Allen57 | 01 Aug 2014 5:30 p.m. PST |
Search for threads about Starfire on the Starship Combat News message boards. Lots of knowledge over there though IIRC the guys wax poetic over the early versions of Starfire and are not too fond of the current ones. If you want to sell the original or Starfire II rules I would be interested. You can contact me at althegamerATyahooDOTcom. I will tell you that from time to time the original game goes for a nice price on eBay. Al |
Tim White | 01 Aug 2014 6:31 p.m. PST |
We are learning solar right now, but we have a Starfire veteran teaching it to us. We're also skipping the campaign system for now and just focusing in on the tactical game and ship building. From what I understand the current version may be more rules heavy one you really get into it, but is also more refined and much harder to break. |
boy wundyr x | 01 Aug 2014 8:54 p.m. PST |
I think there may be a good overview on TMP too, but IIRC, a lot of people prefer the simplicity of the 1st and maybe 2nd editions, then the love starts to trail off. I have 3rd edition, and I haven't been interested in updating from there (but also use other rules for my gaming now). A lot depends on how much of the campaign system you want too. |
Who asked this joker | 01 Aug 2014 10:02 p.m. PST |
I still have star fire and star fire II. The second is essential if you want fighters and such. I once owned Starfire Deluxe but found it to not be a better product. Just a product with more rules. If you want to play Star Fire, go with the originals and stick with the simplicity. |
Ancestral Hamster | 02 Aug 2014 12:06 a.m. PST |
In agreement with the prior posters who say go with the simplicity of the original. Have the original and 3rd, and while 3rd does offer some improvements it moves away from Mr. Cole's intent of having a "starship combat game that can be played on a lunch break" to something more like Advanced Squad Leader or Harpoon. I've the order of battle for the last major fleet action of the Theban War and I'd want a staff to play that out! It's a friggin huge scenario with capital ships, a hundred or more fighter squadrons, Theban suicide rammers, and Theban boarding actions! Yes, so while you are fighting with energy weapons at light second distances, your marines are trying to repel boarders in your ship's engine room, just like in Age of Sail days. Or earlier. The complexity and number of moving parts is off-putting. |
elsyrsyn | 02 Aug 2014 5:17 a.m. PST |
Agreed. I had the original pocket games (1 and 2), 3rd edition boxed set, and Galactic boxed set … then I went out and found a copy of 2nd edition on eBay. It is, I think, the best iteration. Doug |
Chef Lackey Rich | 02 Aug 2014 6:38 a.m. PST |
2nd edition is by far my personal favorite.
All the simplicity of the Ziploc-baggie versions, rebalanced so fighters aren't totally dominant against ships, and none of the godawful complexity and size creep of the later editions. |
DonaldCox | 02 Aug 2014 2:26 p.m. PST |
Starfire II was the first version I got and it really annoyed me. Basically it was the Pacific war… in space. It even included a scenario called the Paurl Harbor Raid. Space games have enough trouble trying to avoid being considered wet navy games with sf words added in, without blatant copying of historical ideas. It added fighters, which were way over-powered, and carriers, which were faster than normal ships. And each fighter had its own counter, which could triple the number of counters on the board. Starfire I was great though. |
Chef Lackey Rich | 02 Aug 2014 4:12 p.m. PST |
Not a bad price at all for that bundle, especially if you already have Starfire I to potentially use with II and Empires. |
Covert Walrus | 02 Aug 2014 6:26 p.m. PST |
Obviously, the best one . . . :) |
Ancestral Hamster | 02 Aug 2014 10:23 p.m. PST |
For those interested in the Starfire novels, you can download them for free at this website: baencd.thefifthimperium.com Stars at War I & II are on the Mission of Honor CD as well as a Starfire novel, Exodus. The Stars at War Novels are by David Weber and Steve White and in Starfire universe future history order are: Crusade (The Theban War) In Death Ground (Book 1 of the Arachnid War) The Shiva Option (Book 2 of the Arachnid War) Insurrection {Post-Arachnid War by a few generations} The Theban War campaign book I mentioned previously is also called Crusade and there might still be some copies floating around on eBay should anyone be interested. link |
Chef Lackey Rich | 03 Aug 2014 5:19 a.m. PST |
Wow, Demon Lord reference? Haven't seen that one mentioned in years. One of the better entries in the Dwarfstar range. Amazing amount of personality jammed into that tiny little box. You could really see they had a whole world setting in mind when they designed it, probably based off someones's RPG campaign like SPI's Swords & Sorcery was. Loved the way the randomized ally forces made every game different. |
Chef Lackey Rich | 04 Aug 2014 2:03 p.m. PST |
There was a re-release of Dragon Rage a while back, with modern higher-quality components and a brand new city map on the flipside. Sadly, never seen it in person, but it sure sounded good. Love to see Star Viking or Grav Armor get a similar treatment. |
DonaldCox | 21 Aug 2014 2:45 p.m. PST |
The map in 2nd ed was black? I thought it was a well known fact that the drive field that ships in Starfire use causes space to take on a blue, sea-like colour. Hence first edition had a blue map. Possibly they tried so save money with second edition by just hijacking a map from another game. |
David Johansen | 24 Aug 2014 7:25 a.m. PST |
I keep meaning to take a look at the current edition. A friend of mine had the edition that was current ten years ago and it was a frightfully bloated mess though I suspect if you're doing empires campaigns it fixed a few things. But what I found interesting was the shift to d10s, before you scoff let me say two words. "missile volleys." |