I know a Star Trek post on a Star Wars Forum

Just saw this game come out. Looks like a good TNG era 4x Star Wars game. Only problem I see is that the base game is strictly 3 players already at $99 with 2 other player expansions at $39 so a 3-5 player game for $200. Still as a Twilight imperium fan this looks like a more authentic star trek experience. Has anyone ever played it?

I'm thinking about picking it up, but I hear the downtime between turns is horrendous.

There are 2 expansions coming out in a month, so you can play up to 5.

The game plays 2-10.

I'm thinking about picking it up, but I hear the downtime between turns is horrendous.

There are 2 expansions coming out in a month, so you can play up to 5.

The game plays 2-10.

Where do you get 2 to 10 from? The box says 3 players only and those that do have it says currently there are no 2 player rules yet. When the expansions come out you will have up to 5 players with I think proposals for other expansions such as Dominion and Borg. Still that is less than 10 players? I mean they could release other factions up to 10 (Bajorans, Tholians, Gorn).

There are enough neutral / common components in the base game box to support 10 players. Every faction has a very different feel to it and will play to its own strengths. The mechanics are very Star Trek on feel and style, Federation will gain more by protecting or non-warp capable race then by fighting alone.

The game is not TNG. All factions start with the discovery of warp travel. You must Ascend through abilities to become more powerful and win.

I have it. Haven't played it yet though. Awesome components. Looks fun. I plan to get the expansions, but it can be a long game and waiting for your turn to come around again can take awhile, according to some reviews.

There are enough neutral / common components in the base game box to support 10 players. Every faction has a very different feel to it and will play to its own strengths. The mechanics are very Star Trek on feel and style, Federation will gain more by protecting or non-warp capable race then by fighting alone.

The game is not TNG. All factions start with the discovery of warp travel. You must Ascend through abilities to become more powerful and win.

Well no it is not TNG, just the plastic models and much (not all) of the artwork (I know there is also quite a bit of TOS in there).

Still 10 player supported? I mean it could be possible if you buy two of both the base and the two upcoming expansions you will have enough components for 2 but you would have to paint the double models a different color to avoid confusion (Mirror Universe anyone?). The only "neutral components" that support up to 10 players is really the turn order cards.

Still a couple of questions is would you want to play with 10 players? Twilight Imperium only goes up to 8 and Eclipse games start to get real long after 4 players, any more and you will have to use the double turn tokens (where imitative gets the pink token which allows for research and across the table is the other token that can do everything but research). Like most 4x games of this type the main complaints are always randomness, time it takes to play the game, and downtime between the turns.

Looks pretty interesting, thanks for sharing.

Well no it is not TNG, just the plastic models and much (not all) of the artwork (I know there is also quite a bit of TOS in there).

Still 10 player supported? I mean it could be possible if you buy two of both the base and the two upcoming expansions you will have enough components for 2 but you would have to paint the double models a different color to avoid confusion (Mirror Universe anyone?). The only "neutral components" that support up to 10 players is really the turn order cards.

Still a couple of questions is would you want to play with 10 players? Twilight Imperium only goes up to 8 and Eclipse games start to get real long after 4 players, any more and you will have to use the double turn tokens (where imitative gets the pink token which allows for research and across the table is the other token that can do everything but research). Like most 4x games of this type the main complaints are always randomness, time it takes to play the game, and downtime between the turns.

Ships are all faction specific so no painting. Its just generic counters and things. The numbers are based on what the base game needs for play and what is included in the box. The large numbers could also be for additional mechanics that will be added in future expansions.

I don't think I wold want to play this game with 5 players and know I would not want to play with 10. I hope there will be an updated rules system to fix some of the mechanics to allow simultaneous play in some phases so that game play can advance faster.

I really want it but mostly for the pieces.

What i'm curious about is how can downtime be that bad for a game with only three players?

Also can you play two player or is three absolutely the minimum?

...

Still 10 player supported? I mean it could be possible if you buy two of both the base and the two upcoming expansions you will have enough components for 2 but you would have to paint the double models a different color to avoid confusion (Mirror Universe anyone?). The only "neutral components" that support up to 10 players is really the turn order cards.

...

Ships are all faction specific so no painting. Its just generic counters and things. The numbers are based on what the base game needs for play and what is included in the box. The large numbers could also be for additional mechanics that will be added in future expansions.

...

Well yeah but for 10 players right now the only way you could is double faction aka two (or more) players playing the same faction. Now sure you don't have to paint them different colors if this was a team game (like 4 player Rebellion) but if they play as a free for all then yes you will need to distinguish the models from the First Klingon Player to the Second Klingon Player. However I don't think anyone will want to play that game where more than one player is of the same faction of another. There is a reason why Twilight Imperium has more factions than pieces for players. You don't hear of a Blue L1Z1X vs a Red L1Z1X in that game.

Thats something I could get some of my friends into! Nice find.

i have to admit, this looks really fun. The 3player limit kinda makes me leery on buying it though, since i have a hard time getting more than 1 of my friends available for 2-3hours at the same time.

4X games generally should not be a board game but it looks like they dumbed it down enough without killing it to make it accessible. Im a big fan of 4X games, i played MoO2 endlessly when i was young and im a big startrek fan. I might have to snag this and start showing up for Sunday boardgame nights and just hope people are interested.

The other issue is 4X games are better the more empires exist. In boardgame form that means you need a dedicated area to play this game to the fullest max players because you are not going to finish it in one night lol. Sorta the reason Dominant Species died off, even though it was fun. It simply took too long for a basic game so it was hard to get people into it. Startrek Ascendancy with 3players sounds about normal for most boardgames these days. Heck the Zombicide crowed will sit there on a single map for 3 hours sometimes because of the campaign rules theyre doing lol.

I was interested in this game until I saw the price. Its the same as Star Wars: Rebellion, which comes with way more stuff.

I think you can try to play the game with 2 players, it would be recommended to have 3 players though from what I've heard the game is best when you have 4 players. And I think it was mentioned somewhere they might have the Dominion and Borg be NPC factions.

How to get to 10 players after Cards and Ferengi come out:

I was interested in this game until I saw the price. Its the same as Star Wars: Rebellion, which comes with way more stuff.

I wouldn't really call Star Wars Rebellion a 4x game. 1st of all it is asymmetrical which is a good Star Wars game if you take a look at the setting. This game is closer to Eclipse than Rebellion is closer to Twilight Imperium. The only thing similar is the price. And in the name of fairness I would say that is not the Price of Star Trek Ascendancy as that is only the starter game. The full game is the starter with the two expansion which is going to be closer to $200. But 5 players is way more than 2 players (I don't consider the Rebellion 3-4 player mode a true 3-4 player game).

How to get to 10 players after Cards and Ferengi come out:

Yeah Federation with NO PRIME Directive. But will they still have the Explore Strange New Worlds benefit? I could see it acting closer to the Cardasian with the benefit Fuel for the Empire gain production every time you successfully invade a world. Along with Hungry Consumption drawback where each turn you have to spend more and more production serving the (Mirror) Vulcan prediction of the collapse of the Terran Empire. Heck you could also throw in the (Klingon-Cardassian) Alliance in there.

I think you can try to play the game with 2 players, it would be recommended to have 3 players though from what I've heard the game is best when you have 4 players. And I think it was mentioned somewhere they might have the Dominion and Borg be NPC factions.

No 2 player variant yet (unfortunately). The game is simplified enough where I could see both the dominion as the 3rd expansion and the borg as the 4th expansion for 7 players. You just have to get a larger play area for the gamma and delta quadrants and have a rule that quadrants cannot connect instead each has a "wormhole" (borg will have a transwarp network) that has a alpha quadrant and a gamma/delta quadrant system for traveling. Borg will have Assimilation instead of Hegemony which keeps them focused on their quadrant until they make contact with another empire. Dominion will have to get the wormhole before they can move into the alpha quadrant and visa versa. So when facing a Dominion/Borg with a alpha/beta quadrant race you will be facing the race with some time to develop before they try and march into the alpha quadrant.

The Borg should never be a playable faction in any Star Trek based game. They are more a force of nature than a faction. (I know, several games have ignored this rule, but it still stands).

On 10/14/2016 at 10:10 PM, Forgottenlore said:

The Borg should never be a playable faction in any Star Trek based game. They are more a force of nature than a faction. (I know, several games have ignored this rule, but it still stands).

That I disagree, sure the Borg is known as a foe too powerful to exist as equals of the Federation in terms of balance but in a way the Galactic Empire is a foe too powerful for the Rebel Alliance to exist as equals. I can see it as a rather restrictive force. If you take a look at the construction of every faction each race has a drawback and an advantage. For the borg the draw back is simple, can only send a ship to assimilate but advantage would be assimilation which takes place of hegemony take over.

Rebels also arent battling the Galactic Empire in a full front battle, its all skirmish and covert stuff.

In the latest years of StarTrek the Borg are more of a threat because of their numbers than anything else. The Federation has learned how to deal with them, but its incredibly taxing so they wouldnt be able to do it for long.

Dominion, Borg, and whatever that fluid-space species was called should all be event type stuff. Along the lines of you explore a planet, oh crap theres a borg cube here! You either flee and it follows you, or it assimilates you and learns of your homeworld so now you gotta deal with it one way or another and theres no way one player can take it out alone unless they had a TON of ships (and good research)

The other reason is this game is spanning from the early days of StarTrek. Only the past few years have the Federation been able to deal with the borg reliably, even if its still shaky and dangerous. First time they came across one when Q decided to be a prick, it folded their defenses like a hot knife through butter (and their hull).

It would make no sense for Borg to be playable unless it was a future startrek universe.

edit: My FLGS actually has this on the shelf now, so im snagging it when HOTR releases since i got a 10% discount card to burn up anyway.

First time they came across one when Q decided to be a prick, it folded their defenses like a hot knife through butter (and their hull).

Whats the episode where that happens?

Q-Who from The Next Generation; The original Borg episode. The episode everyone remembers though is the season finally, Best of Both Worlds.

Rebels also arent battling the Galactic Empire in a full front battle, its all skirmish and covert stuff.

In the latest years of StarTrek the Borg are more of a threat because of their numbers than anything else. The Federation has learned how to deal with them, but its incredibly taxing so they wouldnt be able to do it for long.

Dominion, Borg, and whatever that fluid-space species was called should all be event type stuff. Along the lines of you explore a planet, oh crap theres a borg cube here! You either flee and it follows you, or it assimilates you and learns of your homeworld so now you gotta deal with it one way or another and theres no way one player can take it out alone unless they had a TON of ships (and good research)

The other reason is this game is spanning from the early days of StarTrek. Only the past few years have the Federation been able to deal with the borg reliably, even if its still shaky and dangerous. First time they came across one when Q decided to be a prick, it folded their defenses like a hot knife through butter (and their hull).

It would make no sense for Borg to be playable unless it was a future startrek universe.

edit: My FLGS actually has this on the shelf now, so im snagging it when HOTR releases since i got a 10% discount card to burn up anyway.

Well you can set up the borg as a turtle race. Have it start in a delta quadrant system that can only go to another delta quadrant systems without a 5 length transwarp conduit (which is the borg's starting technology). Other faction cannot use the conduit so they really don't have a way of getting to the delta quadrant reliably unless say the Array from Voyager comes up in the exploration deck. That way the borg can research and gain its strength in peace before coming to the alpha quadrant and start wrecking everyone.

Also in order for the Borg to get ascendancy victory it will have to continue to assimilate planets which in a while the delta quadrant will be too small and it will have to build a transwarp conduit to assimilate those planets. However by then the Borg should be fully upgraded by then and with some bonuses to weapons and shields as it gets stronger with each combat encounter the borg would be a late game juggernaught.

Q-Who from The Next Generation; The original Borg episode. The episode everyone remembers though is the season finally, Best of Both Worlds.

Glad you know it because i havnt seen it in so long i forgot episode names/seasons (my collection was lost....fml)

On topic, i bought STA and gonna play it tomorrow (friday)

Ive read through the rules, and off the top of my head the only seemingly ambiguous rule is how you place the nodes on a discovered civilization. It says to develop them, which makes me think you pay for them. But that makes no sense both because what if you dont have the resources and why the heck would you do that since you dont get anything from it until you conquer them? Dug around alot and yeah it just gets placed in a certain order, you arent paying anything.

I more want the expansions because its more options. The Klingons, Romulans, and Federation all play pretty different. Every faction has a negative universal perk and a positive universal perk. They also start with a different research already discovered. What i like a lot is the research decks are for the most part completely different between the races BUT you can steal opposiing players' active research if you capture a node. Its not foolproof since the player giving the research decides what you get, but i didnt see many repeats so its still a way to get something you normally cant get.

Hilarious sidenote: i bought this last friday with a 10% discount card while prepaying for my HOTR expansion. I mentioned i was gonna get it but i was waiting for HOTR so i could use my discount card, so they let me prepay. Not even 30 mins later someone comes in wanting it, and there was only 1 copy - MINE lol. The dude was rather livid...

I was interested in this game until I saw the price. Its the same as Star Wars: Rebellion, which comes with way more stuff.

I wouldn't really call Star Wars Rebellion a 4x game. 1st of all it is asymmetrical which is a good Star Wars game if you take a look at the setting. This game is closer to Eclipse than Rebellion is closer to Twilight Imperium. The only thing similar is the price. And in the name of fairness I would say that is not the Price of Star Trek Ascendancy as that is only the starter game. The full game is the starter with the two expansion which is going to be closer to $200. But 5 players is way more than 2 players (I don't consider the Rebellion 3-4 player mode a true 3-4 player game)

You misunderstood me. I was not saying Rebellion is like Ascendancy, I was just comparing them price wise. They are the exact same price, but Rebellion comes with a ton more game components. Ascendancy seems really over priced to me.