star trek tactics or star trek attack wing ?

[sundayhero]

Hi,

I'm currently thinking about buying one of these games (probably the only minis games I would be able to play with my brother, because of Star trek universe),

I'd like to know what do you think of them. I want to play with my brother, who is a complete noob (just played a couple of marvel heroclix), and cannot read english.

So I need a game where needed text is minimal, or even with no text at all, and since we will play casually with a couple of beers, the game needs to be simple to learn and easy to keep the rules in mind even if we play once a month. 

I 'd like also a game with good star trek ships realism. We played starfleet command (pc game) in the past, and he's currently playing star trek online. So we would prefer a tabletop game with similar feeling (especially star fleet command).

I saw that the current versions of the heroclix game is star trek tactics III : is it compatible with other versions ?




Thank you for your help !

[obsidian3d]

I have not played Tactics, but have played a lot of Heroclix in the past. Since Attack Wing was released I've played several games and think it would probably be the better option. You can field really simple ship builds to get started where there is almost nothing to read but numbers (generic ships, simple captains). You can add more in depth stuff later on.

On the other hand though, the Tactics ships are painted better.

[The_Beast]

Steeling my nerves for the protestations, Tactics is for folks that love Heroclix, want to use Star Trek with their Heroclix games. Now, if you want the Enterprise to duke it out with Dr Doom, fine, but doesn't feel like space ships, ST or otherwise, to me.

Attack Wing is based on Star Wars X-Wing, and feels more like space fighters to me, but a) ST battles have a lot of 'swoop', b) the port is quite good, with enough expansion to not feel exactly like X-Wing, so should do you fine.

Command is based on Star Fleet Battles, as I recall, which I wouldn't wish on my lawyer friends, but the somewhat easier, streamlined Federation Commander is still SFB at heart, and might be of interest. There's a free demo download at STARFLEETGAMES, whouch would give a fair taste.

Me, I'll fly my ships in Attack Wing at store events, and Full Thrust otherwise. ;->=

Doug

[sundayhero]

Thank you for your answer, apparently none of these games fit our needs 

Too bad 

[zorg]

There are various starship games where you can design your own ships. You could use one of those to make Trek-ships that behave like Enterprise et al. Most rules I'm familiar with only require one of the players to have read them, so your brother's language skills shouldn't be a huge problem (personally, I made a real effort to learn English because I was playing Rolemaster... go figure ).

[sundayhero]

That''s an idea...Any game advise ? As I said, with minimal text, and good "big naval ship in space" feeling. Good solo mode would be appreciated too.

Thanks !

[zorg]

Personally, I like Starmada. In actual play, you need very little text, but of course at least one player needs to have read the rules. If you want to design ships yourself, that also includes text by necessity. You might find Star Trek ships for Starmada on the net, I know for sure that I've seen B5 ships out there.

In any case, I'd recommend testing out the rules with a few games using out-of-the-box designs. Without a feel how different designs work in actual play, you'll likely end up with weird ship designs

[Michka]

Personally, I like Starmada. In actual play, you need very little text, but of course at least one player needs to have read the rules. If you want to design ships yourself, that also includes text by necessity. You might find Star Trek ships for Starmada on the net, I know for sure that I've seen B5 ships out there

There's a licensed version of Star Fleet Battles available for Starmada. The main book is called Klingon Armada, and it includes some ship stats for Klingons, Federation, and a couple other baddies. There are also expansions for Romulans and other aliens. I haven't played the game yet, but I picked it up anyway. Otherwise I'll want it someday and copies will be rare as a Klingon hippie.   

[sundayhero]

I'll take a look, since demo rules are available apparently

Any solo rules for this game ?


thanks !

[The_Beast]

Personally, I like Starmada. In actual play, you need very little text, but of course at least one player needs to have read the rules. If you want to design ships yourself, that also includes text by necessity. You might find Star Trek ships for Starmada on the net, I know for sure that I've seen B5 ships out there.

Whereas, I'm a Full Thrust fanboy, everything available rulewise is free, and I'm leery of hex and hex-converted games ship games. (Weirdly, I'm more tempted by hex-mapped sophont skirmish.)

On the other hand, there are no 'official' (ADB, not Paramount) ST designs, some find the design options limited.

In any case, I'd recommend testing out the rules with a few games using out-of-the-box designs. Without a feel how different designs work in actual play, you'll likely end up with weird ship designs

I oft find myself questioning some designer's decisions, but you're right, best to start with something attempted as coherent.

Doug