Hi everybody,
Firestorm Taskforce is a solid entry level space navy wargame and actually much better than many gamers think. The ruleset has a few flaws and I had hoped for a revision as a part of the Firestorm Armada 3.0 ruleset, but with Spartan Games closed this won't happen anytime soon.
This promted me to start this little project which will add a bit to the game experience and, in time, might even expand the game.
This post here is meant to let you all know that I am working on this and to invite you to provide feedback and suggestions for any future developments.
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I have started to create Stat Cards for all the ships available for Firestorm Taskforce (which are most, if not all Firestorm Armada ships).
The reasons for that are the following:
1. Taskforce is meant to be an entry level game and having cards with all the statistics for each ship in a fleet makes it easier for beginners (or young players) to understand what is going on. The official fleet lists in principle serve the same purpose, but I hope to offer some more value by adding a photo of the ship type (for ease of identification) and by adding brief explanations of all the MARs relevant for each ship (both weapon MARS and ship MARs) directly on the card.
2. Having a deck of cards makes list building much easier and quicker - especially for younger or inexperienced players. My seven year old son can just put all his Aquan stat cards in front of him and pick whatever he wants to field in a game - much easier than flicking through the printed PDF.
3. I think that the stat cards will make it easier to direcly compare ships within and across factions. The same is of course possible with the available documents, but just imagine you would like to compare all the different destroyer models in the game based on the 8 PDF files (6 for the core factions and 2 for the minor races). Just placing all the destroyer class cards next to each other will speed this up considerably. This ease of comparability will also help with designing new ships for he game - which is something we migh want to consider now tha the official support has died.
Here is an example of one of the Stat Cards I have already finished:
The files I create are Poker card sized and I will print my copy of this deck at the Gamecrafter. Obviously I cannot make hem available there publicly, but I will find a way to share the digital files (.png and/or .psd) so that fellow gamers can print their own copies.
The example above is a bi bigger than the final card as the Gamecrafter template also includes a border that will be cut off after the printing. The final cards will look more like this:
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Where do I stand with this little project?
I started last week and so far I have created 28 cards (all of the Aquan ships and 8 Dindrenzi), but not all of them have images added to them yet. I plan to create cards for all the factions. This way I will end up with maybe 150 cards (just a guess) which will take me a while.
All the rules are taken directly from the Taskforce rulebook and the published fleet lists, but I have taken the liberty to correct a few mistakes (e.g. that the Aquan Escort Carrier was listed as a Tier 3 ship while the Dindrenzi Light Frigate counts as a Tier 2. I also unified the MAR names (e.g. Laser Battery vs. Laser Batteries) and ironed out a few other small typos.
Each faction will have it's own color template (e.g. light blue for the Aquans) and as I create these carsd primarily for my own use I also have changed some of the color for certain factions. My Kurak ships are primarily blue and green, while my Zenian ships are red and orange - and this will be reflected in the background color on the cards - just that you know.
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Possible future developments?
Well, once I am done with all those cards I would like to create a second deck of cards (maybe called Phase 2) that offers a few alternatives and modifications.
Currently there are several ships of the same class that have the same statistics in the game (e.g. the Aquan cruiser classes Storm, Chironex, and Isonade). This made sense as long as Spartan Games was still publishing new models for the game and it kepts things simple. But now we might be in need for a greater variety in order to keep the game fresh. What I would like to do is to create separate cards for each of the ships that up to now have shared a list entry. The most recent version of a ship (e.g. the Isonade cruiser) would keep the official statistics, while the older ones would receive a certain downgrade - weaker statistics, but also a reduced points cost - to reflect the advancement in military development. Older versions of a ship class could also have a slightly different focus (e.g. weaker lasers but stronger torpedoes). This will open a nice design space and - based on community input - keep the game fresh.
And finally completely new ships (new factions, merchant ships etc.) could also be introduced.
But first things first. I still have quite some Stat Cards to design before I can think about creating new content.
Well, there you have it - my small contribution to keeping the Firestorm games alive.
What do you think?
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