B5 Fleet Game

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Anonymous

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Hi all.

I had been a fairly active player of AoG's Babylon 5 Wars when it was still supported and still do play it occasionally.

I've also seen the Ship combat rules that came with the original B5 RPG that were loosely based on Full Thrust, as well as the Full Thrust system itself.

I had heard tell that Mongoose was going to be working up a Ship combat game for the RPG and was very interested in the possibilities.

I'm just curious if anyone, official or otherwise, has any info on it.

I'm mainly curious about relative complexity, I'd consider ideal something that was somewhere in between the simplicity Full Thrust and the complexity B5Wars, something that could handle moderate sized fleets (10-15 ships + their fighters) and was hexless. Any word on how it'd fit into that?

Also curious if there's even a tentative release date yet?

Thanks.
 
If the game is supposed to interface with the RPG, then a slightly reworkrd version of the B5W system would be great.

Otherwise it would depend on the scale of the game in question.
 
I'd consider ideal something that was somewhere in between the simplicity Full Thrust and the complexity B5Wars, something that could handle moderate sized fleets (10-15 ships + their fighters) and was hexless.
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i`m with you on that one. 8)

B5wars was/is/will always be a bit of a pain, Fleet Action was not so bad and the Full Thrust variant was a little too simplistic, but FT did have the advantage (my view anyway) of a nicer movement system (not the best hexless system, but still good enough for the job).

all of this was discussed in an earlier thread in this section a month or two ago, look it up and see what they were getting up to. :wink:

and all of this has to tie in nicely with the main RPG game itself,

too simplistic is bearable (you could add more detail if you wish it),

too complicated and it will bore or annoy prospective players (that`s me by the way :lol: ).

i`ll just wait and see what they eventually make out of it. :)
 
quickly as GW (akk) 's Battlefleet Gothic. Yah the rules may be simple, but one could play a 4 player melee in under 4 hours with lots of ships. Using B5W minis would be nice, but I want a table top /hexless that we could make terrain and the like.
 
The real proble I found with AoG's game was the limit on the board.

I'd like to see more hexes or distance between ships to show the advantages of the ships with better tech. Maybe slower spees would accomplish that but slow the game down.

Probably a computer based game would be the way to solve the table top limitations.

Sidney
 
Yes, A Sky Full of Stars is the title that I have heard Mongoose use for their upcoming B5 starship combat system.

El Cid said:
I'd like to see something as simple as STARFIRE.
Click to expand...

Now I must admit a fondness for Starfire's combat system. However, I didn't like how the movement system worked. In small fleets it was great, but when you started to deal with lots of ships in the middle of the game after some had taken varying degrees of engine damage this slowed the game down a good bit. Nothing's perfect however, and I must say that I've enjoyed it when I did play it.
 
As a long time playtester of AOG B5W and Gropos...as well as one of the first "unofficial" playtesters of STARFIRE back in the days when it was a plastic baggy game from Task force :)...plus a player of Full Thrust...BFG and SFB

I found B5W to have one of the cleanest game systems overall...and have ALOT of reservations about "Sky Full of Stars" I do own the B5RPG but have yet to play it..though my D20 experience is decades old.

I never liked Dragonstar and because of that, I drew upon my experiences in FASA's STar Trek RPG to try to come up with something akin to their system allowing RPG interface to their Ship Combat Board Game....using B5W as a basis. However..this had not gotten beyond the "Mad Idea" stage as I way too many irons in the fire atm.

As for coming up with something akin to STARFIRE for B5...I say more power to you. STARFIRE...especially the latest rendition...has alot of merit...but is almost a logisitcal nightmare without computerized help. (We are in the middle of a campaign at turn 25...and all tracked by paper...LOL)

Damn! There is the phone again...time to go back to the Gulag.
 
if it resembles B5Wars too much i won`t be going near it at all. :roll:

the fact that this is a tie in for an rpg and not a dedicated miniatures game will determine it`s eventual form.

from what i have heard so far it will be played on a square grid, be a variant of the d20 system and have more to do with PC attributes as well (which seems logical enough for a RPG game).

we`ll just have to wait and see folks. :wink:
 
if it resembles B5Wars too much i won`t be going near it at all.
Click to expand...

That makes two of us!

I have every B5W book they brought out - superb background and ship designs but I always found the game itself too complicated to get my prospective opponets interested. I just converted the ship stats to Full Thrust /EFB.

I am hoping the new game will be a lot closer to FT than B5W.

I wonder if there is any chance of Mr. August posting a sample ship so we can get an idea of how things are looking??? (Very pretty please... :D )

DW
 
I have to admit that I don't like the D20 combat system much at all. The only endearing feature, at least to me, is that it is simple and allows the roleplaying to become the primary focus (if you let it).

I am very much hoping that SFoS will focus on the ship combat portion and not the D20 part. What I am really looking for is focus on the ships where one character's stats don't make the fight of the ship. After all, a ship is only as good as its CREW. Although a good fleet commander can make a world of difference.

All that being said, I do like what you've done within the D20 system within the main book. It's fast and easily playable, and I also really like the critical system you developed to simulate the effects of sudden, high energy attacks.
 
msprange said:
Sky Full of Stars will be a stand alone game with links to the RPG - it will _not_ be d20. . .
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So long as it can be used with it, in much say the same way as Mechwarrior was with Battletech then ill be a happy bunny. :)
 
If your using that comparison make sure to say 2nd edition Mechwarrior. Out of the three versions made it is the easiest to blend into Battletech. The reason why I say this is because I agree with Neo that Mechwarrior is a good tie-in for Battletech and as long as the system is simple and obvious it can work out well.
 
msprange wrote:
Sky Full of Stars will be a stand alone game with links to the RPG - it will _not_ be d20. . .
Click to expand...

many thanks for clarifying the situation. :D

i really am a sucker for rumours. :roll:
 
I had heard that before, but my natural paranoia responded to the rumor mill and I was worried that somehow SFoS had mutated into a D20 mistake.

It's nice to be reassured again. Thanks!
 
A friend of mine has been working on a game for close to two years now. The game is based on the WW2 miniatures rules Close Quarters. Its a sci-fi fleet action game in which you can put a hundred figures on the table and get it done in a reasonable amount of time. Say 2-3 hours.

Heres the website if your interested

http://www.geocities.com/inferno_s/

Later
 
Will Mongoose be producing minis (I'd imagine the AoG moulds are still kicking about :wink: )?

If not, why? Games like this demand groovy minis to drool over...

(fond hope of owning a Victory Class Destroyer mini one day, not the scratch built monstrosity I produced)
 
Steve said:
Will Mongoose be producing minis (I'd imagine the AoG moulds are still kicking about :wink: )?

If not, why? Games like this demand groovy minis to drool over...

(fond hope of owning a Victory Class Destroyer mini one day, not the scratch built monstrosity I produced)
Click to expand...

Sorry to let your hopes down Steve but I've read in other parts of theforum that AoG had to destroy their moulds when their licence ran out.

Pity . . .

Lastbesthope
 
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