Saganami Island Tactical Simulator

[Benchak the Nightstalker]

So my room mate got this game for Christmas, Saganami Island Tactical Simulator, which happens to have been co-written by a guy I've seen posting on these boards, AdAstraGames.

Long story short, it's super amazing. It's your standard hex-board space-combat game, except done in 3d, and with Newtonian physics...so basically nothing like your standard hex-board space combat game. What surprised me most was that it manages to be incredibly easy to grasp and play, once you get used to thinking a turn or two ahead of yourself.

We played our first game the other night, running a race between me and two other guys through a course of four 'gates' set up around the board at different elevations. Being the only person to briefly acquaint himself with the movement rules, I actually managed to round the first corner instead of blowing well past it. In SITS, hitting the gas pedal indiscriminately can get you into big trouble.

Seeing that I had plenty of time, I pointed my nose straight down and spent the next few turns leisurely diving down to the level of the next gate. I ended up spending much of the rest of the game oriented vertically with respect to the game board, which actually came in handy later on. By this time one of the other racers had managed to get back into range.

Jealous of my obvious skillz, he decided to open fire, leading to one of the coolest space duels I've ever played. After deftly deflecting several of the dishonorable whelp's missile salvos, I returned fire and scored a couple hits up his kilt (actual game term!). This player happens to be a incorrigible coward, and once he saw this fight wasn't going his way, he fled of the side of the map, allowing to me handily win the race.

The game is based off the Honor Harrington book series by David Weber, which I'm not really familiar with, but the ships are pretty fun to fly and the shielding systems (some kind of gravitational wedges on the top and bottom of your ship that are primarily used for movement) are a bit more interesting than your standard 'energy bubble' style deflectors (in that they make maneuvering really important).

Overall, I'd say it's well worth the price if you interested in that sort of thing.

And Mr. Burnside, if you happen to read this, thanks for an awesome game!

[Zurai]

Benchak the Nightstalker wrote:

The game is based off the Honor Harrington book series by David Weber, which I'm not really familiar with, but the ships are pretty fun to fly and the shielding systems (some kind of gravitational wedges on the top and bottom of your ship that are primarily used for movement) are a bit more interesting than your standard 'energy bubble' style deflectors (in that they make maneuvering really important).

If you (generic you) havn't read the Honor Harrington books and are at all interested in realistic military sci-fi, I highly recommend heading over to the Baen Free Library/Webscriptions site and reading On Basilisk Station, which is the first Honor Harrington book. The first three or four HH books are available for free from Webscriptions, and if you can get a hold of someone with the hardcover copy of (IIRC) Ashes of Victory, you can get the entire series up to that point for free (if it's not in Ashes, it's in War of Honor) on the CD that comes with it. Both are legitimate offers directly from the publisher, so no legal worries.

On topic, the game sounds like a pretty solid simulation of the combat style used in the books. Weber makes good use of Newtonian physics in his combat scenes.

[AdAstraGames]

Thanks for the kind words. We are putting the finishing touches on ShipBook 3, which covers a smattering of Superdreadnoughts and Dreadnoughts, and that's eating my brain right now as we fight the page layout demons.

Saganami Island Tactical Simulator does 'David Weber' physics.

Attack Vector: Tactical does 'real world' physics. It's more complex, but has more interesting maneuver decisions.

Squadron Strike does 'optional' physics. It's a genericized version of the SITS movement engine that includes a cinematic movement mode, and the ability to design your own weapons and ships. One of my standard convention scenarios with it is a mix of Star Trek ships against a Cylon basestar.

[AdAstraGames]

Ship Book 3 is on the shopping cart; we expect to ship on the week of the 18th.

http://www.genreconnections.com/shop/index.php?p=product&id=431&par ent=96

[Cheaky]

Benchak- that's a really good way to learn the game. I was wondering how to learn it without making it too complex. I picked it up about 6 months ago, read the rules a few times but never got around to playing!

And its good to hear that there is a new book on the way. I'll have to order them :)