From: Dan Kast Subject: Starmada review I was looking at the Web-Grognards pages, and noticed that this review of Starmada was not listed... I would be most appreciative if you could add it to the Starmada entry on your "wargames by title/series" section. (Yes, it's old, but it's the only complete review of the game I've been able to find on the 'net...) Thanks! Dan Kast cricket@chrispy.net ----- From: Demian Rose Subject: STARMADA REVIEW hey folks, OK, I got to play my first game of "Starmada IV" tonight and have a few general comments on the game for those of you interested in Space miniatures games, a genre for which I've yet to find a game which I'm mostly happy with (though I may have found one in Starmada). First, I'll get this out of the way: I know Dan Kast, the creator of Starmada, and it was he who taught me the game. Therefore, my opinion may be a bit biased and since I learned to play without needing to read the rules, I can't say much about their editing, organization, etc. I can, however, contrast its mechanics with both Silent Death and Full Thrust, bith of which I've played before (I like SD a BIT more, so take that into account, as well)...any way: SCALE Though the scale is relatively undefined as far as actual mass goes, since fighters are represented as attacking in squadrons of six, the feel as far as size goes is closer to FT than SD. BACKGROUND Though they are I think 4 different races for which ship designs are published, the game is pretty much open to whatever background you want, and there are rules (which I did take a close look at) for ship design which allow for any space craft imaginable to be represented. POINTS SYSTEM The ship generation system is very straight forward, and it looks easy to design a wide range of ships, each with different niches. And (drum roll, please): it's statistically based!!! One of my big pet peeves is point systems which don't work; if you can't publish a balanced points system, don't publish one at all! Rant mode off...:) Ship designs included in the rules varied from a low of 23 points, to a high of around 300 points. MECHANICS The mechanics are fairly simple, with a lot of optional rules (with which I did not play) included for those who desire things like vector movement, more precise location charts, etc. Basically, each ship has the following basic stats: -Superstructure hits: these represent the hull and engines. As a ship takes superstructure hits, it becomes progressively slower and less maneuverable. When the last box is checked off: BOOM! -Weapons: There are only about 5 or 6 basic weapons, each with very simple rules. However, the interplay of the different weapon types allows for many different effects. The types I played with: -laser cannons; make a straightforward roll against shields and possibly inflict damage -ion cannons; ignore shields, but can't inflict superstructure hits -(something I'm forgetting) torpedoes; if they hit, they roll 3 times against shields (no more likely to hit, though) -mass drivers; if they penetrate shields, they inflict one point of superstructure damage in addition to any other damage rolled Basically, a ship rolls to hit its target, then to penetrate shields (if necessary) by rolling above the shield value of the ship (typically 2-4) then to see what damage has been inflicted. In the basic rules, a 1-3 (on d6) is superstructure, 4-5 weapon in appropriate arc, 6 shields (drops shield rating down by one). Weapon ranges and base chance to hit are the same for every weapon on a given ship. -shields: each ship has a shield rating which must be rolled above if the ship is hit by an enemy weapon. For each point of shield damage taken, the shield rating goes down by one. Fighters are abstracted a bit and have their own phase. Fighters have no range and can only attack ships directly in front of them, rolling one die per fighetr left in the squadron A 5-6 is a "laser cannon" hit. In addition, if other fighters or ships with ant-fighter batteries are attacked, then a roll of 1 destroys one of your OWN fighters. There are also some special equipment with which ships can be equipped, the ones I played with are: -anti-fighter batteries (explained above) -armored hull (a damage roll of 1 has no effect) -ECM (all shots against the ship are at -1) -fighter bays (fighters must be bought as part of a larger ship, with one squadron of six present for each bay purchased). Movement is pre-plotted and sequence of play is: -write orders for big ships -move big ships -alternate moving and firing fighters (fire takes place in order) -fire big ships (resolved simultaneously) We played on a hex map, and the rules seem to favor that approach, but there's no reason why you couldn't play on a tabletop as long as you had something with which to accurately measure fire arcs. HOW IT PLAYED I must admit, I was a bit wary of the "each weapon on a ship has the same range and base chance to hit" idea, but it actually worked OK, mostly because the weapon effects were so varied. I like pre-plotted movement a lot, as the "second guessing" aspect is one of the main advantages I think FT has over SD. I thought that the forces we played with (500 points each) were pretty balanced, and it looked like it could go either way for most of the game (in the end, I BARELY won). Also, it's nice to have everything you need to keep track of on one sheet. In general, I like simple, easy to learn mechanics which still allow for lots of tactical variety. I think that Starmada does a good job of toeing the line between the too fine detail (for me, any way) of SD and the supposedly realistic "let's fly around in circles all day" aspect of Full Thrust :). oh yeah, and they're only $10! Check out Dan's homepage (www.uiuc.edu/~cricket/starmada?...actually, I'm not entirely sure that's correct...maybe a search for "Starmada" would work better :) for more info. demian