I call this a war/strategy game because I feel it is a war game first, strategy game second. This game is designed to start off fighting and not to let up until you lose or win. The strategy plays itself out with careful order placement and combat decisions. To me, the battle is 100% of the fun!
I want to first say that I really have enjoyed this game and I think after many plays, I can give a pretty good review of the game. I have played 3 two player, 2 three player, 3 four player, and 1 five player game.
StarCraft The board game is a very dynamic and highly active and interactive game. As many know it is based off of the computer game, and even though it is similar, it is a very different game. SCBG has all the units and technology that you would find in the PC game (except infected marines) and wraps them up nicely into a great packaged game. The game also introduces to me a very good combat system that uses combat cards instead of dice. I was very skeptical at first, but after many games I have begun to think that this is the core to the game and without it, the game would not be as good.
SCBG also uses a unique order placement that does a good job at simulating real time to match the game play of the PC. You can win or lose over some poor planning.
COMPONENTS:
SCBG is comprised of tons of plastic and cardboard pieces that are high in detail and looks. The planets are of the same quality as the bits in Arkham horror. Very nice and sturdy. Here are a few hints to make your game look even better.
1. Use a hair dryer to straighten out warped game pieces. I here of the hot/cold water method, and I for one do not like that. I used my wife’s dryer, heated them up and held them in the position that I felt looked good. Blew on them to cool them off and WHAM… they look as good as they did off of the assembly line.
2. For the planets: we had troubles early on getting the planets connected with all the connectors. You can tell the sides of the planets that go the same; the actual texture is different on both sides. If you have both planets laid out with the same texture and with the same texture as the connectors, they go together like a glove. It takes a second to match it up, but will help preserve the planets longer.
The cards are also a big plus. They are perfect in size and have great art work on them. Just as you would expect from a FF game!
The rule book again, like many FF games it tough to handle. 336
I know they try to organize it and this time they put in tons of examples and side notes to point out them one sentence rules that people miss. But I think this time there may be too much. A lot of back and fourth from page to page to iron out any rule in question. I feel the game book is complete, however it is scattered.
The Races:
STBG has three unique races; Zerg, Terran, and the Protos.
Zerg: The zerg is the race that early on is a numbers game. In the PC game you win by the swarm, in the BG you win by the swarm. You have to outnumber your opponent to get kills. Their zergling units are weak in attack and defense, and you need a 2-1 advantage over the basic units of the other races to have a chance to kill them. The good thing is the zerg has the highest unit count to counter this. They have 9 zergling and 6 hyrdalisks. Way more than the other three races basic units. The Zerg also have some pretty unique techs that with some cleaver unit placement and the right cards, can take on some heavy hitters with some lesser units. Later in the games you can gain the ultralisks and the deadly guardians. With these units you can hang into the nastiest of fights. The Zerg is a formidable opponent.
Terran: The back bone of the Terran army is the very versatile marine. They can attack both ground and air units that can give them the edge in any battle. They also are very flexible. They can hold more combat/tech cards than the other races which give them the edge heading into combat. They also have the ability to move their base to other friendly areas on the same planet. This could be the key to a successful win or loss. The rest of the terran forces are just as strong. Many of their units have splash damage, which means they have the capabilities to kill more units at the end of battle. Fewer units and more kills are very tough to beat. The tech the terran get as well can really boost them in a fight. Their clocking field for the basic air unit is a must. 237