SCI-FI LAND WARFARE:
LaserGrenadiers


Brief Description

The rules project modern combined arms combat into the future, allowing players to field powered armor infantry, tanks, crewed weapons, tanks, wardroids, helicopters, "mechs," artillery and ground attack aircraft. Vehicle propulsion systems may be wheeled, tracked, grav, hover, rocket or walker. The rules include all types of science fiction weaponry (lasers, cone rifles, phasers, ion cannon, etc.), but do not include psionic warfare. Fire combat dominates the game, with melee combat occurring infrequently.

Players alternate moving and/or firing one piece. Movement can be interrupted by interceptive fire. Enemy action can be hindered by suppressive fire. In fire combat, players roll to observe an enemy, then to hit him, and finally to penetrate his armor. A penetration will eliminate an infantryman. A penetration of an armored vehicle causes one or two points of damage to its movement, weapon systems, targeting or damage control system. A lucky shot will cause explosive destruction. Vehicles can take up to twelve points of damage, but as damage accumulates the chance of explosive destruction increases.

All die rolls are resolved by rolling one ten-sided die (except for artillery scatter, which uses four-, six- and eight-sided dice).

Most infantry weapons come in five sizes ranging from light to super-heavy. Most infantry can carry light and medium weapons, with the heavier versions serving as crew-served weapons or mounted on vehicles. Infantry in powered armor can field some heavy weapons. (The designer tells us he added the extra-heavy and super-heavy classes because figure manufacturers keep adding bigger and bigger weapons.)

Since the rules were intended for use with any science fiction figures the players might have, and were not backed by any figure manufacturer, they do not attempt to spell out the characteristics of specific alien races. The game has a sober and serious tone, with no "foolish" or "silly" weapons or character types.

Period Science fiction ground warfare in the far future
ScaleGround Scale: For the purpose of movement, the rules were scaled so that one mile per hour of speed equates to one inch of movement. Thus a tank with a cross-country speed of 30 mph can move 30 inches on the tabletop during a turn. Infantry with jetpacks move at 24 mph. Infantry on foot are over-rated at 6 mph for playability purposes. A ground attack fighter moving at 450 mph will not be over the battlefield for very long.
Time Scale: Four seconds. However, a turn is not actually four seconds. This increment was chosen to regulate movement and the rates of fire of the weapons. A turn is composed of all of the actions of all the troops and vehicles on the tabletop. As a result, the amount of time represented by a turn differs depending on the size of a game.
Figure Ratio: One figure equals one man. One vehicle equals one vehicle. Basically, the game can range from skirmish level actions to huge combined arms battles, depending on the size of the tabletop.
Figure Scale: The rules are intended for use with 25mm figures, but this does not rule out the use of the current oversized 28mm to 30mm ranges.
Basing Individual
Contents The format is 8 ½  by 11, wirebound, with glossy cover. 104 pages. No figures or dice are included.
Designer Thomas R. Heysek (comments@godfox.com)
Publisher Godfox Enterprises. The game originated in the late 1970's, but existed only in hand-typed copies until the personal computer revolution. The first edition was produced on an Apple computer using Geos software and Dazzle Draw graphics (with all of the diagonal lines coming out as zig-zags).

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Last Updates
17 June 2003new email for designer
15 July 1998page first published
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