Belter: Mining the Asteroids, 2076 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1. Game Components
• 2. Turn Sequence
• 3. Initiative
• 4. Movement
• 5. Combat
• 6. Maintenance and Upkeep
• 7. Prospecting and Mining
• 8. The Market
• 9. Immigration and Hired Help
• 10. Dedicated Personnel
• 11. Transfers
• 12. Rescues and Prisoners
• 13. Purchasing Equipment
• 14. Special Regions
• 15. Ship Capacities
• 16. Smelting
• 17. Contra-Terrene Matter Special Rules
• 18. Combat Between Installations
• 19. Starting the Game
• 20. Victory
• Advanced Game
  • 1. PKF Units
  • 2. The PKF Budget
  • 3. PKF Goals
  • 4. The Naval Ore Reserve
  • 5. The Planetoid Defenses
  • 6. Government Records of Purchases
  • 7. The Revolt of the Belt
  • 8. PKF Regrouping
  • 9. Arms Embargo
• Optional Rules
  • 1. Pre-Planned Fuel
  • 2. Bank Financing
  • 3. Variable PKF Victory
• Charts and Tables
  • Prospecting Tables
  • Fire Combat Tables
  • Melee Combat Results Table
  • Labor Relations Table
  • Ship Capacities Chart
  • Equipment Chart
  • Capacities and Costs Table
  • Salary and Maintenance Table

1. Game Components

Belter includes the following items as game components:

The Map: A single map sheet (22 by 28 inches) shows a small area of the Asteroid Belt. Centered in it are three large planetoids (Juno, Haven, and Marketplace). Farther out lie many uninvestigated asteroids, prime targets for prospecting and exploitation.

The map itself is a hexagonal grid which serves to define location and assists in the evaluation of distance. Specific hexagonal cells (called hexes) are defined by their printed contents.

Clear Space: The predominant number of hexes on the map are clear space, and represent the stark vacuum of the Belt. Normally, ships move through such hexes, but clear space hexes are of no value except to indicate distance.

Asteroids: Three types of asteroids are represented on the map: ore bearing asteroids (colored green), frozen gas asteroids (colored white), and rock asteroids (colored orange). There are approximately seventy of each type on the map.

Planetoids: The three planetoids represent small worlds with extensive installations and sizeable populations (by the standards of the Belt). Thus, they serve as supply centers for the purchase of goods and the hiring of personnel. Additionally, all ore and gas are sold at Marketplace.

Area Boundaries: Three separate areas are delineated by boundaries on the map: the Contra-Terrene Development Area, the Magnetic Sling Channel, and Naval Ore Reserve No. 3. These areas will be described in later rules.

Each hex bears a unique number which can be used to record the location of units on the map for records, movement plots, or game descriptions.

The Counters: Two sheets of 240 die-cut counters are included in the game. The counters represent ships, installations, and personnel which will be used in the game. Each counter bears a silhouette showing the type of unit it represents, a statement of its type, and an identifying letter or number group.

There are a total of twelve distinct types of units in the game: three types of ships (seekers, carriers, and patrol ships), five types of personnel (leaders, crews, workers, thugs, and troops), and four types of installations (bases, smelters, mines, and contra-terrene mines). Contra-terrene mines differ from regular mines in that they have a black dot in the upper right corner of the counter.

Counters are color coded to represent two general categories of units: dedicated units and hired units. Dedicated ships and installations represent actual purchases, while dedicated personnel represent key staffers of high loyalty. All hired units are personnel hired by players to carry out specific tasks in the game.

The Rules: This rules booklet details how Belter is played and contains charts useful in the course of the game.

Dice: One six-sided die is included with Belter. It is used in consulting the combat charts. Belter is not a game of chance, but use of the die as a randomizer reduces the ability of the individual players to predict with absolute certainty.

Other Required Materials: In order to play Belter, certain other materials are also required. As the game calls for considerable bookkeeping, each player will need pencil and paper with which to record income, expenses, and other information.

2. Turn Sequence

Belter is played in a series of turns and phases. One game-turn consists of a preliminary phase, several player-turns, and a market phase. The number of player-turns is dependent on the number of players (up to four in the basic game, and five in the advanced game).

Preliminary Phase: Players first determine the order of movement (see Rule 3, Initiative). Immigrants are then added to the labor pool (see Rule 9, Immigration).

Player-Turns: Each player-turn is divided into five phases.

1. Ore Production: Each of the phasing player's operational mines produces ore or gas, as detailed in Rule 7, Prospecting and Mining.
2. Cargo Loading: All stationary ships belonging to the phasing player may load cargo at their present location.
3. Movement: The phasing player may move any or all of his ships as allowed under the provisions of Rule 4, Movement.
4. Combat: Combat is resolved if any combat results from movement. Combat is always conducted at the option of the phasing player. Combat resolution is discussed in Rule 5, Combat.
5. Cargo Off-Loading: The phasing player may off-load cargo from any stationary ship. The conditions under which a ship is stationary are described in Rule 4, Movement.

Market Phase: All players with ore or gas on Marketplace may sell it. Players with units on any planetoid may purchase ships, installations, and additional equipment, and may hire personnel at that planetoid.

At the conclusion of the Market Phase, the game turn is completed. Each game turn represents the passage of one week.

3. Initiative

The order in which players move can greatly affect their fortunes. Players moving later have the advantage of knowing what courses of action the other players are committing themselves to (especially in respect to the ore and gas market) while players moving first have an advantage in reaching certain locations first.

The initiative indicates the order in which players move. During the preliminary phase of each turn, each player rolls a die. The player with the highest die roll moves first, the second highest moves second, etc. Ties are broken with an additional roll of the die.

Bribes: Well-placed bribes with officials give players inside information which can give them an advantage in terms of gaining or avoiding the initiative. Bribes are recorded secretly and simultaneously revealed. The player who pays the largest bribe receives a favorable die roll modification of 1, either added to or subtracted from his die roll (and tie-breaking die rolls) at his option. The die roll modification may be made after the die rolls are seen. Bribes must be offered in increments of 100 credits. Regardless of who offers the highest bribe, all players who offer bribes must pay for them.

4. Movement

In the course of play, players will move units to obtain various objectives. Only manned ships may move by themselves. Personnel units and installations may be transported by manned ships but may not move by themselves. Unmanned ships may not move at all. A ship is manned if it has at least one crew present aboard it; in addition, a seeker is manned if it has either one crew or one leader aboard it.

A. Patrol Ship Movement: Equipped with constant 0.5G thrust fusion engine, a patrol ship may move from any one hex to any other hex on the board in one turn. Movement of a patrol ship requires the expenditure of 500 credits for fuel.

B. Seeker and Carrier Movement: Equipped with low thrust chemical drives, seekers and carriers are considerably slower than patrol ships. Each seeker or carrier may engage in one of two types of movement each turn: maneuver movement or coasting movement.

1. Maneuver Movement: When conducting maneuver movement, each seeker has six movement points to expend, and each carrier has four movement points to expend. These movement points can be expended either to change facing or to enter hexes, or as a combination of the two. To change facing from a hex vertex to the adjacent hex side, or vice versa, requires the expenditure of one movement point. A ship may change facing by as much as desired up to the limits of the available movement points. To enter a hex toward which the ship is facing (see the facing rule below) requires the expenditure of one-half (½) movement point. At the conclusion of a turn of maneuver movement, a ship may be declared stationary. Stationary ships may not use coasting movement in their next movement phase (and thus must either remain stationary or use maneuver movement). Use of maneuver movement by a ship requires the expenditure of 100 credits for fuel.

2. Coasting Movement: Each ship using coasting movement must move exactly six hexes in its facing direction. Coasting movement does not require any expenditure for fuel.

C. Facing: Seekers and carriers which are not stationary must be faced in one of twelve directions; either toward one of the six hex sides or one of the six hex vertexes of its hexagon. If faced toward a hex side, the ship moves in a line of hexes straight ahead until it changes facing. Ships facing toward a hex vertex move in a line of alternating right and left hexes (see the diagrams below). If facing toward a hex vertex, the moving player may decide whether to move to the right or to the left initially, but every hex thereafter must be to the alternating directions.

Ships which are stationary may alter their facing in any desired direction free of movement point cost at the beginning of their next maneuver movement.

D. Matching Courses: If a ship belonging to the phasing player ends the movement phase in a hex with any other ship, it is said to have matched course with it, provided that:

1. the phasing player's ship is in the same facing direction as the second ship, and
2. the phasing player's ship is a patrol ship, or it executed maneuver movement in that phase.

Matching courses is a prerequisite for combat and for cargo transfer. Combat is conducted in the combat phase, as explained below. Cargo transfer is conducted in the cargo off-loading phase and is explained in Rule 11, Transfers.

5. Combat

Each player may initiate combat during his combat phase, provided combat is possible. There are two types of combat: fire and melee.

A. Fire Combat: Fire combat takes place between two or more ships of opposing players, between the ships of one player and the installations of another, or in any combination of the above. Fire combat may take place at the option of the phasing player: fire combat is never mandatory. In order to initiate fire combat against an enemy ship, the phasing player must have matched course with it. In order to initiate fire combat against an enemy installation, the phasing player must be stationary in the hex occupied by the enemy installation. Note that there are several instances in which the phasing player will be able to initiate combat against only one of several enemy units in the hex. For example, an enemy player has two ships in an asteroid hex also containing an installation. Neither enemy ship is stationary, and both are faced in different directions. In order to initiate combat against all three, the phasing player would need to have at least three separate ships in the hex (and each combat would be treated separately, as if they were in different hexes).

Fire combat consists of ranged heavy weapons firing at the ships and/or the installations of the opponent. Fire combat takes place only between units in the same hex that have met the criteria for combat initiation; both the phasing player's units and the opponent's units fire.

Fire combat proceeds in a series of firing rounds. Each firing round consists of three steps: range determination, beam fire, and missile fire.

1. Range Determination: There are two possible ranges: long range and short range. The first firing round of a combat always takes place at long range. The range of each firing round after that is determined by the player having the unit which is least unmaneuverable. The order of unmaneuverability is installation, carrier, seeker, and patrol ship. Thus, if one player had an installation, and the other did not, then the player without the installation would determine the range.

If the least maneuverable ship in both sides' forces is identical, the player with the most maneuverable ship determines the range. If the most maneuverable ships of both sides are identical, the player with the greatest number of ships of that type determines the range. For example, one player has one seeker while the other player has two seekers. The player with two seekers determines the range. Failing any of the above means of determining range, both sides roll a die. The player with the high die roll determines the range.

Range affects combat by reducing the effectiveness of beam attacks as detailed below.

2. Beam Attacks: All beam attacks are conducted before any missile attacks. Three types of beam weapons are available: mining lasers, combat lasers, and particle accelerators. Mining lasers are standard equipment on seekers. Combat lasers may be purchased and installed on ships and installations. Particle accelerators may be purchased and installed only on installations. Each ship and installation may fire each beam weapon once during beam combat. Each beam fire is directed at a single enemy ship or installation. A unit with more than one beam weapon may fire each weapon once per round and may fire at different targets or at the same target. All beam attacks must be declared before any are resolved. Beam attacks are then resolved in any order desired. All such attacks are considered to be simultaneous and do not affect the targets until after all beam attacks have been resolved.

3. Missile Attacks: After resolution of beam attacks, units may conduct missile attacks. Units which have had their missiles disabled or destroyed may not conduct attacks, nor may targets which have been destroyed.

Any unit which has beam weapons which did not fire during the Beam Attack stage of the firing round may use them in an anti-missile role. Use of such weapons will modify the probability of hitting the target. Missile fire is conducted in the same manner as described above for beam fire. One attack may be made by each missile rack.

4. Fire Combat Resolution: Each attack is resolved in two steps: a hit determination step and a damage assessment step. Hit determination is performed using the hit table. Locate the column of the table corresponding to the target type, roll one die, apply any appropriate die roll modifiers to the die roll, and note the result.

When firing beams, the die will be modified by +2 if firing at long range. When firing missiles, the die roll will be modified by +1 if the target has a mining laser in the anti-missile role, by +2 if the target has a combat laser in the anti-missile role, and by +3 if the target has a particle accelerator in the anti-missile role. Each such weapon functioning in the anti-missile role may only affect one missile attack. Thus, if an installation had a particle accelerator in the anti-missile role, and was subjected to two missile attacks, one would be conducted at +3 and the other would be conducted normally. Each missile attack may only be affected by one beam weapon in the anti-missile role.

Results on the hit table read out as hits and misses. In the event of a miss, the attack has no effect. In the event of a hit, players proceed to the damage assessment step.

Damage assessment is resolved on the damage table. Locate the correct column corresponding to the weapon which achieved the hit, roll one die, and note the result. There are no die roll modifications to the damage assessment table.

There are a total of nine different types of results on the table, up to three of which may result from a single hit. When multiple results appear, all are implemented. If a result appears which does not apply to the unit (for instance, disabling the beam weapons of a ship which has none) that particular result has no effect. The following is an explanation of the various combat results.

• H: Hulled. The target unit has lost pressure. Melee combat odds during this player-turn in this unit are raised one odds column higher than computed (due to increased likelihood of casualties from breaking vacuum suit integrity).
• MD: Missiles Disabled. One missile rack on the target is disabled. If all missile racks on the target are already disabled, then one of them is destroyed. Disabled missile racks may not fire for the remainder of the current combat phase. Following the end of the current player-turn, they may be repaired according to the repair procedures outlined in Rule 6, Maintenance and Upkeep. Disabled missile racks which have not been repaired may not be used.
• BD: Beam Disabled. This result is the same as the MD result, but applies to beam weapons. If several types of beams are present at the target, the firing player chooses which one suffers the result.
• MX: Missile Destroyed. One missile rack is destroyed. Destroyed missile racks may not be repaired, but may be replaced by new purchases. The MX result is applied to an operational missile rack if one is present on the target.
• BX: Beam Destroyed. This result is the same as the MX result, but is applied to beam weapons.
• DD: Drives Disabled. The ship's drives have been put out of action. The ship may not conduct maneuver movement until they have been repaired as outlined in Rule 6, Maintenance and Upkeep. If the ship is stationary, it will remain stationary; if the ship is non-stationary, it will conduct coasting movement until it either repairs its drives or exits the map. Units which exit the map are eliminated. The DD result has no effect on installations.
• DX: Drives Destroyed. The drives are permanently out of action and may not be repaired. If stationary, the ship will remain so for the rest of the game; if non-stationary, the ship will conduct coasting movement until it exits the map. The DX result has no effect on installations.

2. Effects of Fire Combat: Once a ship has landed on an enemy asteroid or boarded an enemy ship, other enemy units may not fire at the landed/boarding ship due to its close proximity to friendly units. Landings and boardings may take place during fire combat and proceed simultaneously with them.

3. Procedure: Melee proceeds in a series of melee rounds. One melee round is conducted after every firing round. In each melee, the player who initiated the melee is the attacker. Note that the non-phasing player may be the melee attacker if he can meet the preconditions for melee.

Only personnel units may participate in melee combat. Each personnel unit has a melee value equal to the number of figure silhouettes on it (leaders = 1, crews = 2, workers = 3, thugs = 4, and troops = 5). Each melee round consists of two steps. First, the attacker attacks defending personnel units. Next, the surviving defending personnel units counter-attack the attacking personnel units. Each personnel unit is attacked individually by at least one enemy unit. All enemy personnel units must be attacked, if possible. After each enemy personnel unit has had at least one friendly personnel unit assigned to attack it, excess friendly personnel units may be assigned to gang up on one or more of the enemy personnel units in order to gain better odds. Each attack, however, is against only one counter.

After the attacker conducts his attacks, the defender may counter-attack with each of his surviving personnel units (exception: see Hard Pressed combat result). Each such counter-attack is directed at one of the attacking units committed to attack the defending unit.

Leaders form a special case. Leaders may be attached to any other personnel unit and add their melee value to that unit as if they were an integral part of it. Thus, leaders may never be attacked alone so long as there is at least one other friendly unit surviving. Any number of leaders may be attached to a single friendly unit, but never to other leaders.

At the beginning of each new melee round, the attacker may reallocate his attacking units, either adding units to an attack or moving them to attack a defending unit which has eliminated its adversary. This reallocation must be done to ensure that each defending unit has at least one attacker meleeing it (again, to the extent that is possible).

If there are insufficient units to assign one to each defending unit, the excess defending units need not be attacked, but their owning player may assign them to assist other defending units in their counter-attacks.

4. Melee Resolution: Total the melee factors of the attacking (or counter-attacking) units and compare this total to the melee factor of the enemy unit. Reduce this comparison to one of the simple odds ratios shown on the melee table. If rounding off is necessary, round down. If the melee is fought in a ship or installation that has been Hulled (see fire combat above), then raise the odds by one column (a 1.5:1 becomes a 2:1, etc.). Roll a die and note the result. One of four melee combat results appears.

• HP: Hard Pressed. The unit against which the attack or counter-attack was directed is hard pressed and as a result may not attack (or counter-attack, whichever is appropriate) at its next scheduled opportunity to do so.
• EX: Exchange. The unit against which the attack or counter-attack was directed is eliminated; it is removed from play. The attacking/counter-attacking player must remove units which participated in the melee which at least equal the melee factor of the eliminated unit. Exception: If this second part of the exchange result would force the elimination of one or more leaders, then the player may choose not to let them be eliminated. The player may always choose to allow their elimination rather than lose other personnel.
• K: Killed. The unit against which the attack/counter-attack was directed has fallen in combat and is eliminated.
• S: Surrender. Overpowered by weight of numbers, the unit against which the attack/counter-attack was directed gives up and is taken prisoner.

C. Termination of Combat: Combat may be terminated in one of four ways.

1. Escape: A player may, at any time, attempt to escape from combat. Only ships with operational drives may attempt escape; furthermore, ships boarded by enemy personnel may not. Not all of a player's ships need attempt to escape. For example, if one ship has suffered serious casualties and has had all of its weapons destroyed or disabled, it may attempt to escape without obligating other friendly ships in the hex to do so. A ship which escapes may only be attacked by ships which pursue it. Any ships which do pursue the escapee may no longer fire at non-escaping ships. A ship may only pursue an escaping ship which is equally or less maneuverable than itself. Carriers, for example, may not pursue seekers. Pursuing ships may then continue the battle with the escaping ship.

If several ships of the defender escape at the same time, they may attempt to escape in one group, or several groups, or separately for each group or individual escaping ship. Pursuit is determined individually. Each group is assumed to have the maneuverability of the least maneuverable ship in the group.

2. Elimination: If there are no more units of one player or another in the hex, then combat ceases for want of targets.

3. Unilateral Declaration: One player may unilaterally declare combat to be over if the other side has had all of its fire combat weapons either destroyed or disabled and there are no melees in progress. In this case, the player who still has fire combat weapons could continue the battle indefinitely if desired, but under some circumstances may not desire to.

4. Mutual Agreement.

(The printed rulebook gives "Mutual Agreement" as the fourth termination method with no description beneath it. Checked against the page image; nothing is omitted here.)

6. Maintenance and Upkeep

Much of the equipment and assets which belters use require a continuing expenditure on maintenance in order to continue operations. Ultimately, maintenance will cost more than the original purchase price. Maintenance costs are paid each turn during the Market Phase.

All ships and installations require maintenance; purchased weapons do not.

If maintenance costs are not paid, equipment becomes unreliable. To take into account the effects of unreliability, roll the die once per turn for each item which is not maintained. The maintenance die roll is made in the Preliminary Phase. The first turn that an item goes without maintenance, it will break down on a roll of 6. If it is not maintained the next turn, it will break down on a roll of 5 or 6. The number required for a breakdown becomes one lower for each consecutive turn without maintenance. Once maintenance is paid, the item of equipment is reliable again, and no further rolls are made. If maintenance is withheld on the same item later, it begins the process over, breaking down on a roll of 6 on the first turn, 5 or 6 on the second turn, etc.

Once an item breaks down, it ceases to function until repaired. An installation stops work and may not fire any mounted weapons. A ship may no longer conduct maneuver movement, nor may it fire any mounted weapons. If a patrol ship, the ship is removed from play until the drives are repaired (see below). If a non-stationary seeker or carrier breaks down, it conducts coasting movement until the breakdown is repaired. If it is stationary, it remains stationary. If a broken-down seeker or carrier coasts off the map, it has met with a tragic accident and is removed from play permanently, along with its cargo and all personnel units on board.

Repairs: Installations may only be repaired by a worker personnel unit. Repairs take from 1 to 6 game turns. Roll one die to determine the length of time required to repair the malfunction. The die roll also indicates the seriousness of the malfunction, and thus the expense of the repair. Multiply the die roll by 5 and the result is the percentage of the original purchase price of the equipment that the repair costs. For example, on a die roll of 3, the repair would take 3 turns and would require an expenditure of 15% of the purchase price of the installation before it could resume operations.

Ship breakdowns are repaired similarly, except that the die roll is halved, rounding fractions up, when determining the time required to make the repair, and ship repairs are normally done by the crew unit instead of by worker units. The die roll is not halved for purposes of calculating expense.

Ship breakdowns may also be repaired by leaders in the absence of a crew unit, but such repairs take longer. Do not halve the die roll for time required.

Additional personnel units of the correct type present at the installation, or aboard the ship may assist in the repairs and thus reduce the time required to complete them. For each additional personnel unit of the correct type present, reduce the time required to make the repair by one turn. The time required may not be reduced to less than one turn. Reducing the time required to make the repairs does not affect the cost of the repairs.

7. Prospecting and Mining

Belters get money by finding, mining, transporting, and selling mineral ore and gases.

A. Prospecting: The initial stage of income procurement is prospecting for the natural wealth scattered among the asteroids. Initially, this distribution is unknown, and must be discovered. There are three types of asteroids on the map: metal, rock, and frozen gas. Metal and rock asteroids may produce either metal ore or Contra-Terrene (CT) shards. Frozen gas asteroids may produce gas only.

A player may prospect by moving a seeker or patrol ship into a hex containing an asteroid. If a seeker is used, it must be executing maneuver movement and must become stationary at the end of its movement phase.

Prospecting is done during a player's off-loading phase, and is accomplished by rolling the die twice: once for richness, and once for extensiveness. Richness indicates how many units of saleable material may be extracted per mine on the asteroid; extensiveness indicates how many mines the asteroid may support. Units are a common expression for the output of mines and represent one ton of metal or frozen gas, or about 0.01 tons of CT. Richness and extensiveness tables for the various asteroid types are found in the chart set. Results on the richness table range from none (no usable ore or gas present) to pure (mines produce 30 units per turn). In the event of a "none" result, there is no need to roll on the extensiveness table. Results on the extensiveness table range from one mine to four mines, each producing at the rate stated in the richness roll.

If a richness roll indicating "trace" is rolled on either a metal or a rock asteroid, roll one die again. On a roll of 6, the asteroid is a CT shard. The extensiveness roll need not be made. One CT mine may be built on (near, actually) it which will extract one unit of CT each turn.

The results of each prospecting attempt should be noted on a piece of paper and may be, but need not be, revealed to other players. When another player prospects in the hex, he does not roll the dice, but instead must be told the result of the previous prospecting attempt. Note that the prospecting rolls come after the combat phase, and thus opposing players can be prevented from prospecting if desired (and if the means to do so are at hand).

B. Mining: An asteroid containing ore, frozen gas, or CT shards may be mined, and the material later sold for a profit. Two methods of mining are possible.

1. Manual Mining: A player may place a manned ship and a worker unit on an asteroid and they may produce one tenth of the richness rating per turn. Up to one worker unit per vein may be used in this way, provided the personnel capacity of the ship is not exceeded (see Rule 15, Ship Capacities). The ship is required to provide life support for the worker unit(s). Thus, one worker unit mining a poor metal asteroid could produce 1/2 ton of ore per week. A leader counter or a thug counter is treated as a full work crew for the purposes of manual mining.

2. Installation Mining: A player may purchase a mining installation and transport it to an asteroid. Once landed, the mine will produce the richness rating of the asteroid each turn. As many mines may be placed on the asteroid as the extensiveness rating allows. Although extensively automated, a mine requires some supervision and attendance, and at least one worker unit must be present on an asteroid containing a mine. One worker unit is sufficient to attend to all of the mines on an asteroid. The mine itself provides life support for the workers.

CT mining may only be carried out by special CT mining installations. Each player has one such mine in his countermix. CT may not be manually mined.

Mines and crews produce their quotas of ore, gas, or CT in the production phase.

C. Transporting Output: The turn sequence makes provision for the loading and off-loading of ships. This is the only time that ore, gas, and CT may be off-loaded or loaded, except as noted in Rule 11, Transfers.

When a ship is loaded, the number of units loaded should be noted on a slip of paper and subtracted from the total units of ore, gas, or CT stored at the mine. Ships have a limited hauling capacity (see Rule 15, Ship Capacities), and this capacity may not be exceeded.

8. The Market

The primary source of income for belters is the sale of ore and gas at Marketplace. There is a fluctuating price for ore and gas based on how much is supplied to the market. All sales occur at the same time (during the Market Phase in a turn). All players who have off-loaded ore or gas at Marketplace may sell it.

A. Initial Prices: The initial price for both gas and ore is 100 credits per unit. Prices for ore and gas fluctuate differently depending on the amount of each substance delivered to market.

B. Price Changes: The prices of ore and gas will change virtually every turn, and it is therefore necessary to record them on a piece of paper. At the beginning of each market phase, one die is rolled for the ore market and once again for the gas market. For each 100 units (or fraction thereof) of ore or gas sold, the appropriate die roll is reduced by 1 (possibly resulting in a negative number). The result is added to the current market values. The new market price is thus established. The ore and gas sold at market that market phase are sold for the new market price.

For example, the current price for ore is 175 credits per unit while the current price for gas is 200 credits per unit. Three players offer for sale a total of 400 units of ore and 150 units of gas. The roll for the ore price is a 2. Since 400 tons of ore were offered for sale, the die roll is reduced by 4, leaving a modified die roll of -1. The price of ore drops from 175 credits per unit to 174 credits per unit, which is the price that the players will receive for their ore. The die roll for gas is a 3. Since 150 units of gas were delivered, the die roll is reduced by 2, giving a modified die roll of 1. The price of gas goes from 200 credits per unit to 201 credits per unit.

The market price for CT does not vary, and CT is not sold at Marketplace. See Rule 17, Special CT Rules.

9. Immigration and Hired Help

The personnel units printed black on white represent immigrants to the Belt who come in search of employment. Players may hire personnel units from the central labor pool to man ships, extract ore, gas and CT, and engage in less reputable acts.

A. Immigration: At the beginning of the game, all black-on-white units (hereafter referred to as the labor pool) are placed face down and randomly jumbled. From the total mix of units, 10 counters are drawn and placed face up in a convenient central location. These units constitute the initial labor pool.

During the preliminary phase of each turn after the first, new immigrants may be added to the labor pool. One new immigrant unit is added for each one credit increase in the price of ore or gas, whichever is greater. Thus, if the price of ore rose 2 credits, and the price of gas rose by 5 credits, then 5 new immigrant units would be added to the pool. The 5 new units are drawn at random from the supply of unused face-down counters. If neither price goes up, no new units are added. If one or both prices decline, then no new units are added, and none are subtracted.

Whenever labor pool units which have been hired by a player are eliminated, they are returned to the central supply of labor pool units for later possible re-entry into the game. The total supply of labor pool units is the absolute limit on the number of these units that can be in play at any one time.

B. Hiring: Players may hire units from the labor pool during the market phase. In order to hire units from the labor pool, a player must have at least one dedicated personnel unit in Marketplace. Since there is a limited number of units in the labor pool, it is possible to strategically thwart another player by hiring scarce personnel which he requires. All hiring takes place after ore and gas have been sold. Players hire labor pool units in the order of initiative determined in the preliminary phase.

Once hired, a labor pool unit must be paid a salary every turn, and must always be stacked with a unit of the player's color (either a ship, installation, or dedicated personnel unit). If, as a result of combat, the unit is not stacked with a unit of the player's color, it may not function in any way until a unit of the player's color is again stacked with it. If engaged in melee attack while not stacked with a unit of the player's color, the unit will automatically surrender.

C. Salaries: As indicated above, hired units from the labor pool must be paid a salary each turn. The salaries for the various units are listed on the Salary and Maintenance Chart.

Failure to pay salaries may result in work stoppages or labor disputes. Each turn during the Market Phase, roll one die once for each unpaid labor pool unit and consult the Labor Relations Table. Separate columns are provided for each of the four types of units. Five possible results are listed.

• No Effect: The unit continues to carry out its assigned task.
• Stop: The unit will stop working. Units will continue to perform maintenance, but work crews will not mine (or operate mining installations). Crews will return with their ships to Juno, and all units will refuse to participate in any melee attacks. If attacked by units of opposing players, they will function normally. They will return to work upon payment of all back salary.
• Strike: The unit will behave as indicated in Stop. In addition, units will cease performing maintenance on installations, and all units will prevent non-striking units which are weaker than they are from carrying out any tasks other than ship maintenance and return to Juno. Once on Juno, striking crews will no longer conduct maintenance on the ship they occupy and will not allow any other crew unit or leader to enter the ship until the dispute is settled. The dispute is settled (and all units return to work) when strikers are paid all back wages, plus one additional week's pay.
• Riot: The unit is actively destroying their employer's property in an effort to force payment of back salary. It behaves as if striking, but additionally will scatter (and thus effectively destroy for game purposes) ten units of already mined gas or ore per turn, if in either an installation storing ore or a ship carrying ore. In the absence of any ore or gas (or upon exhaustion of all supplies close at hand), they will begin to destroy installed weaponry, starting with the most expensive weapons first. Each rioting personnel unit will destroy one installed weapon per turn. They will return to work only upon payment of twice back salary (and amnesty for their actions).
• Quit: Only ship crews quit. When they do so, they will take the ship they are manning (if they are manning a ship) and return to Juno. They may not be rehired by that player again except at double salary and upon payment of twice back salary.

Roll on the Labor Relations Table once each turn for each personnel unit to whom salaries have not been paid. If the result for a crew is riot, strike, or quit, then it is not necessary to re-roll for that unit in later turns, as they have already quit, or will continue to strike or riot. Units involved in labor disputes will return to Juno using maneuver movement exclusively. The owning player must pay the bill.

10. Dedicated Personnel

Each player has a number of personnel units included in the counter mix; these are counters printed in the player's color scheme. Such units are referred to as dedicated personnel. Dedicated personnel need not be paid, will not take part in labor disputes (unless forced to by stronger labor pool units), and may be used to control hired units from the labor pool. They represent key personnel in the operation, tied to the player by loyalty as much as by thoughts of personal gain. Salaries are not necessary as it is assumed that they are retained on a profit-sharing plan (which has already been included in the sale price of ore, gas, and CT; thus not obligating the player to conduct any additional bookkeeping).

Players start off with a certain number of dedicated units, as indicated in Rule 19, Starting the Game. All other dedicated personnel units of a player are placed face-down at a convenient location.

For every third mine a player opens, he receives one additional dedicated personnel unit. Opening a mine is defined as deploying a mining installation on an asteroid (or near a CT shard). At the same time, players should keep a running total of the number of mines they have opened thus far. If a mine is lost, the next mine built is considered to be a replacement for that mine, and not a new mine. For example, a player has built six mines. He loses one through enemy action. Building another mine would be his sixth on the board at that time, and thus normally would entitle him to an additional dedicated personnel unit. However, by consulting his notes he sees that he has already reached the six mine level and received the unit allowed by the sixth mine. He would thus have to build three more new mines before receiving an additional unit.

11. Transfers

Personnel units, installed equipment, and cargos may be transferred from one ship to another during the movement phase. To do so, the two ships must be in matched courses. If a ship belonging to one player has matched courses with a ship of another player, and the other player's ship has been captured by melee and combat, cargo, equipment, and personnel may be transferred from the captured enemy ship to the friendly ship. Likewise, a crew unit may be transferred to a disabled or unmanned enemy ship to capture it and bring it into service for the friendly player. In this case, the enemy ship would be removed, and a counter of the correct color substituted.

12. Rescues and Prisoners

Personnel units stranded without life support must be rescued the turn they are stranded or they are eliminated. Any player may rescue stranded personnel units by matching course with them. (Personnel units which abandon a destroyed ship retain the facing of the ship.) Personnel units left on an asteroid after all friendly installations have been destroyed may be rescued by any ship landing on the asteroid.

A ship may not rescue a unit if the addition of the individuals in the unit to the total on-board crew would exceed the life support number of the ship.

If personnel units are rescued (or are captured by a surrender), the rescuing (capturing) player may do any one of four things to each captured or rescued unit.

1. Space Them: Take their vacuum suits away and shove them out the nearest air lock. Labor pool units return to the drawing pile of labor pool units which have not yet entered play. Dedicated units are removed from play permanently.
2. Hire Them: Labor pool units which have been captured or rescued will work for their new employer loyally at the same wage as for their former employer. Dedicated personnel may not be hired.
3. Ransom Them: The player from whom prisoners are captured may be willing to pay for their return. The price is any amount mutually agreed upon.
4. Return Them: Units may be returned to Juno or to any other appropriate location without fee or charge.

13. Purchasing Equipment

Equipment is purchased during the market phase in any order desired. As each player has his own counter mix, there is no particular advantage to going first or last. There are three types of equipment: ships, installations, and installed equipment. Ships and installations are represented by counters of the correct type. Costs to purchase ships and installations are listed on the Equipment Chart. Ships and installations both also require maintenance.

No counters are provided to represent installed equipment. Instead, all installed equipment is recorded on paper. Equipment may be installed in a ship or installation when the equipment is purchased (provided the ship or installation is on a planetoid at the time) or it may be carried to the desired unit and installed by a worker unit. Installed equipment does not require maintenance, but if the unit in which it is installed breaks down, it breaks down as well. Repairing installed equipment does not add to the time required to repair a unit; when the unit is repaired, the installed equipment is also operational again. Repair of broken down installed equipment does require the expenditure of money as detailed in Rule 6, Maintenance and Upkeep.

There are four items of installed equipment possible: military lasers, particle accelerators, missile racks, and CT storage bays. Each carrier and each seeker can have either one missile rack or one military laser installed. In the case of the seeker, this is in addition to its integral mining laser, not instead of it. Each patrol ship can have three lasers, three missile racks, or any combination of the two. Each installation can have an unlimited number of lasers, missile racks, and particle accelerators. Any ship may have CT storage bays installed. Each CT storage bay takes up one unit in the cargo hold and allows the transportation of one unit of CT. Only ships with CT storage bays may carry CT, and they may only carry as many units of CT as they have CT bays. No other cargo may be carried in the space occupied by a CT storage bay.

14. Special Regions

There are three special regions on the map: the magnetic sling channel, the Contra-Terrene Development Area, and Naval Ore Reserve No. 3.

A. The Magnetic Sling Channel: Each friendly movement phase during which a player's ship is in the magnetic sling channel, roll one die. On a roll of six, the ship is struck by an earth-bound ore package and suffers the effects of two missile hits. A ship is in the magnetic sling channel if it spends any or all of its movement in a sling channel hex. A sling channel hex is any hex in which the majority of the hex is within the sling channel boundaries.

B. Contra-Terrene Development Area: Players may pass through the CT Development Area at will. Landing, prospecting, and mining on any of the asteroids of the area is, however, considered to be trespassing. Any player who mines any asteroid of the CT Development Area is permanently barred from selling CT to the Development Project.

The CT Development Area itself is merely a research preserve, and has no greater or lesser chance of containing CT than any other asteroid. However, the asteroids of the CT Development Area are the only places where players may sell CT shards. The CT Development Project will purchase CT shards at the price of 10,000 credits each.

C. Naval Ore Reserve No. 3: Players may not voluntarily enter Naval Ore Reserve No. 3. Disabled ships which drift into the reserve are automatically repaired by the navy and sent on their way.

15. Ship Capacities

The Ship Capacity Chart lists ship capacities. Each ship has three separate capacities: hardpoints, life support, and cargo. One laser or missile rack may be mounted per hardpoint. One person may be carried per life support point. A unit contains the number of people equal to the number of silhouettes on the counter. Thus, a troop unit consists of five people. One unit of cargo may be carried per cargo point. Each unit of ore, frozen gas, or CT weighs one point. The weight of installed equipment carried for later installation is given in the Equipment Table.

16. Smelting

One type of installation that may be purchased is the smelter. A smelter may be placed on any asteroid containing a mine. A smelter processes all ore (not gas) from an asteroid, regardless of how many mines are in operation, refining it to a purer (and more compact) state. For every three tons of ore mined, the smelter will produce one ton of high grade metal.

High grade metal sells for four times the current market price of ore. The sale of high grade metal at the market is treated as having the effect of three times its weight when determining the market price.

Smelters may not be used to refine gas or CT. One worker unit is required to run and maintain the smelter in addition to the worker unit required for the asteroid's mines.

17. Contra-Terrene Matter Special Rules

Previous rules have covered the general procedures for discovering, mining, transporting, and selling CT units. Several additional rules are required to cover the characteristics of this special material.

A. Mines: Each player has one CT mine in his counter mix (restraint of trade laws prohibit more than one per firm). CT mines are held in close proximity to a CT asteroid by a magnetic field. Should the field fail, the results could be cataclysmic.

The field of a CT mine may fail from one of two causes: lack of maintenance, or combat damage. If a CT mine breaks down due to lack of maintenance, it falls into the CT asteroid. If a CT mine takes a DD or DX hit in combat, it falls into the asteroid. Note that this is an exception to the general rule that drive hits have no effect on an installation. If a mine falls into a CT asteroid, both the mine and the asteroid are immediately destroyed. Each ship in the hex with the asteroid takes from 1 to 6 missile hits (roll one die per ship, the result being the number of missile hits the ship takes). Additionally, roll the die once for each asteroid in an adjacent hex; on a roll of 1 or 2, it (and all installations on it) are destroyed. There is no possibility of rescue from a destroyed CT mine, or any installation in an adjacent hex destroyed as a result, or any ship which receives a TX result from a resulting missile hit.

B. CT Bombs: A unit of CT carried in a cargo hold, along with its CT storage bay, may be detached from a ship and dropped on an asteroid or planetoid. CT bombs are dropped during the missile step of a fire combat round. Unlike normal missiles, they will impact against an asteroid on a roll of 5 or less and against a planetoid on a roll of 6 or less. Lasers and particle accelerators may be used to deflect or prematurely detonate the CT bomb, using the same die roll modifiers to avoid a hit as if it were a missile. There is no limit, however, to the number of weapons that may be trained on a single CT bomb. A hit from a CT bomb will destroy the entire asteroid or planetoid along with all personnel and equipment. Additionally, all ships in the hex receive one missile hit as a result.

C. CT Ships: CT ships are defined as any ship outfitted with one or more CT units in its CT storage bays. If such a ship suffers a DD or DX result in combat, the magnetic containment vessels used to store the CT will fail, destroying the ship with all hands. Also, each ship in the hex receives one missile hit per ten units (or fraction) of CT carried by the CT ship.

D. Morale: Due to the extreme danger associated with the mining and transportation of CT, and the near suicidal prospects involved with combat around CT, only dedicated personnel will enter a hex known to contain CT. The only circumstance where a personnel unit from the labor pool will enter such a hex is if piloting a seeker on a prospecting mission which inadvertently discovers CT. Labor personnel will, under the circumstances, immediately leave the hex and broadcast a navigational warning to all other players (i.e., tell them where the CT is). If a ship containing labor pool units but piloted by dedicated personnel attempts to enter a known CT hex (including a hex containing a CT ship) the labor pool units will attempt by melee to seize the ship and force the dedicated crew to turn away. The other players should each roll a die, with the high die roll controlling the labor pool units. Upon turning away, the labor pool units revert to control of the owning player.

E. Public Safety: In the basic game, no ship containing CT may enter a planetoid hex. All ships which do so, either by intent or by accident, will be destroyed by the defense systems of the planetoid. The effects of CT bombs on planetoids are used only in the advanced game. Asteroids, of course, are open season.

18. Combat Between Installations

In the unlikely, but conceivable, event that two hostile players have installations on the same asteroid, special rules are required. All hostile installations are considered to be below the asteroid horizon as viewed from the enemy installation. Beam weapons (lasers and particle accelerators) may not be used by an installation in a hex against another in the same hex. Missiles, however, can be fired. Since range effects only beam fire, if the only firing units in the hex are installations, the range determination step may be dispensed with as both unnecessary, and considering the situation, silly.

Personnel in installations are considered landed already, but may not melee enemy units until the enemy installation's weaponry has been disabled or destroyed.

19. Starting the Game

Take one counter for each of the four Belter color mixes (orange, green, red, and blue) and shake them up. Each player draws one counter. The color of the counter drawn being this color for the game. Note that while each color has the same number of each type of ship and installation and each has the same overall number of personnel units, the exact mix of personnel units varies.

Next, each player decides whether he wishes to begin the game as a prospector, a partnership, or a corporation. Prospectors start with much less in the way of resources, while corporations start with more, but prospectors do not have to accomplish as much to win.

Each player then selects his initial counters. Each prospector starts with one leader (himself), one seeker, and 800 credits. Each partnership starts with two leaders, one seeker, one worker, and 1500 credits. Each corporation begins with one leader, one crew, one worker, one seeker, one carrier, one mine, and 2000 credits.

A partnership player may prospect any three asteroids, and a corporation player any six asteroids, before play begins. Prospectors begin with their units on any of the planetoids. Partnerships and corporations begin with their units on any of the planetoids, or on any asteroid they prospected before play began.

Players who can prospect before play begins should each roll a die with the highest die roll going first, the second highest roll second, etc. No player may prospect an asteroid before play if it has already been prospected by another player.

Play now begins with the first turn.

20. Victory

Victory in the basic game of Belter is determined solely by wealth. Players are free to set limits which correspond to their own tastes in terms of game length. Two means of setting victory are possible:

• Threshold: The first player to reach a certain wealth level wins. Three convenient levels of wealth present themselves: the one million credit game, the ten million credit game, and the one hundred million credit game. It takes money to make money, and despite the great leaps in magnitude covered by these games, it does not take anywhere near ten times as long to get from one million credits to ten million credits as it does to get from zero to one million credits.
• Time Limit: Players control the length of the game by setting an arbitrary time at which to total victory. When the time arrives, the current game turn is completed, and victory is assessed.

Regardless of whether the threshold game or the time limit game is played, the final winner is the wealthiest player. However, since partnerships start with more than prospectors, and corporations start with still more, for the purposes of victory (only) the cash balance of a partnership is divided by two while that of a corporation is divided by three. Thus, if playing a one million credit threshold game, a partnership would have to reach two million to win while a corporation would have to reach three million credits to win.

Advanced Game

The essential difference between the basic game and the advanced game is that certain elements of power politics are introduced. This is done in the form of an additional player representing the Peace Keeping Force (PKF).

1. PKF Units

The PKF is a multi-national force created to protect the interests of the ore-hungry industrialized states of Earth.

A. Initial Units: The PKF player begins the game with one leader, one patrol ship, one crew, and three troops. The patrol ship may be equipped with three military lasers, three missile racks, or a combination of up to three of both weapons. The PKF player also controls the defense systems of the three planetoids. Each planetoid has one particle accelerator, two lasers, and four missile racks. These may be upgraded during the game.

Initial PKF units may be placed on any or all of the three planetoids.

B. Reinforcements: The PKF player may hire units from the labor pool like any other player. The PKF player may also purchase additional installed weapons for the planetoids. Additional ships and dedicated personnel, however, are received via a different procedure.

It is conceivable that the PKF player will never receive additional ships or dedicated units. This can only happen, however, if the PKF player suffers no losses. All PKF units other than the initial forces are divided into six identical detachments. Each time that the PKF player loses a ship or a dedicated personnel unit, the PKF reinforces him with one additional detachment. The counter mix, however, is the absolute limit of PKF strength in the Belt and thus no additional PKF units will be dispatched after all seven detachments (the initial troops plus the six reinforcements) are committed, regardless of how heavy PKF losses run. (Exception: see PKF Regrouping below.)

2. The PKF Budget

The PKF does not make money in the normal manner, and is instead granted a budget from Earth. The initial PKF budget is 300 credits per turn, and is increased by 200 credits for each additional PKF detachment committed. Thus, the peak PKF budget would be 1500 credits a turn. The PKF budget is spent on purchasing new weaponry for the planetoids, repairing battle damage, fueling the patrol ship, routine maintenance, and hiring units from the labor pool.

The PKF represents the forces of the government, but government is not always free of corruption. The PKF player may supplement his income by accepting bribes. All bribes paid to gain an advantageous die roll modification are paid to the PKF player. The PKF player may, however, refuse to accept a bribe from any or all players, thus removing from that player or players the ability to obtain a favorable die roll modification. Additional sources of bribes are listed in later rules.

3. PKF Goals

The PKF's goal is to keep the price of gas and ore low. Initially, this will be nearly impossible, and demand will far outstrip supply. However, by judiciously aiding players to increase their production while hindering whichever player is closest to victory (if a threshold game is being played) the PKF player can ensure maximum ore and gas production for the longest period of time.

The PKF can also, of course, use force to seize ore and gas, and transport it to Marketplace. While the PKF player does not receive money for the sale of such ore, by dumping it on the market he can depress the price.

The PKF cannot win a solo victory. Rather, his victory is determined by the price of ore and gas at the moment of another player's victory. If either is below 200 credits a ton, he wins a marginal victory. If both are below 200 credits a ton, he wins a decisive victory. Neither condition of victory detracts from the level of victory obtained by the mining player.

4. The Naval Ore Reserve

Before the game begins, the PKF player prospects every asteroid in the Naval Ore Reserve, recording the results. While unauthorized mining is illegal, he is free to look the other way in exchange for a bribe.

5. The Planetoid Defenses

Each planetoid has defenses at the beginning of the game as listed above. These will not automatically shoot down ships carrying CT. This decision is instead up to the player who controls the planetoid defenses. The PKF player initially controls the defenses, but does so only so long as there is at least one non-leader, non-thug PKF personnel unit on the planetoid. The unit need not be a dedicated unit. So long as the defenses are in PKF hands, they are considered a PKF installation, and are sufficient to control a unit from the labor pool.

Non-dedicated PKF personnel operating the planetary defenses will automatically shoot down any ship carrying CT, or at least attempt to. Only crews, workers, and troops may man the planetoid defenses; solitary leaders and thugs may not (the former due to the lack of necessary people in the unit, the latter because of the lack of necessary grey matter). Two PKF leaders on a planetoid may man the defenses.

6. Government Records of Purchases

In the basic game, all players are aware of what installed equipment the opposing players purchase. In the advanced game, this is not necessary. Each player must inform the PKF player of all such purchases, but not the other players. Thus, the PKF player serves as a referee, and other players do not know which ships are armed and with what until battle is joined. The PKF player may, of course, tell other players what he knows, for a price.

7. The Revolt of the Belt

The PKF player obviously wields great power, and the temptations for its abuse are great. The traditional response of downtrodden people, smarting under the lash of an oppressive government, has been to try to chuck the scoundrels out.

The mining players may at any time declare a revolt against the PKF. Not all need do so, but more than one must for it to qualify as a revolt. As soon as the revolt starts, those belters who declared the revolt must elect a leader. Each player controls the votes of his own personnel units (both dedicated and hired), and may vote for himself or one of the other players. Each person (silhouette) has one vote, except for leaders, who have 100 votes each (to account for the persuasive powers of the few influential leaders and their effects on the masses). The player with the highest vote total is the leader of the revolt and controls all patrol ships belonging to the other participants in the revolt. Each player must provide at least one crew counter per patrol ship. If a participant has no patrol ships, he must turn over one armed seeker to the leader.

A. Duration of the Revolt: The revolt lasts until one side or the other has been wiped out, or until one side or the other gives up. If either side gives up, the other must accept the surrender and the revolt stops. If one side is wiped out, the player or players representing that side are permanently out of the game. If one side gives up, all players are still in the game. If the Belt gives up, it is in exchange for amnesty (as Earth cannot afford to strip the Belt of miners). If the PKF gives up, it is to wait for a favorable opportunity to return. In either event, the Belt is granted autonomy, although in the case of the surrender of the Belt, the autonomy is largely token.

1. Belt Surrender: In recognition of the legitimate grievances of the Belt, Earth grants the ringleaders of the revolt amnesty and grants the Belt autonomy. The PKF will supervise the elections. No participant in the revolt may run in the elections. If all players participated in the revolt, all may run for election. The election is decided in the same way as indicated for leader of the revolt, but each leader that participated in the revolt has only one vote (having been discredited temporarily).

The leader of the Belt takes over responsibility for the defenses of the three planetoids, manning them with his own units. The PKF has jurisdiction over the Naval Ore Reserve, but may not leave it unless requested by the leader of the Belt, or unless released by Breach of Promise.

Breach of Promise: In return for autonomy, the Belt is obligated to keep the price of ore and gas low. If the price of ore or gas climbs by twenty credits or more above the price at the time of the election, the PKF may intervene and attempt to again assume control.

2. PKF Surrender: The PKF admits defeat and withdraws from the Belt. Elections are held to determine the new leader, but the elections are not supervised. The leaders of any player who did not participate in the revolt have one vote. All other leaders have 100 votes. All personnel units have votes equal to their strength.

Additionally, all players may employ strong-arm tactics. Each troop may suppress one non-leader unit other than an enemy troop. Following allocation of troop suppression, each unsuppressed thug may suppress one crew or worker unit. Thugs and troops suppressing other units may still vote. Suppressed units may not vote.

The leader controls the defenses of the planetoids. The Naval Ore Reserve is open for speculation. The golden days of the Belt have arrived. As soon as the price of either ore or gas goes up by twenty credits from its level at the time of the election, the PKF reappears.

8. PKF Regrouping

At the end of every revolt, all PKF units are removed from the board. All eliminated PKF units are added to surviving units and units waiting to enter, thus reestablishing the original pool of units. If the Belt surrendered, one detachment is placed in the Ore Reserve to prevent poaching. The budget is set at 300, and the cycle begins anew.

If the PKF surrendered, all units are kept off the board until PKF intervention is triggered. At that time one detachment enters with a budget of 300 credits and the cycle restarts.

9. Arms Embargo

Mining players may not purchase ships, installations, or installed equipment during a revolt. The blockade is never tight enough to prevent the passage of fuel and spare parts.

Optional Rules

The following optional rules may be included by players by mutual consent.

1. Pre-Planned Fuel

As a simplified bookkeeping device, fuel is purchased at the moment of expenditure in the basic game. Players may find this too unrealistic and wish to incorporate advanced fuel purchases. Each ship must purchase fuel before leaving a planetoid. The number of units of fuel is noted on a piece of paper and one is subtracted each time the ship maneuvers. It is thus possible for a ship to run out of fuel through poor planning.

Since fuel can only be purchased on a planetoid, the supply of fuel dries up during a revolt (unless the rebels can capture a planetoid). To enable the rebels to function, it will be necessary for players to plan even farther in advance by purchasing large quantities of fuel and caching it on bases, mines, etc.

2. Bank Financing

Players may find the opening moves of Belter too slow for their tastes and wish to speed up the initial development. This can be done through bank financing.

The bank will finance any ship other than a patrol ship and any conventional mine or smelter. The bank will not finance high-risk ventures such as CT mining or piracy.

To obtain bank financing, a player must make a 20% cash down-payment on the ship or installation. The player then has a twenty-turn grace period. At the end of that time, the player must pay the full value of the ship or installation, or the bank will repossess. Failure to surrender the ship or installation upon demand will result in non-acceptance of ore and gas at Marketplace. Any player who has defaulted on a loan has lost his credit rating, and may no longer borrow from a bank.

3. Variable PKF Victory

In the advanced game, the PKF victory level is tied to a 200 credit target price for ore and gas. Actually, given the wide variety of game length options available to players, it is unrealistic to set a specific level and expect it to apply in all circumstances. Players are encouraged to experiment with PKF victory levels and adopt a level which is suited to the game length preferred. The important thing to remember is that the PKF player's goal is to keep ore and gas prices as low as possible.

Charts and Tables

The printed rulebook includes the following charts and tables. Each is transcribed as printed. Where the text of the rules refers to a chart, the chart appears here.

Prospecting Tables

Gas or Metal Asteroid

Die Roll	Richness	Extensiveness
1	none	one
2	trace (1 unit)	one
3	poor (5 units)	two
4	good (10 units)	two
5	rich (15 units)	three
6	pure (30 units)	four

See Rule 7, Paragraph A, Prospecting.

Rock Asteroid

Die Roll	Richness	Extensiveness
1	none	one
2	none	one
3	none	one
4	none	one
5	trace (1 unit)	one
6	poor (5 units)	two

See Rule 7, Paragraph A, Prospecting.

Fire Combat Tables

Hit Table

Die Roll	Seeker	Carrier	Patrol	Installation
1	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
2	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
3	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
4	Hit	Hit	Miss	Hit
5	Miss	Miss	Miss	Hit
6+

The hit table is subject to the following defensive die roll modifiers: against missile attacks, defending mining laser, +1; defending combat laser, +2; defending particle accelerator, +3. Against beam attacks, if at long range, +2.

Damage Table

Die Roll	Mining Laser	Military Laser	Particle Accelerator	Missile Rack
1	H	H	PC	H/BD/MD
2	MD	MD/BD	PC/BD/MD	H/PC/BX
3	MD	H/MX	PC/MX	H/PC/MX
4	BD	H/BX	PC/BX	H/DD
5	BD	DD	PC/DX	H/PC/DX

Explanation of Fire Combat Results

• H: Hulled. The target unit has lost pressure; melee combat odds in this player-turn are raised one odds column.
• MD: Missiles Disabled. One missile rack on the target is disabled.
• BD: Beams Disabled. One beam weapon on the target is disabled.
• MX: Missiles Destroyed. One missile rack on the target unit is destroyed.
• BX: Beams Destroyed. One beam weapon on the target unit is destroyed.
• DD: Drives Disabled. The drives on the target ship (if it is a ship) are disabled.
• DX: Drives Destroyed. The drives on the target ship (if it is a ship) are destroyed.
• TX: Target Destroyed. The target unit and all contents except for personnel are destroyed.
• PC: Personnel Casualty. Each personnel unit aboard the target rolls one die; on a result of 6 the unit is eliminated.

Melee Combat Results Table

Die Roll	1:3	1:2	1:1	1½:1	2:1	3:1	4:1	5:1	6:1
1	–	–	–	–	–	HP	K	EX	K
2	–	–	–	–	HP	K	EX	K	K
3	–

Attacks at odds of less than 1:3 are not allowed. Attacks at odds greater than 6:1 are treated as 6:1.

Explanation of Melee Combat Results

• HP: Hard Pressed. The unit against which the attack or counter-attack was directed is hard pressed and as a result may not attack (or counter-attack, whichever is appropriate) at its next scheduled opportunity to do so.
• EX: Exchange. The unit against which the attack or counter-attack was directed is eliminated. The attacking or counter-attacking player must remove units which at least equal the melee factor of the eliminated unit.
• K: Killed. The unit against which the attack/counter-attack was directed has fallen in combat and is eliminated.
• S: Surrender. The unit against which the attack or counter-attack was directed is taken prisoner.

Labor Relations Table

Results on this table are explained in Rule 9, Paragraph C.

Die Roll	Crews	Workers	Thugs	Troops
1	–	–	–	–
2	–	–	–	–
3	–	–	Stop	–
4	Stop	–	Stop	–
5	Strike	Stop	Strike	Strike
6

Ship Capacities Chart

Ship Type	Hardpoints	Life Support	Cargo
Patrol	3	24	50
Seeker	1	10	100
Carrier	1	5	400

Equipment Chart

Equipment	Weight	Price
Military Laser	10	5000 cr
Missile Rack	20	10000 cr
Particle Accelerator	40	20000 cr
CT Storage Bay	1	5000 cr

Note: the Capacities and Costs Table below gives the Particle Accelerator weight as 50. The Equipment Chart prints 40. Both values are transcribed as printed.

Capacities and Costs Table

Weights are given in tons. Prices are given in credits; the suffix K indicates thousands. Fuel capacity is expressed in terms of the number of turns of maneuver movement which that quantity of fuel will allow; the value is for use with the optional fuel rule.

Unit	Hardpoints	Life Support	Cargo Hold	Weight	Price	Maintenance Cost	Fuel Cost / Cap.
Patrol Ship	3	24	50	–	100 K	100	500 / 6
Seeker	1	10	100	–	10 K	10	100 / 10
Carrier	1	5	400	–	50 K	10

Salary and Maintenance Table

Salaries and maintenance must be paid every week.

Unit	Salary	Maintenance
Crew	200	–
Worker	300	–
Thug	400	–
Troop	500	–
Seeker	–	10
Carrier	–	10
Patrol	–	100
Mine	–	10
CT Mine	–