One thing Space:1889 fans might be interested in is actually using your aerial flyers and cloudships for the game. The basic rulebook covers just that — basics — but does not give the full statistics for even basic types of ships. So let’s rectify that, shall we?

1889_06Most of the stats for Ubiquity are based on size, and you can find similar vessels to model the other stats on, save speed — the old Space:1889 or Cloudships rules use a speed rating that is roughy 2 cables for a turn, but I didn’t want to bother with a ton of math and findingout what a round was in the board game aspects of theold rules. I used the travel times in the core book where a steam flyer could go 300 miles in a day. Assuming they don’t stop, that gives us roughly a speed of 12-15mph. Most of the ships have a speed rating of 4-6. Assuming that estimate of 300 miles is at a leisurely pace I’m giving the ships a speed in Ubiquity of 5mph/speed point in the old game mechanics.

Martian Screw Galley, Small

The typical example of this type of ship is the Small Bird or Fleetfoot-class galley. Manned by up to a crew of 20, these small vessels are driven by a man-powered crank in the lower deck and are slow and not especially maneuverable.

Small Bird Screw Galley —  SIZE: 8   DEF: 4   STR: 14   SPD: 10   HAN: -2   CREW: ~20 PASS: n/a   PRICE: £13,000

Fleetfoot Screw Galley — SIZE: 8   DEF: 4   STR: 12   SPD: 10   HAN: -2   CREW: ~10

Typically, these ships have little or no armaments, save for sweeper guns (essentially big blunderbusses: DMG: 6L   RNG: 250′ RATE: 1/2   SPD: S   SIZE: 0

Martian Screw Galley, Large

These mammoth screw vessels are typically between 90 and 130 feet in length, and have a draught of up to 50′, with crews of 60-100 personnel (about half of those yoked to the crankshaft.) Here we present a Hullcutter-class as the typical example:

Hullcutter

SIZE: 8   DEF: 4   STR: 20   SPD: 15   HAN: -2   CREW: ~60   PASS: n/a   PRICE: £50,000 WEAPONS: Rouge Gun (foreward) — Dmg: 8L   Rng: 250′ Rate: 1/2   Spd: S   Size: 1; Lob Gun (amidships) — Dmg: 10L   Rng: 250′   Rate: 1/2   Spd: S   Size: 2; 2 heavy guns (wing mounted) — Dmg: 8L   Rng: 250′   Rate: 1/2   Spd: S   Size: 2; Rod Gun (aft) — Dmg: 8L   Rng: 500′   Rate: 1/2   Spd: S   Size: 2

Martian War Kite, Small

The Bloodrunner is the smallest class of warkite likely to be encountered on Mars. At only 50′ in length, with a single deck, these are fragile, but agile, things.

SIZE: 4   DEF: 6   STR: 10   SPD: up to 25   HAN: 0   CREW: ~10   PASS: n/a   PRICE: £7000; WEAPONS: sometimes they will carry a pair of heavy guns fore and aft: Dmg: 8   Rng: 250′   Rate: 1/2   Spd: S   Size: 2

Larger and more typical is the Swiftwood-class light warkite:

SIZE: 8   DEF: 4   STR: 16   SPD: up to 25   HAN: -2   CREW: ~40   PASS: n/a   PRICE: £20,000; WEAPONRY: Rouge gun (fore) — Dmg: 8L   Rng: 250′ Rate: 1/2   Spd: S   Size: 1; 2 light guns (wing mounted) — Dmg: 6L   Rng: 250′   Rate: 1/2   Spd: S   Size: 1; 2 sweepers — DMG: 6L   RNG: 250′ RATE: 1/2   SPD: S   SIZE: 0; Grapnel gun — Dmg: 4L   Rng: 250′   Rate: 1/4   Spd: S   Size: 2

Martian War Kite, Large

Here is the Whisperdeath-class warkite as an example. These ships are roughly the size of a 18th/19th century sailing frigate:

Whisperdeath

SIZE: 8   DEF: 2   STR: 26   SPD: up to 25   HAN: -2   CREW: ~40   PASS: n/a   PRICE: £60,000; WEAPONRY: Rod gun (fore) — Dmg: 8L   Rng: 500′   Rate: 1/2   Spd: S   Size: 2; 4 heavy guns (2 aft, 2 wing-mounted) — Dmg: 8L   Rng: 250′   Rate: 1/2   Spd: S   Size: 2; 1 Drogue Torpedo — Dam: 12L   Rng: up to 500′   Rate: 1/2   Spd: S   Size: 1; 2 Fire Racks — Dam: 6L*   Rng: 20’**   Rate: 1/2   Spd: S   Size: 2

* Drogue torpedoes are dropped on a line from the underside of a ship, and must be maneuvered into the path of another vessel. ** Fire racks drop incendiary liquid onto the deck of a ship below. Wind and other effects can carry this up to 100′ out from the rack. If hit, the fire will continue to do damgage at a die less/turn vs. the STR of the ship.

Martian Merchant Kite

These massive merchantmen are represented here by the Warm Winds class of kite.

SIZE: 16   DEF: 4   STR: 30   SPD: up to 30   HAN: -2   CREW: ~50   PASS: ~10   PRICE: £113,000

Typically, these ships are not armed, but very well could be, if one were to sacrifice the extensive cargo capabilities.