| Tim White | 02 Feb 2012 5:26 p.m. PST |
Apparently just came out yesterday: link I'm curious, the question is, should I be? We've played Colonial Battlefleet, Starmada, looked a bit at Fullthrust… looking forward to the new verion of Starmada for our own "make your own race" type space campaign. Anyone try out the "Ultra" version of starfire that this seems to be a revision of? -Tim |
Chef Lackey Rich  | 02 Feb 2012 5:47 p.m. PST |
I petered out with Galactic (4th ed) but had looked at Ultra. It's pretty much more of everything I didn't care for in Galactic, on steroids. Needlessly complex, better done by computer games like Masters of Orion, etc. Give me 2nd ed with a little bit of 3rd any day. YMMV of course. For more workable "starship campaign" rules, I'd suggest a look at Victory By Any Means, which will let you use almost any tactical rules (including FT, CBF, or Starfire) for your combats. |
| The G Dog | 02 Feb 2012 5:54 p.m. PST |
Does this bear any relationship to plain old "Starfire"? |
| Chef Lackey Rich | 02 Feb 2012 6:51 p.m. PST |
There's a fairly detailed history page right on the linked site. The TFG ziplock baggie game you're probably talking about was 1st ed, Solar is based on the rules from 5th – which is barely recognizable IMO. Confusingly, there's a 6th edition in the works too, but Solar is a new setting divergent from the one most of the earlier editions and all the novels have used. |
| boy wundyr x | 02 Feb 2012 7:39 p.m. PST |
Warcosm by Precis Intermedia is an early Starfire-ish game, as one alternative, and along the Starmada/Full Thrust/Colonial Battlefleet lines, there is Task Force Zeta from Legionnaire Games (maker of Strike Legion). |
| SR Crewchief | 02 Feb 2012 7:54 p.m. PST |
The mechanics that Marvin et al put into 4th/GSF and Ultra are a segnificant departure from old Starfire if you consider what David Weber produced from what Steve Cole started and the old version. I would say that this is an even greater departure. Personally, 3rd Ed Revised with a unified rule set and a mature assistant program would have been a winner of a game. I had that argument years ago on the mailing list. These days my 4X game is Aurora. |
| Tim White | 03 Feb 2012 9:18 a.m. PST |
Hmm, sounds a bit scary. The other new title they are working on "cosmic starfire" sounds like its simpler… maybe I'll wait for that. Task Force Zeta – gonna head over to another thread that just started up. -Tim |
| David Gray | 03 Feb 2012 10:13 a.m. PST |
>>maybe I'll wait for that. I think you'll be waiting a long time. I'd go and get the original Starfire and Starfire II. Very playable. |
| Chef Lackey Rich | 03 Feb 2012 11:08 a.m. PST |
I think you'll be waiting a long time. Understatement, if anything. If we ever see it, most likely to be as software, not a boardgame. I'd go and get the original Starfire and Starfire II. Starfire 2 (confusingly, still 1st edition) is horrible for carrier vs gunline balance. Play 2nd edition (the TFG boxed set) instead, where the fighters are reined in to a more reasonable level. Better yet, steal the d10-based combat charts from 3rd edition and use them with 2nd – much easier to roll massive attacks when you're not using 2d6 per to-hit roll. |
| David Gray | 03 Feb 2012 11:11 a.m. PST |
Oops. I never saw the individual release, just the boxed edition with 1&2 in it. Thanks for the tip on the 3rd edition charts, I'll have to have a look at them. I've been looking at grafting on the Starfire movement system onto Starmada. |
| SR Crewchief | 03 Feb 2012 11:19 a.m. PST |
I've been out of the SDS loop for a longtime. But if I recall correctly, Cosmic is intended to be a rewrite/unification of all the published rules from 3rd Edition and remain a pen/paper 4x system. While I was involved with Starfire SDS had a very poor track record with software development and don't expect that to have changed. When I do play Starfire, which is extremely infrequent these days, I prefer 3rdR. Especially with the Unified Tech Manual consididating weapons and tech tables. |
