![]() ![]() Does it succeed? That's what the rest of the article is about. Does B5: A Call to Arms (hereafter B5) attempt to bridge the gap described above? Yes. This review will cover both these releases in an effort to examine the game as a whole. I say newest because although the initial release of the game was last year, this fall (2004) marks the release of a revised edition, along with a hard cover rules expansion A Sky Full of Stars. Or, if they are expanded, new fleets require very specialized rules that fundamentally don't fit well into fleets designed with the core system.Įnter the newest contender in the Naval tabletop game market: Babylon 5: A Call to Arms from Mongoose Publishing. However, because the rules are so tight, it becomes difficult to offer the gamer a lot of different options, either in fleet choices, races, weapons systems, etc. These are kinds of games that can be played in an evening, or in a tourney or league format. These games have relatively simple, elegant rule systems, play very tightly, give the player good in-game tactical choices, have minimal record keeping, and even large battles can be played in just a few hours. Only the most fanatical gamer can find time to play these games regularly.Īt the other end of the spectrum are games like Man O' War and Battlefleet Gothic. And the record keeping is a project in and of itself. The problem is that this diversity comes at a price. This is their appeal you can do anything and be anyone from the represented universe. ![]() Games like Starfleet Battles and Harpoon are mind-boggling in scope, encompassing a huge number of ship types, races/countries, support craft, weapons systems, etc. One possible answer is that the genre just doesn't appeal to a large audience, but I believe there may be another reason. However, one rarely sees these types of games being played in hobby stores or gaming clubs. Games such as Starfleet Battles, Harpoon, Man O' War, and Battlefleet Gothic have all captured my attention. I guess it's the images of massive ships slowly turning to bring huge guns to bear while smaller craft zip about and fighters fill the sky. I have long been a fan of games involving 'naval maneuver'.
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