Space Wargame: Silent Fury

I have been looking around for unique rules on spaceship combat, and in my search I found a system that takes a unique approach to Newtonian physics. <a href="http://silent-fury.com/">Silent Fury</a> uses chips to count momentum and velocity. Basically, a chip trails behind a spaceship, and during movement the chip &quot;leap-frogs&quot; ahead of the ship (as noted <a href="http://silent-fury.com/?p=185">here</a&gt;). Even if the ship turns around, the built-up momentum will still slingshot the ship to its original heading. There is also a method to keep the action going even when ships go out of bounds (a typical annoyance with game of this sort, and yes this is good to have, as ships jump around it this game). And this is all accomplished without the annoying paperwork!<br />

<br />It also a neat rule for boarding action. Basically, the ship is divided into components like a flowchart. Personnel (crew, marines, medics, robots, and such) may occupy and move between components, and each component represent one of the ship's systems (Engine, Weapon Battery, Cargo Hold, Bridge, and so on). Enemy troops enter the ship, and they must fight their way to the bridge to take control of it (it looks like <a href="http://silent-fury.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/boarding_action.jpg">…;).<br />

<br />Unlike most games, this forgoes hit (hull/structure) points for damage effects to the components. Crew serves as damage-control - moving around to fix damaged areas as needed - and ships would more likely to get crippled then get destroyed outright, which also gives it a more WWII naval battle feel (as noted <a href="http://silent-fury.com/?p=444">here</a&gt;). It differently offers a lot to role-playing, as the players can easily operate a ship from the inside, without the wargame rules dragging down the rest of the game.<br />

<br />The rules are still in the play-test/beta rules phase, and is available for free in that format. They have yet to release the full version.<br />

<br />This game is worth checking out - if for its unique ideas.