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"The following is Posted by Bob Olley for James"
Hi, I am James Olley an artist and I am proud to say I am one of the artists that have been working on the art for Battlestations: second edition.

16 years in the making, the long-awaited Second Edition of the classic game of heroic starship adventure is now live on Kickstarter and has already exceeded it’s pledge level.

There’s still time to join the Kickstarter so why not take a look,
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gorillagames/battlestations-second-edition-classic-board-game-r?ref=nav_search
Please share this on Facebook or share on twitter with your friends so this monumental effort doesn’t go undiscovered. Thank you!

You can see more of my artwork on http://www.olleysarmies.co.uk/joconceptart.html

This looks awesomel! Very 80s sci-fi action movie. But the game and campaigns seem tactically and story deep. I had never heard of Battlestations First Ed so this will be brand new to me, but I think it's worth giving a try, especially since it's been tried once and (I assume) didn't flop horribly

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh. May break my self imposed KS embargo for this.
(Must be strong).

Even at the $90 level, they're including the advanced rulebook as a free PDF. Not too bad!

Also, $40 for an extra 32 sf minis.

The game's an interesting blend of skirmish miniatures and personal scenarios, with RPG-ish character and ship development.

Definitely look through the QuickStart on the Home Page!

I like the concept, but it seems to be a "one vs. the rest" game rather than a one-on-one ship duel, which is what I would prefer.

Have to say, this looks very intriguing. Just reading about some of the concepts and design of the original game (as well as comments) really does sound like it would be fun. And Bob Olley sculpts!

Like Mr Burning, am trying and failing big-time to stick to my 'No KS' rule for this year

I see a lot of people have been getting burned out with KS (robotech, Heavy Gear, AVP there for a while, and the now defunct Sedition Wars which never got a wave 2) but I still have faith.

Maelstrom's Edge was an example of a successful, well-executed kickstarter that delivered very very close to on time and with beautiful miniatures, tokens and great rules. I still believe HINT will turn out well, despite a three month delay.

I think a good plan, realistic stretch goals and designs pretty much already finalized by the time the KS goes live/funds shows a smart company ready to make and deliver a great product, on time. I would happily invest in supporting their endeavors. Especially for pseudo small businesses like this with a few individuals trying to make their dream of the tabletop game that *they* want to play a reality.

 Nostromodamus wrote:
I like the concept, but it seems to be a "one vs. the rest" game rather than a one-on-one ship duel, which is what I would prefer.

You can do this, although, yes, it's only part of the mechanics and focus of the scenario campaign.

 Pacific wrote:
Have to say, this looks very intriguing. Just reading about some of the concepts and design of the original game (as well as comments) really does sound like it would be fun. And Bob Olley sculpts!

Like Mr Burning, am trying and failing big-time to stick to my 'No KS' rule for this year

Sorry I didn't intend to cause any confusion they are NOT Bob Olley Sculpts, I am his son James Olley and I did the artwork for the project, my dad just let me use his account to post on here

This.... Looks and sounds awesome. Damn it.

I hadn't heard of this before, but found it a few days ago and backed. Seems like one of those gems that flew under the radar and is the perfect use case for KS. These are the kinds of projects that tend to pull me back in to KS for a bit.and take a chance on an unknown.

Thankfully, the creator has been publishing games for over a decade, and has experience running KS projects. You can see more of his game at GorillaGames.com. My favorite is Monster Derby, but, if you're particularly devious, check out Lifeboats -- and don't forget the shark chum!

 bocatt wrote:


Maelstrom's Edge was an example of a successful, well-executed kickstarter that delivered very very close to on time and with beautiful miniatures, tokens and great rules.

Curious example to use.

 cincydooley wrote:

 bocatt wrote:


Maelstrom's Edge was an example of a successful, well-executed kickstarter that delivered very very close to on time and with beautiful miniatures, tokens and great rules.

Curious example to use.

I used the two kickstarters I personally have backed. That way no one can say "if the KS was so good, why didn't you back it?"

Battlestations is my personal favorite board/rpg hybrid game. I go out of my way to play it at conventions every chance i get.
If you enjoy the computer game FTL, or can imagine being a crewman - running around on a ship dealing with boarders, firing cannons, and/or repairing the engines while the pilot complains that "If we don't get helm power NOW, we're going to be bouncing off an asteroid!" - this game is one to check out.

The big impulse and selling point for the new edition is to clean up/speed up the rules; and to bring the game up to 28mm scale.

So yeah, I backed.

How is it an RPG, by the way? Can it not be played as isolated scenarios?

 Mymearan wrote:
How is it an RPG, by the way? Can it not be played as isolated scenarios?

It can *totally* be played as isolated scenarios.

However, for me at least, some of the fun is to build a character and take them through a "campaign" of scenarios; raising stats and buying gear along the way using the campaign rules - and building a personality and history based on their mission performance.

For example - the past few years, I've played a LOT of Battlestations at conventions. I start the convention season with a rank 1 character, and build it up as I play though that year.

Two years ago - it was an Beastman (Combat) Engineer who gained a pathological fear of fire because he was set on fire about 2/3rds of his missions. Then again - he was almost always running TOWARDS the sound of the gunfire, and launching himself at enemy ships via boarding missiles - so it's not like he was TRYING to play it safe.

Last year, it was the Bot marine "RL-D26" - who was a mostly reformed "Bot War" enemy combatant with a total disregard for collateral damage. His favored weapon was a Particle Rifle - which inevitably damaged the modules he was shooting in. To the point that he bought up the skills required to REPAIR the modules he was in, simply to keep the Engineers from rioting.

Like any good board/rpg hybrid - you get as much rpg fun out of it as you want.

 Mymearan wrote:
How is it an RPG, by the way? Can it not be played as isolated scenarios?

Yep, afaik. See the QuickStart rules campaign 2/3 down on the Home page screen. I think it can be easily broken into scenarios. While the $90 pledge comes with a PDF of the advanced rules (including RPG-like customization), you don't have to use what you don't want to.

Looks like they're unlocking various additional miniatures!

Pledged for the Admiral level. About 60 hours left on KS, lots of stretch goals unlocked and lots of new awesome ones revealed. Powered Armor suit is the next one at 150k

How is the solo, or true-co-op play on this one?

Generally we prefer our campaign system/rpg hybrid games to be fairly autonomous.

Not too many hits on the search, so ask again on the BGG forums:
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/517102/solo-play
https://taogaming.wordpress.com/2005/08/11/another-solo-battlestations-game/

5K to powered armor!

12 hours left to go and only one Stretch Goal left to unlock until we have them all!

One of my favorite games!
There was only one thing that kinda put me off a bit. Always thought the races were too silly and just felt to unserious. Would love to see that part fixed in the new round.

I put in a small pledge to key an eye on this. Gameplay looks really neat, but I agree that I wish the models were a little more serious... although there's some neat ones in there . Also curious how the renders will look in physical form.

 RiTides wrote:
I agree that I wish the models were a little more serious... .

Okay you got me on the Whaloid and the Powered Armor. The earlier alien stretch goals were a little goofy and off-putting at first as well.

But, I think all the beast-men make great aliens as opposed to Elves and Orcs and Skeletons in spaaaaaaaaace.

And the Starship looks tops: