Armchair Reviews: Starmada Nova Edition

I've posted about this before. Surprise! There's a new edition out, I haven't gotten anywhere with the old edition beyond creating ships!

In any case here's my review as it appears on RPGNow.com:

This edition of Starmada has all the strengths of prior editions:

(a) a sort of elegance in the ruleset that allows for deep tactical options, while retaining a clarity of statement and explanation. Plus, the guiding rule of simple, but not simplistic, rules is still very much evident;

(b) the ability to not only custom-build your own ships, but also the options to custom-build your ruleset with Advanced Rules and Alternate Movement Systems in order to reflect the type of starship combat reality you want to emulate

(c) really clean and functional ship displays to help you keep track of your ship capabilities and damage;

(d) my favorite -- the default movement rules that reflect the inertia rules in space without having to keep track of two or three Delta V values for each ship.

I like the improvement in the diagrams, particularly the firing arcs. They go a long way to clarifying rules without lengthy discussions. I like the retention of clear examples for each rule. And I like the amount of fleet lists available to get a game going right away!

For those of you who weren't aware, in 2009 Majestic XII announced a collaboration with Amarillo Design Bureau and planned a release of books set in the Star Fleet Universe. Yes, official Klingon, StarFleet and Romulan ships for use with Starmada.

Klingon Armada already has Federation, Klingon, Tholian, Orion, and Kzinti (the StarFleet universe is a separate bit of intellectual property, and basically is the Original Star Trek series, including the cartoons and early writings, but ignoring the Next Generation stuff -- if you're wondering what those Niven Kzinti are doing in the lineup) ready for your tactical pleasure.

According to this current version, those books will be updated to the current ruleset as well. Can't wait!