Aerospace Command Dark Lightening Deep Space Warfleet DTS - Dramatic Tactical System Engage! Fleet Commander 3600 In the Shadow of Stars

Phil Pritchard's Lensman Phoenix Horizons Project Utukku Spin It: Space Battle Star Kings Starship Tactical Combat Simulator

From Dark Corner Games

 

9/12/2001 - At GenCon 2001 I did not see these guys.

 

2/27/2001 - The name of the company has changed from Black Box Games to Dark Corner Games and the website has moved to http://www.angelfire.com/wi2/darkcornergames/index.html.  Dark Lightening is still listed as a GenCon 2001 release.

 

9/29/2000 - Recently on eBay, a pre-release version of Dark Lightening as a Word 97 file has been up for auction, along with pre-painted plastic minis for the game.  Black Box Games website states Dark Lightening will be released at GenCon 2001.  The game is described as follows in the auctions:

 

          Dark Lightening is next year's hottest tabletop wargame! It is a fast and furious simulation of starship fighter combat in the 23rd century. It can be played by 2-6 players.

          As one of the co-authors I can tell you that this is the best starship combat game that has ever been created. And you can have a copy of it before it is released to the public.

 

5/24/2002 - Some more info on Engage! was posted on the TrekRPG.net forums by Matt Colville on 4/22, he was the designer of Red Alert! the Star Trek disk game from LUG:

I'm Mr. Starship Combat right now. I did the rules in the Players Guide with help from the Mighty Modron-Mounted Mad Monk Mappin and am working on Engage! which hereafter I shall be referred to by me as Engage since I'm sick of working on games with exclamation points at the end.

Little story; with Engage I was pretty stoked at being given the chance to make the definitive Star Trek minis game for the next 20 years. A chance to update one of the most popular sci-fi battles franchsises, get people to stop associating Star Trek Space Combat with Starfleet Battles, and really make something new and cool.

But, in the end, my proposed design had little innovation. Hard to invent totally new ideas in this industry. I thought my initiative system was pretty cool, but then someone reminded me of where I'd seen it before and I thought 'oh yeah.' If you've played. . .let's see. . .Silent Death, Red Alert (the disk game) and the starship combat rules from the RPG then you'll recognize most of this stuff. It is skill based so you will be able to use your actual ship from your RPG session, though basically all the main characters only contribute one skill, so it's not an RPG solution.

Our current model is; if you want an RPG solution, we've provided one. Lots of support coming its way from the Starships book and, I think, the Operations Manual. If you want a tactical game, we're doing Engage.

Engage is a long term project. It'll take almost a year to complete and right now I'm working on the Two Towers Adventure Game for Lord of the Ring (it has mass combat rules in it!) So while Engage is important to me, at this early stage it's not my highest priority. I say that as a preemptive strike against the slew of questions that may arise. I have the basic design of the game, and we may start playtesting soon.

 

5/17/2001- Engage! lives on!  According to the editorial article Boldly Going: The New Star Trek RPG posted on TrekRPG.net about Decipher's plans for the Star Trek RPG and related product, the following information was included that us space gamers would be interested in:

          "Another new design decision will be a starship book for each faction, again covering all four properties. So, instead of searching through multiple books for a Federation starship, you'll be able to find it in one comprehensive resource.

          Miniatures are also part of the equation, and the often mentioned, but never-seen starship tactical miniatures game, "Engage!" will see the light of day -- and quickly. At this time many aspects of miniature development are still unknown, but both character and starship miniatures are planned, handled by a third party with experience, likely."

 

The RPG itself could be out by GenCon (August 2001) and some talk on the TrekRPG.net's message boards indicated that the first of the starship books might be out by late 2001 plus it looks like these books will be landscape oriented with at least 3 view pictures and histories for all of the ships.

 

8/18/2000 - The Star Trek license has changed hands, how this will effect Engage! is unknown but
Decipher's press release specifically mentions miniatures and miniature games.  The whole press release is in the Other News page.

 

11/18/99 - Download the Spacedock playtest application/NDA from LUG's web page (under the Game Support link).  Make sure you have the latest version of Adobe's Acrobat Reader (4.0) since I did not and had trouble reading the pdf with 3.0.  The application has to be sent in by November 24th so hurry!

 

When I talked to people at the LUG booth at GenCon, they say this new set of tactical rules in the Star Trek universe would be out in 1999, but I don't think a firm date has been set yet.   Still little word on this one.  Their web page has no listing for Engage! but under their Star Trek Crossovers line they do mention
Spacedock: The Starfleet Starship Construction Manual, Vol. 1,ST: Crossovers - Sourcebook, Page Count: 128 pages Format: 8.5" by 11", two color, soft cover. 

 

Please note that Spacedock is a supplement for the RPG on starship construction and combat and is not directly connected to Engage! though they will probably be highly compatable.  For those of you who want all the little details on the ships, this is a must buy.  I mention Spaceock here because it is close to
Engage! and there is little information about Engage! available at this time.

 

At least 2 packs of starship miniatures were on their schedule, one Federation and one Romulan.

From Mariner Games

 

6/30/2007 - Mariner Games is no more and the rights to Squadron Commander have been sold to Brigade Models who will be producing their own version of the game with their own background.  No word on the future of Fleet Commander.

 

9/16/2002 - More playtesting for Fleet Commander:

I just wanted to update everyone on our Fleet Commander project. Work is progressing very well. Fleet Commander is now a game. We are playtesting right now. Writing the rules will begin in a couple weeks.

    Here are the basics about the game: 

* The detail level falls between Star Fleet Battles and Full Thrust. 

* Power is allocated to individual ships. 

* Combat is sublight. (Though there may later be FTL combat rules) 

* Ships sensors play a significant role. 

* There will be a starship construction and weapon construction system. 

* There will be fleet level rules allowing large numbers of ships to be used in battle. 

* The game is fast paced. Duals between two cruisers can be finished in about 30 minutes if it s a good game.

Now that we have a game in playtesting I will be making more frequent posts about its progress. 

Thank You, 

Patrick Doyle

 

4/24/2001 - Updated news from Mariner Games:

          Yes, we are still alive here at Mariner Games!   The Fleet Commander 3600 rules have been completed and are undergoing our in-house playtesting.  Check back next month for some updates and information on the game system.

          Balkans Air War is slowly progressing, but most of the Mariner Games effort is going towards FC3600.

 

7/12/2000 - News just in from Mariner Games, publishers of the Starfighter game Squadron Commander 3600:

          Mariner Games is pleased to announce that Fleet Commander 3600 (FC3600) is well on its way to being ready for play testing.  FC3600 is a fleet-level simulation in the Squadron Commander 3600 (SC3600) universe.  But more than just another gaming universe with a quick-playing rules-set FC3600 is as customizable as SC3600, allowing players to adapt the rules to the sci-fi universe of their choice. Patrick Doyle, chief designer of SC3600 is heading up the design of FC3600.

 

 

11/30/2004 - An update of the status of this game from the Lensman site:

"We will not make the November 2004 release date, please accept our apologies. Our goal is to make the new edition as good as we possibly can and that may take some time. However, despite delays, we are making progress and we will, eventually, release the game. We've waited more than 30 years, please be patient while we do this right.

CURRENT STATUS: Playtesting in progress, Graphics development in progress"

7/20/2004 - The original version of this game was self-published back in 1969 by Phil Pritchard.  This new version is due in November 2004 and will include the classic version of the game along with a new ultramodern version with updated rules, counters and maps. 

"Fight your space fleet battles on the beautiful strategic map. Transfer play to the new tactical map to chase your opponent through one of the many detailed solar systems. Close in on a heavily industrialized planet complete with orbital fortresses. But plan wisely or it will be your planets under attack! Or instead of emphasizing military action, seek victory through exploration and economic expansion. The game has three levels of rules complexity. The introductory game is a simple, fun, beer and pretzels game with a limited number of turns and a fixed reinforcement schedule. The Basic game brings in economics and production. At this level, you must plan the exploration of worlds, their economic development and what these worlds produce. The Advanced game brings in the battle board for tactical combat in solar systems. Each solar system is individually generated, so until you explore a star, you are completely unaware what that system contains. Don't forget your scouts and command ships!"

Demo and playtest games were run at Origins 2004 and got a positive and enthusiastic response.

 

 

11/2/2007 - Phoenix Horizons has been delayed indefinitely to some issues the cropped up, plus their control of their domain name has expired.

 

4/22/2007 - Damage Control Games has announced their new game, Phoenix Horizons due out in 2007 along with miniatures.

...we are announcing at GAMA the release of a new miniatures line for our first offering, Phoenix Horizons – A Game of Explosive Interstellar Combat. The first wave of the game will feature four Fleet Boxes, one for each of four fleets within the game. These will be available for sale at GENCON Indy and with a little luck we will get picked up by a distributor at GAMA so they will be available at your local game stores. The Fleet Boxes will be available plus up to 13 warships in total per faction being released in the 10 months following. The full size color rule book, Phoenix Horizons: From The Ashes, will hit the streets in early November, just in time for the holidays. The book will have all the rules, stories on the characters, ships, and the Rogues that support them. The book will also contain a hobby section for painting and terrain tips suited specifically for a space combat game.

More information can be found on DCG's Forums.  A set of free Quickstart Rules is available for download.

DCG had purchased the Cold Navy line of miniature but has decided not use use them as they do not fit into the universe they were trying to build.

Commonwealth of Braagha minis, the Doon class Frigate, the Thorn class Destroyer, and the Lion class Cruiser

Doon class Frigate (50mm)

Thorn class Destroyer (65mm)

Lion class Cruiser (75mm)

 

9/22/2004 - I contacted Max about the current status of Project Utukku and he replied:

"Project Utukku is in current development with the development version of rules now including background material on the races the technology descriptions have been fully expanded new rules for :
orders and experience system
electronic warfare and detection ( mostly finished)
Boarding
Ramming ( this one is a real pain in a vector system and awaiting completion!)
New ship designs are in progress with details on UTC( humans) and femurac ( an ape like race) in current development
With all the projects I'm holding off on release until I'm fully happy with the new versions."

10/11/2002 - Max announces that Project Utukku playtest rules are now available at: http://www.lpk-computers.co.uk/fleetattack/ on the products page.

Features include:
Vector movement ( with some features never before seen)
comprehensive yet simple damage system, able to reflect the differenced between explosive and focused damage (ie lasers) you can literally slice a ship apart.
Rate of fire mechanic for energy weapons based on available power.

Price $5 ( 22 pages plus control sheets and sample ships)

9/19/2001 - I got word  from Max that they are looking for artists to do aliens, architecture, and general concept design work.  If you have the skills and are interested in contributing to Project Utukku, go to LPK Design's website for contact information.

 

3/19/2001 - A new Desktop image is available for download and more are planned.

 

3/13/2001 - Max Blagg announces a new space battle game is in development and they need playtesters and contributors for the background, see their website for details.

The basic engine of the game system will be generic. It will include:-

          1.) Maneuver. vector based. (and simple too!) (NB the mechanics for reactionless drives will be in there)

          2.) Detection, sensors and ew

          3.) Combat, weapons etc.. (naturally)

          4.) Ship construction . One of the largest sections of the rules. This should allow you to design a ship any way you want (also tanks, planes etc..) to any level of detail that you could want all in one logical system, by changing the data tables that come with the system you should be able to tailor the system to anything you want.

          5.) Fleet scale conversion rules, a full fleet scale based game, yes the large fleet scale game rules are included in the basic package.

          6.) Campaign scale options (logistics costs will be defined in ship construction) , integral campaign system, again presented in the basic package

          7.) Ground forces scale integration.

It will be sumptuously illustrated with explanatory diagrams , illustrations of the ships, detail views of the weapon systems, and maps.

Illustrations of some the ships are available on the website.  Max's computer artwork has been used buy
Agents of Gaming in their Babylon 5 Wars and Fleet Action products.

 

 

4/11/2001 - I received the following information from Eric Smith, Marketing Director for FASA Corporation:

"I have obtained from FASA Corp. the license to the Game Mechanics for the old ST: Tactical game and the entire line of products associated with ST including the RPG. While I cannot use the Star Trek name as that and the information contained in are the property of Paramount. The Game Mechanics are the property of FASA Corp. I plan to relaunch the system in a space based universe and look forward to doing so in the next year or so."

 

So it looks like a familiar game will be back but in a new universe.  Eric plans to have a web page up in a few months with more info including contact information and when I have that info, it will be posted here.