As I promised you a sequel to my earlier Rogue Star review, now with a few games under my belt.
Although the font type is still a bit harsh on my 50+ eyes, after a few games this ruleset definitely grows on me. I heard one of my opponents remark that it was like Necromunda, but much, much better. No smal praise, I think and one I agree completely with. One could easily play Necromunda with this game, except a lot less clunky and a lot faster.
The lack of background fluff can be seen as a downside by anyone who requires pre-generated back grounds to start playing or as an upside (by me for example) for anyone who likes to graft it to any background he likes. And since there are no games dedicated to Firefly, Farscape, Blakes 7, Killjoy or The Expanse this set is a welcome addition. I find myself contemplating character profiles for certain SciFi show backgrounds in increasing frequency. And certainly it enables you to field any line or scale of figures that you want.
For some reason not everybody likes the squad and character generation system. If you are among them, you should try to create some specific characters of your preference. It actually is insanely flexible but indeed more labour intensive than that of the usual ruleset. But then again that is no strange thing when you consider you play the game with 4-8 characters that are meant to last long enough to play campaigns with. Most games won’t enable you to play an old warrior monk, his pupil, a smuggler, his huge alien sidekick and two robots with the exact likeness to a certain movie franchise that this game does.
While the game seems very complex at first glance it actually plays very swiftly. There is only one stat (the Target Number) which is rather simplified compared to the usual 6-12 stats that similar systems use. The modifiers take some getting used to (like most sets) but the number of modifiers you use is actually quite limited because they are connected to the weapons and equipment you use for your characters. So while the game knows dozens, you only use a few.
The ruleset also holds dozens of scenarios and environments to play them in. As a matter of fact I was amazed how much Osprey had managed to cram inside those 64 pages. Hence, most likely, the microscopic font…..
If you want to try a SciFi skirmish game then RS, despite its vaunted complexity, is actually very accessible. And very nicely priced too!
Although the font type is still a bit harsh on my 50+ eyes, after a few games this ruleset definitely grows on me. I heard one of my opponents remark that it was like Necromunda, but much, much better. No smal praise, I think and one I agree completely with. One could easily play Necromunda with this game, except a lot less clunky and a lot faster.
The lack of background fluff can be seen as a downside by anyone who requires pre-generated back grounds to start playing or as an upside (by me for example) for anyone who likes to graft it to any background he likes. And since there are no games dedicated to Firefly, Farscape, Blakes 7, Killjoy or The Expanse this set is a welcome addition. I find myself contemplating character profiles for certain SciFi show backgrounds in increasing frequency. And certainly it enables you to field any line or scale of figures that you want.
For some reason not everybody likes the squad and character generation system. If you are among them, you should try to create some specific characters of your preference. It actually is insanely flexible but indeed more labour intensive than that of the usual ruleset. But then again that is no strange thing when you consider you play the game with 4-8 characters that are meant to last long enough to play campaigns with. Most games won’t enable you to play an old warrior monk, his pupil, a smuggler, his huge alien sidekick and two robots with the exact likeness to a certain movie franchise that this game does.
While the game seems very complex at first glance it actually plays very swiftly. There is only one stat (the Target Number) which is rather simplified compared to the usual 6-12 stats that similar systems use. The modifiers take some getting used to (like most sets) but the number of modifiers you use is actually quite limited because they are connected to the weapons and equipment you use for your characters. So while the game knows dozens, you only use a few.
The ruleset also holds dozens of scenarios and environments to play them in. As a matter of fact I was amazed how much Osprey had managed to cram inside those 64 pages. Hence, most likely, the microscopic font…..
If you want to try a SciFi skirmish game then RS, despite its vaunted complexity, is actually very accessible. And very nicely priced too!
Great review. Played a couple of games and they are worthy of praise
ReplyDeleteWHat a great looking table!
ReplyDeleteDo you think you could play a Star Wars skirmish using the Rogue Stars rules? Specifically, could it handle Force powers?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. There is an entire paragraph dedicated to psionic skills that contains things like Mind Control, Telekinetic Push or Strangle that must have come straight from the SW movies.
DeleteOf course Darth Vader takes all the points for a whole starting side, or more, to model him with all he does in the movies.
DeleteAs well he should :)
DeleteGreat read and awesome minis. Seems that I have to give Rogue Stars a try. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete