Hi,
I've been playing wargames since the early 80s, so yeah... I'm old.
Most of the games have been Sci-fi or fantasy, but since my lad was 10, he took an interest in playing X-Wing with me. I started thinking of adding a space game to my current favourite tabletop game, Beyond the Gates of Antares.
I managed to pick up the SD:TNM box set from ebay. Although the box was a tad battered, the contents were complete and in great condition - all the ships and tokens still on sprues etc. I also picked up a couple of extra sprues of ships so have 6 of each of the basic ship.
Because of aesthetics, I've grouped the 12 ships into 4 sets of 3 ships to match the 4 factions my wife, lad and I play in Gates of Antares.
Concord:
Thunderbird
Salamander
Hellbender
Algoryn:
Teal Hawk
Blizzard
Pit Viper
Isorian:
Talon
Lance Electra
Dart
Ghar:
Spirit Rider
Nighthawk
Kosmos
Now, as I've not played SD yet, I was wondering if we played something like a 200-250 point game, limiting players to multiples of the ships above using points, would that be balanced enough?
I'll have a couple of spare sprues so could add others to mix it up a little, but I wanted to paint the main groups of ships so they matched the faction colours of my foot soldiers/vehicles.
If there's any glaring errors or OP ships in those lists that would cause imbalance, could you let me know.
The idea is that we can have campaigns where there's a ship battle prior to a battle on the planet, with the ship combat winner maybe getting bonuses. Or having ship games where the idea is to get relief to a plant through a blockade.
Thanks.
Karelian Suomi Wrote:Gimgamgoo Wrote:"Because of aesthetics, I've grouped the 12 ships into 4 sets of 3 ships to match the 4 factions my wife, lad and I play in Gates of Antares.
Concord:
Thunderbird
Salamander
Hellbender"
A balanced force with a blend of cannons and good total torpedo loadout for the force...
Gimgamgoo Wrote:"Algoryn:
Teal Hawk
Blizzard
Pit Viper"
Good speed but light on firepower and torpedo loadout. Will have to use speed to maximum advantage...
Gimgamgoo Wrote:"Isorian:
Talon
Lance Electra
Dart"
One of the fastest ships in the game (Dart) with the slower moving strike ships (Lance Electra) with a light-medium fighter as a somewhat heavier escort. Good for attack missions such as going after freighters and such, and the Lance Electras's missile launchers can come in handy in a furball.
Gimgamgoo Wrote:"Ghar:
Spirit Rider
Nighthawk
Kosmos"
Now this is a rather scary bunch thanks to the Night Hawk's Sextuple Splatterguns, with the added help of the Spirit Riders and the faster Kosmos. The weaknesses are the light torpedo load (only two Mk. 10s per Spirit Rider), and the Kosmos being dependent upon weapons that will run out of ammunition.
Overall each grouping will present its challenges, some more than others, as they will their strengths. And *that* is IMHO where the fun is, in getting ships to work in concert effectively.
A massive thank you for replying in such detail - it was exactly what I was after.
Interesting though. For the figures we own for Gates of Antares, the Concord seem to be the most balanced with good weapons - same as above.
The Ghar have some powerful weapons, but are prone to self exploding, or in the case of here, weapons running out of ammo. The Isorian in GoA seem pretty balanced like the Concord and seem to be above. The Algoryn have weaker weapons than the others, but our armies have a lot of speed. So, pretty similar to above.
We'll have a small game pretty shortly to get the rules learnt. We've already been through the "optional" rules and picked some w'e'd like to use. Namely; Asteroids, Decoys, Point-Defense, Ramming and Sideslips.
The one I'm a little worried about adding is Damage Control. If we add that, it will use everything in the extra box on the ship cards. I know my wife likes TT games that take around 1.5 hours or less, so I'm worried using Damage Control could increase the length of games. Does DC make a massive difference to game length?
I've already printed and laminated the fighter cards we need. An ultra-fine red sharpie works perfectly on them for use during the game and stands out well. It rubs off with a bit of isopropyl alcohol perfectly.
Now... do we play on our paper mats from the box set, or wait a week for delivery of the 4 foot by 3 foot 1.5 inch hex mouse mat I have coming :-)
I've painted up a few models, so I'll post those when I get some photos taken (in the right forum section)
Thanks again.
I for one haven't found Damage Control to slow things down overmuch, simply because (1) it's limited in it's effects, and (2) the weapons can really trash a ship fairly quickly beyond the point where Damage Control might save the day. But then again I personally am a
very aggressive player used to an utterly ruthless, cold-as-hard-vacuum opponent (Sheldon Greaves, I'm looking at
you!) who wastes no time in blowing up Someone Unlucky usually on the first turn in my case (my dice are funny that way).
In fact, that's another twist to the tale, is the issue of Critical Hits, which can also render Damage Control a somewhat moot point. I mean, for one anecdotal example, I had a 1,000 point game with The Abominable Doctor Greaves a number of years ago, and let fly with my Sigurd Archdiocese Iceberg class gunboat's quad Autocannons. I rolled a thoroughly hard hit, and landed a critical. Sheldon rolled to see what mischief I had wrought, and scored the right wrong result. His Epping gunboat went up like HMS Invincible at Jutland. Ouch.
So start out mastering the Basic Rules, absolutely. You'll find that the most popular of the Optional Rules is Easing Target Speed Restriction, while Damage Control is helpful at times, but has its limitations (and may be rendered moot by severe damage from one too many sources).
Hope this all helps, and we're looking forward to your pics of painted minis!
Thanks again.
Maybe I'll get time to get a trial game in this weekend, if not, Easter holidays are looming and I know both myself and my wife have some time off. A chance to do some gaming.
I've posted some pics on this thread - providing photobucket don't put up that unpaid user link.
http://www.silent-death.mx/forum/showthread.php?tid=561
(03-15-2018, 10:10 AM)Gimgamgoo Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks again.
Maybe I'll get time to get a trial game in this weekend, if not, Easter holidays are looming and I know both myself and my wife have some time off. A chance to do some gaming.
I've posted some pics on this thread - providing photobucket don't put up that unpaid user link.
http://www.silent-death.mx/forum/showthread.php?tid=561
We decided to rule that DC could be used all the time like the Warhounds. It made it a lot more fun. Even for Gunboats who were trying to repair one side while turning the better side in to the fire fight.
(03-15-2018, 01:24 PM)Smurf Wrote: [ -> ]We decided to rule that DC could be used all the time like the Warhounds. It made it a lot more fun. Even for Gunboats who were trying to repair one side while turning the better side in to the fire fight.
You, oh Small Blue Flying Homicidal Maniac, are indeed a vicious, cunning, and implaccable foe to be feared by anyone sensible. I salute you!