About A Call to Arms: Star Fleet
Tony L. Thomas reports:
ADB, Inc.'s joint venture with Mongoose includes an entirely new game system using the A CALL TO ARMS system which Mongoose originally created for Babylon Five and has used since then for other projects including NOBLE ARMADA. This is a system designed for massed fleets and allows huge battles to be played in a single evening. A Call to Arms: Star Fleet's release is expected in November of 2011. This is a miniatures-based game (no hexes, no counters).
A Call to Arms: Star Fleet is a hexless, miniatures based game of fleet combat in the Star Fleet Universe. From small skirmishes involving single ships or small squadrons to massive fleets between rival empires, the ACTA system allows even the largest fleet battles to be fought in a single evening and the smaller skirmishes can be completed in about an hour.
ACTA: SF accomplishes this by streamlining the game system. There is no energy allocation and no "pay-as-you-go" energy tracking. Your starships move, shoot, and repeat.
Movement and fire occur once per game turn (rather than the 32 impulses in Star Fleet Battles or the 8 impulses of Federation Commander).
Seeking weapons are not placed on the board as markers and moved; they are instead treated as "quasi-direct fire weapons." Once a seeking weapon is launched, the targeted ship may fire any unfired weapons in the proper arc in defensive fire. Each successful hit will destroy and incoming drone or reduce the strength of an incoming plasma torpedo. In addition, certain Special Actions (more about those later) may enable other starships to assist in the defensive fire.
The weapons available in ACTA: SF mirror those seen in the other game of the Star Fleet Universe. Inside the rulebook, you'll find the phaser (in four flavors), photon torpedoes, disruptors, drones, and even plasma torpedoes (in five different types). Each weapon has one or more traits. Weapon traits include Accurate, Devastating, Reload, Precise, etc. Each of these traits gives a weapon a bit of an advantage or disadvantage depending on various factors such as range, terrain type, etc. These traits are what keeps the photon torpedo from behaving exactly like a disruptor and makes a phaser-1 different from a phaser-3.
Over 50 different starships are detailed in the core rulebook, covering seven starfaring empires, with a few civilian targets, err... units thrown in for good measure. The starships have their own traits (16 different ones) to differentiate them. These traits include such things as: Agile, Armored, Fast, or Scout. They also include systems such as Cloak, Labs, Stealth, and Transporter Beams.
Each turn consists of an Initiative Phase, a Movement Phase, an Attack Phase, and an End of Turn Phase.
Initiative is determined during the Initiative Phase each turn for each player.
During the Movement Phase, the player losing the initiative moves one of his starships first, then the winner moves a starship. This alternate movement is repeated until all starships have moved.
At this point, each starship may choose to undertake a Special Action. These actions include movement enhancers, such as High Energy Turn or Maximum Power to Warp, or combat enhancements (like Overload Weapons or Intensify Defensive Fire), or even allow the use of advanced technological devices such as the Cloaking Device. There are a total of 14 Special Actions from which a starship may select.
During the Attack Phase, the player who was the winner of the Initiative Phase selects one of his starships. This unit nominates a target for each of his weapons, fires those weapons, and resolves their damage. Then the player losing the Initiative Phase selects one of his starships and performs the same steps. This continues until all starships have been selected, fired, and resolved their damage.
The End of Turn Phase allows ships a chance to repair critical damage, check to see if critical damage escalates, and complete compulsory movement.
The Core Rulebook contains:
Fleet lists for the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, the Kzinti Hegemony, the Confederation of the Gorn, The Tholian Holdfast, The Pirates of Orion, and several civilian shipping units.
General Scenarios that can be used for endless hours of game play.
Tactical Challenges, special missions designed to test the limits of your command abilities.
A complete campaign system.
Easy to learn, basic rules which will have you playing ACTA minutes after you open the rulebook.
Advanced rules covering all of your favorite "toys", shuttlecraft, cloaking devices, alternate firing modes for plasma torpedoes, etc.
Stay tuned for more information regarding this exciting game!
[Tony L. Thomas has recently been named the department head for ACTA:SF. He will work closely with both Mongoose and ADB to promote the game, answer questions, and help create the ACTA:SF information for Captain's Log.]
ADB, Inc.'s joint venture with Mongoose includes an entirely new game system using the A CALL TO ARMS system which Mongoose originally created for Babylon Five and has used since then for other projects including NOBLE ARMADA. This is a system designed for massed fleets and allows huge battles to be played in a single evening. A Call to Arms: Star Fleet's release is expected in November of 2011. This is a miniatures-based game (no hexes, no counters).
A Call to Arms: Star Fleet is a hexless, miniatures based game of fleet combat in the Star Fleet Universe. From small skirmishes involving single ships or small squadrons to massive fleets between rival empires, the ACTA system allows even the largest fleet battles to be fought in a single evening and the smaller skirmishes can be completed in about an hour.
ACTA: SF accomplishes this by streamlining the game system. There is no energy allocation and no "pay-as-you-go" energy tracking. Your starships move, shoot, and repeat.
Movement and fire occur once per game turn (rather than the 32 impulses in Star Fleet Battles or the 8 impulses of Federation Commander).
Seeking weapons are not placed on the board as markers and moved; they are instead treated as "quasi-direct fire weapons." Once a seeking weapon is launched, the targeted ship may fire any unfired weapons in the proper arc in defensive fire. Each successful hit will destroy and incoming drone or reduce the strength of an incoming plasma torpedo. In addition, certain Special Actions (more about those later) may enable other starships to assist in the defensive fire.
The weapons available in ACTA: SF mirror those seen in the other game of the Star Fleet Universe. Inside the rulebook, you'll find the phaser (in four flavors), photon torpedoes, disruptors, drones, and even plasma torpedoes (in five different types). Each weapon has one or more traits. Weapon traits include Accurate, Devastating, Reload, Precise, etc. Each of these traits gives a weapon a bit of an advantage or disadvantage depending on various factors such as range, terrain type, etc. These traits are what keeps the photon torpedo from behaving exactly like a disruptor and makes a phaser-1 different from a phaser-3.
Over 50 different starships are detailed in the core rulebook, covering seven starfaring empires, with a few civilian targets, err... units thrown in for good measure. The starships have their own traits (16 different ones) to differentiate them. These traits include such things as: Agile, Armored, Fast, or Scout. They also include systems such as Cloak, Labs, Stealth, and Transporter Beams.
Each turn consists of an Initiative Phase, a Movement Phase, an Attack Phase, and an End of Turn Phase.
Initiative is determined during the Initiative Phase each turn for each player.
During the Movement Phase, the player losing the initiative moves one of his starships first, then the winner moves a starship. This alternate movement is repeated until all starships have moved.
At this point, each starship may choose to undertake a Special Action. These actions include movement enhancers, such as High Energy Turn or Maximum Power to Warp, or combat enhancements (like Overload Weapons or Intensify Defensive Fire), or even allow the use of advanced technological devices such as the Cloaking Device. There are a total of 14 Special Actions from which a starship may select.
During the Attack Phase, the player who was the winner of the Initiative Phase selects one of his starships. This unit nominates a target for each of his weapons, fires those weapons, and resolves their damage. Then the player losing the Initiative Phase selects one of his starships and performs the same steps. This continues until all starships have been selected, fired, and resolved their damage.
The End of Turn Phase allows ships a chance to repair critical damage, check to see if critical damage escalates, and complete compulsory movement.
The Core Rulebook contains:
Fleet lists for the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, the Kzinti Hegemony, the Confederation of the Gorn, The Tholian Holdfast, The Pirates of Orion, and several civilian shipping units.
General Scenarios that can be used for endless hours of game play.
Tactical Challenges, special missions designed to test the limits of your command abilities.
A complete campaign system.
Easy to learn, basic rules which will have you playing ACTA minutes after you open the rulebook.
Advanced rules covering all of your favorite "toys", shuttlecraft, cloaking devices, alternate firing modes for plasma torpedoes, etc.
Stay tuned for more information regarding this exciting game!
[Tony L. Thomas has recently been named the department head for ACTA:SF. He will work closely with both Mongoose and ADB to promote the game, answer questions, and help create the ACTA:SF information for Captain's Log.]
posted by Federation Commander at 10:31 PM
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