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DorianGray Lieutenant SG
Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 131 Location: Chevy Chase, MD
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 12:57 pm Post subject: What is Starmada? Anyone play other Space Themed games? |
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Hi,
I've noticed a new product called Starmada on the site. What is it? Is it a new set of rules to model exceptionally large fleet battles to complete in a shorter time? Should be interesting if it is so I can now fight 40 + ship battles in less than 5 hours..
Separate question.
Does anyone who play the Fed. Com. system play any other space combat system or space game such as Battlefleet Gothic and Twilight Imperium? Federation Commander was my first space game but these two have caught my eye. One being more of a civilizational game that has tremendous dept and is apparently the most popular space boardgame by a huge game company (Fantasy Flight games)
I know most of the posters in this forum are hard-core SFB/FedCom die-hard loyalists but I was just wondering if they tried out other games too. |
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wedge_hammersteel Commander
Joined: 27 Sep 2008 Posts: 578 Location: Lafayette, LA
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Hod K'el Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 21 Aug 2008 Posts: 301 Location: Lafayette LA
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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I play BFG & TI3. Would love to convert some of the BFG into FC as alien ships from the far side of the universe. Fighter conversions would be a nightmare (operation in this game system verses the other).
Full Thrust is okay for the fighter to fighter action, but not for ship to ship.
Babylon 5 Fleet Action is okay, but not as logical as FC...but FC is not as logical as SFB...and you can do so many more things in SFB as compared to FC...mines, SWACs, MRS, scatterpacks, fire per impulse which would be fire per subpulse in FC... _________________ HoD K'el
IMV Black Dagger
-----------------
Life is not victory;
Death is not defeat! |
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DorianGray Lieutenant SG
Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 131 Location: Chevy Chase, MD
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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Well it seems the problem with most space games in general is finding opponents.
At least SFB/Fed.Com. is actively supported by an active community and a company that makes new products every year. Battlefleet Gothic has basically been put on life-support by GW for the past 7 years with nothing new released.
oh well. Starmada seems like some weird alternative rule set by a unknown fringe company. Anyone have experience with their rules? seem best avoided. |
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terryoc Captain
Joined: 07 Oct 2006 Posts: 1386
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:56 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: | I've noticed a new product called Starmada on the site. What is it? Is it a new set of rules to model exceptionally large fleet battles to complete in a shorter time? Should be interesting if it is so I can now fight 40 + ship battles in less than 5 hours.. |
Starmada bills itself as "The universal game of starship combat". The full Starmada rules can be likened to a toolbox you can use to simulate the ships from any universe you like. The Star Fleet Universe, Babylon 5, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, whatever. Klingon Armada is the basic Starmada rules, plus special universe-specific rules, and enough ships to get you in trouble. I don't know how long a 40+ ship battle would take in Klingon Armada, but certainly it'd take a heck of a lot less time than in FC, and DAYS less time than in SFB
You do NOT need to buy the main Starmada rulebook to play Klingon Armada. Klingon Armada has all you need. That said, the main rules have things like terrain and other options you might want to try when you are familiar with KA.
Quote: | Does anyone who play the Fed. Com. system play any other space combat system or space game such as Battlefleet Gothic and Twilight Imperium? Federation Commander was my first space game but these two have caught my eye. One being more of a civilizational game that has tremendous dept and is apparently the most popular space boardgame by a huge game company (Fantasy Flight games) |
I used to play Battlefleet Gothic, it's basically WWI ships in space, simple system, a bit "meh..." from my POV. Starmada's better at that IMO. Twilight Imperium I've never played but heard good things about. _________________ "Captain" Terry O'Carroll, fourteen papers published including six best of issue
"Man, Terry, you are like a loophole seeking missle!" - Mike West
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Kang Fleet Captain
Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 1976 Location: Devon, UK
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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Looks to me like a set of forms to fill in, without any of the 'real' feel of Fed Commander or SFB. Where's the romance in filling in a form? <ducks to avoid objects thrown by SFB veterans> _________________
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wedge_hammersteel Commander
Joined: 27 Sep 2008 Posts: 578 Location: Lafayette, LA
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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I am going to try out Klingon Armada. I want to see how the multi ship fleet battles play out.
I have to put some real effort in keeping track of more than three ships in FC and not get them confused. |
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Dan Ibekwe Commander
Joined: 08 Mar 2007 Posts: 453 Location: Manchester UK
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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(Looks around for objects to throw)
I've played Full Thrust occaisionally; it's fast moving, but does not have much in the way of tactical depth. I never really liked the written simultaneous moves.
Agents of Gaming's Babylon 5 Wars worked after a fashion, but was slowed down by a plethora of special rules for each weapon, and as many as five or six different weapon systems on each ship. Working out a 'to-hit' score could take five steps for each shot, which was less than ideal. It also had a vector movement system with vectors unknown to Sir Isaac.
Mongoose's A Call to Arms (they got the B5 miniatures games licence after AoG lost it) was simple and fast moving, but suffered from balance issues and perpetual re-writing. Its Second Edition cured most of the problems, and having got it more or less right, Mongoose promptly abandoned the game and dropped the licence. _________________ We are Hydrans! NO ONE LIKES US! |
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Wolverin61 Commander
Joined: 16 Nov 2008 Posts: 495 Location: Mississippi
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 1:24 am Post subject: |
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Haven't played any of the other games mentioned, just SFB and FC, but I've been curious about other games and game systems myself. Lately I've been wondering about Squadron Strike. They used to have an article online where they played a Squadron Strike game of Federation vs. Cylons at Origins but I can't find it now. _________________ "His pattern indicates two-dimensional thinking."
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OGOPTIMUS Captain
Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 980
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 1:30 am Post subject: |
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I've played BFG and A Call To Arms. A Call To Arms always seemed like Gothic 2.0 to me. Pretty much the same game with different names for weapons and ships.
Fairly fun though. Easy to setup and play quickly a few times in one evening. _________________ O.G. OPTIMUS
Newest Page | Newer Page | OLD Page |
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Scoutdad Commodore
Joined: 09 Oct 2006 Posts: 4754 Location: Middle Tennessee
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 2:30 am Post subject: |
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I've played SS; even helped convert a couple of the SFB ships over to SS format for the Cyclon v. everybody else game at Origins 08.
The 3D movement system used is a totally differnt animal, but it's not as bad as everyone would think at first... more or less. The play aids do 99.44% of the math for you so you can concentrate on playing.
And concentrate you do need to do for the first few games. During my first game, I was barey able to wrap my head around moving in all three dimensions at once... The second game was a bit easier. I knew the basics, but consolidating vectors at the end of end turn still threw me for a lood, as did determining the actual thrust direction when combining rolls and pivots with acceleration and pre-existing movement vectors... ARRRGH!
The third game saw a breakthrough on vector consolidation, but actually making the ship go where I wanted it to, at the speeed I wanted, the first time around still eluded me. I kept having to make sweeping turns to actually get where I should have been able to go straight to...
Some time around the 5th or 6th game, I had an ephinany and everything "clicked". I'm no movement expert, but at least now I can both determine how to get my ship where I want it and have a fair approximation of where the others guys ship will be, based on his previous vectors and his abiltiy to maneuver this turn.
As for the other mechanical aspects, shooting bearing to your target is a simple extension of the plotting reauirements... Determining which weapons bear is a bit more complicated than SFB or FC - but not enough to really be noticable.
The actual combat / damage rules are very easy.
And as previously stated, it can be adapted to any system you desire... you can even mix and match systems to have a Cylons v. Federation battle, or as was done at Origins '09 - Boneheads v Boneheads (B5's Minbari vs TNG's Kligons.) - all in 3D.
But to get back on topic... Klingon Armada. I've played one Fed Ca v Klingon D& battle - but I ran both ships. Yes Tony, a lot of it seems to be "fill out a form and fight", but if you're doing 3 or less ships a side - you'd be using FC anyway. I can certainly see where 2 or 3 or 4 people could do a 40 ship battle in a single afternoon.
While not as detailed as SFB (or even FC), it really doesn't seem to lose a lot of the flavor of the SFU - although that could be the F&E player in me talking.
I can see the progression of games:
Prime Direction - just a few personnel from one SFU unit.
Star Fleet Battles - one ship v. one ship.
Fed Commander - Squadron v. Squadron.
Klingon Armada - Task Force v. Task Force.
Fed and Empire - Everybody and everything v. everyone and everything else.
While each has a differnt "Feel", all are part of the SFU and therefore will have a bit of that SFU feel. Take it from someone who plays them all; Fed Comm doesn't have the same feel as SFB, although it's close. Fed and Empire doesn't have the same feel as SFB, although you can still see the roots of the SFU in it.
Give KA a chance, I think you'll find that it excels at what it's designed for; and does so w/o losing that jen ne sais quoi that makes it uniquely ADB and SFU. _________________ Commander, Battlegroup Murfreesboro
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Wolverin61 Commander
Joined: 16 Nov 2008 Posts: 495 Location: Mississippi
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 2:53 am Post subject: |
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Guys, thanks for your explanations and comments on the different games and rule systems. The more I read about them, the more I think I should just stick to FC, for now anyway. Just now getting to where I feel like I somewhat know the FC rules enough to not get them confused with SFB anymore anyway. _________________ "His pattern indicates two-dimensional thinking."
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djdood Commodore
Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 3413 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 4:37 am Post subject: |
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I'm going ot be picking up KA, but I have a feeling FC is going to stay my main-vein. _________________
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Lawn Dart Ensign
Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 11 Location: Santa Monica, CA
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 4:57 pm Post subject: |
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I picked up Fed Com a couple of years ago, but after I tried to demo it to a couple of gaming friends, none of them wanted to play as it sounded too complex/fiddly - even though they are big Trek fans. I just got Klingon Armada last week, and expect to run a demo game within a couple of weeks as the level of complexity is more what my friends are looking for.
It's not just about finding a ruleset that matches the size of the engagement you want to simulate, its also about find a ruleset of a complexity that your gaming group is willing to play. |
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Wolverin61 Commander
Joined: 16 Nov 2008 Posts: 495 Location: Mississippi
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Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 2:15 am Post subject: |
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One thing about Starmada/Klingon Armada, they're not pricey like some other games. _________________ "His pattern indicates two-dimensional thinking."
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