"Starship Fighter Combat over Capital Ship" Topic

You see it in lots of Sci-Fi movies dogfights over the big capital ship and the fighters strafing the ship attempting to destroy it. Anti-Fighter weapons firing as the nimble little fighters dart about avoiding getting shot at while trying to line up a shot on their target.

So do I get a huge mat sectioned off with AA emplacements and run like a CY6 game over it? I'd love to get a big table make the emplacements and have the fighters dart about.

The old FASA "Battlestar Galactica" tactical game had hexmaps with the Galactica and a Base Star that you could dogfight over.

That's a great idea, I've thought similar, only having the side of the ship along the edge of a table and the table be space.

That would be so Freaking Cool! The only problem I see with it is the underside of the capital ship. How would you handle combat "down under"? Would you build a full size model and have antenna style flight stands for fighters to fly with? Would just do a "top down" game showing the upper side of the capital ship instead? I like the idea and would like to know more as you progress.

For a robotech rpg scenario, I used a hex map with poker chips as the gun turrets and missile silos. Different colors for different types. The scale I was using made each hex 50m and the zentraedi ship easily filled the board.

Would be a good game

Don't see it happening (outside of a gravity well, the bigger you are, the harder you hit) but would be a great game, especially for multi players

I've thought about this myself, especially during boring meetings while staring at ceiling tiles with a irregular pattern of small squares that are only a can of grey spraypaint away from becoming a section of death star surface.

Robert

"How would you handle combat 'down under'"?

I'd just ignore it, and assume part of your fighters are going for that side too, but aren't visible.

You can set the whole table up as the ship top, put part of the ship off to the side, or actually make a ship, and fight on top of (or underneath it, as desired) and around it. If you really must, build the bottom too, and fight that battle out on a table alongside the other one depicting the top of the ship, or place your ship on taller stands, so you can fight your battle underneath, alongside of, and on top or above it. Note, you'll need much longer antennae to do this last option.

You can use simple rules for individual combat between spacefighters, and/or the ship, or use the Full Thrust squadron level rules for larger battles.

I'd use 3-D antennae like these, and either larger die-cast metal fighters or plastics for a real visual treat, or squadrons of smaller ones on an attachment that can be placed on the head of the swiveling antenae, by using a clear, plexiglass formation piece to permit 2, 3, or more fighters to be mounted on each stand.

See here:

topgunmarketing.org

With their range of extension, and ability to pivot in virtually any attitude desired, you can portray epic space dogfights in 3-D quite easily.

I'm planning to use them with both the larger Titanium diecast Star Wars fighters, and the smaller Micromachines ones for some epic battles, e.g. Tie Fighters pursuing a large, plastic Rebel Blockade Runner (18" or so long); the Millenium Falcon; a Star Destroyer; and combat above the Death Star, and in its trench.

Luke is just itching to sortie in his X-Wing Fighter, and Darth Vader is relishing a rematch. This time, he plans to bring more backup fighter support.

I hope that helps.

Sincerely,

Rob
Topgun Marketing LLC
topgunmarketing.org

"I'd just ignore it"

Oh no, don't do that. Space (and air) combat games lack terrain. This is an opprotunity to inject terrain.

Cut out a big piece of card board in the shape of a Star Destroyer. Paint some hexes on it and put it on flight stands. If you fly over the destroyer, you just place your flight stand on the destroyer--in the appropriate hex. Make the destroyer stands big enough so you can reach your hands underneath to move the fighters that fly underneath.

If you're playing a modified Check Your six, you can play in 2 sets of 6 tactical air levels. 6 above and 6 below the destroyer.

If you're really industrious, you can have 2 sets of flight stands for your fighters. Tall ones for the fighters in the upper set of tac air levels. Short one for the ones in the lower levels. To be cute, you switch from tall stands to short stands when a fighter in upper set is flying over the destroyer--to keep everything in the upper 6 levels at the same height relative to the table top.

Toaster, that is hilarious and ingenious.
I have run 'deathstar' games using a dark grey mat and several grey blocks modeled to represent gun towers, pylons, and elevated areas. I used the plastic silent-death fighters and my own fast and furious home-grown fighter combat rules (card driven initiative, no tracking of torpedoes,simple damage rules). Great for big one-off games or conventions.Easy to learn, lots of things flying around the table and exploding, and a real 'archetype' game (everybody has seen starwars…) Silly, but lots of fun. Best of all, the two-dimensional aspect of manuvering has been addressed: fighters that break off from the surface are at serious risk from the gun towers (but if they survive, they may return from any table edge after missing one activation.) I prefer my spaceship combat to be cruisers vs cruisers, or fighters vs fighters; vs each-other just doesn't make enough sense to me, but I digress. Do it, I say.

@Only Warlock
I'll look again, but don't think you could fly over or under the BSG ships; I'm pretty sure the only hexes ON the ships were launching and landing bays. And guns. Mustn't forget the guns.

I always PSB'd that the anti-fighter armament was only flyable on the landing plane in relation to the ships. I Visio'd a BSG diagram for larger hexes for fighters on stands, and would have had a Revel model on stands over it. It could happen…

For over and under the Deathstar, you could always try and find some MoonDragon stands, with a LOT of pop beads to fly 'under' the edge… ;->=

Sci Fi Supply (vacuform terrain walls) used to run games with micro machine fighters and six foot long, 3-D Star Destroyers mostly made from their own product, on stands that sat on the floor. I didn't play, but vaguely remember four foot Rebel Cruisers as well.

I think I'd have used printed and built up foamcore, but, oh well…

I don't remember if they made anything to allow the fighters to 'fly over' the ships, but the ships had heavy pipe armatures on wheels, and could move as well.

And then, there were their 25mm OGRE games…

Doug

And, there they are, though I don't see any fighters in these piccies:

dexposure.com/sw.html

TSR's Attack Force was a game that is like what you are talking about.

link

You could use small 2-D Flight Stands for underneath the ship, and/or raise a model to mid-level, and fight below, above, and alongside it.

Our 3-D Dogfight Flight Stands extend from 7" – 22" in height.

Their swiveling heads will make your games look like a true dogfight, as opposed to fighters just flying by in level flight, as if on parade. That makes for games with a lot more dramatic action.

I'm planning on doing that with my new Battlestar Galactica, and Cylon Base Stars, when I get them assembled and painted up.

Rob
Topgun Marketing LLC
topgunmarketing.org

I do just that. I use 'large-sized' capital ships (not that 'relative scale' stuff) with lots of small scale fighters.

Check out the 'Vipers in Space' rules for BSG at:
link
Rules are in the files section and pictures are in the photo section.

Check out the 'Rebels in Space' rules for SW at:
link
Rules are in the files section and pictures are in the photo section.

-David

Well then what about the famous trench section on the Death Star? Since the objective is located on the table we really don't need to explore too much more of the ship do we? I was thinking that if the bridge section was represented on the ship, since that would be the objective, then you wouldn't have to worry about combat anywhere else. Sort of a micro-battle of the entire affair. Treat it like sinking the Bismark even. Or blowing up the Death Star. Have an elevated hex map with the trench actually a few inches lower to really put on the display.

That could be cool….

I've seen people do that.

They built the trench section between two tables, and the terrain on the tabletop was the surface of the Death Star.

Looked great in the pics, and their trench was at least 12' long.

They even used plexiglass strips to permit their fighters to fly over the trench section as well as in it.