Starship Battles Preview 5

Imperial Shuttle and the Invisible Hand!

By Gary M. Sarli

Starting this month, you'll be able to recreate your favorite Star Wars space battles and dream up new skirmishes of your own with the Star Wars Miniatures Starship Battles game. Choose your allegiance (Light Side or Dark Side), build your fleet, and conquer the galaxy -- or defend it!

Today, we've got the fifth in a series of previews of the new miniatures, with two sneak peeks from Gary M. Sarli. First, we learn that the Rebels never knew what they were going to get when they ran into an Imperial shuttle. Then we see how General Grievous redecorated the Invisible Hand after he took the keys away from Nute Gunray.

Imperial Shuttle

The Lambda-class shuttle was first used by the Empire as a cargo and passenger shuttle that served a number of roles for the Imperial Navy. It was a craft for resupply runs, a personal transport for officers and moffs, and even troop transport. A Lambda-class shuttle is designed to accommodate a crew of four, with two more command seats available for officers. If the ship has fewer than four crew members, then for each person missing, the pilot takes a –1 penalty on all Pilot checks.

Many shuttles have different weapon configurations, including some that are completely unarmed and some that have concussion missile launchers or more powerful lasers. This variance made it difficult for Rebel raiders to know if a particular shuttle was an easy target or a concealed warship, and whether it was carrying a load of mundane machinery or a platoon of stormtroopers. As such, Rebel troopers have learned to approach with caution when faced with boarding a Lambda-class shuttle.

In the Star Wars Miniatures Starship Battles game, the Imperial Shuttle is best used to screen enemy starfighters. Given its mobility, it can move quickly to engage starfighters that would otherwise threaten your Class 1 and Class 2 ships. In any given round, it has better than even odds to take out an enemy fighter.

Of course, you'll rarely be able to maneuver in a way that allows you to engage the faster enemy fighters unless you win initiative (thus forcing your opponent to move first while you attack) or carefully position your Imperial Shuttle to cut off avenues of attack. For best results, use your fighters to pin your opponent's fighters in place, then bring in the Imperial Shuttle to make short work of the resulting dogfight.

Star Wars Miniatures Statistics Preview

Faction: Dark Side
Cost: 18
Class: 3

FULL STRENGTH
Hull: 3/2
Defense: 14 front, 10 sides, 8 rear
Weapons: Blaster Cannon: Attack +2, Damage 1
Point-Defense: n/a
Abilities: Antifighter Targeting +4 (+4 Attack against fighters)
Command Counter: 3

REDUCED STRENGTH
Hull: 2
Defense: 12 front, 8 sides, 6 rear
Weapons: Blaster Cannon: Attack +2, Damage 1
Point-Defense: n/a
Abilities: Antifighter Targeting +4 (+4 Attack against fighters)
Command Counter: 3

Star Wars Roleplaying Game Statistics

Lambda-Class Shuttle

Class: Starfighter
Crew: 1 to 6 (Skilled +4)
Size: Tiny (20 meters long)
Initiative: +6 (+2 size, +4 crew)
Hyperdrive: x1 (backup x10)
Maneuver: +6 (+2 size, +4 crew)
Passengers: 20
Defense: 22 (+2 size, +10 armor)
Cargo Capacity: 80 metric tons
Shield Points: 50 (DR 10)
Consumables: 2 months
Hull Points: 120 (DR 10)
Cost: Not available for sale (likely valued at 240,000 credits)
Maximum Speed in Space: Attack (8 squares/action)
Atmospheric Speed: 850 km/h (14 squares/action)

Weapon: Blaster cannons (6, fire-linked in groups of 2); Fire Arc: 2 front, 1 rear; Attack Bonus: +8 (+2 size, +2 crew, +4 fire control); Damage: 5d10 x 2; Max Range: Short.

Weapon: Twin laser cannons (2); Fire Arc: Front; Attack Bonus: +8 (+2 size, +2 crew, +4 fire control); Damage: 2d10 x 2; Max Range: Short.

The Invisible Hand

The Providence-class carrier/destroyer served as the flagship of Separatist fleets during major engagements in the Clone Wars. This particular ship, the Invisible Hand, was originally commissioned as a flagship for Nute Gunray and his advisors. But Darth Sidious forced him to give the ship to General Grievous when the cyborg general took command of the Separatist forces.

Grievous ordered several modifications to the Invisible Hand. To better function as a starfighter carrier and invasion craft, the ship had much of its aft reactor bay assembly rearranged to accommodate a spacious hangar bay holding 120 Tri-fighters, 120 "Vulture" droid starfighters, 160 MTTs, and 280 assorted droid armored vehicles. In addition, Grievous had the ship's spire-mounted communication and sensor pod refitted into a spacious set of quarters, which were eventually taken over by Count Dooku as his sanctum and transmission base when the Separatists were on the move.

The Invisible Hand became infamous during the Clone Wars, and Grievous took advantage of its fearsome reputation by using her sister ships (Lucid Voice and Colicoid Swarm) as decoys to confuse Republic forces. Spearheading the attack during the Battle of Coruscant, the Invisible Hand is where Grievous and Dooku kept the captive Palpatine. Ultimately, the ship broke apart after being crippled by the relentless broadsides of Venator-class star destroyers, but Anakin Skywalker and his allies managed to crash land the forward half of the ship on Coruscant's surface.

In the Star Wars Miniatures Starship Battles game, the Invisible Hand is best used early in the battle to bring as many fighters onto the map as possible. Its high Fighter Launch rate is an advantage that you should capitalize on immediately.

Once you've deployed your fighter pool on the map, the Invisible Hand is most useful for pummeling enemy capital ships. For this, you'll want to put the Invisible Hand at the point of your formation so that it can penetrate your opponent's front lines. In the process, you'll expose your weaker flanks but bring your Proton Barrage into play. Potentially, you can do up to 9 points of damage in a single round against a nonfighter with this tactic, enough to destroy almost any Class 2 or Class 3 ship. Just remember to use your command counters early, because the Invisible Hand won't survive long with its flanks exposed to your opponent's counterattack.

Star Wars Miniatures Statistics Preview

Faction: Dark Side
Cost: 51
Class: 2

FULL STRENGTH
Hull: 5/4
Defense: 15 front, 13 sides, 10 rear
Weapons: Turbolasers: Attack +5, Damage 3; Laser Cannon: Attack +4, Damage 2; Proton Barrage: Attack +6, Damage 4 (broadside, each side, usable only against nonfighters)
Point-Defense: +2
Abilities: Unique, Fighter Launch 3
Command Counter: 2

REDUCED STRENGTH
Hull: 4
Defense: 12 front, 10 sides, 7 rear
Weapons: Turbolasers: Attack +5, Damage 3
Point-Defense: +0
Abilities: Unique, Fighter Launch 3
Command Counter: 2

Star Wars Roleplaying Game Statistics

Invisible Hand (Providence-class carrier/destroyer)

Class: Capital
Crew: 600 (Skilled +4)
Size: Colossal (1,088 meters long)
Initiative: –8 (–8 size)
Hyperdrive: x1.5 (backup x15)
Maneuver: –4 (–8 size, +4 crew)
Passengers: 1.5 million (battle droids*)
Defense: 12 (–8 size, +10 armor)
Cargo Capacity: 50,000 tons
Shield Points: 360 (DR 60)
Consumables: 4 years
Hull Points: 600 (DR 60)
Cost: Not available for sale (likely valued at 125 million credits)
Maximum Speed in Space: Attack (7 squares/action)
Atmospheric Speed: 1,050 km/h (18 squares/action)
* Deactivated (no more than 6,000 battle droids can be activated on board at once)

Weapon: Heavy ion cannons (2 fire-linked); Fire Arc: Front; Attack Bonus: +2 (–8 size, +2 crew, +8 fire control); Damage: 9d10 x 2 (special); Max Range: Long.

Weapon: Quad turbolasers (14); Fire Arc: 4 front, 5 left, 5 right; Attack Bonus: +2 (–8 size, +2 crew, +8 fire control); Damage: 6d10 x 5; Max Range: Long.

Weapon: Dual laser cannons (34, point-defense); Fire Arc: 6 batteries turret, 2 batteries front, 4 batteries left, 4 batteries right, 1 battery rear; Attack Bonus: +11 (+0 size, +2 crew, +8 fire control, +1 battery fire); Damage: 5d10 x 2; Max Range: Point-blank.

Weapon: Point-defense ion cannons (12, point-defense); Fire Arc: 2 batteries left, 2 batteries right; Attack Bonus: +12 (+0 size, +2 crew, +8 fire control, +2 battery fire); Damage: 3d10 x 2 (special); Max Range: Point-blank.

Weapon: Tractor beam projectors (; Fire Arc: 4 left, 4 right; Attack Bonus: +0 (–8 size, +2 crew, +6 fire control); Damage: Special; Max Range: Short.

Weapon: Proton torpedo tubes (102, 16 torpedoes each); Fire Arc: Turret; Damage: 9d10 x 2; Missile Quality: Ordinary (+10).

About the Author

Gary M. Sarli is a freelance writer and editor whose credits include the Saga Edition Rulebook and Ultimate Adversaries (Star Wars Roleplaying Game), and Power of Faerûn and Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (Dungeons & Dragons). He also moderates on the Wizards.COMmunity message boards as WizO the Hutt, cheerfully feeding Code of Conduct violators to the Sarlacc. Gary recently opened GMSarli Games, an online retailer specializing in non-random miniatures packs designed for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game.