Alien Space Battle Manual (1973)

This was Zocchi's revamped version of his Star Trek Battle Manual, without the (unlicensed) Star Trek references. The two games are very similar, although Alien Space Battle Manual includes 8 different ship types instead of the original 3, at least in later versions.

The Alien Space Battle Manual is now considered to be a companion to the Star Fleet Battle Manual which was released in 1977 and marked a return to familiar Star Trek ships and races due to a loophole in the Star Trek IP ownership.

The game is played on a large surface with cardboard counters marked with a ship picture and a compass circle. A piece of string is passed through these tiles and knots are made at the 3, 5 and 6 feet marks. A record sheet inserted in a clear holder shows ship characteristics and a grease marker is used to mark damage.

Players physically move their ships by measuring distance with a ruler. During combat, player must estimate their firing angle. The string is pulled along that angle and the enemy ship is hit if the string passes over it.

Magazine References:

The Space Gamer Article Index:

• Number 1
  • Alien Space Battle Manual / Starlord / Star Probe / Dungeons & Dragons / Galaxy II/Starbase 2300 / StarGuard! / Triplanetary - "S-F Gaming News/Plugs" (Thumbnail Reviews)

Additional Game Information:

Inside of Alien Space, Gamescience advertised "The Alien Space Expansion Set" which was an extra set of hit records and Red Starship counters.

Use of the counters in Space Fighters were mentioned in order to use the fighter rules in Alien Space's later editions.

Eisenwerk's Space Tak Rules are mentioned as being compatable with Alien Space Battle Manual and Star Fleet Battle Manual.