Combat Basics

During the Host Run, starships and planets that are in the same location have the ability to fight if so ordered and to defend themselves if attacked. If there are multiple combatants in a single location, the engagements will occur in sequence according to the Order of Battle, and damage and ammunition expenditures will carry over from one engagement to the next, with all starships fighting first and planets fighting last, according to the Host Order of Combat.

Each individual engagement is fought with the same steps regardless of participants. Two starships fighting will begin combat at maximum range (58000) and each move closer together at a fixed rate; a starship fighting a planet will move at the same fixed rate but from a lesser range (54000) toward its stationary target. Two moving starships, therefore, will reach minimum range (3000) in approximately half the time as a starship and planet will require.

Individual weapons systems will each activate and fire at certain preset ranges, doing an amount of damage which will vary based on their power, the effective combat mass of the enemy target, and (in the case of beam weapons) their percentage of full charge. Any weapons systems not present will, of course, not fire; torpedo tubes without torpedoes and fighter bays without fighters likewise cannot launch.

Combat Between Starships

• In most battles, the more aggressive ship will be the one instigating combat. The instigator will be placed on the right-hand side.
• If the left-hand starship is a carrier, the right-hand starship has approximately a 60% chance of receiving a 360 KT mass bonus.
• Fighters will begin launching at maximum range (58000) and will move toward the enemy combatant at a greater speed than their parent ship. A maximum of 19 fighters from each combatant can be in space at any given point in time.
• Beam weapons may engage fighters immediately if charged. These will always hit, and they will always destroy their target. Beam weapons will then begin to recharge and can fire again at a fighter target once they have achieved a minimum charge (approximately 50%).
• Fighters may fire at each other once as they pass. There is only a small chance that each will fire at an available fighter target. However, a large concentration of fighters has, collectively, a very high chance of destroying any individual incoming fighter.
• Torpedo tubes may engage the enemy combatant at medium range (30000 for most torpedoes, 34000 for Quantum torpedoes). If loaded, they may fire immediately; approximately one in three will miss. Once fired, they will automatically begin to reload.
• Beam weapons may engage the enemy combatant directly at close range (20000). They may fire once their charge level indicator changes color to green (approximately 60%). These will always hit. Beam weapons will almost always target a fighter rather than an enemy ship if the option is available, but there is a miniscule chance that one or more will not.
• Once the combatants have reached minimum range (3000), they will stop moving.
• An engagement will continue until one or both combatants have been defeated, or until 2000 units of time have passed.
• In subsequent battles during any single turn, a starship once damaged will begin the next combat with that damage. Any starship which begins an engagement with shields at less than full (100%) charge will begin with discharged beam weapons and unloaded torpedo tubes. Beams will begin to recharge immediately; tubes will begin to reload only at maximum torpedo range.

A starship is considered defeated when it reaches 100% damage (or, for Lizard vessels, 150%). A starship may also be captured. This occurs when its crew drops to 0. If this happens, a "prize crew" of 10 is placed on the captured starship. That crew does not come from the crew of the capturing starship.

Surviving starships will recharge their shields only between turns. Any damage they take to their hulls must be repaired in some other fashion. Starbases can repair manually, or a starship's crew can repair itself automatically using onboard supplies.

Combat Against Planets

• Starships always fight from the left side, with no mass bonus.
• Fighters will begin launching at maximum range (54000) and will move toward the enemy combatant at high speed. A maximum of 19 fighters from each combatant can be in space at any given point in time.
• Beam weapons may engage fighters immediately if charged. These will always hit, and they will always destroy their target. Beam weapons will then begin to recharge and can fire again at a fighter target once they have achieved a minimum charge (approximately 50%).
• Fighters may fire at each other once as they pass. There is only a small chance that each will fire at an available fighter target. However, a large concentration of fighters has, collectively, a very high chance of destroying any individual incoming fighter.
• Torpedo tubes may engage the enemy combatant at medium range (30000 for most torpedoes, 34000 for Quantum torpedoes). If loaded, they may fire immediately; approximately one in three will miss. Once fired, they will automatically begin to reload.
• Beam weapons may engage the enemy combatant directly at close range (20000). They may fire once their charge level indicator changes color to green (approximately 60%). These will always hit. Beam weapons will almost always target a fighter rather than an enemy ship if the option is available, but there is a miniscule chance that one or more will not.
• Once the starship has reached minimum range (3000), it will stop moving.
• An engagement will continue until one or both combatants have been defeated, or until 2000 units of time have passed.
• In subsequent battles during any single turn, a planet once damaged will begin the next combat with drained shields and weapons.

Planets are captured at 100% damage, at which point the defending colonists are neutralized and all defense posts are destroyed. If there is a starbase, it is scuttled by the retreating colonists. Ships whose crews are depleted in battle against a planet but are not destroyed by its defenses are instead annihilated as they re-enter the atmosphere, or impact the planet's surface, as planets cannot effect a capture. Planetary damage and fighter loss destroys planetary defense posts; starbase damage depletes starbase fighters and points as well as causing damage that must be repaired via the Repair Base starbase mission.

If a planet is captured by a starship and there are natives on the planet, 25% of the natives will be killed and the native happiness will be decreased by 20 points. The lower happiness could cause additional loss of natives if it causes the natives to enter a civil war.

Certain races give specific limited advantages to their starships, starbases, or planets when in combat. These can be found here.

More detailed information on this subject can be found in Jan "Sirius" Klingele's definitive article, Master At Arms, which is offsite.

Note: There are known glitches in the existing combat engine which will, under certain circumstances, prevent some weapons systems from activating. This is a carryover from the original game, and it has been left in the combat engine by design, as an unintended consequence of certain combat complexities. Over time and by force of tradition, this has been given the status of an "unintended feature".

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