I needed something to simplify starship battles, especially if there are a lot of ships involved, so came up with the Ship Matrix, a handy hexagonal cutout where I could put ship stats and breaches. Since we use Star Trek Heroclix ships as well as Attack Wing, something that I could slip underneath the bases seemed appropriate. Given that stats came in sets of six, the hexagon seemed like a natural choice.
Here is an example using a D’deridex (the Ship Matrix template is in colour but prints out fine in black and white):
Hidden under the base are some key stats and space for notes and tracking. The back is blank so it can also be used for penciling in Talents, etc., as needed. A few Challenge Dice symbols are given in case you want to use them to record damage dice. For recording Breaches, you can put tally marks next to the System affected (or through the line under and to the left of the System name).
Here’s what the template looks like in colour, for those who prefer it.
Note the arrows that go between Comms & Computer; Sensors & Weapons; Structure & Engines. That indicates what systems receive overflow Breaches.
Here is the PDF (with 12 Ship Matrices). Unfortunately it’s not form-fillable (can’t get the angled fields around the hexagon), but it’s meant for quick penciled-in stats and notes. I would suggest printing it ‘Actual Size’ rather ‘Shrink-To-Fit’.
Need more room to write? Here’s a foldable version so you can write more on the back or in the other hex.
Ship Matrix, Fold variant (PDF)
Tomorrow: the Model Matrix, a version for use with characters, which should be compatible with both combat in role-playing and the new Red Alert miniature rules.