So, I did promise more Command & Conquer inspired lists. Those are going to go on hold until the Hangar gets updated. Instead, I’ll show off some other mechanics I’ve been working on for fighting on different planets throughout the solar system.

Effectively, I assumed ever planet (except Pluto) was worth fighting over and then found excuses for why you might be on or over any one of them. Second, I looked at lists of objects by surface gravity and chose a cut-off point: anything with less than 0.1g is probably a little too awkward to model in Steel Rift. That doesn’t mean nobody lives on Iapetus or Enceladus, but it does mean I wasn’t worried about HE-Vs and tanks shooting it out somewhere that it takes minutes to hit the ground after you jump.

After I made that list of 14 worlds (plus two honorable mentions), I took a look at surface conditions and decided what to model and what not to model. I settled on these: Atmosphere, Gravity, Radiation, Temperature, and any special conditions (lava flows, dust storms, acid clouds, etc). Better yet, I turned these into general rules that you can use to invent your own worlds. So, for instance, if you want to play a game of Steel Rift about colonists fighting over the planets of the Trappist system? You can.

Each of these environmental conditions can be used to apply thematic modifiers to a battlefield which can and will change the balance of weapons and game mechanics. This will intentionally change balance to incentivize different styles of play on different worlds. That said, these are here to create variety and make the game more fun. If any one of these isn’t fun? Don’t use it.

The density of a world’s atmosphere can restrict or modify air travel, the range of weapons influenced by atmospheric friction, and the effectiveness of explosives. Worlds with thinner atmospheres will struggle to support aircraft, and diminish the shockwave from explosive weapons, but increase the range of many others. 

 Any atmosphere between no atmosphere and 499 Pascals is Insubstantial. LAS-Wing Attack and Transport squadrons cannot be fielded on Worlds with an Insubstantial Atmosphere. Weapons with Short have their ranges increased by 3. Blast deals Engage Damage Rating -3 instead of Engage Damage Rating -1. Worlds with Insubstantial Atmospheres include: Mercury, Luna, Io, Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto. 

Any atmosphere between 500 and 60,000 Pascals is considered Thin. Thin Atmospheres apply a -4 modifier to the flight speed of LAS-Wing Attack and Transport units. Weapons with Short have their ranges increased by 2. Blast deals Engage Damage Rating -2 instead of Engage Damage Rating -1. Mars has a Thin Atmosphere.

Any atmosphere between 60 kPa and 120 kPa is considered average. This doesn’t describe the entire world, just the regions where combat encounters occur (such as floating platforms on Venus or gas giants).  Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have Average Atmospheres.

Any atmosphere above 120 kPa is Thick. Thick Atmospheres are especially beneficial to LAS-Wing craft who increase their flight speed by 2. Unfortunately, they also impair most weapons. All weapons gain Short 18”. If they already had the Short trait, halve the value. Blast deals Engage Damage Rating instead of Engage Damage Rating -1. Titan has a Thick Atmosphere.

Very few places in our solar system have gravity comparable to here on Earth. On one end, Jupiter’s gravity is 2.5g, or 2.5x that of Earth’s. On the other, moons like Callisto experience as little as 0.126g. There are plenty of moons and objects in the asteroid or Kuiper belts with lower gravity, but you wouldn’t want to stand on them while fighting.

Gravity alters the distances units can jump and the speed at which LAS-Wing units can fly. Intrasolar Ops represents gravity in four categories: Heavy, Standard, Low, and Very Low. The table below summarizes the effects of each. Numbers in parenthesis indicate how far a unit can jump without Jump Jets.

When operating units in Heavy Gravity, their movement is reduced by 1” and their Jump movement is halved. LAS-Wing Attack and Transport units also have their movement halved to 6”. Jupiter has Heavy Gravity. 

Normal Gravity represents the normal rules of Steel Rift and applies to any world that possesses between 0.70g and 1.30g. This includes Neptune (1.137g), Saturn (1.065g), Earth (1.0g), Venus (0.905g), and Uranus (0.886g). 

Low Gravity covers between 0.35g and 0.69g. In Low Gravity, HE-V jump distance and LAS-Wing flight speed is increased by 2. Additionally, any unit that could mount Jump Jets may take the Jump action even without the upgrade but at reduced distances (see table). Mercury (0.377g) and Mars (0.379g) have Low Gravity.

Very Low Gravity covers between 0.1g and 0.2g. In Very Low Gravity, HE-V jump distance and LAS-Wing flight speed is increased by 4. As with Low Gravity, HE-Vs without Jump Jets may take the Jump action. Also, Infantry gain Jump 1”. Luna (0.165g), Io (0.183g), Ganymede (0.146g), Europa (0.134g), Callisto (0.126g), and Titan (0.138g) have Very Low Gravity.

Many places in our solar system have far less than even these levels of gravity, many of which might still hold long-term colonies or mining operations. Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons, may well have a subsurface ocean ideal for protection from the dangers of space. However, it experiences 0.0116g.

Admittedly, Intrasolar Ops is far from realistic, but worlds like these felt like a bit of a stretch. If you would like to run games on these tiny worlds, you still can! The two largest worlds below the cut-off are Triton (0.0794g) and Eris (0.0840g).

Most of the solar system is pleasantly survivable where radiation is concerned. However, a few moons receive enough to be of note and one in particular receives a tremendous excess. There are four levels of Radiation Hazard: Safe, Hazardous, Very Hazardous, and Extreme.

Safe has no special rules associated with it. Intrasolar Ops counts any world experiencing fewer than 3 mSv/day as safe. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Luna, Mars, Jupiter, Callisto, Saturn, Titan, Uranus, and Neptune are Safe. 

Keep in mind, just because a world counts as “Safe” under these rules doesn’t mean it’s an amount of radiation you’d enjoy. Just that it’s not serious enough to merit immediate gameplay consequences. 

Between 4 and 100 mSv counts as Hazardous. Infantry and light vehicles cannot be selected as on-table support assets because the radiation would prove fatal. Ganymede is Hazardous. 

Anything between 100 and 30,000 mSv is Very Hazardous. Only Ultra-Light HE-Vs and HE-Vs are available on Very Hazardous worlds. Europa is Very Hazardous. 

At Extreme, radiation levels are so severe that they interfere with equipment. In these conditions, Target Designators do not work, weapons cannot use the Smart trait, and Mine Drones must roll a 4+ each turn to avoid detonating prematurely. Only Io has Extreme Radiation.

Space is extreme, and the comfortable temperature ranges of Earth are far from common. Many worlds, owing to their distance from the sun, are painfully frigid. Others, like Mercury, can have both extreme heat and cold just a few meters apart owing to their airless conditions.

Temperatures between -99°C and 49° are considered moderate and have no gameplay effect. Worlds that fall mostly between these temperatures are Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter.

Temperatures between 50° and 199° are High Heat. Units that start and end their turn exposed to High Heat receive a Redline Marker. Earth and Luna have High Heat.

Temperatures in excess of 200°C are considered Extreme Heat and can immediately cause damage to any unit, even HE-Vs. When infantry or light units are exposed to these temperatures, they take one Damage. When any other unit starts and ends a turn exposed to Extreme Heat, it must make a roll to avoid damage. The target number for this starts at 3+ at 200°C and increases by 1 for every 50°C. At 400°C and above, the damage is unavoidable. In either case, the unit receives a Redline Marker as with High Heat. Mercury experiences Extreme Heat.

Temperatures between -100° and -149° are Cold. Units that start and end their turn exposed to Cold temperatures may ignore the first point of Damage caused by Redline Markers that turn. Worlds that can experience Cold Temperatures include the Moon, Mars, Io, Callisto, and Saturn. 

Temperatures of -150° and below are Extreme Cold. In addition to the effects of Cold, units that start and end their turn in Extreme Cold suffer a -1 to all Defense Rolls. When infantry or light units are exposed to Extreme Cold, they take one Damage. Worlds that can experience Extreme Cold include Mercury, Ganymede, Europa, Titan, Uranus, and Neptune.

Every world in the solar system is different, has its own quirks and oddities that don’t fall into the first four categories or that aren’t as consistent across the world. These special rules often require cardinal directions. When setting up the board, assign north to a direction.

These are always optional, and should be considered like weather effects. They can be applied based on random chance or agreement between players, but none are required.

In some atmospheres, acidic compounds can evaporate and travel through the sky like clouds or fog do on Earth. On a map under the effects of Acid Clouds, roll a d6 to select a direction (1: north, 2-3: east, 4-5: west, 6: south). Roll another d6 and multiply the result by 5. Count that many inches in from the left side of the selected map edge and place an Acid Cloud marker. At the end of each turn, Acid Cloud tokens move the token 7 inches towards the opposite edge. Each turn, place a new token on the same map edge (roll d6 x 5 again).

Units that are within 6 inches of an Acid Cloud token and have no armor remaining take 1 Structure Damage.

Engage orders with line of sight exceeding 10” to their target are treated as Covering terrain. Rocket and Missile weapons gain Short (18”).

Battles that take place on Floating Platforms should include an amount of empty terrain. Empty terrain does not block line of sight, jump, or flight movement. It’s a hole in the ground that goes all the way down. Any ground-based unit that ends its movement on empty terrain or is pushed into it instantly dies. 

Active Lava flows apply Extreme Heat (1,200°C) to units that end their movement on it; this deals 3 damage and a Redline token.  Units that cross Lava during their movement suffer Extreme Heat (400°C).

Roll 1d6 and multiply by 5. Measure that many inches from the western edge of the board. Repeat this for the northern edge. Lightning strikes this point. Resolve this as an Orbital Laser. 

Magnetic Storms occur when intense solar winds cause the magnetosphere of a planet to bend and intersect the surface of the planet, dumping huge volumes of radiation into the points of intersection.

At the end of each round roll to place a Magnetic Storm marker. Roll 1d6 to select a direction. Use a hex base or a scatter template where direction 1 is oriented to face north. Roll 2d6 to determine the number of inches. Measure that many inches along the direction selected from the center of the board and place a Magnetic Storm marker.

When you would place a new Magnetic Storm marker, inflict a Redline Marker on all units within 5 inches of the marker.

Roll 1d6 and multiply by 5. Measure that many inches from the western edge of the board. Repeat this for the northern edge. A meteor strikes this point. Resolve this as a Mass Driver. 

Precipitation covers rain, snow (of all kinds), and ash. Engage orders with line of sight exceeding 10” to their target are treated as Covering terrain.

At the end of each round roll to place a Quake marker. Roll 1d6 to select a direction. Use a hex base or a scatter template where direction 1 is oriented to face north. Roll 2d6 to determine the number of inches. Measure that many inches along the direction selected from the center of the board and place a Quake marker. All units within 5” of the Quake marker receive a Stagger token.

Loose sand, melting ice, and any other terrain prone to tripping or sinking hazards can be represented with Unstable Terrain. Moving over Unstable Terrain requires a roll with the same save numbers as a Defense Roll. On a failed roll, movement ends immediately and the unit receives a Stagger token. 

Howitzers, Rocket and Missile weapons receive the Short (X”) trait based on the intensity of the winds. High Winds apply Short (18”), Very High Winds apply Short (12”). Extreme Winds apply (Short 8”).

This is something I’ve been working on for a good while now, if you can’t see from all this! I do think the Special conditions are the most hit-or-miss category of the group, with some being messier than others. But overall I think they work, even if some could be better. In part 2, I’ll share some of what I’ve come up with for the worlds of our solar system! Complete with a bit of fan fic backstories.

The Intrasolar Operations banner uses the following image:

Image title: As iau0601a but without annotations.
Credit/Provider: The International Astronomical Union/Martin Kornmesser
Short title: The new Solar System? [unannotated]
Date and time of data generation: 16:22, 16 August 2006