BUCK ROGERS - BATTLE FOR THE 25TH CENTURY

House Rules by Rusty & thrasher

This text consist of two parts. First a brief introduction and then the new rules we created for this
game. If you have questions or remarks please e-mail thrasher@dds.nl These rules were made by
thrasher and Rusty.

INTRODUCTION
When we both got to look at a copy of "Buck Rogers- battle for the 25th century" we became very
interested. What a great looking game this is!. It soon proved to be flawed however, because of crappy
gameplay and badly thoughtout rules. Being as superficial as we are, the layout still convinced us of
it's potential. We went to work. It became obvious that solid alternatives were hard to come up with.
Playing a game is so different from creating one!. The decision was made to combine tried and tested
elements of "Axis and Allies" and "Shogun" with this game.

1. The first and most important change is the introduction of currency, the so called IPC's
(InterPlanatery Currency). These can be acquired via conquest of the planetary zones, all being of
equal value, 1 IPC. Conquering an entire planet, all the satellites of a planet, or all the asteroids
gives you a bonus. This means that there is a correlation between the number of areas you control
and the new forces you can purchase. This correlation did not exist in the original game.
2. The second important change is the new setup of the game-turn. In the original game all players
move and then combat occurs. In our version each player has its own movement and combat
phase. Each player now has its own phase in which he can conduct combat (this is called the
players turn). All players still build their new units in one and the same phase.
3. Another change is the different setup of the game-turn. The game-turn consists of three phases of
which the first and the last are conducted simultaneous. The game-turn now has the same setup
as Shogun (MB): preparing phase (planetary movement in Buck Rogers; allocating koku in
Shogun), Movement and Combat phase, in which all players have their own movement and
combat turn (just like in Shogun), and finally the build phase.

We have found that the bonus rule results in every player trying to consolidate it's conquered
planet(s). Battlers and killer satellites are immediately placed in the near orbit zone and they stay there
for the rest of the game with not much happening anywhere else. For this we have introduced the rule
that you may pass through after one round of combat (every unit firing once).

VICTORY CONDITIONS
As we are heroic board game die hards, and always
ready to fight till the bitter end, winning means
possession of all planets, satellites and asteroids.
Offcourse the game will end when all players agree
who has won.

MAPBOARD
The Planet Markers Space Zone and the Far Orbit
Zone of a planet are considered to be the same
(Optional rule F., page 9). This rule can have a strange
consequence: planetary movement can place units
that were in a Space Zone into the Far Orbit Zone.
When movement of a planet places the units in the
Space Zone and the units already in the Far Orbit
Zone of this planet in one area (the planets Far Orbit
zone) the latter units are considered to 'control' the
zone. The player owning these units must decide if it
permits the other units to stay in the Near Orbit Zone
or passing through it. In other words: the player
controlling the Far Orbit Zone before planetary
movement placed other units in it is considered the
defender.

Buck Rogers Dutch variant 1

SETUP OF A GAME-TURN
A game-turn consists of three phases:

1. Planetary Movement Phase

2. Movement & Combat Phase
3. Income & Build Phase

In the Planetary Movement Phase all planets and asteroids are moved one step. In this phase all
factories that are on their side are flipped in upside position. Then the players turn order is determined
by using the Turn Order Cards.

In the Movement & Planetary Phase all players conduct their own 'turn'. Use the sequence as
determined in the previous phase. In his turn a player moves all, any or none of its units. When a
player enters a zone which contains enemy units combat can occur.

When a player enters a Territorial Zone which contains enemy units combat occurs. When a player
enters a Space or Orbit Zone which contains enemy units it is up to the controlling player to decide: he
can allow the units of the entering player to pass through or even stay in the same Space or Orbit
Zone. If he does not allow them to move through or stay combat occurs.

In the Income & Build Phase players first collect income and then may build new units using the
money the just collected. They are placed at areas which contain a factory (each Build Phase each
player may built one Trooper or Gennie at an area that does not contain a factory).

UNITS

Leaders
A leader adds one to your die rolls of all your units in the area. This is the case during all rounds of
combat. The special abilities of a leader unit (advanced game rules) are not used.
When you lose your leader you miss your next Movement and Combat Phase and the next Build
Phase. Two situations can occur:

Situation 1: You lose your leader in a game-turn in which you already conducted your own turn
(your Movement and Combat turn). You miss the build phase of that turn and you miss your own
Movement and Combat phase in the next game-turn.

Situation 2: you lose your leader before you conducted your own turn. You miss your own Combat
and Movement phase in this very game-turn. In this same game-turn you miss the Build Phase.

In both cases you get your income.

Killer Satellites
Killer Satellites get a free shot at all units entering the Near Orbit Zone it is in. This killer satellite shot
takes place before the actual combat procedure starts (like an Anti Aircraft Gun in Axis and Allies).
The killer satellite hits at a 8,9 or 10. All units that are hit are removed immediately.
A Killer Satellite blocks passing through. Units entering a Near Orbit Zone containing a killer satellite
can never pass through.
Killer satellite shots are not affected by leaders.

Buck Rogers Dutch variant 2

BATTLERS
Battlers can conduct three kind of actions.

1. First, hey can fight just like any other unit.

2. Second, the can conduct background fire: each battler in an Orbit Zone may fire at the enemy
units in the Territorial Zone that is being attacked if at least one Trooper is attacking this area from
a transport (this is the equivalent of backgroundfire in amphibious attacks in Axis and Allies). The
battler hits at 8.9 or 10. This backgroundfire die roll is made every combat round before the actual
combat round starts. The defender decides what unit is lost in case of a hit. However, this unit
may return fire in the actual combat round. The battler itself may not be fired at, not by the unit hit
by the background fire, nor by any other unit.
3. Third, they may bomb a Territorial Zone. In this case the battler hits at a 7,8,9,10. This is a 'one
shot' bombing: the battler rolls only once in a combat round. It cannot be fired at. The defender
decides which unit is lost. (This is the equivalent of strategically bombing in Axis and Allies
although in a unit is lost by the defender instead of money.)

MONEY
Building new units now costs a money. Money is acquired by controlling territorial zones at the end of
the game-turn, in the Income Phase. During the Income Phase a player receives one IPC for each
territorial zone he controls. Controlling an entire planet, all the satellites of a planet, or all the asteroids
gives you Bonus IPCs.

Mars + 1 IPC
SpaceElevator + Deimos + 1 IPC
Venus + 2 IPC
Moon + 2 IPC
Mercury + 2 IPC
Mariposas + Heilo + 1 IPC
Earth + 2 IPC
L4 + L5 + 1 IPC
All asteroids + 3 IPC
Any 3 asteroids + 1 IPC

Note: controlling (at least) 6 asteroids will offcourse give you 2 bonus IPCs

STARTING THE GAME

Deal out eight territory cards. Place a control marker on each of these zones. Each player starts with
the normal initial pieces:

1 Leader Character

8 Troopers

4 Fighters

2 Gennies

2 Factories

1 Transport

You cannot place more than five units in the same zone at the beginning of the game. Leaders and
factories do count toward this limit.

For Turn Order the Turn Cards are used: the player with card #1 goes first, player with card #2 goes
second, and so on. Each player shows the Turn Card he received to all other players. This means that
all players know when all other players do conduct their turn!

Buck Rogers Dutch variant 3

MOVEMENT AND COMBAT
In the Movement & Combat Phase all players conduct their own 'turn'. Use the sequence as
determined in the previous phase. In his turn a player moves all, any or none of its units. When a
player enters a zone which contains enemy units combat can occur.

At the end of a players Movement and Combat Phase there can never be units of different players in a
Territorial Zone. At the end of a players Movement and Combat Phase there can never be units of
different players in a Space or Orbit Zone.

Combat Procedure
When a player enters a Territorial Zone which contains enemy units combat occurs. There can never
be units of two different players in one Territorial Zone at the end of a players turn. Combat ends when
all units of one player are destroyed or if the attacker retreats.

When a player enters a Space or Orbit Zone which contains enemy units it is up to the controlling
player to decide: he can allow the units of the entering player to pass through or even stay in the same
Space or Orbit Zone. If he does not allow them to move through or stay combat occurs.

When combat takes place the entering player may pass through the Space or Orbit Zone where the
combat occurs. All units that pass through and so leave the Space or Orbit Zone are then subject to
Pass Through Fire. Units may leave a Space or Orbit Zone where is fought only if at least one
complete combat round is fought.

Entering units can never pass through a Near Orbit Zones which contains a Killer Satellite.

Aiming and Firing

Both players specify which of their units will fire at which unit of the enemy. This happens before the
combat round starts!
If a group of your units attacks a group of enemy units and more hits are scored then there are enemy
units these 'extra' hits are ignored. The procedure is repeated for each combat round.
(note: we slightly changed the combat procedure; you can also play with the original rules).

Pass Through Fire

In these rules Pass Through Fire only takes place in Space or Orbit Zones. The defending units get
one free shot at the units that leave the Space or Orbit Zone. The units that leave the Space or Orbit
Zone do NOT fire back. This increases the risk of passing through an enemy controlled Space or Orbit
Zone.

Transports in Combat
Transports fire normally during the entire combat phase. But they cannot be fired at until other units
are destroyed. As you have to aim your units at the beginning of a combat round, transports can only
be fired at if there are no other units at the beginning of the combat round. This means that when you
have destroyed all other enemy units except transports before you fire with all your units, your units
that did not fire can still NOT fire at the transports!

Buck Rogers Dutch variant 4

BUILDING NEW UNITS

Building costs
In this version of the game each units costs a certain amount of money (IPCs) to be produced. The
prices of all units are listed below.

Unit Building cost

Fighter 4 IPC
Battler 6 IPC
Trooper 2 IPC
Gennie 2 IPC
Transport 4 IPC
Factory 6 IPC
Killer Satellite 4 IPC

Launching a Killer Satellite costs another 4 IPC

Limited Factories
All factories (original ones and new ones) have a maximum production of five units. In no
circumstance can a factory build more then 5 units per game-turn.

Moving a Factory
A factory can be moved by a transport only. It can be moved to a friendly area or to an empty enemy
controlled area. When reaching its final destination the factory is immediately unloaded. However it
gets inactive and is flipped upside down. In the Planetary Movement Phase of the next game-turn the
factory is flipped to normal position; it can produce normally then.

Optional rule: If the transport does not reach the final destination of the factory in one movement
phase the factory is not unloaded. If you decide in a next turn that you want the factory in the area
where your transport just stopped you can simply unload it - but it gets inactive and is flipped upside
down. This rule reflex the fact that re-installing a factory that moved is not an easy job.

Building a Killer Satellite

A killer satellite can be built at a factory in a territorial zone adjacent to the Near Orbit Zone (a
territorial zone on the planets surface or a satellite or moon in the Near Orbit Zone). It can only be
build if a player controls all territorial zones of the planet AND the Near Orbit Zone is free of enemy
units (you do not have to have a unit in the Near Orbit Zone yourself!)

A killer satellite must be launched after it is built - this costs 4 IPCs. It can only be launched from an
active factory. This takes place in the building phase of the game-turn after the killer satellite has been
built. For launching a Killer Satellite you also need to control every territorial zone of the planet AND
the Near Orbit Zone of this planet should be free of enemy units.

In case that you have built a Killer Satellite in a certain game-turn but you do not control all territorial
zones of the planet AND/OR the Near Orbit Zone is not free of enemy units in the Build Phase of the
next game-turn the killersatelite cannot be launched. It has to stay on the planets surface at the factory
site.

If the territorial zone that contains the killer satellite is conquered the conquering player gets the killer
satellite. As the factory is inactive in the Build Phase of the game-turn in which the factory was
conquered the killer satellite can never be launched in the same turn as it was conquered! For the
player who now owns the Killer Satellite the normal rules apply!

Saving money
When a player does not spend all his money this money may be saved for later use. Use Control
Markers or Chips or even Axis and Allies paper money to represent money.

Buck Rogers Dutch variant 5