Spectrum Cosmos: Meet the Factions

In order to populate a miniatures game in the modern style from the MIRACLES OF TOMORROW features, some extrapolation is necessary. First, most pieces full-fledged characters, and not 'generic' squads and soldiers. Additionally, MIRACLES was not an attempt to build a consistent setting in the model of a modern science fiction series. Any continuity between stories is as likely a product of plagiarism as it is a product of methodical world-building.

So while many of the characters, names, inventions and concepts come from Osterhagen's writers, the unifying setting framework is largely my own design. Some of the information in this framework may contradict details from the original texts, but I am striving to keep the spirit of the originals intact while developing a 'sourcebook' for the Spectrum Cosmos universe. I intend to post this sourcebook (with references, of course) in ad hoc instalments on the blog here. Look for the “Sourcebook Corner” tag.

Of course, all this work is in service to the Spectrum Cosmos game, so let's begin with something at the heart of an appealing miniatures game – the factions! To fully represent the Spectrum Cosmos setting, there would be no fewer than seven (maybe eight) distinct factions and a robust roster of mercenary forces. In brief, they are:

Spectrum Cosmos - The Basics Concluded

Okay, you didn't read all of that. I didn't read all of that. It's not as bad as it looks, I swear. Here's the cheat sheet.

The Turn

1. Beginning Phase – Effects that begin, end, or trigger at the beginning of the turn do so.
2. Activation Phase – Players activate their units one at a time. During a unit's activation, it may move its speed and then do one of the following:

• Perform a Simple action on the unit's profile. If the modified Skill on the Simple action is at least 1, it is successful. One Command Card of the appropriate suit may be played, adding its value to the unit's Skill. If successful, resolve the action's effects immediately.
• Perform a contested action on the unit's profile, declaring an enemy unit as the target. The target must immediately declare a reaction. It can use a Default reaction, or play a Command Card to use the corresponding reaction with a bonus. The acting unit cannot improve its Skill with a Command Card. Assuming both action and reaction are valid, compare the Skill values of the action and the reaction. Only the ability with the higher Skill takes effect. The acting player wins ties. The successful ability is resolved immediately.
• Play a Command Card face down, declaring an enemy unit as the target. The target may play a Command Card in response or declare a Default reaction.
• Take no action.

3. Resolution Phase – Once all the active player's units have activated, the Resolution Phase begins. One at a time, the active player chooses a face-down Command Card to reveal. Actions are resolved in the same fashion as in the Activation Phase. This time, Command Card values are added to acting units' Skill ratings.
4. End Phase – Effects that begin, end, or trigger at the end of the turn do so.

Of course, those are just the basics. Spectrum Cosmos includes all the exceptions, contradictions, rulebreaking, and ambiguity we expect from a miniatures game.

Next Time: Meet the factions, and actual unit stats! 

Spectrum Cosmos - The Basics Illustrated

Let's put it all together. Remember the Guy?

Unit Name: Guy

Keywords: Human, Living, Generic

Speed: 6

Resolve: 3

Armour: 0

Wounds: 2

Sun (Victory)	Gun – Attack: Range 12, Skill 3. Damage 1.	Evade – Default: Skill 3.
Moon (Psychology)	Scare – Skill 2. Fear 1.	Rally – Skill 3. Gain one Edge.
Mercury (Maneuver)	Hustle – Simple: Skill 3. Move 6”.	Flee – Skill 3. Retreat 6”.
Venus (Special)	Wild [+CC]	Dodge – Skill 5.
Mars (Savagery)	Fist – Attack: Range M, Skill 2. Damage 0.	Return Fire – Attack: Range 12, Skill 2. Damage 1.

Qualities:

Imagine two Guys facing each other down across an empty field. Each of their controlling players (Hadrian and Ruby) has a hand full of cards. For the sake of this example, let's say their hand size is 3. It is Hadrian's first turn. Hadrian activates his Guy, moves him up to his Speed (6) in inches, then has a choice. He can immediately resolve an action with no bonus, or secretly play a Command Card to be resolved at the end of the turn. Hadrian's hand is a Venus 1, a Mercury 2, and a Mars 1.

Be warned. This one is also way too long.

Spectrum Cosmos - The Basics Continued

Last time we looked at basic play structure, activating units, declaring and resolving actions and reactions. Below is a more concrete example.

First, let's make an example unit profile. Again, this is a structure I've condensed from Lawson's dense, longhand descriptions of unit abilities. This is a generic unit that nevertheless includes many of the game's core features.

Unit Name: Guy

Keywords: Human, Living, Generic

Speed: 6

Resolve: 3

Armour: 0

Wounds: 2

(In the final product, I'd likely include balancing mechanisms, such as point cost and maximum allowance up here)

Sun (Victory)	Gun – Attack: Range 12, Skill 3. Damage 1.	Evade – Default: Skill 3.
Moon (Psychology)	Scare – Skill 2. Fear 1.	Rally – Skill 3. Gain one Edge.
Mercury (Maneuver)	Hustle – Simple: Skill 3. Move 6”.	Flee – Skill 3. Retreat 6”.
Venus (Special)	Wild [+CC]	Dodge – Skill 5.
Mars (Savagery)	Fist – Attack: Range M, Skill 2. Damage 0.	Return Fire – Attack: Range 12, Skill 2. Damage 1.

Qualities:

Spectrum Cosmos - The Basics

Alright, enough background. Let's get to the game.

Spectrum Cosmos is a diceless miniatures game that uses cards and secrecy as its random element. If I had to compare it to modern games, I'd say it has elements of Warmachine, Infinity, Malifaux, and the board game Fury of Dracula.

Read the details below.

Spectrum Cosmos - An Explanation

A while back, I decided that I wanted to develop a ruleset for a miniatures skirmish game. As it turns out, I didn't have to.

During my layover in London, I found an old stash of MIRACLES OF TOMORROW MAGAZINE for sale in a street market. I picked it up on a whim, and, well, you can see from my last few posts what I discovered.  I'd been reading them (carefully!) off and on for the past week when I stumbled across this note from publisher Max Osterhagen. I dug through my collection to find the previous issue he referenced, which included this introduction by author James Nathaniel Lawson, who apparently invented a miniatures wargame back in 1933. Such a find prompted me to do some research.

Author's Note from MIRACLES OF TOMORROW MAGAZINE Vol 7, No 3, July, 1933

Dearest Readers,

By now you have finished reading my little fable. As I wrote it, Sergeant Bronzewood and her brave frontiersmen managed to fight off the Faceless Men from beyond Jupiter, saving the lives of the colonists of Star-Fort Alpha. But what if the battle had transpired differently?

Publisher's Note from MIRACLES OF TOMORROW MAGAZINE Vol 7, No 4, October, 1933

To All Loyal Future-Minded Readers of MIRACLES OF TOMORROW MAGAZINE:

ADAPT OR PERISH! Those are the words to live by in this, our modern age. Every day, new MIRACLES OF SCIENCE burst out of our nation's workshops and laboratories.

In our lifetimes, wireless telegraphy has begun to transmit news around the world at the speed of lightning, man has unlocked the secrets of flight, and with electrical lights we can reclaim our world from that savage conqueror Night. In earlier centuries, but one of these discoveries would define an era. But today, SCIENCE CONTINUES ITS FORWARD MARCH.

The only question that remains: WILL YOU JOIN THE FUTURE, OR BE LEFT BEHIND?