Game: Wormhole

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Pableitor — 2008-09-04T13:45:57+00:00

ConvoyCarrier_TaskForce_001

Thread: Re: Utterly Mindblowing Setup of Wormhole: The Sathricans

vandemonium — 2008-08-29T14:29:50+00:00

Just read your blog at F:AT. Wow. Thanks for point this out. I saw a similiar setup for RPGs awhile ago - using photoshop to reveal dungeon passages. Excellent stuff.

Thread: Re: Utterly Mindblowing Setup of Wormhole: The Sathricans

jeblucas — 2008-08-27T19:16:35+00:00

manowarplayer wrote:
That is VERY cool.

I only scanned the video, but the asteroid and space effects were awesome. I assume they used the pen to move the ships and figure firing arcs and movement?The game is actually minis on the table--the use the lightpen to calculate the firing range around the ships and for LoS help. It's so crazy.

The thread goes on to discuss using a second Wiimote to trangulate in THREE DIMENSIONS, and perhaps using reactable to label and automatically track the ships with unique sigils.

Thread: Re: Utterly Mindblowing Setup of Wormhole: The Sathricans

manowarplayer — 2008-08-27T18:55:56+00:00

That is VERY cool.

I only scanned the video, but the asteroid and space effects were awesome. I assume they used the pen to move the ships and figure firing arcs and movement?

Thread: Utterly Mindblowing Setup of Wormhole: The Sathricans

jeblucas — 2008-08-26T21:04:14+00:00

A forum poster named BobDole at Ars Technica set up a projector, a laptop, and a Wiimote to make one of the most amazing game setups I have ever seen.

The original thread. Lots of pictures.

A link to his video of lightpen usage.

A link to his video of gameplay--WITH ASTEROIDS.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

andstrauss — 2008-08-14T17:06:50+00:00

GillerTiller wrote:
I'm actually going to answer that in a bit. I, too, looked into Wormhole for a 4x/Campaign style, since the mechanics and the story are flashbacks of familiar storylines, especially that of Battlestar Galactica.

I don't think you need many story elements to play a 4X campaign. Just grab Wormhole and mix it with Victory By Any Means: Campaign Guide and you'll have a good 4X campaign game.

Cheers,

Thread: Re: Storage Solutions

cipiii — 2008-07-29T04:39:38+00:00

GAWD wrote:
Anything'll do really.

Yeah.... I guess.... (starts shivering convulsively)

I NEED something COOL to put my ships in. Maybe a decked out old computer motherboard box with some shots of .... something.... on the box. Or maybe something like this:

]]>

http://boardgamegeek.com/image/239962

or this:

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http://boardgamegeek.com/image/239959

Something like that! - wouldn't that be cool?

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cipiii — 2008-07-21T16:13:36+00:00

Hammerhand Battlecruiser

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cipiii — 2008-07-21T16:11:36+00:00

Carrier

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cipiii — 2008-07-21T16:09:22+00:00

Control Corvettes

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cipiii — 2008-07-21T16:07:25+00:00

Particlebow Frigate

Thread: Re: TOS alternatives?

gschmidl — 2008-07-17T09:44:08+00:00

Yeah, I'm hoping for the laminated cards someone is working on right now. 2D TOS aren't that large, true, but I'm afraid I chose too-thick-for-durability paper to print the switches on. Laminating would, I think, only make it worse.

Thread: Re: TOS alternatives?

Bwian — 2008-07-15T16:19:22+00:00

You could also take laminated cards and mark them with beads or counters, a la Star Fleet Battle Force. I haven't tried this, but then, I'm still assembling pieces.

Thread: Re: TOS alternatives?

tigerAspect — 2008-07-15T14:08:27+00:00

Yes, it would work, but the main problem is that using markers increases the amount of fiddlyness. From what I hear, they went through this in playtesting, and you're constantly having to erase and re-mark stuff on the cards.
You're best option would be to use a 2d TOS and laminate the switches for durability.
There's been a couple of threads on the official forums about 2d TOSs, have you checked those out for ideas?

Thread: Re: TOS alternatives?

FNH1 — 2008-07-15T11:06:39+00:00

Did you tape your switches, that's supposed to add longevity.

Thread: TOS alternatives?

gschmidl — 2008-07-15T09:15:18+00:00

I'm finding that the TOS aren't really holding up - they're fiddly to use and the switches, while nifty, wear out way too fast.

Part of the problem may be that I've used too-thick paper but I've been thinking about alternatives -- would laminated cards that you can just tick orders and damage off on with a non-permanent marker work just as well?

It'd both reduce building time and make the game smaller and easier to store. I know there are 2D TOS but they also use the switches, as far as I can tell.

Thread: Re: Storage Solutions

GAWD — 2008-07-04T20:01:00+00:00

I can fit 4 TOS command trays and 2 150 pt fleets in a normal sized cardboard box.

Anything'll do really.

Thread: Storage Solutions

cipiii — 2008-07-04T15:00:10+00:00

Hey guys,

I am trying to figure out a storage solution for my budding wormhole fleet. Since this is an open-ended problem (just how many carriers and Hammerhands do you really need anyway?)

I believe the best solution should be expandable. There is a general post at WorldWorks: http://www.worldworksgames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1188

However, it's not Wormhole specific.

What are you storage solutions for storing Wormhole fleets?

Thread: Re: Wormhole Battle Report 2

scotherns — 2008-07-04T07:44:12+00:00

I bought the map from GZG ages ago - not 100% sure who the manufacture is, but it might be Geo-Hex.

Glad you liked the report :-)

Steve

Thread: Re: Wormhole Battle Report 2

cipiii — 2008-07-01T16:12:26+00:00

Thanks for posting this. The pictures are wonderful! Is that a Holtz map? I've got to get this game...

Thanks again.

Thread: Re: How many page

GAWD — 2008-06-26T02:06:31+00:00

I built 2 150 pt fleets.

I think I used ~60 pages on them, which included the all the TOS units, command trays, fighter trays (I went heavy on the fighters b/c the game's formula's favor fighter-heavy fleets), and most of the game aids.

Thread: Re: How many page

tech7 — 2008-06-24T21:03:32+00:00

Ah,
thanks for your answers. The amount of 1/2 scale pages seems reasonable to me. Damn, I think I have to consider buying it

Thread: Re: How many page

abrannan — 2008-06-23T02:30:50+00:00

I'll throw into the mix that there are some people out there who have printed 1/2 scale fleets, using the print 2 sheets to a page method. That would cut your paper (and ink) use in half for the ships anyway. The TOS and command trays are probably best left full size.

Thread: Re: How many page

FNH1 — 2008-06-22T20:02:12+00:00

sunshiny wrote:

1 convoy carrier
1 hammerhead
4 particle
3 control
4 skirmishers
3 missiles

Ahhhh. Thats quite some firepower, four frigates is tremendous damage potential.

It's got me thinking what would I do with that fleet if I came up against a similar fleet.

I think I'd have to concentrate on destroying the frigates. Keep the Carrier well back. Use the Skirmishers to protect the fleets rear and send the Missile Fighters after the Frigates. I'd launch all of the Cruisers missiles at the enemy Cruiser. The Corvettes would be forward with the fighters. The Frigates and Cruiser would be my main line protecting the Carrier. Oooooh I've got to make them all up now!

Thread: Re: How many page

sunshiny — 2008-06-22T18:51:40+00:00

16 ships each side
1 convoy carrier
1 hammerhead
4 particle
3 control
4 skirmishers
3 missiles

Basically I made up all ships on the pages, example the skirmishers print up 4 on a sheet so I made them all. The automated defence platforms 8 on a sheet so I made up the eight. I plan on using the included scenarios as I'm fairly new at war games & my husband has never played them. Also on the website's forum this fleet size was recommended so I thought I'd just go with it.

Thread: Re: How many page

FNH1 — 2008-06-22T18:37:15+00:00

sunshiny wrote:
For a basic fleet you need to print out
22 pages for each fleet, 44 altogether.

What are you including in a basic fleet?

Thread: Re: How many page

sunshiny — 2008-06-22T18:28:29+00:00

For a basic fleet you need to print out

22 pages for each fleet, 44 altogether.

31 for game aids like booms, wormholes, rulers, modchips, status cubes ect. This could be modified as some of the components are optional like printed numbers for the ships & tos.

21 pages per fleet for trays to hold the TOS units if you make the above sized fleet. Again these are optional. You could just have the units sitting free but the trays keep them from moving around. If you decide to make your TOS units 2d then you only need to print up 2 pages for the damage tracker.

32 TOS unit pages for the above fleet size. You need to print 1 page of TOS unit for each ship.

The rule book is 51 pages. They only take up a half page so you should print it up in booklet form.

There is a free suppliment that you can download that gives you automated defence platforms. If you decide on printing that one you need

8 pages for the defence platforms
2 pages for cards & modchips
16 pages for TOS units if you decide to make all 8 defence platforms. If your going to use the included scenarios, your going to have to.

Theres also asteroid bases included in the download, you'll have to print up 6 bases to play the included scenario. Note that these are just bases, if you want the asteroids to stick on top you have to buy the Uncharted Space Mat but the asteroids are not needed, they're just cosmetic.

You only have to print up the first 8 pages of the guide book as the rest is just adverts for other models you can buy.

If you decide to buy the Uncharted Space map be aware that it's 32 pages of mostly black printing. Because of the stars & planet you'll still have to print this in color. You'll also probably print up about 12 pages of asteroids to stick on the asteroid bases if you want.

I've cut down on my pages & size of my game in general by making it in 1/2 scale. You just print up 2 pages on one sheet of paper for the feets, wormholes, asteroids, rulers, lifepods, & numbers. I did the TOS & trays in 1/2 scale but for most people with say bigger hands go the regular size TOS. If you do go 1/2 scale on the TOS then the modchips & trays will have to be 1/2 scale too. The modchips are totally unreadable at this scale, I've just made a card with the modchip info on them.

Thread: Re: How many page

tigerAspect — 2008-06-22T18:25:14+00:00

FNH1 wrote:
Hmmm... Thats difficult to say. A base set? What is a Base set? Here is what I can say.

The parts for each ship are spread over multiple pages.

The Fighters parts are spread across three pages, but there are enough parts for 3 fighters. After you've made those three, you still have enough bases for 21 more fighters so you would only have to print two pages for the next set of three.

The Particle Bow Frigates are again, parts across three sheets. Enough parts for four frigates but leave you with six spare stands and four spare bases.

The Cruiser is across five sheets but would leave you with one space base.

The Corvette is across three sheets, but leaves you with three ships and seven spare stands and six spare bases.

The Carrier is across six sheets with no spares.

Every ship you build requires a TOS ( Control panel ) which is an additional sheet.

Now add in the fact that ships come in two flavours, one for each side.

There is no Base Set that I'm aware of, so you have as much printing as you want ships.

I printed the rules two up in draft mode on 26 sheets, but to be honest you dont need to print the rules at all.

There is additional printing if you want the quick reference cards and the trays for holding TOS's.

Phew!

Hmm, ok, so muzzy arithmetic here, 'cuz I haven't actually played the game:

Fighters: 9/side = 14 pages
Particle Bow: 4/side = 6 pages
Hammerhead Cruiser: 2/side = 18 pages or 1/side = 10 pages
Corvette: 3/side = 6 pages
Carrier = 1/side = 12 pages or 2/side = 24 pages
TOS: 36 - 40 pages (or less)
Rulebook: 26-52 pages
TOTAL:
110-160 pages
You can get away with much, much less, but that would be a "semi-complete" page count.
In ink, at around $0.25/page you're looking at about $40 Max. Cardstock comes to about $0.048/sheet or about $7.68.

Thread: Re: How many page

FNH1 — 2008-06-22T17:50:21+00:00

Hmmm... Thats difficult to say. A base set? What is a Base set? Here is what I can say.

The parts for each ship are spread over multiple pages.

The Fighters parts are spread across three pages, but there are enough parts for 3 fighters. After you've made those three, you still have enough bases for 21 more fighters so you would only have to print two pages for the next set of three.

The Particle Bow Frigates are again, parts across three sheets. Enough parts for four frigates but leave you with six spare stands and four spare bases.

The Cruiser is across five sheets but would leave you with one space base.

The Corvette is across three sheets, but leaves you with three ships and seven spare stands and six spare bases.

The Carrier is across six sheets with no spares.

Every ship you build requires a TOS ( Control panel ) which is an additional sheet.

Now add in the fact that ships come in two flavours, one for each side.

There is no Base Set that I'm aware of, so you have as much printing as you want ships.

I printed the rules two up in draft mode on 26 sheets, but to be honest you dont need to print the rules at all.

There is additional printing if you want the quick reference cards and the trays for holding TOS's.

Phew!

Thread: How many page

tech7 — 2008-06-22T11:39:53+00:00

Okay my question is simple how many pages do you need to print a full baseset ?

This game looks interessting but I can't estimate how many ink, cardstock, paper and time will be needed.

Thread: Re: My Wormhole Project

FNH1 — 2008-06-22T09:52:38+00:00

cobalt60 wrote:
Excellent stuff. Are you going to do a review on the podcast?

Yep!

Thread: Re: My Wormhole Project

cobalt60 — 2008-06-21T16:55:09+00:00

Excellent stuff. Are you going to do a review on the podcast?

Thread: Encounter Battle

FNH1 — 2008-06-21T15:39:23+00:00

Scenario : Both fleets are responding to a distress beacon eminating from a stella dust cloud, neither force is aware of of the others presence. A sudden solar pulse from a nearby sun temporarily washes away the dust cloud revealing the fleets to each other.

Royalist Faction : 1 Hammerhead Cruiser, 1 Missile Fighter
Separatist Faction : 1 Fleet Carrier, 1 Control Corvette, 2 Particle Bow Frigates.

Set up :
Royalists ,Line Ahead, Fighter followed by Cruiser ,heading "north".
Separatists , Line Ahead Carrier, Particle Bows, Corvette, heading "North by North West".

First Phase of Battle.

The Fighters sped North then turned South East aiming to take on the Frigates. The Cruiser Launched a missile at the Carrier and started turning towards. The Carrier started to turn towards, the Frigates simply started charging, the Corvette turned sharply west and started heading for the Cruiser.

Second Phase of Battle.

The Cruiser launched a second missile aiming for the northern most Frigate. The Fighter dodged South East passing safely South of the Frigates as they turned towards the Cruiser. The Corvette nominated the Fighters as a target as it headed further West towards the Cruiser, the Carrier continued its turn.

Third Phase of the Battle.

The ruiser launched a third missile ready to take any target of opportunity. The Fighters passed between the Frigates and Corvette turning in towards the southern Frigates rear. The Corvette closed on the Cruiser nominating it as a target and Firing causing 1 point of damage. The Frigates had an opportunity to fire at the Missiles but choose to hold fire and save it for the Cruiser.

Fourth Phase of the Battle.

The Cruiser launched another missile. One of the missiles launched earlier reached the northernmost Frigate and caused 3 points of damage. The Carrier continued its turn and fired on the incoming missile which exploded only an inch from it causing minor damage to the Carrier itself. The Frigates opened fire together, the massive firepower of the two Fusion Cannons ripped into the Cruiser causing massive damage. The Corvette poured in its own Laser fire and this tipped the balance causing the Cruiser to distintergrate.

Fifth Phase of the Battle.

The Fighters attacked the rear of the undamaged Frigate but failed to cause any damage. One of the missiles homed in on the damaged Frigate and caused a single point of damage.

At the point the Royalists decided to withdraw from the battlefield and disapeared into the surrounding dust.

After game thoughts :

This was a fast playing game, all of the rules are simple and straightforward and I only had to look things up once or twice.

The ability of Fighters to move behind an enemy is thier strength. I suggest they should always be used in this capacity. This suggests that Frigates, Cruisers and Capital ships can easily be worn down from rear end attacks and thus require Fighter support of thier own to defend thier rear quarters.

The Frigates are tremendously powerful if left alone to do thier own thing. Once charged they need to be avoided.

Missiles are tremendously useful, cheap to buy and intelligent, I think in future games I would launch a few of these , running the early ones slowly so the later ones can catch up and then have them all hit at the same time.

Due to the poor turning ability of the Cruisers I suspect that they are really only good at taking on other Capital ships, but I never actually got to try that.

The weakness of the Carrier in aggressive capability suggests to me that like modern carriers these need to be protected and kept out of harms way. I'm thinking that each Carrier should only ever launch three of its fighters, keeping one is reserve. Then as soon as a Fighter gets damaged it returns to the Carrier and the reserve leaves.

Good game, really enjoyed it, will be playing again.

Thread: My Wormhole Project

FNH1 — 2008-06-21T12:10:04+00:00

I've been keeping track of my Wormhole build progress over in the Print and Play Guild, offering my unsolicited opinions and tips etc.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/317698

Thread: Wormhole Battle Report 2

scotherns — 2008-06-18T11:58:21+00:00

Images in gallery (smaller versions inserted below):

http://wormholegamer.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=60

150 points per side.

Orange
1 Carrier (Fleet Admiral on board)
2 Particlebow Frigates
1 Control Corvette
2 Skirmish Fighter Squadrons
2 Missile Fighter Squadrons

Blue
1 Hammerhead Battle Cruiser (+1 extra missile Salvo, Fleet Admiral on board)
2 Particlebow Frigates
1 Control Corvette
1 Skirmish Fighter Squadron

Deployment

Orange deployed all fighters directly to the board (rather than on the carrier, to get them into the fight quicker). They were placed centrally in a tight line, with the Orange Particlebow Frigates and Control Corvette behind them. Hopefully the fighters will be able to screen the ships from Particlebow attacks until they can close. The Carrier was deployed to the far right, indenting to move up the flank.

Blue placed a Particlebow frigate at each corner of the deployment zone, pointing towards the centre (the idea being that whichever one gets swarmed by fighters, then the other will be able to snipe from a distance). The Hammerhead, Control Corvette and Fighters were placed centrally.

Turn 1

Blue's forces all stayed in place while the Particlebows were charging their weapons. The Hammerhead launched a missile, hoping to able to disrupt whatever movement plans Orange had, or at least draw some fire.

Orange sent all fighters forward (using the afterburners on the missile fighters to advance as quickly as possible). The Control Corvette followed behind, and the Particlebows remained still, charging weapons.

The Carrier remained where it was. The Missile Fighters tried to shoot down the advancing missile, but both failed.

Turn 2

Each of Blues Particlebow Frigates fired their charged weapons at a Missile Fighter Squadron, obliterating one, and dispersing the other. The missile swarm hit a Skirmish Fighter Squadron, destroying it. The Hammerhead launched another missile toward the orange lines, and managed to move on top of it again (using the Fleet Admiral to get an extra move.) The Blue skirmish fighters accompanied it, hoping to act as a screen to any Particlebow shots.

Oranges remaining fighters whizzed past the Hammerhead, towards the Control Corvette. The Orange Particlebow Frigates (now fully charged) moved forward into firing positions, and the Carrier began moving up the edge toward a Blue Particlebow. The Carrier shot at the missile swarm on the Hammerheads base, destroying it, and doing a single point of damage to the Hammerhead.

All other weapons fire either missed, or was stopped by armour.

Turn 3

One Orange Particlebow fired a charged shot at the Hammerhead - doing just one point of damage. The other was charged, but had nothing in range and arc to shoot at (the Blue Particlebow was fractionally out of range!).

The Blue Particlebows stayed still, recharging. The Orange Carrier moved towards the Blue Particlebow, at full speed (using the additional move from the Admiral), taking it out of the fire arc of the Hammerhead.

The Carrier fired at the Blue Particlebow dead ahead, but failed to damage it. The remaining ships manoeuvred carefully, keeping out of the fire arcs of the Particlebows, and the few shots from the various fighters failed to connect.

Turn 4

One Blue Particlebow shot the advancing Carrier, taking it straight to damaged status. The other Blue Particlebow fired at its Orange counterpart, doing 2 points of damage. The charged Orange Particlebow was out of arc, so had to hold its fire.

The Orange Carrier, in a last ditch effort, rammed the Particlebow, and did a couple of points of damage (none to itself!).

The rest of the ships swirled round each other, each one trying to keep out of arc of the others. This was excellent fun - the final positions of the ships were certainly not where they had planned to be at the start of the turn! The Blue Hammerhead only managed to get into firing position by using the Fleet Admiral to get an extra move order once again.

Many of the ships managed to exchange fire this turn, with most taking a point or two of damage. The Orange Particlebow next to the Blue Hammerhead fared the worst, and was taken to 'Power loss' status.

The Carrier failed to repair any damage.

Turn 5

It was intended to stop after 4 turns, but the last turn ended at such an interesting point, I just had to see what happened next :-)

The charged Orange Particlebow was out of arc, so had to hold its fire again.

The movement phase was even more nail-biting than the last one, with the ships all desperately trying to gain advantage in a small region of the board. By the end they were really packed close together, which made manoeuvring even more tricky! This turn really brought home the advantages of the more manoeuvrable ships, and the usefulness of having a second move order.

The Blue Particlebow (unsurprisingly) finished off the Orange Carrier. The other Blue Particlebow was hit by several shots from the swarm of Orange ships around it, and brought to 'Power loss' status.

The combined fire-power of the Blue Hammerhead and Control Corvette crippled one of the Orange Particlebow Frigates, and brought the other to 'Power loss' status.

Final Status:

Orange
Control Corvette: Undamaged
Carrier: Destroyed
Particlebow Frigate: Crippled
Particlebow Frigate: Power loss
Skirmish Fighter Squadron: Destroyed
Missile Fighter Squadron: Destroyed
Missile Fighter Squadron: Dispersed
Skirmish Fighter Squadron: Undamaged

Blue
Control Corvette: 1 damage
Particlebow Frigate: 2 damage
Particlebow Frigate: Power loss
Hammerhead: 4 damage
Skirmish Fighter Squadron: Undamaged

Notes:
5 turns, slightly bigger fleets than last time, and the total time was 90 minutes. Much faster, and a much better game.

The Fleet Admirals make a big difference to the effectiveness of the ships - the Hammerhead would have spent much of the game out of range or out of arc without it, and the ability to pour on even more fire-power when there are lots of targets is excellent.

The Particlebows proved to be the decisive ships as before - they really dominate the board. The extra move order for the Control Corvettes really allowed them to show their worth this game - they both managed to avoid damage by good manoeuvring.

Once again, the fighters were mostly ineffective, although once again I suspect this was due to poor tactical choices :-) Towards the end, when they had made it behind the slower ships, it was obvious that the slower ships would be unable to bring them back into arc, but by then it was all over. I still expect them to do better next time!

The Carrier was disappointing again- even up against a single Particlebow, it was unable to do much damage before being destroyed. I'll give it another try (mostly because it looks so cool on the tabletop), but it is starting to look like it will only be useful in much longer games, for repairing fighter squadrons (there just isn't time for this in a short game).

Steve

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

emceekhan — 2008-06-18T06:09:45+00:00

I have to echo Denny's remark there in that the backstory is something that was a bit confusing at first. However, I think we're on the straight road now, and hopefully, with enough input from the community and the beta testers, we'll nail that down so you'll be able to make a series of campaigns/scenarios that rang across several eras of the various races involved.

It's got a lot of potential, and it's a constant work in progress.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

WorldWorksGames — 2008-06-17T20:23:47+00:00

GillerTiller wrote:
ScottE wrote:
How would you compare it to Twilight Imperium: Armada? I picked up a complete set last Christmas from FFG but haven't actually had a change to play it yet. Sounds like they might have similar systems.

I'm actually going to answer that in a bit. I, too, looked into Wormhole for a 4x/Campaign style, since the mechanics and the story are flashbacks of familiar storylines, especially that of Battlestar Galactica.

Not to be mean, because the gameplay is good and the cardstock ships are awesome. Just the theme and story have been done a dozen times before and better in some aspects. This is what I got from reading the forums and watching the video - Running away from an unexplainable bad terror during a civil war and being forced to run away with other races in which they all get in a giant brawl. I don't see much chance of empire-building, just this blandly chained together series of battles.

I am harboring some hope, though. It looks like some people on the boards are trying to get a campaign out the door that gives it more of a epic star campaign feel. That's what could make a game like this shine.

(I leave it to Mr. Floyd to point out the complexities and decent mechanics that make this game unique. The Orders stands are FANTASTIC)

There's a lot of behind the scenes development happening right now on backstory and campaign arcs. We always intended on expanding the scope and scale of what Wormhole "is" once the second race was out the door. We are currently in beta for the "Calormen". We had to move forward in this kind of guarded fashion as we weren't really certain how Wormhole would do at launch. I'm happy to say that there does appear to be a following growing

You'll see some promising backstory dev coming out for free in the not too distant future. While the premise might seem "rehashed" there have always been elements in this that push it in a very unique direction. That won't really be apparent until we get into the meat of the story.

Some will like it, some won't but at the end of the day we're playing to what makes us personally love sci-fi. Hopefully that will translate and others will jump on for the ride.

-Denny

Thread: Wormhole Battle Report 1

scotherns — 2008-06-16T11:59:16+00:00

Hi all,

Pictures in the WorldWorks gallery:
http://wormholegamer.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=60

125 points per side.

Orange
1 Carrier (Fleet Admiral on board)
1 Particlebow Frigate
1 Control Corvette
2 Skirmish Fighter Squadrons
2 Missile Fighter Squadrons

Blue
1 Hammerhead Battle Cruiser (+1 extra missile Salvo, Fleet Admiral on board)
2 Particlebow Frigates
1 Skirmish Fighter Squadron

Deployment

Blue tries to cover as much of the table with his Particlebow Frigates, which are placed as central as possible. The Skirmish Fighters are placed with the Frigates to act as a screen. The Hammerhead is away to the side, hoping to avoid the opponents Particlebow Frigate until it is discharged (or destroyed).

Orange places the carrier as far from the Hammerhead as possible, with all fighters on board to receive orders. The Orange Particlebow Frigate and Control Corvette are placed centrally to cover the table.

Turn 1:

Both sides Particlebow Frigates stay still, charging weapons. The Orange Fighters remain on the carrier, receiving targeting orders. Blues Skirmish Fighters move out, intending to be a sacrificial shield to absorb a Particlebow Frigate hit, if Orange can be tempted into firing at it.

Turn 2:

Oranges Particlebow Frigate fires at the Blue Skirmish Fighters, doing several points of damage, and leaving them dispersed.

The Orange carrier launches all fighters, and moves up with three of them to provide support against the two Blue Particlebow Frigates. The Orange Particlebow Frigate, Control Corvette and a squadron of Missile Fighters move towards the Blue Hammerhead.

The Blue Hammerhead launches a missile, and advances quickly, using an extra move order provided by the Fleet Admiral. It ended up moving over the missile it had launched! I allowed the missile to sit on the Hammerheads base.

The Orange Particlebow Frigate fires at the missile, destroying it (the explosion does 1 damage to both the Blue Hammerhead and the Orange Control Corvette which are caught in the blast). All remaining weapons fire either misses or is stopped by the heavy armour on the Hammerhead and Particlebow Frigates.

Turn 3:

The Blue Hammerhead launches a missile, which destroys the Orange Particlebow Frigate. Both Blue Particlebow Frigates fire their charged beams at the Orange Carrier, destroying it.

Three squadrons of Orange fighters now swarm the Blue Particlebow Frigates, aided by both their Mission Briefings from the carrier, and by targeting info from the Control Corvette (so they now hit on 2+). No damage is done, thanks to the Particlebow Frigate's armour.

Turn 4:

The Blue Particlebow Frigates decide to stay put and re-charge (they are too slow to really dodge the fighters, and their armour seems to be enough to weather a few turns of attacks). The Blue Hammerhead moves in , and destroys an Orange Missile Fighter squadron. Oranges combined fighter forces do one point of damage to the Blue Particlebow Frigates.

Turn 5:
The Blue Hammerhead destroys one more Orange squadron, and a Particlebow Frigate reduces another to dispersed in the Special Orders phase. Orange concedes without proceeding to the move and attack phases this turn, as its clear where this is heading :-)

Notes:

Total playing time was about 2 hours. The later turns moved much faster as I got used to the turn sequence and using the TOS - I expect the next game to go much faster. Particlebow Frigates are superb value - heavy armour and a huge weapon (especially when charged). The reduced firing arc seemed barely a hindrance; even in this small battle there was always something to shoot at. I suspect this might change with a bit more practice at moving Fighter Squadrons effectively.

Fighters seemed totally ineffective, but I strongly suspect that this was due to a combination of poor movement skills and terrible dice luck - I expect them to do much better next time.

Looking forward to the next game!

Steve

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

Bwian — 2008-06-14T20:57:32+00:00

I played a lot of Star Trek Red Alert, which was the ancestor of TI:A. The order cascades got pretty extensive there; I think the changes to the rules in TI:A balanced things much better, but I only ended up playing a game or two of TI:A because it was harder to find opponents. (Star Trek is a better-known franchise than TI, and one common Red Alert opponent got tired of it, and didn't want to play a retheme.)

I just haven't gotten a chance to play Wormhole (still building!), so I wasn't clear I could compare the "feel" of the two games very well. As far as rules go, I would say a big difference is the allocation of orders: Wormhole has a maximum number of attacks or moves per turn (and that maximum is 1 or 2, depending on the ship), where TI:A allows 3 orders of whatever type you want per turn. That means you can see more variation in TI:A, which should make for a less predictable game. Whether that's good or not is largely a matter of taste, IMHO.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

ScottE — 2008-06-14T06:46:22+00:00

Bwian wrote:
GillerTiller wrote:
I, too, looked into Wormhole for a 4x/Campaign style...

... I don't see much chance of empire-building, just this blandly chained together series of battles.
Out of curiosity, are you comparing to Twilight Imperium: Armada, or Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition?

I did mean Twilight Imperium: Armada. Seemed to be similar but Nathan gave a nice overview of the main differences. Thanks Nathan.

I was just curious since during FFG's Christmas sale I picked up a complete set of Twilight Imperium: Armada. I've still not had a chance to play it sadly. I thought it was an impressive game, just need to sit down and punch/sort all the parts and setup some fleets for my friends to try.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

emceekhan — 2008-06-14T06:26:37+00:00

Yeah, I think he got that backwards.

In terms of Armada, it's not as complicated in terms of orders. One thing that turned me off of TI:A is that crew can create various order cascades, and sometimes it's complicated to follow or ends up with one player making several orders in a row with one ship (or a multitude of ships).

Each ship has a number of actions it can complete (in the regular game, orders are equal to the number of actions a ship can complete, so it's not a big deal tracking orders). However, in the advanced game, orders can be lost, due to a number of factors - scrambled communications, captain hesitation, not enough time to act, etc. You add up all your orders, then roll to see how many are lost. Then you perform an number of actions for your ships equal to that number. Sometimes you'll have enough, sometimes you'll want to do 9 things, and only have 4 orders.

Also, damage is tracked differently.

It does share one similarity that I can think of off the top of my head:

Modifications, for example. These include both modifications to ships and to crew. Some improve your fighters' ability to do damage, some improve the repair rolls, give you the initiative, etc. Like disks that modify your TI ships. They cost points that you use to build fleets.

Other than that, it is very different from TI:A.

Giller -

Anyway, I understand the frustration of less backstory, but don't worry. That's going to be addressed soon. Campaigns should be fairly easy to create, and I am working on one myself that I'll share. It won't be the 4X type of game, but it should satisfy people who want some depth instead of straight forward battles 24/7.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

Bwian — 2008-06-13T23:37:02+00:00

GillerTiller wrote:
I, too, looked into Wormhole for a 4x/Campaign style...

... I don't see much chance of empire-building, just this blandly chained together series of battles.
Out of curiosity, are you comparing to Twilight Imperium: Armada, or Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition?

Thread: Re: 631st Particlebow Frigate Brigade!

GillerTiller — 2008-06-13T22:43:00+00:00

See, this is what drew me to the game.

Lots and lots of ships that you can build on your own prerogative with no need to buy thousands of miniatures to play.

These are pretty fancy looking. I'm just finishing more particle bows myself, since I see they are going to be a very desired ship type in this game.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

GillerTiller — 2008-06-13T22:38:45+00:00

ScottE wrote:
How would you compare it to Twilight Imperium: Armada? I picked up a complete set last Christmas from FFG but haven't actually had a change to play it yet. Sounds like they might have similar systems.

I'm actually going to answer that in a bit. I, too, looked into Wormhole for a 4x/Campaign style, since the mechanics and the story are flashbacks of familiar storylines, especially that of Battlestar Galactica.

Not to be mean, because the gameplay is good and the cardstock ships are awesome. Just the theme and story have been done a dozen times before and better in some aspects. This is what I got from reading the forums and watching the video - Running away from an unexplainable bad terror during a civil war and being forced to run away with other races in which they all get in a giant brawl. I don't see much chance of empire-building, just this blandly chained together series of battles.

I am harboring some hope, though. It looks like some people on the boards are trying to get a campaign out the door that gives it more of a epic star campaign feel. That's what could make a game like this shine.

(I leave it to Mr. Floyd to point out the complexities and decent mechanics that make this game unique. The Orders stands are FANTASTIC)

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

Bwian — 2008-06-04T19:44:03+00:00

Wow. Sorry I brought it up; the marketing-speak seems to have spread.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

GAWD — 2008-06-04T18:38:17+00:00

The "pile-on" aspect of that thread seemed to be mostly motivated by some of the posters' own agendas.

Indeed, one of them is developing his own starship game w/"regular" metal minis and seems very much like other starship games in terms of its complexity.

So, it's really easy to see the threat that WWG's approach to starship combat presents to some of the posters on that website.

The rules are easy to get your head around. Whereas, the vast majority of "old standbys" in this gaming genre require an obscene amount to study to become proficient at.

Wormhole's book keeping is far more fluid and integrated into the game experience itself, which cannot be said of any other starship games on the market.

Moreover, the game is very easy to get (just download and it's yours ... no orders, no waiting) and cheap to own ($25 = rulebook, game aids, and a potentially infinite amount of ships).

In short, Wormhole is a very strong attempt at opening this genre to the wider gaming community. And every such attempt will be met by hostility from those that seek to sustain the status quo.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

Bwian — 2008-06-03T21:22:14+00:00

taraba wrote:
But, I might have had similar reactions to people coming to BGG trying to sell their wares. "What makes your 4 player chess variant any different than the 20 that have come before?"... yeah, that sounds like something I might have wrote once or twice.
Yeah, I think there was a bit of a pile-on, but in general SCN is pretty good. I just didn't want to turn people off the site because they only read one thread. I remember the BGG reaction to Dominate The States: it wasn't all sweetness and light. Or any sweetness and light, really .

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

taraba — 2008-06-03T20:49:19+00:00

Bwian wrote:
taraba wrote:
But man, is that a ruthless and pissed off forum. Some pretty angry responses that didn't seem deserved.
Oh, I don't know. The press release was pretty misleading in some dimensions: as someone who has spent hours printing, cutting and gluing, I'm less than impressed with the claim I won't have to spend hours getting the game ready. And the control panels seem like a perfect clutter-analog to the stat pages they disparage. I guess I'm just too happy-go-lucky to get worked up about press-release-speak , but I can see where someone could be disappointed.

I agree on the work point. I wouldn't say that it's any more or less than painting minis, so it's a bit of a rosy picture painted there. Sure, when you're done cutting and gluing it's "painted", but there's more cutting and gluing than with a mini.

As far as the clutter aspect, I think it's referring to game aids, sheets, charts and other stuff sitting around in bland white paper. So now there's a command module that puts some play aids on it as pretty graphics and damage tracked with a slider instead of ticking boxes on a white paper and then erasing. So, yeah, I'm not sure this is true either.

But what I was talking about is one guys saying that he's not going to buy it because he didn't get a complete play description when he asked for it. Other people were slamming his choice of words saying that he's attacking existing systems, which is just the way I think they read it. "You don't have to look up stuff in charts" could be read as a plus for one system or a dig on a different system depending on your mood when you read that line. Is a car that advertises more MPG (KPL for non-US?) slamming other cars or promoting theirs? It just seems like a forum of curmudgeons. But, I might have had similar reactions to people coming to BGG trying to sell their wares. "What makes your 4 player chess variant any different than the 20 that have come before?"... yeah, that sounds like something I might have wrote once or twice.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

Floydski — 2008-06-03T12:16:39+00:00

Bwian wrote:
RockLobster wrote:
A clarification, though:

Floydski wrote:
Basically small, fast squads move first with the bigger ships following (basically) by size.
I read elsewhere the exact opposite: That the large ships go first so the smaller, more agile ships can react to what they do (which seems a more 'accurate' simulation to me). This other report was incorrect?
No, the other report was correct. Presumably a typo on Floydski's part. In fact, not only do smaller ships move last, they then fire first. Presumably, they wouldn't get to fire second...

Ah yes I did write that wrong. Sorry about that & nice catch.

Move last but shoot first. It was tried both ways during beta. The current method seemed to best represent the Squadrons quick darting maneuvers and getting in and firing quickly.(I fixed it in the overview above)

AS far as basic overview, I've added some more detail on how each phase of a turn is conducted.

~Floyd

ps. I've not had an opportunity to check out Twilight Imperium:Armada. But that is something I will look into.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

Bwian — 2008-06-03T05:16:08+00:00

taraba wrote:
But man, is that a ruthless and pissed off forum. Some pretty angry responses that didn't seem deserved.
Oh, I don't know. The press release was pretty misleading in some dimensions: as someone who has spent hours printing, cutting and gluing, I'm less than impressed with the claim I won't have to spend hours getting the game ready. And the control panels seem like a perfect clutter-analog to the stat pages they disparage. I guess I'm just too happy-go-lucky to get worked up about press-release-speak , but I can see where someone could be disappointed.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

Bwian — 2008-06-03T04:31:41+00:00

RockLobster wrote:
A clarification, though:

Floydski wrote:
Basically small, fast squads move first with the bigger ships following (basically) by size.
I read elsewhere the exact opposite: That the large ships go first so the smaller, more agile ships can react to what they do (which seems a more 'accurate' simulation to me). This other report was incorrect?
No, the other report was correct. Presumably a typo on Floydski's part. In fact, not only do smaller ships move last, they then fire first. Presumably, they wouldn't get to fire second...

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

ScottE — 2008-06-03T04:23:30+00:00

How would you compare it to Twilight Imperium: Armada? I picked up a complete set last Christmas from FFG but haven't actually had a change to play it yet. Sounds like they might have similar systems.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

RockLobster — 2008-06-03T03:59:21+00:00

Thank you very much for that brief overview. It's the best look at the actual gameplay anyone's posted yet (as far as I can tell).

With any luck, someone will eventually post an in-depth review, but this certainly helps until someone does.

A clarification, though:

Floydski wrote:
Basically small, fast squads move first with the bigger ships following (basically) by size.
I read elsewhere the exact opposite: That the large ships go first so the smaller, more agile ships can react to what they do (which seems a more 'accurate' simulation to me). This other report was incorrect?

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

Floydski — 2008-06-03T00:56:05+00:00

The game plays fairly fast with an average fleet size. And believe it or not the table doesn't feel small (I play it regularly in a 3x4 area).

There are not a lot of rules to wrap your head around.

Stats and Movement/Range, Orders. Everything has a basic stat for its initiative order (for moving and attacking). A Velocity rating for range of movement and a basic defense rating. The turn arcs are printed on each ships base so it is easy to see each vessels maneuvering capability.

The Anatomy of a Turn is broken down into 6 primary phases:
Orders phase, Special Orders phase, Movement, Attack, Cleanup, End of Turn.

The turn starts with issuing orders to each ship. So on each vessels *TOS panel you flip the corresponding order switch you wish to give that vessel. (ie. Move, Fire, Repair, etc). Each phase of a turn is broken into Initiative bands. (Eg. Movement is based from Lowest to Highest 0.1.2.3.4.5.6). Usually the bigger ships move first with the quicker, more agile fighter squadrons able to adjust flight patterns after they see where the bigger vessels moved.
There are special orders that can be given to each vessel which makes for a variety of different tactics. And BTW, the *TOS (Tactical Order Stands) are a very integral part of the game as they eliminate 99% of any bookkeeping that would be needed. And you can buy upgrades for ships and squadrons (called ModChips: Ace Pilots, Skilled commander,Missile Salvos, etc).

Combat is handled Highest to Lowest on the Initiative Band (6.5.4.3.2.1.0) and each attack is resolved using the standard D6 die or dice. Each ships main weapon arc is printed on the ships base. An accompanying Stat card is supplied for each ship that have all other weapons/ranges/damage capacity printed on it along with what any special abilities and their descriptions. It's pretty fluid once you've played a round to see how it works and potential effects (ie. ships have levels of damage. As they take more hits they become weaker and can do less damage...but you can try and repair them).
Their are also advanced rules (which most will want to play this way) that add the potential for Order Loss. E.g AS the Admiral is sending orders to his fleet, sometimes in the chaos of battle an order doesn't get relayed or cannot be completed. This IMO adds some real tension to the decisions. And also allows some of the ships to really shine. Also there are Ramming rules and bigger explosions (which can potentially cause harm to nearby ships if caught to close to an explosion) leaving Debris fields. There are also Wormholes which are ways to travel from one sector or another, and in some cases (see the scenarios) one board to another. And offer another layer of tactical challenge and opportunities to explore (besides the standard "Blow each other" up). Also, without getting into too much detail, the Wormholes have different states that can be altered (ie. Stable, unstable and dangerous). There were some alternatives discussed for Wormhole usage and they may end up in a future expansion.

The scenarios start out with the basic head to head (The Standard Engagement). But this was a design intention. To slowly acclimate new (tactical space gamers) and gamers a like. But it quickly gets more interesting with (Supply Run - escort mission) and (The Gauntlet - 3 sequential missions with varying resources available depending how you did on the previous one) and (Sector command - which is basically controlling different sectors of space traveling between wormholes). And the scenarios also come with pre-written variants and suggestion on how to add variety and difficulty. Most of these are really quite fun.

So there you have it. A basic run-down of the game from one of its Beta-testers. IF you have any more questions just ask...but I encourage you to visit the forums at the World Works Games _Wormhole Forums.

Thanks and I hope that provided you a better over-view of the Wormhole game experience.

~Floyd

* It tracks what phase of the turn sequence you are in, whether or not a special order has been used, damage tracking and as stated repair. You do not need to build the 3d version, as you can make them flat and 2d as an alternative, but they are really nice (and quick) to build in their full 3d form.

Thread: Re: Yes, but how does it PLAY??

Michel — 2008-06-02T22:52:44+00:00

taraba wrote:
... But man, is that a ruthless and pissed off forum. Some pretty angry responses that didn't seem deserved. I wonder if we come off like that some times.We certainly do. That's life.

If I am by any chance the average owner of Wormhole I can tell the original poster the reason why there are no play reports so far: We are still building ships and trays. It's a lot of stuff to print, cut and glue (and I love it so far - my only minor gripe is the plethora of typos* in cards and rules, most not related to rule issues, but still ...)

*even a big player like FFG sometimes publishes suboptimal rulebooks (Sands of Al-Kalim, anyone?)

Image

super... — 2008-05-28T22:43:44+00:00

my colection so far, with custom half scale play board with comand tray and fighter tray

Image

super... — 2008-05-28T22:41:38+00:00

halfscale hammer head

Image

super... — 2008-05-28T22:40:32+00:00

more half scale ships

Image

super... — 2008-05-28T22:39:17+00:00

half scale (printing two pages a sheet

Image

WorldWorksGames — 2008-05-15T19:51:04+00:00

Virtual cover shot