Struggle for the Throne

Star Trek III

Review by Dana Lombardy

Designed by David E Tepool and Jordan Weisman
FASA Corporation PO. Box 6930, Chicago, IL 60680
Released: July, 1984
Catalog No.: 5004
Price: $6.00
Complexity. Beginner/Intermediate,
Solitaire Suitability: Low

Come on, admit it, you've always secretly wanted to play the "bad guy" in a game. Now you can, in the science fiction board game Struggle for the Throne. In fact, everyone in the game is a bad guy-each player represents a powerful Thought Admiral of the Mingon Empire. That's right, you play a "nasty" Klingon, representing the nemesis of Star Fleet and the starship Enteq)rise. In this game, however, Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk don't participate. This is strictly a "family" affair of internal politics and civil war within the Klingon Empire.

This mini-game comes with: a 32- page, 8"x5l/2" format rules booklet; 76 action cards; 112 playing pieces representing control flag markers, battle squadrons, squadron commanders, loyal commanders (family members who can't be bribed to switch sides), and the Thought Admiral (you); 7 hex-shaped tiles that fit together to form the game board; and two 6-sided dice.

Struggle for the Throne begins with the approaching death of the Klingon Emperor. Two to six players each represents a Thought Admiral and the head of a Klingon family, negotiating and eventually fighting each other to seize the Emperor's throne after he dies. No one is powerful enough, at first, to take the throne directly it will require diplomacy, back-stabbing, and, finally, open warfare before one player emerges victorious with the Klingon crown.

There were four players, including me, in the game I played. Fewer than four players would probably not make for an interesting contest. The game worked well, however, with the four of us and would have been even more fun with five or six Admirals dealing, lying, and blasting their way to the throne.

There are actually two games in Struggle for the Throne. The first game represents the phase of play when the Emperor is still alive. As long as the Emperor lives, the players may not fight a battle in the center tile where the Empire's home planet, Klinzhai, is located. This center section acts as, a sanctuary for a fleet or an Admiral threatened by ambush.

In addition, the Action cards have two different types of actions printed on them: the actions printed in black are used while the Emperor is alive; those printed in red are used when the Emperor dies, and these can be radically different from the action printed in black on the same card.

The goal of the game is to be the only player with any squadrons remaining on the board, or to force the other players to surrender and acknowledge you as the new Emperor. The key to accomplishing this is to defeat the other player's fleets through sabotage, battle, and bribing nonfamily commanders to switch sides.

In the first phase of the game, while the Emperor is alive, you bribe enemy commanders to switch sides, assassinate commanders, steal plans, ambush an enemy fleet (this is the only way you can fight a battle as long as the Emperor is alive), and use influence Cards to get the Emperor to act for you or against an opponent. There's no sure thing in playing an Influence Card, however, since a dice roll is required and the fickle Emperor might reward your enemy-- or take away squadrons from your fleet.

There's also one Emperor Dies card that can be played, held, or traded. As soon as this card is played, the complexion of the game changes. The actions printed in red on the cards are now used, and open warfare ensues.

In addition to assassination, bribery, and spying, there are several new actions allowed in the second game of Struggle for the Throne-the phase after the Emperor has died. These actions include building new squadrons on your home planet, making a sneak attack, cutting supply lines, holding hostages (a defensive move), and jamming communications.

In the first phase of the game, diplomacy and co-operation with the other players is necessary This interaction includes trading cards, selling or buying cards you need (in return for promises that may or may not be kept), and doing anything you feel is necessary to put your fleet in an advantageous position when the Emperor dies and open warfare begins.

As an example of how this works, in the game we played, an Admiral, as one of the three actions he may perform each turn, used a Bribe Commander Action card against my fleet. As I had no counter to this action in my hand of five Action cards, the enemy Admiral could have taken control of one of my squadron commanders and moved him to his fleet. However, another Admiral immediately offered me an Outbid Bribe card which I used to stop the attempt. In return, I "promised" to give that player one of my influence cards when his turn came. I agreed- then conveniently "forgot" my promise when he needed the card. (Never trust a Klingon.)

Although it is not required, if two or more fleets of different players are on the same space, a battle may be fought even if just one player chooses attack as one of his three actions during his turn. The other players can't refuse to fight.

To fight a battle, squadron and commander counters are placed opposite each other, one-on-one, upside own so you won't know who your powerful commanders are fighting until the squadrons are turned over. Squadron/commander counters are then compared and each player rolls one die. High roll wins, with ties going to the defender. The loser has his squadron counter destroyed and removed from play.

The die rolls are influenced by bonuses, such as Commander ( + 1 to your die roll), Loyal Commander ( + 2), Thought Admiral ( + 3), Sneak Attack ( + 1), Ambush ( + 2), Cut Supply Lines ( + 3), jam Communications ( + 1), Use Asteroid Maps ( + 2), or Hold Hostage ( + 3).

If one player has more squadrons than the other, combat continues using these ships to replace eliminated ones on the battle line. The attacker may also choose to stop the battle, especially if he's getting the worst of it. If a Thought Admiral is eliminated, one of the loyal commanders then become the head of the family and continues the fight.

Struggle for the Throne can take several hours to play, but the game is a lot of fun. Our group attracted a lot of attention at a beer hall where we played it one night. The only thing the game doesn't have is a glossary of Klingon swear words. Otherwise, this game is highly recommended for four or more players.

More Reviews

Back to Table of Contents -- Game News #4
To Game News List of Issues
To MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 2000 by Dana Lombardy.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com