Pure Naval Theory: The "Starfire" System and Space Battles

Some will cry, "Heresy!" when they see me putting spaceship battles up on this blog.  However, most space battle games are directly derived from "wet navy" games.  The designers are often inspired by WWI and WWII surface actions, altho today's candidate has a healthy dose of modern naval.  None by Age of Sail far as I know - too far a stretch?  There are some "solar wind" inspired vehicles in Star Wars, and the GW Eldar also.  Anyway...I've heard people say that Battlefleet Gothic is the best WWI naval game ever.  I politely disagree and am pursuing ODGW's "Fleet Action Imminent" their GQ3 game for WWI.  Still, BFG is an excellent game, and _would_ make a great WWI game if redesigned a bit!

Anyway, in our last move, I discovered my old pocket editions of Starfire I [WWI in space] and Starfire II [conveniently, WWII in space, introducing powerful small ships, aka Fighters, Torpedo Bombers, et al].  I say WWI and II, but there's some modern naval war in there also with missiles, point defense, and a Datalink system to network multiple ship weapons systems together.  However, one could leave out such fanciness and run with just the simpler systems. Actually, aside from the high speeds of the ships relative to the weapon ranges, one could actually make a fine wet navy game from this, including building one's own ships!

Anyway, simply couldn't resist cracking them open now and seeing how the 1979 games have withstood the test of time.  Cheap graphics and nothing interesting game board [sky blue...really?  Not even black?? yes, this is definitely a wet navy game!] invoke real nostalgia at this point in my middle ages:

 Pocket edition-arama!  Starfire I, Starfire II, Starfire III.  Amazing graphics, yes??  Well, maybe for 1979... [under the lovely sky-blue mat is the map from Avalanche Press' "Jutland".  See, I _really am_ a historical gamer!]

Yes friends, the counter sheet comes in THREE COLORS - woohoo!  Beside is Starfire 3: Empires, the full exploration and campaign game for multiple players.  Dying to try it out...

 A simpler time...but not a "simplistic design".

There is no vector movement.  Ships have a hex speed equal to number of Ion engines. There's a Turn Mode to restrict maneuver based upon "wet navy" inertia, i.e. facing changes of one hex side, so 60 degrees. The game is especially designed for the interaction of weapons.  Per the design notes, "Starfire is designed to emphasize the inter-relationships of various weapons and support systems".  Especially pleasing is the point system that enables one to design ships from scratch within generous parameters.  As a Task Force Games pocket game, it is a boardgame with very basic components, but lots of play.

The scenarios are nicely thought out with progressive "future history" matched to progressive learning of the rules.  Each one presents an escalating fictional struggle btw the Terrans [us'ns] and the Khanate [them-uns, no details really explained in this pocket edition]. So one gets a feel for the game with escalating scenarios of complexity that represent the arms race between the two, uhm, races.  So "a race btw the races", you might say.  

Combat is relatively simple. One rolls "to hit" on a chart and then usually inflicts 1 damage point, with some weapons only 1/2 and some up to 5.  Hit damage is inflicted in a linear pattern from left to right, knocking out systems along the way.  So a small escort looks like this: (2) S S A H I F I I I (4) which is (Turn Mode), Shields, Armor, Hold, Ion engine, Force beam, etc, and (Max Speed) in hexes.  So the first hit on the ship would knock out a Shield.  

Part of the fun is that some weapons skip Shields, some skip Armor / Holds, and some skip both!  Depends on how advanced your tech is.  The weapons systems are nicely balanced, and lend an intriguing complexity to ship design.  Everyone wants to find that perfect balance of cost, weapons and defense!  Of course, the game presents the two official races with plenty of examples of ships completed over the course of the First Interstellar War [IS1], and adds a third race with more unusual ship designs right at the end, the Ophiuchi.

These three pocket editions comprise what is now known as Starfire First Edition.  As was the wont of players and designers and publishers in that era, an "upgrade" to a bookshelf box edition was inevitable.  Some real benefits were seen in the Second Edition which were a single booklet comprising all the rules of I and II, with a great index and a number of clarifications and loophole closures.  The released box looks like this:

with the back cover on left, front to the right.  My used copy has them taped together on one side.  Have to say, I like the cover's ship design, it has that "near-future" quality to it and it always pleases me to see obvious weaponry on a space combat ship!.

In essence, my case for including my space battle interest in the same blog, is that space battles are mostly naval battles with earthly restrictions removed.  Gravity, waterlines, surface fleets v. submarines, and air, and costly budgetary restrictions and such, are all very much present in the history of war at sea.  But the future and outer space give us new limits to push ship technology, and new geographies to fight over.  How exciting is that!?  In essence, I'm making a case that the best of sci-fi space battles are a mirror that reflect both our present-day limits, and our future possibilities for naval gaming.  In essence, they let us pursue "pure naval theory" as far as our imaginations take us!

The funny thing is that now I'm wondering if I COULD modify this into a near-future ship combat game...!  I guess you can't take the "wet navy" out of this gamer.  

More to come, including the interesting paradigms of the first couple of scenarios.

Return to Starfire 2nd Edition: Box Rules

I dig the rules, the graphics, EVERYTHING!

From my previous series of posts here [CLICK]

Well, it's been over five years, and I've got the Space Bug again [not to be confused with the WUHAN BUG] which means more Starfire, and some rules experiments. Expect several posts on this, as I've already played a number of games and been re-reading the rules.

Amazingly, Starfire Design Studio has kept this game going in its many variations for over 40 years! Nearly everything is still available from Wargame Vault, here [CLICK] and there are even shapeways ships here [CLICK] altho they are a bit too big and too pricey for my purposes. There's some lively discussion at their forum, too [CLICK].

I dig these rules. They can be played as simple or as complex as you want just by using - or not - the various weapons and ship types. The only thing missing for me is movement rules that are a bit more realistic / vector oriented. The rest of the rules seem to hold up quite well. Like many naval games, the issue of rules complexity has a lot to do with ship variety and technical differentiation. There's really nothing to say that in the distant future, starships won't be treated more like Sherman Tanks than WWII naval vessels, and production will be streamlined as well as cut'n paste with the technical widgets. Anyway...

These 2nd Edition rules have a lot going for them, still, and I strongly recommend you invest a measly $8 on getting them. They clean up the original micro game and its successor, Starfire II [which added carriers and fighters, effectively taking Starfire I from WWI to WWII]. And even the scenarios have been re-balanced. A thoroughly cleaned up edition.

Well, to get back into the game, I first did a replay of Scenario I, this time with the 2nd edition. The victory conditions were tweaked in this edition, and seem a lot more realistic. The Terrans are still entering thru the Warp Point at left, and discovering the Khanate planet and its patrol ship. They need to get within 2 hexes of either with scientific instruments intact for a tactical victory, and both for a decisive victory. The Khanate side wins if he destroys Discovery [not your kindler, gentler aliens!]. It's a draw if the Khanate fires upon the Discovery and it escapes with news of "less than friendly" aliens at this particular Warp Point. The Khanate player has Initiative and the drop on the Discovery - Terrans can't fire for a full turn after being fired upon first.

Turn 1 start. Khanate Escort class ship Alkzar is on routine patrol, towards the mostly likely point of danger, the Warp Point, facing it.

Discovery enters. Alkzar moves 4 - max speed - towards her, hoping to get two solid hits and a superior position before Discovery can respond. Will it work?

Turn 2. Alkzar veers to starboard, fires, but misses with the Gun, hitting with the Missile. Discovery's Shields are down!

 whoop, whoop - red alert, red alert, all hands man your battle stations...

Terran Turn 3. Discovery positions itself for a stern rake [ships cannot shoot into their rear 60 arc]. Terran is always moving first as the Khanate player always has the IN. The Khanate player therefore always moves 2nd and shoots 1st!Discovery achieves a victory condition, getting a readout of the Alkzar with its scientific instruments at 2-hex range.

Turn 3 Khanate. But the Alkzar doesn't let that happen. She swings to starboard and gets a bit of distance as well as a blocking position to prevent Discovery reaching the planet. Both blast away at each other with hits at close range. Discovery is a bigger, faster, ship. Both have the same firepower, two weapons, but Discovery has one Laser which is more dangerous at close range.

Turn 4. Discovery and Alkzar tighten up a bit, both to each other's starboard side, and pound away with weapons. The Discovery's Laser inflicts 2 hits for 3 total. Alkzar loses its Gun, and now has 1/2 the firepower and 1/3 the engine power of Discovery. Doesn't look good...

Turn 5. Alkzar tries to gain a bit of distance while Discovery gets scientific readout of Khanate planet, for decisive win. She then smokes the Alkzar and the debris scatters.

Well, that was easy. The Alkzar may have the drop on Discovery, but the Terran Laser makes a big difference in firepower, and with 6 Engines compared to 4 for the Alkzar, Discovery is just too much for it to handle.

Naval tactical maxim: if you are outclassed in BOTH firepower and speed, you are left with luck or prayers, whichever you favor. A small ship HAS to be able to out maneuver a large one as we will assume it is outgunned.

Probably the most effective small ship in Starfire would be high-speed with plenty of missiles, giving it some long-range punch. It can then maintain distance with its speed. This is part of the fun of Starfire - you can design your own ships. The question then becomes how you model design philosophy differently for the two sides lest they have identical ships.

Well, that didn't take very long, so I immediately played again, this time with the thought that Alkzar should try to maintain distance, forcing the Discovery to close in, get scientific readings, then clear out to the warp point - with its greater speed, it should be able to do so but we'll see.

Turns 1 & 2, the ships get in range while Alkzar opens up with a missile hit - the Gun is way out of range. Discovery has a missile, also, however.

Turn 3, Alkzar keeps some distance while Discovery closes in. Unfortunately, Alkzar misses with its Gun while Discovery rolls well and hits with both its weapon systems.

Turn 4, Alkzar loses some distance while Terrans scan the Khanate planet. This time they each get only one hit - lost chance for the Khanate ship to catch up! They have both lost 5 systems, but the Alkzar has lost two Engines and has move 2 v. move 5 as well as its Gun. Doesn't look good with half the firepower and half the speed!

Turn 5, the slowly creeping Alkzar has its fangs pulled, and a whisker, also [ouch!]. It is now at the mercy of the Terran, who can close in and take a close reading of the ship, and depart with a decisive win.

 Called the game at this point - decisive Terran win.

Well, Alkzar did better, but clearly needs the Gun replaced by a missile, perhaps two, and she may then survive while pecking away at the terrain. Might also help if they used the planet as an obstacle to hide behind occasionally.

So this is a RAW post. I'm still reading the rules and getting caught up on all the wonderfulness that is Starfire II!

Next post: tinkering with Vector movement!

More Fleet Requisitions Placed

Well, with the consistent interest I've had getting back to Starfire, and investigating old-school Star Trek as well [Star Fleet Battle Manual 3 and Star Fleet Battles, both 1979-ish] I figure I have to prepare better miniature and hex map / mat situations.  The first thing I worked out was the miniature situation.

I needed small, cheap, easy to paint ships that had obvious thrust exhaust and obvious weapons.  I also wanted some likely shapes.  After LOTS of looking around and plenty of thinking, I went with the fleet-scale Star Blazers miniatures from Musashi et al: http://www.starblazersonline.com/products.html

I got about 18 of the early Okita cruisers and "Wildstar" missile destroyers, and the early Yamato [couldn't resist!] to use in some "Sink the Bismark" type scenarios.  To oppose them, I got a bunch of Gamilon small ships, DDs, CAs, and Deslock's Command Ship, plus some transports.  I figures these will due very well for an escalating war of tech as seen with the Starfire Scenarios.  

The caption says "free with your purchase of kids meal".  I think.  Or maybe it says "Alex Wildstar's Destroyer in which he gets killed and propels his younger sibling along plotline".  Yes?

Gamilon type cruiser or destroyer.  Style very consistent with what I ordered.  Note large bow vents where the ship model serves as a flashlight and water pistol.

General type of fleet I ordered for Terra.  Unfortunately, the big battleship isn't available.

Altho I may not necessarily dig the Khanate as Khats, I like the general idea of both the Warp Points and the advancing ship size and tech that playing Starfire RAW puts forward.  I will probably tweak the background and blend it with the Star Blazers one, and come up with a "Starfire Meets Star Blazers" routine.  With Starfire, my nostalgia and RAW mix permits me to experiment with my own background.  With the Star Trek, I am pretty much dead set on the original TV series universe, as that's that I knew growing up.

Anyway, the problem miniatures lead me quickly into is stacking.  At the moment, there's no stacking limit and no penalty for being stacked when fired upon, as Starfire posits a .5 Light Second hex, about 93,000 miles.  How a missile goes twenty hexes in a ten second turn is best not thought about!  Maybe the lasers go the speed of light, but the missiles???  Anyway... More importantly, in game terms, one often stacks up the counters of ships, and has little reason to divide up and spread out.  So how can I "stack" miniatures on bases?  The simple solution was a mat that had hexes or squares that were sizable enough to put the ship models beside one another.  

This led to the second purchase, several Chessex mats.  http://www.chessex.com/mats/Battlemats_&_Megamats.htm

I got a Megamat with 1.5" hexes on one side and 1.5" squares on the other.  This will allow several ships to be "stacked in a hex" as long as the bases are about a 1/2 or 3/4".  With the small size of the Star Blazer minis, this seems quite doable.  I was also thinking of developing some simple "squadron" rules using Multiplex Tracking and Datalink which are obvious technologies in this modern era.

While I am enjoying using the old counters, and both the original blue and new space hex sheets, as I paint up the models I'll certainly want to play on a larger space with ships organized to an Admirals satisfaction.  Clashes btw Earth Defense and Alien Intruders coming thru Warp Points heretofore unknown to Humanity seems very fruitful for creative endeavors.

I'll post again when the items arrive.  The next post seems to demand Scenario 2!

*** INTERLUDE: Naval Theory & Naval Wargaming ***

So, I am reading the second of "The Lost Fleet" books by Campbell.  In the sense that there's vector movement and such, it is a more "realistic" series than so-called "space opera".  But the technological challenges that have been solved are big - Faster Than Light travel, attack lasers, inertia dampeners, artificial ship gravity, etc.  The friction of naval combat in their 'verse is well presented, and provides much of the reasons for tactical choices and the military success / failures that drive along the plot.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Fleet

Then last night I played scenario three of 2nd Ed. Starfire.  There are 5 Khanate and 4 Terran ships, with Tractor Beams and Point Defense systems being introduced.  I'm doing a batrep on it, so I won't go into details except to say that technology in Starfire - weaponry, specifically - shapes the tactics.  As that is the designer's goal [as previously quoted in this blog on stardate 08/21/14] I accept this as a successful realization of his design intentions. 
http://www.starfiredesign.com/starfire/introduction/  

The importance - perhaps even the dominance - of technology in naval warfare has a huge impact on gaming any naval battle or campaign, whether factual or fictional.  And let's face it, the "what if" naval games are sometimes the best ones, and what our own navy is doing today without a doubt!  Even a small change in the technical balance can make the tactics of last month outdated this month, and a significant change can tip the naval balance from one extreme to the other.  If it happens in history, we need to have our wargame rules present this difference and in a way that keeps the game master aware of its affect on game balance.  

For example, in WWII gaming I've been using GQ3.3 by ODGW.  It presents enough detail of every aspect of naval combat so that players have an opportunity to grapple with the friction of it, but handling the rules well doesn't become the object of the game.  However, gaming a late war surface action of the USN v IJN won't be much fun for the IJN.  The USN dominance in radar makes IJN smokescreens ineffective, and of course natural "terrain" such as fog banks give the USN a far greater advantage.  The solution?  I game night actions in the Solomons, small destroyer fights and the occasional big battle, during the early 1942-43 period.  At that time there was a sort of technological parity between the two fleets, with IJN optics and training balanced by US early radar.  The result?  Good games with real tactical variety as each side seeks to optimize their advantages and the other's disadvantages.  I believe early Mediterranean battles between the Italian and British fleets will be similarly balanced, and am   saving them for a few years down the line.  http://www.odgw.com/forums/index.php?/store/category/3-general-quarters-iii

My problem with fictional gaming has been that it doesn't have an historical reality of relative technological development to help guide the type of game one wants to have.  So basically, one has to make it up.  The good news is that since the technology is itself speculative [fictional] a good game designer is free to make a series of technological parities and inequities part of the game's design.  Thus the skill of the designer becomes the single most dominant factor in playing the game and having fun.  "Fun" being in my mind a game where both sides have a chance to fight the opposition in an interesting tactical fashion, where a combination of skill and luck help determine the outcome.

Thus bringing me to my thoughts on recent naval/ space rules I've been reading.  For the pre-dreadnought period, I like David Manley's "Fire When Ready" by A&A Engineering.  For WWI and WWII, I I like "General Quarters 3.3" by Old Dominion Game Works, the WWI version is called "Fleet Action Imminent".  For speculative naval combat in the far future, I am investigating Original "Starfire" and "Full Thrust".  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Thrust

And these games are where historical gaming experience and tactics meets speculative fiction, as the tactics one uses are determined by the relative interaction of technologies.

For the last solo Starfire battle, Scenario #3, I continued with my thought that it is best to keep the fleet together - preferably stacked in the same hex - at the expense of greater maneuvering.  With so little terrain on the board, the best tactic seems to be to overwhelm a small ship each turn or two, thereby taking out its weapons and reducing the "broadside" of the squadron as a whole.  In this paradigm, small ships represent a weakness as they are easier to damage, breaking down the shields and punching through the armor to get to the crunchy bits inside like weaponry.  There's still an occasional temptation to maneuver, however.  If one has the Initiative and some high-speed ships, it is possible at long ranges to "play the range band game" and put 1-2 of his ships in a better range band for you while depriving the rest of his ships the same advantage.  This possibility also works to remind you to keep your own fleet together so that doesn't happen.  

In pre-dread to early WWII naval gaming, ganging up on a single ship is discouraged since the relative speed, positioning and the spotting of shell falls to get the correct range often discourage everyone shooting at one ship. "Battlefleet Gothic" [BFG] uses a game mechanic where the blasts of being hit obscure additional shooting on the same turn, rendering targeting significantly worse, thus encouraging one to spread fire out a bit as firing is sequential.

"Can you see where our shells are falling??"  "Up 200, right 150!"

So the gist of this post is that there are two mutually exclusive naval tactics here.  The first is ganging up ones effective fire on a single ship, taking it and its weaponry out of the action, while one's opponent does the same.  The second is to be forced to spread fire out so that there's more of a slow attrition - except for the occasional critical hit -  to the ships of both sides, necessitated by multiple ships targeting a single ship.  The question to me as game master is "which type of game do I prefer to present to my players?"

It's relatively easy to put in a "to hit" modifier saying that if more than 1 or 2 ships target a single ship in a single fire phase, there's a penalty.  For games where that is already a significant issue - all the historical games and "Battlefleet Gothic" - nothing need be added.  "Original Starfire" doesn't have such a mechanic.  Still trying to figure out if "Full Thrust" does.

For "Starfire", I'm thinking of using a squadron rule similar to BFG.  Ships so organized would all have Datalink and be able to share Point Defense, and also reform to shield a weaker ship in some way [possibly by spreading half the hits out onto the other squadron's ships].  The catch is that every ship prioritizes its own survival, so if you only target one ship, then the entire squadron can help defend it.  But if you fire at every ship, their defenses will prioritize their own ship and you can work to "isolate" your target ship.  Have to think about it some more, but I think it would add a lot to the tactical feel of the game.

The question is - what is more fun to play?  Trashing a ship or two every turn, or wearing ships down over several turns of maneuvering so that they are forced to disengage or even blow up? 

"We prefer to destroy a ship every turn, thank you very much!"

I have a preference for the latter at the moment [with all due respect to the Empire, we'll just have to agree to disagree].  It just feels more "right" to me due to historical naval gaming.  What will real combat in space be like?  Who knows???  But I know I want a satisfying game right here and now!

Star Blazers Miniatures

A classic from childhood Saturday mornings

This was shown in small episodes on Saturday morning reruns. I can't say it had a profound influence on my life or anything, but it is good - if lite - entertainment. At some point, we all need gorgeous bug-eyed enigmatic women to save our planet, don't we? Especially if they are offering us free engineering solutions to win our war against Ming the Merciless of Planet Mongo. Oops, I mean Desslock and the Gamilons, supported by Grand Moff Tarkin. Whatever.

So, what does this post have to do with Starfire? Well, the unavailability of Starfire miniatures at the time had me looking for an alternative to play Starfire rules in miniature. I wanted a very small, quick project, and this was the right one.

Star Blazers Wiki [HERE] explains the video distro - useful if you want to find/buy it.

Star Blazers Fleet Battle System reviews [HERE]

Star Blazers Miniatures are [HERE]

My order was from 08-29-2014, as the flat-rate box shows. It is focused primarily on the first few episodes with some space battles between Earth Defense Forces [EDF] and the Gamelons. It is easily among the most realistic space battle footage ever. Ha ha, just kidding, but it is fun and there is some maneuvering of the ships and blaster / missile action along the way.

Below, is the entire order. A bunch of physically small ships with just a couple of exceptions. My concept was to run a series of likely battles and encounters, and transports, minelayers, tankers, provide a great excuse for lots of encounters. Originally was going to use Starfire without any changes, as most weapons are there, including fighters and carriers. Of course, the Argo always provides a number of exceptions to any rule set, except maybe Battlefleet Gothic, which has a 40K equivalent of the Wave Motion Cannon.

Larger ships like the argo are multi-piece and need some assembly. Delicate bits like the photo-etched parts come on a common sprue so there's a diagram of the sprue parts you need to use. Obviously, these might be a bit delicate for fat-fingered gamers at conventions, but the intent is more for 1-on-1 games on a small table, much in the style of Starfire, et al.

I love this ship - don't know why! May have to swipe some photo-etched parts from the sprues of other models. It is a lot smaller than I thought, and in the TV series is called a "battleship".

Alex Wildstar's TD, an escort of them is in the Pluto battle. They all get wiped out.

Just imitating Desslok's voice is fun - can't have Star Blazers without him! His ship is pretty cool.

This looks like another interesting model to have on the table. Clearly different, obviously a support ship, I think it will work well.

Perfect!  All it needs is "Exxon" written on the sides! 1mm wire was NOT included, meh.

I like nearly all the Gamilon ships. If I could get these little ones in 2" versions, I might have put up the money, but that would be a larger-scale of ship game.

Uncertain if this is supposed to be more or less powerful than the high speed cruiser above - but hey, they are aliens so we can't insist they adhere to Jane's.

Nice small ship. Great opponent for the EDSF TD above.

These are, well, just too big. Dunno what I'll do with them. Wish I could sell them back or get a discount for not taking them.

Generally, the "capital ships" are 1.25-2" long. The minor ships are about 0.5". This makes them perfect for 1" hexes if there is zero stacking or they are mounted in groups. I plan to fight them individually as a pocket game in the TFG / Metagaming tradition.

This order was about $40 shipped and I think offers a nice balance of cost, prep time and game possibilities. I'd recommend this all and watching the series as light entertainment and a kitchen-table setup for space battles. If you are into small-table games [or have to be] then you should check out this genre and this line of miniatures!

The alternative is to go "big ship" and field mostly battleships in the 2" range, and multi-mount all the smaller ships in groups. this would increase the cost to about $100 for two battle lines, but would be a lot easier to see on a larger table. With the fragility of the models, I'm uncertain this is the right choice for a club night. For that, I'd rather use the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars ships instead.

Well, the project has languished for six years. It shouldn't take very long to get them cleaned and ready, so there's not much of an excuse to wait!

Star Blazers for Starfire!

Two Great Things that Go Great Together!

 +
...and no, it isn't chocolate and peanut butter...!

It's been a while since I worked on this project - Classic Starfire 2e [box edition] rules [CLICK] with the Star Blazers miniatures [CLICK]. It was first conceived because the official Star Blazers Fleet Battle System miniature game [CLICK] was one of the few that had small, appealing, inexpensive models that were easy to acquire.  Then I got sidetracked by "Real Life" and other gaming projects.  But now I'm working to bang out this project, which should be a quick one [should...!].

Minis were cleaned and filed previously, but I decided to wash them again as they'd been sitting in baggies for a few years.

Above, the four larger ships and 36 little ones all scrubbed down.

The weather being perfect, it was easy to give the ships primer coats.  Not only is grey the official color for the larger ships, but it will be easy to match in my collection.  The little ships are all white, mostly because as small ships I plan to make them as bright as possible, even exaggerating colors to the lighter spectrum.

And with the miniatures on the way, it was time to consider the pernicious question of Basing, and a good mat or backdrop to play on.  

For Basing, I decided to run with square 3mm clear bases, drill holes for piano wire to hold the miniatures.  My main thought was that they'd look good on any backdrop and the 90 angles would be convenient for Turns / Fire Angles in the miniatures version of Solar Starfire. A quick look at A-zon and it showed Litko does sell there so I included the Bases in an order with some other things:

While I'm looking for a good hex grid [to be faithful to the original Classic game] I was tempted into buying a couple of space wall tapestries, from a suggestion in the TMP forums [click].  At $9 for a large one, I couldn't resist giving them a try:

...and they are free returns at A-zon if I don't like them.

Finally, I couldn't resist the free download from Starfire Design [CLICK] since it game in both hex and open-table / miniature versions, and it is short, a similar draw to the original 1979 game I still own.

Plan is to finish the miniatures, give Classic 2e/box and the new version a try, and see what plays best.

Stay tuned!