"SPACE FIGHT!" Starship combat boardgame

[Morrus]

Long playtest session today - lots of tweaks will be coming!

 

[Morrus]

Brief playtesting report:

• Overall, extremely pleased. We learned a lot about the system's strengths and weaknesses, and found the experience was clearly one of a game that's headed in the right direction.
• Movement rules simulated movement how we wanted to perfectly, at a cost of being a little awkward to implement. Clearly the design goal of "fast play/ease of use" was not being met there, but we were delighted with how the various sized ships acted and the difference between fighters, mid-ized ships and massive capital ships.
• Some of the ships were not well designed - that was fine, as they were just numbers thrown onto a template to see how the system "looked". We adjusted them a lot in play.
• Squadron rules need some work.
• Some areas where clarification is needed were highlighted.

We fought a battle between a Star Destroyer (launching TIE Fighters) and the Enterprise, three squads of X-Wings and a Klingon Bird of Prey. Each felt and acted exactly how it should. The fighters raced out to meet each other as the larger ships closed more slowly; fighter squadrons streaked along the side of the Star Destroyer blasting at it, taking casualties from its point defences, and dueled in lovely parabolic arcs! One time I misjudged an X-Wing's speed, and it was unable to pull up in time to avoid colliding with an asteroid.

The winner was the Imperials.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The winner was the Imperials.

Damn. Now the Star Wars fans have won the supposedly eternal battle between the franchises.

 

[jaerdaph]

Sounds like a lot of fun and looks like this is really coming along.

So, how big of a hex grid space did you use for the combats? Did you find yourselves overrunning the edge frequently?

 

[Morrus]

Sounds like a lot of fun and looks like this is really coming along.

So, how big of a hex grid space did you use for the combats? Did you find yourselves overrunning the edge frequently?

9 pages printed out and taped together! A bit of a messy job, but I've ordered 12 poster sizes hex grids.

We overran the edge slightly once or twice (on the outside of some wide turns from the X Wings which were moving really fast), but not so that it bothered us. I imagine the game as being played on an area four times the size of the sheet we cobbled together (4 poster maps).

 

[Flatus Maximus]

So how much does it cost to turn more than 60 degrees in one go? From my reading it sounds like that might be possible, but there is no associated cost. In any case, the game looks like a lot of fun!

 

[Morrus]

So, plans for this week:

1) Firing arcs. It's easy with a one-hex ship, but a little more difficult with larger ships.

2) Damage locations. Remember how the X-Wings used to fly across the bow of a Star Destroyer firing at the shield generators? We want that type of visual. Our initial thoughts are that every ship has its own unique points that you can target, detailed in the stat block and marked on the counter itself. Each has an AC and HP, and notes on any additional defences it might have, along with details on what happens to the ship when that target point is destroyed. All exception-based (no overal governing damage chats, just specific weak points detailed in the stat block and marked on the counter). So I'm thinking something like this could appear on the Star Destroyer's card:

Shield Generators (x2)
AC 6, HP 20
Each generator destroyed reduces the ship's shield capability by half. Destroying both removes the ship's sensors capability.

Then two little red blobs on the counter show where they are.

 

[Morrus]

So how much does it cost to turn more than 60 degrees in one go? From my reading it sounds like that might be possible, but there is no associated cost. In any case, the game looks like a lot of fun!

You can't. You can turn 1 hex side (60 degrees) after x number of hexes moved in a straight line. With the last iteration, turning 60 degrees doesn't actually cost points - you can do it free as long as you do it every x hexes (as determined by your current velocity and your maneuverability).

Trust me, it works really well! Basically you get fighters circling and jockeying for position, or lining up for straight runs at capital ships, exactly how you'd imagine it. And asteroid fields become a LOT of fun!

If you have a ship capable of performing a special maneuver which allows it to do something else (e.g. check the Wingover maneuver on the Falcon, or the free Rotate manevers on the Starfuries and Vipers) it's specifically noted in the stat block.

 

[Flatus Maximus]

1) Firing arcs. It's easy with a one-hex ship, but a little more difficult with larger ships.

What, exactly, is a 'firing arc'? A direction in which a given ship can fire? ("Arc" makes me think of curves.) Also: What was "awkward to implement" about the movement phase?

 

[Morrus]

What, exactly, is a 'firing arc'? A direction in which a given ship can fire? ("Arc" makes me think of curves.)

Yup. Forward, Aft, Port, Starboard.

Also: What was "awkward to implement" about the movement phase?

Too many numbers floating around. Velocity, speed points, maneuverability rating, cost to turn, hexes you have to move between each turn. Started to feel like I was back at school.