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Hard Vacuum is a game of spaceship combat, set in World War II as it might have been... If Richthofen had survived World War I. If rocket-powered flight had been developed in the 1930s. If the Nazis had been the first to harness rocket power, and the Allies were forced to challenge them for orbital supremacy!

Game Components

Hard Vacuum consists of a 44-page softcover rulebook which comes with two sheets of counters. The counter sheets include 72 hexagonal spaceship counters, rulers, and many thrust markers. The counters are not die-cut, and must be cut apart before play.

The rulebook includes rules for movement, combat, and design. Also provided are quick-start rules, five spaceship designs for each side, and nine scenarios.

The art is not the strongest aspect of the book. The spaceships in the illustratations were modelled by the designer in 3D. While the shapes of the ships were well modeled, the surface textures of the ships were not, and thus the front cover leaves a little to be desired. However, the models are fine for the counters and b&w interior illustrations, which look much better. There aren't too many illustrations in the book, but liberal use is made of sidebars and diagrams, which help to break up the text. You never feel that you're wading through the rules.

The game is designed to be played on a hex grid (not provided) but it can be played equally well on a tabletop, and the rules make note of any differences in table-top play. You can use spaceship miniatures in place of the counters, provided they have hexagonal bases. The counters are in colour and pretty attractive, but I wish that the German and American spaceships had been given separate colours; it would make it easier to pick out who's who during the game.

HV requires a few six-sided dice. The dice are rolled in a somewhat unusual way: 6s are considered 0s, while rolls of 5 "explode", adding an additional die to the roll. Special dice are available from the company, which are numbered from 0 to 5.

The layout of the book is good, in a simple 2-column format, with easy-to-read text. The bottom inch of the rulebook is taken up by a historical timeline outlining the events of the Hard Vacuum universe. I don't remember any typos in the rulebook, and the errata (available on FMG's website) is very short.

Background

Said timeline stretches from 1901 up until October 1944, with the launch of the massive Von Braun space destroyer. In general, it is pretty good, although it is not clear why the first entry (the Tunguska explosion of 1908) is included, nor do I understand why radium is supposed to have been "discovered serendipitously" in 1940. (What happened to Marie Curie?)

But enough quibbling. On to the game!

The two forces featured in the HV book are the Americans and Germans, whose ships are very different, because of the technologies they use. Weapons range from machine guns, cannons and mines, to rockets, heat rays, and radium bolts. German ships get their power from an onboard radium tank, and use mostly ballistic weapons. On the other hand, the American ships are powered with a Tesla coil generator, and their weapons are mainly energy-based, drawing power from the generator. Special equipment in the game includes rocket boosters, drop tanks, search lights, and RADAR.

Game Rules I have a confession to make: I don't play that many miniatures games (or "tabletop games" if you prefer). However, I do play board games and I have seen horrible examples of badly-written, confusing rulebooks. Happily, Hard Vacuum's rules are well-written and easy to grasp.

HV uses a vector-based system for ship movement. Instead of a general speed rating, ships have a number of thrusters on each side, and a maneuvrability rating which determines how many sets of thrusters they can use at once.

Each turn has a phase in which thrust is plotted secretly, followed by simultaneous movement. Small triangular thrust markers are placed on the edges of the counters to indicate a ship's velocity, which eliminates the need for any complicated record-keeping. This is a very good system for vector-based movement.

Combat in Hard Vacuum takes into account the standard elements that you'd expect, like firing arcs and range. Recording damage is simple: each ship has a single "Hull Integrity" value - basically, hit points. A hit in which two or more of the dice rolled show the same number causes a critical hit - an elegant rule that doesn't slow the game with a separate die roll. Critical hits vary from Weapon Damaged, to Wild Fire (which does damage each turn), to Radio Out (no more table talk allowed!).

In addition to these basic elements, Hard Vacuum has some interesting and unique combat rules. These include spotting, deflection (a measure of how fast a target ship is moving across the firing ship's view, which is used for to-hit penalties), and a special section on beam weapons.

The design rules are well laid out and easy to use. Small fighters will be fast, hard-to-hit, and lightly armed, while heavier vessels will be slower and tougher. The flavour of the period is reflected here in a few amusing rules, such as: "The Fuhrer has decreed that fighting spacecraft of the Reich must not be better at fleeing than pressing the attack" - German spaceships must be equipped with more forward-firing than rearward-firing weapons!

The scenarios provide a good variety of situations, from the staples of dogfights and commerce raids, to minesweeping and recon. The final scenario is a little reminiscent of "Ogre" or "Star Fist", in which four poor American fighter pilots battle the massive Von Braun destroyer.

Final Analysis Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to play a "real" game of Hard Vacuum yet. However, in my solo "test runs", the game played quickly and very well. It has the feel of a dogfight, in which players must maneuvre so they can attack without being hit themselves.

I do, however, have a few small reservations about the game.

Light fighters are hard to hit but fragile; scenarios involving them could go for several turns without any damage, while on the other hand, just a few lucky hits can destroy a light fighter. This could be frustrating, and give the impression that lucky rolls decide the game.

Also, when trying out the design rules, I discovered a potential abuse to do with radium drop tanks.

Those concerns aside, however, Hard Vacuum is a very good game and a great value for the money. Definitely recommended!

Hard Vacuum Chris Camfield
Item type: Miniatures Product Name: Hard Vacuum Author: Darrell Hayhurst Company/Publisher: Fat Messiah Games Line: Hard Vacuum SKU: FAT4030 Cost: 14.95 Page count: 44 ISBN: Ratings: Style 4 (Classy and well done) Substance 4 (Meaty) Review type: Capsule Review	Hard Vacuum is a game of spaceship combat, set in World War II as it might have been... If Richthofen had survived World War I. If rocket-powered flight had been developed in the 1930s. If the Nazis had been the first to harness rocket power, and the Allies were forced to challenge them for orbital supremacy! Game Components Hard Vacuum consists of a 44-page softcover rulebook which comes with two sheets of counters. The counter sheets include 72 hexagonal spaceship counters, rulers, and many thrust markers. The counters are not die-cut, and must be cut apart before play. The rulebook includes rules for movement, combat, and design. Also provided are quick-start rules, five spaceship designs for each side, and nine scenarios. The art is not the strongest aspect of the book. The spaceships in the illustratations were modelled by the designer in 3D. While the shapes of the ships were well modeled, the surface textures of the ships were not, and thus the front cover leaves a little to be desired. However, the models are fine for the counters and b&w interior illustrations, which look much better. There aren't too many illustrations in the book, but liberal use is made of sidebars and diagrams, which help to break up the text. You never feel that you're wading through the rules. The game is designed to be played on a hex grid (not provided) but it can be played equally well on a tabletop, and the rules make note of any differences in table-top play. You can use spaceship miniatures in place of the counters, provided they have hexagonal bases. The counters are in colour and pretty attractive, but I wish that the German and American spaceships had been given separate colours; it would make it easier to pick out who's who during the game. HV requires a few six-sided dice. The dice are rolled in a somewhat unusual way: 6s are considered 0s, while rolls of 5 "explode", adding an additional die to the roll. Special dice are available from the company, which are numbered from 0 to 5. The layout of the book is good, in a simple 2-column format, with easy-to-read text. The bottom inch of the rulebook is taken up by a historical timeline outlining the events of the Hard Vacuum universe. I don't remember any typos in the rulebook, and the errata (available on FMG's website) is very short. Background Said timeline stretches from 1901 up until October 1944, with the launch of the massive Von Braun space destroyer. In general, it is pretty good, although it is not clear why the first entry (the Tunguska explosion of 1908) is included, nor do I understand why radium is supposed to have been "discovered serendipitously" in 1940. (What happened to Marie Curie?) But enough quibbling. On to the game! The two forces featured in the HV book are the Americans and Germans, whose ships are very different, because of the technologies they use. Weapons range from machine guns, cannons and mines, to rockets, heat rays, and radium bolts. German ships get their power from an onboard radium tank, and use mostly ballistic weapons. On the other hand, the American ships are powered with a Tesla coil generator, and their weapons are mainly energy-based, drawing power from the generator. Special equipment in the game includes rocket boosters, drop tanks, search lights, and RADAR. Game Rules I have a confession to make: I don't play that many miniatures games (or "tabletop games" if you prefer). However, I do play board games and I have seen horrible examples of badly-written, confusing rulebooks. Happily, Hard Vacuum's rules are well-written and easy to grasp. HV uses a vector-based system for ship movement. Instead of a general speed rating, ships have a number of thrusters on each side, and a maneuvrability rating which determines how many sets of thrusters they can use at once. Each turn has a phase in which thrust is plotted secretly, followed by simultaneous movement. Small triangular thrust markers are placed on the edges of the counters to indicate a ship's velocity, which eliminates the need for any complicated record-keeping. This is a very good system for vector-based movement. Combat in Hard Vacuum takes into account the standard elements that you'd expect, like firing arcs and range. Recording damage is simple: each ship has a single "Hull Integrity" value - basically, hit points. A hit in which two or more of the dice rolled show the same number causes a critical hit - an elegant rule that doesn't slow the game with a separate die roll. Critical hits vary from Weapon Damaged, to Wild Fire (which does damage each turn), to Radio Out (no more table talk allowed!). In addition to these basic elements, Hard Vacuum has some interesting and unique combat rules. These include spotting, deflection (a measure of how fast a target ship is moving across the firing ship's view, which is used for to-hit penalties), and a special section on beam weapons. The design rules are well laid out and easy to use. Small fighters will be fast, hard-to-hit, and lightly armed, while heavier vessels will be slower and tougher. The flavour of the period is reflected here in a few amusing rules, such as: "The Fuhrer has decreed that fighting spacecraft of the Reich must not be better at fleeing than pressing the attack" - German spaceships must be equipped with more forward-firing than rearward-firing weapons! The scenarios provide a good variety of situations, from the staples of dogfights and commerce raids, to minesweeping and recon. The final scenario is a little reminiscent of "Ogre" or "Star Fist", in which four poor American fighter pilots battle the massive Von Braun destroyer. Final Analysis Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to play a "real" game of Hard Vacuum yet. However, in my solo "test runs", the game played quickly and very well. It has the feel of a dogfight, in which players must maneuvre so they can attack without being hit themselves. I do, however, have a few small reservations about the game. Light fighters are hard to hit but fragile; scenarios involving them could go for several turns without any damage, while on the other hand, just a few lucky hits can destroy a light fighter. This could be frustrating, and give the impression that lucky rolls decide the game. Also, when trying out the design rules, I discovered a potential abuse to do with radium drop tanks. Those concerns aside, however, Hard Vacuum is a very good game and a great value for the money. Definitely recommended!