DeltaVee (1981)

Ares Magazine #9. Delta Vee is a tactical simulation of combat among spaceships in the 24th Century. The game is intended for two players, although more may participate in scenarios devised by the players. Each hex on the Delta Vee game maps represents a volume 20,000 kilometers in diameter. The game uses a two-dimensional movement system; the “plane” of the playing area represents the ecliptic of the star system in which each battle occurs. Each Game-Turn represents 15 minutes.

During play, each player moves one or more spaceships about the game-map using a maneuver system that abstractly simulates the laws of Newtonian motion. Each spaceship is composed of a hull with a varying number of attached pods. Each pod represents a system that improves the ship’s capabilities in combat, movement, and/or some other aspect of spaceship operations.

Each player controls his spaceships by issuing Maneuver Commands (so that the ship may alter its velocity or direction of movement) and Battle Commands (so that weapons and other systems aboard the ship may be prepared for use). A spaceship’s combat abilities include laser fire, particle fire, four types of missiles, and battle craft (two man fighter craft launched from larger ships). The attributes of each spaceship are recorded on a Spaceship Log before beginning play. During the game, energy expended, missiles launched, and damage incurred by the ship are recorded on the ship’s log.

Delta Vee is the tactical space combat system for SPI’s science fiction role-playing game, Universe. Although there is little open warfare in the vast human interstellar empire of the 24th Century (contact with another space-faring race has yet to be established), there are many types of illegal ship traffic and disputes among self-governing worlds. These types of small conflicts form the background for the scenarios in Delta Vee.