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 little 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 spacescape in the comfort of the family Spelljammer.
The boy’s fathers risked harm 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 homespheres. 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 dodged their way to the forest away from the 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 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 light 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, though separated in the hustle. They lost one another. Topaz befriended a rather large large canine, Oak, who’s warm lovable nature helped others heal. With a firm and kind approach, canines tend to stick around. Oak’s enthusiasm and exuberance for healthy living scared Topaz (Topaz learned to Heal from Oak), whose sharp claws tore through Oak’s fur at first meet. Obsidian was enamored with Rowan and so picked up her mannerisms, respecting the pack mentality to earn her respect (Obsidian learned to Hold from Rowan). Their companions were loyal. Though make no mistake, Obsidian and Topaz were better together. Their companions remind them of the how well Topaz and Obsidian work when together.
Phase 2: Maneuver
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.
Obsidian: Neogi from Krynnspace.
Topaz: Gnome from Greyspace.
Remaining narrative: They 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.
Starting world: Clusterspace. Somehow mention the Dead Shell (black hole crystal sphere) and Juna civilization (ancient race who first navigated the phlogiston, and is believed to have created The Spelljammer)?