Part 3: Strategy & Tactics

by Eric S. Trautmann

"...so, I cut my thrusters, and let the grubber overshoot. Zelt here, he cuts loose with this incredible shot from the belly turret and rips up the Skipray's power plant. The explosion fouled up the Interdictor's target lock on us, and poof! We wuz outta there."

"Sure. And I'm the Emperor's uncle, bantha breath."

--Overheard conversation in Fathom's (Calamari).

 

For every smuggler or would-be blockade runner in the galaxy, there are ten ludicrous, impossible spacers' tales. Stories of how a pilot, flying a Ghtroc held together with copper wire, plasti-resin and good wishes flew rings around a wing of TIE Defenders to deliver "the big run" of glitterstim or explosives.

The amazing facet of these tales is that some of them are true.

In fact, just enough of these ludicrous, apocryphal stories contain nuggets of truth to be dangerous. It can be very difficult for spacers to sift through the rumors, half-truths and outright lies to glean useful tactical data. Believing the wrong story can be fatal.

This section describes a series of difficult, dangerous and occasionally suicidal maneuvers a blockade runner can attempt. Success hinges largely on an able pilot, a quick mind and a fast ship. And, of course, a great deal of luck...

In general, the most successful tactics to employ against a blockade are unorthodox tactics. While the Imperial Navy is competent and disciplined, there is a certain rigidity of thought inculcated in military personnel. As a result, it is possible to take an enemy captain by surprise and then exploit that advantage to great effect. Unpredictability is the key to success for blockade runners.

 

Covert Shroud Gambit

The so-called "covert shroud gambit" is a time-tested stratagem used by smugglers to avoid capture by large capital ships (such as Interdictors or Star Destroyers).

According to Imperial anti-smuggling protocols, this maneuver consists of three phases: acquisition, shroud (or blinding) and escape.

Acquisition occurs when the target vessel has been targeted (or is about to be targeted) by a pursuing vessel's tractor beam. Once acquired, the smuggler can do one of four things: evade, surrender, detonate his engines (thereby committing suicide) or execute the shroud.

The shroud itself is literally a cloud of sensor-confusing particles that are jettisoned from the fleeing craft, in order to confuse the targeting scanners of the pursuing craft (and, hopefully, allow the smuggler to effect an escape).

In general, trac-reflective particles are the most effective for this maneuver, as they disrupt the targeting lock on a tractor-beam's control computer (though dust treated with hard radiation can also work.

 

However, shroud particles can consist of any fine-grain powder: course meal grain, silicate desiccant crystals, or even a mist of water (which hardens to tiny ice crystals upon exposure to space) can also work, with varying degrees of effectiveness.

Once the shroud is deployed, the runner should immediately flee, taking whatever advantage he can from the shroud--this is the escape phase.

While the Imperial Navy has no set doctrine on how to counter a shroud, some Imperial commanders have developed their own methods for capturing craft that attempt to escape using this tactic. One of the more common responses is the repositioning of the chase vessel to avoid the shroud, though a skilled pilot can keep the dust cloud between his ship and the pursuing vessel long enough to program a hyperspace jump and escape.

Typically, Imperial commanders tend to blanket the general position of the target vessel with turbolaser fire, forcing the him to either surrender, or take evasive action (and, in all probability, move outside the minimal protection the shroud offers). This tactic is of no value when a target must be captured alive, but Imperial commanders generally prefer to disobey a capture order and destroy a target, rather than let him escape.

Covert Shroud Package
Type Illegal starship countermeasure
Scale Starfighter
Skill Starship gunnery
Crew 1
Cost Varies; typically, anywhere from 5,000 to 15,000
Availability X
Radius 100-300/400/600 meters
Damage Special (see below)
Game Notes The shroud is a cloud of sensor-fouling particles that can reduce the effectiveness of an enemy craft's sensors. For the actual sensor penalty, use the chart to the right.
 
Shroud is composed of: Enemy's Sensor Penalty Range
Trac-reflective particles -2D 1 Space Unit
Radiation-emitting dust -2D 3 Space Units*
Fine grain, ice crystals -1D 100-400 meters
* Note: This typically inflicts damage on the crew of the smuggling vessel. The gamemaster should use his own discretion when determining how severe the effects are: radiation sickness, damage to the electronic systems of the craft, erroneous sensor readings, etc.

Covert Shroud Variants

As discussed, the covert shroud gambit has been around for quite a long time. Smugglers being smugglers, the gambit has been modified any number of ways (to reflect the needs of a given situation and the limits of the pilot's craft and budget). The following are some examples of how the covert can be employed:

Hidden Explosives Hidden within the shroud is a high-yield warhead (easily obtained through trade on low-tech worlds) or a modified ion or magpulse weapon, programmed to detonate as the pursuer moves near or fires through the cloud. The smuggler's craft must be a minimum of 20 Space Units away from the center of the cloud or it will likely be destroyed in the resulting blast. The effects of the blast will vary based on explosive type, so gamemasters and players should use their best judgment.

"Seeking" Cloud The deployed shroud has been given a positive ion charge, which is attracted to the pursuer's shields. The pursuing craft can disperse the cloud by altering the polarity of the shields (Moderate capital ship shields roll) or suffer a -2D penalty to all sensors and gunnery rolls). This typically only works when the shroud is deployed within 500 meters of the pursuing vessel. Beyond that, the shroud is generally ineffective; if the particles can not find a shield to "latch on to," the particles' like charge pushes them further apart, effectively dispersing the cloud.

Mynock The "mynock gambit" is a complicated procedure, typically only attempted by Alliance operatives or members of a well-financed criminal syndicate. The runner's ship appears to be a light or medium freighter, until the shroud is deployed. Then, explosive bolts blast away cleverly disguised sections of the fuselage, revealing a smaller ship within (typically a starfighter or shuttle). As the pursuing vessel attempts to re-acquire sensor contact, the fleeing craft can make good its escape.


Going Dark

One of the best means of avoiding detection is to shut down all external and internal power sources, maintain a stationary position, and hope that picket craft pass by. In general, the only systems that can remain active are passive sensors and rudimentary life support (typically 1-6 hours' worth). Ships that are actively seeking the "dark" craft are successful only on a Very Difficult sensors roll (within 1 Space Unit of the hiding ship). This is further modified if the smuggler is hiding within a cave or in a crater, or other such obstacle. For every 10 meters of rock or metal (or other suitable distortion, such as gas clouds within a nebula), the difficulty to detect the hidden craft increases by +10.

Note that, with the above rules it is possible for a craft to be completely impossible to detect with sensors. This is, of course, balanced by the fact that the hidden ship must remain stationary--if it is drifting or moving at the barest minimum of speed, detection is more likely.


Nightlight

A "nightlight" is a risky maneuver intended to blind an enemy ship's sensors. It works best on pursuers that are attempting to focus scan for the runner's ship, though it can work to lesser degrees if the enemy is using other scan modes. The nightlight works in three phases: evasion, shut-down, and illumination.

The evasion phase is self-explanatory; the runner, having been detected by an enemy craft, takes some kind of evasive action, preferably into an asteroid field, canyon, crater, or other such obstruction. Once out of direct line of sight with the pursuer, the runner jettisons a remote-detonated powerful explosive (preferably a fission weapon, magpulse or ion blast device), performs a quick stop--under cover where possible, and goes dark (see above).

Once dark--the shut down phase--the smuggler monitors passive sensors, waiting until he detects active or focused sensors probing the area (Moderate sensors roll).

When the enemy craft has moved within range of the explosive (preferably within 1 km, but this can vary at the gamemaster's discretion depending on the type of weapon used) the pilot detonates it. Consult the chart below:

Target Scanners are...
Result
Passive Target loses sensors for 1 round
Scanning Target loses sensors for 1D rounds
Searching Target loses sensors for 1D minutes
Focusing Target loses sensors for 1D hours
Note The weapon inflicts damage on the target craft if it is within the blast radius; this is in addition to detrimental scanning damage. However, it is somewhat unlikely that a target craft will stray that close. Again, the gamemaster should use his discretion and decide what best serves the needs of his scenario.

Riding the Bantha

This is an exceedingly risky maneuver that only crazy or supremely skilled pilots should attempt. "Riding the Bantha" means that a runner manages to harddock with a larger enemy vessel without detection, in essence "riding" the larger ship.

This is accomplished by making a high-speed, low-level pass in the general area of the bridge of the ship (dodging incoming turbolaser fire, usually well concentrated near the bridge). This should startle the crewers long enough to distract their attention from their targeting scopes.

After blasting past the bridge, the pilot must execute a quick stop, and harddock (using a docking claw or magnaclamp) near the engine exhaust nozzles, or other heavily armored portion of the ship. Immediately after harddock, the smuggler's craft must instantly shut down all onboard systems.

To escape, the pilot must wait until the Imperial vessel dumps excess waste materials prior to jumping to lightspeed. Then, it is a simple matter of detaching from the larger ship and floating amidst the detritus until the enemy ship departs.

 

In general, this maneuver can only be attempted by an agile craft (a starfighter or heavily modified light freighter). Attempting this maneuver with, for example, a bulk freighter will result in collision. In addition, the larger vessel must be considerably larger than the smaller one (roughly 20 times the smaller craft's mass). Otherwise, the pilot of the larger craft will detect handling differences in his craft and raise an alarm. For game purposes, this should not be attempted on craft smaller than a Dreadnaught.

To attempt this maneuver, the pilot must first make a successful Very Difficult piloting roll to perform the quick stop. At the same time, the entire ship must be shut down (a Moderate computer programming/repair roll). The ship can only be detected by an active scan or visual search to that specific portion of the ship). Multiple action penalties apply; failure to make the quick stop indicates that the smaller craft has crashed into the enemy vessel. There are no "near misses" in this kind of maneuver; spending a Force Point is recommended for this maneuver.


Running Silent

Running silent is one of the best methods of slipping past a blockade. In general, this requires specialized equipment aboard a runner's ship (described in detail in Pirates & Privateers, pages 38-40). However, for craft that are not stealth-equipped, it is possible to run silent, though with much less effectiveness.

A pilot can reduce emissions from his craft during the course of an overhaul. The base difficulty for this procedure is Very Difficult (rolled on the appropriate repair skill), reduced by one level per day spent overhauling the sensors, engines and shielding (to a minimum of Easy). This increases the sensor difficulty to detect a ship running silent by +1D.

To effectively run silent past a blockade, the pilot should exit hyperspace at the far edges of the system. Once emerging into realspace, the pilot should kill all onboard systems except passive sensors and the navigation computers. The next step is to plot a linear, line-of-sight route to the target insystem (usually a planet or moon), using passive sensor data to determine the position of enemy ships). Note that it is possible to attempt to use the mass of planetary bodies in the system to build up velocity or alter course, but a miscalculation could lead to serious trajectory problems that can only be corrected by reactivating the ship's engines...which will make it much easier for blockading craft to detect it.

 

Once the route is plotted, the pilot should use his thrusters to move his ship onto the proper course. Once moving (at a speed of 2 or less), the craft drifts into the system. Typically, this type of maneuver takes as long as 2 days or more.

Without a series of backup battery to power life support systems, the smuggler's ship must maintain basic life support power for this maneuver. If executed properly, the smuggler's craft requires a Difficult sensors roll to detect. (Note that, this difficulty refers to scanning and sensors; if a TIE patrol or other craft moves close enough to make visual contact, the ship is detected.)

Gamemaster Notes This type of maneuver is never the same twice, as it varies in a number of ways: composition of the system (number of planets, stellar phenomenon, navigation hazards, and so on), size and composition of the blockade, and, of course, the skill roll of the pilot. In general, this type of maneuver can be extremely tense and suspenseful, since the player characters' are effectively blind (relying on passive sensors). Modify the difficulty of the required skill rolls--or require more of them--and make sure the players do not know the final difficulty number they have to hit. If they fail a roll, work in some sort of complication (a flight of TIEs happens by and must be avoided, a rogue asteroid is approaching and narrowly misses the ship, or other such "scare") to heighten tension.


Sensor Decoys

Sensor decoys are invaluable tools for blockade runners; basic stats for sensor decoys appear in Pirates & Privateers, page 39.

Sensor decoys can have a few tactical uses: they can be used to lure a target craft away from a ship running silent; they can be used to lure a target craft into the blast radius of a mine or other explosive device; they can even be used to convince enemy forces that there are starfighter squadrons attacking (with some major reprogramming).


Spearing the Krayt

A favorite tactic of the Rebel Alliance starfighter squadrons has been nicknamed "spearing the krayt" by smugglers and blockade runners. "Spearing the krayt" involves a fairly large number of ships, armed with targeting data and a large number of proton torpedoes.

This tactic works best when deployed with two elements: the target designator and the attack element. The target designator uses his target acquisition sensors to pinpoint a single spot on the shields of an enemy capital ship. Once acquired, the target designator feeds this data to the attack element. Once the telemetry data has been sent, the attack element fires in two volleys. The first volley slams into the enemy ship's shields, creating a power flux that weakens the shielding enough to allow the second volley (fired a split second after the first) to pass through and strike critical hull targets--the bridge deflector generators, the transparisteel bridge viewport, gravity well projectors, and so on.

It takes roughly 3-5 rounds to successfully execute this maneuver, and the target designator is typically exposed to enemy starfighter screens. Ideally, one person should be piloting the craft, and another should target the enemy capital ship (to cut down on multiple-action penalties). Targeting has a base difficulty of Moderate (increasing depending on the severity of evasive maneuvers that the craft is engaged in). Once the target has been acquired, the gunner must send telemetry data to the attack element (which takes 1 round and an Easy communications roll).

 

Finally, the volleys must be launched. This requires a Moderate gunnery roll to coordinate the two volleys. Failure indicates that the torpedoes do no destabilize the target's shields and they inflict damage as normal, in all likelihood merely scratching the target, not damaging it.

This maneuver works best with an attack element consisting of 6-8 craft with fire-linked torpedo launchers (launching 12-16 torpedoes per volley). Roughly 25% of the torpedoes will pass through the shields and strike the hull, inflicting severe damage.

For every 3 additional craft in the attack element, the difficulty to coordinate the volleys increases by one level. This can be countered by using R2 units to assist in the targeting procedure; such an action adds 1D rounds to the time taken to coordinate, but adds +1D per R2 unit to the roll.

Note to Gamemasters Due to scale differences, even slipping torpedoes past the shields will only inflict minor damage to the target craft. Gamemasters should use their own judgment--applied consistently--to generate the results of such attacks. At dramatically appropriate moments, if the players have planned the attack carefully and rolled and roleplayed well, they should be rewarded by a spectacular salvo against the enemy ship, possibly destroying or crippling the craft. At the same time, this tactic can't work every time, or the players will become complacent and will not be intimidated by the appearance of a Star Destroyer.


Spinstop Reverse

The appearance of an Interdictor cruiser spells certain capture--and probably death--according to conventional spacer wisdom. At some point, a desperate smuggler devised this dangerous tactic to avoid an Interdictor, though it likely cost him his ship, or his life. The Spinstop Reverse is extremely stressful to craft and pilot, and in virtually all cases inflicts severe damage to the ship attempting it.

The Spinstop Reverse is executed when a target craft is caught (or near capture) by a pursuer's tractor beam. By swinging in an arc (using the pull of the tractor beam to maintain a semi-stable orbit), the target craft can momentarily evade a target lock. (This requires a Difficult piloting roll.)

Next, the pilot must reverse-trigger the ship's acceleration compensator (which takes 1 round to configure; the pilot or co-pilot can flip the appropriate toggle switches, or an astromech can handle the procedure on a verbal command). This slams the ship into a full-stop (inflicting 2D damage to the pilot). Unless the enemy gunner makes a Very Difficult gunnery roll, the target lock is broken, and the tractor beam continues to track on the target craft's former course. At the same time, the pilot must make a successful Very Difficult piloting roll, or he will lose control of the craft for 1D rounds.

 

Note If the pilot fails this roll, he must attempt to regain control, and can not evade incoming attacks. If the pilot rolls a "1" on the Wild Die, the ship explodes due to stress and severe malfunction.

At this point, the target craft can flee (an advisable course of action) or launch torpedoes (which, on a successful Very Difficult roll are pulled in to the tractor beam and guided towards the projectors).

The escape is not without cost, however. Almost invariably, this maneuver inflicts severe damage on the hyperdrive of the fleeing craft, which should be treated as a hyperdrive malfunction (see the "Astrogation Mishap Table" on page 119 of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, Second Edition: Revised and Expanded). The fleeing vessel will probably make it out of the system, but not very far. The ship will likely be very heavily damaged, and it will only be a matter of time before the pursuit craft tracks it down...


To learn about official Imperial doctrine on blockading...
To see how each Imperial vessel reacts and performs and tips on beating each ship...
Part 2: Imperial Ships (coming soon!)
 
Ships & Tactics

Back to the Blockade Runner Home

Written by Eric S. Trautmann, exclusively for the Blockade Runner's Guide. Note that this information is in no way (expressed or implied) to be seen as an official addition to Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. It has not been approved by WEG or LFL, nor does it mean to replace any work created by WEG or LFL.

All works on this page © 1998-1999 Star Wars Supplement Resource Center menu /email Nealos