Star Trek Tactics

[Faust23]

Nice review, I have to say I am tempted too, but what I really do NOT like is the obvious scale differences of the ships, they seem to be all over the place. 
The new Mongoose stuff is all 1/2500 IIRC. So some may fit while other will be too big or small...

Inconsistency of scale has always been the downside to Wizkids Heroclix products.  It's why I haven't bothered doing repaints of my favorite pieces....none of them are even close to scale.

I can't speak for the mongoose stuff, but the fact that I have nicely painted and detailed ships without picking up a brush is way ok with me.

[Frontal Assault 15mm]

It looks interesting, but the spod in me can't help but feel a bit aggreived that they've used the same model for the USS Voyager and the Warship Voyager.  Sorry but anyone who's seen Living Witness will feel dissapointed that Heroclix decided to cut costs here.  The warship voyager just screamed a barbarian lack of subtlety and that should have been reflected in the model.

[joroas]

proud Lion tell me that the boxed set will be £20 and the ships £4 each, but he thinks that the boxes will not be sealed meaning that you could choose your ships!

[Thornhammer]

Huh.  Was that the Excelsior I saw on the Wizkids homepage banner? To heck with Voyager, I want one of those!

Wow, TWO Excelsior-class ships?  The Hood and the Excelsior?  I'm in.

[oldskoolrebel]

So the ultimate question is; what does one buy- ST:Fleet Commander or ST Tactics?

I really like the sound of STFC,but the pricetag is pretty hefty. What are other's thoughts?

Cheers
Andy

[Mr Brown]

I'm very tempted by ST:FC but it suffers, in my mind anyway, from being set in the Starfleet Commander universe which has marked differences from the TOS universe.
I'll prob buy some models but use them for ColonialBattlefleet which we play at the local club. Thinking of painting some Starfleet models with the nice mirror universe flame motif.
Rules are meant to be really good and id say offer more flexibility than the clix game. Clix was pretty good but lacked the customisation I prefer in games. 
Now if only someone did some affordable NextGen era models I'd be straight in there with a Cardassian fleet, oh and prob some Romulans... I can but dream.

[oldskoolrebel]

I'm very tempted by ST:FC but it suffers, in my mind anyway, from being set in the Starfleet Commander universe which has marked differences from the TOS universe.
I'll prob buy some models but use them for ColonialBattlefleet which we play at the local club. Thinking of painting some Starfleet models with the nice mirror universe flame motif.
Rules are meant to be really good and id say offer more flexibility than the clix game. Clix was pretty good but lacked the customisation I prefer in games.  
Now if only someone did some affordable NextGen era models I'd be straight in there with a Cardassian fleet, oh and prob some Romulans... I can but dream.

Thanks for the info.

Now to show my ignorance; whats the difference between the TOS universe and the ST Commander universe? I assume STC Universe incorporate things from every series? Where as TOS is only the original series?

Cheers
Andy

[Mr Brown]

The Starfleet Battles universe is much darker in tone. Can't have a starship combat game set in a universe where everyone eventually gets along. Slightly more 'grimdark' but not so you could tell big differences. There are also some new races and alliances that did not appear in the original series, although some did in the animated shows.
I think its the introduction of new stuff that threw me a little. The thing to remember though is that it's 'almost' the same. Only nerds like myself get their sknickers twisted by the minor differences. Its a licensed product but does not directly reference Enterprise or any characters like Spock and Kirk.
Also the original game requires a PhD in Warp Engineering to play. I'm not kidding. You have to allocate energy to shields and weapons systems whilst maintaining life support and internal systems... That isnt to say its not good. I picked up my copy from a car boot sale for 25p. I asked the lady how much he wanted for the star trek game beneath a few old football mags. She said 'twenty five'. I assumed she meant pounds given the condition it was in. Best geeky buy I think I've ever made!

Anyways enough rambling. I'll most likely pick up a copy of the mongoose game rules. I'll hold out on the clix game and prob pick up bits and bobs on ebay and at shows when they eventually turn up after people get bored with them ala the Starwars figures.

[oldskoolrebel]

Also the original game requires a PhD in Warp Engineering to play. I'm not kidding. You have to allocate energy to shields and weapons systems whilst maintaining life support and internal systems... That isnt to say its not good. I picked up my copy from a car boot sale for 25p. I asked the lady how much he wanted for the star trek game beneath a few old football mags. She said 'twenty five'. I assumed she meant pounds given the condition it was in. Best geeky buy I think I've ever made!

Actually I think I've played that game. It was ok. It felt like it could be a really fun game, but it was too convoluted.

I'm sorely tempted by the Wizkids fleet captain. I've heard the production credits are poor; the hexes don't line up, ships are often broke etc. However the game is meant to be great fun. I'm not much of a trekkie but I'd lovea decent space battle game.

Cheers
Andy

[Mr Brown]

If you're not much of a trekkie then I'd suggest Full Thrust or Colonial Battlefleet. I think Full Thrust is still free and CB is cheap as chips on Wargamesvault.
Couple of ships from anywhere that takes your fancy and boom, job done. That way you can have the flavour you want without having to spend a great amount.

[Faust23]

The starter set for the Star Trek: Tactics game is $24.99 USD.  Each 1 ship booster is $4.99 USD.

I have the Excelsior and still need the Hood.  Is ST:Tactics the be all end all of Starfleet gaming? No.  Is it fun, fast, and like Chess with Starhips?  You bet!

[joroas]

Sadly, over this side of the pond, we have to wait another 23 days.................

[Faust23]

Don't worry. I'm in the final push to publish my skirmish game, so I'm on hiatus on all other gaming 'til then.  You'll probably get yours before I actually play with mine!

[Commander Roj]

Very, very interesting. Given that the ships have no standard scale, how do they match size-wise in a ship to ship comparison with the old Galoob micro machines?

[Connectamabob]

Looks interesting. Don't really like the look of the minis: detail's waaaay too chunky, and has too many liberties taken, but then I'm an old Trek modeler, so I'm probably more prone than others to notice that stuff. If the system's good though, then it's just a matter if clipping the bases off and remounting them with more satisfying third party minis.

Some of that comments sound familiar from Star Trek Online, which I started playing a bit recently. Fun, but it's got similar slightly more grimdark lore (everyone's given an excuse to be freshly at war with everyone else, and the Prime Directive is apparently no longer enforced or respected by Starfleet) and odd/junky design accuracy liberties going on.