Hey You | 27 Aug 2015 8:20 a.m. PST |
link $5.00 USD Starfire I Rulebook $5.00 USD Starfire II Rulebook $5.00 USD 2nd Edition Starfire Rules $5.00 USD 2nd Edition New Empires I have used New Empires several times for campaign games for different miniature sets. It was lost to me years ago during a move. Now I have it again. YEAH! |
elsyrsyn | 27 Aug 2015 9:12 a.m. PST |
This is great news. I still have my pocket editions of I and II, but had to hunt for a copy of 2nd edition (which to my mind is the best version) on eBay. I'm very glad to see they'll be available for a reasonable cost now. Doug |
TheBeast | 27 Aug 2015 9:33 a.m. PST |
I was just perusing my copy of New Empires last night. I might argue between 1st and 2nd, but definitely gave me a 'downhill feeling' from then on. Was hoping this was an OneBookShelf offering; I've found those VERY safe, but will probably risk this. Doug |
Hey You | 27 Aug 2015 10:19 a.m. PST |
I have the latest version of Starfire, but the first and second editions were the best for me. I won't argue between 1st and 2nd too much because I really enjoyed games with Starfire I even before we had the Starfire II addition, and accepted the 2nd edition rules, mainly when New Empires was released. |
boy wundyr x | 27 Aug 2015 10:37 a.m. PST |
Cool to see, I have the 1998-ish reprint of 3rd Edition, and it had gotten kind of overwhelming then, so it'll be good to take a look at the originals. Starfire II was when fighters were introduced and sort of broke things till the 2nd Edition clean-up, correct? Chris |
Tinyisme | 27 Aug 2015 11:20 a.m. PST |
I am thinking of starting a Campaign (I have a brain that is exploding with story ideas, just looking to find a system that I like). I guess my question for all of you, especially those who have played Starfire and even New Empires: 1) How do the games Handle Fighters? (I am a FT Fan mainly because I read a lot of Jim Kliens BSG AAR and was engrossed, and I have a good amount of BSG Style ships and models) 2) How is the damage/record keeping in regards to similarity to FT? Is better, worse, about the same? 3) How many ships can/should one flow in terms of keeping the game fluid while not taking all day to play? (Time really isn't an issue, but some of you know how being married is…) 4) How is the ship customization? If it makes sense GREAT not to particular if it is difficult or not, I just really like that feature. 5) Has anyone done an AAR for Starfire new empires? I haven't LOOKED particularly deeply into the ether for it, but I just want to get an idea on how a Campaign is done. |
skippy0001 | 27 Aug 2015 1:59 p.m. PST |
From what I remember: Fighters are one counter with 9 steps, each can fire but you really have to get close Damage is linear- SSSAAAWWH…ETC. Shields armor after that you place components. Various minimums and maximums. You can datalink ships to combine salvos. Very much a fleet game. I roleplayed this with flotilla leaders and sky marshals(admirals). Missile and anti-missile fire can bog down BIG fleet battles, never had a problem with 12-ship fleets ripping into each other. You have choices at each tech level, a lot of choices. I designed a Orc race that used guns firing anti-matter shells. When their magazines got hit the colors were spectacular. Each class of ship has advantages and disadvantages but you can still come up with a wide variation depending if you play their background or you make up your own. Recomend playing their Universe first to get the flow. It is very rich. Damn! Now I want to play this again…maybe I can shoehorn this into…yeah…gotta go. |
Tinyisme | 27 Aug 2015 2:04 p.m. PST |
Thanks Skippy! Is there any one (Set of the Rules) That you would specifically recommend? |
boy wundyr x | 27 Aug 2015 3:13 p.m. PST |
Just picked them all up, ordering and payment (Paypal) was straightforward, they're available to download right away. FWIW Tinyisme, Warcosm by Precis Intermedia Games is in the original Starfire style, a very straightforward game. Fighter differentiation might be the only part you find lacking, there's only 2-3 types (one type per faction basically). There also aren't spinal mounts. |
Tinyisme | 27 Aug 2015 3:21 p.m. PST |
A lot of what I looked at in terms of Starfire was pretty much from BoardGameGeek, and it said it had a pretty good campaign system. I only ask, as that is what I am kind of looking for. We were hoping to find an all-in-one system. But we can work with something that we could use as the main strategic layer, with research , industry, and the like. |
elsyrsyn | 27 Aug 2015 4:47 p.m. PST |
Starfire II was when fighters were introduced and sort of broke things till the 2nd Edition clean-up, correct? Yup. Damage is linear- SSSAAAWWH…ETC. Shields armor after that you place components. There's a very interesting variant that was published in a Nexus article "All in the way she's put together" that modified this. The complete text of the article is in a post on this thread: link Warcosm by Precis Intermedia Games is in the original Starfire style, a very straightforward game I bought Warcosm a while back, but have never fiddled with it. I need to take another look at it. Doug |
freewargamesrules | 28 Aug 2015 2:21 a.m. PST |
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mikeda | 28 Aug 2015 3:18 a.m. PST |
After trying to figure out Solor Starfire for 3 years I downloaded versions 1 and 2 and I understand it now. For the later versions incomprehisable is an under statement |
boy wundyr x | 28 Aug 2015 7:31 a.m. PST |
Read over 2nd Edition Starfire last night, I'd say it sits somewhere in between Warcosm and 3rd Edition Starfire in terms of complexity/rules length. Hope to get through 1st Edition tonight. I keep hoping more will come out for Warcosm, but I think what we have is what we're going to have. |
skippy0001 | 28 Aug 2015 2:27 p.m. PST |
I liked 2nd ed. Warcosm is really good but everytime I play it I think of Starfire. The strategic game is….better just to start a small cluster…. |
Shaun Travers | 28 Aug 2015 4:24 p.m. PST |
I started with 1st Editions but soon after out came 2nd Edition and that is what I am most familiar with. I have not really played much since the 80s. but in the last year or so I what to play again (with minis). i did play a few years ago with 2nd editon, and am about the lay another game in the next few months. But I have been looking at the newish Quick Start Rules. While they use 1d10, I do like rolling 1 die for combat. Weapon ranges are slightly shorter, point defense works differently, no fighters (but I am not using them) but the ship building is quite good. I am thinking of using the QSR rules but take the good stuff from 2nd edition (fighters, point defense). But really the QSS are quite good on their own and free. They are of the complexity of 1st or 2nd edition but limited as they do not have large ships or some systems. These could be added from the 2nd Edition easily. Quick start Starfire (3 PDFs of 4 pages each) here: PDF link PDF link PDF link I have been thinking of compartmentalisation for many years like the Nexus article but for all ship systems except Shields and Armour. So compartments only come into play after all S and A are gone (or skipped). While i think about it a lot, I have nev r actually played it this way! |
bobblanchett | 18 Nov 2016 12:07 a.m. PST |
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