SFB was never meant to be a fighter game, and thus does not handle fighters quite like other games, still small engagements with a handful of fighters on each side can be fun if handled right. In fact, for other ideas on how to deal with fighter to fighter combat, please see the Other Gaming Systems section. However for real SFB fans, here are a few ideas on how to conduct fighter to fighter combat.

Small Scale: The easiest way of doing fighter combats is to use all the normal rules from this BSG set, but have each fighter with it is own counter. Because of this, each fighter acts independently of each other, and thus a note of when each fighter has fired will need to be kept. Fighters do not use energy points at all, and each fighter will only have 3 damage points, so in the true spirit of the series, fighters will not last long and the game shouldn't be complicated at all. Obviously in combat each fighter will only roll on the one fighter column in the Fighter Flight table. And that is all that needs to be done. you will be suprised at how quickly a game can last, and it can be very enjoyable. Doing this route means that you can have fighters versus fighters and shuttles, and even add larger ships like tankers and freighters without having to change any rules at all.

Optional: If you want a slightly more complicated game, then fighters can be considered crippled when they are reduced to 1 hit. When this happens, the maximum speed of a fighter is reduced 1/3 (round down), DFR is reduced to zero, turbos will not function, and the fighter has a +2 modifier to the Fighter Flight table representing the fact that the turbo lasers have been damaged.

To make the game more tactical, preplotted movement can make the game very amusing... especially if you've already played the West End game Star Warriors!

Large Scale:

Alternately, if you just want a fighter game, then the scale can be upped slightly, and every fighter can then have it is own SSD.

Fighters will then function exactly like a larger ship, and will use energy allocation, movement rules and combat just like normal.

Energy Allocation

Each ship has one energy point per engine box on the SSD, just like a normal ship.
Fighters: Life support costs 0.5 energy points per turn, and the movement cost of fighters is also 0.5 energy points per point of movement.
Shuttles: Life support costs 1 energy point per turn, and the movement cost of shuttles is also 1 energy point per point of movement.
HTS shuttles have a movement cost of 1.5 energy points per point of movement.

Fighters and shuttles do not need to pay for fire control.

Special Sensors and ECM: All fighters may employ ECM and ECCM at normal energy costs and subject to normal restrictions.
Asps have a normal sensor which can be used for normal scout functions EW purposes. This costs normal energy point costs.

Movement

Fighters are considered nimble, shuttles are not. Other than that, all normal movement rules can be followed, and fighters and shuttles may HET, perform erratic manoeuvres and so on, although dog fighting should be ignored.
Note that shuttles and fighters do have turn modes that need to be satisfied.

Fighters and shuttles may not exceed the speed listed on the Annex #4 Master Fighter and Shuttle Chart, even though they have more energy points available to them than they can possibly use in one turn.

Turbos: Turbos simply double the speed of a fighter when employed, although the maximum speed this can give is 31 or 25 if the emplyed on a Scarab fighter. They must be declared active in the energy allocation phase, and when active, the fighter is not allowed to fire it is turbo lasers.
Optional: A fighter using turbos may fire it is weapons in the same turn, but the craft receives a +2 to hit if it does.

Combat Combat is also handled as normally, although the following DAC should be used, and turbo lasers are described below. When using this system, fighters do not get any EW bonuses for free, and have to pay for all their EW needs, such as ECM and ECCM. Fighter DAC When using this large scale, the following DAC should be used instead of the more common one. This is effectively treated as a normal DAC, but only one die roll is used, and the choice of hits is more limited. It shares a lot with the PF DAC.

Any - any box on the SSD with the exception of Excess damage.
Control - Sensor or scanner hit.
Crew - Any single crew hit.
LG - Landing gear or turbo hit.
Weapon - Any weapon on the craft in any arc, but facing first.

Multi-crew craft: Some craft (Cylon Raider, shuttles) have more than one crew member. With this, they can suffer more than one crew hit before the craft is considered uncontrolled and out of play. With craft with a crew of two, the vessel can take one crew hit without ill effects. With craft with a crew of three, the vessel can take lose one crew member with no ill effects, but if it loses two, then the pilot must decide whether to fire the weapons at no penalty, or manoeuvre as well, in which case all weapons fire have a +2 to hit.

Turbo Lasers

[or phaser 3's]. Turbo lasers are effectively treated as a direct fire weapon - much like a disrupter - in that they must make a to-hit roll and cause a set amount of damage at various ranges.
Turbo lasers cost 0.5 energy points to fire, may not be held, may not be overloaded, and may fire every turn, although not within 8 impulses of each other. While it is normal to fire both turbo laser together, it is not required, although with the limitaions of fire control computers, if both lasers are being fired in the same impulse, they must be fired at the same target.

Early Turbo Lasers

Found on Early Cylon Raiders and Scarab fighters only. These function exactly as normal turbo lasers, with the same energy costs, but have a differant damage and to-hit table.

Heavy Turbo Lasers

[or phaser 2's]. These act like normal turbo lasers, except that they cost 1 energy point to fire, and use the following table for to-hit chances and damage.

Missiles

Missiles are treates as normal missiles fired from a normal missile rack. Their warhead inflicts 20 points of damage on a target.

Rockets

Rockets are treated as normal rockets from the yachts page, but they have a warhead which will destroy any fighter or shuttle that they hit.

Mines

Mines are again treated as normal mines, and the warhead is enough for instant destruction for the fighter or shuttle.

Gif files

• Flight of Colonial Vipers (51k)
• Flight of Cylon Raiders (57k)


• Other small craft statistics

Optional Random Damage:

Because the large scale damage system attempts to make fighter combats more interesting, it can be nice to make the damage inflicted by weapons not static as normal, but random. In this case, use the following conversion chart whenever a craft takes damage, and roll the amount of damage instead of simplying applying it.

Normal Damage Random Damage Rocket 20d6 Mine 15d6 Missile 9d6 20 point Turbolaser 6d6 18 point Turbolaser 5d6+2 16 point Turbolaser 5d6 10 point Turbolaser 3d6 9 point Turbolaser 2d6+2 8 point Turbolaser 2d6+1 7 point Turbolaser 2d6

Mixing scales: For ease of play, mixing scales is not recommended as it can involve a fair bit of hassle. However if you really must, the following can be used as a guideline. Fighters may use the large scale SSD, but should use it for damage effects only. Movement and combat (unless modified below) should be handled exactly as a normal fighter in these rules, and not in the large scale rules. When a capital ship is attacking a fighter which uses the large scale SSD's, multiple all damage that the fighter recieves by 7 points. Thus a ship which inflicts 3 points of damage with a phaser 3, would actually inflict 21 points of damage which should then be rolled on the Fighter DAC. When a fighter attacks a capital ship, it should still make a roll on the Fighter Flight table, inflicting normal scale damage. If a fighter has already lost a turbo laser, it gets a +2 to the roll. Be warned, this can seriously slow a game down!