Games fall into two categories with me now.
1) They need to be completed, learned, played, although I am tending to stick now to games that are done, so completed is over.
2) Games that need to go, because quite simply there will never be enough time.
There is no third category.
3) New games that excite and become an almost reflex buy.
No third category.
So, Star Trek Away Missions by GF9, what the hell?
I was looking for an excuse to buy some cheap X-Wing 1e and Attack Wing ships and starters, so I searched Star Trek on a site, thinking they might spit up an Attack Wing ship or two.
A box came up that looked suspiciously like an Attack Wing boxed set, but had figures, so I assumed a Heroclix spin-off or the like.
No, something different.
I googled.
I found this;
The figs are actually grey and blue, but I will likely go for a muted, stylistic or cartoonishly neat paint job.
In a world of countless games it seems, what made this themed, two person, militant looking game a compulsive buy?
I reviewed as I do, plenty of sites before I am content as it goes. The only game I have read about lately that has better reviews, but I have not bought is Inis (still on the back burner), but this seems more approachable. Inis looks to be more of an acquired taste, this can appeal to anyone, even non-Trekkies.
It is sort of a skirmish game, sort of a simple board game, part deck builder, part themed homage, part simplified RPG, even a little like a smart dungeon delver-with phasers.
It will appeal to many because unlike the packaging suggests, it is not a skirmish game, the play is deep, but straight forward, the games are short (3 rounds-fixed) and I feel it is flexible to some degree.
Want to handicap one player? Free points at the games start can help (the Borg in the starter seem to be weaker, but opinions vary). Want to change the base vibe? make it longer or play until a points total is reached. It is a tight and focussed game, but has some elasticity. I am already even playing with the idea of a Borg stopping the Federation before they reach their points total competition game.
If you want to be smart, sneaky, violent, diplomatic, technically more savvy, even a few of these, there is a play style and faction for you.
There are also several factions and sub-teams within this, with plenty of scope for future expansions (DS9, Voyager, Enterprise even).
The Riker team is about repair and tech, Picard more diplomatic, The Duras sisters are sneaky, the Romulans even sneakier, the Borg are well…… the Borg, able to assimilate your characters out from under you and Gowron is genuinely militant.
Apart from this, the factions can build decks to suit play style better, so a more militant Riker, a more tech savvy Picard, a less “kill them all” Gowron (well, maybe not).
*
Negatives, drawn from mostly positive reviews, some team lop-sidedness, for which there are already fixes noted and I am not a huge fan of flatly even games, a lack of fighting, because it looks like a skirmish game, but again that is Trek and who needs another skirmish game?
There are a few minor component issues, like are difficulty in telling the characters apart, which will be fixed by paint jobs, the highly characterised figures themselves, which I actually like as they take the serious edge off the game to attract more players, the peg boards and card quality, but nothing huge and no one thing all reviewers picked on.
There is fighting, but just like the series, the most combat orientated episode was not a war movie, but more of problem to be solved.
Lastly, there are only two boards (so far), but they are modular, possibly even interchangeable (A half assimilated Federation ship? Not sure yet until I get it).
Wish list.
I wish that GF9 had released the original Series crew as another full set with new boards a suitable enemy (maybe Gorn) and that they included the bespoke dice with the expansions, rather than make them a hard to find add-on (I only discovered them when I missed the Duras expansion and went looking, then had to check they were even needed, not just spares*).
maybe a Voyager box with Hydrans or a second Borg team and a second Voyager team set with the other team?
I also thought more team building would be good, but funnily enough the two characters I thought should be switched in the Federation teams, actually can be (Gordi/Shelby), because team Specialist are interchangeable***.
The fact is, there is no perfect game, but this one ticks most of my boxes. It is fun, fast easy(ish) to learn, deep without being over complicated**, highly re-playable, themed, not a true war game, not a true deck builder, not a “the starter is a start, but not really” game, it is complete and varied enough now, with a slow and reasonable growth path and above all, it got me excited.
*You actually do not need any special dice, but they are thematically on point.
**Everything you need to know ids on the card or the character board.
***Gordi on the tech themed team, Shelby adding security to the diplomatic mission just seemed better.