The Rebel fleet shimmered in from hyperspace and bore down on their objective, the shipyards orbiting Vankren. Defending Imperial ships raced to intercept. As TIEs? swarmed from their launch bays, X- and A-wings moved to intercept while Y- and B-wings began their attack runs on the Golan defense platforms surrounding the shipyards, trying to clear a path for the fleet.

Turbolaser fire began to fill the void with brilliant death as the capital vessels moved within range of each other. An Alliance line charged an Imperial line of three Strike-cruisers, attempting to disrupt their command structure. Instead they were met with volleys of concentrated fire from the cruisers and forced to limp to safety under the covering fire of a Mon Calamari warship.

Admiral Maravush looked up from the tactical display aboard his flagship Coral Lagoon. The crew was nervous, but steady. They had faced down Imperial squadrons before and won, but these were some of the best the Empire had to offer. It would require all of his tactical skill and a fair bit of luck to defeat the Empire today.

He looked over his fellow Mon Calamari in the command center as they responded fluidly to the shifting battle. Watching the Imperial commander's responses to a few tenuous probes and desperate parries - this Admiral was dangerously good - he had an idea.

"Rahan, contact Captain Forel and have him and his line fall back to reserve position three. Make it look like they're breaking."

"But sir, that would leave our right flank unprotected. We would be vulnerable to starfighter attack."

"Oh, he'll throw more than starfighters at that hole. In fact, I'm counting on it..."

Capital ship combat is a clash of titanic vessels, often taking epic proportions. Dogfights are lost in the maelstrom of death and destruction. No longer are only a few dozen lives per side at stake. Capital ships are crewed by hundreds or even thousands of beings. When damaged, entire sections are vaporized in an instant or sucked into the depths of space. Death is not a personal event.

Despite an attempt to facilitate capital ship combat in the Star Wars Rules Companion, there has been no corresponding effort under second edition, or revised and expanded. This attempts to convert the rules under the Rules Companion to second edition as well as expand upon them with expanded tactics, power switching, and command rules.

This resource draws upon many sources other than the Rules Companion. Sidebars from The Far Orbit Project gave the basis for power switching and ammunition supplies. Traveller: Imperial Squadrons gave the expanded command structure which expanded upon the duties given in The Far Orbit Project, as well as giving inspiration for the Squadron combat rules. The Imperial Sourcebook provided the Imperial order of battle which allowed for the creation of Squadron combat rules. BattleSpace?, the BattleTech? system for naval combat provided the basis for the marine point rules. The computer game Imperium Galactica II provided the base for the spy system. The rest of the rulebooks and sourcebooks and novels provided most of the rest of the inspiration, and good old modern technology provided many of the random ideas on technology inserted here. -Adrian Wheelock

Caveat

Before beginning a campaign where capital ship combat is expected, realize that combat on this scale depends less on the action of any one being and more on the concerted effort of the ship, the line, or the squadron. While the focus of the RPG is on characters, capital ship combat becomes a dehumanized tactical simulation with record keeping of epic proportions. Most epic stories cannot survive this and capital ship combat should be played on a much more abstract level. If you and your players are willing to put the effort in, and especially the time, this system should provide a reasonable way of simulating small and large scale capital ship battles.

These rules are a variation on the starship combat rules, so you should be familiar with them before attempting to use this system, as basic ideas will not be explained here.