Background

The origins of the space-opera/star-empires subgenre in science fiction can probably be traced to the late Victorian combination of speculations about the possibilities of scientific achievement, and the then ever-present reality of empire. Indeed, a number of late Victorian authors wrote works based on the then novel idea of a British-descended empire of the stars.

One of the most important aspects of this subgenre is that travel between the stars must be assumed to be almost as easy as jet travel between the continents on Earth today. Without a relatively reliable form of faster-than-light travel, that can allow for very quick bridging of the interstellar distances, the concept of both the interstellar empire and the space-opera (where, e.g., the hero must reach the heroine before she withers to old age) collapses.

The paradigmatic example of space-opera in film is, of course, George Lucas’ Star Wars Trilogy. Among its better cinematic imitations was The Last Starfighter, although it actually began on current-day Earth. Television shows in this subgenre included Battlestar: Galactica and Galactica ’80. The sort of new-old world typically seen in space-opera could be characterized as one with feudal values plus high technology. The prominent left-wing science fiction writer Judith Merril complained ruefully in 1985 that virtually the whole genre of science fiction, especially in its more popular manifestations, typified by the Star Wars movies, was heavily pervaded by this kind of typology.

The early paradigmatic example of space-opera within science fiction writing is E.E. (Doc) Smith’s Lensmen series. Also popular were the Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s. There was a Buck Rogers TV series in the late 1970s, a rather campy Flash Gordon movie in the early 1980s, as well as the overtly parodic Flesh Gordon. Space-opera is a subgenre which borders on, and overlaps with, other scifi and fantasy sub genres, notably swords and sorcery (Edgar Rice Burrough’s BARSOOM - Mars series), military scifi (Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers), and so forth.

Piers Anthony has written the Bio of a Space Tyrant series (with the garish covers). Set in a relatively near future timespan, it chronicles the rise of Hope Rodriguez as the dictator of the moons of Jupiter. When he is young, his family is attacked. He becomes a mercenary captain, then overthrows the system, instituting personal dictatorship, and finally becomes an extravagant despot in old age. The works’ interesting subtext is the mirroring of the history of modern Mexico, and partly also of the Hispanic experience in America (at least as some might see it).

F.M. Busby has written the Rissa and Tregare series, which has been characterized as intelligent space opera. Rissa is a genetically perfect female rebel leader fighting against the U.E.T. (United Energy and Transport), an evil corporate solar empire. This is a near-future, Solar System-centered scenario. Tregare is her lover and fellow rebel, once a UET mercenary commander.

Gordon R. Dickson is renowned for the Dorsai series -- the humanity of the future has compartmentalized on different planets into several races focussed on different functions: war and politics, art and aesthetics, philosophy, business, etc. A precarious balance exists between them, but the Dorsai, as the warrior part of the race, seek to re-unite and re-integrate humankind. The older author, H. Beam Piper, has written the Imperium series with a great deal of verve. This is the basic political-military empires with star-drives in conflict scenario. The Galactic Empires anthology is a particularly good example of this subgenre, which most often combines feudal values with high technology. Some might say it is really a transposed historical romance. The Rebel of Valkyr (Alfred Coppel) -- “horses in the starship hold” -- should be noted in particular.

The premise is that a galactic imperial civilization attacks Andromeda. The even more advanced Andromedan counter-attack destroys all sophisticated technology, except for star-ships. Advanced technology is therefore considered cursed, and its exploration is confined to warlocks and witches, i.e., scientists working in secret. Society is thus almost entirely medieval, with the exception that interstellar travel is possible on the hulk-type starships which are manned by a highly prestigious guild of navigators, quasi-priests. Through established rituals and memorization, they are somehow able to guide the starships to their destinations. Although the premise may seem ridiculous, the story is nevertheless a celebration of heroism, valor, loyalty -- all those traits that seem to be increasingly disappearing today.

Arthur C. Clarke, one of the best-known science fiction authors, has made the provocative statement that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” There are many interpretations one could put on this phrase, ranging from some thing like the fact of the putative enslavement of most human beings to technologies of which they have no ken; to something like a suggestion that humankind’s powers can be almost infinitely extended through technology. Perhaps these two are not even entirely contradictory interpretations.

There may be an argument to be made that a return to older forms of human organization in the future may not be as unlikely as one might think. During the debate over the nuclear winter theory, the respected popular scientist Carl Sagan suggested that the reason that the universe is not teeming with intelligent life (as some astronomical theories had proposed to be the case) is that as every intelligent species develops technology, it is faced by a developmental crisis, which in most cases results in its extinction. Sagan had suggested that it was nuclear war that was probably the vehicle for this extinction. This is an interesting argument, however, it can also be turned in a quasi-traditionalist direction. If we do not deal with the hypertechnology over whelming our planet in an orderly fashion, an order that only some form of neo-traditionalism and/or neo-authoritarianism can provide, our human societies are doomed to fly apart and into oblivion from the disintegrating force of too-rapid technological advancement. So feudal values plus high technology may indeed be one possible future for humankind (or for other intelligent species who have to surmount a similar developmental crisis).

Space Opera/Star Empire Games

Some generic Star-Empire games:

Alien Contact: Extraterrestrial Empires in Conflict. (Phoenix Enterprises Ltd., 1983.) Designed by Fred Chatham. Includes 352 die-cut 1/2 ” counters (four sides, each with 88); 20” x 28” mounted board; 72 random events cards; four pages of rules; card explanations sheet; player set-up cards (total of six); turn record track; one 10-sided die; boxed game with attractive cover-art. This game for two to six players exemplifies the generic approach to inter stellar conflict. The races involved are not named apart from their color, and all have the same type of pieces: Space Marines, Environmentally Protected Space Marines, Space Ships, Space Stations, and Pirates. An interesting touch is that some atmospheres are not breathable to some races, so some worlds are inherently more valuable to different players.

Starfall: A game of exploration and conflict in space. (Yaquinto Publications, Inc., 1979). Designed by J. Stephen Peek and Michael J. Matheny. Includes 560 die-cut 1/2 ” counters (120 per side); 27 1/2 ” x 21 1/2 ” map; 28-page rules; two sheets of Game Tables; four Operations Sheets; notepad of log sheets; four cardboard screens; two six-sided dice (one red, one white). One hex equals approximately three light years, one turn equals ten years and one ship counter represents one to 10 ships. Boxed game with attractive cover art and plastic tray for counters. One to four players. A rather heavily involved game, based on the conflict between generic empires with identical ships and technologies, but also differences between planets explored that make them easier or more difficult to be integrated into one’s empire. The key aspect of the game is the search for Starfall points (warp-travel through vicinity of black-hole) that allows one to travel large distances, but with random arrival points. The shape of one’s empire is determined through the discovery of starfall points, discovery of planets at the other end of the starfall, after which more normal military and colonizing ships follow.

Some Space Opera games:

Freedom in the Galaxy: The Star Rebellions, 5764 A.D. (SPI, 1979). Designed by Howard Barasch and John H. Butterfield. Includes 400 die-cut counters (double-sided); 22”x34” map (25 star systems with 51 planets); 32 pages of rules; one 12 page Galactic Guide; two sets of charts and tables (four pages each); 140 cards (32 Character Cards, 20 Possession Cards, 15 Mission Cards, 30 Action Cards, 29 Galactic Event Cards, 14 Strategic Assignment Cards); two six-sided dice. Bookcase box with attractive cover art, plastic tray. This is a very physically lavish game, but also very rules-heavy. The back ground closely parallels that of George Lucas’ Star Wars. It can be seen as a pastiche of the space-opera genre. Since Star Wars was itself a pastiche, the SPI background emerges as too derivative and cliché-ridden. The mechanics of the game, for a supposedly mass-market oriented effort, are far too heavy. It can thus only appeal to rather committed gamers; the average Star Wars fan is likely to be daunted by the massive rules ... and, of course, it’s not the real thing. Freedom in the Galaxy was probably a signpost along SPI’s decline, with its rules-heaviness sinking any chance of a broader appeal.

Buck Rogers: Battle for the 25th Century Game. (TSR, 1988). Designed by Jeff Grubb. Includes 362 plastic playing pieces (plastic figurines in several colors: six Leaders, 120 Troopers, 48 Gennies (genetically-engineered humans), 90 Fighters, 36 Battlers (Battleships), 24 Transports, 24 Factories, 14 Killer Satellites); 54 Playing Cards (42 Territorial Zone cards used for initial allocation of territories, six Leader cards describe special abilities of leaders, and six Turn Cards; one 21”x35 1/2 ” mounted map divided into a Solar System Display (inner planets) and Planetary Displays of four major planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth/Moon, Mars) and major asteroids; 16 page Basic Game rules and eight page Advanced Game plus optional rules; 200 die cut circular counters; 50 plastic chips; five 10-sided dice; huge box with attractive art, large plastic tray inside. Two to six players.

This is one of the most colorful and physically lavish boardgames the reviewer has ever seen. It is full of attractive components. And, with the Solar System Display allowing the simulation of the inner planet orbits, it is more reasonably scientific than one would expect from the Buck Rogers theme. The only complaint to be made is that more leader counters could have been introduced, so that players could play more in tune with the back ground (i.e., it is scarcely conceivable that Buck Rogers, Wilma Deering, and Doc Huer could be leaders of powerful factions locked in savage conflict with each other). It would be interesting to find out how well this game did in terms of sales. It was certainly primed to approach a mass-market-game sales level.

Traveller/Imperium Future History Games:

Imperium, Empires in Conflict: Worlds in the Balance Conflict Game Co./ GDW, 1st ed. 1977). Designed by Marc W. Miller, Frank Chadwick, John Harshman. 352 3/4" die-cut counters; 24”x18 1/2 ” mounted board; 12 page rules; 2 sheets of charts; 1d6; boxed.

This is among the most popular space-empire games ever. One of its highly inspired elements is to set the conflict, which is said to begin in 2113 AD, in terms of an upstart Terran Confederation, and an Imperial Province of a much larger Imperium. The Imperial Player takes the role of the Provincial Governor, not of the Emperor. The Imperium is committed to many other, far flung sectors, and the Governor has to contain the expanding Terrans with an economy of force, though he may appeal to the Emperor for support and/or emergency reinforcements. The Glory index, based on control of systems, either allows the Governor to achieve a glorious victory (which means a reduced but not fully destroyed Terran Confederation), or suffer ignominious defeat (which means the loss of a few systems from a large Imperial province). The game can then end, or resume after a certain number of peace turns, used for rearmament and consolidation. The series of ensuing wars can continue until one side or the other wins a total victory.

The premise for interstellar travel in this game is along preestablished hyperspace jump routes (which is near-instantaneous), as well as sub-lightspeed movement at a painfully slow rate of one hex a turn. There are a wide variety of units: 15 types of space ships; regular and jump troops; planetary defences; as well as world and outpost markers. The wide variety of ship types gives combat resolution at contested systems a distinctly tactical flavor. (Ships have beam, missile, and screen factors.) Units are purchased and maintained through expenditures of Resource Units derived from control of systems.

This Imperium game was cleverly integrated into the extended GDW Traveller future history. The Imperium is the First Imperium of the parahuman Vilani. The First Imperium, underestimating the aggressiveness of the Terrans, will eventually crumble before their onslaught, with the eventual establishment of the Second Imperium, the so-called Rule of Man.

Imperium (GDW 2nd ed.)

Dark Nebula, Battle for the Stars (GDW).

Twilight 2300 (GDW). A role playing game based on extension of GDW future history from destructive post-WW3 situation in Twilight 2000; most of the powers of Earth have rebuilt and are moving into space; includes interesting starmap of Sol’s vicinity.

The Traveller/Imperium future history was based on a series of role playing products centered on Traveller (now called Classic Traveller). The RPG went through several variant iterations. One of the main divergences was Traveller: The New Era, where a massive, highly destructive nanotech plague was posited, that plunged most of the civilizations into chaos. In the newest iteration of Traveller, being brought out under the Steve Jackson Games umbrella, this plague idea has been cancelled, in favor of the more pacific development of the largely benevolent Third Imperium.

SPI Minigames

Vector 3: Tactical Space Combat in Three Dimensions. SPI, 1979. Designed by Greg Costikyan. Includes 100 die-cut counters; 11”x17” map; ship configuration display; one chartsheet; four page rules (1d6 required for play).

Greg Costikyan produced the best of the capsule games, Creature that Ate Sheboygan, as well as this one generally considered the worst and virtually unplayable. It may also be noted that the scifi background for this game bore no relation to the obviously generic nature of the space-combat. The game is said to portray war in the Gilgamesh Cluster with no dates given. The background mentions three types of ships: Vector One (planet to orbit shuttles); Vector Two (solar-wind powered inter planetary ships); and Vector Three (a central cylinder with various types of attachable pods). Only Vector Three ships appear in the game. The powers identified as in conflict are the Xandri-Bratcom Coalition, and the Humano-Cetacean Civilization. Aaland is identified as a strategic base and site of the major battle.

The reviewer has decided to place this conflict around 2950 AD, at several hundred light-years’ distance from Earth. Based on their names and scifi conventions, the Xandri-Bratcom Coalition can be hypothesized as a human commercial empire (Bratcom), allied with a saurian race (Xandri), who provide the company muscle. As far as the Humano-Cetacean Civilization, they could be hypothesized as a splinter group of humanity living in harmony with genetically enhanced, telesthetic dolphins, who provide various telepathic skills.

WorldKiller: The Game of Planetary Assault. SPI, 1980. Designed by Redmond A. Simonsen. Includes 100 die-cut counters (double-sided); 11”x16” mapsheet; four page rules (one six-sided die and game box only in boxed version). WorldKiller first appeared in Ares No. 1, which was the beginning of SPI’s brave attempt to have a science-fiction/fantasy magazine with a game in it. The game is a relatively simple articulation of a common scifi scenario of intruders versus planetary defenders, played in three dimensions (with a total height of six cubes, a width of eight cubes and a length of 12 cubes). Because of the comparatively small number of cubes, three-dimensionality is easily handled by the True Distance Table. Movement in space is in short, point-to-point jumps. Combat is at ship to ship level, with incremental damage (which can be repaired). Players are encouraged to experiment with different starting forces. The game is said to be set in the year 3021 (though not necessarily AD).

In the reviewer’s attempt to bring together the SPI future history (see Vindicator, Vol. 1, No. 5b; November 1996; pp. 3-4) it had been suggested that the invading E’kenn are: “supercilious para humans ... with an extreme sense of hierarchy, or perhaps even human-descended themselves, and that the game should be seen as schematic of a far larger conflict.” If it is accepted that this is 3021 AD, the forces involved should of course be far larger, where the conflict represented in WorldKiller would be only one skirmish. The technology of mini-jumps within a gravity field had been called J4 in the above-mentioned article.

StarGate: The Final Space Battle for Galactic Freedom (Space Capsule # 2) SPI, 1979. Designed by John H. Butterfield, Redmond A. Simonsen. Includes 100 die-cut counters, 11”x17” map, four page rules, one sheet of charts (1d6 needed for play). With the popularity of the micro game concept pioneered by Metagaming, SPI began to come out with its own line of minigames or capsule games. The four small games it released were very popular in terms of sales, but apparently failed to be profitable for SPI.

StarGate represents a common scifi scenario of a galactic coalition (here including humanity) fighting against tyrannical forces bent on galactic domination (here called the Virunians). For such a small game, a large number of innovative game mechanics were introduced, based on the relative freedom afforded by the science fictional concept. For example, there were distinctly different types of movement, distinctly different types of combat, and so forth. The premise setting up the battle is a pell-mell retreat of the Virunians back to their stargates, from some distant corner of the galaxy, where they have met defeat. Their Tri-Ships, consisting of command, battle, and transport sections, pour out in a randomized jumble from the stargates and the Coalition player has to pick off the disparate sections before they are able to reassemble. The Virunians have six distinct Tri-Ships, A to F, whose respective sections can only enhance sections of the same designation (letter-code). They also have three regular separate ships, the Monads. However, if the Virunians reassemble even one full Tri-Ship, the Coalition Player has effectively lost the game. The date for this battle was said to be 2519 AD. In terms of the integration of the SPI future history mentioned above, the reviewer decided that one could move the date forward by a millennium, to 3519 AD, as it manifestly conflicted with the Star Force part of the future-history.

The other races in the Coalition, the Igugui, are characterized as having unusually high telesthetic abilities (teleportation), and are short, stocky, friendly aliens (their ability to lend their teleportation ability to human units in StarGate). The Duonoips are conceived of as tall, highly-muscular, but rather unintellectual aliens, based on the extremely high attack factor and low defense strength of their ships in Star Gate. The Meta-Mex are considered to be machine intelligences with highly sophisticated J5 warp drives (Wobble movement in StarGate). The human J4 drive (mini-jumps within a gravity field) is assumed to be unable to function in the wild energy fields of the NullGate.

As far as the Virunians, these can perhaps be conceived of as a coalition of three races: supercilious para humans or even breakaway descendants of Earth humans of ultrahierarchical outlooks (command section); saurian warriors (combat section); and short, stocky techies/workers (transport section). As far as the race that defeated the Virunians, these could be hypothesized as the relatively benevolent Hidden Guardians of the Galactic Core (hinted at in SPI’s Outreach game) -- extremely telesthetically and technologically advanced parahumans. As in the case of WorldKiller, the game should be interpreted as only a schematic of a battle that could have involved hundreds or even thousands of ships.

Other Minigames

Cerberus: The Proxima Centauri Campaign Task Force Game 3. Task Force Games, 1979. Designed by Stephen V. Cole. Includes 108 die-cut counters; 16”x20” map; 25 page rules (half-size booklet) in a pouch (two six-sided dice needed for play). With the obvious inspiration of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, Cerberus portrays a gung-ho human civilization reaching for the stars in an attempt to conquer the main planet of the closest system, unfortunately occupied by the Cetians, a semi-reptilian- looking but not monstrous race. Cerberus is the main planet of the Proxima Centauri system. The technology of inter stellar travel is warp point to warp point. In the interesting designer’s notes, Stephen Cole pointed out that the game was conceptualized within some realistic limits: that no more than 50,000 personnel could be transported to participate directly in the assault, and that most of these would not have so-called power armor. The date of the conflict is set at 2096 AD. The mechanics of the game are rather similar to that of a World War II paratroop assault. The Human player has to overwhelm one of the continents with his initial surge of forces, build up his reinforcements, and then fend off Cetian counterattacks (as the Cetians try to rush their own reinforcements to the planet). This is a very fine small game with many clever aspects.

Starleader Assault Metagaming, 1982. Some other Metagaming micro games could also be placed in the space opera genre.

StarQuest: Galactic Combat in the 22nd Century. OSG, 1979. Designed by Ed Curran. Includes 100 die-cut counters; 11”x17” map; four page rules; one plot sheet (multiple photocopies needed). The brief background sketched out for the game is irrelevant to play; this is a tactical, not strategic game, with identical capabilities for each side. Each of two to six players receives one ship per side. The game is an elegant rendering of Newtonian space combat, although rendered only on an x-y axis. Players have to pay close attention to their acceleration, and launch deadly missiles at an opportune time. A missile that reaches a ship (or another missile) automatically destroys it.

Babylon 5 Future History

A series of games published in the late 1990s is available both from Component Game Systems, as well as the miniatures based space combat system from Agents of Gaming. Agents of Gaming have been coming out with innumerable miniatures, supplement books, special dice, etc.

Some Other Games in this Subgenre:

1970s to 1980s:

Stellar Conquest (Metagaming and Avalon Hill).
Empire I (Third Millennia, Inc.). Published earlier as Fourth Galactic War.
Universe, The Role-Playing Game of the Future (SPI). Included a said to be accurate star map of Sol’s vicinity.
DeltaVee: Tactical Space Combat for Universe, The Role-Playing Game of the Future (SPI).
Shadowlord (Parker Brothers).
The Sword and the Stars (SPI).
Bloodtree Rebellion (GDW).
Alpha-Omega (Battleline and Avalon Hill)
Knight Hawks (TSR). A very early attempt from TSR at a science fiction roleplaying game.

1990s:

Throneworld (TimJim/Prism Games)
Twilight Imperium (Fantasy Flight Games)
Twilight Imperium: Borderlands
Twilight Imperium: Distant Suns
Twilight Imperium: Armada
Twilight Imperium: Outer Rim
Thunders Edge (Fantasy Flight Games)
Thunders Edge: Demon Canyon
Twilight Imperium: The Role playing Game
Twilight Imperium, the Role playing Game: Mecatol Rex sourcebook
Princess Ryan’s Star Marines (Avalon Hill)

The author plans to write extensively about the old SPI games Starforce: Alpha Centauri; Star Soldier; Outreach; Titan Strike; and Battlefleet:Mars in future issues of Simulacrum.