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Boltana — 2007-06-21T22:24:54+00:00

Card backs

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Boltana — 2007-06-13T18:56:37+00:00

Secret Orders

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Boltana — 2007-06-13T18:49:40+00:00

Wing Commander

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boneroller — 2005-06-08T01:03:31+00:00

Wing Commander Boosters

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kimbo — 2004-10-18T13:26:21+00:00

Thread: User Review

Derek Mitchell — 2004-03-04T22:24:50+00:00

600 years in the future, mankind is at war with the Kilrathi empire. The war has been fought for more than 20 years, and the tide has now turned against humanity. Faced against a foe that does not know the word surrender, the final battles will be waged from aging ships piloted by the best and brightest the Academy has to offer.

The game will be scored in several areas, using 1-5 kitty whacks, with 5 being the best. (Hey, that's right from the game, so don't hassle me)!

THE PREMISE: Based entirely on the popular PC games by Chris Roberts, and most specifically, "Heart of the Tiger," the Wing Commander CCG does a faithful, yet simple, recreation of space combat. As a fan I would normally rate this high, but when you look closely, there's just not that much depth. SCORE: 3 kitty whacks.

THE LOOK: Far superior to Mag Force 7's first offering, Star of the Guardians. Most of the fighter cards are taken right from the game, and look great. Pilot cards are drawings instead of photos (big mistake), but look okay, if somewhat cartoonish. Artwork for the Maneuver, Battle Damage and Luck cards rate another okay. Card layout is also quite good without being cluttered. SCORE: 3 whacked cats.

COMPONENTS: 65 card starter decks, 15 card booster packs. Instruction booklet included. You may need markers of some sort to show damage to your fighters.

# PLAYERS: This was designed as a two-player game, but multi-player rules were developed and released on the company website for a while.

GAME PLAY: Players set up an X grid of 5 Nav Points between them. Carriers are placed at either end. As the Kilrathi are the aggressors, that player always starts. Each player starts the game with 30 Power Points which is used to muster ships, pilots, and weapons cards. At the beginning of each turn your carrier provides 2 Power Points, and other cards can increase this amount. If at any time you have zero Power Points, you have run out of supplies and must retreat.

Players take turns mustering fighters, pilots, or weapons card into their mustering area. After mustering, ships can then be equipped with missiles, cloaking devices, heavy guns or several other choice goodies. Pilots can also be placed on fighters, but ships can be launched without them, and are considered to be piloted by sub-par pilots. Fighters are then launched to the carrier, in essecnce, they are flying around waiting to go somewhere, but are stuck until the next turn, as ships can only move once each round.
Each turn you can move your fighters one Nav Point, either patrolling the game board, or assaulting the enemy carrier. On occassion you will run into enemy fighters, and then the fun really begins. Whomever initiates combat plays the first card. Now here is a nifty system for combat. Each type of fighter (or bomber) have different Maneuver ratings, from 1 to 5. The higher the number, the better Maneuver cards you can play, and the greater number. Example: an Arrow fighter has a Maneuver of 4, so that player could play up to four Maneuver cards, using cards rated that high or lower. A Longbow bomber has a Maneuver of 1, so can only play 1 Maneuever card with a rating of 1. Some weapons sytems can increase your maneuvers, so ships are never stuck with low numbers. Battle Damage can be played in place of Maneuvers, and are attached to opponent's fighters.
When both player are finished playing Maneuver and Battle Damage cards, scores are tallied. If at any time a ship takes damage equal to or exceeding its defense rating, it goes BOOM! If the defending player manages to survive, they can retreat back to the carrier in one move. This is the only time that ship movement breaks the one Nav point rule.
Play continues thus. To win, either exhaust the enemy's Power supply, or get past his/her defenses and launch a torpedo at the carrier. Two torpedo hits destroy a carrier, or use an "Assault the Carrier" card to inflict damage using energy weapons.
It is fast and fun, and for that... SCORE: 4 whacks.

PLAYING TIME: Varies each game, depending on the luck of the draw and how fast you get out the good fighters you have loaded your deck with. Average is about 30 minutes. I like quick games, so SCORE: 3 kitties thumped.

RULES CLARITY: Pretty clear and concise. We only came up with a few questions that we couldn't find answers to, and the folks at Mag Force 7 were quick to get back to us with the answers. Designer Don Perrin is a hell of a nice guy. SCORE: 4 whacks for ease of play.

CARD LAYOUT: As stated before, very nice. Relatively few symbols make for quick learning of the game, and most of the artwork is well done. SCORE: 3 whacks.

STORY: A good space opera. Better than most, in fact. SCORE: 3 whacks.

PROS/CONS: The game is really not that complex, but it is a good way to kill some time. If you can find it on the internet or eBay, it won't cost you an arm and a leg. Collectibility is not too bad. I bought both starter decks and one box of boosters and got almost the entire set. However, it is no longer supported, and it can be difficult to get new players into the game simply for lack of interest.

CONCLUSION: There is no denying that the game is fun to play. It is a bit cheesey, but there are a lot worse out there. I recommend the game for those looking for something they can teach their kids to play. Hear that Dad? Quality time! OVERALL SCORE: 3 whacks. The game runs middle of the road. It is okay, but nothing to get that excited about.

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andstrauss — 2002-11-10T17:48:48+00:00

Game: Wing Commander

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Thread: User Review

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