
on Byzantium Secundus, which might defuse the new power of
the Orthodoxy. The Church moved quickly to stamp its doctrine
on all it could. Its main tenet was that technology was evil. It had
caused the downfall of humanity and so humans must not respect
or practice it. The noble houses agreed, seeing a method by which
their new populace could be kept in line.
They, of course, sought an exception to the anti-technology
creed. The Church resisted and thus began decades of squabbling
between the noble houses and the Church. The Church would
excommunicate a house member for technological practice, while
a house would seize a Church world, destroying a cathedral as a
‘casualty of war.’
Both sides finally came to a necessary agreement. The Church
needed some measure of tech for itself and had to concede some
to the houses. So, the nobility was conceived to be in a form of
‘extreme penance,’ ‘to compassionately take on sinful tasks to
save the common man from such stain.’ Thus, use of technology
(and the powers of rulership) was seen as a necessary evil and
nobles were martyrs seeking to save humanity from again staining
itself (sins for the few, saving grace for the masses). The Church
also claimed a saintly role in this, decreeing it to be the duty of
priests to guard the commoners from tech. For this purpose, the
priests must be knowledgeable in recognising tech but if they were
penitent enough, their souls would remain pure on Judgment Day.
But this sharing of power between the two forces was not
complete. The guildsmen who possessed what technological
knowledge remained made their bid for power. They formed
the Merchant League from the remaining Republic senators and
corporate heads and refused to hand down their knowledge of
technology. Without them, starships could not long run; military
battle armour and weapons could not long operate. And Church
communications would be cut. The houses began a reign of
terror, hunting down and imprisoning anyone who claimed to
be a guildsman. The Church began excommunicating the leaders
of the League, forcing the loyal to refuse them succour. To no
avail. The League had too many starships and worlds of its own.
And they had trade. Without their jumpmaps and know-how, the
supply of many necessary materials to Church and house worlds
would be cut off. Indeed, many worlds had already purposefully
sealed their jumpgates and disappeared into the long night of
history. The priests and nobility were forced to give the League a
cut of the action.
And so formed the triune government of the Dark Ages; an uneasy
and fractured alliance which often broke out into open conflict
between the parties, causing much suffering among the common
human and alien. The 10 elected one among them as council leader
but these leaders always had enemies and rarely ruled for long. In
addition, membership among the 10 was fluid; houses rose and
fell over the years, with only the strongest or craftiest maintaining
their positions for long. The Church patriarch continually tried
to cement political power in the hopes of building a theocracy to
replace the sorry government that ruled in place of the Second
Republic but there were always too many heresies and sectarian
conflicts to squash instead. The guilds of the League sought to
claim restless worlds or recapture the Rogue Worlds but they were
2
often outmanoeuvred by the nobles. Into this fractious universe
came the barbarians.
B arbarian I nvasions
After the Fall, the borders of the Known Worlds shrank. Some
worlds deliberately cut themselves off from jumptravel by
blockading their gates and attacking anyone who tried to enter
their systems. Others lost their ability to reach space as civil wars
destroyed starships and the factories to repair them. Most worlds
were too busy to aid the small backworlds and, after years of
dealing with their own struggles, they often forgot about these
worlds or had lost the jump co-ordinates to reach them in the
massive data purges of the Church Inquisitors.
Certain worlds ‘sealed’ their jumpgates, cutting themselves off
from the madness going on around them for an unknown amount
of time. Those with the technical knowhow and a detailed
understanding of jumpgates can seal a gate – that is, shut down all
travel from one or more directions. However, once this is done, no
one can control when the gate to those directions can be opened
again. The seal may last a week or it may last for centuries; no
one knows.
The time is governed by an internal mechanism in the gate,
which is too arcane to be understood. Some of the worlds,
which sealed themselves off during the Fall, have yet to reappear.
Untold numbers of planets were cut off from humanity’s central
civilisation, some to be rediscovered later, others to disappear
from history forever. Who knows how many lost planets in the
depths of space still support human life? In addition to the worlds
of the Second Republic – worlds reached only by jumpgate –
there are thousands of star systems without jumpgates, with
unknown residents. Some of these stars – those nearest to Earth
in light years – were the targets of First Republic slow ships. But
these generation ships were forgotten after the jumpgates were
discovered and none has ever reached the Known Worlds. Indeed,
few people in the Empire pay attention to stellar distances such as
light years; such details became unnecessary after the jumpgates,
as travel across vast distances became possible in the blink of an
eye.
In this environment of fractured roadways, not all worlds were
claimed by the houses, Church or League. Many forgotten
planets began independent governments of their own. Most of
these governments remained hostile to their neighbours, fighting
centuries-long feuds and some looked upon the riches of the
Known Worlds and lusted for them. Cut off from the centre of the
Republic, many of these worlds slowly lost technology, devolving
into Diaspora-level conditions or worse.
A few leaders of such forlorn worlds who still had starships were
able to form a coalition and raid the Known Worlds, targeting
those worlds that they could sweep onto, pillage and escape from
before aid could arrive. The barbarians were no longer at the gate
– they were through it and plundering.
Delphi, House Hawkwood’s homeworld, suffered the worst of
these assaults. House Hawkwood was able to gather troops with
the aid of its minor house allies and after a bloody battle, fended
off the assaults to their homeworld. However, it was no major
military victory, for the bulk of the barbarian army had already
left with its loot. The 10 knew that the raiders’ success would
soon cause more barbarians to break through. But its internal
squabbling prevented it from forming a united front against the
invaders.
The barbarians, as expected, did return and this time in greater
numbers. Two large star-nations united to lay claim to outlying
worlds. They succeeded. Years of simmering battle began,
whereby the noble houses would reclaim their worlds for a few
months and the barbarians would seize them yet again.
A disunited, selfish nation cannot long survive such outside
pressure. One person was needed to unite it and send its enemies
running.
V ladimir U nites the S tars
The problem of a united front against the barbarians was keenly
felt by Vladimir Alecto, the recently elected leader of the 10.
Vladimir saw that the far-flung and fractured commonwealth of
humanity would soon crumble before the might of its enemies
if someone did not act to bring the Known Worlds together. His
primary aim, of course, was power. The welfare of humanity may
have been secondary but important nonetheless, for it was the fuel
that drove him (or so he told himself).
Pledging to lead the Known Worlds to victory and reclaim the
embattled worlds, Vladimir began gathering allies. A military
genius, he had a strong following among all the minor noble houses
and five of the 10 (the 10 at that time were Alecto, Justinian, Gesar,
Van Gelder, Windsor, the Hazat, al-Malik, Li Halan, Hawkwood
and the 10th, the Decados). He also gained the support of the
Church and the League. He won these allies easily, for commerce
was threatened by the barbarians, souls were in danger and he
promised the owners of the worlds that he would return the planets
to their power rather than claiming them for himself.
After years of battle, the barbarian invaders were broken and
forced back to their own worlds. The jumproads connecting entry
into the Known Worlds were often sealed or hidden to prevent
future sorties. But Vladimir did not keep his promises in full. For
those major houses who had not fully supported him, he claimed
their worlds for himself. Civil war erupted.
The Gesar, Windsors, Van Gelder, Decados and certain minor
houses were turned against him, along with many sects and
guilds. But the rest of the Known Worlds were behind him. The
war was bloody. Years after it had begun, Vladimir accepted the
surrender of the rebel houses and declared himself Emperor. He
introduced the Great Charter, instituting the office of the electors,
those who could vote on his successor. Each elector was given a
37
2
 sceptre – a vote rod – as proof of office and Vladimir distributed
these sceptres to all his allies in the houses, Church and League.
A great coronation ceremony was held on Byzantium Secundus
when Vladimir arrived to take the throne. But as he placed the
crown upon his head, fire erupted from his eyes and he fell dead to
the floor. Years of hard-won victory ended in seconds. The assassin
behind the deed has never been revealed and many whisper that
demons were at work. Vladimir had no blood successor. A race
was on to claim the throne after him. House Alecto, weak from
the expenditure of its resources during Vladimir’s campaigns,
fell to the status of a minor house. Unfortunate deaths and
assassinations soon destroyed the remainder of its royal line and
the house became extinct 10 years after Vladimir’s death.
The Gesar and Windsors also became extinct, too weak from
their recent surrender to carry on. They had all lost too many
sons and daughters to Vladimir’s war and soon lost those few
who remained. Van Gelder held onto their power and became
a minor house only by allying with the Decados. With this
extra power, the weak Decados, using blackmail to influence
other minor houses and even the League, maintained its royal
status and entered the race for the Imperial Throne. The 10 now
became the Five, composed of Hawkwood, Decados, the Hazat,
Li Halan and al-Malik.
But the electors could come to no accord. Instead of an Emperor,
they elected a temporary regent to rule for 10 years until an
Emperor was chosen. The office of regent lasted longer than
anybody had planned, for when the 10 years had passed, a new
regent was elected. And 10 years later, yet another one. It would
be centuries until a new Emperor would again ascend the throne.
S ymbiot W ars
The Second Republic had its secrets and at least one of these came
back to haunt the Known Worlds. Not all citizens of the Republic
appreciated the massive terraforming program whereby all worlds
were slowly transformed into human (Earthlike) environments,
with the subsequent upheaval of native alien races and the
disappearance of unique flora and fauna. The Republic suffered
its share of ecoactivists and terrorists.
One such cabal of ecoterrorists eked out a precarious existence
in the jungles of Chernobog, harassing the Second Republic
terraforming engineers. After a particularly successful sabotage
of machinery, they retreated into unexplored jungle to avoid the
authorities’ intensive search. There, they disturbed a previously
unknown alien race. The Xolotl awakened from hibernation and
began parasitically infesting the humans in an attempt to breed.
Two of the terrorists had occult powers (psi and theurgy) and
the result was explosive: A new race of beings, neither Xolotl or
human but something unique – a Symbiot.
Transformed in body and mind, infused with an almost instinctual
hate for humans, the two quickly bred, creating Symbiot progeny
from their non-psychic fellows and from the plant and animals
38
native to Chernobog. After gathering strength and practising their
newfound powers, they assaulted the human capital with fury.
Unable to withstand – or even comprehend – the weaponry of
the Symbiots, the Second Republic retreated from Chernobog
and sealed the jumpgate so that no one could get onto or off the
contaminated world. The Republic then worked to hide news of
the event from the citizenry; the last thing they wanted was an
alien threat to cause more chaos (those who argued that such a
threat was exactly what was needed to unify the fractious Republic
were laughed at). They managed to hide the secret so well that
the planet of Chernobog and its alien residents were entirely
forgotten. The Known Worlds entered the Dark Ages blissfully
unaware of the terrible threat waiting
beyond their borders.
Nearly a millennium after the Fall, the Symbiots returned.
Sometime in the intervening years, they had attained jump
capability in their organic ships, although even now no human
understands how this is possible. Unable at first to break through
the sealed jumpgate to Stigmata, the Symbiots had expanded
out and away from the Known Worlds. The Imperial Eye is still
unsure how many worlds they hold in the space past Chernobog.
It was only a matter of time until they came back to their point of
origin. A Symbiot ship passed through the jumpgate at Absolution
and landed in an outlying city. Its crew began slaughtering the
residents without warning. The Symbiot’s organic tech was
astonishing – living ships, battle armour and even guns. The very
thought of these things repulsed the human defenders even as they
died fighting against them. The Symbiots did not capture the world
– that was never their intent. But they left the resource extraction
industry in shambles and the human population decimated. The
attack was a warning. More would follow.
Daishan and Stigmata, other worlds on the borders of Human
Space, became wary and ready for attack. But the Symbiot forces
did not arrive in fleets. They moved in mysterious ways, attacking
through the least expected avenue: the very flora and fauna of the
planets turned on the human ‘colonists’. The Symbiots planned
their assaults for years, having finally broken the jumpcodes to
these worlds earlier. They secretly converted whole ecosystems
under the very noses of the ignorant colonists. Humans found
it hard to fight off whole forests or herds of predatory beasts
working in teams to devour scout units.
The humans, as expected, resorted to firebombing and eco-
destruction to eliminate their opposition. But even this did not
destroy the Symbiots; their seeds lay deep in the organic structure
of their chosen planets. The new growth over the charred forests
strangely grew more quickly than it should have and this time
stronger, more resilient to fire damage. The Symbiot planet forces
learned from their failures and grew defences against them. The
colonists of Daishan were forced to evacuate the planet, giving it
over entirely to the Symbiots.
It was clear that the Symbiots were masters of guerrilla warfare
against a technologically superior force. While they could not
2
immediately seize the worlds for themselves, they could ensure the operate openly, with agendas in conflict with the powers that be.
humans a costly defence and an eventual route. But not without a Individuals seeking power turned to forbidden paths, asking aid
final gesture – the human fleet defending the retreat bombed the of invisible entities whose names were whispered in occult circles.
planet from orbit with all its might, leaving the world a scorched, These Antinomists risked their souls and those of their fellow
uninhabitable rock. The regent moved quickly to defend Stigmata, humans in their bids for power and not the least of them were
the system the Symbiots would have to pass through to reach the members of the Five Houses who sought imperishable power
rest of the Known Worlds. The Imperial Fleet was dispatched and against their enemies.
the battles began. Things did not go well for the Imperial forces.
While they had more advanced weaponry than the Symbiots, the
parasites were tenacious. While the Symbiots made few advances
T he E mperor W ars
The office of regent could not last forever without some challenge.
neither could they be easily beaten back. The regent formed a new
While individuals had tried short-lived bids for the title of Emperor
office to handle what was turning into a long-term situation, that
at various times during the Dark Ages, none had come close to
of the Stigmata Garrison Commander, in charge of a vast amount
succeeding.
of Imperial military resources.
Fifty years after the Symbiot Wars had calmed, leaving a tense
Finally, in one area, surprisingly and for no apparent reason,
and fearful populace waiting for the next alien expansion, House
the tide was turned and the Symbiot forces pushed back. Upon
Hawkwood made its bid for power. Darius Erik Hawkwood made
investigation, it was discovered that two people were largely
overt offers to the Church and League electors for increased power
responsible: Friar Berthold of the then-heretical Eskatonic Order
in return for their votes. This set off a flurry of counter-offers
and Damiana, a Charioteer trader. These two were unusual in that
from the other houses, each fighting to gain sceptres. Decades
they were both practising occultists: Berthold was a theurgist and
of political, military and social struggle began, a struggle which
Damiana a powerful psychic.
oftentimes threatened the borders of the Empire.
They were residents of the planet before the Symbiots had arrived,
The houses were not the only forces seeking the Imperial Throne.
joined together in a secret coven. They had gathered other local
The patriarch, fearful of giving the nobility too much power,
residents together to mount a guerrilla defence against the Symbiot
moved to gain worlds of his own, pursuing the Church’s ancient
invaders, a rebellion which went on unnoticed by the Imperial
desire for a theocracy. He was largely unsuccessful but powerful
fleet. The friar’s litanies and Damiana’s psionics succeeded where
enough to force certain noble houses in the race to recognise the
military might failed. They had discovered the key to fighting the
superiority of the Church. The Merchant League sought a chance
Symbiots on something close to even terms. However, psychic
for increased power amid the chaos. Years of war among the
powers, once the high science of the Republic, were outlawed by
nobility had turned the populace against the families. The League
the Church. Covert deals had to be made before occult powers
sought to use this hatred to kick the royals out. They sought to
would be accepted. The Church had to be brought in and given
gain enough worlds to secede and declare a Third Republic. They,
credit for the affair. The Eskatonic Order had to be accepted into
like the Church, were unsuccessful, for a popular figure arose to
the fold. It would later become one of the major sects vying with
appease all the quarrelling forces.
the Orthodoxy for control of Church resources.
A master diplomat and military tactician, Alexius of House
Once all was agreed upon, the Church unleashed other Eskatonic
Hawkwood had taken up where Darius, his uncle, had left off. He
Order priests and rogue psychics (promised absolution for their
eventually claimed enough hold on a number of worlds to meet the
service) onto Stigmata. They were contracted Inquisitors given the
final challenge. With the grudging backing of the patriarch (who
power to cleanse the taint in any way they saw fit. It worked. Where
finally saw which way the wind was blowing) and the hesitant
science could not clean out the parasites, psychics and theurgists
backing of the Leaguemeister, Alexius Hawkwood claimed the
did. From then on, the Eskatonic Order heralded theurgy as the
Imperial Throne. A short, quick battle broke out at the Imperial
replacement of science. Only here could man look to see wonders,
Palace on Byzantium Secundus but Alexius was prepared. Hidden
they claimed, but only the holiest and most penitent of priests
Hawkwood forces and mercenary fleets moved in and stifled all
could work such magic.
opposition. The opposing houses were forced to retreat. On that
very day, Alexius was crowned Emperor of the Known Worlds
Centuries after it had begun, the Symbiot War was brought to
and no assassin’s trick could stop him.
an uneasy standstill. The Symbiots still held some territory but
gained little new ground. The long, protracted guerrilla battle on
At first, only House Hawkwood, the Li Halan and the al-Malik
the frontier was at an end and an uneasy silence descended upon
conceded (the latter were Alexius’ main allies in the war; the
the front.
Church and the League respectively, had already recognised the
Emperor and they could do little but follow) but the Decados and
Magic had gained a foothold on human consciousness again,
the Hazat both refused to recognise the claim. Years of fighting
one which the houses, Church and League soon found hard to
ensued, this time more vicious than before.
control. Covens, underground organisations of psychics, began to

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 The Decados gave in sooner than anyone expected, surprising all persist of high-level contact between supposedly sentient Symbiot
and causing people to wonder whether they had seen the writing leaders and Imperial Eye agents hinting at peace initiatives but
on the wall or were plotting some as-yet-unrevealed scheme. A most doubt such fables. How can there be peace with mindless
barbarian border war on the Hazat’s borders weakened that animals?
family’s forces enough that, following the Decados’ recognition
of Alexius’ claim, it was also forced to capitulate. It claims that it And what of the Vau? Distant and aloof for years, their requests for
willingly recognised Alexius in return for his aid in the war and his diplomatic visits have increased of late, although their dialogues
recognition of their claim to the barbarian world. are seemingly meaningless, consisting of elaborate discussions
of the weather or gardening tips. Some pundits whisper that the
The Emperor Wars were finally at an end, although they had lasted enigmatic aliens are sizing the Empire up, prepared either for a
far too long. Almost two generations of open conflict had taken its new expansion or new trade.
toll on the Empire. Planets were ravaged and many starships lost
beyond repair. While the borders remained steady (at great cost), But border conflicts and high-level intrigues matter little to the
the lives of Imperial citizens were the worse for wear. But where common man. Most people are once again proud. Under Alexius,
there was conflict, there is now stability. An Emperor sits upon their destiny again seems assured. The jumproutes have opened to
the throne and what he decrees is so. No more arguing, no more an unprecedented degree, reuniting worlds long sundered by war
stalling. Maybe now, say the citizens, things will get done. and factionalism. Interstellar trade is strong again and with it an
increasing network of news and gossip. Even here the Emperor
C onsolidation has displayed power, using guilds of canny marketers to carefully
control his image Alexius has declared a new age of discovery and
Six years after his coronation, Alexius is the undisputed
offers rich rewards or even peerages (or more powerful titles) to
Emperor of the Known Worlds. He has done an astonishing
those who can reopen the paths to the Lost Worlds and riches of
job of consolidating power under his rule and has brought a
the Second Republic. He has instituted the Order of the Phoenix
stability to the Empire unknown for centuries. While his work is
– the Questing Knights – to spread word of his rule and law to
not complete, for many factions still vie against him in hidden,
outlying regions and even into barbarian space. Their ranks are
shadowy ways – and some even openly – most recognise that even
swelling, causing grumbling among the elite of the houses as
death may not topple his throne. Although he has no heir as yet,
second and younger sons and daughters – fearing to inherit little
should he produce one, that son or daughter will surely assume
glory and wealth from their own families – seek to win it from the
his rule (especially with the five vote sceptres set aside for him or
Emperor through adventure.
her — as many as the noble houses combined).
In addition, Alexius has opened the ranks to the guilds and sects,
Nonetheless, his popularity – while stronger than it was even three
creating the role of Imperial Cohort, aide and companion to his
years ago – is not universal. The wars still haunt many who lived
knights. Cohorts are promised a share in the spoils of Imperial
through them. The bloody battle for the throne left many people
adventures – the chance for wealth and fame or the ability to
landless or without families; they bear deep grudges against the
spread the good word. This gesture to the League and Church
man they consider to be a tyrant. And peace is not fully assured
is yet more proof to many that Alexius understands the multi-
yet – new conflicts constantly threaten.
faceted nature of power in the Known Worlds.
The Hazat fight a war against the barbarian Kurga Caliphate over
The Church, however, frowns on Alexius’ emphasis on questing
ownership of a Lost World called Hira, a war that threatens to
and rediscovery of the past’s riches, seeing once again the march
draw in more factions if the Hazat are successful in petitioning
of humanity’s folly. The Orthodoxy suspects that the Questing
the patriarch to declare their cause a Holy War. The Kurgans are
Knights’ true mission into barbarian space is an elaborate land-
alleged to follow a heretical version of the Prophet’s teachings,
grab for the Empire, a way to give Alexius more worlds than the
scripture which the Orthodoxy does not want tainting the souls of
other houses combined. Of course, no crusade against barbarian
Known Worlders.
powers could succeed without noble and Church support but the
question of fair division of spoils already worries the patriarch.
The barbarian Vuldrok Star-Nation has increased its raiding
of Hawkwood worlds of late and seems to be itching for a
The Merchant League, however, sees opportunity in the opening
confrontation with Alexius – whether to test his mettle and resolve
of new jumproutes and the consolidation of existing routes
or to provoke a full-fledged war is unknown. The Symbiots,
(and even the hope of deposing Alexius and declaring the
however, seem to have retreated from the frontlines on Stigmata.
Third Republic on top of his reforms). Never since the Fall has
They have withdrawn into their territories for now, although
there been such opportunity for advancement and power by the
the meaning of this move – uncharacteristic for the chaotic
common man. Rarely has human destiny stood in such balance:
shapeshifters – is hotly debated. Are they building their strength
to fall back or go forward.
for a greater assault? Or have they recognised defeat? Rumours

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Life Among the Fading Suns
The average person born in the Known Worlds is a peasant or
yeoman. Unfortunate enough to have been birthed after the Fall
of the Second Republic – the pinnacle of human civilisation
– all that is left to her are the crumbs of previous progress.
Her world is in decline, not just technologically but spiritually.
Regardless of the rise to power of a Universal Church, the
energetic and invigorating spirit of questing and questioning
which marks healthy spirituality is largely absent. Instead, there
exists a concern that the soul be ‘in order,’ ready for judgement
(and probably found wanting). There is no place for risk-taking;
all things belong in their place and to overreach is folly, risking
not only an individual soul but the entire commonwealth of
lost humanity.
The loss of a scientific method or point-of-view among the
common populace has helped to keep technology in decline,
creating a scavenger mentality for the things of the glorious past.
In addition, the nobles want the commoners to stay in their place;
to question is to invite revolt. The Church blames technology and
science for humanity’s predicament and thus represses the very
basis of science: questioning.
And the Merchant League wishes to keep what secrets it has for itself,
sharing only with those willing to give their money or their service to
the guilds. These forces together help to keep civilisation from rising.
While the rebirth of civilisation is sought by many, civilisation in and
of itself is not valuable. It is what people do with it that makes it
worthwhile. A false civilisation’s ‘worth’ can be seen in the weary
eyes of the enslaved and subjugated alien races, whose cultures have
been outlawed and dismantled by the empire of humanity.
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 Starship Technology
Starships are built to last and many of the ships plying the
jumpgates in Alexius’s time were actually built during the Second
Republic – or even during the Diaspora in some cases. It takes
a core of dedicated technicians to keep them running but since
League trade, noble power and Church influence all rely on space
travel, these techies are well-paid.
If they were to slack off on their jobs, vital information may not
make it to its destination in time or important shipments may
arrive too late to be of use. Most important shipboard positions
are taken by hired guildsmembers; freemen or serfs make up the
bulk of the crew complement.
The technical details of most starships are unknown to most
people; all Known Worlders usually know about ships is that
they go up and out through a jumpgate and sometimes come
back again. More advanced knowledge is usually confined to
specialities: a ship pilot may know little about the engine or its
needs and a captain may not know how to fly the thing if the pilot
has a seizure.
What is known by all is that these things can be broken fairly
easily – a stray shot from a slug gun or blaster could foul up the
life support system or blow a hole in a bulkhead. No matter how
good the technician, it may take days to fix such problems, by
which time all on board could be dead. Everyone is expected to be
on their best behaviour on a starship.
S hields
Space is not a complete void – it is full of dust and other particles,
some larger and harder than others. Starships are protected from
space debris (and enemy weapons) by energy shields – industrial
versions of the personal energy shield. While all hulls have a
degree of armour, it cannot easily withstand weaponry or asteroid
collisions (and boarding marines have torches to cut through it).
Shields, however, can stand up to all sorts of beatings.
Like personal shields, shipboard shields activate their fields upon
sensing impact with kinetic energy or matter. The problem is that,
the faster the ship goes, the more debris it encounters and thus the
more shields it needs to protect against this onslaught. The larger
the ship, the greater the area needing protection. Larger ships
tend to move more slowly when engaged in combat than smaller
ships, since their shields cannot protect them at high speeds. Ships
that travel faster than their shields can protect against will begin
tearing apart, pounded by debris.
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Ships are rated by the number of shields they have available at
various speeds. In general, all are available whenever a ship is at
a full stop but as it begins accelerating, more and more banks are
activated by debris and are thus unable to protect against weapons
fire.
T hink M achines
Computers were once so commonplace even a child could use
one. This is no longer the case. These high technology machines
are largely proscribed by the Church, although they are allowed
in approved libraries and for necessary uses, such as plotting
jump co-ordinates. Nowadays, those who use computers – called
think machines by most people – must be ever-watchful for roving
Inquisitors.
All starships have think machines as a necessity and some
advanced computers store their data through coherent light or
sound, rather than magnetic scribblings. These advanced methods
require advanced understanding of their workings – one of the
many reasons data from the Second Republic is so hard to retrieve.
Once a light or sound think machine has broken down or been
corrupted, many do not know how to retrieve the raw data that
may still be stored within the machine or on disks. Most think
machines store removable data on laser disks (or crystals), which
come in a variety of sizes and require a variety of media to read
them.
Some think machines can link up with other machines to share
data or programs. Such networking is rare in modern times but
is known, especially among the Engineers or Reeves. Usually,
models produced by the same guild will network with each other
but not necessarily with the machines of a competing guild.
Almost all Second Republic computers can network with other
computers of the same era.
Ar tificial Gravity
Using a variation of stolen Vau repulsor technology, artificial
gravity is a standard feature in most ships. This does not mean that
it works on all ships though, as the crews of poorly maintained
ships often find themselves floating about after a severe shock to
the ship. Artificial gravity is normally maintained by repulsor pads
in the ceiling of the ships, exerting a constant downward pressure
on the passengers, just enough to mimic a comfortable level of
gravity. This force can be altered for the preference of different
races.
2
Horror stories abound about crews who were crushed by gravity
systems. However, this is not usually possible, as most systems are
normally designed to go no higher than 2Gs. Some captains modify
their ships, allowing them to raise gravity levels in some sections
in retaliation for a boarding action but these can malfunction and
slay the ship’s crew. Some ancient ships have no artificial gravity
and instead use forces of acceleration on long voyages to simulate
gravity. In combat situations, these ships become very dangerous
as quick manoeuvres throw floating crew members into nearby
walls.
M arines
Ships often have a number of marines aboard to repel invaders or
to board enemy ships. Usually, only military ships or escorts have
marines, although luxury liners may have a small complement.
Ships attempting boarding combat fly close to their target ship and
fire grapple guns. Once these hit, they retract and draw the two
ships together. Then, marines are released into space along the
tether lines to cut their way into the enemy hull (or enter a hole
created by weapons fire). Once in the enemy ship, they are usually
met by defending marines and must fight sword to sword to gain
the bridge, where they can force the captain’s surrender.
Some ships carry marauders, specially trained and equipped
boarders. Marauders wear jet-propelled, powered armour
spacesuits that allow them to propel through space to another ship
without needing a grapple cable to slide along. Marauders use a
variety of weapons but favour blaster-axes.
J umpgates
Jumpgates are giant, hoop-shaped artefacts in space, most of
them as large or larger than a moon. They are the devices that
allow travel between the stars. A starship must have a jumpdrive
to use them and the workings of these complex engines is a
closely guarded secret by the guilds. Each system in the Known
Worlds has one working jumpgate through which all traffic must
pass. A ship preparing to jump sends system co-ordinates to
the gate, which opens a passage in space to that system. The
ship then enters the hoop and exits from another jumpgate in
the desired system. Making a jump requires a jumpkey, a small
metal cylinder invented during the Second Republic which holds
complex, pre-programmed co-ordinates. Each key usually holds
co-ordinates for one destination, although keys with multiple
jumproutes are known. Without the proper co-ordinates, a
jumpgate will not open; anyone passing through its hoop will
not leave the system.
The Known Worlds are formed by the jumpweb – the known routes
between jumpgates in systems. If one of these routes were to be
lost or a system’s gate sealed, that world would be cut off from
the rest of space-faring civilisation. Most worlds host multiple
jumproutes (Byzantium Secundus has nine from its jumpgate)
but some have only one known route (Nowhere), making them
vulnerable to jumproute loss. When a ship approaches a jumpgate,
the jumpkey to the desired location is inserted into a computer
panel, which relays the information to the jumpgate in a series
of light transmissions. If the coordinates are correct, the gate
opens. The singular nature of each jumpkey makes them valued
commodities. The measure of a Charioteer is often the number of
jumpkeys she carries. Jumpkeys are a favourite booty of pirates,
always seeking new jumproads to plunder. Only the Charioteers
know how to make these keys and they guard the tech fanatically.
A ‘Chauki stride’ in the vacuum of space (i.e., being thrown out of
an airlock) is the usual fate of those who try to bootleg jumpkeys,
threatening Charioteer hegemony over the jumproads.
Jumpgate Reset
Using a jumpgate to leave a system is called an active jump; arriving
in another system is called a passive jump. It takes a jumpgate a
varying time to reset itself after an active jump. No active jumps
can be made while the gate resets itself (a process usually taking
10–20 minutes, though some may take up to a week), although
ships can exit from the jumpgate at anytime (passive jumps).
For this reason, fleets tend to jump together, synchronised to go
through the gate at once, rather than spread out in a long line.
The Second Republic engineers solved the problem of gate
resetting but it requires a special key in addition to the destination
jumpkey. These keys are especially rare and held only by a few.
Certain Charioteers or Engineers travel from system-to-system
selling the use of their reset keys and most ships of the Imperial
Fleet have them. Some Inquisitors also have them, to the dismay
of those trying to escape their fury.
Tractor Beams
Certain large ships still bear a wonder of Second Republic technology:
a tractor beam. These repulsor rays can latch onto another ship and
force that ship to slow its speed to match that of the beam emitter or
halt the ship entirely (usually for a boarding action).
The known tractor beams are Second Republic relics and few of
them can fit into a ship smaller than a frigate. Most beams were
destroyed during the Fall of the Second Republic. The Emperor
Wars left the Emperor and the Church with the lion’s share of the
surviving snares. They are favourites of the Inquisition.
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 The Empire
The most powerful individual in the Known Worlds is Emperor attracted his old allies in his family but some members of other
Alexius, once the head of House Hawkwood. While he still houses have come on board as well. A few members of minor
maintains strong ties with his house, he has renounced its houses have also shown up, hoping for the chance to rebuild their
leadership in order to establish the role of emperor free and clear own dynasties under his banner. There is an underground group
of past entanglements. Alexius’s critics say he is merely trying of mystics, soldiers and citizens of all classes who see Emperor
to establish two powerful forces to ensure his rule, one being the Alexius as their God-Emperor, their saviour and the one who will
armies of the Emperor and the other being his loyal house legions. re-ignite the dying stars. The emperor is silent on the matter but the
Church has made it clear that such views are heresy; Inquisitors
Alexius now makes his home on Byzantium Secundus, the are searching for the leaders of this cult.
historic centre of interstellar politics. While he officially rules
fewer planets than do any of the houses, his actual powers are
exceptional. The most obvious manifestation of this might is the
T he I mperial E ye
Before his assassination, Emperor Vladimir established a fact-
Imperial Guard, some of the best-trained and equipped troops in
finding and intelligence-gathering organisation called the Imperial
human history. His other strengths are more subtle – and more
Eye. He brought in nobles from a number of royal and minor
powerful.
houses, gave them extensive budgets to establish the agency and
then died. The Eye lived on, however, serving the stewards and
Emperor Alexius officially controls the empire’s tax collection
regents who took over after Vladimir’s death and before Alexius’
network, its army of scholars and historians busily trying to
rise.
reconstruct old technologies, its many law enforcement and
espionage agencies and the largest collection of Philosophers
Officially this organisation serves Alexius by gathering and
Stones (powerful Ur artefacts) in the Known Worlds. All of the
analysing information. It maps out new jumproutes, tracks
Royal Houses have pledged their loyalty and are obligated to
economic development on the recovering worlds and has one
provide him with assistance whenever he requests it. What form
department dedicated to discovering why the stars are fading.
this assistance may take, however, has not been determined.
During the chaos and confusion of the Emperor Wars, however,
the Eye found itself accused of activities outside the scope of its
Alexius is still defining his role as emperor. He has announced
original charter.
plans to consolidate more power in his position and has been
laying the groundwork for war against the barbarians – a war he
Accusations of activities like spying, smuggling and even
would lead and whose troops would be beholden to him. The
assassination rarely came to anything and when an agent was tried,
Royal Houses have no intention of giving him permanent control
the agency always managed to show that he was acting outside
of their troops, so no one knows exactly what will happen. The
the bounds of the Eye. No evidence ever appeared that the Eye
events of the next few years will have a powerful impact on the
had actually tried to make one of its own patriarch. The leaders
balance of power for years to come.
of the Eye hold themselves up as selfless servers of humanity. Its
detractors (usually the Emperor’s enemies) denounce them as self-
To aid him in this endeavour, the Emperor has put out a call
serving manipulators who plot and scheme against everybody.
for landless nobles to join him, implying that they may find
Whatever the case, the Eye has a reputation among the common
new territory on unexplored planets. So far his call has mainly
folk as an organisation to avoid second only to the Inquisition.

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T he U niversal C hurch of
the C elestial S un
No single institution has as much impact on day-to-day life in the
Known Worlds than does the Church. Despite the Church’s many
factions and sects, the average peasant sees it as a giant monolith,
dedicated to saving humanity from the evil inherent in the universe.
As far as commoners can tell, all priests, bishops, archbishops and
patriarchs work toward the same goal, hand-in-hand, fighting evil
together. Never mind the fact that they call one another heretics;
the Church itself is good. The peasants’ view only changes when
someone tries to replace the sect of their ancestors with a new one.
The Universal Church is not so universal; it is deeply
divided by sectarian conflicts. It would have fractured
into multiple churches long ago were it not for a string of
extremely strong Orthodox patriarchs who held it together
– that and a need for unity against the nobility and the
merchants. There are five major sects and dozens of minor
ones. Some get along; most do not. A lot of the minor
sects are branches from the major ones but others have
alien, local or even historical roots.
U rth O rthodox
Orthodox priests represent the old, authoritarian guard of the
Church, maintaining stability while fighting off heresies. They
are also those most concerned with temporal power. Traditionally
(with few exceptions), the patriarch has been Orthodox.
They believe, following key bulls set out in the New Dark Ages,
that grace is achieved through working within the structure set
forth by the patriarchs, who follow in the footsteps of the Prophet.
The Pancreator works not through inner visions but through real
works, duties performed in the material world. He shows his will
through sacramental forms: rituals, artefacts, stations of office
and so forth. Wavering from time-tested doctrine in this time of
darkening light is dangerous and foolhardy. One fool can hurt
many good people; all must walk the proper path and follow the
correct guidelines.
Those who do not may damn us all.
Despite their political bent, they are nonetheless fervent believers
and moral guardians. They aim to give succour and comfort to
all who need it, including serfs. The Orthodoxy is the only large
organisation in the Known Worlds that cares enough about
the livelihood of the commoners to aid them, live among them
The Church
and even educate them (although they do not seek commoner
emancipation). Through these good works, they have nearly 75
percent of the Known Worlds populace behind them. The fact
that this populace has no legal power does little to quell the noble’s
fear of riots and uprisings, thus everyone heeds the Orthodoxy’s
desires.
Membership in the Orthodox Church is open to all, although
applicants for priesthood must undergo years of training in ritual
and doctrine.
B rother B attle
Throughout history, monastic battle orders have existed within
organised religion: the Knights Templar, Hospitalers, Shaolin
priests, Jannisaries and others. In the Known Worlds, there are
the Brothers Battle, said to be the most elite combat corps in
history. Fanatically dedicated to defending the Prophet’s faith
with might and force of arms, the Brothers of this exclusive order
are respected – and feared – by most Known Worlders.
The order began early in the New Dark Ages, when the need
for hard-line and able defenders of the faith was greatest. They
personally defended the life of the patriarch from an assassination
attempt on Holy Terra. In return for their service, the patriarch
ordained the order, giving it special powers within and without
the Church, conceded to by the noble houses, who were trying
to cover up their role in the assassination attempt. Since then,
the order has grown in skill and influence, building upon martial
techniques created by previous Brothers. These techniques are
kept secret.
Those who have been ousted from the order are not allowed
to teach them; if they are caught revealing them to others, the
penalty is death.
Brothers adhere to strict discipline and suffer harsh penalties for
breaking their vows. Oathbreakers must undertake dangerous
penance quests that many do not survive. There is a strong support
network from Brother to Brother, although monks are often sent
on individual missions across the Known Worlds, spreading their
network thin.
The order does not work well with other units in the secular
military chain of command. Brothers will not take orders from
any but their superiors within the order, so they are rarely used
as common soldiers, instead being employed as commandos and
special tactics units.
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 Membership requirements are strict. Only youths under 10 years
old are accepted, although the order adopts many orphans. There
have been very few exceptions to this rule throughout the order’s
history, although the handful of older individuals who have been
accepted provide hope for many petitioners. New members are
sent to the monastery on De Moley, there to spend the next 10
or more years of their lives in rigorous training and spiritual
contemplation. Local peasant mothers on De Moley often leave
their newborn children on the monastery’s doorstep, hopeful
that their offspring will be taken in and be given a better life and
opportunity than a peasant’s son or daughter would otherwise
have. However, the order does not accept every child left on its
stoop. Many are left to survive or die outside the gates.
Those who live longer than expected are often accepted. The
Brother Battle order wields much power, and many Orthodox
patriarchs have felt threatened by their strength. Their piety and
military might are needed by the emperor on the Symbiot and
Barbarian fronts and while they have rarely used the political
power gained through this, the Orthodoxy anticipates the day
they must clash, fearing that Brother Battle will win out. Thus, the
order is under increased scrutiny for heresy and any other slip-up
that could lead to their dissolution.
Despite the name, women may join, although it is rare.
E skatonic O rder
An extremely mystical and occult order, the Eskatonics seek to
guard the light of the Holy Flame from the impending eschaton,
or apocalypse. They are engaged in a personal and individual
pursuit of the holy. Unlike the Orthodox Church, they believe
there is a spark of the Holy Flame in each person and that it is the
duty of the enlightened (those fully conscious of the Holy Flame
within them, made aware through a personal vision) to cultivate
this flame and fan it into a fire. Their main means to this end is
theurgy.
Their exclusive entry requirements, however, ensure that they
have the smallest membership of any order and thus the smallest
support network. But their occult practice tempers each member
into a powerful and noteworthy priest. They emphasise inner
mysteries and philosophy, with perhaps too little attention to
outer reality. They are doomsayers, believing the worst about
humankind’s fate. In their view, only a few will recognise the
light and escape the Final Darkness. They claim to have personal
experience with certain vile demon sultans who they say are to
blame for the dimming stars, and believe that only the order’s
wisdom and magic can avert the final doom (they also claim
detailed knowledge of the ‘bodiless powers of the Empyrean’, or
angels).
They claim direct lineage from some of the Prophet’s disciples,
to whom the Prophet gave secret lore, wisdom which the early
Eskatonics were given the responsibility of safeguarding. They
were an underground, secret society of Church priests until the
Symbiot Wars, where they were allowed to operate openly only by
grace of their own theurgy.
46
Eskatonic magi proved to be one of the few effective weapons
against the Symbiots when they attempted to move past Stigmata.
The patriarch had to ordain them or risk losing more worlds to
the parasitic invasion. Since then, the Eskatonics have been very
careful to behave (or at least hide their excesses well) lest they
suffer official censure and be forced underground again. But the
common populace often fears them and they are constantly at risk
for Inquisitorial searches and heresy declarations.
Rank within the order is built around the slow dissemination
of secrets and occult techniques. The order’s fathers created a
carefully wrought system of study, whereby a student would only
be exposed to lore he was capable of understanding. Rank is
awarded only to those who have proven themselves mentally and
spiritually worthy of it. Then, the secrets of that rank are taught
slowly and, once mastered, the student is ready for the next rank.
Humility is all-important during training and ordination.
No priest is allowed to rise in rank without first confessing and
those priests who do not undergo confession on a monthly basis
are shamed until they learn to do so. The practice of flagellation,
the wearing of hair-shirts and other self-inflicted tortures are
also encouraged. The order believes that these extreme measures
prevent hubris, for the history of the order tells of priests whose
pride grew and whose sins caused whole worlds to perish. While
they have managed to keep the truth behind these dead worlds
from the populace and the Church at large, there is good reason
these magi are feared.
Temple Avesti (Avestites)
Inquisitors. The fanatic and disciplined Avestites are the hard-liner
arm of the Church, often too regressive for even the patriarch’s
tastes, although he is often thankful for the power to unleash
them on victims. While not all Inquisitors come from this sect,
most do (the Avestites long ago gained most of the chairs on the
Inquisitorial Synod).
Temple Avesti began as a breakaway movement from the
Orthodoxy, composed of puritans who felt that the Church
was not stern or strong enough in punishing the excesses of its
members (to the Avestites, everyone is a member of the Church
whether they like it or not). These extremists built their temple
in the burning desert on the planet Pyre. Pledged to punish
sinners lest they corrupt the faithful, the Avestites embarked
from Pyre on expeditions to cleanse other worlds. Their violent
and unannounced terrorist attacks on ‘sinners’ angered the often-
powerful victims of these attacks: nobles and rich merchants. After
too many incidents with no response from the Orthodox Church,
royal fleets arrived off Pyre to destroy these uncontrollable zealots.
But the patriarch’s fleet also arrived and ordered the nobles to halt
their assault. The Archbishop of Urth went to Temple Avesti and
explained to the sect leader the terms of the sect’s surrender to
patriarchal authority. If they did not submit, the Church would
depart and leave them to their fate before the royal fleet. After
short consideration, the temple master relented and threw himself
on the mercy of the Church.
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Since then, the Avestites are considered penitents, owing duty to
the patriarch and his bishops. While they can act on their own,
they must also heed the call of the Orthodox priests when they
require it. However, the extremes to which Avestites take any task
often tempers the frequency of their use by the bishops. They are
called on official business only when all other methods have failed.
Hopeful Avestites must petition for membership into the sect
and only those who can prove that they are sinless, or extremely
repentant, are given entry. Only the ignorant or unlearned are
allowed, for education is seen as a burden on the soul that is hard
to extinguish. Thus, their membership comes from the poorest
peasants, the lowest classes who often seek revenge for their lack
of empowerment. Most members never again leave the temple
on Pyre; they spend their lives in prayer or hard labour for the
temple. Those who prove their prowess in sniffing out sinners
are promoted as pilgrims, those who will deliver punishment to
sinners across the Known Worlds. The best pilgrims are granted
Inquisitorial seals and eventually become ordained Inquisitors.
Avestites are often bigoted and anti-alien but can likewise be
pillars of nobility and kindness – to those deserving of it. Aliens
are allowed in the sect if they can prove their faith like all other
applicants. To the sinless, Avestites are perfect gentlemen, having
learned the lesson of temperance from the sect’s humble downfall.
To those they deem sinners, however, no amount of cruelty is
enough. They take the Prophet’s words about sinners and burning
quite literally and their heavy flame-retardant robes and cowls
are instantly recognisable. Their high priests even prefer to carry
flameguns to enact a literal punishment on sinners.
Their symbol, the flame, is borne on pendants which, with the flick
of a switch, become searing brands with which they mark sinners’
foreheads. Those peasants who bear this brand (which takes
months to heal for those who cannot afford tissue regenerative
serums) are shunned by their fellows, although the upper classes
unfortunate enough to suffer such humiliation often receive pity
and commiseration from their friends, though not publicly.
Sanctuar y Aeon (Amaltheans)
Sanctuary Aeon is a healing order, seeking to bring grace and
mercy to all. While its membership is open to anyone, few people
volunteer for this selfless duty. The priests of Sanctuary Aeon
may be few in number but they are beloved by all. The love the
common folk bear them for their selfless sacrifices have provided
them practically ironclad protection from Inquisitors and heresy
police: When Sister Vermidian was accused before a crowd of
peasants on Criticorum of consorting with demons, the peasants
rose up and tried to hang the Inquisitor as the heretic.
The order was begun by Amalthea, a physician who became
one of the Prophet’s disciples. After the Prophet’s death, she
tried to forge his sayings into a Church different from that which
Palamedes Alecto was forming. Her Temple of Eternal Sanctuary
was almost as popular as Palamedes new Universal Church. But
in the end, the Universal Church appealed more to people’s need
for authority, power, guilt and redemption. However, the Eternal
Sanctuary, or Sanctuary Aeon as it eventually became, still had a
strong following, especially in the aftermath of harsh wars. The
Sanctuary was eventually incorporated into the Church and today
stands as a strong voice for mercy and compassion before the
patriarch’s often stern bulls.
The order’s head monastery is on Artemis and all initiates must go
there for their initial training in healing bodies, minds and spirits.
The planet is flooded with the sick and injured who can afford the
journey but there are never enough Amaltheans to help them all.
Once ordained, priests are expected to return to their homeworlds
and bring their skills to bear in relieving suffering there. Otherwise,
they can choose to stay on Artemis or travel as mendicant healers.
Some are sent by the order to aid on the war fronts, never as
soldiers but as healers or even diplomats. Because their numbers
are small, they demand penance from those they aid, asking
for them to perform tasks to relieve other suffering souls, thus
increasing compassionate acts tenfold more than their order
could perform alone. While Amaltheans will aid others without
a promise of a penance task, they are bid by the order’s leaders to
enact this promise whenever possible. The nature of the promise
is up to the healer enacting it and there is no set guideline for the
difficulty of the task compared to the healing. An Amalthean will
generally ask for what she feels is the promiser can achieve but she
is free to enact a harsh task if she feels the sufferer needs it.
The Amaltheans are a rare voice in the Church, preaching the
rights of all living beings, sentient or not. They admonish those
who seek their aid to never harm an animal or sentient creature
even if it threatens them in return; they can defend themselves but
must avoid killing.
Mendicant Monks (Hesychasts)
Some faithful do not involve themselves with the hierarchical
orders within the Church and instead become monks, retreating
as hermits to the wilderness, as cenobites to the monastery or as
mendicant, wandering friars.
While these monks do not answer to any direct authority, neither
do they partake of the full benefits of a sect or order. They have
exchanged the restrictions of ordained membership for freedom to
seek the Pancreator in whatever way they will – as long as it does
not smack of heresy.
Distanced as they are from the centre of the Church, they rarely
have any input or effect on theological or doctrinal issues. But
the occasional mystic has come from the wilderness to impress
all with his insight, causing a stir and a genuine revival within
the Church. But this rarely lasts more than a generation or so,
as the Church hierarchy again takes precedence over subjective
viewpoints. Some mystics, if popular enough, are enshrined as
saints after death, allowing the Church to claim that it is a living
tradition open to new insights from the Pancreator or his chosen
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 prophets. Hermits usually stake out a territory in the wilderness of
a distant planet, one far from Empire and Church politics.
They often become the protectors of these wilds, disturbed
only rarely by a local peasant seeking a cure for warts or a love
philter. Monastery monks rarely leave their chosen abode, instead
spending their lives in contemplation or performing scriptorial
duties, copying Church documents for posterity. The recent
Emperor Wars took a toll on certain monasteries, leaving some in
ruins with monks left to wander in search of a new retreat.
Mendicant friars are those who have taken the word of the Prophet
on the road, to deliver it to the places furthest from Holy Terra
and bring salvation to the ignorant souls who dwell there. Being
near penniless, as scripture requires of most monks, they must
rely on the kindness of others to get where they are going. This
often involves making deals with League merchants for passage
in exchange for prayer services, or wheedling into a noble’s
entourage in exchange for confessional services (although not all
monks are necessarily ordained to give confession). Friars tend to
be resourceful types and know that scripture must sometimes be
placed aside toward the greater good of getting the word out to
the people.
S ectarian C onflicts
The Church was very involved in the Emperor Wars. The patriarch
tried to institute a theocracy to replace the Empire, but he received
too little support. After long negotiations with the five Royal
Houses, he eventually declared the Church’s support for Alexius
Hawkwood, giving him much needed popular approval in his bid
for the seat of the Empire.
However, the political struggles the bishops and priests involved
themselves in caused a backlash of disillusionment against the
Church among the populace at large. People looked to new sects
or orders and turned away from their traditional (sometimes
many generations-long) allegiances to their previous sects. The
Orthodoxy suffered a decline in membership as other sects swelled,
setting the stage for a behind-the-scenes conflict throughout all
levels of the Church, from the grand cathedrals to tiny shrines
in backworld hamlets – the struggle to save the souls of Human
Space has heated up.
But this cross-sectarian shift is caused not only by the bishops’
nasty political dealings: growing apocalyptic fear has caused many
to desert the past and throw their lot in with any who can promise
instant salvation before the suns die out. Fear of final judgement
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is in the back of everyone’s minds and those who can most readily
address this fear – with more fear and guilt or by compassion and
understanding – benefit the most.
T he I nquisition
The Inquisition is perhaps the most feared organisation in the
Known Worlds. Even the Emperor’s mighty legions, as deadly as
they are, do not stir the fears of the populace as much as a single
Inquisitor knocking at the door. The Inquisition is empowered to
scour the universe for anything which might pose a danger to the
souls of humanity, as decided upon by the Church. Such things
include proscribed technology, demon-worship, psychic powers,
pagan cults, strange alien goings-on, and people who pose a
political danger to the Church.
Yet despite what peasants and sinners believe, the Inquisition is
not everywhere. It takes a special meeting of the Inquisitorial
Synod (council of priests) to award an Inquisitorial Seal to a priest
(or group of priests) and each seal usually has a specific mission
attached to it; the performance of unassociated missions does not
necessarily have the backing of the Church. With Church backing,
Inquisitors are nigh immune to punishment for any action they
undertake while inquisiting. Without such backing, disgruntled or
insulted nobles or merchants can handle the transgressor however
they see fit – within the limits of the law, of course.
A seal can be stripped from its bearer by the synod, the patriarch
or the council of archbishops. If a seal was awarded by a lesser
synod (a meeting of local synod members, not comprising the
full council), it can be nullified by the planet’s archbishop. Such
lesser synods are often convened to try local affairs not important
enough to summon the whole council. Calling the full synod
together takes time, for the members must travel from their various
worlds to the synod chambers at Holy Terra. Only grave and long-
term threats suffer from full synod scrutiny.
Inquisitorial seals can be awarded to anyone the synod deems
worthy, not only priests but nobles or any freeman. However, such
privilege and power is rarely handed to those who have not proven
themselves loyal to whatever political cause the synod pursues.
Then there are full-time Inquisitors, those who have been given
broad seals with lifetime durations. These dangerous enforcers
have an extreme degree of power, able to cruise the universe
at will dispensing justice however they see fit. While they are
officially immune from any but Church prosecution, some of the
more overzealous or impolitic Inquisitors have suffered tragic but
unexplained ‘accidents’.
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 The Merchant League
All that remains of the massive conglomerates that once ruled the
Second Republic are the merchant guilds, grudgingly united in the
Merchant League. Five guilds have risen to prominence but none
of them has enough authority alone to control the entire League.
In fact, despite their prestige, even if they worked together (an
unlikely event) they would have a hard time forcing the League to
do anything if all the lesser guilds were united against them.
The five leading guilds are the Charioteers, the Engineers, the
Scravers, the Muster and the Reeves. They have each established
their own specialities and defend them vigorously. However,
none of them hold a complete monopoly in any of their areas.
All guild members understand that their success lasts as long as
they can make it last and not a moment longer. Guild members
constantly seek out ways to expand their reach and if that means
undermining their brothers and sisters, then so be it.
The main guilds have carved out their own hegemonies, be
they in territory, product or service. On some planets a number
of different guilds get along fine, each catering to their own
customers and engaging in friendly rivalries. On other planets, the
same guilds fight it out tooth and nail, using every weapon in their
arsenal to destroy the competition. Still, no matter how fiercely
they compete with one another, they all understand that they have
common enemies.
Should nobles or Church leaders attempt to take advantage of
the League’s internal squabbling, the guilds will do their best to
put up a united front. By the same token, if a League member is
being unjustly threatened by outsiders, other guild members may
act to protect her. Of course, if they feel they have nothing to gain
and everything to lose, they will abandon her without a second
thought and only slight regret.
Guild leaders, called deans, try to maintain some sort of order
within the league but trying to get this many strong-minded
and competing individuals to agree on anything is a task. Each
Leaguemeister, the official head of all the guilds, comes to power
with a pledge to lead all the guilds in harmony but somehow this
never seems to work out.
C harioteers
The Charioteers hold the most prominent position among the
guilds because they control the roads to the stars. Any citizen
who wants passage on a ship must go through the Charioteers (or
Travellers Guild, as they are also called). They own most of the
jumproutes and maps; woe be to those who muscle in on their
territory. The Charioteers are what most common folk think of
when they talk about the guilds. Most common merchants are
members of this guild or its subsidiaries. They are the most well-
known traders and their travelling ‘medicine shows’ and bazaars
are a popular seasonal feature on many worlds. The Charioteers
began as a star pilots guild. Many Second Republic citizens owned
and flew their own ships and began their own trading businesses
between the worlds (one of the more popular start-ups at the
time); many of them sought entry into the guild. This transformed
the Charioteers into a more active merchant’s guild.
The leadership of the guild is perhaps the most active in the Known
Worlds. Even its oldest deans continue to cruise the trade routes,
buying low and selling high. Most people have seen at least one
of its members, dressed in clothes, which could only have been
designed to attract as much attention as possible, standing in a
town square, making the guild’s clarion call, ‘You want it, I got it!’
People friendly with the Charioteers can buy almost anything
from them and its guild members have access to one of the
greatest information networks in existence, allowing them to sell
knowledge as well as goods. However, its members are renowned
for giving lip service to whatever religion will get them the most
sales that day and often attract unwanted attention from the clergy.
Some nobles seem to believe that the Charioteers support the
creation of the Third Republic and are secretly building it. While
no evidence has yet been uncovered, merchants of the Charioteers
are often watched carefully. On the other hand, commerce between
the stars would stop completely if anything happened to this guild.
They own far more ships than any other single group and while
they may not have as many warships as the Hawkwoods or the
Decados, their small merchant vessels are sometimes surprisingly
well-armed.
T he S upreme
O rder of E ngineers
High technology is at a premium in the Known Worlds, for those
who understand it are few. Many of them are members of this
guild. When a starship needs to be constructed or repaired, when
a personal shield has burnt out and needs fixing, when an arm has
been blown off and needs replacing, an Engineer is the only one
to summon.
This is one of the least-known guilds, for it makes no effort to sell
product to the peasantry. Instead it has concentrated its efforts on
developing new technologies and ensuring that no one else makes
the same discoveries. Its hidden labs and concealed factories
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 have churned out extraordinary innovations in cybernetics,
genetic engineering, explosives, space flight, medicine and other
areas. The Engineers have in turn made the results of these
breakthroughs available to the rich and powerful, for only the
wealthiest can afford them. Additionally, the Engineers have
gone to great lengths to ensure that their customers do not try to
duplicate the technical innovations.
For this reason, there are many who refuse to deal with the
Engineers – or at least that’s what they say. Others note that
the Engineers appear to be their own best customers and that is
extremely unnerving to many. It is rare to meet an Engineer who
has not used his own body altering technology on himself, giving
himself cybernetic implants, physical modifications or strange
cosmetic additions. A first meeting with an Engineer is guaranteed
to be at least unnerving, if not downright petrifying.
An additionally upsetting aspect of the Supreme Order of
Engineers is its connection to the Church. No one, either in the
Church or in the order, will deny that almost 1,000 years ago the
Engineers were once either a holy order or part of a holy order.
Whatever happened in those ancient times remains a mystery
today but Church leaders have done little to either discipline this
group or bring it back into the flock. Some guild members worry
that the Engineers have maintained their ties to the Church. Some
Church officials worry about the same thing and whisper that the
holy order the Engineers broke away from still exists in secret.
Their worries are heightened by the fact that the Supreme Order
of Engineers is also one of the most secretive guilds. Getting
information from the Engineers is next to impossible and even
other League members find it difficult to communicate with them.
The Engineers have structured their guild in such a way that new
members know almost nothing and discretion is a key component
to advancement.
S cravers
Scravers hide behind a veneer of ‘respectability’ in the form of
a scavengers guild. They make their mark by recovering and
refitting derelict spacecraft, patching together Second Republic
artefacts everyone else deemed beyond redemption and by finding
artefacts where no one thought any could be. But this is only one
part of their interstellar enterprise. Anything the Charioteers
or Engineers cannot sell legitimately somehow ends up in
the Scravers’ hands and passes through their vast network with
no questions asked. When casinos appear on a planet, they are
probably owned by the Scravers. If a brothel appears protected
from both the law and the Church, it probably belongs to the
Scravers. If peasants begin organising and demanding better
wages, nobles blame the Scravers. The Scravers have mastered the
art of finding income everyone else has passed on.
They tend to hide behind the cover of various sub-guilds and are
master spies. They have dirt on just about every major political
figure imaginable and are ready to use it if the nobles, priest and
so forth, try to squash them. The occasional crime clean-up effort
is allowed but no real attempt to destroy this guild is tolerated.
They operate an underground network of spies and assassins for
hire to the royal houses.
50
Most citizens do not really link the scavengers to the mob, since
high-profile crime trials have cleared the scavengers guild of
wrongdoing (sure, there are always stories about rigged trials but
most peasants trust the law because they are medieval innocents,
not post-modern deconstructionists). The Scravers have their
hands in most of the usual guild businesses but they continue to
specialise in repairing and reselling old and (usually) abandoned
equipment. Buying from a Scraver means paying a cheap price but
getting what you pay for.
Scravers also have strong investments in gambling facilities
and some of their largest rehabilitated ships have become their
interstellar casinos. In space they escape the scrutiny of the
antigambling sects and this also allows them to pick up high
rollers from every planet. Of course, their gambling ties also mean
that they are constantly accused of having ties to every organised
crime figure in the Known Worlds; a charge they only half-
heartedly deny.
The Scravers are made up of many small local groups paying fealty
to deans but each claiming a lot of autonomy. They must pledge
their loyalty to their local organisation but also to the umbrella
group. This is a blood oath; joining one branch is for life and a
hidden tattoo is required as a mark of loyalty. Thus Scravers can
find welcome everywhere, albeit a suspicious one.
The Muster (Chainers)
While most guilds make their money from goods and services,
the Chainers make theirs off living beings. Their ships ferry
mercenaries, technicians, animals, foodstuffs and, some say,
slaves to their many customers. People who buy from them find
themselves constantly able to acquire skilled help for almost any
situation. They may also find themselves shanghaied or facing the
wrath of those who miss the skilled help.
The Muster is the freeperson’s labour guild, providing trained (but
union-regulated) labour for freepersons to various contractors.
Since skilled and trained talent is not easy to find since the Fall,
if you want a job done right, you must go through the Muster.
The guild was begun long ago as a soldier’s rights group for
mercenaries; in the centuries since the Fall, it has become the
union for all labourers.
However, this does not mean they are liberal watchdogs looking
out for human rights; the only rights sacred to them are those
of guild members (only freepersons can apply). It is one of the
hardest guilds in which to gain membership, because members
(skilled labour) get good benefits and security for the rest of their
lives. The Muster drives hard bargains for its skills.
For most Muster contracts, the work force is made up of ‘temps’
hired by the guild, with the sweet, managerial positions going to
Muster guildmembers. This is usually a good place for characters
to find a job when all else fails. However, the Muster prefers not
to pay its labour base at all and for that reason it acquires slaves.
This has given it the nickname ‘Chainers’. Slaves rarely provide
more than grunt labour but there is a lot of that needed in the
wide universe.
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Chainers are well-known among the peasantry for kidnapping
people on small worlds and shipping them off far away where
they will never be recognised. The Church frowns on this and
punishes it when discovered. Chainers tend to wear armour and
armour-like clothing and most carry weapons wherever they go
(even today, the high-ups in the guild are usually ex-mercenaries).
They often travel in packs and rarely pass up an opportunity to
raid for slaves. They are also thought to dabble in psychological
conditioning, and to have modified their merchandise accordingly.
The Reeves (Gray Faces)
The Reeves hold the reins of commerce and economy. They are
the Known World’s bankers. They also govern higher learning
and education, producing lawyers and philosophers. Many non-
papal courts require a Reeve to preside. In addition, the current
Leaguemeister is a Reeve (as was the last one).
The Reeves also provide some of the most talented advocates for
helping decide important matters. Church leaders will usually
accept a Reeve to defend a heretic when they would accept no one
else. Nobles caught up in disputes with one another are happy to
have a Reeve hear their disagreement but would prefer to have one
on their side. Of course, in a League dispute, any guild would like
to have a Reeve advocate on its side.
The Reeves do not engage in trade nearly as extensively as the
other families do but they are recognised as one of the leading
guilds primarily for their incredibly extensive money-lending
operations. Long ago their ancestors crafted special agreements
between themselves and some of the Royal Houses to ensure
that the houses would borrow from no one but them. While most
of these houses have since faded to irrelevance, the Reeves have
grown in prominence, often ending up with most of the houses’
possessions when they fail to pay off their loans. Those allied with
the Reeves do not receive much in the way of trade benefits but
they get their loans at extremely low rates. However, the Reeves are
very quick to mobilise the League Fleets or other enforcers at the
first sign of someone going into default. Of course, money is not
the only thing Reeves demand in exchange for their loans. They
have been known to delay or even cancel required payments but
then get the debtor to do certain favours for them. These favours
have ranged from simple labour to obtaining party invitations to
attacking enemies to obtaining noble titles to, as the story goes,
influencing the vote that made Alexius emperor.
Publicly the Reeve leaders appear to be the most conservative
of the League leaders but more than one has gotten into trouble
with the various sects for acts considered extremely unorthodox.
Usually the Reeves manage to get these incidents covered up and
do their best to maintain a staid and discreet appearance. Never
expect a Gray Face to wear the gaudy cloaks of the Charioteers or
the ominous robes of the Engineers.
By the same token, the Reeves have gone to great lengths to
suppress stories that would cast doubt on their legitimacy. The one
which gains the greatest credence and which seems to drive Reeve
leaders into fits of indignation, is that the earliest Reeves made
their money as pirates and their first loans were in fact ransoms.
No one can prove that this was the case but neither can the Reeves
disprove that ships under their protection are the least likely to be
attacked by corsairs.
T he L esser G uilds
Nobody knows just how many guilds exist throughout the Known
Worlds. At least 200 are part of the League and many more have
no official sanction. Many of these only exist on one planet and
often only in one city on that planet. Still, any activity a freeman
might want to engage in probably has a guild to support him.
Some of the better known of these lesser guilds cater to artists
and entertainers. Musicians and troubadours have two extremely
influential alliances, the Masque and the Carnivalers, allegations
of psychic training not withstanding. They, and several other
guilds, have forced the renowned League Academy to provide
facilities for its members. Even the court jesters have a small but
venerable guild and one of its finest members is on the Academy
faculty. Lesser guilds have made their mark on the League in a
number of ways. For instance, a printers’ guild has done much
to preserve non-religious books, though it has been careful not
to disseminate anything of which the Church might disapprove
(Church criticism, information on technological developments
or accurate histories). Not all of the printers’ work is in print,
however. They have also begun transcribing old documents kept
in an electronic format.
Some of these guilds provide a wide variety of functions but
limit their activities to a small area. For instance, the Morticus
Guild of Tethys originally began as a family bakery several
hundred years ago. Its members became wealthy enough (and
their liege impoverished enough) that they were able to buy
their freedom. Now they control a number of different trades on
Tethys, including labour on new buildings, hauling goods between
its two main cities, providing workers for artefact recovery and
overseeing all transactions between the planet’s human and native
alien populations.
A few guilds limit their activities to Leagueheim itself. Since
Leagueheim’s population is made up primarily of freemen,
most of its people have joined guilds. Thus the Courtesan Guild,
Ancient Society of Sacred Alchemists and the Purloiners Guild
may have branches elsewhere but they usually deny it. They can
be found on Leagueheim, however, displaying their goods and
services proudly.
I ndependents
Not all freemen belong to a guild. Some have either lost their guild
affiliation or never had one to begin with. These independent
agents often work for the guilds but sacrifice the protection and
stability such an organisation offers for freedom and autonomy.
They cannot call on back up when they are in trouble but they
also do not have to submit to someone else’s commands. This
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 arrangement is far from the norm in the Fading Suns, for almost
everyone is beholden to someone else. Independent agents are the
only people without a liege of some kind (though even they must
profess allegiance to the emperor).
While the guilds provide these independent agents with most of
their work, they are not the only customers who take advantage of
these unique arrangements. Nobles will seek them out, especially
when they do not want the guilds to become aware of certain tasks
or if they want to be able to deny any involvement. The Church
supports the feudal order even more fiercely than the nobles do,
but it uses free agents in its fight against heresy. After all, better
that someone living on the outskirts of society risks her soul than
someone at its heart.
A player interested in taking on the role of an independent agent
should determine not only what skills his character has developed
but why he has become an independent agent. If one of the guilds
kicked him out, then does he maintain any ties to the League?
If a noble recently made him a freeman, then why, and what
obligations does he still have to that noble? If the character ran
away from his previous obligations, be they to a noble or to the
Church, then does his previous master still pursue him?
An independent agent takes a great deal of risk in making his
way through the Known Worlds. These characters are best
suited for life on the outskirts of civilisation, perhaps near the
barbarian worlds or on newly rediscovered planets. The closer an
independent gets to the heart of civilisation, the more pressures he
will feel to commit to a master.
G uild T erritoriality
While most people know better than to trust a trader, few
understand just how deep the League’s involvement throughout
the Empire goes. Most people only see guildmembers visiting a
planet, setting up a small shop and selling their wares. The guilds
actively try to maintain this view of their operations, concealing
their massive installations and armies of mercenaries.
Those in the know believe the Merchant League has
committed itself to bringing about a new republic. Others
point to guild involvement in sabotaging technical research
and restricting planetary production as signs of a more
sinister goal.
Most of the guilds have a monopoly on at least one resource
or device. They guard these areas zealously, going to extremes
to ensure their continued mastery. For instance, the Engineers
have long been the sole provider of Lypee-55, a key ingredient
in longevity serums. Rumour has it that at one point House Li
Halan began synthesising the liquid in their labs on Manitou. The
Engineers uncovered what the house was up to and offered the
Li Halan a huge sum of money for it to stop. When the Li Halan
52
made it clear that they would do no such thing, the Engineers
offered them a Philosophers Stone. When that did not work, a
number of Manitou’s power plants malfunctioned and exploded.
Only one was nuclear, but it took out the main laboratory complex
and the neighbouring city of 100,000 people. The Li Halan have
made no further study of Lypee-55.
Additionally, individual guilds often battle each other, both
militarily and financially. Alliances within the League seem to
shift with the solar winds and today’s ally becomes tomorrow’s
stepping stone. While most of the guilds have staked out the
area they claim as their own, providing a variety of goods and
services within that region, the boundaries are rarely fixed. It is
not uncommon for a Royal House to ‘request’ that a guild set
up shop in territory previously controlled by another guild. This
creates competition within that territory, driving down prices and
stimulating the local economy. It can also have the unintended
effect of creating violent competition, wrecking the local economy
and killing scores of innocent bystanders.
The guilds usually hire outside agents to handle these matters,
preferring to keep their most loyal forces engaged against non-
merchant opponents. Freelancers can earn a great deal raiding
enemy guild warehouses, stealing their secrets and assassinating
key people. These same freelancers are often the first ones
sacrificed when the guilds make up or need to cover their tracks.
A cademy I nteratta
Despite the incessant battles between the guilds, when they have
worked together they have accomplished some incredible feats.
One of these is the mighty League Starfleet. Another, and perhaps
more important, achievement is the Academy Interatta, the
only major educational facility not under the Church’s control.
Located on Leagueheim, the Academy is the one place where
guildmembers can meet peacefully, getting to know each other
before learning how to stab one another in the back.
While this is the view most people have of the Academy Interatta,
others tell a darker story. No research is forbidden at the Academy,
they say, and its teachers and students have delved into the darkest
areas of knowledge. Of course, the guild dismisses such stories as
Church propaganda but the legends persist. Tales of researchers
whose hair turned white overnight, professors who went mad
after viewing vile videotexts in its famous library and students
sacrificed to dark gods abound.
Other people say that these reports grew out of the constant politics
that go on between and within the Academy’s many departments.
Professors and department heads have accused each other of
everything from body odour to plagiarism to pederasty to murder to
genocide. Sometimes the accusations are true; usually they are just
additional weapons in the battle for Academy funding and prestige.
2
While the politicking within the Academy is usually related to the
different departments and not the different guilds, individual guilds
certainly make their presence felt. The Muster has ensured that
the Academy fund a military affairs department with ties to the
League Starfleet. The Engineers influence much of the technical
research carried out at the Academy. Even the Courtesans Guild
had amazingly little difficulty in adding one of its members to the
faculty.
The Academy itself is a sprawling entity, with classes and research
taking place all over Leagueheim and even at a few locations off
planet. Students and guilds pay the professors directly and the
professors pool much of their income in order to maintain and
upgrade the facilities. Much of the Academy’s best features have
been donated directly by one guild or another.
Indeed, the entire League backs the Academy Interatta to an
extreme degree. Many League leaders spent at least some time as
students at the Academy and most of these have fond memories of
their time there. They also recognise its need as a central storehouse
for knowledge. One of the Academy’s strongest departments, as
well as the one which appears most free of guild meddling, is the
Reclamation Department. This agency is dedicated to finding
and recovering lost wisdom and it receives incredible amounts of
funding for this purpose. While it usually pays for lost data, it has
been known to send heavily armed mercenary teams to recover
ancient records and old spaceship logs. Since these operations
tend to upset priests and nobles wherever the mercenaries go, the
Reclamation Department only resorts to such efforts when it feels
the need is greatest, or when it can get away with it.
P iracy
None of the major powers officially condones piracy but it
continues nonetheless. Nobles blame the guilds, the guilds blame
the nobles and everyone casts a worried eye at some of the more
fervent sects. No one can deny that the problem grew during the
Emperor Wars and continues at high levels. The Emperor has
said he will bring it under control but has committed most of his
resources to his new efforts against the barbarians. What little he
has sent against the pirates has not met with much success.
The League would seem to have the most to lose from the pirates
but has done little more than the Emperor. Aside from some highly
publicised attacks on freelance pirates, the guilds seem to prefer
paying ransoms to mounting pirate-hunting expeditions. This
does nothing to quell tales of guild-financed pirates or ambushes
carried out by one guild on an enemy within the League.
Of course, everybody tries to pass the blame off on barbarians
and aliens. In fact, both barbarians and aliens have been captured
raiding merchant vessels. Some of the most extreme alien-
independence organisations have even attempted to license
privateers or raid shipping on their own. These have raised an
immediate hue and cry from the nobles and guilds, who combined
forces to drive these pirates from the stars.
Contrary to popular belief, the pirates’ general strategy is not to
attack a merchant ship with blaster cannons blazing. This creates
far too much risk of losing valuable cargo. Pirates infinitely prefer
fast ships to heavily armed ones and they close with their targets
as quickly as possible, broadcasting threats of what they will do to
anyone who resists them.
Most ships have only minimal crews anyway, most of whom have
little to lose if pirates take the ship. Pirates rarely kill ship crews,
only punishing them if they resist. Most crew members prefer to
surrender at once or after putting up only a token resistance. The
pirates’ board at will, take the cargo (and the ship if they have
enough men) and set the crew adrift in lifecraft.
There are exceptions to this rule. Mad Carnegie Jones gained
a reputation for torturing and killing the crews of the ships he
captured, jettisoning their bodies off into space. His career ended
shortly before the Emperor Wars when a merchant ship resisted
and ended up ramming his craft. The attack destroyed both ships,
and Jones was left to die in space.
Searching out space pirates is especially difficult. Since merchants
tend to fly certain predetermined routes designed to make space
travel as fast and inexpensive as possible, pirates have little problem
ambushing a suitable target. Additionally, pirates who operate in
certain areas seem to have excellent contacts in the nearby space
ports. These can tell them about tempting targets as well as possible
threats. Pirate hunters rarely have these luxuries. They have to try
to discover where pirates make their bases, disguise themselves
and sail the trade routes, or capture space port informants. Then
they have to defeat the pirates in battle.
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 Aliens
There are a number of sentient races living in the Known Worlds.
Almost all of them have suffered some indignity at the hands of
humans. For most, it was the claiming of their homeworld by
human colonists and the resulting terraforming that completely
altered their ancestral home.
Many of these races became homeless refugees, herded onto
reservations a mere fraction of the size of their previous homes
or, worse still, onto different worlds entirely. For others, it was the
wars which decimated their populations, leaving the survivors to
eke out a living from human charity, carefully watched for any
sign of rebellion. Most of these poor souls yearn to escape Human
Space, even if it means leaving their natural environments behind
and aliens are in the forefront of new space exploration.
Not all are unhappy, however. There are more than a few cases
in which aliens have benefited from human intervention. The
Etyri of Grail were in danger of dying out due to the predation
of vicious beasts before they could develop sufficient tech to save
themselves from their hunters. But humans arrived, recognised
the Etyri’s sentience, and built safe reservations for them, also
providing weapons that more than evened the odds against their
predators. The fact that their predators might also have been
sentient did nothing to stop humans from aiding their extinction.
Three other major races claim some political, economic or military
power and are granted certain concessions from the Empire, giving
them more rights and freedoms on their homeworlds than most
aliens enjoy. While they have all been under human rule since the
Diaspora (Second Republic at the latest), they accept this for the
most part, although there are those individuals who chaff under
such ‘bondage’. These three races are detailed here.
T he C hildren of the Ur
The Ur races (also known as the Anunnaki) are the oldest
known races. They disappeared before humans reached the stars,
leaving behind many powerful artefacts, including the jumpgates
which make star travel possible. Their purpose is a mystery, as
is the nature of their legacy: What happened to them? Did they
intentionally leave the jumpgates for the younger races to use? Too
many questions remain unanswered.
The Ur are known to have interfered with certain races before
these races achieved solar system or star travel and many believe
that they directly helped the Vau to reach the stars. Humans argue
about their secret influence in ancient human affairs, although
there is no definitive proof of this. Their influence in the Known
54
Worlds can most clearly be seen in the cousin races, the Obun and
the Ukar. These young races are called the Children of the Ur, or
more simply, the Ur-Obun and the Ur-Ukar.
While these Ur Children know very little of the Anunnaki, their
myths and legends tell of godlike beings who shaped their cultures,
weaving the fates of Obun and Ukar alike for good or ill in a sort
of cosmic chess match.
One pantheon of gods is believed to have won out over their rivals,
with the result that the rivals’ pawns were removed from their
homeworld and placed in a vicious, adversarial environment to
rebuild their tattered and displaced culture: the Ukar. The Obun,
pawns of the victorious gods, enjoyed a golden age of peace,
learning and spiritual study.
Then, the gods withdrew from the lives of mortals, leaving the
Obun and the Ukar to develop on their own. That was many
millennia ago and the two races have travelled down radically
different paths since. During this time, the Obun fell back into
barbarism but regained their civilisation through a renewal in
spiritual doctrines and discipline. The Ukari have had a warlike
and aggressive culture ever since the gods betrayed them.
Regardless of the vast amount of time that passed during their
separation, the Obun and Ukar language has remained similar
enough that fluent speakers of one tongue can sometimes
understand the other. The appearance and design of their tech
shows obvious Ur influence but is rarely more advanced than
current Known Worlds standards.
U r -O bun
The Obun had not explored beyond their solar system before the
Second Republic arrived to usher them into the commonwealth
of Known Space. They were treated better than most alien races
due to their obvious link to the Ur but they were no longer the
masters of their own destiny. One of the first Obun to explore
the stars was Ven Lohji, who became one of the Prophet’s eight
disciples and returned to Obun after the Prophet’s death to preach
her message, creating what would become the Obun sect of the
Universal Church (Voavenlohji in the Obun language). However,
an unfortunate incident during the Dark Ages involving an Ur-
Obun priest and a Church bishop resulted in a religious war
which wiped out a large part of the Ur-Obun population. Most
of them still live on their homeworld of Velisimil, under the
watchful auspices of House Hawkwood.
2
Obun have few strictly defined family units. They honour their
mother and father but the task of raising a child is taken up by
every Obun. An uncle or aunt will often take charge of a child’s
schooling but all Obun have a responsibility to the child. When
an Obun goes bad (becomes a criminal or murderer), those Obun
involved in his upbringing blame themselves and usually retreat
from their worldly duties for spiritual contemplation or pilgrimage,
pondering what they did wrong.
The Obun have a government composed of an elected Ruling
Council called the Umo’rin. Candidates must volunteer for public
duty and must pass the ‘Ordeal’: a rigorous test of the applicant’s
physical, mental and spiritual capabilities. Once the candidate has
passed this test (most do not), his or her seat on the council is
rarely contested. They are one of the very few races in the Known
Worlds who do not have a noble, although there are levels of rank
in the Ruling Council which are somewhat equivalent.
U r -U kar
The Ur-Ukar obviously did not belong on the planet from which
they began their star-faring. The surface of Kordeth is hostile
to life and the Ukari are forced to live beneath the surface in a
network of tunnels circling the globe. Their legends speak of a
great wrong done by one of their kind in ‘heaven’ and they were
banished by the gods to this hell in retribution.
The Ukar achieved space travel before their cousins, the Obun,
but were blocked by the Second Republic after colonising only
three other systems. A blockade war against the Ukari homeworld
lasted for decades, with the Ukari finally suing for peace and
accepting reservations on their claimed worlds while the Republic
took over the governance of these planets.
Traditional natives of the Ukari homeworld live the first five years
of their lives in near or total darkness. At age six, they are ‘brought
to the light,’ or slowly acclimated to light and surface living. Due
to their lightless beginnings, touch is more important to them
than sight, although their sight has never become atrophied. They
carve their bodies with raised tattoos or carvings (called baa’mon)
spelling out their names (on their faces) and their deeds (on their
chests, arms and legs). Ukarish as a written language is a sort of
short-form Braille, meant to be ‘read’ off someone’s skin (although
the language has been adopted for books).
Ukar from reservations on other worlds have similar traditions but
they often live in light since birth and usually do not read Ukar
tattoos as easily. There is often a low-level but mutual disdain
between homeworlders and ‘rez’ Ukari. They come from strong
family clans and wage feuds against rival clans. These feuds began
when the early Ukari fought over limited resources but resentment
has been handed down generationally even in times of abundant
resources.
Certain clans hold leadership positions over other clans because
they were able to convince human noble houses to recognise them
over other clans, although they do not seem well-liked by the
‘lesser’ clans.
V orox
Multi-limbed monstrosities. The ultimate predators on their
homeworld, the Vorox should never have achieved sentience. All
the known rules about natural selection deny it. But they did and
with seemingly no coaxing from without. Certainly, it is a crude
and unsophisticated sentience but this may simply be due to the
limitations of their crude culture. Critics debate: Are Vorox the
equal of human intelligence?
Evidence suggests not, but those few who have escaped the
bonds of their violent culture have proven otherwise. They have
coloured fur and are immune to many poisons (a by-product of
their very toxic, nasty evolutionary environment) and they cannot
eat vegetables. They can walk on two legs (leaving four arms free),
four legs (leaving two free), or six legs for the best speed.
There are two types of Vorox: feral and civilised. Feral Vorox
are not unintelligent; they simply do not have the benefits of a
technological society. They are not allowed off-planet, for they
are considered brutal and dangerous. Civilised Vorox are those
who have had their claws cut, and are thus ‘tamed.’ This cutting
usually takes place at puberty and the Vorox is then educated in
what culture and learning exists in their crude society. Civilised
Vorox are allowed offworld and perform a variety of functions
for Known World governments. The de-clawing ceremony began
as a ritual imposed on Vorox culture by humans but eventually
became a source of pride for the civilised Vorox, a sign that they
had evolved past their brutal cousins of the jungle. They have an
odd religion (although no theurgy) which guarantees a soul only
to those Vorox who have accepted civilisation, the rest are believed
to be feral animals trapped in a cycle of meaningless eating and
being eaten.
The royal caste of Vorox are allowed to keep one claw, which
secretes a poison deadly to humans and Vorox. This potent symbol
of their rule has often gotten them in trouble off-world.
B eyond the B orders
There are two major alien races outside of Human Space: the Vau
and the Symbiots. The Vau are the oldest and most advanced race
yet encountered (the Ur are older but a living Ur has never been
met and nobody even knows what they looked like). The Symbiots
are the newest star-faring race, born from a melding of human and
Xolotl (a parasitic entity), although they have ‘converted’ other
races since their genesis and seem intent on claiming many worlds
within humanspace.
T he V au
Pronounced Vow, heavily nasal at the end.
The Vau are an ancient race who first achieved star travel in the
1800s (human time). Very little is known about their ways and
they purposefully keep it that way. The Vau actively guard their
borders against human intrusion but they rarely enter Human
Space themselves. They seem to view Known Worlders as
unwelcome children, although they are rarely overtly hostile to
55
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 them. The philosophy seems to be, ‘As long as they stay on their
side of the fence, we’ll get along fine.’
They have a caste society, with a peasant class on the bottom, a
soldier class above, an artisan class above that and a mandarin
class (including priests) at the top. Little detail of the intricacies
of Vau culture is understood, for few humans have been firsthand
witness to it. The mandarins are not the leaders but they are the
only diplomats humans are allowed to meet. They seem to be
bureaucrats for the most part, ferrying messages back and forth
from the true Vau leaders, who have yet to be encountered.
There are three worlds along the borders of Known Space where
Vau maintain some form of presence, although humans are rarely
allowed to see too deeply into their activities there. The fact that
the Vau eventually allowed humans to colonise these worlds
caused many to believe that the Vau were finally beginning to
accept humans, but more cynical people (the colonists among
them) claim that colonies were only allowed because the Vau want
to scrutinise humans for weaknesses.
The Vau are tall (averaging seven feet in height) and thin. Their
skin is somewhat wrinkled, and they have nostrils in place of
protruding noses. Their eyes are pupil-less, although they vary
in colour, unlike those of the Children of the Ur. They dress
in different fashions depending on their caste status: Soldiers
invariably wear segmented and lacquered armour with an energy
pike while mandarins wear long and ornate robes with elegant
shoulder and headpieces.
Vautech is elegant and aesthetic, with graceful curving lines and
seductive sigils. Most devices involve energy of some sort, even
simple tools. Their technology was superior to humanity’s during
the Diaspora but the Second Republic exceeded it in some areas.
However, since the fall of the Republic, the Vau are again in the
lead. They do not have a progressive society and their technology
has changed little since before the Second Republic. The basis of
their tech, like their religion, medicine and culture, is energy. They
are masters of forces. Energy shields were created from stolen
Vautech; if you want a first-class shield, a Vau engineer is where
you go to get it. However, since the Vau are forbidden to trade
technology to humans, this is a secretive black market.
S ymbiots
Shapeshifters. Parasites. Godless beasts who turn friends into foes.
These are some of the various facts and/or beliefs humans have
about Symbiots but little is really understood about this new race
and great threat to human hegemony over the Known Worlds.
56
The Symbiots claim to perceive a ‘lifeweb’ stretching across
space, knitting and weaving deeply into planets and across the
stars. They are apparently out to claim supreme hunting rights
over their food chain, or are protecting it from harm. Each
Symbiot is a unique creature and finds it hard to confederate with
fellow Symbiots. Nonetheless, tribes or clans have developed
among them but nothing is known by humans about these family
groups. They breed among themselves, creating bloodlines by
selecting strong genetic traits but also by parasitically ‘converting’
other races (human, Ur-Obun or Ukar, Vorox). They claim the
conversion is voluntary once the target has seen the Lifeweb
but Known Worlders do not believe this claim for a moment;
they have seen firsthand what happens when friends and family
have been converted: they turn into bestial killing machines or
seductive parasites.
Symbiots have a ‘motherform,’ the base shape that they are most in
tune with and this is usually tied to a particular species of flora or
fauna, such as an oak or a bear. They are molecularly amorphous
(shapeshifters) and claim to have a special, mystical relationship
with the universe. Some claim that they have awakened their
cellular consciousness and exist in more than one dimension.
The Xolotl, the race which co-created the Symbiots, are believed
to be extinct; those encountered on Chernobog are thought to have
been the remnants of a previously extant star-faring race, or the
‘pets’ of an extinct star-faring race who seeded them throughout
many worlds (fossil remnants have been discovered). No Xolotl
has been encountered since the initial Symbiot conversion,
although the Imperial Eye is said to be desperate to find one that
they can study, hoping to glean a weakness with which to attack
the Symbiots.
A Symbiot’s motherform is an organic blend of human/animal
or human/plant, with a definite emphasis on the human side. A
human Symbiot can pass among other humans as long as no one
gets a real good look at him but he will often be revealed if seen
naked in full light. Some feature always betrays his true race, be
it fur, carapace, fangs, claws, cat-eyes, leaves and branches, horns,
tail, etc. But they are shapeshifters, and can take on different
shapes as needed. Alien Symbiots, such as Ur-Obun or Vorox,
look like representatives of their race with animal or plant feature
exceptions.
Symbiot technology is organic and alive: living guns and bullets,
swords and Krinth-flesh armour, acid-spitting Shexeez snakes
and so on. They grow this non-sentient equipment from plants or
raise them as animals. Each tribe has its own methods and special
organic technology. Even their spaceships are organic.
2

Rarely do two fleets happen to meet in the depths of space and
then begin taking pot shots at one another. More likely, each will
have their own tactical or strategic objective to meet, handed down
to them from their commanders. Fighting a battle in A Call to
Arms: Noble Armada is about far more than simply annihilating
the enemy. You have to be cunning, cautious and able to keep your
own objectives in mind even as the enemy accomplishes his.
Using Scenarios
These objectives are why we use scenarios in A Call to Arms:
Noble Armada. It is a relatively simply matter to set up two fleets
on opposite sides of the table and watch them pound one another.
Once you factor in tactical objectives, such as sweeping an enemy
out of an area of space or protecting a merchant convoy, however,
things can get quite interesting!
Conflict Intensity
Games of A Call to Arms: Noble Armada are graded for their
Conflict Intensity, a measure of how large and wide-ranging each
fight is. With this system, you can play a small encounter across a
border, or a full scale battle that could affect the fate of an entire
world.
The Conflict Intensity of a game is decided by players before they
build their forces and affects the number of points they can spend
on their fleets and the minimum size of the battlefield.
Conflict Intensity Points Limit Minimum Table Size
Patrol 500 or less 4 ft. x 4 ft. or less
Skirmish 500-1,000 4 ft. x 4 ft.
Raid 1,000-1,500 6 ft. x 4 ft.
Battle 1,500-2,000 6 ft. x 4 ft.
War 2,000 or more 6 ft. x 4 ft. or more
A 500 point Patrol level battle will take you 30-40 minutes to play,
once you have become used to the rules and fleets, while a 2,000
point Battle could take an entire evening!
Once the Conflict Intensity and points value have been decided
and you know which scenario you are playing, you can start
building a fleet to use. Details on how to do this can be found on
page 88.
Scenarios
Each scenario has a number of entries that describe how players
should approach the battle.
Fleets: Some scenarios impose limitations on one or both fleets.
For example, a scenario may require a fleet to be a certain number
of points or use a certain Conflict Intensity level, while another
may specify specific ships to take.
Pre-Battle Preparation: This entry covers everything players
need to do before the game begins, including how to set up the
battlefield and where fleets should be deployed.
Scenario Rules: Any special rules used by the scenario will be
recorded here.
Game Length: Most scenarios are played until one side gains
victory, though some have strict time limits.
Victory and Defeat: A list of the conditions required for either
player to win the scenario. Check for these conditions at the end
of every End Phase.
Victor y Points
Many scenarios have specific objectives that have to be achieved
in order for a player to be victorious. Others, however, use Victory
Points as a measure of how well a player performed. The player
who accrues the most Victory Points during a game will be the
winner.
In such scenarios, Victory Points are earned for the following
actions.
Destroying an Enemy Ship: Gain Victory Points equal to half its
points value.
Capturing an Enemy Ship: Gain Victory Points equal to its points
value.
Note that if you capture an enemy ship and the opposing player
later destroys it, then you only receive the Victory Points for its
destruction. The opposing player receives no Victory Points for
this, but has at least denied you the extra points!
57
2
 For each Enemy Ship or Fighter Making a Tactical Withdrawal:
Gain Victory Points equal to one quarter of its points value. This will
include fighters on board a ship that makes a Tactical Withdrawal.
For each Enemy Ship that is Crippled: Gain Victory Points equal
to one quarter its points value.
Note that you can only gain Victory Points from a ship once,
though you always gain the highest possible Victory Points. If, for
example, you Cripple an enemy ship and then capture it, you will
gain its value in Victory Points, not its value plus a quarter, or any
other combination.
For Holding Ground: If you have at least one ship on the table
at the end of the game but your opponent does not, gain 100
Victory Points. This does not apply to any scenarios that feature
58
one fleet gaining Victory Points for leaving the table.
For Destroying a Fighter: Gain Victory Points equal to its points
value.
Note that you will only earn this for permanently destroying a
fighter. If a fighter is destroyed and then recovered by a ship with
the Carrier trait, you get no Victory Points for it!
Attacking and Defending
Many scenarios require the players to decide who is the attacker
and who is the defender. If you do not want to decide between
yourselves, roll one dice each and add your fleet’s Initiative
score, re-rolling ties. The highest scoring player will be the
attacker.
2
 A mbush
A small fleet has laid a trap for a much larger enemy. Using stealth, guile and surprise, it will launch a devastating attack and then quickly
withdraw, leaving the enemy scattered, confused and unable to respond. That is, at least in theory, the plan. In reality, the ambushing fleet
must use all its skill to avoid simply flying into the waiting guns of the enemy.

Fleets: The attacker has half the points of the defender available for his fleet.

Pre-Battle Preparation: The defending fleet is placed in the central deployment area marked on the map, with all ships pointing towards
one short table edge. The attacker picks one of the deployment areas that run alongside the long table edges. He may place stellar debris
as he wishes in this deployment area – all other stellar debris is generated randomly. He then places his ships in this deployment area.

Scenario Rules: The attacker automatically wins Initiative in the first turn. The defending player may only act normally with his ships if
they first pass a Crew Quality check (target number 10). If a ship fails this check, it must move six inches (or up to its maximum Speed
if less than six) in a straight line with no Special Actions and will not be able to act in the Attack Phase.

Game Length: Eight turns, or until the attacker has withdrawn, or until one side has no ships on the table (Running Adrift and destroyed
ships do not count as viable ships), whichever happens first.

Victory and Defeat: This scenario uses Victory Points in order to determine who wins. However, the defending player does not gain
Victory Points for enemy ships that tactically withdraw.

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 A nnihilation
For those safe on the worlds of the Royal Houses, wars in space are slow, studied affairs, a far cry from the terror and unleashing of
mighty energies that make a typical battle. There have been times in history, however, when the raw emotion of the fight has worked its
way up to the highest levels. During these times of total war, it is not enough that a strategically important objective be taken. Nothing
less than the total and utter destruction of the enemy will do, to wipe their fleets from the map and boil their planets with weapons of
mass destruction.

Fleets: Players select a Conflict Intensity level and choose their fleets freely.

Pre-Battle Preparation: Roll for Initiative – the losing fleet will be forced to set up first. The fleets are deployed anywhere within their
own deployment zones as shown on the scenario map. Stellar debris is generated randomly.

Scenario Rules: None.

Game Length: Until the victory conditions have been met.

Victory and Defeat: For the fleets involved in this battle, damage sustained by their own ships is of little importance so long as the enemy
suffers more. This battle will continue until all the ships on one side have been destroyed or captured. The winner is the fleet with at least
one ship remaining on the table.

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 A ssassination
War can get personal very quickly and the Royal Houses may begin taking an interest in particular personalities on the other side. Very
often, in the midst of battle, fleets may be ordered to do everything they can to destroy a specific vessel. This may be a ship thought to
be carrying an important personage, perhaps a military genius, or it may be home to an ace crew who have been dealing damage to the
allied side out of all proportion to their normal tactical worth. Whatever the reason, orders have been given that under no account can
this ship be permitted to live.

Fleets: Players select a Conflict Intensity level and choose their fleets freely.

Pre-Battle Preparation: The defender deploys his fleet first. The defender selects a ship of the highest points value or, in Patrol level
games, selects any one ship of his choice. This ship is the attacker’s target, the one marked for assassination. Stellar debris is generated
randomly.

Scenario Rules: None.

Game Length: Eight turns, or until one fleet withdraws or either side has no ships on the table (Running Adrift, destroyed and surrendered
ships do not count as viable ships).

Victory and Defeat: This scenario uses Victory Points in order to determine who wins. However, the attacker will earn +100 bonus
Victory Points if he destroys his target ship (boarding does not count – the attacker wants to absolutely destroy his enemy!). If the target
ship is still on the table at the end of the game, the defender receives +100 bonus Victory Points.

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 B lockade
Rather than take the time and trouble to bring the enemy to battle, a large fleet will often simply blockade a system or other strategically
important target. Forcing the enemy to run through this blockade, the fleet will have the chance of destroying its enemy piecemeal. For
their part, the blockade runners have the chance of defeating the blockade and making their way through without engaging the larger
fleet in a full-scale battle.

Fleets: The attacker (the blockade-runner) has half the points of the defender (the blockader) available for his fleet.

Pre-Battle Preparation: The blockading player deploys his fleet first. The blockade-runner will move all his ships on from anywhere
along his table edge in the first turn.

Scenario Rules: None.

Game Length: Eight turns, or until the victory conditions have been met.

Victory and Defeat: This scenario uses Victory Points in order to determine who wins. The blockading player scores Victory Points
normally. The blockade-running player only scores Victory Points for moving ships off the blockader’s long table edge. He gains the
full Victory Point value of every ship moved off the table in this way, regardless of its condition. The blockader’s long table edge and
the two short table edges belong to the blockader for the purposes of tactical withdrawal. The opposite long table edge belongs to the
blockade-runner.

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 C all to A rms
Every war has its first shots fired. In space, this often happens when two fleets have been put on high alert and hostilities are expected.
Many patrols are sent out to gain intelligence on the enemy and when two opposing patrols meet, neither are likely to ask questions. The
war begins with the small clash of these patrolling ships.

Fleets: Players select a Conflict Intensity level and choose their fleets freely.

Pre-Battle Preparation: Roll for Initiative – the losing fleet will be forced to set up first. The fleets are deployed anywhere in their own
deployment zones as shown on the scenario map. This clash takes place in deep space and so no stellar debris or planets are required
unless both players agree to their use.

Scenario Rules: None.

Game Length: Eight turns, or until either side has no ships on the table (Running Adrift and destroyed ships do not count as viable
ships).

Victory and Defeat: This scenario uses Victory Points in order to determine who wins.

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 C arrier C rash
Carrier ships are some of the most valued components in a fleet. Forming carrier groups with several escorting vessels, their captains are
expected to be able to win entire battles by themselves. To become the captain of a carrier is to gain a position of immeasurable trust and
responsibility and only the most well connected or tactically astute can ever hope to be rewarded in this way. When two carrier groups
meet in battle, observers will be treated to some of the most exciting action possible in space combat.

Fleets: Players select a Conflict Intensity level. Both fleets must have one ship with at least two flights of auxiliary craft. All other ships
in the fleet must be of an equal or lower points value than this ship.

Pre-Battle Preparation: Roll for Initiative as normal – the losing fleet will be forced to set up first. The fleets are deployed anywhere in
their own deployment zones as shown on the scenario map. Stellar debris is generated randomly.

Scenario Rules: None.

Game Length: Eight turns, or until either side has no ships on the table (Running Adrift and destroyed ships do not count as viable
ships).

Victory and Defeat: This scenario uses Victory Points in order to determine who wins. The short table edges are considered to belong to
the player who has his deployment zone there for the purposes of tactical withdrawal. The long table edges are considered to be neutral.

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 R econ R un
Information is critical in war and a lack of it can get people killed quicker than a neutron laser. Small squadrons of ships will often
undertake breathtakingly dangerous missions just to gain a little knowledge of their enemy, making high speed passes while scanners
probe targets for the slightest hint as to their true capabilities. Few ships on recon runs may return but if just one finds its way back to
base, the information it carries may prove critical to the war effort.

Fleets: Players select a Conflict Intensity level. The attacker has half the points of the defender.

Pre-Battle Preparation: The defending fleet is placed in the deployment area marked on the map. The attacker will move his ships on
from any one table edge he chooses in the first turn of the game. Stellar debris is generated randomly.

Scenario Rules: The objective of this scenario is for the attacker to successfully scan as many enemy ships as possible. To do this, he must
move a ship within 12 inches of an enemy ship and then roll 1d6, adding his Crew Quality score. On an eight or more, he successfully
scans the enemy. Each attacking ship can scan one defending ship per turn. However, they may not perform any Special Actions while
doing so. Fighters cannot scan ships.

Game Length: Eight turns, or until the end of the turn in which every defending ship has been scanned and at least one attacking ship
has left the table.

Victory and Defeat: This scenario uses Victory Points in order to determine who wins. However, the attacker gains an enemy ship’s
Victory Point value whenever he successfully scans it. Each enemy ship may only be scanned once.

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 R escue
A ship or probe damaged in neutral territory has fleets racing to snatch its contents. These may be important personnel, critical
reconnaissance data or a new, experimental weapon. Neither fleet can afford to see the target destroyed but nor can it be allowed to fall
into the enemy’s hands.

Fleets: Players select a Conflict Intensity level and choose their fleets freely.

Pre-Battle Preparation: Roll for Initiative as normal – the losing fleet will be forced to set up first. The fleets are deployed anywhere in
their own deployment zones as shown on the scenario map. Stellar debris is generated randomly. The objective ship is motionless for the
entire battle and cannot be boarded or fired upon.

Scenario Rules: None.

Game Length: Eight turns.

Victory and Defeat: This scenario uses Victory Points in order to determine who wins. The side that has a ship within six inches of the
objective ship at the end of the game will gain +100 bonus Victory Points. If both sides have ships within six inches, then the side with
the highest points costing ship will gain the bonus Victory Points. Neither side will gain the bonus Victory Points if both have ships of
equal points within six inches.

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 S pace S uperiority
Once open war has been declared, opposing fleets will begin fighting for strategically important areas of each star system. In some cases,
space itself may be possessed by a victorious fleet and this can be vital to the fleets of supply ships that will be required to keep the
warships operational. These battles of space superiority can be vicious and may in themselves ultimately decide the winner of the war.

Fleets: Players select a Conflict Intensity level and choose their fleets freely.

Pre-Battle Preparation: Roll for Initiative as normal – the losing fleet will be forced to set up first. The fleets are deployed anywhere in
their own deployment zones as shown on the scenario map. Stellar debris is generated randomly.

Scenario Rules: None.

Game Length: Eight turns.

Victory and Defeat: This scenario uses Victory Points in order to determine who wins. However, divide the battlefield up into a grid,
where each grid square is 24 inches squared. If a player has at least one ship (fighter flights do not count) in a square and no enemy
ships, then he gains +50 bonus Victory Points. Crippled ships and those Running Adrift may not claim a square in this manner. For the
purposes of tactical withdrawal, each short edge is considered to belong to the player who deployed along its length. Long table edges
are considered neutral.

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 B order D ispute
Not all nobles feel secure in the current order. Many keep a close eye on their rivals, regularly sending small squadrons of ships to one
another’s borders to ensure merchant shipping passes unmolested and to reconnoitre growing fleets. These patrols are always quickly met
by a rapidly reacting defence force and crews often tried to psyche one another out by engaging full weapon lock-ons upon their opposite
numbers. Most such mock engagements end with one side disengaging from an obviously superior force but, if tensions are running high,
fleets might actually open fire upon each other.

Fleets: The Conflict Intensity level is set at Patrol and players choose their fleets freely.

Pre-Battle Preparation: Roll for Initiative before deployment. The loser deploys his entire fleet first. The winner then deploys his entire
fleet. Only fighters bought as separate wings may be deployed at the start of the battle.

Scenario Rules: No actual weapons will be fired during the initial phases of this battle. Instead, a ship may target another that is in range
as if it were about to fire. It will automatically deal one point of Damage for every AD it can place on a target (multiplied as normal for
Multihit weapons). However, this is not actual Damage and no Critical Hits are dealt – it is strictly a measure of the strength of a ship’s
position in the mock battle and the lock-ons it achieves. If a ship is reduced to 0 Damage in this way, it must make a Tactical Withdrawal
as soon as possible. No boarding actions may be attempted.

Game Length: 10 turns.

Victory and Defeat: The battle continues until one fleet has been forced to make a Tactical Withdrawal. The victor is the fleet that gains
the most Victory Points. However, either fleet may choose to make this a real battle at any point. Instead of simply mock reducing a
target’s Damage score by the number of AD that can be placed upon it, real shots may be fired instead by rolling to hit as normal. When
this happens, every ship that has taken mock Damage automatically has its Damage score restored to normal. Every attack from now on
is made as normal, rolling dice and calculating actual damage. In addition, boarding actions may be attempted. The winner will be the
fleet that accrues the most Victory Points from both the mock battle and the real one.

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 G ravity W ell
A recent battle saw the loss of the flagship for one fleet but distress signals have been picked up from the admiral’s lifeboat. The signals
are being transmitted from within an asteroid that encircles are dangerously volatile star. A rescue attempt is launched immediately but it
soon becomes clear that the enemy have picked up the signals too, and are interested in having a little ‘chat’ with the admiral.

Fleets: Players select a Conflict Intensity level and choose their fleets freely.

Pre-Battle Preparation: Roll for Initiative as normal – the losing fleet will be forced to set up first. The fleets are deployed anywhere in
their own deployment zones as shown on the scenario map.

Scenario Rules: The asteroid field is Density 7. Any ship (not fighter flight) that is within the asteroid field during the End Phase and did
not perform any Special Actions in that turn may search for the admiral by rolling one dice – a bonus of +1 is added to this roll if any
friendly fighter flights are within six inches of the ship and are also within the asteroid field. On the roll of a six, the admiral’s lifeboat
has been found, and he will be immediately transported to the ship. If a ship carrying the admiral is boarded by the enemy and its Troops
completely wiped out, then the admiral may be immediately placed on board any ship friendly to the boarders that is within six inches.
In this way, the admiral may change hands several times during the battle!

In addition, fighting this close to an unstable star will cause its own problems for the fleet. The star’s immense gravity field will cause
every ship to be moved 1D6 inches (roll separately for each) directly towards the star’s table edge before the start of every Movement
Phase. Any ship that is within 18 inches of the star’s table edge in an End Phase will be forced to weather terrible radiation bursts and
solar flares. It will automatically suffer 1D3 critical hits.

Game Length: Until victory conditions are met.

Victory and Defeat: If a ship finds the admiral and leaves the table by any edge other than the star’s, its player may claim victory. If the
ship carrying the admiral is destroyed (or if he is never found!), then the battle is a draw.

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 I nvasion
A surprise attack is launched on a far-flung colony and the defending fleet has been caught completely unprepared. Utterly doomed and
unable to flee, the defenders must fight to the bitter end, hoping for reinforcements or just the slim chance that every minute they buy
means another civilian transport can escape.

Fleets: Players select a Conflict Intensity level and choose their fleets freely. The attacking player has half the points of the defending
player but receives a quarter of the defending player’s points value as reinforcements every turn after the first.

Pre-Battle Preparation: The defending fleet sets up first and is deployed anywhere in its deployment zone as shown on the scenario map.
The attacking fleet moves in from its table edge on the first turn. Stellar debris is generated randomly.

Scenario Rules: The attacking fleet receives a quarter of the defending player’s points as reinforcements at the start of every turn after the
first. These ships move in from the attacker’s table edge. The defending player may not perform any Tactical Withdrawals.

Game Length: Eight turns.

Victory and Defeat: The attacker wins if he can wipe out the defender’s fleet. The defender claims (a moral) victory if he has at least one
ship (not fighter) still on the table that is not Crippled.

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 K ing of the J ump G ate
A system far into unexplored space has gained the interest of many governments. Scouts and prospectors ran a full analysis on every
planet, and found the motherlode – the remains of an ancient but dead civilisation possessing fantastic technologies and mineral resources
of such wealth they would put the Emperor to shame. Instantly contesting the neutrality of the system, many factions dispatch their
nearest military forces in an effort to claim ownership. A massive battle between rival fleets is about to split space apart.

Fleets: Each player has 300 points to spend on a fleet.

Pre-Battle Preparation: Up to eight players may take part in this scenario. Fleets do not deploy on the table, instead moving on from
each player’s entry point in their first turn. The first player should start from entry point one, the second from entry point two, and so on.
This means that, for example, entry points seven and eight will not be used if just six players are playing.

Scenario Rules: Players roll Initiative as normal, and move their fleets in the order of the lowest roll upwards, re-rolling any ties. Each
player’s entire fleet will be moved at the same time, rather than just one ship. Otherwise, play as normal.

Game Length: 10 turns or until all remaining players on the table have achieved their victory conditions, whichever comes first.

Victory and Defeat: The victory conditions for each fleet is randomised on the following table – players are under no obligation to let
their opponents know what their victory conditions are until the end of the game. They simply need to let the other players know when
they have achieved their objectives. Otherwise, any player can claim victory simply by having the last ship on the table.

D6 Victory Condition
1 Let no one Through!: Destroy the jump gate at the earliest opportunity. It has Hull 6+ and Damage 80.
2 Prove your strength!: Personally deliver the killing blow to at least two enemy ships.
3 Take the jump gate!: Move within 8” of the jump gate and be there at the end of the game.
4 Old enemy!: Pick one enemy ship of a points value at least as high as the highest in your own fleet. This ship must be destroyed.
5 Grab technology!: Board and capture at least one enemy ship.
6 Form an alliance!: Convince at least two other players not to fire on your fleet.

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 On the B ack F oot
The war has been going on for months now, and both fleets believe they have the measure of the other. Tactical surprises are becoming
rare and battles are turning into slugfests of attrition. Seeking to turn the odds and bring the war to a quick end, one side launches a major
offensive, which immediately catches the enemy off guard. Suddenly fighting for its very survival, a small battle fleet desperately tries to
hold out while reinforcements speed towards them.

Fleets: The attacker has 800 points. The defender starts with 500 points and receives another 500 points as reinforcements.

Pre-Battle Preparation: The defending fleet is deployed first, anywhere within its deployment zone, as shown on the map. The attacking
fleet is split into two forces. Each will move onto the table in the first turn from opposite short table edges. Stellar debris is generated
randomly.

Scenario Rules: The attacking fleets move in from the short table edges during the first turn. The defender’s reinforcement fleet moves
in from his long table edge at the start of the fifth turn.

Game Length: 12 turns.

Victory and Defeat: This scenario uses Victory Points in order to determine who wins. Note that the defender must minimise his losses
during the first part of the game, or he risks the attacker earning more Victory Points than it is possible for him to claim himself!

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 T owering I nferno
Two fleets have moved into a disputed system and have spent several days carefully manoeuvring their forces, seeking weak points in
their enemy’s defences while looking for the huge battle that will see them claim victory. However, the opening shots are started by roving
patrols in the far reaches of the system and when the battle starts, neither side is completely prepared. Racing reinforcements into the area
as quickly as possible, each side is desperate to gain an early advantage.

Fleets: Players select a Conflict Intensity level and choose their fleets freely.

Pre-Battle Preparation: Roll for Initiative as normal – the losing fleet will be forced to set up first. The fleets are deployed anywhere in
their own deployment zones as shown on the scenario map. Each player may only deploy one ship of their choosing. Stellar debris is
generated randomly.

Scenario Rules: At the start of every turn after the first, each player must roll one dice for each of his ships yet to appear. On the roll of a
six, the ship will move on to the table from a random table edge during the Movement Phase. Use the scenario map to determine which
table edge a ship enters from.

Game Length: 12 turns.

Victory and Defeat: This scenario uses Victory Points in order to determine who wins.

Optional: For a longer battle, consider removing the turn limit, and play to last ship standing!

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 Campaigns
By now, you should be familiar with all the rules used in A Call to
Arms: Noble Armada and will have played through many of the
scenarios presented in this book. You will now be ready to embark
on an entire campaign, a set of scenarios that depict the entire war
for one star system, where every battle can have a profound effect
upon the next and heroes can be created among your own crews.
There is little more exciting in A Call to Arms: Noble Armada
than playing through an entire campaign. You will find it far more
engaging than a single scenario as you will always be aware that
a defeat in your current game could spell disaster down the road.
In addition, you will have a chance to watch your ships and crews
grow with battle-hardened experience, yank desperate victories
from the jaws of utter defeat and have the satisfaction of booting
your enemy clean out of the system!
B eginning the C ampaign
Before you begin a campaign, you need to do several things. First
off, you will need at least two players with complete fleets, though
the campaign system here can support many more – you could get
your entire club involved in a galaxy-sweeping campaign!
Every player should have at least 1,500 points worth of ships.
Ideally, every fleet should be different, so you can represent
Hawkwood, Decados, al-Malik and so on but it is okay to have
the same type of fleet on differing sides, with one representing a
rogue faction of their government, perhaps.
You then need to create the campaign map, which will show the
star system all the players are attempting to control. This comprises
of a number of Strategic Targets, all of which are considered
important by the invading fleets. The number of Strategic Targets
present in the system is random and rolled for on the following
table.
2d6 No. of Strategic Targets
2–4 6 The categories and effects of each Strategic Target and
5–8 7 Unusual Feature are detailed at the end of this chapter.
9–12 8
This table assumes that two players will be taking part in the
campaign. For every additional player that is taking part, add one
more Strategic Target to the total. In addition to the number of
Strategic Targets generated, there will always be one additional
Strategic Target in every system, the Trade Route.
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Each Strategic Target must then be generated using the following
table. Rolling on this table defines what category the Strategic
Target falls under, after which you need to refer to the category
table to see precisely what is present in the system. The first
Strategic Target will always be a Settled World in every campaign.
2d6 Strategic Target Category
2–3 Space Installation
4 Space Debris
5 Gas Giant
6 Settled World
7 Dead World
8–9 Uninhabited World
10 Outpost
11–12 Inner System Comet
As well as the wide variety of different Strategic Targets that may
be available in a campaign, a particular system may also have
a number of Unusual Features. These can vary from unusually
high densities of space debris around some strategic targets to the
leftovers of past wars still littering the void. Occasionally even
more bizarre phenomena have been recorded, perhaps resulting
from unusual solar activity or more esoteric origins.
Roll on the following table to see how many Unusual Features are
present when a system is generated. Roll on the Unusual Features
category table for each one to see precisely what anomalies and
phenomena are present. Each Unusual Feature is randomly
assigned to a Strategic Target and it affects only that Strategic
Target.
1d6 Number of Unusual Features
1–3 0
4–5 1
6 2
Unlike other games, the campaign system in A Call to Arms:
Noble Armada does not use a map for its game play, with each
Strategic Target linked to one or more others. Fleets are highly
manoeuvrable in A Call To Arms: Noble Armada and, given time,
have the ability to strike almost anywhere within a star system.
In theory, you could just list the available Strategic Targets in a
2
system on a scrap piece of paper, playing an entire campaign using
nothing more elaborate. However, players like to see what they are
fighting for, so a few minutes sketching out the star and relative
positions of the Strategic Targets will be time well spent. Players
will enjoy crossing off their enemy’s name from a target when
they win a battle, replacing it with their own. They will also get
the feeling that they have accomplished something, taken some
ground, with each target they acquire in battle.
Star ting Fleets
Every player takes a fleet roster and creates a fleet. To begin with,
fleets of 1,500 points each will make for a fairly quick campaign.
Once you have become used to the system, you can increase the
points available to each player. 3,000 point fleets will make for a
good campaign you can get your teeth into, with much tugging
back and forth between targets. Fleets of 6,000 or 10,000 points
are true armadas in every sense, capable of creating a grand,
sweeping campaign that will be the subject of much discussion
for years to come!
A fleet commander can never be sure exactly what he is getting
when he requisitions vessels from his high command and the
worth of many fleets is not in their ships but in their crew. To this
end, players must randomly roll for the Crew Quality of every ship
in their fleet on the following table.
2d6 Crew Crew Quality Score
2 Civilian 2
3–4 Green 3 If it is currently unoccupied, the next player in the Initiative order
5–8 Military-Grade 4 may decide to also occupy it, in which case, they both fight a battle
9–10 Veteran 5 in the next phase. If this player chooses not to, the choice falls to
11–12 Elite 6 the next player in the Initiative order and so on. If the attacking
Players are allowed to swap Crew Quality scores between
two of their ships – this allows them to have a decent crew
on whatever they will regard as their flagship. Other than this,
you will be stuck with the crew you roll for, though they will
have a chance to improve during the campaign. All on board
squadrons have the same Crew Quality score as their parent
ships.
Once the players are gathered, the fleets ready and the
campaign map sketched out, it is time to start the campaign.
The Campaign Tur n
Just as with normal games in A Call to Arms, campaigns have
turns that are divided up into phases, each of which must be played
out before the next can begin. By the end of each campaign turn,
every player will have fought a battle (sometimes more than one!)
and several Strategic Targets are likely to have changed hands.
Each Campaign Turn consists of the following phases.
1. Initiative
2. Select Targets
3. Generate Scenarios
4. Fight Battle
5. Ship Experience
6. Repairs and Reinforcements
Once every player has performed the Reinforcements phase, a new
Campaign Turn begins, with players ready to fight a new round of
battles in an attempt to dominate the star system.
Initiative
As with the main game, Initiative is rolled for by using 2d6 and
applying the player’s fleet modifier, as detailed in the Fleet Lists
chapter. Re-roll all ties. A –1 penalty is applied to a player’s Initiative
roll for every Strategic Target he currently holds. Possessing a
Strategic Target brings all sorts of benefits but also requires the fleet
dedicates a certain portion of its resources to maintaining patrols
and security watches on the facilities, which in turn makes it less
flexible in responding to the actions of the enemy.
Select Targets
The player who won the Initiative phase selects any one Strategic Target
that he does not currently possess. If this target belongs to another player,
he will fight a battle with that player’s fleet in the next phase.
player is not challenged in this way, he gains the Strategic Target
automatically without a fight!
Once it has been decided what the player who won the Initiative is
doing, the next player in Initiative order chooses a Strategic Target
and follows the same process. He may not choose a Strategic Target
that has already been nominated by previous player in this turn.
In this way, a Campaign Turn may be fairly light in combat if
most players choose to occupy spare Strategic Targets and do not
challenge one another much. On the other hand, a player may
find himself having to fight multiple battles in the same turn if the
other players all turn against him and launch attacks on several
Strategic targets he possesses!
Before you start planning your star-spanning offensive, however,
there is one golden rule to bear in mind. Every ship on your fleet
roster may only take part in one battle during every Campaign
Turn. Once you have used it in one battle it may not be used in
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 another during this same turn. This means as the campaign draws All scenarios in a campaign turn must be determined before any
on and your casualties increase, you will have to be very careful battles are fought.
about who you fight and with what.
Fight the Good Fight!
Generate Scenario Once it has been decided who is fighting who and which scenarios
Once it has been determined that two players will fight, the player are being used, it is time to hit the tabletop and begin playing A
who nominated the Strategic Target to be fought over must roll Call to Arms: Noble Armada. If you find that you are waiting for
on the following table to determine which scenario will be played. a battle because your opponent is currently fighting someone else,
During this scenario, he will be regarded as the attacker. take the opportunity for a break and a quick snack or, alternatively,
start heckling him as he plays! Your turn to fight will come soon
2d6 Scenario enough. . .
2 Ambush
3 Recon Run The victor of the battle will either retain or gain the Strategic
4 Convoy Duty Target over which he and his opponent were fighting. This is
immediately added to his fleet roster and may be used in later
5 Assassination
phases of the same turn. If a battle ends in a draw, the Strategic
6 Space Superiority
Target remains in the possession of the player who possessed it
7 Call to Arms
originally (or remains unoccupied if no player had it on his fleet
8 Annihilation roster).
9 Towering Inferno
10 On the Back Foot Any ships destroyed during the battle are crossed off the fleet
11 Blockade roster. All existing damage (including effects of critical hits) are
12 Carrier Clash * noted on the fleet roster.

* This scenario may only be used if both fleets have ships capable Players should collaborate to form a strong narrative for the
of acting as carriers. Otherwise, re-roll this result. campaign – it is all very well rolling up scenarios and Strategic
Targets randomly but it is much more fun devising reasons why
The points level of the scenario is also randomly decided, using the fleets are fighting at any one particular time. For example, a Hazat
following table. However, both players may influence the result of fleet may have decided to attack a Hawkwood-held agrarian
this roll if they wish. Before rolling, each may secretly mark down world. Generating a scenario results in a 750 point Blockade.
a modifier from –3 to +3 on a scrap piece of paper. Once the dice After a brief discussion, the two players may decide the Hazat are
is rolled, both players reveal their modifier and apply it to the dice attempting to stop all food supplies to the fleet from this world
roll for a final result. and it is vital that several Hawkwood warships, loaded with food
stuffs, break through the blockade and to enable the rest of the
2d6 Points Value fleet to continue eating well. If they fail, the rest of the fleet will
4 or less 250 go onto standard rations and the agrarian world will have to be
5–6 500 relinquished to the Hazat as an alternative supply post must be
7–8 750 found. Once you get into the swing of the campaign, you will find
9–10 1,000 it relatively easy to continually come up with reasons for fleets to
11 or more 1,500 fight, no matter what scenarios are generated.

This is the base points value of the fleets being used in the scenario
generated. Players choose ships from their fleet roster to use in the
scenario but may not take a fleet that has a greater value than the
total rolled for.
You should also be warned that if you are fighting multiple battles
in a turn or have a battered fleet after several losses, you may not
be able to field a large enough force to use all your points. In this
case, you will be taking a smaller fleet to the battle and will have to
fight that much harder! You are never required to field a fleet that
uses all of your points, even if your opponent does.
Once all battles have been fought and won, it is time for the victor
to enjoy the spoils and for the loser to count the cost.
Ship Experience
Battle is a crucible through which crews learn or die and the
greenest crew may become battle-hardened veterans before the
campaign is through.
During every battle, ships will acquire Experience Point (XP) Dice
for various actions they successfully perform. These actions are
summarised in the table overleaf.

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Action
Destroys enemy ship of same or lower points value than your ship.
Destroys enemy ship of up to twice the points value of your ship.
Destroys enemy ship of up to three times the points value of your ship.
Destroys enemy ship of up to four times the points value of your ship.
Destroys enemy ship of up to five times or more the points value of your ship.
Successfully board and capture an enemy ship
Cripple an enemy ship.
Being on the winning side in the battle.
Being on the losing or drawing side in the battle.
Being Crippled.
To count as destroying an enemy ship, your ship must deliver
the killing blow – the attack that actually destroyed the enemy
vessel. By the same token, to gain XP Dice for crippling an enemy
ship, your ship must have delivered the attack that caused this to
happen.
A ship may not earn XP Dice for both crippling and destroying
the enemy ship. In this case, only the XP Dice for destroying the
ship are gained. However, it is perfectly possible for one ship to
gain XP Dice for crippling an enemy ship and another gain the full
XP Dice reward for destroying it in a later attack.
A ship may never be reduced to less than zero XP Dice. Fighters
may never earn XP Dice, nor is their destruction worth XP Dice.
XP Dice may be saved for future Campaign Turns or they may be
spent immediately as shown. A ship may only benefit from its XP
Dice and the effects may never be applied to another ship.
Increase Crew Quality
You may spend one XP Die in an attempt to improve the Crew
Quality of your ship. Roll the XP Dice. If you score higher than
your current Crew Quality score, it will be raised by one point.
You may only attempt this once every Campaign Turn for each
ship on your fleet roster.
Re pair Ship
Any number of XP Dice may be expended in trying to makeshift
repair a ship, making it battle worthy once more. Roll any number
of XP Dice and multiply the result by two. This is how many
Damage points you can recover on the ship. Note that you cannot
increase your ship’s Damage points to above their original number.
Ships which have been Crippled may not use XP Dice in this way
and must await full-scale repairs, as detailed.
Tactical Judgement
Any number of XP Dice may be kept aside, ready for use in
future battles. Each XP Die spent allows you to re-roll one die that
directly affects the ship. This may be an Attack Dice (either fired
by or at the ship), a Damage roll, a Crew Quality check – anything
that may directly affect the ship expending the XP Dice.
XP Dice Gained
1
2
3
4
5
Double XP Dice earned for destroying it
Half XP Dice for destroying it (round down)
2
1
–2 (and lose 1 point of Crew Quality)
Refitting
An experienced crew instinctively knows how to get the best
performance out of their ship, how to requisition the best
materials and how to improve upon a basic design. For every two
XP Dice you expend, you may roll once on the Refit table. This
may be done any number of times, so long as you have enough XP
Dice. Effects are not cumulative (so, you cannot apply Additional
Weapons Fitted to the same weapon system twice, though you
can apply it twice to two different weapon systems). If any results
cannot be applied to your ship for any reason, re-roll them.
Other Duties
An experienced crew can usually be assured of getting the best
missions when not in battle, ‘sweet’ or ‘plum’ assignments, as they
are called. For every two XP Dice you expend, you may roll once on
the Other Duties table. This may be done any number of times, so
long as you have enough XP Dice. Effects are not cumulative. If any
results cannot be applied to your ship for any reason, re-roll them.
Re pairs and Reinforcements
Even after just one battle, players are likely to have several badly
damaged, maybe even crippled warships in their fleet. After a few
more campaign turns, the fleet is going to begin looking more like
a spaceship junkyard!
This, of course, will never do and players will be interested in
keeping their ships as battle worthy as possible. They will also
look to reinforce their position in the campaign by bringing in
entirely new ships and, potentially, expanding their fleet beyond
its original size.
During this phase, every player will automatically receive ten
Repair and Reinforcement (RR) points, which will be used to
repair damaged ships, replace lost crew and call for reinforcements
from high command. The total number of RR points each player
will receive is modified by the events listed.
Event RR Points
Player captured a new Strategic Target this turn. +10
Player lost a Strategic Target this turn. -15
For every battle won this turn. +5
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 Refitting
2d6 Refit
2 Experimental Stealth Technology: The ship benefits from advanced stealth technology, retroactively installed within its hull. It
immediately gains the Stealth 2+ trait. Ships that already have the Stealth trait must re-roll this result.
3 Advanced Detection Systems: The ship gains the Scout trait. If it already has the Scout trait, re-roll this result.
4 Command Ship: A well-respected captain takes command of the ship, one well-versed in fleet tactics. The ship gains the
Command +1 trait, or adds +1 to the Command trait if it already possesses it.
5 Advanced Sensor Arrays: The ship gains a +1 bonus to any attempt it makes to target an enemy with the Stealth trait. This may
only be applied once.
6 Long Range Targeting Systems: Choose one weapon system. It has its range extended by 50%. However, when using this extra
range, halve the number of AD used (rounding down).
7 Additional Weapons Fitted: Choose one weapon system. It gains an additional Attack Dice. This may only be applied once per
weapon system.
8 Enhanced Battle Shields: The ship gains 1 extra Shield. This may only be applied once.
9 Reinforced Hull: Add +10% to the ship’s Damage score but reduce Speed by –1.
10 Supercharged Thrusters: The ship gains a +1 bonus to its Speed score.
11 Extra Hanger: The ship immediately gains the capacity to carry a fighter (or an extra one if it already possesses fighters). Add
+1 to its Craft score.
12 Think Machine: The ship gains the Think Machine trait if it did not have it before.

Other Duties
2d6 Other Duty
2 Contact Made: A diplomatic mission to another power has paid off well. You may immediately add one ship of 100 points
or less from a fleet list not in use by any player in the campaign to your fleet roster.
3 New Captain: A new Captain takes command of the vessel – a highly decorated, even legendary Captain. Once per battle,
the ship may attempt to take two Special Actions in the same turn. These may not be the same Special Action and all
effects of both Special Actions apply. Therefore, a ship cannot combine the Run Silent! action (which requires no turning)
with the Come About! action (which increases turning). It could combine Run Silent! and All Power to Engines! as neither
invalidates the other, effectively allowing the ship to run silent at full speed.
4 Now You See Me…: This ship has been conducting scouting exercises all over the system, forcing other fleets to chase it as
it gathers crucial information. You gain a +2 bonus to your Initiative for the next Campaign Turn.
5 Psychic: The crew’s dedication to duty has been rewarded with a resident psychic being made at home on board. Whenever
the ship is boarded, enemy Troops will suffer a –1 penalty on their Troops Dice.
6 Theurgist: A Theurgist is deployed on board, gifted with healing hulls and salving systems. In every End Phase, this ship
may automatically regain 1 point of Damage.
7 Time in Orbit: The crew find time to give their ship a distinctive paint job, visible even across the gulf of space. This allows
you to re-roll all of your Troops Dice during a boarding action once per battle. Yes, you should paint this on your model if
you are using miniatures!
8 Veteran Engineers: The elite engineering officers of another ship have volunteered to serve aboard this vessel. Add a +1
bonus to any Crew Quality checks made during Damage Control. This may only be applied once.
9 Elite Psychic: Your crew is joined by an elite psychic trained in fleet combat. He is able to bend his mind to annihilate troops
on board enemy ships. In the Attack Phase, select an enemy ship within 6”. It will immediately lose 1 Troop (Marauders lose
their ability to ignore the first hit against this psychic power).
10 Diverting Raid: Launching a lightning strike, the ship strikes at the heart of an enemy, causing him to draw ships away from
his main force. Choose another player’s fleet. In its next battle, it will have 100 points less available.
11 Superior Strategic Position: A routine patrol uncovers a Strategic Target previously thought to be worthless. Immediately
generate a new Strategic Target on the campaign map and mark it down as being under your control.
12 Re-commissioned: A previously mothballed ship comes into your hands. Add a ship of 100 points or less to your fleet
roster, from the fleet list you are currently using.

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Additionally, all players receive RR points equal to the RR score of
each Strategic Target they now hold. For example, a player with an
Industrial World (10 RR) and a Construction Yard (3 RR) would
gain an additional 13 RR points. Each Strategic Target type has its
RR score listed in its entry.
These RR may be spent in the following ways. It is not compulsory
for you to spend all your RR points every turn, and they may be
saved for spending in future turns.
Re pairs
Each RR point may be expended to replace five lost Damage points
from any ship in the fleet. A ship that has been Crippled must have
an additional 5 RR points spent on it before any repairing may be
performed.
2 RR points may be spent to reduce the Critical Score of a location
by one.
In addition, you may voluntarily send a ship back to high
command for complete repairs, no matter what its condition. You
will not be able to use the ship for a full two Campaign Turns but
after this period, it will be returned to your fleet roster as normal,
fully repaired of any damage, with no cost to your RR points.
Recr uiting
Each RR point may be expended to replace up to five lost Troops
from any ship in the fleet.
Reinforcements
You may purchase new ships for your fleet roster. Each RR point
is worth 10 points on the fleet lists – so, if you want to buy a 100
point frigate, you will need to expend 10 RR points. You may only
purchase ships from the same fleet list that you originally selected
for your fleet.
Fighters may also be purchased as reinforcements, as replacements
for carriers that have suffered losses among their fighter craft.
You may also transfer Fighters between ships. Do this during the
repairs and reinforcements phase by noting down the reduced
number of Fighters on one ship and adding them to your chosen
recipient. A ship receiving Fighters must be capable of carrying
them in the normal manner and you must not exceed the carrier
capacity for any ship in transferring Fighters. Other than this,
you are free to transfer Fighters as you wish, even leaving a ship
completely without Fighters in order to re-stock a preferred vessel
in the fleet.
Ships with the Carrier trait may automatically replenish up to two
lost Fighters in the Repairs and Reinforcements phase each turn.
This is done freely and does not cost any RR points. A ship may
never have more Fighters than it started with, nor may it pass ‘spare’
Fighters onto another ship. You are still permitted to move Fighters
between ships after each has received these free Fighters.
Captured Ships
Clever players will have boarded and captured enemy ships in their
battles. Not only does this deny the enemy of a valuable warship
but it also provides you with a great deal of wealth.
Ships from other fleets are difficult to integrate into your own –
they will have different types of weapons and systems on board
that may not be compatible with what your crews are used to.
If you wish to include a captured enemy ship in your fleet roster
(and, to be honest, the bragging rights alone are often worth it),
then you must spend half the number of RR points your opponent
would normally spend to buy the ship outright as a reinforcement.
The ship retains its Crew Quality, XP Dice and any benefits it
gained from Refitting and Other Duties.
However, you can simply break the ship down and use its parts to
help service your own fleet. In this case, cross the captured sheet
off of your roster. You will immediately receive a number of RR
points equal to half that your opponent would normally spend if
buying the ship as a reinforcement.
Finally, you can ransom the ship back to its owning player (or
any player, really – feel free to have an auction!). The terms of the
trade are for you and your opponent to agree upon.
Avoiding Battle
For many reasons, a player may decide not to fight when he realises
he may not have a good chance for victory (or that even victory may
cost him too much). A player may refuse to fight when attacked
but he will automatically lose the Strategic Target and will lose RR
points as normal. The enemy will gain RR points as if he defeated
the player. Neither will gain XP Dice for their ships.
Victor y and Defeat
After many battles have been fought and won, it will be time for
one fleet to claim victory over all others.
The winner of the campaign is the player who can capture all
available Strategic Targets first. He can lord it over his fellow
players and claim to do twice as well in the next campaign. A
player automatically loses the campaign if every ship on his fleet
roster is captured or destroyed. We suggest he just slinks away and
hopes no one notices him. . .
Strategic Targets and Unusual
Features
Each Strategic Target in a campaign has its own effect on the
fleet that manages to successfully capture it. Listed here are the
different Strategic Target categories and their special rules, as well
as the rules for Unusual Features.
Unexplored Worlds: Some types of Strategic Target are designated
as unexplored. The first time that an unexplored Strategic Target is
captured, the capturing player may roll once on the following table:
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 2d6 Exploration
2 Ancient Ruins
3 Crashed Spacecraft
4–5 Resource Cache
6–8 Nothing
9–10 Hidden Resources
11 Raiders
12 Lost Outpost
As soon as an unexplored target has been captured it is explored.
No more rolls for exploration are made if other players capture it
in the future.
Ancient Ruins: Discovering the ruins of an ancient civilisation
that once existed here, the explorers unearth a cache of advanced
technology. The discovering player may make a free refit roll for a
single ship in their fleet.
Crashed Spacecraft: A crashed spacecraft and its grateful crew
are discovered and rescued. The discovering player may add a
single of less than 100 points, from any fleet list, to their own for
no cost.
Hidden Resources: Whether a hidden ecosystem or a hitherto-
undiscovered abundance of mineral deposits, it turns out that this
planet is of far more value than previously thought. The Strategic
Target permanently produces one additional RR per turn.
Lost Outpost: It turns out that there is an isolated outpost here
that has remained out of contact with the rest of the galaxy for
years or even decades. Replace this Strategic Target with a random
outpost.
Nothing: The Strategic Target is exactly as it appears to be.
Raiders: The discovering player stirs up a hornet’s nest as it turns
out that raiders are using this Strategic Target as a hidden base of
operations! This results in temporarily increased piracy for one
turn before they are driven off, reducing the RR income of all
players by one dice each.
Resource Cache: The planet turns out to house a one-off cache of
resources, whether a hidden military stockpile or a lone deposit of
valuable minerals. It can be quickly exploited for a one-off bonus
of one dice’s worth of RR points for the discovering player.
Space Installation
This category covers fully operational space installations. Space
installations are rarely completely autonomous, usually placed in
orbit of or close proximity to a planet or other Strategic Target.
They can cover a wide variety of roles, from serving as a nexus of
trade and diplomacy for a region, to providing shipyards for the
repair and maintenance of a fleet.
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1d6 Space Installation
1 Construction Yard
2 Diplomatic Station
3 Military Installation
4 Scrap Yard
5 Space Docks
6 Trade Station
Spacedocks (1 RR)
Spacedocks are space installations designed to berth capital ships
for the purposes of maintenance and resupply. They provide only
a minimum of income for the controlling power but they also serve
as extremely useful facilities for repairing damaged warships.
A player who controls a spacedocks ignores the 5 RR point
premium required for repairing Crippled ships.
Trade Station (3 RR)
A trade station is a gathering point for merchants and traders
across the system. Usually, this kind of space installation has
extensive docking facilities for freighters and cargo ships, as well
as providing accommodation and entertainment for the dealers
and corporate emissaries that constantly pass through the station
to hammer out commerce and trade arrangements. Those in
control of such a station are able to tap into the wealth flowing
through their property, through taxes or favourable deals.
A player who controls a trade station increases the income they
gain from the trade route strategic target by 3 RR.
Diplomatic Station (1 RR)
Much like a trade station, a diplomatic station usually boasts
extensive facilities for the accommodation and entertainment
of its visitors. The main difference is that those travelling to a
space installation of this kind are doing so because it is a hub of
diplomacy and political interaction. Here, deals are brokered not
for the exchange of goods and merchandise but for the writing of
peace treaties and the sealing of alliances.
During the Initiative phase of the campaign turn, after Initiative has
been rolled, a player who controls a diplomatic station may pay 3
RR to target any player lower in the initiative order than themselves
for a ceasefire. By designating a single strategic target in the system,
the chosen player may not attack that target this turn.
Military Training Installation (1 RR)
Military training installations are created to give cadets a taste
of life in space and zero-g conditions to prepare them for service
onboard capital ships. Such an installation can provide a steady
flow of well-trained crew for a fleet.
A player who controls a military training installation may re-roll
one XP die being used to try and increase the Crew Quality of a
ship, once per campaign turn.
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Construction Yard (3 RR)
Construction yards are substantial space installations created for
the purpose of assembling new spacecraft. A construction yard
is usually in close proximity to a planet or mining outpost from
which raw materials can be shipped over to it and processed into
spacecraft parts. A construction yard on the scale of one of these
strategic targets is a great prize indeed; instead of having to bring
in reinforcements from other systems, the owner can churn a
steady flow of new craft out of the installation and straight into
the thick of battle.
A player who controls a construction yard gains an additional 5
RR on top of the normal 3 RR that this strategic target produces.
The bonus 5 RR can only be spent on the purchase of new ships
and is lost at the end of the turn if it has not been used.
Scrap Yard (1 RR)
A ‘scrap yard’ is an industrial space installation that processes
raw materials and recycles the debris and free-floating scrap that
tends to be left in the aftermath of battles between spacecraft.
Armour plating and damaged components are rendered down
and manufactured into entirely new parts while salvageable
components are repaired and reused in the construction of more
ships.
A player who controls a scrap yard gains an additional 1 RR
point for every ship that they control which is destroyed in a game
which they win.
Space Debris
This category covers various kinds of free-floating debris and
detritus formations, both natural and artificial. Most formations
of space debris are remnants from the formation of the system’s
star and planets but some may have more recent origins.
1d6 Space Debris
1–3 Asteroid Belt
4 Planetary Ring
5 Rich Dustcloud
6 Ship Graveyard
Asteroid Belt (0 RR)
An asteroid belt consists of an orbiting band of rock, ice and
minerals. This form of stellar debris may be composed of asteroids
of mere inches across to vast mountains with a span measured
in miles. Though dangerous to try and navigate through for an
inexperienced captain, the mineral deposits often draw small
groups of miners willing to take the risks and the natural hazards
are sometimes exploited by raiders and military organisations
to provide a hiding place for damaged vessels. Most would-be
pursuers are wary of entering an asteroid belt, let alone actually
capable of tracking down their prey in the shifting maze of rock
and ice.
A player who controls an asteroid belt may multiply the dice rolled
by four instead of two when spending XP Dice to make repairs.
Any battle that takes place for the possession of an asteroid belt
has an additional D3 asteroid fields generated on the battlefield
in addition to normal stellar debris. These asteroid fields are
generated even if the scenario does not normally permit stellar
debris.
Rich Dust Cloud (3 RR)
Great clouds of dust particles and tiny fragments are left in the wake
of a star system’s birth. Some of these dust clouds are particularly
rich in minerals and elements that are deemed valuable by the
sentient races of the galaxy, attracting cloud miners to harvest this
abundance of resources. Factory-ships trawl the dust, sifting out
the particles they want and processing the raw materials for later
transport to industrial facilities and planets.
Any battle that takes place for the possession of a rich dust cloud
has an additional D3 dust clouds generated on the battlefield in
addition to normal stellar debris. These dust clouds are generated
even if the scenario does not normally permit stellar debris.
Ship Graveyard (d6 RR)
A ‘ship graveyard’ is made up of shattered hulks, twisted pieces of
scrap metal and mangled infrastructures floating in close proximity
or sometimes clumped together in great conglomerations of
debris. A graveyard may be the marker of some ancient space war
from times now long past, or it may be the accumulated debris of
more recent battles and conflicts; either way, it is a treasure trove
for those willing to risk its dangers.
A ship graveyard does not generate a fixed RR total in the normal
manner, instead generating D6 RR each turn for the controlling
player.
Any battle that takes place for the possession of a ship graveyard has an
additional D6 asteroid fields generated on the battlefield in addition to
normal stellar debris. Unlike normal asteroids, these are not shards of
rock or ice but the twisted, mangled remnants of destroyed spaceships.
This is a perfect opportunity for exercising modelling skills and creating
some more unusual pieces of stellar debris!
Planetary Ring (0 RR)
A planetary ring is similar in nature to a normal asteroid belt
except that it orbits a planet or moon instead of the system’s
star. This can make it a particularly advantageous location from
which to defend the planet in question, as the power in control of
this strategic location can launch surprise assaults with ease and
quickly retreat back to the safety of the ring. This also makes it a
fine staging point for an invader from which to attack the planet.
A planetary ring is assigned to a specific planet in the system when
it is created.
A player who controls both the planetary ring and its planet gains
a +1 Initiative bonus in any battles fought defending the planet.
A player who controls the planetary ring gains a +1 Initiative
bonus in any battles fought attacking the planet.
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 Any battle that takes place for the possession of a planetary ring
has an additional D3 asteroid fields generated on the battlefield
in addition to normal stellar debris. These asteroid fields are
generated even if the scenario does not normally permit stellar
debris.
Inner System Comet
This category covers comets, stellar bodies that move through
a system on elongated orbits around the star. Distinctive for the
‘tail’ of dust and gas that they seem to shed behind them as they
move, most comets in a system are not in a position of strategic
importance but a rare few can prove of use to battling opponents.
1d6 Inner System Comet
1–4 Ice-Rock Composite Comet
5–6 Mineral-Rich Comet
Ice-Rock Composite Comet (0 RR)
This is a normal inner system comet, composed of the usual
mixture of debris and frozen gases. Its primary strategic use is to
shield the arrival of reinforcements from the eyes of the enemy.
A player who controls an ice-rock composite comet may reduce
the cost of all reinforcements by 10%, rounding up. This reduction
may be not combined with that given for another Inner System
Comet.
Mineral-Rich Comet (1 RR)
A rare form of comet, this strategic target contains an unusually
high level of valuable minerals that can be extracted and processed.
Much like a normal inner system comet, it also helps conceal
reinforcements as they arrive in the system.
A player who controls a mineral-rich comet may reduce the cost
of all reinforcements by 10%, rounding up. This reduction may be
not combined with that given for another Inner System Comet.
Settled World
This category covers all manner of worlds that have been
colonised by sentient races. Most systems will contain a number
of planetary bodies and while only a very few of these will be
particularly hospitable to life, the lure of rich resource deposits
can result in the settlement of even the harshest planets.
2d6 Settled World
2–3 Leisure World
4–5 Primitive World
6–8 Industrial World
9–10 Agrarian World
11–2 Commerce World
Industrial World (10 RR)
Varying from heavily-populated worlds where the inhabitants
continually labour to manufacture goods and products to almost
entirely automated factory complexes with a skeleton shift of
overseers, an industrial world is a great prize indeed. Any power
that can turn the planet’s extensive resources to serve its war effort
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will benefit from a significant enhancement to its capability to
maintain armed forces.
A player who controls an industrial world may replace ten lost
Troops for every RR spent on recruiting.
Agrarian World (5 RR)
This type of strategic target is a planet whose primary function is
as a producer of natural resources, usually in the form of crops
and food. Running the gamut from worlds covered by endless
fields to subterranean settlements farming hydroponic gardens
and nutrient vats, agrarian worlds are valuable both for providing
supplies to military forces and as recruiting grounds to draw fresh
troops from.
A player who controls an agrarian world may replace 10 lost
Troops for every RR spent on recruiting.
Primitive World (2 RR)
Primitive and low-tech worlds are often inhabited by cultures that
have simply not advanced past early stages of civilisation yet, let
alone acquiring the capacity for space travel. As ‘primitive’ is a
relative term, this does not necessarily mean that they are axe-
wielding savages but their capacity to process raw materials and
manufacture goods will fall far below those of more developed
agrarian and industrial worlds. Some low-tech worlds exist not
as a result of a primitive society but of a desire on the part of the
inhabitants to live simple lives close to nature, rejecting the rigours
of industrialisation and expansion.
A player who controls a primitive or low-tech world may replace
ten lost Troops points for every RR spent on recruiting.
Commerce World (6 RR)
The primary function of a commerce or trade world is not the
production of materials or goods but rather their distribution and
administration. Often highly developed and with a good standard
of living, a commerce world may well be the central hub or
homeworld of an empire or alliance, the heart of an infrastructure
that can rely on its colonies to provide all the resources that it
needs. Some commerce worlds gain their status simply by being
in the right part of space, in particular where the borders of
several territories meet and representatives of many races come
together to barter. Control of a settled world of this type grants
some powerful advantages to the possessor, primarily due to the
considerable revenue that it will generate.
A player who controls a commerce world may replace 10 lost
Troops for every RR spent on recruiting.
For every other settled world that the controlling player possesses,
the commerce world generates an additional 2 RR every turn.
Leisure World (3 RR)
Leisure or ‘resort’ worlds are extremely rare but, while highly
valued by most governments, are often overlooked by military
commanders who fail to see them as of any particular strategic
importance. A leisure world is a planet with particularly popular
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features for one or more races, whether it be a balmy climate,
beautiful beaches or excellent leisure facilities, so that as a result
the planet’s primary income is from tourism and the entertainment
industry. While it produces few resources of use to a military
campaign, possession of such a world can be a great boon to the
morale of ship crews during their periods of R&R.
A player who controls a leisure world may replace 10 lost Troops
for every RR spent on recruiting.
A player who controls a leisure world may re-roll the dice of a
single Other Duties roll once per campaign turn. If this option is
chosen, the player must accept the second roll and may not chose
to use the results of the first roll instead.
Uninhabited World
This category covers habitable worlds that have not yet been
colonised. Such worlds are not innately hostile to life and indeed
often flourish with indigenous flora and fauna. Some worlds of
this kind are specifically set aside and protected from settlement,
sometimes due to outstanding natural beauty, a delicate ecosystem
or native and sentient races in the very earliest stages of civilisation
that would not likely survive the culture shock of meeting
spacefaring societies. Others have only just been discovered, or
the resources to colonise them have not yet become available.
All uninhabited worlds are considered as unexplored at the
beginning of the campaign.
1d6 Uninhabited World
1–2 Temperate Planet
3–4 Verdant Planet
5–6 Water World
Water World (1 RR)
Some planets have their surfaces mostly or entirely covered by
water. Generally, planets with less than 10% of their surface area
as land will fall into this category. The vast oceans of such a world
can teem with life and a wealth of resources but they can be hard
to begin colonisation of, as there may be little or no solid land on
which to build initial outposts.
Temperate Planet (1 RR)
Planets of this type are usually very similar to earth in terms of
climate and geography. Some basic assets can be acquired from
such a planet but until full-scale colonisation occurs, the wealth
of resources that a temperate world holds cannot be tapped into
efficiently.
Verdant Planet (2 RR)
Some uninhabited planets are possessed of an incredible natural
fertility and an abundance of life. In some cases an entire planet
can be swathed in thick vegetation. The natural resources of such
a planet are so easily available that they can be harvested even
without the development of a proper colonial infrastructure.
Dead World
This category covers worlds that have been designated as
either uninhabitable or lacking any sort of assets to make
their colonisation worthwhile. Some have such inhospitable
environments that to try and inhabit them is unthinkable, while
others are bereft of natural resources. Nonetheless, even barren
dustballs can prove of strategic use for the movement and
regrouping of spacefaring fleets.
All dead worlds are considered unexplored at the beginning of
the campaign.
1d6 Dead World
1–2 Barren World
3–4 Ice World
5 Molten World
6 Toxic World
Barren World (0 RR)
Many dead worlds are literally just barren and sterile. They lack the
basic requirements for life, sometimes entirely bereft of an atmosphere
or without a drop of water anywhere on their surface. The scars of
ancient wars and civilisations can be seen on some barren worlds but
others have never been visited by any form of sentient life, as there is
nothing noteworthy to attract any attention to them.
Ice World (0 RR)
Ice worlds usually exist on the outer fringes of a system, water
worlds so far from the warmth and light of a star that they have
simply frozen over. Their ice-covered surface is usually marred by
cracks and crevasses and if they have an atmosphere it will be
bitterly cold, making for a decidedly inhospitable environment.
Nonetheless, some ice worlds have oceans and warm vents deep
below the frozen crust and potentially even ecosystems. Reaching
such resources is a process rarely worth the effort.
Molten World (1 RR)
The opposite of ice worlds, any water on the surface of a molten
or volcanic world will have long since boiled away into space.
Usually notable for extremely close proximity to a star, a molten
world’s surface is lethally hot and rife with extreme volcanic
activity. The crust of such a planet is generally very unstable, with
earthquakes and fresh eruptions as regular events. Despite the very
hostile environment, molten worlds can sometimes be of worth
to would-be conquerors of a system, as the minerals and metals
vomited forth onto the surface on a daily basis can be harvested
and often contain deposits of extremely rare elements and
compounds. Acquiring them is, of course, extremely dangerous
and unpredictable and molten worlds rarely acquire more than
very small mining operations attached to them.
Toxic World (0 RR)
Toxic worlds may sometimes appear from a distance as quite
hospitable or even welcoming locations. They usually sport an
atmosphere, seas and even life. All this masks the truth that they
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 are uninhabitable for almost any known sentient species in the
galaxy. The weather drives acidic rain and clouds of choking gases
across the surface, lakes and oceans boil with noxious chemicals
and any creature that has survived and flourished on a planet like
this is unlikely to see visitors as anything other than prey.
Outpost
This category of strategic target covers minor facilities that are
usually located on moons or large asteroids. The population of
an outpost is generally very small, or even the minimum for the
continued operation of the facility. Nonetheless, they are often of
strategic importance due to either their position or the resources
that they have access to.
1d6 Outpost
1–3 Mining Outpost
4 Observation Outpost
5 Religious Outpost
6 Scientific Outpost
Mining Outpost (10 RR)
An outpost of this kind is a facility set up to mine raw materials
from a moon or asteroid where there is no justification for any
larger-scale settlement to occur. Large sections of the outpost
are likely to be automated. Mining outposts are valuable to any
warring faction for the sheer amount of resources that they can
provide and does not even require the large garrison that can be
needed to keep a planetary population in line.
Scientific Outpost (3 RR)
Scientific outposts tend to be located in odd positions around a
system, to suit the specific requirements of the research conducted
there. In some cases it is just to ensure that if things go horribly
wrong, the facility is well away from any populated areas,
while in others the outpost is ideally placed to study an unusual
phenomenon or to conduct experiments in zero-g conditions.
Control of a scientific outpost can give access to the benefits of the
research carried out there and even the occasional ground-breaking
discovery to give a fleet an extra edge over their opponents.
A player who controls a scientific outpost may re-roll the dice of a
single Refits roll once per campaign turn. The player must accept the
second roll and may not chose to use the results of the first roll instead.
Observation Outpost (1 RR)
Usually military in nature, observation outposts provide
detailed coverage of much of the system with some of the most
sophisticated scanning technology available. Control of one of
these facilities grants a faction much greater information on the
fleet movements and activities of any opponents, allowing them
to better plan their own actions.
A player who controls a scientific outpost may increase or
decrease the number they rolled for campaign turn Initiative by up
to two, after all players have rolled their Initiative. Alternatively,
the controlling player may pay 5 RR to swap Initiative results with
one other player.
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Religious Community (1 RR)
Religious communities are sometimes to be found inhabiting small
outposts, often on the fringes of a system or near a location of
religious significance. Such communities often choose to live in an
outpost in order to be isolated from the world and to have peace,
quiet and solitude. Others have beliefs that are incompatible with
the rest of their people and so use such outposts as sanctuaries and
hiding places. A community of this kind is rarely of much direct
use to a military commander due to small populations and low
levels of material and goods production.
Gas Giant
This category covers gas giants, the huge spheres of gas that
are common to most systems. Although a gas giant cannot be
colonised and inhabited in the same way as other planets, they are
nonetheless often valuable sources of many gases and elements
that can be sifted from their upper layers and processed for use
elsewhere. Space installations are often located in orbit around a
gas giant, as the installation can be easily supplied with fuel and
materials harvested from the gas giant.
1d6 Gas Giant
1–3 Medium-Yield Gas Giant
4 Low-Yield Gas Giant
5 High-Yield Gas Giant
6 Hidden Outpost
Low-Yield Gas Giant (1 RR)
A gas giant of this kind has virtually no constituent gases or
elements of any use, or any such substances are only to be found
so deep within the giant as to be unreachable for the purposes of
harvesting significant amounts. A few small harvesting facilities
will be able to provide some resources but there is little point in
developing any holdings further.
Medium-Yield Gas Giant (3 RR)
Most gas giants are considered medium-yield, as useful levels of
raw material can be harvested from their atmospheres. Many end
up with dozens or hundreds of orbiting facilities in their upper
atmosphere, sifting out the desired elements.
High-Yield Gas Giant (5 RR)
Some gas giants have an abundance of valuable gases that are
easily accessible for harvesting facilities. Some of these planets
even end up with extensive colonisation in the form of orbiting
space stations and habitats, all supported by the produce of the
gaseous world below.
Hidden Outpost (1 RR)
A gas giant can provide an excellent hiding place for a hidden
outpost to be located, with the swirling clouds of the upper
atmosphere and the vast surface area of such a planet. A gas
giant with few useful elements to be harvested is unlikely to draw
much attention to itself, so a small facility in its orbit is likely
to go unnoticed by most cursory surveys and even from more
determined searches by military spacecraft.
2
Whenever a hidden outpost would be captured, the victorious
player must pay 5 RR or the Strategic Target remains with its
current owner (or without an owner if as yet unclaimed).
Jump Gate
This category of Strategic Target has unique qualities. Jump Gates
are not randomly generated like other types of strategic target;
instead, every system always has one jump gate.
Additionally, a jump gate is not held from turn to turn by a
controlling player.
By choosing the jump gate as a target during the campaign turn, a
player is effectively attempting to exert control over the commerce,
merchants and shipping routes of the system. A player targeting
the jump gate can be intercepted just as with any other Strategic
Target.
Should a player who chose the jump gate successfully win control
of it, it grants an income of 5 RR points in addition to the usual
benefits for acquiring a new Strategic Target. Furthermore, the
income of all other players for that turn is reduced by 2 RR.
Should a player successfully intercept an attempt to take control
of the jump gate, they do not gain control of it. Instead, they gain
a flat bonus of 10 RR.
At the end of the turn, the jump gate returns to neutral status,
uncontrolled by any player. Keeping control of the jump gates of
the system requires a great deal of effort and allocation of forces
on a continual basis.
Unusual Features
1d6 Unusual Feature
2–5 Heavy Dust Clouds
6–7 Electromagnetic Distortion
8–9 Minefield
10–12 Heavy Asteroid Density
Heavy Asteroid Density
An unusually heavy density of asteroids and other sizeable pieces
of space debris litter the vicinity of this strategic target. These
might be the evidence of the destructive forces of nature at work,
or perhaps are the debris left over from past conflict – the torn and
unsalvageable hulls of alien ships or the shattered remnants of a
moon outpost.
Any battle fought for control of the Strategic Target has an
additional D3 asteroid fields generated on the battlefield in
addition to normal stellar debris. These asteroid fields are
generated even if the scenario does not normally permit stellar
debris (yes, this does mean that a battle fought for control of an
asteroid belt with an unusually heavy asteroid density could end
up with a table near-full of asteroid fields!).
Heavy Dust Clouds
The area around this Strategic Target is thick with dust and minor
space debris, literally cloying the entire region with heavy clouds.
This may be a result of unusual solar activity resulting in the
ejection of vast amounts of gas and matter into the region, perhaps
forming a planetary nebula or simply blanketing an area of space.
Any battle fought for control of the Strategic Target count as
having the entire battlefield as a dust cloud, even if the scenario
does not normally permit stellar debris. The area covered by these
dust clouds can be vast, extending far beyond the boundaries of
the strategic target.
Minefield
Relics from a past conflict, minefields can still be in place long after
the war that prompted their deployment has ended. Sometimes
they are simply forgotten, other times there is no-one left to
deactivate them or the region is no longer deemed strategically
significant. They can present a serious hazard for anyone
attempting to assert control over a strategic target in their vicinity,
attacking any interlopers regardless of affiliation or intent.
Any battle fought for control of the Strategic Target must take the
mines littered around into account. Ships moving at or under half
their current speed are able to scan the local area for any dormant
mines and avoid or destroy them. Whenever a ship moves over
half its current speed, it triggers a mine on a roll of a six. This is
resolved with 2 Attack Dice on the ship, with the Devastating 2,
Multihit 3 and Slow traits.
Electromagnetic Distor tion
This Strategic Target is situated in an area of space affected by
heavy electromagnetic distortion and interference. Ship systems
and sensors work unreliably and it is easy for ships to slip past
undetected. Perhaps the result of unusual solar activity, planetary
core anomalies or just an inexplicable oddity, phenomena such as
this can give rise to superstitions and fears as ships drop off sensors
and then never emerge from the region, though this often has far
more to do with the bands of raiders and smugglers making such
areas their base of operations.
Any battle fought for control of the strategic target will be
affected by this electromagnetic distortion. All ships gain +1 to
their Stealth score (to a maximum of 5+) or the Stealth 2+ trait
if they did not have it before. This is only for the duration of the
battle; they do not keep the trait afterwards, as it is a result of the
local environment.
Fighters
If you are defending a Strategic Target in your possession, you are
free to ignore the limit on the number of fighters and the necessity
of having a carrier as stated in the Fleet Lists chapter. There is
instead no maximum limit (other than the number of fighters on
your fleet roster), as it is assumed there will be plenty of bases
and outposts for your fighters to launch from. You can even draw
fighters from carriers that are not taking part in the battle, having
them donate their fighters for the coming defence.
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 Weird Situations
It happens in most miniatures games. You are playing quite
happily and then something ‘odd’ takes place that the rules do not
seem to cover.
Here, we have tried listing some of the weirder situations that
cropped up during the playtesting of this game, in order to show
you how we resolved them.
My opponent grappled my ship a couple of turns ago but I
think he will cut the ship loose and speed away soon. Can I use
my grapple guns to hold him in place?
No. Once two ships have been grappled they are too close for
either to use their grapple guns further.
What happens if two ships are grappled and the larger ship
pushes the smaller one into an asteroid field?
We like your thinking! In this case, both ships will be affected
by the asteroid field (you do not get to push someone into a
pile of rocks without getting showered yourself !). However,
because both ships are somewhat handicapped, neither may
make a Crew Quality check to avoid damage – the rocks
automatically hit!
If I steam forward with my galliot and miss with the front-
facing grapple gun, I have to continue my move. Can I then
use my port or starboard grapple guns as I move past the ship
I was targeting in the first place?
Yes!
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I boarded an enemy ship earlier but he then re-captured it. I
have now boarded it again, but he is bringing up a Galliot to
get it back. Do we both get loads of Victory Points for this?
No. All that matters is what state the ship is in at the end of the
game. If it is in your hands, then you get the normal Victory
Points for capturing a ship. If it is in your opponent’s possession,
you will get nothing!
I just received a critical hit that makes my weapons Inaccurate.
Umm, some of them already were…
Inaccurate weapons retain their Inaccurate trait – they do not get
more inaccurate. Ignore this effect for those weapons only.
And now I have taken the same critical hit on my Accurate
weapons!
Accurate and Inaccurate will cancel one another out. The weapon will
no longer get a bonus on its Attack Dice but nor will it receive a penalty.
An enemy ship has grappled one of my vessels. I want to ram it
with a second ship. Can I do this?
You are evil. Yes, you can and as the enemy vessel is clinging on
to the side of one of your ships (or, potentially, is held in place by
a ship you are boarding with – though quite why you would also
want to ram it is beyond us), there is no need to make opposed
Crew Quality checks. You will automatically hit it. However, it
is still a tricky manoeuvre, going at ramming speed while trying
to hit one ship and avoid another, so you can only attempt this if
your ramming ship has a lower starting Damage score than both
of the ships involved in the grapple.
2
The Minor Houses
A number of other houses have risen and fallen through the years, some never expanding beyond one planet, while
others almost named one of their own Emperor before fading away. Most of these still have descendants in positions
of power, though some, such as the Alecto, Gesar and Windsors, are believed to be completely extinct.

In fact, almost all the Known Worlds had their own unique ruling family at one point or another. Some of these
families managed to extend their reach, taking over one or two other planets, marrying into other families and getting
planets through dowries and inheritance, or allying with another family to share a planet. Others never left their
homeworld and have slowly become less and less a factor. Almost every planet has several minor houses with interests
and representatives on it.

Some of the minor houses that still exist, like the Sacrananka, have descended to the point of complete insignificance,
their last survivors living in squalor or reverting to serfdom. Others, like the Keddah of Grail, remain the primary
power on their own planet, above and beyond the Royal Houses or the Emperor.

Despite their subservient role, the minor houses play an important part in the Known Worlds. The Royal Houses
do not have enough members to oversee every part of their domains, and the minor houses still appear to rule in a
number of places. On other planets they often own much of the land and industry, and house members are both the
cultural and civic leaders.

Indeed, were all the minor houses to unite, they might very well be able to overthrow the Royal Houses. The likelihood
of this is infinitesimally small, but it does provide extra impetus for the Royal Houses to keep the minor ones in their
collective place. While members of some of the minor houses have managed to make names for themselves, the Royal
Houses have prevented the complete resurrection of any of the minor ones. As long as the minor houses are busy
carrying out the Royal Houses’ wishes, they will never be free to plan their own rise. What follow are some of the
more prominent minor houses.

Minor Houses
Juandaastas (long-standing ties to alien races, especially the Ur-Obun)
Justinian (once major, lost badly when Vladimir died)
Keddah (rulers of the planet Grail, bound to Decados by treaty, warring with al-Malik)
Masseri (conquered by Decados and on decline)
Shelit (newly discovered house with odd technological ties)
Thana (supported psychic research many years ago)
Torenson (strong proponents of rigid rules of etiquette)
Trusnikron (renowned beast tamers, strict adherents to their own code of honour)
Van Gelder (once major, now allied to Decados for survival)
Xanthippes (an ancient matriarchy with strict control over its own territory)

Extinct Houses
Alecto (Vladimir I’s house, lost last sons in first Emperor War, a number died in odd accidents)
Chauki (overthrown by the Hazat)
Gesar (allied to Vladimir, lost last sons in first Emperor War)
Windsors (allied to Vladimir, lost last sons in first Emperor War)

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 Fleet Lists
This chapter details all the ships available to the various fleets
of the galaxy, as well as the fleet lists by which players can
pick fair and balanced forces for the scenarios on page 57.
Though you are not restricted to using these fleet lists for your
own games, when using them you can be reasonably certain
that every fleet in a game should have a reasonable chance of
defeating any other.
Points Costs
Every ship detailed in this chapter has a points cost, which is
derived from how powerful the ship is. This allows you to build
fleets that, under normal circumstances, should be fairly balanced
against one another.
The Fleet Lists
Every fleet presented in this book comprises the following sections.
Advanced Rules
Some fleets have radically different rules that serve to make them
unique in the galaxy. In each case, the special rules for the fleets
are given here.
Fleet Lists
This is a short but comprehensive list of every ship available to the
fleet and a guide to what their Firebird cost is. This allows you to
construct your fleets by using a single page once you have begun
to learn the capabilities of different ships.
Ship Descriptions
Every ship in the fleet is detailed here, including both its description
and characteristics.
88
Advanced Options
Some fleets have the potential to upgrade their ships or otherwise
influence the course of battles by taking a few advanced options.
These are all described after the main ship descriptions.
Before Battle
Once the points costs for a scenario have been decided, you
can start choosing ships from the relevant sections of your fleet
list. When choosing ships, you should make sure that you can
represent each one properly on the tabletop, whether you are
using counters or miniatures. There is nothing worse than finding
out that the Deacdos frigate you were about to attack is, in fact,
supposed to be an Anikrunta dreadnought...
Crew Quality
The fleet lists included in this book assume that all ships have a
Military-Grade crew – that is, a Crew Quality score of 4. However,
you might like to experiment with random Crew Quality scores,
as detailed on page 22. This will lead to far more realistic battles
and should be the natural choice of all advanced players.
Squadrons
Once you have chosen your fleet for the upcoming scenario, you may
be able to organise two or more of your ships into squadrons. Using
squadrons allows you to move large numbers of ships quickly and it
tends to concentrate firepower in specific parts of the battlefield. The
full rules for using squadrons are covered on page 23.
Fighters
You may only take fighters if they are carried on board a ship
with the Carrier trait. You may not take more fighters than your
Carrier ships can carry.
2
House Hawkwood
In its earliest days, House Hawkwood was the leading house but a consortium of other houses, led by Decados, brought
it crashing down, almost to the point of extinction. One member managed to revive its fortunes and within generations
it once again became one of the greatest houses, until the first barbarian invasion broke through at Delphi and devastated
Hawkwood’s holdings. Other catastrophes have come and gone, but House Hawkwood endures…

House Hawkwood has had its former leader, Alexius, ascend to become Emperor, but he is now distancing himself from
his house, going out of his way to deny its leaders the rewards of empire. This has caused great consternation among the
wealthiest nobles but, at the same time, many of Hawkwood’s landless nobles have found a place among the Emperor’s
Questing Knights, helping to administer the Empire, explore its darkest reaches and bring back important news.

When a new Hawkwood is born, the House surrounds him with evidence of inevitable destiny and by the time the child is
five, he can recount the deeds of leading Hawkwoods from centuries past. By the time the child reaches 12, he will realise
just how important House Hawkwood has been in humanity’s progress, and at 16, he will have no doubt that every action
he takes will have critical importance to everyone in the Known Worlds.

While certain Hawkwoods have gone bad in the past, they are easily dismissed by those who remain. Real Hawkwoods can
deal with anything. Real Hawkwoods never doubt themselves. Real Hawkwoods know that their bloodline allows them to
face any enemy and overcome any obstacle. Failure of any kind is not accepted. This background makes Hawkwoods vain,
headstrong and bigoted – but at the same time they can be courageous, charitable and progressive. Hawkwood nobles are
extremely conscious of both their personal honour and that of their House, and duelling is a favourite method of resolving
such conflicts.

2
 H ouse H awkwood F leet L ist
The following forms the entire fleet list for House Hawkwood.

Fitzhugh-class Fighter 10 points Kestrel-class Torpedo Bomber 20 points

Wayfarer-class Explorer 50 points Hornet-class Frigate 100 points
Darius-class Galliot 120 points Griffin-class Destroyer 180 points
Malcolm-class Light Carrier 150 points Vladimir-class Cruiser 400 points
Maestekulos-class Dreadnought 600 points Osprey-class Heavy Carrier 490 points

Marauders- Any Hawkwood ship may replace any of its Troops with Marauders for +5 points per Troop.

House Hawkwood Initiative: +0

Fitzhugh-class Fighter 10 Points

Speed: 20
Turn: SM

Fitzhugh
fighter
Hull: 4
Shields: 0
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: +1
Traits: Dodge 2+, Fighter

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Point Slug Gun 2 T 1 Weak

Kestrel-class Tor pedo Bomber 20 Points

heavy bomber
Speed: 10
Turn: SM
Hull: 4

Kestrel
Shields: 1
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: -1
Traits: Dodge 4+, Fighter

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Micro-Torpedoes 4 T 3 Guided, Multihit 2, One-Shot, Slow

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Wayfarer-class Explorer 50 Points

Speed: 16
Turn: 2/90o

Wayfarer
Hull: 3

explorer
Shields: 2
Damage: 9/3
Ramming: 1
Troops: 1
Craft: None
Traits: Agile, Scout
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Light Laser 24 T 1 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise

Hor net-class Frigate 100 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3

frigate
Damage: 18/6
Ramming: 2

Hornet
Troops: 6
Craft: None
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Missile Launchers 28 T 2 Guided, Slow
Light Lasers 24 P 4 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Lasers 24 S 4 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise

Darius-class Galliot 120 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 21/7
Ramming: 3
Darius
Troops: 10
galliot

Craft: None
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Light Lasers 24 P 4 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Lasers 24 S 4 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S

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 Griffin-class Destroyer 180 Points
Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 30/10

destroyer
Ramming: 5
Troops: 8
Craft: None

Griffin
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Missile Launchers 28 T 2 Guided, Slow
Missile Launchers 28 T 2 Guided, Slow
Light Lasers 24 P 7 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Lasers 24 S 7 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise

Malcolm-class Light Car rier 150 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o

light carrier
Hull: 4
Shields: 4
Damage: 30/10
Ramming: 4
Troops: 6

Malcolm
Craft: 8
Traits: Carrier 2
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Missile Launchers 28 T 2 Guided, Slow
Light Lasers 24 P 4 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Lasers 24 S 4 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise

Vladimir-class Cr uiser 400 Points

Speed: 4
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 42/14
Ramming: 6
Troops: 11 *
Craft: None
Vladimir
Traits: None
cruiser

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Heavy Blaster 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Heavy Blaster 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Light Lasers 24 P 5 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Lasers 24 S 5 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Heavy Lasers 36 P 3 Accurate, Burn-out, Multihit 2, Precise
Heavy Lasers 36 S 3 Accurate, Burn-out, Multihit 2, Precise
Gatling Lasers P
Gatling Lasers S
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S

* The Vladimir’s Troops comprise 8 Marines and 3 Marauders.

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Maestekulos-class Dreadnought 600 Points

Speed: 4
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 6
Damage: 75/25
Ramming: 9
Troops: 16*
Craft: None
Traits: Command +2, Lumbering, Think Machine
Weapon Range Arc AD Special

dreadnought
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3

Maestekulos
Medium Lasers 28 P 5 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Medium Lasers 28 S 5 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Heavy Lasers 36 P 5 Accurate, Burn-out, Multihit
2, Precise
Heavy Lasers 36 S 5 Accurate, Burn-out, Multihit
2, Precise
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S
Gatling Lasers P
Gatling Lasers S
Heavy Meson Cannon 10 F 1 Devastating +2, Multihit 3D6

* The Maestekulos’ Troops comprise 10 Marines and 6 Marauders.

Osprey-class Heavy Car rier 490 Points

Speed: 4
Turn: 1/45o

CLASSIFIED
Hull: 4
Shields: 6
Damage: 75/18
Ramming: 8
Troops: 12
Craft: 18
Traits: Carrier 6, Command +2, Lumbering, Think Machine
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
heavy carrier

Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3

Osprey
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Medium Lasers 28 P 2 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Medium Lasers 28 S 2 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Heavy Lasers 36 P 3 Accurate, Burn-out, Multihit 2, Precise
Heavy Lasers 36 S 3 Accurate, Burn-out, Multihit 2, Precise
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S
Gatling Lasers P
Gatling Lasers S

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House Decados
Though House Decados was the last of the Royal Houses to join the alliance against the Republic (they were the tenth
of the Ten), its nobles claim it is actually one of the oldest Houses, long existing incognito. Descent has been claimed
from the Russian czars through Princess Anastasia, but only after several generations of interbreeding could most of the
Decados legitimately claim to be related to one another. This interbreeding has continued throughout the years, and the
nobles of House Decados have been noted as being a little… odd.

Nonetheless, House Decados is one of the most influential, if least trusted, of the Royal Houses, and it remains an
insurmountable barrier to anyone with democratic ideals. Its spies and assassins roam the Known Worlds, and Decados
leaders have an uncanny ability to discover the darkest secrets of their enemies. The Decados have mastered the arts of
body manipulation and alteration, and their Jakovian spies are said to be able to pass as anyone they desire, even changing
their appearance while on assignment.

Decados are assumed to be two-faced during negotiations and are rarely trusted. They enjoy duelling, much like the
Hawkwoods, but tend to cheat. Poisoned stilettos, fencing foils that project false images of where they are, shield dampers,
psychic attacks – if a Decados can get it into the duelling arena, he will use it. This kind of deceit is often employed in
war and fleet actions.

2
H ouse D ecados F leet L ist
The following forms the entire fleet list for House Decados.

Subiaco-class Fighter 10 points Rodrigo-class Heavy Fighter 20 points

Reaper-class Raider 60 points Mantis-class Frigate 100 points
Lucretzia-class Galliot 120 points Nightwing-class Stealthship 160 points
Tupok’ta-class Destroyer 180 points Hyram-class Light Carrier 150 points
Grigori-class Cruiser 400 points Anikrunta-class Dreadnought 600 points

Marauders - Any Decados ship may replace any of its Troops with Marauders for +5 points per Troop.

House Decados Initiative: +1

Subiaco-class Fighter 10 Points

Speed: 16
Turn: SM
Hull: 4
Shields: 0

Subiaco
Damage: 1

fighter
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: +1
Traits: Dodge 3+, Fighter

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Point Slug Gun 2 T 2 Weak

Rodrigo-class Heavy Fighter 20 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: SM
Hull: 5

heavy fighter
Shields: 1

Rodrigo
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: -1
Traits: Dodge 5+, Fighter

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Meson Tubes 2 T 2 Devastating +1, Multihit 2, One-Shot

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 Reaper-class Raider 60 Points
Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 12/4
Ramming: 2
Troops: 2

Reaper
Craft: None

raider
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Light Laser 24 F 1 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Laser 24 T 1 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Grapple Gun P
Grapple Gun S
Light Laser 24 P 1 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Laser 24 S 1 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise

Mantis-class Frigate 100 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 18/6
Ramming: 2

frigate

Mantis
Troops: 6
Craft: None
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Medium Blasters 24 T 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Medium Blasters 24 P 4 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Medium Blasters 24 S 4 Burn-out, Multihit 2

Lucretzia-class Galliot 120 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 21/7
Lucretzia
Ramming: 3
Troops: 10
Craft: None
galliot

Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Light Blasters 16 P 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Light Blasters 16 S 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S
EM Pulse Gun 24 T 1 Double Burn

96
2
Nightwing-class Stealthship 160 Points
Speed: 12
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 3
Shields: 3

stealthship

Nightwing
Damage: 21/7
Ramming: 2
Troops: 12
Craft: None
Traits: Stealth 4+
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Medium Blasters 24 T 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Medium Blasters 24 P 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Medium Blasters 24 S 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S

Tupok’ta-class Destroyer 180 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 30/10

destroyer

Tupok'ta
Ramming: 5
Troops: 8
Craft: None
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
EM Pulse Guns 24 T 2 Double Burn
EM Pulse Guns 24 T 2 Double Burn
Medium Slug Guns 18 P 6 Accurate, Multihit 3
Medium Slug Guns 18 S 6 Accurate, Multihit 3

Hyram-class Light Car rier 150 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 4
light carrier

Damage: 30/10
Ramming: 4
Troops: 6
Craft: 8
Hyram

Traits: Carrier 2, Lumbering

Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Gremlin Guns 12 T 2 Disable, Slow
Light Blasters 16 P 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Light Blasters 16 S 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Medium Blasters 24 P 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Medium Blasters 24 S 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2

97
2
 Grigori-class Cr uiser 400 Points
Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 42/14
Ramming: 6
Troops: 10
Craft: None
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special

cruiser

Grigori
Light Meson Cannon 15 T 3 Devastating +1, Multihit 4
Light Meson Cannon 15 T 3 Devastating +1, Multihit 4
Light Lasers 24 P 3 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Lasers 24 S 3 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Medium Blasters 24 P 3 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Medium Blasters 24 S 3 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Gatling Lasers x3 P
Gatling Lasers x3 S
Grapple Gun F

Anikr unta-class Dreadnought 600 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 6
Damage: 75/25
Ramming: 9
Troops: 16*
Craft: None
Traits: Command +1, Lumbering, Think Machine
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Light Meson Cannon 15 T 3 Devastating +1,
Multihit 4
Light Meson Cannon 15 T 3 Devastating +1,
Multihit 4
Light Meson Cannon 15 T 3 Devastating +1,
dreadnought

Multihit 4
Gremlin Gun 12 P 1 Disable, Slow
Gremlin Gun 12 S 1 Disable, Slow
Anikrunta
Medium Lasers 28 P 3 Accurate, Burn-out
Medium Lasers 28 S 3 Accurate, Burn-out
Heavy Blasters 32 P 4 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Heavy Blasters 32 S 4 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S
Gatling Lasers x2 P
Gatling Lasers x2 S
Heavy Meson Cannon 10 F 1 Devastating +2,
Multihit 3D6

* The Anikrunta’s Troops comprise 10 Marines and 6 Marauders.

98
2
House Hazat
Once advisors to the now extinct House Chauki, the Hazat overthrew their masters and helped engineer the Fall. Since then,
the Hazat have repeatedly tried to extend their influence, but have been blocked every time.

The Hazat have rarely been subtle and rely on force of arms to achieve their goals. They turned the army against House
Chauki but in turn found themselves beholden to the military, who have found their influence among the Hazat grow over
time. House Hazat can now not curtail their military build up, even if they wanted to. Almost all young Hazat go through
military training throughout their childhood, and are prepared for positions of command – it is not unusual to find a 12 year
old Hazat knight leading forces of hardened veterans.

There are many jokes made at the expense of Hazat intelligence and common sense, but they go to great extremes to prove
their courage and ability. The presence of a Hazat on the field of battle can have great influence over the soldiers under
his command. They have great empathy with their soldiers, and retired military personnel occupy a place of honour, even
being able to veto actions by local Hazat rulers. Distinguished service by freemen within the military is often rewarded with
money and land, and even a serf can become a freeman.

Members of the Hazat pride themselves on their honour and ability, forgiving no slight to either, a trait that other Houses
can often play on. However, they do not duel in the same fashion as other Houses, deriding those who hide behind shields.
The Hazat idea of a duel involves no shields and much heavier weaponry.

2
 H ouse H azat F leet L ist
The following forms the entire fleet list for House Hazat.

Dagger-class Fighter 10 points Harpy-class Torpedo Bomber 20 points

Stalker-class Explorer 60 points Scorpion-class Frigate 100 points
Xerses-class Galliot 150 points Manticore-class Destroyer 180 points
Trafalgar-class Carrier 320 points Canai-class Cruiser 400 points
Adonais-class Dreadnought 600 points

Elite Marines - Any Hazat ship may replace all of its Troops (not Marauders) with Elite Marines for +2 points per Troop. Any Hazat
ship may replace any of its Troops with Marauders for +5 points per Troop.

House Hazat Initiative: +1

Dagger-class Fighter 10 Points

Speed: 18
Turn: SM
Hull: 3

fighter
Shields: 0

Dagger
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: +1
Traits: Dodge 2+, Fighter
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Point Slug Gun 2 T 2 Weak

Har py-class Tor pedo Bomber 20 Points

torpedo bomber
Speed: 12
Turn: SM
Hull: 5
Shields: 1
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: -1
Traits: Dodge 4+, Fighter
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Harpy
Micro-Torpedoes 4 T 2 Guided, Multihit 2, One-Shot, Slow

100
2
Stalker-class Explorer 60 Points
Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 3
Shields: 2

explorer
Damage: 9/3
Ramming: 1

Stalker
Troops: 2
Craft: None
Traits: Agile, Scout
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Light Laser 24 F 1 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Laser 24 T 1 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise

Scor pion-class Frigate 100 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 18/6
Ramming: 2

Scorpion
Troops: 9
Craft: None

frigate
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Medium Blasters 24 T 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Light Lasers 24 P 3 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Lasers 24 S 3 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Grapple Gun P
Grapple Gun S

Xerxes-class Galliot 150 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 21/7
Ramming: 3
Troops: 10*
Xerxes
Craft: None
galliot

Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Light Blasters 16 P 6 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Light Blasters 16 S 6 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S

* The Xerses’ Troops comprise 7 Marines and 3 Marauders.

101
2
 Manticore-class Destroyer 180 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 30/10

Manticore
Ramming: 4
Troops: 10

destroyer
Craft: None
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Medium Blasters 24 T 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Medium Blasters 24 T 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Light Blasters 16 P 6 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Light Blasters 16 S 6 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Grapple Gun P
Grapple Gun S

Trafalgar-class Car rier 320 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 4
Damage: 42/14
Ramming: 5
Troops: 10
Craft: 12
Traits: Carrier 3, Lumbering
Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Trafalgar
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Heavy Blasters 32 P 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
carrier
Heavy Blasters 32 S 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Gatling Lasers P
Gatling Lasers S
Grapple Gun P
Grapple Gun S

102
2
Canai-class Cr uiser 400 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 42/14
Ramming: 6
Troops: 12
Craft: None
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3

cruiser
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3

Canai
Light Blasters 16 P 9 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Light Blasters 16 S 9 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Gatling Lasers P
Gatling Lasers S
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S

* The Canai’s Troops comprise 6 Marines and 6 Marauders.

Adonais-class Dreadnought 600 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 6
Damage: 75/25
Ramming:9
Troops: 18*
Craft: None
Traits: Command +1, Lumbering,Think Machine
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out,
Multihit 3
dreadnought
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out,
Multihit 3
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out,
Multihit 3
Medium Blasters 24 P 4 Burn-out, Adonais
Multihit 2
Medium Blasters 24 S 4 Burn-out,
Multihit 2
Heavy Blasters 32 P 3 Burn-out,
Multihit 3
Heavy Blasters 32 S 3 Burn-out,
Multihit 3
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S
Gatling Lasers P
Gatling Lasers S
Heavy Meson Cannon 10 F 1 Devastating +2,
Multihit 3D6

* The Adonais’ Troops comprise 8 Marines and 10 Marauders.

103
2
House al-Malik
Living apart from the people they rule, the nobles of al-Marik are the least accessible and most rarely encountered of all the
Houses. They keep an air of distance about them and speak in elegant metaphors that only other al-Marik can understand.

House al-Marik maintains strong ties with the Merchant League, and there are rumours that it bought its position as a
Royal House from its banking and trade interests. Nonetheless, House al-Marik can usually count on League support in
its ventures, and their mansions are filled with technological wonders. Some even carry personal think machines, which
they cryptically call ‘computers’.

This connection has attracted no small amount of interest from the Inquisition, and the House has been the subject of
many investigations. However, aside from a few reprimands aimed at low-level nobles, no official accusation has ever been
made, and there are dark rumours of House al-Marik paying its tithe directly to the Inquisition.

Nobles of House al-Marik tend to be passionate and flashy in disposition, owning priceless technological devices and
throwing wild parties. They are extensively educated, though lacking in the raw combat skills of other Houses. They tend
to harken to latter day Second Republic socialist philosophies, though they are also ardent capitalists, and it is said they are
working toward a better world, the Utopian Third Republic – utter heresy, but rumours persist of this goal being advanced
by the League.

2
H ouse al -M alik F leet L ist
The following forms the entire fleet list for House al-Malik.

Zubayr-class Fighter 10 points Mumit-class Torpedo Bomber 20 points

Odyssey-class Explorer 50 points Spider-class Frigate 100 points
Rahimat-class Galliot 120 points Matachin-class Stealthship 160 points
Efreet-class Destroyer 180 points Asim-class Light Carrier 150 points
Moriah-class Cruiser 400 points

House al-Malik Initiative: -1

Zubayr-class Fighter 10 Points

Speed: 24
Turn: SM

fighter
Hull: 2

Zubayr
Shields: 0
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: +2
Traits: Dodge 2+, Fighter
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Point Slug Gun 2 T 1 Weak

Mumit-class Tor pedo Bomber 20 Points

Speed: 8

torpedo bomber
Turn: SM
Hull: 3
Shields: 1
Damage: 1

Mumit
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: -2
Traits: Dodge 5+, Fighter
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Micro-Torpedoes 4 T 4 Guided, Multihit 2, One-Shot, Slow

Odyssey-class Explorer 50 Points

Speed: 16
Turn: 2/90o
Hull: 3
Odyssey
explorer

Shields: 2
Damage: 9/3
Ramming: 1
Troops: 1
Craft: None
Traits: Agile, Scout
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Light Laser 24 F 1 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise

105
2
 Spider-class Frigate 100 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 18/6

frigate
Ramming: 2
Troops: 6

Spider
Craft: None
Traits: Agile
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Missile Launchers 28 T 2 Guided, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 P 8 Inaccurate, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 S 8 Inaccurate, Slow

Rahimat-class Galliot 120 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/90o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3

galliot
Damage: 21/7

Rahimat
Ramming: 3
Troops: 10
Craft: None
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Rocket Launchers 20 P 6 Inaccurate, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 S 6 Inaccurate, Slow
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S

Matachin-class Stealthship 160 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 3
Shields: 3
galliot

Matachin
Damage: 21/7
Ramming: 2
Troops: 12
Craft: None
Traits: Stealth 4+, Think Machine
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Missile Launchers 28 T 2 Guided, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 P 4 Inaccurate, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 S 4 Inaccurate, Slow
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S

106
2
Efreet-class Destroyer 180 Points
Speed: 8
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 30/10

destroyer
Ramming: 4

Efreet
Troops: 8
Craft: None
Traits: Agile, Think Machine
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Missile Launchers 28 T 2 Guided, Slow
Missile Launchers 28 T 2 Guided, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 P 14 Inaccurate, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 S 14 Inaccurate, Slow

Asim-class Light Car rier 150 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4

light carrier
Shields: 4
Damage: 30/10
Ramming: 4
Troops: 6
Craft: 8
Traits: Carrier 2, Command +1, Think Machine

Asim
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Missile Launchers 28 T 2 Guided, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 P 6 Inaccurate, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 S 6 Inaccurate, Slow

Moriah-class Cr uiser 400 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 42/14
Ramming: 6
Troops: 10*
Craft: None
Traits: Think Machine
cruiser

Moriah

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Torpedo Launchers 32 T 3 Guided, Multihit 2, Slow
Torpedo Launchers 32 T 3 Guided, Multihit 2, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 P 18 Inaccurate, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 S 18 Inaccurate, Slow
Gatling Lasers P
Gatling Lasers S
Grapple Gun x2 P
Grapple Gun x2 S

* The Moriah’s Troops comprise 6 Marines and 4 Marauders.

107
2
House Li-Halan
Buried in a sordid past, renowned for debauchery among nobles and cruelty towards subjects, House Li Halan could have
once put Decados to shame. However, during the Barbarian Invasions, House Li Halan found the Pancreator and the
entire family converted overnight, with several prominent family members dispatched to monasteries, never to be seen
again. Since then, the family has been at the height of orthodoxy, battling heresy and even blocking attempts at change
within the Church itself.

This orthodoxy carries over into all aspects of life within House Li Halan. They are the strictest adherents to the nobles’
code of etiquette, and the House itself is rigidly structured, with each member being in no doubt as to what their place is.
Serfs find it almost impossible to become freemen, while freemen find it hard to gain land, to the point where Li Halan
society has begun to resemble an extremely rigid caste system. Children perform the same work their parents did, and
few marry outside of their place and occupation.

Li Halan nobles maintain firm beliefs, but they are not necessarily dogmatic to the point of stupidity. Most do not
approve of duelling, and many have started to explore the mystical teachings of the Prophet and delve into theurgy.

2
H ouse L i H alan F leet L ist
The following forms the entire fleet list for House Li Halan.

Mishima-class Fighter 10 points Peregrine-class Heavy Fighter 20 points

Slayer-class Raider 60 points Iskati-class Frigate 100 points
Cardano-class Galliot 120 points Dragon-class Destroyer 180 points
Ijiri-class Light Carrier 150 points Maru-class Cruiser 400 points

Elite Marines - Any Li Halan ship may replace all of its Troops (not Marauders) with Elite Marines for +2 points per Troop.
House Li Halan Initiative: +1

Mishima-class Fighter 10 Points

Speed: 24

fighter
Turn: SM

Mishima
Hull: 2
Shields: 0
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: +0
Traits: Dodge 3+, Fighter
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Point Slug Gun 2 T 3 Weak

Pereg rine-class Heavy Fighter 20 Points

Peregrine
Speed: 12

heavy fighter
Turn: SM
Hull: 3
Shields: 1
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: -2
Traits: Dodge 4+, Fighter
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Meson Tubes 2 T 2 Devastating +1, Multihit 2, One-Shot

Slayer-class Raider 60 Points

Speed: 16
Turn: 2/90o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 12/4
raider

Ramming: 2
Slayer

Troops: 2
Craft: None
Traits: Agile
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Light Lasers 24 P 2 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Lasers 24 S 2 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Grapple Gun P
Grapple Gun S

109
2
 Iskati-class Frigate 100 Points
Speed: 12
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 18/6

frigate
Ramming: 2
Troops: 6

Iskati
Craft: None
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Medium Lasers 28 P 5 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Medium Lasers 28 S 5 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise

Cardano-class Galliot 120 Points

Speed: 16
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 21/7
Ramming: 3

Cardono
Troops: 9

galliot
Craft: None
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Grapple Gun F
Medium Lasers 28 P 3 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Medium Lasers 28 S 3 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Grapple Guns x2 P
Grapple Guns x2 S

Dragon-class Destroyer 180 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 30/10
Ramming: 5
Troops: 8
Craft: None
destroyer

Traits: None
Dragon

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun F
Medium Lasers 28 T 2 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Medium Lasers 28 P 7 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Medium Lasers 28 S 7 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise

110
2
Ijiri-class Light Car rier 150 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4

light carrier
Shields: 4
Damage: 30/10
Ramming: 4
Troops: 6
Craft: 8
Traits: Carrier 2, Command +1
Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Ijiri
Grapple Gun F
Medium Lasers 28 T 2 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Medium Lasers 28 P 3 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Medium Lasers 28 S 3 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise

Mar u-class Cr uiser 400 Points

Speed: 6
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 37/9
Ramming: 5
Troops: 10*
Craft: None
Traits: None
Weapon Range Arc AD Special
EM Pulse Guns 24 T 3 Double Burn
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out,
Multihit 3
Heavy Lasers 36 P 6 Accurate, Burn-

cruiser
out, Multihit 2,
Precise

Maru
Heavy Lasers 36 S 6 Accurate, Burn-
out, Multihit 2,
Precise
Gatling Lasers x2 P
Gatling Lasers x2 S
Grapple Guns x2 P
Grapple Guns x2 S

* The Maru’s Troops comprise 4 Marines and 6 Marauders.

111
2
 Hazat Trafalgar Car rier
House Hazat takes a different approach to fighter support
than other fleets. While most concentrate their efforts
on a larger number of light carriers, Hazat prefers to
use a smaller number of larger carriers, reasoning that
the concentration of a larger number of craft is always
advantageous. Loaded, as with all Hazat warships, with an
inordinate number of troops, the Trafalgar is fully capable
of taking on any smaller vessel and winning, not always
an obvious trait with carriers.

Al Malik Rahimat Galliot

An oddity in a fleet that normally prefers to pound
enemies from as distance, the Rahimat is swift and agile
enough to rapidly break formation from the rest of the
al Malik fleet, to dive upon an approaching enemy and
launch a boarding action.

Al Malik Asim Light Car rier

The Asim fulfils a similar role in the al Malik fleet as does
the Ijiri for Li Halan – both are intended to be fleet control
vessels as much as light carriers. Lacking the speed of
the Ijiri, the Asim instead relies on being able to burrow
its way into the al Malik fleet as a whole, appearing as
just another ship that is contributing to the constant
bombardment of rockets, missiles and torpedoes.

Decados Nightwing Stealthship

One of only two fleets that can support Stealthships,
Deacdos uses these vessels to silently creep up on an
enemy fleet and launch a vicious boarding action before
target ships are even aware there is a danger. While not as
agile as al Malik’s ship, the Nightwing more than makes
up for this with its heavier firepower.

Decados Mantis Frigate

With its distinctive crescent shape, the Mantis lacks the speed
and agility of many of its rivals but more than makes up
for it with its gun decks and turret packed with blasters. A
squadron of these ships will prove to be more than a match
for many ships much larger in size. The Mantis retains the
ability to act as a general purpose ship of a Decados fleet,
able to attack, board and run gauntlets as demanded.

2
Li Halan Mar u Cr uiser
The largest ship currently fielded by Li Halan, the Maru
Cruiser is designed to wreck havoc on enemy shields
before delivering a killing blow. This is accomplished by
turret mounted EM pulse guns that strip shields, heavy
blasters that smash hulls asunder, and lasers that pinpoint
the weakest areas of an enemy.If that were not enough,
the Maru also carries an over-sized complement of
Marauders on board, ensuring any enemy wanting to win
a boarding action must heavily outnumber the defenders if
he is to have any chance of success.

Li Halan Dragon Destroyer

The perfect counterpoint to the Ijiri light carrier, the
Dragon destroyer is a fast ship, mounting rows of medium
lasers down its flank. This gives it a deadly accurate attack
that will burn out shields or savage an unprotected hull
with equal ease. It is generally accounted forbeing one of
the finest destroyers in space.

Hawkwood Darius Galliot

Based on a larger hull than the Hornet frigate, the Darius
mounts less weaponry overall but carries a complement
of fearsome marines into battle. Built to engage enemy
ships directly and board them, the Darius is capable of
overwhelming even a destroyer with its troops. A wise
admiral will keep his Darius squadrons in reserve or
within stellar debris until the time to strike is right.

Hawkwood Vladimir Cr uiser

Sleek and deadly, the Vladimir Cruiser features a lethal
array of lasers and blasters to rip enemies apart, and car-
ries a contingent of the awesome Marauders for boarding.
Cruisers are powerful line ships A Call to Arms: Noble
Armada, capable of hammering the enemy or launching
boarding actions as required.

Hawkwood Griffin Destroyer

The Griffin destroyer builds upon the Hawkwood ethos of
turret-mounted missiles to soften an enemy up in the early
stages of battle, combined with withering laser fire to strip
armour off hulls.A capable warship, the Griffin is the pride
of any captain chosen to command it. Whether it is part of a
fleet or engaged in a lone action where a frigate just won’t do,
the Griffin has a reputation for performing superbly.

2
 House Hazat launches
an attack against
a convoy of the
Merchant League.

The pride of House

Hawkwood r uns
into an Anikr unta
dreadnought.

A Li Halan ambush
goes badly wrong
and an Adonais
dreadnought gives
pursuit.

2
Pre pare to receive
boarders! A Li Halan
convoy pre pares to be
salvaged by Decados
frigates and galliots.

Having weathered a
blizzard of rockets
and missiles, Li Halan
ships close range with
Al Malik.

Clash of the titans

- two dradnoughts
pound one another
as House Decados
seeks an oppor tunity
to launch a boarding
action.

2
 Making Stellar Debris
Making your own Stellar Debris takes just a few moments, and really makes a difference on the table. As well as looking alot more
aesthetically pleasing than empty space, Stellar Debris vastly increase your tactical options.

Planets
You can download planetary templates for free from the Mongoose website (www.mongoosepublishing.com). Once you have the planets
you desire, simply follow this easy process.

1. Find an old CD

2. Print the planet off and cut it out.

3. Now glue the planet to the back of the CD. You are now the creator of worlds.

116
2
Astero i ds
1. Finding the right
stones
It is not difficult to find small stones/
pieces of rubble to use as asteroids. The
only real issue is whether a particular
stone ‘looks like’ an asteroid. A piece of
brick with lots of right angles or lettering
does not usually work, neither would a
small fossil! Give them a quick wash to
get rid of any dirt or sand which may
cause problems later on.
4. Undercoat.
A black spray paint here. Be sure to cover
all the nooks and crannies as having a
light patch in some recess looks wrong.
2. Drill holes for
stands
Use a pin vice or a hand drill. At this
point you will come to realise all small
stones are not equal. Pieces of cement
or concrete are easier to drill than most
stones and bricks, which are usually much
harder materials.
5. Begin to paint.
Grey asteroids are easy to paint on an
undercoat. Just slowly build up the shade
by drybrushing. Brown asteroids look
especially good on the table, though, and
you can use different browns to create all
sorts of variation in colour.
3. Base the asteroids
Easily done. Using a ball-joint stand is
not necessary but can be preferable for
larger asteroids, since it makes it less
likely they will break. It also makes them
easier to transport.
6. Finish.
Add the last layer of drybrushing and
spray on any varnish you wish to use
to protect the model. You now have the
beginnings of an asteroid field!
117
2
Product Catalogue

Al Malik Al Malik Al Malik

Spider Frigate Efreet Destroyer Odyssey Explorer
Squadron Squadron Squadron
MGP 3589 MGP 3592 MGP 3588
£9.99 / $14.99 £9.99 / $14.99 £9.99 / $14.99

Decados Decados Decados

Mantis Frigate Reaper Explorer Lucrezia Galliot
Squadron Squadron Squadron
MGP 3572 MGP 3571 MGP 3573
£9.99 / $14.99 £9.99 / $14.99 £9.99 / $14.99

For the full a n d c o n s t a n t ly ex p a n d i n g r a n ge, v i s i t o u r we b s i t e :

2
Hawkwood Hawkwood Hawkwood
Wayfarer Explorer Darius Galliot Malcolm Light Car rier
Squadron Squadron Squadron
MGP 3562 MGP 3564 MGP 3566
£9.99 / $14.99 £9.99 / $14.99 £9.99 / $14.99

Hazat Hazat Hazat

Manticore Destroyer Stalker Explorer Xerxes Galliot
Squadron Squadron Squadron
MGP 3583 MGP 3580 MGP 3582
£9.99 / $14.99 £9.99 / $14.99 £9.99 / $14.99

Li Halan Li Halan Li Halan

Cardano Galliot Iriji Light Car rier Slayer Explorer
Squadron Squadron Squadron
MGP 3599 MGP 3601 MGP 3597
£9.99 / $14.99 £9.99 / $14.99 £9.99 / $14.99

w w w . m o n g o o s e p u b l i s h i n g . c o m
2
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2
 FLEETS OF THE FADING SUNS
S PECIAL P REVIEW
After the fall of the Second Republic, many of the worlds of Human
Space were lost behind sealed jumpgates. Only in the Known Worlds
has civilisation maintained a tenuous hold against a plunge into
barbarism – or so the nobles and Church would have others believe. In
truth, other star-faring nations exist in fractured jumpwebs throughout
space and some of these distant kingdoms are no longer content to
stay put. The riches of the Known Worlds lure them – just as the
Empire reaches out for more planets to rule.
F LEETS OF THE F ADING S UNS
Fleets of the Fading Suns is designed to expand your games, allow
you to meet new and interesting fleets and hammer them with noble
zeal!
The book starts with a range of new rules and ships to expand the
fleets of the Noble Houses, permitting your ships to carry specialised
troop types, throw martyr fighters into the fray and reinforce your
squadrons with a range of new vessels, such as the mighty Hazat
Shamshir strike cruiser and the Li Halan Naga grand cruiser. We also
introduce psychics and theurgy, harnessing the power of the occult to
bring a whole new dimension to the game.
Fleets of the Fading Suns also introduces four new fleets including the
dominating Church, as well as three from further afield – the ‘barbaric’
Kurgan and Vuldrock, and the alien Vau.
Every new fleet plays in a very different manner to those of the Noble
Houses and comes with a range of new rules and ships to reflect their
style of war. Fleets of the Fading Suns expands A Call to Arms: Noble
Armada in a host of new directions, allowing you to span the galaxy as
you dominate your foes and reap the rewards.
REINFORCEMENTS
Though true technological breakthroughs or discoveries are rare
in the universe of the Fading Suns, there is little that will stop one
Noble House trying to gain an edge over a rival. Each fleet will
strain its resources to acquire new and unique ships, enhance its
fighters and shipboard troops, or recruit psychics and theurgists
into its ranks.
Use such tools to surpass your opponents, take the advantage
and lead your fleet to victory.

H OUSE H AWKWOOD
Aurora-class Stealth Fighter 25 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: SM
Hull: 3
Shields: 1
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: –2
Traits: Dodge 4+, Fighter, Stealth 4+

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Micro-Torpedoes 4 T 2 Guided, Multihit 2, One-Shot, Slow

Sawf ly-class Command Frigate 150 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 3
Damage: 18/6
Ramming: 2
Troops: 4
Craft: None
Traits: Command +1

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun — F — —
Missile Launchers 28 T 2 Guided, Slow
Light Lasers 24 P 4 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
Light Lasers 24 S 4 Accurate, Burn-out, Precise
H OUSE D ECADOS
Donatello-class Gunship 25 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: SM
Hull: 5
Shields: 2
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: –2
Traits: Dodge 5+, Fighter

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Meson Tubes 2 T 2 Devastating, Multihit 2, One-Shot
Micro-Torpedo 4 T 1 Guided, Multihit 2, One-Shot, Slow

Leonardo-class Monitor 75 Points

Speed: 10
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 2
Damage: 18/6
Ramming: 2
Troops: 1
Craft: None
Traits: None

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Light Meson Cannon 15 F 1 Devastating +1, Multihit 4
Medium Blasters 24 P 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Medium Blasters 24 S 2 Burn-out, Multihit 2
H OUSE H AZAT
Immor tal-class Boarding Shuttle 15 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: SM
Hull: 5
Shields: 1
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: –2
Traits: Dodge 4+, Fighter

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Point Slug Gun 2 T 1 Weak

Troops: The Immortal carries 2 Troops at the beginning of the battle (which may be upgraded as normal) and may ‘rearm’
by taking new Troops from a carrier.
Boarding: The Immortal will make a boarding action as soon as it moves on to an enemy ship. Gatling Lasers may be used
against the Immortal itself but not against the troops on board. No grapple needs to be made and the Troops will be able
to attack the defenders in the Boarding Phase.

Allat-class Escor t 80 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 2
Damage: 18/6
Ramming: 2
Troops: 6
Craft: None
Traits: Escort

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun — F — —
Light Blasters 16 P 3 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Light Blasters 16 S 3 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Gatling Laser — T — —
Gatling Lasers x 3 — P — —
Gatling Lasers x 3 — S — —
Shamshir-class Strike Cr uiser 380 Points

Speed: 10
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 42/14
Ramming: 6
Troops: 10
Craft: 2
Traits: Carrier 2

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Light Blasters 16 P 6 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Light Blasters 16 S 6 Burn-out, Multihit 2
Gatling Lasers — P — —
Gatling Lasers — S — —
Grapple Gun — P — —
Grapple Gun — S — —

* The Shamshir’s Troops comprise 6 Marines and 4 Marauders.

H OUSE L I -H ALAN
Naga-class Grand Cr uiser 500 Points

Speed: 5
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 5
Damage: 54/18
Ramming: 7
Troops: 12*
Craft: None
Traits: Lumbering

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

EM Pulse Guns 24 T 3 Double Burn
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Heavy Blasters 32 T 3 Burn-out, Multihit 3
Light Meson Cannon 15 F 2 Devastating +1, Multihit 4
Heavy Lasers 36 P 6 Accurate, Burn-out, Multihit 2, Precise
Heavy Lasers 36 S 6 Accurate, Burn-out, Multihit 2, Precise
Gatling Lasers x2 — P — —
Gatling Lasers x2 — S — —
Grapple Guns x2 — P — —
Grapple Guns x2 — S — —

* The Naga’s Troops comprise 6 Marines and 6 Marauders.

H OUSE AL -M ALIK

Wraith-class Stealth Destroyer 220 Points

Speed: 10
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 3
Shields: 4
Damage: 30/10
Ramming: 3
Troops: 12
Craft: None
Traits: Stealth 4+, Think Machine

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Torpedo Launchers 32 F 3 Guided, Multihit 2, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 P 10 Inaccurate, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 S 10 Inaccurate, Slow
Grapple Gun — P — —
Grapple Gun — S — —

Rashid-class Escor t Car rier 100 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/90o
Hull: 3
Shields: 3
Damage: 21/7
Ramming: 2
Troops: 4
Craft: 4
Traits: Carrier 1, Think Machine

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Missile Launchers 28 T 2 Guided, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 P 4 Inaccurate, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 S 4 Inaccurate, Slow
Grapple Gun — F — —
NEW RULES
W EAPON T RAITS were actually mounted upon it. They may be used to defend
against fighters, grapple lines and boarders as normal but may still
Heat Blaster: Against a target with active Shields, a Heat Blaster
will have the Inaccurate trait. However, it also counts as a Slow only be used once per turn for each type of defence.
weapon. In addition, if a Heat Blaster causes any Critical Hits, it
will automatically raise the Critical Score of the Crew location by Suicide Fighter: A craft with this trait is treated as though it
+1 as well. had the Fighter trait in all respects. However, it is packed full of
explosives and may intentionally ram other ships. To ram another
Tractor: All Tractor weapons ignore Shields. A Tractor weapon ship (or Fighter) simply move the Suicide Fighter into base contact
that has successfully hit a target will temporarily suffer –1 penalty with it. The enemy ship may use its Dodge trait if it has one but
to its Speed. In addition, if a Tractor weapon hits the same target otherwise immediately roll the Suicide Fighter’s bomb Attack Dice
in the next Attack Phase, this penalty increases by a further –1. against the target. Remove the Suicide Fighter as a casualty, unless
So long as at least one Tractor weapon successfully hits the same the target successfully dodged it. A Suicide Fighter that rams an
target every turn, its Speed will eventually be reduced to 0. enemy ship yields Victory Points as normal for a destroyed fighter
and may not be recovered by a ship with the Carrier trait.
A target’s Speed immediately returns to normal at the end of any
Attack Phase in which a Tractor weapon fails to hit it. Multiple W EAPONRY
Tractor weapons hitting the same target will have no additional Weapon Range Special
effect – a ship will not have its Speed reduced any further or Light Heat Blaster 15 Heat Blaster
faster.
Medium Heat Blaster 20 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Heavy Heat Blaster 30 Heat Blaster, Multihit 3
S HIP T RAITS Light Slug Gun – Shell 8 Accurate, Burn-out,
Escort: This ship is designed with advanced systems and focussed Medium Slug Gun – Shell 12 Accurate, Burn-out,
gatling lasers that are designed to protect other ships in the fleet. Multihit 2
Any gatling lasers that have a friendly ship within 4 inches and Heavy Slug Gun - Shell 16 Accurate, Burn-out,
within their arc of fire may be used to protect that ship as if they Multihit 3
Tractor Beam 10 Tractor
THE KURGAN FLEET
A traveller from the Empire of Alexius Hawkwood will be struck
by the dazzling contrasts found among the worlds of the Kurga
Elite Marines: Any Kurgan ship may replace all of its Troops
with Elite Marines for +2 points per Troop. This may be combined
Caliphate. Breathtaking luxury lives alongside abject poverty; with Cyber Troops.
plump, perfumed hedonists take counsel with skeletal ascetics; Grimsons: Any Kurgan ship may replace any of its Troops with
refinement, piety and civility mark every social interaction, while Grimsons for +5 points per Troop.
crimes are punished with gut-wrenching brutality. To Known Occult School of El-Din: One ship for every 1,000 points or part
Worlders, Kurgan space is a lawless, barbarous region, devoid of in the fleet may purchase a Psychic Crew at a cost of +20 points
of any guidance from the Royal Houses or inspiration from the per level (maximum of 6).
Universal Church, where even the Merchant League hesitates to
trade.
K URGAN I NITIATIVE : +1
The peoples of the Caliphate, however, look upon the Known
Worlds with similar feelings. In their view, Kurgan society is the Attakhan-class Fighter 10 points
most perfected of all cultures, the last bastion of enlightenment in Bogatyr-class Multi-role Fighter 15 points
a chaotic universe. Everybody occupies a place in the well-ordered Khangard-class Martyr Fighter 15 points
social system, directed by the wise and beneficent Caliph who Mujahidin -class Raider 60 points
rules in the name of the Maker of Stars. Qawwas-class Frigate 100 points
Sheerkhur-class Galliot 120 points
Options and Upgrades Khabir-class Light Carrier 125 points
The following are optional upgrades available to the Kurgan: Yildugh-class Destroyer 150 points
Arigaba-class Carrier 300 points
Juhangiz-class Cruiser 380 points
Kublai-class Dreadnought 550 points

Attakhan-class Fighter 10 Points

Speed: 20
Turn: SM
Hull: 3
Shields: 0
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: +2
Traits: Dodge 2+, Fighter

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Point Slug Gun 2 T 1 Weak

Bogatyr-class Multi-role Fighter 15 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: SM
Hull: 4
Shields: 0
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: +1
Traits: Dodge 3+, Fighter

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Point Slug Gun 2 T 2 Weak
Micro-Torpedoes 4 T 1 Guided, Multihit 2, One-Shot, Slow
Khangard-class Mar tyr Fighter 15 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: SM
Hull: 4
Shields: 0
Damage: 1
Ramming: 0
Dogfight: -2
Traits: Dodge 4+, Suicide Fighter

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Bomb — — 1 Accurate, Devastating +1, Guided, Multihit D6,
One-Shot, Slow

Mujahidin -class Raider 60 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 15/4
Ramming: 2
Troops: 2
Craft: None
Traits: Raider

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun — F — —
Light Heat Blaster 15 T 1 Heat Blaster
Light Heat Blasters 15 P 2 Heat Blaster
Light Heat Blasters 15 S 2 Heat Blaster

Qawwas-class Frigate 100 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 22/6
Ramming: 2
Troops: 8
Craft: None
Traits: None

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun — F — —
Medium Heat Blasters 20 T 2 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Rocket Launchers 20 P 10 Inaccurate, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 S 10 Inaccurate, Slow
Grapple Gun — P — —
Grapple Gun — S — —
Sheerkhur-class Galliot 120 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 26/7
Ramming: 3
Troops: 10*
Craft: None
Traits: None

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun — F — —
Rocket Launchers 20 P 5 Inaccurate, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 S 5 Inaccurate, Slow
Grapple Gun x2 — P — —
Grapple Gun x2 — S — —

* The Sheerkhur’s Troops comprise 6 Marines and 4 Grimsons.

Khabir-class Light Car rier 125 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 4
Damage: 36/10
Ramming: 4
Troops: 10
Craft: 8
Traits: Carrier 2, Command +1

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun — F — —
Medium Heat Blasters 20 T 2 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Medium Heat Blasters 20 P 3 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Medium Heat Blasters 20 S 3 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Yildugh-class Destroyer 150 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 36/10
Ramming: 5
Troops: 9
Craft: None
Traits: None

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun — F — —
Medium Heat Blasters 20 T 2 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Medium Heat Blasters 20 T 2 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Rocket Launchers 20 P 12 Inaccurate, Slow
Rocket Launchers 20 S 12 Inaccurate, Slow
Grapple Gun — P — —
Grapple Gun — S — —

Arigaba-class Car rier 300 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 4
Damage: 51/14
Ramming: 5
Troops: 8
Craft: 16
Traits: Carrier 4, Command +1,

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Heavy Heat Blasters 30 T 3 Heat Blaster, Multihit 3
Medium Heat Blasters 20 P 3 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Medium Heat Blasters 20 S 3 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Gatling Lasers — P — —
Gatling Lasers — S — —
Grapple Gun — P — —
Grapple Gun — S — —
Juhangiz-class Cr uiser 380 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 4
Damage: 51/14
Ramming: 6
Troops: 12
Craft: None
Traits: Lumbering

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Torpedo Launchers 32 T 3 Guided, Multihit 2, Slow
Torpedo Launchers 32 T 3 Guided, Multihit 2, Slow
Missile Launchers 28 P 3 Guided, Slow
Missile Launchers 28 S 3 Guided, Slow
Medium Heat Blasters 20 P 4 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Medium Heat Blasters 20 S 4 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Gatling Lasers — P — —
Gatling Lasers — S — —
Grapple Guns x2 — P — —
Grapple Guns x2 — S — —

Kublai-class Dreadnought 550 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Shields: 6
Damage: 90/25
Ramming: 9
Troops: 18 *
Craft: 4
Traits: Carrier 2, Lumbering

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Torpedo Launchers 32 T 3 Guided, Multihit 2, Slow
Torpedo Launchers 32 T 3 Guided, Multihit 2, Slow
Torpedo Launchers 32 T 3 Guided, Multihit 2, Slow
Medium Heat Blasters 20 P 5 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Medium Heat Blasters 20 S 5 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Heavy Heat Blasters 30 P 4 Heat Blaster, Multihit 3
Heavy Heat Blasters 30 S 4 Heat Blaster, Multihit 3
Grapple Guns x2 — P — —
Grapple Guns x2 — S — —
Gatling Lasers x2 — P — —
Gatling Lasers x2 — S — —

* The Kublai’s Troops comprise 12 Marines and 6 Grimsons.

THE VULDROK FLEET
The Vuldrok Star-Nation is composed of the fierce warrior
peoples of Fingisvold, Frost, Hargard, Raven and Wolf ’s Lament,
and Vuldrok conquerors have founded colonies on Gwynneth,
Leminkainen and Antioch. The title of Star-Nation, however, is
something of a misnomer, for the Vuldrok are hardly a united
power and the Vuldrok themselves are not one people. Their
worlds are a fusion of many peoples and nations, loosely united
by language and culture. Lacking centralised power, the Vuldrok
war with each other as much as they raid the rich trade routes
of the Known Worlds and Kurgan Caliphate. Their origins are
known only dimly, through oral legends, the truth of which is lost
in that time of darkness between the Fall of the Second Republic
and the rise of the Kurgan Caliphate.
Special Rules
The following special rules apply to the Vuldrok fleet.
Armour: The Vuldrok have few shipyards capable of building
vessels with shield technology and, in any case, generally prefer to
board their enemies than trade fire. Instead, their ships are heavily
reinforced with armour.
A Vuldrok ship will count any roll on the Attack Table equal to
or less than its Armour score as a Bulkhead hit, and will then
take no damage.
For example, the Froljir galliot has an Armour score of 3. If a Light
Laser (a precise weapon) hits the galliot, causing a roll on the Attack
Table, a roll of a 1 or a 2 will result in no damage taken at all (normaly
it would be a roll of a 1,2 or 3, but the Precise trait of the light laser adds
one to the roll).
In addition Vuldrok ships ignore damage on a 4 or more when
using the Close Blast Doors! Special Action.
If an armoured ship uses the All Power To Engines! Special
Action, roll a dice. On a 5 or more its Armour score will be
reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 1) as it is worn down by impacts
from micro-meteorites and other debris.
Any Critical Hits rolled against Shields on a Vuldrok ship will be
ignored.
Vuldrok ships cannot use the Bring Battle Shields Online! Special
Action and ignore all references to Shields in other critical Hit
Locations. Weak weapons cannot affect a Vuldrok ship.
Slug Guns: The Vuldrok tend to use their slug guns in a different
fashion than fleets form the Known Worlds. They have access to
specially designed explosive shell charges that are capable of burning
out shields. Whenever a Vuldrok ship fires a slug gun, its player may
decide whether to fire solid shot (using the characteristics given in
the ship description) or explosive shot, using the characteristics that
follow. The Arc and Attack Dice of the slug gun will remain the same.
Runecasters: Runecasters use the same rules as for Psychic Crews
and Theurgic Crews, except the ship will have the Runecaster
X trait. For every level of Runecaster, the ship may take one of
the following runes. Runes follow all the rules for Psychic and
Theurgic Powers.
Concealing Rune: The ship gains the Stealth 4+ trait for this turn.
Knowing Rune: The player can either move one other ship at the
same time as this one, or force his opponent to move one ship of
his choice at any point during the Movement Phase, out of the
normal initiative sequence.
Making Rune: The ship either reduces the Critical Score of one
location by 1, or repairs D6 Damage points.
Revealing Rune: The ship gains the Scout trait for this turn. If the
ship already has the Scout trait, it gains a +1 bonus to all Crew
Quality checks made when using Scout that turn. Either way, the
ship does not need line of sight in order to use its Scout trait.
Shielding Rune: Can automatically negate one Psychic or
Theurgic Power used against it this turn.
Travelling Rune: The ship can either move through Stellar Debris
with no negative effects (will not suffer damage in an asteroid
field, for example), or it can teleport this turn instead of moving
normally. Treat it as Turns SM but its Speed will be halved.
Shaping Rune: The ship gains +1 Troops for this turn.
Unmaking Rune: Choose one enemy ship within 12 inches. The
Hull of the enemy ship is reduced by –1 this turn. In addition, all
Burn-Out weapons fired against will be treated as Double Burn
weapons instead.
Options and Upgrades
The following are optional upgrades available to the Vuldrok:
Elite Marines: Any Vuldrok ship may replace all of its Troops
with Elite Marines for +2 points per Troop.
Runecaster: One ship in every 1,000 points or part of may include
a Runecaster. The Runecaster trait will cost +30 points per level of
Runecaster, up to a maximum of 5.
V ULDROK I NITIATIVE : +1

Myrkwyrm-class Explorer 30 points Weapon Range Special

Darraor-class Frigate 75 points Light Slug Gun – Shell 8 Accurate, Burn-out,
Hadruk-class Frigate 100 points Medium Slug Gun – Shell 12 Accurate, Burn-out, Multihit 2
Froljir-class Galliot 120 points
Heavy Slug Gun - Shell 16 Accurate, Burn-out, Multihit 3
Langskip-class Destroyer 180 points
Slatra Konungr-class Dreadnought 750 points

Myrkwyr m-class Explorer 40 Points

Speed: 16
Turn: 2/90o
Hull: 3
Armour: 2
Damage: 9/2
Ramming: 2
Troops: 2 (3)*
Craft: None
Traits: Agile

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun x 2 — T — —

* The Vuldrok Captain joins all boarding parties. While he does this, the
Ship suffers a –1 penalty to all Crew Quality checks until the Captain
rejoins the ship. The Captain counts as an Elite Troop.

Dar raor-class Frigate 75 Points

Speed: 14
Turn: 2/90o
Hull: 3
Armour: 1
Damage: 16/5
Ramming: 3
Troops: 8
Craft: None
Traits: Agile

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun — F — —
Light Slug Guns 12 P 5 Accurate, Multihit 2
Light Slug Guns 12 S 5 Accurate, Multihit 2
Hadr uk-class Frigate 100 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 4
Armour: 2
Damage: 18/5
Ramming: 4
Troops: 8
Craft: None
Traits: None

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun — F — —
Light Slug Guns 12 P 5 Accurate, Multihit 2
Light Slug Guns 12 S 5 Accurate, Multihit 2
Grapple Gun — P — —
Grapple Gun — S — —

Froljir-class Galliot 120 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/90o
Hull: 4
Armour: 3
Damage: 21/6
Ramming: 5
Troops: 12
Craft: None
Traits: None

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun — F — —
Light Slug Guns 12 P 2 Accurate, Multihit 2
Light Slug Guns 12 S 2 Accurate, Multihit 2
Grapple Guns x3 — P — —
Grapple Guns x3 — S — —
Langskip-class Destroyer 180 Points

Speed: 12
Turn: 2/45o
Hull: 5
Armour: 3
Damage: 30/8
Ramming: 7
Troops: 12
Craft: None
Traits: None

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun — F — —
Medium Slug Guns 18 T 4 Accurate, Multihit 3
Medium Slug Guns 18 P 3 Accurate, Multihit 3
Medium Slug Guns 18 S 3 Accurate, Multihit 3
Grapple Guns x2 — P — —
Grapple Guns x2 — S — —

Slatra Konung r-class Dreadnought 550 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 5
Armour: 3
Damage: 75/20
Ramming: 12
Troops: 20
Craft: None
Traits: None

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Guns x3 — F — —
Heavy Slug Guns 24 T 3 Accurate, Multihit 3
Heavy Slug Guns 24 T 3 Accurate, Multihit 3
Heavy Slug Guns 24 T 3 Accurate, Multihit 3
Medium Slug Guns 18 P 10 Accurate, Multihit 3
Medium Slug Guns 18 S 10 Accurate, Multihit 3
Gatling Laser — P — —
Gatling Laser — S — —
Grapple Guns x3 — P — —
Grapple Guns x3 — S — —
 THE CHURCH FLEET
No single institution has as much impact on day-to-day life
in the Known Worlds than does the Church. Despite the
Church’s many factions and sects, the average peasant sees
it as a giant monolith, dedicated to saving humanity from
the evil inherent in the universe. As far as commoners can
tell, all priests, bishops, archbishops and patriarchs work
toward the same goal, hand-in-hand, fighting evil together.
Never mind the fact that they call one another heretics; the
Church itself is good. The peasants’ view only changes
when someone tries to replace the sect of their ancestors
with a new one.

The Rack-class Frigate 100 Points

Speed: 8
Turn: 1/45o
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 18/6
Ramming: 2
Troops: 4
Craft: None
Traits: None

Weapon Range Arc AD Special

Grapple Gun — F — —
Gremlin Guns 12 T 2 Disable, Slow
Medium Heat Blasters 20 P 4 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2
Medium Heat Blasters 20 S 4 Heat Blaster, Multihit 2