Everyone fights - nobody quits!
SF Ground War Rules For Inter-Species Combat (or 'Chitter-chitter-bang!-bang!' as it's otherwise known........)

INTRODUCTION:

This web page is to accompany the latest version of some SF rules developed at the South London Warlords & SELWG clubs, hopefully putting the rules into media as well as gaming context. They are intended to create large-scale skirmishes inspired by the blockbuster film "Starship Troopers" (itself loosely based - VERY lossely based - on the Robert A. Heinlein book of the same name).





THE STORY:

Briefly, the story depicts the coming-of-age of a bunch of 'twenty-somethings' while doing their optional Federal (miltary) service, which is the ONLY path to full 'global citizenship' in Heinlein's very dodgy (i.e. neo-Nazi) view of a 'perfect' regulated society. They are spurred into this for a variety of reasons, but all the action is directed against an alliance of insectoid species, co-operating (willingly or not) via some form of telepathic link. The film is quite episodic, with the action interspersed with news clips and even 'advertisements' for the armed forces, all set against the backdrop of Earth's first (?) interstellar war - it sounds rather disjointed, but actually works well. There is little or no explanation as to why this war starts in the film (even the book is pretty vague). It simply uses a dramatic meteorite-bombing of Buenos Ares to trigger the American's (sorry, the Federation's) obsession with 'Pearl Harbour' type sneak attacks to justify depicting the bugs as a form of giant 'virus' to be exterminated, rather than another rare sentient race to be studied, understood (and then exterminated). Presumably, this time the Brits hadn't broken the bugs code before the attack, or the high command knew and did nothing as a war was just what was required - just like in December 1941........(oh, sorry - we're not supposed to talk about that one are we?).

Link to the Full Published Article as a PDF

Link to the Rules as a PDF