Come fight the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II all in one room! Miniature war gaming experts help you play more than 16 different war games and learn about this family friendly hobby. No experience is required and kids are welcome. Food will be available on site. Admission price includes the miniature war gaming and the museum. All new games this year!

Fort Meigs 2008 Event Schedule

Alas, I shall probably miss this event for the second year in a row because I am scheduled to work that day. We shall see. Meanwhile, I’ll try to do a better job of reporting these events sufficiently in advance.

Miniature war gaming experts help you play more than 16 different war games and learn about this family friendly hobby. No experience is required and kids are welcome. Food will be available on site. Admission price includes the miniature war gaming and the museum.

Fort Meigs 2007 Special Events Schedule

A Victorian science fiction war game is currently in development by Wessex Games. Astronef, like its predecessor Aeronef, is set in the Redcoats on Mars universe, but it will focus on space combat rather than aerial combat. I have neither played nor read anything produced by Wessex Games since they do not have a North American distributor, but I plan to buy the rules for this series of games, and eventually the miniatures. How can I not?

Speaking of reviews, it was this very same site that I found a review of Federation Commander, which I mentioned in a previous article. My biggest complaint is still the price. No, I take that back. It’s the bundling. If I could buy all the components I want separately (rules; miniatures; ship system displays for most Federation, Romulan, Klingon, Gorn, and Tholian ships) and ignore those that don’t interest me (maps; counters; ship system displays for Kzinti ships and some of the sillier ship designs of the standard interstellar empires), then there is no question that I would be spending my money on it. Until that happens, though, I’ll pursue my plan of buying only the miniatures and adapting the rules of Full Thrust to my Star Trek starship combat needs.

Och, and I almost forgot: Tabletop Gaming News also mentioned that Star Fleet Universe (otherwise known as starfleetgames.com) has undergone a major redesign, and a bonny one it is.

Federation Commander certainly has much to recommend it. It is a simplified version of Star Fleet Battles that does away with (for now at least) much that was ponderous or distinctly unTreklike. The game reportedly plays four times faster than its predecessor, and in addition to squadron level combat, it also presents fleet level combat rules that serve as the official way of resolving fleet battles for both Federation Commander and Star Fleet Battles.

In addition, the components are nicer. The starship SSDs are simpler, color-coded for easier reading, and laminated for reusability. The counters are full color. The map, although I haven’t seen it, is probably nicer, too.

The downside of this is the increased expense. To get the complete game, you need two starter sets (Klingon Border and Romulan Border), three (for now) expansion sets (Klingon Attack, Romulan Attack, and Tholian Attack), and twelve booster packs that include duplicate ship cards plus ship cards not found in any of the starter or expansion sets (one per booster pack). It breaks down like this:

• 2 Starter Sets at $59.95 each: $119.90
• 3 Expansion Sets at $29.95 each: $89.85
• 12 Booster Packs at $9.95 each: $119.40
• Total: $329.25

That does not include miniatures. Would I like to own the complete Federation Commander line? Certainly. I would probably be more inclined to consider making the investment had I not already spent money on Star Fleet Battles. If only I could trade my SFB merchandise for FC merchandise…

In the end (until I become wealthy enough that price is no object), I must ask myself: Do I really want to spend all that money on redundant (albeit superior) products, or would I rather spend it on all those great starship miniatures ADB makes and just adapt Full Thrust (published by Ground Zero Games) to the Star Trek universe?

I’m leaning toward the latter.

If only Ground Zero Games would publish a fully updated and integrated Full Thrust compendium and find a distributor in North America. The four Full Thrust books are no longer in print, but at least they are available as free downloads at their site (you’ll want Full Thrust, More Thrust, Fleet Book 1, and Fleet Book 2).