Quality of games

[trader jim]

Hi all - I keep seeing used Traveller "board" games on E-bay. Question, are the "cut" chits or playing pieces usually cut very well, or "centered" correctly?, arethey cut streight?
I always wanted to buy several that are on the market, but always worried about the quality. After all they are EXPENSIVE on ebay.
Another question is ...Are the rules usually playable, readable???....is there a lot of eratta?? ect, ect.....Help!!

 

[trader jim]

Another question....what games do you suggest or reccomend???..which one have re-play value????

 

[vutpakdi]

Biggest replay/usefulness value has to be Azhanti High Lightning mainly because the deckplans are useful for a floorplans for other things (such as outposts, installations, and buildings).

I rather liked Asteroid for the fun factor and also for secondary utility (deckplans) though it's not strictly a Traveller board game.

You might take a look at the games reprint book to see how the rules look.

Ron

 

[trader jim]

GASP...CHOKE!!!...I dont own the games reprint!!!!

 

[vegascat]

Mayday is still really good. Two dimensional vector combatwith rules that do work.

 

[PBI]

Fifth Frontier War is also good, both in terms of quality of components and in game play.

Imperium is also a fun game, but on a less complex level than FFW, though the counters are well done. What Imperium does have over other war games is that it's a series of sub-games that flow seamlessly into each other, where the results of the previous game played have an impact on the next until the game as a whole is won or lost.

 

[trader jim]

PBI - HI, i noticed your signature line......bet you cant survive my x-wife!!!!!

 

[trader jim]

sorry....just couldnt let that one go by!!!!

 

[aramis]

Jim:

Invasion Earth provides a mass combat system compatible with the MT expected ground forces table in battalion strengths... quite playable, useful in certain odd situations (like an imperial intervention). Most Refs will find it useless, or solely for bacground; others will find it occasionally indispensable.

Mayday: exquisite. Fully Bk 2 compatable.
Asteroid: never played it. have it, still shrinkwrapped, IIRC.

Imperium, Dark Nebula: both the same ruleset, different pre-3I settings. NOT directly interfaceable, and no conversions to/from traveller.

5FW: don't know much, as i don't own it, but apparently quite playable.

Overall counter quality: GDW did a good job. Usually well cut, usually cut straight, and always centered enough to be playable, though the odd sheet did occur... in most cases, the entire sheet would be bad, and you just wrote GDW and got one that hadn't been miscut... not an issue in the main, unless you find a shrinkwrapped copy.

 

[mtgeiger]

I have been working with the first Board Game called Imperium, which takes place in the Interstellar Wars between the Terran Condeferation and the Vilani Imperium. The rules can be found either as a reprint or online at several websites. The counters and mapsheet I am creating on my own or be imported from an old game such as Star Fleet Battles.

 

[Ranger]

I always thought of GDW as one of the best board games companies in terms of physical quality. The counters were nicely printed and the maps were much brigher and colorful than SPI's (which seemed to go in for a kind of 'dusky' look to almoast all of their games).

Just my thoughts.

 

[etherflyer]

Mayday is worth getting, although if you have Book 2 you pretty much have Mayday (just add hexes).

Snapshot is good if you will be running a lot of Classic Traveller combat.

Azhanti High Lightning has nice deckplans, and is a reasonable game.

Fifth Frontier War is very nice, but takees a long time to play. (Some moves have to be plotted four turns in advance, which means the player tends to spend a lot of time thinking.) Only finished one game, IIRC.

Invasion Earth is interesting: a classic ground boardgame on a spherical surface.

Imperium and Dark Nebula arre 'prequels' to the Third Imperium setting. Not directly translatable, but fun games. Dark Nebula is especially fun, as it's faster.

 

[bobblanchett]

box pictures?

try boardgamegeek.com

I just got a copy of belter from RPGnow. its not a traveller game but it and triplanetary are fun.. apart from monsters like FFW which I agree are better vassalled/pbm'd these days.

imperium remains my fave.. the sub-war/glory point mechanics are genius. some people say its unbalanced but if you read the designers notes published in Dragon this was intentional, to avoid the "mirror" countermixes found in similar games, assymetrical force mixes is one of the features that makes the game, IMO.
there are also addons/optionals in JTAS and Dragon and Space gamer too I think. some Stellar Conquest like tech trees for imperium look fun though ive not played with them yet.

mayday is almost LBB2 with hexes..
triplanetary s great fun.
FFW for everyone one I know including me! remains a yet-to-be-fully-played nirvana.. I think I would want to study the map *carefully* before doing turn 1.
Asteroid is non-traveller think snapshop meets-forbidden planet and you get the right idea.
Dark Nebula is a great little gae with some good replay value from the modular maps.
Double star is non-traveller not played it.
AHL/Snapshot.. mantoman combat.. snub pistols not my bag.. give me T-meson spinals anyday.

I mailed marc and asked him if the non-trav boardgames would be on a collection CD as the traveller ones are on the classic trav CD.. he said its a "possibility" for next year.

as always I also recommend GDW's a house divided and Soldier Kings as good fun and challenging.