Combat occurs on a board divided into squares, about 10 down and about 14 across. The player starts on the left and the enemies start out on the right.
If the combat is occurring over a colonized planet, that planet will be located on the side of the player it belongs to and it will be halfway down the screen on the second square in.
Each ship design present gets its own space on the board and all units of the same type are stacked in the same space. They spawn starting halfway down the screen and then alternate above and below till all ship designs have spawned.
Ships move a varying number of squares on the board from one to eight depending on the speed of their engines and special equipment present. A special equipment called sub-space teleporter allows the ship to choose the location where it will end movement. Ships can move through each other if they have enough movement, but cannot end movement in a space occupied by something else.
Space debris randomly spawns in the middle of the board in most combats. When missiles en route to their target go through a square of space debris, they are 50% likely to crash into debris and detonate. Generally, about half will make it through the field if there are large numbers of missiles, but randomness is a larger factor the fewer the number of missiles.