Imperial alliance is a game of tactical combat in the universe of Star Wars. This game was made to play in a spirit of speed, action and simplicity. This is a free interpretation of this type of warfare in Star Wars so some invented rules given in this document may not be exactly faithful to official Star Wars documents. Feel free to modify the game as you see fit.
 

COMPONENTS

-Rules
-Counters
-Imperial units chart
-Terrain effects chart
-geomorphic maps
-You will also need a serie of dice for role playing (4 sided, 6 sided, 8 sided, 10 sided, 12 sided
  and 20 sided)
 

GOAL

The goal of each game is established according to the scenario you play: capture a certain number of buildings in a given number of turns or eliminate all enemy units.
 

UNIT CHART EXPLANATION

Each side has a chart on wich are printed all the combat specs for his units.

Ex.:
 

UNIT TYPE	DICE VS SQUAD	DICE VS VEHICLE	MOVEMENT	SPECIAL HABILITY	RESISTANCE	RANGE
Stormtrooper	1d8	1d6	3		2	4

As you can see in the previous table, a Stormtrooper unit uses 1d8 to attack a squad and 1d6 to attack any vehicle. Resistance represent the number of times an opponent must throw his attack dice to eliminate this unit (better explanations will follow). The range is the maximum number of hexes to attack an enemy. Movement is the number of movement points a unit can spend each turn. The special hability box is use to show when a unit has some special power that it can use during the game.
 

QUALITY LEVEL OF UNITS EXPLANATION

On the begining of a game, for each different scenario, each side is given a quality level for his units wich represent experience and determination in fighting:

-Green level: units with no combat experience or/and poor motivation.
-Veteran level: units with some quality combat experience
-Elite level: units that received special training or fought in many victorious campains.

The quality level is used to determine initiative at each turn and the number of impulses a player has to activate his units as follow:

                           Initiative Dice            # of units activated on each impulses
-Green level   :          1d6                             1d4
-Veteran level :         1d8                             1d4+1
-Elite level      :          1d10                           1d4+2

We will see later how all those dices are used.
 

TURN SEQUENCE

Initiative

1st impulse of the player favored by initiative roll
1st impulse of the player that has lost initiative roll
2nd impulse of the player favored by initiative roll
2nd impulse of the player that has lost initiative roll
and so on, until both players have played all their units or do not want to play the remaining ones.
 

INITIATIVE

At the begining of a turn, each player throws a dice according to the quality level of his units. The highest roll wins initiative and have to play first. If a tie is made, then the player that has won initiative the preceding turn wins. On the first turn, the chosen scenario will specify wich side has initiative.

Ex.: A company of Elite Stormtrooper fights rebel veteran units hidden in a forest. The imperial side play 1d10, gets a 5, and the rebel 1d8 and gets a 3. The imperial player wins initiative for this turn.
 

IMPULSES

All impulses work the same way, either its the winner of the initiative or the looser that plays. The initiative is only used to determine who plays the first impulse in a turn.

As in the preceding example, the stormtrooper company has won initiative. An activation dice is played at the begining of each impulse. As it is of Elite level, the imperial player roll 1d4+2 to know the maximum number of units activated in his first impulse. If he rolls a 3, he adds 2 for a total of 5 units activated. He can also decide not to activate any units and pass. He can do this two times and after that, he cannot play any units for the rest of the turn.

The activating result is valid only for one impulse. It cannot be saved for an upcoming impulse or transfered to another player. For example, if a player roll an activation dice of 5 and plays only 3 units, the other 2 are lost for this impulse. When a player has activated all his units or has passed, the other player may still activate 1 or 2 units that have not been previously activated and depending on the quality level of his units: green=0 more units to play, veteran=1 more unit to play, elite=2 more units to play.
 

ACTIVATION

In an impulse, the units activated (according to the preceding rule of activation) can do the following things:

-Move
-Fire
-Move and enter a close  combat
-Use a special hability (wich require a complete activation for that unit).

Each activated unit can only do one of those actions. Once it has done it, the unit can be turned 90 degrees or can be covered by a blank counter just as a reminder that it has played. This is up to the players.

Example: the imperial player had a 5 for his activation roll in the first impulse. He decides to move a Stormtrooper unit of 3 hexes of clear terrain. After that, he simply turns the counter 90 degrees to show this unit was activated. He then make a Stormtrooper fire at an enemy unit then turns the counter to show it has played. He decide to activate 4 units in all but he has played a 5 on his activation roll. The remaining 1 is lost.

Each unit can only be activated once in every turn and not once in every impulse. That is the reason why turning each counter is a good way to remember wich units has played and wich has not.
 

STACKING

Stacking is simply the number of units that can be in any given hex at the end of an impulse. In this game, there can only be one unit in a hex at the end of each impulse (exeption: transportation of units).

One unit can move through another friendly unit but cannot end an impulse in the same hex.

One unit can move in a hex containing an enemy unit only to perform a close combat.

A jedi Leader counter and infantry weapons does not count in stacking.

Units in a transport vehicle do not count in the stacking limit. Only the transporting unit counts.
 

MOVEMENT

When a player decide to move a unit in an impulse, he looks at his unit chart to know how many movements points this particular unit has. Then, you just consult the terrain effect chart to know the movement point cost of each type of terrain in wich the unit has intention to move in. For example, it cost 1 point to move in a clear hex, 2 for a forest hex, etc. When a +1 is shown, that means to add 1 to the type of terrain in wich you move. A forest cost 2 but a hill in a forest will cost 3 to enter (2+1). Move down a hill (exit a hill hex) cost nothing more than the cost of the hex in wich a unit move. Roads do not affect movement. Just read at the bottom of the terrain effect chart for special rules about certain units moving on certain type of terrain.

Movement points cannot be saved from one turn to another or transfered to another unit. Unused points are simply lost.

Buildings are interdicted to vehicles and AT-AT / AT-ST cannot climb a hill.
 

TRANSPORT

Some vehicles have the capacity to transport a number of squads. For example, the Imperial Jaggernaud can transport up to 5 squads. Here is how to do it. The chosen transporter cannot be activated through the whole turn. The transported units must move in the hex in wich is the transporter and spend 1 movement point to board it. If the unit has not enough mouvement point to go to that hex and board the vehicle, it simply cannot do the task and cannot remain in the hex if it has not boarded the vehicle. Once on board, the unit cannot move further, fire or fight a close combat. Units are moving with the vehicle, at the same speed, and cannot be directly attacked. If the transporter is destroyed while transporting units, those units are destroyed too. Unloading the vehicle is the reversed procedure for loading. When the time to unload has come, the transporter must not move or do anything for one turn. Units inside must spend one point to go out of the vehicle. At that point, they are still on the same hex as the vehicle. Then they must spend points to get out of that hex so there are no violation of the stacking limit. Terrain modifiers are applicable. So if a unit has not enough movement points to get out of the transporter and move into an adjacent hex because of terrain modifiers, there cannot be any unloading procedure at that location and the the transporter must move to another place, like a clear terrain, to unload units.
When transporting units, the vehicle counter is placed on top of the transported units counters. For a unit to be loaded or unloaded, it must be activated first. The transporter has no need to be activated because it cannot move for the whole turn in that procedure.
 

MOVEMENT INTO CLOSE COMBAT

An activated unit can move in a hex where an enemy unit is to fight it in close combat. This type of fighting is very bloody and the issue of it will result in the destruction of one of the units engaged. To do it, a unit move in a hex containing an enemy and each player roll his combat dice. The highest dice wins and stays in the game but the lowest is eliminated and removed. If there is a tie, both units are eliminated. Terrain does not affect close combat. A unit that has initiated a close combat must end its turn even if it had some movement points left. The defending unit can be activated in an impulse to come if it had not been activated previously. It can of course defend itself in a close combat even if it had been activated previously.

Example: a Stormtrooper is activated and want to eliminate a Mon Calamari unit in a building. The attacking unit is located 2 hexes away from the target. It move one hex (1 mov. point) then enter the building (2 mov points). The close combat then begins. The Stormtrooper rolls 1d8 and the Calamari 1d4+1. The results are: 4 for the Imperial and 5 for the Calamari. The Mon Calamari unit wins the combat and the Stormtrooper is removed from the game.
 

SHOOTING

An activated unit can shoot on a enemy unit located within its range of fire if it can trace a line of sight reaching the target. Here is how to do it.
Determine the attack strenght of the attacking unit according to the target type. A squad attacking a squad uses the "Dice vs squad" column in the unit chart. A squad attacking a vehicle uses the "Dice vs vehicle" column in the unit chart. Vehicles use the same dice no matter what the target is.
Determine if the target unit is within range of the attacker (in a number of hexes). Count the hex where the target is but not the hex where the attacker is. Ex: a rebel Guerilla unit located at 7 hexes is too far to be attacked by an AT-ST with a range of 6.
Determine if there is an unblocked line of sight between the attacker and the target. Take a ruler and place it in a way that it will cross the center of the attacker's hex and the defender's hex. If this line cross a forest hex, a building, a friendly or enemy unit, the line of sight is blocked and the attack cannot take place. If the line just cross a hexside with forest, the line is not blocked. It would have been blocked if it had entered this forest hex.
Exeptions to the line of sight rule:
-A unit located on a hill (on the border hexes if there are multiple hill hexes togheter) can see above units and above forest hexes exept for a shadow zone wich is the hex that follow an obstacle in the line of sight. Ex: A AT-ST unit is at the border of a hill and there is a village just in front of it. There is a building at a distance of 2 hexes and then a road hex in clear terrain. Then, there is another bulding with a Mon Calamari unit within. The AT-ST can attack the Calamari wich is at 4 hexes because it is in the line of sight. The Calamari sees the AT-ST too. If the Calamari had been on the road hex, it would have been in the shadow zone thus no combat possible.
-An Imperial Walker AT-AT is never blocked by anything exept another Walker.
-The Airspeeder is, of course, never blocked because it flies!

After the attacking strenght, range and line of sight has been determined, a unit can shoot. The attacking system is based on the number 4. An attacker must have 4 or greater to destroy the target but it must take in consideration its resistance. If a unit's resistance is 3, then the attacker must roll his attack dice 3 times and have at least 4 on each roll to destroy the target. If one roll is lower than 3, the attack fails. Here is an example: an AT-ST fires on a Mon Calamari unit located 4 hexes from it and with a clear line of sight. AT-ST attack dice is 1d8 vs a squad but the resistance level of the Calamari is 3. The Imperial player rolls a d8 3 times and scores 4,4 and 8. Inspite of it's good resistance, the Calamari unit is destroyed. If there had been only one roll under 4, the attack would have fail.
In a firing attack, unlike in a close combat, terrain affects the resistance level of the defending unit. The terrain chart explains the modifiers given to the defending unit's resistance. Ex: a Calamari in a forest hex has a resistance of 4 (3 + 1 for the forest). Some units nullify the terrain effect. Consult the unit chart for some special habilities.
 

END OF TURN

When all units of both sides have played or when both players have passed, this marks the end of a turn. Units are just turned back to their normal sides and the turn marker is moved one slot if it is required by the chosen scenario. A new turn is then ready to be played.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

ADVANCED RULES

All advanced rules are optionals so feel free to choose some of them, all of them or none at all. And of course they can be modified as you wish.
 

MOVING AND SHOOTING

A unit can move AND fire in the same impulse but with some restrictions. First, it costs 2 activation points to make this unit move and fire. The unit cannot move more than half its movement rate (fractions rounded up). When it fires, its attack dice is reduced by 1 and all positive modifiers are dropped.
Ex: a Rapid Caak that move and fire has its movement rate reduced to 4 and its attack dice to 1d6 instead of 1d8+1.
A unit that choose this option cannot enter a close combat.
 

LEADERS

When this advanced rule is used, each side receive one leader counter. This unit brings some benefits but it can also change the course of a game if it is eliminated.

The leader counter can be stacked with any other friendly unit and does not count in stacking limit.

A leader counter cannot attack by itself but it is used in combination with another unit to gain some bonuses. Depending on the quality level of units, a leader counter gives a increment bonus of 1 dice for firing or close combat to units that are within 3 hexes of it. This works for a certain number of time per turn and as follow:

Quality level                 Number of bonuses given each turn
Green                                                   1
Veteran                                                2
Elite                                                      3

A player has no obligation to use all his bonuses in one turn but if he chooses not to use them all, the remainder is lost.

A leader can call for a space bombardment if all conditions apply (read Space Bombardment rule).

A leader stacked with a unit increase its resistance level by one.

A leader has a movement rate of 4

A leader is eliminated when the unit with wich it was stacked is eliminated or if an enemy unit passes in a hex where a leader is all alone or when a shooting is made in a hex where he is alone. When a leader is killed, the player looses his bonuses. And it may also affect the quality level of all his units. As each turn begins, the player rolls one 10-sided dice and if the result is within results indicated in the following chart, the quality level of all units drop by one.

Level: Green      Veteran       Elite
            1-3           1-2            1

Ex.: the leader of a battalion dies in combat. The battalion is of Veteran level. At the begining of the next turn, the player rolls one 10-sided dice and has a result of 1. The quality level of his units fall to Green with all the specs of Green units. If, at the next turn, he rolls 1 again, the player simply loose automatically the game as the quality level cannot drop below Green. This represent that all troops surrender. If both players loose their leader on the same turn and they fall below Green, both player stop fighting but the attacking side lose the game.

SUPPORT WEAPONS

  They are divided here into some categories. They have many things in common but the specs of each will be listed in the following paragraphs

  - Campain Artillery: It is located out of the map and can fire anywhere on it. To use artillery, you must have one unit wich act as an observer and wich is in line of sight of the enemy unit target. If a player choose to use artillery, he must announce it at the beginning of his turn. He will only use this weapon and won't be able to do anything else with his units. The player place an artillery marker on the targeted hex and a 6-sided dice is played to see if the shot misses its target. On a roll of 1-2, the artillery shot misses its target (roll of 1 for units with special hability to direct artillery fire). If it's a miss, another 6-sided dice is rolled to see on wich direction the artillery shot comes down, with 1 being the hex on top of the initially targeted hex, 2 is the one just following clockwise and so on. Then another 6-sided dice is played to determine distance. The result is the number of hexes to count from the initial target, in the direction obtained by the previous dice. Of course a missed shot can fall on friendly units. If the hex on wich the artillery shot comes down has units in it (friend or enemy), an attack is then made. Consult the weapon chart of each side to see the attack strenght of artillery. On the next player turn, the opponent can choose to normaly activate his units or use his own artillery to make a counterfire attack. For each artillery piece, a 6-sided dice is rolled. A result of 1-2 is missed. If the roll succeed, the player rolls dices for an attack against artillery. Leader have no effect on artillery fire. Players that use artillery cannot do anything more on their turn. Artillery pieces are noted on a sheet and substracted when destroyed.

  - Field Artillery: Those units are placed on the map. They cannot move and must be activated like a normal unit. They must also have a clear line of sight. Their strenght value is 4 in close combat.

  - Aerial Support: This represent fighters or planes based on the planet and supporting each sides. The number of aerial support shots a player owns depends on the chosen scenario. Those shots can be used at different turns in the game or all in the same turn, depending on the player's strategy. There is no need to have an observer neer the target. An aerial support marker is placed on the target and attack roll is played accordingly (see unit charts). It cost one activation to use one aerial support.

  - Space Bombardment: This type of attack only happen in a very particular situation: when a side has lost half of his units and the opposing side has not lost as many, then the disadvantaged player may use space bombardment as a last resort weapon. The scenario must also specify if this weapon is available and to wich side. When it is used, the leader of the bombarding side must be alive. It is announce at the beginning of a turn and the player cannot do anything else. Space bombardment can happen anywhere on the map. A marker is placed on the target but the shot can miss, exactly as described in the Campain artillery paragraph. To know if it misses, roll a 6-sided dice and compare with the quality level of the units calling the bombardment:

                     Level              Result to miss
                 ----------------------------------------------
                   Green                    1-3
                   Veteran                 1-2
                   Elite                       1

  When this weapon is used, it affect the targeted hex plus all hexes surrouding it up to a range of 2 hexes. Consult the Support weapon chart for its attack strenght. It can destroy building, enemy units and friendly units, anything that is within range of the blast so use it wisely.

  - Special weapons carried by infantry: Those are powerful weapons that can only be used by a type of units (it is specified on unit charts). Special weapons are represented by a marker and must always be stacked with another unit. If the carrying unit is destroyed, the special weapon is detroyed too.

The carrying unit may fire at the same time with its normal fire strenght and with the special weapon with only 1 activation point spent.

The special weapon does not count in close combat.

A leader does not affect the performance of the special weapon but may affect the performance of the carrying unit.
 

JEDIS

  As you may know, this name represent a character having the power of the force and having been fully trained to use it. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader were good example of Jedi characters. Of course, if you use this rule, this represent that there can be other Jedis elsewhere in the galaxy and that they may be participating in the battle you are recreating.

A given scenario will specify if there are any Jedis in the game.

A Jedi is like a leader counter and does not count in stacking.

The Jedi has a movement capacity of 6.

The Jedi has a resistance of 4 and a fire/close combat rate of 4.

When it is stacked with a unit, its resistance and close combat strenght are added to those of the units. Ex: a Wookie unit is stacked with a Jedi worth 6 in resisance and attack with 1d8+1 and 1d4.

The real power of a Jedi is to increase the strenght of the unit with wich it is stacked or increase its own strenght by the use of the force. A Jedi has 6 force points at the beginning of a game and can increase an attack dice by one for every force point spent. Ex: a Jedi in a air speeder attack a AT-AT. The speeder has an attack strenght of 1d8+1. The Jedi choose to use 3 force points so the attack strengh is now 1d20+1. This rule also apply to close combat and force points are spent and used the same way.

A Jedi can attack alone with its combat strenght of 4 or use some of his force points to boost this combat strenght.

Spent points are lost for the game. If there are many Jedis in a given game, just write all their points on a piece of paper.

ENTRENCHMENT

This is represented by markers that both sides can use for their units. Each side place them on the map at the beginning of a game. They can be placed on any type of terrain exept river hexes. The effect of this is to add 1 to resistance level of a unit on an entrenchment marker (in addition to all other modifiers).

RANGE

All units that fire for more than half of its range capacity has its attack dice reduced by one. There are some exeption to that rule on unit charts.

BUILDINGS

Buildings can be destroyed by space bombardment, some vehicles or special weapons. To know if a building is destroyed, a dice is rolled like a normal attack against a vehicle. Level 1 buildings (lower buildings) have a resistance of 2 and Level 2 buildings (higher buildings) have a resistance of 3. Destroyed units become rubbles. An attack against a unit in a building will affect the unit and the building if the attacking unit has the power to do so. The resistance of the targeted unit is tested then the resistance of the building is tested.