I hope that using the Miniatures Battles rules in the context of the Star Wars Role Playing Game will be just as rewarding for you as it has been for us. The main intent is not to slow down the game, but to allow larger scale battles with miniatures to be "played out" rather than just left to the background. It was designed to integrate with the RPG system as well as be a stand alone game. Just think of it as adding a strategy game element to the RPG. I expect that once you pick it up, it will be easy enough to switch between the two systems.

Now that I've said my peace, my main intention in writing this is to give you a feel for the game before you play it. Once you see how straight forward the game is I'm sure you'll be out scouring old gaming haunts for a set of the rules. So here is a brief outline of the sequence of play...
 

Star Wars Miniatures Battles

The Miniatures Battles works on the basis of squads and their actions. RPG characters are represented by Hero's which act like a squad of one and have special abilities. The game is set up for two players...Rebels and Imperials.

Skill Rolls

The rules share some of the elements of the RPG system but much of it is simplified to allow for more miniatures. Rather than roll a number of dice per skill, ONE DIE is rolled per action and the skill level is a number added to the die. For example:

In the RPG Striphe has a Heavy Blaster Skill of 7D. Firing at Medium range might mean he has to roll 12 or higher on 7 dice. In Miniatures Battles Striphe's Hvy Blaster Skill is 7 (no D after it). Medium range is a difficulty of 8. So he would roll 1D and add 7 to it and if it totaled 8 or higher he would hit. Sounds easy huh? Well it's Striphe we're talking about!

Opposed Rolls

Lets assume Striphe hit a stormtrooper. The Heavy Blaster has a damage rating of 5. The stormtrooper has a strength of 3. Striphe rolls 1D+5 damage, the trooper 1D+3 strength. Then you compare results like in the RPG.

You'll notice there is no stunned or mortally wounded result. As far as squad members go, once they are incapacitated they may as well be dead.

Wild Die

A roll of 6 on the die means you get to roll over just like the "wild die". A roll of 1 is an automatic bomb out or 0. Heroes can use force points (equivalent to character points in the RPG) to add to their roll. Force point rolls also roll over on a 6.

Morale

The only new "type" of rule is that of morale levels. Since squads are like NPC's they are subject to die rolls for their morale. Throughout the game, the commander of a squad will have to make morale checks. Every time a morale check fails, the squad's morale level goes down. Eventually this affects their ability to fight as they become Shaken (-1 to their rolls), Demoralized (-2 to their rolls), and eventually Broken (they just run away). It is possible for their morale to go up if they are rallied by a commander, or if they pass a morale test by quite a bit.

Miniatures and Scale

All miniatures are placed on a 1" circular base and some direction is determined to be the front (I say it's whatever way the figure is looking). All movement and ranges are in inches. So a Walk Rate of 6 and Run Rate of 11 means that each squad member can move up to 6" at a walk, 7"-11" at run. A Hvy Blaster has ranges of 4, 12, 25 or short range: up to 4", med. range: 5"-12", long range: 13"-25". Figures can see up to 90 degrees to either side of their facing and can shoot up to 45 degrees to either side (a 90 degree fire arc). A stationary or walking figure can turn to face any direction. When running a figure may make up to two 45 degree turns.

Squad Coherance

Basically this is a way of making sure you try to keep a squad together as a unit. It works like this...

Each squad member has a command skill (usually the same as his perception). This number is also the maximum distance in inches that each squad member can be apart from another. For example: A squad's members have a command skill of 2 (very typical). Each squad member should be no more than 2" away from some other squad member. This can be achieved by walking in a line, grouping in a circle, an irregular pattern, etc. In my wonderful diagram below each squad member is represented by S1, S2, S3, etc. This squad is coherent because all members are 2" apart.

If S6 was killed. S7 would now be separated by more than 2" and the squad will have lost its Coherence.

Squad Commanders

Each squad also has a designated commander. The commander usually has a Command skill 1 or 2 points higher than the rest of the squad. He can therefore be farther away from squad members and still keep coherence. His command skill is used for all morale checks for that squad.

Sequence of Play - Basic Overview

Note: The term Squad is used for either a Squad or Hero in this section. Heroes normally ignore morale.

The Initiative Phase

• make opposed rolls using highest command levels on each side.

The Movement Phase

• player with initiative chooses who goes first.
• each side alternates moving one squad at time.
• Walking squads will fire at +1 difficulty.
• Running squads may not fire.
• a squad may elect not to move. It may attempt an opportunity fire now at -1. (Morale check needed)
• a squad may attempt to charge a squad to bring them into close assault range. (Morale check needed) Defending squad may attempt defensive fire if their morale holds.

The Fire Combat Phase

• player WITHOUT initiative fires first.
• players in turn pick a squad, announce target(s), and resolve shots.
• casualties take effect at end of the phase.

The Close Assault Phase

• enemy soldiers in base-to-base contact make opposed rolls to brawl or melee.

The Morale Phase

• any previously broken squads are moved first.
• squads who have taken casualties make morale tests.
• squads with lowered morale who didn't move or fire this turn may attempt to rally.

The Special Actions Phase

• Heroes may perform special actions such as using Force powers.
• Hears may assume command of a squad.
• Med packs may be applied.
• Terrain effects occur (such as fires spreading).
• The Demolition squad plants its charges.
• Red Jack lights a cigar accidentally igniting the munitions dump.

The Fun Begins

Obviously there are more details to the rules than this. For example, standing up from prone position uses 2" of movement. These things are easy enough to cover as they come up. Read over these rules a couple times and try to get a feel for the "Sequence of Play". After that you can read the full rules to fill in the gaps.

That's about it. I hope to be adding more information to this part of my site as I find the time. I did develop a full blown scenario that my players played out in Episode 9: Retribution Denied of our RPG. I plan to eventually put this up as a Miniatures Battles adventure. Well, maybe, someday...

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