In the historical timeline, the Andromedans are known to have been confronted by two hostile radiation-based terrain features: the WYN Radiation Zone (P7.0) in the Alpha Octant, and the Core radiation shell (MS1.1111) in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud. For those unfamiliar with the latter, it is marked as a green outline surrounding Maghadim-controlled space on this LMC hex map.

Historically, there are three recorded Andromedan interactions with these zones:

The first took place in Y164, when an Intruder loaded with satellite bases was destroyed while attempting to cross the Core radiation shell. However, it's not clear whether or not this Intruder actually made it into the interior of the Core and was destroyed by Magellanic response forces, or if it was lost in transit through the radiation shell proper.

The second was in Y183, when two Dominators crossed the Core radiation shell; as noted here, each carried a single satellite base, with the remaining hangar space used to carry five of a new type of Energy Module per Mothership. One of these Dominators was crippled, with its satellite base destroyed. However, the other Dominator succeeded in deploying its satellite base, at which point the Andros were able to send reinforcements into the Core via this newly-established RTN link. The "cracking" of the Core led to the rapid fall of this holdout region to the invaders, and the scattering of those Magellanic forces which escaped the conquest (and which survived their own impromptu crossing of the radiation shell) into the sparsely-occupied Fringe region.

The third, well... it's not entirely clear exactly when it took place, except that it happened some time after the failed ISC intervention into the WYN Cluster during the War of Return, and mere days after the arrival home of those WYN-Orion ships that had hitherto taken part in said conflict on behalf of the Usurper. While this reportedly "spectacular" attempt to cross the WYN Radiation Zone failed to subdue the locals, it's noted that a Dominator which took part in the attack was later hauled around the interior of the Cluster as a war trophy and tourist attraction - and, critically, was the first major piece of evidence used to link the invaders to the Andromeda Galaxy.

Which raises the question: how might these events be accounted for in Star Fleet Battles terms - or, indeed, in other game systems, such as Federation Commander?

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To date, there is not a lot to go on.

On the one hand, (P7.7) states that Andromedan ships simply cannot cross the WYN Radiation Zone at all; nor can they establish an RTN route through the Zone.

As for the Core radiation shell, the 2011 errata file for SFB Module C5 notes that the WYN and Core radiation zones are not quite identical in form historically-speaking, though both use the same rules (for non-Andromedan empires, at least) in game terms. More specifically, the shell around the Core is not quite as thick in some areas as the zone around the WYN Cluster is; thus, the Andros were able to make a successful crossing of the former with the right preparations.

But on the other hand, even in the case of the WYN Radiation Zone, the rules state that Andro ships cannot make the crossing at all; their crews would die without their PA panels being activated, and said panels would overload (causing the ship to explode) before making it through to the other side.

But if that was so, how would the Dominator wreck noted as becoming a WYN war trophy have made it as far as to even end up as such? Would it not have been atomized well before the WYN Navy was to have been confronted by it? And, indeed, would it have made any difference at all for those WYN-Orion ships to have been present or otherwise, if there had been no real danger?

In short, is there a more nuanced approach to be had, in terms of how to adopt rules that permit such crossings to be made, while accounting for the respective differences between the WYN and Core radiation zones?

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To answer this question, I think of how other known forms of damage affect Andromedan units.

By and large, most forms of damage fill up Andromedan power-absorber panels, scoring certain amounts of degradation in the process; this might also include "leak" points, or (once the facing panel is full) to internals. At which point, there is a severe risk of triggering a fatal cascading reaction that tears the Andro unit apart.

Notably, (D10.3212) states that, while some terrain types (such as nebulae) do not cause degradation, others do - to include the WYN Radiation Zone. So whatever damage the zone is doing to the PA panel is of a type that causes some form of degradation.

Of course, there are specific kinds of leaks caused by disruptor bolts - and, per (E23.0) in Module C6, by Carnivon disruptor cannons - as per (D10.332).

Meanwhile, over in the Omega Octant, Souldra weapons use a bespoke dark matter damage procedure, as outlined in (OG10). Notably, these weapon do not fill up panel banks, nor do they generate "leak" points' instead, all damage from Souldra weapons go directly to degradation, and then on to internals. However, certain internal boxes, such as hull or cargo, cannot be damaged by aid internals; the only way a Souldra can destroy an enemy ship (Andro or otherwise) through weapons fire is to score enough Excess Damage points to do so.

One might wonder: why do Souldra weapons do this? In most cases, it's so that they can attach their energy-vampiric Black Shards to the target hull, and then start feeding off of the life force of the crewbeings aboard. However, for reasons yet unknown, Andromedans - whatever kind of entity they might be - are immune to Souldra vampirism.

In any case, the key point here is not so much the workings of the dark matter damage procedure in and of itself. Rather, it's to mark the precedent of there being special cases by which the degree of degradation can be affected by the type of damage being scored against an active PA panel bank in a given instance.

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So, what might this mean for a would-be SFB scenario (or few)?

Well, for what it's worth, my thinking on this right now is three-fold:

Firstly, I would consider dialing in a zone-specific absorption-to-degradation ratio, which lessens the risk of a cascading overload while suitably weakening the defences of the Mothership attempting to make the crossing.

Secondly, I would suggest that there be a certain threshold in terms of the total number of damage points scored, which would vary depending on whether one is talking about the Core radiation shell - or, at least, those more navigable parts of it - and the WYN Radiation Zone.

Indeed, one could set two groups of three thresholds: while using operational or strategic (i.e. RTN) movement on the one side, and Core-optimal, Core-standard, and WYN thickness of the zone itself on the other side.

As to what exactly those thresholds should be, I'm not sure. But, I do recall someone posting elsewhere on the BBS that perhaps it might be possible for Andromedan Devastator (and, by extension, Devourer) battleships might be better able to cross the WYN Radiation Zone. If so, that would certainly make things much more precarious for the WYNs over in the Darwin's "dark future" timeline: leaving the last holdouts of the Alpha Octant nowhere to hide, after all...

And thirdly, there's the matter of those Energy Modules used for the Y183 cracking of the Core. (For one thing: were they also used when the attempt was made against the WYNs?) In this instance, might there be some way to adjust the means by which they function relative to "standard" Energy Modules, in terms of helping to mitigate the effects of the WYN and Core radiation zones? But, at the same time, perhaps make it that they offer no benefits over "standard" Energy Modules in open space; though perhaps they might also help when crossing other hostile terrain areas, such as the walls of the Ryn Nebula (OR19.06) over in Omega.

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So, while there would no doubt be plenty more to consider here, I wondered if any of the above ideas seemed worth considering.

Or, if they aren't: what thoughts have you on how best to handle this particular terrain interaction on the tabletop?

By Mike West (Mjwest) on Monday, January 20, 2025 - 04:13 pm: Edit

In the case of the WYN Radiation Zone, my guess is that things have been intentionally left vague. The idea is that "it doesn't work". Why, how, or the specific reasons aren't stated since it is all "magic" anyway, so why define something that won't work when you can just say "it doesn't work" and leave it there?

The story of the Dominator is to provide an example proving it doesn't work. They *did* try it once and it failed spectacularly. It cost them a critical resource they couldn't afford to risk again, and since they lost, they were never able to get back around to it. Could it have worked if they did something differently? Who knows! No one was ever able to try.

So, I am not seeing any particular reason to define rules about why something doesn't work. It just doesn't. What is the point of defining rules that don't work for a scenario that doesn't exist? You only have two outcomes, and both of them are very bad:
1) You just made pointless rules that will never be used.
2) You just made rules that have a loophole in them and you have now been proven wrong.
Neither result is particularly desirable. Particularly when design resources can be spent in much, much more productive efforts.

Just my observations ...

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, January 21, 2025 - 10:57 am: Edit

To quote (R12.1K) from Module C3:

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Those ships arrived home only days before the one spectacular Andromedan attempt to invade the Cluster. But that story must wait for a future product.

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And how is it known that the RTN won’t function through the zone? This will be explained in a future campaign about the one and only Andromedan attempt to do so.

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