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Created January 28, 2026 04:21
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AIRSHIPS - MASTER RULES V1.7.1

1. GENERIC RULES

  • Line of Sight (LOS): Ships cannot fire through other ships or islands if the blocking object is at the same elevation band as the firing line (see Floating Islands).
  • Firing Arcs: Forward, Port, Starboard, and Aft slots have a 90° firing arc centered on the ship's cardinal directions.
  • Height Advantage: +1 Skill if the attacker is above the target; -1 Skill if the attacker is below the target.
    • Height modifiers do not apply to Flak weapons or Ultralight units.
  • Ultralight Evasion: Ultralights cannot be Target Locked and ignore the effects of any Skill-boosting CMD actions from the attacker.
  • To-Hit Limits: Modified Skill cannot be better than 2+ or worse than 6+. 7+ is impossible.

2. ACTIVATION & TURN SEQUENCE

  1. Initiative: Roll 1d6 + highest Command (CMD) value. The winner chooses who activates first.
  2. Torpedo Step: All Torpedoes move 12" immediately after Initiative is determined, before the first activation.
  3. Activation: Players alternate activating one ship or one wing at a time.
  4. Damage Control: Performed at the end of each ship's individual activation.

3. BATTLE AREA

  • Cloud Banks: -1 to hit while inside. Units inside cannot shoot out.
    • Sonar exception: A ship with Sonar may shoot into and out of Cloud Banks.
  • Floating Islands: Solid terrain.
    • Island Height Band: Floating Islands occupy elevations 6, 7, and 8.
    • LOS: Islands block attacks whose line crosses the island while the attack is being made at elevations 6–8.
    • Near Miss Penalty: Any attack passing within 2" of an island suffers -1 Skill (unless ignored by Sonar).
  • Storm: Units within a storm take 1d3 damage at the start of every turn.

4. COMMAND ACTIONS (CMD)

Command points regenerate fully each turn. They may be spent on the ship itself or on any friendly ship within 12 inches.

Limit: A ship can only benefit from each named CMD action once per turn (e.g., it cannot be Braced twice in the same turn).

Action Cost Effect
Emergency Repairs 1 CMD Sacrifice Moving OR Shooting to gain +2 DC dice this activation.
Brace 1 CMD Reduce the total Hull damage from one enemy attack resolution against this ship by 1 (min 0) until end of turn.
Target Lock 1 CMD One weapon gains +1 to hit this activation. (Cannot target Ultralights).
Full Ahead 1 CMD Gain +2" movement for this activation.
Hard Around 1 CMD Perform one additional pivot at the end of your movement.
Rally 1 CMD Remove Shaken from one friendly ship within 12".
Launch Torpedo 1 CMD If this ship has a Torpedo Launcher, place 1 Torpedo token in base contact with your bow, facing forward. It moves in the Torpedo Step.

Attack resolution: A single weapon firing once (roll hit dice, then damage dice, then apply effects).


5. MORALE

Roll 2d6 for Morale if a ship:

  • Drops under 50% HP or 25% HP.
  • Suffers a Bridge Hit.
  • Is within 12" of a friendly ship that suffers a Citadel Blowout.

Check: Roll ≤ Morale to pass.

  • Failure: Ship becomes Shaken (-1 to Skill checks).
  • Failure while Shaken: Ship becomes Broken (Must move full speed toward the closest board edge).

6. DAMAGE & CRITICALS

  1. Roll Weapon Attack Dice. Hit on Skill (modified by Evasive/Height/Terrain/CMD as applicable).
  2. For each hit, roll 1d6 Damage:
    • Natural 1–5: Deal that much Hull damage.
    • Natural 6: Deal 6 Hull damage and score a Critical Hit. Roll 1d8 on the Critical Table.
  3. If the Critical Table roll is an 8, roll 1d8 on the Super Critical Table.

Critical Table (1d8)

Roll Name Effect
1 Flash Fire 1d6 extra Hull damage.
2 Weapon Jam One random weapon is jammed.
3 Speed Loss -2" Speed.
4 Rudder Loss Cannot turn.
5 Crew Casualties -1 Morale.
6 Utility Failure One random utility is disabled.
7 Panic Cannot be chosen to activate during the next turn.
8 Super Critical Roll on the Super Critical Table.

Super Critical Table (1d8)

Roll Name Effect
1 Structural Failure 2d6 extra Hull damage.
2 Lift Failure Drop 1d3 in height.
3 Bridge Hit CMD value becomes 0; cannot be restored.
4 Drifting Cannot move or turn; cannot be restored.
5 Weapons Down All weapons are disabled.
6 Utilities Down All utilities are disabled.
7 On Fire Take 1d6 damage at start of every activation.
8 Citadel Blowout Ship destroyed. Anything within 4" takes 2d6 damage.

7. DAMAGE CONTROL

Roll N dice (DC Stat). Success on 5+.

  • 1 Success: Repair 1d3 Hull OR Clear a Critical status.
  • 2 Successes: Clear a Super Critical status (not Bridge/Drift) OR Clear Broken status.

8. KEYWORDS

  • Lift(x) / Drop(x): Spend X" to gain 1 Elevation / Gain X" per 1 Elevation lost.
  • Inertia(x): Must move X" before turning.
  • Stall(x): Lose 1 Elevation if starting a turn at or above X height.
  • Flyover: Auto-hit if moved over target. Does not affect Ultralights.
  • Battery: Reroll 1s on hit once.
  • Piercing(x): Add +x Hull damage to the damage dealt by each hit. Piercing never changes whether a roll was a Critical (crit is natural 6 only unless a weapon says otherwise).
  • Impact: For each hit, roll 2 damage dice and use the higher result. If either die is a natural 6, it counts as a Critical (deal 6, then roll Crit table).
  • VLS: Can be fired in any direction (360°).
  • Fragile: Any Critical hit instantly destroys the unit.
  • Evasive: -3 to Skill of attacker. Ignored by Flak.
  • Countermeasures: Spend 1 CMD + 1d6: On a 1, Torpedo moves 3" toward you. On a 4+, pivot Torpedo 22.5°.

Stacking + floors

  • Numeric penalties can stack (e.g., multiple Speed Loss results).
  • Values cannot be reduced below these minimums:
    • Speed: 0"
    • CMD: 0
    • To-hit: 6+ worst (7+ impossible)

9. WEAPONS TABLES

Note: The Attack Dice column is a flat number of hit dice to roll.

Ultralight

Weapon Range Attack Dice Cost Rules
Machine Guns 6" 1 5pts Cannot Crit. A natural damage 6 deals 6 Hull (no crit).
Bombs 1" 1 10pts Cannot target Ultralights. Critical on natural 5+.
Rockets 3" 2 15pts Cannot Flyover.

Light

Weapon Range Attack Dice Cost Rules
Flak 8" 3 10pts Flak (Ignores Evasive).
Lance 15" 1 15pts Piercing(1), Fixed, Forward.
Cannon 12" 2 10pts Level, Battery.
Missile 20" 1 15pts Fixed, Forward, Impact, No vs Ultralights.

Medium

Weapon Range Attack Dice Cost Rules
Flak Cannon 12" 5 25pts Flak, Turreted.
Heavy Lance 22" 2 35pts Piercing(3), Fixed, Forward.
Naval Battery 18" 4 25pts Level, Battery.
Heavy Missile 28" 2 35pts Impact, Fixed, Forward.
Torpedo Launcher Infinite 1 60pts Fixed, Forward, Torpedo, No vs Ultralights.

Large

Weapon Range Attack Dice Cost Rules
Mega-Flak Array 15" 8 45pts Flak, Turreted.
Siege Lance 30" 3 60pts Piercing(5), Fixed, Forward.
Dreadnought Battery 24" 6 50pts Level, Battery.
Siege Missile Rack 36" 2 60pts Impact, Fixed, VLS, No vs Ultralights.
Torpedo Launcher Infinite 1 60pts Fixed, Forward, Torpedo, No vs Ultralights.

10. TORPEDO TOKEN (UNIT)

A Torpedo placed by Launch Torpedo is a unit with the following rules.

  • Class: Torpedo (Movement 12", Pivot 22.5°)
  • Hull: 4
  • Keywords: Torpedo, Lift(1), Drop(1), Inertia(5), Fragile, Evasive
  • Turning: Can only pivot after moving Inertia distance (or full move if greater).
  • Contact: Torpedoes auto-hit on contact with a ship’s base, then are removed.
  • Damage on contact: Roll 3 damage dice (use normal Damage/Critical rules).

11. MOVEMENT CLASSES

Class Movement Pivot
Torpedo 12" 22.5°
Heavy 5" 22.5°
Medium 7" 45°
Light 10" 90°
Ultralight 15" 360°

12. UTILITY MODULES

Module Cost Effect
Chaff Launcher 10pts Reaction: Against Missiles, spend 1 CMD to force hit re-roll.
Acoustic Decoys 15pts Countermeasures: Spend 1 CMD to redirect Torpedoes.
DC Center 20pts +1 DC value. Re-roll 1s on DC checks.
Signal Array 10pts +1 Command (CMD) value.
Armored Bridge 15pts Ignore the first Bridge Hit taken.
Reinforced Bulkheads 15pts Re-roll Critical Table results (must keep second).
Compressed Gas 10pts Spend 1 CMD to instantly gain +2 Elevation.
Dive Brakes 10pts Choose to gain 0" movement when Diving.
Sonar 15pts Ignore penalties for Cloud Banks and Islands. Ships with Sonar may shoot into and out of Cloud Banks.
Hangar 10pts Provides 1 Hangar slot. Spend 1 CMD to launch 1 Wing.

13. SHIP PROFILES

Fighter Wing (30pts)

  • Stats: Hull 10 | Skill 3+ | Morale 6 | CMD 0 | DC n/a
  • Keywords: Ultralight, Inertia 0, Fragile, Evasive (-3).
  • Slots: 3 Ultralight weapons. Must be assigned to a Hangar Slot.

Corvette (30pts)

  • Stats: Hull 15 | Skill 3+ | Morale 5 | CMD 1 | DC 1
  • Keywords: Light, Lift(2), Drop(1), Stall(9), Inertia(2).
  • Slots: 1 Light weapon (Turreted), 1 Utility.

Frigate (70pts)

  • Stats: Hull 35 | Skill 4+ | Morale 6 | CMD 2 | DC 2
  • Keywords: Medium, Lift(3), Drop(1), Stall(8), Inertia(3).
  • Slots: 1 Med Fwd, 1 Med Port, 1 Med Stbd, 2 Utility.

Carrier (100pts)

  • Stats: Hull 55 | Skill 4+ | Morale 7 | CMD 4 | DC 3
  • Keywords: Medium, Lift(3), Drop(1), Stall(7), Inertia(4).
  • Slots: 1 Med Fwd, 1 Med Aft, 4 Utility.

Dreadnought (250pts)

  • Stats: Hull 80 | Skill 3+ | Morale 8 | CMD 5 | DC 4
  • Keywords: Large, Lift(4), Drop(1), Stall(6), Inertia(4).
  • Slots: 1 Lrg Fwd, 2 Lrg Port, 2 Lrg Stbd, 1 Lrg Aft, 3 Utility.
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