All Quiet in the Neutral Zone!

[John]

Since June I’ve been working on a project I’ve thought (and dreamed about) for a fair few years: Star Trek Starship gaming! The main barrier has been 1) Rules and 2) minatures. The standard set of rules (Starfleet Battles: A Call

Initially, I managed to get an initial batch of eight metal ships brought across from the USA by a friend (at extraordinary expense).

The Constitution Class is from Amarillo design bureau and is a very good mould. The other three are from Studio Bergstrom; once again, perfect moulds and casts, thoroughly limited by the fact they are unavailable in the UK!.

A picture from one of our games down the club features two custom asteroid bases; one mining colony and (in the centre) a Starfleet sensor outpost!

Since July, however, a friend at the local wargames’ club offered to print me some more models on his 3D printer.

 

This has led to serious megalomania on my part.

So far, I’ve acquired 18 Federation ships (4 cruisers, 7 destroyers, 2 frigates and 5 merchant ships) and 14 Klingon ships (9 cruisers, 3 destroyers, 2 Frigates), which is enough for some big battles – once I sort some rules!

So far I’ve developed a set of rules titled “All Quiet In the Neutral Zone”, which is designed for smaller ship duels (one player – one starship). They’re a hit down the club, and I’ll be bringing them to the SELWG show in October. The next step after that is to develop a set of squadron/fleet actions rules, now that I’ve got enough ships for it!

To model the effect of Nuclear weapons on the wargaming table, apply jerry can of fuel to board, light match and stand well back.

[McKinstry]

What scale are your ships?

The tree of Life is self pruning.

[irishserb]

Very cool.  I’d am curious to read more about your Star trek games and rules.

[Darkest Star Games]

Quite the fleets you have there!  I played the 1st version of SFB:ACTA and it was ok.  Sort of clunky but nowhere near as slow as SFB but did have some weird bugs (and a lot of people arguing over the use of fighters, like always).  Never did get around to trying Federation Commander.

Looking forwards to seeing what you come up with!

"I saw this in a cartoon once, but I'm pretty sure I can do it..."

[Mr. Average]

There’s a version of Starmada that’s designed to be a “fast play” companion to the SFB universe – might be worth a look. I do like those Studio Bergstrom ships I will say!

[John]

McKinstry wrote:

What scale are your ships?

They’re 1/3788; the “Starline 2400” scale used by Amarillo Design Bureau. Decently size to get the detail, but not too large!

irishserb wrote:

Very cool. I’d am curious to read more about your Star trek games and rules.

Thanks! I’ll try and post some AAR’s from the club/any other games; if you’re able to get down to SELWG, I’ll be running it all day there!

Darkest Star Games wrote:

Quite the fleets you have there! I played the 1st version of SFB:ACTA and it was ok. Sort of clunky but nowhere near as slow as SFB but did have some weird bugs (and a lot of people arguing over the use of fighters, like always). Never did get around to trying Federation Commander. Looking forwards to seeing what you come up with!

Starfleet Battles is…an interesting set of rules that just seemed far too busy. All Quiet is very, very streamlined, which I think is preferable. I keep meaning to try Federation Commander too, now I think about it.

Mr. Average wrote:

There’s a version of Starmada that’s designed to be a “fast play” companion to the SFB universe – might be worth a look. I do like those Studio Bergstrom ships I will say!

The Bergstrom models are brilliant, but they don’t deliver internationally, which was a bit of a hurdle. I do recommend them if you don’t have access to a 3D printer.

 

To model the effect of Nuclear weapons on the wargaming table, apply jerry can of fuel to board, light match and stand well back.

[The Red Hobbit]

Very cool project!  Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

In the second photo are you using homemade asteroids or a commercial product?

[Author]

Posts