GURPS
Traveller Interstellar Wars Counters
4/25/2006
- Steve Jackson Games has
released a set of counters for their GURPS
Traveller Intersetllar Wars
supplement for FREE as a download from
their e23
store. These counters have silhouettes
from the Interstellar War era ships on
10 pages of counters of ships, missiles,
gravity hexes, worlds, small bodies, and
disabled markers in a 1.2MB pdf
file.
These
counters can be printed on regular paper
then mounted on cardboard or printed
directly on cardstock.
Aliensurfer
Announces Starship Design Competition
9/27/2005
- An update on the status of the contest
from Aliensurfer:
Ok, we have chosen the winners!
Before I name them, the choices were made on two considerations,
1/ Did we like the look of it
2/ Is it a practical design at the moment regards what we can do?
There were some designs we liked that we cannot do at the moment but we may well use them at a later date. If so we will contact the person(s) in question.
So, the winning designs for the first ten models to be sculpted are;
Todd Boyce : Reconnaissance Cruiser and Fast Frigate designs
Andre Khoo : Victorious Class Battleship
Howard Shirley : Retronian Dreadnought
Stephen Thomson : Gladius Strike Carrier
Ken Wang : Five designs in a PDF called 'Ships' – no names!
Travis Watson : BLS Firestar
For the sharp eyed amongst you that totals up to eleven – However, one of Ken's designs (possibly 2 of them actually!) has two versions – so we decided we'd try and do both as it could be sold as one kit with 2 options.
I'd like to thank everyone who sent in designs, messages and offer's of help. I hope this becomes a long term venture, and one where we can continue to make ships that YOU want :-)
Some
of the designs can be seen HERE.
A full web page with more info is in the
works.
3/29/2005
- This was originally posted on The
Miniatures Page by Aliensurfer
and is repeated here with permission:
As a bit of fun and to start the ball rolling on what we hope will become an ongoing line of starship mini's, we have decided to host a competition here at TMP. We want you to design a starship, and send us the designs. We will then (to start with) pick the ten designs that appeal to us the most, and attempt to make them and then mold them. The pieces will be cast in resin or pewter (depending on the complexity of the design). The ten TMP'ers whose designs we use will then receive a set of all ten models as their prize - and when we come to sell the range, the credits. We cannot offer royalties as
* This is a small home run idea to see if it's viable to bring out a range, and
* all profits (if any) are going back into funding more models
Hopefully, none of the designs will be beyond us... but I cannot promise, OK?
<grin>
When you send the designs, can they be either hand-drawn or made into a PDF (as I do not have access to Autocad or similar packages). I will also need to know the dimensions of the model you are aiming at - i.e., two inches long, half an inch wide and a quarter of an inch tall. It would help if these measurements are on the design. Please show the design from as many angles as possible! Also, I only have an A4 printer, so no A3 pages please.
The competition will run from now until the end of May, so you should have plenty of time. Then we will start to build them, etc., etc. I will try and take photos of each stage and put them on the web, and I will keep in touch via email with the ten 'winners'.
Send your designs in with measurements, either hand-drawn or scanned and sent in the post, or via email. For those wishing to post, please email me for a postal address. The email address to send them to is
scottmiddleton_uk@yahoo.com
- please mark the email "Starship Design Competition" and include contact details.
Ravenstar
Studios and Jackill's to Collaborate on
Technical Reports and Miniatures
11/30/2004
- From Chris Lynch of Ravenstar
Studios:
"I have found over the years a lot of people have used my models and
Jackill's Data sheets for Starship wargaming . Although My mini line will not be released until 2005 , I thought
I would drop this note for the Trek and Sci-fi
lovers. Best to you all.
Christopher Lynch of
Ravenstar Studios and Eric Kristiansen of
Jackill's.com have agreed on a collaboration between our two
companies. Ravenstar Studios will build Models of
Jackill's designs and Jackill's will create Technical readout Data Sheets for
Ravenstar designs. Eric and Myself have long wish to do this and finally have made the move. We will start with Federation designs. The first release from
Ravenstar Studios will be Jackill's Recon Cruiser " Explorer Class" .
Jackill's first release will be Ravenstar's Douglass Long range Scout. Release dates have yet to be set , but keep an eye out for updates. Please check
Jackill's designs at http://www.jackill.com/
and of course www.Ravenstarstudios.com"
Chris
has confirmed that the starship
miniatures will be done in 1/3900 scale,
the same as the old FASA Star
Trek miniatures and very close to
the 1/3788 scale of the Star Fleet
Battles miniatures originally
available from Task Force Games
and now available from Amarillo
Design Bureau. Chris also
mentions that all the starship model
kits you see you currently see on his
site will be made into 1/3900 scale
miniatures.
Official
Honor Harrington Universe Games in the
Works from Ad Astra Games LLC.
5/10/2004
- Ken Burnside of Ad Astra Games
announces:
"Ad
Astra Games LLC and Echo Valley
Productions have reached an agreement
in principle to produce a line of games
based on the New York Times bestselling
Honor Harrington series.
The first game in the
line will be Saganami Island
Tactical Simulator, an adaptation
of the groundbreaking Attack
Vector: Tactical game engine to
the Honorverse.
We expect to be
shipping it in 2005, boxed game, price
TBD."
Mongoose
Publishing Mentions Advanced Space
Combat Box for Their Babylon 5 RPG - Due
Later in 2004
4/26/2004
- News about the new Babylon 5 space
game and miniatures from Mongoose
Publishing has been moved to the A
Call To Arms
page.
Gaming
Solutions Incorporated Selling Former
AoG Products Including Babylon 5 Wars,
Fleet Action, GROPOS and Turning
Point
1/23/2004
- From
Casey at Gaming Solutions Inc:
Gaming
Solutions Incorporated is pleased to
offer a variety of products from the
defunct Agents of Gaming.
Currently,
a variety of Babylon 5 Wars
rules and miniatures are available off
of our website, with more B5 Wars
and Fleet Action
miniatures to follow in the coming
weeks. We soon will also offer the GROPOS
rules and miniatures that are still
existent. (Since the termination
of the Babylon 5 license, and the
closing of Agents of Gaming,
all materials relating to this universe
and game lines are somewhat limited and
cannot be restocked once current
supplies are exhausted. Get it while you
can.)
Also
available is the Turning Point
game line, both miniatures and rules.
Sometimes referred to as Fleet Action
2, this game did not see wide
release before AoG had to close
their doors. We have available all
materials officially released for Turning
Point. Of special note is the
availability of two minis that did not
make commercial release: the European
Union Curiasser-class Cruisers and Garde-class
Destroyers. This universe is independent
from that of Babylon 5, and will
be continuously available. (UPDATE
2/6/2004 - it seems that those new minis
were actually mislabeled existing ships
per Bruce Graw posting on B5Wars.net)
Gaming
Solutions Inc. concentrates on
wargames set in a variety of eras and
backgrounds. Have a look in our online
catalog at www.GamingSolutionsInc.com
Blood
and Space available from RPG Objects
"A
comprehensive starship adventure
sourcebook designed to supplement or
extend any of the popular d20 space
based role-playing games. Blood and
Space contains extensive rules for
starship construction, combat, and crews
as well as new classes, feats, and
skills for space based adventures."
Blood
and Space is available both as a
downloadable ebook or in the traditional
printed format.
Mongoose
Publishing will release a Babylon 5 RPG
in May 2003
"Mongoose
Publishing is proud to announce the
acquisition of the licence to produce
the all new Babylon 5 roleplaying game
from Warner Brothers Inc.
This is a project we are all very
excited about here at Mongoose, for we
are all great fans of the television
series and its many spin-offs –
without a doubt, Babylon 5 is the
greatest science fiction epic yet
created. In many ways, the television
series seems almost designed for
roleplaying scenarios and campaigns, and
we are putting all our efforts into
ensuring the new game lives up to the
milestone set by the licence.
The Babylon 5 roleplaying game will be
available in the latter part of May 2003
and, like other Mongoose Publishing
games, will be heavily supported with
material guaranteed to delight any
serious fan of the show."
Here
are some additional quotes from this
discussion and others, thanks to Jeff
Black for compiling most of them:
"Rules
for Starfuries, Raiders and Minbari
warcruisers are already in place (and
the Minbari are _deadly_!)."
"Yes,
I have heard the rumours that the
company who acquired the B5 RPG licence
paid massive amounts of money to end the
B5 Wars licence. Not true. In fact, the
news came as much as a surprise to us -
I had already partitioned off a section
of the rulebook to, potentially, serve
as a conversion mechanism between B5
Wars and the spaceship combat system we
have in the RPG, so players could use
whichever they preferred. I personally
view it as a great shame, as Mongoose
and Agents of Gaming could perhaps have
done great things together but some
things are not to be. For our part, we
believe AoG set a standard of fidelity
to source material that must be matched
if the Babylon 5 RPG is to be worthy of
the name. We appreciate the chance to
pick up the flag and carry it further
onwards. We have also been in
communication with the chaps behind AoG
and are very proud to have Bruce Graw
writing a few of the forthcoming B5
supplements."
"The
main rulebook actually uses a converted
Dragonstar system as a basis for its
space combat. However, you know us - we
just can't leave anything alone So,
Starfuries can pivot in space, Vorlons
have adaptive armour, the Minbari are
_frightening_ and there are all sorts of
other bits and pieces that have made
this feel very different to the DS you
all know and love. However, I have been
considering an advanced space combat
game - it is not a priority as, at its
core, this is not what a B5 RPG should
be about, but it is on the cards. .
."
"At
this time, we have little wish to get
into miniatures, I am afraid. However,
if you have your own miniatures
collection (be it 28mm station personnel
or spacecraft), they _are_ supported by
the main rules."
"It
is my feeling that B5 Wars is way too
complex for an RPG. Also, supporting a
game system that is no longer on sale is
problematic at best. However, if fans
want to put together their own
conversion system, we'll certainly
consider putting the best ideas on our
web site. And you never know where they
may lead. . ."
GeoHex
Closing on February 14th
3/8/2003
- Will Thompson of Monday Knight
Productions makes the following
announcement:
Greetings
to all of you who have purchased,
contacted or know about Geo-Hex
and Monday Knight Productions.
Some things have transpired here in
Portland OR that might be of interest to
you.
1)
After 17 years in business Geo-Hex
has closed its doors.
2)
Monday Knight Productions has
acquired several lines of products
previously made by Geo-Hex
including the game
mats and foam terrain lines.
3)
We have taken over the distribution net
previously started by Geo-Hex. We
have increased the number of products
handled through the site.
The
one most important thing you might like
to know, is that MKP has a new
website. www.mondayknight.com
For
more information please go the site.
There is more information their if you
are interested. MKP
also produces the Galactic
Knights line of starship
miniatures.
2/5/2003
- The Miniatures Page
reports
the following news item.
Will Thompson of Monday
Knight Productions writes:
Please note the
following changes here in Portland:
1.) Monday Knight
Productions is now on its own,
including a new address: 4100 NE
104th Ave, Vancouver WA 98682.
2.) Geo-Hex is
closing as of Feb. 14th.
3.) Monday Knight
Productions has purchased the rights
to making Mats from
Geo-Hex. We
also are arranging to go back into
production on some of the old Geo-Hex
terrain lines. This will take some time
but everything moving with the new
productions.
Jackill's
Starfleet Reference Manuals
2/7/2002
- Finally some news on the classic
series of Starfleet Reference Manuals
from Jackill (http://www.jackill.com/)
was recently posted on 1/20/2002:
Jackill's
is still alive, I just had to take some
time off and finish my education
(Masters in Electrical Engineering) and
with a new wife, new job and a new house
I have just not had the time I need to
finish the books.
A new book Starfleet Reference Manual
Classic is being reworked to match the
new series information. It will cover
ships from the Classic Enterprise Era.
Starfleet Reference Manuals Vol 1-3 are
being enlarged to cover more ships.
I am taking submissions from people for
designs to be included in my books, if
you feel like you have a good design
email a sample with contact information
to
ekristia@ttacs.ttu.edu
I will provide more information about my
books as it is available.
4/28/2003
- Decipher
has released the Starship Sourcebook
for their Star Trek RPG.
It is a 208 page hardcover reference
book in full color. Over 40
classes of starships are included.
Each ship gets at least a full page with
statistics, mission, background, top,
side, and front views along with a
photo. A good portion of the book
devoted to expanding on the starship
design and combat rules from the Narrator's
Guide.
Also
just to note, Engage! is
still mentioned as a future project in Decipher's
message boards and is currently on the
back burner with no current plans to
release it soon.
3/19/2001
- Decipher
announces in a news
release
dated March 16th that they have hired 7
former Last
Unicorn Games
employees to form their RPG and
miniatures gaming development team.
Miniatures games are consistantly
mentioned in the release so there is
hope for a new Star Trek space combat
game in the future.
Matthew
Colville, former
LUG employee
and designer of Red
Alert!
confirms that he is now working for
Deciper
in a message on the Red
Alert!
Yahoo mailing list.
He also mentions that he is currently
working on the RPG but eventually will
be working on the mini game. In
addition Deciper
is interested in Disk games but they
need more production info first.
8/14/2000
- Announced at GenCon, Decipher
gets the Star Trek license. What
this means, is really not known yet
until all parties involved give a
statement. Notice how it
specifically mentions "miniatures,
miniature games and customizable disk
strategy games" so Engage!
and Red
Alert!
are definately involved. Here is
the announcement from Decipher's
website (http://www.decipher.com/newsflash/2000/08/081200newsreleaseA.html)
Decipher's
Star TrekTM Universe Expands To Include
Role Playing, Miniatures, And More
Decipher
Inc. of Norfolk, Virginia, maker of the
acclaimed Star Trek[TM] customizable
card game, announced today that it has
signed an agreement with Viacom Consumer
Products, the licensing division of
Paramount Pictures, to expand Decipher's
Star Trek license to include role
playing games, miniatures, miniature
games and customizable disk strategy
games.
Under
the terms of the agreement, Decipher's
exclusive rights will begin January 1,
2001 for the United States and Canada,
and July 1, 2001 worldwide. Some of the
additional product category rights will
be subject to the expiration of existing
agreements.
In
making the announcement, Decipher
Chairman and CEO Warren Holland said,
"We are very proud that Viacom
Consumer Products chose to grant
Decipher the rights to these additional
categories. We have a wealth of talent,
image resources, and passion for Star
Trek. The plan is to bring our
state-of-the-art computer graphics
systems and innovative game designs to
bear on the creative opportunities
afforded by these new categories. We
look forward to building upon the
successful relationship we have had with
Viacom Consumer Products and the Star
Trek franchise since 1992."
"Based
on the synergies between these product
categories, we are certain that this is
a great strategic move for our business
and for the fans of Star Trek,"
said Terri Helton, Senior Vice President
of Viacom Consumer Products. "We
feel that Decipher's commitment and
enthusiasm for Star Trek will be
essential components for their success
in the new expanded product mix."
As
is the case for Decipher's pre-existing
rights to customizable card games and
digital versions of the card games, the
company will be allowed to develop and
market these new games based on all
current live-action properties in the
Star Trek universe. This includes Star
Trek[TM] the original series, Star Trek:
The Next Generation[TM], Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine[TM], Star Trek: Voyager[TM],
and all nine motion pictures.
contact:
Jonathan Quesenberry
6/5/2000
- Wizards
of the Coast signed
a letter of intent to acquire Last
Unicorn Games.
The terms of the transaction were not
disclosed and the deal is expected to
close by June 30. Read the full press
release here.
Last
Unicorn Games
space combat games include Red
Alert!
which should be released any day now and
Engage!
which is still a ways off.
Capital
Ship
Supplement For Alternity
11/2/2000
- The Warships
sourcebook for Alternity
is now available for free as a pdf
file. 2.3 megs and 112 pages
Download it from here.
3/24/2000
- It was announced earlier this month
that Wizards
of the Coast
will discontinue producing supplements
for Alternity
(WotC's
announcement).
They do say that, "One
of the products originally scheduled
for release, Warships,
will instead be made available to you
as a free download on the website."
When
Warships
is available online, I'll let you
know.
2/10/2000
-
While digging through WotC's
Star Wars message board, I found the
following tidbit about a supplement
for their Alternity
Sci-Fi RPG:
This
was posted on the Alternity list back
sometime in 1999:
Yes,
we have plans for a supplement
detailing capital ship combat,
construction, and game play. I can't
say too much more than that, other
than to point out that it won't be
available until late next year.
*
The firepower scale has been extended
drastically, so that most of the
existing ships in Alternity are
classified as Small Craft. Over that,
there's Light, Medium, Heavy, and
Super-heavy ship. Normal
firepower-toughness rules for
downgrading damage apply, so a fighter
with lasers (Small Craft firepower)
just isn't going to scratch the paint
of a battleship (Heavy toughness). In
addition, we're instituting a rule for
upgrading damage, so the fighter
doesn't like it much at all on those
rare
occasions
when a battleship's main gun scores a
hit.
*
Some of the weapons from the GMG have
been assigned higher firepowers than
they previously possessed. The nuke,
for example, is now a weapon of Heavy
firepower. It's also been assigned an
area of effect of 10/20/40 kilometers.
Due to upgrading, nukes can actually
kill weren now. In fact, they'll do so
within 20 kilometers of ground zero,
and stand an excellent chance of doing
so out to 40 kilometers away.
*
Fighters (and other small ships) can
hurt battleships, usually with
"expendable" weapons such as
missiles or bombs. In other words, a
fighter with a couple of nuclear
missiles poses a threat to a
battleship, but once those are gone,
its lasers just won't do the trick.
*
Ships have been assigned target size
modifiers, and all weapons have had
their accuracies adjusted. A fighter
has a target size modifier of +3
steps, so it's hard to hit...but most
fighter weapons have a -3 step
accuracy bonus, so in a
fighter-on-fighter confrontation it's
balanced. A battleship has a target
modifier of -3 steps, and its weapons
usually have a +3 step accuracy
penalty. Therefore, battleships
shooting at battleships balance out.
But a battleship using a battleship
gun to shoot at a fighter attacks with
a +6 step penalty. That's why ships
carry secondary and tertiary batteries
for fighter and missile defense.
*
A fighter has 10 hull points; a
destroyer, about 150; a cruiser, about
400; a battleship, about 1500; a
dreadnought, 2500; and a fortress
ship, 10,000 or more. Durability
tracks slide in scale as ships get
bigger, so a fortress ship doesn't
really have 10,000 mortal points.
That's
probably enough for now. You guys can
see the direction we're heading with
this stuff. We'll tell you more when
we can!
Creative
Director, Alternity
Wizards
of the Coast, Inc.
Wizards
of the Coast and Star
Wars
11/2/2000
-
In a recent online chat, WotC
Star
Wars
brand manager Lisa Stevens mentions a
space combat miniatures game:
"SWRPGDatabase:
Has Space Combat been incorporated
into the main Star Wars rulebook? If
so, can you throw us a bone and tell
us anything about it?
Lisa
Stevens:
Yes, there will be ship-to-ship combat
in the core rulebook. It won't be a
tactical kind of thing...We will save
that for a miniatures game down the
line. Instead, it will be more
cinematic to capture the storytelling
feel of roleplaying."
2/3/2000
- WotC
wants Star Wars fans to help shape
their new Star Wars RPG so they have a
questionnaire
up to get input on how the game should
be designed (press
release).
In looking through the
questionnaire,
the last question is "The base
game should cover starship
combat."
Hmmmmm
what do you think?
WIZARDS
OF THE COAST ACQUIRES STAR WARS
ROLEPLAYING GAME LICENSE
December
9, 1999 (Renton, Wash.)--Wizards of
the Coast Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro
Inc., has been granted the exclusive
worldwide license to publish
roleplaying games, miniatures
table-top games and accessories based
on Star Wars®, the Star Wars expanded
universe and the three Star Wars
prequels.
"It
has always been a dream of ours to
create roleplaying games and
accessories based on the classic Star
Wars tales. We are delighted to join
forces with such a team," said
Lisa Stevens, Wizards of the Coast®
brand manager for Star Wars game
products.
"The
Star Wars saga has long been a great
foundation for roleplaying, and we are
very proud to be partnered with the
people who are renowned for the best
roleplaying products in the
world," said Howard Roffman,
president of Lucas Licensing Ltd.
The
first Wizards of the Coast Star Wars
game product will be released in fall
2000.
It
mentions "miniatures table-top
games and accessories" so we can
hope that we get a game with Star
Destroyers and maybe even some
miniatures. GenCon 2000 might be
interesting.
1/14/2000
- Pyramid
magazine from Steve
Jackson Games
has an article on Golf
Tee Spaceships
written by Fred Wolke, "They're
dirt cheap, plentiful, and make great
starship miniatures. Don't believe us?
Check this out." You have
to be a Pyramid
subscriber
to see the full article but the sample
available to everyone has some nice
pics.
Atlantis
Games,
the publishers of the recently
published Tactical
Strike,
are working on a 3D starship combat
game with the working title Tactical
Fleet.
So far both vector and cinematic
styles of movement seem to be
supported and players will be allowed
to design ships how they want them.
Hopes are that in a few months a
shareware version will be available.
Also, while still known as Enigma
Miniatures,
they asked for gamers feedback on
rec.games.miniatures.misc about what
they wanted in starship miniatures;
what size, styles, number of ships in
a fleet, etc. So we may even see
some miniatures along with the game.
2/20/2000
- The
Miniatures Page
reports that Atlantis Games is out of
business (TMP
article).
The last communication from Atlantis
was in early November 1999 and nothing
has been heard since.
Faultline
Sudios
mentions a game in the works called SFA:
Tactical OPS
with the description "Ship to
ship combat set in a VERY well known
Movie/TV universe."
Hmmmm, what could this be?
12/23/99
- OSS
has a new website under construction
at http://ossgames.com/.
Check under their BBS for the playtest
kit for Cold
Space.
A direct link to the kit is:
Please
note that some of the files are in
Post Script format and you will have
to find a way of printing them.
One
Small Step's
old webpage had the following
information on games of interest:
Star
Force Terra
was published by 3W and became the
property of OSS after the demise of
that company. We are currently working
on a design update, and a complete
revamping of the artwork. This time
that art will be fully rendered 3D
computer generated graphics. In
addition, the playing cards will be
full sized. Look for this release in
the not too distant future.
Cold
Space Miniatures Rules
Cold
Space
rules are in the very early stages of
design evaluation. If you'd like to
get involved in the design of a
science fiction space combat
miniatures game, this might be for
you. Currently the basic rules are
generic enough to use almost any
miniatures. We are working on a
universe of characters, races, and
ship designs, but for now we want a
solid system.
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