--== BACKGROUND ==--
I got Starcraft from a friend for Xmas, but had to head out of town before getting to play it. I took the rules with me to read through while I was away. Normally I just skim the rules and then we learn as we play, but based on other posts I see here reading the book cover to cover was a good move.

Our group was me, my wife Kara, and our friend Brent. Since my wife isn't a wargamer I expected to play once just to determine if she'd ever want to play it again.

Brent grabs the Zerg Overmind since he thinks they're the coolest (from his days on the PC game), Kara grabs the Tassadar Protoss since she always plays yellow, and I take the Mensk Marines so we can see each race.

--== SESSIONS ==--
Session 1:
The galaxy setup results in Zerg & Protoss each having 2 smaller and the Marines 1 big planet, and one final planet linking all 3 factions. That last planet was where almost all battle took place in this game. Brent tries a "Zergling Rush" but due to a misunderstanding of the unit limit and a misplayed order winds up with more of a "Zergling Trickle" that the Marines have little trouble fending off. While the Zerg & Marines duked it out, the Protoss stuck mostly to themselves, then later swept in with their fresh troops and grabbed their victory point space on the hotly contested middle planet. By the time Brent & I noticed that those 4 VP per turn she was getting were skyrocketing her towards victory, it was too late - we both made valiant last ditch efforts against her but it was not quite enough. My marines managed to meet their special victory requirements, but when we checked the FAQ it turned out Kara's VP points trumped that.

Everyone enjoyed this first game. Apparently the sci-fi theme helps make a wargame easier to swallow for Kara, and of course it didn't hurt that she won. Brent was a little disappointed in the Zerg, but figured he had learned how to use them better.

Our second game, the next day. Kara & Brent take the same factions, I take the other Marines faction. This game did not go as well - the galaxy & bases setup put my Marines right between the Zerg & Protoss, I would have to fight my way through one of them to have any chance at surviving. I struck out against the Zerg immediately and eliminated them at the end of round 1. I felt bad eliminating a player so soon but it was obviously a choice between that or languishing on my 1 planet while the other 2 expanded freely. We decided to start another game and call it a draw between the Protoss & Marines.

At this point Brent was very disappointed with the Zerg, deciding they were either too weak or too difficult to play. I swapped with him and let him take the Marines for the 3rd game.

Game 3 setup wound up again with an imbalance in starting positions, there were 3 planets (and 4 VP) within easy reach of the Marines whereas the Protoss and Zerg would likely struggle for control of the 1 remaining. Seeing this, I tried to propose an alliance but my wife didn't believe a word of it. I think perhaps I played the Zerg as they were intended for the beginning of the game - flooding forth my expendable Zerglings and easily pushing back both Protoss and eventually Marines. Once Kara's Protoss gave up on taking the contested planet from the Zerg, they walked into the underprotected Marine homeworld through a z-axis back door and nearly eliminated the Marines in the 2nd to final round. We all were within easy reach of one of our victory conditions, but a couple oversights by the other players secured my victory with the Zerg: 1) the Marines forgot about the turrets giving orbital protection to the Protoss base - rendering their single Mobilize action insufficient to reclaim their homeworld and 2) the Protoss failing to send any units with the ability to attack flying units when they attempted to overtake a Zerg base defended by a Mutalisk.

I think the last game was enjoyed by all, even though Brent was kicking himself for various mistakes he made.

--== IMPRESSIONS ==--
Set up is (relatively) a breeze. With the amount of pieces this game has I was expecting a real pain but since little of it starts on the board (unlike - say - Axis & Allies or Samurai Swords) you can just pile it all in front of you and jump right into gameplay.

All the rules seemed straightforward and elegant, nothing required repeated explanation. The only significant learning curve is the unit abilities, especially those that are purchased from the technology deck.

The imbalance in starting positions seems a particular problem in 3-player games. We discussed specifically designing a galaxy next time to make all starting points equal, however this may not be an issue if factions are willing to forge temporary alliances against whoever has the advantage. It is also probably less of a problem with any other number of players.

The game moves remarkably quickly. Whereas the PC game and many other war games have a feeling of dragging on at points, there always seems to be an urgency in this game. We still have not seen ANY of the factions' strongest units, simply because stage 3 and special victory arrives so soon.

All in all, this is likely to become my favorite war game - and probably the ONLY war game my wife enjoys. Brent feels there may be too much luck involved (particularly in later-stage event cards), but I'm sure he'll play some more.