Vector 3: Tactical Space Combat in Three Dimensions (1979)

Overview

Two-player SF wargame positing a space war in the "Gilgamesh Cluster" between the "humano-cetacean civilization" and the "Xandri-Bratcom Coalition." The war is fought with modular Vector 3 ships that can carry an assortment of pods: lasers, torpedo launchers, defensive-screen generators, and tractor/pressor beams. Ship movement is Newtonian and three-dimensional: (X,Y) and (X,Z) position charts are used to track where the ships are at any given time. Players spend ship points to buy ship components and technology points to buy improved technologies; victory points are earned for destroying pods and ships and for being the last player to have ships in play. When all of one player's ships have been destroyed or warped out, the player with the highest victory point total wins.

Four scenarios are suggested with differing allowed technologies and different numbers of starting ship and technology points. The approximate playing time is a guess; it will depend on the chosen scenario.

This is Space Capsule #4, the fourth in SPI's series of science fiction microgames.