Firestorm Armada FREE PDF

[MadDrB]

Spartan Games has released an abbreviated version of the latest Firestorm Armada rules in PDF:

http://www.spartangames.co.uk/firestorm-armada-rulebook-download

[MajorMcNicol]

I saw that in the newsletter - and jumped on it immediately.  Are you a fan of the FA rules, Mad Doc?

[MadDrB]

I still haven't actually played a game, but from what I've read it feels like a game with some of the simplicity of Uncharted Seas (LoS is very simple, for example), but with a bit of the complexity of DW (like point defense and boarding), but DW is sometimes overly complicated for my tastes.  To be honest--DW involves too many dice to roll for me.  Firestorm may actually be the perfect game I've been looking for--as far as naval tabletop gaming goes, Uncharted Seas satisfies me with an 80% rating, DW satifies a bit lower, like 70%.

Actually, I should borrow the D6G rating system.  For me, Dystopian Wars is a 3+ while Uncharted Seas is a 2+ but I'm still looking for that game which is a 2+ with a reroll....

[Ruckdog]

I would say that your gut feeling is pretty close; FA has some of the bells and whistles of DW, while not being quite as complex. I would say the number of dice rolled in FA is a bit lower, too, though you are still looking at decent handfulls (especially from BBs and DNs).  I should caveat these statements by saying that they are based on the revised rules; the original Point Defense and Wing rules from the first edition of FA were pretty cumbersome (on the level of the original TFT rules for DW where you had to track fuel for each token). FA is easily my favorite of the three Spartan Games settings, but then I'm an avowed space gaming nut! As a whole package, though, I think DW still wins out; it has the most factions and variety of the three settings, and the most background material.