Cloaking Device Rules Play Test v.1

Adapted from FASA's Star Trek Starship Tactical Combat Simulator Cloaking Rules and B5Wars Minesweeping rules. Much of the text is taken from other people's work with a large amount of rewriting and wholesale changes.

Operating the Cloaking Device: The Cloaking Device is assumed to be unpowered unless otherwise stated. Power must be allocated to the cloaking device the turn it is to be activated and on any turn the ship is cloaked. Power does not have to be allocated the turn a ship decloaks. Players must decide and announce whether they are activating, deactivating or remaining cloaked during the Jump Point Formation Segment. The cloaking ship may not use any weapons during the activation turn. This leaves the ship very vulnerable during this time and ships usually cloak away from hostilities. The ship is fully cloaked during the Vortex Activation/ Closure segment. The cloaking device can be deactivated during the Ship Power Segment by simply removing the power being used in the device. The ship decloaks during the Jump Point Formation Segment. It can use weapons and EW during the turn it decloaks (which is why it's a potent device).

Cloaked Operations: While cloaked, the ship can't use weapons or EW, which makes the ship very vulnerable if detected. Fortunately, the ship is very difficult to detect while cloaked; though it is possible. The ship can power weapons while cloaked, and being cloaked can allow a weapon the time it needs to recharge. Cloaked ships may not launch or land fighters or shuttles.

Hidden Movement: When a ship cloaks, its counter is removed from the board, all sensor and ballistic weapon locks on the cloaked vessel are lost. The player using the cloaked vessel must plot all his movement, so the other players can verify his movement when he decloaks or a successful detection roll is made against the cloaked vessel. The current turn's move is plotted when the ship would normally move in the initiative sequence. Cloaked ship receive only 1/2 (round down) of any Initiative Bonus.

Detecting Cloaked Ships: Cloaked ships are detected using the rules for Minesweeping, with the few exceptions listed below. During the Jump Point Formation Segment, vessels that have allocated EW to detect cloaked vessels may make an attempt. This Detection EW may be used for no purpose other than Cloaked target detection. The ship must pick an arc to scan (as this is an intensive searching scan) and then make the detection die roll. If he makes it, he has detected the cloaked vessel; the counter is placed on the map, and may be fired upon. If a cloaked ship was detected on a previous turn regular EW rules apply in the next Electronic Warfare segment. Regardless, you have to make a detection roll every turn (as those cloaked ships are difficult to track).

So if a cloaked Bird of Prey was detected on turn 5, during Turn 6 the tracking ship may apply OEW against it, but must still make a successful Detection roll in the Jump Point Formation Segment or the OEW is lost.

Ships with ELINT ability are treated as minesweepers vs cloaked targets and all pertinent rules apply. On a failed detection roll, the player with the cloaked ship simply states that the scan revealed nothing.

Firing at Cloaked Ships: Once a cloaked ship has been detected, it can be fired upon, but is treated as a Jammer equipped target. So if the Cloaked vessel is only detected you would apply both the No Lock-On AND the Cloak penalties (i.e.: range penalty doubled and then doubled again). If locked only the Cloaked penalty would apply.

Download the Cloaking Rules in PDF Format