Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

What spaceship games are out there that either have no set models or have a custom ship builder or could be very loose in it's models.

I know I could just proxy it all and play any spaceship game but I like to build my own or use any models I like

So far I've sourced two games which are:

A sky full of ships (downloaded the rules but not the ship builder part. So can't play till I get that.)

Full Thrust (tried to download the pdf from the site but got a 404 error.)


Is there any others that fit this bill?

Or any who could promote one game over another?

Thanks for your time.

Full Thrust from Ground Zero games.

It does have its own fluff setting and minis...however it also has full creation rules and openly encourages use of any minis you would like. You could also use cardboard or paper counters if you wanted.

It is a relatively simple game, but still allows for great tactical options. Another nice thing is its easy to remove or change rules without upsetting the game.

Ive looked into many similar games and keep coming back to Full Thrust. Its just that good.

If you are having trouble downloading it try searching ebay for the books, they are worth having and shouldnt be too expensive.

Heres a good one to jump on, little over a day left:

http://cgi.ebay.com/FULL-THRUST-Spaceship-rules-Second-Edition-GZG-/280641545299?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41578a2453

I like Full Thrust a lot. It works well for both small skirmishes and large fleet engagements.

Alright I got a hold of the full thrust rules.

Can someone experianced give me a quick run down of it?

It'll be at least a week before I fully submerge myself into the rules for it so any way to set me up would be lovely.

Full Thrust is done in arcs of 60 degrees as opposed to 90 in most games. You write all your movement orders down for the next turn simultaneously with your opponent. Then you move your ships simultaneously (everything happens simultaneously) according to your orders. Then one side shoots first, then the other, but ships are only damaged/removed from play after both sides finish shooting. Then you have the damage control phase, where you find out whats destroyed, and have a chance to fix it. Thats the gist anyways.

Note that I also play a house variant, but its largely the same thing.

There are many weapon types, but the basics are beams and torpedoes. Beams hit on 4+, with 4s and 5s doing one point of damage while 6s do two and allow for a re-roll. Torpedoes have to roll to hit based on range, then they deal d6 damage for every torpedo that hit.

Sweet. Thanks for the run down.

It sounds reasonably easy to pick up.

Main thing now then is building a fleet (as in rules not models)

Yeah, the rules are pretty solid and not overly complicated. Just get in a good read through of whatever rule set is the latest one (extreme thrust?). The ship creator is also pretty fantastic. Note that beam weapons are the basis of the game and are the most cost efficient weapon in the game, but the rest of the weapons are nicely balanced and fill some unique roles. Oh and fighter combat is simple and provides another great dynamic.

Which version did you get hold of? If its the same as the one in the ebay auction it plays different to later expansions (90 degree arcs instead of 60 degree arcs and ship records for example). I would suggest you check out Full Thrust Cross Dimensions which is sanctioned by GZG but fan based. It collects all the rules together and is a free download!

Mick

I got 2nd Ed which has 90 degree arcs. I've got a hold of the fleet books and more thrust too.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I notice that the fleet books change the fire arcs to 60 degrees instead of 90. Not really sure this adds much to the game and it's new ship builder doesn't seem to ad much over the previous one except make it look more complicated.

Normally I'd leap at the chance to recommend Silent Death, but unfortunately the company that owns it is in flux right now so the rulebook is rather hard to get.
Really too bad as the game can be used with any ships and has rules for designing your own. But what I really enjoy is the sheer speed of play, and how realistically ships degrade. They use a unique mechanic called the "Damage Track", and as damage is marked off the ship's drive, torpedoes, weapons, etc. are slowly degraded as well. Definitely fun to have ships exploding after a few rounds of fire (compared to the slogfest of armor counting that Battletech can become). Plus it's hex based so you don't get into any arguments on "Hey that move looked like a pretty generous 3 inches". But yeah, it's one of the better dogfighting scale spaceship games I've run across (horrible for cruiser scale though, so it might not interest you).

Anyways a good review, the BGG page, their nearly dead forums and a couple sets of photos from my games.

But like I said it's hard to snag a copy, so Full Thrust is probably an easier, more available option.

EDIT: Actually the Star Wars version is still available (a free PDF named SW_Silent_Death.pdf), such as from here. Still a far cry from the full game, but it should give you an idea.

I would have to suggest Star Fleet Battles is a good ship game Granted, no real customization of your ships (Unless you play Orions)

skyth wrote:I would have to suggest Star Fleet Battles is a good ship game Granted, no real customization of your ships (Unless you play Orions)

One warning for OP on SFB...its very complicated and slow. Still, some people swear by it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

VikingScott wrote:I got 2nd Ed which has 90 degree arcs.

Thats the version I use, Ive been quite happy with it and never seen the need to move to the newer versions.

Well, it depends on what kind of ship-building tools you would like to use...there are the completely un-official ones like the Smotherman formula for BFG, for example. The advantage there being that the rules are available for free, and the construction formula can easily be found on the internet. However, the point values arrived at using this formula are intended to provide a baseline that would then be adjusted by playtesting, not the final points cost for a design.

Then you have Firestorm Armada, which has an official ship construction procedure in the rulebook. The advantage here is that this tool is "official," as it comes from the rule book, and the game system itself appears to have used this formula as the basis for the pointing of the official ships (as opposed to BFG, where the ship prices were much more arbitrary and the Smotherman formula was an attempt to retroactively make sense of it all). Still, it states right in the FA rulebook that the ship construction formula is not perfect, and would still require some playtesting to arrive at a final cost.

I think Starmada is the game you are looking for. It is a space combat game the allows you to build your own starships from the deck plates up. It is designed for fleet combat so it is more stream lined than SFB, FC but much more detailed than BFG. The rules are solid from what I have read so far.

Also, there is Federation Commander which is a streamlined version of SFB that can be adapted with some work to other universes. I am currently doing a BFG mode for FC and it works great.

Pipboy101 wrote:I thinl Starmada is the game you are looking for.

I forgot about Starmada. Ive got the rulebook, haven't played it yet but looks decent from what Ive read.

I was admazed how how detailed it is from the engines, weapons and even they different type of fighters that you can make. I was tempted to use it in making a BFG crossover but FC was easier than starting over from scratch since I knew the FC rules really well.

I'm taking a look over the demo/admirallity edition as I type this.

Looks promising just not sure on the hexes rather than using inches or cm etc.

Hexes make the game easier for manuvering, and shooting. No need to measure distance and if the ship gets knocked over it is really to fix.

Oh my goodness I love the exactness of hexes. After games and games of people "accidentally" nudging figures or overmeasuring movement it's simply delightful to be able to easily count out a move, or go "Whoops, that move sucked, let me try it again" without having to vaguely remember where they started from. Plus line of sight is a dream because you can see the borders of each hex and don't have to hassle with "Well there is a slight bump in the asteroid that hides my ship...here let me get my laser pointer to demonstrate".

Admitadly you have some points. Might be a bit annoying getting hold of a hex board however.

Oh, I dunno...there are a couple of options. Buying a pre-printed felt mat is one, and plus Litko has painting templates available as well for a DIY job:

http://www.litkoaero.com/products/1-inch-Hex-Grid-Template.html

Ruckdog wrote:Oh, I dunno...there are a couple of options. Buying a pre-printed felt mat is one, and plus Litko has painting templates available as well for a DIY job:

http://www.litkoaero.com/products/1-inch-Hex-Grid-Template.html

Id say a mat is the way to go. There are a couple companies that do them, with several background patterns. I know ive seen one that was a space design. You can usually get them plain, hexes or squares in several sizes. If your going to do hexes keep in ind the sixe of your ships bases when picking a hex size.

Heres a link for some very good quality mats: http://www.hotzmats.com/

I have a 1.5 inch hex star hex map from Hotzmats and I will never go back when it comes to space combat. It is quick to set up and put away.

For BFG or FC use 1.5 inch hex map. Perfect size.

Here is my Federation and Klingon fleets duking it out on my Hotzmaps starfield 1.5 inch hex map:

Pipboy101 wrote:I have a 1.5 inch hex star hex map from Hotzmats and I will never go back when it comes to space combat. It is quick to set up and put away.

For BFG or FC use 1.5 inch hex map. Perfect size.

Did you convert the BFG rules to use hexes? That thought has occurred to me in the past, but I've never gotten around to actually working on it.

I just converted the bfg ships to fc rules. It is just so much more accurate and easy to run a game. I just made bfg ship cards on excel, made weapon batteries in to phasers and imperal lances are photon torpedos and chaos lances are disruptors. No need to guess at ranges because of the hexes. Also, it allows more tactical movements and the ablitiy to sideslip from hex to hex allow freedom of movement that bfg doesnlt have.

Slightly off-topic (but it is my own thread ) but can anyone recomend any spaceship lines?

Because I had the idea to make some of my own but can't get a design that looks right in my head.

Currently Spartan Games Sorylians are my favourites.

Spartan stuff is nice, so are all the new models from Ground Zero Games. Once the site comes back online, I'd have a good browse through all the factions available. GZG also sells a wide variety of civilian ships for scenario games. GZG ships are also some of the cheapest out there. Oh, and I almost forgot about Brigade (http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Spaceships/index.html), they make some decent models. GZG ships are smaller (and cheaper) and are metal. Spartan stuff is bigger, still a good price, and beautifully cast resin.

One advantage for Spartan stuff, is its in a similar scale for BFG (not in actual fluff though), so its easier to integrate into that ruleset, which might be more common due to its GW-ness.

Wow, I JUST submitted one for review and possible development like...half an hour ago. Doesn't do you much good until it get's developed though I guess. Hey, at least I'll know where to come looking for play testers!

Possibly. Depends.

Depends if we have any models/ takers at my club or if we get free finished versions of the rules

That's a given. It comes with crappy models, but invites you to use your nice ones instead. We're not trying to unseat BFG, SFB, and that new one with the great models. It's a humble first offering. If people like it and it sells, v2 will have better models.