Spelljammer Skirmish Battle-Ready consists of play aides and rules extensions for Skirmish, a 2 player abstract skirmish level Ship combat in the Spelljammer Universe.
Battle-Ready rules extensions include a large map, advanced strategy setup, and asteroids!
Skirmish rules (left) Battle-Ready rules (right)
(Battle-Ready paper play aides on left, +PLA tokens on right)
Play aides include chits, tokens, and cards. All play aides are intended for U.S. Letter paper (8.5×11 inch, ANSI A). Click links below to download, and print to play from this Google drive folder.
Rules Booklet – Double-sided booklet (2 pages per side)
Play Aides (summary / map) – Double-sided whole (1 page per side)
Cutboards (chits) – Double-sided whole (1 page per side)
Fleet Table Cards – Single-sided whole (1 page per side)
Order Cards – Single-sided whole (1 page per side)
Polylactic Acid (PLA) tokens – Please inquire
Recommended game immersion playlist:
See more about the original Skirmish on Board Game Geek.
Learn-to-play gamestory
Prologue
2 kids walk into a bar. Their clothes tattered and soiled from tearing through the dense Witchwood forest. All of the patrons calmly turn to look at the adolescents, uncertainty blanketing their gaze. Topaz and Obsidian share a mutual glance of unfathomable relief to again be among the civilized they imagined lost.
6 years ago these boys were separated from their families while visiting the Astromundi Cluster. Then, their wildspace locale was of no concern. The youngsters were far too young to know anything of crystal spheres, phlogiston, or any of that nonsense. They were along for the ride, safely enjoying the excitement of a new galactic space-scape in the comfort of the family Spelljammer.
Now Topaz, being a Gnome from Greyspace, would not normally befriend Neogi, but Topaz’s father and Obsidian’s father had met at an interspherical gaming convention held in Krynnspace, the Neogi’s home sphere. Their fathers played a game of Spelljammer Skirmish and became goog friends, now sharing a one-in-a-lifetime trip to Clusterspace.
The boy’s fathers risked bringing their families to the Cluster. They plotted this adventure to acquire rare goods near the wonderful Firefall, with hopes of exchanging goods at the protected Thandilan colonies and browse collectibles at the famous Neogi trade center Ironport. They never made it to Ironport. Thandilan was beset by a flare of unexpected waring between farming rivals, and the visiting families scattered in the cross-fire. The Lanceship guardian fleet admiral ordered all extra-solar ships immediately return to their home-spheres. The kids were separated from their families, who had no choice but to leave or perish. Seeing their family ships depart the planet, Obsidian and Topaz desperately dodged their way to the forest, away from the noise and nonsense.
The Witchwood night sky provided a sense of calm, distant from the senseless killing. Out here the boys observed beautiful serene floating ships, wondering about their inhabitants, where they came from and where they were heading, recalling the comfort of their families’ embrace. Topaz and Obsidian stuck together, side-by-side, through many hungry months. They had each other and a shared knowledge of natural magic. Undisciplined adolescence and innate abilities offered them frequent accidental discoveries of unique magical recipes. Time passed unnoticed. Over a course of 6 years they learned from each other, and through their mutual support bonded as brothers. They found ways to avoid the threatening wildlife in the Witchwood forest, keeping themselves alive.
“When I escaped the <animal> attack,” Obsidian shared with Topaz, “I threw a piece of raw rabbit meat at my feet, sprinted back and to the left, then turned and ran right! It must have confused the <animal> and I got away without a scratch! This is officially the RAWLINE EVASION defense. You can use it if you want.”
“Oh, that’s clever,” Topaz admitted. “The other day I jumped …” TODO explain some cool attack like a Knight in chess.
Now here they are, in a bar after the long war, shocked to feel calm in the presence of the tavern patrons. Just last night they dreamt of floating away from this hostile planet. Had they not seen the pristine dragon sailing vessel across the far side of the lake, hoping it was their families returning, they may have remained in the forest forever.
Phase 1: Orders
The boys were admitted to the nearest Thandilan hospital. They were separated in the hustle, losing one another. Topaz befriended a rather large large canine, Oak, who’s warm lovable nature helped others heal. Topaz came to learn that with a firm but kind approach, canines tend to stick around. Oak’s enthusiasm and exuberance for healthy living at first scared Topaz, whose sharp claws tore through Oak’s fur the first time they met. Topaz eventually learned Healing magic from Oak.
Obsidian was enamored with Rowan. He picked up her mannerisms and so came to understand the pack mentality. In time, Obsidian earned Rowan’s respect, and so Obsidian learned the essence of keeping steady. Obsidian tuned into this steady essence, which taught him to direct its magic and cast Hold on others.
Obsidian and Topaz greatly missed one another. Their canine companions were loyal, and often reminded them of the how well they work together.
Phase 2: Maneuver
Topaz and Obsidian are eventually found by their families, their people, each grow up and join the space fleet – an honorable job where each is given a ship to command. They are called to battle. They know how to keep their ships in tact, their recruits well fed, and their orders commanded.
Phase 3: Fire
The flagships of their fleets detect one another and the battle begins.
Epilogue
The boys end up together again, leaving their fleets and the empty promise of war, remembering the meaning of good company.