Illustrations from Silent Death: The Next Millennium courtesy of I.C.E. and used with permission. Silent Death: The Next Millennium Deluxe Edition Published Iron Crown Enterprises Design: Kevin Barrett/Matt Forbeck # 7200-0, $50.00 Presentation: 9 Playability: 9 Value: 10 So, you've been waiting as long as I have and now you're wondering if it was worth the wait. When you go to see a movie for the first time, and all of your friends have been raving about it for the past two weeks, you are often let down because your expectations are so high. Well, my expectations were high for Silent Death: The Next Millennium ... and I wasn't disappointed. The central mechanics haven't changed that much - the critical hits are now based on multiple dice so the devastating crits don't turn up as often, missiles do better damage, and the point system has been changed so that a ship building system could be added. There are also hordes of cool optional rules that just beg to be used. In Silent Death, fighter class (and gunboat class) space ships dart about in dizzying maneuvers, attempting to stay one step ahead of their enemy while trying to acquire a target for their own deadly hail of fire. It is fast paced and wonderfully strategic. The hit/damage system is elegant in its approach and ease of use. The rulebook, which is available separately as stock number 7201, has all the rules, a bunch of ship record sheets, and a number of advanced scenarios which can be played as stand alone games or used with the mini-campaign system. In addition to the rules, the Deluxe Edition comes with 48 plastic ships (and they are nice!), a bunch of missile, torpedo, and asteroid counters, a booklet of introductory scenarios, and a booklet with ship record sheets and easy references. Nowadays, you'd expect to pay $50 for the figures and counters, so I guess the game is FREE?! Okay, given I'm a miniatures fanatic who even gets some perverse enjoyment out of Critter Command, but this is a set I'd recommend to even my most serious gaming friends (and some of them are much-too serious). Surgeon General's Warning: Does not cause cancer, but is way too addictive to be consumed by the general public. Not for sale to non-gamers! Back to Shadis #22 Table of Contents Back to Shadis List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1995 by Alderac Entertainment Group 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