Babylon 5: A Call to Arms (game)
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| Babylon 5 Space Combat | |
|---|---|
Designers | Matt Sprange and others |
| Publishers | Mongoose Publishing |
| Years active | 2004 to 2009 |
| Players | 2+ |
| Setup time | 5 - 30 minutes |
| Playing time | 15 minutes - 5 hours |
| Chance | Dice rolling |
| Age range | 12+ |
| Skills | Strategy, Arithmetic |
Babylon 5: A Call to Arms (ACtA) is a tabletop
ACtA won a Gamers' Choice award at
History
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Since its initial release in 2004, A Call to Arms has gone through several significant changes, with the release of supporting material and supplements. Initially the main boxed set contained the basic rules set and fleet lists for the
With the help of feedback from players there were three Rules Supplements released in the following year, each providing a range of new units, rules and points of discussion. Rules Supplement 1 concentrated on new fighter rules, new missions, addressing several FAQ and finally releasing rules for space stations and
This was all part of the ongoing design and development process for what was essentially still a new game and Mongoose Publishing decided to publish in September 2005 a more comprehensive update for the game in the form of the book Sky Full of Stars (SFoS). This supplement not only pulled together all of the threads from the Rules Supplements but added more detail to certain sections of rules (particularly the campaign rules) and completely overhauled every fleet list. SFoS was a large expansion for the game both in terms of rules and in terms of the miniatures available. Soon after this there was a revised edition of the main boxed set to reflect any rules changes (although not the updated fleet lists).
Over the next year there were numerous articles in
Since then, there has been the release of the
In Feb 2008 Mongoose Publishing announced on their website that;
After a very successful number of years producing miniatures for our Origins award-winning game A Call to Arms, Mongoose Publishing is announcing today that we will cease production of this range of models with effect from March 31st 2008. The increasing costs associated with this range combined with its sheer breadth means that production of miniatures is no longer commercially viable at this time. As a result we have reduced our prices on the miniatures by 20%, which will continue until March 31st 2008, when they will be removed from our catalogue. So, if you have been thinking about that new Shadow fleet or want to bolster the defences of the ISA, now is the time! We will still continue to support A Call to Arms through Signs & Portents and book releases.[citation needed]
The announcement came as a surprise to members of the Mongoose forums given the relatively active release schedule for new models and the short time after the release of the 2nd edition of the game. Speculation that the decision to cease miniature production was prompted by problems in extending the necessary license from Warner Bros to produce B5 miniatures was dismissed as false by Matthew Sprange, co-founder of Mongoose Publishing.
Mongoose Publishing purchased the license from Warner Bros following the demise of Agents of Gaming in November 2002 who had previous held said license to market and sell the Babylon 5 Wars game using many of the ship models as the current A Call to Arms line.
Mongoose Publishing later announced that on June 30, 2009, they would no longer be selling any more Babylon 5 licensed products, as they chose to not renew the license.[3]
The tabletop game
Overview
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ACtA has two or more players bringing a fleet ships consisting of miniatures or counters and fighting out a battle using dice, rules and tactics. Each player has a certain number of Fleet Allocation Points (FAP) to spend on choices from one of many race-specific fleet lists. All ships are allocated a Priority Level that determines its value and these are (in ascending order): Patrol; Skirmish; Raid; Battle; War; Armageddon. Once a size of battle and the number of FAP to spend (and scenario) are chosen, each player selects his ships, splitting or combining the FAP to produce the desired fleet. The most common size of game is Raid Priority Level with 5 FAP to spend.
Play is divided into turns where each player gets to perform actions with each of his ships and using dice to determine the outcomes of these actions. In each turn there is a Movement Phase, Attack Phase and an End Phase. Each phase has a defined set of rules that limit the options available to each player and the stats in the fleet lists determine the abilities of the individual units.
Rather than a traditional alternating sequence of play (where a player makes actions with every unit before his opponent goes), each player gets to make one action with a ship before his opponent makes an action, and so on. There is a wide variety of scenarios to play and each presents a different set of challenges to the player.
Victory is determined by the scenario-specific Victory Conditions and may range more commonly from the highest scorer of Victory Points to completing a specific mission objective.
Miniatures
A Call to Arms is a miniatures game and as such every unit may be represented by a miniature, although they may also be represented by a counter. Collecting and painting (and modeling) are integral parts of the game and a player may spend considerable time on this aspect of the hobby alone. There are a wide variety of fleet boxed sets that offer a mixture of ships for one race, along with a full range of ships that may be bought individually. This allows players to assemble a fleet that suits their preferences, whether they be aesthetic or tactical.
Races
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There are a wide variety of races available to play, all with differing styles and looks. Currently these are:
- Earth Alliance (Early Years)
- Earth Alliance (Dawn of the Third Age)
- Earth Alliance (Crusade)
- Minbari
- Centauri
- Narn
- Interstellar Alliance
- Vorlons
- Shadows
- Abbai
- Brakiri
- Drazi
- Gaim
- pak'ma'ra
- Vree
- Raiders
- Dilgar
- Drakh
- Ancients
- Psi-Corps
Earth Alliance (Early Years)
The
Minbari
The
The
Centauri
The
Narn
The
Abbai
The
Their fleets reflect their society and
Raiders
Raider is the name given to many groups of pirates, bounty hunters and smugglers of varying nationality. Most Raider groups consist of just a few dozen fighters and their pilots, occasionally with a small supply ship to back them up. However, some bands gain sufficient wealth and notoriety so as to purchase a large mothership and many fighters and attract larger numbers of pilots to help. Sometimes with their purchasing information such as shipping routes and being a large enough force, they can even cause significant threats to the local governments and military. Many of these groups don't survive long as there is no real system of trust or fellowship but this doesn't stop them inflicting significant harm on trade routes. The largest groups may even receive indirect support from League governments interested in disrupting local, rival nations.
Most Raider fleets consist of large numbers of fighters, backed up by a few larger support ships. Most of their ships are undergunned and slow but can prove surprisingly durable. Given their commitments and limited resources, most Raider fleets succeed best when they hit suddenly, using their faster fighters, then retreat quickly before attrition cripples their expensive motherships. This tactic works well with smaller engagements although due to a lack of warships, Raider commanders would do well to avoid larger conflicts.
Drakh
The
References
- ^ Starship Combat News 2004-09-15
- ^ Academy of Adventure Gaming, Arts & Design Archived 2007-05-28 at the Wayback Machine Origins Awards 2004
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20100104072643/http://mongoosepublishing.com/news/news_item.php?pkid_news=319