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WHAT IS FULL THRUST LIGHT?

Full Thrust has been one o the most consistently popular Starship Combatwargames around, ever since the rst edition was published way back in 1991.

The rules set presented here, which we call FULL THRUST LIGHT, is a stripped-to-the-basics version that introduces the most important core rules o the game, and isideal or getting new players into the system. FULL THRUST LIGHT uses only thesimplest movement rules (or cinematic style play) and just a couple o the mostcommon weapon systems. The complete version o FULL THRUST (currentlyin Second Edition with add-ons, which we reer to as FT2.5, with a Third Editionunder development) introduces much, much more - loads more weapon options,deensive systems and screens, ghter operations, an optional vector movementsystem, and a complete design-your-own-ships construction and costing system.

So, enjoy this simple ree intro to the rules, then check out our website atwww.gzg.com or all the rest!

Full Thrust and Full Thrust Light are trademarks o GZG, and all material herein is copyright J.M.Tuey and

GZG. Permission is hereby granted to duplicate and/or distribute this document reely or non-commercial

purposes provided that a) it is copied complete and unaltered, and b) it is not oered or sale in any way.

WHAT YOULL NEED:

It is possible to play Full Thrust with card counters representing the starships, butor the ull miniatures gaming experience youll ideally want models. Our extensiveFULL THRUST miniatures line can provide you with everything you need, but youcan also use models rom any other manuacturers. I you are using one o our FTINTRO PACK sets, youll have two good starter orces o 8 ships per side ranging insize rom small Frigates up to a Battlecruiser each, which is an ideal set-up to getyou into the game.

All ship models should be mounted on stands, and all distances and ranges aremeasured to and rom the CENTRE o the models stand.

Each player in the game will need a Ship Record Sheet lled out or his feet, orplotting movement orders and recording damage etc. Youll also need a handul oordinary six-sided DICE, and a tape measure or long ruler marked in your chosenMeasurement Units (see below).

Finally, youll need a fat playing surace; Full Thrust does not require a hexagon orsquare grid map, just a plain tabletop - though your playing area can be made much

more attractive by using a black cloth or board speckled with a star-eld o paint dots.

SHIP RECORD SHEETS:

The Ship Record Sheets that youll nd on the reverse o these rules are alreadyset up or some simple generic ship designs based on the selection o miniaturesin the intro Pack, so you can start to play almost immediately - just photocopy onesheet per player and you are ready to go. The two sheets each have dierent ship

designs to give you some variety, but you can use identical sheets or both feets iyou preer. It doesnt matter what miniatures you use with these designs, and ateryour rst game or two you should eel ree to modiy the designs by swapping someweapons and systems around to suit your own preerences. Permission is herebygranted or the Ship Record Sheets to be photocopied or printed o as desired ornon-commercial purposes.

The Ship Record Sheet is divided into two parts: the Ship Systems Displays (SSDs),one or each ship in your feet, and the Movement Plot which is used or writing themovement orders or each game turn.

Each ship uses one line on the Movement Plot or recording its movement orders;the rst (greyed-out) line on the plot is lled in with some example orders to illustratehow everything should be recorded.

The individual SSDs or each ship have a number o symbols, or ICONS, thatrepresent the various SYSTEMS (drives, weapons etc) that the ship carries. Thear right SSD on the sheet - the greyed-out one - should not be used in play; it isprovided as a reerence example to explain all the icons.

IMPORTANT: Please note that the ship designs given in the SSDs here areNOT full FT designs - to avoid confusion, they only show the systems thatare relevant to the introductory rules presented here.

DISTANCE AND MEASUREMENT:

All distances in FULL THRUST are given in Measurement Units or mu; you canchoose what one mu represents, to suit the size o your playing area. The standardthat we normally use is 1mu = 1 inch, which works best i you have a airly largetable, but i you want more action in a smaller space then eel ree to use1mu = 1 centimetre.

Ships never block line-o-re rom each other, and may reely move through/acrossother ships during the movement phase; space is, ater all, three dimensionaleven though we choose to represent it two-dimensionally here or simplicity oplay. I there is a confict o placement between actual miniatures at the end othe movement phase, due to the physical size o the models, then they should beplaced as closely as possible to their intended positions. This should be with the

agreement o all players, displacing smaller ships in preerence to larger ones andmaintaining courses as the highest priority. Full Thrust Light has no provision orcollisions or deliberate ramming, but this is covered in the ull FT rules!

I a ship leaves the playing area, either deliberately or through player error in plottingmovement orders, in basic terms it is out o the game and may NOT return. This ruleshould be considered fexible, however, and returning to play MAY be allowed withthe agreement o all involved provided that this is decided at the start o the game.

COURSES AND FIRE ARCS:

The direction in which a ship is moving is reerred to as its COURSE. In the simplecinematic movement system here, ship models must always ace in the directionthey are moving. There are 12 possible Courses, denoted by a clockace with axed orientation on the playing area (ie: Course 12 should be dened as pointingdirectly towards one table edge, and all courses are then dened relative to that).Thus a ship moving directly in the 12 direction would be on Course 12, while onetraveling in the opposite direction would be on Course 6. The clockace is alsoused to dene the FIRE ARCS o a ships weapons, though the re arcs are relativeto the SHIP rather than relative to the playing area. Ships in Full Thrust Light have 6

re arcs o 60 degrees each; working clockwise, there is the FORE (F) arc rom 11oclock to 1 oclock, the FORE STARBOARD (FS) arc rom 1 to 3 oclock, the AFTSTARBOARD (AS) arc rom 3 to 5 oclock, the AFT (A) arc rom 5 to 7, AFT PORT(AP) rom 7 to 9 and nally the FORE PORT (FP) rom 9 to 11 oclock.

Each weapon system icon on the SSD has a ring o 6 segments round it thatcorrespond with the 6 re arcs - those arcs through which the weapon may be redare let clear, while arcs through which it may NOT re are lled in black. A weaponmay only be red at a target that is within a valid re arc o the ring ship duringthe ring phase o the turn. Even i a ship passed through a valid arc during themovement phase, i it is out o arc by the ring phase i t may not be attacked.

IMPORTANT: It will be noted that all weapon icons on the sample SSDs have theAFT (A) arc lled in, even i they can re through all 5 other arcs; in Full Thrust Light,NO weapon may be red out o the AFT (A) arc o any ship. Thus the at 60 degreearc o any ship is a weapons blind spot, though o course incoming enemy re mayhit the ship through this arc exactly as through any other.

SEQUENCE OF PLAY:

The sequence for a game turn of Full Thrust Light is as follows:PHASE 1: Order Plotting Phase

PHASE 2: Ship Movement Phase

PHASE 3: Ship Weapons Fire Phase

Once all players are happy that everything they need to do in the turn is completed,the next game turn begins with a new order plotting phase.

The ull version o the game introduces a number o extra phases to the turn, but ornow the three basic ones here are all youll need.

ORDER PLOTTING PHASE:

In this phase o the turn, all players must write MOVEMENT ORDERS or eacho the ships in their feet. Any ship that does not have an order written or it willcontinue to move on the same course and at the same velocity as in the previousturn. A ships movement order is usually written in an abbreviated notationas explained below, and must speciy any change in velocity (acceleration or

deceleration) and/or change in course (to Port or Starboard, and by what amount)that the ship is to perorm in this game turn.

Ater any changes to velocity or course are plotted, the new total velocity is writteninto the next empty V box on the order plot, and the new course heading is writtenin the C box, to show the new starting velocity and course or the next turn.

All ships have one or more DRIVE SYSTEM icons on their SSD, which representtheir sublight drive engines. Each drive icon has a number which shows theTHRUST POINTS that it provides; a ships total available thrust per game turn is thetotal o the numbers in all o its unctioning drives.

A ship that loses all its drive system(s) due to damage is no longer able to changecourse OR velocity, and will continue to travel at its current course and velocity untilit exits the playing area.

IMPORTANT! In Full Thrust Light, all ships may only use up to HALF (rounded UP)o their total available thrust points or changing course in any game turn, and anythrust points thus used may NOT also be used or acceleration or deceleration atthe same time. The total amount o thrust points applied in one game turn cannot

exceed the total thrust points available rom the ships drives. For example, a shipwith Thrust 6 drives could only apply up to 3 o those thrust points or changingcourse, but it could then use any remaining points or changing velocity in the samegame turn i desired. Thus an order plot o +4, P2 (4mu acceleration, with a 2-pointturn to Port) would be allowed, but one o +2, P4 would not - although 6 thrustpoints are available in total, the ship is not allowed to use more than 3 o them orcourse changes.

FULL THRUST LIGHTPublished by GROUND ZERO GAMES,PO Box 337, Needham Market, Suolk IP6 8LN, United Kingdom.

2008 GZG and J.M.Tufey. Website and online store at www.gzg.com

Fire Arcs

2

Example of

Class 2 Beam bearing

through the three

forward arcs (FP, F, FS)

F

FP FS

AP AS

A

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MOVEMENT PHASE:

In the movement phase, each player moves his ship models in exact accordancewith the orders he has just written or them in the plotting phase. Both/all playersmay move their models simultaneously i they wish, or one may move ollowedby the other - but as both will be ollowing their written orders it will not make anydierence; neither player may modiy their ordered movement in any way to react tothe others moves.

MOVEMENT: ACCELERATION AND DECELERATION:

Once a ship is moving, it will continue to move at the same velocity every turnunless THRUST is applied to change that velocity. Thrust points may be usedto speed the ship up (acceleration) or slow it down (deceleration), with eachthrust point changing the ships velocity by 1mu up or down. The use o thrust oracceleration or deceleration is written in the order plotting as plus or accelerationthrust or minus or deceleration, and the number o thrust points being used - orexample, an order written as +2 would be using 2 thrust points or acceleration(adding 2mu to the speed), while -3 would be three points (3mu) o deceleration.Any velocity change is applied in the same turn that it is plotted, so i a ship endedthe previous turn at velocity 6, and has a +2 acceleration plotted or the new turn, i twill move 8mu this time. Ships must ALWAYS be moved the ull and exact distanceindicated by their current velocity - the only way to slow a ship down is to applydecelerating thrust.

MOVEMENT: CHANGING COURSE:

Thrust points may also be used to change the course o the ship, at a rate o 1thrust point = 1 course point (30 degrees) o turn. Course change orders are writtenin the order plotting in a similar way to velocity changes, with either a P (or turnsto Port, or anticlockwise) or an S (or Starboard, or clockwise) ollowed by thenumber o thrust points applied to the course change. In terms o the clockacecourse reerences, Port turns are minus and Starboard turns are plus - eg: i a

ship is currently heading on course 3, then a 2-point turn to Port (written P2) wouldturn the ship onto course 1, while a 2-point turn to Starboard (S2) would turn it tocourse 5. Turning the miniature through the correct angle is a lot easier i a simplecircular turn gauge is cut rom card and marked with the 12 clockace points , but itcan also be judged accurately enough rom the hexagonal base o the ships stand.

Whenever a ship changes course, the change is perormed hal at the START o theships movement or that game turn, and hal at the MID-POINT o the movement.

To explain this more ully, actual movement o the ship miniature is perormed likethis: rst the miniature is turned (pivoted on the spot) by HALF - rounded DOWN- o the total amount o course change plotted or that game turn. Now the miniatureis moved HALF its total velocity straight orward in the direction it currently points.Then it is pivoted the remaining hal (rounded UP) o its total course change, andnally moved the remaining hal o its total velocity.

Note that because o the rounding down o the rst part and up o the second part othe any course change, i the ship is only changing course by 1 point then that willoccur at the MID-POINT o the movement, with none at the beginning.

FIRE PHASE:

In this phase all ships that can acquire valid targets may re any or all o theirweapons. In the basic game any given ship may re any or all o its weaponssystems, provided there is a target in range and in the weapons ring arc; as ageneral rule, each weapon may re once only in each game turn. The number odierent targets that any one ship may engage is determined by its available FireControl Systems (FCS), as explained below. Within the limitations o the FCS rules,a ships weapons re may be divided between available targets in any way theplayer desires.

The re phase starts with a die roll or INITIATIVE between the players - each rolls,and the highest scorer has the Firing Initiative or that phase - that player may selectany ONE o his ships and perorm ALL desired ring rom that ship against anyavailable targets. Once the player declares that all ring rom that ship is completed,then the opposing player may select one o his own ships and perorm all desiredring rom it. Firing then alternates between the players on a ship-by-ship basis untilall desired ring is completed. Note that because all damage is inficted immediatelyit is possible or a ship to be destroyed (or to lose important weapons systems)BEFORE it has the chance to re back in that game turn.

FIRE CONTROL SYSTEMS:

Each ship must have at least one unctioning Fire Control System (FCS) in order tore its weapons. Each FCS icon represents the ability to engage ONE target shipin any game turn - or example a Frigate, with only one FCS, can only re at onetarget per turn - but it may re any or all o its weapons at that target, provided thatthey are within range and ring arc. A Battlecruiser, with three FCS, can split its rebetween UP TO THREE dierent target ships in the same turn, dividing its availableweapons in any combination between the targets provided that they are withinrange and re arc. I a ship loses all its FCS due to damage, it may not re even i itstill has operational weapons.

FIRING BEAM WEAPONS:

Each Beam Weapon icon on a ship represents an energy beam projector, which isthe primary weapon system used in Full Thrust Light. The number inside the icon isthe class o the beam system, rom the smallest (CLASS 1) upwards. Each beamweapon on the ship may re once per game turn, at one target ship, provided that itis within range and re arc.

At up to 12mu range, a beam weapon rolls a number o dice equal to its CLASS; inevery urther 12mu range band, this drops by one die.

Thus, a CLASS 1 Beam rolls just ONE die at up to 12 mu (its maximum range); aCLASS 2 rolls two dice at up to 12 mu and one die out to 24 mu; a CLASS 3 rollsthree dice up to 12 mu, two dice up to 24 mu and just one up to 36 mu.

For each die rolled, damage is inficted on the target as ollows:

Scores o 1, 2 or 3 = no eect (a miss); 4 or 5 = 1 damage point inficted,6 = 2 damage points inficted.

All the beam weapon re rom one ship against a single target ship may be rolledtogether.

Example: i the target is 18mu away and the fring ship is using two Class 2 beams (1 die

each at 12-24mu) plus a single Class 3 beam (2 dice at 12-24mu), then the player may rollthe total o 4 dice at the same time. I he rolled 1, 2, 4 and 6, he would score a total o 3

points o damage (1 point with the roll o 4, 2 points with the 6; the 1 and 2 miss).

FIRING PULSE TORPEDOES:

Pulse Torpedo Launchers are heavy weapons with more punch than beamsystems; they are generally tted to the larger ship classes, though specializedsmaller ships with PT mountings (and little else) are also possible. The icon or aPTL is similar to the beam icon but with an asterisk (*) inside the circle in place othe beam class number. Each Pulse Torpedo Launcher on the ship may re onceper game turn, at one target ship, provided that it is within range and re arc.

Firing a PTL is a two-step process - rst a ROLL TO HIT, according to the range tothe target: a single die is rolled per PT red: at up to 6mu a score o 2+ is needed tohit, and this rises by 1 or every extra 6mu o range - so at 6-12mu it is 3+,12-18mu 4+, 18-24mu 5+ and nally at 24-30mu a 6 is needed.The maximum range o the Pulse Torpedo is 30mu.

I the PT hits the target, then a second die is rolled - the actual number rolled (1 to6) is the number o damage points inficted on the target ship.

Example: a Battlecruiser fres two PT launchers at a target ship 20mu away. This is in the

18-24mu band, so 5+ is needed to hit. The player rolls a 4 and a 6, so one PT misses and

one hits. Now the player rolls the damage die or the hit, and scores 3 - the PT hit inicts

3 points o damage to the target.

RECORDING DAMAGE:

Damage points inficted are applied to the target ship immediately, and are recordedby crossing o the small square HULL BOXES on the ships SSD, starting atthe top row and working rom let to right, one box per damage point. When theaccumulated damage reaches or passes the end o one o the hull box rows, then aTHRESHOLD CHECK or critical systems damage is perormed as soon as all reby that particular attacking ship against that target ship is completed.

To perorm a threshold check, one die is rolled or EACH system icon on the ship. Atthe FIRST threshold (rst row o hull boxes all marked o), systems are knocked-out

on rolls o 1 only; one the SECOND threshold (second row marked o) systems arelost on scores o 1 or 2, and at the THIRD threshold (third row) 1, 2 or 3.

I MORE than one threshold point is passed in the attack rom a single ship (whichcan occur, especially with smaller target ships), then only roll or the worst casethreshold but add 1 to the threshold number - eg: i a ship took so much damage inone attack that both the rst and second rows o hull boxes were lost at the sametime, only the second row threshold would be rolled or but it would be treated as i itwere a third-row check, with systems lost on 1, 2 or 3 instead o just 1 or 2.

Systems knocked-out on a threshold check are crossed o the SSD and may notunction again or the rest o the game. When a DRIVE SYSTEM icon is lost, theship loses the use o the thrust points provided by that drive (which may be all orpart o the ships total available thrust, according to whether the ship has more thanone drive icon or not).

When ALL o a ships Hull Boxes are marked o, then the ship is destroyed andremoved rom play.

ENDING THE GAME:The game ends when one players feet is deeated. Whether this means completedestruction o all ships, or whether one player decides he has lost and withdrawshis surviving ships rom the battle area, is up to the players to dene. Specicscenarios are beyond the scope o this introductory rule set, but it is always a lotmore interesting to set some victory conditions rather than just ght to the last ship- a simple objective like protecting or attacking a reighter or convoy will make a veryenjoyable game.

Example of a 3 point coursechange to starboard (S3)

a) Pivot ship 1 point(HALF of total coursechange, rounded DOWN)

b) Move ship HALFo currentvelocity

c) Pivot ship 2 points(HALF o totalcourse change,rounded UP)

d) Move shipremaining HALF ocurrent velocity

e) Final position

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