The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Moon Dragon by New Dimension Games is a space combat game that focuses on fighter-level combat above the lunar surface. NDG claims to take "gaming to the 3rd dimension" with their 3D movement stands. I think that they have succeeded with class. The rules are very easy to learn and very difficult to master. I'll hit some other points I think need to be highlighted as I go along.

The first thing you will notice when you open the Moon Dragon box is how much "stuff" you receive. In addition to the rulebook and handouts you also get four miniatures (two pairs of fighters), four stands, 44 of the universal joints, tokens and dice. The rules include a quick start for those of you who want to dogfight immediately. The rulebook itself is clearly written and liberally illustrated with helpful diagrams and artwork. It contains both basic and advanced rules along with scenarios, a scenario builder, and a really good campaign system. The latter was a pleasant surprise. The campaign system provides rules for advancing your pilot through the ranks -- simultaneously gaining experience points and cash, both of which are important for improving your pilot and fighter. Special skills can be earned for your pilot and modular components can be placed on your fighter. I think it's a bit unrealisitic that each pilot has two spare fighters for every rank they progress, but it will certainly keep them in the campaign longer.

The rules are very easy to learn and center around energy points for each fighter. Each fighter has their own full page "display" upon which you place the tokens (included) to represent the power in each system. Unallocated power in the battery is used for maneuvering, which is based on increments of 30 degrees. Excess points are stored by the battery and believe me, it's really nice to build up a reserve of points for those all-important sudden maneuvers. Weapon fire is based on a simple d6 roll and generally does a set amount of damage. Damage is first absorbed by "shields" and the excess is marked off a grid by location. Some points on the grid are linked to certain systems that are damaged. Advanced rules provide details such as stall jets, afterburners, electronic warfare, and ordinance.

So, the rules sound pretty good. How's the actual game-play? Exhilarating. The rules play quick and the game-play is intense. First, however, there are some minor disagreeable points that I want to address. You need to mount the fighter fighter models atop a series of universal joints that attach to an extentible antenna planted in a block of wood. You are warned several times that the joints will be stiff the first time you play. They aren't kidding. I made sure to loosen the joints prior to playtest as they suggested. Despite this, the joints disarticulated and dropped the miniature on the table countless times during playtest. Considering that the miniatures are pretty large and heavy (about 1 and 3/4") it can leave a mark on a table or screw up the paint job on the mini. My second complaint is that it is very difficult to play the game using two figures to represent each fighter as suggested. The idea being that one fighter represents the starting point for each turn while the second is used to measure off movement (in figher lengths). This is extremely time consuming and, when coupled with the stiff joints, very frustrating. Rules are provided for "single miniature movement" which is what we used in the end. Finally, a minor aesthetic point is that the miniatures are, well, a bit ugly. A friend of mine likened them to designs from the "Flash Gordon" era. I think that's an exaggeration but there is a distinct lack of detail on the minis. Creative artists will, no doubt, find designs to decorate their fighters but for the rest of us they'll look pretty plain. The new fighters shown in NDG's catalog look much better.

Well, aside from those points, the playtest was a blast. We played the quick start scenario "Encounter at Hadley Mountain". Very quickly we discovered the limitations and advantages of our fighters. The moondragon maneuvers much better than the wardog but has less armor and recharges less points each turn. Roll, pitch, and turn costs are different for each fighter so you soon learn to maneuver in certain patterns. (For instance, banking -- a pitch upward when rolled onto a wing -- is much easier to maintain than turning but will cost more points for a slight adjustment.) The wardog quickly learned just how much more damage it could do when it was able to bring both of it's forward lasers to bear. The moondragon learned to turn flyby maneuvers into opportunities to use it's rear laser. Once we ditched the two-figure movement the game progressed quite smoothly, albeit with less precision. The fight developed into bouts of frenzied maneuvering separated by period of breaking off to coast and recharge. The rules provide artificial "floors" (can't go below because the anti-grav drive won't let you) and "ceiling" (can't go above because the killer satellites will get you) to explain the mechanical limitations of the 3-d stand. They provide challenging barriers to movement. Many was the time a desperate climb came dangerouly close to exceeding the height. We fought from one end of the play area to the other. Fancy flying, not weapon fire, dominated the game. The fight was called for time, but the moondragon was the most damaged and closest to being crippled.

So how does this came compare to other available space fighter games? Well, the only other game that springs to mind is Silent Death from ICE. Moon Dragon is, I think, better suited for smaller battles. A player could probably fly more than one fighter but it would certainly be a challenge. There's only two types of fighter included with Moon Dragon with a further two described (but without minis provided) while Silent Death has dozens of fighters in the basic set and supplements. However, Moon Dragon does have it's 3D movement system which works surprisingly well. It truly does seem to capture the feel of a dogfight, which is something most of us are unlikely to experience. Moon Dragon also has a campaign system based around the pilot which is also a strong plus in its favor. Both games, in my opinion, play equally smoothly. If you want a space battle pitting squadron against squadron with massive damage inflicted rapidly, then you're looking for Silent Death. If you want a close, intense dogfight with the thrill of 3D moment you want Moon Dragon.

On the whole, I really liked this game and I highly recommend it. It's a bit pricy, but you truly get everyting you need in the boxed set. Four minis is plenty. The 3D movement system has to be experienced to be appreciated. I can easily envision playing this on the floor and flying around furniture and other obstacles. I can't wait to get a chance to try the campaign system. For that matter, I really want to try a bombing run. I'll be looking forward to the "Birds of Prey" supplement.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Moon Dragon
Author: Josh Friel, Jules McCann, and Tony Rousmaniere Category: miniature Company/Publisher: New Dimension Games, Inc. Cost: $49.95 Page count: 80 Playtest Review by John Fu on 11/25/97. Genre tags: none	Moon Dragon by New Dimension Games is a space combat game that focuses on fighter-level combat above the lunar surface. NDG claims to take "gaming to the 3rd dimension" with their 3D movement stands. I think that they have succeeded with class. The rules are very easy to learn and very difficult to master. I'll hit some other points I think need to be highlighted as I go along. The first thing you will notice when you open the Moon Dragon box is how much "stuff" you receive. In addition to the rulebook and handouts you also get four miniatures (two pairs of fighters), four stands, 44 of the universal joints, tokens and dice. The rules include a quick start for those of you who want to dogfight immediately. The rulebook itself is clearly written and liberally illustrated with helpful diagrams and artwork. It contains both basic and advanced rules along with scenarios, a scenario builder, and a really good campaign system. The latter was a pleasant surprise. The campaign system provides rules for advancing your pilot through the ranks -- simultaneously gaining experience points and cash, both of which are important for improving your pilot and fighter. Special skills can be earned for your pilot and modular components can be placed on your fighter. I think it's a bit unrealisitic that each pilot has two spare fighters for every rank they progress, but it will certainly keep them in the campaign longer. The rules are very easy to learn and center around energy points for each fighter. Each fighter has their own full page "display" upon which you place the tokens (included) to represent the power in each system. Unallocated power in the battery is used for maneuvering, which is based on increments of 30 degrees. Excess points are stored by the battery and believe me, it's really nice to build up a reserve of points for those all-important sudden maneuvers. Weapon fire is based on a simple d6 roll and generally does a set amount of damage. Damage is first absorbed by "shields" and the excess is marked off a grid by location. Some points on the grid are linked to certain systems that are damaged. Advanced rules provide details such as stall jets, afterburners, electronic warfare, and ordinance. So, the rules sound pretty good. How's the actual game-play? Exhilarating. The rules play quick and the game-play is intense. First, however, there are some minor disagreeable points that I want to address. You need to mount the fighter fighter models atop a series of universal joints that attach to an extentible antenna planted in a block of wood. You are warned several times that the joints will be stiff the first time you play. They aren't kidding. I made sure to loosen the joints prior to playtest as they suggested. Despite this, the joints disarticulated and dropped the miniature on the table countless times during playtest. Considering that the miniatures are pretty large and heavy (about 1 and 3/4") it can leave a mark on a table or screw up the paint job on the mini. My second complaint is that it is very difficult to play the game using two figures to represent each fighter as suggested. The idea being that one fighter represents the starting point for each turn while the second is used to measure off movement (in figher lengths). This is extremely time consuming and, when coupled with the stiff joints, very frustrating. Rules are provided for "single miniature movement" which is what we used in the end. Finally, a minor aesthetic point is that the miniatures are, well, a bit ugly. A friend of mine likened them to designs from the "Flash Gordon" era. I think that's an exaggeration but there is a distinct lack of detail on the minis. Creative artists will, no doubt, find designs to decorate their fighters but for the rest of us they'll look pretty plain. The new fighters shown in NDG's catalog look much better. Well, aside from those points, the playtest was a blast. We played the quick start scenario "Encounter at Hadley Mountain". Very quickly we discovered the limitations and advantages of our fighters. The moondragon maneuvers much better than the wardog but has less armor and recharges less points each turn. Roll, pitch, and turn costs are different for each fighter so you soon learn to maneuver in certain patterns. (For instance, banking -- a pitch upward when rolled onto a wing -- is much easier to maintain than turning but will cost more points for a slight adjustment.) The wardog quickly learned just how much more damage it could do when it was able to bring both of it's forward lasers to bear. The moondragon learned to turn flyby maneuvers into opportunities to use it's rear laser. Once we ditched the two-figure movement the game progressed quite smoothly, albeit with less precision. The fight developed into bouts of frenzied maneuvering separated by period of breaking off to coast and recharge. The rules provide artificial "floors" (can't go below because the anti-grav drive won't let you) and "ceiling" (can't go above because the killer satellites will get you) to explain the mechanical limitations of the 3-d stand. They provide challenging barriers to movement. Many was the time a desperate climb came dangerouly close to exceeding the height. We fought from one end of the play area to the other. Fancy flying, not weapon fire, dominated the game. The fight was called for time, but the moondragon was the most damaged and closest to being crippled. So how does this came compare to other available space fighter games? Well, the only other game that springs to mind is Silent Death from ICE. Moon Dragon is, I think, better suited for smaller battles. A player could probably fly more than one fighter but it would certainly be a challenge. There's only two types of fighter included with Moon Dragon with a further two described (but without minis provided) while Silent Death has dozens of fighters in the basic set and supplements. However, Moon Dragon does have it's 3D movement system which works surprisingly well. It truly does seem to capture the feel of a dogfight, which is something most of us are unlikely to experience. Moon Dragon also has a campaign system based around the pilot which is also a strong plus in its favor. Both games, in my opinion, play equally smoothly. If you want a space battle pitting squadron against squadron with massive damage inflicted rapidly, then you're looking for Silent Death. If you want a close, intense dogfight with the thrill of 3D moment you want Moon Dragon. On the whole, I really liked this game and I highly recommend it. It's a bit pricy, but you truly get everyting you need in the boxed set. Four minis is plenty. The 3D movement system has to be experienced to be appreciated. I can easily envision playing this on the floor and flying around furniture and other obstacles. I can't wait to get a chance to try the campaign system. For that matter, I really want to try a bombing run. I'll be looking forward to the "Birds of Prey" supplement. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)