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Hex Command NOVA and Starships
HCN is Hex Command Mechanized set in the future, and does not ignore the reality and need for infantry and ground vehicles. As this is module for HCM, only those rules that are different are covered in Hex Command NOVA.
HCN features a streamlined game play with minimal roster index card (or o-ring system), using larger 3D printed BattleTech mechs and vehicles, purchased 10mm CAV Mechs, and 10mm to 20mm sci-fi infantry.
Designed like the rest of the Hex Command series for 2.5 inch hex grid, HCN delivers an exciting futuristic game. Our focus to attract younger players into this hobby.
The record keeping is streamlined using a simplistic index card layout with damage only to movement, combat or defence (armor weight class).. not the tedious dots on a page you're used to seeing. It's that simple: move your mech, fight. If you're outclassed ... exit stage left.
O-rings are stacked on posts applied to each vehicle/mech stand to show damage. If a mech reaches more than a few rings you'd better withdraw it or else... and nobody wants to lose these expensive machines if they can avoid it.
Scenarios and hex grid maps can range from jungle, desert, polar, asteroids and cratered moons.
As we are engineers, we wanted to see more believability in the genre, so all walking machines are not the gigantic behemoths commonly seen in other game systems. The AMP walker as seen in the film Avatar is a good example of a properly engineered walker.
Along with the tactical miniatures game, our favorite board game map Excalibur has been adapted for a space campaign on this website.
As we are engineers, we believe as demonstrated by director James Cameron, that the size of the mechs has been grossly exaggerated in the game system of BattleTech. C.A.V. is more realistic scale (10mm figures) or 1/165th (-ish)
CAV mech
The Goal of These Rules: Anything in Your Sci-Fi Inventory
The goal of these rules is to enable anything in your inventory of miniatures, even toys in the appropriate scale, to be put into a squad-level combat system without concern where the figures originated or the game system they are from, for instance even transformer toys are possible.
If You are Just Coming Across Hex Command NOVA
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Mechs from any game system can be used; the system, scenarios and 3D terrain are designed with 2.5" hexagon grided maps.
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ANYONE can play this game without knowledge of this era. But, for example Melee is important because you don't typically think of these machines actually duking it out with each other.. but it can happen, after all, even in WW2 tanks had many ramming incidents.
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"System Management" is what we call all the operations for a mech, from engines to heat management to comm's and computers. Remember, especially in the campaign, you DON'T have an unlimited supply of these ghastly expensive machines.
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All cannons are either Light, Medium or Heavy for weight comparison to target weight, just as in HCM, and each light gun fires twice. But if firing to a heavier weight class than the class of the gun means you'll need a lucky hit to cause any damage.
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In these rules missiles (LRMs and SRMs) are just "missiles" of different weight class packs, again L/M/H. When firing roll a CnC die to see how effective the shot was- how many missiles actually hit- then just compare firing weight to target weight as usual.
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Big energy weapons like PPCs (essentially photon burst weapons) cause stability checks in targets.
Hex Command Starships
Hex Command Starships (simple version has replaced the older version) are rules for a combat game in space, without the complexity of flight games, because we don't have time for complexity.
We want a fast playing fun game with cool fighters and maybe some fleet action scale stuff too.
But we want larger miniatures, so we are 3D printing our own, as well as for now, using larger toy models typically seen in the game "Silent Death" which are available by the bag online. You simply have to put them on flight stands to put on the game table.. if you want to do that.
Slightly different this time, o-ring roster idea is great for showing status but in this case the roster cards are used to track other things like ammo too.. unless you don't care about that either, so again, you can just use the roster cards for reference about each ship.
As mentioned before, the focus here is to attract younger players into this hobby.
Along with the tactical miniatures game, our favorite board game map Excalibur has been adapted for a space campaign on this website.
See the menu above for links to rules and files for Hex Command Starships.
Remember, any toy (link to small rubber like ships) or model can used (link to plastic fighters: typical of those seen in the game Silent Death) if it fits in the hexagon grid you use. For the fleet actions however, well for now, we're concentrating on fighter combat so we'll leave the fleet stuff aside because
a. it needs much smaller ship models and
b. is typically played on a larger game surfaces.
ALTHOUGH.. you can always use paper counters from wargamesvault.com
