Star Fleet Battles
Supplement #2: X-Ships

Game Review

Reviewed by Terry Phillips


Designed by C. Michael Thompson & Stephen V Cole
Developed by the Amarillo Design Bureau
Task Force Games 1110 N. Fillmore, Amarillo, TX 79107
Released: April, 1985
Catalog No. 3013
Price: $9.95
Complexity: Intermediate to Experienced
Solitaire Suitability: None
***1/2

Well, it seems that all good things must come to an end sooner or later, and the "General War" about which the Star Fleet Battles universe revolves, is no exception. The war of attrition has burned itself out, the Andromeclans and the interstellar Concordium have come, kicked everyone around a bit, and gone, and the Organians, that omniscient, omnipotent (though not everpresent) race of super aliens, have grown tired of the whole thing!

The super race returns, bearing new edicts to the inhabitants of the known universe, severely limiting everyone's space-faring armadas. These edicts and other Organian-imposed limitations spark the creation of the ultimate in star-ship technology, the X-ships of the Star Fleet universe.

And that pretty well summarizes the premise for Task Force Games' new addition to the Star Fleet Battles game, Supplement # 2: XShips. This Supplement is a highly tactical representation of the period in the hypothetical Star Fleet universe after the second Organian intervention. Ship-to-ship combat occurs between the powerful second generation X-ships of the various races of the universe. In my opinion, XShips has come none too soon. Of all the products to come out of Amarillo, Texas, in the last few years, this SFB supplement does the most to cut the ever-expanding Star Fleet universe back to manageable, playable size. In addition, this supplement seems to reestablish something that had gotten lost in the vast compendium of rules and supplements, ship types, and expansions (not to mention errata) associated with SFB-a sense of oldfashioned, "space-opera" type fun! I, for one, am tickled to see this product.

X-Ships is pretty standard Task Force SFB fare when it comes to the components and rules set. Your $9.95 gets you a folder containing a 24page rule book with new rules and scenarios for X-technology star-ships, a 32-page Commander's SSD (ships system display) booklet, and a counter sheet (another one!) of 108 die-cut counters of the X-ships. The SSDs are the new computergenerated variety, with weapons charts and tables for each ship printed on the SSD sheet.

Sadly, I found these new SSDs to be only marginally more legible than those in the older printing. They are not as flawless or glitchfree as you might expect, so you can be looking for still another errata sheet to clear up the mistakes. The counters represent the only classes of X-ships available-command cruisers, cruisers, destroyers, and frigates (yes folks, that's all, only four). They are clear and use the standard color scheme set for each race in the SFB universe. The folder's cover art is colorful too, depicting a Klingon cruiser attacking a Federation cruiser. All in all, it's a pretty package on the store shelves, but the price may seem a mite steep for what you get.

It should be noted also that this product is exactly what it says it is, a supplement. it draws upon the rulesset for Star Fleet Battles for most of its game mechanics, and the basics are not found in the supplement. But as a supplement to SFB, you will find it has the same concise format for organizing rules common to all Star Fleet Battles products. Everything is well organized, and you will have no problem finding specific rules when any questions arise-as they most assuredly will.

The basic premise of the supplement provides the groundwork for most of the game innovations found here. The chief innovation deals, of course, with the Xships themselves. Though limited in number, these vessels have become offensive giants.

Suffice it to say, these boats are bigger and tougher than their predecessors. In fact, non X-ships are no match for X-ships. But more interesting still is the way Xships change the tactical flavor of the game. In Star Fleet Battles, the object is to out maneuver your opponent and get in a position that allows you the best possible shots while giving him the worst. Tactical savvy is almost a game "art," with specific tactics developing over the weapons has been increased significantly. The weapons have been upgraded in number and quality as well.

All weapons, including photon torpedoes and plasma torpedoes, can be loaded and fired every turn. Disruptors can now fire a "double-overloaded" burst and all drones are "fast" ' The ships' shields, though not any bigger, are much stronger, and all ships have advanced fire-control systems with Aegis, vastly improving the effectiveness of heavy weapons in the medium ranges.

Years for use against the various opponents one may face. But ships' weapons that can fire every turn and hurt you severely from farther away are going to change the tactical complexion of the game. Oddly enough, the question that arises is whether the change increases the tactical possibilities or reduces them to the point of blandness. Some players in my group were leaning to the latter opinion. Their sentiment was that Supplement #2 created a rather disagreeable paradox: ships of almost unlimited power and punch with limited tactical potential.

I don't share that opinion. It seems to me that as soon as X-ships have been played as long as non X-ships, we'll begin to see the development of some very interesting tactics. I suspect that it will take as long to figure out how to run the X-ships correctly as it has taken us to learn how to run the non X-ships we've been using in SFB up to now. That in itself will generate a great deal of replay value for this supplement to those who are interested.

Another exciting aspect of this supplement is its rapid game turnover. The action is fast and furious. Victory or defeat are determined by which ship loses a shield or takes significant internal damage first. All things considered, the captain of the damaged ship had best run away and "live to fight another day." If he is so foolish as to try to "duke it out:' he will in all likelihood be obliterated posthaste.

Survival in X-ships usually requires more intelligence and finesse than that found in the SFB player who thinks that play revolves around the tactic of closing to pointblank range, hitting your opponent with everything you've got, and trusting to luck that you do more damage to his ship than you take in return. Using that tactic with X-ships will guarantee the immediate destruction of both ships; that's how powerful they are!

As I said at the outset, this supplement does a great deal to reduce the myriad rules that complicate Star Fleet Battles. For example, the removal of "attrition units" (such as mines, fighters, and pseudo fighters) alone negates one whole supplement and several pages of the Commander's rule book. And though we will probably see some few sheets of errata, Supplement #2: X-Ships makes Star Fleet Battles just that much easier for me. That's worth the $9.95 right there!

Supplement #2: X-Ships is obviously designed for the Star Fleet Batdes aficionado-and some may not like it. But whether you like your SFB big and complex, with lots of rules, ships, fighters, and mines, or small and tight, with fast and furious action, fewer ships, and short games, Star Fleet Battles Supplement #2: X-Ships should show you a good time, both in play and in after-action combat discussions. I recommend you pick it up and enjoy it. it'll be worth your while.

More War Game Reviews

Back to Table of Contents -- Game News #8
To Game News List of Issues
To MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1985 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