interested....but seems expensive to start......

[SIcon advisor]

Hi guys,
been looking at the Babylon 5 game for a while now as I absolutely love the series, and with the release of ACTA2 now seems as good a time as any to "maybe" take the plunge.

Unfortunately it looks as though it will be quite an expensive game to begin. Looking at 2 fleet boxes, rulebook and fleet book comes to well over £100 :shock:

In order to demo this game what would be a good starter package and is it possible to play with only a couple of ships per side, hence making it cheaper to start?

thanks

 

[SIcon advisor]

Also nearly forgot.....

how good is the game? is it really easy to pick up and play?

thanks

 

[Tankdriver]

I have only played the first edition, but it is VERY easy to play, and the second edition is supposedly just as easy or easier. I would go for it. The two books and a package of counters will probably run you slightly more, no more than $10, than anything else out there, and unlike other games, you will have the complete game!

 

[WereRogue]

I've recently begun demoing and playing and can say that it's one of the easiest games to learn that I've every played, certainly as far as miniatures games go. It's even easier than Warmachine, which is very easy to learn.

It's my understanding that there are small "example" fleets in the 2e rulebook, so you can initially just buy it and use those fleet lists to draw your miniatures base from until you've got a larger pool of players to warrant the investment in the main Fleet Book and more miniatures.

-Ken

 

[eek]

1st edition was very easy to learn, and from what I gather 2nd won't be any more difficult to pick up. It shouldn't take more than a couple of games to get a grasp of the mechanics.

Also, starting out is a lot cheaper than you'd expected. All you really need is the 2nd edition rulebook. I'm sure I read somewhere that it contains a page (or few) of counters which you can photocopy and use to represent the ships, and the book also has a few of the ship profiles.

You could very easily just buy a couple of ships per side to get started, but you don't have to buy any minis at all to play the game.

 

[darknight]

the game is very easy to start, then you can add the advanced rules as you go along and become more familliar with the game.
if you wanted i have a complete (bar about 4 ) revised edition counters printed on thicker colour card that i dont use you could have for a beer!
2nd ed rule book is probably your best bet(out end of august) as you would then learn the correct rules from there, then if you like the game start collecting the minis, but people dont allways play with them, we have a guy round here who allways plays with counters

 

[Chernobyl]

to begin, you may see if you can find one of the "sky full of stars counter packs" at a locar retailer, or for order somewhere...failing that, find a revised edition box set.
It has most every counter for ships and fighters you'll need. cheaper to start playing that way. That way you can get the minis later on.

Chern

 

[SIcon advisor]

thanks for the replies guys

is there any point in getting the 1st edition rules, if they've just been updated?

theoretically i could get the entire game for rules £15, fleet book £20 and complete skos counters £15 :shock:

darknight your counters offer is very tempting mate

Anyone know what the starter pack for MI would be to demo with?

 

[darknight]

you dont get a starter pack for being an mi, you use your stuff and gain browny points at mongoose.

 

[SIcon advisor]

i know that dude, i demo sst

just wondering what you would need to buy to start demoing and get reinbursed for (ie sst starter box)

 

[darknight]

ah sorry,
well its the same rules for all really, i think at the moment you would have to go for a counter set and 2nd ed rule book then demo it, but not a good idea to demo until you have played and got used to it, i think minis wouldnt count, as they are up to you if you want them and not strictly nesscary to the play the game

 

[Triggy]

If you wanted to demo with just a few ships, the game works great with just 2-3 ships a side (e.g. 1 Hyperion, 2 Olympuses vs 2 White Stars).

 

[Da Boss]

Or Narn / Centauri as both have a selection of ships in the rulebook

 

[Burger]

If you wanted to demo with just a few ships, the game works great with just 2-3 ships a side (e.g. 1 Hyperion, 2 Olympuses vs 2 White Stars).

Yep, and everyone will recognize the ships from the show

 

[Da Boss]

Primus and a couple of vorchans vs G'Qoun and couple of escorts also quite evocative of the show and all ships in the basic rulebook, inlcuding counters.