Star Trek Fleet Captains

[Nefaro]

Holy testicle Tuesdays Batman!  I didn't realize just how huge this game is until it arrived today.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/79127/star-trek-fleet-captains

I got another surprise when I opened the box.  The size of the 'Heroclix' starship minis are big.  And it comes with more than I imagined.  Or maybe it looks like more since they're so much larger than expected?  Either way, Wow!


While I'm not a Trekkie, I thoroughly enjoyed ogling the starships from the first few ST movies and especially the so-called "Submarine Knife fight" in the second. [ insert obligatory "KHAAAAAN!" here]  Enough to have purchased plenty of SFB in my youth, along with very enjoyable memories of FASA's Starship Combat Simulator back in the day.  So when I spotted this one with a mix of hex-based movement and card-driven play awhile back, it quickly went on my Want List. 

I've not even played it yet but I've already nerdgasmed just seeing it.  I Squee'd like Gus a bit when I opened the Sails Of Glory box, but this was wholly unexpected.  Now I'll be forced to get the Romulan expansion soon, too.  :-*


Although the minis themselves aren't painted.  May have to address that.  As if I don't have enough minis to paint already.  :-\

[Martok]

Holy hell, that game looks awesome!  Nefaro, I may have to kill you for making me aware of it.  :P 

The fact that the minis aren't painted is about the only thing keeping me from immediately driving to the nearest store to get this.  Although I have to believe it runs a pretty penny as well; can I ask what you paid for it? 

[BanzaiCat]

If you tell me this is something different from Star Trek: Attack Wing, Imma scream.

I bought the basic Attack Wing set and the USS Reliant some time ago but haven't had time to play it. Same story with me and the X-Wing Minis game (got the basic set, the Falcon, Slave-I, and a TIE Interceptor, but haven't played it yet either).  :(

[Nefaro]

If you tell me this is something different from Star Trek: Attack Wing, Imma scream.

Yes.  It is completely different from Attack Wing.  I would say it's closer to a competitive Mage Knight although perhaps not quite as unusual in it's game concepts.  It's from the same publisher so I get the impression MK may have had some minor influences on it.

Fleet Captains is more like an adventure game with Star Trek warships & science vessels.  You explore the hidden hex tiles and are given three objectives at any one time.  Some of them are to be hidden from other players, while some are open for everyone to see.  I believe there are different types too, such as Science, Combat, Etc. 

There are also numerous different Command decks, of which you must pick a few and mix together for your fleet's use in the game.  Your ships are rated for movement, combat, and such but you get all the special stuff that such card play entails along with it.  You also have a list of certain ships can perform each turn, such as claiming new territory and building outposts in those that have been pacified, for example.

So it's not just ship combat.  It's as much or more about exploring and achieving various goals in a card-driven environment.  I've not yet digested the rules yet, so I can't give any hard impressions yet.  But my initial unboxing was pretty inspiring.  O0

I watched a couple quick YouTube vids of this game, after seeing mention of it somewhere, and was enthralled.  'Jplay' has a 4-parter that can give a short peak at the gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQoFg8p5Cg0&list=PLQcL0QgYU_akzgnrVOLw_nXr1Cv2UoCZa&index=1



The base set comes with around a dozen ship classes for each side, Federation and Klingon.  There was a Romulan expansion but those were obviously snatched up to extinction since almost nobody is selling them.  Rumor says they are gonna do another run of the Romulan expansion along with the Dominion expansion coming out soon.  I'll probably snatch them both up.

The unpainted heroclix minis aren't bad.  I was a bit surprised as most WizKids minis are pre-painted, but they still look pretty damn cool.  Painting these starships looks to be an easier proposition than many of the other adventure game models I have.  I may end up doing these first, before the rest, as they obviously don't need near as much detail work.

[Nefaro]

I've not seen this series yet.  I think it's just a parts overview, setup, and quick rules explanation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQxdk2JYcMk&list=UUvQcHLq3dOfsmMEVrdBhJMA&index=3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DM76a8JgU8&list=UUvQcHLq3dOfsmMEVrdBhJMA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0B1m8AhXOc

[Arctic Blast]

If you tell me this is something different from Star Trek: Attack Wing, Imma scream.

I bought the basic Attack Wing set and the USS Reliant some time ago but haven't had time to play it. Same story with me and the X-Wing Minis game (got the basic set, the Falcon, Slave-I, and a TIE Interceptor, but haven't played it yet either).  :(

Well then, you'll want to get into Star Wars : Armada and not play it, either.  ;D

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/163745/star-wars-armada

[BanzaiCat]

Admittedly I got both games because the bits are pretty cool. As models alone they'd make a neat display on a shelf.

I'm not surprised there's iterations of SWM and STAW that look similar but add much more. Sounds like Armada and Fleet Captains are much deeper than simple slugfests. Not that there's anything wrong with a good tabletop slugfest.

My local hobby store said they weren't going to carry STAW any longer as the sales dropped significantly. This was earlier this year though, and he didn't have either Armada nor Fleet Captains.

[Nefaro]

Admittedly I got both games because the bits are pretty cool. As models alone they'd make a neat display on a shelf.

I'm not surprised there's iterations of SWM and STAW that look similar but add much more. Sounds like Armada and Fleet Captains are much deeper than simple slugfests. Not that there's anything wrong with a good tabletop slugfest.

My local hobby store said they weren't going to carry STAW any longer as the sales dropped significantly. This was earlier this year though, and he didn't have either Armada nor Fleet Captains.

I don't think my local store carried Fleet Captains much, if ever, although they've had Attack Wing stuff for quite awhile.  That's why this one took me a bit by surprise when I saw it on the 'net (a YouTube vid).  From what I understand, it may have been rather scarce there for awhile.  If the difficulty in getting the Romulan expansion is any indication, it may well have sold out for awhile.  The box size could also be rather troublesome for some places.

[Arctic Blast]

Admittedly I got both games because the bits are pretty cool. As models alone they'd make a neat display on a shelf.

I'm not surprised there's iterations of SWM and STAW that look similar but add much more. Sounds like Armada and Fleet Captains are much deeper than simple slugfests. Not that there's anything wrong with a good tabletop slugfest.

My local hobby store said they weren't going to carry STAW any longer as the sales dropped significantly. This was earlier this year though, and he didn't have either Armada nor Fleet Captains.

Armada isn't actually out yet. It's basically going to be X-Wing, only on a bigger scale with capital ships and fighter squadrons.

[Nefaro]

Admittedly I got both games because the bits are pretty cool. As models alone they'd make a neat display on a shelf.

I'm not surprised there's iterations of SWM and STAW that look similar but add much more. Sounds like Armada and Fleet Captains are much deeper than simple slugfests. Not that there's anything wrong with a good tabletop slugfest.

My local hobby store said they weren't going to carry STAW any longer as the sales dropped significantly. This was earlier this year though, and he didn't have either Armada nor Fleet Captains.

I don't think my local store carried Fleet Captains much, if ever, although they've had Attack Wing stuff for quite awhile.  That's why this one took me a bit by surprise when I saw it on the 'net (a YouTube vid).  From what I understand, it may have been rather scarce there for awhile.  If the difficulty in getting the Romulan expansion is any indication, it may well have sold out for awhile.  The box size could also be rather troublesome for some places.

To further clarify... the base game of Fleet Captains is available right now, at various places.  Just not the Romulan expansion at the moment - it has sold out. 

I'm gonna try to do a solo run through of the standard 2-player game to get a feel for it.  But I've seen a couple solo variants available at BGG too.  May try those at some point too.

[Nefaro]

Painted all the Klingon ships except the Negh'var.  Still want to do a touch-up on the detailing here & there but they turned out pretty good and were a joy to do since there was plenty room for color interpretation.  The Birds Of Prey got some extra attention.  ^-^

I'll probably post a pic once I get them finished up.  I'm sure the Federation ships won't be quite as fun to paint, with the primary color so uniformly standard.  Hopefully I can figure out a decent looking light blue color for the warp nacelles and it doesn't take near as long on the detailing as it did for the Klingons.

[Nefaro]

The Romulan expansion is not back at retail, so I ordered that. 

Don't think I'll pick up the Dominion set.  Never watched much about them so it doesn't really pique my interest.

Instead, I picked up some Federation Commander stuff for some old school SFB-style gaming.  If I feel like it, I'll just use the Star Fleet Captains minis I'm painting for double duty in that instead of the counters, despite it being based on TOS.  >:D

[Nefaro]

Preview of my Klingon ships' paint jobs.  Still need to do some touch-ups on various overflow spots and darken the Bird Of Prey guns and engines a bit.

The first minis I've ever (nearly) finished painting:





This gives you an idea of how they looked straight out of the box:





I have the Federation ones primed but not yet painted.  Just got the set of Romulan ones in too.  So much more left to paint and I've not quite finished these yet.  Hopefully I become much faster at this, the more experienced I become. :))

[mirth]

Great pics, Nefaro. Your Klingon ships look awesome.

[Martok]

Great pics, Nefaro. Your Klingon ships look awesome.

Seconded.  Those B'rel-class birds-of-prey look especially impressive.  O0