Aegis-X All Ships with this rule in a Group combine their X values into a single value, Y.
Friendly Groups in coherency within 6” of a Ship with this rule and the same Orbital Layer (including its own Group) gain the benefits of Aegis.
When rolling saves against Close Action and Bomber (of any type) attacks, those Groups gain Y additional save dice they may add to those saves. Before rolling to save, the defending player assigns these dice against specific weapons, divided up as they choose (including any modified hits).
An Aegis Group can only grant the benefits of Aegis once each time a friendly group is attacked.
A friendly Group can only benefit from Aegis from one Group each time it is attacked.
Payload S/L-X When building your fleet, you may choose as many Payload Ships as you like— tonnage limits do not apply to these Ships, and they have no Group size. All Payload S/L Ships must be assigned to a Porter S/L Ship with the same letter. Payload Ships may not activate or be targeted until detached.
Payload Ships take up X of a Porter Ship’s capacity.
During the Porter Ship’s activation, if it is on an Order that allows it to Launch, you may detach one or more of its Payload Ships and place them within 3” of it. In the round they are detached, these Payloads activate together immediately as part of the Porter Ship’s activation after it has completed its Order. In subsequent rounds, all your Payload Ships count as being part of a single Group. Crippling Effects, Spikes, and other rules that affect an entire Group only affect the targeted Payload Ship.
Payload Ships always follow General Quarters Orders, even if its Porter is on different Orders. Payload Ships ignore Coherency rules (and do not gain Formation Benefits), have no Lead Ship, are targeted by attacks individually, and these attacks can only damage the targeted Payload Ship.
If a Payload Ship is attached to a Porter Ship when that Ship is destroyed, the Payload Ship is destroyed.
Limited Aegis Bandwidth Friendly Ships with this rule may combine their Aegis values as if they were the same Group. When these Ships combine their Aegis value, only those within 6” of the Group using the benefits of Aegis are counted. A Ship with this rule cannot gain the benefit of Aegis from another Ship with this rule.
