Bemstrike v1.2 @ The New Rules Directory




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TITLE:BEAMSTRIKE VERSION 1.2 15mm Miniatures Sci-Fi Game (2008)

AUTHORS: Neil cooper, Don Clarke, Ian Garbutt

PUBLISHER: N/A

PUBLICATION DATE: 2008 (Online only)

WEB SITE/SUPPORT FORUM:

Home Page: http://www.neilandannettec.myby.co.uk/beamstrike.htm
Support Forum: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Beamstrike_Sci-fi_Game/

PRICE (with date): Free to download

REVIEWED BY: Neil Cooper (Author)

PERIOD COVERED:

Near future, through to 3 other different future time ‘Eras’, from the Heyday of the Imperium, to the very far future where Mankind and the entire universe is on the brink of destruction.

THE BOOK: Core Rules: 50 pages, A4 sized, illustrated throughout in Black and White, 5 sheets of blast and damage templates and 1 sheet of color counters.

Weapon Damage Tables: 10 pages A4, illustrated in color and black and white.
Four ‘Era’ supplements, A4, giving army lists and specific vehicle/ weapon/ equipment details for each of 4 eras set along mankind’s future timeline.
Aliens book: a4, full colour, 30 pages
Quick Reference sheets, A4,3 pages

SCOPE: Tactical, fast moving game.

ARMY SIZE: Typically around 10 to 100 15mm figures per side, a wide variety of vehicles may also be fielded.

BASE UNIT: Base unit is the individual trooper or vehicle.

GAME SCALES:

Ground scale: 1 inch equals approximately 3 meters
Time scale : 1 game turn turn is approximately 10 minutes, but this is not considered important in the rules
Figure/Base Ratio: 1 figure per base usually.
Recommended Figure size: 15mm
Table Size: 2 foot by 3 foot, up to around 10 foot by 6 foot.
Game Length: Small ‘patrol’ games with around 20 figures per side last around 2 hours including setup.

BASING SIZES:

15mm foot figures: 1cm x1cm
Vehicle: no base needed, but bases are acceptable as long as they are not too much bigger than the vehicle itself.

TURN SEQUENCE:

The sequence of play in Beamstrike is determined in an ordered manner according to the chart below. The battle is divided into a number of GAME TURNS, each consisting of 2 PLAYER TURNS. Within each PLAYER TURN are several PHASES.

Note with this system there are two ‘movement’ phases per player turn and a firing phase in which BOTH players may fire, casualties only being removed from play after both players have fired with all eligible figures.

The morale status of each army is monitored twice per turn. There are ‘turn sequence monitor’ sheets available to help commanders keep track of the battles progress, by placing a mark in the boxes as each turn phase is reached. Turn monitor sheets can be downloaded from the Yahoo group page.

Player A will usually be the attacker in games/ scenarios which call for an attacker and a defender, otherwise both players roll 1d10, the highest scorer chooses to be either player A or B. If more than 2 players are present with their own opposed armies, player C, D etc would follow on after player B, with the same sequence of game PHASES.

PLAYER	GAME PHASE	DESCRIPTION/ NOTES
A	First MOVE	Player A may move any or all of his figures as outlined in the movement rules.
A and B	FIRE	Both players may use ranged fire with all eligible figures and vehicles- see the firing rules. Firing is treated as simultaneous, so casualties are not removed until the end of the fire phase (Unless Concealed units get the special FIRST SHOT)
A and B	Morale checks	Both players check morale strengths of their armies
A	Second MOVE	Player A may again move with any or all figures and vehicles, even if they moved during the first movement phase.
A	Close Combat	Player A makes troop rolls for all squads within 5cm of an enemy, successful troops may make a close combat action, as detailed in the close combat rules.

B	First MOVE	As per player A descriptions, player Bs turn follows the same sequence of events but with player B moving and making close combat troop rolls.
A and B	FIRE
A and B	Morale checks
B	Second MOVE
B	Close Combat
BOTH	END OF TURN	Any turn related events are rolled for (such as weather conditions), and the turn comes to an end. Another turn starting with player A is then commenced.

ARMY LISTS/SCENARIOS:

Each of the 4 ‘Era’ supplements give individual troop statistics and points values, and also some typical squad formations, it is left up to the players how to put squads together, there are no rigid squad construction rules.
Several basic scenario ideas are provided in the core rules, giving brief notes on table setup, points value per player and victory conditions. More detailed scenarios and battle reports are being added to the Yahoo group page periodically.

REVIEWER’S COMMENTS: (As I am the author, this is general info is from the rulesbook)

Beamstrike - The miniature game- is a set of fast paced, simple, science fiction war-game rules for tabletop battles using 15mm model miniature figures. A wide range of armoured vehicles can be fielded, from Tanks, to Walkers and Mecha. Rules for alien races, including generic ‘bugs’ and ‘greys’, add interest, and full rules allowing robots and androids complete the sci-fi repertoire.

Beamstrike is not a strict war game as weapon ranges are compressed heavily to accommodate your army on a table of manageable size, comprehensive rules regarding chain of command and communications between various levels of command are largely ignored, and force organization and structure are fairly flexible.

Beamstrike is best described as a fun, fast paced, science fiction ‘spaghetti western’ of a system, which will not take you 3 months to read and learn, and will not lead to bankruptcy by forcing you to purchase expensive miniatures which must be used in order to play the game according to the rules.

The Beamstrike core rulebook is divided into 5 sections, section 1 which gives a basic introduction to the game, its setting and scope. Section 2 details all of the basic rules needed to play the game with troops on foot, providing examples where each new rule concept is introduced.

Section 3 introduces vehicles, bigger weaponry, and energy shields. Section 4 discusses how to actually go about tabletop wargaming, with suggestions on the use of scenery and how this affects play and example scenarios for your first battles. Section 5 outlines the Beamstrike official background, including the Era based on Don Clarke’s novel ‘Borrowed Time’.

Aliens are referenced in section 6 and finally section 7 details weapon notes, author credits, and gives play aids such as a quick reference sheet, counters and blast templates.

To play Beamstrike, you will require a suitable selection of 15mm science fiction miniatures and vehicles, a copy of these rules, a tape measure, plain paper to record army statistics and four, six, ten, twelve and twenty sided dice. To further enhance play, a selection of 15mm scenery (such as buildings, hills, trees and other landscape features), notebooks, access to an internet connected computer ( to download extra rules and play aids), and even more miniatures are desirable.

Optionally (but recommended), is the novel ‘Borrowed Time’ by Don Clarke (note this volume contains adult material). This offers greater insight into the Borrowed Time Era of the timeline presented here.

It is possible, though a little difficult, to play Beamstrike on your own, taking turns to play each ‘Commander’. Far more interesting and challenging is to get one or more of your friends involved, lend them the rules to look over in advance, and provide some figures for their first game. The first games you play should be reasonably straight forward, ‘patrol’ type missions with relatively few figures per side (say 300 points each), for a game lasting a couple of hours. As you gain more confidence with the rule systems you can expand the points values fielded and the complexity of the mission scenario and victory conditions.

PLAYER’S COMMENTS: (Biased as I am the Author, but here goes!)

We wrote Beamstrike to be an easy to use, individual figure- based system. It is based on an old TTG rule set called ‘Imperial Commander’, and the main aim was to write a system that was easy to pick up, allows use of any 15mm (or 25mm) figures you have, and is open to individual modification and customisation.

Are the rosters easy to use: Yes,
How long do turns take?: Dependant on numbers of troops inplay, but each player turn takes around 10—30 minutes
What seems to be critical to success : Initial setup, using troop strengths and weaknesses.
Do the rules feel too detailed or too generic: Intentionally generic, but a suggested background history is given.

To read comments by others or leave one yourself, please here.


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