| evilleMonkeigh | 21 Jun 2010 5:04 a.m. PST |
Let's get the obvious out of the way: I'm getting Silent Death TNM, after playing the Star Wars: Silent Death free mod ages ago.Years ago it was 'the' benchmark starfighter game. As I recall, it is a pretty decent game with solid minis. It had interesting dice mechanics too. However as I recall there are lots of systems and hitboxes to check off. And I started wargaming with Star Fleet Battles. Which means I now loath hitboxes and lots of systems. What I seek in a star fighter game: *Simple damage: In the movies, fighters are usually either crippled with engines smoking, or *kaboom*. I'd like something similar. Not interested in book-keeping. *Pilot skill matters more than the plane ability *Maneuver is interesting and the most important part of the game with a real dogfight feel – i.e. its impossible to get on an opponents' tail reliably and planes can tangle in dogfights for awhile without getting in a guaranteed killing shot. *No plotted movement. No 3d movement. *Ability to include a few bigger ships (Silent Death struggled to do this as I recall) Bearing this in mind, can you wise TMPers recommend a starfighter game, or maybe even a WWII/jet game I can adapt to a space genre? Or a modification for Silent Death or similar game? Or a home-grown set? |
| wminsing | 21 Jun 2010 5:46 a.m. PST |
I can't recall a commercial set off-hand that does this, though the game 'Tac-Ship' which was uploaded to the Ragnarok magazine website a few months back might be close (and it's free). -Will |
Dervel  | 21 Jun 2010 5:58 a.m. PST |
No plotting, no Damage Tracks, but with maneuver and pilot skills? G.O.B.S. might be the only thing that is close, but it does not have maneuver or pilot skill. It is more of a fleet game. I cannot think of one. |
| boy wundyr x | 21 Jun 2010 6:20 a.m. PST |
There's a variant for Bag the Hun called Bag the Jedi in one of the Too Fat Lardies' specials. Meets everything except maybe the bigger ships, which would be converted naval ships (ok for AA, not interacting with each other). |
| nvdoyle | 21 Jun 2010 6:48 a.m. PST |
Try AirWar C21, and mod it up. |
| Battle Works Studios | 21 Jun 2010 8:17 a.m. PST |
Hard Vacuum, if you'll accept realistic vector movement and a Weird War 2 background. |
| AdAstraGames | 21 Jun 2010 12:07 p.m. PST |
Second vote for Hard Vacuum. If you're at Origins or GenCon, check out one of my Die Rebel Scum demos. It completely violates two of your requirements (plotted movement, 3-D), but it plays fast, player skill in choosing maneuvers is a proxy for pilot skill. |
| Lion in the Stars | 21 Jun 2010 12:49 p.m. PST |
If you can find it, Babylon 5 Wars 1st edition. It's all about the small craft, but does allow the bigger ships. Better yet, I don't think the big-ships changed between 1st and 2nd editions, so you have a *lot* of capships to work with. |
| dglennjr | 21 Jun 2010 12:54 p.m. PST |
How about try the following: Rebellion in Space (RIS) @
link Vipers in Space (VIP) @
link Both are based on a simple, 2 page rules for WWI air combat. |
| wminsing | 21 Jun 2010 1:51 p.m. PST |
While Hard Vacuum doesn't meet *all* the requirements, I'll third it as an excellent game. -Will |
| Dan 055 | 21 Jun 2010 8:23 p.m. PST |
You could give Black Skies a quick look. link |
| Joe5mc | 22 Jun 2010 2:56 a.m. PST |
You will probably find that in may cases, fighters in Silent Death go kaboom pretty fast. Most of the smallest fighters can only take one good hit. The bigger ones can take a couple of hits, but the paper work is pretty minimal really. |
| evilleMonkeigh | 22 Jun 2010 2:58 a.m. PST |
Thanks for all the responses. I have BTH arriving in the mail so I'll definitely check out Bag the Jedi (I smiled at the name…) Hard Vacuum will be investigated. Thanks for the tips! Airwar C21 I've heard positive comments before and I can also play moderns so I'll probably look to getting it too… |
| evilleMonkeigh | 22 Jun 2010 3:12 a.m. PST |
Thanks for all the responses. I have BTH arriving in the mail so I'll definitely check out Bag the Jedi (I smiled at the name…) Hard Vacuum will be investigated. I think I had a demo of it ages ago but dismissed it due to complexity. PDF link Found the link. Will re-try it but a cursory look confirms my rememberances. I doubt you could use more than 6 starfighters per side… Airwar C2: I've heard positive comments before and I can also play moderns so I'll probably look to getting it too.. Thanks to all the helpful TMPers! |
| wminsing | 22 Jun 2010 5:30 a.m. PST |
Found the link. Will re-try it but a cursory look confirms my rememberances. I doubt you could use more than 6 starfighters per side… In one of the free PDF expansions (which I will try to locate, or I can email you a copy) they had rules for formations, which basically made it possible to fly three fighters with one control sheet- fairly big battles were possible then. -Will |
