Review: A Billion Suns- Osprey Games

[Easy E]

This game took a while for me to get.  I actually ordered it about the day it came out.  However, it got hung-up in Brexit and took a couple months to get to me.  By the time I had gotten it, all the hype had died away.  Even for me!  Chances are, if you are interested in this game, you have all ready read plenty of reviews, watched battle reports for this game, painted your own fleets, and even played it by now.  I am sure you all ready have an opinion on it, may even have a copy in your library of games, or even played a campaign of it.  Oh well, better late than never!

A Billion Suns is a game of Corporate shenanigans.... IN SPACE!  Unlike most spaceship games, you are not an admiral in control of a fleet.  You are a space Consultant.  You get contracts that equal money.  One of the big challenges in this game is making sure you use the right tools for the job and do not break the bank.  You need to operate in the Black.  This is a big change to the usual genre conventions. 

Mike Hutchinson is also the author of Gaslands.  That was a big hit for the Osprey Wargaming Series.  I am sure they are hoping he has put lightning in a bottle a second time.  After all, Gaslands ended up getting re-booted and expanded into a hard back book.     

Let's go into the interstellar board room and see what the R&D coats think of this.....

You can read the full review on the Blood and Spectacles blog here:
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2022/07/review-billion-suns-osprey-games.html

[Ivan DBA]

Thanks for the review, I had a similar impression after my first game. 

I haven’t tried it yet, but Mike Hutchinson has released a free expansion called Warzone, that appears to convert ABS into a more conventional space wargame.  I haven’t tried it yet but it looks promising.

http://abillionsuns.space/warzone/

[Golgotha]

Great review as always Easy E and cheers Ivan DBA for that Warzone Expansion link. Still hoping to play this game at some point.

[Torben]

I'd like to third the sentiment - an excellent review Easy E, and I fully agree on all of your points. I tried it a couple of times, but at the end found that it just wasn't to my tastes at all, as if something was missing.

[Daeothar]

I think it's all down to expectations. I had the pleasure of playing this game during the playtesting phase and I had a blast.

At first the system seemed a bit convoluted, but after a couple of turns into my first game, things clicked and became clearer and things flowed well from then on. I personally found the whole bidding and bluffing aspect of the game pretty fun and different enough to keep my interest.

'Conventional' space combat games I have enough of; Battlefleet Gothic, Dropfleet Commander, X-Wing, Full Thrust, and my own Star trek combat system (more roleplaying oriented though, that), so the more strategic gameplay was refreshingly new to me.

I've always had big plans for the game, and even bought myself (even ) more ships for it, but in the end, other (probably shinier) projects won out and I've never gotten to introduce the game into the local environment. But I still might eventually; I just like the concept... 

[Cacique Caribe]

Easy E:  “ A Billion Suns is a game of Corporate shenanigans”

Sounds like you’re describing Dark Matter:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Matter_(TV_series)

Dan

[Ivan DBA]

I do really like the concept of having multiple boards, and how your start with no ships on the board, and then jump in.  It really distinguishes ABS from all this other spaceship games that are really just Jutland or Midway on a space mat!

[Evil Dave]

I got the rules for Christmas and read them in the depths of winter. I really liked the mission generation system and campaign play. I wish more games worked like this, where your mission is a contract that pays a certain amount and you get to decide how much of your force you bring to bear (costing you more money and risking your heavy hitting dudes) while still staying in the black.

Yes, the lines do get blurry. Are you a CEO allocating resources, or a tactical commander directing a mission. One or the other would have been better. Some form of force bidding mechanic with limited reinforcement options based on die rolls might help solidly slot it into the latter category.

I was pretty unimpressed with the combat system, but the mission/campaign play is reason enough to buy the rules. I think it would work pretty well bolted onto Starmada, or really any space combat game of your choice.

[ithoriel]

Got the rules in the midst of the pandemic. Organised a mini-campaign over email and Discord. The players did the CEO bit and outlined a combat plan. I played out the games on-table and reported the results back. Worked well. Everyone seemed to have fun. But we haven't played it again. Which must say something about the rules, though I'm not sure what!

[YPU]

Having played against Daeothar in that first playtesting I echo his sentiments.

I think you do have a point on the boardgame like feel. I think a lot of people pick this game up expecting your average fleet action and bounce of it for that which is sad. The miniatures aspect is quite simple and while I love miniatures like all of us, it doesn't add much to the gameplay. A board game version of this engine might make it shine much more. More rigid movement to prevent fidlyness (hex grid?) plastic ships in colours for each player, stats printed on their base and you would be golden. The multiple tables and scenario cards would make it an immensely replayable game.