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Hey folks, I recently watched the pair of "how to" videos linked below (thanks Crabbok!) explaining the rules of this new game and wanted to discuss a few things with my fellow dakkites.
With the level of depth shown in the two videos, I can see why they chose to start with larger models and a lower model count than I personally expected. When I first heard about a BSG game, my first thoughts were that I expected something closer to Star Wars Armada rather than X-wing. The level of crunch though seems to far exceed that of Xwing 1.0 which I played regularly for several years (haven't tried out 2.0 so can't comment on that personally). While I like the crunch added, I do have some first impression worries just from watching the videos as there are alot of modifiers which seem to be mostly negative. With both a greater number of and easier way to accumulate negative modifiers, I fear that if you use the full rules you'll end up with too many attacks that simply do nothing leading to long and boring games. My old experience with Heavy Gear (admittedly a ground combat combined arms game and not a space fighter one) had pretty much the same problem in that the negative modifiers outnumbered the positive ones and additionally the negative ones were easier to get as well. While I don't know what type of special character abilities may add (it does seem that some add positive ones like a sniper ability shown that adds +2), I don't feel that depending on using named characters from the show should be the default to even up the odds. Something x-wing did that I never noticed in actual play was that their dice are slightly more heavily weighted to inflict 1 damage instead of whiff by replacing one blank with a hit compared with the blanks on defense dice in that game. That increased probability of doing *something* every turn even if only 1 damage does help the experience and it feels like this game might be unconsciously drifting in the opposite direction ruleswise. Again, I'm basing this on my experience with other games as I haven't actually bought/played this yet but I figured I'd brink it up.
Has anyone tried this game out? It seems to have hit the shelves very recently so I doubt there are lots of folks with practical in game experience but I figured I'd ask. I have a few other things I noticed that probably fall more along the lines of a preference like why not just make three altitude levels since you have 3 slots on your planning dial instead of having 4.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/18 17:52:26
We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
Im a pretty big fan of the show and will likely getting the starter box for christmas. I like what ive been hearing about the game but cant say much else yet.
Thanks for the links! That's an odd way to post the rules for free but a quick web search indicated a way to download it as a pdf. I might go through it tonight and see how the numbers of positive and negative modifiers stack up against each other.
We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
Thargrim wrote: Im a pretty big fan of the show and will likely getting the starter box for christmas. I like what ive been hearing about the game but cant say much else yet.
Let us know what you think when you try it. I didn't get a chance yet to read the rules last knight but practical experience trumps just a read through any day.
We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
H.B.M.C. wrote: I still think it's weird that a Battlestar Galactica game doesn't have the Battlestar Galactica in it.
They will release a model for it, its not going to be to scale though. More like an abstraction and while its smaller on the table the idea is that its off in the distance. I saw the hints of this stuff on the official and fan fb groups. I really want to see the mk vii viper in the game though.
Thargrim wrote: Im a pretty big fan of the show and will likely getting the starter box for christmas. I like what ive been hearing about the game but cant say much else yet.
Let us know what you think when you try it. I didn't get a chance yet to read the rules last knight but practical experience trumps just a read through any day.
My folks let me know they couldnt find it. Apparently it had sold out at my lgs and they said it was sold out even at distributor level, and miniaturemarket has been sold out. My lgs apparently only got two copies in stock which is just abysmal. I said feth it and just ordered it myself off thewarstore. So might be another one or two weeks depending on how fast it gets shipped n processed. In the meantime I guess im gonna watch the series again to keep my interest going.
Wow.. Honestly with the tepid response in thread (mirrored by my own in a way), I figured it wouldn't be a big seller. I suppose that limited supply/run might also be at play as well but that is more conjecture on my part.
We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
Well im seeing a more positive response on boardgamegeek. Which seems to be the most active place to discuss this game at the moment. Aside from the facebook group of course. Seeing as how its a brand new game they probably played it safe and produced less copies. Figuring if it sells well then they can make more and if the game tanks its not like it was a big investment anyways. But we already know they have releases planned until december next year so im not concerned about a lack of support.
First expansions for the game due out in february.
So a viper mk 2 with starbucks callsign and numbers on it. And a scar raider with a more individual paintjob. Looks good so far but it means the raptors and cylon heavy raider will come a bit later.
Thargrim wrote: They will release a model for it, its not going to be to scale though. More like an abstraction and while its smaller on the table the idea is that its off in the distance. I saw the hints of this stuff on the official and fan fb groups. I really want to see the mk vii viper in the game though.
It's still strange that they chose to go right fighters rather than be more like Armada.
Thargrim wrote: They will release a model for it, its not going to be to scale though. More like an abstraction and while its smaller on the table the idea is that its off in the distance. I saw the hints of this stuff on the official and fan fb groups. I really want to see the mk vii viper in the game though.
It's still strange that they chose to go right fighters rather than be more like Armada.
Indeed. It would have been better to wait until FFG shot itself in the foot, or the next Star Wars coffin nail (i.e. Episode 9) , before going after X-Wing's hold. Though, the controversy over how they handled their 2nd Edition may have been the opening (but I doubt it). The biggest failing for BSG is two-fold: Only 2 factions (Star Wars at least has Scum), and the fighter options are extremely limited to a few base models and characters. It's not going to be anything but a niche game unless they expand the line or the rumored reboot/next chapter of BSG actually expands the number of potential models to be purchased.
Are you a Wolf, a Sheep, or a Hound?
Megavolt wrote:They called me crazy…they called me insane…THEY CALLED ME LOONEY!! and boy, were they right.
Charistoph wrote: It would have been better to wait until FFG shot itself in the foot, or the next Star Wars coffin nail (i.e. Episode 9) , before going after X-Wing's hold. Though, the controversy over how they handled their 2nd Edition may have been the opening (but I doubt it).
Has Xwing 2nd edition been poorly received? I didn't buy in as in my particular case (not playing regularly, last game maybe 2 years ago) as paying for a new core plus $50 per faction for updates was too much of an investment for something that I'd probably like but don't see myself actually using much. It didn't seem to be a common complaint in the release thread here months ago. Admittedly, I didn't actually follow the rules changes themselves in detail though nor follow up in the various threads.
We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
Charistoph wrote: It would have been better to wait until FFG shot itself in the foot, or the next Star Wars coffin nail (i.e. Episode 9) , before going after X-Wing's hold. Though, the controversy over how they handled their 2nd Edition may have been the opening (but I doubt it).
Has Xwing 2nd edition been poorly received? I didn't buy in as in my particular case (not playing regularly, last game maybe 2 years ago) as paying for a new core plus $50 per faction for updates was too much of an investment for something that I'd probably like but don't see myself actually using much. It didn't seem to be a common complaint in the release thread here months ago. Admittedly, I didn't actually follow the rules changes themselves in detail though nor follow up in the various threads.
Not especially, traffic on dakka has slowed to a crawl but participation numbers are pretty steady across the board. The fact that they now have three different formats for tournaments and have changed up the way they do prizes (along with the changing of the names for said tournaments) have put off quite a lot of the old guard but there has also been an influx of new players. They are also releasing two new factions in a couple of months.
So it sems that the issue with potential releases for BSG has been solved, rather than come up with new fighters and small craft instead they just do named pilots with a model to match the markings? So we can expect some thirty releases of the Viper with "Hotdog", "Kat" etc.etc. (not sure if I am serious about that..)
It does feel a bit early for repaints but I understand that they're probably more realistic to expect from a smaller company. Still, I can't help but feel introducing two new models outside of the starter ones would be a better route to take even if they then have to take another month off to save money and recoup that sunk capital.
We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
Isnt that what x wing did though, release the core set and the first expansions were the tie and x wing with new pilots?
The extra viper kits come with more pilots but also missiles/warheads and we dont really know how those will function yet.
Pretty sure I heard they also have the licensing to do ships from either battlestar galactica online or bsg deadlock it was one of the two. So they can source further ships from the video games or create new ones if they have approval. They are also doing ships from the 1970s original series. I think they know itll be a niche game cause the bsg fanbase is smaller and the show ended years ago. Its more of a casual game for the existing fans. This is could why the game doesnt really have points costs like ffg games from what I can tell.
Charistoph wrote: It would have been better to wait until FFG shot itself in the foot, or the next Star Wars coffin nail (i.e. Episode 9) , before going after X-Wing's hold. Though, the controversy over how they handled their 2nd Edition may have been the opening (but I doubt it).
Has Xwing 2nd edition been poorly received? I didn't buy in as in my particular case (not playing regularly, last game maybe 2 years ago) as paying for a new core plus $50 per faction for updates was too much of an investment for something that I'd probably like but don't see myself actually using much. It didn't seem to be a common complaint in the release thread here months ago. Admittedly, I didn't actually follow the rules changes themselves in detail though nor follow up in the various threads.
It wasn't the edition itself that was the problem, it was that everyone had to buy an expensive pack (or more) of brand new cards in order to play it. A lot of people were not happy about that situation.
Are you a Wolf, a Sheep, or a Hound?
Megavolt wrote:They called me crazy…they called me insane…THEY CALLED ME LOONEY!! and boy, were they right.
BSG will do fine by Ares’ standards. The base game alone is interesting enough out of the box to hold attention and I look forward to what else they are going to do with it.
ARES does the Wings of War/Glory series and their airplanes tend to be one specific pilot with custom paint job (usually 3 variations of the same plane, different paint jobs & pilots) - I could see them attempting to do this here.
I was really charged when I first heard about this game, but after watching the rules summary I'm not as convinced. I still plan to pick it up when I find a place with a copy available. Maybe Ares will get its footing after a couple releases under its belt, but this doesn't look like it has much breadth to sustain a continuous release schedule.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/26 05:14:38
So I called around and found an unexpected store with one copy left, decided to pick it up. My copy from the warstore says its backordered and it seems as if they sold it to me even though they didn't have any. So that'll probably end up being cancelled. But anyhow I unboxed it and set up my stuff to take some pics, though I haven't had a chance to play it yet. The ships are some of the best if not the best pre painted models i've seen at this scale. There is little I can think of doing that would make them better, aside from doing some kind of engine glow of sorts. I know some folks out there might not like the matte look of the cylons and prefer to do them chrome or metallic. If you're one of them a light spray of leadbelcher would be a good start but it's not something i'm going to do. The only questionable thing is the cardstock for the tokens, which isn't bad but is typical for a game like this. I just paint pva glue around all the edges of the tokens to give them more longevity just like I did for my other games.
Spoiler:
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/28 03:58:32
The cardstock for the asteroids and planetoids is made to be very thin, so you can slide the ships over them when moving. So they should be handled somewhat carefully. The tokens and range rulers are thicker and comparable to the X wing stuff, only slightly thinner.
Stormonu wrote: ARES does the Wings of War/Glory series and their airplanes tend to be one specific pilot with custom paint job (usually 3 variations of the same plane, different paint jobs & pilots) - I could see them attempting to do this here.
They'd almost have to in order to have any significant variety with BSG. The Wings series operate through forces in two World Wars, both of which had significant variety while militaries were discovering new techniques and varieties every year.
Are you a Wolf, a Sheep, or a Hound?
Megavolt wrote:They called me crazy…they called me insane…THEY CALLED ME LOONEY!! and boy, were they right.
Thargrim wrote: They will release a model for it, its not going to be to scale though. More like an abstraction and while its smaller on the table the idea is that its off in the distance. I saw the hints of this stuff on the official and fan fb groups. I really want to see the mk vii viper in the game though.
It's still strange that they chose to go right fighters rather than be more like Armada.
Out of their four other games, three of them are fighter combat games (well, one is WW1 fighters vs Martian tripods), and the fighter combat always seemed more common in both BFG series to me.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, how do these compare to X-Wing models, size-wise? Are they at a specific scale?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/29 19:07:45
Miniaturemarket has the expansions up for pre order today. About 12 dollars per ship, and the control panels are sold in four packs for 11.19 usd. That is pretty cheap, not bad at all. Considering the vipers are larger and better painted than ffgs x wing fighter. Im probably gonna start with scar, starbucks viper and extra panels for now.
