Game: Star Trek: The Adventure Game

Thread: Re: Solitaire House Rules

castiglione — 2008-06-30T14:57:12+00:00

I keep re-visiting the solo variant for this game.

I'm still struggling with a way to include the Klingon agents without cluttering up what should be a simple game.

One idea I have is to have a bunch of Klingon agent counters, most of which are actually dummies (they are "deployed" face down) that sort of "spread out" from Klingon owned worlds and each turn, under certain circumstances (like when some of them are on board a Federation Star Base, a Federation Star Ship or on certain planets), some of these counters are turned over and if it's revealed to be an agent, the effects are resolved accordingly. I'm just not sure having a "wave" of dummy counters surging over the board is an elegant solution to this problem.

Thread: Re: User Review

loquitur — 2008-06-11T14:52:45+00:00

BradyLS wrote:
I'm thinking of introducing a system of six (perhaps nine) chits

Interesting, but I think it would take away too much of the hidden strategy that rests right now with the Klingons. How about 9 chits, 3 of which are for the real agents, and the others are blank decoys, but all of which are under the control of the Klingon, who can transfer them (in any combination) whenever the opportunity arises. The presence of the 9 on the board would be kind of like the Federation acquiring intel that agents are possibly around, but it would be imperfect. Six chits on one base could all be decoys.

Thread: Re: Solitaire House Rules

Andu — 2008-04-24T19:42:34+00:00

I played this solitare for the first time this week, and found the weaknesses to be the same as you. I like your ideas and will try them out. Thanks for sharing!

Thread: Re: Solitaire House Rules

castiglione — 2008-01-12T00:13:53+00:00

I haven't looked at my solitaire variant in a while - when I put the idea away, I was looking at a way for the "opposing player" (the non-player side) to gradually take over worlds in a systematic fashion, giving the game a "race against the clock" feel.

I couldn't really come up with ways to use the Klingon agents without things getting clumsy.

Thread: Re: Game needs 2 new storybooks

XanderF — 2007-11-30T02:53:40+00:00

BradyLS wrote:
Back in the day, I was hoping that a Romulan expansion with all new adventures would come out. I think that would have been great fun.

I'm amazed that the internet community hasn't picked that up, though. Certainly FASA's various products have a number of web pages dedicated to them, with new ships and such.

A shame.

Thread: Re: Box Artwork

XanderF — 2007-11-30T02:51:03+00:00

BradyLS wrote:
In 1985, FASA had a lot of 'Trek material out there and West End was getting in on catering to the niche market of Trek Gamers. The one advantage of this box art is that it looks nothing like the FASA stuff but undeniably features Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise.

Well, yeah, it wasn't a black box with a blue grid on it as the background.

That eliminates pretty much ALL the FASA Trek products, right?

Image

loquitur — 2007-07-23T23:51:22+00:00

22x17 mounted map

Image

loquitur — 2007-07-23T23:51:22+00:00

Front cover of rules

Thread: Re: Solitaire House Rules

loquitur — 2007-07-08T18:52:46+00:00

castiglione wrote:
The trick is to keep these rules simple yet retain the theme of the game.

Interesting ideas. I just purchased this game, and I'm looking forward to playing, so let us know if you've gotten any further with these house rules.

Thread: Re: Box Artwork

BradyLS — 2007-04-29T17:28:31+00:00

In 1985, FASA had a lot of 'Trek material out there and West End was getting in on catering to the niche market of Trek Gamers. The one advantage of this box art is that it looks nothing like the FASA stuff but undeniably features Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise.

Thread: Re: Solitaire House Rules

BradyLS — 2007-04-20T18:33:43+00:00

These are some great ideas. I'm thinking of really up-grading my ST:TAG and turning it into something special...

Thread: Re: User Review

BradyLS — 2007-04-20T18:21:02+00:00

I really enjoy this game. The way to win is to think like your faction.

The UFP does enjoy an advantage in the planet exploration game. It's tough for the Klingons to win this way. The thing to do is to blow up Federation bases and starships as often as you can. The Feds can't play the planet exploration game if you beat them at the blowing-things-up game.

To do this effectively, the Klingon player must dedicate an empty vessel for this task. This is because carrying agents aboard a ship with Comissioned Klingon Officers invites interference from the Agents (and keeps the Klingon honest about where his agents are.) Then the ship stops at bases and planets and drops the agents off.

The method for keeping track of Agents invites fudging. I'm thinking of introducing a system of six (perhaps nine) chits that are blank on top with a mark on the back of three of them. Each of the three Agents the Klingons are allowed can be represented by two/three chits, one of which has a mark underneath.

Basically, when the Klingons drop off an agent somewhere, the chits representing him are also dropped off. If a Federation ship stops at the location, it picks up ONE chit. On their turn, the Klingon player can declare that the chit performs an act of sabotage. The Fed player flips the chip. If it has a mark, the normal rules for the Agen apply andd the rolls are made. If the there is no mark, the chit is returned to the Klingon player with no further penalty. Same for an attempt at assassination. The Klingon player flips the chip and if there is a mark, play as normal. If not, the chip goes back in the pool... Something like that...

Thread: Re: User Review

LongtimeDabb1er — 2007-03-02T19:09:18+00:00

An intriguing review that boldly states what the rules only hint at!

For my fourth two-player game as Klingon I decided to try the strategies listed. I had tried to play the "exploration and diplomacy" game, sort of mirroring the Federation way but with a little Klingon twist, and I discovered that while the Federation player gets a "present," the Klingon player gets "coal." So it is tough to even tie, but I was getting better at it.

The review basically says that the Klingon player is playing a zero-sum game. So the Klingon wants to race the Federation to a planet in order to force a reputation-burning contest. Once the right to explore has been won, even though the Klingon will only get "coal," he will prevent the Federation from getting a "present."

I had never been in such a dual for exploration rights, and that seemed key. I had never had an agent blow up a starship, but I'd seen the devestating effect losing commissioned officers has, and so that also seemed key.

REPUTATION

LOSS REASON
-5 to 0 trying to win exploration rights
-3 losing a starship to Klingon agent
-2 losing a cruiser to Klingon agent
-1 losing a base to Klingon agent
-1 losing a commissioned officer
-1 when a Klingon agent is executed

The spectacular explosion of starship with all commissioned officers would be -10.

So the Klingon risks 1 point in most cases for a one-third chance at winning 3, 2, or 1 point. Obviously the higher the reward, the more attractive.

I started the fourth game with a bold new strategy of maximum mayhem.

I had abandoned the "initial agent in Fed space" option in previous games as a terrible waste, but the new plan called for it, so I made my choice. The Fed started ships from elsewhere, so it was a 1 in 4 shot. Having missed hitching a ride, I should obviously blow up the base, but suddenly that didn't look worthwile, since it risked one point (roll of 6) for a gain of one point (roll of 1 or 2).

The first problem is the distance separating the two opponents. I burned out my dilithium crystals getting my starship out to a planet at the maximum range, which meant that I couldn't explore, but I could then limp to the nearby Fed starbase and leave an agent (which was more important).

Unfortunately, a few bad die roles burned out the crystals on other ships!

The silver lining was that in a few turns I had two agents on one Fed base in the middle of the Neutral Zone. A Fed cruiser dropped by and I had both agents climb aboard. Yay!

(Blowing up a starbase in the Neutral Zone =can= become crippling to the Federation if bad luck damages a Fed ship and it must lose time in limping for repair, but it is just a potential, not a guarantee.)

Meanwhile, the Fed was playing tight and close, exploring the closest (yet to me most distant) stars at the edge of the board, winning present after present. Properly treating Klingon elements as a plague to be avoided. The fleet of four ships would move in, Kirk would work his magic, then the commissioner on a cruiser would convert them, all very quickly. If the planet needed more commissioning, a cruiser would stay behind and the fleet would move on. Yes, the sewing up of all the worlds in that end would gradually bring us together to compete over the same "middle ground," but I was getting clobbered in the meantime.

(See, the review strategy seems to be "let them explore, and you subvert." Which sounds good. And the Klingon can cherry pick the high value planets, getting agents to the Class A and B, maybe skipping the Class X. Ah, but there's the rub--you have to be =able= to get an agent over there! That takes a turn or three, and each turn the Fed commissioner has a 50% chance of influencing the planet . . . well, the mathematics are running against the Klingon. In any event, the planets were being turned before I could even get there.)

When the agent-infected cruiser rejoined the Federation fleet, I moved agents to the Enterprise herself! All the planning, all the feinting, all the luck had finally come together . . .

But wait! The real payoff for a =successful= destruction of the starship (i.e., taking out the commissioned officers) can only be if the starship is in deep space (otherwise they will just beam down and be temporarily stranded, very temporarily if they are traveling with a fleet of the three other ships). Yet the starship will never be in deep space for two reasons: one, the starship has to be at an unexplored star in order to do the main action of Fed player (exploration and conversion); two, the Fed player knows that it is dangerous, far too dangerous to be worth it, and will naturally avoid stepping onto that painted bullseye.

It was kind of heartbreaking. My score was low and my enjoyment was rock bottom. All the cool Klingon strategies required planning, logistics, and good luck, yet could be easily guarded against.

So, I'm looking towards figuring out early game (Turns 1, 2, 3), middle game (Turns 4, 5, 6, 7), and ending game (Turns 8, 9, 10) strategies. Strategies that are =not= so easily circumvented!

Because of the distances involved, it seems like battling over exploration rights is something very unlikely to happen in the early game. Then again, once it has happened the first time, the Klingon can cling to the Federation, meeting it at every new planet thereafter. Maybe. (How many might be left in a middle, I don't know. Would a Klingon better play by herding the Fed from the beginning, rather than developing the Klingon arm of space and working towards the middle for a showdown?)

And yet, to have effect on the Fed's game, commissioned officers should be killed before the ending game period, the sooner the better!

So it seems like early on should be Klingon exploration aimed at corraling the Fed. I guess agents can blow up Fed bases, even though it hardly seems worth the risk. Another point against blowing up Fed bases is that it elimates an agent infiltrating area--the "bus stop" for agents!

Anyway, with a solid mound of coal to back him, the Klingon will be in a strong position to whittle away at the Federation through facing off over new planets and blowing up ships.

I guess the Klingon should have no patience at all--have agents blow things up immediately so as to get another agent to send forth. Wave after wave.

A few thoughts.

Thread: Need the Adventure Booklet

Doddleson — 2007-02-22T02:44:09+00:00

I purchased this game when it first came out when I was a young and less than savvy consumer. After reading the rules and punching out the pieces I noticed one little problem...the adventure booklet was rife with printing errors! I only had the first half of the booklet, twice! Disappointed I put the game away and it sat in storage for 20 years, until today. I did some reading here on BoardGameGeek and it has rekindled my interest in this game. Could anyone scan the adventure book and send it to me? I would be forever grateful for your efforts.

Thread: Re: User Review

bookgnome — 2006-10-20T22:37:39+00:00

Awesome review!

Thread: Re: Game needs 2 new storybooks

Sphere — 2006-08-12T18:28:07+00:00

West End put out some really excellent games in that era. Star Trek - The Enterprise Encounter was also outstanding. It was designed by the same team who did Cosmic Encounter.

Thread: Re: Game needs 2 new storybooks

BradyLS — 2006-08-12T17:35:31+00:00

Hmm. I honestly think that this is one of West End's and Greg Costikyan's best games. Of all the Trek games, this captures the spirit and flavor of the show the best. It's true that many of the planets have situations that mirror the show, but my experience has been that "following the script" will often get you burned. Particularly as the Klingons. But a hefty chunk of the situatiions are new. And most of the "episode" situations have important changes and twists to them.

Also, remember that the Federation and Klingon player have different methods of achieving victory: the Federation player wants to "make nice" and keep the peace, so their best shot at winning is to play the storybook half of the game. The Klingon player should play much more like an evil, power-gamer: get those agents on Fed ships and bases and start blowin' stuff up. If the Feds lose ships and bases (and the crew members aboard), they have a much harder time playing the storybook game.

IOW, getting in the mindset and role-playing your appropriate side adds a lot a lot fun and spice to the game.

Back in the day, I was hoping that a Romulan expansion with all new adventures would come out. I think that would have been great fun.

Thread: Game needs 2 new storybooks

Duglis — 2006-08-12T17:13:14+00:00

There is no reason that the one storybook that came with the game should have been the end all. Use the same planet discs and names, but create 1 or 2 entirely new story books. Have them be based on the cartoons or just totally 100 % creative. The storybook that comes with the game is based on the tv episodes.

It's the one thing that prevented this game from being great. If you knew the tv shows, the game was too easy. You knew the choices to take based on the episode. Totally newly created (fan?) storybooks could make this a classic forever!

Doug

Thread: Re: Box Artwork

mevans444 — 2006-07-04T13:51:14+00:00

tool wrote:
Fortunately the game is much better than that book. Unfortunately, the painting (with Spock dressed as he is) does not fir the game very well.

True enough. Since both Kirk and Spock are dressed in Star Trek: The Motion picture uniforms, and the game is very definitely set in the original TV series period.

I also find the way Vallejo composed the starship battle rather strange.
The way the Enterprise and the Klingon Battlecruiser are flying directly away from each other. And since when does the Enterprise fire Phasers from out of it's Warp Nacelles?!

Not as bad, though, as at least one of the covers of the early James Blish TV episode adaptations, which showed the Enterprise flying through space with red rocket flames and smoke coming out the back of those same nacelles!!?

Thread: Re: Box Artwork

tool — 2006-07-03T22:03:06+00:00

Fortunately the game is much better than that book. Unfortunately, the painting (with Spock dressed as he is) does not fir the game very well.

Thread: Box Artwork

mevans444 — 2006-07-03T19:33:14+00:00

The artwork on the front of the box is by famous SF and Fantasy artist Boris Vallejo.

It was originally commissioned for the Star Trek novel "Black Fire" by Sonni Cooper, published by Pocket books.

Thread: Re: Solitaire House Rules

mschemen — 2005-12-30T01:31:15+00:00

Did you make any progress on this idea? I have this game, but I have only played it once as a 2 player game.

Image

buergerberatung — 2005-05-19T12:21:02+00:00

Thread: User Review

castiglione — 2004-12-13T17:26:37+00:00

This is my second review of Star Trek: The Adventure Game. I'm afraid my first review contained some inaccuracies and didn't delve into some of the subtleties of the game - I hope my second try does a better job in getting across what the game is really like.

--------------------

Star Trek: The Adventure Game is actually two games in one. One game is a paragraph-board game in which players attempt to explore new worlds and generally go where no man has gone before. The other game is almost a German game in that players attempt to kybosh their opponent's attempt to explore new worlds and turn already explored worlds to their side through the use of high commissioners and/or agents. One player controls the United Federation of Planets (UFP) while the other player controls the Klingon Empire. Open conflict between the two sides is not allowed due to the Organian Peace Treaty. However, apparently, the Organian Treaty didn't mention anything about things like assassination, sabotage and subversion - all tactics which are open to the Klingon player to hinder the UFP player (the UFP player, being the "good guy", in this struggle has no recourse to such dastardly tactics).

Play of the game is as follows - each player has four star ships which he equips with officers and security men. These ships are then sent out to explore new worlds. Each officer has a list of skills at his/her disposal, which can have an effect during the exploration portion of the game (in this regard, I believe Star Trek: The Adventure Game is somewhat similar to Tales of the Arabian Nights). Each ship can move up to 12 hexes (14 if the ship has an engineer on board). Dice are rolled after a ship moves to determine whether its dilithium crystals have been depleted; if this happens, this is BAD since that ship will no longer be able to conduct explorations and can only move at a rate of 2 hexes per turn. The only way for this to be reversed if for the starship to go to a nearby base or certain worlds. Since the game lasts ten turns, this can effectively mean that a ship far from a base or world capable of replenishing its dilithium crystals can be out of the picture, so to speak, for the duration of the game.

With such a high, potential penalty for moving too far, why all the rush, you might ask? Well, it's because both sides are competing for worlds. Explorations are conducted via the paragraph book (which also handles random encounters - each player has a 1 in 6 chance of having a random encounter each turn). However, each player is only allowed ONE exploration each turn. If both players wish to explore the same planet, they must BID in order to determine who gets to explore that planet - the loser doesn't get to explore any worlds at all that turn. Thus, there is one reason for this "rush" - if you can get to a world on the same turn that your opponent does, if you win the bid, you can basically make him lose a turn.

About this bidding...the game is won by the player with the most POLITICAL POINTS. Political points can be won via explorations BUT more often than not, they are won by turning a world completely over to your side. This rarely happens during the course of an exploration. At the end of an exploration, a planet is usually either neutral or inclined to join one side (UFP or Klingon) or permenantly neutral (which means that no further outside contact is permitted and that planet is now, for all intents and purposes, out of the game). By sending your high commissioners (if you are UFP) or your agents (if you are the Klingon Empire) to a world, you can get the world to turn to your side. Thus, we see another reason for "rushing about" - your opponnent may have "explored" a world and opened the door to further negotiations...but if you get your high commissioner or agent to that planet before he does, it might be YOU that reaps the benefits and ends up turning that planet to your side (and win POLITICAL POINTS for doing so). Anyway, I was talking about bidding. In addition to political points, players also have REPUTATION POINTS. These points are generally WON during the course of explorations and also lost if you really screw up during explorations and also if you happen to lose star ships, have bases destroyed out from under you, etc. Now, if two players wish to explore the same planet, they bid reputation points - the player who bids the most reputations points (either 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 may be bid) wins the right to explore the world while his opponent sits on the sidelines this turn; in cases of ties, the player with the LEAST political points wins the right to explore the world (this is a nice "evening" mechanism).

Now, players generally WIN reputation points via explorations. Since the UFP is better suited to explorations than the Klingon Empire, they have the advantage in this regard. So what can the Klingon Player do to slow down the UFP's rate of exploration?

Well, actually, quite a bit. Agents not only can "turn" a planet to your side. But they can do stuff like DESTROY star bases they happen to be on (which causes the UFP player to lose reputation points not to mention lose a means by which to replenish dilithium crystals - destroyed star bases can be repaired but that means the UFP will have to divert a ship which could've been used to explore a world or transport a high commissioner to that base), destroy UFP ships they happen to be on (which again, causes the UFP to lose reputation points, especially if the ship is in "deep space" since its crew can not beam down a planet which means the UFP player will also lose reputation points for each officer killed in the spectacular explosion) and assassinate high commissioners (this doesn't cause the UFP to lose reputation points but it does mean that the Klingon agent then has no "competition" on the planet that he is on); the downside to all these sneaky actions is that if they fail, the Klingon player will lose reputation points. As I mentioned before, reputation points are used to bid for explorations if the UFP and Klingon players wish to explore the same world. Also, they can be used to purchase "extra turns" - what this means is that after ten turns have been played out, the player with the most reputation points can use his reputation point surplus to purchase extra turns during which he gets to do stuff (and essentially play the game solitaire) while his opponent can not do anything. Thus, reputation points are pretty important as you could end up with a lead in political points...but if you are behind in reputation points, you opponent can do stuff during his extra turns to gain the lead in political points.

The movement of agents is interesting - it is entirely done off the board and the location of the agents is a secret until they try to commit some act of mayhem. Agents can move from Klingon ships to worlds or to bases and from there, they can "sneak onto" UFP ships and so forth and get a free ride all over the place in some cases. To make matters more interesting, at the beginning of the game, the Klingon player can deploy one of his agents in the UFP player's home area - which means that if the UFP player sets up one of his ships on the same world or base where the agent is at, the agent will "sneak" aboard the ship and get a free ride all over the place. The Klingon player then has the option of using his agent right away to attempt to sabotage that ship...or keep him hidden until the proper moment when the agent can perform some other act of mischief.

You might wonder what the downside to the agents is - where this is one...it seems that agents are very fanatically loyal to the Emperor...which means that if they are on a Klingon ship, there is a chance they may attempt to assassinate the commander! One way around this is to make sure the ship transporting an agent drops off all its commissioned officers before it picks up an agent...however, since officers (or rather, the skills they possess) are crucial to explorations, this means that the ships used to transport agents is practically useless for explorations and is basically just a taxi-cab for the agent...unless, of course, you feel like risking it (in the case of a short trip) and hope the agent doesn't get any weird ideas in his head.

UFP high commissioners can't do all the nifty stuff that agents can. They can only attempt to "turn worlds" - however, they are better at turning worlds than agents. They also have a nifty disadvantage. Anyone familiar with the original series will note that almost every high commissioner had good intentions...but was hopeless incompetent...well, the same is true here. If a ship that has a high commissioner on board attempts an exploration, the high commissioner will "pull rank" and take over...which means the KLINGON PLAYER will make the decisions for the UFP player during the exploration/paragraph phase of the game. So, like agents, it might be best to relegate ships used to transport high commissioners to mere "taxicab" duty and not attempt any explorations with them. Well, at least high commissioners don't try to knife the captain in his sleep.

The way the game works out, the UFP player will generally be more successful during initial explorations but the Klingon player has more options at his disposal to completely screw up follow up attempts by the player to completely turn that world. The Klingon player can, I daresay, also have more fun with the game since he can generally run amock with his agents and begin sabotaging ships and bases and assassinating high commissioners left and right.

Thus - there you have it. The game is basically two games in one. One is a paragraph game in the same vein as Tales of the Arabian Nights where the skills that the characters controlled by the player have an impact on the outcome of explorations (and random events). One is a sort of simple wargame or German bidding game where one player has a better chance of turning already explored worlds to his side, while the other has the ability to make the other players ships and bases go BOOM and his high commissioners mysteriously wake up with a Klingon made knife sticking out of their chest.

Thread: Re:Solitaire House Rules

castiglione — 2004-12-08T05:37:25+00:00

errr...got cut off there...

I'm now working on solitaire rules which bring high commissioners and agents back into the game, i.e. the player will be able to transport high commissioners (if they are UFP) or agents (if they are agents) and have to worry about agents performing acts of mischief. The trick is to keep these rules simple yet retain the theme of the game.

Thread: Solitaire House Rules

castiglione — 2004-12-08T05:35:44+00:00

This is probably the simplest variation that I've come up with.

The solitaire game as it stands is fairly "weak" because there is no real "need" for the player to "explore" the map, nor is there a need for him to deploy the two additional bases that he is given...because there is no player to compete against for the right to explore worlds. Since the player can stay close to his home area, there is no real need to have star bases deployed since he can remain close to the bases in his home area. Plus, without high commissioners and agents, there is no real need for the player to control four star ships since he is only permitted one exploration per turn (with high commissioners and agents in the game, there is a use for having four ships since the ships not involved in exploration can be used to transport the high commissioners and agents about).

Because of this, I propose the following house rules to make the solitaire game more interesting:

1) The player only controls ONE star ship (and only one). If that star ship is destroyed, the game ends immediately and is considered a loss.

2) The player deploys his two bases as he sees fit - they will have a use in the game.

3) The player will make up forty extra counters - 11 counters labeled A/B, 11 counters labeled C/D and 18 counters labeled E/F/X. The player will mix these counters up and draw them one at a time (without looking) from a cup and place them on each of the 36 worlds on the map (there should be four counters left over).

4) The player will separate the world counters into three cups - one for A and B worlds, one for C and D worlds and the other for E, F and X worlds - whenever the player wishes to explore a world, he merely notes which counter is on the world (either A/B, C/D or E/F/X) and draws an appropriate random world counter from the appropriate cup.

5) Play proceeds with the player rolling for a random event, moving his ship to a world he wishes to explore and then carrying out the exploration for ten turns.

Since the player is aware of the classification of the world he will explore at each world point, he will have to face decisions as to how he will carry out his exploration as A/B worlds are worth more political points than C/D worlds which are worth more than E/F/X worlds. Thus, there is now a reason for players to venture far from their home areas (and risk possible dilithium depletion) as some of the worlds which are worth the most points may be far away from his starting point. Also, since the game will automatically end with the destruction of the player's single star ship, the player will have a reason to deploy his star bases since he will need to replenish contingent of security personnel (and officers), not to mention possibly repair his star ship.

These rules should provide the player with a more satisfying gaming experience than the current default solitaire rules.

I'm now working on solitaire rules which bring high commissioners and agents back into the game, i.e. the player will be able to transport high

Thread: Re:User Review

castiglione — 2004-11-15T23:03:48+00:00

Some corrections:

1) The game comes with THREE thin card stock "control panels", not seven. I must've been in a hurry when I typed this out.

2) The more I think about it, I think my original criticism of the game got it backwards - the two player game DOES seem to be workable so long as the Klingon player keeps good records on where his agents are located (and preferably, on separate bits of paper for each agent) and the mechanic IS charming in that it captures the feel of the old show in which open conflict with the Federation was not an option open to the Klingons...although something sinister, like say mass-poisoning of a Federation colony WAS an option (see "The Trouble with Tribbles"). Conversely, the solitaire version of the game seems to be "lacking" in comparison. The "house rules" for this game that I'm working on will probably involve just changing the solitaire game so that the "other side" plays a part in the game, so the player can use commissioners and agents in the solitaire version to his/her heart's content.

Thread: Thinking of some house rules...

castiglione — 2004-11-15T16:30:42+00:00

...I'm thinking of some house rules for this game.

It's brimming in atmosphere but I think some things could be added for chrome or cleaned up.

1) I really like the idea for Klingon agents to be running amuck, causing mischief, during the game. I'll try to figure out a way to incorporate them into the solitaire game, both from the United Federation of Planet's players perspective AND the Klingon Player's perspective.

2) I like the idea for agents enough to try to think of a way to incorporate them into the two-player game without making things too "clunky". Plus, another way for player's to interact in the game would be nice. Right now, they just sort of fly around each other don't really come into open conflict (yes, I know it's forbidden in the Organian Treaty...but even in the old episode, there was one incident in which the Enterprise got into open battle with a Klingon Ship - it's the episode where Kirk beds that feiry woman who seduces him with her tears and stuff). What I'm thinking of doing is incorpotating a rules modifier where each side gets more points for planets that are close to the OTHER sides borders and for some sort of simplified combat to be possible. I'll have to ponder this, though.

Thread: Session Report

castiglione — 2004-11-15T15:39:22+00:00

I decided to give Star Trek - The Adventure Game a whirl. I played the game solitaire with a "house rule" stating that if Kirk died, then the game was lost and over (I was playing the United Federation of Planets side of things and my assumption was that my alter-ego in the game was Kirk, directing the operations of the Enterprise as well as commanding the "task force" of other ships in the area).

I started with the Enterprise at Star Base 4, crewed by Kirk (Captain), Spock, McCoy and Scott, Ares at Teller commanded by Sulu, Surak stationed at Star Base 3 commanded by Chekov and the Beijing stated at Star Base 5 commanded by Uhura.

The game began as our ships scattered to the four winds, determined the spread the joys of democracy and decency, etc. to the residents of the buffer zone between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets - the first world explored was [Censored by Starfleet Security] - there was a dispute in the works between the denizens of the planet, half of whom were involved in the mining of [Censored by Starfleet Security] and when we attempted to bring the two sides together to work out their differences, a violent fight broke out! Fortunately, our medical officer was able to ascertain the mining of [Censored by Starfleet Security] resulted in violent behavior and we were able to resolve the matter.

The next turn resulted in tragedy - the exact details are not known although an emergency message buoy was later recovered by Starfleet - apparently, some alien managed to sneak aboard the Beijing and although the crew attempted to capture it, it succeeded in killing the crew. Uhura, who recently transferred to the Beijing from Enterprise is believed killed in the line of duty. Thus the dangers of space exploration is poignantly illustrated in this case. On a bright note, Starfleet has announced that construction has already started on the Beijing-A!

The next turn, the Enterprise was distracted from its voyage to [Censored by Starfleet Security] by a freighter that was in trouble - Enterprise extended its shields to protect the freighter, which was in danger of being destroyed by asteroids but in doing so, burned out its Dilithium crystals! Not good...when the occupants of the freighter were brought aboard Enterprise, they informed us that they knew where Dilithium crystals were to be had. However, Kirk being suspicous, ordered them thrown in the brig where a [Censored by Starfleet Security] and the prisoners are now awaiting our arrival at the next Starbase where they will be handed over to the authorities; the Dilithium crystals were regenerated and the Enterprise continued on its journey. We beamed down to the planet and were immediately taken prisoner by [Censored by Starfleet Security]. However, we managed to send a message to Enterprise which beamed down a second party and managed to rescue us; unfortunately, the denizens of the planet are not very happy with the Federation and the last we heard, they were sending feelers out to the Klingon Empire and enquiring about how they might "join" it. Well, you win some, you lose some.

Ares was the next ship to explore a new world and Sulu beaming down with three security men discovered a fairly primitive society at [Censored by Starfleet Security] and he decided to take the tack of posing as locals and much was learned about planet's culture although given their current technological state, they probably will not be ready to join the United Federation of Planets for at least a couple of centuries.

The Beijing-A commanded by Rodriguez made its maiden voyage after being commissioned...and promptly burned out its Dilithium crystals trying to go too far, too soon. Not good...meanwhile, the Enterprise, while attempting secure Dilithium crystals for the Federation at [Censored by Starfleet Security] stumbled upon a Parallel Universe where the Federation behaved, for all intents and purposes, like the Klingon Empire. This was most disturbing. Our landing party, comprised of Kirk and much of the senior staff, decided to lay low and figure out a means to escape back to our universe. Before they did so, they were almost stopped by a security officer from this "Evil" universe but Kirk started to pour on the old charm and convinced the officer to let us go. However, the residents of [Censored by Starfleet Security] STILL aren't inclined towards joining the Federation.

Ares happened upon another primitive society at [Censored by Starfleet Security]. What followed was a prime example of WHY we have something called the Prime Directive. When Sulu and the three security guards accompanying him onto the planet's surface attempted break a monarchy and theocracy's hold on the peasantry by introducing some new (but not startling) technology to the people, they were arrested for heresy and had to fight their way free, which resulted in two more security officers making the ultimate sacrifice for Starfleet. They will be missed.

Meanwhile, Beijing, running on impulse power, managed to limp to [Censored by Starfleet Security], in search of an Earth ship that reportedly disappeared in the region almost 100 years ago. Beijing was then challenged by a primitive space ship but the crew of the Beijing managed to smooth things over with the other ship and their world is now positively inclined towards joining the Federation although they would like more information first.

Tragedy struck the Enterprise when Captain Kirk and a security guard were declared missing, presumed killed, while on a mission to [Censored by Starfleet Security] after investigating a distress signal originating from that planet. The planet has now been sealed off by recommendations of the surviving members of Enterprise's senior staff.

Thus, the game ended as Kirk was MIA, presumed KIA. That alone would make the game a loss but my political points were at 6 while my reputation was also at 6, which also made it a loss from that perspective as well.

All in all, the game was enjoyable and was pretty fun, evoking memories of the classic TV show. I also got a kick out of thinking of how I would play out the various scenarios from the Klingon perspective and my next session will probably have me playing the Klingons.

Thread: User Review

castiglione — 2004-11-12T19:52:53+00:00

I recently got a copy of this game (just arrived today!).

Poking through the box, I find:

1) One VERY short rule book (this is good IMHO).

2) One sheet of die-cut, heavy cardstock counters (forty planet counters and about as many starship, starbase, character, etc. counters).

3) Zip lock baggy (obviously for the counters).

4) One game map printed on very thick board (very nice IMHO).

5) One thick paragraph book.

6) Two six-sided dice.

7) Seven thin card stock "control panels" for the United Federation of Planets (UFP) Player, the Klingon Empire Player and one panel for recording other misc. statistics.

Star Trek - The Adventure Game is basically a game based on Star Trek (The Original Series). Players can either command four United Federation of Planets (UFP) ships in an attempt to bring new worlds into the UFP fold or can opt to command four Klingon warships in an attempt to "convince" new worlds that maybe joining the Klingon Empire is a good thing. Players basically move their ships (the further they move in a turn, the greater the chance they may deplete their dilithium crystals, thus necessitating a visit to nearby starbase) and can beam down characters on board their ships to the planet's surface - at this point, action shifts to the paragraph book where the players make certain choices on how to conduct the course of their negotiations with the planet's inhabitants. The UFP player has to follow the Prime Directive, etc. and generally act like the good guys. The Klingon player can basically use whatever diabolical means he deems necessary to bring the world into the fold. Each player has characters on board his starships who may have certain skills which may make them useful in a landing party; however, their inclusion also makes it very possible that they may be killed. A landing party can be filled with "red shirts" - they basically serve to take a "hit" for the team if the outcome of an encounter on the ground should result in casualties. However, besides the ability to eat a sword thrust or a phaser burst, security personnel don't really bring much in the way of "talent" in one's interactions with the people on the ground. Thus, the player must balance his desire to protect his valuable characters (by loading up his landing party with "red shirts") with the need to actually have valuable characters with useful skills present in the landing party (as opposed to thick headed bullet-catchers) in order to sway the outcome of his exploration of the planet in question in his (and his side's) favor. Decisions, decisions. The Klingon player may also decide to the diabolical thing and leave agents behind on worlds, starbases, etc. that he visits. Agents can sabotage ships and starbases and assassinate UFP officials. This is the only means of "combat" that the two players can engage in since open hostilities are forbidden due to the Organian Peace Treaty (see the old Star Trek episode "Errand of Mercy" for details).

From a quick perusal of the rules, it strikes me that the game may be better as a solitaire affair than as a two player game. The reason I say this is because:

1) There really is no way for the UFP player to hinder the Klingon player except by getting to a planet first and exploring it before him.

2) The Klingon player CAN hinder the UFP player through the use of agents which can sabotage ships, starbases AND assassinate UFP officials - however, the rules which govern the use of agents rely heavily on the honour system on the part of the Klingon player - in fact, they rely so heavily on the honour system that they may be unworkable. Basically, the Klingon player writes down on a piece of paper where his agents are stationed and then records whether a Klingon agent manages to stow aboard a UFP ship, etc. Anyway, if an attempt by a Klingon player to use his agent ends in failure, noone will know it save the Klingon player who may very well be tempted to keep this information to himself. Even if the Klingon player is totally honest, if he manages a string of successes, he may very well be victim to recriminations on the part of the UFP player who might find it hard to believe that anyone could be so lucky! Granted, a UFP player not willing to risk an "infestation" of agents may choose to avoid all possible contact with sources of agents...but he could seriously hinder his own progress in the game since any Klingon player with half a brain would probably make a bee-line towards the nearest UFP bases, dock there and drop off an agent (or not - since the threat of a possible agent being present may prevent a paranoid UFP player from docking at that station).

In short, the UFP player has no means to hinder the Klingon player. The Klingon player has a means to hinder the UFP player but use of that means (an good luck at using that means) might make him the victim of accusations of cheating. Plus, the rule where the Klingon agent might attempt to assassinate the commander of the Klingon ship he is on...how the heck is the UFP player going to enforce that?!?!

Anyway, I like the "idea" of the rule for agents but their implementation needs some work. As it stands, the game looks like it'd still be a great solitaire game for those people who are fans of the old Star Trek show. I'll probably write some session reports of the game played from both the UFP and the Klingon perspective in solitaire mode. When the game is played solitaire, the "other side" doesn't enter into the game at all, which is a pity. And I really do like the whole idea of having agents running around and causing mischief (see "The Trouble with Tribbles") but there has to be a better way of implementing them in this game without the possibility of both players coming to blows due to accusations of cheating.

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Lars Vogt — 2004-10-24T16:04:38+00:00

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Lars Vogt — 2004-10-24T16:03:24+00:00

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The Maverick — 2003-09-25T11:49:48+00:00

Familiar faces?

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The Maverick — 2003-09-25T11:49:45+00:00

Charts and books

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Game Geek — 2002-11-26T20:49:41+00:00

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2002-03-19T00:14:26+00:00