The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Overview.

Delta V is a realistic starship combat game set in the near future. The rules include 3-d (Yes I said 3-D) movement system based on Newtonian physics.

What you get

96 page rulebook 12 page ship book with 5 ships and class histories 11 Holocube Miniatures 4 Thrust deck play aids 4 full color laminated ship control boards.

The books are made of an inexpensive white card cover, instead of the full color hardbound covers seen in most games. This was done as a cost saving measure, don’t worry they spent the money where it counts. The Holocube minis are full color card boxes (Similar to Renegade Legion: Centurion), and the ship play aids are in color and laminated. I have spent a lot more money on games that looked a heck of a lot worse. Just keep your rulebooks away from the clumsy guy with the beverage and you will be fine. I feel I got my $35 worth.

You get bar none the finest play aids I have ever seen in a game. The Ship Control Boards are full color, and jam packed with data, in a fashion that is both easy to find, useful, and playable.

The Game The rulebook is laid out very professionally. Each rule has an alpha-numeric code that quickly identifies where the rule is. For example rule E2 is General Beam Weapons. E2.11 is a definition of beam weapons in general. E2.111 is the definition of lasers, while E2.112 is Particle beams. While it make not look as friendly as say the Player’s Handbook, this helps to keep everything together, and makes things easy to find.

Set in the about 300 years in the future, Delta V is a game of starship combat where they don’t go ‘whoosh’. Picture the Discovery (from 2001) with weapons mounts. Movement is handled with a ‘phased movement system’ similar to Car Wars or Star Fleet Battles. Each turn is split into 8 segments. Speed 8 for example would move every segment; speed 4 would move every other segment etc. Weapons fire is nicely done as well. Instead of the old standby ‘you can only fire each weapons once per turn’ Delta V’s weapons have cool off periods, you can fire them every few segments (potentially several times a turn). The weapons classes include Lasers, Particle Beams, Missiles and Coil Guns. Each functions uniquely. Missiles can be fitted with nuclear warheads that in addition to damaging the ship can kill the crew with radiation exposure. Lasers are fed from huge batteries (which can take several turns to refill).

The game mechanics themselves work on real life physics. It factors in acceleration, in addition to movement. Most games you simply pick your speed (say 6) at the beginning of each turn, and voila, you are at speed 6. In Delta V you must accelerate (or decelerate) from your current speed to get there. Four complete decks of thrust cards make this as simple as possible. Turning your ship is interesting as well. Most other games treat your ship like a car. You move in what ever direction the nose in pointing in. Delta V lets you turn your ship while maintaining a vector in your original direction. While this makes turning a little hard at first, you get used to it quickly. Once your nose has gotten around, more thrust can get you moving in two directions at once. “Good Gravy that is complicated” I hear you say. Not at all. Delta V’s greatest strength is its play aids. The Ship Control Board contains, not only every chart you will need for combat, but an ‘Avid’. This full color hexagonal shaped object on the Control Board lets you keep track of the direction and speed of your ship in a way that is caveman simple. For example say your ship is moving at speed 4 in direction A. There is an area that you simply write the number 4 in the A section. Say you turn your ship 60 degrees to direction B, and apply 3 points of thrust there. Take your grease pencil and write the number 3. Any time speed 4 moves, move your ship in direction A, when speed 3 moves, move your ship in direction 3. Caveman simple. You can only have 2 vectors; if you turn another 60 degrees to direction C and apply thrust a chart helps you convert your speed and heading.

For me the movement was where most of the fun was. Instead of simply picking a speed and zipping around, I was forced to think about my moves a turn or two in advance. During the demo game at Origins we had to fly thru chocolates, if you passed thru a hex containing the goodies you got to eat them. Lining up your movement was a lot of fun. On player managed to fly his ship thru 3-D space and stop dead in space exactly on a candy.

The 3-D rules do get slightly more complicated, but thanks to the play aids it is not much harder then the 2-D rules. The angles are handled in 30 degree increments. The firing arcs are clearly printed as well. I was a little leery of the 3 D rules, until I read them.

The damage allocation rules are the least intuitive part of the game I thought. I felt it was a little hard to understand at first. Instead of simply throwing the dice, and looking at a chart, it uses a system or armor, damage traps, and random direction. I managed to pick it up after 2 or 3 walk thrus.

In summary. I feel this is an excellent game. I highly recommend checking this out, if you are interested in starship combat games.

Delta V
Delta V Capsule Review by Ryan Peck on 16/07/02 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) "In space no-one can hear you scream, but everyone can see your body heat' Product: Delta V Author: Ken Burnside Category: Board/Tactical Game Company/Publisher: Ad Astra Games Line: Cost: $34.95 Page count: 2 books 96 and 12 pages in length Year published: 2002 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Ryan Peck on 16/07/02 Genre tags: Science Fiction Space	Overview. Delta V is a realistic starship combat game set in the near future. The rules include 3-d (Yes I said 3-D) movement system based on Newtonian physics. What you get 96 page rulebook 12 page ship book with 5 ships and class histories 11 Holocube Miniatures 4 Thrust deck play aids 4 full color laminated ship control boards. The books are made of an inexpensive white card cover, instead of the full color hardbound covers seen in most games. This was done as a cost saving measure, don’t worry they spent the money where it counts. The Holocube minis are full color card boxes (Similar to Renegade Legion: Centurion), and the ship play aids are in color and laminated. I have spent a lot more money on games that looked a heck of a lot worse. Just keep your rulebooks away from the clumsy guy with the beverage and you will be fine. I feel I got my $35 worth. You get bar none the finest play aids I have ever seen in a game. The Ship Control Boards are full color, and jam packed with data, in a fashion that is both easy to find, useful, and playable. The Game The rulebook is laid out very professionally. Each rule has an alpha-numeric code that quickly identifies where the rule is. For example rule E2 is General Beam Weapons. E2.11 is a definition of beam weapons in general. E2.111 is the definition of lasers, while E2.112 is Particle beams. While it make not look as friendly as say the Player’s Handbook, this helps to keep everything together, and makes things easy to find. Set in the about 300 years in the future, Delta V is a game of starship combat where they don’t go ‘whoosh’. Picture the Discovery (from 2001) with weapons mounts. Movement is handled with a ‘phased movement system’ similar to Car Wars or Star Fleet Battles. Each turn is split into 8 segments. Speed 8 for example would move every segment; speed 4 would move every other segment etc. Weapons fire is nicely done as well. Instead of the old standby ‘you can only fire each weapons once per turn’ Delta V’s weapons have cool off periods, you can fire them every few segments (potentially several times a turn). The weapons classes include Lasers, Particle Beams, Missiles and Coil Guns. Each functions uniquely. Missiles can be fitted with nuclear warheads that in addition to damaging the ship can kill the crew with radiation exposure. Lasers are fed from huge batteries (which can take several turns to refill). The game mechanics themselves work on real life physics. It factors in acceleration, in addition to movement. Most games you simply pick your speed (say 6) at the beginning of each turn, and voila, you are at speed 6. In Delta V you must accelerate (or decelerate) from your current speed to get there. Four complete decks of thrust cards make this as simple as possible. Turning your ship is interesting as well. Most other games treat your ship like a car. You move in what ever direction the nose in pointing in. Delta V lets you turn your ship while maintaining a vector in your original direction. While this makes turning a little hard at first, you get used to it quickly. Once your nose has gotten around, more thrust can get you moving in two directions at once. “Good Gravy that is complicated” I hear you say. Not at all. Delta V’s greatest strength is its play aids. The Ship Control Board contains, not only every chart you will need for combat, but an ‘Avid’. This full color hexagonal shaped object on the Control Board lets you keep track of the direction and speed of your ship in a way that is caveman simple. For example say your ship is moving at speed 4 in direction A. There is an area that you simply write the number 4 in the A section. Say you turn your ship 60 degrees to direction B, and apply 3 points of thrust there. Take your grease pencil and write the number 3. Any time speed 4 moves, move your ship in direction A, when speed 3 moves, move your ship in direction 3. Caveman simple. You can only have 2 vectors; if you turn another 60 degrees to direction C and apply thrust a chart helps you convert your speed and heading. For me the movement was where most of the fun was. Instead of simply picking a speed and zipping around, I was forced to think about my moves a turn or two in advance. During the demo game at Origins we had to fly thru chocolates, if you passed thru a hex containing the goodies you got to eat them. Lining up your movement was a lot of fun. On player managed to fly his ship thru 3-D space and stop dead in space exactly on a candy. The 3-D rules do get slightly more complicated, but thanks to the play aids it is not much harder then the 2-D rules. The angles are handled in 30 degree increments. The firing arcs are clearly printed as well. I was a little leery of the 3 D rules, until I read them. The damage allocation rules are the least intuitive part of the game I thought. I felt it was a little hard to understand at first. Instead of simply throwing the dice, and looking at a chart, it uses a system or armor, damage traps, and random direction. I managed to pick it up after 2 or 3 walk thrus. In summary. I feel this is an excellent game. I highly recommend checking this out, if you are interested in starship combat games.