Thursday, January 1, 2004

We Do The Scary Math So YOU Can Blow Things Up!

Or so it says on the box. Yep, I have my copy of Attack Vector from Ad Astra Games, though the universe has conspired against me since the box arrived and I haven't had much time to delve into it.I'm pretty darned impressed with what I have seen. Nice artwork, lots of text to fool around with (in terms of background—a bunch of ships, plus details on the major worlds), and what appears to be a clearly written rulebook. Heck, there's even an index, for crying out load. I don't know how many games I've owned that have needed to include a comprehensive table of contents and an index. This game has both. Ten points! Score! And then there's the components. A whole pile of nifty plastic pieces to let you do things like change the attitude and altitude of your ships. Little "holo cube" ships (some assembly required) with some excellent artwork. I'll probably splurge (when economics allows) for the felt game board (available separately) as well as additional pieces so that I can get a really big game going. And this is just the beginning. Hopefully sometime this summer we'll see High Trader, based on the game Rocket Flight (completely upgraded). Then there's the rest of the Attack Vector series: Fleets (lots of ships) and Operations (grand strategy, I'm guessing). Oh, but it doesn't end there, boys and girls. A roleplaying game is in the works. And, for the raving fanboys of the Honor Harrington space opera (David Weber), the best is yet to come. Oh yes, I suppose I should mention the really nifty t-shirts that they sell. Express your inner geekiness! I'll post a more extensive review once I read the contents of the box. In the meantime, anybody interested in a game? Addendum: A few links that may be of interest (various downloads). The table of contents and some samples from the rules. The Tactical Demo Flyer. Some stunning wallpaper for your computer. The so-called "tube map" showing the overall region of the Ten Worlds (the setting). And there's more!