A simple Tabletop game of space exploration and combat
By Sean Patten

OVERVIEW
Star Crashers is a friendly game for 2-4 players, ages 8 and up.  Each turn, players move their spacecraft around the table, exploring by flipping over Blip Counters that could be Space Pirates, Gravity Mines, Derelict Ships, and stranger things!   When a player successfully deals with an encounter, they collect Credits as specified in the encounter.  Once all the Blip Counters have been revealed and dealt with, the game is over- the player with the most credits wins.  You can also try playing teams, pairing up with another player and combining your credits to see which team can earn the most!

COMPONENTS
To play Star Crashers, you will need:

• Spaceship Miniatures.  You can make your own miniatures using model and toy parts, or you can borrow toy or model ships from your favorite show or other game. You will need models of different sizes to represent the different classes of ships and the Starbase.  Until you have your own miniatures, you are welcome to print out a set of these SHIP COUNTERS provided.
• 6-sided dice.  It's handy to have three per player.
• Blip, Credit, and Hit Counters.  Print out 3 sets of blip counters, and a set of Credit and Hit tokens.  Then use a glue stick or spray adhesive to mount them on a piece of cardboard.  Then cut them out with scissors or a paper cutter.
• Sticks.  Each player will need a MEASURING STICK.  Sticks should be 8 inches long- make sure they are all the same size.  They are used for measuring movement and attack ranges.  Try using soda straws or chopsticks.
• A table.  You'll need a table to play on.  You can decorate your table with Scenery to make the game more interesting.  Try making your own planets out of painted toy balls, or asteroids made from garden rocks, paper machie, or even shredded mattress foam!  Scenery blocks movement and shooting, making the game more interesting.

Then players select their ships and choose a place to sit at the table.  If there are 2 or 4 players, each player must start from one of the four table corners.  If there are three players, all players must start from the starbase in the middle.  Try playing teams, with two players per team sharing one fleet of ships!

 Finally, shuffle the blips, and draw out some blips without looking at them- a good number is # of points x # of players ( for example, 3 players playing 7 points of ships would draw 21 blips).  Place the blips face down, spread out evenly across the entire table, and at least 1 stick away from the starbase.  Blips should only be placed on the table and not on top of  scenery (but nearby scenery is okay).
 

TAKING TURNS
When you're ready to start, have each player roll two dice- whoever has the highest roll goes first, and turns continue around the table in a clockwise order.  If playing teams, stagger the players so teams alternate.

When it's your turn, you may do TWO things with each of your SHIPS.  These things are called ACTIONS.  Finish both actions with one Ship before you start with the next.  Continue until ALL of your Ships have done two actions (or chosen to do nothing).  Then it's the next player's turn!

After the last player's turn is the ENEMY TURN.  If there are any Enemies on the table during the enemy turn (such as Space Pirates,  Mines, or the Leviathan), they will usually move towards and attack the nearest Ship (see the Encounter Blips section for details).   Once all the Enemies have gone, it's back to the FIRST player's turn.

Continue taking turns around the table until all of the Blips have been dealt with.  Then the game ends.  The player or team who collected the most credits wins!  A small game takes about 30 minutes.  You might have time to play another game- just shuffle the Blips, put them out and start again!

• All Ships have a POINTS value- usually between 1 and 3 points.  The more powerful the ship, the more points they cost.  The total points of all your Ships can't be more than any other player's total.  So if everyone is using 6 points of Ships, for example, you could take any number of  Ships as long as their points total adds up to 6.
• All Ships have a DICE value- this is how many dice they roll when doing different things in the game such as Attacking, Defending, or any other die roll unless otherwise indicated.
• Some Ships have special abilities or limitations.   For example, a REROLL is a special ability that allows the player to reroll ONE of their dice when doing the action described.
• TRANS is the number of transport spaces the ship has.  Ships with a * can be transported.

 

TYPE	POINTS	DICE	TRANS	SPECIAL ABILITIES
FIGHTER	1	1	*	+1 Die when Defending.
BOMBER	1	1	*	+1 Die when Attacking.
SCOUT	1	1	*	+1 Die when Escaping.  May Scan.
GRAPPLER	1	1	*	+1 Die when Ramming / Repairing.
FREIGHTER	2	2	1	Only 1 die when shooting. +1 Die when Repairing.
CRUISER	2	2	1	Reroll Shooting / Defending.
CARRIER	3	3	3	Only 1 Die when Shooting.
BATTLESHIP	3	3	1	Reroll Shooting / Defending.

• At any time during your turn, a transported ship may be placed outside the transporting ship- this is known as deploying.  Deploying takes no actions.
• A small ship may board an adjacent transport by ending a move next to the transport.  There must be room on the transport.
• A transport ship may pick up a small ship by moving past the small ship (this is another form of boarding).
• A damaged small ship onboard a transport may spend an action to automatically repair the damaged small ship.
• A transport ship may spend an action to automatically repair ALL transported ships on board.

ACTIONS
Ships do things by performing ACTIONS.  Unless crippled (see damage below), a ship can perform TWO actions each turn.  It may perform the same type of action TWICE if they wish!  For example, in one turn a Ship could move two times.  Here are all the types of actions Ships can perform:

• MOVE. Move 1 STICK in any direction.  May not move through terrain.  A small ship that moves next to a transporting ship may board as part of the move, providing there is room.
• ATTACK.  A ship can perform a shooting attack (see combat below).  May not shoot through terrain.
• REPAIR.  A ship may attempt to repair themselves or an adjacent ship as an action.  Roll the ship's dice: for each die that rolls a 5 or 6, remove 1 point of damage!
• SCAN(Scout only). A scout ship may examine 1 blip within 1 stick as an action.  This does NOT reveal the blip.
• ESCAPE. A ship may attempt to escape a Black Hole or Raystorm by spending an action and rolling a 6 on any 1 die.
• RESCUE. A ship may attempt to rescue an adjacent ship trapped in a Raystorm by spending an action and making a successful repair roll.

• SHOOTING: To shoot, a ship must spend an action,  usually within 1 STICK's distance of the target, in which case the ship rolls its dice and the target rolls its dice to defend.  If the ship has taken damage, subtract 1 attack or defend die for each point of damage taken.  If the defender ties or wins, nothing happens.  Ships with more than one attack die may shoot at LONG range.  For each additional STICK of range, deduct one attack die from the roll.

• RAMMING: To ram, a Ship must MOVE into contact with its target.  The attacking and defending ships roll their base dice value (even if damaged).  If the defender wins, and is the same size or larger than the attacker, the attacker will take damage!  A ship may not ram more than once per turn.

REPAIR
Anyone can attempt to REPAIR a damaged or crippled ship by spending an action adjacent to it.   Each die that rolls a 5 or 6 means 1 point of damage has been repaired.  If a ship is repairing itself, it may roll its full dice, even though it is damaged.  Crippled ships are restored to 1 die when repaired.  If a crippled ship has not already spent an action on the turn it is repaired, it may take two actions after being repaired as normal.

BLIP COUNTERS
STAR CRASHERS is an explorative game, where your fleet must face the unknown- represented by Blip Counters of course!  Blips start face down.  To FLIP a blip, a ship must TOUCH it as part of their MOVE.  A blip cannot be flipped unless the ship revealing it is MOVING!  It does not take an action to flip a blip (but it takes an action to Move, of course).  Flipping a blip ends the ship's' move.  They may take another move afterward if they have another action to do so.  Blips can be dangerous, but they can also earn you credits if you deal with them properly!

• AMBUSH! Place a Pirate Cruiser there (2 dice).  It will immediately attack the revealer.  On the ENEMY turn, it will move towards the nearest target and attack until it runs out of actions or cripples the target.  If damaged, it will attempt to Ram!  If an adjacent target is crippled, it will LOOT the target, taking one credit from the player who owns the ship for each action it has.  Place the looted credits next to the pirate ship.  Once the pirate ship has 2 or more credits, it will move 1 stick per turn towards the nearest board edge and if it gets to the edge, it escapes!  Escaping pirates may not move within 1 stick of a player ship.  Earn 1 credit for each hit done to a Pirate Cruiser.  Whoever destroys the Pirate Ship earns any looted credits the pirate ship had!
• BLACK HOLE!  Your ship is sucked into another dimension!  Place the ship on the Black Hole blip.  No can occur between ships inside and outside the Black Hole.   As an action, roll a 6 to ESCAPE- you may reappear ANYWHERE on the board.   Earn 2 credits for escaping and remove the blip.  Other ships may enter the black hole voluntarily- if a ship escapes, the other ships inside will drop back into normal space, and only the ship that escaped will earn 2 credits.
• EMISSARY! Spend an action to pick up the Emissary.  Keep the blip with your ship.  If your ship is crippled, place the Emissary back in space, adjacent to the crippled ship.  Then any other ship may pick up the Emissary by spending an action.  Earn 1 credit for returning the Emissary to the starbase.
• LEVIATHAN!  Place a giant space monster there (3 dice, ram only).  It will immediately ram the revealer!  On the ENEMY turn, it will move towards the nearest ship (which could include pirates) and attack.  If it ties or wins, it will ESCAPE: set it aside along with its blip and any hits it has taken.   If it escapes, it will REAPPEAR at the next AMBUSH or LEVIATHAN blip found (instead of the normal ambush), and ram the revealer!  Each time it reappears, add the blip to its collection.   Earn 1 credit for each hit done to the leviathan.  If killed, earn one credit for each blip accumulated, and discard the blips.
• METEORS! They immediately make a 2 dice attack vs. the revealing ship, and are then removed.  The ship earns 1 credit.
• MINES!  Place a mine model.  Mines attack with 2 dice.  The mines will immediately move next to and attack the revealer.  Mines defend with only 1 die, and have 1 hit.  On the ENEMY turn,  Mines will move one stick towards the nearest non-crippled ship, and attack  if it makes contact.  If mines win a combat while defending from an attacker within 1 stick, the attacker takes 1 hit!   Earn 1 credit for destroying a minefield.
• RAYSTORM!  Place the ship on the Raystorm blip.  To ESCAPE, spend an action and roll a 6.  Another ship may attempt to RESCUE you by moving adjacent to (but not on) the blip, spending an action, and making a successful REPAIR roll.  No other interaction can occur between ships inside and outside the raystorm. Earn 2 credits for escaping or rescuing and remove the blip.
• SALVAGE!  You have found a wrecked ship.  Make a Repair roll while adjacent to salvage.  Earn 1 credit for each die of success  (Remove after any successful salvage roll).
• SURVIVOR! Spend an action to pick them up.  They tell you about a nearby threat- you may SCAN any blip on the board and place the survivor marker under the scanned blip. Whoever resolves that blip will earn an additional credit!

• COMET!  Place a COMET model at the nearest board corner, and immediately move it 1 stick towards the SPACE STATION- it will RAM any ship or terrain piece in the way, pushing them aside as it moves.    The comet rolls 4 dice!   Earn 1 credit for every hit you  do to the comet.   If another COMET card is found while one is already on the table, add +1 DIE and +1 HIT to the one already on the board!  Each enemy turn, the comet moves 1 more stick towards the SPACE STATION.   If the COMET hits the SPACE STATION, the comet is destroyed, but does one hit to the space station per player!  Each player must place one CREDIT of theirs on the space station.  Whoever repairs any damage on the space station will earn one credit per point of damage repaired!  While the space station is damaged, it cannot repair adjacent ships.
• DERELICT.  Place a Derelict model on top of the blip.   When confronted with a derelict, there are two options:

--SCUTTLE.  Any ship may SCUTTLE the derelict by doing 2 hits to it. This earns ONE credit (turn in the blip and the ship).  If the Derelict is crippled, it rolls 1 die for defense.
--BOARD.  Any adjacent ship may BOARD the derelict by spending an action, and declaring the size of their boarding party (up to the number of base dice the ship has)- this will be the number of dice the boarders roll.  Attack Rerolls and extra Repair dice may be included in a boarding attempt.   The Derelict ship rolls TWO dice vs. the Boarders DICE.  If the derelict ship WINS, the boarders have been CONTAMINATED- the boarding ship immediately takes a number of hits equal to the size of the boarding party!  If the Derelict ship LOSES, it has been CAPTURED.  If it TIES, nothing happens.
--ONCE CAPTURED:   The ship may now be used by the capturing player, who should hang onto the derelict blip.  The ship cannot be Scuttled or Boarded. (see stats above).
--SELL.  The owner may sell the Derelict for TWO credits  by moving next to the space station and turning it in.
--CURSED.  While in posession of a derelict, there is always a risk that some lurking horror is still hiding on board... On the ENEMY turn, each derelict rolls two dice.  If either die rolls a 1, the crew are contaminated!  Place the DERELICT blip back on the ship, and treat it as an uncaptured derelict!  Any boarded ships are immediately deployed.
--KEEP.  If the owner is still in posession of the Derelict at the end of the game, they earn THREE credits!
 

TYPE	DICE	TRANS	SPECIAL ABILITIES
DERELICT	2	1	Attack with 1 die.  (See Derelict Blip below.)

• GOODWILL.  Players can earn 1 credit whenever they successfully repair another player's damaged or crippled ship, as long as they did not cause the damage.
• ADVERSITY.  Players may attack each other's ships!  In addition, a player may spend an action adjacent to another players crippled ship to take one of that player's credits!  Keep in mind this is a good way to get other players mad at you, so don't use these rules unless all the players are mature enough to handle it...

PRISON BREAK!
Prisoners have busted out of the penal colony on Zebra 6, intent on stealing your ships and making their escape!

In this game, Ambush blips are not Pirates- instead, they are escaped prisoners!  When an Ambush blip is revealed, the prisoners will attempt to board your ship.  They roll 2 dice as an attack- if they lose, you have successfully subdued them- earn 1 credit.  BUT if they win, they take over your ship (instead of damaging it).  Keep the blip with the ship to indicate that it is taken over.

During the ENEMY turn, ships that have been taken over will move towards and attack the nearest player controlled ship, Ramming if it rolls more dice than shooting.

Whomever can cripple a ship that has been taken over earns 1 credit for each die the ship has!  The ship will return to the control of the player who originally owned it, but will still need to be repaired, of course...

SPACESHIP GRAVEYARD!
The fleets have stumbled upon a Space Sargasso!   Hulks from across time and space drift about this eerie place...

For this game, all Salvage blips are treated as DERELICT blips instead!

Also, the SPACE STATION starts DISABLED- it cannot be used until it is reactivated.  To do this, treat as a boarding attempt on a derelict ship.  If successful, earn 1 credit, and the Space Station can then be used (for repair, selling derelicts, etc).

This scenario plays best with small fleets- try 5 points per player but place an extra 2 blips per player.

HOSTILE TAKEOVER!
Pirates have taken control of the Space Station, and are shooting down anyone that comes near!

Setup: Players start at a board corner.  Be sure there is at least 1 comet blip mixed into whatever blips are placed.  Place cover-providing terrain evenly about the board so players can have an equal chance to advance on the space station under cover!

The Space Station cannot be used by anyone until it is subdued (they must hang onto Emissaries and Derelicts, can't get repaired, etc).   The Space Station rolls FIVE dice and has five hits.  Anyone damaging the Space Station earns a CREDIT for each HIT, plus whoever does the FIRST hit earns a bonus credit!  If a COMET appears, the station will target all attacks against the comet.  If the comet hits the station, it automatically does 1 hit, and whoever revealed the comet gets credit for the hit!

On the ENEMY turn, the Space Station will attack once per number of players, targeting the closest player ships that it can see,  firing at long range if necessary.  PIRATE ships with LOOT will return to the Space Station if it is held by pirates instead of escaping off the board.  They will drop off the credits at the station, automatically repair any damage, and return to combat the nearest player ship!  If the station is crippled, any credits on the station will be awarded to repair teams, one extra credit per hit repaired, until all extra credits are gone or the station is repaired fully.  Then all remaining credits are awarded to the ship that repaired the final hit to the station.

Once the station is CRIPPLED, it must be repaired- earn one credit for each hit repaired.   When all 5 hits have been repaired,  the station is fully operational again.

SALVAGED AMMUNITION:  To aid in attacks against the Space Station, whenever a player successfully salvages, they should take the blip card in addition to any credits earned.   At any time during an attack on the Space Station, a player may trade in the Blip Card in exchange for an additional 1 die for that attack!  They may add as many dice as they have blip cards, but must discard the cards after using them.