Game Manual

1. Back story 5

2. Main menu 7
2.1. Start New Campaign 7
2.2. Resume Campaign 8
2.3. L0ad Campaign 8
2.4. Skirmish 8
2.5. Data Archives 10
2.6. 0pti0ns 10

3. gameplay 11
3.1. Battle Screen Lay0ut 12
3.2. Ship Selecti0n Bar 13
3.3. Selected Ship Panel 14
3.4. Camera M0des 15
3.5. C0mmands Bar 17
3.6. M0ving Ships 17
3.7. Launching Muniti0ns 19
3.8. Selecting a missile target 20
3.9. Anti-Missile C0untermeasures 21
3.10. Damage and Repairb0ts 21
3.11. Dr0nes 22
3.12. Ramming 23
3.13. Energy Distributi0n 23
3.14. Shields 25
3.15. Weap0n M0des and Arcs 26
3.16. Inspecting Enemies 27
4. mission selection and fleet management 28
4.1. Saving Campaign Pr0gress 28
4.2. Ship Selecti0n and F0rmati0n 29
4.3. Reinf0rcements 30
4.4. Ammuniti0n Resupply 31
4.5. Flagship Crew Skills & Relati0nships 32
4.6. Flagship Crew & Skills Screen 33
4.7. Captain Devel0pment Level 34

5. coalition ships 35
5.1. C0aliti0n Assault Ships 35
5.2. C0aliti0n Capital Ships 37

6. controls reference 42

7. credits 43
1.
“At its peak, at its finest, the human race is a network.
“We create channels of infrastructure, history, economics and
politics to service the greater community. In the everyday, our
actions can serve the needs of dozens, hundreds, thousands or a
handful of people.
“My great, great grandmother, Hetty Joyce, was chief navigator
aboard the Biswell II; her every day duties directly impacted the one
hundred and seventy seven Biswell crew members, whose manifest
included over twelve thousand service people, ministers, engineers
and civilians. That proud Conveyance vessel successfully made
landfall, and now serves as the Biswell Research and Development
Ministry block, on whose steps we stand today.
“The Biswell II did not leave Earth alone. During the one hundred
and forty six year journey, Biswell II guided, by the steady course
of Hetty, five inert carriers, each with another dozen thousand
people. The carriers followed in the wake of Biswell II, wholly reliant
on Hetty’s navigation to provide a safe stream to carry them to our
new home.
“Hetty was a linchpin in Biswell’s success during Conveyance. The
network of her influence expands out to everything we see and
touch today; these walls, this frontier land, and each other.
“It would be remiss of me to insist that our survival and our
deliverance to Novus was solely on Hetty’s shoulders. Just as she
reached out to impact on tens of thousands of lives, so did every
serving navigator, captain, engineer and steward that served in
Conveyance. Biswell II was only one of fifteen ships that touched
Novan dirt. Each Conveyance transport, each network, had its own
version of Hetty.
“We are twenty four years past first landfall on Novus. For every year
that we continue to survive past the initial twenty four, we have a
network of people to thank. Of engineers who build. Of scientists
who develop, and economists who prosper. And of service people,

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of both the Coalition Navy and Coalition Ground Forces, who not
four months ago sacrificed their lives to protect us from the nautilid.
“I say first, but I cannot with full conscience promise it will be the
last. The nautilid destroyed may have been a fraction of their force,
or it may have been the whole of their network. We must keep our
eyes open, looking ever upward, to make sure that should conflict
ever rise again, we do not need to have relied on an individual to
have done it for us.
“If Hetty Joyce was the linchpin of Biswell’s success, then Fredan
Dyce is the linchpin of Novus’ future. He was the individual that
cleared our skies. He was the individual that took the fight to an
enemy who would not rest, at a time when we all thought we
had already lost. When the time came, Fredan was already where
he needed to be, because he was looking ever upward while we
shuffled and stared at our feet. The memories of those buried
behind us owe to Fredan the chance that they will be remembered.
The futures of our children owe to Dyce the opportunity that they
will continue to build our network on this planet.
“It is with open heart that I welcome Fredan Dyce to the Coalition
Executive Board as our first Humanitarian Futures Director. It is not
lightly that we have introduced a fourteenth chair onto the Board,
and unanimously we believe that the addition will be a boon to the
constant economic, political and historic growth of the Coalition,
and of Novus.
“Our newest chair, Director Fredan Dyce. Profitable may he serve.”

– Executive Chairperson Lonny Joyce (BIS)

at the induction of Vice-Admiral Fredan Dyce as
HR Chair of the Coalition Executive Board,
24 ANC

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2.

From the main menu, you can choose from the following options:
¡¡ Start New Campaign
¡¡ Resume Campaign
¡¡ Load Campaign
¡¡ Skirmish Battle
¡¡ Data Archives
¡¡ Options
¡¡ Exit

2.1. Start New Campaign

This option starts a new campaign. The campaign is a narrative
driven series of battles that happen over the course of the
Second Contact War. If you start a new campaign and an existing
campaign has already been started, progress in the existing
campaign will be lost.

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2.2. Resume Campaign
This resumes an existing campaign using the last autosave point.
You will be taken directly to the Mission Select screen to continue
your campaign. The autosave game is updated every time a mission
is completed successfully.

2.3. L0ad Campaign

The option loads a previously saved campaign that was created manually.
NOTE: Saved game files are created in the Chapter/
Mission Select screen, described later.
A dialogue will appear with the available save games, showing the
various slots. Each save game slot lists the current chapter and last
mission completed, and the total number of missions completed in
the campaign.
NOTE: When a saved game file is loaded, any unsaved
progress in the autosave game is lost.

2.4. Skirmish
Skirmish mode allows you to create a customised battle scenario to
play and hone your skills as a Naval Strike Group Commander..
There are two types of Skirmish maps:
¡¡ Mission Simulation: Replay a completed scenario from your
campaign with a customised fleet
¡¡ Battle Training: Design a skirmish battle between a Coalition
Naval Strike Group and a customized nautilid pod
Skirmish options are only available once the first campaign mission
has been completed successfully.

2.4.1. Missi0n Simulati0n

Select the mission to attempt from the list. A description will be
shown to confirm the mission you have selected. Click Proceed to
progress to the Strike Group customisation view.

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From the ship list on the left, drag the icon of the ship onto the
starting grid. The mission difficulty will determine the number of
Command Points available to you. As per the campaign, the number
of units in your strike group is equal to your Command Points.

2.4.2. Battle Training

Select the location of the battlefield, and the size of both fleets.
Select your units for the nautilid pod, and then for the Coalition
strike group, by dragging the icon from the list on the left onto the
battlefield. You can choose to have units automatically selected for
you by clicking Auto-Select.

To remove a ship (friendly or foe) drag it off the grid.

Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Holding down the right
mouse button when moving the mouse will pan the view.
Click the Proceed button when ready to start the battle!

2.4.3. Surprise Me
The “Surprise Me” options creates a scenario with randomised
units for both sides.

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2.5. Data Archives
The Data Archives contain a vast array of information about the
history of Novus and the Coalition, specification of ships of the
Coalition navy, background information about key people in the
First and Second Contact War, and more.
The Data Archive will load in your web browser, and the game will
be minimized. Once you have finished exploring the Data Archives,
use Alt+Tab on Windows or Command+Tab on Mac to return to
the game.

2.6. 0pti0ns
The Options menu includes:
¡¡ Adjust music volume
¡¡ Adjust sound effect volume
¡¡ Graphics Options: change the screen resolution, toggle
between fullscreen and windowed mode and set the graphics
detail level.
¡¡ Reset Instructions: the first time you play a campaign mission,
you will be presented with a series of instructions to assist
with learning how to play the game. These instructions are
only shown once. By selecting this option, the instructions will
be shown again the next time you play a campaign mission.

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3.
In Star Hammer: The Vanguard Prophecy, you will control a Naval
Strike Group of Coalition assault and capital ships through an
intense campaign of missions, as well as manage the crew of your
flagship and the strength of your fleet.
Combat in Star Hammer: The Vanguard Prophecy takes place in a
WEGO system, where each round is split into the Planning Phase
and the Simulation Phase.
During the Planning Phase, you will give your commands to the
ships of your fleet. Commands available to you include:
¡¡ Movement orders
¡¡ Select targets and setting firing modes
¡¡ Launch munitions, such as guided missiles, anti-missile
countermeasures and drone squadrons
¡¡ Adjust the energy distribution of each ship’s energy core
¡¡ Balance shield strength
¡¡ Start or cancel repairs
¡¡ Ram an enemy unit
Once the Planning Phase is complete, click the “Go” button (or
press Enter) and the Simulation Phase begins.
During the Simulation Phase, the commands you set up during the
Planning Phase will be played out on the 3D battlefield. While the
Simulation Phase is running, you can press the space bar (or click
the Go button again) to pause the simulation.
NOTE: This is useful to move the camera to see the action
from a different perspective

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Your flagship is the most important ship in the group, as it provides
command and control functionality to the rest of the group. If the
flagship is destroyed, the battle is lost instantly and your game will
restart from your last save point prior to the start of the battle.
Once the Simulation Phase is complete, the next Planning Phase
begins. After the first Simulation Phase, you can replay the last
round by clicking the Replay button (see Battle Screen Layout
below).
During replay, you can change the speed of playback, pause and
resume the action, and select ships to focus on another part of the
battle. You can replay as many times as you wish.

3.1. Battle Screen Lay0ut

Every scenario will have an objective to complete, which may not
always involve the outright destruction of your opponents. New
objectives are shown in the Objective Window. You can also see
the current objective on the Map screen at any time. (Click the Map
button in the top right corner of the screen).

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3.2. Ship Selecti0n Bar
All of the ships you can control in
any given mission are shown in
the Ship Selection Bar along the
bottom of the screen. For each
ship, it shows the current Hull
Strength and Shield Segment
Strength. The color of the bars
indicates whether the values are healthy (green) or depleted (red).
If a ship has Hull Strength of 90% or less, it’s selection button will
pulse red.
There are three ways to select a ship. You can:
¡¡ Left click on the ship on the battlefield,
¡¡ Left click the ship’s button on the Ship Selection Bar, or
¡¡ Press the relevant number key (1 to 9)
The currently selected ship is referred to as the Active Ship. The
Active Ship is denoted in the battlefield by a yellow highlight ring.
Some mission objectives will have you escorting or defending ships

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that are not part of your fleet, including civilian transports or friendly
capital ships. These ships will also be under your control, and for all
purposes are a part of your fleet for the mission.
NOTE: A ship that has not been given orders for the
current round will have two asterisk (**) on either side of
the name. An easy way to ensure you have given orders to
all of your ships is to check for the double-asterisk before
clicking the ‘Go’ button.

3.3. Selected Ship Panel

The Selected Ship Panel is displayed above the Ship Selection Bar.
It shows information about the Active Ship.
Information displayed on the Selected Ship Panel includes:
¡¡ Current hull strength
¡¡ Number of missiles/countermeasures available (if applicable)
¡¡ Subsystem status:
¡¡ Ramming Booster engines
¡¡ Repairbot launcher
¡¡ Missile/Countermeasures/Drone launchers (if applicable)
¡¡ Turret types and status
Hover your cursor over a turret’s icon to highlight the weapon on the
ship in the 3D battlefield with a red ring.
Clicking on a turret icon will open the detailed Weapon Information
Panel. A turret can be damaged during combat. The bar under the
number showing the maximum points of damage inflicted indicates
the health of the weapon.

3.3.1. Weap0n Inf0rmati0n Panel

The Weapon Information Panel shows details about a weapon
system. Data includes damage inflicted, accuracy and fire rate.

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You are also able to change the method that targets are selected in
auto-fire mode.
¡¡ Closest: Fire at the target closest to the weapon
¡¡ Weakest: Fire at the target with the lowest health/hull rating
¡¡ Strongest: Fire at the target with the highest health/hull
rating
¡¡ Smallest: Fire at the smallest target
¡¡ Largest: Fire at the largest target.
The default targeting option is ‘Closest’.

3.4. Camera M0des

There are five camera modes available during a missions; Free,
Fixed, Side, Overhead and Map.
¡¡ Free Camera mode is the default camera. It controls in 3D
space, and can be used to view the battlefield from any angle.
¡¡ Fixed Camera mode uses an orthogonal camera, in which the
viewing angle cannot be changed.
¡¡ Overhead Camera mode is a 2D top-down view of the
battlefield, and useful for movement planning.
¡¡ Side Camera mode views the battle from the level of the
active ship. This view can be useful to see the relative “height”
of opponents.
¡¡ Map mode shows the entire battlefield using icons to
represent the position of each active entity, and also displays
the current objective. Above each icon is the name of the ship,
and a bar showing its current hull/health.

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There are four basic camera controls available in most camera modes.
¡¡ Panning moves the camera around the field. This is done by
moving the mouse cursor to the edge of the screen, or with
the WASD keys.
¡¡ Zoom moves the camera view closer or further away. Zooming
is done by using the mouse wheel, or using the E and C keys.
In certain camera modes, when no active ship is selected,
the camera will zoom to your mouse cursor to allow for easy
navigation around the battlefield.
¡¡ Rotate spins the camera around on a pivot. You can rotate
the camera by holding the right mouse button and moving the
mouse, or with the Z and X keys.
¡¡ Focus will centre the camera on the currently selected entity.
Focus the camera by double-clicking on the ship, or by pressing
F if you already have the ship selected.

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Camera M0de c0ntr0l functi0ns
FREE FIXED SIDE OVERHEAD MAP
Panning Y Y Y Y Y
Zoom Y* Y Y* Y Y
Rotate Y N Y N Y
Focus Y Y Y Y N

NOTE: Y* indicates the camera will zoom to the mouse cursor.

3.5. C0mmands Bar

The Commands Bar is located in the lower right corner of the
screen, and contains buttons to perform a number of commands
for the Active Ship. These include:
¡¡ Changing the Fire Mode
¡¡ Launching missiles or torpedoes
¡¡ Deploying anti-missile countermeasures
¡¡ Launching drone squadrons
¡¡ Starting and cancelling repairs
NOTE: Not all ships can perform all functions. For example,
Raiders do not have missiles, and only Dreadnoughts are
equipped with Drones. See the section on ship classes for
more information about which functions are available for
each ship.
If a system is not available on the Active Ship (e.g. Launching
Drones for all ship classes other than the Dreadnought) it will be
disabled. If a system has been damaged and is offline, a blinking
“OFFLINE” message will be shown over the button.

3.6. M0ving Ships

Movement and positioning is key for success in Star Hammer: The
Vanguard Prophecy.

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When a ship is selected, a projection of the ship and travel path
will be visible. During the Planning Phase, you can adjust any
ship movement path by dragging the projection to the desired
destination.
Every ship has a minimum and maximum distance and a turning
circle, as shown by the radius arc around the Active Ship. The
maximum distance and turning circle of a ship is greatly affected
by the amount of energy routed to Engines in the ship’s energy core
(see Energy Distribution).
During the Simulation Phase, it is possible for ships to collide with
debris, objects and one another. Ship navigation systems will tell
you if a ship is projected to crash into another object by changing
the projection colour to red. Note however that not even the best
nav systems can predict the erratic movement of an enemy.
Collisions can cause significant damage, especially to smaller ships.
After a collision, a ship’s navigation system may be temporarily
knocked offline, causing the existing movement path to be
cancelled. Furthermore, a new path cannot be set in the following
round.

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Battles in space occur in three dimensions. To change the height
of your ship’s movement path, use the Change Planes buttons on
the right edge of the screen. Faster ships are able to adjust their
pitch more effectively and can travel up and down more planes than
slower capital ships.
NOTE: There is no time or distance penalty for changing
planes.
NOTE: Changing planes can be useful when you need to
hit an enemy from above or below. Some enemies are
more vulnerable in different areas.

3.7. Launching Muniti0ns

Several ships have the capability to fire guided missiles or torpedoes.
Munitions inflict a significant amount of damage over an area, so
more than just the initial target can be damaged by a well-placed
missile - including friendly ships!

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3.8. Selecting a missile
target
To launch a missile, click the Missiles button in the Command Bar.
The ship’s systems will default target the closest enemy or the
previously selected target. Click the Next and Previous buttons to
cycle through other available targets, or click directly on a target on
the battlefield. Click the OK button to confirm the selected target,
or Cancel to abort launching missiles.
A ship can launch multiple missiles per round. Missiles can be launched
individually, or as a salvo at the same target. To launch multiple missiles
at the same target, adjust the amount while selecting a target. Each
ship can launch a limited number of missiles per round.
Missiles are a finite resource. Each ship has a limited supply
available, so use them carefully. Missiles are fully resupplied
between chapters, or partially resupplied when a reinforcement of
the same ship class arrives.
NOTE: If a ship is destroyed, but is still carrying
unlaunched missiles, the magazine may continue to
detonate in subsequent rounds. Beware of exploding
ordnance on the battlefield!

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3.9. Anti-Missile
C0untermeasures
Anti-missile countermeasures are a unique feature of the Albatross
class Frigate. Countermeasures are projectiles that detonate
in the path of a missile causing it to explode – hopefully a safe
distance from friendly ships. They also emit a field that reduces
the accuracy of enemy fire that passes near the countermeasure
module.
To activate countermeasures, click the Countermeasures buttons.
A projection will display where the countermeasure will deploy
to on the battlefield. You can adjust the movement path of the
countermeasure the same as moving a ship, by dragging the
projection to the desired destination.
Once deployed, you can hover your mouse over the countermeasure
to display the spherical area in which it will scan and detect enemy
missiles. If a hostile munition is detected within this sphere, the
countermeasure will detonate to ensure mutual destruction of the
enemy missile.

3.10. Damage and

Repairb0ts
During combat, your shields will sustain most of the damage
directed towards your ships, however once a sector’s shields are
depleted, any further successful hits on that sector will cause hull
damage. Damage can occur to the hull or to subsystems of the
ship, such as weapons, missile launchers, etc. When a ship’s hull is
reduced to zero, it is destroyed.
A weapon that has taken damage will be less effective, or might be
taken completely offline.
Most combat ships are equipped with a complement of repairbots
that can be deployed for emergency repairs. To deploy repairbots,
click the Repairs button. When repairbots are active, a spanner icon
will appear in the Selected Ship Panel.

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While repairbots are working, a ship cannot fire weapons or launch
munitions. Repairs may take a number of rounds to complete,
depending on the amount of damage to repair.
Repairbots will automatically dock when all damage to a ship has
been restored. Alternately, repair-bots can be ordered to dock (and
therefore allow the ship to fire again) by clicking the Cancel Repairs
buttons (which replaces the Repairs button in the Command Bar
while the repairbots are active).
Repairbots will repair both hull damage and damaged sub-systems.

3.11. Dr0nes
Kraken class Dreadnoughts are equipped with two hangars of
unmanned drone fighter squadrons. Drones are unshielded, but are
equipped with rapid-fire laser turrets.
To launch a drone squadron, click the Drones button in the Command
Bar. Launching a drone squadron takes one round. Drones will
default to flying in formation around the dreadnought.
Once the squadron has launched, select the dreadnought to show
the Drone Control Panel on the left edge of the screen.
Use the Attack buttons to select a target. You do not need to issue
movement instructions to Drones; they will calculate their own
paths to the best firing position, and will return to the dreadnought
when the target has been destroyed.
Click the Recall button to order the Drones to dock with their
dreadnought.
Drones do not have shield generators, and have quite weak hulls,
so they are easily destroyed if hit. Drones are powered by batteries
which are depleted after a number of rounds. Once depleted, the
drones will no longer be controllable, so be sure to dock your drones
regularly so they can recharge.

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3.12. Ramming
Extreme circumstances can require extreme measures. If required,
you can use the ship itself as a weapon. To ram an opponent, click
the Ram button, then select the target.
The target must be reachable within a single round, so ramming
is only an option against ships that are relatively close. Ramming
automatically diverts all energy to the engines to ensure the ship
reaches maximum speed.
On contact, ramming will cause damage to the target AND the
ship doing the ramming. It’s quite possibly that the ship doing the
ramming can be destroyed as well as the target.
Ships that are significantly larger than their ramming target will not
have their navigations knocked offline in the event of a collision.

3.13. Energy Distributi0n

Each combat ship under your command has an energy core that
drives essential systems. The three most important systems in
battle are Engines, Weapons and Shields.

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You can adjust the distribution of energy to each of these systems.
By default, energy is distributed evenly, however to react to enemy
movements you will want to adjust this distribution.
¡¡ Engines: Increasing the energy to engines results in a
greater range per round. The maximum turning angle is also
increased.
¡¡ Weapons: Increasing energy to weapons will cause your turrets
to inflict more damage on the enemy. Adjusting weapons
energy does NOT affect munitions damage or stun weapons.
¡¡ Shields: Increasing energy to shields will reduce the amount
of shields lost with each hit.

NOTE: Non-combat ships, such as shuttles and utility

ships do not have weapons, and therefore do not have an
energy distribution system.
To adjust energy distribution, either click on the Presets buttons
between the Energy Distribution triangle and the Selected Ship
Panel, or click the Energy Distribution triangle to show a UI that
allows for precise settings.

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3.14. Shields
All combat ships and some civilian transports are equipped with
shield systems. These generators work by creating a resonant
kinetic field that absorbs the impact of projectiles. The more
energy that a shield generator uses, the more damage the shields
can absorb before being depleted. The amount absorbed is directly
related to the amount of energy put into shields in the energy core.
Example: A nautilid heavy spitter is capable of inflicting 5 points
of damage per hit. If the energy sent to shields is 40%, 2 points
of damage are absorbed, and the shield strength is reduced by 3
points. However if shields are powered at 80%, the reduction in
damage is 4 points, meaning only 1 point of shield strength is lost.

Shields generators have six sectors: Front, Rear, Left (Port), Right
(Starboard), Top and Bottom. A shield sector will only take damage
when it is hit directly, thus positioning can be key to both surviving
an assault and taking down your opponent quickly!
During the Planning Phase, you can move energy to a depleted
segment from healthier sectors. Click on the Shields panel to access
the Shield Redistribution Panel. Use the sliders to redistribute

25
shield strength from one sector to all five other sectors equally.
A sector can be locked out of redistribution by clicking the lock
toggle.
Some ships are also able to recharge shields during combat. The
more power diverted to shields, the greater the recharge rate. The
recharge rate is shown in the Shield Redistribution panel.

3.15. Weap0n M0des

and Arcs
All naval ships have turret platforms mounted in various
positions. They can face forwards, backwards or broadside (to
the sides) of the ship. To see the weapon arcs and firing range of
each weapon, click the Weapon Arcs buttons on the right edge
of the screen.
NOTE: Weapons will only fire at targets that are within
the weapon arcs.
Weapons can be set to three different modes:
¡¡ Autofire - This is the default mode, and fires on any enemy
within the weapon arc. Priority for Autofire can be set by
navigating to the the Weapon Panel.
¡¡ Targeted Fire - In this mode, weapons will only fire at the
targeted enemy, but with double the accuracy. When the
enemy is destroyed, the weapon will revert to the mode last
set before Targeted Fire was engaged.
¡¡ Hold Fire - Weapons do not fire.
To see information about the turrets on a ship, click on the weapon
icon on the Selected Ship Panel. The Weapon Information Panel
will be displayed with statistics about the selected turret. From
here you can choose the target priority for Autofire mode. The
priorities are:

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 ¡¡ Closest (default) – Fire at the closest enemy within the
weapon arc
¡¡ Weakest – Fire at the enemy with the least amount of health
points
¡¡ Strongest – Fire at the enemy with the highest amount of
health points.
¡¡ Smallest – Fire at the smallest enemy within the weapon arc
¡¡ Largest – Fire at the largest enemy within the weapon arc.

3.16. Inspecting Enemies

There are several ways to get vital information about your enemies,
First, pointing the mouse at an enemy at any time will display a
tooltip with the most important information. The ‘health’ of the
enemy will be displayed, as well as shields or armour information,
and potentially abilities of the enemy.
For a more detailed view, you can display a schematic during the
Planning Phase. Left-click on the enemy once to select it (this will
cause the camera to focus on the enemy), then left-click a second
time to display the enemy’s data readout.

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4.
The battles you are involved in during the Second Contact War will
be determined by the choices you make on the Chapter Selection
and Mission Selection screens. A 3D view of the planet Novus and
the space stations that orbit it is where you will choose which
chapters and missions to undertake.
The choice of which chapters are available will be determined
by the War Scale. The War Scale is a binary scale that represents
how aggressively or defensively your play style is. The War Scale
represents your influence on the larger conflict that is going on
around you as you progress through the campaign.To select a
chapter or mission, simply left click on the animated ‘pings’ on
screen. Before accepting a chapter or mission, you will be able to
read some background information. Click Proceed to start.
You will also see event pings in the mission selection view, shown as round
icons. An event describes something that has happened in or around
Novus whilst you were engaged in a mission. These events may be the
results of your actions during missions, and can help you determine how
well the Coalition is faring during the Second Contact War.

4.1. Saving Campaign

Pr0gress
You can save your progress when the Chapter Selection/Mission
Selection view is active. Click the ‘Save Game’ button in the upper
right corner of the screen. There are 12 slots to store your progress.
NOTE: Your progress is auto-saved after each successful
mission, and the Resume Campaign option at the main
menu will load the auto-save file. Loading a saved game
will lose any progress in the autosave file that has not be
saved to a manual save slot.

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4.2. Ship Selecti0n and
F0rmati0n
Before each scenario after the first training mission, you will have
the option to select the ships that will be deployed during the
encounter from your fleet, and set your strike group’s starting
formation.
Depending on the class of your flagship, you will have a number
of Command Points available. You can add one ship to your strike
group deployment for each Command Point.

FLAGSHIP TYPE COMMAND POINTS

Corvette 3
Frigate 4
Destroyer 5
Battlecruiser 6
Dreadnought 7

The Ship Selection and Formation screen is comprised of the

following sections:
¡¡ Available Ships Panel
¡¡ Formation Layout Grid
¡¡ Reinforcements Panel
Your current flagship will automatically be added to the formation,
and cannot be removed.
To add a ship to the formation, click the buttons in the Available
Ships Panel. The text of active ships will be displayed in yellow.
Each ship is initially added to the centre of the grid. Click and drag
a ship on the formation grid to move it. Any ships that overlap are
shown in red. You will not be able to exit the Ship Selection and
Formation screen whilst ships are overlapping.

29
You can change the height of your ships by using the Up and Down
buttons located on the right edge of the formation grid.
To remove a ship from the strike group formation, click the yellow
ship button in the Available Ships panel.
You can change the viewing angle of the formation grid by holding
the right mouse button and moving the mouse left and right. Use
the scroll wheel to zoom in/out.
When you are ready to deploy, click the Proceed button and the
scenario will commence.

4.3. Reinf0rcements
Between battles, you will have the option to request reinforcements
to replace ships that are lost in combat. Click the Reinforcements
button (+) along the bottom of the Ship Selection and Formation
screen.
You have a number of reinforcement points to spend on
replacements as you lose ships in combat. New ship classes will
become available as your flagship captain gains promotions.

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Use the arrow buttons to toggle through the available ships, and
click Request to order the ship.
It takes time for reinforcements to be built and arrive. Reinforcements
that are in transit will be shown in the In Transit panel. Pass time by
completing scenarios for your reinforcements to arrive.
When a reinforcement arrives, the New Arrivals panel will be
displayed on the Mission Select screen, and the ship will be added to
the Available Ships panel on the Ship Selection and Formation screen.
Reinforcements can also arrive during a battle. If this happens, you
will be able to issue commands to the new ship immediately.

4.4. Ammuniti0n Resupply

Ships with finite munition resources will receive resupplies at two
circumstances:
¡¡ At the end of each campaign Chapter.
¡¡ When a reinforcement of the same type arrives mid-battle.
Resupplied ammunition includes:

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 ¡¡ Homing missiles (Corvette)
¡¡ Anti-missile countermeasures (Frigate)
¡¡ Torpedoes (Battlecruiser)
¡¡ Drones (Dreadnought)
When a campaign chapter is completed, all finite ammunition is
restored to full.
When a reinforcement arrives during a battle, other ships of
the same type will have 20% of their ammunition allowance re-
supplied. Destroyed Drones are excluded from re-supplies during
a mission.

4.5. Flagship Crew Skills

& Relati0nships
As you progress through the campaign, you will collect a crew that
will provide benefits and bonuses to your flagship and your fleet.
As the flagship captain, it is up to you to maintain the relationships
between your crew members and make sure everyone works well
together.

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From the Mission Select screen, click the Crew Skills button in the
lower left to set which skills to activate, and which crew members
to assign to the bridge seats of the flagship.

4.6. Flagship Crew &

Skills Screen
Each class of ship has a number of bridge seats. (See Ship Classes
for more details). You assign crew members from the Available
Crew panel to these seats.
To add a character to a seat, drag the character portrait from the
Available Crew panel to the empty seat or over the character you
want to replace in the Assigned Crew panel.
When a crew member is assigned to a seat, you will be able to choose
how to activate their personal traits. These are presented on the Crew
Skills panel on the right side of the panel. The higher the level of the crew
member, the more traits they can activate. All traits have an Aggressive
(red) and Defensive (blue) mode that provide different benefits.
The combination of traits that are activated will determine the
character’s mood. Each crew member has a unique personality, and
therefore will react differently to the moods of other characters.
This is shown in the relationship matrix, displayed via the lines
connecting the seats. A positive or friendly relationship is shown by
a green line, whereas a negative or hostile relationship is denoted
with a red line. You can hover your mouse over a line to find out how
friendly or hostile any two crew members are to each other.
Relations between crew members will impact on the performance
of the flagship in battles. The overall mood of the crew will create
a Crew Bias. The Crew Bias will give a bonus to one of the three
sectors of the flagship’s energy core: Weapons (Aggressive/
attacking bias), Shields (defensive bias) or Engines (neutral bias).
The Crew Effect bonus is added directly on to the flagship’s energy
core, i.e. an effect of +9% Engines will provide a flat +9% bonus to
the Engines energy distribution of the flagship.

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4.7. Captain Devel0pment
Level
Each ship in your fleet has a captain. Ship captains have a
development level, from 1 to 4. Ship captains gain Development
Points (DP) from participating in (and surviving!) campaign missions.
Higher level ship captains will give their ship a bonus specific to the
class of their ship. For example, a raider is a nimble, fast moving
vessel, and a higher level captain will increase the movement range
of the raider. For details about ship captain bonuses for each class
of ship, see the Ship Classes section.

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5.
5.1. C0aliti0n Assault Ships
5.1.1. Raider
Class Name: Swordfish
Captain Rank: Ranger Lieutenant (RLt)
Length: 50m
Captain Skill Bonus: Movement Speed & Turn Rate
Flagship Crew Seats: N/A
Swordfish Raiders are built for a fine balance of sustainability and
speed, making them perfect for capitalising on superior positioning
during mid-range skirmishes. The formidable firepower and lack of
long-term pilot support systems sees the Swordfish deployed more
often in naval fleet groups than the Ranger Corps.
Raider pilots are highly specialised personnel with strong faculties
in small-craft navigation and semi-automated artillery decks. As a
result, the pilots tend to become highly proficient in their specialised
single-seat role and become stereotyped as loners and unsociable.
Very few Raider pilots ever leave the cockpit of their vessel to climb
the Admiralty ladder, and tend to adopt a more traditional “ranger”
profile along the mining station belt.

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5.1.2. C0rvette
Class Name: Nemo
Length: 80m
Captain Rank: Lieutenant (Lt)
Captain Skill Bonus: Modest boost to Weapons, Shields & Engines
Flagship Crew Seats: 2
The Nemo class Corvette is the navy’s staple capital ship for day-to-
day operations. As the smallest of the flagships, the Nemo excels
at manoeuvrability and stability, providing the perfect bridge for the
Commander of a small task force. The Corvette lacks any broadside
firepower capability, however this is made up for with the addition
of a battery of BW-Z84 guided missiles launchers.
Nemos are regularly used as training vessels for Officers’ School
graduates. The stability of the hull build makes navigation and
collision speed fall-off less of a concern than with larger, more
sensitive ships; perfect for captains-in-training who do not have the
reflexes or leadership skills of more experienced officers.

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5.2. C0aliti0n Capital Ships
5.2.1. Frigate
Class Name: Albatross
Length: 150m
Captain Rank: Lieutenant Commander (LCdr)
Captain Skill Bonus: Boost to Shields
Flagship Crew Seats: 3
The Albatross is the oldest capital hull design that is still active
in the Coalition Navy. All Albatross frigates come equipped with
class 3 kinetic field generators, and are retrofitted with a fore-
mounted electromagnetic “stunner” beam and Smart Deployment
Proximity Countermeasure systems. There’s a good reason these
frigates are still flying and unscratched for the fourteen years
since First Contact.
With its focus on defensive measures and support armaments, the
Frigate cannot be easily modified without concern for its balance
and manoeuvrability. As a result, the most effective upgrade
available to a Frigate captain is to mainline and overclock the ship’s
shield generator. This allows for more efficient energy conversion
from the reactor to the generator, leading to density in the kinetic
fields than can rival a cruiser class generator.

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5.2.2. Destr0yer
Class Name: Hammerhead
Length: 225m
Captain Rank: Strike Captain (SCpt)
Captain Skill Bonus: Boost to Weapons Damage
Flagship Crew Seats: 3
The Hammerhead class destroyer is a single-shaft assault ship that
foregoes independent broadside weapons for fixed central turret
installations, and a fore-mounted single-focus DEW beam weapon.
Uneconomical energy core conversion and additional stability
dampeners means the Hammerhead is light on shield capacity and
hull strength, but when well supported, it has the ability to punch a
hole through almost any fortification.
The First Contact War quickly changed the Navy’s perception of their
historically dated ships as the Cruisers were quickly outpaced by
the zero-gravity agility of the Nautiloids, and the smaller Corvettes
were physically overrun by the terrestrials. A hasty deployment of a
net force of Hammerhead Class Destroyers prevented an outright
decimation of the Corvette strike group NSG-2 during First Contact.
The Hammerhead’s focused firepower allowed them to scatter
the initial Leviathan assault and hold out until the Odysseus II & IV
Cruisers could arrive.

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5.2.3. Battlecruiser
Class Name: Triton
Length: 350m
Captain Rank: Flotilla Captain (FCpt)
Captain Skill Bonus: Boost to Missile Damage
Flagship Crew Seats: 4
The Triton hull design was formalised after First Contact as an
answer to the swarm tactics of the nautilid. A resilient dual-shaft
design supports turret platforms on all quarters without the need
for additional stabilisers. Deck-mounted torpedo launchers round
out the Triton’s all purpose artillery role. In full fire, few assault
ships can match the ferocity and visual spectacle of the Triton.
As a result of the First Contact War, Battlecruisers have upped the ante
on their torpedo rack capabilities,, while maintaining the two-platform
armament structure of the Destroyers to deal with mid-range and
close threats. A typical class of Cruiser looks like an overwrought, overly
weaponised vessel, with support artillery on the aftcastle and atop
the bridge foredeck. The more modern class of Cruisers are almost
parodying in their appearance, with multiple torpedo deployment
decks littered along the chassis with external, armoured deployment
stations wherein personnel, or more recently articulated droids, can
resupply and rearm the missile bays more efficiently.

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There’s little to mistake about the purpose of the Battlecruiser -
to intimidate and obliterate. The Commodores assigned to active
Battlecruisers are generally renowned as effective, hard-working
officers with exemplary tactics and leadership, who have worked
their way through the Naval ranks for their Captain’s seat. There’s
no shame in retiring as a flagged Commodore; it would typically
indicate that you were too effective on active duty to be promoted
to an Admiralty seat behind a desk.

5.2.4. Dreadn0ught
Class Name: Kraken
Length: 500m
Captain Rank: Commodore (Cdre)
Captain Skill Bonus: Boost to Hull Strength
Flagship Crew Seats: 4
Dreadnoughts represent the highest authority on the battlefield,
and historically are only available to members of the Admiralty to
command. As well as the usual full complement of independent
turret batteries and class 3 kinetic field generators, the Kraken is
fitted with two hangars of unmanned fighter drones that can be
deployed and en route to their objective within 8 seconds. The
drones have advanced sonar and ray tracing modules that allow for
relatively complex path finding around debris and obstacles.

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The Admiralty fleet has five active Dreadnought capital ships,
with a sixth prototype - Pacific I - in production in the Delta Mark
2 shipyards. The Dreadnought is the apex of the Naval Fleet, with
an emphasis on sheets upon sheets of cemented compound metal
fabrications to provide the most thickly armoured vessel to sail for
the active field Rear-Admirals.
Dreadnoughts have a focus on being the centre of command. Their
sheer size makes them visually impressive, with a length of 500m
and a mast height of 200m - nearly triple that of a battlecruiser.
They are as ungainly as they look, and are primarily only deployed at
state functions or to serve as the deployment zone point for more
active task forces.

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6.
1-0 Select Ship
[ Previous ship
] Next ship
F Focus on Active Ship
W Move camera forward
A Move camera left
S Move camera back
D Move camera right
E Zoom out
C Zoom in
Z Rotate camera left (Free and Side camera, and Battle map)
X Rotate camera right (Free and Side camera, and Battle map)
Enter Start Simulation Phase (i,e, End Turn)
Space Pause (during Simulation Phase or playback)
P Toggle Projections On/Off
V Toggle Weapon Arcs On/Off
T Select Target
U Autofire
H Hold fire
Y Ram enemy
O Launch Countermeasures
L Launch Drones
R Deploy Repairbots.
M Launch Missile

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7.
Black Lab Games:
Game Director & Programming Music:
Paul Turbett Cedric Baravaglio
Lead Designer Sound Design - Dan Bewick for
Anthony Sweet Atom Audio Productions
Art Director Music provided in association with
Anthony Carriero The Otherworld Agency
3D Modeller
Produced with funding provided by:
Mark Smith
UI Designer and Artist
Richard Kong
Level Designer
Jess Watson

Slitherine
CHAIRMAN COMMUNITY MANAGER
JD McNeil Daniele Meneghini
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR ART LEAD
Iain McNeil Marta Falbo
PRODUCER MANUAL LAYOUT
Bart Schouten Myriam Bell
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR QA & PRODUCTION ASSISANTS
Erik Rutins Andrew Loveridge, Gerry Edwards,
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Matthew Davis
Philip Veale ADMINISTRATION
MARKETING DIRECTOR Dean Walker, Liz Stoltz
Marco A. Minoli CUSTOMER SUPPORT STAFF
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Paulo Costa, Joseph Miller
Richard Evans WEB DEVELOPMENT
PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER Valery Vidershpan, Andrea Nicola,
Olivier Georges Fernando Turi

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