Long before I deployed my first army of little plastic figures on a table for war, I was mowing down the slithering Zerg and doing battle against the Queen of Blades in StarCraft. The term “Space Marines” I will now, and forever, associate with the Terran army from Blizzard’s classic RTS franchise (despite Games Workshop’s version being older and SC starting off as a 40K RTS). When Archon Studio, a board game developer with an impressive history of adapting massive games for the tabletop, announced they were making a tabletop miniature war game set in this universe, I started clearing off my hobby table in anticipation.
Similar to other tabletop war games, standard matches of StarCraft take place over the course of five rounds where players or teams struggle to complete objectives. Instead of picking one from a book, at the start of each game, players will bring two possible choices each for both what the game’s type (i.e. the goals both sides are working to complete) and deployment zones, which dictate where armies and objectives will be placed. From there, the choices are drafted, with one person picking the type and the other the deployment. It’s a system that I found not only works really well but adds to the variety of possible matches you experience. I’m also a big fan of the concept of players supplying the choices themselves, as everyone is submitting options that could benefit their side. The result of that ultimately means both sides will have to deal with a scenario that isn’t quite as ideal as they had hoped for.
In addition to their maps and mission cards, each player brings a host of other cards with them that help define the composition of their armies along with upgrades they have purchased. Faction cards, which are picked before the game, establish the number and variety of slots available in your army, such as how many core units (your basic troops), elites, or heroes (Raynor or Kerrigan, for example) you can include, along with some unique benefits or tags for that specific faction. These tags may be required when selecting which Tactical cards to buy, with these representing various buildings from the RTS games or perks that can impart special bonuses, buffs, or increase the number of supply slots available to your forces. Along with the fact that all the troops and their required information—stats, costs, everything you need to know—are included on handy info cards, I love that I don’t necessarily need to carry around a rulebook whenever I want to play. Instead, I can just throw a small deck of cards into my bag, which is incredibly convenient, and far lighter to carry around. And in practice, it’s really quick and easy to just hand the reference card to the other player if they have a question about an ability, as opposed to book-marking pages in a rule book or handing over a sheet with all the information that has to be parsed through.
When it comes to each of the three races’ minis, all of them come in a unique color plastic along with impressive semi-transparent accents that really help to make the models look great. Inside the Starter Set, Terrans feature a muted blue and include orange explosion effect pieces and green healing sprays for the medics, for instance, while Zergs are a pinkish-purple and Protoss a bright yellow with blue energy shields and blades. And yes, there is even a Pylon miniature with a large clear blue crystal, so you can build all the additional pylons you want! The models are impressively detailed and just begging for a sick paint job. Even if you just opt for a primer base coat and a wash, the model details along with the accent parts really help all the units pop and look great on the table.
StarCraft features a host of design decisions that make it a far more alluring prospect for me to play than other tabletop war games, largely thanks to keeping me more engaged and leaving me with far less downtime than 40k, which is where I have spent the most of my wargaming time. StarCraft adopts a system of alternative activations, meaning that I never have to worry about hour-long stretches of downtime as I wait for my friends to take their entire turn before I can act. From deployment, to moving, to shooting and close combat, the fact that I was never out of actively participating in the game for longer than a few minutes made me so much more invested and excited in games of StarCraft. It turns out that not having to try to remember a strategy you came up with an hour back before you can implement it is actually really nice!
The alternating turns is only part of what has really helped StarCraft win me over. Instead of deploying all (or most) of your troops at the very start, all units begin in reserve, with the battlefield only able to field a limited amount of troops at a time. This supply limit, dictated by the mission picked at the start, keeps things more manageable (and timely), with each unit on the field taking up various amounts of that given limit, with squads like the Terran Marines supply value reducing as they lose troops. Then at the start of a brand new round, that limit increases, allowing for fresh and stronger troops to deploy, with that limit removed altogether if the game lasts until the final fifth round. Not only do I appreciate this approach since it removes the likelihood of a disastrous first turn ruining your chances at the start of a long game, but I found it lets players adjust their strategies and approach better mid-game, as the deployment order of troops isn’t set until the moment they are taken out of reserve. So if you really need bodies on the board, you can change your strategy from bringing out your heavy units next round to a couple more squads of zerglings to swarm the field. It also feels more faithful to the original PC RTS, as you build up your army as the game progresses.
StarCraft’s twists don’t stop just at deployment or when you take your turn though, despite its combat feeling a bit familiar if you have played a tabletop war game before. Movement will still have you busting out your handy-dandy tape measure and combat is still a chaotic symphony of rolling handfuls of dice for attacks and defense. The twist the Archon Studio has thrown into the fighting pits is the Surge mechanic. Some weapons units come with a designated “Surge type” with an associated tag, such a “Light” or “Armoured”. When using that weapon against an enemy with a matching tag, some of your successful hits for damage will circumvent the opponent’s armor roll, and will deal damage. It almost turns encounters into a rock-paper-scissors game where there is a clear and impactful incentive to attack units with the right type of counter unit, and adds a satisfying and clever layer of strategy to battles.
One unfortunate carry over that StarCraft hasn’t managed to avoid, that plagues the hobby as a whole, is that this can still be a rather pricey game to play. The two player Starter Box which includes a Terran and Zerg army hovers around the $200, with individual army starter sets for Zerg, Protoss, or Terran will set you back $120-$130, with the various squad or hero boxes coming in between the $50 and $80 price point. It’s the world we live in, I suppose, but to Archon Studio’s credit, the full rulebook is available for free along with a handy browser app with the various cards you can use, so if you find yourself with some standard bases, some LEGO miniatures and super glue…