Introduction to Full Thrust Warlords Edition
A club-tested house rules version shaped by long campaign play and local preferences.
Full Thrust Warlords Edition [Stephen Mulholland 2007] really a set of house rules modified by Wellington Warlords club to be a better fit to how they wanted to play. The layout isn't great, with the paragraphs using huge hanging indents. Really for a specific club so they could coordinate their games. They sadly no longer list Full Thrust as a game in their play roster.
From the authors:
What follows is an expanded version of the Full Thrust miniature spaceship combat rules system, originally created by Ground Zero Games. This has been modified and extensively playtested by the Wellington Warlords in 2005 and 2006. The core rules of the game have been left largely intact, though numerous small modifications have been made for the purpose of continuity and game balance within the expanded rules set. The purpose of these many changes was to create a game with a much wider variety of tactical and strategic options, plus the addition of simple but workable campaign rules. The game is also designed to be fully modular, groups of rules (gunboats, fighters, spinal mounts, etc) can be dropped to betterfit a themed universe without affecting the overall play of the game. I hope you enjoy them!
so it's been iterated to hell and back over like 15 campaigns. It is fairly balanced, but has some of the peculiarities of how some of the players played/designed ships baked in.
Full Thrust Warlords Edition is not a official edition in the same way as the GZG books. It is a club-shaped rules version, built from repeated play and a lot of local preference. That makes it interesting for a different reason. It shows what happens when a group keeps using Full Thrust for campaigns and starts modifying the rules toward its own goals. It may also contain ideas for rules not covered by other adaptations so it's worth reading through to look for hidden gems around campaign management and how to manage rules as modules.
Full Thrust Warlords Edition Table of Contents
What is not in this version
- Xeno rules are still only in Fleet Book Volume 2
Ship Models and Playing Pieces
- Dice
- Other Equipment
- Playing Area and Setup
- Units of Distance
- Terminology
- A Note on Movement and Physics
- Technology Types
- Initial Deployment in Tactical Battles
- Sequence of Play
- Sequence of Play Explained
Core Rules
- Movement
- Sensors
- Fire Control
- Fire Arcs
- Weapon Varieties
- Ordnance
- Fighters
- Marines
- Mines
- Ships' Fire
- Missile and Fighter Attacks
- Ship Damage
- Threshold Tests
- Damage Control
- Flotillas
- Entering or Leaving the Table via FTL
- Fleeing battles without FTL
- Terrain
- Hyperspace Battles and Terrain
- Tugs and Tenders
- Ship Design
Ships Systems
- Hull and Drives:
- Defenses
- Direct Fire Weapons
- Ordnance Weapons
- Spinal Mounts
- Fighters
- Mines
- Other
Campaign Rules
- Campaign:
- Natural Wormholes
- Strategic Movement
- Starting Resources
- Income
- Building
- Supply Lines
- Repairs and Resupply
- Intelligence
- Real Space in Campaigns
- Wormhole Badlands
- Strategic Turn Order
- Victory Points (optional rule)
- Quick Reference Sheet
What it represents
The Warlords preface says the rules were modified and extensively playtested by the Wellington Warlords in 2005 and 2006. That matters. This is not a random pile of extra weapons, it is a club version shaped by repeated games.
The core rules are kept largely intact, but the surrounding systems are adjusted for continuity, balance, and a wider range of tactical and strategic options. The phrase that sums it up best is *simple but workable campaign rules*.
The modular approach is also important. Gunboats, fighters, spinal mounts, and similar groups of rules can be dropped when they do not suit a setting. That makes Warlords more useful as a working rules box than as a fixed doctrine.
When to read it
I would read Warlords for ideas rather than adopt it blindly. The campaign material and accumulated play assumptions are useful, but they reflect one group’s habits.
It is especially useful if your own group is already modifying Full Thrust and you want to see how another group handled the goal.
- Good for campaign-minded groups.
- Useful as a house rule comparison point.
- Less suitable as a first contact with the game.
Useful sources
- Full Thrust Warlords Edition PDF for the Warlords rules text and table of contents.
- Full Thrust Fleet Resource for the archived Warlords link and wider rules resource notes.
- Full Thrust FAQ game editions for where Warlords sits in the edition list.
