That "OMG I have to own this game now"-feeling!

[The Rocketman]

It has happened again, and of course it's an out-of-print game. Obviously 

This time, I'm trying to get my grubby hands on Starcraft the boardgame. I've read a post on BoardgameGeek claiming it to be Pure Strategy Perfection, and I need this game, now! I'm talking about the Fantasyflight game, not the Risk-game that's been published recently.

Now, this isn't a call for anyone to send me a free copy*, but if anyone has this game, what are your thoughts? Is it really a good game? I know it's hardcore, with typical FFG rules and exceptions, but what's the gut feeling here? Game good? Or game bad?


_{* please send me a free copy. I live in Belgium, which is not very far at all from wherever you live. I'll send you beer and chocolates in return. And some sprouts.}

[TiLT]

I remember reading the rules for this and thinking that it looked nifty. Too bad I'm no big fan of the setting. It's like a poor man's Warhammer 40k. Speaking of which, maybe they'll do a spiritual sequel in the WH40k universe since FFG currently holds that license? If the Starcraft boardgame is out of print, that probably means they had a time-limited license to print it.

[Bullwinkle]

I don't have Starcraft, but I do know the feeling you're talking about.  I will spend an inordinate amount of time and money trying to get a game that I hadn't heard about before.  I never learn, it seems, as usually the game is not the second coming I expected.  It keeps happening, though.  In fact, I'm expecting a package today with a copy of a ding and dent game that is similar to Pitch Car (which itself was a bit of a grail quest), but with a yellow, weighted ball.  For some reason, I had to have this.

[Isgrimnur]

Kingmaker.  Ordered two sets off of Ebay as a guarantee against lost pieces, and sure enough, one of the chits from the first one had been lost and "replaced" with a trapezoid cut out of the original sprue.

[raydude]

I have Starcraft the Board game 

My game group and I tried to play it once. Unfortunately everyone was a veteran of the computer game so some of the ways in which the board game changed things around took a lot of getting used to. For example, combat. Combat is card-based and based off two decks: the technology deck and the combat deck. The technology deck is where new technologies are picked up when researching and the combat deck is the one actually used for fighting. When you develop a new technology you get to move a card from the technology deck to the combat deck and have it available for the next combat.

In battle, generally, the attacker gets to play 3 cards and the defender 1 card. Pairings are made between the attacking and defending units, each forming part of the front line of combat. Each single pairing is called a skirmish. Remaining units are support units and assigned to a given skirmish and will support the front line unit they are assigned to. The attacker then gets to put his combat card face down, one behind each skirmish, and the defender gets to put his card behind one skirmish.

The cards generally have two numbers on them, one in larger font. The larger font number is used if the picture matches the unit in the skirmish. For each skirmish the front line's total power is calculated and compared to the health value of the enemy unit, then casualties are assigned. If the attacker doesn't eliminate EVERY defending unit in the battle then the attack fails and the attacker has to retreat.

For some reason my group couldn't get around how the cards worked. That, and there was a long setup time as I explained the rules and we set up our bases. And there were four of us, all of whom had never played the game before, so I was trying to explain the rules while trying to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Anyway, I'd be up for playing it again, just need to find new people. I would never give it away or trade it though. The units are just too cool looking, the map tiles are awesome and its frakkin Starcraft. Sorry .

[The Rocketman]

I have Starcraft the Board game 

<skip>

I would never give it away or trade it though. The units are just too cool looking, the map tiles are awesome and its frakkin Starcraft. Sorry .

Apology accepted

[raydude]

Btw, I've been to Brussels a few years back. Lovely city!

[The Rocketman]

Btw, I've been to Brussels a few years back. Lovely city!

Well, I'm typing this from a lovely office in Brussels, and I often wonder why people would willingly go here
Was it part of a sentence you had to serve?

Anyways, if you ever plan to visit Belgium again, bring Starcraft, and you'll have a free place to stay! (Well, you can stay in the office, but don't move a muscle at night, or the alarm will go off).

[kronovan]

I've played this before and really enjoyed it - easily one of the best SciFi themed boardgames I've ever played. It also had Corey Konieczka behind it, who's my favorite game designer for games with card-based play mechanics. The only downer for this game is that it was published by FFG who isn't very friendly to fan-made projects for their boardgames, so consequently there's no Vassel module for it. The other downer is the cost of a used copy.

[The Rocketman]

Actually, I may have found a copy...!
I spammed all Belgian Boardgamegeek users who had rated Starcraft rather low, and asked if they wanted to sell it to me. And I found one who's willing to part with his copy, so right now I'm hassling for the price.

[Bullwinkle]

Someone just posted the exact same grail quest as you, essentially, on BGG.

[The Rocketman]

Yeah, nice find
I've posted my quest on the Belgian boards, but not in a funny-geeklist way. It really is the best place to look for, and like I posted above, I'm quite close to securing a copy myself. If only the seller would answer mails within 48hrs, sigh... 

[MythicalMino]

Wow, I have this...and the expansion. Have never played it, though. One of those games that is always "there", but never actually get it out to play, as I have so many other games we know we enjoy.

[The Rocketman]

So now I'm sitting in my chair, with the Starcraft manual, ready for some thorough reading! (= pure bliss)
Quest completed!

[raydude]

Congratulations! Did you play with the minis at all yet? That was the first thing I did, putting them on the table and imagining the character sounds in my head.

[The Rocketman]

Congratulations! Did you play with the minis at all yet? That was the first thing I did, putting them on the table and imagining the character sounds in my head.

  Eeehm...

It's probably the only way this game is going to get played soon...

[The Rocketman]

I have now played this game 1,5 times. The first 0,5 time was a couple of turns to get a feel, and then my friend had to leave. Yesterday evening I played it again, and won with the terrans in about 5 turns. Completely blitzed the Protoss player with marines and vultures. Fun!

I'm now the proud owner of the expansion pack as well! But I may not yet introduce this, because it adds some complexity to the game.