Gale Force Nine Star Trek Ascendancy

3 reviews for Gale Force Nine Star Trek Ascendancy

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   william peteresen – May 5, 2018

   UPDATE (5/7/18) : After several expansions and variants, I Would be a 3.5 star review if I could give one.If you like VERY AmeriTRASHY games (along the lines of Axis and Allies, Fortress America, Risk, etc….) with LOTS of die rolls, LOTS of randomness, that are VERY “swingy,” TONS of luck and can occasionally be VERY deterministic……..then add in a Star Trek theme and some light 4X elements…..STOP reading this review and GET THIS game. You will LOVE it. If you are a fan of Gale Force 9’s other space game, Firefly (which as many of the same strengths and weakness as Ascendency), and a Tekker or trekkie, read no further and GET THIS GAME!However, if you’re hoping for a deeper, epic space game-such as TI 3/4, Eclipse, 4x Empires-with a Star Trek theme, then this is probably NOT the game you are looking for! ST:A is going to be a “try before you buy” kind of game. And, if you are a heavy Euro-gamer, or you can’t stand games with lots of luck, Ascendency is almost certainly going to be a giant pass! Trust me.Me. I’m somewhere in the middle.In fact, tedious, random, luck-based games like Risk, Monopoly, and even Axis and Allies, are the kinds of game that drove me away from board games in the late 1980’s. And I didn’t return to board games until 2007 or so. But randomness in games is not a game killer for me, so long as the theme supports it, and game is fun! I like GF9’s Firefly, because the them is so strong. Also, I will NEVER play that game with non-fans and/or euro-gamers. That is a formula for disaster! However, playing Firefly with fans of the show can be a blast, as everybody is quoting from the show, playing “in character,” and so forth. But for non-Firefly fans in our group, the game is insanely tedious, frustrating and way to long! And even for me (and several players in my gaming group who are fans) Firefly can only be played as much as an ‘event’ game,’ something like TI4!And that is kinda’ where Star Trek: Ascendency is gonna fall.Star Trek: Ascendency would be a 5-star game if judged solely on it’s theme and components! The game looks beautiful on the table and you feel like you’re in an epic Star Trek movie or novel. All the factions play different from each other, so replayability is very high in this game also! Not unlike GF9’s other game, “Firefly.” In those departments, Gale Force 9 can stand with the ‘big boys’ of the modern board gaming world (i.e. Fantasy Flight, Asmodee, etc….)! Also, the ‘explore’ element of the 4x part of the game can be very fun, and the ‘build the map as you go” (but see below) is one of the games best elements!Unfortunately, where GF9, and Star Trek: Ascendency, fall down is in the game’s mechanics. Strangely (and sadly), GF9 seems stuck in the 1990’s when it comes to game design. It’s as if the Euro-game/AmeriTHRASH hybrid revolution of the early 2000’s has never happened. Or GF9 is simply ignoring said revolution in game design; and that is a tragedy. In my opinion, had GF9 taken the best of what modern Euro-game mechanics have to offer, and integrated into the fantastic theme they had created (not unlike what Fantasy Flight did with TI3), then Star Trek Ascendency would have been an all-time classic. Hands down.But they didn’t. And instead, ST:A is merely good (for the right crowd), not great. What takes Star Trek: Ascendency down several stars is the insanely random nature at just about every level of the game. Long term strategy is just about impossible because you never know what’s going to happen. We’ve had many, many games turn purely on luck and only a few won by clever strategy. Luck in ST:A has given some players a huge lead that the other players could never overcome, and screwed over other players with such bad luck that they never had a chance to win, or even play spoiler.Also, the turn structure is bafflingly inefficient and leads to very long down time for the other players. As an example of how this could’ve been fixed, TI3 borrowed ideas from a euro-game called “Puerto Rico” called ‘roll selection.’ This one move revolutionized the game and almost eliminated the down-time issue in that game!The 3-player only aspect of the game (fixed by now with expansion, no doubt) is also problematical. First, it leads to LOTS of ‘king-making’, which is a big no-no in good game design. Secondly, said king-making means constant shifts of alliances so that it is almost always 2v1 after the mid-point of the game. This is not good, as it can lead to the ‘munchkin problem” of prolonging some games to almost excruciating levels of length, boredom and frustration. Games where all three players are at parity, with tensions running high as every move counts, and thus making Star Trek Ascendency thrilling and fun are, unfortunately, the exception to the rule.Still, despite all my issues with the game, I’ve decided to keep it. There are a hand full of hardcore Trekkers in my group who just love the concept of the game and will play it at the drop of the hat. When the game ‘works’ it works well. Star Trek: Ascendency can be just as much a blast to play as Firefly with the right group. We’re always quoting from all movies and T.V. shows as we play, and even occasionally do a little roll-playing from time to time.Furthermore, there are LOTS of expansions planned, and they may fix some or all of the game’s issues. Adding more players and factions may make luck less of an issue, and king-making less prevalent. The idea of making ST:A a 2-player, Co-Op game (via the Borg expansion) has possibilities in my mind, and speaks to the games robust design..

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Jason P – April 21, 2019

   Twilight Imperium 4th Edition got me hooked on 4X (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) games, but at ~8 hours it’s difficult to get to the table and intimidating to non-gamers. Enter Star Trek Ascendancy! It takes about 1 hour per player in the game, but you can reduce this once you know what you’re doing and use some variant rules. And even disregarding length, it’s more fun than TI4 in my opinion. This is largely due to exploration (arguably nonexistent in TI4), which gives you the experience of exploring the galaxy for the first time. It’s kind of like Betrayal, where the map generates randomly as you and your rivals explore, with random thematic events happening at the new systems (some helpful, some painful). Especially in the early game, this exploration provides a fun randomness and excitement to the game that gets people hooked, even those that don’t like longer, heavier board games. And, even though this randomness can impact who gets an early lead, the other aspects of the game (like negotiation between rivals and good strategy) even things out. This also makes every game different – you can’t rely on 1 strategy for each faction because the map will be different, your opponents will be different, etc, forcing you to change things up on the fly.The combat is simple but fun. The asymmetry between factions is very well thought out and balanced. The technology upgrades are not as good as in TI4 but are still a great part of the game. And if you are a Trekkie, you’ll love this game even more.I’ll give my two cents on what expansions to get, if any:- Base game limits you to 3 player ONLY, so if that’s a good number for you there’s no reason to buy an expansion, at least before trying it out for a while.- If you really want to do 1 or 2 player, then get the Borg expansion. There is an unofficial rulebook on BGG that fixes the confusing rules. They add a terrifying aspect to the game with any amount of players!- If you want 4 or more player, get either the Cardassian or Ferengi expansions (or wait until June/July 2019 for the Vulcan and Andorian expansions to come out). If your group likes combat, get the Cardassians (my favorite of the 5 factions). Ferengi are enjoyable but have a totally different mechanic – they are completely dependent on trading with rivals for most of the game, so they are not nearly as combative.- All other add-ons are not critical, but you might find yourself wanting them all sooner than later!- If you have access to a 3D-printer, I’d strongly recommend printing yourself a new insert, especially if you get any of the expansions. I designed one that is free to download on Thingiverse called “Star Trek Ascendancy Optimized Insert” – it makes it WAY easier to setup and cleanup the game.I hope you enjoy the game as much as I do!

3. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   David W. McCoy – December 1, 2022

   The rules. Well illustrated but lacking in a glossary so that when you have a question about ascendancy for example you can find the pertinent rules. the races all have different assets and strengths leading to differing game play strategies. be sure that you have a large play area so that the “map” can expand and change as the die rolls dictate. Also with all of the chits, advancements, advancements under research, ships not in play, etc..there needs to be sufficient space left over for the players to conduct their business.