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Starship Troopers combines easy-to-learn, fast-play rules with characters and situations from the 1997 epic sci-fi film of the same name.
Skirmisher recommends Starship Troopers for fans of the movie; those who want a game they will be able to play with kids or others who might have trouble with complex rules; and more experienced gamers who nonetheless want a new game they can learn fast and start playing quickly. It is designed for two to four players (aged 10+) on two teams, one of troopers and one of bugs. Most battles can be played in an hour or less.
This new game is not to be confused with Avalon Hill's classic wargame Starship Troopers, inspired by Robert Heinlein's book of the same name (as in the movie, the arachnids are humanity's sole foe, and the humanoid alien Skinnies remain relegated to the book and the older game).
Starship Troopers uses a programmed rules system, introducing a handful of rules for each of its 12 battles. For Battle 1 players need learn only three pages of rules, and each successive battle introduces a few more, allowing them to be gradually and easily learned. The entire rules booklet is only 16 pages, and includes many illustrations and diagrams and a full-page terrain key.
Basic rules cover setup, sequence of play, movement, bug reinforcements, and combat. Additional rules cover nukes, high and low ground, line of sight, drop ships and retrieval boats, trooper outposts, tactical fighters, and terrain elements that can be added to the board (e.g., ammonia pools, boulder and lava fields, craters).
The simplicity of this game is accentuated by the limited number of pieces in play at any time. There are usually six or eight troopers in play, and never more than 10. The bugs usually have somewhat more, and use an elegant reinforcement system for bringing up reinforcements to replace those killed in battle. Victory conditions range from trying to exit a patrol from an area held by hostile forces to entering and doing battle in underground arachnid tunnels.
Starship Troopers is also a big, good-looking game with components that players will not have to worry about scattering with hands shaky from fatigue or inebriation. Action takes place on a 28" x 22" area (made up of two 14" x 22" boards), representing the reddish terrain of an arachnid planet and covered with 1 3/8" hexes (the background of this page is derived from a small section of one board). Pieces are 2" x 3" rectangles of clear plastic emblazoned with images from the film of individual Mobile Infantry troopers, Federal Fleet personnel, and arachnids. These include Johnny Rico, Dizzy Flores, Lt. Rasczak, and Carmen Ibanez on the one hand, and Warrior, Hopper, and Tanker bugs on the other (Plasma Bugs are provided too, but on cardstock rather that acetate).
It is quickly apparent that the troopers have a much narrower margin for error then the bugs, and in games between inexperienced players the bugs are more likely to win. In games between veteran gamers, the troopers' chances even out, and if one team is more experienced than the others it is probably best for them to play the humans.
Overall, Starship Troopers provides a good mix combines streamlined rules and attractive components for a game that will provide many hours of enjoyment to veteran and novice gamers alike.
To enlist in the Mobile Infantry, go to http://www.starshiptroopers.com. To order Starship Troopers directly, go to Amazon.com.
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