Question from a New Guy/Old Gamer

[sjmiller]

I am quite interested in A Call To Arms: Star Fleet, but I have a number of questions to ask before I dive into this. I am hoping someone can answer them.

I know that I need the main game, A Call to Arms: Star Fleet, in order to play. Is this just a book? Is it a box set? What do I actually get with that when I spend my $29.99?

I assume that, unlike Star Fleet Battles, this game does not use counters. Am I right in assuming that this is strictly a miniatures game? Am I also right in my guess that the base game does not come with miniatures?

I am thinking of running scenarios that take place in an area that in Star Fleet Battles used to be known as The Triangle. It is where the Federation, Klingons, Romulans, Tholians, and Orions all sort of mash together. That being the case, I am going to want ships for all those different races. What would be the minimum I should get of a given race? Are all of them currently available?

Looking at the website, it appears that the Lyrans, Hydrans, and ISC do not have ships currently available. I assume there are plans to produce them. Are the coming soon, or are they on the distant horizon?

I like the idea of the game, I am just trying to figure out if I need to reserve a leg to go with the arm I will be spending if I get the game.

 

[Da Boss]

Hey there

Its a book

Its designed as a mini's game and I don;t think anyone has done counters for this version of ACTA. However you can proxy pretty much any kind of space ship model from similar games to get an idea of the game beforeyou actually lay down readies for the ships.

I think the Triangle is the old FASA version of Trek? re ships avaialble - best thing is to have a browse through the main mongoose miniatures page but all those you mention have ships to buy.

ACTA games work best with 6-12 ships a side, single ships games are not great, its only ok with a couple on each side.

There have been a couple of mock ups of the Lyrans but not the others - likely a good long time away.

 

[Foxphoenix135]

If you are as old a gamer as you say you are, then you would realize that as a miniatures game, this is not expensive. (Hint, you should know it's a miniature game by it being listed in the "Miniatures" category.)

You are paying for several things when you buy the rulebook:

The license they had to obtain to use Star Trek's Intellectual Property
The costs associated with creating/playtesting a ruleset (editors, playtesters, writers, artists)
Publication costs, such as printing, distribution, etc.

As for minimum forces, start with a couple of squadron boxes if you are unsure. I don't play Starfleet, but rather it's cousin Noble Armada (I prefer my gaming universe to be a bit more obscure), but I imagine that a couple of squadron boxes would provide ample opportunity for you to try the game and see if you like it.

Considering most electronic games are 60 dollars and provide limited entertainment (which doesn't include the price of a console or gaming rig), the introductory cost of this game is really not that great. If you want to save a couple bucks, try and snag the PDF version for a bit cheaper. Also, it is possible to play the game with counters (you'll have to make yourself) if you are just among friends, but the miniatures really make the game more interesting. It is another side to the hobby in which you can express your creativity and artistry since you assemble and paint them by hand, and you are missing out if you decide to play solely with counters. The only time I would suggest using counters is for things like fightercraft and ordnance, or if there are not produced models for a fleet you want to play.

You think you are spending an arm and a leg? Try starting Warhammer 40k in its current edition from scratch. This is a better value by far.

 

[Ben2]

Half of miniatures gaming is the miniatures, and a look in the painted minis thread will show you various paint jobs of various ships.

You can start one of two ways. Get the hard back book or get a fleet box with the mini rulebook in. I went the hardback book route, though I combined it with two fleetboxes anyway.

If you want to play the Triangle the only things not out right now are the Tholians and they'll be out soon.

How big are the games you want to play?

2000 points would give you a couple of hours play, 500 points about 30-45 minutes (depending on how many ships you go for).

Fleet boxes are a good way to get a lot of ships for a particular fleet, and I would highly recommend the Klingon one if you're keen on Klingons. However it's a big investment.

If you want to get all the races you might want to start with the Squadron boxes.

The Klingon/Orions box is a good box, and a start for an Orion fleet and a reinforcement for an existing Klingon fleet. Squadron box 12 would be the one I'd start with for Romulans, and Squadron box 1 (Old Fed) or 7 (New Fed) are both solid choices.

As you want to collect for the Triangle then the mixed squadron boxes coming out might be good buys. Trade with Kzinti/Gorn players to get rid of the spares, but it'll give you some civilians for scenarios, some additional Feds and the start of your Tholians.

Very simply if you don't want to start with fleet boxes pick up the hard back and two squadron boxes for the fleets you like best and have a couple of games with people to get a feel for the system.

I've got three primary fleets (Klingons, Federation and Gorn, with more than 25 ships for each) and Orions and Romulans as secondary fleets. I'm waiting on Tholians and the mixed boxes at the moment, but I'm mostly excited about more Klingon stuff.

Which fleets do you like best? It tells you what to get first.

 

[billclo]

The Tholians aren't yet available. But this is probably not a big issue at this point since some of the rules for the Tholians haven't yet been fleshed out, like the Web. The ship selection is pitiful at this point as well. I don't know when the Tholian ships will be available.

If you are unsure, I would use proxy models for the ships if you have any. Be creative, and play a few small games first to see if you like the ruleset. I would recommend no less than 3 ships per side, and 5-6 is much better. The game engine doesn't seem to shine until you approach the 1000 points per side barrier.

If you can attend a convention where the game is being demo'ed you might try that. I know there will be demos at Nashcon in May, and myself and Scoutdad will be running MANY games at Origins.

You might also contact Rambler on this forum here for a demo game; he lives in Western Wisconsin, and is running events at local conventions.

 

[Myrm]

The ACtA engine that runs under the bonnet in this game has been used previously (though obviously with differences) for the Babylon 5 game that Mongoose made.

For that one of the supplements of one version was a Sky full of Counters, a series of counters to replace the miniatures (they are after all just 3D counters). So the game works fine with flats of this kind.

Its all I use at the moment, as until the race(s) I want to play most come in and there's a decent range for me to start collecting Im not going to invest in too many miniatures andmixing minis and counters doesnt look right.

ADB sells their megahex counters for the other SFU games and they are decent enough substitutes. I have some homemade counters Ben2 made and other I have cobbled together on card, plus I proxy some ships using my B5 counter set and it works absolutely fine for play and lets me play those ships that dont yet exist (Tholians for example).

As soon as Hydrans, Lyrans and Tholians are available with full rules then my wallet will start screaming abuse at me....and I'll be using miniatures, as frankly, they look better.

 

[Ben2]

I can't even remember making Star Trek counters, though I do remember making some of B5 counters to be compatible with the SFB hex maps.

I still think it's a shame B5W is a dead game, I really liked it. I tried to keep releasing stuff after AoG closed their doors, but RL got heavily in the way and I was offline for about a year around that point.

You're fine to play with counters, it just doesn't add the modelling and visual aspects of the game.

 

[Myrm]

OK, maybe I have the wrong person then...

EIther way, I play with counters at the moment and it works fine, as it did for a previous expression of ACtA. Models are much nicer though.

 

[Ben2]

I think you're thinking of Tyrel Lohr. I did 50 or so of the Star Trek SCSs though, covering a lot of the TOS and movies period, mainly Klingons and Cardassians.

 

[bcantwell]

I also play the game with homemade counters, in my case images of the ships on 1/4" foam core. My cruisers are ~2" long, and with the art 'floating' a bit above the table on the thick foamcore, it gives a bit of pseudo-3D. Not as nice as minis, but still creates a a pretty cool looking game, especially as I can have numbers that few minis gamers not called scoutdad can achieve and for every fleet.

The rules work perfectly well with these counters.

 

[Rambler]

sjmiller- PM inbound. Look forward to hearing from you.

 

[dix]

If you don't think you can afford a large enough set of miniatures, counters work just fine. Miniatures are nicer, though.

ADB has a set of 1 inch full color counters for use with Star Fleet Universe games. Also, the 1 inch counter sheets from Federation Commander products are available from the ADB site as a separate spare parts item.

The ADB webstore

I own (and use) both miniatures and counters and both work just fine. Miniatures are a bit nicer but I can't afford to have a full set of everything that I want. Counters are a bit easier for larger battles when table clutter becomes a problem. So, for larger battles, I prefer to use counters.

However, the rules state that miniature's bases cannot overlap which means that, when using minis, ships cannot get too close to each other (about 2 inches). Using counters may change game play somewhat at close ranges.

 

[Davros1]

I have no minis but used the ADB counters and they are fine . Not getting minis for financial reasons and lack of players but in a pinch I have used the Heroclix Star Trek minis from their game .

Not great of course but unfortunately I am no painter or modeller and the game plays ok with the materials I have used . So I would suggest get the counters and give it a go .