Battle group

A battle group is a group of one to five ships either spawning in HyperSpace or guarding a TrueSpace star system. The probability for the battle group to be composed of a single ship is 50%; for two ships, 25%; for three ships, 12.5%; for four ships, 6.25%; and for five ships, 3.125%. The following are exceptions to this rule: fourteen Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah Marauders or Ur-Quan Kzer-Za Dreadnoughts in the battle groups guarding Delta Crateris V, fourteen Orz Nemesis ships guarding Delta Vulpeculae II-C, always a single Slylandro Probe and always a single Melnorme Trader in their respective battle groups. A battle group is treated as a single entity (represented in HyperSpace as a black "spoor" and in TrueSpace as a single, non-rotating ship of the respective race) and the ships constituting it cannot separate. Colliding with a battle group will initiate an encounter. If the battle group is encountered in HyperSpace, the encounter will take place in TrueSpace, in an area called "Deep Space" — and if the encounter turns hostile, a planet will still be present for the battle.

Battle group behaviour

• In HyperSpace, battle groups spawn randomly at most once a day and follow the Flagship. Notice that they simply head towards it, instead of heading a bit further to collide with it if it does not change course.
• In TrueSpace, battle groups circle at different ranges around planets, switching randomly between them. Most battle groups can only be seen in the closest zoom level (focused on a planet), though they may randomly switch back to the main zoom level.

If the Flagship gets close enough to a TrueSpace battle group, regardless of whether they are friendly, neutral or hostile, all battle groups in the system will head on an intercept course with The Flagship — including those at different zoom levels. After the encounter is finished, they return to patrolling unless they are hostile.

There may not be battle groups pertaining to different species in a single star system, even if their Spheres of Influence overlap on that star system.

Battle group variables

Ship name	Speed	Encounter probability in TrueSpace	Encounter probability in HyperSpace
Arilou Lalee'lay Skiff	40	0%	20%
Chmmr Avatar	27	0%	0%
Druuge Mauler	20	20%	30%
Earthling Cruiser	24	0%	0%
Ilwrath Avenger	25	60%	60%
Melnorme Trader	40	0%1	0%2
Mycon Podship	27	20%	40%
Orz Nemesis	40	20%	20%
Pkunk Fury	40	20%	40%
Shofixti Scout	35	0%3	0%
Slylandro Probe	60	5%4	2%
Spathi Eluder/Discriminator	48	10%	20%
Supox Blade	40	20%	40%
Syreen Penetrator	36	0%	0%
Thraddash Torch	28	20%	60%
Umgah Drone	18	20%	30%
Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah Marauder	30	40%	70%
Ur-Quan Kzer-Za Dreadnought	30	40%	70%
Ur-Quan Kzer-Za Security Drone	90	0%5	0%
Utwig Jugger	30	20%	40%
VUX Intruder	21	20%	40%
Yehat Terminator	30	40%	60%
Zoq-Fot-Pik Stinger	40	0%6	0%

Notes and references

¹However, there is always one (and only one) Trader in any supergiant system.

²If The Captain uses a HyperWave Caster in HyperSpace, a Melnorme Trader will always appear.

³However, Tanaka (or, if The Captain kills him, Katana) is always present at Delta Gorno until he is given the Shofixti Maidens.

⁴The encounter probabilities with Probes, both in HyperSpace and in TrueSpace, increase gradually. See here.

⁵However, there is one orbiting Earth, which exits the screen and disappears after encounter.

⁶However, there is always one present at Rigel until The Captain encounters it.