Missing Ancillaries! (and other updates)

Hi, guys!  Sorry for missing out three ancillaries from the table in the final pre-Beta edition.  For those waiting for the actual Beta edition:

Marines

Cost 1

Specialists in ship-to-ship combat, marines are veterans of bloody combat in the most lethal environment known to humanity.

A vessel with marines adds +1 to its F when performing a board test, and adds +1 to its D when the target of board test.

Mech

Cost 1

This vessel isn’t a fighter but a space-capable mech suit.  Whilst likely to be inferior generally to a specialist fighter of the same class, mechs possess deadly close combat potential.

Only CL1 vessels may have this upgrade.

A mech may dock with an enemy vessel and does not need to be at speed 0 to do so.  Instead of the normal test to dock, make an M pilot test against the sum of the speed of the target and the active vessel.

A CL1 vessel docked with a mech may not perform Open Fire! actions whilst docked unless it is also a mech.

A mech does not have to take a manoeuvre test to undock.  Instead, at the start of its activation, simply declare it has undocked, move it as if it had passed such a test and then continue with its activation

Superweapon

Cost POW

The vessel has been built around a devastating superweapon, built into its prow.  Whilst it has limited traversal, it can be supercharged to deliver a killer blow at targets it strikes.

The vessel’s normal shoot tests are taken at -1F.  However, if a shoot test causes at least one hit on a target within the vessel’s forward 30° arc, the vessel may spend POW to add additional hits.

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Just FYI, working hard on getting the actual Beta ready for the end of the month.  This should basically include all the missions and campaign rules I have planned for the game.  It may or may not have an appendix looking at mixed Command Levels, depending on how much testing I can get in before then.

Big priority now is art and photography to make sure the book looks the business, but I've got the preliminary lay-out done and I think it looks the business.  I'll show you what it looks like, soon.

I'm also, of course, working on the supporting fiction (hey, I don't care if you call it "fluff"), which will tell a bit of an "Honor Harrington" style tale of the cover star rising from being a young fighter pilot to the commander of a mighty battleship.

In other news, the first test print copy of Zero Dark: Operation Nemesis is on its way to me.  Fingers crossed that it'll be right first time and we can go straight to release...! 🤞