Sky Galleons of Mars Errata

Frank Chadwick

The following errata, clarifications and variants are based on gamer feedback and suggestions we have received since publication of Sky Galleons of Mars (Space: 1889). Intended to be a consolidation of all errata and changes published to date, this article also includes new modifications to the game. The article is divided into three parts: Ship Design, Ship Combat, and Variants. The first two sections should be considered official, while the third is optional.

SHIP DESIGN

Official modifications to Sky Galleons of Mars are as follows.

Balanced Armament: Due to stability requirements on the vessel, all armament must be balanced (by weight) on each side. That is, if 40 tons of weapons are mounted on the port side, 40 tons must also be mounted on the starboard side.

Allowed Numbers of Marines: Due to limitations on deck size, a maximum of five marines may be carried per hull size. Any troops in addition to this are carried as passengers below deck and may not participate in combat.

SHIP COMBAT

Official modifications to Sky Galleons of Mars are as follows.

Collisions: A ship may maneuver to avoid a collision in the same manner in which it maneuvers to avoid a ram. If the ship has already moved for this turn, the movement expended to avoid the collision is subtracted from its next turn's allowance.

Boarding Actions: No ship may fire at another ship which has a friendly boarding party on it.

Damage: When rolling to recover from a trim critical hit, the ship recovers if the player rolls higher than the damage value of the damage -- or, if the damage value is 6 or more, if he rolls a 6. The favorable modification due to hull size is made to the die roll, not the damage value. For example, a ship with a hull value of 5 which suffers a trim critical with a damage value of 7 recovers on a roll of 5 or 6, not just a 6.

Small Arms Fire: When firing at armored ships, add the armor value of the ship to the small arms save number. A 6, however, never saves, regardless of the armor value of the ship. Armor also does not protect boarding parties.

Throckmorton Conveyors: A maximum of one Throckmorton conveyor may take off from a ship per hull size number per turn.

Tether Mines: If a ship has more than one tether mine raised, make only one roll for hits; if one mine hits, all mines detonate. This counts as a single hit, but the damage values of all the mines are added together. If tether mines are released, roll separately for each mine to see if it hits.

Drogue Torpedoes: If a ship has more than one drogue torpedo deployed, make only one roll for hits; if one hits, all the torpedoes deployed detonate. This counts as a single hit, but the damage values of all the torpedoes are added together. A drogue torpedo may be released and used as a bomb (see below). When using a drogue torpedo as a bomb, the same procedure is followed as when determining a bomb hit, but one hit is scored with any positive number. The drogue retains its own penetration and damage values.

Bomb Racks: Bombs are carried in racks and dropped on targets below the vessel. Normally these will consist of fortresses, cities, ships at anchor, or aerial vessels on the ground. Bombs may be dropped, however, on aerial or naval vessels either moving or stationary. Bombs are dropped during movement in the same manner as Martian liquid fire; roll one die per rack of bombs and subtract the difference in altitude between the ship and its target. If the target is moving, subtract its current movement (the number of movement points most recently expended) as well. The result is the number of bomb hits scored. Each bomb hit has a penetration of 1 and a damage value of 2.

Spike Droppers: Invented by Martians but soon copied by European powers, the spike dropper is little more than a hopperfull of short, metal, finned spikes or darts. Attacks with spike droppers are made in exactly the same way as liquid fire racks, with the one exception that all hits scored are crew casualties.

Each hopper of spikes may be used only once per game. Once dropped, the hopper is expended and may not be reloaded during the game. No crewmembers need to man the spike dropper; its release controls are on the bridge. Each spike dropper is represented on the ship status sheet by a rectangle containing several spikes.

If spike droppers are located on a ship, count them as guns for hit location rolls.

VARIANTS (OPTIONAL)

A number of players have commented that with sequential movement there is little emphasis in the game on maneuvering. Both players can do pretty much whatever they like based on absolute knowledge of their opponents' position. I think there is some truth to this charge. The correction commonly suggested is to use plotted simultaneous movement, as in games such as Avalon Hill's Wooden Ships and Iron Men, or Yaquinto's Ironclads. There are difficulties with this system, however.

First, with different altitudes -- as well as changes in course and speed -- available, deliberate ramming becomes virtually impossible.

Second, captains usually had some ability to respond to an enemy's maneuver, but in plotted movement it becomes almost entirely a guessing game, with ships sometimes steaming off in entirely different directions.

The variant which is presented below may provide a compromise.

Plotted Movement: Both players must plot half their movement (in terms of movement points) in the Initiative Phase of each turn, at the same time that crew assignments are changed. A player may plot less than half his total movement allowance, but this will reduce his total allowed movement for the turn.

After initiative is determined, both players move their vessels exactly as plotted at the start of the turn. Play now proceeds normally, except that each player may not expend more movement points in his own Movement Phase than he did in the plotted portion of his move.