B5 Wars ...

C

colneher

Mongoose
It seems ages ago I played an exhaustive game made by Agents of Gaming called B5 Wars. It was hard to find players due to its complexity, but we loved the models and the B5 universe.

Today I stumbled onto the Mongoose website and I see a game called B5: A Call to Arms! The miniatures are the same, but looking at some ship sheets, I can see it is different.

Can anyone who has played both explain the "new" game, and how it differs from that by AoG?

Thanks!

Paul
 
ACTA is faster, less complex but still with a satisfying amount of detail !
I've never actually played Wars, just what i know from reading other posts previously in the forum.
How you came to this site is similar to me. I loved the Babylon 5 tv/movies and came across B5 Wars, which had ceased production.Then i found Mongoose ACTA and i've been here since. :)
If you give the game a chance i'm sure you'll become hooked :wink:
 
ACtA is a fleet-level game, so where one person might have run a 1-3 ship squadron in B5W, they will now run a 6-16 ship fleet in ACtA. The level of detail on each ship is lowered to make this happen, of course, but there is still enough chrome to keep the game interesting.

If complexity was your biggest problem with B5Wars, you'll probably like ACtA. Basically the only thing you track from turn to turn is damage: no velocity, no energy, no EW, no thruster overloading. Are you looking for a complete list of differences? Because basically nothing is the same, except for the names on most of the ships and weapons.
 
colneher, you'll like B5:ACTA more than B5 Wars. The rules are much easier to digest and the game is quick and challenging. All of the extensive record keeping that plagued B5 Wars will not be found in this game. However, I would recommend getting the templates for this game at Gale Force 9. They look cool and they help keep track of the ships special commands.

It's less like Starfleet Battles and more like the B5 series! :D
 
Id dissagree that its more like the B5 series in all honesty, I still think B5Wars had the better 'feel' frankly and was at heart a better game, but ACTA has alot going for it, mainly that you can play a game in less than a week :P

If ACTA has any one major fault its that I still dont feel its truly balanced across the fleets as it stands and the PL system (ACTAs fleet selection system) despite its originality and being a nice idea in theory, just doesnt really work as well as points now theres so many variants and ships in the game.

The closest game you can compare ACTA to really is GW's Battlefleet Gothic. If you have played that game you should pick ACTA up in minutes :D

I'd be wary of saying things like 'you'll like ACTA more than B5Wars' outright as this is not the case for everyone. I know people who have tried both and HATE ACTA but still love B5Wars. I personally love both but I have to say I prefer B5Wars when I have time to actually play it :P
 
Locutus9956 said:
Id dissagree that its more like the B5 series in all honesty, I still think B5Wars had the better 'feel' frankly and was at heart a better game, but ACTA has alot going for it, mainly that you can play a game in less than a week :P
Click to expand...
B5Wars was like the series, with the DVDs running in frame-by-frame slow motion, yes.

Wulf
 
yes but ACTA is like the series if all the ships worked differently :P Dont get me wrong, I love acta but I some people are too quick to dismisse B5Wars just because it was slower paced and complex.
 
Sticks and stones may break our bones but words will never hurt us :P Unless you carve them into the side of baseball bat I suppose :roll:
 
And I don't think anyone has mentioned yet that what 95% (I think?) of the models being used are originally AOG Scuplts (both B5 Wars and some Fleet Action also). And that Fleet Action minis are completely legal for ACTA.
 
Locutus9956 said:
I'd be wary of saying things like 'you'll like ACTA more than B5Wars' outright as this is not the case for everyone. I know people who have tried both and HATE ACTA but still love B5Wars. I personally love both but I have to say I prefer B5Wars when I have time to actually play it :P
Click to expand...

Oh, I don't tell everyone they'll like ACTA better. Just people who say things like "It was hard to find players due to its complexity, but we loved the models and the B5 universe."

I'm another person who prefers small-scale games, personally. The Captain's eye view is more interesting to me than the Admiral's. But I understand that lots of people don't feel the same way. Especially on this forum...
 
lastbesthope said:
emperorpenguin said:
The bigger ships are the official and preferred scale
Click to expand...

The big ships are the current production scale, though both old and new scales are accepted in Mongoose tournaments equally.

LBH
Click to expand...
And of course, in your own private games, you can use whatever scale you wish!

On top of that, there are counters to represent ships if you wish to try things out or just want to save money. These are "tournament legal" too so you'll definitely see them about :)
 
I see in the pics the fighter stands are 6 TINY fighters on a hex base? All of mine are larger scale (always did look odd) that USED to represent a flight of six. Will these still be acceptable?
 
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