Grand Strategic Space Wargames
Donald Wilbur III
United States
Sacramento
California
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I want it all, fleet to fleet combat, politics, economics, a technology race, a chance to lead a vast interstellar Empire.
Unfortunately there's not much out there. Here's what I found so far. Please add you favorites. (Or your least favorites as long as they fit the description of Grand Strategic Space Wargame).
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Todd Warnken
United States
Harrison
Ohio
Get it on. Got to get it on. No choice but to get it on. Mandate, GET IT ON!
Now where was I?
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If want it all you might want to try this game. It covers every aspect of running a space empire. There is a version that ties in with Starmada X if you want to fight the battles with that system.
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José Carlos de Diego
Spain
Zaragoza
Zaragoza
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Star Conquest is a game of resource management that emphasizes three aspects: the extraction of minerals (mining) and its management, policy/diplomacy (Consuls), and militarization (Fleet of Ships). Players compete each other, economically, politically and militarily, in a grid game that represents the Alpha Centauri System.
Players build their own ships, increasingly powerful using combinations of different minerals (Neutronium, Duranium, Molybdenum and Tritanium) that are obtained in the different sectors System.
Each player starts the game on their home planet with a fleet Ships and mineral reserves. To prosper you must know properly optimize their ships, their consuls and Minerals Colonies obtained. For your empire grows you will need spread out (space exploration), for it must build more and better ships to control neighboring sectors in the system. Of course, the other players try to do the same, so you must provide at all times attention to their movements.
The good news - it's free!
The bad news - you need additional material (pawns, disc, ships, dices).
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Donald Wilbur III
United States
Sacramento
California
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By all accounts an excellent game (perhaps with one fatal flaw?) Sadly it doesn't work well for me since it's multiplayer.
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Jim Krohn
United States
New York
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Ahhh....my misspent youth...
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Definitely a 4X Grand Strategic game. Also definitely a wargame. The goal of building your empire is not a warm, happy feeling, but crushing those that stand in your way. Random map set up, exploration, a nice tech tree, enjoyable fleet combat - everything a growing boy needs.
Now on pre-order at GMT.
2-4 players
1-4 hours
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Donald Wilbur III
United States
Sacramento
California
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Ah, the latest incarnation from the Star Trek universe. From what I've heard this is a big improvement on Star Fleet Battles. But the big ships with one mega weapon never quite worked for me. Am I judging it prematurely? I'd love to be convinced.
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Greg Turner
United States
Tulsa
Oklahoma
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InterSpace puts a heavy emphasis on exploration.
The good news - it's free!
The bad news - you need the patience of a saint to put it together.
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Donald Wilbur III
United States
Sacramento
California
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Ok, this is a huge stretch for me. An abstract with an SF theme or a real space wargame?
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Eric Raabe
United States
Green Bay
Wisconsin
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This one looks like it might even be decent when you don't have 6 players for any of the bigger games.
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10.
Board Game: Warcosm
[Average Rating:7.07 Unranked]
Brett Bernstein
United States
Pennsylvania
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If you liked the original Starfire, you'll probably like Warcosm. Simple rules for fleet battles, fighter squadrons, and ship construction in one low-cost package.
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Robert Richardson
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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Too abstract?
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Donald Wilbur III
United States
Sacramento
California
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A pale comparison with TI3? Never played either one.
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What about this one? I know it is a reprint of an older game. Has anyone played it?
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Philip Thomas
United Kingdom
London
London
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The core game is tactical, but there are campaign rules provided and a suggested scenario. We tried it out at school but didn't get anywhere really.
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Ray
United States
Carpentersville
Illinois
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This has many of the elements you are looking for, but with more conventional Euro mechanics (Like many Eurogamers the combat side is a bit abstract).
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Donald Wilbur III
United States
Sacramento
California
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Now this was a blast. Very light in original concept, but it eventually became bloated and absurd. The ship design rules were awesome. (The rest was not so great in my book).
Why is nobody developing anything like this today?
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A. B. West
United States
Beech Grove
Indiana
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I think this fits the criteria of the list. And it plays in 2 hours.
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Donald Wilbur III
United States
Sacramento
California
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This looks interesting. Very rarely played tho. Is it still available? And if so, is it really any good? Will it scratch that star empire itch?
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Donald Wilbur III
United States
Sacramento
California
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People probably say, "Don, why are you still harping about Imperium? It's 30 years old and it has some real dated features."
Maybe so, but it was WAY ahead of its time (Point to Point movement, reaction phases, simple but rewarding campaign rules...) and sadly, nobody has even tried to do better.
(Please! Let's not even discuss I3M). (Well okay, bash it if you have to.)
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Jon Quinn
United States
Bradley
Illinois
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This is an old one published in 1977. It simulates the reawakening of the galaxy after hundreds of years of dark ages (Think Asimov's Foundation Trilogy). 2-4 players (played well solitare) each start in the middle of their own quadrant of a large board on a home planet. As they spread out into the large galaxy they recolonize planets which provide starbases and raw materials as well as lost and forgotten technology (the middle area of the board is the richest in tech being the center of the old empire). Tech helps your ships move farther, or better defend or attack. You had battlecruisers, light cruisers and merchant ships as basic ship types (but, depending on tech discovered, each side's ships had different stats). There was a good amount of bookkeeping, but not too bad. I got my old copy out recently and am thinkin about a game for old time's sake. Back then, it was a lot of fun
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Donald Wilbur III
United States
Sacramento
California
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The classic Star Trek universe game. I wanted to love it. But it gives fiddly a bad name. And with the wrong crowd, fiddly becomes a way of life. (These rules are unrealistic, let's tack on a hundred extra house rules or so to make it interesting.)
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Donald Wilbur III
United States
Sacramento
California
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This is pathetic. 3 of the top five ranked space wargames are TI!
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Donald Wilbur III
United States
Sacramento
California
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Strategic warfare it the Traveller world. Somehow, despite my enthusiasm for Traveller, I completely missed this game. It was long, but was it any good?
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Ed Holzman
United States
Seffner
Florida
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A llst about grand strategy games with a Sci-Fi setting would be incomplete without FitG.
A blatant rip-off of Star Wars and an attempt by SPI to cash in on the mania? Absolutely.
A lengthy rulebook requiring the patience of Job to read through without your head exploding? Yeah, it probably has that too.
Worth the effort to put into a 20 hour "galaxy level" game left set up in your buddy's apartment over two weekends? Oh yeah, it has that going for it.
Of all of my gaming experiences, some of the most vivid stories I can recall are games of FitG where either the Rebels where able to rise up and throw off the shackles of the cruel Empire or when the Eternal Will was able to crush the puny Rebels under the heel of their collective boot.
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Eric Raabe
United States
Green Bay
Wisconsin
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Here's an upcoming game. I chose an image from the Eve CCG since there aren't any images for the board game yet.
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