I picked this up at my FLGS on the 8th. It was a bit expensive at around 60 dollars. Finally got to play it today and have to say my girlfriend and I really enjoyed it. My impressions/review is below.
Components:
The ships look fantastic. The detail is really impressive and the models all are intricately detailed. My only worry is that the ships are hard to get on and off the supplied bases and I'm worried that over time the ships might break if they are put on and off to many times. The designs of the ships appears to borrow from Wing Commander, Star Wars, and Battlestar. The cards for both the ships and the tactics deck are a bit flimsy. I would have preferred them to be a bit heavier especially the ship cards. The art work on the cards is really nice and evokes the theme of space combat. My only real complaint with the game is that there are not enough blue and red pegs and a few times early in a scenario we had to resort to using blue shield pegs to represent hull pegs.
Rulebook:
The rule book is really short and very clearly written. As with any game there are a few things that still need to be ironed out but overall this rule book is a quick concise read. Unlike other space combat games, there is no worrying about fire arcs or line of sight rules which drastically speeds up play. The combat rules are quick and concise. The game says for ages 13 up but it can probably be taught to younger games.
Gameplay:
The game play follow a three phase turn:
Phase 1: Collect 10 energy
Phase 2: Deploy ships and add-ons (hero, weapons, events, etc.)
Phase 3: Activate ships to move and attack
Each action costs energy, and the key to the game is how a player manages their energy. The combat is incredibly simple. A player pays a certain cost to "activate" a ship allowing it to move and fire. 386
When a ship attacks it rolls two dice and they are compared to the ship card of the target. If the coordinate is grey it is a hit and if it is white it is a miss. Then the attacked ship takes damage equal to the strength of the attack. The combat is quick and frantic. Each ship has one critical spot that if it will destroy it in one hit if the shields are down. For those who are worried that this will imbalance the game, do not worry. In our three games it hasn't happened yet. I personally like the "puncher's chance" this gives players.
Also, each player has a tactics deck which is specific to each side. These tactics cards can shift combat by giving ships extra firepower or abilities. Some ships also have special abilities that change how a player will approach combat.
Balance:
This is an asymmetric game and having played three games it appears to be fairly balanced. The ISI has ships with high shield and hull rating. However, it seems like their weapons are weaker. Their enemies have ships that can take less damage but they have really strong close up weapons. I was afraid that the ISI would have an advantage with their more highly armored ships, but they lost all three games!
Overall:
This is a great game. The ship models are fantastic and the gameplay is easy to pick up. The tactics cards and ship abilities make each side feel unique. If you are looking for a easy to learn space tactics game (or you where raised with space opera games and movies) that still has some tough tactical decisions look no further. For the 60 dollars I feel like I got a good deal and have been happy to add this to my collection. 449