Squadron Strike:Traveller
- Thread starter The Oz
- Start date
G K Zhukov
SOC-11
I have never found the time to learn and play this very involved, hardcore game.
There is a video of actual play (2,5 hrs+) by Ken Burnside himself up in youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwg8osPEPDI
There is a video of actual play (2,5 hrs+) by Ken Burnside himself up in youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwg8osPEPDI
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Yes, I have played it a few times. Still learning it really.
The Oz
SOC-14 1K
I have played it in 3D and spinal mounts become a lot harder to use; not impossible, you have to predict where the enemy will go and point the gun there instead of where he is at the moment. But I suspect that's an aspect of it being a board game. If you could tell a computer to keep the spinal pointed at a particular target your spinal could remain on target until the target's angular crossing rate exceeded your ship's pivot rate. And even then you could try a "snapshot"; produce a meson burst that is in the flight path of the hostile and let him fly through it.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Yup, I only play it 3d too and I agree with the difficulty in lining up a spinal shot.
You end up flying your capitals at each other in pretty straight lines, taking pot shots at anything stupid enough to pop into your line of fire, or alternatively pivoting your ship at the last moment to bring the spinal to bear on the target, which is something I've noticed is pretty easy to spot an enemy doing.
You end up flying your capitals at each other in pretty straight lines, taking pot shots at anything stupid enough to pop into your line of fire, or alternatively pivoting your ship at the last moment to bring the spinal to bear on the target, which is something I've noticed is pretty easy to spot an enemy doing.
It's complex with a steep learning curve, but it can also be very rewarding after it's mastered.
It probably can't be learned in a single session, especially by uninterested players. It takes a dedicated gaming group to make it work.
Shabbat Shalom,
M.
The Oz
SOC-14 1K
Of course, while you're flying your capital ship in that straight line to set up your meson shot, your enemy is arranging for several boatloads of missiles to meet your capital ship one turn =before= you get your meson shot off.
That's what makes it fun (for some definitions of "fun", anyway).
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Which is why you need escorts to take out the missiles...
There's a good reason that the tutorial walks you through in baby steps!
The #1 way that people try to ruin this game is by reading the whole tutorial and then trying to play a moderately-sized scenario while teaching several friends. Take the time to sit down with the playing pieces, control cards, and map, and actually play along with each tutorial. The "muscle memory" makes a huge difference. The first three tutorials are especially short and solitaire, so it's not as though you're using up a full day.
Spinal mounts are long-range weapons. There's a tendency to close far too fast, which is a dead error for spinals. There are also some sophisticated maneuvers that you can pull to help keep the range open and make your opponent's maneuvers more predictable.
